Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Menu and Glass Onion

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I am a sucker for murder mysteries and both of these movies delivered everything I like in good ones!  “The Menu” isn’t a true whodunit, but more like a why’d-he-do-that and the mystery is who, if anyone, will escape unscathed.  “Glass  Onion,” (a sequel to Knives Out) on the other hand, will have you guessing the whole time.  Both movies come to a satisfying conclusion.  “The Menu” stars Ralph Fiennes as a very talented high-end chef who serves an exclusive, and very expensive, meal every year to a small group of hoity-toity rich people.  Some of the guests this time are Ana Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Judith Light, and Janet McTeer just to name a few.    It becomes increasingly clear (not to mention horrifying)  that  the chef has conjured up more than just a meal.  The fun of this extremly dark comedy  is in figuring out who will still be around by the time the sixth course is finished.  Shout out to Hong Chau as the maitre d’  of the restaurant, who is just as subtly creepy and mysterious as the chef.

Part of the fun of “Glass Onion” rests with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Detective Benoit Blanc.  His acting and accent are spot on and the little tidbits we find out about his personality and private life are intriguing.  The set up for the story is that self-centered billionaire, Ed Norton (at his unlovable best) has sent invitations to a close knit group of his “friends” to spend a weekend playing a murder mystery game.  The guests include Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr.  Of course, there is a real murder and it is very convienent that Detective Blanc is there to peel away the many layers of this “onion” mystery.  Look for two cameos.  One, I will not spoil because you will recognize him right away.  The other one, well, I won’t spoil that one either.  I’ll just  say that you will see him several times.  Let me know if you recognized him before the credits rolled, or you googled who it was.  🙂

I highly recommend both of these movies. Which ever you choose, you are in for an entertaining time.

Vengeance and Medieval

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There  is more to going to the movies than seeing big blockbusters like Top Gun or Jurassic Park:  Dominion.  I would like to talk about two lesser-known movies that have not gotten a lot of attention, but may be of interest to you.  They may  no longer be in the theatres, so you might have to watch on a streaming service.

Vengeance is a black comedy written and directed by B.J. Novak (Ryan on The Office) and he also stars.  The movie tells the story of a self-absorbed and commitment phobic urban blogger named Ben Manalowitz .  Ben is asked to attend the funeral of a girl he hooked up with a few times, and barely remembers.  Her Texas family is under the impression that they were seriously involved and he plays along with them thinking he will get some interesting ideas for his blog.  He finds out her brother believes she was murdered, and wants Ben to help find the culprit.  As the story goes on, Ben finds the truth not only of what happened to the victim; but a few truths about family and trust, and himself as well. The script is very witty and warm, and full of interesting and thought provoking conversations.

Medieval is an entirely different story than Vengeance.  Medieval is a Czech drama that is one of those ‘based in actual events’ tales ( ones that are always stretched and/or changed around) based on the life of Jan Zizka, a Bohemian military commander who never lost a battle.  In this movie, he is fighting the efforts of  feuding brothers’ armies (from the Holy Roman Empire and the Teutonic Order no less) to ascend to the Emperor’s throne (the last Holy Roman Emperor having just died). He is a national hero in The Czech Republic. There is a fine cast, Ben Foster plays Jan, Matthew Goode is King Sigismund and Michael Cain plays the political Lord Bores.  Medieval is extremely violent, although the violence is realistic to the time period (1300’s).  What I liked about this movie is that I learned about a very interesting historical person that I had never heard of.  I went online and read everything I could about this fascinating guy.

JoJo Rabbit

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I absolutely loved this movie, but have to admit is very quirky and will not be everyone’s cup of tea.  The story follows ten year old JoJo “Rabbit” Betzler (a fine acting debut by Roman Griffin Davis) as an ultra wannabe Hitler Youth living in mythical Falkenheim, Germany approaching the end of WWII.  Jojo seems kind of lonely, his mother is frequently out and his soldier father has been missing for almost two years.  Jojo despretely wants to become a Hitler Youth and is aided in this undertaking by his imaginary friend – Adolf Hitler himself – played with buffoonish gusto by the writer and director Taika Waititi.  But his efforts fall seriously short and he is relegated to simple tasks under the mentorship of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) and his erstwhile assistants played by Alfie Allen and Rebel Wilson.  Jojo carries on as things start to fall apart, and his dogmatic beliefs are shattered when he meets and eventually befriends a Jewish girl that his mother is hiding.  The movie is full of satire, both serious and humorous.  I loved the ridiculous Nazis characters played by Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson as well as the scenes of the absurdity and devestation of war.  Waititi has concocted a mix of the serious historical realities with absurdist comic flights of fancy.  We could take a few lessons from how Jojo’s fanatical belief in everything he has been told, including that Jews have horns and live in caves like bats, are punctured and exploded like a holiday balloon.  I found this movie a little reminiscent of “Moonlight Kingdom,” which I also loved.  Do not be fooled by the humorous undertones of this movie, it is a serious topic and doesn’t gloss over some realities of what happened in German towns (the things depicted did happen, and often) as Hitler’s empire was taken apart.  You may even tear up a time or two.  This is definitely a well-deserving award contender.  See you at the Oscars, JoJo!

Ready or Not

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This was a waste of an afternoon as far as I am concerned. This is one of those movies that look waaaaay better in the trailer than they actually do in the theatre.  The trailer made this movie sound like a sophisticated dark comedy.  Well……… The plot involves a woman who is told on her wedding night that she will have to play one game of hide and seek before she will be an  official part of the family.  The tiny little complication is that if she is found before dawn, the family will kill her. Apparently they are under some kind of curse.  If she isn’t killed, they will all die.  Everyone from the sweet adorable kids to the taciturn granny is out to get our heroine (Samara Weaving) with everything from a cross bow to a shot gun. But even once she realizes her situation, she is remarkably unable to adjust and do anything really effective to help herself.  She can take a remarkable amount of injury, more than would have realistically allowed her to keep going.  And every time she gets in serious straits, there is always some unlikely occurrence that let’s her escape.  Let’s not even go into how the film ends.  It is simply ridiculous. I think I would have liked this movie more if the comedy had been more  evident. The violence is pretty extreme too, which I didn’t expect.  Anyway, my advice is to wait until this one is on a smaller screen- maybe it would be more enjoyable in that venue.

Once Upon a Time…..In Hollywood

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Wow! Another great movie from quirky writer/director Quentin Tarantino.  ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ takes place in 1969 Los Angles, which is changing from the apple pie, Ozzie and Harriet world of the 1950’s to the era of Woodstock and hippies.  In the middle of this wave of change is TV cowboy star Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in one of the best performances of his career.  Dalton is confused by these changes, which see his appeal and marketability shrink.  But even though he is reduced to starring in Spaghetti Westerns, he is still committed to his career and gives each performance his all, including all the booze he can manage.  He is helped out by his stunt double/gofer/friend Cliff Booth, played of course by Brad Pitt in another career highlight performance.  The writing for these two characters is so crisp and Tarantino really fleshes them out in such a way that by the end of the movie, you not only like them, but feel like you really know them.  Since the Sharon Tate murder plays a big part of the story, it is helpful to read a little bit about if you are not familiar with Charles Manson or his followers.  Everything that you love about Quentin Tarantino movies can be found here:  witty dialogue, character development, multiple story lines, revisionist history, and a plethora of supporting/cameo appearances.  The one big hallmark of Tarantino that you won’t find though is excessive, gory violence.  Don’t get me wrong, there is violence in this movie, but it is more restrained than in any of his past movies.  I also loved how 1969 was recreated.  The small details are spot on, even down to the way Taco Bell looked when I got my first job there selling tacos and burritos.  If you are looking for a quirky, thought-provoking movie with Oscar caliber writing and performances, this is the movie for you!! Just remember, it’s “once upon a time…in Hollywood.”