LONG LIVE ROCK: CELEBRATE THE CHAOS (2021, doc)

March 11, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. “Rock ‘n Roll is dead.” It’s a proclamation that many have attempted to push for the past 50 plus years. We know that during these past decades, many other music genres have had their runs: folk, reggae, pop, punk, disco, country, techno, hip-hop. But director Jonathan McHugh shows us that head-banging is still alive … and more importantly, he explains why.

For those unfamiliar, this serves as an overview of heavy metal music. McHugh allows those involved to speak their minds. This includes musicians, DJs, promoters, security workers, and especially fans. I won’t list all of the interviewees, but they are legitimate and include bands such as Korn, Metallica, Slipknot, Halestorm, Rob Zombie, Guns ‘n Roses, Live, Machine Gun Kelly, Greta Van Fleet, and Alice in Chains. The insight from the musicians is quite interesting and thoughtful, though it’s the fan segments that really hit home.

The euphoria of crowd surfing (even in a wheelchair), the energy (and rules) of a mosh pit, and the cringe-worthiness of a “Wall of Death” (compared to the BRAVEHEART battle scene) all feed into what’s best described as a community of superfans. These folks use the festivals as an escape, and the solidarity of these outsiders is quite something to behold. Their words convey their appreciation for the communal experience of the big shows, and just how important the festivals are as a release of stress from everyday life.

Traditionally, heavy metal has been male dominated and even labeled as “satanic” music, but the film does a nice job of showcasing some of the female artists who are now popular and their impact on drawing more female fans to the events. Gender and race are discussed, and examples provided on how the divisions no longer exist – the festivals draw a cross-section of society from professionals (a dentist and nurse are featured) to working class to those who have been reformed. The music created a rare bond between an ex-convict and his prison guard.

Of course, it’s not all one big love fest. There is much discussion of alcohol, drugs, and addiction. The musicians admit that fans are always trying to give free drugs to rock stars, or buy them a drink. It’s yet another way to connect, only it can be destructive.  The 2017 deaths of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park are noted. Their deaths occurred only 2 months apart and had a dramatic impact within the community – especially following the 2015 death of Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver). Director McHugh is a frequent movie Producer and cinematic Music Supervisor presents many facets of heavy metal, and does so in a way to show the importance of the community to its superfans. Love live rock, indeed.

Virtual Cinemas on March 12, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

COME TRUE (2021)

March 11, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. Anyone who has experienced recurring nightmares understands how they impact not just the time you are asleep, but all waking hours as well. Anthony Scott Burns is the writer-director-cinematographer and is working from a story by Daniel Weissenberger. The film is blend of science fiction and horror, and Burns excels in creating an atmosphere of dread upfront.

Burns kicks things off by immersing us in the dark, troubling dream of high school student Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone, “The Killing”). She wakes up not in her bed at home, but instead wrapped in a sleeping blanket on a local playground. Sarah prefers to sleep in a park or at a friend’s house, rather than at her own home for reasons we can infer. Desperate for sleep and rest, she answers an advertisement for a sleep study at the university.

Based on the cars, movie posters, and tech equipment, the film is set in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Even the synth music is of the era, courtesy of Electric Youth and Burns’ own Pilotpriest. The music mirrors the film in that it’s superb in the beginning, and less effective in the second half. The blue-gray color palette and icy cold weather perfectly complement the unorthodox sleep study, and those who are running it. Jeremy/Riff (Landon Liboiron, TRUTH OR DARE, 2018) is the creepiest while looking like a bearded Harry Potter, though it takes a while to unravel his story. Also present is Dr. Meyer (Christopher Heatherington), who does little more than quietly observe. Allowing this character to play a bigger role could have benefited the story.

The mystique of dreams is what’s at play here, and the blinking monitors and concerned look of the scientists all serve their purpose. Unfortunately, it’s the dreams that let us down. The shadow man associated with sleep paralysis is on display here, but his glowing eyes amongst the abundance of gray lacked the eerie imagery need to capture my imagination. In fact, I found the dream sequences to drag, even after the first one got my hopes up.

It’s highly likely that Burns is a fan of filmmaker David Cronenberg, and we do appreciate the homage to Stanley Kubrick and Rodney Ascher. However, to be truly effective, a sci-fi/horror film, especially one dabbling in pseudo-psychology, must have more than the right look. Lead actress Julia Sarah Stone brings a unique appearance to the role, and she’s the reason I stuck with it until the end. My gut feeling is this could have been a world class short film, and it seems probable that I missed a deeper message here. But neither of those was enough to overcome my feeling of boredom during the film’s second half.

COME TRUE will open in select theaters, digital platforms, and cable VOD on March 12, 2021 courtesy of IFC Midnight

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Posted by David Ferguson

COMING 2 AMERICA (2021)

March 5, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. The wait was 54 years for MARY POPPINS RETURNS (2018) and 35 years for BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017), and it’s been almost 33 years since John Landis directed Eddie Murphy in COMING TO AMERICA (1988). So while it’s an unusually lengthy wait for a sequel, it’s certainly not unprecedented. Director Craig Brewer is fresh off a fantastic collaboration with Eddie Murphy in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (2019), and the writers include Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, who were both involved in the original COMING TO AMERICA (plus other Eddie Murphy projects), and Justin Kanew and Kenya Barris (“Blackish”).

The film opens with Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his wife Princess Lisa (Shari Headley) being greeted in the morning by their three daughters who wish them a happy 30th wedding anniversary. If you recall from the original, Akeem met Lisa on his eventful visit to Queens, NY. Her father Cleo (a returning John Amos) gave Akeem a job at the McDowell’s (not McDonalds) fast food restaurant he owned.

A basic synopsis of the story this time is that King Jaffe Joffer (90 year old James Earl Jones) is near death, which would mean Akeem would take the crown of Zamunda. A brewing conflict involves General Izzi (Wesley Snipes taking over for Calvin Lockhart who passed in 2007) who threatens violence if Akeem doesn’t allow Izzi’s goofball son to marry Akeem’s eldest daughter Meeka (KiKi Layne, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, 2018), who wants nothing to do with him … but does have her sights set on being next in line for the throne after her father. A film about Meeka could be interesting on its own. Of course, Zamunda law requires a male heir, and that’s the final kicker, as Akeem learns he has an illegitimate son conceived from a drug-fueled episode during his previous trip to Queens.

The royal jet whisks Akeem and his trusty sidekick Semmi (Arsenio Hall) back to Queens, where after a trip to visit with all the old characters from the neighborhood barbershop, they track down Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, 2018), son of Mary Junson (Leslie Jones). A flashback gives us context to Mary and Akeem’s moment of passion. It’s at this point where we also meet Lavelle’s Uncle Reem (Tracy Morgan). The Queen’s clan then heads back to Zamunda.

While there is a story, this is not a movie in the traditional sense. Instead it’s a nostalgic trip for a big chunk of the cast, as well as for the target audience. An abundance of cameos will keep viewers on their toes, and any movie that features two of the greatest movie voices of all-time, James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman, deserves extra credit. For me, there were no big laughs; however, I enjoyed a few good chuckles … the best being “Idiot Amin” (your ears have to work fast in the barbershop). The homage to TRADING PLACES was a nice touch, as was a particular finger wag, and a joke about sequels. It seems odd (given the title) that only a very small percentage of the story takes place in America, but I’m sure many will enjoy the outtakes over closing credits, and a surprise musical bonus after that. Also worth noting is that this sequel gets a PG-13 rating versus the R-rating of the original.

Amazon Studios will exclusively release COMING 2 AMERICA globally on Prime Video March 5th, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

MY SALINGER YEAR (2021)

March 4, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. There is no shortage of famous reclusive writers. Harper Lee, Thomas Pynchon, and even Edgar Allan Poe surely earned the label. Yet, thanks to his book “The Catcher in the Rye”, J.D. Salinger remains the most mysterious of them all. First published in 1951, ‘Catcher’ has long appealed to angsty teenagers caught up in the excitement of relating to Holden Caulfield’s rebellion, and construed from this is that author Salinger must be the only one who understands them.

Filmmaker Phillippe Falardeau (THE GOOD LIE, 2014) has adapted the 2014 memoir of Joanna Smith Rakoff, who recounted her time working for the New York literary agency that represented Salinger. Set in the mid-90s, the film centers on Joanna (played by Margaret Qualley, ONCE UPON A TIME … IN HOLLYWOOD, 2019), as she leaves school and a boyfriend behind in California to pursue writing in the Big Apple, because, as she states in her opening monologue, “It’s what I want.”

The dream of writing and the reality of earning a living come crashing down on Joanna as she secures a job as a secretary under Margaret (3 time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver), who is protective of her most secretive client, J.D. Salinger, whom she refers to as “Jerry”. Margaret and the agency are “old school” and use only typewriters since she believes computers only create more work. Joanna’s job description is this: read the piles of Salinger fan letters that arrive, ensure there is no threat of violence, categorize said letter, send the appropriate form letter response, and shred the original. Rinse and repeat hundreds of times.

Though she has little time to write, Joanna finds a boyfriend in Don (Douglas Booth, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, 2016), a selfish guy working on his own novel. We see Joanna at home with Don and at work with Margaret, Jerry’s fan mail, and co-workers Hugh and Daniel, played by veteran character actors Bryan F O’Byrne and Colm Feore, respectively. The obsessive fan letters start to get to Joanna, and she breaks protocol by sending a personal reply to one. One writer in particular, played by Theodore Pellerin (“On Becoming a God in Central Florida”) becomes an illusion that Joanna’s mind brings into real moments of her life. This happens between her phone conversations with Salinger (played with effective elusiveness by Tim Post).

Similarities to THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA creep in occasionally, but it’s how likable Margaret Qualley is that keeps us interested, despite us knowing almost nothing about her writing abilities. We only know she’s written a couple of poems and red-lined Don’s first novel. She proclaims she wants to be “extraordinary”, but after seeing the effects of success on Salinger, we can’t help but wonder why she hasn’t adjusted that goal a bit. The iconic photograph of J.D. Salinger hangs on the wall by Joanna’s desk, and though he died in 2010, his work still impacts readers some 70 years after being published. This film isn’t quite so memorable, but it’s easy enough to watch.

In theatres beginning March 5, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

THE AFFAIR (2021)

March 3, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. The world famous Villa Tugendhat is a physical, emotional, and visual metaphor for the collapse of the Czech Republic in this film from director Julius Sevcik (LOST GIRLS AND LOVE HOTELS, 2020). Writer Andrew Shaw (VOICE FROM THE STONE, 2017) adapted the script from Simon Mawer’s 2009 best-selling book, “The Glass Room”. The family melodrama is fictionalized, but the house itself is the character around which everything else revolves. And what a house it is.

Viktor (Claes Bang, TV mini-series “Dracula”, and THE LAST VERMEER, 2020) commissions noted architect Von Abt (Karel Roden) to build a home for Viktor’s new bride, Liesel (Hanna Alstrom, the KINGSMAN movies). Liesel works closely with the architect to create a modern masterpiece that is the envy of their Czechia town of Brno. The heart of the stunning structure is a glass room, causing Abt to ask Liesel, “Are you ready to live in the light?” Liesel’s close friend Hana (Carice Van Houten, LOST GIRLS AND LOVE HOTELS, 2020), who wishes they were even closer, spends a great deal of time visiting at the home. Liesel’s bliss is shaken when she discovers Viktor is having an affair with their nanny, Kata (Alexandra Borbely, ON BODY AND SOUL, 2017).

If she thought that was the worst thing that could happen, Liesel soon finds things much worse. She and her Jewish husband escape to Zurich just as the Nazi occupation occurs. Hana and her Jewish husband are not so fortunate, and not only is she separated from her lifelong friend, she is forced to do what she must to protect her husband, and that includes an affair with a German contractor named Stahl (Roland Moller, THE LAST VERMEER, 2020). It seems all of our characters are doing what they must, and they all seem to be thinking of someone other than the one they are with.

The second half of the film is much stronger than the first, as real tension exits. Ms. Van Houten is superb in her performance as Hana, and she carries this part of the story. It’s through her eyes that we see the transformations of Liesel’s beautiful home. The symmetry with what’s happening in the country is unmistakable, and Hana is at the heart of the film’s message … love endures and overcomes. The issue with the film is that we never really connect with any character but Hana. Viktor and Liesel are out of sight for an extended period of time, leaving us with what is a great idea for a film – but one that lacks the necessary depth.

Regardless of that, it’s a gorgeous film to watch … thanks in no small part to the work of cinematographer Martin Strba. The film stretches from the early 1930’s to the late 1960’s and the production design is spot on. Some interesting notes include Villa Tugendhat was actually designed by German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, and the Tugendhat family did actually flee the home. German plane designer Willy Messerschmitt actually lived in the house while it was being used as a design studio, much like the character Stahl in the film. It’s a shame the script doesn’t do justice to the cast and the home, but this one falls short of being a must see.

Available VOD on March 5, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

THE WAR AND PEACE OF TIM O’BRIEN (2021, doc)

March 2, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. “We are all writing our ‘Maybe’ book.” So says National Book Award winner Tim O’Brien, the renowned war story author best known for his groundbreaking 1990 book, “The Things They Carried.” The book was based on his experiences in the Vietnam War, and Mr. O’Brien is the subject of this documentary profile by Aaron Matthews. Four years of filming (off and on) covers O’Brien’s journey in writing his next (perhaps last) book … his first since 2002.

O’Brien lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Meredith, and their two sons, Timmy and Tad. The married couple look back to facing a fork in the road when Meredith wanted kids and Tim did not. He became a father for the first time at age 56, vowing to be a “decent” father. During those years, he did not write, and eventually it was Meredith that urged him to return to the keyboard. She says, “An artist makes art, a writer should write.” And much of Matthews’ movie explores O’Brien’s writing struggles, and his admitted battle in balancing family and writing.

With his ever-present cigarette and stash of notes and ideas, O’Brien walks us through some of his thought-process. His sons have shown no interest in learning about his war years, his childhood, or much of anything else in regards to their dad. They are simply normal teenagers more focused on sports, friends, and screen time. Dad acknowledges this, and is inspired by the idea that after he’s gone, they will appreciate knowing what made Dad tick. He cringes at the thought of being remembered for the worst thing that ever happened to him (war), but knows he would have valued the effort from his own dad – despite what we learn from a segment where O’Brien and his brother and sister reminisce about their parents.

In addition to being an incredibly talented writer, Tim O’Brien is a deep thinker, and actually quite courageous to invite cameras into his inner sanctum. Death is often on his mind, and even 50+ years later, he’s still haunted by his war experience – even though he has forged a writing and speaking career from it. The proof of his internal demons is seen with O’Brien on his hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor in the wee hours of the morning. We see him labor over a few words just like he labors over a magic trick – a few of which we see. Just don’t ask him to play the trombone. O’Brien speaks to the futility of his writing, and how his words have no impact on whether more are sent into battle. He labels himself a “Preacher of Peace”, but we are never really confident he has found peace … perhaps acceptance is more fitting. “Dad’s Maybe Book” by Tim O’Brien was published in 2019.

Available VOD on March 2, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

BLACK HOLES: THE EDGE OF ALL WE KNOW (2021, doc)

March 2, 2021

 Greetings again from the darkness. When most of us need an item, we first check the Amazon website for price and availability. For Physicists and Astronomers, it’s not always so easy. We are informed that photographing a Black Hole would require a telescope the size of planet Earth. Even with my limited science knowledge, I was able to understand the impossibility of fulfilling such a request. Of course, there is a reason they are Physicists and yours truly reviews movies. These folks are pretty darn smart and they find a way to solve problems. Harvard University Physics Professor and documentarian Peter Galison manages to make accessible the work of some of the world’s brightest minds.

Thinking back to 2019, you likely recall seeing the Black Hole photograph. It was everywhere … online sites, social media, TV newscasts, and magazine covers. We knew it was a breakthrough, but most of us had no idea what went on behind the scenes to capture that image. Galison’s documentary fills us in. Going back to 2017, and starting in Mexico, the film explains the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). With the goal of photographing a Black Hole, a network of observatories from around the globe will be coordinated to simultaneously capture data, and then that data will be compiled to determine if the image(s) is an accurate representation.

There are a couple of things we follow … related by topic but differing in objectives. A group including Stephen Hawking, Harvard Theoretical Physicist Andrew Strominger, British scientist Malcolm Perry, and Cambridge scholar Sasha Haco are observed hard at work on solving the mysteries of Black Holes. Specifically what they are pursuing is the Information Paradox, which states the universe cannot be defined by physical laws. This pursuit of this group of geniuses is shown in symmetry with the work of the EHT teams, where mostly we follow Shep Doeleman and the challenges his team faces in holding up their end of photographing Messier 87, a supergiant elliptical galaxy.

The EHT teams are located around the globe, including Chile, Spain, the South Pole, Hawaii, and Arizona. Obviously the technical aspects of these projects are beyond my capacity, however, it should be noted that the film is easy enough to follow for us non-geniuses while also including some geeky detail for the advanced among us. What really stands out and makes the film fun to watch is the passion shown by these scientists. At the conference where the teams are gathered, these folks are giddy as they anticipate the results of their work and the compilation of data. Their excitement makes it clear what an enormous accomplishment the image is for all involved.

Sadly, Stephen Hawking passed away in 2018, so the clips we see are some of the last images of his final work. If you are curious as to how his work with Strominger, Perry, and Haco ended up, you may track down their final paper, “Black Hole Entropy and Soft Hair” … but I’m sure most of you have already read it. To add a touch of entertainment value, director Galison includes beautiful music from YoYo Ma as well as “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Overall, this is the perfect blend for novices and scientists who are interested in the fascinating topic of Black Holes and how the experts go about chipping away at the mystique and limits of knowledge.

Available VOD on March 2, 2021

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