Mulholland Drive

David, God dang it!

I think this set some new kind of record, about 4 minutes in I had meathooks firmly implanted into me, I was that hooked and it dragged me through a wild and amazing trip. I'm not even sure how to summarize it beyond, a young lady named Betty moves to L.A. to become an actress and meets a woman named Rita who has memory problems after a bad crash and they try to piece together her memories, but there's quite a few characters and bizzare situations to recount and it gets a tiny complex. The last 25 odd minutes get very strange and only proceed to get more out there the closer you get to the end, culminating in a true and pure David Lynch ending. I loved it, it got my mind gears running at full speed and I feel fairly confident I actually understood what it was all about. Granted the movie is a burning venomous critique of the Hollywood system and showbusiness, backroom deals with shady people, good talent is overlooked for more attractive stars, but it makes it outrageous with assassins and dreamlike sequences that really only made me way more interested to see where this was going. And David summed it up perfectly for his main star, "Naomi knocked this thing out of the park." I can't believe she was snubbed an Oscar, this woman man. This woman was outstanding, and the chemistry between her and Laura Harring was nothing short of mesmerizing. Yeah yeah, they have a love scene and lesbionics occurs, move along move along. It's a very charming frienship they have and when it proceeds to a romantic relationship it feels well earned and lovely. And yeah, Laura Harring what a stunningly beautiful woman who can knock your socks off with her acting, and the best part for both of them is the performance evolves and deepens the further we go along. I heard tale this originally was conceptualized as a TV series and more so a Twin Peaks spinoff TV series which explains a small bit. I've only seen a grand total of 30 seconds of Twin Peaks, but it does seem to fit that strange and otherworldly environment. It's intriguing to watch and it sets this mystery up flawlessly in the beginning and you want to know as much as our main characters want to know, but it doesn't give you answers. That is your conclusion that makes the ending what it is. I had two thoughts but as we were ramping toward the ending it quickly came down to my second guess, zipper on the lips for that, go see it. It's great. To see David shift and mold this from a failed TV pilot to a cinematic odyssey is amazing, and what a way to go out this week! 4 stars, 9/10! I'm considering a fair bit to watch Twin Peaks at a later date and get reviews out for that, my interest grows more and more to finally see it but we got a while before the next batch of TV reviews. Next week my favorite time of the year, Marvel. Yaaaaay......

The Straight Story

I bet you never would imagine that David Lynch directed a movie like this.

Even more so, I bet you would never see the words Walt Disney Pictures presents a David Lynch film, a conjunction of words I can scarcely believe now. But it's true. I actually did not know about this movie at all until fairly recently from one of my reviewers and I knew I was gonna get around to it one day. Based off a true story, Alvin Straight hears tale that his brother who he fell out with 10 years ago had a real bad stroke, and he is determined to go see his brother and make amends. But he can't see too well, he has trouble moving, and he doesn't own a car or can get a ride. So he hitches a trailer, stocks up on food, and sets out from Iowa to Wisconsin, on his lawnmower. And I'll be damned, I was entertained for the almost 2 hour runtime and felt the pacing was spot on. I know you hear that synopsis and figure it's more of an experimental film to test a person's patience like that 12 hour film shot in real time of the Empire State Building, but you'd be surprised how much happens in it. Nothing big or bombastic, the most thrilling thing that happens is Alvin going down a steep hill quite quick and it by God has tension to it. It takes roughly 25 minutes into the movie for him to begin his trek, and he meets several people along the way and the interesting part is you learn something new about him each conversation he has. He meets a young runaway and tells her how much family means to him and that he had 7 kids before his wife passed, he meets a group of cyclists and discusses getting old and how rough it is, he goes for drinks with a stranger in town and they get a lot off their chest recounting their history in the second world war (By the by, best scene in the whole movie bar none.), and it is a mighty good story. There's good stretches of time without dialogue but every conversation has meaning and purpose to be, as I said the pacing is perfect knowing just how long to stick around an individual, a landscape, a moment. I'll never forget one line that's gonna stick with me for a good long time, "It's amazing what you can see when you're sitting down." I mean really think about this, we live in a world and age where you can do so much sitting down. Learn new things, see the world, talk with friends as if they were sitting across from you, the world is at your fingertips with speeds almost incalculable. So why is everyone moving so fast? I ain't never been fast and I doubt I'm going to get faster in the days to come, so a movie like this is my pace personified in cinema. I can keep up with your lightspeed sci-fi, and rhythmic up tempo action, but this is pretty dang close to my speed. I genuinely believe this can't be topped, like bring it on Mulholland Drive, cause this movie was wonderful. I loved it so much, I thought it is such an optimistic story with really remarkable actors who can say a bit but you see much more in their eyes, it's the most non-David Lynch David Lynch movie I've ever seen and yet I think it's my favorite. People are always gonna talk about Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, yet this is the one for me. Give it a watch, feel the emotions, see those beautiful blue skies and golden sunshine permeate the scenery, I don't think you'll even be super disappointed with the ending. 4 stars, 10/10, I can't find a bad thing to say so it gets that score and we'll wrap up tomorrow with Mulholland Drive. You and me tomorrow Naomi!

Eraserhead

We are starting the early birthday celebrations right!

Oh man, Eraserhead, what a film! It's definitely one of those movies I've heard about through the years and yet never knew what it was about until I watched it. Wow. I won't lie, I had a great time. Difficult to talk about coherently but here goes nothing. So our movie is set in what I can only described as a bombed out, dilapidated, abandoned but dressed up neighborhood where a young man named Henry Spencer gets his girlfriend pregnant and has to look after the heavily prematuredly birthed infant. There is more to that story but I just want you to watch it. I don't know, maybe I've finally lost it but I very very much enjoyed this movie even though despite my best efforts I couldn't truly discern a lot from it. It has that experimental/student film quality where not much makes sense and it's almost deliberately strange and offputting, but I liked it! I mean I could rave about the lighting alone for like an hour, some of the best camera placement and lighting combinations I have ever seen in cinema. I have nothing but praise to give for Herbert Cardwell and Frederick Elmes, those guys knew their stuff and delivered flawless results. I also really appreciated Jack Nance in this, for a script that barely has any dialogue in it David got so much through Jack's facial features and body language, simultaneously looking super young and a total baby face but also old enough to have a midlife crisis which I kinda think has some bearance on the story. Henry is a young man but quickly discovers he is a parent, and you know having kids and taking care of kids changes an individual a lot, it's a lot to deal with, and you can tell through the direction and acting it is severely effecting him. He has a fight with his girlfriend, is stuck in an apartment with the baby, can't leave, can't sleep and when he does he has some weeeeird nightmares. I sympathize with the guy. Who knows what it's really about, I've seen snippets of interviews and David Lynch has said Eraserhead is his most spiritual film and won't elaborate further on any of it. Maybe it's the pressures of becoming a parent, maybe it's all a metaphor for the world ending, maybe it's just about a guy and his baby. There's plenty to dig into here and while the movie has spots of disturbing and bizzare moments, I was a bit surprised how much I laughed and felt quite relaxed while watching it. I did find humor not in the bewildering actions of the characters, but just simple normal things like fighting with a spouse over how much room they take in bed, or everytime Henry tries to leave the apartment the baby cries until he sits down again. The music is minimal but very pleasant I found, and we get both a dance sequence and a singing sequence so that was enjoyable. It may unnerve and confuse others, but I was immersed and wanted to see where it all went. It's no doubt going to be a film I watch again and again in the future and still get something out of. But go make of it what you will, that's half the fun of movies, and we got more Lynch coming up with The Straight Story. What do I rate it? No idea, how about...4 stars, 8/10!

The Northman

Oh! Thank you gods above, below, and in-between!

Bit more than you would think is found here, I mean I could tell from the trailers and TV spots that it was more or less a revenge story of a boy avenging his father who was killed by his uncle, I know, very commonplace, and yet there were snippets of more otherworldly aspects so I knew there was something more afoot here. I'm partially correct but you could almost argue the instances of nordic mythology are legit or more imaginary, and I'll let you know my standpoint later. Also, highly appreciative of so many aspects of that particular culture in that particular time and place in the world without any handholding. They don't need to explain it, you either know or can infer what the customs are save for one particular tidbit which I was proud to know of beforehand. For a director who has barely begun his career, Robert Eggers has made quite a name for himself in recent years and really shows the grandiose scenery in abundance, with excellent use of editing and camera techniques. Casting though not everyone is super recognizable does mighty good work and sells the often times highly dramatic form of speaking in that period of history, I mean of course I give love to Alex and Anya who were great and had a nice dynamic throughout. But I give fair props to Claes Bang for being more than just a foul bastard to hate and hiss at throughout but has moments where you genuinely think maybe he is a different man. I very much loved the possible inspirations for a lot of the material here, I saw bits of Shakespeare, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, quite a fair bit of Ghost Of Tsushima, even Clash Of The Titans. Now for the discussion of whether or not there is some higher power at play here, without spoiling much you see some non-mortal forces in this movie and it is appropriate for the characters and the time period, and I was up in the air on if it was for really realsies or not until we got to the ravens. Through my readings I learned some time ago that Odin's eyes and presence are ravens and you see them several times including an important scene for our hero, and again it's not spelled out for you so when that occured there wasn't a doubt in my mind the gods had a hand in this plot. I friggin' loved that. Gives it a sense of being bigger and epic for our hero which gives more a drive for the audience. Though honestly, the soundtrack alone got me involved so quick and got me fired up for events, spectacular work on the score. A sort of unconventional movie for sure in terms of style and culture but great nontheless. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and the birthday week has officially started so we'll find something to talk about before too long.

The Bad Guys

Was I disappointed? Well, yeah.

Now I partially blame that on myself for misreading the trailer. When I saw the trailer I had hope and I thought, oh cool a movie where bad guys are bad guys but have to undergo training to be good guys in order to pull off a heist. Just a cute fun movie where villains so desperately want to do bad things but go through a rigorous training program to appear good, and funny can commence. Not at all what I got. It's a very by the numbers, basic, mostly predictable kids movie. I will fully admit I haven't seen a Dreamworks animated film since....shit, like Rise Of The Guardians and that was 2012! I honestly thought the studio closed down a while ago cause I just didn't see them attached to any projects. But anyway, the movie follows a group of animals in a strangely mostly human filled world, where they rob banks, do heists, and generally feed into their negative stereotypes. But when a heist goes wrong they fake a, "we'll go good this time pinky promise!", and make a tiny bit of a change before being framed for another crime. Yadda yadda, blah blah, this movie had exactly two twists I didn't fully expect but the rest was...God just so boring and predictable. The animation is really interesting, the backgrounds look painted at times but is a full 3D animated world, at first I thought it was another Spider-Verse style but it's honestly something new to my eyes so fair props to the design choices. The cast does quite good work but the script is what firmly buried this film for me, only getting a few chuckles and bits of intrigue out of me. I certainly wasn't expecting a great film, just a fun little distraction for 90 minutes that I could appreciate for it's merits. But unfortunately even Richard Ayoade couldn't salvage this film. I was having difficulty remembering even the title, I couldn't remember if it was The Good Guys or The Bad Guys and what a perfect summary of the film because I won't remember this in a day. 2 stars, 5/10, I am praying to the higher powers that we at least end on a high note with The Northman.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

Yet another contender so far for the top 10 list this year.

I knew I was gonna enjoy this movie before I walked in but honestly I loved it even more than I thought. The story is perfectly encapsulated in the trailer, with for real for real Nicolas Cage and not just a part where I just call him Nic Cage, is brought to a wealthy man's house who has supposed ties to a weapons cartel played by Pedro Pascal and is enlisted by the CIA to bring him down. Very rudimentary and basic synopsis cause a fair bit more than that happens. The best way I can truly describe the movie is this is Nic's Birdman, perfectly mixing reality with fiction and focusing on an actor who seems past his prime, throw in a bromance, and a surprisingly loving tribute to cinema as a whole and you have a damn good movie that I recommend to everyone. Needless to say the star power of Nic and Pedro is what hooked me, and it did not disappoint. The performances given are super funny, realistic enough but can be broad and fun, and incredibly endearing. The bonding moments were my favorite parts of the film, and while I can greatly appreciate and love the references to other pieces of cinema it wasn't distracting in a reference for reference sake but a delightful seasoning on top of an already great movie. I don't want to give much away, and feel the movie is best enjoyed if you go in with no real idea of the style and tone and just embrace the adventure as it unfolds. I got nothing but good things to say. Excellent cinematography at times, terrific cast, spot on humor that did the trick for me, an interesting and unique story that you can't fully anticipate, it's a wonderful time. I give it 4 stars, 9/10, and I hope it gets more recognition and love. But the cinema train is going through the whole weekend as well so stay tuned for more.

Face/Off

I really had no clue what I was in for.

Such an interesting movie, both in style and story but I can fully understand if it isn't someone's cup of tea. I'm fairly certain this is the first film I've seen of John Woo's filmography and I'm infinitely curious to see if any of the others fit this specific style. I will give some good points towards the plot, where a long standing feud between an FBI agent and a terrorist goes to new heights when the terrorist is apprehended but has one more ace up his sleeve, and information to his next act has to be procured in an interesting way. But the dynamic between hero and villain is the most intriguing part of the movie, and John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play their respective parts super well but then we get to the main crux. I'm still bewildered beyond words that after Nic is captured the very first idea that pops out in obtaining information on his biological bomb, is to literally undergo a face transplant to make John look like Nic. And it only gets wilder from there. Granted the movie sets it's tone expertly in the opening scene with batshit Nic on cloud nine, with one of the most overblown and highly unrealistic but still enjoyable action scenes I have seen in a long time. This is the epitome of action cop movie sequences, like it goes so out there and unashamedly so with sparks coming out of everything that gets hit, slow motion for no other reason than to have slowmo, shootouts where people stand on the roof of cars and point guns at each other while having conversations, and of course obvious wire work. Now I can appreciate that kind of pure Hollywood actionsploitation way of doing things, but I know it is not for everyone. You almost have had to have grown up on very specific kinds of action movies to fully enjoy this ride. But like I said the best part of the movie are our stars, and it is honest to God a super interesting and unique concept for a movie. Have the villain and hero swap places but still have it out for each other, collide some worlds just to see what happens, they do as much with the concept as the runtime allows and decently so. You can tell the actors are having a blast working with this material and the audience can enjoy it just as much, when Nicolas Cage is playing John Travolta who just so happens to look like Nicolas Cage there's a lot to read into that performance. I wouldn't mind seeing such a concept for a film in the future even if it doesn't have the gunplay and chases, it has that potential. While it is an absurdly ludicrous movie at times, I found it to be a decent one and can recommend it to some. 3 stars, 7/10, another week another new movie and no rest for the wicked.