VC Pick: Cocoon (1985)

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

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(For Day 12 of NaPoWriMo, the suggested prompt was a poem using words from a classical dictionary and sci-fi dictionary, but time ran a bit short so I went off-prompt.)

My hair is gray; my back is bent;
My skin is furrowed, eyes are dim.
The man I was has long been spent,
From youthful peak to swift descent,
Till now I can’t remember him.

Your skin has sagged on weakened knees;
Your teeth come out and barely chew.
And yet you make me feel at ease.
Despite our awful memories,
I still can see the girl I knew.

Imagine if, somehow, some way,
We could reclaim our fire before.
No matter what the toll to pay,
I’d spurn the world that very day
If you and I could skip once more.
______________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

It’s a shame upon my blog, but it’s been nearly a year since I afforded my dear VC (Viewing Companion) the chance to choose a movie to watch and review. One more thing to blame on school…. I am rectifying that egregious oversight by highlighting one of her picks, the classic Ron Howard sci-fi Cocoon. Winner of two Oscars (Supporting Actor and Visual Effects), the film is unusual in that it centers upon a Florida retirement home, whose apathetic residents discover an alien secret in a nearby swimming pool.

The cast is especially great, with veterans like Don Ameche, Jessica Tandy, and Wilford Brimley (playing much older than he was at the time) sharing the screen with younger talent like Steve Guttenberg and Brian Dennehy, who plays the nicest, most forgiving alien in movie history. While often warm and humorous, the story successfully humanizes its elderly characters with foibles and tragedies and achieves a unique balance between grim and hopeful subject matter. It’s a shame that the climax drags on too long trying to up the drama, and I tend to think that Don Ameche’s win for Best Supporting Actor was a bit undeserved for this role. Still, Cocoon is otherwise a charming alternative to other first contact films.

Best line: (Ben Luckett, played by Brimley) “So you think it’s like Bernie said? We’re cheating nature?”
(Mary, his wife) “Yes.”
(Ben) “Well, I’ll tell ya, with the way nature’s been cheating us, I don’t mind cheating her a little.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

Fatal Attraction (1987)

12 Monday Apr 2021

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Drama, Thriller

(For Day 11 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write a two-part poem as an exchange of letters, so my correspondents are the main characters of this film.)

Look, Alex,
I know that we had a great time.
You kept my bed warm, and you brightened my day,
But that wasn’t love; it’s two folks in their prime,
Partaking in something that just couldn’t stay.
I do have a family, a wife – you knew that.
You had to have known we would go separate ways.
I’m sorry, but we can’t keep writing or chat.
I wish you the best for the rest of your days.

Dear Dan,
You may say that, in words or in ink,
But women are able to read between lines.
A “great time” is not simply gone in a blink,
It lasts if you’re willing to act on the signs,
To push obligations, like families and wives
And substandard marriages fully aside,
And see that the best thing in both of our lives
Is right there before you and won’t be denied.
I won’t simply shrug off the loss of our bond.
I felt it, you felt it, I won’t let it go.
No need to write back if you want to respond.
Just look out your window to see me. I’ll know.
____________________________

MPA rating: R

Fatal Attraction isn’t the kind of film I would expect to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination (in addition to five others), but it’s gone down in history as the film to scare men straight, because you never know if the person you’re cheating with could be a psycho. Glenn Close’s character of Alex Forrest is iconic here, and it was fascinating to view her as the forerunner for the behavior of the many yanderes (obsessively loving, violent girls) of anime, such as showing up unexpectedly to meet their lover’s family.

Michael Douglas is suitably scummy as the philandering husband, but it’s hard not to sympathize with him and especially his wife (Anne Archer) as his tryst puts his whole family in danger. As a thriller that switches from eroticism to psychological unease, Fatal Attraction is tense and well-made, culminating in an especially memorable climax. It’s the epitome of the maxim “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

Best line: (Alex, to Dan) “Well, what am I supposed to do? You won’t answer my calls, you change your number. I mean, I’m not gonna be ignored, Dan!”

Rank: List Runner-Up

A Song to Remember (1945)

10 Saturday Apr 2021

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

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Biopic, Drama, History

(For Day 10 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt suggested a “Junk Drawer Song,” but I decided on something different and went back to Day 7 to try the shadorma, a 26-syllable poem with a syllable count of 3, 5, 3, 3, 7, and 5.)

As I die,
I hear the music
Of living,
Of loving,
Of knowing what outlives me
Will keep me alive.
________________________

MPA rating: Not Rated (G would work, maybe PG)

You know those musical biopics that have practically become their own genre by now? The kind where a young, naïve talent gets caught up in the thrill of success, is fooled by unscrupulous exploiters as their relationships and health deteriorate, and then ends up either reclaiming a piece of their former passion or else dying tragically? Think Coal Miner’s Daughter to Ray to Teen Spirit and beyond. Well, such films are hardly a new invention, since A Song to Remember used such a plot way back in 1945, earning itself seven Oscar nominations. This story of Polish pianist extraordinaire Fredric Chopin (Best Actor nominee Cornel Wilde) may play fast and loose with the actual history, but it’s still an elegant period piece that highlights the life and greatest works of a giant of classical music.

A child prodigy in both playing and composing, the film’s version of Chopin had his greatest advocate in his teacher Joseph Elsner, played by the endearingly gregarious Paul Muni, who is easily the best character, reminiscent of Thomas Mitchell’s Uncle Billy in It’s a Wonderful Life the next year. The pro-Poland patriotism of Chopin and Elsner comes into conflict with the high-minded George Sand, who convinces Chopin to focus on composing to the exclusion of all else. Sand’s characterization is one of the film’s larger changes to history, since she was an advocate for Poland as well, and Ayn Rand notably objected to her being painted as a villain. Still, I thought the treatment of the conflict was relatively balanced, certainly leaning toward Elsner being in the right overall, but Sand makes some good points along the way that are never really refuted. For any lover of classical music unfamiliar with it, A Song to Remember is an underrated classic waiting to be discovered, even if it follows story beats that have only gotten more familiar with repetition.

Best line: (George Sand) “Are you satisfied, monsieur? Do you know anything that could replace a life as great as his?” (Elsner) “Yes. The spirit that he leaves behind in a million hearts, madam.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

10 Saturday Apr 2021

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

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Action, Comedy, Family, Sci-fi

(For Day 9 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write a to-do list for an unusual character, so I wrote one for Sonic himself as he hides away in a small town at the start of this movie.)

Let me review
My daily to-do:
I’ll watch the sun rising at 7:02.
I’ll scarf down some breakfast by 7:03,
Then on to a new day of being 3D.
I’ll challenge myself to ping pong yet again;
I do always win, but I’m bored by point ten.
I’ll watch the town sheriff eat donuts and sit
And wait for a car driving past the limit.
I’ll watch as the Little League team has a game
And hide in the shadows to cheer every name.
I’ll watch the town crazy go still unbelieved
As he tells of the spiky blue beast he’s perceived.
I’ll watch the schoolchildren, the farmers and vets,
All living their lives with no sign of regrets.
I wish I could join them and just coexist.
Perhaps I’ll add that to tomorrow’s new list.
_________________________

MPA rating: PG

I don’t know that anyone really expected Sonic the Hedgehog to be good. Not only are video game movies rarely successful, but backlash against Sonic’s initial appearance in the first released trailer prompted a swift redesign and a three-month delay, which is rarely a good sign. Those low expectations only make the finished product an even more pleasant surprise. Sonic the Hedgehog is better, funnier, and far more likable than it has any right to be.

I played and enjoyed one Sonic Game Boy game back in my golden tween years, but I’d never say that I was as invested in the Sega franchise as, say, the fans who expressed such strong opinions about that creepy version of the character from the first trailer. Yet this film does a marvelous job at fitting in plentiful fan service that never detracts from telling an entertaining story accessible to non-fans as well. Sonic himself is something of a refugee from another dimension/planet, possessing super speedy power for which he must keep himself secret. Thus, he hides out in a small town in Montana, forming a one-sided relationship with local sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife (Tika Sumpter), but the fun-loving hedgehog eventually draws the attention of the government and mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and must rely on Tom for help.

I’ll freely agree that Sonic’s more cartoonish design is far better than the realistic one that fed people’s nightmares, but, as top-notch as the animation is, that still seems secondary to Ben Schwartz’s outstanding vocal performance of the character, which sometimes seems like he’s trying to emulate Robin Williams as the Genie. Likewise, James Marsden’s talent for acting opposite CGI animals has apparently become a calling card of his, and he serves as a straight man to Sonic’s antics as they embark on a road trip to get the alien to safety. And then there’s Jim Carrey, who hams it up as Sonic’s iconic robot-loving nemesis. Honestly, Robotnik is amusing, but anyone else would have been just too campy; Carrey fits the insane character into the over-the-top schtick that made him a star in the ‘90s, and he really is a hoot chewing the scenery, such as during a dance sequence to The Poppy Family’s 1971 song “Where Evil Grows.”

Sonic the Hedgehog doesn’t always seem very original, such as during super-speed sequences directly recalling Quicksilver’s best moments in the X-Men prequels, yet it has an overall likability and a great sense of self-aware humor. Moments that seem hackneyed don’t always play out as expected, and the product placement is so blatant that they actually work it into the film’s jokes. It subverts the expectations for a corporate cash-grab and works just as well as a family-friendly adventure extolling friendship as it does a potential starter for a cinematic universe. Plus, it had the advantage of coming out right before the COVID pandemic hit, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2020 and the most successful video game film yet. Based on the numbers alone, I’d say there’s a market for films like this that can please fans and non-fans alike.

Best line: (Sonic, hidden inside a duffel bag) “How much longer? I can’t breathe in here!”
(a bystander) “Do you have your child in that bag?”
(Tom, nonchalantly) “No…. I mean, yes, it’s a child, but it’s not mine.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

08 Thursday Apr 2021

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

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Biopic, Drama, History

(For Day 8 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt suggested writing a monologue from a dead person’s perspective, in the style of the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. I chose Vincent van Gogh.)

I painted what I saw, which is somehow not what others saw,
Though they recognized its canvas version.
The colors mattered more than details,
For the colors are the details in my mind,
Glazed over every surface and landscape
And fired in my mind’s kiln to a minor masterpiece,
If only everyone could share my eye.
They said I had my demons, but I had angels too,
Perched on each shoulder, left and right.
With my one good ear, I like to think
The worse of the two had trouble being heard.
But hearing is overrated while sight
And hue can bewitch so splendidly.
_____________________________

MPA rating: PG-13 (for mature themes, nothing objectionable shown)

The only Oscar attention given to 2018’s At Eternity’s Gate may have been a Best Actor nod for Willem Dafoe, but his performance really is the film’s greatest strength. As misunderstood painter Vincent van Gogh, Dafoe proves to be a mercurial presence, given to bouts of obsession and anger while treasuring art above all. His relationship with fellow artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac) seems to be a friendly outlet, but the Dutchman’s apparent mental struggles only get worse in the last years of his life.

I can’t fault the acting, but director Julian Schnabel of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly makes a few jarring creative choices with his direction and editing, which highlights the otherness of van Gogh’s perceptions but also comes off as overly artsy and surreal. Still, I wasn’t familiar with many of the details of van Gogh’s life, and my subsequent research made me recognize the many references to his most famous works throughout the film, heightening my appreciation of it. At Eternity’s Gate is a contemplative showcase of Dafoe’s talent portraying a tortured genius, and its final moments are especially evocative in representing the precious but overlooked.

Best line: (van Gogh) “Maybe God made me a painter for people who aren’t born yet. It is said, ‘Life is for sowing. The harvest is not here.’”

Rank: Honorable Mention

Clemency (2019)

07 Wednesday Apr 2021

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Drama, Triple A

(For Day 7 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was a choice between two syllable-based poem forms, the shadorma or the Fib. I chose the Fib, with its syllable count based on the Fibonacci sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8. Take your pick of which character the poem applies to.)

Please
Have
Mercy
On my soul.
Its owner oft sinned.
Does grace or damnation await?
________________________

MPA rating: R (for language and stressful themes)

Clemency is a film with a clear message about the cruel nature of the prison system, yet it presents it subtly through the emotional responses of a warden (Alfre Woodard) and the convicted man she is to execute (Aldis Hodge). Woodard is the star here, hiding the psychological toll of her character’s work behind a stolid veil of professionalism while her marriage and soul suffer; the performance feels tailor-made for a Best Actress Oscar nomination, which sadly never came.

Likewise, Aldis Hodge is a compelling victim, convicted of murder and insistent on his innocence. His guilt is neither verified nor disproven definitively, but he is still defended by his lawyer (Richard Schiff) and comforted by a chaplain (Michael O’Neill). His humanity is the focus as the film condemns neither him nor the warden doing her job. Death and execution are very distressing subjects, whether it’s the electric chair of The Green Mile or the lethal injections used here, and Clemency gets its sad point across while offering little light amidst the darkness. A bit slow in pace, it’s a difficult watch elevated by nuanced acting.

Rank: Honorable Mention

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

06 Tuesday Apr 2021

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Drama, Hitchcock, Mystery

(For Day 6 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write a poem based on a line from a favorite book. So I drew some inspiration from a line in 84 Charing Cross Road, in which Helene Hanff offers to include her pen pal in her murder mystery scripts: “You want to be the murderer or the corpse?” So my poem blurs the line between villain and victim based on first impressions.)

Despite the common maxim told
Of judging books and covers seen,
It’s still a fact that people mold
Opinions and the views they hold
Before the truth can quite unfold.
A first impression sets the scene,
And then the slate is far from clean.

You see a man in overcoat
Within the baleful mist’s embrace.
His gaze is sullen and remote,
And deathly rumors round him float.
Before a word can leave his throat,
You’re sure that murder’s in his face.
And who’s to prove if that’s the case?

Assumptions lead one far astray
Or prove correct our own dismay.
___________________________

MPA rating: Not Rated (PG thematically but little objectionable shown)

Here then is a silent, black-and-white classic, so no one thinks I only review recent movies. The third film made by Alfred Hitchcock and his first big success, The Lodger is a forerunner of many a murder mystery in which the arrival of a mysterious newcomer coincides with eerie happenings. In this case, the titular Lodger (Ivor Novello) arrives to the Buntings’ London home in search of a room to rent, just as the news of a serial murderer known as the Avenger has the city in a panic. He catches the eye of his landlady’s (Marie Ault) daughter Daisy (June Tripp), but her parents and policeman beau (Malcolm Keen) see only suspicious activity from the awkward stranger.

The Lodger is a film created and designed for a different time, which has to be taken into account when watching silent films from almost a century ago. I can see naïve moviegoers who had only ever read mystery books watching this movie with bated breath at the creepy atmosphere, but honestly, it’s rather underwhelming, boring even for modern viewers like me. That’s not to say it’s not worth the watch; indeed, Hitchcock’s early work still boasts some haunting imagery and inventive camerawork for the time. And Novello’s title character, pale with stage makeup and a creepy stare to rival Johnny Depp’s Tim Burton roles, is just ambiguous enough to leave you wondering who he really is. The Lodger may be dated, yes, but every genre needs its forerunners. It’s a film worth seeing and certainly preserving for historical value alone.

Best line: (The Landlady, noticing money on the mantle) “You should lock that money up, sir, it’s tempting providence.” (The Lodger) “Providence is concerned with sterner things than money, Mrs. Bunting.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

The Vast of Night (2020)

05 Monday Apr 2021

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

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Drama, Mystery, Sci-fi

(Happy belated Easter! Yesterday was sadly my first missed day of the month, beset by end-of-term homework. Even so, I am back for Day 5 of NaPoWriMo, for which the prompt suggested writing a poem in the same shape as another and with the same first letters of each line. I chose the tranquil “Pippa’s Song” by Robert Browning and gave it a dark mirror image.)

The hour is late,
And morning still far;
Mute are the breezes,
The crickets stock still.
The hush is a weight,
The wait black as tar.
Gently it freezes
And swallows the will.
___________________

MPA rating: PG-13

For every special-effects-laden blockbuster in the science fiction genre, there is a small-scale gem waiting to be discovered. Directed and self-financed by first-time filmmaker Andrew Patterson, The Vast of Night feels like the type of modest genre piece that Spielberg might have made in his early days. Two 1950s teenagers, the switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and radio disc jockey Everett (Jake Horowitz), go about their jobs one night in small-town New Mexico but are intrigued by a mysterious sound picked up by their equipment, leading them to a potentially extraterrestrial source.

Even apart from the supernatural elements, there’s so much to love about the look and feel of The Vast of Night, from its tightly written script and smooth direction (including an awe-inspiring tracking shot to rival much bigger budgets) to the quaint period detail and dark atmospheric lighting. It treads carefully around the idea of aliens, its protagonists curious but skeptical along the way, as if the strangeness they encounter truly is bewildering rather than just a movie plot point. The film stumbles a bit toward the end with its unfortunate lack of closure, but the Twilight Zone-ish story is still a highly engrossing watch.

Best line: (Mabel Blanche, an alien believer) “I think at the lowest level they send people on errands and play with people’s minds. They sway people to do things and think certain ways – so that we stay in conflict, focused on ourself – so that we’re always… cleaning house, or losing weight, or dressing up for other people. I think they get inside our heads and make us do destructive things, like drink and over-eat. I’ve seen good people go bad, and smart people go mad.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

Ocean Waves (1993)

03 Saturday Apr 2021

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Animation, Anime, Drama, Romance

(The prompt for Day 3 of NaPoWriMo was to create a “Personal Universal Deck” of self-descriptive words, so I tried to come up with some word impressions for the characters of a lesser Ghibli film.)

Waves on the beach,
Wisdom to teach,
Woman and leech,
Scorning my speech.

Waves on my mind,
Wicked and kind,
Who she maligned
Is no longer blind.
__________________________

MPA rating: PG-13 (for thematic material, very little objectionable)

I love so many Studio Ghibli films, but there are a few gaps I’ve been trying to fill, lesser-known works that have slipped through the cracks. Ocean Waves is one of them, an early ‘90s TV film based on a novel that was meant to give the younger animators a chance to show their stuff. It’s one of those subdued high school stories with a melodramatic love triangle that isn’t bad but can’t escape an overall dullness.

Told largely in flashback, the tale follows Taku as a high schooler who learns his friend Yutaka has a crush on a new girl named Rikako, and Taku is soon pulled into her life and drama more than he expected or wanted. My mom initially didn’t like Forrest Gump because of the way Jenny treated Forrest, and Rikako is in a similar mold. She manipulates, lies, uses people, and barely shows any remorse, yet her actions are eventually viewed with fondness. A high school reunion near the end hits some excellent nostalgic poignancy, but the main two characters aren’t exactly typical romance material, to the point that some have said the two male friends have more chemistry than the central “couple.”

Again, Ocean Waves is well-animated and not terrible, but it’s low-tier Ghibli with very little personality of its own and many tropes that have been done much better elsewhere. In fact, my favorite Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart has a lot of the same ingredients (high school love triangle, boy and girl who dislike each other at first) and yet has so much more character and passion to it. Perhaps Ocean Waves was just the warm-up.

Rank: Honorable Mention

A Hidden Life (2019)

02 Friday Apr 2021

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

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Drama, History

(For Day 2 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to reflect on a life-changing choice, so I considered the life-and-death stand of a German martyr.)

I simply stayed silent,
Not hateful nor loud.
I kept my mouth closed
When they wanted compliance.
To not join the violent,
Not follow the crowd,
To leave them opposed
Was inherent defiance.

I wonder about,
If I’d merely caved,
How easier life
Would have treated this fool.
But then I have doubt:
I might have been saved
From present-day strife,
But not God’s higher rule.
________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

On this Good Friday, a film about martyrdom seemed apropos. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen a Terrence Malick film (potential future Blindspot picks), so there is nothing to which I can compare A Hidden Life from the same director. Yet it most reminded me of Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, since both are moving portraits of faith in the face of evil and social pressure. However, whereas Sophie Scholl was actively opposing the Nazis, the subject of A Hidden Life simply refused to yield to their demands, proving to be a timely hero in this age where even mild disagreement can spark undue censure.

Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), declared a Blessed by the Catholic Church in 2007, is a poor farmer in the mountains of Austria, faced with a choice when Hitler annexes his country in the Anschluss. Required to take an oath of allegiance to the Fuhrer, Jägerstätter balks, despite overwhelming pressure from his village and even his church to comply. His quiet steadfastness as he nears the inevitable end recalls the passion of Christ as he and his wife (Valerie Pachner) question the morality of a stand that none but God would remember, or so they thought.

Malick’s celebrated visual artistry elevates the poignant story even more with absolutely gorgeous cinematography that takes full advantage of the alpine setting. Almost every shot could be framed on my wall as a piece of art, which makes it criminal that the film didn’t get a single Oscar nomination. While I loved so much about the film, its epic length is sadly a big detriment, the pace slow and methodical across nearly three hours. It’s a spiritually rich, contemplative film that heightens its emotions as it progresses, but I was quite ready for it to be over when the credits rolled. A Hidden Life is a superb masterpiece of the human conscience; it just could have benefited from a little more editing.

Best line: (Franz’s father-in-law) “Better to suffer injustice than to do it.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

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Rhyme and Reason

~ Poetry Meets Film Reviews

VC Pick: Cocoon (1985)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

A Song to Remember (1945)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

Clemency (2019)

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

The Vast of Night (2020)

Ocean Waves (1993)

A Hidden Life (2019)