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Oppenheimer (2023)
Difficult to review
Oppenheimer's key contribution to chemistry, physics, material science, engineering, and allied sciences was that he led an international team to build a weapon of mass destruction. Suspicions about his political views and loyalty to the conditions of his security clearance are, to me, secondary to his accomplishment leading such a disparate group of scientists to completion of the task, however morally repugnant the product and horrible its result.
There should be a way of directing a film or mini-series that does a serious job of getting inside what that leadership looked and felt like without cutting corners on the science. The characters shouldn't resort to dramatic outbursts unless they're supported by fact and the science shouldn't be dumbed down or explained in ways that would not have happened among the most sophisticated scientists in their fields at that time.
Is Oppenheimer an interesting film? Is it well made? Sure, but I'm left wanting so much more than a story about how he was dismantled by politicians.
Glass Onion (2022)
A sequel with pretensions
There's a relatively common trend in the realm of scripting, producing, and directing follow-ups or sequels to small and surprisingly successful first films. It is not logical There is no reason the trend should exist but it does. The trend is from small to bloated. If the first film is shot primarily on a single set, the sequel must involve multiple locations. If the first film worked mostly on the basis of character interplay, the sequel must involve huge numbers of items being physically destroyed, preferably with some explosions involved. If the first revolves in part on the comic obtuseness of one or more characters, that characteristic must be removed in favor of preternatural insight.
Sadly, this sequel, which really isn't a sequel as much as it "another," involves many of these flaws. Why? I don't know.
Rogue One (2016)
Immediately improved by watching Andor!
This is a solid Star Wars film but it lacks emotional depth until you've watched the Andor series. That series fleshes out the reasons why Cassian is driven so hard in Rogue One and gives us more time with him and other key characters. It's a little strange that Rogue was made before Andor but that's been fixed and all is improved by the additional backstory.
Rogue has a desperate drive to it all on its own and there are many new characters that I hope we get to know properly in upcoming seasons of Andor but we get a good story arc that focuses on Jyn and Cassian here so that we feel for their mission throughout.
An enjoyable addition to the canon.
An American Pickle (2020)
The importance of family
This eminently pleasant film is about the premium importance good family relationships play in a healthy life. It is sort of told as a lightly comedic fable based on the Rip van Winkle/Futurama premise of a man finding himself displaced in time and culture. From the negative reviews and sub-6 rating, I expected to watch 15 minutes and consign it to the wastebasket of unfinished films, but it kept me entertained throughout and had the added pleasure of having a sweet resolution.
Aquaman (2018)
Kudos to production design
This film has an excellent look from start to finish! Whether that is due to the director or not is difficult to sort out but congrats to whomever it was that made the fil so visually appealing. The plot is fine for what it is and avoids many of the possible flaws that scar superhero films, but who cares? Just watch it for its unending parade of fun stuff to see!
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
A missed opportunity
This film is about a kind fellow with a secret and violent past. He does nice things for some people, then exacts revenge when some old colleagues kill a mutual colleague and friend. It doesn't seem to matter why. The script might have been written by several people who refused to communicate with each other. If Denzel wasn't in it, it would be a complete waste of time.
Fosse/Verdon (2019)
Stunning!
I'm not a big musical, theater, or Broadway fan. I'm not particularly drawn to dance; it often seems like a very odd form of human expression, although it is certainly central to many aspects of human culture. All that said, what Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell, along with many other fine actors and the directors have done here is beyond amazing. Williams and Rockwell inhabit Verdon and Fosse in such a thorough way it's difficult to remember they're not the people they're portraying. I can only imagine that it took them weeks of downtime to stop being their roles. The show is also a profound look at the hard work and difficult personalities that show business requires. This is a dire warning to all the young folks with naive dreams - is this really what you want? Can you really do this? Just a brilliant and deeply moving show - more a long, segmented film than a "tv show."
Victoria & Abdul (2017)
A touching tribute to an extraordinary friendship
This film shows that people, whatever their backgrounds, can choose to be decent and respectful towards each other, thus learning much from their experiences. It also shows that in spite of the decent and respectful example, many will choose to be ugly, mean-spirited, and vengeful. Thankfully, the decency of the friendship makes a bigger impression than the pettiness of the courtiers.
Knock Down the House (2019)
Ignore the "1s"
Objectively, this is a well-paced documentary that follows four novice women candidates who were trying to unseat lobbyist-backed incumbent Democrats from their positions in the House or Senate. It is interesting from beginning to end. Watch it and make up your own minds. Ignore the trolls.
Sharp Objects (2018)
Spectacular sound design!
Putting aside the story, which slowly constricts your heart and stifles your breath, and the acting, which is stellar at every turn, and the cinematography, which pulls you ever-deeper in Camille's nightmare, there is the brilliance of the sound design. You heard shared secrets told at a distance, but intended to humiliate. You hear ambient sounds - normal sounds from the environment - as portents of the damage done in this community of broken lives and dissolving dreams. The way the sound design amplifies the images' import and the horror of Camille's experience is outstanding! It transformed a more conventional crime story into something infectious and all-consuming. Great work! Stunning artistry!
Ghostbusters (2016)
Perfectly fine dumb comedy
Let's all take a breath on the Ghostbusters movies. They are all pretty dumb, with GB2 being the dumbest of the three. This one, which should be GB3, is a serviceable comedy with a great cast. All of the principals in this one are great in their roles, the special effects have been dialed up to meet early 21sr C. standards, and much CGI ectoplasm is flung about. The strangest thing is that, somehow, the original is now considered a classic for some reason. It wasn't and isn't. It's just a dumb comedy, just like this one.
Watch this one and enjoy it. It is a perfectly fine dumb comedy.
El Chapo (2017)
Really interesting but with a giant flaw
I've watched all three seasons now and enjoyed the story arc and acting. It's a little difficult to understand how a person responsible for as much death and dependency can be revered as well, but this is the case for many of the "lords" in this and Narcos.
The giant flaw is attributing the government's support of El Chapo to the fictional character of Conrado Sol and also making his fatal flaw his secret homosexuality and liaisons. If it were true, then it would be acceptable to depict this, but this whole plotline introduces an enormously false refrain into the story, the dysfunctionality of Mexico and its government, and the international drug war in general. It would have been far, far better to have depicted the real complexity of issues within the government than to pin the entire tale on this sad donkey of a subplot.
Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable show.
Mitten in Deutschland: NSU (2016)
Spoiler Alerts! Chilling, sad, and well done
I remember the news report when Beate Z was caught after burning up her apartment and this being tied to a murder-suicide by a couple of guys in the aftermath of Zschape's capture. As the resurgence of these extremists seems to be one of the unexpected demons unleashed after the reunification of Germany, I generally have an eye and ear open for such developments. What I didn't understand was: (1) the nihilistic idiocy of the people in the NSU (national socialist underground), which is the focus of episode 1; (2) the primarily Turkish targets of nine murders, robberies, and unknown numbers of random verbal and physical assaults (the focus of episode 2); (3) that a country that nearly blinked out of existence in the last spasm of NS delusional thinking, horrific violence against numerous countries, ethnicities, religions, and by-standers could descend into internecine information hoarding, as apparently went on between the German intelligence services, Federal police, the newly-free local police departments (some of whom had been STASI) of what had been East Germany, and other, hinted parties (the focus of episode 3).
The whole process started with the tearing down the wall in 1989. Apparently, some East German (and other) youth saw the NS beliefs espoused by their lunatic leader (d. 1945, suicide by bunker) as the only appropriate response to the authoritarian "Communism" of the East German/USSR leaders and a rise in immigrant populations, particularly from Turkey (a partner in Germany's defeat during WWI and mostly playing both sides in WWII), but also from Germany's African colonies, was to become violent, drunken, drugged- up thugs who sang awful songs, visited concentration camps on a lark, threatened and mugged anyone they wanted, and generally were a disgusting mirror image of the brown shirts, although in miniature.
This escalated until 2000 when a Turkish flower salesman was shot eight times in his roadside van, then photographed as he died. More murders and robberies (as well as a bombing in Koln) occurred over the the next 11 years, and Zschape was captured. It took her four years to admit to her association with the murder-suicide NS members and even then she failed to take any personal responsibility for her complicity in their activities.
I'll say that watching the first episode made me wonder why humanity deserves to live. The self-absorption of these young fools, believing that their behavior is the only solution to their new- found freedom from the Soviet bloc, is maddening. Their visits to Buchenwald were sickening. But it was well done as a film, so I read up on what to expect from ep. 2 and 3. Episode 2 dealt with death of Mr. Simsek and Semiya Simsek's evolution into a lucid speaker against racial violence. The grief into which his family was plunged as various police units came, interrogated them repeatedly as new detectives were assigned or took over from their retired predecessors, accused them of being part of a non-existent drug importation ring, blamed them for their husband's and father's death, then went silent for long periods (it happened in 2000 and the NS members fell into police laps in 2011 - try to understand what that must have been like!). Episode 3 could have been the outline for an episode in M. Clouseau's bumbling career, had it not been for the tragic in-fighting that kept local police from doing their jobs, and kept the NSU functioning as the Federal police and intelligence services hoped that their moles would uncover something broader than the "mere" murder of a "few" Turkish shopkeepers.
I always want to understand how these kinds of violent behaviors play out in human history. This series did an honest job of showing how delusional behavior, official lies, and incompetency results in unnecessary death and mistrust of governments. Well done, but not for those who avoid provocative material.