Doomsday's Andrei Tarkovsky Love Fest

American Fiction

When I first saw the trailer for American Fiction I was more or less uninterested. The first thing it made me think of was the ultra-dark Robin Williams comedy 'World's Greatest Dad,' the story of a struggling writer/high school poetry teacher whose obnoxious son accidentally dies due to autoerotic asphyxiation. Rather than drag the already lousy reputation of his rotten kid through the mud, he stages his son's death to be a suicide and writes a fake suicide note. When the popularity and sympathy of the community take off he writes more fake letters and soon finds the fame that he had always dreamed of. The other movie I was reminded of was the Cannes favorite Loqueesha. While American Fiction foregoes the autoerotic asphyxiation or radio programming, it does deal with a writer who's fed up with his current station, with society on the whole and decides to fudge the rules a bit in order to send a message. It just felt like a movie I had seen before and it's sometimes hard to get excited about that. Fortunately it takes a familiar premise and does it in a way that feels relevant and is also very funny.

The movie introduces struggling author Monk, played by Jeffrey Wright. Wright might be a recognizable actor among film buffs but I don't think he's quite the broad household name. It's a shame because he's a great actor who brings a steel edged persona to his performances. If you haven't done yourself the favor by watching Boardwalk Empire he steals the later seasons with his sinister portrayal of Narcisse. Monk is a disillusioned writer who recently lost his job teaching overly sensitive college students and finds himself back in Boston taking care of an ailing mother and dysfunctional family when he sees a new novel, We's Lives In Da Ghetto, receiving rave reviews and huge publicity for its author. Monk sees the writing as simplistic and stereotypical of both the black experience and the corner that black authors are painted into and decides he's going to write under a pseudonym his own similar novel, 'My Pafology' later named to just 'Fuck.' Posing as an ex-con who's on the run from the law, he soon finds fame and fortune of his own from white publishers who are more than happy to promote the work of someone they believe to fit the mold of what they consider the black experience to be. At the same time Monk resents the fact that he's feeding the machine that he despises, one that discourages black authors from using their voice and is only interested in them if they send a certain message.

While American Fiction isn't exactly subtle in its messaging it does lay it out in a way that makes it thought provoking. If there's one group that the movie takes aim at it's the self-hating white liberal, those with good intentions but are so desperate to be seen as 'allies' that they condescend to the black experience while treating black people as infantile. It's a hard needle to thread but American Fiction succeeds in that it's able to be very funny while not going overboard with the obvious jokes or plot points. It's not that Monk is fighting against a clear and apparent racist antagonist or idea, he struggles with a system that he feels is keeping black creatives and black stories boxed into a certain corner. It's also not Monk's (nor the movie's) goal to tear it down, he wants to reveal it and show the hypocrisy that keeps what he believes are the genuine and important messages from being elevated. It's certainly thought provoking but the fact that it also has several laugh out loud moments makes it that much more entertaining ('What'd you go to jail for? Murder?'). So yes, it's similar to other stories we've seen like this but adds its own spin on it to make it feel fresh and explores race relations in a way that will make some laugh and hopefully make others a little embarrassed. That's what I would call a success.

A- so says Doomsday

I like your opening rambling. I often feel much the same way.

I watched Gladiator in a theater that didn't even have computers.  I handed them cash, they gave me a ticket that was one of those red raffle tickets you get in school and the guy at the door tore it in half.  It was a 2000 movie at a 1955 theater.

Poor Things

I think just about everyone knew that Poor Things would be a movie to talk about once it landed. Anyone who has seen even one of director Yorgos Lanthimos’ movies knows that his movies are thought provoking, disturbing, visually unique, eccentric, the list of descriptors could go on. Personally I’ve only seen The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite (not The Lobster surprisingly) and I would consider them to be the kinds of movies that I appreciate more than I thoroughly enjoyed. Poor Things is no exception. It's a fun, sometimes disturbing but never boring tale of a woman starting from scratch in life as she quickly navigates the passions and trials that people often experience over the course of a lifetime. Unfortunately don’t have a lifetime but we’re able to watch Bella’s ‘origins’ more or less as she’s introduced to life and the outside world.

In what’s essentially a twist on the Frankenstein story, deformed Dr. Godwin Baxter ‘creates’ a woman he names Bella from the body of a recently deceased woman using the brain of the woman’s unborn child. From the beginning of the movie we watch Bella’s progression from learning as an ‘infant’ to a woman exploring her identity, physicality and finally freedom and agency. We follow Bella as she is betrothed to Godwin’s (or ‘God’ as Bella states) protégé Max, runs off with sleazy attorney Duncan Wedderburn, finds herself in demand at a Paris brothel then completing her full circle returning to Godwin and Max while doling out some comeuppance for a few of the people who tried to insert themselves into Bella's life.

I’ve been reading some reviews from different pockets of the internet and I’ve heard how Poor Things is a story of Bella’s ‘liberation’ however that line of thought might also be sexist in implying that a woman’s liberation should go hand in hand with unbridled sexuality. These conversations might be reading way too deeply into what they think the movie is trying to say but the movie certainly does explore the arc of each character as they all reach their heights, sink to rock bottom and, if fortunate enough, find a degree of belonging. There is certainly a unique visual style both in the design aesthetic as well as how its shot (hello fisheye lenses) but by and large they complement the movie more than they distract from it. While it’s an uneasy movie to digest at times it’s also quite funny if on the nose. Ultimately I’m still conflicted though. The performances by and large are good but can also be somewhat hamfisted (looking at you, Ruffalo). I would wager some of the cast members here will get some awards consideration but I wonder if any recognition will come of them. If anyone becomes a favorite I wouldn’t mind it being Willem Dafoe. You know how every once in a while there will be some unexpected surprise win for a performance that might have been overshadowed by others? I’d be alright with Dafoe being that guy this year. Other times it feels like the movie is deliberately trying to shock you even though it doesn’t quite feel like it fits with the movie. I suppose that’s according to tastes. Poor Things is a movie that will certainly have fans and there’s a lot to be admired. Lanthimos demonstrates again that his movies do have a special, unique quality to them and while they might not fit to everyone’s tastes they do offer the artistry that people often desperately seek in contemporary cinema. Like I said before, even though it’s a movie that I don’t quite wish to see again I do appreciate what Lanthimos sought to do.

B+ so says Doomsday

Same seat.

Wow. Stealing my man? You know this means war.

Doomsday ignored me, but just wanted to add, that Scorsese described After Hours as a depiction of an anxiety attack. Hope that answers his questions.

2023 is going to be the year of the rewatch for me.  I haven't cracked open my After Hours Criterion yet but I think that would do nicely for me.  I don't need to find an excuse to rewatch The King of Comedy, I love that movie.

The Holdovers

A little Doomsday trivia. When I was in college I wanted to go to film school. Unfortunately they didn't let transfer students into the film program, at least that's what I was told. I then shifted to my next interest and became a Classics major. It wasn't quite as useless as it sounds as I was a teacher for a couple years out of college but I decided that wasn't really for me. It was quite fun though learning ancient history, mythology and dead languages that no one else really knows unless you live at the Vatican or are Indiana Jones. I also had a strong bond with my classics teachers as the classes are usually small and the instructors are passionate about their subjects. These memories came flooding back while watching Alexander Payne's The Holdovers, a movie that's not exactly a coming-of-age film but does explore the growth between an ancient history teacher, his troublesome student who's left at school over Christmas break and a cafeteria cook who recently lost her son in Vietnam.

I suppose this could be the third part of Alexander Payne's unofficial road trip trilogy? After seeing Sideways, Nebraska and now The Holdovers I suppose Payne believes that people are more willing to expose their true selves while on the open road. The main cast is filled with undesirables; Paul Giamatti's Mr. Hunham, a lonely and somewhat bitter ancient history teacher who feels that imparting knowledge is more important than coming to understand his students. Angus Tully in a great performance by newcomer Dominic Sessa, a neglected and angry student who would rather be anywhere else, and Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) a cafeteria cook still mourning her dead son. Over the two week isolation at their school these people do what they can to get on each others' last nerves before learning to lean on each other and fill the emotional void in each of their lives. On paper it doesn't sound like a very groundbreaking or novel idea but I suppose seeing people learn and grow, especially people who are already suffering at the bottom, is a universal theme that will always attract audiences. I think Payne is pretty adept at taking relatable themes and putting them into a fun or unique setting while also adding just the right bit of humor, that's what helped make Nebraska one of my favorite movies that year. I certainly owe Sideways a rewatch as I only saw that when it first came out. I know I'm hearkening back to my write-up on Maestro but this also doesn't really have the feel of something that's heavily geared towards winning awards although again on paper it sounds like it does. It's a simple but heartfelt movie that has sat with me for a while and it's a good reminder that in a time where film is open to different venues, open to experimentation and exploration and is in a vast state of change, there will always be room and an audience for quality films that take a traditional approach.

Paul Giamatti for Best Actor. He's my horse. Let's finally make it happen.

A- so says Doomsday

And that as they say is that. Hopefully my ramblings have caused some entertaining bathroom reading and thank you for coming along with me on my 2023 AFI journey. We'll see what else we can kick up for this thread before next December.

An appropriate measured response to Barbie

Well that's just great.