Amsterdam

Amsterdam (2022)

Written and directed by David O. Russell

Stars: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Meyers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro

I made a promise to myself that I will no longer support David O. Russell after he admitted to sexually assaulting his own niece a decade ago. He is not getting a single penny from me. Ever. I stand by that.

The story revolves around a trio of friends; Dr. Burt Berendsen (Bale), Harold Woodsman (Washington) and Valerie Voze (Robbie) who met each other at tale end of WWI. Jump to 1933 where a young socialite, Liz Meekins (Swift) asks for their help to find out what happened to her father who ends up dead after coming back from Europe.

The originally title of this movie was supposed to be Canterbury Glass. When you watch the film, it makes more sense than the final title. The action does not take place in Amsterdam. That's where the trio met and lived for a time.

Before I lambast this movie, I will say that I enjoyed the costumes for this movie. It looked gorgeous. That's it. The mystery at the center was very convoluted. Not convoluted. It was lazily done. I knew who did it halfway through the movie. Knowing that fact, the movie dragged so long. It took forever for anymore to get their light bulb moment.

The performances for the most part are wooden and lifeless. Some people were trying to elevate the material, but you can only do so much. The acting was The Happening levels of bad. Everyone was going through the motions. I felt bad for them to have to spend any time with this godawful material.

Rating: 4/10

The Menu

The Menu (2022)

Directed by Mark Mylod

Screenplay by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy

Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, and Mark St. Cyr

When I saw the trailer for this film, I thought the movie was going to be much darker. I was pleasantly surprised that it was funny while being scary all at once.

A carefully selected group of the elite are invited to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant on a remote island that is run by Chef Julian Slowik (Fiennes). Among them are Tyler (Hoult) and his companion, Margot (Taylor-Joy) where the story focuses on the most. Chef Slowik carefully plan dinner service that the guests will never forget.

The movie is more of a dark satirical comedy about class. The movie succeeded where Triangle of Sadness did not. This held up a mirror to people's privilege, affluence or their blatant disregard of being lesser than them. It was delicious for the bourgeoisie to get their comeuppance. Anybody in the hospitality will tell you that sometimes it is not worth it to be beaten down by their betters.

Rating: 8/10

The Northman

The Northman (2022)

Directed by Robert Eggers

Screenplay by Sjón and Robert Eggers

Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Elliott Rose, Olwen Fouéré, Eldar Skar, and Björk

After my lukewarm response to The Lighthouse, I wondered if this movie was going to be the same. Thankfully that is not the case.

It is a classic revenge story. It has been done a million times before the Kill Bills, John Wicks or Gladiators of the world. The same could be said with adapting a million Shakespeare plays. We know what is going to happen.

I believe that director, Robert Eggers made something different. You can see with the trademark of having birds help or spell the doom of a character that he wanted you to be in the shoes of Amleth (Skarsgård) as he exacts his revenge on his uncle, Fjölnir (Bang) for killing his father, Aurvandil (Hawke). He wanted you to feel the hatred burning within him as Amleth makes his odyssey.

The movie is visually breathtaking. Were there things that shocked me in this film? Yes. Eggers wants to make you have visceral experience. It felt like it was almost there with his last outing, but with this you can feel his laser focus vision coming through.

 

Rating: 9/10