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Siddhartha (1972)
This is how you massacre literature
Dont want to write a long review, but this is exactly how you massacre literature:
- by completly disregarding spiritual / character development moments
- by not having any transitions between scenes / by not connecting them in any kind
- by choosing wrong pieces for the puzzle that is film
- by focusing too long on less important moments / characters and disregarding important characters
- by not devivering the obvious message in the book
- by not having any interessting / memorable shots (i really don't understand it, with such capable DP)
- by making powerful moments absolutely cringy
- leaving me thinking thinking that even beginner film-students would deliver a more consistent / coherent / impactful film
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
It's great, but would maybe benefit from being a TV series?
This installment in the series felt like a mixture of Schindlers List, Star Wars, The Great Escape and the previous Planet Of The Apes installments. It was about leadership, ensuring the future generations well-being, family, revenge, cowards, traitors, friendship, espionage, escape, slavery and so on. The list of the themes that are present in this movie is pretty impressive for such a "short" film.
Also the execution is beautiful. The visuals are, as expected, astonishing! The sets, the cinematography, the motion-capture & acting, the CGI and even the editing (letting the characters breathe and think)...all of it is brilliant. I was in awe how real the apes actually looked. In some cases I was even sure that they used practical apes and masks. The CGI was THAT good. (I wonder how long it will take to actually see believable CGI-humans though)
My only issue with this movie is the fact that IT IS a movie. Every situation and every consequence feels (to me) just a little too impact-less. It does not hit my feels the way it should. The main reason for that is, in my opinion, the limited time we spend with all the characters. I think it is a rare case where the movie would have benefited by being an eight episodes long TV show. The additional running time could be used to further explore the characters, thus making everything that happens to them more impactful.
But that is just personal complaining on a high-level. The movie is great and I definitely recommend seeing it. It is for sure a well spent short time.
Halt and Catch Fire: Goodwill (2017)
It's about people
Halt and Catch Fire is not a show about the history of computers, software or the internet - it is a show about people. All the main characters evolve over different stages in their lives. They reach milestones, fall to their lowest pits and climb back up. We see lonely narcissist evolve into family people. We see different stages of a marriage. We see kids growing up. We see business partners part their ways and reunite. We see rebellious and misunderstood teens. We see people coping with their midlife crisis. We see heartbreaks and we see the different phases of falling in and out of love.
In this episode (and this is not a spoiler) we see a family (all of the main characters) trying to cope with an unexpected (it was hinted in the show itself) loss. This episode depicts grief in a manner I've never experienced on a TV show. It had me crying quite a few times. Basically because of the excellent job of setting all the characters up. They are not simply some brilliant geniuses that always succeed in life - they are human. Yes, even the Mystery-Man himself.
But mostly it had me crying because of Mr Clark himself. Sure, Gordo had his weird and shady moments, but he was a very lovable character. But it is not just that. He felt real. I don't know, if it were the different lenses/focal lengths they used to shoot Gordo in the last few episodes, but he felt so close...so..alive? Well, no more talk about this episode. It was absolutely great! To enjoy this episode at the maximum capacity you have to remember all the dynamics between all the main characters and Gordo. Makes it so much better.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
A worthy sequel and a truly great film on it's own (no spoilers)
The movie is literally a throwback to the classic era of cinematography.
First of all: as expected...visually Blade Runner 2049 is absolutely stunning. The compositions made me smile throughout the whole movie. Nothing more to add. The score/OST is great, but does not surpass/rival Vangelis' excellence. The themes are just not as memorable.
The cast and the acting is superb. Ryan Gosling has been really on fire lately. And once again - he delivers. At times he is subtle, but when the time is right - he explodes with emotion and expression. He brought exactly the right amount of flavor to the role of detective K. Though Ryan was exceptional - the rest of the cast impressed me even more. Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Ana Armas, even Bautista (yep...he is a really good actor & I finally see it) but especially Sylvia Hoeks, who gave an ravishing performance as "Luv (Love)" and completely nailed her cold-ass character with a perfectionist-drive and a quest for approval. Leto was believable and completely passable, but did his usual kind of crazy. I do not want to talk about the rest of the cast, but there were several surprises here and there.
It is a joyful and relaxing experience to see a movie that takes it's time. Especially in times where most movies have rapidly fast cut scenes, overly sharp and snappy dialogue and racing pacing (which can be a good thing, don't get me wrong). There is of course also the danger of making the movie too slow - thus making it unbearably boring. And this is exactly where Denis did everything just right. The pacing is perfect. It is a long movie, but it does not drag. The story and the writing are what you would expect of Hampton, Green and Villeneuve. Top notch.
Overall I loved this movie a lot and I think it is the first Sci-Fi movie that might one day be ranked among the likes of 2001 and the first Blade Runner. And let's be real: on this level of quality the higher ranked movies are subjective choices. In recent years only Ex Machina and Arrival had a similar impact on me. Denis' fifth masterpiece movie in a row. What a run.
To sum up: - weaker score, some locations/settings are a tad too empty neutral: a passable Leto + everything else
Bonus: holograms improved so much since Tupac