Volume 137: New Life
The Voice of Energy Vol. 137
Hihi. (Y’all watched the Mr. and Mrs. Smith series? I dug it but kept trying to imagine how radically the tone would have changed if Phoebe Waller-Bridge stuck with the show.) Sitting in a chain coffee shop this morning at the start of what is going to be a busy, busy day. I trust that this finds you well.
Still debating on whether to start a paid tier for my lovely subscribers. I got no response whatsoever when I asked about it before. My thinking is that it would be a place for longer pieces looking back at older films or continuing that series I was doing before about movies directed by musicians. I’m also considering doing a series where I dig into the huge filmography of Tyler Perry. I’ve never seen a frame of one of his movies but clearly the man is having an impact of modern cinema that isn’t really being talked about enough. He’s making movies and TV series that I’m so not the target audience for, but there’s obviously something there that has either crossover appeal or has the quality that makes one want to return to the movies again and again. I’m not looking to criticize Perry or treat his work like something exotic and weird. I simply want to lift myself up to where he’s at and see what’s going on. Would that be of interest? Would you be willing to spend $5 a month to read me ramble about Madea or the films of Fred Durst? Let me know.
_New Life_ (2023, dir. John Rosman)
There’s only so much I want to reveal about New Life, the debut feature from filmmaker John Rosman. It’s the kind of dilemma that I know my colleagues at The Reveal dealt with when reviewing the surprisingly solid horror flick Abigail. They chose not to even if the trailer and the poster for the film gave up the, well, reveal that the titular little ballerina was actually a bloodthirsty vampire.
And I’m sure savvy cinephiles will be able to sort out what’s underneath the surface of New Life as I get into the plot machinations within. But what works in Rosman and the film’s favor is the disorienting feeling he instills in the viewer from the jump as we open on the sight of a young woman (Hayley Erin), in a state of panic and with blood on her face, running away from… something. As the pages turn in the story, we find out that she’s being tracked by Elsa (Sonya Walger), an agent working for a shady and unnamed organization, and that this young escapee is apparently carrying with her a rare strain of ebola.
I’m skeptical that that’s enough to pique your interest enough to dial New Life up on your VOD service of choice. If only because I’m not sure how heartily to recommend the film. There is, obviously, more to the story, with Rosman wanting to make a statement about the fragility of human health in the face of easily contractable diseases and those medical conditions that affect every aspect of one’s waking life. But the filmmaker undercuts his point through twitchy editing choices and, in one scene, text overlays reminiscent of Tony Scott’s more overwrought work of the early ’00s.
What Rosman and his team do know is how to find the right acting talent for the job at hand. Erin, appearing in her first film (if Letterboxd is to be believed), finds the right gears of calm and panic and charm as her character stumbles upon an aging couple and a bartender willing to give her a leg up in her attempt to escape into Canada only to have the walls close in on her. Walger has a tougher job, appearing as often as she does all alone on screen, interacting with her fellow investigators over the phone or, in one revealing and touching scene, over a Zoom call with a woman suffering from an autoimmune disease and her caretaker.
I’m very curious to see where those two women go next in their careers — just as I’m interested to see what Rosman might try next with a little more money and the experience of making this film under his belt. (I worry he blew a good chunk of his budget securing the rights to Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” a song that pops up frequently on Elsa’s playlist.) There’s a quality to this thriller that makes me believe he can, under the right circumstances, level up appreciably. Time will tell if I’m proven right or not.
New Life opens in select theaters today. For Portlanders, the film will be screened at a one-night event at the Hollywood Theatre on May 4 with Rosman in attendance.
FTA Pick of the Week
Our regular feature — a recommendation of a movie to watch that is hiding below the fold on one of the major streaming services. In other words: fuck the algorithm.
Mad Max (1979, dir. George Miller)
The Mad Max-iverse has expanded wildly since the first chapter of this film series arrived on screens in 1979. So much so that it’s a little challenging to see the roots of the colorful, explosive thrills of Fury Road and the forthcoming Furiosa within the slightly more measured work of the OG. But it does feel instructive to go back to the source and see how director George Miller did so much with such a meager budget and heatsick vision of rabid gangs of criminals riding across a ragged Australian landscape using souped up cars and motorcycles, and the cops that mete out justice with a similar brand of adrenaline-fueled wildness and bloodlust. If you’ve never seen Mad Max before you may be surprised to find the moments of tenderness and quiet worked into the extended car chases and sweat-soaked battles. And you may, if only for a second, be able to set aside the truth that its star has revealed himself to be a rabid antisemite and misogynist. Use one hand to white knuckle the arm of your couch and the other to hold your nose as you watch.
Mad Max is available to stream on Max, Peacock, and Kanopy.
That’s what I got for you this week, friends. Thanks so much for checking it out. Back again next Friday with reviews of the latest A24 flick and the new one from the director of Drive My Car.
Artwork for this edition is by Markus Muntean and Adi Rosenblum whose work will be on display at Städel Museum in Frankfurt through December 1.
This newsletter was written on the unceded land where once stood the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River creating communities and summer encampments to harvest and use the plentiful natural resources of the area.