Blinded By The Light

Ahh, glory days.

When you’re a teen, music can mean everything.

In this coming-of-age 1980’s tale, Pakistani British teen Javed (Viveik Kalra) receives a life changing jolt when classmate Roops (Aaron Phagura) gives him two Bruce Springsteen cassettes.

Set against the backstreets of the economic downturn of Thatcher’s Britain and the rise of the neo-Nazi National Front, Blinded makes an easy case for why Jared would be looking for an escape from his hometown, and why he would find obsessive inspiration in lyrics from the Boss. The story is based on the life of Greetings from Bury Park author Sarfraz Manzoor, who wrote about how music transcends religion and race. But this is not a heavy film. Not at all.

Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) unabashedly presents his story as feel-good comedy, and an earnest ode to the power of music. The throwback music sequences in Blinded border on cornball, but most viewers will ultimately surrender to its infectious charm. Chadha, while screening the film for The Asian Film Festival of Dallas, said it best when she told the audience “This is not a film for cynics.”

To be fair, a film about a boy in the eighties who mysteriously relates to New Jersey’s Springsteen...and a film that wowed Sundance...I was always going to like. But I have no worry recommending a joy-filled film in a time where we need just that.

In a nutshell: It's an anthem to the importance of music, hopes and dreams in our youth (and beyond), and an infectious comedy that will make you want to dance in the dark.

Award potential: Chadha, who introduced the world to Kiera Knightly, has found screen- busting stars in both Kalra and Phagura. Along with Yesterday, this should be 2019’s front runner for Golden Globe’s Best Comedy category, and an interesting battle of the band movies.

"I'll Stand By You Always," a previously unreleased Springsteen song, will not qualify for most Best Song awards as it was not written specifically for this film.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino certainly knows how to milk a scene. He famously did so—with milk—in Inglorious Bastards, and Christoph Waltz took home an Oscar for it. As I was enjoying similar vignettes, set in a beautifully nostalgic Los Angeles, it occurred to me that this may not add up or have a point to it all.

Luckily for audiences, the scenes and the three main characters do come together at the end for a satisfying third act.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood centers on three la-la-landers at different stages of their Hollywood careers. Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is an uprising star, giddy to see her name in lights. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the aging cowboy western lead, struggling to see his future in cinema or TV, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), the stunt man, is at an early career end with nothing to show for it except his literal scars. 

Their stories intersect a specific moment in history. When the Cielo Drive sign appears early in the film and eventually the date of August 8, 1969 swipes on the screen, you know what is coming — the brutal murders conducted by members of the Manson Family. 
Thankfully the camera doesn't show the worst part of that day, but there is a story to tell.

I’m not a fan of violence as comedy, but there is something masterful about how Tarantino makes it work for storytelling. More than any of his films since Pulp Fiction, your investment pays off.

In a nutshell: If this sounds interesting to you—a 2.75 hour Tarantino fantasy film and an homage to 1960’s California—then you won’t be disappointed.

Award potential: It’s a long time before voting in January 2020 with a fall full of contenders, but L.A. loves films about themselves. Consider this the current front-runner for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Director, Cinematographer, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing and Costume.

I expect it won’t win any. Margot Robbie is sensational in an understated way that doesn’t fare well in supporting categories. The showier Quentin for Best Screenplay and Pitt for Best Supporting have the best chance at a win.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Farewell

In a summer full of reboots and remakes, when movie marquees have the same titles as they did in 1995, The Farewell is a welcome treat. 

Lulu Wang’s semiautobiographical film got its start with a 2016 In Defense of Ignorance episode of the This American Life radio program, which recounted the story of a Chinese-American woman and her family. Billi (played in the film by Awkwafina) learns from her parents that her beloved grandmother has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. True to certain Chinese traditions, the family chooses to keep the truth from Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen), and plans a final visit to the Chinese city of Changchun — under the guise of a family wedding. The story begins as Billi is forced to go along with her family’s deception and partake in its big, little lie.

If you’re now expecting a heavy, angry family drama, you are incorrect. The Farewell is funny, affectionate and deeply moving. Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians) leads an impeccably cast ensemble. She’s a major talent, offering remarkable versatility for this role.

When director Lulu Wang screened this film for the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, she noted that she cast Awkwafina before her recent hit movies, when she was known mostly as the rapper of My Vag. Yet, you can’t imagine this movie without her.

While the film shows China with great affection, it's ultimately a universal story. And its one of the best films of the year. 

In a nutshell: The characters all try to hide their feelings, but this must-see film goes for the heart.

Award potential: If this film gets noticed, it could land nods for Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen at the Golden Globes. I’d argue that a scene with Zhao placing her hand on the family car should earn her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

A summer indie film has an uphill battle being remembered in January, but it should be included in any respected list of the year’s top films.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Yesterday

"It’s not Coldplay. It’s not Fix You," but it is the best rom com of 2019 so far.

Not many high-concept premises truly come together as breezy, comedic fun. This year’s best comedies (Late Night, Long Shot and Isn’t It Romantic) still struggled and felt strained by their premise — and only one of them was supposed to be a fantasy. Luckily, Yesterday defies the odds and brings smiles and a few surprises to the rom com format.

It gets by with a little help from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love Actually) who take a fantasy concept (a world where only one man remembers the Beatles) and magically keep it light and interesting for almost two hours.

Jack (Himesh Patel) and Eliie (Lily James) are a delightful and convincing romantic couple. To be clear, they don’t reach the timeless heights of Harry and Sally nor anyone from Love Actually, but this pairing works better than any rom com I’ve seen since last year’s Crazy Rich Asians. 

There’s a love-it/hate-it moment in the final arc of the film. It betrayed the films tone to me, but everyone with me loved it, and thought it was essential. 

I don't care. I bought everything else and was glad to buy this ticket too.

In a nutshell: Not revolutionary, but not predictable. Quality, escapist fun, in an “all you need is love” kinda way.

Award potential: Some potential Golden Globe nominations in their Best Comedy category.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Late Night

Does it "earn the privilege of your time?"

At the center of Late Night is Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), a talk-show host whose tagline is “Excellence without compromise,” although she’s been mailing it in on her “dusty,” declining show for years. No one is bold enough to tell her this, until a network vp informs Katherine that she is being replaced.

“I don’t think you think you hate women,” is how a staffer approaches Katherine on her lack of diversity hiring. This exchange leads her to hire Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), a chemical-plant manager with no writing experience and cupcakes-the-first-day energy. If you think this sounds like a 2019 variation of The Devil Wears Prada, you are devilishly correct. Similar to that film, Katherine strikes fear amongst her staff yet befriends a newcomer who unrealistically rises to the top. 

Late Night takes on race, class, feminism and many modern ideologies with varying degrees of success. It’s an uneven comedy, but a broadly amusing one that arrives at a refreshing time in the summer sequel season.

Who am I kidding? I’d watch Emma Thompson fold laundry for two hours and I would certainly watch her deliver zippy dialogue in an office comedy for an hour and forty-two minutes. She plays a terrible person, but somehow you root for her. Thompson is that good.

In a nutshell: Uneven as comedy and social statement, but the comedic wit of Emma Thompson heightens each scene. It’s delightful to see her in the center of a movie again. 

Award potential: Some Golden Globe Comedy nominations seem likely, but no Oscar noms. This is not Broadcast News.

The Ten Buck Review: Thanks to Thompson, it does “earn the privilege of your time.” Worth ten bucks.

Rocketman

It's a little bit funny, but rock biopics fall into two categories. Those that should have been on TV and those that serve only to showcase their stars to Oscar nomination greatness (Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It and Dennis Quaid in Great Balls of Fire). Not many are great films. The only one to cross that line might have been Walk The Line.
 
I had high hopes that this summer release would be an exception. While Elton John's rocket flight to fame is patent rock biopic material, the levitated piano playing shown in the trailer suggested a fantasy approach that would transcend linear biopic film making. It didn't.

Let me first note that Taron Egerton fills the electric boots perfectly, providing great energy and virtuoso vocals. Rocketman achieves a star-making performance and clearly puts this film in that first biopic bucket.
 
The rest of the movie is as much a mess as Elton's life in the seventies. Instead of one scene that lets us know his mother was cruel, we have several hit-you-over-the-head moments every time she appears. And the narrative framework, set in a rehab, is so remedial that it's almost insulting. Thank goodness for those songs. The music is showcased three ways: realistic, fantastical imaginings of energetic performances and corny broadway basic music videos. The first two work. I loved a scene early in the film that captures what it must have felt like to hear Elton in the seventies. It's a scene where Elton performs Crocodile Rock in L.A.'s famous Troubadour club the day after a Neil Young appearance.
 
But here's my other issue with the film. Elton didn't play that song at the Troubadour and Neil Young wasn't there either. I understand the story telling need to switch songs or show songs out of timeline sequence, but why add the incorrect Neil Young reference? Why did they add a specific scene that indicates his last name was inspired by John Lennon when it was inspired by London rocker Long John Baldry? Why title "The Border Song" on a test packet to Elton when Taupin and John would write it years later? Why include the songs "Daniel" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" in his first audition, when these are songs they'd write in 1972 and 1983? Why, with Elton as producer,would any of this happen. I don't understand why you'd add these details if they weren't true and it's one less reason you should get your hopes up before watching this film. I suggest you spend the two hours playing one of Elton's Greatest Hits album or two or three.
 
In a nutshell: I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how disappointed I was in everything but Egerton's performance.

Award potential: Julian Day should expect an Oscar nomination for Best Costume and Taron Egerton should be only every shortlist for months. Egerton is supported with strong performances by Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin and Richard Madden as lover and manager John Reid, but I don't expect these performances to be remembered next January.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Not worth ten bucks.

Booksmart

Part Superbad. Part super good. 

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Say Anything in the 80s. Dazed and Confused, Clueless, American Pie and 10 Things I Hate About You in the 90s. Juno and Superbad in the 2000s. The Spectacular Now, Perks of Being A Wallflower, Love, Simon and Lady Bird in the 2010s.  

The plot of these high school comedies are all the same, but each has its own take. These come around every few years and each time I enjoy discovering the voice, the tone and the music of that generation's version. 2019 offers us Booksmart, directed by actress Olivia Wilde. 

Besties Amy (Kaitlyn Dever from Beautiful Boy) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein from LIttle Bird) always assumed their focus on academia would give them a life-long advantage on their YOLO high school peers. You know, those party kids who will stay in town working at the local store and reminiscing about their glory days. However, on the eve of graduation, Amy and Molly discover those fun-loving kids are also moving on to Ivy-league schools. “You guys don’t even care about school,” shouts Molly, to which a popular girl retorts, “No, we just don’t only care about school.” This revelation is the comedic set up for Amy and Molly to pour four years of fun into one wild night, which includes crashing the cool kids' house party. Sounds good, right?
 
The first half of the film involves a series of mistakes and delays getting to the party, which includes introducing multiple over-the-top characters and raucous scenarios. I didn't enjoy the first half. My age is showing that I was sqirmingly antsy during all the misdirections and worried that our heroines would never actually get to crash that party. 

Today I realized that I was just craving a grounded, realistic story (The girls accidentally take a drug that conveniently wears off just as soon as the comic bit was over) and realistic characters (a nerdy classmate throws a million dollar yacht party without any friends to join).
 
Luckily, this all changes in the second half of the film, where all those kooky characters and classmates meet. In a huge shift, the situation and the characters suddenly become realistic and layered, the stories all start to gel and everything works in that endearing way that the best of these movies do. I wish the whole film had been like the third act. It was so good that I'll have to recommend this film despite wanting to walk out early on.
 
In a nutshell: Like any true revenge of the nerd story, Booksmart wins over in the end.
 
Award potential: It had all the buzz at SXSW, but after seeing Eighth Grade get passed over last year, I'd say this zanier, uneven comedy has no chance for Oscar recognition. 

A Golden Globe (Comedy) nomination is a long shot, but possible if Yesterday, Late Night or Once Upon A Time In Hollywood don't match expectations. The actresses are strong, but equal in their roles and unlikely to both make a nomination list half a year from now.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.