Aladdin (2019)

Tags

Action, Disney, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

There once was a popular tale
That viewers would watch without fail.
So Disney said, “Wait,
Let’s remake and update
A classic that never was stale.”
Despite the naysayers
And unanswered prayers,
That’s just what they did for resale.
And we, the civilians,
Still offered them billions
And all the support they entail.
__________________________

MPAA rating: PG

Like so many others, I rolled my eyes when I heard Disney was continuing their trend of recycling their animated hits into live-action by setting their sights on 1992’s Aladdin. Even so, I thought Aladdin at least had plenty of additional story material in the 1001 Arabian Nights to draw from, so it could potentially be not terrible. Even the Internet freakout over Will Smith’s blue CGI genie didn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. (I swear, people judge movie effects far too quickly, whether it’s Alita’s eyes or photorealistic Pokemon, and usually it turns out fine once you get used to it.) So despite Disney’s so-so track record with these films, I guess I was optimistic but not exactly excited about another Aladdin, and now that I’ve seen it, my opinion hasn’t changed much.

The biggest weakness of these live-action remakes is that they repeatedly tread the same ground, replicating entire scenes and musical numbers that were already perfect in the original and cannot help but pale in comparison. It’s why I despised 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, yet Aladdin somehow seems more forgivable and entertaining, even if it does suffer from the same fault. I think the actors help immensely in this regard: Mena Massoud is a spot-on charming Aladdin, sporting great chemistry with Naomi Scott’s equally well cast Jasmine, who now champions some non-subtle feminism. And while Will Smith as Genie is no Robin Williams, he isn’t really trying to be, instead replacing some of the frenetic jokes with more of a hip-hop swagger. Plus, he even gets his own love interest in Jasmine’s handmaid, a welcome addition played by SNL’s Nasim Pedrad.

Director Guy Ritchie doesn’t really bring much of his unique action style to the proceedings, but it’s all still competent, fast-paced, colorful, and just different enough from the original to make you say, “Hey, why didn’t Jafar fool Aladdin by dressing up as a little old crazy man?!” Honestly, Jafar is the main weak point. Marwan Kenzari does fine with the role, playing him with more of an inferiority complex, but he’s missing so many aspects that made Jafar an iconic villain – Jonathan Freeman’s deep voice, the imposing stature, the goatee – and Iago and the snake staff don’t make up the difference to make him particularly memorable. The musical numbers are similarly not quite as vibrant as their animated counterparts (although the effects team did better with “Friend Like Me” than I was expecting), and Jasmine’s added girl power anthem is lovely but awkwardly placed as far as pacing.

It’s hard to judge these movies on their own merits since it’s hard not to compare them to the original, but if the original Aladdin didn’t exist, I think this one would be an amazing and innovative family film. As it is, it’s a pretty entertaining if uninspired family film with a laudable message, which still isn’t a bad thing these days. It’s at least not the kind of remake that does a disservice to the original, and since Disney insists on making more and more of these, that might be the best case scenario.

Best line: (Jafar) “Steal an apple, and you’re a thief. Steal a kingdom, and you’re a statesman.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
653 Followers and Counting

And a very Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Tags

Comedy, Drama, War

Prejudice is a peculiar emotion,
The product of bitterness, pain, or devotion.
No one is born with it right from the start,
And no one desires it deep in their heart.

And yet it takes hold and is likely to grow
Through dubious facts people think that they know:
A rumor that no one can track to its source,
An outrage that should have long since run its course,
A fact or a fiction passed on by those who
Just don’t care enough to find out if it’s true.

It’s no surprise then, in this world of pretense,
That people believe things that strain common sense.
And once it digs deep, ‘tis not easy to loose,
For bias breeds bias in search of excuse.

Don’t think it’s impossible, though, to break free
Of such silly cycles that plague history.
It takes a rare person, both brave and sincere,
To listen to someone they don’t want to hear.
__________________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I was skeptical when I first saw the trailer for Taika Waititi’s latest film Jojo Rabbit, what with its jokey Nazi satire. Waititi’s humor has been hit-and-miss for me with films like Thor: Ragnarok, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. Luckily, I’m pleased to report that Jojo Rabbit is easily my new favorite of his movies, a triple threat of humor, heart, and pathos that didn’t disappoint at all.

Set in the latter days of World War II, Jojo Rabbit follows young Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), a devoted young boy who is excited to go to a Nazi youth training camp, with the encouragement of his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler (Waititi himself). After an accident, Jojo is forced to stick close to home, where he discovers that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding a teenage Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie of Leave No Trace) in their house, prompting him to reconsider his preconceived prejudices.

It may sound like a cliché, but this movie is one of those rare full-package films: you’ll laugh, you’ll feel your heart break, you’ll hold your breath at tense moments. The amazing thing is that there are scenes where all three happen in quick succession. Waititi’s sense of humor can be an acquired taste, but here he brilliantly plays up the absurdity of Nazism, from the blind loyalty to the exaggerated picture of Jews promoted by Jojo’s training officers (including Sam Rockwell as a washed-up soldier and Rebel Wilson as a gung-ho instructor). He even manages to make the repeated use of “Heil Hitler” increasingly hilarious.

Yet, unlike the similar irreverence of The Producers, the comedy isn’t just for shock value laughs, instead being accompanied by some surprisingly profound statements challenging how Jojo sees the world, Jews, and himself. Young Davis does a wonderful job as Jojo, both as a naïve Nazi boy scout and a more world-weary doubter later on, and McKenzie brings a ferocious defiance to Elsa, bitter to the cruel world and far from the shrinking victim she could have been. Likewise, Johansson exudes warmth and good humor in her maternal role, and she finally gets to hit Sam Rockwell, where she never got the chance in Iron Man 2. And as for Waititi, he really hams it up as the imaginary Hitler, acting as Jojo’s friendly shoulder devil as the boy deals with Elsa and bristling at the wavering of Jojo’s loyalty.

It’s not often I say this, but Jojo Rabbit really felt to me like an instant classic, a perfect blend of irreverent tragicomedy that confidently overcomes its own weirdness to be both memorably entertaining and affecting. I loved the bright, meticulous set design, sometimes reminding me of a less pedantic Wes Anderson movie, and a spinning tracking shot over time echoed a similarly impressive scene from Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The film’s main fault for me was some unnecessary profanity, but otherwise, it’s definitely one of the best movies I’ve seen this year and further cements Taika Waititi as a filmmaker of unique vision, which just happens to include Hitler eating a unicorn.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
653 Followers and Counting

 

2019 Blindspot Pick #10: Mr. Nobody (2009)

Tags

Drama, Romance, Sci-fi

This poem is a couplet, a two-liner rhyme,
For readers and poets who haven’t much time.

Or rather it could have been, if I’d decided,
But maybe I’ll make it a villanelle instead.
Which bears repetition by which it is guided.

You ask who would make such a change? Answer: I did.
So this is a villanelle now, as you’ve read,
Or rather it could have been, if I’d decided.

Let’s not be verbose.
A haiku might be better
To save syllables.

But then again, a sonnet I’d allow.
For fourteen lines in length would be provided
If only I would end this poem right now.

So what kind of poem was this one?
All four that I’ve named, or else none?
You can only decide
Once you’ve finished and tried
Looking backward when all’s said and done.
________________________

MPAA rating: R (mostly for sensuality and 2 F-words, seemed closer to a PG-13)

Well, this movie was a trip. I’ve been curious about Mr. Nobody for a while now, based on what I’d read about its unusual nonlinear story, and I can confirm it’s certainly unique. On one level, it’s a mind-bending, provocative tale of the potential directions life can take, which is exactly the kind of story I love, but it also is a bit too abstract for its own good.

The title character is Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto), a man born in 1975 who ends up living till 2094 as the oldest and last mortal in a world that has achieved quasi-immortality through science. Plagued by memory loss, he is interviewed on his deathbed by a tattooed psychiatrist (Allan Corduner) and a journalist (Daniel Mays), both of whom are perplexed by the unusually disparate histories he recounts, lives that split at major crossroads in his life, particularly a train station when he had to choose which divorcing parent to stay with at the age of nine.

To call Mr. Nobody peculiar is an understatement; it’s a full-blown experimental film. It’s amazing to me that such a film was made at all, and even more amazing that it was made three years before Cloud Atlas, which is the closest film I can compare it to in terms of cosmic ambition and madcap editing. Due to Nemo’s ability to see possible futures, it swings back and forth between Nemo’s potential lives: the three women he could marry, the jobs he could have taken, the mistakes and accidents he endures or avoids. Also interspersed are more fantastical detours, such as a future journey to Mars that doubles as a story written by a teenage Nemo and a surreal argyle-themed dream world that may or may not be part of Nemo’s subconscious.

Sometimes, these various storylines seem designed to confuse: The beginning shows bits and pieces of all the timelines in quick succession, like a sneak peek that leads to moments of revelation but is bewildering in the moment. In other cases, it gives a particular story more time to develop emotions, such as a romance between a teenage Nemo (Toby Regbo) and his stepsister Anna (Juno Temple; Diane Kruger as an adult) or the mental illness of one of Nemo’s other wives (Sarah Polley). Most of these timelines end in tragedy, yet others retain a sense of hope that one of Nemo’s decisions could lead to happiness.

At a certain point, the journalist interviewing the 118-year-old Nemo asks what the truth is, since not all of these lives could have happened, and Mr. Nobody’s answer extols the endlessness of possibility without providing a real answer. In that vein, one of Nemo’s professions is as the host of a TV science show, which allows him to ask big cosmic what-if questions that some might consider deep but ultimately boil down to “No one knows,” to the point that they’re almost meaningless, which may excite philosophers but can be frustrating to viewers who desire concrete answers. Plus, there’s uncertainty about whether some timelines are “real” at all, like the Mars mission that doesn’t always seem like something Nemo made up. Likewise, the ending is a strange mix of long-awaited satisfaction, pseudo-science that I at least didn’t fully understand, and a sweet conclusion undercut by a lack of context.

So, while Mr. Nobody frustrated me more, I suppose my final opinion is the same as for Cloud Atlas: a magnificent mess that individual viewers must decide whether it’s a masterpiece or a trainwreck. It certainly never fails to enchant visually, particularly several sequences that depict the butterfly effect (reminding me of similar scenes in Ink and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and the special effects, cinematography, and Pierre Van Dormael’s score are exceptional. At times, it seems to borrow individual motifs from the likes of Forrest Gump, When Harry Met Sally…, and Harold and Maude, yet all of the ingredients come together to form something wholly distinctive and idiosyncratic, for good or ill. It’s a film like no other, featuring Jared Leto’s best performance I’ve seen and individual scenes I loved, and, though its complexity and length will not be for everyone, it’s an experiment worth experiencing.

Best line: (Nemo Nobody) “At my age the candles cost more than the cake. I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid I haven’t been alive enough. It should be written on every school room blackboard: Life is a playground… or nothing.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
652 Followers and Counting

 

Glass (2019)

Tags

Drama, Mystery, Superhero, Thriller

We live in a world in which evil and good
Are warring in hopes that each be understood.

The good share a dream in which righteousness reigns,
Dispelling all ignorance, chaos, and chains,
And could be considered one-note or naïve
In hoping for changes no man can achieve.

But evil, for lack of a worthier word,
Is interesting in how it seeks to be heard.
It pleads its own case, it redirects blame,
It covers its face, it covets more fame,
It craves vindication, it bristles at scorn,
It scatters temptation, it toots its own horn,
It seeks self-redemption and curses regrets,
It wants an exemption that no one else gets.

It does entertain, but does it satisfy?
The good know the answer, and Goodness knows why.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I feel like Unbreakable has grown in reputation over the years. Its unconventional take on the superhero genre predated the majority of big-budget comic book films, and the decline in M. Night Shyamalan’s output quality afterward made its excellence stand out even more. Naturally, it was a surprise when 2017’s Split made a post-credits revelation that it was set in the same universe, prompting speculation on what the inevitable third film would do to bring the characters together. Now that Glass has finally answered that question, I doubt I’m the only one thinking that we might have been better off not knowing.

Now nineteen years after the events of Unbreakable and three weeks after the events of Split, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) has become an experienced vigilante called the Overseer with the help of his son (Spencer Treat Clark) and sets his sights on Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), whose murderous Horde personalities are running amok. However, both David and Kevin are soon captured and imprisoned in a mental hospital, alongside Elijah Price/Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), where psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) seeks to convince them their superhero/villain abilities are merely figments of their imagination.

I wanted to like Glass, and in some ways, I did. Like Unbreakable, it’s a rare slow-burn superhero film, where the action is infrequent but scrappy, and the psychological questions raised are given just as much time (or more) than the plot. I certainly can’t fault the performances, particularly Jackson and McAvoy. The former lets Mr. Glass’s cunning bubble under the surface for most of the film and later revels in his mastermind status, while the latter continues the bravura flurry of performances that made Split such a showcase of acting skill. Paulson also does well in making her psychiatrist a seemingly sympathetic mystery, with intentions you can’t help but suspect.

Some might complain that Glass takes too long to get to the showdown to which it is clearly building up, but that’s not the extent of the film’s problems, which also include the outcome of said showdown. Of course, Shyamalan has to pull out a last-minute twist to subvert expectations, but, despite some intriguing implications, it’s far from a satisfying one. Bruce Willis may have the least charismatic character, but his David Dunn, in particular, deserved so much better than this film. With time to think about the ending, I’ve come to appreciate its attempt at refocusing the narrative on side characters, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

So, I suppose you could say that Shyamalan strikes again. It’s neither his best nor his worst movie, but it’s the least of this comic-themed trilogy and had so much potential to be more. It’s still very well-produced and directed and worth watching for Jackson and McAvoy’s performances, but it only works as a where-are-they-now story (I liked the continuity of Shyamalan’s cameos), not so much as a conclusion. The next time I watch Unbreakable and Split, I might just pretend they’re stand-alone films.

Best line: (Glass) “There are unknown forces that don’t want us to realize what we are truly capable of. They don’t want us to know the things we suspect are extraordinary about ourselves are real. I believe that if everyone sees what just a few people become when they wholly embrace their gifts, others will awaken. Belief in oneself is contagious. We give each other permission to be superheroes.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention (on the edge of Dishonorable)

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
652 Followers and Counting

 

My Top Twelve Movie Villains of the 21st Century

Tags

Lists

During the early 2000s, I loved the 100 Years… series of movie lists released by the American Film Institute, counting down film’s top Laughs, Thrills, Passions, and such. They served as a great introduction to the cinematic highs of various genres, some of which I knew and others I got to experience vicariously for the first time. It’s really a shame that they stopped after 2008; I would have at least liked another ten-year update of the Top 100 Movies list.

Yet one list seemed like it could particularly use an update. In 2003, the AFI counted down the top 50 heroes and top 50 villains, and I couldn’t help but notice that the only villain from the 21^st century was Denzel Washington’s crooked cop in Training Day at #50. Over the last 19 years, though, there have been plenty of other villainous characters that I think could have earned placement on that villain list. Therefore, I thought I’d do my own updated villain countdown for the current century, leaving heroes for another time.

I’m not necessarily in favor of celebrating evil, but a memorable villain can make a good movie great and a bad movie watchable. One villain I do think should be on the list is Mr. Smith from The Matrix series, but he’s technically ineligible since the first film was released in 1999. And sidenote: I’m ignoring TV, as much as I’d like to include Ben from Lost, Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, or Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Thus, with consideration for how iconic each has become, here are my own picks for the top villains of the 21^st century:

 

12. Mr. Glass from Unbreakable/Glass

Unbreakable was an unconventional superhero movie, and true to M. Night Shyamalan form, its villain proved to be a surprise. Samuel L. Jackson’s brittle-boned antagonist seemed so harmless at first, yet his role as a mastermind and the unhealthiness of his comic book fascination became clear by the end. I laughed during a recent rewatch of Parks and Recreation where they ask what Mr. Glass is up to and “Why no sequel?” Of course, we did get one this past year, with mixed results, but the “strength” of the character remains.

 

11. President Snow from The Hunger Games series

A mere vaguely threatening presence in the first Hunger Games film, President Snow proved just how ruthless and dastardly he was in the next three. From blackmailing Katniss to ordering the deaths of countless citizens, he became an increasingly dangerous mastermind, and Donald Sutherland played him with an icy pragmatism right up to the very end.

 

10. Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2

I think it’s telling that of the original Spider-Man trilogy villains, only Doc Ock hasn’t had some kind of “reboot” in the Spider-Man films since. (Well, at least in live-action; Into the Spider-Verse went a little different with its version.) I think that’s because of how perfectly Alfred Molina became the character, brought to life with an awesome mix of CGI and puppetry. Uniquely sympathetic due to his Jekyll-and-Hyde complex with his robotic arms, he remains one of the franchise’s best villains.

 

9. The Babadook from The Babadook

Few horror films have genuinely scared me like The Babadook, thanks largely to its titular creature. This Australian scarefest features a picture book that described the top-hatted terror in detail, letting people’s fear and suspicion make it real and inescapable. As movie monsters go, it’s definitely up there with the most chilling, even more so due to what it represents psychologically.

 

8. Voldemort from the Harry Potter series

Granted, I haven’t seen any of the Harry Potter films, but the reputation of Ralph Fiennes’ Voldemort precedes him. The very name of He Who Must Not Be Named has become synonymous with villainy, so even if I only know him by cultural presence, the significance of that presence deserves placement on any list of cinematic villains.

 

7. Captain Barbossa from The Pirates of the Caribbean series

I had considered putting Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones on the list, but in the end, Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa won out. With his smarmy dealing and sneering delivery, he’s just the perfect pirate antagonist, whether as a skeleton or less-than-trustworthy ally, and Rush always looks like he’s having a blast. Plus, he’s got one of the best surprise entrances in movie history.

 

6. Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds

Another film I haven’t actually seen all of, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds nonetheless delivered a villain for the ages in Christoph Waltz’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Hans Landa, the wicked Nazi “Jew Hunter.” Able to shift easily from casual courtesy to racist murder, he’s a true psychopath, and his opening scene alone was enough to convince me of his placement here.

 

5. Magneto from the X-Men franchise

As far as which version of the character, take your pick. Whether played by Ian McKellen or Michael Fassbender, Magneto is the ideal archrival to Charles Xavier, bitter enough about his traumatic past to hate all non-mutants. He’s suffered so much that you can’t help but sympathize with him, even as he uses his power over metal to cause havoc. Plus, he’s not too different from Charles in his end goals; he’s just far more ruthless in his means of achieving them.

 

4. Pennywise from It and It Chapter Two

I still haven’t gotten around to watching the latest version of Stephen King’s It, but I must give props to Bill Skarsgård for helping this incarnation of Pennywise the Dancing Clown rival the great Tim Curry’s. His frightening painted face has become an instant icon of scary clowns (just look at the Halloween costumes), so that makes him the most recent entry on the list.

 

3. Joker from The Dark Knight

“Why so serious?” Speaking of clowns, we mustn’t forget the other Oscar-winning villain role on this list. You’re welcome to include Joaquin Phoenix’s most recent version of the Joker here, but I have Heath Ledger in mind. I can’t help but wonder if the darkness required to personify the Joker contributed to his death, but he certainly made the role his own and, in effect, his legacy. Edgy and grimy to match the underworld of Gotham, his Joker is a compulsive liar and a true criminal mastermind, a man whose goal is simply, in the words of Michael Caine’s Alfred, “to watch the world burn.”

 

2. Sauron – The Lord of the Rings films

Few villainous images are as iconic as the Eye of Sauron. Watching from atop the tower of Barad-dûr, it’s an all-watching representation of evil, especially the evil of the One Ring, the source and reason for Frodo’s quest across Middle-earth. I could easily have sided with Saruman, the Ringwraiths, or Gollum as well, but Sauron is the big bad to end all fantasy big bads.

 

1. Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame

Yet when it comes to big bads, who can question Thanos, the final boss of 20+ films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? No other villain has achieved his goals as successfully as did Thanos in Infinity War, and it has to be a new height in villainy to wipe out half of all life in the universe. Marvel has often been criticized for its weak villains, but Thanos blew them all away (literally) and may well be the best villain of the new millennium.

 

And here are some other contenders that could deserve placement on a list of 21^st-century villains, a list of nefarious runners-up, so to speak:

 

Loki – Thor, The Avengers, etc.

Red Skull – Captain America: The First Avenger

Ultron – Avengers: Age of Ultron

Killmonger – Black Panther

Severus Snape – Harry Potter series

Syndrome – The Incredibles

Davy Jones – The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3

The White Witch – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

No-Face – Spirited Away

The Green Goblin – Spider-Man

Other Mother – Coraline

Eris – Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Kylo Ren – Star Wars: Episodes VII-IX

The Armitage Family – Get Out

Daniel Plainview – There Will Be Blood

Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) – Star Trek into Darkness

Raoul Silva – Skyfall

Owen Davian – Mission: Impossible III

Solomon Lane – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout

Bane – The Dark Knight Rises

Smaug – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Immortan Joe – Mad Max: Fury Road

Annabelle / The Nun – The Conjuring franchise

David – Prometheus and Alien: Covenant

Anton Chigurh – No Country for Old Men

Patrick Bateman – American Psycho

Jigsaw – Saw franchise

Kevin Wendell Crumb – Split and Glass

Wilson Fisk/Kingpin – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

 

So do you agree? What cinematic villains would you suggest are worthy of such a list? I’d love to know what you think!