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Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
History 101, Tarantino Style
Going in to OUATIH, I thought that this was going to be along the lines of a character study of an actor and his stunt double. Boy was I wrong, what I got was a signature Tarantino film (maybe even his best) with colorful characters, gorgeous set pieces and a look back in time.
We follow the character of Rick Dalton (Leo DiCaprio) and the relationship he has with his best friend and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Dalton is at a point in his career where he feels like a washed up, has been and Cliff is along for the ride to act as his right hand.
Parallel to this are the couple who lives next door to Rick, the real life couple of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (Margo Robbie).
With the insertion of Sharon Tate, we as an audience know where the film will most likely end up. A tragedy that still haunts Hollywood to this day. I will not divulge what happens in the last half hour, but it's worth the price of admission.
The writing is quintessential Quentin Tarantino. We've seen shades of these characters before (when Leo plays the villainous cowboy, it's easy to see his character from Django). You have cameos galore (Kurt Russell, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning and a hilarious segment with Bruce Dern). When the hippy presence gets more and more prominent the tension goes through the roof especially when the name "Manson" gets thrown around, and then we cut to a pregnant Sharon Tate, the writing is on the wall.
Performance wise, both of our lead actors deliver! Between the two I found myself leaning towards Brad Pitt as he seemed a tad bit more likable (the part where his character encounters Bruce Lee is awesome). But Leo is has his moments too, the blurred lines of comic and bad ass is splendidly acted. When it comes to Margo Robbie as Sharon Tate, her presence looms large over the film even when she's not on screen. When she is on screen however, the beauty and the innocent nature of the doomed starlet is captured excellently to the point where I wanted to give her a hug. There is a segment where she sees a recently released movie she did with Dean Martin in the theater and all Margo does is react to the film, and the reactions of the audience around her. Academy please remember Margo come January 2020!
The soundtrack is very Tarantino, not much of a score but lots of old classic rock and roll that he incorporates perfectly. And the scenery is fantastic, it's like you get a tour of LA in 3 hours.
All in all, hands down, favorite film of the year thus far
Midsommar (2019)
Ari Strikes Again
After watching last year's terrifying and unnerving Hereditary, I thought "how is Aster going to top this?"
Well his sophomore effort Midsommar doesn't necessarily top Hereditary when it comes to the scare department, but as a work of art and a general sense of unease and deception, it is a triumph.
The plot concerns a couple on the rocks (Dani and Christian) and their group of friends who travel to Switzerland for a special festival in an off the grid community in the middle of nowhere. At the same time, Dani is mourning the loss of her family (a VERY disturbing opening) and the growing distance between her and Christian. While at first entranced by the community, the trust the group of outsiders had in their hosts begins to fade as they see the very unorthodox and extreme practices committed by said group.
What Aster does so brilliantly is that he puts the audience right alongside the character of Dani (a courageous and strong performance by Florence Pugh). When she panics, we as the audience panic, and that connection continues when she breaks down, feels betrayed etc. Jack Reynor also delivers as Christian, by the end of the film I couldn't help but hate him. We also get treated to a comedy relief in the form of Will Polter. His sarcastic, joking manner is expertly placed to counter the growing undercurrent of unease.
The cinematography? Every frame of this film is perfection, plenty of shots that will stay with you after the film is over. The music is expertly placed too, cheerful, but with a touch of menace.
The film has no jump scares but really capitalizes on the combination of atmosphere and disturbing visuals (there is gore involved). What I appreciated is the growing sense of dread that was so well done. If a film can get under my skin like that, it deserves only the best notices.
When the film was over I thought to myself "what the hell did I just watch?"
Art, I just watched art by a master artist in his prime
Lone Survivor (2013)
Peter Berg Redeems Himself
After the mega flop "Battleship", I thought that Peter Berg would probably not follow this up with anything worth my time, but man am I glad to have been proved wrong. Rarely do I find myself drawn to a war movie, but this grabbed me and put me right in the middle of the action.
This movie had to have been one of the most intense movies I have had the pleasure of seeing in quite some time. The gunshots, the explosions everything sounded so genuine, so real. And it was good enough to be acknowledged by the Academy! Mark Wahlberg gave what I consider to be his best performance, and he was helped by incredibly talented actors such as Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch and Eric Bana.
Not having read the book, I don't know if it followed the book directly, but from what I've been told it was pretty spot on with the exception of the ending in the village.
This movie was in my opinion snubbed by the academy, it got two very well deserved nominations for sound, but the editing was top notch, visual effects were solid, acting was right on target, best picture wise, maybe with a little more persuading.
All in all, Berg did redeem himself with this effort, hopefully he can keep it up!
Gravity (2013)
THE Movie Of The Year
It's that time of the year when the prestige movies come out in force for awards season, this year we have 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle, Monuments Men, and Wolf Of Wall Street to name a few. But the movie that absolutely leaves an impression is Gravity, and it is absolutely safe to say that it WILL be remembered during awards season.
We go along for one crazy roller coaster ride with Sandra Bullock who gives the performance of her career, even better then Blind Side (Oscar #2 anyone?). With her is the always reliable George Clooney who could also be noticed by the Academy (even though he also has Monuments Men).
Stepping away from the acting, the technology used to create the film does wonders plus one. The cinematography is STUNNING everything is lit perfectly and there are some visuals that will definitely stay with you long after the movie ends, Emannuel Lubezki is a true god and is all but guaranteed an Oscar for his work.
Steven Price delivers one hell of a score, it's beyond powerful and the tension it creates is brilliant.
But the person who deserves all of the kudos is Alfonso Cuaron. He assembled a crew that truly gave their all, and the finished project is beyond perfection.
The only thing i would warn people of is that the movie is quite stressful (my heart was in my throat throughout) and it has one shock scene that will catch a lot of people by surprise. And last but not least, if you get motion sickness, i suggest some Dramamine, because the movie is a lot of twisting-turning camera angles at warp speed.
But all in all, I was floored, stressed, but floored.
Bravo 10/10
Rush (2013)
Riveting!!
Now I'm not a NASCAR/Formula 1 kind of guy (my dad is another story) but this film made me see the world of racing from a whole different perspective. I was worried at first that this would be another typical macho sport-racing film, but I am glad that I was proved wrong, the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda had my eyes glued to the screen.
To me, the movie is perfect all around, some might complain of the pace, but to me I didn't see it as a problem. This film is directed by the amazing Ron Howard, and this will go down as one of his best films right up there with Apollo 13 and Beautiful Mind. With him on the journey is Anthony Dod Mantle who gives the film beautiful visuals with the perfect light, Peter Morgan gives us grade A writing, and Hans Zimmer gives us a masterful yet subtle score that comes in at all the right moments.
The acting is nothing to complain about either, Chris Hemsworth gives us a character that we can both love and loathe, Daniel Bruhl gives the best performance as the tragic Nikki Lauda who is also the narrator of the film, he also gives us a performance that is both likable and unlikable. The scenes with his wife were amazingly well acted which leads me to the supporting female characters, the wives of Lauda and Hunt played by Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Maria Lara. Both are beautiful eye candy and both add their talents amazingly to the film.
Watch out for this to be a favorite around awards season, it has the capability to be nominated in a handful of categories (Picture, Director, Supporting Actor for Daniel Bruhl, Cinematography, Score, Editing, and Sound Categories). The Academy has always loved Ron Howard and I feel that they will nominate this amazing film, and in my opinion it deserves every nomination, it is that good!
My grade for Rush: A
Prayers for Bobby (2009)
Hits You Like A Train And Doesn't Let Up...Get The Tissues Ready!
If you want to sit down for a rare grade A TV movie, i would highly suggest "Prayers For Bobby" with an amazingly gutsy performance by Sigourney Weaver.
Ms. Weaver plays an uber religious mother whose world is turned upside down when her son Bobby comes out of the closet as gay. For a good portion of the movie, we follow the clashes between Bobby and his mother, and the pressure against him gets so out of control that he takes his own life. From this tragedy, the character portrayed by Weaver begins to question everything she's known about the bible and religion in general.
Sigourney puts in such a great performance here. We hate her at first for being cold against her son, and by the end of the film, we feel sorry for her and shed a tear (buckets are very possible too!) in her honor. Henry Czerny is also reliable, and the young man who played Bobby showed great promise in an amazing performance.
In these days when vitriol against minorities is so out of hand, this movie becomes incredibly relevant, too bad this was a made for TV movie, it was based on a real life tragedy, and if it was in theaters and gained a larger audience, maybe some could put themselves in the shoes of Bobby and his mother. If you are in a similar situation and PFLAG, The Trevor Project or It Gets Better are out of the question, this movie can work as well. All is not lost, it truly does get better.
Prayers For Bobby, see it for an amazing performance by Weaver, and a truly inspiring, uplifting, and potentially life changing story.