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Tag: Frances McDormand

  • ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ transports you to the Twilight Zone | movie review

    ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ transports you to the Twilight Zone | movie review

    Joel Coen adapts his version of The Tragedy of Macbeth as a minimalist psychological thriller with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand taking on the borrowed robes of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

    Where to watch The Tragedy of Macbeth:

    The Tragedy of Macbeth immediately justifies its existence by removing all markers of time and place. Director Joel Coen, tackling his first solo film after working with his brother Ethan as the Coen brothers, sets the play on minimalist sets of massive concrete walls, dresses the characters in abstract costumes, and captures the action in crisp black and white that makes it feel like the movie is taking place somewhere else entirely. Everything is impressionistic. We get just enough to give us the general time period but not enough to latch on to specifics. The effect is offputting but needed. This isn’t your grandma’s Shakespeare adaptation. 

    As much as we rolled our eyes at our English teachers as we analyzed nearly every Shakespeare play line by line, one has to admit that there’s a reason his work has endured and is still adapted today. There’s something so modern about his writing. His sardonic wit and peculiar surrealism fit in perfectly with A24’s singular brand of quirky but melancholic dramedies about the human condition — and that’s what Coen created here. 

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    Macbeth, whose borrowed robes are taken up by Denzel Washington, and Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) fit in nicely in the indie studio’s pantheon of complicated anti-heroes — Spring Breakers’ Alien, Ex Machina’s Ava, or most aptly Uncut Gems’ Howard. And stylistically the film fits in too. There’s a sort of rhythm to it all where one scene bleeds into the next, sometimes literally. It has the fluid motion of a play but takes advantage of the full scope that film provides. It at equal times feels epic and intimate, sometimes too intimate. Even claustrophobic. 

    The foggy landscapes and cavernous spaces add to the eerie dread-filled atmosphere while the haunting soundscape, aided by Carter Burwell’s menacing score, pushes The Tragedy of Macbeth closer to the psychological horror that it is meant to be. You could not understand a single thing that leaves the actors’ mouths, and sometimes I didn’t, and still be swept up in the emotion of it all. Some of which could be attributed to the performances. 

    While Washington and McDormand do fine work with some of the most iconic monologues ever written — the dagger and damn spot monologues are chilling — it’s the supporting characters that make the greatest impact and make the movie eminently rewatchable. Kathryn Hunter, who plays all three witches using some clever cinematic flourishes, is a dominating presence. Her shapeshifting role, sometimes literally, finds her contorting her body, face, and even her voice in unnatural ways. Her performance, like much of the film, toes the line between a real human monster and a devilish creature. 

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    Alex Hassell’s Ross, a side character with little impact in the text, finds a way to act as the chaotic neutral to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s chaotic evil. His sleek silhouette cinched at the waist, which is the peak of the movie’s costume design by Mary Zophres, slips in and out of corners and shadows like he’s a harbinger, and catalyst, for the dread that is to come. 

    There’s mysticism in all of Shakespeare’s works, even the ones based in history. Whereas other adaptations place magic in the real world, Coen lets magic set the tone for The Tragedy of Macbeth. The way it moves, the way it looks, and the way it feels is otherworldly. Like you’re dropped into the Twilight Zone in the 17th Century.

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  • ‘Nomadland’ finds people on the margins | movie review

    ‘Nomadland’ finds people on the margins | movie review

    Nomadland follows a widow as she tours the west living out of her van with just her fellow nomads for help, company, and strength

    Quick cut: Chloé Zhao makes Nomadland‘s melancholic but hopeful story of nomads traversing the American West a stunningly complex character study of life on the margins of society.

    Chloé Zhao makes Nomadland‘s melancholic but hopeful story of nomads traversing the American West a stunningly complex character study of life on the margins of society.



    It’s often drilled into us from a young age to seek stability. Find a steady job, settle down with someone, buy a house, save your money. So, why do we leave? Why do we stay? What motivates us to keep moving forward—or keep retracing our steps? For the subjects of Chloé Zhao’s new film Nomadland—which was the centerpiece selection at the 58th New York Film Festival—movement is life and staying still is something of a finality. 

    The film, which is adapted from the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, centers on Fern (two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand), a former resident of a Nevada company town called Empire where both she and her late husband worked at a gypsum plant for decades. Following his passing and the collapse of the town after the plant’s closure, Fern takes to the road living out of a van jumping from job to job and nomad settlement to nomad settlement. A “houseless” living as she says instead of homeless.

    In each settlement, she often sees familiar faces of those she’s met before on the road including Dave (David Strathairn), another nomad whose devotion to the lifestyle may be wavering, and a few other characters played by real-life nomads. However, there’s rarely a moment to latch onto—but that doesn’t make them unimportant. McDormand, whose greatest talent is to emote without saying a word, plays across these people and hears their stories. They divulge their reasons for moving—losing a loved one, making the most of their life, making the most of their death—which Fern absorbs with a quiet intensity as she evaluates her own reasons for being.

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    Nomadland is quiet by design. Fern doesn’t speak more than she has to, none of the characters do. It echoes their deep understanding of each other. They know little about each other, but what they do know is they’re all wanderers and that is enough for them to bond together. We explore the small wonders of living on the go—how you use the bathroom, find a place to park for the night, keep warm—but what is more important is the wonders of deciding to live as a nomad in the first place.

    The moment that soars Nomadland to greatness and gives Zhao her greatest argument to be the first woman of color to be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars belongs to a non-professional actor and real-life nomad named Swankie. Charlene Swankie, both the character and person, has a long history on the road. And in the film, she is one of the three mentors that helps Fern in her journey. 

    She recounts to her how she found herself on the road and what it means to her. The heartbreaking but hopeful monologue—I won’t spoil its contents—tells us everything we need to know about being a nomad. It’s what people have done for years to survive and for these people, it’s no different. It casts a melancholy tone over the film, one underlined by Ludovico Einaudi’s stunningly homegrown score and Joshua James Richards’s nostalgic cinematography. Zhao doesn’t chastise her characters for their choice, however, she doesn’t shy away from the trade-offs.

    Nomadland poster
    Nomadland was the centerpiece selection at the 58th New York Film Festival.

    However, it isn’t just survival. There’s joy in the experience. There’s simple joys in every day of living an unattached life. Beneath the melancholy of it all there’s something so primally joyous about watching this group of largely elderly folk enjoy each other’s company around a campfire. It’s almost the antithesis of Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson. In that film, he finds the simple joys in routine and the places and people you see everyday. Nomadland flips it around and finds joy in the fleeting moments between destinations. 

    Underneath it all is the subtext of how the United States has largely failed the working class. The town where Fern lived with her husband, happily—as she works through in an Oscar-worthy monologue, was destroyed because of the 2008 financial crises. Her largely seasonal jobs are unstable and just enough to supplement the little income she receives from social security. Under those circumstances, being a nomad becomes a necessity.

    However, as McDormand delivers in her signature deeply moving but opaque style of performing, it may have been a necessity, but it slowly morphed into a choice. Why participate in a system that isn’t stacked in your favor? In this foreign universe of nomads, we learn why each person moves or stays. More importantly, though, we learn that it’s never for the same reason—and none of those reasons are wrong.

    Nomadland will be released on December 4, 2020.

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  • HBO Max: 10 Great Movies Now Streaming (July 2020)

    HBO Max: 10 Great Movies Now Streaming (July 2020)

    Here is a running list of some of the best movies streaming on HBO Max this month!

    From HBO originals to the DCEU to the Studio Ghibli back catalogue, HBO Max is a film geek’s haven. Here are some of the best movies streaming this month.

    Ad Astra (2019)

    Ad Astra on HBO Max

    Here’s what it’s about: Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) goes on a cross-solar system mission in search of his missing father (Tommy Lee Jones) to prevent the destruction of the planet.

    Why you should watch it: Although its premise sounds like an action-packed sci-fi epic, Ad Astra is more of an internal journey. Director James Gray uses space travel—and all its dangers and unknowns—as a kind of therapy for Pitt’s character. As he explores space, he also explores his own morality and inner traumas.

    Alien (1979)

    What it’s about: Commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. However, after an encounter with a mysterious alien egg, they find themselves fighting for survival aboard their ship.

    Why you should watch it: A masterclass in horror and suspense, Alien remains one of the best science fiction and horror movies ever made. In addition to its lived-in vision of space travel, director Ridley Scott created a cast of iconic characters led by Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. She is still one of cinema’s great heroes.

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    Blood Simple (1984)

    Blood Simple on HBO Max

    Here’s what it’s about: Marty (Dan Hedaya) suspects his wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and his employee Ray (John Getz) are having an affair arranges to have them killed. However, after a series of misunderstandings chaos ensues.

    Why you should watch it: The directorial debut of lauded director duo The Coen Brothers, Blood Simple is simply one of the best first features ever made. A western neo-noir filled with suspense and the Coens’ famous dark humor, its tight plotting and rhythmic pacing make it an entertaining breeze of a watch.

    Catch Me If You Can (2002)

    Catch Me If You Can on HBO Max

    Here’s what it’s about: Based on a true story. Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) is just 19, but has already been a Pan-Am pilot, doctor, and attorney. He’s also the world’s greatest con man. But FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) is on his trail.

    Why you should watch it: The directorial debut of lauded director duo The Coen Brothers, Blood Simple is simply one of the best first features ever made. A western neo-noir filled with suspense and the Coens’ famous dark humor, its tight plotting and rhythmic pacing make it an entertaining breeze of a watch.

    Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

    Kiki's Deliver Service on HBO Max

    Here’s what it’s about: On her 13th birthday, young witch Kiki ventures out to find a town to complete her training. However, when she settles on a town, she learns that fitting in isn’t as easy as it seems.

    Why you should watch it: Kiki’s Delivery Service is quintessential Hayao Miyazaki. He hides complex coming-of-age themes in a fantastical, entertaining, and heartwarming narrative that uses its lack of stakes and adversity as a point of strength and hope.

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    The Nice Guys (2016)

    The Nice Guys on HBO

    Here’s what it’s about: A down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is hired to investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles. Along the way, he crosses paths with muscle-for-hire Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). Together, they uncover a deeper conspiracy that takes them through the LA criminal underbelly.

    Why you should watch it: Director and writer Shane Black has a very specific sense of humor. It’s sharp, a little bit dark, a little bit silly, but it always catches you off guard. The banter between Gosling’s March and Crowe’s Healy is already reason enough to watch it. It’s the classic odd couple dynamic that’s amplified by both actors’ performances. Gosling, in particular, is a riot as a bumbling alcoholic that can never seem to catch a break. Plus, no other actor can scream or fall as hilariously as Gosling.

    Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

    Singin' in the Rain on HBO Max

    What it’s about: Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his best friend Cosmo (Donald O’Connor) are struggling through the transition from silent films to talkies in Hollywood. Especially since his on-screen co-star Lina (Jean Hagen) has a shrill voice. With the help of Kathy (Debbie Reynolds), they make movie magic.

    Why you should watch it: Watching Singin’ in the Rain is like the feeling of a warm embrace of a memory—even if you never watched it before. Filled with bright and brassy musical numbers, hilariously memorable characters, and a Hollywood ending like no other, it’s easily one of the most delightful movies ever made.

    Unfriended (2015)

    Unfriended on HBO Max

    Here’s what it’s about: Six friends gather for a video call on the anniversary of a classmate’s suicide. When they receive a message from her from the grave, a sinister game begins.

    Why you should watch it: Unfriended is a movie I believe we’ll look back on and see an underrated horror classic. Taking the classic slasher format and giving it a modern update by making the setting a skype conversation on a laptop screen, it gives us the spooks and scares we crave by turning our mundane everyday lives into a horror movie. [Full review]

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  • 2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Actress

    2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Actress

    Sally Hawkins, Meryl Streep, and Saoirse Ronan lead the packed field for Best Actress

     

    Best Actress started out as one of the most competitive categories at the Oscars this year, but quickly it looks like we’ve found our five nominees. Of all the categories this year, this is the one I’m most confident in predicting — at least the nominations. As for the winner, it’s going to be one of the hardest to predict. Especially considering that of the five expected nominees four of them appear in a Best Picture frontrunner. A feat that hasn’t happened since 2013 and gets even rarer the further you go back. If it does indeed happen, it would be a great way to cap off a year that has seen the most support for female empowerment in recent memory.

    Still, the Academy is the Academy and that means that the winner of this category is going to most likely be a young, up and coming actress. That bodes well for Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), whose performance in Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut has earned her wide acclaim and won her several critic’s awards along the way. It also doesn’t hurt that her film is one of the most acclaimed of the year and is looking more and more like a viable candidate to win Best Picture. However, it’s not your typical Oscar role. It isn’t the watershed performance that Brie Larson or Jennifer Lawrence won for nor the towering one of Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock. But what she does have going for her is momentum. Between her and Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) the other young and up and coming actress in contention, Ronan is the one that seems to deserve it more at this point in her career. At just 23, she’s looking at her third nomination, is one of the most respected actresses of her age range, and feels overdue despite her young age. If I had to pick a definitive frontrunner, it is her.




    But there are also other performances by veterans that in any other year would beget a win. The most likely of those would be Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water). Despite a silent performance and unconventional film, especially for the Oscars, she quickly emerged as a frontrunner early in the season. And it’s not surprising. Though I was more tepid on the film than most, I was enamored by her performance. It’s easily the most overtly emotional of the contenders. However, it does seem a bit too far outside the Academy’s taste to actually win. Though with the changing demographics, who knows what their taste actually is. What she does have going for her is that she hasn’t won like the two other veterans in the category.

    Anyone who has seen Steven Spielberg’s latest film agrees on one thing. Meryl Streep (The Post) delivers one of the best performances of her career. While I can’t speak to that yet, from what I know about the role, it’s the kind of towering performance that often wins in this category. Plus, it’s a film that empowers its female protagonist, which will certainly play well in our current climate. However, there are a few things that will get in the way of another Oscar on her mantle. First, and probably most importantly, she won in 2011 for The Iron Lady. Though there have been cases with less time between wins, it’s pretty rare to win another trophy so close to another. It usually takes the perfect conditions to win again. In the case of Hillary Swank’s win for Million Dollar Baby, which came just 5 years after her win for Boys Don’t Cry, she didn’t have much feasible competition and her film was a late-breaking juggernaut. The same goes for Jodie Foster. I don’t think Streep has the right conditions to win, plus there are certainly other alternatives to go with. Especially Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).

    Like Streep, her role is about female empowerment and the movie gives her the room to explore that in a larger than life way. If there is a towering performance this year, it’s this one. However, the film has received significant backlash recently, which has diminished the acclaim it received initially. Unless there is a backlash to the backlash, I don’t see an easy path to a win.




    Though I feel pretty confident that these five women are going to be the Best Actress nominees this year. There is always room for a spoiler to surprise in the category. The most vulnerable actress in a contention is probably Robbie, whose film is the most polarizing of the field and will have the least nominations on Oscar nominations morning. If she is pushed out, then Jessica Chastain (Molly’s Game) is most likely to take her spot. She’s an Oscar favorite, landed a Globe nomination (Robbie and Ronan competed in the comedy category), and appears in a film that has received critical acclaim. However, there’s always room for another respected industry veteran like Judi Dench (Victoria & Abdul) or out of left field choice like Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) to surprise.

    Check out all our 2018 Oscar Predictions!

    Current Predictions (1/2/18):

    Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
    Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
    Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
    Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
    Meryl Streep, The Post

    Other Contenders:

    Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game
    Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
    Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman
    Diane Kruger, In the Fade
    Carey Mulligan, Mudbound
    Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes
    Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman
    Kate Winslet, Wonder Wheel

  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri review — Hilarious, but problematic black comedy

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri review — Hilarious, but problematic black comedy

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a bleak black comedy that boasts some of the best performances and writing of any movie this year.

    “Raped while dying.”

    “Still no arrests?”

    “How come, Chief Willoughby?”

    That is what is written on the titular billboards in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. And while it seems like a simple targeted message, the entire small town of Ebbing is sure going to know about it. The reason Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) puts up these billboards — she pays the head of Ebbing Advertising Red (Caleb Landry Jones, wonderful here and earlier this year in Get Out) $5000 a month to erect her message — is because her teenage daughter Angela was raped, murdered, and burned seven months earlier. However, the case went cold and police stopped updating Mildred. It’s not for lack of trying, though. Police Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) reassures Mildred in one scene that they tried finding a DNA match to no avail and eventually reveals he has cancer. However, she continues her crusade saying, “they won’t be as effective after you croak.”

    What Mildred is mad at isn’t the fact that the cops haven’t found the killer, but their complacency in the matter. She even goes as far as saying that they’re “too busy torturing black folks” to solve her daughter’s murder, a fact that is proven true when racist cop Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) mistakenly admits that he did torture a black citizen — he’s borderline incompetent. As other members of the town become involved including Mildred’s son Robbie (Lucas Hedges, who also did great work in Lady Bird), local James (Peter Dinklage), and her friend Denise (Amanda Warren).

    Though Three Billboards starts off as a David versus Goliath story with Mildred pitted against Willoughby and the police department, it quickly becomes clear that there’s no good and bad in this story as morals are tested on all sides. Each scene feels like a scene of a play where two or three characters are simply talking through their situation. At one point a priest comes to visit Mildred to try and convince her to take the billboards down. She launches into an incredible monologue comparing the church to the gangs in L.A. before delivering one of the greatest mic drop lines of the year. Three Billboards gives an outlet for actors to play with these characters and they are performing to the cheap seats.

    Though Three Billboards is steeped in a dry wit that will certainly earn laughs, the comedy is as pitch black as they come. Don’t be mistaken, this is a brutal movie at times, both physically and emotionally for the characters. Though it at times becomes whimsical in its storytelling, it’s rooted in a very real portrait of grief. Mildred is angry and she lets that inform her decisions for better or worse. However, Three Billboards is also a portrait, or microcosm, of a very specific sect of red state America where people say what’s on their minds even though they know word in a small town spreads like a wildfire. It’s an asset to McDonough, who writes dialogue that has to be spoken at a rapid-fire pace. It’s also evident that he has something to say about police and power and violence, specifically how one violent act leads to another before it spirals out of control. However, that message becomes muddled through the movie, which eventually knocks the final act off track.

    The movie’s core, though, is Frances McDormand. No actor is better at letting you in a character’s head but also keeping you out than McDormand. Mildred is unpredictable and brash and McDormand tackles her scenes at a level of intensity that pushes you to the edge of your seat whenever she is on screen. But what makes this a truly great performance is the moments that Mildred is contemplative. It may be a tilt of the head to the ground or the pursing of her lips, but either way, you’re hit with a wave of emotion. You understand what she’s thinking. You can almost read her mind. McDormand is astonishing. It is her best performance since Fargo, perhaps of her career.

    That’s not to take away from the rest of the cast. This movie is an ensemble film and every actor gets their moment. Jones, Harrelson, and Hedges all do fantastic work, but the clear standout supporting player is Sam Rockwell. While Mildred stays fiery but broken throughout, Dixon goes on a full arc beginning in one place and ending up nowhere you’d expect. However, it tracks. McDonough is calculating where he takes Dixon and Rockwell is there to hit every single beat. He plays him as a one-note comic relief character that you truly despise. Not only for his actions but for the way that he carries himself. He’s the last character you’d expect to undergo a real solid development, but Rockwell convinces you that there is depth to Dixon, even when he seems hopeless.

    However, therein lies the problem with the film. Rockwell’s character is given room to redeem himself, but there are some truly despicable things he does that aren’t addressed. On top of that, the black characters in the film are completely pushed to the periphery — the black man that Dixon tortured is never seen, Mildred’s friend and a good samaritan are given no development. Even Mildred’s daughter, who is the victim of the heinous crime, is a plot device. There never really is a commentary on race or sexual assault. It’s almost apolitical. Still, the film is well-made enough to be a perfectly good character study, but it is certainly problematic.

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri isn’t an indictment of the complacency of police or anger-driven revenge. It doesn’t judge any of its characters, even though some of them do truly despicable things. McDonough mixes on-the-ground realism with a stinging black humor that makes the characters seem larger than life. But thanks to some incredible performances, no character seems outlandish. By the end, you understand them. Beneath the hilarity of it all or the bleakness of the situation, there’s real humanity in watching people navigate a hard time in life. The crime that the billboards are meant to bring attention to is not the center of the movie. Instead, it’s the people surrounding the crime that it is interested in. And I’d take a bleak character study over a crime thriller any day.

    ★★★½ out of 5



    Watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri on Amazon!