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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 January 2022

You can’t have everything you want in life… but that hasn’t stopped Stan Carlisle (Cooper) from trying.  When the film opens, he’s accepting a job as a carny for a travelling carnival show and within two years, he’s become a wealthy, successful clairvoyant who is dazzling well-to-do audiences in New York City.  He also has a devoted wife (Mara) who, despite her own unhappiness at times, continues to offer love and support.

Stan is a “glass half empty” kind of guy.  Many would be comfortable with the career he’s built but, just like a thief who is chasing one big “last score”, he sees a risky opportunity to increase his wealth further and decides to take it.  He teams up with a psychologist (Blanchett) and, for a substantial fee, they try to fool a renowned judge into thinking he can communicate with their dead son.  Given the judge’s reputation in the community, it’s a job that could backfire in a big way if Stan’s fraudulent methods were to be exposed.

Nightmare Alley is based on a 1946 novel from American author William Lindsay Gresham.  It was made into a movie one year later by director Edmund Goulding but that film was a critical and financial failure.  Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) was introduced to the book in the 1990s by friend/colleague Ron Perlman and after a long wait, he teamed up with his soon-to-be wife, Kim Morgan, to create a fresh adaptation for filmgoers who enjoy a good drama-thriller.

The film is somewhat of a departure from del Toro.  Having built a reputation making strange fantasy movies with monsters, ghosts and other strange creatures, Nightmare Alley sticks to the realms of reality.  In fact, while some of the gullible characters in the movie are led to believe in the existence of something supernatural, we know from the outset that Stan is a confidence trickster.  Some of the best scenes in the movie are where he learns his trade from an experienced, booze-loving veteran (Strathairn) and his kind-hearted wife (Collette).

A few parts to the story feel contrived (to forcibly push the narrative in a certain direction) but for the most part, this is a likeable effort where you’re never quite sure what’s around the next corner.  It’ll keep you interested.  It’s bolstered by a terrific cast headlined by Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine).  The exchanges between the pair, with each trying to sneakily get the upper hand over the other, are fun to watch.  Blanchett recently earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her worthy performance.  She’s having a great year on the back of her scene-stealing endeavours in Don’t Look Up.

Nightmare Alley is an old-school tale told with precision.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 January 2022

Writer-director Sean Baker has a knack for finding/creating interesting characters we won’t often see on screen.  Tangerine (2015) was about a transgender sex worker looking for love and friendship, and The Florida Project (2017) was the story of a poverty-stricken mother and daughter living in a rundown hotel next to Disney World in Florida.

Baker was tapping into another curious subject, drug-user activism, but that bigger project was canned in early 2020 when COVID-19 took hold.  Not content to sit at home in Los Angeles and “ride out” the pandemic, Baker was able to dust off an old idea and make a smaller-scale movie in Texas.  The budget was a measly $1 million USD and so it was shot with largely non-professional actors, a tiny crew, and no rehearsal time.  It’s title?  Red Rocket.

The film’s chatty, extroverted protagonist, Mike Saber (Rex), has gone from rags to riches to rags.  He grew up in a poor community on the outskirts of Houston, went to Hollywood and found fame as a porn star, and pissed all his money away.  We now pick up his story in 2016 where he’s returned to his childhood home for the first time in 17 years.  With no cash, no home and no job, he’s there solely out of desperation.

I think we all know someone like Mike.  I’m not talking about being acquainted with a successful porn star… but rather more generally about a person who has perfected the art of one-way friendships.  When they need you, they’ll reach out, be nice, and worm their way into your heart.  When you need them, they cannot be found.

Mike interacts with several supporting players in Red Rocket and it’s through these exchanges that we form a more complete view of who is really is.  When telling industry tales to his porn-loving neighbour (Darbone), Mike’s narcissistic tendencies are on fully display.  He deludedly sees himself as a “celebrity” and upon finally meeting someone who can feed that view, latches on and uses it for his own gain.

It’s different when Mike is around his estranged wife, Lexi (Elrod), because he doesn’t have the upper hand.  She takes convincing but lets him stay temporarily in her home provided rent be paid.  Like a skilled telemarketer, Mike is forever pleading his sob-story case but, as Lexi has known him for so long, she sees through most of his bullshit.  That’s not to say she doesn’t have moments of weakness which he is able to exploit.

The subplot likely to generate the most discussion is one where the 30-something-year-old Mike befriends Strawberry (Son), an 18-year-old girl from a local donut shop.  The pair form a close romantic connection before Mike raises the idea of taking her to Los Angeles and helping kick start her career in the porn industry.  Does he finally care for once?  Is he genuinely in love and doing this so she can escape her current dead-end life?  Or is just Mike being Mike and looking to use her as a stepping stone to reinvigorate his own sagging career?

It’s funny to think such a great movie wouldn’t have been made if not for the pandemic.  Red Rocket has earned much critical acclaim since its Cannes Film Festival premiere and star Simon Rex was recently awarded the best actor prize by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.  It’s hard to fault Rex’s performance and his convincing portrayal of an individual who is both intriguing and irritating.

Not pushing any profound messages or viewpoints, Red Rocket is an absorbing character study that asks us to look at Mike and then reflect on our own existence.  I like the approach.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 January 2022

Given their role as Head of State, it’s amazing the British Royal Family have retained such privacy when it comes to family matters and daily life.  Their many palaces, castles and other residences are tended to by servants who must sign confidentiality agreements before being employed.  If exclusive photos or other juicy “behind the scenes” information were to get out, they haven’t been afraid to sue to the press, paparazzi and former housekeepers.  There are even laws in place which protect the Queen from having to disclose her personal shareholdings and investments.

The continual secrecy only seems to add to the public’s thirst for information.  It is why tabloids spend so many pages talking about trashy Royal scandals and it’s also the reason why the Netflix series The Crown has been so popular.  People want to see behind the curtain.  They want to know what the Queen gets up to behind the well-guarded gates of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.  To many around the world, the Royal Family remain an enigma.

The life of Princess Diana has been well-documented and rather than go with a wide, expansive drama, British screenwriter Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) and Chilean director Pablo Larrain (Jackie) have gone with a very narrow scope.  Spencer chronicles just three days in the life of Diana – Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day in 1991.  The time was spent at Sandringham House, the traditional venue used by the Royal Family each year to celebrate the holidays.  This would be the last time Diana and Charles attended prior to their separation.

Aside from a small group of people who ain’t talking, no one can know with certainly what was said and by whom.  For that reason, Spencer promotes itself as a “fable”.  It’s an imagined, fantasised look at the event seen from Princess Diana’s perspective.  Don’t look at this as an accurate historical record but rather, view it through the more general lens of a troubled, frustrated mother having a shitty Christmas with her stuck-up in-laws.  Many will relate.

I was happy to buy what this film was selling.  We see Diana giving a huge “middle finger” to tradition and the Royal Family.  We see Diana forging close friendships with servants who then provide counsel and advice.  We see Diana dealing with mental health issues through a series of unusual actions and hallucinations.  We see Diana as a loving mum who wants what’s best for her two kids and doesn’t want them part of the Royal Family’s suffocating world.  She’s an intriguing character.

Larrain uses a “sit back and observe” approach in terms of direction.  Dialogue is used only when necessary and the camera follows Diana like a Peeping Tom.  Kristen Stewart (Twilight) does a skilful job mimicking the appearance and slightly heightened mannerisms of Diana but, more importantly, she creates a character worth caring about.  Sean Harris is the film’s other standout performer as the Royal Head Chef.  As if to provide short breaks from the main show, Larrain offers a fleeting look at what dishes are being served up in the well-stocked kitchen.

Covering a curious mix of genres, Spencer adds up to something weird, fun and interesting.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 January 2022

The change to the title is relatively minor.  Just a space and an apostrophe were required to go from Kingsman, used for the 2014 original and 2017 sequel, to The King’s Man, the name of this 2021 prequel.  The changes to the cast, tone and quality are much more significant.  I applaud the producers for taking a risk (most cash-grabbing follow-ups are as safe as Fort Knox) but the dull, weighty script doesn’t build into something meaningful.

In the same vein as Captain America: The First Avenger and Wonder Woman, writers Matthew Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek have created fictional heroes and placed them in a real war.  It’s a lengthy wait though if you’re hoping for action.  Much of this is a tired, cliché-laden family drama centred on a wealthy British duke, Orlando (Fiennes), and his naïve son, Conrad (Dickinson).

We’re shown a flashback from a decade earlier where Conrad’s mother is killed during the Boer War in South Africa while nobly working for the Red Cross.  In her final words, she asks Orlando to keep their son safe and “never let him see war again.”  Surprise, surprise, Conrad grows up and wants to enlist in the British army to fight the Germans in World War I.  Who didn’t see that coming?

Orlando, uncannily predicting it will be “not like any war we’ve ever seen”, tries to sabotage his son’s plans but alas, off to battle he goes.  We even get the obligatory scene where Conrad witnesses the horrors of the Western Front and acknowledges that his father was right all along.  It’s too rushed and cheesy to create any genuine emotional response.  Luckily, Conrad doesn’t have a girlfriend back home or else they’d have thrown in a scene of him looking at her photo before charging out of the trenches.

I should also mention that Orlando, who has taken a vow of pacificism since his wife’s death, now runs a secret “club” out of his basement with the help of his servants (hope they get a higher duties allowance).  They don’t get together to play cards or listen to the radio.  Rather, they are engaged in espionage and foreign interference because “some things are too important to be left to politicians”.  It’s curious that Orlando is so protective of his son’s safety and yet is happy to use him as part of the club’s dangerous missions in Bosnia and Russia.

The previous two Kingsman films were light-hearted romps which tried to offer something less serious than James Bond, Ethan Hunt and Jason Bourne.  That was part of their charm and they weren’t afraid to mock the genre.  The closest we get here is an amusing sequence where the heroes infiltrate a party hosted by Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin (played by Rhys Ifans in the film’s best performance).

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is needlessly heavy.  Conrad has the personality of a wet sponge, Orlando wears everyone out with his living-in-the-past mentality, and the supporting club-members have very little to do (except arrive at timely moments to save the day and then slip back into the shadows).  A grand action finale atop a well-guarded mountain does nothing to get the adrenalin pumping or make you think anyone is in danger.

Keep your expectations low with this one.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 January 2022

My first reaction after King Richard was one of surprise.  It wasn’t surprise about the film’s quality but rather, surprise that Venus and Serena Williams would sign-off, in their role as executive producers, on a movie which provides a not-always-glamorous look at their father.  There’s a lot which is left out (his previous marriage for example) but given professional sport is becoming increasing sanitised (negative press is tightly controlled to protect commercial revenues), it’s nice to see behind the curtain and be reminded what goes on behind the scenes.

You can look at this movie through several different lenses.  For example, you could come away and think Richard Williams (Smith) was an inspired genius.  He described himself as being in the “champion raising business” and, having written a 78-page plan to turn his kids into superstars, would devote countless hours each day to their training.

There was no shortage of motivation but money was a barrier.  Richard would fish old tennis balls out of bins, use run-down public tennis courts, and personally coach them himself based on his learnings from magazines and video tapes.  They couldn’t afford country club memberships or professional coaches.  If you love a great “rags to riches” tale, this is one to soak up and enjoy.

The real Venus and Serena Williams speak highly of their father (he sacrificed so much for them) but they’ve publicly acknowledged the ecosystem of their family wasn’t perfect.  The controlling, strong-willed Richard didn’t appreciate his views being challenged.  Rightly or wrongly, he’d argue with coaches, officials, potential sponsors, his kids and his wife, Brandy (Ellis).  When it came to “being humble”, he didn’t always practice what he preached.

Richard is the film’s focus but Brandy is the most intriguing character.  She’s the mediator of the family – sometimes required to bite her tongue while sometimes voicing her valid concerns.  An argument between Richard and Brandy (it takes place in a kitchen) is perhaps the film’s best scene and highlights why both Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis are on track to earn Academy Award nominations in a few weeks.

It leans a little too much in one direction but King Richard also asks audiences to think about the relationship between parents and young kids when it comes to sport.  Some just want their kids to have fun and make friends whilst other push hard with hopes of making them high-paying professional athletes.  This tale has a happy ending but for every Venus and Serena Williams, there’s the story of a child pushed too hard who “burns out” and loses their love for both the sport and their family.  It’s a fine line.

The film is unnecessarily melodramatic in places.  A moment where a gun-wielding Richard is “saved” by a farcically convenient drive-by shooting is the best example.  Another scene where he prophetically tells a forlorn Serena that she’ll be “the greatest of all time” also feels over-the-top.  For the most part though, this a tight script from first-time writer Zach Baylin which features realistic dialogue and memorable one-on-one conversations between the characters.  The banter between Richard and a continually frustrated coach (humorously played by Jon Bernthal) provides a valuable injection of comedy.

I also like the narrow attention in terms of timeline.  We don’t go beyond Venus’s professional debut as a 14-year-old.  The Williams sisters won a combined 30 grand slam singles titles and it’s easy to find highlights and interviews related to those wins by looking on YouTube.  There’s no point recreating that in cinematic form.  Instead, King Richard opens our eyes to their upbringing (which we don’t know as much about) and the barriers which needed to be overcome.  Most should enjoy this.