"Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery"

The first “Knives Out” had all knives firing.  A great murder mystery that is tightly plotted, dropping clues, concealing secrets, misdirecting with red herrings, teasing resolution, springing surprises, revealing lies, tying up loose ends, and cleverly wrapping up with a satisfying conclusion.  

Director Rian Johnson was wise to use a similar formula in the sequel, twisting the knife a bit differently mid-story and sprinkling more hysterical humor, but still end up hitting the bullseye.  Filmed during the heights of the pandemic in 2020, the global lockdown makes it into the “Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery” and the remote island is an idyllically perfect setting.  

Southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, “James Bond” series), is back with a murder mystery landing on his linen suit.  A distinct character among the rich and famous, he finds himself in a private island in Greece belonging to tech magnate Miles (Edward Norton, "The Illusionist") on a mysterious invitation for a murder mystery weekend getaway.  The high-tech island shows off the vainglorious Miles’ riches, glorious glass structures and sculptures, and not to be outdone by one historic art collection.  

The billionaire invites his close circle of friends and allies to solve a murder mystery play.  When one of the guests dies for real, everyone becomes a suspect.  The lights are out and everyone is trapped on the island.  To compound the confusion and paranoia, there’s also a question whether the victim is the intended target and if there’s another victim.  

The privileged guests are fashion icon Birdie (Kate Hudson) and her assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick), YouTube influencer Duke (Dave Bautista, “The Avengers”) and his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), stylish scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), liberal politician Claire (Kathryn Hahn), and last but not least, Miles’ former business partner, Andi (Janelle Monae, “Hidden Figures”). 

Everyone’s surprised by Andi’s presence and why she’s still invited in the first place, considering Miles ruthlessly and legally cut her out of the company they co-founded together.  Soon we’ll have to take a double take, as there’s a lot more to incensed Andi than meets the puzzled eye.  

While Miles preaches that they are e true disruptors of the world, Andi stabs into the heart of his mendacious speech.  There’s a common thread among how everyone gets to the pinnacle of their careers and fames, and it’s not ingenuity.  Monae is particularly marvelous in her performance.  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and it’s not what you think it is.  The guests are forced to unmask and reveal who they really are, and decide what their breaking points are. 

The ingenuity here lies in the story construct.  There are multiple reasons why the film is called ‘Glass Onion.’  Halfway through Blanc cuts back and peels back the onion of a story layer by layer, but also noting that while an onion may look like complicated layers, the center hides in plain sight.  You will not see the revelation coming!  And when you think all hopes might be lost, something else comes out of the gate, exploding in a blaze of glory.  

“Glass Onion: Knives Out Mystery” takes translucent jabs at political, social, economic and entertainment elites in a polarized society, while delivering a masterful mystery and whodunit entertainment.  

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"The Menu"

Taste.  Savor.  Relish.

If you love food, or art in any form for that matter, this is a movie made for you. 

A dozen of exclusive guests are invited for the Hawthorne experience.  The Hawthorn is a world-class dining destination, under the helm of avant-garde, contempt-filled Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes, “Hail, Caesar!,” “Skyfall”), located on a private island where the multi-course meals cost $1,250 per head.  The island is self-sustaining and the meals are truly sea-and-farm to table.  

Guests are ferried into the island and get a tour led by the second-in-command, Elsa (Hong Chau), a standout with her deadpan delivery, starting with the shore, farm, forest, workers' living quarters, leading to an expansive dining room with an open kitchen.  Cleanly designed with floor-to-ceiling ocean view, polished with cool palettes, brightened up by the warmth of the fire from the kitchen.  

The workers live in the island and devote themselves to the Chef, his vision and servicing the one-percenters.  Their work is their lives.  Every day they wake up on the island to harvest, ferment, fish, slaughter, sear, broil, bake, poach, emulsify, liquify, gel, plate and serve, and return to their living quarters in the evenings.  The Chef cottage is separate from his crew, where no one can enter.  

The guests include a young couple, brown-nosed foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult, “X-Men” series) and out-of-place Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), older wealthy couple Richard (Reed Birney) and Anne (Judith Light) with a secret, celebrity food critic Lillian (Janet McTeer) and her sycophantic editor Ted (Paul Adelstein), washed-up movie star (John Leguizamo) and his problematic assistant Felicity (Aimee Carerro), and big-headed tech bros, Bryce (Rob Yang), Dave (Mark St. Cyr) and Soren (Arturo Castro).  

The movie flows from one exquisite course to another, exemplifying haute cuisine where the gastronomic delights are expertly deconstructed, stunningly designed and immaculately plated on a variety of vessels, balancing textures, colors and flavors.  The meals, from appetizer to main courses to palate-cleansing and desert have a theme and tell a story.  The detailed descriptions of each course are both mouthwatering and hilarious.  

The amuse bouche may start light and refreshing, but as each course precisely progresses, tension is seared into the story, and the diners experience brain-fried moments and realize the theatrics are not just for entertainment.  Slices of secrets are dished out in inventive manners, backstories are told shockingly, consequences can be bloodily twisted, leading to a boiling point and blazing ending.  The guests soon find out there are reasons they score the coveted reservations that day and they're not there simply for the fancy meals.  Margot is a wild card, however, and her presence chars the Chef's meticulous master plan.  

Glazed by sharp dialogue, the no-way-out situations are bitingly funny.  The impeccably choreographed movements and sound editing are perfectly crisp.  “The Menu” skewers the high-end epicurean culture and serves up social commentary not only on class division, but also between working class service workers and their moneyed guests, disillusioned artists and their pretentious critics.  

The satire hits the high marks for originality, creativity, dark humor and horror factor.  A crafty feast for the eyes and devilishly delectable.

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"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"

How do you make a “Black Panther” sequel without the Black Panther?  

That’s the one-billion dollar question faced by Marvel after the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman (“Avengers: Endgame” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”), who tragically passed away in 2020 and during the heights of the pandemic.  The charismatic star became world-famous and superhero role model for its dignified and noble portrayal of King TChalla and real-life representation of the marginalized.   

The opening scene pays a reverent and touching tribute to Boseman.  T’Challa’s offscreen death has a larger-than-life impact not only on his family and royal circle, but also to Wakandans.  The farewell scene where Wakandans dress and dance in all-white to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of its king, and when the belated king’s soul transcends to the skies, is very moving.  What makes this a teary-eyed moment is that we know it’s not a fake movie death.  

While Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) is coming to terms to her son’s death, Shuri (Letitia Wright), T’Challa’s little sister, takes his death particularly hard.  Shuri, a science and technology maven, carries a lot of guilt and anger for not being able to save her big brother’s life.  Her gut-wrenching reaction at the funeral procession is deeply felt.  Wright gives everything she has and it shows in her powerhouse performance throughout Shuri’s journey; loss, grief, rage, revenge, release and healing.  

With the death of its king and protector, even as a futuristic country, Wakanda is seen as vulnerable.  However, Queen Ramonda’s powerful dress-down of the United Nation audience, strongly portrayed by Bassett, is a majestic show of force that Wakanda remains unmistakably formidable.  As General Okoye (Danai Gurira) flies the spaceship home, it never gets old to see the aerial shot of futuristic Wakanda blending in with the expansive nature coming into view.  Bassett shows another powerful performance against Guirira scenes later.  

Talokans, the blue-skinned amphibious antagonists in the movie, are first seen coming out of the middle of the ocean when they shut down the vibranium-detection project by the CIA.  From the first sight, their appearance is striking and their ability to hypnotically lure people into the ocean is eerie.  

The vibranium-detection machine is created by MIT student-genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), which could have easily been Tony Stark/Iron Man’s protégé.  Since vibranium is also found in the ocean outside of Wakanda, this makes Riri an attack target for King Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the leader of Talokans, as vibranium-mining would threaten the lives of his underwater empire.  

This makes Namor an excellent antagonist and less of a world-conqueror kind of a villain.  What makes Namor more compelling is also his backstory, how his existence came about and the history of the Talokan society.  Namor’s underwater birth was special and he’s also gifted with winged feet, which enables him to fly.  Talokans’ dress is just as distinct as Wakandans, and Namor’s impressive with an  elaborate headdress.  

Namor gives Queen Ramonda and Shuri two options, capture and hand Riri over, or having a war with Talokans and risk the demise of their nation. In a comedic scene, General Okoye and Shuri track down Riri in her campus, leading to a wild car chase and spear fight.

Meanwhile, Queen Ramonda finds Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) in Haiti, where she now works as a school teacher, and ask for her help on a crucial mission.  An unfortunate mishap causes the wrath of Namor and he comes after Wakanda, resulting in an unexpectedly tragic outcome.  The chain of events leads to the inevitable appearance of a new Black Panther, one that is still trying to find their footing, but emerges as the nation’s protector nonetheless.  

Much like “Black Panther,” ‘Wakanda Forever’s goes beyond the conventional good vs. evil superhero movie, it’s geopolitical drama and character-driven story.  The post-credit scene honors the past and breathes a new hope into the future, leaving a legacy.  

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is an emotional voyage and forever work of wonder.  

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