I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the fiery “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the crime drama “Dead Man’s Wire” and the shake, rattle and roll of “The Testament of Ann Lee.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the fiery “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the crime drama “Dead Man’s Wire” and the shake, rattle and roll of “The Testament of Ann Lee.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, “Dead Man’s Wire” stars Bill Skarsgård as a man who takes matters into his own hands when he becomes convinced his bank schemed to financially ruin his life. “This loan company’s done me wrong,” he says.
CAST: Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Colman Domingo, and Al Pacino. Directed by Gus Van Sant.
REVIEW: Echoes of gritty 1970s cinema flow through “Dead Man’s Wire,” bringing back memories of classic character driven crime dramas like “Dog Day Afternoon.”
Set in 1977 Indianapolis, the story unfolds as Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) shows up at the Meridian Mortgage Company demanding a meeting with its president M.L. Hall (Al Pacino). A regular visitor, he’s welcomed in by Hall’s son, mortgage broker Richard (Dacre Montgomery), who agrees to the meeting in his father’s absence.
In Hall’s office Kiritsis reveals the real reason for his visit. “This loan company’s done me wrong,” he says. “They set me up and schemed to ruin my life.” Kiritsis claimed his plan to develop a 17-acre piece of land into a shopping center was sabotaged by M.L. Hall, leaving him unable to pay back a $130,000 loan. Now, he’s demanding restitution in the amount of $5 million and an apology.
Rasing the stakes, Kiritsis takes Richard hostage, with a sawed-off shotgun wired with a “dead man’s wire” from the trigger, a booby-trap designed to fire and kill the hostage if Kiritsis is shot or released pressure.
A mix of social commentary and crime, “Dead Man’s Wire” is an urgent, tautly told story of desperation and anti-capitalism. Although set in 1977, in the post Luigi Mangione world the distrust of institutions feels timely. Strip away the wide collars and bell-bottomed jeans and replace with contemporary fashion, the story would feel very much of the moment.
The no-frills pleasure of this retelling of the tale allows Skarsgård to pull focus as the jittery Kiritsis. He manages something remarkable within the performance, lacing unlikely humor into his portrayal of a desperate man making unreasonable demands, but more than that, he makes Kiritsis sympathetic. That’s tough to do when the person he shares most of his scenes with has a shotgun strapped to his head, but Skarsgård plays him not as a bad man, but a man who has run out of options. A guy who just wants respect and is willing to go to extremes to earn it. He’s part everyman, part goofy anti-hero and part folk hero to anyone who has ever felt like they’ve received unfair treatment from any large entity.
It’s no coincidence that Al Pacino, star of “Dog Day Afternoon,” is in the cast of “Dead Man’s Wire” as echoes of Sonny Wortzik, the character he played in that film, reverberate throughout Skarsgård’s performance.
“Dead Man’s Wire” is an entertaining film, with a charismatic lead performance and a stranger-than-fiction story that moves like a rocket, stopping only to showcase the desperation and heartache that inspired Kiritsis’s outrageous actions.
SYNOPSIS: In “Swiped,” a new biopic starring Lily James and now streaming on Disney+, Whitney Wolfe uses intelligence and tenacity to navigate the sexist world of the male-dominated tech industry on her way to becoming the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
CAST: Lily James, Dan Stevens, Myha’la, Jackson White, Ben Schnetzer, Pierson Fodé, Clea Duvall, Pedro Correa, Ian Colletti, Coral Peña. Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg.
REVIEW: The biopic “Swiped,” the story of tech visionary Whitney Wolfe (Lily James), who founded the online dating platform Bumble, swipes left when it comes to aspiring to being anything other than a Wikipedia page come to life on screen.
As formulaic as its subject is innovative, “Swiped” begins with Wolfe struggling to get a foot in the door of the tech industry. Before she was voted one of the “50 Women Who Are Changing the World” she as an aspiring tech guru whose big break came after a chance encounter with dating app entrepreneur Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer).
Her input on the launch of dating app Tinder—she created the name and ignited interest for the app on college campuses—vaults her into the company’s executive suite and a relationship with company co-founder Justin Mateen (Jackson White).
When their relationship goes sideways, she leaves the company she helped make successful amid lawsuits and allegations of sexual harassment.
Leaving the misogyny of Tinder behind, she creates Bumble, a dating app that rights the wrongs of the Tinder experience and will eventually make her the world’s youngest female billionaire.
Lily James, who also produces, is fine in the lead role as an in-control woman who will not be overlooked by the men in her work life. She’s let down, however, by a paint-by-numbers script that touches on hot button topics like sexism and misogyny in the tech industry and the superficial nature of hook-up culture. Both are lobbed into the story mix but only in the most superficial of ways. What is meant to be a story of empowerment, innovation and resilience gets overshadowed by the film’s eagerness to inspire.
Lacking the drama of “The Social Network” or “Steve Jobs,” other films that have tread similar ground, “Swiped” is as standard as biopics get.
“Leave the World Behind,” a new end of the world drama starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and Myha’la, now streaming on Netflix, is a strange tale of how people become friends in trying times and the power of the sitcom “Friends.”
Based on the 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam, the movie sees Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as A-type Amanda and go-with-the-flow Clay, New Yorkers and parents to teenagers Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). On a whim Amanda rents a luxury weekend retreat in Long Island, to get away from the stresses of the city.
“I figured if I made the reservation and packed our bags,” Amanda says, “it would eliminate most of the reasons to say no.”
They arrive to find a beautiful modernist home waiting for them, complete with interesting art, a lavish gift basket and an inviting pool in the backyard. It’s a paradise, although Rose, who has been binging “Friends” online, is annoyed that the spotty wi fi is preventing her from watching the last episode of the series. But that’s nothing that some fresh air and a dip in the pool can’t fix.
“Oh, this is nice,” Clay says. “The kids look so happy.”
Later that night, after dinner with lots of wine and well after nightfall, the doorbell rings. “Get a bat,” says the edgy Amanda. At the door are strangers G.H. Scott (Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la), who apologize for stopping by so late. “We were driving back to the city,” G.H. says, “then something happened.”
G.H. owns the home, and wants to spend the night in safety with his daughter. Turns out there is a blackout, or something happening in the city. With no internet, radio or television service, there is no way to know for sure what is going on. Amanda is immediately suspicious.
“Something is happening,” she says. “I don’t trust them.”
But, as strange things begin to happen, trust becomes essential if they are to survive.
Despite its luxurious trappings, “Leave the World Behind” is as bleak as any movie we are likely to see this year. It’s a “Twilight Zonesque” story that comments not only on societal collapse, but our reaction to it, and, as usual, the human aspect is the monstrous part. The idea of a cyberattack is scary enough, but the aftermath, the ripple effect of how humanity deals with implosion, is truly terrifying. While there are some scenes that approach action—planes dropping from the sky, an oil tanker that runs aground, and aspects of nature gone wild—this is a psychological drama with very high stakes.
After a slow start, director Sam Esmail heaps on the tension, ensuring the audience and the characters are on an equal plane. We don’t know anything more than they do, so we speculate along with them. It’s a clever ploy to draw the viewer into the story, to personalize the situation, and make us wonder what we would do in a similar situation.
An edgy score by composer Mac Quayle adds to the feeling of unease, but it is the performances that drive it home. It’s a character study in how these audience proxies respond, whether it is with racism, violence, greed or down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.
Roberts plays against type, edgy and racist, a coiled spring ready to unwind at any moment. Amanda wears her biases on her sleeve, seemingly unaware of the power of her words. She’s oblivious to her micro and macro aggressions, a misanthrope who excuses her behaviour with a simple mantra: “I hate people.” Plus, the look on her face when G.H. calls the couple’s Brooklyn N.Y. neighborhood is “affordable” is a highlight.
The script offers more subtlety to Hawke. Ruth says he looks like the kind of guy things come easily to. But when he is faced with real crisis, he is forced to make an extraordinary confession: “I am a useless man.” In finely tuned work, Hawke calibrates the performance, allowing desperation to sink in bit by bit until there is nothing left but fear and helplessness.
The movie really finds its feet, however, when G.H. Scott and Ruth emerge. Their appearance sets the action in motion, and introduces the film’s two most interesting characters.
G.H. is a bit of a man of mystery. Suave and obviously very wealthy, he has a gravitas that makes him an oasis of calm, but as the story progresses, it’s clear he knows more than he is letting on. He’s the only character who seems to understand the big picture, and is the conduit by which the movie fully explores the issues of technology’s stranglehold on the world, trust, race, class and international intrigue. Ali pulls off a neat trick, giving G.H. warmth and empathy, while building tension with the character’s fundamental unknowability.
The two daughters, Ruth and Rose are polar opposites. As Ruth, Myha’la is spirited, unwilling to put up with Amanda’s passive aggressive prejudice, while Mackenzie is a wide-eyed innocent, more concerned with what happens to Rachel and Ross on her favorite show, than the collapse of society.
The film tackles many big subjects, but is most compelling when it zeroes in on the interpersonal interactions between the two families, set against the backdrop of a divided America.
“Leave the World Behind” is an elegant post-apocalyptic film that asks far more questions than it answers. It is thought provoking, but the ending (which I loved) may leave some viewers wishing for more.
