The Week 07Feb2020

26 ARTS Review of reviews: Music & Film

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In Kitty Green’s “eerily effec-

tive” new workplace drama,

the Harvey Weinstein character

is barely seen, said K. Austin

Collins in VanityFair.com. He’s

instead a voice shouting on the

phone, a suited torso passing

through to his private office.

Our eyes remain on the newish

hire outside his door, and Julia

Garner’s “wonderfully tense

performance” keeps us riveted. This isn’t a movie

focused on a sexual predator’s crimes; it’s “about

the ways power enforces silence.” The Assistant can

feel “exasperatingly low-key,” said Peter Debruge in

Variety. Two years after the world first read about

Weinstein’s dark history, we’re

stuck watching a fictional film-

world underling opening mail,

making copies, and quietly clean-

ing up after the boss’s apparent

casting-couch abuses. “This is

no time for subtlety, and yet

Green’s film feels so restrained,

you’d think she was afraid of

being sued for slander.” What

she understands, though, is that

“workplace exploitation is granular,” said Stephanie

Zacharek in Time. “When you’re young, everyone

tells you that you have to work hard to get ahead.

But what’s unreasonable? The Assistant captures that

shaky sliver of youth when you don’t yet know.”

Nicolas Cage has found his nat-

ural habitat, said Sara Stewart

in the New York Post. The latest

midnight feature built around

the one-time Oscar winner

treats audiences to “full-bore,

glorious B-movie Cage: cranked

up to 11, spattered with gore,

and bellowing about alpacas.”

In this adaptation of a 1927

H.P. Lovecraft story, Cage plays

a novice alpaca farmer who’s also a hard-drinking

but largely stable family man—at least until a mete-

orite crashes in his yard. A lightning bolt vaporizes

the rock just before Cage’s Nathan Gardner can

show the authorities, “which doesn’t help his repu-

tation for being something of a

crackpot,” said Noel Murray in

the Los Angeles Times. Before

long, the sky overhead glows

an unearthly color, blood spurts

from the farmhouse’s faucets,

and the whole family starts

going bonkers. But for sci-fi

fans who’ve seen too many alien

brainwashings, the familiarity

of the plot “becomes a bit of

a drag.” And even Cage’s aptly unhinged perfor-

mance hits some off notes, said Hau Chu in The

Washington Post. Still, in a project like this, too

little would have been worse than too much. “Score

one for the eccentrics.”

The Assistant

A movie mogul’s aide

struggles to speak out.

++++

Directed by Kitty Green

(R)

Color Out

of Space

A meteorite unsettles a

New England family.

++++

Directed by Richard Stanley
(Not rated)

Garner: Compromise portrayed

A pastoral dream gone wrong

The 2020 Grammys: Billie and the awards that almost didn’t matter

“Sometimes the music industry does get it right,”

said Caryn Ganz in NYTimes.com. On a Grammy

night that threatened to be consumed by offstage

controversy before the death of Kobe Bryant threw a

pall over the gathering, 18-year-old alt-pop sensation

Billie Eilish scored a “richly deserved” sweep of the

Recording Academy’s four most prestigious awards:

album, song, and record of the year, plus best new

artist. She became the first woman and youngest art-

ist to achieve the feat, doing so on the strength of a

dark, melody-rich album she recorded in a bedroom

with her producer brother. “It’s been a long time

since a phenomenon as talented, authentic, complex, and delight-

fully of-the-moment as Billie Eilish took over the Grammys.”

Oddly, though, “it almost feels like it doesn’t matter who won,”

said Josh Terry in Vice.com. Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash

just hours before the ceremony began at the former Laker’s

longtime home arena was a reminder to all the gathered artists

that there are bigger things in life than the awards of a suspect

industry organization. Some stars responded with emotional per-

formances, which made the award competition feel even more

hollow. Just 10 days earlier, the Academy’s first female CEO,

Deborah Dugan, had been ousted after mounting a short-lived

campaign to end the Academy’s persistent biases against black art-

ists and women. She countered by alleging vote rigging and sexual

misconduct within the Academy’s inner circle.

“There are still so many problems that need fix-

ing,” said Chris Richards in WashingtonPost .com.

It remains inexcusable that no black artist has won

album of the year in more than a decade, and it’s

easy to make a case that Lizzo, Lil Nas X, and

Tyler, the Creator deserved higher honors this year.

“Anyone who cares about contemporary music

should be furious, bored, or both.” At least Sunday’s

show included a gonzo flame-framed performance

by Tyler that “felt wild, weird, and maybe even

beautiful.” That’s what the Grammys need more of, because “it’s

time for swift, radical change.”

Eilish backstage

And the winners were...

Album of the year: When We All Fall Asleep... Billie Eilish

Song and record of the year: “Bad Guy,” Billie Eilish

Best new artist: Billie Eilish

Best rap album: Igor, Tyler, the Creator

Best urban contemporary album: Cuz I Love You, Lizzo

Best country album: While I’m Livin’, Tanya Tucker

Best alternative album: Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend

Best video: “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus