Life in Plastic

Movie: Barbie

Sometimes a movie is bigger than the sum of its parts. Greta Gerwig's Barbie is one such movie. What could have been a cheesy movie about an iconic (and problematic) toy produced mostly to sell products transcended into a cheesy movie about an iconic (and problematic) toy produced to sell products but also to raise feminist consciousness. Gerwig, who has previously directed female-centered films such as Ladybird and Little Women, elevated this movie into something funny, campy, surreal, existential...but also totally in line with the capitalist impulses that were behind the creation of Barbie in the first place. Barbie is a subversive movie, but not too subversive. I mean, it's not directed by John Waters (now that would be an interesting Barbie film).

Even though I contend that Barbie is good, not great, I think Gerwig did the absolute best she could given the parameters of this film. Mattel was never going to allow for a movie that truly tears Barbie to shreds (and would we even want that? Barbie is indeed beloved by many people). And the PG-13 rating keeps the film squarely in family-friendly territory. Given the limitations in place, Barbie is fairly radical.

I mean, the plot of Barbie is basically "Ken brings toxic masculinity to Barbie Land and must be stopped". Well, the first half of the plot is "Barbie realizes she is becoming less perfect, which means there is a rip in the space-time continuum and she must go to the real world to find and help the sad little girl who is making Barbie develop flat feet and cellulite". But once she and Ken go to the real world, Ken discovers horses and patriarchy and goes back to Barbie Land and nearly ruins the pink-hued gynocracy for everyone. So the second half of the movie is stopping Ken's takeover. I truly did not expect Ken to play such a big role in the movie and I am not mad about it because Ryan Gosling steals the show. Gosling rarely gets to show off his comedic chops, and he was great as the bleach-blonde, sensitive-but-misguided hunk. 

My main beef with Barbie is that the message of the film, which is actually two messages, is spoon-fed to the audience. The first thesis of the movie is that women are expected to be perfectly balanced in all things (pretty, but not too pretty; smart, but not too smart; confident, but not a bitch, etc). About 2/3 of the way through the movie, America Ferrara, playing a woman from the real world whom it turns out was the cause of Barbie's existential crisis, lays this thesis out in a big speech. For some people in the audience, this is probably the first time they've heard thoughts like these expressed. But for me, well, I was rolling my eyes (SORRY!!). It was just so clunky. But I guess in a world where a guy like Trump can be president, we need obvious feminism spoonfed to us. There's no room for subtlety and nuance in this irony-free hellscape we live in now.

The other message of the movie, which was more intriguing to me, is that maybe neither men NOR WOMEN should rule the world. Because all is not well in Barbie Land, where women can be astronauts, construction workers, mermaids, Nobel Prize winners, and the president...but Ken can only be Ken. I'm not going to lie--I got a lil choked up when Ken confronts Barbie about taking him for granted. Deep within a movie that screams feminist empowerment from the rooftops is the message than men also want to be considered full humans too. And toxic masculinity may look like it allows for men to be anything...but it actually is just another cage. Most guys I keep company with resent toxic masculinity as much as women do because it forces them to tamp down their true emotions, passions, and vulnerabilities. I was very happy to see that Barbie acknowledges this and doesn't turn Ken into a one-dimensional villain.

There's also a Ken dance-off (or "beach-off", if you prefer), which was awesome. 

If you think I'm being too critical of Barbie, don't worry, I did like the movie. Gerwig sneaks in a lot of weirdness, camp, and plain old funny jokes into the film. The acting is also great. I already mentioned Gosling, but Margot Robbie is perfect as "stereotypical Barbie". She brings warmth, humor, and vulnerability to the role. But Gosling and Robbie are nearly overshadowed by the many, many smaller parts and even cameos throughout the movie. Kate McKinnon does what she does best as Weird Barbie. Michael Cera plays timid, earnest Allan. Simu Liu plays Ken's arch-nemesis...Ken (there are many versions of Ken in the movie, all vying for the attention of various Barbies). Hell, even John Cena makes an appearance as Merman Ken. 

Overall, Barbie isn't perfect. But maybe that's the point. A friend of mine pointed out the similarities between Gerwig's task to create the perfectly balanced Barbie movie and the message of the film that women are expected to perfectly balance our lives and selves. So maybe I'm being a tad harsh when I say that the movie was good rather than great. Or maybe it's ok for some movies to just be good.

Grade: B+

Stargazing

Movie: Asteroid City

Wes Anderson does not miss. Even his "worst" movies (Bottle Rocket and The Darjeeling Limited, in my opinion) are still solid. But if you're not into Anderson's whole vibe, you'll never be into his movies because he doesn't stray far from said vibe.

Anderson's latest, Asteroid City, contains all the classic Anderson tropes: perfectly framed shots, Daddy Issues, quick deadpan dialogue, and a striking palette of colors. But it also has some extra weird shit thrown in for the true fans. The plot is a frame story. So, "Asteroid City" is the name of a play written by Conrad Earp (Edward Norton). The portions of the movie that take place in "reality"--Conrad writing the play, actors auditioning, Conrad attending an acting class to find talent, etc--are filmed in black and white and at a 1.37:1 ratio (basically, the screen is a square). The portions of the movie that represent the play itself are filmed in color at a widescreen ratio. This makes the "reality" portions of the movie feel fake and "fake" portions of the movie feel real. 

The play itself is about events that take place over one week in the very small, Southwestern town so named after an asteroid that landed in the area thousands of years ago. Asteroid City is hosting an astronomy convention where the scientific inventions of young "Junior Stargazers" will be celebrated. This convention brings together a large cast of interesting characters, including Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), a war photographer and recent widower with three daughters and a son (one of the Junior Stargazers). Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), an actress, is also there with her daughter, Dinah (also a Stargazer). Like many characters in previous Anderson movies, Midge and Augie bond over their shared melancholy. 

The plot is pretty complicated and the cast, as is always the case with Anderson movies, is stacked. A partial list of all the actors in Asteroid City include Tilda Swinton, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Steve Carell, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and Margot Robbie. While I really liked Asteroid City, this huge cast (especially given that Anderson's last movie, The French Dispatch, also featured an enormous cast) made me long for the relatively stripped down early Anderson movies, like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums where there were fewer characters and more complex character development. 

Despite the consistency of Anderson's whole *gestures broadly* thing, the director really does try new stuff all the time. He's done animation, non-linear movies, and metatextual movies. Asteroid City strikes me as uniquely weird for Anderson, which is very exciting. It's a movie I will definitely need to watch a second time in order to pick up all the little things I missed the first time around. I like that his movies reward multiple watches. 

I feel like I'm rambling and also saying nothing in this review, but Asteroid City really is a movie you just need to watch to understand--and you'll probably need to watch it a couple times. If you're an Anderson fan, you'll probably appreciate the film even if it's not among your favorites. If you're not an Anderson fan, this won't be the movie to turn you into one. 

Grade: B+

Stuff I watched in...June, 2023

Magic Mike's Last Dance

The third movie in the Magic Mike trilogy is not as good as the first two. However, taken together, the films make a certain logical sense: the first film, Magic Mike, directed by Steven Soderbergh, was more of a funny, but slightly melancholy take on male friendships than a sex-drenched ass-fest. The second film, Magic Mike XXL, directed by Gregory Jacobs, is what people thought the *first* film was going to be: a thoroughly campy, good-hearted comedy about a bunch of hot guys taking their clothes off. This most recent (and final?) installment, directed once again by Soderbergh, is a love story, with almost too obvious tropes (the main characters can't be together for...reasons; forced proximity). It's also less funny and more sedate--but also more sensual--than the first two.

If Magic Mike is a quality craft beer and Magic Mike XXL is a tequila shot, then Magic Mike's Last Dance is a four-ounce pour of a very expensive Cabernet: it's lush, it's relaxing, it's sexy, but it ain't a party drink.

The film opens in present day, presumably about 7 years after the events of Magic Mike XXL. Mike Lane has lost his furniture making business in the pandemic and now works as a bartender for a catering company. While working at a fundraising event, Mike meets the hostess, Max Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault). Max finds out about Mike's past as a male stripper and offers to pay him a tidy sum for a dance. Mike protests that he is retired, but gives in and gives Max the dance of her life and the two end up sleeping together.

The next day, Max proposes and even crazier idea: Mike will come with her to London and spend a month training a cadre of male dancers to perform in a show at a theatre that Max's ex-husband bequeathed to her. Max's reasoning? She feels that if all women could experience the pleasure that Mike gave her through dance, it could change the world. Also, the show is a "fuck you" to her ex, a stuffy, wealthy British man with a reputation to protect.

It's all VERY contrived, and the entire "Magic Mike" trilogy goes a little overboard with the whole "if you just give women a little erotic attention, their lives will change" concept (If Mike drove women across state lines to access abortion services, he might be a little more "Magic" in my humble opinion, but yes the dancing is very good). But like a romance novel that is a fair bit ridiculous, Magic Mike's Last Dance has a way of charming you and making you smile despite yourself. It definitely has the most sensual dance scenes of the trilogy. Worth the watch!

Grade: B-

***

Elle

Elle, a French-language film directed by the slightly infamous Paul Verhoeven and starring the remarkable Isabella Huppert, is one of my favorite types of films: rape and revenge. Huppert plays Michele Leblanc, a middle-aged divorcee who develops video games for a living. Basically, she's cool as fuck. One day, Michele is raped in her own home by a masked assailant. Though she doesn't go to the police and appears relatively unfazed when she tells her ex-husband and best friend at dinner later that night, Michele begins to look suspiciously at all the men in her life. 

Michele eventually discovers the identity of the man who raped her and begins a very ambiguous cat-and-mouse game with him that could easily get her killed. As viewers, we're led to wonder what Michele is getting out of this. Is she a masochist? Is she planning some horrible act of revenge? Is she simply in denial that this man is a danger to her? Or is she suffering severe guilt due to the fact that her father was a notorious serial killer in the 1970s (did I forget to mention that Michele's father was a notorious serial killer in the 1970s)? 

Verhoeven is known for occasionally directing "trashy" movies, such as Showgirls. Elle could have easily been a trashy--almost retro--take on rape and "women's fantasies"...and some critics have argued that the movie is exactly that: a male fantasy about how women want to be ravished. But I found Elle to be a fascinating character study of a woman who is so sure of herself, so smart and powerful, that she may truly not understand the level of danger she's in. But, of course, being so smart, Michele does understand the danger she is in even as she is attracted to it on some level. It's a film that shows human emotion and motivation for the cipher it often is. Sometimes we don't even understand the choices--and risks--we make. 

I was blown away by Elle, but I strongly caution people to really consider if they want to watch a movie with multiple, explicit rape scenes which also contain a scary amount of physical violence. 

Grade: A-

***

Black Mirror, season 6 and Bandersnatch 

I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that the most recent season of Black Mirror is excellent and possibly even the best season of the entire series. There are five episodes and not a dud among them, although the first three--"Joan is Awful", "Loch Henry", and "Beyond the Sea"--are truly exquisite. "Beyond the Sea" in particular feels like it could have been a straight up film that I would have paid to see in theatres. It's also horrifically devastating. 

While "Joan is Awful" is, hands down, the funniest episode of Black Mirror ever, "Loch Henry" and "Beyond the Sea" bring that classic Black Mirror hurt--they're almost sadistic in their emotional devastation. And then the final two episodes, "Mazey Day" and "Demon 79" bring something unexpected to the table: supernatural horror. Typically, Black Mirror sticks to the realm of science fiction horror, but the final two episodes of season 6 venture outside that boundary quite a bit. And I was here for it. 

I also finally got around to watching Bandersnatch, Black Mirror's interactive movie. While Will Poulter was a delight, overall I was not impressed. The concept of a "choose your own adventure" movie is a cool one, but in reality I have to wonder how many people decided to watch it more than once to get a different ending (especially since it would offer you the option of returning to a previous choice when you reached an ending). I just don't think the movie itself is good enough to inspire multiple viewings. But I have to give it points for trying something different.  

Season 6: A

Bandersnatch: B

***

The Five Devils

This French film, directed by Lea Mysius, is a mix of genres, ranging from family drama to fantasy to horror. Young Vicky (Sally Drame) has a magical nose: she has a truly extraordinary sense of smell (she's able to smell her mother from 20 feet away while blindfolded, for example), but she is also able to create scents like some kind of prodigy perfumer. 

Vicky lives with her parents Joanne (Adele Exarchopoulos) and Jimmy (Moustapha Mbengue) and their life seems peaceful (even if Joanne acts a bit forlorn at times). But when Jimmy's sister, Julia (Swala Emati) comes to live with the family after being released from prison, Vicky's quiet life is rocked to the core. Through scent, Vicky is able to experience people's memories--namely, Julia and Joanne's. She sees that Julia and Joanne were once very close until something pulled them apart.

The Five Devils is a thinker of a movie, and honestly, I'm not fully sure if I understood it. There are some really interesting ideas in this movie, but none of them seem fully fleshed out. One idea that keeps emerging is Vicky's realization that if her father and mother hadn't gotten together in the wake of the event that sent Julia to prison, she would not have been born. The Five Devils takes this very normal existential realization and plays a bit with it, suggesting that maybe Vicky is able to time travel via the power of scent and even interfere with events that occurred before she was born. But the movie never really commits to this idea one way or another.

Overall, a very interesting and beautifully shot film, but not clear enough to feel fully satisfying.

Grade: B

***

Evil Dead Rise

Sadly, I was disappointed by the latest film in the Evil Dead franchise. Set in a condemned high rise apartment building, Evil Dead Rise had the potential to be a really cool movie. It focuses on single mom Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), her sister Beth (Lily Sullivan), and kids Danny, Bridget, and Kassie (Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher). 

Beth is a ne'er do well who has a history of ignoring her sister until she needs her. Well, upon discovering an unwanted pregnancy, Beth shows up at Ellie's door. But the sibling drama only starts to simmer before the kids discover an old-ass book bound in human skin and end up releasing untold horrors into their apartment. 

I'm not really an Evil Dead person (I still haven't seen the first two movies, which I know is blasphemy to admit as a horror lover) so I might not have followed the plot as well as an Evil Dead fan would, but basically if you read certain words out of the book, some kind of demon possesses someone, and they can pass that possession onto other people through bites and scratches and stuff. Look, I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the movie! I'm sorry!

Chaos reigns, bodily fluids are flung far and wide, and a chainsaw comes into play by the end of the movie. But at that point I was mostly playing on my phone and not watching. I'm not sure why, but the film failed to hold my attention. That said, a lot of horror fanatics loved it, so if you like horror, don't let my opinion keep you from checking it out.

Grade: C+