Saturday, June 24, 2017

Force of Nature

Movies: Force Majeure

What makes a man? Is it, as Jeffrey Lebowski famously opined, "Being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost?"

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund explores what happens when a man--a husband and father--fails to do the right thing at a crucial moment in the darkly funny and, at times, mind-blowingly uncomfortable film Force Majeure.

"Force majeure" means "unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract". An "act of God" as it were. It is the perfect title for this film, where a split-second decision has the power to destroy years of marriage.

The scene in question comes in early in the film, and if you want to watch it with a completely blank slate, feel free to go into it knowing that whether you like it or hate it, it will be an experience you won't soon forget...



...Ok, so Force Majeure follows a family of four: dad Tomas, mom Ebba, kids Vera and Harry, as they vacation at a chi-chi ski resort in the French Alps. On their second day they're having lunch on the patio of a restaurant when they see what appears to be an avalanche starting on a nearby slope. Tomas explains that it's a controlled avalanche (which is typical for ski resorts) and starts filming it, even though the kids are a bit scared. But then the wall of snow gets closer...and closer...and closer. At a critical moment, when the other diners start screaming and running away, Tomas grabs his gloves and phone and runs away from his wife and children, nearly knocking another guy over in the process, while Ebba screams and hunches over the kids.

Well, it turns out it WAS a controlled avalanche and once the powder clears, everyone is safe and the diners return to their seats, including Tomas.

The rest of the movie is the fallout of this event, and GODDAMN is it cringe-inducing at times. "Gleefully uncomfortable", Rotten Tomatoes exclaims. So if Michael Scott's awkwardness on The Office causes you to shudder, best avoid Force Majeure. Especially if you're a man.

Tomas flat-out denies that he ran during the event. He refuses to admit that there's an elephant in the room and it's shitting on his and Ebba's marriage. She begins bringing up the event at dinner with other couples at the resort, at first in a giggling "This guy was so scared, he ran!" way and eventually in a drunken "My husband abandoned me and my children to die" way in one of the best scenes in the movie. Since Tomas was filming the entire incident, she requests that they and the couple they are sharing wine with all watch to make sure her memory isn't faulty and Tomas did, in fact, run. Johannes Kuhnke plays Tomas and does amazing, amazing work playing a man absolutely defeated when faced with his natural instinct to run in an emergency. In one scene, he even becomes hysterical, unable to stop sobbing when he admits that he "hates that guy"--i.e. the part of him that not only ran, but cheated on Ebba in the past and repeatedly failed to live up to his own (or society's?) expectations for a husband and father. This movie is fucking rough, guys.

But if it all sounds as if Tomas and Ebba are being a bit over the top about the incident, that's half of the point. Director Ostlund is able to simultaneously pull the audience's sympathy toward Ebba (wouldn't you also be furious and dismayed if your spouse pulled a similar stunt?), toward Tomas (he fucked up! Forgive him and move on!), and away from both of them (they're wallowing in their own bourgeois pity...in a fucking luxury resort, no less!).

No one is the "good guy" here, and Tomas and Ebba's disgust at one another spreads to the other couple they talk to about it who get into a hilariously predictable argument about "hypotheticals" as soon as they leave Tomas and Ebba's hotel room (their friend, Mats, defends Tomas' actions and then when his girlfriend, Fanny, says she thinks he'd do exactly the same in a similar situation, he fights with her for hours into the night about it).

Ostlund ultimately doesn't give the audience a moral to the story. The question of gender roles lies stinkily in the background, like week-old garbage, but is never addressed directly by the characters. Instead, Ostlund uses the characters' conversations and arguments to show how the male ego is so easily disemboweled and also how making the assumption that Tomas should have immediately protected his children simply because he's male is silly and unrealistic as well. Force Majeure is not a feminist film, nor is is an anti-feminist film, nor is is an anti-male film (although various people may read it as one or more of these things). It's a film that makes you consider the assumptions you make about men, women, mothers, fathers, partners, and yourself. As the characters say over and over "you never really know" how you will act in an emergency situation until you actually experience one.

So, maybe the moral of the story, if there is one, is to make sure you don't start thinking your shit don't stink because you could be as big of a coward as Tomas (or, as smart as Tomas in his instinct to survive, depending on how you view it). Whatever you take from Force Majeure, you can be guaranteed it'll be a hell of a ride.

Grade: A-

Monday, June 19, 2017

Boob Tube

TV: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Handmaid's Tale, Hannibal, MST3K: The Return

Disclaimer: Very few actual boobs in this post

In the past four months, I've blown through 3 seasons of Hannibal, 2 seasons of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 1 season of The Handmaid's Tale, and 1 season of MST3K: The Return. And a partridge in a pair tree. So I figured it was time to review some TV shows instead of movies for a change.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

A friend of mine said I needed to watch this show as an "obligation of friendship". I was skeptical at first because I didn't "get" it...I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about the characters and at moments, CEG is a little too cutesy and "the moral of today's episode is..." for my tastes. But by the time I got to the second half of season 1, I was like hooked. I binged season 2 in about a week.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a comedy that also has musical numbers (some of them are GREAT) and features a women, Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom, also co-creator of the show) who moves from New York City to West Covina, California to be near a guy, Josh, whom she dated for one summer when she was 16.

Well, the situation is actually a lot more nuanced than that.

Despite many schemes and shenanigans that wouldn't be out of place in a traditional romantic comedy (a genre the show mercilessly spoofs), CEG isn't afraid to make it's main character actually "crazy". As in, probably-should-be-on-depression-medication-and-practicing-cognitive-behavioral-therapy crazy (not Hannibal Lecter crazy. See below). Rebecca is a character who does bad things but remains relatively sympathetic throughout the show because we see glimpses of real suffering. Likewise, the supporting characters have struggles of their own: Greg's a grumpy alcoholic who uses sarcasm to avoid being close to anyone; Paula is obsessed with Rebecca's love life to the point of codependency; Josh loves the attention he gets from Rebecca but refuses to dump his girlfriend to be with her--or to cut off contact with Rebecca to fully commit to his girlfriend.

Blam!

The shows gets deeper, darker, weirder and better as it goes on (and I think the songs get better too).  CEG does a lot of work: it's legit funny, but also very absurd at times. It's got singing and dancing going on. It's satirical. It has the most likable unlikeable characters on TV.  For a show with so many flights of fancy (exhibit A: "dream ghosts") it's not afraid to look mental illness right in the eye and show the kind of damage it can do, while also humanizing those who suffer from it. 

Grade: B+

***

The Handmaid's Tale

Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu is a knot in the stomach. A chill down the spine. A deep-seated feeling of dread. And not because of a ghost or monster, but because everything that happens in the dystopian world of Gilead is happening now, or has happened, or could easily happen.

THT takes place in the former United States, after a violent cult, The Sons of Jacob, takes down all branches of the government and creates a Biblically-based theocracy where women are divided into groups: the wives of the Commanders (men in charge), "Marthas" who cook and clean for them, and "Handmaids": fertile women who serve to bear children for the Commanders and their infertile wives. Women are not allowed to read and have basically no rights. Handmaids get the distinct honor of being ritualistically raped once a month by the Commander whose house they live in. Offred ("Of Fred", since her commander is Fred Waterford), formerly June, is played by Elisabeth Moss. When the country falls, she is taken from her husband and child and forced into a re-education center to prepare to be a breeding slave for her assigned Commander. The series is told mainly from her perspective, but it also gives us glimpses of the lives of other handmaids, and other women, in Gilead.

 I don't have to explain why The Handmaid's Tale is such a potent story in this particular moment in history where a man who has the emotional control of a toddler is president and he beat a competent, intelligent woman to the highest office in the nation because...of her emails? We've indeed come a long way as a society, but THT shows that under the right circumstances, it could all fall apart. Fear of death is a powerful weapon in making people behave and adaptation and acceptance of a new lifestyle comes very quickly for many people.

Although the series strays from the original book, it still stays true to the universe of the novel. And since the series has been picked up for a second season, it will be interesting to see where Offred's story goes in season 2.

Filled with gorgeous cinematography and excellent performances all around, The Handmaid's Tale isn't the easiest show to watch, but it is undeniably great television.

Grade: A



Just as God intended, amirite? 









***

Hannibal

Hannibal has some of the goriest, most fucked up stuff I've seen on television. So, of course, I love it. Based on the character created by Thomas Harris, Hannibal puts a new spin on the liver-eating, Chianti-drinking charismatic psychopath. The first season opens with Hannibal Lecter (played, to absolute perfection, by Mads Mikkelsen) a free man. The timeline starts well before Clarice Starling set eyes on Lecter when he was behind bulletproof glass. Lecter is a psychiatrist recruited by Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne, excellent as well) to befriend and analyze Crawford's gifted (and unstable) criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy).

The fucked up (and homoerotic) friendship between Graham, who is able to feel empathy to the point where he can understand the motives of serial killers, and Lecter, who feels no empathy at all, is the heart of the series. Which is a good anchoring point since the series tends to be a bit uneven, wavering from straightforward crime show to hilariously campy soap opera. Once they introduce Mason Verger (played by Michael Pitt), the camp really hits the fan big time, for better or for worse.

Hannibal has an old friend for dinner.

Although Hannibal is far from a "perfect" show, it is wildly entertaining, intensely gory, and visually stunning. Much has been made of the scenes involving food: Hannibal lovingly preparing it, serving it, and enjoying it with his many guests. But in addition to the artful food scenes, the show has many dreamy, fantastical scenes. In Hannibal murder is elevated to an art form. With that in mind, please consider if this is the show for you, because I can assure you it's not for everyone.

Grade: B+

***

MST3K: The Return

As a young kiddo, I LOVED Mystery Science Theatre 3000, specifically the later episodes with Mike Nelson, which played on Comedy Central on weekend mornings. As an adult, any given Friday night when I want to stay in and relax, you can find me queuing up one of my favorite episodes (I'm particularly partial to The Devil Doll, Squirm, Hobgoblins, and The Girl in Gold Boots) on YouTube. Additionally, I've attended Rifftrax screenings, including a live one at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville (where they riffed--with all new jokes--on the classic terrible movie Manos: The Hands of Fate).

So I was over the moon to see MST3K rebooted with 14 brand new episodes and a new host, Jonah Ray. After watching them all, I can say while the reboot doesn't quite live up to the Joel and Mike years, it's pretty entertaining.



My biggest beef is with the casting of Felicia Day as Kinga Forrester (granddaughter of the great Pearl Forrester). I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here, but I don't think Day is funny at all in this role. It's as if she's going out of her way to NOT be funny. And her pairing with Patton Oswalt just feels awkward and forced. They have zero, nada, zip comedy chemistry. But since Oswalt and Day only show up for about 10 minutes per episode, I can deal with it.

My favorite movies in this season are Cry Wilderness, The Loves of Hercules, and The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. And although none of these episodes quite get to the level of genius of Final Sacrifice, it's not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening lounging on the couch.

Grade: B


Saturday, June 3, 2017

Satan's Little Helper

Movies: The Blackcoat's Daughter

Do you wish there was a movie genre that consistently passed the Bechdel Test? Look no further than the Renaissance that is modern, independent horror. Between The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, and many more, the horror genre is brimming with women and girls--some of them evil, some of them good; some of them virginal, some of them sexual; some of them victims, many of them predators.

If you're a feminist who is a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror movies (hi Alex!), might I suggest exposure therapy? In the name of Sisterhood? I, too, was once too scurred to venture near scary movies, but after seeing a couple amazingly good ones, I have embraced the horror genre full stop and I actually consider it my favorite genre of film now. How the tides have turned.

The Blackcoat's Daughter (previously titled "February") is a super indie movie directed by Oz Perkins (who also directed the apparently great I Am a Pretty Thing That Lives in the House--I haven't watched it yet, but it's in my queue). Perkins is, incidentally, the son of Anthony Perkins of Psycho fame. His brother, Elvis Perkins, is a musician who composed the score for Blackcoat's Daughter, and it perfectly elicits feelings of dread in the viewer. A good score truly elevates a film of any genre.

Blackcoat's Daughter stars Kiernan Shipka, best known for growing up on TV as Sally Draper on Mad Men, as a freshmen at Bramford, a Catholic girls boarding school in upstate New York. The school is on break, but Kat's (Shipka) parents haven't shown up. The headmaster leaves Kat with an older student, Rose (Lucy Boynton), whose parents are picking her up a day late, and the school nurse and her assistant.



Almost immediately, something seems very off at this school. As Rose prepares for a secret date with her boyfriend, she tells Kat that the nurse and her assistant were apparently seen "worshipping the devil" by a previous student and that the two women have "no hair on their entire bodies". It seems like Rose is just a bitchy teen trying to scare Kat, but this scene reminds one of the movie Suspiria, about a coven of witches at a ballet school.

Meanwhile, the film cuts to another young woman, Joan (Emma Roberts), who wanders aimlessly near a train station a few towns over. She is offered a ride by a middle-aged couple, who have a Bramford bumper sticker. Perkins takes his time in revealing the connection between all the characters, but when he does, it's an unsettling doozy of a twist.

Without giving too much away, The Blackcoat's Daughter is about vulnerability, loneliness, and the connection between parents and children. Buried underneath 90 minutes of absolute dread and swift bursts of violence is a heartbreaking sensation of loss. Whatever is lurking in the shadows at Bramford, it preys on weakness and fear. Shipka gives a gut-punch of a performance as Kat, a quiet, odd girl who you just know is terrified to wonder where her parents are, but also too scared to admit that fear to the older students and adults around her. Having watched Shipka transform from a devastatingly adorable child to a sullen teen on Mad Men, seeing her in this role was very satisfying in the sense of watching a very talented individual "level up" to the next stage of her craft. I'm excited to see what Shipka does next.

Horror fans will appreciate The Blackcoat's Daughter because it's a scary movie that gets to have its cake and eat it too: it's subtle and unusual enough that you don't feel bludgeoned by tired horror tropes, but it's also ghastly enough that gorehounds won't feel left out. It's bloody and nerve-tingling, but also surprisingly emotionally affecting to the point where a scene near the end almost made me tear up. In a word, it's masterful.

Grade: A