Jeffrey Wright

American Fiction

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  • Title: American Fiction
  • IMDb: link

American Fiction

American Fiction would be a fun paring with The TV Set or Yesterday as a double feature. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a lonely professor and struggling novelist whose work is often dismissed for not being black enough. After a dust up with a student forces an involuntary leave from the school, and while trying to avoid family drama he’s not ready for, an angry and bitter Monk writes a novel under a pseudonym mercilessly parodying the worst black stereotypes only to find publishers and even movie producers lining up for My Pafology.

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The Batman

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Batman
  • IMDb: link

Save me from early-career Batman films. For once, can’t I just get a Batman at the height of his physical and mental prowess (in a movie that doesn’t star George Clooney)? Sadly, that’s not what’s in store with Matt Reeves‘ stylish The Batman taking place during the second year of Batman‘s (Robert Pattinson) run as a now police sanctioned, but certainly not beloved, vigilante. Reeves hits on themes of class struggle and the effects of loss (specifically being orphaned) and how these affect the three main characters in the film in different ways. While that works as a sociology experiment, it’s not the most entertaining main theme for a Batman movie. But, hey, it’s got a new Batmobile!

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The French Dispatch

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  • Title: The French Dispatch
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director Wes Anderson‘s latest is a quirky ensemble piece set around the final issue of the fictional French Dispatch circular from the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun in which each of the magazine’s stories, all taking place in and around the equally fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé, are acted out for the audience. The reason for the final issue is the unexpected death of its editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray, who appears in flashbacks).

The film starts out strong with Owen Wilson‘s short piece on the town as a bicycling reporter followed by J.K.L. Berensen’s (Tilda Swinton) more lengthy article about a murderer (Benicio Del Toro) finding artistic talent in prison with the help of one of the prison guards (an often nude Léa Seydoux) who becomes his muse. Both Del Toro and Sydoux are terrific here, and Adrien Brody adds some fun as a white-collar criminal who works to try and make money of the talented, but moody, artist.

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No Time to Die

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: No Time to Die
  • IMDb: link

Daniel Craig‘s tenure as British Secret Agent James Bond comes to an end as the troubled No Time to Die (first delayed by a director swap then by COVID) finally makes it into theaters. More than Craig’s last film, the four writers credited to the film set out to make it Bond’s last film creating a scenario where Craig both begins (Casino Royale) and ends Bond’s legacy. For those agree that Craig is the definitive Bond, the choice may be easier to swallow than those of us who believe, at best, he ranks third or fourth in a franchise spanning nearly 60 years.

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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • IMDB: link

extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close-dvdBased on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close follows the search of nine year-old with Asberger’s Syndrome who finds a key in his father’s (Tom Hanks) possessions and embarks on the kind of adventure his father used to create for him before his death on 9/11.

Oskar Schell’s (Thomas Horn) adventure takes him all over New York in an attempt to find a man or woman with the last name of Black who may be the only person who knows what lock the key fits. Over the course of his search Oskar meets several people including the mysterious mute renter (Max von Sydow) of his grandmother’s (Zoe Caldwell), who Oskar begins taking with him on his search.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is too cute for its own good. Although similar in the type of story told in Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated (one of my favorite films of 2005) director Stephen Daldry struggles with framing the tale.

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