Nostr notes by Robert Denerstein (Unofficial)

A mushy 'Klara and The Sun' A few minutes into Klara and ...

2026-10-22T03:33:50Z

A mushy 'Klara and The Sun'

A few minutes into Klara and the Sun, director Taika Waititi’s schmaltzy adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s popular novel, it struck me that Waititi might be aiming for an idiosyncratic classic about the relationship between a friendly robot and a teenage girl.
Set in the near future, Waititi's instructional fable focuses on Klara (Jenna Ortega), a slightly dated android who longs to be adopted lest she be cannibalized for spare parts. Klara languishes in The Friend Store, where she and her cohorts are ignored by a public that's more attracted to later models.
Because her inventory is dated, The Friend Store manager (Natasha Lyonne) constantly finds herself bested by a spiffy store across the street, a comment on the rapid obsolescence generated by evolving technologies.
All is not lost, though. One day, the teenage Josie (Mia Tharia) looks into the store window and makes a strong connection with Klara. She begs her reluctant mother (Amy Adams) to buy this artificial soul mate.
Mom would prefer a later model, but soon surrenders to her daughter's request. Klara is boxed and sent to Josie's rural home, an estate surrounded by wheat fields that could have been selected by a color coordinator with a taste for Oz-like yellow.
Adams’ Chrissy doesn’t welcome Klara. Neither does the family's housekeeper (Rachel House), but we suspect they're being set up for late-picture changes of heart.
A screenplay by Waititi and Dahvi Waller poses the expected questions: What does it mean to be human? How does one deal with grief? And how are we meant to live with the inevitable brokenness of being alive in a world where love and pain are inextricably linked?
For all its thematic ambition and splashes of visual cleverness, Klara smears a layer of sentimental mush over a story that doesn't generate the deep emotions that Michael Giacchino’s syrupy score tries to evoke.
Waititi relies on Ortega to create an endearing character who mixes naïveté and intelligence. A sun worshiper of sorts, Karla talks to the sun, praising its warmth and asking for help when problems arise. More in tune with nature than her human counterparts, Klara must teach them a lesson in humanity.
The film tries to ride the emotional wave created by Ortega and Tharia, both convincing, as is Josie’s young boyfriend (Aran Murphy). There’s even an android scarecrow (Jesse Griffin) who provides comic relief and invites a Wizard of Oz comparison.
As the movie imagines life after World War III (never shown), it introduces a gene-altering procedure called Lifting aimed at parents who can afford to put their kids on the road to high achievement. Chrissy has had Josie lifted — but the procedure generated a life-threatening side effect.
Topical in these AI-obsessed days, some of the issues raised by Klara and the Sun are subjected to heavy-handed satire. When Josie meets with other “lifted” teens, we glimpse the class distinctions that have gripped this depleted world. Josie's fellow "Liftees" (my word) couldn’t be more obnoxious.
Steve Buscemi makes a brief appearance as a man who aspires creates artificial replacements for departed loved ones, a process that appeals to Chrissy, who already has lost a husband and a daughter, Josie’s older sister.
I thought Waititi’s widely praised JoJo Rabbit, about a Jewish teen hidden during the Holocaust, soothed its audience by confirming what it already knew. The same could be said about Klara and the Sun. Love can hurt. Humanity can't be replicated. The sun supports life. Death sucks.
Don’t worry, you won’t miss these points. Waititi makes sure they’re delivered out loud.

http://denersteinunleashed.blogspot.com/2026/10/a-mushy-klara-and-sun.html

#klara #sun #friendstore #waititi #josie #kazuoishiguro #taikawaititi #ortega #jennaortega #natashalyonne

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The tricky business of riffing on Ripley Patricia Highsmith ...

2026-10-21T21:09:51Z

The tricky business of riffing on Ripley

Patricia Highsmith secured her reputation as a brilliant writer of crime fiction with The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), a mystery followed by four more Ripley novels, the last appearing in 1991. Not that Highsmith was unknown before Ripley. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, appeared in 1950 and was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.
A lesbian with a fondness for pet snails, Highsmith was quick to display her racism and anti-Semitism, as well as her contempt for those she considered to be less acute in their observations. American born, Highsmith lived most of her adult life as an expatriate.
Directed by Anton Corbijn (The American and Control), A Talent for Murder attempts to out-trick the tricky Highsmith, setting a high bar the movie can't quite jump over. Still, Joanna Murray-Smith expands her stage play to create a Ripley-like mystery that plumbs Highsmith levels of amorality.
A Talent for Murder brings the fictional character of Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) into the story. A Highsmith devotee who's looking to build his a career, Ridgeway has been sent by Highsmith’s publisher to visit her secluded Swiss home. He's supposed to persuade her to write another lucrative Ripley novel.
On the train to Zurich, Ridgeway meets Clementine (Olivia Cooke), an appealing American who's on her way to visit a rich aunt. She's also about to become an heiress.
The stage is set for Helen Mirren to enter as the thoroughly unpleasant Highsmith. In an unattractive wig and minimal makeup, Mirren brings plenty of bite to an author whose walls include a collection of antique guns. To ingratiate himself with the reclusive Highsmith, Ridgeway brings her a knife she has been coveting along with cans of Campbell's soup she requested.
On stage, A Talent for Murder was a two-hander in which Ridgeway and Highsmith sparred and jostled. On film, Ridgeway’s relationship with Clementine unfolds in ways that bring him into contact with an upper-class crowd.
Initially, Highsmith outpoints Ridgeway, but Ehrenreich gives a cagey performance as an editor Highsmith constantly tests, often in humiliating fashion. The ultimate challenge for Ridgeway: Devise a way to get rid of a character in the Ripley mystery Highsmith considers writing. Is he clever enough to concoct a murder that will convince her to trust him?
Miren bites into Highsmith’s sarcasm and superiority without seeking audience sympathy. Cooke adds spark as a young woman eager to take her own bite out of life, and Ehrenreich’s performance boasts increasing complexity.
The attempt to blend Highsmith’s story with Ridgeway’s may not fascinate in full Ripley fashion, but it plays well enough to keep us involved with these devious, calculating characters.

http://denersteinunleashed.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-tricky-business-of-riffing-on-ripley.html

#highsmith #ripley #ridgeway #murder #american #ehrenreich #alfredhitchcock #edwardridgeway #antoncorbijn #patriciahighsmith

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'Wicker' weaves a touching tale Described in simple ...

2026-10-21T03:15:26Z

'Wicker' weaves a touching tale

Described in simple terms, Wicker sounds preposterous. A fisherwoman in a Medieval village falls in love with a man made of wicker created by the village basket weaver. Though made of wicker, this lover has a human-like physical presence. He’s even able to make bed-breaking love — vigorous enough to raise village eyebrows.
Yes, it’s silly, but Olivia Colman, as the Fisher Woman who’s a bit of a village pariah, and Alexander Skarsgard, in an impressive wicker costume, make the situation real enough to carry a movie that easily could have gone badly wrong.
Based on Ursula Wills-Jones's short story, Wicker also features fine performances from Peter Dinklage as the Basket Weaver, another village outsider, and from Elizabeth Debicki as The Tailor’s Wife, a conniving woman who envies the Fisher Woman’s independence — particularly in a patriarchal village.
How patriarchal? Villagers place a collar around the bride’s neck, an obvious symbol of male possession.
Another village ritual puts the Fisher Woman in an awkward spot. By chance, she’s tagged as the next village bride. Knowing that her prospects for romance are limited, she asks the Basket Weaver to make her a husband.
The movie doesn’t deal with how the wicker groom comes to life. He just does, which allows writer/directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer freedom to explore the relationship without having to drift into quasi-supernatural terrain.
Skarsgard creates a caring character who becomes a paragon of devotion, helping with chores and tending to Fisher Woman’s emotional and physical needs. Skarsgard works in a low-key fashion that brings credibility to his character’s innocent ways. His character may be simple, but by no means is he stupid.
If one wanted to be cynical, one might say that Skarsgard's character had to be made of straw because no such man exists in real life, but Wicker isn't about promoting cynicism.
Never shy about total commitment to a character, Colman plunges into the role with the gusto of a hungry woman presented with a heaping plate of food.
The directors add humor, and the screenplay contrives to create the conflict that precedes a finale that caps an often offbeat critique of a society in which women's needs are neglected as a matter of course.
The village environment has been ably created, and Wicker, which has enough harsh moments to avoid cloying sweetness, evolves into a generally pleasing fable about the comforts of equality in love.

http://denersteinunleashed.blogspot.com/2026/10/wicker-weaves-touching-tale.html

#fisherwoman #wicker #basketweaver #skarsgard #oliviacolman #elizabethdebicki #peterdinklage #alexanderskarsgard #alexhuston #eleanorwilson

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A lengthy doc about Elon Musk The documentarian Alex Gibney has ...

2026-10-16T04:38:45Z

A lengthy doc about Elon Musk

The documentarian Alex Gibney has never shied away from controversy. His filmography includes Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Taxi to the Dark Side, and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Musk, a three-hour-and-45-minute look at the world's wealthiest man, continues Gibney's immersion in the universe of hot topics.
Yes, you read that right. Musk runs for almost four hours, serving as a comprehensive look at a career that began with Zip2, a company that provided online business directories and city maps. Musk continued with a variety of tech enterprises, including the electric car company, Tesla. Musk also runs SpaceX, which designs rockets and missiles, and operates Starlink, a satellite internet service.
Unless you've managed to ignore the news, you also know that Musk led President Trump’s DOGE, a brutal government cost-cutting effort. He has spoken about the need to travel to Mars, a journey his detractors may wish he'd make sooner rather than later.
Musk, who has denounced the documentary as a hit job, refused to be interviewed by Gibney. Taking matters into his own hands, Gibney used a computer-generated avatar of Musk to address the camera, creating the illusion that Musk is talking to the audience. Taken from recordings of Musk interviews and public statements, the voice and words we hear are real.
Gibney raises a question with which many have wrestled: Is Musk a genius with a prescient eye on the future, or is he a marketing wizard who knows how to sell himself and his many companies while landing lucrative government contracts?
The film begins at a point when Gibney admires Musk’s energy and talent and slowly reveals that much about Musk and be questioned.
Musk, for example, arrived after Tesla already had been founded. Martin Eberhard, one of the original founders, was pushed out of the company. Ruthless? Maybe, but Musk did develop Tesla at scale, establishing electric cars as a credible alternative to Detroit gas-guzzlers.
Musk’s personal life is … well … complicated. He has been married three times, twice to the same woman. He has fathered 14 children with four women. Gibney interviews Justine Wilson, Musk's first wife, but his interview with Ashley St. Clair proves more revealing. St. Claire had a child with Musk. She says she refused a multi-million dollar payment to sign a non-disclosure agreement that asked her not to talk about him or his heirs.
For me, the movie began to drag when the subject of DOGE takes over. Perhaps it's a bit too fresh to need reiteration. Those who've followed Musk’s career closely may find that the movie repeats much of what they already know, but Gibney's useful compendium raises important questions about the conflation of money and power and what might be the unprecedented influence of tech oligarchs on government.
It should come as no surprise that the film isn't an ode to someone Gibney regards as heroic. By the end, you may find that technical advances have taken a back seat to Musk’s greatest creation: himself. He has constructed an identity he equates with innovation and visionary achievement.
Musk may want to make himself the hero of his own story, but Gibney refuses to play along. That's hardly a groundbreaking approach, but Gibney molds his material with verve, insight, and a clearly made case.

http://denersteinunleashed.blogspot.com/2026/10/a-lengthy-doc-about-elon-musk.html