Dystopian movies are the fastest growing genre these days. They’ve doubled over the past 15 years, according to a service in the US that tracks these things. Is it just an entertainment trend or does it mean that audiences are more fearful these days and need that reflected in the films they watch? Wars, AI, digital tracking, inflation and, of course, climate change have all been cited. Worth pondering and the latest film of the type is the leader this week.
A Quiet Place Day One: 3
Daddio: 4
The Imaginary: 4
Dianne Von Furstenberg Woman in Charge: 3
Brats: 2½
A QUIET PLACE DAY ONE: The original and the sequel, six and four years ago, were hugely successful and very creative. So now we look back to the start of the alien invasion that scared us back then and here’s a chance to find out where these creatures are from and why they came. We don’t get that. We see more of them though, stomping through downtown New York City like giant insects, usually in dust-and-smoke clouds that they stirred up with the explosions they caused. As before, they have super hearing so better stay absolutely quiet. Surprisingly there’s no baby to cry and an ever-present cat doesn’t meow. There are lots of other chances to make noise though and the film ratchets up the tension considerably over and over. There are also jump scares now and then, one of them literally done with a jump.
More prominent is a personal story amid all this. Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o plays a woman near death with cancer in a hospice. She wants to taste pizza one more time and sets out with a male nurse to find some. He’s reluctant but another man she meets is more helpful. He’s played by Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) and his valor and her desperation make a compelling contrast which raises the relevance of the film. It’s not just people vs monsters. It ponders human mortality and staying alive amid chaos. Film like this often deal with that. Nyong’o’s character is near death anyway, so why bother fighting. Even silently, with just facial movements, she gets across why. The film isn’t very scary but it is thoughtful. Michael Sarnoski, directed and co-wrote the story. It’s only his second movie. (In theaters) 3 out of 5
DADDIO: Can a movie be compelling when it is only a single conversation between two people? When it’s as well acted and directed as this one yes. It’s rare but can be done. You’ll follow every twist and revelation in this chat between a woman (Dakota Johnson) taking a cab into New York City and the stubbly-face cab driver (Sean Penn). The two open up to each other, telling secrets and regrets and hopes. Mind you they won’t see each other after the ride so what have they got to lose? There’s enough said to keep you more than interested as a traffic jam stops the ride for quite a while and allows this movie to be full-length.
Johnson is simply listed as Girlie. She’s returning from a visit to a half-sister in Oklahoma where a great deal of uncomfortable family history was invoked. While she’s riding she gets text messages from someone making lurid sex proposals and asking for cel phone fotos, also lurid. The driver, named Clarke, but later wishing he was Mikey, rightly figures how how she’s connected to the guy on the phone and gets her to reveal a lot more about their relationship. He also reveals his life, about two women he’s been married to, how he regrets dumping the first. Also his philosophy which in relation to marriage includes “Never say I love you.” It makes sense in context. The two actors do a fine job of playing the roles and conveying the depths to which even casual conversations between strangers can go. It’s written and directed by Christy Hall, a playwright who is new to the movies and hits very well with her first one. (In theaters) 4 out of 5
THE IMAGINARY: Here’s is an animated film that reaches the level of art, both in the visuals and the tale they tell. There’s a complex story about, yes, the power of imagination, opposing the forces that threaten to weaken it as you grow up and also family connection, perseverence and grief. Quite a complex mix that and maybe above the heads of the younger kids, but a great adventure of the mind for the older ones. And set in beautiful visuals that range from peaceful countryside to a vortex of dark menace. Sometimes the backdrop changes repeatedly to fit the story that’s emerging. Children will love it.
A boy named Rudger is an imaginary friend that Amanda has dreamed up. Nobody else can see him. But when she ends up in hospital he wants to go find her and joins with other imaginary characters to get to her. But there’s a menace, a Mr. Bunting, a sort of government official who says he’s doing a survey about children but actually wants to drive imagination out of them and bring them back to reality. He wants to eat the imaginary characters and reveals a giant and scary cyclone of dark and light when he opens his mouth. That and other wild scenes show the animators’ imaginations set totally free. They’re from Studio Ponoc in Japan which former staffers at the iconic studio Ghibli formed some years ago when that studio was in danger of closing. The director, Yoshiyuki Momose, came over from there, where he animated Spirited Away, and continues the Ghibli look and feel here. It’s a fine film, playing in theaters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver now, before Netflix next week. 4 out of 5
DIANE VON FURSTENBERG WOMAN IN CHARGE: Here’s an affectionate portrait of a woman who made herself into a fashion-industry power. It delivers the facts and some good stories but doesn’t pry. Is she really such a positive figure? Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Fran Lebowitz, Diana Vreeland from Vogue and even Hillary Clinton say she is, so I’ll have to believe it too. Still you do wonder if there’s more.
She made her name by inventing the wrap dress in 1974, sold over a million of them in just two years, and brought it back 20 years later after it had drifted out of fashion. It was a fad but it launched her business which now has outlets in 55 countries. She credits what inspired her: a dress she saw on a ballerina and also what enabled her to become world famous: marrying a prince. When she divorced him it was an act of freedom, a concept that flows through this entire film. The dress gave women freedom. Her philanthrophic work continues that. She partied at Studio 54 during New York City’s wilder years and refused an offer of a threesome with Mick Jagger and David Bowie. She did marry media mogul Barry Diller who also says nothing but complimentary things about her. She credits her mother, an Auschwitz survivor, for inspiring her to get in charge. The film too could inspire, though that’s a very high level it’s looking at. (Disney+) 3 out of 5
BRATS: This is a bit of pop culture nostalgia but it’s also a case study about the impact of the media on the people they write about. In this case it’s on the young actors who played in a series of youth-oriented movies in the 1980s. Films like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire and more. All part of a genre which became hugely popular because it told real stories about highschool-age teens. Fans saw themselves in these stories and that, according a couple of observers in this film, kicked off a Hollywood change to making movies for young people. That’s happened before, the 1950s for example, but did become big again.
A magazine article wrote about it, dubbed the actors “The Brat Pack” a clever play on “The Rat Pack.” The label stuck, was used widely and the actors felt the impact. One of them, Andrew McCarthy made this film to explore how. He hunted up a lot of the originals, not Molly Ringwald sadly, but Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore and others to hear what they felt. Timothy Hutton calls it “cheap” and “cynical”. Rob Lowe calls it “mean-spirited” and said “it minimized our talent.” Emilio Estevez, who was big in the article, felt “de-railed.” Others started angry but have become more forgiving. McCarthy then tracked down the writer of the original article who is proud of it. With comments from other writers and movie insiders this is an engaging essay. (Disney+) 2½ out of 5
