MACKIE BROWN WI24

MY

Top Four Films

FEATURING...

THE IRON CLAW & POOR THINGS

+ READ ON FOR MY RANKING OF 2024 BEST PICTURE NOMS

ABOUT

Mackie Brown is a movie review journal made by one self-proclaimed cinephile. A reference to Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown, this journal is inspired by the love I have for cinema and the power it holds to make life a little better. Each issue features my favorite films from the season, along with my personal and completely subjective opinion on what makes them so good. The movies I pick range from classics to new releases; it just has to be my first time watching them. From plot to production design, nothing is left undiscussed. I’m no professional film critic, but who needs one when you can read the ramblings of a professional popcorn-eating (yum), blanket-loving (comfy), theater-going (fun), twentysomething?

— Makana,“Mackie”

SING S TREET

Dir. John Carney 2016

I’ve come across many feel-good movies in the past, but none have provided me with the experience Sing Street did. While I had heard positive reviews prior to watching it, I had no idea this film would make me so happy. I truly have nothing but good things to say about it! Now, is it the best film ever made? No. But it doesn’t have to be because it offers its viewers a good time. And sometimes, that’s all you really need.

Firstly, the music was fantastic. I found myself loving every single original song, tapping my foot and bobbing my head like they actually came from the 80’s bands Conor, played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, becomes inspired by. “The Riddle of the Model” and “Drive It Like You Stole It” are definitely two of my favorites as not only standalone songs but also as moments in the film. When we see the band get together to film their first music video, it works perfectly to cement their relationship as a group. The incredibly funny cast of young actors interacting with their instruments and throwing around quips really give the story its charm. I have no idea what 14-year-olds were like in Dublin 40 years ago, but the dynamic captured on screen felt right. I also loved the entire dream sequence for “Drive It Like You Stole It” in the gymnasium. The catchiness of the song combined with the transformation into the 50’s felt like a refreshing contrast from the grungier and messier 80’s aesthetic of the rest of the movie.

From the dancing and outfits to Walsh-Peelo’s stage performance, everything built up into what I think was the best part in the film.

While the music is the main vessel the story gets told through, the film doesn’t forget to ground itself in real, human relationships. The dynamic between Conor and his older brother, Brendan, played by Jack Reynor, was one I liked witnessing. With the unraveling of their parents’ marriage, Conor and Brendan find ways to connect through music. Too wrapped up in financial and personal problems to be at all interested in the lives of their children, their mother and father couldn’t be less involved. And so, throughout the film we see Conor being

majorly influenced by Brendan’s music tastes as well as his advice on love and life. While they don’t always see eye to eye, the care they have for one another is there. The relationship between Conor and his older crush Raphina, played by Lucy Boynton, is also sweet. It starts unrequited as Raphina, with the belief that he’ll help start her modeling career, is already dating an older man. However, over time Conor and Raphina grow closer through his heartfelt music and her involvement in the band’s videos. What I like most is that Conor, despite pining for her the entire time, doesn’t just forgive Raphina after she makes her mistakes and realizes her naivety. He makes her remember her own worth, and it’s through this reclaiming of her identity that she earns him back. They choose each other in the end, following their dreams to go to London and taking the leap of faith together. I know it’s cliché, but it’s also the perfect conclusion to Conor’s coming-of-age story..

EIRON CLAW

T H

Dir. Sean Durkin 2023

I doubt I’m alone in saying that The Iron Claw has gone completely unrecognized as one of 2023’s best. Every performance is lived-in and honest, even when the character types we encounter are ones we’ve seen before. Whether it be the responsible eldest brother, the misfit youngest, or the demanding patriarch, every character feels real. And that’s because they are. The Von Erich’s, one of wrestling’s most iconic families, are portrayed by a talented cast of actors who proved more than capable of telling their tragic story with the utmost vulnerability and understanding. This, most of all, applies to Zac Efron, who plays Kevin Von Erich and delivers what should have been Academy-recognized work. Efron imbues his character with such heart and a desire to not only make his father proud but to be with his brothers and take care of them. You feel every loss he has to go through (both in the ring and out of it) and the weight each one adds to his hulking shoulders. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to experience all that Kevin has, but Efron does a phenomenal job of showing you.

The rest of Kevin’s brothers are portrayed with just as much tenderness. While the film centers around Efron’s character, it’s impossible for the audience to not feel the massive hole each brother leaves behind as the story progresses. Their individual personalities and aspirations along with their shared commitment to family legacy and one another shine through. Harris Dickinson is a standout as David, the most outspoken and theatrical of the four brothers, embodying the confident showman with great charisma. Jeremy Allen White, who plays Kerry, carries himself with a more serious tone of drive and determination to succeed for his father. And lastly there’s Mike, played by Stanley Simmons, who desperately wants to break away from the family business and forge a path in music. Despite these differences, they come together so warmly in a true bond of brotherhood. Many of the scenes work perfectly to showcase this. In spite of constantly having to vie for titles and their father’s pride, they value the complicated but meaningful relationship they share. It is this relationship that makes losing each brother so sharp.

When David passes away from enteritis while abroad, his death comes as a shockwave that ripples across the rest of the film. What started as a tumultuous but inspiring story about this close-knit family begins to unravel into a tragic tale of toxic parental expectations and the lengths people will go to to fulfill them. Next comes the death of Mike, who commits suicide after suffering from a wrestling injury that eventually leaves him with permanent brain damage. Kerry’s death soon follows. After a motorcycle accident that took his foot, a long battle with drug addiction, and the loss of his brothers, he also commits suicide in front of the family home. It is truly unbelievable that this story is not only based on real events but actually leaves out even more tragedy. Director Sean Durkin shared that the youngest Von Erich brother, Chris, who also died by suicide, was completely kept out of the film in order to save it from the weight of too much devastation. While I understand Durkin’s point of view, I don’t agree with leaving out the last brother. No matter how tragic it would be for there to be four deaths instead of three, it didn’t feel right to find out that there was a whole other person whose existence was never acknowledged in the film.

The last two scenes served as the final one-two punch to my tear ducts. When the brothers who’ve passed reunite, what could’ve been a cliché scene turns out to be soft and quiet. Every look and embrace felt necessary, like the exact thing they and us needed in the moment. Then we cut back to Kevin, his isolation a stark contrast to the reunion we’ve just witnessed, and our hearts break all over again for him. The weight of all that’s happened bubbles to the surface of his face as he watches his sons play together. In a showing of real vulnerability, Efron serves as a powerful example against toxic masculinity. When he apologizes for crying, Kevin’s sons provide comfort and assurance that it’s okay. That everyone cries. And so we, the audience (and by audience, I mean me), take this as permission to let all the tears fall.

A word that continued to come to mind while watching Anatomy of a Fall was ambiguity. From the editing to the writing to the acting, ambiguity is baked into this film. That commitment to grayness in what is meant to be a very black and white investigation of events is this story’s most compelling attribute. As the audience, we are never fully led to believe one possibility over the other. Even when the court decides that Sandra is innocent, viewers can’t be too sure of the actual truth. Did Samuel, by suicide or accident, die on his own? Or did a tumultuous marriage drive his wife to murder? The film doesn’t lean heavily in either direction, seemingly uninterested in defining what actually happened anyway. Instead, the film focuses on the reality of a marriage and the value of perception.

Fragments are all anyone gets to see of Sandra and Samuel’s relationship. The things we learn about Samuel all come through other sources: his wife, his son, and his therapist. And the two times that we actually see him ourselves come from a recording and from a recounted memory. Despite the scrutiny their marriage faces, we only see Sandra and Samuel together once, and while they’re in their worst state. It’s revealed that, the day before his death, Samuel secretly recorded an argument they had. As expected, it does nothing to help Sandra’s case in the judge’s eyes. It also doesn’t help her case in, we, the viewers’ eyes because of the film’s commitment to blurred perceptions. When the recording first plays, we get taken back to when the scene actually happened. But when the altercation erupts into something physical, director Justine Triet makes the incredible decision to bring us back to the courtroom, where we can only hear—and guess—what happens. As the only representation of their relationship, that clip would no doubt solidify Sandra’s guilt to those listening. And yet, it is of course Sandra who exposes the complexities of what a marriage can be. She describes it as “a sort of chaos,” explaining that no matter what others may think they know, the only people who can truly understand what goes on within a partnership are those within the partnership. She could just as easily talk to her own therapist, using her grievances to paint Samuel as the bad guy. But would it be true?

The acting is another major part of this film’s success as a

courtroom and family drama. Sandra Hüller’s lead performance as Sandra fits in perfectly with the lack of stable perspective the film provides. Hüller portrays an ambitious but controlling woman that you don’t want to fault for being the more successful spouse but can’t help but think her own ego contributed to her husband’s depression. She does a fantastic job of influencing the audience into understanding her circumstances while never fully assuring us that she didn’t kill her husband. Milo Machado Graner, who plays Sandra’s visually-impaired son Daniel, is another standout. He was so engaging as his character grapples with the reality of his parents’ marriage and navigates towards the truth (or what he at least can understand as the truth). So much of his performance is silent, but we can clearly see how torn he is about the death of his father and persecution of his mother. In a conversation with Marge, his court-appointed chaperone, Daniel realizes that his faith must fall one way or the other. Both possibilities of the truth cannot exist at once. And so he orchestrates the almost-death of his dog Snoop, played by the astonishingly talented canine actor Messi (seriously, give this dog an Oscar), in an effort to come up with proof of his mother’s innocence. The experiment fails to fully convince anyone though, so Daniel offers up a memory of his father, on the way home from the vet, preparing him for Snoop’s inevitable death. However, Daniel frames this talk as Samuel hinting at his own death. The court believes him and acquits his mother. But did it actually happen? I’ve seen many theories on the answer, so I’ll close with my own idea: Sandra didn’t kill Samuel, but Daniel, realizing the dire state of his mother’s case, embellished a memory with his father to strengthen the possibility of suicide. This is why Samuel mouths along to Daniel’s testimony of the memory rather than says the words himself. In the end, Daniel took Marge’s advice; he chose his truth.

POOR THINGS

Dir.

It would be hard to discuss Poor Things without starting with its shining force: Emma Stone. Her performance as lead character Bella, a reanimated adult woman with the brain of a baby, is transcendent. It’s hard to imagine that, in 25 years time, when Stone is rightfully honored as one of the best in her generation, this film won’t be considered a highlight in her body of work. The only difficulty will be deciding which of her many memorable scenes will be shown. From toddler tantrums to bizarre dance breaks to raunchy sexual escapades, Bella goes through a whirlwind of experiences in a condensed period of time. And we are right there with her, eyes glued to the screen in wait for the next thing she messily does. Stone’s ability to perform such absurdity in a charming way keeps the character funny and sincere as opposed to brash and irritating. A person like Bella, with her lack of knowledge or care for polite society, could easily become someone the audience dislikes. Instead, we cheer her on for having the gaul to do as she pleases without a thought to how others will perceive her. Every emotion she comes across is felt deeply, and Stone reflects that experience with empathy.

The cast of actors surrounding Stone also deserve a shoutout. Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef make up the trio of men that, in both negative and positive ways, shape Bella into the woman she becomes. Dafoe portrays the hardened Godwin Baxter, as he grapples with scientific ambitions and concealed paternal affections for his creation. Given Dafoe’s track record of “weird” characters, it’s no surprise his performance held the same grounded attempt at a heightened personality. A side note I have to squeeze in as one of my favorite aspects of his character was the random bubbles he’d sometimes burp out in the slowest and most mundane fashion. Just pure comedy,ladies and gentlemen! Speaking of pure comedy,Ruffalo’srakish Duncan Wedderburn is as hilarious as heispathetic. Even though I’ve never seen him in a rolelikethisbefore, Ruffalo takes on the part of aloof but controlling bachelor with serious charm. I could not keep from laughing every time he whined or threw a fit at Bella’s lack of interest in him. Lastly there’s Youssef in the role of the inexperienced but

well-meaning Max McCandles. Sweet and understanding, he juxtaposes much of what the other men in Bella’s life want from her: possession. While he does initially fight against Bella’s plan to travel abroad with Duncan, Max eventually comes to accept her quirks and her desires.

As much as I have come to like the film, I will admit that it took me a good 30 minutes to truly step into the groove of its tone. It was so different and jarring at first that I couldn’t fully get behind the characters or the world. The surrealist element to the sets, fashion, and even the dialogue wasn’t the most inviting. Now, that isn’t to say that the cinematography and production design weren’t unbelievable! The technicolor backdrops and elaborate interiors have been on my mind since I saw them, but there is always a sort of cold and distant energy to director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films (looking at you, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Once I got to know Bella and watch her evolve as a person, though, I was all in. Her journey towards womanhood was, dare I say, more empowering than 2023’s supposed feminist manifesto Barbie. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely enjoyed Barbie. However, I think that Poor Things’ handling of its central figure carried more weight. As she sees more of the world and meets people, Bella comes to embrace her sexuality and bodily autonomy in a way that’s messy but authentic. She may get herself into complicated situations, but it is only through living wholeheartedly and pursuing her (intellectual and sexual) desires. Societal norms and the expectations of others, specifically the men in her life, do little to keep her still. The journey from being an experiment to an adventurer and lover to a prostitute to finally her own person was engaging. The only real problem I had with this journey was its excessive depictions of sex. While I understood the basic function and necessity of some of Bella’s sex scenes, the sheer amount of explicitness became a little overwhelming and almost counterintuitive to the message. I think Bella’s sexual evolution could’ve been showcased just as well with maybe 60% of what was included. However, I do commend Stone’s ability to take on such demands with unadulterated confidence and abandon.