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Ari's Art Review 4
Freedom Hair, Rebel Ridge, Wicked Letters, Animal Kingdom, Billie Holiday, Bear, Lincoln Lawyer, and more.
Copyright © 2024 by Ari Armstrong
September 24, 2024
Freedom Hair: This film portrays the true story of a woman's fight to work as a hair braider within a protectionist regulatory regime intended to keep her out. You can also read the Institute for Justice's account of her heroic struggle. I love Simona Brown as the braider, Melany Armstrong, and Jeremie Harris as her husband. And thank goodness for IJ!
Rebel Ridge: Remarkably, this Netflix film, written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, turns the grotesque injustice of civil asset forfeiture into an interesting action-revenge story. This is basically Libertarian Rambo. However, the film manages to be pro-cop even as it harshly condemns corruption in law-enforcement. The acting is solid. Here is the basic setup: An ex-military man is biking a stack of cash to court to bail out his cousin, who got busted on a drug charge. The cops, of course, steal his cash. One practical lesson: When you're out in the world, don't listen to music such that you can't hear what's going on around you.
Wicked Little Letters: Loved it! The story draws in real events. In 1920s England, someone is mailing out horrible, obscene letters to women around town (Littlehampton). Of course the low-mannered ("free spirited") Irish immigrant is blamed. Who really did it? Will the Irish woman take the fall? Jessie Buckley as the lead character makes this film great.
Animal Kingdom: What if a bunch of people started turning into animals? Weird premise, yes. But this 2023 French film digs into rich themes of peaceful coexistence versus enforced bigotry. And Romain Duris and Paul Kircher as (respectively) the father and son dealing with the transition of their wife and mother (and with other issues!) are stunningly good.
United States vs. Billie Holiday: The harassment of Billie Holiday by police and the FBI is inexcusable and a shameful episode of our nation's history. It is also true that Holiday could be self-destructive even as she could be brave and heroic. I can't say I enjoyed this film, but I appreciated it as a historical piece. Also check out a short documentary about the song that Holiday made famous, "Strange Fruit," a critique of lynchings. And hear her sing the song. NPR has a story of Abel Meeropol, who wrote the song.
The Bear, Forks: "Forks," the seventh Bear episode from season 2, is some of the best TV I've ever seen. The show is about a chef and his crew seeking to open a high-end restaurant. In this episode, Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), a disgruntled ne'er-do-well, is sent by the lead chef to work temporarily at a high end restaurant. His job is to polish forks, a job he does not appreciate at all. Richie thinks he's being punished. But eventually he learns otherwise. It's a beautiful character arc with some beautiful acting. Generally, The Bear is excellent, although I find some of the episodes too chaotic to enjoy.
Trek DS9, Whispers: Here's another great episode of television. In "Whispers" (season 2, episode 14), Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) can't understand why everyone is acting strangely around him. His own wife and daughter stand off. There is surely some sort of conspiracy afoot, and O'Brien is determined to get to the bottom of it. This is a great episode dealing with personal identity. The next episode, "Paradise," about an anti-technology cult, also is fantastic.
Lincoln Lawyer: Once I got over the shock of adapting to Manuel Garcia-Rulfo's version of the character, following Matthew McConaughey's much different portrayal, I quite enjoyed the first season of the television show. Like Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer is a creation of Michael Connelly, whose work I generally like. The writing and acting are solid; I especially enjoyed seeing Neve Campbell again (I used to watch her in Charmed). There's already a second season of the show out (on Netflix) and a third coming soon.
Hitchhiker's Guide the the Galaxy: This book is too silly for me to deeply enjoy; recently I reread the first volume. But there are some fun moments. I very much liked this line: "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
Furiosa: This is a film about a horrible world in which people spend a lot of time killing each other. I did not much enjoy it and do not recommend it. It has some spectacular desert car chase and fight scenes. Chris Hemsworth creates an interesting villain, and Tom Burke and Charlee Fraser ably portray heroes who, of course, die horribly. The actors who portray the younger Furiosa are okay, but it's hard to follow Charlize Theron.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: This deeply pessimistic film sees the world as constantly at risk of the powerful dominating the weak. Unfortunately that has mostly been the norm, and it is why we need to defend liberalism (broadly defined) now. Spoiler: The most interesting character in the film, a scholar of peace named Raka, is murdered. The production value and voice acting are good. But this very much feels like a film the main purpose of which was to extend the franchise.
Portable Door: This is a standard "secret society of wizards" story. Although the story had some potential, and the actors generally are good, the film doesn't work very well. It ends up too childish.