#rather than in the journey of llewyn

[mr-chatterboxs-column]

Just saw a movie that quietly blew my mind and made me want to think about what other movies I’ve really enjoyed this year! (... I have not yet finished writing the Cageospective.) I don’t pay for Letterboxd to give me actual annual stats, but under the cut is a summary of the twenty movies I arbitrarily gave five stars to this year (questions are welcome but not expected, guessing this is mostly of interest only to future me):

When I rate movies on Letterboxd, I find that while I’ll really try to make a conscious distinction between what exactly I rate something between 2.5 and 4.5, the movies I rate 5 stars after seeing them for the first time are usually based on a visceral reaction rather than being objectively “better” than the 4.5s. I have rated a lot of movies I really love 4.5. These are the five-stars I saw for the first time this year:

 - The Hudsucker Proxy  - Millennium Actress  - Moonstruck (which I ended up watching three times this year because both of my best friends had never seen it either)*  - The Card Counter  - Everything Everywhere All at Once  - Pig*  - today, Blood & Donuts, the best vampire movie I’d never heard of

Even though I wrote a review of more than a third of the movies I watched last year, apparently a consistent factor in five-star movies is that they are ones that blew my mind enough that I didn’t end up with specific comments, just enthusiasm. The Hudsucker Proxy is the only one I actually “reviewed,” in the sense that I apparently felt like I needed to add the disclaimer: “This movie was *made* for me but [I can kind of get] why it flopped.” All the rest took some time to coalesce in my brain before I started enthusiastically recommending them to people, except for EEAAO which everyone else had already seen.

I rewatched these:

 - The Silence of the Lambs  - O Brother, Where Art Thou?  - Star Trek IV  - Inside Llewyn Davis  - Face/Off*  - Atomic Blonde  - Raising Arizona*  - (Moonstruck)*  - Mandy*  - Over the Garden Wall (technically a miniseries, but shorter than most movies?)  - (.... Moonstruck again)*  - Penelope  - The Philadelphia Story  - Brokeback Mountain  - Holiday (1938)

and didn’t write a real review of any of these that weren’t Cage features. I think a lot of this category are more obvious emotional faves, like, I get that Penelope has flaws? But there’s also something ineffable about them, to me, and I guess this year was tough enough that a sufficiently good movie just knocked my analytic brain into next week every time. If I tried to thoughtfully consider Star Trek IV as a great artistic work it would honestly not max out the rubric, but right after watching it? Of *course* it’s five stars.

* viewed as part of the Cage Journey. Cruelly, after we’d just watched Pig, my dear friend had the temerity to remind me that I would now have to put it into the ranked list... this is what happens when you tell people about projects that aren’t done yet

#uh. i made this

[larinah]

#inside llewyn davis #cat reaction #oscar isaac #but then poe split with the kylo ren/justin timberlake band and went on the road with this cat #alas he later splits with the cat too #i think the plot of this film is actually wrapped up in the journey of the three cats who all seem to be the same cat #rather than in the journey of llewyn #but i'll take the cat odyssey movie with the side of mr isaac singing...he's great at it! #larinahgif

[mylifeincinema]

My Week(s) in Reviews: September 21, 2019

I was busy, so I skipped last week. Here’s what I’ve been watching since last time.

Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019)

‘To the Stars...’

Significantly more intimate than expected. A beautiful film all around, if occasionally lacking in those big ‘wow’ moments so many science-fiction films strive for. The Mars sequence is so beautifully shot and edited, it hurts. Brad Pitt turns in one of the best performances of his career (I’d say his 2019 work makes up for two of his top five, really), a rich emotional exploration of duty, grief, family and purpose. Gray has made a special, ambitious sci-fi film, here. A surprising tale of men longing to find something greater than themselves out in the vast, unforgiving unknown that is space. - 8/10

Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria, 2019)

The energy is completely off in this one. Scafaria falters, never wanting to fully condemn or praise these women for the terrible things they’ve done. The storytelling formula used only ever works in completely tearing the viewer out of the moment. But the cast is solid. Constance Wu in impressive, and her journey from timid stripper to criminal ‘mastermind’ is fully realized. Lili Reinhart is hilarious. Then there’s Jennifer Lopez, who delivers what just might be a career best performance. She’s a beautiful, brutal lioness on the hunt to protect her ‘cubs’. At least that’s what this film insists it’s about: motherhood. It pushes its ideas on the audience forcefully; these women are doing the awful things they’re doing for their ‘children’. Really, it’s about power. J.Lo isn’t a lioness, she’s a shark. These women aren’t doing that they need to do to take care of their children, they’re doing it because it feels good flipping the script of these powerful men. They’re taking advantage of them because they can; because it makes them feel powerful. The film would’ve been a whole lot stronger if it had the guts to just come out and admit that, rather than poorly hiding it behind the hokey veil of motherhood. - 5/10

Yesterday (Danny Boyle, 2019)

Just a few things... (Possible SPOILERS ahead.)

-It’s light and mostly fun, but falls apart in its third act.

-Ed Sheeran is the worst kind of celebrity, but at least here he’s willing to play into that fact for comedy’s sake.

-How could anyone not fall instantly in love with Lily James?

-The scene where Jack visits John Lennon is wonderful, and the type of thing this film needed a whole lot more of.

-The idea behind this film is a fun one, and really deserved to be explored more. - 6/10

Blinded by the Light (Gurinder Chadha, 2019)

Have you ever listened to an artist that instantly hits you on a spiritual level, completely changing your life within a matter of minutes? That’s what Blinded by the Light is about. It’s a coming of age story about a Pakistani teenager living in a small town in England who’s life is instantly changed when a friend introduces him to Bruce Springsteen. Well, that and family, and a handful of other very familiar themes that only work here thanks to the fact that they’re fueled by the power of music. Everything that would feel recycled and tired otherwise hits home effectively thanks to The Boss. - 7.5/10

Late Night (Nisha Ganatra, 2019)

Enjoyed this. Emma Thompson is fantastic. Hugh Dancy doesn’t look like Hugh Dancy. And Mindy is very funny without crossing over too much into the annoying attention hungry zone she often found herself in on her show. - 6/10

Alita: Battle Angel (Robert Rodriguez, 2019)

A few fun action sequences can’t save this film from its awkward vfx and poorly developed world. - 3.5/10

Echo in the Canyon (Andrew Slater, 2019)

Very interesting, but it falters in its focus and doesn’t balance its interviews and performances very well. - 5.5/10

Also, in preparation for forthcoming My Best of the 2010s, I revisited a handful of favorites, including Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Arrival and Midnight in Paris. All of them are just as good as I remembered, if not significantly better, thank God.

And then there’s Netflix’s new Limited Series, Unbelievable. Holy Shit... What a Powerhouse. Kaitlyn Dever, I mean, Goddamn! Merritt Wever is quickly turning into one of those “I’ll jump to see whatever she’s in” level actresses. Then there’s Toni Collette, so underrated and always so damn good, and this is some of her finest work, period. The pacing is perfect. It’s often tough to watch, but always so damn captivating that you tough it out through the tears, anger and emotional exhaustion. Wow.

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

#film #movies #ad astra #hustlers #blinded by the light #yesterday #late night #alita: battle angel #echo in the canyon #my week in reviews #Film Review #Movie Reviews #etc.

[gigmusicdscvr]

MOVIE REVIEW : INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)

As we ever argue before, a success story is too normal, that's why directors start making movies with unclear ending, let audience play with their own hopes and imaginations. Or in the other way, they make solution but not the best solution people will normally think would be happen as the end of the story. Which one do you think Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) movie's ending would be? We'd say both. Check out our full review below.  

Llewyn Davis is the name of the main character, it's fictional. A young grown man, aspiring folk musician, have both admirers and haters, and a nice apartment plus a cat. Only, it is not like what it seems. He is actually homeless, having no regular gigs, his records are never sold out nor even sold one, he gets some friends and a sister, they don't really care though. We will find out later and he admits it soon that he's such a jerk.  

This movie intensely follows Llewyn's life in a week, accidentally losing his friends' cat and  impregnates his bestfriend, being annoying smart-ass (in music), struggling to cope with his loss of bandmate, spending a long terrible journey with weird strangers, getting rejection (again) from a record label, even when he already gives up with musical career, he still fails getting a real job in his father ex-office. Following Llewyn's journey in this movie is not boring even though it is slow paced movie. He shows his courage, his best effort to get to a better state, yet it is like the world conspire to get him back to what he has been doing from the start.

That plot is mesmerizing with the usage of the loop. In the end, we realize that the beginning of the movie is part of the ending (spoiler alert). Anyway, this movie shows us a common reality, something that moviemakers or news seekers don't want to pick because it will be boring talking about losers' journey. The Coen brothers (directors) successfully capture failures and insecurities of Llewyn into something relatable to the actual "fake freedom" which people think musician/artist/entrepreneur beginners have. The most important part is Llewyn's tendency to reflect his failure as part of his own faults rather than everybody else's.  

This is good movie to watch alone when you really want to watch movie though. It needs patience and will to watch it to the end. Very slow-paced and intensely boring in some parts. Yet, very unique with twisted ending scene, well-crafted movie which ask you to think thoroughly.  

Directors : Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Cast : Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan

#movie #film #review #inside llewyn davis #oscar isaac #carey mulligan #garrett hedlund #musician #movie review #music #music blog #article

[sharkchunks]

Ten Great Movie Characters*

Okay so I’ll be honest, if not modest- My four favorite movie characters are Don, Clarke, Quail and above all Bridge from Jealous Gods. It’s to be expected that when you can make a character exactly who you want to see on screen, they’re going to be your favorite characters. But I do have some favorites outside of that film. In alphabetical order with no preferences between them, here are some of my favorite characters:

Travis Bickle - Taxi Driver (1976)

Robert De Niro

Travis is an awful person by every possible measure. Racist, angry, paranoid, jumpy, quite an idiot and far more but he’s probably the best representation of how and why people can go so wrong, yet still exist in the world. His relationship with Betsy is perversely innocent- He doesn’t understand why she might not want to go to a porn flick on a first date, it’s beyond him. The representation of his transmutation of his infatuation for her into plans for political violence is a stroke of writing genius, as is his similarly dangerous hero complex where Iris is concerned. Travis wants to be good, but he’s rotten to the core and ‘good’ to him is a fantasy concept.

Llewyn Davis - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Oscar Isaac

Davis is the perfect character for a Coen Brothers world. While Marge Gunderson normally claims that distinction, Davis is far more flawed and the Coens’ plots thrive on flaws. Davis is a narcissist of a type rarely seen in film, the type of person who doesn’t understand why he’s such a disaster magnet. As skilled at music as he is unskilled at living, he nonetheless keeps moving. He’s always in motion with no destination. Davis is the ultimate beatnik, stuck a few decades too late in a world that has no place for him.

Gollum - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Anthony Serkis, Weta Digital

Fantasy characters are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to realism in character because they exist in worlds unlike our own. Gollum works for two reasons: First, he’s based on drug addicts. The subtext seeps from Two Towers into a great pool surrounding the character. Second, he’s treated with respect. Being a “Creature” rather than a heroic lead, he could’ve easily been another CG crapfest, but Jackson chose to make him a person. Two of them actually, and that’s what makes him so much fun to watch. Gollum is an exceptionally advanced character in concept and execution, and is proof that even when it comes to the most basic elements of cinema, we are still finding new frontiers.

Carol Ledoux - Repulsion (1965)

Catherine Deneuve

Carol is an extremely realistic portrayal of an amalgam of real psychological issues, making her the ultimate representation of insanity. None of her problems are simply made up as so many insane characters are in film, rather they are artistically augmented into a highly compelling yet simultaneously repulsive character. The world attacks her and she has no escape, but with a few plot exceptions, these attacks are things that would only affect Carol herself so severely, such as finding a shaving razor in a cup she uses for her toothbrush. For her, the razor becomes phallic and like so many other things, it’s violating. This is a place all humans have within them. With Carol, it’s on the surface, and it makes her very dangerous.

John Milton - The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

Al Pacino

Spoiler warning, he’s Satan. And it’s appropriate he named himself John Milton because next to Paradise Lost, this film may be the best character study of the devil ever made. Milton is, naturally, a lawyer. His bravado is supernaturally backed up, his cruelty is all to human. He is a wholly realistic man, but he is powered by a biblical generator of evil. He is fun, he is enviable, and his arguments against God are so effective that they seem logically sound, along with his demeanor and hedonism. This is Anton LaVey’s own devil in every way.

Ellen Ripley - Aliens (1986)

Sigourney Weaver

Alien created Ellen Ripley from a role written as a male without changing a line. This was a great leap for cinematic feminism at the time. But she was not yet Ellen Ripley as we know her. Who we know as Ripley was created more by James Cameron when he turned her into a heroine rather than a survivor. Ripley begins the film unwilling and ends the film as the most badass power-loader operator in the galaxy. She does so partly out of maternal instinct for Newt, but her character in Aliens goes far beyond this and develops a character arc like absolutely nothing else in cinema.

Jack Skellington - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Jack is unhappy with his job. Simple as that. He’s bored and he wants to try something new, and being constrained by his very nature as the embodiment of Halloween, he ruins it. This is so human it’s painful to see, and he is ultimately incredibly sympathetic. But what makes him a great character is his final revelation that though he’s wrecked Christmas, he’s the damn Pumpkin King and that’s friggin’ awesome. Thus his journey is one of self realization and the renewal of pride in ones self.

Tony Stark - Iron Man (2008)

Robert Downey Jr.

He’s a jerk, and a merchant of death. Basically the worst kind of person. His arc (no pun intended) is set off by far from altruistic means, but by survival. That’s the thing about Stark- He never actually becomes much of a better person. he remains a blaggard and a cynic, but his actions begin to play at altruism simply because it’s what he feels he wants to do. Stark is in many ways irredeemable, yet his charismatic nature and incredible genius (and let’s face it, enviable wealth) make him extremely compelling to watch.

Billy Ray Valentine - Trading Places (1983)

Eddie Murphy

Valentine is an impoverished scammer who never had a chance to be anything better. Then he gets the chance, and he explodes into the scene with skill and intelligence that he always had, but could never use. While his counterpart in the film descends and he ascends the social ladder, what becomes critical is that he never loses himself and degenerates into the vices of wealth. He’s proof that a good person only needs a chance to be good. And he does it all with panache.

Albert Emanuel Vogler - The Magician (1958)

Max von Sydow

It’s impossible to explain this one without fatal spoilers. See the movie.

*Mishima and Bronson belong on this list but they’re real people so I can’t really include them in the character post, despite their film counterparts being very creative representations. They aren’t characters that someone designed, they’re real people. And even more importantly, this list is in part a recognition of realistic characters. Both Mishima and Bronson are far too unrealistic to be believed as film characters.

#film #cinema #movies #character #characters

[uomo-accattivante]

#oscar isaac #the promise #interview #independent.co.uk #armenian genocide

[a-lbeit]

april 2017 faves

this one’s fucking long lmfao

planning for spring break 2018: i’ve mentioned a couple of times that i plan to drive to mount rushmore and, more central to my plan, the badlands in south dakota during the 2nd full week of march next year, during the last spring break of my undergraduate career. i think about it a lot, and now that it’s less than a year away, i’ve begun to primitively map out a route for myself–where to stop overnight, how many days to spend doing what, estimated costs, and so on. i plan to drive through cleveland and stay there for a day so that i can visit the rock and roll hall of fame and museum, and then take another night somewhere cheap in between it and my ultimate goal of western south dakota. it’s been really enjoyable for me to look at the map of the us and think, wow, if this really works out, i’m going to do something that i’ve dreamed about for years–driving (halfway) across the country and going to a really beautiful national park. especially recently, i’ve become a bit enraptured with national parks in general (after the rise of the alt nps), and going to the badlands is probably the easiest one to reach that’s also really high up on my list of parks to visit (i’m more into the western ones than the eastern because i love the environment of the west–all those mountains and deserts). so, although nothing will even start to be concrete until at least the start of the fall semester, i’ve been loving sussing out how my plan will work–hiking in the badlands and driving along the designated scenic roads, and of course the journey itself. i love driving so much, and i’m extremely excited by the prospect of getting to drive along 24 hours’ worth of (mostly) midwestern highway, listening to wonderful music and fulfilling what is honestly a dream. 

doughnuts from sainsbury’s: they’re sugar coated, you can get rings or jam filled or vanilla filled or chocolate filled, and you get 5 for 65p. they’re fucking good, especially when they melt in your mouth because they’re so fresh.

old crow medicine show: my parents kindly bought me a ticket to see ocms performing blonde on blonde in manchester right before i come back to the states, which i am SO excited for, and i’ve recently just really been appreciating the group as musicians. i’ve liked them for a few years, probably since about the beginning of 2014, and although i still don’t know too too much of their repertoire, the 25 or so songs that i do know are honestly pretty astounding. i’m in love with that kind of sound, and i think they do their craft perfectly. here’s a little side story from a few months ago: after watching inside llewyn davis right at the beginning of this year, i naturally watched the little concert documentary thing that goes along with it, another day, another time: celebrating the music of inside llewyn davis. one of the performances is by gillian welch and dave rawlings machine and i think someone else, as well–maybe willie watson, ironically enough–doing a medley of a song called “i hear them all” with “this land is your land.” for about a month, i thought that “i hear them all” was another one of those classic, standard folk songs like guthrie’s song is–you know, a song that is pretty universally regarded as important both politically and in regards to quality. particularly the lyrics “i hear leaders quit their lyin, i hear babies quit their cryin, i hear soldiers quit their dyin, one and all” were ones that certainly could have been written nearly a century ago by a contemporary of woody guthrie or maybe even guthrie himself, and that i was just a bit ignorant in my knowledge of old folk music. however, after looking “i hear them all” up to listen to the original, i learned that that song was written by old crow. a song that i really thought had probably been in existence for decades was actually written by a current band about 10 years ago. and that is the reason i admire them so much. they and artists like them are sort of carrying on that era of music, which is just nice to know and to be able to appreciate.

kitty the truck driver from “springsteen and i”: tbh i haven’t finished that documentary yet lmfao and this fave is really random but i was kind of struck by this girl named kitty who was included in the allotment of fan videos explaining their love for springsteen. she’s a young and, more surprisingly, female truck driver, which is obviously something that you don’t see too often. as someone who has thought about what it would be like to be a truck driver (and who has even had pieces of a desire to become one–getting to drive across the country for a living sounds truly incredible), i appreciated being made aware that people like her exist. naturally, representation is such an important thing, and it’s nice to know that if i ever did fully commit to wanting to be a truck driver, there are other young females who are in the same field. and, of course, hearing her anecdotes about why she loves springsteen was great, as well. 

into the wild and wild: these two movies are similar and wildly different at the same time. they both deal with having to rely on nature for survival, but wild ends on a much happier note than into the wild. i’m going to talk about them individually because it’s easier for me that way. i watched wild first, and it was captivating throughout. i cried a lot and it was quite hard to watch at times. the incorporation of cheryl singing songs to herself was something that i especially enjoyed, and of course her strength and perseverance were admirable and inspirational. i don’t think i could ever go on a hike like that, but both the plot and the cinematography were really good at getting me into an outdoorsy spirit (not that that was even remotely the point of movie). i really think that that film is important for everyone, especially women, to watch, and i plan on reading the book soon (and i want to read the book that inspired into the wild, as well). as for into the wild, which i watched a few days after wild, i didn’t like the main character, chris/alex, as much at first, but he really grew on me, and i loved the more “mundane” (which i put in quotes because no part of that movie is mundane, but some parts are more so than others) parts of the movie--going with kristen stewart’s character to salvation mountain, talking with ron at ron’s house. now, to discuss the ending--the last 15 minutes or so were very emotionally draining, and i think that the outcome really affected me, but it was obviously crucial to include his deterioration, which was (objectively speaking) the most hypnotising part of the movie. i think the fact that the whole story can even be told is astounding, considering that chris died in a very remote location and very alone. that people found his body probably 2 weeks after his death is, i think, something of an act of god, an event that happened so that the world could be educated on both his stupidity and his courage. yeah, i think that into the wild is truly one of those stories that are only made visible to the public once in a blue moon. at any rate, both into the wild and wild were awfully impressive, and they’re probably going to be in the back of my mind for a long time.

the descendants: i’ve loved this film for years, having seen it with my parents when it was in theaters. they dragged me to it, of course, but after the showing, i secretly fell in love with it. i’ve seen it multiple times since. but about a week ago, i decided to watch it again (i don’t think i’d seen it for at least a year), and i haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it. i finished it at about 2:30 in the morning, i think, and although i don’t particularly enjoy talking about my sensitivity, i need to say that i cried for at least half an hour after i finished it. i don’t think it was really because of the plot of the movie, although it certainly does end on a melancholy, yet somewhat sanguine note that i’m sure did increase my emotional imbalance. the music in that film definitely captures the feelings of the film in a way that not many soundtracks have accomplished (side note: i love every song on that soundtrack and i could talk for longer about just the music), and i think it also was a part of why the movie affected me so much. however, i think this particular viewing got to me because the descendants takes me back to a really specific time in my life that i get very nostalgic for. i still had a few years in high school left, so i could still be comfortably a kid while getting more privileges (like being able to drive, although my parents certainly didn’t give me carte blanche with that, let me tell you). it reminds me of charleston a lot not only because i watched it at a good time in my life, but because of the hawaiian setting--being on the beach, having the characters casually dressed, and so on. it made me want to walk for hours on the beach just like the scene in the film where the whole family searches for brian speer and matt tells his kids (and sid lmfao) nice stories about the times he and their mother had and what a character she was. i felt homesick more heavily than i ever have (in the sense that i have never really felt homesick lmfao), and i wanted so strongly to be in charleston. i looked out my window into the heart of fucking camden and felt rather ungrateful, but i couldn’t help it. at any rate, the descendants made me actually long for charleston, which i never thought would happen, and it made me excited to go back. and, of course, the film itself is so perfect--the characters, the story, the cinematography--and i think that it really is one of my favourites of all time, if not my number one.

“racing in the street,” bruce springsteen: this song is very low-key and relaxed while maintaining a lot of meaning, and that goes a long way. i think i read that a lot of people, including bob dylan, say that this is springsteen’s greatest song. i don’t know if i would necessarily agree with that, but it really is a great track. the imagery in the lyrics and the mood changes (both in his voice and in the instrumentation) are so intoxicating, honestly, and you end up with another great story of a blue collar life. fave lyrics (there are a couple): “summer’s here and the time is right”--i know that this isn’t really what this lyric is trying to convey, but with summer being just around the corner for me, it really speaks to me in terms of the endless possibilities of what i can do with this vacation. “she stares off alone into the night/ with the eyes of one who hates for just being born”--i do think that this is one of the best lines springsteen has ever written. it’s eloquent as fuck, and the concept of hating for just being born is something almost universally relatable that isn’t very often said like that. "tonight my baby and me, we’re gonna ride to the sea/ and wash these sins off our hands”--i really like this idea of being purified by a body of water. it’s an ancient idea, and tying in a small journey (i.e., driving, perhaps with his damning racing car) in order to reach a better place isn’t novel, but it is a way for the character and his girlfriend/wife to be jointly better.

#faves #favorites #favourites