‘After Yang’
Stream it on Showtime.
Director Kogonada’s vision for the future is suspiciously like today’s Sedona, Ariz., the capital of woo-woo vibes: people wear loose-fitting linen, always use their inner voices and look supernaturally soft. The mild mood even spills over into their work; Jake (Colin Farrell) runs a tea shop bathed in mood lighting.
To complete their happy family, he and his wife, Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith), bought the “technosapien” android Yang (Justin H. Min) as an ethnically compatible sibling for their adopted Chinese daughter, Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). Unfortunately, one day after a very aerobic dance routine, Yang quits. Getting it repaired turns out to be a trial because, in an effort to save money, Jake bought a sketchy refurbished model.
At first, “After Yang” feels like an inadvertent parody of the excesses of super-progressive parenting. But the film comes into its own when Jake gains access to Yang’s memory bank and becomes mesmerized by what he finds. It’s not just that the Android had memories to begin with, but it was able to form emotions—an essential step toward consciousness. “After Yang” subtly explores what it means to have a conscience, or perhaps a soul, and also suggests a degree of acceptability when it comes to technology: Jake treats a robot like a member of his family, but looks down on neighbors with cloned children. Kogonada never strays from a silky tone, but there are bristles underneath.
How can something that looks so innocent – it’s a pretty pastel color and just floats around slowly – be so deadly? But it only takes 10 seconds of exposure to die from the pink cloud that has suddenly sprung up all over the world. So the authorities are ordering people to take shelter in place wherever they are. For Yago (Eduardo Mendonça), this means Giovana’s (Renata de Lélis) apartment. When they had sex for the first time the night before the cloud came, little did they know that they would be stuck together for the next few days. They change in months. They change in years.
To avoid being tempted to dismiss Brazilian director Iuli Gerbase’s film as jumping on the Covid-19 train, viewers are informed at the beginning that “The Pink Cloud” was written in 2017 and set in 2019 has been recorded. of lockdown is pure coincidence.
The fabulous film describes an indoor life, with a droll, semi-detached tone that makes it easy to overlook the plot holes. Instead, we focus on the whims of Yago and Giovana’s reluctant cohabitation, such as “Scenes from a Forced Marriage.” With no end to incarceration in sight, the characters treat their de facto incarceration in two very different ways – and each feels completely understandable.
Stefon Bristol’s debut film makes up for a limited budget with outrageous wit and heart. (People noticed that the director is working on a thriller starring Jennifer Hudson, Milla Jovovich and Quvenzhané Wallis.)
Best friends CJ (Eden Duncan-Smith) and Sebastian (Dante Crichlow) are happy teenage geeks who attend Bronx High School of Science and apply their engineering skills to odd jobs in their East Flatbush neighborhood, such as fixing up neighbors’ laptops. However, their big project is a time travel device. When CJ and Sebastian finally manage to turn the clock back a day, they find themselves embroiled in a case of police brutality that they desperately try to avoid in successive returns. This only creates ripples of consequences that the overwhelmed kids – who were warned by a teacher, Michael J. Fox in a sweet cameo – can’t control. You can read the ambiguous ending as a suggestion that the cycle of violence will feed forever, or opt for a more optimistic interpretation.
The influence of Bristol’s mentor, Spike Lee (who acts as producer) is evident everywhere, especially in the neighborhood scenes, which have a naturalistic flair, and in Bristol’s confident, efficient directing.
The 18th-century fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” has seen many adaptations, and this Japanese film is one of the best – and certainly the most emotional. Which isn’t too surprising, because it’s from Mamoru Hosoda (“Wolf Children” and the Academy Award nominee “Mirai”), one of the greatest directors of anime. The story revolves around Suzu, a high school student who struggles with the grief caused by her mother’s death. Suzu finds an escape into U’s virtual world, where she becomes the wildly popular singer Belle. Finally, she encounters the Beast, a huge demonic figure who is being hunted by Justin (essentially the Gaston character). Hosoda skillfully alternates between Suzu’s naturalistic home life and the fantastic, beautifully designed U. But where “Belle” really shines is in the way it shows how children deal with death and violence. Those topics are subtly suggested and depicted as a part of everyday life that we must learn to navigate. After Suzu and her friends spend a lot of time trying to figure out who’s hiding behind the Beast avatar, the reveal is emotionally devastating in a way that feels completely deserved, much like the film’s epilogue.
‘Strawberry house’
Rent or buy on most major platforms.
I hope you don’t mind watching people nibble on fried chicken because it happens a lot in Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s whimsical indie film. There is even a fried-chicken shake on offer as we live in 2035 and the world has gone crazy.
In fact, you could easily imagine a fast food chain selling such a new delicacy right now, when the real subject of the film – that dreams have become taxable – is a possibility a little further out. Or is it? After all, the commodification of imagination isn’t new, so the movie feels like it’s just a few steps ahead of us.
James (Audley) is an auditor who checks in with Arabella Isadora (the delightful Penny Fuller), an elderly lady who hasn’t paid her dues in a while. At least she had the brains to record her dreams on vintage VHS tapes, which James is going to watch. The filmmakers evoke the softly mischievous psychedelia of the 1960s and 1970s (with good help from Dan Deacon’s music), and even when “Strawberry Mansion” gets confusing, it’s hard not to keep going, if only to see what nutty details are in it. store. Look for the great actor Reed Birney (Albert’s uncle), who gives the film a shock as Arabella’s terrible son.