It’s a slower week in movies than we’ve seen in a bit, however that doesn’t mean there’s nothing worth looking for. We’ve limited your search, and here are our thoughts.
Corsage
At Entrance Film Center
by Hope Madden
Neither hero worship nor maudlin tale of objectification, Corsage provides a daring reimagining of the life of Empress Elisabeth of Hungary, played with mischievous relish by Vicky Krieps.
This is barely the first fanciful reworking of a historical biopic. Director Pablo Larraín has reassessed two such lives as awful cinematic poems– 2021’s Spencer and 2016’s Jackie. Simply last year, Andrew Dominik turned America’s a lot of identifiable icon into the object of penalty porn (Blonde). While 2 of those movies are charming and one is unwatchable, it took filmmaker Marie Kreutzer to reimagine one renowned life without simplifying the tale’s heroine to a tragic beauty to pity.
Kreutzer’s year-in-the-life is imaginary, though Empress Elisabeth was definitely genuine. Her existence clearly affects this photo, however Kreutzer’s fantasy– packed with the most gloriously lost contemporary tunes– looks askew at the renowned and misconstrued appeal.
As Sofia Coppola made with her compassionate and under-appreciated picture Marie Antoinette, Kreutzer and Krieps develop the surprising aloneness dealing with a royal lady, especially a foreign sovereign wed into royalty abroad. Krieps excels in particular during scenes where Elisabeth has a hard time to take advantage of what power is offered to her. The audacity of Elisabeth’s habits unveils a fiery happiness and brittle vulnerability in Krieps’s performance.
Incredibly refreshing are the vanity and selfishness that are enabled to creep into the portrait. Corsage’s hero is no saint. She’s a totally free spirit to be admired, in addition to a self-centered brat ready to require the sacrifice from others she’s disinterested in making herself.
Here again, Krieps is a super star. Elisabeth’s flaws are outrageous, her strengths excellent, her oppression great. In Krieps’s hands, the composite is an endlessly compelling problem, as aggravating as she is fascinating. The film sees power as liberty and acknowledges how little of it there is for women, even women who seem to have all of it. In the end, it’s the film’s and Krieps’ humankind that make the last moment of liberty feel made and triumphant instead of stuffed with compromise.
Grade: A-
Wildcat
On Prime
by Brandon Thomas
Much has been made from how animals affect the lives of their human beings. For a lot of people, many of the fondest memories they have are of a dog or feline that brought an enormous quantity of happiness to their lives. Of course, these stories typically focus on domesticated animals and not wild animals. Wildcat deviates from your standard nature documentary and instead focuses on the deep bond between an emotionally delicate guy and the wildcat that counts on him for survival.
Harry Turner is a twenty-something Englishman who released to Afghanistan when he was 18 years old. As Harry’s time in the militaries comes to an end, he’s entrusted to scars both physical and emotional. Trying to find a new beginning, Harry takes a trip to the remote Peruvian portion of the Amazon and links up with a Ph.D. student and her animal sanctuary. As Harry continues to struggle with the impacts of incapacitating anxiety and PTSD, fate drops an orphaned ocelot (ironically named Keanu) into his care and into his life.
There’s a breeziness to Wildcat that helps it feel more individual than most nature docs. A substantial swath of footage is shot by Harry himself and assists the audience understand his mindset far more rapidly than a series of talking heads may have. When Harry’s succeeding, there’s a tight focus to the video footage of Keanu and of his testimonials. As his psychological health degrades, so does the shooting style of the movie. Whole scenes accompany individuals off-screen or in the background– at times leaving us simply as disoriented as Harry.
So much of the movie starts to feel voyeuristic as Harry spirals. Not in a gratuitous or exploitative way, but in that Harry’s deep psychological connection to Keanu’s wellness feels like an exposed nerve. Seeing this susceptible wildcat rely on an equally vulnerable human being is a stunning juxtaposition that forms the core of the film.
Wildcat isn’t the type of film that provides one a better understanding of nature and its fragility. Rather, this is a film that looks for to better comprehend the delicate connection that can exist between humankind and the animals that co-exist with us.
Grade: B+
The Old Way
In theaters
by George Wolf
Nic Cage brings a Brimley-approved mustache and a scratchy trigger finger to the The Old Way as Colton Briggs, meanest lowdown killer the Wild West ever saw.
However after an opening standoff that leaves plenty men dead and one young eyewitness without a daddy, director Brett Donowho jumps ahead 20 years, when the ‘stache is gone and …
… And a good female has tamed this outlaw into a married man?
That’s right. Colton and his spouse Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) run the Briggs Mercantile, while their pensive daughter Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong from American Scary Story and last year’s Firestarter) looks for ways to challenge her smarts and curiosity.
So while Carl W. Lucas’s script scrapes together just enough factor for Colton to take a turn walking Brooke to school …
… Some gunslingers with an old score to settle pay a call to Mrs. Briggs, giving Mr. Briggs a mighty good reason to go out his weapons and seek revenge?
Right again. And though Ruth tells James McAllister (Noah Le Gros) and his crew that “You kids have actually awakened the devil!” an in person showdown is just what McAllister is after.
Obviously, absolutely nothing here is breaking any ground in the genre, as the real draw is Cage playing a grizzled killer in the Old West. He’s fine, just don’t anticipate any unhinged Caginess. Briggs is an always-restrained coil of intensity, as Donowho and Lucas rather try to craft some emotional heft from a daddy teaching his daughter the method of the gun.
Armstrong is clearly a talent, however both she and Cage are up against a script that leans too greatly on stilted, explanatory dialog and cliched exclamations (“You’re bringin’ hell down on us, Jimmy!”). We’re told too much about who these people lack seeing enough to truly care about them.
And by the time that showdown in the middle of a dusty path finally plays out, what we do see doesn’t produce an unforgettable benefit.
It’s Nic Cage in a Western, so there are possibilities here. However The Old Method is too content to draw on the old tropes to blaze anything.
Grade: C
Sweet Land
On VOD
by Hope Madden
Candy Land is a surprise, and it’s not for everybody. This is grim stuff, however writer/director John Swab’s truck stop horror likewise provides an unusual story concealing inside some usual, same old.
Remy (Olivia Luccardi) catches the eye of Sadie (Sam Quartin), one of the “lot lizards” selling their carnal products at a bible belt truck stop. Remy’s part of a religious group here to help Sadie, Riley (Eden Brolin), Liv (Virginia Rand) and Levi (Owen Campbell) find salvation. Instead, Remy– erupted from the cult– discovers Sadie, ultimately deciding to discover the sell exchange for a place to live.
Hard-right evangelicals rarely make a positive impression in a scary motion picture, and sex workers tend to become either heart-tugging martyrs or naked remains (frequently both). To his credit, Swab has something else in mind, and while you would not call it pleasant, it’s nearly rejuvenating.
Candy Land prevents preachiness, finding depth and humankind without condescension, both for the evangelicals and the lot lizards. There’s a sense of friendship among those on the task, and the naturalistic, terribly human efficiencies offer that.
Campbell (X, My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To), in particular, shines with a turn so loaded with inflammation, playfulness and optimism that you hold your breath every time he’s onscreen- lest something awful occurs to him.
It does. In fact, at the threat of ruining anything but in favor of helping audiences avoid triggers, Campbell’s Levi is subjected to a particularly brutal and unpleasant rape sequence that’s part and parcel of a movie loaded with graphic sexuality and violence, frequently side by side. However never once is the victimization shot to titillate, if that assists.
For its lots of successes, the movie typically seems like a rather superficial exercise in cruelty if just since none of the characters have genuine arcs. Things end for each character basically where they started. A provocative however undercooked B-story including a perversely paternal law enforcement officer (William Baldwin, with his most fascinating efficiency in years) doesn’t assist.
Candy Land is a tough film to recommend for a number of factors, however it’s beneficial seeing if just because Swab overthrows every expectation, rather taking us inside a horror grounded in something remarkably human.
Grade: B-
Mars One
On VOD
by Daniel Baldwin
The latest drama from Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Martins, Mars One, sets out the story of a family’s trials and tribulations, set versus the background of a fascist right-wing leader being chosen to power in 2018. The Martins are a lower-middle-class family, struggling to make ends fulfill. Their wants, needs and beliefs are all running in separate directions, which is a tense thing to be occurring amidst such political upheaval.
Matriarch Tercia (Rejane Faria) has become overwhelmed by the supernatural fear that she is cursed. Patriarch Wellington (Carlos Francisco) sees that, given their skin color, their only salvation for future financial security can come in the form of son Deivinho’s (Cicero Lucas) soccer skills. After all, raw sports talent typically glosses over any concerns with social and/or cultural standing. Issue there is that Deivinho isn’t too crazy about becoming an expert athlete. His individual dreams lie not in the clouds, but above them: he wants to end up being an astronaut and assistance colonize Mars as part of the (then-)planned Mars One mission.
Then there’s child Eunice (Camilla Damião), who longs to leave and live somewhere else with her girlfriend, out of under the influences of her parents. All of this produces a rather tense and disorderly environment for the family, especially when it pertains to understanding one another’s distinctions, but it’s not a scenario without love. Due to the fact that of this, there’s an extremely tender and emotional undercurrent streaming deeply through the film amidst all of the familial strife on screen. The performances are all touching, even those that hail from non-professional actors.
Where Mars One journeys up is when it attempts to concentrate on each family member’s arc similarly. By serving no master, the movie comes up short on performing in addition to it might have had one family member been the primary focus. After all, there’s just a lot story that can suit a two-hour runtime. Still, this is a moving and often relatable family drama. It’s not tough to see why it has actually amassed such acclaim on the celebration circuit. If down-to-earth familial drama is your thing, you’ll want to inspect this one out.
Grade: B-
Listen to George, Hope and Schlocketeer Daniel Baldwin go through all of this week’s evaluations plus brand-new motion picture news on THE EVALUATING SPACE PODCAST.