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Fantabulously Idiosyncratic: Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey Review

2/28/2020

By Bill Friedell

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan, 2020), based on the character of DC comics, feels like an R rated looney tunes and I don’t mean that as an insult. In a genre that has been at the forefront of pop culture, Birds of Prey feels like a breath of fresh air in terms of its style, structure, and tone. Acting as both a farce, a parody, a redemption story, and fun action movie, Birds of Prey takes advantage of the lesser known female characters of the DC Universe and delivers one of the more unique superhero films in recent years.

The film follows Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) who has recently broken up with infamous Batman villain, the Joker. As a result, Harley is vulnerable to everyone she and the Joker has wronged to have their revenge, such as Roman Sionis, aka the Black Mask (Ewan McGregar). Sionis not only wants revenge on Harley, he is after a diamond that contains an entire mob fortune. This ropes in various characters such as Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a cop who’s putting together a case against Sionis, Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett), a singer for Sionis who becomes his personal driver, Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) a revenge seeking vigilante, and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) a teenage pickpocket who holds the diamond Sionis seeks.

The two standout performances in this film are Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis. Robbie perfectly captures the manic, chaotic, and over the top nature of Harley while also giving her humanity both in her both in her comedic and tragic moments. McGregor delivers an over the top performance that makes him look like he’s having the time of his life while also being able to play a sinister sleaze.

Structurally, the film takes a nonlinear approach to tell its story, which is something most superhero films rarely do. By doing this, it allows for the narrative to organically weave various characters’ stories together without losing momentum. The primary device that allows this nonlinearity is the use of Harley Quinn’s narration, feeling reminiscent of Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005). Her madcap personality allows for a more chaotic (but motivated) story structure. While in the beginning, the narration can feel overbearing, it works for establishing its fourth wall breaking sensibility and for getting a read on her central motivations.

The use of Harley Quinn as the primary character and narrator also allows for stylistic experimentation. Whenever someone attacks Harley, a name and motivation would pop up similar to how the movie Suicide Squad (David Ayer, 2016) introduces members of the afomentioned name. The film also makes use of animation to explain Harley’s backstory. There’s even a break in the film for an homage to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953). While the placement of this homage initially threw me off and temporarily took me out of the film, on closer consideration, it actually tells exposition through the details given to the audience, the lyrics, the characters included in the homage and what they are doing, given the context of the rest of the scene around it.

The inclusion of Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) gives the movie its heart, and functions as an important person in Harley's (Margot Robbie) journey, despite being a vastly different interpretation of the character when compared to the comic books.

The action is an easy selling point for seeing this film. The camerawork feels like it's taking a page from John Wick (Chad Stahelski, 2014), staying away from quick cuts and allowing for longer takes that show the choreography. It also makes good use of slow motion, not overusing it but rather highlighting moments of movement that don’t halt the momentum of the action scene.Two action scenes that stand out in particular are at the Gotham Police Station and the climactic fight at Amusement Mile. The Amusement Mile fight stands out as it makes excellent use of the funhouse location of the fight, incorporates all the Birds of Prey, and has a sequence that appears to be shot in one take. All these elements come together in a really exciting way.

The film seems to be interested in the idea of women breaking free from toxically masculine systems. Each Bird of Prey is under the thumb of someone who takes advantage of them or has hurt them. Sionis is the most overt toxic structure, as he is seen belittling women and trivialising other cultures by the way he talks about their masks. He is also shown to be severely insecure, as he lashes out whenever he is threatened.

Birds of Prey’s primary joy is the idiosyncrasies and stylistic flourishes both structurally and presentationally. With a combination of strong action directing and a character driven story structure, Birds of Prey creates a fun ensemble film that sets itself apart from other superhero films. While its sense of style and personality may be abrasive to some, I found it to be an fun, stylish, and creative addition to the superhero genre.

Ready Player One: Addiction and Nostalgia

2/24/2020

by Landen Kennedy

When I first heard about Ernest Cline’s 2011 science fiction novel, Ready Player One, I was intrigued. A virtual reality simulation that has become a second world for humans around the globe, called the OASIS, becomes the epicenter of the world's largest Easter Egg Hunt. After the creator of the OASIS dies, he reveals that he has hidden three keys somewhere inside. Whoever finds the keys will gain control of the OASIS and endless fortune. Essentially, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory meets The Matrix with pop culture references galore. When I heard that Steven Spielberg was adapting the novel into a film, I read the book in record time (which for me isn’t that fast) and eagerly awaited the film's release.

Spielberg’s take on Cline’s novel makes some pretty significant changes. For instance, the puzzles and challenges the characters have to solve to find the three keys are almost completely different. Despite this major change, I still found the film to be great, and possibly better than the novel. One thing that both the novel and the film share is the core meaning behind the story.

The year is 2045 and Earth is a wreck. Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is a young man living in Columbus, Ohio, now a city of garbage. Wade’s home is in what is called “The Stacks,” which are quite literally, trailers stacked on top of each other creating several story tall, makeshift trailer parks. But life is not bad for Wade, or anyone on this dystopian Earth, because James Halliday’s (Mark Rylance) OASIS is an escape. A utopia where anyone can be who they want to be. Using virtual reality goggles, sensory body suits, and omni-directional treadmills, users can create virtual avatars and enter into the OASIS, seeing and feeling everything as if they were truly there. As we see in this scene from the film, people are heavily invested in their virtual lives.

Caution: some mild language towards the end of the clip.

Throughout this scene, we see several people lose battles in the OASIS, resulting in the real life people losing their minds, and one even attempts to jump out of a building because of this. What you also may have noticed from the scene is the heavy presence of pop culture references, from a planet based on Minecraft, to characters from beloved games, movies, and comic books populating the OASIS. These two concepts, the addiction to the virtual world, and the over saturation of nostalgia are two of the most fascinating ideas that Ready Player One brings up.

The most obvious commentary the film discusses is the presence of media in our lives. The OASIS offers people a way to live lives in a completely different world. Players collect money doing challenges and combat, and then can spend that money on items within the OASIS, including items in the real world. We see an example of this when Wade wins the first key challenge and buys several special items and weapons in the game, but also purchases a hi-tech sensory suit that ships to his real world home in The Stacks. We also hear that one of Wade’s guardians spent all of their savings on special equipment in the OASIS in hopes of winning a big combat challenge. Since he lost, Wade’s aunt remarks that their money was supposed to help them move out of The Stacks.

Another big part of the film is that people inside the OASIS do not really know who the other characters are. The characters’ avatars all go by different names. Wade’s avatar is Parzival, and his best friend is Aech (Lena Waithe) but the two have never met in the real world. When Wade develops a romantic interest in another avatar named Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), Aech tells Wade that she could really be a guy called Chuck who lives in his mom’s basement. Online identities are a major component of the OASIS and keeping them a secret becomes very important when IOI, an evil corporation who wants to take over the OASIS, tries to hunt down Wade and his allies.

Similarly, in our own world, we are gaining the ability to live more of our lives online each day. Much like in the OASIS, we can purchase items in a virtual space and they show up at our real homes. We also create online personas of ourselves through such platforms as Facebook and Instagram. With virtual reality headsets becoming more and more popular, it is not an unreasonable idea that someday we might be able to construct something like the OASIS, a virtual space where we can experience another world as if it was a 3D space. We are not quite there yet, but a lot of the problems we see in Ready Player One are active problems in our world today.
According to pewresearch.org, 72% of the public today uses social media of some form, and it is no secret that technology addiction is slowly becoming a real problem. In Ready Player One we see a future where social media or technology addiction has gotten to such a point that the real world is deteriorating because everyone is so involved in the virtual world that they just ignore real life.

Aech (Lena Waithe), Parzival (Tye Sheridan), and Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) speak to a robot on their search for clues to the finding the keys. The avatars do not know each other's true identities.

The biggest selling point of this film for me was the abundance of pop culture easter eggs throughout every scene. There are so many hidden references, characters, items, vehicles, and homages in this film that there is no way to catch them all in one viewing. Though not expressed within the film explicitly, the film in and of itself serves as a metacommentary on the state of pop culture today. If you pay attention to Hollywood at all, it seems like every franchise that was popular in decades prior are being brought back into the culture today. With reboots and remakes and sequels, it seems like the biggest force in the industry today is nostalgia.
What a film like Ready Player One is doing is showing us this world in the future where all pop culture is from a different time. The 80’s pop culture is practically worshipped by the OASIS society, through their avatars, references, and the music that plays throughout the film. The villain of Ready Player One, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), simply pretends to understand pop culture to get on Wade’s good side and deceive him. Sorrento’s plan is to control the OASIS to make money through advertising and other capitalistic ideas. This idea of nostalgia and capitalism seems reflexive of the state of Hollywood today, where studios push out nostalgia fueled franchises from the past in order to make a buck off of the consumer’s love of the property. Just look at the current state of Star Wars fans, some of whom are angry with Disney for “mishandling” their favorite franchise. Ready Player One does not point these ideas out, but it is something that the film calls into question without needing to say it.

Wade's avatar owns the DeLorean from Back to the Future, one example of the film's use of nostalgia

In Ready Player One, Spielberg crafts a wonder filled blockbuster with the right amount of action, heart, and meaning. He uses the fascinating world of the OASIS and The Stacks to draw parallels between this fictionalized, future version of Columbus and our real world today. The film points out our growing dependence on technology and builds a narrative that challenges whether or not life is better lived in a virtual utopia, or in an imperfect, but real world. On top of that powerful discussion, the abundance of nostalgic characters, iconography, and references, raises another question about the state of pop culture. Are we growing too nostalgic, praising the culture of past decades, when we could be creating new and original icons? Ready Player One simultaneously delivers a ton of nostalgia, while also investing us in new characters and worlds.

Works Cited:
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

Little Women, Big Success: A Film Review

2/21/2020

by Landen Kennedy

The March Sisters. From Left to Right, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, Saoirse Ronan as Jo, and Eliza Scanlen as Beth

After receiving critical acclaim with her 2017 film Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig’s name was thrust to the forefront of the discussion of female directors, and modern directors in general. It was no surprise that her next directorial venture would be met with anticipation. Gerwig’s efforts were poured into adapting a classic work of literature that had been adapted for the screen many times before: Lousia May Alcott’s Little Women. Being that the source material has been adapted many times before, the biggest hurdle that Gerwig’s interpretation had to jump was to stand out from other versions and to breathe new life into the well known and beloved story.

Gerwig achieves a unique take on the source material by manipulating the plot structure. The novel takes place in a linear chronology, but this adaptation jumps back and forth through time. Two distinct periods are portrayed, events that take place before Jo March (played by Saoirse Ronan) moves to New York, and events that take place after she decides to move back home. This time-skipping technique allows for a more dynamic and interesting narrative structure, as similar events can be told at the same time. For example, Beth March (played by Eliza Scanlen) gets an illness twice, once in each time period. We are able to watch both of those instances of her illness unfold at the same time on screen despite being seperated in the story for an extended period of time. The time jump can be a little bit jarring for those who are familiar with the novel or other adaptations, but simple lighting tricks and costume details serve as cues for which time period is being shown. A warmer lighting permeates the “past” storyline and a bluer lighting effect shows us the more “present” events.

Greta Gerwig (left) and Meryl Streep (right) on the set of Little Women, a recreation of an 1800s style home

The film features an impressive cast, consisting the before mentioned Saoirse Ronan and Eliza Scanlen, as well as Emma Watson and Florence Pugh as the other two sisters, Meg and Amy March respectively. Laura Dern plays the March sisters’ mother, Marmee, and Meryl Streep plays their rich Aunt March. Timothée Chalamet plays the March sisters’ neighbor and friend “Laurie” Lawrence, and Bob Odenkirk makes an appearance as Father March. The casting in the film is very impressive, and the portrayal of the March Sisters, especially Jo and Amy are highly entertaining and well done.

What makes the film constantly entertaining is a constant energy between the characters. There is never a dull moment in the March household, as the sisters are always joking, teasing, talking over each other, and laughing together. While one or two characters will be talking about something important, around them the rest of the family is also talking and often interrupting or talking over the others. This makes the scenes come alive and feel like a real house full of people. It also allows for many humorous lines or reactions to add a bit of fun to what could easily become a dialogue heavy and uninteresting scene. Since a lot of the film takes place in the house and between groups of people talking, the humor and energy is necessary to keep the film light and fun. Despite this, the film is not afraid to become quiet and contemplative, or even deeply sad when it needs to be.

Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) and Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence (Timothée Chalamet), Jo's potential love interest

As a male in an audience of mostly older ladies, I was not nearly as big a fan of the novel as the rest of the crowd in the small theater I saw it in. There were constant gasps and chatter and the occasional sniffling of tears in the room. I have never read the book or seen another adaptation of it before, yet I found myself just as emotionally invested in the characters as the rest of the audience. It was not until the end that my complete enthrallment in the film was slightly lessened. I felt that the resolution of the story and the wrapping up of subplots seemed to be a bit rushed, and I was not as involved emotionally because of it. That is not to say that the ending is bad, but I did feel less attached to the fate of Jo March and whether or not she would choose to marry someone.

The film earned several Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and for Best Adapted Screenplay. Oscars wins are certainly not a metric one should use to judge whether or not a film is good, however, I feel that both of these nominations are accurate and well deserved. I have not been so emotionally connected with the characters and story of a film in a long time. The way Gerwig directs the film, and the way the actors deliver their performances makes you feel like you are truly there with the March family. I cannot recommend the film enough. I am sure that this film will mean a lot to many people, perhaps more so to women, yet I still find myself reflecting on the film weeks after seeing it. I believe everyone can watch this film and come away with something.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Film Review

2/6/2020

by Connor Cigrang

The film’s promotional movie poster prior to its release on December 20th

‘Well, that was a lot better than I expected’; this was the first thought that ran through my mind after watching The Rise of Skywalker (JJ Abrams, 2019). Five days later, and I still can’t believe how wrong my preconceived notions were about this film.

Like many other fans of the series, I never had high expectations for the new trilogy. It just didn’t seem right; the story was over. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) had been redeemed by his son Luke (Mark Hamill) and had finally fulfilled his destiny as “the Chosen One” by destroying the Sith. More importantly, the films weren’t even being created by George Lucas, the mastermind behind Star Wars himself. Too say that I thought the films were going to be “bad” is a massive understatement.

Despite my prior bias, I still saw all the new films in theaters. In my opinion, things started out strong with The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams, 2015), but quickly crashed and burned with The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017). I did not have good expectations for The Rise of Skywalker, but, was surprisingly proven wrong. The film turned out very exciting and was a great ending to the new series. As bad as The Last Jedi was, The Rise of Skywalker redeems it and saves the newest trilogy for fans everywhere.

Picking up right where the last episode left off, the film follows Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she learns the ways of the force. She is quickly faced with an overwhelming task, as she discovers Emperor Palpetine (Ian McDiarmid) is still alive and that she must be the one to face him and destroy the Sith forever. Things definitely get intense and there is no shortage of lightsaber battles, all cumulating in Star Wars fashion with an epic space showdown.

Overall, the film was awesome. It was jam packed with action and had several twists to it that no one was expecting. For starters, the revelation that Emperor Palpetine had been secretly ruling the First Order all along was a huge surprise. The trailers foreshadowed his return as a pivotal character in the series, but I don’t think anyone anticipated him maintaining the control he possessed in the original six films.

Emperor Palpetine (Ian McDiarmid) is revealed to have survived his apparent death in Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)

The reincarnation of the Emperor works so well because it brings together the old and the new, while also leaving the audience with questions. His character is revealed in the opening scene of the film, leaving the audience equally as shocked as they are excited before they have even finished their popcorn. Yet, as the film progresses, his connection with Rey is explained and gives way to an amazing final duel, capping the film off perfectly.

In addition to the Emperor’s return, the explanation behind Leah’s (Carrie Fisher) force abilities was another great element in this film. While only explained briefly in a single scene, the audience learns that Leah had been trained as a Jedi by Luke after the sixth film. Including this flashback helped explain a lot as there are several instances in the new trilogy where Leah uses the force, yet the audience never knows how she was trained. Furthermore, seeing that Leah had finally become a Jedi was one of the more satisfying moments in the new trilogy. Her strong, confrontational personality is emphasized throughout the original three Star Wars films yet she never gets her moment of glory in battle. Leah is just as much of a Skywalker as Luke is, seeing her become a Jedi left the audience at ease knowing she also fulfilled her destiny.

Leah’s (Carrie Fisher) amazing force abilities are explained by her Jedi training

While a great film, The Rise of Skywalker also has its downfalls and this film review would not be complete without me telling you what about it bugged me. First and foremost, it just didn’t feel like Star Wars. Without the directing of George Lucas behind the camera, I could have seen this one coming. The movie was action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat but it didn’t have that ‘feel’ to it that makes all the original Star Wars films so iconic. As I said, this observation can surely be attributed to someone new writing the script. Although, despite my own opinion, I must admit that this apparent ‘issue’ also benefits the film (as well as its two predecessors in Episodes VII and VIII). It simply makes the film unique; Disney has put its own twist on this timeless classic and have clearly found success doing it. It was definitely strange for me watching the film and remembering that it was Star Wars despite it having such a different feel.

The biggest issue I had with the film is that despite reintroducing Palpetine being very cool, it essentially destroys the whole point of the first six movies. The original Star Wars films show the redemption of Anakin Skywalker and how he turns back from the dark side and fulfills his destiny by killing Palpetine and destroying the Sith. This was all great until Disney decided to reintroduce Palpetine and then have Rey finish him off completely. By this logic, Rey becomes “the Chosen One” and Anakin’s redemption story becomes insignificant in comparison. Once again, I loved Palpetine’s character in the film but when you think about it, him coming back has an astronomically negative effect on the first six films.

Despite my own critiques, Star Wars definitely ended on a good note with The Rise of Skywalker. Disney was able to cumulate one of the most popular franchises ever with a film that interconnected everything about the series. I would certainly recommend it to anyone; whether you’re a Star Wars fanboy or someone who has never seen any of the films, you will be sure to be entertained.

Self Inserting: The Roles of Taika Waititi

2/6/2020

By Bill Friedell

New Zealand writer/director/actor Taika Waititi is one of the most unique filmmakers working today with his mixture of humor and heart. But one of the more underlooked aspects of his films are the acting roles he takes in them. Ranging from small cameos to critical roles, Waititi has appeared in nearly all of his own films. After watching all of his films, a pattern emerged from examining his various roles. Most of his roles are people in a position of power or leadership. In this analysis, I will examine Waititi’s roles in Boy (2010), Jojo Rabbit (2019), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), exploring how each role he takes plays an instrumental role in the themes of their respective films as commentaries on the idea of role models and leadership.

Jojo Rabbit tells the story of an aspiring Hitler Youth named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) who has an imaginary friend named Adolf (Taika Waititi) who encourages Jojo’s ambitions to become more and more entrenched in Nazi ideology. This begins to change as he discovers and befriends a Jew in hiding named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie). While Waititi brings a level of childish humor to the role of Adolf, using it to make fun of how blissfully full of himself he is. But what’s interesting to note about Waititi’s performance is that as Jojo’s faith in the Nazis begins to fade, the fun facade of Adolf begins to waver. He becomes more of the image we think of Hilter as, authoritative and angry, in a way that towers over Jojo. The deliberate transition between comedic and dramatic drive the idea across that Jojo is beginning to understand the problems with Nazi ideology, noteably, its hate. In doing this, Waititi’s performance is a perfect demonstration of Jojo’s arc. It's an ingenious idea to allow for an imaginary character to be used as a measure of character development. What begins as a childish idea of war and glory through a child’s eyes (shown in the first clip below) becomes a pathetic death rattle that sounds like a pathetic, abusive lover who tries to prey on insecurities and desperation in order to get what he wants. And in this depiction, he not only creates and parody and satire of Hitler, but Nazi ideology itself. By showing the petty, childish, but also intimidating aspect of Nazism, Waititi’s performance becomes a synecdoche of the entire film.

Boy follows a young New Zealand boy who goes by the name “Boy” (James Rolleston), who is taking care of the children of his family, as their grandmother is away for a funeral. At the same time, their absentee father, the self named Shogun (played by Taika Waititi) returns in hopes of recovering money he hid nearby the family house. Because of the absence of his father in his life, he has allowed the images and memories of his father to become inflated to an inhuman level, usually placing him as either an over the top hero or placing him in Michael Jackson music videos (Michael Jackson is Boy’s hero).

At first, Boy sees his father as a figure to look up to (despite being obviously not together and immature), but as the movie goes on, Boy realizes that his father isn’t there to do everything he thought he would and isn’t the man he thinks he is, at least not anymore. His father represents all that he desires; a unified family. But he comes to realize that his father is more of a child than he is. Boy is shown (reluctantly) looking over his cousins and younger brother, unlike father takes advantage of his family is unable to take on responsibility.

But once again, Waititi doesn’t simply make Shogun a simplistic deadbeat Dad. He has a deluded self confidence and sense of self that is both funny and sad. He’s a man who clearly lost his way after the death of his wife. He regressed into a childish persona who’s a renegade who leads a “gang” and demands his son call him Shogun. His mix of childish likeability allows us to see what Boy sees in him and how it feeds into his sense of wonder over his father. They are similar spirits, but where one is a child tasked with responsibility, Shogun is a man running away from responsibilities.

Despite Hunt for the Wilderpeople being the briefest role Waititi has held in these films, it still holds relevance for the overall themes of the film. Waititi plays a priest who speaks during a funeral for Bella (Rima Te Wiata), the woman who takes in orphan Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison). At this point in the film, juvenile delinquent and foster child Ricky Baker is taken into a new home out by the Bush in New Zealand. However, the woman who took Ricky in dies suddenly, and he is left with her husband Hector (Sam Neil) who doesn’t truly want him around. As Ricky and Hector sit in silent mourning, Waititi as the priest gives a monologue about two doors.

He delivers it with his trademark deadpan delivery and dialogue pointing to him being out of his depth. He speaks of two doors being a metaphor for the different paths life leads us, but struggles to communicate this. There is also a sense of Waititi’s priest being out of his depth when it comes to giving the community and those grieving a sense of comfort. The film gives multiple views on those with authority. The child services agent Paula (Rachel House) carries herself as a police officer more so than a child services employee, and even compares herself to the Terminator. The two scenes that show this misplaced drive is shown during a TV interview and when she reads Hector his rights, even though she isn’t a cop or an American cop. Waititi works as an introduction to this concept in a single, funny scene.

All of these roles point to the ideas of authority and the kind of people who tend to inhabit them. They tend to be flawed figures who often boil down to immaturity and childish displays of their authority. And these tendencies can go across multiple types of people from various walks of life, whether it be hateful tyrants, well meaning priests, or a deadbeat Dad who is struggling with grief and responsibility. Taika Waititi not only displays his talents as a director in his films, but his acting is one of the greatest tools in his arsenal. He doesn’t just have a mastery of comedy, but he can also utilize his acting to enhance the themes already present in his films.

Works Cited

Waititi, Taika, director. Boy. Amazon Prime.com / Boy, Unison Films, 2010.

Waititi, Taika, director. Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Hulu.com / Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2016.

Waititi, Taika, director. Jojo Rabbit. Fox Searchlight, 2019.