jamesreid-63444 Reviews

Whiplash (2014)

A Solid Mainstream Debut for Chazelle

[10/10 · 28 April 2022]

Music is the foundation of our society, or rather the closest foundation visual or musical entertainment can be to being used as one. Neyman is a student at a prestigious school who wants to become the best, a sort of successor to the greats of the Jazz genre. However he encounters a teacher who berates and belittles him, even assaulting him during a practice, and mocking the tears that follow.

This is like a sort of meditative piece on how much abuse we will allow ourselves to sustain in the name of self improvement and skill preservation. It's a psychological thriller, one that plays on the tense relationship between these two characters as well as the prevailing mental deterioration that plagues the young conflicted anti hero at the center of the story. Featuring good direction, even better writing and a supporting turn by JK Simmons which is a marvel this was by far my favorite film of 2014.

A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)

A Solid Japanese Anime FIlm

[9/10 · 28 April 2022]

Everyone, well not everyone, can say at one point that they were mean to someone who didn't deserve it. This film is a good look at how someone might handle the redemption that feel they need to find. It shows the protagonist plight with well rounded anecdotes, good direction, writing and cool way of showing the classmates with xs over the faces of those he didn't feel close to. As you watch him fight back and worth with growing than diminishing numbers of friends drama, romance, friendship, happiness and elation all come into play. It is outstanding.

Logan (2017)

Marvel's Best Non MCU MOVIE

[9/10 · 28 April 2022]

Logan is perhaps one of the single greatest films ever produced by the comic genre of film. Where the movie's strengths lie in it's deep rooted ideas about aging and the handing on the legacy of a family. Logan is destroyed- an old, broken and morose being, victim of the guilt and depression- brought upon by the seizure induced massacre of the mutants by Professor Charles Xavier.

You don't usually witness comic book adaptations with focus and resolve to bypass comedy for philosophical and ideological discussion. The performances were masterful and the writing of quality which proved good enough to be nominated for an oscar, which it was. I loved it.

Soul (2020)

Another Pixar Gem

[9/10 · 28 April 2022]

It is seldom that I find two animated movies in the same year that truly move me. Had the story wolfwalkers had to tell not moved me the existential nature of this film might have made this my favorite film of the year. It is amazing how a slow year can be saved in the last month by two animated films that almost feel like they came from two different worlds.

What makes Soul work is that it trusts its genius, Pete Docter, to do what he does best. That is to tell a tale that children can love and adults can get something out of. It is the most mature Disney film of the year despite somehow being about little white blobs that serve as cliches for what our souls look like.

A little history on Pete Docter. He won two oscars, both producer's Oscars for Inside Out and Up. He received screenplay nominations which is unheard of for animated directors for his work on Up, Wall-E and Inside Out. He also got nominated, his first, for writing Toy Story. He is one of the greatest minds in animation and the praise this movie is getting only solidifies his place in the pantheon of Disney creatives.

The film itself is beautifully animated with some of the imagery being revolutionary for animated films. I would go as far as to say it is the beautifully animated film Pixar has ever made. It really is amazing when you think about the infamous still of all the people at Andy's party in the original Toy Story having the same face. Even after this man becomes a soul you can see who he was when he was alive down to the hat and glasses staying with him. What really is incredible though is the existential beings that represent angels or God who are simply squiggled creations.

As I mentioned before it was the deeply nuanced message of the film that truly makes it what it is. The film finds an existential discussion based around the idea of purpose and passion and the spark that drives us. Kids might see it as a silly little quest to find an "earth pass" but for anyone struggling with why they are living this film does a good job of speaking to that. It suggests ideas and beliefs that seem almost philosophical in nature. A live action award bait movie made with this premise would be a heavy best picture contender.

Clever little cameos also benefit the film as it suggests that this soul has driven away some of the greatest people in human history with her desire not to live. It is that belief that drives her journey latter on. That journey and plot twist has some people up in arms and I can't help but feel they are right to believe that even if I see it as a misrepresentation of Docter's vision.

The film takes this quest and builds on the soul in creative and unique ways down to a joke about the Knicks that is likely to leave any passionate NBA fan in stitches. There is also a commentary made about wandering and lost souls that uses a stock investor to make a clever statement about the mundane nature of living and how are souls can be corrupted by a career or passion someone forces themselves into.

Furthermore I find the movie doesn't try to be preachy about Jazz so much as uses it as a tool to further the plot development of the character. You see who he is as a man who loves music but not in such a way where it feels like Docter is trying to be Damien Chazelle. It serves and important purpose but doesn't dominate the narrative flow. One such line in regards to me is about how a fish in the ocean only sees it as water while the more seasoned fish knows they have made it to the ocean. It is clever commentary on our constant search for more in life.

Lastly I'd be remiss if I didn't discuss the beautiful score that took Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and his partner Atticus Ross' work and turned into a pivotal part of the feel of the film. That mixed with the music of Jon Batiste made the music of the film almost feel like its own character. When the Oscars begin voting on their awards I would be surprised if this was the score to beat.

I really do think the Pixar is something special that keeps delivering even when the other major Disney properties fail. I've never felt like this company has had a moment that drives fans away like Last Jedi did or completely fall apart like Thor: The Dark World. This company should continue making all age content until they go bankrupt or decide to stop making animated films. The film is on Disney+ and should be seen if you're interested.

I give this 5/5.

Wolfwalkers (2020)

A fun break out for Appletv into animation

[10/10 · 28 April 2022]

Wolfwalkers is perhaps one of my favorite animated films of all time. It isn't produced by Hayao Miyazaki or Pete Docter. The film is produced by an Irish company called Cartoon Saloon. It is the embodiment of the little guy and what they can achieve. The company in my opinion might be making its way into the pantheon of modern animation studios with even such a limited catalog of work. I would definitely see anything they made going forward..

The company has previously been nominated for three oscars. The first time was for Secret of Kells which was released in 2009. It lost the Oscar to Pete Docter's Up, which gave Disney one victory over Cartoon Saloon. Pete Docter is about to win another Oscar for Soul. Despite the cultural outrage from some progressive film voices, this film will lose despite being a strong contender. The second major film they got nominated for was Song of the Sea which was released in 2014. The film lost the Oscar to the animated Disney and Marvel superhero film Big Hero Six. The put them down zero to two. The third defeat came when The Breadwinner lost to the Mexican tale, Coco. As you can see Disney has a stranglehold over this category. That being said this film outshines Soul and any other animated feature that was released this year.

The film plays out like an eco fable, finding itself grounded in deep celtic roots. It becomes a story of man's hatred of nature and the specific target of wolves. It is in this struggle between man and wolf that a girl comes of age and finds herself growing as a person. In addition to the coming of age the film sees the girls father grow himself. He is a loving father voiced by Sean Bean. This is perhaps the best vocal performance of the year behind Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner in Soul. He brings pain to the role. Capturing the pain of raising a daughter without her mother in a beautifully profound way.

I really love how good films can be when they succeed in capturing the essence of Shakespeare without diving into the dated nature of his work. This film is a platonic version of Romeo and Juliet which plays like that only with female children finding friendship instead of love. It wants us to find joy in watching these two children find something deeper in themselves through eachother.

It is beautifully animated with the scenes of wolve hearing being portrayed like a sort of echo location, the colors changing to reflect how the wolves see without their actual vision. The transfer of imagery is also marvelous as the wolves blend together in moments to show the nature of a pack.

Up until this point I believe Studio Ghibli had the monopoly on capturing the beauty of 2D drawn animation in a world where CGI animation is what sells. The film never feels jarring its visuals because it reflects the art of drawing in a way that drawing is expected to look. The more I saw of the animation the more I wondered why the industry doesn't focus on going back to that style. It truly is wonderful.

I will say this. We as a society have been conditioned to grasp firmly to nostalgia and things we feel familiar with. A lot of people out there might see this as some pretentious foreign property that doesn't view film as a medium of entertainment and instead wants to preach some deep message that people shouldn't care about. Like all good animation this rings false as it is a kids film that is made with adults in mind. You as a 40 year old will love it as much as your 10 year old. Or if you are a student who still dabbles in animation you will also love it, I believe.

The soundtrack and score also add a lot to the film. My favorite moment of cinema in 2020 is a nocturnal set piece that is set to the beautiful Running with the Wolves by Aurora. It was during that moment that I knew this was going to be my favorite film of the year. I would like to add the film never feels like something that Apple would make and a lot of streaming captures the direct to TV feel of streaming.

Also the final climax is as well done and intense as anything done in animation. It feels like something that classic era Disney did down to the final stand-off between man and beast. I'd even say that as animation the flow was done so well that you actually believed an animated movie could have high stakes. The flames in the scene provoke fear and anxiety, the isolation of a family from each other as they are desperate to see each other survive.

The film really is my favorite of the year and if you can find it somewhere else other than Appletv+ I would suggest downloading or watching it. Seldom has a work from someone other than The House of Mouse felt so pivotal and important for the medium of animation.

I would give it a 5/5.

Lady Bird (2017)

Good old fashion coming of age.

[10/10 · 23 November 2017]

On this planet, specifically within the borders of the United States, countless people dream of lives that just aren't obtainable, or at the very least harder to obtain than said people perceive. In Lady Bird, the writing and directing debut for Greta Gerwig, a go to for Noah Baumbach, Christine McPherson dreams of a life in New York... where the culture is. She is constantly reminded that she would never be able to go because she is a bad student, and on top of it, out of state tuition cost "a lot of money".

Christine, self labeled "Lady Bird", is constantly at odds with her mother, her brother, and most others around her. During a scene in which a woman is presenting a lecture on abortion, she says something so disrespectful, that she ends up suspended. This movie isn't that kind of coming of age story though... not like Thirteen or Edge of Seventeen. This is a story about mothers and daughters and hometown pride.

The screenplay is subtle and exhibits small quiet scenes of discourse that never once cross over the derivative threshold of melodrama. Gerwig, basing this loosely on her life manages to provide a vision of pure art while maintaining the qualities that make high school movies popular and entertaining in the first place. This movie is about the relationship between two women, one growing up, the other already grown. It is always about the mother accepting the individuality of the daughter, and the daughter accepting that her mother is not out to get her.

The story manages this central narrative idea while balancing the young love life of Christine, presenting her with two relationships that change who she is, shaping her during the course of the movie. The story balances these two male counterparts perfectly, thanks once again to Gerwig's directing and Chamelet and Hedge doing fine work.

All in all, this is a great film, that must experience by any mother and daughter in a trying relationship.