Inside Out 2

INSIDE OUT 2

2024 | Dir. Kelsey Mann | 97 Minutes

"That's not gonna haunt us for the rest of our lives at all."

After turning 13, within aspirational hockey player Riley's mind, a new group of complicated emotions lead by Anxiety stages a coup in headquarters. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust must journey to the back of Riley's mind to retrieve the girl's sense of self and return it to headquarters before Anxiety completes a new core persona for Riley rooted exclusively in insecurity.

Inside Out 2 is a well-crafted natural continuation to its predecessor that's as entertaining as it is deeply moving thanks to superb character development and clever approaches to building upon its high-concept premise. Kelsey Mann's feature directorial debut captures all of the challenges and complexity of puberty in a way that's realistically messy but also relatively easy to follow on a narrative level even for younger audiences, benefiting greatly from the fun character designs and delightfully distinct personalities of the expanded cadre of anthropomorphic emotions. Both the epic journey within Riley's mind undertaken by her standard emotions and the personal struggles she faces at hockey camp prove to be very engaging due to her relatability as a character, and her desire to identify herself as a good person while more ego-driven motivations begin to take shape. Literally embracing and accepting all of the conflicting facets of what it means to be a human being with complicated feelings, the film reaches a conclusion that's somewhat unconventional for narratives depicting two conflicting factions, but it's refreshingly balanced and an impressively elegant way to portray the first steps towards maintaining emotional intelligence.

The phenomenal artistic standards of Pixar Animation Studios are on full display here through and through. The feature shows off some of the very best in cinematic 3D animation to date, particularly in the craft of lighting and 3D textures. To single out two settings, the sub-level housing the threads to Riley's sense of self is visually breathtaking, and the mountain of repressed memories in the back of Riley's mind surging back to headquarters like a massive emotional tidal wave in the final act is quite the sight to behold. One of the most creative and hilarious flourishes of the film is in its presentation of two particular characters locked within a mental vault: for Riley's favorite television cartoon dog from her childhood brought to life in minimalistic 2D cell animation, and Riley's video game character crush rendered as a flawed 3D model complete with stiff movement and janky clipping. 

Amy Poehler returns as the voice of Joy bringing more frantic energy, standing out particularly in the moment where Joy admits she's in fact delusional. As Anxiety, Maya Hawke delivers a wild performance that suitably embodies the personification of emotional insecurity, playing the pitiable antagonist to perfection. Playing Riley, Kensington Tallman is the secret MVP of the film, exuding every facet of teenage insecurity from scene to scene. Reprising the part of Sadness, Phyllis Smith doesn't carry as much of the dramatic heft in this story, but the sequel allows her to capitalize on many more funny moments. Lewis Black is once again perfectly cast as Anger, amusingly demonstrating more nuanced facets of the character during the quest to the back of Riley's mind. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira join the ensemble as the new voices of Fear and Disgust respectively, and they fit in seamlessly, both performing with excellent comedic timing. Rounding out the group of new emotions, Ayo Edebiri is incredibly cute as the excitable Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos is very French and very funny as the ever-aloof Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser perhaps appropriately has one line of dialogue as the painfully shy Embarrassment, and June Squibb is a total scene-stealer as old lady Nostalgia.

A prime example of unexpectedly exceptional Pixar sequels, Inside Out 2 is a must-watch for anyone who loves the first film. The picture explores more sophisticated emotions and appropriately raises the stakes while still delivering an amusing and genuinely touching story about coming to terms with one's feelings in a healthy way. As a work of cinematic art, its gorgeous visuals also demonstrate how Pixar remains one of the very best animation studios in the business.

POST-CREDITS STINGER
The mystery of the Deep Dark Secret is revealed.

JOHN RATZENBERGER AS...

- Mind Worker Fritz

A113

- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are brought to Vault ACXIII where they meet other secrets within Riley's mind

PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY

- There is a poster in Riley's bedroom for 4*Town, the boy band from Turning Red

FRAGMENTS

- While Andrea Datzman's appropriately brings fresh energy to the film, it's pleasing to that in incorporates Michael Giacchino's theme from the original film

- Pro hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield lends her voice as a hockey announcer

- I absolutely love Lance Slashblade and how authentic he is to the PlayStation 2 era of Japanese video game character designs, particularly Tetsuya Nomura's work for Final Fantasy

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Yvette Nicole Brown (Phyllis Jenkins in Avengers: Endgame)

 

- Paul Walter Hauser (Harvey Elder in The Fantastic Four: First Steps) 

The Zone of Interest

THE ZONE OF INTEREST

2023 | Dir. Jonathan Glazer | 105 Minutes

"This is our home. We’re living how we dreamed we would."

Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss and his family live happily in a picturesque house next to the concentration camp.

Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest is a sobering examination of infuriating complicity. Adapting Martin Amis's 2014 novel of the same name, Glazer provides the bare minimum in terms of narrative. The most significant drama that unfolds concerning its central characters is a woman's frustration at the suggestion of having to relocate her family due to her husband's promotion, the most unremarkable of conflicts if it were not for the horrific context. What makes the picture overwhelmingly unsettling is what the scenes of seemingly ordinary domesticity illustrate, that it was so easy for Nazis to carry on with their lives unbothered by the genocide they were committing just next door, in this case quite literally. The film is incredibly difficult to watch by design.

A technical masterwork in terms of subtlety and suggestion, The Zone of Interest utilizes the medium of cinema in ways that very few films do. The camera is consistently positioned to imply the horrors of Auschwitz are occurring just out of frame, with the majority of the feature made up of mundane moments at the commandant's house. The most notable shift in style are the night vision scenes featuring a young Polish girl sneaking food into the concentration camp under cover of darkness, the sole presence of resistance represented in the picture. What the audience doesn't see, the audio design forces them to hear. The sound of gunfire, shouting, crying, and screaming, while sometimes only coming through softly, is consistent and incessant. Though the production hired Mica Levi to compose music for the film, Levi's score is seldom used, which only highlights the nightmarish soundscape underscoring the proceedings.

Christian Friedel plays Rudolf Höss as a hardworking family man and loyal servant to his government most convincingly, one would almost forget the detestable nature of his gruesome work if such a thing were impossible. As Höss's wife Hedwig, Sandra Hüller is so believably smug and casually hateful that the woman she portrays somehow becomes even more despicable than Höss himself, a testament to Hüller's immense talent.

With The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer delivers a viewing experience that is most appropriately deeply unpleasant. While it is a film that is totally devoid of escapism and entertainment value, it is a work of tremendous value that must be preserved and studied. Masterfully encapsulating exactly what complicity to the evil of fascism looks like, it makes a powerful statement on the banality of evil. 

FRAGMENTS

- Sandra Hüller also appears in 2024 Best Picture Academy Award Nominee Anatomy of a Fall

- While I greatly admire The Zone of Interest and its purpose as the film, I don't think I'll ever want to watch it again

Poor Things

POOR THINGS

2023 | Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos | 141 Minutes

"I have adventured it and found nothing but sugar and violence. It is most charming."

Brought to life by a mad doctor, Bella Baxter is a young woman who perceives the world with the innocent mind of a child. Strongly desiring life experience and knowledge, Bella ventures into the world on a journey of self-discovery while challenging societal norms at every turn, particularly ones pertaining to women.

A wildly entertaining adaptation of Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel, Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things is a hilarious, sharp, and engaging fantastical comedy loaded with critical observations on gender-based inequity and double standards. Philosophically perceptive and perfectly-paced, the thought-provoking narrative also features an overabundance of off-color comedy but also a whole lot of heart. Throughout Bella's odyssey, she is never robbed of her agency despite the bizarre circumstances surrounding her existence and the best efforts of some of people in her life, and much of the picture's humor derives from the novel manner in which Bella approaches and resolves the various challenges she encounters.

Visually inventive and unconventional, Poor Things is immensely appealing aesthetically. Utilizing stark monochrome and lush color photography, warped fish-eye lenses, and surreal outlandish special effects, the picture is an entertainingly disorienting feast for the eyes. To say that the style of the film's production design is heightened is putting it mildly, as it features fun over-the-top period costuming and a radical variety of beautiful sets.

Poor Things is dependent upon leading lady Emma Stone's performance, her second feature collaboration with Lanthimos, and she does not disappoint. Stone confidently plays the part of Bella to perfection, fully committing to all of the character's bizarre behavior at the start of the picture while quickly and convincingly becoming the outspoken voice of reason in an objectively absurd world. Delivering perhaps the funniest performance of his career to date, Mark Ruffalo is delightfully dastardly and eventually quite pathetic in the role of the lawyer Wedderburn. As something of a scientist, Willem Dafoe shows off his range as the complicated physically and psychologically scarred Dr. Godwin Baxter, believably well-meaning but detestable yet pitiable, all the while amusingly burping up utterly disgusting bubbles. Ramy Youssef makes for an effortlessly relatable McCandles, the audience surrogate who cares deeply for the protagonist but is only able to stand by and observe her journey. Though her screentime is limited, Kathryn Hunter gives a stand-out performance as Madame Swiney, fantastic at portraying the seemingly wise and empathetic woman but still the sleazy manager of a brothel.

An excellent off-beat comedy that examines the mistreatment of women through an absurdist lens, Poor Things is equal parts funny and profound. The film's peculiar premise serves as an unlikely springboard for timeless social commentary. Director Yorgos Lanthimos, specializing in his unique brand of satire mixed with sincerity, and star Emma Stone, reliably hilarious and exceptionally versatile, are the perfect pair to bring this story to the screen.

FRAGMENTS

- Supporting players Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott starred in the psychological thriller Sanctuary which was also released in 2023

- Considering the all-around excellence of Poor Things and 2018's The Favourite, here's hoping there will be more Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone comedies to come

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner in The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day)

- Willem Dafoe (Norman Osborn in Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Past Lives

PAST LIVES

2023 | Dir. Celine Song | 106 Minutes

"We're not babies anymore."

Childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung reconnect in person after 24 years apart. Although Nora is married and happy with her life in New York City, the pair question destiny and what might have been.

Celine Song's semi-autobiographical Past Lives is a bittersweet film about missed opportunities and the unyielding progression of life. Despite presenting what is ostensibly a love story premise, the picture instead delivers an admirably realistic narrative that alternates between a casually voyeuristic lens and a more intimate perspective. Devoid of misguided grand romantic gestures, the narrative instead portrays a mature relationship between two people with an indelible bond that has lost all romantic potential due to circumstances that are beyond the control of any one person, and it does so with plenty of natural humor and heartfelt empathy.

Past Lives invites the audience to people-watch but not to judge. The picture opens with a conversation between unseen observers as they innocently speculate about the relationships that connect the three leads, while various pairings of people populate the background in scenes that take place in public spaces as if nudging the viewer speculate themselves on the details surrounding the various connections. These moments juxtapose well with the intimate insight the story provides for Nora and Hae Sung's complex and nuanced friendship.

The way that language is used in Past Lives to convey love and kindness is rather ingenious. When Nora and Hae Sung initially reconnect over Skype, the dialogue calls attention to the fact that Nora's Korean is rusty because she exclusively speaks it when conversing with her mother and with Hae Sung, implying that her connection with Hae Sung as at least as strong as her connection with Hae Sung without outright calling attention to the fact. Nora's husband Arthur speaks Korean to her, albeit poorly as she points out to Hae Sung, in an effort to be closer to her, communicating to the audience everything they need to know about how much Arthur is committed to Nora. In one of the film's most amusing scenes, Hae Sung and Arthur try to communicate with one another in the other's native tongue, both earnestly trying to be friendly with awkward mixed results at best. When Nora and Hae Sung have a heart-to-heart in Korean while Arthur is present, the dramatic tension is almost unbearable.

The powerful connection between Nora and Hae Sung is played to perfection by the picture's two leads who share spectacular chemistry. As Nora, Greta Lee is naturally charismatic, delivering an equally funny and dramatic performance. Teo Yoo is incredibly charming and affecting in the role of the lovesick Hae Sung. Playing Arthur, John Magaro is also very impressive, believably embodying a remarkably understanding husband placed in a uniquely uncomfortable position, truly the source of much of film's comedy.

Past Lives is a soulful, profound film that contemplates lost love. The feature authentically depicts the process of two people confronting paths not taken and genuinely moving on. It's a universally relatable narrative that is perfectly captured in this lovely and somewhat melancholy picture.

FRAGMENTS

- Recommending Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to a man who clearly has a crush on you is low-key malicious

- My movie streaming app crashed the moment Nora hugged Hae Sung in the scene after the pair meet in person for the first time since they were kids

Oppenheimer

OPPENHEIMER

2023 | Dir. Christopher Nolan | 181 Minutes

"We might start a chain reaction that destroys the world."

In 1954, J. Robert Oppenheimer appeals the United States Atomic Energy Commission's decision to revoke his security clearance. A private hearing is held to review Oppenheimer's leadership on the Manhattan Project while scrutinizing his history with members of the Communist Party. In 1957, a Senate confirmation hearing is held for Lewis Strauss to become Secretary of Commerce. Adversarial to Oppenheimer, Strauss quickly finds that the scientific community and history are not on his side.

Adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's 2005 J. Robert Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a sweeping epic charting the rise and fall of a deeply flawed genius. Written and directed by the celebrated auteur, he tells his most personal and contemplative story yet, exploring festering guilt and overwhelming anxiety through the eyes of the father of the atomic bomb. A decidedly unconventional biopic that chronicles the man's career rather than his entire life, the film celebrates scientific ingenuity but also condemns the nuclear arms race in no uncertain terms, a resounding protest against political agendas manipulating and exploiting scientific advancement.

The audio-visual components of Oppenheimer are unmistakably Nolan. Consistent with the director's non-linear storytelling tendencies, the feature interweaves two primary storylines occurring years apart with elegant aesthetic coding, structuring the narrative around an emotional through line rather than a strictly chronological one. Oppenheimer's demoralizing 1954 security hearing behind closed doors, depicting key events through flashbacks as he recounts his fraught education at Cambridge through the Trinity test at Los Alamos and the years that followed in which he used his influence to promote nuclear disarmament, are filmed in color. The events surrounding Lewis Strauss's humiliating 1959 Senate confirmation hearing, with flashbacks presenting his seemingly contentious professional relationship with Oppenheimer, are filmed in black and white. It's a fascinating approach to deliver the impression of a man from both internal and external perspectives, poignantly expressing both his confidence and his insecurity with nuance in the color sequences while conveying his supposed arrogance as perceived by Strauss with incomplete context in black and white. Ludwig Göransson's moody score is appropriately atmospheric, but it is incessant and occasionally more distracting than complementary.

Nolan's strength as a filmmaker are on full display showcasing the scale of the Manhattan Project. The gathering of the scientists, and their interpersonal conflicts and their collective accomplishment are the most engaging parts of the film. Conversely, Nolan's greatest weakness remains his inability to write nuanced female roles. While they serve their purpose as key figures in the protagonist's life, the roles of Jean Tatlock and Kitty Oppenheimer can be distilled down to purely temperamental forces that consistently behave like emotional disasters.

Cillian Murphy is excellent in the lead role, equally superb in portraying the confident man of science and the anxiety-stricken wretch overcome with guilt. As the vindictive Lewis Strauss, Robert Downey Jr. gives one of the very best performances of his career, absolutely convincing as a jealous and spiteful man who relishes in utilizing backhanded tactics for political gain. Making the most of her role as Kitty, Emily Blunt's considerable talent shines through despite the character being drunk and upset for the majority of the picture. The massive supporting cast features memorable performances David Krumholtz as Oppenheimer's lifelong friend physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matt Damon as the amusingly straight-forward General Leslie Groves, Florence Pugh as the bewilderingly mercurial Jean Tatlock, Josh Hartnett as Oppenheimer's conflicted colleague Ernest Lawrence, Dane DeHaan as the hateful Major General Kenneth Nichols, and Alden Ehrenreich as Strauss's conscientious Senate Aide.

Oppenheimer is a monumental cinematic achievement. Despite turning up all of his signature proclivities to maximum output, Nolan's unconventional biopic is never over-indulgent. The film presents a sprawling narrative that leans heavily into the nature of regret and the folly of political division in the atomic age.

FRAGMENTS

- Barbie and Oppenheimer were released on the July 21, 2023 in the United States, creating the cultural phenomenon dubbed the "Barbenheimer" in which moviegoers opted to watch both pictures as a tonally-contrasting double feature, significantly benefitting both films financially

- The fake post-credits scenes for this film circulating around the internet amuse me to no end

007 CONNECTIONS

- Rami Malek (Lyutsifer Safin in No Time To Die)

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame)

- David Dastmalchian (Kurt in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp, and Veb in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania)

- Matt Damon (Asgardian Actor playing Loki in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder)

- James D'Arcy (Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame)

- Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova in Black Widow, Thunderbolts*, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day)