Rendy QUICKIE Reviews Vol. 1: A24 Edition
Life as a college student is pretty hard. Maintaining this site along with doing assignments and along with having a part-time job has been complicated for me. Recently I’ve been trying to catch up on every movie I missed so when my top 10 best of and worst of lists come; people wouldn't question why certain films are there. Also when they do show up, but I haven’t put out a full review, I don’t want people to get confused. So I’m going to be starting something new called “Rendy QUICKIE Reviews” where I briefly put out my two cents on film I’ve seen but never had the chance to review.
So the past three movies I’ve seen in the theaters were all A24 releases, so I’m going to briefly review:
LADY BIRD
THE KILLING OF SACRED DEER
and THE FLORIDA PROJECT
LADY BIRD
R: for language, sexual content, brief graphic nudity and teen partying)
A24
Writer & Dir: Greta Gerwig
1 Hr and 33 Minutes
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Lois Smith, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Odeya Rush, Jordan Rodrigues, Marielle Scott
With “Lady Bird” being Gerwig’s first off-screen solo directorial feature, you feel the grace of her personality from beginning to end. With plenty of coming of age stories trying to go for the raunchy route especially when its given an R rating, Gerwig manages to make her characters never seem over the top or obnoxious as they all feel rather human. In cases I found this to be a loose biopic of Gerwig’s upbringing in the same vein “The Big Sick” was due to the film’s setting of Sacramento, CA and her education at an all girl’s Catholic school.
The story itself is a series of trial and errors of this teenage girl experiencing her senior year of high school from 02’-03’ as she deals with boys, friends, coming to terms with her sexuality, applying for college, and her relationship with her family. For me, a lot of the narrative reminded me so much of 2016’s “The Edge of Seventeen,” but with a personal voice. Though they are separate movies that are great as their own, “Lady Bird” excels far much more due to its realism of human interaction and likable, flawed characters. Many can relate to moments of arguing with a parent for one second then bond in the next. Moments like that incorporated in the film hit it so close to home for many.
As Saoirse Ronan gives a phenomenal performance as the titular character that can represent teenagers, you relate to Lady Bird’s life even if you are a guy. The problems she goes through are relative to many. There is a sense that Gerwig is wearing her heart on her sleeve as she balances hysterical scenes of comedy with the emotional beats of a John Hughes story. Where the film takes place in the early 2000s, the film boldly shows that no matter what year the time may be, teenagers will go through this long road of self-discovery and growth.
The cast is great as they all deliver performances you wouldn't expect them to give. Whereas Ronan was all quiet and calm in 2015’s "Brooklyn," “Lady Bird” is Ronan as nerdy, talkative, and at times selfish as she tries to make every situation revolve around her but yet you feel for her and understand every decision she makes. Laurie Metcalf. Wow. Gerwig made the woman known for playing Sheldon Cooper’s mom be the perfect representation of an endearing and fierce mother that plenty of us have. Metcalf undoubtedly gives one of the best supporting performance of this year harking back to how great Patricia Arquette was in “Boyhood.” You also have Lucas Hedges who is fantastic in ways he’s just expanding his range with each film I see him in and then Timothée Chalet who is that mysterious punk boy every girl wants to date. Before I get a chance to see him in the upcoming, “Call Me By Your Name,” his performance in this is also fantastic. Every moment he's onscreen going a deadpan dialogue, I crack up in laughter.
LAST STATEMENT
Delivered with a masterful direction and script the relates to the teenager in all of us, “Lady Bird” is a coming of age story that goes beyond even the likeness of John Hughes that emotionally hit home with everyone who ever longed for love, friendship, and affection from the people that we relate to.
What did I give “The Edge of Seventeen”? A 4-star rating? Well, this gets one more than that.
RATING: 5/5 | 96%
THE FLORIDA PROJECT
R: for language throughout, disturbing behavior, sexual references and some drug material.
A24
Dir: Sean Baker | Writer: Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch
1 Hr and 33 Minutes
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, Caleb Landry Jones
These are The Little Rascals only younger and set in modern day. The leader Moonee is like Angelica Pickle where she mistakes magic with mischief. If Danielle Bregoli a child with Dennis the Menace, Moonee would be that offspring. You don’t like her and her friends because of the chaos they create, but you sympathize with them due to the lack of good parents and the place they live in and its a dump.
Director Sean Baker does a great job showing the traits the kids get their personality from.
The movie has some of many favorite one-shots I've seen this year, and they're not even tracking. There is an establishing shot that shows where Moonee and her friends turn off the electricity of the motel and then Bobby (Dafoe) runs out to take care of it while residents come out of their room complaining. Baker had to choreograph the hell out of that shot and its the most humorous, inventive, and aesthetically beautiful shots I’ve experienced all year. This features one of the best vignette sequences I’ve seen in a movie for a long time.
What I love about this is that it's already established that these kids are known to getting into trouble. With each level of difficulty Moonee,
Any place Moonee and her mom go to hell ensues. They are the definition of “mother like daughter.” She is a terrible influence on her as well which explains Moonee’s mischievous and sometimes bratty personality. It makes total sense, and Baker makes it clear. Moonee’s mother Halley has to be one of the most detestable moms I’ve ever seen in cinema that I kept wishing for CPS to come in throughout. When they did, I smiled so damn hard.
If there were a top 10 list of worst moms in film, Hailey would be right up there. That said, these two first time performers Bria Vinaite (Halley) Brooklynn Prince (Moonee) are phenomenal for they never come across as actors but as real people in this somewhat terrible environment. I never wanted to go to Florida before for I have several friends who told me how awful it is, and this movie solidified my case.
What grounds this film from the unlikable characters is Willem Dafoe as Bobby who is not only one of the managers of the motel but acts like the father figure to everyone who lives there. He deals with the immaturity of Halley as she is this shithole mom that you see him have sympathy towards. Halley treats Moonee like her sister than her daughter.
What makes Dafoe a shoe-in for this year's awards season is a scene where he goes full-on Green Goblin as a child molester comes to the motel, and he cautiously leads him away in a friendly manner. Once he lures the molester away, he goes off violently, and you just applaud in joy. It was a scene that had a sense of urgency where there was a sense of threat and danger, and Bobby is the unsung hero everybody knows.
Every time the camera focuses on him, the movie becomes a separate story but at the same time connects to everything Moonee does. It does feel like an episode of Rugrats but an R-rated one set in Florida. The reason I say “Rugrats” is because with that show there was a focus on the happy-go-lucky world of these kids as they go on grand adventures while the lives the adults are more massive than them and are rather really fucked up situations.
You can tell whenever Baker focuses the camera on age kids especially on Brooklynn he tells her to just improv and say whatever comes to mind and yet she's so pure. Brooklynn Prince carries this movie with her two hands throughout and though she is six, I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes the new Jacob Tremblay. Shoot, I would hope that Prince becomes the youngest actress to get a “Best Actress” Oscar nomination. Sorry, Quvenzhane Wallis, your record might be broken.
As much as I love this movie, the final thirty seconds betrays nearly the full hour and fifty minutes of what it was. The film got to an intense conclusion that had me both in joy and tears. Brooklynn Prince is giving a performance that is making me bawl like a baby. But then, the film does something bizarre that left me in shock and surprise, and I did not take it well. I knew what Baker’s intentions were, but it just dropped a huge ball that was far too late to come back from.
I used this analogy in my “Logan” review, but I’m going to use it again. Remember that scene in “You’re The Greatest Charlie Brown” where Charlie Brown is about to win the race, but he runs off track because he’s full of himself but instead of screaming "CHARLIE BROWN COME BACK," you’re screaming, “NO ‘THE FLORIDA PROJECT’ COME BACK!!”
Honestly, this film was roaming around my top 3 movies of 2017, but until the last 30 seconds kicked in, it left a terrible taste in my mouth that it knocked its ranking back.
LAST STATEMENT
Though its final sequence may be baffling to take in, “The Florida Project” is a powerfully moving dramady by Sean Baker who came a long way from filming a movie off an iPhone.
Rating: 4/5 | 88%
THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
R: for disturbing violent and sexual content, some graphic nudity and language
A24
Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos | Writer: Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos
1 Hr and 33 Minutes
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Bill Camp, Alicia Silverstone
I have never seen Colin Farrell with a full grown beard so he's completely unrecognizable in this. Seriously he looks very similar Jemaine Clements. Besides the beard, I love how Lanthimos let Farrell for the first time I’ve seen on film, let out his native Irish accent. There has been other films where you hear the Irish in Farrell but I didn’t hear it for a long time.
What Lanthimos does that becomes clear as a recurring style that will help make hims become a future auteur, is how he directs his actors to be awkwardly deadpan with their delivery.
What did startle me is that I wouldn't expect to hear a person sing Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” in a Lanthimos movie. This guy has an odd mind that it makes me question what attracted him to that song. Unless that was improvised but I am curious.
The enticing aspect that “The Killing of Sacred Deer” has which engages you is the odd relationship between Martin (played by Barry Keoghan), and Steven played by Farell. You have this kid who has some Godly power giving his family an ultimatum. This kid and Farell have this great chemistry first, but at the same time, you fear where the order. They don't hide the fact that Steven is uncomfortable by both Martin at times. Once you get to realize what Martin is all about, you’re entirely invested in this weird descent to madness.
It's very deranged and bizarre similar to anything David Lynch does but what makes me actually genuinely like it is that everyone involved is naturally dedicated to the material which makes its tone rightfully consistent even if the weirdness goes unnecessarily over the top.
As the film goes on, it progressively gets weirder as the unlawful friendship between a man and patient (child or man) can have dangerous effects, especially if entertained especially if one of them is a complete mental case (with the power of GOD).
He may seem charming but less just a manipulative prick with a few tricks up his sleeve. As “what the fuck” movies go, I enjoyed this more than “Mother” and understood the story what I saw but I feel a lot of the weirdness that happens are unnecessarily excessive.
LAST STATEMENT
Chilling, odd, and solidly entertaining, Lanthimos’ latest movie with an animal’s name in the title is a bombastic psychological thriller that delivers both on thrills and the psychological part of it.
Rating: 3.5/ 78%
