If Beale Street Could Talk

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Barry Jenkins
Screenplay:  Barry Jenkins, based on the novel If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Starring:  KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Beach, Emily Rios, Ed Skrein,
Running Time: 118 minutes
Genre:  Drama, romance

New York City, 1970s:  Clementine "Tish" Rivers (Layne) and Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt (James) are a young couple in love.  Fonny is arrested on suspicion of rape, and Tish discovers that she is pregnant with Fonny's baby.  Tish and her family struggle to prove Fonny's innocence before the child is born.

This is a very faithful adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel, and retains the books non-linear structure moving between past and present, with numerous flashbacks depicting Fonny and Tish's relationship.  As with Barry Jenkins' previous film, the award-winning Moonlight (2016), this is a beautiful film, with a real visual poetry which blends with the poetry of Baldwins' prose to create a powerful experience.  The film has some fantastic performances, with the actors frequently filmed straight on looking into the camera and communicating almost more with subtle expressions and glances than with dialogue.  Despite being a lush, powerfully romantic film, it also has the anger and grit of Baldwin's novel.  It's a great film, that will break your heart and make you angry.    

Stephan James and KiKi Layne in If Beale Street Could Talk

Hotel Artemis

Year of Release:  2018
Director:  Drew Pearce
Screenplay:  Drew Pearce
Starring:  Jodie Foster, Stirling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day, Dave Bautista
Running Time:  94 minutes
Genre: Action, science-fiction, crime

Los Angeles, 2028:  A full-scale citywide riot is in progress over the cost of privatised water.  Under cover of the riot a small crew try, unsuccessfully, to rob a bank.  During the escape, brothers Sherman (Brown) and Lev (Henry) are injured; Lev very seriously.  They go to the Hotel Artemis, a combination hotel and hospital that only treats criminals, run for 22 years by the Nurse (Foster) according to a strict set of rules, with assistant / enforcer Everest (Bautista).  Also in the hotel are racist, misogynist arms dealer Acapulco (Day) and contract killer Nice (Boutella).  The Nurse receives word that crime boss The Wolf King (Goldblum), who owns most of Los Angeles (including the Artemis), is on his way for emergency treatment.  Meanwhile the Nurse takes a huge risk, breaking her own rules to help cop Morgan (Slate), who has a connection to her past.

This is a stylish action, crime-thriller with futuristic overtones and a top-drawer cast.  Set almost entirely in the confines of the hotel, which looks like a decaying Old-Hollywood palace. Jodie Foster turns in a typically strong performance as the vulnerable but strong nurse, Jeff Goldblum has a lot of fun with a comparatively small role, and Sofia Boutella is memorable as the seductive, acrobatic killer.  Stirling K. Brown anchors the film as the essentially decent robber who will do anything to save his brother.  With the hotel given to frequent power outages, characters are often shown in shadowy pools of golden light and occasionally bathed in neon neon and bright red emergency lighting.  We are given glimpses of the nightmare world outside in the news bulletins the characters watch and the frequent explosions in the distance.  There are brief impressions of the world outside Los Angeles (a character talks about taking a chopper "south, over the Wall").  This is not a wall-to wall action film, it is more of a thriller, but when the action comes it is well-staged by debuting director Dave Pearce, and exciting.  The story has few surprises and, despite the big-name cast it looks like quite a low-budget film, but it is a lot of fun, and could become quite a cult film in years to come.

Stirling K. Brown and Sofia Boutella check in to Hotel Artemis