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monicalorandavis · 4 years

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I saw ‘Knives Out’ a week ago and I’m still reeling

I saw ‘Knives Out’ a week ago and I’m still reeling. This movie is fun and I simply won’t talk to anyone who disagrees! I don’t want to argue about its merits. It’s good.

Your issue is, I presume, an issue with what the film says about the upper class. Go on, sympathize for the horrible, rich family that represents all that is ugly with America. Feel bad for the racist gargoyles who are equal parts human and checking account. These people are snobs. They are snob dumpster fires and if you didn’t have fun roasting them then you and I are on different sides of the war.

What war you ask? I guess I’ll call it the culture war (though that’s not really it). I’m talking about the current (unannounced) civil war between those who think Trump is getting unfairly maligned and us, the ones who are looking back on this shameful era ten years down the line, explaining to our kids what the fuck happened in 2019. This is bad. Art should make fun of us. Our obsession with fame and fortune has gotten us into global laughing stock territory. So let’s allow for art to poke fun as the bullshit of America. Art should be a reflection of our ugly parts. We all must look in the mirror when we try on a bathing suit. This is that. I choose not to place blame on the world for my muffin top. It’s funny. I’m gonna still have fun with this muffin, and this film, even if it doesn’t make me feel amazing. Laughing at yourself exorcises the demons. We still need art to encourage our spiritual progress. Don’t be such a stick in the mud.

So, now that I’ve sorted that out, the film...

It’s good.

Now let’s focus on the acting which is, arguably, always my favorite part of any movie.

Didn’t we all revel in the Yosemite Sam impression Daniel Craig was doing with New Orleans private investigator, Benoit Blanc? Wasn’t Lakeith Stanfield playing the slightly oblivious police detective while his partner fangirled over Christopher Plummer a treat?

It was.

In a society so obsessed with celebrity, it was especially delightful to watch the investigators reckon with people who simply did not believe they had to play by the rules. They don’t have to partake in police questioning. They have people for that!

Only, they do have to partake in police questioning and their lack of experience in dealing with authority figures, like the police, made them particularly horrible witnesses. They quite enjoyed a wonderfully anonymous type of wealth, free from press and the quotidian boredom of bosses, day jobs, rules...you get it. The Thrombey’s do not handle inconvenience very well.

As a result, we delight in their misfortune. This move dripped with Agatha Christie meets Succession realness. Plus subtle notes of Rupaul’s Drag Race camp.

Yes, I admit, Benoit Blanc is no Hercule Poirot. All these mystery purists coming for ‘Knives Out’ best fall back with those comparisons because it’s simply unfair. Christie’s number one Belgian is too good for mere mortals to emulate. And Daniel Craig tried very, very hard to give you an iconic detective character. Was it goofy and weird? Yes. Let’s all agree to move on.

And the moving on is a larger lesson here. Because only when you surrender to this film does it reveal all its gifts to you. Once you stop comparing it to all the other stories you hold so dear does it grow into its own animal. It’s a mystery for the age in which we find ourselves. I will not slander the p.c. police because, hell, I’m sort of one of them. Social justice warrior is not an insult that rustles my feathers. Interestingly, this film joins the SJW’s alongside the Stephen Miller’s of the world. White privilege is white privilege. And, unfortunately, the Thrombey’s, both young and old, liberal and conservative, are victims of their privilege. So blind to the plight of others, they can not help but make themselves the heroes of their own story. And people don’t like the thought that they, like the film’s youngest SJW of the family, Katherine Langford, could be part of the problem. And yet, she is. She so is.

Langford delivers a knockout performance of Taylor Swift-level white feminism that is so 2019 and clueless that I imagine many people even missed the joke.

Along those same lines, Chris Evans is the playboy, black sheep of the family who seems misunderstood and sexy but, spoiler alert, is just conniving and sexy.

Both performances were stellar and so deeply entrenched in modern white identity politics that if you’re not paying attention you might assume that their characters are just your standard rich villains. Nay. These are the “good white people” who are behaving badly. These are the white people who donate to charities and hire undocumented workers like Ana de Armas’ character, Marta. They are people who listen to rap music and love ‘Insecure’ and took an African-American studies class in college. And yet, they demand attention and emotional labor from the (employed) people around them. They distort proximity with closeness and try to lure Marta into their world. But she always knows better. For whatever reason, she can not trust these people, even before Harlan’s death.

Rian Johnson directs with a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it a ‘BDE’ that I would not expect from such a dweeby looking dweeb. Yes, ‘Knives Out’ has a fun enough story. But it really shows the fuck out is with its performances. Holy moly. No small roles, only small actors, as the saying goes. Yet in the case of ‘Knives Out’ you will find neither. Everybody is a god damn star. You should know that I stan Chris Evans but, as it turns out, this film begs you to worship its entire cast. So I did.

‘Knives Out’ is a star-making performance for Ana de Armas. If you hadn’t heard, de Armas garnered a Golden Globe nod and it is well-deserved. Armas’ Marta is a nuanced, funny, sensitive, conspirator in a plot that could’ve isolated the audience but instead put us smack dab in the middle of a moral quagmire.

Only the best actors can pull this off. Lesser actors have us turn against them while they flounder. Marta’s role in the family drama is as an outsider. In spite of their insistence that she is one of them, she keeps her distance, only clinging to Harlan. She fell for Chris Evans’ charms briefly, and I applaud Rian Johnson for avoiding a romance between the two (we didn’t need it) and focusing instead on the emotional betrayal. Marta was a woman with her head screwed on straight. In spite of her, possible, nursing fumbles she was the only kind person Harlan had in his life. She would never risk her loyalty to him by engaging in some foolishness with Chris Evans’ hunky ass.

And I repeat, I don’t care about your thoughts regarding inheritance. It is silly to contest that Marta deserved nothing less than the full sum of the fortune (*spoiler*). She deserved everything. She deserved an existence in this country free from citizenship anxiety. She deserved a partner who loved her. She deserved a friend who didn’t kill himself to save her ass. Least of all, she deserved Chris Evans’ character to be better. But, he was a product of his shitty family. How could he be better?

Three names: Jamie. Lee. Curtis. I need her in at least seven to twelve projects in the coming year. She is a stand out among stand outs. She serves up the quintessential performance of a cold-hearted bitch that is so likeable that I will patiently await the spin-off. I need to know where her Linda Drysdale is now. If anyone in the family was able to land on their feet it was Linda. We all know it.

Linda was the only Thrombey child who had the guts to make it without a handout. Her loser husband, played by the ever-handsomer Don Johnson, was practically useless. Her loser brother, played by the unusually diminutive Michael Shannon, was the same. Her sister in law, played by the illustrious Toni Collette, had her head so far up her own ass that even Gwyneth Paltrow would blush.

Poor Linda. She was surrounded by idiots. I hope she’s doing ok.

And now, we’re at the end. I’ve tried my best to avoid any horrible spoilers. But I’ve also taken a deep dive into SJW’s so I might’ve gotten off track along the way...

In any event, this movie is good. And I can’t wait to see it again.

#knives out #christopher plummer #ana de armas #jamie lee curtis #don johnson #rian johnson #lakeith stanfield #mystery #agatha christie #hercule poirot #daniel craig

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theampreviews · 6 years

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Avengers - Infinity War

To quote the late, great Qui-Gon Jinn - “There’s always a bigger fish”, and so here we are at the Great White of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Infinity War. It’s the third official Avengers team up (4th if you count Civil War, which was more of an Avengers film than a Captain America one), and the one that finally brings us to Thanos and the Infinity Stones - things that have been teased throughout the MCU’s decade of dominance.

Some have pondered if Marvel Fatigue might be kicking in across the globe (a nonsense if you look at the Box Office), whether the annual omnipresence of these movies could be draining the enthusiasm there once was for them? Despite only actively disliking one Marvel film (Civil War), I must admit I always feel myself close to tapping out on the whole MCU after each new instalment; they’re always fun but familiarity will eventually breed contempt. That said, like Godfather Part 3′s Michael Corleone; they always manage to drag me back in...

Infinity War’s allure was greater than both Age Of Ultron and Civil War as, a couple of new cast member introductions each aside, the novelty of seeing the Avengers team up has lessened since 2012. Instead, this promised something no other MCU film had to date: character deaths within the Main Cast (as well as the integration of the Guardians with the Avengers, which was admittedly a huge attraction).

That might seem like an adverse selling point, but the MCU reaching its 18th movie without a single of its Heroes having died for the cause is a sign of Marvel/Disney's greatest weakness - their refusal to let anyone go. How can you invest in the myriad of threats they face if the only question you need ever ask is “how” and never never “if” they’ll survive? Even allowing for the fact that they’d want to keep the key Heroes around for Infinity War, its absurd that we should be 18 films in without having lost a few of the supporting cast; the likes of Natasha (Black Widow), Sam (Falcon), James (War Machine) or Bucky (The Winter Soldier), could all have fallen on the sword to let us know that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have a sell by date.

The unwillingness to cut the (mortal) apron strings also hampers a film that strives desperately to include everyone, of which there are now far too many (with no room for Ant-Man and Hawkeye, both fan favourites and both conspicuous by their absence - possibly held back for Part 2). The Russo Brothers do an admirable job of dividing an oversized cast into more manageable, bite-sized groups, which results in some hits and one giant miss.

Two of the teams we follow are a resounding success. Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man make for a brilliant trio, able to bounce zingers off each other with ease and hitting some emotional beats that are genuine and affecting. The other sees Thor (literally) bumping into the Guardians Of The Galaxy and is worth the price of admission alone. Chris's Hemsworth and Pratt squaring up to each other creates some inspired comedy. These two groups then splinter as Thor, Rocket & Groot go off to find The God Of Thunder a new hammer, whilst the rest of the Guardians join Tony, Doc and Peter to tackle Thanos.

So far, so good. But then we get the B team, and things start to go down hill...

There's now way around it; I don't like Chris Evans’ Captain America. I find his square-jawed, Boy Scout act dreary, and his lackeys, Black Widow and Falcon, even more so. Worst of all is Bucky, someone we've been inexplicably asked to care about whilst offering no tangible reason for doing so. He’s a charisma vacuum. Unpopular an opinion as it is; I feel the same about Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of Black Panther (they should have left Michael B. Jordan’s Warmonger as King). They, along with Vision and Scarlet Witch (convincing no one as the Romantic coupling of these films), create the most boring Super Hero Team possible out of the extensive cast available (War Machine included. Don Cheadle may as well not have bothered checking the call sheet).

Speaking of Scarlet Witch, there’s a greater issue with her than all of the others combined. Performance aside (weak accent, hopelessly po-faced) she is seriously ill-defined. She’s used here more as a maguffin than a character (as she was in Ultron and Civil War) with only the most cursory of explanations as to who or what she is/can do.

It's constantly reiterated that she's the most powerful amongst the Avengers, even capable of destroying Infinity Stones (which begs the question, why not set her against Thanos?), yet all she ever seems to do is “move things”. There's no consistency to her abilities. One minute she's getting the hell beaten out of her in Edinburgh by Thanos's henchmen (having to be saved by Black Widow, a 5'2"/100lbs regular human being who can do flippy-kicks), the next she's hurling immense space ships around Wackanda's CGI playing fields. It might be easier to just shrug it off as “Comic Book nonsense”, but consistency within the boundaries set by films like this is key - you can’t keep moving the goal posts to suit the occasion or my investment in the whole thing begins to erode.

Whilst the rest of the cast are zipping around space engaged in spectacular showdowns, this lot head to Cinema's least Cinematic Location; Wakanda.

Part of the reason Black Panther was such a disappointment for me was how bland Wakanda had been visualised. For the second time in as many months, it plays host to the MCUs Grand Finale. CGI armies flood its dull green plains of grass, looking like a low-rent mobile phone RPG advert you can't skip through on a Free App. It seriously challenges Civil War's concrete airport for the most artless setting to stage your movie's climax. The time dedicated to Cap’s team becomes dead air; waves of CGI fodder thrown at the screen to bide time until Thanos arrives, creating an impotent spectacle .

Thank God then for Thanos. Marvel finally delivering a bona fide threat in one of their Villains is something they’ve struggled with to this point. They even double up with a genuinely sinister henchman, Ebony Maw, whose brief screen time makes a real impression (I’m hoping he survives his ambiguous demise). Everything about Thanos is a resounding success, from Josh Brolin’s intimidating yet near sympathetic performance to the quality of his CGI realisation, but does he make good on the promise to finally purge this franchise of some of its dead weight? Sadly, not quite yet.

Whilst this is still Part 1 of Infinity War (despite them scrapping the Part 1 / Part 2 monikers) I was a little underwhelmed with the volume of carnage offered here (I won't discuss the ending, but suffice to say the cliffhanger was devoid of any plausible suspense, being that we know certain characters have sequels planned & dated). There are a couple of notable deaths, but neither felt sufficiently cathartic. I assume we'll have to wait until next year for that, which cheapens this instalment somewhat.

My blood-lust aside, there is a definite need to thin the herd a little. Having so many Heroes to keep tabs on means we spend less time than we'd want with some, and more than we need with others.

The non-Earthbound characters and their adventures encapsulate what the MCU does best; blending Humour, Heart and Spectacle. Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland play off each other superbly, both comedically and emotionally. Their scenes are highlights throughout the film, bolstered even more so when the Guardians join them, (themselves already a proven success with well established chemistry).

Best of all is Chris Hemsworth, who has turned Thor into the standout of the franchise. He has an ability to parlay the emotive stuff with genuine pathos, whilst simultaneously landing the comedy perfectly, often within the same scene/monologue, switching between the two with impressive dexterity. More than just a pretty face (and huge pecs, great abs and triceps to die for).

Every time the film centres on these characters Infinity War soars, and much of that is to do with the increased level of comedy. If the action is sometimes repetitive and underwhelming (the finale on Wakanda), the Russo's certainly make up for it with far more humour than they showed in Winter Soldier or Civil War (a line from Rocket genuinely made me spit coke). Taking their cue from James Gunn's Guardians... films and Taika Waititi's sublime Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War was surprisingly jovial considering the End Of The Universe threat, something that might have bogged it down with self-serious pretension (my hang-up with Civil War).

I probably won't appreciate this film fully until I've seen its conclusion, one that I hope closes the book on this group of characters and the Infinity Stones for good. As it stands, like the MCU itself, I found it to be exhilarating, exasperating, moving and mundane in (almost) equal measure.

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