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The Disaster Artist (2017)
The Disaster Artist
Out of all the hilariously awful trash films that exist, from "Plan 9 from Outer Space" to "Troll 2" to "Birdemic: Shock and Terror" to all of Neil Breen's films, none are as famous or as disconnected from normal human interaction as "The Room". And none of their creators are quite as intriguing and puzzling as the enigmatic Tommy Wiseau.
But, as "The Disaster Artist" makes clear, this cult classic never would've existed without his best friend, and co-star of the film, Greg Sestero. After witnessing Tommy's passionate performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire" at his acting class, timid Greg Sestero approached him, asking if he could do a scene with him. Tommy of course said yes, and proceeded to help boost Greg's confidence by giving him an acting lesson in the middle of a coffee shop. From there, the two united over their shared ambitions of becoming Hollywood stars, and with Tommy's mysterious, seemingly unlimited supply of cash, they moved to L.A., and the rest is history.
Of course, there's a lot more in between and after that, but if you've ever seen "The Room" you basically know the end result. But "The Disaster Artist" isn't primarily about the making of "The Room", although that takes up the majority of the second half, it's main focus is the unlikely friendship between Greg and Tommy, who are played by Dave and James Franco, respectively. It could've been very distracting that two brothers were playing two best friends who were in no way related, but, due to James Franco's fittingly stilted performance, I wasn't focusing on that at all.
Also, although he's been making pretty poorly reviewed films for years, this is Franco's first major directorial effort, and the first film of his that I have seen. From a visual standpoint, everything seems pretty standard, other than some opportune long takes during a few scenes, such as the tense, uncomfortable, and hectic shooting of Tommy's sex scene. From an acting standpoint, everything seems pretty standard, other than Franco's performance. From a general directing standpoint, everything just seems pretty standard. All of it is fine, and none of it is really special. The writing has a few flaws as well, such as one very unrealistic decision by Greg and an incredibly rushed ending. The bizarre subject matter of this film is honestly what really makes this film work.
The Greg and Tommy dynamic worked as an eccentric and his straight man, but the funniest part of the film was its depiction of the disastrous production behind "The Room". It began with many confused cast members, but a faint glimmer of hope but slowly spiraled downward, with personal tensions rising between Tommy and the other members of the crew, shooting going far over schedule, and Tommy's strangeness disrupting several days on set, such as one day where he didn't pay for air conditioning. But, other than one scene at his lowest point, Tommy never comes across as malicious, just horribly ignorant and oblivious to his own mistakes, which is partially of why "The Room" still reigns as the best bad movie ever made. Tommy single handedly created, ruined, and saved "The Room", all in one fell swoop.
Many watch "The Room" and ask "How could anyone who made this have thought it was good?". And the truth is, they didn't. When the actress for "The Room" character Claudette is asked why she would drive such a long commute every day for such an obviously doomed film, she replies "Because we're actors. A bad day on set is better than a good day anywhere else". "The Disaster Artist" shows this kind of sheer commitment as both a virtue and a flaw, balancing between advocating pursuit of your wildest dreams despite everyone telling you otherwise, and warning against that pursuit.
A Ghost Story (2017)
A Ghost Story
Rarely does a movie with such a large scale, some scenes being hundreds of years apart, feel so intimate. But "A Ghost Story" is not a traditional film in any sense. It's probably the only movie about a ghost that I've seen that isn't a horror movie. The main character (only credited as "C") is only alive for a few scenes, then spends the rest of the film in complete silence draped under a white sheet. Time isn't constrained in any way, many scenes take place in one, long, silent, static shot, and in many scenes C stands in one place as time around him moves and his surroundings change. Yet despite C being passive by nature throughout the majority of the film, he remains a character who has desires and motives and reacts to the things around him. The title says it all - it's a ghost's story, from his perspective.
The relationship between C (Casey Affleck) and M (Rooney Mara) is tested as they are moving out of their home. Then suddenly and off- screen, C dies. How he dies is irrelevant, hence not showing it in the film. What this film is about is what happens after his death.
M's grief is still a part of the movie, and M is always in the foreground of what C is seeking, but the only common thread throughout the entire film is the location and the ghost. Now, I realize how strange and cliché it may seem for the representation of a ghost to literally just be a man with sheets draped over him, especially in such a serious film, but somehow the film is able to be somewhat self aware about using this goofy horror trope while not sacrificing its tone, clearly referencing certain ghost story clichés while putting an entirely different, poignant spin on it.
The film's unusual square aspect ratio with rounded corners, almost gives it the appearance of an old home movie, giving this cosmic, thought provoking film a nostalgic, and personal feel. As time in the film is relative to C, all the editing feels very deliberate, apparently even mentioning shot lengths in the script. The soundtrack is used sparingly, but adds an entire new level of emotion to the scenes it is used in, even playing a direct role in the story.
In the middle of the film, a man at a party delivers a long, passionate, and somewhat rambling rant about the ultimate meaninglessness of human life. It's an entrancing monologue, as everyone in the party slowly gathers near him, and for a while it seemed as if this nihilistic outlook was the point of the movie. And don't get me wrong, everything he says is true and nothing in the movie contradicts its validity, but what I failed to realize was how quickly everyone around him goes back to partying and having fun, despite this existential realization. Even though all human life and remnants of it will be completely gone and there probably won't be much closure, moments can't be erased from existence, and if you realize that then every moment of existence means something.
Mother! (2017)
mother!
Imagine "Rosemary's Baby" filtered through the dark and twisted creator of "Black Swan" with a lot more symbolism and a lot less literal and you'd get "Mother!", Darren Aronofsky's nightmare about a mother's isolation.
From the start we are launched into the perspective of Mother (not a single name is ever said in the movie for any character). The film uses almost entirely close ups of Mother, over the shoulder shots, or point of view shots to emphasize this viewpoint. The sound design also adds another layer of immersion, accentuating the many small sounds made in Mother's home, and creating a three-dimensional landscape through the sound. This very limited perspective, as well as the fact that the film takes place entirely in one home, gives the film a claustrophobic atmosphere and often heightens the sense of paranoia.
The set up is simple: a couple, comprised of a writer and the woman who built their home, is interrupted by a sudden unexpected guest. I don't want to go much further than that, but the sudden escalation of events is incredibly surprising and very bizarre if taken literally, but even as I wasn't entirely sure what exactly was happening I was pulled into the movie by the amazing performances from Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Although it may seem like a traditional psychological thriller film at the start, along the same lines as Aronofsky's own "Black Swan", I can say by the end I had many lingering questions about what I had actually just seen and what exactly it meant. This is why I'm going to do a more in depth analysis below this, but this is where the spoiler free review ends.
It (2017)
It
For the first 15 minutes of "It" (and frankly all of the time before that), I thought this film was going to be another pointless remake. Within the first scene, it already felt as if the director was trying way too hard to make things "scary". The classic scene where Georgie meets Pennywise the clown not only seemed to be unnecessarily stretched out, but there was a shadow over the top half of Pennywise's face, so all you could see were his glowing eyes. In the build up to this scene Georgie bumps his head into a construction barrier, providing what seemed like unintentional comedy before the scene started. And then there was Bill Skarsgard's performance in this scene, which also felt like he was straining. As the icing on the cake, the scene ends with a predictable jumpscare and an exaggerated amount of blood and gore. Overall, Tim Curry's performance in the original scene along with the quick and sudden end to the scene actually left a much larger impact, having you wonder what exactly happened to Georgie after getting a glimpse of Pennywise's terrifying face.
Even though the next few scenes in the school also looked to be following a cliché and cheesy route, surprisingly I actually began to care about these characters and enjoy watching the dynamics between them. That doesn't mean the overall trajectory of the film isn't still pretty predictable, but the kids acted like real kids of their age, with surprisingly great child performances across the board. The kids curse, joke around, and, when things begin to go down, they are realistically terrified. When the film wasn't trying to be scary, it was often genuinely hilarious, and it made the rest of the film a whole lot more likable.
While I still felt that much of the horror was exhausting every trope as an attempt to scare (way too many sharp teeth, missing limbs, and predictable jump scares) and Bill Skarsgard was straining with a one note performance, all of the horror in the film actually serves the story and characters, and it actually has a couple well executed scares and sequences. Also, it's surprisingly disturbing at points, not just showing the irrational fears children have, but real childhood trauma.
They call the monster in the film "It" because it is actually just a representation of their fear, inflicted upon them by overprotective parents, abusive parents, traumatic events, and bullies. Of course, the film makes a point to show that the bullies aren't exempt from this controlling force of fear either, and it is often the reason they need to feed on fear to feel stronger.
Of course, like "The Goonies", "Stand by Me", or the recent "Stranger Things", what gets them through their troubles is the care and understanding that they have for each other, and what really makes this rated-R film about a group of children actually relatable for an older audience is how much these kids remind you of yourself at that age.
The Fountain (2006)
The Fountain
"The Fountain" begins with the death of a conquistador who was searching for the tree of life, then cuts to that same man, but bald, now sitting next to the tree of life as he floats through the universe, then finally cuts back to present day where that same man frantically searches for a cure for cancer. This is all in the first few minutes.
Of course, these three aren't all technically the same person - one exists far in the past during the Spanish inquisition (Tomas), another seems to exist in the future after death (Tommy), and the other exists currently (Tom Creo), but they all seem to have the same motivation. Tomas is trying to find the tree of life to grant him and his queen (played by Rachel Weisz) immortality, as her country is being taken over, Tom is trying to find a cure for cancer to save his wife Isabel (also played by Rachel Weisz) from death, and Tommy seems to be trying to keep the tree of life alive in the afterlife so that he can be with her for eternity.
On its base level, the movie is really just about death, and how we should deal with it, and what comes after, and all the anxieties that go with that. As I mentioned before, the film starts with Tomas, the conquistador, being stabbed, and looking down at his stab wound with fear as blood pours out of his body. He knows he is slowly dying, but the film cuts away before he does. Each of the versions of Tom is in some way fighting against death, while Isabel is learning to accept it. Many times throughout each of three plot lines, Tom is told to "Finish" his story and in each of them he struggles to do this. In one shot, he walks through the busy streets but the only audio we hear are his footsteps; he is unaware of the world around him.
There are many smart artistic decisions such as this. Many of the shots are directly overhead the characters, as if they are being watched from above. As a contrast to this, there are a large amount of extreme close ups, showing how the Tom and Isabel cling to each other. Not to mention to often gorgeous special effects during the ethereal scenes involving Tommy as he ascends through the universe and into a nebula. But the film was incredibly ambitious for 2006 special effects, and occasionally they come off looking cheap and unintentionally funny, especially towards the end of the film during what should've been a very serious and awe- inspiring sequence. Also, Tommy doing martial arts moves in front of a space background was completely irrelevant to the story and themes, and ended up coming off as ridiculous and absurd.
However, the film is elevated by Hugh Jackman's devastating performance in each of the three roles he plays. Rachel Weisz is fantastic as well, but one smaller performance that truly stood out was Ellen Burstyn as Dr. Lillian Guzetti. Her speech at Isabel's funeral towards the end of the film, although short, was one of the best scenes. As she says: "We struggle all our lives to become whole. Complete enough when we die." The film's message that the only way we can deal with our mortality is by accepting it as a natural part of the circle of life. Despite the ridiculously over the top visuals towards the end, it definitely has something interesting to say.
Sunshine (2007)
Sunshine
The premise of a group of people alone in space has been done many times before Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" and it has been done since then and it will probably continue to be done over and over again. But what these films rarely nail is the atmosphere of isolation, claustrophobia, and our insignificance in the face of the vast emptiness of space, which is why "Sunshine" is so engrossing and exciting to watch - and why it is so disappointing in its last 20 minutes.
The film starts during the dying gasps of humanity. One ship (which is fittingly named Icarus) with a bomb strapped to it to be launched into the dying sun as an attempt to create a "star within a star" has already failed for unknown reasons, so a new ship with a crew of seven has been sent to try and accomplish this same mission. This is humanity's last chance at salvation.
In the first shot of the film, the ship is shown as a tiny black blip engulfed by the size of the sun. There is a room solely for the purpose of viewing the sun, obviously with modifications so that it won't fry your eyeballs. This room is one way that the crew members try to maintain their hope for their mission and their sanity. Another is apparently by sending video messages back to their friends and family, but the film starts at the moment when the messages can no longer reach Earth. While Capa (Cillian Murphy) is able to send out one final hopeful message to his family, Mace (Chris Evans) is unable to, and blames Capa for making him wait too long. This seems to be the beginning of the crew's downward spiral.
As they pass Mercury, the crew suddenly hears a signal coming from its surface. This is one of the only movies where the scientists in it act like actual scientists. Of course, they make mistakes, because they are also human, but when a problem such as this arises, they consider all of the possible benefits and risks that could arise from both decisions and eventually leave it up to the crew member that is most educated for this particular situation. They argue, and they each have equally understandable opinions on what they should do, but they never jump to conclusions. All the scientific explanation that is done also feels much less forced than other films of this type because it is made clear that everyone on the ship specializes in something different, such as botany, or psychology, or physics, or piloting, and of course there is overlap between all of them but when a scientific subject is being explained to other characters, it doesn't feel like something they should already know. In other words, it feels like explanation that would logically be delivered to the characters in the film, not just something they needed to explain to the audience at home.
Despite the film's sense of overwhelming impending doom, you are never quite sure what exactly will happen in the film, just that the end result isn't going to be good. What helps build this unsettling atmosphere is the eerie score for the film, as well as the claustrophobic camera work, with many tight, confined shots down the corridors of the ship, and Dutch camera angles, so it always feels like something is askew. And I know that a film based entirely in space with 2007 CGI and special effects may not sound like it would hold up, but the visuals are surprisingly gorgeous and detailed, with a clear understanding of how to blend practical effects and CGI to create a convincing environment.
It's a shame that the tension that slowly builds throughout the film ends up being ruined by a rushed and nonsensical ending. After a certain character is suddenly introduced that has no logical explanation to be in the ship, or in the film at all, it suddenly becomes a corny slasher film. And by that I mean the character literally has a voice like Freddy Kreuger and spouts lines dumber than that intentionally dumb horror villain. To add insult to injury, they have a sugarcoated solution in the end that feels like it came out of an entirely different film.
But the unintentionally funny ending doesn't make the entire film bad. The first hour and 25 minutes is still one of the most immersive, smartly written, and visually stunning sci-fi thrillers I've ever seen.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon
After text assuring you that this is in fact "based on a true story", the opening montage of "Dog Day Afternoon", comprised of footage of real Brooklyn inhabitants and locations, displays exactly what the title describes: a regular, hot summer day as everyone goes about their daily routine. Elton John's "Amoreena" is the only song that plays during the entire film, and it is played over this montage of Brooklyn to set a casual tone that is upset by the sudden enacting of a bank robbery. At first it is startling as Sal pulls his gun out on the manager of the bank and Sonny frantically lines everyone up on the wall, threatening them with his rifle, but soon enough it isn't hard to tell he didn't plan much out, as one of the members of his gang of three quickly runs off afraid, leaving just Sonny and Sal. Then, mostly through his own ineptitude, Sonny accidentally attracts the attention of a man across the street and soon enough the police are surrounding the bank, along with a crowd of bored bystanders that watch the event as if it were entertainment meant for them.
Soon the media gets a hold of this story and people begin treating Sonny like a celebrity and everything he says is given more importance, with people either viewing him as a people's champion or an evil villain, shifting their perception of him to fit their view of the world, idolizing him even when he doesn't want it. But by bringing us inside the bank, this film allows us to see Sonny and Sal as the scared, desperate, genuine human beings they were. We learn that despite the extreme measures these people are ultimately trying to help who they think needs it, even insinuating both Sal and Sonny may be suffering from their experience in the war. That doesn't make them good people, but the fact that their robbing a bank also doesn't make them bad people, and it is so much easier to sympathize with Sonny due to Al Pacino's fantastic performance, showcasing all of Sonny's fear, doubt, anxiety, and hope during this ordeal. John Cazale brings a surprising amount of deadpan humor to Sal while never feeling like it is betraying the realism of the film. For that matter, all of the performances in this film pull you deeper into it, to the point where you can almost forget your watching a movie and not the real people involved in this event.
Despite taking place almost entirely in one location, the film is far more visually interesting than many films that I have seen that take place in a plethora of places. Lumet rarely resorts to the standard and boring shot/reverse shot when shooting conversations, often keeping the camera mobile (even if its subtle movement), blocking the scenes to show the relationship between characters at that moment, and occasionally having multiple stories being told on screen at once.
Yet, although the film never feels overtly cinematic, in the end I began to root for Sonny and Sal, and began to build expectations based on my sympathy for this character, but, just like those who saw him on their television at home, we forgot that this was a true story and not happening as a fantasy, and once he leaves the cameras, the reality of the situation hits him and us rather suddenly.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
When was the last time you were watching a big budget summer blockbuster and in the first fifteen minutes, the characters and their relationships were established without any spoken dialogue, all while keeping your interest? "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" had the difficult task of telling a serious, live action, relatable, human story, despite most of its main characters being apes. This was a technical challenge because they needed to use motion capture technology to transform tons of human actors into realistic looking apes with believable movements, yet the performances of the actors playing the apes and the CGI are both incredibly natural most of the time. This was a narrative challenge because they needed to find out the best way to communicate the thoughts of the apes, yet they managed to make their actions speak for them and their few words hold so much more weight. This was a financial challenge because of the high budget needed to make the film and the general publics willingness to read subtitles, yet they managed to keep them engaged.
Again and again, Matt Reeves continued to exceed my expectations with this film, not only making me genuinely care about a bunch of apes, but by telling a smart allegorical tale about racism, war, and technology's role in humanity. You don't have to see the first film in order to see this one, since all the exposition you need is cut together in a clever montage showing the downfall of humanity and the rise of the apes, allowing this film to stand on its own. After humanity began to fall from the virus, the apes became independent in the forest and began living creating their own civilization, while, unbeknownst to them, a group of immune humans lives near by, trying to restore their civilization by holding the belief that electricity will help them get back to the place they were before. When the last resort to power their city is by using water, they are forced to come into contact with the apes that are living on the dam, and tensions begin to arise.
The visceral, emotional climax of this film is incredibly shot, with many long tracking or panning shots showing the all out pandemonium happening around them, as well as an intense, hand to hand fight scene, all done with almost entirely CGI characters.
The film delves surprisingly deep into the origins and hypocrisy of war, showing how preconceived notions start fear and hostility, which fosters more fear and hostility, which blinds one side from the good people in the opposing group, and blinds one group from the bad people in their own group. It also shows how even the possession of weapons just causes more paranoia, causing the other group to feel the need to protect themselves with weapons, pulling both groups further and further apart from each other, despite how similar they may be.
Jui kuen II (1994)
The Legend of the Drunken Master
Rarely do films manage to find humor in tension anymore, as the action comedy genre seems to only be carried on through Edgar Wright. There is a lot of dumb slapstick out there, but the legitimately inventive and death defying stunts that could be traced all the way back to Buster Keaton. Jackie Chan is one of the rare actors that seemed to have endless stamina and complete physical commitment to his visual gags and fast paced action scenes.
Fei Hung is a well intentioned but arrogant fighter who learned his technique from his father, a master of drunken boxing. Yes, you read that correctly. Jackie Chan wobbles around, moving as if he is about to fall over at every second during his fighting, while simultaneously performing completely ridiculous moves such as the "flirting woman" and the "wheelbarrow", making a fool out of his enemies, and occasionally himself in the process. Due to its comedic tone, a lot of sound effects that I would regularly find exaggerated blend right in, because the movie is just that. His father, the master, encourages passivity and restraint in fighting, while his mother, who also happens to be quite skilled, encourages him to fight every fight with all he's got. However, when his type of fighting is fueled by drinking loads of alcohol, this is a recipe for disaster, and despite always trying to help others, he is torn between the encouragement of his mother and the restrictions of his father.
Credit is certainly due to Jackie Chan for his physical performance, but much of the effect of the action scenes is due to the director, Chia Liang Liu. He knew that the way to direct Jackie Chan was with wide angle shots that only cut when necessary, to see the full view of his stunts and choreography. Also, our hero doesn't always win. We see him disowned by his father and beaten down by his enemies again and again. This allows us to feel that our hero is imperfect and it's possible that he could lose with each set piece. It also shows that what really makes him a hero is his perseverance and eagerness to get back up and try to improve despite being knocked down so often. This is what allowed for such creative, intense, and hilarious action set pieces as the fight against the crowds of men with axes, in which he ducks and dodges and uses wooden benches and tables and anything in his environment as weapons to defend himself, narrowly avoiding defeat each time. Or the fight in which he takes on several men at once, while simultaneously being thrown bottle after bottle of liquor and proceeding to pour each one down his throat. With Jackie Chan constantly pulling off this perfect balancing act, it's easy to ignore that the reason the English ambassador fires all his workers is never really explained, and his motivation for letting Jackie Chan and his friend go doesn't quite make sense, because those really are small complaints in what is really one of the rare movies that continues to genuinely surprise, impress, and entertain for its entire runtime.
Baby Driver (2017)
Baby Driver
First, I'll address the elephant in the room: "Baby Driver" is a pretty stupid name. But, the reason for this title is that the main character's is called Baby, and the reason for that has mainly to do with the constant music he has playing (many, many songs use the word "baby") order to drown out the ringing in his ears (and the childhood trauma it reminds him of) due to an injury that was caused by a car crash he was in at a young age that also killed his parents, one of them also being a musical artist. Oh, also, he's a getaway driver. A really, really great one, that moves in the car with such effortless grace as if it were a dance. He started this most likely as a way of combatting the traumatic memory of his parent's car crash and assuring that he'll never make the same mistake that his parents have. He tries to make music out of the conversations he has with his boss (Kevin Spacey) and acquaintances who are all robbers (Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Eiza Gonzalez, mainly), literally taking a negative thing and trying his best to give it a positive spin. His intentions are always good, he was just pulled into this at a young age against his will and has been working to get out since.
Now, it may seem like this is all spoiler territory, but most of this characterization is communicated pretty early in the film, and Baby himself rarely talks. What this film does best is communicating Baby's feelings and thoughts through the choice of music in each scene, and the choreography, editing, and camera movement that goes along with this music, often incorporating sounds happening in the scene into the beat of the song that Baby is listening to. It is like there is a constant tempo to the film, giving it a constant upbeat, heart-pounding, fast pace. Baby even often changes the music to get it so it perfectly syncs up with what is happening, as if he needed to keep a perfect rhythm to each and every move that he made. Not to mention how the action scenes themselves reveal character, rather than existing solely to be thrilling. The development happens during the action, such as one instance when Baby quickly veers off the road to prevent Batz from shooting someone. And this is on top of the fact that the action choreography and editing in these scenes is amazing, creating a perfectly symphony of gunshots and car crashes and screeching and classic rock.
Even when there isn't music in the film, all of the sounds seem deliberate. Just as we hear whatever music Baby hears, we also hear the ringing in his ears when he doesn't have the music, often creating heightened tension due to a sense of imbalance compared to the easy flow the film has when there is music. There is occasionally an orchestral soundtrack when Baby doesn't have his Ipod or his record player or the radio or cassettes, but this orchestral soundtrack subtly tends to blend with the high pitched whistle that Baby actually has.
From the start of the film Baby is told by one robber he worked with named Griff (Jon Beranthal) that one day he is going to have the blood on his hands and he won't be able to wash it off. Throughout the film, it constantly feels as if Baby's gleefully dancing on the rim of the volcano, almost dipping his toe in the lava on the inside. I won't spoil whether he falls in or not, as not knowing is part of the fun, but all I can say is that the ending is as satisfying as it could've possibly been subverting cleverly any expectations you may have had.
Mary and Max. (2009)
Mary and Max
The wrinkly and awkward design of the characters and settings, as well as the dry dull color palette in "Mary and Max" gives the film a gross, clunky texture, and I wouldn't want it any other way, because, like the characters themselves, the animation style's (intentional) imperfection is what makes it so charming.
The film's premise is simple, but the emotional complexity of the characters get the premise a long way. A 9 year old Australian girl sending a letter to a 44 year old obese man in New York out of curiosity, but mainly out of loneliness, and it just so happens that the very person she contacts is just as lonely and confused as she is. Almost the whole movie is done in voice over, much of it by a narrator and the rest by the main two characters, since all of their interactions are through letters and not physical dialogue, and much of what they are saying and thinking is animated to accompany the voice over. But even the narrator has a distinctive character to it, and Still, Philip Seymour Hoffman is able bring life into this idiosyncratic character of Max, fully embodying all his sincerity in every word, despite an inability to physically communicate his emotions. The effect of the visualization of the voice-over is a somewhat storybook- like tone to the film. But despite seemingly like a film intended for children on the surface, it reaches into the subjects of depression, childhood trauma, and living with a mental disability. While it treats these subjects with as much respect and seriousness as they deserve, at the core of the film is, of course, the sweet friendship between Mary and Max, and how they each serve as a solace; someone they can understand and depend on in a world filled with unpredictability. Because they each knew there would always be a friend that could appreciate them even with all their imperfections, they were both able to accept themselves for who they were, warts and all.
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Being John Malkovich
Since every human being is constantly tethered to their bodies and their perception of the world through that body, the curiosity of what life is like from another person's perspective is intrinsic to human nature. So what if the person whose body you could inhabit was critically acclaimed actor John Malkovich? And what if the portal to his mind was in an office with a low ceiling because it was in between two floors of a skyscraper? "Being John Malkovich" answers both of these questions and many more with a surprising amount of insight and depth.
Craig Schwartz is a struggling puppeteer performing on the streets of New York to an audience who doesn't want him. He has a wife, Lotte, but they are clearly somewhat distant from each other, and she is often at work or trying to convince him to get a job. Finally, he obliges when money runs low, and he ends up filing cabinets at the odd floor 7 1/2. It's telling that his boss thinks that he has a speech impediment because his assistant has trouble hearing and often misinterprets his words: the only window into how he is perceived by others is filtered through the imperfect perceptions of those around him. In this office he sees Maxine Lund and slowly becomes desperate for her, even acting out a romantic encounter with her with his puppets while proclaiming it's the chance to feel what someone else feels that draws him to puppeteering. Soon after he stumbles upon a window into a man's brain, and while John Malkovich may have seemed like a random choice by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, I don't think it's an accident that the man they begin to live through is an actor himself, constantly trying to immerse himself in many different roles and different lives. As Craig and Lotte soon find out, completely changing their role and appearance in life helps them to further discover who they are and what they want. By discovering that her true self is not the gender or appearance or age that their assigned, Lotte realizes she feels more comfortable as a man. Of course, they do begin to exploit this sudden discovery as most human beings would do. Maxine does it for control, and Craig does it for Maxine's adoration, but it is only a matter of time until Malkovich himself finds this portal.
Malkovich inevitably entering this portal himself could've been handled in a plethora of ways, but how it is handled is brilliant, funny, thought provoking, and it deepens the themes of the film. It shows how our mind ultimately compares everyone around us to ourselves because it is all that we have to compare to, and it also shows how many different versions of oneself exist within one's own mind, each revealing themselves at different times. And this isn't even the last big surprise of the movie. The climax exists entirely in Malkovich's subconscious. Although even through all of the film's heady ideas and absurdism it remains a very fundamentally human film. As Craig gets a hold of controlling Malkovich, they toy with the idea that one's position in life and preexisting image often dictates their success, but the surprisingly tragic ending reveals that what is at the core of who Craig is, regardless of the body he inhabits, is who he desires, and this is ultimately what dictates his actions, and it isn't hard to see that this desire is what dictates every other character as well, especially when the person one desires is just out of reach.
Grave (2016)
Raw
For many, college is a time of self- discovery. It's really the first time away from parents, allowing for much more freedom and individuality for many. "Raw" answers what would happen if your new found independence led to the discovery that you loved the taste of human flesh.
Justine, a shy and smart girl who has been raised a vegetarian, stood outside vet school expecting her sister to come meet her. Her real introduction to her sister is hours later, after she's been woken up in the middle of the night along with every other freshmen and led to a packed, pulsating party, showcased in one long take. In fact, she sees her sister's shaking ass before she even sees her face. After this overwhelming introduction to the college, her rush week begins. Here she is forced to eat a rabbit's kidney as part of the hazing, and, despite getting an awful rash as a result, her craving for meat begins to spiral out of control from here. This may seem like a huge transformation for such an introverted character to undergo, but Garance Marillier is surprisingly realistic in her performance, showing all of the guilt and disgust and discomfort that arises from this sudden awakening.
What Justine's cannibalistic fetish results in, however, is not a schlocky horror movie in which she begins to hunt down college kids and eat them, but a movie about the pressure to fit in while also feeling the need to be herself. It's about Justine's rivalry with her sister, despite being the only person that truly understands her, and vice versa. It's about how her first time not being monitored or sheltered by her parents drives her to go wild. It's about addiction and its consequences. It's a weird movie by its nature, and a lot of its weirdness serves the symbolism of the story, but towards the end the shock value and strangeness go so over the top to the point of being inadvertently comedic, such as the strange gathering of people on the roof with that song playing in the background, and the fight between the sisters on that roof. However, the rich color palette, graphic and striking imagery, and the intense electronic soundtrack all contribute to a dreamlike atmosphere filled with unexpected symbolism, from the first eerie, empty, ultimately shocking wide shots to the final disturbing revelation.
Nirvanna the Band the Show (2016)
Nirvanna the Band the Show
No, the show is not about "Nirvana" the band, it's about "Nirvanna the Band", a band consisting of Matt and Jay, two best friends that have had a lifelong dream of performing a show at the Rivoli, a real life, moderately popular Toronto bar; this show actually has nothing to do with Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl's band. If that sounds ridiculous and absurd, that's because it is. In fact, that's not even scratching the surface of the absurdity this series has to offer.
(Almost) every episode consists of Matt and Jay trying to get a show at the Rivoli with some convoluted and insane plan and eventually failing in a spectacular fashion. What makes this show so uniquely funny is that the fictional plights of the characters often involve real people that have no idea they are on a show. To get the footage of Matt and Jay attempting their schemes, the real actors that play these characters go out into public acting like their nonsensical characters and (for the most part) actually do their plans, interacting with many people as their characters that are unaware that they are actually playing their characters. For instance, one episode is about Matt and Jay getting into Sundance Film Festival in order to gain popularity so they can play at the Rivoli. Since the real Matt Johnson is a filmmaker and his film "Operation Avalanche" actually got into Sundance, they decided to center the episode around the character Matt sneaking his awful film into Sundance. To get footage for this episode, Matt and Jay actually introduced the film as their characters from "Nirvanna the Band the Show" without anyone at the premiere having any idea of what was really going on. Matt also did many real live interviews as his character, causing a lot of confusion with a lot of people and a lot of embarrassing situations as well. That is dedication.
Not everything is improvised and authentic -- each episode has a plot, and in order to adhere to that plot there must be scripted and planned moments, but since the show has a general mockumentary style to it, what is fictional and what is really happening often blend together to the point where you can't tell what is planned and what the actors are really doing. Sometimes, it seems as if they will make slight additions to the episode based on sudden interactions they have with real people. But, despite the unpredictability of episodes, nothing in the show happens without purpose. It is the perfect blend of spontaneity and structure; even outside of interactions with other people, much of the dialogue between Matt and Jay seems improvised, yet there are many small details which seem insignificant at first, but they are truly a set up for a much bigger joke later in the episode or even later in the series.
The show is also incredibly self-aware; the opening scene is Matt and Jay talking about how to introduce their show at the Rivoli, while introducing their show to us in the process. There are also frequent pop-culture references, some purposefully blatantly obvious and exaggerated, and some pretty subtle, but never without purpose; every major reference, including the personalized intros to every episode, coincides with the overall structure or style of the episode, often even subverting your expectations based on what they reference at during their intros and throughout the episode. It's one of the funniest and strangest shows currently on television, and it deserves a lot more attention.
Moral Orel (2005)
Moral Orel
"Moral Orel" began as a clever and biting but formulaic religious satire by design, parodying the religious cartoons meant to teach young kids lessons about their faith. Each episode began by focusing on a rambling sermon given by Reverend Putty that Orel then follows to a literal fault, often causing havoc in the town, and then being "set straight" by a illogical and contradictory teaching from his alcoholic father after a beating. If this sounds very dark, that's because it is, but in the show it is all delivered in an absurd and comical manner, for the first season at least.
Many of the episodes in the second season also follow this formula, especially many of the earlier ones, but a few times, we get a glimpse deeper into the lives and genuine desires of the characters. We see how Reverend Putty's desperate search for a woman pays off with his realization the importance of his existing family, and we see how doughy's neglect at home guides his need for acceptance from Orel, and several more of the characters' backgrounds. But we don't truly begin to see the darker, more serious side of the characters until the last two episodes: "Nature: Part 1" and "Nature: Part 2". During these two episodes (both dedicated to John Cassavettes), Clay, Orel's father, takes his son on his first hunting trip. Clay tries to force his son to kill an animal, but Orel can't bring himself to do it. After Clay takes matters into his own hands, killing and eating a hunting dog in a drunken haze, Orel finally realizes his father's flaws, resisting him more and more as Clay spirals into pure rage, climaxing when he unintentionally fires a shot at his son's leg.
This is the moment that Orel begins to realize that his "superiors" have flaws just as any other human, and maybe he shouldn't blindly follow them without question. This is also the set up for the subversive third and final season, where they really began to experiment with the structure and tone of the show. From here, each episode centers around the depressing reality that every character in the town has been dealing with in the background as they shielded Orel from it. It often focuses on the build up to this hunting trip, exposing the deep psychological flaws in each character, even those with little to no screen time before this season. Not only this, but the animation improves drastically, becoming much more creative and just plain impressive. For instance, in one of my favorite moments from the entire series, in a FIRST PERSON STOP MOTION SHOT, we witness Clay walking through the halls of his home with a glass of whiskey in his hand after his hunting trip. Not only would a long-take, first person stop motion shot take incredible dedication, skill, and precision, but the scene they used this technique in is essentially flawless, perfectly showing the numbness and void of emotion in Clay's (and his wife's) life. To top it off is a song by The Mountain Goats, a band whose songs are used more than once in this season to great effect to show their hopeless condition of life.
Their loneliness, self-loathing, desperation, desires, repressed feelings and memories are all laid out for us, until we realize why Orel hasn't gotten any proper guidance or care: everyone else was so caught up in their own problems. However, despite its bleakness, the show does end with a hope that maybe someone like Orel can actually mature after realizing what those around him did wrong, creating a happy and meaningful family despite the example that those around him set for him.
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Ghost in the Shell
The concept of the first ever human-robot hybrid is one that is ripe with philosophical questions, but within the first five minutes of "Ghost in the Shell", these complex grey moral questions are reduced to blunt black and white answers: "She isn't just a robot" says Dr. Ouelet, one of the people who created Major, "She is a human, she has a soul". "She isn't just a robot to me", says one of the company-men that she was created for, "She's a weapon".
Of course, they try to force some more pseudo-philosophical nonsense into the film, but it is either contradicted or just doesn't make any sense in the first place, and any nuance or subtlety in the film is completely abandoned. For instance, being the first ever cyborg and having no memory of her past understandably isolates Major, making her question her own identity and her own humanity. In the beginning of the film, the implications of Major's inner struggle are there, yet the screenwriters still felt the need to shove it down your throat by literally having her say she feels so alone. The one line that accurately encapsulates the character of Major and her development throughout the film is "You need to recognize your uniqueness as a virtue, and then you will be free", since in the end of the film she embraces her condition and uses it to aid her cause. However, for whatever reason, the line "What defines us is not our memories, but our actions" has more emphasis placed on it, being said once in the beginning and once at the end. But if our actions are truly what define who we are, why was it so important that Major remembers her past?
Even looking past these inconsistencies, the characters are incredibly underwritten, and Scarlett Johansenn's (possibly intentional but no less boring) wooden performance as her half human character doesn't make it any more engaging. While pretty well acted by Pilou Asbæk, Major's sidekick is nothing but a big hard-boiled pure muscle stereotype. The film clearly tries to imitate "Blade Runner" not just in its aesthetic, but in certain concepts and plot points, while simultaneously not at all understanding what made "Blade Runner" so good. One is an atmospheric and subtle exploration of what it means to be human, and one climaxes with a cheesy fight against a giant mechanized spider-thing while a bunch of stuff explodes and the "good guys" predictably come out on top.
Logan (2017)
Logan
"Logan" is the answer to all of my Marvel movie prayers. Let me start by listing my problems with the other comic book films: firstly the lack of real stakes or sense of vulnerability for the characters. While the stakes are almost cartoonishly high in other Marvel movies, considering they are literally saving the world, what they fail to do is truly make us feel as if the main characters could be killed at all. Whenever anything bad happens to these characters, they seem to immediately bounce back, such as with Nick Fury, who was shot multiple times and came back later in the movie, and James Rhode, who fell from the sky, yet is now recovering. In "Logan", they aren't messing around. Not only are characters beat up, bruised, guilt-filled, and slowly deteriorating, but many important characters are killed, usually at the most unexpected moments. The gore is also realistic and often genuinely disturbing. Secondly, the visuals. I'm not saying that most Marvel movies have bad special effects, and I'm not even saying that the cinematography is bad, per se, it's just so... bland. The color palette is dull, and most everything (besides for some action scenes) is shot in the most boring and predictable way, with no real distinct visual style. In "Logan", the cinematography has a very dusty and rugged feel to it. Also, the scenes in which Professor X has his fits after not taking his medicine, in which he essentially freezes everyone, not allowing them to move, genuinely feel tense and uncomfortable due to their shaky and claustrophobic camera- work, and you can feel Logan's struggle to move. Finally, the music. Again, nothing really very wrong with the music in other Marvel films, just nothing that ever stands out as unique or interesting. Music isn't often used in this film, but when it is, it heightens the emotion of each scene, whether it be heartfelt and genuine or intense.
On top of this, it has the best action scenes in any Marvel movie, with fantastic choreography and cinematography that doesn't rely at all on shaky cam or over editing, but rather clear, energetic, and hard hitting camera-work. The depiction of the future in the film is also subtly delivered through visuals that are relevant to the themes of government and upper class exploitation of minorities and others who can easily be taken advantage of for the most benefit. For instance, self driving cargo trucks are shown at one part nearly hitting people that are trying to get their horses off of the road, and large crop-harvesting machines are shown in the background of a poor man's farm. And, of course, the characters. Logan is a lonely alcoholic who is hiding on the border with Caribana, a mutant whose skin burns in the sun and who once helped to round up the original mutants, and with Professor X, who now requires medication in order to not accidentally kill himself and those around him. These are the only two people he still cares about after the death of all of the other mutants. He is working as a limo driver and saving up to buy a boat so he can sail away into the ocean with these two people and stop having to worry about being hunted by the government. The opening scene tells us that this is a man who has killed many and doesn't want to kill anymore, but is too often forced into situations where he has to. He has profound guilt for his murder, regardless of whether the people he killed were "bad" or "good". Logan is almost without hope, unlike Charles Xavier, who seems to believe there are still other mutants. To Logan's surprise, there is a young mutant girl named Laura who has just escaped a government facility where they have been attempting to modify and condition her to be an unempathetic killing machine for her entire life. A nurse approaches Logan with help, and while he is very reluctant because of the danger that will come with protecting this girl, he is eventually forced into it, and his empathy and conscience take over.
"Logan" is a dark, dark movie. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to shrink more and more throughout the movie, but what is important is that it always exists, despite the terrible ordeals these characters go through. After all is said and done, there is still a small ray of light peering into the blackness of their reality, and that is what these characters seem to constantly be chasing.
Coherence (2013)
Coherence
"Coherence" is a micro-budget film that uses smart ideas, a great soundtrack, and the performances from its actors to sustain tension throughout, without a single physical fight until the last 10 minutes of the film. The film begins with the simple premise of a dinner party gone wrong, and uses the concept of alternate realities to expose the flaws in its characters, and that is what truly makes this film great: it has mind-bending sci-fi concepts, but these concepts are simply tools used to create more tension between the characters. Alfred Hitchcock famously described suspense as this: "A bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is quarter to one". In "Coherence", the "bomb" would be the instability of the characters and their relationships. Each one clearly has a dark side that is just beneath the surface, and the strange events that occur with the meteor make them more paranoid and less trustworthy of each other and themselves, driving them each to the brink of insanity and slowly causing their relationships with each other to crumble. The film is heavily reliant on its main actors, since it almost all takes place in one location, and there are no fancy special effects to distract you from them. There are many clever moments in which a character is acting just slightly off, and while I won't spoil why, there is a very smart explanation for this. While the very end of the film didn't quite make sense to me and felt a bit unnecessary, the rest of the film will keep you guessing about if any of the characters are truly who they say you are, and the sci-fi elements give a genuine sense of unpredictability to each moment.
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blazing Saddles
"Blazing Saddles" is an all out parody of the Hollywood western, and a satire of the old west itself, and all of the racism and unnecessary violence that comes along without. Don't get me wrong though, this isn't a dark film. In fact, this is a monumentally ridiculous film, filled to the brim with meta jokes and insanely over exaggerated stereotypes. It is a subversion of the classic western tale of a sheriff taking on a group of bandits, because it is a tale about a politician working for a governor who devises a plan to appoint the first black sheriff for a town in danger, hoping that the sheriff will fail and the town will be destroyed, making it possible to build the railroad through that town and giving the governor a chance at becoming president since he made history by appointing the first black sheriff. Of course, his plan goes terribly wrong when Bart, the black sheriff, is actually competent, and manages to turn the town's opinion of him around. It often laughs in the face of racism and the barbaric nature of the wild west, with the racist whites often being the butt of many jokes. The irony is that this addresses the real injustices of that time more directly than any of those real classic Westerns.
It is a fun movie with some hilarious moments, most notably the wild, unpredictable, self-referential ending which takes a sharp left turn and goes way farther in that direction than I expected it would. There are plenty more very clever jokes, and it uses everything at its disposal to create punchline after punchline, whether it be physical, visual, verbal, or in a song. However, some jokes did fall flat for me, such as the frog in the bathtub, the beans dinner scene, and most of the "I'm Tired" song, which goes on for far too long, clocking in at 5 minutes and 30 seconds worth of a joke that wasn't very funny to begin with.
Regardless, it has some hilarious writing and performances throughout, with Mel Brooks himself even making an appearance as the idiotic and inept governor. There is humor that is in your face, there is more subtle humor, and there are plenty of obscure references used to craft jokes that you would need to research to understand. It can get a laugh out of a cut, a line, or an action.
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
John Wick 2
With the plethora of terrible and unnecessary sequels these days, recently "Inferno", "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back", and "Independence Day: Resurgence", "John Wick 2" is a welcome and refreshing surprise.
Right off the bat, the film starts with a chase, and it rarely lets up. After this opening chase, which concludes with John getting his car back, he is confronted by Santino, a man that he made a sacred oath with in order to escape the underworld of hit men was involved in. Since he came back to that world in the first film (and the beginning of this one), he has broken this oath. He is now brought back in to (supposedly) do one last favor for the man that he owes.
The character of John Wick himself is actually quite a troubled one. As you know if you've seen the first one (which you should watch if you plan to watch this one), John Wick had a wife that died, and now all he has left from that time in his life is his dog and his car. He is first forcefully brought back into the hit-man lifestyle, but it is possible that he enjoys his rampages and fits of vengeance, because without a wife or a home, it is all he has. At the same time, he clearly feels guilt and regret for much of what he's done, and what he's lost because of his actions. John is lonely, and his loneliness twists him throughout the story.
While John Wick may be surprisingly layered for an action hero, the film is also incredibly efficient in the information we are given and how it is given to us. John Wick is the strong, silent type, and most of what we know about him is shown through the editing and the acting, which bluntly conveys exactly what it should, with a very physical performance from Keanu Reeves. The many other performances in the film are fantastic as well, especially Ian Mcshane and the short cameo by Laurence Fishburn. The world building is also impressively done, with most of it just being shown to us, and only what needs to be explained being explained to us, such as the two rules of this business. Sometimes, character and world building is woven into the action. Oh, and what incredible action. This has - hands down - some of the best action scenes in this decade, and probably even in subsequent decades before it. Chases, hand to hand combat, shootouts, you name it; it's all here, and it is all fantastically shot and edited, perfectly choreographed, and consistently creative and intense. The frame is wide and the shots each last long enough to have a clear view of the brutal and precisely choreographed action, unlike many action scenes in modern Hollywood. There were several moments where my jaw was literally dropping at how intense and consistently original all of the action was. Even though John takes out hundreds of people, there is always a genuine sense of struggle in each fight, and each encounter is unpredictable, with a constant sense that a fight could break out at almost any moment.
The constantly vibrant color palette, the stylized subtitles, and the sense of humor throughout the film also all show that the film isn't taking itself too seriously. It knows that it is over the top, and it realizes the absurdity of the situations, and often makes comedy out of it. It is self aware about the crazy 80's-style action shclockiness; it knows exactly what it is, which is a non-stop, full force, fun action film, with just enough time in between to give context, characters, and motivations that you understand. It is the rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor, and one of the best action films I've seen in ages.
Lat sau san taam (1992)
Hard Boiled
Much has been said about John Woo's 1992 crime-action extravaganza "Hard Boiled", and for good reason. It is about Tequila, an impulsive, tough-as-nails cop that doesn't always play by the book, and it is also about Lung, a self loathing undercover cop that is morally confused. Both Tequila and Lung are on a hunt for an illegal weapons cache, but they are both on opposite ends of the operation, and neither is aware of the other for much of the screen time.
One thing this film gets right from the very start is a sense of vulnerability for the characters. Yes, they are skilled and crafty policemen who can take on many at once in a gunfight, but there is always the feeling that they, and, by extension, all of the other characters in the film, could be killed at any moment. This feeling is largely due to the unexpected death of a character at the beginning of the film, which sets us on edge for whats to come. It definitely helps that every scene is incredibly well choreographed, well shot, and well edited, and everything is easy to follow because of that, even during intricate action scenes in which bullets are flying in many directions and many characters are trying to avoid them while trying to hit the others with their bullets. Although he relies on it heavily, Woo's use of slow motion is always effective in increasing the tension of the moment. All of the effects used in the action scenes are practical, with real explosions, incredible stunt work, and of course ridiculously large quantities of blood. All of the technical aspects of these scenes are undeniably fantastic, but that doesn't mean anything if the story and characters aren't involving, but luckily this has a crime story that is complex and characters that aren't perfect, but have genuine moments of empathy.
A lot of the action in the film also has another reason than to simply look cool: it's to build character. Many people talk about the incredible 3 and a half minute long one take action scene near the end of the film, but what most don't realize is that without context, that scene doesn't evoke nearly the same emotion. Without the build up to that scene and an understanding of the characters, it is admirable, but not nearly as visceral and intense. One of the reasons it works so well is not just because of the amazing choreography, but because this is a turning point for Lung as a character. Up until this point, he has been haunted by his mistakes and the bad things he has been forced to do. However, during the moment in the elevator after he shoots the cop, Tequila helps him realize that, while mistakes that impactful are definitely difficult to handle, he doesn't have to dwell on them, and the sooner he moves past his fear of doing an irreversible wrong, the sooner he can do justice to others and move on. After they come out of the elevator, the music begins back up again, signifying a tonal shift, and a shift away from Lung's fear and guilt. Also, the character of Lung has been having an identity and morality crisis throughout the film, and as the viewer we never quite know who's side he's on, until around this point, when he confesses that he has never killed a cop.
Speaking of the ending, I feel the rest of that 30 minute finale is vastly underrated compared to that one incredible shot. That whole sequence is fantastic. The stakes are incredibly high, with hundreds of babies, children, and injured people trying to be saved from the hospital, and many situations when I genuinely couldn't imagine how they would make it out, yet every-time they made it out, it totally made sense. It also cuts between many different characters and many different action scenes at once, yet it doesn't get knotted and confusing.
This is a intense and fast paced crime story that builds from one action scene to the next, conveying character through its action with style that doesn't replace substance.
Split (2016)
Split
M. Night Shyamalan isn't the worst director of all time, but he's definitely been one of the most monumentally disappointing. Luckily, it seems he's come back with "Split", a dark, fun, psychological thriller. It's not perfect by any means, but this one definitely belongs in the former part of Shyamalan's filmography.
The first shot is Casey Cook sitting to the side, facing away from a group of girls her age that are taking a selfie together during a birthday party. We learn that Casey is a loner, and often acts up in class. She was forced into the party by a mercy invite, and she is forced to take a car ride with the birthday girl, Claire, and her friend, Marcia. Suddenly, they're kidnapped in a great moment that is done "Halloween" style (although not held out for as long), with a seemingly normal shot from a good distance away from the family, before the camera slowly gets closer to them and it is revealed to be a POV shot. The shot (and the scene in general) is an example of how visually impressive the film is, mostly due to the "It Follows" cinematographer, Mike Gioulakis. The only problem in this scene would be Casey's reaction, which is very unrealistic and could've been handled much better for sure, just like many other moments in this film. The writing for the most part is pretty good, even if there are definitely plenty of mistakes, such as one unnecessary and forced scene in which Kyle's therapist, Dr. Fletcher. The set up is that she is giving a speech over Skype, but this is just an excuse to force-feed information to us that was already obvious in the first place. There are plenty of incredibly stupid character decisions here and there, that exist solely as an attempt to make the situation more tense, even though it really just takes you out of the experience. Also, the obligatory M. Night Shyamalan cameo scene that he puts into every one of his movies does contain some cringe worthy attempts at humor, even if the rest of the humor in the film actually works. One element of the writing I can praise about this film are its characters. Casey is an empathetic character with actual depth. She seems to have a good relationship with her father, who we see teaching her to hunt and be self-reliant. At first it seems she also has a good relationship with her uncle, but in reality, she has been abused and raped by him throughout her life and forced to live with him after her father's death. Like Kevin, her uncle almost has multiple personalities, and like Kevin, she has gone through major trauma that has forced her to be completely self- reliant, and feel isolated. This story is her personal journey to becoming strong enough to truly stand up to her uncle, something she tried to do at a young age but couldn't ultimately follow through with. Anya Taylor-Joy's performance as this character is pretty great, definitely overshadowing the mediocre performance given by Haley Lu Richardson as Claire and Jessica Sula as Marcia. Kevin was a good character that was ruined by the lack of a significant arc. It is implied that his father took a train and never came back when he was young, and he was abused by his mother and bullied in school. Each prominent personality in the film actually has a psychological reason for being a part of him, because of his trauma. Hedwig is the child-like and afraid part of his mind; Patricia is his own mind's substitute for Dr. Fletcher, in other words the intellectual, calm, and therapeutic one; Barry is the cool and confident one that is taken over by Dennis, the overbearing and controlling aspect that he needed; and, finally, the Beast, a representation of his father, the dominant figure in his life that he was missing, one that he depicted as a monster and could only make up for by becoming a monster. This character and, by extension, the whole movie could've been laughably bad had the central performance of Kevin been lackluster, but luckily James McAvoy gives a great performance, with it probably being the highlight of the film. He truly transforms into 5 different characters in one body, and does each one with just as much skill as the last, flawlessly switching between each of them. The movie is incredibly dark and deranged and occasionally darkly comedic, often in quick succession. My largest complaint is definitely the ending. Shyamalan started his career with two film that have good twist endings, and for some reason thought it was a good idea to try to shoehorn one in for every film after that. I don't even know what to call the ending (or should I say endings) of this film. There was a good place this could've ended (on a shot of Casey), yet it continued to show an unnecessary moment where Kevin talks to himself for a couple seconds. Then I thought it would end there. It goes on for a little longer to show a scene in a random diner in which people are watching the news report of this event, before one horrible actor messes up her only line, and Bruce Willis makes an unnecessary last second cameo for no reason. It was really baffling.
Edit: Found out the end was related to "Unbreakable". Haven't seen it yet, but still, why?
The editing and shot selection during some scenes make them all the more intense, and the lack of jump-scares was definitely appreciated. The music was used sparingly, but it worked most of the time when it was used, save for maybe one scene in which I found the music choice off-putting. Despite all of the flaws I mentioned, the good aspects outweigh the bad ones, and this could be a return to the stories that Shyamalan does best: interesting, psychological, character driven thrillers.
Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993)
Three Colors: Blue
"Three Colors: Blue" is a film about Julie (Juliette Binoche) loses her husband, a famous composer, and her young daughter in a car wreck. The film follows the weeks after this incident, and how she tries to cope with their deaths. It is a film about grief and loss, and the entirety of this film is spent focusing on Julie, and her enigmatic, but not too obscure thoughts and feelings during her grieving process. Towards the beginning, it seems she feels nothing. Her husband and daughter may have been the only people she really loved, so their death has forced Julie to stare into the void and contemplate the meaning of her existence, if there is any. She clearly wants to forget about them completely and try to start anew, selling all of their belongings that remind her of them, including her house, and moving away. She plays her husband's unfinished symphony, and when she gets to the unfinished emptiness, blue light crowds the screen and she is suddenly reminded of his death. She destroys her husband's unfinished symphony, believing it cannot possibly be finished by anyone because no one can replace him. She does, however, bring with her the blue light that was in one of her rooms, showing she doesn't yet have the strength to completely leave him behind.
Blue is obviously a very important color in this film, and it often represents longing and loneliness when it is used. For instance, Julie often goes to the pool on her own, and the water is often illuminating blue. She keeps coming back to it because she can't move past her family's death, no matter how hard she tries. The only other family member she visits is her mother, who barely remembers who she is. The use of color is pretty ingenious in many scenes, with green also symbolizing content occasionally. The music enriches this sense of longing, with Julie's husband's unfinished symphony being used again and again, each time with the screen fading to black mid-scene and fading back to the same scene. This symphony is a constant reminder of his absence, and the hole this has caused in her life. The cinematography is restrained and beautiful, perfectly exploring this character that is so perfectly portrayed by Juliette Binoche. Her performance in this film is just restrained enough to give us a sense of her true feelings while also seeming constantly complex and interesting. The end is one that I will probably think about for a long time after viewing.
There are hints that she may find a way to move past her grief, but there are also hits that she may never fully recover. It is clear that she wants to move past it, but continues to be pulled back down into her depression, and it seems part of her wants to continue thinking about him and wallowing in her misery forever, because it is all she has left to do. This is one of those rare films where the entire thing is a deep exploration of one character, almost through the visuals, editing, music, and Binoche's performance alone. There is a lot of symbolism to unpack and deliberate over. It truly takes a hold of the film medium to deliver a complex, thoughtful, and constantly mysterious study of one character dealing with grief. It's biggest strength is its incredibly enigmatic and unpredictable nature, yet this was occasionally a flaw upon first viewing. This is a film I will definitely watch more than once, that much I can say.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was a movie that worked with the specific group of people that ended up making it, and probably couldn't have worked had they not been involved. Terry Gilliam's particular insane and surreal style worked incredibly well with this film, utilizing incredible vibrant lighting and psychedelic visual effects achieved digitally and practically, as well as almost constant Dutch angles and low angles and close ups and frantic movement, creating a constant sense of disorientation and really putting us into the mind of the drug addled Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist supposedly on a business trip. The film is visually amazing on every level. Johnny Depp is fantastic as that character, reportedly spending lots of time with him in order to get down all his mannerisms and the right vocal inflection, and delivering the best performance of his career because of it. Benicio Del Toro is fantastic as his "attorney", and even Tobey Maguire is even great in a small role of a terrified and naive hitchhiker. It also has probably one of the best soundtracks of the 90s, with each song fitting perfectly to its scene.
But the film's exploration of America in the early 70s, and how this contrasts with the zeitgeist of the 60s, is part of what gives this depraved film nuance. The film opens with a montage of those protesting horrible injustices in the world, and a quote that I think sums up the two main characters pretty well: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." Hunter S. Thompson, named Raoul Duke in this film, and his "attorney" Dr. Gonzo both dive headfirst into such unbelievable amounts of excess that everything becomes skewed and distorted beyond recognition. Most take drugs to get high, but for them it is mostly confusion, fear, and loathing. But their twisted view of the world is an escape from the harsh and oppressive reality of the world they live in. There is a great moment near the middle of the film in which Raoul emerges from the haze of his drug trip and has a moment in which he reflects upon the state of his existence at that moment. He mentions how the 60s were a time that everyone felt they were all in it together, standing up against the oppressive forces of the world and whatever they were doing, they were doing it right. The drugs they took at that time were a symbol of the peek that they had reached, bringing them together and symbolizing peace, while the drugs that they were taking now only gave them negative consequences. They had fallen from the grace of the 60s and were only now beginning to realize the falseness of the American dream, no matter how hard they striped for it. What they find out about the American dream is essentially that most will never stop searching for it, even if it died long ago. Through drugs and the rest of their escapades, they were desperately trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel that they had believed in so strongly during the 60s, but as we see, nothings really changed. The elite classes are shown as reptiles (literally) and hypocrites, distracting themselves from injustices in their expensive clubs, and pretending to be above marijuana smokers while smoking cigarettes. Ultimately what Raoul is doing with drugs is the same as what the average American man is doing in a casino, and what most of us are constantly doing: we're betting on the American dream, and losing just a little bit more each time. The characters begin in a downward spiral that may seem repetitive, but is also strangely honest.
While the film can be disturbing, poignant, ironic, and disorienting, it can also be incredibly hilarious. The sense of humor is another thing that keeps the film afloat. It allows us to view the scrambled events and inappropriate behavior and desperation, and laugh at the absurdity of it all. The editing of the film makes the chronology of events and hallucination and memory hazy and borderline incoherent at times, but that's what is so amazing about this film. There was so much that could've ruined it, yet everything worked so harmoniously for this specific vision to create such an original, revealing, and distinctive vision of America.
Hell or High Water (2016)
Hell or High Water
"Hell or High Water" is a tense, character driven modern western that subverts the classic western idea of the "white hats versus black hats" by showing the point of view of both the pair of robbers and the pair of sheriffs hunting those robbers. The opening shot of the film is probably my favorite of the year: it is seemingly a static shot as a car passes by, but suddenly the camera begins to dolly and rotate slowly, following a car that has just come into the town in the background, with glimpses of a woman getting out of her car in the foreground as the camera passes by her. The car in the background disappears behind a building as the camera begins to float behind the woman in the foreground going into that building. The scene climaxes with two men wearing ski masks and holding guns suddenly jumping out from behind the building just as she is about to open the door. The shot is slow (it lasts about a minute and a half long), but it is very suspenseful and intriguing, perfectly setting up the following scenes as the two men rob two banks together. One thing this film does very well is suspense. Each shot is pretty much the perfect length, and each intense scene has the perfect set up and just enough build up. The director knew exactly when and when not to use music during the scenes, especially during one suspenseful moment near the end that is made all the more suspenseful by the silence during the scene.
Each character is given depth and each one you understand, even the most despicable one in the film. The two bank robbers are Toby and Tanner Howard, the latter being my favorite character and favorite performance of the film. They are brothers and it is insinuated that they had an abusive father, who Tanner eventually killed at a young age in order to protect his brother and mother. Tanner is an impulsive hothead, and after he went to prison he spiraled into a life of crime and even more prison, leaving Toby to deal with their property and their mother, who died recently. Toby is smart, thoughtful, and while he isn't perfect, he clearly feels sorry for what he is doing and feels empathy towards others. He doesn't see his ex-wife or his children very often, but he does care about them. The whole reason he is doing this in the first place is to help them financially and make sure his children don't go down the same path as him. Despite their hard times, Tanner and Toby do care about each other as well, and Tanner is basically only doing this for his brother. The sheriffs are more normal. Marcus is an old, experienced sheriff and a bit of a traditionalist. It is insinuated he had a wife, but she died, so all he really has left is his job. He goes on this hunt with Alberto, a half-Native American half-Mexican that has a wife and kids. He was forced to go on this hunt with Marcus and is constantly teased about his race by him, although he doesn't seem to be a serious racist (he genuinely cares about Alberto, even if it doesn't always seem this way).
These characters slowly unfold to us and their situations each begin to make more sense. The film is study of these characters but also of the death of the "old west", but doesn't view that time period with rose colored glasses. At the same time, it views the death of this time as a tragedy, but only because the big banks are taking these people's lad and money. In fact, these banks are probably the only clear enemies in the film.
The film has a very clear plot throughout and some very intense moments, but it is very much a dialogue driven film that has several great small moments and encounters that are pretty much inconsequential to the overall plot. The cinematography is often restrained but fantastic, with several long takes that are barely noticeable. It is a complex and very well written film with some very good direction and acting that is engrossing from beginning to end. I recall a single short scene in which I didn't like one small performance, but other than that the cast was great across the board. It is unpredictable and suspenseful but also quiet and somewhat poignant.