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I Am Autism (2009)
The worst thing I've ever seen
I'm autistic and have struggled with it my entire life. But this commercial from Autism Speaks is a virtual hate crime against autistic people. It blames us for divorce and says we're worse than cancer and aids. I literally cannot put into words how much I hated this. It was as bad if not worse than I imagined. Alfonso Cuarón, shame on you!
Dunkirk (2017)
Better than Dirt
Now don't let the title fool you. I loved this film, but on our way home after seeing it, my brother, father and I discussed the grain on the film stock (we saw it on 70 mm, which was pretty cool), and we joked that it looked dirty and he coined the phrase "better than dirt".
But let's get on topic, Dunkirk is an incredible film, and maybe Christopher Nolan's best, it's certainly up there. I think I would have to rate The Dark Knight and Inception higher, but Dunkirk could be in the Top 5 Chris Nolan films.
As you probably would expect from Christopher Nolan, the film is a technical masterpiece. It was shot on 70 mm and IMAX, and boy did it pay off. The picture looked great, shot by the great Hoyte van Hoytema. It was also edited by Lee Smith and scored by Hans Zimmer. I really hope the film gets a lot of awards consideration in the technical categories, because they really deserve it.
The level of suspense in this film is on an awesome scale. You're almost always on the edge of your seat, just waiting for something bad to happen. And when something happens, you definitely hear the noise and the music very clearly. It was actually so high that at one point, my brother who has sensitive hearing, had to hold his ears because it was so loud.
I know the biggest criticism of the film is that people didn't care that much about the characters, because there is very little dialogue and the film starts right in the middle of it all, skipping all sorts of exposition. I can totally understand where they're coming from and that is definitely the weakest part of the film. But the reason why I cared about the characters was because Nolan did such a great job at creating a creepy atmosphere and you're just rooting for the soldiers to survive, and ultimately I think of the film really as an experience.
I also want to give a quick shout-out to the historical accuracy. Now I can't say I Know the entire story of Dunkirk back to front, but I am aware of certain facts. It was really nice to see the French being depicted as the ones that were defending the beaches and many of them were sacrificed to let everyone else live. It would have been easy to exclude them, but Nolan is way too smart for that.
So to conclude this review: Dunkirk is a great movie in a long line of great Christopher Nolan films. Probably the best war movie since Saving Private Ryan, and it was one of the best movie going experiences I've ever had. If you can see the film on 70 mm or on IMAX, do yourself a favor and watch it.
My final score, 9/10
Noah (2014)
A flawed yet entertaining Biblical epic
I was really not sure what to expect from Noah going into it. I knew that the reception for it was, polarizing at best, I had never seen any Darren Aronofsky movie so I was not familiar with his style or camera tricks, and I was unsure if the film would move me on an emotional level. And, I found myself entertained by it.
First things first, the acting. I think Russell Crowe delivered a very strong performance as Noah, he really sold me as both a father, and as God's chosen man to build the ark. It's probably not an easy role to play, but I think Russell Crowe managed pretty well. Jennifer Connelly was very good as Naoh's wife Naameh. Anthony Hopkins was basically playing Anthony Hopkins, so, I really don't have anything more to add there. Ray Winstone does a very good job as a scenery-chewing villain who I thought was pretty entertaining. He wasn't 100% believable, but to be fair when you have a movie where a guy builds a floating zoo for every animal in the world with his family to survive a giant rainstorm, I think that's acceptable. The younger actors are more problematic, however. I thought Logan Lerman was pretty flat, though to be fair I don't think he had that much to work with, Douglas Booth was sometimes a little over-the-top, and Emma Watson was fine. She wasn't spectacular, but she did okay with the material.
Another element which I liked was the pre-flood landscape. The film was shot in Iceland, and Darren Aronofsky used some really interesting locations that I haven't really seen much before. It was very smart by Aronofsky to use more fantasy-like landscapes instead of iconic contemporary locations in order to sell the world. That element is very well handled.
Speaking of the world-building, I think Aronofsky did a good job of portraying why humanity is so corrupt and violent, which is very important because his job is to sell to me that humanity is at such a bad state that God is willing to kill everyone except six or eight people. And I thought it was handled very well.
The biggest problem for me was honestly the visual effects. I didn't think they looked very good, to be perfectly honest. I mean, they're fine on their own, but I think in order to sell the movie you need some truly breathtaking visual effects, and that was simply not the case. Some of the stuff with the rock monsters looked like stop-motion, and some of the stuff with the animals were pretty unconvincing.
I should probably dress the religious controversies surrounding the film. Paramount tested three different versions of Noah to different religious groups, without Aronofsky's involvement or knowledge, all three of which to negative reviews. Then, Paramount decided "screw it, were just gonna release Darren's cut of the movie", and that is the version that was released. And there was a lot of controversy surrounding the film's accuracy to the bible which turned some people off. Now I am not a religious person, I'm an atheist in fact, I haven't read the Bible and certainly not the stuff about Noah, so perhaps with all that going in, I didn't mind the liberties Aronofsky and screenwriter Ari Handel took with the source material. If the film was 100% faithful to the bible, it would probably be a very boring film, and I do think Aronofsky tried to be as faithful as they possibly could while at the same time trying to make an entertaining adventure movie, I mean this is a $130 million movie after all. And Aronofsky's responsibilities as a filmmaker is primarily to entertain, but also make a movie that's interesting to make it accessible to non-religious people, like me.
So overall, You could say it's a mixed review, I liked Crowe's Connelly's and Winstone's performances, I liked the design of the world and use of locations, I disliked the performances of some the younger actors, some of the visual effects were unconvincing and fake-looking.
My final score, 7/10.
Evita (1996)
An entertaining musical on a grand scale.
Evita is a musical from 1996 directed by Alan Parker and based on two things: the life of Argentine First Lady Eva Péron, and the 1978 Broadway musical Evita by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Both the movie and the musical tell the same story: the life of Eva Péron from being a businessman's illegitimate child to being the wife of Juan Péron, the president of Argentina and becoming the most beloved and the most hated woman in the country.
Now hearing that story, it might sound like an original screenplay from Hollywood, but I think that the very fact that it's based on a true story is part of the appeal, proving that truly anyone can rise to power, just look at Donald Trump :(
The first question of quality for the movie, being a musical is, are the songs any good? And the answer is yes. They are very good. One of the things that strike me about the songs is that whenever the film needs to show a very long span of time, you can show it with a song and a montage, for example Eva's multiple lovers and the political history of Argentina in the 40s. This would be much harder to make compelling and interesting and related to the plot in an ordinary biopic. But Rice or Webber or Parker of whoever realized that they could use the songs to their advantage. So, congratulations!
Another important thing about musicals is, can the main actors sing, and the answer is again yes. No matter what you think of Madonna, you have to admit that the can sing. And I want to really show my respect for Madonna, because this wasn't a case of the producers going "We need a star! Get Madonna, because people know her and will help at the box office". It was actually Madonna who was really pushing to get the role, she took vocal lessons, she did research on Evita and Argentina, and I think that demands respect. The rest of her filmography may not be that impressive, but she did very well in her role, and that's all I ask.
So we knew that Madonna could sing, but what was really surprising to me was Antonio Banderas as the narrator Che (yes, in the play it was supposed to be Che Guevara, but they changed it for the film). Man, can he sing, and sing well. One thing that I also really liked about Banderas portrayal of Che is that he can be really funny and entertaining as Che. I honestly think that his performance was Oscar worthy.
Parker's direction and production was also really impressive, especially because it was a musical made on such a grand scale. You can tell that they spent a lot of money on the production, especially with regards to the extras. This I think is some of the best work from movie extras, it appears as if they actually care about what they're doing and how it's going to look on the big screen.
If I could criticize anything, I think it would be with some of the lyrics in the songs that I find questionable. For example, at one point in the song "Peron's Latest Flame" about peoples misgivings of Juan's relationship with Eva, the soldiers sing about officers and sing "as long as they're discreet and keep clear of disease", like what do they mean? Are they talking about syphilis?
So besides some lyrics that I was not fond of, the film is overall an entertaining musical with good performances, an impressive big scale and good songs.
My final score, 7/10.
Bugsy (1991)
A really good movie about a very flawed man with a dream.
Before I review Barry Levinson's 1991 film Bugsy, I must stress that I have a soft spot for gangster movies, or anything gangster related really. Some of my favorite movies are Goodfellas, The Godfather 1 and 2, and I also really like The Untouchables, the original Scarface, Road to Perdition and Once Upon a Time in America. I also really like HBO's Boardwalk Empire. So I am kind of a sucker for gangster movies so I was really looking forward to watching this movie, and I was not disappointed.
First of all, I want to talk about the performances. Warren Beatty was perfect to play Bugsy. He manages to make a character who could have been portrayed too comical or too unlikable, but Beatty manages to blend the two perfectly in a way that feels natural and like a real flawed person. Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley are both really good as Mickey Cohen and Meyer Lansky respectively, however, the real standout for me besides Beatty is Annette Bening. She was terrific in this film. She looked like she was from that period, and she gave a terrific performance as a feisty and strong and independent woman who doesn't take crap from Bugsy, and that's really nice to see. The fact that she wasn't nominated for an Academy Award is a crime!
Then secondly, I want to talk about the period, a very important element to the film. What I think Levinson and James Toback, the writer, managed to do was to perfectly blend in the period into the plot, without it being a distraction. It feels so natural, because it isn't called out for attention.
And thirdly, I want to talk about the filmmaking. This is a very well-directed and very well shot film, it was shot by Allen Daviau who was Oscar-nominated for his work on this film. But the really impressive part was the art direction and costumes, both of which won two very well-deserved Oscars. Like I talked about with the period, the costumes and locations feel and look like they are from that period and I think it works really well.
Overall, a really good film with great performances, a great use of the period and terrific filmmaking. I get the feeling that I will like the film more even the second time around.
My final score, 8/10
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The greatest Vietnam War Movie Ever!!!
Apocalypse Now is one of my favorite films of all time! I just love it, there is simply nothing wrong with it!!! Perfect acting, perfect direction, perfect writing, perfectly shot and perfectly edited.
I think Apocalypse Now is the only war film to truly examine the dark sides of the soul of man. And the film does it perfectly, by portraying most characters insane. It is a great subject matter, and an important one, to explore how war affects you psychologically. It's just perfect!!
I think the most perfectly shot sequence in the whole movie is the village attack at about 40 minutes into the film. With all the logistics, extras, special effects etc. it's a miracle that Coppola finished the film.
The Redux is, you know, it was good, and it contained well-structured scenes in it, but it slowed the film down. So whenever I am going to watch Apocalypse Now, I'm watching the original cut.
So I totally recommend Apocalypse Now to anyone interested in the Vietnam war, or just war movies. Like I said, it got great acting, directing, writing and editing. Apocalypse Now is AWESOME!!! 9/10
The Godfather (1972)
Excellent Gangster Picture
One of the Greatest movies I have ever seen! There is like, nothing wrong with it. I loved everything with The Godfather! The acting, the directing, the script, the score, the cinematography etc. And the line "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" is really famous today. RIP Marlon Brando, you were an excellent actor. The Supporting cast, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan are excellent. I know I am using the word excellent in this review, but its because everything in this movie is excellent. Propably the greatest gangster picture I have ever seen. The Godfather Part II and III were also excellent, but I think the first film was the best. 9/10.