Mark at the movies 13 revised post

 

Jungleland

Netflix 

Released.

September 12, 2019 (TIFF)

November 6, 2020 (United States)

Plot.

Two brothers, Walter "Lion" Kaminski, a talented former professional boxer and his brother, Stanley Kaminski, an ex-con and Lion's idealistic manager, work menial jobs in a sewing factory. At night, the pair participate in underground boxing matches, squatting in a dilapidated house in the slums of Fall River, Massachusetts with their greyhound, Ash. Stanley owes $2,000 to a local gangster called "Pepper" and to pay it off, Pepper allows the money to ride on Lion for their next fight. During the fight, Pepper shows up to watch and Lion realizes that Stanley bet on him to win. Lion angrily throws the fight. An enraged Pepper beats Stanley but sees potential in Lion due to his skill. He proposes that they pay off the debt by completing a task: To drive a girl named "Sky" to Reno, Nevada and pay off their debt by having Lion compete in an underground prizefight called Jungleland in San Francisco's Chinatown. Having no choice, Stanley agrees and Pepper provides him with cash, an SUV and a pistol. Along the way, they stop at a bar where Sky befriends Lion while Stanley has sex with a woman he met in their hotel. Sky stages a distraction and drugs Lion with a Xanax to steal the car keys before escaping. She accidentally crashes the SUV and tries to run before Stanley catches up to her. Locking her in their hotel room, he calls Pepper and demands answers. He is enraged to find out she is being delivered to a dangerous gangster called Yates, who Stanley has had dealings with in the past.

Sky pleads with Stanley and Lion not to take her to Reno, saying Yates will kill her but Stanley retorts by saying that Pepper will kill all of them if they don't. The trio take the SUV to a local garage but they do not have enough money to pay for the repairs. While searching through Sky's wallet, Stanley finds out her real name is Mary McGinty and her family lives in Gary, Indiana. They take a taxi to meet her family to ask for money, posing as churchgoers to the strictly religious household. After insulting and demeaning Sky for the "sinful" path she's taken, her mother forces them all to leave. They squat in an abandoned school for the night, where Sky and Lion further bond and Lion reveals the brothers' dream to open a dry cleaner. Sky questions the brothers' relationship, observing that Stanley treats Lion like a servant, not a brother, routinely putting him in harm's way, which Lion objects to. In the morning, the pair make their way back to the garage and make a deal with the mechanics to let them have the car if Lion beats two of them simultaneously in a street fight. A reluctant Lion agrees and handily beats the two. The trio drive across the country, stopping off to get lunch at a restaurant where Lion accuses Stanley of using him for his benefit. Stanley is furious and reminds Lion of all the sacrifices that he has made to help Lion, but he retorts by revealing his arthritis and difficulty moving his hands and remembering events due to all the fighting he has done. Their outburst gets them kicked out of the restaurant when Ash begins to bark incessantly and Stanley gets punched by an irate customer and has the SUV towed.

With no money and no transport, Stanley sells Ash to a father and son from the restaurant without telling Lion, who attacks him. The three board a bus bound for Reno, but Lion and Sky get off at Carson City, Nevada, leaving a sleeping Stanley who wakes up in Reno and is kidnapped by Yates' men for not delivering Sky. At a bar, Lion implores Sky to run away with him, having fallen for her. Sky refuses and they have sex in the bathroom, where Lion realizes that Sky is pregnant with Yates' baby. She leaves, leaving Stanley's gun and some money with him, which he uses to go to Reno. Finding Yates' hideout, who has been torturing Stanley, he gets past his goons and executes Yates. A freed Stanley says that the pair can run away together and not have to go to San Francisco, but Lion is determined to fight at Jungleland. A reluctant Stanley goes with him and before the fight, he breaks down in tears, apologizing for all the hurt he has dealt Lion. Lion forgives him and shows him a ring robe made by Sky as a parting gift, which Stanley is impressed by. The pair walk out to the ring, and Lion fights well, but is distracted and knocked down. A regretful Stanley pleads with Lion not to get up, saying that they can do something else with their lives, but Lion gets up regardless and wins the fight spectacularly. However, the police raid the venue and Stanley decides to take the fall and allow the police to arrest him to give Lion a chance to get the money. Whilst Lion revels in his victory and Stanley has led away in handcuffs, Sky shows up at the venue and the two see each other as the credits roll.

This film is grim and shows some of the dark sides of lives led by people who are out of the norm

The acting between the two brother characters is intense family interaction I have to say that the female character comes across weakly and probably the only reason she is in it is so the film can have a romantic angle.

The fight scenes are brutal and bloody.

Running time(90 minutes)

Rated(15).

3 out of 4.

All Quiet On The Western Front 

Netflix 

Released

September 12, 2022 (TIFF)

October 28, 2022 (Netflix)

Plot.

In Spring 1917, three years into the First World War, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer enlists in the Imperial German Army alongside his school friends, Albert Kropp, Franz Müller, and Ludwig Behm. They listen to a patriotic speech by a school official and unknowingly receive uniforms from soldiers killed in a previous battle. After they are deployed in Northern France near La Malmaison, they are befriended by Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky, an older soldier. Their romantic view of the war is shattered by the realities of trench warfare on the Western Front, and Ludwig is killed by artillery on the first night.

On November 7, 1918, German official Matthias Erzberger, weary of mounting losses, meets with the German High Command to persuade them to begin armistice talks with the Allied powers. Meanwhile, Paul and Kat steal a goose from a farm to share with Albert, Franz, and another veteran, Tjaden Stackfleet, with whom they have grown close behind the front in Champagne. Kat, who is illiterate, gets Paul to read him a letter from his wife and worries that he cannot reintegrate into peacetime society. Franz spends the night with a French woman and brings back her scarf as a souvenir.

On the morning of November 9, General Friedrichs drives Erzberger and the German delegation to a train bound for the Forest of Compiègne to negotiate a ceasefire. Paul and his friends go on a mission to find 60 missing recruits sent to reinforce their unit and discover that they were killed by gas after taking off their masks too soon. Friedrichs, who opposes the talks, orders an attack before French reinforcements arrive. That night, Erzberger's delegation reaches the Forest of Compiègne, and Paul's regiment is sent to the front to prepare to attack the French lines.

On the morning of November 10, Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Allied Commander, gives 72 hours for the Germans to accept the Allied terms, with no room for negotiation. Meanwhile, the German attack takes the French front line after hand-to-hand fighting but is routed by a combined arms counterattack with Saint-Chamond tanks, aeroplanes, and flamethrowers. Franz is separated from the group, and Albert is killed trying to surrender. Trapped in a crater in no man's land with a French soldier, Paul stabs him and watches him die slowly, becoming remorseful and asking forgiveness for his dead body. Erzberger learns of Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication and receives instructions in the evening from field marshal Paul von Hindenburg to accept the Allied terms. Paul returns to his unit and sees them celebrating the imminent end of the war. He finds a wounded Tjaden, who gives him Franz's scarf. Paul and Kat bring him food but Tjaden, distraught at being crippled, kills himself.

Around 5:00 AM on November 11, Erzberger's delegation signs the armistice set to take effect at 11 AM. After learning of the ceasefire, Paul and Kat steal from the farm one last time, but Kat is shot by the farmer's young son and dies as Paul carries him to the hospital. Friedrichs wants to end the war with a German victory and orders an attack to start at 10:45. A despondent, battle-hardened Paul kills many French soldiers before being speared through the chest by a bayonet seconds before 11:00 when the fighting stops, and the front falls silent. A short time later, a newly arrived German recruit that Paul had saved in the combat finds Paul's mud-caked body and retrieves Franz's scarf that was passed on to Paul from Tjaden.

This film shows the true despair of the reality of war, it does not hold back with its grim reality of what being in the trenches during World War I must have been like, I was truly engrossed from the beginning to the end of this film which without spoiling is not the typical Hollywood happy ending.

It does contain scenes that some may find uncomfortable to watch and I liked the scenes of the high-ranking officer who is totally out of touch with his troops and his government.

Made in Germany and it's through the eyes of German soldiers with German and French subtitles and audio in English.

Running time (147 minutes)

Rated (15)

4 out of 4.

Glass Onion:A Knives out Mystery

(2022).

Plot

Miles Bron is a disrupter whose business includes electric cars and space rockets.

Detective Benoit Blanc has been invited to a murder weekend organized by Bron on his private island during covid restrictions.

Someone is going to die, but who?

This film has plenty of twists and turns and misdirections but I bet you will guess the killer before the big reveal by the detective, the script is full of quips and the cast of actors is amazing.

Running time(139 Minutes)

Rated (12A)

4 out of 4.

Aftersun

(2022)

Plot

11-year-old Sophie takes a summer vacation to Turkey with her loving and idealistic father, Calum. Twenty years later, she reminisces about the experience, reflecting on their relationship and the parts of him she wasn't able to know.

This film contains a powerful performance by Paul Mescal and by Frankie Cross as 11 years old Sophie.

It tunes into the complexities of a man with emotional issues and looks out in the final bit of the film Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie it may live on after you return to your 9-5 life after leaving the cinema.

Running time(102 minutes).

Rated (12A)

4 out of 4.

The Menu

Released

September 10, 2022 (TIFF)

November 18, 2022 (United States)

Plot

Tyler and his girlfriend, Margot, travel by boat to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant owned and operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik located on a private island owned by Slowik's ultra-wealthy angel investor. Other guests at the dinner include food critic Lilian Bloom and her editor, Ted; wealthy couple Richard and Anne Liebbrandt; George Diaz, a post-prime movie star, and his assistant Felicity; and business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce.

The group are given a tour of the island by restaurant captain Elsa, who notes that Margot was not Tyler's original guest for the evening. At dinner, the first few molecular gastronomy dishes receive mixed reactions from the group. Tyler, who is both a foodie and fan of Slowik, is ecstatic about the experience, but Margot is discomfited by the restaurant's rigid, ritualistic setting. Slowik and Elsa question Margot's presence, but she refuses to share any information about herself.

The courses and Slowik's accompanying monologues become more disquieting. For the fourth course, called "The Mess", Slowik introduces Jeremy, the sous-chef who designed the dish, then humiliates him for focusing too much of his time at work rather than living a normal life. To close the introduction, Jeremy removes a revolver from his waistband and shoots himself in the mouth, causing panic. When Richard tries to leave the restaurant, Elsa orders one of Slowik's staff to cut off one of his fingers.

Slowik declares that this is all part of "the menu"—that all of the night's guests were chosen for reasons tied to Slowik's frustration with his craft and search for perfection, and his resentment towards the wealthy and those who take advantage of others' hard work. He declares that the night will end with everyone dead, starting with the corrupt "angel investor" who funded the restaurant, who is lowered into the ocean and drowned outside the restaurant. However, since Margot's presence was unplanned, Slowik gives her the choice of either dying with the staff or with the guests. Slowik infers that Margot is in the service industry, as he is, and she admits that she is an escort hired by Tyler.

Another course, "Men's Folly", is designed by a female sous chef, Katherine, who describes how Slowik had repeatedly attempted to rape her since she began working at Hawthorne; she stabs a seemingly penitent Slowik in the leg, then gives the male guests a 45-second head start to escape. The female guests try to convince Katherine to help them, but she replies that she was the one who suggested to Slowik that the dinner ended with a group murder-suicide. The men are quickly captured and returned to the restaurant.

Slowik turns on Tyler, revealing that he was invited personally and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone's death. Slowik humiliates Tyler by forcing him to cook in front of everyone, at which he fares poorly, then drives him to commit suicide by hanging himself in a storeroom. Margot chooses to side with the staff, and Slowik asks her to collect a barrel needed for dessert, claiming Elsa forgot it. Margot sneaks into Slowik's house, which contains a replica of Hawthorne. She is attacked by Elsa, who fears that Slowik will replace her. Margot kills Elsa in self-defence by stabbing her in the neck. After seeing newspaper clippings of Slowik's past life in his sparsely decorated office, she finds a radio, calls for help and returns to the restaurant. A Coast Guard officer arrives from his boat, briefly bringing hope to the guests, but after holding Slowik at gunpoint, he reveals himself to be a line chef in disguise and returns to the kitchen.

Due to Margot's betrayal, Slowik declares that she belongs with the guests, but Margot mocks his dishes and says that she is still hungry. Having previously seen a photo of young, happy Slowik working at a fast-food joint, Margot asks him for an all-American cheeseburger and fries. Slowik rises to the challenge and, with tears in his eyes, prepares the meal to her specifications. Margot takes a bite and praises his food, then asks if she can get it "to go". Slowik packs the food for her and lets her leave. The other guests, resigned to their fate, quietly encourage her.

The dinner ends with Slowik paying tribute to s'mores by covering the guests with coats made of marshmallows and hats made of chocolate and setting the whole restaurant ablaze, killing the guests, staff, and Slowik himself, while Margot starts the boat and escapes. The boat breaks down, and she begins finishing her cheeseburger while watching the flames from a distance.

This film has plenty of laughs about food profiles, it also contains violence and social commentary but like most menus, it leaves you for something a bit more substantial.

Running time(106 minutes)

Rated(15).

3 out 4