Better anti-superpower: terrible breath or eye boogers?

Dec 02, 2020

"All things being equal,
I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

PINNED: this newsletter is supposed to be a friendly recapping of the movies in, and coming to, theaters. But things be real weird right now. So until that changes in earnest, I'll either be suggesting old favorites to revisit, pointing out recent flicks you may have missed or calling out notable new VOD / streaming options.

So last week's holiday romp, Happiest Season, (did you watch? what'd you think?) was supposed to be in theaters, but "the bullshit" pushed it to stream on Hulu - which kinda sorta may have been the best thing for it. Because it's kinda become a thing. Hulu announced it had the highest premiere of any of its original movies so far (yes, we have no idea what the benchmark is, but it's something!). And regardless of one's thoughts on the merits of the movie, it's kind of nice to have a movie where nary a Chris is in site, as the talk o' Twitter.

Btw, as I've mentioned, there are in fact movies still being released in theaters, e.g. last week's The Croods: A New Age, which actually made some modest money at the box office. Still way (way) less than in a normal scenario, but the best since the pandemic hit.

I'm not currently featuring them because it's either hard for many people to go or they just don't wanna (understandable!). But for those tryin to still see the big screen versions, Oscar likely Nomadland (Frances McDorman post-recession journey as a drifter) and I'm Your Woman (Rachel Brosnahan wife to drug dealer who goes on the run) are out in limited runs this weekend.

They're both supposed to be quite good (especially Nomadland), but don't fret if you're not theater bound; I'll feature them here once they're streaming.

MANK

Vibe: Hollywood in the days of old, but modern
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% (out of 135)
Details: 2 hrs, 12 mins R
Trailer

Mank is a movie about movies. Well, a movie. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, oft cited as "the best movie ever made." But ranking movies gets about as messy as making them. And that's what Mank is really about, the difficult and sometimes chaotic process of creating a film in Hollywood; it's centered on Herman J. Mankiewicz, the writer of Citizen Kane (or co-writer, it's complicated) as he's writing the famous script and the events / people that helped inspire it.

Mankiewicz, played by Gary Oldman, spent time around the media baron William Randolph Hearst, on whom he based Charles Foster Kane. Hearst was a dude with power, a lot of it. So much so, that when Kane came out, it pissed him off such that he banned any advertising of it in his newspapers. In part because it goaded him with a character based off of actress Marion Davies, who was Heart's mistress (played here by Amanda Seyfried, which is getting her Oscar talk). Hmm, maybe that's what the movie is actually about, power.

Unfortunately, we can't ask the writer of Mank because he died 17 years ago. But you could ask his son, David Fincher (yes, that one). Fincher's father Jack wrote the movie in retirement and even as big of a director as he is, Fincher is just now getting the chance to make his black and white homage to old Hollywood. A fairly nice counter argument to those who say Netflix is "killing cinema" - because not many other companies would greenlight a movie where the director's conceit is “What if this film was made concurrently with ‘Kane,’ and what if Welles had something to do with it?”

At this point, you might asking, "god damn it, am I going to be watching Mank or Citizen Kane?" Which is fair! Their stories, as well as the events of reality, are all intertwined here - both in the moving picture and this blurb. It's almost as if one is the father and the other is the son. Huh.

Is that what the movie is about? Family?

Guess you'll have to watch and find out.

SOUND OF METAL

Vibe: intense personal journey sorta stuff
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% (out of 117)
Details : 2 hrs, R
Trailer

I can't remember the last movie I watched starring anyone who is deaf, let alone centered on deafness. But Sound of Metal is just that, a story of a punk band drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed, who not only learned sign language for the role, but also apparently got jacked - see above) that begins to lose his hearing. He also happens to be a recovering addict, and the stress, along with his bandmate / girlfriend (same person), pushes him to join a recovery group for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, where he deals with his current situation as well as his past & future.

The film is being lauded not just for its portrayal of an often underrepresented group, but also in how it does it. Reviewers cite the good job it does with audio in having audiences experience (in part) what Ruben is going through.

But the most love is for Ahmed's acting, which is pretty much why you watch this movie; to see a really good performance (Ahmed) and to glimpse experiences different than your own.

BLACK BEAR

Vibe: wait, what's going on, this is kinda...
...oh shit, what just happened?
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% (out of 52)
Details: 1 hr 44 mins, R
Trailer

Please watch the trailer for this movie. Go ahead. I'll wait.

*plays seventeen uncompleted games of Dots*

Done? Cool. Can you tell me what the fuck is going on in this movie? Beyond, ya know, Aubrey Plaza being dry as hell, i.e. Aubrey Plaza being Aubrey Plaza.

Ok, I do know some of what's going on and gosh darnit, wouldn't you believe Black Bear is also about the movie making process? It's a very meta week here at What's In Theaters (+).

But instead of Mank's "old Hollywood," Black Bear sets us in the middle of "new indie" hipster-lite world (perfectly set in a remote Kinfolky cabin). Plaza is an actor-writer-director looking for inspiration who joins a bickering couple (also actors / entertainers) at their fancy wooded abode. The situation is already tense and Plaza's presence only fuels the couple's histrionics.

To say what happens next is to potentially ruin aspects of the film, so you may want to go in a bit blind (that includes reading reviews. In fact, especially reviews).

But if you do watch, can you come back and email me what happens? K. Thx.

Highlights

The Mauritanian - Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley become defense lawyers for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner. True story stuff. Also stars Benedict Cumberbatch.

Baby Done - first, produced by Taika Waititi. Second, it's a couple that doesn't want kids, gets pregnant, the father is all in, the mother, well...

Note: last two weeks' playlists had (accidentally) been set to private. Not sure why that happened, but it's fixed now!

What's In Theaters +

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