Leave No Trace (2018)

10 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

Tags

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to incorporate some kind of regional weather term. Because of its potential origins in the Pacific Northwest, where this movie is set, I took inspiration from the word sunbreak, which Wikipedia defines as “a passage of sunlight in the clouds during dark, rainy winters (typical west of the Cascade Mountains.”)

See the source image

The forest floor was waterlogged
As constant raindrops pounded it,
And constant clouds obscured the sky
As verdant vines surrounded it.

The greens were muted, shadow-strewn,
Until a sunbreak was extended.
Viridescence quelled the gloom
Long after that sky-tear had mended.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG (very little objectionable)

Leave No Trace is like the antithesis of all the loud and flashy Hollywood blockbusters these days. It’s slow, quiet, melancholy, and light on dialogue. Despite boasting two excellent performances from Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie, it wasn’t visible enough to get any award love either, but it’s a slow-burn drama that’s still earned much love in cinephile circles.

See the source image

Foster plays Will, a war veteran suffering from PTSD, whose anti-social anxieties have driven him into the lush forests of an Oregon park. There he lives off the land and minimal resources (a tent, a propane stove) and hides himself and his thirteen-year-old daughter Tom (McKenzie) from the obtrusive outside world. Though more curious than her dad, Tom is a loving daughter committed to doing anything that keeps her and her dad together. Soon, though, the world intrudes on their wooded enclave and, when presented with a “normal” life, Tom’s contentment and bond with her father are tested.

Leave No Trace has no lack of realism, but its human interest, while present and touching even, is kept at arm’s length with little to no backstory on what brought Will to this point. Tom’s relationship with her father is sweet in its devotion and becomes further poignant as they both eventually realize the difference between her normal needs and wants and those of her father. It’s refreshing that she never resents her father and only raises her voice once, a sign of their mutual trust and rare familial bond even when troubled by self-doubt.

See the source image

Deliberate action and pensive silence are potently used, especially during some later scenes, and the acting is awards caliber, but this is definitely a critic’s movie. Professional reviewers will continue to adore it (100% on Rotten Tomatoes), while normal viewers will either appreciate its honest subtlety or be bored to tears. I suppose I’m somewhere in between.

Best line: (Tom, to her father) “The same thing that’s wrong with you isn’t wrong with me.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

2019 Blindspot Pick #3: Dancer in the Dark (2000)

09 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Blindspot, Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Drama, Musical

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a list poem, so, based on this film, I wrote a list of things that make my heart ache. Try singing it to the tune of “My Favorite Things,” which was used in the movie.)

See the source image

Signs that the world is a heinous taskmaster,
Questions with answers unfair to the asker,
Innocence tainted by lack of concern:
These are the lessons it pains me to learn.

Optimists dashed and brought low for their dreaming,
Bitterness tinged by a sweetness redeeming,
Love too naïve to be wary of hate,
Promises broken or kept far too late,

When the dog dies,
When the tale ends,
When I need to grieve,
My broken heart summons the tears as it mends,
For they never truly leave.
_____________________

MPAA rating: R (more for intensity, what’s shown is closer to PG-13)

Due to his reputation for controversy, I’ve never been eager to watch the films of Lars von Trier. Yet I’ve been long curious about Dancer in the Dark, and my Blindspot series seemed like a prime chance to find out how a musical could also be considered among the most depressing movies of all time. I have a finicky regard for unapologetic downers. I love Grave of the Fireflies and The Elephant Man dearly, yet I can’t stand something like Seize the Day or The Hours. It depends on the film and the person whether it has the desired effect, and Dancer in the Dark hit me harder than I was expecting.

«dancer in the dark» HD Wallpapers

I only knew of Icelandic singer Bjork for her strange style of singing, but she proves to be perfect for the role of a Czech immigrant mother struggling to provide her son with a better life. Having settled in Washington State in the 1960s, Selma Jezkova works hard in a factory with her friend Kathy (Catherine Deneuve), rents a trailer from a kind couple (David Morse, Cara Seymour), practices for a small stage production of The Sound of Music, and is slowly going blind. She’s been saving up for an operation so that her son need not bear the same affliction, which begins to impede her daily life.

Throughout the first half, the film gives every reason to love these characters, everyone sympathetic and helpful to Selma, including a would-be suitor she rebuffs (Peter Stormare). I could relate to Selma’s love of musicals and admired her commitment to her son, even if her stubbornness got in the way sometimes. Then, by believable but heartbreaking measures, one character’s selfishness and self-loathing become destructive and ruin everything that Selma has built.

Dancer in the Dark - Is Dancer in the Dark on Netflix - FlixList

Dancer in the Dark is not the kind of film I would expect to like, choppily edited and shot with a grainy, hand-held camera in a style that is apparently part of a semi-genre/movement called Dogme 95, which von Trier helped to establish. It’s an odd mixture when this style focused on realism suddenly shifts into the magical realism of Selma’s daydreams, musical segments where the sounds she hears become rhythmic as the colors brighten and friends and bystanders break into choreography.

It’s not shot like a typical musical, nor are the songs instantly catchy like something from Broadway. Bjork’s singing is even distracting at times, making the lyrics hard to understand. Yet it’s more about the feelings the songs create, and they strike deep. One revels in Selma’s love of musicals, even as it betrays her. After a horrific event, one song plays out the way Selma surely wishes it could go under better circumstances. Again, it’s a strange juxtaposition, but it works, in a way I can only compare to how humor was mixed with tragedy in Life Is Beautiful.

See the source image

The leadup to the tragic climax is probably strung out too much, but Dancer in the Dark left me haunted as few films do, and while some critics have dismissed it as shameless melodrama, it earns its heartbreak in my book. While it’s not a perfect comparison, since Selma actually commits a crime, the way the world turns on her brought to my mind the trial and suffering of Christ, a parallel strengthened by Selma’s line about her son’s operation, that it would be known “that he was paid for.”

With strong supporting work from Deneuve, Morse, and Siobhan Fallon (even a cameo from Joel Grey), Dancer in the Dark proved to be an acting powerhouse thanks to Bjork herself, who staggeringly was passed over for an Oscar nomination despite winning Best Actress at Cannes. She and the film itself may be an acquired taste and a bitter one at that, but their power is undeniable.

Best line: (Bill Houston) “I love the movies. I just love the musicals.”
(Selma) “But isn’t it annoying when they do the last song in the films?”
(Bill) “Why?”
(Selma) “Because you just know when it goes really big… and the camera goes like out of the roof… and you just know it’s going to end. I hate that. I would leave just after the next to last song… and the film would just go on forever.”

Rank: List-Worthy

The Commuter (2018)

08 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Action, Mystery, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to incorporate some kind of business jargon, but my limited time also limited my thought process on this one, so I skipped the prompt. Just a limerick today, with a bit of dark wordplay.)

See the source image

There once was a frazzled commuter
Who spent his whole day on computer.
They say that he snapped
After feeling too trapped
And became an acclaimed troubleshooter.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Liam Neeson just loves these late-in-life thrillers where a 65-year-old can still kick butt. I haven’t kept up with them all so I can’t rightly tell how The Commuter compares, but I for one enjoyed it a lot.

Neeson plays Michael MacCauley, an insurance agent and ex-cop, who on the day he gets laid off meets a mysterious woman (Vera Farmiga) who offers him $100,000 for him to find someone called “Prynne” on the train who doesn’t belong. It’s a vague task, and as Michael gets pulled in further, he soon finds it to be a life-and-death struggle that’s not about to let him go easily.

See the source image

Despite Neeson’s age, he fits the role like a glove, and the early scenes detailing his daily routine and commute establish him as a likable everyman. Once the action starts, he keeps up admirably, especially during a stand-out one-take fight scene with excellent camera work. The twists and turns offer a few surprises as well, even after what would normally be the final set piece for a film set on a train.

Also starring Elizabeth McGovern, Sam Neill, and Patrick Wilson (shame he had no scenes with fellow Conjuring star Farmiga), The Commuter probably isn’t the kind of movie that is likely to be remembered years from now. But it’s a fast-paced mystery thriller (albeit with some convolutions and unanswered questions) that proves how watchable Neeson can be.

Rank: List Runner-Up

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

07 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Biopic, Comedy, Drama

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was a poem about joy and gifts, so I thought of the selflessness offered to the title character of this biopic.)

See the source image

A dream is a gift on the highest of shelves,
And no one is tall enough for it.
We wonder what treasures are hidden within,
And watch other people reach theirs with chagrin.
We reach and we climb
And we strain every time;
We yearn and beseech
While it’s just out of reach.
This struggle, we hate and adore it.

But after the struggle has worn us bone thin
And made us give up on the treasures within,
For someone still taller to pluck our dream down,
Impelled by our dreaming and not for renown,
And offer it to us,
The dream that so drew us…
It questions the thought
That the world is all rot,
For kindness still lives
In the gifts that it gives.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I didn’t realize that I’d be highlighting Meryl Streep’s lesser performances this week (Into the Woods was just a couple days ago), but it just worked out that way. I’ve long held Florence Foster Jenkins in semi-contempt ever since Streep got an Oscar nomination while Amy Adams in Arrival was snubbed. Yet I was curious to see whether her portrayal of the aspiring untalented opera singer was really undeserving or not.

See the source image

While I believe without a doubt that Streep’s Academy clout clinched the nomination, her role as Jenkins does have its strong moments, particularly when it shifts from milking her bad singing for comedy to mixing in the drama of her failing health and self-confidence. I suppose knowing from Into the Woods and Mamma Mia! that Streep can sing adds to the role’s difficulty; it takes skill to sing poorly on purpose. I can see Streep’s performance being worthy of an Oscar nom in a weak year, but I’ll take it to my grave that Amy Adams deserved it more in 2016.

Nearly overshadowing Streep is Hugh Grant as her husband/manager St. Clair Bayfield, who repeatedly swings the audience’s opinion of him; at first, he seems a faithful husband, then a cad when we realize he has a mistress, then somewhat sympathetic when the circumstances are clarified, then back to amazingly sweet and selfless husband by the end. Likewise, Simon Helberg as Cosmé McMoon, Jenkins’ self-conscious pianist, serves well as a stand-in for the audience, shocked by Jenkins’ naivete about her lack of talent but hesitantly supportive of her efforts.

See the source image

Florence Foster Jenkins is a well-written biopic I doubt anyone was clamoring for, but it’s better than its title character’s voice might indicate. While it extracts inspiration from Jenkins and her eagerness to share her passion and fulfill her dream whether the listening world likes it or not, it didn’t quite convince me whether that was a good thing or not. When someone aspires to be legitimately famous, would they really be satisfied with becoming infamous instead?

Best line: (Carlo Edwards, a ‘friend’) “Obviously I’ll do my utmost to attend the concert, but I’ll be away in Florida at some point.” (St. Clair) “Oh, right. When?” (Edwards) “Let me know when you’ve fixed a date.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

Snowpiercer (2013)

06 Saturday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Thriller

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem about the possible, so I tackled the improbability/possibility of sci-fi dystopias.)

See the source image

What would you call an improbable threat
For the future that no one has witnessed as yet?
Dystopian visions are dozens per dime,
Propped up by the volatile nature of time.

Who knows if we might be supplanted by apes,
Or drive over ruined, deserted landscapes?
Who knows if we might be beset by undead,
Or banned from free thought by a Big Brother head?
Perhaps we might battle an alien foe
That strikes from above or attacks from below.
The sun may desert us or scorch us to ash,
Or robots may kill us or clean up our trash,
Or humans may live in a virtual setting
That no one recalls since it’s built on forgetting.
Or maybe, just maybe, mankind may well learn
From all its mistakes that so often return
And set up a world of the peaceful and wise,
Not built on the backs of control and dark lies.

But with all of the ifs that end nightmarishly,
I think that’s unlikely, but hey, it might be.
_____________________

MPAA rating: R

It’s hard to know how I feel about Snowpiercer. On the one hand, I can appreciate the ambition that went into this epic dystopian vision, and on the other, I’m confounded by the bizarrely unrealistic concept that remains straight-faced throughout all its weirdness and violence. It’s a film I’m glad to have seen once, but I’m not sure I want to see it again.

After a half-baked attempt to stop global warming sends the planet into a deep freeze, the only remaining humans are those aboard the Snowpiercer, a high-speed train looping endlessly across the globe. The wealthy live in luxury in the front of the train, while those in the back scrape by in squalor and authoritarian suppression, personified by the loathsome Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton with false teeth). After seventeen years, the have-nots make their final push for change as their leader Curtis (Chris Evans) aims to take the engine.

See the source image

The biggest problem with Snowpiercer is buying into its unlikely dystopia without being distracted by just how unlikely it is. So much science fiction is dedicated to conjuring future worlds where vices are taken to extremes or improbable outcomes challenge our perceptions, so in some ways, Snowpiercer is in good company. But then again (and my views may be tainted by a semi-famous and extremely negative review I read a while back), there is such a thing as too many plot holes. Why is one Korean girl psychic? How is it that the wealthy of the front section have perfectly maintained amenities and clean clothes with no visible manufacturing or service areas? It’s a train after all; there’s only so much room in the cars, all of which Curtis passes through to get to the front, often with random themes, like an aquarium or a rave. Surely this train isn’t as self-sustainable as it appears with no outside resources. Considering the body count and how pyrrhic the battle becomes, how can the ending be viewed as anything but a total downer waving a shred of false hope?

It’s a lot to overlook, yet, if you can, there’s much to appreciate as well. The set design and limited CGI effects (mainly any exterior shots) have a convincing world-building flair, and the fight scenes, while unnecessarily bloody, are tense and shocking, with a strange preoccupation with limb amputations. The film does excel as an action movie and has moments of pointed social commentary about the breakdown of society, though its almost cartoonish class struggle themes were done far better in The Hunger Games series.

See the source image

Snowpiercer seems to be divisive, and all in all, I can’t completely agree with either end of the spectrum. It’s not a total train wreck (pun intended) as some faultfinders have derided it, but neither does it seem worthy of its effusive critical praise and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m somewhere in the middle, dubiously positive you might say. If you can manage to take its grim craziness in stride, Snowpiercer may be the dystopia for you.

Best line: (Wilford, the creator of the train) “Curtis, everyone has their preordained position, and everyone is in their place except you.” (Curtis) “That’s what people in the best place say to the people in the worst place.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

Into the Woods (2014)

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Disney, Drama, Fantasy, Musical

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a villanelle, a special form with alternating repeated lines as below, and the prompt suggested incorporating someone else’s words. The repeated lines I used are drawn from the musical Into the Woods, along with part of the theme.)

See the source image

Careful the tale you tell,
For tales are not words but adventures and fates;
All stories cast a spell.

They conjure the best and worst places to dwell,
And leave you in clouds or burdened by weights.
Careful the tale you tell.

Emotions on strings as they rise and repel
Are pulled by the magic that fiction creates.
All stories cast a spell.

No louche Casanova, no wish from a well
Has broken more hearts or honored more dates.
Careful the tale you tell.

Each one is a world and a ceiling-less cell,
Where soon-to-be-friends and a new home awaits.
All stories cast a spell.

When fantasy finally bids you farewell,
How do you feel as the world deviates?
Careful the tale you tell;
All stories cast a spell.
______________________

MPAA rating: PG

Those familiar with this blog might already know that I’m a huge fan of musicals. While others roll their eyes or cringe at all-sung films like Les Miserables, I love it. There’s something about the combination of song, lyric, dance, and story that I find particularly appealing and entertaining. However, not all musicals are equal, and all four (sometimes three minus dance) of those ingredients have to be on point for the magic to work. Into the Woods comes so close to nailing them all, yet by the end, I could only wonder what went wrong.

See the source image

Based on Stephen Sondheim’s popular musical, which is just as old as The Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods weaves multiple fairy tale stories together: Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Rapunzel, and an original connecting tale of a Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt) seeking out spell ingredients for a desperate Witch (Meryl Streep). The way the stories blend together and overlap, playing out in familiar ways with unexpected connections, is a joy to watch, especially with hammy but committed performances from Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, and Streep (who shockingly got an Oscar nomination; she’s good, but this is probably her least deserving role).

It’s a highly enjoyable movie, or rather two-thirds of a movie, because at a certain point, it’s just…ruined. At a happy moment that could have ended the film well, the story suddenly takes a left turn into disaster and tragedy and shattered reputations. It’s a dark move, which is apparently even darker in the stage version, and it saps most of the enjoyment from the film as a whole.

See the source image

Even if none of the songs are instant classics likely to live long in the memory, the music is the saving grace of Into the Woods. My VC thought the tunes were a bit too repetitious, lacking the complexity or vocal range of Phantom or Les Mis, but, as a poet, I especially admired the clever lyrics and rhymes. It has outstanding production values and strong performances too, but in its effort to offer a darkly unsatisfying take on beloved stories, this fractured fairy tale proves to be a failed musical in my book. My VC and I agree that we would recommend the first two thirds; just bail when the tale goes to pot.

Best line: (the Baker’s Wife) “Oh, if life were made of moments, even now and then a bad one – But if life were only moments, then you’d never know you had one.”

Rank: Dishonorable Mention

Beautiful Boy (2018)

04 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Biopic, Drama, Triple A

See the source image

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a sad poem using simple, straightforward language, and this story of a father mourning his son’s choices seemed like a perfect fit.)

When I first held you in my hands,
A life so small and yet so dear,
I dreamt of all your hopes and plans
That lay so far away from here,
In years ahead, when you perhaps
Did not need me as you did then.
Too soon did all those years elapse,
Too soon you joined the world of men.

You’ve gone your own way, that is clear,
On paths I’d never dreamed before,
And now I wait, with growing fear,
For news that you are here no more.
My son, I love you and I will,
Although you’ve left my heart so sore.
Afar, I stand and love you still
And wish I held you close once more.
_________________________

MPAA rating: R (for much language and drug content)

Do you remember the final, heart-breaking scene of Philadelphia, where the film gives us a stark comparison between the disease-ridden character that just died and his innocent child self, subtly asking how someone once so pure could have been brought so low? That’s essentially what Beautiful Boy is, just stretched out to feature-length, yet still quite affecting, thanks to Oscar-worthy turns from Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet as a father and son plagued by drug addiction.

See the source image

Carell plays real-life journalist and father David Sheff, who in the early 2000s had to endure the pain of watching his son Nic (Chalamet) battle a meth addiction. The story is rife with flashbacks, many of which contrast Nic’s current struggle with his free-spirited childhood, as I said. Some also offer hints of what led him down the dark road to addiction, as when he defends his early gateway drugs in the name of youthful experimentation, just as his father did back in the day. Yet the phase that David grew out of, Nic succumbs to, leading to an emotional rollercoaster as he goes in and out of rehab with David desperate to help him any way he can.

Since it’s what I call a Triple A movie (one that’s All About the Acting), I’m honestly shocked that Beautiful Boy was entirely snubbed by the Oscars, though it did get a couple nominations at the Golden Globes, including one for Chalamet. The repetitive plot ends up feeling longer than it really is, perhaps because it’s emotionally draining as well, but there’s genuine heartfelt talent here, not to mention the extra-timely subject matter, which brings home the personal cost of America’s drug epidemic in stark, sympathetic detail. I’ve personally never understood the attraction to drugs, but this movie brings into focus how destructive they are and how unpredictable their effects can be, with one man’s single experiment becoming another man’s road to addiction.

See the source image

I can see why it might not win Best Picture, with its excessive flashbacks and music (occasionally intrusive) stressing how dramatic it is, but the snub is hard to believe, especially compared to 2016’s Manchester By the Sea, another Amazon Studios film that won two Oscars and was dull and inferior next to this film. Chalamet and Carell give exceptional performances, and I highly suspect they’ll both end up with Oscars one of these day, or at least they should.

Best line: (David, to Nic as a child) “Do you know how much I love you? If you could take all the words in the language, it still wouldn’t describe how much I love you. And if you could gather all those words together, it still wouldn’t describe what I feel for you. What I feel for you is everything. I love you more than everything.”

Ranking: List Runner-Up

Bel Canto (2018)

03 Wednesday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Drama, Romance

See the source image

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem about something that takes time, like falling in love, for example. It’s also fittingly paired with a movie that felt longer than it was.)

Love at first sight is a storybook rarity,
Meant to give real life a sorry disparity.
No, love occurs with much more regularity
Born out of patience, frustrations, and time.

Waiting is always considered austerity,
Wading through troubles with fresh solidarity,
Yet it is waiting that tests our sincerity
After the passion grows ashen with time.

Love is not love only born from prosperity,
Tested then bested by irregularity.
Months and then years offer startling clarity;
They are the mountain true romance will climb.
_______________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be PG-13)

Based on an Ann Patchett novel, Bel Canto flew under the radar last year with very little fanfare, making me think perhaps it was a diamond in the rough worth discovering. After watching it, I’d say it’s more of a nice piece of quartz that could have been shinier. Featuring a plot of revolutionary turmoil and classical music, Bel Canto just doesn’t foster enough interest to sustain its plot, even with strong performances from Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe.

Moore plays an opera singer and Watanabe a Japanese businessman, who are both guests in a South American official’s mansion, only to become hostages when the entire complex is locked down by armed insurgents. The fear and terror of the situation gradually give way to a false sense of security as the weeks drag on, as the hostages begin to bond with their captors and unlikely romances are sparked.

See the source image

Bel Canto has some honestly powerful moments, such as a meaningful opera performance Moore’s character is compelled to give from a balcony. Likewise, the film’s climax is classically tragic in its inevitability, but, in dramatizing the protracted build-up due to the stubbornness of the rebels’ demands, the film just gets unfortunately dull.

Nevertheless, the message of peace and humanity between enemies has echoes of the much more powerful film Joyeux Noel, and there are quality performances here. It just takes a little patience to enjoy them.

Rank: Honorable Mention

Duel (1971)

02 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, TV, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Drama, Thriller

(For today’s NaPoWriMo prompt, we were to write a poem that ends with a question, so I tried to channel the underlying panic in this thriller. On a side note, I’m not really this paranoid in real life, just seen too much Criminal Minds lately. 🙂 )

See the source image

Don’t you know that dangers lurk where many do not dare to dream,
And folk who look so ordinary prove much darker than they seem?
Don’t you know and don’t you care
That predators are lurking there,
Where no one thinks to be aware
Until they do not have a prayer?

I’ve seen the CSI shows, and I know the nightly news.
There are murders out on Main Street, there are allies who abuse,
There are hedons on the highway, there are fiends among our friends,
And I fear the day when bubbles pop and ignorant bliss ends.
This one may well be the day
When someone snaps and goes astray,
When thin decorum’s stripped away
And black and white are turned to gray.

Is your neighbor one of those with skeletons beneath their floors?
I know they’re out there; you do too, yet never thought to think of yours.
It’s paranoia, some will say,
While hearts of darkness have their way.
Is not the deadly viper’s nest
Where no one would have ever guessed?
_________________________

MPAA rating: PG

I watched Duel strictly out of curiosity to see Steven Spielberg’s very first film as director, even if it was a TV movie at the time. Coming four years before Jaws, Duel served as a practice round for the thrills Spielberg had yet to deliver. It’s apparently considered one of the best TV movies ever, but I think it has weaknesses and mainly serves as evidence of how Spielberg improved as a director.

See the source image

Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, an ordinary salesman on his way to a business meeting, who drives into the desert and passes a large tractor-trailer. Before long, though, he realizes that this truck’s driver has it in for him, repeatedly antagonizing and threatening his life. It’s a simple premise (reused in other films like Joy Ride) that Spielberg makes the most of, finding new ways to make the truck into an enemy while always keeping the driver anonymous, a faceless and relentless enemy not unlike the shark in Jaws.

However, even 90 minutes seems to be too long for the simplicity of this plot. It certainly has its moments, especially when the truck becomes more actively villainous toward poor Mr. Mann, but I found myself getting bored over time, which is never a good thing for a thriller. There was just too much of the truck looming behind and passing and being passed, while a sweaty Weaver frantically looks over his shoulder at it, sapping the tension through sheer repetition. Plus, the conclusion is left too open-ended, offering no resolution for anything outside of the truck plot.

See the source image

Even so, for a TV movie, Duel is far better than a lesser director might have made it. Right from the first shot, Spielberg does the unexpected, providing a first-person driving view from the car’s perspective as the credits start. The film overall proves his unique talent but also how much further it grew with time and practice. This ain’t Jurassic Park, but we wouldn’t have Jurassic Park or Jaws or many other such films without it.

Best line: (Mann) “Fill it with Ethel.” (Gas station attendant) “As long as Ethel doesn’t mind.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

Please Stand By (2018)

01 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by sgliput in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Comedy, Drama

(For Day 1 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt is for a poem of instructions, so I wrote up one describing a rigid daily routine, not unlike that of the autistic main character in this film.)

See the source image

Wake up at 7, not early or late,
Then shower at once so you won’t have to wait.
Two squirts of shampoo but just one of toothpaste,
And spit as you brush to get rid of the taste.
It’s Monday, so dress in the blue shirt today,
Then go and eat breakfast and be on your way.
Don’t walk at the crosswalk when there’s a red hand,
And move (not too slowly) to reach work as planned.

Whatever your boss says, you do like you learned,
And roll your eyes only when his back is turned.
When your shift is over, retrace your steps back,
And practice your lessons with time for a snack.
At eight o’clock sharp, time for your favorite show,
And those who don’t like it are welcome to go.
Depending on whether there might be dessert,
Get ready for bed then (remember, one squirt).

Your eight-thousand six-hundred and twelfth day is next
And if something happens you do not expect,
Don’t panic; please stand by while life interjects.
______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13 (two obscenities [1 F, 1 S], pretty clean otherwise)

Every year, I look out for that one obscure movie that I can champion, one that no one’s heard of but I can confidently call a new favorite of mine. Past examples would include King of Thorn or Chronesthesia, and while Please Stand By isn’t the strongest of the group, I think it might be 2018’s contribution. While a road trip movie featuring an autistic character may be reminiscent of Rain Man, Please Stand By distinguishes itself as its own story, thanks to a nerdily engaging journey and strong character work from Dakota Fanning and Alice Eve (oh, and a cute dog).

See the source image

Fanning plays young Star Trek fan Wendy, a high-functioning autistic girl living in a group home under the care of Toni Collette’s Scottie. (Sadly, they never use the joke “Beam me up, Scottie.”) Eager to win money and the respect of her sister Audrey (Alice Eve, herself a Star Trek alumnus), Wendy types up a screenplay for a Star Trek writing contest, and when she realizes mailing it would miss the deadline, she decides to forsake her routine and travel on her own from Oakland to Los Angeles to deliver it herself.

Deriving its name from the phrase Scottie uses to help Wendy stay calm, Please Stand By charmed me, combining two of my favorite things, Star Trek and the Meet-‘Em-And-Move-On genre, wherein a character makes a journey and meets various others along the way (and yes, I made up that name). Wendy herself is a great main character, smart but overly focused and naïve when it comes to the ways of the world. Those she meets sometimes offer rude awakenings, while others are sympathetic and helpful, with Patton Oswalt in particular furthering his nerdy everyman cred. (By the way, don’t watch the trailer; it gives the whole movie away.)

See the source image

My VC thought Please Stand By was a nice movie but nothing special, while I can’t help but like it the more I think of it. There are some loose ends and a middle section that loses momentum, but I enjoyed rooting for Wendy’s journey and seeing it to its optimistic conclusion. It might be the Trek fan in me, and I might end up changing my mind by the end of the year when I’ll have to fit it into my List, but I’m going to call Please Stand By List-Worthy, if only so others will give it a try. It’s a sleeper gem that deserves more love.

Best line: (Scottie, after trying to read Wendy’s script) “Okay, so, I know he’s the hero of Star Wars, but who exactly is this Kirk person?”

Rank: List-Worthy

	associatesofshellyma… on My Top Twelve La La La So…
	Kit Nichols on Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
	lifelessons on Look Back (2024)
	Carol Jackson on The Thief of Bagdad (1940…
	Stephen on Love Story (1970)