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mishd16
Reviews
The Idol (2023)
The first thing I've watched this year that captures a human experience: hedonistic grief
I'm interested to see where this is going, but so far my impressions are that they are not afraid to tell a story and capture a human experience. I think that Sam Levinson really understands grief in teenagers and young adults. He manages to create the pain of losing such an important connection early on. His characters are not 'good people', they are escaping reality and causing mass destruction in their wake. When I watch them, I feel like I'm on a journey into the character's mind, escaping, then waking up and seeing what they've done, filled instantly with regret and no-one quite understanding why they got there. It's what a lot of people go through when confronted with the reality of loss but don't dare to do it because it's incredibly selfish, and just terrible behaviour. Seeing it on screen is like inner expression of your worst thoughts at your worst time- when everyone was watching you, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tragedy and then judging you for acting on your impulses. Levison takes those awful impulses and exaggerates them and it's really uncomfortable to watch, in fact, it's painful to watch. But it is real. And the first thing that I've watched this year that feels real. As far as the commentary on modern hollywood and the music industry, I think it's refreshing to see that they are not following the incredibly predictable mould that we are being saturated with. I also think it's great to see the contradictory messaging that the team are trying to spin about the lead character which are common narratives used today- there is no wonder that she acts like a terrible person, it's confusing to anyone, let alone someone who is desperately seeking connection and guidance. This is HBO, it is not child-friendly, it's pornographic, but that is part of the trainwreck, and the hedonism of the real modern world.
Arcane: League of Legends (2021)
Masterful!
Arcane masterfully builds a rich world with fully-fleshed out characters. The story is gripping, high-stake and highly emotive. Having a background in 3D animation, I really appreciate the rendering, lighting, texture and grading work that has made the aesthetic so unique. I think the interplay between 2D and 3D is successful. The action sequences are beautifully animated and there is clarity in the poses- there is a good balance between exaggeration and realism. The shots are interesting, creative. I especially like the way the creators depicted the dissociative and hallucinogenic shots of Powder/Jinx. It really feels like you are in her troubled mind. Overall this is an entertaining, beautiful work of art, one in the sea of ideological disappointments that plagues streaming services currently.
Euphoria (2019)
Beautiful and immersive
This show has a unique quality that allows you to realistically feel like you are in the mind of various characters. It explores drug addiction, transitioning, depression and personality disorders while still remaining entertaining and rooting for the characters. It's visually stunning with great choices in framing, lighting, make up and costumes. I particularly like the use of highly artistic shots dispersed throughout the series. The use of different formats also gives you insight into the mental condition of the characters- for instance, Rue going through a manic episode which is shot as a detective film. The stakes are high for each character, and there is so much humanity which allows you to connect with them. An authentic story for the 21st century.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)
Running out of justifiable self-criticism, Oliver sows division
This show started off so well: balanced and eye-opening coverage with excellent comedic value. Now it seems to have become a unidirectional, exhausting attack on the Anglo-western world. Every episode is simplified to suit this radicalized message, it is then analyzed with a racist lens (often substantiated with decades old material, ie presentism). Finally, Oliver, with outstanding arrogance, proceeds to present his quick-fix answer to the ´problem' at hand as the only way out of these complex topics. Whether the 'issue' lies in economics, town planning or war, Oliver has the answer: mobilize the masses to cancel, troll, harass and bully the scapegoat identified in the episode.
It looks like the topics of justified self criticism (or hatred) have run out and what's left is ignorant essentialism, adding more division in the world, under the guise of the opposite.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Painful
Forget being immersed in the rich world Tolkein spent his entire life realising. What an insult to his work. Even if you divorce yourself from the source material (which they keep inserting reminders so it's hard to so), the series is painful to watch. The story is incoherent, it bends reality to force the story along and the characters have unbelievable motivations. It really feels like you're sitting in the writers room, listening to them say 'this will happen then that then that...and it will happen like this because you know, patriarchy or something' It's entirely held together by mystery boxes and dressed up with red giant's magic bullet film looks. To the creators: If you are going take on such an important piece of intellectual property, you need to have researchers and specialists to make it believable. You need a costume and armour specialists to ensure the details belong in the same world, you need battle historians to render a fight sequences that are believable. Peter Jackson did that. If you are going to write a compelling story that is intricate, you need clear messaging to keep viewers engaged like leitmotifs, strong visual coherence, consistent timing and compelling character motivations. Peter Jackson did that. Finally if you are going to keep reminding us that we are watching something to do with Tolkien or Jackson's work, then show us that. Stop trying to subvert expectations like George RR martin and don't be so arrogant to think that you can write Tolkien better than Tolkien. If you want to adapt Tolkien, then you need to put in the work during your preproduction and stay as true to the source material as possible. You may be surprised to find themes that are very poignant to the contemporary viewer without having to force it so obviously. If you want to write a modernised work that challenges Tolkien, then remove the canon and the name and study George RR Martin (who also spent a lot of time studying history, costuming etc) to build his world. Or if you want to go full Euphoria set in medieval europe, (which sounds absolutely awesome btw) then make that.
Jock (2011)
Painful
As a masters student in animation, it pains me to watch this film. I loved the original storyline and the renditions told to me as a child but this is missing the essence of the story: the companionship between a man and animal, their adventures in the bush and how the underdog triumphs above all. The Jungle Book, done in 1967 achieves this far and beyond this movie. Story is king, the animation is bad but if the story was any good then they could have gotten away from it- an example of this being "Hoodwinkd".
The character design and models are poor and unappealing and there so many supporting, useless characters, such as the rooster. The animation is floaty and cringe-worthy, none of the 10 principles seem to be taken into account which places this movie technically behind Snow White, done in 1937. Fitzgerald is possibly the most unappealing animated character I have ever seen, worse than Gurgi in the Black Cauldron. The pitiful voice acting makes me sad, for something that is so 'proudly South African', they literally chose every other accent to be the voices of the characters (including a put-on French accent??).
The sad thing is that the emphasis of this production is completely wrong: hair, fabric and other simulations should be the last added extras, and redoing the whole film because Stereoscopic films were starting to become trendy is a terrible waste of money and time.
To say "but my kids enjoyed it" is a sad excuse for this film, they probably enjoyed the TV-watching experience more than anything else and with so many fantastic 3D animated features done before this production even began (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille), there are far better things to take your kids to see where you don't have to suffer through in the process.
The creators say that the success of this movie depended on the distribution and marketing of the film, which was difficult coming from SA and out of their hands but the real reason why this movie failed was due to the lack of skill, reference and focus. For how could they have taken the most loved South African classic and failed so badly?