The first industry showing of David O. Russell‘s Amsterdam (20th Century, 10.7) happened this evening at Ross House, the swanky Mt. Olympus screening facility. A mesmerizing and amusing you-tell-me (I wasn’t there)…an all-star 1930s mystery shuffle, nervy and comedic and an attitude “ride” in every conceivable sense….a hyper hellzapoppin’ involving several plot threads and many characters.
Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Rami Malek and Robert De Niro.
The post-screening discussion was between Russell, Bale and director Adam McKay.
Producer Matthew Budman announced that Amsterdam will have a big screening “next week” (presumably between 9.19 and 9.9.23) at Manhattan’s Alice Tully Hall.
HE knows nothing solid about a possible coup against Vladimir Putin. Apparently there is nothing solid. But oh, so tantalizing! The notion of a coup being increasingly likely has been strengthened by a social media flurry over the last 24 hours. Russian losses in Ukraine (especially in the Kharkiv region) are adding fuel to the fire. Powerful people in Russia want the Ukraine war ended and Putin out on his ass. If Putin goes down, my recommendation is to shoot him like the Bolsheviks shot the Czar’s family. Stand him against a wall like Ceaucescu…ready, aim, fire. Problem solved.
I won’t be seeing Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s The Woman King (Sony 9.16) until Tuesday evening. The Toronto Film Festival response has been overwhelmingly positive — a very well contructed, highly engaging action drama, they’re all saying. 100% and 75% scores from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively.
Given the overwhelming tide of positivity, HE salutes World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy for having the temerity to swim against the tide. I’ve no opinion if Ruimy’s view is correct or incorrect (ask me late Tuesday night), but his review also points out the historical record about the Kingdom of Dahomey.
The Woman King “tells the story of the Agojie, an all-female troop of warriors who fought for the west African Dahomey kingdom for centuries, violently and effectively taking on men who threatened and underestimated them.” — Benjamin Lee’s Guardian review.
Dahomey Wikipage excerpt: “The Kingdom of Dahomey was an important regional power that had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade and diplomatic relations with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation systems, and an organized military. Notable in the kingdom were significant artwork, an all-female military unit called the Dahomey Amazons by European observers, and the elaborate religious practices of Vodun.
“The growth of Dahomey coincided with the growth of the Atlantic slave trade, and it became known to Europeans as a major supplier of slaves. As a highly militaristic kingdom constantly organised for warfare, it captured children, women, and men during wars and raids against neighboring societies, and sold them into the Atlantic slave trade in exchange for European goods such as rifles, gunpowder, fabrics, cowrie shells, tobacco, pipes, and alcohol.”
From Peter Debruge‘s Variety review: “Dana Stevens’ stirring script strategically downplays the Dahomey’s own practice of capturing and enslaving others, which surely would have complicated the more admirable dimensions of this historical — and history-making — drama.”
Werewolves don't do lunch and certainly not breakfast. They've always been nocturnal. Influenced by the gentle light of the slivery moon. Lon Chaney, Jr. didn't enjoy an afternoon stroll with the Queen of England -- they were walking down a damp narrow street in Soho after dark. All to say that the title Werewolf By Night is redundant, to put it mildly.
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Just shy of six weeks ago HE passed along predictions about likely Oscars noms for The Fabelman‘s Judd Hirsch and Michelle Williams. Late last night several Toronto tweeters emphasized the same. When Spielberg is able to get it just right by restraining himself without diluting the emotional essence, his touch is golden. Here’s hoping that last night’s praise is genuine and verfifiable.
If you say that young white males — the lonely, undervalued, borderline incel, spending-too-much-time-at-home types — are having a rough time these days, fine. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and it’s a known thing among many of us. But if you say that young white males are having a particularly difficult time because they’re regarded by liberal elites as bad eggs and would-be oppressors because they’re white and therefore a potential Kyle Rittenhouse, you’ve got a problem. Because in progressive circles “white male” has become an epithet. Not without cause, I realize, but if you express the slightest sympathy for young, depressed white dudes (under-educated, working at home, limited prospects), elites automatically presume that you’re aligning yourself with some kind of toxic male syndrome.
