NEGROMANCER 2.0: BAFTA nominee

Showing posts with label BAFTA nominee. Show all posts

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Review: "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES" Gets Personal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2024 (No. 1966) by Leroy Douresseaux

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback (based upon characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver)

PRODUCERS: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Seresin (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: William Hoy and Stan Salfas

COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/DRAMA/MILITARY

Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Ty Olsson, Michael Adamthwaite, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Devyn Dalton, Max Lloyd-Jones, and Amiah Miller

War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 American science fiction film and military drama directed by Matt Reeves. It is a direct sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and is also the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series.

It is the ninth entry in the overall Planet of the Apes film series, which began as an adaptation of the 1963 French science fiction novel, La planète des singes, by Pierre Boulle. In War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar goes on a quest for revenge as a mentally unstable military leader escalates the war between apes and humans.

Fifteen years earlier, the birth of “The Simian Flu” pandemic (as seen in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes) proved deadly to humans. The flu reduced the worldwide human population, and only 1 in 500 humans (.20 percent) are genetically immune to it. Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse. Five years earlier, the apes of the Muir Woods National Monument colony, led by the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis), clashed with the humans living in the ruins of San Francisco (as seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). The humans contacted the last remaining U.S. Army unit.

As War for the Planet of the Apes opens, “The Colonel” (Woody Harrelson), a ruthless leader of a paramilitary faction, has been hunting Caesar, whom he calls “Kong,” and his ape colony in the two years following the battle in the ruins of San Francisco. The colony is betrayed by turncoat apes that the humans call “donkeys,” and tragedy strikes close to Caesar. He sets his colony on a journey to reach a recently discovered oasis, while he begins his mythic quest for revenge.

Caesar's lieutenants: Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), Maurice (Karin Konoval), and Rocket (Terry Notary) insist on accompanying him. Along the way, they meet a mute human girl (Amiah Miller) and a lonely chimpanzee who can speak and calls himself “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn). Will Caesar's quest, however, endanger all his people instead of saving them? And is he dangerously ignorant of the true nature of the conflicts within the remaining groups of humans?

I have been a fan of the Planet of the Apes film ever since I saw the original film, Planet of the Apes (1968), back in the day when CBS broadcast it on a regular basis. Its sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), thrilled and chilled me. I also enjoyed Tim Burton's 2001 Planet of the Apes, a remake and re-imagining of the original film

In preparation for the new film in the franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), I decided to review the two films in the reboot franchise that I had not seen, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. I have previously seen and reviewed Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

I found Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to be a really entertaining film, with its director Matt Reeves spearheading a pulpy, post-apocalyptic drama that thrives on inter-tribal conflict. However, I didn't find Dawn's drama to be quite as substantive as its predecessor, mainly because this film focuses so much on the apes that the film glosses over the human characters that have the most potential.

In War for the Planet of the Apes, it is much the same, but this film is the pinnacle of the first three films in ape acting via motion-capture and voice performances. Here, Reeves wrings much more emotion from the characters, story, and settings. Andy Serkis hits the heights as Caesar, his best performance of the first three films. There are also numerous other fine supporting ape performances. Through these characters, Reeves presents a film in which the emotion is raw and real and drives the drama to be more powerful than even this film's best action scenes.

On the other hand, there is only one exceptional human character, that would be the mute orphan girl, and Amiah Miller gives an exceptional physical performance as the child. Using facial expressions and hand movements, she gives the girl such personality that the audience will come to buy her as a legitimate member of Caesar's tribe rather than as a random human. Woody Harrelson has played so many kooky characters, and The Colonel is not one of the better ones. It is as if Harrelson has done the crazy dude thing so much that he didn't know where to take that kind of character for this film.

War for the Planet of the Apes improves on the plots, characters, elements and ideas introduced in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It is a fine end to what we might call “the Caesar trilogy.” Dear readers, you can't go forward in the Planet of the Apes franchise without seeing War for the Planet of the Apes.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 9, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, and Joel Whist)

2015 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, and Joel Whist)

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Sunday, May 5, 2024

Review: "DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" Goes Ape Sh*t

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2024 (No. 1965) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

WRITERS: Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (based upon characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver)

PRODUCERS: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Seresin (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: William Hoy and Stan Salfas

COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino

Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/ACTION/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Toby Kebbell, Nick Thurston, Karin Konoval, and Judy Greer

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction-thriller, action, and drama film directed by Matt Reeves. It is a direct sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and is also the second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series.

It is the eighth entry in the overall Planet of the Apes film series, which began as an adaptation of the 1963 French science fiction novel, La planète des singes, by Pierre Boulle. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, apes and humans are thrown together for the first time in years, and a fragile peace is threatened by mistrust and betrayal.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens ten years after the birth of “The Simian Flu” pandemic (as seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Deadly to humans, the flu has reduced the worldwide human population, and only 1 in 500 humans (.20 percent) are genetically immune to it. Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse.

There was a large group of apes that were all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus. They established a colony in the Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco. Their leader is the chimpanzee, Caesar (Andy Serkis), who protects the colony with his lieutenants. Among them is the sinister and treacherous bonobo, Koba (Toby Kebbell).

One day, for the first time in years, apes and humans meet. A group of humans, led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), unknowingly enters the apes' territory in search of a hydroelectric dam that could restore power to a rag tag human community living in the ruins of San Francisco. As level-headed as Malcolm is, there are hotheads among the humans, like their leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), an ex-police officer. Among the apes, Koba is the hothead, but a fragile peace develops between the two tribes. However, mistrust and betrayal threaten to plunge both humans and apes in a terrible war for control of the San Francisco area and ultimately, for dominance over the Earth.

I was skeptical of Rise of the Planet of the Apes when it was first release, but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I first saw it. I could not believe how exceptionally well made it was. As we all prepare for the impending release of the franchise's latest film, 2024's Kingdom of the Planets of the Apes, I am going back to watch and review, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a really entertaining film. Director Matt Reeves has spearheaded a pulpy, post-apocalyptic drama that thrives on inter-tribal conflict. However, I don't think Dawn's drama is quite as substantive as its predecessor, mainly because this film focuses so much on the apes that, except for Malcolm, the film glosses over the human characters that have the most potential.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a true Planet of the Apes film. The apes are more important, and the humans exist mainly to cause conflict among the apes. Rise of the Planet of the Apes's drama was more grounded in reality, and its subplots mattered beyond being fuel to light the flames of conflict. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is very well made and is fun to watch. Still, I feel like I'm waiting for a bigger and more important film.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, May 5, 2024

NOTES:

2015 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, and Erik Winquist)

2015 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, and Daniel Barrett)

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Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Review: Stanley Kubrick's "THE KILLING" is Still Killer Noir

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 85 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Killing (1956) – B&W

Running time: 85 minutes (1 hour, 25 minutes)

DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick

WRITERS: Stanley Kubrick with Jim Thompson for additional dialogue (based upon the novel by Lionel White)

PRODUCER: James B. Harris

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lucien Ballard

EDITOR: Betty Steinberg

COMPOSER: Gerald Fried

FILM-NOIR/CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook, Jr., Marie Windsor, Ted DeCorsia, Joe Sawyer, James Edwards, Timothy Carey, Joseph Turkel, Jay Adler, Kola Kwariani, and Art Gilmore (narrator)

The Killing is a 1956 American Film-Noir thriller and crime drama from director Stanley Kubrick. The film is based upon the 1955 novel, Clean Break, from author Lionel White. The film follows a veteran criminal who assembles a five-man team to help him pull off a daring racetrack robbery.

Mention Stanley Kubrick’s name and most film fans will immediately think of his films such as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, or later Kubrick films like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. Not many will remember the film that first earned him the notice of Hollywood heavyweights like Kirk Douglas and Marlon Brando, a terrific little film-noir gem called, The Killing.

After spending five years in Alcatraz, ex-convict Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) decides that if he’s going to commit crimes, the reward should be worth the risk, and he’s found one that’s very worth the risk – a million dollar heist of a racetrack. Clay masterminds a brilliant and complicated scheme to steal $2,000,000, and recruits several conspirators including track employees and a crooked cop. The only flaw in Johnny’s near-perfect plan is that one of his gang members, George Peatty (Elisha Cook), tells his shrewish wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the planned robbery, and she shares it with her boyfriend. Add a little dog and things get complicated very quickly.

The Killing is one of the best heist films I’ve ever seen. A superb cast of character actors, most used to playing tough guys, policeman, and shady types, gives this film a solid Film-Noir atmosphere and creates a edgy, taunt little thriller that you can’t stop watching until its concluded. Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay as a firm, no-nonsense guy that any hood would follow, and in a quiet, subtle fashion, he gives this film added edge.

Stanley Kubrick shaped The Killing using a non-linear structure, in which the narrative moves backwards and forwards in time. Many viewers will recognize non-linear structure as a Quentin Tarantino signature style in such films as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. In fact, Tarantino credits The Killing with influencing his decision to shape his film narratives in a non-linear structure.

The film has a few problems that keep it from being a truly great film. Art Gilmore’s narration is poor, delivered in that stereotypical monotone used for crime films. Some of the dialogue is a bit too stiff, and the film drags much of the first half hour. However, The Killing pays off the viewers’ patience quite handsomely in the form of an excellent crime film about small time hoods masterminding the perfectly plotted heist.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Original Post: Sunday, June 03, 2007

EDITED: Wednesday, May 1, 2024

NOTES:

1957 BAFTA Film Award: 1 nomination: “Best Film from any Source” (USA)

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

Review: Pixar's "TURNING RED" is Universal and Unique

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2024 (No. 1952) by Leroy Douresseaux

Turning Red (2022)

Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)

MPA – PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

DIRECTOR: Domee Shi

WRITERS: Domee Shi and Julie Cho; from a story by Domee Shi, Julie Cho, and Sarah Streicher

PRODUCER: Lindsey Collins

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Mahyar Abousaeedi and Jonathan Pytko

EDITORS: Nicholas C. Smith with Steve Bloom

COMPOSER: Ludwig Goransson

SONGS: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O'Connell, and James Hong

Turning Red is a 2022 animated fantasy and comedy-drama film directed by Domee Shi and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is Pixar's 25th full-length animated feature film, and it is the first to be solely directed by a woman. Turning Red focuses on a teen girl who is dealing with her demanding mother and the changes of adolescence when she suddenly discovers that becoming really excited causes her to turn into a giant red panda.

Turning Red opens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2002. It introduces a Chinese-Canadian girl, 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang). She lives with her parents, mother Ming (Sandra Oh) and father Jin (Orion Lee). Mei is a dutiful daughter to her mother who calls her “Mei-Mei,” and she helps take care of the family's temple, “the Lee Family Temple,” one of the the oldest temples in Toronto. The temple honors the Lee family ancestors instead of gods, and it is dedicated to Mei's maternal ancestor Sun Yee.

Mei is also dedicated to a trio of girl friends: Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park), and all three of them are dedicated fans of the boy band, “4*Town.” Life is busy, but it's about to get complicated. The morning after a night of humiliation, Mei wakes up to discover that she has been transformed into a giant red panda. This is a condition that happens when Mei is overly excited, but it can be cured. But what does Mei really want?

In the early days of the Disney+ streaming service and in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walt Disney Company released three Pixar feature films as direct-to-streaming releases: Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red, declining wide theatrical releases for the films. These were and still are three of Pixar's greatest films, but they are finally getting belated theatrical releases in early 2024. [Soul in January 2024; Turning Red in February 2024; and Luca in March 2024.]

Turning Red is an incredible coming-of-age story, and like Pixar's Oscar-winning Brave (2012), it is a story of transformations and of mother-daughter relationships and all the love and support and trials and tribulations that come with it. Its beautiful, terracotta-like colors amplify the film's sense of magic and magical realism. The variety of faces, body types, skin colors, hair styles, and clothes and costumes are a testament of how culturally expansive Pixar's films set in the human world are. Everything about Turning Red invites the entire world of moviegoers to come along on this timeless, universal tale of a child coming into her own and learning to love herself as she is becoming and to love her parents for what they were, are, and can be.

Domee Shi and her co-writers, Julie Cho and Sarah Streicher, have created a character, a world, and a scenario of which I believe I can be a part. I am an old-ass Black man, a million miles away from a 13-year-old Canadian girl of Chinese descent, but Turning Red makes me understand that what the girl experiences are in some ways similar to what I've experienced. In a way, I am jealous of Turning Red and of Meilin Lee because I could never embrace the messy strangeness in me to the extent that she does. I definitely did not want my freak flag fluttering in the wind too much.

There is so much to like in this film. As usual, the animation is up to Pixar's astronomical standards, and Ludwig Goransson's score infuses itself into the film so much that it seems as if the animation is performing a concert. Speaking of music, I'm embarrassed to admit that I like 4*Town, the band, and its three songs performed in the movie, which are written by the sister-brother team of Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. And I couldn't love the movie if I wasn't crazy about actress Rosalie Chiang's multi-layered and energetic voice performance as Mei. Chiang makes Mei feel like a real girl, genuine child in the throes of change and transformation.

Some have said that Turning Red's setting and its lead character, Mei, make the film not timeless and universal like Pixar's other films. They can go screw themselves. Turning Red is universal like other Pixar films and also unlike other Pixar films. Turning Red is Pixar high art and Disney magic, and it is a truly great film that I plan on watching again and again.

10 of 10

Sunday, February 11, 2024

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 BAFTA Film Awards: 1 nominee: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nominee: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”

2023 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nominee: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”

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Thursday, January 11, 2024

Review: "SALTBURN" is not Salty, nor Does it Burn

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 of 2024 (No. 1945) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saltburn (2023)

Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)

MPA – R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Emerald Fennell

PRODUCERS: Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, and Margot Robbie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Victoria Boydell

COMPOSER: Anthony Willis

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, Alison Oliver, Sadie Soverall, Paul Rhys, and Carey Mulligan

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REVIEW SUMMARY:

-- The new film from the writer-director of Emerald Fennell has an intriguing premise and is actually intriguing for about its first hour.

-- Their are few good performances, particularly by Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and Archie Madekwe. Sadly, the movie focuses on its least interesting character, Oliver Quick, played by one of the hottest dull actors around, Barry Keoghan.

-- Saltburn is mainly for adventurous movie fans. Viewers looking to be entertained may want to look for a movie that is less stiff.

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Saltburn is a 2023 psychological drama and black comedy from writer-director Emerald Fennell. The film follows a new student at Oxford University who is drawn into the world of a charming and aristocratic classmate, which leads to a tragic summer at the classmate's family's sprawling estate.

Saltburn introduces Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a scholarship student at Oxford University. Oliver struggles to fit in due to his inexperience with upper-class manners and deportment. However, one of Oliver's fellow students does capture his imagination, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), an affluent and popular student. It turns out that Felix is empathetic to Oliver and his stories of his parents' substance abuse and mental health issues.

After Oliver becomes distraught when he learns of his father's sudden death, Felix comforts him. Later, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family's sprawling estate, Saltburn. Oliver meets Felix's eccentric parents, his father, Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), and his mother, Lady Elspeth Catton (Rosamund Pike). He also meets Felix's kooky and lewd sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). Also staying at the state is fellow Oxford student and Felix's first cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), who thinks very little of Oliver. As the summer wears on, however, these unlikable people become too self-absorbed to recognize the danger so very near to them.

I was a huge fan of Saltburn writer-director Emerald Fennell's 2020, Promising Young Woman, for which Fennell won a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar. Promising Young Woman was a shocking, funny, vindictive, and righteous film, and which is much more than I can say about Saltburn, which looks like a sumptuous period drama. On the other hand, for all its good looks, Saltburn is sterile as a black comedy.

I can deal with a film that focuses on unlikable people, which Saltburn does. Still, I found Saltburn's lead actor, Barry Keoghan, and his character, Oliver Quick, dull and unimaginative. I don't get Keoghan's critical acclaim. He was pitiful and sad in The Banshees of Inisherin (2020), which earned him a “Best Supporting Actor” Oscar nomination. However, sad, silent waif characters bore me, and Keoghan's Oliver Quick is duller than his Dominic Kearney was in Banshees. Here, Keoghan's personality-free performance in this film does not convince me that Oliver is what the film's final act suggests he is. Honestly, what Fennell offers here is nothing more than a riff on novelist Patricia Highsmith's literary character, "Tom Ripley," if Ripley were played as a character that was stuffed and mounted. Also, I must admit to often mistaking Keoghan for another milky white boy actor, Ezra Miller (The Flash), who did the pale, waif thing really well until his... secrets came out.

I like Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton, a funny and charming character, and Elordi's boyish, white boy looks should give him at least a few years in Hollywood as a “hot thing.” The film's best performance is given by Archie Madekwe, the Black British actor who creates Saltburn's most intriguing character. As the “mixed-race” Farleigh Start, Madekwe is mysterious and sexy, and honestly, I wish Saltburn was about Farleigh's relationship with the Cattons and his life at Saltburn. I should also admit that I'm always crazy about Rosamund Pike, so I was in love with Lady Elspeth.

Ultimately, I can only recommend Saltburn to adventurous movie fans who are always on the lookout for films from interesting filmmakers, which Emerald Fennell certainly is. I simply wish that Saltburn burned a little more.

5 of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

You can stream the SALTBURN film here on AMAZON Prime Video.

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Saturday, December 16, 2023

Review: First "CHICKEN RUN" Runs Wild at the End

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 of 2023 (No. 1943) by Leroy Douresseaux

Chicken Run (2000)

Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

MPAA – G

DIRECTORS: Peter Lord and Nick Park

WRITERS: Karey Kirkpatrick; from a story by Peter Lord and Nick Park

PRODUCERS: Peter Lord, Nick Park, and David Sproxton

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dave Alex Riddett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Mark Solomon

COMPOSERS: Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell

BAFTA nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring: (voices): Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Tony Haygarth, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, and Benjamin Whitrow

Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animated fantasy and comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. It is a British, French, and U.S. co-production produced by Pathe and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Chicken Run was Aardman's first feature-length animated film and, as of this writing, remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in worldwide box office history. Chicken Run is set at a British chicken farm where the chickens hope that an American chicken can help them escape the farm's vicious owners.

Chicken Run opens in post World War II England, specifically at an egg farm that is run like a prisoner-of-war camp. The farm is owned and operated by the cruel Mrs. Malisha Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and her submissive husband, Mr. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth), who eat and kill any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. Inside the chicken yard, a rebellious chicken, Ginger (Julia Sawalha), is constantly engaged in escape attempts. Her goal is to help all her fellow chickens escape the farm and find a new home in the land that lies behind a hill some distance from the Tweedy's farm.

One night, Ginger witnesses a rooster glide over the coop's fences. She learns that he is an American rooster, Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson), a.k.a. “Rocky the Flying Rooster” a.k.a. “Rocky the Rhode Island Red.” Believing that Rocky can fly, Ginger begs him to help teach her and the other chickens how to fly so that they can escape the farm. Rocky is not quite what he seems, however, and time is running out as Mrs. Tweedy has devised a new way to get more money out of the farm's large population of chickens.

I have been putting off seeing Chicken run for 23 years. Then, I discovered that a sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, was set to debut on Netflix December 15, 2023, so I decided to finally watch it. I am a fan of the later feature-length animated films that Aardman Animations produced in partnership with DreamWorks Animation, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). I have also enjoyed a few of Aardman's animated short films, including A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (1989) and Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993).

In the end, I like Chicken Run, not as much as I like other Aardman works I've seen. Chicken Run takes some inspiration from director John Sturges 1963 war and adventure film, The Great Escape. Chicken Run is also described as an adventure film, but it is really a sedate comedy and drama that only occasionally plays with its edgier elements. Honestly, I think the storytellers under-utilize the Tweedys who are delightfully menacing and are endlessly funny as a dysfunctional couple. The film is filled with interesting characters, inventive production design, and a novel plot, but the filmmakers seem to keep holding back the narrative's energy for the big ending – more than they need to as far as I'm concerned.

Chicken Run does not really live up to its comic and adventure potential until the last 20 minutes of the story before the end credits start. The film suddenly seems to wind up and then explode in a final act of flying contraptions, determined poultry, and maniacal farmers. In fact, the finale is the first time in the film that Mel Gibson's Rocky does not seem like an extraneous character. I will try to see the sequel on Netflix, but for the time being, finally seeing Chicken Run seems to be the only run I really need to make at the story.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 16, 2023

NOTES:

2001 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and Nick Park) and “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Paddy Eason, Mark Nelmes, and Dave Alex Riddett)

2001 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical”

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Monday, September 4, 2023

Review: "THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS" is a Masterpiece

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 125 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Les Invasion Barbares (2003)

The Barbarian Invasions (2003) – U.S. title

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/France; Language: French/English

Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

MPAA – R for language, sexual dialogue, and content

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Denys Arcand

PRODUCERS: Daniel Louis and Denise Robert

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Guy Dufaux

EDITOR: Isabelle Dedieu

COMPOSER: Pierre Aviat

Academy Award winner

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal, Dominique Michel, Yves Jacques, Pierre Curzi, Marie-Josée Croze, Marina Hands, Toni Cecchinato, and Mitsou Gélinas

Les Invasions barbares is a 2003 comedy and drama written and directed by Denys Arcand. A Canadian and French co-production, the film was released in the U.S. under the title, The Barbarian Invasions, the title I will used for this review. The Barbarian Invasions focuses on a dying man, who during his final days, is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.

Arcand’s The Barbarian Invasion won the Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004. A sequel to Arcand's 1986 film, The Decline of the American Empire, The Barbarian Invasions received only one other Oscar nomination, which was for best original screenplay (written by Arcand), and that was and still is ridiculous. Considering the performances and Arcand’s direction, the film should have received at least a few more.

The Barbarian Invasions is the story of 50-ish Rémy (Rémy Girard) and his family. He is dying of cancer and is laid up in a Montreal hospital. His ex-wife, Louise (Dorothée Berryman), summons home their son, Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau), who is estranged from his father and is living in London. Sébastien, a rich oil trader for a huge British firm, is, in a sense, a disappointment to his father. The son is a wealthy capitalist and the father was an arm chair, leftist, radical type.

Soon after he arrives, Sébastien uses his money and connections to fight the entrenched Canadian nationalized health system, and he gets Rémy a private room and other amenities. But the most difficult part of the prodigal son’s return home is the reconciliation between father and son.

The most amazing thing about this thoroughly beautiful film is that Arcand is able to tell the story of a father trying to redeem himself, of a son trying to put aside his anger at this father, and of a man trying to find meaning in a life he believes that he lazily kept so modest and have still more sub-plots, philosophies, and ideas. The film also deals with mother/daughter relationships, the drug war, drug addiction, personal and professional failure, the Canadian health system, socialism, infidelity, friendship, politics, religion, genocide, and barbarian invasions of civilization. Arcand does all of this without losing the central, human focus of his lovely movie. Filled with rich performances, subtle humor, and endearing characters, The Barbarian Invasions is the best film of the year.

10 of 10

Re-edited: Saturday, September 2, 2023

NOTES:

2004 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Canada); 1 nomination: “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Denys Arcand)

2004 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Screenplay-Original” (Denys Arcand) and “Best Film not in the English Language” (Denise Robert, Daniel Louis, and Denys Arcand)

2004 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Canada)

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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Review: "INDIANA JONES and the Last Crusade" Stills Feels Like a True Ending

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 of 2023 (No. 1917) by Leroy Douresseaux

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

WRITERS: Jeffrey Boam; from a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes (based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman)

PRODUCER: Robert Watts

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Douglas Slocombe (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Michael Kahn, A.C.E.

COMPOSER: John Williams

Academy Award winner

ADVENTURE/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliot, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, and Michael Sheard

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 action-adventure film from director Steven Spielberg. It is the third entry in the “Indiana Jones” film franchise that began with the 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The Last Crusade finds Indiana Jones searching for his father, who along with the Nazis, are search for the Holy Grail.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade opens in Utah, 1912. It is there that teenage Henry Jones, Jr. (River Phoenix) has his first experiences with raiders of an archaeological site.

Over a quarter-century later, in 1938, Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford) recovers the treasure he lost as a teenager. Jones returns to teaching (apparently at Barnett College in Fairfield, New York) when one of the college's wealthy patrons approaches him about a special mission. Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) wants Jones to help him locate the Holy Grail.

Jones informs him that his father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr. (Sean Connery), is the expert on the Holy Grail and the one whom Donovan should seek. Donovan shocks Jones by informing him that he had hired his father to find the Grail, but the senior Jones has disappeared. Jones and his colleague, Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), race to Venice, his father's last known location. Waiting for them is Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who was working with the elder Jones in Venice as he sought to find more clues about the Grail's location.

Before long, Indiana Jones and Henry Jones Sr. are racing for their lives, staying one step ahead of the Nazis, who also want the Grail, and the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, who want to protect it. Reunited with his old friend, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), the Jones boys get closer to the Holy Grail, but the secret of the Grail is that it offers both eternal life and total destruction.

In preparation for the upcoming fifth film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I decided to see the one Indiana Jones film that I have not watched in its entirety since the 1990s, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I have seen the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, countless times, and I rewatched its follow-up, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), in November of last year (2022). I have watched the fourth film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), many times since its release.

I have long considered Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade the true end of the Indiana Jones film series because it was the third film in the original trilogy and because it felt like the end of something. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull felt like a “coda,” in the sense that it was both an addition to the three-film series that ran from 1981 to 1989 and a final piece added to the ending of The Last Crusade's tale of family and friends out for one last adventure.

Seeing The Last Crusade in its entirety for the first time in decades, I still feel like I'm watching the end of trilogy. If there was going to be another film after it, that ceased to be when River Phoenix, the actor who played teen Henry Jones, Jr. in this film, died in 1993 at the age of 23. Actor Denholm Elliot, who played Marcus Brody in the original film and in The Last Crusade, died at the age of 70, a year earlier in 1992. Henry Jones Sr., actor Sean Connery, only recently died (2020) at the age of 90. So, you see, dear readers, because of the passing of a number of cast members, more and more, I associate Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with endings.

The Last Crusade is my least favorite film of the original trilogy. I know that some audiences prefer it to the darker Temple of Doom, and apparently, director Steven Spielberg made The Last Crusade the way he did to offer a lighter film in response to the criticism of the Temple of Doom's violence and exotic mysticism. However, I find Temple of Doom to be wildly inventive, darkly imaginative, and a roller coaster ride. If Raiders of the Lost Ark is an original, in a way, Temple of Doom still seems determined to be something very different from its predecessor.

Honestly, I find The Last Crusade to be only mildly entertaining until the film's last 45 minutes. Then, it explodes and really finds itself with lots of Nazi-punching and killing and also with a spine-tingling jaunt to the Holy Grail. Besides, Indiana Jones is always at his best when he's beating Nazis. Honestly, I think it is important that audiences who have not seen the original films watch them all before moving on to the new film. By the time they get to the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, many newbies may finally understand what Indiana Jones meant to American cinema once upon a time, and why, over four decades after the release of the first film, there is a new one.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

You can purchase the "INDIANA JONES 4-Movie Collection" Blu-ray or DVD here at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1990 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns); 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, Shawn Murphy, and Tony Dawe), and “Best Music, Original Score” (John Williams)

1990 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Sean Connery), “Best Sound” (Richard Hymns, Tony Dawe, Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, and Shawn Murphy), and “Best Special Effects” (George Gibbs, Michael J. McAlister, Mark Sullivan, and John Ellis)

1990 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Sean Connery)

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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Review: Entertaining "TRIANGLE OF SADNESS" is Not as Clever or as Sharp As it Thinks It Is

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2023 (No. 1910) by Leroy Douresseaux

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Running time: 147 minutes (2 hour, 27 minutes)

MPA – R for language and some sexual content

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rubin Östlund

PRODUCERS: Philippe Bober and Erik Hemmendorff

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fredrik Wenzel (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Mikel Cee Karlsson and Rubin Östlund

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Vicki Berlin, Dolly De Leon, Zlatko Buric, Sunnyi Melles, Iris Berben, Amanda Walker, Oliver Ford Davies, Ralph Schicha, Henrik Dorsin, Jean-Christophe Folly, Alicia Eriksson, and Woody Harrelson

Triangle of Sadness is a 2022 satirical film and black comedy from writer-director Ruben Östlund. It is the Swedish Östlund's first English-language film, and it is an international co-production between four nations: Sweden, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The film follows a celebrity couple, who are both fashion models, as they join a doomed luxury cruse for the super-rich.

Triangle of Sadness introduces Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean). Yaya is a successful fashion model, and Carl is male model, who is not as successful as Yaya. Yaya expects Carl to pay for their meals, although she makes more money than him, and her ambition is to be a trophy wife. Yaya is an “influencer,” and she is in a relationship with Carl for the social media engagement it earns them.

Carl and Yaya are invited on a luxury cruise aboard a super-yacht in exchange for its social media promotion. Among the wealthy guests are the Russian oligarch, Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), and his wife, Vera (Sunnyi Melles), and Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a lonely tech millionaire who flirts with Yaya. Paula (Vicki Berlin), the tightly wound head of the ship's staff, demands that the staff obey the guests' every request, even the absurd ones. The ship's Captain (Woody Harrelson) will not leave his room and seems to be drunk all the time. The captain's neglect of his duties, Paula's insistence on placating the super-wealthy guests, and the guests crazy demands culminate in a single disastrous evening.

Eventually, a small group of the yacht's guests, including Carl and Yaya, find themselves on what seems to be a deserted island. Now, the balance of power has shifted from the wealthy and powerful to a rather skillful cleaning woman, Abigail (Dolly De Leon). Will the guests adjust to this new status, and how well will they adjust?

There are some fun, outrageous, and outrageously funny material, moments, and scenes in Triangle of Sadness. The film critiques and mocks the obscenely wealthy, but I think that its strongest points are made when it takes swipes at how some people get rich and famous. Some are wealthy because they sell things that are destructive to humanity (things used in war), and some are rich and famous … for being rich and famous. Some people's wealth does not make their lives better, such as the lonely Jarmo. Some, like the Russian, Dimitry, merely happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right stuff to sell.

For all his film's political commentary and moral lessons, writer-director Ruben Östlund seems to be a tad too mannered. It's as if he doesn't know that while his film is edgy, he seems to be dulling the sharp edges that would really go after his social and political targets. Is Östlund saying that the super-rich and famous are obscene and that they need to be brought down to the level of ordinary people in order to regain their humanity? By the end of the film, it seems that way.

I would recommend Triangle of Sadness (which takes its title from a modeling term used in the film) to fans of foreign movies. Most movie fans can get a similar message, more or less, from the classic Eddie Murphy-Dan Aykroyd film, Trading Places (1983). I like Triangle of Sadness because it is a genuinely good film, but it feels like Ruben Östlund left the hardness of its allegories and metaphors on the cutting room floor.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober), “Best Original Screenplay” (Ruben Östlund), and “Best Achievement in Directing” (Ruben Östlund)

2023 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Supporting Actress” (Dolly De Leon), “Best Casting” (Pauline Hansson), and “Best Screenplay-Original” (Ruben Östlund)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture” (Dolly De Leon)

2022 Cannes Film Festival: 2 wins: “Palme d'Or” (Ruben Östlund) and “CST Artist-Technician Prize” (Andreas Franck, Bent Holm, Jacob Ilgner, and Jonas Rudels)

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Sunday, April 16, 2023

Review: "PUSS IN BOOTS: The Last Wish" is a Delightful Surprise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 17 of 2023 (No. 1906) by Leroy Douresseaux

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

MPA – PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments

DIRECTOR: Joel Crawford with Januel Mercado

WRITERS: Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow; from a story by Tom Wheeler and Tommy Swerdlow

PRODUCER: Mark Swift

EDITOR: James Ryan

COMPOSER: Heitor Pereira

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring: (voices) Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Coleman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Kevin McCann, Anthony Mendez, and Bernardo De Paula

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a 2022 computer-animated fantasy-adventure film directed by Joel Crawford and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is a sequel to Puss in Boots (2011) and is also the sixth installment in the Shrek film franchise. The Last Wish focuses on Puss in Boots' epic journey to gain the wish that will restore the eight of his nine lives that he has lost.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opens in the town of Del Mar. There, the renowned hero and outlaw, Puss in Boots (Antionio Banderas), hosts a party and later, saves the town from a giant. After being injured during his battle with a giant, Puss sees a local doctor (Anthony Mendez) who informs him that he has used eight of his nine lives. [I'm assuming that you, dear readers, are familiar with the superstitious belief that cats have nine lives]. The doctor urges Puss to retire from adventuring before he loses his ninth and final life.

Puss refuses to retire, but then, he has an unfortunate encounter with a menacing, bounty-hunting. Known as Wolf (Wagner Moura), he is garbed in a black robe and hood and wields twin sickles, and he is so fearsome that Puss has to flee. While on the run, Puss learns of the magical “Wishing Star,” which can grant a single wish to someone bearing the map to its location. Puss begins his journey to the Star's location, the “Dark Forest.” Joining him on his journey is Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), the savvy Tuxedo cat he apparently betrayed, and also a small dog that Puss and Kitty call “Perrito” (Harvey Guillén). But they aren't the only ones looking for the Wishing Star.

I was happy to hear about Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. When I first saw the original, Puss in Boots, I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is like its fellow DreamWorks Animation 2022 stablemate, The Bad Guys. Both films take inspiration for their production design from Sony Pictures Animation's 2018, Oscar-winning film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which mixes both a 3D and a 2D aesthetic in its design. I think The Last Wish looks closer to Into the Spider-Verse than The Bad Guys does, but neither film electrifies the screen the way the Spider-Man film did.

Like its predecessor, The Last Wish has a lead character who is part Zorro and part Valentino. Puss in Boots is a charming rogue, the kind of character that can drive a swashbuckling adventure film to success. However, The Last Wish requires a character to not only undergo a character arc, but also to evolve. To that end, Antonio Banderas gives a performance with more humor and pathos than most actors give in live-action roles. By the time The Last Wish ends, Banderas has me wishing real hard for a third film in this series.

As Kitty Softpaws, Salma Hayek makes the most of her moments. The character doesn't get the space to roam dramatically that Puss does, but Hayek makes Kitty seem like a character that could carry her own movie. Actor Harvey Guillén keeps Perrito the dog perfectly cute for this film, because he is just the kind of character that can quickly go from lovable to annoying.

The rest of the characters in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish come across as extraneous. The “Three Bears Crime Family,” which includes Goldilocks (Florence Pugh), Mama Bear (Olivia Colman), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo), and also the crime lord, “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney), don't feel so important to the story that they could not be replaced with other famous fairy tale characters. They aren't bad characters, but they seem to exist in The Last Wish for no other reason than to be part of this film's big action set pieces. But Wagner Moura is awesome as the magnificent “Wolf.” The film could have used more of him and less of the other “criminals.”

Still, Antonio Banderas once again makes Puss in Boots an animated character worthy of headlining his own films. Hopefully, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is not the last Puss in Boots film.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, April 16, 2023

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 1nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Joel Crawford and Mark Swift)

2023 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Joel Crawford and Mark Swift)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”

2023 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nomination: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”

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Friday, June 24, 2022

Review: "PARALLEL MOTHERS" is Another Almodovar-Cruz Masterpiece

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2022 (No. 1851) by Leroy Douresseaux

Parallel Mothers (2021)
Original title: Madres paralelas
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPA – R for some sexuality
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCERS: Augustin Almodóvar and Esther Garcia
CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Teresa Font
COMPOSER: Alberto Iglesias
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Penelope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Julieta Serrano, Adelfa Clavo, Carmen Flores, Ainhoa Santamaria, and Rossy de Palma

Madres paralelas is a 2021 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film is also known by its English release title, Parallel Mothers (the title I will use for this review). The film focuses on two mothers who give birth on the same day causing them to bond in unexpected ways.

Parallel Mothers introduces Janis Martínez (Penelope Cruz), a highly considered magazine photographer. She does a photo shoot with renowned forensic archaeologist, Arturo (Israel Elejalde). She asks him if his foundation will help excavate a mass grave in her home village, where she believes her great-grandfather and other men from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). After he agrees to review the case with his foundation, Arturo has sexual relations with Janis, who becomes pregnant.

Later, Janis shares a hospital room with Ana Manso (Milena Smit), a teen single mother, and the two end up giving birth at the same time. Janis has a daughter whom she names “Cecilia,” and Ana a daughter she names “Anita.” The women promise to stay in touch, but Janis makes a series of shocking discoveries that will change both their lives.

Parallel Mothers is obviously an acting showcase for Penelope Cruz, who wastes no time exercising her prodigious talents. Cruz won numerous awards and received even more nominations for her performance as Janis Martinez. Writer-director Pedro Almodovar has spent his four-decade career in film making writing wonderful roles for women that result is wonderful films featuring an eclectic group of actresses.

Parallel Mothers' women are united across time by the bonds of motherhood, family, friendship, and loss. They are the speakers for the dead and the nurtures of men, but they also nurture and support and lift-up the other women in their lives. This is the uplift that Janis will provide for Ana, played by actress Milena Smit as a pixie of a girl in need of mothering. Janis and Ana are the solid center and radiant soul of this film about the complications and twists, the pain and the glory, and joy, sadness, and bittersweet nature of being a mother.

The film has a subplot involving the Spanish Civil War, which is the impetus for the Janis and Arturo conceiving a child. The search for the missing graves in her village, a grave that will hold the remains of her great-grandfather and the grandfathers of other women she knows is also part of the film's theme of loss and separation. These men, murdered in the civil war, should ultimately have a decent burial, and Janis and the other women will see to that.

Pedro Almodovar offers a film that is as raw and unflinching as it is beautiful. He draws out performances that are unashamedly naked and vulnerable in their depictions and displays of emotions, in a way American films tend to avoid, even Oscar-bait films. Sometimes Almodovar can be riotous and uproarious, but other times he can be uncannily intimate, as he is here. Sometimes, I feel unworthy of viewing his amazing films, which are so different and so much more daring than what I usually watch. Parallel Mothers is one of 2021's very best films and reveals that the Spanish maestro is, as usual, in top form.

10 of 10

Friday, June 24, 2022

NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Penelope Cruz) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)

2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar and Augustin Almodovar)

2022 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language” (Spain) and Best Original Score – Motion Picture (Alberto Iglesias)

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Thursday, June 23, 2022

Review: "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is Still Fresh and Vibrant

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2022 (No. 1850) by Leroy Douresseaux

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Original title: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios"
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCER: Pedro Almodóvar
CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: José Salcedo
COMPOSER: Bernardo Bonezzi
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/COMEDY

Starring: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, Maria Berranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, and Fernando Guillen

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios is a 1988 Spanish comedy and drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film is also known by its English release title, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (the title I will use for this review). The film focuses on a television actress who encounters a variety of eccentric characters as she tries to make contact with her lover who recently and abruptly left her.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown introduces television actress, Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura), who was recently dumped by her lover, Ivan (Fernando Guillen). They are both voice actors who dub foreign language films into Spanish, and Ivan's sweet-talking voice is the same one he uses in his work. Pepa knows that Ivan is about to leave on a trip … with another woman. He has even asked Pepa to pack his things in a suitcase that he will pick up later.

However, Pepa just wants to talk to Ivan. She really needs to talk to him, but he seems to be avoiding her. She never catches him at home and leaves messages on his telephone answering machine. He leaves voice messages on her machine, always seeming to call when she is unavailable. Her life is spiraling out of control, especially as an ever increasing number of eccentric characters, some connected to Ivan, start gathering around her. Their lives are apparently spiraling out of control, too.

There is her friend Candela (Maria Berranco), who is afraid of the police because she had a brief sexual encounter with a man who turns out to be a “Shiite terrorist.” He later returned to her, bringing a few terrorists colleagues, and they are planning a terrorist attack. Candela is more afraid of going to jail than having had a sexual relationship with a terrorist.

Ivan's son, Carlos (Antonio Banderas), arrives at Pepa's penthouse, with his snobbish fiancée, Marisa (Rossy de Palma). They are apartment-hunting and are interested in Pepa's place. Pepa meets the feminist and lawyer, Paulina (Kiti Mánver), who has a past with Ivan's family and may be connected to them now. Carlos describes his mother, Lucia (Julieta Serrano), Ivan's previous lover, as “crazy,” and she is apparently out of her mental hospital and on the way to Pepa's for a confrontation. Meanwhile, what is Ivan up to?

The original Spanish title of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios – is evidently not about a “nervous breakdown.” The “ataque de nervois” is more about women showing excessive negative emotions via panic attacks, fainting, and bodily gestures when they get upsetting news or see something that disturbs them. This is about agitation and stress instead of a full breakdown, which actually seems possible with some of the film's characters.

I can see why so many film critics, fans, and audiences were taken with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the time of its original release. There was nothing like it in U.S. contemporary film at the time. Its costumes, art direction, and set decoration have stylish references to the past and present and hints at the future. If one ignores such things as the types of telephones and answering machines and the operation of the airport, the film does not seem to be set in any particular time, past or present. The decorations in Pepa's penthouse and all the characters clothing are a riot of beautiful colors and color design. However, things like the taxi cab that Pepa frequently uses and its lovable driver (Guillermo Montesinos) add an earthy street-level touch to the film. Even Pepa's menagerie of animals (chickens and rabbits) are a nice addition to the film's oddness

For most of the 1990s, there were rumors of an American remake of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with Jane Fonda often listed as a potential cast member (as I remember it). I am not surprised that American actresses would be attracted to this kind of film. Even with Pepa as the lead, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown has five supporting female roles with significant speaking parts, to say nothing of a few smaller parts that all actresses to show themselves.

No one female character is like another, and each woman has her own reason for “ataque de nervois.” Pepa and her eccentric friends and acquaintances are a delight, and the actresses make the most of their time on screen. They turn their character types into showy, gaudy, and captivating women, and I wanted more of them. Also, a young Antonio Banderas, as Carlos, deftly fits in with all these females, never dominating the screen, but always complimenting with uncanny skill.

I have seen Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown described as a black comedy. It is too wildly exaggerated to be anything but a farce. For Pedro Almodóvar, it was his calling card that introduced him to a wider audience outside of both Spain and of the devoted international film audience that already knew him. I like it as a comedy, but I am really fascinated by its characters and the actors playing them. The women on the verge of a nervous breakdown are some amazing women indeed, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is an amazing film.

9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

NOTES:
1989 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)

1990 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar)

1989 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Spain)

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Thursday, April 28, 2022

Review: Pixar's "LUCA" is a True Disney Instant Classic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2022 (No. 1838) by Leroy Douresseaux

Luca (2021)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence
DIRECTOR: Enrico Casarosa
WRITERS: Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones; from a story by Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, and Simon Stephenson
PRODUCER: Andrea Warren
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: David Juan Bianchi (D.o.P.) and Kim White (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Catherine Apple and Jason Hudak
COMPOSER: Dan Romer
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Gino LaMoica, Sandy Martin, and Sacha Baron Cohen

Luca is a 2021 computer-animated, coming-of-age, fantasy film directed by Enrico Casarosa, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film focuses on a two sea monster boys disguised as humans and the human girl they befriend.

Luca opens sometime in the 1950s in and around the Italian Riviera. Below the surface of the waters of the Riviera live a group of sea monsters. Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a timid young sea monster, herds goatfish below the coast of the small Italian town of Portorosso. Luca is curious about the human world, but his parents, Daniela (Maya Rudolph) and Lorenzo Paguro (Jim Gaffigan), fear that the humans might hunt him for food. Thus, they forbid him from approaching the surface.

One day, Luca meets Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster boy who lives alone above the surface on Isola del Mare. Alberto encourages Luca to venture out of the ocean, showing him that sea monsters turn into humans when their bodies become dry, but return to their true forms when they become wet. Alberto invites Luca to his hideout where the boys connect and dream about owning a Vespa (an Italian luxury brand of scooter) so that they can travel the world.

Venturing into Portorosso as humans, the boys discover that a local children's triathlon, the “Portorosso Cup,” is about to take place. They run afoul of Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), the local bully and five-time champion of the Portorosso Cup. They also meet a young girl named Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), the daughter of a fisherman, Massimo Marcovaldo (Marco Barricelli). Giulia has participated in the triathlon, but has never won. Hoping to win the money they need to buy a Vespa, Luca and Alberto form a team with Giulia. Through Giulia, Luca learns that there is so much more to the surface world, but his feelings for her threaten everything, including his plans with Alberto.

I could say that Luca is one of Pixar's most beautiful films, and I will, although that is redundant. Pixar's films always have beautiful visuals, and sometimes they are stunning and a wonder to behold. The film is drenched in the bright colors of the Italian Riviera and reinterprets them as if they were watercolor paintings.

Dear readers, perhaps you are familiar with the animated films of the Japanese master, Hayao Miyazaki. His films are a symphony of wondrous colors and stunning locales, and those films clearly have an influence on Luca on a number of levels, especially in terms of visuals and in the tone of the story. Luca's town of Portorosso may be named in honor of Miyazaki's 1992 animated film, Porco Rosso, which is also set in Italy.

I think the elements that really drive this film, its beauty aside, are the characters and voice performances. The characters are very well developed: their personalities, their goals, and fears. From Alberto's jealousy and fear of loss to Giulia's determination and open-mindedness, the viewer can believe in these characters. Luca is ostensibly a coming-of-age story focusing on Luca. His sense of adventure is overcome by his fear of trying new things, whether it is actually going to the surface world or going to school. In Luca, we see the film's themes of acceptance (accepting others, accepting help, and accepting oneself) and overcoming fear (especially the fear of change). Luca takes on a beautiful journey as we see the evolution of the title character, and as for the coming-of-age angle, this film feels like only the first chapter of Luca's coming of age.

The voice performances make the characters seem like real people. If there were an Oscar for voice performances, Jacob Tremblay as Luca would be worthy of being nominated. Every performance is winning, from major characters to bit players. I am crazy about the performances here.

Dan Romer's beautiful score highlights and accentuates the journey of change and evolution that is Luca, both the film and the character. Luca is one of Pixar's most convincing boy characters, which is quite a feat in a filmography full of wonderfully drawn characters. Speaking of drawn, the character design and art direction and production design are on par with Pixar's best.

I always thought that I would like Luca, and now that I have seen it, I am in love with it. For me, Luca is one of Pixar's best ever films, and it is one of 2021's very best films I recommend it without reservation; everyone should see it.

10 of 10

Thursday, April 28, 2022

NOTES:
2022 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)

2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)

2022 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture-Animated”

2022 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Voice Performance” (Maya Rudolph)

2022 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nomination: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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