Author Archives: Keith Garlington

New on Home Video: “Joker: Folie À Deux” on 4K Ultra Blu-ray + Digital

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Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is bringing the much anticipated and unexpectedly divisive “Joker: Folie À Deux” to home video. This is the beguiling sequel to the 2019 box office smash hit and Academy Award winning “Joker” from writer/director/producer Todd Phillips. It sees Joaquin Phoenix reprising his Oscar-winning dual role of Arthur Fleck aka Joker. New to the cast is superstar Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, and Catherine Keener. Read my full spoiler-free review of the film [HERE].

This 4K Ultra HD edition of “Joker: Folie À Deux” includes a digital copy and will be available to purchase on December 17th. See below for a full synopsis and release info including a list of special features.

About the Film:

Year: 2024

Runtime: 138 Minutes

Directors: Todd Phillips

Screenwriters: Scott Silver & Todd Phillips

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Leigh Gill, Ken Leung, Jacob Lofland, Bill Smitrovich, and Sharon Washington

Rating: R

“Joker: Folie À Deux” finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes “Joker: Folie À Deux“, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning “Joker”, which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office. The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”).

Working with Phillips behind the camera are his team from Joker, including Oscar-nominated director of photography Lawrence Sher, production designer Mark Friedberg, Oscar-nominated editor Jeff Groth, and composer Hildur Guđnadóttir, who won the Oscar for her work on the first film. New to the team is Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips (“Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”, “Don’t Worry Darling”).

Special Features:

Digital Ownership, 4K UHD and Blu-ray contain the following special features:

  • Everything Must Go (4 Part Longform Documentary)
    • Can I Have A Cigarette?
    • Finding Lee
    • A Hundred Films In One
    • King of Nothing
  • The Character Of Music
  • Live! With The Joker
  • Colors Of Madness
  • Crafted With Class

REVIEW: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (2024)

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Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has endured extensive persecution for his politically charged and socially conscience art. He’s been arrested and imprisoned multiple times, banned from leaving Iran, smeared by his adversaries, and even brutally flogged. Now he stands in exile from his home country, having fled earlier this year after being sentenced on national security charges.

His latest film is “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and it too offers an unflinching perspective on problematic systems and the oppression that comes from them (often violently). Rasoulof shot his film in secret over the course of 70 days, directing, writing, and producing what is a straightforward and unvarnished feature that tackles its heavy subject matter through the heartrending plight of a once tight-knit Tehran family.

Image Courtesy of NEON

A superb script and lights-out performances bring to life this quietly searing domestic drama with its strong political underpinning. Missagh Zareh plays Iman (Missagh Zareh), an honest but ambitious lawyer who has worked for 20 years with the current government regime. As the movie begins, Iman receives a promotion to be a state investigator which is one step away from being a revolutionary court judge. Iman’s promotion has big implications for their family including a nicer house in a better neighborhood and a more prominent social status.

But Iman’s new job also requires that his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and their two daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) change their lifestyles to fit the new expectations. Iman’s new position brings more scrutiny from the government. And that can end up putting their family in danger, especially once the details of his work is fully brought into the light.

It turns out that Iman wasn’t hired for his years of experience or his judicial prowess. His predecessor was fired for refusing to approve a death indictment and his superiors want an investigator who will approve judgements without such lengthy processes as examining evidence. In fact his first assignment is to sign off on the death penalty for a case he has yet to read over. And the complications only mount from there.

Interestingly, much of Iman’s moral crisis takes place off screen while he’s away at work. During that time we’re left with Najmeh and the girls as they navigate issues of their own. Freedom protests break out across the city and are met with heavy state-led suppression by the police. And as the rallies give way to riots the violence quickly escalates. Rezvan and Sana find themselves involved once their best friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi) is arrested. Najmeh is caught between protecting her daughters and standing by her husband who is tasked with prosecuting the protesters.

Image Courtesy of NEON

The film’s central conflict is between a father loyal to the theocratic regime and his two daughters who begin speaking out against the oppression they witness. But it’s Najmeh who turns out to be the centerpiece and her personal journey is easily the most compelling. Golestani’s performance runs the gamut of emotions as her character gradually evolves into a much different person. She’s presents a gripping portrait of someone caught amid the political and the personal.

While Rasoulof steadily builds up the intensifying domestic drama, he frequently injects cellphone video taken from real protests which emphasize the truth of what he is depicting. It adds a significant layer of reality to what’s unfolding with the family. At 166 minutes the film extends itself a little too far. And it can be a bit unwieldy and overt in its messaging. But the burgeoning sense of fear and paranoia remains palpable, even as Rasoulof’s final 20 minutes veers dangerously close to Hollywood thriller territory.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Werewolves” (2024)

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With a straightforward title like “Werewolves” it’s not hard to imagine what kind of movie you’re in for. But to director Steven C. Miller’s credit, “Werewolves” isn’t as single-minded as its title suggests. It’s every bit of a genre mashup, throwing in helpings of horror, science-fiction, black comedy, and over-the-top action. That’s more than enough to grab the attention of genre filmmaking fans like me.

But unfortunately “Werewolves” never quite goes far enough with any of the genres it taps into. The film generates a little tension, but there’s nothing remotely scary about it. It throws out a handful of sci-fi ideas but never sees any of them through. It has a few funny bits, but it never treats its material as silly as it actually is. And despite the occasional gore-splattered moment of violence, the action is waaaay tamer than it could have been. Some of it may be due to budget constraints. But that doesn’t change what feels like a missed opportunity.

Image Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment

Written by Matthew Kennedy, the story is built around a hokey but moderately entertaining premise. The earth is one-year removed from a supermoon that triggered a global calamity. A supermoon isn’t unusual. It’s an annual phenomenon where the moon appears particularly large due to it being in its closest orbit to our planet. But last year’s supermoon was different in that over the course of a single night one billion people violently transformed into werewolves resulting in the death of millions worldwide.

Now with this year’s supermoon on the way, people around the world frantically make preparations for the unknown. Leading the science world’s search for answers is Dr. James Aranda (Lou Diamond Phillips), the CEO of Aranda Corp. His company has invented a substance called Moonscreen (yep, you read that right) which is meant to form a barrier between moonlight and human DNA. If effective, Moonscreen could prevent people from turning into werewolves. But it has to be tested.

Elsewhere an ex-military man named Wesley (an always fun Frank Grillo) is busy wolf-proofing the home of his sister-in-law Lucy (Ilfenesh Hadera) and niece Emma (Kamdynn Gary). He boards windows, places bear traps in the yard, and puts up high fences wrapped in razor wire, all in an effort to fulfill his pledge to protect his late brother’s family. As evening approaches, Lucy and Emma plead with Wesley to stay with them. But he leads the Rapid Response Team for Aranda Corp. and is needed to provide security for the company’s upcoming test.

To no surprise the tests go terribly wrong once the supermoon comes out. Dr. Aranda’s human test subjects turn into werewolves and break from containment, killing everyone in sight. But Wesley manages to escape with Dr. Amy Chen (Katrina Law). Meanwhile back at Lucy’s place, her cartoonishly gung-ho neighbor Cody (James Michael Cummings) succumbs to the supermoon, somehow forms a pact with other werewolves, and sets his sights on Lucy’s home.

Image Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment

Of course the two story angles eventually merge as Wesley and Amy make their way across town while Lucy holds off her rabid furry invaders until they arrive. Miller and Kennedy borrow certain story beats from movies like “The Purge” to add some extra peril. At the same time, goofy one-liners like “It’s go time”, “Bite me”, “Come fetch” add some levity. And watching tough guy Frank Grillo chew the scenery in a story this ridiculous is entertaining in itself.

But “Werewolves” still manages to be a frustrating experience largely because it never pushes any of its crazy ideas far enough. It needs be sillier, scarier, and/or gorier in order to be the kind of movie it seems to want to be. With a little more audacity (and probably a little more money) this could have a been an insanely fun ode to grindhouse cinema. Instead it’s a blend of ideas that never gels into the madcap genre entertainment it clearly wants to be.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Juror #2” (2024)

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It goes without saying, but few have had better big screen careers than the legendary Clint Eastwood. In addition to appearing in over 60 movies, the 94-year-old cinema icon has directed and/or produced a total of 44 features. He has even composed a total of seven film scores. On top of all that, he has received eleven Academy Award nominations and has had four Oscar night wins.

And that brings us to “Juror #2”, a feature that many are reporting could be the final film in Eastwood’s brilliant seven decade-long career. Eastwood himself hasn’t personally said anything about retiring, But if he does choose to step away, it’s hard to imagine a better movie for the legend’s potential swan song. Now if only it could get the big screen rollout it deserves.

“Juror #2” is every bit a gripping courtroom drama. But it resonates most as a thought-provoking morality play that uses the American legal system as a conduit for its incisive study of guilt and justice. The film is strengthened by its propulsive and character-focused script from Jonathan Abrams and a strikingly nuanced lead performance from Nicholas Hoult who continues his phenomenal career-defining year. But it’s Eastwood’s signature tight and efficient storytelling that makes the movie hit on all cylinders.

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

In “Juror #2” Eastwood taps into his career-long fascination with moral quandaries within modern social constructs. Here he wastes no time getting started by introducing us to Justin Kemp (Hoult), a journalist living in Savannah, Georgia with his wife Ally (Zoey Deutch). The two are nervously navigating the third trimester of Ally’s high-risk pregnancy when Justin receives a summons to report for jury duty. His hopes are that the pregnancy will be reason enough for him to be relieved. No such luck.

Justin is on the jury for a local murder case involving the death of a young woman named Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood). Her body was discovered near a bridge in a rocky creek bed. The accused killer is her boyfriend, James Michael Sythe (Gabriel Basso). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) who is on the home stretch of her campaign to succeed her boss as the new DA. Faith believes she has all she needs to convict Sythe including eyewitness testimony, the medical examiner’s opinion, and Sythe’s own violent history.

But Sythe’s attorney, public defender Eric Resnick (Chris Messina), believes there is ample reason for reasonable doubt. Aside from the defendant passionately proclaiming his innocence, there is no murder weapon. And the defense contends that the eyewitness accounts don’t hold up under scrutiny. This sets up and fuels the two sides of the courtroom segment of Eastwood’s story.

But the big twist lies with Justin. As he listens to the prosecution and defense plea their cases he realizes he may have an unexpected connection to the murder. Justin’s sudden moral dilemma spills over into the deliberations as he becomes Sythe’s most ardent defender out of the twelve jurors. The tension steadily ratchets up as Eastwood and Abrams drip-feeds us more and more information. Over time the revelations help paint a clearer picture, yet there’s enough vagueness to keep things suspenseful.

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

There’s so much to admire about Eastwood’s sure-handed direction. It’s seen in his approach to the story that brings to mind such classics as Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” and Lumet’s “12 Angry Men”. We see it in how he opens up his themes with scalpel-sharp precision. And it shows in his confident use of Yves Bélanger’s sturdy classical cinematography.

But it’s perhaps clearest seen in Eastwood’s handling of his actors. Not only does the cast get good material, they also get space to explore and create. Hoult is especially good, conveying the weight of guilt in the light of uncertainty. Collette is outstanding in a role she takes in some unexpected directions. J. K. Simmons is his normal rock-solid self playing a skeptical juror with a unique insight. And Kiefer Sutherland gets a small but welcomed part as Justin’s mentor.

“Juror #2” hinges on a twist that could have easily turned into a cheap gimmick. But Clint Eastwood is not the kind of filmmaker to allow that to happen. His film has a lot more meat on its bones. Its themes are potent, the stakes get higher, and actions have far-reaching consequences. At the same time it entertains like an old-fashioned, well-oiled genre film. If this is Eastwood’s final film (and the selfish side of me really hopes it isn’t), what a way to wrap a truly remarkable career.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Order” (2024)

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Out of the many features premiering this Fall movie season, few have peaked my curiosity quite like Justin Kurzel’s “The Order”. Based on the 1989 non-fiction book “The Silent Brotherhood” by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, Kurzel’s period crime thriller sets out to tackle some potent subject matter. And with Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, and Jurnee Smollett starring, he has the cast to pull off what is one of the best thrillers of the year.

Kurzel has had a fascinating career. He emerged in 2015 with his powerful “Macbeth”. The very next year he hit a speed bump with “Assassin’s Creed”, a video game adaptation that has more strengths than it gets credit for. But he picked back up in 2019 with his gritty “True History of the Kelly Gang” and earned critical acclaim with 2021’s “Nitram”. Every film he has made is well worth watching and that remains true with “The Order”.

Set to a striking 1980s backdrop, Jude Law delivers one of the year’s best performances playing Terry Husk, an accomplished FBI agent who reopens the Bureau’s one-man office in the small rural town of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. He’s come to investigate murmurings of rural neo-Nazi activity which the local Sheriff Loftlin (Philip Granger) is quick to downplay. But he finds an ally in Deputy Jamie Bowen (Sheridan), a clean-cut family man with his finger on the pulse of the area.

Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Terry is a compelling central character as seen through Law’s richly lived-in performance. He’s someone who has been around the block, building cases against the New York mafia and the Ku Klux Klan. But while he is driven by his work, it has also taken a heavy toll as evident by his lingering health problems and the allusions to his estranged wife and daughters. Sporting a thick mustache and a world-weary veneer, Terry is an honest and savvy agent who knows how criminals think.

Elsewhere we’re introduced to Bob Mathews played by a captivating Nicholas Hoult. He’s an attractive young man with an all-American smile and disarming sincerity that hides his more disturbing convictions. Bob is the leader of a neo-Nazi splinter group whose hate-fueled agenda is inspired by white supremacist William Luther Pierce’s 1978 novel “The Turner Diaries”.

In the film’s most unsettling scene, Bob has a secret roadside meeting with Rev. Richard Butler (a slyly chilling Victor Slezak), a religious zealot and the leader of Aryan Nations. Both share the same racist worldview but differ on how to bring it about. Butler is shrewd and meticulous, working under the firm belief that the political system is their best way forward. Bob is tired of talking and is ready to put words into action. He’s busy recruiting a militia; robbing banks and armored trucks to fund his revolution. But he’s drawing unwanted attention in the process.

Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Screenwriter Zach Baylin shapes their internal tension with a resonating urgency while defining their characters through their single-minded ambitions. As Butler sinks into the backdrop (a terrifying thought once you think about it), Bob’s fervor earns him a small but loyal group of followers who help him carry out a series of heists and soft-target bombings. But when his group (who calls themselves The Order, taken from Peirce’s book) murder Jewish talk-radio host Alan Berg (Marc Maron) in cold blood, it gives Terry and the FBI all they need to make Bob their #1 target.

As the “based on true events” story unfolds with a realistic tenor, the characters careen towards an inevitably violent conclusion. Along the way a handful of side characters provide the film with some welcomed context and depth. Smollett sheds some needed light on Ted playing his old friend and fellow agent, Joanne. In the same way, Bob is opened up more through his frustrated wife Debbie (Alison Oliver) and his pregnant side dish Zillah (Odessa Young). All three could use more screen time, but they have important roles and serve Kurzel’s laser-focused purpose well.

“In every revolution someone has to fire the first shot.” By the time those chilling words pass through Bob’s lips we fully understand the lengths he will go for his cause. And on the other side, Terry is just as committed to bringing Bob to justice. Both raise the stakes in what becomes a simmering cat-and-mouse thriller set within the stunning vistas of the Pacific Northwest. Law deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance while Hoult continues his tremendous 2024 run. As for Kurzel, he adds yet another compelling entry into his already strong filmography.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Nickel Boys” (2024)

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Few filmmakers in 2024 have made choices as bold as director RaMell Ross in his new film “Nickel Boys”. Based on Colson Whitehead’s 2019 Pulitzer Price-winning novel “The Nickel Boys” and inspired by the notorious reform school Dozier School for Boys, the film was already set to tackle some heavy subject matter. But Ross shoots his entire movie from a first-person point-of-view and in a boxed 4:3 aspect ratio, an approach that is far more than a gimmick yet comes with its own set of challenges.

The story (written for the screen by Ross and Joslyn Barnes) follows an unexpected friendship born out of horrible circumstances. Set in 1962, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is a bright and ambitious African-American boy raised by his loving grandmother Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in Jim Crow-era Tallahassee, Florida. Ross briefly ushers us through Elwood’s early years, showing us the world through the youngster’s eyes. In keeping with Ross’ first-person approach, we only occasionally see Elwood’s face through reflections in windows or a photo booth snapshot.

Among Elwood’s very small group of supporters is his teacher Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails) who encourages his now 16-year-old student to apply to Melvin Griggs Technical School. Elwood is accepted and excited about advancing his education. While walking a rural highway to Melvin Griggs, Elwood hitches a ride with a garish but friendly man in a shiny Impala. But it turns out the car has been stolen and the local authorities arrest the man and falsely accuse Elwood of being an accomplice.

With no consideration given to due process, Elwood is taken to Nickel Academy, a fiercely segregated penal institution posing as a school for boys. He’s immediately introduced to the Academy’s oppressive system of forced labor and rank abuse. The forbidding administrator, Mr. Spencer (Hamish Linklater) runs the school by an edict he calls his “Four Levels of Behavior”. Reach the final level and you “graduate”. But as Elwood later learns, most people only leave by aging out or dying.

Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

But it is at Nickel that Elwood meets someone who will forever change his life. A fellow “student” named Turner (Brandon Wilson) takes Elwood under his wing and the two quickly become close friends. It’s here that Ross shifts his perspective over to Turner, staying in first-person but showing us things through another set of eyes The rest of the film chronicles their growing friendship with Ross frequently switching between their points-of-view.

As you can imagine, the themes are pretty heavy and exploring them can be harrowing. At the same time it’s often quite moving. Ross offers a mesmerizing meditation on the Black experience that manages to find a beauty in the world that offers a sharp contrast to the ugly. Yet while the filmmaking gives us an exquisite vision of Elwood’s view of the world, the beautiful imagery lessens as the ugliness of the world becomes more of a reality for him.

The entire approach to “Nickel Boys” certainly grabs you and Ross clearly offers us a new way of considering such a story. But in the process he loses his grip a bit, specifically in the final act. There are few too many gaps in the storytelling as the movie tries to come to a close. Puzzling images are thrown in that muddle more than enlighten. Similarly, several flash-forward scenes make the finish more convoluted than it should be.

Those things aside, RaMell Ross deserves a ton of credit for tackling themes we’ve seen handled many times over but making us look at them in ways we never have before. The performances are strong throughout, especially from Ellis-Taylor. And the emotional weight they help convey form the backbone of this piercing and evocative drama that keeps you riveted, third act kinks and all.

VERDICT – 4 STARS