The Black Phone

Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames in The Black Phone

I'm baffled by the popularity of Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone, just as I was by its antecedent, It. Adolescents are being abducted in a Denver suburb by a mysterious vendor of black balloons nicknamed "The Grabber". Finney (Mason Thames) is the latest victim to be grabbed. He is imprisoned in a soundproof basement by a mask wearing Ethan Hawke. Finney's younger sister, who has a psychic gift akin to "The Shining", is helping the police in their investigation. Jeremy Davies is their wearisome Dad, an abusive alcoholic. There is an equally tiring subplot about bullying. Finney struggles to hatch an escape, aided by the other victims of "The Grabber" who communicate through the titular phone in the basement. I did not find that these disparate elements coalesced into anything other than the most mechanistic of thrillers.

The only redeeming qualities are Brett Jutkiewicz's cinematography and Mr. Hawke's efforts to enliven the proceedings. None of the junior members of the cast give memorable or coherent performances, highlighting Mr. Hawke's professionalism. His theatricality gives the film some much needed juice, but his character is all surface menace.

Mr. Derrickson has chosen to shoot the film in a realistic style, a choice I find wrong-headed, but Mr. Jutkiewicz's dark hued palette gives the film some continuity amidst a garbled narrative. The Black Phone is set in 1978, but no one in the production was old enough to remember the zeitgeist of the late 70s. Signifiers of the era from the film: a girl's yen for Danny Bonaduce, Sweet's "Fox on the Run", and the Edgar Winter Group's "Free Ride", are all from the glitter era of 1972-1974. 1978 was more about John Travolta, The Cars, and Linda Ronstadt. I guess such distinctions are unfathomable to to the present generation. 

What is more fatal to the success of the film is its total lack of feel for the uncanny. Derrickson's realistic approach can't possibly merge the film's supernatural elements with its police procedural, serial killer, and kids on bicycles (a la Stranger Things) aspects. A most unrewarding view. 

Best of 2021

                   

     1)    Quo Vadis Aida                                               Jasmila Zbanic

     2)    Undine                                                             Christian Petzold

     3)    Bergman Island                                              Mia Hansen-Love

     4)    Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy                      Ryusuke Hamaguchi

     5)    Riders of Justice                                             Anders Thomas Jensen

     6)    Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn                Radu Jude

     7)    Annette                                                            Leos Carax

     8)    France                                                              Bruno Dumont

     9)    The French Dispatch                                      Wes Anderson

     10)    The Hand of God                                          Paolo Sorrentino

          Honorable Mention

              Saint Maud -- Glass, Mandibles -- Dupieux, Hive -- Basholli

              The Worst Person in the World -- Trier, Pretend It's a City -- Scorsese 

     Movies I Enjoyed

     The Disciple, Drive My Car,

     Zola, Red Rocket,

     The Tragedy of Macbeth, Journey to the West,

     Murder Among the Mormons, Memoria,

     Mad God, The Velvet Underground, 

     Can't Get You Out of My Head, The Souvenir Part 2, 

     Boiling Point, 

     The Lost Daughter, The Power of the Dog,

     Passing, Summer of Soul,

     Shiva Baby, Candyman,

     Cry Macho, Censor,

     In the Earth, The Green Knight,

     The Automat, The Storms of Jeremy Thomas,

     The  Killing of Two Lovers, The Night House,

     White Tiger, Pig,

     French Exit, The Dry, Flee,

     Siberia, Barb and Star Visit Vista Del Mar,

     West Side Story, Nightmare Alley,

     The Sparks Brothers,

     Judas and the Black Messiah, No Sudden Move,

     Don't Breathe 2, Parallel Mothers,

     The Dig, Pink: All I Know So Far,

     Tick, Tick...Boom!, Benedetta,

     The Electric Life of Louis Wain, The Last Duel,

     Nine Days, The Water Man,

     Nitram, Hellbender,

     Last Night in Soho, Yes Day,

     No Time to Die, Honey Dew,

     Best Sellers, The Matrix Resurrections,

     The Tsuga Diaries,

     The Mad Woman's Ball, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,

     Dune, Madame Claude,

     

   Below the Mendoza Line

     Werewolves Within, House of Gucci

     Hell Hath No Fury, Zeros and Ones, 

     Spider-Man: No Way Home, Bo Burnham Inside,

     The Suicide Squad,

     On the Rocks, Lansky,

     The Card Counter, Spencer,

     C'mon, C'mon, Wrath of Man, 

     Holler, Cyrano,

     Isaac, Old, The World to Come,

     Titane, Gaia, 

     Electric Jesus, Hunter Hunter,

     The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Voyeurs,

     Being the Ricardos, Jakob's Wife,

     Malignant, The Trip,

     The Scary of Sixty-First, 

     Jolt, King Richard,

     Last Words, A Quiet Place 2,

     Willy's Wonderland,

     Don't Look Up, Halloween Kills, 

     Belfast, I Care a Lot,

     Free Guy, Antlers,

     Gunpowder Milkshake,

     Greenland, The Little Things,

     Good on Paper, Blithe Spirit,

     Al Davis vs. The NFL

   Haven't Seen

     CODA,

     various comic book movies...

Among the many reasons I enjoy the David Bordwell/ Kristin Thompson website is that every New Year's day they print their top ten from ninety years previous. As Zhou Enlai was reputed to say about the effects of the French Revolution, it is always too early to say. 

 

                                              

                                    

     

The Outfit (2022)

Zoey Deutch and Mark Rylance in The Outfit

Graham Moore's The Outfit limits its parameters to one set, the store of a bespoke tailor in 1956 Chicago. The tailor, a fervent devotee of his craft, is fronting mob activity. There is a femme fatale, an overeager son of a mob boss, and his rival. Allegiances shift and blood is spilled. Moore's choice to emphasize the theatricality of his conceit pays dividends. Instead of opening up the film, he keeps it so tightly closed that the characters resemble snakes in a cage. His cast is smart in both senses of the word and the machinations of the plot are well oiled.

He is most fortunate to have Mark Rylance, the epitome of theatrical precision, as his tailor. Rylance easily assays both his character's meek exterior and the steely resolve that lurks beneath. Rylance's reading of the narration is more entertaining on its own than most movies are in their entirety. Still, The Outfit feels a little shopworn. If one has seen other film mysteries limited to one set, especially Rope and Sleuth, one might find the twists and turns of  The Outfit too pat. I did. Certainly, one character's resurrection and subsequent dispatch in the last act was a twist too many. Nevertheless, one can do far worse these days and I always enjoy seeing Johnny Flynn, Zoey Deutch, and Simon Russell Beale.