Author Archives: Leonard Wilson

Emilia Pérez (dir by Jacques Audiard)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

The Best Picture Winner at the Oscars usually is a film that either soared above the rest or had enough power in it’s story that you couldn’t help but be moved. James Cameron’s Titanic may not have had the tightest story in the world (I still argue that L.A. Confidential was worthy enough), but it was impressive for the time. We all know The Shawshank Redemption could have easily won Best Picture, but Forrest Gump did so some amazing things that year as well. I love All That Jazz, but can understand how Kramer vs. Kramer scooped Best Picture. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once may have been a strange winner, but it was moving enough (at least for me, anyway) to enjoy it and feel it was deserving. Then, of course, you get Crash, which still makes me scratch my head to this day.

Netflix’s Emilia Perez was a surprise hit at the Golden Globes. It’s also managed to pick up 13 Academy Award Nominations. As we’re covering the Oscar Nominated films, I decided to give it a run and went in blind. The most I knew about the film was Zoe Zaldana sang and danced, and that it was a something of a musical. It’s a mixed bag, though. On the one hand, you have great performances from Zaldana (who I’ve enjoyed since Drumline) and Karla Sofia Gascon, along with a solid tale. On the other hand, the musical elements of it are awkward. I think of all the songs featured, there may have been 2 or three that struck a chord for me (“Lady” – I loved how the Doctor and Rita share a counterpoint verse and “Papa”, left me misty eyed). I really felt like this could be a stronger film if they took the music out of it, but I also have to wonder if the decision to make this a musical was director Jacques Audiard’s way of dipping a hard to swallow pill for some – a sex change – in chocolate to make it taste better. If that’s the case, they should have hired better musicians, really. The music wasn’t helping, despite how well everyone’s participation was. 

Rita (Zaldana) is a lawyer in Mexico, unhappy with a system that forces her to defend people who are clearly breaking the law (if not slightly bending it). She is kidnapped and introduced to an extremely wealthy cartel boss named Manitas (Gascon), who has undergone the hormone prerequisites for gender transition surgery. Manitas hires Rita to find a doctor who will perform the surgery, while at the same time, secures a safe place and new life for Manitas’ wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building) and their two children. Rita’s reluctant at first, but does the due diligence, securing a doctor and brushing up on medical terms. She meets the goals and is paid incredibly well for it. 

Moving ahead roughly 4 to 5 years later, Rita finds herself in familiar circles when she meets Emilia Perez. After some introductions, Emilia has another job for Rita – to help reunite Emilia with her children. This seems easy at first, with Perez’s near limitless funds, but some complications arise in the form of Jessi’s new boyfriend, Gustavo (Edgar Ramirez, Bright). Can Emilia find a way to live her new life while still holding on to elements of the past? How far will Rita go to keep things running smoothly?

Historically, transexual characters in cinema isn’t anything new. We’ve had Chris Sarandon’s Leon in 1975’s Dog Day Afternoon, Hillary Swank in 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry, Jaye Davidson in 1992’s The Crying Game. Emilia Perez is a bit different in having a transgender actor play a transgender character. Was it any more effective to cast the film this way? I’d argue that it was. In some ways, it’s like watching Joel Grey’s Chiun in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins or Peter Sellers’ Sidney Wang in 1976’s Murder by Death. Were their performances bad? I don’t think so. Could someone Mongolian or Chinese have done a better job? Possibly, but Hollywood just didn’t cast that way back then. Between Manitas’ darkness and Emilia’s kindness (and the moments in between that showcase that darkness when Emilia gets angry), Karla Sofía Gascon gives a great performance. Her chances of winning an Oscar may be damaged by some recently discovered tweets that show her going on a racially fueled tirade. Had that not happened, there’s a chance she could’ve plucked the Oscar right out of Demi Moore’s, Mickey Madison’s or maybe even Cynthia Erivo’s hands.

Zaldana is equally as good here, putting both her dancing and singing chops to work. It’s a very different role, compared to what she’s done in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avatar films. Again, while the music isn’t particularly great or memorable, she does her best with what she’d given and her character moves through a number of emotional states. I think the only person who might have made an impact (for me, anyway) was Selena Gomez. She was okay, but I’ve seen her do better in Only Murders in the Building. The role of Jessi is also different from other ones she’s played, but it felt awkward. Not terrible, just a bit different. I could see a few actresses easily handling that role. 

From a filming standpoint, there’s a lot of nice lighting effects, particularly when the film moves into the various dance numbers. Cinematographer Paul Guilhaume makes some cool magic in various scenes. If Emilia Pérez does win a number of awards, it’ll be for the acting and the production. While I don’t really see myself running back to it, it’s worth a watch at least for the Awards curiosity. 

Scenes I Love: “Look at Us!” from Ladyhawke

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

I love Richard Donner’s Ladyhawke . In the following scene, our hero Navarre (Rutger Hauer) has stormed a church, looking to reach the wicked Bishop (played by Wargames‘ John Wood). It’s in an effort to force the Bishop to break the curse that turns Navarre into a wolf by night and his love, Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer) into a Hawk by day. He’s reached the Bishop, but believes that Isabeau is surely gone, having asked a old friend to take her life should Navarre fail. I chose this part partially because I love the look on Navarre’s face on hearing Isabeau’s voice. He looks at her almost as if he’s seen her for the first time. He’s just so entranced, but then he quickly remembers what he needs to do, and his voice booms through the church. I wish this video wasn’t cut as short as it is.

Enjoy!

Captain America: Brave New World (dir. by Julius Onah)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Walk into a comic store, and you’ll sometimes find whole collections of comics in one large binder or book. The book that was The Infinity Saga ended with 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and that really should have been the hard stop for Marvel Studios for a while. Still, the Marvel Engine continues to run. Sometimes, we get hits, like 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. On occasion, we’ve had that rare film that knocks it out of the park in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Mostly, however, we’ve had “okay” stories, like that comic in a pile that you enjoyed reading, but wouldn’t really remember much about it after 15 minutes. These are the ones like Black Widow and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (the latter of which I personally hated, despite it being a Raimi film).

I enjoyed Captain America: Brave New World, but the story didn’t feel as expansive as I thought it could be. It still is grounded in the political intrigue of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, but I felt like it lacked the same kind of weight those previous films did. There are some good fight scenes and even better flight scene thoughout.

Brave New World finds Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) doing very well since taking on the mantle of Captain America. Despite not having any powers, he can still handle his own, somewhat. With a suit and new Vibranium wings, compliments of Wakanda, Wilson’s quite a force to be reckoned with, though he still tends to approach certain situations with de-escalation in mind instead of brute force. He also has some help in the form of Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), who has worked with Sam even before using the shield. Mackie carries this easily with the occassional joke or two. It’s also amazing to watch when you know the character isn’t enhanced and is really just one or two good punches away from a broken limb. I see in Sam Wilson a pre-super serum Steve Rogers, fending off enhanced bullies with nothing but a garbage can lid and lots of heart. That’s heroic and perhaps even Worthy, an underdog still fighting the fight (at least to me, anyway). Ramirez’ Torres is the plucky comic relief in all this. Serious when needed, but playful otherwise. His character reminded me a bit of Pablo Schreiber’s one in Michael Bay’s 13 Hours.

The political landscape has also changed since the days of Iron Man 3’s Matthew Ellis (played by William Sadler). General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has risen through the ranks to become the President of the United States. Harrison Ford (Clear and Present Danger) takes over the role of Ross from William Hurt (Altered States), who passed away in 2022. At this stage in his career, Ford doesn’t have to do much to be effective in a scene. He’s played political characters in his Tom Clancy / Jack Ryan era, so this isn’t really new to him. His version of Ross still carries the gruff nature that Hurt had, though personally, I don’t feel either performance was as good as Sam Elliot’s in Ang Lee’s Hulk. Ford’s Ross is a man haunted by the disconnection from his family and a reputation he’d rather put behind him. The same can be said for Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley. As the forgotten Super Soldier, his character is still slowly integrating into public life after a past that left him cautious and weary.

After a successful mission, Wilson, Torres, and Bradley are invited to the White House for a special announcement. The announcement involves the discovery of the “Celestial Island”, the Continent sized remains of Tiamat from The Eternals. Even better, the entire island is made of a material that appears to be stronger than even Vibranium. The metal, dubbed “Adamantium”, causes a race between the Superpowers to acquire it. Thankfully, a treaty formed by Ross helps to keep conflict at bay.

As exciting as it sounds to hear that this particular Universe suddenly (finally!) has Adamantium in it, the announcement is as far as anyone will get to seeing it. Put away any thoughts of seeing Weapon-X plans in Canada. Japan won’t produce a Silver Samurai, and Russia won’t have Omega Red any time soon. That is not this story, and it’s an outright shame that none of that is even hinted to because the only Marvel solid references we have on Mutants to date are from Ms. Marvel at this point. At best, the Adamantium angle serves as a reason to finally include the aftermath of The Eternals into the story and possibly set up something for future films. Why is Marvel so hesitant on touching the X-Men? Ugh, that’s an argument for a different story.

An incident occurs that finds Sam and Joaquin having to exonerate Isaiah Bradley, while at the same time, trying to unravel the mystery involving a terrorist known only as Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito, Abigail) that puts both The President and possibly the entire nation in danger. Can Sam and Joaquin take down the Sidewinder and save the day? That is mostly the gist behind Captain America: Brave New World.

Outside of the performances, From a production standpoint, the film had 5 separate screenplay writers and a number of reshoots. It’s not terrible, but the film does feel a little like the writers were unsure of what they wanted to do from scene to scene. There was one shot involving a prison ward that made me wonder why more guards weren’t present. It’s more a nitpick than anything else. I compare it more to Nolan’s editing mistake with The Dark Knight, where the Joker crashes a party, but we never actually see him leave or learn the fates of the people there after Batman saves Rachel. There were also a number of cuts made to the film that removed scenes by actors such as Wrestling’s Seth Rollins and Alita Battle Angel’s Rosa Salazar. You won’t even notice those unless you’re actively expecting to see them in the film (I didn’t know either actor was involved, honestly).

The big showdown that all of the posters couldn’t seem to hide does happen, and the sequence itself is good, given the weaknesses of our heroes and strengths of our villains. It felt a little shorter to me than I expected it to be though it could be on par with the now classic Battle of Harlem in The Incredible Hulk. There was a time where Marvel was able to keep things like this under wraps, but given the state of the MCU and Hollywood in general, I can understand the marketing team’s fight to pull more people into cinemas.

Overall, Captain America: Brave New World is a good popcorn flick. Will you rave about it? Perhaps. Was it fun? Sure. Was it memorable? I’m not totally sure. I enjoyed where the story took me, but my expectations maybe veered to levels that the story couldn’t reach for me. That’s more a “me” problem than a movie problem. Also note that the film does have a Marvel Post-Credit moment. It doesn’t reveal much or anything specific of where the overall arc is reaching. It’s more of a “Captain America Will Return” than anything else, but of course, we all knew that.

Film Review: The Wild Robot (dir. by Chris Sanders)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

I don’t know if we fully recognize all the sacrifices parents make for their kids. A person takes on ownership of a whole little being (be it through birth, adoption or the Cat Distribution System) and somehow tries their best to keep it fed, protected, educated and loved, all while still trying to figure out their own lives. It doesn’t always work out. Some parents evade the responsibility, leaving their kids to horrible fates, while others rise to the challenge, often without fully knowing what they need to do. They’re not perfect, but parents can be pretty awesome at times, especially the ones who didn’t have to do the job. 

Dreamworks The Wild Robot may very well be the best Animated Feature this year. Nothing against Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (which was also wonderful) or Flow (which looks wonderful and took the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature), but I spent a good part of this film sniffling. It’s a very simple, yet sweet story that moves at a very rapid pace. That’s understandable, given that it’s for children, but the story is accessible for just about any adult.

When a robot named Roz (Lupita N’yongo, A Quiet Place: Day One) crash lands in a forest, she studies her environment and tries to get to know the local habitat. The animals are naturally fearful of Roz, but she eventually begins to understand their dialects. While trying to phone home, Roz runs into some raccoon thieves and a rather large bear. The resulting chase causes her to accidentally crash into and destroy a goose nest, save for one egg. When the egg hatches, she finds herself having to take on a parent role for the gosling, though she’s not fully alone. Helping Roz out is a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal, Gladiator II), who lives by his wits and provides some wildlife know-how for survival, while keeping himself well fed. Also along to assist is Pinktail, a possum who has a litter of her own to handle. As she adjusts to her new sense of motherhood, Roz meets tons of other animals that warm up to her. She finds a new task in taking care of Brightbill (Kit Connor, Ready Player One) and preparing him to fly South for the winter.

Directed by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch), The Wild Robot has elements for both kids and adults. The wilderness is a dangerous place, and the Circle of Life is rougher here than it ever was in Disney’s The Lion King (which Sanders also had a hand in). There are predators and prey, and the audience is made to understand this pretty quickly (though not as harshly as say, Watership Down). There’s a great deal of tenderness as well, focusing on Storytelling (which Roz learns), the friends and family we make along the way and some hardship in the way that Brightbill suffers some insensibilities with from other geese that he doesn’t quite fit in with. 

I feel The Wild Robot‘s strongest points are the music and the art direction. The film looks like an actual watercolor painting, especially when viewed in the largest format possible. The pacing for the plot moved a little quicker than I expected, particularly in the lead up to meeting Brightbill. Musically, Kris Bowers (Netflix’s Bridgerton, The Haunted Mansion) has a great soundtrack that adds some weight to the scenes. With Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross out of the running for Challengers, Bowers is my hopeful pick for the Best Soundtrack Oscar. 

At the time of this writing, The Wild Robot is available to watch on Universal’s Peacock service. Just make sure you bring a box of tissues and if at all possible, call or thank your Mom afterwards.

The Fantastic Four take their First Steps in a Teaser Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

There was a cute live event leading up to the launch of The Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser trailer. The main cast were on hand – Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (a.k.a. The Thing) and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. It looks like they’re off to an interesting start.

Enjoy!

Quick Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (dir. by Jon Turteltaub)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice may be one of Disney’s better Live Action features. Borrowing from a small segment in Disney’s Fantasia, it builds a pretty cool story and still manages to pay homage to the original in it’s own way. Executive Produced by and starring Nicolas Cage, the film reunites him with his National Treasure director, Jon Turteltaub.

In the Dark Ages, the great wizard Merlin fought a major battle against the evil Morgana (Alice Krige, Star Trek: First Contact). At his side were his three apprentices, Veronica (Monica Bellucci, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Horvath (Alfred Molina, Prince of Persia) and Balthazar (Nicolas Cage). When Horvath betrays Merlin, both he and Morgana are defeated, contained in a layer of nesting dolls. Veronica is also part of the doll as she sacrifices herself to keep Morgana at bay. In order for Morgana to be destroyed, however, this can only be done by the Prime Merlinian, a Sorcerer of unimaginable power. To find the Prime Merlinian, Balthazar is given a ring for him to use.

When young Dave Stutler encounters Balthazar in his curio shop, we find that the ring does react to him and he may very well be the Prime Merlinian. Dave accidentally frees Horvath from the nesting doll and is saved by Balthazar before the pair of sorercers are trapped in an urn. 10 Years Pass (to the day), causing an event where both Horvath and Balthazar are freed. Can Balthazar train Dave (Jay Baruchel, Goon) in time to defeat Morgana, especially when Dave’s attentions are more focused on the girl of his dreams, Becky(Teresa Palmer, Netflix’s A Discovery of Witches)?

Thoughout his career, one of Cage’s magical traits is that he fully throws himself into a role. Not so much ‘method’ as maybe a Jeremy Strong (which may be more over the top), but he brings his own style to the mix. There isn’t a Cage character that isn’t enriched by the performances he brings to the table. For The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, he’s slightly subdued, but still carries the moxie he had in fllms like Face/Off, The Rock or even Mandy. He does make for a good father figure in this film.

Of course, the supporting cast is great. Molina makes for a nice villain in Horvath, with Toby Kebbell (Rock-n-Rolla) as an evil apprentice. Baruchel’s performance is pretty similar to what he did for How to Train Your Dragon, which made him perfect for this.

Building off of the National Treasure films, there’s as much humor in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice as there is adventure. After all, we are dealing with a tale of magic and wizards. There’s a cool car chase and a nice final confrontation. The connecting scene to Fantasia is a cute one, with magical brooms and mops trying to clean the workshop was a nice touch. The main theme of the story is just learning to believe in oneself and trust in what you’re capable of.

Some thoughts on the Golden Globes

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Tonight, I covered the Golden Globe Awards for the Lens via Twitter/X. The full list of winners can be found here.

It was an interesting setup, with comedian Nikki Glazer hosting. She didn’t take up too much time on stage, and I like to think that save for the opening monologue, she kept things moving.

Not all of the jokes hit. There were some embarrassing moments with Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie. While both Awkwfina and Melissa McCarthy (who looked great for the evening) were good, I kind of wanted things to move on a little quicker.

The Brutalist was the Best Picture winner of the evening. The film also won Best Actor (Adrian Brody) and and Best Director in Brady Corbet. This may give the film an interesting chance come Oscar-time. The film beat out high Drama features such as Edward Berger’s Conclave (which managed to pull the Best Screenplay), Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part Two and James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown.

Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, which some felt was the front runner for the Musical/Comedy was somewhat eclipsed by France’s Emilia Perez, which took home Golden Globes for Zoe Saldana, Best Non-English Film and Best Picture (Musical or Comedy). Wicked did manage to win the newly minted Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award.

Bringing in Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as presenters for Best Male Actor in a Series was cool to see, watching them play off their pairing in The Substance. Demi’s win for Best Actress was a major highlight for the evening. She, along with Zoe Saldana and Colin Farrell (for HBO’s The Penguin) had some of the best speeches during the show. Colin thanked everyone under the sun, including Craft Services. Also loved the Best Picture (Non-English) winners for Emilia Perez. Colin Farrell thanked everyone from Cristina Milioti to Craft Services. Kieran Culkan beat out his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong for Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, adding to the notion that Roman might have been the best of the Roys (if not Shiv). It was also great to see Sebastian Stan win for A Different Man. That was a long time coming as I’ve been a fan of his since The Covenant.

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross won Best Score for Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. I thought that The Wild Robot would take the Best Animated Film category, but Flow won that, and it honestly looks like a wonderful film.

In TV, it was all about Hacks and Shogun. Both shows dominated the awards with wins for Jane Smart (Hacks), Anna Sawai, Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano (for Shogun). I was particularly happy with Asano’s win, who I thought should have also won an Emmy.

Film Review: The Substance (dir. by Coralie Fargeat)

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

Between Revenge and now The Substance, French filmaker Coralie Fargeat is two for two.

If you are a fan of body horror along the lines of most of David Cronenberg’s films (Scanners, Rabid, Videodrome) and have also managed to dodge any information about Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, stop reading and give it a watch. Easily the best film of 2024 in the “What the hell did I just witness?” category, The Substance is a total experience from start to finish. The winner of Best Screenplay in this year’s Cannes Film Festival, It’s a mix of Death Becomes Her and Multiplicity, but I highly recommend watching it without knowing too much about the film. This makes it hard to write since there are some wild surprises abound and I’m refraining from giving too much away.

Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore, Charlie’s Angels 2) was once a popular star in Hollywood, but that light has faded since she’s grown older. Working in a line of fitness videos isn’t quite the same as making movies, but it helps to keep her afloat. When she overhears her manager, Harvey (Dennis Quaid, The Day After Tomorrow) talking about dropping her for a younger, fresher face, her spirits are hurt. During a doctor’s visit, she is gifted a flash drive labelled “The Substance”, which explains a set of rules to unlock “a better version of yourself”. Elisabeth eventually takes the plunge and as a result, her better version is revealed. The rules for The Substance are as strict as the ones in Gremlins, requiring great care for both bodies to maintain an optimum efficiency for the week each one gets to play.

After giving her new self a name, Sue (Margaret Qualley, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) decides to take on the duties and auditions that Elisabeth couldn’t get. As Sue’s popularity grows, so does her desire for more time. This leads to changes for both Sue and Elisabeth, as each side fights to hold on to their life (or lives). Can Sue and Elisabeth find a way to coexist without going at each other’s throats?

For The Substance, Fargeat’s filming style is a mix of colorful extreme close shots and fast changes between scenes. At least, this is how I perceived it. Dennis Quaid’s character is made to seem larger than life and repulsive, so we tend to get close ups of him eating and smoking while talking. Sue’s scenes are bright, rich and colorful. Elizabeth’s scenes are more standard. All in all, it gives the whole film a creep factor in that most of the shots feel nearly intrusive on their subjects. The horror starts off small, but escalates quite well. Fargeat has a way of making even the smallest of scenes (like throwing out garbage) something to cringe over. The sound quality in this movie is wild, reminiscent of what Leigh Whannell used for Upgrade. The creaking of bones echo. The voice on the phone feels like it’s right in your ear and fluids are extremely squishy. I winced, I laughed, and most importantly, I found myself muttering “What the hell?!” a few times.

Performance wise, the film belongs to both Moore and Qualley and they carry the film effortlessly. As Elisabeth, Demi is both haunted and courageous. At 62, this is a performance unlike anything I’ve see her do before and it reminded me of Nicole Kidman in The Hours or Charlize Theron in Monster. While her changes might not be as great for the Golden Globes with both Amy Adams, Mickey Madison and Cynthia Erivo in the mix, she deserves the accolades for what she puts herself though. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Moore’s name reaches the Oscars. Qualley is just as great, with Sue equally enjoying her fame and finding herself disgusted with who she’s sharing this life with. Note that there is a lot of nudity in the film, but given the situations both characters are in, I felt it made sense for the film.

Overall, The Substance is a wonderful off-kilter showing by Coralie Fargeat. It makes for a great late night film to watch that may make you wince, shudder and perhaps even cover your mouth once or twice. .