AI gone rogue

 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - 

DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2023)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

If nothing else, "Mission Impossible" movies are fun, energetic and contain last-minute escapist moments that sometimes outdo the early Roger Moore James Bond films before reality and grit settled in Daniel Craig's tough Bond flicks. Any reminder of the old TV series is practically erased from these movies since glorious, dangerous stunts performed by an egomaniacal actor were not exactly depicted in the show of yesteryear. Still, I have to give credit where it's due and this newest "Mission Impossible" flick with a mediocre title is oodles of popcorn fun with a mildly sluggish middle and a "Red October"-like opening that didn't exactly set off the fireworks for me.  

Yes, in the rather dull opening of this movie, there is an undetectable Russian sub known as the Sevastopol and, on their radar, an incoming torpedo is ready to destroy it. It turns out the torpedo was a ruse and the integrity of their AI technological systems has gone rogue and destroys itself. Maybe this is meant to be metaphorical of Ethan Hunt's own former rogue status as a IMF spy, or perhaps not - this is about as ironic as the movie gets. This AI is known as the Entity and to control it, a cruciform key is needed to determine the Source Code. The issue is that the two golden keys that interlock are in the hands of some villains, though I had a hard time keeping up with who was who. The movie is one long chase picture where Ethan tries to get his hands on the keys. First, Ethan travels to the Arabian Desert to retrieve one key which is in the hands of disavowed MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), whom you might remember from "Fallout" as one hell of a combat fighter. Then there is an elongated foot chase inside and outside an airport where Ethan's computer whiz buddy (Ving Rhames) can electronically graft Ethan's face onto other unsuspecting people in surveillance camera footage. Simon Pegg, always so nervously funny, is Dunn, the field agent who tells Ethan to chase a train with a parachute! There is also the welcome return of the seemingly sinister Kittredge (Henry Czerny), formerly of the IMF who is now head of the CIA and may or may not be duplicitous. I suppose we will find out in the next chapter since "Dead Reckoning" I and II were filmed back to back. 

The characters in this installment do not register as vividly as before, if only because the movie has long dialogue scenes where we, the audience, try to differentiate between one villainous character (Esai Morales) over another a potential one, the White Widow (a very striking Vanessa Kirby who has appeared in this series before). There is a lot of talk about these keys and who is loyal to whom and I just became irritated by this bare bones plot. I was more floored by the amazing motorbike and car chases through the narrow streets of Rome (with a fleeting glimpse of the Roman Colosseum). The explosive train finale is also one for the books. I still wanted to learn a little bit more about the White Widow and the similarly striking Grace (Hayley Atwell), a master pickpocket who has no idea what she's in for when she steals those damn keys. And those complications about getting to the chase and retrieving items was, well, more complicated before which made it more involving.

I am not one to argue because I enjoy these movies which are never bombastic or too preposterous (at least not yet). And if Tom Cruise wants to keep performing stunts and face danger in its face in the name of such insanely contrived missions, who am I to stop him? 

Nostalgic for the imagination

 RADIO DAYS (1987)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is impossible to dislike "Radio Days" as it is one of the few Woody Allen films that I can't imagine being divisive. It is one of his greatest achievements, a satirical, personal look at a bygone era from the 1930's through 1944 where radio was the communicative standard by which everything from news events to songs to stories were heard on the air. 

"Radio Days" has various vignettes told from the perspective of its most humble narrator, Woody Allen himself, as he recounts the days in Rockaway Beach living with his Jewish family in a house that felt like cramped quarters. Michael Tucker is the patriarch who will not disclose to his son, Joe (Seth Green, standing in for an adolescent Woody), where he works; Julie Kavner is the wife who loves her husband but still has romantic fantasies of being with rich, dashing men; Dianne Wiest is Aunt Bea who has trouble holding on to her dates and is far too picky; Josh Mostel as the gregarious Uncle Abe who brings home copious amounts of fish every day, and his wife, Aunt Ceil (Renee Lippin), who has a particular fondness for a radio program with a ventriloquist. Joe spends all his time listening to the radio including the adventures of the Masked Avenger thus schoolwork is of second nature to him. 

"Radio Days" exists as a time capsule of a more innocent era (nostalgically speaking) when radio permeated everyone's homes and World War II and an uncertain future were in the mix. Woody Allen has created a series of memorable episodes that are so artfully crafted that they border on the level of genius. This is largely because the childhood memories are so alive and brimming with pleasures of incidents we can all relate to (it reminds me a lot of the nostalgic rosy glow of "A Christmas Story"). There is a bit involving a carrot placed on a snowman's nether regions which is discovered by a teacher...who then eats the carrot. Joe asking for donations for the "Jewish Homeland Fund," which are really for the sought after Masked Avenger ring. Then there are the kids who look through binoculars on a tenement rooftop hoping to see enemy bomber planes and instead catch a woman undressing in her room (who later turns up as a substitute teacher in their class). A show-and-tell moment that looks like it is right out of similar scenes from "Annie Hall" with a school kid showing a used condom to the class! 

The movie also shifts to colorful episodes of the glamorous New York City elite of celebrities who supply the voices heard on radio programs. Most fittingly is squeaky-voiced Sally White (Mia Farrow) who takes diction lessons and becomes what she dreamed of - a true radio star! This is long after she witnesses a mob killing by a gangster (Danny Aiello) who happens to be from the same neighborhood she grew up in. Seeing Wallace Shawn as another radio star uttering the Masked Avenger's dialogue is priceless.

"Radio Days" doesn't skip the revolutionary and dramatic radio segments, especially one involving a helpless child stuck in a well - a news story that binds Joe's family together in ways which reminds us of how tragedy supersedes everything.  

From its selection of over 40 songs (my favorite might be the Carmen Miranda tune "South American Way"), its wry narration by Allen and the quixotic performances, "Radio Days" paints a heavenly glow on an era that time forgot. It is the era before television took charge at every household, a visual replacement of a medium where imagination was what they all held onto. Radio was so powerful that it could force a man to leave a woman stranded in a car while listening to the frightening War of the Worlds broadcast. Thanks Mr. Welles. 

It's in his nature

 THE CRYING GAME (1992)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The critics said at the time of "The Crying Game's" release that no one should reveal the secret of the film. In today's ever-changing critical lens, the secret of the film wouldn't have seemed so shocking. 30-plus years have passed since Neil Jordan's best film made a splash, and the shock isn't new nor particularly out of its element. The shock is that the film's twist proves to be more revealing about the main character and his own prejudices about a world he knows nothing about. That is the strength of "The Crying Game" and what makes it a cut above any romantic thriller - its complex pulse rings true on the notions of what love really entails between two people. 

I say romantic thriller and that might still be a disservice to the joys of an ever-twisting, surprising film built on emotions and people, first and foremost. You wouldn't know it from the opening of the film (though hearing Percy Sledge's famous song "When a Man Loves a Woman" might be a clue) when we see an adult man frolicking about with a sexy woman at an amusement park. Nothing odd about any of this - it could simply be a romantic relationship when, in fact, the adult man just met the woman. He is a British soldier named Jody (Forest Whitaker) and he just wants sex with the woman, Jude (Miranda Richardson), who is in fact an IRA member. Jody is hooded and kidnapped and held hostage until the IRA's demands of an imprisoned member of their army is released. Stephen Rea is Fergus, who holds Jody at gunpoint. Eventually the two start forming some sort of banter and identifying with each other, the very thing Fergus shouldn't do since he may have to execute Jody if the IRA's demands are not met. 

"The Crying Game" could have been an effective thriller about the differentiating politics in Ireland and Britain, particularly during a troubling time with the IRA. The movie hints at politics and racism and then Jody manages to escape and is killed in a horrific run-in with a tank. The IRA's hiding place had been uncovered as well, and most of them are killed by the British Army. Fergus escapes in the woods and finds solace in London working in construction. He also seeks out Jody's girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), who is a hairdresser and occasionally sings a cover version of Boy George's "The Crying Game" at the Metro bar. Fergus and Dil form a fast romance that leads to a shocker, though Fergus should've known that Dil was more than she appeared to be. It is no shock or surprise to reveal Dil's secret since it has been parodied countless times ("Naked Gun 33 1/3" for starters). But the beauty of Neil Jordan's beautifully constructed screenplay is how it humanizes everyone - these are people who have their own insecurities and problems like everyone else. This film is a companion piece to Jordan's quixotic "Mona Lisa," which also had it share of surprises and discoveries with an even harsher light in its depiction of the London criminal underground. 

Of all of Neil Jordan's films, "The Crying Game" has the smoothest textures of a poetic treatise on characters that normally do not lend to such ambitious avenues of exploration. Rea's Fergus is a volunteer IRA member who doesn't quite have the guts to kill someone, yet Rea shows that he can harm anyone if they cross him. Davidson is the soul of "The Crying Game," and she can get "tired and emotional" when it comes to loving someone. She wants to be loved - concrete, requited love. Fergus wants it too and, here with "The Crying Game," we get one of the most unusual love stories I have ever seen with politics and race as its backbone where love dominates all.     

Will make your spinal column shift

 SINNERS (2025)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Sinners" is seismic moviemaking, a tale of twin brothers in the Jim Crow-era Mississippi that is so forcefully alive that you just might quake in your boots. It will cut you deep into your soul and shake you - call it punk filmmaking that is blunt and never heavy-handed but definitely in-your-face in ways most movies in this decade have not been. After it was over, I wanted to scream "Hallelujah!"  

The twins are gangsters from Chicago and previous WWI vets, Smoke and Stack Moore (both played flawlessly by Michael B. Jordan), who settle back in their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. They buy a sawmill from a landowner whom the brothers are convinced is a klansman, or knows some klan members. Using money stolen from the Chicago Outfit, they decide to use the sawmill as a juke joint with some blues musicians playing the night away. The musicians include Sammie "Preacher Boy" Moore (Michael Canton), Smoke and Stack's cousin and a hell of a guitarist - his sounds could summon the Devil himself and musicians from the past and future; the married Pearline (Jayme Lawson) a hellacious singer whom Sammie takes a liking to, and Delta Slim, a pianist (Delroy Lindo, always a welcome presence) who is content to just have small change to buy alcohol - he cannot believe the Moore brothers can pay him 40 bucks a night. The distraught Annie, Smoke's wife (Wunmi Mosaku), will do the cooking and is also a Hoodoo practitioner (which will come in handy towards the explosive ending). There is also an Asian couple, the local grocery shopkeepers named Grace and Bo (Li Jun Li and Yao), who supply the food (for historical context in terms of Jim Crow laws, the couple has two different grocery stores, one services white people and the other services blacks). Cornbread, a sharecropper (Omar Miller), will be the bouncer since everyone needs extra bread if they can get it. Speaking of sharecroppers, some of them attend the juke joint paying with wooden coins since real money was not given to them for working the fields. Smoke wants cash yet Stack reminds his brother they have cater to all black people if they want to keep the joint thriving, even those working on plantations. 

As a textbook example of Black Southern culture ("Eve's Bayou" is one of the few notable examples) with background blues music and religion not to mention Hoodoo practices, "Sinners" covers a lot of historical ground just on that basis. Added to it are the Moore brothers who can use violence when necessary to protect what is theirs - they want at least one night of freedom. "Sinners" would already be a wondrously alive movie with all these elements, and then it segues to vampiric ground with an Irish vampire named Remmick (Jack O'Connell), hunted by Choctaw vampire hunters, who can sing but not the blues. Remmick wants entrance to the juke joint, believing that vampirism can bring an end to racism, and has brought along a Klan couple whom he has already turned to the dark side. The scenes of Remmick and the couple performing Irish maladies after being denied access to the juke joint are as bone-chilling and mildly gut-wrenching as any horror film of late. There is some gore in "Sinners" but it is mercifully not wall-to-wall violence and it does not need to be. The foggy atmosphere and the moonlit scenes outside the juke joint, along with the towering spiritual music, are enough to make your spinal column shift a little. 

"Sinners" is a movie that vibrates with life, and the performances help make this unusual story with historical context all the more vivid. Whether it is Michael B. Jordan as the twins (their final scene is an emotional powerhouse), the scary Remmick who shows he can have a good time dancing merrily like an Irishman, Delroy Lindo as a man who has seen everything and sympathizes with chain gangs, Wunmi Mosaku's feeling of regret as Smoke's wife, Michael Canton's guilt-ridden Sammie at getting too close to evil or Hailee Steinfield's as the only white woman in the joint, "Sinners" is equal parts gratifying, soulful and it pierces your mind, body and soul from start to finish. 

Toontown is all smiles with a touch of noir

 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)
An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is not my personal favorite Robert Zemeckis film but it is still his most delirious, manic, inventive and extremely entertaining film he ever made. "Back to the Future" might be his "Wizard of Oz" classic flick but this "Roger Rabbit" is a truly marvelous tribute to the zany Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons of the past.

Roger Rabbit is a toon rabbit, a wild hare with a caffeinated personality who is married to another toon, the slinky-dressed, husky-voiced Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner). This is a seemingly improbable union yet they are the highlight of Hollywood and, more specifically, Toontown. This is L.A. in the late 1940's where Toontown is a real place where actual toons coexist and are hired to work in wild, funny cartoons. One such cartoon opens "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" where Roger is trying to save a baby, known as Baby Herman, from causing a ruckus in a kitchen with flooded sinks, flying utensils, a vacuum cleaner and a fridge that almost lands on the poor baby. What looks like a high-energy cartoon from Warner Brothers is actually filmed in real time with a director (Joel Silver, minus the trademark beard) shouting "Cut, cut, cut!" Roger keeps flubbing his lines and the gravelly-voiced Baby Herman likes to walk past women's legs and smoke cigars! 

The old-hat plot has the impeccable Bob Hoskins as a down-and-out private detective, Eddie Valiant, who is hired by R.K. Maroon (a seedy Alan Tilvern) to spy on Jessica Rabbit. Jessica might be cheating on Roger and all this toon female is doing is playing patty-cake with Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye), founder of Acme corporation and owner of Toontown. Valiant is tough and drinks Jack Daniels like water and he hates toons! One toon had dropped a piano on his detective agency partner, his own brother. None of this worn-out plot is remotely original and it has been the focal point of countless detective noir movies starting with, if not limited to, "The Maltese Falcon." What is unique is the toon aspect that brings flavor, lots of laughs and literal cartoonish theatrics that go beyond what any Hollywood studio effort ever attempted at that time. Sure, "Anchors Aweigh" and "Mary Poppins" have some dazzling animation mixed with live-action scenes but not for an entire full-length feature in such a way. Roger Rabbit interacts with Hoskins' boozy Valiant and there are some stunning moments where entire toons on the Maroon backlot interact with Valiant, including seeing Dumbo outside a window who will work for peanuts! What's best is they interact three-dimensionally rather than just on a two-dimensional plane. 

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" also has a nasty villain known as Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) who wants to build freeways and get rid of the redcar (a streetcar). His vision is so ridiculous, according to Valiant, yet it pinpoints to the reality that became actualized. No matter where you go, there's a freeway so you can thank Doom for that. Doom has also created the Dip, a deadly mixture of acidic chemicals that can kill toons. And to make matters worse, Marvin Acme has been killed and Roger Rabbit is the chief suspect. All roads lead to Doom. 

It is tempting to say that a little of Roger Rabbit goes a long way but the zany, lovable hare who loves Jessica Rabbit, has a speech impediment and says "Ppppp-please" as his typical catchphrase, never becomes repetitious. The character never becomes too cute, thankfully, and can hold his own screen presence with the likes of Lloyd, Hoskins and the underused Joanna Cassidy as Valiant's impatient girlfriend. Then there are the remarkable moments of our favorite toon characters that includes Daffy Duck and Donald Duck doing a piano duet, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny jokingly offering a spare parachute to Valiant, the immense world of Toontown where all the toons gather together singing, and the typical Zemeckis frenetic climax involving last-minute rescue attempts and some toon gangsters (Weasels) who can literally die from laughing too hard. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is pleasing to the eyes and ears and will delight anyone who loves the ancient, beautiful hand-drawn Disney animation of yesteryear, specifically this wonderful period of 1940's Warner Brothers and Disney efforts. It is a sparkling entertainment with enough touches of childlike innocence and a little adult humor to make it a true classic.    

It's not okay

 YOUR MONSTER (2024)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The opening sequence of "Your Monster" is so tantalizing, so emotionally heartbreaking, so deeply unsettling that it made me want to scream for the agonizing-in-pain female lead. "Your Monster" has the protagonist Laura as one of the most sympathetic female characters I've seen in quite some time and she is played Melissa Barrera. Laura has a short-term fight with cancer and she is told by her pretentious, selfish boyfriend that he cannot be her caregiver. He leaves the hospital room in great haste and she walks out to the hallway with her IV and starts screaming his name. This scene coupled with her talents shining on the Broadway stage towards the end color her fighting spirit tempered with severely dark tones.

Barrera's Laura cannot overcome the romantic loss and longing she has for her boyfriend. She has sobbing fits every day and night, endures blood work from an impossible nurse, and cannot bring herself to even play the piano and indulge in her singing talent. Laura gets word from her best friend, Mazie (Kayla Foster), that Laura's lead role in a musical, the very role that she helped create with the director, has been passed over to a well-regarded theatre actress. To make matters worse, Mazie helps her long-suffering friend intermittently as she is busy with gym and auditions. Laura cannot get a break until the monster (Tommy Dewey) who has been living in her closet comes out. Yes, a monster of the "Beauty and the Beast" variety (from the late 80's TV series that is) and he turns out to be a regular guy who devours Chinese food and reads Shakespeare with panache - he can also bite someone's head with ease if so inclined. I would think Laura would rather spend more time with this soothing beast who tears up at musicals than audition for the role she thinks she deserves. Laura does spend time with the monster but she also wants to maintain her career as a singer, and is demoted to background dancing by her ex, Jacob the director (Edmund Donovan). He spouts such pretentious nonsense about women during their cold read that I wanted to throw up - he is only catering to women in this alleged feminist musical which looks fairly campy.

"Your Monster" has some cutesy exchanges between Laura and the Monster and some wonderfully spirited moments between them who have an unspoken history as roommates (I have a fondness for the smashing of plates to release suppressed rage). The Halloween dance number between the Monster and Laura dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein is alluring and romantic. I did feel slightly pulled away from the narrative focus on Laura proving herself as independent and forthright, channeling what some critics referred to as her "feminine rage." I do not object to such scenes where the Monster is not present but I did feel her emotional talks with the creature were more honestly presented - he is an incurable romantic after all. The stage numbers were true in their own way, showing how an actor's sudden personal issues work against the material they have to fake. I also loved the confrontation between Laura and Jacob where she delivers such a lacerating verbal lashing that it would be enough for Laura to overcome her own insecurities with this man. Later scenes between them, including impromptu sex, just feel tacked on despite the fact she still loves him and knows he is having relations with another actress. I suppose we can say she can have sex with whom she wants and still hate the guy.

I enjoyed "Your Monster" overall and found it frequently moved me. The shocking ending will no doubt prove to a bit much for some to accept - it is an acceptance that feminine rage should not be suppressed yet we should keep our monstrous side on hold. You just have to know where to put that rage in a healthy place. 

Selfless and imaginative woman

 AMELIE (2001)
An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

(One of the ten best films of the 2000 decade)

"Amelie" is a young, innocent, kind French woman that I wish I knew. The historic Parisian town of Montmartre is a place I would love to live in. That is until you realize that the town exists but not in the way depicted in "Amelie." A young woman like the beaming Amelie working as a waitress at a Parisian cafe may not exist either. That is the movies for you! "Amelie" is a wonderful romantic fantasy about a selfless, imaginative woman who wants to do right by others until she realizes she can also do right by herself.

Audrey Tautou is Amelie, a performance on par in my distinct cinema memory with Giulietta Masina's performance in the riveting and partly whimsical "The Nights of Cabiria." Of course, Amelie the character and the movie are completely different from Fellini's film. The film explodes with a colorful feast of vignettes, from Amelie's early years as a precocious child seeking her father's love, to the accidental death of her mother and to her years as a young woman seeking men and working in the cafe, an actual cafe in Montmartre called "Café des 2 Moulins." Amelie notices certain details that others might not notice, like the fly as seen in a background scene from the film "Jules and Jim." She also notes a grocer's irrational behavior to his co-worker - the grocer lives in her apartment building and she gets even with him in unexpected, non-violent ways. During the sad news broadcast of Lady Di's death, Amelie is shocked to find a box containing personal items and trinkets hidden in one of the bathroom panels. She finds the owner of the box, a 50-year old man, and when he discovers it in a phone booth where he hears the phone ringing, it so elated me, it so moved me that I just wanted to hug Amelie for an amazingly empathetic gesture. She also does wonders for her idiosyncratic father (Rufus) - an invalid only in his mind - with a traveling garden gnome that just made me laugh like crazy. There are others Amelie helps and each of their situations develops so exquisitely and tastefully that you'll be hoodwinked and bedazzled by the narrative construction.

If "Amelie" had centered only on Amelie's good deeds that she performs unbeknownst to the people she helps, it would have been a real winner already. The movie also crosses into Amelie's discovery of romance for a man she barely knows, a sweet good-natured man known as Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz) who collects discarded, sometimes torn photos from photo booths. So Amelie helps people with attaining happiness in their lives, and she is smitten with a man who finds solace in photos of people he collects and keeps in a photo album. The stars of romance become aligned and Amelie better take that leap - it may be a chance that she may regret not taking. 

"Amelie" is so life-affirming, so precious in tone and style with abundant uses of the colors red and green that it could be too much of a good thing for most - the vibrant colors show how much passion and zest she has for life. The film is heavily stylized by director Jean Pierre-Jeunet ("Delicatessen") yet it proved to be very satisfying - like a cup of hot chocolate that brings warmth to your body and mind. Amelie has that effect on people and, it turns out, on herself. She sees herself in a Renoir painting that the older downstairs neighbor (Serge Merlin), who has very brittle bones, paints a replica of every year. She helps a mean grocer become kind in ways that you have to discover for yourself. Amelie is an angel and her beatific smile and puppy dog eyes alone should be just cause for any jaded person to smile a little and feel a sense of comfort. Maybe there aren't people exactly like Amelie in the world but one can only hope. I adore "Amelie" with all the heart and soul I can muster.