Steven Soderbergh’s latest, Kimi, just hit HBO, and as luck would have it, I just watched some of his stuff, so let’s keep it going! This one stars Zoë Kravitz as Angela Childs, a young woman living with a serious case of OCD and mysophobia, which COVID has not helped. Thankfully she has a job that allows her to work from her apartment, so she never has to leave. She works for a company called Amygdala, which has launched its newest smart speaker named Kimi (think Alexa or Siri). Angela goes through moments when Kimi wasn’t “smart enough” to answer a question or problem for its user, and writes a quick bit of code to make the system smarter. One day, Angela hears what sounds like an assault on the recording. It all being anonymous, Angela has to get her hacker friend to track down more info on the file and put it in context to see if her hunch is correct. When she finds she’s right, she tries to go to her bosses at Amygdala. They give her lip service about going to authorities, but with the company about to go public, no one wants the bad press, and they are more than willing to silence Angela, permanently. The film starts a bit slow but really heats up in the second half. There’s just a hint of Soderbergh’s trademark goofy humor in the end, but it doesn’t distract from the thrilling climax. Little goofy, but I loved the ride. ★★★★
In the long history of film, I’d be willing to bet there are more romantic comedies that start strong and fizzle out before the end than the other way around. I Want You Back is the rare example that starts slow but builds to a satisfying journey, if you can stick it out that is. Starring Charlie Day and Jenny Slate, the movie starts off with 2 separate couples whose relationship have just fallen apart. Peter and Emma have each just been dumped by their significant others, and they meet each other while crying in the stairway of their large office building. After telling each other their stories, they make a pact to help either other. Peter will get close to Emma’s ex, and vice versa, with the intent to break them up from their new relationships and draw them back to each other, respectively. The movie starts out slow, and for a comedy, I honestly didn’t laugh once in the first 30 minutes. But it did grow on me after awhile. I had put the movie on in the background of my computer while I did other stuff, and around the hour mark, I realized I’d stopped doing anything else and was watching and enjoying the movie a lot more. It does get better, funnier, and becomes a solid romcom by the end. I’m not a big fan of the genre, so maybe others will like the entirety of it more. ★★★
Riz Ahmed gave a powerhouse performance in Sound of Metal, about a musician who suddenly loses his hearing. His followup, Mogul Mowgli, is in a similar vein. Zahir, stage name Zed, has always wanted to be a rapper, but after decades of struggling, he’s about to age out of this young man’s game. His last chance is an upcoming tour that he’s signed to, the first big tour of his career. On the eve of his big break, he collapses and, at the hospital, is diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which quickly takes away his ability to walk. Desperate for a quick solution in hopes of still making the tour, he tries everything from religion (at the urging of his conservative British-Pakistani parents) to an experimental procedure which may leave him impotent. Ahmed is just as good as the last film, but this one doesn’t hit as heard emotionally. It goes for more of an artsy feel, which may earn points with the critics, but I often prefer more realism for my tastes. ★★½
Titane is French director Julia Ducournau’s followup to her acclaimed 2016 film Raw (though it freaked me out). Specifically, I said at the time that that film was “sort of fucked up.” Titane is even worse. As a child, Alexia is badly hurt in the backseat of a car when her dad gets in an accident, and she has a titanium plate inserted along her skull. After leaving the hospital, Alexia coldly walks past her parents, but greats the car with hugs and love. Fast forward a few years and Alexia is all grown up, working as a showgirl at a car show. She’s popular among the circuit goers, and when she is followed to her car by a fan one night, she gruesomely kills him by stabbing her metal hairpin through his ear. She goes back inside to shower, but leaves the bathroom to see an empty car revving its engine in the showroom. She goes into the car and proceeds to have sex with it. Later, she realizes the car has impregnated her, after she sees she’s leaking motor oil from her vagina. A pregnancy test confirms it, and Alexia tries to give herself an abortion with that metal hairpin. All this happened in the first 20-30 minutes, and that is where I checked out. I’m not in to such grisly and disturbing films. Like Raw, this one is getting plenty of praise, but it is just too gross for me. ½
They Say Nothing Stays the Same is a lovely, contemplative film out of Japan, about a man who is seeing his way of life come to and end. Toichi leads a simple life, inhabiting a ramshackle hut right next to the dock where he ferries people back and forth across the river. He’s been “the boatman” all of his life, transporting local villagers to the other side to hunt or visit the larger town down the road. However, a large bridge is being built just upriver, close enough that Toichi can hear the constant banging and work every day. On his daily trips across the river, his clients range from the friendly and kind (mostly the villagers who know Toichi well) to the downright rude (bridge workers or people from the town), who belittle Toichi and his life from a bygone era. Toichi takes it all in stride, smiling and nodding and never rising to anger. His simple life changes one day when he finds a young woman floating in the river, barely alive. He brings her to his hut and nurses her back to life, but there are rumors that a girl was involved in some murderous deeds in a village up river, and Toichi believes it may be his new guest. This is not an action packed drama; it is a quiet, simple film which hearkens back to the classic Japanese dramas of decades past. It will make you think about what true kindness is, and is great for later reflection. ★★★½
- TV series currently watching: Hit Monkey (mini-series)
- Book currently reading: God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
Jons Movie Takes 