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Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022)
Could not have been done better.
If you liked:
Harry Potter
Friends: The Reunion
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone first came out in the UK on November 4th, 2001. Let that sink a little. Last year, the iconic Harry Potter movies celebrated a 20-year anniversary, and HBO decided to do a great service to all of the fans by organizing a reunion.
Despite the fact that it doesn't show that much nowadays, I was a huge fan of both the books and the films. I read all seven back in 2007-2008; when they first were translated into Russian, my native tongue. I had a large Lego Hogwarts which, for about a year, I saved money for; and at some point, I might have even owned a wand... Far from a real Potterhead, but definitely still a fan. Then came the movies, and as Harry grew up and went from one form into the next, so did I. Only after watching this, 20 years later I realize that I truly did grow up with these films. This reunion is a mixture of interviews with actors and directors from all eight of the films, original clips from those films, and backstage clips from about their making. It is structured in such a way, that you get to sort of relive the entire Harry Potter story in just over 90 minutes. And I loved every single second of it. I truly don't think they could have made it any better. There might have been a tiny improvement if they sticked to the original movie soundtracks or hired a composer of their own for the score of the reunion; the music seemed off at multiple times throughout; but otherwise, it was just perfect. Because I'm still young, I probably haven't been that nostalgic for something in my entire life. While actors and directors reminisce on the making of the movies, the friendships, and family-like relationships they were able to build during those 10 years of shooting, all of the happy and sad moments on and off camera; you start to reminisce about your own life and think back on the person you were when you first watched those eight films individually. Harry Potter films really did change the world for so many people; and not in a marginal way. HBO have really done a great job.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Every wildest fantasy made possible
If you liked:
Avengers: Endgame
Any Spider-Man movie
Logan
! This review features spoilers only related to the things seen in the trailer. If you've watched it, you're good. !
Judging by the fact that this movie passed the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office in less than a weekend; it does not need an introduction or any setup. If you're a Marvel fan you have probably already watched it; and if not, you most likely know what the main premise of the film is and why it was exciting as hell when rumors started getting out and the first teaser dropped. The Multiverse, a concept we saw introduced in "WandaVision" and "Loki" (but don't be scared if you haven't watched much of other Marvel stuff, you don't need it to understand the plot). Peter teams up with Dr. Strange; they have a little too much fun and break the borders between our reality and multiple other realities. Literally anything can happen on the screen from now on, and, as we see in the trailer, Marvel bring old villains from the original Spider-Man movies back to life: Dr. Octavio Octopus, Green Goblin, Electro... That by itself, if you think about it long and hard, is sort of a miracle and is one the most amazing and revolutionary things that could have happened to such a big cinematic universe. This is because a completely different company with different interests and incentives owns the rights to those old characters - Sony (which is why Venom is also not connected to any of the current Marvel films). It is probably unimaginable how much money had to be moved and how much time those two giants had to spend negotiating in order for something like that to happen, taking into account the fact that the whole Tom Holland Spider-Man deal was almost canceled some years ago. Also, they could have just bought the rights for those characters; but Marvel went an extra mile and managed to also recast all of the original actors! And they don't just bring them back in a short cameo; they breathe life back into their stories, they give those characters closure and redemption, and it just makes you nostalgic for things you never knew you needed to be nostalgic for. They even used the original soundtracks for individual villains (like Hans Zimmer's epic Electro Suite); which made me, as a soundtrack geek, appreciate this immense effort even further.
The third film is a lot more dramatic and heartfelt than the first two; think Endgame compared to Infinity War; and Holland is finally getting a lot of chances to show off his acting skills in a CGI-filled universe that doesn't usually require that much acting. Overall, they did an amazing tribute to ALL 7 of the previous Spider-Man films, paying attention to the smallest details and making every wildest idea possible; and if you're a fan of at least one of them, you will be rewarded beyond your expectations.
Go give Marvel your money. In theaters.
Pig (2021)
The mere fact that it isn't canonical doesn't make it good.
If you liked:
You Were Never Really Here
First Cow
First Reformed
"Pig" is a 2021 extremely low-budget film with what looked like a peculiar and interesting idea for a plot. It was shot in only 20 days, and all actors had to get everything right from the first time as there was no budget for re-shoots or delays. It tells a story of Rob - a hermit truffle hunter (Nicholas Cage still acts??), whose truffle pig gets stolen during the first 10 minutes of the movie. It is then slowly revealed that Rob has some burdensome and shady past, as he and his buyer (Alex Wolff; "Hereditary") try to get the pig back. During this little adventure the film turns into a meditative philosophical tale about loss, humanity and human relationships, rather than merely about retrieving a pet pig. It has a strange, almost dream-like poetic-wannabe structure, and gives off a whiff of some global depression that is well-known to each and every human being on this planet.
The film is far from cliché, but even further from groundbreaking or remarkable (reminded me a lot of "Minari" and "First Cow" in that regard). The mere fact that it isn't canonical unfortunately doesn't make it good; under the mask of deep philosophical questions lies an extremely simple idea that could have been expressed in a 10-minute short film. The only truly great things are the performances of both Cage and Wolff: Cage showing that he still can deliver an emotional performance; and Wolff once again proving that he has many great roles ahead of him.
But aside from that - "Pig" is a very simple movie. Too simple.
Dune (2021)
They forgot the story.
It physically pains me to leave a negative review for "Dune" and to give the film that I've been eagerly waiting to see for 2 years such a low score. Note: this was my subjective experience and I'm about to give my personal opinion on the film; I should mention that I am the only person I know who did not love it (although not many people have seen it yet). In any case, I suggest you still go see it in a theater by yourself and form your own opinion about it.
A little intro for those of you who hear the word "Dune" in the context of a movie for the first time. "Dune" is a 60s science-fiction novel taking place in the time of advanced space travel. The family of young Paul (Timothy Chalamet) is burdened with protecting the planet Arrakis, a home to the most valuable resource in the galaxy: "spice". With it's hostile native people, giant sandworms and interstellar wars, "Dune" is described by some as "Star Wars for adults". This best-selling epic (which I haven't read) was not very successfully adapted to screen by David Lynch in 1984, but this 2021 film here was supposed to be The Adaptation that will please each and every fan and revive the epic story for the newer generations. The director Dennis Villeneuve has proven himself a master of filmmaking over the last 10 years (Blade Runner 2049; Arrival; Prisoners; Sicario). He seemed like the perfect man for the job, considering he did the impossible and made a sequel for a classic movie "Blade Runner" that turned out better than the original. As I saw it, "Dune" was supposed to be the biggest, the most exciting and the most expensive film of the year (just look at the cast), and the last time I've been that excited to see a film was probably Infinity War 3 years ago. I went for the best possible cinematic experience - IMAX 3D; and bought the tickets for the first release date in my country. Three hours later, I walked out of the theater in a bad mood. As they say: "my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined". And, after pondering on it for two days, it isn't at all because I set my expectations too high.
There is this little thing called "dramatic structure": how any dramatic work such as a book or a film are or should be built. There are obviously deviations and different versions of it (things like Memento and Pulp Fiction still exist), but probably the most commonsensical, useful and widely-used one is called the "Freytag's pyramid" and consists of five parts: exposition (introduction to the characters and setting), rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. They give you this structure in school as an essay-writing guide. "Dune" is a 2h 35min exposition. There is no plot. They forgot the story. The movie is finished before any kind of rising action begins. After waiting for two years and three hours, you get a National Geographic documentary "Life of Paul: Struggles on Arrakis". I admit that I had no idea Villeneuve had planned that Dune would be a two-part movie from the very beginning, but I also can't be blamed because it was not at all clear from it's marketing; judging by the fact that the whole audience looked around in confusion after the abrupt non-ending - I wasn't the only one. That really doesn't matter though, I did not come to the cinema to watch a three hour introduction to something that may never even be made - Villeneuve never got a contract for a sequel yet, it will only be made if this piece of work makes enough money. How can you make a film without a cohesive story that relies entirely on it's continuation without ever being absolutely sure that this continuation is in the making? Why would you ever face those odds and why not make at least something of importance happen in part one, so it can be viewed and enjoyed as a standalone picture?
It doesn't stop there. Perhaps this is more of a criticism of the source material, but Dune is like a made-up history book with all-too real actors, politics and little details. It's like "The Martian" with it's extreme scientific accuracy, but here the author thinks up a world and maximizes realism, thinking through all the little details about how this world functions: trade, spice harvesting, religion, wars... Usually it's amazing that authors pay so much attention to details, but in this case it doesn't work. It feels like you're watching a drama-documentary about some ancient (despite it being set in the future) civilization with every meticulous little detail built in. Like, really? You had a whole universe of creativity at the palm of your hand, an ocean of unlimited potential, and you chose to simply dress "Earth geopolitics" in a science-fiction disguise? I felt like setting these artificial intellectual boundaries by tying the story tightly to real-life problems and patterns seriously hindered Dune's creative potential. My point is - I did not come to the movies to watch the news.
The annoying thing is how contrarily perfect the cinematic and visual aspects of the film are - Greig Fraser's cinematography, strongly reminiscent of the work of Roger Deakins, does not get any better than this. The unimaginable scale of the film is truly Nolan big, and the IMAX sound makes you feel the sand brushing against your cheeks. You can almost feel a slight, subtle scent of peaches emanating from the main character. Also, despite the limited room to play around in, the acting is simply top notch, an admirable ensemble with every single actor in their perfect place. However, when it comes to the soundtrack by my beloved Hans Zimmer, it felt pretty plain - cool at times, but very far from remarkable in comparison to anything of his previous works, from Interstellar, Inception and Gladiator to Lion King. But all these positive elements could not have ever made up for the biggest failure of them all - the simple lack of story. I watched the movie with my girlfriend and my cousin. They both loved it and I asked them to explain to me in 2-3 sentences what the movie was about. They couldn't. And neither could I, because it isn't about anything. It's a three hour introduction to a film that may never come to exist.
Honestly, the trailer was more exciting than the film itself.
Jagten (2012)
A masterpiece
If you liked:
Another Round
American Beauty
This is a very unique film. I've never seen anything like it, and I don't really have anything to compare it to. I've only mentioned Another Round because this is a Danish film from the same director, Thomas Vinterberg, this year's Oscar nominee for Best Director and an Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
All you need to know is that it is an emotionally and psychologically demanding, unconventional drama on a subject that is almost taboo (but no violence or gore). There are no action or thriller elements, but the plot picks up really fast and I never felt like they were wasting my time with unnecessary details. Everything was at it's place, and the film contains some scenes that I would be picturing for years to come. Mads Mikkelsen's best role. It's a masterpiece in it's own domain.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Perfect movie for the whole family.
If you liked:
Gravity Falls
Ladybird
Life is Strange (videogame)
Finally, a quality animation. Not only it is brought to you by Sony Animations, the studio that made the Oscar-winning "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" 3 years ago (their first project after the Oscar); it was also directed by the creative director of the first season of "Gravity Falls" and written by the writer of it's second season. The sole creator of the "Gravity Falls" show Alex Hirsch worked as a story consultant on this film, and you can really feel the Gravity Falls influence in the signature pacing and crazy humor of "Mitchells".
Like all greatest animations, "The Mitchells and the Machines" is a very childish yet a very adult film. The Mitchells, possibly the weirdest family in the world, finds themselves in a position where they are humanity's only hope in overcoming a sentient robot apocalypse. You know, the usual. The main theme of the movie though isn't so much the robots, but the relationships the family has - to each other as well as to the outside world. We have a teenager girl who feels insecure and isolated because of her unusual interests, the age-old problem of finding your tribe. We have a dysfunction father-daughter relationship where both can't seem to understand each other and find a way to talk about it. We have a mother that tries her hardest to give her family the very best in all possible areas of life but finds herself comparing the behind the scenes of her family's life with the highlight's reel of the lives of others. We have a little brother who, apart from loving dinosaurs, is afraid to express his feelings of any kind to anyone in fear of rejection and misunderstanding, not even being able to tell his sister how agonizingly much he will miss her once she leaves home. And we have a dumb and useless but absolutely lovable pug who is the soul of the whole film. All these character traits are very subtly and gradually exposed in the movie, while keeping the crazy, video-game-like, colorful mask to keep the youngest members of the audience entertained. Every character is relatable, you can see the quirks and behavior of each one in your own family members and I really admire how well they were able to frame these kinds of problems and stories that practically any family in the world has.
This film is the definition of a family film, you are supposed to sit down and enjoy it with your whole family, although you must be careful - at least one is bound to cry by the end of it. Available on Netfilx.
Wrath of Man (2021)
A dark "The Gentlemen"
If you liked:
Nobody
The Gentlemen
The Departed
"Wrath of Men" starts of as a generic, typical action film with an unkillable badass main character that has some shady background and a mysterious revenge incentive in his mind which will only gradually be unveiled as the film progresses. I usually hate these kinds of movies, I cannot force myself to watch films like "insert any Jason Statham picture", e.g. Transporter, Crank or any of the Furious films. At this point I just can't not pay attention to character development, acting, and coherent storyline (or lack thereof) and was never really able to enjoy these movies at all. What annoys me the most is the overly confident pretentious dialogues ubiquitous in these films, where everybody inevitably sounds like a 13-year-old trying to be the "tough guy".
So generally, I would just skip films like this entirely, and the reason why I could not skip on "Wrath of Man" is simple - Guy Ritchie. I love the Guy (huhu), I watched his "Sherlock Holmes" about 10 times, and it was the first film I've ever seen entirely in English. I also at the very least enjoyed his "King Arthur" and latest "The Gentlemen", so despite the big red flag in the face of Jason Statham on the poster, my expectations were pretty high for this one. But the first hour is exactly what you would expect of it - it feels like you've watched this exact movie a hundred times over and over again - there's bad acting, there's pretentious dialogue, there's a typical bully character that nobody likes and that seems to inherently dislike our main character for some dumb reasons, but really is a coward who can't really stand up for himself; there's our main character who is quiet but turns godlike when it counts; there's the predictable gradual story development - it's an overused formula that is familiar to any viewer at this point, and there were moments where I lost all hope and almost didn't want to keep watching anymore. But, although it does it very slowly, the story develops into first something original and interesting, and then something exciting and actually gripping, to the point where I allowed myself to close my eyes on the obvious flaws. Don't expect this to be a crime comedy like the hilarious "The Gentlemen", this film is hardcore crime, showing the ugliest parts of the ugliest men. It almost turns into some kind of dark, twisted poetry towards the end; and despite the fact that for the most part the film is a copy of a copy of a copy, it can become The Copy which comes to mind when we think of movies of such genre.
Also, Post Malone and Scott Eastwood (Clint Eastwood's clone of a son who I stared at for 2 hours trying to understand who the hell he reminds me of so much) are in this movie.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
An almost too big of an all-in from Snyder
If you liked:
Watchmen or any of the previous DC Snyder films.
Sorry for the long review, but it is a lloong film that took 5 years to make.
A bit of backstory first, because some people are still confused as to why this film exists. Zack Snyder is the mastermind behind the DC cinematic universe, like Jon Favreau is for Marvel. He directed Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman and produced Suicide Squad, Aquaman and both of the Wonder Woman films. He is the person who is building the lore and mythology of the DC universe, and virtually the only guy standing in some tangible competition to Marvel. In 2016-17 he directed his Justice League, an ambitious Avengers-like project that was supposed to bring all of the existing DC film characters into one film. Snyder showed his cut to the CEO of the studio which he rejected and so decided to radically shorten and change the film. Right after that - a sudden tragedy: Zack Snyder's 20-year-old daughter, Autumn, committed suicide due to clinical depression. In shock, Snyder left the project entirely and the studio hired Joss Whedon, the director of the first Avengers film. Whedon's film turned out to be a total disaster, he cut so much of the scenes that contributed to character development that both the fans and the critics including myself were immensely disappointed. It smelled cheap, simplistic and unworthy of it's predecessor films and budget, and I personally thought that this was the end of the DC cinematic universe. A crossover as huge as Justice League was most definitely the last film you want to screw up if you cared about your fanbase. But Snyder's fans were unshakable, Warner Bros studio got a storm of criticism from fans who thought the movie failed because Snyder left the project. People started signing petitions, going to flash mobs and started a huge #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag campaign, which became the most tweeted hashtag for an unreleased movie. The word eventually got all the way to the Warner Bros. Executives and the studio gave up - in may 2020 Snyder officially announced that he will be remaking the film.
The Snyder cut turned out to be a whopping 4-hour 2 minutes picture and it basically took me 2 weeks to finish because of how critical and suspect I was of the whole endeavor, based on what DC has been producing lately. Most of the footage wasn't new - Snyder just used his filmed material from 2017 that didn't make it into the old cut, but also ended up filming some new, additional scenes that weren't there at all 4 years ago. Snyder tried to go for the impossible, more than half of the film are scenes around character development. The only way you can make 4 hours of superhero drama (as opposed to action) that people will watch is if you have a solid fanbase that deeply cares about the characters, and because it's been 4 years since the flop of the first film, I feel like most fans just stopped caring about DC (I certainly did). This worked for Tony Stark who's been with us since 2008 (11 films total!), and this worked for Steve Rogers who's been here since 2011, this does not work for Superman or Batman that appeared in two films prior to this one. But with this film they also introduced three entirely new characters - Flash, Cyborg and the villain Steppenwolf - and, in my opinion, they saved Justice League. Because these characters appeared for the first time and you basically have no biases or ideas about them from previous films (since almost 90% of their scenes were cut out from the first version), you could take up almost as much time as you wanted to evolve them without being repetitive or boring. Seeing their storylines fully developed we only now realize what a crime editing sometimes can be, their stories are not only personal and interesting, but essential - the soul of the movie.
There are certain decisions I disagree with though - first the aspect ratio of 1.33 : 1 (basically a square that fits right in the middle of the screen). I see no reason whatsoever as to why this was necessary or desirable in any way. Yeah sure, you could argue of utility of such ratio for dramatic scenes around character building, make it "close and personal". But in the end it is still an epic superhero picture that would have looked much better on the big screen, Nolan big as I call it. Another thing is obviously the length - and I don't really like complaining about that, but 4 hours really is way too long and as you watch it you know exactly what scenes could have been cut from the film completely without making the mistake of the first version and destroying the film entirely (an example would be most of the Lois Lane tangent). I guess after all this history Snyder just decided to leave absolutely everything in, even if some scenes feel like pure time-fillers.
But despite these flaws, in the end I did not regret spending 4 hours on a superhero drama. Snyder's Cut gives DC another chance, and DC fans some hope, setting up nicely for future sequels and standalone films like 2022 "The Flash".
Cruella (2021)
Charming, stylish, fun
If you liked:
Devil Wears Prada
Sherlock
101 Dalmatians
An excellent Disney movie. No propaganda, no politically correct bs or "company vision" showed down our throats. I was starting to lose hope after the Mulan and Raya nonsense, but Cruella is an actual story with a vision that's interesting, fun, alive and in the spirit of the classical Disney films. PG-13.
The story follows Cruella in her younger years of being a fashion designer, many years prior to what happens in the 101 Dalmatians. It was very obviously inspired by Devil Wears Prada, as Cruella struggles to survive under her demanding, cold, totalitarian genius boss; the similarities are so apparent that I refuse to call it anything but a tribute, and also the screenwriter who created Priestly, the "Devil" from Devil Wears Prada, wrote an early draft of "Cruella" and got story credit on the finished film. Since the film itself is partially about the fashion industry it is just great to look at - stylish, colorful, original (Costume design Oscar??); but it also has that indescribable "Sherlock" charm and style around it, with the London setting, posh and eccentric accents and the way the characters roast each other when interacting. Emma Stone absolutely nailed everything: the role, the accent and the looks; and the presence of Emma Thompson is physically felt every time she appears on the screen. A cherry on top is the amazing choice of soundtrack; full credit to the person who chose all the ~15-20 songs that played throughout the film, your contribution was not only noted but essential.
Note: there is a specific moment in the very beginning of the film that most of you will find disappointingly stupid and illogical, but don't dwell on it, they will actually have an explanation for everything. A great evening watch that is still in theaters, although it might not be appropriate for children under 10.
Hidden Figures (2016)
A great film from back when anti-racism wasn't a marketing strategy
If you liked:
Green Book
The Help
The Imitation Game
"Hidden Figures" is a story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U. S. space program. This may sound like some politically correct forced anti-racism equality film at first, but this one is actually a rare gem, like Green Book, where that is not the case. It isn't propagandistic or "preachy" in any sense of the word; it's a real story that people collaborated on to share with the rest of us, and, in my opinion, The Example, along with visceral "The Help" and "Green Book", of how a film about discrimination, racism and equality should look like. What makes this film stand out from similar films is that there really are two parallel main plotlines unfolding at the same time and both of them would have been interesting by themselves alone; the space race with the Russians being the second one.
We follow these three women, an early computer scientist, an engineer and a brilliant mathematician as they work their backs off trying to do what they love and what they are good at, despite the stone walls that are being put up in front of them for the mere fact that their skin is of other color AND their gender doesn't suit the labels of a "NASA employee". This was one of the first films which back in 2016 introduced me to how bad the racism situation in America was; growing up in Russia where the only black person I've ever seen was a TV-celebrity Pierre Narcisse, a one-song phenomena with his "Chocolate Hare" (yes, really), racism was always some distant, barely real theoretical concept. We never learned about segregation in school, the mass separation of people based on their race where people were literally forced to always only sit at the back of the bus, go to black-only schools and use black-only restrooms (which may sound trivial at the first ignorant glance, but, as it is brilliantly portrayed in the film, is actually a huge problem). All the things we take for granted as basic human rights were just taken away from them and there was nothing you could do about it, because you were born into the "wrong kind of body". No matter how well you served and loved your country, it just didn't love you back. Through the most subtle, intelligent little scenes this film gives us a clear picture of the burning, unbearable injustice these poor women had to deal with. But despite the harsh topic the film is surprisingly easy to watch: it is funny, it is interesting and it fills you with hope and determination that such things must never come to be in any form ever again. A truly great picture.
Available on Dysney+.
Luca (2021)
Perfect for kids
If you liked:
The Little Mermaid
Tangled
Call Me By Your Name
Silenzio Bruno!
Note: for those of you who saw "Call Me By Your Name" this film is in the "if you liked" category ONLY because of the warm, Italian summer atmosphere. No peaches were used in the making of this animation.
Luca is a story of mermaid-like creatures who turn into people when out of the water, but for obvious reasons are always told they should never set foot on land. An age-old story of overprotective parents trying to keep their child away from danger (The Croods, Finding Nemo, Tangled, The Little Mermaid...); but Pixar know that this is a cliché at this point, so they make a very smart move of skipping the part where you're supposed to show his life underwater, his desperate curiosity and longing for adventure, and the fights with his parents almost entirely, as Luca is on land 10 minutes in the film.
This is the Pixar I love. This isn't the best or the worst of their work, and it also is a lot more childish than usual; only this time it isn't a problem but a feature. It is childish not because of silly jokes (although those are there too) or simplistic story with plot holes behind every corner, but because it deals with actual problems children of age ~10 might face - being afraid of something new, not fitting in and feeling isolated from other kids, being laughed at for dreaming big... I wish this came out when I was little, and I feel like any young kid would take away some lessons that would make their lives easier. As it always is the case with Pixar, the animation is insanely gorgeous, every shot except for the characters (which by the way are animated in a very unusual style for Pixar) looks like it's been photographed rather than drawn; it is also funny, entertaining, has a magnificent score and a beautiful atmosphere that instantly puts it into the category of a summer movie. Because the target audience is primarily smaller children it is also very short (only 90 minutes), and this is also a rare case where I think Pixar could make a very nice sequel of.
I would highly recommend you show this to your kids or little siblings. Available on Disney+ only.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
A very conservative sequel
If you liked:
A Quiet Place
Bird Box
Cloverfield 10
There are roughly two ways one can go about making a sequel. First - make exactly the same movie as the first one. It will be unoriginal, but usually when the source material is good enough this kind of approach is fail-proof. If people loved the first film, they will like it's copy with tiny deviations as well. The second way is to try to go and do something completely different, bringing new vision into the story, only taking the setting and the characters from the source. This is extremely risky because it either works brilliantly or turns out to be a spectacular failure. The successful examples would be "Blade Runner", "Mad Max: Fury Road", "The Dark Knight" and "The Last of Us 2" (don't lynch me for this one).
"A Quiet Place Part II" is the safe, fail-proof copy of the first movie. It takes place 5 days after the events of the first one, jumps straight into action and continues organically in exactly the same tempo as the previous film, to the point where you can literally just start watching the second one right after the first one is over and treat it as one long movie. This isn't bad per se - the first film was just outstanding in the ocean of crappy horror films of the time, and it was nice to revisit this world and the characters within it. Nice, but nothing more - in those 3 years I expected at least something new coming from Krasinski so, as I said, the film works but I'm still not too happy about it. I will let that one slide though because Krasinski didn't even want to ever make a sequel, and this was a studio project more than anything. Compared to how unimaginably bad other big studio projects can be this is a very well-crafted film. If you loved part one, you will like part two.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
A mindless studio fart.
If you liked:
The Conjuring
Annabelle
Insidious
This is a great example of a movie universe where people don't care about vision, originality or viewer experience and care mostly about the box office, so they use the same formula over and over and over and over again, making the same films throughout the years that people just keep consuming without second thought. You can call it "classic approach to horror", I call it just pure laziness at this point. Some people say that about Marvel films, but I would strongly disagree on that one: when you get to Marvel's scriptwriting: how evolved their characters and how interconnected the 20 years of their mythology actually is - it can be impeccable. They are the Greek Myths of the 21st century. "Fast and Furious", "The Conjuring/Anabelle" films and the "Saw" franchise all fall into the lazy cliche category. Yes, the first couple of them might have been interesting, but after all these years when you know the plot of upcoming film before you even started watching it - it's crap. This Conjuring is, as always, filled with jumpscares (as if in the 21st century this is the only way you can make somebody scared), and you will know exactly when the jumscares are coming up and what sort of jumpscare it's going to be. You know where the story is going and how it is eventually going to end. You already watched this movie without having watched it.
It's tragic, really, with the amount of fan support and money they have (39 mil. $. As a reference "Midsommar" had 9 mil. $ budget and "The Lighthouse" had 4.) they could hire competent screenwriters and directors that know how to think for themselves a little bit and bring new ideas to the table. But, since despite complaining everybody just keeps going to theaters to pay for those, there really is no incentive to try and change. A mindless studio fart.
Loki (2021)
A bit overhyped, but still very much worth it
If you liked:
Men in Black
Thor
The Mandalorian
The God of Mischief is back. Loki was one of my favorite characters in the whole MCU: he was witty, he was charismatic, he was handsome, and he was tragically and romantically lost and hopeless. The low-key (hihi) Joker anti-hero figure that many people liked even better than his positive counterpart of a brother. I was very excited when I've heard that they, despite the events in Endgame, were going to make a standalone show with him as a main character, the first time Marvel have done so with a villain-figure. I feel like because Loki is such an interesting character by himself the show was bound for success just for the sheer fact of it's existence, and it was indeed wildly successful. This may come off as a mild spoiler (not really though, you understand this in the first 5 minutes of the first episode), but I was extremely happy that the show is not about his past life and doesn't just consist of flashbacks. It's rather a story that goes in maximal depth exploring the essence of Loki, which provides us with new information that will be relevant to the future of MCU.
I do think it is a very good show (indicated by my 8/10 rating), but loads of people enjoyed it way more than I did, basically raising it to the title of one of the best things Marvel have ever made. I would allow myself to disagree with that; I found the couple of episodes in the middle pretty weak and personally liked "WandaVison" more, but I think I know why people's excitement about "Loki" may be disproportional to it's quality. With this show, Marvel continues to set us up for the next insanity that the newest phase 4 will behold, the multiverse. Because of that, I feel like the glimpse of the amazing, virtually unlimited potential of what Marvel would eventually release is actually more exciting than the show itself, and this is where all the 10/10's ratings for Loki are coming from. Loki is going to directly link into "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022), so if you're planning on fully understanding what the hell is going on in the MCU in the upcoming years, this is pretty much a must watch.
As a small side note: you may have caught on the fact that I'm crazy about soundtracks; and Loki has incredibly atmospheric, penetrating tunes that instantly bring Loki's Scandinavian heritage to mind and that made me reminisce of the works of Hildur Guðnadóttir (Chernobyl; Joker). Very happy to have discovered the composer Natalie Holt whom I have never heard of before, terrific work and I hope I will be hearing more of her.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
A Big Meh
If you liked:
World War Z
I Am Legend
Transformers
The combination of Chris Pratt and the fact that there have been no big expensive movies on the market for almost two years (not counting Tenet) made me watch this. If you like action movies in general (Fast and Furious, Terminator, Transformers, Statham films, Alita) and can make yourself not care for the writing, I will go on and say that you will probably like that one too. If you fall into that category just stop reading right here and add it to your watchlist, because I am about to start dismembering this film.
'The Tomorrow War' is your typical action movie featuring a man on a mission, with an icing of future technology and creepy aliens on top. The story is structured a lot more like a videogame rather than a film (similar to Dead Space/Alien Isolation/Mass Effect) and has more horror elements to it like some of the big zombie pandemic movies out there. As it often is in those big films, the expensive action scenes are interspersed with chunks of borderline pathetic drama, trying to establish a personal connection with the main character that never really works if you're paying at least some attention to the miserable dialogues and acting. Even that is sometimes okay, I mean Transformers are still watchable even though you know that the overwhelming majority of scenes where robots aren't involved is going to be awful. However, in this particular film even the action scenes did not save it, it was painfully worse than usual, to the point that it actually made me angry; because I just love Chris Pratt with passion. He is like the coolest uncle we've never had, a hilarious ball of positivity who is the same in real life as he is on the screen; and to discover that he is actually terrible at dramatic acting once he stops trying to be funny was very unexpected and sad. This applies to everyone in the film except for Yvonne Strahovski who did a great job; any family interaction or a 'meaningful' pretentious dialogue within the film is unbelievably cringe beyond tolerable.
Among it's few advantages are the general idea on which the film was built, and the fact that I did at least have a couple of laughs while watching it; props to the guy who wrote some decent jokes into the script. I will also mention that there were cool little details in the scenes involving the military which made the film more realistic; like the fact that they don't yell at each other but talk over comms while on a helicopter (and probably some other things that I just didn't notice). But man, the rest of the writing was just awful. The film also should have ended 30 minutes earlier than it did; there is basically a short sequel at the end of it that was simply unnecessary.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Crazy Fun
If you liked:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Deadpool
Disclaimer: this film features some brutal violence, a ton of offensive jokes, foul language, and a dangerous amount of fun. Keep away from children and Christians.
A hell of a comeback after the appallingly bad part one. This "continuation" of the first, 2016 "Suicide Squad" is in no way similar to it's ugly predecessor, except for a couple of reappearing characters like Harley Quinn. Part two was written and directed by James Gunn, the incomparable (despite his stupid tweets), crazy fun writer-director of both Guardians of the Galaxy films. This was the best person they could have ever possible chosen for the creation of such a movie: in short, this is just the most outrageously crazy and fun film I've watched probably since Deadpool 2 three years ago. Described by Gunn himself, the film is "a 1970s war movie action comedy" and is filled with uncensored, unlimited and unburdened creativity. You can just feel how first Gunn and then the whole crew were having a blast creating this hilarious gem with it's absurd, Drax-Starlord style dialogues and crazy, dumb (in a good way) action scenes. The pacing is simply perfect for such a movie, the introduction is shortened into oblivion to like 5 minutes; and we instantly get the action we came to see. The film also features cool little cameos in the faces of Sylvester Stallone (voicing King Shark), Pete Davidson, Josh Brolin, Mahershala Ali (I think?) and Taika Waititi. For a DC/Marvel movie this honestly could have been a 9/10.
The Green Knight (2021)
Complaint of a Film
If you liked:
The VVitch
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
First Reformed
"The Green Knight" is the latest film from my favorite movie studio, A24. They are famous for taking non-mainstream, weird, brave, terrifying, disturbing and overall unusual projects, probably the only big studio out there that is just doing it's own thing and does not get in the way of the filmmaker's vision (Midsommar, Hereditary, Ex Machina, The Lighthouse, The Killing of a Sacred Deer...). I'm always excited for their new projects, and I've been waiting for "The Green Knight" for over a year because of how promising it looked, but in the end, it turned out quite disappointing.
This is a story of a knight-wannabe on his very first quest, a young man who goes out there to save princesses and slay monster, and to thus prove to the whole world that he is "worthy"; all that in a moody, dark, eerie medieval setting. Only in this film our "knight" has some very real human qualities that distinguish him from all of the other mythical heroes - he is a cowardly weasel, who only tries to look cool while in reality he has no idea what he's doing. He barely struggles through his quests, with each step becoming more and more certain that "hero" is the worst possible word to describe him. The goal of the film is to show how annoyed the writer-director is of the traditional cliché portrayal of perfectly brave and glorious heroes, and to sprinkle some human condition in the mix of a medieval knight story. I am usually all in for breaking cliches and thinking outside of the box (like the new approach to horror in The Lighthouse and Midsommar), but it turns out this just doesn't work for a hero archetype story. After seeing something like that you realize that the reason why such stories are idealized and dramatized is because it makes them interesting, compelling and inspiring. This film lacks all of that. I think that this rebellious idea didn't really deserve a movie of it's own, but perhaps a film like "The Green Knight" was bound to be made at some point. Either way, making anything similar to it in the future would be utterly pointless, this complaint of an idea is a dead end that is already itself a cliché, after appearing in just this one film.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
A perfect Marvel movie
If you liked:
Jackie Chan films
Bruce Lee films
Doctor Strange
Note: as I always say Marvel and DC films can really only be compared to one another, within their own segment of the movie industry. But even if I were to compare "Shang-Chi" to any other film, it would have been a 9/10.
A perfect Marvel movie. Trust me, I've watched all 25 of them and the only Marvel films that come close to the richness of story, character development and sheer epicness of Shang-Chi are Doctor Strange, Thor Ragnarok and the last two Avengers. The film perfectly balances story and character development with action scenes so that throughout the whole two hours you never get tired of neither. There are no unnecessary filler scenes, there aren't any 40-min long scenes explaining the childhood background of the main character you sometimes see in such films; the flashbacks of the past are smartly intertwined as short clips within the overarching main story. The fights are absolutely amazing, obviously inspired by Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee moves (with a pinch of Kill Bill). The story is as deep and as personal as it can get for a Marvel film (honestly better than most drama films nowadays); and some scenes are as epic and vast as the final battles in Endgame or the last Hobbit movie. This is what Mulan and Raya should have looked like. And the great thing is that it doesn't rely on any of the previous Marvel movies whatsoever - a fully standalone project with completely new characters.
You must watch it in a theater if you can.
Up in the Air (2009)
The definition of an emotional rollercoaster
If you liked:
Lost in Translation
Juno
Love, Actually
"Up in the Air" is a 2009 romance-drama tragicomedy. It is a story of a man named Ryan (George Clooney), who flies around the US in the midst of the 2007 recession. If any company wants to fire a large number of people, but the CEO doesn't have the guts to face what could be the most difficult talk in their employee's life, they hire Ryan to deliver the news. Since 2007 is the hottest year for that kind of business, Ryan spends half of his life in the air, traveling from one state to another. As a side gig, he gives speeches about how disadvantageous and silly it is to have any sort of attachments - family, kids, permanent residence etc. He himself really doesn't have any of those, he barely even answers the phone when his only relative-sister desperately tries to invite him to her wedding. "Rage against conformity, embrace freedom" - that sort of deal. However, as Ryan perhaps knows deep in his heart, this lifestyle of a "pathological bachelor" is a painfully lonely one.
He invents various "tasks" to keep himself busy at all times, and we start to get a feeling that this isn't because he enjoys it, but rather because he can't afford to pause and think about his life for a second because it will drive him into insanity. We start to get a feeling that this "freedom" is a façade, and a more appropriate term would be "abdication of responsibility". And then, as a potential love interest appears, Ryan may have to consider rethinking his whole philosophy.
The emotional connotations of this movie are hard to describe. For the most part, despite the depressive atmosphere of the historical timeframe and clips of real people getting fired (more in the comments), it is actually a light, feel-good comedy. But the tides can dramatically turn any second, jumping all the way down into depression and then rushing back up into the realm of comedy. A spicy mix, the definition of an emotional rollercoaster this film is a lot more serious than it first seems and will most certainly leave each and every viewer thinking about their own lives. All three lead actors received Oscar nominations each, featuring one of Clooney's best performances in his career.
I highly recommend this film if you feel like you haven't seen a good, funny, tragic and meaningful drama in a while.
The Mauritanian (2021)
Biggest Oscar snub of 2021.
If you liked:
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Vice
This movie is the biggest snub from the 2021 Oscars. Because it came out relatively late in 2021 (and didn't yet come out in some countries at all) I automatically assumed it will belong to the next Oscars season. It won't, apparently it just never made the shortlist. I have a slight suspicion that most of the people from he Academy didn't actually watch it because of such a late release date; this film is better than at least Minari and Judas. If I were the one deciding I would most definitely have given it Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress nominations at the very least.
The Mauritanian is a real, but vastly unknown or forgotten story that took place in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2002, a 32-year-old man named Mohamedou Ould Slahi is captured in Mauritania, and subsequently transported to the Guantanamo Bay, an American military prison in Cuba. He is accused of being associated with the 9/11 attacks, but there seem to be either conflicting or next to no evidence against him. The plot of this film is about what happened while he was in the prison, but also what was happening behind the scenes of his trial, both from the side of prosecution and defense. At the point of possibly the greatest national grief in the United States history, everything anybody could think of was punishing the responsible. This is understandable on another level, but how to stay sane, objective and just in such a morally and emotionally devastating situation? How, in fighting a monster, not become a monster yourself? I loved the way they managed to portray how the prosecution and the defense sides were both tormented by this moral conundrum, one facing a possibility of wrongly accusing an innocent man, and the other facing an even more psychologically agonizing possibility of selflessly defending a potential terrorist and murderer. The first hour of the film is a tiny bit slow, but it picks up substantially once all the cards are on the table. It's always strange to talk about "spoilers" in the context of movies about historical facts, but I still discourage you to read anything about this before watching the movie, it will leave a bigger impact on you that way.
The Guantanamo detention camp is still open and Mohamedou is still alive, so this story is at the very least worth knowing and sharing. It also has Benedict Cumberbatch and Jodie Foster in it.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Forget the tournament, it's still good.
If you rate it like any other movie: 4
If you rate it as an adaptation of a game: 7
If you liked:
Mortal Kombat
Nobody
The Wolverine
I watched this film at the cinema by accident. Me and my girlfriend went to go see "Godzilla Vs. Kong", but when we arrived it turned out that the hall where it was being shown was closed for some kind of repair. Mortal Kombat was the only other film playing that night, and I was quite suspicious at first because this game probably has the worst reputation when it comes to plot and movie adaptations, but I remembered that the trailer looked cool, so we went anyway. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
For those of you who don't know, MK is based on a fighting game franchise that is 29 years old now, and is famous for it's gore, blood and violence. So, if you aren't into that kind of thing - I wouldn't watch it; and according to my gf it probably would seem quite bad for you plot-wise if you never played the game either. But as a person who played the games, knows most of the characters and fatalities and understands the references they made - I really liked what they did with the film. Let's be honest, nobody who knows what "Mortal Kombat" is would come for the plot; we come to see these epic fights on the big screen, and we got them, excellently choreographed too (the fight choreographer Chan Griffin worked on The Wolverine, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aquaman, Shazam, Thor: Ragnarok and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE..). They also took some of the most satisfying and visually appealing combos and fatalities from the game and brought them to life; and they kept the age-old Sub-Zero and Scorpion rivalry as one of the main plot elements.
Gore, funny (at times) and action - overall very faithful to the game franchise and already generally loved by the fans. Sequel is coming.
Nobody (2021)
A way above average action.
If you liked:
Transporter
The Dark Knight
John Wick
I haven't watched these kinds of action movies in forever, because I usually just can't sit through the terrible writing they awkwardly put on top of the brutal fighting scenes and car chases. They never seem to pay attention to the script or acting, because people will watch it for the action anyway. Well, not this time.
Hutch is an office clerk, living a dull, boring Groundhog Day - life. Nothing exciting ever happens with him, people at work make fun of him, and his wife secretly resents him. One day two people break into his home, and although he has an opportunity to do something about it, he decides not to... After this incident, something changes in Hutch. Judging by the "if you liked" movies, you probably already figured out that there will be a lot of fighting and combat involved. The fight scenes are just brilliantly filmed, that long bus scene alone is outstanding. I've also never seen that in these films they go for some kind of realism, where the main character, despite brutally beating everybody, isn't an indestructible robot (like Marvel superheroes) and actually gets hit in the face quite a lot. Towards the end of the film, they dispense with the realism and just make everything "cool", but at that point it wasn't a problem - the film looked amazing anyway. I thought that a lot of the scenes were inspired by "The Dark Knight", that's why I also added that film to the "similar movies list", but don't expect some big similarities, it's more of a tribute to particular scenes. A way above average action that I can actually recommend.
It was filmed by a Russian newbie-director Ilya Naishuller, who started by directing music videos for The Weeknd and a Russian band called "Leningrad". In 2015 he made a movie called "Hardcore Henry", which was noticed by Quentin Tarantino and right before filming "Nobody" Tarantino sent him a signed copy of a script for "Pulp Fiction", wishing him luck in the world of cinema; because he knew that Naishuller is a huge fan and already owned a copy of that script. In my humble opinion, this is just mind-blowing - I'm very proud of the guy and also wish him the best of luck with his future projects.
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
A perfect tiny documentary.
If you liked:
Planet Earth
Blue Planet
This is just a perfect documentary. It's about a peculiar relationship between a man and a real octopus, almost what you'd call a friendship. Through a 5 minute introduction we are only told the most essential information about the human side - Craig Foster, a nature documentary filmmaker, after some time of personal crisis goes back to one of his occupations as a child - underwater exploration. He finds an octopus living not far from his home off the coast of Cape Town; and makes a decision to just go there every single day and simply see and film what happens. And that's it, that's the documentary!
Now to the reasons as to why it's perfect:
-> It's absolutely gorgeous like most of the nature documentaries.
-> There is no fooling around, no unnecessary dramatic backstories; no details about human's personal life; it is just footage of human-nature relationship. Because of that, the whole documentary is tiny - only 85 minutes long, they left all the unnecessary bs away.
-> It isn't a really a scientific nature documentary where they load you with fun facts about the animals; it's a personal story of how Craig the human slowly gets attached to the octopus, gains it's trust to a point where it basically just comes out of the den and greets him. It was quite funny and a little strange how serious Craig seemed to take the whole endeavor, but there was an enormous payoff in that. His dedication and commitment, his obsession to actually not miss a single day of filming resulted in some of the greatest, most incredible footage about nature I have personally ever seen and perhaps some of the greatest footage there is. There really is no point in trying to describe it, you have to see it.
-> It's magical and chill to watch and I think every single one of you will enjoy it. Seriously, in all likelihood, you have never seen anything like it and I am willing to bet that it is virtually impossible to dislike. Perhaps that's the biologist in me, but I don't think so.
It isn't perfect in the sense that other movies are - you don't get the same awe as after seeing the finale of "Parasite"; but it is perfect in a way that there was nothing you could add to it to make it better. Like Michelangelo, the filmmakers just took the unnecessary bits out and there lied the perfection. Go watch it, it's available on Netflix.
The Father (2020)
Brutally real.
If you liked:
Nebraska
Amour
Relic
"The Father" is one of the 2021 Oscar frontrunners, a heartbreaking drama about aging. An old man named Anthony is refusing help from his daughter as he ages. They are at a point when the child is worried enough about their parent to try to get them a professional carer; and the parent, fighting for the last bits of their independence, is proud enough to insistently believe that they can perfectly manage on their own. A terribly awkward situation for both to find themselves in and although we sort of side with Anthony in the beginning; we eventually do see that his mind starts to slowly disintegrate and fragment, starting with simple forgetfulness, and ending up with a nasty habit of believing that everyone is out there to steal from him.
What makes this movie so unique and borderline genius is that we see the whole story from Anthony's perspective only. He is clearly showing early signs of dementia; and we only get the side of the picture that he himself recognizes and sees through his confused memory and eyes; to the point where we ourselves become paranoid and confused. The faces are confusing, the time of the day is confusing, the surroundings are confusing. Because of that, the film isn't constructed like a dull drama, but rather as a some twisted kind of mystery thriller bordering on horror. Probably most of us have at least once contemplated on our own mortality and the paralyzing fear of losing one's memory as we become older. This film is not scary-horror, but it should scare the stuffing out of anyone, since this problem is universal for all of us humans. The prospect of getting lost in your own head is far scarier and far more real than anything some Boogeyman from a generic horror film can throw at us. It's what I have been afraid of ever since I could think hard enough. It's also one of the reasons why I became a biologist, I am planning to delve into Biology of Aging research so that we can live healthier lives as we get older, and avoid this kind of horror in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
All of this was brought to life by the never-changing excellency of my favorite actor Anthony Hopkins, rightly earning Hopkins his 6th nomination; and the superb directing of Florian Zeller, for which he confusingly wasn't nominated, but his film did get the "mysterious" Film Editing nomination for all those cuts that made the confusion of a fading mind tangible.
This brutally real film won't provide you with any answers, but it will give you a ton of questions to ponder on. Comparatively very short, running for 90 minutes only, it is definitely one of the best films of 2020 that nobody should miss. Available in some theaters.
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Very interesting, despite the perhaps intimidatingly political topic.
If you liked:
The Departed
The Trial of the Chicago 7
BlacKkKlansman
This is a 2021 based-on-a-true-story film about Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of an Illinois Black Panther Party, a political organization motivated by a desire for safety and self-sufficiency that was not available inside redlined African American neighborhoods. A car thief named Bill O'Neil is then recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Party and keep Hampton "in check", supposedly because of his revolutionary ideas. The film is focused not so much on the politics of it all, but on the personal struggle of a 21(!) year old Hampton and 17(!) year old O'Neil, as O'Neil is quite literally selling his soul to the devil; going through a psychological fragmentation as he betrays his whole community by spying on Hampton.
To be honest, I don't like to review these kinds of movies because I never know enough historical background to do them proper justice. Topics like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or Black Panthers just aren't a part of Russian history lessons, so most of the knowledge that I have on them come from portrayals in such movies, interviews about the films and Wikipedia articles. What I thought would be really useful in the beginning of the film is to maybe give a little historical introduction of specific events that kept happening in America over and over again and that eventually lead to the creation of the party. Make a film sort of "outsider-friendly" at least to a small degree. Also, Hampton was an open Marxist and I don't know how to feel about that taking my country's history with this ideology into account. But judging by his interviews that I could find he was a very "selective" type of Marxist, putting forth ideas that you should primarily educate and enlighten the masses rather than to wreak havoc with a violent revolution. He realized that people are the most valuable assed there is, and it would be foolish to put their lives at risk. I just feel like he was doing all the right things for the wrong reasons.
But this is a movie review and not a political statement, so I must mention that despite the perhaps intimidating seriousness of the film, it is still very interesting to watch, especially if you don't know where it's all going. Both main actors did a great job and went through incredible preparation process; Daniel Kaluuya's portrayal of Fred Hampton is so on point that it's just eerie: the movements, the accent, the manner of speech; everything was basically identical. And Lakeith Stanfield, who played the rat, apparently had to go through therapy in order to deal with the burden of playing someone who betrays his own people. Both actors were reunited after the 2017 "Get Out" and I was happy to see them back together on the screen because I loved that film with passion.
Daniel Kaluuya is my pick for this year's Supporting Role Oscar, although I think that other 5 nominations will stay being merely nominations.