Confession

Sometimes
you must go down

into the deep

the dark

to find the thing

left there

to be forgotten

and give it voice

speak it

to another

illuminating

that buried secret

that need no longer

emit shame

'Fatherland' A Review

Fatherland is a biographical period drama about the return to Germany of famous writer Thomas Mann(Hanns Zischler) to receive a Goethe Price accompanied by his daughter Erika(Sandra Hüller).

Both Zischler and Hüller give reserved, quiet performances, but with a lot going on below the service and a lot of emotion and information inferred. The acting style throughout is very still-waters-run-deep, it's not particularly energetic but it doesn't need to be. This is more of a vibe film, a feeling, a meditation.

In black & white with a truncated aspect ratio this plays almost like historical footage, there is incredible remove and restraint from co-writer/director Paweł Pawlikowski and it's effective, maybe not as transcendent or impactful as Ida or Cold War but any major release from Pawlikowski is a gift, worthy of eyes and consideration.

Subtle, at times overly subtle, but unobtrusively rich and speaking, through the lens of history, to our current time.

Currently in theaters.

See It.

'Hokum' A Review

Hokum is a horror movie about an author Ohm(Adam Scott) who takes a trip to rural Ireland to stay in the hotel where his parents honeymooned and finish his latest novel. After an incident Fiona(Florence Ordesh) the hotel bartender disappears which Ohm can help but investigate.

Scott gives his best film performance is several years, he anchors it perfectly. His depth of emotion and humor bring real human stakes to the horror. The limited supporting cast is wonderful- Ordesh, David Wilmot as Jerry a local vagrant, Will O'Connell as Alby the bellboy and aspiring writer- all give great, grounded, unflashy performances that create this absorbing environment.

Shot on location mostly at the singular location of the hotel, it looks great, with enough judicious practical effects to make the scares and the risk really palpable. Inspired by folktales this modern take on a haunted house story just works.

Small in scope, immersive in effect.

Currently available to stream on Hulu.

See It.

'Wicker' A Review

Wicker is a romantic fantasy film based on the short story The Wicker Husband set in the nebulous past about a solitary Fisherwoman(Olivia Colman) who commissions the local Basket Weaver(Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband. The Wicker Husband(Alexander Skarsgård) and the Fisherwoman fall in love and are the subject of derision and jealousy from the townspeople.

Colman, no surprise, is captivating. She brings emotion and vulnerability, and it has a comedic register she can work in(unlike last year's The Roses). She conveys and undeniable and relatable humanness. Skarsgård conversely is totally ethereal, otherworldly, but equally compelling and is similarly able to play with the humor with alacrity. They have great chemistry- romantically, comedically, and dramatically. By the end you're really rooting for them, probably one of the best pure romantic onscreen couples in recent memory. The supporting cast is wonderful, Dinklage of course is a stand out, and the other notable performer is Elizabeth Debicki who plays the mean girl heavy, providing needed contrast, tension and stakes but also a character(in opposition to Colman) that has real interiority. The entire cast just totally understand the tone and the intent, all giving deliciously layered performances to a purpose.

Visually the film is rich and evocative, it feels like a fairy tale but also never loses the reality of its place or people. The costuming is superb and whatever combination of cloths, prosthetics, and CG make up the Wicker Husband is stunningly effective. It just looks great, it has a scale and impact the belies its limited budget. But it's really the script and the themes its able to get across in such a simple and entertaining way that's the most impressive about it. It has something to say, about gender roles, marriage, inclusion and belonging, the whole gambit, and does so with such a gentle and undeniable preceision.

Thematically rich, tonally intricate, with two great lead performances whose romance will sweep you away.

Currently in theaters.

Don't Miss It.

Rake The Yard

Collect
and dispose
of nature's detritus

Her split ends

Her nail clippings

erase the seasons mark

from your lawn

clean the gutters

we must bolster

the illusion

of humanity's dominance

we jumped-up mammalians

'You Can See Everything' A Review

You Can See Everything is a documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim about biotech fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. Fielder and Oppenheim spend the last month with Holmes and her family in a rented beach house prior to her incarceration, not so much fly-on-wall footage as Fielder acts more as a house guest and periodically interviews the couple. After she is imprisoned Fielder & Oppenheim stage reenactments for conversations they were unable to record.

Oppenheim as a stylist soars here, his visual development compounds with each project, and his fascination with perverse and illicit subjects continues. That is to say the film looks amazing, the framing and patience of the shots, the truncated aspect ratio, the languorous but unrelenting pacing, the close-ups. It all serves to evoke an eerie discomfort and put the audience in the room.

Fielder is a comedian and not a documentarian and his presence is both engaging and at times fumbling. He questions Holmes and her husband directly but a lot of the conversations get diverted into semantics. There's some situational comedy and a couple moments where Fielder attempts to explain comedy to them which is amusing. Fielder is a great foil through which to see the infamous Holmes and allows the film, by nature, to be more free-form and experimental.

It clearly aspires to get at greater themes of Truth but mostly fails, Holmes and her husband are clearly hustlers, this is apparent immediately. Holmes is a criminal and her husband is clearly aspiring to be one, even if we were to believe her semantic cartwheels her "belief" as she puts it is not relevant to her fraud charges and conviction. Not to mention, regardless of any of the particulars, it is also clear both Holmes and her husband are deeply mentally unwell. The fascination from both Fielder and Oppenheim comes across in some ways as privileged(these are not particularly unique subjects, they are hustlers and narcissists and sick people, the scope of Theranos downfall and the media attention are the only reason they are known) and they are unable to draw any meaningful conclusions from the project as a whole.

Unquestionably entertaining and beautiful looking, it feints at potent insights and teases discoveries but ultimately fails to deliver on the ecstatic. It seems to unnecessarily litigate two obvious truths- liars lie, hurt people hurt people.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.

'The Last First: Winter K2' A Review

The Last First: Winter K2 is a documentary about a 2021 record-breaking(and deathly) expedition to summit K2 in winter.

Through interviews, archival and on-site footage the selfishness, hubris, and tragedy is reported. Do we need more climbing docs? Particularly ones where participants inevitably die? I don't think so. There's nothing esteemable about these sad, narrow-minded, mostly rich people addicted to adrenaline, ego and social media.

One of the reasons Free Solo was such a sensation was because he didn't die, he's still alive, and the risk of what he was doing was clearly interrogated by the filmmaker. This feels like they had a contract that they needed to fulfill, itself culpable in some of the deaths. All around just gross and sad. You'd feel sorry for the climbers and families involved if they weren't so willfully ignorant.

Currently streaming on Apple TV.

Don't See It.