Vox Lux (2018)

I had remembered seeing the title of the film I chose for today somewhere before and I wanted to see it in theaters, but like a lot of independent films it was never released. The film that I am talking about is 2018's Vox Lux which was written and directed by Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader). After surviving a violent tragedy, Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) gets catapulted into super stardom that turns her into a pop hero. We follow Celeste over the course of her career until we get to 2017 and older Celeste (Natalie Portman) is trying to get over a scandal that sort of put a halt to her career as she tries to make a comeback with her new album Vox Lux, but can she survive all the other stuff that comes with it like motherhood? The film also stars Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) as The Manager, Stacy Martin (All The Money In The World) as Eleanor, Jennifer Ehle (Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies) as Josie The Publicist, Christopher Abbott (It Comes At Night) as The Journalist, Logan Riley Bruner (Orange Is The New Black) as Cullen Active, Maria Dizzia (Martha Marcy May Marlene) as Ms. Dwyer, Meg Gibson (Sex And The City) as Celeste's Mother, and Allison Winn (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Therese.

Going into this film, I definitely wasn't sure what to expect out of it, but what we did receive was social commentary on the powers that pop stars possess over fanbases that gawk at them like they are Gods and Goddesses. They tried to do this thing where you take a train wreck like Britney Spears and you write a film about her comeback and hopes that she rises again, but what they did with this was look at the side of fame you don't see. Natalie Portman definitely puts on a performance in this film that is unforgettable and you see this childish side of her because she has never had anyone in her life tell her that things were not OK to do especially Jude Law's character. You also see her struggle with motherhood and how bad of an influence she is on her own daughter throughout the film as she struggles for normalcy among the Gods. The one thing about this film is that the individual performances in this film greatly outweighed the overall picture and what I mean by that is while the performances were great, the story was just OK in my book. There is really nothing they are providing in this film that people don't already know about pop stars, but the other saving grace is the amazing soundtrack provided by Sia who does a terrific job in the music department. The film is available on HULU as we speak and if you are a fan of Natalie Portman then this might be one you want to check out at least once for how great she was in the film. Other than that, I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.

It Comes At Night (2017)

I was thinking to myself the other day that I hadn't done a lot of horror films this year and believe me there are plenty that I still need to watch. The film that I chose for today I had been meaning to see, but I was quite ready yet, but no better time than now to see It Comes At Night which is the perfect film for the times we are living in. The film centers around the idea that a virus has destroyed the way of life in the world and everyone is forced to live frontier like lives. You live the type of life where you have to protect your family and your land from others. That is what Paul (Joel Edgerton) has had to do for his family since his father in law passed away. That theory is put to the test when they stumble upon a family looking for help and shelter, but what happens when one of them may be sick? The film also stars Carmen Ejogo (What's The Worst That Could Happen?) as Sarah, Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Monsters And Men) as Travis, Christopher Abbott (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) as Will, Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Kim, Griffin Robert Faulkner as Andrew, David Pendleton (The Edge Of Night) as Bud, and the film was written and directed by Trey Edward Shults (Waves).

Think about how ahead of this time this film is as well as many other films like it. You have to look at the times we are living in right now and imagine if Covid-19 destroyed life as we know it forcing us to be absolutely afraid to go outside without gas masks (does this sound familiar?). The only problem is that we have been doing it for so long that we tend to forget what it was like to be human and we have no idea how this is being spread (does this sound familiar again?). So, we stop being loving neighbors and we are on high alert all the time that you may drop your guard and then bam you are infected. Was it from the people you brought in to your house or did you have it and not know that you did? This film is the loss of humanity and what a pandemic like the ones they are suffering in the film does to the human soul. It's absolutely scary to think about, but are we far off from it right now? Abbott and Edgerton are absolutely amazing in the film in the acting department and as counterparts in the film. You can't help, but watch these two dominate the screen, but young Kelvin Harrison Jr. deserves some credit as well even though he's kind of creepy in the film. Thew film may leave you frustrated because of how it ends, but I actually thought it was poetic in a way. The one thing they most feared soon becomes them. The cinematography is great and the story is pretty solid so that is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.