Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Flee - I'm not the biggest fan of documentaries, but I was super intrigued by this as an animated documentary. Also, the only movie ever to get Oscar nominations in the documentary, animation, and international categories. It definitely deserves the acclaim (and is far better than its international competition of both Drive My Car and The Hand of God), although I think the animation is its worst feature. I saw someone compare it to Waltz with Bashir, and I agree to an extent, but also because of that - it kind of seems more of a copy than inspired by. But the story is incredible - and it is perfectly paced and incredibly intense. It's just such a harrowing life story of this man (and his family) that gives incredible insight into the refugee experience. I get why his story was told as animation, but I just didn't like it. There was too much going on - with the different animation styles (I actually preferred the black faceless animation - it felt more harrowing), the past and present tense, the addition of real footage, etc. It's just a lot to absorb instead of allowing the audience to focus on the story. But I still really loved it, and the ending totally got me. *spoilers* When he goes through the doors and it's a gay club, I literally burst into tears - like, full-on ugly crying for 10 minutes. A scene that I will likely never forget. 

2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) - My past experience with Texas Chainsaw movies consisted of the 2013 one with my girl, Alexandra Daddario, and I sort of liked it? So I decided to watch the original a few days before I watched this one, and it's actually not what I was expecting. Good, but not great - with a WHOLE lot of screaming. I tried to watch the second one, but I couldn't find it streaming anywhere so I decided to just skip ahead to this one since it's supposed to be a direct sequel anyway. This one, though, is awful. I'm so disappointed that this is Elsie Fisher's next feature after her incredible debut in Eighth Grade. She's not exactly the worst part of the cast, but all of them are pretty terrible. And I don't believe for one second that any of them are "influencers" (with those haircuts? Nuh-uh, sorry I don't buy it). I also thought the girl who plays her sister was about 14 but apparently she's 27. Of course, the one guy I find hot is Irish (I mean I knew he wasn't from Texas because then I wouldn't find him hot. It makes sense, I promise). And of course *spoilers ahead*, he suffered the most brutal kill. I actually flinched. Anyway, the plot is stupid (there is no way these kids could just buy a whole town? They all seem so stupid? I don't believe they are business savvy AT ALL), the dialogue is the worst, and the characters are all so annoying. The best part is obviously the scene where Leatherface steps onto the bus and they all point their phones at him, and then he just brutally massacres all of them - tossing influencer body parts left and right. Just absolutely hilarious! Also, thumbs up for the ending (I clapped). Oh and one more thing, I was confused at the casting of Sally because this woman definitely doesn't look anything like Sally from the original, and I wondered why they didn't just cast the original Sally, but apparently she died in 2014 (and she was in the 2013 one! I didn't even realize!). But they still could have cast someone who looked like a believable older version of her? 

3. The French Dispatch - I just don't think Wes Anderson and I get along anymore (I did like Isle of Dogs, but I didn't like his previous two movies before that). I still rated this movie 3 stars because it's incredibly well-made and has some stunning set design (and no Oscar nomination! Another egregious snub), but that doesn't necessarily mean that I enjoyed it. I *love* that he has a signature style - it's incredible that you can take any shot in this movie and instantly recognize it as a Wes Anderson film. He has my complete and utter respect. I just don't vibe with the stories. There are three stories within this film, and the first one is clearly the strongest, but by the third one I struggled to keep my eyes open. The expected star-studded cast consists of a lot of Anderson favorites such as Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan and (new to Anderson films) Lea Seydoux. I think the highlight, acting-wise is Benicio del Toro, who is actually hilarious in this ("And that's why I signed on for clay pottery" had me laughing). And the dud is Timothee Chalamet (that mustache is embarrassing, and I've given him multiple chances, but I'm convinced that Call Me By Your Name was a fluke). I also didn't like the fake teeth on Tilda Swinton - such an unnecessary distraction. There's not much else I have to say - if you're a fan of Anderson, then I can't imagine not liking this as it's perfectly Wes Anderson. And even as a film fan, in general, you'll appreciate the static camera shots, the color palette, and the symmetry of it all. 

4. The 355 - It's always interesting to watch a film with this caliber of incredible talent and figure out how it all went so wrong. It received some pretty harsh reviews when it was released to theaters which was definitely disappointing. It seems insane that a movie starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penelope Cruz and Diane Kruger could really be that bad (I mean, TWO of them are nominated for Oscars THIS YEAR!). Unfortunately, the reviews are pretty fair. It's not exactly bad, but it's entirely mediocre. The plot is unnecessarily complicated and twisty - instead of building in intensity, it just gets frustrating (I literally yelled out - "JUST FUCKING KILL HIM ALREADY"....Twice!). The "big" twist is very obvious (again, if you don't see someone die then they are not dead...this is action thriller 101). It's far too long and it drags. I'm not sure what kind of hold Carter Baizon/Bucky/himbo has on Hollywood because he's in way too many projects right now and he's not a strong enough actor to warrant any of these roles. The biggest problem with the movie, though, is that these women all do some really stupid shit - they are never one step ahead, instead they are constantly being outsmarted. Plus the action and chase sequences are filmed so clumsily. Every movement feels painfully staged. It's like they spent way too much money on the actresses and they had nothing left over for the actual production. Also, I *love* the idea of having an international cast, but if you are going to make their nationality important to the plot and part of the identity of the characters, then you need to cast it correctly. Nyong'o is not British (and her accent is horrendous) and Cruz is not Colombian - so all of them lined up in the poster with their nation's flag behind them feels...wrong. 

5. Copshop - Solidly entertaining Gerard Butler/Frank Grillo action thriller. But surprisingly, they are both overshadowed by Alexis Louder - she really holds the plot together and out-acts everyone around her. Both Butler and Grillo play to their strengths though and "stay in their lane" so to speak. It's a little disappointing that I don't find either of them hot in this - Butler with the American accent (what's the point in that???) and Grillo with the horrifying man bun (although it's even worse when he takes it down). It's a little bit of a cat and mouse plot, except the role of cat and mouse keep switching - you don't really know which one is the bad guy or if they are both the bad guy, but one might be (relatively) better than the other. I tend to like Joe Carnahan movies (The Grey, Smokin' Aces, The A-Team), but it feels like a long time since he's made a good movie? Boss Level was ok, but hardly memorable. I think I'll probably say the same thing about this movie a year from now. It's basically Assault on Precinct 13.