It's the smaller films that are the new arrivals this week. That's normal for early January. Biggies like Avatar 2 are spread out in the theaters and people are catching up, maybe watching the Oscar contenders. Just in time too. The first major awards show is almost here. The Golden Globes are on TV Tuesday evening and the top nominees, The Banshees of Inisherin and the multiverse of Everything Everywhere all at Once, are each a must-see to get ready.
Avatar, Top Gun and Black Panther Wakanda all have two nominations each.
And Warner Brothers is pushing Elvis for awards. One tactic is new: they'll give free admission to a screening on Sunday. It's in 10 cities across North America. Two in Canada, Toronto and Vancouver, both at 5 in the afternoon. Find out more and how with this link: https://wbtickets.com/main/blp/c2VlRWx2aXNCaXJ0aGRheQ==
It would be his 88th birthday but, of course, we know he only made it to age 42.
Meanwhile, it's interesting that a subject that's rare in the movies, climate change, figures in two films this week. And another rarity, a gay romantic comedy (Spoiler Alert) is now available on demand.
Oh there's the usual early-in-the-year horror movie: M3GAN is from a company that doesn't preview widely.
However, these were accessible to write about:
The Pale Blue Eye : 2 ½ stars
The Rig: 3 ½
The Last of the Right Whales
The Old Way: 3
THE PALE BLUE EYE: Perhaps you're attracted to another murder mystery movie after consuming the bright fun of The Glass Onion on Netflix. This one is on there too but is far different. It's not sunny and light. It's dour and cold, set in a snowy winter in New York state sometime in the 1800s . And it's slow and methodical, much like the working method of a detective (Christian Bale) brought in to solve a murder at West Point, the military academy. A cadet is found hanging from a tree but horrors, his heart has been surgically removed. Is there an occult group around? A professor (Robert Duvall) gives some credence to the theory thanks to his studies and a massive book in his library. The detective adopts the same thinking although a cadet he allies with says the murderer is likely a poet.
About there the film goes wonky. The cadet is Edgar Allan Poe, who actually did spend some time at West Point. He's played by Harry Melling (familiar from the Harry Potter films) and is effective here, not creepy but mysterious.
Many other actors you'll recognize are in here, including Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney and Timothy Spall. They create a convincing milieu just by being there. So does the art direction. But the story is gimmicky. It twists the usual rules of murder mysteries and asks you to accept an extra surprise after it seems to have solved everything. And what is that occult angle? Scott Cooper directed, the third time he's worked with Bale, who is solid but prosaic. (Netflix) 2 ½ out 5
THE RIG: Here's an example that shows just how much issues like climate change have oozed into popular entertainment. Not fully. This series has a large supernatural element but it's got a science officer who warns against drilling for fossil fuels, another who says we've abused the earth and no wonder it's fighting back, and another says we're in danger now because we haven't listened. Mass extinction is a major talking point. All that is ever around in this thriller set on an oil rig in the North Sea. It's a six part series from Scotland.
It doesn't lecture—the environmental talk adds depth to a survival adventure. The crew on the oil drilling rig are suddenly cut off. A thick fog forms around them. Radio contact is cut off. Lights in the distance are dim, where another rig seems to be. Everything out there is dark and gloomy. The fog also brings a rain of ash particles that seems to carry a parasite and makes crew members sick. At least one becomes delirious, shouting that “It's coming.” What that is will be debated at length. The captain (Iain Glen) is trying to preserve morale. The science officer (Emily Hampshire) is trying to analyze the ash. Crew members are trying to dismantle equipment. A boat arrives but it's not the coast guard. It brings a character who says he's from the other rig and is an officer with the company. But he (Mark Addy) doesn't show up on the staff computer. It's a mystery that keeps growing and will keep you engaged as the debates rage. Also notable is the look: large industrial machinery and settings add to a very real ambiance of claustrophobia and paranoia. (Prime Video) 3 ½ out of 5
LAST OF THE RIGHT WHALES: Here's the second environmental film I mentioned. I've seen this story in a film that came around before, but I don't know if it was this one. Still, it's sure to be worth checking out. Other people have praised it and the subject is compelling. It tells of the plight of one species of whales and the people trying to save it. Some of them are with one of its biggest threats: the fishing industry.
The North Atlantic right whale is down to about 400 animals these days. The species can't reproduce fast enough to prevent extinction, while boat traffic and entangelement in fishing lines are killing them, as climate change is forcing them to migrate further north. Nadine Pequeneza's film explains it all, listens to activists, photographers and researchers (even some fishermen) who are trying to help and with beautiful film takes us close up to them. Particularly endearing is the sight of one mother, dubbed Snow Cone, training her calf. CBC's The Nature of Things is showing a one-hour version tonight (Jan 6) and then a half-hour longer version on CBC Gem.
THE OLD WAY: Nicolas Cage seems to be touring the genres these days. He'll be doing Dracula next. Here he's a gunslinger, now settled down but forced back into action for revenge. It's a true western, not one of those revisionist things. It's like the title says and even has a gun-toting confrontation in a main street. Not exactly like in films of old, but close.
He kills a man in the film's opening scene. The man's young son sees and 20 years later, grown up and played by a smirking Noah Le Gros, arrives at his ranch while he's away and kills his wife. The film tries to keep us guessing about the connection but we know it long before it tells it. The plot doesn't trying anything new. It gives us what we're expecting and know is coming.
Well, except for one novelty: he has a 12-year-old daughter and takes her along as he pursues the killer and the men with him. He teaches her to shoot and well, she'll be called on to do that eventually. A marshall, who is also after those men, is no help at all. The daughter, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, is winsome but capable. Cage is gruff but (uncharacteristically for him) restrained. It's his first western. There's atmosphere and suspense and fans of the genre should look out for it. It starts in US theaters today and hits video on demand next week. 3 out of 5
Comments