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thomas-schroers
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Waiting for the Barbarians (2019)
Themes in search of better engagement
"Waiting for the Barbarians" showcases some great cinematic aspects. The photography is stellar. The direction is clear and fitting. The acting is great. Even Depp manages to stray and subvert his on screen performance. He has gravitas. Rylance is the emotional center.
While these aspects are positive the movie ultimately can't live up to the themes it explores. One would like those themes to be explored in a better movie. A more engaging one.
Let me give an example. The mind game that is the though "How quickly could this (meaning society) escalate?" is a very engaging one. I have thought about this many times with regard to the pandemic and in general. How quickly can this way of living, governed by rules escalate into utter madness? Very engaging. However in the movie it is not engaging. The movie does not live up to the potential it is not able to catch the viewer emotionally. And in order to have a theoretical concept work in a movie it has to do so.
Same goes for the political explorations. Foreign affairs - hugely difficult and interesting topic. Foreign engagement - same. Explore that in a movie, you have to tie it to an emotional value through character.
"Waiting for the Barbarians" doesn't manage that. Nevertheless there are thoughts emanating from the movie, that make it worthy.
Chaos Walking (2021)
Sleepy Walking
When it finished the question was: So what exactly happened? What was going on? To be honest a day later I can't really remember, well I can recall, but not remember with any kind of emotion except boredom.
Watching Chaos Walking is a very uninvolved affair. It doesn't pull you in. The story itself is sparse, even for a 100 minute movie. Actually the story feels more suited for a 45 minute television episode. And one could imagine that. As the premise ain't bad it could be interesting to explore such a world over multiple episodes. And I mean episodic television, without a continouus story. This movie right here, cut down to 45 minutes would be a great episode in that imaginary show.
But that's all fantasy. It is a movie, it has a good premise, it has some impressive visuals, it has a great cast, but without a story to back that up, it is not really worth anyones time.
Primal (2019)
Okay, then
Well, it's all about completing Nick Cages films with this one. Not much story, not much soul and not much anything else. Besides Cage, Kevin Durand is a good baddie, quite psycho and well acted. But the main event is Cage, as so often. He is just awesome, believable, quite grounded and showing his range. I heard in an interview somewhere, that no matter the final result he wants to make sure to have two great scenes in there. An actor can make a movie. Without Cage this would be nothing. With Cage it is a watchable throwback to Action movies of the past.
Mozart in the Jungle: La Fiamma (2016)
Venice calling
With this first episode "Mozart in the Jungle" shifts its narrative over to Italy. For a series, that has always loved music as much as its own characters and story lines, it's a fantastic choice. I loved every minute of this first episode. In fact, "Mozart" is one of those series which you can just kind of walk into at any time. Now we're walking the streets of Venice with Rodrigo and Haley, as they are floating through this new musical scene. As always the direction is spot on, the dialogue sharp and funny and the story line a little twisted to the weird side. That's what I really appreciate about "Mozart". It's not funny in that laugh out loud way, at least not immediately. You kind of had to move into this world in the first season, but once you're in it you get the humour and can appreciate the situational comedy even more. This episode is a great start to kick of Season 3 and the addition of Monica Bellucci promises some magical moments, as the musical universe is expanded as well.
Blue Velvet (1986)
Jolly Fun!
I admit it. Maybe this will rather say something about myself, than the movie, but I thought "Blue Velvet" was very funny. There is some trivia here on IMDb, that says Lynch was laughing uncontrollably at the first scene between Rossellini and Hopper. I totally understand that. While I wasn't laughing uncontrollably, I was quite amused. And that feeling held on throughout the whole movie. In part this is a classic detective mystery story twisted through Lynch's unique sense for shaping reality. Indeed, what we see here can be recognized as reality, just with a little spin. Lynch's Spin. There is a lot of horror in "Blue Velvet". In fact, this movie has some serious undertones bubbling up and revealing themselves. It's a game of cover and reveal, illusion and disillusion. But although the main story line is tragic in many ways, "Blue Velevet" never becomes that. It's always kind of removed from the horror. Maybe it's because of the absurdity of some scenes. Definitely it's because of the script, the dialogue and the characters which represent classic roles with some lynchian oddity attached to them. What can I say? "Blue Velvet" is worth a visit. It's straightforward and not as twisted as later movies by Lynch and I believe the director would agree, that it is supposed to be positive, enjoyable movie. One can feel that he himself did certainly enjoy making it.
The X Files: D.P.O. (1995)
Lightning strikes
What can I say about this episode. It's a regular one. Nothing special about it. The thing is this. When the X-Files was on TV people didn't expect the kind of story lines, that we get nowadays. So I have to remind myself, that it is totally fine, that after four incredible myth episodes we now go back to the monster of the week. In all honesty though this time around the monster isn't really exciting. Actually, the most exciting thing was to see Jack Black and Giovanni Ribisi. I didn't expect that one and the two of them didn't disappoint. Ribisi brought a diverse array of emotions, while being terrifying as well. The episode also has this clear 90s vibe, which I liked. You look at both Black and Ribisi and have no choice, but to think: Yeah 90s. Both of these guys could walk around in those early Linklater movies. Mulder and Scully were in great form, too. I noticed something about Duchovny in this episode. Something was different. Maybe it was the hair or a little new movement of his lips. After four episodes of hectic behavior, Mulder was back to normal.
Barbarella (1968)
Oh Jane!
People who are into James Bond Films will appreciate the tag line "Oh Jane!". In this case it also describes what is most important with regard to Barbarella. Jane Fonda. But while Jane has aged magnificently over the years, one can't say the same about Barbarella. Sadly, this is one of those movies, which were exciting then and when you watch it you can still see why that was the case, but nowadays it just isn't that exciting anymore. The visuals are clearly identified as staged, the oversexualization of Fonda seems forced and the story itself is pretty dull. Of course, one can image how this movie played at the time of its initial release. The guys who were in love with Fonda. The stoners and a little bit of counter culture. It has this B-Movie vibe, that would definitely come to life in the right, drugged up circumstances. But that wasn't the case when I watched. it Sober and interested in movie history I wanted to cover this gap. Finishing the movie I was satisfied with doing that, mildly entertained and of course thinking: Oh Jane!
The X Files: Paper Clip (1995)
Back to the beginning
I'm watching the X-Files for the first time. The end of Season 2 and start of Season 3 really kicked the series into high gear. We kind of get some answers and this continues in this episode. At this point the last couple of episodes were X-Files at their best. A lot happens and Mulder, Scully and their boss are tested in ways, that we didn't see before. In fact, what we see in this episode is a should be a game changer for the series, as we now tend to not only believe, but know. Mulder always believed, but now he has actually seen stuff, that does not turn out to be false. At least it hasn't yet. The same holds for Scully. She has found evidence, found truth, which she didn't expect before. As I said, I never saw the X-Files when they were on. I don't know how important the character developments were for Carter & Co. But our leading characters have been through a lot during the last episode. And I'm excited to see, how this will effect them. Now and in the long run. I shall see.