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Reviews
Amsterdam (2022)
With a muddled ending, you might be better satisfied leaving early
I like this movie a lot. The cast is great, the story is great, the direction is great. The plot kind of wobbles. Despite the brilliant cast, it's not a movie that shines a bright light over each character for identification. My seatmate didn't recognize Christian Bale. I didn't recognize Mike Meyers - not a favorite - and I surely didn't recognize Alessandro Nivola.
There's the beauty of gentle, loving friendship, which is a theme throughout the movie. But there's also the ugliness of the facial disfigurements the WWI vets suffered, their use of drugs, and their abandonment by the US government; it's this that spurs the movie's action.
After the film climaxes, at a fundraising Gala for a Black regiment that's disrupted by fascist hecklers, the story is complete. It's OK to leave 10 minutes before the movie ends. Those ten minutes are a heartfelt defense of love and a sincere plea that we all pay more attention to love and art. It's a self-indulgent statement and it doesn't ruin Amsterdam, but it's anti-climactic. On the other hand, Margot Robbie has a marvelous fantasy shot that almost redeems the film's finish.
If the producers cut the last ten minutes, I'd likely give Amsterdam a 10.
The Last Hunt (1956)
First Western movie I saw that took Indians seriously
I was in my late teens when I saw this movie in the theater as a new release. Sixty-five years later it's still worth seeing. I, who forget everything, still remember the four principals and especially the sacred white buffalo. Sophisticated dialogue, if I remember correctly, and beautiful photography.
Ricochet (2011)
My gosh - for what it was supposed to be it was OK.
Yes, it's lightweight, and it's a shame to waste John Corbett on a movie like this, but it's sit-on-the-couch-and-wait-out-COVID-19 time, so I watched the whole thing. Formulaic, yes. But at least there's no conflicted romance between the two detectives. The plot got kind of hard to follow - too many characters dropping in and out, and one that was already dead and never dropped in at all. There was menace, but it too was lightweight, though it rose to a crescendo at the end. Corbett's character, soured on romance, is self-protective; reassuringly, he has a warm work relationship with his partner.
I like Corbett (check out Elvis has left the Building and My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Gary Cole's subdued his role, Julie Benz was adequate, and I'd like to see more of Kelly Overton when we're no longer watching semi-soothing movies
35 Diwrnod (2014)
Wow! Creative writing abounds!
This noir series, at least in the first season, almost becomes a black comedy in its over-the-top willingness to leave death and destruction everywhere.
But I liked it. I binge-watched on Britbox, where this was a new offering. There are two more seasons, and I expect to watch them as well.
The acting was good, the characters had enough flesh to be believable. There were some loose ends, but only one that was serious: given the blackmailer's grievance, why was Gryffud targeted?
I could have asked for a wrap-up, but sometimes less is better. Liking the series well enough to wonder what happened next is a recommendation.
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Everyone is superficial, but Paris makes up for them
Gosh - I've never liked or understood Woody Allen movies, but I'm very fond of this one. Wilson is less an innocent than he is shallow, but I just try to ignore his flat voice. Marion Cotillard is beautiful as ever and the historical figures looklike themselves, but the real star of the movie is Paris, especially at night. The conceit of the film, that Wilson is mentored by authors who spent time in Paris in the 20s, is clever and amusing. The dialogue is hilarious; Allen hasn't lost his touch.
Isle of Dogs (2018)
What a satire!
Hooray for Wes Anderson, for bringing us a biting satire of America politics and its attempts to scapegoat immigrants for all our woes. Starting with the city's name, Magasaki (as in MAGA. not mega as so many reviewers have spelled it) and moving on to the mayor's propagandizing which is swallowed whole by his mass of followers, the movie skewers denigration of scientists, suppression of facts, and the readiness of a populace to follow a corrupt line of political thought.
Everyone else has already acclaimed the artwork, which is magnificent. The movie itself is immediately recognizable as Wes Anderson's work, if only from the flat tones of the actors' voices, one of his signatures. I sometimes felt as if I were in a Moonrise Kingdom set in Japan, as the camera swept across the landscape.
There is a taste of John Hoffman's Good Boy!, another dog and boy story, to Isle of Dogs. I'd recommend Good Boy! for the younger children in the family: Isle of Dogs is not a kiddie flick.
ETA: I don't know how I misread Megasaki as Magasaki, but I did. Very Freudian. Maybe if Anderson were making the film this year it would be Magasaki.