Category Archives: P. J. Byrne

2022 Films, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, Epic, Flea, P. J. Byrne, Period Drama

Babylon-2022

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Babylon-2022

Director Damien Chazelle

Starring Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt

Scott’s Review #1,365

Reviewed June 4, 2023

Grade: A-

Babylon (2022) is a film that will largely divide audiences. Slightly late to the table, I viewed the film after the awards season hoopla had ended and the film came up empty-handed. Sure, a few nominations were received but much more was expected from the epic Hollywood-themed venture.

I’m a fan of director Damien Chazelle, most famous for the similarly set Los Angeles film La La Land (2016), which I adore.

His direction style reminds me a great deal of Baz Luhrmann’s with the incorporation of intense musical numbers during many scenes and a strong chaotic and frenetic nature.

I realize this style is not for everyone so I’m not surprised Babylon is somewhat revered and somewhat reviled. This isn’t always a bad thing as a good film debate can be fun.

I adore Babylon mostly for the powerful and potent silent-era Hollywood story and the terror stars of the 1920s faced with the realization that sound had entered their pictures and they were expected to keep with the times.

Sadly, many careers ended in devastating fashion sinking one-time big stars into depression and despair.

The acting is superb and major props go especially to Margot Robbie as debaucherous film star Nellie LaRoy and newcomer (to me) Diego Calva as handsome Mexican immigrant Manny Torres. Both actors elicit superb performances that should have landed them Oscar nominations.

The major overtones that Chazelle incorporates into Babylon are those of ambition and outrageous excess, but also belonging and acceptance. The rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood are explored.

As Hollywood makes the transition from silent films to talkies, ambitious up-and-coming actress Nellie and aging superstar Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) each struggle to adapt to the new medium as well as a rapidly changing world.

And Manny just wants a seat at the table.

Another reason I love the film is the dedication and exposure given to pre-sound Hollywood movies which nobody remembers. I struggle to recall ever viewing a film from that era with my earliest film being the 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front.

The hit film The Artist (2011) may have paid tribute but it’s not the same and Babylon goes for the jugular in showcasing an entire movement that is now largely forgotten.

Cinema fans will respect Babylon.

Besides the film’s characters, there is so much movie stuff to appreciate. A Hollywood movie set, repeated takes, scripts, dialogue, lighting equipment, and rehearsals, make for a feast of riches for any cinephile.

The weak point is the behemoth length of the film. At three hours and nine minutes, an epic length, the erratic structure is a challenge to get through. A piecemeal approach can sometimes affect the continuity and it did detract a bit in this case for me.

If one can sit still long enough the final thirty minutes is superb. A tidy wrap-up and truthful storytelling give several characters a proper sendoff. The film ends in 1952 so a great conclusion befits.

Before we get to this point though, a nailbiting sequence involving Manny and a fiendish Los Angeles gangster played by Toby MacGuire is second to none. Fake money, a rat-eating entertainer, and pornographic dwarfs make for an odd adventure that one can’t look away from.

A fascinating and bombastic experience, Babylon (2022) loudly delves into the silent film world and gives a proper head nod to a long-forgotten period.

The film successfully makes me appreciate Hollywood and its history more than I already do.

Oscar Nominations: Best Musical Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design

2019 Films, Brian d'Arcy James, Charlize Theron, Drama, P. J. Byrne, Richard Kind

Bombshell-2019

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Bombshell-2019

Director-Jay Roach

Starring Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman

Scott’s Review #972

Reviewed December 26, 2019

Grade: B+

Bombshell (2019) is the type of film that depending on your political affiliation, you will either refuse to see or see and have a love/hate reaction to.

As a non-lover of the “news” network Fox News, I am firmly ensconced in the latter camp, so my opinion of the film is mixed.

The importance of releasing the film in the time of political turmoil during 2019 is crucial and intentional, which is why I commend the film but the subject matter of sexual harassment against women is difficult to watch and a sobering reminder that this behavior continues to occur.

The performances of the principal players- Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Kate McKinnon, and John Lithgow are wonderful and key to the film’s power. Theron and Lithgow receive the lion’s share of makeup and prosthetic work, making them look identical to their real-life counterparts.

Beneficial is a myriad of Fox News political figure portrayals (Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Bill O’Reilly) with frighteningly good accuracy creating a surreal effect.

The film centers on female Fox News personnel in Manhattan and their sexual harassment allegations against founder Roger Ailes (Lithgow).

The central figure- Megyn Kelly (Theron) is conflicted over the risks to both her career and her financial stability if she comes forward and admits her harassment by Ailes years ago after Gretchen Carlson sues the network. Margot Robbie plays Kayla, a young Fox employee, who is also harassed by Ailes.

McKinnon plays closeted lesbian and confidante to Kayla, who works for the network despite being liberal and a huge admirer of Hillary Clinton.

The plot is fast-paced and plays out like a quick page-turner, with some of it narrated by Kelly. Bombshell feels timely and has a distinct “ripped from the headlines” makeup. The fact that the real-life events occurred as recently as 2016 is an unmistakable aspect that will grip the viewer, especially those who follow United States politics or current events.

The story is fresh and vibrant with familiarity, not a story from an event decades ago that many viewers have forgotten or were too young to remember.

I had difficulty feeling much sympathy for most of the characters which knock the film down a notch.

The standard definition that the term “Fox News” usually conjures is one of male chauvinism and the good old boys club with old-fashioned machismo ruling the roost.

Why would any woman choose to work for them or align themselves with the Conservative party which is not a fan of women or women’s rights? With this fact in mind, it was difficult for me to watch the film.

To build on this, CEO Roger Ailes is written as the clear villain with no redeeming value. During one scene, he salivates Kayla when she visits him in his office and instructs her to lift her skirt higher and twirl for him. The scene is sickening, and we feel Kayla’s embarrassment and humiliation.

In a cheer-out loud moment at the end of the film, she ups, and quits, unable to remain in such a corrupt corporation.

One of the only likable characters is Jess Carr (McKinnon), probably fictitious. Hardly fitting the mold of the female staff, not perky or showing leg, she goes out for drinks with Kayla and admits to being gay, the two end up having a one-night stand. The character is unique, and McKinnon makes wise acting choices.

Worth mentioning is Ailes’s long-time secretary Faye (Holland Taylor). Surely, she knows the antics that go on in her boss’s office, but she almost serves as an accomplice. Why?

Sad to realize is that as recently as 2016, women were still having to face discrimination in the workplace. Industries with powerful men still can be toxic and poisonous to women attempting to climb the ranks.

If the women harassed at Fox News were not top anchors there is no way the accusations would have even been heard. What about the receptionists, the cleaning staff, or the admins who are harassed? Would anyone listen to them? This message crossed my mind while watching Bombshell.

With fantastic acting and incredible makeup, time will tell if Bombshell (2019) remains a relevant film. Leaving the viewer with an unsatisfying ending rather than a hopeful one, it is tough to sympathize with most of the characters even when supposed to.

Bombshell would make a perfect companion piece to Vice (2018), a similar political, yet superior film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Charlize Theron, Best Supporting Actress-Margot Robbie, Best Makeup and Hairstyling (won)

2018 Films, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Drama, P. J. Byrne, Peter Farrelly

Green Book-2018

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Green Book-2018

Director-Peter Farrelly

Starring-Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali

Scott’s Review #839

Reviewed December 10, 2018

Grade: A

To be candid, it was not originally on my radar to see Green Book (2018) despite the high regard and the bevy of award nominations reaped upon the film.

From the trailers, and admittedly my assumptions, the production looked somewhat of a Driving Miss Daisy (1989) role reversal with the standard over-saturation and glossy view of racism.

I confess to being wrong in my initial assessment as Green Book is a wonderful film with a multitude of worthy efforts, successfully crossing the drama and comedy barriers delivering an astounding message of compassion and benevolence.

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershali Ali show tremendous flair and exhibit fine chemistry as an Italian blue-collar driver and an astute African-American classical pianist, respectively.

The men travel together in the Deep South circa 1962 on a concert tour requested by the renowned musician despite the dangers of southern racism and prejudice.

Mortensen’s Tony Lip is a struggling New York City bouncer who needs any gig for two months while the club he works for is closed for renovations. Ali plays a sophisticated musician who needs a driver with a measure of toughness, and Tony comes highly recommended.

The two men initially are strangers but form a close-knit bond and a deep understanding of each other as they become better acquainted during their journey.

The first half of the film focuses on Tony.

As viewers, we experience his Italian lifestyle. He possesses a strong family unit, a dedicated wife, Dolores, (Linda Cardellini), and loves to eat, winning a hot dog eating contest for $50 to pay the rent. He thinks nothing of beating an unsavory character to a bloody pulp if they are out of line and has more than one link to the mafia.

Still, he is a decent man, with a salt-of-the-earth mentality, and loves his family.

“Doc” Don Shirley (Ali) is the opposite of Tony. Raised as a highly gifted musical prodigy, he surrounds himself with high culture, well-versed in many languages, and of affluent means. Nonetheless, he is a wounded soul and drinks himself into oblivion each night, frequently deep in thought pondering life and its problems.

Despite being black he knows nothing about black culture.

Don is highly uncomfortable in his skin while Tony is happy with who he is, a major point that the film hits home on as the men have conflict. Don feels Tony can do so much better to educate himself while Tony sees nothing wrong with being who he is. The men forge a middle ground as they come to respect each other.

Ferrelli does a wonderful job in showing Tony as Don’s protector as he is accosted by rednecks or is caught with another man at the YMCA.

In turn, Don helps Tony write warm love letters to Dolores.

Green Book is a film about friendship and how different backgrounds can result in closeness and respect.

The film is humanistic in its approach to an overall message and is the feel-good film of 2018 without the slightest thread of sappiness or any contrived situations. The film is best about two real-life men who remained friends until their deaths.

Director, Peter Farrelly, known mostly for silly films such as Dumb and Dumber (1994) finds breakthrough success with Green Book.

The film is mainstream material, but of a sort that can be appreciated for the good it exudes. Don exhibits racism on more than one occasion- Birmingham and Mississippi specifically- but also experiences kindness from other folks.

Worth noting is that Don experiences discrimination and abuse not only from whites but also from blacks. Farrelly avoids the usual stereotypes or elicits humor from them as in the scene where Tony teaches Don to enjoy fried chicken, a food theretofore foreign to Don.

A key point to the film occurs early on when Dolores graciously invites two black workers to repair thinking nothing of treating the men to a refreshing lemonade.

Tony, witnessing the empty glasses in the sink throws them in the trash not wanting to drink from the same glasses. Is Tony along with his family, racist or uncomfortable with blacks? Regardless of the answer, after the film, they think very differently which is monumental.

The final sequence of Green Book is teary, heartfelt, and provides a feeling of incredible warmth.

In the tumultuous times of current American history, Green Book (2018) is sentimental and inspirational in a day where racism has once again reared its ugly head thanks to the chaotic political environment.

The film is a lesson learned in how far we have come as a society, but also how things have not changed so much and how much further we need to go creating equality for all. Farrelly creates a timely and wonderful film that everyone can appreciate.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture (won), Best Actor-Viggo Mortensen, Best Supporting Actor-Mahershala Ali (won), Best Original Screenplay (won), Best Film Editing

2015 Films, Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton, P. J. Byrne, Rebecca Hall, Thriller, Wendell Pierce

The Gift-2015

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The Gift-2015

Director Joel Edgerton

Starring Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton

Scott’s Review #264

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Reviewed August 9, 2015

Grade: A-

The Gift (2015) is a throwback to the type of psychological thriller made famous by Fatal Attraction in 1987 and similar films throughout their heyday into the 1990s.

An unstable psycho threatens a happy couple.

Interestingly, The Gift is similar in genre to a film also released in 2015, The Boy Next Door. The Gift is worlds superior to that film and contains surprises, frights, twists, and turns that I pleasantly did not see coming.

The film is not predictable which is refreshing in this particular genre.

Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall star as Simon and Robyn, a successful young couple who have relocated from Chicago to sunny California, near Simon’s childhood hometown, to begin a new life with the intent of starting a family.

They soon run into a man named Gordo, played by actor/director Joel Edgerton, a high school chum of Simon’s from twenty years ago whom Simon barely remembers. Simon and Gordo plan to re-connect over dinner, but the audience can sense that something is not right with Gordo.

As Simon, Gordo, and Robyn get to know each other again, Gordo begins leaving pleasant little gifts on Simon and Robyn’s doorstep as well as showing up at their house unannounced, which is particularly unnerving to Robyn as she is home alone all day long. Simon is consumed with his new career and possible promotion.

Interestingly, their home is located in a secluded area.

The film soon reveals that Gordo was nicknamed “Gordo the Weirdo” in high school and that an incident involving Gordo occurred, though nobody seems to remember the exact circumstances.

Perhaps they choose not to remember?

The vagueness of this situation is appealing because the audience is sure that these circumstances will be revealed later in the story and play a large part in the climax, which it does.

We also learn that another incident took place with Robyn in Chicago and that she suffered a miscarriage. She does not drink and avoids pills. Could she be unstable, imagining things, or overly cautious?

It is revealed that she does not handle stress well.

A wonderful aspect of The Gift is its surprise factor. As the plot twists and turns, I switched alliances and wondered who the villain was. Gordo? Simon? Robyn?

Edgerton (along with a great acting performance) compellingly directed the film and was undoubtedly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock.

The camera angles and score are excellent in establishing the correct level of tension at just the right moment. In more than a few scenes the audience knows something will jump out at the screen, so there is anticipation, but when and how it will happen is a surprise.

Many scenes are when Robyn is alone, during the day thank goodness, and she hears a noise or notices the water running. These scenes are traditional fare in horror or the thriller genre but are well done in The Gift.

Simon is an interesting character. Sophisticated, educated, and with a high-level executive job, he has a strange fear of monkeys.

The past is a common theme of the film- past events encase the three lead characters leading to conflict and ultimately these events come back to haunt them. Most of Simon’s friends are unlikable and appear interested in style over substance. They seem drawn to Simon more for his success than because they care about him.

This contradicts his wife’s character. Robyn is down-to-earth, and kind, and does not place as much stock in wealth and achievements as she does with personality and being a kind individual. She and Simon bicker and disagree about Gordo and their conflict increases.

It is not often in films anymore that one is truly frightened and “jumps out of your seat”, but two intense scenes, one involving a dog, and the other a shower, made me jump, and the hairs on my arm stand on end. Everyone in the audience gasped together.

Now that is fun!

The only negatives in The Gift are continuity issues and the suspension of disbelief in some scenes. Without giving anything away, how is Gordo able to do some things he can do?

The Gift (2015) is an old-fashioned thriller with excellent acting, compelling characters, and a wonderful debut for Edgerton in the director’s chair.

The film will leave the viewer pondering moral questions, and relating to each of the three main characters.

2013 Films, Comedy, Crime Drama, Dark Comedy, Drama, Epic, Fran Lebowitz, Jean Dujardin, Jon Bernthal, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Martin Scorsese, Matthew McConaughey, P. J. Byrne, Rob Reiner, Spike Jonze, Ward Horton

The Wolf of Wall Street-2013

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The Wolf of Wall Street-2013

Director Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill

Scott’s Review #33

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Reviewed June 17, 2014 

Grade: A

Martin Scorsese’s latest offering, The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) is a tale of overindulgence, chaos, and debauchery in the world of stockbroking during the 1980s.

The film is superb.

It is a drug-filled, sex-filled, over-the-top, loud, testosterone-fueled, frenetic extravaganza that works on so many levels.

Humorous and mouth-dropping scenes occur throughout the film.

The casting is flawless- Leonardo Dicaprio and Jonah Hill deserve the praise and Oscar nominations heaped on them.

The supporting actors are perfect- Rob Reiner, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, and Kyle Chandler.

With Scorsese, you will receive an intelligent film, though very R-rated.

Similar in style to another of his masterpieces, Goodfellas-1990, as it is narrated by the main character (Dicaprio).

Comparisons to the 1987 film Wall Street are silly. This film is much deeper, grittier, and frankly, much better.

Do not let the unfathomable running time of three hours discourage you- the time goes by very fast.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Martin Scorsese, Best Actor-Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor-Jonah Hill, Best Adapted Screenplay