Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

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Silverfish
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 17 Jan 2019, 12:49

5: Jurassic Park (1993) - A science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg

This is another film that "everyone" has seen, that I'm catching up on. It was a bit of an odd experience. In the first half, I thought the dinosaurs were well done, and they set up the sense of threat they can pose while giving a real sense of awe to the occasions when we see them in the flesh. However, I thought the characters were fairly annoying, particularly Jeff Goldblum, but most of the cast as well. I think the issue is that the comedic tone of the dialogue seems rather ham-fisted, or perhaps it just doesn't date very well.

In the second half, when things start to go wrong, it is a really good action horror/thriller. The sense of danger and tension is maintained throughout, and the dinosaur effects are both believable and characterful. The raptors are a standout for me, as they are convincingly played as playful but highly dangerous predators. Also, I found the characters a lot more likable when they have to face up to the threat that the dinosaurs pose, and the tone of the conversations becomes more serious. Richard Attenborough in this section is excellent, at one point combining absolute terror that his grandchildren are in serious danger, and misplaced faith that the mistakes in the Jurassic Park project can still be corrected. I still don't think Jeff Goldblum adds anything to the film, although he is less annoying in the second half. Laura Dern makes a more convincing case than he can that the project was always doomed to failure, as she forcefully argues this to Richard Attenborough.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 10 Feb 2019, 09:32

6: A Ghost Story (2017) - A supernatural drama written and directed by David Lowery.

I found this an ultimately frustrating film by the end. At the beginning, the film has an intriguing atmosphere, and it has a sense of quiet and stillness, which emphasizes the intricate soundscape it conjures up. The film also plays with the idea of a ghost story in interesting ways, as we see some events from the perspective of the ghost. Also, the quiet moments really pay off when the intensity builds, and the film deals with grief in a powerful way in Rooney Mara's performance.

The issue is that the film takes a detour partway through, and I just lost patience in it. Perhaps this was inevitable, as for me the film worked more as a mood piece, rather than a traditional narrative film, and it would have been hard to sustain that for a full film. Or perhaps it's just that I wasn't really interested in the things the director wanted the film to talk about.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 10 Feb 2019, 09:51

7: Psycho (1960) - A psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock

There's not much to say here. I agree with the critic consensus, this is a very accomplished thriller by a master of the form.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 10 Feb 2019, 10:12

8: Ocean's Eleven (2001) - A heist film directed by Steven Soderbergh

This is another of the films that "everyone has seen" that I'm catching up with. I really like this film. My impression through pop culture osmosis is that it was going to be a very glossy film with an emphasis on style, but from the start it drew me in, and it steers a fine line between style and substance, between a light-hearted tone and the events of the film having real weight, and between a feeling of believability, and of escapism. A lot of this is down to the cast, in particular, George Clooney, who know how to maintain the necessary tone.

The film maintains the tension throughout and has an excellent twist that is both a surprise but also is skillfully foreshadowed. The heist itself is intricately plotted. Another surprise was that the heist is run more like an elaborate con, with less emphasis on breaking through the security directly, and more on subterfuge and deception.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 10 Feb 2019, 10:14

Out of curiosity, are many people reading this? It seems fewer people are commenting than before, which might be because the forum is less active with the discord becoming more important.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 10 Feb 2019, 14:00

9: Identity (2003) - A psychological thriller directed by James Mangold

For the record, I knew of the twist of this film going in, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. I knew the twists to Psycho, but it still worked anyway. In this case, the beginning was well done, but it ultimately fell flat.

There are two strands to the film. One involves a defense attorney and a psychiatrist attempting to convince the judge that a murderer should not be executed, due to insanity. We see a slice of this at the beginning, which is intriguing, but ultimately it doesn't make any sense.

The other strand forms the bulk of the film, and involves a disparate group of people forced to seek refuge in a motel during a storm, and being killed off one by one. The beginning of this was interesting, as someone is hit by a car, and we see multiple overlapping viewpoints, which made me think this was going to be an interesting film, where you have to pay attention to what is happening. I was thinking of the likes of Memento, which has a similar structure.

However, this is abandoned for most of the film, in favour of a mystery thriller, in the vein of And Then There Were None. However, the problem is that the story doesn't make sense. No-one is given a motive for killing the others (And Then There Were None gives everyone a clear motive), and the characters get themselves killed by running around the motel for no apparent reason. It didn't help that I didn't care about the characters. Even given all that, the final scene is audaciously nonsensical in a way that almost warrants applause.

I'm going to spoil the film, to explain in more detail.

Partway through it is revealed that the murderer has multiple personalities, and the story at the motel is happening inside his mind as the psychiatrist is staging some sort of intervention to try to eliminate the personality responsible for the murders. The framing story doesn't make sense, as the film seems to take the line that somehow this will prevent the murderer being executed, as the murdering personality will no longer exist. It seems to be a hamfisted way of adding to the stakes, as the intervention must be concluded to stop the murderer being executed.

All of this might justify the motel storyline not making sense, but this seems like a cop-out. Even if it isn't real, it should have some sort of logic to it, especially as it makes up the bulk of the film. Alternatively, there should be something that ties the events to the real world. Inside Out, for example, does both very effectively. The final scene involves the apparent survivor of the motel incident being killed by the boy, who is assumed dead, and we have a very quick flashback to show how he is responsible for killing everyone, but it is completely out of left-field.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Jamfalcon » 12 Feb 2019, 09:10

Silverfish wrote:Out of curiosity, are many people reading this? It seems fewer people are commenting than before, which might be because the forum is less active with the discord becoming more important.


I am, at least for the movies I'm interested in! But yeah, for the forum is getting quieter and quieter, and I know for myself, I'm checking it less often just because there's so rarely anything new. Most of what I do here now is report spam.

(Which I accidentally did with this post instead of quoting, because it's been so long since I've needed to. Oops. Mods, please ignore that report :P )
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Dutch guy » 14 Feb 2019, 04:26

Same goes for me.I come here every once in a while, but not very often anymore.

*sometimes.. I come here to think*
Last edited by Dutch guy on 05 Jun 2019, 03:32, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 26 Feb 2019, 14:48

10: Tully (2018) - A comedy-drama directed by Jason Reitman

I really enjoyed this. I knew something of the twist, but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment, and I didn't know the full details anyway.

I thought Charlize Theron was very convincing as the mother of two, with another on the way, at the centre of the story. Both through the performance, and the cinematography, we get a real sense of the extreme pressures she is under. She also delivers the acerbic dialogue with aplomb. I think the dialogue overall is one of the strong points of the film, at times very funny, but also painfully honest at times, and very well observed. One thing that really resonated with me is the way characters dance around difficult topics, and how they try to read the subtext in what other characters are saying.

I thought Mackenzie Davis as Tully was an interesting counterpart to Theron's world-weary Marlo.

Regarding the twist, I thought it was well-handled and in keeping with the realistic feel of the drama. Quite a few of Jason Reitman's films have an emotional bombshell to them. In this film, I thought this was less the reveal that Tully wasn't real, but rather than Tully was leaving Marlo.

I've watched the film twice now. I don't think the second watch reveals a lot that I missed the first time, but there is enough to warrant a second look, and it is a good enough film to justify a second watch anyway.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 24 Mar 2019, 08:38

11: The Third Man (1949) - A film noir directed by Carol Reed.

I don't have any fresh insight into this film, but I really enjoyed it. The sense of our protagonist (Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins) being stuck in a hostile and unfamiliar city is powerful, conveyed by the stark cinematography, the use of music, and the use of unsubtitled german. What also interested me is the way the film focuses on the unseen Harry Lime, and the various characters have their own experiences and perspectives of him, as a ruthless criminal, as a lover, and as an old friend, and how the film reconciled these various accounts of his character.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 24 Mar 2019, 10:49

12: Ponyo (2008) - An animated fantasy film directed by Hayao Miyazaki

I enjoyed this film, but I didn't quite connect with it in the way I have with some of Studio Ghibli's other work (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service in particular). Perhaps this is because much of the focus is on Ponyo herself, a fish who decides to become a human girl, rather than the human protagonist, a young boy that Ponyo befriends. The animation is beautiful, and the depiction of the ocean as an alien landscape is very well done, but is also somewhat, well, alienating.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 24 Mar 2019, 11:12

13: Zootopia (2016) - A computer-animated buddy cop comedy film directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore

This film really didn't work for me. I think a bit part is that I didn't get on with the two leads (Ginnifer Goodwin as Officer Judy Hopps, and Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde). In particular, I found Judy somewhat smug at times. It didn't help that the film is a strange mash-up of genres, veering between buddy comedy, adventure, mystery thriller and godfather parody. I found the running gag of sloths talking very slowly unfunny, and patience-testing.

The film attempts to look at issues of diversity and prejudice, but ultimately I don't think it does anything interesting with this.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 25 Mar 2019, 14:49

14: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) - A stop-motion action fantasy film directed and produced by Travis Knight

I really enjoyed this. First off, the animation is beautiful and inventive. In particular, we see Kubo telling dazzling stories with his Origami.

The story is well-told, mixing action adventure with genuinely creepy villains, and poignant person tale of the importance of storytelling and of honoring those we lose. The villians have an interesting motivation, with the conflict being between embracing cold uncaring immortality, and the richness of human life.

If I have a criticism, then the pace is a bit slow in the middle, and sometimes the themes of the story are laid out a bit too directly, but that is only a minor issue, and importantly this isn't an issue with the reveal of the importance of the two strings of the title, a key moment in the film.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 25 Mar 2019, 15:13

15: Eye in the Sky (2015) - A thriller directed by Gavin Hood

I thought this was a tense but thoughtful thriller. It focuses on the decision over whether to launch a drone strike on a house in Kenya, eliminating Al-Shabab terrorists but risking civilian casualties.

On the tense side, the film is really good at building up the tension, both regarding the consequences of a strike, and of not doing so. We see the effect both on the ground (focusing on a girl who will potentially be caught in the explosion) and on the various individuals that are part of making the decision.

On the thoughtful side, the film does a very good job of presenting the various sides of the debate, both in terms of the moral calculus of the individual act, individual responsibility, political consequences (both party politics and propaganda), and the legal issues involved. Occasionally I lost a bit of sympathy for some of the characters, but overall I think everyone gave a good account of themselves.

In retrospect, there are some issues with the film, but they are perhaps inevitable with this sort of film. The scenario is probably a bit too contrived to raise the range of issues that it does, and it is hard to believe that in a live scenario there would be quite this level of debate and discussion, but then the point of a drama such as this is to draw attention to issues in this way. Similar, everyone seems to be treating this event with supreme focus and with little humor to lighten the mood.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this, but it is a grueling watch.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 25 May 2019, 15:47

16: Ocean's Twelve (2004) - A heist film directed by Steven Soderbergh

I really liked the original, as it had a finely judged balance of tone, built the tension expertly, and is intricately plotted, where every element of the heist seems to fit perfectly into place. This film, by comparison, is a huge disappointment.

The beginning is interesting and promises to make things more complicated for the group, as they have to deal with a vengeful casino owner, the police, and a rival thief. If the heist scheme was as satisfyingly plotted as the original, it could have made a very satisfying sequel. Unfortunately, it ends up being a sequence of events that due to a plot twist end up being irrelevant.

There are two rather eye-roll inducing moments. The first is the Tess (played by Julia Roberts), impersonating Julia Roberts. It is fairly self-indulgent and tips the film into farce territory. The biggest flaw of this element is it exposes the fact that nothing from this point on can have been planned in detail, as any plan would have to account for a number of unpredictable elements. The other is a ridiculous sequence when one of the characters dances his way way through a laser security grid.

I think ultimately the film is let down by lazy plotting, and poorly judged tone.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 25 May 2019, 16:35

17: Spectre (2015) - A spy film directed by Sam Mendes

I was a bit apprehensive about this film, as it was the second Bond film directed by Sam Mendes, and Skyfall really didn't work for me, beyond the excellent opening sequence, and the introduction of the new Q and Moneypenny. This, however, I found to be an excellent entry in the Bond series.

The opening sequence of Spectre is really great. It has a real sense of danger, and the crowds are used to great effect to make the action more tangible. The later action sequences aren't quite as good, but only because the initial one sets a very high bar. I really got involved in the plot. I think a key part of this is that in this film, I cared more about the characters that Bond allies with. Here, he relies more on Q, Moneypenny and M, and is assisted in the field by Dr. Madeleine Swann, who makes a lively and capable ally.

The film also introduces Spectre and Blofeld in an interesting way, that both captures the feel of them from previous films, and makes them feel larger than life, while still fitting into the modern world.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 09 Jun 2019, 14:24

18: Halloween (1978) - A horror film directed by John Carpenter

I really liked this film. It starts slow, building a sense of dread and foreboding, and really cranking things up towards the end.

I think the acting is well done, but the key to how the film works seems to be the way it is constructed, both in terms of how it is shot, and how the plot is revealed.

The film is sometimes shot from a character's point of view (particularly Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode), and in those moments we only see their perspective, and the film emphases the limits of what they can see. One scene in particular, where Michael Myers is visible behind a hedge, is a perfect example. We see him disappear, and one of Laurie's friends going ahead says he is there, but when we see past the hedge Michael is gone. It is a really tense scene, as we have no idea what is waiting at the other side of the hedge.

In other scenes, there are unnatural camera angles, suggesting that someone is watching the characters, which is further emphasized when we actually see Michael step into frame.

On the way the plot is revealed, we see a variety of points of views but are only given a partial picture of what is going on. The film also throws in a number of ambiguous elements that could be Michael Myers, or could just be accidental or "just the wind", etc. I think this is important to get us in a similar headspace as the characters, who often don't know what is happening either.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 11 Jun 2019, 14:06

19: When Marnie Was There (2014) - An anime drama written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

I think this is an interesting film, and a bit of a departure from what seems to be the usual Studio Ghibli mould, which could be attributed in part to it being the first film after the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki.

The heroine Anna is withdrawn and self-conscious and harbouring self-doubt, all aspects that are convincingly portrayed, and painful to watch. The emotional arc of her opening herself up to others helps ground the film. The story involves Anna discovering an abandoned Mansion, but one night finds the mansion apparently occupied, and befriends Marnie, a girl from lives there. The mystery surrounding Marnie leads to Anna discovering more about her life, and meets a few friends whose lives have been touched by Marnie.

Overall, the tone is a bit more nuanced and grounded than some Studio Ghibli films (such as My Neighbour Totoro or Kiki's Delivery service), and it perhaps doesn't quite have the same sense of magic, but I think this is an interesting film that will stay with me a while.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 06 Jul 2019, 16:04

20: Friday the 13th (1980) - A slasher film directed by Sean S. Cunningham

I really liked this. It feels like it lacks some of the subtlety of Halloween, which evokes a constant feeling of the characters being watched, but it has a similarly expertly paced buildup of threat and tension until the final climax, and the characters are similar in the dark about what is happening until it is too late.

There are some interesting differences between the films, in that this film gives an explicit motive and backstory to the villain, which is not present in Halloween, and the villain is apparently friendly and is familiar to some of the characters.

I think I might watch some of the sequels of both films, but I'm not sure if I want to watch more than few.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 06 Jul 2019, 16:33

21: Wolf Children (2012) - An anime film directed by Mamoru Hosoda

I found this an interesting, and at times heart-warming and heart-breaking film.

Interestingly, despite the fantasy premise of a woman having to raise two half-human half-wolf children on her own, it is surprisingly grounded in real life. I found the characters' actions believable, particularly Hana (the mother), whose struggle to cope with raising the children while keeping their true nature secret was particularly affecting. The children themselves also have to cope with attempting to fit into normal society and come to terms with their identities.

The depiction of nature (and of wolves in particular) offered by the film is not a romantic one, but seems to be grounded in reality as well.

Despite the grounded nature, the film retains a sense of humour and absurdity, which balances the serious tone of some of the drama, as does Hana's own sense of humour and optimistic nature.

I have a minor gripe in the animation, that the mix of CGI and more conventional animation doesn't always gel fully. That aside, I think this is a lovely little film.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 17 Aug 2019, 15:20

22: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - A action spy film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I don't think it was overall as good as Ghost Protocol, but that set a high bar to clear.

The action is generally exciting and stylish. I thought the opera sequence was a bit confusing, but the car/motorbike chase in Morocco is really stunning and is one of the stand-out sequences.

I think the film isn't quite as tightly plotted as Ghost Protocol, but it leads to a very satisfying conclusion. I think it's hard to make a direct comparison, as in this film much of the plot ends up boiling down to Hunt and the villain trying to anticipate each other's actions, and the issue of where Ilsa Faust's loyalty lies. The conclusion seems to make sense, but I don't know if it actually would on second viewing.

It seems interesting that the film deconstructs some of Hunt's methods, in particular, his habit of planning audacious schemes that have the possibility of backfiring badly (some of which from previous films are mentioned), and his faith that these are the only way of combating the threat.

I thought the villainous organization was sufficiently interesting, although without much relationship to the real world. I gather that Fallout might feature them and the main villain again.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 19 Aug 2019, 14:27

23: The Wind Rises (2013) - an animated historical drama written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

This film didn't really work for me. I thought the depiction of the magic of flight, and the destructive force of nature, and of war, was very well depicted in some scenes, but I wasn't really drawn into the plot, or engaged by the characters.

Perhaps it was because Jiro seems very quiet and reserved, perhaps it was the somewhat unclear timeline (the film gives only minimal indication of how long has passed between scenes), perhaps it was the more grounded plotline (with no real fantasy elements), or the large scope.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 03 Sep 2019, 14:12

24: Bumblebee (2018) - A science fiction action film directed by Travis Knight

I thought this was a really lovely little film. I thought it did a good job of mixing an action film about the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, a teen comedy drama, and a teen sci-fi adventure. In the wrong hands, it would feel forced and jarring, but here the elements fit together perfectly.

I thought the action scenes were exciting and full of action, but they always had a sense of weight to them. There is plenty of destruction, but it all feels like it matters, in part because of the strong characters, especially among the transformers themselves. Meanwhile, Hailee Steinfeld is very empathic as Charlie Watson. She is very convincing as a teen whose family don't understand her, and who is struggling to deal with tragedy. Her initial demenour is world-weary, which could easily tip into unlikeable, but Hailee makes it easy to empathise with her. This also makes her joy in embracing the magic of the titular Bumblebee, and the possibility of a world outside the everyday, all the more meaningful. On the other side Bumblebee is very well "acted". As for much of the film he is damaged, he is a natural underdog. This follows through it his interactions with Charlie, where initially he is almost like a scared dog. Throughout the film, he is a naturally comic presence, as his size makes it difficult for him to interact with the human-sized world. However, his vulnerability makes him very relatable, as does that of Charlie.

The third strand of the film involves the military and scientists, who find themselves getting involved in the war between the transformers, but who don't understand what is happening. I thought this was interesting, as it adds an extra layer to the plot, and it ends up playing with tropes regarding the military and scientists, and whether they want to kill or befriend the aliens. I thought John Cena was well cast as a soldier.

I think the film benefits from not overcomplicating the transformers mythology, and just focusing on a few characters. Also, I thought the 1980s setting worked well.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 03 Sep 2019, 14:29

25: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) - A computer-animated superhero film directed by Bob Persichetti

I had mixed feelings about this film. It lost me partway through, but it really paid off towards the end.

My issue was that I liked Miles towards the beginning, but as the alternate universe Spiderpersons started to appear, their personalities took over, and the tone became too wacky or too off-beat and sarcastic. It's a subtle thing, as sometimes comedy can provide a nice balance to a more weighty tone, but here I thought there was too much comedy and wackiness.

However there is a moment towards the end, when the stakes become real for Miles Morales, everything crystallizes for him, and he takes the leap of faith to become Spiderman. At that moment everything clicked for me, and the ending was very powerful and pays off a lot of the things introduced throughout the film. At the end, I ended up caring for all of the other Spiderpersons, and I think the mix of tones works well.
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Re: Year 4: 1 year 52 Movies challenge

Postby Silverfish » 08 Sep 2019, 13:34

26: Glass (2019) - A psychological superhero thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

I went into this film without any clear expectations. I really liked Unbreakable, but really didn't like Split. As it happens, I found I liked it in parts but found it flawed, and the ending somewhat undermined it.

At the very beginning, I felt it had an off-kilter feel to it, that kept me off balance. I thought the visuals were stylish and I thought it was interesting the way David Dunn was portrayed as almost a slasher-movie monster. I also liked some of the ideas in the Asylum analysis scenes interesting, in particular, the way Sarah Paulson's character challenges the other characters' scene of what is real and what is "all in their head". I think Samuel L Jackson's emergence as the criminal mastermind is very well done, and I found his performance compelling. I think the problem with the final act is that there are too many plot twists that don't make sense, and it ends up making Samuel L Jackson's character much less compelling, and the final twist feeling like an attempt at a heartwarming moment that isn't earned.

I think the big problems with the film are the plot, which in its attempt to connect the full Unbreakable trilogy, ends up making very little sense, and the dialogue. I had two problems with the dialogue. One is that a lot of the dialogue feels like genre writing (as in superhero dialogue, mostly), but is delivered as though it is naturalistic. I think the only person who gets this right is Samuel L Jackson. My other criticism is that there are quite a few lines that feel either very self-conscious or just seem like Shyamalan just nakedly inserting his own opinion into the film. Two examples I would cite are Shyamalan's cameo, where he undercuts dialogue between David Dunn and his son about his "walks" (code for his vigilante investigations), and another is when Sarah Paulson's character complains about Comic Book conventions being used to sell things (in particular TV shows).

Bruce Willis delivered his dialogue well, which is probably because unlike many of the characters, he doesn't really buy into the superhero idea, at least not to the extent that Jackson's character does, so a more naturalistic style is more fitting. This does rather undermine the idea that he is being held in an Asylum for having a delusion that he is a superhero.

Another storytelling flaw was the way the film ended up loading too much comic book mythology onto the movie, in a way that didn't feel natural. In comparison, Unbreakable works as well as it did by concentrating on only a few basic tropes. It's a lot easiest to buy superhero tropes as being a continuation of an ancient tradition of storytelling that might express some important truths if you pick a few tropes that feel universal.

I found the James McAvoy character less annoying, but probably mostly because he is less of a focus. I still felt that too many of his scenes were just opportunities for him to do different voices. There is one sequence where a light is flashed in his eyes, seemingly for no other reason than to let James McAvoy go through all the different personalities.

I'm glad I saw this, it was at least interesting to watch, if somewhat of a let down in the end. I am still curious about the films of M. Night's that I have missed, as hopefully if not good films they might be interesting failures.

Interestingly, I think some of the issues with dialogue are shared with Quentin Tarantino, and I think Samuel L Jackson stands out as someone who can delivery Tarantino dialogue convincingly.

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