Reviews

I had a hunch that I wanted to revisit this film. On my first watch, I found Manny & Lo to be a moody little film, that weightlessly flew over me. But I think I missed some of its heft, because this subdued drama has more teeth and claws than I remember. Little, fun details are littered throughout the film, a clear display of Krueger's creative vision. Some might criticize the movie for having little entertainment value, but I disagree - you might not be paying attention. Or you might actually not like it, of course.

The premise is uncommon and maybe even odd, but easy to grasp; sisters Amanda and Laurel, more commonly known as Manny & Lo, are in their teens and have run from ther respective foster homes. They live a life on the road, roaming New Jersey, passing the nights in parks, on lawns, in model homes or whatever is most suited and readily available, coming by by stealing from the grocery stores, the older sister, Laurel, performing certain favours for boys in exchange for money, and fueling their station wagon with the use of a hose and other cars; in short, they're little rascals. But Manny is the first to notice something that will be a bump in their careless demeanours, litterally: Lo is pregnant, and she's far beyond the option of abortion. So, what else to do than to break into a huge country mansion, abduct a poor woman who works at a baby shop and keep her hostage there?

The leading trio is just terrific. I think Scarlett Johansson, Aleksa Palladino and Mary Kay Place as Manny, Lo and Elaine (the latter being the abducted "nurse") have a tough job together to keep this character drama afloat. I believe they succeeded. The then eleven-year old Scarlett gets to do the voice-over, and the movie is always from her perspective. But from the first few moments of the movie, when you hear that voice-over musing about made-up people that turn out to be real, I was already checked in. Even back then she had her signature scrappy voice (albeit younger, and less voluminous), and it is used to its fullest extent. Watching her childish expressions is simply delightful. I think she does a finer acting job in this movie than her foul-mouthed counterpart Lo. However, Aleksa still manages to convince the upset with the world; her character is volatile and holds that sense of unpredictability well. Lo might be the older of the two, Manny is certainly a lot more rational. This is proven in many scenes between Manny and Elaine, played wonderfully by Mary Kay Place. She has a strange character to handle, but who is essentially the third wheel that gets them rolling. As Elaine explains, the character has a "cluttered" past, and without ever exactly knowing what that entails Place plays it so that we don't have to know and understand anyway that Elaine has had suffering.

It is all underlined by an amazing soundtrack, quite clearly one of the aspects that flew over unnoticed by me the first time around. Composed by John Lurie, who has provided music for multiple of Jim Jarmusch' features, it is often simple, laid-back, perfect for the accompanying moments, but it also broadens at points, using a wider range of instruments to create a more eclectic sound. I was impressed by how much I loved the soundtrack.

For a comedy, though, there are suprisingly little laughs, which is not necessarily a bad thing because genres should never dictate the contents of a movie alone. But if the dialogue had been more sharply written, it might have gotten more out of me. Still, I laughed a couple of times, and I can't even start to count how many smiles it gave me. Less laughs than there ought to be, and despite its short runtime it is not always aptly paced, but those are little complaints.

To sum it up, I am happily impressed by the love and care that has been put into it. There is lots to read into - morals, parenthood, childhood, it may even contain life lessons for those willing to get that out of it, but I think it works because it never forgets that its essence lays in the three characters and their dynamic together, which is well-done. Not perfect, but a lovely movie anyhow.

It's not a matter of "getting it". Its story is easy to follow. It is clear in its presentation. An alien has taken the shape of Scarlett Johansson, and prowls around Edinburough to pick up lonely men, tempts them and processes them into food for her home planet. Not much is said, but that's because not much has to be said.

Whatever you think of it: it is fair (within reason). Did you hate it? Did you love it? Were you unaffected? Your opinion of it is fully valid.

But to me, this film was ultrasensory.

A soundtrack so infinitely brilliant leads the images, which are straightforward, without compromise. Highly disturbing scenes and serenely beautiful landscape alternate the screen and often intertwine. And amidst of it all is a simple but ever-so engaging story of an alien who acquaints humanity.

This film is proof that less is more. Show, don't tell. I was feeling rather than watching. Goosebumps, not because I was scared, but because I was watching a masterpiece unfold before me.

Jonathan Glazer might be the most endearing filmmaker currently alive. He is happy when the opinions are polarizing. He knows that, if he makes a film that is universally liked, that he has failed and has created a boring film. With this, he hasn't.

Lately I've been wanting to get into Marvel to see what the fuss is about. Wanting to watch them chronologically, I watched this movie.

I didn't like it. The story is boring amd the characters are lame and predictable. Skinny guy turns into tough guy without having to go through any training and is now a hero. His adversary is the leader of Hydra, a crazed, red... Man, called the Red Skull. We don't get any info as to why he is red, where he comes from. He uses power from a cube that not only contains energy, it also enables him to manufacture very advanced ray gun weapons that vaporize people. In the 40's. Unfortunately these weapons are never more effective than any other military gun, maybe even less, because they aren't capable of rapid fire.

How did they manage to make Cap look so lame? His suit is ugly. His personality is that he is a "good man" that wants to go to war because he does not like "bullies". At first he weighed 90 pounds, then after a transformation he's now a giant, probably weighing around 190 pounds. Never I feel like he deserved that treatment, because everything else he does in the movie is anything special, anything a "good man" would do. Any soldier would be able to replace him.

Overall I couldn't get into it and the movie became a two-hour long snorefest. The action wasn't anything particular to me, either. I know, this is a 2011 movie, but I've seen better action movies from before. The acting was about average. I didn't think the movie looked interesting either, it does not utilise cinematography to it's fullest.

I'll still be watching more Marvel movies, but I was really disappointed by this one.

We follow two people in different stages of life. Their bond grows so strong over the course of this movie, that it feels so real.

For me, this movie hit all the right marks - sentiment, melancholy, sadness, happiness, anger, loneliness and above all, deep, deep love for each other that is more than a sensual hunger.

Charlotte and Bob couldn't have been more perfectly cast - Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, respectively - and Sofia Coppola knew that well; she wouldn't have made the movie if Bill refused to take the role.

But he accepted and what we ended up with is a nihilistic, romantic story that goes beyond the dialogue. We know the feelings of each character before they meet each other, and it's not hard to relate to them. Are you the young person, striving to be something bigger than yourself but not quite sure exactly what? Or are you the person that's a little fed up with life, slowly and quietly lives it out, seemingly numb to the good things in life?

The brilliant mix of these two types of characters couldn't be expressed better than in a foreign place like Tokyo: lovely, beautiful but confusing and belittling, the perfect background for someone to have their heart on their sleeve. But only those that understand each other - both literally and figuratively - can read each others' heart.

Bob and Charlotte connect quickly when they find out they have a lot in common, such as insomnia because of the jet-lag, a soulmate that seems to have lost their initial soul and their interest in each other, and they decide to explore the city together. Bob is a mentor, while Charlotte is a playmate that lets him appreciate life more than he did before.

Their happiness won't last longer than a few days, because then they'll have to go their own ways again, but with some marvelous experiences to make up for it. This looms over them.

Yes, it's quite a simple love story and not a lot of exciting stuff happens on screen - but what *does* happen is so sincere, so beautiful and detailed, and not to mention, it'll give you the occasional chuckle.

What I might find most interesting about this film is that Bob Harris sounds a lot like Bill Murray and Charlotte is close to Scarlett - the line between acting and real life has, to me, faded so much that it's hard to tell the distinction. Bill Murray used to be a huge hit-actor and hadn't seen as much success around the time this movie was made. Bob Harris is Bill Murray. Charlotte's character is based on Sofia Coppola herself, and Scarlett, despite her young age, moves her character forward with so much grace and relatibility - for me, as a young person - that it's not hard to see why she became as big of an idol as she is these days.

To me, this is my staple movie, the movie that makes me feel everything I want to feel and shows me everything I want to see. I can hardly put it into words. Needless to say, a movie worth watching.