Man Who Killed Don Quixote

You know that feeling when you submit a school homework assignment, you work day and night, coffee after coffee and submit it. You wait a few days or weeks, knowing that you have tried as hard as you can, this is the best that you can do - only to have a mark of 60%. That is essentially what The Man Who Killed Don Quixote felt like as I watched it. This film has been in development hell for the past 25-odd years and it clearly shows. The story is extremely unfocused, the characters are ridiculously paper thin and many sequences are extremely jarring thanks to the pacing and the editing. There were actual moments throughout the film that I wanted to face palm myself. Some are so perfectly ridiculous and stupid, that a face palm felt like the only natural response you could make. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't enjoy it as much as my expectations were brought up to believe. It has some really funny moments and parts that I could very much appreciate in terms of filmmaking. My enjoyment was also associated with the fact that some of my favourite actors are in this film such as Jonathan Pryce, Adam Driver and Stellan Skarsgard. A majority of the screen-time was naturally going to be focused on Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce's relationship, but as interesting as it can be, it isn't enough to carry a film like this.

But there is one thing that anyone can appreciate with this film. I have been waiting for about 10 years for this film to be released, since I discovered it concept and the hell it went through. With that knowledge in mind, you can only imagine how accomplished Terry Gilliam must feel about this film. With that you can feel as accomplished about this as much as Terry, because it feels like your patience has paid off. Even though he only got 60% for his homework, he can still feel accomplished about getting it finished, despite it being rough around the edges.

It gets a 6/10

Isle of Dogs

So I just saw Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs and it was awesome. At this point in time, saying that a Wes Anderson is going to be good is like saying the All-Blacks are going to win at rugby, of course it's going to happen. Needless to say, if you liked Fantastic Mr Fox, you'll more than likely like this film. The story while unique, is predictable. The only reason why this film doesn't become a run of the mill, is the presentation, execution and the performances. The animation is impeccable and stylised in a such a way that you want to take in every second, of every frame on the screen. Coupled with Wes Anderson's trademark symmetrical camera framing, each frame could be made into a picture and be put into an art museum. The performances are done by Wes Anderson alumni such as Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray and Bryan Cranston; but since the film is set in Japan, it only made sense to have Japanese actors. While I don't know that many, it has one of my personal favourites Ken Watanabe (Last Samurai, Inception, Batman Begins). It also makes sense to have the Japanese characters speak Japanese, but this is one aspect where the film doesn't work. In traditional film making, you would have subtitles for foreign languages. Wes Anderson does try to go the extra mile with this concept, but I don't feel it works. Instead of subtitles, he uses other methods of translation, say it be a foreign exchange student, an interpreter or another character. While I am all about having new things in film making, it does hurt when these things don't work. The execution of the film is what makes it more interesting. With editing about elements that would be jarring in any other film, but adds to the charm and character development. If you want to have a fun, quirky and often an emotional time, watch this film.

I am giving this a 7/10

Death of Stalin

So I just saw the Death of Stalin and it was an absolute riot. The reason why I think that many people are going to connect to this film, is the fact that people are going to associate with this as the modern day Dr Strangelove: It hyperbolised all of the flaws of the Soviet Union as Strangelove hyperbolised the flaws of the American government; it portrayed its leaders as complete fools; and showed how no one is truly in control. All of this shown through the amazing performances of every member of the cast: Steve Buscemi as Khrushchev, Jeffrey Tambor as Malenkov, Michael Palin as Molotov (to be honest, I thought he was dead), Jason Isaacs as Zukov and especially Simon Russell Beale as Beria. All of these actors aren't trying to play their Russian roles realistically (they don't even attempt to use accents, Jason Isaacs sounds like a flipping scouser), but that only adds to the hilarity of the film instead of hindering it. It shows the absolutely ludicrous nature of the story and it helps include the audience in the film, so it was a good choice. As for the style, it follows a typical Iannucci property. It's writing leads it to become a farce, but does become hard to watch in certain parts. It isn't hard to watch in terms of graphic nature, but in terms of comedic value. There are moments in the film where you can't help yourself but laugh, despite the fact you know its wrong. In fact, that's the film in a nutshell. It's funny but you know you shouldn't be laughing.

I am giving this film an 8/10.

Darkest Hour

Now before I begin, let me say that this film was made for me. Winston Churchill is one of my all-time heroes, so this film was essentially made for me. It has everything that was great about the man but also it doesn't deify him and that is exactly why I admire the man. He wasn't a god, he was a smoking, alcoholic and belligerent man.

The Story - 8/10

The story is essentially a character study of Winston Churchill and the trouble he had to go through in order to be Prime Minister and to lead his country through war time. While having to deal with backstabbing of Lord Halifax and Neville Chamberlain. Lots of people have viewed this as propaganda, but let me tell you this. If you just do a quick search, everything that it says under the 1940 War Cabinet crisis is in the film, Halifax and Chamberlain did try to naively achieve peace. Believing Hitler would agree. They tried to play dirty and this film shows it, in full. It isn't historically inaccurate.

But back to Churchill. Most of the events are told from his perspective. With cuts back and forth from Halifax/Chamberlain, Churchill's speech writer and even King George VI. Everything that transpires is essentially driven through Churchill's actions, which makes him a fantastic and active protagonist.
This makes this one of the best character studies that I have seen in a long time.

The characters - 8.5/10

Gary Oldman plays the (literal) big man himself, Winston Churchill. He is fantastic as per usual, despite the fact his face becomes a bit obvious even with the fat suit and makeup, it was not Gary Oldman, it was Winston Churchill. No one will do a better performance of Winston Churchill than this. The only gripe I have with his performance is the writing. Winston Churchill has a place in the hall of fame of legendary wit. He came up with some crackers, but this film tries to add as many as they possibly can. But many of them he didn't even say in 1940. But that's just a small gripe, when you hear them, you can't help but laugh and it does have to do with Oldman's performance. This performance also doesn't deify him, it shows that he isn't a paragon of a man. But a belligerent, drunk old man who is in need of a twelve step program.

Ronald Pickup plays Lord Neville Chamberlain and he plays Chamberlain as I would imagine him. I don't know as much about Chamberlain as I do Churchill, but from what I've seen, he is a man with weak resolve. He campaigned to make peace with Germany but then in the end sided with Churchill. But he did try to play dirty with Lord Halifax to bring Churchill down and get some peace with Germany. Pickup plays Chamberlain as a cunning, scheming bureaucrat and many people will find this vilifying. Trust me, it isn't.

Stephen Dillane plays Lord Halifax and I am ashamed to admit this, but I can't get the image of Stannis Baratheon out of my head. Throughout the whole thing I wasn't getting angry at Halifax and his sneaky ways, in my head I was associating this guy with Stannis. That is not necessarily a bad thing. You still feel the emotion that the director and (more than likely) Dillane's vision, so I believe they did a job well done.

The Drama - 8/10

As I said before, since this is a character study, the story is propelled by the choices and actions of Winston Churchill. It makes the pacing of the story feel natural and everything has a weight to it. Kind of like a butterfly effect, which is the kind of drama that people will love more. A story with consequences are the best stories. The tension that comes from the scenes are mostly amplified by Oldman's vocal mannerisms and the fights between the other members of parliament and the public. But speaking of the public, there was one scene that I found kind of perplexing. There is a scene when Churchill did something that he did, but I'm sure that it was done for the film's agenda. It happens toward the end of the film and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, I don't know if it works or doesn't.

Conclusion

In summation, this is a movie that is well worth your hard earned cash. It's riveting, engaging and such a time. You will get wrapped up in the drama, the performances and the writing. 

I am giving this an 8/10

Shape of Water

Shape of Water

Well, Guillermo del Toro is one my favourites and his schtick is usually telling meaningful things with creatures and fantasy as catalysts. That statement is just skimming the surface of what this film has to offer (expect some water puns).

The story - 8/10

I'm going to need to tell the bare minimum about this story because going too 'deep' into it would ruin the beauty of the film. The film follows Eliza, a dumb (in terms of not being able to speak) cleaner in a government facility. While there, she stumbles across a government test subject who is a fish man and things start to follow along from there. The real beauty of the film is essentially on how it is all about love. Not love between two individuals (or multiple if you're into that), but love as a concept and how it's a societal construct. The film looks at three types of love with their downsides and upsides. Love that is openly expressed for it's emotional value, love for carnal purposes and the kind of love that can never be expressed or experienced in this world and love that gets none in return.

Naturally the whole story revolves around Eliza and her experiences with the social hierarchy of her workplace and her home life. It has a progression and ending that many would probably call a carbon copy of Pan's Labyrinth and while I don't think it is as good as Pan's Labyrinth's tone and story. Like it, Shape of Water has quite a magical feeling to it and the wide camera shots and angles along with the music drive that point home. There were points in the film that got so whimsical that it ended up 'shallow' and stupid but not in a way that said the audience watching it was stupid. There was also a particular moment that involved the fish man (I'll call him Abe Sapien from now on) and many audience members chuckled and I was annoyed with this. Let's just say, everyone loves Beauty and the Beast despite the fact that Belle more than likely saw some 'Red Apollo' and no one minds that.

The Characters - 9/10











Sally Hawkins plays Eliza and this is easily her best role of her career. Despite the fact she is dumb, the way she emotes does what dialogue would have probably failed to accomplish. Her face just tells everything we need to know about what she is feeling. The relationship between her and Abe Sapien is believable even without any dialogue to back it up, which I would argue makes it a lot more impactful and lasting.

Richard Jenkins FINALLY gets a role that he won't regret later in his career. Like many other characters, he is essentially using Eliza to talk to and to have her just listen to him as a form of therapy. As I previously mentioned, the film looks at different types of love. The kind of love that is explored through this character is love that can't be openly expressed in this world, but it does kind of come out of left field. But he is a kind of character that you can take seriously and feel sympathetic towards.

Octavia Spencer is an absolute blast in this film. She's a great actress in general but here she gets to show her comedic talent in this. The humour that comes from the movie mostly comes from her and her interactions with Eliza. Like Richard Jenkins' character, she uses Eliza as a form of therapy since she is a contrast to her where she talks a heck of a lot. Whenever the film gets too serious or not funny she'll definitely give you some form of a laugh. But she is unfortunately out of the 'each characters shows an aspect of love, but gets none in return' category.

Michael Shannon's performance is one that teeters on the edge of being too ridiculous. There are moments when you are feeling tense while being around him but I mostly found his performance perfectly ridiculous. There was this one scene where is meant to be threatening and torturing someone and it has moments that make you squirm in your seat and get you to the boiling point and then he goes off on a monologue about his favourite hard candy. Like dude, I like hard candy too but I don't announce it when I'm meant to be evil. As for a representation of love, he is the kind of love that is of the carnal sort, just look at his family life and you will see what I mean.

The Drama - 7.5/10

As I said before, this film shares several qualities as Pan's Labyrinth but it isn't as good. It tries to focus on a more realistic outlook than full on fantasy. But with the wide angle camera shots it still keeps the mystical feeling, and it makes you feel as worried as the main characters about keeping this magic a secret. The most effective tension and largest amount of empathy is felt towards Eliza and whenever something happens to the supporting characters, you feel it then it wears off after a period of time. With Eliza it is sustained throughout the entire film. Plus I will admit that I kind of rolled my eyes at the ending, despite the fact it was beautiful, it was the exact same ending as Pan's Labyrinth. Only with with Fishsticks.

Conclusion

While it isn't Guillermo Del Toro's best work, it's still a top film to watch this season. Give it a watch if you want something out of the ordinary and mystical. But do keep in mind of the similarities to Guillermo's other films.

I am giving this one a 7/10

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

A new film by Martin McDonagh starring Frances Mcdormand, Woody Harrelson and Peter Dinklage? What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. But I'll say right now, this film isn't for the faint of heart.

The Story - 10/10

The film follows Gertrude Hayes, a mother from the town of Ebbing, Missouri. Seven months prior to the films events, her daughter was raped and murdered and no arrests or progressions have been made into the case. In anger she puts up three billboards outside of the town. This causes a rift between her, the police department and the residents of Ebbing. What I love about this films story is how much of an emotional and humorous rollercoaster it is. One minute you could be laughing at a well placed dark humour joke, the next you could be emotionally conflicted and/or challenged the next, when essentially nothing changes. I love films that do that, it shows a very believable world that the film has created for the audience. Another thing that makes the world believable was how you can't tell what exactly is going to happen despite the fact the story is rather contained. 

The Characters - 10/10

Frances McDormand plays Gertrude Hayes and she has probably given her best performance of her career. Even better than Fargo, which now that I think about it, had a rather similar tone to this film. She is a devastated, broken woman that we sympathise with at the very beginning and can admire. To say that she doesn't take crap from anyone is kind of an understatement. This is also where you feel a bit annoyed or disgusted by her as a character. As I said before your mood changes about everything in this film. The characters are not wholly good people but they aren't wholly bad either. They are people. 

Woody Harrelson plays Chief Bill Willoughby. He is probably the character that you feel the most emotion for in the film. You view him as an indifferent lazy man in the beginning but you feel bad for thinking that way in the first place. As I said before, the beauty in these characters is how interchangeable they are.  There was even one moment of his performance that even left me close to tears, but I don't cry that easily in films, so it may affect people a lot more than that.

Sam Rockwell plays Officer Dixon. He is easily the most detestable character in the movie, he is essentially the typical racist, misogynistic side of the police force down in the south. Then like the rest, your emotions completely change about his character. Like I said before it shows that people aren't black and white, they are shades of grey. This character has the most drastic yet somehow believable character arc of the film.

Also Lucas Hedges still sucks! I hated his performance in Manchester by the Sea and I didn't hate it here because thankfully he wasn't in that many scenes. So if he was though he would definitely have brought the score down significantly. He never made me believe that he was emoting and being dramatic.

The Drama/Comedy - 10/10

Martin McDonough is one the modern masters of dark humour and this film proves it. You just can't help but laugh at the jokes he throughs at you. McDonough is also a master of drama and this is also proves that statement. As I stated before, there were many moments where I was left teary eyed. It comes out all through the writing and the major imperfections of the character's plights. The fact that there isn't any clear villain or any clear hero makes this seem more human and believable. You are thoroughly invested throughout the drama that transpires with the characters. 

Conclusion

This is easily Martin McDonough's best film and the best film of 2017. Please check this out and if you aren't into dark humour, challenging stories and characters. Check it out and step out of your comfort zone and support this because this will be a memorable experience for you.

I am giving this a perfect 10/10

Star Wars: the Last Jedi

Star Wars: the Last Jedi

As I said in my Rogue One review, Star Wars is my favourite film series. Now that we are going to get a new Star Wars film every year, it's a good time to be a fan.  Many fans (myself included) were worried that this would be too similar to Empire Strikes Back, seeing as how Force Awakens was a bit similar to A New Hope. I can confidently say, that is not the case. It might take cues here and there, they are totally seperate.

The Story - 7.5/10

Now with any film of any kind, I have things that I love about it, and things that I don't like. Every film is like that. The Last Jedi is no different. It took the story in very interesting and new ways that I had never seen in Star Wars, but it was also derailed by subplots that felt more like video game side quests. Said side quests that don't add anything to the original story. I managed to look past those but some other people might not be as forgiving as I am. For me, it developed the characters (both old and new) in ways that I didn't see coming and thoroughly was intrigued by and invested in. \

The Characters - 8/10

Daisy Ridley comes back as Rey and I have to admit that this performance surpasses Force Awakens. I mean she could emote in the last film, but I really felt connected and invested in her in this particular film. Her progression as a character is interesting to see play out, since she is the lens for how we see the force has changed in ways we have never seen before.

Adam Driver returns as Kylo Ren and he is easily my favourite character in this whole new trilogy. His backstory is better explained and you can see his inner torment throughout the film. It all comes from Adam Driver's performance. Despite the fact he did an angering act at the last film, we amazingly feel sympathetic towards him. We want to see him succeed despite the fact him succeeding will lead the other characters in hot water.

Mark Hamill returns to the iconic role of Luke Skywalker and he was quite a shock to the system. He portrays Luke not as a wide eyed, curious farm boy as we have known him to be. He is a broken, scarred character. It is quite depressing to see how far he has and still is falling. People were complaining about how his performance was accurate to the character. Take heed, those people are comparing the expanded universe character to this. EU Luke is overpowered and boring. Also, he doesn't exist anymore! The only thing they can do is do something new with Luke's character and that is what they have done and it is a wonder to see.

Now I will quickly say this. While certain characters were handled in a way that angered many people, seeing as how they were built up in the last movie. I loved the way it was done. Let's say that it shows that what we find important, no one in this universe finds it important.

The Action - 6/10

While everyone was getting in a tizz about unnecessary things. I was getting annoyed by how average the action the was. For a start there is a huge space battle at the beginning of the film but I was not invested in anything that was going on. It later continued with a hand to hand combat fight with lightsabers but even that wasn't terribly engaging or fun. Even though I think one guy got a lightsaber to the face at one point. The only scene that really got the stress up was when two characters had lightsabers again but it was filmed like an Akira Kurosawa film. The music intensifies and the camera focuses on them. That was so filled with tension that I was practically shivering. But that doesn't redeem otherwise average action scenes.

Conclusion

While I have some pretty glaring problems with the Last Jedi it was still the Star Wars I needed. It was refreshing, it took the series in a direction we had never seen before and left me with some enjoyment.

I am giving this a 7/10.