Hollywood Lore, Hard of Hearing, Plus More
Two strong prestige films have dropped on our streaming services!
Two strong prestige films have dropped on our streaming services! One is David Fincher’s latest, the 1940s Hollywood tribute Mank, and the other is a probing study of deaf culture, Sound of Metal. Watch these two films figure when film nominations are handed out for next year’s film award shows.
I’ve also added capsule reviews of some recent drops worth checking out.
December Streaming Reviews
December Streaming Reviews
Mank (Netflix)
The most popular streaming service is putting a lot of eggs in this particular basket. After Roma two years ago, and The Irishman last year, this is the 2020 version of Netflix’s ‘for serious Oscar consideration’. And Netflix may have finally struck the right note. Hollywood loves navel-gazing, and feting films that glorify Hollywood—remember The Artist in 2011? One can go satirical, but just stay on the right side of homage. The Mank here is legendary Hollywood screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, who worked with Orson Welles on the first draft of Citizen Kane. And the film Mank is based on an original screenplay written by Jack Fincher—yes, David’s own late father. So you can already see the PR machine seeing stars in their eyes.
Mank (Netflix)
And as it is, the film is a joy to watch. There’s stunning black and white cinematography, crisp, sharp dialogue, and two utterly charming lead portrayals—Gary Oldman as Mank and Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies. Davies, if you recall, was the girlfriend of William Randolph Hearst—the supposed inspiration for the Citizen Kane character. In this film, there is a more than glorious chronicling of Hollywood of that era. Irving Thalberg, Orson Welles, Louis Mayer of MGM, there are a host of wonderful portrayals and an inspired depiction of what exactly made Hollywood tick during those years. There’s an unexpected Fincher lightness to the material and how he’s directed the film. His last film work was Gone Girl, six years ago, so this is definitely a film to celebrate. Watch it snag a number of nominations come awards season—from Best Film, to Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Director.
Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime)
This may well be Riz Ahmed’s certified Hollywood calling card. A hit in England & Europe, he’s never quite made it in Hollywood; but this film should settle once and for all if he’s got the acting chops to make American producers sit up, notice, and appreciate what he’s capable of. He plays Ruben, the drummer of a punk-metal band, fronted by his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). And the gist of the film’s storyline is his descent into confusion and anxiety as he discovers he’s going deaf. As a musician, and recovering addict, one can imagine the toll this kind of discovery would make—one, your musical career is going down the tubes, and two, being clean for four years is now jeopardized by the despair you’ll be feeling.
Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime)
Directed and co-written by Darius Marder, the sound design employed in the film is as much a ‘star’ as Ahmed. The attempt to make this immersive, and have us feel what Ruben is going through is admirable. It’s the restraint in how Ahmed ‘attacks’ his portrayal that’s so impressive when melodrama could have been the easier route to take. This is especially evident when he’s sent to a deaf community, where the primary aim is to accept one's condition, while Ruben is still in denial, hoping to raise money for hearing implants, and believing life can go back to how it was. Ultimately, this is Ahmed’s film, and while the narrative should have taken a few unexpected turns, you can’t deny the quality of the performance.
A Kid From Coney Island (Netflix)
Produced by Kevin Durant, here’s a sports documentary that looks at the unusual road taken by one Stephon Marbury to carve his own version of posterity. Heralded during the class of 1996 draft that saw such basketball luminaries as Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, and Marcus Camby enter the pro league, Marbury was actually drafted fourth, but never enjoyed the success of his aforementioned alumni. Instead, Marbury was practically chased out of New York despite being a local Coney Island native. Rewriting his portfolio, Marbury struck gold by packing his bags and heading to Beijing. Recently retired, Marbury is still idolized in this China city, and this documentary takes a look at what that different voyage consists of.
Fierce (Netflix)
If you like your musical reality shows like American Idol, The Voice, and Britain’s Got Talent; this teledrama is made for you. It comes from Poland and wonderfully imagines the backstory of one of the competition’s promising stars. She’s a young country girl whose entry into the contest is complicated by the fact that she is the unacknowledged daughter of one of the male judges of the show. Think of Simon Cowell, his sarcasm and meanness, and you’ll have an idea of how this musical drama is set up in terms of providing us identifiable stock characters. It may be predictable at times, but you can’t fault the film for the energy and fast-paced drama that unfolds. The scenarios and set-ups will have you thinking why a Filipino version hasn’t been made yet. Light stuff, but entertaining.
Handsome Devil (Netflix)
This may be a 2016 film from Ireland, but in the year of its release, it enjoyed a strong buzz for tackling coming-of-age and gender issues with a freshness and brio that made it an audience favorite, and a hit in Europe. It’s essentially an indie film about being a literate outsider in a college that’s crazy about rugby, and ending up the roommate of the new star player of the rugby team. What’s lovely about the film is how it provides unpredictable twists and turns, and surprises in so many good ways. It’s perfectly cast, with the two young protagonists finding ways to win us over, and with the always reliable Andrew Scott as one of the teachers in the rugby-mad college. In the end, it’s all about identity, friendship, finding your own voice, and owning up to the mistakes you’ve made. A gem of a film.
Lead photo from Netflix
Gallery photos from IMdB
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