Capsule Reviews in the Time of Coronavirus

Like many, being sequestered and sheltered in place at home with little to do for outside entertainment, I’ve increased my consumption of streamed television and films. Below is a capsule review of some of these movies and shows (some of which, admittedly, predate the pandemic):

Blade Runner 2049

Although many don't realize that the original film was a box office disappointment on its release in 1982, the original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, remains an influential and iconic film that put cyberpunk into the mainstream. Touching slightly on the issues of bio-ethics and what makes one human, the movie is intended as a futuristic film noir. Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, hired to hunt down and kill (or in Blade Runner parlance, “retire”) four rogue human replicants who seek to extend their four-year life spans. (Blade Runners are essentially bounty hunters of rogue replicants, bioengineered beings identical to humans except for having increased physical and other abilities.) Along the way, he meets and falls in love with a special non-commercial replicant model, Rachel (Sean Young), which adds to the ambivalence he already feels over his job.

Blade Runner 2049 picks up from that film, 30 years later. Ryan Gosling plays a new generation replicant and Blade Runner, known as “K,” responsible for hunting down the remaining older model replicants, following a revolt by replicants.

Like the original film, we are immersed into a dystopian future of the world, ravaged by climate and social change since the period of the first film, where only the flotsam and jetsam of earth’s humanity too poor to leave for off-world colonies still reside. We learn of a great blackout that destroyed or corrupted electronic data, and of increased activity by replicants against supplication.

Yet as much world building goes on, director Denis Villeneuve (who is directing the upcoming Dune film) actually keeps the story small and intimate. The film focuses on a mystery/whodunnit of sorts, setting up in the opening scene a tantalizing mystery of whether replicants can reproduce—a mystery that may very well be connected to K’s own heritage and origin. We also get a glimpse of K’s internal life and yearning to be “human” himself—though a replicant, he maintains a relationship with a virtual companion named Joi, played by a mesmerizing Ana de Armas (the latest “It girl” who made a similar impression in Knives Out, and is schedule to appear in the next Bond film).

To say more than this would be giving too much away of the plot. That said, although the film "opens up" the world seen in the first Blade Runner, the story is, ultimately, surprisingly small and intimate. In fact, I would argue that the director’s focus on the smaller story at the sacrifice of the broader world-building tale makes the film peter out somewhat at the end. And while the film tries its best to follow in the original film’s footsteps, the film noir tone has been lost along the way.

Emma.

While Jane Austen’s Emma has been adapted numerous times over the years—most notably the mid-1996 film with Gyneth Paltrow, which was preceded by the brilliant modern update adaptation, Clueless, the year before—filmmaker and director Autumn de Wilde finds a way to tell the story in a fresh, colorful and charming way. While a period piece, it nevertheless has a vibe and pace that feels fresh and modern. My wife and I agreed that the only drawback was the casting of Mr. Knightley—and felt that Paul Rudd, who played the equivalent character of Josh in the film—could easily have played the same role here!

Of course, we ended up following up the movie with a screening of Clueless, which still holds up. It wonderfully captures the ‘90s while also creating a slightly skewed version of it, with its made up vernacular.

Wonder Wheel

While no doubt most people yearn for director and writer Woody Allen’s peak of films like Manhattan and Annie Hall, and later ones like Hannah and Her Sisters and Husbands and Wives, as the comedian mentioned in his recent biography (reviewed in my last post), Allen has no interest in repeating himself and remains simply content on keeping busy and always looking to the next project. In some ways, familiarity can breed contempt—averaging nearly one film a year, at such a clip, especially for a writer-director, it’s inevitable that there will be some misfires along the way. I myself no longer see an Allen film as a “must see”—I couldn’t even get entirely through a few recent projects, such as Café Society and his Netlix series, Crisis in Six Scenes.

Regardless, Allen’s output is nevertheless impressive. His recent memoir put me of a mind to go on a binge of his films available for streaming, including Love and Death, Manhattan (always a favorite though I now look at it with different eyes given his recent history), and Hannah and Her Sisters (another favorite).

Wonder Wheel had been on my watchlist for awhile, so I decided to give it a shot. A 1950s period piece set in Coney Island, I found it to be one of the best of Allen’s films in recent years—essentially his take on A Streetcar Named Desire about a married woman, Ginny (Kate Winslet), who embarks on an affair with a young lifeguard and aspiring playwright named Mickey (Justin Timberlake). When her stepdaughter, Carolina (a terrific Juno Temple), moves back in with her and her husband, Ginny begins to spiral into a fit of jealousy as Mickey and Carolina, being closer in age and temperament, begin to connect. The film feels like a stage play and indeed is an effective drama.

Gorky Park

Though I have not seen it since its release in 1983, I loved this film and its concept and recall seeing it several times in the theater. Based on the novel of the same name, it is a police procedural/murder mystery with a twist: set in then-modern-day Moscow, the protagonist is Arkady Renko (William Hurt), a Soviet police detective, investigating the murders of three young adults, one of whom it turns out is American. Renko soon suspects he is being set up and tailed by the KGB who seem to have an interest in the case. Also rounding out the cast is a potential witness, the beautiful Irina (Joanna Pacula, in her film debut), a Chicago cop in the country also investigating the murder (Brian Dennehy), and an American industrialist named Jack Osborne (an effective Lee Marvin).

Though not as slick or polished a production as many such action movies today, the film holds up well, capturing the grittiness and gray drab of living in the Soviet state. I was a big fan of Hurt at the time (and still am), and he is convincing as a Russian policeman who understands the corrupt system he is working in yet remains committed to pursuing the truth and justice within those parameters, while also finding himself falling for Irina, who is desperate to leave the oppression of her country. Another important character in the film is James Horner’s haunting and memorable score—I still have the soundtrack on vinyl and used to play it often, particularly in creating mood while drawing and writing my comics.