The Goods: Film Reviews
Still a biopic with too many biopic-y moments. But it’s David Lynch so there’s plenty of weirdness, dual-sided themes, and moral grayness. (Though it is the most conventional Lynch I’ve seen.) Looks amazing, sounds brilliant (Lynch was the sound engineer, too!).
The makeup/prosthesis is masterpiece-level, and John Hurt is phenomenal underneath it, too. Observing a person gradually emerge from something that looks so viscerally grotesque is the film’s greatest strength.
On the one hand, I might have over-binged on Woody Allen movies in the past three months. Some of his themes and rhythms of writing are starting to seem repetitive and shallow to the point I rolled my eyes a few times.
On the other hand, this a pretty marvelous art house drama. “Bergman-esque” is the term they use for this kind of morally complex retrospective style, I think. There’s also something almost spiritual about the central gimmick: a woman overhearing another woman’s confession in a nearby shrink’s office, but what she hears feels so personal that it almost reads as a reflexive hallucination. (The young psych patient’s name is “Hope” for crying out loud.)
Gena Rowlands is amazingly controlled throughout a movie that asks her to do a LOT. And Allen is, against all odds, a better director than a writer at this point, I think. The camera holds an intense gaze that amplifies the film’s themes.
It’s quite groggy in its pacing and energy, but the emotional threads teased out are remarkably sharp, especially Allen’s increasingly cynical view of marriage always dying a slow, wheezing death.
Listen, I get why most of you rate this lower than Spirited Away or Totoro or Princess Mononoke.
One of those movies so good and rich and unique that it’s tough to figure out where to start. Every scene has stuff to admire and unpack. Its brand of black comedy and violent crime story works magically.
But the main sensation I felt watching this time was chilly emotional exhaustion. (It’s the rare movie that feels longer than its runtime and that’s a marker of good filmmaking.) So many of the characters, and subsequent plot points, are really bleak and pathetic.
What a delight. Chaplin in fine form, with one sketch after another that plays to the setting well. (A high-wire monkey attack is, in particular, chaotic perfection.) There’s also a strong undercurrent of reflection on the life of performer and authenticity in entertainment, and an ending unusually bittersweet for early/mid-Chaplin.
I love the tone, aesthetic, soundtrack, and premise. I wanted to fall for this film. Such a shame about the script, though…
This and Eighth Grade and Lady Bird are out here really making me feel how difficult and awful it is to be a teenage girl. I just want to be a dad who knows the right balance of space and support to give his girls when they’re this age.
I love that this movie did not hold back in making Nadine erratic and unpleasant, but still made you feel and root for her. Credit the rock-solid screenplay and, especially, Steinfeld’s amazing performance.
September is a minor Woody Allen drama, though there is plenty to like.
Whoa, hold on… against every preconceived instinct of mine, Boss Baby is actually really good.
Saw this one with both my daughters at an Alamo Drafthouse screening. My almost-4-year old was shattered by the story of a kid separated from his family; it was the first time I saw her cry during a movie since Finding Nemo. Her palpable relief at their reunion in the ending was contagious to her daddy.
This is a surprisingly bleak and detailed look at immigrant life in late-19th century New York City. I found much of it quite good, especially in the first half when the story focused on Fievel. The second half, centered around an uprising against cats (kinda-sorta pro-unionization parable?) isn’t quite as rich or emotional.
The songs are hit-or-miss (“Somewhere Out There” is an all-timer, while the one with the friendly cat is completely disposable). The animation is quite good, especially the use of color. Hues range from gloomy bluish-brownish-gray to an almost amber-tinted warmth.
And the patriotic tone actually feels earned as the movie acknowledges the flaws and darkness of our country; that it could still settle on a message of hope is inspiring.