My 5th Blogiversary and 2018 List Additions

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Lists

It’s hard to believe, but a whole other year has passed, and I find myself once again celebrating a Blogiversary. Has it really been five years since I started my original top 365 movie countdown?! It doesn’t feel like that long, but perhaps that just means I’m having fun. That must be it, because 2018 has been an especially good year for movie-watching, and as with every blogiversary before, it’s time to recap all the high points of the past year with (what else?) a Top Twelve List of the movies worthy of joining my Top 365 List!

Since I now have five years of movie-blogging under my belt, I’ve had to become more choosy with what I christen as List-Worthy, which means only 25 films earned that distinction this year, the least of any year thus far. That’s not to say I haven’t seen many more great films than that, such as Black Panther, Boyhood, Yi Yi, In This Corner of the World, Tombstone, Marjorie Prime, 50 First Dates, Sunshine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Next Gen, The Sandlot, Still Mine, and Only the Brave, but for whatever reason, they fell just a tad short.

Yet, while last year’s 35 additions were mainly in the latter half of the list, this year’s favorites climb a little higher. I, of course, liked my Top Twelve from last year, but this year’s additions have some new films I truly loved. As usual, several of them are from me playing catch-up on 2017’s releases, but even more are from 2018, and I couldn’t help but notice that none of the additions are from the 20^th century. Hmm, I’ve got to fix that next year and see more older films.

As always, this is my personal opinion, and everyone is free to agree or disagree. I welcome any comments or recommendations, and I look forward to finding more movies worth loving next year.

Anyhoo, let’s get to the list itself and reminisce on the cinematic rollercoaster that was 2018.

 

12. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

As much as I enjoyed this second Ant-Man movie, I’m surprised it ended up as low as #12. After Infinity War’s epic doom and gloom, the MCU needed a little levity, and Ant-Man and the Wasp delivered an all-around fun thrill ride with one of the more satisfying endings in the franchise, at least until the after-credits scene. Luis saying “Whazzup!” still cracks me up.

 

11. April and the Extraordinary World (2015)

This is only the first awesome animated film you’ll see on this list. Animation lovers mainly get their jollies from American or Japanese properties, so it’s nice to be reminded that Europe’s got game too. A steampunk adventure out of France that would make Miyazaki proud, April and the Extraordinary World offers an exciting blend of genres that feels fresher than the vast majority of recent animated fare.

 

10. Coco (2017)

Pixar hit it out of the park yet again with Coco, a fantasy tale of a Mexican boy visiting the Land of the Dead on Dia de Muertos. Boasting astounding new heights of CGI detail and a surprising amount of heart, Coco is proof that Pixar’s storytellers still know what they’re doing.

 

9. Mission: Impossible III, Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, and Fallout (2006 – 2018)

Last year, I caught up on the excellent Planet of the Apes remakes and this year decided to again tackle a series I’ve been unconsciously avoiding, the increasingly acclaimed Mission: Impossible franchise. To my surprise, they were even better than anticipated, and all of them from the third on (after J.J. Abrams got involved) are outstanding actioners. I think M:i:III is still my favorite for having the most personal stakes and the most satisfying ending.

 

8. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Ah, the tearjerker makes its way onto the stage. As a fan of both fantasy and anime, as well as movies that earn the viewer’s tears, I was bound to love this film, and indeed its ending hit me harder than expected. Easily the most poignant film I saw all year.

 

7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

I may have seen this animated Spider-Man extravaganza for the first time only a couple days ago, but it keeps getting better in my head. The rap music wasn’t my favorite, but everything else about this trippy cross-over adventure was so well-done that I can’t wait to see it again.

 

6. Darkest Hour (2017)

Darkest Hour isn’t great just for having one of the most transformative performances on film, courtesy of Oscar winner Gary Oldman. It’s also among the best biopics I’ve seen, giving a well-rounded view of Winston Churchill, sometimes as a demanding bully but more often as a persevering patriot, as well as a vulnerable human being in his most dire period. Especially as a companion piece to Dunkirk, it’s a fascinating piece of history eloquently told.

 

5. The Incredibles 2 (2018)

This year, Pixar once again pulled off the unlikely, offering a worthy sequel to one of their best films. Continuing the story of the Parr/Incredible family as they try to make superheroes legal again and face a mind-controlling threat, this is a great family film and ranks among Pixar’s best sequels.

 

4. Ready Player One (2018)

This dystopian virtual-reality pop-culture treasure hunt was #1 on my list of films I hoped would be good at the beginning of 2018, and, thanks to Steven Spielberg and company, it was. True, it doesn’t quite measure up to the book, but the changes made sense as it offered up one geeky thrill after another.

 

3. Train to Busan (2016)

If you had told me a year ago that I would be putting a zombie film on my list, I would never have believed it. I am by no means a typical fan of the genre, but no film kept me on the edge of my seat like this South Korean thriller. It’s an adrenaline-pumping fight for survival where things repeatedly go from bad to worse, but it’s paired with an affecting tale of a father trying to live up to his daughter’s expectations while saving her life.

 

2. The Greatest Showman (2017)

I love musicals, and I insist that we need more original ones like The Greatest Showman. Not subtle or historically accurate enough perhaps to be considered Oscar material, it’s nonetheless a joyous film from start to finish, full of misfit empowerment, spectacular show tunes, and an undercurrent of family values. It leaves me smiling every time.

 

1. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Well, Marvel pulled it off, the crowning glory of the MCU thus far. Infinity War is staggering in its ambition, juggling so many characters that it so easily could have turned into a jumbled mess in less skilled hands (ahem, DC), yet I’ve little doubt that the Russos surpassed everyone’s expectations. The ending still stings, and my continued appreciation of this movie will likely depend on how well Endgame completes it in the coming year, but for now Infinity War still amazes. I’ve heard it called this generation’s Empire Strikes Back, and I don’t disagree.

 

 

So that’s the Top Twelve, but here are the other films that made it onto my Top 365 Movie List this time around. Keep in mind that I do group most franchises together, which is the only reason I made Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales List-Worthy, since it continued the original trilogy. I also group certain similar films together, so Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow will be paired with April and the Extraordinary World, while A Quiet Place will pair with Hidden.

 

A Monster Calls (2016)

A Quiet Place (2018)

Chronesthesia (a.k.a. Love and Time Travel) (2016)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Searching (2018)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

The Last Days (or Los Ultimos Dias) (2013)

Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013) (brought back to join Thor: Ragnarok as a trilogy)

 

And as in past years, here are some unofficial awards for the List-Worthy films, which only list nerds like myself will find of interest:

 

Best opening scene: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Best final scene: Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

Coolest scene: Avengers: Infinity War

Biggest emotional impact: Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

Oldest film: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Most recent film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Longest film: Avengers: Infinity War (149 minutes)

Shortest film: A Quiet Place (90 minutes)

Best soundtrack: The Greatest Showman

Best score: Thor: The Dark World

Best special effects: Avengers: Infinity War

Most mind-bending: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (even though it wasn’t quite List-Worthy)

Most family-friendly: The Incredibles 2

Most mature: either The Last Days or Train to Busan

Scariest: A Quiet Place

Funniest: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Best VC Pick: Tombstone

Best male performance: Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour

Best female performance: Not many to choose from, but probably Sigourney Weaver in A Monster Calls

Personal favorite poem written: Yi Yi

Most represented year: 2018, with ten films

 

And last comes the difficult part, figuring out which entries on my current List will have to be displaced by these new additions. This always hurts since I still love all these movies, but it’s a necessary evil for me as a list nerd. The following are the (still great) films that sadly bit the dust:

 

Almost Famous (2000) and Sing Street (2016)

A Star Is Born (1937)

The Age of Adaline (2015)

The Big Sick (2017)

Cannery Row (1982)

Counterpoint (1967)

Footloose (1984)

The Impossible (2012)

Innerspace (1987)

The Iron Giant (1999)

The Iron Lady (2011)

Spy Kids (2001) and Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

Time after Time (1979)

X-Men: First Class (2011) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

 

I’ll be posting the updated List tomorrow. Again, I wish to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my poetry or film ramblings and leave a like, follow, or comment in the past year (and especially anyone who is still reading this long post)! I can’t wait to see what the year ahead holds. A very Happy New Year to all!

 

P.S. And here’s a little montage video I found to sum up 2018 in film:

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

Tags

Animation, Anime, Drama, Fantasy

Mother of mine,
What a trial you bore
When I, in my infancy, cried more and more!

Mother of mine,
How obliviously
Did I take for granted your keeping of me!

Mother of mine,
What a fool you held near,
No thought for a thank you, no room to revere!

Mother of mine,
How ungrateful was I
When I was at last old enough to defy!

Mother of mine,
What regret I now feel
For waiting so long for my thanks to be real,
That love all too often I tried to conceal,
That raising me had to be such an ordeal.

Mother of mine,
How I wish you to know
The love that I should have returned long ago!
_____________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be PG-13 for some violence and mature themes, though nothing too explicit)

From early in 2018, I thought that Mirai would surely be the anime film of the year, but no, it’s not. That title goes to Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, a film I had no idea had already come out until I heard about it from Rachel of Reviewing All 56 Disney Animated Films and More! The description alone had me desperate to see it: a high fantasy tale of an immortal girl adopting a human baby. I tried to avoid spoilers at all cost, but everything I read about this cross between Lord of the Rings and The Age of Adaline, including its growing reputation as an all-out tearjerker, only heightened my excitement. With its 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, it looked like a film I was destined to love.

Finally, I got to see it, and though my expectations were high, Maquia met them. This may be writer/director Mari Okada’s debut film, but her first movie is a humdinger in both its emotional impact and its fantasy world-building. The titular Maquia is an orphan of the lorph clan, a small race of people who live for centuries with no aging and record their lives and histories by weaving cloth called Hibiol. A neighboring kingdom invades, taking most of the lorph captive, but Maquia escapes in despair, only to stumble upon an orphaned baby boy she names Ariel. Although she is alone, knows nothing of motherhood, and was expressly warned never to love a mortal lest she endure true loneliness, Maquia raises the child as her own, and…sniff… you’ll just have to watch it for yourself.

Anime has some amazing mothers to its credit, from Hana in Wolf Children to the mom in the tenth episode of Violet Evergarden (another tearjerker of 2018), but there’s something special about Maquia. She shares no blood or background with Ariel, not even fully understanding the physical realities of motherhood, and yet in her efforts to be a good mother, she shines as few parents do in any medium. She struggles with the task, especially as Ariel grows older while she remains the same, becoming a constant reminder that he was adopted, but she takes to heart the lessons taught by others that moms will do anything for their children and that “moms don’t cry.”

As much as I wish I could call it a faultless film, Maquia is not without some weaknesses. There’s an extended subplot concerning two of Maquia’s lorph friends, whose paths in life are far more oppressive than hers; enduring rape and imprisonment, they serve as a contrast to the love that Maquia finds, and while their struggles remained interesting and sympathetic, I wouldn’t say they were resolved in an entirely satisfying way. Plus, one jump in time left me unsure what was going on, dropping some uncomfortable implications and keeping its full context vague.

Despite these gripes, Maquia is a beautiful film on multiple levels, from its tender moments to its exceptional animation to its affecting soundtrack. Its rich fantasy world of warring nations and dying dragons offers several striking settings reminiscent of Middle-Earth, and its themes of love and parenthood go straight to the heart, demonstrating how children can have just as much of an impact on their parents as the other way around. Plus, there’s hardly any of the stylistic exaggeration typical of anime, making it a film that fantasy lovers who may not be into anime should be able to enjoy as well.

I don’t cry easily these days. Only two anime have left me sobbing before, and Maquia makes it three. I’ve mentioned that some sad films like The Wind Rises seem to almost pull back from full-on tearjerker mode for whatever reason; Maquia does not. I wept bitterly, though for different reasons than something like Grave of the Fireflies. There’s a scene at the end that mercilessly kicks your heartstrings while kissing them tenderly, and it still haunts me. I said yesterday that Mirai made me want to hug my mom; Maquia did the same times eleven. That’s why, for me, this is the anime of the year. The film itself represents its theme of pain being an integral part of love, a bitterness made sweet by all that came before.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

Mirai (2018)

Tags

Animation, Anime, Drama, Family, Fantasy

 

When a child asks, quizzically,
“Where did I come from?”
Who knows what the most fitting answer may be?
The truth of it, physically,
May create someone,
But ‘tis but a branch of the whole family tree.

For what you’re aware of,
Your path and your parents,
Are products of precursors we’ll never know,
Dependent on their love,
Their choice and forbearance,
The roots they put down that their children may grow.
_____________________

MPAA rating:  PG

Back when I reviewed Netflix’s Flavors of Youth, I mentioned there were two new anime films I was dying to see before the end of the year, and now that I have, I also wanted to squeeze in a review for each of them. Thus, I’ll do one today and one tomorrow, starting with the one I’ve been expecting longer.

I’ve enjoyed the works of anime director Mamoru Hosoda for years (The Girl Who Leapt through Time and Wolf Children are still in my top 365 Movie List), and Mirai was one of my most anticipated movies this year. With every new feature, Hosoda has carved out a niche for animation fans, putting his own stamp on imaginative half-Ghibli-like fantasies mixed with real-world drama. In Mirai, his latest acclaimed feature, he does the same with a highly minimalist plot and a younger-than-normal protagonist.

At its core, Mirai’s story is deceptively simple, that of a four-year-old boy named Kun accepting the presence of his newborn sister Mirai (which also means “future”). Yet the lessons he learns about jealousy, relationships, and family have surprising depth and are often taught through extended visual metaphors. I was a little surprised that any explanation for the time travel aspect was basically an afterthought. Thanks to the dad, the family’s house is an architectural curiosity with three levels, one of which is roofless with an interior yard, and anytime Kun passes the family tree, it’s as if his imagination conjures up another realm.

Sometimes, it’s the family dog transformed into a grouchy human, or his teenage sister arriving from the future, or his great-grandfather showing him how to ride a bike, and certain moments of the fantastical affecting the real world make you wonder whether it’s all in Kun’s head or not. These elements are a tad random and he sometimes tends to relearn the same lesson over again (be more patient with your parents/sister, for instance), but there’s an ingenious visual nuance to how Kun learns about his family and factoring his new role as a big brother into his identity.

I said earlier that Hosoda excels at mixing the magical with the mundane, but it doesn’t work quite as well here as it did with, say, Wolf Children. Some of the transitions between real life and fantasy were rather weird for my taste, and I would have liked a definitive answer of what was actually going on beyond “it’s a visual metaphor.” To be honest, I found myself more interested in the day-to-day activities and struggles of Kun and Mirai’s parents. Let’s face it: Whiny kids can be annoying, especially kids in anime, so I felt more of a connection with the harried father and the long-suffering mother than with the often bratty Kun.

There’s a lot to love about Mirai, not least of which is the beautiful hand-drawn animation. (One scene in a train station is breathtaking in the amount of detail and motion on display.) Plus, it’s funny and relatable on multiple levels. I especially admired how many of the individual stories were brought together near the end to show Kun how a complex web of lives and choices combined to give him the life he had. It was profound and visually striking and helped make up for some of the plot’s earlier weaknesses.

It’s worth noting that Mirai surprisingly received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes this year, making it the first anime to be nominated. It’s certainly worthy and a sign of improvement in what gets recognized, but it irks me that they didn’t give that honor to even more deserving contenders in the past, like Your Name, Wolf Children, or A Silent Voice. But I digress…. Mirai may not be Hosoda’s best work, but it’s another laudable credit to his name. And it made me appreciate my parents a little more, so that I just had to give my mom a hug. Any film that gives me another reason to do that deserves praise.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

2018 Blindspot Pick #11: The Sandlot (1993)

Tags

Comedy, Family, Sports

 

When I was a child,
I spake as a child,
And acted as foolish as children will do.
Yet now that I’m older
And ought to be wiser,
I find there’s more worry than wisdom in view.
That’s why I, like many, now crave what we lack,
Some innocent childhood foolishness back.
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG

It looks like I won’t be able to quite finish my Blindspot series before the end of the year, but I’ll at least get as close as possible with eleven. (That just leaves Pan’s Labyrinth, which should be first thing next year.) Growing up, I always skipped The Sandlot when I saw it in the kid’s section of Blockbuster – is it weird that this makes me feel old when it wasn’t that long ago? – mainly because I’ve never been a fan of baseball. Then, fairly recently but all of a sudden, I heard people at work saying it’s “the best movie ever,” and I started hearing people say “You’re killin’ me, Smalls,” as if it were some classic line I’d never heard before. That’s when I decided I had to see what was so great about this little ‘90s family film that has somehow amassed a cult following.

The Sandlot is a healthy dose of juvenile nostalgia, one which most viewers should be able to relate to their childhood, even if it’s set back in the summer of 1962. Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) is the new kid in town, awkward and wimpy as he tries to join a local group of kids on their baseball field. While most of them have no patience for a kid who can’t even throw a ball, Benny Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) reaches out to him and allows him to enjoy the summer as part of the team, which includes various misadventures and a giant terrifying beast on the far side of the fence.

Like The Goonies or Clue, it’s the kind of film that I wish I’d seen when I was younger, because it might well have been a cherished classic by now for me as well. The vignettes of childhood camaraderie and conflict and what matters to an acceptance-seeking tween reminded me at times of Disney’s Recess series and A Christmas Story, thanks also to the nostalgic narration of a grown-up Scotty. There were also echoes of Stand By Me, but thankfully the amusingly juvenile insults lobbed among the kids are kept far more PG-rated. There are no instantly recognizable child stars here (though it was nice to see James Earl Jones), but that only helped each of the young cast feel like real kids, trading taunts, having fun, and exaggerating danger.

There are scenes that go on a bit too long, but overall The Sandlot was a fun film that didn’t require a love of baseball to enjoy. The friendship between Scotty and Benny is also a laudable example for other kids to follow; inviting an outsider into the group and having the patience to help them fit in are not common behaviors for most kids, so I hope this movie helped make some playgrounds friendlier out there. I’m not sure why “You’re killing me, Smalls” has become such a repeated line, since it was only used twice and not that prominently, but at least I’ll get the reference from now on. It’s certainly a film I’d watch with my own kids some day.

Best line: (Babe Ruth, in a dream) “Remember, kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

600 Followers, New Banners, and Merry Christmas!

Tags

Christmas

 

I know Christmas is upon us, but I wanted to send out a little post to celebrate yet another milestone. Against all expectations, this blog of mine has reached a new high of 600 followers! Of course, I enjoy watching movies and writing about them for their own sake, but it always lends me some extra satisfaction to see that others share my enjoyment. Every like and follow is worth a thank you, which all too often goes unspoken, so to all who have made my day with the click of a button, I wish to say thank you and a Merry Christmas!

Now, typically there’s some special extra for this kind of milestone (like my list of Overrated and Underrated Movies when I hit 500 followers). Due to my school schedule and the immediate holiday, that will have to wait, but I do have some special lists in mind. In the meantime, though, I thought I would share some additional banners I’ve fashioned for the top of each page, which should generate at random from now on. While the banner I’ve had is full of films I love (and will stick around), these new banners focus on specific genres, such as

Comedy,

Science Fiction,

Fantasy,

Animation,

Romance,

Foreign Films,

Musicals,

Horror,

And a miscellaneous one including the Western, Action, War, Drama, Heist, and Historical genres.

All of the films represented are excellent and highly recommended, so feel free to ask if you want to know where any of the images came from.

Again, I wish to thank everyone who reads, likes, follows, and cares even a little bit about my poetry or my humble opinion. May God bless you all, and have a wonderful Christmas!

Love Actually (2003)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Drama, Romance

 

Love can strike like lightning
Or love can burn like embers,
And what the world at large forgets
The heart in love remembers.

Love’s not as easy as it looks
In film or paperback,
And yet it must be worth the fail
And worth the coming back.

Some fake ideal that isn’t real
Could not move hearts and minds
As love has done for everyone
Who waits and seeks and finds.
______________________

MPAA rating: R (for unnecessary language and nudity, better as a PG-13 if you catch it cut on TV)

It’s about time I got around to seeing this movie. I love a good Christmas movie or a good rom com, so I was bound to enjoy Love Actually, considering its devoted fanbase who consider it a modern classic. It’s hard to believe that it’s fifteen years old now, but it’s a definite charmer with a most impressive ensemble and a sprawling plot that’s like a mixture of Cloud Atlas and a Hallmark movie.

Where to begin on the cast? It’s amazing how many respected British thespians pop up throughout, each with their own little story of romantic love woven among the others. Liam Neeson plays a grieving widower trying to help his son Sam (an adorable Thomas Sangster) with first love, and the boy goes to school with the kids of a husband and wife played by Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, whose marriage might be in danger, while Thompson is brother to the new love-struck British prime minister (Hugh Grant). Those are only three of the subplots mixed into this melting pot of holiday tales; also present are Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rowan Atkinson, Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead (I didn’t even know he had a British accent), Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Martine McCutcheon, Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro (Lost alert!), and Bill Nighy as an aging and unashamedly vulgar rock star trying to peddle his latest cash grab of a single.

I love these kinds of interrelated stories, which is why I’m so partial to even divisive plots like Lost and Cloud Atlas. Sure, they’re often messy and take time to unravel, but it’s in the unraveling and the connections that we get a glimpse into the interconnectedness of everyday life, which is among my favorite themes. Director Richard Curtis sells it all with good humor, holiday spirit, and shameless romanticism, though not every story has an idealistic ending. Confessions of love abound, and it’s a cold heart that won’t find multiple scenes worth smiling at.

Even so, it is a tad tiresome having to juggle all the storylines, which flit back and forth without warning and could have used a more critical hand at the editing table. Some further editing might also have removed the entirely unnecessary R-rated content featuring some porn stars (Martin Freeman and Joanna Page). I thankfully saw the film on cut TV, and while I would have liked to have seen Freeman, the removal of the nude scenes took absolutely nothing from the film. Plus, while others may love him, I found Bill Nighy’s rock bum more irritating than funny.

The most fascinating thing about Love Actually for me is, naturally, the connections, not in the film but among the cast. I chuckled at seeing Rickman as Thompson’s husband, since he ended up as her brother-in-law in Sense and Sensibility, where Hugh Grant was her love interest rather than her brother. Likewise, Keira Knightley co-starred with Bill Nighy in the first two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, though they have no scenes together here, and it was unexpected to see Elizabeth Swann marrying Mordo from Doctor Strange. The best connection, though, (and one not everyone may be aware of) was when I realized that the crush of Sangster’s young Sam was played by Olivia Olson. Luckily, I know their names from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, where Sangster’s Ferb happens to have a long-standing crush on Dr. Doofenschmirtz’s daughter, who is voiced by Olson. It may matter little, but it was a likely intentional Easter egg I never realized was there when I used to watch that show.

I should also mention Red Nose Day Actually, the anniversary/sequel that came out last year as a fundraising short for Curtis’s Red Nose Day charity event. Even if I didn’t have to wait fourteen years between them like everyone else did, it was a delight catching up many of the characters, and I applaud so many of the stars for returning to take part, though sadly the late Alan Rickman could not and Emma Thompson abstained out of respect for his memory. It also managed to create some happy endings out of the dangling threads from the original, so it’s quite a treat for fans, one of which I now consider myself.  Not every character is as likable as I wish, but I can certainly see why Love Actually has gathered such a following, and I gladly will add it to my holiday watch list from now on, at least when it’s cut on TV.

Best line:  (Aurelia’s sister to people nearby) “Father is about to sell Aurelia as a slave to this Englishman.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

 

It was late Christmas Eve, and no sleeper was up.
The cookies were plated, warm milk in each cup.
The snow held a silence, which barely was broken
When Santa Claus came, thinking none had awoken.

He leapt from the sleigh with his sack close at hand,
Entrusting the reindeer to wait on demand,
And nimbly invaded each chimney and home
In a fashion not often depicted in poem.

His task soon completed, rewarding the good,
Saint Nick headed off to the next neighborhood,
When high in the air with the reindeer full speed,
He felt a small tap, as of someone in need.

Well, Santa, unused to surprises, no doubt,
Spun round in his sleigh and began freaking out,
Which then made the reindeer do likewise ahead,
And what happened next should be watched and not read.
__________________________

MPAA rating: TV-PG

Imagine The Santa Clause, Adventures in Babysitting, and Gremlins all mashed together into a surprisingly enjoyable amalgamation of good-natured holiday spirit. If you can also imagine Kurt Russell as a slimmed-down Santa Claus, then you’ve got Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles.

Christmas movies have long speculated about how Santa does what he does, from The Santa Clause and The Polar Express to Elf and ‘Twas the Night, and The Christmas Chronicles is a welcome addition to such conjecture, with its magical portals and cute, fuzzy elves. As the poem above suggests, a bickering brother and sister (Judah Lewis and Darby Camp) sneak their way onto Santa’s sleigh, causing it to crash in Chicago, where they must help Santa Kurt retrieve his reindeer and sack in time to save Christmas.

Of all the movies I’ve name-dropped, the closest comparison is definitely Adventures in Babysitting, not only for the Chicago setting but for entire sections of the plot (captured by criminals, a marvelous musical number with almost the same bluesy guitar riff). However, it manages to add charm to its more familiar elements, thanks in large part to Kurt Russell, who will surely go down as one of the great Santa depictions on film. Part of that is how non-traditional he is, often grousing over the false clichés about him spread through advertising (he’s not that fat apparently), yet there’s a winking warmth to him that never lets cynicism win out.

It may not be the most original of Christmas films, but The Christmas Chronicles may well become a new holiday classic for family audiences. Netflix certainly seems to have had faith in it, commissioning four elf character balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year to promote it. While the suggestion that no gifts equals no Christmas goes against the better lesson of Dr. Seuss’s Grinch, The Christmas Chronicles is an entertaining jaunt of heart-warming humor from start to smile-worthy finish, which any fan of Adventures in Babysitting or The Santa Clause is likely to enjoy this Christmas (and many more to come).

Best line:  (Teddy) “Can’t you just wave your hand, and, like, Jedi mind-trick the cops?”   (Santa) “I’m Santa Claus, Teddy, not Yoda.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
599 Followers and Counting

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Tags

Action, Sci-fi, Thriller

History repeats itself more often than it should,
For man is vain and foolish even after childhood.

The same mistakes will plague mankind until at last we learn,
Though when that may or may not come is cause for some concern.

Self-destruction is a right we mastered long ago;
We’re just too curious to see, this time, how it will go,
And so we do not slow.
__________________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

For starters, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was never very high on my list of highly anticipated movies this year. The first Jurassic World was good and I like anything with Chris Pratt, but the law of diminishing returns definitely applies here. Some years after the incidents of Jurassic World, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Pratt) are called back to the island of dinosaurs to rescue as many as possible before the volcano erupts, and naturally the sponsor of the expedition has some ulterior motives.

It wasn’t until I actually saw the movie that I realized why my excitement for it was so low: the trailers. The entire first half of the movie on the island was spoiled in the trailers, making even scary or spectacular scenes carry zero tension for me. I’m sure future viewers who didn’t see the trailers beforehand might not have this problem, but I wish the trailer editors wouldn’t divulge so much, even the ending itself. Granted, the second half, mostly set in an expansive mansion on a dark and stormy night, carries a great deal more anxiety, shock value, and stylish horror flourishes, but skilled director J.A Bayona can’t completely reinvent the wheel.  Arrogant characters still make dumb decisions, and despite efforts to stay inventive, it feels like this series doesn’t have much new to offer.

There’s an ongoing argument of whether the dinosaurs should be allowed to die out again or not, a question about which my VC felt strongly. She didn’t see why everyone was insisting on saving the dinos, and while I lean more toward the conservationist viewpoint of keeping them alive but contained, I do think the film’s message is left muddled. (Plus, why Claire is suddenly so protective of the dinos, I don’t know.) By the end, one character sides with saving the deadly animals above all other concerns, putting their lives above human ones, which is a thoroughly wrong-headed sentiment that left a sour taste none of the other sequels have. My VC and I agreed that “because they’re alive” isn’t a good enough reason to put human lives in danger when it comes down to either us or them.

Oh, and one other thing. Everyone was talking about the dinosaurs becoming extinct again after the volcanic eruption on Isla Nublar. What about Site B on Isla Sorna, which has never been mentioned since Jurassic Park III? There should still be dinosaurs on that island, right? Anyway, I don’t mean to sound like I hated it, since it still had many of the ingredients that made the first Jurassic Park and Jurassic World enjoyable, just watered down and overly spoiled by trailers. Time will tell if the next sequel can redeem this one’s weaknesses.

Best line: (Ian Malcolm, in a welcome but all-too-brief cameo) “Change is like death. You don’t know what it looks like till you’re standing at the gates.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
599 Followers and Counting

 

Justice League (2017)

Tags

Action, Sci-fi, Superhero

With planet Earth facing its worst danger yet,
Six heroes emerged to contend with the threat.
One swam,
And one ran,
And one wasn’t a man,
One dressed like a bat,
One was half a tin can,
And one may have died,
But he’ll come if he can,
So never fear, Earth, for your heroes are here!
No, not the Avengers; they’ll just disappear,
Until they beat Thanos in Endgame next year.
Wait, what was I saying? Oh, the DCEU…
While waiting for Marvel, this team ought to do.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

It says a lot that I had to see Avengers: Infinity War on opening weekend, while I only just got around to watching Justice League a year after its release. Justice League isn’t necessarily a bad movie nor one as mockable as Batman v. Superman, but its aspirations overstep its ability, making DC’s superhero team-up come up short in every comparison with Marvel.

In this not-quite-culmination of the DC Extended Universe, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) seek to recruit a collection of disparate superhumans (Jason Momoa’s buff Aquaman, Ezra Miller’s geeky Flash, and Ray Fisher’s conflicted Cyborg) to ward off an alien invasion following the death of Superman (Henry Cavill), who is still praised as a beacon of hope despite the fact everyone seemed afraid and distrustful of him in the previous films. The battle scenes are epic, the effects impressive, and the casting not half bad (Miller’s a tad annoying, and I’m still getting used to Affleck), yet the echoes of MCU plot points are just too obvious to ignore. The villain Steppenwolf (all CGI voiced by Ciaran Hinds) arrives like Loki through a space portal and starts collecting three powerful Mother Boxes, generic Infinity Stone equivalents that can destroy the world and have a mythic history blatantly torn from The Lord of the Rings.

Justice League has some prime ingredients in its recipe, if only it was baked more gradually. I continue to be baffled by DC’s story strategy, combining all these heroes in (for half of them) their first appearance and then providing them stand-alone features. It’s one more way that Marvel has the edge, because when everyone met each in the first Avengers, at least the audience knew of their history. Here, the backstories of Aquaman, Cyborg, and Flash are only hinted at, offering backstories we neither care about nor fully understand. Plus, being thrust together by world-ending danger, there’s little sense of camaraderie or chemistry as a team, or at least not as much as with the Avengers; only Wonder Woman (still the best part of the DCEU) has any weight to her history or her rapport with Batman. And I still question why Cyborg is even here, when I’ve always associated him with the Teen Titans, despite recent revisions in the comics.

There are always questions of who copied who between DC and Marvel, but in this case, it feels like DC is still playing catch-up to something Marvel undoubtedly did better years before. With Joss Whedon’s tweaks to director Zack Snyder (who will hopefully step away from controlling this franchise), Justice League is at least better and more fun than Man of Steel or Batman v. Superman. Individual parts just work much better than the whole at this point. Aquaman looks pretty darn cool from the trailers, though, so perhaps there’s still some hope for DC.

Best line: (Lois Lane) “There are heroes among us. Not to make us feel smaller, but to remind us of what makes us great.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
596 Followers and Counting

 

A Star Is Born (2018)

Tags

Drama, Musical, Romance

When tragedies have run their course,
Demanding pity and remorse,
It’s easy wondering if they
Could end up any other way,
The fruit of foolishness and force.

Yet tragedies are not complete
Without some happiness’ retreat.
Contentment grief could not erase,
However brief, once offered grace
To take the bitter with the sweet.

The stars will fall one mournful night,
But only once they shed their light.
Those basking in it aren’t aware
Of pain that stars refuse to share,
Yet when they shine, oh, what a sight!
______________________

MPAA rating: R (for very frequent language and brief nudity)

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to write or review much recently, not only because of Thanksgiving but because of the increasing demands of school. That will probably only get worse over the next two months (sorry!), but I wanted to make time for the latest version of A Star Is Born. Nearly two years ago, I did a Version Variations post comparing the three former incarnations of A Star Is Born – the 1937 original, the 1954 Judy Garland musical, and the 1976 Barbra Streisand musical – and I couldn’t help but notice the huge surge in views that post got when Bradley Cooper’s latest film hit theaters. Back then, I made a fleeting reference to another version in the works, and at last here it is, a heavy-hitting Oscar contender that deserves the same appraisal as its forerunners.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have been rightly lauded for this modern retelling of a decades-old story. It’s likely familiar to many: A big star discovers a budding talent, falls in love, and helps her own ascent to the top while crashing pitifully into drunken disgrace. In addition to producing and directing, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, the big name in country rock who is taken with an unknown singer named Ally (Lady Gaga) and whisks her into the limelight.

Cooper is almost unrecognizable next to previous roles like Silver Linings Playbook, bearded, singing admirably, and boasting a much deeper voice than usual, one that still doesn’t quite match that of Sam Elliott as his older brother/manager. By the time Ally reaches stardom, it’s easy to see why Cooper insisted on Lady Gaga’s casting, but she delivers more than just her distinctive voice, nailing the dramatic moments just as well as more established actresses. Stripped of her famously absurd costumes and style, it’s easier to see why she’s such a star, and it’s an interesting reversal that Ally balks at the prospect of being forced into changing her hair and adding background dancers, lest she lose herself in celebrity.

One of my coworkers wasn’t a fan of the characterization of the two leads, but I think most view the acting as close to beyond reproach, which is why Cooper and Gaga are both Oscar favorites at the moment, not unlike the main stars of the 1937 and 1954 versions. Likewise, the soundtrack is outstanding, with a blend of rockabilly and pop, headbangers and heartfelt elegies, that made me wonder which one might nab Best Original Song, since I could see most of them being worthy. (I will say that I think the 1976 film still has a more memorable soundtrack, but that might be due to my personal preferences.)

How then does this 2018 version compare with what came before? The story at its heart and conclusion is still the same, but this incarnation might have the least in common with its predecessors. The other versions (especially the 1954 one) had some scenes that were directly plucked from the one before, while the one constant that carries over into the latest version is the awards embarrassment, where Maine’s flaws are made painfully public at the Grammys. I suppose its rock ‘n’ roll context and final scene are closest in spirit to the 1976 Streisand version, but Cooper did a fine job at making this story his own.

That being said, it’s not above criticism. I personally think that the “meet-cute” between Jackson and Ally, which happens in a drag bar before they head out to a grocery store parking lot, is the weakest of the four. There’s clearly chemistry, but when Ally starts singing an impromptu song supposedly on the fly, I didn’t really buy it.

Luckily, the plot improves as it goes, putting some of the strongest scenes of any version in the second half. Jackson himself amid his addiction is especially portrayed well, particularly a heart-wrenching scene where he genuinely apologizes to Ally for embarrassing her. The 1976 version left me uncertain whether Kris Kristofferson’s character really loved Streisand’s, especially since it’s still the only version where he cheats on her; Cooper fixes that problem, painting Maine more clearly as a tragic failure of good intentions corrupted by substance abuse. The other versions were certainly sad, but Cooper’s truly embraces the story’s potential as a tearjerker.

As to be expected from an R-rated Oscar contender, the biggest problem I had with A Star Is Born is the nearly constant profanity. I know the F-word is getting more pervasive in today’s culture by the day, but when the script includes over a hundred of them, it just feels like a lazy placeholder word, ultimately without meaning. To be honest, it’s more annoying than offensive, especially when it’s hard to imagine how it could ever be cut enough to be shown on normal TV.

After much deliberation, I think I would rank this A Star Is Born second among the four, and not just because of the language complaint. The 1937 version remains the best in my opinion, thanks to its insightful script. (Plus, I love that Grandma Lettie!) Cooper’s version proves that there is still life in this story, especially when delivered with nuance and brilliant performances. It also disproves the law of diminishing returns with this tale being remade every few decades, making me wonder what the next remake thirty years from now might look like.

Best line: (Bobby,  Jackson’s half-brother) “Jack talked about how music is essentially twelve notes between any octave. Twelve notes, and the octave repeats. It’s the same story told over and over, forever. All any artist can offer the world is how they see those twelve notes. That’s it. He loved how you see them.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
594 Followers and Counting