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ninny95
Reviews
Passage (2008)
"Passage" is a cinematic journey from history into the future
In their journey to responsibly and accurately convey the Franklin Expedition, the makers of Passage reach so deeply into history as to pick up its living thread and become a continuation of the story they set out to tell. Viewers might be disappointed if they expect a simple reenactment of events from the 1840's, but I was awed - by Roberts' teachable devotion to researching his role as John Rae, by writer/director John Walker's bold vision for a unique and surprising film style to tell a unique and surprising story, and especially by the truthful potency, generosity and grace of Tagak Curley.
It was transformative to watch Tagak's journey to the source of slanderous stories told against the Inuit, which remained fiercely defended by colonial sensibilities even in 2008. The Victorian spin put on the fate of the Terror (by none other than Charles Dickens) was no match for his incisive responses and steady presence.
Around a boardroom table of people who had travelled to each other's homelands to tell a story from the past, beautiful forays are made into a better future. Clearly all were changed by the experience of making this film, and I was changed by watching it. If it starts out slow, it just makes its final impact that much more surprising. It doesn't just teach the history of the Northwest Passage, it teaches the nature of history itself, as alive and ongoing.
Dave Chappelle: The Closer (2021)
Dave Chappelle REALLY cares what you think.
Unless you share Dave Chappelle's resentment that trans rights are a thing and yes, they receive consideration in society now, you're unlikely to get more than a couple laughs out of this one. Frankly it's weird for a comic to focus his material so singularly on defending his part in a fight he started, as if the audience only exists to be drawn further onto his side.
As even positive reviews will tell you, there aren't really any big laughs in this one, although the storytelling and structure of his jokes are master-class. It takes the tone of a comic grappling with and finding humour in serious issues that affect him personally. But in truth, the issues he grapples with affect no more than his ego and maybe his bank balance. For his targets - trans women and the #MeToo movement - the jokes he makes concern matters of life and death. If another comic were to turn the jokes on a cause essential to Dave Chappelle's sense of identity and survival, we all know he would not be laughing.
So the shielding principle of artistic freedom and free speech seems very disingenuous. Behind it is his own bitterness at seeing social progress take place for a group he doesn't personally belong to. As Chappelle says himself, "I don't hate trans people, I'm jealous"- putting Black rights and trans rights in opposition to each other, as if non-white LGBTQ people don't even exist. That White privilege plays out in the advancement of trans rights is without question. To characterize trans rights as a White movement is such a rude misconception, I feel like we could have skipped this whole thing. If he could freely listen, maybe he wouldn't need to lean so heavily on his right to free speech.
The jealousy is personal, but the execution is guarded and tactical. His jokes bob between defensive and offensive, sparring with an opponent that isn't even in the ring. If you share his views of these people as "opponents", it could make for a gratifying watch. To me it just makes the material feel shallow and manipulative, even as it relies more on demonstrations of sincerity and emotional depth than it does on making people laugh.
They Look Like People (2015)
Excellent storytelling
I loved it. Once you've seen the movie, you can anticipate that the less enthusiastic reviews relate to its mischaracterization as a horror flick. But They Look Like People is everything I look for in the horror genre: tension, originality, absorbing characters, and a fully realized story with a focus on fear. It totally delivers on delivering no clichés at all, which makes for an electrifyingly suspenseful watch. You really can't anticipate this one.
Monkey Beach (2020)
Not Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach
I loved the novel Monkey Beach when it came out 20 years ago. It was a vibrant, gritty story about a girl named Lisa from Kitamaat Village. She grows up playing with her cousins at the marina in the summer, develops into a dope-smoking teen who hangs out with guys, and when she sees and hears things others don't, she keeps it to herself. If you grew up in Kitimat, you feel like you already know her.
This Monkey Beach is filmed in Kitimat and Kitamaat, and it features a main character named Lisa, but there's little left in it of Eden's voice. Grace Dove is radiant with serene beauty portraying a character who leapt off the page as a seething young punk with underdeveloped self esteem and a secret inner world. Adam Beach is a perfectly suited Uncle Mick, but the characters together seem locked into a script that demands they tell a story for every First Nation, using Eden's original story from the Haisla First Nation only as a template. Out-of-character dialogue like Lisa's comment to Paz outside of Rosario's, "This is too much for my heart", are so shoe-horned in you wonder why the script writers didn't start from scratch.
The highlight for me was the appearance of Snotty Nose Rez Kids at a bush party, but even the set design there was like a middle class wedding. The movie was rendered unwatchable by its own self-consciousness, in needing to make too much of the opportunity Robinson's novel presented, as if First Nations people had never represented themselves on film before and might never again. In spite of a solid cast, one-of-a-kind location, and the sparkling raw material of the original story, it never finds its stride. Whereas a classic like Smoke Signals is alive with humour, anguish, and unconcerned personal expression, Monkey Beach seems to have undergone some kind of desperate laminating process. The wrong hands got ahold of this one.
Disenchantment: Last Splash (2021)
A teenage dream
This episode reached back in time to make the 14-year-old me feel so happy and validated. And the animation, as it is throughout Season 3, is world class.