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Snowpiercer

3/23/2015

76 Comments

 
B
3.13
  • The concept is probably the best part of this movie. - Shane
  • It also seems to mix a hard core anime/comic styling with large cheesy children's book characters like Tilda Swinton's character. - Tom
  • Tilda Swinton is absolutely phenomenal in the role, in total control of every muscle in her face as she works through her many tics and mannerisms. - Jon
Initial Review by Shane

One time, way back in the 1506 days, I came home after seeing The Departed. Bobby, sitting in the living room, greeted me and asked how it was. I deadpanned, “Everybody dies.” This was a legit spoiler, but Bobby laughed and I laughed and a great time was had by all. Just two good friends, sharing a joke.

But then Bobby went and saw it. He came home and said, “Wow. You spoiled that movie. Everyone died.” (Or something like that.) It’s become a running joke for whenever we ask how a movie was. Had I seen Snowpiercer on that night (perhaps I had a time-machine), I would have done the same joke. Everybody dies. And I loved it.

The concept is probably the best part of this movie. You have a giant train and each car is different. It’s like playing a video game. As Blair said after, “There is no way you could remotely predict anything in this movie.” I love that. It’s a challenge to introduce such a wild concept, but I think Bong Joon-ho mostly succeeds. He builds us a world where I guess we can have an ever-running train. What I like are the small touches that parts of the train decay and whatnot, though you think they’d have a machinist on the train. I’ll admit that it was a little goofy and objectively that takes away from the finished product, but I loved it nonetheless. (The rave room was probably the goofiest.)

I also loved a lot of the shots in this film. We have a tight space and Joon-ho does a fine job of making it feel cramped when he wants too. We got some neat shots and colors throughout and a big credit goes to not only the cinematography, but also the set design guys. I loved checking out each of the rooms as we advanced and the camera let us explore them. I think being able to experience the newness of each room along with Curtis was organic and made sense.

For performances, I think we mostly have good work. Chris Evans doesn’t always have a lot of personality, but he gives us enough. In particular, his confessional in the end was well done, even if he’s still holding back some. Tilda Swinton does fantastic and I didn’t even recognize her. I wanted to punch her through the screen. Song Kang-ho and Jamie Bell do fine as well, with Kang-ho settling in well for that eclectic and wise character that is popular in Eastern cinema. Ewen Bremner is weird looking, as always. Ed Harris does a pretty good job with what he has, but I think the dialogue fails him a bit. There was one performance that I didn’t care for and that was John Hurt as Gilliam. I thought his gravelly voice was excessive and distracting.

Now, we’re gonna get off the tracks a little bit. (Nailed it.) I think there’s a huge difference in Easter and Western cinema in character actions and development. It’s simply the different approach: We focus on the individual and they focus on the group. With that, I feel like in a lot of Japanese and Korean movies, we get odd ball characters and just accept them. There is no explanation and I never feel like the film-makers even thought of explaining them. Here, we have the mute super athletic guy as a prime example. It makes sense because his individual background doesn’t matter. What’s important is what he brings to the group. I’ve learned to accept this from Eastern films and that’s helped me enjoy them more. Sometimes, just accept that for some reason there’s a mute badass in the tail end of a train.

With that, there’s also this interesting trend of noble deaths in Eastern movies. Selfless sacrifice is huge and deaths aren’t mourned near as much unless it’s the death of an elder type. These films seldom allow characters to die without having done something redeeming or selfless first. We see it with almost every single character in this movie, though Andrew’s death is rather sudden.

I’m also willing to give a small pass on the dialogue, which was pretty clunky sometimes. Americans don’t speak like that at all. This, you are a leader stuff being thrown out so concretely seems awkward for us. That and the long speeches given by almost every important character. But that sort of dialogue is seemingly way more common in Eastern films. It doesn’t bother me, but again objectively, I think it takes some luster away.

Ultimately, I think there’s a theme here and it’s not what we see in American film. The lesson isn’t to risk everything to maintain your individual rights. Rather, I think the lesson here is that there is order for a reason. You have to respect where you’re from. The whole is way more important than the individual. If we don’t fulfill our roles, chaos ensues and 99% of humanity dies in a horrific train wreck.

To conclude, this was a fun movie, even if it had some objective issues. I added a couple more Bong Joon-ho films to my queue. If this was on TV, I would watch it every time.

B+

76 Comments

Big Hero 6

3/16/2015

102 Comments

 
B+
3.21
  • Baymax is a worthy creation, and for a $165 million budget, it appears all the money is on the screen. - Jon
  • I loved the blend of cultures in San Fransoyko. - Blair
  • It's one of the best-looking animated features we've seen to date, and is a pleasure to watch just on the visuals alone. - Bobby
Initial Review by Bryan

Big Hero 6 is another Disney animated feature done the right way... mostly. The opening robot fight scene set the stage for a fun adventure. The animation in this movie was incredibly fluid, colorful, and vibrant. There wasn't motion blur and each scene contained an incredible amount of detail.

As a teacher, I love that in the future Hiro still gets out a pencil and paper to brainstorm ideas. God bless you pencil and paper! Disney setup the future well in this movie. There is some creative future-tech involving robots and wind turbines, but daily surroundings are still the same; Aunt Cass still watches TV.

Disney always seems to throw in some adult humor, and low-battery drunk Baymax (I first thought it was Betamax) was great! Baymax's constant literalism injected some timely humor. I watched this one undistracted and I caught Stan Lee in the family portrait the first time it was shown. Did I miss anything else? 

Baymax stole the show for me. Hiro and the supporting characters were all done well, but I can't remember much about them individually. I'm assuming it was supposed to be that way.

I did have a couple of gripes. The flow of the story was incredibly predictable. I appreciated a few of the plot twists with the characters, but it was easy to see what was coming next. Also, the writers created an incredibly vibrant, colorful city yet during the car chase it's abandoned. How is Disney not over this girls with big eyes thing? Maybe it's from seeing Frozen a dozen times, but why do they do this? 

Picture
Picture
Grade: B+. Above average story with possibly the best animation I've seen. I wouldn't show this to a three year old, but it's already in the queue for Jane's 5th birthday.

PS: Why does Disney "Fast Play" involve watching more previews? 

-Bryan
102 Comments

Short Term 12

3/6/2015

34 Comments

 
A-
3.67
  • The opening where Mason is explaining to Nate about the time he shit his pants...YES. - Blair
  • Short Term 12 is filled with near-imperceptible acts of deep. kindness. - Jon
  • Generally, I think child actors can be pretty bad, but here we see some pretty solid performances. - Shane
Initial review by: Blair

Wow.  I'm so glad that I re-watched this film last night.  The first time I watched it I really liked it, but I needed time away from it because in a way, it hit too close to home for me.  Now, don't get me wrong, my job does not involve being with kids who have been displaced from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or bad behavior, but I do spend every week with kids who totally have fucked up family lives and experience cutting, depression, abuse, etc.  Also I'm not a social worker, but I refer kids and families to them on a regular basis and while I whole heartedly believe in therapy, I also believe you have to find the right therapist and b/c they are human and b/c people are broken, and because they system is broken it doesn't work...or takes a long time to work.  (Thinking of the scene where the social worker can't remove Jayden from her home (because of legit protocol) and maybe even doubts Grace's abilities. 

What this film completely nails is the interaction between youth and adult (another huge reason this movie hits home).  The awkwardness, the tender moments, the jokes, the being more sassy/open/cussing with kids who you know better.  The opening scene where Mason is explaining to Nate about the time he shit his pants... YES.  Putting yourself in a vulnerable place that is hilarious to others (shitting your pants/farting/etc) is a great way to get a kid to bring their guard down.  Complimenting kids and being interested in what they are doing (regardless of if you are actually into it) is another way.  

The film also completely nails how incredible youth are - creative, talented, clever, resilient, and thoughtful.  The penises on Jayden's door.  Marcus' rap...I mean - SERIOUSLY, the rap!  And Mason's reaction is SPOT ON - what do you say when a kid opens their heart like that and shows you how incredibly broken his life has been???  Jayden's response to Grace almost beating her father with a bat, "A little extreme, don't you think?" and then after Grace explains some of her situation to Jayden, she says, "you're gonna be a great mom."  Society often labels youth as lazy, selfish, and unproductive (and they can certainly be and are those things, they are still developing...and honestly many adults never move beyond this); we overlook and certainly rarely expect greatness from anyone in high school.  But, obviously, I firmly believe that if we listen, and especially if we give them the space, youth say and do amazing things all the time.

What is profound about this film is that is speaks both to the brokenness of all humanity and resiliency we possess.  Specifically, the resiliency that youth possess and what they can give back to heal others.  Grace - even her name is perfect - experienced unthinkable abuse as a teenager and lives her life caring for hurting youth; and Jayden, some who is a current teen, who is currently experiencing trauma, helps start the healing process for Grace.  It's beautiful.  I had tears in my eyes the entire film.

I love it all.  Are you annoyed with me, yet?  A++
34 Comments

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