tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24021250380208277242024-03-05T12:40:28.516+08:00Ghoul of the CinemaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-85904026855722837302021-10-02T07:26:00.001+08:002021-10-02T07:26:20.383+08:00Report of the Week: 9/25 - 10/1/2021 (w/Links)<p><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/c17f45782363ef100da645fdfb089ba4/b457fca6dda46c58-b4/s400x600/576f3232376eacb4b36cc1f9ebf6f4ef8426f880.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="400" height="309" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/c17f45782363ef100da645fdfb089ba4/b457fca6dda46c58-b4/s400x600/576f3232376eacb4b36cc1f9ebf6f4ef8426f880.gifv" width="640" /></a><br />On Saturday I finished Netflix's latest limited series<b> Midnight Mass</b> from the same creator of <b>The Haunting of Hill House</b> and I thought it was a good show. I know that <b>Mike Flanagan </b>is a hot topic in horror circles right now but like Hill House I found it too wordy and if I wanted my horror that way we should've at least gotten an <b>Andrei Tarkovsky</b> horror movie. Speaking of Tarkovsky, I watched his last movie <b>The Sacrifice</b> in the evening after three sittings and while it didn't move me as much as <b>Stalker </b>or <b>Solaris </b>did, the ending was still memorable. Here's my <a href="https://ghoulofthecinema.blogspot.com/2021/09/review-midnight-mass.html" target="_blank">full review</a> of the show. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e46799b35e47e28835cf66ca64d16960/a05ca8049830002a-47/s540x810/db03cd31dcf0e1512490b4966c4dc13c37895eb9.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e46799b35e47e28835cf66ca64d16960/a05ca8049830002a-47/s540x810/db03cd31dcf0e1512490b4966c4dc13c37895eb9.gifv" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That same evening I saw the first episode of Apple TV+'s new show <b>Foundation </b>and it is amazing! It's not as mind blowing in terms of the story so far but world building through the sets, and the CGI really sold me on this show and this is coming from someone who has never read the novels it's based on. Now I'm preparing myself to read the novels at some point but I don't want to rush into the show at the same time. The next day I saw the second episode since Apple TV+ decided to drop the two first episodes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/81e9c6353b09c10f66d02c8bb8449c59/bb8a67bfe0667346-09/s2048x3072/f1f4b60e9f36f855bb65149154511bc816b582e9.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="800" height="285" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/81e9c6353b09c10f66d02c8bb8449c59/bb8a67bfe0667346-09/s2048x3072/f1f4b60e9f36f855bb65149154511bc816b582e9.gifv" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Monday, I received three books that I ordered online namely<b> Wuthering Heights, All The Pretty Horses </b>and <b>Suttree</b> by Emily Brontë and Cormac McCarthy respectively, two of which have movie adaptations which I cannot wait to see after I finished reading the book versions. There are a few teaser trailers for the new seasons of<b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILwLN6hV-X8" target="_blank">Stranger Things</a> </b>and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfQ3EQl_W98" style="font-weight: bold;">Cobra Kai</a> and a teaser for the new<b> </b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXqrBl6pEo" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Sandman</a> series on Netflix. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-66320098839065758872021-09-26T11:11:00.005+08:002021-09-26T13:54:08.806+08:00Review: Midnight Mass<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnENa7CdG8AYZdI5RRwHjf0cYgs4ndNJlKU0u9uhl4hwRacjMyPun1BasaOjOb10_j3XwUxaH5iCmOpTUC97cwSCQa34G9B1D76Bmv10_GUi0lgLhiMedi155aYCg1l-qcJEDZxTMaRiA/s1156/midnight+mass.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="780" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnENa7CdG8AYZdI5RRwHjf0cYgs4ndNJlKU0u9uhl4hwRacjMyPun1BasaOjOb10_j3XwUxaH5iCmOpTUC97cwSCQa34G9B1D76Bmv10_GUi0lgLhiMedi155aYCg1l-qcJEDZxTMaRiA/w432-h640/midnight+mass.jpg" width="432" /></a>From the creator of <b>The Haunting of Hill House</b> comes a new limited series by <b>Mike Flanagan</b> aptly titled<b> Midnight Mass.</b> <b>Riley Flynn </b>commits one of the most atrocious crimes when he gets drunk and smashes his car onto another, killing the driver and pleading guilty to the crime he is sent to prison for four years. When his sentence is over he returns home to his family in <b>Crockett Island,</b> a small island town off the mainland. Meanwhile a new priest arrives in town; <b>Father Paul Hill </b>who's substituting for their local priest <b>Msgr. John Pruitt </b>who was on a trip to the Promised Land - Israel and likely suffered from health problems. And so the story begins, with the sinner and the savior arriving at the same time. This is a slow burn of a show, wordy in parts particularly with the characters Riley and Father Paul but these two aren't the only characters of note that inhabit the island. There's Riley's parents; <b>Annie </b>and<b> Ed Flynn </b>and his younger brother<b> Warren, Erin Greene </b>the school teacher and Riley's high school sweetheart, <b>Joe </b>the town drunk, <b>Leeza </b>the paralyzed young teenager due to a hunting incident caused by Joe, <b>Bev Keane </b>who helps out during mass service and is a particular type of Christian and then there's the sheriff; <b>Hassan </b>and his son<b> Ali.</b> All the characters feel like they came out of a Stephen King novel and that's a good thing. It's a tight knit community where everyone knows everyone and while that's true in this island town, it's also like a ghost and that's where our story starts.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihr9NdiH5abUI7UnyMNQaqNoh8lp4O_yo8oTaK39EaWK9Ejru78x9FGTaSRVLdz08xEgZoEsdbqv6D34STlUfOfBknmLjS4oTtP0rFn14-_-D57_u3QcpY-Ji8DLK4cFQJEgrlnW-8KFc/s630/midnight-mass-5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="630" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihr9NdiH5abUI7UnyMNQaqNoh8lp4O_yo8oTaK39EaWK9Ejru78x9FGTaSRVLdz08xEgZoEsdbqv6D34STlUfOfBknmLjS4oTtP0rFn14-_-D57_u3QcpY-Ji8DLK4cFQJEgrlnW-8KFc/w640-h282/midnight-mass-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zach Gilford as Riley Flynn</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">First of all as a Catholic Christian I am glad that the sacraments are given a highlight such as the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist for the audience to gain a sense of our beliefs and I'm grateful because these things aren't normally portrayed when it comes to the faith. Second, I found it calming how this show goes to lengths to portray two sides of the faith in the characters of </span><b style="text-align: left;">Bev</b><span style="text-align: left;"> and </span><b style="text-align: left;">Erin, </b><span style="text-align: left;">the former a zealous Christian who keeps the people's arms at length particularly the Muslim sheriff; </span><b style="text-align: left;">Hassan </b><span style="text-align: left;">and the latter someone who has found the faith at a time in her life where she needs to make big decisions for herself and the baby she's carrying. Most of the time, the faithful is often portrayed similar to Bev and I appreciate how this isn't so in this show. Then there's </span><b style="text-align: left;">Riley Flynn,</b><span style="text-align: left;"> who was once an altar boy now a self-described atheist after having killed a young woman and spending time in prison. </span><b style="text-align: left;">Riley </b><span style="text-align: left;">is our guide in the island but he isn't the lead character and that's one of the great surprises of the show. It's a testament to Mike Flanagan's skill at crafting these characters as they go about their daily lives in the island though I can't help but feel like there's something off about this show.</span></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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhio-k-B1srbQmsdr8VW9LsoKu56Vvi2u_-saICMGwbbXebSbPn4b0OkU4GOXYHZiLvmsGiAtXliHo1zRUVwQ40IwKNCz5yPUrE5uWxhIoOM8CkU9VT4bACaSOZ5Kw6NfWycbPec3yjP1g/s1920/MV5BMjZiMGIwMmYtZTY2YS00ZTgwLTlmMzUtNTQ3NTk0MGI1ZTg1XkEyXkFqcGdeQWxpenpp._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1920" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhio-k-B1srbQmsdr8VW9LsoKu56Vvi2u_-saICMGwbbXebSbPn4b0OkU4GOXYHZiLvmsGiAtXliHo1zRUVwQ40IwKNCz5yPUrE5uWxhIoOM8CkU9VT4bACaSOZ5Kw6NfWycbPec3yjP1g/w640-h282/MV5BMjZiMGIwMmYtZTY2YS00ZTgwLTlmMzUtNTQ3NTk0MGI1ZTg1XkEyXkFqcGdeQWxpenpp._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hamish Linklater as Father Paul Hill</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It doesn't lack an abundance of <b>Stephen King</b> tropes (though with a twist) and while that's fresh, parts of it do get repetitive and some things are left out in the open. Similar to <b>The Haunting of Hill House</b> this show features lengthy and wordy dialogue that feels too caught up in itself and that's probably why I'm not sold on <b>Mike Flanagan</b> as a writer, the characters feel all too real and familiar yet when they open their mouths they sound like Tarkovsky's characters being dubbed by English speaking actors. I get the appeal of Flanagan's works but he isn't for me, though I would be in full support of him if does get a chance to direct a movie adaptation of Stephen King's <b>Revival.</b> That said I think Flanagan's actors are among the best in television; <b>Kate Siegel, Annabelle Gish, Henry Thomas, Zach Gilford, </b>and particularly<b> Hamish Linklater </b>and <b>Samantha Sloyan </b>shine as their characters. There's a great connection between Gilford's Riley and Linklater's<b> Father Paul</b> that's similar to the one in <b>Revival </b>but it's never resolved as the former has gone so far down in his guilt. I was prepared to hate <b>Father Paul</b> and I felt like he got off the hook easily when things were all said and done but I liked how his story ended after a lifetime on the island and not being with the ones you loved and I think again this is helped by Linklater's performance and the way the character is written, he isn't overtly ominous nor is he the youth pastor type of religious leader there's a balance in his character. Overall, <b>Midnight Mass </b>is good it isn't terrible but it isn't great either though I really appreciate the effort that went into this. I may have some gripes with Flanagan as a writer but there's no denying that he has a few things to say with the characters he has crafted so well, he just needs to find the right technique to do it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>3.5/5 stars.</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-79847206452810943362021-09-25T00:00:00.039+08:002021-09-25T12:17:38.045+08:00Report of the Week: 9/17 - 9/24/2021 (w/Links)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/6306133f1060d91be223011bc3418370/a52f43c3c4104ee6-31/s640x960/ec2deacae8480542ae5c8a403f16cd5a6b4a2511.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="361" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/6306133f1060d91be223011bc3418370/a52f43c3c4104ee6-31/s640x960/ec2deacae8480542ae5c8a403f16cd5a6b4a2511.gifv" width="640" /></a></div>This is a new segment of the blog I'd like to call <b>'Report of the Week'</b> where I give you the latest updates to my movie viewing week as well as the latest news on trailers, and upcoming movies and other movie related things which I am going to be posting every <b>Saturday </b>of the week. The title is inspired by the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheReportOfTheWeek" target="_blank">YouTube channel of the same name</a> and it's a channel I highly recommend.<div><br /><div><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div>On Friday, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5GJLwWiYSg" target="_blank">trailer for Steven Spielberg's West Side Story</a> dropped and it is gorgeous! I like how it concentrated a lot on Maria's point of view instead of Tony's, so I'm guessing that the <b>Ansel Elgort</b> controversy is still lingering around and Spielberg needs this movie to be a hit. Having rewound the trailer a few times already, I am also very intrigued by the actor playing Riff a.k.a. <b>Mike Faist </b>(who's a Broadway star)<b> </b>and what he's portrayal of the character is going to be like. Overall, this is one of the trailers that got me hyped up for a movie I didn't know I wanted to see this year. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e0c18564c60d46955a30ab84ed413a85/249aea5ee15bd1ba-ac/s540x810/14d3030a8c111da8d35dc4d49d0e137c3daae4aa.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="540" height="356" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/e0c18564c60d46955a30ab84ed413a85/249aea5ee15bd1ba-ac/s540x810/14d3030a8c111da8d35dc4d49d0e137c3daae4aa.gifv" width="640" /></a></div>On the same day, I watched <b>The Sound of Music </b>in full for the first time in years with a good friend of mine who just saw it for the first time. It comes as no surprise that she enjoyed it and even thanked me for unknowingly luring her into watching the movie with me. As for the movie itself, it holds up really well and <b>Julie Andrews </b>and the late <b>Christopher Plummer</b> are legends with one of the greatest screen chemistries I've ever seen put on film. However, the runtime bogs it down a little bit which prevents me from giving it a 5-star review. If you want to know more about my thoughts on <b>The Sound of Music,</b> here's a <a href="https://ghoulofthecinema.blogspot.com/2021/09/movies-from-my-childhood-sound-of-music.html" target="_blank">link</a> to the post where I talk about it at greater length. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/1c6e891fa5103c812cee9947d5eeb745/9e81a23e9e0722c8-6a/s400x600/383a4261aef86e5bb1afb549a46a6dc8358b9773.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="400" height="328" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/1c6e891fa5103c812cee9947d5eeb745/9e81a23e9e0722c8-6a/s400x600/383a4261aef86e5bb1afb549a46a6dc8358b9773.gifv" width="640" /></a></div><div>On Sunday with the same friend, we watched <b>Animal House</b> together since she asked for recommendations for a movie with teenagers in the lead roles and while the actors in this were hardly teenagers this was a nice stress reliever. I can tell that this isn't going to be the last time we do this because there are so many movies with teenagers as the leads. The movie itself has it's moments but you do get a sense that it's dated. Oh and did I mention that this has a very young <b>Kevin Bacon</b> in a small role? That evening, my mom and I watched the <b>1961 version</b> of <b>West Side Story</b> and I have to say that I'm not so keen on this one even though if it's directed by the same guy who did <b>The Sound of Music; Robert Wise</b> and written by the same writer too, <b>Ernest Lehman</b>. I don't know about you but Romeo and Juliet's story isn't appealing to me at all and it being turned into a musical doesn't help. The choreography is overdone a little bit with the two rival gangs twirling and swirling all around town even though it's very unnecessary and don't tell me well duh, it's a musical like I get it but boy it wasted more time on the dancing rather than the story or the characters. If you want to read more about my thoughts about it here's the <a href="https://ghoulofthecinema.blogspot.com/2021/09/review-west-side-story-1961.html" target="_blank">link to the review.</a>. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/15a3ae75aec1606750545af02e2bf121/eb33d64f8275226b-46/s540x810/0252ffcebcae238f0f6858285ab1d1865ab9532e.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="540" height="356" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/15a3ae75aec1606750545af02e2bf121/eb33d64f8275226b-46/s540x810/0252ffcebcae238f0f6858285ab1d1865ab9532e.gifv" width="640" /></a></div>I watched <b>Sound of Metal </b>on Tuesday afternoon and it was brilliant! A lot of it is anchored by <b>Riz Ahmed's</b> performance as <b>Ruben</b>, a heavy metal drummer who's losing his hearing. I thought the way this is edited to give you the experience of a deaf person was great, it really made me realize that we take a lot of what we have for granted. I have to give a mention to <b>Paul Raci</b> who plays <b>Joe </b>in this, it's the first time I ever heard of this actor and he really made me believe in his performance. <b>Ahmed </b>definitely deserved that Academy Award nomination and so did <b>Raci</b>. Lastly, I love how this was shot on film and not on digital, it gives the movie a charm. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/206bee6795818884889f15bbff631246/ad75b42f2211299c-dc/s540x810/20b4437a52ef1a7cf4f0abb629392041622c3819.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="540" height="356" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/206bee6795818884889f15bbff631246/ad75b42f2211299c-dc/s540x810/20b4437a52ef1a7cf4f0abb629392041622c3819.gifv" width="640" /></a></div>On Thursday afternoon I watched <b>Strange Days,</b> a movie that I came across after reading this<a href="https://letterboxd.com/harlequinade/film/reminiscence-2021/1/" target="_blank"> review of Lisa Joy's Reminiscence</a> and I thought it was brilliant, the characters are compelling without falling into tropes that's expected of the genre while also staying relevant 26 years after it came out. I highly recommend it to people who are into cult classics because this one doesn't miss. I also wrote a review of it on my blog which you can read <a href="https://ghoulofthecinema.blogspot.com/2021/09/review-strange-days.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/98d37110c00488c1ed26559d158d9574/804da5c36c67d9b9-1d/s1280x1920/c4e5002b8239a60094198f8be7cfd5aacd341e24.gifv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="641" height="368" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/98d37110c00488c1ed26559d158d9574/804da5c36c67d9b9-1d/s1280x1920/c4e5002b8239a60094198f8be7cfd5aacd341e24.gifv" width="641" /></a></div>On Friday, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WllZh9aekDg" target="_blank">new trailer for Pablo Larrain's <b>Spencer</b></a><b> </b>dropped and while this looks closely similar to his 2016 debut movie Jackie this looks just as promising. It's one of my most anticipated movies of the year and I can't just get enough of the people's princess now that <b>The Crown</b> is becoming a thing in our house. I'm trying to also revive my Tarkovsky marathon for a post I'm about to do on <b>Andrei Tarkovsky's </b>movies so fingers crossed that I might all his movies this time around starting with <b>The Sacrifice </b>and until I get a chance to view both<b> Nostalghia </b>and <b>Mirror</b> again.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3cc944da261b0d9dac5713ce588fe3d7/5334765e607aef8c-0d/s540x810/885b4b6b416de4968bfa245f3f2b11c5db053884.gifv" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="540" height="403" src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3cc944da261b0d9dac5713ce588fe3d7/5334765e607aef8c-0d/s540x810/885b4b6b416de4968bfa245f3f2b11c5db053884.gifv" width="640" /></a></div>In the evening, I started watching Netflix's latest show <b>Midnight Mass </b>and while it's a horror show with many elements taken right out of a<b> Stephen King </b>novel particularly <b>Revival </b>and <b>Salem's Lot</b> which I hope doesn't spoil it for most of you out there. It's a slow burn and while I find the human aspects interesting it also drags down the show a bit, I find the horror minimal which is great and the reveal is done well enough though not something expected from the creator of The Haunting series. I'm planning on writing a review for it just as soon as I finish all the episodes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-76575043050335731442021-09-23T17:40:00.010+08:002021-09-23T23:16:21.843+08:00Review: Strange Days<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPdwbib9f9IkrV1BpE1OO2baqqQ8bQahrTR0xmmt0dYq5DsrtEu-V3edsgL48ZDSMaIYHcCia1cWULg5sJYMbwVIYx8vzkSQA3kDcXP23jb-pXxjgBV8cOSBmdDzooJKUCK1EQ1mvQn4/s1125/strange+days.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="742" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTPdwbib9f9IkrV1BpE1OO2baqqQ8bQahrTR0xmmt0dYq5DsrtEu-V3edsgL48ZDSMaIYHcCia1cWULg5sJYMbwVIYx8vzkSQA3kDcXP23jb-pXxjgBV8cOSBmdDzooJKUCK1EQ1mvQn4/w422-h640/strange+days.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'I'm the magic man.'</td></tr></tbody></table>I guess the best way to start talking about this movie is how I came across it in the first place. Well aside from blogging here I'm also a Letterboxd user and recently came across<a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#"> a scathing review of Lisa Joy's <b>Reminiscence</b></a><b> </b>starring <b>Hugh Jackman</b> comparing it to the movie <b>Strange Days</b> by <b>Kathryn Bigelow.</b> The review while critical got me curious about<b> Strange Days</b> and its premise and so I decided to check it out for myself to see what the hype is all about. It tells the story of<b> Lenny Nero </b>a former cop turned street hustler who accidentally uncovers a conspiracy on the last day of 1999 Los Angeles. The movie begins with Nero played by <b>Ralph Fiennes</b> experiencing the last few minutes of a thief before he dies from a fall. Later he tells <b>Tick </b>his supplier that he doesn't deal with snuff then goes on about his day which consists mainly of peddling people's memories and experiences via CD's. We see through Nero's eyes the unrest of 1999 Los Angeles through the looting, and the racism that escalates when the well-loved rapper named<b> Jeriko One</b> is murdered. Meanwhile, the hooker Iris is looking for Nero who leaves a recorded CD in his car. Nero's attempts to get to <b>Faith </b>his former girlfriend are unsuccessful. Soon, when a CD surfaces and Nero learns that <b>Iris</b> was violently raped and killed he investigates and finds out that there's a greater conspiracy unfolding. <br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmru412B_uXLw2YNrVLCOdIiE4mdA4s0QMesv9k1KKvIRLWZKv94D1sKbzZ3x4ZJPYxuSVxmdKOHQITiuP4Lae2JDBzgZ9J7DkA8694jTx3QslW4vmQC-ghCm34NdUBFWH1fajfZ28FWU/s1780/strangedays1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1780" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmru412B_uXLw2YNrVLCOdIiE4mdA4s0QMesv9k1KKvIRLWZKv94D1sKbzZ3x4ZJPYxuSVxmdKOHQITiuP4Lae2JDBzgZ9J7DkA8694jTx3QslW4vmQC-ghCm34NdUBFWH1fajfZ28FWU/w640-h294/strangedays1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Fiennes as Lenny Nero</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>I guess the best place to start is with the plot and the story as I had no idea what I was getting into with this movie but I enjoyed it as it also takes its time. Voyeurism, Lenny Nero deals with peoples memories and experiences while also getting a high off of his own memories with Faith, a former lover. Of course it's only a matter of time before there's a crime committed while using the technology that records these memories and this is one of the great aspects of the movie that ties into the plot and the story, I thought this was done very well and not rushed just flowed into the movie naturally. Longing, another theme in the movie that's carefully built in to the script Nero nearly goes to the limits to get Faith back, his memories of her he still replays every now and again when Nero finally meets Faith again it's done in such a nuanced way through the performances of both actors. Then there's the friend who's love is unrequited without her becoming a damsel in distress or becoming a character who can't live without a man in her life. While we see most of the movie through the point of view of Nero, my favorite character has to be Angela Bassett's Mace, she's independent and can hold her own in a fight without having to resort to typical feminist tropes. The more unsubtle theme of racism isn't overly done and I meant that it's done in a way where it doesn't come across as preachy, it's handled better than a call to sentiment; it's done through the truth.</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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYZxzDD0ulix-0noYlSN3cOT9tvP_a07AW5sxylRX5E2YY4ffGHcTv8bX4J7GYcjgPJlHVqEVD1-cYZ8J7tsVxOrXAIQFSDJjJ9ZnCj7GzyGxaFD4NrYPc3rOsb-vnpyV8Fa1y0V0t6o/s1780/strangedays2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1780" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYZxzDD0ulix-0noYlSN3cOT9tvP_a07AW5sxylRX5E2YY4ffGHcTv8bX4J7GYcjgPJlHVqEVD1-cYZ8J7tsVxOrXAIQFSDJjJ9ZnCj7GzyGxaFD4NrYPc3rOsb-vnpyV8Fa1y0V0t6o/w640-h294/strangedays2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angela Bassett as Mace</td></tr></tbody></table><div>The technical aspects of the movie such as the performances, cinematography, direction and screenplay were very well done. The characters are very compelling and interesting to watch as events unfold in front of them. I haven't seen any of Kathryn Bigelow's later movies but I have seen both Loveless and Near Dark (which I need to see again) and I think she's talented and delivers for the most part as she does here. The actors make their characters compelling by making us feel like they actually live in the world that the production design team has landscaped for them and Ralph Fiennes makes such a fine lead yet he isn't the typical macho character that this character could have been and his chemistry with Angela Bassett is palpable, it isn't too much or too little; it's just right. 'The cinematography reminds me of Blade Runner though not as stylistic in terms of the color palette but it's there in terms of the movement. Overall, Strange Days is one of the cult classics that should be talked about more just the way that Blade Runner is and while this doesn't seem to have garnered any steam back in 1995 it should now with because it's themes are becoming more and more relevant especially in America. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>4.5/5 stars.</b></div><div><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-12097416451733495772021-09-20T17:02:00.005+08:002021-09-23T23:06:18.589+08:00Review: West Side Story (1961)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVklIorPlQWlcCLdGD3-K0QSF6-tjBULHVUvAPVtSqpPp5k-y7_Vay1__XpK14Vl-mgG2GJ-NpcLMWcPuGQ9-bf89MpRkXE45Y87B6JbQM9x4KgZQ0qZJFSqpfMgakPgyu9vMb0bQPHTw/s2048/West_Side_Story_1961_film_poster.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1345" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVklIorPlQWlcCLdGD3-K0QSF6-tjBULHVUvAPVtSqpPp5k-y7_Vay1__XpK14Vl-mgG2GJ-NpcLMWcPuGQ9-bf89MpRkXE45Y87B6JbQM9x4KgZQ0qZJFSqpfMgakPgyu9vMb0bQPHTw/w420-h640/West_Side_Story_1961_film_poster.jpg" width="420" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Romeo and Juliet: The Musical'</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Here's another musical for you, this time instead of the backdrop of the Austrian sights it's set in a poor neighborhood in New York City that tells the story of two teenagers with different ethnic backgrounds who fall in love but since they are both from rival gangs this becomes a problem for their friends. <b>West Side Story, </b>like <b>The Sound of Music</b> is another iconic musical that found its way to being made into a movie. I guess the main reason why I'm doing this is because of the new version by <b>Steven Spielberg</b> coming out in <b>December</b> and I'm preparing myself for it just as a refresher to the story. Basically, this is the story of William Shakespeare's <b>Romeo and Juliet</b> but instead of rival families, it's rival gangs in New York City's West Side. The movie starts out with a dance battle between the <b>Jets </b>and the <b>Sharks </b>as they each try to take control over the neighborhood. The <b>Sharks </b>are led by <b>Bernardo </b>and the <b>Jets </b>by <b>Riff</b>. Later, <b>Riff</b> tries to deal with <b>Bernardo </b>via a rumble but not before calling on <b>Tony,</b> a former Jet into the fold. Meanwhile, Bernardo's young sister <b>Maria </b>who recently moved into the neighborhood plans to have a good time at the dance the same evening. When <b>Tony </b>and <b>Maria </b>finally meet at the dance, sparks fly but their respective affiliations with the rival gangs prevents them from being together.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZywR4mAZejGgm9u5qwwiWdR7-6qEFCcoTU4L6IPmO-WbKz5jrrIeLVRFNJt-tQ68j5w8Fv0x0ijIDsb8g9p_I7etWpuuAehd155-ASuYrAHWgI_KCV7JTaD2A2PkazUoVlxHnlnrM0c/s1920/wss1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZywR4mAZejGgm9u5qwwiWdR7-6qEFCcoTU4L6IPmO-WbKz5jrrIeLVRFNJt-tQ68j5w8Fv0x0ijIDsb8g9p_I7etWpuuAehd155-ASuYrAHWgI_KCV7JTaD2A2PkazUoVlxHnlnrM0c/w640-h288/wss1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Beymer as Tony and Natalie Wood as Maria</td></tr></tbody></table>I don't know where to begin. For one the performances, cinematography, direction, dialogue and musical numbers are done very well but there's just something about this movie that nearly makes it collapse under it's own weight. I'm not a fan of <b>Willliam Shakespeare</b> and his works and this being a retelling of his play<b> Romeo and Juliet</b> I was kind of expecting more and it delivered in those aspects (which I'll talk more about later) but the more time they spend on the dramatic choreography the less interested I am in actually watching this one. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the effort of all those involved but there's just something about the story that I can't get on board with like <b>Tony </b>quitting the <b>Jets </b>because there's life outside of it yet the moment he finds a woman he's ready to quit everything, like is love really like that? Let alone for two teenagers? <b>Maria </b>just wants to have a good time and even she doesn't get to spend to much time having fun at all. Then there's the matter of <b>Riff </b>and <b>Bernardo </b>who seem to care more about the thug life than they do about their best friend and family member. This isn't just a tale of star-crossed lovers but also that of making bad decisions though that doesn't stop the performers from shining through it.<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAX1tZz4OGoFHRz7_7nrcnxHs3I44hwd2XgWTEuLRZ-C3UzffngaLXv_uxJVkJw5TEIYqPJrIzswv_v4VfanNV64yFthM1CtmFYOmle8I__gBrN17l4EGo7vFfh3swro4pnqD0PEPlus/s1920/vlcsnap-2021-09-20-16h25m21s839.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAX1tZz4OGoFHRz7_7nrcnxHs3I44hwd2XgWTEuLRZ-C3UzffngaLXv_uxJVkJw5TEIYqPJrIzswv_v4VfanNV64yFthM1CtmFYOmle8I__gBrN17l4EGo7vFfh3swro4pnqD0PEPlus/w640-h288/vlcsnap-2021-09-20-16h25m21s839.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jets</td></tr></tbody></table>However, I do appreciate certain aspects of the movie, like how <b>Robert Wise </b>gave the movie room to breathe because if this had more camera shots and angles every other second I would have likely quit watching. With regards to the story, I admire how they didn't sugarcoat what America is like when it comes to race, it isn't overly done but it's there like when they sang <b>America </b>and while it's great to learn from movies, it doesn't go as deep as it could have gone, oh and they have white actors in brownface. If <b>Tony </b>and <b>Maria's </b>story wasn't the central focus of the story I think I would have honestly enjoyed it more, I felt like if they explored them more as individual characters I probably would have been more interested. Maybe I just don't get the love for this movie and the story, now I'm curious as to how <b>Steven Spielberg's </b>take is going to be like come <b>December </b>because the trailer is gorgeous.<div><br /></div><div><b>3.5/5 stars</b><br /><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-29984392773070509332021-09-16T22:19:00.017+08:002021-09-19T19:47:12.358+08:00Movies From My Childhood: The Sound of Music (1965)<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lIyh64SdMg-6zi5cTrGCyMFPvM6y2cuvLFVufkSErJXeoiE8Z187YWCcMO5S7OQjLo8Q1pUm4rA0hVZQFR9i0rlp7gvM7DTJBWK0SS6yu9PYH7MEXNygdvMxKEBelXL-Jjq3TWBBpdQ/s2048/the+sound+of+music.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1445" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lIyh64SdMg-6zi5cTrGCyMFPvM6y2cuvLFVufkSErJXeoiE8Z187YWCcMO5S7OQjLo8Q1pUm4rA0hVZQFR9i0rlp7gvM7DTJBWK0SS6yu9PYH7MEXNygdvMxKEBelXL-Jjq3TWBBpdQ/w452-h640/the+sound+of+music.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The hills are alive with the sound of music.'</td></tr></tbody></table>Where do I even start with one of the most iconic musicals in all of cinema? Certainly among the most popular too? <b>The Sound of Music</b> directed by <b>Robert Wise</b> based on the Broadway musical of the same name with music and lyrics by <b>Richard Rogers</b> and <b>Oscar Hammerstein II. </b>The movie version<b> </b>stars <b>Julie Andrews</b> and <b>Christopher Plummer. </b>It's the story of a young Austrian woman who leaves the convent to become the governess to the children of a retired naval officer. I was about ten years old when I first saw <b>The Sound of Music</b> and I can't remember a time when I was awed by a movie as much as I was this one, it also gave me a sense of what kind of person I want in my life. What I enjoyed the most about this movie is how it isn't just another love story, it's about a young woman who is in search of her place in the world and finding love along the way despite the looming possibility of global conflict and it's effects. In this post I will go in depth with not just with Maria's story but also Captain von Trapp's role as an icon of good masculinity, their romance and the overall place of the movie in cinema history. <br /><span></span><p></p><a name='more'></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3E-8AcylLHCjie7UiZ2prZaxCE-Wzj50uel5-MzJsrHV1Q6dpEirNUjpSAnQvgvcXn0PLlKoNkADacCvg6xtGFAycYAljClc8cLZs2xsatvpghOW5Y16DYPel1YmRaT3mKY5jycRusc/s1920/som1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3E-8AcylLHCjie7UiZ2prZaxCE-Wzj50uel5-MzJsrHV1Q6dpEirNUjpSAnQvgvcXn0PLlKoNkADacCvg6xtGFAycYAljClc8cLZs2xsatvpghOW5Y16DYPel1YmRaT3mKY5jycRusc/w640-h288/som1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie Andrews as Maria</td></tr></tbody></table>We are first introduced to <b>Maria </b>singing in the Austrian hills when she realizes that she's late for the afternoon prayer and the nuns in the abbey treat us with an entertaining number about what they think of the young novitiate herself. By this time in the movie we know that she's is considered a sort of a black sheep around the area, an oddball if you will but she also shows her vulnerabilities to the <b>Mother Abbess</b> who is in charge of all the nuns in the abbey, and with this she is given the chance to find her place in the world through a position as the governess of seven children just outside of Salzburg. <b>Maria </b>faces this new task head-on but she runs into a brick wall with <b>Captain Von Trapp,</b> the widower and her new employer. Strict, overbearing, and exact, <b>Captain Von Trapp </b>is also as baffled at Maria as much as she is with him but as the old saying goes 'opposites attract' they are drawn to each other in more ways than one. There's plenty of opportunities for the <b>Captain </b>to take hold of the situation but it's <b>Maria's</b> choices that are given center-stage and this is what makes the movie for me, it's not even done in the most obvious feminist way that many movies today try to do, it's done more naturally without anything being forced on the audience. Another thing I admired about this movie is how a religious calling is portrayed, it's not for everyone even if you have an amiable relationship with <b>God </b>but <b>Maria </b>is resilient and stays true to His calling, even though she was reluctant at first and by trusting Him with her decisions particularly when she's presented with the choice to either stay at the abbey or face her fears.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0S8DtTrQAbXQnqqD2-GBQGyUATbIbStce0rkxBzBPBG8tV5Pq770VT3r6fd6ccOxujFoUcBqKfwLB7ZCSowMhmp4M_kl77QOST0nMJxGBZDwP34aaTKu0iBnzt0pqD2pavt9hdSfXA4/s1920/som3.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0S8DtTrQAbXQnqqD2-GBQGyUATbIbStce0rkxBzBPBG8tV5Pq770VT3r6fd6ccOxujFoUcBqKfwLB7ZCSowMhmp4M_kl77QOST0nMJxGBZDwP34aaTKu0iBnzt0pqD2pavt9hdSfXA4/w640-h288/som3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp</td></tr></tbody></table>On the other side of the discussion, can we talk about how much of an icon<b> Captain Von Trapp</b> is? As played by the late <b>Christopher Plummer</b> especially because of the qualities he brings to the character that he developed together with screenwriter <b>Ernest Lehman.</b> At first the <b>Captain</b> is stiff, yet he isn't dull. I guess the best way to describe his character is distant because of his relationships, even <b>the Baroness</b> notices this just after <b>Rolfe </b>delivers the letter. Later, we realize that he is a man who had been in mourning the entire time and he covers this up by running his house like one of his ships especially when it comes to the children. Then he meets his match when <b>Maria </b>arrives, who almost throws him off with her methods but to me the greatest thing about the <b>Captain </b>is how human he is, yes the distant relationship with his children is bad but then you begin to understand why he does what he does. Like any parent he believes that what he's doing is for the good of his kids even though he's blinded by his own grief but when it's revealed to him that his methods have been bad for the children and starts hearing them sing, he doesn't rage instead he joins in, later showing affection for them then apologizes and thanks <b>Maria </b>for her help in finding his way back to his family. We are later treated with him singing 'Edelweiss' and surprisingly plays the guitar. I think the character is one of the best examples of what masculinity should be like even though he was distant and aloof at first though this is part of his great character arc; he's strong but he shows vulnerability, he doesn't stand idly by when faced with roadblocks later on in the film instead he is firm in his beliefs and who doesn't love a man who can sing and dance and excel in both of them? <div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZiMXH84dMxczkIozD2_4OsGtvMYVf37_ELPogcMwlA0jCn1LXpDDnXTGxTEKod-7lDmEmDfPL-MoWJlLa94Xm0zZ0cwf5cfzjUTrpdAo52gcq63Ynz0ZK74b2dl-tG0RN9eCLXkMbgw/s1920/som5.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZiMXH84dMxczkIozD2_4OsGtvMYVf37_ELPogcMwlA0jCn1LXpDDnXTGxTEKod-7lDmEmDfPL-MoWJlLa94Xm0zZ0cwf5cfzjUTrpdAo52gcq63Ynz0ZK74b2dl-tG0RN9eCLXkMbgw/w640-h288/som5.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria and the Captain</td></tr></tbody></table>One of the highlights of the movie is the romance between <b>Maria </b>and the <b>Captain</b>, it doesn't feature a meet cute or anything like that but they're introduced to the other as employer and employee and it's a little tense especially for <b>Maria </b>as she finds out the kind of man the <b>Captain </b>is on her first day on the job. It's not so obvious on the first watch but once you pinpoint certain scenes you notice how their romance is all about physicality which is mainly in longing looks. In the gazebo scene, <b>Maria </b>admits that she fell in love with the <b>Captain </b>when he first blew the whistle and the Captain in return admits that he fell in love with her when she sat on the pine cone, it just isn't out of nowhere. This is helped by the performances by the actors who have great onscreen chemistry that makes their scenes very special. Unfortunately, <b>Julie Andrews </b>and <b>Christopher Plummer </b>didn't work with each other again until the early 2000s with <b>On Golden Pond</b>. While the gazebo scene was tender and pleasant I thought the discussion about the wedding was too quick, they didn't really know a thing about the other all that much and this is when the viewer is reminded that this is a *movie* and a musical at that. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKhvgVztV6WjNQ8LcoYQgPlIsYVJ0HLsTw1lJKVkqIVxiPZinkQcvS27ONoZmCXujXSssgT_EXwrRx7OAbgWt-fhPD0tjHocXj2K66CBWLcCM2FVjkYrX91WKRjmgIhZQ-ZhGUzViPVc/s1920/som4.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKhvgVztV6WjNQ8LcoYQgPlIsYVJ0HLsTw1lJKVkqIVxiPZinkQcvS27ONoZmCXujXSssgT_EXwrRx7OAbgWt-fhPD0tjHocXj2K66CBWLcCM2FVjkYrX91WKRjmgIhZQ-ZhGUzViPVc/w640-h288/som4.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Von Trapp children</td></tr></tbody></table>So where does <b>The Sound of Music</b> belong in the history of cinema? It's one of those movies that isn't just a musical but a movie that has retained its merits over the years. <b>Captain Von Trapp's </b>continued outspoken hatred for Hitler's regime as well as <b>Maria's </b>conflict in making a life-changing decision are still very relevant to this day and that's what separates some movie musicals with this one; it remains a treasure to anyone who picks it up and fall in love with the movie. It's a pretty charming movie after all, and while some may call it sugarcoated, it has its moments of balancing out the fantasy and the reality of the <b>Von Trapp's</b> situation. I also loved how each of the adult characters are independent of each other, each of their stories aren't dependent on the other in order to grow and I love that it's almost a metaphor for adulthood though that would be a better discussion for another day. <b>The Sound of Music</b> is about many things and that's what makes it special, a young novitiate in search of her place in the world, a grieving man who's learning to love again, the effects of facism on the family and on the individual<b> (Rolfe)</b> and<b> God's</b> mysterious love. I'm not trying to be preachy about this just because I'm a Catholic Christian but it's weaved throughout the movie without it being overdone or shoving it down the throat of the audience, it's presented more naturally than that. The technical aspects of the movie is remarkable for something that came from the 1960s, the direction, cinematography and the music all lend a hand in telling the story as best as they can and it feels like they went above and beyond just for this. I rank this among my favorite movies of all time and that's saying a lot about how much I enjoyed and learned from this story. It's a movie that I enjoy telling people about and lure them into the idea of watching the movie with me just as I'm about to do with one of my friends and hopefully whoever is reading this and hasn't seen <b>The Sound of Music </b>will pick up the movie, doesn't matter what age you're at since it's for all ages and I'm hoping that you'll enjoy and learn from it just as I have.<div><br /></div><div><b>4.5/5 stars.</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-89625402494041835712021-09-14T14:29:00.001+08:002021-09-14T14:29:57.662+08:00Movies From My Childhood: Jumanji (1995)<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrdy6lWcA_nRBdFYHOumwPSMrrgvmGA7eoATHndKRZ1U38l6RUdVss5o6iOWGo5OnVcM547T292ngSl8DIJx0F64i4yTMDsppkGhfClrkxFQy3wCahueoR_bmGRvg3aTzJ1pSKxnsMbI/s1500/jumanji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1131" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrdy6lWcA_nRBdFYHOumwPSMrrgvmGA7eoATHndKRZ1U38l6RUdVss5o6iOWGo5OnVcM547T292ngSl8DIJx0F64i4yTMDsppkGhfClrkxFQy3wCahueoR_bmGRvg3aTzJ1pSKxnsMbI/w482-h640/jumanji.jpg" width="482" /></a>As I got older I've become more nostalgic for the movies from my own childhood and so I decided to start a new series of posts that reviews movies from that time in my life and for my first entry I've chosen <b>Jumanji </b>starring the late <b>Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, </b><b>Bonnie Hunt </b>and <b>Jonathan Hyde. </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades - and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game. I grew up with HBO on our TV set and it was one of the channels I spent most of my time on and I look back on it every now and then. Jumanji is among my favorites growing up and while I've seen it countless times over the years, there's still something special about it. Could it be the CGI of the time or is it because the story has a lot to offer? Having seen it again recently I noticed things that I never did before. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYDrFUNfFxLyW4Ohj5_k9CzZTqVlFMiFnAGanQjtldwwd6XJkpyZXcSIEMGJBiZukUMbcXd_DHqgpEIW__2wmtcZLg939ovjYSuc-b0Z5dSFLs1ihSUa0Py6FpTa1MMka7GNUOnyC-Ok/s1920/jumanji3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYDrFUNfFxLyW4Ohj5_k9CzZTqVlFMiFnAGanQjtldwwd6XJkpyZXcSIEMGJBiZukUMbcXd_DHqgpEIW__2wmtcZLg939ovjYSuc-b0Z5dSFLs1ihSUa0Py6FpTa1MMka7GNUOnyC-Ok/w640-h288/jumanji3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">The thing that stuck out to me the most is how there's a side story about masculinity and the effects it has on men and how they treat others around them because of it. An example of this is presented at the start of the story with Alan and his father Sam played by Jonathan Hyde, Alan is picked on by the other boys in school and tries to escape them while his father suggests that he fight back because he can't keep hiding forever. In these scene it's also indicated that Alan and his father don't communicate well enough. Twenty-six years later when Alan returns as a grown man we are introduced to Van Pelt (also played by Jonathan Hyde), a hunter who has taken it upon himself to hunt down Alan which in a way kind of represents the toxic cycle of that brand of masculinity. Thankfully by the end of the movie, Alan and his father have a moment of closure.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkUq1NfZhg77yqt3HN665wwwPi7ImX086VGkAoVILn_aG_XG2gFFTv6oeFHGOnk62q7BrttPkrDVlcBnUEGceEczDiXwG_xTl_hUiFtiCtyCDN17yE-S7wH5TmUHQCyVdp3C47X_aMTk/s1920/jumanji1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkUq1NfZhg77yqt3HN665wwwPi7ImX086VGkAoVILn_aG_XG2gFFTv6oeFHGOnk62q7BrttPkrDVlcBnUEGceEczDiXwG_xTl_hUiFtiCtyCDN17yE-S7wH5TmUHQCyVdp3C47X_aMTk/w640-h288/jumanji1.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">I thought this movie still remains one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen to date, the acting, direction, and the script as well as the cinematography and the special effects are very on point. It never seeks to be more than the sum of its parts but boy does it stick to its landing. Another thing that I did like is how much the action never gets boring, sometimes an action scene is too dragged out that it never fulfills its purpose but there's none of that in Jumanji, instead there's moments of calm before the next storm. </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmXSDNWKj2SsCxgx8QxPdU2KfPTOU_63hJakXe02vsUmg2vkOvwGyJCM21TIAE3h2q_thnGR9blhopRJ7-aRs0c38jvb6odI0fp9LwxBeyhzoBAag4GlDt0CEGjvbMftzaQ1scHmu3sM/s1920/jumanji2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmXSDNWKj2SsCxgx8QxPdU2KfPTOU_63hJakXe02vsUmg2vkOvwGyJCM21TIAE3h2q_thnGR9blhopRJ7-aRs0c38jvb6odI0fp9LwxBeyhzoBAag4GlDt0CEGjvbMftzaQ1scHmu3sM/w640-h288/jumanji2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Overall, Jumanji brings back a lot of memories watching it and while it's sad that Robin Williams has passed away he at the very least left us a lot of memories to remember him by. As for my recommendation, I highly recommend the movie to anyone who's looking to watch this movie for the first time or at least watch it again after having not seen it for a long time. Jumanji is one of the best examples of a blockbuster movie done right and it shows in the craftsmanship behind and in front of the camera. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><b>4.5/5 stars.</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-88465393009458622162021-09-13T19:14:00.003+08:002021-09-19T10:41:40.897+08:00Binge Watched: Normal People <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-7gV0t6qdkJHEIRYombkjo4vTcPn5Q5isd-F0GhFSSdnKvwMmFSW3NFzNqum21qibEzsEHQNVtn8TciyJGZkYtLnj-80qpGrCV5ohadGBMRMc8toyIjkZnrDIuIrsoEuu3Pv1Ov86Og/s1380/normal+people.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-7gV0t6qdkJHEIRYombkjo4vTcPn5Q5isd-F0GhFSSdnKvwMmFSW3NFzNqum21qibEzsEHQNVtn8TciyJGZkYtLnj-80qpGrCV5ohadGBMRMc8toyIjkZnrDIuIrsoEuu3Pv1Ov86Og/w446-h640/normal+people.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'We've done so much good for each other.'</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Based on the novel of the same name by <b>Sally Rooney</b>, the story f<span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">ollows </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Marianne </b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">and </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Connell</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">, from different backgrounds but the same small town in Ireland, as they weave in and out of each other's romantic lives as well as navigate their individual lives as students in Trinity College. I have the novel with me but my first attempt in reading it was unsuccessful so when I heard that a mini-series was being made I was cautious and excited at the same time. The show came out just last year and being reminded of its existence I immediately decided to binge watch it. </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Normal People</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;"> stars </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Daisy Edgar Jones </b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">and </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Paul Mescal</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;"> as Marianne and Connell with </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Sarah Greene</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;"> who plays Connell's mother </span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Lorraine. </b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;">The production values are amazing, the cinematography, the music are all there to serve the story but the real stars of the show are the two leads who have palpable chemistry that can go from fragile to something more in tact which pretty much describes their relationship throughout the show. Marianne starts out as the loner in what I assume is the high school equivalent of the Irish educational system and Connell is the rugby star and all-around popular boy. As Marianne starts to take interest in Connell and finds out that the feeling is mutual they get together in secret. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVgvxpXkS-0TMuW040NrPe_FcP0zivKt5JSaDd3lD-jmnIZrn37cTKx9C_NgdMFvapl6UlIoE153nCmLeTpTKwm2cvfYiaewXoCc-fWuJ0Ul3n6AROUtnoV6bd5q2KWal5qPMCY54Id8/s720/normal+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="720" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVgvxpXkS-0TMuW040NrPe_FcP0zivKt5JSaDd3lD-jmnIZrn37cTKx9C_NgdMFvapl6UlIoE153nCmLeTpTKwm2cvfYiaewXoCc-fWuJ0Ul3n6AROUtnoV6bd5q2KWal5qPMCY54Id8/w640-h288/normal+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Follows Marianne and Connell, from different backgrounds but the same small town in Ireland, as they weave in and out of each other's romantic lives.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">I thought this is a good show about what it's like to be in a relationship, it's not at all like the movies where all the bad things that happened are trivial and the romance is as grand as a John Williams musical score. The show does certainly live up to its title because both Marianne and Connell both lead normal lives with normal people problems that arise. As they enter Trinity College in Dublin, the scenario is reversed; Marianne is a hit in her circle of friends while Connell is a fish out of water and the show explores this and more. When the two get back together for the first time since their days in Sligo problems arise immediately, a miscommunication that creates a crack through their already fragile relationship. I thought this was one of the aspects that the show never held back, the things left unspoken are better put out there than kept inside. <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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjcwLLOmuHY3mD26TIENGS8D1T_8JE_CpqXe0MIm2bQLLyMcUw64iXh4aZB7bOswoRK0zqM1id8Se4BRva1pgqttT_O07VhJPvGHWJvWsRFd9y9lJfGg4hQNnofKiFvReYY80kMBnhXs/s720/normal+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="720" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjcwLLOmuHY3mD26TIENGS8D1T_8JE_CpqXe0MIm2bQLLyMcUw64iXh4aZB7bOswoRK0zqM1id8Se4BRva1pgqttT_O07VhJPvGHWJvWsRFd9y9lJfGg4hQNnofKiFvReYY80kMBnhXs/w640-h288/normal+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Mescal as Connell and Daisy Edgar Jones as Marianne</td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">The story really is refreshing to me as far as romantic dramas go because there's always a lot of heartache that goes on before the big finish where they get together for good and everyone is happy. In Normal People, it's different because the characters weave in and out of each others romantic lives while never holding a grudge against the other for it. It never feels toxic either, and while Marianne and Connell do a lot of fooling around with each other in bed (my main gripe of the show) they're also portrayed with vulnerability and sensitivity thanks to the script which is also partly written by Rooney herself and because of this I'm willing to give the novel another chance just to see the difference between the source material and the adaptation. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7BDTiHX0vCRJcx2O9KpesS6G-mifXLRPxZPOKxTLEqwvrhd3a90GcfE55X50ddpklz1p3hmJ1KThNBH7_37xSaNWFyE9R_dJ64GBXEQZtaallcPxdd3hokIgtHXAQsOfG-cTy71V2SQ/s720/normal+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="720" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7BDTiHX0vCRJcx2O9KpesS6G-mifXLRPxZPOKxTLEqwvrhd3a90GcfE55X50ddpklz1p3hmJ1KThNBH7_37xSaNWFyE9R_dJ64GBXEQZtaallcPxdd3hokIgtHXAQsOfG-cTy71V2SQ/w640-h288/normal+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The other aspects of production outside of the acting is brilliant, the cinematography, the music and the direction go far in order to tell the story in a seamless way because of much the behind-the camera people care about it and it pretty much shows since a lot of thought seems to be put into it. I love how whenever something is affecting one of the characters there's always a close up involved, it's not explosive or grand or anything but it's an effective way of showing it. This technique seems to be common in British television shows, not so much in American ones. Overall, I enjoyed Normal People and highly recommend it to anyone who wants something refreshing in the romantic drama genre.<div><br /></div><div><b>4/5 stars.</b><br /><p><br /></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-47405443857486833152021-09-07T17:21:00.007+08:002021-09-08T08:10:26.715+08:00Ghoul Presents: Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies for the Rest of 2021<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;"><b> <span>Ghoul Presents:</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;"><b>Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies </b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;"><b>for the</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;"><b>Rest of 2021</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyhUcIOGy4YGDHJRVwgC-OfjCavI5cavpmsCKIFcYzr4sXZ2ZJpO-XiaUwD6_nM21zT7qjIVSxCgonMR0XZ3Ihyphenhyphen2MngHEOwZNXMXDU1q5VxXJH_LpVhWJaDlYp8_9_LhNYjTjD1_QtF4/s1300/late+2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="130" data-original-width="1300" height="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyhUcIOGy4YGDHJRVwgC-OfjCavI5cavpmsCKIFcYzr4sXZ2ZJpO-XiaUwD6_nM21zT7qjIVSxCgonMR0XZ3Ihyphenhyphen2MngHEOwZNXMXDU1q5VxXJH_LpVhWJaDlYp8_9_LhNYjTjD1_QtF4/w640-h64/late+2021.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">I know it's been such a long time since I've done a list and the pandemic has affected how we watch movies but having rekindled my love for movies after watching the classic; <b>Casablanca</b> and having watched a handful of <b>Humphrey Bogart</b> movies I decided to return full-time to the past time of writing about movies with the plan to be more consistent on posting on this blog as well as coming up with something new and creative. <span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;">For the most part, I don't have any 2021 movies that I've seen lately outside of <b>The Suicide Squad </b>but thankfully I have a lot more to say on the movies that are coming out within the next four months and so without anything else to add; here's my top 5 most anticipated movies for the rest of 2021.</p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Dune</span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rft0niTI_nljQxoJRHmCSdG9FaiscsB6T597tSSIanX6fnLO3Jm-UVMBHdkNQh3MvOgs9Zxrlbor-3X70JN39YZzvfK1qOHoKE-qxbXKP2r5rvRfxNieWDQ-yV3ncfePRyFuq0NnuNs/s1800/0520-Dune-Tout-Lede-a.jpg" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="1800" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rft0niTI_nljQxoJRHmCSdG9FaiscsB6T597tSSIanX6fnLO3Jm-UVMBHdkNQh3MvOgs9Zxrlbor-3X70JN39YZzvfK1qOHoKE-qxbXKP2r5rvRfxNieWDQ-yV3ncfePRyFuq0NnuNs/w640-h288/0520-Dune-Tout-Lede-a.jpg" width="640" /></a>The story of Paul Atreides and his journey as he becomes the prophesized chosen one. Directed by <b>Denis Villeneuve</b> and starring a stacked cast led by <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 0.14992px; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Timothée Chalamet</span></span> as Paul, this movie was supposed to come out in October of last year but due to the pandemic, it's been rescheduled for an <b>October 22, 2021</b> release. Having read the novel by <b>Frank Herbert</b> I've been looking forward to this one ever since it was announced back in 2017 just before Villeneuve's <b>Blade Runner 2047</b> came out. Dune has been considered unfilmable over the years but since Hollywood technology has vastly improved it's finally time to see this hero's journey come to life.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Lost Daughter</b></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEKEzKByUPgaLw0Zme-2NU-W9dO6xG2g1Kk409ghCrkspDCvSoFLKhpGm_6du7vE2YRVZG76iSGCTn7zht_F5WuTwyUxcXDtVeANMuuuaueGT3jcRx2wTt7AbLjUG3evIuPz5Cs4vGEA/s1000/MV5BZGJiMTI4OWYtOTVmYy00MWRmLTlmNjMtNDYzZmM3ODc2ZmY5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAyMjQ3NzQ1._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="1000" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEKEzKByUPgaLw0Zme-2NU-W9dO6xG2g1Kk409ghCrkspDCvSoFLKhpGm_6du7vE2YRVZG76iSGCTn7zht_F5WuTwyUxcXDtVeANMuuuaueGT3jcRx2wTt7AbLjUG3evIuPz5Cs4vGEA/w640-h288/MV5BZGJiMTI4OWYtOTVmYy00MWRmLTlmNjMtNDYzZmM3ODc2ZmY5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAyMjQ3NzQ1._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="640" /></a>Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut is about a middle-aged woman named Leda who while on a Greek vacation becomes obsessed with a young mother Nina and her daughter Elena which brings up the troubles of her past. Another movie with a stacked cast starring the likes of <b>Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Oliver Jackson-Cohen </b>and <b>Ed Harris.</b> I am currently listening to the audiobook and while most of it takes place in Leda's head I am quite excited to see how <b>Maggie Gyllenhaal</b> has decided to film the movie with regards to direction. Directorial debuts from actors may seem like vanity projects but they could also be hits and from what I've been reading this is a hit. The movie is set for a <b>December 31, 2021</b> release on Netflix.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Power of the Dog</b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja9uPSf-7yI7smliiKHCn2gJ3gCv5ID0-cdmI1T2lkhmMcJaPfqre6CDuoxxHGRcbUc8_N6YKfCcn1lx3Zj2g3UnoBtiQk5oTq6kcymdlztwDr6hV2CWz23C6oscpASmZ686r0-49TaY/s2647/power-of-the-dog-benedict.jpg" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="2647" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja9uPSf-7yI7smliiKHCn2gJ3gCv5ID0-cdmI1T2lkhmMcJaPfqre6CDuoxxHGRcbUc8_N6YKfCcn1lx3Zj2g3UnoBtiQk5oTq6kcymdlztwDr6hV2CWz23C6oscpASmZ686r0-49TaY/w640-h288/power-of-the-dog-benedict.jpg" width="640" /></a>I'm not a big <b>Bendedict Cumberbatch </b>fan but I do love westerns and have never seen a <b>Jane Campion</b> movie in my life so this one is up my alley and while the reviews for this have divided critics I am willing to give this movie a chance let alone for a movie that has Radiohead's <b>Jonny Greenwood</b> composing the score. <span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love. A front runner for the awards season next year the movie is set to start streaming on <b>December 1, 2021</b> on Netflix.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Spencer</b></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi625ZoFwgsOI5jLNL87SH4b0Vu97hKZ2Aku2s3i1npH9RIOpBP81e3v-XOCxbgMHQkUkE07A_Su-WRxBUkMdwqtEvVNXOGghKxQRFNNgfh6HM8ItkjiN0m1R5_ATMsVJqlc3NUU9F06ek/s978/Kristen-Spencer.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="978" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi625ZoFwgsOI5jLNL87SH4b0Vu97hKZ2Aku2s3i1npH9RIOpBP81e3v-XOCxbgMHQkUkE07A_Su-WRxBUkMdwqtEvVNXOGghKxQRFNNgfh6HM8ItkjiN0m1R5_ATMsVJqlc3NUU9F06ek/w640-h288/Kristen-Spencer.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">I know <b>Kristen Stewart</b> has been in better things since <b>Twilight</b>, and like <b>Robert Pattinson</b> I am so glad that she is because I think her acting is great from what I've seen in Welcome To The Rileys and while it's the only other Stewart movie I've seen outside of Twilight I can't wait to see her take on the role of Princess Diana who was quite a role model for me as a child. <b>Jonny Greenwood</b> also scores which would be an interesting double-nomination for him come the awards season as well as director <b>Pablo Larrain</b> who last helmed 2016's <b>Jackie</b>. The movie takes place three days in the life of the late princess as she decides to leave Prince Charles. The movie is set to premiere on </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">November 5.</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Cry Macho</b></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-eHS7lLuUxFngqwTJOyYPyprjxRtfjft7OV7vXrTIN3qSk7MIPWBkzd2baILMBAszBBqPzaGEyCT4LbzmmTO57lFRQNmVe6H9hyphenhyphenSIC024M-YG-loyxNpOl255jhqp6AoeuwDqgTejZI/s943/cry-macho-clint-eastwood-social-featured.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="943" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-eHS7lLuUxFngqwTJOyYPyprjxRtfjft7OV7vXrTIN3qSk7MIPWBkzd2baILMBAszBBqPzaGEyCT4LbzmmTO57lFRQNmVe6H9hyphenhyphenSIC024M-YG-loyxNpOl255jhqp6AoeuwDqgTejZI/w640-h288/cry-macho-clint-eastwood-social-featured.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Clint Eastwood </b>once again stepping behind and in front of the camera and from the synopsis and the trailer sound and look like nothing I've seen him do.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder takes a job to bring a man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. On their journey, the horseman finds redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man. This is completely up my alley and a different take on the western genre full of gritty men (and sometimes women). The movie is set for a <b>September 17</b> release.</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-20644703187323609912021-09-04T17:02:00.001+08:002021-09-04T17:02:48.295+08:00Actors I Love: Humphrey Bogart <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMiOGuliGDdZyF8tikJOQtUoj8vhsH8Ihrq4o6TERNXiPzWjvDpgjUimyszFgECK0MiKMDtdSW35cy_lOT0jmhrSJ754xWLecY1TPGyJZBQxZLTDIM7b08_R8QsdEnEX-umFukXx-zV8/s1440/Humphrey_Bogart.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMiOGuliGDdZyF8tikJOQtUoj8vhsH8Ihrq4o6TERNXiPzWjvDpgjUimyszFgECK0MiKMDtdSW35cy_lOT0jmhrSJ754xWLecY1TPGyJZBQxZLTDIM7b08_R8QsdEnEX-umFukXx-zV8/w480-h640/Humphrey_Bogart.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><b>Humphrey DeForest Bogart</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">December 25, 1899 - January 14, 1957</span><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="title" data-author="Humphrey Bogart" href="https://www.azquotes.com/quote/798211" id="title_quote_link_798211" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #333333; display: inline-block; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Physically, I’m not tough. I may think tough. I would say I’m kinda tough and calloused inside. I could use a foot more in height and fifty more pounds and fifteen years off my age and then God help all you bastards.</i></span></a></div><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Ah Bogie...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Where do I even start with the greatest male movie star of all time? Maybe I should begin at the very start with how I got into Bogart in the first place; in the late-2000s when I was in my freshman or sophomore year of college, though I have to apologize first to <b><a href="https://cinematiccorner.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Cinematic Corner</a></b> for stealing this format. Ah the mid-late 2000s, it was a time when emo was all the rage and having heard of the classic movie <b>Casablanca </b>over my high school years I found it at the local digital media store that sold a color version of the movie on VCD and what I didn't know was how I would be in awe of <b>Humphrey Bogart</b> and his undeniable screen presence. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>What I remember was not how Bogart looked but more of how he carried himself like a man would as <b>Rick Blaine</b> and how I saw the movie for the second time in a short span of hours all because of him. Of course, a color version of a black and white movie may not be ideal for anyone to watch but it was what was available to me at that point so I trudged on waiting for the next available free time to visit the local digital media store to find more of Bogart's movies. I remember some of the titles; <b>Dark Passage, Passage to Marseille, Key Largo </b>and <b>Marked Woman</b> all of which nearly covered his decades long career and Bogart held his own against other actors of the day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Fast-forward to around 14 years later and I decided to continue on with my fascination of the man and watched<b> The Maltese Falcon,</b> <b>In A Lonely Place, The African Queen </b>and <b>All Through The Night </b>and all four showcased just what a talented and versatile actor he was. What fascinated me even more was how he didn't have it easy unlike his contemporaries such as <b>Cary Grant </b>or <b>Clark Gable</b> who were considered far more to be leads in movies while he was busy playing gangsters for Warner Brothers. Bogart was 5'8" tall, he was unconventionally handsome, had a lisp and later in his career wore a toupee but when the cameras got rolling his screen presence and charisma shined through and was said to be a professional off-screen. Finally in the 1950s Bogart was free to do projects he was passionate about and even started his own production company called <b>Santana Productions, </b>(named after his 55-foot sailboat) which has since been revived by his son <b>Stephen Bogart. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Bogart is often considered a movie star rather than an actor, though in truth he was actually underestimated in the acting department, leaving us with many memorable performances throughout his career and was even nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Actor with <b>Casablanca, </b><b>The African Queen </b>and <b>The Caine Mutiny</b> and won for <b>The African Queen </b>though he should have been nominated for <b>In A Lonely Place </b>and <b>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre</b> and won for those as well. One could argue which among his roles is the best, the man can play a straight-up villain like in his early gangster movies such as <b>Angels With Dirty Faces, </b>he can be cynical but deep down a sentimentalist as seen in <b>Casablanca</b>, he can play a hardboiled detective who you'll never know is his angle until the third half of the movie like in <b>The Maltese Falcon</b>, and he can turn on the violent mood swings to 11 without coming across like a child on screen in <b>In A Lonely Place</b>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Unfortunately, Bogart was a heavy smoker and died of esophageal cancer in his Los Angeles home in January 14, 1957 just under a month after he turned 57. He may not have been considered versatile the way <b>Marlon Brando</b> is seen as by modern actors but Bogart knew how to use his physicality especially his eyes in order to communicate with an audience and even made film noir popular as a genre. We would never know what Bogart's career would have become had he been alive during the 60s and 70s, would he have retired early and turned to producing? No one knows but Bogart's legendary career would live on for years to come.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbghR_ZgzuutYje-ItV0H1VYK70ryuGq5xS2OhhibDMM112bYISytBjipC7PaauH39jLgX3lwGc7FfowWhLw_0CkyVsiAZQJvCaEdbFEKYblkNpTVuFaNQcJd4WuecPsISseqol-k7XzA/s1472/Casablanca.1942.1080p.BluRay.x264-%255BYTS.AM%255D.mp4_004001747.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1472" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbghR_ZgzuutYje-ItV0H1VYK70ryuGq5xS2OhhibDMM112bYISytBjipC7PaauH39jLgX3lwGc7FfowWhLw_0CkyVsiAZQJvCaEdbFEKYblkNpTVuFaNQcJd4WuecPsISseqol-k7XzA/w640-h466/Casablanca.1942.1080p.BluRay.x264-%255BYTS.AM%255D.mp4_004001747.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casablanca</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span>*Favorite films:</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Casablanca</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>In A Lonely Place</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>All Through The Night</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>The African Queen</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>The Maltese Falcon</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Marked Woman</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-K_JDW_khraZiA1IQCURpyD_6nMJazRGxbt-qn-E4bM33Zb5SxGSZnZ6z9G8EeBtNsr1KEF-VklB6uBgUn9MnuqgVEZwePjE2wAmJdx1IPa01MCWxpOyoas5KiMukgtDj-f21yiyfU8/s1023/Humphrey-Bogart-The-African-Queen-1951_f_improf_1024x748.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1023" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-K_JDW_khraZiA1IQCURpyD_6nMJazRGxbt-qn-E4bM33Zb5SxGSZnZ6z9G8EeBtNsr1KEF-VklB6uBgUn9MnuqgVEZwePjE2wAmJdx1IPa01MCWxpOyoas5KiMukgtDj-f21yiyfU8/w640-h469/Humphrey-Bogart-The-African-Queen-1951_f_improf_1024x748.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The African Queen<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span>*Best Performances:</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Black Legion</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Dead End</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>High Sierra</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Casablanca</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>In A Lonely Place</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>The African Queen</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span>Trivia:</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><ul><li><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maud Bogart's drawing of her baby Humphrey appeared in a national advertising campaign for Mellin's Baby Food, not as often erroneously reported, for Gerber.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Though a poor student, he was a lifelong reader, and could quote <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Plato</span>, Pope, <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ralph Waldo Emerson</span> and over a thousand lines of Shakespeare. He admired writers, and some of his best friends were screenwriters, including <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112218?ref_=nmbio_trv_26" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black;">Richard Brooks</span></a>, who directed him in 'Deadline - USA' (1952).</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: #f6f6f5; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was voted the Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: #f6f6f5; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first actor to form his own production company; Santana Productions.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: #f6f6f5; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Got the part in The Maltese Falcon after George Raft turned it down saying that the role was too wishy washy. For Bogie the film transformed him from gangster roles to those of hero.</span></span></li><li><span style="background-color: #f6f6f5; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God, Tierney became ill. Bogart had a personal experience as he was close to a sister who suffered from mental illness, so during the production, he fed Tierney her lines and encouraged her to seek help.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f6f6f5; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> In 1941, Lena Horne moved to Hollywood, which at the time did not permit black residents. When her neighbors tried to get rid of her, Humphrey Bogart came to her defense. Ms. Horne always remembered that Bogie “raised hell with them for passing around a petition trying to get rid of me.” Ms. Horne said that Bogart told her “if anyone bothers you, please let me know.” </span></span></li></ul><span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*This list will be updated overtime once I see more of Humphrey Bogart's filmography.</div></span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-11756343619579847952021-09-02T08:45:00.007+08:002021-09-22T09:16:31.458+08:00Review: The Suicide Squad (Spoilers!)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sIE2o7CAIVt_M613qFxcuYbU47Cpn_LNl6tprcwBjxrShW9oa0WrBY7syNW8WNfjyTDU9fTAGr8fogIapVcK65I6rae8KOgATIebb4nIMLlf4rIjBRyruYtvEa2ZzY4FV-wp5w1DaZk/s2048/j7ia71rh0ep61.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1383" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sIE2o7CAIVt_M613qFxcuYbU47Cpn_LNl6tprcwBjxrShW9oa0WrBY7syNW8WNfjyTDU9fTAGr8fogIapVcK65I6rae8KOgATIebb4nIMLlf4rIjBRyruYtvEa2ZzY4FV-wp5w1DaZk/w432-h640/j7ia71rh0ep61.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'I'm a superhero!'<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>The Suicide Squad</b> is back and while it may be easy to forget (or remember) the 2016 disaster that had an equally disastrous production it seems like it's finally creeped back into the cinemas with the latest outing by <b>Guardians of the Galaxy</b> director; <b>James Gunn</b> who fixes all the troubles that plagued the earlier version and while I have trouble remembering the 2016 version this Suicide Squad is more memorable not just with it's jokes but also with its casting the likes of <b>Idris Elba</b> and WWE wrestler <b>John Cena</b>. Despite it suffering at the box office due to the pandemic, The Suicide Squad is fun, quirky, and violent though I would say that it does have the generic build up of our heroes, in this case villains going up against the movie monster in the end it's an improvement of its earlier iteration. Yes, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is great in giving us characters to care about and we see that in characters like <b>Ratcatcher 2</b> (who we'll talk more about later in the review) and even Joel Kinneman's <b>Rick Flagg</b> who wasn't all there in the 2016 version, but it also gives us an atmosphere that isn't overly dark and the soundtrack is also a big part of the movie that makes it enjoyable. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZIbQgzV6IgCIjLFeeVy60A9OhsBM5AsVQMzr1VqEcip8ppd4-QrDCM_IvVbEvih3el1U5z5el_THs_WrRKeYPqgSZtT6B7I5cikILnPPP4D_Pdh9CJ9LEZ1RGenDKAkE6hw1aTWO2aM/s1920/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h29m50s118.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUZIbQgzV6IgCIjLFeeVy60A9OhsBM5AsVQMzr1VqEcip8ppd4-QrDCM_IvVbEvih3el1U5z5el_THs_WrRKeYPqgSZtT6B7I5cikILnPPP4D_Pdh9CJ9LEZ1RGenDKAkE6hw1aTWO2aM/w640-h288/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h29m50s118.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So what is The Suicide Squad about? It's about a group of villains who are unwillingly shipped off to a remote country in South America in order to get rid of any trace of a government project only known as Project Starfish. Of course the results due to their exploits is a bloody, violent yet fun take on the superhero (supervillains in this case) genre which has infected comic book movies and that's not really a bad thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQd6P9ykjJYcuw8-LTa5WeMNme9NhX_3NEHYcHFOMn-DM9oPR4x9xSUoDBOnzE4ut93fFbEuDwsV94OFZAYLr2ZbufKRdO3myl-T3R-c-aPCfrJ0UcB0ETaJX8A6vImftYdGMJOkomY0/s1920/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h35m30s201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQd6P9ykjJYcuw8-LTa5WeMNme9NhX_3NEHYcHFOMn-DM9oPR4x9xSUoDBOnzE4ut93fFbEuDwsV94OFZAYLr2ZbufKRdO3myl-T3R-c-aPCfrJ0UcB0ETaJX8A6vImftYdGMJOkomY0/w640-h288/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h35m30s201.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The cast is stacked led by <b>Idris Elba, Joel Kinneman </b>and <b>Margot Robbie</b> and while these three did a great job the breakout star of the show is <b>Daniela Melchior </b>who plays <b>Ratcatcher 2</b> who brings much humanity to the movie while <b>Sylvester Stallone </b>voices the adorable <b>Nanaue </b>a.k.a. <b>King Shark</b> who has an appetite for human flesh. <b>David Dasmalchian</b> is becoming a favorite of mine while <b>John Cena</b> is just hilarious as Peacemaker. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZy1Mb5SQPdYIWX4eNcrDZqHsMgPVAOl1YTnLCMkipEsHSBdfDqQj2RGE2znOpmERMS-NvyO6JBNpkH1e6rF4OWVtWenJR4gREHchAz2JOPdqfbla8EpLN7lPFnPwlL2SR1P2lo03F5HQ/s1920/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h35m59s912.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1920" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZy1Mb5SQPdYIWX4eNcrDZqHsMgPVAOl1YTnLCMkipEsHSBdfDqQj2RGE2znOpmERMS-NvyO6JBNpkH1e6rF4OWVtWenJR4gREHchAz2JOPdqfbla8EpLN7lPFnPwlL2SR1P2lo03F5HQ/w640-h288/vlcsnap-2021-09-02-08h35m59s912.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, the build-up to the monster fight in the end was predictable though it also gave us something new in which a few of the cast members died early in the first few minutes. This movie doesn't play it safe, nor does it overdo the humor, there's even traces of humanity injected into it and it never feels like it's being shoved down our throats. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>4/5 stars.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><span><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></div></span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-27465100294860659222021-08-28T18:39:00.003+08:002021-09-19T09:10:09.776+08:00Review: Avengers: Endgame<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My little brother and I watched <b>Avengers: Endgame</b> today and if you're wondering if our divided feelings, opinions and patient commitment on some of the <b>MCU films</b> that came out over the years prior to this just let me tell you; it's worth it. This isn't a movie, this is an event akin to a monarch’s coronation. I saw the first three origin movies (<b>Iron Man</b>, <b>Captain America</b> and <b>Thor</b>) on the big screen when they all came out but I never thought it would lead us to this. Sure, Marvel made some changes to the tone of their movies, making them more comedic and entertaining to give it the old success formula but there's something special about Endgame as it's a final swan song for some of the characters we've come to know and love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The film starts with <b>Clint Barton</b> a.k.a. Hawkeye (who was nowhere to be found during Infinity War) spending time with his family, all of whom turning to dust after the snap. Fast forward five years and we get a glimpse of everyone who survived the snap all trying to move on without any real closure. <b>Scott Lang</b> returns to the real world after being stuck in the quantum realm and that's where the movie really picks up. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can continue describing the first hour of <b>Endgame </b>but I won't, it's something that's far more rewarding to view than to read. I will however talk about its merits and a little criticism. </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #191e23; font-weight: 600; white-space: pre-wrap;">First</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is <b>Captain Marvel</b>. There's been a lot said about this newcomer among the hardcore fans, mainly because of Brie Larson's publicized opinions of her own individual movie as well as her behavior during the press tour but her role here is just fine, it isn't as prominent as <b>Evans</b>, <b>Hemsworth</b> and <b>Downey Jr.</b> which was probably why I thought she was more bearable here than in her own movie.</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #191e23; font-weight: 600; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Second</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the character moments. The movie takes its time with the characters without us noticing its run time of three hours, it's not as fast-paced as <b>Infinity War</b> nor do you even feel like it's a Marvel movie at all and this is probably why I enjoyed this film among the MCU so much because of that sole reason. there aren't as many silly quips by the characters like in <b>Guardians of the Galaxy</b>, <b>Ant-Man</b> or <b>Thor: Ragnarok</b>, but the humor here reminds me of the ones in the older origin movies. </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #191e23; font-weight: 600; white-space: pre-wrap;">Third</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the final battle. This is in the last and third hour of the movie, and it's right up there with the Lord of the Rings battle scenes, which I thought was done far better than the one set in Wakanda during Infinity War and boy was it such a rewarding experience on the big screen. </span><span style="background-color: #e8eaeb; box-sizing: inherit; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Fourth </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;">and last is the pay-off. We've spent so much time with these characters for over a decade, even loved and cared for them and cried over some them but the trinity of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are really the heart of the movie. Someone does die, but not who you expect it to be nor did I expect it to be that character but it did happen. There's also some closure for one of the characters in the end and it was all worth it as it was the best ending we could ask for. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The rules of time travel were a little difficult to grasp at first but you later see its effects shown on screen though it was still a head scratcher for me after a few hours of the movie still lingering in my mind. I feel like this is one of the things that would confuse viewers who don't pay attention to this little detail. Other than that I enjoyed <b>Avengers: Endgame</b> and felt that it couldn't have been a better movie to end an era in the <b>Marvel Cinematic Universe</b>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 1/2 stars.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #191e23; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>*</b>Watched on April 24, 2019 and reviewed on the same day. This post is a re-post from my wordpress.com site.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-63852976875989733982020-07-10T13:35:00.001+08:002021-09-08T07:39:33.019+08:00Midnight Special: Ryan's Daughter (Spoilers)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Doing nothing is a dangerous occupation!' </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;">My very first <b>David Lean</b> film was <b>Lawrence of Arabia </b>followed by <b>Summertime</b>, two films that I decided to seek out after seeing/hearing them mentioned in passing in other media. The former in Ridley Scott's <b>Prometheus </b>(of all films) and the latter in the acclaimed anime <b>Monster</b>. I decided to check out <b>Ryan's Daughter</b> because <b>Ed Harris</b>, my favorite actor is a <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/a-serious-man-1.687859">big fan of the film</a> that he even sought out the places where it was filmed during his trip to Ireland. Set in <b>Kirrary</b>, a small isolated village in the <b>Dingle Peninsula</b> in <b>County Kerry, Ireland</b> between <b>World War I</b> and <b>Easter Rising. </b>It tells the story of a young woman named <b>Rosy Ryan</b> who's bored with her life in the small village and abruptly marries the widower and local schoolteacher <b>Charles Shaughnessy</b>. Rosy is spoiled by her father <b>Thomas Ryan </b>the local pub owner who raised her to think she's better than everyone else in the village but after a few months into her marriage, Rosy confesses to <b>Father Hugh Collins </b>with his prodding that she's dissatisfied with her married life and the priest tries to knock some sense into her. An hour into the film <b>Major Randolph Doryan </b>arrives in the village where he is newly stationed in the British military base nearby. We spend time with the major who aside from his limp due to an injury suffered during the war we come to find out that he also suffers from PTSD. The major travels to the village during one of his morning walks and meets Rosy at her father's pub (while he's away) and <b>Michael </b>the village idiot, his PTSD is triggered by Michael but he is comforted by Rosy and that's where the film picks up.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sarah Miles as Rosy Ryan</span></td></tr>
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There's a few things that might across people's mind after the film ends. One I'm sure that's common is how it's a nearly 4-hour film about a woman's adultery and shot in the vein of Lawrence of Arabia but exchanging its sweeping landscapes of the Arabian dessert for the lush and gorgeous exteriors of the remote Irish countryside. A criticism that's justified but completely ignores other elements that bring the story to life. Rosy is spoiled, brash, reckless and naive. Her only form of entertainment while is reading a book called<b> The King's Mistress </b>(but implies that she was masturbating to it) that she believes a physical relationship is like, so when she finally experiences it for the first time during her wedding night with Charles she's disappointed because it was nothing like what's described in the book. Ironically Rosy gets into a relationship with a British officer who serves the King which I thought was a nice touch once I caught on to what was happening later on in the film. I'll admit I found it hard to sympathise with her at first because of her impulses regardless of those she ends up hurting later on. Of course I can't place all the blame on her because of the way she was brought up by her father and I can't blame Charles either because he has always treated her with respect more than most men in the village did so when Charles finally confronts her about where she had been and what she's been doing it was slightly satisfying to see her get taken down a peg or two. Rosy does grow by the end of the film and gets some sympathy from me, sadly Rosy is beaten and publicly stripped in the third half of the film which I'll talk more about later. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trevor Howard as Father Collins and Robert Mitchum as Charles Shaughnessy</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Sarah Miles</b> did such a great job in making me dislike her character and impressively making me feel for her character later on. The film may devote most of its runtime to Rosy and her affair with Doryan but the supporting characters who love and care for her are far more interesting to watch. One of the two characters that stood out to me was <b>Charles Shaughnessy </b>played by <b>Robert Mitchum</b>, I'm not going to lie if the role was played by any other actor I wouldn't have given it much of my attention. Mitchum is know for playing Hollywood tough guys but his portrayal of a gentle and decent man who loves and respects his young wife but can't satisfy her needs proves that Hollywood needs to get over typecasting actors in the same roles over and over again and give them something new to do. Mitchum does this all with ease without ever going over-the-top and even does a great job with his Irish brogue that you forget it's Mitchum on screen, his performance here really made me respect him even more as an actor and then of course there's the whiskey-soaked <b>Father Hugh Collins </b>played by<b> </b><b>Trevor Howard </b>who gives the townspeople his council when they need it, and while he does love Rosy the way a father does, he's also critical of her choices but never judges or humiliates her. While I loved watching both Mitchum and Howard play their characters I can't say the same for<b> John Mills</b> as <b>Michael </b>the village idiot who loves Rosy and only wants her approval. Mills later won the <b>Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor</b> for his over-the-top and hammy performance while Howard's got snubbed. <b>Evin Crowley</b> as <b>Moureen </b>is jealous and hateful, who quickly targets those who are vulnerable and can't defend themselves, she's the embodiment of the mob mentality of the townspeople.Come to think of it the film's weakest link is <b>Christopher Jones</b> as <b>Major Doryan</b> who's serviceable as eye-candy while also doing a good job playing a man haunted by war but you never really get a sense of his personality outside of his PTSD, he develops an affair with Rosy yet they barely even talk to each other throughout the film that Doryan is basically there as an idea not an actual character.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">John Mills as Michael and Christopher Jones as Major Doryan</span></td></tr>
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I began to question what the point of the movie was by the time I reached the third act and yes, I know that was inspired by Gustav Flaubert's <b>Madame Bovary</b> about a woman who wants to live beyond her means but the movie made me feel like there was something more going than just the affair. Was it about the consequences of having an affair outside of marriage? Was it about the constraints of living in a small community where there's nothing to do other than gossip? Or was it the primitive mindset of an entire village and its effects on the individual? It can be all of things in my opinion but on thing I'm certain of is the theme of cowardice and the part it plays in the story. Rosy can't bring it to herself to tell Charles about how she truly when she's with him and Charles didn't have the guts to confront Rosy about her affair with Doryan since he though it would run its course but it's <b>Thomas Ryan</b> played by<b> Leo McKern</b>, Rosy's own father who commits the most sinful act of cowardice. When the <b>Irish Republican Brotherhood</b> arrives during a stormy night and Tom is charged with cutting off the telephone lines that might alert the British troops in the nearby base, instead he personally calls the troops betraying his own people which ends up in a domino effect of sorts. Rosy's affair with Major Doryan is revealed publicly as she tries to comfort him when he gets a PTSD episode in front of the whole village after he shoots <b>IRB </b>leader <b>Tim O' Leary </b>played by<b> Barry Foster</b>. Later that day, the townspeople form a mob and gather outside of the schoolhouse demanding that Rosy be publicly stripped because she 'ratted out' O'Leary and his agents to the British due to her relationship with Doryan. The townspeople seize Rosy as Charles is beaten and pinned down by several men and Rosy is beaten and stripped off of her clothes in front of everyone and has her hair sheared off. Her father sees this happen but instead of confessing his betrayal and saving her from the humiliation he instead runs away from the scene that effectively traumatises his daughter. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rosy about to be publicly stripped outside the schoolhouse.</span></td></tr>
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I thought this was very effective as a film, I wasn't as emotional about it as let's say <b>Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory</b> but it did stay with me after a few hours of seeing it particularly when Rosy gets humiliated by the townspeople. I know the critics tore it to pieces when it came out, citing the epic scope of how it was filmed for a modest love story that it affected David Lean so much that he didn't make a film for fourteen years until <b>Passage to India</b>. Snooping around on the internet about the behind the scenes during filming it's a miracle everyone survived. <b>Leo McKern</b> nearly lost his glass eye when they were filming the scene in the storm that he quit acting for two years, <b>Sarah Miles</b> and <b>Christopher Jones</b> did not get along during filming that she asked <b>Robert Mitchum</b> to drug Jones' breakfast to make him get over his disgust during the day they filmed the love scene in the forest leading Jones' to believe he was having a nervous breakdown, later prompting him to quit acting. He only appeared in one other film. <b>Trevor Howard</b> was hospitalised after falling off a horse, Howard and <b>John Mills </b>were saved by frogmen from drowning after a fishing boat scene went wrong. I'm almost sure that the making of this film would make for a great film all by itself.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rosy taking a walk on the beach and runs into Father Collins.</span></td></tr>
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Thankfully despite it's poor reception among critics <a href="https://letterboxd.com/notpaulinekael/film/ryans-daughter/1/">Pauline Kael's among them</a> (which apparently caused David Lean to stop making films for fourteen years) time has been kind to <b>Ryan's Daughter </b>despite the film's troubles during production as well as the aftermath of its release. Cinematographer <b>Freddie Young</b> always works very well with Lean and here he shoots in <b>Super Panavision 70</b> capturing the untouched shores of Ireland while also being bold enough to agree to film during a storm. <b>Maurice Jarré</b> Lean's go-to film composer makes a memorable score but I thought it was among the weakest part of the film because of how repetitive it got. However, I can't recommend the movie to everybody but it's a rewarding one as long as you can get through the pacing and the runtime.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-89086912542697552202020-07-10T13:34:00.002+08:002021-09-14T09:50:24.062+08:00Midnight Special: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Semi-Spoilers)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">I think the best place to start is to write about the 1971 version of Roald Dahl's classic children's book <b>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</b> which was renamed <b>Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory</b> for whatever reason but I do recall reading that Dahl wasn't on board with a few things like casting <b>Gene Wilder</b> as <b>Willy Wonka</b> or that he hated the musical aspect of it or that the filmmakers took liberties into changing several things from the book. Whatever the reason I thought this one was far better than the more book accurate 2005 version starring Johnny Depp. Willy Wonka starts off with the musical number <b>The Candyman</b> in a candy store which leads to the introduction </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">of our main protagonist </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Charlie Bucket </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">played by </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Peter Ostrum </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">in his only film appearance and the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> build up of Wonka setting out five golden tickets to the world.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket in his only screen appearance, he later became a veterinarian.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">There were things that I really enjoyed in this movie like the songs particularly </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">The Candyman</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";"> and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Pure Imagination</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";"> which were both memorable. Of course I can't help but compare it to the 2005 version the Charlie Bucket in this version isn't as precocious or pretentious, he's just a kid which is what Charlie is, Gene Wilder's performance as Wonka is less manic but mysterious, eccentric but more melancholic which is why his work here is still iconic and the inclusion of Slugworth as someone who offer the kids money in exchange for Wonka's everlasting gobstopper was actually smart. Everything in the movie implies something else going on underneath like how people were really so enraptured to find a golden ticket one of the scenes include a woman who won't give up her box of Wonka bars in exchange for her abducted husband. The scenes showing that </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Grandpa Joe </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">was actually a bad influence was also clearer to me than the first time I saw it in 2004, Grandpa Joe in this version is a benefits cheat who leaches off his family for 20 years instead of getting a job and help his daughter to keep the family's finances afloat, his actions throughout the film also nearly influenced Charlie's decision in the ending which I thought was a great set-up to the scene but poor </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Jack Albertson</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";"> having to deal with playing such a character. However my only disappointment was the chocolate factory that fell short of the hype and build up.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grandpa Joe is a benefits cheat in this version.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow"; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span>In terms of its technical merits I thought the crew behind the scenes did such an impeccable job for a movie that was made with limited special effects, everything certainly looks real enough and the clothes the characters wear really pop out and say a lot about them. The cinematography is gorgeous to look at and compliments the sets as does the original music.</span></div></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gene Wilder (center) as Willy Wonka</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow"; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">I highly recommend this to anyone who grew up with the movie as well as for fans of the 2005 version and generally to anyone who's curious to know why Gene Wilder is still talked about today or anyone familiar with the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEX52h1TvuA&t=560s" style="color: #888888; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow"; text-decoration-line: none;">theory</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";"> that this is the prequel to the </span><b style="font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Bong Joon-ho</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";"> film </span><b style="font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";">Snowpiercer </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "pt sans narrow";">starring Chris Evans, either way it's a great movie to just relax to with the whole family or just by yourself.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow";"><br /></span></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow"; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>5/5 stars.</b></div></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-43292080823132583632019-11-28T13:43:00.002+08:002021-09-07T22:55:10.835+08:005 Favorite Ed Harris Characters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Edward Allen Harris - November 28, 1950</span></td></tr>
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">The great actor <b>Ed Harris </b>celebrates his 69th birthday today and what better way to celebrate it (and use this occasion as an excuse) than to post my five favorite characters that the man has played in his 40-year career. I was aware of the man's work growing up and HBO airing many of his films like <b>Apollo 13</b>, <b>The Rock</b> and <b>Milk Money</b> but Harris has had steady work in the film industry for years and in 2018 I decided to seek out many of his films I was unfamiliar with thanks to randomly stumbling into<b> <a href="https://cinematiccorner.blogspot.com/">Cinematic Corner</a></b> and a friend I've found on twitter who we'll just call <b>Paul </b>it was quite easy to track down many films in Harris' filmography particularly the ones they highly recommend. His first lead role was in George A. Romero's <b>Knightriders </b>in 1981, two years later he got his big break in a big budget film in 1983's <b>The Right Stuff </b>playing astronaut <b>John Glenn </b>and since then Harris has proved time and time again why he deserves his place in American cinema with performances in <b>Sweet Dreams</b>, <b>The Abyss</b>, <b>Glengarry Glen Ross</b>, <b>Apollo 13</b>, <b>The Rock</b>, <b>The Truman Show</b>, <b>Pollock </b>and <b>The Hours</b>,<b> </b>four of which earned him Academy Award nominations among his impeccable filmography and perhaps also proving that he deserves to be in better roles than the ones he has been given lately. This list will only contain his fictional characters so his roles in The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 etc. won't be included on this list.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>This post was a little difficult to compile since the man rarely plays the hero or morally superior characters but that just means that he has covered a lot of ground in his career and gives his fans a lot of variety so without anything else to add, here are my five favorite Ed Harris roles:<br />
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<b>Jimmy Wing - A Flash of Green</b> (shown in festivals in <b>1984 </b>and aired as an <b>American Playhouse </b>episode in <b>1986</b>)<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">In one of Harris' first and rare lead roles he plays Jimmy Wing, a small town Florida reporter in the 1960s who is lured by an old friend and local politician Elmo Bliss into spying against his environmentalist friends, he accepts but proceeds to warn Kat Hubble of what Bliss is up to. Wing is in love with Kat and acts as a surrogate father to her children while also having to deal with the repercussions of his actions when someone finally gets hurt and getting a slow and difficult redemption. Harris is always best used whenever he gets the chance to play conflicted heroes or villains and it was showcased here in his early career.</div>
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<b>Brig. General Francis X. Hummel - The Rock (1996)</b></div>
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There are a handful of actors who can pull off military roles and Harris is no exception to this. In Michael Bay's 1996 action classic Harris plays a tortured antagonist who just wants compensation for the families of the men who died under his command in battle. Hummel was a fairly revolutionary villain when <b>The Rock</b> came out in 1996, but he's also tender, noble, someone you'd follow into battle, we don't see other villains warning little school children to get off early during their Alcatraz tour because he's about to take the island hostage.</div>
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<b>Fr. Frank Shore - The Third Miracle (1999)</b></div>
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Harris plays a priest who is given the task to look into a woman's miraculous deeds and see if she's fit to become a saint in the Catholic church soon he meets the woman’s world weary daughter Roxanne and begin a relationship with her. Harris character goes through a crisis, similar to a mid-life crisis but for priests and he must decide whether to keep his priestly vows or follow his carnal desires. I wasn't expecting to love the film or the character since movies centered around religion are one-sided more often than not but this one was refreshing. </div>
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<b>Sheriff Cornelius Jackson - Sweetwater (2013)</b></div>
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Harris in one of his westerns always offers something new about the characters he plays in the genre. In <b>Sweetwater </b>he plays an eccentric lawman who is in search of two brothers who went missing in the rugged plains of New Mexico and later finds himself in a blood triangle with a former prostitute and a sadistic preacher. Harris plays his character with gusto and looks to be having the time of his life playing a role where he's allowed to be hilarious, intelligent and eccentric all in one movie. It makes you wish he was asked to play more characters like this. </div>
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<b>Roy McNary - Frontera (2014)</b><br />
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In this modern day western Harris plays a former Arizona sheriff who lives a quiet existence with his wife Libby (played by his real life wife <b>Amy Madigan</b>)<b> </b>and their horses in a ranch that is frequented by immigrants who cross the border over to America. One day, Libby is killed and everyone believes that the was crime perpetrated by an immigrant illegally crossing the border. The story is told from different points of view but Harris plays Roy as unsentimental, equipped with a horse and a pistol looking to find whoever did his wife dirty while also finding empathy along the way. This was the last time Harris got to play the hero before going all dark for <b>Westworld</b>.</div>
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<b><div style="text-align: left;"><b>BONUS:</b></div></b>
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<b>Man in Black - Westworld (2016-present)</b><br />
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">In the twilight of his career, Harris seems to be relegated into playing two dimensional villains in by the numbers action films, cowboys and villains with depth in films that aren't worth his time. In Westworld he plays the villainous cowboy with depth and despite his violence towards the hosts I could never truly condemn the man. His search for the Maze in season 1 and his journey in season 2 is my favourite in the show despite the many criticisms towards the latter season. I suppose we owe this more towards the fact that despite being Harris most despicable and detestable role in his career (only second to Just Cause) he manages to make the audience sympathize with him through his performance while also playing a deconstruction of the cowboy trope.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">He currently stars as <b>Atticus Finch </b>in Broadway's <b>To Kill a Mockingbird</b>, and will appear next year in the third season of <b>Westworld, The Last Full Measure, Top Gun: Maverick, </b>and the Jesse Eisenberg-led WWII drama <b>Resistance </b>and will start production for his third film as director in<b> The Ploughmen</b> based on Kim Zupan's debut novel in early June in Montana and New Mexico.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Who's your favorite Ed Harris character? Tell me in the comments below.</div></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-8398897320174095782019-10-11T14:41:00.004+08:002021-09-08T07:56:31.598+08:00Filipino Palette: Insiang (Spoilers!)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">'No one can help me but myself.'</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;">I think now is the time to start talking more about Philippine cinema and those who contributed to it. These days, Philippine cinema mainly consists of comedy, and sometimes even rehashed plots from other dramas but has slowly and fortunately made way for original filmmakers to make films worth talking about. This is going to be my first entry in a new series called <b>Filipino Palette </b>where I will be talking about films made locally and my first entry is going to be about 1976's <b>Insiang </b>which was the first Filipino film shown at the<b> </b><b>Cannes Film Festival </b>and directed by the late <b>Lino Brocka </b>starring <b>Hilda Koronel</b>, <b>Mona Lisa</b>, <b>Rez Cortez</b>, <b>Marlon Ramirez</b>, <b>Ruel Vernal</b> and <b>Nina Lorenzo</b>. <b>Insiang </b>(Hilda Koronel) is a young woman living in the slums of Tondo, Manila with her mother <b>Tonya </b>(Mona Lisa), outside their small shack she is seen as the object of attention to men, and catches the unwanted attention of her mother's much younger boyfriend <b>Dado </b>(Ruel Vernal), a butcher and the alpha male of the slums who charms his way into her and her mother's life. Insiang feels lonely despite being surrounded by people everyday but she has allies in her best friend <b>Ludy </b>(Nina Lorenzo), who runs a sari-sari store in the slums with her family, Insiang's aimless boyfriend <b>Bebot </b>(Rez Cortez) a mechanic and gambler and <b>Nanding </b>(Marlon Ramirez), Ludy's younger brother who admires her from afar but all are powerless against Dado's hold on the slums and Insiang.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">The performances by <b>Hilda Koronel</b> and <b>Mona Lisa</b> are among the best I've seen with the latter who is totally convincing as a much older woman still sexually active and who has a Machiavellian grasp on her family members, they're stormy relationship in the film feels authentic and at times heartbreaking due to what happens afterwards. Koronel's performance relies on subtlety and her eyes do most of the acting here, it's a performance that could easily be phoned in since she conveys cold steel rather than grit and she made it work. The supporting cast are solid but the standout among them is <b>Ruel Vernal</b> who plays Dado with charm that you nearly fall for his disgusting pig of a character.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOabsotF3AsiHGTXZAdBC1KXzqrJujmF14mHU9sRNOcSS6OeNPHerNCT8m1GsI8-0Y28UnEXRh9CUtaELplnfdJTlJ_rEL4gjHr9kYQcjJaeNu9LxmqgxeS9fRwHFmL0xtfEeoJv5geP0/s1600/MV5BOGIyOTdmZWUtMDdjZC00OTAwLTg4MjAtMDM5YTYyZDY4NDAyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTI5NjIyMw%2540%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1368%252C1000_AL_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1368" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOabsotF3AsiHGTXZAdBC1KXzqrJujmF14mHU9sRNOcSS6OeNPHerNCT8m1GsI8-0Y28UnEXRh9CUtaELplnfdJTlJ_rEL4gjHr9kYQcjJaeNu9LxmqgxeS9fRwHFmL0xtfEeoJv5geP0/s640/MV5BOGIyOTdmZWUtMDdjZC00OTAwLTg4MjAtMDM5YTYyZDY4NDAyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTI5NjIyMw%2540%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1368%252C1000_AL_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mona Lisa as Tonya, Insiang's domineering mother.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Insiang doesn't feel like any Filipino film of today, but its themes are more relevant than ever such as poverty, rape, and toxic masculinity an example of the latter two is how most of the men justify their sexual needs with 'I'm a man, I can't help it' even though if women like Insiang feels uncomfortable because of it. The rape happens off-screen and is handled with sensitivity and truth, once Insiang tells her mother of her horrific experience her mother is angered but Dado explains it wasn't his fault, justifying that her daughter was seducing him and Tonya's bitterness gets the best of her and blames her daughter for her own rape, revealing Tonya's image of always in control an illusion. Days later, people in the slums gossip about what happened between Insiang and Dado, feeling more trapped than ever after she is dumped by her worthless boyfriend Bebot (who leaves her without a word in a rented motel room), she plans to exact revenge on those who hurt her but not once does it feel like we are meant to agree with her decision. In the end, she gets her bloody revenge and also reconciles with her mother despite it all but Insiang does not feel happiness only relief despite the coldness she seemingly embraces.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc7_TnzLxXa9_SBUfprmqYmiRGWe5P_iax0rta_4uDBetAvUxVLjl4UF7unXJ0ZIWMi_YCfhwQwufzRmFxar2_XaWIEFC6OLPbl_EJUJ93oJa73d6UynxIwBHHmuHVP8s-M-FI2w66Rk/s1600/insiang.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1473" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc7_TnzLxXa9_SBUfprmqYmiRGWe5P_iax0rta_4uDBetAvUxVLjl4UF7unXJ0ZIWMi_YCfhwQwufzRmFxar2_XaWIEFC6OLPbl_EJUJ93oJa73d6UynxIwBHHmuHVP8s-M-FI2w66Rk/s640/insiang.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The slums in Tondo, Manila.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">This is a gem of a film that doesn't get talked about more often, not just for how timeless it is but also for the well-crafted film making process that went into it during production.The cinematography by <b>Conrado Baltazar</b> fits in with the story and the characters and feels more like those old Italian films during the 1950s, the audio can be quite a problem since you can't hear the actors speak due to some of the audio picking up a lot of noises so make sure to find a copy that has subtitles but I will surely be seeking out more of Lino Brocka's work in the future.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-27281690645725565252019-10-09T12:21:00.004+08:002021-09-08T17:20:55.877+08:00Western Wednesday: True Grit (1969)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWI8-UADTO9ePjhoq4r7GafaeTiDzfoYV4wHVQTkm7Sx_JUGpNGBZxwCS_nYRhgwJF2AkESYnDRsh2_jR7lGqH7RdT4LKx43SOIw0iHQmNO7nXpCFJTwK6Lsy2GuYLxt4E0aSXuCHOZ8/s1600/MPW-45496.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWI8-UADTO9ePjhoq4r7GafaeTiDzfoYV4wHVQTkm7Sx_JUGpNGBZxwCS_nYRhgwJF2AkESYnDRsh2_jR7lGqH7RdT4LKx43SOIw0iHQmNO7nXpCFJTwK6Lsy2GuYLxt4E0aSXuCHOZ8/s640/MPW-45496.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Fill your hands you son of a bitch!'</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>True Grit </b>is one of my favorite western stories ever told and although I loved the Coen Brothers 2010 remake and having never read the book by <b>Charles Portis</b> it left an everlasting impression on me. This version stars <b>John Wayne</b>, <b>Kim Darby</b>, <b>Glen Campbell</b><b> </b>as our unlikely trio, directed by <b>Henry Hathaway</b> and produced by <b>Hal B. Wallis</b>. <b>Mattie Ross </b>(Kim Darby) arrives at Fort Smith to take her father's body back home to Yell County but ends up staying to settle her father's affairs, and sets out to find the man who killed him she hires the unorthodox U.S. Marshal <b>Reuben 'Rooster' Cogburn</b> (John Wayne), but the presence of the Texas Ranger<b> La Boeuf </b>(Glen Campbell) who is also in search of her father's killer <b>Tom Chaney </b>(Jeff Corey), for committing a different crime complicates things. Cogburn and La Boeuf plan to ditch Mattie but she catches up and is permitted to ride along. Together the unlikely trio goes deep into Native-American territory to find Chaney and <b>Ned Pepper</b> (Robert Duvall) and his gang.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTROktKEgZaFgecwTrbVo6DeyQkKTKwscVCOYz8Qi0ldhf0g3Xg9EeMeCGdxffsKEwFaSJ40t_8cJa9K2XTM4U3AYFLdnBjA6OgnzAlzghGPy2xW5r7EvD_xZOFDXH0L7Erdv6_6fDlus/s1600/True-Grit-1969.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="660" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTROktKEgZaFgecwTrbVo6DeyQkKTKwscVCOYz8Qi0ldhf0g3Xg9EeMeCGdxffsKEwFaSJ40t_8cJa9K2XTM4U3AYFLdnBjA6OgnzAlzghGPy2xW5r7EvD_xZOFDXH0L7Erdv6_6fDlus/s640/True-Grit-1969.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our unlikely trio.</span></td></tr>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">I thought this was enjoyable and the cast had good chemistry that made it work, and was unique during a time when westerns were quite popular. Who in 1969 has seen a picture about an unlikely trio tracking down a killer? The performances are good, though some of the dialogue feel like the actors are just saying their lines and not really acting them. <b>Kim Darby</b> who plays Mattie Ross in this version I found miscast with the modern 60s haircut and frankly looking nothing like a 14-year old aside from acting highly annoying. <b>John Wayne</b> is John Wayne but I felt like he did better work than here and he definitely didn't deserve to win the Oscar for this performance, but I was surprised with <b>Glen Campbell </b>who was a musician and only had two credited film and tv roles to his name when this was made and I assumed he already had experience going by his performance here. We also get a young <b>Robert Duvall </b>who already looks to be comfortable in doing westerns despite his minimal screen time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmBB_5jDhvtmhiHNWhTYhyphenhyphenlzkn4lR9xBkSf0V69Kxgky0M857XeCgWRJUcfPisrCiF2PdMih0N4K-xQBvZz-tiZesvyGeT3axnDvzIhKiixLmjODXKPO-L27kit6jvlfFxbOmQxQZe-s/s1600/MV5BMTQzODM4NTIxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTQxOTExNA%2540%2540._V1_SX1777_CR0%252C0%252C1777%252C810_AL_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmBB_5jDhvtmhiHNWhTYhyphenhyphenlzkn4lR9xBkSf0V69Kxgky0M857XeCgWRJUcfPisrCiF2PdMih0N4K-xQBvZz-tiZesvyGeT3axnDvzIhKiixLmjODXKPO-L27kit6jvlfFxbOmQxQZe-s/s640/MV5BMTQzODM4NTIxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTQxOTExNA%2540%2540._V1_SX1777_CR0%252C0%252C1777%252C810_AL_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Filming mostly took place in Colorado.</span></td></tr>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">However, the location sites where they shot the film was a lot better than the 2010 remake every scene after the trio crosses the river is breathtaking and captured perfectly by <b>Lucien Ballard</b>, it also features a musical score by <b>Elmer Bernstein</b> who also wrote the score for The Magnificent Seven and there are many similarities to it here and it's blatant though he does make up for it by writing the music to the song sung by Glen Campbell called 'True Grit' which plays during the end credits. Despite my criticisms for this version it's still a great film and I enjoyed watching it again for the first time in years.</div></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-17532039989935281622019-10-04T20:03:00.007+08:002021-09-19T10:39:59.274+08:00Review: Joker <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWfX2yD4OuklBcWEY196HDAO4cYJqAcxoIVQGGImeb525heFnudvnSK1o5qA9oSfA-obc1lcZevxiG3kUm-iRmse5GTuAB1UxPZrOgTkWBKiKD3hrxW9HIXNzcvnXjV2WRNz3zcyS8NY/s1600/JokerPoster1200_5ca3c435318d42.29270548.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="809" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWfX2yD4OuklBcWEY196HDAO4cYJqAcxoIVQGGImeb525heFnudvnSK1o5qA9oSfA-obc1lcZevxiG3kUm-iRmse5GTuAB1UxPZrOgTkWBKiKD3hrxW9HIXNzcvnXjV2WRNz3zcyS8NY/s640/JokerPoster1200_5ca3c435318d42.29270548.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is no punchline. </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;">I can't recall another film that's received a lot of heat before it came out due to the main character being a very popular villain in pop culture like the <b>Joker</b>. I have no doubts that once the audiences see it over the weekend it'll get everyone talking about it especially those like me who were reserving their judgement until the film came out. Media outlets have already given out warnings that the film is dangerous and might influence certain groups of people to start mass shootings. To be frank, the talk around the film since before it came out made me feel like I've already seen it because of all the controversy surrounding it. People's fears are justifiable but one can't help but feel that this applies more to American audiences because of their history in mass shootings. <b>Joker </b>stars <b>Joaquin Phoenix</b>, <b>Robert De Niro</b>,<b> Zazie Beetz</b>, <b>Frances Conroy</b>, <b>Brett Cullen</b>, <b>Douglas Hodges</b> and <b>Dante Periera-Olson </b>and directed by <b>Todd Phillips</b>. A failed stand-up comedian <b>Arthur Fleck</b> (Joaquin Phoenix) walks the streets of Gotham City looking for connection, bullied and rejected Fleck slowly descends into madness and murder which ushers in his ascension as Gotham's <b>Clown Prince of Crime</b><b>.</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7Sa-QNmmLebcllhz7WumdhEEc5iS93sP1m4Js2HKOjojvvrF1hYBKU_hK8YXbN2Bn7kamRKWpjSYdWsdK9DWiFvVGo6Iihis1lUDJxABxjianpppvC62BZa6rVGt-uzgWxfWXwYO0k0/s1600/joker-trailer-image-2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7Sa-QNmmLebcllhz7WumdhEEc5iS93sP1m4Js2HKOjojvvrF1hYBKU_hK8YXbN2Bn7kamRKWpjSYdWsdK9DWiFvVGo6Iihis1lUDJxABxjianpppvC62BZa6rVGt-uzgWxfWXwYO0k0/s640/joker-trailer-image-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gotham City in 1981</span></td></tr>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">1981<span style="font-weight: bold;">. <span style="font-weight: normal;">Gotham City</span></span>; dirty, messy and just generally awful to live in particularly for those less fortunate with super rats infesting the city as<b> Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen)</b> announces he's running for mayor to solve the city's problems. Arthur Fleck is one of the unfortunate residents of Gotham who works as a party clown, he suffers from a condition that involuntarily makes him laugh, and outside of work he takes care of his ailing mother<b> Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy)</b> who previously worked for the Wayne family thirty years ago. Arthur finds solace in<b> Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro)</b>, a comedian and host of Live! with Murray Franklin and sees Franklin as a hero of his while he's just trying to get through the day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1zntEkZfvbSqQNwJKmhdUHGJT91yWcOK9gfYk-t34nTqSIqwTqX0GcS68C2aJbrM4jnjRDWxDqZTe00oXz_ePHJmpmT-WAL0eJW9sHrqARgA2tUQKm1KhivNVXFKLxWziXjWnez7pak/s1600/MV5BMDc5ZDRlMGYtZjJmYS00YjIyLWIzZTAtZTBkNjE0NzE3NDA4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ%2540%2540._V1_SY1000_SX1500_AL_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="1500" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1zntEkZfvbSqQNwJKmhdUHGJT91yWcOK9gfYk-t34nTqSIqwTqX0GcS68C2aJbrM4jnjRDWxDqZTe00oXz_ePHJmpmT-WAL0eJW9sHrqARgA2tUQKm1KhivNVXFKLxWziXjWnez7pak/s640/MV5BMDc5ZDRlMGYtZjJmYS00YjIyLWIzZTAtZTBkNjE0NzE3NDA4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxNjUyNQ%2540%2540._V1_SY1000_SX1500_AL_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I thought the movie had it's strong moments but nearly all of them come off particularly wrong that by the second act of the film you already come to dislike Arthur. The script by <b>Todd Phillips</b> and <b>Scott Silver</b> tries hard to tell us something about how society treats people with mental illness and each other but all it does is point fingers on those who are to blame and all of them are nearly blamed (for the most part) on women in the form of his mother <b>Penny Fleck</b>, and his apartment neighbor <b>Sophie</b> (Zazie Beetz) who's a single mother and even the social worker assigned by the city's social services. The direction by Phillips is decent albeit trying to go for the early-Scorsese directed films in atmosphere, but you wonder if he should've left the script entirely to Silver or anyone else because it honestly made me cringe in certain parts especially when the Joker goes on a rant in the climax. It's a film that doesn't know what it wants to be but I'll give the credit to Phillips who I feel wrote most of the dark humor in the film.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EX68ToDlH5qisn6wn6rOIn3B3s_ctNwER9CXcRQIrEj5oqMdwjZHW_ocSFBU1UrVUuO22fB3Sy2IIkm9mqkAt78OYynvnbd6oLPQwbotbxSutZyVafuhkGwrqCg1p8KLgLdYabvTP3U/s1600/MV5BNWIwMjFlMTUtZDZkMy00ZDM3LWFmMWQtZDUzNzZjMDNmMTU3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjM3NTY0MzU%2540._V1_SY1000_SX1500_AL_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="1500" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EX68ToDlH5qisn6wn6rOIn3B3s_ctNwER9CXcRQIrEj5oqMdwjZHW_ocSFBU1UrVUuO22fB3Sy2IIkm9mqkAt78OYynvnbd6oLPQwbotbxSutZyVafuhkGwrqCg1p8KLgLdYabvTP3U/s640/MV5BNWIwMjFlMTUtZDZkMy00ZDM3LWFmMWQtZDUzNzZjMDNmMTU3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjM3NTY0MzU%2540._V1_SY1000_SX1500_AL_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arthur in his party clown costume.</span></td></tr>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">The film does feature a great performance by <b>Joaquin Phoenix</b> who for the first time in years wasn't mumbling his lines but speaks them all with clarity and seems to have developed an impulse to do yoga in unexpected places for the film and a cackle. The supporting cast led by <b>Robert De Niro </b>are frankly wasted, they are only there to serve the story as the reason as to why Fleck embraces his Joker persona. Phoenix is no doubt in the current lead for Best Actor during next year's Oscar race along with the haunting original score by the Icelandic composer <b>Hildur </b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><b>Guðnadóttir </b>who recently won this year's Emmy for Best Original Score in a Limited Series for her work in <b>HBO's Chernobyl</b>. Once Fleck turns to a life of crime and sheds his skin becoming the Clown Prince there's absolutely no sign left of him anywhere, only the Joker while accompanied by </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">Guðnadóttir's score the scene becomes even more disturbing and unsettling. The cinematography by <b>Lawrence Sher </b>is gloomy, but it doesn't nearly feel or look as overly color-graded as most of the DC films (the movie isn't part of the DCEU by the way) but it's well-lit and goes well with the costumes by <b>Mark Bridges </b>that feel like they were inspired heavily by the comic books. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">The production values outside the ones I mentioned are all well-done since the atmosphere felt absolutely believable but the final product reminds me of how <b>David Benioff</b> and <b>D.B. Weiss</b> handled <b>Game of Thrones</b> when the show started going downhill. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqGS5-9q_B8isxrEnO9iq9LIyj5QUQ_HEGiGeye0Twv4qk1du6nDfu0IRvkB3zTiUe2HjHiqc70KF9yUBAPAKaqFgs6IEgmusKIb0nAXjZogP6tGUV36mh9-aQlFhyphenhyphenu1gDb-bYNWcAJg/s1600/5ca4af9c92c88623f017cb33-1536-768.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1536" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqGS5-9q_B8isxrEnO9iq9LIyj5QUQ_HEGiGeye0Twv4qk1du6nDfu0IRvkB3zTiUe2HjHiqc70KF9yUBAPAKaqFgs6IEgmusKIb0nAXjZogP6tGUV36mh9-aQlFhyphenhyphenu1gDb-bYNWcAJg/s640/5ca4af9c92c88623f017cb33-1536-768.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's only the Joker now.</span></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-90253190828339712422019-10-02T21:54:00.001+08:002019-10-03T19:59:53.590+08:00Top 5 Anticipated Films Coming Out in Late-2019<div style="text-align: justify;">
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We're finally in the second half of 2019 and as disappointed as I am at the films that came out this year at least we have a few anticipated films coming out soon. So far in the first half of 2019 we've been subjected to highlights of the year such as <b>Avengers: Endgame</b> but later this year is where the ball really gets rolling as well as the variety of films that's about to come out soon. I've been looking forward to some of these anticipated films for a very long time, and also some have gone under the radar but became part of my list.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>So without anything else to add here's my top 5 anticipated films in late 2019:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Irishman</span></b><br />
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<b>Martin Scorsese's</b> most anticipated film in his career stars previous collaborators <b>Robert DeNiro</b>, <b>Joe Pesci</b> and <b>Harvey Keitel</b>, with <b>Al Pacino</b> in his first collaboration with Scorsese. The film is based on the story of real life mob hitman <b>Frank Sheeran</b> and his possible involvement in the murder of the American union labor leader<b> Jimmy Hoffa</b>. As an admirer of Scorsese's work I think this is possibly his most technically challenging film since he has chosen to use CGI on the older actors to de-age them rather than use younger actors who resemble them. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1917 (25 December)</span></b><br />
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<b>Sam Mendes'</b> new war film was very much under my radar aside from knowing of Roger Deakins' involvement behind the camera until a teaser trailer finally dropped in August. Set during World War I, <b>1917 </b>tells the story of <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">two young British soldiers who are given an impossible mission: deliver a message, deep in enemy territory, that will stop their own men, and Blake's own brother, from walking straight into a deadly trap. I'm aware that some people weren't impressed with Dunkirk but if it's existence says anything it's that we need more films set during the first world war.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A stacked cast? Check. A murder-mystery? Check. <b>Michael Shannon</b>? Check. Shannon is among my favorite actors despite looking like he'll get overshadowed by everyone else judging by the trailer but he makes great choices so I'm not going to complain. It tells the story of a family get-together celebrating their patriarch's 80th birthday that turns for the worse when the celebrant (played by <b>Christopher Plummer</b>) is murdered and the family members each become a suspect. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b>Ford v Ferrari (15 November)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">This is probably one of the few movies about cars that I will actually watch because I just can't stand the rest as entertaining as they look, other than that I also had no idea that there was a rivalry between the two companies so that part of the story is what I'll watch it for. The cast is full of competent actors like <b>Christian Bale</b> who 'll make this movie worth everyone's time though it looks to be one of the films made for awards season. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b>Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (</b></span></span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>20 December)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b>The Rise of Skywalker</b> takes place a year after the events of <b>The Last Jedi</b> with the continuing conflict between the Resistance and the First Order while the ancient conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches to a climax. I didn't enjoy The Last Jedi as much as I wanted to but I'm a sucker for Star Wars so I'll wait for first reactions from fans of the franchise. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b>Note:</b> I'm only mentioning films that will likely be in cinemas in my country.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-20936592553924607672019-09-30T09:43:00.002+08:002021-09-08T17:23:49.607+08:00Midnight Special: Sunset Boulevard<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">'I am BIG; it's the pictures that got small.'</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Sunset Boulevard </b>marks my first venture into <b>Billy Wilder's</b><b> </b>work since I've heard from many film fans of his reputation. The film also written by Wilder had players like<b> Gloria Swanson</b><b>, William Holden </b>and <b>Erich von Stroheim. </b>It tells the story<b> </b>of an aging film star of the silent era; <b>Norma Desmond</b> (Gloria Swanson) who forms an uneasy relationship with a desperate screenwriter <b>Joe Gillis </b>(William Holden), Desmond is looking to make a comeback in the film industry and asks Gillis to re-write the script of her comeback feature. Gillis, desperate for money and a break reluctantly accepts and soon becomes Desmond's confidant and kept man but when he starts seeing one of Paramount's readers she becomes jealous and paranoid. <b>Erich von Stroheim</b> plays Desmond's former husband <b>Max von Mayerling</b> who returned to her to become her butler who still sends her fan letters to make her believe she still has fans. This was very well-made for a film of it's time, and I put it up there with <b>In A Lonely Place</b> as one of those films where the studio took a chance on making a film that doesn't sugar coat the flaws of its characters or their actions. This is easily one of older Hollywood films that have made it's way to my top 100 films of all time.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">William Holden as Joe Gillis</span></td></tr>
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This is one of those rare films back then that had something to say about certain issues and my interpretation of what <b>Billy Wilder</b> was going for with this might not even be what he wanted to say with Sunset Boulevard. In the 21st century, things have come to light the film business and it isn't as glamorous as it looks in the magazines and it the newspapers seeing as how many sexual allegations have been made towards many of the people working within the studio as well as the rampant paedophilia that's come to light in recent years but in this 1950 film all that was covered up and no film star dared to speak out against what was happening behind the scenes. <b>Norma Desmond</b> feels to me like one of those stars who were mistreated, used and abused in her early career as a silent film star and taken advantage of by many of those around her, and as she aged and was no longer the beautiful star she once was she was taken out of the film business with plenty of time to develop the insanity while having enablers surrounding her in the form of<b> Max von Mayerling</b> and spending most of her days in her big mansion. <b>Joe Gillis</b> is a hack writer who waltzes into her life, and down on his luck, he thinks of her just like everyone else, a former film queen no one has heard of in years when she shelters him from car company employees looking to confiscate his car due to late payments she offers him to look into film scripts for her return to cinema. The film follows Gillis and Desmond's uneasy relationship, they visit the film mogul <b>Cecil B. DeMille</b> at one point and made her think that the studio was calling her because they were green lighting her movie but embarrassingly enough it was because they wanted to rent her car for one of the films. Gillis might be a hack but I'm sure he could have gotten out the mansion if he really wanted to, but when Desmond surprises him with lavish and expensive gifts he is tempted to stay just as he says 'the pool I always wanted'. In the final few minutes of the film, when Gillis finally packs up and confronts Desmond, he tells her that DeMille and everyone else was just sparing her the disappointment. The descent down the staircase is probably one of cinemas most iconic scenes, Desmond slowly walks down the stairs while photographers are frozen on the steps of the staircase as she passes them by as if they were just part of the set. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond</span></td></tr>
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The film received <b>11 Academy Award nominations</b> including <b>Best Picture</b>, <b>Best Director</b>, <b>Best Actress </b>and <b>Best Supporting Actor</b> and won for <b>Best Screenplay</b>, <b>Best Art Direction</b> and <b>Best Music</b>. <b>William Holden</b> at this time was a rising star and accepted the role of Joe Gillis after <b>Montgomery Cliff</b> pulled out of the film. I thought Holden's performance was great, he gives Gillis a perspective as an insider in the film business, there's traces here of what his older self would come to achieve though it's not fully fleshed out yet. Holden later went on to work with Wilder again in <b>Sabrina </b>with <b>Humphrey Bogart </b>and <b>Audrey Hepburn</b> as the titular character. Best known as a silent film director <b>Erich von Stroheim</b> takes on the role of Max von Mayerling, the ever loyal-servant, later we find out that he's one of her ex-husbands and a famous silent film director, in the film he is the only person who still loves Desmond but he is also possessive and protective of her that he can't let her see that the world has moved on without her. Stroheim's acting comes across as cold in the only other picture I saw him in which was Jean Renoir's <b>La Grande Illusion</b>, but I thought he was very capable here, especially when he's in one on one scenes with Holden as well as the final scene down the staircase. The film features Swanson's contemporaries in the silent film era; <b>Buster Keaton</b>, <b>Anna Q. Nilsson</b> and<b> H.B. Warner</b> when Gillis talks of 'the waxworks'. Last but not the least; <b>Gloria Swanson</b> who is the real star of the film, some may say that Swanson was playing a version of herself, since she too was once a very famous silent film queen and had just as many fan letters as Norma Desmond had received in her hey day, she was also known to have lived an extravagant lifestyle but the similarities end there. Swanson was not Wilder's first pick to play Desmond, he'd looked into <b>Mae West </b>but thought that she might think it beneath her to play such a role, and Swanson name was thrown around and was hired despite her being reluctant about doing a screen test, thankfully she did and gave us a performance for the ages to celebrate. Swanson makes Desmond over the top which is understandable since she's playing a mentally questionable person who acts as though she's still in silent films and it's both humorous and unhinged yet her performance also makes us sympathise with her. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.'</span></td></tr>
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The screenplay by <b>Charles Brackett</b> and <b>Billy Wilder</b> is filled with now famous lines in cinema, it's also snappy and makes the film no less iconic and historical. The cinematography by <b>John F. Seitz</b> is beautifully told in black and white film, and you can't help but feel as thought he gives it a modern appeal to first time viewers like me and of course there's the music by <b>Franz Waxman</b>, who's work here reminds me of <b>Bernard Hermann</b> but sets just the right notes without invading the story and visuals altogether. Overall, this is probably one of the most perfect films I've seen this year and it's a film from 1950, and my first venture into Billy Wilder's filmography. I think my next Midnight Special post will definitely be another serving from Wilder.</div>
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<b>5 stars.</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-81450953272179689462019-09-29T20:36:00.005+08:002021-09-19T09:03:27.427+08:00Review: Parasite<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCuOO_kxq6NTziyaGv395wFLZk5z3kLlP_2U8l_J6nhyphenhyphenMxyRXO8O1pleyNYqtnaDherSYO2YhnejoIqwudDufvwTXw28-LcnjKrw_R8tsGhPt4cLJ4P4I3ZLTtcInEJC3GOn4f5Hbtz0/s1600/MV5BOWVmODY4MjYtZGViYS00MzJjLWI3NmItMGFmMDRkMzI1OTU3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTQ0NTUxOTA%2540._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1201" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCuOO_kxq6NTziyaGv395wFLZk5z3kLlP_2U8l_J6nhyphenhyphenMxyRXO8O1pleyNYqtnaDherSYO2YhnejoIqwudDufvwTXw28-LcnjKrw_R8tsGhPt4cLJ4P4I3ZLTtcInEJC3GOn4f5Hbtz0/s640/MV5BOWVmODY4MjYtZGViYS00MzJjLWI3NmItMGFmMDRkMzI1OTU3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTQ0NTUxOTA%2540._V1_.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A comedy of errors you say?</span></td></tr>
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It's been a long time since we've had a film as well crafted, engaging, darkly hilarious and meticulous as <b>Parasite </b>directed by <b>Bong Joon-ho </b>and even won the <b>Palme d'Or</b> at this year's <b>Cannes Film Festival.</b> The film tells the story of the<b> Kim family</b> who's misfortunes take a sudden turn for the better when a friend of family's son <b>Min </b>(Park Seo-joon) pays the family an unannounced visit and gifts them a large rock that is said to grant material wealth to families before breaking the news to his friend <b>Ki-woo</b> (Choi Woo-shik) that he will be studying abroad and suggest that Ki-woo take over his job as an English tutor to the daughter of the wealthy <b>Park family</b>. Ki-woo reluctantly accepts despite not having studied at university, he forges his academic records before arriving at the Park residence for the interview. When <b>Mrs. Park </b>(Cho Yeo-jung) says she doesn't need any documents since Ki-woo was already recommended by Min in the first place she asks to observe he's teaching style while she observes. On his way out of the house and approved as her daughter <b>Da-hye's</b> (Jung Ji-so) new tutor she shows Ki-woo a painting by her young son <b>Da-song </b>(Jung Hyun-joon), it turns out that Mrs. Park is also in search of an art tutor for Da-song and Ki-woo tells her that he knows of an art tutor '<b>Jessica</b>' who was a classmate of his cousin and can get children into good art schools. The next day, 'Jessica' arrives in the form of <b>Ki-jung</b> (Park So-dam), Ki-woo's sister. Soon, the Kims hatch a plan to get the other members of the household staff fired and replacing them with their parents.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Min arrives with his gift for the Kim family.</span></td></tr>
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Parasite is what describes the Kim family best, in the first few minutes of the film we see the father <b>Ki-taek</b> (Song Kang-ho) flick a bug off the dinner table while the rest of the family struggles to find a Wi-Fi signal. Later, we witness Ki-woo plant a metaphorical 'parasite' into the Park family through Mrs. Park who was earlier described by Min as simple but who we find out to also be naive, she serves as the host to the Kims who act like parasites for most of the film. Even the Parks, starting with Da-song smells the stench of the family in what's described in the film as the 'basement smell'. Basement smell. The rain that washes out the parasites also happens, destroys their belongings and pushes us towards the film's crescendo. The film is a layered look into social themes of financial status because this could easily become a film where the viewers would constantly get pummelled in the head with its themes and fortunately the final product is better because of it all thanks to Bong Joon-ho's direction and script.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Family photos of the Parks when Ki-woo first arrives for the interview.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">I thought that the film's 2 hour and 14 minutes run time went by quickly, nor did it feel rushed. The script is also very tight and never gets boring while the cinematography is bright, particularly when in the Parks household. The performances by the actors playing the Kim family are honest, heartfelt even though you don't approve of what the Kims are doing you feel happy for them when they share a moment in the mansion while the Parks are away camping and most importantly they had chemistry with the people they were sharing their scenes with but among the main cast members the real star of the film is <b>Song Kang-ho</b> who plays the patriarch of the Kims. I thought out of the actors the scene stealers were the supporting actors in <b>Lee Jung-yeun</b> who plays the Parks former housemaid and <b>Park Myung-heun </b>who plays her lover <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Geun-sae</b> in what is probably one of the best segments in dark comedy during the second half of the film.</span></span></div></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Kim family enjoying a rainy night in the Park residence.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The ending was satisfying, hopeful towards the misfortunes in the life of the Kims despite it all but it's also a look at family relationships with the father and the son, in both the Park and Kim families. We see that both men love their sons, but while Da-song is sheltered and the monotonous life of the wealthy which can be filled by buying expensive toys or gadgets Ki-woo's is the opposite, he is given the time to reflect with his father who speaks to him and even shows him a vulnerability he has not seen before. Overall, Parasite is a film to watch out for during next year's Oscars and is highly recommended for anyone who wants their comedy dark, while also effectively being a thriller and a drama. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4 1/2 stars.</b></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-65607306442702124832019-09-28T23:22:00.002+08:002021-09-19T09:03:51.772+08:00Review: Midsommar<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-k4EKjgzMB9F2QBjI_wXCfOd60A74QBD7veUOYdEYVh1-B5gt9WSpGusxTk01TTql9FHUz-HK2h2jzwhmFJyugrbAutq7RaAwUSMABFw6l3-U2-1X1K6VQ6ypTl5PtSGMulYxzzyPXwA/s1600/MV5BMzQxNzQzOTQwM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDQ2NTcwODM%2540._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-k4EKjgzMB9F2QBjI_wXCfOd60A74QBD7veUOYdEYVh1-B5gt9WSpGusxTk01TTql9FHUz-HK2h2jzwhmFJyugrbAutq7RaAwUSMABFw6l3-U2-1X1K6VQ6ypTl5PtSGMulYxzzyPXwA/s640/MV5BMzQxNzQzOTQwM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDQ2NTcwODM%2540._V1_.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dani! May Queen!</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Midsommar </b>is the latest film by director <b>Ari Aster</b> who gained everyone's attention in 2017's <b>Hereditary </b>and produced once again by<b> A24</b>. The film tells the story of a young American couple who are on the brink of a break-up but remains together when <b>Dani </b>(Florence Pugh) suffers the loss of her parents and her sister's suicide. <b>Christian </b>(Jack Reynor), Dani's boyfriend and anthropology student decides to go on a trip to <b>Sweden </b>with his friends <b>Pelle </b>(Vilhelm Blomgren), <b>Josh </b>(William Jackson Harper) and <b>Mark </b>(Will Poulter) where Pelle's small commune is about to hold their once-in-a-lifetime fabled mid-summer festival. The idyllic summer getaway takes a turn for the worse when the festival increasingly becomes violent and disturbing. Whenever we speak of horror we immediately think of supernatural forces attacking us from the outside like Hereditary which Aster says is absolutely a horror but in the Midsommar trailers we are led to believe that the terror lies within the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Hårga</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> <b>cult </b>that lives in the rural Swedish village but once we view the film, the real horror is Dani and Christian's relationship. Dani often worries herself about what Christian thinks or that's she's leaning too much on him when he never really showed any vulnerability in their relationship, predictably it's Dani who apologizes to her boyfriend for the most part while Christian uses their relationship as an excuse as to why he doesn't have his anthropology thesis set in stone.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The beautiful mural in the beginning of the film.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">Before I start talking about the film's merits and some of my criticisms I just want to put it out there that I've seen the film twice before writing this review, initially I've already written a review after viewing it the first time around but felt like I needed to watch it twice to fully take in the film and give it my full attention. On my second watch I really have to say that the film is very well crafted and there are little things sprinkled throughout the film that foreshadows what's to come later on and it's already there at the start of the film and only makes the final product a treasure trove for film fans who love finding these treasure nuggets or should I say runes?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An example of the references in the film on both paintings the 90 year cycle until the next<br />Midsommar festival and Dani's drug-induced run through the woods later on in the film.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">When people compare this to Hereditary the similarities are very minimal, the only things they have in common are the cults though both films touch on the grief, trauma and the loss of family members. Hereditary to me felt like a horror in the traditional sense while Midsommar is more rooted in the reality of a toxic relationship. Dani joins Christian and his friends who are either irritated or indifferent towards Dani and her presence during their much anticipated trip to Sweden. <b>Mark </b>is the obnoxious American tourist of the group, he also makes for a perfect fool as for the most part illicit nothing but disgust and irritation for both the audience and the members of the commune, <b>Josh </b>is the academically inclined scholar of the group who is committed to writing his thesis on the <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Hårga. <b>Pelle</b>, who invited them to his rural village is the only one who cares for her, and comforts her, he makes a valid point when he confronts Dani on her relationship with Christian. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jack Reynor as Christian and Florence Pugh as Dani</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">To me, one of the themes in the film that isn't mentioned often is commitment. Christian and Mark are committed to themselves, Josh to his academics and Pelle to his commune while Dani aimlessly wanders, still haunted by the deaths of her family and this makes her a marked woman for the cult to lure in, and it's already there once the group arrives for the festivities as they are greeted by one of the elders who greets her 'welcome home'. The relationship between Dani and Christian takes a toll on the former, once they arrive in the commune where Christian becomes a target for Maja, one of the women living in the commune it all goes downhill from there despite the illusion of their relationship still being in tact as presented to the people outside of it. In the end Christian gets his comeuppance while Dani, who for the first time in a long time is happy but it's such a short-lived moment until we finally digest the ending of the film that we the viewers realize that while she's finally free of her hapless boyfriend, she's now also trapped under the thrall of the commune.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The group takes mushrooms before their final stop to the commune.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Ari Aster</b> really is a brilliant filmmaker who I hope will have many opportunities to show us more of his imagination and this is even more ambitious than his directorial debut in Hereditary. The film runs for 2 hours and 24 minutes but it never feels boring or drags in certain places. The production values are also very well done especially since the film has quite a modest budget of<b> $8-$10 million</b> for such an ambitious film that's rooted in world building. The cinematography by <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pawel Pogorzelski </b>is lush, and hallucinatory under Aster's direction while the original score by <b>Bobby Krlic</b> can be haunting, fairytale-like and feels very much influenced by the likes of Wagner, his involvement gives balance to the films lush visuals when needed but both Pogorzelski and Krlic never overpower each other's contributions. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The May Queen dance competition</span></td></tr>
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<div><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Overall, Midsommar features a strong cast led by </span><b style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Florence Pugh</b><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> as Dani, she's a performer who's work I'm previously unaware of but if her performance here says anything it's that she has a maturity that she brings in her roles even her wailing is unsettling. </span><b style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Jack Reynor </b><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">who plays Christian is one of those brave young actors who go full-frontal for a role, his looks might scream the love-child of Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth but he's a fine young actor, he and Pugh make their characters feel real in the chemistry they shared here. I praise this film because I enjoyed it, but I feel like Christian's character didn't deserve his fate as much as Dani thought he did, perhaps there's something in the </span><b style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">3-hour Director's Cut</b><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> of the film that gives us that push towards the choice in how the film ends. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-26423203408840616692019-09-25T20:51:00.007+08:002021-09-19T10:38:40.105+08:00Western Wednesday: Sweetwater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Originally titled 'Sheriff Jackson'.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-weight: bold;">Sweetwater </b>may feel like a senseless, pointless movie for many film fans but it's a refreshing western due to the main characters and the actors playing them. The film starring<b style="font-weight: bold;"> January Jones</b><b style="font-weight: bold;">, Ed Harris</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"> and Jason Isaacs</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"> </b>was directed by<b style="font-weight: bold;"> Logan Miller</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"> and Noah Miller</b><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (who went uncredited). <span style="font-weight: normal;">Sweetwater </span></span>tells the story of three different characters in Sarah a former prostitute who<b style="font-weight: bold;"> </b>is now married to <b>Miguel (Eduardo Noriega) </b><b style="font-weight: bold;">a</b>nd runs a farm with him while trying to live a normal life, there's <b>Cornelius Jackson</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"> </b>a lawman in search of two men, brothers who went missing, and then there's<b style="font-weight: bold;"> Prophet Josiah </b>the sadistic leader or a religious sect. The three later collide in a blood triangle in the rugged plains of New Mexico. The film was based on a story by <b>Andrew McKenzie</b> and was sent to the Millers via their<b style="font-weight: bold;"> Touching Home</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"> </b>DVD distributor and were later hired to re-write the script. Sweetwater, originally titled Sheriff Jackson has the makings of a cult classic and even though the film might be dodgy at times for some viewers due to its tone, it's nonetheless entertaining and worth watching for anyone who's a fan of westerns that are under the radar. That being said it's not a perfect film by any means, but the Miller twins are capable filmmakers in their own right and also appear uncredited as the two missing brothers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">January Jones as Sarah</span></td></tr>
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<b><br /><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sarah </b>is a character who had been through some hard times in her life, a former prostitute and now trying to live an honest life with her husband <b>Miguel (Eduardo Noriega) </b>makes you root for her throughout the movie and <b>January Jones</b> does a fine job in showing that part of her character, when she makes the 180 from a sweet farm woman to a vengeful fallen angel it's believable though I think it would've been better if she was more fire than steel in the role. <b>Jason Isaacs</b> is entertaining as the sadistic religious leader and looks to be enjoying the part, he goes over the top but in a good way and this is probably his most detestable role since <b>The Patriot</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jason Isaacs as Prophet Josiah</span></td></tr>
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<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think <b>Ed Harris</b> stole the show here, and I'm not just saying this since he's my favorite actor but because of how unique <b>Sheriff Jackson</b> is as a character, you could tell that he would've fit into a Tarantino film effortlessly and his eccentric nature gives Harris many opportunities to do whatever he wants with the character and he makes Jackson charming, hilarious, and wild that you nearly forget that this guy has his own violent tendencies as well.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ed Harris as Sheriff Cornelius Jackson</span></td></tr>
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One of the best things aside from the main cast were the secondary characters like <b>Kingfisher </b>played by <b>Luce Rains</b> who is pretty much the most useless sheriff of any town and later gets his ass kicked by Jackson and rides off to work for Prophet Josiah, and the presence of <b>Kathy Lamkin</b> rounds out the entire cast as <b>Bertha Jean</b> the grandmother who serves as a witness to a murder later on in the film and shares the screen with Harris. There are a few more actors who lend their talent here but these two stood out to me at least and coincidentally both actors appeared in the<b> Coen Brothers</b> film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's <b>No Country for Old Men</b>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Luce Rains as Kingfisher</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kathy Lamkin as Bertha Jean in a scene with Ed Harris</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The scenery is beautiful and perfect for a western like this and you could tell that shooting outdoors was a big deal for the production crew since it looks like they shot exteriors as much as they can, nearly most of the interactions take place outdoors, and even the scenes set it the town didn't have too many extras hanging around in the background but it worked out in the end. Overall, I enjoyed the film despite some of it's flaws and I'm sure it's going to have its own cult following in the western genre but I wouldn't be against the idea of a television series with Sheriff Jackson if the Miller twins ever think of revisiting the character. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-50795756044163354952019-09-25T20:48:00.004+08:002021-09-19T09:04:06.687+08:00Review: Ad Astra<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm pretty sure 20th Century Fox could come up with a better poster.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Ad Astra</b> is the latest space drama to hit the big screens this year. Directed by <b>James Gray</b> starring <b>Brad Pitt</b>, <b>Tommy Lee Jones</b>, <b>Donald Sutherland</b> and<b> Liv Tyler </b>while also produced by Brad Pitt and his own production company<b> Plan B</b>. In the near future, a<span style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> devastating power surge strikes the Solar System, threatening all human life. After surviving an incident caused by what the public now calls '<b>The Surge</b>'</span><b style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> Maj. Roy McBride</b><span style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> (Brad Pitt) is informed of the situation and that the source that caused the surges have been traced back to the <b>Lima Project base</b>. Roy is the son of famed pioneering astronaut </span><b style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;">Dr. H. Clifford McBride</b><span style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> (Tommy Lee Jones), head of the </span><b style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;">Lima Project</b><span style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> who was tasked twenty-six years prior with finding intelligent life form in the outer reaches of space and who's disappeared along with the members of the Lima Project sixteen years into the mission. Roy is told that his father may still be alive and is tasked with a mission to travel to Mars and to try and establish communication with him. Unsure of what to do when he finally faces his father, Roy accepts the mission and is briefly accompanied by his father’s old </span><span style="color: #454545;">colleague<b> Col. Pruitt</b></span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: inherit;"> (Donald Sutherland).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brad Pitt as Maj. Roy McBride is tasked with the mission to try and establish communication with his father who's been missing for sixteen years into the Lima Project. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The film features narration by Roy, stoic and monotone and speaks of the kind of relationship he had with his father and how it shaped the man he became, he is thankful to his father for instilling in him a sense of responsibility with which he dedicated his life to. There are many films about fathers and sons where masculinity and the form that it usually takes is explored and yet very few of them exceeds my expectations like <b>Ad Astra</b> did. I know many reviewers have called it meditative and it is which reminded me of <b>Arrival</b>, and <b>High Life</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. I was also half expecting for the film to show the main character as an unqualified, incompetent astronaut who got away with it because of his gender. Roy's character is an extremely qualified and competent man for the job who looks to be following the footsteps of his father, yet it was not his love of space travel that made him succeed in his career but his yearning for his father's presence and his approval. This film is very bold in the themes that it has chosen to explore thanks to James Gray and Brad Pitt and it was refreshing the way it never came off as forced and the ending isn't abrupt or rushed. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tommy Lee Jones as Dr. H. Clifford McBride</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Performance-wise this is probably Brad Pitt's best work as of late, even better here than in <b>The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford</b> which up until this film was what I thought was his best performance. He gives Roy the strengths of a man yet the emotional maturity of a boy when he speaks of the rage that brews in him when asked during a psychological evaluation as well as the quieter moments in the film. I wouldn't be surprised if this at least lands him an Academy Award nomination next year. The rest of the cast is solid but wasted aside from maybe <b>Tommy Lee Jones</b>, who does look like he could be Brad Pitt's dad and does his best with what he's given. I'm surprised that <b>Donald Sutherland</b> and<b> Liv Tyler</b> both of whom are getting more work than Jones these days were given less screen time, the former in particular seem to have been only cast in the role of Col. Pruitt due to his previous collaboration with Jones in Clint Eastwood's <b>Space Cowboys </b>and the latter's involvement in Michael Bay's <b>Armageddon</b>. <b>Natasha Lyonne</b> from <b>Russian Doll</b> fame was a pleasant surprise yet also wasted in a two-minute cameo as is <b>Ruth Negga</b>. The visuals are great thanks to cinematographer <b>Hoyte Van Hoytema</b> who previously worked with <b>Christopher Nolan </b>in <b>Interstellar </b>and <b>Dunkirk</b>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The MYes ad Max moon chase scene.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Overall, I recommend this to anyone looking to watch something similar to <b>Arrival</b>, <b>High Life </b>and <b>Apocalypse Now</b> (which I have yet to see but many others have seen similarities with) and also for anyone who didn't like <b>Interstellar</b>. My two minor criticisms are that it looks to be re-shot which was probably why it came out later in the year than originally planned as well as how the film feels convenient in how the events pan out both of which the former probably plays a role for my latter criticism and I'd be very curious to know if there's going to be an extended cut so we can see what the filmmakers were actually going for. </span></span></div>
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<b>4 1/2 stars.</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402125038020827724.post-90989014733332808362019-09-18T00:00:00.001+08:002021-09-08T07:51:37.373+08:00Western Wednesday: Death Rides a Horse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Death Rides a Horse</b> was among the westerns I've been looking forward to watch for quite some time now, it was directed by <b>Giulio Petroni </b>and starred western icon <b>Lee Van Cleef</b> and <b>John Philip Law</b>. The film tells the story of a young man who's family got murdered by a gang of outlaws on a rainy night fifteen years ago. Now an adult, <b>Bill </b>(John Philip Law) seeks to take vengeance on the men who killed them and cross paths with an outlaw named <b>Ryan </b>(Lee Van Cleef) who's just gotten out of jail after fifteen years of incarceration.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">John Philip Law as Bill</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">One of the best things about this western isn't just the presence of Lee Van Cleef but also John Philip Law's performance as Bill, you first think that he's doing some of the most wooden acting on film but he expresses his emotions through his eyes like so many westerns do, complete with close ups of course and there's plenty of that with his character, I also thought it was a creative decision on his part since his character was suffering from the trauma of seeing his father killed and his mother and sister raped and killed. Van Cleef is believable as the hardened Ryan who is looking to settle some unfinished business while also holding a secret of his own which isn't revealed to us until later on in the film. There's an unspoken respect between both men and there's also a feeling that Ryan longs for something in life that couldn't be found in the path that he had chosen. Bill on the other hand has so many things to look forward to and still has a chance at a better life which is why Ryan tries to coerce him into giving up (taking away Bill's horse and leaving it ten miles away) and speaks to him for having too much hate in him and that sooner or later it's would land him into trouble.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lee Van Cleef as Ryan</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">This western can be a little dodgy in certain moments like the scenes when you could tell that some of the actors are speaking another language but were dubbed during the editing process, and some of the death scenes are over the top but as a viewer I let it slide because this was typical of older films and this looks to be more of an Italian production but with well-known film stars of the time. However, I did enjoy the ending which takes place during a sandstorm and the father and son-like relationship between Ryan and Bill.</div>
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