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Raya and the Last Dragon

March 7, 2021 Leave a comment

Raya and the Last Dragon

Directors: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs. Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh

I must confess I wasn’t quite read for the beautiful visual spectacle that this latest Disney Feature had to offer.The lavish backdrops inspired by by Southeast Asian landscape of Thailand, Vietnam Malaysia, Indonesia and so on (as well as some of the more spiritual themes from those countries) were so evocative and rich in colours and details that at times were just breath-taking. But what was also very impressive was the expressiveness of some of the faces (particularly Raya) and the cinematography (if there is such a thing in animation).But it wasn’t just beautiful animation, the story too was deep and interesting and the action was gripping and exciting. All in all, this was a very very solid entry in the Disney canon. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was how some of the more traditional cute-Disney elements in the film didn’t quite seem to gel with the more ambitious, mystical themes (which was actually the most successful part in my view), the dystopian look of the world, and the Indiana-Jonesy-type of adventures.The cute rolling armadillo (is that what it was?), the con-baby with those weird animals (whatever they were) and in fact pretty much most of the comedic elements seemed to belong to a different film. Even the dragon herself, both visually and in the way spoke jumped out at me as Disney forcing his trademark classic formula into something which was a lot deeper and grownup.Awkwafina (who voices the dragon Sisu) is clearly trying to evoke Eddie Murphy in Mulan (or even Robin Williams in Aladdin, thought she’s got a long way to go to match that) and while most her jokes are probably cute, they are rarely funny or inspired.Now, it seems I’m trashing this film and that’s really not what I want to do. In fact I think it’s one of the best animated feature coming out of Walt Disney Animation Studios in the last decade and I’m only criticising it because I really wanted it to be perfect (and for the most part, it really was).

Disney is getting increasingly better at representing and pushing other cultures other than the more traditional western one and they should be commended for that, but I think they still need to refine the balance with their classic and the more child-friendly elements, because on this one it seemed to me they were holding them back from making a real masterpiece.

The film is out in the cinema right now (if you’re lucky enough to have cinemas open), and also available on Premium Disney+

Filed under latest movies, Reviews Tagged with Disney, DisneyPlus, Pixar

I care a lot

March 5, 2021 Leave a comment

I care a lot

Director: J Blakeson, Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Dianne Wiest.

Bit of a conundrum here: is it possible to like a film where every single character is so despicable that it impossible to root for any of them? A film that uses the most evil cynicism to advance it black comedy and score a few laughs? A film which is morally deplorable in its depiction of exploiting the weak as the key to capitalism?Well apparently it is possible, because despite me wondering throughout “how can I possibly watch more of this bitch doing these awful things?”, I was absolutely glued to the screen without a single clue on how the whole things was going to pan out. There’s no denying that the film is nasty, some people may even have a problem with its bad taste (and they’re probably right), but at the same time it is constantly inventive, always surprising and infinitely addictive.

“I care a lot” proclaims at its start that “there’s no such thing as good people” and while I hope that’s not true, the film goes all the way to prove its. It exposes and makes fun of the corruption behind the healthcare system, the care for elderly and the loopholes within the legal systems. Let’s all just hope that the world depicted is a fictitious one… Let’s pretend this is a science fiction movie and take it as a joke.

Rosamund Pike plays a relentlessly ruthless, cruel, heartless, a calculative bitch, a cold predator who, in cahoots with doctors, retirement-home bosses, and lawyers, works the system to become the appointed legal guardian for rich elderly people so that she can then drain their bank accounts and their assets. She’s one of the most deplorable main character I’ve seen in a long time without any single redeeming quality and yet you can hardly take your eyes off her. She brings with her a delicious nastiness, which is hateful to start with and then it becomes fascinating to watch and almost hypnotic.

She’s won the Golden Globe for best comedy for this film and she deserves it 100%. As for the film itself, I thought it was incredibly “entertaining” and painful at the same time. It has divided critics and audiences right in the middle and for once I’m more with the critics.

I watched it on Amazon Prime, but apparently in some countries is on Netflix.

Filed under latest movies, Reviews Tagged with amazon

Shortlisted BAFTA Short Films (Part 1)

February 23, 2021 Leave a comment

The Birth Of Valerie Venus ()

Director: Sarah Clift. Cast: Jane Guernier, Paul Hunter, Mohd Aslam

A rather frustrated, lonely and long suffering vicar’s wife suffers a little accident which cleaning a statue of the Virgin Mary as a result of that her had becomes “possessed” for lack of a better term and begins to have a life of its own, with strange and supposedly funny consequences. Well, I have to say, not only I did not laugh once (the timing of the comedy seems to be off most of the time and every single scene goes on for twice as long as it should), but also the filming of it seemed to be very student-like and quite pedestrian. Very disappointing.

Dad Was ()

Director: Barnaby Blackburn. Cast: Cameron Kerr, Seylan Baxter, Nicholas Ellard, Paul Ellard

The story of young boy somewhere in Scotland who is to give a eulogy at his father’s funeral… It is a heartfelt, beautiful and gentle piece with an unexpected twist at the end which makes everything even more weighty. This is the best kind of short film I can think of: simple, direct and which will stay with you long after they’re over. The little 8 years old boy, Cameron Kerr is wonderful. The pain and grief clearly visible in his eyes and felt in his voice. Beautifully photographed too with its black & white sepia(ish) look matching the mood of the entire piece. You can watch it here.

Dọlápọ̀ Is Fine ()

Director: Ethosheia Hylton. Cast: Doyin Ajiboye, Luke Gasper, Joan Iyiola

A young Black woman facing pressure to change her name and natural hairstyle as she prepares to enter the working world after school. While this story might be very recognisable to many black girls and it’s certainly not something to laugh about, I found it very forced, full of stereotypes and rather clumsy. I appreciated the effort and some of the filming, but on the whole I found it rather weak. Gina McKee’s final cameo redeems it slightly, but not enough to make it worthwhile for me. On Netflix

Eyelash ()

Director: Jesse Lewis-Reece. Cast: Elijah W Harris, Ishtar Currie-Wilson, Frankie Stew

A powerful adaptation of spoken word poet Neil Hilborn’s poem ‘OCD’ (You really get the full scale of the achievement of this short film once you see the original material). The film turns the spoken words of this sad love story into pictures as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A simple but effective adaptation dealing with mental health and breakups. You can watch it here.

Tic Toc ()

Director: Mark Waters. Cast: Felix Sanderson, Mike Brompton, Joel Clark

Powerful and affecting short documentary about 16 years old Felix who has Tourette’s Disorder, a condition that affects his brain and nerves and causes him to make uncontrollable movements, tics, sounds and screamsThe film lets him take centre stage as he shares his story to try to break the stigma that his illness carries with it. “The worst feeling in the entire world is not being able to control it” Felix says at one point. There’s a disarming honesty about the piece as the camera gets really close to his handsome face as he confesses “people come to me and tell me “Shut the fuck up”…. He pause… smiles “I would if I could”… then his smile drops and in that moment of silence it’s as if a thousand words are said.“I just feel very pissed off, very agitated… I feel so much anger… but all I’m trying to do is to raise awareness… Because when they tell me to shut the fuck off, it makes my day 10 times worse than it already is. “Here’s the trailer

Filed under latest movies, Reviews Tagged with Bafta, Bafta Awards, short films

Another Round

February 13, 2021 Leave a comment

Director: Thomas Vinterberg. Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang

Watching this Danish film tonight I found myself thinking that maybe one day I should start drinking too…

Jokes aside “Another Round” is a story about a group of 4 high school teachers who decide to follow the theory of a Norwegian psychologist who claims that humans are born with a 0.05% alcohol content deficit in our blood. And so they embark in a rather reckless and “unusual” experiment where they’ll have to drink just enough to constantly maintain that small percentage of alcohol in their blood to be slightly inebriated and free from inhibitions, releasing their full potentials, but obviously without ending up drunk. No brownie point for guessing where it’s all going to go…

This was sold to me as a comedy, but it’s definitely not one of those laugh-out-loud film. In fact it’s more of a tragicomedy: a parable about over-drinking, addiction, middle-age crisis, friendship and families.

Beyond the fairly predictable plot there are still plenty of small intimate, very human and rather touching surprises along the way.

The whole cast is perfect, but Mads Mikkelsen’s performance is absolutely spectacular. Throughout the film he manages to play the “looser”, the depressed, the drunk, the man on the verge of a breakdown but also the amazing teacher we would all love to have… and a lot more.

Hard to believe this was the man playing “Hannibal Lecter” just a few years ago!

And then, that final sequence in the film, which of course I’m not going to spoil, which all of a sudden lifted the film up for me to a 4 star rating and left me with a big smile on my face (I actually laughed out loud at last freeze-frame!)

Filed under latest movies, Reviews

ROCKETMAN – Mini Review

January 9, 2020 Leave a comment

Director Dexter Fletcher: Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Jones

Your enjoyment of films like these usually goes together with how much you like the music of the artist subjected to the bio-treatment.
Last year I ended up liking Bohemian Rhapsody, not because it was a good film (which clearly it wasn’t), but because the music by the Queen was so infectious and permeated every single frame of that film, elevating it from “average” to “a lot of fun”
In the case of Rocketman, the pitch was obviously quite an easy sell. I mean, who doesn’t like Elton after all? As the film played I found myself saying “Oh… I had forgotten about this one too… “ about 20 times!
On top of all that, the visual dazzleness (is there such a word?), the inventiveness of director Dexter Fletcher (who rightly decided to go for a musical as opposed to just a plain bio) and obviously the sheer brilliance of Egerton who inhabits Elton to perfection, make this a much more enjoyable experience and a better film than it had any right to be.
Yes of course, the framing device (those AA meeting scenes) is clunky as hell, the wigs are terrible, it’s all pretty disposable, ridiculous and filled with all the usual cliché of this kind of films, but what else were you expecting? Just sit back and enjoy it and stop picking on it: I had fun with it.