Mute is a Netflix production directed by Duncan Jones who made Warcraft, Moon and Source Code and tells the tale of Leo (Alexander Skarsgard) a mute Amish bartender/detective who is trying to track down his missing girlfriend Naad in futuristic Berlin meanwhile a former US military officer (Paul Rudd) is determined to get out of Berlin and head home to the US.
Mute is sadly not a good movie and its reasons are three:
- Firstly its look is very cheap it so desperately wants to be a new Blade Runner kind of film with its neon visuals, flying cars, giant billboards, crazy characters and central detective character that it feels like a fan film and all of it is so on the nose and so overdone that after a while I just got bored of it all.
And also the look is so much that classic digital smoothness where the frame rate has that extra smooth feel to it that at times it pulls you out of the watching experience it doesn’t have that traditional frame smoothness that you get with standard cameras both film and digital and it just gets boring to look at after a while.
- Secondly the performances here feel very flat and at times very weak Skarsgard comes across as a complete blank and while a mute central character can be interesting it has to be done with great care and great precision and that is not on display here it feels like it gets in the way of the central story and Skarsgard’s blank facial expressions really do not help.
Paul Rudd I liked his David Boon esque moustache and its clear he is trying to do something with his role but even then after a time I wasn’t all that interested and Justin Theroux just felt a little icky to watch his role and again at first it was fine but after a while I lacked interest.
- And this leads me to my third and final point and that is the mystery frankly it is very unfulfilling to watch and someone who is mute trying to find someone he loves could have been a great mystery provided it is done well but it isn’t done well here and when things do get resolved and I won’t say anything untowards on that front but I didn’t care I just didn’t.
And that is where I want to end this review I just didn’t care about this movie, I didn’t care about its visuals, performances or mystery and I’m stunned that Duncan Jones made this movie hopefully after a few years break he has a chance to refresh to stop to take stock and come back with a great film again as a man exhausted and needing a recharge is clearly on display here, 1 out of 5.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Film Review - Lady Bird (2018)
Lady Bird marks the directorial debut of Greta Gerwig and stars Saiorise Ronan as Lady Bird a young teenager going through high school in Sacramento California and wanting to do something more with her life unlike her mother (Laurie Metcalf) who she constantly fights with all the time but while mothers and daughters may fight as a way of showing how much they care about each other down deep Lady Bird stills tries to find her place in the world even if it means flying away from the nest.
I absolutely adored this movie and was very touched by it when I began to think about it some more coming out of my session because I was that age myself back then in 2002-2003 which is where I will begin though my time in that period was very different to Lady Bird’s the same angsts, desires and feelings are there regardless of gender and Ms Gerwig firstly with her script captures all of that wonderfully the way that people talk here through her dialogue it all sounds very real it doesn’t sound the scriptwriter having their characters talk as they would or saying things that feel insincere or false or untrue to how people talk in this life there’s a genuine sincerity to this story here and it is very welcome indeed.
Secondly Ms Gerwig’s direction is wonderful she doesn’t let her scenes run on too long so her performers can improvise or adlib to try and get a cheap laugh or force some humour in there where it isn’t needed she knows exactly how to time the scenes, direct her actors and when to cut to the next scene so the overall film doesn’t run on too long and to think that this is her directorial debut it has the confidence of someone who has been directing for a decade up to this point I very very much admire her work here and I hope she is making movies for a very long time to come because I will see all of them.
Secondly the central performance by Ms Ronan is simply fantastic every scene she’s in has you glued to the screen watching her she’s that good but she has been very good for a long time and hardly anyone has noticed but here you can’t take your eyes off her and it is fitting to see her nominated for an Academy Award for her work here but she isn’t along in doing good work Tim Chalamet from Call Me By Your Name is very good as the James Dean esque Bad Boy that Lady Bird falls for Ms Metcalf is good here, Lucas Hedges is very good as Danny hell its hard to think of a bad performance in this movie everyone here puts their trust in Ms Gerwig and they repay it ten fold.
But there is one last point I want to make and that is this movie along with last year’s criminally underseen The Edge of 17 written and directed by Kelly Craig beautifully capture what it means to be a young person going through adolescence and puberty a huge change in your life that signifies growing up towards being an adult and through that trying to find who you are as a person both inside and out and yet both films do it with a sincerity and a sense of intimacy that is very hard to find with male filmmakers.
There is a tendency in male oriented teen films especially recently to treat that kind of physical and emotional intimacy in a way that can feel very exploitative where the female characters are seen as more sexualized than is normally the case or where the emotional core where a male character might feel something for a young girl at that age but be unsure what to do about it can be easily sacrificed for either a cheap gag or a cynical laugh where that person is made to feel like their soft and weak for feeling that way like “They shouldn’t be seen as being like that, you should just want to fuck them and leave them” and for me it just pulls me out of the film and it distracts from the emotional core that is trying to play out.
That wasn’t the case in Edge of 17 and it isn’t the case here the emotional core is intact and is handled with great care and if there are laughs to be had they are done in a way that makes sense within the context of that particular scene all of that stuff feels real because their directors and actors believe in it 115% and as a result you as an audience member believe in the characters and their emotions and desires and it makes you feel something inside of how it really felt to be that age and feel like how others can handle these huge changes with ease while you yourself can’t seem to do anything right at all and if you do care about someone it hurts when it goes bad and it feels wonderful when it goes right.
And lastly with these 2 films and Wonder Woman also from last year it is great to see female filmmakers challenge the guys at genres they’ve traditionally dominated in and prove that they can do it as well and have the guys love their work as much as women do even if they don’t quite understand how much it means to the female audience to see themselves represented in this way on that big cinema screen but that’s okay because I personally am happy for them as it can be a very powerful feeling.
And so that was my review of Lady Bird a film I loved and I hope people will go and see in cinemas, 4 and a half out of 5.
I absolutely adored this movie and was very touched by it when I began to think about it some more coming out of my session because I was that age myself back then in 2002-2003 which is where I will begin though my time in that period was very different to Lady Bird’s the same angsts, desires and feelings are there regardless of gender and Ms Gerwig firstly with her script captures all of that wonderfully the way that people talk here through her dialogue it all sounds very real it doesn’t sound the scriptwriter having their characters talk as they would or saying things that feel insincere or false or untrue to how people talk in this life there’s a genuine sincerity to this story here and it is very welcome indeed.
Secondly Ms Gerwig’s direction is wonderful she doesn’t let her scenes run on too long so her performers can improvise or adlib to try and get a cheap laugh or force some humour in there where it isn’t needed she knows exactly how to time the scenes, direct her actors and when to cut to the next scene so the overall film doesn’t run on too long and to think that this is her directorial debut it has the confidence of someone who has been directing for a decade up to this point I very very much admire her work here and I hope she is making movies for a very long time to come because I will see all of them.
Secondly the central performance by Ms Ronan is simply fantastic every scene she’s in has you glued to the screen watching her she’s that good but she has been very good for a long time and hardly anyone has noticed but here you can’t take your eyes off her and it is fitting to see her nominated for an Academy Award for her work here but she isn’t along in doing good work Tim Chalamet from Call Me By Your Name is very good as the James Dean esque Bad Boy that Lady Bird falls for Ms Metcalf is good here, Lucas Hedges is very good as Danny hell its hard to think of a bad performance in this movie everyone here puts their trust in Ms Gerwig and they repay it ten fold.
But there is one last point I want to make and that is this movie along with last year’s criminally underseen The Edge of 17 written and directed by Kelly Craig beautifully capture what it means to be a young person going through adolescence and puberty a huge change in your life that signifies growing up towards being an adult and through that trying to find who you are as a person both inside and out and yet both films do it with a sincerity and a sense of intimacy that is very hard to find with male filmmakers.
There is a tendency in male oriented teen films especially recently to treat that kind of physical and emotional intimacy in a way that can feel very exploitative where the female characters are seen as more sexualized than is normally the case or where the emotional core where a male character might feel something for a young girl at that age but be unsure what to do about it can be easily sacrificed for either a cheap gag or a cynical laugh where that person is made to feel like their soft and weak for feeling that way like “They shouldn’t be seen as being like that, you should just want to fuck them and leave them” and for me it just pulls me out of the film and it distracts from the emotional core that is trying to play out.
That wasn’t the case in Edge of 17 and it isn’t the case here the emotional core is intact and is handled with great care and if there are laughs to be had they are done in a way that makes sense within the context of that particular scene all of that stuff feels real because their directors and actors believe in it 115% and as a result you as an audience member believe in the characters and their emotions and desires and it makes you feel something inside of how it really felt to be that age and feel like how others can handle these huge changes with ease while you yourself can’t seem to do anything right at all and if you do care about someone it hurts when it goes bad and it feels wonderful when it goes right.
And lastly with these 2 films and Wonder Woman also from last year it is great to see female filmmakers challenge the guys at genres they’ve traditionally dominated in and prove that they can do it as well and have the guys love their work as much as women do even if they don’t quite understand how much it means to the female audience to see themselves represented in this way on that big cinema screen but that’s okay because I personally am happy for them as it can be a very powerful feeling.
And so that was my review of Lady Bird a film I loved and I hope people will go and see in cinemas, 4 and a half out of 5.
Film Review - Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther is the newest Marvel Studios production the last one before Avengers Infinity War in April no less and reintroduced His Royal Highness King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who was first introduced in Captain America: Civil War back in 2016 here he becomes the heir to the throne and has to deal with the challenges of maintaining it first by trying to bring Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis) to justice and then by having to face a new challenger to his throne in Erik Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) a challenger who has a much more aggressive desire to rule the Kingdom of Wakanda than T’Challa does.
Black Panther is one of the better Marvel Studios productions and represents also a very and much needed shift towards a more serious tone in the MCU a shift that has really been needed with Avengers Age of Ultron in 2015 but only really comes to the forefront here and a big reason for this is due to the director Mr Ryan Coogler who brings a more serious minded feel to the film and while there is plenty of the trademark Marvel Studios humour it doesn’t feel as forced as it has been in some of the previous movies.
And also Mr Boseman is great as King T’Challa I really liked his work in the role in Civil War and he continues that good work here balancing both his life as the Black Panther the protector of his kingdom and his people but also his responsibilities as a King and a Monarch and how he must find his own path rather than follow the one left for him but his ancestors its an arc that is handled with thought and patience and it is done very well here.
Also great is Martin Freeman as Agent Ross who proves to be a very welcome ally to his Highness as well as Letita Wright, Danai Gurira and Winston Duke providing very welcome support as well and Serkis is also good fun as Klaw not not that one but there was literally one point in the movie where he gets away from the Black Panther after a big chase scene and I literally said to myself “I’ll get you next time Panther, Next Time.”
But the show stealer here is Mr Jordan as Killmonger and at long long long long long long last the Marvel Villain problem has been fixed and how fitting it is that Mr Jordan is the one to do it even though I still wish that Josh Brolin’s Thanos got to be the one to do it but that is a wish and here is the reality and he is great in this role and when I came out of the film I thought to myself that this is his redemption for being in that horrible Fant4stic film from 2015.
What makes him a great villain is that he has a clear goal that he wants to achieve and he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way in order to achieve it and both Coogler and Jordan give him a seriousness in that goal that has been sorely sorely missing from the other MCU villains who have by contrast been treated either as an afterthought to focus more on the heroes or just as a joke something to dismiss to the sidelines and treat as a mere punching bag that walks and talks with no real seriousness or goals to them at all and I can’t tell all of you how relieving it is that Marvel Studios has now fixed their weakest spot and all it took was someone to come in and give the villain some much needed TLC.
However this is not a perfect movie and where it does fall down slightly is in its action sequences and its not because they are terrible in any way its only because the direction and editing of those scenes tends to become a close up shaky cam fest after a while though Mr Coogler is only directing that kind of high energy action and visual effects work for the first time here so he is finding his feet in this realm so hopefully if he gets the opportunity to do a sequel he will have gone through the learning curve and feel more confident in that kind of direction and build on the work he has done here.
And so that was Black Panther a well made and entertaining Marvel Studios movie that fans will love, 3 out of 5.
Black Panther is one of the better Marvel Studios productions and represents also a very and much needed shift towards a more serious tone in the MCU a shift that has really been needed with Avengers Age of Ultron in 2015 but only really comes to the forefront here and a big reason for this is due to the director Mr Ryan Coogler who brings a more serious minded feel to the film and while there is plenty of the trademark Marvel Studios humour it doesn’t feel as forced as it has been in some of the previous movies.
And also Mr Boseman is great as King T’Challa I really liked his work in the role in Civil War and he continues that good work here balancing both his life as the Black Panther the protector of his kingdom and his people but also his responsibilities as a King and a Monarch and how he must find his own path rather than follow the one left for him but his ancestors its an arc that is handled with thought and patience and it is done very well here.
Also great is Martin Freeman as Agent Ross who proves to be a very welcome ally to his Highness as well as Letita Wright, Danai Gurira and Winston Duke providing very welcome support as well and Serkis is also good fun as Klaw not not that one but there was literally one point in the movie where he gets away from the Black Panther after a big chase scene and I literally said to myself “I’ll get you next time Panther, Next Time.”
But the show stealer here is Mr Jordan as Killmonger and at long long long long long long last the Marvel Villain problem has been fixed and how fitting it is that Mr Jordan is the one to do it even though I still wish that Josh Brolin’s Thanos got to be the one to do it but that is a wish and here is the reality and he is great in this role and when I came out of the film I thought to myself that this is his redemption for being in that horrible Fant4stic film from 2015.
What makes him a great villain is that he has a clear goal that he wants to achieve and he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way in order to achieve it and both Coogler and Jordan give him a seriousness in that goal that has been sorely sorely missing from the other MCU villains who have by contrast been treated either as an afterthought to focus more on the heroes or just as a joke something to dismiss to the sidelines and treat as a mere punching bag that walks and talks with no real seriousness or goals to them at all and I can’t tell all of you how relieving it is that Marvel Studios has now fixed their weakest spot and all it took was someone to come in and give the villain some much needed TLC.
However this is not a perfect movie and where it does fall down slightly is in its action sequences and its not because they are terrible in any way its only because the direction and editing of those scenes tends to become a close up shaky cam fest after a while though Mr Coogler is only directing that kind of high energy action and visual effects work for the first time here so he is finding his feet in this realm so hopefully if he gets the opportunity to do a sequel he will have gone through the learning curve and feel more confident in that kind of direction and build on the work he has done here.
And so that was Black Panther a well made and entertaining Marvel Studios movie that fans will love, 3 out of 5.
Film Review - The Shape of Water (2018)
The Shape of Water is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and takes place in Cold War America where a mute cleaning lady named Eliza (Sally Hawkins) comes across a Fish monster (Doug Jones) who is said to be worshipped like a God in South America, the two then spark an unlikely romance much to the chagrin of the Federal Agent (Michael Shannon) who is keen to keep the creature out of Russian hands and study it for his own purposes.
I am of 2 minds on this movie which would make it a mixed reaction first off GDT once again shows with an extraordinary world builder he can be every set in this movie be it the Government facility or the apartments above a cinema where Eliza and her friend played by Richard Jenkins live which is full of things like an old TV to artists drawing boards to even the posters in the locker rooms there is a lot of visual details big and small that makes this movie as well as films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim so worthwhile to watch.
And also the performances by Hawkins, Jones and Shannon are all top notch Ms Hawkins first off is really really good even though she has no lines of dialogue at all she only communicates through sign language as if she was dear Jones also does a lot with only his body moments (he also appeared in Pan’s Labyrinth as the Goat type creature) and he too is very good and Mr Shannon is a great foil for the 2 of them the Gaston in this Beauty and the Beast esque story.
Unfortunately outside of them the rest of the film did very little for me and that is sadly down to the screenplay by Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor every time the other characters open their mouths and start talking I almost immediately wanted them to shut up as I was loving just the quiet talkless scenes with Jones and Hawkins they said so much with just their body language and gestures that I didn’t need endless scenes of dialogue to be given to me Christopher Nolan did this beautifully with Dunkirk he only let his characters speak when they needed to say something and he let the visuals and the music and the sound and the body gestures of his actors do the rest whereas here Del Toro has too many scenes of people talking and as a result it undermines somewhat the romantic wordless feel of his love story.
And so that was the Shape of Water which has great performances and visuals but its script has too many talking scenes that undercut the wordless lyrical quality of its central love story, 2 and a half out of 5.
I am of 2 minds on this movie which would make it a mixed reaction first off GDT once again shows with an extraordinary world builder he can be every set in this movie be it the Government facility or the apartments above a cinema where Eliza and her friend played by Richard Jenkins live which is full of things like an old TV to artists drawing boards to even the posters in the locker rooms there is a lot of visual details big and small that makes this movie as well as films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim so worthwhile to watch.
And also the performances by Hawkins, Jones and Shannon are all top notch Ms Hawkins first off is really really good even though she has no lines of dialogue at all she only communicates through sign language as if she was dear Jones also does a lot with only his body moments (he also appeared in Pan’s Labyrinth as the Goat type creature) and he too is very good and Mr Shannon is a great foil for the 2 of them the Gaston in this Beauty and the Beast esque story.
Unfortunately outside of them the rest of the film did very little for me and that is sadly down to the screenplay by Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor every time the other characters open their mouths and start talking I almost immediately wanted them to shut up as I was loving just the quiet talkless scenes with Jones and Hawkins they said so much with just their body language and gestures that I didn’t need endless scenes of dialogue to be given to me Christopher Nolan did this beautifully with Dunkirk he only let his characters speak when they needed to say something and he let the visuals and the music and the sound and the body gestures of his actors do the rest whereas here Del Toro has too many scenes of people talking and as a result it undermines somewhat the romantic wordless feel of his love story.
And so that was the Shape of Water which has great performances and visuals but its script has too many talking scenes that undercut the wordless lyrical quality of its central love story, 2 and a half out of 5.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Film Review - I, Tonya (2018)
I, Tonya is based off of the true story of Tonya Harding the first woman in America to do a triple axel in ice skating Margot Robbie both stars as Tonya and produced this movie we see her become a skating champion as well as her turbulent marriage to Geoff (Sebastian Stan) as well as the infamous incident involving Nancy Kerrigan that saw her whole life turned upside down.
I was looking forward to this movie as the preview I saw looked good and I like Ms Robbie very much though its more fair to say I’ve loved her since Wolf of Wall Street in 2014 but sadly my first attempt to see this movie was derailed due to print issues with my daily cinema but with all of that out of the way I finally got my chance but could it deliver the goods or just be the big disappointment of 2018?
Well actually I didn’t mind it I wouldn’t say it was a great film or anything but it was one I found fun and entertaining to watch and first off that is due to the great performances in this movie Robbie showcases great work and though she takes some time to get into the groove of the role after a while you find it hard to take your eyes off her Alison Janney is also very good here and its easy to see why she will most likely win the Academy Award as she comes across as a real fire bird here.
And also Sebastian Stan is really really good here and was probably my favourite performance in the whole film as he got to show here that there is more to him than just being the Winter Soldier he can be a great actor with the right role and the right guidance I hope he does more work like this one in the future.
And also the film has a very nice jukebox soundtrack with tracks like Never Break the Chain among others though I don’t really remember them all that much to be honest.
But as good as the soundtrack and performances are the movie’s script has some pretty jarring tonal issues on the one hand its detailing the rough background Tonya went through and the firestorm of publicity that came after the incident with Nancy to once again having the films lead characters climb Mt. Bedsheets and swear Shit, Fuck and Cnut every chance they get and much like in 3 Billboards it felt a little out of place and after a while it began to sour my overall view of the movie and I love swearing in movies but here much like in 3 Billboards it got a bit much.
Now comes the million dollar question that I’m sure some will be thinking because lord knows I’ve thought of it all evening:
Would I have liked the film more if I hadn’t seen it in the way that I have.
Well yes I would have I would’ve said that it was a fun and entertaining movie that told an interesting story that I didn’t know much about as I was only 7/8 years old when it happened along with praising its performances and soundtrack though I still would have had issues with its tone.
And because of that I am going to do separate scores for this movie:
Non Cancelled Session: 3 out of 5.
The Way things Went: 2 and a half out of 5.
I was looking forward to this movie as the preview I saw looked good and I like Ms Robbie very much though its more fair to say I’ve loved her since Wolf of Wall Street in 2014 but sadly my first attempt to see this movie was derailed due to print issues with my daily cinema but with all of that out of the way I finally got my chance but could it deliver the goods or just be the big disappointment of 2018?
Well actually I didn’t mind it I wouldn’t say it was a great film or anything but it was one I found fun and entertaining to watch and first off that is due to the great performances in this movie Robbie showcases great work and though she takes some time to get into the groove of the role after a while you find it hard to take your eyes off her Alison Janney is also very good here and its easy to see why she will most likely win the Academy Award as she comes across as a real fire bird here.
And also Sebastian Stan is really really good here and was probably my favourite performance in the whole film as he got to show here that there is more to him than just being the Winter Soldier he can be a great actor with the right role and the right guidance I hope he does more work like this one in the future.
And also the film has a very nice jukebox soundtrack with tracks like Never Break the Chain among others though I don’t really remember them all that much to be honest.
But as good as the soundtrack and performances are the movie’s script has some pretty jarring tonal issues on the one hand its detailing the rough background Tonya went through and the firestorm of publicity that came after the incident with Nancy to once again having the films lead characters climb Mt. Bedsheets and swear Shit, Fuck and Cnut every chance they get and much like in 3 Billboards it felt a little out of place and after a while it began to sour my overall view of the movie and I love swearing in movies but here much like in 3 Billboards it got a bit much.
Now comes the million dollar question that I’m sure some will be thinking because lord knows I’ve thought of it all evening:
Would I have liked the film more if I hadn’t seen it in the way that I have.
Well yes I would have I would’ve said that it was a fun and entertaining movie that told an interesting story that I didn’t know much about as I was only 7/8 years old when it happened along with praising its performances and soundtrack though I still would have had issues with its tone.
And because of that I am going to do separate scores for this movie:
Non Cancelled Session: 3 out of 5.
The Way things Went: 2 and a half out of 5.
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