Tag: review

Martin Scorsese’s Silence is about religion in Japan and also about faith in God. How far will one go to preach the Gospel? Are you still holy if you don’t follow the faith faithfully every day of your life?

I’ve been silent on this film for several weeks now since I saw it at the theatre back in January. It is a difficult film to understand. At first, it is a straight story about missionary priests in Japan fighting to bring the Church to a country which is actively hostile to their teachings. Then you wonder why the country is so antithetical to the religion. Is it because of how it brings hope to the lowest in society? Or is it because the Japanese at the time where prejudiced against the West?

It is a film that asks us about our faith but also about our own prejudice. Should we all be so humble in life? And so strong in our faith.

There was a character who kept failing to not renounce Christ — the Japanese doubting Thomas. To avoid persecution, he would deny that he was a believer. Yet, he kept coming back to the faith. Was he faithful or faithless?

The priests who renounced Christ, the ending revealed that maybe he was still a man of Christ. Was he faithful or faithless?

In the end, it is redemption that is available to all of Christ’s children.

3 of 5 stars.

Last week, I downloaded the soundtrack to 20th Century Women. It is a mix of big band, punk, New Wave, and a film score. The punk/New Wave stuff occurred in the late 70s/early 80s just as I was a kid. The film’s sound track made me remember my youth.

20th Century Woman is about a young precocious kid who lives with his carefree mom and her tenants in Santa Barbara of the late 70s. The kid lives his life amongst three women: his mom, a slightly older neighbor girl, and one the punky tenants who has survived ovarian cancer. His mom is in her forties but grew up during the war period. His neighbor is a flibbertigibbet, sleeps around, but always ends up sleeping in the kids bed. The punky tenant is living a life she wants to live. That’s how he becomes such a punk himself. The film is autobiographical take on the director’s life.

I really liked this film. I would’ve given this 5 stars, but I can’t because that rating is for films that are truly awesome. This one isn’t that awesome, but I do think it is one of the best films I’ve seen in several years. Assume that it has a 3/4 stars extra.

4 of 5 stars.

Natalie Portman portrays the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie. It was a film about the first lady in the months after the assassination of the President, her husband, in Dallas. It is an account of the widow making her husband’s legacy mythic. It is a story too sad a tragedy.

As I watched it, I felt for America. Not because of the Kennedy assassination, but because of Trump. The film portrays the institution of the White House and the Presidency with reverence. It builds it up as an American myth. It is ours as Americans because we can be so much better than our selves can be. That’s what she said they strived for. Now we’ve got Trump and a First Lady that can not barely match the majesty of the past First Ladies. We are ridiculous for electing them.

3 of 5 stars.

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.