Big Troubles Under the Sea and In the Woods
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) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon. (Note: Anything in bold blue [some may look near purple] is a link to something more in the review.)
If you’re one of the 53,899 (according to Google’s latest tally) Two Guys readers (a big thanks to all of you) who clicked onto the site this month you may have read my review of Blow-Up posted last week so you’d know I was at my blabbering-best, with seemingly nothing more to say about that significant (for some of us) film; however, my friend and academic colleague, Frank P. Tomasulo (a guy who’s had a fabulous career in the realm of film history, theory, criticism, etc.; if you’re a member of LinkedIn you can go here for an extensive accounting of his accomplishments, but if not then this site, accessible to all, has an abbreviated version) came upon that review, then offered a couple of book chapters he’s written about Blow-Up for my interest, so I’m sharing them with all of you in case you’re not aware of them yet. In the previous posting’s So What? section I quote Brendan Gill (in The New Yorker, 1966) who claims Blow-Up devolves to “imitation Hitchcock,” echoing what some others would say later in negatively comparing this Antonioni film to Hitch’s Rear Window (1954); in contrast, Dr. Tomasulo’s extensive study of those films draws very different (positive) conclusions which you can explore at either Academia.edu if you’re a member there or, if not, the same "Download or View in browser" options are also available at this Humanities Commons site.
Then, there’s also his exploration of Modernist (some say “alienated”) acting in Blow-Up, which you might have access at Academia.edu or, if not there’s public access at ResearchGate; however, you do need to remember these are serious academic studies (unlike my ramblings here, although I did try to be more scholarly in my journal articles I cited in my Blow-Up posting) that will take a little time to read (but they flow easily, quite clear in their serious projects, unlike a lot of academic prose that revels in obscurities) as the former is 28 pp. long, the latter’s 32 pp., both well worth reading (the Notes at the end of each one are important too). OK, that should close the book for now on Blow-Up, which in preparation and posting took a lot out of me last week, just as my reviews of Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987), Past Lives and Dalíland (Celine Song for the first one, then Mary Harron) did during the weeks before, so I’m taking it all a bit easier this time with relatively-shorter statements (as best I'm able to do so) on a couple of entertaining diversions (with below-the-surface-serious-commentary in the latter), so let’s just plunge ahead, starting with a colorful-deep-sea-dive.
SHORT TAKES (well, at least they were intended that way)
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;
activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)
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.
This version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the latest offering in the studio’s long-evolving-project of remaking their animated classics into live-action adaptations (here's a list, beginning in 1994 with Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book [Stephen Sommers], with even more to come), although the ones I’ve seen do depend on varying degrees of Computer-Generated Imagery so animation of another sort continues to play a crucial role in these remakes (here’s a useful video on the subject [8:46] showing shots in original photography then enhanced with CGI in this new …Mermaid). You probably know the foundational story by now: Mermaid princess Ariel (Halle Bailey) is fascinated with the surface world, wants to know more about it but is forbidden to do so by her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem), due to Ariel’s mother being killed by humans. Still, she’s curious, comes to the surface anyway to rescue local Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from a burning vessel, takes the unconscious man to shore, then swims away, leaving him desperate to find her again. Ariel’s desperate too, so much so she’s seduced by her evil Aunt Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to become human for 3 days in order to get love’s first kiss from Eric; however, to do so she has to become mute, with failure to kiss leaving her in Ursula’s power. Eric becomes fascinated with her, but Ursula makes sure the kiss doesn’t happen, then takes the form of a beautiful woman who supposedly was the one to rescue Eric so he becomes convinced to marry her. ⇒Ariel’s crab and bird friends (voices of Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina) discover the ruse, help Ariel interrupt the wedding, leading to a major confrontation with Ursula which results in Triton’s demise when he attempts to intervene. Ultimately, Eric tries unsuccessfully to battle Ursula who grows to gigantic proportions but is killed when Ariel manages to ram a formerly-sunken-ship into her. When all is stable again (Triton’s revived upon Ursula’s death), father accepts daughter’s desires, turns her again into a human so she can marry Eric as the newlyweds blissfully sail off on their honeymoon excursion.⇐
While … Mermaid’s been in domestic (U.S.-Canada) theaters since May 26, 2023, it’s now down to a mere 45 of them—after making a tremendous haul of cash: $298.2 million domestically, $569.5 million worldwide (the 1989 animated feature pulled in $211.3 million globally [which, by one calculation I did would be $524 million today factoring for inflation, which still wouldn’t put it in the Top 200 worldwide even if you compared it to those listed based on their actual incomes—everything on that list came out after 1989 so when you’d adjust those for inflation as well the older … Mermaid would surely fall even farther behind]*)—it’s now most likely to be found via streaming where you can see it for free if you’re a Disney+ subscriber or, if you’re really anxious to watch, you can buy it for $19.99 at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc. The CCAL would marginally-encourage you to do so as the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews now sit at 67%, while the Metacritic average score in 59% (not surprising, as they’re usually noticeably lower: just for comparison, the RT positives for the 1989 ... Mermaid were 91% while the long-ago-MC average score was 88%, so it’s clear that the critical community was more impressed with the original animated version).
*For example (based on the closest illustrations I could easily find), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982) made $792.9 million worldwide after its various release/re-releases which, as of 2022, would make it #7 on the All-Time-Inflation-Adjusted-List with an estimated 2.8 billion globally in 2022 dollars, so I’d say the 1989 … Mermaid’s inflation-adjustment up to $524 million would still be left in dust by the mammoth-impact #1 Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939), whose adjusted gross is now estimated at $4.2 billion. But, regarding more-recent-examples, we see that Avatar (James Cameron, 2009) now has an inflation-adjustment up to $3.8 billion globally, based on actual worldwide receipts of $2.8 billion, so you can see how actual ticket prices have skyrocketed exponentially over the past few decades somewhat mirroring inflation-adjustments, leaving me to reminisce about $.50 evening prices back in 1966 high-school-days in Galveston, TX [well, a bit more if I also paid for a date and all the snacks, with meandering thoughts about "Wouldn't It Be Nice" if those evenings could be more permanent, with no awareness of the realties of negotiation, compromise, and paying attention that goes into keeping a marriage stable—which my second one has been for 33 years to marvelous Nina Kindblad, largely because of her tolerance of my shortcomings—let's not bother about the first one, OK?]). I just hope Ariel and Eric find ways to address their differences along with mutual connections, despite their vastly different backgrounds.
If I could better remember what I saw back in 1989 (or take time to re-watch the original version, which I doubt I will) I might be easily persuaded to laud the earlier Disney version of this long-ago-Hans Christian Andersen tale as the CCAL has done, with both approaches by Disney being more uplifting for me than the long-ago (1836) original (just as my visit to Copenhagen resulted in a much-longer-walk than the tour-book-map indicted to reach the harbor for a little statue of the mermaid, a most unimpressive result after such a hike). So, all-in-all, this new version of The Little Mermaid is a pleasant enough diversion (lots of marvelous imagery plus a return to some of the catchy-music which so-well-enhanced the original Disney classic, the Oscar-winning-Original Score composed by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, with Menken back to score a few new tunes with lyrics by Lin-Manual Miranda), but for me it runs a little long, although the added action sequences on the sea are quite impressive, just as Ursula’s final transformation into a monstrously-huge-sea-creature is a scary sight, maybe a bit unsettling for the youngest members of the audience. As you might know, I try to conclude each review with a Musical Metaphor that speaks aurally to what’s been previously discussed, so in this case I’ll turn to the movie’s soundtrack for the wonderfully-rhythmic “Under the Sea” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbv_huklr5E as Ariel and Sebastian celebrate the world they know, with the crab ultimately arguing to the mermaid there’s nothing in the surface world that could surpass where they live; admittedly, she finally chooses land over water (Is that a Spoiler? Do you truly not have any connection with the older Disney movie?), but ultimately this story is also out to celebrate life under the sea, especially with this Oscar-winning-Original Song (1989 movie). Just for comparison, however, here’s the same scene from 1989, so feel free to keep singing along.
The Blackening (Tim Story) rated R 97 min.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
College friends apart for years plan a Juneteenth-getaway-weekend at a cabin in the woods. Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) come a day early, find a board game called “The Blackening” in a back room; suddenly lights go out, an intimidating voice commands they play, Shawn answers a question wrong, dies from a crossbow arrow as Morgan’s dragged away. The 6 others arrive later, a little tension in the group augmented by inclusion of Clifton (Jermaine Fowler), says Morgan invited him. Ultimately, they stumble onto “The Blackening” game, must correctly answer 10 questions to save Morgan, but fail due to an arguable-gamemaster-decision. Still, they can save themselves by offering up “the Blackest,” although that becomes Clifton, who admits he’s the least Black there but is killed anyway. Locked doors open allowing the others to run until they encounter Ranger White (Diedrich Bader) who tries to offer help but is killed too. ⇒Ultimately, the potential-victims kill 2 White assassins (wearing black leather masks), but learn Clifton’s not dead, he’s the mastermind behind the plot seeking revenge for how he was judged by them in college, leading to his drunken killing of a woman with his car, years in jail. He intends to finish off all of them, but they rebel, killing him instead. Next morning they hesitate to call the cops, decide to call the fire department, but as they wait outside they’re all drenched with a firehose⇐ (reminds me of the end of Night of the Living Dead [George A. Romano, 1968] where the only survivor of a zombie attack, a Black man, is killed the next day by a hunter-patrol, mistaking him for one of the monsters).
The Blackening was released domestically June 16, 2023 (Friday before the Juneteenth holiday), has pulled in $17.7 million domestically now, a bit more internationally, global total of $18.2 million, but since then seems to have disappeared from theaters so you’ll need streaming where there’s a $5.99 rental at Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Vudu, etc. The CCAL generally encourages you to do so with RT positive reviews at 87%, MC average score of 67%. I’m more in line with the MC response as my 3½ stars of 5 is 70%, but, despite embraces from these critics’ collectives, where I see from scanning the reviews most of those aren’t by People of Color (some are), I’ll admit as a OWMTNTBAH (Old White Man Trying Not To Be A Honky)* I’m seemingly not tuned in enough to the nuances of the content to fully connect with it, or maybe I’m just not as “woke” as my colleagues are.
*Taking my cue from Richard Pryor in this NBC TV Saturday Night Live skit from 1975 where Pryor’s interviewed by Chevy Chase for a job, must take a word association test. But I’m also aware of media-presented-allusions to discord among the Black communities in the U.S. which has been going on for decades now, as with this clip from Cotton Comes to Harlem (Ossie Davis, 1970) where Godfrey Cambridge’s cop character frequently asks of others: “Is that Black enough for you?”
I enjoyed The Blackening but don’t feel I’m fully appreciating it as much as others might (especially many African-Americans); yet, this video (37:12 [ads interrupt at 7:45, 16:30, 26:50—out of curiosity I went back and checked, found no ads barging in, so I guess they only occur the first time you watch something on YouTube?]) presents us with the opinions of one Black woman who comments on aspects of an abbreviated version of the movie, with her ultimate approval of what she saw even though she notes a 70% (7 of 10 for her) rating, so at least I’m in some good mutual company. Anyway, I think anyone’d find plenty to be amused by in The Blackening, plus you can test your knowledge of (or learn from) the specifics of a culture not from the White mainstream as the game voice asks its deadly questions (I’d have quickly been shot) and you can get a solid taste of how so many people feel about how they’re regarded by that White mainstream if you'll attend to the undercurrents in the dialogue/situations (such as the movie’s tag-line referring to a common trope in so many slasher movies, because this time with an almost-all-Black-cast, “We Can’t All Die First”).**
But, we can all sing first (I guess sing along, actually) as I wrap this up with my Musical Metaphor of “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (from their 1966 album named for the song) at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=R7uC5m-IRns as I believe it successfully captures Clifton’s fury toward his former friends: “You’re way on top now / Since you left me / You’re always laughin’ / Way down at me / But watch out now […] I’m gonna put you / Way down here / And you’ll start cryin’ / 96 tears.” I suppose if it weren’t for my OWMTNTBAH-reality I might have been able to come up with something equally-relevant from a Black group, yet this is me so I hope you’re OK with it (or could suggest something else). But, in an attempt to give additional recognition to minority presence in the music this week after “Under the Sea,” let me at least give you one more version of “96 Tears” from the Texas Tornadoes where Chicano superstars Freddie Fender and Flaco Jiménez join with Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers for yet another rousing rendition of this song. Is that diverse enough for ya?
**Had The Blackening not been produced/released in near-parallel with the new version of The Little Mermaid these filmmakers might have made some appropriate comments on the objections raised about Halle Bailey's starring role just because she’s Black (I didn’t note this in my review above due to my firm feeling that it has nothing to do with the quality of the movie)—an idiotic response to a casting decision on the same level as the macho rejections of remaking Ghostbusters (Paul Feig; review in our July 20, 2016 posting) with a predominantly-female-cast. At least the wingnuts behind these previous protests haven’t found reason to complain much about the scarcity of Whites in The Blackening (although 2 of the 3 we do see are heartless killers, even as the other is 1 of the victims).
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
Some options on today's cinema you might want to delve into with some detail: (1) What we lose when streaming companies determine what we can watch; (2) Is Barbie an Original or an Adapted Screenplay?; (3) Barbie is now #11 on the All-Time Domestic Top-Grossing List.
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