A Complete Unknown (2024)

Gosh, this is the first time in more than a year that I've gone to a theater with, or even seen a feature-length movie with, any member of my family. Specifically my dad this time. If not for his suggestion, I would likely have overlooked this title.

The story begins in 1961 when "Bobby Dylan" (Timothée Chalamet) visits the Huntington's-stricken Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) in the hospital, where he also meets a visiting Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Dylan is indeed unknown at this point, but as his music gains big-name supporters such as Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), he becomes rich and famous almost overnight. This does not please him, because his fans and studio execs always want to pigeonhole him when he'd rather keep trying new things.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Here it is, folks: the first movie I've seen set during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically May 2020. That said, we don't see people wearing masks or keeping apart for long, thanks to an oral spray that supposedly protects everyone from infection. Either they put too much confidence in a dubious treatment, or it's a sci-fi premise. It wouldn't be the only one herein, despite the previous Knives Out not having any.

Eccentric industrialist Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites five pretty close acquaintances, along with a couple plus-ones, to a weekend on his private island, home to a mansion aptly called the Glass Onion, to solve the mystery of his "murder." PI Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), the only returning character, also gets an invitation, tho Bron didn't intend it. Almost equally out of place is Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), Bron's former business partner, who's bitterly disenchanted with him and all his suck-ups in attendance. Blanc notes that every guest besides himself has a motive to make the pretend murder a reality. Well, someone dies before long....

Isle of Dogs (2018)

This review is for those seemingly few who, like me, neither love nor hate the works of Wes Anderson (the rest have no need of a review in the first place). He displays no shortage of signatures, for better, worse, or both. I had expected to wait and maybe see this on DVD, but a Meetup invitation to the limited screening before wide release in the U.S. drew me in.

In either the near future or an alternate present, the dog-hating mayor of fictional Megasaki, Japan, exiles all dogs to the aptly named Trash Island, with popular support thanks to a worrisome flu epidemic among the dogs. After half a year of barely hanging on, a quintet of adult male dogs sees a jet crash on the island. Out comes Atari, an injured 12-year-old orphan and rebellious nephew of the mayor, in search of his beloved Spots. The quintet democratically votes to try to help him, with only long-time stray Chief (Bryan Cranston) against it.

The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

I wasn't sure I'd ever watch a movie about a pornographer, no matter how esteemed it is. The fact that Miloš Forman directed and thought it his best work (above One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus?!) upped my curiosity.

The first scene, depicting prepubescent Larry and his brother Jimmy as rural Kentucky moonshine vendors in 1952, feels out of place with the rest. I guess the point was to show their long-time dark entrepreneurial partnership and Larry's attitude problem. From there, the film skips to their ownership of a failing strip club (by which time they're played by Woody and Brett Harrelson, respectively), which they try to remedy with ads that become the basis for Hustler magazine. The next several years see Larry in multiple court cases (not all about porn) and, yes, worse troubles.

The Illusionist (2006)

No, not the 2010 animation written by Jacques Tati. Like Infamous, this movie got overshadowed by a similarly themed movie out around the same time, in this case The Prestige. (Scoop also focused on magic that year, but despite the Woody Allen label, it didn't enjoy as much popularity as either competitor.) Regardless, TI has pretty high ratings, so it must have...cast a spell on some viewers.

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire late in the nineteenth century, Eduard Abramovich (Edward Norton) is a magician with the stage name of Eisenheim. One night, his volunteer from the audience is Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel), once his teen sweetheart until authorities forced them apart due to his lower class. Alas, she is betrothed to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who has a reputation for physically abusing women, is believed to have killed one, and plans to usurp the throne. Leopold takes little time to grow suspicious and sends Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to snoop on Eisenheim and look for an excuse to arrest him. Rescuing Sophie and/or bringing Leopold to justice would take an extraordinary feat of magic....

Frida (2002)

Frida Kahlo was one of those names I'd heard on many occasions without giving much thought. Aside from her being a Hispanic artist, I couldn't have told you anything about her. So I figured if I got nothing else out of this movie, it would give me a rough idea of who she really was.

It begins in 1922 Mexico, when the first major event of her life happened. A reckless bus driver puts 15-year-old Frida (Salma Hayek, then in her mid-30s) in critical condition. She never fully recovers, possibly due in part to similarly incompetent surgeons. Her first love (Antonio Banderas) does not stay by her side. Fortunately, between little else to do and a newfound interest in Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), she hones her own painting skill -- to the point that he has no constructive criticism. They go on to marry, despite her knowing that Diego cheated on his first wife a lot. She later calls that a far worse accident than the bus crash.

25th Hour (2002)

Netflix uses the term "post-9/11" in its description of this movie, which may have played a subconscious part in my queue ordering. While the story does take place in New York City, the only sign of anything related to 9/11 comes when protagonist Monty (Edward Norton) cusses out Osama bin Laden. Along with various groups and individuals in NYC. And Jesus. And finally himself.

Monty's not much happier than that for the rest of the movie, in which the DEA has found drugs in his apartment and he has a day left to party and say his goodbyes before turning himself in. (Yes, the law can work that way, though the federal agents shouldn't have mentioned the Rockefeller drug laws.) From the title, I had expected an action-packed thriller, not a drama. In fact, it's less a story than a character study, with a fair amount of focus on the quiet troubles of his friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper) and his father (Brian Cox) as they prepare to see him off, not knowing whether he'll spend seven years in prison, run away forever, or commit suicide.

Birdman (2014)

At last I've seen half the Best Picture nominees, and one of the most favored at that! I had not been excited to see it, because what I'd read made it sound like The Wrestler with a little magic realism (which could be very good, just not worth excitement going in). Fortunately, what I got was far more distinctive and only occasionally predictable.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu, previously best known for Babel and Amores perros, must have since taken lessons from his buddy Alfonso Cuarón, because this film loves long tracking shots even more than Gravity. Normally this technique helps you feel more present, but whenever it becomes clear that things have not been happening in real time, the scarcity of obvious cuts to other cameras enhances the surreality instead. And for all the credible dialog and genuine show biz concerns, you'd better believe it's surreal.