Okay, so I missed last week because I had some work to do and life to live. BUT, I promised myself I wouldn't flake out on this goal, so I'm bringing you FOUR movie reviews today - a day late, I know. With the exception of 'Everything, Everything' these are movies that I've been really excited about. Without further ado...
Everything, Everything
Release: May 19, 2017
Rating: PG-13
Production Company: Warner Brothers, MGM, Alloy Entertainment
Director: Stella Meghie
My Rating: 4.5/10
Themes: Independence, Safety, Romance, Parenting
Content or Trigger Warnings: Teenage sap
You'd be forgiven for thinking you'd stepped into a John Green inspired picture when you watch this one. The film adaptation of Nicola Yoon's young adult bestseller is much in the same vein as works like 'The Fault in Our Stars' and 'Paper Towns'. It is, however, a bit sappier than the love stories of the Green variety.
Don't get me wrong, I found the premise engaging. An 18-year-old girl, Maddy (Amanda Stenberg), lives her entire life in her well-filtered house with her overprotective mother. She longs to go outside but she has a rare disease that makes all outside contaminants fatal to her. She falls in love with the new boy next door, Olly (Nick Robinson). Love leads them to impulsively take a romantic vacation to Hawaii where she falls ill. Deciding to break contact with him so as to never put her health in danger again, Maddy discovers that she never had the rare immuno-deficiency that she's been told makes it impossible for her to leave her home. In fact, she only had low immunity due to her isolation. Confronting her mother, she learns that her mom isolated her out of fear of losing her when her father and brother were killed in an accident. Olly has problems of his own, including an abusive father. It's the stuff of typical teenage fantasy romance.
One glaring problem is that the plot is predictable. I could guess that she wasn't really sick pretty early on. I also knew that she would eventually break out of her isolation and that would lead to a breakup. Basically, every step of the way, you could see what was coming around the corner. As enjoyable as this film might be to a young audience, it doesn't pack much in for older or more cynical viewers.
Teeth
Release: January 19, 2007
Rating: R
Production Company: Lionsgate
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
My Rating: 7.5/10
Themes: Sexism, sexual assault, Feminism, misogyny
Content or Trigger Warnings: Gore, violence, sexual assault
I'm so glad I stumbled across this black comedy/horror/social commentary indie flick. I'd heard about it before, and it's had been on my list for a while, but a recommendation from a friend led me to sit down and finally watch. Thanks, Netflix!
Taking on feminist bread and butter like virginity as a social construct, poor sex education, slut shaming, prevalence of sexual assault, the 'nice guy' trope, it gives us a glorious vengeful heroine ready to use her special 'assets' to rectify the violence imbalance. It really is no wonder that most of the critics who didn't like this movie were men. No one is immune, not even the sort of adorably dorky guy who - though he seems well-intentioned at first - turns out to be an asshole trying to boost his own popularity and esteem through the exploitation of our lead.
The plot is simple. Dawn (played impeccably by Jess Weixler) is an abstinence advocate, saving herself for marriage. When she meets Tobey, supposedly an abstinence advocate as well, and he rapes her, she discovers she has 'vagina dentata' or vaginal teeth. From there, every man who assaults or wrongs her can be instantly punished with a sharp bite from her vagina. I recommend watching it. More information from me will not highlight your experience. What is most fun is to watch Dawn gradually get sick of men's shit and become her own person, not so bogged down by societal expectations of women's sexuality.
Teeth is a fun - maybe a little more entertaining for the women than the men. Still, I highly recommend it to anyone into black comedy and low-budget horror. It has its cult status for a reason. Well, directed and produced, this is a flick I will revisit many times, I'm sure.
Tangerine
Release: July 10, 2015
Rating: R
Production Company: Duplass Brothers Productions, Through Films
Director: Sean Baker
My Rating: 8.5/10
Themes: Transgender issues, sex work
Content or Trigger Warnings: sexuality, language
There is a kind of energy bubbling under the surface of this screwball comedy that follows two transwomen sex workers (Sin-Dee, played by Kitana Kiki Rodrigues and Alexandra, played by Mya Taylor) on a random day in the parts of Los Angeles rarely shown in Hollywood pictures.
I can't say enough about how impressed I am with the cinematography in this film. The entire thing was shot on an iPhone. An iPhone, y'all. It's grainy but saturated to provide a vivid and real quality to a story that feels like it is about real people. Baker not only co-wrote and directed the film but was one of the two cinematographers and edited the film himself. He is clearly brilliant.
It is a deeply funny and moving film, which is unprecedented not only in actually casting transwomen - not cismen portraying transwomen - and telling stories of probably the most marginalized of populations, transwomen of color. While it might seem that a story of such a specific demographic hunting down a philandering pimp might be just the sort of story that wouldn't play well to a large audience, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, what makes this film so great is that, despite the fact that these two characters are very rarely represented in modern media, this is essentially a buddy comedy anyone can relate to. Best friends through thick and thin, even when you are pissed at each other.
The climax is wildly funny, just to be smacked in the face with the startling reality of transphobia and the struggles that come with being an underprivileged sex worker, and finally a reminder that real friends are always there for you. It is so hard to successfully walk the tight-rope between screwball comedy and deep, real pain but this film does it expertly. Very much recommend.
The Florida Project
Release: October 6, 2017
Rating: R
Production Company: Cre Film, Freestyle Picture Company, Cinereach, June Pictures
Director: Sean Baker
My Rating: 8.5/10
Themes: Poverty, Sex work, childhood
Content or Trigger Warnings: drugs, sexuality
You may notice that this is from the same director as 'Tangerine'. That's not a coincidence. I watched them both, one after the other, because I wanted to compare them. I was not disappointed. Sean Baker clearly has an eye for portraying real stories about people that are usually underrepresented by entertainment mediums.
This film is told from the perspective of six-year-old Moonee (played fantastically by Brooklynn Prince) in Kissimmee, Florida. Her mother, Halley (played by Bria Vinaite) struggles to keep their heads above water as they live in a single room in a budget motel. While Moonee often seems unaware of just how impoverished she is, her mother resorts to online sex work, locking Moonee in the bathroom so she can see clients. Though she wants to keep her daughter, her lifestyle causes CPS to step in on Moonee's behalf.
It's a sad ending that leaves you wondering about the real people who are in these situations. Desperate to provide for their families, the work that single mothers might be forced to do is the same work that can tear their children away from them.
What I find really fascinating is that these portrayals are vivid and real. Nearly everyone in the cast but veteran Willem DeFoe (who plays the motel manager) is a newcomer to the business. Perhaps Baker's authentic style lends itself to this kind of fresh, untested actor. Certainly, Tangerine was also filled with relatively unknown actors portraying very authentic characters in an organic way.
If I were to choose my favorite of the two Sean Baker films I watched this week, I think I liked Tangerine better, but really the difference is marginal. They are both very good, moving, and heartfelt pictures that I will undoubtedly watch again and again.
