Friday, January 10, 2020

1917

Well the first movie going experience of the new decade and the year. Shit.

I'm just gonna get this out of the way but, I totally jinxed myself today. I said not 6 hours before I walked into this movie, "I haven't had a bad theater experience in the 4 years of reviewing I've done.". Yeah the projection broke down twice. And it hurt the experience, the immersion, and the enjoyment of the film for me. I wasn't mad at the theater cause these things happen and very rarely too but with a film like 1917, you need that immersion. The whole movie is set up to be shot in one long take, very much like Birdman, but when the film stops and then literally has to rewind back a few minutes it does hurt the film. We had no hiccups after that and it started around the 30 minute mark but I couldn't fully enjoy the film afterwards because there was a nagging thought in the back of my head, the movie could break down again. That f***ing sucks man. My rating has been compromised because of the experience. Granted I very much liked the film, it was filmed absurdly well and I only counted a max of 5 cuts in this 2 hour movie. It has a strong story with two british soldiers tasked with crossing enemy territory to relay a message that will save 1,600 men. It does warrant the R rating with it's content, they don't shy away from anything, there's multiple instances of decomposed and grotesque corpses littered on the battlefield and environment. It does remind that war is worse than any hell ever created by a religion, but it has deeper themes of friendship, loyalty, comraderie, life, death, and beauty amongst ruins. The performances are all done very well with Dean Charles Chapman and more importantly George Mackay, they have to carry this film all the way through on their backs and they do succeed. But Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, and Benedict Cumberbatch though having bit parts do elevate the film. As I said Sam Mendes has done a great job with directing and each shot is excellent, never letting up that under the skin tension and anxiety for the audience. You just never know when someone is about to take a shot and you're as apprehensive and stressed as the main characters. It's a damn good film and if I saw it last year it would have made my top 10 list, probably would have put it at number 10 because while it is a technical marvel and a strong and powerful story, there was some stiff competition for last year that gave me a lot of enjoyment and love. So take my rating with a grain of salt, it could be way way better for you than it was for me. 1917 gets a solid 4 stars, 8.5/10. It does severely bum me out that the first movie experience of this year was less than spectacular but we must press on for better and new experiences.

Okay I've compiled a list of movies I own that I haven't done yet. It's a small list but there was one particular series that I'm all for revisiting, and I would like to do it 5 years in than much later. It's kind of a crime I haven't reviewed them before but that will be rectified starting next Sunday for a whole week. It will be a wild magical time for all.

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