Welcome to this month’s FREE Friday newsletter! At the end of every month, I’ll drop a list of what I’ve been working on. Without further ado:
Zoe Ziegler shines in Janet Planet
Janet Planet, the feature debut from writer/director Annie Baker, explores the trials of growing up in the shadow of a loving, but not-so-perfect role model, about how codependency can bring people together and tear them apart. It’s a slight debut, and that stillness, while often a feature, can sometimes work against it, almost as if you can feel Baker urging the emotional gears to turn instead of letting that feeling build naturally. But in its moments of humor – and those little moments of shock – Janet Planet really finds its footing, particularly within Zoe Ziegler’s stellar performance.
With Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos gets back to the nasty basics
For Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos has teamed up with co-writer Efthimis Filipou, with whom he wrote films like Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer – the more corrosive, spiteful (and in a lot of ways, funnier) side of Lanthimos’ filmography. Like those films, Kinds of Kindness is interested in the nastier side of humanity, and interested in exploring the lengths to which we’ll go to convince ourselves we’re doing the right thing as we unleash inexcusable cruelty.
The Bikeriders and roleplay versus reality
The Bikeriders functions best as a broad allegory for a loss of innocence of sorts, pitting the romanticized version of a thing against its brutal reality. Where the film runs into issues, however, is that the characters living out the fantasy don’t feel fully formed.
The reality of Tuesday undermines the magic of its fantasy
In Tuesday, the bird that represents Death really works. He’s beautifully animated and expressive, his feathers ruffling, eyes peering with contemptuous boredom at his victims. It’s a true feat of writing and design that the bird works so well, that his arc comes together so completely over the course of the film. But when Death leaves the screen, Tuesday suffers for it. The reality in which this fairy tale takes place doesn’t feel nearly as fleshed out, neither tonally nor in terms of its human characters. Actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lola Petticrew do their best, but it must be tough when the most fleshed out character in the story is a CGI bird.
Hit Man and finding truth in the con
Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and star Glen Powell, Hit Man is a smart, sexy crime romp that explores what so many Linklater movies are interested in – identity, human interaction, and – above all else – star power. Linklater’s movies have elevated movie stars time and time again, from Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused to Ethan Hawke in The Before Trilogy. In Hit Man, Linklater’s insight into what makes a good movie star bleeds over into the performative nature of life itself. But the movie is less interested in what a performance might be trying to hide than it is in what that performance reveals.
Thanks for reading!
As always thank you Sammie. I wholeheartedly agree with John’s comments. And, of course OF COURSE with Chuck’s.
Is Bikeriders worth the price of a ticket in your opinion Sammie? From your brief critique I get the impression you didn't think much of it. Thanks again for great reviews, your use of language is on point.