Movie Log: The Chocolate War and THE PEANUT BUTTER SOLUTION
I always try to pick my "Essential" movie based on some tenuous thematic connection to that week's movies, and yes when I came up with this week's title, I cackled out loud to myself for quite some time.
Like Water for Chocolate
1992, Mexico, d. Alfonso Arau, 1h45m, ****1/2
Reason to Watch: Magical Realism, Food Porn
Laura Esquivel's first novel was a runaway best seller, that immediately was in demand for a movie adaptation. There was only one director she knew she could trust: her husband, Alfonso Arau. Arau had a storied career all over the world as an actor. You probably know him as El Guapo from The Three Amigos, or Juan the smuggler in Romancing the Stone. These most recognizable roles are probably what he would least like to be remembered for; he reportedly considered Como agua para chocolate to be his most important achievement.
The story covers several decades in the life of a wealthy family in the Rio Grande valley, during which the Mexican Revolution occurs. Tita's ultra-traditional family has several daughters, and since she is the youngest, her mother has decreed that she will never marry but will take care of her in her old age. Tita's anger and unfulfilled passion seethes like water at the correct temperature for melting chocolate. Her outlet for these emotions is her work in the kitchen; she is a brilliant chef, but her emotions imbue her dishes with magical properties that affect all who eat them.
It's a beautiful film, filled with laughter, romance, tragedy, and all the seasons of life. It's no wonder both the book and the movie were a hit, as they are approachable stories with unsubtly symbolic moments of magical realism that feel like they could have sprung out of real tall tales or folklore.
It's so good on reflection, that I have decided that we will have two "Essential" picks today.
Alien: Romulus
2024, USA, d. Fede Alvarez, 1h59m, ***
Who's In It: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela Merced
Reason to Watch: An accomplished horror director, Practical effects
This movie has the plot of a Telltale Game for the Alien franchise. If you don't know Telltale Games, they are a video game series of episodic "interactive story" spin-offs to franchises like "Game of Thrones" or "The Walking Dead". The formula is: you play as new generic characters, you get to act out similar scenarios to the ones you love from the show/movie, you eventually interact with One (1) licensed character from the main storyline, and at the end the canon continuity remains fully intact.
Every Alien movie since Aliens has been a swing for the fences with rich thematic material and philosophy on its mind, but every time they have somehow come up a little short, disappointing most audiences. Alien: Romulus gets back to basics and is just kind of a remix of Alien. And it mostly rocks - there's some good space stuff, some good android stuff, some freaky horror, and some badass action. It's also disposable compared to all of the other movies. Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson are fast becoming two of the finest young actors we have, and I loved every moment with their characters, but there were two moments I really hated (one was a recycled quote from a previous movie - I can guarantee you already guessed this one - I really hate this lazy, tacky impulse to remind people of a better movie.)
Shiri
1999, South Korea, d. Kang Je-kyu, **1/2
Who's In It: Choi Min-sik, Song Kang-ho, Yunjin Kim
Reason to Watch: Korea's finest actors in the first Korean blockbuster
In the 1990s, Korea's film industry grew exponentially, as the government deregulated it and invested in it as a potential cultural export (along with TV and pop music). The country's chaebols - family-run mega-conglomerates - started investing heavily in the entertainment industry. Samsung was one such company, and in 1999 their Hollywood-style action thriller Shiri was their first big blockbuster.
This movie plays into fears of North Korean infiltrators; a female super-assassin has killed many high-ranking officials and goes uncaught and undetected among the people. She is part of a North Korean splinter group that has stolen a bizarre super weapon that would make Michael Bay proud: a bomb that requires bright lights to be shining on it. The movie's jingoism has a tiny bit of nuance; the title of the film is a breed of fish that lives freely in rivers that extend through both South and North Korea. It's a bit sappy, a bit predictable, a bit overlong, and most of the shootouts are headache-inducing due to the shakiest of shaky-cams. But it's worth seeing if you love this era of Korean cinema, and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy), Song Kang-ho (Parasite), and Yunjin Kim ("Lost").
The Chocolate War
1988, USA, d. Keith Gordon, 1h44m, ****
Who's In It: John Glover, Bud Cort, Adam Baldwin
Reason to Watch: Forthcoming article about '80s High School movies
I recently discovered a sub-genre of movies that came and went in the '80s about high school gang violence. I watched The Chocolate War (and Class, actually) to see if it fit the same mold. It touches on similar themes, but this movie blew me away for the maturity with which it handled them, and for creating a unique, disturbing neo-noir atmosphere around a private school that reminded me of the much-later innovation of Brick (2005).
Trinity is an all-boys Catholic school, and when you're not being chastised by a monk-teacher who looks frighteningly like Patrick Bateman, you're making sure you don't run afoul of the school's student-run secret society called The Vigils. The headmaster knows about the Vigils and thinks he can use them to control sales of the school's chocolate bar fundraiser, but when one student declines to participate the balance of power tips out of control.
This smart look at the dangers of social conformity was based on a 1974 bestselling young adult novel. The ending was apparently changed from the book; I can't comment on the adaptation, but this movie felt very thoughtful and 20 years ahead of its time. This includes the aggressively artsy New Wave soundtrack that holds up much better than a string of Top 40 hits: artists like Yaz and Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel - allowing his music to be licensed with the condition of a credit supporting Universal Human Rights and Amnesty International.
So yeah, I just looked at the movies for this week and saw "chocolate" here, "chocolate" there, what could I tie to that...? On reflection, both "chocolate" movies are also about breaking free of controlling traditions. And as it happens, this next movie is about as wild and out-of-control as a movie gets:
The Peanut Butter Solution
1985, Canada, d. Michael Rubbo, 1h35m, ****
Who's In It: Michael Hogan
Reason to Watch: Children's Fantasies
How do I even begin to try to explain The Peanut Butter Solution...?
Michael walks to school every day with his best friend Connie, and one day an abandoned mansion on their street burns down and Connie dares him to look inside. Michael sees a ghost and is scared so badly he loses all of his hair. His artist dad is suffering from creative block and depression, and his mom is away in Australia "settling her family's estate", so only Connie and his sister (who might be some kind of genius?) can help him through the emotional roller coaster of being a bald 11-year-old.
The Peanut Butter Solution was an entry in a series of straight-to-video family movies called "Tales for All", which were produced in Montreal and mostly in French. This one is in English and possibly aimed to reach a bigger theatrical audience with a larger budget furnished in part by Skippy peanut butter. (Peanut butter is only briefly mentioned in this movie).
To say any more about the insane plot to this movie would ruin one of the most jaw-dropping, fun experiences you can have watching a movie. You will never predict where this movie is going from scene to scene. The story feels like it was generated by A.I. or possibly by someone having a stroke. The truth is it was probably meant to mimic the stream-of-consciousness "and then what happened" storytelling instincts of children. The child characters in this movie are all depicted as super intelligent and cool; the adults are all making wild choices (including Michael Hogan well before his "Battlestar Galactica" star turn). This movie is from another planet. Or maybe, it's just from Canada.
Oh, and if that hasn't sold it for you, the producers found a talented, little-known local singer to sing two songs on the soundtrack: this movie features the first English-language songs recorded by Céline Dion.
All Culture Frame Essentials are now listed on their own page which will always be available on the website at the top of the home page. This version will include where you can watch the movies; I realized after that a few of them are not as widely available as I assumed.
