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NaiveIdealism
Reviews
The Departed (2006)
Exceptionally well made misery
I absolutely, unequivocally loved this movie when I was a teenager. And how could you not? It's incredibly well-made, well-crafted, and so well-written you have to wonder if William Monahan didn't make a deal with the screenwriting devil that he's been paying for ever since.
But after watching it recently, for the first time in more than a decade, my biggest takeaway was how depressed it made me. This is a miserable movie about miserable people making miserable decisions that ultimately serve to make them even more miserable (even more so than other Scorsese classics).
And don't get me wrong -- I don't believe the job of every movie is to make you feel nice, safe, and happy all the time. I was just surprised at how a movie I'd been thrilled by in the past was now leaving me completely deflated.
So I guess in a sense this is less of a review and more of a reflection on how our perception of movies changes as we do. When I was younger, I was entranced by the style, craft, suspense, and unpredictability, but now, after having been through the wringer a few times myself, I empathize so much more with the characters and everything they go through. All the elements I loved about the movie before are still there, and I still appreciate them, but the content, itself, hit me differently than it ever had before.
All this to say: if I sit down to watch "The Departed" again in another decade, I'm gonna have a stiff drink or two ready to go.
Special shout out to Thelma Schoonmaker's editing, in this and all of Scorsese's films, now and forever, amen.
Elusive (2022)
Wonderfully weird
This movie certainly isn't for everyone, but if you end up connecting with it, even a little, you're going to fall head over heels in love.
It takes some big swings right out of the gate that could immediately put some people off (there's a psychedelic reenactment of a Bigfoot sex act within the first 10 minutes, and no I'm not kidding), so if your pearls are easily clutched, I can tell you right now this one's not for you. But for those who either enjoy or can make it past the surface-level absurdity, there's a genuinely heartfelt story waiting for you on the other side.
The seams of its low budget show every now and then, but nothing so massive it ruins the experience. It helps that this is a mockumentary (supposedly made by a single guy who, by his own admission, seems to have barely passed film school), so it's easier to forgive here than if it had been done more traditionally. Not every low-budget movie can be a mockumentary, obviously, but it clearly worked in this case as an example of filmmakers finding a creative way around, if not outright embracing, their limitations.
Overall, if you go in with an open mind that's ready to laugh (and maybe even cry), you'll be rewarded with a movie that is so much smarter, big-hearted, and crowd pleasing than you might expect.
Goodfellas (1990)
One of the greatest of all time
What else is there to say? This movie's good. So good that with every gangster picture Scorsese has made since, it often feels like he's just trying to remake "Goodfellas."
Special shout out to Thelma Schoonmaker's editing, in this and all of Scorsese's films, now and forever, amen.
The Batman (2022)
Great filmmaking constrained by a brand
This movie works best when it's the super angsty, moody, and well-shot noir the filmmakers clearly wanted to make, and it suffers when it has to give in to the expectations of a multi-million dollar blockbuster, especially the last half hour. I loved the ultimate resolution the movie got to, it was just the climactic action sequence that didn't work as well for me.
I'd love to have seen what Matt Reeves and his team could've done with this same narrative, style, and tone without the Batman™ branding, but unfortunately the brand is likely the only reason they got to do any of this in the first place.
Ultimately, if all the studios want is to keep making big dumb superhero movies into oblivion, I'll take a filmmaker-driven exercise like this any day over the assembly line, cookie cutter nonsense we keep getting elsewhere.
All that said, though, I also really wouldn't mind getting a lighter, campier version of Batman and the other DC characters, and I'm talking more Adam West than Schumacher. Like, I might be the only one who wants this, but give me a live-action "Super Friends" movie. I'd see that in theaters twice.