Movie Review

Heather’s Top Ten Movies of 2022

/ Heather Strong Moore / Leave a comment

I’ve appreciated how many movie critics this year are pointing out that art is subjective when sharing their top tens. My list may or may not be all the “best” movies of the year, but they are all movies that I thought were well made, well written, and poignant. Something Hollywood studios ALWAYS struggle to understand is that there’s no replacement for a good script and story that’s sincere. Those are my main criteria, and all of these picks check those boxes.

10. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

I’ve lost an older brother, which I think is part of what made Wakanda Forever so resonant. The fact that Ryan Coogler had to completely rewrite the movie, and Letitia Wright had to carry the film in a totally different way, and the rest of the cast had to step up in the midst of their own grief just made this an extra feat of storytelling. This was a powerful exploration of the ways different people process grief differently, the ways losses can compound, and the ways we are required to expand in order to fill gaps left by loved ones. The Marvel-required elements might have been a little clunky, but everything that was core to the story of Wakanda and Talokan worked beautifully. If this is your first time realizing that Wright can act, check out her terrific performance in Mangrove on Amazon Prime. Coming to Disney+ January 20th

9. Hidden Letters

Maybe it’s recency bias but when I watched this documentary a few days ago I was completely blown away. It’s an astounding story about female rebellion and undercover subversion. For centuries in China when women were continuously oppressed and silenced and prevented from receiving education, women created their own secret language called Nushu. They wrote letters, poems and songs to connect with one another in the only ways they could. This is a story about Chinese women and it’s also a universal story about oppression and creative resistance. I’m just saying that if we can learn to speak Elvish and Klingon, Nushu is overdue for its place in the sun. Currently available on demand.

8. Cha Cha Real Smooth

In an age where toxic masculinity is proliferating online at alarming rates, I appreciate any content that can normalize young men living with empathy and being emotionally present with the people around them. And Cooper Raiff is a young filmmaker who is charting an encouraging way forward for men in cinema. This is a warm-hearted coming of age story about the time of life when you’ve graduated from college but you still have no idea what you’re doing. It’s about confusion, aimlessness, trying to figure out what you’re good at, getting too attached, working out shifting family dynamics, and getting a real job. With a great supporting performance from Dakota Johnson, you should definitely slide to the…Apple+ app and give it a watch.

7. Descendant

As much as we’ve been in a golden age of documentaries, I’ve still seen some snoozers this year. Which makes Descendant a real stand-out. I had heard some initial news stories about the search for the Clotilda, the last vessel to carry enslaved people to America, but even with a little bit of background knowledge my jaw was on the floor for most of this doc. The story is absolutely bonkers in its hubris and deceit, and still all too relevant. This is a must watch for all Americans as we seek to understand ourselves through our history. Available on Netflix.

6. Turning Red

I am normally such a curmudgeon about animated films of any kind (I am after all not a child) but Turning Red was charming and hilarious. I too was a tween obsessed with boy bands (mine was Hanson) who was overwhelmed and confused by adolescence. Red empathetically understands the experience of girls, the process of both differentiating from and identifying with our mothers, the importance of female friendships, and the stranglehold pop music can have on youth culture. Just give Nobody Like U one listen and it will be never not be on your mind. Available on Disney+

5. Prey

I’ve never seen a Predator movie, but after a quick summary of the Predator’s specs from Ivan, I was ready to jump in. And this movie absolutely slaps. It was such a creative framework for the traditional elements of the franchise applied in a fresh way to a totally different environment and protagonist. The Predator only attacks that which it sees as a threat, which makes a young Native girl a deadly opponent to underestimate. This movie had terrific action sequences as well as a great storyline and character development, a rare combination.  If you’re on the hunt for a well-constructed action movie that’s thought-provoking and exhilarating, set your sites on Prey. Available on Hulu

4. She Said

In lesser hands this journalist true crime retelling could have centered abuse and an abuser. But in the capable hands of director Maria Schrader,  She Said centers the lives and determination of the survivors and those who fought to tell their stories. It is a remarkable achievement to leave a film about one of Hollywood’s most predatory abusers and have an overwhelming feeling of power and hope. They pull no punches about the reality of the systemic victimization, and yet the strength and courage of countless women is the heart of this story. I walked out of the theater feeling like women can do anything, and I hope you’ll give yourself the chance to experience this inspiring story. Currently available on demand.

3. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

Listen, I’m always skeptical of hype-beast movies that everyone says changed their lives and did something cinema has never done before and you’ve never seen anything like it, blah blah blah. So I was skeptical of Everything to say the least. But the creativity, insight and emotion could not be denied. Beyond the obvious artistry required for building a multiverse, what really made this movie stand apart was the timely exploration of the pull towards nihilism so pervasive in young people today. With unprecedented amounts of information and experiences available at all times comes a sense of overwhelming meaninglessness and despondency. And Everything considers what it can look like for older generations to join and journey with our youth in their search for meaning and significance, and in so doing to answer those questions for ourselves as well. Plus it’s a heart wrenchingly accurate depiction of parent/child relationships and humanity’s cosmic search for love and affirmation from family. This movie will not be for everyone, the absurdist sexual content may be a dealbreaker for some. But if you can hang in there, Everything is a wild ride through existentialism and the search for meaning. Currently available on demand.

2. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

As mentioned previously, animated films activate my inner curmudgeon. But Marcel took my heart by storm. Somehow this movie is both melancholic and hopeful, bringing to life what it means to experience profound loss while still remaining emotionally present to the world around you. Filled with delicate observations, wistful exploration and sly humor, Marcel had me laughing and crying. After multiple years as a society of experiencing collective loss and disappointment, Marcel invites us to keep our hearts open and to never stop pursuing meaningful connection. Currently available on demand.

1. Aftersun

For the first 30 minutes I wasn’t sure where this movie was going, it’s a subtle and slow burn. But by the time the credits rolled I was in tears. This is fundamentally a story about growing up with an unstable parent and in adulthood looking back and piecing together your memories and retrospective meaning-making. With terrific lead performances and a structure that relives the story through the eyes of an 11 year old, this was the most singular and poignant film of the year for me. It has stuck with me and I continue to think about it months later. A powerful debut from first time filmmaker Charlotte Wells, it was also produced by Barry Jenkins and makes an interesting companion piece to his Moonlight. Currently available on demand.

Honorable mentions: These all made a strong impression on me and are worth your time!

Breaking – Unfortunately this movie didn’t get any attention beyond its premiere at Sundance, but it features a compelling true story and a mesmerizing performance from John Boyega. It draws crucial attention to the struggles of military veterans and the damaging disarray endemic to the VA. Highly recommend. Currently available on demand.

The Swimmers – The only reason this didn’t make my top ten is that it felt overlong at times and would have benefited from a tighter run time. But this true story of young female Syrian refugees who were also professional swimmers was compelling and important. It very much immerses you in the experience of a refugee in this time period and is an engaging and important watch. Available on Netflix.

Nope – Jordan Peele always comes through with something creative and thought-provoking. Maybe a little too obtuse but overall I’m always excited about writers/directors taking big swings and creating brand new material. Currently streaming on Peacock.

Bodies, Bodies, Bodies – A Gen Z horror/suspense movie that doesn’t feel mocking but is able to be fun, unpredictable and sincere. Currently available on demand.

Glass Onion – I liked this one significantly better than Knives Out. Taut, witty, insightful. A fantastic screenplay backed up by an unstoppable ensemble cast. Available on Netflix.

Tar – Objectively one of the best movies of the year with top two best performances of the year. I didn’t personally resonate with it as much as others which is why it’s not higher for me, but it’s a great film. Currently available on demand.

Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story – I am the target audience for this movie. A parody biopic about biopics about Weird Al, it is hilariously meta and self-aware. There were scenes in the first act that made me laugh out loud, and Daniel Radcliffe fully commits from start to finish. The third act is messy and goes off the rails, but overall turning the story of a notoriously kind and well-behaved polka satirist into a stereotypical rock and roll biopic deserves a watch. Available for free on Roku.

RRR – This movie is absolutely bonkers and implausible in all the best ways. A 3 hour epic about the fictional meeting and friendship between two real life Indian revolutionaries is historical fan fiction at its best. Be ready to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Available on Netflix.

Ivan’s Top Ten Movies of 2022

/ Ivan Strong Moore / Leave a comment

Why do we try to make these lists? There are so many options and so many different kinds of movies for different seasons and moods. You may want the quiet contemplation of a Marcel the Shell with Shoes On or After Yang. It might be the right night to come of age with Turning Red. Right now Netflix can offer you several choices that could help you expand your tastes like the new Tollywood classic RRR, the incredible true story of The Swimmers, or the gripping American documentary Descendant. Over on Prime Video, you could be inspired by Thirteen Lives or challenged by Emergency. Even Apple+ has something to offer like festival favorite Cha Cha Real Smooth. 

The options are endless. So in a year filled with a lot of fun movies, let those serve as some honorable mentions and what follows to be my top ten favorite films of 2022 and where to find them!

10. Bodies Bodies Bodies

There were a lot of really fun and interesting horror movies this year. While entries like the newest Scream and Barbarian threatened to make my list, I just couldn’t escape the truly hilarious Bodies Bodies Bodies. “B” cubed follows a group of young adults stranded in a mansion during a hurricane and, when members of the party start dying off, an IRL version of the spooky group game begins. Already, Bodies is being celebrated as a Gen Z classic. Like any young generation, Z has received a lot of flack whether it is fair or not and I’m sure we’re only getting started with exaggerated depictions of it’s population. So did Halina Reijn totally nail this current generation? I don’t know, but she did craft a fun, interesting slasher that was absolutely giving thrills. No cap. 

Bodies Bodies Bodies is rated R for violence, bloody images, drug use, sexual references and pervasive language and is currently available on demand. 

9. She Said

The violence had been there. The survivors had been there. What was different this time, then? How did the stories that ignited the #MeToo movement finally break through? Belief and hard work. Jodi Kantor, one of the reporters depicted in the film, said on the tour for the book that the film is based, that she wanted to show that “facts really can have social impact when they are carefully gathered.” That careful gathering is the story of She Said and is more proof that there must be space for women to tell their own stories. Maria Schrader and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s adaptation of Kantor and Twohey’s book is heartbreaking, real, and suspenseful. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are great as Twohey and Kantor, but the film also boasts emotional, show-stopping performances from Ashley Judd playing herself and Jennifer Ehle and Samantha Morton as key sources to the story. We all know by now that the story needed to be told, but it is good, with this film, to also know what was needed to that it could be. 

She Said is rated R for language and descriptions of sexual assault and is currently available on demand.

8. Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers

Disney has been headed in some concerning directions in the last decade. The studio that used to be one of the centers of creativity in the world have been moving towards captalizing on existing properties and squeezing every last drop of good will out of long-time fans. I can’t imagine, then, that anyone was really excited for a live-action version of their long-dormant gumshoes Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers. Cut to Andy Samberg as Dale sitting at a convention booth across from Ugly Sonic the Hedgehog and we are in business. Chip N’ Dale just might be the funniest movie of the year. It was just the right amounts of absurd and meta and, more than Doctor Strange, also had me convinced Disney is ready to bring Reed Richards to the big screen for real. I’m happy to eat crow on this one, but not whale…I promise. I’d never do that.

Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers is rated PG for mild action and rude/suggestive humor and is currently streaming on Disney+.

7. Prey

The Predator was dead. He was finally defeated, not by a mud-covered Arnold Schwarzenegger in the jungle or Danny Glover in the midst of a dystopian 1997 Los Angeles but, by a very strange box office and critical flop. While I didn’t think Shane Black’s The Predator was as bad as many, it was obvious the world needed a break from the galaxy’s greatest hunter. Or so we thought! Enter director Dan Trachtenberg and his unique vision of bringing the Predator back in time to a barely settled America to tussle with the Comanche Nation. There was a sincerity and quality to Prey that has surprised experts who had, just a few years earlier, called for the Predator to be retired. Trachtenberg breathed life into this franchise just as he had with Cloverfield and created the next great action heroine in Amber Midthunder’s Naru. Now we wait to see where and when the Predator might pop up next. The hunt is definitely back on!

Prey is rated R for strong bloody violence and is currently streaming on Hulu. 

6. Everything Everywhere All at Once

The promise of a glimpse of a multiverse has kept a very troubled The Flash movie on the release schedule and propelled the Doctor Strange sequel to $1 billion dollar gross. Little did these studios and audiences know that the best depiction of alternate universes was going to come from the writing/directing team known as The Daniels, indie film juggernaut A24, and a once-in-a-career role for the legend Michelle Yeoh. The only thing that kept this potential Best Picture winner lower on my list are times when I felt the film was working against itself, but when it is at its best, EEAAO has some of the best storytelling of the year. Of course, after so many things in our world have felt like they’ve gone wrong or gotten worse in the last few years, we’d like to imagine a world where at least one or two things could be different. The Daniels delivered that concept in such a touching, weird, and thoughtful way while giving their cast a chance to shine like never before. It was everything. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once is rated R for some violence, sexual material, and language and is currently available on demand.

5. Nope

When the trailers dropped for Jordan Peele’s newest sci-fi horror film, Nope, it featured lots of scary teases of aliens and abductions. There was a promise that we would see and be terrifed of extraterrestrials. That is what I was expecting, Peele’s take on aliens. By far the scariest moments in Nope, however, have absolutely nothing to do with the horses and aliens we saw in the trailers. The Get Out and Us director has delivered again. He expertly unsettles and entertains while exposing elements of our society worth exploring. In Nope, that is our obsession with spectacle and the exploitation that often follows such a pre-occupation. If you’d like more of an explainer, all I would say is…nope. This is something you should experience and unpack for yourself!

Nope is rated R for language throughout and some violence/bloody images and is currently streaming on Peacock.

4. Tár

Tár has a not so secret weapon. This movie is an over two and half hour, slow burn character piece exploring power dynamics in the business of classical music conducting. Sounds thrilling, right? Well it is if you have Cate Blanchett in your pocket! In Tár, Blanchett turns in perhaps the single best acting performance of the year, a performance so good many believed her fincitional maestra Lydia Tár to be a real person. She’s not, but Blanchett is very much the real deal. She crafts a character you are immediately entranced by, you get why the music world bows to her baton, and then bit by bit you get why those in her sphere would despise her. The power Tár exercises in the early acts of the film becomes more and more of an illusion as the story marches on. Power is a topic that manages to be both timely and timeless, and Blanchett’s performance does the same.

Tár is rated R for some language and brief nudity and is currently available on demand.

3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Who doesn’t love a “Whodunnit”? In a world filled with true crime and living room slueths, one filmmaker has breathed incredible new life into the genre. Dubbed by some disgruntled Star Wars fans as “Ruin” Johnson, the only thing writer/director Rian Johnson has managed to ruin is my enjoyment of most other mysteries of the last few years. Try as he may, Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot could never compete with Chris Evans in a cable knit. Glass Onion, is, of course, the sequel to Johnson’s surprise hit Knives Out and continues the legacy of Daniel Craig’s southern detective Benoit Blanc. This time around Johnson takes on the trendy world of marketplace disruptors and influencers. Glass Onion is clever, suspenseful, and filled with well-placed cameos that are deployed in a way that adds to the film rather than distracts. Johnson has created quite the playground for Blanc to peel back the layers of this mystery and, much like it’s bloomin’ counterparts, had me wanting to go back for more and more. 

Glass Onion is rated PG-13 for strong language, some violence, sexual material and drug content and is currently streaming on Netflix.

2. The Batman

Before this year, I would have said we really do not need another Batman. DC Studios have saturated the market with Gothams, Titans, bat people, birds of prey, and Jokers. However, many people may have said the same thing about the Planet of the Apes films. Now I am convinced that Matt Reeves’s full-time job should be following Tim Burton through franchises and fixing them. Yes, we’ve had a lot of Batmen and this movie is probably too long, but Reeves’s grungy, young detective bats, Zodiac killer Riddler, and hammy Penguin had me hooked for the entire bat-ride. I really hope as DC restructures under James Gunn, the studio continues to let Reeves do whatever he wants in this new Bat-iverse. His take on Condiment King could change the hierarchy of power in the DC cinematic universe. 

The Batman is rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material and is currently streaming on HBO Max.

1. Aftersun

There were so many massive movies this year. From big ensemble casts to bloated runtimes to climbing budgets, we even spent time this year reflecting on the massive talent of the larger-than-life, Nicholas Cage. Several entries this year left me saying, “Wow, that movie was a lot.” This is probably why my favorite movie of the year is one of the smallest. Charlotte Wells’s debut feature is a focused film that digs deep into her relationship with her father and includes two of my favorite performances of the year from young scene-stealer Frankie Corio and up-and-coming Irish shy boy Paul Mescal. Wells invites the audience into a vulnerable moment in her life that we all go through when our guardians, seemingly overnight, transition from myth into reality and our personal identity begins to form. Wells’s authenticity and openness pay off as Aftersun packs more of a wallop than many others did with three hours and $100 million.

Aftersun is rated R for some language and brief sexual material and is currently available on demand.

REVIEW: Don’t Make Me Go

/ Ivan Strong Moore / Leave a comment

John Cho is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood. In a career that has spanned the likes of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Star Trek (2009), he has proven he’s got the chops to fit in just about any project. This, of course, was highlighted in the 2016 viral social media hashtag campaign #StarringJohnCho which advocated for more Asian-American representation in films and media. Comedies, legendary franchises, big-budget Manga adaptations, contained thrillers, you name it Cho can do it. We shouldn’t be surprised that he shines in his next project, the deeply emotional family dramedy Don’t Make Me Go, a story that is absolutely made for our time.

JOHN CHO stars in DON’T MAKE ME GO Photo: GEOFFREY SHORT © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

No, Don’t Make Me Go, isn’t about the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does explore the existential territory of life and mortality that has been on the forefront of our minds as we continue into this global crisis. How much control do we have in our lives? Would you be prepared if catastrophe struck your family right now? Have you been living up to your passions, desires, and callings? This makes Don’t Make Me Go a timely story, but the decision not to include COVID makes it a timeless one.

Cho plays Max, a single father who, early in the film, receives a fatal health diagnosis. To ensure he has the chance to make a few more lasting memories with his daughter and begin to get his affairs in order, the two begin a journey for Max’s daughter, Wally, to meet her mother. This is a great time to sing the praises of newcomer Mia Isaac who plays Wally and steals most of the movie from the veteran Cho.

MIA ISAAC stars in DON’T MAKE ME GO Photo: GEOFFREY SHORT © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

Here the classic movie trope of the road trip is used to perfection to explore the film’s larger questions about life. Max and Wally have very different goals for the trip and often exchange control of the reigns. There are lots of hiccups, twists, and turns as they go. These are characters, like all of us in the time of the Great Resignation, wondering where they are going, who’s driving, and will they ever really get there? However, as the story plays out, you just know that this moment in Max and Wally’s lives will be a turning point.

If you have reached such a turning point in your own life, as many of us have during the pandemic, you know that they usually only follow seasons of great trial and frustration. That is true of this story. Not much goes as planned on this road trip. Really, it’s the next installment in a lineage including A Goofy Movie and Little Miss Sunshine. Ultimately, Don’t Make Me Go is about what we do when things just don’t work out. How do we respond when we catch a terrible draw. Will we keep living and pursuing our passions or curl up like a potato bug and just survive?

MIA ISAAC and JOHN CHO on the set of DON’T MAKE ME GO Photo: TAMAR MÜNCH © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

Sometimes there actually is a logic to loss. In a fallen world, a world that has fallen from God’s original creation, a world that was supposed to be free of death, decay, and shame but is now shaken by them, loss is inevitable. It is interesting, then, that this story doesn’t spend the bulk of its runtime wondering why death is coming, but rather how will this family respond to the reality of loss. It is easy to spend our lives waiting for the other shoe to drop, but that time and energy could be spent with the people you love doing the things that give you life.

Don’t Make Me Go is just as interested in living as it is in dying. It might not be the most comforting movie. Some of the scenes, like those involving an accidental trip to a nude beach, are designed specifically to find the comedy in being uncomfortable. But there can be comfort in accepting what you cannot change, recognizing the fallen state of the world, finding gratitude in the blessings of God, and living somewhat in spite of loss. It can be the hardest thing in the world to keep going, but, with the right people and the right inspiration, it is possible.

Don’t Make Me Go is Rated R and will be available on Amazon Prime on July 15th.

Everything You Should Know About Director Chloe Zhao Before Watching Eternals

/ Heather Strong Moore / Leave a comment

Early reviews of Marvel’s next release, Eternals, are starting to be posted and so far they are mixed (due at least in part to “review bombing“). Most reviewers are loving it, some are reporting feeling bored or uninvested in the film. I have not seen it yet, but I have been a fan of its director for the last few years. I would wager that when people aren’t resonating with this entry in her catalogue of work it may be because they had no idea what to expect from her style of storytelling. Zhao is hardly a blockbuster type and based on her previous work it is likely that Eternals will have a significantly different vibe from other Marvel movies. So in order to help Marvel fans get the most out of the film, here are some things you should know about Zhao before seeing Eternals.

Who is Chloe Zhao?

Zhao is a Chinese female writer/director/producer. She spent her early years in Beijing and then from high school onwards has lived in the US. She is a person who has experienced multiple cultures and perspectives and has a wide range of personal experiences. She directed 3 feature films prior to coming onboard with Marvel, and her most recent film, Nomadland, won Best Picture and made her the first woman of color to win Best Director. She had already signed on to direct Eternals well before these accolades, but they have been an added boost to her artist profile and directing credibility. This also makes her Marvel’s first Oscar winning director in this category (Waititi won a screenwriting Oscar for JoJo Rabbit after Thor: Ragnarok, and Coogler has a producing nomination for Best Picture for Judas and the Black Messiah post-Black Panther, but Zhao is the only director and Best Picture winner)

She loves naturalist performances

Zhao has often worked with untrained actors. Her 2017 film The Rider featured a cast of completely amateur actors and tells the semi-autobiographical story of its lead, Brady Jandreau, a young Native rodeo rider who suffers a traumatic brain injury after being thrown from a horse and must contend with who he is outside of riding. The supporting cast are Jandreau’s real life family and friends. Similarly, there are only a few trained actors in Nomadland and the majority of the cast are actual nomads and van-dwellers. Frances MacDormand won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance, an entirely unique form of acting that required her primarily to have largely unscripted conversations with the untrained cast members while herself remaining in character. The result is warm and authentic performances that at times reveal a lack of polish but also highlight the humanity of the films’ subjects.

(Zhao and MacDormand on set)

While Eternals is much more star-driven, it is her reputation for artistry and representation that enticed multiple cast members of Eternals to sign on to the project. Stars like Salma Hayek who might have been overlooked in the past, and Jolie who did not previously share an artistic vision with Marvel, accepted their roles because they wanted to work with Zhao. We are accustomed to seeing young actors with a specific kind of attractiveness giving conventional performances helming Marvel stories. It could be a refreshing change of pace to see a much wider representation in this cast, artists that likely would not otherwise appear in this genre.

She raises questions about identity, memory and belonging

I highly recommend that you seek out Nomadland, it’s streaming on Hulu. If you do, you should know it’s a slow burn. Because Zhao creates such a naturalistic setting, at times it can feel like nothing in particular is happening. But that is also how real life feels. Many seemingly ordinary moments that build into an extraordinary moment of insight or understanding. The final scene of Nomadland crystalizes the entire film, pulling you into a deeper awareness of what it means to belong and how memory is kept. As mentioned above, The Rider also explores themes of identity and purpose, especially in response to loss. Her films feel very existential, rooting you in the experience of a unique individual which ultimately reveals to the viewer a universal theme that we all wrestle with. Getting to the payoff may require some patience and stillness, but it will be a worthwhile opportunity for introspection.

Her visual style is stunning

The pace of Zhao’s films may feel slow at times, but you always have something beautiful to look at! Part of her approach to rooting people in their stories is to highlight their surroundings and to draw out the beauty in what they are experiencing. All her films are visually stunning with sweeping landscapes and tranquil transitions. She has consistently worked with the same cinematographer, Joshua James Richards (although he did not work on Eternals). They have a rich artistic partnership that creates layers of storytelling both in the dialogue and direction as well as the visual context of the characters. It is not just what the characters do but where they are and what they see that shapes our understanding of them.

What we might expect from Eternals

While I obviously can’t say for sure, I would anticipate that Eternals will have a much more contemplative and existential vibe than most Marvel movies. Be ready for a slower pace and moments of naturalistic stillness in addition to the usual action sequences. Be attentive to ways that the setting and environments interplay with what the characters are experiencing. The story will likely be driven by at least some of the questions that are usually embedded in a Zhao film, so pay attention to themes and reflections. My guess is that the narrative will center heavily on the cosmic implications of “The snap” and what it means to be both powerful and limited. Be willing to sit with and reflect on what took place in the previous Marvel phase and how that has shaped the characters in this moment before we charge deeper into Phase IV. Keep yourself focused all the way until the end and remember that nothing will be wasted. Potentially the stylistic differences will feel boring to you at times because they might not be what we are used to. But let Zhao put her unique lens on the genre and stay present for what she wants to say. Some of our favorite films in the fandom have come from other auteurs (notably Waititi and Coogler). These filmmakers have a strong track record of pushing superhero films into new territory and expanding our understanding of what the genre can be. Give Zhao the benefit of an open mind and the flexibility to allow her to take us to new places.

REVIEW: Mass

/ Ivan Strong Moore / Leave a comment

There is a moment in the musical sensation Hamilton that has always made me laugh. During the song, “It’s Quiet Uptown,” which is one of the more profound moments in the play, as we are coming to realize that Hamilton and Eliza are reconciling, the chorus chimes in, “FORGIVENESS.”  It is the lack of subtly in this lyric that cracks me up. In this quiet moment that converges these two central characters’ arcs, it is as if the choir turns to us to exclaim, “DO YOU GET IT? SHE IS FORGIVING HIM.” I wish forgiveness was so easy. I wish I could go to those who I’ve wronged and those who have wronged me and just sing, “FORGIVENESS,” and it would happen. The truth is, however, that in the human life few things are more difficult. That is what makes the new movie Mass so stunning. Just like that climactic tune in Hamilton, it captures forgiveness in the face of the unimaginable.

Mass, from actor turned first-time writer/director Fran Kranz, tells the story of two sets of parents meeting in a side room of a small rural church. The story that intersected the lives of these four people is one that is far too common in our society. The son of Linda and Richard acted as a gunman in a school shooting that took the life of the son of Gail and Jay. Now six years later they are coming together to find closure, to answer questions, and heal from the pain they all carry. There is only one salve that can heal this wound. It’s something Gail says in confidence to Jay she’s not sure if she can offer. Of course, it’s forgiveness.

Ann Down and Reed Birney in Mass (2021, Bleeker Street)

It would be very easy for Mass to become an issue film. It could have made sweeping political statements about any number of hot button topics our world is facing. Certainly, those themes are present in their own way insomuch that they are mentioned quickly without resolution and then shelved. Richard and Jay briefly debate gun legislation. The group touches on how the media and legal system tossed them around and hurt them. Kranz work in telling this story, though, is keeping it focused not on a laundry list of external issues, but the issues in these parents’ hearts that prevent them from healing and moving on. Even how they get in this room in the first place could have been a distraction but that’s not the question Kranz is asking. He is more asking what if they did get in this room and were able to share their feelings. What could happen? In that regard it is a tight and focused film that allows the audience to focus on the performances and the deeper subject matter of repentance, humility, and forgiveness.

Mass, at times, feels like a stage play, and I’m not sure you could ask for better players. Apart from Jason Isaacs aka Lucius Malfoy for Harry Potter fans, none of these actors are traditionally leading women and men, but they all get moments to absolutely shine. The story sees each of them organically taking turns stepping to the plate to move the emotional depth forward. Martha Plimpton who is most known for her roles in sitcoms like Raising Hope and character actor Reed Birney really were able to go to some surprising places, but the clean-up hitter had to be Ann Dowd. The Handmaid’s Tale alum just kept hitting and hitting every time she stepped into the batter’s box. These characters all felt so authentic down to the well-meaning church employee who was tasked with setting up the room. She wasn’t there as window dressing. While she was setting up the space, she was creating the atmosphere for the entire film. Her anxiousness becomes our anxiousness.

Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Breeda Wool in Mass (2021, Bleeker Street)

Breeda Wool plays Judy and her small role struck me right to the heart. Having worked in churches for a while now I have known a bunch of Judys. In fact, I have been a Judy. She wants to believe in this level of reconciliation because that is who we hope God to be. Forgiveness is perhaps God’s greatest power, and when we offer it to our fellow human, we do get a chance to understand God in a new way. You can feel that Judy is hoping if she makes the room comfortable enough, if she gets the right refreshments, if the table is in the right location in the room, she is helping that effort to understand the character of God better. She is helping reconciliation happen.

That is what Christian hospitality looks like doesn’t it? We set up services, we offer resources, we put people in place so that if anyone were to need it, we’re there. I cheered for Judy in one moment when an overwhelmed Jay seeks out the bottles of water she provided and downs it in an instant. The space that Judy built is important and how it is staged throughout the film was masterful. It would be easy in a bottle movie like this to want the actors to move around and use the whole space, or at least overact to try and fill it with their presence. That’s not what happens. Kranz uses the space to supplement the story. It subtly evolves throughout the conversation. They begin in a very oppositional formation and, by the end, are in very different positions.

There is something so wonderfully human about Mass and the way its story is told. It was so engrossing to watch these very real people wrestle through their biggest doubts about themselves, their effectiveness as parents/people, the love they have for their children, and some of their deepest pain. I found myself so wrapped up in the performances I often got tunnel vision forgetting completely that I was watching a movie all together. The tunnel vision might have also been an optical illusion through the tears that were shed throughout. Forgiveness, can you imagine? Mass just might make it a little easier to.

Mass (2021, Bleeker Street)

“Promising Young Woman” Explained: SPOILER Review

/ Heather Strong Moore / Leave a comment

What do Inglorious Basterds and The Blindside have in common? On the surface they would seem to be opposites but what connects them is how they make the audience feel at the end. Revenge fantasy exploitation films and overly simplistic heart-warmers both offer a sense of resolution and justice when the credits roll. The bad guys have been punished; the good guys won. The problem that caused the conflict has been solved. You the viewer can leave feeling like all is as it should be. Promising Young Woman is not this kind of film.

Because this is a spoiler review, I’m going to assume that if you are still reading right now then you have already seen the film so I’ll skip the recap. Perhaps the biggest reaction that has been coming from theaters and On Demand viewers is a wide polarity in how people feel about the ending. Some people hate the twist of Cassie being murdered and feel like it ruined the whole movie. It is an ending that leaves us feeling deeply unsettled and grieved. While it was not the ending I desired, I think the entire arc of the film is quite brilliant. Let me unpack some of the motifs and themes that director Emerald Fennell develops, and what her storytelling choices are meant to communicate.

Reversing the male gaze

From the opening shots of businessmen in khaki pants shimmying and gyrating on the dance floor, Fennell is signaling that a lot of movie tropes are about to be subverted. I immediately laughed out loud as the scene played out because it was such a satisfying parody of literally every music video club scene ever. Think about how many times you have seen women filmed in exactly the same manner, all butts and hips and crotches and thighs shot in slow motion close-up. The female body objectified and dismembered for the gratification of male viewers. PYW is a movie that turns an unwavering gaze squarely back onto men. Cassie torments men, not by physically terrorizing them, but simply by looking directly at their worst intentions and not looking away. From Cassie staring down the harassing construction workers, to confronting would-be assailants in the moments when they think they aren’t being monitored, to Ryan having to face his past attitudes and actions, the men freak out when their actions are exposed for what they truly are. The horror lies in having your true self revealed to you. It is incredibly telling how uncomfortable being watched makes the men in the movie and the men in the audience. It shows how much men are accustomed to being the watchers, not to being observed and seen. A huge point of the movie is to make men feel for a couple of hours the way women feel as we move through the world. The objects of unwanted attention, exposed, vulnerable, stressed.

Khakis and the “good guy” effect

I loved all of the set designs and costuming, there was so much wonderful attention to detail. Hopefully you specifically noticed the khaki pants motif and the casting choices. At some point all of the men are dressed in “normal guy” khaki pants and button-down shirts, appearing harmless and nice. All played by beloved male actors that we all think of with fondness and trust. Seth Cohen or Schmidtt or Dell or Bo Burnham could never do such terrible things. These are all men that we have been conditioned to believe the best of. As a result it is very hard to tell who the “bad” guys are and who the “nice” guys are. And that is because they don’t know either. They all think they are good guys. Studies show that when men are asked “Have you ever raped anyone?” they nearly all say no. But when questions are less direct, “Have you ever had sex with someone when they were drunk?” the answers start to change. No one wants to think they are the villain, and society has allowed so many other narratives to surround male toxicity. “We were just kids”, “Boys will be boys”, “She knew what this was.” PYW does a phenomenal job of showing how easy it is for men to spin narratives for each other so they can victimize others but continue feeling good about themselves. And women often get pulled into perpetuating these narratives with them. If we can blame the circumstances or the victim, then we feel good about ourselves as well. It makes us think something like that could never happen to us because we are better or smarter. So men are enabled in their predatory behavior and allowed to move on and achieve with their fragile psyches intact. While women are left trying to pick up the pieces in their wake, at times supporting and at times undermining each other.

Bo Burnham (left) stars as “Ryan“ and Carey Mulligan (right) stars as “Cassandra” in director Emerald Fennell’s PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, a Focus Features release. Credit : Merie Weismiller Wallace / Focus Features

Woman as disposable

Cassie’s death is profoundly disturbing, but it illustrates the ways that our patriarchal society treats women as disposable. It did not matter that two intelligent and capable women dropped out of medical school as long as the men were able to continue pursuing their careers. Especially when women are poor or engaging in any kind of behavior that is seen as unbecoming, their lives and mental health are valued far less than their male counterparts. Women will always be penalized harshly for any perceived mistakes, while men will be given countless benefits of the doubt. As soon as the reputation and livelihood of the male characters was threatened, it was incredibly easy for them to sacrifice women to protect themselves. They could be confident that they would be chosen over the women. The behavior of Al and Joe is so horrifying because they clearly think they will get away with it. It takes an excruciatingly long time for Al to kill Cassie (I had to mute my TV after the first few seconds), plenty of time for him to realize what he is doing and stop. But he doesn’t stop because deep down he believes that his future is more important and worthy than hers, and he believes that others will agree. The same can be said for Ryan as he blatantly lies to the detective. He can blame Cassie’s mental health knowing that people are quick to believe women to be unstable and that his status as a pediatrician will protect him with credibility and sympathy. So those “good guys” found out who they were as soon as they risked losing their status. They did not hesitate to choose themselves no matter what it cost the women around them.

The problem with catharsis

I had no idea what would happen when Cassie walked into that cabin. I think most people were expecting a violent bloodbath and were getting ready to cheer the demise of all those bad guys. But instead, we are left feeling sad and scared and on edge. And I think that is exactly the point. No revenge fantasy exploitation movie is going to tear down the patriarchy. Which is why PYW may actually be the most brilliant revenge movie ever. The revenge isn’t enacted on the villains, it’s enacted on the audience. We don’t get to walk away and forget and move on with our lives. Especially for any viewers who have knowingly or unknowingly participated in the degradation of women, you walk away reevaluating every interaction you’ve had and wondering if you really are a good guy (or girl) after all. Now we are the best friend who must keep going and try to make the world a more just and equitable place. We are not released and resolved; we are reminded of how much work we have to do. I wish Cassie didn’t die. I wish violence against women was a thing of the past. But that’s not going to happen until we start seeing ourselves and each other with unflinching honesty. Until we gaze directly at the systems and narratives that got us here, and sacrifice that which shields toxicity rather than those who are harmed by it.

Heather’s Top Ten Movies of 2020

/ Heather Strong Moore / Leave a comment

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this publicly, but we watched over 220 movies this year. Most of them were older ones I’d never seen because it was a weird year for new releases. A lot of titles got pushed back to 2021, some have been on streaming for months but were just small features without much hype, some are available on VOD but cost $19.99 to rent which feels hefty. So nearly all of my top ten picks are smaller movies that you may or may not have heard of yet, because that’s what came out in 2020.

It was an also a phenomenal year for documentaries! I have a theory that the rise of reality television transformed documentary filmmaking. When I was a kid, docs were seen as pretentious snooze-fests about the migratory patterns of bees and whatnot. Things that most people could not access or find interesting. But the art form has developed by leaps and bounds, encompassing so many more topics and having far more intricate structures. No longer are they something you have to drag yourself through just so you can say you are informed, now they are engrossing and emotional and complex. So my list is heavier on documentaries than usual, but give them a chance. They might be some of the most moving content you’ll see this year.

10. Miss Juneteenth – I heard a lot about this movie during the summer when our country was talking about the holiday of Juneteenth, but we weren’t able to see it until December. This story is a much-needed makeover of the pageant genre. It follows some traditional tropes of a mother and daughter story where the mom won the pageant in the past and is pressuring her daughter to participate and win like she did. But the themes of Miss Juneteenth are far deeper and more nuanced. It is also a story about Black ownership and what it looks like to carve out something for yourself against the odds. It’s about the struggles and pressures that Black women face in trying to hold themselves and the people around them together. And it’s about generational failures and hopes and how we create and keep a legacy alive. The making of the film reflects these very themes with writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples who was given opportunities by Ava DuVernay. DuVernay (Selma, When They See Us) created a wonderful show called Queen Sugar and used that platform to give other women entrances into the film/TV industry. Many new and talented creators received a leg-up from directing and writing with DuVernay and what she carved out for herself and others. Miss Juneteenth is the product of what can happen when Women of Color are given the opportunities and support they deserve. Available to rent on demand.

9. Feels Good Man – Everything about this documentary was a mystery to me before watching. In the early 2000s cartoonist/artist Matt Furie created a chill character named Pepe the Frog. Pepe lived a normal existence on MySpace for a while, then became a huge meme on the blogging site 4Chan. Still pretty harmless. Then Pepe morphed into a major symbol for the Alt-right and Trumpism and was registered as an official hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League. How did that happen?? The doc unpacks this progression with terrific detail and insight, exploring online culture and how and why it intersected with Trumpism. It also follows Matt and the impact it had on him personally and professionally, and how Pepe finally reclaimed his froggy identity. Even if you aren’t very interested in politics, this is a fascinating look at how things take on a life of their own online and how the internet shapes our lived reality. Available to rent for a small fee on demand.

8. All In: The Fight for Democracy – Like many of us, I was obsessed with the election this year. There were a couple of particularly good documentaries that unpacked big themes and factors of our political moment. This doc follows Stacy Abrams’ activism in the fall-out of the voter suppression that took place surrounding the gubernatorial race in Georgia in 2018. It also provides a succinct and helpful overview of the general history of voter suppression in America, specifically of Black and Brown voters. Available on Prime.

7. Mangrove – I really liked The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) this year and for a while it was on my top ten list. Then I saw Mangrove. Part of Steve McQueen’s film anthology on Prime, Small Axe, each tells a story about the context of his childhood which was West Indian-British communities in London in the 1970s-1980s. A very unique and personal project, they’re all free-standing stories, the only thing that connects them is the general context. Mangrove follows a true-life courtroom drama surrounding Black-British protestors who are being unjustly prosecuted over their protest. This story eloquently unpacks what it feels like to know the system is against you and to feel helpless rage in the face of it. Letitia Wright turns in an incredibly good lead performance that I believe should garner her a Best Actress nomination and shows her range outside of Marvel. (Pro tip: Turn on the English subtitles as you watch. The actors are speaking English but with thick accents and use of slang that may be hard to follow for some viewers.)

6. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – I was nervous to watch this because Viola Davis’s makeup is so extreme and the pressure of it being Chadwick Boseman’s final performance made me wonder if it could live up to all our high hopes. I need not have worried. Deftly steered by Tony award-winning Broadway director George C. Wolfe the film feels like a play but still comes alive in an authentic way on screen. Based on the play by August Wilson (author of Fences), the story follows real-life Blues singer Ma Rainey as she records a few hits, including “Black Bottom.” The setting is a Chicago recording studio where Ma and her all-Black band try to work with each other and navigate the relationship between them and the all-White management. It is a powerful exploration of the power dynamics involved in creating Black art, and the impact it has on Black artists when those power dynamics are heavily unequal. With both Davis and Boseman turning in wonderful performances, I hope this will get significant awards attention. Available to stream on Netflix.

5. Dick Johnson is Dead – No movie has affected me so emotionally this year as this documentary. On the surface it’s a quirky doc made by a daughter whose father is dying and the family is trying to get used to the idea of him being gone by filming dramatic and humorous staged deaths. But more broadly it’s about memory and loss and how to say goodbye. It is also just the most heartbreakingly beautiful portrait of a loving and emotionally present father who would do anything for the daughter he loves. If you have lost someone close to you then be warned that this could be extremely emotional to watch. But emotions aren’t always bad. Available on Netflix.

4. Driveways – We almost missed this one, a very indie and small but beautiful film about a mother and her socially anxious 9-year-old son who come to clean out her older sister’s home after she dies. The sister had lived next door to an elderly man living alone after his wife died, played with a kind authenticity by Brian Dennehy in his final performance before his death this year. The synopsis sounds heavy and perhaps boring, but the film has a wonderfully gentle and sweet quality that winsomely draws you in. And the 9-year-old, played heartrendingly by newcomer Lucas Jaye will have you rooting for him every step of the way. Available on demand for a small rental fee.

3. Minari – Maybe it’s because we now live 20 minutes from the border of Arkansas, but this film about a Korean immigrant family living in rural Arkansas in the 1980s was resonant. A quiet and empathic look at family dynamics and the costs of chasing a dream. Ivan wrote more about the film and the themes of manhood and fatherhood. Unfortunately, it’s not slated for wide release until February (we saw it at the Indie Memphis Film Festival at the drive-in) so keep an eye out for it in early 2021.

2. The Assistant – This is one that unfortunately got lost for most people during the summer. Streaming on Hulu and led by the wonderful Julia Garner, this is a subtle story of being a young woman trying to work in an exploitative environment. There are plenty of stories about women being harassed in the workplace, but this was the first I’ve seen about the female bystanders who are co-opted into the oppression by their presence in the organization, and who must wrestle with their role in changing or engaging in the system. Not all abuse is direct, some happens by leveraging and pressuring you to maintain “how things are.” Garner perfectly captures confusion, powerlessness, anger, and tense observation. This is a thorough exploration of the ripple effects of harassment and exploitation without needing to depict the abuse itself.

1.The Sound of Metal – Available on Prime, this is a story of a musician who suddenly loses his hearing. Featuring an Oscar-worthy performance by Riz Ahmed, this movie immerses you in what this experience would be like. The sound design is incredibly creative without being dominant and weaves between the world of sound and hearing loss. This story also does a wonderful job of elevating and honoring the deaf community. It depicts the struggle and identity crisis that would accompany such an abrupt loss but does so in a way that highlights the dignity and autonomy of those who are deaf. It is emotional, powerful, compassionate, and informed.

Honorable Mention Documentaries

Athlete A – An incredibly important and well-told doc about USA Gymnastics and the abuses of Larry Nassar. This is essential viewing for anyone who has or works with kids. It is survivor-focused and uncovers his abuse without retraumatizing the viewers. You will be horrified by the system that protected him but inspired by the many women who stood against him to tell the truth together. Available on Netflix.

John Lewis: Good Trouble – We lost some greats this year, and John Lewis tops that list. He was a remarkable man who started out as a teenager but took every opportunity in front of him to advocate for justice and act in the hope that things could be better than they were. He became a giant through consistent acts of faith and bravery and was constantly motivated by his belief in God and the support of the community of faith. This will inspire you with everything that he accomplished and challenge you to see where you can follow his example. Now available on HBOMax.

The Painter and the Thief – A crazy and powerful story about the transforming power of compassion and love and choosing to see someone at their best even when they are at their worst. It has a very poignant and raw exploration of addiction that’s ultimately hopeful but emotional so be aware. See Ivan’s list for more info, available to stream on Hulu.

Boy’s State – At times scary and at times inspiring, this doc follows teenage boys in Texas as they create their own form of government. Ivan wrote about this here, and I also recommend it. Available on Apple+

Wonder Woman 1984: Train wreck or Triumph?

/ Heather Strong Moore / Leave a comment

“Life is good…but it could be better!”

We often hear directors say that the location of their film is a character in the story, for WW84 that can be said of the backdrop of the 1980s. At first, we could be tempted to think that setting the sequel in the 80s is just a fun excuse for great outfits and nostalgia for the dying shopping mall. But director Patty Jenkins deserves more credit than that. The 1980s was a time of booming prosperity, big hair, big guitar solos, big promises. Promises from politicians, scheming businessmen, televangelists, and fitness instructors that our dreams could come true if we just followed them. If we gave them our vote, our money, more money…all our desires could be fulfilled. And then what happened? The cynicism and moodiness of the 90s. A social bursting bubble when we realized not all that glitters is gold. WW84 sets out to explore the promises of the things we believed, and the cost of their deception.

The film opens with young Diana (a delightful Lilly Aspell reprising her role) learning an important lesson back home in Themyscira. That cutting corners and taking shortcuts is appealing in the moment, but you’re only deceiving yourself and others with that approach. There is no honor or achievement without the truth. This shapes a huge part of Diana’s character and future trajectory. Wonder Woman is very much defined by a love for honor and truth, most obviously expressed by her wielding the Lasso of Truth.

As we catch up with Diana in 1984 America, her origin continues to shape her career. She frequently saves the day as Wonder Woman, but moves in public as Diana Prince, senior anthropologist specializing in Mediterranean civilizations at the Smithsonian. Not only is she using her superpowers to serve others, she is also using her extensive knowledge of ancient Greek mythology and culture to serve academia. This is who Diana fundamentally is, a woman who utilizes her talents and abilities to pursue truth in the world.

Spoiler Warning

This is where things start to get dicey. Diana and her colleague Minerva (played wonderfully by Kristen Wiig) come across a strange artifact. From the beginning, the artifact is giving us clues about its nature. It is a stone that appears to be valuable but is actually cheap and common, frequently used for counterfeits. It is mounted on a gold ring inscribed with Latin, indicating that it is a “Dreamstone” and that those who hold it will be granted a wish. But the glittering Dreamstone holds a dark secret. Eventually Diana realizes that it was created by the Greek god Dolos, a god of deception and treachery. The promise of the granted wish is actually a trick. The bearer will indeed receive what they desire, but it will cost them that which is most precious. In the attempt to take shortcuts to attain our desires, we lose much more than we receive. Diana unknowingly wishes for the love of her life, Steve Trevor, to return to her. He does, but it begins to impact Diana’s powers. And Steve isn’t truly restored to her, it is only his soul that is inhabiting the body of another man. A counterfeit for the real thing. It is a deceit that posits itself as a loving reunion but is costing Diana her ability to help others and costing the anonymous man the life he was leading.

The stone falls into the hands of Maxwell Lord, a pondsy-scheme-would-be oil baron determined to use the stone to give himself the status and power and acceptance that he has always craved. The movie shines with Pedro Pascal in this role, he creates a character that is layered with arrogance, desperation, insecurity and sadness. He wishes to become the stone itself, transforming him into a granter of wishes and stealer of worth. As he tricks more and more people to make selfish and thoughtless wishes, the world around them descends into chaos. People make wishes based on self-interest and what they believe will make them happy and secure but the ripple effects damage everyone else. The stone takes far more than it gives, making those in its power believe they have it all.

This theme is an insightful exploration of the 1980s, the deceptions that we believed and what it cost us. It is also a powerful exploration of spiritual idolatry. As Christians, we believe that to worship anything other than God is to worship idols. To place our trust in something that promises us security and fulfillment. Wealth, achievement, relationships, acceptance, substances, political power. Things that glitter and make us feel on top of the world, but which erode us from the inside out.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

    made by human hands.

16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,

    eyes, but cannot see.

17 They have ears, but cannot hear,

    nor is there breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them will be like them,

    and so will all who trust in them. – Psalm 135:15-18 (NIV)

As the psalmist says, we become like that which we trust. If we place our trust in things that are lifeless and empty, that is what we will become. But the Deceiver never stops with us. The real cost of idolatry is on the people around us. Those who love us, those who follow our influence, those under our care are the ones who suffer most. As Andy Crouch says in his excellent book Playing God, “idols ultimately claim our children.” It is the vulnerable in our lives and in our society that pay the highest price.

Maxwell Lord almost sacrificed his child in the pursuit of his own desires. It is only when Diana renounces her wish and walks away from the false shadow of Steve that she can see the truth about her situation and invite others into seeing the truth behind the glitter. The truth is hard, and costly, and humbling, but never so costly as living as a prisoner to lies.

This was true in the 1980s and continues to be more resonant then ever in 2020. Leveraging lies in order to attain and retain power have been rampant. Spinning false and dangerous narratives about the pandemic and about the outcome of the election have been driven by selfish desires for power. It is the vulnerable in society who have paid for this deceit. The next generation of young Christians are the ones who will be left to pick up the pieces of a Church in ruins. The children are the ones being most damaged. The truth is rarely comfortable, it is certainly rarely easy, but in the truth lies freedom. Freedom cannot be found in power plays, in shortcuts, in counterfeits of how we wish things were. It is only when we face and accept the truth for what it is and put others before ourselves that we can find genuine flourishing.

REVIEW: News of the World

/ Ivan Strong Moore / Leave a comment

What does your current relationship with the news media look like? According to Gallup, most Americans don’t trust the mass media. Odds are, even if you do it’s not completely. Not only is trust an issue, but as we enter digital spaces it becomes easier and easier to build echo chambers. Essentially, echo chambers are “situations in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal.” This concept has gained momentum as researchers have explored our relationship to social media and mass media, but, functionally, echo chambers have existed for much longer than Twitter. If that is news to you, then Tom Hanks and director Paul Greengrass have something to share with you, their new movie, News of the World.

Based on a 2016 Western novel by Paulette Jiles, NOTW follows Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) who, in a post-Civil War Texas, makes his living travelling town to town reading the news to anyone whose got a dime and wants to hear it. What Capt. Kidd is really offering these isolated Texas towns is an opportunity to step outside their echo chamber. Imagine what communities in the American South were like in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, or even before. Without news from the outside world, there would be a lot of opportunity to stew in the defeat and regret of the battles and continue to hold on to the narratives that brought the country to war in the first place.

Alongside Capt. Kidd, is Johanna, a young girl that was kidnapped and raised by the Kiowa tribe after her family was slaughtered. Kidd becomes responsible for transporting her across Texas to her extended family. Along the way he must learn to communicate with Johanna, who only speaks Kiowa and mostly thinks Kidd is kidnapping her again. As Kidd is offering the news from town to town, Johanna is offering him an opportunity for a second chance at life. The Captain got his rank from fighting for the confederacy in the war and that role left scars on his body, heart, and mind. Johanna’s presence challenges Kidd to reckon with his past and the current state of the world complete with folks hanging on to the confederacy and intense fear of indigenous people.

The Reconstruction Era is a fascinating backdrop that probably should be explored more in film. I wonder what echoes of that time still ring in present day America. It is in the exploration of that time period that this movie shines. There are moments when you can see the impact that the art of story has on a community. The simple act of reporting the news can build bridges to life beyond what the people can see in front of their faces. Perhaps my favorite sequence in the movie involves Kidd sharing with a struggling community the story of a mine accident in Pennsylvania. You can see him trying to bring these two very fractured parts of the country to some common ground and it changes people.

Greengrass is most known, and most commonly touted, for directing the heart-pounding action of the Bourne franchise. If you are expecting Hanks to take down his foes with some martial arts and a rolled-up copy of the “Houston Chronicle” you’re going to be disappointed. NOTW is a much slower, more methodical kind of action. Afterall, Kidd’s character in the book is 71 and Hanks plays him as someone who has more than a little bit of hitch in his giddy up. Did you know that Tom Hanks can act? Well, he can and is classic Hanks here. He’s warm and folksy with some of both Captain Phillips and Woody under his cowboy hat. Still, the film overall is telling a very complex story and may have benefitted from more focus on either the power of the news or the redemption of Capt. Kidd. It struggled to encapsulate both.

I can’t imagine this is going to be the flick that will keep the kids’ attention through the holiday, but the movie could act as that hardback history book we all bought our dads one Christmas or another. In the world of a thousand streaming services, maybe Hanks is creating a lane as the king of the dad movie. Our bright, white Air-Monarch-wearing public will probably find a lot to like in this old school Western, but for others it is interesting to contemplate how we absorb our news. Mass media might not be the answer, but echo chambers aren’t either. We have to keep building bridges and sharing our stories. That is ultimately the power that news and technology offers us, pictures into the lives and experiences of others. We have the ability to reach out across miles and miles of space and time to learn, care, and grow. If we don’t, then I’ve got some bad news for you, not a lot about our current world will ever change.

News of the World releases in select theaters on Christmas Day.

REVIEW: Hillbilly Elegy

/ Ivan Strong Moore / Leave a comment

Something happened during the 2016 election. As a country, we watched as droves of voters in rural, white, working class counties that often shone blue turned a deep red. How could this happen? Looking for a quick and satisfactory answer, many folks gravitated towards a singular work, J.D. Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Though the book does touch on the sociopolitical trends of white rural poor in America, it may not have been totally fair to pin the decoding of this turning of the political tide on Vance’s words. At the end of the day, “Hillbilly Elegy” is one man’s story. Eventually, people aware of the book realized it didn’t actually solve the riddles we were puzzled by in American society. The comfort found in the book post 2016 election quickly soured into anger that evils like white supremacy haven’t gone away.

It wasn’t Vance’s goal to completely confront America’s history of racism or deconstruct current patterns in the 24 hour news cycle. “Hillbilly Elegy” doesn’t actually wrestle with many of the broader issues present in America in 2016, 1776, or 2020. Vance planted a foot in his past and his context and tried to tell the world what he was seeing from his point of view. There are deeply destructive trends in white rural communities all over America and Vance was able to shed light on them by tapping into his personal experience. Still, the book carries the weight of that particular moment in history and it’s public perception suffers for it. So when Netflix dropped the trailer for the film adaptation directed by Ron Howard and starring Amy Adams and Glen Close, many feared that the story would continue to give people incomplete answers for centuries old questions. The problem with the film Hillbilly Elegy, isn’t the societal pressure placed on the source material, it’s that it’s not a good movie.

There have been some truly incredible films lately that have taken audiences, and awards voters, into the lives of America’s most marginalized and poverty stricken. The Florida Project is a great example because it takes the context of Disneyland and contrasts it with the many people struggling to survive outside the Magical Kingdom’s gates. Even a film like Moonlight has a lot in common with Elegy in terms of subject matter and non-linear storytelling. These movies were focused, subtle, and pulled you directly into the lives of their subjects. There is nothing subtle or focused about Elegy. There is an old moviemaking adage of “show don’t tell.” It dictates that filmmakers should rely on visual communication to get their story across instead of a device like voiceover or flashback. Hillbilly Elegy seems to subscribe to that philosophy, and then some. The film shows, tells, shows some more, shows a few more, and then tells you again.

The film enters Vance’s story through one specific moment during college paired with several key moments from his childhood. Most of it centers around how Vance’s people, his family and community, help each other out when life is throwing punches. The J.D. in the film then must wrestle with the tension of trying to help himself as well as trying not to help his mother to the point of enabling her addictions and behaviors. We catch up with adult J.D. after his military service in the Marines, after his undergraduate studies at Ohio State, and some time into his career at Yale Law School. He’s in the midst of interviewing for a very important internship when he gets a call from home. Life had thrown another punch. We then see flashbacks of traumatic events revolving around his mother’s destructive and abusive tendencies.

Throughout the drama J.D. also interacts with the greatest source of support in his life, his grandmother. Real life J.D. credits his grandmother for a lot of his success. It’s because of Mamaw that J.D. is able to pull his bootstraps all the way up and march towards Yale. Of course, this is shown in a Rocky-style montage of taking out the trash and studying really hard. See, says the film, anybody can just work hard and make it. Even Vance admits that that’s not the foundation of his story. He made it because he had someone to help him. Not everyone has that, but again, this movie is not interested in subtlety or complexity.

When I mentioned those punches that J.D. takes throughout the movie, that is another example of the film’s lack of much needed subtlety. Nearly every moment in the film is played as a haymaker making sure that idea that J.D. has a hard life is beaten into our minds. Yes, sometimes when life is very difficult it does feel like hits keep coming one after another, but life is often way more nuanced than that. There is a brief moment in flashback that shows J.D. making breakfast with his girlfriend. He asks for syrup in his accent and she gets on his case for the mispronunciation. It’s a moment of humanness and levity that gives us a break from the punches. Elegy needed more of that.

In The Florida Project, between scenes depicting drug abuse and hunger, the young protagonist, Moonee plays and escapes into her imagination. In Moonlight, Chiron finds himself in moments of love, joy, and happiness around the dinner table of a neighbor. If we don’t have these moments to humanize everyone in the story, then the characters come off as one-note and unlikeable. Elegy gives you almost no reason to like J.D.’s mother or even to like the place he grew up. It relegates some of the more complicated, but important, components like breaking cycles of generational poverty and abuse to footnotes as it yells through the screen that J.D. and his family are poor and hopeless.

There are moments where the movie hints that it could have been something greater. Stressed about finding a rehab facility for his mother, J.D. engages with some friends who all have a suggestion. They know the area facilities like they’re local restaurants. Each of them have had friends, family, or neighbors that have dealt with drug and alcohol abuse. I was expecting someone to stop and say, “Wow, I guess we’ve all had someone close to us enter rehab.” Thankfully, they didn’t. We were given a clear, but subtle picture of their lives. Finding a rehab facility is normal. There are people in these regions of America crying out to be seen, crying out for help. Help like J.D. found in his grandmother. She saw him and decided she would step in and give him a chance at a better life. In 2016, when Vance’s book was making its initial rounds, there was a moment where our eyes were on Appalachia, but I fear with this adaptation people may just want to look away.

Real life J.D. Vance