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Darrel’s Dozen (or so) 2020

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What a strange year for films. Most of the blockbuster films planned for the summer and awards season are hiding out from COVID-19. Maybe they’ll find their ways to open theaters sometime this year. Many films wound up going straight to streaming services. In some ways that’s good—it means that people who don’t have an arthouse nearby have had a chance to see non-megaplex films at home through virtual cinema, Netflix, Prime Video, HBO, Disney+, Apple+, etc. etc. All those streaming services represent the downside. Who can afford to subscribe to all of them? And since films go to one exclusively, it means that there are films we would love to see that aren’t really available for us. No telling what the situation with theaters will be in the post-pandemic world. Perhaps there will be some sort of synthesis of theaters and streaming that will be available for us all.

Also this year, film festivals had to go virtual, which meant that you could take part even if you lived far off. People from all over the US could watch films at AFIFest without traveling to Hollywood. (Also, I didn’t have to commute for that week or stand in lines.)

I have to admit that because so many streaming platforms were hungry for content, there are a lot of smaller films that found their way to the general public. Again. That’s both good and bad. It means some good films found audiences that they wouldn’t have reached. It also means that there was a lot of crap that made the cut. It doesn’t seem fair to give this year a grade, so I’ll just give it an incomplete.

Now to my top films for the year. You’ll notice there are a lot of docs. I’d have thought it would be a year to embrace fiction, but these looks at the real world rose to the top.

  1. & 2. A double feature of docs of youth and political involvement. Boys State takes us to one of the annual week-long camps run by the American Legion that focus on the American political process. Divided into two teams, the campers elect a state government. Political gamesmanship reflects real world politics. Crip Camptakes us back to the 1970s and a camp designed for kids with disabilities. The freedom they found there led many of them to become involved in rights for disabled people.
  2. Lovers Rock, the second “episode” of Steve McQueen’s Small Axeanthology. The film takes place at a all-night party of West Indian immigrants in London in the 70s or 80s. This film doesn’t have the social justice focus of the other films in the anthology. It is a celebration of the living. Note the ten minute (!) long scene built around the song “Silly Games.”
  3. The Social Dilemma, another documentary, this one about the ways social media platforms manipulate us as individuals and as a society. We meet some of the key people who have helped this to happen, like the inventor of the “like” button. The film issues a warning for us all to pay attention to what we are doing when we are looking at those screens.
  4. Da 5 Bloods, Spike Lee’s look at the bond of a group of African-American vets who return to Vietnam to recover a treasure they stashed. Times change, people change. Perhaps the real treasure is the memories of their friendship. But that too may be buried in the jungle.
  5. Rebuilding Paradise, a Ron Howard documentary about the town of Paradise, California, that was destroyed in a wildfire. We see the cell phone videos that the people of the town made as they evacuated, then we see the trials they face in trying to reestablish their lives in the aftermath. It is a story of community, resilience, and ultimately hope.
  6. Wolfwalkers,Cartoon Saloon’s third in a Irish folklore trilogy. A young wannabe huntress encounters a girl her own age who can transform into a wolf. Meanwhile Cromwell’s army is determined to eliminate all the wolves. Beautiful hand animation that captures the Irish culture and a sense of their struggle against the English.
  7. Mangrove, another of the films in the Small Axe anthology. It tells the story of the trial of the Mangrove Nine, the court case that made the UK judicially recognize racial prejudice in the police and legal system against West Indian immigrants.
  8. News of the World, the story of a country divided in many ways. A travelling news reader strives to take a young girl, captured and raised by the Kiowa, back to her relatives. It becomes a story of what has been lost and what can be found.
  9.  I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a Charlie Kaufman film, which means it twists around on itself more than a snake swallowing its own tail. A young woman on a trip to meet her boyfriend’s parents. But she isn’t sure she wants to stay in the relationship. Sort of.
  10. Never Rarely Sometimes Always, a story of a teen seeking an abortion. She and her cousin journey from small town Pennsylvania to NYC. Although care is available, it is not easy to navigate the system, making this a wearying journey.
  11.  Another doc double feature, this time focusing on journalists facing down government power. Collective takes place in Romania as the press calls the government to task for corruption in the health care system. A Thousand Cuts shows the struggle in the Philippines to bring out the truth about a brutal and lying President. (Since that puts me over the titular limit, I may as well add in Bellingcat about a whole new model for searching for the truth.)

And sense you deserve even more good movies in this difficult year, I have a bonus double feature for you to consider. Both these films revolve around drinking—and the meaning of life. Last Call recalls Dylan Thomas’s purported day in a bar downing 18 double whiskeys before he returned to his hotel room and went into a coma. But each drink had a name—an aspect of life he wanted to consider. Another Round involves four friends who test a hypothesis that life is better with a constant alcohol level in the blood. Will they find happiness or trouble?

There are some films that might well have made the list, but they have only played festivals to this point. I hope you get a chance to see a couple films that played as part of the AFIFest. Nine Days, a story of not-yet-born souls trying to be selected for “the amazing opportunity of life”, is tentatively scheduled for a summer release.  There Is No Evil isan Iranian film about making moral choices (built around capital punishment) in an authoritarian society. It has no release date yet. Both of these films would have made my list this year.

The best older film that I viewed for the first time or revisited is one I reviewed as part of our Self Isolation Film Festival, Groundhog Day. It just seems to capture the day-after-day sameness of this year (especially the early months of the pandemic). For those who want an edgier version of that concept, you should check out Palm Springs on Hulu.

And since we all spent so much time binging everything on Netflix, Prime, HBO, and anything else we might have had access to, I think it’s appropriate to name my favorite binge viewing of the year, Money Heist on Netflix. The multi-season story of a band of criminals who execute an elaborate invasion/theft at the Spanish National Mint. Great cat and mouse cops and robbers adventure.

Another Round – Just a Little Buzz

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The ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes is credited with saying, “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.” Those of us who drink may recognize that concept. A touch of alcohol can make us just a bit more outgoing, more witty, more entertaining. Of course, too much alcohol can lead in the opposite direction. In Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round (original title, Druk), that idea is central.

Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is a teacher who is feeling a bit of middle-aged ennui. He’s just going through the motions at school and in his family. He’s afraid that his life has become boring. When he goes out to celebrate of his friend’s fortieth birthday, the discussion comes around to a theory propounded by Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud, that people need a constant blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% to be at their best. (For reference, most states have a 0.08 BAC limit for driving.) Martin and his three friends (played by Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, and Lars Ranthe), also teachers, set about to test this hypothesis. They even treat it as a psychological experiment, making notes about their experiences.

Martin begins to want to connect with students, his wife, his sons. All of the friends find that sneaking that drink from time to time during the day has improved many aspects of life—even during the times they aren’t drinking. Since that 0.05 BAC did so well, they decide to step it up, to see if there’s an upper limit. That, of course, is when the troubles begin. What started out as making life better, turned into a nightmare.

In press notes, Vinterberg says, “We want to create a tribute to alcohol but it goes without saying we also want to paint a nuanced picture. Embedded in our examination of the essence of alcohol lies an acknowledgement that people die from – and are destroyed by – excessive drinking. An existence with alcohol generates life, but it also kills.” The film is full of examples of people from history who were known for their drinking, such as Winston Churchill and Ernest Hemingway. But even there, the film reminds us that the former led Britain in winning World War II, while the latter, in spite of great literary success, committed suicide.

I find it worth noting that the film opens with a quote from Søren Kierkegaard, and Kierkegaard comes up again later in the film as a student goes through an oral exam. Maybe it’s just because the film is Danish, but bringing a proto-existentialist theologian into the equation calls us to think in deeper terms than just watching a group of men drink. The film really asks (but knows it cannot answer) the question of if such drinking brings happiness or destruction. It holds both scenarios and reminds us that, like other aspects of life, we are in constant tension between the two.

Another Round is available on VOD

Photos courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise: Listening for Life

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One of the strangest popular sub-genres in the last decade has to be the ‘teen cancer’ genre.

Having risen to prominence in recent years, there appears to be an ongoing interest for learning to experience one’s life when faced with an often-deadly disease. From the good (The Fault in Our Stars, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) to the forgettable (Then Came You, Midnight Sun), there are countless films in the last decade that embrace the dark realities of trauma, usually with mixed results. It may seem counterintuitive but these have often become defining films for a generation of teens who are looking to experience life by staring into the face of death. In Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise, the outcome lands somewhere in between by offering a relatively charming film that still feels somewhat lacking.

Directed by Bennett Lasseter, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise tells the story of Marcus (Keean Johnson), a high school senior who is so infatuated with music that he creates mixtapes for his friends to meet their various needs. When an unexpected seizure reveals a tumour in his brain, Marcus is stunned to learn that the impending surgery will leave him without hearing. As he grapples with his future, Marcus leaves home on a road trip with the intent of creating the ‘ultimate playlist’ of sounds that he wants to experience while he has still the opportunity to do so.

It’s worth noting that Playlist does have a certain sense of style. With its love of 70s rock (!), cassette tapes (!!) and handwritten text, Marcus is a young man who seems to yearn for tangible experiences. What’s more, the chemistry between Marcus and potential love interest, Wendy (Madeline Brewer) produces enough moments of energy to prevent Playlist from losing its way. Though it’s hardly the best example of modern teen drama, the two leads work well together, creating some fun banter and ‘life moments’ that will resonate with its target audience.

Even so, the film still feels hollow at times. It’s hard to explain but, amidst its exploration of what’s real, the film doesn’t always feel like it’s being honest. Side plots like Wendy’s ex-boyfriend and his parents ‘desperate search’ to find him never seem fully resolved. In addition, it is somewhat troubling at times to see the way in which Playlist wrestles with the prospect of deaf culture. Unlike Darius Marder’s stunning Sound of Metal, Playlist seems to wash over the concept of hearing loss for the most part. While it’s entirely understandable that Marcus would be terrified about losing the sense that he holds most dear (as exemplified by his love of music), it is somewhat surprising how little the film explores the potential of his new life.

But really, this isn’t a film about losing your hearing. 

Rather than focus on life after Marcus’ surgery, Playlist leans more heavily into the imminent nature of change. (In this way, Playlist takes more of its cues from The Fault in Our Stars than it does Sound of Metal.) As a coming-of-age drama, the film takes the time to appreciate the smallest things in life that we take for granted. As Marcus embarks on his journey, he discovers an almost lyrical quality to the smallest of sounds and moments, be it a thunderstorm, roaring chainsaw or the moo of a cow. As is often found in these sorts of stories, Marcus’ playlist is really about discovering and experiencing what’s real for himself. While his mother attempts to prepare him for the next phase of his life with ASL classes and church events, Marcus is more concerned with closing the book on his life up to this point. For Marcus, his loss of hearing is an oncoming wall to which he cannot see past. As a result, he needs to believe that he’s actively ‘lived’ before he begins to lean into the future that approaches.

While the film carries charming performances and some moments of joy, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise does play a little too fast and loose with its subject matter to ever feel like it fully rings true. Even so, though it may not be the best entry into this unique sub-genre, there’s enough to enjoy about this Playlist to give it a spin.

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise is available on Hulu on Friday, January 15th, 2021.

My Little Sister – Bonded for Life

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Switzerland’s entry for Best International Feature, My Little Sister (Schweterlein), from directors Stéphanie Chuat and Véronica Reymond, is the story of a bond between siblings. It also asks the existential question of what is life if we cannot live it out?

Lisa (Nina Hoss) is a playwright who has not been writing. Originally from Berlin, she now lives with her husband Martin (Jens Albinas) and children in Switzerland, where Martin is the head master at a private school. Lisa’s twin brother Sven (Lars Eidinger) has been battling leukemia and is now able to leave the hospital. Lisa takes him to a theater in Berlin where he was scheduled to perform Hamlet. But in his absence, another actor has been working in rehearsals. Sven’s desire to be back on stage is overpowering, but he’s not physically up to the task. Lisa is determined to give him one last chance to be on stage. But her efforts take her away from her family, both physically and emotionally.

As Sven’s health rapidly deteriorates, Lisa begins to write a play for him to perform—a monologue/dialogue based on Hansel and Gretel. The play is really about the bond between these siblings, who have been together for all their lives. But what will be left of her family once Sven is gone?

While the story of the issues facing Martin and Lisa are an important part of the story, the real emphasis is on the relationship between Lisa and Sven. They have an almost mystical bond. Both are tied to the theater. They create a kind of yin/yang. But what will happen if that bond must be broken?

The directors note that within the theater community in Germany, “An actor who doesn’t perform doesn’t exist. He is erased from memory.” That is a key understanding in watching this film. Is Lisa still a writer if she is not writing? If not, what is she? While Sven has been sick, is he “erased from memory”? And what about when he dies? Will he be permanently forgotten?

But this is not just about if we might forget loved ones who are gone. (We don’t.) It is about knowing how to live out who we are. That involves what we do and how that fulfills us. It also has to do with the relationships we have with others—family, colleagues, friends, strangers.

The irony of the story is that Lisa, in trying to give Sven life through a new play, actually finds her own connection to life in her writing. Often times it is in service to another that we can find our true selves.

My Little Sister is available via virtual cinema through local arthouses.

Photos courtesy of Film Movement.

Outside the Wire: Fighting for Our Humanity

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Set in the year 2036, Outside the Wire tells the story of Lt. Thomas Harp (Damson Idris), a drone pilot with a commitment to weighing the odds. When Harp engages his drone in an active war zone in the face of a direct order from his commanding officer, he is transferred to the Ukraine under the command of Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie). Soon after Harp arrives, he is stunned to discover that Leo is actually an advanced BioTech android, yet his captain’s love for human life may actually make him more human than his new recruit.

Directed by Mikael Hafstrom (1408), Outside the Wire is an action-packed film with a high concept that struggles to leave a lasting impact after the final credits roll. To his credit, Hafstrom creates a world of grit and intensity that offers consistent action from start to finish. Intense and focused, Hafstrom does a good job of involving the viewer in the action by keeping them (mostly) emotionally invested. What’s more, with the addition of Avengers break-out Mackie, Wire is also front-loaded with a charismatic star that can handle elaborate set pieces as well. Charming yet focused, Mackie does an excellent job as the technologically advanced Leo and provides the film’s heart. Meanwhile, relative newcomer Damson Idris (Snowfall) provides an icy counterpart to the Mackie’s more compassionate android that creates some solid tension between the two conflicting ideologies.

However, with all of these building blocks in its favour, it’s somewhat surprising that Wire simply doesn’t fully realize its potential. With a high concept and intriguing premise, the film has the opportunity to truly make a statement about the evolving relationship between man and technology. Unfortunately, a meandering script and an over-emphasis on battle scenes at the expense of character moments prevent Wire from hitting its target.

Having said this, the film does manage an interesting conversation regarding the lines between man and machine. Lt. Harp’s initial decision to break a direct order stems from his commitment to cold, hard logic. In essence, Harp’s dedication to rational judgment gives him confidence yet also causes him to weigh human life with mathematical precision. Despite being told to remove his drone from a combat situation, he concludes that, despite killing two of his own men, the fact that he could save thirty-eight others counterbalances the loss. (Incidentally, is this the first time that the military has been shown to be the more empathetic organization?) 

When he meets Leo, Harp is struck by his captain’s apparent compassion for all human life, despite his robotic existence. Leo’s desire to preserve the lives of all under his care recognizes their value, regardless of their strategic advantage. As such, Harp’s journey throughout the film becomes one that challenges him to understand what it truly means to be human, as taught by a machine. Having spent his life as a drone operator, Harp has maintained a certain level of distance from the realities of combat and human life yet his relationship with Leo provides him with the opportunity to become more intimately connected with others. In this way, Wire serves as a reminder of the importance of every human life, sometimes in defiance of logic and reason. (Though, admittedly, the film’s final twist threatens to undermine this conclusion.)

While there’s a lot to like about Outside the Wire, one can’t help but feel that there was the opportunity for so much more. Rather than focusing on the action and advanced tech, the film’s real strength lies in its characters, especially that of the more-evolved Leo. However, in the heat of too many battle scenes, it’s unfortunate that they are the ones who end up being left behind in the process.

Outside the Wire is streaming on Netflix now.