David Squires on … his memorable moments of the Premier League season
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The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Night Always Comes review – Vanessa Kirby gets lost in poverty thriller
There's been a recent overkill of stories told about the super-rich, glossy films and shows set in ostentatious houses filled with characters as superficially on trend as they are painfully out of touch. It felt like needed escapism as we crawled out of the very worst of the pandemic, with The White Lotus, Triangle of Sadness, The Menu and Glass Onion all hitting a sweet spot, but it's grown rather tiring, as Sirens, The Better Sister and Your Friends and Neighbors have felt less eat the rich and more what if we just admired their kitchens instead. It's become especially uninteresting as the gap between the uber-wealthy and the rest of us has widened, food prices up and empathy down. That particular anger pulses through Night Always Comes, a well-intentioned yet often inert Netflix drama based on the 2021 novel by Willy Vlautin. It's told over one awful day, following a desperate, raggedly fatigued woman living on the breadline who must resort to extreme measures to save her family home. It's reminiscent of the Dardennes' similarly fraught, ticking clock parable Two Days, One Night or 2021's underseen Full Time, which turned the day-to-day stresses of an overloaded single mother into a seat-edge thriller. It's notable that these stories tend to emerge within European cinema (the recent German drama Late Shift fits alongside, following an overworked nurse at breaking point), where social-realist stories have found a place less occupied in the US. Perhaps that's why Night Always Comes, while set in and around Portland, Oregon, is made by a British film-maker and led by a British actor, both from a country of artists more comfortable raging against the machine. Director Benjamin Caron, who found small-screen success with episodes of The Crown and Andor, already tackled the wealth divide in his first film, the sleek and twisty con artist thriller Sharper. His primary objective there had been to entertain us (which he achieved, quite spectacularly) but his grimmer follow-up is tasked with a more serious message, an almost two-hour descent into the hellish reality of Lynette, a woman driven to the edge by the direness of her circumstances. He's reunited with his Crown star Vanessa Kirby, a recent Marvel inductee, who had previously shown an impressive fearlessness when pushed close to the edge in the otherwise rather affected Pieces of a Woman. Her determination is persuasive here but the mechanics of the plot less so, forcing her into an episodic series of increasingly less involving and believable situations as she tries to secure $25,000 for the house that's about to be taken away from her family. Lynette's after-dark quest sees her try to get money owed by an old friend (Julia Fox), revisit a shadowy figure from her past (Michael Kelly), get mixed up in a drug deal with a slimy coke hound (Eli Roth), beg for help from an ex-convict co-worker (Stephan James) and return to sex work with a client (Randall Park). The chain of events is kicked off by her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) suddenly spending the original $25,000 on a new car, an act so impossibly cruel that the film can't quite find a way to explain it. Lynette is quick-tempered, confrontational and maddeningly impulsive and it's refreshingly unpatronising that the script, from the Mothers' Instinct writer Sarah Conradt, doesn't spend time trying to soften her hard edges. But her desperation shifts too quickly into reckless foolishness and when the pace slows down to allow some more texture to her character, Conradt's only way of doing this is upping the trauma from her backstory. Caron mostly avoids accusations of poverty porn – his direction is propulsive and then restrained in the right moments – but Lynette is written as only being the product of the very worst things that have happened to her and by the end the overwhelming bleakness of her story starts to feel numbing. Night Always Comes tries to be both seat-edge action thriller and searing social issue drama and while Caron is able to squeeze suspense out of the early, frenetic moments, there's not enough emotional weight to the more human final act. It might be glumly of the moment and it's never a bad thing for a tech giant like Netflix to fund films about those grappling with the hopelessness of an impossible system but noble intentions aren't enough to save this one. Night Always Comes is out on Netflix on 15 August
Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
Before series with Brewers, Cubs host lowly Pirates
August 15 - The Chicago Cubs return home Friday for a pivotal week-long, eight-game homestand that includes a series with the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers. Before the National League Central leaders pay a visit, however, the Cubs will host the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs on Thursday completed a 2-4 road trip against the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays, ending with a 2-1 loss in Toronto on Thursday when a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. two-run home run in the seventh erased the Cubs' lead. Colin Rea (9-5, 4.09 ERA) hopes to carry over his strong outing from last Saturday as he takes the mound for the Cubs in the Friday afternoon series opener. The right-hander allowed one run over six innings in a 9-1 victory at St. Louis. He gave up three hits and two walks while striking out six in the only game Chicago won in that series. The 35-year-old journeyman sports a 3-3 record and a 5.49 ERA in nine career games (seven starts) against Pittsburgh. However, he has fared better of late. In two starts against Pittsburgh earlier this season, Rea held the Pirates to just two runs on four hits over six innings in each game. He earned the win in an 8-3 victory on May 1 but garnered a no-decision six weeks later as the Cubs won 3-2 in 10 innings. The Cubs have lost six of their last nine games primarily due to the team's struggles at the plate. They have scored just seven runs and managed only 32 hits in those defeats. Four of those hits were homers, including one by Michael Busch in Thursday's loss. "We had a bunch of warning-track balls, but just couldn't get an inning going, really at all," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after Thursday's loss. Pittsburgh comes to Chicago having lost five straight. That includes being swept by the Brewers in Milwaukee in three games earlier this week by a combined score of 33-6. The offense did show signs of breaking out in Wednesday's 12-5 loss, however. Five players had multiple hits as part of the team's 12-hit attack. The Pirates managed only seven during the first two games. Designated hitter Bryan Reynolds blasted a pair of homers and drove in all five runs as part of a 3-for-4 performance on Wednesday. Pirates interim manager Don Kelly said after Wednesday's defeat that he appreciated the effort from his batters. "We continue to battle, continue to have good at-bats -- even there into the ninth inning, we had good at-bats," he said. "We need to carry that over to Chicago. It's going to be a tough series there, but I'm looking forward to playing at Wrigley." No official starter has been named by the Pirates though multiple outlets indicated Braxton Ashcraft (3-2, 3.19) would make his third start this season. The rookie, 25, started Saturday in a 2-1 home loss to Cincinnati. His 3 1/3 innings were a season high. He gave up a run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. Ashcraft did pitch in Wrigley Field when the Pirates last visited two months ago. He threw two perfect innings in a 2-1 loss on June 14. He did not get a decision in the game. Chicago has won five of the first seven games in the season series. After this weekend, the Cubs will play the Pirates three more times a month from now at Pittsburgh. --Field Level Media
Reuters
42 minutes ago
- Reuters
MLB roundup: Max Scherzer pitches Blue Jays past Cubs
August 15 - Max Scherzer pitched seven strong innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Chicago Cubs 2-1 on Thursday afternoon. Scherzer (3-2) allowed one run, five hits and one walk with three strikeouts to help the Blue Jays take the rubber match of a three-game series. Michael Busch hit a solo home run for the Cubs, who were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. With one out in the sixth, Busch homered to right-center on a first-pitch curveball, his 24th of the season. Ian Happ followed with a double before Scherzer worked out of the inning on two popups. In the seventh, Davis Schneider walked and took second on Ernie Clement's sacrifice bunt before Guerrero followed with his 20th homer of the season on a 0-2 curveball. That was one of only two hits surrendered by Matthew Boyd (11-6) over seven innings. Orioles 5, Mariners 3 Tomoyuki Sugano threw 5 1/3 strong innings before a rain delay and Baltimore held off visiting Seattle, handing the Mariners their second straight loss after their eight-game winning streak. Sugano (10-5), who was charged with one run that scored after he departed, allowed three hits and one walk with two strikeouts as the Orioles have won six straight series against the Mariners. Julio Rodriguez homered and Josh Naylor and Dominic Canzone each had two hits for Seattle, which brought league-leading home run hitter Cal Ralegh up to bat as a pinch hitter and the possible tying run in the ninth. After he walked, Dietrich Enns got Randy Arozarena to ground into a fielder's choice before Naylor grounded out to end the game, giving Enns his first save since 2021. Braves 4, Mets 3 Ozzie Albies capped a big game with the tie-breaking RBI double in the eighth inning for visiting Atlanta, which edged New York Mets in the rubber game of a three-game series. Albies was 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs for the Braves, who have won six of eight. Michael Harris II was also 3-for-4 with a run-scoring double in the eighth. The eighth-inning rally made a winner of Bryce Elder (5-9), who gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits over seven innings. Francisco Lindor was 3-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored for the Mets, who fell to 2-10 this month. Brandon Nimmo lofted a game-tying sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Pete Alonso followed with a go-ahead RBI single. Tigers 4, Twins 3 (11 innings) Gleyber Torres delivered a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and Riley Greene hit a two-run homer to lead Detroit over Minnesota in Minneapolis. Tigers reliever Rafael Montero (1-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Kerry Carpenter and Javier Baez each had two hits as Detroit won for the fourth time in five games. Edouard Julien homered and singled for the Twins, who have lost three out of four. Erasmo Ramirez (0-1) gave up the decisive unearned run in the 11th. Nationals 3, Phillies 2 Jose Tena connected for a two-run single in the seventh to help Washington rally to beat visiting Philadelphia. Nationals starter Brad Lord gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. Reliever Shinnosuke Ogasawa (1-1) got the final out of the seventh, the lone batter he faced, to earn the win. Cole Henry threw a scoreless ninth for his first save. The Phillies have lost three in a row. Starter Jesus Luzardo (11-6) allowed three runs on four hits in six innings. He started the seventh, issuing two walks and a hit before he was replaced by Orion Kerkering, who got one out before Tena's hit. Guardians 9, Marlins 4 Gabriel Arias drove in two runs, Jose Ramirez scored three times and had three hits, and Tanner Bibee won his fifth straight as Cleveland rallied to beat visiting Miami. Arias' go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth brought home Ramirez with the go-ahead run, three innings after he brought him home with a groundout after Miami took a 3-0 lead. Ramirez also scored in the seventh and moved past Kenny Lofton into third place in Cleveland history with 977 runs. The Guardians moved within one-half game of the New York Yankees for the third and final American League wild-card spot. Bibee (9-9) worked 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits. Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (6-6) allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA in his previous four starts. Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 2 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jose Herrera homered, Eduardo Rodriguez tossed a season-high seven innings, and Arizona beat Colorado in Denver. Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas had two hits each for Arizona, which has won six of its last seven and is 9-4 in August. Rodriguez (5-7) kept Colorado hitters off balance for most of his outing, permitting one run on six hits. His only mistake was a changeup to Kyle Farmer leading off the fifth inning that ended up in the left field stands. Farmer finished with three hits, Brenton Doyle also went deep among his two hits and Tyler Freeman also had two hits for Colorado. The Rockies, who had their two-game winning streak snapped, have lost eight of their 10 games against the D-backs this season. --Field Level Media
