Six months into 2021, and one could make the case that moviewatching is getting back to normal. Most of the major movie chains have reopened, markets such as New York and Los Angeles are open for business, and we’ve had at least two films break the hallowed $100 million dollar mark. If it still doesn’t feel normal to return to the movies, however, I would not blame you. COVID is still doing its thing, even as people have gotten vaccinated. Safety measures are being lifted around the country. And yet, movies seem to be taking a longer time to reacclimate with audiences. The truth is, though, movie theatres have been open consistently since late August/early September. The chain I work for shut back down, but independent theatres around the country, as well as some bigger chains, have been open for business. The key was for New York and Los Angeles to reopen. And people would just flock back to theatres, right?
Any sane discussion about box-office, if there is one to be had, has to include the fact that we are, very much, still in the middle of a pandemic, with different variants of COVID popping up. While I think streaming could certainly be playing a part in people not returning, I know from personal interactions with customers that they are glad to have movie theatres back. They want to go out and watch movies. If they’re being a bit picky in what they choose- opting for familiar properties than cinematic originals- that’s probably to be expected, and part of why Warner Bros. plans to restart the box-office last year with “Tenet” were so misguided. Since the two movies that have hit that $100 million mark are, in fact, franchise entries, I think that’s what is going to bring people back in the short term.
This isn’t a conversation about what’s selling, however, but what’s been good. The Oscars pushing back the eligibility window to the end of February is going to reek havoc on critics end-of-year lists. I’ll go ahead and tell you- if it was nominated for an Oscar for that insane ceremony at the end of April, it won’t be on my list. Since I’m probably done with film festivals this year, after Sundance in January and the Atlanta Film Festival in April (even though it’s so tempted to do Fantasia Fest again, but being back at work would make immersion in that festival difficult), it’s probably fair to say that I will not be hitting the 400 film mark I did in 2020. As of this writing, however, I am around 180, so you’re still going to get a pretty wide variety of films from me to choose from. Or will you?
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
In this section, I will break down the psychological intricacies of Joe Wright’s “The Woman in the Window”. Actually, I won’t, but you can watch my thoughts on that crazy movie below.
It feels as though, for every narrative film I have loved this year, there are a handful of documentaries. It’s not just because of Sundance and the Atlanta Film Festival, either; even in my regular releases, documentaries have held much more staying power with me than in year’s past. I don’t know that I would say any of them match up to my favorites of last year (yet), but the way the filmmakers have tackled their subjects have allowed for a connection with those subjects that is profound, and sometimes, quite entertaining. That hasn’t been more true than with two very different, but equally superb, musical documentaries from Sundance. Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” takes us to the 1969 Harlem Musical Festival, which was as resonate to its performers, and attendees, as Woodstock was later in the summer, but whose footage went missing for about 50 years. The way Questlove combines the archival footage with modern day recollections makes this one of the most entertaining and enlightening movies about Black culture, and the late ’60s, in recent memory. (Be sure to check it out in theatres, or on Hulu, starting on July 2.) Meanwhile, Edgar Wright’s “The Sparks Brothers” is a sprawling look at the 5 decade career of the most influential band no one has heard of. Sparks is one-of-a-kind, and Wright’s approach is as witty and eccentric as the Mael brothers are. (Fun fact- the musical by Sparks mentioned at the end of this, “Annette”, is making its premiere at Cannes, and will be released later this year.)
One of the great gifts of documentaries can be to inform, and allow us empathy, for lives and experiences we may not quite understand personally. Above all, Jared Callahan’s “Clean Slate” and “Bastards’ Road” have done that for me. In “Clean Slate” Callahan follows two friends through the rigors of filmmaking and addiction and recovery in one of the most harrowing, but inspiring, looks at filmmaking we’ve ever seen. Meanwhile, Brian Morrison’s “Bastards’ Road” follows an Iraq War vet as he walks across America, reconnecting with other members of his squad, and learning about how they have dealt with the PTSD they came home with, as well as remembering those whom they lost along the way; combined with “Clean Slate”, we get a look at the difficulties of living with mental illness, and the hard process people go through in healing them.
There are so many wonderful documentaries that I’ve seen this year. In “Final Account”, the last generation to live under the Third Reich opens up about watching the Holocaust happen in front of their eyes. In “Only the Ocean Between Us”, four women- two from Latin America, two from Syria- form a bond as they struggle to survive being displaced from their ancestral land. “A Fire Within” has three Ethiopian refugees faced with one of the oppressors in the United States, and is an inspiring story of how they stood up to him. “Socks on Fire” chronicles a family torn apart by bigotry after the death of director Bo Maguire’s loving Nana in a funny and sweet way. “The Letter” looks at a Satanic Panic happening in Kenya as the elderly are being displaced from their homes by a younger generation. “Underplayed” celebrates female DJs in all their creativity, and shines a light on the misogyny they face. And “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It” looks at a Hollywood trailblazer, and the struggles she went through along the way, while “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” looks at the exploitation of a pretty face, and how they were forgotten by the system. And yet, “A Glitch in the Matrix” stays with me as long as any of them, as simulation theory is explored with visual imagination and a realization that thinking you’re living in an alternate reality is a dangerous way to live.
Escaping to the Movies. Can you escape reality, though?
One of the nice things about 2020 working out the way it did was that the emphasis for movie fans could be less on blockbusters, and more on indie films. With movie theatres back, so are the big blockbusters. And yet, not many of them have truly landed for me, at least. Probably because of the fact that most of my watching this year has been between two film festivals, it might take a while before I really get into the swing of things with the studio tentpoles. Or, maybe we’ll see a shift in what constitutes tentpole cinema?
As much as many people wanted to see “In the Heights” succeed at the box-office, that the highest grossing debuts have all been franchise entries shows just show short-sighted Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan were in putting “Tenet” front and center as the movie to return moviegoers to theatres, although there’s no assurances “A Quiet Place Part II” or “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” or “Godzilla vs. Kong” or “F9: The Fast Saga” would have done much better with no vaccine, and cases spiking last September. (And while I’m sure some Snyder fans would love to convince me otherwise, no, a 4-hour “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” or his 2 1/2 hour “Army of the Dead” wouldn’t have done it, either.) Not every franchise is going to hit paydirt, though, as “Mortal Kombat” and “Spiral: From the Book of Saw” found out, but that’s a standard moviegoing year. It is unfortunate that Disney went streaming-only with Pixar’s lovely “Luca”, though; it was at least as worthy of a short at the box-office as “Raya and the Last Dragon” was in attempting to get families back to theatres.
What we’re basically left with at this point are dramas, comedies, and a lot of festival selections. But there’s a wealth to choose from with that as our pool to choose from. Sundance had an abundance of riches in Fran Kranz’s “Mass”, which will be coming out for an Oscar run later in the year; Ben Wheatley’s “In the Earth”, probably the year’s most exciting genre entry thus far; “Eight for Silver”, an entertaining gothic werewolf tale; and captivating shorts like “Raspberry” and “Doublespeak” to go along with “Passing” and “On the Count of Three”, both of which may be looking for awards later in the year.
Documentaries were more what stood out at the Atlanta Film Festival, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Moon Manor”, an endearing and quirky comedy-drama about how a man, who’s left an unpredictable life, chooses to spend his last day on Earth; “Akilla’s Escape”, which features a terrific performance by Saul Williams as an old school drug runner trying to keep a young boy from making the same mistakes he did; “Son of Monarchs”, a drama about home, moving away, and reconnecting with your culture; and “Nine Days”, a fascinating look at the afterlife, and ways people see living. Away from festival screenings, the quirky dark comedy “The Mimic” engaged me thoroughly; Julie Delpy’s “My Zoe” has fascinating ethical questions at its heart; and “Know Fear” succeeds at some standard horror thrills. One to look out for in Jeremiah Kipp’s “Slapface”, an adaptation of his short film of the same name that retains the short film’s power of vision. “Reboot Camp” takes a mockumentary approach at being involved in a cult, and “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Bigfoot” does the same with the search for Bigfoot; both are very funny. “What Lies West” is about three females learning to come of age in their differing times of their lives, while “Summer of 85” puts a dark spin on one boy’s coming-of-age.
I could go on- there is much more I enjoyed- but that’s enough to give you a look at what has intrigued me the most in this first half of 2021. Many of the films not listed here, will be mentioned in my year-end wrap up. For now, seek out what you can, and anticipate what hasn’t come out yet. Movies are back.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
