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mikeschembri
Reviews
Le otto montagne (2022)
How men relate
This is an interesting film about relationships between men-father son, boyhood friends, adult males. It explores the way they relate, for better and worse, in a way not many films have-how they support each other, covey respect, emotion, and leave each other alone. It does so without judgement, in a non self-conscious way even as it explores these issues across class lines, which is no small feat.
That said, there are some gaps. Not all choices follow logically from the preceding events, without imagining or assuming more (romantic feelings?) that is not explored. Perhaps it attempts to cover too much, a lifetime of feelings in one movie.
But it is a beautiful film. And one of its main characters-the mountains-shines gorgeously throughout with some beautiful cinematography.
Knight of Cups (2015)
Beautiful visual meditation
This type of movie-a visual meditation-may not appeal to some, but for those it does, it's a well made one. Specifically, it's visually gorgeous and is accompanied by some great music. The cinematography is beautiful throughout, and includes an interesting and varied selection of shoot locations (archetectural and natural). In that way it's somewhat a love letter to LA. Even familiar sites (Vegas) show up from a new perspective.
I could quib with some minor points around the edges, but there are so few films like this. And this is one of the better ones.
I wish there were more. There's so much you could do with film. This is a great example.
I Am Michael (2015)
A gutsy film
This was a risky film to make-with potential to offend people on all sides. But its an important story to tell-how those at the intersection of religion and sexuality balance faith, self discovery and choosing a "path". It asks a lot of important questions: is the character really happy (at various points) and why does he make the choices he does, giving some hints along the way but no definitive (or simplistic) answers. And it's done in a way that's not heavy handed or gut wrenching-surprisingly easy and entertaining to watch. Kudos to Franco et al for taking it on.