Black Panther (2018)

This is a monumental movie. There are so many things this movie did right thanks to a phenomenal who's who cast, Kendrick Lamar on the soundtrack, amazing production and costume and makeup design, and a brilliant Ryan Coogler at the helm (his signature long take, one shot is the ultra kinetic fight scene in Busan).

Hollywood finally did something right. A black superhero is not insignificant. Representation on screen is so important. It's not just a black superhero, it's strong and fierce black women warriors, it's a black scientist, a black sovereign, proud and successful black people. You need to be able to see yourself on screen in positions of respect to learn to respect yourself. And Black Panther has proved again that people of all colors are willing to pay big bucks for diversity. Hollywood has never known what the people wanted. Let this be a lesson.

This is the best Marvel movie, by far--it plays more cool 007 than Marvel. It is certainly helped by the lack of Avengers. Black Panther can hold his own. The content of the movie is much heavier, more morally complex, and more relevant (maybe only matched by X-Men, but certainly not the other Avengers). The central tension in the film is Wakanda's longstanding policy of isolationism. Wakanda is a fictional black Utopia. The way I see it, it's not just a black version of Utopia, rather Utopia is black. Utopia is a land untouched by the white colonizer. Could you blame Wakanda for not wanting any part of the ills the rest of the world has wrought? Well, if Wakanda was to open up, what form would that take? How would Wakanda react to the plight of black people around the world? There is the more militant Malcolm-ish path and the more peaceful Martin-ish path. Though Ta-Nehisi Coates had no part in the movie, I can't help but think his comic had influence on this central theme of the movie. The morally complex Killmonger (played by an excellent Michael B. Jordan), is a somewhat sympathetic villain. He is a fully developed character. His rough childhood influences his motivations to support the oppressed. But his experience in the US military influences his motivations to conquer.

My lone criticism is I think there was an opportunity for the female characters to take center stage. Yes, they are in prominent roles, but there is an opportunity towards the end that the lead females deny themselves. It is ostensibly for other reasons, but there is an underlying gender implication. There was a particularly viable path given Shuri's legitimate blood claim to the throne.

I know there is more I wanted to say. I wish I had went straight to writing after I saw the movie but...life gets in the way. #wakandaforever

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Did we need this Star Wars movie? No, not really. It comes between Episodes III and IV. The question it answers is "Where did the so-called New Hope come from?" It tries to distinguish itself from the Star Wars films, establishing itself without the trademark Star Wars opening crawl, iconic music, and even without light sabers. Here's my question though: is it really still Star Wars without these things? I say no. Disney is taking advantage of us, passing this off as a Star Wars movie while denying that very thing. There is no emotional investment in these characters that we know will only be around for this one film within the Star Wars universe. And consequentially, there isn't too much character development. I like Diego Luna. I like Felicity Jones. But the rest of the characters seemed rather pointless to the story. 

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.

Southpaw (2015)

Southpaw is kind of like Raging Bull, but not quite as good.  It features the champion, self-destructive brutish boxer who inadvertently pushes his family away. Jake Gyllenhaal undergoes a total transformation, highly committed to his role.  He looks like a bloody mess spiraling out of control in and out of the ring.  Forest Whitaker makes an excellent trainer, but is kind of stereotypical in his role.  All movie boxing trainers are kind of similar.  But who really surprised me was 50 Cent, who plays the manager.  50 Cent is not just a rapper--his acting was pretty convincing.  But in reality, he was playing a businessman and 50 Cent has been doing business for decades.  And 50 Cent was discovered by Eminem, who produced the soundtrack.  And you can hear his influence throughout the movie.