Tag: Jamie Lee Curtis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Rated: MA15+Everything Everywhere All At Once

Directed by: Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)

Produced by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Jonathan Wang, Mike Larocca

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., with James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis.

‘No time to wait’.

Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) own and run a laundry they live above, in a small apartment with their daughter, Eleanor (Stephanie Hsu) and elderly father (James Hong).

Evelyn sits at the kitchen table, sifting through paperwork.  It’s time to submit their taxes.

A mundane existence.  But seen like life viewed through a mirror.  So even at the beginning, the film feels otherworldly.

That feeling builds as the film circles around again and again, so the sign of a bagel becomes significant, a fanny pack with a fluffy pig hanging as an ornament becomes a weapon, only to reappear later as a tattoo.  Or the mispronunciation of the title of a movie, Racoontouille (instead of, Ratatouille) becomes a reality.

The thought put into the making of this film is seen in the detail of creating this infinite multi-universe where the characters jump from one dimension to the other.  ‘Verse jumping’ gives them the ability of their other self in the another dimension.  So, need martial arts?  Verse jump to a universe where your self has that skill.  All it takes is a particular act, a touch of an earpiece and you’re set.

The particular required act to verse jump gets bizarre and hilarious, as do some of the other selves in other universes.

And the dynamics of the characters fold back again and again with a constant, sometimes gentle humour – a customer’s bag of laundry kept upstairs in the apartment, ‘I think the clothes are happier there’ – and sometimes delightfully twisted humour (sausages for fingers anyone?), weaved all the way through the storyline.

Even the interchange of language from English to Chinese adds to the blurring as Waymond arrives in this universe to take the body of Evelyn’s husband in the current universe to tell her that she’s the only one who can save the multiverse from the evil Toboki (Stephanie Hsu).  All the while tax auditor (Jamie Lee Curtis) is telling Evelyn that there can’t be anything more important than what’s she’s telling her about her current taxes, right now.  And this coming from an award-winning auditor – the phallic trophies on proud display.

I have to say, Jamie Lee Curtis is just pure gold as this tax auditor character.  Absolutely brilliant casting and performance.  Hilarious.

The whole cast is amazing with Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn in what looks like herself as an actress blended into the multiverse story.

There’s some far-reaching ideas here with the title of the movie just so apt.

And added to the Kung Fu fighting and humour there’s also a good foundation to the family drama so I had a good giggle, got a little teary, and was pleasantly surprised by edgy concepts held together with the use of chapters to give the movie structure.

I don’t want to give too much away because there will be plenty of buzz about this film and if you’re reading this review, you’re more than likely going to go watch it and I highly recommend it: go watch it.

Knives Out

Rated: MKnives Out

Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson

Produced by: Ram Bergman, p.g.a., Rian Johnson, p.g.a.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Noah Segan, Edi Patterson, Riki Lindhome, and Christopher Plummer.

Knives Out is a classic who-done-it that begins with the drama of violins playing as chasing dogs run from the rising gothic structure that houses the Thrombey family.

I love a movie that begins with dogs, this one with a wry hint of humour that continues as private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates the mysterious suicide of famous multi-millionaire author, Harlan Thrombey after celebrating his 85th birthday.

Made like a familiar murder mystery, think, Murder She Wrote (a nod given as the mother of nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) watches transfixed in Spanish) or an adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s novels, there’re the usual suspects, here a family, eldest daughter and self-made, Linda Drysdale, married to Richard Drysdale bearing trust-fund brat who refuses to grow up, Ransom (Chris Evans), along with Walt (Michael Shannon), the son who looks after the publishing business with no real work of his own…  Then there’s widower and daughter-in-law, Joni (Toni Collette) and college-kid, Meg (Katherine Langford), living off hand-outs while hiding their dirty deeds. And let’s not forget grandson Jacob, the politically ambitious kid who spends too much time in the bathroom, probably masturbating to Nazi propaganda.

Then there’s nurse Martha.  She’s the one who always beats Harlan at playing Go.

It’s a different genre from director and writer, Rian Johnson, his previous work, Looper (2012) (if you haven’t watched this action / sci-fi yet, you’re in for a treat) and more recently, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) (one of the best to date, in my opinion) epic journeys that start in one place and finish somewhere completely different.

Instead of a journey, Knives Out is one of those stop situations where the characters are held in one place.  So it’s all about the details of the setting, the entrance of house-keeper, Fran (Edi Patterson – also fantastic in the series, Righteous Gemstones) captured in the angle of a mirror, the trick window, the books and figurines and paintings that catch the eye while looking for clues.  And the dialogue takes the mind in different directions, away from the central investigation as the family discusses racism or not being racist while handing nurse Martha a dirty dish to be put away.

So yes, it’s a murder mystery with clues dropped for the sharp observer as private investigator, Blanc pieces together the real story of the patriarch’s death, but it’s the wry humour and the distraction I enjoyed:

Martha answers her mobile, ‘Hi Walt.’

‘Hi Martha.  It’s Walt.’

‘Hm.’

There’s a stellar cast here, although, I’ve got to say Daniel Craig’s southern drawl as Blanc dragged for me – brat Ransom even highlighting the annoying accent.

I wonder if it’s because I’m so used to Craig as Bond these days, with that British accent?

Evans was the highlight for me.  And Jamie Lee Curtis as the dry eldest, self-important daughter.  And Toni Collette perfected the quiet desperation of the self-help guru relying on hand-outs, hence the quiet desperation.

So, there’s quality here and attention to detail.

Some of the humour missed the mark, see above: the southern drawl.

But overall, Knives Out is good fun.

Halloween

Rated: MA15+Halloween

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Written by: David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley

Based on Characters Created by: John Carpenter and Debra Hill

Produced by: Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, Bill Block

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Will Patton, Nick Castle, Andi Matichak, Omar J. Dorsey.

A continuation of the first Halloween (1978), serial killer Michael Myers (Nick Castle), the boogie man, remains behind the walls of Smith Grove Sanatorium.

He doesn’t speak; he’s The Shape.  Without reason he is the ultimate human monster.

And forty years after her last encounter, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), now a grandmother (to Allyson (Andi Matichak)), knows he’s a monster.  She has sacrificed her life, losing her daughter (Karen (Judy Greer)) to social services because of her obsession to prepare as she waits and hopes for his release… so she can kill him.

There’s not much more to the story: the monster, the victim turned heroin, the mask.

Director and co-writer David Gordon Green isn’t known for working in horror.  Yet he’s successfully kept the re-boot of this thriller simple yet effective in the telling.

There’s an echo from the original Halloween that gives that 70s tone with the same synth soundtrack and font for title and credits.  It feels like the same film but brought forward in time with a story-line with details giving the film a surprising sharp edge (ha, ha): it’s violent and bloody without getting over cheesy with too much gore.

There’s clever editing and careful shooting never slowing the monster; and a sometime focus on the eyes of the stalked without too much drama.  Just some good old fashion knife-in-the-neck, head stomping, hanging-from-a-wrought-iron-fence-by-the-head horror.

John Carpenter states, ‘I’m excited for audiences to see this.  It is going to scare the shit out of you.  I guarantee it.’

The monster behind the mask is scary because his face is never shown, he’s a mystery.  I still don’t understand why he’s evil and the film doesn’t explore the depths of his psyche, just the statement that fifty clinical psychiatrists assessing Michael each reached different conclusions.

It’s the way the film is shown that’s interesting and the intensity is relieved with some good humour like Michael’s current and long-term psychiatrist Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) being told to sit still after his patient escapes, ‘I am sitting still, what are you saying?’

And the little dude, Julian (Jibrail Nantambu) being baby-sat (of course) a classic, wanting to be the pretty babysitter’s favourite with some fun dialogue from the writers that I always appreciate in a good slasher movie.

Yet more importantly, there’s a careful piecing together of moments that gives the film a solid driving undercurrent with the relentless pursuit of the masked monster and the equally resilient Laurie Strode determined to exterminate what she can see is pure evil.

Nothing really new with a simple story, yet the blunt and bold telling made me feel like I was re-watching a classic made new.

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