Confessions of a Film Lover! -- Tag

This tag converts movie quotes into movie questions, and yes, did require some confessing on my part.


1. "Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man." - The Big Lebowski 
Your most unpopular film opinion:
That Captain America: Civil War was halfway a terrible movie. I've seen it three times now, and can enjoy it well enough to continue watching it whenever the situation calls for a huge superhero blockbuster, but that's only in spite of the issues I have with it. Seeing it in the theaters it felt like being pelted with backhanded insults for two and a half hours, (read: IT WAS NOT FUN) and as the credits rolled I sat with my head in my hands confused as to whether I wanted to start yelling expletives at the screen or just cry. Yet I wasn't at all surprised when everyone else in the group I saw the movie with (save for my youngest brother who's even more of a film cynic than me, and generally doesn't like MCU movies) absolutely loved it.

STOP! FIGHTING!!!

The problems I had with it were enhanced by the other half of the movie being exceptionally well-done what with all those spectacular fight scenes and a bunch of lovable characters, and basically boils down to this: The plot was painfully contrived, and it forces characters to do things out of their established character; and to cover it up, the film attempts to emotionally manipulate the audience. Feeling like my emotions are being purposefully manipulated while watching a film is probably my biggest movie pet peeve, which is probably why I dislike this movie so much more than most. Check out my review of Civil War here for a more in-depth explanation of my opinions!


2. "The limit does not exist!" - Mean Girls 
A Guilty Pleasure film you can watch over and over again:
I thought about this, expecting it'd end up being some girly flick similar to Mean Girls, like maybe Clueless, which I love; but I realized that all the girly rom-coms I love I don't feel guilty over. The movie I rewatch the most and feel movie-guilt for enjoying is actually Peter Jackson's King Kong. You may say it's a great film and I shouldn't feel guilty over it (or the opposite!) but that's not the point. The 2005 King Kong is my biggest guilty pleasure film -- possibly just because the rest of my family hates it, but there you go. In many ways I think the movie is genuinely an excellent film. The technology used for Kong, the cast, the scenes before the island... it's main problem is the dinosaur chase sequence which did not hold up animation-wise, and it does have that sappy, overly-dramatic tone going on at the end too. That's what King Kong is though, and I really enjoy it. I don't even mind the runtime!

3. "Are you not entertained?!" - Gladiator
A film that is universally loved that you found boring:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I'm not sure if this movie counts fully as universally loved, but when I first saw it and found it boring it certainly did seem that way. My brothers and I were all quite bored watching this, and even had a hard time making fun of it's overly serious and depressing tone. Since then I re-watched it alone and was able to appreciate the motion-capture performances of the apes -- mainly Koba, Toby Kebbell, who I was just starting to pay attention to at the time. Recognizing the actors behind the apes was interesting in it's own way, but I still maintain that the movie and its plot is overall very boring, building glacially up to a war that we'd have to wait 3 years to see. (Read my review for more ranting on the subject!)

And even then Koba's dead so who cares?

4. "Sorry! My Prada's at the cleaners! Along with my hoodie and my 'f*** you' flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag!" - The Social Network
The most pretentious film you've ever seen:
Oh that's easy: Gravity. As a lover of scifi, I am, of course, perfectly capable of suspending disbelief for the sake of enjoying movies that don't completely respect the laws of this world. Like physics. How. Ever: Gravity gets no such pass, because it was marketed and presented and acclaimed as the most realistic space-set scifi film ever made. And yes, it looks pretty darned realistic -- until their blatantly ignoring the laws of physics and general reality gets in the way! All done, I might add, to propel a plot that otherwise couldn't have made it an inch off the ground. It's pretty, yes, but if you're gonna be that smug over the greatness of your film, maybe make it actually as great as you claim.

For your viewing pleasure: CinemaSins! My biggest issue with this one is mentioned at 2:48, but honestly I agree with them all.



My second biggest issue isn't mentioned in the CinemaSins though. It's actually the scene where Stone is in the ship crying, and the tears drip off her face and float slowly towards the camera. Back to emotional manipulation again, because in reality tears in zero-g will just accumulate on your eye in a bubble, as demonstrated in this neat video:


This fact that the movie did what it did instead of adhering to the laws of reality is evidence that its true motivation was not to be realistic, but simply to market a trite and contrived story under the guise of being groundbreaking in film realism. Read my review of Gravity here for more unrelenting bashing.


5. "Draw me like one of your French girls." - Titanic
A film that describes your aesthetic:
Disclaimer: I have no idea what "aesthetic" is. I know the proper definition, and I've certainly seen it used as a kind of exaggerated meme, but I don't know what "my aesthetic" is, or how a movie could describe it. So I'm just going with a movie that has a tone and visual makeup that appeals to me. (Which is probably exactly what I was supposed to do!) And that movie is Mud. I won't even attempt to describe the aesthetic except to say the director Jeff Nichols said that he wanted the film to flow like the Mississippi River (an important backdrop in the film) -- and it did. You can read my review of the film here (which I wrote before I fully understood the complete reasons why I loved it) and I'll leave you with a compilation of its cinematography:

6. "That's a bingo!" - Inglourious Basterds
A director who has never let you down:
Jeff Nichols. It's a high standard to live up to, and the more film's you've made the more likely it is that you disappointed in some way. I immediately thought of him, but then thought there had to be some other director who's done more than five movies who never let me down, but no. I still haven't seen his fifth film, Loving, but even with four he still wins. Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, and Midnight Special are not only films that have merely not let me down, they in fact all blew me away in one way or another, and are all among my favorite films. Click the links to read my reviews of each of them!

The posters look so good together too.

7. "Don't believe his lies." - Memento
A film you were told was bad but you loved:
This one I'm giving a tie because both the movies have the same set of circumstances. The Brothers Bloom, and The Darjeeling Limited; both considered by the general movie-going audience to be the worst movies of their respective directors, Rian Johnson, and Wes Anderson, but are actually my favorites from them. (Though I haven't seen all of Andersons films.) The Brother's Bloom (review) has a few plot holes, but is of a fun and underused genre, is very funny and incredibly charming, has a great cast playing great characters, and (to me at least) is decidedly heartfelt.

(I know neither of these movies are commonly considered bad. This is the best I could do.)

(I just realized both these films star Adrien Brody. I wonder if that has anything to do with anything... .... ...eh.)

For The Darjeeling Limited the biggest criticism I hear is that it has no plot or makes no sense, but that is the appeal of Wes Anderson in the first place for me, and for some reason this one's particular brand of ambiguity resonates rather deeply with me. It does have seemingly pointless moments but also some meaningful ones too, and I like it all. I love watching the relationship of the brothers (oh hey -- both these movies focus on brothers too!) and their journey to find something that maybe they do find, but can't quite put their finger on what it is. For me, it works. Plus I love the music, and it's often hilarious. 


8. "It's only forever, not long at all." - Labyrinth
If you could only watch one film for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I'm gonna go with The Lord of the Rings trilogy on this one because I can get away with it counting as one film. Extended editions too, of course. Obviously if I could only watch one movie the rest of my life I'd want it to be a long one so it'll grow old more slowly, but really, if I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life I would spend a whole lot more time reading. In which case, I might pick The Way Way Back (review) because there's no book version of that.

But no -- let's not get complicated -- Middle Earth wins.

9. "Were you rushing or were you dragging?” - Whiplash
A long film you thought was perfectly paced:
To be honest I like long movies, and as long as I find the plot or the characters interesting I'm hard to bore. So how about this: It's technically a mini-series, not a film, but the 1995 Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. It's five hours long, and so well structured that I cannot leave the room for even two seconds without pausing it to prevent my missing anything good. Read my enamored review here!

"You can never get a film long enough, or a bowl of popcorn large enough to suit me." -- Me, plagiarizing C.S. Lewis a bit.

10. "As you wish." - The Princess Bride
Your film dream team. (Directors, writers, genre, actors, music, whatever.)
Right now, after a bit of daydreaming, I would like to see Damien Chazelle write and direct a scifi noir film. I love the genre mashup of noir and scifi, and I think he absolutely had the ability to capture the right tone. His movies have a palpable energy to them and I'd love to see how that marries with subtle and dark tones like that of Blade Runner, Dark City, or Gattaca. The music could be jazzy since he likes that.

And because I've been noticing and enjoying these two a bunch lately, it should star Toby Kebbell and Vanessa Kirby. Neither of them get many leading roles -- that is to say, almost none -- but I absolutely think they have the talent for it, especially if the characters are not your typical leading types but more character-types. I bet Kirby could pull off the mysterious woman/possibly femme fatale excellently, and I know for a fact that Kebbell can do that hard-boiled-but-surprisingly-soft-on-the-inside type.

Since it's a Chazelle film it should have J.K. Simmons in an important supporting role too. Something for him to have fun with, or surprise with. It could be set in space, or the distant future, or just an alternate reality altogether; and I'd probably prefer if it focused mostly on character and intrigue, but had some good action in it too. With all those elements in place there would be no way the movie could disappoint me.

Now I'm depressed because it won't never exist!

_________________

I got this tag from Kyle Gaunt -- check out his YouTube channel here, and follow him on Twitter @kg_moviereviews! And if the tag seems fun to you, don't hesitate to participate! I suppose you can actually tag people if you want, but it's more of a loosely-structured thread. I hope you enjoyed reading my answers and weren't offended by my opinions which are definitely the only right opinions to have! Just kidding -- leave me a comment and tell me where I'm wrong! Or if you agree. Or just your thoughts in general. Thanks for reading!

Take Shelter

Spoiler-free.

Jeff Nichols' second film, but the last one I saw of his four to date, cinches this writer/director's spot at the top of my favorites list, with a masterfully crafted, intimate look at fear and anxiety. The film stars and focuses on Michael Shannon as Curtis, a husband and father who begins to have vivid nightmares that seem to warn of an approaching storm. He feels that he must prepare for this storm, but also worries that it might all just be in his head.

A slow-burning, thrilling drama with a very rewarding payoff for patient viewers.

This film isn't personally my favorite of Nichols' work (the scale has a very narrow margin) but I do think it is his most precisely crafted film (another narrow margin). It's very focused and intent, and doesn't say a whole lot, but what it does say it says in a very affecting and moving manner. Going in, even with avoiding spoilers, I had a preconceived idea of where the film would go; and it did follow that for a while, but then it went beyond it in an unexpected very rewarding way.

All of Nichols' other films so far (Shotgun Stories, Mud, and Midnight Special) have had endings that required thought to know if I really liked them. But, with Take Shelter, I didn't need to think to know I loved it. It was immediately, intensely satisfying, especially considering the stressful drama it followed. But at the same time, I haven't done any less meditating on it. His other movies could have had slightly different endings and I probably would have still liked them, but Take Shelter's ending is the main quality that won me over. The whole film hinged on that powerful ending. It left one or two plot points open to interpretation by ending exactly when the story was completed emotionally. So it feels as resolved as any film can, but still leaves you thinking.

Nails the open ending shut with the best of them.

As he did before, did after, and will likely do again, Michael Shannon does a phenomenal job leading the film. His screen presence is something legendary, and he lines up with the film's tone and pace with matchless precision. Jessica Chastain impressively never lets him overshadow her. This is probably partly a credit to the writing as well, as Samantha is Nichols' largest female character yet, and is very well-written, but Chastain takes charge with her and holds her own against the powerhouse of Shannon.

Take Shelter focuses on character drama, but had one very impressively ticked mark on the technical side as well: the special effects. And because the film is very realistic with its general appearance and dialogue, the effects -- which were minimal and carefully done on a small budget -- come off in a spectacular way. I was beyond impressed with the scene where all the furniture in the room suddenly jumps into the air and floats there. It not the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a low-budget indie, let alone at the level of realism it reached. The quality was so high, I thought it might have been a practical effect at first. The effects were the final push that brought this film to the intense peak it needed to go to.

An all-around exceptionally well-done film.

I won't say much more. Partly because I don't want to explain too much of this film, and partly because I've really explained enough. This is a very simple film without a lot floating around in it, but it feels very big. It goes deep, and its depth is displayed visually, with assured grandeur, not just put into the plot and performances -- as commendable as those elements are. It's like an independent event movie; a profoundly rewarding experience to see, and to feel, and to understand.

Midnight Special

Spoiler-free.

Midnight Special is a touching and melancholy drama about parenthood, highlighted by the explosive intensity of a chase thriller, and the mesmerizing wonderment of mysterious science fiction.

Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) is not like other boys. In fact, he is not like anyone else. His adoptive father (Sam Shepard) is the leader of a religious cult in Texas where he's looked to as a prophet and savior. His real parents were members; Sarah (Kirsten Dunst) left the cult -- or was kicked out -- and Roy (Michael Shannon) both left and was kicked out two years later when he kidnapped Alton and took him on the run. With help from Roy's childhood friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) and pursued by the cult and the federal government in a national manhunt (helped by a curious NSA analyst Adam Driver), the family goes on a desperate journey to help Alton discover who or what he is.

I am completely in love with this photograph.

This film is very different; the latest effort from Jeff Nichols who is now officially one of my top favorite writer/directors. I've still yet to see his second film Take Shelter (as of writing this), but after seeing Mud, and then Shotgun Stories, I started to understand his directing style -- and with Midnight Special I fell in love with it -- but if I didn't understand and connect with his style, this movie could have gone very differently for me. See, he always excludes exposition from his films, and this one to the highest degree yet. We are told next to nothing; but there is plenty to see and to piece together. There exists backstory and explanations to things in this movie that is never actually explained to the audience. Nichols knows, and his actors know, but we may never know.

It's the sort of thing that might annoy me if it came across as lazy film-making, but since I know that Nichols does know every detail of his story and just chose to omit some of it (because to include it would be to force it in), it works, and actually becomes a significant plus. It has become one of the things that I get to look forward to in his films; being encouraged to make my own discoveries concerning left-out details, and fill in gaps with my own imagination. His movies make me think, but more than that, they make me want to think. They are so interesting that I want to know more, and then they leave more to be discovered in the form of unexplained details and hinted-at depth. I suppose it's not a style that would appeal to everyone, but for me it's a delight.

As emotionally driven as this film is, there is no skimping on the technical side. This film is tight and precise.

The film is very dark in tone; dark and melancholy, then serious and intense, and then rich and quietly grand, always with an undercurrent of introverted, tightly wound emotion. It edges on being too dark, and too serious, considering that it starts out that way, instead of taking time to build up to draw the viewer gradually along with it. It may be easy to not get caught up in the flow and the dark depths. Once you are invested though, there's no turning back. I was at several times aware of my heart pounding from the thrill and the mystery, which doesn't happen often, even in more overtly thrilling and mysterious movies. I was completely and hopelessly swept away in it all.

If you want your movie to be constantly swirling in an emotional storm of melancholy, yet still have an intense air of excitement broiling under the surface, you can't do any better than to cast Michael Shannon as your lead. He has been in every one of Nichols' films, but it's clear that he's not just there because he's buddies with the director, but because the roles he plays are meant for him, to utilize his unique attributes and abilities. With the help of an intensely deep face that seems magnetic to darkness, Shannon strikes a fluid balance of imposing, tender, and desperate with Roy. He fits with Nichols' writing incomparably well, and his quiet turns of countenance are a thing to behold.

When Roy tells Alton "I like worrying about you"... I melted.

Next best to watch is Adam Driver, who has a disarming charm that makes him easy to trust even though he works for antagonists. His scenes are the closest this film gets to comic relief and a relaxing break from the chaos that threatens other scenes. Jaeden Lieberher comes across as an old soul type (he did in St. Vincent as well) which adds greatly to the other-worldly quality of Alton. Both strange and sweet, he is an endearing center for the film to revolve around. Joel Edgerton didn't get much of the meat of the script, but wound up making a great impression anyway with the thoughtful, loyal, and level-headed helping friend. With Kirsten Dunst, I haven't been converted into a fan yet, but she did exude motherliness with the proper amount of distance and uncertainty. 

One of my favorite things about the science fiction genre is how sci-fi elements can be used so magnificently as metaphors for real-life, and to enhance the real-life drama of the story. Nichols uses the opportunity provided by that quality to full potential, and doesn't get swept away by the shiny allure of sci-fi special effects. This film's effects are remarkably realistic, strikingly beautiful, and most importantly, used solely to enhance the story it surrounds. At its core Midnight Special is a family drama, focusing thoughtfully on character and relationships as the family is caught up in an unnaturally amplified struggle against the odds. 

 Sci-fi is such complementary genre -- it can enhance every other genre out there.

Midnight Special is achingly beautiful, and powerfully thrilling; filled with heart, and presented with a Spielbergian-type wonder remade anew. It's plot's ambiguity is purposeful to give way to an emotional story arc, but it creates a side effect; some have and will find it confusing or unfulfilling in the end. (It took me five days to resolve the ending in my mind.) I would like to offer that those people just aren't looking at it in the right light. This film is told so singularly through the eyes of its director that if you can't see it with his very particular vision it may not make an ounce of sense. I'd like to say this strange, moody genre flick is unarguably as I was able to see it, but it's closer to the truth to simply say that this is a personal and very special film that will not appeal to everyone. And that is one of the best things about it.

Shotgun Stories

Spoiler-free.

Jeff Nichols' first feature film watches as a long-running feud between two sets of half brothers escalates out of control when their father dies. In the older group there's Son (Michael Shannon) Boy (Douglas Ligon) and Kid (Barlow Jacobs). They were taught to hate their abusive father and his second family by their bitter mother. But when the father left his first family he cleaned up his act for his second and four other sons, and they mourn him when he dies -- and take it personally when the former three crash the funeral and insult their dead father's memory. And so it begins.

Son, Kid, and Boy. Yep, those are their real names that they really go by.

Set in a rural small town in Arkansas, this movie is full to the brim with the deep south. And that's where Nichols is from, so he must know what it's like. (Arkansas is also where he set my current favorite film of his, Mud.) The culture in this movie is endlessly interesting, and an ideal setting for this drawn out, but tense battle between brothers. And even though the filming quality isn't the best (being his first film it's understandable) that actually adds to the dirty, realistic tone of the film. Like in Mud, the setting is practically a character all by itself.

And this is a character story. It probably didn't have a budget to be anything else, but it seems to purposefully focus on the drama behind the fight rather than try to entertain with violence. The actual violence always seems to be obstructed from our view, yet we get to see every last detail of the emotional aftermath. It's a film that has a lot to say, but in true southern fashion, never really says it outright. Southerners are always thinking way more than they're saying and this film follows that lead to great result. One of my favorite things about Nichols' writing is how well he does natural, minimal exposition. If you wait for it, and pay attention, it'll come out. Most of the time it seems like characters talk about things that really aren't important, (and even when they do they don't explain their thoughts or motivations fully) but somehow the plot, character, motivations and thoughts are all worked into it.
 

Exposition is hard enough when your characters do like to talk. Nichols is a pro.

Acting plays a helpful part, since none of the characters say how they're feeling. Michael Shannon is the only really known actor in the film, but the rest of the cast is quite good, and able to portray their subtle roles every bit as well as they needed to. Of them, Douglas Ligon especially gave an unexpectedly good performance. Shannon is the main lead of the film, and gives a clearly outstanding performance with many ample opportunities to impress. One scene in particular blew me away. I had a complaint, because I was immediately intrigued by the shotgun blast scars on his shoulder, and disappointed that the plot line was concluded with more ambiguity than I wanted. But, that disappointment has now dissolved; it led me to connect some dots on my own, and I discovered a satisfying answer. And I now know that that was Nichols' intent.

I also wondered a little bit at why the ending played out the way it did. It came unexpectedly, which made me think about it, and I eventually reached the conclusion that it was thought through and purposeful, but in some ways it seemed to cut the movie's momentum short, which left then ending feeling slightly non-climactic. It probably works way better if you expect a non-climactic ending which is why I'm mentioning it. If I ever see the film again, (and I expect I will) I will look forward to the ending most, since it nearly lost me the first time. In retrospect, trying to fill in the background, I've discovered some deeper points that I didn't pick up on at first, and would like to confirm my theories. Of course, the fact that this movie left such a firm impression on me to make me think about it in so much depth is sign enough of the story's quality, whether there's more to understand or not.

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. Proverbs 17:14

That's another great thing Nichols does. No matter how deep he tells a story, you feel that it goes deeper than that. It's just fiction, but it's so realistic that every aspect of the story becomes as if it were real and knowable, even the small details that we never get to know. That's the sort of thing that makes a film like this stick with you. Drawn from real-life truths, told with life-like depth and care, and held up by real performances and a thoughtful script, Shotgun Stories is an immaculate, sincere, and potent tale of violence and strife.

Mud

This is a spoiler-free review.

Going into this movie I only had a vague idea of what it was about, and no clue as to where the independent-style plot was going to lead. It turned out to be nothing like I imagined, but almost everything that I was hoping for.

Ellis and Neckbone.

Two small-town boys of Arkansas -- Ellis, played by Tye Sheridan, and Neckbone, played by Jacob Lofland -- go out to an island on the Mississippi river one day to find a boat that was stuck in a tree and claim it for their own. But when they find it, they discover that someone else has claimed it already; a very scraggly, dirty looking man called "Mud." Played by Matthew McConaughey. Mud says he's waiting for someone, and offers to give the boys the boat in return for them bringing him food while he waits. He's waiting for his long-time on-again-off-again girlfriend, (Reese Witherspoon) with whom he has a rocky past. He also happens to be a wanted man, and the authorities are closing in on him. But Ellis wants to help him -- to help him be with his true love. He's barely clinging to the hope that love like that actually exists in the world, so he jumps in willingly to lend a hand. But he gets more than he bargained for. And so does Mud.

Nice chipped tooth there, McConaughey.

Mud is an independent film, and feels it every inch. The script is precise, nuanced and has character of its own, and the dialogue is easy and natural -- and no one ever speaks in "plot points." It's also set in very rural south, so every character seems to be thinking twice as much as they ever say. You have to sift through the murky words to find the meaning -- and there's lots of meaning. It's very laid-back in pace, but still builds tension very effectively. The tension grows slowly from the very first scene to the climax with not a single break, but unforced, and so smoothly that you hardly notice.

The filming style is also very effective in that way, and the cinematography -- even though the location was either the dirty Mississippi river or a shabby little town nearby, there's no other way to describe it except "beautiful." Usually, when you think of beautiful cinematography, a requirement would be a stunning location to shoot (and then airbrush) but is spite of the grit and the grime and the sparseness of the location I was struck by the boldly eloquent look of this film.

As you can see from these pictures, the film has fantastic colors, and dramatic use of light.

The main reason for my original interest came from the acting side, as is typical for me. And I wasn't let down. Matthew McConaughey makes you all but forget he's Matthew McConaughey with this wild-looking, tan, drawling and complex character. But Tye Sheridan is the main character really, and he doesn't let his equally complex, and fantastic character be overshadowed by the considerably more seasoned actor. No one's lying about this kid -- he's talented. The longer the movie ran, the more impressive his performance grew. He has a natural and sure style which makes him a perfect fit for this movie graced with the same qualities.

All the characters are realistically flawed and defined, and all the actors portray them expertly.

So what is this movie really? Is it a love story? An adventure tale? A gritty character drama? A mystery, a coming-of-age-story, or an action thriller? Absolutely. Elements of each are present in varying amounts. And don't forget it's an indie film, which is a whole genre of its own. Anyway, I guess it depends on which angle you look at from. From mine there was a lot being said about love and the sometimes harsh realities of life, and with a surprisingly positive outlook. But mainly, all I know is that more than once, as it deviated from, and exceeded my expectations yet again, surprising and charming me all over again, I couldn't help but smile and think that I didn't want it to end.