Movies

Subterms

    More stories

    • 138 Shares139 Views

      in Movies

      ‘A Million Miles Away’ Review: From the Fields to Outer Space

      by

      In this biopic, a boy from a family of migrant farm workers watches the moon landing in 1969, which ignites his desire to be an astronaut.The dream of being an astronaut was planted in José Hernández (Michael Peña) early, when he and his family were migrant workers in 1960s California. Back when the U.S. immigration policy resembled a revolving door more than a steel wall, tens of thousands of families would travel north to harvest seasonal crops. For his parents, the work was in service of a long-held dream: to build a house in their native Michoacán. The children were frequently uprooted and placed in new schools as the family zigzagged across the state, following the work. It wasn’t until a teacher, Ms. Young (Michelle Krusiec), intervened that the Hernández parents settled in Stockton, Calif., forsaking their dream for their children’s education. That’s where young José saw the 1969 moon landing on T.V., a moment that ignited a lasting passion for flight.Sacrifice, grit, perseverance, tenacity: These are the themes that drive “A Million Miles Away,” directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella and based on José Hernández’s memoir, “Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut,” a true up-by-the-bootstraps tale. The film spans decades, from childhood to, eventually, the NASA space program. He married Adela (Rosa Salazar), a car saleswoman and aspiring chef, with whom he had five children; along the way he also worked as an engineer at a federal research facility. He is propelled by the support of his wife and family as well as a “recipe” for success from his father, Salvador (Julio César Cedillo), around which the film is framed.Beautifully shot and interspersed with historical footage of migrant workers and spacecraft launches, the film’s most effective and touching scenes revolve around the family relationships, particularly José’s with his cousin Beto (Bobby Soto), who became a farmworker like his parents. In one scene, Beto says: “I just think it’s great that I get to be so freaking proud and have no idea what you’re talking about, cousin.” It’s a line that aptly distills what many upwardly mobile immigrants face. There are moments that show the clashes of the two worlds, and those that show their melding: José’s driving to work blasting a ranchera on the radio; using a corncob as a spaceship; or washing dishes in his astronaut uniform. These are heartwarming scenes, and it’s hard not to be moved by the enormity of the challenge he undertook and conquered.But the grit narrative at times becomes a bit heavy-handed, with quotes such as “Hard work or nada,” from his father, and “Tenacity is a superpower” from his NASA trainer, Kalpana Chawla (Sarayu Blue). José Hernández applied to the space program 11 times before succeeding, and the film centers almost exclusively on this plight. There are meaningful glances at his hands, an echo of the calloused hands that supported him, and montages of his persevering through training.In peddling the mythical American dream narrative, the film misses an opportunity for conflict or character development and falls short of delving into bigger, more interesting themes: assimilation, immigration, gender roles, family conflict. Doing so would have made for a more meaningful watch and felt more in line with our present understanding of the reality of migrants’ lives.A Million Miles AwayRated PG. Running time: 2 hours. In theaters, and streaming on Prime Video Sept. 15. More

    • 88 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Outlaw Johnny Black’ Review: A Gravel-Toned Gunslinger

      by

      This misguided Western parody, starring and directed by Michael Jai White, struggles to establish a comedic rhythm.A gravel-toned gunslinger rolls into town. He’s got a bullet with his nemesis’s name on it and vengeance on his mind. It’s a familiar image that “Outlaw Johnny Black,” directed by Michael Jai White, intends to spoof, but the punchlines don’t quite land properly in this misguided Western parody.This is the second movie that White has written with Byron Minns; the first was “Black Dynamite,” the 2009 Blaxploitation spoof that White also starred in. But whereas the latter understood the specific visual language and tricky tone of its genre satire, “Outlaw Johnny Black” struggles to establish a consistent comedic rhythm.Much of the flaws come from its bagginess and lack of expositional focus (plus several needlessly cringe-worthy scenes involving Native American characters). The first third of the film — which concerns the relationship between the titular Johnny Black (White) and Brett Clayton (Chris Browning), the man who killed his father — becomes practically irrelevant after Johnny winds up in a small town impersonating a preacher and enmeshed in political schemes over oil-rich land.There are some funny moments in this stretch, particularly when the actors are allowed to run with some of the purely inane gags. But the laughs are lost within an overly long, meandering plot and scenes that miss visual polish or comedic concision. The gunslinger can land a punch, but the film doesn’t pack any.Outlaw Johnny BlackRated PG-13 for violence, strong language and some sexual material. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 88 Shares139 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Remembering Every Night’ Review: Separate Lives, Intertwined

      by

      Yui Kiyohara’s slow and graceful film follows a day in the life of three women of different ages as their paths crisscross in a Tokyo suburb.The trees are omnipresent in Yui Kiyohara’s hushed and graceful film “Remembering Every Night” — perhaps even, one imagines, omnipotent. They frame each view of the suburban housing blocks where the film is set. They flutter in the sunlight. They rustle in the breeze. They loom as reminders of the ephemerality of life and memory amid all that neatly ordered steel and concrete.For the unemployed, middle-aged Chizu (Kumi Hyodo), whom we follow through a single spring day, Tama New Town is a kind of limbo where, as one man tells her: “It all looks the same here. It’s easy to get lost.” A planned community near Tokyo designed in the mid-1960s, its sidewalks and gardens have grown worn and wild with age and neglect. The same goes for its older residents, who miss the days when they knew their neighbors. Tama may be a modernist dream or nightmare, depending on your perspective or age; ideas grow old, are forgotten and disappear, just like people. Still their legacies abide.As Chizu searches for a friend’s address, she crosses paths with two younger women, whose narrative branches intertwine quietly with her own. Sanae (Minami Ohba), a gas meter inspector in her early 30s, helps a lost old man (Tadashi Okuno) find his way home; a college student, Natsu (Ai Mikami), grieves the loss of a childhood friend. Tama is for them, too, a space of transitory isolation.Ghosts linger, cameras linger. This is pensive, slow-slow cinema, like Bela Tarr with color but less compositional heft or, sometimes, clarity. Behind it all, the persistent chirping of the birds and insects in the trees.Remembering Every NightNot rated. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 56 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Love at First Sight’ Review: Sense, Sensibility and Statistics

      by

      Two lovebirds-to-be meet at an airport in this unoriginal but sturdy Y.A. romance, which pivots on the probability of falling in love.It may be a cliché to suggest that a streaming original feels as if it were created to serve an algorithm, but rarely is a movie as openly besotted with patterns of data as “Love at First Sight,” on Netflix. Not only is the movie derivative, but its story actually pivots on the statistics of romance, and by extension the supposed romance of statistics.As in “500 Days of Summer,” the romance story whose fabric was recycled for this fleece pullover of a film, “Love at First Sight” features a narrator hyper-fixated on numerical values. Case in point: when we meet our two protagonists, Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy), the film encumbers us with a pedantic voice-over recitation of their heights, ages and average cellphone battery charges.Based on the Y.A. book “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight,” the movie traces 24 hours in the lives of these two students, who are both flying to London for significant family ceremonies. The pair meet cute at Kennedy International Airport, nap in conjoining business-class seats and very nearly kiss in line for the lavatory. Jameela Jamil, perhaps embodying the pair’s cosmic good fortune, narrates their budding romance while appearing in a variety of background roles.The movie, directed by Vanessa Caswill, hits its stride once the lovebirds touch down across the pond, where the stats subside and the cast, particularly Richardson and Sally Phillips as Oliver’s ailing mother, come aglow with authentic feeling. What are the odds that a premise as unimaginative as this one should emerge as a sturdy little romantic drama? Jamil would know.Love at First SightRated PG-13 for language and qualitative variables. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

    • 100 Shares189 Views

      in Movies

      Talking Heads Reunite for Restored ‘Stop Making Sense’

      by

      Appearing together for the first time since 2002, the band celebrated the film in a Q. and A. with Spike Lee at the Toronto International Film Festival.The hottest ticket at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was not for the new auteur film from Hayao Miyazaki or Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the latest vehicle for Kate Winslet or Sean Penn, or grand prizewinners at Cannes and Venice. No, the most feverishly in-demand screening was for a 39-year-old movie that everyone in its sold-out audience could have watched at home, at the push of a button.But this isn’t just any 39-year-old movie. “Stop Making Sense,” directed by Jonathan Demme, is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of the form, a joyful documentation (and celebration) of Talking Heads’ 1983 tour supporting their album “Speaking in Tongues.” The Toronto festival screening marked the debut of A24’s new restoration of the film ahead of its theatrical and IMAX rerelease later this month.But the real draw in Toronto was the band’s reunion for a Q. and A. conducted by Spike Lee after the screening (and simulcast to IMAX theaters across the globe). “This is the greatest concert film ever!” he enthused with the musicians sitting next to him. “I can say that! You might not want to, but for me, I’m going on record, around the world: this is the greatest concert film ever.”The 25-minute chat was the first time the band members had appeared together since they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. That reunion was an event in itself, following what the frontman David Byrne recently described, with characteristic understatement, as an “ugly” breakup in 1991. His former bandmates haven’t been quite so delicate. In 2020, the drummer Chris Frantz published a memoir in which he accused Byrne of frequently diminishing the contributions of his fellow musicians, while the bassist Tina Weymouth referred to him as, among many other slurs, “a vampire.” (Byrne has since granted that he was “more of a little tyrant” in those early years.)But in Toronto, it was all good vibes for Byrne, Frantz and Weymouth (who are married) and the keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison. “I’m very grateful to be here tonight, and to be able to watch this and to enjoy it so much,” Frantz said warmly at the beginning of the conversation. Byrne concurred: “When I was watching this just now, I was thinking, this is why we come to the movie theaters. This is different than watching it on my laptop!”And indeed it was. From the opening image — of Byrne’s scuffed-up white sneakers striding onto the stage, as he sets down a boombox and announces, “Hi, I got a tape I wanna play” — seeing “Stop Making Sense” in IMAX was like seeing it anew. The image, blown up from the original 35-millimeter negatives, was crisp and rich; the sound, an early digital audio recording, felt like it had been laid down last night. The restless, roving, participatory nature of Demme’s cameras make it much more than a standard concert documentary. It’s an exhilarating record of a group of talented people, at the peak of their considerable powers, having a great time making groundbreaking music that you can still dance to.A scene from “Stop Making Sense,” which was restored from the original negatives and shown in IMAX on Monday in Toronto.via A24Demme, who died at 73 in 2017, was attracted to the material, Byrne recalled, because the show they’d assembled told a story, with a beginning, middle and end. The picture starts, quite literally, with the forming of the band, as Byrne is joined by each additional member, one by one, and their show is built out from the bare stage on which it begins. By the midpoint, this odd little man and his friends have become a family, and when Byrne sings the kind and welcoming lyrics of “This Must Be the Place” (“Home/is where I want to be/but I guess I’m already there”), it’s as heartfelt and moving an emotional beat as you’ll find in any narrative film.Byrne recalled realizing that Demme, working with the editor Lisa Day, was actually making an ensemble film. “Like, you would have a bunch of actors in a location and you get to know each character, one by one,” Byrne explained, adding, “You get familiar with them, and then you watch how they all interact with one another. And I thought, I’m in my own world. But he saw that, he saw what was going on there.”The sheer visceral impact of the filmmaking, when shown at IMAX proportions, was staggering as well. Demme’s striking, out-of-the-box lighting choices and close-up compositions are jaw-dropping on the big screen, and Byrne comes across as even more like a (seemingly impossible) movie star, from his first reveal in the iconic Big Suit (“It was really big tonight,” Frantz quipped) to his serpentine slithering during “Life During Wartime.” He’s aware of the camera and plays to it savvily — not just singing the band’s songs, but performing them (and understanding the difference).But he’s far from the only attraction, and the detail of the IMAX restoration (coupled with Demme’s preference for long takes and wide shots) provides the viewer with plenty of opportunities to observe the dynamics, throughout the frame, between the group, additional musicians like the keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and the crew. The cameras capture their nonverbal communication, the little cues and asides and flashes of encouragement they’re throwing at one another through the entire show.“There’s all these moments that he caught, where one of us looks at the other, looks over at Bernie or Bernie looks at us, all those little quick interactions,” Byrne marveled. “And I thought, that stuff is amazing.”From left, Frantz, Weymouth, Harrison and Byrne reunited on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival.Shawn Goldberg/Getty ImagesHarrison said that “one of the reasons for the lasting power of the film is you see that we are having so much fun onstage,” adding that “the audience is brought right into it. We say, you’re part of this too. And I think that every time anybody watches it, it brings back that wonderful emotion.”That was certainly the case in Toronto. The rowdy crowd applauded every number, cheered for the band’s introductions and clapped along with the breakdown in “Take Me to the River.” One guy hollered, “Encore!” when the movie ended.Both “Once in a Lifetime” and “Burning Down the House” brought audience members to their feet, just like their onscreen counterparts, to dance in the aisles. To be fair, they’re very hard songs to not dance to. In the seventh row, at his aisle seat, David Byrne was on his feet with them, bobbing his head and rocking back and forth, once more, for old times’ sake. More

    • 150 Shares99 Views

      in Television

      Do You Know These Film and Television Versions of Popular Y.A. Novels?

      by

      Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s monthly quiz about books that have been made into television shows, movies, theatrical productions and more. This month’s challenge is about Y.A. novels that were adapted into films or streaming television shows within the past 10 years. Tap or click your answers to the five questions below.New literary quizzes appear on the Book Review page every week and you can find previous installments in the Book Review Quiz Bowl archive online. More

    • 175 Shares129 Views

      in Television

      What’s on TV This Week: ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and the MTV Video Music Awards

      by

      The documentary series about a soccer club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney returns for a second season. And the annual award show airs live.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Sept. 11-17. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTHE PARENT TRAP (1998) 5:45 p.m. on Freeform. If you grew up in the ’90s, like I did, there is a good chance that you know by heart the quite intricate handshake made famous by this movie, which stars Lindsay Lohan as identical twin sisters separated at birth who accidentally meet at summer camp. They decide to switch places and hatch a plan to get their parents back together. Obviously, shenanigans ensue.TuesdayOlivia Rodrigo is set to perform at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.Chona Kasinger for The New York TimesMTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 8 p.m. on MTV. Starbucks has released their pumpkin-themed menu, influencers and celebrities have flocked to New York for Fashion Week and people are saying it’s fall even though temperatures are dangerously approaching 100 degrees. All of this can only mean one thing: It’s time for the annual MTV VMAs. Airing live from the Prudential Center in New Jersey, Olivia Rodrigo, Demi Lovato, Lil Wayne and many others will perform, and Shakira and Sean “Diddy” Combs will be among the awardees.WednesdayStill from “Donyale Luna: Supermodel.”William Claxton/HBODONYALE LUNA: SUPERMODEL 9 p.m. on HBO. The supermodel Donyale Luna died in 1979 at just 33 years in old. But in those 33 years, she gained the reputation of breaking barriers in the fashion industry, becoming the first Black model to grace the cover of both Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Now, this documentary is taking viewers behind the scenes of Luna’s modest upbringing to her life in the spotlight.WELCOME TO WREXHAM 10 p.m. on FX. In 2020 Rob McElhenney (of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fame) and Ryan Reynolds (of “Deadpool” fame) bought the third oldest soccer club in the world, which resides in Wrexham in North Wales, with the goal of bringing it back to glory. Now, the second season begins as the team, McElhenney and Reynolds prep for a visit from King Charles III.ThursdayJIMI HENDRIX: ELECTRIC CHURCH 8:30 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). On July 4, 1970, Jimi Hendrix drew a crowd of almost 500,000 people to his performance at the Atlanta International Pop Festival. Because of the 16-mm footage taken at the show, we can relive this concert, featuring performances of “Electric Church,” “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” and others, over and over again.BUDDY GAMES 9 p.m. on CBS. Josh Duhamel directed and starred in a 2020 movie about six best friends who compete in silly physical and mental challenges in an attempt to win $150,000. Now Duhamel is hosting a reality game show with a similar premise: six teams of friends join him at a lake house to compete in challenges to win the championship title and some prize money.FridayStephen Amell and Alison Luff in “Heels.”StarzHEELS 10 p.m. on Starz. Football has “Friday Night Lights,” soccer has “Ted Lasso” and wrestling has “Heels.” This show, about two brothers, Ace and Jack, carrying on their father’s legacy through the Duffy Wrestling League, is wrapping up its second season, which gave us a few deep dives into the characters’ emotional sides.Saturday48 HOURS: THE GILGO BEACH SERIAL KILLINGS and THE NIGHT OF THE IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS starting at 9 p.m. on CBS. If you’re catching up on your true-crime news, “48 Hours” has you covered with these back-to-back episodes. First up is the Gilgo Beach serial killings: Between the years of 1996 and 2011, the remains of 10 bodies were found on a stretch of a Long Island beach; earlier this year, Rex Heuermann was charged with killing three of the people. In November 2022, four college students were found murdered in Moscow, Idaho. Now, Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminology at a nearby university, has been charged with four counts of murder.SundayCHRISTMAS IN JULY (1940) 8 p.m. on TCM. This movie, directed by Preston Sturges, is about a prank that simultaneously goes very right and very wrong. Jimmy is trying to win a slogan competition so he can buy a ring to propose to his girlfriend. When the winner still hasn’t been announced, Jimmy’s co-workers write a fake telegram and leave it on his desk so he thinks he won. Shticks, fake outs and confusion quickly follow.WINNING TIME 9 p.m. on HBO. Based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” by Jeff Pearlman, this fictionalized account of the NBA team is wrapping up its second season, which has focused on Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) after his knee injury and tension with the team. It seems important to note that some of the Lakers stars that are fictionalized in this series are not at all happy with their portrayal. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Poor Things’ Takes Top Prize at Venice Film Festival

      by

      The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, stars Emma Stone as a woman who goes on a sexual and philosophical journey. The announcement of its win was met with a roar of applause.“Poor Things,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, was awarded the Golden Lion for best film at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on Saturday by a competition jury led by Damien Chazelle. The film stars Emma Stone in a virtuoso performance as a woman with an initially childlike understanding of the world who comes into her own through a sexual and philosophical journey.Bella Baxter, the main character in the film, “wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone,” Lanthimos said. “This film is her, in front of and behind the camera.” Stone previously collaborated with Lanthimos on “The Favourite,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the festival in 2018.Like many other actors in films screened at the festival, Stone was not in attendance, as the strike by SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents television and movie actors, continued.Set in a partly fantastical 19th-century Europe, “Poor Things” follows Bella (Stone) on her eye-opening adventures in Tony McNamara’s adaptation of the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel. The film also stars Willem Dafoe as Bella’s father who is a doctor, Ramy Youssef as his assistant and her suitor, and Mark Ruffalo as a lascivious lawyer.Lanthimos said that the film took “quite a few years” to bring into being, before “the world, or our industry,” was ready for its story. The award announcement was met with a roar of applause.The 80th edition of the festival opened with “Comandante,” a historical drama about an Italian submarine that rescued Belgian sailors during World War II. Other prominent films included “Maestro,” “Priscilla,” “The Killer,” “Ferrari,” “Hit Man,” “Origin,” “El Conde,” “Aggro Dr1ft,” “Coup de Chance,” “Dogman” and William Friedkin’s final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.”The latest edition received wide acclaim despite advance speculation that the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes in Hollywood might affect the festival’s impact. Stars were largely absent. However, there were exceptions, including Adam Driver and Jessica Chastain, thanks to interim agreements secured with SAG-AFTRA; both actors expressed support for the strikes. But the filmmakers did not disappoint: Before the awards ceremony, crowds chanted “Yorgos! Yorgos!” when the director walked onto the red carpet.The Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize went to “Evil Does Not Exist,” the new film from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, whose film “Drive My Car” won an Academy Award. His latest feature centers on a small town in Japan trying to fend off a planned glamping site.Immigration was a recurring theme among the prizewinners. The Silver Lion for best director went to Matteo Garrone for the immigration drama “Me Captain.” The Special Jury Prize went to Agnieszka Holland for “Green Border,” her multifaceted look at immigration to Poland.The Volpi Cup for best actress was awarded to Cailee Spaeny, who played the titular role in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” the story of Priscilla Presley’s relationship with Elvis Presley. The best actor award went to Peter Sarsgaard for his role as a man with dementia who is accused of past abuse in Michel Franco’s “Memory.” In his acceptance speech, Sarsgaard spoke movingly against the threat of artificial intelligence. Seydou Sarr won the Marcello Mastroianni Award, given to an outstanding emerging actor, for “Me Captain.”The best screenplay honor was given to “El Conde,” a vampiric reimagining of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, written by Guillermo Calderón and Pablo Larraín, who also directed. “Love Is a Gun,” directed by Lee Hong-Chi, received the Lion of the Future award for best debut feature. “Thank You Very Much,” a playful look at Andy Kaufman, won the Venice Classics award for best documentary on cinema.For the Orizzonti section, another competition slate in the festival, the top prize went to “Explanation for Everything,” an expansive work from the Hungarian director Gabor Reisz. “El Paraiso,” a mother-daughter drama, also won two awards in this section: Margarita Rosa de Francisco won for best actress, and Enrico Maria Artale won for best screenplay. Notably, a Mongolian film, “City of Wind,” was honored for best actor (Tergel Bold-Erdene).This year’s Golden Lions for lifetime achievement went to Tony Leung Chiu-wai, a star of Hong Kong cinema, and to the director Liliana Cavani, whose film “The Order of Time” played out of competition. The Glory to the Filmmaker Award went to Wes Anderson, whose short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” played out of competition. More