Coriolanus (2019) (The Public Theater)

I was not familiar with Coriolanus. It is not one of Shakespeare's more often performed plays. One of his later tragedies, Coriolanus takes place in ancient Rome. It features a war hero on the verge of being named consul if he could just get over his contempt for the plebians that make up the majority of the city. And when the people finally reject him, he takes vengeance on the city. He's not the most sympathetic hero. He's actually extremely unsympathetic. Jonathan Cake plays Coriolanus with a very deep, almost Bane-like voice. It's hard to take him seriously because he screams so many of his lines. I feel like we never get an adequate explanation for why he has so much contempt for the regular people except for class hierarchy. It seems unfounded, too extreme. Maybe that played better in hierarchical Elizabethan England. And then, when the patricians blame the plebian tribunes for exiling Coriolanus and making him mad, I lost it. It's as if Coriolanus is put up on a Superman-like pedestal. Who is this guy that he can do no wrong in their eyes? Because he is so obviously wrong. The problem wasn't the exile. It was that they didn't execute him in Act I.

Let's just also put it out there that the Public spent up all its budget on the amazing production of Much Ado About Nothing earlier this summer. The costumes here looked like something out of The Walking Dead. They're dirty and torn. The set looks like a slum. And yes, the set moves, but it's not as expensive looking as the beautiful estate from Much Ado About Nothing. The soundtrack also pales in comparison. And it drizzled for about a half hour of the performance. They valiantly performed through it, but it would've been nice if we had stayed dry.

Salt Fat Acid Heat (2018)

Samin Nosrat's Netflix documentary based on her book of the same name is revelatory. It is part cooking show, part travel documentary. She boils down good cooking to four basic elements, each of which she explores in four different different episodes in four different locales. Nosrat is a student of the world. She shows off her Italian and Spanish skills. And she impresses with her knowledge of different food cultures. Nosrat is a character. She gets so excited about food, it is deeply moving to watch her eyes light up with joy and to see her eyes tear up at the beauty. Her laugh is infectious. And her food looks delicious. She is the fun, funny, down-to-Earth culinary-expert friend that everyone wants to have.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Jim Jarmusch's latest is a zombie movie unlike any other. It's not a horror movie. It's a comedy, an unconventional one at that. It breaks the fourth wall. It has a huge cast of familiar Jarmusch faces in bit parts. The humor is kind of awkward, off kilter. Bill Murray and Adam Driver are perfect for the dry, slow-paced, often deadpan jokes. I'm starting to like Adam Driver more in his comedic work. There are a lot of seemingly irrelevant characters. Surely there is something Jarmusch is trying to say about the outcasts of Centerville, a small American town (village?) with a cast of lonely characters. I'm not quite sure what. The movie takes a wonky turn at the end. It wouldn't have been how I ended it, but I'm not entirely unsatisfied cause it's appropriately bonkers.

Suspiria (2018)

Suspiria is not really a remake of the 1977 giallo classic by Dario Argento. It merely starts from the same point. But it veers way far off. The new movie lacks all the hallmarks of the original: the eroticism, color and music. It does have the gore. Act six has a hell of a lot of blood. It's really gratuitous. I don't feel like the movie really earned the twist in the sixth act. Or maybe that's just me saying that I didn't like the twist.The film is in a mix of German and English. Recall that the original was in comically dubbed Italian. The mix of languages comes off as kind of frenetic. The best part of the movie is Tilda Swinton, who plays 3 parts, probably one too many. And the movie runs two and a half hours, which is way too long for a horror movie.

Booksmart (2019)

Booksmart is hilarious, endearing, heartwarming, and necessary. Following in the footsteps of The Edge of Seventeen, Lady Bird and Eighth Grade, we now have the raucous teenage girl coming-of-age comedy we needed. Olivia Wilde shows remarkable artistry for a first-time director. The slick editing and bold musical choices scream style. The writing is smart and funny and relevant. And the actors nail every line. Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein are a revelation. Their buddy cop chemistry is palpable. Dever reminds me of a young Natalie Portman. And naturally, Feldstein reminds me of her brother Jonah Hill. This had me laughing out loud nonstop, probably the most enjoyable time I've had at the theater all year.

Dark Phoenix (2019)

X-Men deserves a better ending than this. X-Men was probably my favorite superhero series, but they remade it to death. It should have ended with Days of Future Past and Logan. Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix were wholly unnecessary. I had forgotten that Days of Future Past erased the old timeline. Much like the recent bookend of the MCU, the time travel rules are kind of murky. But in their attempt to erase the ill received ending of the original trilogy in The Last Stand, they recreated the same plot, except worse. A redo was not necessary. They get a little into the politics that always made X-Men interesting and relevant. The othering of mutants is a message that is still poignant today, but it takes a backseat to a largely irrelevant main plot. Who are these aliens and why is Jessica Chastain their leader?

The Third Murder (2017)

This is something of a departure for Koreeda. Though there are some family dynamics here (father-son, father-daughter), they are not the focus of the movie. In fact, the introduction of some of these familial relations seem rather irrelevant. Instead this is a legal thriller. The themes raise grand questions about justice. The answers aren't apparent. But Koreeda does a good job at mystifying the truth. While the movie doesn't pack the same emotional punch as his family dramas, his writing is still careful and deliberate. And the mise en scene is still striking. I'm a fan of reflections in the glass.