Tag: glenn close

Scooby-dooby-doo. “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (2025)

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directed by Rian Johnson
© 2025 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to day 4 of 2026! How many of your resolutions are already postponed to 2027? Come on, be honest, we know how things work. I just hope that you’ll be regularly checking my blog and watching lots of good films. The rest can be done later. Let’s begin the year with something funny, thrilling and mysterious – so retired 007, Daniel Craig, playing Sherlock Holmes. This is the third film of the Knives Out series, where we follow Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who each time has a different crime to investigate. If you haven’t seen the previous two parts – no worries, because it’s made in a similar way like other detective stories, so each part is a separate story. In this one, I’m taking you to church (just like Hozier wanted – wink, wink), where a young priest Jud (Josh O’Connor) becomes an assistant of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Since it’s a little town they serve in, new things aren’t very welcome here. Still, Jud notices Jefferson’s strange behaviour that influences the parishioners and he tries to make some changes, which is difficult on many levels. One day, Jefferson gets murdered in an unusual way and, obviously, Jud is the main suspect. However, here comes our mastermind Benoit Blanc whose job is to learn about this village’s secrets and find the actual murderer. I’ve seen all three parts of the series and as much as I enjoyed the first one, the second film wasn’t that exciting. So I didn’t feel like checking out the third part, but somehow I did out of boredom and actually got surprised. In my opinion, it’s almost as good as the first one. The mystery is so weird and complex that it makes it even funnier to be solving it. Not to mention the magnificent cast that you could watch for hours. I guess I had extra fun because not that long time ago I took part in a city game where the main task was to solve the mystery of a stolen object in a church. It was all made up, obviously, but we had to analyse how the thief actually managed to hide, steal and escape. So this film reminded me of that game and I was watching it thinking “yeah, Blanc, I know how you’re feeling, been there, done that.” I believe this is an awesome title to begin your year with. Let’s just hope you won’t need to wake up any dead men in 2026. Crossing my fingers for that.

My rating: 7/10
S.

If you’re hoping for pity there is none coming. “Four Good Days” (2020)

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directed by Rodrigo García
© 2020 Vertical Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Film about addictions can be quite easily turned into either overly dramatic horror or rather inappropriate parody. That is why I wasn’t sure what to expect from today’s production, but I got positively surprised, if I may say it recommending a story about a young drug addict. What I mean is that finally someone managed to present addiction in a more or less realistic way from the perspective of a family member who has to see another one going down. Deb (Glenn Close) is a middle-aged woman whose daughter Molly (Mila Kunis) is an addict. The young woman returns home asking for help, but, what might shock you, Deb refuses to give her daughter a hand. I believe many people would feel pity towards Molly, but it’s because they don’t know her like Deb does. She’s seen her daughter in this condition way too many times and each time she helped her, the addicted woman got back to the old habits. Despite being pushed away by her mother, Molly spends the night outside the house and again begs Deb to help her recover. The mother finally agrees, but doesn’t hope for anything because this would be Molly’s 15th attempt to get sober. During the doctor’s appointment, she’s offered to get an opioid antagonist, which is a shot that wouldn’t let her body respond to drugs. She’d have to receive such shot every month, but before the first one she has to be at least 4 full days sober. Otherwise, the antagonist would react with the opioids in her body and the consequences could be drastic. To us, people (hopefully, dear reader) not addicted to drugs, staying off such substances doesn’t sound like anything difficult. But to a woman that has spent 1/3 of her life being drugged, four days is an eternity. If you want to see whether she managed to survive those four days, I invite you to see the film. As I said at the beginning, to me this production is incredibly authentic and wonderfully made considering the perspective of the mother. That is her daughter suffering and wasting her life, but no matter how much she wishes to save her, that has to be her own decision. Once I heard from a man who used to be homeless and managed to change his horrible situation that you have to reach the bottom to bounce back. Nobody can help you. You have to hit that bottom and you’re the only one who can make the decision to go back up. Or stay where you are. And that’s exactly what you can see in this film. Besides, this story and the character of Deb remind us that you have to take care of yourself first in order to help someone else. If you don’t protect yourself (both physically and mentally), one of those people will bring you down with them. Don’t let it happen. This film is an important lesson, so I hope you’ll have a chance to see it. Plus, both ladies did a marvellous job and you can see some decent acting as well.

My rating: 6/10
S.

Perfect women apparently exist. “The Stepford Wives” (2004)

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directed by Frank Oz
© 2004 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Who said there are no perfect women? Of course there are and they live in Stepford. Haven’t you heard of that place? People there are incredibly happy and everything looks like in a TV commercial. Speaking of TV, the main character of today’s film is Joanna (Nicole Kidman) who’s a reality television producer but suddenly she gets fired. In order to deal with her breakdown, she, her husband Walter (Matthew Broderick) and their two children move to Stepford. And indeed, people there are living true heaven, but something doesn’t seem right to Joanna. In the meantime, she makes friends with Bobbie (Bette Midler), a writer who likes to drink a bit too much, and Roger (Roger Bart), a charming gay. Those two become Joanna’s closes friends as she cannot really feel much connection with other inhabitants of Stepford. And then, one day an accident happens, which makes the woman realise what kind of circus she’s living in. But no spoilers, I respect you, dear readers. I guess I’ve told you that already but I’ll repeat in case – I’m not a big fan of Nicole Kidman (except her performance in “The Others”, that was magnificent) and in this film I’d personally prefer to see a different actress as Nicole didn’t really fit in to the role. But generally, the cast was rather well-chosen, I loved the character of Bobbie and also Glenn Close as Claire Wellington, whom you’ll meet later in the film. This film is a comedy and it’s very much enjoyable, but it also has a lot of good messages to throw at you, such as the importance of self-acceptance. And, obviously, even if Stepford seems like heaven on earth, nobody’s perfect and the sooner we get it, the better for us all. Wish you a pleasant time with this film and I hope it’ll destroy the idea of perfectionism created in your minds.

My rating: 7/10
S.

This was my world: a world of truly irrational behaviour. “Hillbilly Elegy” (2020)

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directed by Ron Howard
© 2020 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.

Not sure what went wrong here. I mean, this story had so much potential and I bet reading the book (because it’s based on a memoir) would be much more engaging than the film. I haven’t read it, perhaps I will, but I’ve seen the film adaptation and I’d like to recommend it to you, but obviously I will complain a bit. Sorry, not sorry. So, the memoir was written by James David Vance, a man who was raised in a fairly poor family and ended up finishing studies at Yale Law University. The film presents the adult James (Gabriel Basso & Owen Asztalos – as young J. D.), but from time to time we get back to his childhood memories to see what was happening there. The boy and his older sister Lindsay (Haley Bennett) were living only with their mother Beverly (Amy Adams) since their parents had got divorced. However, Bev couldn’t handle raising two children, especially since she had given birth to one of them at a very young age, so the children’s grandparents were a huge help. What’s more, Bev started using drugs, which made everything even worse. The adult James, even though he has his own life, is still trying to support his family, especially his mother, despite everything that happened in his childhood. This story has so many layers and I’m in shock how simple the film is in the end. I mean, a woman who’s left alone with her midlife crisis, grandparents who try to forget about Bev’s problems and focus on the children, a difficult yet strong relationship between grandmother (Glenn Close) and J. D., sister and brother dealing with the situation differently, J. D. still feeling the obligation to help his mother even though she ruined his first years of life, and also, the topic of exclusion of people living in poverty and not giving them equal chances for education and growth. Mamma mia, so many wonderful aspects of this one story. In my opinion, the film adaptation is only 40% of what this memoir has to tell us, so I guess I’ve just encouraged myself while writing this post to read the book. Thank you S.! You’re welcome S.! But still, this story is worth your time, so check out the film anyway. By the way, the acting is marvellous in this one, especially Amy Adams and Glenn Close – bravissimo!

My rating: 6/10
S.

When it comes to marriage, one man is as good as the next. “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988)

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directed by Stephen Frears
© 1988 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

The older Stephen Frears gets, the better films he makes. I mean, he started with good productions, but his recent ones are much better, in my opinion. Still, he’s a director worth knowing and appreciating. Today I’d like to recommend you his old film “Dangerous Liaisons.” It was made over 30 years ago, so don’t expect it to be in 4k. However, you can see 4k actors there, such as Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Keanu Reeves, Uma Thurman or also Mildred Natwick in her last role. For the cast I would give 10/10. Yet, the story could have been told better. Let’s start from the beginning. Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) is angry with her ex-lover who has recently ended their relationship. But she’s a cunning woman with pride. She comes up with an idea to embarrass him with the use of Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich). He is an absolute womaniser, so Marquise’s proposition seems perfect for him. She asks her friend to seduce Cecile de Volanges. Why? Because Cecile de Volanges in Marquise’s ex-lover new fiancée. This film was made when “The Bold and the Beautiful” series was on top, so don’t expect it to be any less complicated when it comes to the connections between characters. Generally it’s about a mean woman who’s so jealous that she’s ready to do anything for revenge. At some point I started yawning, but maybe it’s because I don’t like such trivial dramas based on jealousness. Still, it’s a great director with a fantastic group of actors, so you should definitely dedicate some time to watch them. Especially Uma Thurman who was 18 back then and nobody would guess she’ll end up killing people in Tarantino’s productions.

My rating: 6/10
S.

I’m not going to be ignored. “Fatal Attraction” (1987)

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directed by Adrian Lyne
© 1987 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

There are those actors who are made only for one type of roles. Like… Adam Sandler. He’s a typical comedy guy and if he played in a drama, he would simply destroy it by being there, no matter how hard he would try. Well, not that long time ago we had a lovely example of Steve Carell trying to be dramatic in “Beautiful Boy” (2018). I know there are people who love this film, but, personally, I couldn’t take any line said by Carell seriously. I just couldn’t. Oh and I don’t think Timothée Chalament is such a fantastic actor. He’s just cute, but so far he’s been playing one and only role. And the conversations were as fake as Pamela Anderson’s boobs. You may hate me for that, but I don’t care. That film is just an important topic captured in a lame production. Anyway, getting back, Glenn Close is an actress who can be totally different. And I mean, TOTALLY DIFFERENT. On one hand we get a loving and dedicated housewife in “Wife” (2017), and on the other hand we get a crazy psycho in “Fatal Attraction” that makes you hide under the table when you see her eyes. Phenomenal. So you’ve already met Alex (Glenn Close), but she’s just a random woman that Dan (Michael Douglas) meets at a party. Despite having a beautiful wife (Anne Archer) and a 6-year-old daughter (Ellen Hamilton Latzen), the man “has fun” with the strange blonde. Pretty sure it was just a one night stand, he moves on with his life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same for Alex, who starts following the man and trying to get as close to him as it’s possible. Sometimes even too close. Should I add a joke about the actress’ surname which is “Close”? Nah… Anyway, it’s an absolute classic and you may recognise several scenes that have become iconic. It’s not only a film about a stalker, but also a psychological portrait of people in need of attention. Besides, it’s like watching a modernised version of some Hitchcock’s production. I was thrilled about every detail and amazed by the actors, especially Glenn. This woman is fabulous.

My rating: 8/10
S.

I’m a Kingmaker. “The Wife” (2018)

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directed by Björn Runge
© 2018 Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.

I guess most people have already heard about this film. If not, it means they don’t check any news considering film. On the 7th of January Glenn Close was awarded a Golden Globe for her performance in “The Wife” as… the wife 🙂 Joan Castleman is the life partner of Joe Castleman, a successful writer who is about to receive a Nobel prize for his work. The happy couple decides to go to Stockholm and this trip affects their relations. A lot of people point out that this film is about a man using his partner, showing how helpless and poor she is, and men are such tyrants, and they just want women to be their slaves and… oh my. No. What if I told you that it’s a film about an antifeminist who consciously chose such life? I know, a lot of people may argue with me, but try to think about it. *SPOILER* Young Joan, in her times, could have chosen being a feminist, but she would end up just like Joe’s ex-wife or that female writer Elaine. The first was cheated on and left with a child, the second published books that nobody reads. Happy feminists? I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s right. But this film shows that antifeminism was the better choice after all. Joan had a family, a loving husband (in the film Joe is actually very caring), two (in the book – three) children, she could keep writing (even if her work was signed by Joe) and she, let’s say, sort of happily survived in this world. *END OF SPOILER* And that’s a well-done image of women’s life choices. It shows that a woman can try to fight the system, but then, despite her efforts, she ends up losing. I spent a lot of time analysing this film and I don’t want you to fall asleep reading it, but try to look at this story from a different perspective. The ending, *NOT A BIG SPOILER* when Joan looks at an empty page in her notebook, represents the change and that in the 21st century women have a chance to choose something better than any of those ways presented in the film. Yet, she still respects her husband because she loves him. It’s absolutely not the awakening of a feminist. It’s something different. Watch it and try to understand it in your own way.

My rating: 7/10
S.