A Photo of Elizabeth Banks Taking Care of Her Skin (CREDIT: IFC Films)
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Michael Jaé Rodriguez, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Nathan Fillion, John Billingsley, Medalion Rahimi, Wendie Malick
Director: Austin Peters
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Rating: R for Unwanted Dick Pics and Things Spinning Violently Out of Control
Release Date: August 16, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: The skincare business is brutal, especially if you’re Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks). She’s already one of the biggest names in the industry, but as she gets ready to elevate things to the next level, she becomes the victim of some rather extreme sabotage. Her email is hacked, scary people start showing up at her door, and she’s sent a series of unsolicited sexts that leave little to the imagination. It certainly doesn’t help that she’s behind on her rent and that she’s spending beyond her means. She suspects that her new rival (Luis Gerardo Méndez) who just opened a store in the same complex is the one behind it all. But the truth may just be a little more sinister and impenetrable than that.
What Made an Impression?: You Can Lose ‘Em All: Is Hope by any chance related to Job from the Book of Job? That’s as viable an explanation as any that I can surmise to explain all the misfortune befalling her. In addition to the harassment campaign, seemingly every straight man she meets makes an unwanted pass at her, while all of her most loyal clients abandon her one by one. She does bear some responsibility for her dire straits, as she doesn’t exactly have the soundest business model for her current situation, while her efforts for vengeance are misguided, to say the least. But the unceasing tribulation she faces is nothing short of cosmically massive and inescapable. Was It All a Bad Dream?: There’s something about modern Los Angeles (or at least the version of the city that often ends up on film) that feels perpetually stuck in the 1980s: the blindingly lit-up aesthetic, the artificial peacocking, the greedy Me Decade vibes. Skincare is clearly set in the present day (or at least the past 15 years or so), what with its use of smartphones and ubiquitous email communication. But by situating itself in an industry that still relies on hawking its wares via channels that had their heyday decades ago, there is a surreal out-of-time quality to Hope’s misadventures. Plus, the whole fact that lotions and creams feel like they should be too low-stakes for an unrelenting thriller only further ramps up the cognitive dissonance. Banks’ knack for becoming existentially harried is the perfect fit for grounding us in this nightmarish realm. As someone who suffers from perpetually dry skin, I’m certainly invested in justice being served, and the unreality of it all rings painfully true.
Skincare is Recommended If You Like: A woman suddenly stopping as she realizes that she’s being followed
We all go a little Cuckoo sometimes (CREDIT: NEON)
Starring: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Greta Fernández, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Konrad Singer, Proschat Madani, Kalin Morrow
Director: Tilman Singer
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Rating: R for Language Bloody, Reality-Altering Violence
Release Date: August 9, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: 17-year-old American Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) is summoned to the German Alps to live with her father Luis (Marton Csokas), stepmom Beth (Jessica Henwick) and little half-sister Alma (Mila Lieu), but she’s skeptical of the whole situation. And rightly so. She gets a job at the local hotel, which proves to be much less low-key than she was expecting when she’s chased home by a mysterious woman. (Or was it a woman?) Then there’s Herr König (Dan Stevens), who might just be running the town as his own personal experiment. Gretchen seems to be alone in recognizing how surreal everything is, besides a detective (Jan Bluthardt) who recruits her into an investigation into what König is really up to. And the truth probably isn’t what anybody is expecting.
What Made an Impression?: The Adults Aren’t Alright: Teenage angst and horror go hand-in-hand. But interestingly enough, none of the scares in Cuckoo are really derived from Gretchen’s internal disposition. There’s a running thread about her failing to get a hold of her Mom back in the U.S., which is plenty distressing on its own. But if Gretchen is the most tormented character in this movie, then that means that she’s also the most reasonable. Her father tells her to just knock it off and behave, but that’s not the sort of parenting she needs right now. Also, he might have been brainwashed by the machinations of Herr König, whom Stevens plays as the ultimate over-the-top mustache-twirling mad scientist. The detective is the most clear-eyed of all the adults about what’s actually happening, but even he is a little too erratic for Gretchen to get close to. We all learn eventually that grown-ups are more or less making it up as they go along, and Gretchen’s realization about that is exponentially starker than most.
Playing God vs. Finding Family: To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, there is only one thing in this world more difficult than accurately describing Cuckoo while avoiding spoilers, and that is accurately describing Cuckoo while not avoiding spoilers. Maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, but this is definitely a bizarre, unique vision that I’m still processing. For those eager to experience the thrills on display, I’ll offer some hints by asking you to think about the bird referenced in the title and then imagining what a humanoid hybrid of such a creature would be like. As it turns out, little Alma is the key to that endeavor. Gretchen isn’t exactly an ideal big sister at the beginning of the movie, but her life-threatening journey sure helps her discover what family really means. That proves to be decent enough motivation to deliver what Cuckoo is selling.
Cuckoo is Recommended If You Like: Rosemary’s Baby, Splice, Déjà vu (The sensation, not the movie)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams
Director: Shawn Levy
Running Time: 128 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: July 26, 2024 (Theaters)
I’m going to review the super-duper self-aware blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine and the indie horror Oddity together right now. Isn’t that odd?! Maybe I’ll uncover some unexpected connection between them.
Starring: Izaac Wang, Shirley Chen, Joan Chen, Chang Li Hua, Raul Dial, Aaron Chang, Mahaela Park, Chiron Cilia Denk, Montay Boseman, Sunil Mukherjee Maurillo, Alaysia Simmons, Alysha Syed, Georgie August
Director: Sean Wang
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: R for Teens Dabbling in Adult Language and Behavior
Release Date: July 26, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s the summer of 2008 in California, and Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) is learning how to be who he’s going to be for the rest of his life. That’s just how it goes when you’re 13 years old. If you, like Chris and writer-director Sean Wang, grew up in the United States in the 90s and early 2000s, then you’ll instantly recognize a lot of the hallmarks of this period, particularly if you’re also of Taiwanese descent. Chris has a crew of close-knit buds, a crush on a cute girl, and a budding knack for skateboarding and amateur videography. But his home life is a little contentious, and he struggles with frequent feelings of aimlessness and uncertainty.
What Made an Impression?: Only Early Aughts Kids Will Understand:Dìdi doesn’t state outright what year it takes place in, but it doesn’t have to, so long as you notice that one of Chris’ Facebook friends posts an update about seeing The Dark Knight a half-dozen times. That was the era when adolescence was forming in the midst of nascent social media, with YouTube emerging alongside Facebook, and MySpace and AOL Instant Messenger letting out their last gasps. Chris and his friends are still using the latter regularly, which struck me as odd, because I seem to remember that form of communication being rendered obsolete by texting. And the kids in this movie do indeed have phones. Nevertheless, the interfaces and textures are recreated uncannily to capture this bygone digital life. I’m sure some viewers will find themselves wistful for this time, but Chris’ drawer full of Livestrong bracelets makes it clear that you can never go back. Are the Kids All Right?: Fair warning to anyone who can’t help but become emotionally invested in every movie you watch: Dìdi is liable to leave your stomach and heart in knots. Suffice to say, I’m worried about Chris. But is that just because he’s a 13-year-old going through something, or could there be a larger crisis looming? He struggles to say the right thing around his new and old friends, he’s inexplicably cruel to the girl that he has his eye on, and he’s pretty callous toward his mom (Joan Chen). Again, this isn’t terribly atypical behavior for someone Chris’ age. But whenever there’s a quiet moment on his face, you can’t help but wonder if there’s something darker boiling underneath the surface. The movie ends on a relatively hopeful note, but that reprieve might only be temporary. If Chris reminds you of anyone in your own life, please tell them that you love them.
TV
–Gods of Tennis Docuseries Premiere (July 23 on PBS) – Jimmy, Chrissie, Arthur, Björn, Johnny Mac, Billie Jean, Martina.
Music
–Childish Gambino, Bando Stone & the New World – Apparently his last album, at least as CG.
-Deep Purple, =1
-Glass Animals, I Love You So F***ing Much
(from left) Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Javi (Anthony Ramos) and Tyler (Glen Powell) in Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Patton, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, David Corenswet, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O’Brian
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Windborne Injuries
Release Date: July 19, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?:Twisters, the legacyquel to 1996’s Twister, is the movie that dares to ask the question: what if there were MORE than one tornado? Honestly, though, wasn’t there already more than one in the first edition? Maybe I’m misremembering, but I’m pretty sure that tornadoes are generally not something that happens in total isolation. Regardless, Twisters is basically positing a once-in-a-generation confluence of as many tornadoes as have ever been observed. Hot on their tail are meteorologist Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), her storm chasing colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos), and peacocking YouTube storm chaser Tyler Owens (Glen Powell). Along the way, there might just be some romance, and maybe even a bit of humanitarian aid.
What Made an Impression?: You’ve Climate Changed, Man: After a bravura opening sequence that ends with the loss of a few of Kate and Javi’s fellow chasers, the fallout cuts ahead five years, with Kate working an office job in New York City and Javi tracking her down for a new and exciting opportunity. These moments have a vibe that suggest that they’re outside of harm’s way in the city, but anyone who’s lived in the mid-Atlantic U.S. in the past few years is all too aware of how tornado territory has been expanding more and more lately. Any ecological disaster movie can easily be read as a warning about climate change, but Twisters doesn’t have to take it to extremes. The storms may be deadly, but they’re too believable to feel like a roller coaster. With that in mind, this is more like a speculative documentary than a work of fiction. Don’t Forget the People: Is Twisters ashamed of itself? Or is it just feeling a little guilty? That’s the sense I gather from scenes of the chasers offering food and water to the people who have been in harm’s way in the paths of the tornadoes. I don’t think it would have been irresponsible to leave these moments out, but Joseph Kosinski’s script apparently disagrees. Maybe it could have gone even further and transformed the entire movie into a Tornado Relief Telethon halfway through. That certainly would have been more predictable than what we got, which is competent, but also kind of quotidian.
Twisters is Recommended If You Like: Finding a soul beneath the YEEHAW!
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