/slash ½ 2016 – Day 3: April and the Extraordinary World (Avril et le monde truqué)

Posted on May 9, 2016 by cornholio1980

April and the Extraordinary World“April and the Extraordinary World” (Avril et le monde truqué)
France 2015
Written by Franck Ekinci, Benjamin Legrand & Jacques Tardi
Directed by Christian Desmares & Franck Ekinci
Watched on 30.04.2016

Enchanting. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of “April and the Extraordinary World”. Set in an alternative past, where humans never invented electricity, it’s beautifully animated, very funny, extremely charming, quite original, and tells an interesting story that hopefully manages to inspire – especially its younger viewers.

I loved the Steampunk setting, which was established and implemented really well. Even though living in such a world would probably be a nightmare, there’s something fascinating about the idea of humanity never inventing electricity and thus still using coal as primary source of energy. I also loved most of the characters, especially Avril. I think that it’s tremendously important to have such role models, for children in general, but for young girls in particular. To have a female scientist and inventor who might just save the world – I really hope that it inspires a lot of them. I also loved Pops, who is such a great, quirky character. And don’t even let me get started on Darwin the cat, who was absolutely adorable. Now I want my cats to be able to talk too! The other characters are also mostly ok, even though I didn’t find Julius particularly interesting, and the policeman was a little too “comic relief” to me. My only major complaint, though, is that the movie unfortunately couldn’t quite make do without a big antagonist – even though he’s only revealed rather late in the game. Apart from that, however, I loved it. “April and the Extraordinary World” is very entertaining and funny, with some hilarious gags (like the changing picture in Pop’s house, or “I didn’t save my file!” – you’ll get it when you see it). It’s also beautifully hand-drawn, in great looking (and charmingly old-fashioned) 2D, once again proving that this art style is far too good to let it become extinct because of CGI/3D. Finally, I really loved the story, which – despite a couple of well-known tropes – felt quite fresh and original to me. In my opinion, “April and the Extraordinary World” is a movie that every child should see – and even though it’s mostly targeted at them, adults nevertheless should also find much to enjoy.
8/10


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At the Movies 2016: Chevalier

Posted on May 7, 2016 by cornholio1980

ChevalierChevalier
Greece 2015
Written by Efthymis Filippou & Athina Rachel Tsangari
Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari
Watched on 06.05.2016

Conflicting schedules prevented me from already seeing this at last year’s Viennale, despite the fact that it sounded quite interesting and promising. However, having now finally watched it yesterday, it turned out that I didn’t miss much, since despite an intriguing promise, “Chevalier” turned out to be rather boring and frustrating. Boring because nothing really happens, and frustrating because of all the potential that sadly – and downright criminally – goes to waste.

I loved the basic idea of the movie. Six men who go on a diving trip together, and in the evening, decide to play some games to kill the time. One of them suggest a game called Chevalier that he’s played with a couple of friends before. They set challenges for each other, and whoever masters them best, wins a signet ring that he then wears until the next game. However, one of them suggests a tweak to the game: What if, besides the challenges, they’d actually evaluate each other in pretty much everything that they do? The way the talk, behave, walk, dress etc. What a killer idea for a movie! It’s a nice allegory of the feeling of some (all?) men that they have to constantly compete with each other in pretty much everything, and the pressure that goes along with that. There would have been so much potential for a slow, but steady, escalation of events, of a closer observation of men breaking under said pressure, and what this kind of scrutiny and competition does to someone. The movie, unfortunately, does none of that. Apart from a couple of nice, funny and/or memorable moments (“I’m not a pineapple. You take that back!” as well as the blood brotherhood will stick with me for quite a while), it panders along aimlessly, without any tension, and without ever really going anywhere.

Maybe, after seeing movies where playing games escalates into quite bloody and extreme situations (“Cheap Thrills” comes to mind; even though I wasn’t particularly fond of that one either; but at least it wasn’t dull), I had the wrong expectations. However, I’m not saying that “Chevalier” necessarily needed blood and violence in order to be good – but it would have needed something. Some sort of escalation, some tension, a closer attention to what this competition does to them, raising stakes… anything, really. Because as it stands, it leads nowhere, and thus felt extremely pointless to me. I also found it hard, if not impossible, to follow the challenges, or the competition in itself. Not saying that I cared very much who was winning and losing, but even that would have been better than the succession of triviality and boredom that I ultimately got. It also didn’t help that we hardly get to know any of these characters, thus I didn’t really feel a connection to them. It probably didn’t help that I had a hard time remembering the names; thus, when they spoke about someone else, I often didn’t know who they were talking about. And even though I usually hate it when movies talk down to and/or spoonfeed their audience, in this case some sort of opening scene that introduces them, that tells us what they do, why they’re here, and how they are related to each other, might have helped. Because as it is, I couldn’t really relate to any of them, because I hardly knew them.

There would have been so many interesting directions that you could have gone with this great idea for a movie. Unfortunately, Efthymis Filippou and Athina Rachel Tsangari went with an extremely subdued, serene approach that didn’t really work for me. Movies have the ability to present some sort of heightened reality, in order to drive their point home. With “Chevalier”, I’d have a hard time telling you what said point actually was supposed to be. Thus, in my opinion, the movie ultimately went belly-up – which, given its vast potential, is a crying shame.
3/10


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At the Movies 2016: Captain America – Civil War

Posted on May 6, 2016 by cornholio1980

Captain America Civil War
Captain America: Civil War
USA 2016
Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo
Watched on 05.05.2016

Dear Warner/DC, have a look. That’s how you do it! While I’m not one of those who absolutely hated “Batman v Superman”, I definitely was disappointed by it, and especially held against Marvel’s similar superhero clash, it completely pales in comparison. And what’s probably the most infuriating and frustrating thing for the Warner/DC-folk, when they compare their own effort to this, is how effortless it all seems. The Russo brothers and their scriptwriting team make it all look so easy, like it’s nothing that they’re juggling all those superheroes who, in their latest struggle, come head to head. Pardon the pun, but that was absolutely marvel-ous.

I don’t want to turn this solely into a comparison between those two movies – and thus, ultimately, a “Batman v Superman”-bashing – but allow me to emphasize one crucial element where “Dawn of Justice” failed, and “Civil War” shines: character motivation. In BvS, everything feels rather forced, ultimately culminating in the already infamous “Martha”-scene, which is unintentionally funny to such an extent that all tension that they might have built up before completely evaporates instantaneously. Here, on the other hand, we always understand why everyone’s doing what they’re doing. Even though Tony Stark and Steve Rogers end up on different sides on a certain matter, both their positions are plausible and relatable. Hell, the same can even be said about the villain – who, while similarly orchestrating the conflict, works sooooo much better than Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor did – which is exactly what makes this one so interesting. There are no easy answers for the questions raised here. Not for the characters, and not for the audience. Here’s the next thing: While “Batman v Superman” (and I swear, this will be the last time that I use that movie as a reference in this review) orchestrated the titular fight as cool and spectacular, and as something that the audience was supposed to cheer on to, when Captain America and Iron Man ultimately face off, we don’t even want them to. We’d rather have them kiss and make up, and continue to fight side by side. Which is one of the many reason why “Civil War” works where “Dawn of Justice” failed. “Civil War” also does a great job giving each and every one of its heroes their due. They all get at least one moment in the spotlight, where they can really shine. Obviously, the movie also profits from the fact that by now, we know most of them. We followed many of them for years now, and thus feel a certain connection to them. However, they also do a great job introducing some new blood, and doing so in a way that feels organic, and that actually makes them relevant to the plot, and/or the themes that the movie deals with.

Granted, it’s not perfect. The first action sequence feels very familiar and interchangeable (at least up to a certain emotional scene that serves as catalyst for everything that happens afterwards), the action, while mostly comprehensible, wasn’t shot quite as clear as I’d like (at least apart from some signature moments), the pursuit through Berlin felt unnecessary long, the promo material gave away too much (like where everyone stands; would have been nice if we could have found that out for ourselves), and even though there’s a lot of emotional weight throughout the movie, ultimately, I missed a great, big, persisting change in the status quo – which, looking back, gives all the drama that happened before the impression of being nothing more than smoke and mirrors. However, that’s nothing that you’d note while watching the movie, and thus it has no real impact on its entertainment value. And entertaining it sure as hell is. Even though it’s the longest Marvel-movie so far, said length feels earned and appropriate. There’s just so much going on, so many characters to handle, and a lot of action, tension, intrigue, drama, and – of course – humor, that it’s hard to even notice the movie’s very few shortcomings, mentioned above. And while the showdown in Siberia definitely was the emotional and dramatic climax of the movie, by far my favorite part was the prolonged fight between the superheroes on the german airport. That sequence was just absolutely exhilarating, with all those superheroes fighting together as well as against each other. For me, this action scene is the pinnacle of superhero battles in movies so far – and it’s a gold standard that will be tough to match, let alone beat, in the years to come.
9/10


IMDB

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/slash ½ 2016 – Day 2: The Lure (Córki dancingu)

Posted on May 5, 2016 by cornholio1980

The Lure“The Lure” (Córki dancingu)
Poland 2015
Written by Robert Bolesto
Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska
Watched on 29.04.2016

I really wanted to love “The Lure”, but after a very promising and really strong start, it increasingly lost focus, losing itself in irrelevant minor characters, sub-plots that don’t go anywhere, and a couple of scenes that felt totally superfluous and pointless to me. Furthermore, the musical numbers seemed to get completely out of hand (and increasingly didn’t meet my personal musical taste, even though that’s highly subjective, of course) and slowly but surely started to annoy me. The ending itself once again was great, really gripping and quite emotional, but by the time we finally got there, “The Lure” already had lost much of its appeal.

One of my favorite scenes of the movie was the beginning at the beach, when the mermaids show themselves for the first time, and enchant the (male) musicians playing there with their siren call. I also liked how they got sucked into performing in a seedy night club. The two young actresses who play the mermaids, Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olzanska, were absolutely great, giving very natural, convincing and expressive performances. It also helps that they are absolutely gorgeous, and thus extremely beautiful to look at (with Michalina especially drawing my eyes to her, thanks to her incredible seductiveness). I also quite liked the first couple of musical numbers, as well as the overall story. How Golden slowly falls in love with this boy, finally deciding to give up her life in the sea, and everything that happens afterwards. After a muddled middle part, that (finally) managed to grip me again. And even though it’s totally bonkers (and, obviously, scientifically impossible), I also quite liked the way the transformation from mermaid to woman works here. That really was a fascinating idea.

Talking about fascinating: How they portrayed the tails of the mermaids also was quite interesting. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, “The Lure” got increasingly frustrating in the middle. There were many scenes and musical numbers that felt completely unnecessary to me, like the “poison”-song. I just didn’t get what was going on there, and why it was supposed to be important. There were also all those subplots with minor characters, like the policewoman, or the merman, which never amounted to anything. They are gone as suddenly as they appeared, never really adding anything to the movie. I also thought that they overdid the musical numbers, but that may also be due to the fact that some of the later ones weren’t really my cup of tea, music-wise. Overall, I think the movie would have been a lot better if they would have cut all that superfluous stuff from the middle, and used that running time to deepen a couple of relationships and developments. As it stands, however, “The Lure” felt increasingly jarring, erratic, aimless and even annoying to me – and thus, after a very strong beginning, got less and less alluring.
5/10


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/slash ½ 2016 – Day 2: My Big Night (Mi gran noche)

Posted on May 5, 2016 by cornholio1980

My Big NightMy Big Night (Mi gran noche)
Spain 2015
Written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría & Álex de la Iglesia
Directed by Álex de la Iglesia
Watched on 29.04.2016

“My Big Night” was absolutely hilarious. A fun, wildly energetic romp from start to finish, it depicts the shoot of a New Year’s Eve special – in October, of course – that slowly but surely gets completely out of control, be it because of accidental deaths that may or may not be due to a woman at the table bringing bad luck, the semen-theft of a young woman from up-and-coming singer Adanne, the constant dispute and bickering between the two hosts of the show (who also happen to be married), the weird behavior of the main star Alphonso, or a rabid fan’s plot to kill him.

Granted, humor is extremely subjective, but I for one had a blast with “My Big Night”. I loved the setup, the absurdity of it all, the wacky characters and crazy developments, and so on. There were many funny scenes and great gags, like Adanne’s song (complete with suggestive lyrics), which were absolutely hysterical. And even though before the movie, I had never – consciously – heard of Raphael (who, as I learned before the screening, is a huge star in Spain) – I thought that it was great that with Alphonso, he made fun of himself and his image. I really loved him in this role, but to be honest, pretty much everyone involved here was great, so much so that it would feel highly unfair to single anyone out. They all did a remarkable job. I also quite enjoyed the songs, even though I feared that they wouldn’t be my cup of tea. The entire film moved at a swift pace, and with its absurdity, the depiction of an artistic endeavor, and its wild energy, it sometimes reminded me of “Birdman” (even though that, despite some very funny scenes, was more on the drama-side of things, while this is a straight-out comedy). The only things that I’d criticize are that because of the huge amount of characters, most of them stay pretty one-dimensional, and aren’t really fleshed out. It’s also not an especially deep movie, and more interested in simply entertaining its audience than to convey any sort of message (provided I didn’t miss anything). And while I found much of the movie very funny, admittedly not every single gag hit home. However, for most of the time, “My Big Night” was a hoot.
8/10


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/slash ½ 2016 – Day 2: Beyond the Walls (Au delà des murs)

Posted on May 3, 2016 by cornholio1980

Beyond the WallsBeyond the Walls (Au delà des murs)
F 2016
Written by Sylvie Chanteux, Marc Herpoux & Hervé Hadmar
Directed by Hervé Hadmar
Watched on 29.04.2016

“Au delà des murs” is a 3-part miniseries from France that tells the story of Lisa, a young woman, who surprisingly inherits the old and very strange-looking house opposite to her apartment – even though she never even knew its owner. Once she moves to her new home, she hears strange noises behind the walls, and then something that sounds like a whimpering child. She tears the wall down with a sledgehammer, and behind it, she finds a labyrinthian set of corridors that ultimately lead her into another world. Now, she has to find her way back.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this mini-series – which was screened to us back-to-back – however, I think that it might even have liked it better as a regular 2-hour movie (which would have meant cutting around 20 minutes). For example, I think that you would have been able to cut a little bit at the beginning without using much. Everything about her job is just setup, so that we get to know her a little better, but ultimately, her profession doesn’t really have any relevance for the rest of the story. In my opinion, it took the mini-series a little bit too long until Lisa finally ended up in that mysterious house, and then, beyond its walls. However, once she did, Hervé Hadmar manages to create some incredible tension. Those scenes of her walking through the corridors all on her own, losing her way in the labyrinth, and not knowing what she is going to find in the next room, were extremely suspenseful. He definitely knows how to build a nice, creepy atmosphere, and perfectly captures this feeling of being alone in an unknown and possibly dangerous place. Overall, the first episode takes a little bit to really get going, but ends very strong.

The second one introduces us to Julien, another person who got stuck in the house, and the strange world beyond its walls. That means that Lisa isn’t alone anymore, which decreased the tension for me a little bit. However, now the mystery about the house and this world itself come to the foreground, offering a couple of nice reveals. Also, even though they now mostly explore this world together, there still are a couple of creepy scenes and tense moments, as well as disturbing images. What I also enjoyed was how surreal it all was. The rooms beyond the wall don’t follow any particular style, instead you go from, say, an old-fashioned, small personal cabin to a huge hall with a totally different architectural style. Which made this episode in particular very interesting, because it was intriguing to see what they would come up with next. They really did great work on those sets and locations. There are also a couple of disturbing scenes and ideas. And I really loved the ending of the episode, first with the foggy woods, and then the cabin near a lake. Overall, the final 10 minutes of episode 1 and the entirety of episode 2 were my favourite parts of this mini-series.

Which isn’t supposed to mean that I didn’t also like episode 3. However, there’s a pretty strong shift when it comes to content and tone. Suddenly, a mistake of Lisa’s past, as well as her growing affection for Julien, take center seat, and while both are ok, I preferred the creepier tone of the first two episodes. However, after only a very short cameo at the end of episode two, this one now finally provides us with a prolonged appearance by Geraldine Chaplin, which is always a plus. Nevertheless, I have to say that the romance-part of the episode didn’t totally convince me, given that they’ve only known each other for a couple of hours – at least, that’s the impression that the mini-series gave me. Also, I found most of the ending – especially one particular twist (but also the way Lisa is ultimately saved) – extremely predictable. And overall, I couldn’t shake the feeling that in episode 3, you again would have been able to cut a couple of minutes (in order to get to a 2-hour-running time, thus converting the mini-series into a regular movie) without losing anything essential. Having said that, the third episode also featured a couple of tense moments, nice sets and haunting images, and even though I could see it coming from a mile away, I nevertheless really liked the way the story ultimately ended.

Overall, I really enjoyed “Beyond the Walls”. It mixed up a couple of old and new ideas, offered some truly terrifying scenes and disturbing images, a nice mystery, some beautiful sets and locations, very good performances by the actresses and actors, some interesting tonal shifts, and on top of that, an unusual romance as well as an emotionally satisfying conclusion. I’m just not sure if it really had to be a mini-series, and strongly suspect that it might have worked even better as a regular, 2-hour movie.
7/10

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/slash ½ 2016 – Day 1: The Witch

Posted on May 3, 2016 by cornholio1980

The WitchThe Witch
USA 2015
Written by Robert Eggers
Directed by Robert Eggers
Watched on 28.04.2016

First: No, I’m not going to call this one “The VVitch”, just because some marketing people who obviously were high thought that they were oh-so-clever. Second: Just like with the general audience, “The Witch” also proved to be quite divisive with the /slash-crowd, with some people really into it, and others never quite finding their way in, and/or finding things funny that were supposed to be shocking and/or disturbing. And third: I’m glad to be able to say that I was one of those that very much enjoyed it.

Now, before we go on, let me make it clear that I totally get those who simply didn’t know what to do with this movie. It’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill horror. While there are a couple of (well done) jump scares, it relies mostly on tension, some disturbing scenes, as well as a slow escalation of events. The setup also sets it clearly apart from most other modern horror movies, since it’s not set in the present, but rather in the 1630s. There’s a strong religious theme throughout the movie that you have to be able to accept. You’ve got the difficult, questionable topic of yet another movie that actually seems to support the witch hunts that took place back then. And then there’s the ending. Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away, but I understand everyone who couldn’t go along with that, and found it disappointing at best, disastrous at worst. However, for me, the movie mostly worked. While I’m not a religious person myself, in the context of a movie, I can accept it. I mean, if I can believe in vampires, werewolves, zombies etc., I should also be able to believe in witches, demons, the devil, and maybe even God, right?

I for one also quite liked the ending. I didn’t get the impression that it came totally out of the blue. Actually, one of the things that I enjoyed about “The Witch” was that it wasn’t a typical “twist”-movie. There’s a scene 10 minutes in that already heavily implies that there actually is something supernatural going on, and at least I got the impression that this is exactly how we’re supposed to understand the movie. Now, I guess that if you absolutely want to believe in some sort of down-to-earth, psychological explanation, you can. However, in that case, it should also be possible to explain everything that happens at the end with some sort of psychosis/hallucination/dream. Nevertheless, I’ll admit that I would have preferred it if “The Witch” – much like “The Babadook” – would have left the question if there’s actually something supernatural going on, or if the characters simply lose their minds, more up to the interpretation of the viewer, than it seemed to do. Finally, there were a few scenes that I found to be a little bit too loud and/or hysterical, and thus a little annoying.

Other than that, though, I really liked “The Witch”. I loved the setting, the bleak visuals, the dark and depressing mood, and the haunting score (with the callback to “2001: A Space Odyssey” during the seduction-scene a particular standout-moment, music-wise). The acting was great, too. Anya Taylor-Joy proves to be a talent that we should be on the lookout for with her breakthrough-performance here, and Ralph Ineson as well as Kate Dickie were equally great. However, I have to say that as much as I usually prefer to watch english movies in their original language without subtitles, in this case I was actually quite glad about them, because – thanks to the archaic language and the heavy accents – otherwise I only would have understood half of the movie. “The Witch” also is very well shot, perfectly capturing the bleak and barren landscapes, and offering many creepy and disturbing scenes, as well as a couple of hauntingly beautiful (and beautifully haunting) images. And while there is the occasional jump scare, they at least were used very well and effectively, and didn’t simply rely on loud sounds and music.

Overall, “The Witch” did exactly what I expect a horror movie to do: It scared me. Thanks to that, as well as a couple of memorable moments and the ending, it’s going to stick with me for a while, and it’s definitely a movie that I’ll revisit again in the near future.
8/10


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At the Movies 2016: The Commune (Kollektivet)

Posted on April 26, 2016 by cornholio1980

The CommuneThe Commune (Kollektivet)
Denmark 2016
Written by Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Watched on 23.04.2016

“Kollektivet” is the latest movie from “Festen” and “Jagten”-director Thomas Vinterberg, and while not quite reaching their level, it nevertheless was an entertaining, occasionally hilarious, but at times also quite tragic look at life in a Danish commune in the 70s, but even more so, a relationship in crisis.

Which already brings me to my major criticism, because even though the communal life definitely made said crisis all the more difficult for Anna to bear (since her partner’s new spouse comes to live with them), ultimately, the movie seemed to be more about this relationship crisis and Anna’s struggle, than about the titular Commune itself. Now, everything about that was pretty good, and featured a couple of gripping, emotional scenes. But ultimately, it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before, and apart from a couple of specifics, their struggle didn’t really seem to be that much different from those which regular couples – married or otherwise –face in a similar situation. “The Commune” also was very much focused on Anna, Erik and Emma, with some consideration also given to Freya and her first love. The rest of the cast, however, proves to be little more than decoration. Which to me, felt a little bit like a wasted opportunity. Also, a particular dramatic moment near the end of the movie seemed a little forced to me, like a climactic scene that of course had to happen at this point of the story, but – even though plausible – feels like a little bit of a stretch as something that would actually happen like that in real life. It felt just a little too convenient. I also thought that the middle part dragged along just a little bit. And even though one might argue that Erik just was supposed to play the asshole-character of the ensemble, a little elaboration on why he’s so drawn to this young woman would have been nice.

Where “The Commune” shines, first and foremost, is the acting. In Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen, it features two “Festen”-alumni in the leading roles, and even though it took a while for me to get used to seeing them as a couple (since I only had seen “Festen”, where they played brother and sister, a couple of weeks ago for the first time in my life), they – again – proved to be the heart and soul of the movie, giving very naturalistic and emotive performances. I was a little less taken with Helene Reingaard Neumann, who plays Emma, but that might have been more down to her role (which felt a little clichéd), than her performance itself. From the rest of the cast, however, the main standout for me was Julie Agnete Vang as Mona. Also, having missed all that commune-hype (since I was “only” born in 1980), it was quite interesting to get a glimpse into what ultimately seemed like a big residential community – even though, as said before, I very much wold have like to see more about that. I also loved how Vinterberg once again managed to start off rather light, with many amusing scenes, only to get darker and darker, ultimately ending on quite a sad and tragic note. There also were a couple of great moments that really stood out for me, like the weird bid of someone having sex while Anna – who who works as a newscaster – can be seen on TV, or the devastating scene where Anna finally breaks down, offering a heartfelt plea to Anna. There are a couple of similarly strong moments, but those stuck with me the most. I also really loved the dialogue, as well as the huge variety of characters that ultimately finds a home in this commune. Finally, I have to point out that while I, personally, didn’t find the movie especially tear-inducing, quite a few sobs could be heard at the end of the movie. Thus, I’m certain that this movie will speak more to others (maybe people slightly older, with more life experience?) than it did to me. Overall, it was good enough for me to recommend it to anyone who loved Thomas Vinterbergs previous work, or who’s interested either in the topic or in Danish cinema – but don’t expect him to top his previous, aforementioned work.
7/10


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At the Movies 2016: Midnight Special

Posted on April 22, 2016 by cornholio1980

Midnight SpecialMidnight Special
USA 2015
Written by Jeff Nichols
Directed by Jeff Nichols
Watched on 19.04.2016

Apart from the twist ending, which I felt to be rather cheap and unnecessary, I loved “Take Shelter” – which is why I was very much looking forward to Jeff Nichols’ and Michael Shannon’s latest collaboration. And while it didn’t exactly blew me away, and thus might not quite have met my very high expectations, I nevertheless found it quite entertaining.

“Midnight Special” definitely has a certain Spielberg-vibe to it, with its strong family-theme and the rather grounded science fiction-elements (both of which had me thinking of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, and especially “E.T.”) – something that I very much enjoyed. However, during the film, I also felt myself reminded of other movies, like “Superman/Man of Steel” (the power of the sun), “Tomorrowland” (the idea of “a world beyond”, and its design), The “X-Files”-episode “Conduit” (a child “receiving” sattellite transmissions), “The Mercury-Puzzle” (A young boy who decoded higly classified messages is hunted by the government)), “Starman” (an extraordinary being that has to reach a certain place at a certain time, and who’s hunted by the government/military) and – of all things – “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (the overall story, and especially the ending). Usually, that’s not a big problem for me, but in this quantity, I found it to be a little distracting. I also have to say that, despite a couple of suspenseful scenes (especially the beginning), I never found “Midnight Special” quite as intense and gripping as “Take Shelter” (which really blew me away with its nightmarish mood). That we learn fairly early on that Roy wants to bring his son to a certain place at a certain time probably didn’t help, since for me, it ultimately was more about the destination than the journey. I just waited for them to finally get there, to see what would happen then. Furthermore, I think I could have done without that whole ranch-angle, and would have preferred if Roy and Sarah simply would have been a regular couple that, thanks to the special abilities of their son, suddenly get thrown into this extraordinary tale. And finally, since I’m not a religious person myself, I didn’t really connect with the faith-part of the movie.

So overall, I wasn’t quite as taken with “Midnight Special” as I was with “Take Shelter” – however, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. One thing that kept me engaged was that the audience only gradually learned what was going on, which kept the mystery alive for most of the running time. I was also very pleased to see that Nichols hardly ever talks down to its audience, and trusts them to figure stuff out for themselves, without drawing them a map. The cast also was quite excellent. While I was slightly more impressed by Michael Shannon in “Take Shelter”, he still gives a really good performance here as Roy, who risks everything to make sure that his son reaches his destination. Kirsten Dunst was equally good as Alton’s mother, who has to face the fact that saving her son might also mean that she has to let go of him. And once again, I was amazed how good child actors and actresses are nowadays, with Jaeden Lieberher giving a great, natural, emotive performance. Joel Edgerton’s role isn’t quite as flashy, but seriously, who of us wouldn’t wish to have such a friend on our side? And I was really impressed by Adam Driver, who plays such a totally different role here from his Kylo Ren in “The Force Awakens”, but is just as convincing as he was there. Jeff Nichols direction is also spot-on. Together with his cinematographer Adam Stone, he provides us with a couple of beautiful images and stunning sequences, like the fall of the satellite. David Wingo provides a fitting score that’s more about tension and mood than about providing leitmotiv-like melodies that you can hum afterwards. And finally, I was very glad to see that “Midnight Special” – in contrast to “Take Shelter” – isn’t a classic twist movie (even though there’s a certain revelation in the very last shot of the movie whose meaning is open to discussion). Ultimately, though, while I thought that it was quite nice, I wouldn’t exactly call it “special”.
6/10


IMDB

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At the Movies 2016: 10 Cloverfield Lane

Posted on April 20, 2016 by cornholio1980

10 Cloverfield Lane10 Cloverfield Lane
USA 2015
Written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken & Damien Chazelle
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Watched on 19.04.2016

Initially, I had no intention of seeing this, given that I’m very allergic to marketing pranks. As should be widely known by now, “10 Cloverfield Lane” originally had nothing to do with “Cloverfield”. Is was neither a sequel nor a “blood relative”, as J.J. Abrams put it, but rather a standalone movie called “Valencia” (and before that, “The Cellar”). But when it was finished, the production company collapsed, and parent company Paramount didn’t really know what to do with and/or how to market it. So they did some reshoots and gave it the title “10 Cloverfield Lane” to retroactively tie it to Matt Reeves’ surprise hit of 2008. Usually, I don’t support stunts like that, but then I figured that I probably shouldn’t punish Dan Trachtenberg and his team for the impudence of the marketing people, and gave it a try anyway.

——————————————- SPOILERS AHEAD ——————————————

My verdict: It’s good, but not great, and overall, I think I might have liked it a little more as a standalone-feature than the Cloverfield-blood-infused version that we ultimately got. The original script (if the internet is to be trusted) also wasn’t perfect (I think I would have groaned at the revelation of a destroyed Chicago at the end, and thus a cheap “OMG OMG the crazy, creepy conspiracy dude was right after all!”-twist ending; in the finished movie, we at least get a warning that he probably isn’t quite as full of shit as we’re inclined to believe, thanks to the dying woman outside), but not only would Emmett’s presence in the bunker have made more sense (in the script, it was her who let him in), the tonal shift also wouldn’t have been quite as jarring. Seriously, after a tense, tight thriller, this suddenly turned into “War of the Worlds” (Spielberg Edition), and when Michelle spotted the alien ship on the horizon and uttered an annoyed-unbelieving “Come on…”, I couldn’t have agreed more. That entire ending felt really tacked on, like it belonged to a different movie, and I for one had a hard time with this transition. I also had the impression that due to rewrites/reshoots, Howard’s description of what actually happened outside was a little inconsistent over the course of the movie. First he’s talking about a nuclear strike and fallout, seemingly blaming the russians or a similar (earthly) power, and only later, when Michelle hears the “helicopter”, he suddenly starts mentioning aliens.

Also: Why doesn’t he tell her what’s going on right away? Why does he, at first, chain her to the wall? Wouldn’t he have a much better chance to gain her trust and of her staying with him willingly, if he would have told his story right away (including the fact that it was him who ran into her)? I’m also not a huge fan of the recent trend that every single piece of information that we get has to have some sort of payoff later on. Like, for example, when Michelle tells Emmett how her brother always protected her, and later on him doing exactly the same thing. Or her story about always running away when things get difficult, which ties in directly to her decision at the end. What happened to insignificant background information that’s simply there to deepen the characters? I also could have done without Howard getting up again after the acid attack. And given the fact that – not just because of the new title – I just knew that Howard would be right about something going on out there, the first third of the movie (until Michelle finally reaches the same conclusion) lost a little bit of its appeal to me. Finally, many of the twists (the woman outside, the aliens at the end, and especially the so-not-shocking “I forgive you”-moment; that is just such a cliché by now) unfortunately didn’t really work for me.

Despite all that, I still had a pretty good time with the movie. Even though the twist concerning the fact that the crazy guy is actually right was very obvious, I quite liked that concept. There are a couple of incredibly tense scenes, like their first dinner together. My favorite part of the movie, though, was the middle, from Michelle seeing the dying woman outside up to “I forgive you”, which featured a lot of incredible tense scenes, and a couple of nice twists and revelations (like “Help” and the earring). Dan Trachtenberg definitely knows how to create tension, and I’m very interested to see what he’ll do next. He’s helped by a very good, moody score by Bear McCreary, and especially, of course, a bunch of incredibly talented actors. While I personally wasn’t that impressed by John Gallagher Jr., both Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman pretty much blew me away. Goodman gives an absolutely incredibly and extremely intense performance, switching between fatherly caretaker, sleazy bastard and hot-tempered menace with astonishing ease. Winstead, on the other hand, perfectly manages the tricky combination of being vulnerable and frightened, but also independent, clever and strong. Her performance, as well as the way her character is written, made it easy for me to root for her, which made her fight for freedom very gripping – and the finale, despite the tonal shift, quite satisfying. Being forced to compared the two, thanks to the marketing department, I still slightly prefer “Cloverfield”, but “10 Cloverfield Lane” definitely is a worthy spiritual successor to 2008’s surprise hit that is very well worth watching.
7/10


IMDB

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