Weekend Watch: House of Gucci, The Power of the Dog, Encanto

This weekend I have yet another trifecta of deliciously different movies for you to sink your teeth into. There's animation, Western, or batshit crazy "Italian" so pick your fancy. There's plenty of entertainment up for grabs.

House of Gucci: I give you my one-word review of this film: Boof! Oh wait, does that not mean anything to you? Well you're not alone, as that is a completely made-up word that Jared Leto inexplicably decided to deploy throughout this movie in his weird supporting role as Paolo Gucci. In the lead we've got Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, one of the heirs to the Gucci family business and fortune, and Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, the woman who marries him, has high ambitions, and (spoiler alert) will ultimately plot his murder. 

Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, and Salma Hayek round out this cast and every single person is doing their own version of what they think an Italian person sounds like. Some are more successful than others (like Lady Gaga, natch), but what with this and The Last Duel, I have become convinced that director Ridley Scott is not the man you go to if you care about accurate accent work. However, you can certainly still go to him if you want a spectacle, and that's what this film delivers. It is completely over-the-top and insane, oozing with high fashion and luxury at every turn and then the soapiest melodrama as the relationships between all these characters get convoluted and chaotic. The only thing more bonkers than this film is that it all actually happened in real life, but presumably the real-life people had more believable accents.

This is definitely a great movie to watch in the theater with an audience who knows that they've come there to experience a comedy rather than a serious drama. We laughed so much at every "Boof!" and it was a very communal experience to revel in this movie that is so terrifically bad that it is amazingly good. So watch it, and then send up a thankful prayer to "Father, Son, House of Gucci." 

The Power of the Dog: If you want some tonal whiplash, watch this movie right after House of Gucci. Written and directed by Jane Campion, this is a quiet, eerie, and deliberate Western set in 1925 Montana and tells the story of two brothers named Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons - two great actors I would watch in anything). They are wealthy ranchers but George is more of the money man who glad-hands politicians while Phil is rude and rowdy and sticks to the ranchwork. When George falls in love with the widowed Rose (Kirsten Dunst - a cute piece of casting as she and Plemons are married in real life) and brings her home to the ranch, it sets off tensions as Phil thinks Rose is only after George's money. In the meantime, Rose's son from her previous marriage, Peter (the deliciously disturbing Kodi Smit-McPhee), has a very testy relationship with Phil, and watching how all of that unfolds makes for a creepy and compelling two hours of cinema.

This movie is a bit of a mood piece - there's not a ton of dialogue and Campion is reveling in the landscapes and feel of these wide open and lonely spaces. You will also get to see some Cumberbatch nudity, if that's a selling point that will get you to watch this film. But aesthetics aside, this movie grew on me. At first I was worried it would simply be artsy and meandering, but as the tensions thickened between these characters and their motivations became increasingly murky, the movie almost took on a fascinating horror quality as I waited for something terrible to happen. It also features an absolutely stunning score from Jonny Greenwood, who I just mentioned on this blog for his score for Spencer. Like with that movie, this music has the effect of slightly unsettling the viewer and never quite making it clear what genre of film you might be watching.

This movie is an acquired taste. But since it's on Netflix, you can easily give it a try and see whether Campion is your kind of filmmaker. To me, it was very clear that there was a woman behind the camera, making a Western that focused on interpersonal relationships and high drama without the need for gun battles and shootouts. This is a rugged and spare movie that surprisingly gets its hooks in you and I was certainly glad I got to see it.

Encanto: For a colorful and blissfully enjoyable time at the movies, you can't go wrong with this animated Disney movie about the magical Madrigal family, who live in an enchanted house in Colombia and all have special powers, except for Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). She never received a special gift, but she is still a chipper and lovely young woman who tries to help out her family, even if she can't do so in any superhuman way.

However, one day, their house starts to develop cracks, and it becomes clear that the magic they possessed is starting to wane. I won't go into any details, but suffice to say, Mirabel is going to be our heroine, the only person who can figure out what is wrong and how she can save the family. And the lessons that she learns and imparts to her family members are deeply resonant in that classic Disney way. The script by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush (who also co-directed with Byron Howard) is delightful, a reminder that even people who seem hyper competent need to take a break and recharge once in a while and that there's no shame in asking for help when you need it. There is so much to unpack in terms of intergenerational parenting styles (the beautiful short film, Far From the Tree, that preceded the movie already teed up that theme), living up to family expectations, and trying to find one's purpose in life. And it is all told via funny, beautiful, whimsical animation, and of course, some fantastic songs composed by Germaine Franco and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Yes, most of the story is told through the songs, so you had better pay attention to these rapid-fire lyrics. Honestly, I could barely catch the words myself and wondered how little kids would fare. There's enough wonder and magic on screen to distract them, but I fully bought into this film as an adult who has issues with her grandmother and subsequently left the theater feeling like oh maybe I should give Grandma a call.  For Latinx viewers, I hope this movie offers up some joyous onscreen representation, with some bilingual songs and plenty of Spanish sprinkled in throughout the film. And, if I may, there was one scene where I spent a solid minute just marveling at how good we have become at animating hair. Every strand of hair on Mirabel's head looked so thick, luxurious, and alive - I know we've done some terrible things with technology, but I'm glad the Disney animators have deployed it to such greatness to capture all the beauty a human head can possess. So watch Encanto. Whether it's the music, the animation, or the story that will tug at your heartstrings, you will fall under its spell.