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ManoNimat
Reviews
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Call It By Its Name: 'Dead Boring'
This is the kind of film that you see in 'Coming Attractions' and you think that though it sounds interesting enough to see, it will never live up to its hype. And still you go see it. And yet, even though you knew the buzz for the film was overblown, you are even more disappointed upon leaving the theater than you were prepared to be. This is sub-mediocre cinema for the pretentious mass of moviegoers.
For one thing, it was way too long, at least a half hour more than necessary. Too many wasted, extended shots that did nothing to advance the paper-thin narrative of Vulnerable Younger Man Elio falls for Manipulative Young Man Oliver, involving themselves in a six-week summer fling with full parental approval. Oliver has his peach and eats it too, then moves back to the United States to proceed with his pre-planned heterosexual lifestyle. Elio is then left to pine and yearn and mourn with a beautiful sad-face through the closing credits. Two hours and ten minutes for this? No thank you, sirs.
About the performances: Armie Hammer is a truly beautiful physical specimen of a man, but in this film that is the full extent of his acting ability. Preening, with an exaggerated sense of dismissive cool, his portrayal of Oliver left the sense of an actor trying too hard to pretend that he was comfortable in the role. This sense is re-inforced in the promotional interviews for the film, where he seems to be working just a bit too hard to show how cool he was with kissing and simulating sex with another beautiful young(er) man. The utter sterility of the sex scenes or the lack of explicit nudity, however, as dictated by Hammer's contract, belie his overcompensating demeanor. Understandable, perhaps, but this kills the credibility of any emotional chemistry beyond the two men on- screen.
Timothée Chalamet, on the other hand, is remarkable in the way he inhabits his role, with a kittenish physicality, all lean, wiry lines and lithe angles, that more than holds its own in the scenes with Hammer. Despite the unbelievability of any emotional connection between the two characters, Chalamet's Elio gives a palpable sense of physical attraction to the older Oliver, a man-crush that gives way to physical yearning. The depth of Chalamet's performance was what carried the film, and was by far the most interesting, successful aspect of the production.
The novel could actually be interesting, but as brought to screen it was diffuse, dissolute, and disparate; like a collage attempting to depict a mosaic of a mural. This film will get praise for dealing with a sensitive subject, and I suppose that is fair enough; I only wish it had been more interestingly and convincingly executed.
God's Own Country (2017)
Stillborn Calf
Breathakingly blatant, shameless, shameful ripoff of Brokeback Mountain (and the more obscure 2009 film 'Ander'), with only the names of the main characters changed to protect the innocent. Annie Proulx and Larry McMurty should sue for writing credits and royalties. If you saw Brokeback Mountain, you can safely skip this warmed-over pub food version of same. Unfortunately, this film seems to be getting knee-jerk positive reviews, typically from older audiences, still desperate to see themselves (or younger, much younger versions of themselves) depicted on screen. I suppose it's one thing to support LGBT filmmakers, and quite another to support quality filmmaking. God's Own Country is definitely the former, and definitely not the latter.
Beautifully shot, with leaden pacing, birth-membrane thin explication, an erratic, implausible delivery by O'Connor, and a wooden, one-dimensional performance by Secareanu.
'Gheorge'/ Secarenau was a head-scratcher in particular, both the character and actor--zero charisma, zero backstory, zero motivation as to why he came as an immigrant to work on a farm in England, zero sense of why he would be attracted to O'Connor's 'Johnny' (no euphemism intended) other than opportunity. Just a giant cipher for one of the two main characters in the film.
O'Connor showed some spark, but the character's arc was too much for him as an inexperienced actor, and Lee, in his directorial debut, apparently didn't have any useful guidance to offer. On the plus side, the carcass of the stillborn calf was convincing. Unfortunately, this film should have met a similar fate.
Originally rated this film a 3 because of O'Connor's penis, but then downgraded to a 2, because they didn't show it enough, when they easily could have.
Somm (2012)
Where The Decanter is More Interesting than The Wine
I have an acutely ambivalent reaction to this attempted documentary. I am more-than-average interested in the topic of wine, but SOMM instead treats the subject of 4 guys preparing to take an exam to become 'master sommeliers'. So, to my disappointment, the film really wasn't about wine at all, rather a reality-show style video of 4 fairly obnoxious, unlikeable, uninteresting guys, full of themselves, and also full of obnoxious 'frat bro' bravado, reciting wine attributes like a mantra and spitting into a bucket. They manage to take the consumption of wine, which should be an act of immense pleasure and sensation, and degrade it into little more than a circle-jerk weenie-measuring contest. If one of these clowns unctuously showed up at my table to offer 'advice', I would totally ignore and wave him away. And these guys are almost sympathetic in comparison to the men in the film who already ARE 'master sommeliers'. If anything, this film demystifies the credential, and exposes it as little more than a hazing ritual, conferring a title of dubious value and dubious legitimacy. I like good wine, and I'm certainly open to learning more and experiencing something new, but I would want no part of what any of these jerks are selling.
3 stars out of 10 for some pretty filmography, and a nice original soundtrack. I appreciate the filmmaker's intention here, but the content mostly fails. It's like having a decanter full of wine, where the decanter is more interesting than the wine.
Mitt (2014)
Tell Me Something I Don't Already Know
Spoiler Alert: Romney loses the election! This film covered almost nothing new for me, only serving to reinforce the ambivalent (but ultimately negative) view I had of Romney. This film showed us that he has the same stiff, almost prissy walk when he's mincing around his hotel room picking up trash as when he struts out on stage for a debate. He had a little bit better sense of humor than I'd realized, but as I had suspected, he was not nearly as self-confident as he presents in public (though he comes off as quite confident). I suppose the most revealing thing about the film was that even Romney didn't seem to believe his own BS. In sum, he's a very good husband and father, a perversely motivated candidate, a disconnected, unconvincing (and unconvinced) politician who would have been a disaster as President.
Two big omissions from the film: 1) any coverage of the third debate when Romney had his testicles handed to him by BHO (Obama having been given said testies as a trophy from Candy Crawley after the second debate). 2) Any discussion of the spectacular failings of the Romney campaign's much-vaunted Project Orca, a get-out-the-vote technology system which crashed and burned on Election Day. Previous press accounts had the overconfident Romney camp believing victory was assured up to and well into Election Day. The footage in this little documentary completely fails to capture that ethos, with the footage shown indicating that the Romneys were quite prepared to lose, almost resigned to defeat even. This documentary would've been much stronger if it had been able to reconcile and explain that discrepancy better.
A word about ratings: A rating of 5 indicates a film I would probably see again. A rating of 6 indicates a film I would recommend to another person. A rating of 4 indicates a film which I would neither see again, nor recommend to another person. This film merits a 4. Not sorry I watched it, but nothing to recommend either.