by Alan Yudman

What would you do for your brother? Would you give up your dreams to protect him and keep him safe? That is the question at the heart of THE SISTERS BROTHERS, the new western from director Jacques Audiard.

Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are Charlie and Eli Sisters. They are notorious assassins, chasing a man through southern Oregon and northern California in the 1850’s. The work for a mysterious man known only as the Commodore. When someone steals from him, he sends the Sisters Brothers are sent to recover whatever it is and kill the thief. They are very good at their job, if a bit extreme. This time they are after a chemist colorfully named Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) who has a formula for extracting gold from rivers. A tracker is also after him (Jake Gyllenhaal), acting as a ghoulish advance man for the Sisters Brothers murderous task.

The brothers are both brutal, but in different ways. Charlie is a blunt instrument, killing without much remorse or consideration for conscience or his soul. Eli is more thoughtful. He has thought about getting out and how that happens. He is a sensitive soul who seems to only be in it to protect his brother from the revenge that is surely in their future. Phoenix is great. His slightly crazy eyes play perfectly into Charlie’s personality. As good as he is, Reilly is better. He is tortured and exasperated by some of what Charlie has done. He pines for a woman and is not happy that Charlie makes fun of him for it. As angry as he gets at Charlie, Eli would never abandon him, even though he threatens to. And when Charlie is horribly injured, Eli takes charge of the partnership to care for his brother and end their commitment to the Commodore.

The supporting performances from Ahmed and Gyllenhaal are also strong. Every character is more layered than he appears. Ahmed talks about a socialist utopia, while Gyllenhaal writes like a man who has too much education for his job and who is escaping his own demons.

While the film takes place in the American west Spain and Romania stand in for Oregon and California. I really didn’t notice much of a difference. The score by Alexandre Desplat is brooding and ominous, perfectly fitting the tone of the film.

THE SISTERS BROTHERS is a thoughtful meditation on brotherhood, brutality and the society of the 1850’s American Frontier. It’s what a good western can be in the right hands.

by Alan Yudman

Bo Burnham became famous making YouTube videos, so it makes sense that is the plot device around which his first movie, EIGHTH GRADE, is centered.

Kayla is in eighth grade. She is at the end of eighth grade and getting ready for the completely new experience of high school. She is not quite average. She is just kind of moving through school. Not many friends. Not popular, but not unpopular. She is one of those kids who is kind of wallpaper or furniture, People move around her but don’t really notice her. The one thing she does to set her apart is that she makes advice videos on YouTube (now you see the Burnham connection). Much like her, no one notices them. They have almost no viewers.

And that is kind of what the movie is about. Kayla wants to be more, but isn’t. She is not especially happy and wants to be cool, but it just isn’t in her cards. She gets invited to one party, only because the girl’s Mom wants to hook up with Kayla’s good looking single dad. It’s a pool party and Kayla shows up and walks through the crowd being ignored. It’s kind of a brilliantly shot scene. Burnham follows her from the back and all you can see is her slumped shoulders moving through the party. She wants to be noticed, but her body language says otherwise.

The genius of the film is in how average Kayla is. She thinks she isn’t, but she is just an average, anxious teenager. Brunham and Elise Fisher (Kayla) are in some kind of perfect symbiosis. The videos are ostensibly for others, but really act as Kayla working out her problems out loud.

Burnham’s script captures the oeuvre of being a teenager more perfectly than any movie I can think of outside of a John Hughes movie. EIGHTH GRADE special movie by a very talented storyteller. Should be one of the best movies of the year, ya know, it ya want… or not. Whatever.

by Alan Yudman

Can you do me A SIMPLE FAVOR? Go see this movie. It is the best combination of comedy and noir, mystery-thriller. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. It is in reality a mystery-thriller that has some funny parts.

Anna Kendrick is a Mommy-Vlogger who meets Blake Lively, the mom of one of her son’s classmates. Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers is kind of the Mom every other parent hates. She bakes stuff, volunteers for everything and is excruciatingly bubbly. She meets Blake Lively’s Emily when their sons demand a playdate. Emily is an uber-successful public relations executive for a New York designer. That’s who they both appears to be on the surface.. but the theme of this movie is that everyone has secrets in their past. And they all come bubbling to the surface as Emily disappears and Stephanie becomes an amateur sleuth, obsessed with finding her “best friend”.

The best part of this movie is Lively. She is a modern day Barbara Stanwyck or Lauren Bacall. Yeah, I know that’s quite the high bar. But trust me, she lives up to the comparison. She is amazing. Lively is glamorous, sharp-witted, sexy and mysterious. Without her outstanding performance, I’m not sure this movie would have worked as well.

Kendrick is the best version of herself. The slightly manic pixie, but toned down, more serious and slyly smart. The comedy mostly comes from her character and her timing is flawless. She is an outstanding comic actor. But that shouldn’t short sell her overall ability.

A SIMPLE FAVOR is directed by Paul Feig and written by Jessica Sharzer. The script is good. The directing is wonderful. Feig, who is known for comedies like SPY and BRIDESMAIDS shows he has more tools in his toolbox, arrows in his quiver… however you want to describe it. He gets all the right shots to enhance tension and set the noir tone. There are several scenes that Hitchcock would be proud of. Maybe they were cribbed from the master, but if you’re going to borrow, borrow from the best. The Mommy Vlogger thing isn’t just Stephanie’s job, it becomes an integral part of the story and it’s resolution. It’s an example that really nothing is dismissed as trivial by Feig. And watch for one scene near the end involving a Prius. I laughed out loud and quite inappropriately.

I don’t want to pass by the music. It is mostly French pop and it works perfectly in setting the tone for the film. It was a great choice Feig and Music Supervisor Erica Weis.

I’ve read some reviews that say the movie falls apart at the end. I don’t think it falls apart at all. It becomes a twisty, Hitchcockian thriller where everyone is more than you thought they were. You may not like the resolution or how they get there, but that doesn’t mean if “falls apart”. It’s just a different choice. In this case, I think the choices were perfect. A SIMPLE PLAN is a fabulous movie.

by Alan Yudman

I have read plenty of reviews that BLACKKKLANSMAN is the triumphant return of Spike Lee. Where did he go? Nowhere. He was here all the time producing, directing, going to Knicks games. You know.. being Spike Lee.

Maybe those critics say that because this is a shocking return to movies like DO THE RIGHT THING.. funny, dramatic and insightful films that wear their point right there on their sleeves. If that’s what these critics are saying, then ok, I get it.

BLACKKKLANSMAN is based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, the first African-American on the Colorado Springs, Colorado police force. He winds up infiltrating the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white, Jewish detective named Flip Zimmerman.

This is the early 1970’s.. so Ron has to deal with all kinds of racism… external and within the police force (Fredrick Weller turns in an underrated performance as the most racist cop you may ever see). In his first assignment, Ron has to infiltrate a speech by Kwame Ture (expertly played by Corey Hawkins). In a movie filled with powerful scenes, this is one of the most beautifully shot. Ture is speaking about revolution and the beauty of Black people. Lee chooses not focus much on Ture, instead on the audience in a series of close-ups that simply support Ture’s thesis. It is quite moving and one of the best things I’ve seen on film this year.

The performances in general are fantastic. John David Washington (you may know his dad Denzel) is solid as Ron Stallworth. Adam Driver plays Flip.. has Driver ever turned a performance could be considered average? I can’t think of one. He is one of the most consistently outstanding actors working right now.

The movie is bookended by two scenes. One is Alec Baldwin as a racist Klan leader trying to record a filmed message for his followers. He stumbles and misspeaks throughout the whole thing. Not sure of the intent. Maybe to portray these guys as buffoons.

The end is a montage of video and photos from the deadly 2017 protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. I get what Lee is trying to do. Just because Ron is successful in busting the Klan in Colorado, doesn’t mean it is the end of racism. In fact naked racism is seemingly more virulent than ever. It is a shocking, gut punch ending and completely effective.

It Spike Lee in fact did go anywhere (spoiler alert.. he didn’t) then I for one am glad this Spike Lee is back.

(Oh spoiler alert.. I lived in Colorado Springs for a year. The scenes in the city are not Colorado Springs. Not close. But that’s just my little pet peeve.)

by Alan Yudman

GET OUT was last year’s ground breaking movie that was of a genre but really a biting social commentary. It was so good it won Jordan Peele a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

This year that torch has been passed to SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. Where get out was chiefly about race and racism, S.T.B.Y. touches on a smorgasbord of injustice. Boots Riley hits racism, sexism, classism… really all the “isms”. It addresses being “othered” unlike any movie you’ve ever seen.

Every performance is standout. Lakeith Stanfield (ATLANTA and GET OUT) is wonderful as underachieving Cassius Green. But he seems to be underachieving because of outside forces. His girlfriend is an artist expertly played by Tessa Thompson. You have to watch her scenes just for the social protest earrings she wears all the time. Every scene is a different commentary through her accessories. Those are the stellar, breakthrough performances.

Armie Hammer, Danny Glover, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Steven Yeun and Terry Crews are all wonderful.

The movie address the rights of workers, the inherent racism of a workplace, discrimination against lower classes and the evil of mega corporations. So, a full plate. But it is never oppressive with its message. You get it.. it gets that you get it and moves on.

Boots Riley has had a full career as the leader of the Oakland Hip Hop collective The Coup. This is his first movie that was years in the making. It was well worth the wait. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU is fun, funny and through provoking. And sometimes it is just flat out bonkers. It’s a movie that sticks with you and that you want to see again in case you missed something the first time. If it doesn’t receive the same recognition as GET OUT, Hollywood’s nods to inclusion are complete bullshit.

by Alan Yudman

The Parrs are back. And the world is better for it.

THE INCREDIBLES 2 picks up where the first movie left off. Superheroes are still illegal and the Parr family is still using their powers despite the risk. Now there is a billionaire mogul who wants to change the law and wants to use Elastigirl as the face of his public relations campaign.

There’s a new villain, but that person isn’t revealed until about two-thirds of the way through the movie in a well hidden twist.

The real star of the movie is Baby Jack Jack. At the end of the first movie we learn that he may have powers. Those powers are allowed to breathe here. And in one of the movies best scene, Jack Jack has it out with a pesky raccoon.

There is also a very modern family dynamic. Helen has to go off to support the family, making Bob the stay at home Dad. He struggles with questions about his manhood, his ability to support his family and how little he actually knows about being a parent.

The script and direction are superb. What else would you expect from Brad Bird? The animation is familiar because it is so similar to the first film, but the technology allows for more detail which enhances the experience.

The voice acting is also stellar from Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Bob Odenkirk, Katherine Keener, Sarah Vowell and Samuel L. Jackson.

Here’s hoping it’s not another 14 years before we see the Parrs in a movie again.