REVIEW: “Antebellum” (2020)

August 31, 2020 by Keith Garlington

“Antebellum” begins with one brilliant tone-setting tracking shot. Co-directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz start with their camera gazing upwards as rays of sunlight beam through treetops draped in Spanish moss. The camera pans down to an elegant plantation house, a young girl skipping in the front yard picking flowers as horses graze on the lush green grass. It’s a beautiful portrait.

But as the camera moves the idyllic storybook facade gives way to the ugliness of reality. It slowly winds through the plantation’s slave quarters as Nate Wonder and Roman Gianarthur’s searing score steadily escalates. The camera settles on an act of unspeakable violence – a jarring and unsettling moment that instantly and firmly plants our feet in Bush and Renz’s world.

Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate

With that gripping opening Bush and Renz provide one of the best 10 minute stretches I’ve seen in a movie all year. And it gets “Antebellum” off on a strong foot. Genre-wise their feature film debut resembles Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” minus the plot holes and freshman filmmaker miscalculations. Both are horror movies but not in the traditional sense and both tell stories with strong social consciences.

“Antebellum” stars Janelle Monáe who gives two dramatically different yet equally compelling performances. We get our first glimpse of her during the opening tracking shot as she is brought to a Louisiana plantation. Six months pass and we see her picking cotton under the eye of an abusive white foreman (Jack Huston). We learn that her name is Eden and she is the chosen favorite of a possessive confederate officer (Eric Lange). Through Eden’s eyes and the film’s unflinching sense of conviction we see plantation life often in visceral detail.

Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate

Suddenly, at around the 40 minute mark a cell phone rings, shattering our sense of time and transporting us to modern day. The phone is answered by Veronica Henley (Monáe’s other role), an acclaimed author and activist living lavishly with her husband Nick (Marque Richardson) and their young daughter Kennedi (London Boyce). Veronica is a picture of success, self-made and a go-getter. You could say she’s living a version of the “American Dream” but one built on shaky ground – something that becomes clearer as the movie progresses.

It would be a disservice to reveal any more. All I’ll say is Veronica flies to New Orleans to deliver a lecture on black empowerment. While there Bush and Renz (who also penned the script) slyly begin to connect the narrative dots. There is a time or two when Veronica’s storyline strays a bit. Take a dinner sequence with her and two friends played Gabourey Sidibe and Lily Cowles. On its own the scene is well written and performed. But within the movie itself, the nearly seven minute sequence grinds the tension-building to a halt. There are also tonal issues as the scene focuses almost entirely on Sidibe’s character who plays a tad too much like comic relief.

Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate

But it doesn’t take long for “Antebellum” to get back on track. Bush and Renz craft a nail-biting final act that illuminates the two stories before arriving at its satisfying conclusion. It’s not that hard to pick up where things are going well before the big ending. But watching it all come together and seeing the details cleverly ironed out makes for a worthwhile payoff. And it doesn’t hurt to have such a brilliantly multifaceted performance from Monáe who finally gets her first (and much deserved) lead role. She works with such authenticity and commitment which proves to be invaluable to both Eden and Veronica.

“Antebellum” falls among the ever-growing list of movies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally slated for a theatrical release before finally landing on VOD this weekend. While I wish it could have gotten the big screen treatment, I’m glad people finally get the chance to see it. “Antebellum” deserves an audience, not just for being good genre entertainment (which it is), but also for the richness of its underlying message. It tells a penetrating story that will leave you primed for a second viewing. “Antebellum” premieres September 18th on VOD.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Chadwick Boseman (1976 – 2020)

August 28, 2020 by Keith Garlington

There are no words. RIP Chadwick Boseman.

REVIEW: “Bill & Ted Face the Music” (2020)

August 28, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Prior to its first trailer, if you had told me there would be a sequel to the Bill & Ted movies in the year 2020 I would probably put a wager on it (and I’m not a betting man). Yet here we are with a brand new follow-up to the pair’s “Excellent Adventure” (1989) and “Bogus Journey” (1991). Some key names and familiar faces return most notably the two most excellent stars – Alex Winter as William S. “Bill” Preston, Esq. and Keanu Reeves as Theodore “Ted” Logan (insert air guitar here).

The first two Bill & Ted movies were very much simple and utterly absurd buddy comedies that had no allusions of being anything other than what they were. So expectations for the third film were pretty easy to keep in check. “Bill & Ted Face the Music” really only needed to do one thing to be a success – tap into the same frothy yet utterly charming nuttiness of its predecessors. Will it play well for younger audiences with no attachments to the original films? It’s hard to say. But for the rest of us there is just enough smile-inducing silliness and nostalgic allure to make Bill & Ted’s latest time-hopping romp worthwhile.

Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures

The lovable Wyld Stallyns have seen their rock-and-roll stock plummet. Bill & Ted’s once beloved band has gone from selling out big arenas to playing Elk’s Lodges on $2 Taco Night. But it barely phases the ever-content and perpetually optimistic best friends who push forward, still trying to write the song that will unite the world. How’s that for persistence?

In the meantime both are now married to their former girlfriends and 15th-century princesses from the previous films (Jayma Mays plays Bill’s wife Joanna, Erinn Hayes plays Ted’s wife Elizabeth). And both have teenage daughters with striking resemblances to their fathers, Wilhelmina “Billie” Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Theodora “Thea” Preston (Samara Weaving).

While Bill and Ted’s friendship is stronger than ever, the inseparable bosom buddies can’t see the strain it’s having on their marriages. To add another kink, Kelly (Kristen Schaal), the daughter of their old friend from the future Rufus (played in the earlier films by the late George Carlin), arrives in her time-traveling egg to inform Bill and Ted that they have been summoned by the Great Leader (Holland Taylor). And when the Great Leader summons you know things must be serious.

Kelly takes them to the future where they are told they have only 78 minutes to finally discover their song that will unite the world. Why? Who the heck knows? These movies have always pulled their ‘rules’ out of thin air. And who really cares when you’re given such delightfully corny lines like “The song is a nexus point that brings humanity into rhythm and harmony” and that without the song “reality will collapse and time and space will cease to exist“. Those are all the ‘rules’ I need.

Photo Courtesy of Orion Pictures

Of course more time-bopping ensues as Bill & Ted reunite with their magic phone booth and travel to the future hoping to find their all-important song. Meanwhile Billie and Thea convince Kelly to take them to the past, searching different time periods in order to assemble the greatest band in history to help play their fathers’ song. Again, the goofiness of it all will be too much for some people to handle, but director Dean Parisot along with his cast and crew fully embrace it. If they hadn’t, this would have been a disaster.

“Face the Music” is a bit of a miracle. The screenwriters for the original films Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon started working on this script a decade ago. It took several drafts to get the story right and just as much effort to find funding. Yet here we are, with one of the most unlikeliest of sequels. One that surprisingly feels right at home with its 30-year-old forerunners. There are a few awkward moments where the dialogue clangs and the now 55-year-old actors can’t always muster the same youthful silliness to make every scene work. But Reeves and Winter put a lot of heart into Bill & Ted. They love these characters and we can tell. Did we really ‘need’ another movie? Not really. Am I glad we got one? “Totally dude”. By the way, stay till the end. There is a post-credits scene that is…how shall I put it…most triumphant. “Bill & Ted Face the Music” is out today in theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “Death on the Nile”

August 27, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Kenneth Branagh steps back into the shoes of Belgian super sleuth Hercule Poirot in “Death on the Nile”. It’s the follow up to “Murder on the Orient Express”, Branagh’s star-studded 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic 1934 novel. Once again Branagh directs and Michael Green returns as screenwriter.

This time around Poirot is on vacation in Egypt when he is suddenly thrust into the middle of a murder mystery with a list of suspects as long as the Nile. They include Gal Gadot, Annette Benning, Arnie Hammer, Tom Bateman, Russell Brand, Letitia Wright among others. The first trailer gives an entertaining and stylish glimpse into what Branagh and company have in store for us.

“Death on the Nile” opens October 23rd in theaters. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “The 24th” (2020)

August 26, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Named for the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Regiment, Kevin Willmott’s “The 24th” tells the story of the Houston riot of 1917. On the night of August 23rd members of the 24th, driven by relentless Jim Crow era racism, police harassment, and a bit of misinformation, took arms and marched into Houston. By the end of the night eleven civilians, five policemen, and four soldiers including a Captain in the National Guard had been killed as a result of their mutiny.

Willmott co-writes the story with the film’s star Trai Byers. Their setting is a compelling one. In the summer of 1917 World War I was brewing in Europe while at home black communities were being violently targeted by angry white mobs in several US cities. It was during this tense and racially-charged time that the 24th Infantry Division were sent to guard the construction of Camp Logan, three miles outside of the city of Houston. The camp was to train white soldiers before they were deployed to France. The 24th went there with similar aspirations of serving their country but ran head-first into hate and persecution.

Photo Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Much of the movie’s uneven first half plays like a series of racially volatile encounters. Several of them are effective on their own and they do a good job conveying the ugliness of the setting. But there isn’t much connecting one scene to another. The biggest casualty in the earlier scenes is the character building. It takes a while before any of the 24th actually develop individually. When some of the players finally do, the story gets a much-needed boost.

Byars gets the meatiest role playing William Boston, a highly educated and idealistic young soldier hungry to join the war effort. He instantly clashes with his cynical first sergeant (Mykelti Williamson) who is quick to judge Boston’s buoyancy as a sign of weakness. At the same time he and other members of the 24th routinely encounter prejudice from the camp’s white soldiers. So Boston is caught in the middle, forced to prove himself to the bigoted white officers and to his jealous fellow black servicemen. And his friendship with his sympathetic white commanding officer (a fairly wooden Thomas Haden Church) doesn’t win him any fans.

Photo Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

This is the film’s most compelling dynamic and it leads up to the inevitable mutiny and march into Houston. The lid blows off as the men of the 24th are pushed to the point where the line between right and wrong are blurred at best, completely rubbed out at its worst. It’s an ugly and violent final act – a complex melding of righteous indignation and cold-blooded murder. In some scenes Willmott attempts to dull the edge of the killings. But he also makes it uncomfortable to watch and he captures the pure, pained emotions of the soldiers. “Ain’t nobody innocent here soldier,” the sergeant rationalizes. “Not them, not us, nobody.” It’s a really difficult line to walk.

As the movie ended I was left with a feeling of sadness and conflict (although I’m not sure if that was the film’s intent). Willmott and Byers do a nice job boiling up the anger in not only the oppressed 24th but also any fair-minded viewer. And while they effectively show how unconscionable treatment can push people to unconscionable actions, the film’s judgements are pretty muted. Unfortunately the movie’s dependence on archetypes shortchanges several of its characters. And some story angles don’t get the attention they need. Take Boston’s romance with a local girl named Marie (Aja Naomi King). It’s genuinely sweet yet wedged in and underwritten. Those are the kinds of things that strip “The 24th” of certain personal connections it needed to truly stand out. Still, I’m glad I watched it and it’s a story that needs to be told. “The 24th” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

First Glance: “Enola Holmes”

August 25, 2020 by Keith Garlington

This morning Netflix dropped a new trailer for their upcoming mystery movie “Enola Holmes”. Shamefully I didn’t know that “Enola Holmes” was a popular young adult novel series from American author Nancy Springer. The film adaptation was originally planned for a big screen release, but following the COVID-19 theater closings Netflix acquired the distribution rights from Legendary Entertainment.

“Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown plays Enola, the younger sister of the renowned Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill). When Enola discovers her mother (played by the always welcomed Helena Bonham-Carter) is missing, she sets out to find her, honing her own keen super-sleuth skills along the way. The trailer shows off a delightfully playful vibe and I kinda love the silly fourth wall breaking. This is an infectiously fun first look.

“Enola Holmes” premieres September 23rd only on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.