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Reviews
Repeat (2021)
Good Acting Implausible Script
Joshua Ford and Tom England were so good in the 2019 film Cosmos that I found and watched their 2021 film Repeat as well. The acting is very good but the plot details are absolutely implausible and I'm not referring to the idea of communicating with the departed; quite the converse, I'm referring to the premise in the movie that the protagonist's work finding a reliable scientific way to communicate with the dead is hardly noticed at all by the public or fellow scientists. In actuality, such efforts and research would make worldwide headlines (even if it was quackery), so that aspect of the film, that his work was only know to a handful of visitors to his public demonstrations, was not credible. Also that the low-budget "equipment" he was using was clearly car boot sale junk was somewhat detracting from the film, although that in itself was overcome by the excellent acting and was mostly overlooked at least by this reviewer. Additionally his use of radioactive materials for his machine pilfered from a storeroom while not in and of itself unbelievable, becomes unbelievable due to again small but important details, such as storage and transport in an unmarked petrol jerrycan, and "holding a mask on his face", rather than actually wearing it properly, and mild radiation symptoms where actually he would be seriously ill in hours or days, was also very thin on attention to believeability. So this movie was not the best vehicle for the excellent talents of the actors and actresses who all turned in very good performances. Watchable but not believable.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
The Matrix Rebranded
An modestly engaging movie that against all reason achieves suspension of disbelief punctuated by moments when the viewer cannot help but realize this movie is utterly ridiculous. For example sustained gun battles with 3 figure body counts but no sign whatsoever of Paris gendarmes, ever, not even once. No one out on Paris streets except John Wick and endlessly hapless hit men wThis movie is Wily E. Coyote vs Roadrunner elevated to the grandeur of "Vger" from Star Trek The Movie. Harking to the Matrix, we have Laurence Fishburne reprising his role as Neo's (John's) "facilitator" and we have Clancy Brown as "The Harbinger" remarkably similar in look, feel and stature to Helmut Bakaitis as "The Architect" in the Matrix replicating a role as an "above it all" Master of Ceremonies, and Bill Skarsgard as The Marquis, a role very similar in look, feel and stature to Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian, as a very high ranking cog and straw man. And yet this movie John Wick 4 was engaging, which is troubling, because it is just nonstop violence at times on the level and filmed exactly like Call of Duty or GTA etc. It also shows people who have been shot several times speaking normally apparently immune to the immediate unconsciousness that follows massive blood loss and blood pressure drop. Also endless scenes of people jumping back up after collisions with objects, falling 3 stories onto pavement, being hit head on by a fast moving automobiles, etc etc that in reality would put people in hospital with life changing injuries and certain unconsciousness/death, not momentary hangovers that pass in a few seconds, with no broken bones. Basically a remake of the Matrix but stripped down to nonstop fighting with some mainstream noble subplots to lend a veneer of humanity to the project. Quite an accomplishment to package up terrible goings on into engaging funl. The final battle is a huge extended extravaganza with much in common with the original Gladiator movie, wherein The Marquis cheats to have John Wick "pre-weakened and softened-up, and the biblical references "invoked" by "The Harbinger" in the immediate prelude to the final battle were not appropriate appropriations by the makers of this grinding violence for profit film. What makes this movie work pretty well is that the viewer can disregard any of the trite plot scaffolding since this is obviously nonstop unrealistic fantasy action, so as a viewer you are released from caring about plot and can just remain detached and amused at this nearly 3 hours of watching Wily E. Coyotes get run over by Roadrunner ("meep meep") John Wick's freight trains over and over and over, and no matter how many times flattened 2-dimensional Wily E Coyote gets up off the pavement, Roadrunner just gets him again.
Le bon plaisir (1984)
Hauntingly Beautiful Movie
Le Bon Plaisir is simultaneously tense yet relaxed. It's a tribute to the skill of the team that made this film. I can hardly find words to describe. It must literally be seen and heard to be experienced. Not to be missed. A Masterpiece of detached plot development where outcomes and impacts are not neither anticipated nor expected. The movie has a solid plotline, and yet the movie seems to flutter aimlessly in the wind like a flag on a day of gentle puffs of wind. There's an other worldly quality to this film for which I can't yet find a verbal description, but I will try. It's as if the characters are playing themselves in the movie and are aware they are playing themselves and are aware of the impending outcomes of their actions and machinations but are inexorably destined to play out the action over and over like marionettes. It's a very haunting effect.
A Living Dog (2019)
Surprisingly Good
It's hard to write a review for this movie because it's hard to figure out why A Living Dog works as well as it does. One minor question that I haven't yet sorted out is why it's called "A Living Dog." There is a living dog who makes a very brief appearance in silhouette only but I guess that the movie name has additional meaning. I think one thing that is very interesting is that movie transcends the cliches it references and employs: the "Terminator Machines" and the apocalypse details are referenced with brief "yada yada yada" nods. We are given just enough info to "get the lowdown". So the movie ultimately transcends it's own plot, doesn't get caught up in it's own details. It actually has a kinship in my humble opinion with The Verdict (1982) directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Paul Newman. The male protagonist is a kind of silent Frank Galvin character reciting to himself "There are no other cases, this is the case."
Wide Blue Yonder (2010)
Uneven movie that produces Powerful Scenes Unexpectedly
I almost turned off Wild Blue Yonder (aka All at Sea) which atm is available to watch free with an Amazon Prime membership. It started out unneccessarily slapstick dark humor with very implausible scenes such as illegally appropriating a coffin complete with its deceased occupant and then placing the coffin in the back of a pickup truck and "stealing it" from a already-in-progress cemetery service. There is a need for suspension of disbelief in most movies, and the early scenes were over the top. And yet I stuck with this film mostly because of the unexpected appearance of James Fox early in the film, who happens to be an actor I like, and then also because of Lauren Bacall, and I'm SO GLAD i did stick with this movie.
Alot of the movie continues in this slapstick over the top fashion, but as I am 60 y/o myself, I was able to forgive the slapstick and categorize it as overstated metaphors whether intended or unintended, for the teriible dilemmas of getting old and losing self-determination by degrees, and the way younger people usurp the rights of the "walking-elderly" even when they are still quite lucid and capable, solely because they disapprove of a viewpoint or a conduct. I don't want to overstate that element of the film - it's pretty lighthearted fun really - but there are relevant aging themes of course that are handled quite well through this slapstick yet dramatic mechanism.
Where the movie really shines unexpectedly and very movingly, is in the intermittent and very expressive scenes between Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as "Nina" and her soulmate. Kåre Conradi as Ben. These scenes have a very "Mamma Mia" vignette-type quality to them, and these are actually little "mini-movies" of their own, as they totally independent scenes, not rich in storyline, but bursting with richness in visual imagery, the counterpoint of youth to aged, and the narrative of how some of the young come to the aid of the elderly on the terms of the elderly. This dynamic in the movie does a great job of contrasting those who would suppress the elderly with those who seem to be aware that they too will one day be elderly, and are paying it forward even as they celebrate their youth. I don't want to say too much about the exact details of this other thread about Nina and Ben except to say that it salvage and empower this movie to reclaim a measure of greatness.
The movie imho is metaphorical and allegorical, and if you watch the whole movie, you find that it achieves all of it's goals. The performances of James Fox did not disappoint he was excellent. Lauren Bacall is so talented and charming and she delivered a solid performance as well.
Becks (2017)
Good engaging movie. Filmed in St. Louis.
Christine Lahti who portrayed the ultra-liberal alternative-lifestyle-embracing (dark-humor scary understatement) mom in Petunia, portrays in Becks the uber-Catholic straight-laced diametrically-opposed mother. Setting the movie in St. Louis is perfect for a movie with peripheral nods to modern Catholic dilemmas. The script calls for a modest indictment of her Catholicism as cold, intolerant and off-putting, but considering Lahti's real-life liberal positions, I thought she brought a very genuine flavor of inner-conflict to this mother character whose broadened acceptance seems ultimately to be driven more by the loneliness of a widowed mother, rather than by true acceptance of her daughter. Becks had a dynamite script but should have been a much longer movie because Becks has amazing potential that was never fully explored. I don't want to share any spoilers, so I will just say that the last 15 minutes of the film suddenly and hurriedly conclude several beautifully-developed plot threads that have been brewing in a way that feels like the financial backers were saying "that's a wrap!" Still the movie touches on alot of relevant facets of class boundaries, relationships, family and other topics of core current issues. The music in the movie is excellent imho, and the casting is excellent, as are all the performers.
Sold Out (2021)
Solid Engaging Movie. Pleasantly Surprised.
I really enjoyed this movie. I recommend it. It has a nice indie feel to it but does a beautiful job of rising to the level of top-talent filmmaking. A solid plot, excellent acting, and good music scene vibes. I especially liked that it had some distant kinship with A Star is Born but is an entirely different plot which allows both musicians to transcend their demons.
La cage dorée (2013)
Watched it Three Times. Very Well-made Movie
All the best things about French cinema, imho. No special effects. No exploding cities, buses, planes, etc. Just a wonderful story about people and their families, businesses, and dilemmas ... you know, like what America cinema used to be once upon a time before that became "boring." Everything that a movie can be and should be is in this movie. Excellent casting and wonderful performances. Solid and competent cinematography. My only unsolved mystery is why the restaurant scene near the end is at the Vasco de Gama restaurant.
The Fare (2018)
Excellent
Moving. Surprising. Worthwhile. Meaningful. The movie is part time-travel and part mythology.
Cosmos (2019)
"Cosmos" is an Ensemble-Cast Masterpiece of Filmaking
"Cosmos" to my way of thinking has a kinship with ensemble cast apocalyptic movies such as "OzLand" (2014) and "We Have Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew" (2017) wherein personal journey and concomitant self-realization, personal goal-attainment, and hypothesis-validation is drawn very effectively in the character development and real-time action. These movies all use a small ensemble cast to effectively create dramatic and engaging tension, with themes and back-stories that are immediately relevant to our own actual day-to-day lives. "Cosmos" is an ensemble masterpiece, with deep meaning for "creative wildcatters" and those personally invested in, and often blindsided by, corporate priorities that often pillage creativity indiscriminately. I have enjoyed "Cosmos" several times. I highly recommend "Cosmos".