CONCLAVE
(2024)
This thoroughly entertaining Vatican drama
consists of a series of conversations, usually hushed and staged to create a
sense of sinister mystery. German director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the
Western Front”) manages to make even the most mundane exchanges feel like state
secrets are being discussed.
I have no idea how accurately the film
reflects the process of selecting a new pope—I’m sure experts would have raised
loud objections if it was way off—but the archaic rules mirror this institution
that has existed since the 1st Century. Based on a novel by Robert
Harris, the script by Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldiers Spy”) rolls from
one controversy to another amid this solemn procedure.
Leading the conclave is a reluctant point
man, Vatican Cardinal Lawrence, brilliantly evoked by Ralph Fiennes. Though the
cardinals have no official discussions on the merits of the candidates, the
behind-the-scenes lobbying and dirty tricks would make the Nixon White House
blush.
Among the leading candidates are American
Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), liberal Italian Cardinal Bellini (Stanley
Tucci), traditionalist Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian
Msamati), an African cleric desperate to lead the church.
Immaculately shot by Stephane Fontaine, who
captures the (mostly) bloodless fighting in the sterile hallways and staircases
of Vatican City. Under Michelangelo’s majestic ceiling, these men of faith
collude and conspire like low-rent mobsters.
Other than the over-heated direction, my
main criticism of the film would be its lack of substantial religious
discussion about the state of the Catholic Church and faith the 21st
Century, at least until the film’s explosive finale.
This performance ranks with Fiennes’
career best, right there with his adventurous hotel concierge in “The Grand
Budapest Hotel” (2014) and his menacing Nazi officer in “Schindler’s List”
(1993). He’s in virtually every scene in the new film.
Tucci stands out among the supporting
players as an egotist who puts on airs of being a reluctant candidate. In this
very male-centric picture, Isabella Rossellini, enjoying a late-career resurgence,
is memorable as the Vatican’s outspoken Mother Superior.
Though “Conclave” doesn’t offer the
religious philosophy of “The Two Popes” (2019), it’s a serious film that
doesn’t short-change its thriller aspects, an impressive combination in
Hollywood 2024.
GLADIATOR
II (2024)
As he has for nearly a half century, Ridley
Scott delivers another entertaining tale of a world far from, but not unlike,
our own, returning to ancient Rome, setting it a few decades after his
Oscar-winning “Gladiator” (2000).
Smoothly mixing CGI and old-fashioned “thousands
of extras,” the filmmaker and his team—special kudos to production designer
Arthur Max (four-time Oscar nominee including for the 2000 original)—follow the
journey of Lucius (newly minted star Paul Mescal) after he is taken prisoner by
Roman forces following a North African battle. Spotted by flamboyant gladiator
wrangler Macrinus (old Scott hand Denzel Washington, having the time of his
life with the role), Lucius ends up becoming an heroic Colosseum attraction
and, inevitably, a pawn in the political intrigue surrounding a crumbling,
decadent Rome.
Long gone are the glory days of Marcus
Aurelius; the city-state is now under the thumbs of giggly, masochistic twins Geta
and Caracalla (actual rulers in real life), who prefer conquering new lands
rather than feeding their citizens.
The other key player in the power
struggle is battle-weary Gen. Acacius (Pedro Pascal, “Game of Thrones”), who is
married to Aurelius’s daughter. One problem I had with the film, especially in
the beginning, was distinguishing between Mescal and Pascal---they could be
brothers. Their characters don’t end up connected by blood, and Acacius nearly
disappears in the film’s second half, so casting such similar looking actors
makes little sense to me.
Additionally, I couldn’t get around the
lack of dark-skinned soldiers fighting for North Africa or the influential
presence of Washington's Macrinus in this very Italian world. But we all know by now that
looking to Hollywood for historical accuracy is a fool’s errand.
Not surprisingly, Washington, who starred
in Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster” and in numerous films for his late
brother Tony starting with “Crimson Tide,” steals every scene he’s in. But
Mescal, Oscar-nominated for “Aftersun” (2022), holds his own as the reluctant,
but unbeatable warrior.
It says much about the state of filmmaking
that every year many (or most) of the most interesting movies are creations of
directors who came to prominence in the 1970s. This year alone, Francis
Coppola, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, George Miller, Paul Schrader (see next
month’s blog) and Scott continue to speak to audiences half their age with an
understanding that making entertaining, thoughtful pictures never grows old.
WAXWORKS
(1924)
In the mid-1920s, German directors played a
substantial role in advancing the art of film in a period when sophistication
in moviemaking was making giant leaps every year. One of the most influential
of these filmmakers during what became known as the German expressionism art
movement, but largely forgotten today, was Paul Leni.
His creepy thriller “Waxworks” set new
standards in inventive filmmaking; even aged a century it’s a mesmerizing
viewing experience. (free on YouTube.)
The oddball story starts when a writer,
called The Poet and played by future Hollywood director Willliam Dieterle, is hired
by the owner of a wax museum to craft horror stories about his inanimate figures.
Immediately falling for the owner’s daughter (Olga Belajeff), the Poet writes
himself and the girl into the tall tales of evil characters of the past.
Screenwriter Henrik Galeen was also responsible for the German classic
“Nosferatu” (1922).
The three-part movie features dastardly
deeds by Harum Al-Rashid (notorious 8th Century caliph of Baghdad),
Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper, played by three of the biggest names in
German cinema, Emil Jannings (“The Last Command,” “The Blue Angel”), Conrad
Veidt (“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” “Casablanca”) and Werner Krauss (“The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” “Napoleon at St. Helena”), respectively.
The bizarre tales are enhanced by the
“expressionistic” camera angles (cinematographer Helmar Lerski), the
color-tinted shadowy look, and an array of strange, frightening characters.
Each episode plays out like a chaotic, horrifying nightmare.
After this film, Leni spent the next few
years helming a series of animated shorts called “Rebus Film,” which were shown
before and after features. The section shown before the main feature offered
clues to a small crossword puzzle and then provided answers afterward. He made
eight of them before moving to Hollywood, where he made “The Cat and the
Canary” (1927) for Universal, helping to kick-off the horror cycle that made
the studio famous. Leni’s most acclaimed American film was “The Man Who Laughs”
(1928), based on the Victor Hugo novel of a disfigured man (Veidt) who is
discovered to have royal blood. It’s a lavish epic filled with histrionics.
One year later, at age 44, Leni died of
sepsis from a tooth infection.
Dieterle had a substantial acting career,
possessing classic leading man looks, before he moved behind the camera. In 1930,
he relocated to America, hired by Warner Bros to direct German-language version
of U.S. films (He also starred as Ahad in “Demon of the Sea,” a version of
“Moby Dick” directed by Michael Curtiz.)
Dieterle’s directing career, which
continued into the 1950s, was highlighted by the 1937 Oscar-winning best
picture “The Life of Emile Zola” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939).
A
REAL PAIN (2024)
I don’t believe you need to like the main
characters to appreciate a movie, but when you hate them, it becomes a large hurdle
to overcome. There is plenty to value about this character study of cousins who
join a tour of Poland focusing on the experience of Jews during World War II,
but I can’t tell you how glad I was when it was over.
Jesse Eisenberg, who also wrote and
directed, plays David, a successful family man who has a fragile relationship
with his cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin), who has struggled with finding his place
in life. He was especially affected by the death of their grandmother, born in
Poland who miraculously avoided being sent to a concentration camp.
Eisenberg plays the kind of character he’s
best known for: a frazzled, uncertain, somewhat bumbling man-child who seems
afraid of his own shadow, while Culkin has the showier role of a troubled man
who conceals his self-hatred by making himself the center of attention.
Because it’s a small tour group—just four
others besides the cousins—they quickly get to know each other and see the best
and worst of Benji’s volatile personality.
The reason to see this grating picture is
for Culkin’s performance. The 42-year-old, once known as Macaulay’s little
brother, has established himself as a fine actor in mostly streaming series,
especially in “Succession,” playing the “Fredo” of the Roy family. In “A Real
Pain,” Culkin digs deep into his character’s inner conflicts that erupt in
sometimes very uncomfortable outbursts. It’s not a “type” that shows up in many
American films.
MARIA
(2024)
I guess there is value in educating younger
viewers about a musical legend from the 1950s and ‘60s, a forgotten figure who
once was a household name. But this chronicle of the final weeks of the life of
opera diva Maria Callas, with the usual flashbacks to the glory days, is a
cinematic mess.
Dull beyond words, the film only shows life
when star Angelina Jolie lip synchs Callas’ arias.
This looks like it should have been a
showcase for Jolie, who has shown herself to be a very capable actress in “A
Mighty Heart” (2007) and “Changeling” (2008). But the film’s Maria is lifeless.
Not even her scandalous affair with Greek shipping magnet Aristotle Onassis
(and future husband of Jackie Kennedy) is neither explained or played for much
effort.
Director Pablo Larrain made two superb
films focused on divas: “Spencer,” about the outcast Diana, and “Jackie,” about
the tragic widowed first lady. But here he lets pretense and overly designed
images override any sense of story. The usually fine screenwriter Steven Knight
(“Dirty Pretty Things,” “Eastern Promises”) doesn’t offer much help to either
the director or his star.
ANORA
(2024)
Winner of this year’s Palme d’or at
Cannes, this high-voltage peek into the lifestyle of a spoiled son of a Russian
oligarch offers more sex, nudity and violence than necessary along with plenty
of sarcastic, dark humor.
Anora (Mikey Madison) who goes by Ani,
speaks just enough Russian, among other attributes, to win the instant
affection of Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) after a lap dance at a Brooklyn strip
joint. Soon he convinces her, in his fractured English, that she should be his
girlfriend. Ani accepts too quickly, awed by his spectacular house (of course, his
parents’) and lavish lifestyle. That he acts like a middle-school student on
speed doesn’t seem to bother her.
During a wild week in Las Vegas, they are
married, triggering a not very subtle response from his parents’
representatives. Unfortunately, the trio of lunkheads dominated the second-half
of the film.
Unfortunately, there’s not much point to
the flashy indie picture, written and directed by Sam Baylor (who made the equally
pointless “The Florida Project”) unless one is shocked by the irresponsible
life led by the Eurotrash of America.
RUMOURS
(2024)
I’ve never been a big fan of cult films and
their directors; vague plotlines, poor acting and pretentious screenwriting mar
most of this subgenre. But I’ve championed a few filmmakers who never managed
to break through into the mainstream, most enthusiastically Henry Jaglom, the
Orson Welles protegee whose films include “Someone to Love” (1987), “Venice/Venice”
(1992) and “Déjà vu” (1997); Hal Hartley, a dry-witted minimalist whose best
movies are “The Unbelievable Truth” (1989) and “Henry Fool” (1997); and
Canadian iconoclast Guy Maddin.
Since the mid-1980s, Maddin had created a
series of offbeat black and white pictures (and countless shorts) that look and
sound like they are rediscovered early talkies made by some nameless Eastern
European filmmaker.
He even manages to find actors who seem to
be remnants of an earlier age. His best films are “The Saddest Music in the
World” (2003), set at a bizarre music festival organized by a beer company
owner played by Isabella Rossallini, and “My Winnipeg” (2007), part documentary
and part re-imagining of the director’s upbringing in the Canadian city.
Finding any of Maddin’s films is a challenge, to say the least.
Now, for reasons that are unclear, he’s
made a wide-release picture, starring Cate Blanchett, that bears little
resemblance to his previous works. I hate to report that “Rumour” is one of the
most ridiculous and pointless films I’ve seen in a while.
The simplistic plot begins with world
leaders, gathered in a rural German town, concluding the annual G7 meeting.
While in a remote area of the property they begin work on the conference-ending
statement. The script depicts them as small-minded fools, including Blanchett as
the German chancellor, Charles Dance as the bewildered U.S. president and Denis
Menochet as the emotional Canadian PM, who previously was involved with the
British PM (Nikki Amuka-Bird).
The discussions among these world leaders are
about as interesting as a gathering of middle schoolers in the cafeteria. I’m
all for pulling the curtain aside to reveal incompetence, but at least make
their gibberish interesting. Then, just when you think you are watching the
dullest film ever, it gets worse. The leaders begin to suspect that some kind
of apocalyptic attack is in progress, either on them or the entire world.
Amazingly, these men and women who run the
free world seem only vaguely concerned for humanity as they attempt to return
to the conference hotel.
Maddin offers only glimpses of the
zombies—or whatever they are—who seem most interested in masturbating. The film
does offer a giant brain, I’m sure a remnant of one of his previous works.
The only semblance of humor in this
stultifying satire of modern-day politicians is their determination to continue
work on their “statement” for the press even as they struggle for survival in
the forest.
I cannot imagine how anyone involved (other
than friends and family) thought “Rumours” was worthy of theatrical
release—hopefully it won’t completely derailed Maddin career. This should have
been shipped directly to some obscure streaming company where no one would have
ever seen it.
. JUROR #2 (2024)
First the good news: this reasonably
compelling, well-directed picture washes the truly awful “Cry Macho” off the
books as Clint Eastwood’s final film. If this is the 94-year-old’s last effort as
a director, he can walk away proudly.
But what might have been an even more
interesting drama about a jury weighing the case against a husband charged with
murdering his wife is undercut by a lead actor who lacks the screen presence to
star in a car commercial.
Nicholas Hoult plays juror Justin Kemp, the titular character, who realizes on the first day of testimony that he may have been involved in the incident that led to the victim’s demise. But he doesn’t come forward, instead deciding that he can change the opinions of the other jurors, who are unanimously ready to find the accused guilty, by casting doubt on the prosecutor’s case. Considering the conservative leanings of Eastwood, the film is surprisingly blunt in its position that justice in America is way too fragile.
Though clearly modeled, in the script by
Jonathan A. Abrams, on the 1957 classic “12 Angry Men,” Eastwood’s picture
focuses on Justin’s maneuvers to sway the jurors without admitting his
involvement. But Hoult, who still has the baby face that made his performance
in “About a Boy” memorable when he was 13, seems unable to project the
complex moral dilemma he faces as Juror #2, completely deflating the film’s
intensity.
I assume Eastwood sought out an actor whose
generic look of innocence was unmistakable; instead, Hoult’s Justin feels
shallow, unreflective and a bit too comfortable with his own corruption.
Adding some energy to the proceedings are
the always reliable J.K. Simmons, as a juror who is poised to re-investigate
the crime and Toni Collette as prosecutor Faith Killebrew, who has let
political ambition cloud her legal judgments.
PHOTOS:
Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci in “Conclave.” (Focus Features)
Conrad Veidt (center) is Ivan the Terrible in a nightmarish segment from “Waxworks.” (Kino Lorber)
Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn enjoy Las Vegas in “Anora.” (Neon Films)
Nicholas Hoult and, two chairs down, J.K. Simmons in “Juror #2.” (Warner Bros.)
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