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Hey there! I'll add a Movie Log later on. I'll be going out in a little while. Stay tuned!
And I'm back now.
It's been a bit of an up-and-down three weeks since the last time I updated this. I've had some personal family matters, trips, annoyances to deal with, but SANFIC was right around the corner. If you need reminding or clarification, SANFIC's one of our local film festival here in Santiago. I'm pretty certain's the biggest and the one with the highest international profile in Chile, as it managed to land films by Jarmusch, Kar-wai, Polley, Dolan, and most notably, Damien Chazelle's masterfully furious Whiplash. It's also a great venue for national films to get an early attention before they get released to wider audiences. This time around I'll be eyeing a couple of them I've been really looking forward to.
But what about the films I got to see before SANFIC? Well...
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's Spring. It's the story about a young man who seems to have drawn the short straw in life -- not much going on romantically, his family was compact and dwindling; and lately he had a bit of a spat with some guy, forcing him to leave the US to Italy so to avoid prosecution. After road tripping and getting some odd jobs to get by, he spots a gorgeous woman on the street and immediately falls in love with her. After a while of getting to know each other, they'll play their relationship pretty friendly, letting emotions and intimacy to grow bigger without forcing anything. The guy seems to be enjoying his time at last. However, the girl has some very dark, literally inhuman secrets of her own. We're talking about sci-fi stuff here.
This movie's romantic scenes have a flair of Before Sunrise mixed with The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. They're both intimately performed and emotionally shapen, with something missing or lost in between the guy's trying to reach. However, its sci-fi/horror aspect... while it's not bad or carelessly thought of. They've really gone the extra mile trying to explain it, both positively and negatively: it's by no means something they pulled out of their own asses, but once it's time to talk about it... the movie is very much about it in a clumsy, overly verbose fashion.
If anything, it's something that'll grab you by surprise. Nothing in this movie points you towards a horror element here, but then it happens and you're very off-guard; and then the movie keeps it cool, playing dumb for a little while longer. It won't gross you out with morbid, graphic bits or anything (there are some Lovecraftian designs here, but nothing too spooky, honestly), as it focuses more on a "what if?" scenario, always focusing more on emotions and fantasies over cheap thrills.
Still, the fact that there's a horror element is what sort of draws a line in this movie. How would you catalogue it? Romantic horror? Does it actually belong in the same shelf as something like Twilight? Quality-wise, by all means no; but if it belongs in the shelf of films like Let the Right One In, Only Lovers Left Alive and Warm Bodies it's only tenuously. Those three movies (and sure, Twilight too) tandemize their supernatural and romantic elements better than Spring. They're more meaningfully present in them, whereas here it's just a narrative device that could've been easily exchanged for something actually plausible.
Nevertheless, the performances, the score, the lensing, it's all great. It's a very heartfelt and clever film that'll touch some emotional strings in you and will keep you engaged with its horror dwellings in quite unconventional ways. Lead Pucci is particularly remarkable here: brotherly, cautious, longing for more and better after a troublesome past. You’ll feel close to him by the end of the film, especially after that ending sequence (namely, the next-next-to-last shot; a quite gorgeous, potently positive case of actually telling-not-showing). Give it a watch.
Patricia Riggen's The 33. THIS is the big one. The Cinematic Chilean Event of the Year. It's super rare to have Hollywood focus in... us, in general, but this time around as soon as the real event ended in a happy note, everyone was rushing to make a movie out of this. It's a film based on the story of the 33 miners who were trapped underground in a Copiapó mine for 69 days after a massive inner rockslide blocked their only exit. For a pretty long while we didn't have any clue about whether they were alive or not -- and truth be told, hopelessness was reasonable. Odds were defied and ingenuity and persistence led to salvation for these men.
Yes, we're going with some good ol' emotional note here. Something like Shawshank Redemption -- not as good, but just as much about endurance and hope in unfair circumstances. But in any case, I still think it’s a bit too soon to be making movies about this accident; not because of any perceived insensitivity, but because a story like this could be really fleshed out if given proper time, and a good, different idea is nurtured and promoted. Watching this movie I just imagined a Broadway version of it. THE 33: THE MUSICAL, or something like that. Something grandiose and diligent in the times of hope, exposed and frail in the times of anguish, and chaotic and ricocheting in the times of strife. Maybe what fueled that was James Horner’s score with its mighty sweeps and tender notes, but that’s part of it.
I think that what really drove me to think that was the movie’s tone. It’s a bit like a soap opera. At times (mostly on the above ground scenes) the production values were somewhat too TV-ish, with characters behaving very much like “GOD DAMNIT, CAN’T YOU SEE IT!? THERE IS NO HOPE! NOT FOR US, NOT FOR THEM, NOT FOR CHILE” and such, while also poking fun at the sides of it. It had Drama with a capital D, but if anything, it makes it a heartfelt, passionate product. They’ll be very serious about everything, but when things are truly dire, then they’ll show it to painful degrees, really showcasing the hopelessness everyone had before Golborne’s team made contact with them. There’s this one scene that steps out of the established norm that really accentuates this and had me on the edge of tears, I must say.
However, once they make contact with them, things slow down considerably. Up until then, the movie was all about the human condition and the mission itself, but once the big question got answered, it’s less about that and more about the loyalties each other have and how they plan their lives outside the mine -- provided they make it out. They do make it out, though, and by then, they’re far healthier than they were before the rescue drills reach them. Even if in reality it wasn’t just that, in this movie it all feels like it’s a matter of time.
It wears its heart on its sleeve, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s competently and dearly made. Still waiting on that musical, though.
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows. A mockumentary -- and a pretty unique one, at least thematically speaking. It's about a community of vampires from Wellington -- yes, Wellington, New Zealand. Some of them are foreigners who were around since the colony days, while others are new, just getting the hang of it, caught in between the living world they were part of and the world of the dead they now inhabit. Of course, they are not alone: supernatural monsters of all sorts coexist with them (for better and worse), and they all be meeting at a ball they'll be having in a few days.
If my memory doesn’t fail me, I think this is the first mockumentary I check out while updating Bijou Reviews (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa falls in a gray area, in my opinion).
Boy, was this... I don’t know, quirky? Like it’s all somewhat sitcommy, with its super laidback take on the obscure and the macabre, with vampires, werewolves and the like roaming the streets of Wellington and going largely unnoticed by most -- and that’s something considering how serious-minded these supernatural folks are about their daily lives and routines: every cliché you’ve ever heard about vampires, it’s a commandment to them. The crucifixes, the silver, the reflections, the familiars, all of it to a very proudly worn tee.
That said, though... I don’t know where to stand regarding my thoughts about this movie. I wasn’t terribly engaged, I must say. Maybe it’s because they adhere so hardly to vampire jokes they never do anything really new with them, therefore running thin by the 30 minute mark; or because no matter the concept, these characters aren’t so interesting by themselves. I only had one big audible laugh throughout the film, and it was a visual joke: nothing that could be attributed to their wit or delivery.
These characters are so bland and one-note that the character I liked best precisely stands out because he’s so nothing, so normal. Still, there’s enough charm in them to keep the movie afloat, even if the movie later on doesn’t seem to be heading somewhere. Nearly every plot point presented is addressed without making much impact (a fact that’s probably related to this movie’s general aloofness); yet things keep stretching out somehow. Even the ending scene feels disoriented because they keep going at a new plot yet they suddenly stop short on their tracks to end the film.
Still, as a mockumentary it’s technically well made, with neat effects and cool action scenes, all very well edited and performed; but at large I fail to see the point on making it a mockumentary. This is a genre that I think works better when the plot’s as simple as it could be, like a literal from point A to point B; but this is a movie far too loose and carefree for that. The characters have far too much free rein to grow within boundaries, so much so they don’t have anywhere or anything to do for most of the film. They simply exist. If anything, they exist completely harmlessly. Just some spice and meat would’ve been better.
Shinji Higuchi's Attack on Titan. I didn't see it, but my friend Lan did, so I asked him if he wanted to make a tiny review of it for my blog. He said yes, and this is what he wrote:
Very messy given it's the first film in a franchise. All of its elements are dispersed: the music's strident and random; the CGI never gels properly with the real live action footage; the new characters are largely uninteresting; and it has some scenes borrowed from something out of a Kaiju film that don't really mesh well here. If anything, the script's stable... for the time being.There you go. I've never seen/read anything from Attack on Titan, so I had no major inclination towards seeing this film. This dude's a major anime/manga fan, so I'm going to take his word in this matter. Seems to be the animé industry as a whole's still looking for that one, decidedly good adaptation to live action.
Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Billy Hope, a successful title-holding boxer who's famed for taking far too many hits before claiming victory. After winning another high-profile match, the stage seems to be set for a dream match to happen between him and Colombian newcomer Miguel "Magic" Escobar (Miguel Gomez); but it's all cut short when a quarrel between the two men ends up with Billy's wife getting killed (Rachel McAdams) by an accidental gun shot. Mournful and vengeful, he binges on drugs and alcohol, and gets into trouble with the boxing federation over his severe misconduct. His life is thrown into further disarray as debt creeps in, prompting him to lose his house and his possessions, and his daughter to be put under the care of the Child Protective Services. Raging but desperate, he decides to start his career anew from the ground up with the help of Coach Wills (Forest Whitaker), hoping to at least get his kid back to make amends for all the trouble he's caused her.
Gyllenhaal's quite good in this movie, but I don't think it's ultimately enough to make it a good film. He drags himself through the dirt with a lot of grit and resiliance (and some great Oscar-nom worthy makeup work, I must add), but this is a story you already know by heart -- not precisely because it feels like any other boxing movie you might have seen before, but because the motions are all super transparent. He's rich, now he's not. He's lost everything but he'll get it back. He knew it all before but now he must learn it all over again. No surprises.
No surprises, but a lot of pain though, right? Dude's lost his wife, his home, his titles, his kid's taken away from him and is gradually growing to hate him... sad times, all around. You know, though? It's too much -- and I don't mean that in a lacrymogen kind of way, but in a boring kind of way. Yes, it's sad, but it's sad non-stop. After a certain point everything will feel flat and dull. You can't care much for the guy's woes because you've already seen him tumble and lose what little he had left like 999 times before. What's worse is that it'll try to pull some tears from out of its ass by telling you some sad story that happened that could've actually merited some telling -- someone close to Jake dies besides his wife, but it's barely touched upon. It all happens off-screen. Way to cram more sadness inside my sadness.
If you're a boxing fan, sure, it might have something of worth besides Gyllenhaal and the makeup. Otherwise... far too uninspired and one-note to endorse.
Josh Trank's Fantastic Four. Um...
Ok, my bad. Now this is far too uninspired and one-note to endorse.
Look, I don't think I need to go on detail about its premise or what do I think about it. I stand by everything that's already been said about this film. It's flat as fuck, nobody looks like they want to be there, and why the fuck is The Thing naked? It's easily one of the most joyless, insipid films I've ever seen in my life -- and that's me saying yes, I forgave its not-too-criminally-stupid script. This movie was too dull to make it fun or tense or creative or anything, really.
I don't think this had to be because it's Fox Studios and not Marvel Studios, and/or because they supposedly made this film so they would retain the rights, preventing Marvel Studios to claim them back. This is just a bad movie, period; and Marvel's not the hottest shit around either to say that they wouldn't have failed as much as Trank did. They're also prone to failure, but we've been more forgiving with them than we realize.
Anyways. Don't.
Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd. Vinterberg's follows up the exceptional The Hunt (which landed at #3 in my list of the best films I saw in 2013) with a film that's sort of the opposite from that one. Classier, quieter, platonic, craftier; adapted from the homonymous novel by Thomas Hardy, it tells the story of Bathsheba (Carey Mulligan), a young farmer who meets and befriends a sheepherder named Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) to the point he proposes to her. She kindly declines, arguing she's too independent and he'd grow to despise her. Later on, she inherits a very productive and large farm from his deceased uncle, whereas Gabriel lost everything he had.
He aids the people at a farm on fire -- but he fails to realize it was Bathsheba's new farm. She hires him later on, and they continue their friendship. Bathsheba gains the affection of his neighbor and fellow farm manager (Michael Sheen) who's willing to go the extra mile to get her to marry him, only to produce the same results from before. It'll be a Sergeant named Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) who'll make her swoon, but things may not be as rosy as they seem. This is all about loyalty.
When I mentioned this was the opposite to The Hunt, I mean it because this one's a rather tender, warm film; very lovingly performed and crafted, even if it's a bit too lightweight with its conflicts. The Hunt was all about prejudice and misconception, very much a soul-shattering sit. It's great to have a back-and-forth so elegant between these two films, although I think that... while it's not a major undermine, the easy nature of this film makes it a bit rounded-edged. Every hurdle and obstacle feels like it's automatically and instantaneously resolved, without much effort, complication or afterthought. Things just happen.
But that's nothing the film can't make up somehow. The characters are all very pleasant and affectionate in their own ways, the crafts are superb -- lensing and clothing in particular; and I might as well say something about the music, too. There's a scene of Carey Mulligan singing "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" that's very lovely and double-messaged. Most importantly, this movie's never dull. Period pieces tend to linger and ruminate for far too long on emotions and process (everything took ages back then), but this one keeps things brisk and lively at all times. Helping here's the writing itself, which feels far more modern than the times would suggest. It's a movie newcomers and cinemaphiles can enjoy just as much. Maybe it's not as weighty as some of the classics, but it's certainly worth your time regardless.
:#1 That's it for now! Best of luck.
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