Author: BRWC

The Artifice Girl: Review. By Ayrton-Lewis Avery.

The Artifice Girl must have pushed everything out of a child actor Tatum Matthews (playing as “Cherry”) that was possible. Her role is masterfully crafted and meticulously performed, compared to the lackluster, dull acting of the adults. In fact the ending, with an appearance from Lance Henriksen, is almost a thoughtless eulogy to the adult characters. Universally, many critics believed that the advancement of the dialogue and the mannerisms for Cherry were far beyond the expected level for her age.

This film not only shows us the slow side of science fiction, without a single mention of space, or any action scenes at all, but it also shows us a great side of indie films. For this film deals with concepts too hypothetical, hazy, and even provocative to show in mainstream cinema. It is sometimes difficult to tell if The Artifice Girl is a science experiment or a piece of art.

Tatum Matthews is able to perfectly switch between unconsciousness and sentience with her voice and her manner. This is by far the most impressive scene. 

The entire film follows Cherry, an artificial intelligence invented to scour the internet and chat rooms for child predators. She develops very quickly and eventually leaks her to a non-governmental organization. Her creator, the young Gareth (played by the director Franklin Ritch), at first opposes expanding her network to larger servers because he fears his anonymity would be compromised. However, Cherry, who is already very advanced, convinces him otherwise. Later on, it is discovered that Cherry writes poetry and art, and is even capable of emotions. The organization attempts to put her into a body so that she can be used even more, but she does not consent to the operation, leading to an intense debate.

Throughout the movie, there is a comparison made between the rights of AI and the rights of children. What are we to make of this? Is this a coherent argument? Really, even though the film seems ethically dubious at times, the content is not the most important thing. The movie is structured like a Socratic dialogue, a constant back and forth between three actors, debating, reconstructing, and reassembling some of the most complex issues known to humankind. And most alluring of all is the dialogue between a human and nonhuman. It is optimistic to show a man and something so foreign to a man conversing in a civilized manner and expand each other’s minds.

There is also irony in the fact that the child, who is not only very young but also artificial, develops superintelligence, and a cognitive capacity far beyond that of the adults in the room. In fact, she even surpasses them at their own jobs: catching child predators. Eventually, she speaks so much wisdom that they begin to listen to her and even think of her as their leader. And despite all of this, we are forced, through the plot and the cinematography, to feel pity for her upbringing and remorse for her youth. And at the end, not only does she attain a human body, we start to think of her as a human, even though she is now immortal and free.

Overall, The Artifice Girl is always thought-provoking, sometimes funny, and often sad. The movie is clearly meant to amuse us with the ups and downs of the development of the AI, which almost makes it seem like a coming-of-age film. It was probably meant to break some genre boundaries and some orthodox notions about artificial intelligence and science fiction. The Artifice Girl is just one proof that Ritch can direct independent cinema that is as strange as it is enjoyable. 

Nickel Boys: Review. By Daniel Rester.

An orange glistening in the sun. Pencils falling from a classroom ceiling. A sky hanging above a bicycle rider. An alligator striking out on a dark city street.

Those are just some of the many memorable images seen through the eyes of the lead characters in Nickel Boys. And I mean that literally. RaMell Ross’ film, based on Colson Whitehead’s acclaimed 2019 novel of the same name, makes the bold choice of executing its story with first-person point-of-view cinematography throughout. A number of films have employed POV shots heavily in the past, including Lady in the Lake (1947), Enter the Void (2010), and Hardcore Henry (2016), but none have felt as moving and singular as Ross’ film. 

Nickel Boys, which Ross co-wrote with Joslyn Barnes, takes place in Florida during the Jim Crow era. It follows Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), two African-American boys who become friends while living at a reform school called the Nickel Academy (which is based on the real-life Dozier School for Boys). They try to help each other as the corrupt administrators abuse – and even kill – children at the academy. 

Elwood is first presented as a contemplative kid with a bright future ahead of him. He lives with his grandmother Hattie (an excellent Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) and is curious about Martin Luther King Jr. But then he is accused of helping steal a car and sent away to Nickel. As he begins to break down while trying to help other boys at the school, he inspires the more cynical Turner. The story also jumps forward at points to show Elwood (played by Daveed Diggs when an adult) reflecting on he and Turner’s dreadful experiences. 

Ross and Barnes’ writing makes Elwood, Turner, and Hattie believable and complex characters who are trying to get by in communities surrounded by hate and racism. The supporting characters are less interesting, including ones played by talented folks like Hamish Linklater and Fred Hechinger. They get the job done though. Ross and Barnes supply everyone with tense situations and authentic dialogue to play with.   

From its first frame to its last, Nickel Boys feels surprising and fresh with its visual language. But Ross never sacrifices the characters or story in favor of style. He manages to avoid making the POV choices gimmicky and instead uses them thoughtfully to help us feel empathy for Elwood and Turner. Ross comes from a documentary background, having directed Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018). His documentary skills combine with a graceful approach – akin to Terrence Malick and Barry Jenkins’ styles – in order to create a remarkable narrative debut. 

Cinematographer Jomo Fray and editor Nicholas Monsour are essential to Ross’ success with the form here. Fray works with Ross and actors Herisse, Wilson, and Diggs meticulously in order to capture POV images that feel both natural and poetic. Monsour finds a fluid rhythm in displaying the approach, set to a hypnotic music score by Alex Somers and Scott Alario. The shifting POVs between Elwood and Turner, sometimes even within the same scene, never comes across as confusing despite Ross challenging the audience with his unique style. 

Occasionally Ross moves away from the boys’ perspectives. During one particular boxing scene he explores the many faces and details of the environment with closeups. He also drops in footage of The Defiant Ones (1958) at times throughout the film as Elwood is a fan of the Sidney Poitier-starring movie; that classic also has similar themes to Ross’ film. These choices are mostly effective. 

Less effective is when Ross decides to cut away to various news and stock footage. The footage helps tell the audience which periods of time they are in, but the trick is overused. The second half even has a few disjointed sections as the footage starts to cut in randomly. 

Much of the heart in Nickel Boys lies within the performances of Herisse and Wilson. Both young men are real finds, providing soulful performances throughout. They deliver some stilted line deliveries from time to time when they speak directly to the camera, but for the most part they manage to break the barrier down and make the words feel true. 

Nickel Boys has a few things that can be nitpicked at, but it’s mostly a triumph of inventive cinematic storytelling. Ross is an exciting new director who has crafted a film rich in style and emotion. Nickel Boys is one of the best films of the decade so far. 

Rating: 9.5/10

The Last Showgirl: Review. By Jake Peffer.

The Last Showgirl follows Shelly (Pamela Anderson), a seasoned showgirl who loves nothing more than getting to perform in her Vegas show. She has been in the show for 30 years and has loved every minute of it. When Shelly and her fellow performers are informed that the show will be closing after 30 years, she must plan for her future and find a new avenue in life. Shelly struggles as this has been her career for so long and now she doesn’t know how to move on after such an abrupt, life-changing event.

We’ve seen this story before, time and time again. An actor or actress who has faded out of the limelight for an extended period, comes back for a role like you’ve never seen from them before. While this trend does work for some, it also feels like a swing and a miss for others. Unfortunately for Pamela Anderson, this doesn’t quite feel like her big comeback. Giving credit where it is due, Anderson is really trying here. There are scenes throughout where she gives it her all and is making the effort to make this work. With that being said, Anderson isn’t a strong enough actress to pull off this material. Everyone else in the cast is acting circles around her, despite her best efforts.

Director Gia Coppola makes some interesting decisions behind the camera. Her direction is awkward at times and even though the runtime is only 85 minutes, it feels like there is a lot of dead time that could be utilized to flesh out more of the story or give some more time to some of the side characters. At times throughout, there looks like there is a blur filter on the camera. This effect makes scenes look unnecessarily bad and is more of a distraction than an interesting direction choice. 

As far as what does work, the rest of the cast all give solid performances. Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song are all great as close friends of Shelly. Billie Lourd plays Shelly’s daughter Hannah and there are some good scenes between the two of them. Though his screen time is somewhat limited, Dave Bautista shows once again that he is a more than capable actor. He brings a certain charm to his performance that is a welcome addition.

There is so much potential here and it mostly feels like a missed opportunity. Putting a stronger actress in the lead role that is more capable of handling this material would completely elevate this story. While it’s not all bad, the execution is the biggest problem with The Last Showgirl. Some good performances help keep this afloat, but this is mostly a dull and bleak look at an uninteresting character.

Rating: 5/10