alachtman Reviews

Cloverfield (2008)

I wanted to like this movie, but...

[3/10 · 21 November 2023]

I didn't see Cloverfield when it originally was in theaters, but I certainly remember the hype in the lead up to it. However, that's all it ended up being for me - hype. The "found footage" style was already getting pretty tired, almost a decade after the Blair Witch Project. The gimmick basically spoils the movie from the start (i.e. We know things aren't going to end well for the main characters). I thought the intercutting between multiple found footage timelines was creative, even though it stretched plausibility (was the camera operator fast forward or watching the old tape in between shots during the monster apocalypse?).

Ultimately the two things that really ruined the movie for the me were the completely dumbfounding actions taken by the characters that were unbelievable, as well as the over-the-top shaky cam. I'm not someone who easily gets motion sick, and I do think shaky cam can be done very well (see Saving Private Ryan and The Hurt Locker), but for some reason the way it was done in this movie is utterly nauseating. I literally had to pause the movie every 10 minutes to settle my stomach. Did they not notice this during post-production? Was it intentional to make the experience more visceral? No amount of explicit material in a movie has ever made me feel this sick in my stomach.

Next Goal Wins (2023)

What happened to Taika?

[4/10 · 20 November 2023]

Did the MCU cause Taika's creativity to wither into nothing? I honestly can't believe that this movie was made by the same artist who created the hilariously witty 'What We do in the Shadows'. While 'Jojo Rabbit' was divisive, its originality landed Taika numerous awards, including an Academy Award for screenplay.

However, this screenplay seems like one of the absolute laziest in years. If you told me that this was the first script ever written by a film student, I would have believed you. As the story is based on real characters and an actual event (and was also the subject of a 2014 documentary), what did Taika add here besides a few obvious jokes and some cheap references? If you've seen the trailer, sorry but you've seen most of the jokes, with the exception of the many movie references that are so desperately trying. This movie can't even trust its audience to get the references; it has to literally have the characters say "like in The Matrix", "like in the Karate Kid", and "that's from Any Given Sunday". Towards the end, it tries to take a more serious tone to give some of the characters a semblance of development, but it all feels too little, too late.

On a positive note, most of the actors (except Will Arnett doing his typical shtick and Taika in an odd cameo) do a good job of trying to get me invested in the team, even if the writing and directing ultimately let them down.

Thanksgiving (I) (2023)

Fairly basic but still a fun(ny) time

[6/10 · 18 November 2023]

IMDB should add comedy to this movie's genres because it's much funnier than it is scary or thrilling. All the kills (with the exception of perhaps one) are strongly telegraphed by the camerawork and sound design. Who the killer would end up being was quite obvious to me about halfway through, but the mystery isn't really the point of this movie. You all know that the reason to see this movie is for the gory kills, and Eli Roth certainly delivers on that point even if the rest of the movie felt pretty textbook. Grab your family and friends to go see this for a fun dessert right after your Thanksgiving dinner!

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Dissecting the Truth

[9/10 · 28 October 2023]

While Justine Triet's 'Anatomy of a Fall' appears on the surface to be a courtroom thriller, its core is much deeper and complex than a mere 'whodunit.' In order to solve who/what caused the literal fall, we must unpack the figurative fall of the relationship at the heart of the film. Sandra Hüller gives a tour de force performance and deserves all the accolades she may receive this year (both for this as well as her role in The Zone of Interest). Is Sandra guilty or not? Should we be rooting for or against her?

Triet masterfully provides the audience with different perspectives to showcase that 'how' we observe evidence is just as important, if not more important, than 'what' the evidence actually is. She asks, "Can any evidence be truly objective?" With ingenious cinematography and editing, we rapidly change points of view, jumping between the accused, the victim, the witness, the prosecutor, the defense, the judge, the jury, the courtroom audience, and all the way to those watching the coverage of the trial on TV.

Triet also uses sound and dialogue in fascinating ways to explore the power and limitations of auditory evidence. Besides the victim and the accused, the only witness to the crime is the couple's blind son, Daniel, played excellently by Milo Machado Graner. Daniel must rely on what he heard, but could not physically see, in order to attempt to understand the truth. The film also explores how we perceive evidence that may be muddled. The film opens with a recorded interview that is suddenly interrupted by a laugh-out-loud needle drop. Our attempt to understand the characters talking through the overly loud music is only the first of many times where perhaps our senses are not fully capturing everything present. The film regularly shifts between French and English. While some films (i.e. Inglourious Basterds, Monuments Men, etc.) will throw in a cheap line of dialogue like "why don't we just switch to English", the language shifts here are done with intent. Just as some nuance of foreign dialogue may be lost in translation as we the viewers rapidly read the subtitles, so to do characters in the film struggle with translation.

Ultimately, Anatomy of a Fall is not just a film for fans of courtroom dramas or murder thrillers, it's a film about relationships. Whether that's a relationship between two spouses, a parent and child, or a blind boy and his dog, this film asks many poignant questions that will have you thinking about your own relationships for long after the credits have rolled.

Bottoms (2023)

The jokes aren't funny. They're just plain mean.

[2/10 · 25 September 2023]

I went into this movie with an open mind, as raunchy teen comedy is something more akin to those movies enjoyed by my 2003-self than my 2023-self. Even with that said, about 10 minutes into the movie I was tempted to walk out, but the short runtime and the glowing reviews others gave this movie kept me there.

In short, I was appalled at how much I hated this film. Not only were the jokes not funny, they were utterly mean. My theater was dead silent throughout the runtime. Not a single laugh, chuckle, or gasp. I'm not someone who needs trigger warnings; however, the jokes about certain topics were so unfunny that I couldn't help but think that the victims were the joke. This whole experience just left an awful taste in my mouth that made me angry I even watched this film.

Ruby Cruz was one of the few brightspots in this film, whose performance and character actually added a bit of nuance and depth. Other than her, every single character is a complete stereotype and acts exactly as expected. Just look at the poster and imagine what the movie will be; you'll come up with something better in your head.

Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Outstanding Debut Film

[8/10 · 25 September 2023]

John Singleton's debut feature film provides an intimate telling of the myriad challenges associated with growing up in a neighborhood filled with violence. Just like in the battlefields of war, there are no winners in this story, only survivors. Violence in this world is brutal and random. Society (schooling, police, media, etc.) has all but given up on them, leading the characters to rely on their family, friends, and themselves.

Singleton's direction invites us in to experience this world with camerawork that makes us feel as though we are right there with the characters on the front porch or at a backyard picnic. However, the helicopters and gunshots in the background of nearly every scene constantly remind us of the dangers present, even while the characters barely acknowledge this as noise present in everyday life. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the characters remain focused on the flashes of optimism in life. Tre's father, Furious (Laurence Fishburne), runs a mortgage loan business, fights gentrification, and works to raise his soon as an honorable man. Tre and Ricky look for ways to get out of this neighborhood, whether that is going to university or joining the army. And even though the experience of being in juvenile detention has clearly led Doughboy to accept that his is a life of crime, he cares for and protects his friends and family, wanting the best for them.

While Singleton has clear homages to his influences (Stand by Me, Do the Right Thing), his personable writing and directing make this film truly his own.