What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation …
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
“You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”
(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)
(I’m doing several reviews this week, but Bullet Train isn’t in the collection.)
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): As promised (I hope you’re pleased), I’m back after taking a 1-week-break; during that time, though, while I wasn’t writing much about various cinematic options I was certainly seeing plenty of them, starting with the regular run of the Godfather trilogy (Francis Ford Coppola; 1972, 1974, 1990) for me and my wannabe-Italian-wife (like me, her ancestry doesn’t dip below northern Europe), Nina Kindblad (I gave 5 stars to the re-edited version of The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone [2020]; would certainly give 5 stars each to the other 2 if I should ever actually review them). Then, after visiting with some of Nina’s relatives on Thanksgiving, we watched her brother’s Netflix disc of Bullet Train (David Leitch) which is almost-non-stop-fighting aboard a train racing from Tokyo to Kyoto, so it’s not very deep but fun to watch if you don’t mind a bit of spilled blood (more info at the official site, the Rotten Tomatoes site [53% positive reviews], and the Metacritic site [49% average score]). Following our catch-up of things that have been out for awhile, we decided to take the drastic step of going to a theater to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, taking the precaution of attending an early-afternoon-matinee where there were maybe a dozen other patrons so we felt fairly safe from COVID-19 exposure; after this no-harm-screening we noted there are still a couple of other movies we had varying interests in playing in our area, but with ticket prices now, even for us seniors, up to the level of streaming rentals we decided to keep playing it safe by watching Ticket to Paradise and Tár at home, along with Amsterdam which has been in release since early October but seems to now just be a streamer. So, for this posting I’m keeping them all (minus Bullet Train, but you can go here if you’d like extensive details) at the SHORT TAKES level for our mutual sanities, with the current box-office-behemoth first, followed by the lesser-embraced-but-star-studded-works, finishing with the critics’ favorite given Cate Blanchett’s Oscar-worthy-performance (for a nomination at least; don’t yet know yet about her final competition). Also, here are links for the schedule of cable's Turner Classic Movies, which gives you a wide selection of older films with no commercial interruptions and the JustWatch site which offers its own wide selection of options, for streaming rental or purchase. If you'd just like to learn what reigned at the domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend, go here.
SHORT TAKES
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
T’Challa, the king/Black Panther of (fictional) African country Wakanda is dead (mirroring the sad reality of the actor who brought him to life on screen, Chadwick Boseman, who passed away due to colon cancer in 2020), despite his sister Shuri’s (Letitia Wright) attempt to cure him of a(n unknown to us) fatal illness by synthesizing the “heart-shaped herb” that previously gave him his superhuman powers but was destroyed by his nemesis, N’Jadaka/Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), in the previous Black Panther (Coogler, 2018). His mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), takes the throne; a year later she’s under pressure at a United Nations meeting to fulfill T’Challa’s promise to share Wakanda’s rare, powerful mineral, vibranium, with the rest of the world (beyond minor details such as the ones noted here you don’t need to see the previous movie to understand/ appreciate this one, but if you want to know more see my Black Panther review; you can also consult this video [14:28] for useful background on the sequel, pleasantly informative without Spoilers), yet she refuses to do this as she doesn’t trust her recently-known-neighbors. Wakanda'd been hidden from the world due to superior vibranium-based-technology for centuries; Ramonda’s ultimately proven right when a U.S. team using a secret vibranium-detecting-machine finds some deep in the Atlantic Ocean, only to be killed by water-dwelling humanoids, although our CIA assumed Wakanda was behind the attack, further heightening international tensions on the situation.
Clarity’s provided to us about this underwater attack when Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), king of these sea-creatures, comes out of a lake one night in Wakanda to confront Ramonda and Shuri, explaining how in 1571 when Spanish conquistadors were killing/enslaving his Aztec/Mayan community the tribe’s shaman went into the deep waters to procure their version of the “heart-shaped herb” which allowed them to live underwater for many years, while Namor’s mother was pregnant with him so when he was born he was different from the rest of his tribe in having Black Panther-like superpowers (and more, he can fly) as well as being able to take oxygen from the air through his skin when on land, adding to his extended-abilities. He offers an alliance with Wakanda against Earth’s land-based-nations or else he’ll begin with war on Wakanda; however, his initial demand is to locate the scientist who created the vibranium-sensing-device (apparently eons ago there were 2 comets carrying this exotic mineral, one crashing into what became Wakanda, the other in the ocean off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, this stash guarded by the ancient-underwater-dwellers).
Princess Shuri and Gen. Okoye (Danai Gurira), leader of the Dora Milaje women warriors, secretly meet with CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) to surprisingly learn that the "superior scientist" is actually a 19-year-old MIT student, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—who made the device as a class project on a dare, not knowing it would be used by the CIA—whom they convince to come with them to Wakanda, but as this trio attempt to leave they have to endure a frantic car/motorcycle chase to escape FBI agents and police, only to be confronted by a squad of the submariners with Shuri and Riri captured, Okoye demoted by the angry Queen when the warrior returns home. Then Ramonda goes to Haiti to find her (now ex-) daughter-in-law, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who agrees to help, takes an underwater device homing in on Shuri’s earrings to the underwater kingdom of Talokan, rescues the 2 surface-dwellers which leads Namor and a small squad to attack Wakanda’s capital city, flooding much of it, resulting in the Queen’s death as she saves Riri from drowning; however, Namor threatens to return in a week with his full army if Riri’s not given over to him by then.
⇒Shuri works with a remnant of the Talokan herb to reconstruct her own power-giving-plant which allows her to consume it and manifest as the Black Panther; aided by Okoye and Riri (who’s devised her own Iron Man-like armor suit with firepower, flying capabilities), Shuri leads the Wakandans into battle with her troops on a huge ship, luring the Talokan warriors to the surface where a massive battle ensues; Shuri manages to trap Namor in a flying heat chamber which weakens him as he’s dried out, but when they crash on a beach, he revives, they fight, she overpowers him; yet, rather than kill Namor she forges an alliance so he calls off his troops, with a secret long-term-plan to someday attack the surface world. Riri returns to MIT; Okoye is reinstated, goes off on her own to free Ross, arrested by his ex-wife/CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for clandestinly-helping the Wakandans; Shuri plants more of the crucial herbs to insure Black Panther continuity; M’Baku (Winston Duke)—see Black Panther summaries to know who he is—steps forward to battle anyone who’d challenge him as the new Wakandan king (must have made a power-sharing-agreement with Shuri); while the new Panther goes to Haiti to visit Nakia and finally come to terms with her brother’s death. While there she meets Nakia’s young son named Toussaint (Divine Love Nonadu-Sun), who says his Wakandan name is T’Challa, so we know that sometime in the future, when he’s older, he’s destined to assume his father’s magical powers plus the throne.⇐
While there’s a lot of well-choreographed-action throughout this movie, accompanying the heartfelt-sorrow about the death of T’Challa (just as audiences worldwide have grieved the death of Boseman), to me it just felt too long for the story it wants to tell, as if the massive special effects are set up to challenge the soon-to-be-released-sequel to Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)—… The Way of Water (set to arrive on December 16, 2022)—when awards nominations come out over the next few months. … Wakanda Forever’s still inherently-watchable, though, especially with its focus on powerful, brilliant female heroes, as proven by its tremendous box-office-success, $370 million gross domestically (#4 for 2022 so far, likely to climb higher), $678.2 million globally (#7 this year, also could go up), after a mere 2 weeks in release (November 11, 2022), generally pushed along by CCAL support as the RT reviewers have an 84% positive response, those at MC are in their standard range of a 67% average score, though (more details in Related Links far below, as with anything I review). Assuming you haven’t seen it yet, intend to (surely comes to Disney+ streaming, but no telling when) if COVID-19’s not holding you back, it truly is one of those experiences that works best on the theatrical-big-screen (just like Top Gun: Maverick [Joseph Kosinski; review in our June 9, 2022 posting], the highly-likely 2022 domestic [$716.7 million thus far] and worldwide [$1.5 billion] champ), so watch it that way if you can as you’ll likely have a few more weeks to easily do so. OK, this blather's gone long enough for Short Takes, so let me conclude with my usual finishing-move of a Musical Metaphor, which is easy to choose this time, Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” (which plays with the final credits, part of the movie’s soundtrack album) at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Qqm2MHtcH4E (video using marvelous … Wakanda Forever images) in that “Keep me close / Safe and sound […] Keep me in the warmth of your love / When you depart, keep me safe / Safe and sound […] We need light, we need love” is the ultimate direction this movie moves in, despite all the fighting and death that must be endured/overcome to reach that desired/needed goal.
Amsterdam (David O. Russell) rated R 135 min.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
If your viewing decisions are based on OCCU rejections—RT 33% positive reviews, MC 48% average score here—you’d most likely not see Amsterdam; however, given the amazing cast I decided to finally have a look, as it’s come to streaming (Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, etc. for a $19.99 rental) after having opened in theaters back on October 7, 2022, with a dismal domestic total of about $15 million so far (may get a little more as it might still be in 160 locations [down from its 3,005 debut]; global gross now at $31 million). What I found was not only an amusing-enough-murder-mystery but also an education into a dark event in U.S. history which I’d had only a vague knowledge of, the 1933 Business Plot (also watch this short video [8:45] about the movie’s historical accuracy, though it does have Spoilers) intended as a coup to remove “Socialist” President Franklin D. Roosevelt from office, replacing him with a fascist dictator to move America into league with Germany’s Adolph Hitler, Italy’s Benito Mussolini (yet, it’s all alleged, not fully clear how serious it was or how deeply the accused were involved, unlike the infamous January 6, 2021 attempted prevention of the election-verification of Joe Biden by rabid followers of Donald Trump where we have the clear evidence—and trials of many of those rioters—of what happened and why).
This is a fictional story; however, the opening plot establishment in WW I and the intended coup a decade and a half later provide very real background for what happens on screen. In brief, we begin in 1933 with doctor Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale), a WW I vet who lost an eye, wears a brace due to injuries, estranged from wife Beatrice’s (Andrea Riseborough) rich medical family because he prefers to cater to vets rather than Park Avenue swells, often working with long-time-lawyer-buddy, Harold Woodsman (John David Washington). In flashbacks, we see Burt put in charge of Harold’s platoon of Black soldiers who rejected the racism of their former boss, both men appreciative of their commander, Gen. Bill Meekins (Ed Begley Jr.). Burt and Harold are severely wounded, cared for by nurse Valerie (Margot Robbie), who also makes art pieces from the shrapnel extracted from soldiers; when the war ends these 3 go to Amsterdam, where Harold and Valerie connect, Burt gets a glass eye from Paul Canterbury (Mike Myers) and Henry Norcross (Michael Shannon), but when Burt returns to NYC, Valerie also slips away leaving Harold heartbroken. Then, in the present of the early '30s, Harold’s hired by Meekins’ daughter, Elizabeth (Taylor Swift), to investigate Dad’s (now a senator) sudden, suspicious death upon return from Italy. Working with autopsy medical examiner Irma St. Clair (Zoe Saldaña), Burt finds the man was poisoned, but when he and Harold try to talk to Elizabeth on a busy street at night someone pushes her in front of a truck—instant death, with our protagonists falsely accused so they run to friendly (also injured war vet, working with Burt) police Det. Lem Getwiller (Matthais Schoenaerts), who gives then a very short window to clear themselves.
Elizabeth’s last word was “Voze,” which sends them to wealthy Tom Voze (Rami Malek)—and his snotty wife, Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy)—who turns out to be Valerie’s brother: she’s living with him in his palatial mansion (but somewhat dazed from drugs Tom’s giving her under the guise of a false illness). Tom sends Burt and Harold to see Gen. Gill Dillenbeck (Robert De Niro), advocate for thousands of vets who marched on D.C. demanding the war bonuses they’d been promised for years (also true). ⇒Valerie leaves with Burt and Harold, together they find out from Canterbury and Norcross (actually with British and U.S. intelligence services) about the Council of Five planning a fascist coup, then they meet with Dillenbeck who seems to his handlers to go along with the plot but then makes a public speech revealing the whole thing; fascist hitman Tarim Milfax (Timothy Olyphant) tries to shoot him at the rally but is stopped by Burt and Harold. The Council, including Tom, is arrested but soon are freed and attempt to slander Dillenbeck who testifies about the plot before Congress (he’s based on Smedley Butler, with footage of that testimony shown split screen as De Niro delivers the same words). Harold and Valerie leave the country due to the rampant racism in America, while Burt forgets about Beatrice and her family, setting his sights now on Irma.⇐
There’s clearly a hell of a lot of plot here, sometimes hard to keep up with, as the script struggles at times to find a plausible way of getting us from the peaceful (fictional) time in Amsterdam to the reality of the Business Plot, but, overall, I found this film enjoyable and a useful history lesson given the ongoing trials of Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, etc. in our own time. For a Musical Metaphor I’m stretching quite a bit (in keeping with the freewheeling attitudes of the film) to Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris” (from her 1974 Court and Spark album, a song inspired by music agent/promoter David Geffen [a founder, with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, in 1994 of DreamWorks SKG]; I’m also celebrating Mitchell’s return to live performance last July 24, 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival after a 20-year-hiatus) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hcXdtqojFg because the lyrics of “I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered and alive / There was nobody calling me up for favors / And no one’s future to decide / You know I’d go back there tomorrow / But for the work I’ve take on” remind me of how Burt, Harold, and Valerie were free in postwar-Amsterdam (not Paris, but with similar qualities I’ve observed in both cities) from their various pasts and social expectations back home, although the various “work [they’ve] taken on” prevents them from returning to such an idyllic option (along with the reality that in 1933 the Netherlands were too close to Nazi Germany, which would invade the country in 1940, so this past escape site was no longer a viable alternative).
Ticket to Paradise (Ol Parker) rated PG-13 104 min.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
There are aspects of this pleasant-but-forgettable-movie that remind me of Momma Mia! The Movie (Phylida Lloyd, 2008), only this time—unlike that other one where the wedding of the daughter (Amanda Seyfried) isn’t endangered because no one knows which of the 3 men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård) she secretly invited is her father (Mom Donna [Meryl Streep] was a get-around-gal 20 years ago)—the wedding of this young-adult-daughter, Lily Cotton (Kaitlyn Dever), is endangered because her long-divorced-parents, David (George Clooney) and Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts)—yes, if I was drawn to celebrity-casting for Amsterdam I’d have a hard time passing up these megastars, reunited for my viewing habits since Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001) and Ocean’s Twelve (Soderbergh, 2004)—are horrified that after just finishing law school Lily would run off to a vacation in Bali (actually shot in Australia), meet a local seaweed farmer, Gede (Maxime Bouttier), agree to marry him and stay in this province of Indonesia abandoning her legal career. While Mom and Dad aren’t pleased to see each other (she especially gets off some pointed barbs at him), they do feel their marriage of 20 years ago was a mistake, one they don’t want their daughter to repeat, so while they act happy for the soon-to-be-newlyweds they secretly plan to disrupt the event by stealing the wedding rings which will nullify the ceremony because of the tradition Gede’s family puts on the exchange of these near-sacred-items. Meanwhile, Georgia’s boyfriend, Paul (Lucas Bravo), shows up, keeps proposing to her with various accidents keeping anything from finalizing (we don’t sense she’s enthused anyway, as she and David are beginning to slowly reconnect). When Lily discovers the ring-ruse, she’s furious, demands her parents either support her decision or leave so they, reluctantly-but-sincerely, encourage the marriage, noting how their detractors long ago would have prevented Lily from ever existing had they called off their romance, so even if their marriage was a flop at least a wonderful person came about because of it.
⇒Georgia ultimately declines Paul’s offer; the marriage of Lily and Gede finally occurs, with the end decision of David and Georgia to re-commit to each other, stay in Bali (must be nice to be that rich) to be with their daughter and new son-in-law.⇐ This has been in release since October 21, 2022, is still in theaters (hasn’t been too impactful, with domestic grosses to date of about $65 million, global gross of $162.5 million), 2,238 of them in northern North America, so seek it out there if you wish or consider streaming where you can find a $19.99 rental (you’d likely pay that much for 2 at a theater) at Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, other platforms, though you’ll get lukewarm encouragement from borderline CCAL/OCCU responses with RT positive reviews at 57%, MC average score of 50%. It’s pleasant enough, has some lovely scenery, but may not be worth a $20 investment despite solid performances from its primary stars. For a Musical Metaphor I’ll go in a direction I usually avoid by using a song I don’t care for much (but it just seems too appropriate to pass up), Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise” (on his self-named 1977 album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FtHhUDo-08 where either pair of lovers could say “I’ve got two tickets to paradise / Won’t you pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight […] We’ve waited so long / Waited so long” (OK, Gege’s already in paradise, but we’re being metaphorical, aren’t we?) Anyway, the song choice stirs me about as much as this movie did (I guess I could have borrowed from its soundtrack to use The Mamas & the Papas’ "Go Where You Wanna Go" [on their 1966 If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears debut album] or chosen Fleetwood Mac’s "You Make Loving Fun" [on their 1977 Rumours album] in honor of just-deceased Christine McVie [although her song's about an affair, not her husband of the time/fellow-band-member, John McVie]; however, sigh, I’ll stay with Mr. Money), but at least it doesn’t run on for very long while everything about ... Paradise is easy to look at. Your choice: watch or not.
Tár (Todd Field) rated R 160 min.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
In contrast, the last film to be explored this week seems to run forever (but at least feels length-appropriate after all), with aspects of it not always easy to watch given the frequently-harsh-nature of the protagonist (Cate Blanchett), but from an acting standpoint she easily holds the screen, just like in so many previous roles, including Oscar wins for Best Supporting Actress in The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004), Best Actress in Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen, 2013; review in our August 16, 2013 posting)—although she’s just as astounding as one of the avatars of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007)—lip-syncs “Ballad of a Thin Man” (sung by Stephen Maikmus and The Million Dollar Bashers), channels Bob’s hassles with the press/audience back in the mid-1960s; you can get useful insights on her approach to the art of film acting in this short video (7:44), as well as from this account of her life's work. However, Tár’s much more than a tour de force of Blanchett’s big-screen-power (the main attraction of Blue Jasmine, as the overall story’s a bit thin) as the issues emerging from Lydia Tár’s actions and responses are well worth consideration even when Cate’s not on the verge of overpowering her own existence in scenes of orchestral rehearsal. "Maestro" Tár’s a world-famous composer/conductor, first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the 15 EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) of all-time (actually there are 17 [not counting fictional Lydia]); we meet her in an extended interview with author/New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself), an unusual opening given its length (but with 160 min. to work with, this film can afford to use long scenes shot in long takes, which it frequently makes use of [cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister explains his process]). But we’ve already been put on notice this film will be different from standard fare as it began with some text exchanges on a cell phone, followed by an extensive roll of all the production-personnel-credits against a black background as an operatic-type song’s sung on the soundtrack. From this interview we get a solid sense of Lydia’s personality and attitudes, primarily that conductors/musicians should understand/honor what a composer has infused into a work, not become distracted by anything from that person’s biography.*
*Similar to what film studies teachers confront when trying to separate cinematic accomplishments from despicable filmic content as in the case of the racism in D.W. Griffith’s milestone of The Birth of a Nation (1915) or Leni Riefenstahl’s glorification of Nazism in the marvelously shot/edited Triumph of the Will (1935). This even carries over in our time into awful connotations against the lauded films, such as Oscar Best Picture Shakespeare in Love (John Madden, 1998 [Gwyneth Paltrow won Best Actress over seeming-frontrunner Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth {Shekhar Kapur, 1998}, with the further irony of Dame Judy Dench winning Best Supporting Actress for her brief portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare …]), from former-top-producer/now-convicted-rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Her dictum about creativity over biography is then put into practice when doing a master class at Julliard where she clashes with a student, Max (Zethphan Smith-Gneist), who has no interest in Mahler because of his misogynistic personal life, bringing a public rebuke from Tár, rejecting such attitudes of “cancel culture,” especially because she’s discussed in that opening interview her upcoming project of a live recording of a favorite piece of hers, Mahler’s 5th Symphony. We also see her at lunch with Eliot Kaplan (Mark Strong) an amateur conductor who also manages a fellowship program she founded for aspiring female conductors; she tells him she plans to replace her assistant conductor, Sebastian Brix (Allan Corduner), probably with her hard-working personal assistant, Francesca Lentini (Noémie Merlant). Back in Berlin, we see Lydia with her often-ill-wife (heart problems), Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss)—a noted violinist in the orchestra—and young, adopted daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic), with Tár accompanying the kid to school one day to put a stern warning to Johanna (Lama Löer), a girl who’d been harassing Petra. On a positive note, Lydia auditions Olga Metkina (Sophie Kauer) for an open cellist solo position in the orchestra (frustrating a current cellist who wanted the starring role), then faces blowback from Sebastian when she tells him of his planned-demotion; he tells her the orchestra members are quietly upset with assumptions of her favoritism toward (and clandestine affairs with) young, attractive women, a situation which becomes troublesome when a former fellowship aspirant, Krista Taylor (Sylvia Flote), commits suicide, leading to a lawsuit from Krista’s parents because it’s vaguely clear Lydia did have an affair with her, then pushed her away, blocking her career moves, telling Francesca to delete all e-mails from Krista (she doesn’t; quits when she learns she’s not going to be chosen to replace Sebastian).
At this point, after an attempt to follow Olga to her rundown apartment complex then falling when scared by a dog but claiming her bruises are the result of being attacked by a man, Tár’s life starts spinning out of control: She goes to NYC to promote her new book but also for a deposition related to Krista’s parents’ lawsuit (taking Olga along for the trip, likely for some supportive sex, but Olga’s off on her own at night); however, an incriminatingly-edited-version of a video shot at her Julliard confrontation goes viral, accusations against her are printed in Rupert Murdock’s at-times-sleazy New York Post, protesters gather outside of her book event, Krista’s group has damning e-mails (seemingly provided by Francesca), then when Lydia’s back in Berlin Sharon’s had enough of being excluded from important aspects of their relationship so she takes Petra and leaves. ⇒All of this trouble results in Lydia losing her conductorship so the Mahler recording goes on with Eliot brought in to replace her; Lydia comes to the event anyway, attacks Eliot, so her managers tell her to disappear for awhile. Taking their advice she returns to her old middle-class-home on Staten Island, NYC where she first watches an VHS of her mentor, Leonard Bernstein, then has a few terse words with her brother, Tony Tarr (Lee Sellars)—Lydia had slightly changed her name as her fame rose.⇐
⇒Later, Lydia’s in Thailand for a job but needs a massage so she’s directed to a place that turns out to be a brothel causing her to leave in humiliation, vomit in the street; then, when we see her conducting an orchestra, 3 large screens come down and we hear voiceover sort of telling us this is some event connected to a popular video game so all the audience is in costume looking a bit like forest animals⇐ (end of the narrative, followed by more credits, this time all the many musicians involved in this grand cinematic project). The ending’s a clear indication of how low this once-famous-celebrity has fallen, with additional commentary along the way about: (1) the clash between respecting time-honored-artistic-canons vs. contemporary-attitudes of deconstructing the creators of these treasures, allowing us to question the assumed-value of their works; (2) the ancient dramatic concept of the deadly-sin of hubris (if you need a refresher, consult The Tragedy of Macbeth [Joel Coen, 2021; review in our January 20, 2022 posting]) manifesting itself in the present with Lydia Tár finding it acceptable that a successful artist like herself has a right to take professional/sexual advantage of younger women who’ve turned to her for career guidance (showing us the “#Me Too” movement doesn’t just have to be about male-on-female-atrocities); along with Lydia’s defendable position of musical performers giving every ounce of their being to grasp/present what a gifted composer has bequeathed to us in the form of well-embraced-art (putting aside for the moment the complexities of how that composer’s life might impact the appreciation of his/her accomplishments).
This film's full of long-but-compelling-scenes of a lot of misery, yet hard to look away from as it’s staged, shot, acted so very well. Even if the subject matter isn’t appealing, you almost owe it to yourself to see Blanchett as she’s likely a top contender for 2023’s Oscar competition for Best Actress (she’s already won such with the Volpi Cup at 2022’s Venice Film Festival)—don’t just take my word for it, as the CCAL’s in rave-mode: RT reviews at 91% positive, MC average score also at (an enormous for them) 91% (highest for anything both they and I’ve reviewed this year). It’s been in domestic theaters since October 7, 2022, but not many (only 100 now; domestic gross so far $5.1 million, no global figures); however, it’s much easier to find as a $19.99 streaming rental on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, etc., so if you can indulge in something this downbeat I highly encourage you to do so. Now, to bring this barrage to an end (it took a lot longer to post than I'd hoped, but it's my own damn fault for putting so much in), here’s another slightly-afield Musical Metaphor from Joni Mitchell, “The Arrangement” (1970 Ladies of the Canyon album), at https://www.youtube.com/ watch? v=fHNYPBoiEu4 because I hear lyrics such as “You could have been more than a name on the door / On the thirty-third floor in the air / More than a credit card / Swimming pool in the back yard […] No one cares who you really are” as not just about some empty corporate executive in the song but also Lydia Tár, who had plenty of celebrated successes but “could have been more” as a person, a spouse, a mentor, but the need for overachieving ultimately undercut all she should have been as satisfied with, as she initially presented herself in that long, self-centered opening interview.
That’s all for my critical commentary this week (which usually reminds me of some parting lyrics from Pink Floyd’s "Time": “The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say,” or maybe R.E.M. knows me even better [from "Losing My Religion"]: “Oh no, I’ve said too much / I haven’t said enough”), but whether you agree with any of that stuff or not I’ll offer you one more opportunity to be in unity with an attitude that would benefit all of us, James Taylor’s "Shower the People" (on his 1976 In the Pocket album), because we should “Shower the people you love with love / Show them the way that you feel / Things are gonna be much better/ If you only will.” We’re now sailing through divisive times; it could be a smoother ride if we’d only help each other a bit more.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: A couple of extra items for you: (1) In an interesting twist here are trailers for Panic and Convulsion Convulsion, 2 sci-fi thrillers set for release in 2023 using basically the same script to go in different directions (neither of which look all that great to me); and (2) Mick Jagger wanted to play Alex in A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1972).
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts* (scroll down to the bottom of this Summary page to see some additional info about you wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list). Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage. If you’d like to Like us on Facebook (yes?) please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us!
*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.
Here’s more information about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
https://www.marvel.com/movies/black-panther-wakanda-forever and https://movies.disney.com/black-panther-wakanda-forever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yiTuDe6Uy0 (22:37 video about Easter eggs in this movie [Spoilers; ads interrupt at 10:15, 18:35])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_panther_wakanda_forever
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/black-panther-wakanda-forever
Here’s more information about Amsterdam:
https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/amsterdam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP1SeA6zYB4 (14:03 about the true stories behind this film [Spoilers])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/amsterdam_2022
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/amsterdam
Here’s more information about Ticket to Paradise:
https://www.tickettoparadise.movie (click on the 3 little lines in the upper-left for more info) and https://www.tickettoparadise.movie/tickets/ (same upper-left-option)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Db1FK5Z9Q (15:17 rambling interview with actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts [ads interrupt at 1:30, 7:44])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ticket_to_paradise_2022
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ticket-to-paradise
Here’s more information about Tár:
https://www.tarmovie.ca (same upper-left-option as with Ticket to Paradise above) and https://www.tarmovie.ca/home/ (and again)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djwWDT2VLwc (16:14 exploration of ideas in the film and
its ending; Spoilers [ad interrupts at 9:00])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tar_2022
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/tar-2022
Please note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a bit of a mystery to us old farts).
If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please
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Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 18,311 (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers); below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):
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