Free Guy & CODA: A Comedy-Drama Double Feature

Are you in the mood for a fun comedy with some existential rumination? Or are you more in the mood for an uplifting coming-of-age family drama? Why choose, I’ve got two movies you can watch to cover the whole spectrum of human emotion!

CODA: Ruby (Emilia Jones, who I have just discovered is British and also learned American Sign Language in nine months for this film...wow) is the eponymous CODA of the film, i.e. a Child of Deaf Adults. Her parents (played by Marlee Matlin and Tory Kotsur) and older brother (Daniel Durant) are all deaf, so her entire life, she has served as their liaison to the hearing world, translating for them at restaurants and workplaces, and growing up far too quickly as she realizes how cruel the world can be to those who are a little bit different. She was bullied when she first arrived at school because she “talked funny” like the deaf adults who raised her, and this has made her painfully shy and mostly a social outcast, except for her best friend Gertie (Amy Forsyth). But things take a turn when she signs up for the school choir and her teacher, Mr. Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez), sees that she might have a talent worth pursuing.

There are long stretches in this film where the ASL scenes are not captioned, so you are going to watch Ruby and her family signing to each other and other folk and you’ll just have to figure out what’s going on. Turns out that is not too hard to do because people can still be incredibly expressive in ASL, both with their faces and the signs themselves, and you can quickly piece together the crux of the situation. It's a bit like if you're watching a foreign film without captions but can still tell from the actors' tones and expressions what is happening in the scene. I had never fully appreciated what a robust language ASL is before this, and it's a beautiful feat.

Written and directed by Sian Heder, CODA is a wonderful story about a family we don’t ordinarily see on the big screen. It isn't afraid to dabble in gray areas when portraying Ruby's family, who are allowed to be selfish and lusty and problematic and aren't just saintly put-upon deaf folk. They have their own issues and inner lives that they must contend with and much like last year's Sound of Metal, it's refreshing to see such a three-dimensional characterization of members of the deaf community that doesn't paint everyone with the same broad brush. But the storyline with the hearing folk felt much more trite and filled with coming-of-age tropes. There was a sweet but cringey teen romance and Mr. V's mentorship of Ruby was all very convenient and pat. Which ultimately meant that while I liked this movie a lot, I couldn't fully love it. However, it's still well worth your time, and features a performance of one of my all-time favorite songs that I will likely return to time and time again. 

Free Guy: If you've seen the trailer for this film, you should know already if you're the target audience. Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a character in a violent Grand Theft Auto-esque video game, who has no idea about the nature of his existence until he comes across Millie (played by the wonderful Jodie Comer), a woman from the real world (but...what is the "real world" anyway?) who is roaming around this video game in avatar form to find the definitive proof that the game's inventor, Antwan (a deliciously deranged Taika Waititi), stole the code for this game from one that she and her partner, Walter (the always impressively coiffed Joe Keery), developed years ago. 

Yes, I know that seems like a convoluted and tech-heavy premise, but I promise that the script by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn deftly lays it all out for any layman to follow with ease and Shawn Levy directs the whole enterprise with an eye to making things zippy and not dense with exposition. Just strap in and enjoy the ride. All the actors are great, with L'il Rel Howery and Utkarsh Ambudkar showing up as well to round out the supporting cast, along with some fun cameos that will leave you chuckling. And the look and feel of this movie is pretty excellent, with the video game world featuring pitch perfect production design and just the right level of visual effects magic.

After we watched this movie, my boyfriend did insist we watch Ready Player One, which he thought was a superior film that this movie aimed to emulate. There are definitely parallels and your mileage may vary depending on how subsumed you are into gamer culture and how exactly you want your pop culture references served up to you. To me, Free Guy is at its best when it's sticking to its original premise and serving up some Truman Show vibes as Guy is faced with the idea that his reality is all the figment of some crazy creator's imagination. Towards the end of the movie, things get a little too cute with references to Marvel and Star Wars that serve as a reminder that this film was distributed by 20th Century Studios which is now a Disney subsidiary and therefore must kowtow to its corporate overlords with all the cross-promotion that money can buy. With Ryan Reynolds as the lead, such shenanigans were also inevitable - maybe if they had cast some indie darling in this role, we would have leaned more into the philosophical conundrums laid out by this whole storyline. But putting capitalism aside, this is exactly what you want from a summer movie. Is it high art? No. But is it solid entertainment with a fun, original idea and an insanely likable cast? You bet. 

Summer TV: Schmigadoon! & The White Lotus

Last week, both Schmigadoon! and The White Lotus wrapped up their six-episode seasons. I watched both shows week-to-week, but if you missed out, you can now binge them to your heart's content. Though, they are very different, so if you aren't as schizophrenic as I am in your viewing habits, you might just pick one to be your latest obsession. Either way, you're in for a treat!

Schmigadoon! is a musical satire/homage, if the title didn't give it away already. Cecily Strong and Keegan Michael-Key play Melissa and Josh, a New York couple that are going through a rough patch. When they embark on a couple's retreat and are hiking through the woods, they accidentally stumble into an old-timey town where the locals keep breaking into song and everything is as old-fashioned as can be, from the outfits to the gender roles. At first they think this is some sort of quaint Colonial Willamsburg-esque tourist trap, but then they discover that it's an actual trap, and the only way they will be able to leave is if they "find true love." Let the chaos begin.

Each episode is a half hour of abject silliness that lovingly mocks musical tropes. Created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (Paul wrote all the original songs as well), this show is fun if you only have a passing familiarity with Golden Age musicals from the 1940s and 50s, but is an absolute must-see if you're a musical theater nerd, because it goes in deep. I definitely did not get all the references, but my particular fondness for the show stems from the fact that it is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. If you watched Pushing Daisies, you might have some idea of what a gorgeous confection of a scene the man can create at any given moment, and this show is no exception. Part of the gag is how everything in this town looks extra bright and fake, just like a stage musical, but it's still all very engaging for your eyeballs.

The actors are all having a grand ol' time, and it's especially fun to see how Melissa (who loves musicals) and Josh (who hates them) deal with the tribulations of being in this very weird town surrounded by a supporting cast consisting of folk like Fred Armisen, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alan Cumming amongst many others. Everyone is hamming it up and having a blast, and the whole show is an easy, breezy, candy-coated treat that goes down easy. Try out Schmigadoon! if you are in the mood for laughs and light romance. Which, let's be honest, is the mood you should be in all day, any day. 

The White Lotus, on the other hand, is a show to watch when you want to see a bunch of truly awful people obliviously continue to be awful people while the world around them fulfills their every desire. I know that doesn't sound too enticing, but holy hell, this show was addictive and I eagerly looked forward to every episode. 

The show is set in a resort in Hawaii, where we follow the stories of some of the guests who are staying there for a week and the resort staff who have to cater to their whims. There is a rich family on vacation, a pair of honeymooners, and Tanya, a grieving woman who has arrived to scatter her dead mother's ashes. Tanya is played by Jennifer Coolidge, who delivers this insane performance where she sort of resembles the weird spacey character she plays in a lot of comedies, but with all these extra layers because she has a lot of psychological drama to deal with and is also filthy rich, which leads to some interesting power dynamics. I never had any idea what Coolidge would be doing in any given scene; it is a trippy and magnificent performance that is bound to snag her an Emmy. My second favorite character is, of course, the other slightly unhinged and unpredictable one, Armond, the hotel manager, played by Murray Bartlett. That man's story arc is epic in scope and comes to a shitty end...I'll leave it at that. 

Without spoiling all the storylines, this is a show about wealth and privilege, and how ultimately the world is set up to let these people get away with ridiculous things and everyone else must orbit around their gravitational pull. Terrible things happen on this show, but ultimately, the people who are disappointed are the "poor" ones. The rich characters do have a very dramatic trip with lots of emotional upheaval, but at the end of the day, the show's theme is that these people lack any self-awareness and will carry on as they were, unaware of all the ripples they've caused as they've splashed around this resort. But I want to be clear, this show is also a black comedy, and you will laugh a lot while you're also uncomfortably squirming. It's also beautifully shot if you need to feel like you've escaped to Hawaii for six sun-soaked hours. 

Written and directed by Mike White, the show is compellingly written, has a brilliant cast, and grasps with a lot of themes around wealth and white privilege that have always been a problem but especially came to the forefront in 2020. But my absolute favorite thing about this show? The theme tune. My God. The moment I heard it playing over the opening credits, I immediately had a sense of what I was getting into - it is this odd, unsettling, but somehow still boppy number that promises you that you will be entertained, but deeply disturbed in the process. The entire score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer is a thing of weird beauty and should be winning any awards they give out for soundtracks these days.

This is a show I could talk about for hours, and I will be reading absolutely anything anyone has to say about it, because there are so many compelling characters who either get screwed or screw over someone else. My favorite line was when one Black character went, "I'm all out" and stormed out of a room. It was a small victory in the grand scheme of all the shit that went down in this show, but at this point, we've all learned to celebrate whatever we can get. Watch The White Lotus - the surface is pretty but the underbelly is a festering indictment of American society. Enjoy!

WB Entertainment: Space Jam vs. The Suicide Squad

This week I watched The Suicide Squad in theaters, and then Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max. Both are Warner Brothers properties, but while one was excellent and a lot of fun, the other was a hilariously terrible farce of a film that highlighted the trouble of WB being a giant media conglomerate. You probably already know which is which, but let me break it down for you.

The Suicide Squad: This is the most non-DC DC Comics movie ever. Which is a great thing as I generally cannot stand DC movies. Written and directed by James Gunn, this movie has absolute Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel energy, which was obvious from the opening scene, set to Johnny Cash singing the Folsom Prison Blues. 

I never watched the first Suicide Squad, so don't expect any in-depth insight here. Instead, all I can tell you is that this film is not dark and dour, but light and frothy, despite the fact that, as the title suggests, a shit ton of people are going to die throughout. In fact, it is rather startling how many people die even before the film's opening credits. It's quite the accomplishment. Also, this is a movie starring Idris Elba, so how bad could it get, you know? On top of that, we've got Margot Robbie reprising her role as the deranged but oddly lovable Harley Quinn, John Cena as Peacemaker, a sort of Captain America-esque figure who is very problematic as befits this squad of misfits, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2 (she is good with rats), Joel Kinnaman as the earnest Corporal Flag, and then...a giant shark named Nanaue. Who was apparently voiced by Sylvester Stallone, which I didn't realize until I just wrote that sentence. Listen, don't ask any questions. It's a comic book movie and you need to just accept that there's gonna be an anthropomorphic shark running around and having adventures. 

This movie is visually striking and incredibly colorful - there's a gorgeous fight sequence with Harley Quinn that echoes Birds of Prey, and the final battle with the big bad does cause a lot of wanton destruction, but everything is so pretty as it's happening. There are jokes galore, something that is ordinarily sorely lacking in DC movies, and this film blessedly does not take itself too seriously. It is on a mission to provide solid entertainment for two hours and it thoroughly delivers. I will never watch the first Suicide Squad, but if James Gunn keeps cranking out sequels to this film, I'll certainly be on board. 

Space Jam: A New Legacy: Much like I never watched the first Suicide Squad, I have also never watched the original Space Jam. I vaguely knew the gist, i.e. Michael Jordan ends up playing basketball with a bunch of Looney Tunes cartoons, but I went into this film with fairly non-existent expectations. Yet it still managed to be exceptionally terrible. In fact, it's so terrible, that it's actually kind of amazing and I wasn't mad about watching it at all. So...success?

In this update, LeBron James is our new basketball hero, and hoo boy. I know that the man is a phenomenal athlete and we must all love him, but I don't think I needed this film to keep hyping him up this much. Is he really the world's "greatest athlete"? I know a lady named Simone Biles who might beg to differ. But while this movie is ostensibly about celebrating LeBron (who, as an actor, is...fine, but he should stick to his day job), let's be clear who the real star is here. Warner Brothers.

This film is gonna take you on a rollercoaster tour of the WB Cinematic Universe. There isn't much plot (summary: LeBron needs to win a basketball game with a motley crew of Looney Tunes characters as his teammates to defeat an evil computer algorithm, played by Don Cheadle, who is clearly just doing this for the paycheck), but by the end of it, you will have gotten a two-hour commercial of HBO Max's entire TV and movie catalog. There are constant references to Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC superheroes, with a whole montage that echoes the beginning of WW84. Even classic movies show up - there was a whole Casablanca riff! During the final basketball game, White Walkers and Pennywise were on the sidelines, and I just went, "sure." Then Porky Pig was in a rap battle and I went, "is it possible for pigs to be racist?" Also, there are so many references to The Matrix! I completely forgot WB owned The Matrix! It was weird!

This is a terrible movie that reminds you of what happens as media companies form giant conglomerates and keep merging until they own everything. It was so disconcerting to realize that WB owns practically every piece of pop culture that formed the bedrock of my childhood. As a piece of cinema, this movie is a failure. But as a commercial to persuade you to get a subscription to HBO Max, this movie is a very effective piece of marketing. Kudos to our evil media overlords. 

The Green Knight: Medieval Masterpiece

I had no intention of watching The Green Knight. But then I saw a rave reviews from film critics on Twitter, so I headed to the theater. Two hours later, I had a big smile on my face and a lot of inexplicable feels about this joyful cinematic experience. Let's see if I can coherently articulate my sheer adoration for this film. 

Impeccably written and directed by David Lowery, this movie offers up a lush retelling of the 14-century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gawain (played by Dev Patel, who is quickly turning into Britain's go-to actor to embody their literary heroes) is King Arthur's nephew and at the beginning of the film, he's a bit of a wastrel. He is boozing and wenching, and hasn't really done anything with his life. All of this changes when he attends a feast at the Round Table on Christmas Day and has an encounter with the Green Knight. The encounter is brief, but the consequences are long, because a year later he will have to find the Green Knight again. What follows is a story of that quest, where he encounters all manner of people and creatures to eventually become a hero who is worthy of a knighthood. 

This is not a swashbuckling tale of swordfights and derring-do. Gawain has no idea what he's doing and he is wrong-footed in nearly every encounter over the course of this film. But this is a story of perseverance and forging ahead when everything in your path seems to be telling you that you are bound for failure. It's the ultimate existentialist tale, a Myth of Sisyphus with Gawain at one point proclaiming "is this all there is?" And the answer, it turns out, is yes and no. Our hero's fate seems pre-ordained but his journey towards that fate is what matters most.

Don't go into this film if you're expecting stunt choreography and thrills. But go into it if you want to bathe in the sumptuous cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo and Jade Healy's incredible production design. There were moments when I felt like I was strolling through the Medieval galleries at the Met, staring at gorgeous paintings of saints, and knights, and mystical landscapes. At one point I realized that Gawain's costume reflected all the colors of the land he was travelling through, with the pop of his yellow cloak echoed by the flowers on the hills, and it all looked so breathtaking on the big screen that I didn't want to blink and miss a single frame. 

This is a movie that is not afraid to take its time. You will have to sit and watch things unfold for long stretches without any dialogue and simply let this world soak into your pores. But to be clear, the lack of dialogue doesn't mean this is a quiet movie. The score by Daniel Hart had better be in the running for an Oscar next year, because it is one of the most essential features of the film. Towards the end of the movie, there was a moment where we just watched Gawain sit down in quiet contemplation, in a supremely idyllic location as the sun sets and rises again, and I teared up because of the sheer joy this movie had elicited in me. It somehow evokes this catharsis that you had no idea you were seeking when you stepped into the theater. It's magical. 

The final act of The Green Knight is a work of genius. I won't say anything more, but it was the perfect way to end this film that is all about humans and our choices and how they affect our lives. This is a movie about what it means to be chivalrous, the struggle to find your purpose, and the terrifying beauty of the natural world. But most importantly, this is a movie that showcases just how great movies can be. Lowery took this medieval poem and gave it his own spin, and in doing so, has given us a universal and evocative story that assaults the senses and transcends the screen. I don't know if I will ever recapture how I felt when I watched this film, but I am so glad I got to feel whatever I was feeling for those two hours. 

July Movie Roundup: Jungle Cruise, Toofaan, The Courier, Roadrunner

Another month has passed, which means I have another eclectic set of movies to review for you. Spy thrills, Disney mayhem, a documentary profile, Bollywood drama: step right up, I've got it all!

Jungle Cruise: Last week, I went to Disneyland (first out-of-state vacation in 18 months, woohoo!). And I actually went on the Jungle Cruise ride, which is essentially a boat tour with a skipper who tells corny jokes as you sail through a fake jungle with models of animals sprinkled throughout. So I felt like I had done all my research when I went to the theater to watch this movie. And oh what a delight it was. When it was over, my friend Laura and I turned to each other and both exclaimed at the same time, "That was super cute!" So if you're looking for something to tickle your fancy while requiring no brain power whatsoever, you know where to go. 

The star of this movie is Emily Blunt, who is my new favorite Disney heroine. Yes, she is starring opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but I would argue she probably has more amazing action sequences than he does and does a fine job punching people in 1916 London and then in the Amazon as she embarks on a quest to find a fabled flower that has mystical healing properties. Jack Whitehall plays her very English and very foppish brother, and provides excellent comic relief throughout, but Johnson and Blunt's chemistry is great and ties the whole movie together. The plot is truly bewildering and the writers have created so much lore around this Disney ride that they really deserve some kudos for their crazy vision. Speaking of crazy, Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti are both playing bad guys in this film, and they are both going for it with over-the-top gusto that may require Disney to issue apologies to the governments of Germany and Italy.

This movie is silly and fun and exactly what it says on the tin. It is a Disney movie: London and the Amazon look like theme parks instead of actual places and there is a lot of extravagant CGI to contend with, but the costumes are great, the sets are lush, and the actors are all having a blast. The plot is convoluted and occasionally a bit too scary (I would be worried about taking young kids to this movie considering my grown-ass friend had to clutch my hand at a couple of jump scares), but overall, it is a fizzy and entertaining way to spend a few hours of your week. Hop on and take a wild ride.

Toofaan: I haven't watched a new Bollywood movie in ages, but you know I was gonna rock up to see Farhan Akhtar do his thing in another sports movie, right? The premise is simple - Akhtar plays Aziz Ali, a small-time gangster in Bombay who makes a living as a "debt collector," i.e. beating up people who owe his boss money. However, when he stumbles across a local boxing gym, he finds a way to channel all his energy into this sport, and punch people's lights out in a much more socially acceptable (and legal) manner. 

This is a very Bollywood movie. The plot proceeds exactly as you expect it will: there was one late twist that surprised me, but otherwise, you could see each beat coming from a mile away. But the acting is sublime. Akhtar lost and gained weight to depict the various phases of Ali's life, and he has clearly poured his blood and sweat (literally) into this role. Mrunal Thakur, who plays his love interest, Ananya (for any women named Ananya, this film features a whole song about you, so get excited!), is dazzling and gets to depict a "progressive" Indian doctor who works in a charity hospital and doesn't think arranged marriages are for her (it's 2021, why is this still so novel!). Paresh Rawal is incredible as Nana Prabhu, Ali's boxing coach who is a very jingoistic Hindu nationalist. This movie really honed in on the ugliness of the Hindu-Muslim divide in a far more targeted way than most Bollywood movies do, so that was compelling. But again, it's 2021, why does this damn country still think "love jihad" is a thing and have housing societies that evaluate tenants based on religion? Sigh. 

Toofaan is nothing new, but it feels like a Bollywood classic and is well worth a watch. I dearly wish it had a better soundtrack--there are absolutely no songs here that are worth writing home about--but the acting is top-notch. Giggle at some of the terrible dialogue and then gape at Farhan's physique, and you'll be all good. 

The Courier: When I was on the plane to LA (first time on a plane in 18 months, woohoo!), I finally got the chance to watch this movie that had premiered in March in the US but quietly disappeared again from theaters before I was ready to see it. Set in the 1960s, and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne (this is a true story, but what a name), it tells the tale of how Wynne, an unassuming British salesman, was recruited by MI6 to gather intelligence about the Soviet nuclear missile program from a Russian spy, Oleg Penkovsky (Mirab Ninidze). Wynne somewhat reluctantly agrees and despite being told that his only job will be to serve as a "courier," his noble impulses lead him to get much more enmeshed in this dangerous world of espionage.

Written by Tom O'Connor and directed by Dominic Cooke, this is a well-crafted movie. It's a taut spy thriller, dimly lit with fun montages about tradecraft, and featuring extremely high stakes as the Cuban Missile Crisis threatens to annihilate the planet. Cumberbatch gets you to fully empathize with this protagonist, who has been thrust into something that is so far above his pay grade but who will pull out all the stops to protect his family, his colleagues, and his country. It also features two great performances from Jessie Buckley who plays Greville's wife, and Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the US CIA agent working with Greville on this mission. 

I'm a sucker for true stories about how one man saved the world. This is a great example of a man you've never heard of, doing something quietly and heroically. It's about time he got his due, so go watch this movie and spread the good word. 

Roadrunner: When Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in 2018, much of the world was shocked and bereft. Three years later, we still feel his loss keenly, so I was looking forward to watching Morgan Neville's documentary about the late chef and his various culinary adventures, and how he went from being an executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan to a world traveler and global raconteur. Having watched the movie, I'd say the first half of it lived up to my expectations, and then the second half devolved into something a bit more squirm-inducing.

Throughout the film, we have interviews with the people who knew Bourdain best, fellow chefs, family members, and the TV crew that followed him around the world for years as he filmed his various TV shows. There's a lot of love in these interviews and it's all quite delightful when reminiscing about the early years, but it's clear that as the movie nears its conclusion and Tony's untimely death, that all of these people are grieving and looking for answers. The trouble with suicide is that you have no answers, only conjecture, and the movie devolves into an odd sort of blame game, with people wildly theorizing about what was happening in the last moments of his life. 

This movie was always going to be sad, but instead of getting a documentary about Bourdain, it turned into a documentary about the people he left behind, and how they are processing their grief. I would recommend it half-heartedly: it's great to see all this amazing archival footage of Tony in his element and speaking his mind, but it's less great to see a bunch of other folk speculate about him now that he's gone.