SAVAGE CINEMA'S COMING ATTRACTIONS FOR AUGUST 2020

How are you all holding up?

Yeah...me too.

Being engaged and motivated with life during this time of COVID-19, especially as we are all seeing the rising numbers of infection rates and the death toll as well as the still previously unimaginable governmental non-response to this global pandemic, has been more than difficult, to say the least. The topic of "normal" feels even further a way than it did back in March and again, now knowing that it never had to be this way, just makes feelings of hopelessness increase--at least, that is exactly how it has been for me. 

Yes, I have been working daily. Yes, I have many posting that I wish to write living inside of my head. And still, motivation has been difficult. But  now, as the month of August (!) has arrived, and in this most unprecedented year of our collective lifetimes, I will greet the month with the pledge to try again.

I have yet to watch "Hamilton" and all of the press surrounding "The Old Guard" has made me curious. I still have two more installments of my Time Capsule series to piece together, and I know that I would kick myself if the remainder of 2020 came and went and I never finished it. 

I am unable to deliver any promises at this time but please know, that my devotion to Savage Cinema, this virtual world I created over 10 years ago, remains as crucial to my sense of being as it has ever been. I am just having some troubles at this time.

Just like you.

Let's keep watching movies together...even while we are apart. Let's keep talking about movies..even while we are apart. 

Hopefully, we can find ourselves back in our theaters again in a newer, safer world, awaiting that time for the house lights to go down... 

WE'RE ALL US: a review of "Roger Waters: Us + Them"

"ROGER WATERS: US + THEM"
Directed by Sean Evans and Roger Waters
**** (four stars)

RATED R

Life in the time of COVID-19 has hurled more than its share of obstacles and even so, it is our own human nature, congealed with the authoritarian and increasingly inhumane policies and actions of those with their hands upon the wheels,  that has only enhanced and extended this unprecedented time. In addition to the uncertainty, the fear and mounting anxiety, the rising numbers of the infected and the dead, the world we once knew just months ago feels to be a universe away.

The seemingly simple pleasures that we enjoyed to enrich our lives have all been placed upon elongated hiatuses, thus increasing our intense understanding that we are all living within a world forever changed. While the world of sports is trying to establish its return, live music performances and just going to the movies feels even more uncertain as one recent report proclaimed that concerts may not return in earnest until 2022 and movie release dates have either shifted to streaming services or have been pushed until a hopeful 2021.

As an antidote, what I have for you is an experience that superlatively speaks to the times in which we live plus allows and affords all of us who love live music and film to engage thoroughly with a performance that succeeds triumphantly an deeply emotional, enrapturing work of rock and roll theater and enthralling cinema. 

Sean Evans and Roger Waters' document, "Roger Waters: Us + Them," the follow-up concert film to "Roger Waters: The Wall" (2015), is another staggeringly well conceived, staged and executed performance by the singer/songwriter/bassist and former member of Pink Floyd with his stellar band, this time captured in Amsterdam during his 2017-2018 tour. 

It is an elegant film, that superbly builds from the previous movie, as it is fueled with a virulent anger against our societal walls and urgent hope for a greater humanity within a dark world during our dark times together. Through its enveloping visuals, which are constantly jaw dropping, and of course, the iconic music that has engaged and elevated listeners for over 40 years, Evans and Waters has delivered a most cathartic expression designed for all of the bleeding hearts and the artists to make their stand in these increasingly fascistic. If we ever needed an acknowledgment of our anxieties and a lifeline to our hopes and resistance, this film more than delivers the goods. 

"Roger Waters: Us + Them" begins with a grim vignette. Seated upon a beach, ocean waves lapping against the shoreline, a woman, whose back is to the camera, sits quietly, while overhead storm clouds approach, first, growing darker, soon to be over come with thunder and lightning. And finally, the skies turn dark red, with the sounds of bombs in the distance.

These ominous visual then phase themselves into the sounds of a heartbeat and the variety of dialogue enactments that opens Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" (released March 1, 1973) fully revealing itself into the concert's existential fanfare that is a beautifully performed "Speak To Me" and "Breathe." 

Over the course of two hours plus, Waters and his band soar through large sections of the aforementioned "Dark Side Of The Moon," "Wish You Were Here" (released September 12, 1975), "Animals" (released January 21, 1977), as well as detours into "The Wall" (released November 30, 1979) and Waters' most recent, and excellent, solo album "Is This The Life We Really Want?" (released June 2, 2017) plus even more. 

Accompanying the music, which is blissfully and energetically performed by Waters' ace band, are  indeed the stunning, downright awesome visual displays that occur, at first behind the band and later within and seemingly around the audience as the factory setting from the "Animals" album cover appears to rise upwards in the middle of the auditorium itself, thus revealing even larger screen upon each side showcasing an amass of psychedelic colors and seas of stars and space surrounding us all--even as we watch from home! 

Every song contains its own visual interpretation. "Time" is showered by a galaxy of clocks. A more aggressive "Welcome To The Machine" is accompanied by the vintage and still seriously disturbing animated film footage by Gerald Scarfe. The eternal "Wish You Were Here" features two outstretched hands reaching for each other before breaking apart in pieces. Yet, what has made this event extend exceedingly far from existing as a Pink Floyd "greatest hits" show is how Waters has re-contextualized the songs, both old and new, into an astounding sequence that begins with a sense of the universal ethereal and descends into 21st century human depravity, horror, war, and inhumane absolute power while finally combining messages of resistance and transcendence by the finale of "Brain Damage/Eclipse." 

"Another Brick In The Wall Parts 2 and 3" feature on stage political prisoners in black hoods and orange jumpsuits who free themselves as they all wear T-Shirts boldly proclaiming the single word, "RESIST. "Money" is shockingly interrupted by nuclear holocaust. The nearly 30 minute section starring the venomous "Dogs," which features the band adorned with pig masks downing wine as the world burns and Waters holding up one sign declaring "Pigs Rule The World" before discarding the mask and defiantly holding up a second sign reading "Fuck The Pigs" and the wrathful "Pigs (Three Different Ones), " a vicious take down of our world's current despots from Putin, to Kim Jong-un to America's current occupant of The White House contains the film darkest core. 

The newer material of "Deja Vu," "The Last Refugee" and "Picture That" provides the film with its narrative motifs and conceptual core as we are given non-linear depictions of a drone pilot (Lucas Kornacki), the aforementioned Last Refugee (Azzurra Caccetta) and her young daughter (Anais Dupay-Rahman) who is killed, most likely through a drone strike.

The mastery and majesty of "Roger Waters: Us + Them" firmly resides in the impassioned humanism of Waters as depicted through his formidable presence, which remains in prime voice and fighting form at the age of 75 at the time of this performance, and  hs equally formidable songwriting and conceptual vision. 

What cannot be over-stated with this film is how this time, Waters may have formulated his most formidable band since departing Pink Floyd in the 1980's, as he has surrounded himself with a younger, yet seasoned crew which includes, but is not limited to, songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Wilson (guitars, vocals), guitar wizard Dave Kilminsgter, My Morning Jacket's Bo Koster (keyboards), veteran session drummer Joey Waronker, and as the crucial, crystalline element that is the vocal duo known as Lucius (Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe), who elevate all of the songs with their glorious harmonies, choreography, occassional drumming and their striking appearances in bob cut, platinum haired wigs.

Waters' band is superlative as they have the mammoth job of somehow ensuring their own personas while filling the shoes of re-creating the parts originally devised by Waters' former Pink Floyd bandmates from the drumming musicality of Nick Mason, the transcendent keyboard soundscapes of the late Richard Wright and of course, it takes no less than three to four guitarists to even approach what David Gilmour achieved all by himself. This band's performance is a testament to the legacy created by Pink Floyd in its entirety and yet we marvel at what they are accomplishing on stage in this film. 

In some respects, "Roger Waters: Us + Them," in this fashion reminded me very much of Prince's "Sign O' The Times" (1987) concert film in which we always knew who the star of the show was, but he was a most generous host, happily showcasing the members of his extraordinary musical unit. Here, Waters performs the same feat and for a figure who has cut a legendary mercurial presence, he is clearly happy with his collaborators, often sharing smiles and more than willing to allow them the spotlight.

Even so, it is a film that also sees Waters claiming a greater ownership over his musical legacy, singing parts and lyrics that he wrote but never sang himself upon the original Pink Floyd recordings. Hearing h is own words arriving from his own natural voice did give the familiar material a greater weight, as if he was speaking to us more directly than ever.     

And that is indeed where the power of this film resides because through the songs, the performances and the dynamic visual spectacle, "Roger Waters: Us + Them" is a musical sermon from Waters' own pulpit. A space and place where we are all invited to commune and feel a sense of collective humanity with each other as we endure the tenuous, precarious nature of the world that exists around us through the songs, that with all lyrics completely unaltered, have continued to reflect our collective existence to ourselves to an even larger degree now in 2020 than perhaps they existed during the 1970's. In doing so, Waters' messages are more urgent than ever, his moral outrage more furious, his compassion more earnest and open-hearted. 

In fact, the greatest message in the film, quite possibly arrives upon the belly of the recognizable floating pig who does make a appearance during the concert and film. Yet, this time, written upon the animal is the message "STAY HUMAN." Roger Waters understand greatly of our own human capacity to project our worst impulses as targets upon others in means of self-preservation and holding power over the heads of others. This duality of our own individualistic existences is paramount to the humanist message of the film overall. 

For in the end, there is no "THEM," there is only "US" and through that symbiotic nature, we will rise or fall together, regardless of our prejudices, our fears, our stations in life. And in the case of what Sean Evans and Roger Waters have accomplished with this film, what better way to experience this sentiment than through the communion of song. 

SAVAGE POSTSCRIPT:
"Roger Waters: Us + Them" is available for on-line streaming and digital download and will be available on home video and CD formats later this year. For the streaming platforms, you will also be able to view a short documentary entitled "A Fleeting Glimpse," a behind-the-scenes look at the show and well as two deleted performances from the film, the classic "Comfortably Numb" and a sinister, incendiary more recent track "Smell The Roses."

SHINE ON: a review of "Doctor Sleep"

"DOCTOR SLEEP"

Based upon the novel by Stephen King

Written For The Screen, Edited and Directed by Mike Flanagan

***1/2 (three and a half stars)

RATED R

For a film that is so effectively and eternally burned into the collective consciousnesses of movie goers, and truth be told, pop culture itself (honestly, it is one of those movies you may feel that you have seen even when you haven't due to its superior entrenchment), it would be hard pressed to find anyone, anywhere that would feel a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining" (1980), woud not only be unnecessary but otherwise, impossible. 

As for me, I am indeed one of those people. The reputation of Kubrick's iconic adaptation of the Stephen King novel profoundly preceded it as I saw the film in full many years after its original release. Yet, as an 11 year old in 1980, and one who did not care for horror films, I decidedly gave the movie an extremely wide berth at the time. But, that said, I was curious as word of the film was not exactly loudly endorsed but one that traveled through the school hallways like a dark urban legend. The twin girls. The blood. Jack Nicholson with the axe. Chants of a guttural "redrum." All of that was expressed through excited whispers and therefore, ingratiated themselves within my own imagination, which conjured the type of horrors I knew that I didn't want to see no matter how curious I was about the movie itself. 

When I would catch snippets of the film on cable television, I would find myself mesmerized by the sight and sounds of young Danny Torrance riding through the massive Overlook Hotel on his Big Wheel, a sequence so lengthy that my trance would slowly find itself being interrupted by feelings of unease, of which I would mentally challenge myself to endure until I just had to change the channel for fear of seeing the very thing I could then no longer un-see. It wasn't really until adulthood when I saw the complete film end to end and was a tad surprised at how un-scary it actually was. Although, it was a sensational film, where Kubrick's clinical aesthetics, stunning visual perspectives, gliding cinematography and unnerving film score all combined to create this bird's eye view of madness that was deeply, powerfully enveloping. 

So now, nearly 40 years later, we arrive with Mike Flanagan's "Doctor Sleep," his adaptation of the Stephen King novel, which is indeed a sequel to King's The Shining (1977) which of course, makes this film a sequel to the Stanley Kubrick classic. What once felt to be unnecessary to impossible has now proven itself to being purposeful, entertaining, provocative, skillful and deeply resonant as "Doctor Sleep" surprisingly achieves the feat of honoring the past while carving out its own macabre existence with creativity, inventiveness, meticulous attention to the details of characters, place, time and space.  It is akin to a heavy, dark dream.

Opening in 1980, shortly after the climax of the events at the Overlook Hotel, "Doctor Sleep" finds Danny Torrance (Roger Dale Floyd) and his Mother, Wendy (Alex Essoe) re-located to Florida. Danny, still plagued by nightmares and visitations from the demons of the Overlook, finds himself in a conversation with the spirit of Overlook head chef and fellow telepath Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly), who teaches Danny precisely how to overcome these demons by encasing them inside of a mental "lockbox," a feat which allows the boy to move forwards in his life. 

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to Danny, a travelling cult of psychic vampires known as the True Knot and led by Rose The Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) roam the nation seeking and hunting those with psychic abilities to torture and kill them to feed upon their lifeforce known as "steam," for the purposes of extending their own malevolent life spans.  

Flashfoward to 2011, as Dan Torrance (now played by Ewan McGregor), now an alcoholic like his Father before him, and as a means to suppress his shining abilities as well as his demons, finds  himself at his personal rock bottom. Moving to New Hampshire, he is immediately befriended by Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis), who helps Dan find room and board, becomes his AA sponsor and also helps Dan find a job as a hospital orderly, where he surreptitiously utilizes his telepathic abilities to comfort dying patients, thus earning him the nickname of "Doctor Sleep."  Back at his new home, Dan also begins to receive psychic messages via written notes upon a chalkboard wall from young Abra Stone (Dakota Hickman) and with whom he begins a correspondence. 

By 2019, with Dan fully sober and the teenaged Abra (now played by Kyleigh Curran), armed with shining abilities far stronger than his own, their worlds converge as the now starving True Knot, in desperate need of steam for survival, have become aware of Abra, placing her in immediate danger. At this stage, all of the threads converge for Dan Torrance as he must, at long last, fully confront his past in order to preserve his present and save the future.

Where Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" was intensely intimate, Mike Flanagan's "Doctor Sleep" takes a grander, more decidedly epic approach as the film covers a greater locale as well as a nearly 40 year trajectory.  That being said, Flanagan smartly refuses to over load the experience with a barrage of special effects, and overblown tonality. On the contrary, he diligently walks the cinematic tightrope of being fully inspired and reflective of Kubrick original vision while branching outwards to instill his own--no small feat indeed. I was deeply impressed with how Flanagan ensured his film adhered strictly to tone and character development, almost and often feeling more like a visual novel to lose yourself inside of due to its detail. 

For some viewers, the deliberate pacing may strike as being uneventful, plodding or taking its own sweet time to just get to things. Yet, for me, I loved this approach as Flanagan created a world where I wanted to know who these characters were, what their motivations and inner workings actually were, so when the tension does strike, there is meaning, there is weight, there is connection between story and viewer. And with "Doctor Sleep," I was intensely connected and when the callbacks to "The Shining" do arrive, they pay off in spades!

I am also aware that there may be some sense of disconnect for some viewers witnessing different actors portraying characters so entrenched into our minds via the conduits of Shelley Duvall, the late Scatman Crothers and the aforementioned Jack Nicholson from Kubrick's film. Here is another area, where I felt that what could have bee a large disadvantage worked extremely well to Mike Flanagan's gain. 

With a film that does indeed play heavily to themes of memories, inner demons and especially those as filtered through years of Dan Torrance's alcoholism, having familiar characters portrayed by people who resemble them but not quite just added to the false sense of security that memory often elicits, plus palpable sense of unease, existential confusion and dread, which Ewan McGregor embodied with subtlety, grace and the correct amount of inner turmoil in which we could still see the afflicted child inside of him.

For the world that builds and expands upon "The Shining," Mike Flanagan more than has his work cut out for him and yet, he accepts the challenge fearlessly. Working brilliantly with Cinematographer Michael Fimognari, Flanagan ensures that "Doctor Sleep" feels very much of the same cinematic universe as Kubrick's "The Shining" through its carefully composed shot compositions, moody tracking shots and Steadicam motions. Yet, where Kubrick's palate was purposefully wintry due to the setting, Flanagan instills a hazy, autumnal glow as if we are essentially viewing an especially slow burning ghost story for a Halloween night and still discovers ways to emulate and re-conceive Kubrick's vision at crucial points, thus showcasing Mike Flanagan's cinematic dexterity.

From a conceptual perspective, Flanagan also utilizes Kubrick's near chamber piece tonality, as the film floats via its shuddering, ghostly vibe, never reducing itself to jump scare cliches but rightfully explodes at the correct points with the correct intensity and turbulence. Again, think of how easy it would have been to just essentially have the greatest moments of "The Shining" re-done yet regurgitated in a standard Hollywood bombastic frenzy that is instantly cathartic, I guess, but ultimately disposable. Flanagan is a filmmaker who is clearly trusting that the audience is intelligent and more than willing to spend some time in this cinematic world, understanding the lay of the land before tightening the screws.

In achieving that feat, "Doctor Sleep" gives us a richly expansive world to explore, populated by compelling characters, most notably, Rose The Hat, who is performed deliciously by Rebecca Ferguson, clearly having a grand time inside of a character so alluringly, threateningly poisonous. There was nothing within "The Shining" that suggested that there was any other evil that existed than the ones which invaded our own souls, so to speak. With "Doctor Sleep," and its odd hippie/sideshow circus caravan of the True Knot, that palpable sense of evil and dread that lurks in the shadows of the mind now made dangerously flesh, just gave me yet one more reason to look cautiously around corners. 

And then, there is the character of Abra Stone, strongly played by Kyliegh Curran, where again, representation means everything. For how often have any of us ever seen, within any big budget Hollywood feature, the sight of a teenaged Black girl with telekinetic powers as a central figure, one of the very engines driving the story? I was pleased and refreshed for this inclusion, which also never felt to be forced due to any sense of disingenuously performed political correctness. The character, and the fullness of her arc, felt as inviting as it was organic and ultimately, essential to the film as a whole.      

Mike Flanagan's "Doctor Sleep," a film so assured, confident and exceedingly well done, is one that truly deserves your attention, the very kind that the film surprisingly did not receive during its theatrical run late last year. But now, with our theaters closed and as we are all looking for something new while ensconced at home, this film is more than worthy. 

And especially on these hot summer days and nights, it will deliver more than enough chills.

SAVAGE CINEMA'S COMING ATTRACTIONS FOR JULY 2020

And still, the theaters are closed...

Never did I imagine one year ago, or at any time n my life really, that I would be living through an extended period where I would not only not be going to the movies, but that the theaters themselves would be closed due to a global pandemic. Even as the world is opening up, either too slowly or too quickly depending upon your perceptions, I know that for myself, that as much as I want to return to the movie theaters, I am not ready for I do not believe for a moment that it is safe enough. 

Regardless, Savage Cinema has remained busy and in fact, I do need to return to my Time Capsule series which has two more segments (and a mini segment) to go before being complete--I have come too far to quit now.

I do have anew review to get started on and I wanted to still screen one selection I did not have time for  last month and then...there, of course, is this...

 Yes indeed, as I write, the long awaited film version of the mammoth Broadway production has now hit streaming and I need to carve out time to get myself to seeing it, at long last. 

So...here we are still, in movie theater stasis just awaiting the day to all be sitting in the dark together for a shared experience. I long for that day to come back but only when we can do so, and then, do it all over again.

FISTS UP!!: a review of "Da 5 Bloods"

"DA 5 BLOODS"

Screenplay Written by Danny Bilson & Paul De Meo and Spike Lee & Kevin Willmott
Directed by Spike Lee
**** (four stars)

RATED R

Mammoth. Absolutely mammoth.

I have expressed the following sentiments many times upon this blogsite and I am compelled to say it all over again: Writer/Producer/Director Spike Lee is one of our greatest living American filmmakers. Period. And as emphatically as he would say himself...Dats Da Truth, Ruth!!!

Dear readers, I have often been, and still remain just slack jawed and open mouthed when I regard Spike Lee's complete filmography and realize over and again how the immense quality of the work is so staggeringly, uncommonly high. No, not every film is a masterpiece and there have been quite a few of his films that have underwhelmed, or were decidedly flawed and there is even one that is downright repugnant (no need to go into that one any further) but film by film, year after year, from his narrative features, to his documentaries and filmed presentations of stage productions, Spike Lee has delivered his art from a skill and passion that is often as unparalleled as it is unquestionable and uncompromising. And believe me, when he finds himself at his most determined, and within his most fearlessly artistic sweet spot, he is untouchable. 

After a period of films that seemed to find Lee in a more wayward and seeking frame of mind, with experimental films that never quite jelled to their fullest fruition, he has since been fueling his art profoundly, while performing a certain creative re-ascension. From the audacious outrage of his searing gun violence epidemic satire "Chi-Raq" (2015), to the sprawling, spectacular two-season television re-invention of his own "She's Gotta Have It (2017-2019), the blistering and Oscar winning "BlacKKKlansman" (2018) and the sobering, sorrowful filmed stage production of "Pass Over" (2018), Spike Lee has been taking grander steps upwards and onwards and now, he has emerged with one of the best films he has ever made. 

With the arrival of "Da 5 Bloods," Spike Lee's latest "Joint," we are given an experience that is nothing less than colossal. It is a film that scales to the rarefied heights of his greatest film achievements, both "Do The Right Thing" (1989) and "Malcolm X" (1992), while again serving as a work that feels of a piece with the bulk of his oeuvre as it simultaneously blazes into uncharted territory. It is a staggering, volcanic experience. A voluminous, multi-faceted, multi-layered expression that utilizes its story, characters, social/political outlook and activism plus a creatively conceptual arsenal of film styles, history and genres to dive deeply into the core of the African-American military veteran experience.

 

Courtesy of the vibrant exploration of Black male brotherhood as human beings as well as soldiers, Lee delivers an impassioned, furious follow up to his own World War II set "Miracle At St. Anna" (2008)  as he holds up the dichotomy of Black men fighting for and holding upright the patriotism for a nation that has been systematically engineered to outright deny our humanity. It is a film that honors our veterans and history and even moreso and most powerfully, the film speaks precisely to this very minute in 2020. Without any hyperbole whatsoever, I am urgently, as just as passionately extolling to you that Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" is essential viewing of the highest order.

Opening with an astounding mosaic of the activist voices of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Kwame Ture and Bobby Seale, combined with the turbulent sights of the violence on American soil (Kent State, Jackson State, Democratic National Convention, instances of police brutality) alongside Vietnam war atrocities, all of which is brilliantly scored by Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" begins in earnest in 21st century Vietnam, as we are introduced to Vietnam war veterans Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis) and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.).

The quartet has reunited and returned to Vietnam for an intensely special and impassioned mission: to collect the remains of their fallen and beloved Squadron Leader, "Stormin' Norman Holloway (Chadwick Boseman) as well as to locate millions of dollars worth of gold bars the group hid during the war, but has been previously unable to re-locate due to the shifting topography suffered from  Napalm bombings.

Their odyssey, during which the foursome are either joined by or cross paths with their tour guide Vihn (Johnny Tri Nguyen), Otis' old flame, Tien (Le Y Lan), Mr. Desroche (Jean Reno), a duplicitous French businessman, a trio of philanthropic landmine cleaners named Hedy Bouvier (Melanie Thierry), Seppo Havelin (Jasper Paakkonen) and Simon (Paul Walter Hauser), and finally, Paul's adult son David (Jonathan Majors), Da Bloods are forced to fully confront their on-going demons from their chaotic past within an even more chaotic present, which may either strengthen their decades long bond or unravel it entirely.

I cannot over-state enough about what a triumph Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" is, as he has so skillfully and miraculously blended a variety of genres and film aesthetics to tell this one vehemently fiery, feverish story of a criminally under-represented group of people within film: the African-American soldier. 

What Lee has delivered contains certain cinematic roots within the likes of John Huston's "The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre" (1948), David Lean's "The Bridge On The River Kwai" (1957) and most certainly, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979), as well as that film's inspiration, Joseph Conrad's novella Heart Of Darkness (1899) while also sharing significant conceptual bonds within Lee's own filmography, including "Get On The Bus" (1996), "He Got Game" (1998), "Inside Man" (2006), "Red Hook Summer" (2012) and the aforementioned "Miracle At St. Anna" and "BlacKKKlansman." 

To that end, "Da 5 Bloods" is simultaneously an experience that possess the heft and skill to function as a war movie, heist film, action thriller, a western, a history lesson, a primal Father/son drama, and at its deepest importance, the film is poignant psychological portrait of Black soldiers from torment and regret, to shame and horror, and hopefully, redemption to spiritual deliverance. Lee, under the leadership of his propulsive, evocative direction, accomplishes this tremendous feat from end-to-end via his beautifully conceived screenplay, written by himself and his frequent collaborator, Writer/Director and University of Kansas Film Professor Kevin Willmott, plus the booming, elegiac score from Lee film scoring veteran Composer Terence Blanchard, the stunning Cinematography from Newton Thomas Sigel, which captures the full breadth of the story through a variety of film aspect ratios (from full screen, to letterbox widescreen, to grainy 16MM), the ghostly song score which features much of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (released May 21, 1971) and with the greatest sense of empathy, depth and soul stirring energy, the pitch perfect performances of the entire cast, especially Delroy Lindo who scales heights of which I have never, ever seen from him before.  

Even with all of the previously mentioned comparisons, if there is any film that "Da 5 Bloods" reminded me of most--or at least, the film in which it felt to share the closest company, it was with Michael Cimino's iconic "The Deer Hunter" (1978), as Spike Lee also provides the full arc in largely three sections of before, during and the aftermath of the events of their Vietnam experience and how this period shaped and altered the lives of the film's core characters--and sometimes this phenomenon occurs all in the same scene and sequences. I absolutely loved how Lee utilized his actors during the 1960's/1970's Vietnam War sections of the film at their current ages and without any de-aging CGI special effects technology. This was an absolutely brilliant technique, whether by intention or design (due to the costly nature of special effects technology), as it is illustrating, in a most harrowing factor, how the war has remained with the surviving members of the squadron through the decades and how even in their memories and nightmares, their current age reflects how intertwined the war remains within their minds and souls. 

Through this aspect, Lee also continues his deftly bewildering ability to make the events of the past so shockingly and rightfully present. Additionally, his always excellent usage of music serves as an additional character, enhancing the story and psychology of the characters (who incidentally are all named after the members of the original Temptations plus Producer Norman Whitfield). The glistening voice of Marvin Gaye functions as a spiritual and psychological extension of these characters and their experiences, ghosts of the past walking side by side with them in the present. And there is no greater ghost than of their fallen brother-in-arms, Stormin' Norman.  

As described by Otis, Stormin' Norman is an expert soldier, a rare Black Squadron Leader in a White man's military who functioned as being part Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and part Malcolm X and through Spike Lee's unapologetically militant cinematic eye, Norman is also a bit of Huey P. Newton as well as a dash of the fictional John Shaft. 

Obviously, it would have to be our very own "Black Panther" to portray such a war hero and Chadwick Boseman perfectly embodies the swagger and grit, certainly but also the psychology to understand the hypocrisy of how Black people accounted for 11% of the United States population yet over 30% were fighting on the front lines to protect the very rights we were not allowed to fully attain for ourselves due to historical, systemic racism. His plot for hiding the gold his troop found, gold designated as payment from the US to the Vietnamese for their aid in fighting the Viet Cong, is a means to provide a sense of reparations in honor of all of the sacrificed Black lives that did not ever matter to the United States Of America, whether within the military, the criminal justice system, and most personally, within the very police back in the USA patrolling Black neighborhoods as a means of maintaining the power dynamic and structure rather than protecting and serving the public. 

One especially hypnotic and multi-layered sequence--and one that is clearly an echo to the "Axis Sally" sequence in Lee's "Miracle At St. Anna"--features the captivating voice of Vietnamese propagandist radio DJ Hanoi Hannah (an excellent Veronica Ngo) whose broadcasts inform Da 5 Bloods of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and that while they are there in the Vietnam jungles, their neighborhoods back home in the USA are on fire. 

As Hanoi Hannah speaks truths of how White American wars serve to use and discard Black lives for their own purposes, Stormin' Norman is a source of inspiration and strength for the other four members of Da 5 Bloods, solely holding them together as Black men, refusing to allow either White and/or Vietnamese subterfuge as a means to manipulate rightful and righteous Black rage. Norman understands the paradox and hold the unit together for a hopeful patriotism, even when the nation they fight for is drenched in racism. And yet, it is his death during the war that sends the team into its individualistic and collective anguish, both strengthening and fracturing their bonds, haunting them for decades afterwards.

"War is about money. Money is about war." Those words, uttered by Stormin' Norman, echo through the film via the actions of the remaining Bloods as they venture back into the jungles and terrains of Vietnam with hopes of finding the gold. Whatever altruistic ambitions they once held have since been fractured as have clear divisions have been formulated between Eddie, who only wants to honor Norm's original plans, possibly for his own sense of redemption and the consumed with anger, self-pity and most PTSD afflicted Paul, who just, finally, wants what is coming to him after a lifetime of disappointments and tragedies. 

And it is here where I have to turn my fullest attention to the performance of Delroy Lindo. 

Now...I have to digress for a moment as I feel the need to describe to you a moment I once saw on an episode of "Inside The Actor's Studio" on which Martin Sheen appeared a guest. During a discussion about "Apocalypse Now," Sheen informed host James Lipton (R.I.P.) and the audience that an early scene in the film where his character was experiencing a mental breakdown, was in fact a sequence during which he was not acting but was in the state of being as he himself was then an alcoholic and underwent a very real mental breakdown (which then preceded his heart attack later in the shoot). Sheen allowed Francis Ford Coppola to just film and film, and what was attained--from Sheen breaking a mirror with his bare hands, leaving his fist bloody to writhing around the hotel room floor set, naked and howling in what is clearly existential pain--was a real as life capture of a soul in crisis.

I bring up that story to speak of the performance delivered by Delroy Lindo, for he, as Paul, takes us to Hell and even deeper with an existential roar that is shattering to witness. This is not to suggest that Lindo was not acting, per se. But, for all of his excellent work in his history, especially within Spike Lee's "Malcolm X," "Crooklyn" (1994) and "Clockers" (1995), Delroy Lindo presents himself in a state of being that I was fully unprepared to see from him. This is a performance to behold. This is a performance for the ages. 

As Paul, Delroy Lindo gives to us a portrait of a powerful, hulking Black man so desperately lost. A man lost in rage and sorrow, furious at the world and demons both real and imagined plus enduring the loss of Norm during the war, and the ensuing bottomless grief, has clearly affected him the most as Norm was his anchor as well as his most trusted friend. Shockingly, Paul has emerged in 2020 as a MAGA hat wearing Trump voter and supporter, adorning the red baseball cap throughout the film (itself a metaphor), while his feral paranoia in 21st century Vietnam grows and spreads, as witnessed in a stellar sequence when he experiences a panic attack in a Vietnamese floating market. As the film continues onwards, with the brotherhood of Da Bloods continuously tested, Paul, the self-described "broken" man descends further into despair and fury filled madness. In short, he is the Da Bloods' Colonel Kurtz.

In addition to the mounting tension between himself and the more even keeled Otis (who due to his nature is the team's medic and therefore, its healer), as well as his PTSD concerning his mourning over Norman, the primary conflict for Paul lies within his brutally painful relationship with his son David, which wavers rapidly between protection and outright rejection, and is entirely abusive.     

Through the film and as Paul descends, Delroy Lindo, by contrast, ascends. By the film's final third, Lindo unleashes not one, not two but three devastating monologues that will blind you with their determination and unstoppable force and fragility. We see the history of Paul in Delroy Lindo, where we are able to mentally fill in the blanks as to the character's life trajectory, where we can understand how he may have journeyed from A to B. How he could remain racially conscious and have become a Trump supporter. How he could hold a maelstrom of emotions towards his son. Everything exists upon Delroy Linod's face, eyes, imposing frame and also, his voice, which he stretches and contorts in ways to reveal Paul's suffering. I have no idea of where he unearthed this from but Delroy Lindo OWNS the role in a way where I can imagine that even Spike Lee himself would have been downright amazed at  his good fortune to have cast him.

And even then, Spike Lee continues to fill his film in an grandly, epic style as his fair mindedness allows his main characters to be multi-layered and to also allow time for the Vietnamese characters to express themselves and share their sense of history with the war. On an aesthetic level, Lee more than proves himself with his adeptness and agility with action sequences with are all harrowing, filled with shocks and rightfully graphic, even grisly yet not gratuitous violence. And even then, Lee assures us that "Da 5 Bloods" contains humor, that it contains romance, that it contains sheer joy as the narrative stops completely just to have us observe and embrace Da Bloods in a rare moment of euphoric camaraderie as they dance their way through a Vietnamese nightclub to Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up Part 1."  It is a film so complete as to be overflowing and the result is rewarding to the highest order.

Since the film's release upon Netflix, I have had the inspiration and opportunity to watch this film three times in full, each time knocking me backwards in its power. I have no idea of what any sort of awards season is going to even look like but Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" deserves any and all honors that should be flying in its direction. By this point, you are certain to realize that this film is going to be exceedingly tough to top as my favorite film of 2020. 

But, what you may not know, yet I am mere words away from sharing with you is that when the time comes to compile my Time Capsule series commemorating the best films of the decade between 2020-2029, Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" has firmly earned its place upon that compilation. 

I'M SORRY: a review of "The King Of Staten Island"

"THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND"

Screenplay Written by Judd Apatow & Pete Davidson & Dave Sirus

Directed by Judd Apatow
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED R

I am not sure of what it is that makes Pete Davidson so endearing but his appeal is unquestionable.

On "Saturday Night Live," where he is a regular cast member, he is barely featured, only showing up sporadically and clearly devoid of the wide performance range of his fellow cast members, always portraying variations of his stoner persona or just essentially appearing as himself. And yet, when he does appear, the screen lights up and I know that for myself, I am more than ready to see and hear what he will do and say, especially during his appearances within the "Weekend Update" segments, where he is clearly performing mini-stand up routines. He is indeed a magnetic presence armed with a wicked sense of humor.

But, I also feel that his appeal arrives through personal traumas which have often played out publicly and even so, what is it that does not make us dismiss him as yet one more media whore who is living life creating controversies to be played out across our screens? As I regard him, maybe it does have to do with his sallow skin tone, the sunken dark circled eyes, scrawny, underfed frame all contributing to a demeanor that suggests a little boy, now young man, still so lost. Maybe, despite his fame and success as a comedian, we are all feeling protective as we have already seen the tragedies within the comic world and we just do not wish to lose one more, one who does seem to be so fragile.  

Our perceptions of and emotions towards Pete Davidson serve him extremely well within Judd Apatow's "The King Of Staten Island," a semi-autobiographical story, which not only allows us a window into Davidson's life as well as allows him to showcase his talents in a more expansive fashion. Furthermore, the film has afforded Apatow the opportunity to delve even deeper into more dramatic territories, and the result is his most soulful film since the sprawling, darkly bittersweet "Funny People" (2009).

"The King Of Staten Island" stars Pete Davidson as Scott Carlin, a 24 year old layabout and budding tattoo artist, who lives with his Mother, Margie Carlin (Marisa Tomei) in the titular borough of New York City. Scott spends his days and nights in a drug induced stupor and stasis, as he essentially exists in a sexual relationship with longtime girlfriend Kelsey (Bel Powley), harbors visions of creating his dream hybrid tattoo/restaurant business yet is involved with petty drug dealings with his friends, and through it all, just barely battles his demons, which are realized in the forms of his ADD,  his depression and his on-going grief over the loss of his Father, a firefighter, when he was just 7 years old.

As his loving yet rightfully worried and embittered younger sister Claire (Maude Apatow) graduates from high school and leaves the nest for college, her departure provides the catalyst for a series of life changes within Scott's inner circle, most notably, the arrival of Ray Bishop (Bill Burr), the first love interest for Margie since the death of her husband...and, who is also a firefighter--an event that forces Scott to face his grief and possibly, finally begin to take his first crucial steps into a greater adulthood.

Judd Apatow's "The King Of Staten Island" is a sublimely structured and executed slice-of-life drama that simultaneously charts out new territory for the filmmaker while staying within familiar themes. For Apatow, arrested development is the constant theme as it has provided the framework for every single one of his directorial efforts, and even some of his productions as well. And yet, despite the familiarity of the theme, Apatow has possessed this uncanny ability to explore the concept from new angles, always providing perspectives that are fresh and potent. 

With "The King Of Staten Island," the trajectory follows a certain formula but the way this conceptual road is traveled feels anew completely through the strong writing, the characters and the overall presentation which sharply dials the comedic aspects considerably downwards to create a canvas that feels appropriately raw, gritty and as real as life is actually lived. Simply stated, we are worlds away from "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (2005) and are firmly planted into harsher, darker territory and the overall results has afforded Apatow a wonderful opportunity to flex his directorial muscles, which now showcases a larger sense of poignancy and philosophical depth.   

Even the overall cinematic aesthetic of this film feels completely different from all of Judd Apatow's past efforts as the standard sunshine drenched California landscapes of much of his work have been given over to a more muted, grayer tonality courtesy of the urban Staten Island locales as filmed by legendary Cinematographer Robert Elswit. 

Yet, what struck me the most was Apatow's fearlessness with allowing the film to function and feel more like a subdued independent film and considerably less than a splashy Hollywood feature. It is a production that is exceedingly relaxed as Apatow allows the events to unfold naturally (a courtship scene between Margie and Roy is one of the finest, loveliest sequences Apatow has ever directed), the plot never feels as if it is in a hurry or overstuffed with material. He brings us into the life of Scott Carlin and allows it to unfold with ease, its inherent tension and trauma arriving unforced. He never gets in the way of the material by provoking, therefore, not even one moment feels inauthentic. All of this being said, I do not wish to impress that "The King Of Staten Island" contains no humor whatsoever.  Yes, there are comedic elements and stinging one-liners. But, this film is not a comedic escapade. It serves as more of a confessional.

Pete Davidson proves himself as being the real deal as his performance as co-writer and leading actor is a triumph. As previously stated, "The King Of Staten Island" is a semi-autobiographical film as Pete  Davidson's real life Father was a firefighter, who incidentally was killed during the September 11th attacks in 2001 when Davidson was just 8 years old. In interviews leading up to this film, Davidson has expressed that this film is essentially what he imagines his life would have been like if he had not discovered his potential as a comedian...yet, all of his real world neuroses have been eloquently included into the film's narrative.     

As Scott Carlin, we are dealing with another Judd Apatow character stricken with arrested development but this time it is infused with a crippling grief that has not only stunted his emotional growth but has fueled his sense of self-loathing, self-laceration, and overall manipulative tendencies which threaten to destroy every positive relationship he has. Even further, Scott's sense of self-destruction is seen through his death obsessed gallows humor and very real suicide attempts and death wishes, one of which bracingly opens the film. 

To that end, his self-awareness is as startling as his openness about his emotions, which are also utilized as a shield from allowing himself to wrestle with the deeper emotions of his existential pain. Scott is indeed a lost soul shouldered with the damage goods of weighty emotional and psychological baggage and his behavior consistently is a constant source of torment for those who love him. In many ways, Scott borders on the abusive as he dares those closest to him to leave him due to his behaviors, yet is also forever apologetic, always genuinely and manipulatively expressing the words "I'm sorry."  As I watched, I found Scott Carlin to essentially exist as a hybrid of the persona as presented in Kanye West's song "Runaway" and the late John Singleton's "Baby Boy" (2001).

Scott's life in his Mother's home essentially functions as another womb, and the film itself is his gestation into his potential rebirth with every character's life events, which advances them forwards. His sister's departure for college, Margie's new relationship with Roy and even Kelsey's wishes to take a  Civil Service exam to eventually become a city planner all terrify him as they each force him further into leaving home to claim a new life on his own, and often results in terrible behaviors, childish tantrums, and selfishly cruel outbursts designed to inflict pain upon others yet only hurts himself.

While Scott's redemption is evident, I deeply appreciated Apatow and Davisdon's willingness to make Scott Carlin as potentially unlikable yet as understandable as possible and believe me, there are points when even you may wish to throw the character to the curb. But, it is entirely within Pete Davidson's very skilled, charismatic, and multi-layered performance that he keeps bringing us back to stick with him a little longer--just as the characters also perform with Scott--because at heart, we know we are dealing with a good man trapped in a cycle of pain and loss.    

The film's final third, largely set at a firehouse between Scott, Roy and the team of firefighters (including a terrific Steve Buscemi--who himself was once a firefighter), also and beautifully sidestepped any cliches by delivering itself as if we were watching very real people behaving within a very real world, allowing the film's canvas to broaden and deepen, into a conclusion that does not present itself as a crescendo but as a grace note, one that felt to be pitch perfect. 

Judd Apatow's "The King Of Staten Island" is a success in all aspects. Wise, tender, gracious, and empathetic, it is a film that contains no contrivances and even no villains. Just a collective of individuals all trying, stumbling, failing and trying again to just get it right, for themselves and the people they love. 

Maybe these are the reasons why we have connected so strongly with Pete Davidson. 

SAVAGE CINEMA'S COMING ATTRACTIONS FOR JUNE 2020

And the theaters are still closed...

Frankly, as none of us have any real idea as to when it will be safe enough for us to venture out to a movie theater without worry of potentially contracting COVID-19, the continuing story that is Savage Cinema will remain home bound but this month does have several items that will be brand new viewing, two of them being 2020 releases.

1. "THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND"
The latest film from Writer/Director Judd Apatow will arrive this month via the On Demand service on the date it was originally scheduled to have its theaterical release. Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson stars and co-wrote this semi-autobiographical comedy-drama, and as an Apatow fan, you know that I am already there. 

2. "DA 5 BLOODS"

Oh yes!!!!!  How I have been waiting for this one. Premiering this month on Netflix, is the latest Spike Lee Joint, a film about five African-American Viet Nam war veterans. The trailer looks spectacular and regardless, nothing could keep me away from it.

3. "ROGER WATERS: US + THEM"

Waters' latest concert film extravaganza arrives on a streaming service after a 2019 one night only theatrical release, and of course, there is no way I would miss this one either.

So, with those three films, plus continuing with the Time Capsule series as I have two more sections to unveil, I have more than enough to keep me busy. Please keep me in your thoughts for good health and safety and I will do the same for you. 

And as always, I'll see you when the house light go down!!!!!!!!!!!