Movies Extravaganza 24: JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX, MEGALOPOLIS, THE SUBSTANCE, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, BLACK BARBIE

JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX| Warner Bros Pics|Co-Writer/Director Todd Phillips| Co-Writer Scott Silver

Perhaps Todd Phillips took a big swing, creating a Joker sequel with music as the essential element, but not necessarily a miss, not as far as I’m concerned. Especially when he explained that during the making of the first movie, he and Joaquin Phoenix talked a lot about the character of Arthur Fleck having music in him. And that the music in his head was more or less what kept him going. So this sequel taking place 2 years after the events of the first, is about bringing that music to the forefront.

I’m glad they used standards and popular songs of the 20th century for both the scenes when he and Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga) were actually singing and for the scenes of pure fantasy. New songs written for the movie would have given it a staged musical theater feeling. This way it was just thoughts expressed in music we could identify with immediately.

I’ve heard some critics give this movie a big thumbs down because it doesn’t seem to offer or veers away from the political statement at the heart of the first Joker. Which provided a commentary on the haves and have-nots and the lack of concern in this country in providing mental healthcare to those in desperate or even moderate need.

But why can’t this movie be about revisiting with this character very loosely based on DC Comics – chain smoking Arthur Fleck, locked up in Arkham State Hospital awaiting trial. A man who was seriously abused as a child, hit his breaking point as an adult, reacting with a homicidal spree. The question being, was it Arthur Fleck who committed these 5 (actually 6) murders? Or was it due to a personality disorder which made him become “The Joker”? Who is actually responsible for these crimes?

He’s also a man looking to be understood, to make a connection, perhaps dare to dream about being loved. Who better to fulfill this need than by another delusional inmate, a woman caught up in the representation of anarchy that is Joker.

Starting the movie with a Looney Tune-esque cartoon of The Joker fighting with his shadow, set the right tone for this movie. And the production and overall look of “Joker: Folie à Deux” is more cinematic than Joker. So many good IMAX framing moments. Loved him imagining the guards umbrellas were in the Joker color palette and the scene of Lee and Arthur in front of the movie projector with the piano flames burning just off center behind them. And many other beautifully ugly images.

Will “Joker: Folie à Deux” make my end of the year Top 10? No. But differing from other critics, it won’t be anywhere near the bottom 10 either.

Rating: 4 outta 5 (Because I liked the moxy of trying it)

MEGALOPOLIS | Lionsgate | Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola

From what I’d heard prior to seeing MEGALOPOLIS, I feel like I left seeing pretty much the movie or type of film I figured it would be. I’m happy for Francis Ford Coppola who cashed in his wine chips to make something that had been swimming around in his head for over 40 years. I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of his classic films. But I watched several interviews with him for this movie and he seems a darling, artistic dreamer and fun collaborator. He got to fulfill this dream with his son Roman and sister Talia. Along with the likes of committed actors and long time friends – Jon Voight, Giancalo Esposito and Laurence Fishburne.

Adam Driver is still Hollywood’s IT guy even after some lackluster choices of late. It’s obvious Coppola is as enamored of Driver as Driver is of being able to say he starred in a Francis Ford Coppola film. In his interviews Driver talks about the amazing process of making the movie, the freedom to play and discover. And in fact, Coppola says in more than one interview that he valued Driver’s input along the path of bringing this behemoth contrivance to the screen. So I’m happy for all this happy filmmaking and Cannes positive reception…

But what did I see exactly? I know the sets, production and visuals were imaginative and whimsical with a lot of gold palettes. The Romanesque hairstyles for both men and women, may be Oscar worthy, along with the costumes (Milena Canonero). Yet, on the whole, it’s so much spectacle, I can’t remember all I witnessed.

Coppola’s intention for “Megalopolis” is a Roman Epic set in modern America. After all, America was founded on the ideas of the Roman Republic, no King, but rather a form of government with a Senate and laws. When the idea occurred to him that America could be in jeopardy of losing our Republic, the way Rome fell, we weren’t really at that point then; but now, I and many others agree we could be on the precipice, if things go badly in just a few short weeks.

So, a Roman Epic of sorts, yes. However, by calling “Megalopolis” a Fable, Coppola gave himself free reign to paint many pictures with broad strokes. The movie is an odd mixture of DC Comics, Big Tent Circus, Vaudeville, Political Backstabbing, Dynasty, and Ill-fated Lovers. Too bad Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) and Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel – Game of Thrones) don’t have much chemistry. She’s luminescent, but I liked her scenes with her father (Esposito) far better. If the movie had been more grounded in Cesar and Julia’s love story, perhaps it would be more… hmmm… well, traditional; but that was far from Coppola’s intention. Therefore, I suppose, it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. And as I said, figured it would be.
Rating: 3.5 outta 5

THE SUBSTANCE | Mubi | Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat

I have always truly been obsessed with the prospect of aging and judging others for getting old. Now that I am of an advanced age, I’m all the more anxious about the whole affair. And yet, in my efforts to prolong youthfulness, I’m not the type to purchases an array of expensive serums and face creams, or go in for procedures and plumping. Instead I’ve always tried to think my way to agelessness. Tricking myself into feeling like there’s still time, I’m just getting started; and it’s truly backfired on me. Because in an effort to stand still in time, my life did exactly that – never really progressed. And yet, realizing this years ago, I still find myself overly concerned about giving the impression of being at least 10 years younger than I actually am.

Therefore, even though I’ve never been a gorgeous being any where near the likes of Demi Moore or had to worry about being in the spotlight. I definitely identified with the desperate measures that her character Elizabeth Sparkles goes to in order to regain a youthful appearance. Well, almost, I don’t think any woman who arrived at the horrid, back alley address, given to her to procure the substance, would have proceeded further. Especially not having to duck under a security door, leading to a wet, abandon, creepy hallway. Nope. Not even if it lead to the fountain of youth itself!

“The Substance” is a body-horror, sci-fi, gore-fest, not aiming to be subtle in any way. It’s not making an obscure social satire; rather it uses a sledgehammer, not to mention, fish-eyed lens, prosthetic makeup (Pierre Olivier Persin) distortion, needles, blood and ooze to talk about the perceived diminishing value of women as they age. And the self-hate that perception can create. Along with the flip side, living the perceived perception of the perfect, beautiful ingénue, subjected to the unrelenting ogling of the male gaze.

After Elizabeth injects herself with the vile of nuclear green fluid, she immediately convulses like Dr. Jekyll, only spine-birthing her Mr. Hyde, and in this case, Hyde is a perky, blue-eyed 20-something, Sue (Margaret Qualley) who I’ve praised in other reviews, as her talents are quickly resulting in her becoming a household name.

Sue is not a younger version of Elizabeth, but rather another person. Yet they share the same consciousness. I have to say, this part of the story never felt clear. One of the main rules of the substance is that they must switch back and forth every 7 days, one lays dormant, hidden in the bathroom, while the other lives until her week is up. But I never felt like Elizabeth knew exactly what Sue had been doing or vice versa. And yet, there wouldn’t be a benefit to this if Elizabeth couldn’t vicariously enjoy the attention and opportunities lavished upon Sue.

More important than the 7 day rule, is the rule that they are really One. Knowing this rule is going to get broken and badly is half the fun of watching this experiment unfold. The other half is the gusto each actress brings to their respective 7 days. It’s not a perfect movie, but French writer/director Coralie Fargeat brings something just kooky and gross enough to the screen to captivate me and perhaps make me think more about my aging contention. Rating: 4 outta 5

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE| Warner Bros Pictures | Director Tim Burton Story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar

When you take this long to revive a movie, especially a classic, by creating a sequel, it’s difficult to make a masterpiece, even with Tim Burton at the helm. The main idea is to allow the audience to revisit with characters, a location and basic theme, to see where they are now, for reasons of nostalgia. And basically, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” did a good job of that.

I’m not usually a snowflake on these types of things, but I agree that they really didn’t need to honor the father (Jeffrey Jones) to this degree. This actor was convicted of some seriously bad charges. I don’t think we needed to be at his funeral at all, it should have just been mentioned he died years ago. I’m sure Burton could think of another reason to bring the family back to the house.

I enjoyed Beetlejuice’s ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) stapling herself back together and the dehydrating effects of her draining the dead of their souls looked awesome. Yet, the overall story of her hunting Beetlejuice down somehow felt contrived. I would have preferred Beetlejuice wreaking havoc rather than running scared. He is a demon for goodnesssakes. But it’s great that there was no worry about Michael Keaton having aged, as the Beetlejuice makeup made him look 125, 38 years ago!

Which is why it would not have worked to bring back Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, as ghosts should not get old and gain weight.

One Bob the Shrinking Head Guy is a fun callback. 10 or more of them is way too Minions-like. This felt as if, the producers said we need something we can put in a Happy Meal.

I love Willem Dafoe as much as the next movie-goer, but he was really shoehorned into this movie. Now everyone thinks it’s cool to add his quirkiness into an off-beat movie. But I’m sorry, this dead TV detective character was useless. The previews showed no less than 4 upcoming movies with Dafoe coming this fall. He never stops working!

I read somewhere a detractor of “stop trying to make Jena Ortega happen”. I think they missed the memo, she has happened. I’ve liked her since her movie “The Fallout” I think it worked having her as Lydia’s mixed race daughter with a Latino man. Too bad her storyline about her first boyfriend was rushed. I think this should have been expanded to be the A storyline instead of the C.

Speaking of the A storyline – Lydia Deetz as a medium – good, Winona Ryder’s acting – BAD! What in the world was she constantly doing with her face? Grimace, after frown, surprise, after consternation, all done with such exaggeration. But even her delivery when she did have dialog just seemed like an amateur.

Still, overall, the nostalgia and Burton-esque creations delivered. Rating: 3.5 outta 5

HIS THREE DAUGHTERS| Netflix | Writer/Director Azazel Jacobs

Starring Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Jovan Adepo, written and directed by Azazel Jacobs, the film tells the story of three estranged sisters reuniting in a cramped New York City apartment to watch over their ailing father during his final days.

I have two sisters (presently, since the passing of my youngest sister in 2020) and I was hooked by the very first scene, where Katie, (Carrie Coon) oldest sister, is berating Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), middle sister about not having handled getting a Do Not Resuscitate order signed by their father’s doctor. Rachel, rather than arguing, shuts down. When the youngest sister, Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives she tries to lighten the tense atmosphere with a firehose of constant, rambling, inane chatter. I thought yup, I totally get this, it’s a composite of me and my sisters just two short years ago, when my Mother was dying at home and we all had to figure out how to cooperate with one another and take on roles. Some roles just assumed by years of familial tradition; other roles subconsciously chosen, and some assigned.

It is not easy to be grownups thrown back into close family dynamics, especially during a stressful time. Azazel manages to capture the claustrophobia and both the individual and combined moments of handling grief, in perfect detail. He has a terrific ear for heightened, yet believable dialogue. It’s a trio character study where I totally understood, sympathized and criticized each sister equally. Well, Katie was pretty triggering for me, but she alone was not why I was crying big, fat, ugly tears by the end, but rather the entirety of it was rather cathartic.

Last weekend I was going through movies A-Z on different streaming platforms and a movie called “The Lovers” caught my eye. It came out in 2017 and stars Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as a long-time married couple each having an affair with two exacting people. I had some notes of where the story should have begun and thoughts on additional relationship phases which should have taken place, but for the most part, I was drawn in quickly and really enjoyed the story. I hadn’t looked at the name of the director until the end of the movie when I discovered it too was written/directed by Azazel Jacobs.

SFFILM chose “His Three Daughters” as the recipient of the 2024 SF Honors Award, which celebrates the audacity of a singular vision in current cinema. Rating: 5 outta 5

BLACK BARBIE |Netflix |Filmmaker Lagueria Davis

I was a big Barbie Doll playing child growing up. I played with friends and with my sisters, we had a lot of Barbie clothes and shoes that never stayed on, and cars and campers. We had a house for them, but it wasn’t by Mattel, it was about 4ft tall so we each had a floor for our Barbie’s and Ken’s to have a home base to carry out their fabulous adult lives. I don’t remember feeling like I needed a doll that looked like me, because for the longest time, I was able to ostensibly overlook the color of my skin. I thought white, I watched all white movies, TV shows, had all white friends until Junior High, where I met a fair skin black girl who liked all the same stuff I liked.

I will say, I had two baby dolls prior to the Barbie stage. One was a black doll and the other was white, but I kinda remember liking that the white one was a bit tan for some reason, and also, not sure why, but her hair was course, or at least soon became rather bushy over time. I don’t think I had the wherewithal to express it at such a young age, but it felt like I had children each with different fathers, a white man and a black man, but I loved those two baby dolls equally.

In 1980 I would still have been playing with Barbie Dolls, but I don’t remember this first official Black Barbie inspired by Diana Ross, designed by black designer Kitty Black Perkins, a perfectly fitting name. Of course, as confirmed in the doc, Mattel didn’t exactly put any marketing dollars behind her release. Still, she made an impact in black communities, but me in my white world didn’t get the memo.

Now I do remember having a Black Ballerina Barbie, far, far before Misty Copeland. And before Black Barbie. But now I come to find out in 1976 she was called Cara, she wasn’t actually Barbie. I never knew that until watching this documentary.

I also remember feeling like this Black Ballerina Barbie was beautiful and special, but I’m not sure it really registered it was because she had dark skin. By this time, I had beat up all my old Barbies, by cutting their hair and putting on makeup with magic marker, they all completely resembled the Weird Barbie played by Kate McKinnon in the Barbie Movie; so I think I was just happy to have a fresh doll with hair. I do recall being mad that the ballerina crown she wore was not detachable.

“Black Barbie” is partly celebratory, featuring the inspiration for the film, Beulah Mae Mitchell, one of Mattel’s first black employees, and the aunt of the filmmaker, Lagueria Davis. She also interviews cultural commentators and women who have had Barbies made in their image, such as Shondaland founder Shonda Rhimes, and the aforementioned ballerina, Misty Copeland and the Olympic hijab wearing fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad.

But it also partly shouts to systemic racism, not only is it a fact that Ruth Handler never would have ever thought about creating a Black or Asian or Hispanic version of this doll at the same time as manufacturing a White one. But even if she had, she would not have been able to get the backing or have it marketed anywhere in the 1950’s. Eventually, yes, we get a black version of things, and representation is to be celebrated. However, they conduct a new version of the Clark Doll Test with today’s children – they didn’t all pick the White Barbie as the most desirable, the way this test revealed back in the 1940’s with baby dolls.

But when asked which one of the myriad of shapes and colors and creeds of Barbies which exist today, is the real Barbie? Every child chose the white one. The kids explained that they understood other dolls where made so they’d have something that looked like them, but it was still not the authentic thing. And of course, as we all know, when we do have authentic things like jazz, blues, soul, pop music or inventions still in use today or breakdancing etc.., it gets appropriated into white culture with very little credit or monetary compensation to the black originator or community.

The doc does talk about Mattel partnering with Lou Smith and Operation Bootstrap to create the Shindana toy company which had a good run for about 13 years, becoming the largest manufacturer of Black dolls until it closed in 1983. Perhaps if they had been able to broker deals with the likes of McDonald’s or had bigger marketing budgets, they’d still be in business today.

Kudos to Netflix for producing the doc and I look forward to seeing what Lagueria Davis does next. Rating: 4 outta 5