Movie Nation

Deborah Haywood’s “Pin Cushion” is an easy film to laud, a hard one to warm up to.

It’s about the psychic toll of bullying, as both a fresh experience, new to the young, and what a lifetime of it can do to you.

You can tell by looking at her that Lyn has dealt with it forever. The hump on her back singled her out, pretty much from birth. She dresses oddly, isn’t quite immune to the stares she gets or the insults callous children have never been taught to hurl her way in her corner of Little Britain.

“She looks like the village idiot!”

She collects tchotkes and we can’t tell if she’s ever had a job or a beau.

One thing we do know about Lyn, played with a dazed, almost punch-drunk empathy by Joanna Scanlan of “Notes on a Scandal,” is that she had sex — at least once. She dotes on her wide-eyed daughter, Iona (Lily Newmark). But Iona is entering her middle teens, and if asked, will say her Mum’s “an air hostess” if she can get away with it. She’s ashamed.

And when the mean girls at school seem to take an interest in naive, plain Iona, that’s only going to get worse.

“The girls at school wear makeup. I think I might like some.”

“Makeup gives boys the wrong idea,” Mum counsels.

Daz (Loris Scarpa) may be just that sort of boy. But he seems nice enough, and Iona is smitten.

Mean girls in the movies always travel in packs of three, and we know by conditioning what cruel Stacie, Keeley and might-be-reachable Chelsea could be up to with Iona. As desperate as the new girl is to connect, make friends, as desperate as her mother is for her to have that, neither of them absorbs the warning signs or keeps her guard up.

Hayward piles on the indignities, the graffiti-shaming, insults and rank hostility Lyn and eventually Iona must deal with. It can be heartbreaking, even as you hope for some “Carrie” moment of comeuppance.

Young Newmark, of TV’s “Emerald City,” captures the neediness a kid that age carries around with her. But Scanlan shows how the bullied never outgrow that, and she lets us see Lyn stagger under the blows delivered by rude neighbors, one a mean girl who never outgrew that meanness.

Because most of us know they don’t.

The relentless cruelty here grows harder and harder to endure because Hayward never lets Lyn, or us, off the hook. Lyn crumbles, and we crumble with her, hoping against hope she will stand up for herself and make that a teachable moment for a daughter who otherwise faces a future almost as bleak as her own.

But the movie’s object lesson, though I hesitate to call it that, connects more with the current zeitgeist where bullying and its origins are treated as something society can identify and by mere appeal to a bully’s conscience, eliminate.

Since time immemorial, there has been but one proven, moral and righteous way to deal with bullies. “A punch in the nose” is all they understand, the famed columnist Mike Royko put it in a less namby-pamby era. Bullies don’t “learn” feelings and respect.

The empathy-impaired and cruel have to be confronted, faced down. Failing that, they go right on being bullies until they’re stopped. If they aren’t, they end up owning you or, in one extreme case, the White House.

MPAA Rating: unrated, violence, sexuality

Cast: Joanna Scanlan, Lily Newmark, Loris Scarpa

Credits:Written and directed by Deborah Haywood. A Cleopatra  release.

Running time: 1:22

There are no reviews of either of these films on Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes or MRQE.com.

Which suggests to me that they’re getting “premieres” Tuesday night in wherever, and the mass press showings for both are Wed.

Don’t hole me to this, as it may be my corner of The Happiest Place on Earth that is seeing them late.

What we’ve been told in the Big O is the studios have so much confidence in BOTH projects that they’re “previewing” them in name only — literally hours before their Thursday night openings. Both previewing Wed. PM.

So. Which to see? I have been leaning towards “Hotel Artemis” because it gives me this “John Wick” vibe. Remember the hotel Ian McShane owns and the debonair Lance Reddick runs? No, there’s no “John Wick” connection as this is sci-fi and dystopic but Jodie Foster doesn’t work much and she’s usually interesting to watch.

“Artemis” also stars Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum….OOooooooo…and Zachary Quinto and Jenny Slate.

And uh-oh, Charlie Day.

Previewing at exactly the same time is the Gary Ross distaff riff on Stephen Soderbergh’s “Oceans” caper comedies, “Ocean’s 8.”

Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway — THREE Oscar winners — and Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Helena Bonham Carter.

And Elliott Gould and — uh oh — James Corden.

Yes, Gary Ross did “Seabiscuit.” Make your own joke there, as I’m above it. I don’t know. Neither one looks like a sure thing. Which one will YOU see, or see first? Yeah, I’m polling the readership. My date for the screening will break the tie. Not sure which one she’s jonesing for.

Either way, my BEST guess for your best bet this weekend at the movies is the doc “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” sweet and uplifting, or the upscale horror pic “Hereditary.”

Robert Redford’s a legendary AARP-qualified robber of banks, Sissy Spacek the lady of an appropriate age he takes a shine to and Casey Affleck the lawman chasing him in this wistful, whimsical tale of Forrest Tucker — not the Western actor, but the bank robber and escaped con — who slipped out of San Quentin and resumed a life of gentlemanly charm and crime.

Elisabeth Moss, Keith Carradine, Danny Glover, the riches know no end in this David Lowery film, based on an article about the real-life Tucker.

“The Old Man & the Gun” goes into limited release this coming Awards Season — Oct. 5.

This trailer to the Alex Lawther Brit comedy “Old Boys” had me at, “SMILE, Amberson. These are the best days of your life!”

The hazing, the military training, the period (Cassette tapes, the ’80s?), the hapless/awkward way he carries himself, delightful.

Lawther was the young Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game.” Having him play the romantic intermediary for a French teen with a crush on his boorish, handsome and popular classmate just…works.

Hope this Film 4 production gets picked up by a US distributor (IFC, Orchard, Magnolia, are you listening?).

Andy wakes up in his basement, washes his face and when his little girl Sally sees him, enlists her in his conspiracy of silence.

Because Uncle Zeke is in the house, with Andy’s wife (Angela Vint). Andy’s “missing.” Uncle Zeke (Benjamin Walker) is a cop, the sheriff, and he’s on the case. And suspicious.

Something, we don’t know what, went down at “Shimmer Lake.” But as we know Andy’s played by Rainn Wilson, and we see a fellow sheriff’s deputy have a hissy fit, we know this is funny, or supposed to be — a dark comedy.

There’s a dark and sultry femme fatale (Stephanie Sigman). She’s married to a real tough guy (Wyatt Russell).

Rob Corddry and Ron Livingston are FBI agents who join the case and puzzle out what’s going on. “So, they robbed the bank, came back and stole the banker?”

Judge Dawkins “owns First Mackey Bank.” Judge Dawkins (John Michael Higgins) is lying in a pool of it on his kitchen floor.

The Feds think Banker Andy was in on the bank job, Zeke is sure his brother wasn’t in on it. Bad blood between them is…unavoidable.

“No no no, the CAMARO was black and the SUSPECTS are white.”

This grey, atmospheric black comedy, in which “Surprise is for the ill-prepared,” is a rarely funny tale told out of order. It’s a fall film broken into chapters denoting days of the week, beginning with “Friday: Andy Heads for the Lake.” Wednesday comes later. Tuesday, after that. Characters are “introduced” after we’ve seen them die. We think.

That’s a little confusing, as we see people shot and/or dead and then pop up two scenes down the road and wonder where we are on the timeline. Hey, I’ve done this for a living forever. If I’m confused, it’s needlessly confusing. Take that to the First Mackey Bank.

Day-episodes come and go, the femme fatale does what femme fatales do, bodies drop here and there and Heaven Only Knows where all this is heading as layers add upon layers and the incestuous nature of small town business, government and law enforcement congeal around the crime. Nobody smells like roses in this corner of rural America.

“We got a dead body in a county that doesn’t get dead bodies…”

The jokes include a violent toilet accident, the sheriff cussing in front of his cute niece (Isabel Dove) who repeats what she hears for a cheap laugh. A running gag? The deputy sheriff (Adam Pally), the one who throws a tantrum, is constantly having to sit in the caged back seat of the towns lone cruiser. Daffiness intrudes when the Feds show up, and the heist itself has that potential.

But writer-director Oren Uziel does a better job of keeping it (somewhat) interesting than he does at building suspense (deflated by telling the tale out of order), creating urgency or developing a single character we can identify with and/or root for.

Ill-tempered, cursing their kids, prone to violence. Well, not all of them.

The performances range from unconvincing to not-quite-compelling, with Wilson the sole standout.

Uzeil makes the fatal mistake of trying so hard to out-smart the viewer than he forgets to get the basics — tone, an engaging villain (villains), motivations.

All of which adds up to a heist thriller that isn’t thrilling or particularly witty, but on that “Well, we’ve seen everything else” scale, right on the cusp of “Netflixable.”

MPAA Rating: TV-MA, violence

Cast: Rainn Wilson, Benjamin Walker, Stephanie Sigman, John Michael Higgins, Rob Corddry and Ron Livingston

Credits: Written and directed by Oren Uziel. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:27

Oscar Isaac, Melanie Laurent, Peter Straus, Lior Raz, Greta Scacchi and Nick Kroll — Wait, NICK KROLL? — are involved in the hunt or the hiding of infamous Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann.

We know how it turned out, we’ve seen other filmed accounts. But Chris Weitz (“About a Boy,” “The Golden Compass,” one of the “Twilight” movies) is betting he has something new to say about it. Sept. 18 we’ll find out. 

Kind of over the whole “Lego Movie” thing after the last couple.

But Elizabeth Banks reciting “A lifetime has passed since the horrific events of ‘Taco Tuesday'” got a giggle out of me.

Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Will Arnett (of course), Jonah Hill, Tiffany Haddish (who is EVERYwhere) and Channing Tatum do the voices.

Next February, might everything be “awesome” again?

“What Happened to Monday” is yet another dystopian spin on a future we are hellbent on refusing to avoid — overpopulated, polluted, climate-changed.

The formidable Noomi Rapace lends urgency, empathy and physical presence to what devolves from a smart, cerebral premise into something more conventional and illogical.

It’s a single-child-per-family future with the all the desperate, rational and draconian measures “society,” ordained by science, has taken to save the human race.

Yeah, “Handmaid’s Tale” and “Children of Men” and “Soylent Green” figure into this dark day that is frighteningly likely to come, with Glenn Close the overlord overseeing this “Future is Female.” And Yeah, her “Numbers add up” speech makes chilling sense.

Rapace plays seven identical siblings born into this world, hidden from it by assuming a single identity by their cunning and somewhat “selfish” grandfather (Willem Dafoe).

We see flashbacks that listen in on their grandfather’s lessons about “working collectively” and “selecting a career that takes advantage of your joint skills.” We see granddad preparing an apartment, Anne Frank Annex style, to secretly house one daughter plus six extras, drill them on hiding, tamper with government-issued ID bracelets to hide their numbers.

Each sister will leave the house only on the day of the week that corresponds to their name. Seven sisters, one identity — Karen Settman.

“The End of the Day Meeting” is how they debrief each other on what they encountered and how they keep their one story straight. Dinner time? A veritable smorgasbord of personality “types” bickering and belching, whining and biting into “bio-engineered” this or “genuine rat.”

At least Soylent Green isn’t on the menu.

“If we get this promotion, it’s all thanks to Friday.”

“Seven minds are better than one.”

Their adult life is seven widely different women — fearful or rebellious, violent or passive, sexpot or demure professional, tech nerd or violent head-butting brawler — sharing one look, one wardrobe and one career. Their doorman doesn’t realize the drunk he was talking to last night is not the put-together professional woman/adult he is dealing with today.

“They” have a nemesis at work, Jerry (Pål Sverre Hagen). And yeah, he says “I’m ONTO you.”

And one day, on the eve of a “big promotion,” Monday doesn’t come home. Run away, hurt in hospital, kidnapped and murdered? What do they do?

“I have a bad feeling about this” is just the start. Each sister must hunt for the missing one, piece together the clues, while carrying on, that day, as if nothing has happened. Everyone she encounters, from the doorman to the cops at checkpoints to the hated rival at the office could know something about Monday’s disappearance, could even be responsible for it. And now, here “Karen” is again.

Every encounter will be, as they say in the thriller game, “fraught with peril.” The six minds have to work together to save themselves and if possible, save Monday. And they still have to avoid Child Allocation Bureau thugs.

Rapace does a decent job managing every actress’ dream, the ultimate tour de force — seven disguises, seven personalities — even if even she seems embarrassed at having to call eac sister by her day/name every time one of them speaks to another.

The futurescape is the usual white on white interiors, chaotic, crowded exteriors, minivans dressed up in futuretech. Phones now throw their smart screens onto the palm of your hand from an implant on your wrist (No more texting and driving!).

But the plot takes an alarming turn toward the predictable and grows less interesting by the minute — the many MANY minutes — that follow it. In avoiding an “obvious” culprit the story cannot ignore the “obvious” quick end that would logically ensue by following the path taken.

“Mayhem” and slaughter ensue. In a society where “excess” children are put into humane “cryosleep” (so we’re told), it’s still a trigger-happy world.

“What Happened to Monday” becomes less an exercise in personalities, differing strengths dealing with a life-threatening mystery and more blandly conventional — chases, shootouts.

Visceral? Yeah. We’re talking Noomi Rapace, pound for pound the toughest actress in the movies, with or without a dragon tattoo. The violence is graphic and righteous and plentiful.

And as Rapace is involved, nudity and sex as well.

We get a gracenote, here and there, considering how circumscribed this sort of one-day-in-seven-outside life would be, even after 30 years of living. And sisters don’t share “everything.”

It’s rather less than the sum of its parts, but the action beats director Tommy Wirkola & Co. serve up ensure Rapace and “What Happened to Monday” keep punching above their weight.

MPAA Rating: TV-MA, adult themes, implied violence

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe, Marwan Kenzari

Credits:Directed by Tommy Wirkola, script by Max Botkin, Kerry Williamson. A Vendage/Netflix release.

Running time: 2:03

Richie Merritt might be the star, but Matthew M. is the patriarch, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie raised him — not well, apparently — in this tail-end of disco tale of hustling your way to the top of the Drug Trade’s “Next Big Thing” in the Detroit of 1984.

Yeah, you saw Jennifer Jason Leigh in this trailer. You did. Eddie Marsan star in this late-September release, which might’ve bought some bigger “names” to play the black characters. Just an observation. Based on the trailer and the credits.