Sharp Objects (2018)

Yes, there is a twist at the end. No, the preceding episodes are not worth the payoff. The first six episodes are excruciatingly slow and uneventful. The last two episodes pick up, but it is already too late. All of the characters are unlikable creepy crazies. It is very dark. The whole rural southern gothic vibe is quite off-putting, as is the racism and homophobia and Confederacy paraphernalia. The twist is good but it's so last minute that we don't actually get enough explanation to be satisfied. We don't get her motivations, or how the cheerleader is involved, or how she's so freakishly strong.  The editing style was too quick for me. There are lots of hidden words that I missed. There are time jumps that are not clear cause Amy Adams looks exactly the same. There are short hallucinations that are easy to miss. We often don't know what we're seeing. It's all intentionally disorienting and I don't like being disoriented. The music choices are interesting. Why do they use the wistful Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a beautiful, colorful French musical? It doesn't fit at all.

Vice (2018)

There is something quite underwhelming about Vice, and it's the music. Nicholas Britell composed the most beautiful soundtrack of the year for If Beale Street Could Talk. So I had some high expectations for Vice too. But the music is disappointingly bland, typically Washington DC invoking West Wing or House of Cards. Compare this to the really slick, snazzy trailer so sharply edited to the music. The movie really misses out on the style that made The Big Short and even the Vice trailer unique and fun. The movie does have a style, it's mockumentary without the talking head interviews. I really dislike the ending in which the Dick Cheney turns his head to break the fourth wall for the first time. It's unnecessarily jarring and so clearly copying House of Cards. I guess we're supposed to draw a parallel to Frank Underwood's iconic evil, but Cheney's real evil can stand on it's own. He's already sitting for an interview; he could have said the exact same monologue to the interviewer. Overall, the movie feels tonally awkward. The narration feels very out of place.

There are some things done well. Adam McKay draws an abundantly clear line from Dick Cheney to Donald Trump. He hears all the rank and file Republicans crying that this is not their GOP, and he demonstrates plainly how wrong they are. Trump naturally emerges from the traditions of Cheney-style conservatism. And McKay will not let them deny it. Call it a primary source on our contemporary times. The situation is so dire that you can only laugh to not cry.

The acting is superb all around. Steve Carrell has been acting in dramas lately, but you really see him shine in comedies. Amy Adams is stellar as usual. And Christian Bale is phenomenal, as is his make-up artist. He is absolutely unrecognizable and looks uncannily like Dick Cheney.

Justice League (2017)

I know when we get these superhero movies, we should expect something derivative, but this was just too derivative. There was nothing original about this. It's more than just Marvel beating them to the punch. Boxes of energy? A God-like villain? A God-like villain with an M-shaped crown? The team of superheroes? I know this is the set-up movie, but the whole thing is set-up.  That's what the individual movies were for! We don't want more intro here. The best parts of the movie are Flash and Wonder Woman. Ezra Miller is charming and funny. He's the only person that doesn't take it all so seriously. That's really the heart of the problem. The movie takes itself too seriously. We've come to expect funny superhero movies. This isn't funny. It isn't as dark as some of the older DC movies, but it's too serious still. Also, Cyborg is kind of cool, Aquaman is still lame, and Ben Affleck looks terribly bored. 

Arrival (2016)

I have been wanting to see Arrival, but I actually didn't intend on seeing it tonight. I went to see La La Land at Cinema Lumiere, where they show films in their original language. And it turns out the Italians don't want to watch La La Land in Italian either, so the screening sold out and I went to see Arrival instead. I was really bummed out because I've been looking forward to La La Land but I was really impressed by Arrival. My mind is totally blown and now I can't sleep thinking about how much I loved this movie. There is a Christopher Nolan-esque twist that I did not see coming, and I think the twist was better executed than Interstellar's, for example.

This is not an average science fiction film. Science fiction often falls victim to a strong start but a weak finish. They usually have trouble tying the loose ends. Arrival faces no such problem. The film comes full circle thematically, narratively, musically (great use of Max Richter) and visually. All my questions were answered. In such a movie with such complex themes, that is a real accomplishment. It requires a lot of thinking. In fact, I think it was dumbed down from the brilliant and creative short story (which gets more into the nitty gritty of the linguistics and science) written by Ted Chiang "Story of Your Life." Arrival is a much worse title if you ask me. Chiang's original title conveys meaning and depth while Arrival sounds like your typical sci-fi fare, which is severely underselling the movie. But Denis Villeneuve thought his movie was so far removed from the original story that the original title wasn't appropriate anymore. I disagree.

Villeneuve's style is evident. He proves himself to be one of the most talented young filmmakers today, following Prisoners and Sicario. This film uses a similarly dull smoky color palate, save for the orange hazmat suits which pop on the screen. He has such restraint, letting the film move at a slow pace, allowing for the viewer to really take it all in and process the complex plot. It is never showy. He brings depth and emotion to the sci-fi genre. When most would brings guns to the alien show, he brings brains and restraint. Amy Adams is fantastic. Her first encounter with the aliens requires the most acting from her, showing fear and apprehension. But as she becomes more comfortable, that apprehension subsides to just fear. But it is never a loud fear, rather restrained subdued fear.

The movie also very astutely predicted our own world's media demise. Living in a world of fake news and alternative facts, we see all too well the consequences of sensationalist media. In the film, the military men watch too much sensationalist TV news and listen to radical radio hosts the way we do in real life. And our own stupidity is a danger to our society.

Then really quickly, the sound and production work is really well done. I always like to see different conceptions of aliens and the designers created unique aliens, scripted language, spoken language, and alien sounds. The thinking work was done by Ted Chiang, but it was made visible by the production design.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Tom Ford's second feature film has the visual style that you would expect from a designer. The cinematography is striking. The use of color and bold costuming is fitting with the dark theme of the movie with the West Texas twang. The acting is phenomenal across the board. I especially liked Michael Shannon's performance, but he is good in everything. Aaron Taylor-Johnson surprisingly won the Golden Globe--no one was predicting that. He is good, as a crazy person, but the role isn't as interesting as Shannon's. The casting of Isla Fisher is brilliant because it's like a little inside joke that she looks exactly like Amy Adams. At first, I couldn't tell if she was supposed to be playing a young Amy Adams, but it's a separate story line (though very purposeful). The writing is drawn out making the film thrilling and suspenseful and multilayered. Tom Ford is a storyteller too. He can just do it all. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. Every time Amy Adams had to close the book and just take a break, I was breathing deeply right in sync, my heart beating fast. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

There were very high expectations for this film, and I think it fell short. The first hour and a half of the movie is a total mess. It is a series of short vignettes (for an hour and a half!) of seemingly unrelated themes. It relies on you knowing the back story to draw connections between the vignettes on your own, but on the whole they do not really contribute to the overarching story in the film. Speaking of overarching story, there seems to be scenes missing or rather the movie simply skips over the explaining parts and just assumes that you know what's going on. My biggest qualm is that the movie removed these useful scenes, while keeping the useless ones that simply set up more sequels without resolution--such as that inexplicable dream sequence.

The music seemed a little stale. Hans Zimmer is usually a master of the superhero soundtrack. He rightfully recognized that this would be his last superhero movie, claiming that he has run out of ideas. His Man of Steel soundtrack was quite good. I think it might have worked better to have more "Man of Steel" music and less new stuff.

Ben Affleck plays a Batman that is fundamentally different from the Christian Bale Batman that we have come to know and adore. He really plays up the vigilante side of Batman--a back-to-basics of sorts. It is not a bad thing, just different. And I like that the Batcave is underneath Farnsworth House. Actually, more difficult for me was seeing Jeremy Irons as Alfred; for me Michael Caine will embody Alfred always. Wonder Woman was left very mysterious. There weren't really any answers and she appeared out of nowhere. If Gal Gadot's job was simply to be mysterious, then she did it well.

And if you were wondering why are Superman and Batman fighting then you were right to wonder. Don't let the super fans scold you for asking the right question. They shouldn't be fighting. They're on the same side.

And there were no extra scenes in the end credits! What kind of superhero movie is that?

I saw this movie at the historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. It is a gorgeous old movie house and it made the movie going experience well worth it.

Big Eyes (2014)

Tim Burton's latest is a little out of the norm for him.  Tim Burton's dark and creepy aura is seen only in the paintings of Margaret Keane.  The little children with the big eyes are inherently spooky and yet full of emotion.  There is only one scene that really evokes what we expect from a Tim Burton movie, and that is when Margaret starts seeing real people with her signature big eyes. The other dark element to the movie is Lana Del Rey's haunting songs.  Otherwise, the film is quite bright, certainly not cheery, but bright. The atmosphere captures a genuine sense of 1950s Northern California.

I do think the courtroom scene towards the end is a little awkward. Waltz as his own attorney makes for an unusually comical scene in an otherwise dramatic film.  I cannot be sure if that actually happened in real life, but the point is that it abruptly culminates in the infamous paint-off.Amy Adams is excellent as always as the secretive artist Margaret Keane.  Christoph Waltz as her husband is a fantastic foil.  Amy Adams is one of the best actresses out there, and yet, the perennial bridesmaid, she has zero Oscars to show for it.  Waltz, on the other hand, has two. Both give award worthy performances, but unfortunately the film failed to rack up any nominations.