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bennyantlang
Reviews
Ánimas (2018)
Solid and Original, but Frustrating
I get why people are frustrated with this movie. As well-made and atmospheric as it is (the lighting, colour palette & VFX deserve special praise), absolutely none of it makes any sense until you know the twist ending. After that it's actually quite good, but it takes so long to draw you in with anything that actually has a point - and even then I can see why some might feel it isn't worth it, as the premise of the twist is a little shaky. The "horror" is mildly chilling at best, not scary, but overall this isn't a terrible film; it's just not as good as it might have been. Which is the most frustrating thing.
High Flying Bird (2019)
This Is Not A Basketball Movie, It's Much More
There is very little basketball to be seen here - in fact I think there's only one scene where any characters actually play ball. But that lack of on-court action is the very point & purpose of the movie; the plot is driven by an NBA lockout wherein the players are being denied the opportunity to play the sport they love (and get paid for it), all because the "Powers That Be" feel they aren't making enough money from it themselves. This is a very real issue in modern sport, and this film seeks to confront many aspects of it; from the rich insular Establishment of western societies in general, to the very concept of human endeavour becoming a commodity for profit. And as the majority of NBA players are black and the owners white, the movie doesn't shy away from the issue of race either. Comparisons with slavery may seem heavy-handed, but the reality is that these black athletes' livelihoods are completely at the mercy of rich white men; their blood & sweat turned into dollars to fill their owners' pockets.
These are big, political issues atypical of your standard sports movie - anyone expecting a "gutsy underdog" story or a heartwarming tale of redemption through hard work & team spirit, will be sorely disappointed. This film is all about social commentary and witty dialogue, and the intentionally-underwhelming ending is clever yet pragmatic. There's no Rudy or Coach Carter to be found here; the central character has lofty ideals, but realistic expectations - he knows he's always playing someone else's game, and the rules are rigged against him.
High Flying Bird feels real, modern and urgent, in stark contrast to the feel-good dreamy nostalgia of most sports movies. Soderbergh makes his point well, and always delivers technical excellence in his filmmaking, so your appreciation of this film will depend entirely upon how interested you are in the issues it presents. But it feels like something of a landmark moment in the sports movie genre.
Red Dead Redemption II (2018)
Technically & Tonally Superb
Rockstar steps away from the outright anarchy of GTA to give us something more understated, yet more impressive. Something more engrossing and true-to-life. The tiny details in the graphics, physics systems and behavioural programming (of both man and beast) contribute to a game which feels less like distractive entertainment and more like an earnest experience.
This game perfectly captures the romantic spirit of the Wild West, an idealised culture in decline, euligised via a band of outlaws who are realistically flawed & conflicted about their outdated lifestyles, as they travel across an equally-realistic gameworld - a true marvel, in terms of both its massive scope and meticulous attention to detail.
The tonal & artistic endeavours of this game are only exceeded by its technical achievements; Rockstar's own RAGE engine is pushed further than ever to deliver a vast, beautiful, varied landscape which somehow provides the player with something intriguing to see or do at every single turn. You could wander Rockstar's vision of the West endlessly, totally ignoring the compelling main story and jovial random encounters, and STILL find more entertainment than most games purely from appreciating the subtle movements and contextual actions you observe, while traversing the world never feels like you are simply pointing & clicking at something "because the developers put it there for you to find" - it always feels as though you are genuinely discovering something within the world, your character, or even yourself; such is the nuanced realism and enthralling grace of the production.
There has long been a debate on whether video games could be considered art, or whether they are only ever entertainment; but there are those who would say that entertainment IS art, and vice versa. Whether they are artists or entertainers, Rockstar has proved once again that they are the very best at what they do, and their latest effort is the very best example of entertainment as an artform.
Hickok (2017)
Quick on the Snore
The script could be a schoolkid's Dramatic Writing homework for their English Lit class. The plot runs through every Western cliche so predictably & laboriously, while the personalities of the characters vary wildly from scene to scene, depending on whether they're meant to serious (read: hammy) or humorous (read: cringeworthy). Each character does/says the absolute bare minimum required to fulfill their well-worn archetype, and nothing more. The whole thing is so uninspired you wonder why they even bothered.
The only laughs to be had are unintentional, such as the laughably wide-spaced bars in Hickok's jail, through which criminals can clearly slip their entire bodies with ease.
At one point, the male & female leads are "introduced" (by her husband) and the two of them stare bug-eyed at each other for a good 15 seconds as if they've both seen ghosts... then the husband asks if they've met before, she unconvincingly says "umm... no" and everyone just moves on. This is not meant to be comical.
A little later, Hickok is in bed with a prostitute and 3 men burst into the room - Hickok points his gun at the 3 men, then (while looking straight at the 3 men) asks his companion how many men there are - to which she quietly replies "...three". Again, this is not intended to be comical.
This is a paint-by-numbers Western which takes a fun tale and drains every drop of romance & excitement from it. A PowerPoint presentation of Hickok's Wikipedia page would be more entertaining.
Maniac (2018)
Hollywood Flexing On TV
This is more than a tv miniseries, it's more like a 5-hour movie. There's no soap-opera acting or tedious episodic writing. Each moment is bursting with big-screen level talent & eye-catching drama; everything from the acting to the production design is exquisite. Jonah Hill plays a depressed schizophrenic being pressured by his wealthy family to "keep up appearances", while Emma Stone is a guilt-ridden drug addict unable to escape her torturous past - and both remain absolutely captivating throughout the mindbending story, the bulk of which takes place within their own shared, drug-induced fantasies during a pharmaceutical trial which promises to fix all of their psychological issues. These "subconscious worlds" could've come off as very cheap and tawdry, but it's clearly that no expense was spared in production, giving Hill & Stone a well-polished platform worthy of their performances. The supporting cast are all fantastic too (led by a scenery-chewing Justin Theroux as the mad scientist behind the experiment). The labyrinthine story of inner-reflection and self-discovery could've become overwrought or confusing, but instead it's precisely written & concisely delivered, without missing an emotional beat.
This is what can happen when some of the finest Silver Screen talent ventures into the world of television, and I hope to see a lot more of it. Maniac is a story of deep psychological & emotional complexity, told with such warmth and heart that anyone can relate to it. Storytelling as fine as anything on the small screen. And Jonah Hill deserves all the awards he'll probably win for this - he embodies the subtle complexity of the show perfectly. How far he & Stone have come since Superbad!
Paradise PD (2018)
Dumb, Juvenile & Repetitive
This is the kind of show which can only possibly be enjoyed by people who think anything offensive or gross is automatically funny, because they take pleasure in the idea of other people being upset by it, and dub themselves superior for being able to tolerate it.
Though tolerating this show is almost an achievement, actually. Its juvenile toilet humor and repetitive gags soon grow tiresome; a complete lack of variety, intelligence or subtlety means that even the shock value of the "jokes" evaporates within minutes, and you're just left with the sheer tediousness of it all.
There are no actual jokes, just an endless torrent of gross stuff happening for no reason. You quickly become numb to the constant desperate attempts at edgy, offensive-for-the-sake-of-it pointlessness, and realise that the most offensive thing about this show is just how boring & joyless it is. Each one-dimensional character has one crude "joke" which they repeat endlessly; they have no personality beyond this. The storylines are ridiculous and inconsequential. But they're clearly not the point anyway; its obvious that the only purpose of this show is to impress 12-year-old edgelords and people who are too dumb to follow Family Guy or South Park (shows which at least remember the "humour" part of "crude humour").
Paradise PD has no appeal to anyone who places any value on their time. For fans of crude cartoons, there are many shows which are MUCH better (i.e. actually entertaining). This show tries way too hard to acheive virtually nothing.
Kujira no kora wa sajô ni utau (2017)
Old Lessons, New Tale
The show treads some well-worn tracks in terms of its themes (friendship, selflessness, love & loss) and a few cliche anime plot devices (Young Adults fighting each other with magical powers) but the setting & story are creative and intriguing - a small community, some of whom are born with mysterious psychokinetic abilities, are sailing aimlessly aboard a drifting island which they call the Mud Whale; after decades of isolation they suddenly discover they're not alone in the world, and the outsiders may know the tragic secret behind their magic...
This story, combined with the beautiful art & animation style - the vistas are almost like oil paintings while the magical elements are added in stunning CGI - makes the Mud Whale feel like its own unique world. The main characters are likable and they develop well as the show progresses - in some unexpected ways too, which are equally heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Overall, its one of the best anime which Netflix has involved itself in (not that there's a lot of competition) and definitely worth a binge if you want an anime with less bombastic fighting & fanservice, and more understated emotion & quiet beauty.
Disenchantment (2018)
First is worst.
It starts slow and unfunny but gets (marginally) better after the first episode. It's not particularly "adult", nor is it satirical (people seem to think medieval characters making modern references is automatically satire. It's not.) You'll probably get 4 or 5 decent chuckles per episode, but you'll have to wade through a lot of stuff which doesn't really work. It's not terrible, but if you're expecting something as good as Groening's previous works, you'll be hugely disappointed. It's best to just forget he's involved, and view the show without expectations. Or don't bother viewing it all... it's hardly a must-see show.
Hagane no renkinjutsushi (2017)
Can't expect much more from an anime adaptation
Extensive anime series like FMA have the luxury of time to develop their world & characters into something complex and relatable. Condensing 20+ hours of material into a 2-hour movie will inevitably mean changing, simplifying or removing elements, which will disappoint fans of the source material. But this film shows that it is possible to make a fun, coherent standalone adaptation out of the core components of an anime series. Coherent but not brilliant - which is still a step forward for live-action adaptations. This movie is a decent taste of the FMA world for non-fans. It could entice viewers to check out the anime, where most adaptations are so horrible they would just scare people off.
Time constraints aside, the movie does a good job of telling FMA's story of family, loss and maintaining one's morality. The casting, costumes and effects are spot-on; almost too perfect for live-action, as if they tried too hard to be EXACTLY like the anime. The acting also suffers with this; Winry in particular is portrayed as an annoyingly over-the-top anime character which just doesn't play in "real life". But other characters (particularly Hughes) are played almost perfectly, and most of the cast lies somewhere in between - not great, but not intolerable.
Of course, the story's most important components - Ed, Al and their relationship - aren't anywhere near as deep & authentic as they become over the course of the anime series. The motivations behind the Homunculi and other supporting characters aren't really explored. The Ishvalan Civil War (a key element of the FMA's emotional landscape) is barely mentioned, and Scar (a great character closely associated with the War) is omitted entirely.
This is all obviously unfortunate, but there's no use complaining that Netflix couldn't cram the entirety FMA into one three-act movie. If you want the whole wonderful story, watch the anime. If you're ok with a faithful attempt at the story's gist, there's really not much wrong with this movie - which can almost never be said for anime adaptations.
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
Pretend It's Not A Cloverfield Movie
10 Cloverfield Lane got away with it's bait-and-switch marketing tactics because viewers were suckered into seeing a really good movie, so they weren't too mad about it. Unfortunately, this is not a really good movie, so I can see why people are so disappointed. But it's not a bad movie either. For all its flaws, it can be an enjoyable watch - and it's the "hey look it's Cloverfield!" scenes which hold it back more than anything.
A lot of things about this movie don't make any sense. Many of the sci-fi aspects are never explained, and most of the horror moments contradict all logic. On a wider level, you're left wondering why such a great cast was wasted on this spacecrew of one-dimensional characters. But the biggest question of all is why JJ Abrams chose this movie to tie in with his Cloverfield franchise. Was it simply because the movie was ripe, low-hanging fruit which Paramount was struggling to bring to market without a big name attached; a big-budget sci-fi horror with no real hook? Probably. The Cloverfield-centric marketing certainly got people talking (which works against the movie as it doesn't live up to the hype). But Abrams couldn't have chosen this film because of its plot, which in itself is fine (in a brainless, just-enjoy-the-show kind of way) but doesn't relate to Cloverfield in any conceivable fashion; reshoots were done to show how the space station's experiment causes massive explosions on Earth, which in turn release the Cloverfield monsters, but the connection between the experiment and the explosions is never explained, because it can't be. The space station disappears into an alternate dimension, so the world starts exploding? I get that interdimensional travel can cause chaos, but I doubt any scientist would attest to the possibility of it releasing "demons" into the world, as suggested by Donal Logue's awkwardly-shoehorned-in crackpot talking head, delivering some fanservice foreshadowing in the movie's opening moments.
My suggestion would be to ignore the Cloverfield connections and take the movie for what it was meant to be - a fairly generic space horror with a philosophical twist which is never fully explored. Does that sound like it's worth your time? Maybe not. It does give Gugu Mbatha-Raw opportunity to display her considerable talent with an emotional monologue to "herself" near the end of the film (this and Chris O'Dowd's one funny scene are the movie's most redeemable moments). The acting & production values should be enough to elevate this from a passable movie to a decent one - I've certainly seen worse films of a similar ilk - but the insufferable Monster Mash scenes drag it back down to average at best; not a classic, but not unwatchable. Cloverfield fanboys and science nitpickers will hate it, but anyone else might find something to enjoy here.