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13 Reasons Why (2017)
Powerful show with an amazing cast
Yes, seasons 3 and 4 do diverge from the novel and first season, but I feel they capture the spirit of what the author was trying to convey when he wrote the book and I'm glad the showrunners made them. I can't say enough good things about the cast, including the ones playing the adults. Each and every actor and actress playing the kids puts 110% into their performance and that's why this series hits home. Nothing is held back. There are characters you start out hating and then grow to cherish. Each season has so many amazing moments.
In my opinion, the writers did the right thing in telling us Monty's story and showing Bryce's attempt at redemption. As Jesse and Clay point out, it's too easy to hate. Bryce and Monty, the two villains of the series... we watch their stories and we cease hating them. I think some of us may learn to love them in spite of ourselves.
The series shows the destructive effects of bullying, abuse, neglect, and loneliness without being preachy. Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford are incredibly good actors. Besides The Wire, this is the most moving show I've ever seen.
Understanding, forgiveness, compassion, redemption, second chances, sacrifice--these are what 13 Reasons Why is about. Even those of us who are well past our high school years can learn from this story. I challenge anyone to invest in this series without shedding a tear even once.
Tenet (2020)
You need subtitles on and to hit pause/rewind repeatedly
About 90% of this movie is exposition in the form of incomprehensible dialogue by characters you know nothing about. And care even less about. The dialogue is spoken so fast, it's impossible for you to absorb what they're saying because the topic of their conversations is so abstract. Hence, the need for subtitles. And you're still going to need to hit Pause and Rewind so you can go back to some obscure bit of information that the character mentioned three lines ago and you're still trying to understand what they said four and five lines ago.
The actors talk so fast and the editing is done so they don't pause for air, which means you as the audience can't come up for air. The movie introduces new concepts in each conversation in such a rapid fire fashion that you have to rewind constantly to make sure you got everything. Even then, you just can't shake the feeling that you STILL missed something important. Because in the next scene, the character is on the other side of the world and having a brand new incomprehensible conversation with a brand new character about a totally new topic and you're back to rewinding in order to catch what you've inevitably missed. And everyone speaks in a monotone. The movie is completely irritating by the end of the first act.
Nolan has made some great, entertaining movies but he does seem to have his blind spots, the Bat voice in TDK and TDKR being one of them. Tenet is one giant blind spot. They should have made this a 12-part miniseries on Netflix or something.
A Room with a View (2007)
Very enjoyable, moreso than the original
At first I wasn't sure how I'd react to this remake because I used to think I enjoyed the original, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it much easier to follow the *story* and see the *characters* in this retelling. It was actually quite refreshing.
I didn't realize until I saw this version that the 1985 film is so self-consciously stylistic that it ends up being too clever for its own good. In the original, the intonation by the actors is so stilted that the dialogue feels like a series of non sequiturs. Every shot screams, "Look! Look at this gorgeous cinematography!" There isn't much chemistry between the two romantic leads, Daniel Day Lewis reduces Cecil to a tedious cartoon character, and Denholm Elliott overdoes his accent. Julian Sands, though interesting, seems more like a brother from another planet than a thoughtful subversive. In the Merchant-Ivory version, the story and the characters get buried under a layer of heavily vaselined romanticism.
Through this bittersweet remake, I finally saw the story and felt I better understood what Forster was trying to say in his book. You see the Emersons' working-class roots and how they stick out among the more genteel travelers in Florence. You get to really see Cecil as a good but flawed human being. And, most importantly, you see Lucy as a sweet but unsure girl growing into a bright young woman in spite of herself.
Director Renton keeps a light touch and doesn't spend any more time than is necessary on any part of the story. You see a dinner party, you hear a rough voice cut through the chatter, you see Charlotte put on the spot. That's the point of that scene, and it does its job with no extra fanfare. There is no inordinate amount of time spent on playing up some tennis game or skinnydipping episode. No one is allowed to chew the scenery.
As a result, I felt moved by the passion between Lucy and George in a way that I didn't when watching the original. I felt the pain caused by their predicament. The scenes between Lucy and George were more emotionally charged, especially when Lucy has her epiphany. In the 1985 version, every scene between the two leads feels like little more than comic relief.
And yes, I liked the ending in this version. It added gravity to the story and helped me feel the depth of Lucy's love for George. Kudos to Andrew Davies, Nicholas Renton, and especially to Rafe Spall and the beautiful Elaine Cassidy. They all did a brilliant job in bringing a terrific story to life. By the end of this version, I had forgotten all about the original and fell in love with these characters all over again.
King Arthur (2004)
Very existentialist
An excellent all-around piece that presents the basis for the Arthurian legend we're already familiar with. Merlin as field marshall and rumored mystic. Guinevere as beguiling and charismatic warrior princess. Lancelot as noble but conflicted knight. Arthur as world-weary social crusader. The Knights of the Round Table as battle-hardened, homesick conscripts.
The performances are heartfelt. Clive Owen's charisma was apparent early in his career when he delivered intense and focused performances in such films as "Close My Eyes." He would make an excellent James Bond if the franchise's producers ever made the wise decision to return the character to his roots. Lancelot, Guinevere, and the Knights are delivered in an understated manner. Particularly memorable for me was Stephen Dillane as Merlin.
The film's centerpiece is a clever battle scene between the Knights (plus Guinevere) and a company of Saxon marauders on top of a frozen lake. The climactic battle scene compares favorably to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in "Return of the King." I would have liked more exploration of the "wolds," the Pict fighters led by Merlin and Guinevere, as well as Guinevere's relation to Merlin, but time would not have permitted.
I enjoyed the existentialist theme. What is a soldier's purpose amidst the endless, meaningless conflicts of a collapsing superpower? Arthur, Lancelot, and the Knights face these questions and search for their answers the only way they can.
Compared to recent sword & sorcery films, I'd rank this a notch or two above "The 13th Warrior," several notches above "Braveheart" and "Troy," and just under the "Lord of the Rings" films, which of course are in a class all their own.