Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Tags

Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-fi

A long time ago, in a galaxy far,
A popular story began
Of sand-covered planets and creatures bizarre,
And ships that can travel from star unto star,
Of heroes and scoundrels who meet in a bar,
Of princesses, sages, and even Jar Jar,
And rebels who battle the way that things are.
Of such stories, I am a fan.

Yet stories must finish to make room for more.
All tales, great and small, say good-bye.
They thrill us with action and romance and war;
They shock and amaze with sights not seen before;
They spark controversy and trigger uproar;
They grant us new worlds with their mythos and lore
That lovers and haters alike can explore.
Their endings do not mean they die.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

At long last! I had wanted to post this review before the New Year, but instead it gets to be my first review of 2020. Star Wars fans everywhere were eagerly anticipating the final installment in the Skywalker Saga, and the return of J.J. Abrams as director reassured many that it would be ended by a sure hand. Yet I was one of the few who really enjoyed Rian Johnson’s work on The Last Jedi and was hopeful that Abrams wouldn’t retcon it just because some fans were dissatisfied. Thus, I approached The Rise of Skywalker with hopeful but mixed feelings, and I walked away with satisfaction that has yielded somewhat to similarly mixed feelings.

Since it was no secret in the trailers, posters, or the film’s opening crawl, I don’t mind revealing that Emperor Palpatine has returned. (Collective non-gasp!) With Supreme Leader Snoke dead and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) still wavering in his villainy, they had to bring back the original Big Bad, no matter how unlikely his survival seemed at the end of Return of the Jedi. Faced with an evil armada, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) team up for the first time to track down a Sith planet and stop the un-dead Emperor.

The Rise of Skywalker is an unusual beast. I thoroughly enjoyed it in the theater and left satisfied, yet I knew then that I still liked The Last Jedi better. This latest film is an exercise in all things Star Wars – alien critters, good-at-heart criminals, explosive action, the redemption of bloodlines – all things I love, yet it also felt safe in a way The Last Jedi didn’t, with fewer laughs and impactful moments too. Not that I minded any of this while watching it, but as the Internet has since pointed out its flaws to me, somehow they annoy me more here than all the complaints over The Last Jedi did, perhaps because the previous film had the hope of a sequel making sense of things while this bears the weight of being a grand finale.

I think J.J. Abrams was the right person for this job, but it sometimes felt like he was trying to “redeem” the previous film, for instance sidelining Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) almost completely. It was interesting, though, how it doubled down on the “new” things the Force was capable of; if you didn’t like that aspect of The Last Jedi, watch out. With Abrams at the helm, there’s much to appeal to fans, but every time something unexpected happens, it’s walked back to prevent offending those fans too much, you know, like that last movie. I am one of those fans, so I’m not sure if I should be relieved or bothered at being patronized like this. (However, Lost alert! I did appreciate a certain cameo from my favorite show.)

Boy, I sound like all those whiners over The Last Jedi. Yet unlike them, I can still say it was a great movie, warts and all, and a worthy conclusion to the Skywalker Saga. All the actors are in fine form, with the original cast (Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, etc.) provided a fitting send-off for their characters, including the late Carrie Fisher. It’s easily the messiest of the new trilogy, raising questions that are never answered and wearing its plot holes on its sleeve, and the storyline is all over the place. At one point, the main characters are searching for an object that has a clue to locate another object that will help them find a planet, yet the brisk pace and chemistry among the actors always sustain the fun of a good space adventure. There’s just something about Star Wars. It’s what made people turn out in droves for this movie despite the public disappointment in the previous one.

I suppose the main problem with The Rise of Skywalker for me is how it changes the arc of the series as a whole, due to the return of the Emperor. The first two trilogies were about the fall and rise of Anakin Skywalker, but this trilogy makes it all seem more like the rise and fall of Palpatine. Perhaps that’s not so bad, but I doubt it’s what George Lucas had in mind. Even so, The Rise of Skywalker caps off an uneven but still thoroughly entertaining chapter of the Star Wars story, with impressive visuals and rousing action. Despite my gripes, I stand by my assertion that there has never been a Star Wars movie I haven’t enjoyed. Now we just need to wait twenty years or so for a new trilogy with an older Rey training a new generation of Jedi to fight another evil empire. In the meantime, may the Force be with you.

Best line: (Zorii Bliss, played by a masked Keri Russell) “That’s how they win… by making you think you’re alone.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi in my Top 100)

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
659 Followers and Counting

 

2019 Blindspot Pick #12: Twenty Bucks (1993)

Tags

Drama, Meet 'em and Move on

The money that rolls from the printers of mints
Is not unlike people who leave fingerprints.
Each purchase takes part in a life barely known;
Each bill changing hands is a seed that is sown,
And what will grow from it, for good or for ill,
Depends on the spender, as always it will.
_____________________

MPAA rating: R (for language and an extended scene of nudity)

Despite repeatedly falling behind on my Blindspot list this year, I am officially caught up and finishing right on time! I don’t know how Twenty Bucks ended up being the last movie to watch, since I’ve had a curiosity about it for some time. As many of you might know, I’m quite partial to what I call Meet-‘Em-And-Move-On films, where we follow one person as others float in and out of their life (think Forrest Gump and Mr. Holland’s Opus). Twenty Bucks is exactly that kind of movie I so enjoy, with the difference of following an object, a $20 bill that is passed around through various people’s stories.

There is no one main plot, but certain individuals matter more than others based on time spent with them and whether they pop up again later, including Brendan Fraser as an engaged man with poor judgment, Elizabeth Shue as an aspiring writer, Linda Hunt as a homeless lady desperate for a lotto ticket, and Christopher Lloyd and Steve Buscemi as a pair of small-time convenience store crooks. There’s a fun sense of chance, irony, and serendipity as the bill changes hands and incurs increasing damage from the surprisingly large and recognizable ensemble, which also includes Gladys Knight, William H. Macy, Matt Frewer, and David Schwimmer, all of whom do well with their limited screen time, especially Lloyd as a cool and professional criminal.

I must admit that, when it was over, I wasn’t instantly in love with Twenty Bucks. The circuitous plot and some characters’ strange decisions kept me appreciating the film at a distance, which wasn’t helped by an explicit and far too long nude scene. Given a couple days’ retrospect, though, my regard for the film has grown. At times, it wasn’t always clear how the stories would intersect or how the $20 bill would connect them, but that only served to hold my interest, and some of the connections weren’t made clear to me until the credits rolled. My natural appreciation for the genre has strengthened my fondness for this particular entry, and I liked how each story served as an example of what money could mean to different people: something to ruin relationships, something to threaten or kill for, something to pass on to your children, something to pin all your hopes and dreams on, and so forth.

As described in a behind-the-scenes featurette I saw, the screenplay for Twenty Bucks apparently originated from writer Leslie Bohem’s father, who penned a version of it back in 1935, and this film was an effort to resurrect this kind of follow-the-object movie that had been popular back then. (I’ll have to check out some of those ‘30s films that I’d never heard about before.) It does make me wonder what this movie might have looked like if it were filmed at that time, minus the objectionable elements, but Twenty Bucks still proved to be a largely enjoyable incarnation of my favorite sub-genre and a good cap-off to this year’s Blindspot selections. It doesn’t match The Red Violin, which is still my favorite follow-the-object film I’ve seen, but it makes me wish more such movies would be made.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
656 Followers and Counting

 

Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Musical

When the world is collapsing, the nation on edge,
The whole of society out on a ledge,
The sky close to falling, disease at a high,
And dead people don’t even know when to die,
It only makes sense that, when fear’s on the rise,
The level heads left of us prioritize.

Sure, some go for water, and some hunt for food,
And some say we just need the right attitude,
But while these survivalists weigh their concerns
And plan for the worst to diminish returns,
A few must step up to remind all the rest
Of one thing emergencies need when distressed.

MUSIC! That’s right. It’s so often neglected,
But soundtracks do wonders for those not infected.
When life’s at a low, just compose your own cure
And let a good melody help you endure.
Just sing your heart out, out of range of the ghouls,
For songs are survival’s most critical tools.
______________________

MPAA rating: R

What a weird, catchy, sad, gruesome, delightful movie! I’m sure it was an interesting pitch when someone first described the plot of Anna and the Apocalypse, a Christmas musical zombie film that manages to nail all three aspects of its split personality. I normally shy away from zombie movies, but the prospect of an original musical convinced me to give this unique mish-mash a try.

Due to my aversion to gore, I’m always very wary of the zombie genre, yet I know it can be done exceptionally well (Train to Busan and Gakkou Gurashi are two prime examples), so I wanted to give Anna and the Apocalypse a chance. Unsurprisingly, it had the inventive undead bloodshed so common to the genre and so off-putting to me, yet I must admit I loved just about everything else about this British experiment.

It starts out so innocent with its high school setting and teenage misfits and then veers into zombie action and some surprisingly touching moments by the end. And through it all is the magic of song and dance, at first fitting in a High School Musical sort of way and later used as an ironic contrast to the zombie apocalypse. And the music, courtesy of Scottish artists Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, is actually darn good! I wouldn’t have been surprised if it came from a Broadway musical or showed up on the radio, yet the fact that it’s all original gives me pure delight.

Putting aside the feeling that I’ve seen versions of all of these characters in other movies many times before, the entire cast of mostly unknowns give their all, instilling a fresh and likable energy to their roles. Ella Hunt is especially good as the wistful Anna, whose zombie-killing weapon of choice is a giant candy cane, and Paul Kaye is a downright ham as the school’s power-mad vice principal. Despite the initial poking fun at how juvenile high-schoolers might actually react to zombies, the whole cast later prove their acting chops as things get more dire. And while dire is to be expected from a movie with Apocalypse in the title, it also sadly saps some of the earlier fun away. Not everyone I wanted to live does, and the half-hopeful ending can’t disguise the inescapable bleakness that almost always accompanies a zombie outbreak. One of the songs even says, “There’s no such thing as a Hollywood ending.”

So Anna and the Apocalypse left me with a strange mix of admiration and indecision. The musical numbers are a blast, and, while I wish I could say I loved every minute of it, I enjoyed far more minutes of it than I ever thought I would in a zombie film. Every actor is on point, and the audacity of its holiday spirit deserves appreciation, especially when it’s this darn likable. Yet it also earns its R rating with the blood-splattering violence and didn’t leave me with the smile I wore through much of it. Thus, I’m pulling out a ranking I’ve only used once: the Semi-Dishonorable List Runner-Up, which sums up my mixed feelings. I hesitate to recommend it, but if the gore and mixed tone don’t bother you, absolutely seek out this ebullient gem. Minus the violence, it would easily be List-Worthy for me. It will no doubt end up as a cult classic addition to the Christmas horror catalog, among which it certainly has the best soundtrack.Best line: (Mr. Savage, after Lisa asks about her boyfriend’s sick grandmother) “Look around you, Miss Snow. What do you see?”
(Lisa, Anna’s friend) “Um…tables?”
(Mr. Savage) “I see civilization on the edge. And what does civilization do when it finds itself on the edge?”
(Lisa) “We help each other?”
(Mr. Savage) “We prioritize.”

 

Rank: Semi-Dishonorable List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
656 Followers and Counting

 

Teen Spirit (2018)

Tags

Drama, Musical

We all have a dream at some age
And wait for our turn on the stage.
Dreams shy and untrained
Will remain unattained,
But risk and result turn the page.
____________________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

The Fanning sisters are quite the talented pair. Earlier this year, I was an advocate for Dakota Fanning’s Star Trek-themed Please Stand By, and I’ve been awaiting Elle Fanning’s musical drama Teen Spirit since I posted My Top Twelve 2018 Movies I Hope Are Good nearly two years ago. Teen Spirit is essentially Rocky but with a teenage girl and a singing competition. That’s the easiest way to describe it, yet it fills its familiar mold with catchy pop favorites and earnest performances and ends up being better than the sum of its parts.

Violet Valenski (Fanning) is a British girl of Polish descent whose bucolic life on the Isle of Wight offers her little future, but when the televised competition Teen Spirit comes to town looking for contestants, she finds her chance for success, with the help of washed-up former opera star Vlad (Zlatko Buric). Fanning’s performance is subdued, as if she expects nothing from the world, and joy and frustration are keenly felt when success or its opposite come her way. Her relationship with Vlad is an added source of heart as well, Vlad growing into a father figure and seeing her as a chance to contribute to someone else’s dreams, despite his flaws sabotaging his own. (She didn’t have much to do, but it was nice also to see Clara Rugaard, who was so good in this year’s I Am Mother.)

The best part and main draw for me, though, is the music, much of it performed by the talented Fanning herself, making me think it’s only a matter of time before she tries her hand at a solo album. The soundtrack is mostly pop staples, joined by some less widely known songs, including “Dancing on My Own” by Robyn, “Genesis” by Grimes, “Lights” by Ellie Goulding, and a stellar version of Sigrid’s “Don’t Kill My Vibe.” I can’t help but feel that Teen Spirit will serve as something of a time capsule film for the decade’s pop music, the way ‘80s films like Purple Rain and Footloose were.

As I said, there’s little in the plot that hasn’t been seen many times over, from the smile-worthy underdog story to the dangers of celebrity when Violet reaches her potential fifteen minutes of fame. Yet, despite an occasionally slow pace, it’s an example of a tried and true formula proving its feel-good value, and, while this particular film isn’t an awards magnet, it’s a sign that, between this and Please Stand By, it’s only a matter of time before one of the Fanning sisters ends up with an Oscar.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
656 Followers and Counting

 

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Tags

Drama, Thriller, War

Another morn, another day,
Another chance I’ll pass away
With sudden boom or bullet swift.
Another day, another shift.
I should be scared; indeed I am,
But danger doesn’t give a damn.
I still have work for others’ sake
That fools and heroes undertake,
And if I die before it’s done,
I pray the Lord will say we won.
___________________

MPAA rating: R (for much language and violence)

The Best Picture race for 2009 had some stiff competition, especially since it was the first year the Academy switched from having 5 nominees to 10. Granted, I haven’t seen most of them yet – it was only ten years ago; give me more time! – but I was still curious to see the ultimate winner, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. Sure, it was satisfying when she beat her own husband James Cameron’s juggernaut Avatar, becoming the first female director to win Best Picture, but as it turns out, The Hurt Locker is a solid war film that thrives on tension and committed performances from Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie.

Most of the war films I’ve seen have been set during World War II or the Civil War, so, for me, this was a new foray into modern cinematic warfare, specifically the high-tension job of an American bomb squad in the Iraq War. After a nerve-racking opening scene that demonstrates how dangerous the job can be, we’re introduced to Sergeant First Class William James (Renner), who is placed in charge of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit. It doesn’t take long, though, for his fellow soldiers (Mackie and Brian Geraghty) to realize that their new team leader is on the unconventional side, disregarding safety precautions and sometimes acting like he has a death wish.

The plot is rather episodic, as captions count down the number of days left in their tour of duty. Each instance of tense bomb hunting or sudden combat adds to the tone of danger, while having more impact on the characters than the storyline as a whole. The three men bond as soldiers do, while James’ recklessness strains that very bond as the days of constant life-and-death strain take their toll. One detour of James hunting for the truth behind someone he believes to have been killed ends with an odd lack of resolution, though, and ultimately the film’s greatest strength is the individual scenes of unbridled tension as bombs are being discovered and defused.

It did seem to me that James’ cavalier attitude seemed like the kind of behavior that would get reported and disciplined, so it made sense when I read afterward about the many veterans who complained about the film’s unrealistic portrayal of EOD soldiers, among other inaccuracies. Plus, it would have been helpful if they explained the title: “the hurt locker” refers to a soldier being injured, but I don’t recall anyone actually saying that.

The Hurt Locker presents the stresses of the war in Iraq with a visceral candor that helped me as a viewer feel close to the action while not relying on in-your-face gore. It was also nice to see not one, not two, but four members of the MCU in one movie several years before their franchise days (Renner and Mackie, as well as Evangeline Lilly and Guy Pearce). I can’t really compare it to other Iraq War films, since this is the only one I’ve seen, but this certainly sets a high bar to which any others may aspire. Deserving of its six Oscars, it’s equal parts war movie and thriller and does both parts well.

Best line: (opening quote) “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
656 Followers and Counting

 

The Farewell (2019)

Tags

Drama

Farewell, farewell, dear love of mine.
How radiantly you did shine
When this dull world had access to
The gift of heaven that was you
Before our parting closer drew,
Propelling you into decline.

My heart already mourns within
To see your light begin to dim,
For more dynamic days than these
Are now resigned to memories
While your concessions to disease
Convince me now of who will win.

I grieve the thought of such a day
When sounds of you have waned away,
The house too quiet in the wake
Of tears that fall and hearts that ache.
Yet while you’re here to still partake,
I’ll love you long as you will stay.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG

I feel like the timing of this movie made it more impactful than it might have been some other year, for me personally anyway. The last few months have been rough for my family. My dad has been on chemo for about a year and has been in a steep decline recently, and our family cat was also diagnosed with a tumor, forcing us to put her to sleep soon. So maybe watching a movie about a cancer diagnosis wasn’t the best idea, but The Farewell proved to be a sweet sleeper film, highlighting both cultural differences and universal themes of family.

Based on the true story of first-time director Lulu Wang, who originally told it for an episode of This American Life on the radio, The Farewell features Awkwafina (now Golden Globe-nominated) in a far more serious role than something like Crazy Rich Asians. As American-raised Billi Wang, she is heartbroken to hear that her grandmother, Nai Nai, has been diagnosed with lung cancer, as well as bewildered that her family has decided to keep the news from her, sparing Nai Nai the fear and worry that goes with it. They arrange a rushed wedding for Billi’s cousin as an excuse for the family to get together and say goodbye without raising Nai Nai’s suspicions, but Billi wrestles with the morality of this white lie.

Above all else, The Farewell felt real, like I was watching authentic family dynamics in an actual family crisis, the bickering among in-laws, the happy moments both forced and sincere, all the performances genuine and not too quirky to take me out of the story. The film is billed as a comedy/drama, but I question the comedy part. Aside from an occasional funny line or bit of irony, it’s a largely serious tale respectful of its weighty themes, at times reminiscent of the Chinese masterpiece Yi Yi. (Based on its Globe nomination, it’s also technically a foreign-language film, despite having a perhaps 70%/30% mix of Chinese and English.)

Zhao Shuzhen is a warm, good-humored, grandmotherly presence, chiding Billi as a “stupid child,” which I understand translates to a Chinese term of endearment. And Awkwafina is clearly the standout role, eager to do what’s best for her Nai Nai, but wary of being dishonest in the face of a terminal illness, which is apparently a widely accepted option in China. This conflict between individual rights and family values becomes a key example of the cultural disparity between East and West, which pops up elsewhere to challenge Billi and her parents on how Chinese vs American they really are.

The pace was a bit slow for my liking, but the main change I would have liked would be a closer look at the other family members, especially Billi’s cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) and his Japanese bride Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara), whose wedding is used as a cover for the family reunion. Aiko, in particular, who doesn’t speak Chinese, just awkwardly follows her fiancé’s lead the whole time and only gets to speak once; I would have liked some insight into how she felt about her wedding being more or less a ruse, since she and Hao Hao don’t seem very close. Is the practice of lying to a sick family member common in Japan as well, making her more willing to go along with it?

Yet by the end, the emotion of Billi’s farewell is well-deserved, as a goodbye to both her Nai Nai and, in a sense, a part of her heritage. For such a culturally specific setting, the relationships feel universal, and that’s something any foreign-language film (or rather film in general) should strive for.

Best line: (Nai Nai, to Billi) “I’ve walked the path of life, and I must tell you, you’ll encounter difficulties, but you have to keep an open mind. Don’t be the bull endlessly ramming its horns into the corner of the room. Life is not just about what you do; it’s more about how you do it.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
655 Followers and Counting

 

The Majestic (2001)

Tags

Drama, Romance

There are people who thrive in the hustle and bustle
Of populous cities that never slow down.
The traffic and masses sustain like a muscle
That can’t stand the thought of a do-nothing town.

Yet others, like me, prefer tapping the brake.
For us, the slow motion is no handicap.
I’ll visit a city, but home I will make
In a place that’s not easily found on a map.

Such do-nothing places do more than their share,
Preserving the values that all nations need.
We listen and learn more in quieter air;
We merely must slow down enough to take heed.
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG (has occasional language but pretty clean overall)

Why have I not seen this movie sooner? The Majestic has been in my Netflix queue for a while now, but it feels like the kind of movie I should have seen when I was 12, largely clean and with a valuable message that has only gained in social importance. As a fan of The Truman Show, I was mainly curious to see Jim Carrey in another serious role, and, as with the other film, The Majestic ranks among his very best, making it a shame that its poor box office likely turned him and director Frank Darabont away from developing similar movies.

The year is 1951, and Hollywood screenwriter Peter Appleton (Carrey) is dumbfounded when his promising career is stalled by the Second Red Scare, leaving him blacklisted and expected to testify before Congress as a potential Communist. In his despair, he has an accident, waking with amnesia near the small town of Lawson, California. There, he is mistaken for Luke Trimble, the war hero son (thought to be dead) of the local theater owner (Martin Landau), who welcomes his long-lost boy home. Over time, he bonds with the town, grows closer to Luke’s girlfriend Adele (Laurie Holden), and helps breathe life back into the family theater, the Majestic, yet you know it is not meant to last. (I can’t help but mention David Ogden Stiers, whose presence in the small town visited by a humbled would-be hot shot immediately brought to mind the similarity with Doc Hollywood.)

Throughout The Majestic, I was trying to figure out how I felt about it and kept settling on “it depends.” It depends how the lie/mistake is revealed. It depends how all this Communist finger-pointing plays out. I just wasn’t sure where the film would ultimately end up, so I couldn’t decide if I truly liked it or not, wavering on the edge between List-Worthy and List Runner-Up. By the end, though, I was sure. Despite my unease, it definitely stuck the landing. The climax, a culminating speech before the House Un-American Activities Committee clearly echoing Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, is an absolute standout scene, made even more powerful by its extreme timeliness. At a time with so many fingers being pointed and voices being silenced, it’s a cinematic plea for Constitutional truth, tolerance, and patriotism that should be seen by every American.

Frank Darabont was clearly channeling Frank Capra with this movie, and just as Capra’s movies were derided at the time as “Capra-corn,” The Majestic didn’t fly with critics wary of anything remotely sentimental, which is a crying shame. I’ll admit it’s a bit too long and predictable, but it’s also an endorsement of nostalgia, decency, and the magic of movies, with emotional performances and strong direction throughout. It’s modern Capra-corn, and, when it’s done this well, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Best line: (Peter, speaking to Congress) “That’s the First Amendment, Mr. Chairman. It’s everything we’re about if only we’d live up to it! … It’s the most important part of the contract every citizen has with this country. And even though these contracts – the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! – even though they’re just pieces of paper with signatures on them, they’re the only contracts we have that are most definitely not subject to renegotiation… not by you, Mr. Chairman… not by you, Mr. Clyde… Not by anyone, ever. Too many people have paid for this contract in blood!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
655 Followers and Counting

 

2019 Blindspot Pick #11: Run Lola Run (1998)

Tags

Drama, Thriller

(Best sung to “Lola” by The Kinks)

I’m not the world’s most observant guy,
So I lost a lot of money, and I’m gonna die,
But for Lola, Lo-lo-lo-lo-lola.

She ran across town to fix my mistake,
Since I dropped about a hundred thousand, give or take,
Lots o’ moolah, moo-moo-moo-moo-moolah.

Only twenty minutes left to recover it,
So we might have had a better chance surviving spit
With ebola, bo-bo-bo-bo-bola.

Luckily for me, she can run really fast,
And possibly replay what happened in the past,
That’s my Lola, Lo-lo-lo-lo-lola.

And if I get to live to see another dawn,
I’ll let her handle all the money from now on,
Good ol’ Lola, Lo-lo-lo-lo-lola!
_______________________

MPAA rating: R (mainly for language in the subtitles, other content is more PG-13)

I didn’t realize when I chose both Mr. Nobody and Run Lola Run as Blindspots this year that they would end up having so much thematic similarity. And they’re both German, the former an English-language co-production while this film is actually in German. Both have to do with how people’s choices can result in vastly different outcomes, which are presented in an impartial, what-if manner. Yet, whereas Mr. Nobody explored huge, cosmic potential across a lifetime, Run Lola Run deals with a crucial twenty-minute window in the lives of red-haired Lola and her boyfriend.

At the most basic level, the events of Run Lola Run (or Lola Rennt in German) are fairly straightforward: Boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) loses 100,000 marks earned from a drug deal and is a goner if he and Lola (Franka Potente) can’t deliver the money within twenty minutes. Yet, as evidenced from the imaginatively animated opening credits sequence, this isn’t your ordinary thriller. While Lola’s running is a constant across each of the three timelines presented, the events play out with vast differences, sometimes based on something as small as distracting a driver at just the right moment. Whether it’s robbing a store or begging Lola’s banker father (Herbert Knaup) for the money, their efforts rarely work out as planned, but it’s as if fate is driving the story at times, allowing the interaction of side characters to determine how everything will play out.

I usually love this kind of butterfly-effect conceit, and I enjoyed Run Lola Run for that aspect, but it felt like something was missing for me. It might be that I didn’t really have a reason to care about the characters except for their desperate circumstances. The plot’s divergences don’t really explain themselves either; each time events start over, there’s some existential pillow talk between Lola and Manni that lets things momentarily slow down, and then it all begins again. In addition, Lola frequently passes people, and a series of still images shows either their past or future. That’s the thing, though; I didn’t know for sure, and it wasn’t clear what changed for that person between the timelines to get such different outcomes.

Such complaints are probably no big deal for people who like to ponder a film’s deeper meaning, but Run Lola Run works better as an inventive thriller than a philosophical treatise and would have benefited from more clarity, like why Lola kept breaking glass with her screams. The finer points aside, though, this film was still a fun ride, and, with its riffing on fate vs. individual choice, I can see why director Tom Tykwer was drawn to co-direct Cloud Atlas fourteen years later. The later film had far more to say and a wider scope to say it, but Run Lola Run felt like an indie step toward bigger things.

Best line: (unseen narrator at the beginning) “Man… probably the most mysterious species on our planet. A mystery of unanswered questions. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How do we know what we think we know? Why do we believe anything at all? Countless questions in search of an answer… an answer that will give rise to a new question… and the next answer will give rise to the next question and so on. But, in the end, isn’t it always the same question? And always the same answer?”

(I still don’t know the question, but, as we all know, the answer is 42… of course.)

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
654 Followers and Counting

 

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