Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Civil War - As I expected, I really liked this. I can see the criticism, but I also think people were expecting something that the film was never going to be. I really like Alex Garland projects, for the most part, so I kind of already assumed I would like this (I even liked Men and, man, people fucking hate that movie). I think the film has a few really strong moments - and stays true to the story of the experience of photojournalists during wartime. It's an insane job, and it's also very critical to our understanding of current events. The whole "fake news" cycle has really damaged journalism as whole, but a lot of the problem is that just like with film journalism & criticism, it's been taken over by influencers & "personalities" who have a whole lot to say, but don't actually know what they're talking about. There's also a lot of "keyboard warriors" pretending to be journalists, but real journalist are on the ground like this. I also like the relationship that forms between Kristen Dunst and Cailee Spaeny, although I feel like Dunst plays this role a little too weathered at her age (she's my age but acts like she's 65). Spaeny is incredible, though. She's a star, for sure. I like the references to how half the country are just pretending like the war is not happening. I think that will definitely be true to reality (I do think people are hyperbolizing the possibility of civil war happening soon, BUT, also please stop trying to assassinate a presidential nominee because that will definitely do it). Like, if a civil war is declared, my company will still expect us to go to work and sell over-priced yoga pants and dresses, and pretend like nothing is wrong just like they did during a worldwide pandemic. But the clear highlight is the 7 minute long scene featuring Jesse Plemons - it's such a testament to his talent that he was able to steal the whole movie with this one scene. He gives it so much life and intensity that it became the social media marketing for the movie (and a popular meme), and he's not even credited! The only criticism I have is that the end feels really cheap and the action has a very video game style that I don't care for (I've seen people compare it to Call of Duty, but I wouldn't know). I don't know, the set pieces just feel so fake and the "war" seems so controlled instead of the chaos it's supposed to represent. Also, I just really don't like the girl from Devs that Garland uses in every movie (I think she's been in every single one of his projects since Ex Machina? And she is the same girl from The House of the Dragon! I thought it was her, but then I doubted myself). She's a terrible actress, but she's not in this enough for it to matter, thankfully. 

2. The Union - Oh my God what a stupid fucking movie. It's certainly not a bad movie - very average, but for these two superstars I have to believe they should be getting offered better roles than this? I will always watch a Marky Mark movie, but I laughed out loud when I saw the Letterboxd description of the plot as Mark playing a character from New Jersey. I was immediately skeptical. It's like when Ben Affleck tries to play someone from New York. It just doesn't work when you've become so synonymous with a certain city. And just in case you didn't get that he's from NJ - they play Springsteen within the first 10 minutes and then AGAIN 5 minutes later (I looked up filming locations and I think the only NJ location they used is Jersey City for the one beginning scene - which doesn't even make sense because they are supposed to be from Paterson. Why would they hang out in Jersey City as teens? It's an hour away without traffic....ANYWAY....). You don't have to worry about Mark attempting the NJ accent because he doesn't, and then his "new identity" that he is given by this black ops group is a guy from Boston, so he pretends like he's changing his accent to Boston but it's exactly the same accent - except that he does make fun of the "pahk the cah" typical Boston dialogue, which made me laugh. I also laughed when the guy asks "do you know Good Will Hunting?". But I think those are the only two times I laughed through the whole movie that is clearly trying to be funny. I want to like Halle Berry, I really do. And I used to like her. But lately she's been very bad in everything and I'm in the process of rewatching all the X-Men movies and she's....eeek. I feel like she's maybe always been a bad actress, but I didn't know enough about acting to notice? She's STUNNING though. But they give her a horrible haircut in this and they make her wear a hat - that's not a beret- as a beret and it looks so fucking stupid. I think it's adorable that Mark and Halle have been friends for over 30 years (the pictures of them at the end are so cute!), but they have ZERO chemistry together. It's also very obvious that *spoiler alert* Mike Coulter is going to be the bad guy because he "dies" in the beginning but we don't see a dead body (he falls into a river). It's just so fucking stupid. 

3. La Chimera - I rated this 3 stars because it's well-made and well-acted, but I can't really say that I liked it. In fact, I found it very, very boring. Like, way more boring than I was expecting. I saw a few reviews focus on the "slow burn" of the storytelling, but "slow burn" doesn't have to mean boring. I should be invested and interested in the outcome of this story and I definitely wasn't. I like Josh O'Connor a lot, but he did nothing for me here. There are some great shots, but still not enough to hold my attention, AND it's over 2 hours long! And nothing happens! Why does it take over 2 hours for them to tell this very simple story??? The only part that really caught my attention was when I thought "wow that woman looks like an old version of Isabella Rossellini" only to realize that that's HER! Holy shit! They made her look so old!? I know she's in her 70s, but she's never looked it before. It was very jarring. But that's pretty much all I have to say about this movie. I'm glad others enjoyed it and found value in it (there's a ridiculous number of 5 star reviews on Letterboxd), but it's not for me. 

4. Fancy Dance - I think this is a good movie, but I can't help but think that a miniseries that really focuses on the development and relationship of these characters could have been so much better. The story feels rushed and I never get to know them enough to understand them. I'm not the biggest fan of Lily Gladstone - I have yet to see her deliver any emotion aside from annoyed, distant, and stoic (and she does that well, but I need to see range before I'll call someone good at acting). She's the same here - just no emotion in her face or voice at all. And, again, that fits the character, but also that just might be her? I like the story that they are trying to tell - there is a lot of depth and history behind this story that is constantly being recalled and referenced. There's an entire history of missing Native American women, and nobody cares. And it's been happening for lifetimes. The missing woman is not the focus of this story, however, but it's always there. The consequences of her going missing is the catalyst for the story. The bond that forms between the missing woman's daughter and sister - the lengths that she will go to (and has to go to) in order to keep her niece's Native American culture in the forefront is the main focus of the story. On a related note - I only recently learned that non-Native American people using the term "powwow" is offensive. It's not something I ever really thought about because as Americans, we use a lot of words from different languages and cultures because we're a melting pot!! So, when someone would say "powwow" I would just think "a quick meeting", not really understanding the cultural significance of the word. Using the word as a non-Native American trivializes a custom and the real meaning of the word. So *the more you know*! Anyway, the highlight is definitely the ending - with them dancing at the powwow. It's incredibly beautiful and powerful. Also, the young girl is terrific (and outshines Gladstone for most of the movie!). 

5. The Watchers - There's a great little horror story here, but ultimately if feels like an M. Night Shyamalan movie minus the flair. I'm not always a fan of Shyamalan, but I have a level of respect for what he does (I just think he's bad with actors and some of his shot set-ups are eye-rolling). I'm referencing Shyamalan because it's his daughter that directed this movie. For a directorial debut, I'm definitely interested. There's a lot of good here, but a lot of it is also very stupid. First, I think there's a similar horror movie maybe called The Forest with Natalie Dormer (if I remember it correctly it was about a haunted forest that made people commit suicide). But this definitely goes in a different direction - but that direction is more or less batshit crazy. Second, I love the mythology aspect and that the story becomes more about the very real human emotion of guilt, but they should have focused way more on the latter. The guilt of someone taking someone else's life (even if by accident) has to feel all-consuming - and makes for very interesting stories about human trauma. Third, some of the dialogue is so cringy and embarrassing ("you wouldn't like me if you knew the real me" - it's about as cliche as it gets). But, it's interesting, and the cast is great (the girl from Barbarian is in this! She's so good! I hope she breaks away from the horror genre. Maybe she has, but I just haven't seen her in anything?). Dakota is back to being good again (there was a period of time in which she sucked - The Twilight movies, The Runaways), and she is *excellent* in this and she looks great as a brunette. Overall, I can't really say I recommend it because it's dumb, but I was strangely entranced by it.