Special Thanksgiving Review!

On the morning after his 85th birthday, wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his study of an apparent suicide. As the family grieves, Detective Lieutenant Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield) and State Trooper Wagner (Noah Seegan) question the bereaved family members in order to confirm their initial suspicions. Then enters private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate the possibility of foul play. With the entire Thrombey family as possible suspects, the game is afoot.


     Knives Out director Rian Johnson stated a love for murder mysteries and it shows in this brilliantly complex but surprisingly straightforward whodunnit. There'll be no spoilers, but what I can say is that Johnson has crafted a puzzle so tightly written and meticulously put together it would make Agatha Christie proud. Johnson brings together an all-star ensemble cast putting on great performances all around, each player pulling off their characters with gusto and aplomb.

     The setting of a lone mansion out in an isolated field is nothing new for the murder mystery genre. One could say it's almost expected, especially if the manor has secret passageways and hidden rooms. There's even the eccentric private investigator whom the police call in to be the actual sleuth while they run errands and do some legwork. And ontop of all of that is a multitude of red herrings, each having their own motives and alibis for the time of death. But, as is usually the case, things are not as they appear to be. No detail is too minute, from prop knives to cases of mistaken identity both real and supposed Clue is mentioned in a funny throwaway line and the game GO is a game that Harlan liked to play with his nurse Marta, played by Ana De Armas.

     In the hands of a lesser creator, this could've been a mishmash of deceit, misdirection and fake outs. In my opinion, a good mystery is a story that gives the viewers everything they need to solve the mystery. It doesn't break its own rules or lie to the audience. It plays the game fair and square and lets you do the deducing and sleuthing alongside the gumshoe or protagonist. Here Rian Johnson plays around with the convention of the "gentleman sleuth" as Benoit Blanc's character is described as. Normally he'd be the focus, the character we spend the most time with. However, it's Ana De Armas's Marta on whom the film holds its focus. We go through her family life with her mother and sister as they live in a small apartment brownstone. We also see how she thinks on her feet and is able to outwit those who might do her harm.

     Another way that this film differs from the usual detective story is that the initial mystery is revealed early on. This sort of lulls the viewer into thinking this won't be a "whodunnit" but a "how will they get away with it." I know; that phrasing isn't as quick or punchy. In any case, There was well set-up tension all throughout the film as to how this person would succeed when everything seems to go against their favor. Every time they seemed to be in the clear, a new complication would occur, like trying to get rid of evidence, only for one of the family dogs to retrieve it like a game of fetch.

     The entire ensemble cast turned in great performances. Jamie Lee Curtis's Linda was a "keeping up appearances" uptight matriarch, Don Johnson were her doofus husband, Michael Shannon showed a slightly sinister side as the self-serving acting CEO of Harlan's publishing company. Toni Collette puts on her best "Karen" impersonation (the internet folks will get that) as Joni Thrombey, Harlan's daughter in law and a hippe-esque lifestyle guru. Joni and her daughter Meg, played by Katherine Langford, come off as the type of liberals who sound off on social injustices from the safety of their ivory towers but will turn as WASP-y as the rest of the clan if their livelihood is threatened. On the other side of the political spectrum, Jaeden Martell of the "IT" movies is given brief scenes as Walt's son Jacob, an avatar of online trolls, from whom Rian Johnson has experienced more than his fill of virtual vitriol. While Joni and Meg are shown as lacking the courage of their convictions, Jacob is outright mocked and made fun of. The Thrombeys are not nice people, except for maybe Harlan and his mother.

     Chris Evans is something of a show-stealer in his scenes as the arrogant, spoiled-rotten grandson Hugh "Ransom" Thrombey. He carries himself with an egotistical swagger sporting a sharp tongue and even sharper mind, despite never having made anything of himself. But it's Chris Evans's charm and sincerity that lets you look past the brash, immature, vulgar exterior to see glimpses of a good person underneath the playboy lifestyle. 


     Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is a true character right out of an Agatha Christie story. Delightfully eccentric, almost to the point of silliness but knows how to ask the right questions to get to the truth. When he finally hangs up the tux as Bond, Craig has another character he could easily turn into a franchise. Blanc is a throwback to Hercule Poirot in both method and inspiration. He didn't come off as a Holmesian type detective, or at least the ones that pass for it. Blanc isn't impossibly brilliant nor lacking in social skills or patience for courtesy. He was a gentleman sleuth through and through with a keen deductive mind. He never boasted about his brilliance like some geniuses in popular culture seem fond of doing, which was honestly refreshing.

     Knives Out  features a terrific ensemble cast, twists and turns that come right out of left field but don't insult the audience's intelligence, and some genuinely funny moments. I would definitely recommend everyone see this film as it is one of the best this year and I hope we get more like this from Rian Johnson, perhaps having Daniel Craig returning as Benoit Blanc to solve yet another oddball mystery of murder, intrigue and betrayal.

Parasite and The Quandry of Ethical Survival

     Ki-Woo (Choi Woo-Shik), has a plan to help his struggling family get out of poverty and the dirty, dingy semi-basement apartment they huddle together in. He plans to take over for his friend as an English tutor for tech company CEO Park Dong's (Lee Sun Kyun) daughter Da-Hye (Jung Ji-So). While there, he hatches a scheme to not only bring on his sister Ki-Jeong (Park So-Dam) as an art therapist for young Park Da-Song (Jung Hyoon-Jun), but his father Kim Ki-Taek (Song Kang-Ho) as Dong's personal driver and mother Chung-Sook (Jang Hye-Jin) as the housekeeper and maid of Dong's wife Choi Yo-Jeong. While the Kim family run their little collective hustle, events take a turn for the strange and things escalate to a shocking, brutal conclusion.

     Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite starts out as a kind of dark comedy, with a family on the brink of destitution while they struggle for work and are down on their luck. It's almost like the opening to Mickey And The Beanstalk with everyone huddled close together and trying to find something, anything to eat and get through the day. It'd be depressing if it weren't for the almost absurd ways they try to make money and keep their phones on through searching the house for a wi-fi signal and chasing away drunks who urinate near their window. So naturally, they'd jump at the chance at even the slightest hint of a better life when it's presented to them.

    It doesn't take long for this movie to remind me of Snowpiercer, Joon-Ho's 2013 drama about class warfare on a train rolling along a desolate planet Earth in a post apocalyptic future. The Kims, people of little opportunity and means try to climb up the ladder of success through any methods necessary. They hustle and manipulate to get some of the good fortune from those who have enjoyed an almost obscene amount of material wealth. The way they do this is ethically questionable at best, but such is the world they, and unfortunately we, live in where such methods become almost necessary to even make ends meet. The result of the cult of materialism and the bondage of modern capitalism.

    It's easy to see why this movie comes with this particular title. If anything it's pretty much on-the-nose. The Kims, in essence, feed off of the pay that the Parks give them for their work (unknowingly on the Parks's part) and then suddenly they realize that they aren't the only ones who've had this idea, or at the very least, aren't the only ones with problems dealing with their lot in life. Each family takes their turn privately looking down on the other, not recognizing the humanity in others, treating them as means to an end or as simple tools to use and discard on a whim.

     The film makes it a point to bring up young Da-Song's obsession with Native American (called Indian in the film) activities, culture and garb. Whether or not this is considered cultural appropriation is something that I am, admittedly, not educated enough to gauge, though I would say he seems particularly enamored with the watered-down "Americanized" version of it. It's entirely possible they consider it a phase of impressionable childhood fascination as one does. On the other hand, I think the inclusion of this character quirk is not just for "you little rascal" type shenanigans, but an explicit reminder of how anglo-centric cultures like majority white societies borrow or feed off of the cultures of others.

     Take the American settlers, for instance. Arriving on a land already settled by various Native American tribes. Little by little, they take and take and take until they begin to have this notion that what they have stolen was already theirs or that they deserve it more than those who have learned to balance their respect for nature with their need for consumption of food, shelter, etc; People do what they must to survive. Morality or even dignity often times don't factor into it. It simply is what it is. But it's when the bar for what constitutes "survival" raises higher and higher that one can question the morality behind the methods with any sort of authority. It's one thing for a poor man to steal a load of bread to avoid starvation. It's an entirely different thing for a billionaire to steal money from his own company for his own personal hoarding.

     Parasite doesn't try to make one family or group better than the other. All have their flaws and prejudices toward the other and engage in almost vicious condescension behind each other's backs. Park Dong constantly makes reference to Mr. Kim's raunchy stench, brought about by stink bugs introduced in the first scene. Mr .Kim repeatedly asks Mr. Park about loving his wife, to which the latter either blithely concedes or dismisses entirely.The characters constantly refer to Mrs. Park as "simple" and we get implications of Da-Hye having repeated affairs with her young English tutors. The Kims are benefiting off of the Park's wealth that Mr. Park has worked for. However, the disrespect the Parks have for Mr. Kim especially, weighs on Ki-Taek, as evidenced by multiple outbursts whenever his pride is wounded or he is insulted. He learns all too late that sometimes your dignity is the currency with which those who hire you want in trade.

     Envy and the feeling of want can drive people to unethical extremes and in our modern hyper-capitalist society that considers greed not just good but a necessity, it's its own parasitic nature that creates poverty for many, opportunities for few. Instead of trickling down like Regan promised in the 80's, capitalism, particularly for the top percentile of "job creators" and "billionaires" feeds itself like an economic ouroboros. It's a financial feedback loop that is unsustainable with prices ever swelling and less people being able to afford even basic needs. It's no wonder impoverished people turn to hustling or other less savory methods of making money simply to stay afloat. Those in need have little choice but to either take it for themselves or rely on the whims of those of means.

     We all have to consume to survive, whether it be food, resources for shelter and clothing, land, even simple pleasures. Some covet what others take for granted, and yet others squander abundance when spoiled for choice. Others think those who are without are the most free of all, unburdened by choice. There may truly be no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism, especially today when the disparity between arbitrarily designated  "wage classes" is more severe than it has ever been.

But as the axiom goes, whatever helps you sleep at night.

The Lighthouse: All Work And No Play Makes Homer Something Something

The Lighthouse: All Work And No Pay Makes Homer Something Something

     Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinsion) takes a four weeks contract job with lighthouse wickie Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) at a New England lighthouse. During his time on the island, the young man is driven to the brink of madness by the repetition of his duties and the irritable company of Mr. Wake. Unfortunately, a storm delays the ferry that was meant to retrieve the two men, forcing them into a prolonged isolation that pushes them both over the edge. 

     If there's one thing you can give director Robert Eggers credit for, it's that he can make small period pieces look about as authentic as possible. The production value on this movie, as well as his previous film The VVitch, is astounding. The utensils, the weathered appearance of the cabin, the menial labor on display lend a particular verisimilitude to the experience. Eggers knows how to research a time period to give you as close to a clear picture as possible. The cinematography and film aspect ratio harkens back to older films, with the end credits calling the cast "players" which was a nice touch. It almost makes the film feel like a two-man play of sorts. 

     Speaking of, both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe give terrific performances. Pattinson's Ephraim showing the weary, depressed, lonely mindscape of a young man running from past failures and Dafoe's Wake is a salty former sea captain who's so full of barnacles and bullshit that even Ephraim calls him out on his almost parodist portrayal. When the two men aren't drunkenly crooning sea chanties to each other and dancing like lunatics, they let out insults. One in particular delivered by Dafoe brings chills to the blood and cements his character firmly in the mind, regardless of his somewhat comical delivery and appearance. 

     The story starts out a bit slow, building its atmosphere with a patient hand, letting the audience figure things out through dialogue and context clues. On the first night, Ephraim finds a mermaid statue in the head of his cot. Hints at his backstory involving being a timberman or woodsman in Canada as he sees logs somehow floating on the ocean surface, giving way to the siren's call of a beautiful mermaid (played by Valeriia Karaman). It's also the first threads of the tapestry of his sanity fraying and becoming untangled. 

     From there it becomes a slog, both for Ephraim and for myself, watching him doing his repetitive duties day in, day out, with Wake barking orders in the young man's ear about shirking his responsibility. I'm not saying that it's boring, but it does convey the boredom Ephraim is suffering from, which works in the movie's favor. If I know anything, it's going to work day in and and day out and doing basically the same thing over and over with little deviation. And each day passes with Ephraim working diligently, though not without incident or complaint as when he insists he swabbed the floors. It's when the reality of his continued servitude and captivity sets in that things really pick up and take a turn for the insane. 

     It's never concrete on whether or not there's something supernatural afoot, even when Ephraim commits something of a bad luck faux pas for sailors. It could easily be chalked up to coincidence that the ferry coming to whisk them away was nowhere to be found and that's perfectly fitting with the downward spiral of Ephraim's mental state. Personally speaking, I think it's all in the unfortunate man's head. Fever dreams of a mind gone mad through the doldrums of duty. His only respite being the times he spends alone pleasuring himself or getting into nightly drunken encounters with Wake, the ever-demanding taskmaster, who throws in a sea-dog's version of a "damned millenial snowflake" speech near the end.

     The Lighthouse is an interesting watch if one doesn't mind the atmosphere of loneliness, depression and performative masculinity to the sacrifice of one's sense of self. The more head-tilting and visually distinct moments (such as when a person starts sprouting tentacles, is covered in barnacles with a crown made of coral or a mermaid with a human vagina for ease of "use") are momentary slaps of "WTF-ery" that punctuate a story of a man who just flat out took the wrong job and wasn't cut out for it, driving him bonkers.

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