Film Review: "Last Night in Soho" (2021).

"A Murder in the Past. A Mystery in the Future." This is Last Night in Soho. This British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.

In 2007, Wright first conceived of the idea for the film. He pitched the plot to producers Nira Park and Rachel Prior before the start of filming for The World's End (2013), describing it as a "dark Valentine" to London and the Soho neighbourhood. Wright cited Don't Look Now (1973) and Repulsion (1965) as influences for the film. Wright was first introduced to Wilson-Cairns by Sam Mendes. In 2016, on the night of the Brexit vote, the pair went on a bar crawl together through the basement bars of Soho, ending up at a bar called Trisha's, where Wright pitched her the story of the film. In December 2017, after the press tour for Baby Driver had concluded, Wright felt pressure to begin working on a sequel immediately, but decided instead to go in "a radically different direction" for his next film. He phoned Wilson-Cairns and asked if she wanted to co-write the screenplay for the film with him. Wright and Wilson-Cairns wrote the first draft of the script in six weeks, before she had to leave to begin work on 1917 (2019) with Mendes. The film was originally titled Red Light Area and then The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. The title originates from a 1968 hit single by the English pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and a conversation Wright had with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. By late May 2019, Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Sam Claflin, Rita Tushingham, Jessie Mei Li, James and Oliver Phelps, Margaret Nolan and Diana Rigg were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late August. Filming took place throughout London, England, including Soho. The film marks the final film appearances of Rigg and Margaret Nolan, who both died in 2020. The film was originally scheduled for a 25 September 2020 release date, but was delayed to 23 April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being delayed again to October 22, then again to the following weekend.

The film stars McKenzie, Taylor-Joy, Smith, Stamp, Claflin, Tushingham, Li, James and Oliver Phelps, Nolan and Rigg. McKenzie and Taylor-Joy give performances so unsettling and so precise, I can barely believe they grew into such confident screen presences.

The film is far more shocking, in fact, than anything Hitchcock or De Palma ever made, because it can produce in the spectator the added shock of self-recognition, the hallmark of a real artwork. The film takes us on a deeply disturbing, hallucinatory trip into McKenzie's mental breakdown in this British psychological thriller.

Simon says Last Night in Soho receives:

Also, see my review for Baby Driver.

Film Review: "Eternals" (2021).

"The end was just the beginning" in Eternals. This epic superhero film directed by Chloé Zhao, written by Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo, based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name created by Jack Kirby, and produced by Marvel Studios. It is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind's most ancient enemy, the Deviants.

In April 2018, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that the studio was actively developing a film based on the Marvel Comics characters created by Kirby, to release as part of their Phase Four slate of films. In May, Marvel set Ryan and Kaz Firpo to pen the script, with their outline including a love story between the characters Sersi and Ikaris. In June, Feige said Marvel was interested in exploring the "ancient aliens kind of sci-fi trope" by having the Eternals be the inspiration for myths and legends throughout the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Marvel's director search for Eternals narrowed to a shortlist that included Nicole Kassell, Travis Knight, and Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra before Zhao was hired to her the film in September. In February 2019, Feige reiterated that Marvel was interested in the Eternals due to Kirby's epic, century-spanning story, with the film version spanning seven-thousand years and exploring humanity's place in the cosmos. By July, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, and Bill Skarsgård were cast. Charlie Hunnam, Alexander Skarsgård, Armie Hammer and Sam Heughan were considered before Madden was cast. Keanu Reeves, Luke Evans, Rami Malek and Ian McShane were considered before Keoghan was cast. Ana de Armas, Eiza González, Gina Rodriguez and Naomi Scott were considered before Hayek was cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early February 2020. Filming took place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, as well as Oxford and London, England and the Canary Islands under the working title Sack Lunch. The film was originally set for a November 6, 2020, before it was shifted to February 12, 2021, and then to the November 2021 date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The film stars Chan, Madden, Nanjiani, McHugh, Henry, Ridloff, Keoghan, Lee, Harington, Hayek, Jolie, and Skarsgård. Neither one of the cast, all of them fine actors, can prevail against the relentless scale and movement of the production.

The film is something quite rare in the comic-book and MCU-dominated pop culture landscape - an unbelievable disaster. The film is the equivalent of a forced near three-hour walking tour of a wealthy Hollywood's elitist's living room. It fails so completely that you might suspect Zhao and Feige sold their souls to the devil to obtain the success of The Avengers films and the Devil has just come around to collect.

Simon says Eternals receives:

Also, see my reviews for Nomadland and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Film Review: "The Last Duel" (2021).

"The true story of a woman who defied a nation and made history". This is The Last Duel. This historical drama film, directed by Ridley Scott, written by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, and based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager. Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Le Gris is a Norman squire whose intelligence and eloquence make him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite, is viciously assaulted by Le Gris, a charge he denies, she refuses to stay silent, stepping forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. The ensuing trial by combat, a gruelling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God’s hands.

In July 2015, a cinematic adaptation of Jager's book of the same name was announced with Francis Lawrence and Shaun Grant originally hired to direct and pen the script. No further development was announced, and the film rights lapsed. In July 2019, it was announced that Scott was hired to direct with Affleck and Damon set to star, as well as pen the script with Holofcener. In October, Jodie Comer was cast as the female lead. In November, it was confirmed that Driver had replaced Affleck after the latter opted to play a different supporting role in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with Adrian Lyne's Deep Water (2022). By mid February 2020, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, Sam Hazeldine, Michael McElhatton, Alex Lawther, Marton Csokas, Željko Ivanek, Clive Russell, Adam Nagaitis and Bosco Hogan rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid October. Filming took place throughout France and Ireland. In mid March, Disney, after the Disney-Fox merger, announced that the studio had to delay the shoot indefinitely amid concerns for the cast and crew in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as travel restrictions in Europe. During the suspension, Driver was cast in Scott's next film House of Gucci (2021), and the two reunited to begin shooting their second movie together only four months after the completion of this film. Filming resumed in late September 2020. The film originally scheduled for a limited theatrical release on December 25, 2020, before going wide on January 8, 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date was delayed to October 15, 2021. The film will play exclusively in theaters for 45 days before heading to digital platforms.

The film stars Damon, Driver, Comer, Affleck, Walter, Parker, Hazeldine, McElhatton, Lawther, Csokas, Ivanek, Russell, Nagaitis and Hogan. The excellence of the performances given, especially by Damon, Driver, Affleck and Comer, along with the richness of Scott's visuals and the depth of the themes, make this film a minor masterpiece in Scott's body of work.

The film was an ambitious undertaking for veteran filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott, whose established filmmaking styles are more than evident even in this effort.

Simon says The Last Duel receives:

Also, see my review for All the Money in the World.

Series Review: "Money Heist" ("La casa de papel") (2017-21).

"The Perfect Robbery." This is Money Heist (La casa de papel). This Spanish heist crime drama television series created by Álex Pina. Eight thieves take hostages and lock themselves inside the Royal Mint of Spain as a criminal mastermind manipulates the police to carry out his plan.

In 2016, after finishing their work on the Spanish prison drama Locked Up (Vis a vis), Pina and director Jesús Colmenar left Globomedia to set up their own production company, named Vancouver Media. For their first project, they considered either filming a comedy or developing a heist story for television, with the latter having never been attempted before on Spanish television. Along with former Locked Up colleagues, they developed Money Heist as a passion project to try new things without outside interference. Pina was firm about making it a limited series, feeling that dilution had become a problem for his previous productions. Initially entitled Los Desahuciados (The Evicted) in the conception phase, the series was developed to subvert heist conventions and combine elements of the action genre, thrillers and surrealism, while still being credible. Pina saw an advantage over typical heist films in that character development could span a considerably longer narrative arc. Characters were to be shown from multiple sides to break the viewers' preconceptions of villainy and retain their interest throughout the show. Key aspects of the planned storyline were written down at the beginning, while the finer story beats were developed incrementally to not overwhelm the writers. The beginning of filming was set for January 2017, allowing for five months of pre-production. The narrative was split into two parts for financial considerations. The robbers' city-based code names, which Spanish newspaper ABC compared to the colour-based code names in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 heist film Reservoir Dogs, were chosen at random in the first part, although places with high viewership resonance were also taken into account for the new robbers' code names in part 3. The first five lines of the pilot script took a month to write, as the writers were unable to make the Professor or Moscow work as narrator. Ultimately, Tokyo was chosen as an unreliable narrator. Flashbacks and time-jumps increased the narrative complexity and made the story more fluid for the audience. The pilot episode required over fifty script versions until the producers were satisfied. Later scripts would be finished once per week to keep up with filming.

In late 2016, casting took place, spanning more than two months. The characters were not fully fleshed out at the beginning of this process, and took shape based on the actors' performances. Casting directors Eva Leira and Yolanda Serrano were looking for actors with the ability to play empathetic robbers with believable love and family connections. By January 2017, Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro Morte, Itziar Ituño, Pedro Alonso, Paco Tous, Alba Flores, Miguel Herrán, Jaime Lorente, Esther Acebo, Enrique Arce, María Pedraza, Darko Perić, Kiti Mánver, Roberto García Ruiz, Fernando Soto, and Juan Fernández were cast for Parts 1 and 2. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in August. Filming took place throughout Madrid, Spain. The episodes were shot in order and the actors only received the scripts for each episode as they were shooting, so they also did not know what their character's fate would be. By late July 2017, Corberó, Morte, Ituño, Alonso, Tous, Flores, Herrán, Lorente, Acebo, Arce, Pedraza, Perić, Mánver, Ruiz, Soto, and Fernández were confined to reprise their roles. Hovik Keuchkerian, Luka Peroš, Belén Cuesta, Fernando Cayo, Rodrigo de la Serna, Najwa Nimri, Diana Gómez, Patrick Criado, and Miguel Ángel Silvestre were cast as newcomers. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid May 2021. Filming took place in Madrid, Spain, Copenhagen, Denmark, Florence, Italy and at Pinewood Studios, London, England; as well as throughout Panama and Thailand. In December 2017, Netflix acquired the exclusive global streaming rights for the series. Netflix re-cut the series into twenty-two episodes of around fifty minutes' length. Cliffhangers and scenes had to be divided and moved to other episodes, but this proved less drastic than expected because of the series' perpetual plot twists. The first part was released on 20th December 2017 without any promotion. The second part was released on 6th April 2018. Without a dedicated Netflix marketing campaign, the series became the most-watched non-English language series on Netflix in early 2018, within four months of being added to the platform, to the creators' surprise. Following the show's success on the streaming platform, Netflix approached Pina and Atresmedia to produce new chapters for the originally self-contained story. In mid April 2018, Netflix officially renewed the series for the third part with a considerably increased budget. Part 3 was released on 19 July 2019. Part 4 was released on 3rd April 2020. In late July 2020, Netflix renewed the show for a fifth and final part, which would be released in two five-episode volumes on 3 September and 3 December, respectively.

The series stars Corberó, Morte, Ituño, Alonso, Tous, Flores, Herrán, Lorente, Acebo, Arce, Pedraza, Perić, Mánver, Ruiz, Soto, Fernández, Keuchkerian, Peroš, Cuesta, Cayo, de la Serna, Nimri, Gómez, Criado, and Silvestre. The solidly constructed plot gets stretched far with smart, nonlinear weaves and a masterful cast crowned by the ever diverse cast and their ever diverse characters from both sides of the law. There are good performances all around as the show veers to its ironic, almost absurdist climax. In addition to his clever plotting, Pina has given his cast sharp, acrid, sometimes witty dialogue.

While it borrows generously from a number of other films, the way Pina structures his heist crime action thriller drama is a breath of fresh air. If one considers this initial work as it is, a stamp made from a storyteller just getting started, the show maintains its strength and vitality. All of which are improved by the UHD experience. Pina hit a home run with his feature debut, and television, as well as streaming, would never be the same.

Simon says Money Heist (La casa de papel) receives:

Also, see my review for White Lines.

Film Review: "No Time to Die" (2021).

"The mission that changes everything begins" in No Time to Die. This spy film directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, written by Fukunaga, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge and produced by Eon Productions. It is the 25th film in the James Bond series, as well as Daniel Craig's fifth and final outing as the fictional British MI6 agent. Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

After the release of Spectre (2015), producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson stated that they felt reasonably confident that Craig would return for this movie. However, Craig has said that he would retire from the role of James Bond if he felt he was too old to play the character. In March 2017, Purvis and Wade returned to pen the script. In July, Craig had a "verbal agreement" that he would return for this Bond movie. In February 2018, Danny Boyle was hired to direct and John Hodge was hired to pen a new script. However, in late August 2018, it was announced that, due to creative differences, Boyle and Hodge had decided to leave Bond 25. In September, Fukunaga was ultimately hired to replace Boyle. At the same time, Purvis and Wade were brought back to start penning a new script. By February 2019, Paul Haggis and Scott Z. Burns were hired to rewrite Pervis and Wade's script. By late April 2019, Waller-Bridge was hired as a late addition to polish the script. At the same time, Craig, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes and Rory Kinnear were confirmed to reprise their roles, with Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Billy Magnussen and David Dencik cast as newcomers. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late October. Filming took place in Italy, Jamaica, Norway, the Faroe Islands and London, including Pinewood Studios. In July 2019, Dan Romer was announced to compose the film's score. However, in January 2020, Hans Zimmer replaced Romer due to creative differences. At the same time, it was announced that Billie Eilish would write and perform the film's theme song. The film was originally scheduled for a November 2019 release date, but was postponed to February 2020 and then to April 2020 after Boyle's departure. In October 2020, the film was delayed again to 2 April 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, the film was rescheduled to 8 October 2021.

Surrounded by a talented and stellar cast, Craig gives a fitting and beautiful swan song of a performance that has come to define James Bond for the 21st century.

The film gives the finish James Bond deserves, but to say it reaches the heights of its predecessors is predictably hard.

Simon says No Time to Die receives:

Also, see my reviews for Maniac and Spectre.

Series Review: "The Beatles: Get Back" (2021).

"Experience the 3-part event." This is The Beatles: Get Back. This documentary series directed by Peter Jackson. The series takes audiences back in time to the band’s January 1969 recording sessions, which became a pivotal moment in music history. The docuseries showcases The Beatles’ creative process as they attempt to write fourteen new songs in preparation for their first live concert in over two years. Faced with a nearly impossible deadline, the strong bonds of friendship shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are put to the test. The docuseries is compiled from nearly sixty hours of unseen footage shot over twenty-one days, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, and from more than a hundred and fifty hours of unheard audio, most of which has been locked in a vault for over half a century. Jackson is the only person in fifty years to have been given access to this Beatles treasure trove, all of which has now been brilliantly restored. What emerges is an unbelievably intimate portrait of The Beatles, showing how, with their backs against the wall, they could still rely on their friendship, good humor, and creative genius. While plans derail and relationships are put to the test, some of the world’s most iconic songs are composed and performed. The docuseries features – for the first time in its entirety – The Beatles’ last live performance as a group, the unforgettable rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row, as well as other songs and classic compositions featured on the band’s final two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be.

The series employed film restoration techniques developed for Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old. Sixty hours of film footage and over a hundred and fifty hours of audio stemming from the original Let It Be film project were made available to Jackson's team. In reference to the long-reported acrimony surrounding the original Get Back project, Jackson wrote in a press statement that he was "relieved to discover the reality is very different to the myth ... Sure, there's moments of drama – but none of the discord this project has long been associated with." Jackson spent close to four years editing the series. It was created with cooperation from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon (Yoko Ono) and George Harrison (Olivia Harrison), as well as music supervisor Giles Martin (son of George Martin and a regular producer of Beatles projects since 2006). The series was intended to be released theatrically in 2020 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of Let It Be (1969) and its accompanying album. However, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the release date to be pushed into 2021. The film was subsequently repurposed as a three-part mini-series and released on Disney+. Disney was persuaded by the filmmakers to allow for the inclusion of profanity, with viewer discretion warnings at the start of each episode.

This is an extraordinary experience which has rightly earned plaudits around the world. Jackson has used modern post-production techniques to bring alive The Beatles in all of their wonderful glory.

Simon says The Beatles: Get Back receives:

Also, see my review for They Shall Not Grow Old.

Series Review: "Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier" ("Dig Deeper - Das Verschwinden von Birgit Meier") (2021).

From the writer/director of Above and Below comes Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier (Dig Deeper - Das Verschwinden von Birgit Meier). This German true crime documentary miniseries written and directed by Nicolas Steiner. After Birgit Meier vanishes in 1989, police missteps plague the case for years, but her brother never wavers in his tireless quest to find the truth.

In 1989, Birgit Meier disappeared. Initially, investigators suspected that she had died by suicide or had been killed by her husband, but they later focused the investigation on Kurt-Werner Wichmann, who was working as a gardener at the Lüneberg cemetery. Wichmann was interrogated, and despite the flimsy alibi of being with his wife and walking the dog, he was not checked closely. He also concealed the fact that he was on sick leave at the time of Meier's disappearance, but the police did not inquire further. Only with the establishment of a new prosecutor in Lüneberg did further investigations begin. In 1993, charges of suspected murder in Birgit Meier's case were brought against Wichmann, and the police searched his house. Investigators found two small-caliber rifles, a converted sharp gas pistol, stun guns, mufflers, handcuffs, sedatives and sleeping pills, as well as a secret torture room with a soundproof door, which only he and his brother were allowed to enter. There was a buried, red Ford sports coupe in the backyard, with blood on its back seat. Body-tracking dogs were used several times to search the property, but no bodies were found. Wichmann fled and was arrested in Heilbronn when he was involved in a traffic accident; weapons were found in his vehicle. Ten days after his arrest, Wichmann hung himself in the Heimsheim Prison. He had attempted suicide previously. He left strange farewell letters in which he asked, among other things, his brother to clean the gutter. After his death, the murders in the woods around Lüneberg ceased, and further investigation was discontinued. His vehicle and the items found in it were disposed of by police. In 2017, Birgit Meier's remains were ultimately recovered under the concrete floor of a garage of a house on the outskirts of Lüneburg that Wichmann had previously occupied. On 19 January 2018, it became known via an autopsy report from the Hannover Medical School that Birgit Meier had been shot. Lüneberg Police President Robert Kruse stated that the perpetrator was a serial killer who may have killed beyond Germany. He announced a thorough review of old cases, with Wichmann being considered as a possible suspect. As a result, analysts from the State Criminal Police Office of Lower Saxony filtered out twenty-four unsolved cases, in particular homicides and missing persons.

Steiner certainly sought out a sickening true crime story on a decades long disappearance and while the filmmaking has an extended Unsolved Mysteries quality to it the storytelling is engrossing and heartbreaking. The series starts off like so many other true-crime stories of its ilk, but soon finds its moral footing and lands in a more moving, profound place.

Simon says Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier (Dig Deeper - Das Verschwinden von Birgit Meier) receives: