There’s a lot of pain, regret, and hard feelings simmering throughout the new trailer for “Montana Story”, an upcoming family drama from the writing/directing duo of Scott McGehee and David Siegel. The film was shot over six weeks in late 2020 in beautiful Paradise Valley, Montana under strict COVID-19 restrictions. Now Bleeker Street is bringing it to theaters and the first trailer has me excited.
I’m a big fan of Haley Lu Richardson. Here she and Owen Teague play estranged siblings forced to come back together at their family homeplace in Montana to care for their dying father. While there, old wounds from the past inevitably resurface as brother and sister try handling the affairs of their father while finally reckoning with the ugliness of their family history. Visually, the movie looks exquisite and there’s plenty of family tension there for a good drama. And I’m always up for Richardson digging into new roles. I’m looking forward to this one.
“Montana Story” lands in theaters May 13th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
The enthusiasm for A24’s latest “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has been deafening, with early reactions ranging from high praise to full-blown hyperbole. Admittedly, that has made keeping my own personal expectations in check a little difficult. On one hand A24 is a distributor with a tremendous track record when it comes to releasing bold original independent movies. On the other hand, first-takes can be a hard thing to gauge, and they can sometimes resemble trendy groupthink rather than original reactions.
After some initial worry, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has finally made its way to our market. And while I appreciate much of what it’s going for, the movie ended up being a tough sit. Without question, the film is an ambitious undertaking for the co-writing and co-directing duo of Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (who collectively refer to themselves as “Daniels”). Unfortunately their ambition often gives way to overindulgence making this overlong and overstuffed genre stew a well-meaning but exhausting experience.
The film’s biggest plus is easily Michelle Yeoh. She’s long been a terrific actress and here she fully commits 110%. She truly is the movie’s anchor and her role demands a ton emotionally, physically, and even comedically. It’s pretty amazing watching Yeoh tie all of those threads together especially considering how erratic the movie can get at times. Blunt stylistic choices and some particularly wild attempts at humor make things needlessly messy, yet Yeoh never misses a beat.
Image Courtesy of A24
Yeoh’s character Evelyn is the story’s centerpiece. When she was young, Evelyn ran off and married Waymond (Key Huy Quan) much to the chagrin of her disapproving parents. These days the couple own and run a neighborhood laundromat and live in small apartment right above it. The movie begins with Evelyn chugging through her hectic yet mundane existence. “Laundry and taxes” is her life in a nutshell as she and Waymond struggle to keep their laundromat afloat while preparing for an audit by the IRS.
Meanwhile Evelyn’s elderly father (James Hong) is set to pay a visit and her rebellious daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) wants to introduce him to her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel). But knowing what her old-fashioned father’s reaction will be, Evelyn hides it, souring her relationship with her daughter even more. This forms one of the movie’s central themes – a mother reconnecting with her daughter after bucking her ‘old ways’ of thinking. It’s all pretty on-the-nose and it’s not hard to figure out how things are going to play out. The only real suspense is in how chaotic things will get in between.
The craziness kicks in when Evelyn is contacted by a Waymond from another universe. Call him Alpha Waymond and through a string of long never-ending exposition drops he explains to Evelyn (and us) the rules of this movie’s world. Over time Alpha Waymond rattles on about “infinite multiverses”, “bringing balance”, and even a line about Evelyn being “the One” (all obvious nods to “Star Wars”, “The Matrix”, and the MCU). I understand laying the groundwork, but to be honest I quickly grew tired of the details. And the more they went on about how it all worked the more my mind wandered.
Image Courtesy of A24
But that only scratches the surface. As it turns out, there are enough ideas and interests stuffed into this thing to fill at least three seasons of a television series. Yet it’s all crammed into this one movie which sees the Daniels frantically shoehorning in every possible idea that must have come to their collective minds. Operating under the notion that ‘more is not enough’, the filmmakers move from exposition-heavy to furiously bouncing across nearly every genre. That sounds cool, but too often the chaos overshadows the human element. In fact, at times the movie seems far more interested in its own boldness and peculiarity. That leaves it scrambling at the end to bring things back to an emotional level.
As Evelyn learns the technique of ‘verse-jumping’, she’s able to tap into the memories (and skills) of her parallel selves. This is where we’re introduced to a universe where everyone has hotdogs for fingers, a chef with a raccoon on his head, and there’s a verse-hopping bagel cult (yep, you read that right) ran by Alpha Joy, aka Jobu Tupaki. There’s actually meant to be a poignant mother/daughter element to the bagel cult. But as with so much in this movie, it’s overshadowed by the brazen showiness and all-out absurdity of nearly everything else.
What’s most frustrating about “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is that it has the pieces for something special. Tops on that list is the cast. Yeoh is sensational and it was great seeing Key Huy Quan handed a meaty role. We even get a bobbed Jamie Lee Curtis playing part IRS inspector/part bagel cult assassin (she’s terrific). And the story has good things to say about finding oneself, the messiness of life, and pondering the question of “What if?”. But whether it’s the draining exposition of the first half or the smothering non-stop ridiculousness of the second half, the film never finds a good balance. It ends up as something that could’ve possibly flourished as a streaming series rather than being the well-meaning but tiresome 140 minutes it becomes. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is now showing in theaters.
One of my biggest questions regarding the MCU’s next big phase was wondering what they were going to do with Thor. Long before there were even thoughts of a sprawling lucrative cinematic universe, the God of Thunder was one of my favorite Marvel Comics creations. And while I actually liked the lighthearted bend of the earlier Thor movies, it was frustrating to see him suddenly turned into a punchline. So my biggest question going into Thor’s fourth solo movie centered around its treatment of the character. Would we get a better balance or would he remain a blonde beefy gag?
We’ve finally gotten our first look at the film through a brand-new teaser trailer and to be honest, I still don’t know what to think. Is it going to be the movie I hope it will be or the one I’m afraid it might be? I have no idea. We do get several shots of Thor and a handful of his supporting players while the weird choice of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” plays in the background. I’m not sure what they’re going for, but I’ll need to see more before getting too excited.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” hits theaters July 8th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Dutch filmmaker Ben Sombogaart directs the new Netflix drama “My Best Friend Anne Frank”. The movie is inspired by the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar. And while it’s a mostly fictional account, Sombogaart approaches the subject with sincerity and sensitivity.
But this isn’t just another Anne Frank movie. The story is really about Goslar and her own remarkable true story. One that may not have gotten as much attention as her more famous best friend’s, but it’s remarkable nonetheless (the 93-year-old Goslar is still with us today and resides in Jerusalem).
Working from a screenplay by Marian Batavier and Paul Ruven, the story is based on “Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend” by American author Alison Leslie Gold. The story chronicles this friendship which began in 1942 at the 6th Montessori School in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. After moving from Germany following the election of Adolf Hitler, Anne Frank (Aiko Mila Beemsterboer) and her family moved to Amsterdam. At school, she met and became close friends with Hannah Goslar (Josephine Arendsen).
Image Courtesy of Netflix
The movie’s fractured structure bounces us back-and-forth between two key times in the lives of these friends. One is set in happier days where the inseparable Hannah and Anne playfully bounce around the city. They act silly, talk about boys, and dream about traveling the world. But in the background, ominous signs of what’s to come are everywhere as the Nazi presence intensifies.
These scenes are interesting because Sombogaart doesn’t sugarcoat or romanticize Anne’s personality. At times we see her as rebellious, cruel, and even a bit of a bully. This really comes out when the high-energy Anne tries to impress the most popular girl in school, often at Hannah’s expense.
Quite the opposite, Hannah is shy and kind-hearted. She spends much of her time helping her pregnant mother (Lottie Hellingman) take care of her baby sister Gabi. Meanwhile Hannah’s tense and distracted father (Roeland Fernhout) is clearly burdened with the knowledge of what he knows is on the way. Forbidden to leave a country that doesn’t want them, he knows it’s only a matter of time before his family will be rounded up like many other Jewish families from his neighborhood.
Image Courtesy of Netflix
The other timeline takes place a year or so later. Rather than the bustling streets of Amsterdam or the warmth of home, these scenes are set within the heavily guarded walls of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. There, Hannah and Gabi struggle to survive amid the cold, cruel conditions. But little does Hannah know, her friend Anne, thought to have left for Switzerland with her parents, is in another part of Bergen-Belsen. One that’s considerably harsher and far more savage.
Sombogaart’s choice to shuffle us between these two timelines makes sense, but it doesn’t feel necessary. It works for the most part, but it makes the movie feel out of rhythm, especially in the first half. That said, DP Jan Moeskops does some interesting things visually to help differentiate the two periods. Take the sharp contrast in colors – the brighter sun-soaked glow of the Amsterdam scenes versus the bleak, grim browns and grays of the camp. Alongside Moeskops’ camera are the beautiful strings and aching piano chords from Merlijn Snitker’s simple yet affecting score. Together they help drive the emotions Sombogaart is going for.
“My Best Friend Anne Frank” may have structural issues and there are some slow patches, especially in the early camp scenes. But Ben Sombogaart’s vision conveys the sadness and the tragedy that was such a significant part of Hannah Goslar’s life. And while not as well known as her friend Anne Frank, Sombogaart presents Goslar’s story as one worthy to be told. And knowing she’s still alive today makes this all the more moving. “My Best Friend Anne Frank” is now streaming on Netflix.
In their heyday studio musicals brought with them an entirely new philosophy of moviemaking as colorful and vibrant music-driven set-pieces often trumped more dramatic storytelling. While these light and frothy concoctions did little to showcase what the burgeoning medium would soon become, they did offer audiences a much needed respite from the growing hardships of the real world. They was about transporting moviegoers; whisking them away with song and dance; providing a whimsical and sometimes dreamy escape from their troubles.
In the early 1930s, Depression-era audiences found their escape in the kaleidoscopic showgirl productions of film director and choreographer Busby Berkeley. A few years later, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would begin their celebrated RKO Pictures run. And then there was MGM. Starting in earnest in 1939 and continuing for nearly two decades, MGM revolutionized the movie musical under the creative arm of producer Arthur Freed. Names like Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, and Gene Kelly would drive the studio’s and the genre’s success.
In 1952, MGM would release what remains one of the most beloved movie musicals of all-time – “Singin’ in the Rain”. This year the movie turns 70 and to celebrate Warner Home Video is releasing a 70th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray edition on April 26th. It has been revisiting theaters across the country as part of TCM’s Big Screen Classics series, and if by some chance you’ve never seen this timeless classic, there’s no better time than now.
In 1951, MGM was coming off of a big hit with Gene Kelly’s “An American in Paris” which won six Oscars including Best Picture. It was a tough act for Freed, Kelly, and the studio to follow. Yet they did so with “Singin’ in the Rain”, a musical romantic comedy that most people (and history) agree is the better movie. Though initially met with positive reviews, its early reception was hardly that of a film many today regard as the greatest from its genre. But reassessments (beginning as early as the 1960s) quickly and rightly saw the true greatness in Gene Kelly’s singular vision.
Though he co-directed with Stanley Donen, “Singin’ in the Rain” was Gene Kelly’s show, both in front of and behind the camera. It was Kelly’s vision to fuse song and dance with storytelling, and he relied on Donen’s technical know-how to help bring that vision to the screen. For the script, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green penned the original draft with Kelly and Donen helping with re-writes. And of course, Kelly was intensely involved in the choreography which in turn produced some of the genre’s best dance numbers.
In front of the camera, Kelly gives one of his best performances playing Don Lockwood, a popular silent movie star who falls for young stage actress Kathy Selden, played by the delightful Debbie Reynolds. Only 19-years-old at the time, Reynolds was a gymnast rather than a dancer, and her lack of experience often frustrated her perfectionist teacher and co-star Kelly. “The two hardest things I ever did in my life are childbirth and “Singin’ in the Rain””, she once famously said. But the two became friends with Kelly later admitting, “I wasn’t very nice to Debbie. I’m surprised she still speaks to me.”
Equally vital to the movie is Donald O’Connor, an accomplished dancer and Vaudeville performer who was cast as Don’s best friend Cosmo. In addition to being a perfect on-screen sidekick for Kelly, O’Connor’s “Make ’Em Laugh” is one of the film’s most unforgettable (and physically demanding) numbers. And watching the remarkable duo of O’Connor and Kelly navigate the sublime high-energy tongue-twister “Moses Supposes” is still as hilarious and breathtaking as ever.
There’s also the fabulous Jean Hagen who played Don’s conniving, entitled and unimaginably shallow leading lady Lina Lamont. She quickly becomes the story’s villain as her studio manufactured romance with Don is threatened by Kathy. But she also gets some of the film’s funniest bits with Hagen conveying Lina’s high-pitched petulance for some big laughs.
While “Singin’ in the Rain” is known most for its song and dance, it also has a surprising satirical wit. It’s set in the late 1920s during a transitional period in Hollywood as silent films were slowly giving way to “talkies”. The story pulls back the curtain and has a lot of fun poking at the artifices of the big studio system. There’s actually a lot of truth in the film’s movie-within-a-movie conceit, and you could consider it a behind the scenes primer on how Tinseltown once functioned.
But let’s be honest, it’s the musical numbers that first come to mind when considering “Singin’ in the Rain”. And none are better than the film’s magical centerpiece, where a lovestruck Gene Kelly sings the title song while dancing along a studio street in his soggy tweed suit; twirling his umbrella in a man-made downpour; spinning around a lamppost with an effervescent grace and splashing in puddles with a childlike exuberance (the story goes Kelly was sick with a 103° fever while shooting the sequence, but you would never know it). It’s an iconic movie moment that still shines after 70 years. And you could say the same for the movie as a whole. It’s a cinematic slice of a bygone era, yet one that will forever stand the test of time.
One of the movies cemented on my personal list of ‘all-time favorites’ is Michael Mann’s stellar adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel “The Last of the Mohicans”. It’s hard to believe, but this year the film turns 30-years-old, yet in many ways it still feels overlooked and undervalued. And while it sits handsomely at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s a film that rarely finds its way into conversations about the best movies from that last three decades. Allow me to make a case for why it should.
There have been countless big screen adaptations of “The Last of the Mohicans” dating as far back as 1920. But in 1992, Michael Mann not only delivered what’s arguably the best film version of the well-traveled classic, but also one of the most finely crafted and purely cinematic period pieces of its day. You could call it an unflinching frontier action movie unfolding across a beautiful yet war-torn setting. But at the same time, there’s also a passionate love story at its core. It’s a romance of clashing cultures that is essential to the plot and never feels tacked on or disingenuous. In fact, it fuels and drives the narrative all the way to its powerful final 15 minutes.
The film stars Daniel Day-Lewis who gives what I believe is one of his more underrated performances. He plays Nathaniel, the adopted white son of Mohican chief Chingachgook (Russell Means). Joined by Uncas (Eric Schweig), Chingachgook’s only blood son, the three find themselves pulled into the festering politics and violence of the French and Indian War.
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
The drama begins as the three trackers pick up the trail of a Huron war party on its way to ambush British soldiers. The troops are escorting Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Alice (Joghi May), daughters of a British Colonel stationed at Fort William Henry. Nathaniel, Chingachgook, and Uncas rescue the two sisters while the Huron leader Magua (the ever terrific Wes Studi) escapes into the forest. Realizing more Huron are on the way, Nathaniel agrees to lead Cora, Alice, and Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington) safely to the fort. From there relationships develop, jealousy and deception is revealed, and the horrors of a new kind of war take center stage.
The story is energized by a truly wonderful cast. Day-Lewis has a sparkling chemistry with Stowe, and their onscreen romance feels genuine despite feeling a little hurried. Lewis also excels in the action sequences along with Schweig and Means. The action is beautifully shot and framed with the natural setting playing a big role. Also fun to watch is Studi as Magua, a twisted Huron warrior who wants to kill as many “grey hairs” as possible. But what makes his character so compelling is the history that drives his rage. He’s a complex villain who doesn’t fit into your prototypical “bad guy” mold.
While not purely faithful to Cooper’s novel, Mann and co-writer Christopher Crowe put together a sweeping cinematic adaptation that still sticks to the heart of the classic tale. It shrewdly contrasts the rugged demanding frontier life with the haughty aristocratic attitudes of the English and French. Inevitably, that monarchist arrogance and sense of entitlement crashes against the harsh and violent reality of the frontier. It also doesn’t shy away from the gritty and sometimes brutal nature of frontier combat. Yet with the exception of one particular (yet memorable) scene, the violence never feels gratuitous or senseless.
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
I’ve mentioned the wonderfully shot action sequences, but the same could be said for the picture as a whole. This is a gorgeous movie. Filmed in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, the movie features countless scenes of natural beauty. Through DP Dante Spinotti’s lens, the breathtaking locations gives the setting an uncharted and untouched look. And whether it’s intense closeups or exquisite wide shots, the visuals impress at every turn.
And I have to mention the outstanding score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman. Of all the movie scores I’ve heard (and there is no shortage of great ones out there), few have impacted a film or affected me more than this one (fun fact: a couple of tracks even made their way into my wedding). From the percussion-driven orchestration during the battle at Fort William Henry to the emotionally rich string arrangement of the film’s unforgettable finale. Each note hits perfectly, and the score adds to the mood and tone of almost every scene.
After 30 years, “The Last of the Mohicans” still looks great, sounds great, and plays great. It’s an exhilarating action film, a sweeping romance and a historical drama all wrapped into one narrative and technical wonder. Yet despite all of its time-tested strengths and achievements, it still sits as a well liked movie, but one rarely (if ever) mentioned among the greats. Obviously all of this stuff is subjective, but I think “The Last of the Mohicans” deserves a spot in that conversation. If you haven’t seen it in a while, give it another look. If you’ve never seen it, what better time than now? It’s still as impressive as it was on opening day in 1992.
Keith & the Movies 