THE WEEKEND WARRIOR May 17, 2024
IF, THE STRANGERS PART 1, BACK TO BLACK, BABES
This may be a slimmer than usual column this week, since I was out of town this past weekend and wasn’t really able to watch that much stuff, though I have watched two of the wide releases coming out on Friday. Reminder that you can read more of my box office analysis over at Gold Derby.
IF (Paramount Pictures)
John Krasinski directs this family film starring newcomer Cailey Fleming as 12-year-old Bea, who returns to her New York childhood home while her father (Krasinski) is in the hospital for surgery. While staying with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw), she meets Ryan Reynolds’ Cal, whose role is to match up IFs (Imaginary Friends) that have been deserted by their childhood friends with new children.
I wasn’t really that sure what to expect from this movie, since it looked like a cute kid-friendly movie with Ryan Reynolds’ usual sparky humor, though toned down for PG, but when it opens with a montage where we watch Bea losing her mother, presumably to some form of cancer, one immediately realizes that one of Krasinski’s primary influences for writing IF were the movies of Pixar Animation – you’ll get that impression a lot while watching.
One thing I didn’t expect was how much of the film revolves around Fleming’s Bea vs. the little time spent with Krasinski and even Reynolds isn’t even in the movie as much as you’d expect. Instead, it’s about Bea dealing with her new role as “IF matchmaker,” as she interact with these strange characters, including the giant furry Bluey, voiced by Steve Carell, and Blossom, an old-timey IF voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. There’s also a ton of unnamed IFs with very familiar voices, most of whom have smaller roles, though it was nice to see that the legendary Louis Gossett Jr. was able to provide his voice before his death last year. Clearly, Krasinski has a lot of friends to lean on in terms of making voice cameos as various IFs, and that’s fun enough.
But it does rely heavily on Fleming, and she isn’t that strong an actor, though to be fair, she’s expected to do a lot of heavy lifting. Her scenes with Krasinski and Reynolds work better than those with Alan Kim from Minari, who plays a young boy in the hospital where Bea’s father is being treated, who serves little purpose other than to be one of the children Bea tries to pair up with an IF.
Probably my biggest disappointment with IF is that it isn’t nearly as funny as I was expecting, especially with Reynolds toning things down so much. Krasinski himself tries to be the “funny Dad” but his overall appearance in the film is kind of clunky.
The movie eventually builds up to a number of emotional moments that definitely could lead up to some ugly-crying, mostly spurred by the lovely score by Michael Giacchino. Those emotional high points are what eventually did win me over, after not being particularly amused or entertained up until that point with the fairly simple premise.
Ultimately, IF is sweet and sometimes saccharine, but it’s also quite harmless, and a much better use of the imaginary friends premise than another recent horror movie.
Rating: 7.5/10
THE STRANGERS CHAPTER 1 (Lionsgate)
I’m not sure what’s weirder, the fact that filmmakers decided to revive the home invasion horror franchise that began with Bryan Bertino’s movie in 2008… or that it’s going to be a trilogy… and directed by Die Hard 2’s Renny Harlin, no less! I’m not sure Harlin ever was in director’s jail, but he has been directing more VOD movies like The Bricklayer from earlier in the year, starring Aaron Eckhart. I’m not sure but I think the last movie of his that I saw was 2014’s The Legend of Hercules, starring Kellan Lutz, which I believe was also released by Lionsgate. It only made $8.9 million its opening weekend, and I vaguely remember it being quite bad, and yet, it didn’t put Harlin in director’s jail. He must be the Donald Trump of film directors. Regardless, I wasn’t able to get to a screening of this in time to review for the Thursday embargo, so I’ll just watch this weekend and then hope I’ll have a chance to review its sequels.
BACK TO BLACK (Focus Features)
I never was a huge fan of Amy Winehouse or her music, though I’m familiar with the hits like “Rehab” and maybe I knew the tiniest amount about her life and career before her sudden death in 2011. Because of that, this biopic directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (50 Shades of Grey) didn’t interest me very much, so color me surprise when Back to Black actually taught me a few things I didn’t realize about Winehouse and not only entertained but also moved me. (I generally knew about the negative reviews out of the UK where the movie premiered, but I owe much of that to film critics generally hating the biopic genre.)
Taylor-Johnson has a lot going for her with what I consider her best film as a director, but first and foremost, it’s about finding and casting Marisa Abel as Amy. I’m not sure how much of the singer she did herself, but she nails all of the known mannerisms of the pop singer, but she also can handle all the dramatic aspects of the role quite beautifully. Much of the film deals with Amy meeting Jack O’Donnell’s Blake, a bit of a player, who has trouble dealing with her growing fame.
The scenes between Abel and O’Donnell are really the best aspect of the film, as they have such a great on-screen rapport, and I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic, even though I really didn’t know about their relationship or how the heartbreak led to Amy writing the Grammy-winning album from which the movie gets its title. I’m sure I knew about Amy’s drinking and/or drug problems, but it’s handled quite well and in an unsensationalistic way, which makes me think Taylor-Johnson was really the best choice to tell this story.
I’ve long been a fan of Eddie Marsan, though I’m not sure I loved him as Amy’s Jewish father, since his hair and makeup was somewhat distracting, but otherwise, I loved how the film gets into Amy’s head as she deals with fame. Back to Black also deals with the price of fame and how the paparazzi constantly hounding Winehouse, on top of her heartbreak over losing Blake, inevitably led to her drinking again, leading to her (SPOILER!) death.
As far as musical biopics go – and you must remember that I’m generally a fan of the genre, just as I am of music docs – Back to Black does something quite commendable, as it gets the viewer invested into the life and career of an artist that they may or may not already know a lot about (depending on whether they’re fans, I guess).
Rating: 8/10
Also, Jane Schoenbrun‘s I Saw the TV Glow will be expanded by A24 into roughly 400 theaters on Friday, so not quite wide just yet, thought it could break into the lower part of the top 10. I’ve been meaning to give it another watch since I didn’t really understand it the first time around, but I have enough friends who loved it that maybe I should give it another chance.
THE BOX OFFICE CHART
1. IF (Paramount) - $41.2 million N/A
2. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century) - $27.3 million -53%
3. The Strangers Part 1 (Lionsgate) - $8.4 million N/A
4. The Fall Guy (Universal) - $7.5 million -45%
5. Back to Black (Focus Features) - $4.3 million N/A
6. Challengers (MGM) - $2.8 million
7. Tarot (Sony) - $2.5 million -62%
8. Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire (Warner Bros.) - $1.5 million -43%
9. I Saw the TV Glow (A24) - $1.3 million
10. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) - $1 million -45%
This week’s “Chosen One” (since it’s opening limited this week) is…
BABES (NEON)
Better Things creator, star, writer and director Pamela Adlon makes her feature film directorial debut with this comedy co-written and starring Ilana Glazer from Broad City, in which Glazer plays Eden, a 30-something New York woman who has a one-night stand on Thanksgiving with a guy she meets on the subway (Stephan James). After watching her best friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau) have two kids, Eden decides that she’s ready to have a child of her own. Comedy ensues.
This is another movie where I wasn’t sure what to expect since I hadn’t really watched the trailer, but I heard generally good things about it out of SXSW and its CinemaCon screenings. I was already a big fan of Glazer’s comedy from Broad City, and this is a project that she co-wrote with Josh Rabinowitz (also from Broad City), so it maintains that level of raunchy humor.
Obviously, comparisons will be made to Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up due to its comedic look at pregnancy, babies, and kids, and Babes does follow a similar formula, but in this case, it’s essentially a “woman-child” dealing with these things. If you’ve seen Broad City, you know how funny Glazer is, and she kills it with this one, dealing with pregnancy and childbirth in the most hilarious ways.
But she has a great counterpart in Buteau, who is also hilarious, even though she’s the more responsible of the two friends, though she really gets just as much of a chance to shine. There’s all sort of fun casting around them, including Hasan Minhaj as Dawn’s husband, Oliver Platt as Eden’s mother, and even Sandra Bernhard as Dawn’s boss.
The formula moments aside, Babes is a pretty terrific debut for Adlon in her collaboration with Glazer to make a raunchy women’s comedy ala last year’s Joy Ride. Sure, some guys might see both those movies as “chick flicks,” but this is probably the most I’ve laughed since that other movie.
Rating: 8.5/10
Unfortunately, that’s all I’ve had a chance to watch for review, but other stuff coming out include…
THE BLUE ANGELS (Prime Video)
Opening on IMAX screens this weekend ahead of its streaming on Prime Video (on May 23, I believe) is this new doc from Paul Crowder (one of my favorite doc directors!) about the Navy and Marine Corps flight squadron, both vets new newbies, as they go through the intense training involved with joining the aerial daredevils.
FILM GEEK
Opening at the Film Forum, in conjunction with an ‘80s movie retrospective (see below), is this new doc from filmmaker Richard Shepard (Matador, Dom Hemingway) where he goes through his history as a movie buff
TAKING VENICE (Zeitgeist Films)
Opening at the IFC Center in New York this Friday and at the Laemmle Royal in L.A. on May 24 is this new doc from director Amei Wallach, which looks at the launch of the Venice Biennale becomes the world’s most influential art exhibition in 1964 in the U.S. government’s fight against Communisum, focusing on the work and curation of Alan Solomono and Leon Castelli.
IN OUR DAY (CinemaGuild)
The 30th film from Hong Sang-Soo is opening at Film at Lincoln Center (of course, they love him there, especially Denis Lim), this one involving two stories, one involving a former actress (Kim Minhee) who is recharging at a friend’s apartment while taking a break, and the other involving a middle-aged poet (Ki Joo-bong) who has become a cult figure.
I also didn’t get a chance to watch or even read up on…
NIGHTWATCH: DEMONS ARE FOREVER (Shudder)
NYC REPERTORY
Back in the city this weekend, although there are fewer things going on in the repertory front, seemingly. Note that Spider-Man: Homecoming will be playing pretty wide across the country in theaters on Monday, May 20.
“American Landscapes: The Cinema of Kelly Reichardt” will be screening more movies by the indie auteur with a special “ACE Presents” for Reichardt’s 2010 film Meek’s Cut-Off, as well as more screenings of Certain Women (on Friday, already sold out) and Night Moves.
Screening this weekend as part of “Euro-Heists” is the Bruce Willis film, Hudson Hawk (1991), and Melville’s Le Cercle Rouge (1970), while “‘90s Noir” will be screening Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels (1995) all weekend.
“Ethics of Care” will screen Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master on Thursday afternoon, as well as Ingmar Bergman’s Through the Glass Darkly (1961) and Nadine Labaki’s 2018 drama, Capernaum, over the weekend.
“Dream With Your Eyes Open” will screen AKira Kurosawa’s Dreams on Thursday evening, as well as Satoshi Kon’s classic anime, Paprika (2006), Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus (1950), and Tarkovsky’s Mirror (1975) through the weekend.
Li Hongqi’s 2010 film Winter Vacation will screen a few times this weekend, as part of “Small Town, Big Dreams.”
Starting this weekend is the new series, “Out of the ‘80s” made up of over films including Bria De Palma’s Dressed to Kill, Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, Cronenberg’s VIdeodrome, the comedy classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and more, running through June 13. This Sunday’s “Film Forum Jr.” is a stone-cold classic in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extraterrestrial, and wouldn’t you know it, but Melville’s Le Samouraï has now been extended through May 23, as has Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob.
“Trigger Happy: Hit Men with a Punchline” continues leading up to the debut of Richard Linklater’s Hit Man next week. Tonight, they’re screening Michael Mann’s Collateral, staring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise, then on Friday is the Coens’ Best Picture-winning No Country for Old Men, William Friedkin’s Killer Joe (which will also screen on Monday and Tuesday), Murder for Contract (also showing Saturday), and then Grosse Point Blank and Prizzi’s Honor, both in 35mm, on Sunday. It continues into the week with screenings of HItchcock’s Dial M for Murder and Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill early next week. On Sunday, the Academy’s Directors’ Branch selects Edward Yang’s 2000 film, Yi Yi, with an introduction by Ramin Bahrani.
“Marco Bellocchio’s Film of Revolution” will be taking place from May 17-23 in ahead of his new film, Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara, opening next week. Some of the films screening include In the Name of the Father, Devil in the Flesh, and Henry IV.
The bizzarro 1980 Cannon Films musical The Apple will screen on Friday and Saturday late night as part of “Let’s Go Crazy: Cult Musicals.” “Late Night Favorites” is showing the 1995 comic book adaptation Tank Girl on Friday and Saturday nights.
Lots of stuff this weekend including another screening of Michael Mann’s Thief (1981) this evening, as well as Son of Kong (1933), both in 35mm, the latter also screening on Sunday.
On Monday, they’re screening Carol Reed’s The Third Man, starring Orson Welles, at 4:30pm and 7pm.
The Hiroshi Shimizu retrospective that began at the Museum of Moving Image (MoMI) continues with “Part II: The Postwar and Independent Years.” It begins tonight with an imported 35mm print of Children of the Beehive (1948) and then continues through June 1, while still continuing Part 1 at MoMI. There’s some really rare stuff being shown, but I’m not really familiar with Shimizu’s work to expand further.
The William Castle horror film, House on Haunted Hill (1959), starring the one and only Vincent Price, will screen on Friday night and Sunday afternoon as part of “Disreputable Cinema,” while the Hiroshi Shimizu retrospective will continue through Sunday with screenings of Notes of an Itinerant Performer (1941) and a repeat screening of Children of the Beehive. On Saturday, you can watch Dennis Quaid in The Right Stuff (1983) as part of “MOMI Loves.”
NITEHAWK CINEMA PROSPECT PARK & WILLIAMSBURG
Tonight in Prospect Park at 8:30pm, you can watch Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie (1976) with a pre-show drag performance, and Miyazaki’s Ponyo (2008) will screen on Saturday and Sunday morning for the kiddies, as well. David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) will also screen twice over the weekend as part of “She Wants Revenge” presented by MUBI, and next Wednesday, if you’re up for it, they’re showing a double feature of Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies in 35mm.
At the Williamsburg location, they’ll be screening The Craft (1996) on Friday and Saturday late night as part of “Goth ‘90s,” and as part of its own “She Wants Revenge” series, it’s screening the comedy 9 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday mornings for brunch. Alan Arkin’s Little Murders (1971) is playing on Monday as part of “Ridiculous Sublime.”
If you’re able to get out to Huntington, Long Island, you can watch George Clooney’s excellent Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) tonight, while the 1994 horror film Cemetary Man plays on Friday night as part of the Night Owl Cinema’s Giallo Horror series, and they’ll also show The Hunger Games (2012) as part of its program for Young Film Fan Members. Saturday’s “Cult Cafe” offering is 1980’s Little Darlings, starring Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol. Sunday’s “Cinema for Kids” is 1982’s The Last Unicorn from Rankin and Bass, and Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955) will screen Monday night. On Tuesday night, they’re showing a rare screening of the Oscar-winning The Sound of Music from the year in which I was born, 1965!
Next week, it’s Memorial Day weekend, and George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will be joined by The Garfield Movie from Sony and Sight from Angel Studios.