Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, digesting the two motion pictures I watched last evening, whilst listening to the cello concerto of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, an Eyetalian composer from Italy, a composer who scored quite a few motion pictures, taught such pupils as Henry Mancini, Andre Previn, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, and others of that ilk. He wrote concerti for famous soloists like Heifetz, an opera, and lots of guitar pieces. A wonderful, accessible, and tuneful composer, whose classical music is very much film music-like. Now, the tale of two tales, which have at least a couple of similarities, but are worlds apart. Interestingly, both are first-time directing debuts, also worlds apart. Let’s start with the first one I watched, which was entitled Blink Twice, co-written and directed by Zoe Kravitz, about a bunch of young women who go to a private island owned by a wealthy white IT guy, who brings his wealthy, entitled white male friends along, and where much goes on. Obviously, it’s a female empowerment thing towards the end. What’s interesting is that the director criticizing rich, white males, herself comes from privilege – daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet. She’s acted in quite a few movies I’ve never seen and got her real fame from superhero things. The critics, even the ones who didn’t like the film, all, to a person, are too afraid to say the empress has no clothes, if you get my meaning. It’s a weird double standard – they certainly have no issue if they hate a film saying that a male director is terrible. That they do and frequently with relish on. Well, there are great male directors and male directors who aren’t great – and there are great female directors and there are female directors who are not great. That’s how it goes and, in my view, you can’t have a different critical standard based on gender. By now, you’re surmising that I probably didn’t care for Blink Twice and you’d be quite correct. The script, for me, was terrible – whether one likes the IDEA of it or not is not the thing – the thing is the dialogue is terrible, the characters have no dimension and for most of them you don’t know a thing about them, and it’s all ultimately predictable in terms of where it ends up. Then we have the direction, which is very typical of a lot of today’s filmmakers, although thankfully there’s no shaky-cam or dog poop like that. The editing and music are of no help. The fact is, it’s just one repetitious scene after another for the first fifty-minute, until we begin to glean what’s going on. The film run an hour and forty-two minutes and would have been much better off at thirty minutes shorter and let me tell you that any director who wasn’t in love with every word and shot would have chopped that opening fifty minutes down to forty minutes. There’s no pace, no rhythm, and then in the film’s final act, everything just happens really fast once we know the deal, and then we get a female revenge thing, with a laughable tag scene. I really couldn’t stand it but felt it my duty to finish it. But a lot of critics praised it.
Then we have the other film, which was entitled Swallow, which I watched strictly for the lead actress, Haley Bennett, who I’d just enjoyed so much in The Hole. I wanted to see her in an adult role. Again, this is a first-time feature for its director, Carlo Mirabella-Davis. A 2019 film that came and went because, I believe, there was no easy way to sell it, so they kind of sold it as a thriller/horror thing and it’s anything but that. Unfortunately, it also opened right as the world was shutting down in 2020 and the nightmare of the pandemic. The film got mostly good reviews and the bad ones probably loved Blink Twice because heaven forbid a film shouldn’t be facile and done with a sledgehammer. By now, you’re probably surmising that I liked Swallow, and you’d be quite correct. In fact, I thought it was pretty great and it was a directorial debut that was worth shouting about. I have no idea if he’s done anything since – well, no features, but did direct two episodes of some TV thing called Servant.
His work here is terrific, as is the production design. It’s a low-budget movie that looks great, has great photography, and when a director says that the choice of house where most of the film takes place was inspired by the house in North by Northwest and that his visual approach was influenced by Rosemary’s Baby, you know you’re in at least interesting hands visually. And the script is compelling and interesting in ways we really haven’t seen, and like Blink Twice, does involve a woman finally taking control of her body and life, but not in a revenge fantasy. It’s a quiet film with an Oscar-worthy performance by Haley Bennett – I cannot praise this performance highly enough and had anyone actually seen it, she might have gotten a nomination. The rest of the cast is excellent, the score works very well in the film and while the film does have a few uncomfortable scenes – she is pregnant and controlled by husband and his family, trying to be a good little wife who was lucky enough to marry into wealth. She begins swallowing small household objects – first a small marble, but moving on to more dangerous items like a thumbtack, a nail, a battery – as the film goes along we slowly get snippets of why she might be behaving like this. I won’t give anything away, but the film’s final twenty minutes are riveting and not at all what you’d expect. I really thought it was terrific and if you like a psychological character study with a brilliant performance at its center and a great directorial debut, I can highly recommend it. It’s four bucks to stream.
Other than that, I got up a couple of times due to an upset tummy, but ultimately slept seven hours. I decided to stay in and ordered food from Panda Express. It may not be the greatest Chinese food in the world (it isn’t in that league at all), but what it IS is dependable and always tasty. I had the orange chicken and string bean chicken with white and fried rice. After that, I did no writing, although I did make some notes, and then I watched the two movies. I did a quick Instacart order with a ten-dollar off coupon, because Ralph’s was having a four for $18 deal on Diet Coke, less than five each and too good to pass up. In fact, I may go there tomorrow and get four more at that price. I also got some pasta for Wacky Noodles, some tuna, some other diet drinks, all on sale. A good deal is a good deal and I was out of everything. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I have to do a quick bank run, then I’ll make Wacky Noodles, I’ll check with the mail place, I’ll definitely do the one page I should have done yesterday, I’ll finesse the commentary, and then at some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same, and then I have to mentally prepare for my physical examination in the Hills of Beverly. Also, I’m hoping we can settle on a set and lighting designer for Drat – we already have a great costume person – and whatever else needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, do a quick bank run, make and eat Wacky Noodles, check with the mail place, write, finesse, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What directors do you think had great debut films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have told the tale of two tales.