REVIEW: “Minari” (2020)

December 7, 2020 by Keith Garlington

One of the most exciting and talked about features from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari”. The film won two of the festival’s top awards and earned high praise for its lead Steven Yeun. A star on the rise, Yeun followed up his well received television run on “The Walking Dead” with several impressive big screen supporting roles most notably 2018’s critically-acclaimed “The Burning”. In “Minari” the 36-year-old Yeun teams with a superb cast to tell a tender slice-of-life story that leaves an unforgettable mark.

This is the fifth film from Chung and easily his most personal so far. Inspired by the birth of his daughter, Chung began writing down memories from his own childhood in Arkansas, most of them were from when he was around 6-years-old. He then began building a narrative arc, full of autobiographical nuggets but with its own distinct story to tell. The results are sublime. With “Minari” Chung has made a quietly affecting film, one of such understated beauty and with a soothing intimacy that stirs the soul.

Image Courtesy of A24

Jacob Yi (Yeun) and his wife Monica (Yeri Han) came to America in the early 1970s, working briefly in Seattle before settling in California. There they had two children while making a living chicken sexing (for the uninformed like me, that’s when you separate male and female chicks). Tired of barely scratching by, Jacob moves his Korean-American family from California to rural Arkansas. That’s where Chung settles in and patiently unfolds his gentle yet bracingly authentic immigrant/family drama.

The film opens with Jacob driving a moving van and Monica close behind in their station wagon with the kids. They travel along several miles of gravel roads before finally arriving at their new home – a mobile home sitting on five acres of rugged Ozark farmland. All Jacob sees is potential and a chance at some version of the American Dream. Monica’s doubt is evident from her first startled look at the house trailer. “That’s not what we agreed on.” This sets up a crucial family conflict that simmers throughout most of the story.

As their parents struggle to plant their feet in their new life, the children offer a unique and unvarnished perspective. Their pre-teen daughter Anne (Noel Cho) seems mature beyond her age and you get the feeling she has a better idea of their situation than she lets on. Their 7-year-old son David (played by captivating newcomer Alan S. Kim) has a heart murmur but you’d never notice. Bright and precocious, David has a lively and mischievous spark and his childlike honesty offers up some of the film’s funniest moments. He has a scene-stealing charm that’s sure to leave people talking.

Image Courtesy of A24

Feeling overwhelmed, the couple invite Monica’s mother Soonja (Yuh-Jung Youn) from Korea to help with the kids. The arrival of the abrasive and unrefined grandma creates an entertaining shift in the family dynamic. Youn is an absolute treat especially when paired with Kim. Their characters have a wonderfully combative relationship that inevitably softens over time. Soon Youn is teaching her grandson how to play cards while he introduces her to the simple joys of pro wrestling and “mountain water” (which is actually Mountain Dew). “It’s good for you“, he earnestly explains.

Even wackier is Will Patton’s Paul, an eccentric yet strangely endearing local who spends his Sunday’s dragging a life-sized cross down miles of dirt road. But he also knows how to work the land and when he’s not exorcising evil spirits from the Yi family’s property he’s helping Jacob jump-start his Korean vegetable garden. But it proves to be hard work (ask the property’s former owner) and it begins to eat into the family’s limited funds. And as Jacob is digging a well, buying a used tractor, and courting potential buyers of his produce, Monica is at home growing more and more disillusioned with her husband’s dream.

Perhaps Chung’s most powerful creative choice comes in his consistent focus on the personal moments. “Minari” is all about relationships: a struggling husband and wife, a puckish young boy and his crass grandmother, two community outsiders building a garden together. Big things do happen but often off screen or in the background. Instead Chung relishes the intimate interactions which are so often found in the minutiae of everyday living. And while the film does deal with a Korean-American family’s assimilation into a white rural community, Chung’s beautifully realist lens is much more focused on the personal things that bring us together and sometimes tear us apart.

Image Courtesy of A24

I can’t help but mention a quiet but meaningful scene where Soonja takes her grandson to a creek on the edge of the family’s property. There she takes some seeds brought from Korea and plants minari along the bank (minari is an East Asian herb that can grow almost anywhere). Over time the foreign plant takes root and flourishes in the fertile Arkansas soil. It’s a small piece of story so sweetly told and ripe with meaning. It ends up being one of the film’s most poignant metaphors while highlighting one of its many thoughtful themes.

With its emotionally textured story, captivating performances, and lived-in production design, “Minari” takes us on an immersive personal journey firmly anchored in the human experience. It’s a thoughtfully subdued film yet one bursting with naturalistic beauty. Within minutes I was caught up in Lee Isaac Chung’s clear-eyed true-to-life perspective and swept away by the aching rhythm which moves us from one scene to the next. I can’t quit thinking about it. Like I said, it really leaves its mark. “Minari” is scheduled for a limited release on December 11th ahead of its full release February 12, 2021.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

Did Warner Bros. Just Forever Change the Moviewatching Experience?

December 4, 2020 by Keith Garlington

If you were anywhere close to screen yesterday you probably saw what is the biggest movie news of the year and potentially of the next few years to come. Warner Bros. announced that they will be releasing their entire slate of 2021 movies on their streaming partner HBO Max the same day as they hit theaters. Yep, that means “Dune”, “The Matrix 4”, Denzel Washington’s “The Little Things”, “Godzilla vs. Kong”, “The Suicide Squad” and many other big WB titles will be available to stream at home on their theater release date. 17 movies in total. And just like that HBO Max is a major player in the streaming game.

Now maybe this won’t have a big effect. Maybe this is just Warner offering viewers choices. Maybe this will be a “unique one-year plan” as WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff stated. On the other hand this could be a tectonic shift in the moviewatching landcape. It could be the beginning of a major change in the way movie fans consume blockbuster content. And it brings with it some obvious questions. If the decision proves profitable would WB really consider going back to the old model? Will other major studios follow? If they do can the already struggling multiplexes sustain another year? How many will be forced to close permanently? How many jobs will be impacted? As is often the case, there is a cost to convenience.

Many of us were posing similar questions earlier in the year when Universal Pictures began testing the waters at the start of the COVID-19 theater closings. Some theater chains were criticized for fighting the move by banning Universal’s films from their screens. In reality those chains understood the potential damage a streaming future would have on their industry and they took a desperate stand. It did them no good. Since then other major studios have tinkered in the streaming space. Disney put “Mulan” on their streaming platform for a “premium” price. Sony Pictures sold rights to “Greyhoud” to Apple. Netflix bought distribution rights of “Enola Holmes” from Warner Bros. Paramount sold the rights to “Coming 2 America” to Amazon. These are just some of the digital moves we have seen from studios since March.

But nothing has been quite as significant and potentially game-changing as the Warner Bros. announcement. Yes COVID-19 still lingers and too many theaters remain closed for exclusive big screen releases to be profitable. In that sense this seems like a smart and well-calculated business move. From a viewer’s standpoint the idea that people can look forward to a slate of big studio movies without the fear of delay is exciting and gives the still apprehensive moviegoers a way to watch where they feel safe.

But let’s not overlook the big unknown. How will this ultimately effect the big screen movie experience? Is it realistic to think that movie houses won’t be effected by this? Is it remotely plausible that Warner and any other studio that follows their lead will abandon this new model if it proves to be a moneymaking success? Many theaters have worked hard and gone to great lengths to show that movies can be watched safely on the big screen. But without public confidence or big movies to show, they now find themselves up a creek without a paddle. And its hard to believe that big blockbusters going to streaming is going to help their already precarious situation.

So what do you think of this huge news? Are you excited or concerned, fascinated or shocked? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

REVIEW: “Mank” (2020)

December 4, 2020 by Keith Garlington

In 1939 24-year-old hotshot wunderkind Orson Welles was heavily courted by a struggling RKO Pictures. The studio signed Welles to a two-picture deal and gave him complete creative control including final cut privilege, something unheard of in the studio era. Welles began putting the idea together for what would become “Citizen Kane”. To help with the script Welles hired Herman J. Mankiewicz, a boozy, self-destructive and self-defined loose cannon believed by many in Hollywood to be washed up. Mankiewicz ended up winning an Academy Award for what many argue is the greatest film ever made.

In David Fincher’s “Mank” the acclaimed filmmaker both celebrates and admonishes Hollywood’s Golden Age through the character of Herman Mankiewicz, honing in on his time wrestling with his version of the “Citizen Kane” script. Fincher uses the same time-hopping techniques as Welles’ 1941 classic to visit key moments from Mankiewicz’s past which helped inspire and form pivotal elements of “Kane’s” story. “Mank” was originally conceived by David Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher who was inspired by Pauline Kael’s 50,000 word essay “Raising Kane” published in 1971.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

The opening shot feels plucked straight out of old Hollywood. It’s 1940. Two cars speed down a dusty California highway on their way to North Verde Ranch near Victorville. There Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), bed-ridden with a broken leg following a car accident, sets up shop. He is given sixty days (originally 90 until Welles cut off a month) to complete his draft under the supervision of John Houseman (Sam Troughton). Helping is Rita Alexander (Lily Collins), a lightning fast British stenographer with a boatload of patience and a husband serving in the war effort overseas.

Fincher never stays in one place very long. The scenes at the ranch are frequently broken up with rapid-fire flashbacks that can be disorienting until you get a grasp on what the director is going for. We get a scene from 1930 where Mank (as Mankiewicz is affectionately called) meets and impresses newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance), the inspiration for the Charles Foster Kane character. He also meets Hearst’s carefree and endearing mistress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), a young actress who immediately takes a liking to Mank. In many ways their relationship is the heart of the film and its a really good turn from Seyfried.

Later Fincher takes us back in time to Paramount Studios to witness a hilarious brainstorm session in the writer’s room. Then we swing by MGM where blustering studio head Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) waxes not-so-eloquently about his movie philosophy before duping a group a employees with a ‘times are hard‘ speech. Fincher makes several of these studio stops through flashbacks landing some firm shots at their top-heavy structure but also admiring their vibrant creative energy. Each studio scene is richly textured, full of period detail and ambiance, and exquisitely captured through Eric Messerschmidt’s black-and-white cinematography.

More flashbacks show Mank giving himself over to booze and self-loathing, steadily losing his goodwill with studio heads and straining close relationships. Look no further than his exasperated wife Sara who is played by a terrific Tuppence Middleton working at just the right temperature. And then you have his unique friendship with the powerful Hearst which in many ways makes his eventual “Kane” script feel like something of a betrayal on top of being controversy. History tells us Hearst was enraged by “Citizen Kane”. Mankiewicz’s friendship with the mogul soured and Mank was tossed from Hearst’s social circles.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Fincher also uses Mank’s eyes to observe the 1934 California gubernatorial race between socialist Upton Sinclair and the conservative Republican incumbent Frank Merriam. Again we see many nuggets that not only influenced aspects of “Citizen Kane” but that also cut with a sharp present-day relevance. Backdoor politics, yellow journalism – its all here. Eventually everything meets at a combustible dinner party scene where Mank’s off-putting drunken monologue screeches things to a halt. It’s a big performance moment for Oldman who throughout the film captures every facet of Mankiewicz’s brilliant yet self-defeating personality. But the scene draws out too long and is too showy even for a movie as showy as this one.

“Mank” offers a very particular point-of-view on the longstanding debate over who wrote “Citizen Kane”. Much like Kael’s controversial and since discredited essay, Fincher is clearly sympathetic towards Herman Mankiewicz. He highlights Mank’s work while Orson Welles (portrayed by Tom Burke) mostly exists on the periphery of his story. But Fincher wisely doesn’t discount Welles’ contribution and ultimately his film is about more than just authorship. It’s an ambitious ode to a bygone Hollywood era. It’s a story about damaged genius and self-destruction. Above all it’s an applause-worthy celebration of the art of cinema – a visual and performance-rich delight. I was amazed yet unsure of it after one viewing. I was captivated and convinced after a second. “Mank” premieres today on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

First Glance: “The Dig”

December 3, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Carrie Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James? I’m sold. The trio star in the upcoming Netflix drama “The Dig”, an adaptation of John Preston’s 2007 novel. The filmed is helmed by Australian director Simon Stone from a script by screenwriter and playwright Moira Buffini. It was originally set to star Nicole Kidman, but she left the project and was replaced by Mulligan. I like that change.

“The Dig” reimagines the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. With World War II boiling in the background, Mulligan plays a widow who hires an amateur archaeologist (played by Fiennes) to excavate Anglo-Saxon burial grounds on her property. They end up making a historic attention-getting discovery that scratches a scab from the country’s past. I really like the look of this. The cast, the story, the set design. I’m onboard.

“The Dig” is set for a limited theater release January 15, 2021 before releasing on Netflix January 29th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Godmothered” (2020)

December 3, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Only in a magical place called Motherland can aspiring fairy godmothers learn to plow their trade. And only in Motherland will you find June Squibb as the resident DJ proclaiming “It’s time to party like it’s 1699.” Actually there are a lot of amusing touches like that all through Disney’s upcoming family film “Godmothered”.

From director Sharon Maguire and co-writers Kari Granlund and Melissa Stack, “Godmothered” is a light, warm, and big-hearted fantasy comedy with just enough seasonal cheer to please Christmas movie fans. Its playful spirit and some charming performances carry it most of the way. But a very specific lack of originality and a bludgeoning final scene make it fall a little short of being perennial holiday viewing.

Image Courtesy of Disney+

Within minutes you can’t help but see the film’s biggest inspiration/problem. I don’t know how else to say it, but so much of “Godmothered” seems copied straight from 2003’s “Elf”. First is the concept, a kind-hearted outcast soul leaving a magical land to impart happiness and cheer to people who have lost it. A fish-out-of-water lead character visits a big American city for the first time. Sound familiar? Well it gets even more obvious than that. We even get specific gags and plot points shamelessly plucked right out of the Jon Favreau Christmas classic. There’s even a racoon!

Yet despite all that, “Godmothered” has an almost infectious charm much of which comes from it star Jillian Bell. She plays Eleanor, Motherland’s youngest fairy godmother trainee and the school’s only new applicant for decades. Turns out the world has stopped believing in “Happily Ever After” meaning fewer assignments for the godmothers. Because of this Moira (Jane Curtain), the head mistress and a strict enforcer of the outdated godmothering ‘formula’, is prepared to shut down the school and reassign the godmothers to dreaded tooth fairy duty.

Having none of it, Eleanor finds an old letter from 10-year-old McKenzie Walsh that fell through the cracks. Determined to prove the world still needs fairy godmothers, she secretly sets out to find McKenzie and grant her ‘happily ever after’ wish. The trail takes her to Boston where she quickly discovers McKenzie (played by Isla Fisher) is no longer 10-years-old. Instead she’s a cynical single mother of two who lost her husband years earlier and has given up on any chance at true happiness.

Image Courtesy of Disney+

If you’ve seen “Elf” you know exactly where this story goes almost beat for beat. But the movie does bring a few laughs of its own and moments of genuine feeling. Fisher and Bell turn out to be real assets with surprisingly good comic chemistry. Both bring a sense of sincerity to their characters that offer emotional connections amid all of the silly fun. A smattering of good supporting performances fill out the story including the quirky Squib, Santiago Cabrera as McKenzie’s Clark Kent-ish co-worker, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis as McKenzie’s down-to-earth sister.

Still it’s hard to get past the lingering feelings of “I’ve seen this before”. And the film’s message, while handled well most of the way, is slammed home in a cringy, heavy-handed final speech that throws any hint of subtlety and nuance out the window. It’s hard not to like the film’s characters and the team of Fisher and Bell add sparkle and heart to an otherwise wacky premise. If only its lack of originality wasn’t so hard to overlook. “Godmothered” premieres December 4th exclusively on Disney+.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Soul” (2020)

December 2, 2020 by Keith Garlington

Full disclosure: I’m not what you would call the biggest Pixar fan. To be clear it’s no fault of their own. It’s just that I’ve grown picky when it comes to animation meaning I may not be the best judge of their films or the “genre” in general. I’m not saying there aren’t animated features I love, but I tend to be a little more critical than most and I rarely go into an animated film with a ton of excitement.

Maybe that’s why Pixar’s latest “Soul” was such a welcomed surprise. I didn’t go in with especially high expectations yet it only took a few early scenes for the movie to get its hooks in me. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bumps in the road. Within ten minutes the story takes a less compelling detour, leaving earth for a more cartoony setting where we learn the basic rules of the film’s central story. But soon “Soul” regains its deeply human pulse, planting us back in the vivid, bustling, and character-rich New York City.

Image Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

Jamie Foxx voices Joe Gardner, a substitute middle school band teacher whose only dream is to become a jazz pianist. When he’s offered a full-time position at the school his cynical mother (Phylicia Rashad) is thrilled at the prospect of her son having a steady job. But Joe is reluctant, fearing it may hurt his stalled jazz musician aspirations. Then he gets what could be his big break.

Joe is asked to fill in on piano for popular jazz saxophonist Dorothea Williams (voiced by Angela Bassett). Just like that he believes his life finally has meaning. And just like that he loses it all. While walking home after a brilliant audition an impervious Joe unknowingly dodges all sorts of big city hazards only to plunge down an open manhole.

Image Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

He wakes up as a baby-blue ethereal blob caught in a dark void between life and death where souls are quietly ushered to the bright light glowing in the distance. Realizing the finality of entering the Great Beyond, a frantic Joe scurries away eventually falling into a place called the Great Before where unborn souls are given their personalities before being sent to earth. Following me so far? I hope so because “Soul” is just getting started.

Through a series of exhausting events Joe ends up mentoring a rebellious soul named 22 (Tina Fey) who has no desire to be born. The two form a fun yet combustible duo who (thankfully) find themselves back on earth, inescapably tethered via a comic mishap. It’s here that “Soul” really finds its rhythm and begins doing what Pixar films are know for – balancing spirited animated hijinks with thoughtful themes that can resonate with all ages.

Image Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

“Soul” comes from Peter Docter whose studio resume includes “Monsters, Inc.”, “Up”, and “Inside Out”. But he’s joined by co-director and second-in-command Kemp Powers who also wrote the script for Regina King’s upcoming directorial debut “One Night in Miami”. The impressive pair share writing credits with Mike Jones and together they create a story that hits its marks a lot more than it misses. Meanwhile Pixar’s team of animators turn in some of their best work, specifically during the New York scenes where their lighting, crisp motions, and stunning attention to detail really shines.

“Soul” is a heartfelt story about second chances and finding real purpose in your life. It’s about obsessions, mortality, and finding the true qualities that make each of us tick. The film also marks Pixar’s first feature led predominantly by black characters. “Soul” may not always reach it’s incredibly high ambitions, but I appreciate its willingness to reach high. And with its endearing characters, uplifting positivity, and snappy jazz tunes, it’s hard not to leave feeling warm and alive. “Soul” opens December 25th on Disney +.