We Grown Now, 2023.

Written and Directed by Minhal Baig.
Starring Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Lil Rel Howery, Jurnee Smollett, Ora Jones, Giovani Chambers, and Avery Holliday.

SYNOPSIS:

Two young boys, best friends Malik and Eric, discover the joys and hardships of growing up in the sprawling Cabrini-Green public housing complex in 1992 Chicago.

Writer/director Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now is a moving tale of a tested childhood friendship during the ups and downs of Cabrini-Green life. Minhal Baig has pulled together various stories of what it is like to grow up and live in the Chicago housing complex, setting the story here in 1992, mostly focused on Malik (Blake Cameron James), who believes that there are no rules here and that the only thing that matters is seeing how high you can jump.

This is, obviously, a film with sincere affection for a specific place in time, but also not one that lets periods spent allowing viewers to observe the housing complex hallways and homes (whether it be from the boys here dragging mattresses down multiple floors or stairs since the elevator is busted, or gentle camera movements taking us from one floor, above to the next) to get in the way of drawing these characters and telling an authentically engaging story about the trials and tribulations of raising a family in Cabrini Green, ensuring that the children are safe, and of course, the joys of living there as an innocent child assuming that just because one young boy has been shot and murdered, they will be safe.

Malik and his best friend Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) play outside, discuss what they want from the future, and also debate about Chicago-specific arguments, such as whether Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen or not to lead the Chicago Bulls to NBA championships. The film was wise enough not to overly romanticize life here, which was increasingly weighed down upon by oppressive local law enforcement insisting that due to the recent shootings, everyone (including the children) requires a keycard to enter their homes. Cinematographer Pat Scola is also fittingly instructed not to photograph these policemen’s faces during some scenes, keeping the vantage point from the low perspective of the children and often sticking with their reactions.

Meanwhile, Malik’s mother, Dolores (a winning performance from Jurnee Smollett), is a woman uncertain of how to continue making ends meet while putting up with the unfortunate failings of the housing complex. She is a family woman close to her mother (S. Epatha Merkerson) and isn’t so much still grieving the loss of her father but still paying tribute to him at dinner as a means to instill the importance of family onto Malik. On the same floor, Eric struggles with his education as his single father, Jason (a delightful dramatic turn from the reliably hysterical Lil Rel Howery), does his best to tutor the boy while managing the funds for his older daughter’s upcoming high school graduation.

Once it becomes clear that one of these families is contemplating making a drastic change to their lives, a rift emerges in the friendship between Malik and Eric, which is believably heartbreaking but threatens to become overwritten in the film’s third act. Thankfully, the script pulls away from that and returns to the initial theme of jumping and what it means to soar. Similarly, We Grown Now is a sweet and charming tale of friendship set inside a specific setting, with that combination of romanticism and honesty allowing it to fly.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

 

La Chimera, 2023.

Directed by Alice Rohrwacher.
Starring Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, and Isabella Rossellini.

SYNOPSIS:

Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For the band of tombaroli, thieves of ancient grave goods and archaeological wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth. For Arthur, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, searches everywhere, goes inside the earth – in search of the door to the afterlife of which myths speak. In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between forests and cities, between celebrations and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera.

Italian Director Alice Rohrwacher has built an acclaimed career around films that mix reality and fantasy to perfection. Her latest film La Chimera continues this trend, depicting a lovelorn Englishman Arthur (Josh O’Connor) in 1980s Italy working with a gang to steal historical artefacts from local graves and selling them through a mystery bidder. While it may seem an odd premise, it is never less than captivating for its 2hr 10-minute runtime, balancing a world of ideas, mysterious, beguiling and distinct.

Italy here is a far cry from some of the more glamorous depictions of major Hollywood movies, this is an idyllic, rural community with a sense of poverty, perhaps at odds with the value of Arthur and Co’s finds. It is a clever juxtaposition between both the recent past and ancient history and playing with our sense of history and memory.

O’Connor gives a transformative performance speaking almost entirely in Italian and imbuing Arthur with a sense of internal turmoil that we slowly unpack, what is he running from and why does he seem so lost? We find out his love Beniamina is dead and Arthur is still processing her loss, after spending some time in prison. He gives off a cool air, chainsmoking with a white suit, which has been compared to Elliot Gould in Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. The supporting Italian cast ably supports O’Connor with Isabella Rossellini featuring in a small but vital role as Flora, whom Arthur resides with, a mentor figure for him.

What is perhaps La Chimera’s greatest achievement is balancing its contemplative emotional beats with a commentary on the nature of history and antiquities Rohrwacher perhaps acknowledges how many museum items are stolen. There is a spiritual feel to things that adds a fantastical layer as Arthur seeks a way to reconnect with his lost love, this also makes us question what we are seeing, is everything playing out how we think, is there something else at play? It’s these questions and layers that make this such a unique and mystifying film.

Never quite going where we might expect with hidden meaning lurking behind every corner, it is easy to fall under La Chimera’s spell. It feels like a film from years gone by in the best way possible, showing a side of Italy so rarely captured in mainstream film. It is at times both a critique of the world of archaeology and a deep, meaningful glance at how losses linger, the bizarre marriage of the two miraculously in sync.

Josh O’Connor, who is of course on a hot streak with Challengers, is magnificent giving off a cool exterior while anguishing on the inside, losing himself in this dangerous yet exhilarating world. This further cements Alice Rohrwacher as a filmmaker of the highest order a singular talent.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Chris Connor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

 

TIGER is a new documentary on Disney+. The movie is about a tigress named Ambar who struggles to keep her unusually large brood of cubs alive. Her four cubs grow up slowly in the harsh Indian jungle. However, many things make Ambar’s job difficult. These things include her cubs’ own unique quirks, monsoons, hunting difficulties, and a very powerful alpha male tiger named Shankar. Shankar scared away the cubs’ father, so Ambar needs to keep her cubs hidden from him.

TIGER is both engaging and educational. The narrator does a good job at educational storytelling, balancing humor and drama at just the right moments. On top of that, although the story is about one of nature’s greatest predators, there is never any on screen killing. However, there is still some animal violence. After all, tigers are predatory creatures, and the movie shows other dangerous animals such as crocodiles and a python. So, some caution and discretion for younger children is still advised. Ultimately, however, TIGER is grand tale about one of nature’s big cats. It’s a happy addition to the Disney Nature documentaries.

(BB, VV, S):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

This movie has a moral, educational worldview embracing motherhood, the movie’s entire point is to educate viewers about how tiger families survive in the Indian jungle, the tigers aren’t put up on pedestals and humans are not shamed nor mentioned, the sole purpose seems to be to showcase and highlight how a tigress goes about raising such a big brood of cubs, there is a line that compares a tiger to a “spirit,” in the fact that when a tiger is hiding they are “everywhere and nowhere,” but the line has no religious context to speak of;

Foul Language:

No foul language;

Violence:

There are a few moments of animal violence, including a male tiger and female tiger attack each other, there are many times when the cubs are all play fighting amongst themselves, one whole scene is dedicated to frogs kicking each other off of rocks during their mating season, the aftermath of successful hunts are shown where one tiger manages to catch a deer offscreen and another tiger manages to catch a sloth off screen, two crocodiles manage to drown a deer, and a group of vultures feast on a bear cub who doesn’t make it;

Sex:

There is an implied mating between a female and male tiger where the female tiger doesn’t intend to bear cubs, but the female tiger plans to mate with the alpha tiger as his new and permanent mate after her cubs from another tiger are grown old enough to survive on their own;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Nothing else objectionable.

TIGER is one of newest documentaries to arrive on Disney+. As the name implies it follows the story of a tiger, or rather a tigress, as she teaches her new cubs to hunt. The main characters of this show include five tigers in particular. Ambar, the mother of the brood, is the main focus for most of the film. She has a grand total of four cubs who are identified by both their unique stripe patterns and their personalities. The biggest and bravest male is called Ravi, the clumsy younger male is called Golu, the older female is called Ivy because she loves to climb, and the smallest female is called Charm, who likes her solitude.

Taking place in a jungle forest of India, Ambar is set to raise her unusually large brood of tiger cubs. However, it doesn’t prove to be easy.

The first big obstacle is the fact that anytime a tiger is spotted by any animal, a large warning is spread throughout, which frequently makes it hard for Ambar to hunt. Normally, when tigresses have cubs, the male tiger is usually assisting in some way. However, Ambar’s original mate was fought and scared away by the new alpha male, Shankar. So, on top of having to raise and feed her cubs, she needs to do it in secret because Shankar would kill her cubs if he caught them. The third major issue for Ambar is each of the cubs’ personalities leads to difficulties in her teaching them due to their quirks.

Despite all these obstacles, Ambar and her cubs seem to thrive and grow.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW] Ravi manages to grow into a big and strong alpha male in his own right, although almost gets himself killed when he becomes the tiger equivalent of a teenager and tried to fight Shankar. Luckily, his mother was able to save him. Ivy’s love of climbing ends up serving her well when she grows up and becomes a powerful and clever hunter. Charm at one point during the rainy season is separated from her mother and siblings but manages to survive and becomes more confident and a better hunter than all the rest. Only Golu doesn’t survive to adulthood when he’s eaten by a crocodile and vultures during a time when his mother left the cubs defenseless. After her cubs are grown and leave, Ambar joins Shankar as his new mate to start a new family. As she does that, Charm also mates and produces cubs, continuing the circle of life.

All well-made documentaries should seek to do two things: impart knowledge and tell a compelling narrative. This documentary is successful at both. The narrator is excellent at describing what is going on in an engaging way, making moments either humorous or dramatic when they need to be. On top of that the camera work for some of the shots is excellent, accurately portraying the mood of the movie. Also, TIGER not only teaches viewers about tigers, it also teaches them about other creatures in the Indian jungle, including sloth bears, frogs, mugger crocodiles, Indian pythons, and monkeys.

The one thing that is both good and surprising about TIGER is this documentary about one of the planet’s most dangerous predators to be more bloody and ruthless than this was. There is killing and death in TIGER, but the killing is all done off screen. So, the movie contains less violence than expected. This isn’t to say that no violence or blood is shown.

Overall, TIGER is engaging and educational, well worth its 90-minute viewing time. Disney has done a very good job giving a glimpse into the daily lives of one of nature’s most ferocious and largest wild cats. Children can watch TIGER with some adult discretion. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.