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Ich bin dein Mensch (2021)
Interesting without ever wowing
There's an intractable problem in our society in that many people who seek love and companionship fail to find someone. I'm Your Man is an exploration of the coming time when AI and robotics will be advanced enough to fill that void. When robots can be programmed to be a compatible partner, what will it mean for humanity? Will they just fill a necessary role for the loveless / unlovable, or will they negatively impact on what we see as a healthy relationship?
I'm Your Man tells the tale of Dr. Alma Felser (Maren Eggert), a single middle-aged researcher, as she reluctantly trials "dating" a companion robot (Dan Stevens) to ethically evaluate the technology. It's a thoughtful and sombre look at relationships, companionship, the fear of loneliness, and how technology may come to fulfill those needs. The film is treading familiar territory, though its novelty is in telling the story from a perspective the genre too often neglects.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Rick & Morty has nothing on this
Everything Everywhere All at Once could be described as a movie about relationships (mother-daughter, wife-husband, daughter-father), or it could be described as an attempt to find meaning in one's life against the struggles of existence. It could be described as an exploration of choices and whether we meet our potential, or it could be described as a look at the immigrant experience. It could even be described as an epic multiverse-traversing hero's quest against an evil force threatening to destroy reality.
This movie is incredibly energetic, with rarely lull in action or story. The most impressive thing about the film is how it's able to take on so much without getting repetitive or tiresome. It could have collapsed into the singularity of its own premise, or just gotten so silly that the sincere moments were lost, but instead we're left with an experience that's funny, sad, incisive, nonsensical, poignant, thrilling, provocative, and a whole lot more on this Everything Bagel of a film. This film has to be seen to be believed!
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
Guillermo Del Toro makes another fairy tale for adults.
Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is no Disney fairy tale. It's a dark and dangerous world - the genesis of Pinocchio is a WW1 bombing mission, and Pinocchio is created while Italy is ruled by fascism under Mussolini. In that cruel world, Pinocchio is only seen for what he could be - either as a fighter willing to die for Italy, or as an oddity people would pay to see good money to be entertained by.
Pinocchio a tale of bitter joy, brought alive with lovingly crafted stop-motion animation. There might be enough delightful whimsy for a younger audience, with some decent musical numbers and fun characters. However I think adults will respond best to the heavy subject matter, especially the conversations between Pinocchio and Death on the nature of mortality. What stands out the most in the film is the relationship between father and son, of what familial love is, of the burden of living up to expectation, and most importantly of having compassion. It's sentimental without being cliché.
Glass Onion (2022)
A worthy sequel without rehashing the original
In keeping with the spirit of Knives Out (2019) without rehashing the first film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery provides a satisfying whodunnit mystery that entertains as much as it intrigues. The film is set in the early months of the COVID outbreak, using the opulent setting and the pandemic as the perfect foil for a class conscious whodunnit. The targets are tech billionaires, Men's Rights Activist streamers, corrupt politicians, and influencers. Among all that is the Columbo-like Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), playing a brilliant detective who is able to give the appearance he's anything but. It's a delight to watch him in action, playing off the brilliant supporting cast. Gotta give a hat tip to the person in the art department who came up with the Fight Club artwork. I felt the final act went a little over the top and dragged on too long, however that didn't detract too much from the whole experience. It's a fun watch without taking itself too seriously. I hope there are more Knives Out mysteries to come.