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Madame Web (2024)
Jared, all is forgiven
This... thing, if it can be called anything else, successfully turns Morbius into a coherent, fun, albeit structurally flawed and a tad too campy B-list movie. THIS is how bad this movie is.
Where can I start? The script is massively convoluted and nonsensical, the acting (apart from Schwartz as Ben Parker and Yazpik as the Peruvian shaman) is below remedial level (massive boos to. Rahim, who seems to be absolutely willing to turn his massively overdue American opportunity into a collection of putrid performances for cheap cheques, and is not helped by a performance that is assuredly phoned in for three quarters of the time), the special effects are appalling (pretty sure the effects houses are not to blame, especially if Sony decided to butcher this movie in reshoots), the product placements are overt and, to top off this pyramid of crap, it does not even fulfil its contract towards the overarching Sony Spider-Man Universe, since, apart from the shoehorned Parker family (seemingly that of the Tom Holland era), there are no real connects being made to the other movies of the universe, and the absence of mid/post-credit sequence is not helping things for viewers to try and place this movie.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Quite a surprise
I came in the movie theatre just expecting a run of the mill cog in the MCU... and I came out seeing the best solo original movie since Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014.
It has a charming, kind of relatable antagonist. A relatively likable sidekick. A three dimensional antagonist. A far reaching redemption arc with Ben Kingsley. Good action pieces. Well placed emotional moments. The only thing it might lack would be some additional real world set pieces, but apart from that, I cannot find much fault with it.
Hopefully, it gets a sequel and the character gets a stronger presence in the larger MCU. He frankly deserves it thanks to this movie.
Cruella (2021)
Well... Heh
It seemingly has been seen as a tall order that Disney might pull off such a high concept premise about trying to turn one of their most well known villains into a misunderstood spirit and someone to root for. It worked with Maleficent essentially due to the fact that that particular movie was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty more than an origin story. It does not work here, and for reasons that are even under the movies control and fails to take advantage of them.
Listing all the failures might take some time, but chief amongst them are:
-The inanity of trying to turn Cruella De Ville into a misunderstood character with a tragic backstory.
-Emma Thompson playing a caricature of herself is not the humorous sting some might have thought.
-Emma Stone does what she can with her role, which means Harley Quinn from start to finish.
-When did Jasper become the considerate one of the bumbling duo?
-Going back to the backstory, the twist regarding the relationship between Estella and the Baroness seemed highly forced and out of order.
-When exactly did she befriend the Dalmatians?
As for you did I subject myself to this movie, I had a leftover free ticket from last year and I saw it on 09/06/2021, the reopening day of movie theatres in Belgium, and in the absence of titles too far away (Black Widow) or shifted to streaming (Kong vs. Godzilla), this was the main attraction proposed.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
RT and the public may have gone mad
Well, it was certainly an... interesting movie, and Margot Robbie gets her bragging rights as the co-producer/possible co-screenwriter/principal star of not only a movie, but the first in what ought to become a new franchise within the DCEU. However, it does not achieve even the level of passable entertainment. Robbie chews the scenery and locks her face onto the camera at all times, the rest of the "Birds of Prey" are just accessories, Ewan MacGregor is not only useless, but quite literally directionless, as he shouts some of his outbursts with THREE different accents competing one against another, and the rest of the male cast are idiots and dweebs. Since this was made on an under-$100 Million budget, it is going to score a nice profit, and its critical reception is going to give the guys at Warner and DC some confidence in the viability of the DCEU, but this is nothing to crow about.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Absolute, flawless masterpiece
Once in a while, there is a movie that gives you hope that Hollywood has, finally, broken its addiction to sequels, reboots, adaptations and other "reinventions". A movie of such technique, panache, storytelling and outright acting prowess that catapults it into the realm of The Classics.
Ladies and Gentlemen, James Mangold and his team of craftsmen have delivered this rare jewel of a movie.
A linear journey into the lives of racers (Shelby and Miles), executives (Iacocca and Beebe) and visionaries (Ford and Ferrari), locked in a battle for racing supremacy, raged in the grandest of arenas: Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. A battle where each screw, each bolt and each suspension inch can make or break the journey to the top.
A battle that is waged by figures terrifically played by a fantastic cast of actors, first amongst them a performance for the ages by Christian Bale as Ken Miles, who clearly signifies that he is on the prowl for another slew of awards. Matt Damon shines as Shelby, although he reaches summits mostly when interacting with the aforementioned Bale. The Miles family also benefits from excellent performances, that of Noah Jupe as his son being among the most touching one given this decade.
Commenting at length on the rest of the performances would take too long, but there is not a single solitary performance that is off or even slightly broken. Of special mention is those of Tracy Letts as a gruff but driven Henry Ford II, and a "bravo" for the ages for Remo Girone, who does Enzo Ferrari incredible justice with such a short screen presence, conveying the pride, passion and dignity that characterized the life of the Modena-born engineer.
This review would not be complete without commenting on the meat of the movie: the racing sequences. These are going to enter in the history of moviemaking as "magnum opuses" of the genre, with the gorgeous lighting, crisp editing, roaring sound effects and effectively timed musical addendums turning the 20-minutes-or-so Le Mans racing sequence into a masterful art work in and of itself, no small feat.
In retrospect, and quoting Kingsley Amis, we are in the presence of a flawless masterpiece".
Widows (2018)
Between a "what it could've been" and an industrial disaster.
Where do I even start with this movie? You have all the ingredients necessary to make a "House of Cards" meets "Borgia" meets "Ocean's Eleven" extravaganza, in line with the original series (I mean, why not turn this into an extended series) and you can see some sparks of it here and there, but then... it gets bogged down by a convoluted plot, with at least four intrigues trying to compete for the spectators eye (off the top of my head: municipal election/failed heist/political succession/revenge heist) and not one really emerging from the mess. Firth, Neeson and, to a certain extent, Rodriguez are purely and simply wasted. Duvall hits two/three high notes through and through. Kaluyuu seems to come out from a Tarantino movie. Debicki could've been the smash performance of the movie, but it sometimes gets stunted throughout and ends in a final appearance that is just... sub-par Rosnan. Davis can't really emote. I forgot the rest of the cast. They too get lost in the plot and don't really know where to get this film.
The Host (2013)
A bizarre enigma....
Yes, the movie gets bogged down by some show-stopping incomprehensions, some hilarious bloopers and some bouts of overacting (ah, Diane Kruger...), but to be frank, it could've been much worse, and the end result is... enjoyable. The story does not require that much thought if you are in for the laughs, the acting can be decent at times, the music is enjoyable (well, it is the highlight of the movie), and in the end, you have passed a satisfying amount of time watching it. So all in all... OK.
Suicide Squad (2016)
It's... an interesting lesson in failing.
After a year's worth of trailers, after months of teasing on the storyline, characters and general vibe and with a heightened sense of expectation after that dog's dinner that was B vs. S, Suicide Squad comes out in the heat of Summer, with a relatively clear August to bust box-office records and run amuck in theaters worldwide.
After that pleasing introduction of the climate in which this movie was released, now comes the verdict: how does it hold up to its premise, and how does it fare in general? Sadly, not that well.
Putting aside the mashup of a plot, which does not really know when to be either serious or funny (something its obvious inspiration, Guardians of the Galaxy, was able to do with a sense of gusto), there is a major problem with the casting and its general layout:
-First and foremost, the Headshot/Will Smith-Harley Quinn/Margot Robbie duo, though with some chemistry, has been placed front and center in the movie, and it is depressing to say that they cannot hold it. Placing Smith in the obligation to play the role of a ruthless assassin cum well meaning but challenged father was a ballsy move, most specifically when the "ruthless assassin" part is skimmed-through and the father part is overplayed to try and get some emotions from the public.
-Robbie, on the other hand, has been given the role of a manic/submissive bomb of debauchery, and needless to say, she nails that role, though with a sense of abandon that can verge on the careless. Oh, and let's thank Warner for reminding us that this duo had their own movie beforehand, a little thing called "Focus".
-And as for the rest of the crew? It is a mixed bag, and no one really gets the glory of a breakout performance. Joel Kinnaman does a decent job as Rick Flagg, although too decent to really make a mark, Jai Courtney can be funny here and there, Viola Davis, as Amanda Weller, could be considered as one of the only really good performances of the movie, but it seems to be done with such boredom that we can only see a sense of it being phoned in. As for the rest of the Squad? Absolutely forgettable. Even El Diablo, though backed-up with an interesting backstory, does not really deliver.
-Last but not least, the two most mesmerizing performances of the movie: Jared Leto as a downtrodden, coked-up, kitschy Joker, with no psychological depth or clearly fleshed-out motives, and no real place in the movie, since he is not the antagonist. Oh no. This is left to the other mesmerizing performance of the movie: Cara Delevingne. Yes, SHE is the villain (something called Enchantress). In the first part of the movie, she goes from your typical shy scientist to summoning the evil spirit she discovered in some lost jungle somewhere and changing into the otherworldly figure (in a half-assed allusion to Jekyll and Hyde). Then, after possessing the heart of the spirit which had been under the possession of Weller (for some reason), she transforms into something that could only be described as a porno version of a Greek goddess, complete with sensual dancing that would do a killing if accompanied with a suitable porn soundtrack, but not in a superhero movie with an epic score. On top of having the ocular expression of a dead fish, she does not manage the shift from shy and quaint to frightening and progressively camps her performance up to becoming simply hilarious.
As for the rest of the movie, nothing can be salvaged. The pacing is wrong, the music is forgettable, some story elements have been shamelessly pumped from other movies (going through a building to save/eliminate elements residing at the top of it? "The Raid" demands an apology) and a general sense of being forced to compromise in order to fast-track the DCEU. In short, a COMPLETE mess.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)
Good Lord in Heaven. Thank You.
You thought Jon Stewart was becoming unbearable? You couldn't stand Bill Maher's condescending tone? You cannot stand most of MSNBC, CNN or FNC (with some exceptions, those being Maddow, Tapper and Kelly (and sometimes O'Reilly) for me)? Well "PRAISE THE LORD", your calls for rationality and sanity have been answered in the best of ways: a TV show that may (just) push some people to attend their local council meetings more often or read papers on public subsidies on a regular basis.
More than just a "news show" (which "The Daily Show" kind-of-was), this probably represents some of the most interesting "investigative" reporting (well, most of the "investigation" is being done by others, but John Oliver is providing them with a megaphone) in a while. From local governments being hoodwinked in subsidizing football stadiums to chicken-farming malpractice, from Police Departments using unjustified "civil forfeitures" to pay for Zambonis and "slurpee machines" to mandatory minimums, this show has been acting as a firm, but just, mirror on America and its shortcomings. However, and this is where the show differentiates itself from the rest of the crowd (something that "conservative media", old like new, has been noticing... by not attacking it), it does underline the positive aspects and advances that are occurring. When you get a subject on bail and its effects on the poorest in society, you get the US-based counter example (paying a bail amount that fits your budget). This is what makes this show not just great, but a must-watch. It does not fall into either eternal desperation or irrational wishful thinking. It strikes a balance (most of the time) and sticks to it.
Quo vado? (2016)
Particular circumstances for release, some would say...
What can I say about this... let's say... "particular" movie? It isn't specifically hilarious, its jokes are mostly dated and overdone, and some might even sense that some "good ol' habits" (in this case, slight hints of racism) are having a hard time dying out.
No. What is intriguing about this movie, above its irrational success in the former cinematographic powerhouse that was Italy, is its message... and the period in which it is being delivered. To reassure some of you, it is NOT a negative message. Far from it, it seems to encourage people to get out of the country and discover places, take risks and feel confident about your capacity to rebound in cases of failure. The only hitch is that "paradise" figures out to be... Norway. And that, in comparison, Italy has corruption and bureaucratic laziness that most Latin American or African tin-pot dictatorships would only dream of. On top of public sector workers only obsessed with keeping their undeserved jobs and perks.
And this is where the positive qualities of the movie (undeniable levels of energy, that do not always compensate a certain sense of amateurishness; thoroughly likable characters, far from being developed) die. When a TV series like "Yes Minister" (which I would recommend for those who think this movie is too "popular") was subtle and pretty dark in its denunciation of administrative incompetence, leviathan-like civil services and government in general, this movie is both blatant and outspoken about its "targets". In the midst of a reformist drive led by Matteo Renzi back in Italy (with reforms in working contracts, public sector pay and the like), this movie resembles... no, clearly represents a highly coordinated, government-sponsored marketing job by Checco Zalone and his team. No amount of publicly-financed TV ads, speeches, exposes and/or documentaries could've done such a job. This has to be a premiere for such a nation. A study-case in what a nation will become under its current ruling class. And seeing its record-breaking intake, it seems that most people are liking it...