On the Count of Three (Movie)

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    In Dark Comedies Like ‘Friendship,’ Bad Bromance Brews

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    A spate of recent indie films provide a complicated, sometimes solemn take on male friendship.“Men shouldn’t have friends,” reads the provocative tagline of the uncomfortable new comedy “Friendship” (in theaters), from the writer-director Andrew DeYoung.That tongue-in-cheek statement seems to respond to the deranged lengths Craig (Tim Robinson), a suburban father and husband trapped in a dull routine, will go to feel validated by his much-cooler neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd).Even as bizarre as the pair’s encounters become, an improbable but genuine loyalty develops between them in the end.But “Pineapple Express” this is not. The last decade has seen several American indie tragicomedies that, like “Friendship,” explore complicated platonic relationships between men with insight that the mainstream brom-coms that were hugely popular in the 2000s weren’t interested in. These new films stir up a kind of bad bromance.Movies such as “The Climb” (2020), “Donald Cried” (2017) and “On the Count of Three” (2022) interrogate toxic masculinity and approach the mechanics of male bonding with searing incisiveness, while still making time for laughs. In these stories, men grapple with regret, forgiveness and their darkest feelings as they relate to their best bros.Kyle Marvin, left, and Michael Angelo Covino in “The Climb.” Zach Kuperstein/Sony Pictures ClassicsWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Annihilation,’ ‘Support the Girls’ and More Streaming Gems

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      This month’s rundown of off-the-radar picks on your subscription streaming services includes indies of all stripes, plus three documentary explorations of our changing media landscape.‘Annihilation’ (2018)Stream it on Netflix.You’d think that a science-fiction adventure featuring the “Star Wars” alums Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, as well as Portman’s “Thor” co-star Tessa Thompson, would have been a giant hit. But Paramount Pictures seemed baffled by how to market a sci-fi picture about ideas and creeping dread (rather then lasers and intergalactic dogfights), dumping it onto Netflix overseas and into theaters with a shrug in the United States. They fear what they don’t understand; the writer and director Alex Garland, adapting the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, crafts a thrilling yet thoughtful combination of head trip and hero’s journey that owes more to Tarkovsky than Lucas.‘On the Count of Three’ (2022)Stream it on Hulu.The feature directorial debut of the stand-up comic and sitcom star Jerrod Carmichael was one of many films all but disappeared by the pandemic; it premiered at the 2021, online-only edition of the Sundance Film Festival before quietly landing on Hulu more than a year later. But there’s much to recommend in “On the Count of Three,” the story of two longtime friends (played by Carmichael and Christopher Abbott) who vow to aid each other in ending their lives after a long day of cleaning up unfinished business. Its chief virtue is its leading actors — Abbott has been doing modest but devastating work on the indie scene for years, and Carmichael matches his co-star’s intensity and anguish — while Carmichael shows a sure hand for navigating the tonal shifts of Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch’s tricky screenplay.‘White Bird in a Blizzard’ (2014)Stream it on Max.The films of the director Gregg Araki have been so (rightly) celebrated in recent years for their wild stylistic choices and unapologetic queer themes that it’s tempting to overlook his more tempered, mainstream affairs. But this combination of sun-baked noir, coming-of-age drama and Sirkian melodrama remains one of his most fascinating concoctions. Shailene Woodley turns in one of her finest performances to date as young Kat, whose mother, Eve (Eva Green, vamping marvelously), disappears under mysterious circumstances. Kat tries to figure out what happened, but “White Bird” is less a detective story than an exploration of the tricky landscape of young adulthood, dramatized with a weary verisimilitude.‘Violet & Daisy’ (2013)Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.This tale of two teenage girl assassins (Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan) from the writer and director Geoffrey Fletcher (the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Precious”) suffers a bit from post-Tarantino preciousness. The M.V.P. here is James Gandolfini, who co-stars as their would-be target, and plays the character with the weary melancholy of a man who knows his days are numbered, and has accepted it. He plays it as dry comedy, with just a touch of doomed inevitability, and that’s the right choice; the genuine tenderness and trust in his scenes with Ronan are a nice plus. “Violet & Daisy” hit theaters just 12 days before Gandolfini’s untimely death, and it serves as a poignant reminder of the wide range of roles he had yet to play.‘Slow West’ (2015)Stream it on Max.Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Oscar-nominated turn in “The Power of the Dog” was not the actor’s first go-round in the Wild West; six years earlier, he co-starred with Michael Fassbender in this eccentric and affecting oater from the writer and director John Maclean. Smit-McPhee plays Jay, a teenage Scottish immigrant traveling the West in search of his sweetheart from back home, with Fassbender as Silas, a frontiersman who takes the innocent and clueless Jay under his wing. MacLean creates a credibly dangerous world of threats both natural and seemingly supernatural (Ben Mendelsohn, stealing the show as a menacing bounty hunter).‘Support the Girls’ (2018)Stream it on Hulu.A preview of the film.The writer and director Andrew Bujalski (“Funny Ha Ha,” “Computer Chess”) creates what looks, on its shiny surface, like a sunny workplace comedy along the lines of “Working …” or the Chotchkie’s scenes in “Office Space.” But he’s up to something much slyer, a smart examination of class and gender politics in one of their most pointed playgrounds: a Hooters-style sports bar and grill, where customers leer at scantily clad waitresses while the manager, Lisa (Regina Hall), tries to keep temperatures cool (and maintain her own sanity). It’s a wise, winning comedy, with a particularly sparkling supporting turn by Haley Lu Richardson, a “White Lotus” favorite.‘Voyeur’ (2017)Stream it on Netflix.The strange, twisted tale of the motel owner Gerald Foos (who claimed to have spied on his customers for decades) and the superstar journalist Gay Talese (who wrote about Foos in a controversial “New Yorker” article and book) is detailed by the directors Myles Kane and Josh Koury in this riveting documentary. Voyeurism aside, the most compelling passages are less about what Foos did than how Talese’s seemingly sturdy news judgment failed him so spectacularly. Ultimately, “Voyeur” is less a character study than a prescient examination of a faltering media landscape, where a story that’s too good to be true is too often told anyway.‘VHS Massacre’ (2016) / ‘VHS Massacre Too’ (2020)Stream part one and part two on Amazon Prime Video.Kenneth Powell and Thomas Edward Seymour’s first documentary on, per the secondary title, “Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media” is a bit too ambitious for its slender 72-minute running time, attempting to follow too many strands and chase too many gimmicks. But the most direct material, on the logistics of the video business — from its golden age to this waning period — is invaluable, as Seymour seemed to realize when solo-directing the more successful follow-up, a straight-ahead history of exploitation films, their exhibition and the kind of oddities we’ve lost in this all-streaming, all-the-time era. The sequel is the better film, but both are informative and enlightening, with copious commentary from the people who make these movies, and those who love them. More

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      Sundance 2021 Guide: Bundle Up and Settle in on Your Sofa

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySundance 2021 Guide: Bundle Up and Settle in on Your SofaNow that the film festival has gone virtual, you can watch like an insider. But where do you start? If you liked previous hits from Park City, try these new entries.At home, unlike in Park City, you’re first in line.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesJan. 28, 2021Updated 5:09 p.m. ETAttending the Sundance Film Festival has never been an easy thing to do. Passes are pricey, accommodations are even pricier, the closest airport is nearly an hour away, and you end up waiting in long lines (in Utah, in January) for screenings — at least for the ones that haven’t sold out (which most do).But like so many film festivals in the Covid era, Sundance, which starts Thursday, has gone virtual this year. So while that means there’s no chance of randomly encountering celebrities in the bathroom (well, less of a chance), it does mean that anyone who can scrounge up $15 — the price of a single film ticket — can attend. You won’t even have to put on long johns and snow boots, unless your super is being especially stingy with the heat.So … what to watch? Even pared down, as it is this year, the festival program is a bit overwhelming — 73 feature-length films and 50 short films — and it’s not like you can make your selections based on reviews or buzz, as most of these titles have never been seen before. But if you’re the kind of viewer who wants to attend a virtual Sundance, you’re probably the kind of viewer who has enjoyed films from previous festivals, so here are some recommendations from this year’s slate that recall the great films of Sundances past. The festival runs through Wednesday. Tickets and other details are at sundance.org.If you liked ‘The Rider,’ try ‘Jockey.’Clifton Collins Jr. plays a jockey at a crossroads.Credit…Adolpho VelosoChloé Zhao’s powerful, earnest drama “The Rider” (which played in the Spotlight section of the 2018 fest) concerns a rodeo rider who finds himself sidelined from the work he loves, and uncertain where his life will go next. In Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” (playing in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition), the versatile character actor Clifton Collins Jr. (“Capote”) stars as a racing jockey facing a similar dilemma: As he makes one last run at a championship, the appearance of a young jockey who claims to be his son forces the aging athlete to contemplate who he’ll be when he’s not on a horse.If you liked ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ try ‘Ma Belle, My Beauty.’Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of André Aciman’s novel was one of the highlights of Sundance 2017, and for good reason: the beauty of its luminous Italian vistas was matched only by the tenderness of its dramatization of first love (and loss). The first-time feature filmmaker Marion Hill’s “Ma Belle, My Beauty” (in this year’s Next section) plays in a similar key, mixing gorgeous European locations — this time, the dazzling vistas of the South of France — with a story of sophisticated romantic entanglements, as a newlywed couple welcomes the woman they both once loved back into their home for a surprise visit.Arguing about movies at home may not be quite the same as in Park City.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesIf you liked ‘Donnie Darko,’ try ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.’Audiences at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival knew they were seeing something special in “Donnie Darko,” Richard Kelly’s mind-bending deep dive into time travel, wormholes, doomsdays and suburban ennui. It’s so strange and distinctive that it’s all but incomparable, but those unnerving vibes are also present in the debut writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s Next selection, “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.” Focusing on a lonely teenage girl’s journey into a mind-altering online role-playing horror game, it’s another emotionally resonant tale of teenage identity, with generous helpings of horror and science fiction mixed in.If you liked ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,’ try ‘Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.’Oscar the Grouch and his pal Caroll Spinney in the new documentary.Credit…Luke GeissbühlerOne of the breakout titles of Sundance 2018, Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was a poignant and heart-rending documentary about the life and legacy of the children’s public television favorite Fred Rogers. Marilyn Agrelo’s adaptation of Michael Davis’s book mines similar historical and emotional territory, detailing how educators and entertainers joined forces in the late 1960s to put new ideas about teaching and learning — and a new focus on inner-city children — into practice on “Sesame Street.” And like “Neighborhood,” “Street Gang” is loaded with enough archival clips and songs to stir nostalgia in the heart of even the most resistant viewer.If you liked ‘Blindspotting,’ try ‘On the Count of Three.’Carlos López Estrada’s comedy-drama was one of the opening-night films of Sundance 2018, and one of its most memorable — a pulsing, rousing story of two lifelong best friends dealing with changes in their lives and the world around them. That film was grounded by the relationship between its protagonists (played by co-writers Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs). A kindred relationship, with even higher stakes, is at the center of “On the Count of Three,” in which the actor and comedian Jerrod Carmichael (making his feature directorial debut) and Christopher Abbott are best friends bonded by a suicide pact.If you liked ‘Hoop Dreams,’ try ‘Captains of Zaatari.’One of the most acclaimed documentaries in Sundance history — and in the history of nonfiction cinema — is the 1994 sports epic “Hoop Dreams,” following two high school basketball players through a four-year cycle of hopes and disappointments. The first-time director Ali El Arabi also profiles two young sports fanatics: Fawzi and Mahmoud, best friends obsessed with soccer but trapped in a Jordanian camp for Syrian refugees. And like the subjects of “Hoop Dreams,” Fawzi and Mahmoud see their sport not just as a hobby, but as a pathway out of their grim surroundings and into a better, brighter future.You won’t run into celebrities at home the way you would in Park City. Probably.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesIf you liked ‘Swiss Army Man,’ try ‘Cryptozoo.’Love it or hate it, no one who saw the 2016 U.S. Dramatic competition award-winner “Swiss Army Man” forgot its story of a forgotten man on a desert island who befriends a farting corpse. That same spirit of gonzo, anything-goes storytelling is in abundance in Dash Shaw’s animation-for-adults feature, which centers on a secret zoo holding rare and imaginary beasts (like the unicorn and the baku), and the humans who are drawn into its orbit.If you liked ‘American Teen,’ try ‘Homeroom.’The trials and tribulations of the typical high school student’s senior year were transformed into compelling drama in Nanette Burstein’s 2008 Sundance documentary “American Teen,” which focused on five students in small-town Indiana. The director Peter Nicks (who also made the Sundance 2017 award-winner “The Force”) captures a much more tumultuous time in his documentary “Homeroom,” which follows Oakland High School’s class of 2020 through a senior year shaken up by calls for the elimination of the district’s police force, and then overturned by the pandemic.If you liked ‘Brick,’ try ‘First Date.’Tyson Brown in “First Date,” a playful genre mashup from Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp.Credit…Manuel CrosbyOne of Sundance’s most noteworthy fictional high school films was Rian Johnson’s 2005 Special Jury Prize winner “Brick,” which viewed the types and tropes of the secondary school narrative through the lens of classic film noir. Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s “First Date” is also something of a throwback, crossing the classic high school dating comedy with ’80s-influenced action and “Repo Man”-esque surrealism, a playful genre mash-up with a beating heart underneath.If you liked ‘Stranger Than Paradise,’ try ‘El Planeta.’Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan comedy “Stranger Than Paradise” was an early indie hit, and thus one of the first big breakouts from Sundance (where it won the Special Jury Prize in 1985). It remains among the most influential independent films of all time, so it’s not surprising to hear its echoes in the artist Amalia Ulman’s feature directorial debut, “El Planeta,” another black-and-white, absurdist comedy about survival. But it also goes in its own wonderfully personal direction, with Ulman not only writing and directing but also starring as a desperate student running small-time grifts with her mother (played by Ulman’s own mother, Ale Ulman).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More