Movie/TV Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Poor Things” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

I’m told that Yorgos Lanthimos’s films (“Dogtooth,” “The Lobster,” The Favourite”) are an “acquired taste,” meaning that – at first viewing – they’re unpleasant but after being experienced repeatedly, they’re, perhaps, likeable and can be appreciated.

Unfortunately, I have not found that to be true, particularly as it applies to his newest sci-fi dramedy “Poor Things,” a strange, surreal satire that won the Golden Lion in Venice and features Emma Stone’s graphic full-frontal nudity.

Adapting Scottish author/artist Alasdair Gray’s 1992 dementedly comic novel, screenwriter Tony McNamara focuses the late-Victorian-era story on the bizarre evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a suicidal pregnant woman reanimated by reclusive, facially-scarred mad-scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), who transplants into her cranial cavity the brain of the baby in her womb.

With the inquisitive, impulsive mind of a child and a beautiful woman’s body, hedonistic Bella loves sex in all its permutations – from joyful masturbation to Parisian prostitution. She finds it enticing and empowering which is why – eager to experience all the wonders of the world – Bella runs off with womanizing con-artist/lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (mustachioed Mark Ruffalo), much to the consternation of her ‘fiancé,’ medical student Max McCandless (Remy Youssef), Dr. Baxter’s research assistant.

After learning to pleasure herself with a bowl of fruit, Bella tells Max, “Let us touch each other’s genital places!” Then, having discovered fornication, which she calls “furious jumping,” she wonders: “Why do people not do this all the time?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Following her “La La Land” acclaim, Emma Stone filmed Yorgos Lanthimos’s “The Favourite.”  So she’s developed total trust in the Greek auteur, fearlessly citing nymphomaniacal Bella as “the greatest character I’ll probably ever get to play.” ‘

“Bella is a bit of a Frankenstein, but she’s also an experiment in the sense that everything is happening very rapidly on her,” Stone says. “Her hair grows about two inches every couple of days.” And it’s no coincidence that ‘Godwin’ was “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley’s maiden name.

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan refers to the evocative artificiality of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) as his inspiration, using early cinematic techniques like miniatures, bizarre lighting and false perspectives. He films the early scenes in London in black-and-white, not introducing jewel-toned color until Bella embarks on her seductive journey of self-discovery.

Whether or not the absurdist perversity – with its many grotesquely explicit carnal scenes – appeals to you, it inevitably sparks controversy.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Poor Things” is a formidable, flamboyant, fantastical 7, playing in select theaters.

Susan Granger’s review of “Ferrari” (Neon/STX International)

If racing cars is your passion, perhaps you might enjoy Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” but I found it frustrating in so many ways.

It’s ostensibly a deep dive into the pivotal summer of 1957 when Italian industrialist Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) almost lost control of the prestigious automobile company he and his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) founded in Modena.

Scripted by Troy Kennedy Martin, based on motorsports journalist Brock Yates’ 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Car, The Races, The Machine, it’s disjointed and – at times – barely coherent.

Enzo Ferrari is still in mourning; his 24 year-old son died the previous year. Given the opening montage of careening cars, one might assume he died in a fiery crash but – no – eventually, it’s revealed that Dino had muscular dystrophy. Crashes consume other characters later on.

Called ‘Commendatore’ (‘Commander’), Enzo is consumed with every detail of the mechanics and design of his fleet of Formula I ‘racing red’ cars, their hoods adorned with a prancing black stallion emblem that he’d seen on the downed SPAD S.XIII fighter of Italy’s greatest W.W.I ace, Count Francesco Baracca.

Downshifting to home, Laura simmers with sorrow and anger. She’s aware of Enzo’s philandering yet, given her stock majority and freehold on the factory, she wields the upper hand in business decisions.

But when a banker inadvertently refers to Enzo’s two homes, Laura suddenly realizes that Enzo is also living with his longtime mistress Lina Lardi (miscast uber-American Shailene Woodley) and their 12-year-old son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese).  Laura’s resentment and rage surface with a vengeance.

Meanwhile, stoic Enzo is focused on the upcoming Mille Miglia competition that encompasses 1,000 miles across Italy’s bucolic countryside – with cars careening through towns – their streets lined with bales of hay to protect spectators.

 

Enzo is depending on veteran Piero Taruffi (underutilized Patrick Dempsey) and ambitious Spaniard Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone), whose entourage includes actress Linda Christian (Sarah Gadon), just divorced from actor Tyrone Power.

There are spectacular set-pieces, chronicled by cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who notes: “All the racing is real there’s no green screen. One of the things that was very important to Michael (Mann) was that the cars should go the speeds that they are prescribed.”

The horrifying accident that claimed several lives, including children, was shot in a continuous take utilizing six cameras. A special effects team rigged a self-driving car that could hit the required speed, launch into the air and tumble before landing in a ditch.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ferrari” flags in with a 5, playing in theaters.

Susan Granger’s review of “What Happens Later” (Bleecker Street)

After an eight-year hiatus, Fairfield, Connecticut, actress Meg Ryan returns to the big screen, co-writing, directing, producing and starring in the disappointing romantic comedy “What Happens Later.”

Based on Stephen Dietz’s 2008 play “Shooting Star,” the story revolves around former lovers who are stranded together at a small regional airport during a snowstorm.

Toting a rain-stick and dressed in bohemian garb, Willa (Ryan) is a free spirit, “a wellness practitioner in the healing arts,” while Bill (David Duchovny) is a buttoned-up businessman, suffering from “anticipatory anxiety.” They hooked up 25 years ago when they were students at the University of Wisconsin.

After initially trying to avoid one another, they realize they’re inevitably going to have to talk to each other.

Jumpstarting the catch-up conversation, Willa suggests they trade wallets, examining the contents that are inevitably indicative of their present lives. As a result, they rehash the most excruciating aspects of their former relationship, which include Willa’s ‘infidelity’ and the miscarriage of their baby.

Relying on magical realism, the disembodied voice on the airport loudspeaker becomes an integral part of the otherwise narrative two-hander, focusing on aging and regret, which begs the question: Will they or won’t they wind up together?

Few romantic comedies focus on older people revisiting the loves they’ve left behind. That’s what intrigued Meg Ryan, who notes: “You slowly learn that love is easy, while relationships are hard.”

Problem is: neither of these stereotypical characters (Willa or Bill) is compelling enough to care about.

Ryan dedicates the film to her dear friend/writer Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail” and “When Harry Met Sally…”), evoking her frequent theme of fate. “The idea of destiny was one of the great comforts of Nora’s movies,” Ryan recalls. “This idea that two people are destined for each other.”  

Unfortunately, the inherent cuteness wears thin, lacking the essential charm that epitomized Ephron’s work.

FYI: Filming took place over 21 days at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Northwest Arkansas National Airport.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “What Happens Later” is a flaky 4, streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu.

Susan Granger’s review of “Maestro” (Netflix)

Many years ago during a 1976 Harvard University lecture, ebullient conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein said, “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them.” Director/co-writer/actor Bradley Cooper opens “Maestro” with the same statement.

Made with the support of Bernstein’s now-grown offspring (Jamie, Alexander, Nina), this is a love story, not a biopic. It begins with a shot of elderly Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) at the piano and then segues back to November 14, 1943, when New York Philharmonic conductor Bruno Walter falls ill, so Bernstein, as his assistant, is summoned to Carnegie Hall.

“To conduct an orchestra, you must conduct your life,” Bernstein was once told. So despite his on-going romantic liaison with musical collaborator David Oppenheimer (Matt Bomer), he marries sophisticated Chilean actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn (Carey Mulligan) who, at first, accepts his bisexual dalliances.

Chronicled by co-screenwriter Josh Singer and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, who utilizes different ratios, switching from black-and-white to color, the narrative about their unusual relationship moves from their chic Manhattan penthouse to their suburban Connecticut home to Tanglewood in Massachusetts – and back.

If Bernstein been more discreet, perhaps their marital melodrama would not have escalated – but he wasn’t – and it did.

Their ferocious fights encompass not only fidelity but also family and increasing fame, encompassing his innovative Young People’s Concerts, film score for “On the Waterfront” and Broadway hits “On the Town,” “West Side Story,” and more.

Bernstein’s theatrical collaborators Betty Comden and Adolph Green (Mallory Portnoy, Nick Blaemire) pop in periodically, along with composer Aaron Copland (Brian Klugman).

One of the most memorable scenes depicts exuberant Bernstein’s conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with the London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1973. Bradley Cooper’s intensity and commitment are extraordinary.

As for the controversy about Cooper’s nose, it’s ridiculous. Japanese-American makeup-effects master Kazuhiro Tsuji (Oscar-winner for transforming Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill in “The Darkest Hour”) devised four sets of prosthetics and two bodysuits to show Bernstein’s aging process.

Last but certainly not least, there’s genuinely heartbreaking Carey Mulligan as long-suffering, self-deprecating, sorrowful Felicia, noting: “Life is not that serious.” Watch for her name among the Best Actress Oscar-contenders later this month.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Maestro” is an intimate, enigmatic 8, streaming on Netflix.

 

 

Susan Granger’s review of “All the Light We Cannot See” (Netflix)

 

Adapting a beloved best-seller isn’t easy, but screenwriter Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”) and director Shawn Levy (“Stranger Things”) tackle Anthony Doerr’s 544-page, 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel  – “All the Light We Cannot See” – with timely relevance since antisemitism is – once again – rampant.

Set in occupied France during W.W.II, the epic story – often told in flashbacks – revolves around blind Marie-Laure (Aria Mia Loberti) who lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her devoted father, Daniel LeBlanc (Mark Ruffalo), is a master locksmith.

Daniel is also a gifted craftsman who constructs intricately detailed models of their neighborhood so Marie-Laure can memorize the placement of stores and surrounding streets, giving her the ability to navigate and develop a sense of independence.

When Nazis invade, father and teenage daughter take refuge in the walled seaside town of Saint-Malo, moving in with reclusive great-uncle Etienne (Hugh Laurie), an agoraphobic W.W.I veteran who – as ‘the Professor’ – secretly broadcasts from his attic, delivering coded messages to aid the French Resistance.

Fearful that it will wind up in Hitler’s possession, Daniel carries a priceless-but-cursed diamond, a treasured Museum artifact. Known as the Sea of Flames, the fabled gem promises eternal life along with great misfortune.

Meanwhile in Germany, orphaned Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann) listens to a forbidden radio broadcast that brings him not only news but also hope for the future. Recognized for his radio-tech skills, Werner is recruited into the Army, where he dares to disobey orders. Inevitably, his path crosses with Marie-Laure’s.

Since Shawn Levy was adamant about ‘authenticity’ and ‘representation, radiant newcomer Aria Mia Loberti was a Ph.D. student at Penn State when she was discovered through a worldwide casting call for actors who are blind or visually impaired; seven year-old Marie-Laure is played by Nell Sutton, who is also blind.

Filming for 80 days in Budapest, Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Saint-Malo, the scene in which hordes of refugees flee from Paris includes real-life Ukrainians who had come west to Hungary to escape invading Russian troops.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “All the Light We Cannot See” is an intriguing 8 – the four-part mini-series is streaming on Netflix.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Crown – Season 6, Part 2” (Netflix)

 

Season 6 of “The Crown” focuses on the aftermath of death of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), the demise of Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville), the Prince William (Ed McVey)/Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy) college courtship, Prince Charles (Dominic West)/Camilla Parker Bowles’ (Olivia Williams) marriage, and the growing resentment/rebellion of Prince Harry (Luther Ford), including his Nazi costume scandal.

The first couple of episodes of Part 2 – which premiered mid-December – border on tedious. Ever-popular Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton) is stunned by backlash over her silence after Diana’s fateful car crash – in contrast with Prime Minister Tony Blair’s (Bertie Carvel) increasingly high approval ratings. A dream sequence in which Blair is crowned King is beyond bizarre.

As her reign draws to a close, the Queen is visited by incarnations of her former self (Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Viola Prettejohn), and she poignantly reminisces about her youthful jubilation on V.E. Day in 1945 after W.W. II ended – sneaking out of Buckingham Palace to join other celebrants at the Ritz.

After dwelling on the Monarch’s legendary devotion to duty, series creator/showrunner Peter Morgan envisions a dialogue between the elderly Queen and aging Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce), who conclude that the British Royal Family is doomed after they die.

“Those that come after you are not remotely ready to take over,” Prince Philip rants. “You were born ready. You are one of a kind.” He goes on: “The system makes no sense anymore to those outside it, nor to those inside it.”

Considering that these final episodes were filmed during the transition of power from Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Charles – now Charles III – its tone is surprisingly anti-royalist. Which is not surprising since the Prince of Wales’ longtime mistress is now Queen Consort and Windsor family antics have assumed tabloid soap opera status.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Crown – Season 6, Part 2” is a rather disappointing 6, streaming on Netflix – and look for it to be a strong Emmy contender.

Susan Granger’s review of “Wonka” (Warner Bros.)

 

If you’ve read Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” perhaps you’ve wondered where Willy Wonka came from. Obviously, filmmaker Paul King (“Paddington”) did because he’s devised inscrutable Willy’s origin story – tracing how he became a famous chocolatier.

In this prequel, impish young Willy Wonka (Timothy Chalamet) is first seen perched atop a ship’s mast, sailing into London harbor. Looking for somewhere to sleep, Willy is lured by conniving Bleacher (Tom Davis) into renting a room from Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman), who swindles him into indentured servitude.

That’s how Willy winds up confined in her basement laundry workhouse where he befriends a resourceful urchin named Noodle (Calah Lane). Together, they devise not only an escape route but also a plan to enable Willy to sell the amazing array of delectable confections that he magically concocts from his tiny travel kit.

But first, they must overcome the evil machinations of the Chocolate Cartel, a trio of greedy merchants (Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Mathew Baynton) who bribe the corrupt, gluttonous Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) to thwart all Galleries Gourmet competitors.

(FYI: As a teenager, Roald Dahl attended the prestigious Repton School in Devonshire which was located near a Cadbury’s chocolate factory. Occasionally, new chocolate bars would be sent to the boys for taste-testing.)

Scriptwriting with Simon Farnaby, Paul King sugar-coats every candy-colored scene. Enchantment reigns as exuberantly upbeat Willy relentlessly transforms a decrepit emporium into a whimsical wonderland, musically heralded by Leslie Bricusse &Anthony Newley’s “Pure Imagination,” evoking memories of Gene Wilder’s classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971).

British musician Joby Talbot’s score contains many playful new songs by Neil Hannon; the most memorable is “A World of Your Own,” appealingly sung by Timothy Chalamet.

Depictions of the diminutive Oompa Loompas have always caused controversy. While posthumous changes have been made to his most offensive portrayals, Roald Dahl himself revised these characters, which were originally depicted as black pygmies from “the deepest and darkest part of the African jungle.”

This film’s Oompa Loompa (Hugh Grant) is a tiny, cruel creature with orange skin and green hair. Curmudgeonly Grant has been outspoken in his ire directed at the use of motion-capture technology, a CGI process that he loathed. And British actor George Coppen, who has dwarfism, has criticized the casting, insisting that the miniaturized role should have gone to someone from his short-statured community.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Wonka” seduces audiences with a sweetly scrumptious 7, playing in theaters.

 

Susan Granger’s review of “Leave the World Behind” (Netflix)

 

Desolate, post-apocalyptic movies have become a Netflix holiday tradition: “Don’t Look Up,” White Noise,” and “Bird Box.”  Now there’s a new one.

Adapted by Sam Esmail (“Mr. Robot”) from Rumaan Alam’s best-selling 2020 novel, “Leave the World Behind” is a paranoid, tension-filled, futuristic nightmare.

The story begins in a Park Slope, Brooklyn apartment, where early-rising advertising executive Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) awakens her professor husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and teenage children – Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans) – with a surprise: she’s rented a luxurious Airbnb on Long Island for the weekend.

Upon arrival, they’re delighted to discover the elegant, glass-walled, modernist house has a swimming pool and is near the beach, where they’re soon enjoying a picnic.

Gazing at the ocean, Rose, who is obsessed with the TV show “Friends” and feels deprived because she hasn’t been able to watch the conclusion, notices an immense oil tanker that seems to be heading toward shore, eventually running around where they’ve been sitting.

That’s just the first of many ominous, inexplicably bizarre environmental catastrophes that follow a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Tuxedo-clad G.K. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his sassy 20-something daughter, Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), claim to be the vacation home’s owners seeking shelter for the night because there’s a blackout in Manhattan.

When mild-mannered Clay invites them in, acerbic Amanda is dubious, particularly since G.K. says he left his ID and wallet behind. (“I fucking hate people,” she’s already proclaimed in the film’s prologue.)

Is she prejudiced because they’re Black? Race and class obviously figure into suspicion – on both sides – as an escapism/doomsday scenario unfolds. 

Television reception and WiFi fail. Herds of deer gather near the pool, along with a flock of flamingos. Threatening political leaflets in a foreign language are dropped from a plane and deafening sonic booms emanate from the sky.

Eventually, G.K. and Clay seek help from a neighbor (Kevin Bacon), who turns out to be a survivalist, determined to protect his own property. (His name Huxley is obviously a nod to Aldous Huxley, author of “Brave New World.”)

And when Amanda and Clay try to drive home, they find the highway completely blocked by miles of empty self-driving Teslas that have crashed into one another.

So what’s happening? G.K. offers this explanation: The first stage is isolation. Disable communication. Synchronize chaos. Terrorize with covert attacks and misinformation, leaving weapons vulnerable to military extremists. Without a clear enemy or motive, people will turn on each other, resulting in civil war.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Leave the World Behind” is an ambiguously speculative, suspenseful 7, streaming on Netflix.

Susan Granger’s review of “May – December” (Netflix)

Do you remember back in 1997 when the tabloids were filled with juicy tidbits about Mary Kay Letourneau, a married schoolteacher who had an affair with a seventh-grade student? Pregnant, she was sentenced to prison and, when she was released, they married and had two more children. Those are the facts.

Now filmmaker Todd Haynes has fabricated a story about what their lives might be like 20 years later – when a movie is going to be made about their relationship.

In order to portray the schoolteacher, ambitious TV actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) decides to visit Gracie Atherton (Julianne Moore) and Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), who still live in Savannah, Georgia, surrounded by townsfolk who knew them ‘way back when the nationwide scandal erupted.

Elizabeth arrives at their spacious, waterfront home just as the family is preparing a barbecue to celebrate their two youngest children – twins – graduation from high school. Joe is now 36, the same age Gracie was when they embarked on their notorious liaison.

What’s bizarre is that – even now – Gracie doesn’t feel she ever did anything wrong. She’s in total denial as she relates how their intimate connection developed, rationalizing: “I was very sheltered and he matured very fast.”

Perhaps Gracie’s ex-husband Tom (D.W. Moffet) best verbalizes the obvious: “What would make a 36 year-old woman have an affair with a seventh grader?” That bewildering question is never answered.

Curiously, as manipulative Elizabeth spends more and more time shadowing Gracie, almost imperceptivity she begins to mirror her voice, manners and expressions. Natalie Portman’s voracious mimicry is what’s most memorable, as is Todd Haynes’ deft utilization of mirrors.

Working from a soapy script by Samy Burch, augmented by Marcelo Zarvos’ score, director Todd Haynes veers toward melodrama, as mild-mannered Korean-American Joe gradually comes to realize that he was not mature enough – back then – to make the kind of decisions that would shape the rest of his life. And during the intervening years, obliviously controlling Gracie has continued to infantilize him.

FYI: A May-December romance is one between two people with a considerable age difference. The months symbolize the seasons – with spring representing youth and winter designating old age.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “May – December” is a sad, sordid 6, streaming on Netflix.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Marvels” (Marvel/Disney)

In 2019, when Brie Larson first assumed the title role in “Captain Marvel,”
the sci-fi fantasy racked up a $153.4 million opening, yet – back in November – when its sequel “The Marvels” opened, it garnered only $46.1 million, making it the most disappointing opening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s history.

Shortly afterward, Marvel and Disney announced they’d scaled back the number of superhero movies scheduled for release in 2024 from three to one: “Deadpool 3,” starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

So what went wrong with this new female-powered action saga? It’s simply silly. Brie Larson reprises her role as the bland amnesiac U.S. Air Force pilot Carol Danvers. She’s joined by Teyonah Parris as astronaut Monica Rambeau from “WandaVision” and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan from Disney+’s “Ms. Marvel.”

Their muddled story of interplanetary dependence begins as villainous Dar-Benn (Zarwe Ashton), Supremor of the Kree people, finds half an armlet called the Quantum Band that’s infused with a powerful energy.

Suddenly, we’re transported to Jersey City, where teenage Kamala Khan is wearing the magical bangle as she bonds with Monica and Carol, who has vowed to end the genocidal 30-year war between the Kree and Skrulls.

Apparently this armlet allows the insipid trio to randomly swap places. These leaps are called “jump points” which are part of a teleportation network in outer space.

There’s a planet called Aladna whose inhabitants sing instead of talk, and Capt. Marvel’s golden cat – named Goose – has a mouthful of yards-long tentacles that allow it to swallow creatures many times its own size and spit them back out intact.

Working with techno-babbling co-screenwriters Elissa Karasik & Megan McDonnell, Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) is not only Marvel’s youngest writer/director ever but also the first Black woman to helm a MCU franchise film.

Plus this is the first Marvel film with a Muslim superheroine and, mercifully, it’s also the shortest MCU movie, clocking in at an hour and 45 minutes.

FYI: Today’s teenagers were toddlers when Marvel first seized the zeitgeist. What generation wants to dig the same stuff as their parents? All this is explored in a new book called “The Reign of Marvel Studios” by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Marvels” is an inconsistent, interminable 3, playing in theaters.