MOTHER, COUCH

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from writer/director Niclas Larsson and Film Movement is a look at family dysfunction with MOTHER, COUCH.

David (Ewan McGregor) is in a bit of a predicament; it seems his Mother (Ellen Burstyn) has decided that to sit on a couch in a furniture store and not move. David’s brother Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans) isn’t much help as he seems more interested in flirting with Bella (Taylor Russell), the young woman who runs the store.

Trying to get their mother to leave, the brothers call sister Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle) who turns out to be not help either. David tries to explain to Anne (Lake Bell) what is happening but she is busy running a household. When Mom won’t leave and night falls, David decides to stay with her until they could figure out a way to help her.

In the middle of the night, Bella returns and stays with David as they make an evening of it. The next morning David meets Marcus (F. Murray Abraham) who doesn’t seem surprised by their presence. Checking on Mom, David hears things that surprise him as she seems to be pouring her emotions out about life and her own disappointments.

He is now juggling a Mother with issues in a furniture store, a brother who seems to be on a whole other level, a sister who doesn’t care, a family that needs him, two other store brothers and living in a store – it is mayhem!

McGregor as David is a man walking on a razor’s edge with the family. His mother seems to have a plan that no one else is aware of, he can’t control the siblings and his own family is suffering from the ridiculousness. McGregor has the amazing ability to pull off any role he is given and in this very different story, although frazzled, is the crazy (literally) glue holding it all together.

Russell as Bella is the young woman who doesn’t seem at all concerned with the situation that is occurring in the furniture store. She sees the world for what it is and experiences a family that is a little twisted. Ifans as Gruffudd is just going with the flow hoping that David will figure it all out and doesn’t mind throwing in his own bits of wisdom. I just love Ifans characters and this is another good one.

Boyle as Linda is a chain-smoking daughter who doesn’t see all the fuss about Mother. She is also waiting for David to make a decision on what to do but if she had her way, she’d grab her and throw her out the door. Bell as Anne knows what the family is going through and wants to be supportive but at arm’s length.

Burstyn as Mother has found her sofa and that’s all there is too that. Sitting on that lovely green sofa, she confesses, spills truths and makes it clear that the children are after affects of relationships. She is amazing in this role and her talent shows no signs of stopping and that is everything to someone like me who has followed her career for years.

Abraham as Marco/Marcus gets a chance to take on duality as Marco and Marcus, two brothers who have just as many issues as David and his siblings. He portrays a unique character that David needs to keep madness at bay.

Film Movement, founded in 2002, is an award-winning independent and foreign film company that has released more than 250 feature films and shorts. Theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign arthouse titles catalog such directors as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner and Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. Bluray and DVD films bring such directors as Eric Rohmer, Bolle August, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Luchino Visconti and many more. To discover what Film Movement is all about and find out more about what they have to offer please visit www.filmmovementplus.com.

The film is based on the 2020 book Mamma I Soffa BY Jerker Virdborg. Larsson takes the look and feel of an Ikea and gives it an American flare of its own. The film is full of symbolism and sadness, quirk and beauty all at the same time. The emotions it provokes are powerful and attempts to teach us how difficult it can be to just, well, let go.

MOTHER, COUCH is a film about family dysfunction, lies, secrets and a mysterious key. The cast gives everything to this film and with their own unique natures but it becomes clearer and clearer as the story unfolds how they all came to this place. It seems as if only David is scrambling by all the events happening and it eventually takes its toll. It is the last ten minutes of the film that the family storm finds its calm.

In the end – he discovers that life is too short!

THE EXORCIST: Believer

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from director David Gordon Green, Blumhouse and Universal Pictures is preparing for Halloween with THE EXORCIST: Believer.

Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) and pregnant wife Sorenne (Tracey Graves) are visiting Haiti and spending time photographing the sites. Sorenne meets a group of women that bless her but not before an earthquake hits and sending everyone reeling.

Years have passed and Victor is raising daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) as a single father. They have a special relationship but Angela wants to know about her mother. Off to school, she meets up with friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum) who are making plans after school. Fibbing to their parents about where they really are, the girls find a spot in the forest and try to reach Angela’s mother spiritually.

When Victor gets home, Angela is not anywhere to be found. He reaches out to Katherine’s parents mom Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Tony (Norbet Leo Butz). Everyone becomes frantic as law enforcement spread far and wide looking for the girls in the forest. Friend Stuart (Danny McCarthy) even calls in some spiritualists to seek out Angela with Dr. Beehibe (Okwui Okpokwasili) which sends Victor into a tizzy.

Days later, the girls are found and neighbor Ann (Ann Dowd) who works at the hospital as a nurse sees to Angela. The girls are in shock and when cleared by the police go home but they don’t stay there as something peculiar is happening to them. As things become progressively worse for the girls, Ann tells Victor that he needs to speak to the one person who might be able to help – Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).

Fifty years prior, her own daughter Regan became possessed and Victor feels as if there is something she can do to help. The girls have become dangerous and Victor decides that it is time to take matters into his own hands. Bringing together Katherine’s parents, Dr. Beehibe, Stuart, Pastor Revans (Raphael Sbarge) and Father Maddox from the Catholic church under one roof, it is time to call out the evil!

Odom Jr. as Victor is a father who is still mourning his wife while trying to raise an awesome daughter. When things start to become strange, he has decisions to make and the evil knows how to use his emotions against him. Odom Jr. is fine in the role but there isn’t anything extraordinary about it. He is on the ball playing Victor and there is that.

Jewett as Angela is a young girl who just wants to know more about her mother. In doing so, the spiritual door is open and chaos happens to all. Jewett gets a chance to go from sweet to evil kid and it works. Marcum as Katherine does not get as much screen time as Angela but when she does, it is all about ‘the body and the blood’ because if I had been in church, I think I’d have run out the door!

Dowd as Ann the nurse and picky next-door neighbor is the person who knows that Victor needs the advice of Chris MacNeil. I have been a long-time follower of Dowd’s career because she has the same amazing ability as Burstyn to play such diverse roles from the empathetic to the out-and-out twisted. An example of it is her complexity in character can be seen in the 2017 series THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Dowd played the role of Aunt Lydia Clements and absolutely dominated that character and, of course, we loved to hate her!

Nettles as Miranda is a mother who is going to do whatever it takes to help her daughter, even if it goes against her husband and their church. Watching her agree with Victor, to me, was the high point of her role. Butz as Tony is a man who just can’t deal with everything that is happening because it is far beyond his comprehension. Butz’s character wants to go along to get along but, in the end, he makes decisions based solely on fear.

McCarthy as Stuart is a supportive friend and is not about to let Victor go through this alone. Sbarge as Pastor Revans sort of believes what is happening but until he sees it for himself, it is then when he realizes his faith has to be enough to help. Okpokwasili as Dr. Beehibe brings her belief system as well and helps set up the battle that is to come.

Shout out to Ellen Burstyn because I have always admired her. To come back is amazing and I was all in. That being said, I did not like the way her character was basically used to hold up the story the film was trying to tell. Her original 1973 role was so stunning on the screen and I’m holding on to that!

Other cast include Antoni Corone as Father Phillips, Chandu Kanuri as Daniel, Norah Murphy as Hannah, Linda Boston as Principle and Richard Carr III as the Doctor.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

Blumhouse Productions is known for producing horror films such as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, INSIDIOUS, SINISTER, THE PURGE, THE GIFT, GET OUT, HAPPY DEATH DAY and SPLIT. The films from Blumhouse have become instant classics and they continue to give us something to scream about! See more at www.blumhouse.com

Okay, I’m sure this isn’t going to go over well but, quite honestly, I was not impressed by the film from beginning to end. There was basically no reason for any of it – it’s a possession and there is nothing new, original or scary anymore about that storyline. Using two girls in the film didn’t make anything about it better.

Starting out in Haiti reminded me of the 1977 EXORCIST II: The Heretic and the storyline of the boy Kokumo in Africa and the demon Pazuzu. Then. bringing in Chris MacNeil to do what? Without giving anything away, my reaction is ‘really?’ You can’t have one outstanding solid rock to hold up a sand house. Now, an updated Chris MacNeil story made more sense to me and would have totally been an AMAZING film potentially that I would love to have seen! Can you imagine it? I can!

The problem with possession films is that there is nothing new – it’s possession, an evil unnamed demon and casting out – done. The 1973 William Friedkin THE EXORCIST film set a high standard for frightening audiences that is unmatched in story and horror on a whole other level that has not been repeatable in the last 50 years.  But hey, don’t let me stop you!

In the end – the evil is back!

 

 

 

 

It's a Crash Landing for LUCY IN THE SKY

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from director Noah Hawley and Fox Searchlight Pictures is the story of space and life when your feet are back on the ground for LUCY IN THE SKY.

Lucy (Natalie Portman) has just returned from an incredible experience in space. Getting back to life at home with husband Drew (Dan Stevens) and niece Blue (Pearl Dickson), Lucy also focuses on when she will have the opportunity to go up again. Working hard and training every chance she gets, Lucy realizes that just because she has been in space once doesn't mean there aren't others waiting in line.

She meets Mark Goodwin (Jon Hamm) who is also training to go into space. Mark tries to get Lucy to lighten up a little and join in the fun with other astronauts. Being very focused on the next mission, Lucy lets herself go for a moment and Drew is supportive.

Lucy finds herself in an awkward place when feelings rise up for Mark and a relationship begins. She also discovers who she is up against for the next seat into space, a very young Erin Eccles (Zazie Beetz). Encouraging her to remember what she wants is Nana Holbrook (Ellen Burstyn) who is the touchstone that Lucy keeps close.

As things become more serious, Lucy finds herself in a place she has never been before and her ability to handle it becomes jaded. What she wants and what she needs becomes blurred and Lucy becomes unable to express her anxiety. She pulls on the life thread and when things unravel, a side of her is set lose and there is no turning back.

Portman as Lucy is, unfortunately, flat and not fun to watch. There is this weird accent she is trying (I'm assuming she's trying) and it just doesn't work. What it does manage to do is annoy the living daylights out of me and bring me back to 2010 and another unhinged character in BLACK SWAN. There isn't anything in this character that I mentally want to hold on to but in fact would have no problem cutting the cord to send it into another universe. Obviously I'm not thrilled to have spent two hours sitting in a theatre watching a hot mess when I could have been home watching Below Deck on Bravo.

Hamm as Mark is just a skuzzy user of women and there is nothing redeeming about him either. It doesn't do anything for NASA's image to have him re-play Garrett Breedlove from the 1983 film TERMS OF ENDEARMENT as another astronaut womanizer. The only difference between Lucy and Aurora Greenway I could watch on screen forever.

Beetz as Erin is side candy which is unfortunate. Playing the 'women have to stick together' card it actually turned into 'women have to stick each other' and it gets all messy and boring. Stevens as Drew gets the shaft in this story and I actually felt bad for the actor AND the character. Dickson as Blue just wants something more in her life instead of a crappy dad, an opinionated grandmother and an Aunt who can't keep it together.

Burstyn as Nana Holbrook was under used in this film. Why do they continue to put these amazing actresses in roles that have bite and then take their teeth? Burstyn is an actress in every sense of the word and here she is stuck in a bed once again reliving her 2014 deathbed scene as the older Murph in INTERSTELLAR.

Other cast include Colman Domingo as Frank Paxton, Jeremiah Birkett as Hank Lumch, Jeffrey Donovan as Jim Hunt, Tig Notaro as Kate Mounier, Stella Edwards as Chelsea, Arlo Mertz as Emily, Tobias Schonleitner as Miles Henckle, and Diana DeLaCruz as Dr. Addison.

Okay, so a few weeks ago I sat through AD ASTRA and I wasn't thrilled much by that film either. It had its moments and the cinematography was pretty cool. LUCY IN THE SKY just put AD ASTRA higher up on the scale of films I might sit through again. What is it with these space films that there has to be this epiphany about life. Oh how small we are compared to the universe. I mean did you have to really go to space to find that out? I'm on the ground and I know that…saved a ton on rocket fuel and space junk floating out into space.

Seriously, doesn't NASA do some kind of testing on these people to see how they will handle space before and after because these movies don't seem to show that. Instead its always something going wrong (GRAVITY for example) and THEN they get the meaning of life? Hey NASA, don't use this as a recruitment film. This movie doesn't even have cool space scenes!

Instead, the film decides to make a woman look crazy because she saw the earth from space. I truly wasn't invested in the storyline and didn't care whether she went back to space and the rest was just surface noise, 124 minutes of surface noise. The cheery noise on the cake was the sappy version of the most cool of Beatles songs - way to make sure the knife goes all the way in eh? To just put it all out there, I feel like I've been space punk'd once again! Give me Tom Hanks in APOLLO 13 any day and you can keep the rest.

In the end - in space no one can hear me scream!

Butterfield, Burstyn and Offerman Epically Shine in the THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from writer/director Peter Livolsi based on the novel by Peter Bognanni and Shout! Studios is the ideals of the past, frozen in the present with eyes toward the THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW.

Living in a dome house in the woods is Sebastian Prendergast (Asa Butterfield), a young teenager living with his grandmother Josephine (Ellen Burstyn) studying the philosophies of R. Buckminster Fuller. Josephine has kept Sebastian sequestered from the rest of the world and it will soon become obvious to the young man.

Alan Whitcomb (Nick Offerman) arrives at the House of Tomorrow with a church group to hear all about the history of Buckminster along with son Jared (Alex Wolff) and Meredith (Maude Apatow). While speaking with the kids, Josephine ends up in the hospital and that's when Alan and Jared notice that Sebastian isn't an ordinary teenager.

Sebastian may be different but then again so is Jared. When Alan makes an attempt to help along a friendship, Jared isn't the warm and fuzzy type. Yet Sebastian takes the initiative to visit the Whitcomb home and learns that Jared is different in his own way. Meredith sees Sebastian's innocence as sweet and notices that her brother has truly taken an interest in life.

Learning about one another is awkward yet school is in session as their friendship turns to music and all the things Sebastian has been missing outside of his dome-cocoon. Josephine spends her time coming up with ideas to get more people into the dome for visits but also notices that something is changing about her grandson. Feeling him pulling away causes an emotional showdown.

When Alex and Sebastian decide to start a band and perform - they are up against a grandmother who refuses to budge from the past, an over protective father who is afraid of the present and a future that can only shine for the House of Tomorrow.

Butterfield as Sebastian has once again embraced a role that is deep, endearing and innocent. Smarter than the average teen and a vocabulary even an adult would shy away from, it is when he crosses to the outer-side that the two worlds mesh and he makes it his own. Butterfield not only has the ability to show every fiber of innocence but when he lets loose, he also has the ability to make us all cheer for him!

Wolff as Jared is a young man dealing with an over protective father and a mother with problems of her own. Finding an unusual friendship with Sebastian turns out to be just what the doctor ordered. Trying to find his own place in the world, Jared finds it in music, taking chances by breaking away bringing Sebastian with him. I truly enjoyed Wolff in this role and I admit he also made me laugh - a lot, and because just as Sebastian has a way of talking, so does Jared.

Offerman as Dad Alan is raising two teen kids who are clearly strong willed and, once in a while, cause him to cringe with things they say and do. I have to say that Offerman has the calmness of a saint with all the shenanigans happening in his home as well as finding he has another teen in his home. When Alex needs him the most, Alan kicks into over drive and starts to see his son differently. Apatow as Meredith is the girl who is irritated with Dad, insulting with brother and leery of Mom - in other words a typical teenager. She sees something in Sebastian that gives her a little more hope that life still can be surprising.

Burstyn as Josephine has lived her life attacked to that of R. Buckminster Fuller. Believing in the philosophies that the world can be a better place, she has raised her grandson to make a difference in the world. Of course when he becomes aware of the outside world, and a Pepsi, she becomes distraught thinking he will be lost to it all. I absolutely adore Burstyn, always have, and her role in THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW reminds me (as if I need it) of the astronomical level of her talent.

Writer Peter Bognanni teaches creative writing in Minnesota and won the Los Angeles Time Book Prize and the ALA Alex Award for the novel The House of Tomorrow. His second book is Things I'm Seeing Without You is a story of love, loss and loving again.

THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW is a beautiful film that wraps the past, present and future all around the heart. As someone who is well aware of R. Buckminster Fuller, I truly loved that his presence is mixed in the story and was surprised to learn the piece of footage with Burstyn and Fuller is actually real. Just that moment in the film brings the viewer into it all on an even deeper level.

Keeping the cast to a minimum is also something that I truly enjoyed about the story. Focusing on the relationship between Josephine, Sebastian and the Whitcomb's lets our hearts open to endearment, coming of age, change and even a bit of laughter. This story is about five very different people discovering that grandmothers can be sticklers, fathers know more than they say and that kids reach a point where breaking away sometimes means breaking the rules.

In the end - make your own future!

NOSTALGIA is the Thin Thread Between Our Mementos and Memories

Jeri Jacquin

In theatres this Friday from writer/director Mark Pellington and Bleeker Street is the story of lives, love and loss all wrapped around NOSTALGIA.

Ronnie Ashemore (Bruce Dern) is an elderly man who is surrounded by his life of the written word and when visited by insurance agent Daniel Kalman (John Ortiz). Having a look around at the behest of Ronnie's granddaughter, the elderly gentleman makes it clear that there is no reason for him to leave his home. Daniel listens as Ronnie makes it clear that although he is surrounded by the life he shared with family, others might see it all as trash.

Daniel next meets Helen Greer (Ellen Burstyn), a widower who he finds sitting in the midst of ashes where her house once stood. Recalling the events of the fire, Helen explains the irony of the things she chose to save before the firemen came in to save her. One such item is a baseball that belonged to her late husband and she can't explain why she saved it.

Staying with her son Henry (Nick Offerman), Helen feels the pressure he is placing on her to consider assisted living. Helen feels the need to break away and packs the saved belongings and heads for Las Vegas to meet Will Beam (Jon Hamm) to talk to him about the ball. Their conversation turns nostalgic on the power that personal possessions have over each of them.

Will is off for the weekend to help his sister Donna (Catherine Keener) clear out their family home since their parents have moved to Florida. Making trip after trip to a dumpster outside the house, each decides they will take a few things but get rid of everything else. Donna wants daughter Tallie (Annalise Basso) to go through the attic but the young girl makes it clear that this is Donna and Will's history - not hers. Instead, Tallie wants to be with her friends and live in the now.

All of that comes to a screeching halt as Donna, husband Patrick (James LeGros) and Will come to terms with the memories of childhood, places we live, objects held dear and the technology that has changed the feeling of nostalgia.

Burstyn as Helen is an absolute treasure and every time she is on screen I stop in my tracks. In this role she is a widower who has been living on her own but all of that changes in a split second. Watching Burstyn take this character so deep kept me absolutely invested and put my heart through the ringer. Everything she said and every emotion poured out is believable because it is life and even the character Helen knows we don't get out alive. The scene between Helen and the insurance appraiser in the soot is just a true and brain-twisting as her realizations with Will and a baseball. Thank you Ellen for an endearing realistic perspective like no other.

Hamm as Will is a man who hides loss behind his collectables yet how could he know that the moments with Helen would prepare him for what is to come. Going through his parent’s home, this character takes the attitude that he's there to clean out, reminisce a little with sister Donna and move on. Hamm gives such a strong performance and makes it look amazingly easy but let me say when Hamm gets teary eyed - it hurts. Keener as Donna is a woman who is watching her teen daughter grow up so very quickly, has been taking care of her parents and now seeing her childhood close down for the last time. If that isn't enough, life has thrown her the cruelest hit of all. Keener doesn't hold back and she certainly gave me reason to think on her role for several days - she is that powerful.

LeGros as Patrick is a husband who has to be the shoulder his wife needs but also deals with the reality that there was once a time when photographs were everything. Now with cell phones, if that is destroyed then so are the pictures people would normally have as photographs on paper. Dern as Ronnie has a smaller role but it isn't any less impactful. He also understands the life he has lead and those he spent his life loving making no apologies for either.

Other cast includes Bella Pellington, Tamar Pelzig, Romy Rosemont, Amber Tamblyn, Ashlyn Williams, Jennifer Mudge, Chris Marquette, Mark Marcarian, Anna O'Bryan, Joanna Going, Lindsey Kraft, Beth Grant, Patton Oswalt and Hugo Armstrong.

NOSTALGIA is a film that is going to challenge everyone's perception of life. It is true that people of my age hold things dear because that is how we were raised. I was shown how to preserve photographs, baby books, family bibles, baptism gowns and family heirloom jewelry because they are a piece of history that I wanted to pass on to my children. Fortunately, my children are the same and often one will ask if I have something specific from their childhood and are thrilled when I do.

The pull between the objects and our emotions creates a bond that can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. The blessing is for family members who are thrilled to get beloved items and the curse are the family members that don't share the feelings and waste no time in turning everything over for donation fodder.

The film brings out the issue of how easy it is to lose mementos because we have become a world of snapping pictures with our phones or shooting video thinking we will download them later - but rarely do. In an instant the memories we took the time to 'preserve' are lost with a phone dropped in water or just a lost phone period.

NOSTALGIA also brings us into the lives of these characters that are so relatable because everything they are experiencing, we have all experienced with no exception. The loss of parents or loved ones, getting older and looking back means holding the items that represent milestones in our lives and the lives of those we love, and deciding when it is time to let the weight of those things go to find a freedom we didn't know possible.

In truth we are such emotional packrats, some of us just let what's inside leak out into our closets, storage rooms and lives.

I love this film, absolutely love it and am unapologetic for it. The cast is completely fascinating and sheer perfection bringing it all together beautifully, sadly and stunningly. The story is real, authentic and so damn emotional that for a moment I wasn't thrilled to feel so much so fast. That's life right?

In the end - it is the memories of the lives lived.