Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Creator - I liked this way more than I was expecting to - I thought the reviews were fairly mediocre for this and it was considered a flop, so I assumed it was probably bad. However, it's actually very good. It looks spectacular, there is an interesting story - a little thin, but still interesting, and the world that is created is very cool. I'm not the biggest fan of John David Washington - I've seen him in enough now to determine that he just doesn't have the charisma needed to lead films (and certainly nowhere near the screen presence his dad has). If this had a stronger star, it would have probably been among my favorites of '23. He's not terrible in this, but just nothing stands out. Gemma Chan is severely underused. I want her to be a gigantic star, but that Eternals movie really fucked her over (the only one who came out of that unscathed is Barry Keoghan. Obvi, the bigger stars like Jolie and Hayek will be fine, too). I think it's a little obvious how it's all going to play out, and the Vietnam war analogy is kind of shoved in the audience's faces - although the location settings are to be blamed for that. The locations are just *stunning*, though. It's partly filmed in Krabi, which is part of the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand. I went there last January, and it did look exactly like this. Just breathtaking - I can't even describe it. While the imagery automatically induces Vietnam war imagery, I do think the story is trying to say something deeper about our (America & the Western world) reactions - like the multiple wars that happened after 9/11. It just doesn't quite all come togehter. There are a few parts that just don't really make any sense too - like how they throw an ice cream bomb into the apartment, but conveniently don't kill the kid? How did they know that was going to work? And, if they just used the AI translator thingamajiggy more effectively, it would have made all their lives a lot easier. Overall, though, if you like sci-fi, I think you'll dig this. 

2. Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire - Obviously, my expectations for this severely lowered after initial reviews, but I still had some hope - Snyder films are often reviewed poorly, even when they are really well-made (I'm thinking specifically of Sucker Punch - which isn't a great movie, but it's still really beautiful and well-made). Unfortunately, the reviews are right on this one. It's basically Rogue One, but if Rogue One was really, really dull and had characters that you didn't give one fuck about. And, I'm really pissed off about the whole "Snyder cut" thing. It made sense with Justice League because there were a lot of unforeseen circumstances that led to a version of the movie that didn't feel like "his". But, what's the excuse for this? Netflix gave him $160 million, but you're saying this isn't the best version of the film? This is as much his vision as any director could hope for and yet, he's saying there's a better version? Why not make the first one the best version? I think it says a lot about his ability to work in a team and within perimeters that might cause compromise. But, that's the whole point of a director - ultimately, it takes an entire team to make a movie (including producers and production companies that have final say), but the director is the one that's supposed to be able to lead the team to the best version of the film. Anyway, I've decided that I'm not going to watch it straight out of principal (and I watch everything!), if it ever even sees the light of day. It's just such bad faith, and sets an awful precedent. And after watching this, I can't imagine anyone else who watched this really wants to see more? I'm even wondering if I want to watch Part 2? (I will, of course). Sofia Boutella deserved stardom from the first Kingsman movie, it's crazy that it took 10 years for someone to put her in a starring role. It's even crazier that Snyder cast her in a role like this at 41 years old! Love it! I've seen nobody talk about it, but it's a huge deal - they could have easily found a younger up-and-coming actress in her 20s. It just sucks that the movie sucks. It's hardly her fault, and most definitely a fault of writing - there's just nothing interesting or original. The dialogue falls very flat - there's no humor, no chemistry among the characters. And, perhaps the worst part, Charlie Hunnam doing a Norther Irish accent because...it's his favorite (LOL). I'm a big fan of Hunnam, but accents are not his strength and someone needs to tell him. 

3. The Holdovers - Uhhhhhh...this movie is okay, I guess?? Certainly not worthy of all this praise, though. It's completely forgettable, Giamatti does his same Giamatti schtick just with an unnecessary lazy eye (which isn't necessarily bad, but it's not award-worthy to play the same character over and over again), and the main kid is one of the worst and most annoying, whiny, brat characters I've encountered in a long time (and he's a terrible actor, my god how are people watching this and thinking it's a good performance?? I actually saw a post today about how "it's incredible that he's never acted before" and first, that's not even true because he's a drama major, and second, he's...not good. I felt like he was too aware of the camera in front of him for every single moment of the film). At one point Giamatti says "you entitled little degenerate" and YES. I have no sympathy for him and I honestly hope he lives a miserable life and never sees happiness (and I don't think that's the intent). Plus, I love Da'Vine Joy Randolph - she was the saving grace of The Idol, and was a stand-out in The Lost City, but the Boston accent is not working for her. It was cringey to watch, and she's very likely going to be nominated for an Oscar (and I think favored to win at this moment), which is so wild to me. The rest of her performance is...fine, but nothing special - there's a moment where I thought "Ohhh..is this it? Is this her big scene that's going to make me understand the praise?", but it's over so quickly that they don't even give her time to breath. I guess it's not surprising because I've always found Alexander Payne films to be over-praised (like Election and Sideways, but I did really love Nebraska. I think my favorite Payne film might be Citizen Ruth, though). It's all just so boring, and very obvious as to why this kid wants to go to Boston so badly. I think there's an attempt at a lesson like "you never know what someone is going through. People who are assholes might be that way because their life sucks", but the lesson should be "Don't be an asshole. Period. Even if you've had a shitty life. Even if you think someone else isn't deserving of their success. Just be nice". 

4. Pain Hustlers - And speaking of bad Boston accents, here comes Chris Evans over-doing his own natural accent. He just leans so hard into it, that it seems fake. It's so weird. This movie also sucks. And it's been done multiple times within the last year (Dopesick, Painkiller, even The Fall of the House of Usher was about bad pharma!). I think too many of these stories are trying to humanize these awful people - I know many of them are a cog in the machine, but also, they are greedy, lying, & scummy so Karma sucks, assholes. This story is based around this woman, who, I guess, can be argued didn't really know what she was getting into. She was a single mom, desperate for any job, just trying to make a name for herself and give her daughter a decent life and someone to look up to. BUT, I'm sorry, if I made $600k in one year - I would call it a day. Just quit and get a normal less-stressful job. Her and her daughter could live so comfortably for like a decade, but instead she gets greedy. And she does admit to that in the end, and also is one of the few people who spoke out in court against big pharma, so kudos to her for owning her mistakes, but she still did deserve to go to prison (people died!). I think the story, isn't a bad one. It's interesting, and it moves really quickly. The major problem is the casting of both main characters. I'm a HUGE fan of Emily Blunt - but she is the least believable poor person I've ever witnessed in my entire life. Her entire persona screams "posh". And Evans just doesn't know what to do with himself after Captain America - just consistently miscast. Plus, he raps in this (it's as bad as you would expect it to be). It also loses the plot a little - because it becomes a faux morality tale about the super rich instead of about a struggling, single mom. And the whole part about her daughter needing surgery is kind of dumb because the math just doesn't add up - no health care system would make you come up with $450k instantly (and refuse to do the surgery if you couldn't come up with the money), instead they would put you on a payment plan (with interest). And with making over $600k in one year, she could definitely afford a payment plan. Or she could also...downgrade her living space and sell the fancy car? *Rolls eyes* One good thing, though, is the girl from Dungeons and Dragons and 65 is in this! I love her! Her name is Chloe Coleman and I expect to see her in a lot more stuff. 

5. Showing Up - A lot of people (film people) seem to love Kelly Reichardt, but I just don't really get it. I haven't rated any of her films above 3 stars (I do remember liking Wendy and Lucy, but I don't remember a thing about it...and Certain Women stayed with me longer than I expected). She really loves Michelle Williams, huh? And maybe that's part of the problem? I like Williams just fine, but some of the praise she gets is a little bit crazy for someone who always seems to be playing Michelle Williams (even when she was Marilyn Monroe she was still, somehow, Michelle Williams). She's in one of my favorite movies - Take This Waltz, and she's definitely given award worthy performances (Fosse/Verdon), but I think she's one of those actresses that will get praise no matter what, for whatever reason (case in point: The Fabelmans). Anyway, she's very bland in this - and in multiple other Reichardt collaborations. I can't really feel anything for this character, because she's just such a pushover and lets people walk all over her. And she's my age. I feel like at this point, you should be able to stick up for yourself (and still be a nice, sympathetic person!), and if you haven't figured that out yet, I just can't feel bad for you. Plus, she doesn't keep extra cat food in her house? She's like "oh sorry, we're out of cat food"...what??? What if there was like a storm or an emergency? You're just going to let your cat starve? I don't really get the whole pigeon storyline, either. Like, she's stuck taking care of a pigeon because she can't speak up for herself and then kind of bonds with it, soooo...okay? Is there a point? It did remind me of this one time at work a pigeon flew into our store and then couldn't figure out how to get out. I am a bit of an animal whisperer so they called me to come help. I literally went up to the pigeon, bent down to it, said "okay, I'm here to help you, follow me". I started walking slowly towards the door and IT FOLLOWED ME. It was so fucking crazy - everyone was in shock, and a customer even confusingly asked "wait...is that YOUR pigeon?" as if it was my pet that got lost. HAHAHAHA! I'll never forget it. They should make a movie about that. Far more interesting than this, that's for sure.