🍿29: Nightmare Alley
This week Bradley Cooper takes centre stage, though it could've just as easily been Leonardo DiCaprio. Find out why...
“All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”
~ Blade Runner, 1982
13 Going on 30…
Not to make it all about me, but it was my 30th at the weekend and yes I do feel like Jennifer Garner…
As a birthday treat, I was taken to the awards ceremony for the London Short Film Festival, where we got to see the six winning films… Including a very odd, but funny, comedy called What I Imagined the dying fly, with the broken leg, was feeling.
In this film, which won Best Lo-Budget Mayhem, we hear the last thoughts of a dying fly, which quotes Roy Batty’s famous line from Blade Runner - a line which was improvised. When I heard these words again, they felt like a suitable quote for this week’s SP and not just because I share my birthday with the late Rutger Hauer.
While Dying Fly was made on a budget of just £3.87 (and to great effect!), my favourite short film of all was Three Meetings of the Extraordinary Committee. This had me laughing out loud more than most feature-length comedies and one day I’ll find a way to share it with you.
I’ve also been lucky enough to be gifted an Explorer pass to virtually attend various short film screenings at Sundance, a huge thank you to long-term SP supporter Karen. As the festival is still ongoing, I’ll write more on this in the next issue.
Before we get on to the news, I’d like to say that in the last issue of SP, it was tough thinking of the film to watch if you liked Boiling Point, but then it dawned on me… Shiva Baby. This dark comedy is set in the aftermath of a funeral as Danielle, played by the fantastic Rachel Sennott. It’s another low-budget (though not £3.87 low), 90-minute film that really knows how to use dialogue and story-telling to create an increasingly tense and funny film.
You can read my review of Shiva Baby in Salty Popcorn #13, though I think it deserved more than the 3.5 stars I gave it back then.
Now for the headlines:
More than 20 years since the original, we’re finally being treated to a Chicken Run sequel! Dawn of the Nugget is set to release in 2023 and will see the same characters voiced by a number of new and returning cast members. Read more.
Guillermo Del Toro is keeping busy as his animated take on Pinocchio is set to be released in December this year. Watch the teaser trailer.
Hollywood joins the commercial space race as talk emerges of a film studio being built in space, with a sports arena. Read more.
The Chinese government has censored Fight Club, giving the iconic cult classic an alternative ending that can only be laughed at. Read more.
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Upcoming Releases
True Things
UK: 1 April // USA: TBC
Luther star Ruth Wilson returns to the big screen in this psychological drama based on the book True Things About Me by Deborah Kay Davies.
Bored by the daily tedium of her office job, Kate (Wilson) is sleepwalking through life when a chance encounter with a charismatic stranger (Tom Burke) awakens her.
The Innocents
UK: 6 May // USA: 13 May
From the Official Selection of Canne 2021, comes this nordic horror directed by Eskil Vogt, a trailer that isn’t that new, but has made me very much want to watch the film.
The film is set during the bright Nordic summer where a group of children reveal their mysterious powers when adults aren't looking…
Fact of the week
According to IMDB, Leonardo DiCaprio was originally chosen to play the lead role in Nightmare Alley. DiCaprio himself had chosen to work on the film rather than other projects being led by Paul Thomas Anderson and Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
However, negotiations fell through when neither side “could reach a financial agreement”. This led to DiCaprio ducking out and Bradley Cooper stepping in.
Funnily enough, though, Cooper also ended up replacing DiCaprio in Anderson’s Licorice Pizza - a film that I implore you to go and see!
Review: Nightmare Alley
Star rating:
3 (out of 5)
Where to watch:
USA: Only in cinemas
UK: Only in cinemas
Runtime:
2hr 30m
Director:
Guillermo Del Toro
Blurb:
Ambitious carny Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) discovers a talent for manipulating people with just a few well-chosen words but things take a dark turn when he meets female psychiatrist Lillith Ritter (Cate Blanchett).
The review (NO spoilers):
From Acadamy-Award-winning director Guillermo Del Toro comes Nightmare Alley, a film that leads us down a noir rabbit hole of sin. Based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, this film explores themes of morality and desire in a way that’s visually pleasing but somehow lacking in substance.
I had been looking forward to this film for some time and this review may be more reflective of my own lofty expectations than the film itself. The problem I have is not with the cast, the performances, the direction or the cinematography - all of which were executed with the grace you’d expect of an Oscar-winning director.
However, something was missing and essentially, though it has nothing to do with how the story was told, but the story itself. The first half was fantastic, as we follow Stanton (Cooper) find his feet in the carny community and becomes acquainted with its people, we meet a fine array of characters, each with their own torments and motivations.
However, after the first act, the film’s pacing seems to slow and everything starts to feel a little repetitive and meaningless. Despite this (and the film’s hefty 150-minute runtime) it didn’t exactly drag, but I did find myself wondering where it was going.
Furthermore, this is a very narrative-led film. By that I mean the strength of a narrative doesn’t always matter, least of all when the film itself seems to prioritise other elements such as stunning visuals and cinematography (like Dune), or incredible acting (like The Father).
For Nightmare Alley, it’s really the story that we care about most, while the mise en scene and the cast’s performances were all fine, these alone don’t make up for what the plot was missing.
For a difference of opinion, I was surprised to see that Mark Kermode gave it 5 stars.
Scroll down for The Critic’s Cut and to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked Nightmare Alley…
Nightcrawler
2014 | UK: Netflix // US: Amazon Prime ($3.99)
While looking for a job, Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) learns he can make money by taking videos of crime scenes. Although they’re set in completely different worlds, Nightcrawler and Nightmare Alley both focus on men who will go to great lengths to satisfy their greed.
While the film is well worth watching, you should know that the trailer below is one of those that goes on a little too long and gives a little too much away.
In the next issue:
The Souvenir: Part II
UK: 4 February // USA: 29 October 2021 | Watch the Trailer
The Critic’s Cut 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨:
What really bugged me with this Nightmare Alley is that I never understood Lillith’s (Blanchette) motivation. We see her help Stan (Cooper) to then only go and tear his life apart, but why?
It would have been enough if she was simply trying to con Stan out of his money, but she explicitly said that wasn’t her reason. Sure it wasn’t to merely torture him? Was she performing a “spook show” of her own with Stan the victim? Maybe, but I’m not convinced.
For me, this was the key factor that brought the rating down. Dramatic cliffhangers and unresolved endings are fine provided that they feel intentional (eg. Inception, The Italian Job) but unexplained motives are something else.
I suspect the book might shed more light on Lilleth and her motivation, so if you’ve read it then I’d love to know.