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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 November 2021

Blue Bayou is a fictional story based on thousands of true stories. Writer-director Justin Chon first learned several years ago that Korean American adoptees were being deported from the United States because of a shocking technicality. During the 1970s and 80s, many Korean children were adopted by American families.

Despite the adoption being legal and despite being raised in the US for almost their entire life, these now fully grown adults faced deportation today because they were not protected by the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. That piece of legalisation, approved unanimously by both the House and Representatives and the Senate, only covered those aged 17 or less when brought into law in February 2001.

It’s head-scratching to think about. Imagine being deported back to a country where you have no home, no job, no family, no friends, and no memories? While accurate figures don’t exist, The National Council of Adoption estimates there are between 15,000 and 18,000 people brought to the US as legal adoptees who do not have American citizenship. Most don’t realise until they need to apply for passports, driver’s licences, or social security cards. The political willpower to change the legislation hasn’t been forthcoming.

In addition to his writing and directing duties, Chon takes on the lead role of Antonio LeBlanc, a Korean-born man who was adopted as a 3-year-old and brought to the United States by his new family in 1988. He didn’t have the best upbringing but he’s left that behind and is trying to forge a better life with his wife, Kathy (Vikander), and his step-daughter, Jessie (Kowalske). They’re a happy family but money is tight. Antonio works as a tattoo artist while Kathy is a rehabilitation nurse.

It all goes awry when Antonio is arrested by two not-so-nice cops with one of them being Kathy’s vengeful ex-husband who is unhappy with the lack of visitation rights involving his daughter. It’s at this point where Antonio is brought to the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is set to be deported. His only chance is to plead his case before the courts but it’s an expensive exercise with high stakes. If he loses, he will never be allowed back into the country again and it could separate him from his wife and child.

Blue Bayou is an eye-opening movie with a flawed, interesting protagonist. You can’t help but feel sorry for Antonio (he’s trapped in such an awful, helpless situation) but there are times when, as part of his desperation, he becomes his own worst enemy. For example, he steals motorbikes to help pay his legal bills but solving one problem only creates another.

A few parts to the finale feel overly melodramatic (like a late scene where an injured Antonio rocks up on Kathy’s doorstep and doesn’t offer an explanation) and a subplot involving a terminally ill Vietnamese refuge (Pham) feels undercooked but Blue Bayou is still an important story that hits you in the feels and needed to be told.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 31 October 2021

You’re never too old to find success in life.  It’s nice to be reminded of that fact.  Judi Dench was in her early 60s when she landed her first lead role in a major movie, Mrs Brown, and she’s since earned 7 Academy Award nominations.  Frank McCourt won the Pulitzer Prize at age 66 for his first published work, the memoir Angela’s Ashes.  Scottish singer Susan Boyle was 48 when she released the highest selling debut album of all time in the United Kingdom following her success on Britain’s Got Talent.

It’s a subject that filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West are attracted to.  This talented duo earned an Academy Award nomination for their excellent 2018 documentary RBG that delved into Ruth Bader Ginsberg, just the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Known for her liberal views and tenacious work ethic, Ginsberg was as famous at age 87 (the time of her death) than she had been at any other point in her life.

Cohen and West have returned with another interesting doco that pays homage to Julia Child, one of the greats of American television.  Child was born in California, went to college, started as a copywriter, worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, and followed her diplomat husband to countries including France, Germany and Norway.  It was while in Paris during the early 1950s that she fell in love with French cuisine and studied at the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school.

The world of Child was forever changed in 1962.  Having teamed up with two close friends and published an epic 726-page cookbook, she made her first television appearance on the public access show I’ve Been Reading to promote her work.  Rather than make it a simple talk-fest, she spruced up the segment by cooking a mushroom omelette alongside host Albert Duhamel.  A bunch of positive letters were subsequently received by the network and within a year, 50-year-old Julia Child had her own 30-minute show which aired each week.  It kickstarted an Emmy-award winning television career that lasted four decades!

There’s not a lot of new material in this documentary that cannot be learned from a few good interest searches.  Still, it’s a neatly-assembled film that chronicles Child’s achievements and recognises her enduring legacy.  With limited archival footage, particularly prior to the 1960s, Cohen and West selectively pull from old letters and journals to provide insight into Child’s thinking.  Her own simple words from the time are just as interesting as the loving, articulate, current day interviews offered by a range of family, friends and colleagues who appear on camera.

If there’s one key takeaway from the movie, it’s the inspiration obtained from watching Child’s likeable personality and take-no-nonsense determination.  You’ll wish you were more like her!  She worked hard, she wasn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers, she helped break down barriers for female chefs wanting a start in the industry, and perhaps most importantly, she loved good food!  Julia Child was truly one of a kind.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 November 2021

I’ve often made reference to unusual forms of inspiration that spawn a movie. Pirates of the Caribbean remains the high-water mark – a $4.5 billion USD franchise stemming from a 1960s amusement park ride. Zola won’t match that box-office but it too comes from quirky origins. An unknown stripper posted some tweets, they went viral, Rolling Stone published an article, and now the whole story has been adapted for the big screen by writer-director Janicza Bravo alongside co-writer Jeremy O. Harris.

I’ll quickly summarise the story but will employ less colourful language as that used in the original 148-tweed thread. Two strippers meet for the first time in Detroit and then go on a whirlwind Florida road trip, accompanied by a clingy boyfriend and a dodgy pimp, to hit up some lucrative strip clubs and make bigger cash. Told through the eyes of the group’s newcomer, Zola (Page), the trip doesn’t go to plan and involves dingy hotels, prostitution, physical altercations, stolen money, guns and a second-story balcony.

The second of the two strippers, Stefani (Keough), is a ball of extraverted energy who seemingly never stops talking. She’s the perfect analogy for the film itself. Framed as a dark comedy and with a run time of just 90 minutes, Zola feels like it’s pitched at those with short attention spans. It’s a wild, crazy ride that starts quickly, moves quickly and finishes quickly. The fast-paced editing, exemplified by a scene where Stefani prostitutes herself with several men, contributes to this vibe.

Zola is the second feature film from 40-year-old American director Janicza Bravo. She’s caught the eye of many given both films, Lemon and now Zola, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The end result shows she has a great sense of humour (highlighted by a Whoopi Goldberg joke) and knack for bringing the best out of her actors. I also admired the splashes of creativity such as a simple scene involving a bouncing basketball.

Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Riley Keough (American Honey) are both very good in the leading roles. In keeping with the themes of the film, they have fun with the characters while also showing us an uglier, seedier side to the United States that you won’t find on postcards. I was expecting a touch more from the finale but you should still give this a look.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 October 2021

When I attended high school in the first half of the 1990s, we had no internet or mobile phones.  When you wanted to chat to your friends of an evening, you’d annoy your parents by tying up the land line at home.  Much has changed over the last three decades.  A colleague from work has an 8-year-old daughter who is the “IT guru” at school at helps classmates with iPhone app and connectivity issues.

Ron’s Gone Wrong is an animated feature that provides an exaggerated look at the way technology shapes the lives of impressionable kids today – both good and bad.  Small, two-feet tall robots, known as B-bots, have been developed by a giant Apple-style conglomerate to accompany kids to school and help them make friends.

These robots are the new “must have device” for the younger crowd (it’s not explained why adults don’t use them).  They provide their owners with self-confidence and, by syncing with the broader network, help point the kids in the directon of others with similar interests.  They’re like smart phones in the sense that owners can upload photos and videos through the robot to obtain “likes”.

The opening scenes will have you feeling sad and sorry for the film’s kind-hearted protagonist, Barney (Grazer).  He’s shy and introverted and so struggles to make friends at school.  He’s also excluded from activities in the playground because he doesn’t own a B-bot – partially because his family is poor and partially because his father (Helms) believes in making friends the old-fashioned way (a valid point that could have been explored further).

It falls upon Barney’s out-of-touch grandmother (Colman) to remedy the situation by purchasing a cheap, broken B-bot that fell from the back of a truck.  The robot (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) becomes known as Ron and, thanks to faulty programming, it initially causes more problems that it solves.  It’s not long though until the pair become friends and Barney’s eyes are opened to the importance of a “two-way street” friendship.

Ron’s Gone Wrong doesn’t try to overcomplicate things and tells a simple story.  The messages are laid on thickly, conflicts are resolved easily, and there’s a one-note villain (the head of the B-bot company) who gives you someone to root against.  It’s designed to be easily digestible for kids and, for better or worse, skirts around questions that would be tricky for non-adults to understand (such as using B-bots to illegally spy on people).

Rising star Jack Dylan Grazer (It, Shazam) and the experienced Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Birdman) tap into the energetic side of their personalities and do a great job brining Barney and Ron to life.  The action is too frenetic in places but thankfully, there are enough nice moments where these two characters can sit, talk and open up.  They’re the best scenes in the film.  The supporting players don’t offer much but keep your ears peeled for Olivia Colman’s (The Favourite) fun performance as Barney’s grandma.

The first movie to be made by the London-based Locksmith Animation studio, Ron’s Gone Wrong is cute and wholesome.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 November 2021

A cool, suave, sophisticated, gizmo-using, cocktail-loving secret agent who can dodge a thousand bullets an hour and extricate himself from any situation.  Secretive, London-based, government officials who work in spacious offices and have unlimited financial resources to pursue any activity or technology.  Villains with non-English accents who are intent on destroying the world and supported by a small army of unexplained henchmen.  A screenplay spread across several international locations that features car chases, gun battles, fist fights, and elaborate opening credits backed by a cool new music number.

The formula has been tweaked slightly over the past half-century (less misogyny, more equality) but for the most part, the producers stick to what works and the public keep turning up.  All five of the Daniel Craig helmed Bond flicks, including No Time to Die, have grossed more than $500 million USD at the global box-office.  One could argue this Bond film is as important as ever because, given the 18-month delay in its release due to COVID-19, struggling cinemas will be keen to see audiences return and revenues boosted.

For the most part, No Time to Die is a textbook James Bond movie.  Our beloved hero, played for the final time by Craig, is blissfully enjoying his retirement in idyllic Jamacia.  That is until an old friend (Wright) tracks him down and asks for assistance in locating a kidnapped scientist who had been working on an “off the books” government-developed viral weapon that has now fallen into the wrong hands.

It’ll help if you’ve seen Spectre, the most-recent Bond release from 2015, to fully appreciate the backstory of the baddies, headlined by Christoph Waltz, and the love interests, led by Léa Seydoux.  The key additions this time around are a new agent played by Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), a charismatic, scene-stealing rookie played by Ana de Armas (Knives Out), and a villain played by Oscar-winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody).  The motivations of the later are somewhat flimsy but I’ll give the writers credit for formulating a creative, semi-realistic plan.

What elevates this above a standard action movie is the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation) who infuses the film with memorable set pieces and a distinctive style.  This is illustrated early on with an intense car chase involving a bullet-proof Aston Martin weaving through the narrow streets of Matera, Italy.  That in itself is fun but the best part of the scene is when the car isn’t moving – the moment where Bond, always one step ahead of his adversaries, is happy to take sustained machine gun fire while patiently planning his counterattack.

Comfortably pulling their weight are cinematographer Linus Sandgren (La La Land) and editors Tom Cross (Whiplash) and Elliot Graham (Milk).  They’ve found some great camera angles and don’t fall into the trap of over-editing the action.  The occasional use of long takes, particularly with regards to the one-on-one fighting, gives these sequences a heightened force and credibility.

Star Daniel Craig tore cartilage in his right shoulder making Quantum of Solace, ruptured his calf muscles in Skyfall, and broke his leg during the filming of Spectre.  He didn’t escape this time either.  The “perfectionist” Craig injured his ankle while shooting scenes in Jamacia and minor surgery was required.  It’s hard not to be impressed by the passionate physicality he brings to the role (he’s been such a great Bond).  It’s also easy to understand why the 53-year-old is happy to hand in his “007” badge and look for roles with less chance of hurt!

It was pushing my attention span at 163 minutes (the longest Bond film ever made) but No Time to Die is a fitting end for this chapter.  The James Bond franchise is as loved and as popular as ever.  I’m intrigued to see where it goes next…