“I must go punch that baby.”
The first film of the Leeds International Film Festival 2023 (LIFF), and what a strong start!
Poor Things is a humorous, sexy, and Gothic tale that can be philosophically but in the most bizarre ways. There is something so wonderful about the weird, especially in art.
Emma Stone's performance as Bella Baxter was just glorious. It’s also a very “risky” performance because when we first meet her, she is a child in an adult body after being reanimated, with her vocabulary being on the same level as a three-year-old, and her uneven body posture/moments, as if she’s still learning how to move. There is A famous movie saying, “Never go full stupid”, but Stone finds the right balance that prevents it from being embarrassing to watch, which other actors failed at. However, that section is only at the beginning, and as the film progresses through her journey of becoming herself, we see her understanding of language and walking improve significantly.
Bella is a fantastic main character, and she’s easy to care about. We want to see her succeed, and Emma Stone was terrific.
This is the best performance I have seen from Mark Ruffalo, as every time he was on screen, the audience and I were laughing. His character is a loudmouth parody of the ladykiller, who takes Bella under his wing and has her for himself. He chewed up the scenery, and it was astounding. There is a scene in this movie where both Bella and he have a chaotic dance, but the little dance he does on his way to the dance floor, I can't stop thinking about it. It was so funny.
William Dafoe, which should come as no surprise, delivers a superb performance as the monster-looking scientist Godwin Baxter. He is often referred to as 'God' at times, with his patchwork flesh of a face having a distant cross on the right side of his face. He very much plays the role of God, as he does the impossible and gives new life to unfortunate lost souls.
I’m just saying this right now, but the Best Supporting Actor race next year might be the best if nothing ruins it. I hope not. Imagine this: Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer, Ryan Gosling for Barbie, Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, and Ruffalo & Dafoe for Poor Things.
Everything on a technical level, such as cinematography, the score, costumes, and the production design - all extraordinary and benefited in bringing this world alive. The whole movie feels otherworldly and timeless.
What I find compelling about director Yorgos Lanthimos is that if you examine his movies, the stories in his movies are simple. The Lobster is about fulfilling societal norms we feel we need to follow, such as getting a job, applying to a college and university, being with a romantic partner, having kids, having interests, and eventually dying. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a horror revenge tale where a family gets cursed after the fathers' wrongdoings. The Favourite is a period piece drama/comedy about two reveals who try to win the love of a bipolar queen.
Poor Things is a fresh re-imaging of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (also based on a novel by Scottish author Alasdair Gray), remodeled as a coming-of-age story told through a female perspective. The needs, the wants, the issues, and losing our inner child in this demanding world. Unique and isn't afraid to approach sexuality so openly.
At the start, the character of Bella has the mind of a child while having an adult body but is not restricted and not insecure about things. She can be loud, messy, playful, and expressive in emotions. Especially when it comes to sexuality, hence the openness to it. Like, there's nothing wrong with something that everyone does, but we don't talk about it. As we get older and more exposed to the world, we get quieter, speak less, get insecure about things, care too much about what others may say/think, and become closeted. That is one angle of the film that I found incredibly compelling.
But the execution is wild. I do not buy for one second that it’s strange for the sake of it. It leans more into steampunk absurdism. Yorgos Lanthimos presents the events as they are without questioning them, as the surface level normality peeled back, and focuses on the strange happenings in life and people. He's one of the most unique voices in cinema, not only for what he has to say but what he must show and how to show it.
The only issue I had with the film was towards the end when it started to get a bit preachy, going as far as hitting you on the head with it, and I was thinking, "Alright, I get it."
Other than that, the film was excellent and one of the most unique and memorable experiences I had this year. Even if this is Yorgos Lanthimos's most accessible film so far, it may still be too much for some, but even with its peculiar nature, you will find it impossible to take your eyes off the screen.
This will probably become more beloved than Dune for being a bigger, more action driven film. Personally I prefer the first film by a long shot, but there's a lot to like here. I loved Paul's new journey for this installment as it doesn't develop in the way you'd expect based on the ending of the first film. The themes of colonialism, false prophecies and religion reach a level of depth that cannot be found in other sci-fi/fantasy contemporaries like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars; this film certainly made me understand why this story is taken so seriously as a piece of literature. Despite the source material being so old, there's still something new and refreshing about it. You don't often see major Hollywood productions calling out religion as a manipulative force helping the people in power. On top of that this brilliantly subverts the concept of the hero's journey we've become accustomed to by everything that was in one way or another inspired by Dune. The acting is pretty great, Timothée does a great job at playing the transition Paul goes through. Despite his boyish looks I was sold on his performance as the leader of the Fremen. Rebecca Ferguson and Javier Bardem are also scene stealers. The visuals are once again mindblowing, in terms of set/costume design, cinematography and CGI this is as close to perfection as you could get to right now. The vision and scope of this movie are truly unmatched, which leads to some breathtaking sequences that I'll remember for a while (sandworm ride; the black/white arena fight; knife fight during the third act).
However, for all the praise I have for Dune: Part 2, I think Denis is being uncharacteristically sloppy with this film. First of all, Bautista and Butler feel like they're ripped from a different franchise altogether. Their over the top, cartoonish performances are more suited for something like Mad Max than the nuanced world of Dune. The bigger cracks start to appear when you look at the writing. The brief moments where the movie pokes fun at religious zealots through Javier Bardem's character, while funny, probably won't age very well. Like the first movie, it has a tendency to rely too much on exposition and handholding, a problem which might be worse here. I feel like a lot of the subtlety is lost in order to make the movie more normie proof, and that's quite annoying for a movie with artistic ambitions like this one. For example, there's this scene where Léa Seydoux seduces Austin Butler's character, and everything you need to know as a viewer is communicated through Butler's performance. Cut to the next scene, where Seydoux is all but looking at the camera saying "he's a psychopath, he's violent, he wants power, etc.". I just feel like compared to Villeneuve's precise work on Blade Runner 2049, he's consciously dumbing it down here. It's understandable and somewhat excusable for a complex story like Dune, but he occasionally takes it too far for my liking. Then there's the love story subplot between Chani and Paul, which almost entirely misses the mark for me. It feels rushed, there's no chemistry between the actors and some of the lines are painfully cheesy. Because of that, the emotional gutpunch their story eventually reaches during the third act did little for me. Finally, I'm a little dissatisfied with the use of sound. I loved the otherworldly score Zimmer came up with for the first Dune, however this film is so ridiculously bombastic and low-end heavy that it starts to feel like a parody of his work with Christopher Nolan. For the final action beat of the film Villeneuve cuts out the film's score, and it becomes all the more satisfying for it.
Overall, I recommend this film, however maybe temper those expectations if you're expecting a masterpiece. There's a lot to admire, but it's flawed.
6.5/10
What a treat! No One Will Save You is a dialogue devoid, tension soaked thriller with an understated backstory and a great presentation. Employing my favourite style of storytelling by showing rather than overtly telling, this deeper-meaning alien thriller is decidedly something special comparative to the other streaming movies that get dumped onto their respective services each week. Surprised this one didn't get a run out at the cinema, I think it would have benefitted from the theatre experience. That's to say you should give this one the setting it deserves. Turn off the lights, crank up your sound device of choice and let this one thump and thrill you for 90 minutes. If you're willing to give it your full attention, I think you'll be greatly rewarded.
Much like all of these post/elevated-horrors, many of the elements are metaphor-laden and hold deeper meaning past the usual surface layer. The aliens in this scenario embody the feeling of anxiety, dread and guilt that is currently holding Brynn hostage in her own home. Unlike everyone else in the rest of the world, who let this anxiety and dread wash and takeover them, Brynn has decided after years of solitude and self-hate that's she's going to stand up and fight back. My read on the ending is that Brynn, who we now know killed her best friend in an accidental retaliation during a childhood fight, has now processed that guilt and stopped it from "consuming" her. We see that everyone else has allowed the alien parasite into them and are now living life with the motions, while Brynn actively fights off the possession and kills many of the aliens trying to force it upon her. Now she has faced the guilt head on, she can live her life free and unburdened, as we see her going about her daily tasks and being accepted by the possessed town that once shunned her.
It's amazing to read other reviews where people are completely slamming this movie for "not making sense". I think this movie is a good litmus test for people who actually pay attention and those that have made doomscrolling on socials part of their movie watching experience. Without things being overtly spoken through dialogue, many are missing this movies well conveyed story, and it's pretty depressing. Hope the industry keeps giving movies like this the time of day, they're the kind of movies that really remind me why I love this medium and the places it can take you.
This is a movie I'll be suggesting people see as much as I did Dungeons and Dragons, simply because it's a mid sized budget movie that's not that's not a sequel/spin-off/reboot or some existing IP. If you look at the top grossing movies of 2023 so far, there are only 2 other movies that are original IP out of the top 15.
For a (reported) $80m budget, the special effects/visuals alone put the majority of other big blockbusters ($200m+) to shame. While the main themes of the movie have been done many times before, and if you have seen a decent number of movies the broad strokes will be familiar, the detail and specifics of this movie make it an enjoyable watch.
While I saw claims that it's up in the leagues of Blade Runner and the like, I'd not put it up in that bucket. I would more put it alongside movies like Elysium and instead of one of the best sci-fi movies ever. I'd go with more of a "The best sci-fi since Dune in 2021", so best Sci-fi in the last few years is still something well worth a watch if that's your jam. Really solid sci-fi, looks great, some solid performances and cinematography.
Special shoutout for Madeleine Voyles who plays the kid Alphie, for a first time performance it was legit amazing. No "Kid acting" here. really top shelf performance for someone so new to the industry.
Yeah I mean, it is very much that movie. If you want my unfiltered opinion: it's glossy & loud, it's discount Tarantino/Ritchie, it's engineered to be forgotten about almost instantly, it's very Youtube reviewer friendly, it’s edited for people with no attention span, it’s postmodern and cringy; it's all of that. It's aiming to be a 6, and I was kinda expecting it to hit that target given how much I was into David Leitch' previous directorial effort. Unfortunately, this is hampered by the fact that it very much feels like a product of the pandemic. I'm pretty sure everything was shot on sound stages, and you can really tell, because the effects are dogshit. The same goes for the action, most of it feels like it was choreographed based on what was possible for the day. It's a shame, because good visuals and punchy action are two of the key ingredients if you want to make this kind of movie work. Now, its biggest saving grace are the characters and some of the comedy. I think most of the characters are quite well done and colorful (props to the writing and actors), especially the duo played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree-Henry (again, even if they feel like they walked straight out of a Guy Ritchie movie). It did make me laugh occasionally, but there's also a lot of cringe in it, especially with its obnoxious use of bathos and cameos by people I didn't need to see. I'm also getting pretty sick of the Marvelization of movie dialogue, I could’ve sworn some of Pitt’s lines in this were written with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in mind. The story itself is a mess pretty much right from the start and completely flies off the rails in the third act (no pun intended). I'm not sure if that's due to the writing or editing though. In true Tarantino fashion it's told out of order, but here it doesn't enhance the experience in a positive way. I don't know, I'd wait for this to appear on streaming, it's only occasionally fun and not really worth of the big screen.
4/10
Unlike the other comment on this film, I don't think this film has weak directing as it is difficult to direct Jackie Chan and his Stunt team but Benny Chan does a very good job in my opinion. This is the fifth film in the Police Story franchise and I have to admit it might be my second favourite after Police Story 2. Jackie Chan (Inspector Chan) gives one of his best performances in my opinion as you believe this depiction of the super cop who has lost all confidence in himself as a person and as a police officer, that's why Nicholas Tse (Zheng Xiaofeng) playing opposite to Jackie is perfect as the character brings the Super Cop back during the film.
I would be amiss if I don't mention the villains in this film who are just a group of teens who are obsessed with video games and all have problems with their parents, but the stand out is Daniel Wu (Joe Kwan) who is just so perfect in this film as you see how everything in his world has made him the way he is and yeah I can for sure see why he is a star who like Jackie broke into American films as he is a really great actor.
Seriously I love this film and its so difficult to find a copy of, I bought a Blu Ray but it was a horrid dub and thankfully found a DVD copy in a charity shop with the original audio. Seek this movie out if you want to see the Super Cop in a modern world and see some absolutely amazing stunt work and fight scenes, but those are second to a super solid story and strong directing with the JC Stunt Team.
Just remember.......SUBS OVER DUBS!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been a fan of Taylor's music for a long time but for a while I refrained myself from being too vocal about my support for her as a person, because it wasn't cool and we were all supposed to think this and that about her and if you didn't you were labelled all sorts of things, so instead of defending her i just didn't say anything, and enjoyed her music outside of that sphere of drama and controversy. But with Taylor it's really hard to fall in love with her music and not instinctively fall in love with her too, because everything that she is she puts into those songs, those lyrics, those melodies, so if you love her music then that means you love her, and i soon figured that out. The way she's grown and become more vocal about everything we all already thought she had in her is really inspiring and, in my opinion, what she needed to fully become an icon, because icons have to stand for something and help change history with their platform, which is music, which happens to be the wider reaching form of art there is in this world. I'm so so happy she's finally showing the world what she stands for, cus it's not hard to see that privately the values have been there from day one. I really never wanted this docu to end, i wanted it to have 3 hours. Fuck The Irishman, give me 3 and a half hours of Miss Americana instead.
Is Girl an important film? Fortunately, there are many people far closer to the subject than I to determine if this film about a trans adolescent ballerina is important or not. What I do know is that it was important to me.
Why? Because in this subtle, understated Belgian film I expected the antagonists to be heartless school bullies and judgemental parents, but in fact, the classmates are accepting (though occasionally callous out of ignorance) and the father is loving and supportive the likes of which we've not seen since John Hughes was directing. The real antagonist in Girl is Lara's body. It is this masculine form that she hates yet finds herself trapped inside that she has to battle for the length of the film.
So, does it matter that the actor portraying the teenage girl fighting both to transition and maintain her place in ballet school is cisgender? What I do know is that the 15-year-old's performance matters to me. Young Victor Polster turns in a breathtaking performance full of sensitivity, strength and vulnerability that does Lara incredible amounts of justice.
Girl is like my best girl friend with whom I can hang out where doing nothing special and saying nothing of consequence brings us closer together than ever. She may not be accepted by everyone, but she means everything to me.
Another weird and wonderful entry from Masaaki Yuasa. This shares characters and a visual style with the series "The Tatami Galaxy" (https://trakt.tv/shows/the-tatami-galaxy) so if you're a fan of that series you will definitely enjoy, and know what to expect with this one - although the film works just fine as a stand-alone piece if you haven't seen it (although you really shoud!).
Whilst I still think I prefer Tatami Galaxy more this is still a very fun and enjoyable romp, following the unnamed girl with the black hair through the crazy nightlife of Kyoto. Lots of drinking, trippy visuals and hilarious moments as we go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
Interestingly unlike Tatami Galaxy which almost exclusively followed the male protagonist's POV, here we spend a lot of time with the girl (voiced perfectly by Kana Hanazawa <3) and not so much with "Senpai", which is fine by me as she is joy to be around and is definitely the focal point of the story.
If you're a fan of Masaaki Yuasa's work this is definitely worth a look. Possibly not the easiest entry point into his works but not as bad as Tatami Galaxy and its infamous rapid-fire speech right out of the gate.
Real life princess Deok-Hye is a fascinating character. Like Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, Deok-Hye is the last official princess of Joseon Dynasty (there are almost a dozen surviving descendants of House of Yi, but none with official titles).
Unlike Anastasia, Deok-Hye did not live nor die tragically. There were no attempts on her life. She did not live in hiding nor under financial stress.
She was forced to live in Japan when she was 13 years old, but was provided with a respectable lifestyle. She was later forced into a marriage with a Japanese aristocrat (by most indications, not a bad person). Her unhappy marriage ended in divorce, followed by her only child committing suicide. She was not allowed to return to Korea until a reporter (different person from the movie) persuaded the government that she is not a threat to emerging South Korean democracy.
At the helm is director Jin-Ho Hur. I consider his debut film Christmas in August a perfect film. His follow up films are all technically dazzling, although not as tightly focused thematically.
The Last Princess looks and sounds amazing, from costumes, sets, music, and cinematography. He strips the film to princess Deok-Hye, played by Ye-Jin Son from Hur's April Snow. Ye-Jin is amazing in this film, easily her best yet. As typical of Hur's films, the supporting cast only serve to move the story. That is not to diminish great supporting performances, but they are mostly archetypes, whose story takes a backseat.
Historical context and patriotism loom in the background, but neither are central to the film. The film is surprisingly restrained in portraying Japan as the villain (forced labor scene is the only time Japan is painted in a negative light). If any, the only true villain is lackey Taek-Soo Han.
Speaking of Taek-Soo Han, he is my biggest problem with this film. His character is one dimensional, a huge wasted opportunity of exploring the birth of modern Korea and chaebols (e.g., Samsung). (Note: Frustrated with Korean ruling class's opposition to westernization, they side with Japanese imperialists that brought westernization in Korean peninsula.)
In the end, The Last Princess is all about a girl longing to get back home. One by one, she loses reasons to go back, to the point of insanity. The final chapter is expectedly melodramatic, but as with Hur's other films, I found it to be genuine.
I wasn't impressed with the film after initial viewing, but it stayed with me for days. I revisited the film on several occasions and it improved with each viewing. I do not consider it a Hur's masterpiece, but many images are deeply imprinted in my mind.
I enjoyed this movie. It's subtle. I found it to be beautiful and thought provoking. How does one deal with waking up to find that they and their lover are the only two people left in the world? There comes a time in many young people’s lives when they begin to question the meaning of life and their place in the world as they attempt to reconcile their religious upbringing with the reality of the world. This can be a very stressful time both emotionally and psychologically resulting in a possible existential crisis. The young man, Riley, has apparently previously dealt with such matters as he takes a somewhat surprisingly Zen-like approach to their situation thus avoiding such crisis or perhaps he is just not given to such thoughts. After all, why spend time contemplating things for which there are no answers? Unfortunately for the young woman, Jenai, finding themselves in the most bizarre and inexplicable situation imaginable seems to bring her to question, quite possibly for the first time, God’s will, even the very existence of God, and the validity of everything she’s been taught. We watch her struggle with a deep existential crisis for which their present situation obviously only exacerbates. Riley loves the stark beauty of Iceland and seems genuinely content to live out his days there. Jenai, on the other hand, appears to feel trapped as they are now essentially stranded in a strange land far from home (they appear to be American). She misses her home, her family, and her book that she describes as more of a log book than a journal. Riley makes constant attempts to help Jenai through her crisis. He attempts to show her the beauty of their new world and how they can have a wonderful life there together. "We have the world at our feet." They stop at a random cabin on a lake in the woods for a relaxing retreat outside the city. There they come across an old man who has gone without food and water for too long. He had gone there to die. They, of course, give him food and water and share his cabin with him that evening. Jenai discusses the philosophical issues of their situation with him by the fire in the hearth. The old man passes away in his sleep and is found dead in the morning. Surely if there is one then there could be others. They make a renewed search driven by Jenai but find no one else. Electricity and Internet service is still available. Jenai holds on to hope that there is someone back at home. She keeps her computer on and monitors it daily for any messages or other signs of humanity out there. As Riley makes continued attempts to help Jenai come to accept their situation, she seems to improve, but then when a message notification sounds on her computer, it apparently becomes 'the straw that broke the camel’s back'. In this movie, as in life, there are no answers. Perhaps it is best to accept things as they come rather than try to reason in vain as to why.
