by Aisha Harris and Liz Metzger |
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Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Hands down, the best film I saw is simultaneously old and new: In 1972, groundbreaking filmmaker William Greaves convened an intellectual gathering of the living dignitaries of the Harlem Renaissance at the palatial home of Duke Ellington. The project remained unfinished until now; it’s finally been restored and completed by Greaves’ son David, who served as a cameraman all those years ago. (William died in 2014.) What was captured is a priceless, crucial, and riveting piece of history — notable figures like actor Leigh Whipper, journalist Gerri Major, visual artist Aaron Douglas, and activist Richard B. Moore engaging in vivid anecdotes and passionate debates about that cultural movement and how it should be remembered. The excavation of such history feels nothing short of monumental.
Josephine
The buzziest film out of Sundance is probably Beth de Araújo’s sophomore feature starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan as the parents of Josephine (Mason Reeves), an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a horrific crime in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. And for good reason; while I have critiques of some of de Araújo’s filmmaking choices, she’s crafted a tense and mostly affecting drama with a very strong performance from Reeves, who carries much of the film’s emotional weight.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
Some movies at the fest were exceptionally horny this year; two projects involving Olivia Wilde, The Invite and I Want Your Sex, were all about the pleasures and frictions of sexual expression. But the raunchy offering that worked best for me was David Wain’s silly and delightful tale of small-town hairdresser Gail Daughtry (Zoey Deutch), who sets out to even the scoreboard after her fiancé unexpectedly winds up using his celebrity “hall pass.” In her quest to track down and sleep with her celebrity crush, she picks up some new friends along the way, Wizard of Oz-style, including a paparazzi photographer (co-writer Ken Marino) and an overconfident, low-level employee at Creative Artists Agency (Ben Wang, the movie’s secret weapon). Jokes about Los Angeles and the cult of celebrity fly fast and free and fun cameos abound; look out for many of Wain’s frequent collaborators.
Filipiñana
Rafael Manuel’s feature debut is an incisive, slow-burning satire of capitalism and powerful men with far too much hubris – basically, a story for our times. It’s set almost entirely on a country club in the Philippines, where the shy and observant Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto) works as a tee girl and crosses paths with the club’s president Dr. Palanca (Teroy Guzman). Manuel’s visual eye is quirky and astute, with gorgeous shots of the pristine golf grounds and other amenities serving as the backdrop for far more sinister happenings.
Frank & Louis
Prison dramas are tough to pull off without veering too heavily into stereotypes and trauma porn, but director Petra Biondina Volpe and co-writer Esther Bernstorff find a unique and profound way in here. Kingsley Ben-Adir plays Frank, who’s serving a life sentence but is coming up for parole. He takes a job caring for other inmates who are experiencing cognitive decline, and is assigned to the prickly and unpredictable Louis (Rob Morgan). The premise is familiar, but the execution is refreshing; the script frankly interrogates the thorny concept of punishment and redemption, and the excellent Ben-Adir and Morgan find humanity within their morally fraught characters.
Carousel
Rachel Lambert’s latest plays like a loving throwback to the intimate, adult romantic melodramas that were in abundant supply before the 2000s. Chris Pine (giving serious Robert Redford in The Way We Were energy) and Jenny Slate play former childhood friends and one-time romantic partners who reconnect after many years and attempt to make it work again. The chemistry between these two is off the charts, whether they’re tentatively yet tenderly falling into an embrace or arguing about each other’s flaws.
The Gallerist
Your mileage may vary with Cathy Yan’s artworld farce, but I had a great time with this, in which Natalie Portman plays a struggling gallery owner who attempts to sell a dead body “disguised” as part of a sculpture, during Art Basel Miami. The ensemble is stacked — Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Sterling K. Brown, just for starters — and they all seem to be having a blast. Layer in some commentary about art, commerce, and influencer culture (the increasingly ever-present Charli XCX also has a small role here), and there’s plenty here to take in. |
Sit in on a taping of 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'
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A special announcement: We’re pulling back the curtain and letting people sit in on a virtual taping of a Pop Culture Happy Hour episode!
This is a special thing we’re doing for our Pop Culture Happy Hour+ supporters, along with other qualifying donors*. They’ll get to see how the show is made and hear an episode before everyone else. And we’ll be talking about the Oscars, which is one of our favorite topics.
It’s all happening over Zoom on Friday, February 13 at 3 p.m. ET, noon Pacific.
If you’re not a PCHH+ supporter yet, go to plus.npr.org/happy. And if you’re already a PCHH+ supporter — thank you. Check your feed for more information on how to register for the virtual taping.
*Other qualifying donors (without NPR+) will receive a direct invite email with a registration link before Jan. 30. If you would like to attend and don’t get an email invite by Feb. 9, but give more than $8 a month or $96 a year to the NPR Network or your local station, reach out to us directly for a registration link at NPRSpecialEvents@npr.org. |
Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. |
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If you are looking for romance and gags, Tamon's B-side on Crunchyroll is a refreshing new winter anime you may want to stan. Utage is a high schooler and superfan of boy band F/ACE, specifically the flirty and confident Tamon. She inadvertently becomes his housekeeper, but realizes the real Tamon has low self-esteem and is quite gloomy. It sounds like a cliché set-up, but the show finds so much fun in the relationship between the fiery superfan and dreary idol. It is great to see a well-animated comedy shojo with dynamic leads. — Liz Metzger, PCHH producer
I was really taken by the music and movement in Mona Fastvold's musical drama, The Testament of Ann Lee. The music is from Daniel Blumberg, who also did the epic score for The Brutalist. Be warned, this is not an ambient soundtrack — it has a fair share of wailing and screaming (complimentary). Star Amanda Seyfried's angelic voice really soars in the songs, "All is Summer" and "Hunger and Thirst." The music is often haunting and emotional, but still has many moments of warmth. The film is in theatres now and the original soundtrack is available to stream. — Liz Metzger, PCHH producer |
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Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: |
Kristen Meinzer: Rewatching My So-Called Life, on Hulu
Ronald Young Jr.: The show A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, on HBO and HBO Max
Linda Holmes: Shrinking’s third season, on Apple TV |
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