Category Archives: Reviews

VC Pick: The Goodbye Girl (1977)

15 Wednesday Feb 2017

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It’s easy come and easy go,
As every broken heart will know,
And broken hearts are loath to feel
While all the cracks attempt to heal.

If every stranger you befriend
Becomes a stranger by the end,

You might treat love with some dismay
And be surprised by those who stay.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG (should be PG-13 for language)

Coming on the heels of Valentine’s Day, the next film chosen by my trusty Viewing Companion (VC) is one of her favorite romances, the kind I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing but ended up liking all the same. As much as I wish Richard Dreyfuss had won an Oscar for Mr. Holland’s Opus, at least he had already received one (the youngest actor ever at that point) for his role in this adaptation of a Neil Simon play, a classic hate/love story between conflicting personalities that inevitably leans toward the satisfying love side.

Dreyfuss plays Elliot Garfield, a struggling actor who subleases an apartment from an old friend, only to find that friend’s former girlfriend Paula (Marsha Mason) and her precocious daughter (Quinn Cummings) already living there, having been abandoned when her ex skipped town. Despite Elliot having every right to force them out and Paula having “nine tenths of the law,” he allows them to stay under strict conditions, and the three grudgingly share the apartment. It’s easy to feel sorry for both Paula and Elliot at different times, and both have their quirks and character flaws. Paula is a wreck trying to get by as a single mother and find work as a dancer after ten years out of practice, while Elliot’s hopes for theatrical glory are dashed by a director who wants him playing Richard III as a flaming homosexual stereotype. Their trials are equal parts funny and pitiful, enlivened by an outstanding script full of eloquent barbs, as one can expect from a Neil Simon production.

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The fact that Paula and Elliot can both be sympathetic and abrasive fleshes out their characters and helps them feel real. Paula’s demanding anxiety and Elliot’s neurotic tendencies may grate on each other at first, but the longer they’re together, the better their personalities mesh. Where that relationship goes is an understandable source of worry for Paula, whose affairs with actors never end well, but The Goodbye Girl lends hope that one can always find that person who won’t let you down. Seeing The Goodbye Girl again, I can certainly see why my VC is so fond of it, and while I prefer some other hostility-melting-into-romance rom-coms (You’ve Got Mail, for instance), its clever banter and developed characters make it the classic it is.

Best line: (Elliot, to Paula) “If you were a Broadway musical, people would be humming your face.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2017 S.G. Liput
451 Followers and Counting

 

Hidden Figures (2016)

13 Monday Feb 2017

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The chronicles of history are filled with famous names,
Who’ve earned our generation’s praise or bear their age’s shames.
We think we know the few worthwhile players of the past,
And yet the world was shaped by more than names we learned in class.

Behind each role we’re tested on and public figure known
Were men and women, making crucial impacts of their own.
Perhaps they knew obscurity would be their likely end,
But history’s more hidden tales are those to recommend.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG

I’m honestly amazed that I did not already know the story of Katherine Johnson and her fellow black female compatriots at NASA. I remember noticing a theater display for Hidden Figures on my way out of watching Rogue One and thinking, “Oh, NASA—that might be interesting.” The same day I saw an episode of Timeless that featured Katherine Johnson as the historical figure of the week. That’s when I did some research and knew this was a film I had to see, which I finally did with my mom.

She used to work at Kennedy Space Center during the early Space Shuttle launches, and my grandfather was involved at a relatively high level in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle missions, so the space program means a lot to our family. Which makes it all the more astonishing that neither I nor my mom had ever heard of these “hidden figures,” who calculated trajectories and landing coordinates even better than their white, male coworkers. Taraji P. Henson plays Katherine Goble (eventually Johnson), whose knack for algebra earns her the role of “computer” for the Space Task Group, a thankless job of number-crunching with more than a little prejudice aimed her way. Also working at Virginia’s Langley Research Center are Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who strives for the right to be an engineer, and Dorothy Vaughn (Oscar nominee Octavia Spencer), who seeks the elusive title of supervisor over her team of black female computers. In addition to the talented cast of African Americans, including Mahershala Ali as well, Kevin Costner delivers an excellent supporting role as Katherine’s no-nonsense boss who refuses to let bigotry impede the mission at hand. (I rather wish Costner had gotten a Supporting Actor nomination; Ed Harris did for Apollo 13, and there’s nothing Harris did that Costner doesn’t do just as well.)

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I expected to love Hidden Figures going in, with its inspiring role models and old-fashioned enlightenment of unsung history, and I did, perhaps not quite as much as I expected but not in any disappointing way. I felt that the racism early on was a bit heavy-handed, with entire rooms of white men staring at Katherine as if she had two heads, yet I wouldn’t be surprised if that was indeed how it was. Likewise, there are many historical liberties taken for the sake of the story, whether it be composite characters created to get points across or details streamlined to simplify the story. For instance, Costner is made to look like he’s running Mission Control, but he’s at Langley, not Houston. Yet, for the most part, I didn’t mind the license taken, since it served the story to no historical detriment. (There are some interesting true-to-life details thrown in, though, such as the flooring material that snags Mary Jackson’s high heel; my mom can attest to that annoyance.) I also don’t agree with the few complaints I’ve heard about the film’s predictable underdog conventions; when it’s done right, it makes for a great movie, and it’s never been done with these characters and this particular slice of history. For the record, my mom absolutely loved it, except maybe for some of the semi-repetitive soundtrack from Pharrell Williams.

Hidden Figures is a film I believe all African Americans, all women, and everyone else for that matter ought to see. Beyond being an entertaining true story, it’s a film rife with positive messages, both obvious and subtle. Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan may be bitter about their superiors’ scorn, but they don’t take it lying down. Dorothy herself tells Mary not to complain but to do something about it. It’s a court plea in Mary’s case, while Dorothy shows incredible foresight in noticing the incoming IBM meant to replace her human computers and becoming an expert in computer coding to make herself and her team valuable. Her visit to the library is backdropped by a street protest, and while the protest clearly got more attention at the time, it’s her attempts at personal betterment that are more laudable.

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While Hidden Figures may follow familiar story beats, it’s a marvelously acted feel-good film that ennobles intelligence and mathematics and casts a long overdue spotlight on the unrecognized heroines of NASA. Even if the initial reactions of their biased coworkers can be frustrating, the talent and intellect they displayed are undeniable, as is the satisfaction of seeing it vindicated. They served their nation well, and there was no color-coding to the worry and interest directed at sending Americans into space, evident from black and white families both anxiously watching John Glenn’s historic flight. At our present point in history, what could be more inspiring?

Best line: (Katherine, responding to being underestimated) “I will have you know, I was the first Negro female student at West Virginia University Graduate School. On any given day, I analyze the binomial levels of air displacement, friction, and velocity. And compute over ten thousand calculations by cosine, square root, and lately analytic geometry. By hand. There are twenty bright, highly capable Negro women in the West Computing Group, and we’re proud to be doing our part for the country. So yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson. And it’s not because we wear skirts. It’s because we wear glasses. Have a good day.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
451 Followers and Counting

 

VC Pick: The Lake House (2006)

10 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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A house is not a home, it seems,
Until it houses someone’s dreams,
And even if its tenant leaves,
Some part remains beneath the eaves.

Although no new dreams now reside
Within a home unoccupied,
The traces of its owners past
Remain in spirit, left to last.

These ghosts, perhaps, I’d like to meet.
Perhaps I have upon the street.
We both have shared a home, almost,
And when I move, I’ll be the ghost.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG

In honor of Valentine’s Day and her upcoming birthday, I’ll be reviewing a VC pick each week for the next month, and The Lake House is the first in her honor. As my VC well knows, I do love a good supernatural romance, especially when its otherworldly elements set it apart from the typical romantic clichés. I found The Lake House to be one of the better members of the genre, pairing Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock again twelve years after Speed.

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Based on the 2000 Korean film Il Mare, The Lake House follows Dr. Kate Forster (Bullock) and architect Alex Wyler (Reeves) as the former moves out of the titular glass home and the latter moves in. The hook is that they’re doing so two years apart, with Alex in 2004 and Kate in 2006. A mail-forwarding note that Kate leaves behind somehow ends up in Alex’s mailbox two years earlier, and the two discover that they can communicate with each other through their time-traveling letters. I personally love the idea of a pen-pal relationship spanning time itself, and even if the mailbox’s mysterious powers are never explained, the chemistry between Bullock and Reeves is just as evident here as it was in Speed, despite the fact they’re separated from each other much of the time. Also in fine form are Shohreh Aghdashloo as Kate’s doctor friend and Christopher Plummer as Alex’s father and architectural teacher who actually built the lake house.

Oddly enough, the film that kept coming to mind as I watched The Lake House was last year’s anime hit Your Name, another film where two likable characters are separated by time and tragedy and rarely get to meet face to face. Going into the similarities would require too many spoilers, but while Your Name was a better film overall, it’s worth noting the parallels to this earlier movie and the still earlier Il Mare.

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While some might consider The Lake House maudlin, I thought its emotional scenes were highly effective, whether it be the inner longing of Alex’s visit to Kate before she knows of their relationship or the retrospective of Alex’s rocky bond with his father.  As for the ending, I saw the “twist” coming a mile away, but the film kept me in doubt as to whether its separation romance would go the way of City of Angels (did NOT like) or Sleepless in Seattle (DID like). As my VC pointed out to me, the chemistry and anticipation of love between the two leads kept us invested in the outcome, and while it toyed with my expectations, the end at least provided the kind of old-fashioned satisfaction that too many modern romances try to avoid for some reason.

The only explanation I have that The Lake House isn’t List-Worthy stemmed from a review I read after seeing it, which pointed out the holes in its time-travel aspects. As much as I want to disregard them, I must admit it’s true; even the most basic laws of time travel are pretty much ignored. For instance, Alex plants a tree outside Kate’s apartment to surprise her, and in her time, it suddenly appears. While it’s a neat visual and a sweet gesture, that tree planted two years earlier should have always been there, such that Kate would never know it hadn’t been there before. Though my VC doesn’t mind, for reasons like this, The Lake House has gone down a tiny bit in my estimation, but it’s still a lovely and poignant romance, just one that shouldn’t really be thought of any deeper than a Shyamalan movie.

Best line: (Alex, of the lake house) “Dad knew how to build a house, not a home.”

VC’s best line: (Alex, after glimpsing Kate in 2004) “I don’t know if you remember, but we saw each other. That is, I saw you. You never told me… how beautiful you were.”   (Kate) “Well, maybe you saw someone else. That was a bad hair year for me.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
451 Followers and Counting

 

2017 Blindspot Pick #1: Shuffle (2011)

31 Tuesday Jan 2017

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

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Life is hard enough in order,
Each day in succession gone,
Until one day we look behind and see mistakes a plenty,
And all in twenty-twenty.

It might seem harder out of order,
Jumping years to days thought gone,
But might that give our stubborn minds a little new perspective
And make us more reflective?

Our destinies are ours to order,
Rampant chances till they’re gone,
And some forget fulfillment rests on what we each will do.
The question is, will you?
_________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Since I’m new to this Blindspot series and a notorious procrastinator, of course I waited to the last day of the month to review my first Blindspot pick, but I surely did choose a good one to start with in Shuffle. I have my good friend MovieRob to thank for recommending this time travel puzzler after he became a big fan of independent director Kurt Kuenne. I see why, because Shuffle combines so much of what I love about the time travel genre with a unique and compelling story.

Shuffle is as lean a narrative as I’ve seen, diving right into the tale of a man displaced within his own lifetime with every scene adding something to the plot. From the first moments, Lovell Milo explains to a psychiatrist that every time he falls asleep (which is often), he awakens on a different day in his life, sometimes as an old man, sometimes as a child, or anywhere in between. It takes an exhausting toll on him, and he has no idea why it’s happening, explaining away potential plot holes with the mystery that he “just knows” certain facts about himself, such as his age at every jump in time. While he’s tempted to despair at this seemingly endless headache, different strangers at certain points urge him to “pay attention” because there’s something to learn from all this, and indeed there is.

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There are a lot of touchstones or spiritual predecessors one could point to with Shuffle, and they’re a pantheon of great stories. The choppy editing and sudden shifts in place and time might recall Christopher Nolan’s Memento, though Shuffle is much easier to follow and much more rewarding. The theme of redemptive second chances brings to mind A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life, and the time travel jumps echo the great sci-fi elements of Quantum Leap, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Before and After,” where Kes periodically lives her life backwards. I also loved the fleeting moments of prayer, where Lovell pleads desperately with God for help, though in a general sense, like how Quantum Leap’s Sam Beckett recognizes that there must be a higher power directing his experiences.

One of the most impressive aspects of Shuffle is how well it was made on what was clearly a small budget. The production values are obviously limited, which is felt on occasion, but it’s often covered quite nicely. A behind-the-scenes featurette revealed that the same living room was used as an all-purpose set for most of the interior scenes, but I couldn’t tell at all. Unlike so many small-budget films, the acting and script are also above average, with special attention to revealing plot points gradually as Lovell learns of them and never getting lost amid the flurry of time leaps. The actors aren’t big-name stars (unless you watch the TV show Bones), but everyone involved provides good performances, even the child actors and especially T. J. Thyne as Lovell.

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Again, a big thank-you to Rob for his recommendation; it being an under-the-radar film that had trouble getting noticed before becoming a festival hit, I doubt I’d ever have seen Shuffle otherwise. My VC loved it as well, proving this is a film that deserves far more recognition. There’s a lot to admire about this film, from its structure and subtle foreshadowing to individual emotional scenes that just might put a lump in your throat. Stylistic choices also add visual interest, such as the backlighting that often imparts a luminous quality to certain scenes, and the color brightness changes depending on the timeframe. The director’s cut is apparently all in black-and-white, but I preferred the usage of color, particularly in the final scene.

I’ve read that many people disliked the ending, thinking it veers into overly satisfying territory, but I thought the whole final act was beautiful, a couple creative choices notwithstanding. In its testament of hope, Shuffle still acknowledges that mistakes and heartache can’t always be undone, but how we react to them can make the difference between a life fulfilled and a life wasted.

Best line: (Lovell’s mother, when he’s a grown man) “It seems like just yesterday, he was eight.”   (Lovell) “Actually, that was two days ago.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
448 Followers and Counting

 

The Empire of Corpses (2015)

29 Sunday Jan 2017

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When I am dead, my soul no longer here,
What happens to my body is unknown.
‘Tis but a shell, an empty souvenir
Of my time in a world from which I’ve flown.
Most likely, it will end up in the ground,
A monument for time to chip away,
But if some more productive use were found,
Its former owner would not have a say.
If man no longer buried his remains
And flouted promises of “rest in peace,”
His conscience would be numb as it disdains
What once deserved respect upon decease.
What world of Frankensteins I’d leave behind
If man were to defile his own kind!
________________

MPAA rating: should be PG-13 or maybe older

The Empire of Corpses looks like an incredible, action-packed, thought-provoking movie, but it’s not. It just looks like one. Based on a novel by a Japanese author dubbed Project Itoh, who died of cancer before the book’s completion, this anime zombie film sets up an alternative steampunk version of Victorian England, where technology has allowed mankind to reanimate the dead as essentially robotic slaves, programming them to perform menial labor as a growing workforce in the world economy. These walking corpses can be recognized by their pale gray skin and passive expressions, but though they seem to understand and follow orders, they are without a soul. Into this hypothetical world is placed an amalgamation of historic and literary figures, a la The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. John Watson is the hero, a corpse scientist who has resurrected a dead friend he renames Friday and now searches for a way to return his soul. Blackmailed by M of the James Bond franchise, he sets out in search of the fabled research of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, aided and impeded by the likes of Ulysses Grant, Thomas Edison, and characters from The Brothers Karamazov and The Future Eve.

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While that description sounds rather awesome, especially when paired with a world full of brainwashed zombies, The Empire of Corpses seems eager to spoil a good thing. After the adventure begins on a thrilling note, it quickly descends into opaque philosophical pondering and inscrutable character motivations. After watching it all the way through, I recognize a worthwhile, imaginative story, full of food for thought, but actually watching it scene by scene can easily frustrate and confuse. By the end, the villain’s revealed plot (the second villain since one wasn’t enough) is baffling and poorly explained, making it clear just how vaguely defined the laws of this corpse technology are.

I hate to be so negative, especially when The Empire of Corpses looks so amazing. The animation is crisp and atmospheric and brings this theoretical world to life in ways that far surpass the deficient script. I’m glad I saw it, if only for the visual flair, such as the thrill of seeing a woman on the back of a galloping stagecoach mowing down zombies with a flamethrower. The action scenes are exceptional, but it makes it that much more disappointing that the rest of the film couldn’t measure up.

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The Empire of Corpses is not without its virtues; I would just like it much more if it made more sense. It does feature some intriguing themes about life and death and manages to create a unique entry in the zombie genre, complete with zombie suicide bombers. The English dub is actually quite good, but the animation is the main attraction for fans of the medium, though certain scenes can get bloody (begging the question of why a dead corpse would bleed). This film is one of three anime movies based on Project Itoh’s novels (the others being last year’s Harmony and this year’s Genocidal Organ), and I certainly hope the other two have more than visual merit alone.

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
444 Followers and Counting

 

The Goonies (1985)

27 Friday Jan 2017

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The story of One-Eyed Willy’s hoard
Has haunted the dreams of the greedy and bored,
But, though men have suffered both peril and pain,
Their seeking and sneaking have all been in vain.

Until the momentous event heaven-sent
When a map was discovered by mere accident,
And a cluster of kids, their homes soon to be sold,
Endeavored to find Willy’s ill-gotten gold.

Through tunnels and traps only pirates would build,
The friends followed through, some alarmed and some thrilled.
While saving their home, all the Goonies, now grown,
Sought out golden legends and so wrote their own.
_________________

MPAA rating: PG (maybe PG-13)

The Goonies is a film I really wish I had seen when I was younger. I remember seeing it on the shelf at Blockbuster when I was a kid and never having enough interest to rent it, but I’ve been meaning to ever since. In fact, it probably would have been one of my Blindspot picks if I hadn’t caught it on TV at the end of 2016. Despite my late introduction to this beloved ‘80s flick, I still enjoyed it a lot, much in the way I enjoy YA books or cartoons that are clearly juvenile but still entertaining.

Of course, the biggest claim to fame that this Steven Spielberg/Chris Columbus story has is the talented cast of young stars-to-be, like The Outsiders, Stand By Me, or Red Dawn. Jonathan Ke Huy Quan may be otherwise known only as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but it’s a little surreal to see so many other well-known actors at the start of their careers, from Joe Pantoliano and Josh Brolin to Corey Feldman and cute little Sean Astin as Mikey Walsh. Little did they know at the time….

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The film starts out in fun fashion as a jailbreak orchestrated by the criminal Fratelli family triggers a car chase across town, whizzing past the main characters and introducing us one by one to the club of young Goonies and their individual quirks. To their dismay, their neighborhood is soon to be destroyed by an encroaching country club, and no one wants to see it saved as much as Mikey. When they find a hidden map in his attic that may lead to a lost pirate treasure, he convinces his pals to follow him. Joined later by Mikey’s brother Brand (Brolin) and his female friends (Kerri Green and Martha Plimpton), they discover more adventure and danger than they imagined, both from booby traps along the way and from the Fratellis hot on their trail.

I can imagine everyone having a favorite Goonie. Maybe someone loves Data (Quan) and his anti-bully inventions or poor chubby Chunk (Jeff Cohen) and his klutzy anxiety. I thought Corey Feldman as Mouth stole his scenes, and I especially loved his hilarious “translations” to the Walsh’s Spanish-speaking maid. Astin makes for a wholly likable leader of the bunch, and despite their eccentricities, it was neat how each of them got a moment to shine by using their unique skills. The traps they encounter are actually quite inventive and nail-biting in a Scooby-Doo sort of way, and though I’m not the first to notice this, the family dynamic of the Fratelli family reminded me of the air pirates in Castle in the Sky, headed by a mean and cantankerous mother (although Mama Fratelli is much meaner than Dola).

It did seem that the filmmakers were aiming for different age demographics depending on the scene. In some cases, the language and menace seem a bit much for young kids, and until the end, the Fratellis are more threatening than the cartoonish villains I expected. Other times, the danger devolves into juvenile panic, possibly stretching one’s patience for kids screaming at each other. I wasn’t much of a fan of Sloth, the deformed and simple-minded Fratelli brother whose presence seems pointless until needed by the plot, and the final confrontation with the Fratellis seemed rather poorly planned. I mean, one minute, the kids are being forced to walk the plank as if it’s some great peril, and the next, everyone’s jumping off as if it’s no big deal. Even so, the very end was heartwarming, despite the fact that no one seems eager to recover what’s disappearing in the distance.

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All in all, I’m glad I finally got to enjoy The Goonies, even without the nostalgia goggles with which all those children of the ‘80s view it. I can certainly understand it being a childhood favorite, and I suspect it would have been for me too, had I chanced to rent it from Blockbuster all those years ago. (Boy, I’m making myself sound old.) The Goonies may be a bit puerile at times, but its lovable cast of youngsters and adventurous spirit still make it a classic.

Best line: (Andy, trying to play a piano booby trap) “I can’t tell… if it’s an A sharp or if it’s a B flat!”   (Mikey) “Heh, if you hit the wrong note, we’ll all ‘B flat!’”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
443 Followers and Counting

 

Arrival (2016)

23 Monday Jan 2017

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Each day, I passed an ancient wall,
And, written on its face,
Were symbols of an arcane scrawl
Seen only in that place.
They sometimes gave me déjà vu,
But what they meant nobody knew.

One day, I met a stranger there,
Mysterious and odd,
Who offered me the talent rare
To read the wall’s façade.
I hesitated at the gift,
But curiosity is swift.

Although I can decipher now
The words upon the wall,
I wonder if not knowing how
Would change my life at all.
For knowledge is both curse and grace,
Yet neither one would I erase.
_______________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I went into Arrival expecting a great sci-fi movie, based on all the praise it has received from critics and bloggers alike, but I must admit that it caught me off-guard. After the film ended, I had to sit there in the theater a while to process my thoughts, walked back to my car, and broke down crying. It’s hard for me to determine why this movie more than similar ones had such an effect on me, but that’s proof to me that it is indeed one of the best films of 2016.

I’ve seen Arrival compared more favorably to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, and while I recognize some thematic similarities, it improved upon a different alien film I disliked, Robert Zemeckis’s Contact. I was irritated by how Contact constantly pitted faith and science against each other, but in Arrival’s case, language and science collaborate instead in the persons of linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). While the idea of pairing Lois Lane and Hawkeye in the same movie has appeal in itself, both actors display utter commitment to their respective fields as their characters are recruited to attempt communication with alien visitors that have (almost) landed twelve lenticular ships at various spots around the globe. Before we even see the extraterrestrials, there’s an epic wonder to their inexplicable arrival, facilitated by momentous cinematography and a striking gravitational doorway.

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What Louise and Ian find when they encounter the tentacled aliens is a linguistic challenge that seems unconquerable to most, a written language that is circular with a conceptual density lacking letters, syllables, or anything recognizable. With frazzled militaries urging them to find out the aliens’ purpose, the two experts attempt to unravel this strange form of communication, sparking some deep questions along the way. Even beyond the stated debates, like whether immersing oneself in another language changes how one thinks, I was struck by how much we take language for granted. If I were confronted by someone without any relatable language skills, I don’t know how I would explain the basics, much less abstract concepts I can’t point to and call a name. I can’t say Arrival provided any practical pointers if I were in that position, but it’s fascinating in a logical, over-my-head sort of way.

There’s also the natural distrust of a human race exposed to far more War of the Worlds than E.T.s, and further themes of how one wrongly understood word can ruin a tentative peace. It was hard for me to understand some people’s panic, since the aliens’ giant watermelon-seed ships show no signs of hostility, but I suppose we have Independence Day to thank for whatever paranoia would come from such a situation. Plus, there’s the added tension of other nations reacting in more belligerent ways and the potential fallout of humanity’s own lack of unity.

Thus, Arrival clearly has the intellectual side of science fiction down, but as the translation attempts wore on, I was hoping something more would come. I was not disappointed. For the first half, it was basically what I expected based on the trailers, yet there comes a moment past the half-way point that something becomes clear and lands a gut punch to both the intellect and emotions. The ramifications of a certain decision are laced with value and regret, and I found the results to be a profoundly pro-life sentiment, in sharp contrast to the pro-death sympathy of the film I last reviewed, Me Before You. At the time, I felt that Arrival was holding back a bit on the emotion, similar to The Wind Rises; if certain scenes and themes were pressed further, I would have been a blubbering mess right then and there. But instead, the filmmakers present what they want to, and the web of sci-fi ideas and emotional threads were left for me to unravel, with tearful results.

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I’ve often said that Grave of the Fireflies is the only film that can still make me cry, but that’s not altogether true. It may make me cry the hardest, but what do other past personal tearjerkers like Somewhere in Time, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Inside Out, and now Arrival have in common? For me, it seems to be the complex merging of sorrow and joy, events that may end sadly but are not without a worthwhile silver lining. At its heart, Arrival endowed me with an intense and unexpected bittersweetness. Even if its immediate resolutions seem to be wrapped up a bit too easily, its long-term story and life-affirming subtext made it a very special experience for me.

Best line: It would be a spoiler to include the best quote, but it’s one of Louise’s final lines.

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
441 Followers and Counting

 

Me Before You (2016)

20 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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If I were trapped within a chair,
My body useless, simply there,
I think I’d grieve in my despair,
And call my lot in life unfair,
And lift up many a desperate prayer,
And doubt in ways I’d never share,
My life too broken to repair.

And what I’d do once rage had waned
Cannot be sure or preordained,
But I believe my life restrained
Could still hold joy since life remained,
Not merely to be entertained,
But be fulfilled. Though life be pained,
Does that mean it should be disdained?
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Me Before You has all the potential you could want for a summer romance flick—a touching and emotional story, two appealing leads with chemistry, a difficult and tragic subtext. But there are two ways that a film like this can go, and sadly this one takes the worst possible route. Just a warning: spoilers are unavoidable in discussing the film’s great stumble so I won’t be dancing around it.

I suppose I should say up front that I really enjoyed most of Me Before You. The first two thirds of it make for a highly engaging romance, one that develops where neither lover would have expected. After losing her job, young Brit Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) ends up applying as a home caregiver for wealthy quadriplegic Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), who is confined to wheelchair and bed at all times. His bitterness keeps her at a distance at first as someone his mother hired against his will, but Louisa’s natural charm and hesitant spunk slowly win him over, as well as some bonding over movies (including the excellent French film Of Gods and Men). I kind of fell in love with Emilia Clarke in this movie; she wears her awkward emotions on her sleeve with the mere expression of her eyebrows, and she’s such a winsome lead that it’s no surprise that Will falls for her too.

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But then Me Before You delves into the controversial area of doctor-assisted suicide, a subject too complex for a teary romance to address properly. Jojo Moyes, the author of the book on which it is based, wrote it after hearing of a paralyzed athlete choosing suicide at a Swiss clinic, so with that as her inspiration, both Will and the film march to that inevitably unsatisfying conclusion with grim resolve.

There’s so much wrong with how it is handled, it’s hard to know where to begin. For one, there’s the fact that it didn’t have to be this way. After learning of Will’s suicide plans, Louisa tries to give him every reason she can muster to want to live and expects to change his mind until he proves her hopes to be in vain. If she had been successful, the story could have been a lovely and life-affirming tale, but that’s not what the storyteller intended at all.

In addition, Will’s response to Louisa spoils the most basic of romantic rules, loving the other more. By gently rebuffing Louisa’s efforts, Will is essentially saying, “You’re not good enough to live for.” Is it any wonder that Louisa reacts with anger and grief? It’s as if Will is given someone to make his life worth living, and he rejects her, supposedly for her own good. Because of the film’s predestined goal, it’s all about Louisa loving Will enough to accept his choice rather than Will loving her enough to stay. Then again, doesn’t the title Me Before You suggest that? I thought it had a strangely selfish ring to it, and now I see why. Not that Will sees it as selfishness; he believes he’s freeing Louisa and his family from his burden, but he ignores their pleas and the fact that it’s not as if they’re struggling financially.  The film does try to bring other points of view in, such as Will’s mother’s objections and Louisa’s mother declaring his choice to be “no better than murder,” but again, the end result was decided from the beginning.

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I don’t pretend to understand the agony that many with quadriplegia or other debilitating conditions endure, but I have to believe that life is better than death. Will comments that he loved his life before his accident and that it could never be the same. While that’s true, just because his life is not the same doesn’t mean it isn’t worth living. Success stories like Helen Keller, Stephen Hawking, and Joni Eareckson Tada have proven that life need not be made void by handicaps, and many happy lives have risen from considerations of suicide, considerations that might have killed them early had they had access to the means, as Will does by the end. It’s a matter of hope and life, not dignity, and Will’s final words of encouragement to Louisa to “just live” are hollow next to his actions.

Me Before You could have been a lovely romance, and most of it is, with delightful early performances from Clarke and Claflin that are more crowd-pleasing than Oscar-winning. Yet the film’s stab at bittersweet euthanasia as an ending just ruins everything that came before, revealing its sympathy for the culture of death in a wholly unsatisfying way.

Best line: (Louisa, with the kind of touching line that is sadly ignored by Will) “You make me happy, even when you’re awful. I would rather be with you—even the you that you seem to think is diminished—than with anyone else in the world.”

 

Rank: Dishonorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
441 Followers and Counting

 

Wayne’s World (1992)

18 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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When people get nostalgic for their young and stupid days,
I cannot help but wonder just how stupid was that phase.
Were they taking risks they’d now oppose
And banging heads to radios
And hosting public access shows
That talked about God-only-knows?

If so, I see the reason for the fondness for their prime,
Though most, I think, now wonder where their brain was at the time.
I think I skipped, for good or ill,
My foolish phase of chill and thrill,
But maybe years from now, I will
Admit that I am in it still.
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MPAA rating: PG-13

For years now, I’ve known of Wayne’s World and its main characters’ similarity to the other dim-witted best friends in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but I’d only seen the time travel tale of Bill and Ted and just got to see the hijinks of Wayne and Garth for the first time recently. I’m not sure which came first, since even though Wayne’s World the movie came out after Bill and Ted, the characters of Wayne and Garth originated as a Saturday Night Live skit the same year Bill and Ted was released. Regardless of who first proclaimed the immortal interjection “Excellent!”, the appeal of both is about the same. I went into Wayne’s World expecting entertaining stupidity, and that’s what it delivered in spades.

Since Wayne’s World was a series of SNL skits, it’s not surprising that the movie is like a series of hilarious moments strung together with the loosest of plots. Early on, we’re introduced to the public access show that metal-loving best friends Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) host from Wayne’s basement, but they both make time for their preferred habits of hanging out at the local donut shop and rocking out in the car or the nearest party with a decent metal band. When a smarmy TV producer (Rob Lowe) offers them a chance at a wider network audience, they jump at the financial incentive, but will it change who Wayne and Garth are? Not!

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As moronic as they are, Wayne and Garth are still relatable in their nerdy sincerity, particularly for me since I actually have a friend who reminded me a lot of a combination of the two dudes (in their idiosyncrasies, not their stupidity). Honestly, though, the actual plot that places stress on Wayne and Garth’s friendship is secondary to individual scenes that just stick out with random geeky joy, exemplified in the early car scene that illustrates how “Bohemian Rhapsody” gave a generation brain damage. There are too many hilarious scenes to list; for instance, there’s the fourth-wall breaking, or the repeated love-song halos that Wayne and Garth see around their crushes, or the ridiculous subtitles when Wayne speaks Chinese with his girlfriend Cassandra (beautiful Tia Carrere), or some truly random moments of intelligence coming from unexpected places. (Alice Cooper’s cameo has to be one of the best I’ve seen.) In addition, the soundtrack is rich with classic rock, much of it actually sung with screaming gusto by Tia Carrere, not least of which is her awesome performance of The Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz.”

By the end, even the movie itself knowingly ignores plot conventions for the sake of the humor, letting the audience choose what kind of ending we’d prefer. Like Bill and Ted, it’s strange to say, but this kind of highly quotable dumb humor is somehow brilliant in its idiocy, which I’ve come to appreciate more with time. I still prefer Bill and Ted for its wilder plot, but Wayne’s World is its own kind of “excellent.”

Best lines: (ex-girlfriend Stacy) “Well, don’t you want to open your present?”   (Wayne) “If it’s a severed head, I’m going to be very upset.”

(Wayne) “I once thought I had mono for an entire year. It turned out I was just really bored.”

(Wayne) “Good call. It’s like [Benjamin] wants us to be liked by everyone. I mean, Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes everybody liked. They left that to the Bee Gees.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
439 Followers and Counting

 

My 2017 Blindspot Picks

15 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Movies, Reviews, Writing

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One feature that I’ve never tried but have seen lots of bloggers announcing recently is the Blindspot series, where you get to choose twelve films that you’ve been meaning to see and commit to reviewing one a month over the next year. There are so many movies on my to-watch list that it was tough whittling it down to twelve, but these are all films that have peaked my curiosity over the years but have somehow fallen through the cracks. Some are recommendations from fellow bloggers, while others are classics that have eluded me…until now. I think I have a good mix of years and genres too, so hopefully I’ll have some new favorites to add by the end of the year. In alphabetical order then, here are my Blindspot picks for 2017!

 

An American in Paris (1951)

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Blade Runner (1982)

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Cinema Paradiso (1988)

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Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)

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Donnie Darko (2001)

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Giovanni’s Island (2014)

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Hear Me (2009)

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The Help (2011)

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Imitation of Life (1934)

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In Your Eyes (2014)

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Saving Private Ryan (1998)

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Shuffle (2011)

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