The Banshees of Inisherin

Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Gary Lydon, Pat Shortt, Sheila Flitton, Bríd Ní Neachtain, Jon Kenny
Running Time: 114 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Put simply, Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin charts the sudden disintegration of an adult male friendship. It's a fairly straightforward premise, if not for the fact that this topic is rarely explored on film to the extent it is here. Initially resembling what could be mistaken as a comedic feud between lifelong buddies, it takes a turn into darker territory, as its era and fictional remote island setting become a key component in understanding where they're each coming from. You feel for the protagonist, a kind, likably dim man who wakes up one morning to discover his world's been turned upside down. But the same could also be said for his new enemy, who's struggling with some kind of existential crisis. What exactly this crisis entails hardly matters since the relentless pursuit of an answer only causes more trouble and hurt than either can handle.

There's something so bracingly honest and relatable about how McDonagh presents this, fully acknowledging the isle's inhabitants lead what appear to be dull lives, characterized by routines that do provide a certain amount of joy and relief in the face of a war reaching its end. For one of them, the shattering of their routine will prove catastrophic, while another searches for meaning that may not exist. It's anyone's right to end a friendship and certainly frustrating when the rejected party won't take a hint, but what eventually happens in the film suggests far deeper issues are at play. But it isn't until one of them goes off the deep end that you start considering what this was really all about.

It's 1921 with the Irish Civil War nearing its close when on the isle of Inisherin the amiable Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell) plans to meet his best friend and drinking buddy Colm Doherty (Gleeson) at the pub, as he does each day at 2 pm. But after being stood up and Pádraic discovers him sitting alone in his cottage, Colm tells Pádraic he's sick of him, wishing to instead spend his remaining days composing and playing music rather than listen to his pal's incessant chatter and complaining. 

Despite Colm's firm insistence they go their separate ways, a disbelieving Pádraic grows increasingly agitated by his friend's devastating rejection. Even as Pádraic's sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and troubled local boy Dominic (Barry Keoghan) try to smooth things over, the feud escalates to alarming levels, with Colm taking drastic steps to ensure his ex-friend stays away. And when that doesn't work, the situation gets uglier and more personal, resulting in life altering consequences for all involved.

McDonagh's script is rich enough in detail and the performances so lived in that it's easy to imagine how things were between the former friends before this started. We also know as little about Colm's state of mind as Pádraic does. To some extent, Colm isn't completely sure either, only expressing frustration that his life's whittling away while he drinks at the pub and listens to his friend babble on about nothing. 

If Colm's solution is to cut Pádraic out so he can focus on his music, neither go as planned due to him underestimating his friend's emotional pain. You can see both sides, as Colm takes a variety of approaches to let this man down easy and spare his feelings after ignoring him fails. Still, Pádraic refuses to get the message, doubling down in his efforts to somehow change Colm's mind. One's unshakably stubborn while the other's sort of endearingly annoying, even as neither can quite come to terms with their own shortcomings, preferring to deflect blame rather than take a look in the mirror.

Gleeson plays Colm with solemn, matter-of-fact directness while Farrell's innocently naive loyalty and confusion wins you over in spite of the character's obvious faults. Condon does sublime work as Siobhán, who clearly loves her brother, but knows he won't give in, trying anything to keep the peace before both men pass the point of no return. The only stabilizing force left in Pádraic's life aside from his donkey Jenny, she's about to reach the end of her rope. As the wacky, troubled town youth Dominic, Keoghan provides much of the film's comic relief opposite Farrell, until the scene-stealing performance reveals the character as someone more troubled than his goofy prankster facade lets on.

McDonagh balances a lot, managing to invoke a lot of laughs from a screenplay drenched in tragedy, as the two main characters discover much of what happened didn't need to. Farrell and Gleeson (re-teaming for the first time since the director's 2008 debut feature In Bruges) are seamless together, each giving career high performances as friends with so little experience being mean that their attempts result in disaster.

There comes a point when Colm takes a series of actions that aren't just crazy and selfish, but fly in the face of what he claims to be doing this for. It's not about Pádraic so much as what his presence and carefree attitude represents for man who feels trapped, his dreams and goals slipping away by the day. But rather than provide relief, cutting ties with his best friend creates new problems that bring him no closer to solving the existing one. 

It's a testament to Farrell and Gleeson that you still sense a small amount of affection and camaraderie left between them even after the worst has seemingly occurred. There's even a tinge of regret in a last act that's surprisingly difficult to watch, as they clumsily lose control of their worst impulses. Where this goes after the credits roll is anyone's guess, but if the fitting final scene implies some kind of impasse has been reached, it's a tiny one, arriving entirely too late. As it turns out, these former friends were far more skilled at destroying themselves than each other.              

2023 Oscar Nominations (Reaction and Analysis)

Announced earlier this morning from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills by actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams, the 95th Academy Award nominations (full list here) are now known. This means all the arguing and predicting can officially commence, leading into a telecast on March 12 that could have a lot riding on it. Or maybe not, depending upon who you ask. For those within the industry, as well as fans, journalists and critics following this closely, it's still a big deal. And the best thing about this year's reading of the nominees is that it actually felt like one, with a welcome return to the press conference format, as audible gasps and cheers could be heard when certain names were announced, or in some cases, left off. 

While doing this in a Zoom-style format these couple of years was clearly a necessity, the Academy was already tinkering with the nomination announcements pre-pandemic so it was especially gratifying to see it presented this way again. But beyond being handled well and going off without a hitch, it also gave some hope to awards prognosticators who filled out a scorecard since the first few categories mostly played out as expected. All that changed once some of the bigger categories were announced, many of which contained a fair share of subs and surprises.  

Everything Everywhere All At Once, led with 11 nods, possibly shutting down the talk of it being too polarizing for older Academy members. Whether this large contingent of supporters will translate into enough votes to win the big prize another story, especially with The Banshees of Inisherin and Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front nipping at its heels with 9 nominations each. While I still contend that  10 Best Picture nominees is too many and waters down the entire field, voters again made it apparent they're not necessarily interested in using these slots to assemble an incredibly eclectic group of nominees or veer too far from what they've always done. There are always exceptions, but for the most part, Oscar voters like what they like and have specific tastes that  heavily deviate from critics and audiences. And as we've seen in recent years, this can create challenges for the actual telecast, both in terms of ratings and actual entertainment value. Let's see how they did this time.

-The first notable surprise was probably Causeway's Brian Tyree Henry in Supporting Actor. That he ended up beating out The Fabelmans'  Paul Dano and The Good Nurse's Eddie Redmayne for the fifth slot isn't nothing. And anyone who thought Judd Hirsch wasn't making it in for The Fabelmans doesn't know the Academy, as there was no chance the 87 year-old veteran actor would be excluded, regardless of the screen time issue. Banchees' Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan predictably round out the category while it's now frontrunner Ke Huy Quan's to lose for Everything Everywhere.

-The presence of both Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu in Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere is revealing. It indicates a lot of goodwill for the film, especially considering as recently as a couple of weeks ago many seemed sure Hsu would be left out. That they justifiably recognized her performance as essential is yet another box checked in its favor. But it's Angela Bassett who's suddenly emerged as the favorite for Wakanda: Forever, meaning Hong Chau (The Whale) and Kerry Condon (Banshees) have some catching up to do.

-The two big overperformers were All Quite on the Western Front and Triangle of Sadness, both nabbing Picture and Screenplay notices, plus a surprise directing nomination for Triangle's Ruben Östlund. It's ironic that the former ended up being Netflix's awards pony considering they bet everything on Glass Onion, which disappointed with only a sole writing nod.  

-The biggest snub just might be Top Gun: Maverick's Claudio Miranda failing to get in for cinematography. He wasn't just merely expected to earn a nomination, but favored to win. It's an inexplicable exclusion for a blockbuster that's still expected to run the table when it comes to the technical categories (visual effects, sound and editing all within grasp). Still, not hearing his name may have been the morning's most perplexing moment. 

-Remember when the documentary category was the one of the most anticipated? Not to say the selected nominees aren't worthy, but it does seem as if this race is missing some of the luster it had in previous years. The same could be said for Animated Feature, which will more than likely be won by Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

-Continuing their tradition of royally botching the Best Original Song category, voters awarded perennial runner-up Dianne Warren her 14th nomination for "Applause" from the anthology film Tell It Like a Woman. This while Taylor Swift is completely snubbed for "Carolina" (Where The Crawdads Sing) and LCD Soundsystem's brilliant "New Body Rhumba" from White Noise gets egregiously excluded. That one really stings. R.R.R receives its only recognition here, for "Naatu Naatu," as it's looking like a three-way race between that, Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand" (Top Gun), Rihanna's "Lift Me Up" (Wakanda Forever) and Ryan Lott and David Byrne's "This is a Life" (EEAAO). In Original Score, 90-year-old John Williams earns his 53rd (!) nod for The Fabelmans. 

-The decision to push The Fabelman's Michelle Williams for lead instead of supporting just cost her a locked Oscar. On the bright side, she should already have two or three of them, so there's reason to believe the five-time nominee will get more shots at this. Going against both Cate Blanchett (Tár) and Michelle Yeoh (EEAAO) is an uphill battle, but the lead story here is Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie. Whatever was done over the past couple of weeks worked, as sheer online will and word of mouth for an unsung, underseen performance got her in, sure to result in some interesting discussions about what it takes to get a nomination. 

-The attempts to tear down Blonde were only partially successful, with even the film's biggest detractors being forced to admit Ana de Armas' work was amazing, especially in the face of that controversial material and all the immense scrutiny playing Marilyn Monroe entails. Babylon being considered the financial flop of the year destroyed Margot Robbie's chances here and The Woman King just didn't have enough behind it to earn Viola Davis a nod. The Riseborough and de Armas surges most affected Danielle Deadwyler, who at one point seemed to be a lock for Till. Pearl's Mia Goth was a non-starter due to the Academy's long standing genre bias, but boy would it have been great if that materialized. 

-Despite the rapturous reception for Top Gun: Maverick, it was always hard to envision them nominating Cruise for this. It's just not the kind of performance AMPAS typically goes for, so they didn't. And whatever admiration exists for The Fabelmans just wasn't enough to carry star Gabriel LaBelle through. Instead, things shaped up mostly how we thought, with Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and Bill Nighy (Living) taking the two indie underdog slots while Colin Farrell (Banshees), Austin Butler (Elvis) and comeback king Brendan Fraser (The Whale) battle it out. With Butler now overtaking Farrell and Fraser getting a second wind after overcoming some initially scathing reviews, this has suddenly turned into one of the more intriguing races. 

-Some snubs in the directing category include Baz Luhrmann (Elvis), James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water), Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) S.S. Rajamouli (R.R.R.), Charlotte Wells (Aftersun) and Sarah Polley (Women Talking) even if it's tough to call anything a "snub" with five slots to the ten Best Picture contenders. Of the listed, Berger's exclusion might be the only real surprise given how well his film did across the board. Spielberg's still the favorite, even if you can't completely count out the Daniels (EEAAO), or even Martin McDonagh (Banshees) or Todd Field (Tár) given their pedigrees. Triangle's Östlund is the shock here, as few saw that coming.        

-Again, with 10 Best Picture nominees, it's hard to get bent out of shape about omissions. The Whale's mixed reception probably caught up with it and Babylon and R.R.R. were always reaches, as was Wakanda Forever. Taking their places were Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking, the latter of which was actually very poorly received in some circles, to the point it almost feels like filler. Top Gun: Maverick and the Avatar: The Way of Water are the blockbuster inclusions everyone's been clamoring for while Elvis continues to pick up steam. Whether The Fabelmans has enough to go all the way is questionable, but the same could also be said for the more critically adored Tár and Banshees of Inisherin. All Quite on the Western Front may have ascended from nothing to a serious threat overnight, but all eyes still remain on Everything Everywhere, which just further asserted its potential dominance on Oscar night.

    

The Menu

Director: Mark Mylod
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr
Running Time: 106 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

There's a character in the horror-comedy film The Menu who comments that they're starving after multiple courses of food have already been served. And we're inclined to believe it, since mouse-sized portions are common when eating at an exclusive restaurant like the one depicted here. It's also easy to lose your appetite if the evening's meal is unexpectedly derailed by murder, suicide, torture and a side order of psychotic ramblings. But what matters most is the preparation and presentation of the food, along with the fact you're dining at an important establishment that others of prominent social standing frequent. If the reward is often just being seen there, you have to appreciate how screenwriters Seth Reis and Will Tracy acknowledge that bread crumbs rarely do the trick, no matter how nice it looks on the plate. 

While the carefully selected dinner guests in this film probably don't mind paying a pricey bill, they won't even get their bread crumbs, nor will they be allowed to leave. Held hostage by an obsessive chef who favors "tasting" over "eating," he's determined to deliver a message that's uncomfortably hilarious, violent and offensively truthful. And if the conceit seems crazy, it's at least tightly constructed chaos, immersing us in the thrill of  two top class actors facing off against the backdrop of high cuisine. Surviving each course may be an endurance test for the patrons, but watching it all unfold is a twisted delight, entertaining and suspenseful enough to return for seconds.

Enthusiastic foodie Tyler Ledford (Nicholas Hoult) and his date Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) are traveling by boat to Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant that's operated by renowned celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) and located on a remote island. Other guests are food critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) and her editor Ted (Paul Adelstein), wealthy couple Richard (Reed Birney) and Anne Leibrandt (Judith Light), washed-up movie star George (John Leguizamo) and his assistant Felicity (Aimee Carrero), business partners Soren (Arturo Castro), Dave (Mark St. Cyr), and Bryce (Rob Yang) and Slowik's unresponsive alcoholic mother Linda (Rebecca Coon). 

Following a tour of the island's facilities by dutiful maître d' Elsa (a perfectly deadpan Hong Chau), dinner begins with Slowik introducing a series of bizarre entrées with a theme, often punctuated by some uncomfortable monologues and personal anecdotes related to each course. But when things take a drastically dark turn and the guests' secret wrongdoings are exposed, it becomes clear the host and his militant staff aren't about to let anyone exit on their own accord. As Tyler remains blindly loyal to his favorite chef, Margot's had enough, looking for ways to outsmart Slowik at his own game before their last dish is served.

Slickly Directed by Mark Mylod (who's helmed multiple episodes of of TV's Succession), much of the premise's fun comes in an inability to predict what this sadistic chef will say or do next. There's a slow building sense of tension as these self absorbed patrons swoon in anticipation of each course, blissfully unaware what's ahead, or the dastardly purpose of Slowik's menu. The film also makes hilarious use of title cards, flashing the name and ingredients of the meal on screen, with pithy comments reflecting the chef's sarcastic displeasure. It's a great touch, allowing us to go along for the ride with these unsuspecting guests as their dinner goes from bad to worse. 

Slowik's deadpan humor and stringent demands only grow more unsettling and confrontational, underlined by some really disturbing stories, including a gem involving his dysfunctional childhood that informs a chicken dish in all the wrong ways. Then comes the point of no return, as this perverse dinner theater crosses the line and the true motivation behind these invites surface. The reason for Margot's presence is a little murkier, which bothers Slowik, who has very specific plans for the evening's menu. And she wasn't factored in.

Fiennes channels an outwardly calmer, more calculating version of Gordon Ramsay in a performance that's undeniably the picture's biggest highlight, holding court with his brutal treatment of these customers, who dread the mayhem following each menu reveal. Taylor-Joy is captivating even in silence, but when Margot proves to be the only one willing to challenge Slowik, her performance really soars. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Margot's an outsider who understands his psychology better than most, looking for a weak spot to exploit in order to stay alive. In doing so, she briefly resurrects a piece of him he thought was long gone, as the screenplay makes a great philosophical point about people slowly falling out of love with their jobs, drowning in the miserable minutiae of it all. 

Hoult's Tyler wastes little time throwing his date under the bus when given a chance to sit under the learning tree of his culinary idol. Revealing himself to be more of a narcissistic weasel with each embarrassing outburst, he only generates further sympathy for Margot's plight. The rest of the cast deliver in their roles, with John Leguizamo standing out in the film's funniest scene opposite Fiennes, as we discover the real reason the chef's so repulsed by him.

With an intriguing concept likely to draw comparisons to recent pop culture satires of the rich like Glass Onion and The White Lotus, this has more than a few flourishes that set it apart, like characters who would still be equally unlikable in a lower income bracket. And it turns out recognizing the difference between a expensive dish and a high quality one comes in handy. The filmmakers at least know that nothing beats a really good cheeseburger, giving hungry viewers incentive not to think too hard about The Menu and just savor the meal.      

White Noise

Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André Benjamin, Sam Gold, Lars Eidinger, Barbara Sukowa, Francis Jue, Gideon Glick, Chloe Fineman, Kenneth Lonergan
Running Time: 136 min.
Rating: R

**The Following Review Contains Major Plot Spoilers For 'White Noise'**

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

When certain novels are deemed "unadaptable" it's often due to the widespread fear it'll inevitably fail for not being the book. In other words, any filmmaker who knows what's good for them should just stay away. That feeling has long circled Don DeLillo's postmodern classic, White Noise. For decades, no filmmaker has dared to take on this existential apocalyptic satire set in a small college town in the mid 80's shaken by an air contamination disaster, and it's easy to see why. But now Noah Baumbach gives it a shot, resulting in what's easily the most ambitious, polarizing entry in his filmography, which isn't a surprise considering the monster he's attempting to wrangle.

Since the story's core crisis serves as the ultimate metaphor for pandemic times, you'd assume that's what finally brought this to the screen after thirty years of false starts. Of course, that the crisis taking place here lacks the same worldwide reach and impact is almost beside the point. In capturing the novel's essence and sense of impending doom, Baumbach is less interested in exploring the event itself than the true ramifications for those directly affected by it. You can feel that tension building before it occurs, often in darkly humorous ways that were prescient when the book was published, but seem even more alarmingly on target now. 

Tackling and spoofing consumerism, misinformation, higher education, religion and healthcare, it's both humorously touching and deadly serious. Much of it rests on Adam Driver's lead performance, which defies description and surpasses anything he's previously done on screen. It's also the best looking film Baumbach's directed, with cinematography and production values uncommon for Netflix's features, most of which tend to all look and sound the same. And after immersing viewers in its eccentric world for the entirety of its running length, it closes with a brilliantly out-of-left field musical number that reaches unmatched creative heights in its final thrilling minutes.

It's 1984 and Jack Gladney (Driver) is a professor of "Hitler Studies" at the College-on-the-Hill in Ohio. Together with his fourth wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig), they share four children; Heinrich (Sam Nivola), Steffie (May Nivola), and Denise (Raffey Cassidy) and their youngest, Wilder (Henry and Dean Moore). As Jack secretly taking German lessons to prepare for an upcoming conference, he's approached by a concerned Denise about Babette's increasingly bizarre behavior and memory issues. The discovery of her mom's mysterious pill bottle for an unlisted drug called Dylar only causes additional worry. 

When a nearby train accident spreads a giant cloud of chemical waste over town, causing an "Airborne Toxic Event," Jack scrambles to keep his family safe during a mass evacuation. As he and Babette are now forced to confront their mutual fear of death head-on, the disaster leaves a lingering impact on her already deteriorating mental and emotional state. Suddenly faced with the prospect of his own worsening health, Jack's becomes determined to get to the bottom of his wife's drug dependency, regardless of the dark road it takes them down. 

An opening scene where Jack's colleague, Professor Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle) gives a lecture on cinematic car crashes (complete with a highlight reel of famous film collisions) sets the tone early. He's clearly enamored by all the work and innovation that went into staging these, optimistically seeing beauty in destruction. Conversely, Jack's more entranced watching neighborhood cars orderly line the streets at the start of the college semester, babbling on about it to Babette. It's predictable comfort for him before their lives are upended, interrupting the daily routine he's established to distract himself from the inevitable. And yet for a man so terrified of dying, he sure goes out of his way to surround himself with it, even while clarifying he's not interested in talking about the one thing he's constantly talking about. It's not a coincidence he describes Hitler as "larger than death," giving us a major inkling as to why he felt compelled to create this field of study in which he's the leading expert. 

Before the incident occurs, death's specter hovers over everyone despite the routines they engage in to tune out those fears. The local A&P supermarket is established as the town's communal safety net, a brightly colored temple where they can preserve a seemingly idyllic existence, free from contemplating their own mortality. But a distraction is all it is, or a rather a postponement, until the illusion of their ordinarily comfortable lives is turned upside down by the toxic spill. Initially, Jack brushes off the danger, mostly because it represents his worst nightmare and what he's jumped through hoops to avoid acknowledging. The fear is most evident in Jack and Babette's weirdly unsettling conversation about which of them should die first

The Gladneys fleeing the hovering cloud of toxins while attempting to avoid exposure eventually leads to a car chase and quarantine, luring us into thinking this will be a sci-fi thriller. But it's just a red herring, as they soon discover no one really knows what's happening or will, the truth buried under mountains of medical misinformation and bureaucratic incompetence. The immanent danger ends as quickly as it began, leaving in its aftermath a couple who must now learn to somehow function again after staring death in the face. 

Jack's own potential exposure becomes a ticking time bomb that psychologically cripples him, as does his obsession in uncovering the source of Babette's Dylar. Once he knows, things gets even worse, as they're set on a surrealistic path involving this shadowy organization and a wacky, off-the-wall drug supplier named "Mr. Gray" (Lars Eidinger), culminating in a bizarre but strangely life-affirming visit with German atheist nuns. Besides Baumbach's ability to seamlessly switch tones at the film's midway point, it's really Driver's enigmatic performance that helps make all of this so compelling to watch. 

Nearly unrecognizable with a middle-aged paunch and disheveled appearance, Driver conveys a myriad of dimensions to a secretly troubled man whose entire life revolves around his denial of reality. How Driver emphasizes certain words, uses hand gestures or even moves around a room is fascinating, as he takes full command of every scene with a strange, unhinged charisma. He's also perfected a droll, dry line delivery that functions as the ideal vessel for the darkly satiric worldview the source material requires.

Driver's best moment comes opposite Cheadle's Murray, who's attempting to replicate the niche success of Jack's Hitler course, but with Elvis as his subject. As the two professors circle each other, trading historical commonalities about their famous figures' childhoods, the camera swoops around the lecture room following them, creating this uncomfortable atmospheric tension we can read on the transfixed faces of their audience. When Jack completely takes over like a mad preacher, Baumbach cuts between these prophetic rantings and the train disaster, resulting in what's easily the most impressive directorial work of his career. At least until the film's euphoric ending.

As Babette, Greta Gerwig comfortably slides right back into a big co-starring role on the heels of her successful directorial run. Sporting a fantastically frizzy mane of 80's hair noteworthy enough for even the characters to discuss, she brings a benevolent quirkiness to this optimistic free spirit slowly crippling under the weight of festering depression and anxiety. There's an offbeat sincerity to Gerwig that definitely suits Babette, who's racked with guilt, straining to maintain a happy facade as she sinks deeper into her own hole.

In addition to Cheadle's fairly prominent and effective supporting turn as Murray, Jodie Turner-Smith plays reserved brainiac Winnie Richards, the college's neurochemist who helps Jack in his quest to uncover the origins of Dylar. André Benjamin also has a small role as Elliot Lasher, another colleague at the school. Neither are given much, at least until you arrive at the spectacular musical finale, which you'd have a tough time envisioning without them prominently featured. In a monster adaptation like this, there almost isn't room for sub-plots so everyone surrounding the Gladneys are primarily present to reflect the mindset of the town before and after this catastrophe hits. And given the story's enormous scope, that's understandable. 

Whatever Netflix spent on this was worth every penny, as production designer Jess Gonchor and cinematographer Lol Crawley not only replicate the look, tone, and feel of the period, but movies made during it, to the point you'd think this was actually shot in the mid 80's. Danny Elfman's synthesized throwback score fits right in, only enhancing that aesthetic. Even the smallest set and costume details  astound, but it's the transfixing A&P supermarket dance scene (choreographed by David Neumann) set to LCD Soundsystem's "New Body Rhumba" that gives the film its triumphant send-off, with customers dancing in unison down brightly colored aisles adorned with pyramids of meticulously organized retro labels and boxes. 

For the Gladneys, this shopping trip allows them to bask in the mundanity of everyday life that Babette previously said she wished could last forever. We know it can't and won't, but the irony that they're still out there buying stuff to numb the pain and lose themselves isn't lost. It begins where it ends. Same as it ever was. And Baumbach keeps our eyes glued to the supermarket sequence all the way through, utilizing a visual style and aesthetic that recalls Wes Anderson, but with more narrative and thematic purpose. 

To say White Noise isn't for everyone is an understatement, and that's the thing with bringing challenging literary material like this to the screen. No matter how much critics and audiences initially revile it, the results are rarely forgettable. A robust 136 minutes probably isn't even be enough to delve into all the novel's ideas, but Baumbach still cracks its seemingly impenetrable layers to deliver a thought provoking meditation on the human condition. It's everything an adaptation should be, lingering in your mind long after the final credits roll, perpetually ready for another go-around. 

Emily the Criminal

Director: John Patton Ford
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon, Jonathan Avigdori, Bernardo Badillo, John Billingsley, Brandon Sklenar
Running Time: 93 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

A smart, tight, efficient crime thriller, nearly everything in writer/director John Patton Ford's feature debut, Emily the Criminal, works. One of its biggest strengths is in intelligently presenting a basic plot that injects the characters and story with a realism that forces you to closely examine a social conundrum more universal than you'd first assume. It's both a character study and edge-of-your-seat drama, buoyed by a lead breakthrough performance from an actress who's been gradually building to a role like this for the past few years. 

The plot moves quickly and logically, with barely a moment to take a breathe, or attempt to poke holes in a narrative that has very few. You're never taken out of the story, in large part due to Aubrey Plaza's steely, fiery turn, which depends so little on her protagonist's likability. In fact, she's often unlikable. But whether you view her as a victim, someone who made a series of awful choices, or both, all that matters is she's trapped, with seemingly no way out other than submerging herself in the criminal underworld.

One bad decision leads to another and things escalate to alarming levels, as we fear for the title character's safety and sanity, regardless of how careless she may have been with it herself. But there's also this sense of a white collar economic system that could have just as easily taken down someone who did dutifully play by the rules. Initially, she wants to do the right thing, but crime becomes a more enticing option when faced with the institutional obstacles preventing her from earning an honest living. But the true tragedy is in how these events cause her to drift from that goal altogether.

Emily Benetto (Plaza) is living in Los Angeles and drowning in student loan debt while delivering food as an independent contractor for a catering company. A pair of previous felony convictions has prevented her from obtaining well-paying employment, so when a co-worker gives her a number for a mysterious job, she's interested. Upon arriving at the location, she discovers it's a credit card fraud ring run by a man named Youcef (Theo Rossi) that can earn her $200 in one hour. After reluctantly purchasing a flat-screen TV with a fake i.d. and credit card, Emily agrees to more jobs, which become increasingly dangerous. 

As Emily grows closer to Youcef, he takes her under his wing, showing her how to make fake cards and giving valuable advice on how to rake in more cash and protect herself. With Youcef's cousin and business partner, Khalil (Jonathan Avigdori) getting suspicious of their relationship, Emily's best friend from high school, Liz (Megalyn Echikunwoke), tries landing her an interview at her advertising firm. Torn between taking a straight and narrow path with little guarantee of financial success or embarking on a lucrative, but risky criminal career, Emily's at a crossroads that could carry life and death consequences.

When we're first introduced the sullen, exasperated Emily, it's abundantly obvious her DUI and assault convictions make finding gainful employment near impossible. Knowing she'll be rejected for any position, it's gotten to the point where she's now self sabotaging every interview before it starts. While it's true these employers do already have their minds made up, the script and Plaza's performance bring more nuance to it. The movie's not particularly concerned with turning Emily into a heroine, openly acknowledging what brought her to this low place weren't just "mistakes," but consciously bad decisions. Viewers will feel different ways about her, but judgments are put on hold once she enters that warehouse. From then on, the movie grabs hold and doesn't let go. 

There's nail-biting suspense and panic in whether she'll get away with these scams, as all the potential pitfalls and complications play out, sometimes violently. A sequence in which she's fraudulently purchasing a luxury car is almost unbearable to watch, with the clock counting down the minutes she has to escape unscathed. And it only gets tenser from there, despite leaning on Youcef for guidance and learning on the job how to execute under pressure. As it turns out, she's very good at it, and arguably better than her boyfriend mentor, commanding a respect that eludes him, especially when it comes to his handling of a brewing family threat.

Plaza's most gripping scenes involve a distressed Emily maneuvering her way out of life threatening scenarios, but the actress is even better when her character attempts to take the upper hand, like when verbally thrashing managers using gig economy loopholes to screw her over. There's an interview scene opposite Gina Gershon's ad exec where Emily just completely lets loose, not only exposing this woman as a pompous blowhard, but forcing her to briefly entertain how ridiculous her proposition truly is. Could Emily have handled it differently? Given the chip on her shoulder, that's unlikely and also wouldn't fit. Instead it's best to just revel in Plaza's trademark sarcasm, weaponized to darkly biting effect here. 

Any perceived obstacles thought to be preventing Plaza from becoming a major movie star feel as if they've been shattered with this role. The idea that her screen persona was always too quirky and deadpan, or better suited for comedic sidekick roles was already challenged with her work in Ingrid Goes West and Black Bear, but this really busts those doors wide open. Emily's exact age is in question, but we're led to reasonably assume Plaza's playing close to a decade younger, and is completely pulling it off. She's sort of unrecognizable, not due to any drastic change in her physical appearance, but because it's so jarring seeing her own a part like this, proving she's capable of carrying her own action franchise should that opportunity materialize. And now it might. 

To his credit, Theo Rossi matches Plaza step-for-step with his quietly effective performance as Youcef, initially presenting himself as kind of a low-level thug who slowly comes out of his shell to reveal he's not much different from Emily. He had goals, and still does, but the deck's been stacked, causing him to follow a shadier path. The romance that develops between the two is credible and entirely understandable, with Plaza and Rossi sharing a natural chemistry that reflect how both characters see themselves in each other. Their relationship feels organic and far from the hindrance it would be in a lesser thriller, instead upping the stakes of what each have to lose.  

There's a relentless momentum that carries this through the final act, making it hard to turn away. What Emily ultimately does in the end is less a plot contrivance than the last stop in a series of deliberate steps, and then past that, to a closing scene that fittingly bookends the film. It also comes wrapped in a scathing social commentary, as we realize no matter how much potential or work ethic she has, it won't be enough to escape capitalism's chokehold. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If society wants her to be a criminal then that's what she'll become and there's no turning back. The story's simple, but Emily isn't, full of contradictions, yet remaining remarkably consistent in her approach and attitude. And for Plaza, this marks a true turning point that properly showcases the full depth and range of her talent.                           

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Jannelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts
Running Time: 139 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

What's immediately obvious about Rian Johnson's much anticipated Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, is just how wildly different it is from its predecessor. Whereas the 2019 original boasted a carefully constructed but relatively straightforward mystery plot, there are few more extra layers to peel back here, making good on its title. It's bigger, messier and more bitingly satirical, with a very recognizable all-star cast throwing themselves into their wildly eccentric characters. More elaborate and convoluted than the first film, an inordinate amount of time is spent establishing the suspects, and we're so caught up in their crazily flawed personalities that when the actual murder comes, it almost seems like an intrusion. And that's not even the real crime, but instead a gateway leading down another rabbit hole.

It's only when Johnson pulls the proverbial trigger that you realize all of this was less set-up than actual story, brimming with substantial clues you wouldn't think to notice the first time around. Flashing back to fill in the gaps, we realize the killing in question is just a small piece of a much larger puzzle, though certainly not an unsolvable one for Daniel Craig's super sleuth Benoit Blanc. There's probably little reason to rewatch the film knowing how everything plays out, but it earns points for timeliness, incorporating some really hot button issues ripe for parody. More broadly comedic and far from flawless, it still does what's necessary really well, resulting in a worthy, entertaining follow-up.

When Miles Bron (Edward Norton), billionaire co-founder of the Alpha technology company decides to host a murder mystery weekend getaway at his mansion, the Glass Onion, in Greece, he sends an elaborate wooden puzzle box invites to five friends. Among the recipients are Alpha's head scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), famous fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), men's rights influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and ousted Alpha co-founder Cassandra "Andi" Brand (Jannelle Monáe). Birdie's handler and assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick) and Duke's girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) also come along, but the true outlier is famed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Craig), whose presence Miles immediately questions despite brandishing an invitation. 

Each of the guests (or "disruptors" as Miles endearingly calls them) seem to share a unique history or parasitic relationship with their host, whose intentions to stage a mystery game revolving around his own murder are quickly derailed when more serious issues concerning his company and the attendees' intentions surface. All isn't what it seems, especially when it comes to his future plans for Alpha and ex-CEO Andi's inexplicable invite. Someone will be murdered on Miles' private island before the weekend ends, and it'll be up to Blanc to not only uncover the killer, but their motivation. Then he'll have to prove it. 

Johnson's taking shots at the easiest possible targets in wealthy, elite weirdos, but that still doesn't make it any less funny or true. Norton's Miles is clearly an Elon Musk stand-in, with maybe just a pinch of other narcissistic billionaires like Jeff Bezos thrown in for good measure. But mostly, it's Musk. Norton hasn't played a role even vaguely resembling this so it's fun to see him tear into it, as Miles pretentiously talks in pointless platitudes, reiterating to anyone willing to listen how this technology will change the world and they should be grateful for his existence. These "friends" are all in, largely because they're hanger-ons whose entire lives, careers and financial endeavors depend on him. 

No one exactly likes Miles, but he's their meal ticket, so the gang doesn't see much choice in the matter, bending over backwards to make him happy. Of course, Blanc sniffs that out right away, recognizing the pompous billionaire as a potential target whose mystery game could soon turn very real. But there's still a lot we don't know, and most of the fun comes in that info slowly slipping out. And set against a spectacular visual backdrop from production designer Rick Heinrichs that encapsulates Miles' opulent oddball sensibilities, the Glass Onion compound could be considered as memorable a character as the selfish people inhabiting it for the weekend.

The loaded cast have their moments to shine, with some leaving larger impressions than others. As ditzy, airheaded fashion magnate Birdie, Hudson probably has the meatiest supporting role, and one that comes closest to approximating the kind of part her mom would have played decades earlier. She does well with it, as does a quietly scene-stealing Jessica Henwick as her exasperated assistant, seemingly always a minute away from quitting. She also gives the single best line delivery in the film upon discovering the true extent of her boss's stupidity. 

As a chauvinistic social media streamer, Bautista plays somewhat of an entitled jerk for a change, but finds a lot more in the character as his arc progresses, earning a certain degree of empathy for Duke, who's yet another pawn in Miles' game. Madelyne Cline brings more to the table than expected as Duke's girlfriend Whiskey, adding some needed dimension to what could have been a throwaway role. And the always great Kathryn Hahn is dependably sarcastic and hilarious as the image-conscious politician, leaving Leslie Odom Jr. with probably the least to do as Miles' loyal scientist, even as he still makes the most of it. There are also some clever cameos, two in particular marking final screen appearances for a pair of legends.

In a breakout comparable to Ana de Armas' in the original, Jannelle Monáe outright hijacks the movie as Andi, the ex-CEO with a grudge to settle with Miles and maybe a few others. It's established early that the question is less why she's been invited, but her motivation in accepting. Their history is at the core of the case and it gradually becomes apparent just how tricky a role Monáe has, sort of a performance within a performance, calling on her to constantly balance comedy and drama while also carrying a large load of intense action scenes. She basically does it all as the most intriguing and mysterious character of the group, driven by intentions that differ from anyone else. Craig's dry humor is probably the most noticeable carry over from the previous film, and seems to gain even more mileage this time. Blanc's kind of a suaver Columbo in that the crazier things get, the more nonchalant he appears to be, even as we know the wheels are always turning in his head and the true culprit rarely stands a chance of outwitting the master. 

Despite a bloated length and some early rough patches, enough is done at the midway point to justify much of what came earlier. The plot of the first may have been tighter, but Glass Onion makes up for it with ambition, sticking a landing that's less dependent on evidence and clues than pure unbridled revenge and emotion. It's a sequel with a point to make, with Johnson unafraid of foregoing more conventional, predictable routes in getting there. He knows the most interesting part of a whodunnit isn't the crime, but all the little details surrounding it.