Taormina, Tyler

Subterms

    Latest story

    125 Shares88 Views

    ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’ Review: Home for the Holidays

    by

    Tyler Taormina’s third theatrical feature is a lightly nostalgic ensemble piece set on Long Island.Not much happens plot-wise in “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,” the third theatrical feature from Tyler Taormina, but it has, as they say, a lot going on. In this ensemble comedy, centered on the Christmas gathering of a family so large that theaters ought to hand out a genealogy chart, the movie is at once hyper-specific about place — western Suffolk County on Long Island — and intriguingly loose about time.Scored to a soundtrack of early-1960s hits, the film is set in the aughts, judging from the dialogue, the cellphone technology and the TV (with its built-in DVD and VHS players) on which some of the kids play video games. The details (a player piano, cherry affogatos for dessert) are quirky enough to feel remembered, and Paris Peterson’s production design makes the home look lived in. The scant overt drama involves disagreement among siblings about how to handle their mother’s decline and whether to sell the house.Those siblings include Kathleen (Maria Dizzia), whose daughter (Matilda Fleming) is giving her attitude and whose husband (Ben Shenkman) awkwardly tries to fit in, and Ray (Tony Savino), who is secretly writing a novel. A cousin, Bruce (Chris Lazzaro), is a firefighter who is cheered on by the others when he rides by on a festively decorated truck. Somehow the film finds roles for not one but two adult children of auteurs, Francesca Scorsese and Sawyer Spielberg — though not as relatives, alas.As in his earlier features “Ham on Rye” and “Happer’s Comet,” Taormina gestures toward the surreal, especially once he steps outside the main location. Two police officers (Michael Cera and Gregg Turkington) spend much of the movie in stone-faced silence; their New York City uniforms suggest that they’re operating out of their jurisdiction. “Miller’s Point” is a Christmas movie more invested in atmosphere, and the qualities of wintry light, than in holiday cheer — and that somehow makes it all the more warm.Christmas Eve in Miller’s PointRated PG-13 for teenage mischief. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. In theaters. More

    More stories

    • 75 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Happer’s Comet’ Review: Live by Night

      by

      The writer-director Tyler Taormina shot this highly experimental feature, which mostly takes place after dark, during the most restrictive phase of the pandemic.Except in its final shot, “Happer’s Comet” takes place entirely at night. But if it weren’t for occasional glimpses of clocks, discerning the precise time would be tricky. There are plenty of people out and about, performing quiet, personal, often inexplicable tasks in an unidentified pocket of suburbia. (The film was largely shot in Smithtown, Long Island.)One person records the sounds of crickets and trains on a cellphone. Another does push-ups in a closed auto body shop. Still another tries to reach a human being on an automated phone system, but all of the agents are currently busy. The only dialogue in this movie comes from external sources, like the phone system or televisions. The characters never speak, and they are never named. It may say something about the film’s foreboding mood — it’s been described as Lynchian, and the opening shot appears to nod to “Blue Velvet” — that one of the figures who looks sleepiest is driving (and drifting over the yellow line).Motion becomes a motif: As “Happer’s Comet” progresses, it becomes difficult to keep track of how many of its subjects have donned roller blades or skates. They glide through the area almost ritualistically (or somnambulistically).The writer-director, Tyler Taormina (“Ham on Rye”), shot this highly experimental feature during the most restrictive phase of the pandemic, apparently with a crew of two.Taormina has taken the problem of having to look at the same thing every day and turned it into an aesthetic — staring at, and listening to, ordinary sights to the point where they become eerie and unfamiliar. (The sound design on a cornfield makeout session gets in way closer than movies normally do.) Sometimes wearying, sometimes pointlessly cryptic, “Happer’s Comet” nevertheless has a distinct way of viewing the world.Happer’s CometNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 2 minutes. In theaters. More