Spark Movie Reviews

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Pickup on South Street

Director Samuel Fuller’s classic Pickup on South Street (1953) partakes in the standard tropes and conventional characteristics of any well-crafted noir—the femme fatale character, a crime, hard-boiled repartee full of punchy one-liners, the badgering cop determined to get his man, and the twisty plot fi lled with backstabbing, betrayal and moral ambiguity. Pickup on South Street also adds a bit of anti-Communism to its storyline about a good-for-nothing, lifelong pickpocket named Skip, who upon his release from jail, dives right back into the only career he’s ever known. But when Skip unknowingly lifts the purse of Candy, an unwitting courier for a communist sympathizer, he ends up with far more than just a few dollars. Tracked by both the Feds and the communists for a piece of microfi lm he now possesses, Skip too must contend with Candy’s budding romantic advances, and whether her interest is genuine, or just another grift. – Submitted by Ryan Gage

Happening (2021)

Set in France in 1963, Happening tells the story of Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), a bright young woman at the top of her class who suddenly fi nds her options and aspirations cut dramatically short by a pregnancy in the wake of a one-night stand. Anne immediately fi nds herself isolated in a society intolerant of and unwilling to address the topic of abortion. Facing expulsion from school and medical professionals that actively and surreptitiously undermine her personal desires, Anne resigns herself to the harrowing realities necessary to ensure her autonomy. Based on Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux’s 2001 autobiographical novel of the same name, Happening is masterfully adapted by director Audrey Diwan who pulls no punches in portraying a world openly hostile to young women, and one that despite being far-removed from our own time and place, is all too familiar. – Submitted by Patrick Jouppi

The White Lotus (Season One)

Throughout season one, the vacationing characters at the heavenly island resort The White Lotus, discover that paradise can be truly lost when confronted with harsh, and sometimes deadly realities. The HBO Max show was one of the better dramas last year, featuring a quirky mix of dark comedy and biting satire. Over the course of several days, an ensemble cast of great actors face forbidding, unexpected, existential realities that plague both the hotel staff and its whiny, privileged guests. The perfectly paced unraveling of each character’s story cuts away at the superfi ciality of the lives of the pampered and rich, revealing fl eshed out and dimensional people with complicated backstories. – Submitted by Ryan Gage