Month: October 2019

Questioning “Jojo” Mojo

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In a 10.16 “On Second Thought” essay N.Y. Times critic A.O. Scott regards Taika Watiti‘s JoJo Rabbit in the same authoritarian-mocking tradition as Charlie Chaplin‘s The Great Dictator (’40), Ernst Lubitsch‘s To Be Or Not To Be (’42) along with the less respected 1983 Mel Brooks remake, not to mention Brooks’ “Springtime for Hitler”, an inadvertently successful Broadway musical within the fictitious context of The Producers (’67), and the WWII German-spoofing in Hogan’s Heroes.

“But what if we don’t live in that world?,” Scott asks. “For a long time, laughing at historical Nazis has seemed like a painless moral booster shot, a way of keeping the really bad stuff they represent safely contained in the past. Maybe that was always wishful thinking.

“Recent history shows that the medicine of laughter can have scary side effects. Fascism has crawled out of the dust pile of history, striking familiar poses, sometimes with tongue in cheek. It has been amply documented that ‘ironic’ expressions of bigotry and anti-Semitism — jokes and memes on social media; facetious trolling of the politically correct; slurs as exercises in free speech — can evolve over time into the real thing. A dress-up costume can be mistaken for a uniform, including by its wearer.”

So Scott is saying that anti-Nazi humor doesn’t have the bite or relevance that it once had, and that on a cultural-processing level Jojo Rabbit may not be the anti-hate satire that its admirers believe it to be? Something like that. My first reaction to Jojo was why reach all the way back to 75-year-old Nazi culture to deliver an anti-racist message? Why not fiddle around with anti-immigrant Trumpster sentiments or focus on the go-along child of an ICE officer…something in that vein? Why use the filter of WWII history when it probably doesn’t register all that strongly with a good portion of the audience?

Side issue: David Poland has become an unofficial award-season Twitter lobbyist for Jojo Rabbit. As the Poland ardor ebbs or surges, so goes the campaign itself. Keep close tabs.

Red Sparrow Smear Against Gabbard

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A little voice is asking why are Hillary Clinton and other Democratic establishment voices (including The New York Times) trying to unambiguously discredit Rep. Tulsi Gabbard by declaring she’a some kind of Manchurian Candidate? This level of disparagement feels suspicious. A non-interventionist against regime-change wars, sure, but the last time I checked she was also a Bernie-adhering social progressive who supports Medicare for All and wants Roe v. Wade strengthened.

AXIOS’ Marisa Fernandez, posted yesterday (10.18): “(a) Gabbard’s foreign policy stances significantly differ from other top Democratic candidates, especially on Syria. She has controversially defended Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and met with him on a secret trip to Syria in 2017; (b) The New York Times reported that alt-right internet stars, white nationalists and Russians have praised her campaign; (c) CNN analyst Bakari Sellers called Gabbard a ‘puppet for the Russian government.’ He said, ‘That’s not just an allegation…I firmly believe that Tulsi Gabbard stands on that stage and is the antithesis to what the other 11 individuals stand for, specially when it comes to issues such as foreign policy’; (d) At this week’s Democratic debate, Gabbard condemned news outlets like the Times and CNN, saying it was ‘completely despicable’ to call her an asset to Russia.”

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“My God, Bill…”

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“Are you suggesting we pay this man to go away? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting. In fact, I’m insisting. Mr. President, it’s really very simple — you love money, we hate you.” — from last night’s “Prickstarter” riff.

Frenzied Friday

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Posted on 9.2.19: “Without the emotional and stylistic imprints upon Trey Edward Shults‘s Waves, it could have been just another tragic teen drama. A father errs, bad stuff happens, we have to heal and forgive, etc. But there’s a certain honed-down clarity and skillful applications of emotional frankness that elevate this family drama, and the acting is right there on the plate and pulsing in every scene.

“Is Waves an Oscar player? It is as far as Sterling K. Brown (as a tough, headstrong dad with a tragic impact upon his son) and costar Taylor Russell (the younger sister who comes into her own during the second half) are concerned, yeah. Both are solid Best Supporting Actor and Actress contenders. Otherwise Waves might be a Spirit Awards thing — too early to tell. But it has the necessary chops and conviction. Either way Waves (A24, 11.1) is an essential watch.”

Following this evening’s Waves screening we ran into top-tier screenwriter Anthony McCarten (second photo from top), who’s being tributed in Middleburg on Sunday morning. McCarten’s credits include The Two Popes (’19), Bohemian Rhapsody (’18), Darkest Hour (’17) and The Theory of Everything (’14). He’s currently developing a John Lennon-Yoko Ono biopic.

Earlier this afternoon I caught Mati Diop‘s Atlantics, a surreal and impressionistic tale of all-consuming love, rich vs. poor social convulsions and ghosts out for revenge. Diop is an exciting filmmaker with a fine compositional eye and a mesmerizing visual focus. On an atmospheric basis alone, Atlantics is a seemingly brilliant capturing of the dusty city of Dakar.

Following the screening Diop (third photo from top) sat for a q & a with John Horn.

Top photo caption: (l. to r.) Washington Post arts and film editor Janice Page, Waves director-writer Trey Edward Shults, costars Sterling K. Brown, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Taylor Russell.

Second Time Around

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We caught Noah Baumbach‘s Marriage Story last night at…well, the Middleburg Film Festival schedule said 7:30 but it started at 8 pm. Par for the course. The second viewing played just as strongly for me as it did in Telluride six weeks ago, and Tatyana was deeply impressed. She prefers it to Kramer vs. Kramer, she said this morning.

The Best Actor competish is definitely between Adam Driver, who plays the diligent if stressed-out theatre director Charlie, and Joaquin Phoenix‘s Arthur Fleck. The latter is certainly the flashier, envelope-tearing contender while Driver’s performance is obviously more grounded in the recognizable day-to-day, and then there’s that scene where he sings Stephen Sondheim‘s “Being Alive.”

Baumbach showed up for a pre-screening bow and then returned for a q & a with John Horn.

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Paris-Netflix Bonding

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When the death of midtown Manhattan’s Paris theatre was announced in mid June, an HE commenter suggested that Netflix could step in and turn the Paris into a prime exhibition opportunity for original Netflix features.

Lo and behold, this is precisely what has happened as Netflix has announced that Noah Baumbach‘s Marriage Story, a major Oscar pony along with Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman, will begin showing at the Paris on Wednesday, 11.6. Netflix will begin streaming the Adam Driver-vs.-Scarjo divorce drama on 12.6.

Even though The Irishman will begin streaming on 11.27, it would nonetheless make sense to move the 209-minute gangster saga into the Paris after Marriage Story departs. New Yorkers should make every effort to see Scorsese’s film in a theatrical setting. It should not be experienced with bathroom, kitchen-snack, pet-feeding and take-out-the-garbage breaks — trust me. The Irishman will also play at the Belasco (111 W. 44th Street) from 11.1 through 12.1.

Concurrent with the Paris booking Marriage Story will also play at Manhattan’s Landmark 57th West, the IFC Center, and Brooklyn’s Nitehawk Prospect Park. Los Angeles will host two exhibition venues, at West L.A.’s Landmark and Silver Lake’s Vista.

Transformers

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Everyone believes that Charlize Theron is a likely Best Actress contender for her portrayal of Megyn Kelly in Bombshell. However things turn out in that regard, it seems virtually assured that the makeup people behind her transformation into Kelly will be nominated in their category. As far as I can discern from the IMDB, the principal architects are head of makeup Vivian Baker along with Kazu Hiro, the prosthetic artist who created and applied the jutty Kelly chin. (Not to mention the cheekbones.)

Officially speaking, from the horse’s mouth:

Best Special Make-up Effects / Kazu Hiro, Prosthetic Makeup Designer; Vivian Baker, Makeup Department Head and Richard Redlefsen, Prosthetic Makeup Artist.

Best Contemporary Make-up / Vivian Baker, Makeup Department Head; Cristina Waltz, Key Makeup Artist; and Richard Redlefsen, Makeup Artist.