Movies, Films & Flix

Quick Thoughts:

1. Director/writer David Lowery has crafted a unique film that swings for the fences.
2. Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway are excellent. 
3. Hathaway’s dancing scene is wonderful. 
4. Cinematographers Andrew Droz Palermo (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story)  and Rina Yang (She’s shot music videos for Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Haim, FKA Twigs, Sam Smith, Phoebe Bridgers) do a fine job of making the close-quartered conversations look visually interesting. 
5. Mother Mary introduces ideas and metaphors and leaves it up to viewers to sort things out. It’s bound to be divisive. 
6. The songs written by Charli xcx, Jack Antonoff, and FKA twigs (who appears in the film) are legit.

Written and directed by David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight), Mother Mary is a unique film that explores fame, forgiveness, regret, hauntings, and creative bonds. Like A Ghost Story and The Green Knight, Mother Mary is left open for interpretation, and it defies easy genre labels. It’s not a ghost story, and it’s not a love story. Instead it’s a conversation-driven film that blends ghosts, Einstein nods, pop music and lost friendship into a hybrid musical drama. It’s simultaneously easy and hard to explain. The high-level explanation is that it’s about a world-famous pop star named Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) who impulsively travels to a remote English manor that is home to her former best friend, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), who designed her first (and most iconic) costumes. Mary needs a new dress made in 24 hours, and the two engage in a “spirited” conversation that lasts the night. On the surface, it seems straightforward, but Lowery tosses in flashbacks, busted teeth, séances, dance scenes (without music), palm stabs, spirit fabric, lavish musical performances, monologues, and numerous metaphors that create dense atmosphere.

Mother Mary is similiar to The Green Knight in that it plays like a mini-epic that punches above its weight (AKA budget). In the press notes, Lowery mentions that he originally intended the film to be a two-hander that takes place over the course of one night. However, after meeting with Hathaway, Coel, FKA Twigs, Charli xcx, and other contributors, the film’s scope expanded into a mini-epic that looks absolutely gorgeous. By the end of the movie, you will be very familiar with the contours and lines of Coel’s and Hathaway’s expressive faces because the camera stays close to the pair as they converse throughout the long night. Both performances are vulnerable, ambitious, and open, which helps the 110-minute film immensely.

Lowery stretches the concepts of forgiveness, fame, and reconciliation pretty thin, but it’s in the quest of trying to decipher long-held feelings that have lingered between two genius creators who’ve been estranged for 10 years. Many of the critics left the screening feeling flummoxed, frustrated, or exhilarated, and these are the correct feelings to have because Lowery doesn’t make it easy for audiences. This is a good and bad thing, as many theatergoers aren’t looking to decipher metaphors or explore themes of forgiveness. 

Since it’s a David Lowery film, the technical aspects are wonderful, the cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang (who shot the concert and performance stuff) is gorgeous, and the costume design by Bina Daigeler (Tár, Euphoria, Volver, Only Lovers Left Alive) couldn’t be better. Overall, the film’s mise en scène had me admiring every frame and appreciating the work done by the prop department, sound designers, and production designer Francesca Di Mottola. 

While writing the script, Lowery listened to Lorde, St. Vincent, Robyn, Taylor Swift, Halsey, James Blake, Aldous Harding, PJ Harvey, Charli xcx, and FKA Twigs, and he and Hathaway do a fine job of capturing the allure of a world-famous pop star. He also drew inspiration from movies like Persona, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Red Shoes, Eyes Wide Shut, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, and Taylor Swift: The Reputation Stadium Tour. The end result is a visually interesting experience that is bound to polarize and entertain. The film isn’t as radio-friendly as a popular pop song, but if you’re looking for a big creative swing, you will appreciate what Mother Mary has to offer. 

1. Between The Forbidden City and Normal, it’s been a good year for kitchen fights
2. I normally hate comparing movies to each other, but I love that Normal feels like Hot Fuzz met Nobody and formed a variation of the first season of Fargo. 
3. Writer Derek Kolstad (Nobody 1 & 2, Normal) and Bob Odenkirk have formed a fun collaboration
4. Ben Wheatley knows how to kill people in creative ways. 
5. I love a straightforward 90-minute action film.

In another era, Normal would’ve been an all-timer cable (TNT, FX, TBS, etc) film that fit within a two-hour afternoon block nicely. The Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers, Meg 2; The Trench) directed film blends an amiable nature with exploding bodies to create a carnage-filled action film. Filmed in Winnipeg, the believably cold-looking movie punches above its weight because of the familiarity between star Bob Odenkirk and writer Derek Kolstad, who worked together on the Nobody films.

The film focuses on an interim sheriff named Sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) who discovers that his temporary sheriff job in Normal, Minnesota, is far from normal. Unlike many of the small towns in America that are slowly dying, Normal seems to be a thriving and friendly place filled with amiable locals, $16 million building renovations, an incredibly well-stocked armory, and a bank guarded by Yakuza gangsters (there’s a cold open involving Yakuza members). Ulysses is in town because the prior sheriff froze during a late-night fishing trip, and he left his well-stocked whiskey bar, extravagant home, and estranged daughter Alex (Jess McLeod) behind. Ulysses has no plans to change anything, just ride out his eight-week tenure and leave the town as it was. However, after meeting the townsfolk played by Henry Winkler, Lena Heady, Billy MacLellan, and Ryan Allen, things take an ill-fated turn when two amateur thieves (Brendan Fletcher, Reena Jolly) attempt to rob the local bank. It would be rude to give away more of the plot, just know that paint is stolen by a moose, stump removers cause chaos, and leather jackets make a lot of noise.

I’ve been a fan of Wheatley since 2011, when Kill List introduced me to his unique blend of humor and violence. His films Down Terrace, Kill List, Sightseers, Free Fire (I love it so much), A Field in England and even Meg 2: The Trench (Viva la jet ski action scenes), prepared him well for Normal. It’s not as abrasive as Down Terrace or depressing as Kill List, but it proves that he has the chops to handle an amiable neo-western that plays like an inverted High Noon. During production, he must’ve realized that Odenkirk had a form handle on his character, so he let Odenkirk cook as he created a likable man who has seen better days after a tragic shooting incident. Ulysses is an observant, instinctive, and capable cop who works well with others and knows how to gently dislodge items stuck in vending machines. When the action pops off, it’s fun watching the trained cop battle lesser-skilled (but very well-armed) people who want him dead.

In an interview with FILMFARE.com, Wheatley said the goal was to make a fun and non-cynical classic western/modern action cinema hybrid (with heart), and he succeeded. If you’re looking for a likable 90-minute action film, you’re going to love Normal. It’s a good time.

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Mark and John discuss the 1987 rom-com Overboard. Directed by Garry Marshall and starring Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, and a miniature golf course, the movie focuses on what happens when a guy goes to extreme lengths to get free daycare for his children. In this episode, they also talk about rom-com insanity, spiraling lies, and the excellence of Goldie Hawn. Enjoy!

If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!

Quick Thoughts:

1. Robert Aramayo’s BAFTA win for Best Leading Actor was totally deserved. 
2. I hope the BAFTA debacle doesn’t hurt the US release. The BAFTA showrunners messed up by not educating the awards show attendees beforehand. The film is about educating people about Tourette’s syndrome, and the showrunners failed their assignment. 
3. Peter Mullan, Scott Ellis Watson, and Maxine Peake are wonderful.
4. Since it’s a biopic, it’s a bit episodic, but that’s to be expected when multiple decades of life are consolidated into 120 minutes. 
5. It’s an educational experience that manages to be funny and warmhearted.
6. I need to watch John’s Not Mad (1989) and Tourettes: I Swear I Can’t Help It (2009)

Based on the life of Scottish activist John Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome in the 1980s. I Swear follows John as he learns to live with his nervous system disorder (with a lot of help from others) and becomes an educational ambassador who educates the UK populace about Tourette’s syndrome. In 2019, He received a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (and yelled “F**k the Queen” at the ceremony), and it’s nice to see his journey covered in such a lovely film.

The film starts in 1983, and follows 12-year old John (Scott Ellis Watson) as he’s starting high school and on the cusp of soccer stardom. In the first weeks of class, he starts experiencing tics and coprolalia, which manifest during a first date (horrible timing). Since it’s the 1980s, nobody is equipped to deal with John’s condition, so he’s expelled from school, forced to eat in front of a fireplace (he spits food), and his alcoholic father abandons his family. The film then jumps to 1996, where a 25-year-old unemployed John (Robert Aramayo) is still living with his hardworking (and very stern) mom (Shirley Henderson). John is always medicated and seems destined for a depressing life of solitude and apologizing for his tics. His fortunes change when he comes across Murray (Francesco Piacentini-Smith), an old friend who invites him over for dinner. While there, he meets Murray’s mom, Dottie (Maxine Peak), a former mental health nurse who only has six months left to live due to a recent liver cancer diagnosis. After John accidentally smashes a bathroom mirror and eats his meal in front of their fireplace, she convinces John to move into her home so she can help him get off his paralyzing meds, find a job and become more independent. After successfully finding some independence, a wildly understanding man named Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan – great) hires him to be the assistant caretaker at a local community center. From there, Dottie and Tommy convince Jonathan to start educating police officers, community leaders and students about Tourette’s and its symptoms. 

Since the film takes place between 1983 and 2023, a lot of ground is covered, but it never feels overly episodic. We see what happens when he goes to nightclubs (he gets into fights) or sends for dinner orders (he gets brutalized after blurting out “whore” to a woman). The best moments come during his interactions with Tommy, who pushes him to educate people and is supremely patient with his co-worker despite the occasional low blow (John’s right hand is unpredictable). 

Director/writer Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine, Everybody’s Fine) spent a lot of time with Davidson and learned to keep things loose so lead actor Aramayo could be free to play the character on a moment-to-moment basis. The first thing they shot was a scene between Aramayo and Andrea Bisset, a teenager with Tourette’s. The two were allowed to improvise, and their interactions helped establish the humorous and authentic tone. Aramayo spent months with Davidson, and his hard work paid off in a beautiful performance. Aramayo wanted to avoid impersonation, so he dug deep into the syndrome and worked with a movement coach for his performance. The vibe and pacing of I Swear sticks closely to other UK underdog stories (Eddie the Eagle, The Full Monty, Billy Elliot, Shaun of the Dead, The Phantom of the Open, and Chariots of Fire), which is totally fine because the film is meant to be uplifting, and not depressing. The end production is a crowd-pleaser film that never condescends.