Chicago Critics Film Festival 2023, Film reviews

Afire Review

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The theme of conflicting perceptions is pervasive in Afire. The film’s title seems to intentionally have a double meaning referring to both the fire in personality and reality. The setup includes many curveballs and much of Afire is a rush of psychological adrenaline. There are moments of tension that stir the pot from the start. Afire proves that shared spaces create problems. There is also frustration in the underlying conflicts in the film, and the dynamic is somewhat of a skeptical blur.

Afire takes place in Germany on the Baltic Sea. Two friends, Leon and Felix, are on a getaway at a vacation home. Leon is played by Thomas Schubert and Felix is played by Langston Uibel. Leon finds the planned getaway a headache because he is a writer who is concerned about how what happens on the trip could impact his writing. Felix, on the other hand, creates art portfolios for a career, and he believes in embracing all the fun. They are good friends with different personalities and perspectives who encounter various surprises on their trip.

They end up with Nadja played by Paula Beer. She is just trying to find her way while living in the Baltic Sea area. She shares the house with Leon and Felix. There is also Devid played by Enno Trebs. Devid’s job is a lifeguard at the beach. He also comes by the house periodically. All the houseguests drive Leon insane.  The situation is made worse when have no choice but to remain together because travel is restricted due to the forest fires surrounding the area. Afire delivers a message regarding how certain things in life are unavoidable and learning to embrace the unknown leads to all kinds of experiences and emotions. It is riveting.

Leon’s continuous frustration is a major part of the film’s focus. From Leon’s attitude, his aggravations, and his conversations, Leon wants success. He does not have an inviting personality, but his heart is not necessarily in the wrong place. He has feelings for Nadja, but he is terrible at showing them. Between Leon acts like Felix and Devid are outsiders. It all boils down to Leon’s publishing, his fascination with Nadja, and the forest fires which keep everyone in proximity due to the travel restrictions.

The uneasy scenes grow heavier as the storms do. In moments where the storms become detrimental, I found that the storms in the film were utilized like personification like in a novel. For example, when there are updates or news reports regarding the storm, it signals a moment when the characters will take the words they are speaking more seriously. This especially holds true for Leon.  The movie is a ride full of misconceptions with shades of cinematic evidence which create surreal surprises in an emotional and triumphant way. The light does not come easy in this film, but it can be found. Afire is an amazing film in part due to its vast scenery. Three and a half out of four stars.

Film reviews

Asteroid City Review

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As a die-hard fan of Wes Anderson, he strikes gold again with brilliant directing and a bizarre world that feels interactive in his latest film.  There are loads of dynamics involving connections and conflicts between his characters who are stuck in one setting in Asteroid City. The movie is a bit like Wes Anderson’s The Twilight Zone because of the astronomy and physics he utilizes in his creative world. The all-star cast includes Jason Schwartzman (as Augie Steenbeck), Scarlett Johansson (as Midge Campbell), Tom Hanks (as Stanley Zak), Jeffrey Wright (as Grif Gibson) Tilda Swinton (as Dr. Hickenlooper), Bryan Cranston (as the Host), Edward Norton (as Conrad Earp), Adrien Brody (as Schubert Green), Liev Schreiber (as J.J. Kellogg), Hope Davis (as Sandy Borden), Stephen Park (as Roger Cho), Rupert Friend (as Montana), Matt Dillon (as Hank), and many more. It is an endless adventure of wit and giggles in an immersive world that will make audiences’ heads spin.

Asteroid City also offers an element of surprise which makes the film even more irresistible. The film begins with the Host presenting a play and then relating it back to Conrad Earp, a writer. The film’s introduction feels like a real experience which is a bit like Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Only this time, the film jumps back and forth between the Host doing his introductions to moments from Conrad Earp to the conflicts in the film’s setting, Asteroid City. The back-and-forth storyline as a setup makes the movie invigorating. The film begins by focusing on the family of Augie Steenbeck, a recent widower who is explaining the sad news to his children. Augie’s father-in-law is Stanley Zak. The two men have a strained relationship. Augie and his family end up in Asteroid City due to car problems detected by the mechanic Hank. Once the car goes out of commission, more problems arise in the town. There is a quarantine order due to UFO danger as well as astronomy concerns. The scientific issues in the film are innovative and shift the dynamics of everyone in Asteroid City.

Astronomy is the focus of the unanswered questions for the film’s characters. Asteroid City explores a variety of intriguing subject matter. Augie finds himself feeling love for Midge Campbell. Augie is a photographer and is always taking pictures around the town. Another character is J.J. Kellogg who plays a boot camp father with strong family values. In addition, the characters are trying to pass the time in quarantine due to unprecedented UFOs. Anderson’s depiction of life in quarantine is relatable due to the actual world recovering from a pandemic. Piled onto these issues are the relationships and backgrounds of all the other characters. Like the approach utilized in Anderson’s previous projects, there are insights into political issues and current interests. Asteroid City is an outstanding work of fiction portrayed in a realistic, clever, and artistic form.

With the direction shifting between narration by Cranston and the scenarios playing out in Asteroid City, several questions and unexpected surprises occur which add to the strangeness and the politics of this fictional world. Anderson also presents scenarios which are unclear in his pictures, but still in tune because of how it relates to his characters and who is ultimately in charge. Asteroid City is one-of-a-kind world filled with egos of talented, crazy people who are under a quarantine in a deserted Nuke town. Asteroid City presents endless possibilities and pure nostalgic joy.

Everyone faces challenges around every corner in Asteroid City which are made more complex due to the egotistical behaviors in close quarters. There are also breathtaking and amusing scenes in Asteroid City that spark the imagination and create an unforgettable spectacle. Four stars for Asteroid City.

Film reviews

The Blackening Review

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An adventure of misfit friends and laughs in a twisted yet creative context, The Blackening is what I would call killer funny. The film keeps its audience on edge and its laughs are well timed. It’s quirky but in a good way. Almost each word or scenario in the film is full of wit and giggles. And the setup of The Blackening is horror meets comedy at its finest.

The Blackening gears on seven Black friends who are on a weekend getaway at a cabin in the woods. They are Lisa (played by Antoinette Robertson), Dewayne (played by Dewayne Perkins), Nhamdi (played by Sinqua Walls), Allison (played by Grace Byers) Shanka (played by X Mayo), King (played by Melvin Gregg), and Clifton (played by Jermaine Fowler). A group of diverse people with all kinds of strange humor and often poor judgment, the friends’ vacation is going just fine until they come across a board game called The Blackening. The skill to keep themselves alive and survive this deadly board game is their knowledge of horror movies. That’s the key to making it out of the game alive.

The friends in The Blackening come together to fight for survival, but they aren’t that serious and neither is the film. The friends’ knowledge of horror films leads to all kinds of stereotypes and arguments, and many of the arguments distracts them from the main goal of staying alive. This is where The Blackening finds its genius track. Many of the friends are smart and some not so much, so the dialogue between them becomes offensive at times, but still consistently hysterical. The terror is even hilarious. The Blackening is slapstick at its finest.

The film’s dialogue is where I was sold. Though fighting for their life to survive in the cabin of horrors, the characters also question each other’s beliefs and political backgrounds. This dialogue had me dying laughing—especially when they would get off the subject of figuring out how best to survive. One of the character even admits to voting for Donald Trump. The Blackening will enthrall its audience with its humanistic and realistic humor in a quirky game adventure of a comedy.

To me, The Blackening was almost like the film Jumanji crossed with the television series In Living Color. The board game theme is of course where the Jumanjireference comes in, and the tone of the humor and the personalities and backgrounds of many of the characters was similar to In Living Color. But the terror obviously sets it apart. And the approach work quite well. The Blackening is simply the most creative and superb ensemble cast I have seen in a long time.

I will say that some may find the film offensive at times, but I didn’t find it that way at all. The Blackening starts with a creative concept, it all works very well, and the outcomes are genius. I could not get enough of the joy of The Blackening. Three and a half stars out of four stars for this superb slapstick horror comedy.

Treating cinema in many forms of art!