tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14239763451168291762024-03-13T08:12:31.713-04:00Dichotomous Purityhttps://www.patreon.com/JackwraithJackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.comBlogger392125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-80374245447223615642024-03-09T16:13:00.001-05:002024-03-09T16:13:56.830-05:00Dolling too hard<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOWzmfM0hJ1Fd-rWwUw0kBJbvvj06LCADRs7BYk603anx0zUyAIlEfAkTmn9odiGDYusMIuUts2JrsAX_Y9k5kQC3vnVvGlm2wg6dkX3srYga5Qvnafcp-Gg4qtGIx6CSOLdPc2lxGQG1LSvkGFwjjRUHFfxgEkPdzVVK7D_12pv1y5A3NIisPf5qg7lDS" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOWzmfM0hJ1Fd-rWwUw0kBJbvvj06LCADRs7BYk603anx0zUyAIlEfAkTmn9odiGDYusMIuUts2JrsAX_Y9k5kQC3vnVvGlm2wg6dkX3srYga5Qvnafcp-Gg4qtGIx6CSOLdPc2lxGQG1LSvkGFwjjRUHFfxgEkPdzVVK7D_12pv1y5A3NIisPf5qg7lDS=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />I have been and likely always will be a Coen Brothers fan. One of my all-time favorite films is <i>Miller's Crossing</i>, which is a paean to the glories of noir like no other. Many critics felt that it went too far in that respect, in that it became almost a self-parody of itself and the genre as a whole. I've watched it at least a dozen times and would watch it again almost any time, especially if someone else was there and would be willing to hear me extoll its virtues while watching. I feel similarly about many of their other productions (<i>The Big Lebowski</i>, <i>Fargo</i>, <i>No Country for Old Men</i>, <i>Barton Fink</i>, <i>O Brother Where Art Thou?</i>, <i>True Grit</i>; on and on.) So when I discovered that Ethan Coen was directing a new feature that he had written with his wife, Tricia Cooke, I was instantly interested. The previews made it look even better. But the sad truth is that <b>Drive-Away Dolls</b> could be accused of a similar phenomenon that is leveled at <i>Miller's Crossing</i>: trying too hard. In the case of the latter, the assertion is that the film is TTH to be noir. My assessment of the former is that it's trying too hard to be a Coen Brothers film.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyZvEqJm_4paGP3IjEv8X2yAKaN6ByfHE-SdWrIkQgnecj2QNvvxhLnj8GBjLw0u8yFug6_w-uyVxW21iP5yUNNSC7na1piWF9dUp_oJZloS1T75swZ8qlwOynVEUwMGW_hIC4ssb1-orYUAn-mnoZuxtsoRQoLcgyLEehWcQhyKyjeVx8em1oM6p-2Q_m" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyZvEqJm_4paGP3IjEv8X2yAKaN6ByfHE-SdWrIkQgnecj2QNvvxhLnj8GBjLw0u8yFug6_w-uyVxW21iP5yUNNSC7na1piWF9dUp_oJZloS1T75swZ8qlwOynVEUwMGW_hIC4ssb1-orYUAn-mnoZuxtsoRQoLcgyLEehWcQhyKyjeVx8em1oM6p-2Q_m=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The premise is that of two women who are part of Philadelphia's lesbian community in 1999, deciding to pull up roots and change their address to Florida and, in the process, driving off with a MacGuffin in the trunk of their rental car that a pair of henchmen for a Philly crime lord are in pursuit of. Wacky hijinks ensue. Now, there's nothing wrong with that premise, in general, if the writing and the performances can back it up. It's a bit thinner than other films of the Coens' oeuvre (the complexity of <i>Burn After Reading</i>'s plot makes it seem like a Platonic poem in comparison) but, fine. Let's just roll with it. But the problem should be obvious, in that the writing is just that step below in the same manner as the plot and there are no performances that really serve to carry it in the manner of Coen Bros. films past, although it's fair to say that Margaret Qualley comes close. But most of the film is about she, as Jamie, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian getting into quite predictable situations and finding not very innovative ways to get out of them. The general consensus among our group when we left the theater was that it was "cute" and that's probably about as high as you can reach in being complimentary.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQDlGL-XsDXQaFq3VEOxK6Y3KxYCE4k-yvZzrckYPv5G3PUnLE0PtayGZgyLl720EuWDnkyPs2X64SMzCu3pGgd5p_mucy8332Hb3JWowzy0rSWghDn_EMMRaE_tF0YL5mCm7rOKkl-3GIgEGsG70rie1vUupTU54PmhkBEemQ_VBQLHFdji8pJ6gLBBCg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQDlGL-XsDXQaFq3VEOxK6Y3KxYCE4k-yvZzrckYPv5G3PUnLE0PtayGZgyLl720EuWDnkyPs2X64SMzCu3pGgd5p_mucy8332Hb3JWowzy0rSWghDn_EMMRaE_tF0YL5mCm7rOKkl-3GIgEGsG70rie1vUupTU54PmhkBEemQ_VBQLHFdji8pJ6gLBBCg=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad film. It's just not a great one like the vast majority of Coen output has tended to be. The only film that I've seen that didn't have both brothers involved was Joel's version of the tragedy of Macbeth, <a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2022/01/two-mehs-and-old-favorite.html">which I thought was excellent</a> and this was Ethan's first solo outing that I'd been able to catch. He also did a documentary about Jerry Lee Lewis that was moderately well-received and that's about what can be said about this film. It's OK. It's quite funny in spots, but with none of the endlessly-quotable dialogue that is famous from their dual efforts. It attempts to be as bizarre as something like <i>The Big Lebowski </i>in moments, but never really crosses that border that would make the unbelievable believable. Instead, it depends on basic shock value, primarily around the MacGuffin which is there seemingly to serve as an excuse to get Pedro Pascal into the film for all of three minutes of screen time. Similarly, Matt Damon is also on the cast list and does well in the very brief time that he's offered, but both his and Pascal's appearances smack of them "wanting to do a Coen" in the same way it used to be a quest among SAG members to "do a Woody" (i.e. be part of a Woody Allen film in some way.) Their inclusion is name recognition and little more than that, which is not what you'd normally expect a Coen production to be involved in.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG4abT6uUdGupNv75BPi4ucA5vgVolPPymiQ-oeisWMtM39NqW1GohrDDcRAA90d7ZC4M0bPArzkDYsWmsAXpRLHpu0QpjOEvYf8Gp67NUP-fL_mZgkCP6yWz6EJd9j8rWEU-egI5ux0S3GnlWkqGQoUs1vE_2x52MiuutdyPSRK6wQfe5UWmyMArgDQl2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG4abT6uUdGupNv75BPi4ucA5vgVolPPymiQ-oeisWMtM39NqW1GohrDDcRAA90d7ZC4M0bPArzkDYsWmsAXpRLHpu0QpjOEvYf8Gp67NUP-fL_mZgkCP6yWz6EJd9j8rWEU-egI5ux0S3GnlWkqGQoUs1vE_2x52MiuutdyPSRK6wQfe5UWmyMArgDQl2=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Again, Qualley does really well as the rambunctious side of the odd couple; determined to show Viswanathan that desiring and enjoying sex isn't taboo, even if segments of society at that time (25 years ago-!) and still (sigh...) declare it to be so. The film spares no efforts to show that, yes, sex is actually a good time, no matter the genders (or toys) involved and I appreciated their being that up front about the topic and the action. It's not really present for titillation (although it borders on it, at times) but instead seems to be present to normalize the idea, which is fine. It just would've been far more interesting if such an idea had been released in a film in 1999, rather than 25 years later(!) where much of the audience is ready to shrug their shoulders at the supposed novelty of it all. On top of that mundanity, the inclusion of multiple scene breaks that seemed to present a presumed acid trip that had little to do with our lead characters or the people pursuing them was a really odd inclusion. Again, it seemed to be trying too hard to be "weird" in Coen Bros. fashion, similar to <a href="https://youtu.be/z92bykaeV4o?si=8d6jlncOlHE_xz3m">The Dude's bowling vision</a>, but not nearly as funny, interesting, or relevant to the film. Instead, they're just interludes seemingly shot through a multicolor lava lamp (which would've been relevant to and interesting in 1969, but not 30 years later) that just left the audience wondering what they were until finally getting the answer to at least whom was showing up in them at the end of the film, but not really understanding why they were ever present in the first place.<p></p><p>So, yeah. Is it worth seeing? If you're sitting at home one afternoon and bored, sure. But making an excursion out to the theater and paying for seats? Not really. I'd like to see more of Qualley in the future (she has another comedy coming up by the same writing/directing duo ("Honey Don't!")) but, at this point, I'd really like to see Joel doing more with Ethan to see if they still have that magic.</p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-10705216375580506152024-02-24T10:47:00.001-05:002024-02-24T10:47:20.859-05:00A very mixed bag and the best for last (and not nominated): 2024 Oscar-nominated animation shorts<p>The easiest answer for why this review took four days to get around to writing while the other two were both done the next day is because I was fairly underwhelmed by this year's offering in the Animated section (and, admittedly, I was <a href="https://extratime.blog/2024/02/22/mastication/">writing other things</a>, too), with one real exception that didn't even get nominated. So, yeah... But, I recall saying the same thing last year, so perhaps my standards (former comic writer; animation fan) are just higher in this category than others.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcRLujgpjlQ3C0pNjtx1_Ir1EWzeKfUpH2KpyKAoREe0gyzJmzCpg_NY6UQpiiaJCE-3MTDBcP-zeMbQZroP_-xEzsrY_Nv9kLDdkOKHUd8bgYa7HYJPYlvQqfDNrFhxmRBX2iy6NKfhreeCLbLw_D7ogg5NgktmnDhAXOC5v2pJqKB01FWB8WP229U9a7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcRLujgpjlQ3C0pNjtx1_Ir1EWzeKfUpH2KpyKAoREe0gyzJmzCpg_NY6UQpiiaJCE-3MTDBcP-zeMbQZroP_-xEzsrY_Nv9kLDdkOKHUd8bgYa7HYJPYlvQqfDNrFhxmRBX2iy6NKfhreeCLbLw_D7ogg5NgktmnDhAXOC5v2pJqKB01FWB8WP229U9a7=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />One of those that I really appreciated, thankfully, was the first: <b>Our Uniform</b>. It's a simple survey of the clothing requirements for girls and young women in Iranian society, which director, Yegane Moghaddam, animates atop images of various fabrics so that there's a real texture to the film, almost literally. There's a disclaimer at the front about how she's not criticizing the wearing of <i>hijab</i> but the gently mocking tone throughout ("... while other people can wear what they want...") is evident. The inside joke is that the choice of clothing can both conceal and reveal the motivations of the wearer and the state requiring such to be worn because, after all, men don't have those restrictions in the Islamic Republic. These are the obstacles that you have to (ahem) skirt in order to get your message across in a repressive society and I think Moghaddam delivered on her intent, with a smart and creative execution of the medium, as well.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_lDwWqaGMyK92jFxKoBJvsgjUzBPwkimUlA_3gy1GdErFeGOpraH1YpjNKbKK00cU3tMq8XQOvy5zV5iUoTwPiEImuugYg8afHCNInPbdRTQq7oINwIe_dw7uqmnF9b_Ci6dclq1OPjO7zigQo4j4xAA5_Maj9Tn3LP409JOCvaD2qVWd5elbSYFPyKkl" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_lDwWqaGMyK92jFxKoBJvsgjUzBPwkimUlA_3gy1GdErFeGOpraH1YpjNKbKK00cU3tMq8XQOvy5zV5iUoTwPiEImuugYg8afHCNInPbdRTQq7oINwIe_dw7uqmnF9b_Ci6dclq1OPjO7zigQo4j4xAA5_Maj9Tn3LP409JOCvaD2qVWd5elbSYFPyKkl=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The next selection was <b>Pachyderme</b>, a more standard animated approach (drawn and CGI) about a young girl in the south of France who's trying to translate the trauma she's experiencing at the hands of her grandfather who dotes on her but also takes advantage of her (healing her fishhook-wounded finger with the "healing kiss", for example.) Director Stéphanie Clément did a good job of creating an eerie atmosphere with what should have been bright summers at grandma and grandpa's house by restraining the color palette and keeping everything a bit misty, not only to emphasize the distance of the memories and the girl's attempt to suppress them, but also to demonstrate the unease that she felt while staying there. It just felt to me that she and writer Marc Rius kind of missed the target, in that the broad strokes of the story could easily be misinterpreted as simply childhood fascination with the wood knots in the ceiling. I think in their attempt to be indirect, again to emphasize that distance (natural or self-imposed) from these memories and to not come right out and state the abuse she was suffering, they lost the thread a bit. Visually, there was nothing particularly noteworthy, either.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVcAhpZGZ7OeeosJkZyqI11v7lOupdaP-6oZmXg6tf08pDa4SBNBh0hOWat_cUt7mg6RWYzZjO9Az3rnIu_PCrdez8kSEF5C4QVZEHGLGePMvJmmiGOcT9Jt9F_qK535y9aVmLMzFozpSQE8W_WOVQbDxZYEnK96DQ45m_0Cbjzq0h5BZwOHNXN04YgTfl" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="840" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVcAhpZGZ7OeeosJkZyqI11v7lOupdaP-6oZmXg6tf08pDa4SBNBh0hOWat_cUt7mg6RWYzZjO9Az3rnIu_PCrdez8kSEF5C4QVZEHGLGePMvJmmiGOcT9Jt9F_qK535y9aVmLMzFozpSQE8W_WOVQbDxZYEnK96DQ45m_0Cbjzq0h5BZwOHNXN04YgTfl=w400-h211" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Letter to a Pig</b>, on the other hand, stepped it up a notch in terms of translating distant memories of trauma. The story is about an elderly man in a classroom reading the letter he wrote to a pig who helped to conceal his presence in a farmhouse where SS soldiers were looking for him during World War II. While most of the students are unimpressed, one young girl begins envisioning a train of twisted variations on identity and memories. This film was "deeper" than the other two, in that it was longer and, thus, had more time for its scenes and moments to settle and play into other meanings of the trauma of being less than human, but perhaps just as empathetic as the animal who enabled the storyteller's escape. I appreciated the animation style, as it kept largely to black-and-white to emphasize the tension of the story and the fine line work of the artists, but also dropped in spots of color to provide texture so that the viewer didn't become detached from the black-and-white world. There's certainly an argument to be made that the topic is becoming a bit worn with age, but given the current political circumstances with the fascists in the US and events like what the Israeli state is doing to Gaza, I think the message may be more resonant than ever.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2tu65qIsF4gK23srU2U9eh4L_eGKJacznh1UgROCKr3TiXzS3AYNMEfXD5UPKp8qDz65ZolyNOgzZkDy_f0SjQN9cyYVXP9XHXTLBOnF1v68Hi7l_kVaNOs0eBlkKyf94h55VDIxrbwt9R4PdqnjK_oCeoCaHHztxQNqcEu0YQrw4wXP4QHZH8qgyuuhi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="1000" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2tu65qIsF4gK23srU2U9eh4L_eGKJacznh1UgROCKr3TiXzS3AYNMEfXD5UPKp8qDz65ZolyNOgzZkDy_f0SjQN9cyYVXP9XHXTLBOnF1v68Hi7l_kVaNOs0eBlkKyf94h55VDIxrbwt9R4PdqnjK_oCeoCaHHztxQNqcEu0YQrw4wXP4QHZH8qgyuuhi=w400-h204" width="400" /></a></div><br />While the first three entries approached with subtle meanings (at least at first), the fourth entry, <b>Ninety-Five Senses</b>, didn't seem to have any particular meaning in mind at all when it opened. It was Tim Blake Nelson voicing a man who delivers an ode to the value of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Abruptly, we learn that he is delivering this ode from a prison cell, where he is about to be executed for the unintentional murder of a family that might not have occurred had he possessed one of the senses in question. It is, in part, a tour through the regrets of this man as he understands that less emotional choices might not have led him here, but also a pointed question at the nature of capital punishment for the execution of an impaired individual who acted without particular intent but will pay for it as if he did (the fact that the overall atmosphere is from the Southern US is, doubtlessly, no accident.) Visually, it was one of the best of the night, as the film veers through six different animation styles as he describes each one of the senses and then finishes with his current circumstances. I especially appreciated the pen-and-ink technique as he watched/remembered the flames engulfing the house.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTU1dSbOwr3ZjGRiAQmYjsc15yEGhkQxuVpuzbz6EEy3hTa6593NMHVWOB2w6ZrMyOFb4DCreyCBykMfCXjZBEyRq43gIKVlB0hY0BnnQ0BhOSI0vAEyXIHdnk6tzUnnAx6bBFXdEsslt80bZ-Tal_NJ2aGE7Yz05KVhC5q-aErwrR2E_FQEJ1i6SpGCqg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="512" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTU1dSbOwr3ZjGRiAQmYjsc15yEGhkQxuVpuzbz6EEy3hTa6593NMHVWOB2w6ZrMyOFb4DCreyCBykMfCXjZBEyRq43gIKVlB0hY0BnnQ0BhOSI0vAEyXIHdnk6tzUnnAx6bBFXdEsslt80bZ-Tal_NJ2aGE7Yz05KVhC5q-aErwrR2E_FQEJ1i6SpGCqg=w400-h160" width="400" /></a></div><br />Unfortunately, the last entry we saw among the nominated films was less impressive. <b>War is Over!, Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko</b> hits the high mark in terms of technical ability for the animation, with the 3-D CGI presenting the action in great detail and impact. And the story- of two soldiers on opposing sides in World War I playing chess against each other via carrier pigeon until an attack is ordered -is certainly something that any sane person can agree with and appreciate. But, overall, the production felt trite and was a marked contrast to the far more subtle storytelling of all of the other nominated films. It had serious money and star power behind it (akin to the <a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2023/02/falling-short-2022-animation-shorts.html">dreadful Hallmark card of last year</a>) and that seems to be what is supposed to carry it to success; along with the trite and obvious message that most voters will instantly be able to understand and applaud for. Unlike last year's winner, it's not a bad film. It just doesn't do much other than provide some really nice visuals and, again, deliver a message that most sane people should be able to agree with. There's nothing new or really inspiring here, on top of the insistence at looking at 50-year-old pop music as still the highest calling in modern culture.<p></p><p>And then the screen lit up with a bold, white title: "HIGHLY COMMENDABLE." This is the Academy's version of "honorable mention", which very rarely appears and is usually only for one short that didn't quite make the cut. This year, we got two.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKpafDR-lBlVvvaKK-nftPpOdn6aQSiEC1HFvjQJpHn9hXZEw6448O4qS-4nK0I7KGgHQQaRf6xH70Usfr61doguavJ9ObRB1xu37KawfADN-lvPfwr7EbrjX9OPZd_X_vNiar9hGv9LEQQ8liZB9-e1Cr_hXRdYl0-JyzGDGoMKi4KMDlFYVoML-Pumo1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1280" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKpafDR-lBlVvvaKK-nftPpOdn6aQSiEC1HFvjQJpHn9hXZEw6448O4qS-4nK0I7KGgHQQaRf6xH70Usfr61doguavJ9ObRB1xu37KawfADN-lvPfwr7EbrjX9OPZd_X_vNiar9hGv9LEQQ8liZB9-e1Cr_hXRdYl0-JyzGDGoMKi4KMDlFYVoML-Pumo1=w400-h188" width="400" /></a></div><br />The first was <b>I'm Hip</b>, where a self-assured cat (mildly reminiscent of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Cat">Top Cat</a>) sings and dances to Dave Frishberg's song of the same name, assuring everyone watching that he's the coolest guy in town. It's fairly amusing and hearkens back to the Hanna-Barbera era of animation (with erupting symbols (!!!) for emotion and characters able to survive any kind of fall or impact), but it left me wondering just what made it "highly commendable", since there was nothing particularly visually impressive about the techniques involved and it's not a story so much as a music video. It was a direct contrast to the heavier aspects of most of the nominated films, but that still shouldn't justify its inclusion. I liked it, but was left kind of mystified that it was part of the ensemble at all.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsTxT1JV3Ms2cdjZNcpTUkJRQ8CrGIAiadQFJ3I12mQXXDlAVn8-haxTbVCX5vmjagroas9Phy7fWmBIkUdNktJeWOngNAWQMwYAo6D7d6aN11P85YqOgOF6HQuxyYvBZvKqLzIecrVf6DozaB5qUs7ZW9n9nXaCjcqZmoStgNB2OULkNWzaVaBcufy1S8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="580" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsTxT1JV3Ms2cdjZNcpTUkJRQ8CrGIAiadQFJ3I12mQXXDlAVn8-haxTbVCX5vmjagroas9Phy7fWmBIkUdNktJeWOngNAWQMwYAo6D7d6aN11P85YqOgOF6HQuxyYvBZvKqLzIecrVf6DozaB5qUs7ZW9n9nXaCjcqZmoStgNB2OULkNWzaVaBcufy1S8=w400-h238" width="400" /></a></div><br />In contrast, there were no questions after <b>Wild Summon</b> as it was, for me, easily the best offering of the night and, of course, wasn't even nominated. It's a depiction of the lifespan of a female salmon, emerging from an egg, traveling down the river while avoiding predators (but still getting tagged by researchers) and venturing into the open ocean, only to have to make the return trip all the way back to her spawning point when the biological trigger is tripped. The salmon are represented as broad-mouthed women in wetsuits, complete with diving masks, and changing color based on their life stage. There's no deeper meaning to it, other than some references to industrial pollution hindering their life cycle, but it was still a fascinating story and the best visual presentation of the evening. This film easily could have replaced three of the five nominated pictures and would be my preference to win if it had.<p></p><p>As it is, my vote would probably go to <i>Ninety-Five Senses</i>, but I'm afraid that the deep, deep desire for Boomer music in the form of John and Yoko will probably carry the day. Meh. </p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-64369554955035408882024-02-19T22:46:00.004-05:002024-02-20T13:06:50.173-05:00Tragedy, before and after, with a dose of whimsy: 2024 Oscar-nominated Live Action shorts<div>The next category, which we actually saw first, was Live Action. <a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2024/02/music-books-living-and-building-2024.html">As noted earlier</a>, in general, this was the better overall collection of films which, IIRC, is similar to last year.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8xgs7FrG87ZrD9vZWDXXePWlEv5U-8ozfdCVvtphDFsau_AzpxdRz-U_OJs7OGYjz3Cp-rCu16RY0K3j0MDvKfwf9IiriJhodv377Ilxh9lXtkXRzJPawCCs_8SbzFVtxmE2GDp9VwXY2Xz7odpW5O3r04F0AgAP9s7j-XEexQXG9f4zDlS_zQ1EYQhT9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8xgs7FrG87ZrD9vZWDXXePWlEv5U-8ozfdCVvtphDFsau_AzpxdRz-U_OJs7OGYjz3Cp-rCu16RY0K3j0MDvKfwf9IiriJhodv377Ilxh9lXtkXRzJPawCCs_8SbzFVtxmE2GDp9VwXY2Xz7odpW5O3r04F0AgAP9s7j-XEexQXG9f4zDlS_zQ1EYQhT9=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The After</b>- The film tells the story of a businessman who sees both his wife and child murdered in front of him and how he lives in the aftermath (hence, the title.) First off, it's a great performance by David Oyelowo, whom I'm most familiar with from <i>Star Wars: Rebels</i> of all things, as the voice of Agent Kallus. He's been in small parts in a number of films I've seen, but now that I've seen this performance, I think I'm going to seek out some of his starring work. But his performance was the strongest part of the film, as the scenario to enact the plot was bordering on the hard-to-believe (the UK, having sane gun laws, doesn't have nearly the ease with which a double murder could occur in the US, as we are just days away from that most American of events: a mass shooting at a Super Bowl parade.) After that, the story simply shows Dayo (Oyelowo) living life as a rideshare driver and listening to his clients get on with the various travails of their lives that don't even approach the anguish that he's experienced and don't provide him any progress toward dealing with his grief until his last job, which then initiates a breakthrough... which they then completely spoil by switching the subtle score to a pop song that's somehow supposed to embody this man's grief. It utterly ruined the moment for me and took away all the energy that Oyelowo's work had generated. This was my least favorite of the set, but still worth the time to see.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs5WJOGLTpnPVb1RxprFt7DqOVKFvVOTtr-Vkm5STD43rYafW0245km5PaoujGn23SjqTn8j4oGhwa8OpYHSOO1LjkTJ0tMkV_FIAM9q_Y0Rmm04iaO9fyZ4naTPlk1VdG0yudW4yiVmMgHj0PUp6M7mZMZIMBf5JaMmfahlD7gr27T9leNpooU4DxW-kx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="480" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs5WJOGLTpnPVb1RxprFt7DqOVKFvVOTtr-Vkm5STD43rYafW0245km5PaoujGn23SjqTn8j4oGhwa8OpYHSOO1LjkTJ0tMkV_FIAM9q_Y0Rmm04iaO9fyZ4naTPlk1VdG0yudW4yiVmMgHj0PUp6M7mZMZIMBf5JaMmfahlD7gr27T9leNpooU4DxW-kx=w400-h226" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Red, White and Blue</b>- In immediate contrast, this was easily the best of the night for me. Written and directed by Nazrin Choudhury, it's a very timely episode about a single mother in Arkansas searching for an abortion provider and having to find money and time to travel to Missouri to find one. Like <i>The Barber of Little Rock</i> (also in Arkansas, appropriately enough), it's a great rendition of the economic realities that many people in this country face and whom have their lives affected by the callous decisions of others working in the name of ardent ideology and social control which have far-reaching effects that they either don't know, don't care about or are, of course, the point. Brittany Snow is excellent as Rachel and the film demonstrates not just the emotional anguish and economic desperation that she endures, but also the often demeaning circumstances by which she's surviving the "American Dream." It's an evident political statement, as well, not least when Rachel makes it to a clinic without an appointment and says that she's traveled all the way from Arkansas and the nurse at the front desk waves a hand at the crowded waiting room and says: "You and all the rest of them from THAT state." There are, as always, a multiplicity of two Americas; one set defined by money, another by race, and yet another by political boundaries between the 21st century states and those still dominated by 19th-century thought (and misogyny, which is even worse than the 21st century version.) This was the most effective dramatic punch of the night and one that will probably last the longest with many viewers.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFDxmEH5nKjD0SKv2kshCIyXKM-efqP3LNz92S_BrzY8ya-0wHZR_0wGSLrO0cLW4wOqIq6c-ue38zkNjsA1k55E_LxU62PGARQW3FdRvJeZtsOFFrCVuvw92xpbRQV78LkzAdQu5IKkrcuA-wM9CG2G05BrqDpG7xlxq1nGX5HFkKwH4y5cGwbPSdlLJ_" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFDxmEH5nKjD0SKv2kshCIyXKM-efqP3LNz92S_BrzY8ya-0wHZR_0wGSLrO0cLW4wOqIq6c-ue38zkNjsA1k55E_LxU62PGARQW3FdRvJeZtsOFFrCVuvw92xpbRQV78LkzAdQu5IKkrcuA-wM9CG2G05BrqDpG7xlxq1nGX5HFkKwH4y5cGwbPSdlLJ_=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Knight of Fortune</b>- Continuing the theme of tragedy, this film is about a recent widower, Karl (a brilliant Leif Andrée) having to confront the viewing of his wife in the local morgue. While there, Karl encounters Torben (the also excellent Jens Jørn Spottag), another widower who asks Karl for help with his own efforts of viewing and through his grief who ends up leading him on a much more involved experience than Karl expected. Along the way, they're frequently in the company of the mortuary porter (Jesper Lohmann) whom, although he says he's seen it all, probably hasn't seen much like this. Despite the overall theme of tragedy, there are enough lighthearted moments throughout the story that it's almost impossible to come away from the film without feeling like you've experienced something genuinely uplifting. There's wonderful attention to detail, as well, in things like the fact that Andrée is a Swedish actor and so speaks Swedish, while Spottag is Danish and, thus, speaks that language and they have to take a moment to assure each other that they're saying the same appropriate things in these trying circumstances. It's obviously much more relevant if you know those languages and live in those countries, but this <i>is</i> a Danish film. Andrée's face when they have a close encounter with another family in a viewing room is something I'm going to remember for a long time. Wonderfully acted and a great short story, this was my second favorite of the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGfmKGZbwaI-KqV-ofylpjjv9HpZgUSoQwpURaY0fczYAPHPQzXnJI6OkTUXgHbCgBqMEwWbOs0UofA5f_ZFIhW4Ia9dS0mG9-VL9RQs5RXc3BLPTczQ2lBI4REn3AvkS76PRdFS89crsYk_pv-MNoHoX_W_3SKowntd-UIJEo7y0WIo9NkfN8lFi9kbHG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1253" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGfmKGZbwaI-KqV-ofylpjjv9HpZgUSoQwpURaY0fczYAPHPQzXnJI6OkTUXgHbCgBqMEwWbOs0UofA5f_ZFIhW4Ia9dS0mG9-VL9RQs5RXc3BLPTczQ2lBI4REn3AvkS76PRdFS89crsYk_pv-MNoHoX_W_3SKowntd-UIJEo7y0WIo9NkfN8lFi9kbHG=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Invincible</b>- Based on a true story, <i>Invincible </i>presents the circumstances of Marc-Antoine Bernier (Léokim Beaumier-Lépine), a teenager with some prominent mental health issues in a youth detention center in Canada. Allowed weekend furloughs with his somewhat distant parents, the intense young man finds even the rather loose constraints of the center (can wear their own clothing, are taken to outside recreation like swimming pools, etc.) so confining that he continually acts out and brings the hand of the administration down upon himself.. This yearning for a greater freedom than even outside life can provide becomes most evident when an instructor reads aloud the poem that he's written in class. I've felt that urge for something different that's indefinable and just beyond one's grasp and the frustration that it brings with it, so this character resonated with me quite a bit. The fact that his parents mirrored mine in their almost complete indifference to the unique identity that is their son until he does something wrong also struck me as quite familiar. The film continues with the overall theme of the night and is a solid entry for the trophy, even if overshadowed by some of the others. I'd be interested to see more of Beaumier-Lépine's work.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEin3TlMYLp58WKo04hgk14Sdq8PhQCbpnBa32ylw3_zW8vNZLxiQ1dlKAxpZiMgg4EyK2GMlmbmMhCZGb1axDXh8Lza2SJE-L10dJjLfnyS9zwIn4U4CS-4e7KaFRXhKwP1y1bO-c5syjWU7MmuGEWcBCZnPi97yBvZBs17xW367YaWPwUcU8oK3GM4lIjd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEin3TlMYLp58WKo04hgk14Sdq8PhQCbpnBa32ylw3_zW8vNZLxiQ1dlKAxpZiMgg4EyK2GMlmbmMhCZGb1axDXh8Lza2SJE-L10dJjLfnyS9zwIn4U4CS-4e7KaFRXhKwP1y1bO-c5syjWU7MmuGEWcBCZnPi97yBvZBs17xW367YaWPwUcU8oK3GM4lIjd=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar</b>- The final entry is the one that had both the blockbuster writer and director (Wes Anderson) and the equally prominent cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, among others.) <a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-entertainingly-familiar.html">As I mentioned a few months back</a>, this immediately struck me as another collection of actors "dying to be in a Wes Anderson", so here was their opportunity. It's also the second time that Anderson has adapted a Roald Dahl work (<i>Fantastic Mr. Fox</i>), although this story was even more suited to Anderson's usual approach than the previous. As I'm an Anderson fan, you'd think this would have been my favorite, but like I mentioned those few months ago, I'm to the point where what I'm seeing from him no longer seems original and this was no different. I think it ran too long for what it was trying to do and, although it was funny in his usual whimsical style, also felt rather repetitive by the end. I really appreciated Patel's narration of much of the story and his constant breaking of the fourth wall to demonstrate that narration ("What other ways? [looks at audience], I said.") The production values were the highest of the set, by far, because it had the most money and star power behind it, so it seems like it's a heavyweight in a lightweight competition and, as much as I enjoyed it, it still didn't have the impact that RWB and Knight had for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>My assumption is that the trophy goes to Henry Sugar because of that star power and production value, but I still think <i>Red, White and Blue</i> was the best of a very good lot. We'll finish off tomorrow with Animation.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-45061976249897070032024-02-19T21:13:00.001-05:002024-02-20T12:55:33.605-05:00Music, books, living and building: 2024 Oscar-nominated documentary shorts<p>It's Oscar short season and we ended up seeing two categories in one day again. The second was Documentary, but that's the one I'm going to cover first because Live Action, collectively, was the better category this year.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjP6ItPVS1QJP8TPSRGSXSUo8J4hJowZB0STGEuDS_gyldqBq6pD1yXYhjK_QrUoX3oNgK2XgLK37Ep1-kZqTllh_PkxLJcUO6eznwCL7zpga0FmIPfD4Lbo5pVbAufPS2dNwRZX5jwNGFERZxaY6tshHXRNZ3ZW00Pa9qaVKuBjoQnqPPC1fBPvmMvC_n4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjP6ItPVS1QJP8TPSRGSXSUo8J4hJowZB0STGEuDS_gyldqBq6pD1yXYhjK_QrUoX3oNgK2XgLK37Ep1-kZqTllh_PkxLJcUO6eznwCL7zpga0FmIPfD4Lbo5pVbAufPS2dNwRZX5jwNGFERZxaY6tshHXRNZ3ZW00Pa9qaVKuBjoQnqPPC1fBPvmMvC_n4=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Nâi Nai and Wài Pó</b>- This was director Sean Wang's film about his paternal and maternal grandmothers, who live together to support each other, as their respective husbands had passed years ago. It's a very simple presentation about how they go about their daily lives; morning exercise and then activities of various sorts, like gardening or a day for dancing to music. It was quite funny and very cute seeing the two of them dress up in a variety of costumes which they freely admitted was because their grandson was there with a camera. It was also remarkably insightful on their polar opposite views on life, where Wài Pó, who is 83 said she felt like she was still 20, while Nâi Nai who is 94, said she felt like she was 100 years old. That perspective included their thoughts on the future, where the latter said that she would be fine with just another year or two of life, while the former bemoaned the fact that she had to die at some point when she clearly felt there was so much living to do. That extended to their activities, in which Wài Pó took the lead on thinking about trying new things, while Nâi Nai was content to flip through photo albums and phone numbers, reminiscing about the friends she'd lost and the good times she'd had with them. It was a great encapsulation of both elderly life and life, in general.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7Nsv0-Cp8CM4w_0aRbBQu3eDCzQ0qz_LGLKgrVGr3qgttmZrZvSiW0J52SicnnaGIML3xYiVVocxILDxP7UWWQgOy1xicKXFD5j4LHY8SyRQl8yBAG5jm9MnekkdURPFWmgVViHrO-sZVmhiWok0AjekmwIhGAiTQgnZxuZHYiF_I-E9Dh3ZoNRO5VfZl" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7Nsv0-Cp8CM4w_0aRbBQu3eDCzQ0qz_LGLKgrVGr3qgttmZrZvSiW0J52SicnnaGIML3xYiVVocxILDxP7UWWQgOy1xicKXFD5j4LHY8SyRQl8yBAG5jm9MnekkdURPFWmgVViHrO-sZVmhiWok0AjekmwIhGAiTQgnZxuZHYiF_I-E9Dh3ZoNRO5VfZl=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Barber of Little Rock</b>- This was the story of Arlo Washington, a Little Rock, AR entrepreneur who chose to follow the path of his mother, whose life was cut short at 31, and devote his life to work toward building and supporting his community. To that end, he started a barber college and used the money from that to begin People's Trust, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI; a non-profit bank), which provides micro and small loans to people in personal need or to begin businesses in the "south of the highway" section of Little Rock. It's a great depiction of life that much of (White) America never sees and almost immediately had me kicking myself for not still being involved in progressive politics, as these were the people and scenarios that I saw all the time when I was and whom still really need help. Arlo is an incredibly forward and positive thinker and the genuine emotion that frequently overwhelmed his clients when they finally found someone who would not only help them but actually listen to them was quite telling. I saw that frequently in my previous activity and it's a measure of both how much people in the "wealthiest nation in the world" still need help (especially if they're not White) and the humanity of those who make it their purpose to help them and, as Arlo frequently states, to grow the community as a whole. This was my second favorite among the offerings.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPkHlNmrYdfbGAIwL03Jmi21C1Htyo3FFP7wZY3P_kyAVqW0VVoGlPM-pKL6e4sVAAtAHW0fFv3OZi0G8230yjtKrania4a7pDPC7CkbLDSqImNvRBoBb7QTr-t2FLMzme-a4TYfCQ0n2dBRnb4RxTNeah3HLa2xYoEGQ5AcKVdxkUNDmpx5AY3LloHVTK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1697" data-original-width="2560" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPkHlNmrYdfbGAIwL03Jmi21C1Htyo3FFP7wZY3P_kyAVqW0VVoGlPM-pKL6e4sVAAtAHW0fFv3OZi0G8230yjtKrania4a7pDPC7CkbLDSqImNvRBoBb7QTr-t2FLMzme-a4TYfCQ0n2dBRnb4RxTNeah3HLa2xYoEGQ5AcKVdxkUNDmpx5AY3LloHVTK=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Island in Between</b>- This was S. Leo Chiang's story about Kinmen, the small island right off the coast of mainland China which is a territory of the Republic of China (aka Taiwan.) As such, it was both the initial target of the People's Republic of China intentions to reclaim the territory it regards as its own and a heavily-militarized outpost that the Taiwanese regard as the first line of defense against the Red Menace. Chiang, who is originally from Kinmen, spent many years in the US, and is now a resident of Taipei, spends some time regaling us with the history of the island and the ardent propaganda against the looming enemy and how Kinmen was intended to be the launching point for the retaking of the mainland for the Chinese people and the destruction of the vile communists. Given that relations between the two nations have much improved since the 1950s, no one really thinks about that much anymore and, honestly, the film kind of reflects that neglect. It was a pretty rote depiction of the situation then and the tepid situation now and this was, by far, the least interesting of the nominated films.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNqY7xUyALAzn3GZcm-bNYVb8WbxnGEkxfBqpGSWHdPELPrUe8S4Udoiun9F04x6D5NsyiCG4XdcacBwmADL3nkl9qUBmGFxRXjLNjqN6oW9W7_BKdnpz4qSyeHeIrNwxkUqvcCOY0-tRyrP8W4QyWWgKDq1yRpGL6Ezgbj-OFgrKx-0TG-4XJuQD7TGy4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="2180" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNqY7xUyALAzn3GZcm-bNYVb8WbxnGEkxfBqpGSWHdPELPrUe8S4Udoiun9F04x6D5NsyiCG4XdcacBwmADL3nkl9qUBmGFxRXjLNjqN6oW9W7_BKdnpz4qSyeHeIrNwxkUqvcCOY0-tRyrP8W4QyWWgKDq1yRpGL6Ezgbj-OFgrKx-0TG-4XJuQD7TGy4=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The ABCs of Book Banning</b>- This film, directed by Sheila Nevins, the head of MTV Documentary films, is obviously extremely timely. The most notable thing about it to me was that MTV still exists in any way, shape or form. I say that largely because I knew everything that was depicted here. Every time they put up another book cover that was promptly crossed with a glaring red "BANNED", "RESTRICTED", or "CHALLENGED", all I did was nod my head and think: "Yeah, I knew that already." I was clearly not the target audience. I also wondered why the font and format of those glaring red titles changed two-thirds of the way through the film. However, the real upside of the show was the collection of interviews with 7-10-year-olds who are the students of the schools where these books are being banned. To a person, all of them reacted with confusion and dismay at the idea that these stories and this information was being denied to them, especially when they learned exactly what these books were about. For example, <i>And Tango Makes Three</i>, a book about a penguin chick with two fathers (a situation that did happen at the Bronx Zoo and does happen in the wild) has been banned or challenged in multiple districts because it draws attention to the idea of same sex marriage; an appalling thought for the ignorant and/or religiously fanatical among society. The children presented with this book and others usually responded with "Why would they ban a book that just tells the story of people being who they are?" That, of course, is an extremely modern attitude which should give most hope for the future and the film overall does that. It just wasn't particularly new to me so, while I liked it, it's definitely a story I've heard before.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ8T4ZF1pz5j4_DdP0QqOFdvJE1nnUnc8qe5GP3SEOb9hxr4lQ5u_yHXFjgtSjmzds1yx4gnvEh4bZbmSm_bDsJYO9DR1uQ2T8AMnQO-4hVCdvdkx247maChAiLJw4G-0PfxWdphO9RrdKa_T1Po2nOh1NDGW_-sxKdAI8k0qqrlgUS1P7ltGeBSW0KI_K" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1296" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ8T4ZF1pz5j4_DdP0QqOFdvJE1nnUnc8qe5GP3SEOb9hxr4lQ5u_yHXFjgtSjmzds1yx4gnvEh4bZbmSm_bDsJYO9DR1uQ2T8AMnQO-4hVCdvdkx247maChAiLJw4G-0PfxWdphO9RrdKa_T1Po2nOh1NDGW_-sxKdAI8k0qqrlgUS1P7ltGeBSW0KI_K=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Last Repair Shop</b>- Right up front, this was my favorite documentary of the evening. That was because not only was it about music, but also because I didn't even know this program existed and was happily surprised that it did, especially in the environs of Los Angeles which, like many big cities, seemed like it had begun to phase out cultural activities for public school students. The program is one in which musical instruments are provided to those students and repaired for them when they inevitably encounter the problems that all crafted devices do. If it had just been about the repair shop for instruments, it wouldn't have been as interesting as it was because they also delved into the rather interesting characters who operate the shop and their backgrounds which led them to becoming experts in the repair and maintenance of brass, strings, woodwinds, and pianos. They include a single mother immigrant from Mexico, a man who came out in the early stages of the Gay Power movement in San Francisco, a former fiddle player for the Bodie Mountain Express, and an Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan. All of their stories are interesting and provide context for how they ended up assisting the musical dreams of children across the spectrum of LA existence. Needless to say, the story (ahem) sang to me and, for once, I think my favorite is also the clear favorite for the Oscar this year.<p></p><p>Next up is Live Action.</p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-28356557124559844152024-01-25T21:41:00.002-05:002024-01-25T21:41:13.501-05:00American Truth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7Qr9xx6ZkGBYWwaB3cGhZ8WjhQM4CrjrZwoZWAgSQfX-Q3wV871KJA-JEiE1wNlbTKMbhfDXfrNGeo2DXFxhxbbVFs4iOwU70tTI201AvR8qjyvP1w0pj0x4TYrf5lc70bMMKak7FzkMNPVIBkCoteBy1rygbvMJX8u9qE4WJlz0BVjty_NsC90N0T_Ko" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="465" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7Qr9xx6ZkGBYWwaB3cGhZ8WjhQM4CrjrZwoZWAgSQfX-Q3wV871KJA-JEiE1wNlbTKMbhfDXfrNGeo2DXFxhxbbVFs4iOwU70tTI201AvR8qjyvP1w0pj0x4TYrf5lc70bMMKak7FzkMNPVIBkCoteBy1rygbvMJX8u9qE4WJlz0BVjty_NsC90N0T_Ko=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></div><br />There are moments when various forms of media feel like they're speaking directly to you. The characters react the way that you'd react and the storyline follows something that's, to one degree or another, intimately familiar to you. That was the reaction that I had when watching <b>American Fiction</b>. It's not just that the main character Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (an excellent Jeffrey Wright) is a writer who can't seem to find his audience (been there, my whole life) or that the material that's produced around him seems like it's just serving the base interests of the public [waves hand in general direction of world] or that he thinks he knows better about what's actually worthwhile (ahem.) It's also that those perspectives make him feel separated from much of the world at large. That's an instinct that I've worked hard to curb in the last 15 years of my life, having recognized that you can't tell people what to like, so I think I'm a bit more social and a bit less judgmental than Monk is as presented in this story. But, man, did that story sing to me.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidLN3cVkMkfBJh3ePXpEAjPWBUR0c5zKuzInOJUrYOyTuTqVJUne5OnTXAWBvPtiOXsZ0__ak7HL75wr8S-bGEV_Cb74KTXe-RXwEpLwgvAOgVQeU40GqOF_waQ1VI67H4gdPpAofdMZQPMPY2mkT2BjRIK26jUjJGudT32Is7juZuCmbjkgR0Q41JLylX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1480" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidLN3cVkMkfBJh3ePXpEAjPWBUR0c5zKuzInOJUrYOyTuTqVJUne5OnTXAWBvPtiOXsZ0__ak7HL75wr8S-bGEV_Cb74KTXe-RXwEpLwgvAOgVQeU40GqOF_waQ1VI67H4gdPpAofdMZQPMPY2mkT2BjRIK26jUjJGudT32Is7juZuCmbjkgR0Q41JLylX=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Monk is a novelist and instructor at a small college in California who objects to the success of the fiction written by African-Americans and lauded by White reviewers and publishers as emblematic of the "Black experience." To Monk, the Black experience is the American experience and he finds no value in feeding the preconceptions of the White audience, whether sympathetic or otherwise, with material like a competitor's "We's Lives in the Ghetto." Monk is in what is often referred to as "literary fiction" (which, y'know, excludes any of that petty "genre" stuff) but his work is so elevated that it ends up getting classified as Afro-American studies in local bookstores. When he gets encouraged to take a leave of absence and go visit his dysfunctional family (which he largely detests and avoids) in Boston, he begins running headlong into those antisocial tendencies and begins to discover the people he dismisses as beneath him as having intelligent opinions and perspectives of their own which inform their own "Black experience" that happens to be quite different from his.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLgi6_HZyCKrSVRGJbcvSiPxE2piYcKsiO3FQIblVa1wxrdzzqFUXzTUbF7ceRmmGNPIFOW-j4iNsHyZthvbgVrvpAdBqpcjJTx0HmTlWgnH2roksCKD8VOAWk0hbLT4QJgaxmPq-8S3EHbHi7Ox_tMfGkoI5sn1uVXxgo91edJjpG7ttdhkbAgJUyiNhf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLgi6_HZyCKrSVRGJbcvSiPxE2piYcKsiO3FQIblVa1wxrdzzqFUXzTUbF7ceRmmGNPIFOW-j4iNsHyZthvbgVrvpAdBqpcjJTx0HmTlWgnH2roksCKD8VOAWk0hbLT4QJgaxmPq-8S3EHbHi7Ox_tMfGkoI5sn1uVXxgo91edJjpG7ttdhkbAgJUyiNhf=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />From the very beginning, the characters felt genuine, which is always a key aspect of any film to me. If I'm watching roles that feel like they were solely aimed to push the message, rather than be real people who incidentally drove the theme of the film, I'm generally going to feel cheated (see: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Up">Don't Look Up</a> and <a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2023/12/directionless-apocalypse.html">Leave the World Behind</a> as pristine examples.) Even the side characters that are clearly there to be foils for Monk feel like they have the reactions of real people that are wholly believable (White angst and guilt, artificial salesmanship, etc.) Lorraine (Myra Lucretia Taylor), Monk's mother's housekeeper, is one of his grounding points in the general goodness of humanity. Despite all of the "family melodrama" (as Monk refers to it) surrounding his circumstances in Boston, when she decides to get married, it's a sign that life keeps proceeding, no matter how much you may think the world revolves around you and your problems. Those problems include his mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams), losing her awareness of the surrounding world, but never quite losing awareness of what makes her children, especially Monk, special.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi82p0L4dUo9hw6p0QkuwKjZJRm9aCobtVxs5-JJXQroVUy5ZjvcZMxK9VRROT3LGe9r156JmhMj30ujECgNEXc_cmTWAXtH_7Vmm6xG2cNTAFua52sRIGkgY0SVQKrS_Sd4zX1iIXlDGS0UH3mljOTBFaAg3KRhxdpeAZhIGhnJVadJ1O61-C9VrVdzOW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi82p0L4dUo9hw6p0QkuwKjZJRm9aCobtVxs5-JJXQroVUy5ZjvcZMxK9VRROT3LGe9r156JmhMj30ujECgNEXc_cmTWAXtH_7Vmm6xG2cNTAFua52sRIGkgY0SVQKrS_Sd4zX1iIXlDGS0UH3mljOTBFaAg3KRhxdpeAZhIGhnJVadJ1O61-C9VrVdzOW=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Part of that specialness is Wright, who is perfectly cast in the role. I can't think of another actor who could have presented the frustration, weariness, and biting intelligence of the character better than he did. It's appropriate that Percival Everett, who wrote the book <i>Erasure</i>, that the film is based upon chose the last name "Ellison" for the main character and his family based on other people that also bore that name: Harlan Ellison, famously caustic SF writer and essayist; Ralph Ellison, who wrote about social issues faced by Black people in America; and Sheila Ellison, who writes about parenting and familial relationships. All of those elements inhabit this character and the circumstances he's forced to confront and Wright excels at presenting a typically human reaction to them, while still driven by who and what the character is. He's nicely counterbalanced by his sister, Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross), his brother Cliff (Sterling K. Brown), and the neighbor across the street, Coraline (Erika Alexander); all of whom present different perspectives on those circumstances, but also on their approach in trying to connect with Monk who, as with many driven people, often instinctively distrusts their attempts to do so (um... yeah.) There's a great moment when Agnes, fading in and out of awareness, mentions that she thinks the reason Monk is so miserable most of the time is that "Geniuses are lonely because they can't connect with the rest of us." I'm not going to be so arrogant as to label myself a "genius", but I've certainly felt that distance where most people just don't seem to see what I do.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYeN-j-Ut6z2ztGrORR4gZ0a_We6QMSDpu7OEgSn3iTGso2MkTiNMApp2SLZyvo6LiFmpfbdc2l5CHI3CmefGrXU6sup4L1hwToJ1NNY3I1kuPYUuhP1T6BBotvwH_6Al4wg6Fim4setEtmTQR652BERywU4YTxBe6C22-ZdfHC6AuGAEyXibSUYkqnLXK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYeN-j-Ut6z2ztGrORR4gZ0a_We6QMSDpu7OEgSn3iTGso2MkTiNMApp2SLZyvo6LiFmpfbdc2l5CHI3CmefGrXU6sup4L1hwToJ1NNY3I1kuPYUuhP1T6BBotvwH_6Al4wg6Fim4setEtmTQR652BERywU4YTxBe6C22-ZdfHC6AuGAEyXibSUYkqnLXK=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Also, I absolutely loved the way they handled the ending. The alternate approaches not only mirror the difficulty of the writing process, but also showed just how people will often react to the conclusion of a story they're being told and whether they'll feel that it's appropriate (Hollywood happy ending!) or closer to reality (the final choice, which had me doubled over in laughter) or simply indeterminate; a lot like life ends up. That difference in perspective suffuses the film, especially in one key exchange between Monk and that rival, successful writer, Sintara Golden (Issa Rae.) When he bemoans the fact that the public and publishers "... aren't acknowledging our potential!", Sintara replies that "Potential is what people see when what's in front of them isn't good enough." It's a salient point about perspective, but it doesn't apply to this film, as it's more than good enough. It's the best thing I've seen this (Oscar) year.<p></p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-1388529184313711442023-12-23T23:42:00.004-05:002024-01-05T15:25:51.578-05:00Directionless apocalypse<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBxTH-6xfNtuX4vwEaGzVuQFcCCEjaCRCD1Kxk7-qnGuFyvc9dlGdi6iTw3XUt1uHI_bF_sroImcnNZuEdxBCia98YERx-XStHOynRIxBDFhRKGRlOcvFd-5RErTDoA9KnfWV-kxhHRL_rb3bIVPJmA0_TXDHNhsr524TqhXR5K8E98bD2NsP7mQ9Lw_Dv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBxTH-6xfNtuX4vwEaGzVuQFcCCEjaCRCD1Kxk7-qnGuFyvc9dlGdi6iTw3XUt1uHI_bF_sroImcnNZuEdxBCia98YERx-XStHOynRIxBDFhRKGRlOcvFd-5RErTDoA9KnfWV-kxhHRL_rb3bIVPJmA0_TXDHNhsr524TqhXR5K8E98bD2NsP7mQ9Lw_Dv=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>I love post-apocalypse stories. When I first started reading Harlan Ellison, one of my favorites of his work was <i>A Boy and his Dog</i>, which is set in America, post-nuclear disaster. One of my favorite films at a young age was John Carpenter's <i>Escape from New York</i>. When I first started running RPGs, my favorite setting was <i>Gamma World</i>. It's safe to say that I'm a child of the Cold War. So, when I heard that there was a film on Netflix that was really popular and that fit those themes, I was definitely interested. Unfortunately, that film was <b>Leave the World Behind</b> and it was a failure on so many levels that it's just about arcing toward the sublime.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpLA9Zj3XVRqUAfT_owtVcTni8VQLVXs6xz_9KTuZppvv6_dO-5Kur91cxBi_HrC_IlyTfAUX1NSWCZVQ2J86UIPrRUby9pI7UgsmXYCnCtd9VTnR-NM9YACbOLn5dmfc7Cn0pwuzi0sSdTe-9gCH1PImEv_e1eadzMIvMqRxh9DbEswK90PEgOujgdyX_" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpLA9Zj3XVRqUAfT_owtVcTni8VQLVXs6xz_9KTuZppvv6_dO-5Kur91cxBi_HrC_IlyTfAUX1NSWCZVQ2J86UIPrRUby9pI7UgsmXYCnCtd9VTnR-NM9YACbOLn5dmfc7Cn0pwuzi0sSdTe-9gCH1PImEv_e1eadzMIvMqRxh9DbEswK90PEgOujgdyX_=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>Every science fiction premise needs some level of suspension of disbelief. You have to be willing to accept the conditions that make up the world in question, whether it be the talking plants and fusion rifles of <i>Gamma World</i> or the island of Manhattan as maximum security prison of <i>Escape from New York</i>. The basic premise of Leave is that a cyberattack has crippled the power grid of the eastern seaboard of the US and all of the problems that ensue following that, including many that have little to do with a fairly believable scenario like that one, like sonic weapons transmitted over the entirety of Long Island and herds of deer trying to send a signal about this impending doom that's approaching. I mean, those things could be part of our suspension, as well, if they weren't from a different level of sci-fi than simply Con Ed in New York being hacked. But that's where you wonder how this script might have benefitted from a firmer hand that kept it going in a coherent direction, rather than the scattershot approach that later takes hold of it and squeezes hard enough that all of its elements get splattered in random directions, to the denigration of cast and audience.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPIxuxOWgQXFMXJktk9mysiFb9hEeLwGju9iXdubLD0w-TGT2BErMYgvJCGzWcPlE4j_J5-60tVYq2MTwZL5LMmMHlYLaM-6oXGFMl8elp_6gpCOFpWYKDFF0rxFY1AQeylPopHUQGuH1p9_TTCyarHvaZcjR1tGaw03eON8PIicw8LUHaKgR98Gq4rmMj" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1326" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPIxuxOWgQXFMXJktk9mysiFb9hEeLwGju9iXdubLD0w-TGT2BErMYgvJCGzWcPlE4j_J5-60tVYq2MTwZL5LMmMHlYLaM-6oXGFMl8elp_6gpCOFpWYKDFF0rxFY1AQeylPopHUQGuH1p9_TTCyarHvaZcjR1tGaw03eON8PIicw8LUHaKgR98Gq4rmMj=w400-h190" width="400" /></a></div><br />First off, if a cyberattack did take down enough of society to cause chaos, how (and why) is it that this one section of Long Island was spared? Was it because they didn't want to try to shoot all of the nighttime scenes by candlelight? Or so they could still have a functioning coffee maker in the house so that you'd know people would last two days instead of becoming instantly homicidal? I mean, part of the basis of most adventure stories is that the circumstances in front of us are just slightly different so that our heroes have a chance to do heroic stuff. So, fine. Our characters have power where all of New York City, visible across the river, does not. But then we discover that it may be beyond just power grids, in that satellite networks are down, so that planes and ships no longer have functioning navigation systems. But, of course, they still have functioning engines and ways to turn them off or keep them running, so why are ships beaching and planes crashing? And why is the latter only happening 18 hours after the initial shutdown when one of our heroes is walking on the beach? Said hero, G. H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) is an investment banker with high enough contacts to know one of the Illuminati who has offhandedly warned him that this disaster is coming. Scott, of course, dismisses the idea of the cabal that rules the world but also repeatedly reinforces the idea that such a thing exists. So, which is it? If writer/director Sam Esmail was trying to avoid the historical racist implications of that theory, he wasn't doing such a great job of it. Instead, he veers right into hitting us over the head with the overt racism of Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) when confronted with Scott and his daughter, Ruth (Myha'la) returning to their home which the Sandfords have rented. I mean, yes, the problem of inherent racism drives a large portion of American cultural relations and politics, so you don't really have to be that heavy-handed with said message. Amanda is borderline shrewish when conveying her distrust of the Black people in the house (their house, which she clearly doesn't believe because, you know, they're Black...) with her children.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoKAXUaSXlBaZlS764GaTDEZfbSwCbsh0naFa-4vWoyBrQBRwO69F8PCdBXBX-hzNh1EEpFxwNYhex6TMqGvkua1rrxr_GpvsD5x-psyst99ppdSQWthhQpdups-huioXqMstOPtgt-KTj1T9nUvQcOH8jjb7kx9b1FzBQG6Jmzn74E9bll-zUTxmDmVKq" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="2208" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoKAXUaSXlBaZlS764GaTDEZfbSwCbsh0naFa-4vWoyBrQBRwO69F8PCdBXBX-hzNh1EEpFxwNYhex6TMqGvkua1rrxr_GpvsD5x-psyst99ppdSQWthhQpdups-huioXqMstOPtgt-KTj1T9nUvQcOH8jjb7kx9b1FzBQG6Jmzn74E9bll-zUTxmDmVKq=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yeah, I can't believe how dumb this is, either.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />But then we have all of the other more obvious story points that simply don't mesh with our aforementioned suspension. Why does Archie's (Charlie Evans) lyme disease take hold overnight and become worse than any version of that disease ever seen? If it is even just lyme disease, why do they think that a couple pills from local survivalist neighbor, Danny (Kevin Bacon), will solve his problem? Why do the local deer seem intent on gathering around just their house and not others? Why do flamingos show up in a Long Island swimming pool? Are these the surrealist components that are supposed to make us as confused as the characters? Why do Amanda and G. H., completely at odds over the situation and their respective identities, suddenly fall into each others' arms and consider cheating on their partners with each other in the space of 48 hours? Why would a man as wealthy as G. H. ever play ball at the local YMCA? There are so many little things detached from reality here that it's difficult to believe that one person wrote it and, if that is the case, whether that person has been outside their home to interact with actual humans anytime in the past few years. Is Esmail an isolationist/survivalist? Even the seeming in-jokes are off key. We see a trashed house with a sign of the previous owners hanging loose that says the home was owned by The Huxleys. If that's supposed to be a reference to Aldous Huxley, I'd have to ask why, given that this is a disaster film. Huxley is best known among his fiction works for <i>Brave New World</i>; a society under total control, not one that is falling apart. Archie walks around wearing an "OBEY" shirt from <i>They Live</i>, which is about the subtle control of society through subliminal advertising, not its collapse from a systemic breakdown.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggrEgxZWcc_lmx4MlAbf8NVYgrzd2-PX-UmvhJ3KKTPBXCLrRda79QB5jsyCn1iwga5-GI1BXXDEyb9XJDrfs6MJhnfMrz1hyG4gQ3Xwh9CPsZx3zHv9hcybarl9Oq0okiBX9v0w127u3rRYil1f9xY_xlshjO4enRQ5I8tClgV7vxsffDv0arQ9BwTG8H" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggrEgxZWcc_lmx4MlAbf8NVYgrzd2-PX-UmvhJ3KKTPBXCLrRda79QB5jsyCn1iwga5-GI1BXXDEyb9XJDrfs6MJhnfMrz1hyG4gQ3Xwh9CPsZx3zHv9hcybarl9Oq0okiBX9v0w127u3rRYil1f9xY_xlshjO4enRQ5I8tClgV7vxsffDv0arQ9BwTG8H=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />All of this confusion and lack of direction is reinforced by the melodrama of both the cinematography and the score. The camera did repeated close-ups during dramatic moments, just in case we couldn't figure that out, and then wide pullbacks and spirals from above when action was happening. The score was the stereotypical orchestral crashing whenever a plot point was revealed or a realization was made by any of the characters; often multiple times in the same scene. The whole storytelling approach was amateurish, at best, and didn't convey the idea of a major production that would be carrying the heft of a film with the above listed stars, as well as Ethan Hawke. But, then, Hawke was almost insipid in his contrast to his abrasive wife, Amanda, who was presented in a thoroughly wooden performance by Roberts, which likely wasn't helped by the boilerplate dialogue she was given. Her first lines, when she wakes her husband to announce that they're taking a last-minute vacation and why are spoken like she's reading from a book of middle American homilies about modern society. And, of course, the worst thing about the whole presentation is that it reinforces the conspiracy theories that are rampant today, by suggesting that there may be some kernel of truth to them, if people would only pay attention. What those theories also carry are the racist overtones of anything similar to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which is kinda how this feels when you see the upper middle class White family having their vacation disrupted by all of the surrounding events (and Black people!)</div><div><br /></div><div>It's just trash, beginning to end, and in no way worth your time or attention.</div></div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-69470729463643886332023-12-22T17:19:00.001-05:002023-12-23T22:34:15.966-05:00The difference between two stories we've seen before<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYrSmv3bsTnb7UUVUHghRvlUOn4nJnuTyG5EByaPtXhbrjBbfj9a5FzTwujI0H882zrK7HrMFlvlUXPqsE68VWSV4HOeuxzpSC3Ssq0RSwWr8fMKMXrQjvB8icXNAjoPsFvSycEAuDsrrus5h3QxH9qDtU3CKMLk8g3EPYwHANzPk6kYOA3RSt7HbpeLw6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYrSmv3bsTnb7UUVUHghRvlUOn4nJnuTyG5EByaPtXhbrjBbfj9a5FzTwujI0H882zrK7HrMFlvlUXPqsE68VWSV4HOeuxzpSC3Ssq0RSwWr8fMKMXrQjvB8icXNAjoPsFvSycEAuDsrrus5h3QxH9qDtU3CKMLk8g3EPYwHANzPk6kYOA3RSt7HbpeLw6=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />I was looking forward to seeing <i>Maestro</i>, Bradley Cooper's latest film about the life of Leonard Bernstein. Larissa objected, thinking that she would find it too slow, as there's a lot to talk about in Bernstein's complicated life. Then we found out that it was a Netflix production, so we can watch it whenever, so that problem was solved. But we had already decided to see <b>Fallen Leaves</b> instead. The latter is a Finnish production about two average people leading fairly downtrodden lives who discover each other by chance and try to make contact, but keep stumbling over themselves, their lives, and other obstacles. It's a very simple story but it's effectively told and fairly entertaining. Indeed, it was done so well that it won the Jury Prize at Cannes this year, proving yet again that stories don't have to be complex, as long as they're well-written and well-acted and aren't predictable Hollywood boilerplate.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbSk6yN8nGVDpEHlMO_dSveOl0vxW4bDkCY0Wciij9SliArIb3Gh4CpVbPIhWhW8jvEVpxkQB_5S5aZOwQVTC_li-a7pyY9TOMqCGPIBl1PhctKKOSqDa1wUhoDnfUIVaxUwWZLoeIydUF3W2_5Hb4jiFLN3e1-S6P0S9zhjAQo3mIUdltxePoajpvWL5v" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="1417" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgbSk6yN8nGVDpEHlMO_dSveOl0vxW4bDkCY0Wciij9SliArIb3Gh4CpVbPIhWhW8jvEVpxkQB_5S5aZOwQVTC_li-a7pyY9TOMqCGPIBl1PhctKKOSqDa1wUhoDnfUIVaxUwWZLoeIydUF3W2_5Hb4jiFLN3e1-S6P0S9zhjAQo3mIUdltxePoajpvWL5v=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ansa (Alms Pöysti), a grocery store worker and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), a metal reclaimer, meet up at a bar on karaoke night, having been dragged there by their respective friends, Liisa (Nuppu Koivu) and Huotari (Janne Hyytiäinen.) There's a brief spark between them that they kind of grudgingly acknowledge and then make plans to meet again to see if it becomes a fire. Unfortunately, Holappa is a functioning alcoholic and Ansa isn't the surest person in social situations, so they end up missing each other in a variety of ways (mostly caused by Holappa.) The story doesn't get any more complicated than that, aside from the brief looks into Liisa and Huotari's perspective on life and relationships and the difficulties that our two leads have in remaining employed. It's basically a story about modern life and middle age. Of course, life in Helsinki is probably much different than it is in modern America, so there's not a lot of interaction with phones or the Interwebs or any of the other things that might suffuse wealthier societies and the process of people trying to hook up (My knowledge of modern Finnish culture and society is admittedly quite limited.) But the story doesn't really need all of that, either, since most of it is just an examination of how Ansa and Holappa are looking at life and whether they're willing to trust what it and each other are telling them.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB3xCzIvkHNSUzdBnTyYXi1wlasMIOMXraU98A5eTAOkC_55KDXQXH6WJd-JpVLLeCL79yxk-gh3EoWiVp89fz6Z1oLwgPaDOr6dBgdc3qtarVa3YKWXRk9DoZm-nABaVhK2pFL8adIDIpog8oiHxct6pebbce0POZtYwgw8KUVVltLyTiy2R0i0vtDkj3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjB3xCzIvkHNSUzdBnTyYXi1wlasMIOMXraU98A5eTAOkC_55KDXQXH6WJd-JpVLLeCL79yxk-gh3EoWiVp89fz6Z1oLwgPaDOr6dBgdc3qtarVa3YKWXRk9DoZm-nABaVhK2pFL8adIDIpog8oiHxct6pebbce0POZtYwgw8KUVVltLyTiy2R0i0vtDkj3=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br />There's a bit of a Coen Brothers air to the production overall, especially when it involves Huotari, who is easily the funniest character of the cast, as he tries to convince women, in general, and then Liisa in specific that, despite his gray hair, he's not actually that old and anyone who suggests that he is must be trying to pull a con. It's like Republican projection but far less sinister and far more amusing. But there's also some of the plaintiveness and resigned attitude that often pervades Coen stories, alongside the determination and willingness to keep forging ahead that is also a frequent feature of their characters. It also doesn't finish with a pat ending but leaves it open to question as to whether the relationship we've been trying to see established for the 81 minute runtime will actually be a positive one. That uncertainty, like everything else about this film, is just like life and can easily be understood and absorbed by an audience willing to see real people do real things.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKxWk3fboq_Y61NfNrNzACVjjIdaM2zJcttBmKJmBSYf9tJfIblyVLvj7-OH64XamYyayqD5Ac7Ed9IBLWeuVEXJ4Vj0zYePevM7A0iJT3IKXdAoqod_t0AYqgQmJQWH7434Brhwhti6F1TOyJlN7CgkWbRx6LK-e7_xWtEAWTGYc7SAG7pTKChBc7XKAu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKxWk3fboq_Y61NfNrNzACVjjIdaM2zJcttBmKJmBSYf9tJfIblyVLvj7-OH64XamYyayqD5Ac7Ed9IBLWeuVEXJ4Vj0zYePevM7A0iJT3IKXdAoqod_t0AYqgQmJQWH7434Brhwhti6F1TOyJlN7CgkWbRx6LK-e7_xWtEAWTGYc7SAG7pTKChBc7XKAu=w400-h285" width="400" /></a></div><br />That is, of course, a contrast to <b>Maestro</b>, which I started to watch last night. This is just the latest version of <i>La La Land</i>; a movie by Hollywood and for Hollywood that is solely concerned with Hollywood and the little tragedies within it that are only really relatable to those inhabiting it. In this case, the New York City musical scene stands in for Tinseltown. In the same way Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone tried to convey the horrible struggle of being an aspiring actor, <i>Maestro</i> takes us one step further and tries to convey the incredible anguish of being an enormously successful composer and conductor. Admittedly, Bernstein's life was more complicated by being a gay male in a period when such a thing, even among creative types, was far less acceptable than it is now and I think this is the angle that most occupied the thoughts of writer/director/star, Bradley Cooper. But the first hour of it plays out as a brief survey of how difficult Bernstein's life was on an emotional level when on every other conceivable level it clearly was not. This was not an aberrant personality like Oppenheimer trying to relate to the people around him. This was the extraordinarily popular and, again, successful Lenny Bernstein enjoying life with both his beard and the men he had on the side.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEglPx8BH24M6lmRA25jj_jA4TUF-DSwAq4rrAFRLIcZWzPoJ0wDTgDZJ6qQA8uo102RPeM5pBTHEdI8HLP_nO-VaWx_PFZas3YVzH91QTvaJgOKifTZ0c6t1axYnExVppIlMexlOXy4XolXf_VbMvx_qY47sZIbTEPDDcOBJy87ACQW6kjrptcNjxnkwW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="1200" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEglPx8BH24M6lmRA25jj_jA4TUF-DSwAq4rrAFRLIcZWzPoJ0wDTgDZJ6qQA8uo102RPeM5pBTHEdI8HLP_nO-VaWx_PFZas3YVzH91QTvaJgOKifTZ0c6t1axYnExVppIlMexlOXy4XolXf_VbMvx_qY47sZIbTEPDDcOBJy87ACQW6kjrptcNjxnkwW=w400-h211" width="400" /></a></div><br />In contrast to <i>Fallen Leaves</i>, this film doesn't seem like life. It feels like a Hollywood depiction of life that few in the audience would ever be able to relate to. If the first hour had spent more time on the wider scope of Bernstein's life, instead of long shots on the faces of his male lovers feeling rejected when he marries Felicia Montealegre Cohn (Carey Mulligan), I might not have gotten so bored and disappointed that I turned it off. In some respects, that's a bit of improvement, since I could only make it through 15 minutes of <i>La La Land</i> before leaving the room. Obviously, there are a lot of ways to look at the lengthy life of an extraordinarily talented figure who had an enormous impact on 20th century music and continues to do so today (<i>West Side Story</i> was just remade by someone as notable as Steven Spielberg, as just one example.) But Cooper decided to take the overwrought approach that doesn't really explore the length and breadth of that impact, but instead decides to bring it all down to the emotional angle that plays up how trying Bernstein's personal life was. In a way, it's kind of like a very removed version of <i>Fallen Leaves</i>, but it simply has no way to make the personal connection that the latter film does because it's too preoccupied with the sense of its own tragedy. As someone who has tried to produce creative works for my entire life, I can tell you that I'd have given a lot for my life to have turned out as tragic as Bernstein's. (Obviously, I would've had to have had even a minor fraction of his talent.)</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFkHvx28koIm7N1HLuy2JRGdVAixOhzMPgR9ooMdXtdzBT_wvub2QGni3wgwRCUJctBfUM6RVn2RhGBZxMfnWSdQXXmfQBq2IEu9PAu3PPnUuR5v0jABmEdjWRXEcptUq5kOnmdDwuPm4RLjTxDLxCgQrAITSjJaZjWdsaOnrdeObuaCYm_DWjJkliUhri" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFkHvx28koIm7N1HLuy2JRGdVAixOhzMPgR9ooMdXtdzBT_wvub2QGni3wgwRCUJctBfUM6RVn2RhGBZxMfnWSdQXXmfQBq2IEu9PAu3PPnUuR5v0jABmEdjWRXEcptUq5kOnmdDwuPm4RLjTxDLxCgQrAITSjJaZjWdsaOnrdeObuaCYm_DWjJkliUhri=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />Maybe I'm wrong about the overall film, since I only made it through the first half, but I'm not sure that I'm willing to sacrifice the other hour of my far less interesting life to find out whether Cooper's vision changes. I'd rather see stuff about more relatable people. It's not that Bernstein wasn't presented as human, which is my frequent complaint about characters. He most certainly was. It's just that what he experienced is relatable to so few other humans that the message seems lost in its own attempted majesty. That's the difference between stories, even ones that we've seen a thousand times in various forms, that try to talk about life and those that imagine that their very removed life is somehow normal for the rest of us.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-16463590542095721202023-12-07T19:33:00.007-05:002023-12-07T19:33:51.462-05:00Searching for meaning<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjINsz2UQcR709e4Rmpe59iM05AxORUsrAh3ubImJDHYfQDlITwAluwYTbh1E2IQ0lkAjOnwyBto0_I327zMGW3E7GYFQbppG-E94ODfTGt7_tDHzNaGihFdZQvjb2MeBs0bY7U6un33kckc_F7HTMg_qUOgTnW27H0NtxqWG27cI_-896IHsWemuXh2sED" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1301" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjINsz2UQcR709e4Rmpe59iM05AxORUsrAh3ubImJDHYfQDlITwAluwYTbh1E2IQ0lkAjOnwyBto0_I327zMGW3E7GYFQbppG-E94ODfTGt7_tDHzNaGihFdZQvjb2MeBs0bY7U6un33kckc_F7HTMg_qUOgTnW27H0NtxqWG27cI_-896IHsWemuXh2sED=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />I'm not a Nicholas Cage fan. My favorite film of his is the one where he's drinking himself to death (<i>Leaving Las Vegas</i>.) The rest of his work is somewhere between competent (<i>The Color Out of Space</i>) and higher-end trash (<i>Gone in 60 Seconds</i>, etc.) So hearing <b>Dream Scenario</b> described in the trailer as "Nic Cage at his very best!" was not exactly a selling point for me, unless we were talking about something akin to LLV. Dream Scenario kinda gets there at points, but still not with enough tragedy or emotion to really hit that level. Or, in all honesty, to sell its own story in the first place.</div><div>Nominally, it's about Paul (Cage), underachieving science teacher (That's your cue Breaking Bad fans) who suddenly becomes a bystander in thousands (millions?) of people's dreams. Given the nature of our interconnected society, he instantly becomes famous when his story is released to the Interwebs, courtesy an old girlfriend looking for subject matter for her blog. Life begins to go awry from there, but we never really depart the stiflingly mundane life that Paul has built for himself and which he sees no route to proceed from except via his long-unwritten book. Paul is not an appealing character, lacking even the basic sympathy or mild wit that someone like Walter White exhibits in the beginning of his story. Instead, Paul's utter lack of ambition and inability to self-examine is used as a lever by which to portray the sudden rise of "normal" people to fame through modern social media and all of the downfalls that can accompany that status when your life is suddenly exposed to the attention of millions of people who would otherwise have ignored you. Paul, of course, is the most ignorable of people, appreciated by no one but the dean of his small college (Brett (Tim Meadows)) and his wife, Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and then only reluctantly, it seems.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcRswQQ0Teeswr_1B15s66-V5LBJP-Lkr1euglpLMwl1KUETXV_7jBBAUCcKB3AjpL5SmQRk7hFFWtyHRwVN3C3OuJkx6P43DzNVINtKT-C_hmc60j64aTfl221g1qwHFWNFaa_a6xB9Pm9l6mF7ccd_7wQMx8HxxxU2K27w94cTSe70Q2w7E3en2bB9_A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="465" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcRswQQ0Teeswr_1B15s66-V5LBJP-Lkr1euglpLMwl1KUETXV_7jBBAUCcKB3AjpL5SmQRk7hFFWtyHRwVN3C3OuJkx6P43DzNVINtKT-C_hmc60j64aTfl221g1qwHFWNFaa_a6xB9Pm9l6mF7ccd_7wQMx8HxxxU2K27w94cTSe70Q2w7E3en2bB9_A=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></div><br />There's nothing to engender sympathy about Paul's situation, which is the usual approach in situations like this and perhaps that was writer-director, Kristoffer Borgli's, intent to escape that typical angle; a move that I would normally applaud, especially when trying to tell a story that delivers a message about modern circumstances. But the message ends up being muddled because we find ourselves why we're bothering to watch this at all given that, again, Paul is so uninteresting as to be basically repellent to not only everyone around him in the film, but those watching it, too. There's some interest generated by the phenomenon itself (Jung was right-!) and why it's only happening to Paul, but pretty soon that's kind of shuffled to the side in the interest of delivering the "deeper" message about fame and all of its foibles. There are, quiet honestly, better ways to go about this and with far more interesting characters to do it with. Do you really want your audience to reach the point of disdain for your main character by the end of the film without him having done one interesting thing the whole time? I could watch any reality TV trash for two hours and get the same result. Even the almost-but-not-quite sex scene, set up to be a flashpoint which predictably fizzles, doesn't engender anything in the viewer except a question as to why they're still sitting there watching this.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5sykCDkjMs7UOMoP8QwgTm6E4fJzGjpFY1o0_xkaG4jOaI3UjqIJPN74TrCa2w13Mv8-329_pxb31q0EWhs6zzOJUqKfE9CPMJG70TTfoukk99zsqgt-pMhFffhJoxukVOVSvyLmKLEzsg7ahMUAfoK1o7jV7KjbCkvXs1y11qo8vSPB4qUzOPp_rHqJQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3996" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5sykCDkjMs7UOMoP8QwgTm6E4fJzGjpFY1o0_xkaG4jOaI3UjqIJPN74TrCa2w13Mv8-329_pxb31q0EWhs6zzOJUqKfE9CPMJG70TTfoukk99zsqgt-pMhFffhJoxukVOVSvyLmKLEzsg7ahMUAfoK1o7jV7KjbCkvXs1y11qo8vSPB4qUzOPp_rHqJQ=w400-h216" width="400" /></a></div><br />Suffice it to say that I didn't "get it." I mean, I understand the point that Borgli was trying to make and sympathize with the idea, but it didn't sell me at all. I basically felt nothing but contempt for everyone in the film, to one degree or another, and not just because the person onscreen most often is an actor that I don't particularly appreciate. Maybe you could take the time to watch this on some streaming service if you're interested in oneiromancy about the world as a whole, but I wouldn't blame you at all if you didn't bother. </div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-53539887437950853072023-11-22T17:02:00.000-05:002023-11-22T17:02:33.001-05:00Satisfyingly clichéd<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_lyUsfHuhURWmklC3jWtMUqUMvSu7CaqOlkyFQR8yegdnMlxBGV6GOVRtq40qVp5Uk5QbvN6UHAMOHMtQIP1imSSO0dhtWjemZH6JD4v8bGMNneVlkWXegiQtSerDy82NVhZqM0g3HYLbbaviMQ6Op3tV2r87SEiJvqWdz5M88js3huy8gpGjocV-97Z5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1798" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_lyUsfHuhURWmklC3jWtMUqUMvSu7CaqOlkyFQR8yegdnMlxBGV6GOVRtq40qVp5Uk5QbvN6UHAMOHMtQIP1imSSO0dhtWjemZH6JD4v8bGMNneVlkWXegiQtSerDy82NVhZqM0g3HYLbbaviMQ6Op3tV2r87SEiJvqWdz5M88js3huy8gpGjocV-97Z5=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></div><br />I'm an Alexander Payne fan. Ever since <i>Election</i>, I've made sure to see everything that he's directed because there's something about his pacing and storytelling rhythm that simply sings to me. It's a comforting thing when you can begin watching a film and instantly know that it's a particular director's work. I've had that feeling with people from Christopher Nolan to John Carpenter and Payne is no exception to that. In that respect, even if I hadn't known that <b>The Holdovers</b> was his latest release, I would've been able to tell you that it was about five minutes into seeing the interchanges between irascible history teacher, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), and student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) along with the lighting, the camera angles, and the slow pans through the early 70s New England winter. All of that said, it's fair to say that the film doesn't really show anything new or exciting that deviates from that style and it's an open question as to whether it benefits or suffers from that.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhItSQAeut6u5QSKJ39JJFYjLbTpkoaX6kseYCYOe9AYZt2Q6zJYdBobW3qLH8tc_AOBvbT7EJcLqY8Yw03PcAdJ0OP5Whv6_bC3moHltSXTxIbkbuizeh3tfVPL6g3cEipbiYlqnTvc0qCg5VvonT18HD2bScqDm9Y4a7KP9Q94Wxiiy6_wZF9ipYhKezA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="744" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhItSQAeut6u5QSKJ39JJFYjLbTpkoaX6kseYCYOe9AYZt2Q6zJYdBobW3qLH8tc_AOBvbT7EJcLqY8Yw03PcAdJ0OP5Whv6_bC3moHltSXTxIbkbuizeh3tfVPL6g3cEipbiYlqnTvc0qCg5VvonT18HD2bScqDm9Y4a7KP9Q94Wxiiy6_wZF9ipYhKezA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />Now, as Story Guy™, I'm usually the first one to criticize someone presenting a story that's immediately predictable or just a retread of others that we've seen before. By the same token, what I'm asking for more often than not isn't necessarily something new, but instead something good and <i>The Holdovers</i> does not fail in that respect. The embittered teacher who thought he'd achieve something more is no more new than the mother grieving for her lost son or the kid whose parents shipped him off to boarding school to get him out of their lives (How well do I know that story...) But the combination here is familiar enough to accept, but also written and performed well enough to hold the attention. It was probably even more entrancing for me than most of the rest of the audience because I attended a school a lot like the fictional Burton Academy for a couple years when my parents shipped me off there, ostensibly to get a better education, but mostly to just get me out. Giamatti's character speaks to that when he bemoans the fact that most of the students he has are unprepared for both the material he's teaching and the style with which he does it. And, just like my own experience, by far the most congenial character is Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the head cook in the school's kitchen, as adrift from human companionship as either of the other two leads and, like them, forced to put up with what she can get.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaQUjj4BXJLYTUPXQFV5JRVi1smKGzDinER9e1nH_UkFMEGeLLdc0hrgXsDUk0rfop40cJbRrlTxCoFi-PSx_xNxnas3IDXBkZ7trjgox7QZ_HemMzXKTeHiUC4QGxiPiJltK0wUio4VNAhrBnu_L6v1d1mKtLBSVBYzBq7kXbX9sNyOnQhFCXV4dJvgaz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="1833" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaQUjj4BXJLYTUPXQFV5JRVi1smKGzDinER9e1nH_UkFMEGeLLdc0hrgXsDUk0rfop40cJbRrlTxCoFi-PSx_xNxnas3IDXBkZ7trjgox7QZ_HemMzXKTeHiUC4QGxiPiJltK0wUio4VNAhrBnu_L6v1d1mKtLBSVBYzBq7kXbX9sNyOnQhFCXV4dJvgaz=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Interestingly, the concept for the film was initially Payne's but he decided to hand it off to writer, David Hemingson, after deciding that the TV pilot he originally had in mind didn't have enough to carry it. I think he was correct in that respect, in that the film's plot is comfortably familiar, but probably so much so that a TV series would have become repetitive quite soon and dwindled off into indifference. Hemingson's script is matched perfectly with Payne's approach and is easily among the highlights of the film. I think Randolph's line: "Don't fuck it up for the little asshole!" is among my favorites that I've heard uttered this year. But you have to give a nod to the performances, from the star in Giamatti to the veteran in Randolph to the newcomer in Sessa, who was not only in his first credit of any kind but was also attending one of the locations used to shoot the film (Deerfield Academy) just over a year ago. Giamatti carries a role much like he did in his previous collaboration with Payne (<i>Sideways</i>), but remains as magnetic a presence as ever, even in the cloak of the familiar. Sessa, on the other hand, switches nicely from the perpetually bored and insouciant teenager to the wounded child, longing for his father, and back again. Randolph, meanwhile, is the most consistently moving of them all and with the deepest well of emotion in most of her scenes.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxQWbfTBkS2C7KsDQFFi9rkt09mtUgYquV0q9xwvO7E8c7Q-9imNOTR0xLqI6IF2mKi4cgtFDkMKrVO2yzvuNOIJG7TBvEolpE0hWz5SSePxAVc2x-4HSJsagPF-8rCVbGnVC3FI3p5-A6iG6wk6Wtzt3lKmYzhVHeK883uEL_H_V5HE9gosa0aElUjr0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxQWbfTBkS2C7KsDQFFi9rkt09mtUgYquV0q9xwvO7E8c7Q-9imNOTR0xLqI6IF2mKi4cgtFDkMKrVO2yzvuNOIJG7TBvEolpE0hWz5SSePxAVc2x-4HSJsagPF-8rCVbGnVC3FI3p5-A6iG6wk6Wtzt3lKmYzhVHeK883uEL_H_V5HE9gosa0aElUjr0=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />And all of those positives have to be the shining stars in this firmament because, again, the story is nothing innovative and is entirely predictable from opening to ending credits. (I certainly appreciated the 70s-era MPAA screen notifying us of the 'R' rating.) It's not wowing us with anything. It's simply delivering a solid story and good performances in the same heartfelt way that Payne films like <i>Nebraska </i>or <i>The Descendants</i> did, if not quite so elevated in its look into the human condition as the latter. Or perhaps it simply felt that way because, again, we've seen this before; in my case, even moreso than others for reasons noted but not least because Hunham is as fond of Marcus Aurelieus' <i>Meditations</i> as I am ("This book, for me, is a combination of Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism all in one and without a single mention of 'God'!") That book has been a touchstone for me since I was roughly the same age as Angus and holds a lot of advice about life which seems obvious only after you've read it; in many ways, like <i>The Holdovers</i>, which is comfortably clichéd, but something that you don't mind, and even look forward to, seeing again.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-78767802551529187412023-11-06T22:24:00.000-05:002023-11-06T22:24:03.204-05:00Focusing on the pedestal<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcRo7ar2bGKAG1ot5WA2XLhBC7eoFi4QsfvfASMZyhxoplzmkNac4DLDZeHotTwyVdj9VV11XnSyflcuS34kzSGMhdY-44dfrut_9tTUFu8asIY5GZGeByaejvLGiLKvchaYh8tsLSp641AlugJ079Yh6T6_MjMiz4NkcM0YMLEEOJCPPyA-mEL-WtYb_p" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcRo7ar2bGKAG1ot5WA2XLhBC7eoFi4QsfvfASMZyhxoplzmkNac4DLDZeHotTwyVdj9VV11XnSyflcuS34kzSGMhdY-44dfrut_9tTUFu8asIY5GZGeByaejvLGiLKvchaYh8tsLSp641AlugJ079Yh6T6_MjMiz4NkcM0YMLEEOJCPPyA-mEL-WtYb_p=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />We saw <b>Killers of the Flower Moon</b> almost a week ago and it's taken me this long to get around to writing something about it because, in the end, it was all very mechanical and technical writing is not really my strong suit. That's a forward statement that would prepare most readers with the idea that I didn't like the film. That's actually not entirely the case. I like most Martin Scorsese films to one degree or another. But the problem I've had with his output for the latter half of his career (basically anything post-<i>Goodfellas</i>) is that he's taking the "favored actor" concept to the nth degree. Instead of telling a story, he's just signing the actors that he likes working with and building a production around them which is mostly just an opportunity for them to show off. So, yeah, I have a bit of a critique in mind.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwTt5Mdg6xBsUcn1VxVhziU5ulxAxF9qzEoNpYMCw_NyxYV3jYHZOm6IxYlggHWpZ44cVTKvNbqCBLxETF4Pw2MYcg7PPrv1m7-o52pYCPkyaVSay9k_SCr7uU4zoxg-AP5Pzzq2v7nimcDFBWbZzfVUyDcvW-R064gfsGJoNNd9jyvPzELJABZIJF8UfL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwTt5Mdg6xBsUcn1VxVhziU5ulxAxF9qzEoNpYMCw_NyxYV3jYHZOm6IxYlggHWpZ44cVTKvNbqCBLxETF4Pw2MYcg7PPrv1m7-o52pYCPkyaVSay9k_SCr7uU4zoxg-AP5Pzzq2v7nimcDFBWbZzfVUyDcvW-R064gfsGJoNNd9jyvPzELJABZIJF8UfL=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Now, there's nothing wrong with actors "showing off." That's kinda what acting is in the first place. Sometimes, it can even be a great thing. <i>Gangs of New York</i> was completely carried by Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as Bill the Butcher. Indeed, the entire story is centered on him and his experience, despite Leonardo DiCaprio's presence as the nominal lead. It's a fun time watching DDL do his thing for two hours because, as with many of his roles, he's magnetic every time the camera is on him. But it only took one viewing to recognize that the film was basically all about his performance. The story is weak. There is precisely zero character development, as everyone knows what Amsterdam's motivations are from the outset and they don't change and neither does anyone else. It's just a showcase to demonstrate what a great actor Day-Lewis is. And that's fine. Some films are like that. It's what's normally referred to as a "vehicle" for whomever the star is. But even most vehicles have a story that goes somewhere at least mildly interesting and too many Scorsese movies in the latter half of his career really don't. <i>Killers </i>is no exception.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu2rZACPQlG8si0o3d51SzoaFKtPwBTM1_iEE5JgHJfIlZRqQRkJjtZGuTMIL9jrphnyI84pYMk-8KpP1hVxVCVxD0I46RjyiZLxafNztFf5o8030G6kztkiuDss90Wl7HGjz6tzzQeC_ogbXGoFs-SPqemlbm_GZF0YBMgi2IoT4bjw1uUt0JyMEjIFQb" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu2rZACPQlG8si0o3d51SzoaFKtPwBTM1_iEE5JgHJfIlZRqQRkJjtZGuTMIL9jrphnyI84pYMk-8KpP1hVxVCVxD0I46RjyiZLxafNztFf5o8030G6kztkiuDss90Wl7HGjz6tzzQeC_ogbXGoFs-SPqemlbm_GZF0YBMgi2IoT4bjw1uUt0JyMEjIFQb=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The basis of the story is excellent. It's about the discovery of oil on Osage land in Oklahoma in the early part of the 20th century and how the tribe became the richest people per capita in the world. It's also about how White people then moved in and scammed, stole, and literally murdered many Osage for their land rights and that money flowing from it. This is, as all of you know, something of a repetitive theme when it comes to US interaction with the native tribes of this continent. In this case, it was simply among the most blatant. That sounds like a situation that not only is unfamiliar to many, which can often lead to a good story full of tension, but is also loaded with potential for personal drama, as well. And the film has both of those elements to varying degrees... except that it begins with a documentary approach that essentially wholly describes the circumstances that precede and <i>extend through the entire film</i>. It basically gives the audience all of the dramatic cues before we even reach a moment where said cues would've provided that tension. It's as if Scorsese decided that he didn't want to be questioned as to the idea of scoring cheap emotional points, so he told us all of the bad things that would be happening, rather than letting us discover them through the story. This extends to most of the action in the film, where we see all of the crimes happening in plain sight; most notably those committed by DiCaprio, as the male lead, Ernest Burkhart. There are no faces hidden in shadow or behind masks (for very long) that would create any kind of dramatic effect later in the story where we discover the dastardly Burkhart being involved in these activities against his wife's people and, of course, his wife. We're just shown in documentary fashion everything that's happening.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjs10mMjrxrcZkILaQ3jJlPib0VP8ogl2RcWwBfYoSWPRlLE2rhSrWGEb9gLc3BqlQBLk36UHpIayOvA0UmAoFDZvxQCM5MhV5Zjf4eP5dUtLya5HDVbCscFLIWOXe1TiksyDbCYv0fSn7yT2u7E6PKLSPiWvNimEjj8tR8NdUbVQsE9P4IGPSgUu-r3QfV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjs10mMjrxrcZkILaQ3jJlPib0VP8ogl2RcWwBfYoSWPRlLE2rhSrWGEb9gLc3BqlQBLk36UHpIayOvA0UmAoFDZvxQCM5MhV5Zjf4eP5dUtLya5HDVbCscFLIWOXe1TiksyDbCYv0fSn7yT2u7E6PKLSPiWvNimEjj8tR8NdUbVQsE9P4IGPSgUu-r3QfV=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />Now, there's nothing wrong with this if we were watching an actual documentary. Likewise, it might be a little more tolerable if we were watching a more typical 90- to 120-minute film. It would still be disappointing, but wouldn't have brought me to the point where I was questioning what the point of the entire last third of the film was. But it's because that last third of the film is DiCaprio's opportunity to step on the pedestal that Scorsese has given him and emote to his heart's content. Part of the problem may be that, if we're going to see a star vehicle, we generally want that character to be entertaining. That's why it's a vehicle, because you want to see this person, whether it be the actor or the character, if not both, on the screen. But Burkhart is an emotionally-stunted and largely unintelligent person. And, yet, the last hour of the three-and-a-half hours that make up this "epic" is mostly just DiCaprio reenacting <i>everything that we'd already seen for the first two-and-a-half hours</i>. The entire courtroom and jail sequences are him simply admitting to and retelling the events of everything we'd already seen happen. It's like we were given access to the rehearsal and immediately after were shuffled into a room to watch a script reading. We're getting the same information, none of which is new or surprising or particularly compelling. Instead, it's just an opportunity for DiCaprio to demonstrate his evident talent (something we're also already aware of; <i>The Revenant</i> is one of my favorite American films of recent years.) That's not unentertaining, to a point. Watching Burkhart struggle to admit his guilt with his wife (Lily Gladstone), Molly's, eyes boring into him is a fine piece of acting on both their parts. But it also just retells the story that we'd already had explained to us even before we saw it the first time.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwMuV_XoL3H346d3fnr_FkraHLu4DKOpF5P44Q46D7RG825znfC6Xj19f97ica5vEOpjW6VlWRybfA6zQgtof8z2Mig3ckj9Z_C_OOw-XNu9pM-7dgUYkKz-Yv9dAquzZAgvtLymSZ97RnPNr0JvmJqifnChj1D_AuxUdvzBMaHwRSLpe4E2z6zr1Vpk9a" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwMuV_XoL3H346d3fnr_FkraHLu4DKOpF5P44Q46D7RG825znfC6Xj19f97ica5vEOpjW6VlWRybfA6zQgtof8z2Mig3ckj9Z_C_OOw-XNu9pM-7dgUYkKz-Yv9dAquzZAgvtLymSZ97RnPNr0JvmJqifnChj1D_AuxUdvzBMaHwRSLpe4E2z6zr1Vpk9a=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />If we were going to be shown an acting <i>tour de force</i> in lieu of an actual story, I'd probably have been more entertained by seeing one from Gladstone, who was delightful as the smartest person in the room from the moment she first appears. And she does get plenty of screen time, but simply not as much as old Scorsese favorites DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, who these days doesn't often play a character so much as he plays Robert De Niro playing a character. And, of course, there's any number of cameos of big names from John Lithgow to Jesse Plemons to a scenery-chewing Brendan Fraser to Jason Isbell, a country music star whom I follow on Twitter who's highly entertaining as he interacts with people who probably think the White folks in this film are either Heroes of Progress or being persecuted by the mythical CRT zealots. Those people probably didn't want to see this, anyway, because it's presenting a story that might force them to question their star-spangled (White stars, mind you) version of American history. It's a story that needed to be told because, again, most are probably completely oblivious to it. It's an interesting story, even if macabre. But it's presented here as an excuse to showcase DiCaprio, which isn't at all what this story should have been about. Indeed, the fact that all of the Osage roles other than Molly are often stereotypical stand-ins makes one wonder if it was written from the ground-up as a star vehicle, rather than just adapted to one when it came into Scorsese's field of vision. But apparently <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-09-13/martin-scorsese-rewrote-killers-of-the-flower-moon-to-make-sure-not-all-white-guys-lily-gladstone#:~:text=He%20said%20he%20realized%20the,Burkhart%2C%20played%20by%20Leonardo%20DiCaprio.">he rewrote it to insure that it <i>wasn't </i>just a White Man's Burden thing</a>. I'm, uh, not sure that worked the way he wanted it to.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggiE-MqEnK70j4k1UQecrPWGHah9WCrqqNWHP7CrCrdJhmHOjPR3D-n9sC1X06zkNU14Moa4KvwMX-2_Jnh9QOJ9HXf8-YAPZu46LBglAmvgc0kNmLpYZaKz3tPCfGVIcg9F9rBfIzB0XjTikUeFrH9T8PpAFo8w8MnzU79af_81ng8qge9E0AZ66oAely" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggiE-MqEnK70j4k1UQecrPWGHah9WCrqqNWHP7CrCrdJhmHOjPR3D-n9sC1X06zkNU14Moa4KvwMX-2_Jnh9QOJ9HXf8-YAPZu46LBglAmvgc0kNmLpYZaKz3tPCfGVIcg9F9rBfIzB0XjTikUeFrH9T8PpAFo8w8MnzU79af_81ng8qge9E0AZ66oAely=w400-h210" width="400" /></a></div><br />Scorsese isn't a bad director any more than DiCaprio is a bad actor. But you look at the first half of the former's oeuvre and you see things like <i>Mean Streets</i>, <i>Taxi Driver</i>, <i>Raging Bull</i>, <i>After Hours</i>, and the aforementioned <i>Goodfellas</i>. Then you look at the latter half and you see things like <i>Casino</i>, <i>Gangs</i>, <i>The Departed</i>, <i>The Wolf of Wall Street</i>, and <i>The Irishman</i>. There are high points to all of them. They're not bad films. But they're also not great films because they don't try to tell a story. They're mostly just settings for his favorite actors to do their thing and all of which you either know of because you watch the news (Wolf), have seen many times before especially from Scorsese (Casino), or get explained to you before the drama even begins (The Irishman which, honestly, is probably the exception to this group, in that it's really not a good film, overall.) I didn't actively dislike <i>Killers</i>. I think it's worth seeing if you don't know anything about the story of the Osage. Do I think it's worth sitting in a theater for three-and-a-half hours to watch the same events be relayed to you twice? No. No, I do not. Watch it via Amazon over a couple evenings or something like that and do it mostly for Gladstone's performance. But if you were expecting to see another Scorsese classic on the order of <i>Goodfellas</i>, I'm afraid you're not going to be able to see past the pedestal.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-21604153445904294902023-10-17T22:20:00.003-04:002023-10-17T22:20:30.399-04:00Mastery of tension<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtcX5f8c_keUsTNsQ8Q49YlwBtAFiq55ks_f5UKsBvMM_GjbafT1sCwP7H9LLFovXRvUlw0FLfTsWmgMiaDr4N_S7S1XR74kQ6xz95Vf0GkJZ9EmnMbrFbppMFU_sdj6_NjBFRSQUqRvY8CI1BIC1h3PcXqERNiKzCQHvhnbHOVr4gRm_Gy6u0-UpLNou4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtcX5f8c_keUsTNsQ8Q49YlwBtAFiq55ks_f5UKsBvMM_GjbafT1sCwP7H9LLFovXRvUlw0FLfTsWmgMiaDr4N_S7S1XR74kQ6xz95Vf0GkJZ9EmnMbrFbppMFU_sdj6_NjBFRSQUqRvY8CI1BIC1h3PcXqERNiKzCQHvhnbHOVr4gRm_Gy6u0-UpLNou4=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />We wanted to see <b>Past Lives</b> when we saw the trailer at the Michigan Theater, but it didn't end up meeting our usual schedule. I don't recall if it was because it simply wasn't showing on Tuesdays or if showtimes were too early for us to make it. I remember thinking that it looked at first glance like a standard "long lost relationship" story, but there was something subversively attractive about it that elevated it beyond what I would have normally dismissed as boilerplate. With the recent dearth of interesting films at the two theaters, we decided to take a chance on this one on Apple TV+ and I'm really glad we did, because it was anything but bog standard and is one of the better films we've seen this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP7YpZ90Hhj_fxN7zQcbis_4wq68Nf9j6Uq_NDED6dUne414ABiIKw717beZX-v461E1M0b8Js5yUw3hFvxSz9Cp66gREMSX76glSk4VcUMgOzq5CV0_KKnLXwrWPiNvII1Roh9ff4XvcIzXr2qtdi5ZsVTMjP7pTXgyXnWi4wkTipLcO6XiC5sDc_tH6J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP7YpZ90Hhj_fxN7zQcbis_4wq68Nf9j6Uq_NDED6dUne414ABiIKw717beZX-v461E1M0b8Js5yUw3hFvxSz9Cp66gREMSX76glSk4VcUMgOzq5CV0_KKnLXwrWPiNvII1Roh9ff4XvcIzXr2qtdi5ZsVTMjP7pTXgyXnWi4wkTipLcO6XiC5sDc_tH6J=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br />There's an art to cinematic romance that goes beyond the dreamy quality that many people associate with it. It's not just about living out fantasies. Sometimes it's about dealing with the emotions that are known to all of us and inherent to the human condition. The ability to display that is an art in and of itself because many will associate those presentations with sappiness or "chick flicks", but when you can convey real anguish and uncertainty and restraint, it creates a tension on the screen that is the essential hallmark of storytelling. It's what keeps your viewer glued to the screen. They want to find out what happens next, whether it's the predictable (Love conquers all!) or the not so much (Real life...) This film has that tension from beginning to end. From the moment we first see 12-year-old Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), we can feel the bond between them and their desire to immerse themselves completely in it. But we can also feel the restraint (the uncertainty of youth; the conflicting paths of life; the attachments to others) that they have to exercise to keep themselves from engaging in that deepest desire. It's a difficult task to sell that tension without overselling it to the point of melodrama and both Lee and Yoo, as well as writer-director, Celine Song, pull it off with aplomb.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPImWt6g28RHW3b57cElFqhdE8hhB9uRa17NmO2ZVeZHDx6LgI5af91kSIieknkFobFgysAzNA56zQKLdIJHGy9uwE7kn9vLDR6bc84zvJLxKS5f5vixUm84WKBrEhnziqaZjGCxLIFiont0pa1n2fYmD4Mxd_LHXm75NExH4u40io6HmxF06r2s-aw52o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPImWt6g28RHW3b57cElFqhdE8hhB9uRa17NmO2ZVeZHDx6LgI5af91kSIieknkFobFgysAzNA56zQKLdIJHGy9uwE7kn9vLDR6bc84zvJLxKS5f5vixUm84WKBrEhnziqaZjGCxLIFiont0pa1n2fYmD4Mxd_LHXm75NExH4u40io6HmxF06r2s-aw52o=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br />Indeed, some of the best moments of the film are those without dialogue or obvious action, but which are instead simply studies of the two leads as their faces betray everything they want and everything they're containing as they try to navigate their changing circumstances from 12 to 24 to 36. I've often said that visual storytelling is often a lost art in modern filmmaking but Song's pacing and direction have it down. That extends to the sets and costuming, as well. There's nothing overly remarkable about any of the backgrounds or apartments or restaurants. They all seem everyday and normal because this situation is also everyday and normal, but no less important for being so. Nothing that you see detracts from the focus on the characters and the emotions that they're alternately struggling to contain and desperate to express. It's an extraordinary feeling when you can understand why it would be gratifying to some degree to see these two people finally get to interact in the way that they both want, but would also be a hindrance to the telling of a genuinely good story if they tipped over that edge. Again, that tension is what separates the film from the bog standard and it had to be maintained. The fact that much of the story was drawn from Song's own life probably made it that much easier to tell.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbNwBMXicSQv75-RAzK5HWr9QhXcfvuHdkpc8D0FEuIvrFAbFzbAaAcbDeaH5fc6h_ZTea2sUGYO07lRNpZOb7i7E7tG32r_jqIwBESn-U0mOClUPQ8PWtwhUsauv1n7lkpkaya0yl0X2GpoupnSyPQcy0pHNYtTnL9OxhGbgPFqQbZZGPtvqW-jRuCzmu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2063" data-original-width="3840" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbNwBMXicSQv75-RAzK5HWr9QhXcfvuHdkpc8D0FEuIvrFAbFzbAaAcbDeaH5fc6h_ZTea2sUGYO07lRNpZOb7i7E7tG32r_jqIwBESn-U0mOClUPQ8PWtwhUsauv1n7lkpkaya0yl0X2GpoupnSyPQcy0pHNYtTnL9OxhGbgPFqQbZZGPtvqW-jRuCzmu=w400-h215" width="400" /></a></div><br />Some mention also has to go to Nora's husband, Arthur, played by John Magaro, who some might consider the truly tragic character in this drama, as he's the innocent bystander in this drawn out collision. He cogently identifies himself as the "White bad guy" in this romantic scenario when all he's trying to do is continue to love the woman that he's been married to for a decade. You feel for him at least as much as the two leads for knowing that his wife may still be bonded at the soul, as it were, to another person. But she also points out that she made the choice to have this life and she's choosing to spend it with him. It's that choice that kept Nora and Hae Sung apart the first time they rediscovered each other, so he's a conscious inclusion. But, of course, the genuine desire is written on Nora's face through the final third of the film, whether Arthur is present or not. In the end, it's a great film in the path of favorites of mine like <i>Blue is the Warmest Color</i>, because it's a film about humans and how we react to the world and the people around us. Highly recommended for a watch and a re-watch, for that matter.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-61434651769486093372023-10-03T22:53:00.007-04:002023-10-04T11:32:21.909-04:00Trying too hard to be something different<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFcZgJub5q8EfSU8Ii_-Or5ktAH4DhLBEBu6Se35Pr-uedc0y9wjX-U58cEhYJEIJsoPGqCrQ8QfWhvhtF9XqoU8IZfOWv9FqQsnfpy24hexGdBV2ModDS4JISBeh5wbDrGmzHX4ZfhIDi4xZOupDyboS--W7iPhYtVLzDp1biPgW1CCaVIKaPxaV0ac_W" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2997" data-original-width="3996" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFcZgJub5q8EfSU8Ii_-Or5ktAH4DhLBEBu6Se35Pr-uedc0y9wjX-U58cEhYJEIJsoPGqCrQ8QfWhvhtF9XqoU8IZfOWv9FqQsnfpy24hexGdBV2ModDS4JISBeh5wbDrGmzHX4ZfhIDi4xZOupDyboS--W7iPhYtVLzDp1biPgW1CCaVIKaPxaV0ac_W=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's been a few weeks. There hasn't been much playing at the Michigan Theater that's been particularly interesting, so we've mostly just been watching TV on Tuesdays. But there hasn't really been much of that that's particularly compelling, either. We've had the misfortune to see a film that we were hemming and hawing about seeing at the Michigan and also another Apple+ TV series that is ending up like all of the rest of them,<a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-limits-of-expectations.html"> other than <i>Severance</i></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The film was <b>Bottoms</b>; another Emma Seligman feature that is the follow-up to her fairly-entertaining <i>Shiva Baby</i>, which we did see and did enjoy, but wasn't compelling enough for me to sit down and type out a couple thousand words about. It was originally a short film and then was popular enough to become a long film and didn't really benefit from the necessary padding of the script. Meanwhile, <i>Bottoms</i>, which stars and was co-written by Rachel Sennott (also the lead in <i>Shiva Baby</i>) is one part bog-standard teen sex comedy and one part parody of same. The characters are all hyper-realized stereotypes of those idiots you detested in high school, except for the main group, which is the poor nerds that somehow end up with all of the girls. At any moment, I was waiting to hear Robert Carradine's <a href="https://youtu.be/eEqr674foyg?si=WT7UX1uNIEKOzG8X">bellowing laugh</a> erupt from one of the women that mostly occupied our time. But the problem, of course, was just that: We've seen all of this before. Many times. None of it is new. None of it is original. None of it is really that funny. The only difference here is that both leads (the other being Ayo Edebiri, best known as Sydney from the spectacular <i>The Bear</i>) are gay. That's a nice acknowledgement of modern viewpoints and the identities that many people had even back when you and I were in high school, but it doesn't make the tired plot or screenplay any better. It just makes it an even more obvious retread with some modern window dressing to try to sell it to new audiences (much like <i>Bros</i>.)</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPtKEjD3jp2rbMwICFPxFTEjAIJkIEO0EEm9Cv0VDfs5EUk2hRZ8noARNsyrfkS-xpCvrFuaRP5ZqhGTOLlhAWZrAUYYe45do4rKlnb_jYWTyFupqXFEXKERlBqRiaN7fYQvnW6jGZO2wIUBSj9IUYf_A0E1RChdbgmHa1G67yl6IOB1Om0qGBSTQBWYyd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPtKEjD3jp2rbMwICFPxFTEjAIJkIEO0EEm9Cv0VDfs5EUk2hRZ8noARNsyrfkS-xpCvrFuaRP5ZqhGTOLlhAWZrAUYYe45do4rKlnb_jYWTyFupqXFEXKERlBqRiaN7fYQvnW6jGZO2wIUBSj9IUYf_A0E1RChdbgmHa1G67yl6IOB1Om0qGBSTQBWYyd=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Seriously, the summary offered by Rotten Tomatoes (where the film has a 93% approval rating...) is "Propulsive and over-the-top, <i>Bottoms </i>is an instant high school comedy classic that feels both current and nostalgic." I can assure you that there's nothing inherently "propulsive" (whatever that actually means) about it, especially when it comes to the leaden predictable plot. That, of course, is probably what makes people feel "nostalgic" about seeing the same thing they've seen since the 1980s introduced us to <i>Porky's</i>. I'm sorry to say that nostalgia was not the overarching feeling I was getting. It was more like boredom. And, of course, the "current" part was, again, likely down to the fact that many reviewers seem smitten with the idea of gay people being something original in storytelling when they should just be regular people in a decent story, if one were being told. If they wanted to make a film about being LGBTQ+ in high school, then they could have written a script that fully engaged that topic, rather than simply using it as a note of "modern" difference from the almost 40-year-old <i>Revenge of the Nerds</i>. There really was nothing that made this film stand out- script, direction, performances -from any of the dozens of lookalikes over those past four decades, which is really disappointing after the solid films that we've seen both Sennott and Edebiri (<i>Shiva Baby</i>, <i>Theater Camp</i>(!)) in this past summer. And, yes, I should get around to writing something about <i>The Bear</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgz4NqXbRIF1KbhV8x-XGZcqULjSYx7hS_YGasKtbelXaQu0_t7FKZvhgPicWgdYgKS4susx5c3AoRCl3rAInSlsnM0NrNZje5S0aCOrtNKtf6RSeatx-hZhBQ2wTBi7o-eaWcvFnhKA6PRv7FT87tdiTJer3H3BVVIc_XsJBBHutHoQg0T0gqiUQYIC6Hc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="980" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgz4NqXbRIF1KbhV8x-XGZcqULjSYx7hS_YGasKtbelXaQu0_t7FKZvhgPicWgdYgKS4susx5c3AoRCl3rAInSlsnM0NrNZje5S0aCOrtNKtf6RSeatx-hZhBQ2wTBi7o-eaWcvFnhKA6PRv7FT87tdiTJer3H3BVVIc_XsJBBHutHoQg0T0gqiUQYIC6Hc=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Until then, I'll have to content myself (and you) with writing about Apple+'s attempt to be different in a similar failing fashion to <i>Bottoms</i>. As noted, other than <i>Severance</i>, the offerings on Apple+ have been pretty subpar for any number of reasons. The problem with our latest attempt to find something interesting, <b>Invasion</b>, is also one of trying too hard to stand out from the crowd and missing the target in the process. Just from the title, you're automatically aware that the series is about an attempt by little green men to conquer/eradicate/make aggressive contact with/something-as-long-as-it's-violent our little green world. Again, this is a plot that goes back to H.G. Wells at the end of the 19th century (<i>War of the Worlds</i> is 125 years old this year, in fact.) However, in this case, rather than show the <a href="https://youtu.be/kDnim_yyLug?si=OrfHJVaunZgi9kbk">snake-necked saucers of the Martians laying waste to the countryside</a>, through the three episodes we've watched, we've seen the presumed aliens once, for about 15 seconds. In their place, we've gotten four stories about emotional and personal loss that just happened to occur during this supposed crisis.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdejlydYE41jBDney8b5rIzj9cUb2xkZpMNVMYtWjc0lEohFUchVlOAS6QZMd2D2e5qwvewk28orxSPECRMRnBTH1ds8D66CvkSneZFgOqy1F7VGvtIM6W7mrdQXILbBXERGHu2t28s6qJmVJG_wua1VwRVkiLOUUL8BMat4av_79OyHN6gQYgwsUFdDm1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1296" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdejlydYE41jBDney8b5rIzj9cUb2xkZpMNVMYtWjc0lEohFUchVlOAS6QZMd2D2e5qwvewk28orxSPECRMRnBTH1ds8D66CvkSneZFgOqy1F7VGvtIM6W7mrdQXILbBXERGHu2t28s6qJmVJG_wua1VwRVkiLOUUL8BMat4av_79OyHN6gQYgwsUFdDm1=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />We have the estranged former doctor who gave up her career to be the perfect housewife; the career soldier wrestling with the effects of distance from his own marriage; the fragile schoolboy dealing with bullies and absent parents; and the brilliant engineer who is enduring her first long separation from the love of her life, driven by their mutual careers. Again, all of these are themes of emotional and personal loss and all of which are completely ancillary to the ostensibly overarching theme of an alien invasion. Any of them could have happened in the midst of any other kind of disaster (pandemic, terrorist attack, worldwide forest fire) and any of them could simply have been happening on their own, no crisis required, such that the focus of the show called "Invasion" isn't any SF element at all, but simply the angst of these people going through their personal problems. But all that does is make a footnote of what is supposedly the central thrust of your story. Said invasion is a background element, at best. I think the idea was that they'd tell the story of a "war of the worlds" at the ground level, by showing what happens to these normal people facing normal problems who are suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances, akin to the classic <i>Alien</i>. But all they've done is provide a veneer of SF to a pretty standard melodrama; to the point where you wonder why it's considered speculative fiction at all.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7eWr8zicIfm-43sFRoSWAT7hrE_Dj3cO95sxOtAirWOgLXcioHF78AVypI8a6Iei1E1R6VyOTe0raD4DS5h1KljHX_mIafNGZp-Hfp2wEEuN-VWEgz-5Tpl1WVkpcrAav9-MbkA1B7ldc-rv5n-NaWxPD10IG5fPSMIPvQ98oVWkoHKLt53h-RbrNb2BA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7eWr8zicIfm-43sFRoSWAT7hrE_Dj3cO95sxOtAirWOgLXcioHF78AVypI8a6Iei1E1R6VyOTe0raD4DS5h1KljHX_mIafNGZp-Hfp2wEEuN-VWEgz-5Tpl1WVkpcrAav9-MbkA1B7ldc-rv5n-NaWxPD10IG5fPSMIPvQ98oVWkoHKLt53h-RbrNb2BA=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br />Now, I was just complaining about seeing the same, old thing and, certainly, we've seen a few hundred alien invasion-type films and TV series that put our (human) heroes in trying times over the years, from ongoing wars like <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> to plain, old Earth-gets-firebombed stuff like T<i>he Tomorrow War</i>. None of that is particularly exciting or original anymore. But none of them try to pretend they're something they're not in the hopes of approaching it from a nominally original angle, either. All of the stories and characters (and performances) in this show are interesting enough. It's not been boring. But it could have just been titled "Four Stories of Loss" with any of the premises mentioned above (jokes or not) and we would have had the same result. But we came into this with the idea that this is about an ALIEN INVASION and instead it's about a lot of longing (and appropriately plaintive looks) for when things can be "normal" again; presumably post-divorce, post-mourning, and post-getting back to primary school before someone kills you and takes the conch. Clearly, they've tried to slow play this as a different way of approaching the <a href="https://youtu.be/DqtjHWlM4lQ?si=flH1633_abK0EZcD">stereotypical assumption that many would make</a> and that's all well and good. But it also sets up the viewer to be disappointed as we wade through the emotional debris and wonder what visitors from other worlds have to do with any of this or why they'd bother. We're probably not going to anymore, either.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-84819193264266641332023-08-22T22:06:00.006-04:002023-08-22T22:06:54.997-04:00Story isn't everything<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFotrNW3MOYz7mVg2DK_AI6yqrJFPB0Tg_oQ3J9tNcNptgQ_FKmTa39dzicBZxTopVzuq9KTQDvN6vYnearUVrB8aN1I80AYL_KnCW32aLBy6IuzrXW7aMxQF1O-zn6g4vQfRgHDF3GZLsLuJu1Iki9jt8gJOm98u1RDpuhO50f7NPA1Tl6cnCSOLCmIG-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFotrNW3MOYz7mVg2DK_AI6yqrJFPB0Tg_oQ3J9tNcNptgQ_FKmTa39dzicBZxTopVzuq9KTQDvN6vYnearUVrB8aN1I80AYL_KnCW32aLBy6IuzrXW7aMxQF1O-zn6g4vQfRgHDF3GZLsLuJu1Iki9jt8gJOm98u1RDpuhO50f7NPA1Tl6cnCSOLCmIG-=w400-h210" width="400" /></a></div><br />Despite my absence, it's not as if we haven't still been seeing films on a regular basis this summer. While lacking motivation to keep writing about them, there have been a few good ones. Among them are the big hits of the season: <i>Oppenheimer</i> and <i>Barbie</i>. Since everyone within reach of the Interwebs has talked about them, I don't think it serves much purpose to join the crowd. Suffice it to say that <i>Oppenheimer </i>was a Chris Nolan film, with his style all over it, and a great representation of a very complex man. Similarly, <i>Barbie </i>was excellent; extremely well-written and with obvious themes that still didn't continually beat you over the head with them. In faux irony, the funniest thing about the film was that, despite those themes, the person who stole the show was Ryan Gosling as Ken. Anyway, if I get any feedback to this stuff at all, maybe I'll go into more detail on one or both of them, but I feel like there's not much more to be said that hasn't already by far bigger names than mine. In contrast, what did feel compelling was our most recent viewing, which was tonight of the French film, <b>Passages</b>.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3Nwz-W83ve_QzO1e0gf4uy8ZRQfGRKPTFYIdCZIwK03DJ5jy-GOp0-FeG_K3EvOHJQeB_80uWOxerCWSocC66MyOTpcQYJt2-QNG94avvSo0_sXVdHfR_JbzrznTDKgQcO80rdB0a6x5JH4qn5oAnwH-SWhKxqRpP7RHdrzm6Yy4fIT8BeC15lNBgai-I" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3Nwz-W83ve_QzO1e0gf4uy8ZRQfGRKPTFYIdCZIwK03DJ5jy-GOp0-FeG_K3EvOHJQeB_80uWOxerCWSocC66MyOTpcQYJt2-QNG94avvSo0_sXVdHfR_JbzrznTDKgQcO80rdB0a6x5JH4qn5oAnwH-SWhKxqRpP7RHdrzm6Yy4fIT8BeC15lNBgai-I=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></div><br />Those of you that have been reading my stuff for a while (all four of you) will likely remember that I'm not generally a fan of French cinema. It often strikes me as complicated for the sake of being so and emotionally detached while presenting as emotionally overwrought. There have been exceptions over the years, as films like <i>Blue is the Warmest Color</i> are among my favorites. That film, in fact, is what led me to be interested in <i>Passages</i>, since the female lead is Adèle Exarchopoulos, who was also one of the leads in BitWC. Also like that film, <i>Passages </i>is another examination of modern LGBTQ+ relationships, where Tomas (Franz Rogowski) and Martin (Ben Whishaw) are a married couple in Paris until Tomas begins an affair with Agathe (Exarchopoulos) and things get complicated. That's a very simple story that, as you might expect, is quite character-driven; mostly by Tomas who is the chaotic spindle upon which all the other threads are twisted, mostly to their chagrin, continual or eventual. It sounds like something that me, the story guy and the not-really-fascinated-by-French-film guy, wouldn't be a fan of. But I was the only person of the three of us walking out of it with a positive reaction.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOC5j_8MpLAcHbmPzWIPcHlBU0XU2ifcfPX19xzm4jdGmPvPePCERLBgAYlPJc6-AOo4Mne6OtVl_nhoR9j_4KWL54dG4ER49H80AlwkDI3gxsT8_2j5b_KEndzfncX5lvISoV2VrXLVZ0LFqYfsaRB8Ms0yCN0B9NNGxpVef62jSIRWNy972lNs10t5Pk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOC5j_8MpLAcHbmPzWIPcHlBU0XU2ifcfPX19xzm4jdGmPvPePCERLBgAYlPJc6-AOo4Mne6OtVl_nhoR9j_4KWL54dG4ER49H80AlwkDI3gxsT8_2j5b_KEndzfncX5lvISoV2VrXLVZ0LFqYfsaRB8Ms0yCN0B9NNGxpVef62jSIRWNy972lNs10t5Pk=w400-h240" width="400" /></a></div><br />What sold me is the humanistic portrayal of the characters and the fact that none of them shied away from the reality that love, in many cases, makes people stupid. (Moreso than usual, in any case.) It becomes a fairly humorous story, but not because it's played for comedy. The gasps of frustration in the audience at Tomas' actions were easily audible. The humor instead arises from the shock that not only could he keep doing these outrageous, selfish, destructive things, but that Martin and Agathe kept coming back for more. That's what love often does to you and I appreciated that co-writer (with Mauricio Zacharias) and director, Ira Sachs, kept driving that point home. He didn't expect anyone to approve of or understand the decisions made by any of the main characters. He just presented them as realities because, to many of us, they have been (and sometimes still are.) Story Guy is also fond of characters that are humans first, roles second, and all of the characters in this story fit that description. It's not entirely beyond the realm of reason that Sachs put some of himself into Tomas, a filmmaker in this story, as well. As much as some think that injecting oneself into one's characters is a natural progression, it takes a certain level of bravery to expose oneself in that fashion, too, which potentially makes this story that much more interesting.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBoBGuHbzntEgfsq2R_bMUyreDLFl6WF-plsZwxiK35GfYnetwDuiWL7tjuPeYhSLpEXAm-ngfpgw2g4AdcM4k4qbA5cpfVYGQHOJtb7FQI86w8WVRoCSnBa9a2oVPh1_kNuBBISAdVk09DVYHKnJ8_S2WJCLExWUJMhIZjP92bjjTy9gfKrT6FwhyT7q7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="289" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBoBGuHbzntEgfsq2R_bMUyreDLFl6WF-plsZwxiK35GfYnetwDuiWL7tjuPeYhSLpEXAm-ngfpgw2g4AdcM4k4qbA5cpfVYGQHOJtb7FQI86w8WVRoCSnBa9a2oVPh1_kNuBBISAdVk09DVYHKnJ8_S2WJCLExWUJMhIZjP92bjjTy9gfKrT6FwhyT7q7=w400-h241" width="400" /></a></div><br />In a similar fashion to the big hits of the summer, I think <i>Passages </i>is well worth the watch. I doubt it will have as broad an appeal as those films, but I don't think it was intended in that fashion, either. It's peculiar and will have an attraction to those of peculiar tastes, which just may describe why I can't get any traction by writing for a living, either.<p></p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-86488659989340094722023-06-29T20:05:00.000-04:002023-06-29T20:05:05.945-04:00The entertainingly familiar<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxPb2ep52c68H97uQI6fk_MtAuTkFVhORoeQF3tChLFflZ6Kf7LGSo0cLS7I5mv7qOE5KqtQUScxafrV82qob04z16w3xsXB2dEpUWWVqcrmv0OnjmXLfJruaIdZbxzVL6RiYJuVox-Uopma8OOH-sT0jhCgEp0OSwQdwM6m0Y1AMee-XCb27ZsMSEpmW3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2223" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxPb2ep52c68H97uQI6fk_MtAuTkFVhORoeQF3tChLFflZ6Kf7LGSo0cLS7I5mv7qOE5KqtQUScxafrV82qob04z16w3xsXB2dEpUWWVqcrmv0OnjmXLfJruaIdZbxzVL6RiYJuVox-Uopma8OOH-sT0jhCgEp0OSwQdwM6m0Y1AMee-XCb27ZsMSEpmW3=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Many directors have a style that accompanies most, if not all, of their work but no modern voice in cinema has as distinct or consistent a style as Wes Anderson. From <i>The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou</i> forward, Anderson's films have inhabited a slightly off-kilter fantasy world that is alternately charming, bemusing, and fascinating but never boring. His latest, <b>Asteroid City</b>, is no different in this respect. Set in the 1950s, the ideally kitschy age for an Anderson story, the film takes us through a science fair, some midlife crises, teenage discovery, postmortem grief, and first contact with at least semi-intelligent extraterrestrial life. Any one of those themes could have been central to an Anderson film and would doubtlessly have turned into an interesting story full of sly witticisms and quirky moments that you'd rarely see in most other directors' work. The fact that all of them were crammed into one story might be what makes this one feel slightly lacking when one lists the better films of his oeuvre.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCLAM7oEBl-pBbvdOoMQr1GaYnxkJpMhBydVCvfYt_iZwNrCvLMMi9yp-nA5WcGEqIiNqA6jWRTt0kiegTWk6bGy6kd1nYaALMOy66YTA5N-B_AbryIlO1IXvU8nZJz82nT9RpMiYa4WpVftYY_TwVFal_15iyzH9RAN2SPLE35hiBvVFcI8DRLsHV3D_f" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="805" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCLAM7oEBl-pBbvdOoMQr1GaYnxkJpMhBydVCvfYt_iZwNrCvLMMi9yp-nA5WcGEqIiNqA6jWRTt0kiegTWk6bGy6kd1nYaALMOy66YTA5N-B_AbryIlO1IXvU8nZJz82nT9RpMiYa4WpVftYY_TwVFal_15iyzH9RAN2SPLE35hiBvVFcI8DRLsHV3D_f=w400-h213" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's at least mildly reassuring to know that it's not just Anderson fans who respect his work, as the list of actors that are piling into the tiniest of parts in his last two films (the previous being <i><a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2021/11/haute-couture.html">The French Dispatch</a></i>) is beginning to become a story in and of itself. While City had a collection of those who are now Anderson regulars, like Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, and Ed Norton, it also includes Tom Hanks, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, and Willem Defoe, among many others. Some of those marquee names had screen time in the range of two minutes or less. But this was apparently the chance to be "in an Anderson" and they took it, no matter how ephemeral the role. It's a fair question to ask at this point whether their popping up for a few seconds and being noticed by the audience is the entertainment of the moment or whether what they're saying and doing onscreen is supposed to be the focus in the traditional manner. When I think back to what I still regard as the pinnacle of his career, <i>Moonrise Kingdom</i>, I remember a film where virtually every character had an important role to play in the story and wasn't just a moving part of the scenery or a lever to move a scene from one spot to the next with a famous face attached. That latter state leaves many of them as not very memorable parts of the overall story. Indeed, among the most memorable characters are the trio of girls who are Augie's (Jason Schwartzman) daughters, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, and Pandora (the Faris triplets: Ella, Willan, and Gracie, respectively) none of whom received star credit but all of whom had more comedic and dramatic impact than many much more hallowed names.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS-fGOa6uJX7XQ-PEfAi5tW5wjOUfYxAIu6tVK9A436ZbtP8LSelUcOaTDDx9ws0lQyYKfSv_4aK2_c3tOdk3eu-34pGojAspbSaOwfUmiNlYM0_bjR2f6hjxk9dk1IV4eQnpnCx1wisnDZzs8bOsdpwkoyIOOah_utQNKIw6qUYtSwy1rGKsHLUuRbWI1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="2560" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS-fGOa6uJX7XQ-PEfAi5tW5wjOUfYxAIu6tVK9A436ZbtP8LSelUcOaTDDx9ws0lQyYKfSv_4aK2_c3tOdk3eu-34pGojAspbSaOwfUmiNlYM0_bjR2f6hjxk9dk1IV4eQnpnCx1wisnDZzs8bOsdpwkoyIOOah_utQNKIw6qUYtSwy1rGKsHLUuRbWI1=w400-h168" width="400" /></a></div><br />All of that said, the star of the piece was definitely Johansson, who delivered what was probably her best performance since <i>Lost in Translation</i>. In the lighthearted world of Anderson, Midge was the character who was dryly poking holes in everything and getting everyone to admit that they knew there was more to the story and the world than what was being told to them. The fact that her daughter, Dinah (Grace Edwards) develops a relationship with Woodrow (Jake Ryan) at the same time that Midge and Augie are hooking up is just part of the symmetry that Anderson tends to embed in the worlds where it seems like random events are the order of the day. In a way, that's part of the point, in that all of those events, while symmetrical, are still random. That's, again, part of what gives his films their charm, because nothing seems planned, even though all of it is, meticulously. It's also worth noting Jeffrey Wright as General Grif Gibson and Bryan Cranston as the TV Host for lending the artificial gravitas that the rest of the cast spends their time orbiting around and often inadvertently defying. That, too, is part of the whimsy of Anderson's worlds and it's still an appreciable thing.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiG6jqWpwh8odoUtk3Q1wwgFVprWDiofjUdmWER5wbDYrF5jqLOuopztSR_5zDK_j0LizmbMfuWsui2L0fEbJUV5sVB-GECr2DOr6p4HJk1xuaFbVvdTHkWvFSYDKDihFYEOmUEIbMP98wBsc7mbay4CphuE_GGM7jeIcTFp8GRIpUbtc9Q50mCcNKLTyG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1257" data-original-width="3000" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiG6jqWpwh8odoUtk3Q1wwgFVprWDiofjUdmWER5wbDYrF5jqLOuopztSR_5zDK_j0LizmbMfuWsui2L0fEbJUV5sVB-GECr2DOr6p4HJk1xuaFbVvdTHkWvFSYDKDihFYEOmUEIbMP98wBsc7mbay4CphuE_GGM7jeIcTFp8GRIpUbtc9Q50mCcNKLTyG=w400-h168" width="400" /></a></div><br />But in a way it's also the weakness of the film in that it's kinda the same thing that's been happening for 25 years now. It's still a treat for those of us that are fans, but it's the same treat that we've been getting for a long time and not nearly as delightful as it was at its height in films like <i>Moonrise </i>and <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i>. I don't think the formula has gotten tired, per se, but it also no longer carries the weight that it once did. <i>Moonrise</i>, while in that same vein of whimsy, was also a deeply emotional story of emotional discovery between two inhibited teenagers and the rediscovery of same by many inhibited adults. That kind of discovery story had a small part in <i>City</i>, but it was a very minor note in an otherwise patchwork quilt of themes. The impression that I walked out with wasn't the fascinating story of a place and population just slightly askew, but a director recycling his old material in an attempt to do something new which really wasn't. I don't want to say that it was tired because I didn't become bored or impatient or disinterested. I was chuckling basically the whole way through. But it felt almost too familiar; as if I'd seen it all before. That's not to say that it's a bad film or not worth seeing. It absolutely is. But in the same way as with <i>Dispatch</i>, I didn't walk out of the theater thinking that I'd seen something magical. It was just more Wes Anderson.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilTrKn6AO_xpGRV0uQuIE6xwrXMUKK3sQ7kALa5KM3H46Ag7cKLSAYWICIPDPqVxsmTato-uZksjR5q8nntZ8fDIUfYJbrb0PKVwu2HJ_l10HFcUPit46m9A32uEUqt5nq2Pt_JVFHtZa7e1GRDkPfjaZ2NNTOeIepZ4blNkq-VrGYpSsP1409Cn7oFptf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3369" data-original-width="6240" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilTrKn6AO_xpGRV0uQuIE6xwrXMUKK3sQ7kALa5KM3H46Ag7cKLSAYWICIPDPqVxsmTato-uZksjR5q8nntZ8fDIUfYJbrb0PKVwu2HJ_l10HFcUPit46m9A32uEUqt5nq2Pt_JVFHtZa7e1GRDkPfjaZ2NNTOeIepZ4blNkq-VrGYpSsP1409Cn7oFptf=w400-h216" width="400" /></a></div><br />And that might be because of my overall perspective at the moment and not from any marked failing on the part of the film. I've been writing about this stuff for a long time, in the same way that I've been writing <a href="https://extratime.blog/">here </a>and <a href="https://therewillbe.games/by-author/associates/articles-by-marc-reichardt">here </a>for a long time. Lately, none of them are giving me the kind of return that I've always been hoping for. Well, honestly, none of them have turned into what I'd vaguely hoped for, which is landing a regular gig writing somewhere. But even doing it in the hopes that something might happen has begun to be less than what I'd usually expect. In other words, I'm not really enjoying it anymore and am giving serious thought to giving up on the idea of writing on a regular basis. I don't think I'm running out of things to say. I just feel like not enough people are particularly interested anymore, if they ever were. In a way, I'm kind of doing the same thing and it feels like only the usual suspects are paying attention; kinda like Wes Anderson's fans. So, I've been giving some serious thought to simply shutting down and moving on to something else. What that might be, I have no idea, but it certainly seems that writing for a living is not in my future after almost 40 years of trying. We'll see what happens next, I guess.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-74843110329852590332023-06-24T14:59:00.003-04:002023-06-24T14:59:14.892-04:00The limits of expectations<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi71TEhFYKSZKY-_BxiI9O4tSdRm4my19lEU9_qb2jGnhSyQVVDNgqKhSvdpz5LROrBxcg3XQXapmj-F3nFaVlwfgqPX0m-bUbxtA76NSSPKLu3O0rjEYOilsGaTXAR_XzMD1h0sqTRw2YRu4NDVI4RlGD9kAmvOy19vCEh8v6ytS22X5ZVjLMCZGOY8wF_" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="2160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi71TEhFYKSZKY-_BxiI9O4tSdRm4my19lEU9_qb2jGnhSyQVVDNgqKhSvdpz5LROrBxcg3XQXapmj-F3nFaVlwfgqPX0m-bUbxtA76NSSPKLu3O0rjEYOilsGaTXAR_XzMD1h0sqTRw2YRu4NDVI4RlGD9kAmvOy19vCEh8v6ytS22X5ZVjLMCZGOY8wF_=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>There hasn't been much traffic here lately. A combination of other activities (vacations, etc.) and a lack of compelling films at the Michigan/State Theaters has led to a similar void at this blog as currently occupies extratime.blog (which is a result of it being the off-season for Euro football.) But we have been watching new things. They've just been on the small screen. Back in the day of cable bundles, there were often complaints about how one might be paying insane fees for some channels simply to gain access to the smaller ones that you really wanted. This was frequently from people paying ESPN's fees as part of their cable bill when they weren't sports fans at all. Given the variety of my interests, I never had that issue, but still found myself bemoaning the fact that I had access to 300 channels and actually watched less than a tenth of those. The idea of splitting everything into distinct networks so that one could actually get what you were paying for was seen as the ideal transformation. Of course, now we have the (predictable) opposite problem, in that there's so much fragmentation among streaming networks and show producers that in order to see everything you'd like, you're paying basically the same amount you would have for that cable bundle, but in eight different directions, instead of just one. This was a long preamble to get around to the fact that we've engaged yet another streaming network, in the form of Apple TV+, because Tricia recently replaced her iPhone and was given three months' access to the network for free. Given that Apple is the home of such heralded shows as <i>Ted Lasso</i>, I was half-excited and half-cringing at the idea of paying for yet another streaming service, if we found that what was on offer was actually worthwhile. The results have been... mixed, to be diplomatic about it, so there may be no need to be concerned about another bill when our free time runs out. But let's start at the top.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKKkp8R5i5SEp_g_5Y0Y3BPanoLKAfhYE7h3oYOE9vzknSgeGXaJ3Ans00mfRaRzkTCD7WBQQ3dkMsmDn7dJ5e9doIcZ4kD0-QMmnlXSdDCwDoWBtjxpXssFekDnJwEKw8ZUiVnHzRtu_U8M3ukFY2L-PMFWtS_smL1FTiuKSdMPjawN10z03RcR5or7yT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3744" data-original-width="5616" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKKkp8R5i5SEp_g_5Y0Y3BPanoLKAfhYE7h3oYOE9vzknSgeGXaJ3Ans00mfRaRzkTCD7WBQQ3dkMsmDn7dJ5e9doIcZ4kD0-QMmnlXSdDCwDoWBtjxpXssFekDnJwEKw8ZUiVnHzRtu_U8M3ukFY2L-PMFWtS_smL1FTiuKSdMPjawN10z03RcR5or7yT=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Ted Lasso</b>. This was the show that put Apple TV on the map, coming as it did during the dark days of the initial COVID lockdown in 2020 and giving people at least one ray of severe positivity in their lives. That circumstance of timing is what I would suspect is one of the main drivers of its popularity. At that time when people were actively concerned about leaving their homes or associating with their friends and relatives, it must have been awfully reassuring having Jason Sudeikis on the screen on a regular basis to remind you that there was still some sunshine in the world. And that's all well and good, except that it doesn't really replace the rather average quality of both plot and writing. The basis of the show- that the vengeful new owner of Premier League club, AFC Richmond, somehow hires a Div. II American football coach to be the club's manager in the hopes of driving it into the ground (or at least to relegation) -is essentially the plot of <i>Major League</i> (and, indirectly, <i>Slapshot</i>) so we're not really seeing anything new here. This involves completely ignoring the ridiculous media firestorm and likely outright revolt by the club's members and supporters that would accompany any such move, to say nothing of inquiries by the PL wondering why one of their clubs is seemingly sabotaging its own- and, thus, the league's -product. But let's put all that real world stuff aside, accept our absurd premise, and get down to the meat of what the show is. Or, more accurately, isn't.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFUOakS2TfUnF1yJtwwFrSBc1d8Dq4A-KZ96V4n7iHtJOt3NbnukGpOM0mgVYdOMAY6xg5-KzrQs7jWlAP6PnNuGtYwvdOpxzN00mYoUEkNO-fKvSQOCpGiElZW3cCqI28XV_XIrNbrZpxBxnTR7fm7blM4QDolKLKoQT_wfOM7zUWSEm3L8dyQmLXKhL5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1296" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFUOakS2TfUnF1yJtwwFrSBc1d8Dq4A-KZ96V4n7iHtJOt3NbnukGpOM0mgVYdOMAY6xg5-KzrQs7jWlAP6PnNuGtYwvdOpxzN00mYoUEkNO-fKvSQOCpGiElZW3cCqI28XV_XIrNbrZpxBxnTR7fm7blM4QDolKLKoQT_wfOM7zUWSEm3L8dyQmLXKhL5=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The main problem I had with <i>Ted Lasso</i> is that it wasn't funny. It's not that it wasn't cerebrally funny or didn't really appeal to my often obscure sense of humor. Those are both difficult paths to walk and I've watched (and laughed at) more than one show that didn't really hit the nail on the head in the same way that, say, <i>Rick and Morty</i> does. But this show wasn't funny at all. It was really just pedestrian. Characters did obvious things with motivations planted in front of them to do so. The joke was already right there before the dialogue came from their mouths, making it akin to already having heard all the jokes even before we watched the show. Certainly, I'm probably very far from the target audience, having watched English football for 45 years and having fully acquainted myself with the George Bernard Shawisms ("Two people separated by a common language.") of the dialectical differences between the States and the mother country. It's not particularly interesting (or funny) to me to see people wondering about calling cleats "boots" and comparing them to the trunk of a car. Indeed, the only time I laughed out loud during the entire first season was when the staff were talking about other managers getting in touch in the face of Ted's obvious failures and started listing names of those who'd contacted the club: "Tony Pulis, Alan Curbishley; Harry Redknapp has called three times." Now, if you know anything about English football over the last decade-and-a-half, that line is hilarious. But it was also utterly lost on probably 99% (at least) of the American audience who were otherwise apparently intended to be amused by the "aw shucks!" approach of Sudeikis and Co.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIRuqEy0PSBQNHTDZbEJCdMjXUa5edVth4q80KR9kTSSim_wlu2FKs0h-rk5S3L3ElPkobp0jI949U82mKSNC4bx0mRtyLZs2P5WK1-gekkFlV9Gn3fOP_Wo0wYnpofsBQAtz8JD-5H0z_N254RduEKG4lu7cKvYxZFFydnHouf11JXBBb9s1cRadxYKcF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4095" data-original-width="7281" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIRuqEy0PSBQNHTDZbEJCdMjXUa5edVth4q80KR9kTSSim_wlu2FKs0h-rk5S3L3ElPkobp0jI949U82mKSNC4bx0mRtyLZs2P5WK1-gekkFlV9Gn3fOP_Wo0wYnpofsBQAtz8JD-5H0z_N254RduEKG4lu7cKvYxZFFydnHouf11JXBBb9s1cRadxYKcF=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />And, of course, a lot of people <i>were </i>amused. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. (see above about "obscure sense of humor.") But I'm always far more interested in shows or movies that are going to make me think. I received much advice about "turning my brain off" and just being entertained by what Ted and others were doing and that's never, ever going to happen. If I'm going to spend an hour watching something, I want to get something out of it other than just having spent an hour not having to think. There has to be a story that interests me. Or at least a character that's compelling. Or even a couple lines that I'd find interesting enough to repeat or remember or even try to swipe for something I'm working on. <i>Ted Lasso</i> had none of that. The characters were all very obvious and mostly quite simple. The story is, as noted, reprocessed from previous efforts and/or so unrealistic as to make me think that the writers didn't even bother to research their setting. And the dialogue is simply routine. There's nothing there that's memorable outside of a an offhand joke that an extreme minority of viewers would appreciate. My reaction to the show has drawn all kinds of negative reactions from my friends; ranging from disbelief to disdain that I wasn't able to appreciate something that was universally-praised. This is not a new phenomenon (see: <i>Titanic </i>among many, many others.) So, yeah, it could be "just me", but it was also a really poor start for Apple TV if I tuned into their hallmark (ahem) property and came away completely detached. We watched the first season and I have no interest in pursuing it any further.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOrg11Ni5sEVBwD8s7FFhlUudaI5kGGwtTjpIvBdD292PBEblDMsj45O4S9UJPqDrZbPr-15NLWg0zN4s8l2bYN08QFVciG6nR4zp8DyeoTKiXHYsNLk6tGBdoLPjC4ipkJJ7jc8fEkAr0XZL276Mlwg7CT6fmj2afXUaC1SxHPavkhDxtfzFXYisTsI7J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="1296" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOrg11Ni5sEVBwD8s7FFhlUudaI5kGGwtTjpIvBdD292PBEblDMsj45O4S9UJPqDrZbPr-15NLWg0zN4s8l2bYN08QFVciG6nR4zp8DyeoTKiXHYsNLk6tGBdoLPjC4ipkJJ7jc8fEkAr0XZL276Mlwg7CT6fmj2afXUaC1SxHPavkhDxtfzFXYisTsI7J=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Foundation</b>. So then we moved on to something that is actually rooted in the familiar (e.g. not an obvious outsider's take on something like English football.), in that I've read all of the novels by Isaac Asimov upon which the show is based. The problem that has followed the books around for decades in terms of trying to adapt them to other media is that they're far more <i>Glengarry Glen Ross</i> than <i>Star Wars</i>. In other words, Asimov's work was often about two people in a room holding a conversation on high-end topics (cultural, political, scientific), instead of going through events or initiating actions that tell a story about how the galactic empire is dying. There's a lot more talkin' than there is actin' and that's occasionally a difficult problem when trying to adapt said prose to a visual medium. It's not insurmountable. As GGR displays, it's quite possible to tell a great story about people talking about doing stuff, rather than actually showing them doing it. It's just a different approach and Asimov's books are cornerstones of modern science fiction for taking that approach and showing just how cerebral that kind of storytelling can be; even when not considered "hard" science fiction (e.g. sticking to the actual physical constraints of the universe and embedding those principles in the storytelling approach.) But the problem is that Asimov's rather distant relationship with most of his characters burdens the story with the problems that everyone predicted (Psychohistory!) over the many, many years of thinking about how to adapt the <i>Foundation </i>series to film or TV.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEiBZYyMSr_ue8VHOtz_kln3Mag9Veuoo4btng9EkbM5o2nPt0oJ0xAMoeHHjh9vvu2V-zQMNeHK7ueT3Bd1Ufn1PbIPjUb0vtjfkQg7Su-svvSwKufIvSol43nWnWRmrHaYB9qAvUzFSXASSjqsRnfgYPyaFgKv5M6JSFoB2dk-iuNbtPI5FsjWClvxsq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEiBZYyMSr_ue8VHOtz_kln3Mag9Veuoo4btng9EkbM5o2nPt0oJ0xAMoeHHjh9vvu2V-zQMNeHK7ueT3Bd1Ufn1PbIPjUb0vtjfkQg7Su-svvSwKufIvSol43nWnWRmrHaYB9qAvUzFSXASSjqsRnfgYPyaFgKv5M6JSFoB2dk-iuNbtPI5FsjWClvxsq=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br />The first problem is that the story is huge. This is a tale that is almost required to take place over decades and centuries in order to come to its conclusion. So, unless you're willing to markedly deviate from Asimov's work and introduce things like suspended animation or time-shifting (not something I would advise unless you want to be accused of ripping off <i>Star Trek</i>'s worst excesses), you're going to need to do one of two things: 1. Simply carry forward with multiple actors filling the roles of the books, such that few characters are seen for longer than a couple episodes, giving the audience no chance to develop familiarity and, thus, relate to them. 2. Tell your story in a non-linear fashion so that multiple, concurrent storylines are running simultaneously in "show time", even if they're at different stages in story time. They chose #2, which is clearly the wiser choice if you expect to get renewed for multiple seasons. Now, don't get me wrong. I <i>love</i> non-linear storytelling. Among many standout elements to <i>Pulp Fiction</i>, one of its strongest is that non-linear approach that sets up the story to work and then later blend together in ways that simply going from point A to point B would not have allowed. But that approach works well in a film because you're telling your whole story in two hours. I've found it to be less viable in TV series because, unless you're binge-watching the whole thing, it's quite easy for the average audience member to lose track of- and, thus, lose interest in -what's happening when you're shifting between characters, their children, and their grandchildren, all ostensibly pursuing the same goal. Having to do so much setup of those characters, their surroundings, and their motivations only adds to that potential confusion. In watching the show, I'm OK with it because I read the books and I know what's going on. I know that Tricia tuned out almost instantly, not only because of its slow pace but also because, unless she was riveted to the screen, she probably lost track of what was happening pretty quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvKm2bZF1k4Ge1xhq9x6_mY3qhlAI1W9Qh6L_RsuXr6MPC3rjBeI1s46KtBkc09mCJcTakeJnGkcp8SzU7R7ikUOVGzjiOP-guEpxkyWvjhcrYm4d0KZmPre_uDAU_yx4QZjmYV6ADbDi8M07f7GYcf_w0YZIi5GBpFW2vdgTG1n8nJOgK5Z6fCGelw2LZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="875" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvKm2bZF1k4Ge1xhq9x6_mY3qhlAI1W9Qh6L_RsuXr6MPC3rjBeI1s46KtBkc09mCJcTakeJnGkcp8SzU7R7ikUOVGzjiOP-guEpxkyWvjhcrYm4d0KZmPre_uDAU_yx4QZjmYV6ADbDi8M07f7GYcf_w0YZIi5GBpFW2vdgTG1n8nJOgK5Z6fCGelw2LZ=w400-h224" width="400" /></a></div><br />Visually, it is impressive, which is what you'd hope for given the massive scope of the story and the modern techniques we have for conveying that majesty. I've only watched the first four episodes and I've been able to appreciate what they're trying to do here. Of course, they also never fully escaped the problem that has dogged attempts at the "unfilmable" series in the past in that, in many ways, it is kinda unfilmable and they've had to make alterations to the story already that many purists would reject and which deviate not only from the narrative but from Asimov's thematic intent. The Star Bridge and its destruction? Doesn't even exist in the books. The cloned emperors? Nope. Both of those are seemingly attempts to add compelling narratives to the story (unrest in the galaxy leading to the dissolution of the empire; said unrest perhaps arising from the "same" man/men being in power for so long, but also struggling with their own preprogrammed roles) but neither are present in Asimov's work because the story he was trying to tell was about the loss of knowledge from one generation to the next and Harry Seldon's attempt to forestall that. Having a ruler who is cyclically cloned from his predecessors and is, thus, infused with their knowledge and history from birth is directly contradicting Asimov's entire premise. It's seemingly become a story of rejecting history, rather than forgetting it. The former is a great premise, too (witness Ron DeSantis' fervent attempts to almost literally whitewash history and education in the state of Florida), but it's not the story Asimov was trying to tell. But in doing so, they again haven't escaped the essential problem, but have instead simply presented another version of a slow, difficult story in a visual medium. Will it be worth it? I don't know. Like I said, I've watched four. I'm not fervently compelled to go back to it and Tricia has no interest whatsoever.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiainvqSJ-Gq1qYjxYpsn_fp0Em4XrHkiyHQvaExIcLWeNvEep-DnHwfU2KF7yBVMBKIDmRqQ8PbG-zceIb-gJolK039KuneroXLOijnFQJjNnwA6GVXzB2BBRMdW0fU7lg75oy0uqEFI7hUMv89817s84MFoaFJ1p8yWW1HmIYTSMI5SQONkIgwpwP73ER" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiainvqSJ-Gq1qYjxYpsn_fp0Em4XrHkiyHQvaExIcLWeNvEep-DnHwfU2KF7yBVMBKIDmRqQ8PbG-zceIb-gJolK039KuneroXLOijnFQJjNnwA6GVXzB2BBRMdW0fU7lg75oy0uqEFI7hUMv89817s84MFoaFJ1p8yWW1HmIYTSMI5SQONkIgwpwP73ER=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Severance</b>. In a final attempt to see if Apple TV was going to work for us, I picked up a suggestion that came from friends on ThereWillBe.Games in the form of a dystopian version of <i>Office Space</i>. Now, anyone who knows me will know that I am all over dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic stories and will almost always stop to watch anything that carries one or both of those labels. I created an entire comic universe called "Dystopia" and wrote hundreds of pages of script about it so, yeah, I'm onboard for most of that stuff. Having watched the first three episodes in our first evening of trying it out, it's quite possible that the third attempt is, indeed, the charm. Tricia sat up and took notice in the first couple minutes it was on and we've both stayed fully involved in all three episodes. These are fully-formed characters, with human idiosyncrasies that they struggle with, and a premise that, while still firmly in the SF/<i>Twilight Zone</i> realm, isn't that far removed from the present day (in true, <i>Twilight Zone</i> fashion; RIP the genius that was Rod Serling.) Unlike <i>Ted Lasso</i>, I was instantly interested and familiar with what they were presenting. The production design (the austere, brightly-lit, maze-like corridors of the workplace; the dark and shadowy or bleak and gray depiction of home life) is excellent and the themes (the cult-like devotion to the founding CEO (at least mildly ironical in its presence on Apple TV...), the attempted division between work and home life but not for the benefit of the employees) resonate with what our world is like right now. On top of all that, the cast has multiple highlights in the form of Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, and John Turturro.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLwCjeg2vaP-YLNrYFyxU5oxC7-nKdJbxjAY2730KuvaXnFqmH8MG9n6D4uaKE9O2kMm1eswYa28hyl6vfovx3kNuKBrL0Z3WXxvFAytE23rm3hH0OOZtqwuE49_8v1a6c343Ld28ab0YGZjuV_LF_cYWHxEku5v99PChs4umMe-D7E395C9UHcA6B6RzC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3374" data-original-width="6000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLwCjeg2vaP-YLNrYFyxU5oxC7-nKdJbxjAY2730KuvaXnFqmH8MG9n6D4uaKE9O2kMm1eswYa28hyl6vfovx3kNuKBrL0Z3WXxvFAytE23rm3hH0OOZtqwuE49_8v1a6c343Ld28ab0YGZjuV_LF_cYWHxEku5v99PChs4umMe-D7E395C9UHcA6B6RzC=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />But the best work so far has been done by, appropriately, the lead, Adam Scott, as Mark S. He's the first "severed" person we meet and it's clear that he's struggling with many other issues above and beyond that from the moment we first see him, crying in his car outside Lumon Industries. His reason for being severed is a perfectly understandable one, if extreme and tragic (People are often like that.) And he provides both a perfect example of what Lumon expects their employees to be (chipper and constantly motivated and positive at the office), as well as what an actual emotional human can often endure outside (devastated by his wife's loss and his largely friendless existence.) Indeed, he's almost the case study for why Lumon would want to do this from a work-efficiency (and emotionally void) perspective, in that he's the model employee at work because the severing prevents him from bringing personal problems into the office. (Hearken back here to Gil's (Steve Martin) argument with his boss in <i>Parenthood</i>; the latter of whom chides Gil for constantly complaining about problems with his kids while his competitor for a partnership is always on the go ("I'm not even sure if he <i>has </i>kids!")) But Scott isn't alone here, as Jen Tullock does great work as his concerned sister, Devon, who nevertheless doesn't want to interfere in either Mark's grieving for his wife or his decisions as to how to handle it. Likewise, Tramell Tillman is excellent as the supervisor, Seth Milchick, who exudes an aura of chipperness and menace at all times; often simultaneously.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyx5IlHdoVOzncPWbOcwJw1AnWKhU1ghdZTc8Hld5Z2Mmox6HL4-7CdVp6_JQN0O5sbkJ09WBuUF9fQdePXcBze1cGQ3RTle93mWam9u1H_ZYZU_n_5fYTkrGun6Ghb42Hy7NOTPTqHilhJU62rO35Suw7VZAJfwxNxtiOSdnovWsDzrIBT9Su61bzqJKY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2624" data-original-width="3936" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyx5IlHdoVOzncPWbOcwJw1AnWKhU1ghdZTc8Hld5Z2Mmox6HL4-7CdVp6_JQN0O5sbkJ09WBuUF9fQdePXcBze1cGQ3RTle93mWam9u1H_ZYZU_n_5fYTkrGun6Ghb42Hy7NOTPTqHilhJU62rO35Suw7VZAJfwxNxtiOSdnovWsDzrIBT9Su61bzqJKY=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is the one show among the three that instantly had me thinking: "Oh, yeah. I want to see more of this." That came from not only being interested in a story about actual, fully-formed humans, but also being interested in how those humans deal with a story that respects the viewer. This isn't simplistic like <i>Ted Lasso</i> or overly-burdened like <i>Foundation</i>. It is possible that, like many of these mystery premises, we could end up with an overly-elaborate justification for why all of this is happening (see: <i>Lost</i>, <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>, etc.) But it's also possible that we could end up with something more along the lines of <i>True Detective</i>, season 1, where the essential elements of the story aren't the genre itself (in this case, SF; in TD's case, crime), but the people involved in it. It's not like there haven't been a couple missteps. Britt Lower, as Helly R., provides a dynamic personality and a much more typical reaction to the circumstances of being essentially imprisoned on the "severed" level. But that immediately led me to question why she would have been accepted into the program in the first place. Considering the amount of psychological screening that takes place in major corporate hiring practices in the real world, it seems like something as drastic as the severing process and her reaction to it would have been flagged by Lumon long before Helly underwent the procedure. She's the one flame in the otherwise tepid existence, which is a great conflict element, but still seems quite out of place at the moment.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, that's Apple TV. I'm still not certain that we'll hold onto it, since we have multiple other services to watch (and some that should probably be turned off by now), but <i>Severance </i>at least provides something of a compelling argument that was otherwise lacking to that point. We'll see how it develops.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-15340563670974689972023-05-25T20:31:00.005-04:002023-05-25T20:31:52.628-04:00Furious path<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEGPW5Jk4ExHgQzQazEMJekmQK0ITq1eIv0RGW0JDkndTmQmF4q_i3nO8inNdsnwNSVtjFyk1_LDtFL5aPWvqaOp3QgLeUGTmgwK0qYC5ZNaZsuU3lYRKZqBKdvoYDsd5PnI6jbrXukYPlNTTDVzVE74Pmuxg1YtrKa0JXv5t-rMj0LMVqFKpTE9aPrA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4500" data-original-width="8000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEGPW5Jk4ExHgQzQazEMJekmQK0ITq1eIv0RGW0JDkndTmQmF4q_i3nO8inNdsnwNSVtjFyk1_LDtFL5aPWvqaOp3QgLeUGTmgwK0qYC5ZNaZsuU3lYRKZqBKdvoYDsd5PnI6jbrXukYPlNTTDVzVE74Pmuxg1YtrKa0JXv5t-rMj0LMVqFKpTE9aPrA=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />When <i>Pulp Fiction</i> was released in 1994, it changed the film industry. Not only was the writing and pacing something that was largely unknown (outside of Tarantino's previous effort, <i>Reservoir Dogs</i>), but being an indy release, instead of something from a major studio (which would never, ever have taken the risk that both the material and the host of "non-bankable stars" presented), made many people inside and outside the industry sit up and take notice. But one of the main factors was the theme of the whole film. This was a gangster flick with realistic dialogue; with people who spoke about goofy, random stuff like real people, rather than always directly contributing to the plot ("You know, like Caine in <i>Kung Fu</i>.") One of the instructors at UCLA's prestigious film school said that the year after Pulp Fiction was released, every single senior project resembled it in at least some way. Now that <i>Everything Everywhere All At Once</i> has turned Hollywood on its ear about absurdist comedies, it's likely that we're going to be seeing many more of them. I don't want to accuse <b>Polite Society</b> of borrowing that approach, as it's probable that the latter film was in production long before EEAAO was released, but I feel pretty safe in thinking that almost everyone in the theater on Tuesday had the former film firmly in mind when writer/director Nida Manzoor's production started blossoming into what it becomes.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFvKsOpAC4HacIgvcsPjAdNiCLsAuJY2WSbZhTOUUbJD0AiAxuEvOER3Q6vnntUD4L6jKnJfCdAutqHIfysotzuSZkeP5irRzd0GE0EziVZWaqe1Nd2cYMlFOckC3z9Vl073LYSQqgxEpAyh-2u47LGSQuAJqbXkect-aExRGuAD0uTPKnFB5KQ6X9XA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFvKsOpAC4HacIgvcsPjAdNiCLsAuJY2WSbZhTOUUbJD0AiAxuEvOER3Q6vnntUD4L6jKnJfCdAutqHIfysotzuSZkeP5irRzd0GE0EziVZWaqe1Nd2cYMlFOckC3z9Vl073LYSQqgxEpAyh-2u47LGSQuAJqbXkect-aExRGuAD0uTPKnFB5KQ6X9XA=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />And, in truth, the overall premise of the film was much more like <i>RRR</i>, which was more fantastical than absurdist, and you can see Manzoor both mocking and embracing the Pakistani culture that is hers, and demonstrating its distinction from the staid English surroundings, even as teenaged Ria (Priya Kansara) does her best to try to fit in. That is, as long as "fitting in" means she can still embrace her alter ego (The Fury) and eventually let it lead her to her preferred career of stuntwoman, like her idol, Eunice Huthart (a stuntwoman in our "real life.") If that sounds like a great foundation for a comedy, it absolutely is, even without the central plot, which is Ria attempting to save her sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), from what Ria believes will be a disaster of a marriage to what seems like the perfect man. Indeed, I could've seen what might've been just as successful a story simply following Ria around and seeing what she (and The Fury) stumble into in the course of daily life. But that would've been much more like Tarantino and not nearly as much a fantasy as the story turns out to be. Throughout, I had a feeling that Manzoor had simply come up with a story that made her laugh and then did her best to convey that sense of humor to everyone else which, for the most part, she succeeded at.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieoOwUJVqGcZGQ_KsBEgoBoMYBYfxgtct3ka2vd37ED1rgkEo068Nuc1pP292lADhFTLswsNo7F6RNMSHiOTF3gmm-hrJ1qhXc62x__hvfeLN_KWUjZkxS5sfznpuWtIKGJLvzfs2NzczxghhD51dyA6x07XZIuUoAA4HqEmRy0a8yUz0yyno1uN_OOw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1801" data-original-width="3200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieoOwUJVqGcZGQ_KsBEgoBoMYBYfxgtct3ka2vd37ED1rgkEo068Nuc1pP292lADhFTLswsNo7F6RNMSHiOTF3gmm-hrJ1qhXc62x__hvfeLN_KWUjZkxS5sfznpuWtIKGJLvzfs2NzczxghhD51dyA6x07XZIuUoAA4HqEmRy0a8yUz0yyno1uN_OOw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />What also made the film funny in a meta sense is that Kansara did so much work that it was almost a star vehicle for an actor not yet a star (but whom almost certainly should become one.) She was the lead and, in many ways, the whole film, as all of the other characters moved in her orbit and she was the driving force of almost all of the action, whether as angst-ridden teenager Ria or The Fury, who always needed a target upon which to focus her furiousness (<a href="https://youtu.be/oFRTka15Kq4">much like another hero of yore</a>.) One such target is family friend, Raheela (Nimra Bucha) who did a great job of stealing just a bit of the focus from Kansara, turning what resembled a borderline superhero film into more of a Bond-esque exercise in a battle of wits between the presumed bad guy and the hero who needed a mission in life. Alongside of that and one of the elements that kept the film rooted in some form of reality were Shobu Kapoor and Jeff Mirza, Ria and Lena's mother and father, who did a great job in bit roles trying to come to grips with The Fury while keeping up with the Jones-Nawazes. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri, as Ria's friends, Clara and Alba, as well. The two of them were a constant source of humor in the whole scheme, with Beh especially diving into the absurdist themes of the film and her role with gusto.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhi3S66yEQvBQm0Ni9B59jRgE5jCJBkZvm4Uw5RYK1Dr_ugPMdvK5rs_n0ig8pg_6J3BNkVz7QLUmEt29sbYA_8TTbBe4tkNGACsY5IuKAN6COjOs8qwq_MuZEBD6h5wxkoJ3MhEV8zE54JBaKu_fE3uXdhYbpx1kNDSQkC3vaFjJkzufgFeolR33XsA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="2376" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhi3S66yEQvBQm0Ni9B59jRgE5jCJBkZvm4Uw5RYK1Dr_ugPMdvK5rs_n0ig8pg_6J3BNkVz7QLUmEt29sbYA_8TTbBe4tkNGACsY5IuKAN6COjOs8qwq_MuZEBD6h5wxkoJ3MhEV8zE54JBaKu_fE3uXdhYbpx1kNDSQkC3vaFjJkzufgFeolR33XsA=w400-h208" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's fair to say that perhaps a bit too much time was left to Ria dwelling in the aforementioned angst, as you can feel her frustration at not being understood, but also feel your own frustration when she kept falling into the most obvious of social obstacles, but that's what happens sometimes when one character is carrying so much weight. I'm engaging in a lot of comparisons to try to explain the film, which is kind of complimentary in its own way, since it was still definitely its own thing, even as much as it resembled so many others, intentionally or not. As a long-time fan of comics and superhero stuff, in general, and firmly burned out on the whole Marvel thing, Polite Society was a welcome reminder of just what these kinds of stories can deliver. Recommended.<p></p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-77979177607768143932023-05-02T22:55:00.002-04:002023-05-02T22:55:20.860-04:00How to deliver a message<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizhf4XG95mnpqbGjK360MUyZDaiQ1fgvJQwAzZrBeLelWkP15uXHhSDX4VGYQKCgh1EqrleGJpU31J2rhORkfgsw6a0s1RGnDppb2dzOyoVo8z5SJSlm4Vg9FxNKs4eG2Gq-62lNy8zkpoXr8FLPnK3IGlqnVepDtf1s-112yicLG8RI_usAVDoDZmPQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="3000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizhf4XG95mnpqbGjK360MUyZDaiQ1fgvJQwAzZrBeLelWkP15uXHhSDX4VGYQKCgh1EqrleGJpU31J2rhORkfgsw6a0s1RGnDppb2dzOyoVo8z5SJSlm4Vg9FxNKs4eG2Gq-62lNy8zkpoXr8FLPnK3IGlqnVepDtf1s-112yicLG8RI_usAVDoDZmPQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />There are a lotta stories and all kinds of ways to tell them. Likewise, there are lots of messages and many different ways to deliver them. The question that every author and director and transmitter and dogmatic is confronted with is: How? How do I tell my story in a way that will bring meaning to it? How do I convey my message in a way that will carry it into the hearts of its readers/listeners/viewers? This, I think, is a quandary no different with <b>How to Blow Up a Pipeline</b>. Inherent to its title and its basic premise, there's no doubt that that this is a message film. This isn't in the same vein as a romantic comedy or a sci-fi epic. This is a bit more down-to-earth, as it were, and wrapped up in very realistic themes that are tied around an actual situation that all of us are currently confronting. The book that it's based on is not an instruction manual as the title implies but rather a spirited defense of the idea of property destruction as a valid response to the destruction of the planet. That, too, is a debatable approach to both delivering one's message and telling the story of those who feel frustrated and powerless in front of the unstoppable tides of profit and modern demands of both industry and the energy production to drive it.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_YQ5rysZwpsYA8vM85qSeI26pUJmeVub7BKlgmhspeP0-TXPgfiQYrS2zyxEfK2puGBaYesi61hXFgfMfycCiHTk76s0U1pOHp4aRmz24v5kk7ODTNalALew4F4TqJD_GtZljcJlk337yM0rlJgALlcPyV8iTwZfZbJUQ-9yV6zSsOQ93_8m3IeuPqQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_YQ5rysZwpsYA8vM85qSeI26pUJmeVub7BKlgmhspeP0-TXPgfiQYrS2zyxEfK2puGBaYesi61hXFgfMfycCiHTk76s0U1pOHp4aRmz24v5kk7ODTNalALew4F4TqJD_GtZljcJlk337yM0rlJgALlcPyV8iTwZfZbJUQ-9yV6zSsOQ93_8m3IeuPqQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The story that writers Daniel Goldhaber (also the director) and Ariela Barer (who stars in it as Xochitl) extract from the book is a thin one. They're not trying to create elaborate drama. The backstories of all of the characters in the eco-defense/terrorist (feel free to pick your label) group are pretty standard; avenging a lost mother, defending the family land, the outrage of indigenous peoples, and the fury of a terminal disease most likely linked to the pollution that modern industry creates, especially among those not wealthy enough to escape direct exposure. None of these stories are new or particularly interesting, but all of them are either familiar or understandable to anyone who has bothered to pay attention for the last several decades. In fact, one thing that occurred to me halfway through the film was how much better it might be as a mini-series if one actually wanted to create characters that would sit with people, rather than just serve their purpose on the screen and disappear after a couple hours. But that wasn't really the point. The film wasn't created to leave you with lingering thoughts of Theo (Sasha Lane) and her terminal disease or Michael (Forrest Goodluck) and the drive that has led him to cut off most human contact. It was created to point out what the book's author and the film's creators are arguing is the only answer to the looming disaster before us. In that respect, spreading it out over three TV episodes would have drained it of both impact and the constant tension that the film employs to great effect. That tension is physical (the risk of handling homemade explosives) and emotional (the fear of failure, whether by being caught or blown up or simply not succeeding at the statement that they're trying to make) and mental (constantly questioning whether what they're doing is the right thing or even an effective thing) and it keeps the viewer interested by what is, again, pretty much only the framework of character and story. If it were intended to be a drama in prose, it would be a short story. Stretching that into a two-hour film is an accomplishment in and of itself.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfgusf-zaiNdMWGqj7eV14btPn5JqZtg5YcxZCYQXfPwOCaPmTcntINH3sRfSO9zGJIoeeDZHpub7IgYiKEHcw0LtHwf03gR2O7P7hZn4Ero5RIGCUEmA5awUinWf_wQ2h5gPHg-4oO5sDNevmGOU5uTaIgkhKqlkaYQK97J_zfC8PKOgCp4pJTwDKiw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1581" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfgusf-zaiNdMWGqj7eV14btPn5JqZtg5YcxZCYQXfPwOCaPmTcntINH3sRfSO9zGJIoeeDZHpub7IgYiKEHcw0LtHwf03gR2O7P7hZn4Ero5RIGCUEmA5awUinWf_wQ2h5gPHg-4oO5sDNevmGOU5uTaIgkhKqlkaYQK97J_zfC8PKOgCp4pJTwDKiw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />But, despite it being entertaining, the one thing that kept nagging at the back of my brain the whole time was the essential inadequacy of blowing up one pipeline from one producer of the toxic sludge that keeps the lights on for many people. There's some justification attempted by Shawn (Marcus Scribner) about affecting oil prices and the response by Alisha (Jayme Lawson) that doing so hurts the poor people who depend on the gasoline to get to their jobs far more than it does the producers of that oil. These are all reasonable, intelligent people who know how the world works to at least some degree. There are a couple like Dwayne (Jake Weary) and Michael who are only interested in lashing out for their own reasons. But there are questions raised, mostly by Alisha, who is the only one committed to what book author Andreas Malm disdained as the environmental movement's commitment to non-violence, which he considers no longer effective or necessary. Most of these characters agree with him and, thus, the essential message of the film becomes that of the book and it's one that's hard to argue with even if, again, the global impact of a single pipeline is not likely to be large enough to generate the response that either Malm or these characters would like. The excellent tension of the film conveys that message better than any soliloquies on the injustice of the situation ever could. This is a problem <i>now</i> that needs to be dealt with now.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibczS_XtDSQxsTZNuQSSKqgc_TO91ZOrwj8YKRwnf2aclCGhU4emGzQL8AiWeeF6utPvZmHHn_j_dphqg5p6lOlhd43y1nO415qo2xa1Sv6GK21C8q20Qn6729EiVl4ek8eOFZKgM-uRio9BS-BlVNzu3B8NcHSYqCtdKYxtKzNAal61CcZpwDdr_7CQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibczS_XtDSQxsTZNuQSSKqgc_TO91ZOrwj8YKRwnf2aclCGhU4emGzQL8AiWeeF6utPvZmHHn_j_dphqg5p6lOlhd43y1nO415qo2xa1Sv6GK21C8q20Qn6729EiVl4ek8eOFZKgM-uRio9BS-BlVNzu3B8NcHSYqCtdKYxtKzNAal61CcZpwDdr_7CQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />But for those concerned, like the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/04/how-to-spot-a-manifesto-movie/">whining National Review</a> who referred to it as "sociopathic filmmaking", that this is an actual instructional manual, rest assured that you'll be no closer to constructing an actual IED than you would be trying to learn how to make crystal meth from <i>Breaking Bad</i>. My favorite part of Armond White's opinion in NR was that the film was being used to "enforce partisanship", which means that the GOP knows that they're on the wrong side of an issue and has to accuse someone of implicitly siding with the opposition rather than ever admit that. White and others like him should be the ones who are the first to burn when the situation that Chevron and companies like them have created comes crashing down, if only for turning the survival of the planet and everything inhabiting it into a political football. If by that you assume that I'm on the side of those willing to use violence to push back, you're absolutely right. The film didn't need to deliver its message to me, as I've long since internalized it. When I was running the Green party in Michigan, the most difficult part of the party's central philosophy that I had to continue to convey was non-violence, as some situations simply demand it. That's the story that I'd be telling, too.<p></p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-27976634941112740612023-04-25T22:46:00.004-04:002023-04-25T22:46:34.746-04:00It's all about the music, man<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3aMfsuyRTqfeu4TMDaiH7hmZ8cCe_a87_1pf_VZ-KOgQ6uhTT1FEkmdu1SHUW8a4NG9xpO-dyNC57_lqTWHpYcgJtT_ZVgzI5hAUg1IcwYzSm5swgI8vNTZLYqJiSAI1SEzNkviJX4R5NpGOQOViBDdkMmYDZuNayCXtr4QlV2URCKXj322FnEAcRiw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3aMfsuyRTqfeu4TMDaiH7hmZ8cCe_a87_1pf_VZ-KOgQ6uhTT1FEkmdu1SHUW8a4NG9xpO-dyNC57_lqTWHpYcgJtT_ZVgzI5hAUg1IcwYzSm5swgI8vNTZLYqJiSAI1SEzNkviJX4R5NpGOQOViBDdkMmYDZuNayCXtr4QlV2URCKXj322FnEAcRiw=w400-h214" width="400" /></a></div><br />There's a certain gravitas that's often extended to historical films and TV series. It's often because they're depictions of actual events (or some approximation thereof) but it's also often a factor of the presentation. Most of them have elaborate sets, elaborate costumes, and are about people that carry themselves with some degree of haughtiness. You're frequently given the impression that you're watching something about Very Important People. In this respect, <b>Chevalier</b> is no different from any that have come before it. Indeed, given that it's about Joseph Bologne, who was a figure of fascination to the French nobility in the years just before the revolution of 1789, it almost couldn't be more self-important. The fact that Bologne is presented as supremely confident in himself and his own abilities further lends itself that room-filling presence. But the problem with a lot of them is that in their eagerness to spend money on setting and clothing, they often fall short in what I regard as the most important aspect of film (or almost any creative endeavor), which is storytelling. <i>Chevalier</i>, again, is no different.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9vXZyKzdZbWjbHJ0Orq9W2EhWOv0_TnL7muiEJ2BEsB2qYAMgH9mX3cpywkrm7BYyEPbphgt4n7QuqX_lbUnj6DoQe-UiAAEMFvrB6USdf9va1IPFjMlDe8ELHlF0e1ySvEliGHg_yhutX6cwTWWAu1lJEcJWn4Kv9MirALGZszB4HbnExqeaAWLfvw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="648" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9vXZyKzdZbWjbHJ0Orq9W2EhWOv0_TnL7muiEJ2BEsB2qYAMgH9mX3cpywkrm7BYyEPbphgt4n7QuqX_lbUnj6DoQe-UiAAEMFvrB6USdf9va1IPFjMlDe8ELHlF0e1ySvEliGHg_yhutX6cwTWWAu1lJEcJWn4Kv9MirALGZszB4HbnExqeaAWLfvw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Imagine yourself watching the BBCs Masterpiece Theatre. You're in the middle of <i>I, Claudius</i> or <i>Bleak House</i> and firmly in the fantasy land of the first century CE or the depredations of the 1890s. The problem is that this program is funded by the BBC, so if you were expecting some of the genuine excesses of the reign of the third emperor of Rome or how people actually lived (and mostly died) in a Dickens novel, you're going to be disappointed. There simply isn't the creative license to show things that are that up close and personal. Even worse, since they're trying to depict an historical period that many people are quite familiar with, there will be some level of restraint on what they feel they can do in the course of telling an interesting story. This is the pitfall that <i>Chevalier </i>entered and was unable to climb out of. We're presented with the character of Joseph Bologne, supremely talented musician, composer, and fencer within the first few minutes of the film... and that character never changes. There's basically no development whatsoever. You can say that he comes down from his cocky high of being the toast of the town to being just another supporter of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and you'd be right. But it's still the same person, post-personal shame of losing out on his most desired position in society and post-romantic tragedy of losing the one real love of his life. He is still the same Joseph and he never stops being the same Joseph. The story doesn't really carry us anywhere past the Wikipedia entry that tells you everything you need to know. The extent of the character's development could be told by suggesting that he is forced to confront his status as a Black man in the midst of racist France. But he knew that already and so did we from the first moments of the film. So, where did we go here?</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxychFqV_-KAGyRt8XF7nOG7CE0Fy6vv6kHiUeFoWTO8xnxbafPzJuUWoJGoQpNX3ct3G0Xq0JJQUV-Pi_F8-whP9opnmq8VG5DaYu7VyJ9lUSPEd2GUYBaPIu90m90pxuAPzVqf0q1criQ45X78ocwzeqE_U3GokTK0ldEnvG0zfENPHrymfzVS-jg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFxychFqV_-KAGyRt8XF7nOG7CE0Fy6vv6kHiUeFoWTO8xnxbafPzJuUWoJGoQpNX3ct3G0Xq0JJQUV-Pi_F8-whP9opnmq8VG5DaYu7VyJ9lUSPEd2GUYBaPIu90m90pxuAPzVqf0q1criQ45X78ocwzeqE_U3GokTK0ldEnvG0zfENPHrymfzVS-jg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />Kelvin Harrison, Jr. does well in the title role, but he's restrained by a character that doesn't really allow him to be much than what he already is. It's starkly different from his much smaller role as Christian in <i><a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-nose-ahead-of-other-musicals.html">Cyrano</a></i>, who had to fully experience some range of emotion within a scene and not just express it because that scene says so. It felt like most of the characters were kind of slotted into their roles without much of a nod to really becoming something within them. Lucy Boynton demonstrates some of the conflict of Marie Antoinette as a fellow stranger-in-a-strange-land with Joseph, who then has to conform to society's general disdain for him, despite her status as queen. But Martin Csokas, formerly Guy of Guisignan in <i>Kingdom of Heaven</i>, is the same straightforward "bad guy who does bad things to leading lady" as he did in that film. It's a horrible thing to be typecast, but I guess it's work. In fact, the only character who seemed like she had agency within her own sphere was Nanon, Joseph's mother, played wonderfully by Ronke Adekoluejo. Whenever she was on screen, she was needling her son about his acceptance of his role in the White (and rich) man's world, but also supporting him in being who he was and wanted to be. That character felt genuine because it sounds like a genuine mother; trying to coax her son to be something more, but encouraging him to be himself, as well. That's a bit of an internal conflict, which is what made her human, whereas everyone felt like they were just playing the role of a human.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRp5a7yFCphLO321Z0pCqhYEIG7ah_mF1iEOUaR2bMnakvy8o6T1d5V9vofDaBiqHJmS15Q52qgBHEmVcf3fLIJ3ySgak87tqwlri8479gJ8DGT9ysTpUmqEqVr8Ff9TXH1gWePSIcf3EowIlgg7sw-0lNpBYy8TgRTT3TbDbAxA8NhcbkPPoNtzkjTg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRp5a7yFCphLO321Z0pCqhYEIG7ah_mF1iEOUaR2bMnakvy8o6T1d5V9vofDaBiqHJmS15Q52qgBHEmVcf3fLIJ3ySgak87tqwlri8479gJ8DGT9ysTpUmqEqVr8Ff9TXH1gWePSIcf3EowIlgg7sw-0lNpBYy8TgRTT3TbDbAxA8NhcbkPPoNtzkjTg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />For all of its dynamic setting that, too, falls victim to the circumstance of being more encyclopedia entry than story. The film is told in a clearly American style, without any of the longer quiet shots or moodier approaches common to French films and which it really might have benefited from. It's framed, of course, by the advent of one of the most turbulent revolutions in modern history, but it takes that highly complex and varied setting and reduces it to its most basic elements that carry little of the trauma or tragedy of the situation as a whole. Indeed, the most poignant moment of the film might have been the caption at the end that mentioned that Napoleon restored slavery in the French colonies and outlawed Joseph's music, which is why so little of it is heard today, despite its obvious quality. That, of course, has to be emphasized, since Joseph's music is heard throughout the film and really does well to carry it across some of its more obviously-delivered dramatic moments. The whole time, I felt like I wanted a film that lived up to the majesty of the score that was supporting it. I wanted more story, more emotion, more character, more <i>something </i>that would push this from Masterpiece Theatre to a film that I wanted to see in an actual theater... which, y'know, I did so I guess I was still just wanting something that lived up to the setting? Again, like <i>Air</i>, I'm not meaning to trash it. It's not a bad film. It's just not what serves its very proud and talented namesake. Oh, and the concept of Mozart being offended by someone challenging him on stage is kind of ridiculous. Mozart was an inveterate showoff and being confronted by someone just like him would have only made him that much more enthusiastic. You might have gotten a better story out of just the two of them dueling with violins.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-60297945595562984062023-04-12T20:55:00.005-04:002023-04-12T20:55:25.380-04:00Putting on airs<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS5DIPKHIDTZifUTzQUUWI4fhjLpCEotG7iZ70OH6k6AB5EBRTDx25-Oyw3w07X_QYyXLfZvj7X-0R8cOoxT6hxQuoubgyy5h3zy_CZ7fl9mrVSdJfjOWZ3Fcaekzs56hTvsqFDtw72jRWJSGETSj9-gZ0UsMuXCXzzPQRB2mEXD-D16XDKPvXzqlreg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS5DIPKHIDTZifUTzQUUWI4fhjLpCEotG7iZ70OH6k6AB5EBRTDx25-Oyw3w07X_QYyXLfZvj7X-0R8cOoxT6hxQuoubgyy5h3zy_CZ7fl9mrVSdJfjOWZ3Fcaekzs56hTvsqFDtw72jRWJSGETSj9-gZ0UsMuXCXzzPQRB2mEXD-D16XDKPvXzqlreg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />I generally like biopics. I also like most of what Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have done in their careers. So when I heard that <b>Air</b> was being produced by their company (Artists Equity) with Damon in the lead and Affleck supporting and directing, I expected something that was fairly high quality. And, in a lot of ways, it was. It's well-written and well-acted and funny and fairly drowns itself in 80s references contemporary to its 1984 setting, much of which I still vividly remember. But... (and there's often a "but") the downside is that it's basically a hagiography of a major corporation, not a biopic. In this story, Nike is the valiant "little guy", oppressed by the economic power of behemoths Converse and Adidas. Of course, no one with any common sense believes that that's the case and Affleck as Phil Knight and Damon as Sonny Vaccaro even mention at some point that Nike is a <i>billion-dollar corporation</i>. Excuse me for a moment while I search for the Davidian analogy in this supposed shepherd v giant warrior tale about the basketball shoe market because it's pretty hard to find (incidentally, the biblical David was a royal armor-bearer and one of the favorites of the king, too.) So, you're saying a billion-dollar corporation is outmuscled in one aspect of the shoe market by a couple of multi-billion dollar competitors, all the while utterly dominating an even larger facet (running shoes) of the American market? My heart bleeds. And that's the essential façade that all of the clever writing and solid acting and funny moments really can't get away from.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT4JGn_Baij7U5Eh0EB5oZ8rceXuEGUiW2e0xRzOWKqW4Zpb5_s-LADuLWU8x63ZzVQkHbRRm_MsE4ji-R23HYW1UhzolAdTc9IWGLj8j3xNnupxT2skmleZwLBL0y01BQfU0dLn2WxTxJ4aExL0qSI3U3leIMGzWHtjoJgO42qNvHpzrRp3g6y59UDQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT4JGn_Baij7U5Eh0EB5oZ8rceXuEGUiW2e0xRzOWKqW4Zpb5_s-LADuLWU8x63ZzVQkHbRRm_MsE4ji-R23HYW1UhzolAdTc9IWGLj8j3xNnupxT2skmleZwLBL0y01BQfU0dLn2WxTxJ4aExL0qSI3U3leIMGzWHtjoJgO42qNvHpzrRp3g6y59UDQ=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />The basic ethical premise that the film tries to push forward is that the players were getting cheated out of value by the major shoe companies, as they were essentially free marketing for said companies by playing in the NBA, and the deal that Michael Jordan struck with Nike (that he gets a percentage of every shoe with his name/image on it) was groundbreaking and turned into a bonanza for the players. When it comes to labor being delivered the value that it creates, your friendly neighborhood Marxist is all about it, even when said labor is an elite subset of individuals on the planet. They're doing a job. Their names and likenesses are being used to push a product. They deserve a piece. The situation that the film presents in 1984 is no different than what the NCAA is trying to hide from and has hidden from since the 1950s. But the film presents all of this in the context of that "little guy" triumphing over unassailable odds with just gumption and hard work, when the truth was that Nike, given its profitability, had massive resources at its disposal. If they wanted to do a triumph of the little guy story that involved Nike, they could've done one about Phil Knight building the company by selling shoes at track meets out of the trunk of his car (which is, of course, mentioned in the film because, you know, "little guy.") If they wanted to do a story about the determination and vision and principles of Sonny Vaccaro, they could've done an actual biopic about the latter's work as a scout who created the first national high school all-star game or the creation of the ABCD camp, also to showcase high school players, or his personal drive to expose the hypocrisy of the NCAA which he's been talking about for the last 40 years. You want a story of triumphing over long odds? That sounds like a much more suitable premise.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiREhZVAfX3DH_5pet0WUmDfo9itdmn8aVNbX7HFq5zOc1aSTWKKGZwUb-Sv-HXElC8pToPqWEBQA1fRJqznnCJ00ZPzlxNjsDRVtSnvgLiEGwoBZ2PKDPPAhl591_zqsXv27amJ3QQJovEG-ewvedQMobo7YuUNWHd_rTWXBN4zIr3LHQw4Y6jutup6g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="3900" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiREhZVAfX3DH_5pet0WUmDfo9itdmn8aVNbX7HFq5zOc1aSTWKKGZwUb-Sv-HXElC8pToPqWEBQA1fRJqznnCJ00ZPzlxNjsDRVtSnvgLiEGwoBZ2PKDPPAhl591_zqsXv27amJ3QQJovEG-ewvedQMobo7YuUNWHd_rTWXBN4zIr3LHQw4Y6jutup6g=w400-h215" width="400" /></a></div><br />Despite its structural failings, the film isn't actively bad. As noted, it's well-written and quite funny and Damon makes the most of the material he's given. Similarly, Jason Bateman does well as marketing exec, Rob Strasser. He's also, unfortunately, given the softball of muttering about just how important it is that he hold on to his job as one of the top executives in the billion-dollar corporation so that he can continue to bring his daughter shoes on his weekend visits. It's a sappy moment that doesn't really bring much to the overall proceedings. Speaking of which, Affleck's depiction of Knight, while decent, also doesn't bring much to the stage, as his role is to basically be Damon's constant foil, only gesturing over his shoulder at the oft-mentioned "board" and how they won't be interested in throwing away money on this basketball thing. The subtle racism of decrying the sport played by mostly Black men by the company that produces shoes for mostly suburban White people is a constant. And Viola Davis is her usual competent self as Jordan's mother, Deloris, whose steely determination to not have her son taken advantage of by these massive corporations is also everpresent. That depiction of background racism comes to the fore when Sonny visits good friend, George Raveling, who tells him about how he was not only present at Martin Luther King, Jr's speech at the Lincoln Memorial ("<a href="https://youtu.be/smEqnnklfYs">I have a dream</a>"), but met King and was handed one of the original copies of said speech. Of course, when that's framed against Sonny's vision of Jordan and Nike's future, such that the film essentially compares the gamble of a talent scout on a shoe deal to the most famous speech of the American civil rights movement, you begin to see how self-important the producers' opinion of their own efforts happens to be.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7dPRzBU3SGh1pbZR36sK_oRYel50792IOxmEoWrtPVROSRp11yRyNdMOPxuyzgAiYkVbso7WCRZ8K8vhEHFcGOBhy5kMuqEZScDDpi0MFSk3UoaIfn-IcJwvy1aB5C4r1KFoMr061ET520m7OvXhesvCcEDk-uuqQ47-y78Lf3ZPN1ZY9j2ASeA1kYA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="3900" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7dPRzBU3SGh1pbZR36sK_oRYel50792IOxmEoWrtPVROSRp11yRyNdMOPxuyzgAiYkVbso7WCRZ8K8vhEHFcGOBhy5kMuqEZScDDpi0MFSk3UoaIfn-IcJwvy1aB5C4r1KFoMr061ET520m7OvXhesvCcEDk-uuqQ47-y78Lf3ZPN1ZY9j2ASeA1kYA=w400-h215" width="400" /></a></div><br />Speaking of which, while I thought Affleck's direction for <i>Argo</i> was brilliant and thought he was unfairly robbed of at least a nomination for that work, I was left with a lot more questions in that respect with this film. He seemed to have a thing for close-ups, so that when Sonny and Rob, for example, were arguing over the budget or whether Sonny was doing his job properly, we would often be resting right on one of their shoulders or so close that we could map the pores in their faces while they half-shouted at each other. If Affleck was trying to show us how intense man-to-man defense can be in the lane, well, OK, but it left me feeling like he was engaged in what he thought was a novel technique to convey the tension of the moment but it really ended up being more distracting than anything else. And it was that kind of distraction that made me feel like all of them had kind of lost the forest for the trees. Yes, it's an amusing story, but signing a big shoe deal with an NBA star doesn't quite compare to the struggle to be treated as a human being. Similarly, when the "what happened later" captions appear on the screen, they continue to try too hard on behalf of Nike by pointing out that Phil Knight has given almost $2 billion to charity. Of course, he also ran a corporation that utilized child labor for a couple decades in Southeast Asia to ensure maximum profits on all of the products that it made, including Air Jordans. It took a lot of public pressure and an assertion of rights by workers in those countries to get that to change. So, yeah, economic rights were won for star basketball players, but not for Vietnamese kids. Hooray? And during this period, Nike went from a billion-dollar corporation to a multi-billion dollar corporation, eventually buying Converse, as the similarly self-satisfied caption details at the end of the film.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiILBl0vu5rs4UflUNIJbL-GCKkCJAlmFtn-1nY55bpUJ105mM2CPM6ozU1AkXXQBDRyC2dcuEV-U13-OawjpVyqNcycSqjR0ZHM-Bz2YVGWT98kHPofcXBk62ZJOWHwqhGUB0NReVxH4USu0FFhzw8YO1BGRl-4FNhnPh79oyXlLWJ8l12fJyksg7u0w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1461" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiILBl0vu5rs4UflUNIJbL-GCKkCJAlmFtn-1nY55bpUJ105mM2CPM6ozU1AkXXQBDRyC2dcuEV-U13-OawjpVyqNcycSqjR0ZHM-Bz2YVGWT98kHPofcXBk62ZJOWHwqhGUB0NReVxH4USu0FFhzw8YO1BGRl-4FNhnPh79oyXlLWJ8l12fJyksg7u0w=w400-h229" width="400" /></a></div><br />So, yeah, I don't know. Again, it's not a bad film. It's just kind of shallow on many, many levels. In a way, it's a perfect encapsulation of the decade that it spares no effort to hail and lionize. Would I rush out and hand more money to a giant corporation (Amazon) in order to see it? No. But if you want a few laughs, you could do a lot worse.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-17294035380531566792023-03-26T12:27:00.003-04:002023-03-26T12:27:12.273-04:00All the P.A.I.N. and the anguish<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_Ecb0kth7fNA6iUxR0zsRiqqZmJC_k_AimqDBapZ-PjYkGNMn92-QJB2zVJ8meZZDygVDuJS_jg5BgE_tp6W5u82EOI3prwCoSbEmFXMdYedkgWGDVaXQUAMTA7dbNf15-A4MMwdTu2M2vWBhUcuD4FBcCFs3NSt1n7a3DrQ_LduShH20wwOtDuWy7A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1582" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_Ecb0kth7fNA6iUxR0zsRiqqZmJC_k_AimqDBapZ-PjYkGNMn92-QJB2zVJ8meZZDygVDuJS_jg5BgE_tp6W5u82EOI3prwCoSbEmFXMdYedkgWGDVaXQUAMTA7dbNf15-A4MMwdTu2M2vWBhUcuD4FBcCFs3NSt1n7a3DrQ_LduShH20wwOtDuWy7A=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br />I didn't realize that it had been over a month since the last time I posted here. That's a combination of factors, including having nothing to see at the Michigan Theater, seeing things again (<i>Everything Everywhere All At Once</i>), or seeing things that just weren't impressive enough to inspire a reflection (<i>The Quiet Girl</i>.) But tonight we watched something that we saw a trailer for at the theater, but ended up seeing on HBO. It was the documentary about photographer, Nan Goldin, her struggle with oxycontin addiction and the organization she created to bring attention to the Sackler family who profited from the drug and its casualties, and much more about her life: <b>All the Beauty and the Bloodshed</b>. It was what you'd expect out of any serious documentary: informative, insightful, pertinent, but also harrowing and disturbing.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYroMMbZTdJDOVCZKp-1qIVk9VulI62i0SbDZM2Fta9NNsI6fn8DjhCTYIFvcmATaGqAk8aGQ6pbcznWNMZpmFHVzW00QZFymGli_QLPy9jy5oV1sL5lyvADwHVCLqNte5KfoQ5dFEYnjE97BpEke_0p1GRiEteKOaBWiwOOwaJltGN_Jbpp7axmxt0g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYroMMbZTdJDOVCZKp-1qIVk9VulI62i0SbDZM2Fta9NNsI6fn8DjhCTYIFvcmATaGqAk8aGQ6pbcznWNMZpmFHVzW00QZFymGli_QLPy9jy5oV1sL5lyvADwHVCLqNte5KfoQ5dFEYnjE97BpEke_0p1GRiEteKOaBWiwOOwaJltGN_Jbpp7axmxt0g=w400-h246" width="400" /></a></div><br />The film highlights the criminality of Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, but it also exposes the basic criminal situation of the health system in the United States, where a company nominally producing products for the care of patients, instead is motivated almost solely by profit, in true Reaganite fashion. This is brought into focus when Nan talks about her initial addiction to oxycontin, which dropped her out of the dynamic community that she'd become a part of as a creative person in the neighborhoods of south Manhattan, and into rehab. When she emerged from her treatment and tried to reconnect with that community, she said: "They were all gone." as the AIDS epidemic had ripped through the LGBTQ circles that she had been a part of and the indifference of the medical community, until there was a profit to be made, and the ignorance or contempt of the general public left so many to die. This coincides with the first story that the film begins with, which is that of Nan's sister, Barbara, who was struggling with her own sexuality and was committed to multiple mental health institutions by her parents as a consequence.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP183iaIwbbd_Z1pxB_jYoomQjaao44xVg9cp7fzyrKRkVY6NpYmHL8R-yN2zo6iOOrzCuX9bs5AtT8_PkDrYUGoYqThZVyOkyd7gKfNm5YnpkzTmQR5sJ13Eqp166gV7zx5VSI8EDuaDlnKef26aEmaAvdwhYrwUMUzd2oq3gkbNKdb6DMldV_G4BWg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP183iaIwbbd_Z1pxB_jYoomQjaao44xVg9cp7fzyrKRkVY6NpYmHL8R-yN2zo6iOOrzCuX9bs5AtT8_PkDrYUGoYqThZVyOkyd7gKfNm5YnpkzTmQR5sJ13Eqp166gV7zx5VSI8EDuaDlnKef26aEmaAvdwhYrwUMUzd2oq3gkbNKdb6DMldV_G4BWg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br />The story of Nan's (and Barbara's) life is one of an attempt to make connections. Deprived of emotional contact at home (something that also troubled her sister), Nan sought out communities that she could become a part of and which, in turn, would embrace her. This led to some extensive drug use, which is what placed her in the central quandary that gives the film its premise, but also sex work, which she had never previously spoken of, and all of the issues that come with that which are, again, often made up of an indifferent or contemptuous public and a willingness to look down upon anything that it doesn't implicitly understand or accept as "normal." Nan, in contrast, made her career by creating images of people as they are; different, alive, human, which is what Barbara was and would have remained. On a technical level, it's an interesting departure from many documentaries in that the vast majority of the footage and images are from Nan's work, as she photographed the life around her, but also filmed the protests that her organization P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) conducted to expose the Sackler family's connection to the art world, leading to many museums and galleries dissociating with the family and rejecting their money, a large portion of which they had siphoned from Perdue when the lawsuits over its products began, before it eventually declared bankruptcy. So it's not director, Laura Poitas, just filming the aftermath of the original topic, but Nan's work, in the moment, that makes up the bulk of the film.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDYpUUbB6rE0OW2GwRnwpZp3-SqvIG-AjYjLUoUv1Gpm0_SMl5wBEQCwdSQRq6DAaLclIyUxT8xTjdnau39OS5ifbf0Zb0-EbO0-ixE56EeMPLH8SJe0mwWa2FcABVMJILjXwMOsDEAsXH0rtZAn4VAN6NyIcru_0hCuu_EMm1QJewwsZjzwbPcI7K7g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDYpUUbB6rE0OW2GwRnwpZp3-SqvIG-AjYjLUoUv1Gpm0_SMl5wBEQCwdSQRq6DAaLclIyUxT8xTjdnau39OS5ifbf0Zb0-EbO0-ixE56EeMPLH8SJe0mwWa2FcABVMJILjXwMOsDEAsXH0rtZAn4VAN6NyIcru_0hCuu_EMm1QJewwsZjzwbPcI7K7g=w400-h249" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is a very personal film that doesn't present many jarring or urgent moments, but instead provides a two-hour look at a very long and varied life and the constant dark clouds that hovered over much of it from the point when Nan was 11 years old. It's a story of perseverance, both in the face of personal foibles and corporate ones, and it provides a fair amount of perspective from a very different standpoint from what my life has been. On the other hand, it does provide one note that neatly coincides with my experience, when Nan mentions that her parents were ill-suited to be parents, but instead had kids because "that's what you did then.", which is right in line with my own experience. It's fairly long for a documentary, but remains compelling throughout and is definitely worth the time, if only for the straightforward examination of personal trauma that she reveals and her determination to come out the other side of it.</div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-88906472208474337362023-02-21T23:14:00.004-05:002023-02-21T23:14:44.052-05:00Falling short - 2022 Animation shorts<p>Woof. I'm an animation fan. When I posted a tweet last week in the vein of a lot of the chains going around entitled: "10 films to get to know me" (I'll be writing more on that later), two of those ten were animated films. I read and wrote comics for years, so it's kind of a natural segue between the two media. With that in mind, I'm usually most excited to see the animated shorts when they come around every year, but this year was kind of a trial. Three of the five ranged from forgettable to outright awful; one was at least interesting and the fifth (thankfully the last) was fantastic. It basically saved what was otherwise a pretty poor outing for what we usually expect from these mini-festivals.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPJKuJ6Ufdiy8NKjkEoIf2HRLd0C7eQvTvnlwRFqLIHOiJ3Qeco5pbsWBEzfUUqjpg4mHlCdhvm0aWmQKeV5vXLHcU4rea3AKhS9GXc9wPdhoTKtoqiz7KSnyWOXJEr6eH9LANC_hx6aj9mTcQjCfeA9bxwf9SWsKrnZ4QYciyQnQYmEXsWkXC08mtNQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPJKuJ6Ufdiy8NKjkEoIf2HRLd0C7eQvTvnlwRFqLIHOiJ3Qeco5pbsWBEzfUUqjpg4mHlCdhvm0aWmQKeV5vXLHcU4rea3AKhS9GXc9wPdhoTKtoqiz7KSnyWOXJEr6eH9LANC_hx6aj9mTcQjCfeA9bxwf9SWsKrnZ4QYciyQnQYmEXsWkXC08mtNQ=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It</b>: This was the one that had an interesting premise and was at least funny in parts. It's the story of an office worker who realizes that he's trapped in an animation studio and that everything around him is less than it seems. It uses one of my favorite animation techniques, which is stop motion. I'm a diehard Ray Harryhausen fan from when I was a kid, so that labor-intensive process and the slightly jerky motion (much better with modern processing than it used to be) will always have an instinctive appeal to me. Director Lachlan Pendragon not only has a cool name but also was a student when he created this film, which makes it that much more impressive. The fact that Neil (voiced by Pendragon) breaks the fourth wall in a fairly oblique fashion by discovering the processes and the different parts that make up himself and the other puppets, rather than communicating directly with the audience, is another excellent approach. The overarching theme of modern office work being detached from the "real world" is present, but not used as a bludgeon. Why is it an ostrich that clues Neil into what's really happening? Perhaps as a metaphor for people not being willing to notice what their world is until told by the bird who willingly blinds itself according to legend? Perhaps just because it's absurd? Doesn't matter. This was a smart little piece that deserves the notice that it has gotten.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivgfeQaNEQvUdc5JiVCbxoX6pnkHwi3oEAHvGX95T7QgtfRlIqsz2aEtXwx6l9W_9XRESRXkMA0pX7GKsYUAvx86ykNbSFm6oTBXbr-S5g2mEjTeGPBiA9siKl2EUin9r2rUnE6TLX4G1zcXgG9X5sabkk6Hzv6RYhh-bP353CFOcESZ0uyDk2RH3GkQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="448" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivgfeQaNEQvUdc5JiVCbxoX6pnkHwi3oEAHvGX95T7QgtfRlIqsz2aEtXwx6l9W_9XRESRXkMA0pX7GKsYUAvx86ykNbSFm6oTBXbr-S5g2mEjTeGPBiA9siKl2EUin9r2rUnE6TLX4G1zcXgG9X5sabkk6Hzv6RYhh-bP353CFOcESZ0uyDk2RH3GkQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Flying Sailor</b>: This was an abstract reconstruction of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion">Halifax Explosion</a> in 1917, centered mostly around the story of Billy Wells, who was hurled almost two kilometers by the blast but survived. While it did heed historical details, like the fact that Billy's clothes were torn from his body in the initial shockwave, it veered off from there into a perspective that Billy might have had in terms of his life flashing before his eyes and taking time to look at the stars while he was hurtling through the air. That's fine, but it doesn't leave us with a whole lot to latch onto, story-wise. It is only an eight-minute film, so I don't think it was intended to deliver anything grandiloquent, but it also didn't say enough to leave much of an impression at all. If you didn't already know that it was about Halifax, you'd come away with even less than that, so I'm a little lost as to how it got nominated in the first place.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqgrpR5-uKG6sL0WssxiidkaBK0HgfREABBd5jLeKT6o38JdJUZbazKtzqk3W2DldbzSMd52VxHChPLz8i0SiScUn58oAO9-s8hlqmqawTGj0dGC_VRGvY1FS6nkf3sJvqsmz335PyNOd0BHCnhmdvO5sWc4eFnzrFkuPLrQzvHwwcCqkMOYWqgUzTTg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqgrpR5-uKG6sL0WssxiidkaBK0HgfREABBd5jLeKT6o38JdJUZbazKtzqk3W2DldbzSMd52VxHChPLz8i0SiScUn58oAO9-s8hlqmqawTGj0dGC_VRGvY1FS6nkf3sJvqsmz335PyNOd0BHCnhmdvO5sWc4eFnzrFkuPLrQzvHwwcCqkMOYWqgUzTTg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Ice Merchants</b>: This one delivered a bit more in that its story was completely fantastical, about a man and his son living in a house perched on a mountainside where they make ice every day and skydive to the town in the valley to sell said ice, losing their hats in the process of the dive and buying new ones every time before they return on their motorcycle winched from the ground. One wonders why they wouldn't just ride the winch to the ground so that they could keep their hats, but I suppose that would deny them the thrill of their power dive every time. It also would spoil the rather indifferent ending when the warming (of the climate? of the seasons?) of the mountainside threatens both their home and their livelihood. I suppose that metaphor about climate change is the most likely and that's all well and good in principle, but one could just as easily draw a metaphor about consumerism with the constant waste of their hats and their need to buy more. Is the awesome heat created by the furious looms down in the town, weaving new hats every day, part of what's contributing to the change that threatens to ruin their lives? That's probably spinning those threads (ahem) out a bit far, but it's that kind of speculation that's needed to really make something of this story that left the feeling it was a bit lacking and, three films in, left me feeling rather underwhelmed about the whole evening until we got to the next film...<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXR0cg1EmQ8wKAEPcZBAj77AukDyWytrZD_yVmIvLmFCQphWAtG-lFt4-OeBAw3hJVXeWTIAfC-TrmCZudOGtD3G0Yms7Aev7NfCXaj7rJ-oFR_ThDYC0_St8okgkKLrw9drZhVIVEJtIniIcZ-N0_8PBBGj_9FaBOpu7FzBa3-riI7F_w02gcvYIEpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXR0cg1EmQ8wKAEPcZBAj77AukDyWytrZD_yVmIvLmFCQphWAtG-lFt4-OeBAw3hJVXeWTIAfC-TrmCZudOGtD3G0Yms7Aev7NfCXaj7rJ-oFR_ThDYC0_St8okgkKLrw9drZhVIVEJtIniIcZ-N0_8PBBGj_9FaBOpu7FzBa3-riI7F_w02gcvYIEpg=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse</b>: ... which was irredeemably awful. In all the years that we've been doing this, I don't think I've ever encountered a <i>short film</i> that I really wanted to walk out of, but there's a first time for everything. This film is dreadfully tedious. I'm all about the overall themes of empathy and kindness, but there really has to be something at least mildly dynamic about characters, story... <i>something</i>! Everything in this story was blasé from the opening moments of the insipid soundtrack. The animation technique was at least somewhat interesting, with the shifting pencil marks outlining the watercolors of characters and scenery, but everything else was soporific and I know it was because I caught myself starting to doze a couple times, which is never a problem in what is usually a collection of interesting perspectives (not just the animation, but all of the shorts on offer.) Tricia compared it to Winnie the Pooh, but even the stories about Pooh had a character like Tigger, who would at least provide some contrast to the fretting and timidity of Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore. There was no such contrast here, as all of them were collegial nihilists, bemoaning their state of affairs while reassuring each other of how fond they all were of the others. At 34 minutes, this was already borderline too long for a short. Given the subject matter, it was about 33 minutes too long.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP7REtf0rQpx4lP3QDloHgbhkbqduH6jV0n_hPmCv_yulpoXJI6NeDwzRQisVcdiNKSANWSHea4qidkjnhP-2rhXVLD3VOz79K_AA8UAn6OsiMvBi6Q3lRyp_-q4jp7KH_B4xjKcNU8hRQLULXs-1H0nTUfXIf7PIy_c8fdm1ct0nHaUs-GHbxWY6HTg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP7REtf0rQpx4lP3QDloHgbhkbqduH6jV0n_hPmCv_yulpoXJI6NeDwzRQisVcdiNKSANWSHea4qidkjnhP-2rhXVLD3VOz79K_AA8UAn6OsiMvBi6Q3lRyp_-q4jp7KH_B4xjKcNU8hRQLULXs-1H0nTUfXIf7PIy_c8fdm1ct0nHaUs-GHbxWY6HTg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>My Year of Dicks</b>: But the evening was thankfully saved by the best film of the night, which was the last one. Pamela Ribon's story of her fifteen-year-old self trying to force her own sexual awakening was hilarious, familiar, and hugely entertaining, both visually and textually, for its entire 24 minutes. It struck a chord with the whole audience (a packed Michigan Theater screening room) because it unabashedly hit at sensations that everyone in that room had had at one time or another, whether in the role of Pamela or one of the boys that she tries to make her co-conspirator in the plot toward teenaged orgasm. The highlight, of course, was the cascade of anguish and emotion surrounding "the talk" with her father. I really appreciated the funhouse mirror approach to her feelings and expressions and everything that you remember in your own inner visualizations while having those excruciating moments with your parents. This was vastly more inclusive and understandable than the dreary Hallmark animal parade. But since it actually talks about real emotions and not fantasy ones, it will almost certainly lose the statuette to the wooden Pooh facsimiles. It's not like you can imagine anyone on stage actually voicing the title on national TV, anyway, even if they did acknowledge these film creators during the live broadcast, which they no longer do.<p></p><p>So, yeah, a somewhat underwhelming end to our three-day excursion. I think Live Action walked away with my personal "best of"s this time, as I'll remember <i>The Red Suitcase</i> and <i>An Irish Goodbye</i> for a long time, I think.</p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-8135201523422337542023-02-20T23:29:00.003-05:002023-02-20T23:29:54.140-05:00Crafting short stories - 2022 Live Action shortsThere's a certain art to crafting a short story. To many people, short stories are just short novels, which really isn't the case, as it often takes a different frame of mind and a whole lot of restraint to recognize that what you have isn't really novel length and is best delivered in a form that will give just enough of a story for the reader/viewer to come away with the message that you'd like to deliver (or simply the tale you'd like to tell) and not be subsumed in the world that you've created. They're glimpses; snippets; insights. The writers and directors of this year's submissions took a variety of angles toward that goal and, for the most part, produced some excellent films that embodied the concept.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhypiRlZgABsERLVK7f4o0pp2RDkqvZkH_8bClVLWqayWTcPjwaSkoax-_NyBJ1u_7F4ewxu2a-Omnenpzc2g2OoeZXcG1kk_6laUcPlAvDEAqv5mTpkQEkNoTlmqNAr7ytzveaCWIVfoBDi79g35A6ljdplmqN-A_PHypquYMz7u2iU9VBaWrTp_Mn5Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="2764" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhypiRlZgABsERLVK7f4o0pp2RDkqvZkH_8bClVLWqayWTcPjwaSkoax-_NyBJ1u_7F4ewxu2a-Omnenpzc2g2OoeZXcG1kk_6laUcPlAvDEAqv5mTpkQEkNoTlmqNAr7ytzveaCWIVfoBDi79g35A6ljdplmqN-A_PHypquYMz7u2iU9VBaWrTp_Mn5Q=w400-h165" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><b>Ivalu</b>: This is a story told half in the dreamworld of intelligent ravens and memories and half in the brutal reality of a missing sibling and a dire situation at home. It's based on the graphic novel of the same name by Morten Dürr and you can tell that directors Anders Walter and Pipaluk K. Jørgenson wanted to stick to Dürr's visual style, as they create several long, focusing shots on key elements in the story: the expression on a face, the seeming intelligence in the blank eyes of a bird, and so on. This is very much a comic, panel-by-panel approach and it does a good job of sustaining a narrative without dialogue. They also decided to layer in a lot of narrative dialogue by Pipaluk, the younger sister of the namesake of the film who is desperate to find her older sibling and bring her home, half out of concern and half out of Pipaluk's own fear of the menace that exists at home. It's a solid story but, like the perhaps unneeded dialogue, I think it went too far into the reality of the situation when the implications were already plain as sunlight on a glacier from the very beginning. If the intent was to show Pipaluk's transition out of her escapist fantasy that she used to try to shield herself from what was happening, then that was accomplished. It just felt to me like they had taken an excellent indirect approach and then abandoned that in the third act to just present the problem that had caused both sisters so much anguish. It feels like the message might have been stronger without simply portraying the horrific reality. That said, it was still wonderfully shot, with great visuals of the culture and scenery in Greenland and is well worth the watch.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil2exRlOFz7eRYbILjLKR_D5lXJ5sI-PHpqd9QgQaHi5ZVWx-7jw-IB1RfH4Q4R7lRl3nqsyEtczFQjxl7HVtXoOHpegxXiuIIAZPUiREFWF_KeHuLXxakznGZEbANcNra8HVNyA-OkMtvGl4IcP0VZQTmt4LrjnSOpny41-PIBmx5eN1m2JmMp7qeaA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil2exRlOFz7eRYbILjLKR_D5lXJ5sI-PHpqd9QgQaHi5ZVWx-7jw-IB1RfH4Q4R7lRl3nqsyEtczFQjxl7HVtXoOHpegxXiuIIAZPUiREFWF_KeHuLXxakznGZEbANcNra8HVNyA-OkMtvGl4IcP0VZQTmt4LrjnSOpny41-PIBmx5eN1m2JmMp7qeaA=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Night Ride (Nattrikken)</b>: This entry was an unusual story of a little person who inadvertently steals a local tram somewhere in Norway and then has to figure out how to deal with unruly passengers and their harassment of a trans person. It's a great story about the continued persecution of many among us for their size or their identity or anything that the majority deems "not normal." In some ways, this was the bluntest of presentations of the five films, since it didn't have any of the stylistic approaches of the rest but simply presented its story, including spending a fair amount of time showing Ebba (Sigrid Kandal Husjord) trying to figure out how to pilot her stolen tram. Of course, that's part and parcel of the whole story, in which she's dropped into multiple uncertain situations and has to find a way out of or through them. In that way, it paralleled "real life" moreso than the rest and didn't bother to try to reach for any deeper a moral message than what was displayed by the actions of its characters. It's the second year in a row that a little person was the star of one of the live action shorts and it's nice to see that there are continued opportunities for those who don't fit the standard billing, as it were. I wouldn't rank it as one of my favorites of this set, but it was solid.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLsWKEW_LkwYEoGOJx_-7Vu4BOfRpMBCZDHjjEjU9PqrR1ydyiBZSEO56yZtn_BEwR2BYTxsiroMHYeusc4mS1nKW1ZD3hbbZJxdITGT-Ll_tfVOINBUXWT2Eg14SrzkoJSfej642BFu8apxrhoHWk8JtWLl15wd-xQ7fwHaFpTyFDPnpaJo0V-l3c8g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLsWKEW_LkwYEoGOJx_-7Vu4BOfRpMBCZDHjjEjU9PqrR1ydyiBZSEO56yZtn_BEwR2BYTxsiroMHYeusc4mS1nKW1ZD3hbbZJxdITGT-Ll_tfVOINBUXWT2Eg14SrzkoJSfej642BFu8apxrhoHWk8JtWLl15wd-xQ7fwHaFpTyFDPnpaJo0V-l3c8g=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Le pupille</b>: In utter contrast was this film that was almost overloaded with a production design and approach that was vastly beyond any of the rest of the entries (and was by far the longest presentation, as well), including musical interludes, filming at different speeds, and attempts at absurdist humor both visual and dialogue-driven. This was the one entry where you might think that the writers needed a stronger editor because it was teetering on the edge of trying to cram a novel into a short story and not succeeding at either. We're given more detail than is really needed about the situation of these girls in a Catholic orphanage, including one getting to go to her family for the holidays while the rest are left behind, the presence of a man posing as a nun inside the orphanage while his desperate girlfriend prays for his return, and an inclusion of the chimney sweeps at said orphanage, first as background scenery and then as key figures in the conclusion. It all felt a bit disorganized and wasn't helped by my recoiling from the ardent hypocrisy of the Church and its instruments of instruction (aka nuns.) While it did have one of the most amusing scenes of the night, as the girls are forced to pose in an elaborate nativity scene while the local townsfolk come to plead for the prayers of the orphans, it all felt a bit too much and too long and, again, like it missed the point of a short story. Unfortunately, given its elaborate presentation, I have a feeling it will end up being the one to take the statuette home.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsW7uHPRyNNj-hQxt5qEqxKz0W6C0zGTXxcwnNuLaFfUXzoLgmpxdkNbKSw1g7Q7Gbp9At-2EXN2WqnxqahuslBeQXheRHryHRtcoY8_wjB92l3otODCOP8lEbQxMGbxNW-lVQCu49kpiBE9uVs9qimEfDOYBoLZ4QKg4VHM8n7sGoOyjoG0l0by16A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1200" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsW7uHPRyNNj-hQxt5qEqxKz0W6C0zGTXxcwnNuLaFfUXzoLgmpxdkNbKSw1g7Q7Gbp9At-2EXN2WqnxqahuslBeQXheRHryHRtcoY8_wjB92l3otODCOP8lEbQxMGbxNW-lVQCu49kpiBE9uVs9qimEfDOYBoLZ4QKg4VHM8n7sGoOyjoG0l0by16A=w400-h260" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Red Suitcase</b>: But then we came across one of my favorites of the evening in a story about a teenaged Iranian girl in the Luxembourg airport, desperately trying to avoid the moment where she meets up with her arranged husband, a much older man who has paid her family for her. This was an excellent depiction of the most traumatic half hour of this girl's life and which she, Ariane (Nawelle Ewad), brilliantly portrays without speaking a single word throughout. All of the dialogue is from other characters asking her questions that she can't understand and her intended husband asking her father questions on the phone that he can't answer, as he's shipped his daughter off like a package to be picked up. Central to the story is her old, red suitcase that she continues to clutch at every opportunity, as it contains the elements of the life that she'd like to live and which she knows will be denied to her if she can't escape from the man that has bought her. This period of constant tension is occasionally broken by the unanswered texts from her father, at first inquisitive about her location and then increasingly frantic at her silence and unwillingness to complete the business deal that he has made. It's a story of isolation, betrayal, abominable traditions, and determination. It spotlights a brief time of crisis but tells a lifetime of meaning. This is a proper short story and, thus, a proper short film.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh684zGcwegNLn_B8rPEozVc_TNCz4Nt5zfhZ02rkKeVzoCBAH5nsZP9Xg1TYk-U8QiwrWmyhTCa_gOG1DEVbXKxT2UBCAyQS0EUU0fCGCinlFF1xJvr7dxL2r8RFEIaqRZ4W_M4tw4qG8LzbhA-wrW44XS3NWaYwvcwO0dtymwYrzvtBLneX_jYJvhpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh684zGcwegNLn_B8rPEozVc_TNCz4Nt5zfhZ02rkKeVzoCBAH5nsZP9Xg1TYk-U8QiwrWmyhTCa_gOG1DEVbXKxT2UBCAyQS0EUU0fCGCinlFF1xJvr7dxL2r8RFEIaqRZ4W_M4tw4qG8LzbhA-wrW44XS3NWaYwvcwO0dtymwYrzvtBLneX_jYJvhpg=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>An Irish Goodbye</b>: How appropriate that in a year where a darkly comic film about an Irish community is one of the favorites for Best Picture (<i>The Banshees of Inisherin</i>), an absurdly but also darkly funny Irish short film about two brothers dealing with the passing of their mother is in the running for its own trophy. This was easily the funniest film of the evening with Father O'Shea (Paddy Jenkins) stealing most of the scenes that he's in ("Does she feel... still warm to ye?") But Turlough (Seamus O'Hara) and Lorcan (James Martin) also have plenty of moments of their own as they try to come to terms with each other while both still grieving for their lost mum. It was especially heartening to see Martin, who has Down syndrome, essentially play it straight as someone afflicted with the same condition who, contrary to everyone else's expectations, is still fully capable of determining the direction of his own life but really wants to pursue that life alongside his older brother. This is a much bigger tale which alludes to a lot of the history that makes up the characters in front of us, but only tells us about what's happening right now. That's a smart writer, director, and editor. It's a great story with a quite predictable end, but which still ends up being very satisfying.</div><div><br /></div><div>If there's any justice in the world, <i>Banshees</i> will win Best Picture and <i>Goodbye </i>would win Best Live Action Short but I have my doubts. I could also make a serious case for <i>Suitcase</i> as the best film of the night, as it embodied the art form and was gripping from beginning to end. Tomorrow night we wrap up with Animation.</div></div>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-88716525818395722682023-02-19T21:12:00.000-05:002023-02-19T21:12:17.784-05:00Wars to walruses - 2022 Documentary shorts<p>It's that time of year again and we'll be seeing all of the Oscar-nominated short films over the next three days. Like usual, it was a solid selection that didn't have any "bad" or misplaced selections, but there were a couple that I think elevated themselves above the rest.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv5sFpLoX5C4HX21jeacDzap7fqBpJuDVCJzxxK1JCKKivRpuLwC213UdOwRynTMIlyLGcLzLsJM0SdnpjiryuCZToQEXCRtuAOHTt9FGNl6DFf_XaW2119fiidw8Ztr05cQ64WLE7U4qh310kWuHLnE_JPDFaAfPxjNehwVXUTX0RqVcFI3H5VCEl1Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv5sFpLoX5C4HX21jeacDzap7fqBpJuDVCJzxxK1JCKKivRpuLwC213UdOwRynTMIlyLGcLzLsJM0SdnpjiryuCZToQEXCRtuAOHTt9FGNl6DFf_XaW2119fiidw8Ztr05cQ64WLE7U4qh310kWuHLnE_JPDFaAfPxjNehwVXUTX0RqVcFI3H5VCEl1Q=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>How Do You Measure a Year?</b>: I appreciate this one in principle but mostly for its social analysis contexts. Director Jay Rosenblatt decided to try to document the mental and emotional growth of his daughter, Ella, by asking her the same set of questions on her birthday every year from the age of two to the age of eighteen. While many have chosen to see this as a documentary about their changing relationship as she (and he) aged, I was much more interested in her sense of self-awareness and awareness of the world around her as she developed. I think my perspective may have been different if I'd actually had children of my own with the concern that many parents develop about how their kids will see them and whether their relationship of absolute devotion with a toddler may radically change with that of a teenager and an adult. My experience on a daily basis in that respect is solely with the teenager and adult stages, so I wasn't as taken with the cute or tender responses that Ella gave as a youngster, but I could see absolute parallels between the stages she displayed from the age of 13 onward with those that I'd seen in Tricia's daughter, including the same use of language (employing "like" before every three words at the age of 14; "I think, like, we're, like, fighting all the time, but we still, like, make up at the end...") and beginning to question the standards that are set before her. The most amusing point was when she had taken a shine to ASL at the age of nine which was, of course, completely absent by birthday #10. I think it was a good effort, if a bit simple when compared with the other four.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWD8q_iqB38rYNNdnf3ErgXZePAGLoJLaJhf3O9WqyJ1s7EXmj5bnwFpuv_msulgLwU76hX0_4zMKg1RcISspa4AIoRgqVp5YfD3WVA3pXx3846FL0iSAbxEs8ESbEMNdm9hBVkEOf2MEccqQ2ivqL0EahN0LD_ggTNkwbxXJDfE8NbUaPyLKayWcrjw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="448" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWD8q_iqB38rYNNdnf3ErgXZePAGLoJLaJhf3O9WqyJ1s7EXmj5bnwFpuv_msulgLwU76hX0_4zMKg1RcISspa4AIoRgqVp5YfD3WVA3pXx3846FL0iSAbxEs8ESbEMNdm9hBVkEOf2MEccqQ2ivqL0EahN0LD_ggTNkwbxXJDfE8NbUaPyLKayWcrjw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Elephant Whisperers</b>: While the story of this one was also relatively simple- a south Indian couple, Bomman and Bellli, tend to the health of a young elephant, Raghu, and others around him -what really came through for me was the old "film is a visual medium" angle. The cinematography of this one was excellent and was able to convey much of the story and the reality of their lives in Mudumalai National Park without any needed explanation, although both humans kept a running dialogue between themselves and their charges, Raghu and a later addition, Amma, so that we all knew the reasons for their respective involvement and how much the elephants meant to them. The camera took much time to examine the other sights of the park, including the everpresent gray langurs who were more than happy to help themselves to any food that the elephants weren't interested in eating. Probably the most interesting aspect to it was Bomman's insistence on speaking to Raghu as if the latter would understand him and, of course, he largely seemed to. Whether that was because of repetition or the fabled intelligence of the species is up for debate. You can't doubt their devotion to the animals in their care, though, and it's also open to question whether they looked on Raghu and Amma as beloved pets or beloved friends. I'm tempted to say the latter. Again, I really enjoyed the visuals of this one, even if the story itself was probably the thinnest of any of the available selections.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEharsIpT7d5bI0UWsVep31ovbfA_-n2znnJHa1Dj1OSmSZY5yAn2r0W3vd4g9PZ43a8Meye6bZG_TTcaWXgzmHGbvb1f5mhGq-59ViWtEpTVGKKreoFUALF4q3EzoO5S2WjoZsPJZWGzjNVQMQY6cPgiWQuBi5Hn-V7V_IBAZI4GW5EDgh8CFJMk-BkJA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEharsIpT7d5bI0UWsVep31ovbfA_-n2znnJHa1Dj1OSmSZY5yAn2r0W3vd4g9PZ43a8Meye6bZG_TTcaWXgzmHGbvb1f5mhGq-59ViWtEpTVGKKreoFUALF4q3EzoO5S2WjoZsPJZWGzjNVQMQY6cPgiWQuBi5Hn-V7V_IBAZI4GW5EDgh8CFJMk-BkJA=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Stranger at the Gate</b>: This was a very powerful story about a former Marine and veteran of the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan who learned to hate and fear Muslims and planned to act on those emotions by bombing the local Islamic center in his home town of Muncie, IN. It's a very straightforward depiction of learning to think of "the enemy" as subhuman in order to make it easier to commit violence upon them, only to have to return home and realize that "the enemy" are every bit as human as you are. Director Joshua Seftel had read Richard "Mac" McKinney's story in an Indiana newspaper years earlier, but decided he wanted to hear the side of the people that Mac had been intending to kill. His straightforward interviews with the Bahrami family, Jomo Williams, and Mac's ex-wife and daughter present a very crisp, documentary style that doesn't hinge on dramatic moments, but still provides both a level of tension and an excellent message of understanding from everyone involved. The visual storytelling is similar, in that it's presented in a very "investigative reporting" style but doesn't come with an agenda about anyone involved. Taking the time to interview the police who had become aware of Mac's plot was a really nice touch, as well. I was pretty much enthralled with this one and have it tagged as the eventual winner. More than any of the rest, this one is worth taking the half hour to absorb.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2HQ-eFtSExKOltm9k4f057pB4XYUJQ3DabL6kK2a_cbxTkG--HlrXkDY9WO-rAEeTWKB7F0Quy9LJ_Ps_HriPb_aQlOn7hZnOHjlZiNlbqhHNaoel-dt8hmS__ma5YAtaePJaqriVvhTvgTeKovWUrjmYBPE0QxlkVaSgHwjBivii9fRuL-zCSUWAyw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2HQ-eFtSExKOltm9k4f057pB4XYUJQ3DabL6kK2a_cbxTkG--HlrXkDY9WO-rAEeTWKB7F0Quy9LJ_Ps_HriPb_aQlOn7hZnOHjlZiNlbqhHNaoel-dt8hmS__ma5YAtaePJaqriVvhTvgTeKovWUrjmYBPE0QxlkVaSgHwjBivii9fRuL-zCSUWAyw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Haulout</b>: This would probably be considered the most unusual of the offerings. Directors Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev arrived on an isolated beach in far northeastern Siberia when they were working on a documentary about the Chukchi people. There they discovered an equally-isolated marine biologist, Maxim Chakilev, who was studying walrus migration patterns and the impact that they're feeling from the lack of sea ice in the Arctic created by climate change. They decided to switch focus and stayed with him for the few weeks of his study, where they were completely hemmed in by almost 100,000 walruses and couldn't leave his tiny, ramshackle cabin. He was there to observe the walruses and they were there to observe him while they were all trapped together and you definitely get the mild claustrophobic sensation of being stuck there, but also the tragedy that has beset these creatures who are now all crashing into this beach, exhausted, because they have nowhere to rest on the open sea as they're accustomed to. They spend some time observing Chakilev, in turn, as he goes about both his work and simply existing in this distant corner of the world. No real dialogue occurs other than his taped reports (to be later transcribed) of what he's seeing and they don't bother to go into much detail, other than when he's stating the particulars of the corpses of the dozens of dead walruses left on the beach. They let the pictures tell the whole story, which was ideal in this circumstance.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzJpOzTQCaYyz90xmy7fsUahGmWknZ1vgkvrWOVncoLgRMZ98igH4GgbOuvgyL6Z4mvVyQIvVOfioY4dqLg1SaoNSiYwx6A1UOrlxwg7NCOkuE76Os3fXiJ7FFzMt0zWElNJHfBOqkinbDIVpceHRSu6Y5v0gzfgMWZlgXi4hqRuwd6j1Us8ATFtYvDw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzJpOzTQCaYyz90xmy7fsUahGmWknZ1vgkvrWOVncoLgRMZ98igH4GgbOuvgyL6Z4mvVyQIvVOfioY4dqLg1SaoNSiYwx6A1UOrlxwg7NCOkuE76Os3fXiJ7FFzMt0zWElNJHfBOqkinbDIVpceHRSu6Y5v0gzfgMWZlgXi4hqRuwd6j1Us8ATFtYvDw=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>The Martha Mitchell Effect</b>: As one of the largely untold/misremembered aspects to the Watergate burglary and Richard Nixon's downfall, this was an interesting example of a mid-20th century case of political gaslighting. Former AG and Nixon campaign manager, John Mitchell's outspoken wife, Martha, was one of the first voices of outrage about the connections between the Watergate crimes and the White House. In a typically paranoid response, Nixon declared her Public Enemy #1 within his circle for a few months and tried to have her publicly discredited as "hysterical" and otherwise mentally ill. All of this story is told through archival footage from news programs and the later talk shows that Martha was interviewed on once everyone figured out that she had been telling the truth about the whole sordid affair. There are occasional quotes from various news figures involved at the time, both living (Connie Chung) and passed (Helen Thomas.) While I don't find myself particularly fascinated by rehashing Watergate yet again, it was interesting to see someone whom I'd only known as a minor detail in the whole event be revealed as someone that the media and public tried to ignore except as a source of entertainment, only to finally take her seriously for the couple years preceding her death, until eventually forgetting about her once they were past that. It's a sad commentary on the media's urge to flock to whatever is sensational at the moment, while looking askew at anyone who questions the propriety of what was going on in the august halls of Washington (New York Times, that's your cue...) I liked this one, even if the subject matter is a bit tired.<p></p><p>So, yeah, I think <i>Stranger at the Gate</i> was the runaway winner, both for technique and subject matter, but all of them were worth the time. Tomorrow: Live Action. (Still waiting for the "Unlive action" category.)</p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-27418439367709196932023-02-18T22:57:00.004-05:002023-03-25T20:35:19.970-04:00They think you're the mark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS7ZFslkJZu5aD865V0q6Vn-ceiXd5ZefUKptnScIHvENCtWwABNzxe3TLkvKh8fdBR2rqlLJaS1J3qs4ac61YiEw-wDttm0CEdTUY9xpjiaojjQV6FpKpxnGje2vx34pC1MfVSbbMdF5qxr_IRW5TcaCAw74RQlhYYyJMUTrb80Z0t2C-lVAtVmZuSg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="691" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS7ZFslkJZu5aD865V0q6Vn-ceiXd5ZefUKptnScIHvENCtWwABNzxe3TLkvKh8fdBR2rqlLJaS1J3qs4ac61YiEw-wDttm0CEdTUY9xpjiaojjQV6FpKpxnGje2vx34pC1MfVSbbMdF5qxr_IRW5TcaCAw74RQlhYYyJMUTrb80Z0t2C-lVAtVmZuSg=w400-h180" width="400" /></a></div><p>"If you can't tell who the mark is in the first five minutes, then you're the mark." Some variation of that phrase is usually uttered in most movies or TV shows about gambling because most people think gambling is about losing. Or, well, most people actually think gambling is about winning, but most people end up losing because they're the walking example of that adage. Similarly, most people don't know how casinos actually function and, well, most people don't know what good writing actually is and, well, we can keep going in this vein for a long time before we run out of obvious examples. All of them lead to a situation where you could argue that <i>Poker Face</i> is actually a good show and you'd be wrong because it isn't and it took me getting all of 45 minutes into the first episode to tell you why. Tricia is currently finishing the last ~15 minutes of said episode while I'm writing this opening paragraph because she's willing to give it that much more consideration before deciding whether it's worth it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_S7xBgDrY4dD4hyq71bmAZ8kjL__PPudnOqTOceMopTQXn0pL4XejsfX-A8w-8xV-u8kSiRfZI-2RbrTPlq47Y-c8GbDhV8JwHejmngXmCCbjj8beAURzZOKsyfjBkXCyySGQnrtDr28XpLFtZIt1XQvmh8lXkAUMMs6OfjE6IlHLjWVTesbflcP_rw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_S7xBgDrY4dD4hyq71bmAZ8kjL__PPudnOqTOceMopTQXn0pL4XejsfX-A8w-8xV-u8kSiRfZI-2RbrTPlq47Y-c8GbDhV8JwHejmngXmCCbjj8beAURzZOKsyfjBkXCyySGQnrtDr28XpLFtZIt1XQvmh8lXkAUMMs6OfjE6IlHLjWVTesbflcP_rw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><p>First off, production design. It's shoddy, obvious, and stupid. If you're setting up a situation where you don't want to try to keep dancing around being set in the most obvious of locales (Las Vegas), then you probably want to at least set yourself up so that your replacement for Vegas seems like it's a realistic situation. The show seems to be set in "Frost County", because the big guy who owns the casino where most of the action happens is Sterling Frost. The county is named after him. The police answer to him. The casino that he owns is named after him. His son, Sterling Frost, Jr. (Adrien Brody, the only performance worth watching in the limited time that I could sit through; we'll get back to that) is named after him. Ego will often take you a long way. If that's the case, why would your ego think that it's necessary to name said casino "Frost Casino" like you never made it past the opening pitch of the series to some idiot producer, rather than something both more self-serving (just "Frost" might have worked, since everyone knows what it is, like "MGM Grand") and even vaguely more intelligent for the viewer? Does said viewer need to be reminded more than once that this place- where most of the essential action takes place -is the casino or do you think they can figure that out on their own? Similarly, no actual casino in the world has a blazing neon sign that announces its high rollers room as the HIGH ROLLERS ROOM. That is, unless the target audience for your show has both a) never actually been in a casino and is b) stupid. Just FYI: Most people with that much money don't want to be bothered by nosy spectators watching them lose that money, so the big neon sign to attract people would generally be seen as a poor choice.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMwQJvfAaKmioD6lPr0vpNecKqdzkucy-xz9BnHgJt4ZcGXpt9OADlS6gjm9O0hGfp1JCc3vmHU8X5SsK3VuV9wnzQzJ9_PJpGQI0Gktq2IfDDJIcDaUBTRNb8prte6QYowjtNNMYtJ1c-epmWxgRZ5GMESU1xgmWF5UF-7EvePV4OyWrNt178nQh2mQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMwQJvfAaKmioD6lPr0vpNecKqdzkucy-xz9BnHgJt4ZcGXpt9OADlS6gjm9O0hGfp1JCc3vmHU8X5SsK3VuV9wnzQzJ9_PJpGQI0Gktq2IfDDJIcDaUBTRNb8prte6QYowjtNNMYtJ1c-epmWxgRZ5GMESU1xgmWF5UF-7EvePV4OyWrNt178nQh2mQ=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><p>Second, plot. The basic story of the first episode is that your lead character, Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) can tell when anyone is lying, so Sterling, Jr., the casino's manager, is going to use Charlie to help him beat a high roller in a game of poker, since she'll always be able to tell him and his inside guy when said high roller (Mr. Kane) is bluffing. There's a lot more going on in the episode involving a murder, but that's the basic premise around which everything else revolves. And that would be fine for a pilot that introduces Charlie, her ability, and how that will be used to set up the "murder of the week" situation that the entire series is supposed to work with except that said basic premise is bullshit because that's not how poker works. If Charlie always knows that someone's lying and, therefore, bluffing, OK. But what if they don't need to bluff/lie? If they think their three kings beats everyone else at the table and they bet on it, they're not lying. And if you think your two pair beats everyone, you're still losing to their three cowboys. So how does Charlie give you an edge in that situation? How could you even imagine that she <i>would</i> give you an edge unless you'd never played poker in your life and really had no idea how the game worked? They were also setting up cameras to see all angles of the room. If that's the case, then they should be able to see the mark's hand and play into it whether they have Charlie there or not, so what's the point of involving her? Are there really that many people out there who've both never played and never been in a casino that are willing to ride along with this situation because Lyonne and Brody's acting somehow make it worth watching?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgM_-fImt3L9cQn9zO-DPkpSQhAhAtS4Y16JZ82hzYb1_CtqXXQX4WFRUNHr7C4vrFOkQZlseVFBNbMHXrbqXaSoAOZaSv-EtVFUQvExd4XFHxZlpVSy70Ecl2-q3Tbgas93WaMadBXkYORFTNv3Hr9SaXbPDIZCIcFdTKYjyhTCdAQMCHeZa9uUXMxiA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1200" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgM_-fImt3L9cQn9zO-DPkpSQhAhAtS4Y16JZ82hzYb1_CtqXXQX4WFRUNHr7C4vrFOkQZlseVFBNbMHXrbqXaSoAOZaSv-EtVFUQvExd4XFHxZlpVSy70Ecl2-q3Tbgas93WaMadBXkYORFTNv3Hr9SaXbPDIZCIcFdTKYjyhTCdAQMCHeZa9uUXMxiA=w400-h216" width="400" /></a></div><p>Third, acting. Yes, Brody, like usual, is excellent, shifting from mildly perturbed to casually menacing to quietly plaintive and back again with aplomb. Lyonne, OTOH, brings a lot more fire and light to a lot of what happens, which seems to be her whole purpose in the general proceedings. The person who keeps turning over that page that people might not want turned seems to be her Sisyphean rock (e.g. she has to keep doing it, even if it's not really what she wants.) That's fine from a character motivation/goal standpoint, but it's also a situation that can get tiresome for the viewer right quick. She already fills her role with some level of exasperation. How long until that starts being the role of the audience, as well? The reason that some people find sitcoms to be more annoying than humorous (waves tiny flag) is that they're prescribed situations. You have to be willing to be set up to be knocked down and that's just not really entertaining to me because those characters are bowling pins, rather than bowling balls. They don't roll forward. They just stand there to get knocked down and set up to be knocked down again, over and over. They don't make progress. That's what this is and it's usually pretty tedious by the third or fourth time around. But in this case, it's not even the typical <i>Colombo</i>-style "murder-of-the-week" because Charlie's magical ability lets the writers do a shortcut. They don't even have to set up clues and do all that deductive reasoning nonsense. They can just set up one bowling pin to lie and the other pin will know that they're lying so we can just cut right to the chase, almost literally.</p><p>But, clearly, I am the exception to the rule because not only has said series been critically hailed (99% on Rotten Tomatoes! 99%! With an 8.6 average!), but intelligent people like Gail Simone are declaring it to be <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/GailSimone/status/1619397564633341952">one of the best shows on TV</a>, at the moment. I have Peacock because it's the only way I can be sure to see all of Liverpool's Premier League matches, so I definitely didn't go out of my way to pick it up in order to see <i>Poker Face</i> and I can tell you right now that no one else should, either.</p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-37770934290685005032023-02-15T20:07:00.000-05:002023-02-15T20:07:03.083-05:00Not quite clearing the bar<p>A couple years back, I told Jaime and Larissa (our regular Michigan Theater partners) that I would write something about each film that we saw there because they were usually good films with something to say and I, in turn, would usually have something to say about them. I've almost kept that promise, but occasionally have had to step back and deliver in a partial way because what we've seen just hasn't been that inspiring. There are three films that come to mind in that respect, from one we saw the week before Christmas (<i>Decision to Leave</i>), to one we saw a couple weeks ago (<i>Living</i>), and one we saw last night (<i>To Leslie</i>.) They were all good films, but they didn't strike me in a way that compelled me to sit down immediately afterward and start typing away. So, instead, as I've done a time or two before, I'm going to put together some condensed assessments of all three of them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg869AYFju7dAD3F_nVjxQpEzXTRgdh9_zndMNrHODvuV6h8jBobMBssNv4kNeElxGM5gbteD5q-BxO2rWbyOt5hMqSfM-4Oy4hPClwgd1TyzEPJ3Zxn9xoHV0dvFCLTUjoAFSVFnBvx4sN-0HyiMX2vz7DfV74ENQTEeTBbCRXDE2uvpz0qF2Yayef4w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1180" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg869AYFju7dAD3F_nVjxQpEzXTRgdh9_zndMNrHODvuV6h8jBobMBssNv4kNeElxGM5gbteD5q-BxO2rWbyOt5hMqSfM-4Oy4hPClwgd1TyzEPJ3Zxn9xoHV0dvFCLTUjoAFSVFnBvx4sN-0HyiMX2vz7DfV74ENQTEeTBbCRXDE2uvpz0qF2Yayef4w=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Decision to Leave</b>. This was the most surprising of the three in that I found a lot to enjoy about it on a technical level, but then found myself without much to remark on beyond that. It's co-written and directed by Park Chan-wook, who has achieved legendary status among Korean filmmakers and for good reason. His characters are sound and his stories are almost always interesting. In truth, <i>Decision </i>may be his best work since <i>Oldboy</i>. But when I walked out, the first thought that came to mind was: "That was essentially a remake of <i>Basic Instinct</i>."<i>,</i> where the cop falls for the woman in a way he can't really understand, but who eventually wrecks his life and career and the audience is never quite certain whether she's doing so intentionally or whether he is just driving his life into the ground because he can't quite give her up. As with other Park films, these characters are more developed and far more subtle than those in Verhoeven's shockfest, but the plot still follows the same trails, including incorporating other cops, corrupt and not, into the plot and leaving everyone questioning each others' motives and true involvement in what goes on. It's a great example of story pacing, as every shot seems appropriate and leaves you with something interesting to look at in terms of either story element or setting, if not both. And, in the end, it's far more of a romantic tragedy than it is a thriller, especially when it comes to the fairly poignant ending. But something just didn't work for me when reflecting on what I'd seen. I would definitely recommend it, especially to Park fans, but there just wasn't much grist for the mill, as it were, in terms of writing that says much more than: "Technically superior, as always."<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuLccZVNo-jRyobV0pserqyXvDx5UGtpSg-uPvTYcGYI9rXBkAE5_X5PDMcfxD5QPBgHQpw055CZ9hW-8xczERhQkEoO5KceVkAMVtL5GUcNZF6Jm0kfWdKJzPDnxTPVyQqAdoS6RkphCrtxE3uD_W7ysPiO48CX74SCWL-DCaTySP4GrBnQt-ocsvNw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3192" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuLccZVNo-jRyobV0pserqyXvDx5UGtpSg-uPvTYcGYI9rXBkAE5_X5PDMcfxD5QPBgHQpw055CZ9hW-8xczERhQkEoO5KceVkAMVtL5GUcNZF6Jm0kfWdKJzPDnxTPVyQqAdoS6RkphCrtxE3uD_W7ysPiO48CX74SCWL-DCaTySP4GrBnQt-ocsvNw=w400-h271" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Living</b>. This is <i>Ikiru</i>, full stop. The screenplay is adapted from it and the direction follows in Akira Kurosawa's path almost note-for-note. There are a couple minor deviations in character interactions, but this is basically <i>Ikiru</i> without as much of the dramatic thoughtfulness that tends to permeate Kurosawa's characters and stories. In that respect, I'd say that if you want to see this story, you should go watch the original, not only because it's better, but also because it won't leave you with the impression that you're watching something that's being spoon-fed to a Western audience by presenting them with something more familiar in order to make it go down easy. Nothing against screenwriter, Kazuo Ishigiro, or director, Oliver Hermanus, but it's difficult to really get excited about a remake that doesn't really present anything novel about the approach or give any real foundation for remaking a film that is still completely relatable to modern audiences. Bill Nighy does well as the lead character (and was nominated for it) but lacks the genuinely hopeful energy that Takasi Shimura displays in the original because displaying that kind of energy would be a very non-proper-English thing to do, in the same way that emotional restraint is an aspect of Japanese culture. But in the case of Shimura, pushing back against the dolor drove the film's purpose, while Nighy doesn't do that so much as simply try to evade things until the inevitable end. <i>Living </i>literally didn't do anything that I hadn't seen before. I own a copy of Ikiru because it's one of my favorites of Kurosawa's, which means that this film had a steep hill to climb from the get-go, but it was still mildly disappointing to just walk to the finish line.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLyOCtAAipVkKuR7iXfmJ6zn0cVSFcMUVwHXW_Q55mDFp5niRS2Uk4vvj2OTpyeyxRXxwH8X7C7raC18achw1dkBIO73vVvCXuowIvRTncQJFvX0GwvWWwGVJDS2M71w4Ad__6RLwKfD4o4-a1ue6EvrdIo0oVtifIxtsXgNAAi_2W2XI7c39RuhAq0g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1552" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLyOCtAAipVkKuR7iXfmJ6zn0cVSFcMUVwHXW_Q55mDFp5niRS2Uk4vvj2OTpyeyxRXxwH8X7C7raC18achw1dkBIO73vVvCXuowIvRTncQJFvX0GwvWWwGVJDS2M71w4Ad__6RLwKfD4o4-a1ue6EvrdIo0oVtifIxtsXgNAAi_2W2XI7c39RuhAq0g=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>To Leslie</b>. I thought this film started strong. Andrea Riseborough (who has been nominated for her lead role, like Nighy) created a tragically detestable person that we followed around through all the travails of blaming everyone else for her problems, while creating more for herself and everyone around her. In other words, the perfect addict. Along the way, we're introduced to a dozen other characters, all of whom fulfill the tenets of my essential assessment of character: Do they seem like real people? They all do because they react with emotion and confusion and in ways that characters written strictly to a role wouldn't do. But once we get past the crux point of our very interesting character study, we end up in a happy-ending scenario that simply doesn't come off as real and the enormous promise that the film held up to that point withers away. It's not a bad story. It just takes something that has texture and crosses the border from simple, which it always was, to smooth and simplistic, which is kind of a shame. As with the previous two films, there are any number of solid performances here alongside Riseborough's <i>tour de force</i>. It was great to see <i>The Wire</i> veteran, Andre Royo (Bubbles!), show up on the screen again, too. But, in the end, the ending was just too uplifting for the depths that we'd been asked to explore up to that point, which made it seem like something was changed late in the creative process when a producer objected to leaving the audience feeling like they'd actually seen a slice of someone's real life (as we'd seen in the wonderful, <i><a href="https://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2021/12/reality-in-raw.html">Red Rocket</a></i>, for example), as opposed to the representation of one. Due credit to Riseborough, who was brilliant, but I can't say that this one stood out beyond that.<p></p>Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.com0