Tag: review

Manchester by the Sea is like many indie films. It deals with death, going back home, reconciling relationships, and morose characters.

In this one, it follows Casey Affleck’s character who comes back to Manchester by the Sea to bury his brother. He had left the town because he found that it reminded him of his dead children. He left his wife there. He comes home to help his nephew become the man of the house. Affleck’s character doesn’t like dealing with these things, but he grows a bit to handle the pressure. He must become a better person for his nephew, and he must become human again.

Like many indie films, this one flits from one vignette to another to highlight Affleck’s character. It also uses flash backs to show us that he wasn’t always so remorse. It was the town that made him such, and returning to it will help him heal. The town is a third character. Each scene makes us follow Affleck’s character. He is who he is because of the town.

I’m sure I’ve seen many films like this one before. It had all the hallmarks of indie-ness. You’ve seen one then you’ve seen them all.

3 of 5 stars.

In this day and golden age of television, it takes a film like Damien Chazelle’s La La Land to help define today’s cinema. Television can’t pull off a story like this because of its serial nature. Cinema does because it compacts a terrific story into a shorter run time. Let’s forget about the super hero and connected universe movies, a one shot, self-contained movie is great to have once in a while.

I had to give into the movie in order to love it. It starts with traffic wherein the stranded motorists break into dance. Neither one of the protagonists do; they are busy honking and minding their own business. Then the film follows each protagonist to their destiny as a couple. The female lead is an actress working at the studio backlot coffee shop serving the movie stars. The male is a jazz pianist chasing his dream of pure musicianship and a club to express it. They meet because of a few bars he plays during a Christmas show. We have to follow these fools in love as they balance their artistic ambition with their love for the other.

This is a musical. There is singing and dancing. There is wonderful scenery. There is also wistfulness for Los Angeles of old as captured in film: Singing in the Rain, A Rebel Without A Cause, etc. Any film that loved or showcased LA is here as well.

I really liked this film. It was probably the best movie I saw this year. It was refreshing to see something like this in the theaters. Films need to be accessible, fresh, and fun to make people want to see them. This one is.

4 of 5 stars.

Office Christmas Party needed more mayhem like the mayhem in Project X. It only had like 45 minutes of mayhem, and it spent a majority of time in an actual story. Too bad. I would love to have spent the time at the party that destroyed the office. It would’ve been a great Christmas present.

Meh. This is another movie that will show up on TBS during the holidays. Or maybe IFC so that we can get the expletives. Watching this makes me want to become Muslim. Don’t watch it.

2 of 5 stars.

I doubt the book version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is any better than the movie. In fact, I think the book version is just an encyclopedia. Now how did that get made into a movie? Money had to be involved.

J.K. Rowling is looking to make lots of money. She’s spinning out more and more of the Harry Potter world. This is just the first step. I believe they’ll make more movies. Hopefully, they would be as good as the first one.

This one finds Eddie Redmayne, as Newt Scamander, the fictional wizardly writer of the eponymous book. He’s come to America to do some research and work with fantastical beasts. He runs afoul of the American wizarding community. Unlike the Brits, American wizards hide themselves away from the nomajs — normal humans. But doesn’t the British wizards hide, too? Yeah anyway, he comes to America and immediate gets involved in the followers of the dark arts who are trying to unleash mayhem in America. Just like he who should not be named. It is up to Newt to find the fantastical beasts and stop the dark ones.

I thought it was an interesting extension to Harry Potter universe. It’s going to be interesting. I especially was intrigued of the wizarding in America. Need more.

3 of 5 stars.

Allied will be to Brad Pitt’s relationship as Mr. and Mrs. Smith had been. You will be too busy thinking about his love life than the movie. In fact, you would rather be thinking about his love life than this movie. You’ll get more satisfaction.

Not sure if I should’ve started this review with that. I don’t really believe that it was the case. The movie is fine. Brad’s love life isn’t. Let’s save that for the tabloids. Let’s watch movies without that baggage.

Anyhow, the film would be better if you don’t think about it.

But yes, this one is about a man who thinks his wife could be a Nazi. In simpler times, Hollywood would make these movies over and over again. A simple quick movie with some star caliber and a nice clean simple story.

It’s a serviceable film. Neither good nor bad. Just a film to watch on an autumn day.

3 of 5 stars.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a Friday matinee of The Handmaiden when it suddenly turned into an very erotic film bordering on pornography. The theatre was almost empty. When I entered I smugly chose the middle seat four rows up in the same row as an older couple. One more gentleman entered before screening and another, an employee, came in halfway through the film. Next thing we know, the female protagonists where in a very naked embrace. Me likey. As one of them went down on the other and declared, as she stared enthralled at her partner, how beautiful it was, I just shook my head in agreement. Dang I haven’t seen a movie like this in a while.

The Handmaiden is about the con. It about a pickpocket who gets a job as the personal maid of an upper crust lady. She’s in cahoots with a swindler who is trying to woo the lady. Except it’s not. It’s about a lady who can not stand her life under her domineering uncle and is looking for a way out. She’s in cahoots with the swindler to find a body double to kill so that she can run away scot free. I’m sorry if you read those sentences and think I spoiled it for you. I didn’t. It’s pretty twisted and convoluted that you will enjoy the story.

The big thing to say about this film is the sex. It is very real. I wonder how it was filmed. It must’ve been a very closed set. This isn’t your average porno shoot with porno stars. These are real Korean actresses. It’s wonder. If you need a taste of it, go look for erotic Japanese woodcuts. The scenes were filmed with them in mind. They mostly looked as though the director wanted to bring them to life. It’s all highly erotic work.

But the story is good as well. Nice and twisty. Very noir-ish. It will keep you wondering. Overall, it reminds me of another slightly lesbian erotic thriller, Bound.

I feel like seeing it again.

4 of 5 stars.

The title of the story from which the film, Arrival, is based on is “Story of Your Life.” Now does that sound like a science fiction movie to you? No. But it is a science fiction type of story. Also, that title should give you a clue on what type of movie you about to see. Arrival doesn’t. It connotes alien invasion. The original story title connotes a more intimate story, which is how the movie played.

The story is about a linguist given the duty to decipher the language of aliens who’ve just arrived. She needs to solve the mystery of why. Or the world will start shooting.

From the get go, the film was an intimate story. It started with what looked to be a flash back, but in the end may have been a premonition. Or it could’ve been the present. You see it was all time based. Now. Then. Tomorrow. Today. Past. Present. Future. What she and us experienced is the now — the story of my life.

As the movie ended and I was leaving, this gentlemen looked me directly in the eye and said definitively, “That movie sucked!” Yes. It is a divisive film because it wasn’t sold correctly. People wanted alien invasion, but it was a story about the linguist and her life. They should’ve never changed the title, but I understand because who will watch a science fiction film that is an intimate story.

I think it will enter the cannon of great science fiction movies, but that will take some time.

3 of 5 stars.

Ben Affleck as The Accountant is Forrest Gump if he decided to learn to shoot something. Affleck’s Accountant is both a lethal killing machine and a skillful number cruncher. Why? Because his dad was a psych warfare general and forced his autistic son to be a badass at numbers and at kicking butt.

It was an okay movie. It had a nice twist at the end. I would like to see the accountant take on John Wick.

3 of 5 stars.