Evan D. I can’t even count how many times I’ve typed some variation of the phrase “This is the perfect film for the coronavirus moment.” When an event so imbues itself into the day to day consciousness, it begins to color the way we see the world. Art takes on a new, perhaps unintended, meaning. Dick Johnson is Dead, a moving piece of personal filmmaking under any circumstance, becomes something much more profound in the context of a global pandemic.
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Evan D. When the coronavirus pandemic forced theaters across the United States to close, Disney’s much anticipated remake of Mulan was less than 2 weeks from releasing. Just one week before it had premiered to LA critics and mildly positive reviews. As is the case for most of us, 2020 has become an unmitigated disaster for Mulan.
Evan D. Keanu Reeves (left) and Alex Winter (right) in Bill & Ted Face The Music Back in 1989 a pair of intrepid teens, who were definitely not stoners, left San Dimas to embark on a most excellent adventure. Had Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) used their time machine to travel to 2020, they likely would have been shocked by what they found. No, I don’t mean the once in a century pandemic, the global economic collapse, or even the massive popularity of Justin Bieber and Post Malone. Bill and Ted would have arrived in 2020 to find their lives on the brink. Had the young Wyld Stallyns dropped in on the event’s of Bill & Ted Face the Music would they have been disappointed in themselves?
Evan D. Bill Clinton. Samuel Alito. Dick Cheney. Rush Limbaugh. This uniquely craven group of political thinkers are among the first faces seen in the new Apple TV+ documentary ‘Boys State.’ (Apologies to Cory Booker, another former Boys State alumnus shown who seems like a genuine guy.) Perhaps it’s the first warning that the titular program doesn’t exist to give the youth of America a chance to explore representative democracy so much as it does to train a new generation in how to game the US political system. “Democracy isn’t a spectator sport” reads the film’s tagline, but what if it is?
Evan D. From the start of nationwide lockdowns in the face of COVID-19, many a film has been declared ‘The Perfect Pandemic Film.’ In a lot of ways it makes sense. At a time where so many are feeling isolated, as the days blend together in a never ending stream, its natural to look to movies as a method of escape. In the early days it was ‘Contagion’ that helped contextualize the burgeoning threat. Soon after, ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ hit Hulu and showed a tender side of isolation. ‘Hamilton,’ ‘Eurovision,’ ‘Da 5 Bloods’ all brought us together as a film viewing community. Each of these qualities have felt essential in their own moment.
Evan D. Imagine, you’re seated in a dark theater, the final previews have come to a close and the screen lights up with the outlines of a cat’s face in the clouds. Suddenly the evil magic cat Macavity appears beside you and in a flash you’ve been transported to a barge on the river Thames. Sure Macavity and his evil henchman (henchcat?) might force you to walk the plank, but this is still certainly a better fate than sitting through even a moment more of Tom Hooper’s ‘Cats.’
Evan D. As has become something of a tradition in his career, Clint Eastwood is back to make a late-year Oscar push. Although the strategy has produced diminishing returns — with the exception of 2014’s American Sniper — since Million Dollar Baby cleaned up at the 05 Oscars, the film world still holds its breath for what Eastwood will do in December. Maybe they shouldn’t.
Evan D. Making a movie about Fred Rogers is a daunting task. Millions of Americans grew up in the Neighborhood and even now, nearly 20 years from his program’s final episode, Mister Rogers remains an almost universally beloved figure. All this to say that the bar was set awfully high for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The film more than clears that bar. It excels for two specific reasons: Tom Hanks and Marielle Heller.
Evan D. Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone) appears on screen for less than 10 minutes in a film that bears his last name. James Mangold’s new racing epic may be called Ford v Ferrari but the famous Italian super car designer is hardly the foil this title would seem to indicate. Instead the real battle taking place is between bureaucracy and individuality.
Ford v Ferrari tells the story of the Ford Motor Company’s attempt to defeat the dominant Ferrari racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. In reality though the rivalry between Ferrari and Henry Ford II (Tracey Letts) is just the background for a tale about Caroll Shelby (Matt Damon,) Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and the internal roadblocks they faced creating a car to compete with Ferrari. Evan D. Money holds a certain power in the modern world. If you don’t have it then in infiltrates every thought, every decision. Each dollar has a direct effect on wether you and your family survive another day. But when a person has money it elevates them above such things. It not only lifts them from poverty but insulates them from the impoverished they left behind, sometimes literally. Never has this disparity been more eloquently displayed on screen than in Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite.’
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