Polgon's entertainment team is on the ground the Sunday 2020 Film Festival, bringing you first a look at what are some of the best blockbuster offerings of the year. Here's what you need to know before these indie films make their theater, streaming services, and cinematic zeitgeist.
Logline: A family of very young musicians runs into a woman who is eager to join their scam and programs, until she gets to know them better.
Longerline: It's been nine years since Miranda July's last film, The future. Following her, Kajillionaire, sounds like it might happen at the same time, in just a few blocks. Its characters based on L.A. they are equally difficult and problematic, and in July they also gain a lot of sympathy from them, at the same time introducing them closer to intolerance. Like The future (and another July film, Me and Everyone We Know), Kajillionaire it cleverly mocks its flaws and characters. And like last July's films, they have great potential, in their characters and in their directorial genres.
Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger star as Robert and Theresa Dyne, an elderly couple who have devoted their lives to "extremism," as Robert calls it – cashing in on teeny scams, stealing other people's mail in fake links and offers to stop the spamming. "Most people want to be kajillionaires," Robert complains, but passing on a little trick is as important as his self-esteem. The couple has raised her daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) as a partner in a relationship and not as a child – as the fastest and most innocent-looking runner of the trio, she is often the face of any scandal.
The trio looks like they are in perfect harmony, but their interaction becomes the victim's point when they meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), a young woman who is fascinated by their lifestyle and wants. ("My favorite Oceans 11 movies, and I & # 39; I'm worried about her survival!") Old Dolio is immediately envious of Melanie and Robert and Theresa's rapes, and her frustration forces her to realize everything her parents didn't give her , and look for more.
Average rating: Always trying to explain why he needs the support of Robert and Theresa, Old Dolio tells Melanie, " parents. Melanie says, "In what sense? ”Big Dolio fights for an answer, and then says," Divide us into three ways? "
What is it trying to do? Kajillionaire it is part of an age-old tale that comes too late, and is an unpleasant story. But most of all, it is a kind of fairy tale Miranda July in particular, not in her films, but in books like Nobody Is Here More Than You and It's a Choice. As usual, he is favored by strangers in the public sphere, making exceptional efforts to find happiness in his terms, even if those are not goals anyone else can realize. This latest film sounds like it's a different, funny, and sympathetic picture of people who are not good for society, but who are judged to be there anyway.
Does it get there? One of the fun aspects of the film is Miranda July who has no idea where the characters are, and realizes that she might be moving in the middle of the story. Very much KajillionaireTime to run away, refreshingly refreshing for its purposes. That style begins with the opening sequence, when the Dynes approach the theft as if they were planning a casino heist, ending with Old Dolio jumping and wandering from their supervised building as if acrobatics were in any way suited to his goal. July keeps their purpose under wrap until they finally get there, and with all the creativity of building such a lo-fi, minimal payload is just one of the many ways the film gets its laughs. And it's on a list that will never be funny: the flexibility of a family's body as they try to go unnoticed beyond the homeowner's factory yard, and their physical fitness often. Jenkins, Winger and Wood each give their character a different sense of humor, and as they stand on the street they say it and so it is appropriate.
But there are also plenty of pathos to the growing popularity of Old Dolio in his people, as he looks at the few th ings he learned in the parenting class he went through as part of a small scam. (The origin of the film reveals where his unusual name came from is a very small story that tells the whole story about his parents. (It also says all about July's influence and his ability to stick, helpful details for the latest news.)
Rodriguez is a lynchpin of the film, however, as the average viewer tossing Dynes' chances. It is all too easy to sympathize with the criminals in the movies, even though they are ineffective and unsuccessful. Rodriguez's brilliant, light-hearted performance removes the misery of the Dynes, and gives viewers a constant reminder that their scandals are great, and that even if they are funny in their petty desires, they are actually hurting people. Melanie and Old Dolio's sensitivity also gives this film a well-known heart – it's not clear where her friends are, or how much time she has to spend on a project to fix this hurt. But his kindness is a direct feed of one of July's most cherished ideas, that no matter how silly, wireless, and maladroit we feel, there is someone out there ready to take us to a deeper, personal level.
What does that mean for us? Like other July films, Kajillionaire he is feathery and fat, he touches deep emotions but does not examine himself in a serious way. It is a shiny story of a movie, full of absurd rhythms and a prominent supporting character. But the cast works hard to make the lost-in-life separate and memorable, and the film builds on a terrific punchline of sequence as it all comes together.
The most memorable moment: One of the Dyne family's many "skimming" options involves living in a rented office that they rent out because it's close to a bubble factory, and one of those walls leaks yellow foam sheets every day. Photos of all three Dynes automatically use trash cans to take out the latest foam insulation on the wall and dispose of it in the spill is one of the film's most memorable scenes. And it sounds like a metaphor that can get caught up in working quietly with any unwanted discritus, from going through the chain's long and unnecessary documentary chain to dealing with excessive demands from an absurd manager.
When can we see it? Kajillionaire Sundance wants distribution, so there is no release date yet.