Swan Song (a much different one) takes place in the near future, and stars Mahershala Ali as Cameron, a dying husband and father, who has kept his condition from his family. His wife Poppy is only recently getting over a 2 year depression after the death of her twin brother, and Cameron doesn’t want to send her back down that spiral. Instead, Cameron has turned to a controversial new science that will replace him with an exact clone, a “new” Cameron who will be a physical copy with all of his memories, who can step into his role without his family or job knowing any difference (no one will be made aware of the swap; even the new Cameron will think he is the real thing). Cameron is hesitant to do it, but as his condition gets worse, and Poppy announces she is pregnant again, he decides to have it done. However, when he comes face to face with himself, he can’t help but feel jealous that this man, even if it just a new Cameron, will be sleeping with his wife, raising their kids, etc. It’s a sci-fi movie with a lot of introspection, and gave off an Ex Machina kind of vibe. Excellent cast too, with Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, and Awkwafina, as another terminal patient who previously went through the process. ★★★½
The Last Duel is a much better movie than that other Ridley Scott film of 2021. Based on a true story, it is the tale of a woman, Marguerite de Carrouges, who was raped in the 14th century. She accuses Jacques Le Gris, a former friend of her husband Jean de Carrouges, but he denies the charges. To let God show who is right, Jean challenges Jacques to a public duel. It sounds cut and dry, but the film is anything but. The movie is split up into three parts. Chapter One is “The Truth According to Jean de Carrouges,” and begins with battles shared by he and Jacques, and what lead to the deterioration of their friendship. Jean is painted as a hard but fair man, who has little patience for the court but has supreme faith in his king and country. Chapter Two is Jacques Le Gris’s truth, and of course much of the blame of their failing friendship is laid on Jean. Even in his own truth, Jacques is not painted as a good man. The final chapter is of course the one truth who matters most: Marguerite’s. In each chapter, the unfolding of the rape and its ramifications are very different. The film can’t help but be a little repetitious, since you see some events three times (albeit from different perspectives), but the director does a good job of only revisiting key moments that paint the picture as a whole. I have no idea how accurate the actual story is, but some of the details, especially how women were treated and how voiceless they were, should be enraging to all modern viewers. ★★★★
Two good movies, unfortunately followed by a couple duds. The Card Counter has a strong cast including Oscar Isaac and Tye Sheridan (and a completely miscast Tiffany Haddish; I’m sorry, she’s just not good in serious roles) and focuses around a man with the not-so-subtle name of William Tell. Tell is a former soldier who went to military jail for his role in the Abu Ghraib prisoner torture scandal. A very smart man, he taught himself how to count cards in jail, and is now a gambler. He mostly sticks to himself until he crosses paths with a young man named Cirk. Cirk’s father was in Tell’s unit, but the father was unable to escape his demons after his own release from jail. He ultimately killed himself, and Cirk is out to get revenge on the private contractor who trained Tell and Cirk’s father in those torture techniques, but who got off scott free when the scandal broke. Tell decides to try to raise money in his gambling to help Cirk set his life straight and convince him to give up on his vendetta. I don’t mind a slow movie as long as something comes of it. Nothing does in this one. I think it is trying to deliver some deep introspective thoughts but it went over my head. Great acting from Isaac, and there’s a strong sense of trepidation pervading in the first half of the film, but it doesn’t lead to anything. ★½
I don’t give up on many movies, but I had to turn off Holler about 40 minutes in. It’s about a small-town girl and her brother struggling to get by on their own. Raising themselves while their mom is in jail, Ruth and Blaze only have each other. Ruth is smart but college seems like a pipe dream until her brother secretly mails in an application for her, and she is accepted. But in a house where they are facing eviction and all the utilities have already been shut off, they have no money to send her. So they team up on a scrap metal crew, working for a man who has no problems breaking into vacant buildings to gut. Again, I don’t know how it turned out, but honestly I don’t care. I don’t know if the no-name actors are really bad, or if it is just the terrible script and dialogue, but the lines are delivered so woodenly that it felt like a bad school play. No investment in the characters, and I have a hard time rooting for people who do stupid shit and use the excuse “I’m poor.” ½
During a large portion of Small Engine Repair, and I’m talking nearly an hour of its 103 minute runtime, I was wondering if it was going anywhere at all. The setting is thus: a trio of life-long friends from working class New Hampshire have been through all of life’s ups and downs together, and there have been a lot more downs. Frankie spent some time in jail, while his wife ran around on him, leaving their daughter Crystal to be looked after by Frankie’s buddies Terry and Packie. The three of them have been friends since grade school, and have the stereotypical rough-and-tumble attitudes of the blue collar class. This gets them in a bar fight one night, and they storm off mad at each other. Three months later, Frankie lures the two to his workshop one afternoon, ostensibly for drinking and hanging out, to make up, but Frankie has a more sinister motive, and he’ll need his friends more than ever to bring his plans to fruition. The payoff isn’t worth all the set up it takes to get there, but it isn’t a terrible movie. Jon Bernthal plays Terry and he’s perfect for roles like this. Unfortunately as a whole though, it’s not the kind of movie that you’ll remember when it’s over. ★★
- TV series currently watching: The Doom Patrol (season 3)
- Book currently reading: Boundless by RA Salvatore
Jons Movie Takes 