November Highlights Part 4: Priscilla & Saltburn

Is it that time of year when you're jonesing to watch some movies written AND directed by women? Or do you just want to stare at Jacob Elordi for a few hours? Well, here are two movies from our best female filmmakers that feature intriguing supporting performances from Jacob Elordi!

Priscilla: Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, this is a beautiful and sweeping story of Priscilla Beaulieu, the woman who would meet and marry and eventually divorce Elvis Presley. Played with heartbreaking innocence by Cailee Spaeny (an Oscar nomination seems inevitable), we begin the movie with the fourteen-year-old (!) Priscilla, who has moved with her family to Germany, where her father is stationed at a US military base. She is lonely and homesick, and for some godforsaken reason, after meeting her at a party, the 24-year-old Elvis (played by Jacob Elordi), sets his sights on dating her. 

Prsicilla's parents are weirded out by this, but what is weirder is that they still allow it, which is how you know they are American, because what Indian parent would ever allow this kind of nonsense (they might sanction a child marriage, of course, but not child dating!). The entire film unspools like a guide to grooming a teenage girl, but the pedophile in question is Elvis Presley and everyone around him seems totally fine with arranging things so Priscilla can stay over at Graceland and be with him while he continues to have affairs and break her heart.

This movie is mostly melancholy vibes with incredible costumes, makeup, and hairstyles. After all the bombast of last year's Elvis, it's nice to get a film from a woman's perspective of this famous man, and surprise, surprise, like many famous men, he had oodles of talent and treated women like accessories. You spend this entire movie watching Priscilla fight to be with this man and wanting to go "oh sweetie, no." And then you watch the inevitable realization dawn on her that this was a bad decision. It's a tale as old as time, but in the hands of Sofia Coppola, it's a tale that's still beautifully and compassionately told. 

Saltburn: Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, this is yet another glorious confection for your eyeballs. If you loved Promising Young Woman (and who didn't?), this candy-colored aesthetic is going to feel familiar, but Fennell has now moved the action to her home turf of rich and ridiculous British people. And oh, is it divine. 

The movie follows Oliver Quick (the incredible Barry Keoghan, in a performance that ought to get some awards attention this year), a young scholarship student at Oxford University in 2006. He is lonely and ignored but when he somehow befriends Felix (Jacob Elordi, playing a VERY different character from Elvis), a rich kid who seems to have a penchant for picking up strays, what follows is a very intense and volatile friendship. Eventually, Ollie is invited to stay with Felix at his family estate of Saltburn for the summer. What follows is a hedonistic and wild visit that is going to lead to some terrible revelations and some incredibly caustic humor about Felix and his family. Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant play Felix's parents, and let's just say they capture British aristocratic daffiness and repression to absolute perfection. 

The soundtrack is wonderful, the acting is brilliant, and the screenplay veers wildly into every genre, managing to be both horrifyingly funny, thrilling, and macabre. It is a mind-bending marvel that will keep you glued to the screen for two hours and you will definitely hear some gasps in the audience as some twists and turns come flying out at you. It's everything you want from a movie, and more, so don't delay. Take a trip to Saltburn immediately. 

November Highlights Part 3: Wish, Napoleon, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The studios decided to release a slew of blockbusters for the Thanksgiving weekend and I have watched them all. What follows are reviews of three films, two of which are two and half hours long, and one of which is 90 minutes. No points for guessing which one gets my least tepid recommendation.

Wish: Written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore and directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, this is Disney's latest effort in giving us a strong female character who isn't motivated by a love interest but is capable of getting shit done by herself (but also with the help of family, friends, a goat, and a star). Our heroine is 17-year-old Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose) and she lives in the magical realm of Rosas that is ruled by a supposedly benevolent sorcerer named King Magnifico (deliciously voiced by Chris Pine). He is the protector of all the citizen's wishes - these are their most heartfelt desires, and at the age of eighteen, they hand their wish over to Magnifico to relieve themselves of the burden of carrying this wish in their hearts. In return, Magnifico will periodically hold a Wish Ceremony where he will grant one citizen's wish.

Asha applies to be the King's apprentice, but during the interview, she quickly realizes that maybe he isn't quite the benevolent ruler she believed him to be. When he refuses to grant the wish of her 100-year-old grandfather, she sets off a radical chain of events that leads to a lot of magic, revolution, and everyone in Rosas discovering the importance of having a life's purpose. It's a sweet film, the animation is quite lovely, and the cute side characters (including a goat voiced by Alan Tudyk and a very adorable wishing star) are peak Disney magic. I definitely did NOT like the songs though - the lyrics created a syncopated rhythm that rubbed me the wrong way, but maybe after repeated listening I'll get on board (that has already happened to me when it comes to the main song, just not the other ones). Overall, it's a solid effort, and Asha is a great addition to the stable of Disney princesses. So if you want some light holiday fare this weekend, this movie might fulfill your wish.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Directed by Francis Lawrence, from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt adapted from Suzanne Collins' novel, this is a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy that gives us the background of Coriolanus Snow, the man who would eventually become the brutal President of Panem. In this story, Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) is an 18-year-old student at the Academy. He is a Capitol citizen, but his family has fallen on hard times after the death of his father, and they are barely scraping by. Coriolanus is determined to win the Plinth Prize scholarship to alleviate his family's financial woes, but in a twist, it turns out the Prize will be awarded to the student who serves as the best mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Coriolanus's mentee is Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Ziegler) from District 12 and as he tries to gain her trust and help her survive in the Hunger Games, a dangerous love story unfolds.

Listen, you don't need me to spoil the rest of the story, you already know that Coriolanus turns out to be a ruthless tyrant. But this is his origin story, highlighting the many choices he could have made and how he finally succumbed to ruthless ambition instead of his heart. The movie is well done but could have done with more judicious editing. It also turns into a bit of a musical, because Lucy Gray is a singer and she sings way too much in this film (probably in a bid to replicate Jennifer Lawrence's success on music charts when she sang The Hanging Tree in the previous movies). The best character is the film, however, is Lucky Flickerman (played to perfection by Jason Schwartzman), the first TV host of the Hunger Games. The events of the Games are horrific, but his ability to recap them with a bizarrely comic insouciance is incredible. I still can't think of him referring to one of the contestants as "ill Dill" without giggling. So yes, if you're a fan of the franchise, this might be worth a trip to the theater. But if you've never watched The Hunger Games before, skip this one. It is definitely not a feel-good holiday film. 

Napoleon: Written by David Scarpa and directed by Ridley Scott, this is the story of Napoleon's ascent to power, his marriage to Josephine, and eventual descent. When I got out of this movie, all I had to say was, "This is making me question whether Ridley Scott ever made good movies - what with House of Gucci, and now this film, I don't know why we ever thought the man was a good filmmaker." So yeah, it's a pretty brutal two and a half hours at the movies. I nearly cheered when we were finally introduced to the Duke of Wellington because I knew that meant the Battle of Waterloo was imminent and Napoleon's fall from grace was nigh. But it still took another forty minutes for the movie to wrap up from there.

This is a movie with many battle set pieces that are beautifully choreographed but oh so repetitive after a while. After all, there's a limit to how many horses and men I need to see slaughtered by cannonball. Also, like with most Scott movies, there's a baffling lack of attention to accents that is so distracting - every actor gets to choose how they talk, so despite everyone purportedly being French, we have Joaquin Phoenix playing Napoleon with an American accent, while Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) and most of his advisors are British. The "love" story is dumb and useless, and basically what you expect when men are in charge of a film and want to throw a bunch of incoherent sex scenes into a film to liven up proceedings. Also, weirdly, the score from Pride & Prejudice would play when Josephine and Napoleon had scenes together, and that is the greatest indignity of all, because that music is sacred and reserved for Elizabeth and Darcy, goddammit! The entire movie's color scheme is dark and dingy and blue, and overall, it was less of a spectacle and more of a snooze. I had no sense of why Napoleon was doing anything, but all I wanted was for him to get exiled soon so I could leave. To quote Jared Leto from House of Gucci - Boof.

November Highlights Part 2: Quiz Lady & Fingernails

If you don't want to step into a theater and are looking for a streaming binge, perhaps one of these movies is for you. One is a raucous comedy about two sisters trying to make some money off a quiz show, while the other is a speculative romantic drama about a world in which couples can take a test to find out whether or not they are in love. So yeah. It's a broad range.

Quiz Lady: Awkwafina and Sandra Oh play two sisters (what more do you need!), Anne and Jenny, who had a difficult childhood with their tumultuous parents, who eventually got divorced. Jenny left to become an actress, but Anne is the responsible one who stayed behind in the family home while their mother moved to a nursing home. Unfortunately, now their mother has escaped the home and jetted off to Macao with a new boyfriend, leaving behind a mountain of gambling debts that Anne must now pay off. When Jenny arrives to help out with the situation, she puts a plan into motion that eventually culminates in Anne having to consider participating in Can't Stop the Quiz, a quiz show that she has obsessively been watching since she was a child.

Written by Jen D'Angelo and directed by Jessica Yu, this movie features little moments that touch you and big moments that make you chortle. Will Ferrell is fun as the game show's host, a nice nod to his years playing Alex Trebek on Saturday Night Live. Jason Schwartzman also shows up as a smarmy contestant who has amassed a winning streak on the show and that Anne will have to take down. But at the heart of it all is the relationship between these two sisters and the various misunderstandings that have torn them apart. These two actresses do fine work here, and it is genuinely heartwarming to watch their journey. So give it a chance - this is a movie that could surprise you in unexpected ways.

Fingernails: Directed by Christos Nikou, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner, this movie is mostly vibes, based off a tantalizing central premise. As you know, though, I am a plot person, and I do have to say there wasn't enough plot to sustain this film's two-hour runtime. But still, some of the vibes were worth it, given the cast you have assembled here. Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White play Anna and Ryan, a couple that have taken the "test" that proves they are both in love with each other and meant to be together. However, Anna then starts working at the Love Institute, a place that serves as a quick bootcamp for couples where they do exercises designed to strengthen their bond and heighten the love they feel for each other before they take their test. It's clear that Anna feels like her relationship with Ryan needs some work and she tries to surreptitiously trick him into doing some of these love exercises at home with her (he has no idea that this is where she works, which maybe tells you already that this relationship is in trouble). 

But the added wrinkle is that her colleague at the institute is Amir (Riz Ahmed), and of course, the two of them start vibing right away. I won't spoil the story any further (there isn't that much to spoil after all), but let's just say that this is your typical work of speculative fiction, a treatise on free will vs determinism and whether you can really just have a test tell you you're in love and then plan your whole life around that certainty. It's certainly a novel idea, reasonably well executed, but it doesn't...nail the landing, if you will. And if you're wondering why the movie is called Fingernails, it's for reasons I refuse to get into, so that can be the one truly surprising thing you get out of watching this film. 

November Highlights Part 1: The Holdovers & The Marvels

November has started off well in the theaters. This weekend do you want to see a quiet comedy-drama set over Christmas in New England at a nearly empty boys' boarding school? Or do you want to see the latest blockbuster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that features three incredible female superheroes? Let's be real, it's not a choice, you should do both.

The Holdovers: Written by David Hemingson and directed by Alexander Payne, this movie is an absolute delight. Set in New England in 1970 during the winter break at a boys' prep school, we follow the adventures of the cantankerous Mr. Hunham (Paul Giamatti, who is sublime as a Grinch who does have a heart hidden in there somewhere as we unpeel his backstory), the Ancient Civilizations teacher that none of the boys like but who has agreed to serve as the sole supervisor for any students who aren't going home for the holidays. Initially there's a small group of boys who are "held over" for the break, and none are happy about it, but the least happy is Angus (Dominic Sessa), who thought he was heading to a sunny beach vacay in St. Kitts but gets a call from his mother at the last minute that she is taking a honeymoon with his new stepfather instead and he has to stay back at school. 

Eventually, Angus is the only boy left at the school as the others manage to find other plans, so it's just him, Mr. Hunham, and Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph, in a truly wonderful performance), the school's cafeteria manager. This is a particularly hard Christmas for Mary, because her only son has just died in Vietnam - unlike the other rich kids who ordinarily attend this school, he didn't have the luxury of being able to just head straight to college after graduation. So you have this very odd trio trying to survive Christmas together, while they all feel extremely alone in very different ways. It's a beautiful story, compellingly told, and the ways in which these people find points of commonality and come together over the course of two weeks is truly a Christmas miracle. This is the perfect bittersweet holiday movie, a wonderful character study, and a simple cinematic pleasure that will warm the cockles of your heart on even the most blustery winter day.

The Marvels: Directed by Nia DaCosta who co-wrote the screenplay with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik, this movie is sheer entertainment from start to finish (which is only 105 minutes, the shortest Marvel movie to date). Starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani as Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau (they're workshopping a superhero name), and Ms. Marvel respectively, this is a story about how these three disparate superheroes have their powers entangled, forcing them to become a dream team that have to fight together to help battle some aliens who seem determined to destroy multiple planets. The stakes are high, but the people who wrote this movie were higher. 

There are a LOT of goofy elements in this movie and your mileage may vary when it comes to cats that spew tentacles out of their mouths or a random musical interlude with some aliens who only speak in song. But none of that matters where you look at the central trio and the amazing choreography afoot as they have to learn to work together and use their powers in concert with each other. It's really clever and fun and visually spectacular. And of course, Ms. Marvel's family members also feature prominently throughout the movie, which meant there were lots of random lines in Hindi/Urdu that were not captioned and felt like they were thrown in just as a sly aside to me. Representation matters, people! This is a fun, zippy, entertaining ride on the Marvel train - I didn't remember any of the back story of these characters going into it, but you know what, that didn't matter. Just walk in and surrender to the power of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.