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The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984 (2023)
Compelling dramatisation of an avoidable tragedy.
The Railway Men is reminiscent of Chernobyl (2019) and, while not as good as that masterpiece, is a similar tale of brave people doing their duty to save the lives of strangers. It deals with the 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India that caused the death of thousands of people. The attempts by the American-owned company to cover up its negligence is sickening and contrasts with the heroism of the rail workers who lay their own lives on the line to remove people from the danger zone. Directed by Shiv Rawail, this 4-part Hindi language series is currently streaming on Netflix and is well worth your time.
The Ritual (2017)
Engaging metaphorical folk horror
In this folk horror directed by David Bruckner (who is set to remake The Blob) a group of British friends travel to Sweden after one of their mates is killed. Making a series of monumentally stupid decisions, they get hopelessly lost in the forest and find themselves stalked by an ancient Nordic god and become captive to a pagan cult dedicated to worshiping the creature. Rafe Spall plays Luke, whose guilt over the death of his friend is metaphorically manifested in his struggle against the creature. The design of the monster is good and there are some genuinely suspenseful moments. As a fan of both previous versions of The Blob, this makes me interested to see what Bruckner will do with it.
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
Definitive horror film
F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) is a masterpiece of German expressionist cinema. An adaptation of Bram Stoker's brilliant 1897 gothic horror novel, Dracula, it could not for copyright reasons use the names of Stoker's characters but it has had an influence on cinematic Draculas ever since and arguably set the template for the entire horror genre. Indeed, next to Bella Lugosi's portrait in Tod Browning's 1931 classic it may be seen as definitive not just for Dracula films but for the entire horror genre. Max Schreck's portrayal of 'Count Orlok' is the stuff of nightmares (though he only has about 9 minutes of total screen time). The idea that vampires perish in sunlight originates here, not in the novel.
There is a silent film aesthetic that modern viewers may struggle with but you need to get past that and just remember that this film dates to near the birth of cinema and cut it some slack. A few scenes will probably evoke unintended smiles, if not laughs (the Count looks both ways while crossing the road with his coffin under one arm looking for a hiding place). While many have read an anti-Semitic subtext to the film, reflective of 1920s Germany, others have claimed that since Murnau was gay he probably would not targeted another persecuted minority. It is more likely that the horrors of the Great War were the chief inspiration for the German take on the undead. The profoundly Christian elements of the novel have been almost entirely removed. Producer Albin Grau was an occultist, far more interested in the esoteric and supernatural elements of the story. Interestingly, The Vatican has selected it as one of 45 'great films.'
The full original score has been lost and there have been many scores written since, with varying quality. Some budget DVDs simply slapped on a generic classical music score which didn't necessarily match the action on screen. One of the annoying things for me on this rewatch was the inter title cards on the Tubi version. They appear to have been created on PowerPoint as every new line has an upper case letter even when not grammatically called for. Also some of the cards are in a modem font while others are in a Gothic style font. It's annoying and amateurish. Give the film what it deserves people.
It's going to be interesting to see what Robert Eggers will do in this year's remake. Meanwhile, I highly recommend the 2000 film by E. Elias Merhige, Shadow of the Vampire (with Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck and John Malkovich as F. W. Murnau) which is about the making of the film and imaginatively asks, 'What if Schreck was actually a vampire, taking advantage of the film production for his nightly feeds?' Any film education must include Nosferatu so if you haven't seen it, get hold of a decent BluRay copy with a reasonably good score and enjoy it!
Steve! (2024)
A tribute to a great artist,
Being deliberately unfunny hoping to get laughs seems a doomed strategy for a standup comedian but eventually it worked for Steve Martin. The first comedian to fill arenas he then went on to a very successful movie career endearing audiences with his everyman persona. The second part of this two-episode series takes us inside Martin's private life to some extent, though he is understandably protective of his family. His relationship with his cold and distant father, for whom he never seemed to be good enough, explains much of the sad clown he became. A bachelor for most of his career, Martin became a father only late in life. We are taken inside his writing collaboration with Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building as well as his fascination for art collecting and banjo playing. Steve Martin is a wild and crazy (but also loveable) guy and this documentary is an excellent record of his achievements and a tribute to the perseverance of his artistry.
The Zone of Interest (2023)
Breathtaking portrait of the banality of evil
As a portrait of the banality of evil, The Zone of Interest is a chilling and confronting reminder that monsters are not usually the garish creatures that haunt our nightmares but ordinary people with no empathy for their fellow humans. Christian Friedel plays Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss who oversees a camp where people's lives are measured in terms of 'yields' made possible by new forms of technology designed to annihilate the dehumanised with ever greater efficiency. Meanwhile his wife Hedwig (played by the remarkable Sandra Hüller who also impressed in Anatomy of a Fall) rules over her household and garden with an equivalent disdain for the Jewish servants who are only a domestic mishap away from being reduced to ashes at their mistress's displeasure.
Director Jonathan Glazer has an impressive body of work including Birth (2004) and Under the Skin (2013) which, like this latest film, brought art house sensitivities to mainstream cinema. The music and sound design are chilling suggesting the screams of the damned, hidden from sight. A flash forward sequence to today's Auschwitz as a tourist attraction speaks to the hope that 'never again' would such a thing happen. Of course the Holocaust did not appear out of nowhere but was a culminating event in two millennia of European anti-Semitism. Nor should we think, in an age of neo-Nazism and Holocaust denial that it's something that belongs only to the past. The breath taking horror of this film is the very thing that makes it such an important work of art.
Mean Streets (1973)
Scorsese's genius is still in development here
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. You can certainly see Martin Scorsese's (and Robert De Niro's) budding genius and Harvey Keitel is outstanding in the lead role of small time gangster Charlie, who is trying to keep his friend Johnny Boy (De Niro) from getting whacked for his delinquent debts. It's frenetic, violent, foul-mouthed and very Catholic ('Francis of Assisi's got it down,' Charlie tells his incredulous girlfriend). So, all the traits we've come to expect from Scorsese but not quite coming together as a whole and his first genuine masterpiece, Taxi Driver was still three years away. I found the sound design a bit off-putting, with the music (including the diegetic parts) mixed up high with the dialogue. It was either 50s pop music or traditional Italian brass band music blasting for two hours. As a portrait of the kind of people Scorsese grew up with, it's an intensely personal film, covering themes he would continue to revisit throughout his career but it would all be done so much better in Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995).
El conde (2023)
Soulless creatures of the devil live among us
Chilean film, El Conde ('The Count', directed by Pablo Larraín) was nominated for an Academy Award for best cinematography and it's an interesting film visually speaking, especially the flying sequences. The high concept of representing political conservatives like Augustus Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher as vampires is ambitious and clever. 'Soulless creatures of the devil live among us'. Depicting a nun literally getting into bed with Pinochet is a devastating critique of the church's support of such regimes.
You'll need a strong stomach to deal with Pinochet drinking human hearts from a blender but you'll also need a strong stomach to deal with his real life crimes including thousands of people tortured, murdered, and 'disappeared' in the 1970s and 80s through Operation Condor, all with the support of the US government. The dysfunctional Pinochet family seems to function here as a metaphor for the wider political family that found ways to justify atrocities in the name of ideology. When Pinochet died in 2006 he had not been convicted for any of his crimes, a fact reflected in the immortality of the film's Count. Only the Christian doctrine of divine judgment can make sense of such monsters and their escape from accountability.
The Creator (2023)
An apocalyptic misfire
I know I'm out on a limb here but I found The Creator (dir Gareth Edwards) laboured and dull. Sure, it looked good and had some great design elements but story-wise it was lacking. I found its AI apocalypticism shallow compared to other films with a similar theme such as Ex Machina, Blade Runner 2049 or even M3gan(!). I've never found gunfights and explosions a good substitute for narrative depth and that seemed to be what was happening throughout much of this film. Also all of Edwards's films appear to have the same aesthetic. Happy (as always) for others to enjoy it but this was a miss for me.
American Fiction (2023)
A whip smart comedy on identity politics
American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson from the novel, 'Erasure' by Percival Everett, is a whip smart comedy about the politics of race. When African American novelist 'Monk' Ellison (played by Jeffrey Wright) decides to write in a more 'Black' style under a pseudonym as a middle finger to the publishing industry, his book becomes a runaway success and the deception spirals more and more out of control. The results are an hilarious comment on identity politics and the film provides a portrait of a middle class family negotiating its own authenticity in the face of predominantly white expectations.
The film won both the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wright was nominated for Best Actor and the film itself for Best Picture at the Oscars (losing, of course, to Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer). Sterling K. Brown was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor and the entire cast is excellent. Graced by a nice jazz soundtrack, It's a very impressive directorial debut from Jefferson.
In a key scene we get this dialogue sequence which really captures the concerns of the film:
Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison: 'You're not fed up with it? Black people in poverty, black people rapping, black people are slaves, black people murdered by police, whole soaring narratives about black folks in dire circumstances who still manage to maintain their dignity before they die. I mean, I'm not saying these things aren't real, but we're also more than this. It's like so many writers like you can't envision us without some white boot on our necks.
Middle class writer Sinatra Golden who writes 'ghetto fiction': Do you get angry at Bret Easton Ellis or Charles Bukowski for writing about the downtrodden? Or is your ire reserved strictly for black women?
Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison: Nobody reads Bukowski thinking his is the definitive white experience, but people... white people read your book and confine us to it. They think we're all like that.'
Film can serve to break down stereotypes and American Fiction does it with wit and with heart.
American Nightmare (2024)
Can American cops really be this inept?
Did Aaron Quinn murder his partner, Denise Hoskins, was she a 'real life Gone Girl', or is something else going on? Another true crime documentary that highlights the ineptness of American cops. Can it really be this bad? Having said that, Bay Area police detective, Misty Carausu, shows that there are still conscientious cops who do real investigative work instead of jumping to conclusions based on Hollywood movies. This three-episode documentary will keep you guessing. I for one flipped pretty quickly from 'he's definitely guilty' to 'hey wait a minute' so I guess that means either American Nightmare (directed by Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris) is a well structured crime documentary or I'm an idiot. Im going to go with the former :)
Smile (2022)
Effective psychological horror
Similar in theme to It Follows (though not as good), Smile retains its own originality and is an effective psychological horror and an impressive debut feature from Parker Finn. Sosie Bacon is good in the lead role of Rose Cotter, a psychiatrist who witnesses one of her patients take her own life and soon finds herself haunted by an evil spirit that threatens to destroy her while she tries to deal with her own childhood traumatic experiences. She must solve the mystery before it's too late while her mind unravels and her hold on reality becomes more and more tenuous. Finn doesn't flinch at the end with a downbeat finish that sets up a sequel, though I think this would be best left alone as a well-made horror leaving the director open to go in other creative directions.
The Menu (2022)
Quirky and intelligent horror comedy
The Menu is a quirky horror comedy that takes aim at a number of our infatuations. The pretentiousness of food culture, our fixation with celebrity chefs, our capacity for manipulation and our susceptibility to the control and coercion of cult leaders are all effective satirised in an outrageous scenario that for all its unlikelihood has the ring of truth to it. Ralph Fiennes plays the murderously narcissistic celebrity chef and Anya Taylor-Joy is the outsider Margo, the least infatuated by foodie culture, who effectively wields the humble American cheeseburger to cut through the pretensions. How many of us have been in social situations where we really should have called out bad behaviour but prevailing social conventions forced us into an uncomfortable silence instead? The Menu asks us to consider what would happen if the stakes were elevated beyond social embarrassment to life and death itself.
Im Westen nichts Neues (2022)
Captures the hell and futility of war
This is the third (though the first German) film based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The 1930 version, directed by Lewis Milestone, is a masterpiece, and deservedly won the Best Picture Oscar. The 1979 TV movie, directed by Delbert Mann is mediocre at best. In this latest version, directed by Edward Berger, the technical achievement is first rate, especially the cinematography, with the framing of images effectively capturing the horrors of the final stages of the Great War.
There are a few noticeable changes to the narrative as compared to the Milestone film. Paul Bäumer's (played well by Felix Kammerer) return to his home village before being redeployed to the Front, which acted as a counterpoint to his earlier nationalist enthusiasm, is left out here. The fraternising with the French farm girls which humanised the characters in the 1930s film is only given a nod here. The iconic butterfly on the helmet image is not revisited here but the image of severed hands dangling on barbed wire is referenced in shrapnel-blasted corpses hanging from trees. Greater attention is given to the military strategists and their attempts to broker an armistice. When it finally comes, the futility of the war is underscored by a final German offensive against the French at 10:45 am, commenced fifteen minutes before the war's scheduled end.
All wars have their own horrors but the Great War was particularly horrific from a technological point of view as new and efficient means of killing were employed for the first time, many of which are showcased here - toxic gas, flamethrowers, and tanks (aerial warfare exists only in a few background shots). A good war film is aware that large-scale military panoplies fail to engage. What draws us in are the small stories of the individuals trapped within the heart of the maelstrom, the friendships readily forged before being brutally and abruptly ended. The vicissitudes of mindless carnage overwhelm entirely whatever meaning might have been found in ideas such as love of the Fatherland. There is a saying, 'There were no atheists in the trenches', meaning, I suppose, that fear of sudden death made men call out to God. Actually war seems almost purposely designed to create atheists and nihilists and prayers were rarely answered in this apocalyptic war fought between the Christian nations of Europe. As we now know, 'the war to end all wars' was only a prelude to a longer war that would escalate to the atrocities of the Holocaust and the atomic bomb.
I was not as drawn into this film as I was by 1917 (2019 dir. Sam Mendes) or Dunkirk (2017 dir. Christopher Nolan), though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I expected something more distinctively German in the story from this first German cinematic telling. Or perhaps this underscores even further Milestone's original achievement in giving us an American film that sympathetically portrayed the German experience in a manner not noticeably surpassed here. In any case, All Quiet on the Western Front will doubtless continue to garner a slew of awards. It followed up its Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations at the Oscars, an observation which, given the weightiness of the subject matter, seems almost frivolous as I write it.
Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)
Gentle small town comedy
The corn is laid on pretty thick in this gentle small town comedy about a retired couple in Michigan (Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening) who get rich setting up a numbers system enabling them legally to rort the state lottery. They bring members of their small community into the syndicate and use the money for local projects so, despite the title, there isn't much large living involved. The involvement of a competing syndicate of privileged Ivy League college students introduces a message about ageism. Cranston shows that he can go back to his light comedy roots with ease. Overall, there's not much substance to the film and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) did the 'mild mannered couple live large' thing with a lot more laughs.
The North Water (2021)
Ahoy me hearties, it be good story tellin'
This really riveting Arctic adventure sees Jack O'Connell (playing ship's surgeon Patrick Sumner) go up against Colin Farrell (as the brutal and murderous harpooner Drax) on a whaling ship in the 1850s. Will Sumner be able to solve the murder of the cabin boy before he himself falls victim to the killer? Or before the captain manages to sink the ship for the insurance money stranding the crew in the Arctic circle? After it becomes a survival story, there is an encounter with a polar bear that you won't soon forget. The very realistic scenes of seal and whale hunting are not for the faint hearted but this is a really solid BBC drama, well scripted and brilliantly acted. Shot in Norway, it apparently set a record for the northernmost film shoot. You really feel the cold that's for sure, but its five one-hour episodes are well worth your time. After hearing this compared to the arctic survival series, The Terror (2018), I had to check that out as well and was not at all disappointed. Ahoy, me hearties, it be good story tellin' all 'round.
The Fabelmans (2022)
Semi-fictional autobiography of a great film maker
The Fabelmans is Steven Spielberg's autobiographical account of his childhood experiences. It might as well have been called 'The Spielbergs' as the events related are all true to life. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch), Best Screenplay (Spielberg and Tony Kushner) and Best Music (John Williams, of course). I like movies about making movies and this one certainly ticks that box as an account of Speilberg's passion for filmmaking, from his boyhood fascination with the train crash scene from Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) to his interview with John Ford (played wickedly in a cameo by David Lynch) upon getting his first job in the industry. Its late-fifties, early-sixties settings are meticulously production designed by Rick Carter.
While certainly no Schindler's List, its a very Jewish story and the high school Anti-Semitism is well recounted (sometimes humorously). Michelle Williams's performance as the free-spirited but unhappy Mitzi Fabelman was the standout performance for me. Even Seth Rogan as family friend, Bennie, shows that he has the ability to transcend his usual schtick. Spielberg's account of his relationship with his parents is a very personal one and this film has been a long overdue passion project for him. His film craft is on full display here, both in storytelling and direction.
One of the most significant film makers of the modern era, an artist whose work will be talked about and written about for generations, and whose name already belongs with greats like Ford, Hitchcock and DeMille (even though, like all of them he also made a few mediocre films alongside his masterpieces), has revealed to the world the origins of his film craft. It's a fascinating, compelling, and deeply personal story but also, and perhaps most importantly, entertaining. After all, that's what the movies are all about. Spielberg knows that, and can deliver it as much as anyone alive.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Gentle, quirk and dark comedy
Any film that brings Martin McDonagh, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Gleason back together after fifteen years was always going to draw a lot of attention. While this is no In Bruges (2008) the attention is well deserved. In this gentle, quirky, and rather dark comedy, two Irish friends (Padraich and Colm) have a falling out as one simply refuses to accept the fact that his former bestie just doesn't like him anymore. Set during the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) the explosions in the distance, seen only from afar, make it apparent that the troubled friendship is a thinly veiled metaphor for a divided Ireland.
The film attracted nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Direction and acting nominations not only for Farrell and Gleason but also for Barry Keoghan who plays the simple minded Dominic and Kerrie Condon as Padraich's long-suffering sister, Siobhan. All are excellent. For me, the central conceit of the film was one that I found difficult to accept. That someone as concerned about his musical legacy as Colm should take the action he does to resolve the conflict just stretches credulity. And that isn't the only aspect of the storytelling that was a challenge for the suspension of my disbelief. And surely, this film must break some kind of world record for the number of uses of the word feckin', which is used so often it borders on parody.
Tár (2022)
Extended commentary on cancel culture
There's no doubt that Cate Blanchett gives a powerhouse performance in this film and her Oscar nomination (one of five for Tár, including Best Picture and Best Direction) is well deserved. Nina Hoss is also excellent as her wife, Sharon. The trailer gives the impression that the film is a thriller. It's actually more of an extended commentary on cancel culture. Blanchett plays celebrated fictional composer, Lydia Tár, whose career unravels after a younger protege is rejected by her. The music in the film is sensational and there's a powerful kinetic energy in the conducting sequences. Blanchett is very impressive in her ability to move seamlessly from English to German, often in mid-sentence (most of the film is set in Berlin). There are some very long sequences of dialogue which are something of a test of your patience at times, especially if you're not a classical music aficionado. The opening credit sequence just seems pretentious with its very long scrolling of the technical credits that normally appear toward the end of the film. There's no apparent reason for this, except maybe just to seem clever. It was a move that put me off from the start, I'm afraid, and the film had to work hard to win me over from there. Individual aspects of Tár are very impressive but it doesn't hold together well in its entirety and I'm not convinced it's quite deserving of its Best Picture nomination.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
The last gasp of the myth of American exceptionalism
I can see how fans of the original film would love this sequel. I'm not a fan of the original so I probably needed more persuading than most. The first two-thirds of the film is cliché-ridden, sexist, jingoistic, posturing machismo. So far, so fully in the spirit of the original. Sure, there are some flashes of greatness here and there, such as the Mach 10 sequence, and the aerial photography throughout the film is astonishingly good. There's plenty of technical brilliance, but mostly its what you'd expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer production. I'm still trying to work out whether its corniness was a self referential wink to its source material, but I found most of it insufferable. The mission itself (staged in an unnamed 'rogue state' but seems to be North Korea) was incredibly well-made, rendering the rest of its fist-pumping jingoism and cringy dialogue (even if intended as meta) almost forgivable.
I'm obviously an outlier on this film as it was huge at the box office, is very highly rated on fan sites, and is nominated for 6 Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Screenplay). Many see it is a return to a more innocent time of movie making when 'the cheese was more genuine' (as one admirer close to me commented). Maybe that's right and movie fans emerging from the COVID pandemic (well, we thought we were, anyway) needed something lighter than another CGI-loaded Marvel movie, or overly-serious DC Universe yawn fest. Fair enough. I doubt it will win the Best Motion Picture gong and it shouldn't. A film has to do more than contain flashes of technical brilliance and breathtaking action sequences. It needs to be a more well-rounded whole than Top Gun: Maverick which may simply turn out to be the last gasp of the myth of American exceptionalism at the end of empire.
Causeway (2022)
Small scale study in trauma
Back in 2010, Jennifer Lawrence starred in an independent film called Winter's Bone (directed by Debra Granik). It was a powerhouse debut that really showcased what an acting talent she was. Since then, the films she's been in have been a little patchy with some standouts but also her fair share of duds. Causeway (directed by Lila Neugebauer) is a reminder of just how good she can be.
After suffering a brain injury in Afghanistan, Lynsey (Lawrence) returns home to New Orleans to undergo rehabilitation with the hope of returning to the field in the Corps of Engineers. The adjustment is difficult and the flight side of the fight or flight response kicks in hard. She develops a friendship with local mechanic, James (Brian Tyree Henry in an Academy award-nominated performance). It's platonic but there's some unresolved sexual tension that at one point threatens to destroy the friendship. Tyree Henry's understated performance as he negotiates the relationship is impressive, and Lawrence is probably equally deserving of an Oscar nod (though it didn't happen).
This is a small scale drama that majors on the vicissitudes of friendship and does so in a sensitive and engaging way. Lynsey's newfound friendship with James is the catalyst for her to reconsider her fraught relationship with her mother and brother. Running away from the things we don't want to face is not always the way through and, as a study in trauma, Causeway reminds us that human connection is often the way to healing.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Barely surviving the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman
It's hard to bounce back after your lead actor tragically dies. There is a touching effort to honour Chadwick Boseman here. The Marvel opening logo sequence which normally showcases all the tentpole characters is dedicated exclusively to Boseman's Black Panther and there is some footage of him from the first film spliced in. His absence, however, is very strongly felt, leaving this second instalment somewhat flat.
We need to talk about Prince Namor, the Submariner. His introduction to the MCU has been eagerly anticipated and certainly there are some things that get the character right including green shorts, winged ankles, pointy ears, and a surface-world hating narcissism. The character was created (by Bill Everett) in the Golden Age of comics, debuting in Marvel Comics #1 (1939). In WWII, he sunk both Allied and Axis ships with an equal hatred for the surface dwellers. This made him an interesting portrait in neutrality. Of course, once America entered the war he was enlisted to fight alongside Captain America and the Human Torch to smash Hitler and the 'Japanazis.' In the Silver Age he became a rival for the affections of Susan Storm and an antihero who often came up against the Fantastic Four and other Marvel heroes as a less than friendly semi-ally but he always kept his distance from tbe surface dwellers. In the 1980s he was rebooted by John Byrne as a business-suited corporate eco-warrior. He continues in the present timeline most prominently as a member of The Illuminati (though not included in the Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness (2022) iteration of that group).
The major change in the MCU version is that Namor is reconfigured as a mutant descended from the ancient Mayans, rather than Lord of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis. I get that this provided an opportunity to set Latin American culture alongside African American culture in (potential) joint opposition to 'the colonisers' (a gag that worked well in the first film but is mercilessly flogged to death here through multiple repetitions). I'm not a purist and I understand that retconning is a staple of comic book creators. If it works in the world of sequential panels, there's no reason it can't work in cinema. It probably also helps to distance the character from DC's less than stellar derivative, Aquaman. Maybe it's my affection for the character but I just couldn't buy the Mayan thing. The blue skin, yes, and the kingdom under the seas, all good, but when Namor uttered his famous cry, 'Imperius Rex!' it fell a little flat for me, given the reconfiguration of the origin story. Mexican actor, Tenoch Huerta, does a fine job but in all the Submariner comics I've read, I've never heard a South American accent in my head. Okay, maybe that's my problem and not the film's but, still, it affected my enjoyment of it.
Enough about Namor. The film is nominated for five Oscars, including Best Music, Best Costume Design, Best Special Effects and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Angela Bassett as Ramonda). Martin Freeman is back as the White Guy and Julia Louise-Dreyfus is introduced as his ex-wife and government agent. Letitia Wright is back in the role of Shuri and gives a good performance as do other cast members returning to their characters. There has to be a replacement for a new Black Panther and there are two offered here that indicate that Marvel wants to keep this hugely successful character in the mix. Whether it can survive without Chadwick Boseman's definitive performance is yet to be seen.
Barbarian (2022)
A solid and entertaining horror
Barbarian is a well-structured and well-paced horror with some genuine gross out moments. Thankfully the sexual violence is either implied or off screen. The way the film has three stylistically different fresh starts that are woven into a single narrative is quite clever. Georgina Campbell is great in the lead role. Just when we think Justin Long's character AJ is about to redeem himself he turns out to be the douchebag we all think he is. The dark passageway sequences are shot very well making for effective tension. The escape sequence is a thrill ride of suspense. Overall a solid and entertaining horror film.
Heojil kyolshim (2022)
A compelling Korean noir that messes with time and perspective
In Decision to Leave, Park Chan-wook has created a Korean noir that messes with time, perspective and narrative structure in a way that disorients but also engages the viewer. The film it most brings to mind is Hitchcock's Vertigo (1948) with a policeman obsessed with an enigmatic woman and its themes of suicide and loss. One moment detective Jang Hae-Joon (Park Hae-il) is watching Song Seo-Rae (Tang Wei) from his car, then he observes himself from the seat of car, walking into the room to speak with her. They move in and out of events they experienced together as if they were able to defy time and space, inserting their past and present selves into the moments that have created their relationship. At any moment conversations and characters are seamlessly relocated to different settings at different moments in the timeline. It's a clever and meticulously constructed technique that walks the tightrope between experimentalism and incoherence. The pacing is slow but the narrative and filming techniques have an almost hypnotic effect that keeps you glued for its admittedly somewhat lengthy runtime. Chan-wook (director of Oldboy, Stoker, and The Handmaiden to name a few) demonstrates again that he is in the front rank of Korean film.
Poor Things (2023)
A fairy tale of liberation
Poor Things is a visually impressive film which takes the Frankenstein myth and turns it into a film about women's autonomy. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Yorgos Lanthimos's work, but there's much here to admire, including Emma Stone's Oscar-winning performance as Bella Baxter. Her creation is a marvellous blend of the Universal horror aesthetic and the awakening of the robot Maria in Fritz Lang's expressionist masterpiece, Metropolis (1927).
The makeup on Willem Dafoe's character, Godwin Baxter (whom Bella calls 'God', appropriately, since he's her creator) is incredible, as is the character himself. Mark Ruffalo gives good support as the rakish but ultimately gormless Duncan Wedderburn, as does Ramy Youssef as the faithful Max.
I found the sex scenes a bit exploitative in feel. I get that Bella's character ark involves moving from celebrating her own sexual awareness to being a plaything for men and that Duncan's possessiveness serves to highlight her need to become her own person, independent of male fetishisation. But the thought that Lanthimos writes and directs these quite explicit sex scenes involving a naked Emma Stone in engaging in a variety of sexual acts just didn't sit right with me. Call me a prude, but does exploiting your lead actress in this way really serve the message of women's autonomy at the heart of the film or unhelpfully subvert it? It just didn't sit right with me.
Despite this misgiving, Poor Things is a film worthy of the praise it has received. Its steam-punk aesthetic is stylistically daring and it's infused with wicked humour and incisive commentary on gender politics. If it goes to extremes at times, it's in the good cause of setting out a fairy tale of liberation from male control.
Anatomie d'une chute (2023)
A cinematic tour de force
Anatomy of a Fall (directed by Justine Triet) is well deserving of its five Oscar and seven BAFTA nominations as well as the Palme d'Or at Cannes. It won Best Screenplay at both the Oscars and the BAFTAs and Best Film at the latter. Sandra Hüller (also in Zone of Interest) is phenomenal as Sandra Voyter. A German woman married to a French man, she speaks English at home because 'that's what English is for.' When her husband is discovered dead on their property she is charged with his murder and a gripping courtroom drama ensues, all the more interesting because it takes place in a French court. We are so familiar with US and British courtroom dramas, it's refreshing to enter a different world of legal process.
Child actor Milo Machado-Graner is also excellent as sight impaired Daniel as are all the supporting cast, including the family dog. If this were an American film there would be some big twist at the end and we've been conditioned to expect that. What we get, though, is a quiet resolution that, while it leaves some questions, is grounded in reality. Along the way we experience some of the best screen acting and most incisive writing you are ever likely to see. This was my personal favourite of the Academy Award Best Picture nominations and is a cinematic tour de force in its portrait of a complex marriage.