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Bastille Day (2016)
American & Capitalist propaganda well displayed
Alba is a great actor and often plays very well, his performance here was mediocre but still enjoyable. As an action movie it does indeed deliver on action, the story itself however...
..is something completely different. Not only does the story show off the "amazing" Americans by saving the corrupt and incompetent French from a possible terrorist attack in Paris, the story also portrays capitalist propaganda in quite a grasping and striking way. This propaganda enters in two steps: (1) the protesters are given quite some attention and keep being labeled as purely anti-fascist to show that they are indeed good guys, the moment they actually charge the police lines and break through is nearly euphoric; (2) then however enters the second step which pretty much annuls the former by showing us that we indeed may protest but the money that is accumulated by banks and the elite is not ours to take, we may not steal from them as it are their own 'rightful' assets.
The French policemen have come to the desperate decision to take the money from the federal reserve as their group was failed by the administration after the loss of 2 team members during a previous operation. They wanted to get even as they felt undervalued and disrespected, now whose fault is that?
We can be mad and we may be upset about the inequality or the insane amounts of accumulation over our own backs, but we better not dare to take it back. We may enter the lobby of a bank, shouting and protesting, the vault however is off-limits.
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Tenseless
Let me start of by saying that I loved the scenery/decors, the costumes, the hair, the accents and most definitely the mustache! The idiosyncrasy of nearly every character was also delightful I must add. As such the movie was a wonderful experience for the eye indeed. The unexpected humor of Poirot and the pile of poop he steps into is also an add-on to the authenticity of his character.
However, unaware of the book by A. Christie it tries to capture, it was a bit of a disappointment to only be able to experience Johnny Depp for such a short period of time. I understand that he was the one to be murdered but why not let him have another character so we can adore him so much longer? Now Poirot was definitely an interesting character as well, but not close to the performance of Depp. Poirot does make we want to have a walking stick very badly though...
Onto the main problem of this movie and that is the lack of any real tension. I simply felt none of it, I never was sucked into the movie that much that I actually was waiting for the murderer to be discovered. The fear of having to sleep on that train with a potential murderer was completely lacking. Even the ending, where Poirot comes to his final conclusion that every single suspect is the murderer, feels anti-climatic. The gun being dry fired didn't manage to pull me in.
Summarized: eyes say yes; brain says no; heart says no.
The Mountain Between Us (2017)
Complementary sexes, humanity & adaptation (sort of)
Let me start by saying that the movie was a joy to watch, mainly also because the scenery was beautiful (and yes I also mean the leading actors, Kate Winslet is still quite something). Right from the very beginning when they were sitting in the plane, me and my friend looked at each other and were like "they are so gonna do it". During the rest of the movie we were like..now?..no..NOW?...still no. Anyhow..it was great when the sex-scene finally happened!
While I have not read the book this movie is based on I must say that well...I missed the whole "survival" thing. If you compare the movie to even controlled survival shows like Bear Grylls does, they really got a break on the hardships and setbacks they had to face. They still looked rather well groomed. The weather was way too calm in my opinion, up so high in the mountains you would expect at least one day of storm. Of course they had to adapt to the weather, create a splint, a sled, make fires, cook puma, pee in a dog food bowl and most of all adapt their brain as to initiate immense will power. Yet it still didn't feel as if they really had suffered enough, it should have been worse (this feels weird to ask for). Two "survival" things really bothered me were: 1. them eating snow...that is something you do NOT wanna do because it decreases your core temperature really fast. I mean I understand they did it as they were just thrown in the situation with no experience but there were no noticeable negative effects, no "punishment" as to say. 2. Ben always seems to be cold yet manages to stay alive with barely any insulation layers, compared to Alex, and when Alex falls in the lake she later on shows no signs of hypothermia, more so with Ben even leaves her wet clothes on..
Enough of this complaining, onto some more positive aspects!
I really loved and enjoyed watching how both Ben and Alex complement each other nearly perfectly, they contradict each other yes but they find compromises and as such shape their positive outcome together. It shows how both sexes have a role to play (I won't dare to touch upon what these roles might be): when Ben wants to stay in the plane forever he is pushed by Alex to get moving, which saved them. When Alex wants to jump down a cliff to save time and daylight, Ben convinces her to stop and think first, which saves her. These little things are always inspiring to see. It goes to show that even though the male might be the one suffering more to protect and support the female, he simply could not have survived on his own. Alex needed a man to take care of her and Ben needed a female to take care of him (mentally). The dog is quite a nice aspect to the story, it may be classic in the sense that it is overused but it still added a nice touch. A touch of humanity so to say, that even is the worst of situations you still have to care for those who can't really help themselves.
Summed up:
- Beautiful people and landscapes (dog was pretty awesome too).
- Becomes clear how males and females complement each others abilities and trains of thought.
- Shows that caring for others (the dog), that can't care for themselves, is something we should always do.
- Lack in real "survival" element, they get of too easily.
Suburbicon (2017)
Shockingly true and truly shocking
I completely fail to see the need for the enormous amounts of negative reviews. Its success is simply, like always, dependent on the goal which the movie was produced for. And this goal..well..is subjective.
Was it a Crime? Yes. Was it a Drama? Yes. Was it a Mystery? Yes. However it was also a satirical comedy I would have to add, although laughs weren't very frequent there were several funny or plainly shocking moments in the movie where the audience, and I, did laugh, most of the time out of a "what the ...?!" reaction.
The absurdness of Suburbicon and its racial tendencies not only reflects the era from which its point of view it was filmed (the late 50's, which it captures really well via clothing etc) but also reflects our contemporary societies. In which racial issues still prevail. As such it was nice to see this issue (also that of scapegoating) to be addressed, it may however been pressed to hard on the audience. The only reason the black family appears to be in the movie is to show how white families are no saints whatsoever while black families (obviously) also just want to live in peace. The message is nonetheless a true one.
Besides this perhaps too obvious issue being pressed on the viewers, the movie did a good job at shocking: the firetruck passing by Gardner, the truck completely wrecking Sloan. The bed-scene with Nicky, Louis and Mitch was marvelous in my opinion, the viewer is first fooled by the bed moving from side to side and left completely in the dark as to who else entered the room and who won the fight. The mere knowledge about Gardner is shocking as it becomes clear he is not some innocent and piteous man harassed by thugs, but is a thug himself. This however becomes apparent very early on in the movie. There is also Mitch shaking Nicky while he hangs upside down after the funeral of his mom that is rather shocking.
One of the very last scenes in which we see Gardner eating and drinking the meal, poisoned by his new "wife" for Nicky, made me sit on the edge of my seat waiting for it (his death) to happen and whether it would happen at all (maybe he hadn't eaten enough of it?). Then the fade out to the TV occurs, it is classic and appreciated, it leaves the viewer just a tad bit longer under tension of who it is watching TV. The definite end where Nicky goes to play with Andy is however well...rather pointless, except to once again push for racial issues. Perhaps it is supposed to say that look: Nicky his own family is so horrible he voluntarily plays with the 'black' kid. I mean..okay?
All in all: the movie was not what I had expected, it was far from as good as I had hoped but it is also not as bad as others make it seem to be. If you went out to have a couple of laughs, be shocked, feel unpleasant and have your brain completely mangled...this should have been a movie for you!
Le jeune Karl Marx (2017)
An introduction into Marx' life (and Engels')
The movie does a good job at a general overview of Marx'process in becoming the person he was, together with his legacy.
It shows the reader how the ideas of both Marx and Engels are not some farts in the wind but indeed theoretical and even genius. They were highly educated intellectuals, which is well communicated. Marx as a critic of everything is profoundly integrated. The same goes for the friendship between them, how deep it was and how it developed: well communicated. While Marx was not as poor as the proletariat, he indeed struggled to survive and provide for his family. Something that is also shown properly. His relationship with Jenny, however, is mostly overlooked and only abstract, his kids are nearly completely left out of the picture.
The ideas of Engels and Marx that are portrayed are only basic, but formulated on a level not so basic...their intellect is basically communicated too well. This movie has great potential to spread their ideas and to introduce new people to the idea of Communism, it does however take some knowledge to understand the concepts thrown around. As such the movie has failed in the way that it only deals with the top layer of their ideas but fails to clarify them clearly. Therefore it only has potential.
Clothing style and the used shots and settings seem very realistic, the atmosphere feels right. The feeling of the Communist specter haunting Europe is kind of missing for the lack of any real footage of revolts/uprisings. The struggle should have been visualized.
The movie is about the young Karl Marx (and Engels I would add, he is there for the most part, an intrinsic part of Marx'life), as such it is an introduction into his life. The foundation upon which his book 'Capital' has been build. Following this summary, the movie itself is also an introduction and foundation upon which could be build. With more knowledge of their work, and perhaps a better understanding as to enhance clarification, its potential could be multiplied.