Greetings again from the darkness. It’s 1926 and a movie mogul is planning yet another massive debauchery-filled industry party at his palace of a home in still-developing Bel-Air, California. Lest we have any doubt that this party is over-the-top, we are forced to witness the handlers of the main attraction – a circus elephant – get sprayed from the wrong end as they push the colossal beast up the hill. Once the party starts, things get even crazier. Orgies, drugs, nudity, wild dancing, and a golden shower and drug overdose in the room of a Fatty Arbuckle type … yes, this opening party sequence lasts 20-30 minutes, and occurs before the opening credits. The only touch of class is the old school Paramount logo.
Writer-director Damien Chazelle (Oscar winner, LA LA LAND, 2016) sets the stage for his wild and frenzied epic meant (I think) as a tribute to early Hollywood and the uneasy transition from silent films to talkies. Of course, that topic has been handled in other prestige films – recently with THE ARTIST (2011), as well as the classic SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952). It’s the latter which serves as a template or guidepost for Chazelle, to such an extent that he shows clips from it, quotes it, and even has a couple of his characters share similarities with Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood.
From the moment she crashes onto the party scene, this becomes Margot Robbie’s movie. Fully engaged doesn’t begin to describe how she embodies the Nellie LaRoy character. Nellie is a displaced Jersey girl desperate to break into showbiz, and she pursues stardom with everything she has to offer. Nellie is a risk-taker and literal gambler, and the character is supposedly inspired by the infamous Clara Bow. It’s at that first wild party where she meets both Jack Conrad (Oscar winner Brad Pitt) and Manny Torres (Diego Calva). Conrad is a huge silent movie star, and also a boozing womanizer with the accompanying swagger (supposedly based on actor John Gilbert). Manny, though a much quieter soul, is much like Nellie in that his ambition is to work in the movie business. The two discuss their dreams while tearing into mounds of cocaine.
Nellie’s fearlessness in front of the camera (much like Ms. Robbie’s) pays off as the offers roll in and she makes her name. She and Manny periodically cross paths as he climbs the ladder towards studio executive. We also keep up with Jack Conrad and his stream of wives, and how things begin to change with THE JAZZ SINGER and the advent of talking motion pictures. While all this is happening, the film also (sorta) follows the career of jazz trumpeter Sidney Powell (Jovan Adepo) as he builds a career as a black performer on screen. One of the more interesting characters who we wish had more screen time is Lady Fay (played by Li Jun Li). We are rarely treated to a Chinese lesbian chanteuse, and she makes each of her scenes quite fascinating.
Others in the cast include Olivia Wilde as one of Jack Conrad’s many wives, Lukas Haas as an industry guy, Eric Roberts as Nellie’s hustler dad, Pat Skipper as William Randolph Hearst, and Max Minghella as the legendary Irving Thalberg. They are each fine, but none as memorable as Tobey Maguire (also a producer on the film), who has a funny/creepy cameo as a fictional giggling gangster named James McKay. However, it’s Jean Smart as Elinor St John, a gossip columnist in the mold of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, who has the film’s best scene when she deals the hard truth to Jack Conrad. Ms. Smart seems to excel in every role she takes these days, and this may be one of her best, albeit with limited screen time.
The issues with the film have nothing to do with its entertainment value and outrageous moments or with the performances. Each of those things keep us watching. It’s only when we stop and think about it when the problems come into focus. Most blatant is the love story between Manny and Nellie. They actually spend very little time together after their cocaine feast. Certainly not enough to fall in love. There is a ‘blackface’ scene unlike anything you’ve seen before, and in 3 hours and 8 minutes director Chazelle follows up the projectile elephant poop with vomit from a drug overdose, vomit from something other than a drug overdose, a urine stream, and rattlesnake venom. At times it seems like he wanted to see just how much he could get away with.
Chazelle collaborators from LA LA LAND include cinematographer Linus Sandgren composer Justin Hurwitz, and Film Editor Tom Cross, all three are Oscar winners from that film, and all provide superb work here. The technical aspects of the film are terrific, it’s as a story (or stories) where things unravel. It’s simply bloated and overly ambitious, while having some of the frenetic pacing of Baz Luhrman’s MOULIN ROUGE! or THE GREAT GATSBY. It appears filmmaker Chazelle is attempting to reinforce cinema is art as a spectacle, when most of us don’t require more proof. The movie montage at the end is fun to watch, but strikes this viewer as a bit indulgent after a long movie. Buckle up for a wild ride and enjoy the good stuff.
Opens in theaters on December 23, 2022
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. Royals are having a moment. Well, actually, the Royals have had a few hundred years of moments … but now, they are having their moment in the entertainment world. It seems almost everyone watched “Downton Abbey” and now “The Crown”, and last year we saw Kristen Stewart’s Oscar nominated performance as Lady Di in SPENCER. Of course, there have been countless other films focused on Kings and Queens and other royal types, and now writer-director Marie Krutzer (THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET, 2019) serves up a (mostly) fictional account of Empress Elisabeth of Austria from the 19th century.
Greetings again from the darkness. This is Scott Cooper’s sixth film to write and direct, and I have found each of them interesting. He has a style that leans towards atmospheric with meticulous pacing, and this latest fits the mold. Cooper’s films include CRAZY HEART (2009) and this will make his third collaboration with Oscar winner Christian Bale (HOSTILES, 2017, and OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2013).
Greetings again from the darkness. Given the onslaught of Zombie movies over this past decade, the release of a film about first love between two fine young cannibals barely raises an eyebrow in regards to subject matter. However, when the film is directed by Luca Guadagnino, the man behind such films as CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017) and I AM LOVE (2007), well the interest level is quickly piqued, as we know the approach will be one that’s unique. David Kajganich, who collaborated with Guadagnino on SUSPIRIA (2018) and A BiGGER SPLASH (2015), adapted this screenplay from the 2016 novel by Camille DeAngelis.
Greetings again from the darkness. For the first half hour, we can’t help but think, “we’ve seen this all before.” A straight-as-an-arrow police detective falls hard for a suspect in a murder case. Sure, the familiar story line is often fun to watch, but we are initially a bit disappointed since this is the work of writer-director Park Chan-wook, the filmmaker behind OLD BOY (2003) and THE HANDMAIDEN (2016). Of course, we worried needlessly. The masterful director then begins twisting and turning characters and events in this homage to Hitchcock’s VERTIGO.
Greetings again from the darkness. I’ll admit that I’m not easily dazzled, and I’m very happy to admit that the thirteen years since James Cameron’s AVATAR was not just worth the wait – this latest one truly dazzled me. While the 2009 film was impressive from a technical standpoint, the new one is awe-inspiring, especially in the underwater sequences. I should disclose that I saw this on a huge screen in a theater with a spectacular sound system, and even the 3D glasses didn’t bother me at all (a first). The usually annoying muted color tones of 3D were minimal here, and the colors still popped as the 3D effects became a part of the presentation rather than the typical gimmickry.
Greetings again from the darkness. The expert photography and artistic approach taken by Shaunak Sen in his documentary is quite something to behold, even as the message may be a bit heavy-handed. His opening shot perfectly captures all of this, as a sea of rats scrounges for food through the trash while the headlights of an approaching car drive home the point that it’s the humans who have thrown things out of balance.
Greetings again from the darkness. I’m a little late on this one as I try to catch up with viewings for year-end lists and voting. From the opening scene, director Gina Prince-Bythewood (LOVE AND BASKETBALL, 2000) establishes the skill and intimidation of the Agojie, an elite force of female soldiers in the Dahomey Kingdom of West Africa. The year is 1823 and the warriors are led by their General, Nanisca (Oscar winner Viola Davis, FENCES, 2016), a fierce leader who also has the ear (figuratively speaking) of Ghezo (John Boyega), the new king.
Greetings again from the darkness. Brendan Fraser deserves an Oscar nomination. There’s a sentence I never even imagined writing. If you recall (and you are excused if you don’t), Mr. Fraser’s early acting career is noted for such ‘prestige’ films as ENCINO MAN (1992), GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (1997), DUDLEY DO-RIGHT (1999), and BEDAZZLED (2000). And yes, I’m being a bit unfair in the films I chose to name, as he has also had some solid performances along the way. However, nothing on his resume could have prepared us for what he delivers on screen in this latest from director Darren Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN, 2010).
Movie Reviews from the Dark 