VC Pick: Patton (1970)

Tags

Biopic, Classics, Drama, History, VC Pick, War

What wins wars?
It’s a question hard to answer
That no army can refuse.
For if every side could answer it,
No side would ever lose.

What wins wars?
Some would say that it’s commitment
Or resolve to reach the goal.
But commitment breeds fanaticism
If it lacks control.

What wins wars?
Some would point to their resources,
Which are squandered easily.
Some would point to perseverance
Or to strength or bravery.

What wins wars?
All of these are necessary,
But they’re not the final trade.
There’s a risk to every battle;
There’s a price that must be paid.

What wins wars?
‘Tis the soldiers wielding courage
And the strength to persevere,
Those committed to their country,
Without whom we’d not be here.
__________________

MPAA rating:  GP/PG (more of a PG-13 for language)

My VC has been urging me to review Patton for some time now, and I figured Memorial Day was the perfect time for this World War II biopic. Patton benefits from an Oscar-winning performance from George C. Scott and the Oscar-winning screenplay from none other than Francis Ford Coppola, who interestingly credits this film’s success with his being allowed to direct The Godfather.

While other actors are good, including Karl Malden as General Omar Bradley, this movie lives and dies by the effectiveness of Scott in the title role, and from the first iconic speech he delivers in the film’s opening, speaking to the troops in front of an enormous American flag, he embodies General George S. Patton’s patriotic resolve and uncompromising will. The score is similarly iconic, providing perfect accompaniment to Patton’s military ambitions, and certain scenes are distinctly memorable, like Patton’s slapping of a shell-shocked soldier or his shoot-off with a swooping enemy plane.

All that said, war movies from the ‘70s aren’t what they are today. While I’m grateful for the lack of extreme content, there’s not much action, with the focus instead on Patton as a character. That’s hardly a bad thing, but at nearly three hours, the plot loses steam at times and didn’t need to be that long. I also found it odd that the film stopped short of Patton’s unexpected death in a car accident, not even mentioning it in an ending footnote.

As a fan of history, though, I found Patton a great character study of one of America’s greatest generals, providing insight into his lesser known activities as well, such as his passive role in the D-Day invasion and his many difficulties with censoring himself in interviews. He was a monstrous warmonger to some and a nationalist hero to others, a dichotomy of characterizations that the film embraces in equal measure. Considering its balanced treatment and biographical importance, I can see why it won Best Picture that year, in addition to Best Director, Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound, Art Direction, and Actor (which Scott famously refused). It also reminded me that Patton himself was a poet, so I ought to add this film to my list of poems used in movies. It’s a bit too long and slow to watch often, but it definitely ranks among the greatest war biopics.

Best line: (Patton) “Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
632 Followers and Counting

 

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Tags

Drama, Thriller

It’s a dark and sordid world we dwell in,
Home to many a thug and felon,
Home to murderers and liars,
Thieves and daily hell suppliers,
Wickedness and base desires.

I don’t deny such things exist.
I’ve heard the tales; I get the gist.
Too much can hurt the human heart,
But watching it’s the easy part.
It’s realistic, life as art.

The darkness, yes, can entertain,
But how untouched do we remain?
Such things we cannot just ignore,
But when we laugh or cheer at gore,
I fear for what is at our core.
________________

MPAA rating:  a hard R

Unlike so many other cinephiles out there, I am not a fan of Quentin Tarantino. And I can say that even without having seen any of his movies…well, except for this one. His reputation precedes him, you might say, and I’ve never been eager to seek out the work of a director known for the severity of his R ratings. Nevertheless, Pulp Fiction has become such a mainstay of cinema that I felt I had to check it out, especially when it aired on TV, minus its 265 F-words (according to IMDb).

It’s too absolute to say I didn’t like Pulp Fiction because there’s quite a lot to appreciate about it. That is to say, I liked its style but not its content. It’s chock full of colorful characters, including two bantering hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), a mob boss (Ving Rhames) and his girlfriend (Uma Thurman), a boxer on the run (Bruce Willis), and a seemingly unrelated pair of lovers/thieves (Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer). The nonlinear story is especially well-executed, with characters’ stories jumping back and forth in time; though I could see that becoming confusing for some, it all fits together like a puzzle, cleverly offering backstory or glimpses of what’s to come. In addition, stripping away all the profanity, I can see why Tarantino has been praised for his dialogue, crafting banter that feels like a natural conversation yet provides some eloquent insight into how his characters view the world.

So yes, on some level, I enjoyed Pulp Fiction’s style, but its substance is clearly not for me. Even without the language, its dive into the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles isn’t as much fun as the film’s soundtrack tries to make it, nor does the flippancy with which it treats an accidental murder and its cleanup make it any less disturbing. The film is sorely lacking a character to root for, because although there are plenty of motley personalities, there’s not a moral compass to be found among them. You might root for Bruce Willis, but his reaction to inadvertently killing somebody doesn’t paint him as much better than the rest. The one gleam of hope is Samuel L. Jackson’s intense turn as Jules Winfield, who does at least question his life of violence, culminating in an admittedly brilliant stand-off at the end.

From Marcellus Wallace’s glowing briefcase to John Travolta’s dance with Uma Thurman (love that Fall Out Boy song!), I can appreciate Pulp Fiction for its influence on pop culture and how it has inspired other works, particularly the anime Baccano, another non-linear, unnecessarily violent story that I enjoyed far more than this one. Yet I doubt I’ll ever have the desire to watch this iconic movie again. I loved the story structure, but not the rampant murder, drug abuse, and rape. It’s a cultural touchstone I’ll only touch once.

Best line: (Harvey Keitel’s The Wolf, summing up so much of this movie) “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean that you have character.”

 

Rank: Dishonorable Mention

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
632 Followers and Counting

 

Mortal Engines (2018)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Thriller

We all survive in different ways
When struggles line our path.
We cry, we grieve, we carry on
And curse the aftermath.

There’s healthy ways to deal with loss,
Like, say, the world’s demise.
Yet most dystopias suggest
That man won’t be so wise.

Authoritarian regimes
Are now a stock motif.
But giant cities set on wheels?
That takes some disbelief!

Yet who can say what man might do?
His foolishness is nothing new.
_________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I’m clearly more forgiving than most critics when it comes to the fantasy and sci-fi genres. In fact, I could probably compile a list of sci-fi films that critics have savaged and I’ve still enjoyed (note to self: make such a list for later). I was eagerly awaiting the release of the Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines, which promised a young-adult Mad Max: Fury Road on an even bigger scale, but then it tanked at the box office and earned a mere 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. That made me question my prior expectations, but now that I’ve seen it, it definitely fits into the category of movies that are better than their reviews indicate.

Based on the first of a quartet of novels and directed by Christian Rivers, who has worked on the effects of many Jackson films, Mortal Engines is one of those far-flung, highly unlikely post-apocalyptic futures where the world has radically changed and forgotten its past, as evidenced by the amusingly misinterpreted “relics” of our present day. In this world, a terrible war has led to a system of “municipal Darwinism” in which cities have become mobile, mounted upon enormous tank tracks so they can hunt smaller towns for their resources, with London being the strongest. A scarred girl named Hester (Hera Hilmar) seeks revenge on London’s Deputy Lord Mayor Valentine (Hugo Weaving in familiar villain mode) for the death of her mother, and when a museum worker named Tom (Robert Sheehan) learns the truth, he is thrust into a journey with Hester to stop Valentine’s plans for world domination.

Mortal Engines has its imperfections, particularly in the way it blatantly echoes many better movies, such as Star Wars and Howl’s Moving Castle. (Really, Star Wars is a huge influence.) Yet there’s nothing that would warrant the film’s poor box office, unless people just don’t connect with the story’s post-apocalyptic quest and relatively unmemorable characters. The actors do their best, though, and I thought the film more than made up for its weaknesses with its epic steampunk visuals and fast-paced storyline.

There are many references to unfamiliar places and events that are unique to the film’s internal history, and while this might make it hard to follow at times, I love this kind of world-building, making the story’s universe feel bigger than what we see onscreen. The moving cities crafted by Weta Digital reflect the same level of commitment and detail that the company brought to Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth films. And while the plot can feel derivative at times, one subplot featuring Stephen Lang as an undead cyborg adds great tension and a surprisingly emotional payoff. Mortal Engines may not be the blockbuster I thought it could be and certainly isn’t on par with The Lord of the Rings, but for fans of the genre, it’s a large-scale, effects-heavy adventure that deserved much better.

Best line: (Katherine Valentine) “How can a society so advanced, so scientific, be so stupid?”   (Tom) “Well, no more stupid than people today.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
632 Followers and Counting

 

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Superhero, Thriller

You failed to do your duty.
You failed the foe to thwart.
Are heroes those who do their best
And still come up too short?

The world could not be rescued.
Accepting that is key,
But afterwards, a hero asks
What forward path they see.

Perhaps the end is final;
Perhaps the race is run,
But if there still remains a chance,
The fight is not yet done.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the big payoff for the monumental cliffhanger that was the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the movie that twenty-one other films have been building up to over eleven years. To avoid unnecessary buildup on my part, I’ll just say it: Avengers: Endgame is awesome! The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had its ups and downs over the years, but Endgame is the culmination for which ardent fans like myself have been wishing.

I had to see Endgame on opening weekend (and then again the next day), but I’ll be sensitive to those who may not have gotten around to seeing it yet. I won’t mention how that one character ***************, or how awesome it was for ***************, or that heartbreaking moment where *******************. Nope, I’ll avoid major spoilers, but just know that I’m still buzzing over Endgame’s best elements.

Given that spoiler caveat, I’m obviously limited in how much I can say about Endgame, but for anyone wondering if it delivers the proper payoff for Infinity War, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”  The intergalactic warlord Thanos (Josh Brolin) left a lot of damage in his wake, snapping half of the universe out of existence and leaving those who weren’t dusted with much to avenge. The likes of Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) all deal with the grief of the situation in different ways, with Hawkeye’s loss in particular sending him down a dark road of vengeance, but hope is renewed when Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) returns with a pitch for saving everyone with a not uncomplicated time travel mission.

Yes, there’s time travel, which makes me a happy fan. The opportunities this plot device allows are numerous, with many references to Back to the Future and many scenes revisiting past moments of the MCU, not unlike Back to the Future Part II. It’s a nerd’s delight, but these reminiscences are dwarfed by the all-out action spectacular at the film’s finale. It is hands down the most bombastic, exquisitely awesome sequence the MCU has fashioned to date, with huge stakes and Marvel fan service galore, which some have criticized but please, these movies were made for the fans and we/I loved it! Watching it again also allowed me to pick up on a host of tiny but smile-inducing references to past films, some obvious, some subtle. A small one that I noticed but haven’t seen anyone else mention involves one character simply calling another by name, where one stated in a previous movie that he didn’t care to be acquainted. The acting is beyond fault as well, and it was neat to have a double Lost alert with both Evangeline Lilly and Hiroyuki Sanada.

Of course, it’s not perfect, and I can’t completely disagree with some of the negatives I’ve heard. My VC loved it but wished certain plot directions hadn’t been abandoned, like the budding romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner. Other opinions have found fault with the action-light slowness of the beginning, but this at least gives room for the characters to react realistically as the weight of the situation sinks in, and there’s still that trademark Marvel humor to keep things from getting too heavy. I do sort of wish they had offered some religious dimension to the loss, and I could have done without the somewhat more frequent profanity, even from the once clean-mouthed Captain America. And of course, as with any time travel story, there are plot holes, tons and tons of plot holes, some of which open up the potential for a multiverse of alternate time lines, some that feel like the characters didn’t think things through, and some that are likely meant to fuel fan theories and made me say, “Now, this only works if such and such actually happened.” (Oh, I wish I didn’t have to hold back, but maybe that’s for another post. Though, there are plenty of YouTube videos with such theories too.)

Even with these negatives, even if one of my friends referred to it as “a big glorious mess,” Avengers: Endgame is everything you could want in a big superhero finale, allowing for future storylines but tying up others in a climactic and usually satisfying way. It’s already broken box office records left and right, and after it recently passed Titanic for overall gross, I’m rooting for it to surpass Avatar too. This deserves to be the highest-grossing film of all time, and if Avatar and Black Panther can do it, I’d like to see it earn a Best Picture nomination too. Perhaps it will be a Return of the King situation where the finale gets the real reward. Even if it doesn’t, though, I can tell that Endgame was made by Marvel fans and for Marvel fans; the worst part is that it’s hard to imagine Marvel’s future offerings ever matching the new high bar it has set.

Best funny line: (Tony Stark, to Rocket Raccoon) “Honestly, at this exact second, I thought you were a Build-a-Bear.”   (Rocket) “Maybe I am.”

Best serious line:  (Tony) “No amount of money ever bought a second of time.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining Infinity War)

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
630 Followers and Counting

 

NaPoWriMo 2019 Recap

Tags

Lists

Well, April is over, and National Poetry Writing Month is done with it. It was once again a fun challenge writing a poem and review every day of the month, and NaPoWriMo went by way faster than I thought it would. I was prepared to possibly miss a day, and now I’m looking back and wondering how I kept up!

A big thank you to everyone who read, liked, commented, and encouraged me along the way! You all made it that much more enjoyable!  Below is a recap of all the films reviewed throughout last month, in case anyone missed a day. Back now to business as usual, until next May rolls around!

 

April 1 – Please Stand By (2018)  –  List-Worthy

April 2 – Duel (1971)  –  Honorable Mention

April 3 – Bel Canto (2018)  –  Honorable Mention

April 4 – Beautiful Boy (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 5 – Into the Woods (2014)  –  Dishonorable Mention

April 6 – Snowpiercer (2013)  –  Honorable Mention

April 7 – Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)  –  Honorable Mention

April 8 – The Commuter (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 9 – Dancer in the Dark (2000)  –  List-Worthy

April 10 – Leave No Trace (2018)  –  Honorable Mention

April 11 – The Endless (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 12 – Psycho 2 (1983)  –  Honorable Mention

April 13 – Annihilation (2018)  –  Dishonorable Mention

April 14 – Isle of Dogs (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 15 – A Few Good Men (1992)  –  List-Worthy

April 16 – Game Night (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 17 – I Am Dragon (2015)  –  List Runner-Up

April 18 – Chicken with Plums (2011)  –  Honorable Mention  (personal best poem written)

April 19 – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 20 – Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)  –  Honorable Mention

April 21 – Unplanned (2019)  –  List Runner-Up

April 22 – The Magnificent Seven Comparison (1960, 2016)  –  List-Worthy

April 23 – Pitch Black (2000)  –  List Runner-Up

April 24 – I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story (2019)  –  List Runner-Up

April 25 – Smokey and the Bandit (1977)  –  List Runner-Up

April 26 – Murder on the Orient Express (2017)  –  List Runner-Up

April 27 – Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)  –  List-Worthy  (favorite movie watched this month)

April 28 – Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (2018)  –  List Runner-Up

April 29 – Alita: Battle Angel (2019) / Gunnm (1993) Comparison  –  List Runner-Up

April 30 – Odd Thomas (2013)  –  List Runner-Up  (most popular/liked post)