Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Over thirty years ago, Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the devastating song Streets of Philadelphia in ... Philadelphia. This year, Jeremy Allen White might get himself Oscar-nominated as The Boss in Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Let's see how it is.

First, let's think about the title. It demotes the title of Warren Zanes's book, subtitled The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, into this film's own subtitle. Wouldn't Deliver Me from Nowhere be sufficient as a title? For one thing, they are the last lyrics of Springsteen's Open All Night. For another, it's a thematically appropriate quote. 

But that's just me.

Anyway, it's 1981, and The Boss decides to lay low in his hometown of Freehold, NJ. His own bosses want him to get on with his next album right away. Inspired by Terrence Malick's Badlands, Bruce decides to write a song from the POV of its real-life inspiration, spree killer Charles Starkweather, which ends up being Nebraska's titular song. His recording engineer, Mike Batlan (Paul Walter Hauser), helps setup a recording studio at his rental home, complete with a multitrack recorder. What results is an album that sounds as rough as its lyrics, and that's how he prefers it. 

Along the way, we get to see the genesis of his biggest smash, Born in the USA, when Paul Schrader sends him a script by that name (filmed as Light of Day in 1987). But that, and a few others, have to wait while he gets Nebraska and its gloomy songs out of his system. His manager, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), helps sway the record label to allow Bruce to work. Bruce starts a relationship with Faye Romano (Odessa Young), a former classmate's sister and single mom, which ends badly when he prioritizes his work. We also get to see what goes on in cutting a studio album.

Finally, we get plenty of childhood flashbacks of his father, Douglas (Stephen Graham), whose alcoholism made life difficult for the future superstar. Sure, he'd let Bruce (Matthew Anthony Pellicano Jr.) skip school so they can catch Night of the Hunter at the cinema, but he and his wife, Adele (Gaby Hoffmann), spend most of their time together violently arguing. One such argument sees Bruce whack Douglas with a bat, which actually amuses the old man. Their contentious relationship is literally all in the past when the old man shows up befuddled in the present. I think we missed a few connective scenes there.

The sound team might have slipped in a few of The Boss's vocals in there, but where? White's Springsteen imitation is almost indistinguishable from the man himself. His performances, particularly that of Born in the USA, enliven the film. He's quite sympathetic as he works through his tortured soul; it's especially so when he breaks down during therapy. The overall conflict is simple, but his quest to express himself through his music is pretty admirable. Though, it might be a bit hard to recognize Bruce's struggle with depression until the film's epilogue spells it out (maybe it was me).

The film leaves out quite a bit about Bruce's relationship with his dad, but you can sense a lot in Douglas's weariness when he first enters the main plot. Yes, Graham can be quite scary as Douglas, but you rarely doubt his niceness. Sure, I had some reservations about the cinema trip, but that was it. It's kind of surprising to realize that Douglas and Adele were still married when Bruce started out (said marriage ended in 1998 with his death). Writer/Director Scott Cooper probably should have clarified stuff like that better.

What else do we have? Strong, Young and Hauser are mostly fine in their roles. Harrison Gilbertson, as Matt Delia, is mostly noticeable when he helps Bruce move to L.A. Springsteen's sister, Virginia, appears as a kid in one scene, which is the only time she's even acknowledged (why include her at all, then?). Watching his creative process, from inspiration to songwriting and sound recording, is pretty interesting. It's especially intriguing to watch Chuck Plotkin (Marc Maron) and his fellow engineers try to "salvage" Bruce's rough recordings. It didn't occur to me who played Adele, or how old she was compared to White, until a few days later. She looked about as old as her on-screen husband, a testament for the surprisingly good makeup team.

Sure, a film about the making of Born in the USA might be a more "cinematic" movie. Deliver Me from Nowhere is still a pretty interesting, though not perfect, insight into one of the Boss's most underrated albums. See it if you're that curious. If you want a film of his hits, let me remind you that Blinded by the Light, a film about his impact on one fan, exists. You should check it out sometime. I think I said enough.

Black Phone 2

The Black Phone may have been a short story, but when a movie is good enough, Hollywood finds a way to make a sequel. Fortunately, the sequel they've dialed up, Black Phone 2, is pretty good. I've got quite a few fitting titles for this Halloween season, so let's go.

We now find Finney Blake (Mason Thames) in 1982, a few years after he permanently disconnected the evil Grabber (Ethan Hawke) from the mortal coil. He's now a jaded stoner who gets into fights and avoids phones whenever possible. Meanwhile, his psychic sister Gwen (Madeline McGraw) converses with her late mom, Hope (Anna Lore), in her dreams. It turns out that mother and daughter are both dreaming of the same place, Camp Alpine Lake, where the Grabber began his murderous career. Joined by their classmate Ernesto Arellano, whose brother Robin was the Grabber's penultimate victim (both played by Miguel Mora), the Blakes head off to Camp.

A massive blizzard immediately snows in our heroes at Alpine Lake. They're accompanied by supervisor Armando (Demian Bichir); his niece, Mustang (Arianna Rivas); two sanctimonious employees, Barbara & Kenneth (Maev Beaty & Graham Abbey); the ghosts of the Grabber's first three victims; and the Grabber himself. The Grabber plans to kill Gwen in her dreams, which will kill her for real. Our heroes can de-power the Grabber by exhuming his first victims from their frozen lake grave. They'll just have to stay awake as long as possible; but that might not be enough.

While some might scoff at The Grabber becoming Freddy Krueger, I think it's a natural development for him. What else was he going to be other than dead? The film's new setting doesn't quite amplify his menace as much as the first film's basement. But Hawke still gives it his all as this force of giddy malevolence. He wants vengeance, something he takes too long to spell out to Finney, and he's going to have fun doing it. We’ll enjoy watching Gwen take him down in one dream, before teaming up with the others to finish him off in the final battle.

Finney mostly takes a backseat for Gwen to become the protagonist. The only hiccup with this arrangement comes when he clobbers a new kid jobber in his first scene. A little more on-screen context would make this re-introduction a little less jarring, but I digress. Anyway, Finney gets plenty of time to shine as he deals with his traumatic ordeal, especially during a major breakdown in Act 3. Gwen, meanwhile, proves quite compelling as she deals with not just The Grabber, but her own psychic powers. A few developments, plus one last ghostly phone call, give Gwen the film's most emotional moments. At least we get some levity with her creative insults. 

Now, a few words for the rest of the cast. Ernesto proves himself to be a pretty good guy during this ordeal. Mora wonderfully distinguishes Ernesto and Robin between the two movies. Amongst the staff, Armando is a pretty good mentor; Barbara & Kenneth are annoying, but not that annoying; Mustang is just fine. Jeremy Davies returns as the Blakes' dad, Terrence, who thankfully doesn't relapse into abusive dad territory despite his drinking. I think that's enough for them.

Now, we go to Scott Derrickson's directorial panache. He filters the Dreamworld through a home video aesthetic that, surprisingly, remains consistently terrifying, especially when it weaves in and out of reality mid-shot. The action scenes are pretty spectacular as editor Louise Ford switches between an invisible and "actual" Grabber. Ford and cinematographer Pär M. Ekberg go great together, particularly when Finney is surrounded by the ghost boys. As the camera circles around Finney, trapped in the Camp's "dead" phonebooth, the ghosts teleport between blind spots. It's so seamless! Derrickson's son, Atticus, accentuates the dread with his wonderful score. 

Go ahead. Accept the charges and pick up this sequel. I don't know how Black Phone 2 compares with this month's horror slate, but it's still a delightfully spooky time. See it however and whenever you can. I think I said enough.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

- Ah, I see that Madame Web finally got that sequel it always wanted.

- No, it didn’t, Bo.

- Come again?

- Kiss of the Spider Woman, by Manuel Puig, was previously filmed in 1985 with Raul Julia & William Hurt headlining. While Puig already adapted it to the stage in 1980, Terrence McNally did so again in 1992 as a musical with songs by Chicago and Cabaret’s Fred Ebb & John Kander. Thanks to Bill Condon, who adapted Chicago for Rob Marshall in 2002, the Spider Woman musical is now a movie. With me so far?

- Yeah, just tell me all about it.

- It’s 1983, Argentina, during the final months of the junta. Here, we find two mismatched cellmates: Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna), a revolutionary, and Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a trans-coded window dresser. To pass the time, Molina tells Valentin about his favorite movie musical. It stars his favorite matinee idol, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez) as Aurora, a woman caught between two men - her gay-coded assistant Kendall Nesbitt and the more conventional Armando - and the ghostly Spider Woman (also Lopez). For the retelling, Molina casts himself and Valentin as the leading men.

Meanwhile, back in reality, it turns out Molina is actually a mole for the Warden (Bruno Bichir). Molina is supposed to get Valentin to spill his secrets. Molina, instead, falls for Valentin, and Valentin gradually reciprocates. How will this melodrama end?

- Badly? But please go on.

- The musical numbers come in through Molina’s fantasies, both from the in-universe movie and his own musings. Yes, it’s sort of a combination of how Chicago and Cabaret handled their numbers for their films. The mood whiplash can sometimes be extreme. One of the peppiest numbers, the Fosse-inspired Where You Are, follows one of the story’s darkest moments. Meanwhile, the title song perfectly juxtaposes a pivotal moment between our leads; it’s also Lopez’s standout scene. And then, there’s the finale, which makes for a memorably surreal dying dream. Did I say too much?

- Yeah.

- William Hurt won an Oscar for his take on Molina, and hopefully, Tonatiuh won’t be far behind. He’s delightfully giddy when he goes on about the movie, and quite sympathetic when reality cruelly sinks in. We fully empathize with the circumstances that drove him to be the Warden’s mole. By the end, I felt kind of ill as I recognized that the novel’s downer ending was imminent. But at least the aforementioned finale gives Molina one last moment of happiness.

As Valentin, Luna plays the jaded stoic pretty well. He and Tonatiuh share some excellent chemistry, particularly when Molina’s influence finally enlivens Valentin. Nothing, not even a cleaning crew, will make you take your eyes off him during the final shot. Lopez, meanwhile, does all right as Aurora & Ingrid, but she’s perfectly menacing as the Spider Woman. Her guises give her a lush wardrobe designed by Colleen Atwood & Christine L. Cantella, which perfectly compliments Scott Chambliss’s extravagant production design. And finally, we have Bichir, whose Warden tempers his menace with professionalism.

The film also has an exquisite makeup and hairstyling team. In prison, our leads and their fellow prisoners have seen better days. In Molina’s fantasies, he and Valentin are all dressed up and ready to go. The contrast between our leads’ real and fantasy selves is so extreme that they look like different people. You’ll be amazed once you see the difference. The fantasy world, as filtered by Tobias Schlissler, is pretty gaudy, but you might get used to its old-time aesthetics. Finally, we have a pretty good adapation of the stage score by Sam Davis, particularly the title song.

- Wrap it up, Jethro.

- Kiss of the Spider Woman isn’t looking that hot at the box-office right now. But I hope enough people see it and take notice of what is certainly Tonatiuh’s star-making role. Its more established cast are good, but his spotlight shines the brightest here. You won’t want to look away once you get into this movie’s web. See it soon before it gets crowded out by everything else this weekend. That’s it for now.

Tron: Ares

 Tron: Legacy did all right fifteen years ago. It took quite a long while to get a sequel up-and-running, partially due to the Tomorrowland fiasco. That sequel is finally here in the form of Tron: Ares.

While the previous films had people digitized into the computerized world of The Grid, this film has warring tech companies Encom and Dillinger Systems plot to actualize digital constructs in the real world. ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has far better luck than Dillinger’s Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), whose constructs “derez” after 29-minutes. The difference is that Eve has the “permanence code,” a parting gift from ENCOM’s “retired” CEO Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). 

Julian actualizes his two best digital soldiers - Ares (Jared Leto) and Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) - and sends them after Eve and the code. Once they catch her, Ares defies his programming and defends Eve from possible deletion. Athena, meanwhile, will stop at nothing to fulfill her directives. It all leads to a destructive battle of the constructs. That’s basically it.

Joachim Rønning and his writers create a pretty self-reliant sequel. You can probably skip not only Tron: Legacy, but the original Tron, and not miss much (except for the outstanding technicals). Its opening, done through news broadcasts shown from The Grid, handles the exposition pretty well. Its own story is overly long, and has some plot issues, but its plot is pretty decipherable.

The cast do all right with their roles. The real world and Grid pairs of protagonists are tangible opposites. Eve, having previously lost her sister and co-CEO to cancer, is doing it for life. Julian, whose grandpa was Tron’s Big Bad Edward (David Warner), is doing it for war and glory. In the middle of it all, we have Ares and Athena; one wants to learn more, the other is stuck in her programming. There’s not much to it, but it’s fine. The best acted scene is Bridge’s cameo as Flynn’s digital ghost, who shows that he might be really old, but he’s still The Dude.

In this film, The Grid turns out to refer to several digital worlds. Ares’ world is rendered in a striking black-and-red aesthetic. He and his fellow on-set warriors blend in seamlessly with the digital backgrounds and tech. The actualized vehicles, especially the famous light-cycles, are marvelous. When Ares visits Flynn, his Grid is a spotless recreation of the original film’s “primitive” look. I wonder if this effects team had it easier, this time. Any breaks in the verisimilitude are understandable considering they’re all digital creations. 

And finally, let’s talk about the soundscape. Tron was scored by Wendy Carlos, Legacy had Daft Punk, and this film has Reznor & Ross (credited under their band name, Nine Inch Nails). Like their predecessors, they accentuate the video game action with a perfectly appropriate techno score. A particular highlight accompanies Athena pilots a colossal Recognizer ship into the film’s unnamed city, ready for war. The sound design is also exquisite, whether it’s for the sound effects or the filters used for Ares and Athenas’ voices. I think I said enough.

There’s a recent book about AI, which spells out its authors’ fears in its title: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. Tron: Ares, with its self-aware human programs, is more optimistic than that book by a country mile. It isn’t too complex, but I doubt the human drama was ever the selling point of the franchise. You won’t be disappointed if you came in for the visuals; if you’re into human drama, my next review might describe something up your alley.

The Smashing Machine

 Let's get ready to rumble with tonight's match!

In this corner, The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie, a true-life story of one fighter's struggle against his personal demons!

In that corner, Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie, a story loosely inspired by a true-life table tennis star!

Now, which one of these sports movies by these filmmaking brothers will come out on top? Find out this Christmas when Marty Supreme actually comes out!

....

I don't know who that is, but here's what I thought about this current film.

The Review

Our contender is a feature remake of the HBO documentary - subtitled The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr - directed by John Hyams. It opens with Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) being interviewed in glorious VHS before he makes his MMA debut in 1997. It bumps up the quality once the bloodsport gets well underway. According to production notes, Maceo Bishop switches up the subsequent scenes from 16mm to 65mm, but I barely noticed any difference.

Kerr earns his monicker as he smashes through his subsequent fights. Outside of the ring, he lives a decent life with girlfriend Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt). Inside the ring, he can't fathom losing until he does so in Japan. Although the fight is ruled a no-contest, the initial shock exasperates Kerr's substance abuse problems. He eventually cleans up after an off-screen overdose, while pals and fellow fighters Mark Coleman (actual MMA fighter Ryan Bader) and Bas Rutten (as himself) coach him back to victory. But all that success worsens his relationship with Dawn.

It sells itself quite well on Johnson's performance. He's quite likeable as Kerr, who's only brutal because his chosen sport is brutal. He' quite charming as he boasts about winning - which he calls the "highest of highs" - during an interview. His time with Dawn gives him a few nice scenes, though there's a major caveat I'll discuss in the next paragraph. When he loses that first fight, you'll feel his bravado shatter as you wonder how he picks himself up. He does so pretty well, even if it involves another big loss. All in all, this is a standout performance from The Rock, as well as another triumph for Kazu Hiro and his makeup team.

As I said, Johnson and Blunt have some nice scenes, including a stop at a carnival. These moments are outnumbered by their quarrels, which usually involve Kerr overreacting to an innocuous comment.  You can probably count the number of scenes that result in no argument one hand. There's some property damage, notably Kerr punching a door into nothing twice, but not physical damage. One argument even escalates to Dawn trying to kill herself, the culmination of her own barely-explored addictions. Kerr calms her down, and she's literally driven out of the movie in a cop car. Their off-screen reconciliation and eventually brief marriage could've been conveyed better than a piece of epilogue text.

Anything else good? Bader proves quite a natural in his film debut. As Coleman, he's quite likeable whether he's acting as Kerr's pal or even potential opponent. He and Rutten also make for great mentors to Kerr. Their adversaries are also played by actual fighters, such as Cyborg Abreu (as Fabio Gurgel) and Satoshi Ishii (as Enson Inoue). Their experience, Safdie's editing prowess, the sound designers, and the aforementioned makeup team, render the fights appropriately brutal. The aforementioned epilogue lets the real Kerr play himself, which is kind of nifty. I think that's it.

The Smashing Machine is still contending for your box-office dollars. It could've done without all that arguing, but Johnson's performance makes it a decently interesting biopic. I went in knowing little about Mark Kerr, and I went out wanting to watch the original documentary. Thing is, it's not actually available anywhere, not even on HBOMax! That's a real disappointment. This movie, on the other hand, is all right. I think I said enough.

One Battle After Another

And now we go from One Paul to Another with One Battle After Another.

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film has been hyped up as his most mainstream movie. It's got chase scenes, shootouts, bad language and fun stupidity. It doesn't have a mainstream source material - Vineland by celebrated hermit Thomas Pynchon (yes, the same Pynchon whose Inherent Vice Mr. Anderson filmed in 2014) - but it's got a nice runtime of 161-minutes. 

But Jethro, not everyone's gonna take to the runtime, or even its politics!

You can't please everyone, Baxter. Let's just get to it.

Back in their day, Ghetto Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) fought The Man with their revolutionary group, The French 75. The film opens with them liberating prisoners at a Migrant Detention Camp run by Capt. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who soon becomes obsessed with Perfidia. Perfidia eventually sells out the French 75 to Lockjaw, forcing Pat to flee to the city of Baktan Cross with his and Perfidia's daughter, Charlene. 

Sixteen years later, Pat & Charlene are now Bob & Willa Ferguson (the latter played by newcomer Chase Infiniti). Lockjaw, now a Colonel, wants to join a spiffy Neo-Nazi club, the Christmas Adventurers Club. The only problem is that Willa might actually be his daughter. So, he shows up looking for the Fergusons with full military support. Deandra (Regina Hall), a former French 75er, spirits away Willa to a convent; meanwhile, a washed-up Bob struggles to reacclimate to the good fight. Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio Del Toro), a community leader and Willa's Karate sensei, is ready to help. Thus begins a three-way quest between Bob, Lockjaw's forces and even the Christmas Adventurers to find Willa first.

It sounds like a lot, but it hardly feels boring with Andy Jurgensen’s editing prowess. Midway through the film, we get a dynamite sequence of events as Bob flees Lockjaw's forces across town. He desperately tries to get in touch with his French 75 comrades. Their receptionist, “Comrade Josh” (Dan Chariton), refuses to talk until Bob answers a certain password, which he's since forgotten. It takes up quite a bit of the film, but it's so compelling that you'll hardly notice the time. In fact, all of the action scenes, such as the opening raid and the climactic chase, are dynamite. They're made especially dynamic by two of Anderson's other longtime collaborators: cinematographer Michael Bauman & composer Jonny Greenwood. 

Mr. Anderson's longtime casting director, Cassandra Kulukundis, is a guaranteed nominee for the inaugural Casting Oscar. There really isn't a weak link in this ensemble. As Bob, DiCaprio is more of a loser than an action hero, but he still tries to do good. You'll empathize with him as much as you'll laugh at his comically maddening password scramble. He and Infiniti have a great chemistry; the latter, in particular, is quite amazing when she asserts herself as the story's true heroine. As Lockjaw, Penn is a pathetic loser and a loathsome creep, which makes for a fascinating mix. He's oddly pitiable when the Christmas Adventurers give him a nasty surprise. All of that comes after he's horrifyingly and hilariously injured during the climactic chase, conveyed by excellent prosthetic makeup.

Who else do we have here? We have Sergio Sensei, who's more of a foil to Bob than a mentor, but he's still a cool guy. Taylor leaves quite an impression as Perfidia, who mostly disappears after the first half-hour. Deandra has no love lost for Perfidia, as Hall expresses in her best moment with Infiniti, but Perfidia's depressiveness makes it easier for the audience to. The Christmas Adventurers are mostly a bunch of losers, but John Hoogenaker's Tim Smith is their biggest standout. Eric Schweig also stands out as Avanti, Lockjaw's bounty hunter who eventually saves Willa at the cost of his life.

Over fifty years ago, Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow baffled the Pulitzer Prize committee so much that they opted to skip out on that year's Fiction Prize. Pynchon's other novels, especially Vineland, aren't that conventional either. So, if you're intimidated by One Battle After Another's runtime, rest assured that it's a reasonable approximation of its most comprehensible themes. These themes highlight one of this year's most memorable films, as well as one of the most fascinating movies of all time. That's how good it is.