The 2020 Mid-Year Movie Report – Part 3

July 24, 2020

OK, we’re back for part three of my thoughts on the year so far in movies.  I hope you are enjoying some of my recommendations.  If you missed my earlier posts, you can find them here and here.  Let’s dive in for part three.

Welcome Back To Greatness, Ben Affleck – The Way Back

One of the last films I saw in a theater before the shutdown, The Way Back gives us the resurgence of Ben Affleck as a former high-school basketball star who is convinced to coach the school’s basketball team.  His character, Jack Cunningham, is battling demons from a personal tragedy (no spoilers) that led to the collapse of his marriage and a crippling addiction to alcohol.  Some of the scenes where he is struggling are tough to watch – I remember silence in the theater during one particular scene (there is a freezer and a lot of beers involved), except for a few people sighing about how bad they felt for his struggles.  The scenes with the kids on the team are very effective – some sweet, some tough, but pretty realistic.  He leads a messy life and there is no easy, happy ending here – it feels real.

The fact that Affleck took this role, which has parallels to his own personal struggles, is amazing to me.  Most actors wouldn’t have the guts to take on a role so close to home.  Has anyone had more ups and downs than Affleck?  After riding high from his Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting, he made a number of big-budget Hollywood films (some good, some terrible), then went into a tailspin with movie bombs, high-profile relationship ups and downs, substance abuse trouble and disappeared.  Then, he comes back strong to win the Oscar for Argo and a strong performance in Gone Girl.  While seemingly on the way up, he flops as Batman in the DC comics films, his substance abuse problems resurface and his marriage to Jennifer Garner falls apart.  The Way Back, directed by Gavin O’Connor (who also directed Miracle, one of the best sports movies ever) is another comeback for Affleck and could lead to an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.  Let’s hope it’s the last time he needs a comeback.  Available to rent on Amazon.

Great Performances From Actresses On The Rise:  The Assistant, Swallow, and Babyteeth

These three indie films were ones that I liked and were pretty good, but the one thing they had in common were three performances that made me think that the leads in each film are going to be very successful actors in the future and ones to watch.  The Assistant stars Julia Garner in the titular role as a woman working for a movie executive (who we never see, only hear on the phone), clearly based on Harvey Weinstein.  While we don’t see his actions, when we hear him and see others talk about him, it’s clear that he is abusing his position of power.  This is the ultimate definition of a quiet film, taking place largely in the small office where Garner’s character works.  Her role is that of the long-suffering underling, dealing with a terrible boss, but not knowing what or how to change her situation.  Garner is excellent in the role, but the film is a little slow to be called great.  You will recognize Garner from Ozark (the outstanding Netflix crime-drama series starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney).  In fact, she has become the best part of that series, showing why she is a star on the rise.  Available on Hulu.  Swallow is a creepy psychological drama from first-time director Carlo Mirabella-Davis

about a newly pregnant woman who develops a dangerous habit of eating inedible objects.  The lead character, played by Haley Bennett, is driven to this strange behavior after the marriage to her controlling husband starts to spiral into an emotionally abusive relationship.  The story is pretty good, some of the scenes will make you cringe (look away when she takes out the thumbtack, trust me), but the revelation here is Bennett, who goes all in on the role of someone whose life is falling apart.  It was a very impressive performance.  Available to rent on Amazon.  The last of this group is the one I liked the best.  Babyteeth stars Eliza Scanlen in her first lead role, as a teenager going through treatment for cancer, who meets and falls in love with a troubled drug dealer.  Scanlen plays the role of Milla in a perfect balance of sweetness when with her boyfriend, and rebellion when dealing with her parents who are struggling to decide how much leeway to give her.  While this was her first big lead role, Scanlen was also very good in last year’s Little Women, and the HBO limited series Sharp Objects, which was based on the Gillian Flynn novel.  She will definitely be a star in the future.  Available to rent on Amazon. 

Another Reminder Why Elisabeth Moss is F*cking Brilliant – Shirley and The Invisible Man

It’s hard to call someone as acclaimed as Elisabeth Moss “underrated,” but considering she has had the majority of her success on television, despite over fifty(!) film credits to her name, she should be a bigger movie star, which is why I consider her underrated.  Having gained wide exposure over twenty years ago as the President’s daughter on The West Wing, followed by a brilliant run in seven seasons of Mad Men, and then most recently as the role that won her an Emmy, as the lead in The Handmaid’s Tale, she somehow never achieved that “top tier” movie star level of acclaim.  I would put her on par with two of our best actresses today – Saoirse Ronan and Emma Stone. 

This year, Moss had two movies come out – the most recent was a continuation of her trend of indie films, playing author Shirley Jackson in the psychological suspense film, Shirley.  Jackson, struggling to work through her new novel, invites a young couple to move in with her and her husband.  What follows is Jackson toying with the young couple, playing mind games to entertain herself.  I thought the movie was good (not great), but Moss was excellent as the tortured writer.  Great performance, I just wish the plot was a little better.  Available on Hulu.  On the other hand, I highly recommend her other movie released earlier this year, The Invisible Man.  She plays a woman, suffering at the hands of an abusive husband, who runs away and later learns that he has died.  When she begins to be stalked and tortured by a mysterious presence, she suspects that her husband is back from the dead, or never actually died.  This is what I would call a tribute to old-school horror films – it’s not bloody and gory (except one or two scenes), rather all of the jump-scares are the psychological kind that you can’t always see coming.  The Invisible Man was directed by Leigh Whannell, whose early film credits including writing the first few films in the Saw horror series.  His work on this was very impressive and apparently, the studios agree – there is already a sequel to The Invisible Man in the works and Whannell is reportedly working on a version of The Wolf Man with Ryan Gosling attached to star.  The Invisible Man was excellent, and one of my favorite films of the year and I’m glad Moss was able to get a starring role in a big Hollywood film.  Let’s hope she continues to get those opportunities, while still taking the creative risks we’ve admired over the years.  Available to rent on Amazon.

A Pleasant Surprise – Greyhound 

As I have been writing about the last few months, with theaters shut down, there has been a mad rush from the studios to decide what to do with their content – wait it out (Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984, Mulan, and Top Gun: Maverick for example), or sell to a streaming service.   As I wrote back in my summer movie preview, I was somewhat surprised at the $70 million price that Apple paid for Greyhound, the World War II battle film written by and starring Tom Hanks.  To me, it sent a clear signal that Apple is serious about the movie business.  A few weeks later, Apple made a MONSTER move by partnering with Paramount to finance the production (reportedly $200 million) of Martin Scorsese’s next film, The Killers of the Flower Moon, with Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.  I read the book, which is excellent, and can’t wait to see this film, although we’ll probably have to wait awhile. 

When Greyhound was released a few weeks ago, I started seeing review headlines that sounded pretty tepid and disappointing.  I’m glad I didn’t read any of the stories, because I was pleasantly surprised when I actually watched the film.  This is a well-executed, tight action film (it’s only 90 minutes) about a convoy of ships in the North Atlantic that fall under attack by the German Navy.  Hanks plays the commander trying to fight the Germans and lead the convoy to safety.  He is excellent (as usual) and the supporting cast is very good too.  The pace of the film is quick, so there is no time to get bored.  A word of advice if you watch this one – put down your phone and pay attention.  The quick moving plot and naval terms can be a little confusing at times if you aren’t following closely.  Add this to the list of good content on Apple’s streaming service that make a subscription (or at least a trial) worth it.  Also, you get Boys State coming in August, which I wrote about in part one of this series.  Available on Apple TV+.

This Week’s (Inspiring) Moment of Happiness

Early this week, I was thinking of how (and if) I wanted to move forward with the blog after this mid-year series.  You see, it gets a little hard to write about movies when there’s not much going on, except more delays in theatrical releases and theater re-openings.  (“Start a movie blog,” they said.  “You’ll be great at that.  Think of all the movies you could write about,” they said.  No one mentioned a freaking pandemic would shut everything down!)  That’s a (not so) subtle way of me letting you know that the coming weeks may be less focused on newer films, and instead highlighting great films and filmmakers from the past.  We’ll see where it goes.

Anyway, just when I was feeling “not so creative” in deciding what to do next, I woke up Thursday to the news that Taylor Swift was going to drop a new album on Friday.  Just like that – no huge advance marketing plan, no big run-up to the release date.  Just a post on social media with a 24-hour notice.  Apparently she’s spent the last four months of quarantine writing and recording the new album, which has 17 tracks.  And boom, here it is.  You may be asking yourself, “Wait a minute, you like Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters.  Taylor Swift?”  Yup, not ashamed to admit it – some of her stuff is really good, especially when I want something to put me in a good mood.  Also, as I have written before, I have a lot of admiration for talented singer-songwriters, especially those who continue to evolve and take risks with their career.  So, there you go – new music to listen to, and inspiration from someone who continues to be creative and produce content.

That’s it for this week.  I intended this mid-year report to be three parts, but I kept seeing films I wanted to write about, so it’s going to extend to a fourth part next week.  (Plus, you just read my comments about the struggle for new content, right?)  So, next week will be the last part (I promise), where I share my thoughts on five of my favorite movies of the year so far.  If you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.  Thanks again for reading.