Project Hail Mary
First of all, I kinda feel bad giving Project Hail Mary "only" a B+ rating since SO many people are finding it to be one of the best movies they've ever seen. And it is indeed a fun and beautiful movie. My rating is slightly lower only because I have not read the book and so much of the film felt like it was going way too fast and I wasn't fully comprehending the science of it all. The movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and felt like it could easily be another hour longer. So my "B+" is more about my experience watching the film as someone who was playing catch-up, if that makes any sense.
I shelled out the extra dough to watch Project Hail Mary in IMAX, which I think was the right choice. It's a film that deserves to be seen on a very large screen. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and based on the book by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary is about a regular dude--a science teacher--who is sent to space to save the entire universe. No pressure!
Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is recruited by a government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller) to work on a project to save Earth. Or, more accurately, to save the sun from being "eaten" by microorganisms called "astrophages" that have been recently discovered. These astrophages are eating every star in the solar system except for one. The goal is to send a small crew to that one star so they can discover what properties it has to resist the astrophages and then the crew will send that info back to Earth. Because this small crew will only have enough energy to get to the star and not enough to get back to Earth, it's a suicide mission.
Grace is only a middle school teacher, but he used to be a molecular biologist. He was booted out of the serious scientific community because his theories were so controversial. But he is recruited back into the scientific community because of his unorthodox way of viewing things.
Without getting into too much plot detail, Grace ends up on the mission to the star and is the only surviving crew member. He is profoundly lonely until he meets an alien life form, which he names "Rocky" because, well, the life form looks like a rock with arms and legs. Rocky and Grace figure out how to communicate and realize they are both on the same mission. Alone in the middle of space, Grace and Rocky become friends. Grace, who sees himself as someone who is not brave and not extraordinary, finds someone to be brave for--and that's literally the entire point of the movie. All the science, all the dense plot...it just boils down to a friendship between two entities that are so different from one another but are both capable of caring for the other one. I won't lie--Project Hail Mary almost made me cry.
So, yeah, I had some issues with the movie just being too much--too fast, too rushed, too much info...but that's not because the movie is poorly made. It's only an issue because it's adapting a dense and, from what I've heard, excellent book (which, yes, I will be reading). But I would 100% recommend this film because people who have read the book love it and people who haven't...also love it. It's a crowd pleaser and real epic--totally worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.
Grade: B+
***
The Plague
An absolutely brutal film about bullying and social isolation, The Plague is worth watching but is a very, very tough watch. It features some of the best child actors I've ever seen and it will uncomfortably remind you of your adolescence, whether you were a bully, the bullied, or a bystander who could have done more.
The film takes place at a water polo camp in 2003. Ben (Everett Blunck) is new to the camp and quickly figures out the hierarchy. Jake (Kayo Martin) is the ringleader of a group of boys (these kids are all 12 or 13 years old) and he is downright Machiavellian in his ability to place the other boys exactly where he wants them on the social ladder. For example, he immediately picks up that Ben has a very small speech impediment where he can't pronounce the "st" sound--so "stop" sounds like "sop". Jake uses this to mock him, but never acts like it's more than just good fun with the guys.
Ben is lucky because there is a kid so low on the social ladder that the other boys don't even bother mocking him--they just completely avoid him. This is Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), a weird kid (we would probably consider him neurodivergent today) with an unfortunate skin disorder. The boys say that Eli has "the plague" and that if you touch him, you'll get it too. This leads the boys to scramble away whenever Eli is close.
Ben is a smart kid. Smart enough to know that "the plague" isn't really real. He's also kind enough to have sympathy for Eli. But he's also invested in not being a pariah, so after he starts trying to befriend Eli, he finds himself on the outs with the other boys...Ben has caught "the plague".
When I say that The Plague is an excellent film, I mean it. It was 100% worth watching. But goddamn. As a 13 year old myself, I was Ben. I wasn't the social ringleader or bully, but I witnessed other kids get bullied and I knew it was wrong and I wanted to be nice to them...but part of me knew that if I got too close, I would be next. And the anger Ben expresses at Eli for being weird...oh my god, shoot an arrow into my heart! Yes, I've been there too. Even if you're a grown ass adult, The Plague will expose your deepest fears and deepest shame. This movie is a masterpiece and it will break your heart.
Grade: A+
***
My Own Private Idaho
As a fan of Sad Gay White Boy Cinema (tm), it's hard to believe I've overlooked Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho for so long. In fact, I basically had no idea what the movie was about other than River Phoenix + Keanu Reeves + motorcycle. I assumed it was a road movie with a sprinkling of unrequited love. And it is that, but it's so much more.
My Own Private Idaho is a much weirder film than I expected. Van Sant loosely based the movie on Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V--plays I know next to nothing about. If I hadn't looked this detail up before watching the movie, I would have been extremely confused about the tonal shift that happens whenever a character named Bob Pigeon is on screen. Bob (played by William Richert) is an older man who, I guess, "mentors" street kids and hustlers. Scenes with Bob turn into Shakespearean rat-a-tat dialogue between Richert and Reeves.
But once Bob isn't on screen, My Own Private Idaho goes back to being a normal movie, albeit with some interesting stylistic touches. River Phoenix plays Mike, a true and genuine hustler with a pack on his back and a fucked up brain (he suffers from narcolepsy, making him extremely vulnerable in an already vulnerable situation). His best friend is Scott Favor (Reeves), who is the son of the mayor of Portland and set to inherit a ton of money, but enjoys slumming it alongside actual desperate people. Scott fucks men for money, but he's not actually gay and believes that men can't love each other...a belief proven wrong by Mike's longing for Scott.
My Own Private Idaho is about the intersection of class and sexuality. Scott can play at being poor and queer because he can return to money and heterosexuality at any time. Mike just is poor and queer. He has no safety net and even his best friend drops him the moment he meets a pretty girl he likes. River Phoenix gives a beautiful performance with almost painful vulnerability. It's sad to think about the art he could have given us if he hadn't died at the tragically young age of 23. 23 --just a baby.
Really glad I finally got around to watching this sensitive and sad film.
Grade: A-
***
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Ready or Not was an extremely fun horror-comedy about Grace (Samara Weaving), a woman with an impoverished background who marries into an insanely wealthy family, only to find herself hunted by the very same family on the night of her wedding. You see, the La Domas clan sold their souls to Satan for ultimate power. The only thing Satan...or "Mister Le Bail"...asks of this family is the occasional sacrifice. And on her wedding night, Grace's card came up. Literally.
But Grace prevailed and the entire La Domas family, in-laws and children included, died. However, Grace's trials and tribulations are only just beginning because in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Grace has to fight all the remaining heads of the families who, along with the La Domas', control the entire world. With the La Domas' dead, the high seat of power belongs to Grace...unless one of the other members of the powerful families can kill her before dawn. And, unfortunately, Grace's sister, Faith (Kathryn Newton), is along for the ride this time. Ride or die, that is.
Look, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come did not need to be made. In my opinion, it adds nothing to the first film and--frankly--takes away from it by adding more lore. Convoluted lore, at that. First we had one family running the world, now we have five families. First we thought it was fight to the death, now we learn there is a hidden clause to get around the whole death thing. It's not that this movie doesn't have its fun moments--it absolutely does--it's just like...why?
Additionally, there are more plot holes than Swiss cheese in this movie. There were so many times where I was like "Ok, the gate is open--why don't they take the golf cart and drive away? Oh right, because then there wouldn't be a movie". "Oh, this person was nearly beaten to death an hour ago and now they have a single cut on their face--ok, I guess I'll suspend disbelief". Eh, I'm asking too much of a movie about devil worshippers, aren't I?
If you're a huge fan of Ready or Not, you will probably at least have fun with the sequel. But for most folks, you can feel free to skip this one or just wait until it's on streaming.
Grade: C+
***
Summer of Sam
Directed by Spike Lee, Summer of Sam is the definition of a "hot mess". The film is loose, lewd, fairly directionless, weird, and occasionally very entertaining. It takes place during the summer of 1977 in New York City (the summer that the serial killer David Berkowitz, aka "Son of Sam", was active). Even with a deranged lunatic on the loose, the sexy people of the Bronx still go disco-dancing, get coked up, and get laid.
The film mostly follows Vinny (John Leguizamo), a hairdresser who regularly cheats on his lovely wife, Dionna (Mira Sorvino). He cheats not because he doesn't love Dionna, but because he has a serious Madonna/whore complex. He can't bring himself to ask his wife to do stuff like anal sex and 69 because "you don't do that stuff with your wife"--you do it with your boss, and your wife's cousin, and a million other ladies instead! That's what we call respect.
Another major player in the film is Ritchie (Adrien Brody), a guy who grew up in the Italian neighborhood along with Vinny and the others but starts affecting a punk look and it freaks out all the conservative men in the neighborhood. It doesn't help that Ritchie starts going out with "Ruby the Skank" (Jennifer Esposito). Ritchie and Ruby just want to dress weird and listen to punk rock, but their refusal to blend in causes a stir amongst the traditional men who used to be their friends.
With a heat wave on and bodies piling up, the paranoia and tension begin to rise and reach a crisis point where violence is imminent. This is ground Lee has covered before, namely in the excellent Do the Right Thing. But Summer of Sam just ain't it. Where it should be weird it comes off as embarrassing and corny (check out the scene where Berkowitz's neighbor's dog directs him to "kill"--it's SO bad). Where it should should be sexy, it's decidedly unerotic (this actually might have been Lee's intention). Even the entertaining scenes are entertaining because they're bizarre, not because they're interesting. Google "Adrien Brody Baba O'Riley montage" if you want to see what I'm talking about.
I'm glad I watched Summer of Sam because I need to see more Spike Lee films, but this one was just not impressive--and it was overly long to boot.
Grade: C+
***
The Ice Storm
The Ice Storm was a favorite of mine in high school. So much so that I read the book it's based on and bought the soundtrack (which turned me on to this stone-cold classic). I found the movie titillating back then, but now I just see it as very sad. It's a suburban ennui film about how middle-class conformity leads to acting out, both for the teenagers and the adults.
Directed by Ang Lee, the film takes place over the Thanksgiving holiday in 1973 Connecticut. Two families are embroiled in each others' lives: the Hood family (father Ben (Kevin Kline), mother Elena (Joan Allen), son Paul (Tobey Maguire), and daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci)) and the Carver family (father Jim (Jamey Sheridan), mother Janey (Sigourney Weaver), son Mikey (Elijah Wood), and son Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd)).
They're "embroiled" because Ben and Janey are having an affair and Elena knows something is up. Also, Wendy and Mikey are on the verge of fooling around every time they hang out, while Wendy also enjoys riling up the younger Sandy. Basically--they kids are mimicking the adults' behavior. Or maybe it's the other way around.
Things come to a head on the evening of Thanksgiving, when the adults all go to a boozy party that turns into a "key party" where the men put their keys in a bowl and then women pick them out and go home with whomever's keys they've chosen. Very 1970s. Ben, Elena, Jim, and Janey all have to face up to reality while their children get up to no good.
The Ice Storm is what American Beauty could have been if it had any subtlety. You can tell from the absolutely stacked cast that this is a well-acted movie, especially with regards to the younger folks. Christina Ricci is the perfect exemplar of pissed off, curious, smart, horny teenage girlhood here. She appears to give no fucks, stealing snacks from a convenience store and kissing one Carver brother while showing the other Carver brother her privates. But it's clear that she's not just rebelling, she's also dying for warmth and attention from the adults in her life. Not to boil all teenage rebellion down to a simple "need for attention", but the way she lets her dad carry her home after he catches her fooling around with Mikey is all we need to see to know that this is a young person who needs love and care in her life...and her parents are too busy with their own bullshit drama to notice.
Excellent film, and among Lee's best work. Highly recommended.
Grade: A
