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9/28/2023 0 Comments bottoms In my review of Cocaine Bear earlier this year, I commented that you can’t simply will a cult film into existence - it’s an organic process, one which stems from developing your own esoteric wavelength and unapologetically putting the onus on viewers to find their way onto it. Bottoms, the new high school comedy from director Emma Seligman and co-writer Rachel Sennott is, if nothing, else a genuine cult film in-the-making; its particular idiosyncrasies are encoded deep within its cinematic marrow. It is not a creative frequency I was ultimately able to fully align with, personally, but still - game recognizes game.
To be honest, I must have read and re-read the film’s tagline over a dozen times and I still have trouble making sense of it. Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) star as PJ and Josie, best friends and sexually frustrated lesbians starting their senior year at Rockbridge Falls High. The girls are defined almost entirely by their queerness - there’s little insight into their aspirations, backgrounds or even the specifics of their friendship, beyond the driving need to get their rocks off (to be fair, that’s not unusual for the sex farce subgenre, but if we’re being honest, it’s not like the hetero versions were anything to aspire to much of the time). A random confluence of events leads to a rumor that the duo spent the summer bloodying their knuckles while incarcerated in juvie… and results in them starting what could best be described as a makeshift cross between a fight club and a female self-defense group - more or less by accident. But the unexpected spike in popularity that ensues puts PJ and Josie in sudden position to make a run at their objects of cheerleader affection (played by Kaia Gerber and Havana Rose Liu, respectively). The plot points in Bottoms are connected by such tenuous narrative tissue, it often feels as if the film were conceived by a glitchy AI program. The obvious point-of-reference - as is the case with virtually any outside-the-box high school comedy from the past 30 years - is the 1988 classic Heathers… but Seligman’s film has a fuzzier point-of-view. Its absurdist reality is tougher to buy into (“Could the ugly, untalented gays please report to the principal’s office?” we hear broadcast over the school’s PA system early on). There’s actually something tantalizingly clever at the core of the movie’s self-awareness, cloaking what’s essentially a queer American Pie in fake female empowerment (in addition to LGBTQ representation in the form of gay characters who behave just as selfishly as their straight counterparts). But Seligman’s reconceptualization of the genre struggles to take shape - it teeters between parody and homage (best exemplified by a needle drop of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” as PJ and Josie mope through their “lowest point” character montage). Eventually Rockbridge’s football rivalry with Huntington High turns murderous and the film flies into such tonally bonkers territory, it’s hard to know how to react (it’s as if the third act of Heathers were stapled to a completely different movie). It’s a good thing that Sennott and Edebiri are such marvelously expressive performers - almost Muppet-like in their emotive dexterity. The movie is very funny on a moment-to-moment basis… Seligman and Sennott’s dialogue has a pleasingly acidic Gen Z afterburn. Ruby Cruz (who portrayed a warrior-princess to very fine effect on Willow last year) gives a revelatory performance as PJ and Josie’s endearing, vulnerable, and underappreciated pal Hazel, while the movie is very nearly stolen by former NFL star Marshawn Lynch - the weirdest, most inspired casting decision of the summer as the club’s faculty advisor. Seligman has talent… but one hopes her visual sense gains a bit of stylistic musculature in time - the film’s flat, plastic look doesn’t necessarily do it any favors (it could have used a touch of aesthetic inspiration from a movie like Jawbreaker). There’s little doubt, however, that Bottoms - whatever its shortcomings - is going to amass some extremely devoted fans. As well it should. After all, we don’t watch movies for the sake of cinematic perfection, we watch them to find stories that resonate and characters who speak to us. And there are quite a few people, I expect, who will be sharply attuned to this zany oddity’s particular pitch.
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9/19/2023 0 Comments blue beetle At the start of Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) returns to Palmera City after his triumphant graduation from Gotham University… only to learn that his working-class family has fallen on hard times and is on the brink of losing their home. A chance encounter with Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine) - scion of Kord Industries - promises potential employment… but when Jaime reports for his interview, she thrusts a Big Belly Burger box into his hands, implores him to guard it with his life, and oh yeah - whatever you do, don’t look inside.
Naturally, he looks inside… and discovers a metallic scarab, which promptly fuses with him on an organic level, creating a symbiotic bond. A sentient weapon of alien origin, the scarab (voiced by viral pop star Becky G) encases Jaime in an armored exoskeleton and - after some initial growing pains (including a sojourn into space and accidentally bisecting a city bus in half) - informs him that she can materialize virtually any weapon he can imagine, amongst other handy superheroic perks. Unfortunately, Jenny’s ruthless Aunt (and Kord Industries CEO) Victoria (Susan Sarandon) has big plans for the scarab as part of her secret OMAC (One Man Army Corps) project, which will help revolutionize the company into one of the world’s foremost military contractors (much to the dismay of Jenny, whose late father deliberately fought against this particular shift in philosophy). If this sounds like an amalgam of virtually every comic book movie that’s come before, well… you’re not exactly wrong. Blue Beetle doggedly follows the superhero 101 template to the letter, right down to Victoria’s imposing (and partially augmented) henchman Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) snarling “The love you feel for your family makes you WEAK” (spoilers - turns out Jaime’s family is actually his greatest strength), and Jaime’s Uncle Rudy (George Lopez) making earnest declarations such as “The universe has sent you a gift. And you have to figure out what you’re going to do with it” (groan). But director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) has a spry touch… a jazzy enthusiasm that keeps the movie from getting rooted too deeply in cliche. Palerma City’s futuristic, blue-and-purple-neon sheen (like a comic book Miami Vice) offers a striking contrast to the increasingly homogenized visual look of the MCU and the drab-and-dreary color palette of the Zack Snyder superhero pics… as does the film’s surprisingly robust score (courtesy of The Haxan Cloak), which is infused with retro synthesizers almost reminiscent of Stranger Things (and 80s moviemaking in general). This is the rare DC installment that feels… unencumbered. It’s a frosting shot of late-summer escapism, breezily unburdened by the need to slot itself into some tortured Justice League jigsaw puzzle. Anyone who’s seen Xolo Mariduena on the hit series Cobra Kai - where he plays the role of Miguel Diaz - is well aware of the young Latino actor’s easy charisma and potential star power. Watching him headline a studio blockbuster is legitimately exciting… his likability in the role couldn’t be more natural. Damian Alcazar and Elpidia Carrillo (Anna from Predator!) are pleasingly sturdy as Jaime’s parents, as is Belissa Escobedo as his sarcastic sister Milagro. But your mileage regarding Lopez’s mugging comic relief and tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist shtick may vary; ditto Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza as Jaime’s beloved abuela, who dubiously morphs into a cartoonish ass-kicker when shit gets real. Sarandon, meanwhile, offers one of the weaker variations of the “respected-actress-slums-for-a-paycheck-by-playing-the-antagonist-in-a-comic-book-movie-or-YA-adaptation” trend… though the rugged Trujillo’s screen presence is fierce. It’s too bad the film isn’t able to capitalize more deeply on the pathos of his damaged, tragic Carapax. Soto shows a confident hand in the fluidly choreographed action scenes (tinged with a distinct anime influence - such as the oversized Cloud Strife buster sword Jaime summons), which frequently utilize practical effects and real locations. But at the end of the day, this is yet another superhero being launched into an already impossibly crowded landscape - there’s a particular sense of lassitude, even without the complication of the film being caught in the crossfire of James Gunn’s impending DC reset. The marketing leaned heavily on the movie’s Latino representation and familial focus as a means of differentiating it from the pack, but there’s only so much that can be done to transcend basic formula as well-worn as this. Blue Beetle is a reminder that comic book movies with a genuine blend of humor and heart always have something to offer… but the pulse also quickens a little less with each boilerplate origin story. 9/1/2023 0 Comments barbie Love it or hate it, there’s no question that Barbie is the biggest party of the summer. Is it really deserving of its staggering, billion-dollar success? Well, putting aside the fact that the majority of its billion-dollar club brethren are comic-book blockbusters and franchise sequels (stuff like Captain Marvel and Jurassic World Dominion - the cinematic equivalent of underwhelming and underachieving Ivy League legacies), you could argue that the film’s satirical edge is surprisingly butterknife-soft at times… and that its meta-approach isn’t necessarily any more audacious than, say, the Brady Bunch Movie from the mid-90s. But Barbie is also directed with such easy confidence by Greta Gerwig (working from a script she wrote with partner Noah Baumbach), and benefits from the two best leads you could possibly hope for to headline this particular property. And on a website literally called Pop, one must tip one’s cap to the poppiest of pop moviemaking.
We begin in Barbieland, a pink pastel wonder of practical production design, where the classic Barbie iteration - i.e. “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie) - enjoys a perpetual nirvana of carefree routine, living it up in a matriarchal society with her fellow dolls (all of whom are also named Barbie). Ken (Ryan Gosling) spends his days at the beach with the other Kens (including Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, among others), hoping to take his relationship with Barbie to the next level… though she gently rebuffs his advances in favor of all-girl sleepovers and dance parties at her Dreamhouse. Suddenly stress fractures begin to manifest on the surface of Barbie’s candy-colored facade - dark thoughts of mortality, along with cold showers and flat feet. “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), a disfigured outcast, informs Barbie she must venture beyond Barbieland and locate the child playing with her doll in the real world in order to set things right (one of the refreshing things about the movie is that Gerwig doesn’t sweat the meta-logic; it’s not Tarkovsky, after all… it’s a film based on a toy line. Like Barbie herself, it’s best to just put on a Colgate smile, hop into a pink convertible, crank the tunes and enjoy the ride). The trailers suggested that Barbie and Ken crossing over into our reality is the primary thrust of the plot… but this actually constitutes a relatively small portion of the film’s runtime. Instead, Ken gets wind of “the patriarchy” and the knowledge he brings home throws Barbieland into complete chaos as he inspires a “Ken uprising” and a complete inversion of established gender roles (one of the most laugh-out-loud funny gags is Barbieland’s unofficial radio anthem changing from “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls to Matchbox 20’s “Push.” Trust me - if you’re a certain age, you get it). In a weird way, the movie’s structural looseness and artificial aesthetics capture the nostalgic freedom of childhood play, to a far greater degree than the Transformers movies or GI Joe ever managed. It also results in a certain scattergun quality that some will find easier to overlook than others. America Ferrera, most notably, is given the film’s showstopper monologue (and will rightfully be remembered for it)… but the fractured relationship with her tween daughter, played by Ariana Greenblatt, starts near the emotional center and ends, well… not particularly near the emotional center. Likewise, the Will Ferrell-led toy execs who want to put Barbie “back in her box” remain fussing about, long after the shift back to Barbieland has rendered them moot (there’s a lot of gentle ribbing of Mattel while keeping the claws firmly sheathed; someone like Todd Phillips wouldn’t hesitate to bite the hand that feeds, but Gerwig plays nice). The reason Barbie works to the extent that it does, however, is due almost entirely to Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling bringing unironic heart and pathos to characters that are, quite literally, molded plastic. Robbie’s particular nuclear blend of beauty, talent and fearlessness is almost without peer… but aside from her note-perfect portrayal of Harley Quinn and Oscar-nominated turn in I, Tonya, she’s struggled at times to find a worthy outlet (more recently she’s had to settle for the self-conscious grandiosity of middling auteurist fare such as Amsterdam and Babylon). Her on-screen luminosity goes without saying (the camera truly does worship her), but it’s easy to overlook just how nimble her performance actually is… the way she pivots from frivolous slapstick to emotional vulnerability, often within the same scene. Hopefully the post-Barbie world order is one in which she’s free to operate with no career handbrake. As an actor, Gosling has a singular intensity that somehow never feels one-note… though it does often overshadow how funny he can be. There’s something quite endearing about reports of him approaching the role of Ken with the same level of focus and dedication as if he were prepping for a Nicolas Winding Refn picture. He finds the film’s wavelength with an ease that a loopy method freak such as Jared Leto never could. His rendition of “I’m Just Ken” has deservedly etched its place in the zeitgeist fabric of 2023. Of course, there’s plenty to theoretically criticize - the existentialism doesn’t go deep enough, it’s not particularly risky as feminist polemics go, plenty of jokes fizzle out like a damp firecracker (the “beach you off” gag is the cringiest of puns)… but Barbie has a genuine warmth, and few filmmakers could balance celebration and satire better than Gerwig does (it’s a movie that’s almost rapturously free of cynicism). Much like one of Barbie’s Dreamhouse shindigs, you’d have to work pretty hard not to have a good time. The film also delves surprisingly deeply into Barbie lore (Michael Cera plays Allan, the dorky and much-mocked Ken alternative, while Emerald Fennell portrays Barbie’s pregnant pal Midge). More than anything, Gerwig deserves credit for her astoundingly perfect and subversive closing gag. It’s a complete 180 from Oppenheimer’s shattering grace note, and yet… both endings are unforgettable in their own way, and complement one another perfectly. That, more than anything, is the true enduring power of “Barbenheimer.” |
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