Day 3: Together Together, Land, First Date, Prisoners of the Ghostland

Jan. 31, 2021

Together Together, dir. Nikole Beckwith

Land, dir. Robin Wright

Together Together

NR | 90 minutes

Together Together is an odd-couple comedy that works most of the time but not all of the time. It is about a single man and his relationship with the surrogate mother of his unborn child. For about the first act - “the first trimester” as it is referred to in the film - the awkwardness between the two characters, which is intentional, is so awkward that it becomes cringe-filled. Patti Harrison and Ed Helms are both funny individuals and the awkwardness between them has the potential to be funny but it is spotlighted in this film such that it almost doesn’t work. I will be honest, I was bored for the first third of this film. Nothing was really landing for me. But, once we get further into the film and we become more acclimated to these two characters it becomes a much more pleasant viewing experience. This is a charming film but you won’t feel it until a lot later than you should. As I said, Patti Harrison and Ed Helms are both funny but they don’t really work together until much later than they should. I would like to acknowledge that this film is important in the sense that it represents a significant milestone for the transgender community. Though transgender herself, Patti Harrison‘s character is not and I think it is important to recognize that this is one of the first “kind of” romantic comedies (I say “kind of” because it’s a rom-com, but about platonic friends, if that makes sense) I’ve seen with a trans individual in a lead role. I think that’s great. By the film’s very abrupt end, I found that I enjoyed myself, but I think that it took too long for me to get to that point.

Final Thought: Charming at its best, boring at its worst, Together Together takes too long to become appealing, but when it does, it succeeds immensely.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Land

PG-13 | 89 minutes

Overall, this film is stunning to look at. It was shot in Canada and the wintry forests of Canada, especially in the nighttime, are absolutely beautiful. I think the film cinematography really does well to accent and showcase that. And I like this film for the most part. The performances were good especially that of Demian Bichir and I loved the film’s messages about Grease and friendship. However, the film doesn’t spend enough time delving into these issues. It either glosses is over some of the really tough stages of grief warm it goes in too hard on them, creating a lot of melodrama. The film is 89 minutes long which is not nearly enough time to really explore the psyche of a woman who decides to live in the woods after her family’s Death. There is one moment in the film where I legitimately said to myself, “that escalated too quickly.” And then, they didn’t even give it time to breathe. I think that was what kept me from all-out loving this film. The almost lightning-fast pace created by its too-short runtime creates some tonal imbalance and lessens the overall impact of its messages. It almost feels like this film isn’t fully developed at some points.

Final Thought: Land is a beautiful film due to its cinematography, filming location, and meditations on grief and friendship, but its too-fast pace, due to its 89-minute runtime, lessens its impact and creates a slight tonal imbalance.

Rating: 4 out of 5

First Date, dir. Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp

Prisoners of the Ghostland, dir. Sion Sono

First Date

NR | 103 minutes

In the tradition of films like Date Night or Game Night, this film follows a teenage boy who has the craziest night of his life. To get to a date with his crush, he buys a car from a sketchy guy that has a storied past: it used to belong to a drug dealer who was killed. This drug dealer's cohorts, who are also all part of a book club, try to track down this boy and the car. Two cops also come into the mix at some point. I love these kinds of movies. They have a large cast of quirky criminals and a lot of exciting moments. The big climactic scene near the end was so much fun to watch. I think this was the most fun movie I saw at Sundance this year. It's exciting which I loved. Film festival films are rarely "exciting" in the sense that there are few festival films that have a lot of action. In that sense, this film was really unexpected. I was on the edge of my seat watching this film. I just ate it ALL up completely. Now, It's a bit overstuffed. Having a large cast of characters like in this film comes with its downsides. There are a lot of lines you need to follow. It's not difficult to follow like Prisoners of the Ghostland, but it is a lot to follow. But... it's SO exciting. I really didn't expect it.

Final Thought: Completely unexpected, First Date is a wild high-octane ride that’s ensemble of quirky and mysterious characters will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Prisoners of the Ghostland

NR | 103 minutes

This film will have its fans and I suspect that it will be divisive, but there was just too much going on... WAY TOO MUCH. I honestly don't know what I expected from a Nicolas Cage movie, but it wasn't his. The film follows a man who is forced to find this man called the Governor's granddaughter from this wasteland called the Ghostland and if he doesn't in five days' time, the suit he is forced to wear will explode. I was drawn to this film because of its seemingly wild and crazy energy. It seemed like a spoof/parody that would be something that I would enjoy... I did not. The aspect that I take the most issue with is the story. There is certainly nothing wrong with a complex story, but this film goes past being complex and just becomes overstuffed. This seems like it should have been a graphic novel (like a LONG graphic novel) instead of a film. There are so many pieces of the film that you lose track of them and then you just get confused. The film also takes a lot of influence from a lot of different styles of filmmaking, most noticeably spaghetti westerns and post-apocalyptic thrillers. That also creates a lot of tonal imbalance because you can never figure out what genre of film this is. Is it comedy, horror, crime thriller, heist? I couldn't tell you. Now, the film looks amazing. The cinematography and especially the production design are excellent. During the scenes in the Ghostland, I was in awe of the design of the location. It really looks amazing.

Final Thought: Part spaghetti western, part Mad Max, Prisoners of the Ghostland is very well crafted, but its plot is too bloated and confusing to allow you to appreciate its craft.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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