Minari: One of the last missing pieces of the 2020 cinematic puzzle has finally made it to the masses with a VOD release last Friday following its initial awards-qualifying theatrical run back in December and Minari proved to be worth the unusually long wait. Writer/director Lee Issac Chung puts himself on the map in a big way with this semi-autobiographical drama set in the early 80's about a family of South Korean immigrants trying to establish a farming business in rural Arkansas. The relaxed pacing allows for plenty of time for the members of the family as well as their complicated dynamic to be developed and the restrained, naturalistic performances from the main cast (particularly Steven Yuen as the patriarch who is determined to make the farm a success regardless of what it costs him, Youn Yuh-jung as the mother-in-law who comes over from South Korea to help watch the kids while they start to get their business rolling and Alan Kim-who turns in the best performance by a child actor since Jacob Tremblay in Room-as the American-born son whose particularly discontent with their new living situation) make all of the high and lows the characters go through during their journey to achieve true prosperity and assimilate to a new country resonate beautifully. It's the type of sweet, low-key and emotional movie that will only add to A24's mythic lore in the independent film community and should be a top-tier contender at all of the awards shows over the next couple months.
Grade: B+
Tom & Jerry: As a non-fan of the franchise, the appeal of Tom & Jerry seems to be the wall-to-wall slapstick gags that occur while the titular cat and mouse try to hurt each other. Even though their carnival of chaos and destruction happens to serve as the match that derails a high-profile couple's wedding (Colin Jost, Pallavi Sharda) at a prestigious New York City hotel instead of the only show in town, those antics are still very much at the forefront of Tim Story's (Ride Along series, Barbershop) modernized live action/cartoon version. This film is more or less just 95 minutes of the hotel staff led by Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena and Rob Delaney unsuccessfully trying to at least somewhat contain Tom and Jerry's property-destroying grudge matches that features no shortage of cartoon animal falls, fights and electrocutions from interfering with the nuptials. While there's not much here outside of the occasional throwaway one-liner for adults, its an appropriately manic and silly affair that kids will love that also happens to serve as a nice introduction to the sophomoric joys that slapstick comedy can provide. In a space dominated by Disney and Pixar's all ages animated affairs, it's almost refreshing to see a cartoon appeal squarely to kids for once and that dedication to making young audiences laugh will likely be the only thing I remember about Tom & Jerry years down the line.
Grade: C
The United States vs. Billie Holiday: In the first significant acting role of her career, singer/songwriter Andra Day was basically asked to compete in the Tour de France on a Huffy that had a leaky tire and some wonky brakes. The United States vs. Billie Holiday features a frantic narrative that clumsily jumps between years/events in Holiday's life so frequently that it basically requires an evidence board to follow completely, clunky pacing that alternates between methodical and blistering on an almost scene-by-scene basis and of course, the Lee Daniels specialty of ruining potentially emotional moments by staging them in the most needlessly melodramatic fashion possible. Day managed to not only get that dilapidated, barely functional bike across the finish line, but win the whole damn thing when that realistically shouldn't have been an option.
By capturing the charisma, unrelenting courage and burden of the tremendous torture Holiday endured in her personal and professional career while also belting out every song with supreme confidence, Day becomes a mesmerizing force that is powerful enough to make this tedious, miscalculated telling of the tragic and fascinating story of one of America's most iconic singers at least somewhat watchable. The list of Best Actress contenders is stupid deep this year and there's at least 5 other legit contenders including Viola Davis, Carey Mulligan and Vanessa Kirby that I'd have no qualms handing the trophy to, but what Day was able to do for this movie-particularly considering her lack of prior acting experience-might be enough to push her ahead of the rest of the pack.
Grade: C+
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