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Film Reviews, page 6

  1. Pacific Rim: Uprising

    2018 film

    Watched 8 April 2018

    A far cry from the original’s simplicity and earnestness, but these giant robots still tickle my fancy. I had a blast watching it.

    The amount of distinct stuff happening in this movie is bonkers — it felt like an entire mecha anime series crammed into a couple of hours. I really wish it could have been made as a 10-hour TV show that actually took the time to linger and explore all those ideas.

  2. The Room

    2003 film

    Watched 3 March 2018

    I have no idea how to assign a rating to this, so I won’t.

    Schadenfreude aside, I mostly just wanted it to be over. Yet I’m somehow glad I watched it. I can understand why people latch onto it, but I’m not counting myself among them.

  3. Coco

    2017 film

    Watched 26 February 2018

    It’s almost impossible not to love this film — it’s adorable and wholesome and beautiful. I find it great to see Pixar’s push for diversity keep paying off, and their technical prowess keep noticeably improving, ever on a league of their own. The sheer vibrancy, scale, and depth of the design and animation work that went into this film is astounding.

    I cried on cue every time I was supposed to. The tearjerking formula is as effective as ever, yet feeling more and more predictable and manipulative, no matter how well-intentioned.

    Brad Bird says “animation is not a genre”, but I’m afraid Pixar movies might be turning into one — with very specific and recognizable themes, tropes, and character arcs. I’d really like to see a wider range of story types coming from Pixar, maybe even exploring the direction the excellent Borrowed Time short went in. Let’s see what Bird does with Incredibles 2 this year, though I’m not holding my breath for a revolution.

  4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    2017 film

    Watched 25 February 2018

    Sharp wit, fantastic acting, and all the panache of a big Oscar film. But story-wise, doesn’t seem like a particularly worthwhile exploration of any of the themes it presents — small-town America, anger, hate, blame, redemption — they’re treated heavy-handedly, often sacrificing depth for the sake of being funny or provocative (oh god, the daughter scene). That shallowness might be intentional, but it left no room for me to empathize with any of the characters.

  5. Lady Bird

    2017 film

    Watched 25 February 2018

    Instantly charming, emotionally charged, and flawed in all the right ways. A restrained, impeccably edited 90-minute runtime. I came in optimistic, but I never expected a perfect coming of age film.

  6. Thor: Ragnarok

    2017 film

    Watched 17 February 2018

    I appreciated the charm and levity that Taika Waititi brought to this film, but it wasn’t enough to shake the feeling I get from most Marvel movies: a deep emotional inconsequence and lack of introspection. And when Benedict Cumberbatch’s ridiculous character shows up for a completely unnecessary five minute scene, it’s blindingly obvious why that is — there can be no intimacy when every character has (or potentially will have) their own franchise begging for your attention.

  7. The Cloverfield Paradox

    2018 film

    Watched 5 February 2018

    Damn, what a trainwreck. This felt like a horribly mangled victim of production hell and committee-mandated rewrites. Seems quite obvious that it was dispatched to Netflix because of that, not as some kind of genius marketing ploy.

    I wish they’d just stuck with the Event Horizon-esque horror bits — those were at least fun and unexpected. Here’s hoping they forget this ever happened and get back to the anthology format that worked so well for the other movies.

  8. The Love Witch

    2016 film

    Watched 27 December 2017

    It’s rare that a film constructed around imitation can feel so original. Instead of using pastiche as a crutch, or as a trope to be subverted in some sort of twist, The Love Witch uses it seriously as a foundation, allowing it to serve a much deeper thematic purpose. It’s what binds everything together instead of being a joke waiting to be made.

    Everything about this film shows unwavering dedication and attention to detail. It’s all brimming with confidence. Casting and costume design are absolutely perfect. Lighting and color work are so well done they feel impossible to pull off in 2017. But my favorite detail has to be the cheekily obvious continuity errors in closeup shots. Lovely.

  9. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    2017 film

    Watched 20 December 2017

    Wacky and chaotic but always engaging and thematically sharp. Although the plot meanders, there is always something to find wherever it goes. Funnier and more profound than the classic Star Wars tone, but I think it manages to stretch the definition in a good way.

    Force Awakens felt like Same Old Star Wars; this one feels like New and Exciting Star Wars, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.

  10. Cars 3

    2017 film

    Watched 12 November 2017

    Works to redeem the series after the soulless Cars 2, but doesn’t go far enough to be something special by itself.

  11. Atomic Blonde

    2017 film

    Watched 8 November 2017

    Not as iconic, consistent, or memorable as John Wick (the comparison is inevitable). Thankfully the amazing Charlize Theron makes up for it, with little help: some mind-bending fight choreography and that silly title.

  12. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

    2017 film

    Watched 3 November 2017

    Like a stuck-in-time sequel to The Fifth Element, keeping all of its bad traits (overt sexism, shallow themes, a messy third act) and none of the good ones (unyielding goofiness, a confident screenplay, Jean Giraud’s iconic designs, Gary Oldman).

  13. The Babysitter

    2017 film

    Watched 22 October 2017

    Some fun moments peppered throughout (guess what, most are in the trailer), but overall a messy jumble of tired tropes and flat meta-jokes. Comes off more as a commoditised product than an authentic movie, showing more concern with being like, soo ironic!? than with actually developing a coherent storyline or characters.

  14. Blade Runner 2049

    2017 film

    Watched 5 October 2017

    Blade Runner "K" walks toward a desolate cityscape.

    Blade Runner is one of my all-time faves. Internet, I have opinions.

    First of all: thank you, Ridley Scott, for realising the reins needed to be handed over. And oh boy were they handed to exactly the right people. Denis Villeneuve one-ups Arrival with sheer ambition, and Roger Deakins turns in some of the most beautiful imagery I have ever seen in a film, period.

    I can see now why Villeneuve took such a risky job, at a time when sequels are so often aggressively received as “ruining the original” — the script is poignant and gracious, breathing even more life into the world of the first film, but standing on its own as a story worth telling. For all it does, it’s surprising how little it relies on the trappings of being a sequel.

    The atmosphere is chilling, sharpening a sense of existential dread and desperation; the original feels more curious and hopeful by comparison. The score handles this transition handsomely, if not as iconically as Vangelis’ 1982 masterpiece. I would love to hear Jóhann Jóhannsson’s take on it.

    As before, the world itself is a central character in the narrative, and it gets its fair share of character development: the art direction is delightfully obsessive in attention to detail, presenting brilliant solutions to retro-futuristic contradictions in design. The ’80s approach to futurism is built upon to read as soulful instead of dated, taking “the future is old” to new heights. I could have done without Jared Leto’s blue LED, though.

    Unfortunately, just like the theatrical cut of Blade Runner, there are a couple of flaws regarding exposition that I suspect come from studio meddling more than anything else. Here’s hoping we once again get a cleaned-up Director’s Cut.

    Like its predecessor, this is an intimate, haunting film, as well as a grandiose cinematic experience. After Ridley Scott’s own meandering Alien prequels, the concept of a new Blade Runner seemed like such a bad idea that this outcome feels nothing short of miraculous.