Starts very well, the way they handle the death of Boseman is very tastefully done (so many well executed emotional beats) and I like the new conflict that they set up, which is a little more grey and intelligent than the usual blockbuster, like the first movie. The new villain is an interesting character, and I quite liked the creativity that went into the design of his powers and world, but for the love of god, never show me those goofy wing boots again. From the second act onwards, the movie starts to get bogged down by the Marvel machine, i.e. the movie slips out of Coogler’s hands. It’s unfortunately forced to function as a backdoor pilot for Disney + shows and used to drive the corporate machine forward, instead of focussing on the development of its own premise and character arcs. The way it rushes through the arcs of Okoye, Shuri and Namor leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, cutting/writing out Riri, Martin Freeman and Julia Louis Dreyfus would improve the overall cohesion and pacing a lot. What doesn’t help either is that the action and visual effects get increasingly worse and worse as the movie goes on, to the point where we again have an ugly third act on our hands, which includes some of the most hideous looking costumes the MCU has ever put out. Moreover, the soundtrack is kinda bland this time around. It’s not like Kendrick et al. were putting out their best material for the first film, but the music here is just so vanilla and forgettable. Finally, I’m not enitrely sure what the script is trying to communicate on a deeper level, besides being a general statement in favour of diplomacy. If it’s meant to be just that, I don’t think this is anywhere as bold as the first movie. Not that it needs that in order to be good, but it’s another layer stripped away from what made the first movie special. What saves the film ultimately is a lot of its craft: the directing, worldbuilding, acting, score, cinematography, costume and set design (underwater world looked great, much better than Aquaman IMO) are all very well handled and stand out in the blockbuster field. It has those strong foundations in place that make it hard to produce a flat out bad Black Panther film, but man does this movie also show that Marvel is its own worst enemy at this point.
5.5/10
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I really enjoyed this.
Lyn-Manuel Miranda is widely and deservedly regarded as a genius and this musical/film adds more evidence to support that.
Clever, funny, rapid-fire lyrics blend with an (until this musical was created) under regarded figure of US history. But his genius is even more evident in his decision to pitch a musical where most of the white historical cast are portrayed by Black American performers... with hip hop music at its spine. Originality is king if you want to make memorable art.
The cast in this production are luminescent. They may not all be names theatre goers will readily recognise but you've seen many of them on TV and film. There's even a key figure played by a semi-regular from Glee (singing a song that sounded very Tim Minchin to me).
As a huge fan of musicals I was always going to like this. The flip-side of this is that I judged it against the others I've seen and loved.
So yes, its hands don at least 8 stars (and most people say more than that, and that's fine) but some of the things I regarded as flaws held me back.
Relationships - no real kick-arse relationships of emotional depth except for the one who dies midway through the second act. And while it was portrayed and told well, I felt it failed to resonate as much as it could have by the lack of foreshadowing the bond. The relationship with his wife seemed tacked on and the hinted relationship with another woman (won't add a spoiler here) never delivered. The fact it was never established as fact in the real life story of Hamilton was no doubt part of the reason, but including the hint that goes nowhere served little purpose.
The story - Some stories are light by nature (Grease, Little Shop of Horrors) but they at least have a powerful relationship at their base. Some are significant because of the story they cover (Les Mis, Rent)... and they also mostly have a powerful relationship or two in the midst. I know the purpose of telling Hamilton's story was to share details of an almost forgotten figure, but I kinda feel like he deserved to be forgotten. Definitely an intellect, but his role in the War of Independence was bureaucratic, his additions to legislature were significant, but again bureaucratic. If they had hung some of the story on a significant moment rather than to provide a greatest hits package of his life, maybe there was more power to be had? Having seen it and enjoyed it, I still wonder "why Hamilton?"
Anyway, those are just some of my personal misgivings and I DID love the film/musical. Miranda is the genius in this case and while it's very easy for people on the sideline, like me, to critique or fiddle with the idea, there's no idea at all without his amazing mind.
You really should see this.
So just watched The Edge of Seventeen and...
...blegh. This was not as "good" as I thought it was going to be. After reading all the hype from the national RT/MC reviewers (I don't know of anyone that actually saw the movie in theaters), I finally watched it yesterday/today and just thought it was mediocre overall. From all the hype, I was expecting that Hailee Steinfeld's performance was going to be some sort of "revelation" but I just ended up absolutely hating her character for a majority of the movie. She was just such a bitch throughout with her "edgey" SJW/hipster/millennial attitude. I get what the director was going for, but the character just didn't appeal to me that much.
Also, there wasn't much of a real story or any significant meat to the movie as well. It just felt like not much happened other than Nadine having her little rushed "revelation" period at the end of the movie. The performances by the actors/actresses were definitely good but there wasn't a whole lot to work with. Honestly, I think that I was just too hyped for the movie itself and it was definitely a letdown in regards to that. Don't go in with any expectations for it other than being a slightly above-average rom-com.
I am surprised that no one commented at this movie yet, in its genre (Neo-noir, a movie set in the 1940s or 1950s but with updated themes, content, style and technology) this is by far the best movie till date.
The movie has 3 short stories taken from the comics of Frank Miller (the same guy who wrote the movie 300 and RoboCop 2 and 3). The stories although all seperate are interwoven with each other. And every one of them is a work of art.
They all take place in the same place: Sin City. Sin City is a city corrupt to the bone. Senator Roark said it best, if he killed Hartigan (Bruce Willes from the first story "That Yellow Bastard") right there in that busy hospital no one would arrest him, everyone would lie for him to cover their own set of lies and deceit. If not, everything would fall like a deck of cards.
Everything in this movie works perfectly. From Rodriguez's editing and cinematography to the spot on casting. The main cast Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and Clive Owen narrate the story in a style that makes it essential for the movie to work. Many times especially in case of Marv (a almost unrecognizable Mickey Rourke) it explains a lot of things and his psyche. I especially liked the one liners that this movie has to many to count off. It really gives off a vibe that this is one of those old defective movies from the 1940s and 1950s.
Sin City is dark, sexy, funny, exciting and a fast-paced action/crime thriller. There is a reason that this is R rated, without a doubt its one of the most violent and graphic blockbusters that has been released to a wide audience. I can highly recommend this movie to anyone (no kids though, they will definitely get nightmares for days), if you haven't seen it already go rent it, buy it or download it off the internet. You won't regret it.
This is about Volume I & II combined, since I watched them one after the other.
A man finds a woman passed out in the street, and takes her in. As she rests in his spare bed, she recounts tales from her life as a self-proclaimed nymphomaniac.
I’ll brace myself for emails calling me a philistine, but my tolerance for pretentious bullshit has been tested here. Perhaps I’m taking it all the wrong way and this is a 5 1/2 hour masterpiece about human sexuality, but I just can’t get on board. It’s a really long artsy softcore porn-fest with some naff philosophising spliced in.
The episodic structure initially provides a good way to get us hooked. Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) tells a story, then she sits with Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) and he relates it back to something he has seen in his life or read in literature. About three hours in you realise it’s not going anywhere but at that point you might as well stick it out.
There’s a lot of ‘shock’ material in Nymphomaniac but it’s so oddly clinical that it fails to provoke any sort of reaction, no matter how disturbing the content. The one thing I truly couldn’t watch was Shia LaBoeuf attempting a Dick Van Dyke level British accent.
Some interesting performances (notably Stacy Martin as young Joe) don’t save this from being a tedious gimmicky mess strictly for von Trier completionists.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2016/08/29/nymphomaniac/
Life in 12 Bars is a fascinating book read in a monotone voice.
Don't get me wrong, the film is rich with history, most known, some not as well (a drunken, on-stage racist rant), some not at all (the story of Clapton's eldest daughter, Ruth). What I found less interesting was the style, or lack thereof, in the filmmaking.
Eric Clapton was a guitar God, yet his story is presented in a flat, mono-tone, similar to that of a 'VH1 Behind the Music' episode (though thank God there is no narrator). A little colour, a little pizazz, a little flair would've been welcome to liven up the long parade of facts.
Despite this shortcoming, the documentary is more than satisfactory, with loads of off-camera interviews that let the archival images speak for themselves. Although I was born 20 years after Clapton joined the Yardbirds and 15 after he left Cream, I am a fan of late 60s / early 70s rock and was like a kid in a blues store hearing his early work.
There was plenty of nostalgia to get into, like recordings of Jimi Hendrix riffing off Clapton in a club, Roger Waters talking about Clapton's influence, a video of Blind Faith doing "In the Presence of the Lord" live (!), and what is arguably the centerpiece of the film: a detailed explanation of how Clapton tried to seduce Pattie Boyd, the wife of his best friend (ex-Beatle George Harrison) with songs like 'Layla' and the entire self-titled Derek and the Dominoes double album. (Spoiler alert: Pattie is the only one who comes out of that debacle looking respectable.)
The film ends on a high note, with a fitting tribute from B. B. King. The toast Clapton's dear friend and major supporter makes on stage with Clapton standing in the wings put a lump in my throat and a drum beat in my heart.
[I should probably point out that this film was released in 2017 in the US, yet in January 2019 in France, where I saw it in the cinema.]
Movie's fucking amazing. At the end, I realized that this boiled down to the unlikely bond and connection between Thelma and Louise. At the beginning of the movie, we see each character packing their bags for the big trip. Lousie travels light, and through her neat and precise ways of loading the suitcase, we see who she really is; a sensible woman. She packs only essentials, and folds everything up neatly so it will fit well. Thelma on the other hand, packs way too many unnecessary things. Clothes she'll never wear, soaps she'll never use. This little interspliced sequence with the two women packing their bags tells us a lot abbout their characters. They're completely different people. And we see this displayed time and time again throughout the picture.
Thelma commits multiple acts of adultery, robs a store, and is quite permiscuous. Whereas Louise is a very calm, internal, street-smart woman. Throughout the whole story; Louise takes control of the situation, and calls the shots. Thelma is like her retarded child. Although, at the end; Louise becomes more like Thelma, and ends up unwinding the uptightness. It was a very character driven movie, and directed very well. The black cyclist that finds the state trooper in the trunk is definitely my favorite character.
[9.2/10] Rock and roll is the perfect backdrop for comedy. It’s a world that’s already pretty silly and exaggerated, so you can lean into the ridiculous of it all without feeling like you’re dragging the audience into a zany comic landscape without any connection to real life. But it’s also real enough that you can draw back to some sentimental moments and connections that, however steeped in middle school social politics, still have emotional force. That’s the perfect balance that This Is Spinal Tap strikes, with gags that feel outsized but never false, and emotional beats that veer into manchild-ness at times, but still come off as genuine.
That’s aided by the mockumentary format that director Rob Reiner uses here, and which would become the trademark of his stars, led by Christopher Guest, in the years to come. The faux-cinema verite approach brings some of the sillier elements of the film down to earth. Playing things straight lends a necessary air of reality to moments like a bass player getting trapped in a plastic pod, or an all black album cover, or little people dancing around a miniaturized version of Stonehenge. The pseudo-reality of it all actually makes those jokes funnier, because they feel like the imbecilic excesses and slip-ups of true idiots rather than the constructed comic setups they are.
That setup also creates the perfect canvas for seasoned comedy performers like Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer to riff, interact, and improvise and create a perfect comic rhythm in the film. There’s a fluidity to the talking head segments in the film, where the exaggerated free association games in-universe director Marti Di Bergi (Reiner) engages in with his subjects lead to all sorts of hilarious world building and humorous tangents. It’s telling that the most iconic line from the film, “these go to eleven” emerges from the clipped sequences and great comic timing of Guest’s lunkheaded rockstar acting as tour guide through a room full of music equipment. The sense of humor and loose vibe makes those great lines and funny moments stand out that much more.
But as much as This Is Spinal Tap makes the most of its mockumentary form to create its humor, it’s also just a ripping rock and roll spoof. Beyond their talents as performers, Guest, McKean, and Shearer put together some pitch perfect parodies of the excesses and crasseness of 1970s and 1980s rock. Tunes like “Big Bottom” and “Sex Farm” function both as “not far from the truth” tributes to sexually-charged tracks from the time, and also show off the legitimate musical talents of the trio, in addition to their charisma as performers. Part of the fun of the film is that you can buy these guys as real rockers, both on and off the stage.
That’s also what makes the stock story at the center of the film unexpectedly endearing. The rock band that’s driven apart by the lead singer’s new girlfriend was a cliché even in 1984. And the dwindling success of a once-great band is played for laughs expertly (“their appeal is getting more selective” is an all-time great bit of spin), but also for true pathos as the end of something. It’s too much to call This Is Spinal Tap a drama, given how much irreverence and goofiness is packed in, but the heartening feeling of reconciliation and joy when the group finds reunion and success is palpable and real.
But man, what brilliant comedy the movie manages to wring from that setup. On the fading star front, the number of shows that get canceled, and their manager’s efforts to keep the band from fretting over it, are superb. The way that the movie depicts the group on the wane, with crappier hotel rooms and sparsely-attended shows while the band themselves are half in denial leads to plenty of laughs.
The same goes for the brilliant parody of rock and roll indulgence and excess. I die laughing every time at Nigel tuning his violin before he smacks it onto his guitar. Derek’s cucumber incident has perfect comic timing, but it’s also a nice puncturing of rock star posturing and image. And David and Jeanine’s zodiac make-up sketches are an amusing send up of on-stage pageantry.
That’s the other half of why This Is Spinal Tap’s spoof is so effective -- it’s broad based. Yes, there’s the poking fun at lascivious rock songs. But there’s also flashbacks to a Beatles-esque clean cut era and a 70s flower child period for the band that suggest their musical devotion is not so pure. And the bits about stonehenge and other story songs make good fun of rock’s propensity to dive into Tolkein-esque imagery with zero substance. While perhaps not as wide ranging as Guest’s crew’s efforts in A Mighty Wind, this film still manages to cast a wide net and catch plenty of good laughs in the process.
And yet what’s striking to me is how well it manages to balance all that abject (and wonderful) silliness, with that genuine feeling at the end of the picture. In the background of all the brilliant takedowns of the image-conscious pomp and circumstances of being a rockstar is the sad undercurrent that this is the end of something. As much as Spinal Tap itself is played for laughs, the end of the band is also played as the end of friendship between two guys who, however doltish and self-possessed they may be, have been best friends for life.
That’s what the rock and roll backdrop does for This Is Spinal Tap. We already think of rock stars as kind of dim, oft-excessive, manchildren. That means that when Nigel or David act ridiculous, we buy it without losing sight of them as human being. The film turns its comedy up to eleven at times, but keeps it drama at a low hum. Just a shared look between David and Nigel, a note of frustrate when David realizes which songs can’t be played without his bandmate, a downtrodden gaze when Nigel feels displaced by Jeanine, tell the story subtly, letting the comedy fill the space but giving the final bit of emotion the punch to really work.
That’s what realism in an unreal place does for you. It lets your audience tap into the looniness without it feeling artificial or too wacky, while letting the sentiment of the piece come through when it needs to. U2 guitarist The Edge said that he wept at the film because it was “so close to the truth.” It’s that nearness to the real, ridiculous world of rock and roll which makes This Is Spinal Tap so easy to laugh with, but also so easy to feel when the last triumphant notes are played.
