Movie and Film News: February 14, 2024

2024-02-14 16:19:31

February 14, 2024
By
Oron Shamir

Happy Valentine’s Day, or Happy Valentine’s in Hebrew, to everyone who celebrates. The love of the section is sent to all those who made their way to the Berlin Film Festival, which opens tomorrow (February 15) and will continue until February 25. We also spread some love throughout the past week, from the continuation of Or’s Ofir project through the double feature Lomet of Ofer’s Pacino to his review of “Remaining for the Holiday”, the film that proves once again that even great films cannot be recommended anymore. After all, there are those who will manage to be disappointed with them, just because they are recommended, and you will meet people’s expectations. That’s why the section this time will be as hype-free as possible, even though we have an Oscar film, a film by a famous director, superheroes, a musical icon and even an Israeli animated film that is really not for children. We’ll start with him of course, continue to the other six and indulge in some streaming.

king the celebration – Do you remember the “celebration” explosion drug from the beginning of the century? Uri Marantz’s film focuses on his invention, and especially on the man who invented it but was forced to remain in the shadows. In the film his name is Gabi (pseudonym) and he is played by Oshri Cohen, who also narrates the film from beginning to end and everything is experienced through his consciousness. The rest of the actors don’t really speak and the backgrounds as well as some of the characters are animated, which puts the film on unrealistic ground even though it claims to contain documentary elements. It was even screened in the documentary competition of the Haifa Film Festival, so it’s worth remembering that the definitions are fluid. Gabi’s story is a story about an introverted type, with a massive knowledge of biology and a fondness for psychoactive drugs, who tries and succeeds in distilling a synthetic drug. From there he becomes the Heisenberg of the Middle East and beyond, or so the film portrays it. All while trying to lead a normal family life and a stoic nightlife. The image above is from the film and courtesy of PR and Drum Productions.

Madame Web (Madame Web) – we were told there are no superhero movies this year? Not two months have passed and here comes all the spider women you could ever want, and a new Spidey too. Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) develops a supernatural ability to see the future, I understand through the spider dimension shown in Sony’s animated films. She teams up with three Spider-Ladies (Sydney Sweeney, Isabella Merced, Celeste O’Connor) and together they have to defeat a kind of Spider-Man wearing black (Taher Raheem). It sounds a bit like “The Marvels” and looks even less good than the trailers, but there is always hope. As mentioned above, I came to download today instead of picking up so that I might be pleasantly surprised. The director is CJ Clarkson, which is her first feature film after two decades on television in any series you choose (most recently “Heirs”, in the relevant past “Jessica Jones”). She also signed the script along with three others: Claire Parker (“Life on Mars”) and the duo Matt Szama and Bark Sharples, who brought us “Morbius” and “War of the Gods”.

The color is crimson (The Color Purple) – like “Bad Girls” before him, and I really have to write about him because what my colleagues are doing to him is not nice, such is the track of “The Color Crimson”. It started as a book by Alice Walker, which was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg, from where it moved to the Broadway stage as a musical and is now returning to theaters in this form. Is a story full of violence against black women a subject for songs and dances? We will watch and find out. Fantasia Barino plays the heroine, who is handed over by her abusive father to a marriage where she will experience more abuse, until she is redeemed by a female sisterhood. The supporting cast consists of, among others, Tarji F. Henson, Coleman Domingo, Daniel Brooks, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey and John Batiste. The director is Blitz Bazwala Hagani and the adaptation is signed by Marcus Gardley. Or ranked the film in his parade of all Oscar nominees.

Priscilla (Priscilla) – the movie that will finally teach us all not to write “Prisilia”. It is not the queen of the desert but Priscilla Presley, the partner of the king of rock and roll, as described in the book she wrote together with Sandra Harmon, which was turned into a screenplay and a film by Sofia Coppola. Priscilla, a girl who is not of the age of consent in any country (I hope), is played by Kylie Spiney. Elvis, at the early peak of his fame, is played by Jacob “Sultbarn” Elordi. She falls in love with him like any girl her age, but he loves her back and reveals a vulnerable side and only hurts her face. Despite certain Oscar hopes, the film is not nominated in any category, but it can certainly be added to the growing gallery from the year 2023 of stories about women and their struggle against oppression, mostly male. Ofer wrote more about him at the Venice festival of the same year. The image above is from the movie.

Bob Marley: One Love (Bob Marley: One Love) – the truth is that the official name of the film is “Bob Marley: One Love“, because names of artists can be translated, but go find out what the rest of the words mean in one of his famous songs. This is another musical biography, another trend that never ends, about the man who actually had more than one love – Bob Marley. Kingsley Ben-Adir plays the King of Reggae, on his quest to unite the world with music and create revolutions in his native Jamaica and beyond. Leshana Lynch plays his partner, Rita Marley, so you can also watch as a double feature with the above film. Reynaldo Marcus Green (“Winning Family”) directed and wrote with three others: Zach Beilein who assisted him in his previous film, Terence Winter (“The Sopranos”) and Frank E. Flowers. I’m interested to know if the film will include the origin stories of the songs, specifically the one where Bob Marley meets an iron lion in Zion.

Love is everything (Sam & Kate) – before you complain about the Hebrew translation, the foreign name is also quite strange. Kate and Sam are indeed the names of two of the characters in the film, but as I understand the synopsis and the trailer there are at least two more equally significant: his father and her mother. What’s more, the single synopsis foreshadows that the central relationship in Sam’s life involves returning home to care for his ailing father. Only then does he fall in love with Kate, while the father keeps an eye on her mother. The younger ones are played by Jack Hoffman and Skylar Fisk, and their parents in the film are played by their more famous parents in real life: Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek. If all that isn’t nepotistic enough, the screenwriter-director is Darren Le Gallo, whose quintessential career achievement thus far is being Amy Adams’ partner.

Independent in the field (Freelance) – This action comedy will bring us to the end of the section in the section dealing with motion pictures, and I am generous with this definition because in some territories this film skipped the big screen in favor of online distribution. This despite some big names, as will become clear immediately. John Cena plays a former special forces man who is hired by a retired operator (Christian Slater) to privately protect an investigative journalist (Alison Brie). She needs security because her mission is to interview a dictator (Juan Pablo Raba) of a fictional country in America, and everyone will need help when a military coup breaks out during the interview and forces the operatives to fight for their lives in the jungles. Pierre Morel (“Kidnapped”) directed, based on a script by Jacob Lentz.

Beach the sun (Suncoast) – straight from the Sundance festival to the Disney+ service in Israel (or Hulu in the US), Laura Chin’s film just landed so quickly that I didn’t notice it last week. Nico Parker plays a young woman named Doris, whose brother is dying and her mother (Laura Laney) invests all her mental resources in him. The family moves to the Sun Coast to take care of a patient, Doris faces the challenge of being new at school and also befriends an eccentric activist (Woody Harrelson).
upgraded (Upgraded) – on the same date as the film above, February 9th, another film arrived on Amazon’s streaming service that might be worth getting to know. As usual, Amazon does not announce new movies in advance, so the slight delay in their case is quite expected. The film directed by Carlson Young is a romantic comedy that begins with a female passenger being upgraded to first class, which means it should have been called “upgraded” in my humble opinion. Camila Mendes of “Riverdale” and “Revenge” stars as the lucky upgrade who is also wooed by a man (Archie Reno) who mistakenly thinks she is her boss (Marissa Tomei), meaning an art auction house manager.

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