Several Capsule Movie Reviews
Sep. 30th, 2024 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipI sometimes like to journal capsule movie reviews (and occasionally long-form reviews). Whilst I have been to several in recent weeks, the opportunity hasn't really provided itself to mention these in-line with other posts. The following includes movies watched on flights travelling to and through China ("A Million Miles Away", "Peter Rabbit 2", "Ravi and the Last Dragon", "Barbie", and "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"), a visit to iMax with Ruby ("Gravity 3D"), and two visits to the Astor Theatre with Erica ("The Third Man") and Erica and Julie ("Megalopolis"). I must, as always, mention the deco glory that is the slightly dilapidated and Heritage-listed Astor Theatre, Melbourne's iconic 1936 single-screen cinema with dress circle and stalls. The place could only be improved by having a house cat again; Marzipan and Duke both were such a presence in the place and certainly left their mark, literally and metaphorically. On to the reviews - in reverse order of experience.
Francis Ford Coppola's newest work, "Megalopolis", is currently unloved by critics and viewers alike. Like "Blade Runner" (which also suffered the same fate) it is certainly overwhelming in setting, style, and narrative. This is a science fiction analogy of the fall of an Empire where New Rome replaces New York, where practicality is in conflict with visions and a magical conceit, where sensual hedonism contrasts against principles, all with a setting that is colourfully contemporary, noir deco, and classical, with a little dash of breaking the fourth wall. One even witnesses a dash of character development. I suspect that time will be a lot kinder to this audacious production; 4/5 stars from me.
Carol Reeds's "The Third Man", dating from 1949, is often considered one of the greatest films of all time. Set in postwar Vienna, it shows the richness of the buildings and chattels, juxtaposed with the evidence of wartime destruction and the grand sewer system. The protagonist, an American (who doesn't speak any German) searching for a friend, is a bit naff and thankfully there are several elements of humour. But there is a mystery of sorts to be solved, and the writer of penny-dreadful Westerns sets themself to the task. The romantic interest, Anna, played by the great Alida Valli is quite brilliant and the final scene reminds me far too much of the walk home to my old home in Willsmere. And what better place to see this film (apart from the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna State Opera) than the Astor? A great film, but somewhat over-rated despite my love for it; 4/5 stars.
Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity (2013) is a film best watched on the big screen and in 3D, and this is the second time in the past year that I've had the opportunity to watch it at iMax. The plot involves a just-trained astronaut facing a series of cascading failures and challenges, made additionally terrifying by the realistic representation of angular momentum, mass, and the sheer hostility to life confronted in space. Ruby, with her aesthetic insight, mentioned that the film was more frightening than anything in the "Aliens" series; which is why I suggested the film in the first place. A fictional story with scientific accuracy can more powerful than most science fiction. It is true that great art can produce fiction grander but true to fact, most fiction (especially sci-fi) fails woefully in this regard. I give this one 4.5/5 stars.
The original "Puss in Boots" (2011) was downright charming with its characterisation and development, a narrative that incorporated classic fairy-tale characters, and the sheer cattiness (pun intended) of it all, exemplified by the famous "dance fight" scene. In ""Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" (2022) as the eponymous Puss, down to his last life, is faced with his own mortality (and includes a very accurate panic attack scene). Whilst not quite up to the standard of the previous film in terms of sheer cuteness, there are a lot of brilliant lessons about gratitude, courage, and losing the fear of mortality, making it another "kids film that has a message for adults". Great (spoiler) quote: "I know I can never defeat you, Lobo. But I will never stop fighting for this life."; 3.5/5 stars.
Greta Gerwig's "Barbie"(2023) was the highest-grossing film of the year, with numerous awards and positive remarks from critics and fans. In many ways this is certainly deserved; billed as a comedy-fantasy, it does fulfill those requirements in a colourful and entertaining manner where once again Ryan Gosling manages to play an emotionally stunted doll successfully. The film makes fairly good use of the tropes that one should expect; the conflict between Barbie as oppressive versus liberating, the juxtaposition between the matriarchial Barbie-world and the patriarchial real-world, the disruption when the two mix, etc. Unfortunately, these all come across to me as far too simplistic and lacking lasting value; 2.5/5 stars.
Another nominal kid's cartoon film, "Raya and the Last Dragon" (2021), tells the tale of an Asiatic-styled fantasy world where dragons, missing for hundreds of years after sacrificing themselves to save their human allies from a monstrous species, the need to find the last dragon arises in the context of splintered and suspicious kingdoms. It wasn't a particularly complex theme, and the plot ran on rails (or, on a boat for the most part), the characters were pretty straightforward with comic relief, and there was nothing amazing about the animation. Playing for safety, however, there is nothing dramatically wrong about this film either. As a result, it's turned out pretty well; 3/5 stars.
Yet another kid's film on my list, "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" (2021), follows on from the delightful original, reconstructing of the famous characters from Beatrix Potter children's stories. The original was a beautiful romantic story, self-aware of its implausibility, and informative about lagomorph behaviour. This version, whilst keeping many of the charming characters from the original (and introducing many new ones), and providing a fast-paced action story, lacks a lot of the charm of the original. This is probably the only film on the list that I wouldn't bother watching again; 2/5 stars.
Based on the life of José Hernández, "A Million Miles Away" tells the story of an individual who starts in Mexico, is brought up with a family with irregular and piecemeal employment, but is utterly determined to become an astronaut. The failures are many, the challenges significant, and the story extended over decades of a person's life, but it's a feel-good story of one of those who from humble beginnings and the barrier of racism, achieves a certain greatness: 3.5/5 stars.
Francis Ford Coppola's newest work, "Megalopolis", is currently unloved by critics and viewers alike. Like "Blade Runner" (which also suffered the same fate) it is certainly overwhelming in setting, style, and narrative. This is a science fiction analogy of the fall of an Empire where New Rome replaces New York, where practicality is in conflict with visions and a magical conceit, where sensual hedonism contrasts against principles, all with a setting that is colourfully contemporary, noir deco, and classical, with a little dash of breaking the fourth wall. One even witnesses a dash of character development. I suspect that time will be a lot kinder to this audacious production; 4/5 stars from me.
Carol Reeds's "The Third Man", dating from 1949, is often considered one of the greatest films of all time. Set in postwar Vienna, it shows the richness of the buildings and chattels, juxtaposed with the evidence of wartime destruction and the grand sewer system. The protagonist, an American (who doesn't speak any German) searching for a friend, is a bit naff and thankfully there are several elements of humour. But there is a mystery of sorts to be solved, and the writer of penny-dreadful Westerns sets themself to the task. The romantic interest, Anna, played by the great Alida Valli is quite brilliant and the final scene reminds me far too much of the walk home to my old home in Willsmere. And what better place to see this film (apart from the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna State Opera) than the Astor? A great film, but somewhat over-rated despite my love for it; 4/5 stars.
Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity (2013) is a film best watched on the big screen and in 3D, and this is the second time in the past year that I've had the opportunity to watch it at iMax. The plot involves a just-trained astronaut facing a series of cascading failures and challenges, made additionally terrifying by the realistic representation of angular momentum, mass, and the sheer hostility to life confronted in space. Ruby, with her aesthetic insight, mentioned that the film was more frightening than anything in the "Aliens" series; which is why I suggested the film in the first place. A fictional story with scientific accuracy can more powerful than most science fiction. It is true that great art can produce fiction grander but true to fact, most fiction (especially sci-fi) fails woefully in this regard. I give this one 4.5/5 stars.
The original "Puss in Boots" (2011) was downright charming with its characterisation and development, a narrative that incorporated classic fairy-tale characters, and the sheer cattiness (pun intended) of it all, exemplified by the famous "dance fight" scene. In ""Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" (2022) as the eponymous Puss, down to his last life, is faced with his own mortality (and includes a very accurate panic attack scene). Whilst not quite up to the standard of the previous film in terms of sheer cuteness, there are a lot of brilliant lessons about gratitude, courage, and losing the fear of mortality, making it another "kids film that has a message for adults". Great (spoiler) quote: "I know I can never defeat you, Lobo. But I will never stop fighting for this life."; 3.5/5 stars.
Greta Gerwig's "Barbie"(2023) was the highest-grossing film of the year, with numerous awards and positive remarks from critics and fans. In many ways this is certainly deserved; billed as a comedy-fantasy, it does fulfill those requirements in a colourful and entertaining manner where once again Ryan Gosling manages to play an emotionally stunted doll successfully. The film makes fairly good use of the tropes that one should expect; the conflict between Barbie as oppressive versus liberating, the juxtaposition between the matriarchial Barbie-world and the patriarchial real-world, the disruption when the two mix, etc. Unfortunately, these all come across to me as far too simplistic and lacking lasting value; 2.5/5 stars.
Another nominal kid's cartoon film, "Raya and the Last Dragon" (2021), tells the tale of an Asiatic-styled fantasy world where dragons, missing for hundreds of years after sacrificing themselves to save their human allies from a monstrous species, the need to find the last dragon arises in the context of splintered and suspicious kingdoms. It wasn't a particularly complex theme, and the plot ran on rails (or, on a boat for the most part), the characters were pretty straightforward with comic relief, and there was nothing amazing about the animation. Playing for safety, however, there is nothing dramatically wrong about this film either. As a result, it's turned out pretty well; 3/5 stars.
Yet another kid's film on my list, "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" (2021), follows on from the delightful original, reconstructing of the famous characters from Beatrix Potter children's stories. The original was a beautiful romantic story, self-aware of its implausibility, and informative about lagomorph behaviour. This version, whilst keeping many of the charming characters from the original (and introducing many new ones), and providing a fast-paced action story, lacks a lot of the charm of the original. This is probably the only film on the list that I wouldn't bother watching again; 2/5 stars.
Based on the life of José Hernández, "A Million Miles Away" tells the story of an individual who starts in Mexico, is brought up with a family with irregular and piecemeal employment, but is utterly determined to become an astronaut. The failures are many, the challenges significant, and the story extended over decades of a person's life, but it's a feel-good story of one of those who from humble beginnings and the barrier of racism, achieves a certain greatness: 3.5/5 stars.