Movie Night- Silence

1/11/2017

Silence 

Silence is the new film directed by the great Martin Scorsese and is about two Catholic priests who travel to Japan in search for their mentor who has been to said to have apostatized in public. The worship and practice of the Judaeo-Christian faith has been outlawed in Japan and many of the priests and worshipers are being tortured and even killed. 

First off I have to say, this film is beyond incredible. I had extremely high expectations for this film going in and it surpassed all of my hopes for it. It is a somber, powerful film, that I would recommend to anyone. The performances in this film are all excellent, the stand outs being Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver whom both deserve Oscar nominations for their work. All of the Japanese actors also give great performances, especially Tadanobu Asano and Issei Ogata who play "the interpreter" and "the grand inquisitor" respectively. The cinematography is also breath-taking. Ranging from the gorgeous Taiwanese country sides which fill in for Japan to the many interior scenes. Every shot is perfectly lit and framed by the amazing Rodrigo Prieto who is one of the best DP's working today. 

This film has been in development for around 25 years, and it shows. Martin Scorsese says that he wasn't capable as a director until this point in his career and I agree. While the films second act can drag and has slight pacing issues, this film is perfect.Silence is my favorite Scorsese film since Goodfellas, and considering this mans filmography that is quite the statement. This film explores themes like the implications of martyrdom, what is faith and what is vanity, being persecuted for your beliefs, etc. It will challenge you as an audience member and will stay in your thoughts for a while. It is a powerhouse of art and pure emotion, and when the credits rolled, I had to sit for a second and let the film sink in. Seek out this film and see it yourself, I implore you. 

10/10

Movie Night- Suicide Squad

8/10/2016

Suicide Squad 

Between Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and Ghostbusters; It seems like having an opinion about films has become really controversial this year. The disconnect between movie critics and standard film audiences seems to be growing larger every year, and having an opinion either way has become a cause for massive backlash. People need to understand that giving your opinion on a piece of art is just their perspective and what they got out of it. You might have a completely different feeling of a film and that's a good thing. Always rely on your own opinion regardless of mass consensus or differing views. While I will be giving you my opinion about this film like I do with every film, you should still see it for yourself before you give an opinion either way. In my opinion, this movie was a flat out mess. 

There are a few positives about the film that do deserve some recognition. Will Smith did a fairly good job in this film, even though he did just feel like a standard Will Smith character. He never really went for it and there were no scenes I thought he really shined in, but he did do a good job. Margot Robbie also did a really good job as Harley Quinn. She instantly connected with audiences and made the character likable but never too sympathetic. I also really liked the character of Diablo played by Jay Hernandez. Diablo had an interesting pathos that made for a fairly well handled character arc. Overall with a few exceptions the film was well casted but that's all I can really say positively. 

Now I have to talk about the things I did not like, because there are a lot of them. The editing of this was all over the place and the film never had a cohesive flow to it. Scenes came and went never feeling important or having a sense of urgency to them. They mashed in so many random pop songs in the first act that felt so out of place you can tell they weren't added until much later. The songs never fit the film, or even the scene for that matter, feeling sloppy and gimmicky. The film was shot so indifferently it never once contained a cool or interesting shot. The writing of the film was cringe-worthy and awkward. I have no idea how this screenplay was approved. When the film you praise to be the more fun and entertaining entry in your universe fails at humor, then you have failed. The directing seems to be completely missing from the final product, and I believe that is because DC and Warner Bros cannot help but interfere with a completely natural process like directing. There never seems to be a clear voice or a single directorial touch. It feels like a movie directed by a committee of board members.

Everyone has been giving their opinion on the new Joker portrayed by Jared Leto, and mine is pretty indecisive. I have to give him credit for trying to be different from Ledger, Nicholson, and Hamill; but he seems to be going too far off the mark. While he isn't in the film long and the lines he was given were not the best, I can't completely fault him for this movie. But by far the worst performance in the movie was that of Cara Delevingne as Enchantress. Her performance was completely laughable and didn't work in the slightest way. Considering she was the main villain of the film and not only was she not menacing, she was down-right ridiculous. When your main villain inspires more fear, immediacy, or clear motivation your movie loses any and all tension.

This movie was all over the place. The editing was amateur. The acting was all over the place, either good or terrible. The writing was embarrassing, which is shocking considering David Ayer wrote Training Day as well. I do not personally see the appeal that fans of this movie are raving about. I was not expecting much from this movie, but it surprised  me how bad it ended up being. 

3/10

Movie Night- Cafe Society

8/3/2016

Cafe Society 

Going into this screening today I couldn't necessarily say that I was very excited. I saw the trailer for this film a few months prior and thought it would be your standard yearly submission from Woody Allen. While I have a lot of respect for Woody Allen and I would not even say he's made a bad film, most of his films are good yet forgettable. Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Midnight In Paris are really good films, but those are the only ones I really like from his filmography. Well I now have to add Cafe Society to that list. 

I was genuinely surprised on how much I ended up enjoying this film. From the opening shot until the final credits I was thoroughly entertained. First let's discuss the cast of the film because everyone completely nailed their performances. Jesse Eisenberg returned to what he does best after the disastrous Lex Luther we received earlier this year, playing the awkward yet endearing main character. Steve Carell, Kristen Stewart, and Blake Lively all did great work as well. While I can't say that any performance was outstanding or all that spectacular, every actor and actress fit their role like a glove and helped make the film more investing. The cinematography was also very well handled by the excellent cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. The two cities of New York and Los Angeles feel very different due to lighting and setting. The film overall looks great, helping lend to the comforting feeling Woody Allen is known for. Obviously the stand out component of the film is Woody Allen, who delivers a film that felt familiar but fresh. His writing is entertaining and snappy as it always is but he also wrote some fairly engaging characters. I found the characters relatable but not overly realistic and serious, which would've totally conflicted with the story. Woody Allen excels at directing as well having a great sense of pacing and overall direction. He knows when to have funny dialogue to entertain the audience and he knows when to insert a slightly more serious scene. The film is never melodramatic but it does allow for relatability.

There are a couple flaws with the film however, but never enough to weigh down the film completely. While I did praise the film for the cast filling their roles well, it felt sort of predictable and safe. The story never really surprises you and doesn't take many risks. The film also meandered a bit in the third act and slowed the film down a tad. 

Cafe Society is a very competent film, but don't let it's subtleties fool you. It's an entertaining film that has great dialogue and really good characters. While it very much feels like a Woody Allen film, it wasn't the goal to try something experimental or daring. It was enjoyable and is now one of my favorites by Allen. 

7/10

Movie Night- Lights Out

7/25/2016

Lights Out

A few months ago while watching YouTube videos an advertisement for an upcoming horror film came on. While watching this trailer I had a feeling I'd seen this before and then the title of the film came on and I realized it was based on a short film I'd seen on YouTube a few years ago. I thought that it was really awesome that someones short film that was uploaded to the internet garnered enough attention to be able to make a full length feature. I thought the short film was fairly well-made and did stick with me for a while. I have to say though, this might be one of the most forgettable films I've seen all year.

First let's start out with some of the positives because there are a few. The concept of how this ghost works is kinda creative and does produce a couple of awesome horror moments. The performances in the movie were all very serviceable as well; not great or terrible but very moderate. The film, while short, also had good pacing to it. It never dragged and the film never really lost focus. The last thing I want to mention is the ending was actually surprising. I was not blown away by the end but I did respect the guts it had to go there. 

Now let's discuss the flaws this film had that really pulled me out of the experience. The concept of the ghost, while imaginative and cool, was wasted numerous times in the movie. Instead of using it correctly and delivering genuine scares it opts out and chooses to be very generic horror.  Also some of the logic and the rules of the ghost were unclear as well. It seemed the script really bended some of the rules a lot to further the story. The characters were also very bland as well and you never really felt attached to any of them. The screenplay really limited the audiences ability to care about anyone and due to this, the ending didn't carry as much weight as it could have.

By far my biggest flaws with the film were how predictable and generic it was. It was very frustrating to watch at times because the film had so much potential to be way more terrifying than it turned out. The concept of this film was so cool and the way the ghost worked could've made for a much more gratifying experience. There were times when the movie set up a scare that might have been much more effective but it chose to cheapen the film by just going for standard boring jump scare that did not scare me at all. Even some of the sound design in the movie was very well done but it was in service of such a mediocre movie. 

While I do respect this film for some of it's elements, I ultimately left the theater very disappointed. I also understand that this is this directors first feature, but his short films are crafted pretty well that I wonder were the talent went for this movie. It's a horror film that had potential but never scared me once and is honestly quite forgettable. 

4/10

Movie Night- Aliens

7/18/2016

Aliens

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies.

So this is a fairly strange coincidence I found myself in last night. After I got home from work I told my mom I was in the mood to watch Aliens. We watched it and then I looked up the film on IMDb to see when the film came out. Turns out the film came out exactly 30 years later to the day today. So I figured it's been a while since I last wrote a retro review and what better time to talk about one of the best sequels of all time. 

In case you're one of the poor souls who hasn't seen this movie, it is a sequel to the amazing Ridley Scott film Alien. While watching this film again last night, I was in awe of how well it still holds up. This film came out 30 years ago and it's paced, shot, and executed with much more skill than most action films out today. I cannot stress this enough, this films sets, costuming, and creature design were all incredible. Granted a lot of that is due to H.R. Giger's masterful work on the first film, but it does a lot of great things on it's own as a sequel. 

If you have never seen Alien before it is a science-fiction horror film with great characters and amazing atmosphere. It is very slow paced and builds tension at a more steady rate. So James Cameron directing a sequel to that film and it being and action film could've turned out horribly. Aliens could've been a schlocky revisiting of this world with amazing story potential. The thing that elevates this film however is actors who really invest into their characters, and a writer/director who respects the material and genuinely knows what he is doing. James Cameron shows how well he can build tension here, and not in the same style as Alien did. Putting his characters in situations that increasingly put them at more and more of a disadvantage. Using music only when necessary and leaving silence at the right moments. The practical effects and incredible action sequences are so well-helmed that it still blows my mind that this film was released 30 years ago.

As I previously mentioned the cast all do some of their best if not their best work in Aliens. Bill Paxton is perfect as the whiny Marine Hudson, delivering the humor of the movie but never feeling like a cartoon. Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn also do very good work in the film as Hicks and Newt. But the film completely belongs to Sigourney Weaver who during this film became in my opinion one of the most bad ass characters in film history. She is an amazing female lead who goes from random commercial flight officer to the fiercest character in a film of soldiers. 

While I do love the film, there are flaws. The films story follows a bit too closely to the original, especially in the third act. It would be fine if it did different things t the end, but it was way too similar. Also, while I admire the films slower pacing in the beginning, it does take a while for the real story to start. There are also a couple of things that bothered me that were missing from the story in the theatrical version, but they're cleared up in the director's cut. So if you have the opportunity to watch the director's cut, watch that one. 

Overall, this is not only one of my favorite action movies of all time, it's one of my favorite films of all time. While I personally do prefer the first Alien when comparing the two, I give this film a massive amount of respect for what it accomplished. The film holds up very well and if you have never seen it before I highly recommend you watch this one. 

9/10

Movie Night- Ghostbusters (2016)

7/16/2016

Ghostbusters (2016)

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

Where do I even begin with a review like this? The most disliked movie trailer in YouTube history and a reboot of one of my favorite comedies ever made. While I try to go into every movie as objective as possible, there is an obvious amount of subjectivity when going in to see this film. Is it the worst film ever? No. Is it a comedy that is worthy of the Ghostbusters name? Not really. I have to state right now that I didn't hate this film and it's not the worst film ever. People who state that this film is the worst ever haven't seen many bad films. I wouldn't necessarily say I even liked this film, I feel fairly indifferent about Ghostbusters.

Let's talk about some of the things that worked or I respected about the film. The cast, while starting out sort of choppy, had fairly good chemistry with one another. You can feel the cast and crew having a genuine fun time filming. While I wasn't a fan of the ghosts appearance, I did respect their efforts to make them look different from the original films ghosts. While I wasn't a huge fan of the film, I do have some respect for what they tried to do. 

Now, let's talk about some of the negatives with this movie, and I'll try to remain as fair as possible. So many of the jokes for me did not land, and some of the jokes were pretty cringe-worthy to me. While I recognize that humor is fairly subjective, this review is my opinion. The original film had very dry humor and was delivered by some of the best comedic performers of the time. Another thing that seriously bothered me is some of the forced cameos and references to the original film. While I won't spoil them in this review, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you see the film. I found myself rolling my eyes at a few points at how unnatural it felt. Some of the performances also fell very flat as well, particularly that of Chris Hemsworth. Whether it was his performance or the writing of his character, he felt so outlandish that the suspension of disbelief went right out the window. I did mention earlier that the ghosts look was very courageous but it looked really, really ridiculous. And the third act of this film was just very over the top. While visually impressive, it felt hallow and lacked any dramatic tension. I wasn't emotionally invested in the third act at all and that was due to the lack of tension. 

While I wanted to go into more specifics about what bothered me, I want to keep my reviews spoiler free. This film didn't work for me all that well but I can see the appeal this film had. I don't even want to say this film is bad because I don't see it as a bad film. The budget and the respect was present but the executed film was not to my liking. I recommend you check out the film yourself and judge it on it's merits. I don't see the point of remaking this film in the first place. The point of a reboot is to make a better film than the original and they didn't come close.

4/10

Movie Night- Anomalisa

7/9/2016

Anomalisa 

Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing.  With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies. 

Anomalisa is a film I heard a lot of things about last year but never had the opportunity to see. By the time 2016 rolled around the film slipped my mind and I sort of forgot about it until I saw the Blu-Ray at Best Buy and knew I had to finally check it out. The film is written by arguably the best screenwriter working today; Charlie Kaufman. His films are very complexly written and I wanted to write my review after I had seen it twice rather than just after one viewing. I watched the film about two weeks ago and today I finally re-watched it. 

First thing I have to say is this film is brilliant, sincerely brilliant. After my first viewing I noticed I had seen something very special but after my second watch I picked up a lot more subtext and subtleties that make me want to watch it a third time and many more subsequent times. It wasn't to my surprise how brilliant this films screenplay was because it was written by Kaufman who's works include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Synecdoche, New York. His films are all genuine masterpieces and this one absolutely lived up to the hype. 

As the IMDb description reads; A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. That's all I really want to say about the plot because while the film isn't necessarily spoil-able, it is better going in not knowing too much. Some of the choices made in the story are very unique and will make for a better experience if you go in as blind as I did. 

The film is created using stop-motion animation and boy did the visuals blow me away. The cinematography here is excellent and you can really feel the films care for this genre. Long takes with stop motion would takes months to create and the slightest mis-step could've taken even longer to fix. Although CG animation is very beautiful and does take a lot of hard work, seeing a movie created in this fashion is very refreshing. The voice acting is also striking as well. David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh both do remarkable jobs in the film and make their characters feel so real you at times forget it's only a puppet on screen. Duke Johnson was brought in to co-direct due to his experience in stop-motion animation. Johnson and Kaufman direct this film with precision that is genuinely Oscar worthy which is amazing since this is Johnson's first full length feature film. 

Not to sound like a broken record, but the main thing that makes me love this film so much is the screenplay. The script of this film and really the film itself manages to convey a lot of authentic character emotion as well as make statements about humanity itself. Many critics have stated that this is one of the most human movies ever made and I cannot agree more. The substance in the screenplay leaves me in awe as I sit here thinking about it's contents. It has so much to say about love, relationships, actual connections with people, and the overall human experience. Anomalisa manages to hit all these notes while still feeling very cohesive and straight-forward enough to keep a general audience on board. While this isn't his most outlandish film, it is still a bit strange at first. 

This has been occupying my thoughts for weeks now and after my second viewing it created more thoughts that will stick with me for even longer. Anomalisa is so breath-taking while also remaining quite subtle, thanks to it's figurative and sub-textual storytelling. Had I seen this last year, it would've easily made my number one spot on my top ten list. This film is a masterpiece and you should seek it out as soon as possible. 

10/10