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Maestro (2023)
The True Maestro here is Bradley Coopers Ego.
There aren't many films out there that feature the classical music world or figures as their subject matter. Tar of course comes to mind, which imo was a masterpiece, though it was initially a bit slow to engage this viewer. Amadeus is another one. Anyway, I came into this one hoping it would be a welcome addition to a very short list.
What I was not expecting was this collosal, stupyfingly disappointing shell of a movie. Rather than try to tell coherent story or reveal some information about a somewhat overlooked but important figure, the creator behind this dismal effort--and that would be Bradley Cooper himself--decided to give us a turgid arrangement of seemingly random, uninteresting scenes that ultimately had nothing of interest to say about the character portrayed. Sure, it had the veneer of being technically polished, with lots of aging makeup in play and actors--Bradly especially--amping up their performances to Oscar-worthy levels. But there was no story, and even worse, no sense of engagement with the primary characters. It's like the camera set ups were deliberately planned to make the actors seem as remote and off kilter as possible. The events were random, the dialogue empty, banal and uninformative, the accompanying music frequently distracting. Overall, it was just such a "look at me, act, direct and write" vanity piece for Bradley Cooper that said far more about him, and his outsized ego, than it did about the long deceased and sadly overlooked subject that the film purports to be about.
To sum up, Maestro is a textbook example of style over substance, vanity over generosity, pretentiousness over authenticity, cinematic form over narrative function.
Avoid this film, and watch (or rewatch) Tar instead--or even that old chestnut, "Amadeus". (which as much as I didn't like it at the time , is a restrained masterpiece compared to this folly of a film.)
Killing Eve (2018)
Too silly to continue watching...
The story and characters become absolutely cartoon like after the first couple of episodes. I'm tired of the stereotyped femme fatale killer with the skills and omnipotence of a Terminator in the body of a fashion model. It's just not believable or interesting. Sandra Oh on the other hand is a mousy clutz who can barely talk and chew gum at the same time, and yet somehow these two become rivals? Ughh. Ridiculous. Can't believe this rubbish goes on for 32 episodes.
Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008)
Almost had me in tears
This was a real movie, with a story, an arc and an uplifting message. Seeing these good old boy canuck-heads in my home town of Toronto, slugging it out for their dreams in their 50s was something really close to my heart. The characters are real down to earth sweethearts with great personalities and good souls and you can't help but root for them and wish them some measure of success through all the hard work and struggles they have to endure in their lifelong quest.
The ending had me as close to tears as I ever get for movies. It was so poetic, touching and fulfilling. Perhaps the makers tweaked reality a little bit for the desired effect, but it worked, dammit. I was moved. And I don't even like heavy metal.
If you only watch one metal band doc in your life, make it this one.
American Psycho (2000)
Worth watching for Bale's performance
I found the film to be entertaining but thought the ambiguity in the end was a bit of a cop out. I can accept the ambiguity or lack of clarity in a film by Bergman or Antonioni because the entire films tend to be consistent in their tone and message. "Blow Up" is ambiguous in the end because the entire film's premise concerns the lack of certainty in a photographed image - if the photograph can't be trusted, can the crime be proved to have happened? AP ends up being a case of the Unreliable Narrator and it's left to the audience to put the pieces together -- which ultimately don't fit in a coherent way. I appreciate ambiguity from vision, but not ambiguity from laziness.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film - mostly for Bale's performance which is brilliant and fearless.
Up in the Air (2009)
About as filling as airline food...
I found this latest offering from writer-director Jason Reitman to be a bland, meandering film consisting of vaguely defined, mostly unengaging characters going through the motions in a threadbare, paint-by-numbers script. One couldn't help but notice the sheer effort in rendering the limp material meaningful and on message enough to give it that cherished Oscar cred. Thus, we have: George Clooney's earnest, resonant intonations about the vicissitudes of life - often provided in handy V.O. just in case we get lost, the use of "real" non-professional actor people to portray the characters receiving the corporate axe wielded by Clooney's mercenary outplacement agent, the jangley, twee acoustic ballads that accompany the various "theme montages" sprinkled throughout the narrative, and always, always, Clooney's ever-present warm, tender gaze impregnating his barren surroundings with richly detailed meaning.
Now, granted, there are some genuinely funny moments that crop up--seemingly by accident, like they were the itinerant left overs from an earlier "funny" draft of the script, presumably written before the Great Recession rendered any comedic treatment of the subject matter unpalatable for Hollywood's delicate sensibilities. These include a delightful Q & A session between Clooney's road mistress (Verna Farmiga) and his young up and coming protégé (Anna Kendrick in an erratic, occasionally annoying performance) regarding relationships and marriage. Another charming moment occurs between Clooney and his very distant potential brother in law who is getting cold feet before his imminent wedding.
It's clear in such scenes that Jason Reitman has a gift for comedy and creating clever, and sometimes touching laughs. But his attempts at serious and topical drama come across as pandering and are too on the nose. All in all, there just weren't enough genuine or engaging moments to dispel the feeling that this whole exercise was an attempt by the director and his creative team to amass the necessary number of theme and message points needed to collect the golden Oscar hardware.
District 9 (2009)
Highly original but frequently absurd.
Though District 9's originality can't be denied, the absurdities do get piled up pretty high. it's not the logistical plot holes that annoy me (most of which I can't reveal without being a Spoiler) but, rather, the frequent lapses of believable human behaviour. The capper is the ridiculous and gratuitous surprise party thrown by the wife and father in law of the seriously wounded and grievously ill main character. I suppose it may been intended to be funny but the filmmaker didn't really tip his hand in this direction. As it plays out it just feels jarring and dramatically OTT.
Unfortunately that's the case throughout a lot of the film. There are numerous moments during the eviction operation with the lead character mincing and prattling about like a hepped up camp counsellor on a Sunday stroll, utterly oblivious to the imminent danger of the situation. These scenes could have been humorous if played as broad satire or as a direct parody of the U.S. govt. handling of Katrina, but, unfortunately they're played pretty straight and whatever laughs might result feel unintentional and awkward. Much of the film's action unspools this way, lurching from faux docu-realism, to surreal comedy, to all out action that it makes for an uneven and, for me, somewhat strained experience. However, I think a lot of these problems will be ironed out by the highly talented director come the inevitable sequel time.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
A carefully crafted masterpiece
I didn't appreciate this film enough on first viewing, but subsequently have come around to see it as one of the masterpieces of this century. It's a bit of a slog at first and the slow pace combined with the discordant, somewhat unpleasant score can be offputting. But on subsequent viewings it has really come together for me. The moody atmosphere, the harsh, rugged landscapes and the character conflicts and that music create a powerful portrait of human desperation in harsh surroundings. But most of all it is the towering, majectic performance of Daniel Day Lewis that anchors this film and commands the audiences attention from the first frame to the last. His portait of Daniel Plainview, the unshakeable, obsessive prospector who will overcome any obstacle that might obscure his central objective, is sublime. Paul Dano is also a standout as his main nemesis and their conflict which lasts nearly the whole film is simultaneously compelling and shocking. On the whole, this is not a film so much to enjoy, but to marvel at an be shaken by.
The King of Comedy (1982)
Ahead of it's time.
King of Comedy was so far ahead of it's time when released in 1982 that no-one understood it, not even the critics. What seemed implausible and bizarre 25+ years ago is today's unfortunate reality. With our current celebrity universe packed with ridiculous no-hopers like Joe the Plumber and "OctoMom"--i.e. "stars" who attained their fame/infamy purely through outlandish behaviour--an obnoxious , no talent train wreck like Rupert Pupkin would be in constant demand for reality TV and talk shows everywhere. Hell, he'd probably even get married to Carmen Electra or Britney Spears-if only for a couple of days.
Scorsese captured lightning in a bottle with this film (even if he still doesn't realize or acknowledge it) and Robert DeNiro hit a creative peak with his depiction of the desperate unfunnyman Pupkin that he hasn't approached since.
Shine (1996)
A glittering turd.
This film--despite its Oscar winning performance and technical polish--is for the most part a load of steaming excrement that is morally and aesthetically bankrupt. Whether a film is straight fiction, biographical or a documentary it has to have a core of truth and authenticity. This film doesn't even attempt that: it's just cliché after cliché larded with cheap sentiment, over-simplification, and glaring inaccuracies, riddled with narrative gaps you could fly a plane through. At the end of the film I didn't feel like I knew the central character any better than I did at the beginning; indeed, no insights were given about the main characters current mental condition, or what led to his nervous breakdown. There was more psychological truth in Rocky III than this canard. It's a shame that David Helfgott's father got so tarnished in this depiction; the film's producers should have known better than to sully the reputation of a deceased man who cannot defend himself against the phony accusations presented here.
Biographies don't need to compromise the truth in order to be entertaining and win over audiences. Case in point: Jane Campion's superb film,"An Angel at My Table", another Aussie production about a mentally troubled artist--in this case, writer Dorothy Frame. It manages to be authentic, complex, revealing and yes, even inspirational, without glossing over or the uncomfortable truths of its difficult subject matter.
The Other Celia (2005)
Pinhole + Peeper = Perfection
Just caught this little gem on CBC Reflections. Have to say it's one of the best short films I've ever seen, an elegantly crafted, perfectly nuanced brain teaser that might be best described as The Twilight Zone directed by the Coen Brothers. The film employs a deftly clever premise to subtly engage the viewer's attention, draws that interest tighter and tighter with steadily accumulating tension and increasingly quirky plot developments, then delivers the shocking climax in a fashion that is utterly original and unexpected. And the final shot-an elegant little coda that might have Hitchcock himself smiling in the firmament-seals the deal in completely a satisfying manner.
I look forward to full length works from the talented writer/director, Jon Knautz.