LAMB, NEEDLE IN A TIME STACK, THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN, THE LAST DUEL, RON’S GONE WRONG, DUNE, KURT VONNEGUT:UNSTUCK IN TIME

LAMB | A24 | written/directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson

A couple, Maria and Ingvar (Noomi Rapace & Hilmir Snær Guðnason) live in a remote part of Iceland, although, well, I guess “remote” is redundant. For 20 mins or so they just go about their daily chores with the sheep. Pay attention to the beginning when there’s a disturbance in the sheep pen, cause it will clue you in later, I missed it until discussion after the film.  The couple seem pleasant with one another, but you can tell there’s a strain between them and some sadness.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler at this point, but one of the pregnant sheep delivers a half sheep/half human baby lamb, I know a lamb is a baby sheep, but it’s not redundant, as I’ve got to account for the human part. Maria takes to it right away. Caring for it as only a mother can.  Ingvar resists for a while but the creature which sports one human hand and one hoof, wins him over.  All is good until, Ingvar’s brother Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) shows up on the farm.

I gotta say, the creature won me over too and so did the film. It’s not at all the whimsical, magical reality tone I expected, but there’s something interesting about the sheer desolate landscape and everyday reality brought to a fable concept; as well as the Icelandic living fashion choices. 

T&T LAMB (for those new to the site this is my usual scoring measure Stands for Large Association of Movie Blogs) rating: 4 outta 5

It is hard to say where ideas come from, they are all around, everywhere and always. After the film premiered in my home country Iceland, my mother brought me a diary that I had written at the age of 18. In it, I had documented my dreams, and in one of the dreams there are huge rams roaming around in fields. This is something I had completely forgotten about, but they still ended up in María’s dream in the film twenty-plus years later. READ MORE –Valdimar Jóhannsson

NEEDLE IN A TIMESTACK | Lionsgate | written/ directed by John Ridley

A couple, Janine & Nick (Cynthia Erivo & Leslie Odom Jr.) live in a nice home sometime in the future. They are an affectionate couple with a dog they both adore and good jobs.  Living the American dream only in this time period, it’s hard to hold on to your dream life or your memories. Not because of political unrest, unstable economy or racism, but because there’s now Time Travel!  It’s an accepted and doable (although expensive) trendy thing to do. You can go to the past or the future. But more people tend to go to the past and mess things up. Like all time travel movies there’s rules about messing with timelines, and like all time travel movies somebody does just that.  In this case it’s Janine’s ex-husband Tommy (Orlando Bloom) Oh My! How well this man has aged 😋

I liked this one too.  I didn’t try and monitor too closely if the time traveling seemed logical. There were no glaring anomalies. Although, an expert of Time Travel movies would I’m sure spot many.  But this movie is ultimately a love story, not a sci-fi thriller. It’s about knowing and loving someone the instant that you meet them because your connection transcends time.  T&T LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5

The chemistry between the film’s stars makes Needle in a Timestack that much more intriguing. “Cynthia and Leslie make for such an amazing on-screen pairing,” Ridley tells ESSENCE. “Their chemistry, camaraderie, and talent just fill the frame. I could not have asked for a more dynamic tandem.”- 12 Years a Slave Screenwriter John Ridley

THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN | Amazon Studios | Co-written/directed by Will Sharpe

Biographical drama about artist, inventor, would be entrepreneur, sad pugilist, eccentric Aristocrat, Louis William Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch) Although from a good family, the Wains, which include 5 unmarried sisters and a mother, are hurting financially.  Louis does what he can to make ends meet with several ventures and lending his artistic services to the daily newspaper, which back in the late 19th century relied upon illustration rather than photographs.  Despite money being an issue, young ladies must be brought up properly and therefore, the Wains are shelling out a few farthings to hire a live in Tutor, Emily (Claire Foy) for the younger Wain sisters.  Louis, hardly a ladies man, finds himself immediately smitten by the school teacher and clumsily begins to woo her; despite the fact that she is below his station and the family is counting on him marrying for wealth. 

I think my summation is somewhat charming, the movie however, is not.  There’s just not much there.  The “Electrical life” part could have been something, Wain wasn’t interested in electricity the way of Edison. I believe he was on the brink of talking about the frequency or vibration each soul emits out to the Universe and back. But the movie never captures any real thoughts on his talk of electricity.  Cumberbatch and Foy have chemistry and they both always bring much to any role, but it’s still not enough to hold this movie together.  Yes, we get to see him discover what he’s most famous for anthropomorphic cat paintings, books etc..  But I couldn’t help but feel his character and love story would have been better served as a B plot in a better saga about someone who’s life was more interesting, and less sad, despite all the cheerful kitties.  T&T LAMB rating 2.5 outta 5

THE LAST DUEL | 20th Century Studios | Directed by Ridley Scott | Writers Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon

My goodness the Medieval times were ghastly, bloody, brutal and warring.  The movie is based on The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager.  You have two, not really friends, but goodly acquaintances, Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) everyone back then fought for King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) in one bloody battle or another. So you get to know your fellow men at arms, who you hope will have your back on and off the field of battle. Of which these two did for a time.  But Carrouges is all rough edges and brute force and Le Gris would rather play it smart and easy and curry favor with Count Pierre d’Alençon (blonde Ben Affleck). Yet Carroughes does play it smart in one area, and that is managing to marry the lovely Marguerite (Jodie Comer), who becomes the center of this tale, told from each of the three perspectives to great effect.

This is nothing like the beautiful but slow and boring The Green Knight.  There’s much action, much of it very violent, yet there’s engaging scenes as well. Excellent production value, set designing by Arthur Max and costuming by Janty Yates.  The only wrong notes are having such well-known actors as Damon and Affleck playing the roles, and even at this point, Driver.  Having relatively unknowns in these roles would have added to the authenticity.  I know that doesn’t make box office draw, but… Also, the decision to forgo French accents or even European accents. Probably for the best, but I wish Ridley Scott would do one of those videos before the movie and explain, a lot of the dialogue is modern and the accents American because…

What I really enjoyed was the fact that at the heart of what you think is a bloody male dominated action flick is a social commentary on the history of women as property. And that Marquerite becomes the heroine of a story that I didn’t know going in would show her POV.  T&T LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5

RON’S GONE WRONG | Locksmith Animation | Directed by Jean-Philippe Vine & Sarah Smith | Written by Peter Baynham & Sarah Smith

I hadn’t seen much animation this year and I know our Philadelphia Film Critics Circle vote is fast approaching, so I needed to get some more animated movies watched, but I never expected to be so entertained! And not in just a cute way, the story is on point and on trend and very involving!   Set in the not too distant future a company like Apple called the Bubble Company invents these B-bots, they’re like your cellphone on steroids. They’re about 3 ft high and made by one of the creators, a hip, black, young techie Marc (Justice Smith) to help identify new friends for the user, but mostly the kids just use them for souped-up social media, vlogging and such. You can graphically outfit the b-bots into styles, themes and characters. They’re actually pretty cool. I’m sure some tech company is working on something very similar to be released before you know it.  Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a socially awkward middle-schooler who lives with his father and grandmother. (You know in these stories a parent or two must be deceased) His family, particularly grandma Donka (Olivia Colman) holds tight to their Eastern European roots, traditional cooking, raising chickens and goats. None of which helps Barney to fit in at school and in his neighborhood. But not having a B-bot is really destroying his social standing. 

Through a series of mishaps, Barney is finally gifted with a B-bot, but it’s a damaged and somewhat demented one named Ron (Zach Galifianakis) it can’t perform most of the things Bots are made to do. It can’t even get Barney’s name right, calling him Absalom, as its hard drive glitch has a thing for “A” words. Most importantly, it can’t hook up with the Bubble network, which allows Ron to do other things never designed for B-bots to do, which results in a hilarious, harrowing and heart-warming friendship. T&T LAMB Rating 4.5 outta 5

Locksmith Animation Studio (20th Century Studios) Instagram @locksmithanimation

DUNE | Warner Bros | Directed by Denis Villeneuve | written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve,Eric Roth |Based on “Dune” by Frank Herbert

I sat there and took in this whole movie and yet, I’m kinda drawing a blank for what I want to say about it. Have I read the book? No. Have I seen the David Lynch version? No. Do I love Star Wars? Not really, the whole franchise has always just been okay for me. Do I like Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet? Yes. I am a fan of these two young actors, along with the rest of the cast. And yes I loved Villeneuve’s Arrival.
The world building in DUNE is visually spectacular, feels like you could smell the spice in the air and feel the choking hot desert surround you. What kind of minds are able to think up and build the models of the flying gizmos and ships, so authentic you’d swear they exist. But beyond that, this didn’t truly grab me.

Set very far into the future, so far that civilizations have turned away from technology and AI.  The planets are ruled by an Empire and 3 main Houses: House Ordos, House Harkonnen, and House Atreides. Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Issac) of House Atreides is forced to accept the stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, the only source of the most valuable substance in the universe, “melange” (known as “spice”), a drug that extends human life, provides superhuman levels of thought, and makes faster-than-light travel practical. The family must give up their own home planet to take on this gargantuan task of harvesting the spice on this planet. Beyond the harsh climate, there are terrifying sandworms worse than fought in Tremors. And the fierce fighting native people the Fremen. Paul (Chalamet) is Duke’s son and heir not only to House Atredies, but he’s also being groom by his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) in the ancient arts of a religious sect called Bene Gesserit. Only females are supposed to be taught these powers of influence and magic, but Lady Jessica believes her son is the embodiment of the expected Messiah. Which he may be, as Paul has had many prophetic dreams of the planet Dune, featuring a member of the Fremen Chani (Zendaya). He knows not why this planet is his destiny… and he won’t find out until Dune 2, should it get made. T&T LAMB rating: 3 outta 5

I did like this interview with Cynthia Erivo talking to the cast of DUNE

KURT VONNEGUT: UNSTUCK IN TIME | IFC Films | Directed by Robert B. Weide

There’s some names in the world of intellectual pop-culture that I hear bandied about every so often, but never take a minute to Google and really see who they are and what they did.  KURT VONNEGUT  was one of those names for me.  Who was this guy that seems to be much beloved?  Well, now that I’ve seen Robert B. Weide‘s (award winning director of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) loving tribute to this prolific author, I can understand why his name gets spoken of with somewhat reverent tones.   For anyone like me who isn’t familiar with his work:

 Vonnegut remains one of the most popular literary figures of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Readers from one generation to the next, the world over, continue to find their lives transformed by his comic and cosmic insights, on display in such bestselling books as Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, and on and on. Amazingly, all of Vonnegut’s works remain in print, and his popularity shows no sign of waning.

I found it fascinating that Weide has been working on this documentary since 1988! After writing a letter to his literary idol proposing a documentary on Vonnegut’s life and work. And now it’s finally a Fait accompli.  During the course of shoots following the author around, correspondence, visits etc. (not all the time, just periodically over the ensuing years), the two became life long friends.  So much so, that Weide worried at first the friendship would get in the way of the documentary, then later worried that the documentary was too intrusive on the friendship. 

I truly enjoyed the doc, but after learning so much about this man of great thought.  The thing that soured me on him and my biggest take away is that he left his wife Jane of 30 years for New York and another woman.  It was Jane who convinced him he had something to say; she stood with him during very lean times; she wrote letters to editors begging them to read her husband’s work. She bore him 2 girls and a boy and then agreed to raise his 4 nephews. She was a highly educated woman with literary aspirations of her own and then when her husband’s books really took off, he was out the door.  It’s said, they remained close til the end. If true, that was very generous of her, because I hate that she never got to enjoy the good life of celebrity and fancy cocktail parties and such, that she so deservedly earned.  T&T LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5