Free Guy, Encanto, and The 355

 

Free Guy

Gillipedia Official Rating: I watched this movie for free, guy

          I always feel a little hypocritical when I say a movie is for free on Disney+. That of course is with the caveat of having a subscription. And yes, I am paying using my own subscription. Netflix on the other hand...

          Free Guy to me is like the poor man’s The Lego Movie. You have the every-happy protagonist that goes through the same routine every day without a care in the world. They spot their eyes on the girl of their dreams and try to follow them. This leads them towards a path of self-discovery realizing that they’re a part of a world that is out of their control. For our Free Guy protagonist Ryan Reynolds, that means being an NPC (non-playable character) inside a popular videogame. The movie is clever in making a quick distinction between players and NPCs by having players wear sunglasses. This also allows Guy to then take sunglasses and get a glimpse of the world from the player’s perspective. As he begins to understand his role in everything, the plot really begins of his quest to find the girl and figure out who he is.

          If I wasn’t clear enough before, let me reiterate: Free Guy isn’t as good as The Lego Movie. Where I consider the latter to be a laughs-a-minute, quick paced film with colorful characters and a nice familial theme, the former is entertaining with some laughs, but not much below the surface. The Lego Movie figured out how to tie in their clever concept with a family friendly message that plays out gloriously in the climax. Free Guy gets past the pitch meeting of, “What if our main character is the character that no one pays attention to—the NPC?” but can’t get beyond that. Guy’s goal is to -cough- be free from the constraints of his programming… And that’s basically it. It doesn’t get any deeper than that.

          But this isn’t a terrible film by any stretch. It’s actually pretty entertaining. They combine Guy’s narrative journey with the main plot involving the CEO of the company (Thor Ragnarok director Taika Waititi) behind the videogame having stolen some code from the two developers that initially programmed the game. It’s a smart approach to introduce conflict between the two worlds and how they can interact with each other. It will keep the movie moving forward, but don’t expect any major plot twists or anything.

          Sometimes the visuals are really impressive, and sometimes they’re the quality of, well, a videogame. Of course, some of this is completely intentional. I’m just not sure how much is. I think some of it runs into that rubbery physics quality whenever a person has to perform an action that a normal human can’t do, and it doesn’t feel right.

          Also, I was disappointed by the lack of variety. The overall game world feels like a toned down GTA which is perfectly understandable for a film that is mostly family-friendly PG-13 fun, but there aren’t too many locales beyond the cityscape where Guy lives and works. They had some fun like with a fight where the characters can only punch and kick in a couple motions—like how fighting programming would be—but there isn’t enough to really wow you.

          This film doesn’t take itself too seriously at all, and if you’re good with watching a movie that requires little brain power, then you’ll be perfectly entertained by Free Guy.

 

Encanto

Gillipedia Official Rating: The best thing to come out of Columbia since… uh… I don’t know enough Columbian products to make a clever comparison. So. Yeah, there you go.

          Not that it needs to be said, but I’ll be honest. This film came out and I let it pass by without much fuss. Now that it’s (paid subscription) free, I relented and watched. And my thoughts are mostly positive. This is by no stretch the best Disney film, but it’s still a solid showing.

          Lin-Manuel Miranda was heavily involved with the music, and it’s some of his best stuff. These songs are really catchy. I also appreciated the music video vibes the scenes were giving off. This movie plays around a bunch with colors and lighting, and it also excels in the physical animation both in how the characters move, but also how their faces express. This is truly some of the most nuanced character expressions I’ve seen in an animated film. Some of the dance moves may feel a bit Tik Tok-y, but it’s still very fluid and better than I can dance, that’s for sure.

          There’s also a lot of characters. And that first song was sung really fast. I did not catch every word and missed out on the introductions to plenty relatives. One thing that I have probably mentioned in the past and only very slightly alluded to in the Free Guy review is the fact that one of the easiest ways to obtain an emotional resonance from your audience is to have the plot revolve around familial conflict. It's one of the easiest and most effective ways to be relatable. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but Encanto leans heavily into this. And you can tell they make a real effort for relatability. Our main character -gasps- wears glasses! And she’s not even a nerd! Groundbreaking, I know, but—also relatable.

          The issue Encanto runs into is the focus on the abilities of the family and Abuela’s insistent reminder to our hero that she doesn’t have a special ability so step aside to let the other people do their work. This leads to a predictable climax and theme, but it’s still well done. That’s not my complaint. My issue is that there’s not much more to the characters than their abilities. Girl that controls weather with her emotions has mood swings, mom that heals people with her cooking is always tender and feeding people, and so on. There is a character or two that shows more emotions down the road, but it’s played more as a plot twist than anything.

          There’s one other aspect I really want to touch on. Brookly Nine-Nine fans may be excited to see the very own Rosa, played by Stephanie Beatriz, voice the main character. And real fans will know that Beatriz’s real voice is way closer to what she does in Encanto than in the show. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean she has the best singing voice. And this is pretty consistent through the cast. Everyone is good, but I don’t think any voice shines. Despite not the best vocal talent, I do want to repeat that the songs are very catchy.

          I’d take Moana over Encanto any day. I’d also take Frozen 2. If people stop you in the middle of a hallway to let you know that Encanto is the best Disney movie, know that they’re lying. But colorful and technically exquisite animation and really catchy songs makes this a perfectly fine addition to the catalogue.

 

The 355

Gillipedia Official Rating: A confusing mess

          This movie sucks.

 

          The End

 

          Please don’t bother with this one. It has an awesome cast but one of the least logical scripts and a terrible director/editor. There are gaping plot holes and leaps in logic and nonsensical action scenes.

          So one rule of thumb I have when it comes to action is thinking to myself, “Is there a stunt that I remember from this movie?” And thinking back to The 355, nothing comes to mind. Except maybe for the fact that they play up that since the heroes are women and they fight a lot of men, they kick them in the nuts a bunch. But it also cuts away so frequently that you won’t see a single stunt completed to fruition in a single shot. Also, the gun shooting is incredibly fake. There’s no recoil, the bullets are endless, and the aiming is -insert stormtrooper metaphor- really bad. Also also, sometimes they take cover, but there are enough times that they shoot at each other in open space that you would think someone, anyone, would get shot. It's like when you're talking and say "um" while you think of what to say next. They shoot their little bullets, nothing happens, so they move on to what needs to happen next. 

          Going back to the cast, we have our star Jessica Chastain, the always amazing Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz providing the best acting out of the bunch, Lupita Nyong’o, and let’s also throw Sebastian Stan in there too. The plot revolves around a new piece of tech that can do everything from crashing planes to blacking out cities to delaying Prime shipments by a business day on a Friday. The female leads mostly represent spy organizations for their respective organizations (Cruz plays the vulnerable of the bunch by declaring multiple times that she’s only a therapist); and they continuously foil the bad guys’ plans, but since they get in each other’s way, they beat each other up instead. Then, they kiss and makeup and become buddy buddy to go after the bad guys again.

          They’re all also incredible at finding each other and the bad guys. When there isn’t an action scene, it typically goes like, “Hey, this dude here is a bad guy. We need to find him and stop him.”

          And then they find them with no effort. This incredible tracking extends to the action scenes. There’s a lot of chasing that happens, and the characters always find who or where they need to go, first time every time. And just to linger on this further, there were entire sections of roughly 30 seconds where I legitimately did not know where a character was, who was fighting, or what was happening. You might get .5 seconds to see a character turn and shoot, then it cuts to the character being shot at that will duck, then they will dash to a new place, and then it repeats but in a new location. Possibly? I’m not sure. But I think that’s what kept happening.

          My disdain for this movie comes from a completely forgettable plot and atrocious action. The cast is superb, but outside of Cruz, the characters are pretty one-note and the poor writing and terrible directing all work against what these talented actresses can bring to the table. If you want to skip this film, I’m more than happy to summarize it for you: All men are evil, and the people go pew pew a lot.

The Role That Won Robert Pattinson "The Batman"

    Gillipedia Official Rating: How many puns can you think of about having a Good Time during this film

      

    When speaking of formulaic approaches in Hollywood, typically you’re referring to the formulas of a story, like the meet cute rom-com. But you can extend the definition further to actors’ careers. There’s the idea of being “typecast” and how all your future roles are affected. But when I think of formulaic, what first comes to mind is a child star growing up and turning to more mature and adult content to break their mold. In the similar vein of breaking a mold, it’s not surprising to see a star from a popular franchise turn to producing or indie films after the limelight and financial success. Such is the case with Robert Pattinson. If you watch interviews with the guy, you can tell that he enjoys success but also really doesn’t want all the attention. He’s a kind of weird guy who doesn’t have life completely figured out—like making weird spaghetti concoctions that catches on fire because he put foil in a microwave… But I digress. After his turn as sparkly vampire Edward from Twilight, Pattinson made every effort to move on from that franchise by taking on challenging roles in obscure films. And to be perfectly honest, if the intention is to showcase an acting ability that appeared lost from the infamous saga, I think he has succeeded to an incredible degree. He recently returned to more blockbuster status in a great performance in Tenet, but he spent the last half decade in films like The Lost City of Z, Damsel, and The Lighthouse. All of those I’m sure attributed to the process as well, but The Batman director Matt Reeves has already spoken about wanting Pattinson to play the Dark Knight after seeing him in Good Time.

          Good Time is the film the Safdie brothers did before the anxiety-inducing and highly regarded Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler. You can expect more of that freneticism, deeply flawed characters, and anxiety from this film. We start off with one of the Safdie brothers playing Nick who is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. He’s in a session with a psychiatrist trying to diagnose him when Pattinson’s character Connie, who is also Nick’s brother, interrupts and takes him out. Immediately, there’s a sense of Connie wanting to do right by his brother, but he also makes some remarks about not needing Nick to be there in the first place and putting into question if Connie knows what’s really best.

          This is followed up by the scene that really puts the story into motion. The brothers go into a bank disguised and calmly demand the teller hand them money. They pull it off and make their escape with a driver, but the bag is set off by a dye pack and causes the car to crash. This forces the brothers to make their escape on foot. Eventually, Nick falls behind and is captured by the authorities while Connie gets away. The rest of the movie takes place during that same day and night as Connie frantically tries different ways to figure out how to bail out his brother or sneak him out of a hospital.

          There’s a classic trick used in action films that I’ll refer to as good news, bad news. A problem is presented, and the good news is that the character has the solution, but the bad news is that solution has created a new problem, and so on. It creates tension and manufactures new obstacles that our protagonist has to overcome on the fly. Good Time elongates this concept into the length of the film. It reminds me of how the tagline for Joker was all about how one bad day can change a man; this is more like how one bad decision can completely derail a situation. Connie goes to his crazy lady friend played by Jennifer Jason Leigh to help out with bond money for his brother, but her mom’s credit card gets declined. When he comes back later, he learns that his brother has been moved to a hospital due to a fight that broke out and left him injured. Good news is that he finds the hospital, bad news is that it’s guarded by police. He finds a way to break his brother out, but now he needs to find a ride somewhere. And after that another problem arises, and it continues.

          This is a terrific performance from Pattinson. In nearly every situation, he requires the aid of someone else to help him out. He charms his way into the conversation, and then it’s a small ask at first. Once they start pushing back, he pleads to his dire situation and how it’s only a small favor that he needs. They relent, and he continues to ask for more and more. It’s that charming persona that holds those underlying manipulative qualities of a desperate man. Connie is a really interesting character, and Pattinson plays it perfectly. He interacts with other highlight characters like Ray who just got out of prison but immediately goes back to his habits of selling drugs because that’s all he knows. He tells a story during the film that reminded me of Michael Pena during Ant-Man. Ray is played by Buddy Duress who appeared in the Safdie brothers’ previous film and then went to prison soon afterward, so it’s interesting to draw that parallel. Pattinson also has a run-in with Barkhad Abdi who you probably know as the guy from Captain Phillips who tells Tom Hanks, “Look at me, I am the captain now.”

          Now as you’re most likely aware, Connie isn’t a great guy. At first you think he has this love and bond for his brother, but it’s not as simple as that. All of his interactions play out with relatively similar results, but it follows through with the gritty reality this film shows. There’s some heavy synth in the score, and I think it works, but I also hold some mixed feelings about. The cinematography, however, is quite intimate. Like in that opening scene where Connie pulls Nick out of his meeting, Connie holds him close and reassures Nick in the elevator. The camera is up brutally close to the two, bringing the audience into this world while providing no room to breathe either—something that will continue throughout the film.

          I wasn’t a huge fan of Uncut Gems largely due to how unappealing Sandler’s character remained and a very dark ending. Now don’t go expecting a happy time in Good Time, but I really think the Safdie brothers nailed the vibe of this film, and I thoroughly enjoyed the quick pacing. There’s some underlying heavier things and this isn’t a casual watch, but this is a well-acted film with a dark tone that is a finished product through and through. With the PG-13 rating, I don’t think The Batman will ultimately draw too much from this film, but if you are still somehow someone that hasn’t put Pattinson past his Twilight days, then you should check this out and see his range as a performer. I think it might be leaving soon, but at the time of writing this review, you can still find Good Time on Netflix.

5 Favorite Films of 2021

 

            I’ll do the only thing I can. I’ll be honest. This wasn’t a strong year in film. 2020 lacked quantity for obvious reasons, but there were some standout films like The Invisible Man before the pandemic and Tenet giving the industry the middle finger ~in reverse~ by releasing in theaters because that’s the way it was meant to be seen. Some of the films on this list were slated for a 2020 release—one of them literally about to release in a week before being delayed. And by the same metric, there are films delayed to 2022 that should also be exciting.

          But we did still get some critical darlings and blockbusters. I was looking back through and was shocked by how many films I had watched over the course of this year. I came in with varying degrees of hype for many films, and I would’ve loved to show off my cinematic prowess by touting some of the films I watched. Only, many ended up being rather mediocre if not slightly above average. Stillwater is most likely here with a better ending, and I can’t do The Green Knight because I’ve only watched half of it so far (started it on a plane, dang thing had to land halfway through).

          And that’s part of the criteria. In order to be eligible, I had to watch the movie. Although the quality of this blog may have you second guessing, I am in fact human and haven’t watched everything. Entertainment value is a huge judging point, but it’s also not the only aspect. I will also take into consideration the quality of the filmmaking. And lastly, the overall lasting impression the film made on me is how I developed this list. I’m happy to recommend plenty of films not on this list, but I think we still cover a nice range. Oh, and I don’t count if it was released in festivals months before—I’m talking about films that released in theaters in 2021 or streaming.

 

5. The Little Things

          First up was released in the typically dead month of January. It only received a decent reception despite the star-studded trio of Denzel, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. I was happy to see Leto get a Golden Globe nomination with his scene-stealing performance, but both Denzel and Rami are just as amazing.

          The story is dark and will have you guessing up until the end. It isn’t executed to perfection, which is why it lands at #5, but it does the gritty crime thriller well. Also, I feel bad for the director. His name is literally just John Hancock.

 

4. Dune

          Now this was probably the film I was most excited for all year knowing it was from Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Sicario director Denis Villeneuve. And it lived up to the hype for the most part. The combination of practical and visual effects is a feast, and it’s the rare blockbuster that feels thoughtfully crafted and not just a money-grabber.

          I’ll keep it short since you can read my full review, but there’s a slight hint of pretention from the film that keeps this from being movie of the year or anything. But it should absolutely win awards for sound and visuals. Part 2 can’t come soon enough.

 

3. Fatherhood

          This Netflix film probably isn’t on too many people’s lists. Earlier this year I listened to the Audible version of Kevin Hart’s I Can’t Make This Up. It chronicles his story and hard work he put in to become the star he is today, and he narrates the audio version which I imagine makes it a better listen than the book.

          Anyway, one point he stresses is how despite his start as a stand-up comedian, he is trying to branch out. And this is even more evident by his recent series True Story. But to his credit, he can’t hide behind himself (literally, no one can hide behind shortie) and doesn’t try to. So you do get this drama of a young man who loses his wife after the birth of his daughter and has to attempt to grow up as a parent real fast, but you also get comedic moments of Hart figuring life out.

          There’s probably some bias in here as fatherhood is something I aspire to someday. But you don’t have to be like me to me appreciate the story of a single father that really isn’t highlighted in society very often. This isn’t a masterpiece, but it has enough heart (no Hart puns here) to warrant its place.

 

Runner Up: A Quiet Place Part 2

          I had to wait an entire year of delays to see this in theaters, but it was the right move given the time, and I am truly appreciative of it releasing when it did. With his character out of the picture, John Krasinski was able to focus on directing duties for this follow up to one of the best horror films ever made, and it put Emily Blunt and the daughter in more starring roles. It also cleverly inserts the wonderful Cillian Murphy, and Djimon Hounsou yet again graces the screen in a part too small for his talents.

          This gets the runner up spot quite simply for the brilliant opening 5 minutes. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the original, but it literally checks all the boxes of what a sequel needs to do—expanding in scope, more lore behind the creatures, and more of the great action. It’s too short of a runtime, and Krasinski has stated that he will most likely hand off the writing and directing duties to someone else for Part 3 which worries me, but I am absolutely still looking forward to more from this franchise.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

          I distinctly remember how forgettable the original Justice League was. It wasn’t like awful like many DCEU critics like to paint all the films as, but the 2-hour runtime was such a flawed concept to begin with. It’s still not the strongest of stories, but I was surprised by how much more layered the main villain as well as our heroes became with the addition of Snyder’s super 4 hour cut. Yes, this film is a massive undertaking. But it’s split nicely into 6 parts, and I found splitting it up into 2 sittings to be quite pleasant. I did not have high hopes going into the whole idea of returning to this film, but it’s here because I was happy to see Zack Snyder prove his vision to the world.

 

King Richard

          This isn’t film of the year, but it absolutely is well done. Will Smith shines, and it adds a level of appreciation to the Williams sisters that I didn’t know I needed. As far as dramas go that are suitable for most of the family to watch, I absolutely can recommend this film.

 

Spider-Man: No Way Home

          Maybe I’m becoming cynical, but the ideas presented in this film don’t get me as excited as they would have maybe 6 years ago. And it’s difficult to see how Dune was shot, and then notice the green screen usage in this film.

          But let’s be real: this film is so much fun. They genuinely pulled off this Marvel-Sony merge of multiple franchises. This is a top-tier MCU film.

 

Un-honarable Mentions:

Quick aside: I’m sure there are way worse films than these. But I don’t always go out of my way to go watch bad films. And in particular, these films are here more for the fact that they underdelivered on the quality I was expecting.

 

Nomadland

          This film is the reason I haven’t seen Eternals yet. I hated this movie. Even more so for how much praise and awards it received. There’s some amazing landscape shots, sure, but the underlying story (there’s hardly any) falls flat. I understand some of the intentions, but it feels like entertainment value was sacrificed in its name. But hey, if you want to see Frances McDormand have diarrhea, blow her nose, take a piss, and a bunch more, by all means have at it with this one.

 

Cry Macho

          Clint Eastwood has treated me right so many times in the past. Even The Mule felt like a solid swan song for the guy. His old age actually fit the character he played there. Here, it makes no sense. And he feels reallllly old in Cry Macho. The film is kind of like Cars except with Mexican cockfighters and a hunched Eastwood. You can skip it.

 

The Matrix Resurrections

          Hot off the John Wick trilogy, someone decided Keanu needed to return to The Matrix. For those that watched the sequels (been years since I’ve watched them), both him and Carrie-Anne Moss’s Trinity die at the end of Revolutions. And they acknowledge that here in this film. Without really providing an explanation, more like, they question how it happened and then move on. There’s some fun meta talk of unnecessary sequels and reboots and the same stories being told with new faces, but that quickly turns into exactly what this film is. Like I can say oh don’t worry, it would be cheap of me to leave this blog post on a cliffhanger by not actually revealing my film of the year; but if I go ahead and not put my film of the year in here, it’s still extremely unsatisfying despite me addressing it first. This isn’t court where you bring out the incriminating evidence on your end so the other side can’t control the narrative.

          Everything feels dated. And since they have to spend a huge chunk of the beginning setting up the purpose of this reboot, that takes away from the action that everyone is coming to watch. And to be honest, there’s some real stunts that I did appreciate, but the action wasn’t even that great. And some of the physics still felt janky. It also ends with leaving a door open for more, and I really hope that’s not the case. This film was unnecessary, and by the box office numbers, it looks like they will probably stop at this one thankfully.

 

Film of the Year: Minari

          When I look through everything I watched in 2021, Minari is the best film. It tells an important story of Steven Yeun’s family trying to make life work in 1980s Arkansas despite them being a Korean family. There is some English here, but expect to be primarily reading subtitles; hopefully, if Squid Game is any indication, subtitles won’t drive people away. Also, if you watched the dubbed version of Squid Game, shame on you.

          Again, this film won’t be on my list of favorite films of all time, but it’s incredibly acted, really showcases the narrative in a grounded way, and you end up walking away feeling accomplished for watching a poignant film. I will happily recommend this film to anyone.

 

Bonus: The Best Stuff I Saw Not Released In 2021

The Farewell

          This little bonus section is films I saw for the first time in the year 2021 but were released in a previous year. And as it happens, both of these are foreign language films. Although The Farewell does mix English in as well as Awkwafina’s family goes to China to say goodbye to grandma without telling her that she’s dying so as to not upset her.

          It’s a somewhat quirky, real-life based story with emotional undertones and plays out really well. There aren’t many films like this, and it comes with a whole lot of heart and humor along the way. It’s a unique film, and you can watch it on Prime.

 

The Intouchables

          This was one of the best films I’ve seen in recent memory. Omar Sy kills it. This French film is downright hilarious, and the impactful story between a rich quadriplegic and his poor, ex-con caretaker is some of the best writing. I loved this film and highly recommend checking it out. It might also be on Prime.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: A Spoiler-Free Review (and then clearly marked spoilers afterward)

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Fan service, but like, actually good

          Let’s lay the ground rules. Everyone already knows that Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, and Jamie Foxx are reprising their respective roles as Doc Ock, Green Goblin, and Electro across the previous 2 franchises. This of course marks the seemingly unlikely pairing between Marvel and Sony, and it also raised countless questions as to who else could possibly show up. I won’t even hint at anything in this first portion of the review of what else to possibly expect, so read on worry-free. But if you are worried about spoilers, you should also probably avoid lots of social media since memes and companies are always trying to be the first to grab attention with these sorts of things.

          I’d like to start this off just with some gratefulness. I have always been a huge Spider-Man fan, particularly from the 90s cartoon that to this day still has the best iteration of how Spider-Man behaves. We started this trilogy with Homecoming with Iron Man playing a large role in one of my favorite MCU films, and we followed it up with not quite as good but still fun Far From Home with an excellent performance from Jake Gylenhaal as Mysterio. We’re spoiled in how much Benedict Cumberbatch plays a role in this latest film as Dr. Strange, and that’s not at all the big news anybody is talking about. The crossovers are commonplace now and have shown how they usually work pretty well even when stuffing films full of characters like the Avengers films. I believe it’s been a well-crafted plan from MCU, and those executives deserve a bunch of credit because everything has fallen into place so well. When you have a large quantity of films dedicated to your heroes, that allows them to also set up the later films where they team up because now you don’t have to lay as much groundwork on who these characters are. I’m someone that enjoys Spider-Man 3 more than the average person, but I can still recognize how it was overly ambitious in needing to dedicate so much time to exposition for all its different villains. And No Way Home has even more villains plus Dr. Strange; however, everyone already knows these villains and the actors that played them, so you don’t have to go back through their origins.

          Let’s recall what we know story wise from the trailer. The end of Far From Home shook things up by revealing Peter Parker’s identity to the world. Now as he scrambles to adjust to a life of fame and how that affects himself and his loved ones, Parker turns to Dr. Strange to find a spell that will make the world forget who he is. In a kind of silly sequence, Strange takes little convincing to begin the spell, but Parker starts realizing that he still wants his loved ones to remember who he is and pesters Strange to tamper with the spell. Things go awry, and instead of the spell working, a dimensional shift of sorts occurs that starts bringing the villains from the multiverse into theirs.

          This of course is where the villains from the past franchises comes into play. I’m going to stop talking about the story from this point, but just know that things from here actually play well. This film could’ve easily failed, but the integration of the other franchises works thematically, fits the story, and is honestly loads of fun. This has always been one of the more light-hearted franchises with the 80s high school feel from the first two films and now here the main characters trying to get into college, but this film also works in some more serious stuff and allows a nice change-of-pace—especially since I have been feeling a lot of fatigue from the Marvel formula.

          Okay, time for the small gripes. The film has its quips at the beginning of the film, but they feel like the generic humor that Marvel has relied on too much, and it’s not particularly funny. Also, I have recently gone back in the last couple of months and have watched films from the 3 Mexican directors that have revolutionized cinema: Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Innaritu, and Alfonso Cuaron. And after you watch someone like Emmanuel Lubezki with his cinematography and use of natural light and real settings, it’s hard not to notice the harsh artificial light incorporated into pretty simple scenes that still feel the need to use a green screen background. Also, one thing The Amazing Spider-Man films did so well was Spidey web-slinging around. Or even take web-slinging from the videogames, the newest PlayStation games in particular. Those feel so dynamic and fluid, and there sadly are definitely moments in this film that have that rubber feel—animations where you don’t feel the weight of something.

          I saw this film in IMAX, and the Dr. Strange sequences are enough alone for the price of admission. And despite feeling like Jacob Batalon gave zero effort in that new car commercial, his character Ned is fun again in this film. Tom Holland has always been a great Spider-Man, and he feels a bit too clueless about his surroundings at times, but he and Zendaya and Marisa Tomei are all great fun to watch. And to round out this part of the review, it’s fun to see Molina back in form, and it definitely feels like they basically asked Jamie Foxx what he would like to different this time around, and then did exactly that. And having not gone back to the previous franchises in awhile, I was pleasantly surprised by how powerful an actor Willem Dafoe still is; he is old and needed a bit of aid from CGI, but he is back in form as Green Goblin.

          If you’re a fan of the Marvel films, then this is a must-watch. It’s still too fresh on my mind to give a rating of where this stacks up in the MCU, but I really enjoyed watching the film and highly recommend it. Okay, from this point on, now we get into spoiler territory.

 

**Spoilers beyond this point**

 

          I’m going to assume people reading this portion have either already seen this film or have no desire to see the film and don’t mind me giving everything away. Because they start quick with putting Daredevil in the film. And honestly, as soon as I saw that, I basically knew for a fact that we were getting Tobey and Andrew.

          I think the premise of Parker’s mistake and now needing to round up all the villains works as a premise. But it works for one particular reason. And that is the fact that his mistake came out of a true case of selflessness. He didn’t want people to forget who he was because he was caving under the pressure of the fame Tony Stark relished in; no, his girlfriend and best friend couldn’t get into college as a direct result of their association to him. It’s this guilt that he feels that also drives the point home of listening to Aunt May about doing the right thing and actually trying to help the villains instead of letting them simply return to their doomed fates.

          And the triumphant return of the Emperor Palpatine lego works well too because of the comparisons you can make to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. That film sucks. It’s fan service in the name of fan service, and none of it works. Whereas, if you described No Way Home to someone, you could mistake it for sounding like fanfiction. But as previously mentioned, it’s integrated in the best way. They gave Tobey and Andrew significant screentime. I think the start of the film suffers slightly from lackluster writing, and there’s only the brief Daredevil appearance to wet the whistles of the diehards until the real action begins. But when the Spider-Men do come in, I love it. They even do the meme of them pointing at each other and pay clever homage to their respective franchises.

          Tobey is in his 40s and has been doing way more producing than he has been acting. And the Spidey suit is a bit tight, but he plays the fatherly figure well. And I even loved that he gave one line of him and MJ making it work; we don’t need extensive detail, but it’s enough to even make up for cancelling Spider-Man 4. Now the real bright light here is with Andrew. The dude is almost 40 at this point, so first off credit to him for looking -ahem- amazing. But he pulls off the banter with the others well and even gets to play off the fact that his version as well as his films are the least well regarded. And the face he makes when he saves Zendaya at the end is enough to melt any heart, it’s an honestly touching moment.

          Other small gripes. The Lizard looks terrible. It doesn’t look realistic, but it also doesn’t look cartoony. It’s the kind of look that would’ve happened and then been made fun of in The Suicide Squad. And Rhys Ifans doesn't look great either. The final fight uses the 3 Spideys well despite no regard for destruction, but it’s also close to impossible to differentiate which one is doing what at points. Holland is also basically invincible. The amount of concrete slabs he's smacked through would make the NFL concussion protocol shutter. He literally dedicates a line to thinking aloud how he broke some ribs, and that's the last that is ever mentioned.

          But like I said, the film plays strengths really well. Electro is cooler and more imposing (I need to rewatch his film though because I think he gets a bad rap), Molina has a nice redemption arc, Green Goblin is still imposing in the same way as before, they make a joke about the terrible Rhino from the Amazing franchise (sorry Giamitti), and Sandman is rightfully motivated by just wanting to return to his daughter.

          This is a complete film that breaks Marvel molds enough with actions like killing Aunt May, and having the 2 older Spideys mentor Holland works because he is genuinely the youngest and hasn’t been exposed to the world as much as they have (despite his true remarks of fighting aliens in space). It also performs its role of setting up more of the MCU with some multiverse madness for Strange to handle; the trailer at the very end looked a lot like the What if…? episode, and I am curious as to what to expect. I’m also confused by the mid credits scene. It feels cheap to tease Tom Hardy entering the MCU from the Let There Be Carnage mid credits scene, only to suggest that he will continue his own universe while allowing it to set up Venom in the MCU.

          I think Marvel has been clever with what they have revealed, and without any knowledge of what happens in comics, it also feels like they’re making sure they don’t follow exacts from those so as to keep everyone on their toes. You can be upset with the likes of Scorcese saying these films aren’t real cinema, and I agree with him to the extent that I’m fatigued by their formula and with the CGI action. I even also enjoy DC films more than others, and think they’re back in a better direction with a darker alternative to what Marvel does. But I’ve also still grown up with these superheroes and thoroughly enjoy watching the films and seeing where they will end up next. They’re on an interesting trajectory to move forward from Thanos, and their miniseries on Disney+ have been mostly successful as well. I’m still a little shocked that they were able to pull this film off, and this has easily been one of the more enjoyable experiences at the theaters this year.

James McAvoy in My Son

Gillipedia Official Rating: Good, but in a Scottish accent

          Here’s a sentence most self-respecting people probably aren’t proclaiming: I watched a movie streaming exclusively on Peacock. To my credit, it’s the free version where they play 2 minutes of ads first and then you’re good to go, not paying for that premium version (although that is the way to watch the new Psych movie). Recommended to me by a friend, the film is one that I highly doubt many people have heard of. I’m talking about My Son starring James McAvoy and Claire Foy.

          On the surface this is a pretty simple film. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, we aren’t given any background and are thrust straight into the thick of the premise. We’re in a beautiful, mountainous region of Scotland (where McAvoy is originally from, so it’s his real accent he’s using I presume), and McAvoy receives word from his ex-wife Foy that their young son has gone missing. The rest of the film follows McAvoy around as he tries to uncover the mystery of what has happened and of course to find his boy before it’s too late.

          As you may imagine with the short runtime, there aren’t going to be too many clues and red herrings here; it’s a mostly straightforward mystery. The real kicker to the film is how the film itself was shot. The idea here is that McAvoy was never given the script to the film, only a glancing overview of the plot. What that means is that as we the audience watch the movie, we uncover the mystery at the same time as McAvoy does, so his reactions to everything are completely genuine. This is the kind of idea that I love and absolutely drew me into wanting to watch how this all played out. The resulting thriller honestly comes slightly mixed.

          I have to point out McAvoy’s performance. I feel like everyone realized how talented he is after he did Split, but he is by and large the best part of this film. Foy plays her part well, but so much of the focus is on McAvoy, and he nails it. There is one moment that did feel a bit improvised in a mistaken way, but tiny gripe. There’s a moment about 30 minutes in that calls back to Tom Hanks at the end of Captain Phillips—those moments of acting that just stick with you in how powerful they were. McAvoy achieved that. With how little attention and the mixed reviews the film received, it appears highly unlikely, but I’d like to put my two cents in and say that McAvoy needs to get a Best Actor nod for this film.

          The other side of this is the limitations. As I mentioned earlier, the mystery isn’t very complex. And it can’t be either. When your lead actor doesn’t have a script, you’re not going to throw a bunch of subplots that have no relevance into the mix. So when you get to the climax and realize that the scene you’re watching is the conclusion of the film, it leaves you feeling a bit like, “Oh, that’s it?” Because they figure something out, pretty easily get the clue, and the clue leads them directly to where they need to go.

          As a showcasing of McAvoy’s talents, the film strikes gold. As a mystery thriller, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. And as a tourism attraction piece to Scotland, it’s absolutely brilliant—minus the whole boy going missing part of the story of course. But really, there are some great landscape shots here; however, it is also worth noting that the score doesn’t always match up. Like this is a serious film with a dark premise, and the score is pretty light-hearted. On one hand you can think of it as a way to alleviate some tension? Maybe? Like this isn’t the super dark film the way the brilliant Prisoners is, but the music isn’t very fitting overall.

          Ultimately, you can create an account for Peacock for free, and that in itself absolutely makes this film worth recommending. It provides you with a unique setting, some terrific acting, and an enjoyable watch for a film that most people have never even heard of. And hey, you don’t have to use that pink fleshy thing inside your head very much to figure this movie out, but that might be what you’re in the mood for anyways. Oh, Peacock is also where The Office is now streaming if that also helps.

 

In Brief:

• I recently flew out to Denver for a friend’s wedding, and I was able to catch a couple films during the long flights. No Man of God takes place primarily in one room as Elijah Wood plays a rookie FBI agent that develops a strange relationship with serial killer Theodore Bundy. Interesting film, good acting, nothing ground-breaking. Also watched Stillwater with Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin. I only knew a tiny bit about the film but was curious to see Damon’s performance. What I didn’t realize is that despite the title of the film, the vast majority of this film takes place in France. The main focus sways from figuring out how to free his innocent daughter from jail to a relationship he develops with a French theater woman and her young daughter, and that part of the story has a whole lot of heart. And then it comes crashing down with a sobering ending that may seem to fit real life more than Hollywood, but heck n holler, rooty tooty, butter my biscuit cuz I ain’t satisfied by the way this roughneck film ends. It takes away from so much of the film and won’t satisfy you.
• I watched Red Notice on Netflix with The Rock, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. Despite high production values, I see why this film didn’t go for theaters. It double-crosses itself too many times, and only really redeems itself somewhat with Reynold’s mostly funny banter. Not a great film.
• What was much better was Daniel Craig’s conclusion as James Bond in No Time to Die. I enjoyed that the concept of time was heavily featured—hence the title. But not in a trippy Christopher Nolan way; no, more like an aging character finally ready to move on from his 007 life kind of way. There’s some touching moments, and Ana de Armas is criminally underused. The action is great again with solid directing and editing that doesn’t cut away from the action every frame. Not as good as Skyfall, but a big improvement over Spectre.

Dune by Denis and Dune by David

By Denis

Gillipedia Official Rating: 6.5/10. But in the year 10191 with inflation it’s more like 8/10.

          There are some films you just know no matter what is said about it, you are going to watch. Dune fits that bill for me. A star-studded cast for a film based on the Frank Herbert book that I listened to (very confusing to listen to the audiobook), the main draw for me was in director Denis Villeneuve. Mostly known for critical and public success from Arrival, he’s also the director of some of my favorite films in Prisoners, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049. And if Tenet was Christopher Nolan’s most Nolanesque film to mostly successful results, the same is true of Dune. I do have a fair share of critiques and its slower pace might turn off some moviegoers looking for huge blockbuster thrills from this visual feast, but it is ultimately a very good film.

          The first thing to note is one of the very first things you’re told about this film. This is in fact Dune Part One. The lack of marketing advertising this is frustrating, and that frustration is compounded by the fact that this is clearly a story that doesn’t get finished in its entirety and aptly needs the Part One in the title. It also features a 2hr 35min runtime. For part one. Now as someone who only understood very little of the audiobook and also subsequently watched (and will review) the David Lynch adaptation and thus knows the story, honestly… part one is pretty necessary. Like I truly believe you could make a 3-hour competent version that completes the story. But this isn’t a money-grabbing part one. This isn’t a 300-page book inexplicably split into a trilogy of 2 ½ hour films (looking at you The Hobbit). This is a complicated interplanetary story with confusing names and places and requires time to get through. Sometimes Dune takes too much time, but I have made peace that a true adaptation of Dune needs multiple parts. You can make the argument of a mini-series in an era trending toward just that; however, Denis dutifully utilizes the full visual and audio experience of a movie theater. I could’ve watched this movie for free on HBO Max, but I watched it in a theater and have approximately 0 regret over that decision.

          For the plebs who don’t know what Dune is, it’s a sci-fi story that takes place somewhere beyond the year 10,000. Our protagonist Paul played by Timothee Chalamet belongs to House Atreides from the planet Caladan (no way in heck did I remember these names, you bet I had to look all these up again). He dreams about Zendaya, and is sent to the desert planet Arrakis, better known as Dune. His family is sent on a mission by the emperor to assist in the production of spice mined from Dune’s deserts and is the only place in the universe with the dusty goodness. This spice both acts as a hallucinogen as well as the power behind interplanetary travel—thus making it the most desirable resource. Paul’s father is the Duke and played by Poe from Star Wars Oscar Isaac. He has an impressive filmography, but let’s keep things simple with actor’s most known works. Paul’s mom is Lady Jessica, played by Mission: Impossible filmrunner Rebecca Ferguson. There’s like a bald Reverend Mother that schooled Jessica in the Bene Gesserit, and they taught her how to use “The voice.” Jessica is able to vary her tone to command anyone to do her bidding, and she is in the process of teaching this power to Paul. There’s also the albino Harkonnens who play our baddies. They don’t have great motivations besides being power-hungry, and House Atreides stands in their way of these goals. To be fair Atreides also wants more power but in a more heroic way. Knowing that they’re at a disadvantage, they send a skilled pilot Duncan Idaho played by Aquaman Jason Momoa to learn about the Fremen, the desert people of Arrakis. Duncan comes back all hopeful that the Fremen are key to Dune and defeating the Harkonnen, but they aren’t sure on how quite yet. And from there conflicts happen and you get the idea.

          Did all that make sense? Need a recap? I just wrote it, and I’m still confused on the names. Let’s let your minds rest a bit and talk about the acting. Overall, on every front, Dune is a well-executed movie, but it comes across just a tad bit pretentious. And blame should be spread throughout. Characters take long pauses between lines, shots linger just a little long either on characters’ expressions or on wide shots, and shots I could’ve sworn were slowed down for dramatic effect for the trailers appear as is in the final film. Timothee Chalamet is the epitome of this. He’s a really great, rising star. But I mean, just take a look at him and you feel like he’s snubbing you just a bit. Ferguson is really talented, and she has the second-biggest role. I’m very pleased with how much material she’s given, and she is a dynamic character. But there’s a little pretention from her as well. If you watched the trailer, you saw half of Zendaya’s screentime. Also, the spice has turned the Fremen’s eyes blue. But not like they’re wearing blue contacts; no, the eyes are full-on blue and I think it was CGI and didn’t feel quite natural enough for me. But yeah, Zendaya had nothing to do here. Momoa is good, but much of the film is spent with him clean-shaven, and I am not a fan of that at all. Stellan Skarsgard (from Thor and Avengers) is unrecognizable as our main baddie the Baron Harkonnen. He is gross and repelling and his character is great. He has a similar vibe to that of Snoke from Star Wars, but where Snoke felt like an empty, CGI vessel, the Baron feels real and menacing and is not anything you’ve seen before.

-deep breath- Now we get to the more bit roles.

          Josh Brolin plays Gurney and helps train Paul to fight. They have these shields that provide a forcefield around the person. I think this is some great CGI use. It’s simple because it’s really more of an aura around the characters, but the design is so effective. First, it’s not distracting and allows the choreography of the fights to come through. Second, the color system is an easy concept for the audience to grasp. If you flail your weapon and hit the shield of the person without breaking it, you see the blue aura glow. If you break through the barrier, the shield turns red. With many complicated sci-fi concepts, the simple execution here really helps what action we get shine.

          Dave Bautista plays one of the Harkonnens, and it’s his worst performance. He overacts and sounds too close to his Drax character which takes away from the shock he’s supposed to instill when his character yells. It’s also personally disappointing since he plays a subtle, excellent bit role at the beginning of Blade Runner 2049 with the same director Denis. You probably don’t know the name David Dastmalchian, but you can’t forget his face if you’ve seen him in anything. I know him from his tiny villainous role in The Dark Knight, but he has collaborated with Denis before and now is best known for his recent work as Polka Dot Man in The Suicide Squad. I don’t have much to say on his small role here, I’m mostly just trying to show off my Gillipedia knowledge. He doesn’t show up until late, but Javier Bardem is also here, and I look forward to his character for the sequel.

          My goodness I feel like this review is ballooning in length and there’s still much to get through… Am I purposefully drawing parallels to the film? Am I taking up more space intentionally or has my freeform thinking expressed itself onto the page? Am I simply reaching a mandatory word count for my producers?

          So the film is long, story can be confusing, and it’s a little pretentious on all fronts. Not convinced to see it yet? I still maintain that Blade Runner 2049 is the best use of visual effects and futuristic technology of any film, but Dune follows in its footsteps. Having seen all Marvel films and becoming desensitized to the general overuse of green screen and CGI, Dune feels so refreshing. There are plenty of visuals, but they’re integrated so well. You never at any point feel like you’re looking at a green screen, and I truly can’t tell sometimes when something is a practical effect or CGI. I also wonder if any miniatures were used because some Nolan techniques for the likes of The Dark Knight and Interstellar feel similar to Dune—and that’s not a complaint in the slightest. There’s organic camera movement, great lighting which is a game-changer in making practical and visual effects blend seamlessly, and an impressive scale. This is a huge story with these massive nations clashing. And you truly get a feel that there’s an interplanetary war, and it’s this scale that really adds to the cinematic experience. Also, the sand worms are awesome. Think about the first episode of season 2 in The Mandalorian. Also also, even the explosions feel more cinematic and upgraded somehow.

          You may have overlooked it, but I made sure to point out that I saw the film in theaters for both the visual and audio experience. You may have a large 8K UHD HDMI TV, but you don’t have the sound system of a theater. And it makes a difference. Sound design is impeccable and will most likely be up for an Oscar, and the amazing Hans Zimmer scores this film. The Fremen have a very Middle Eastern, Arabic feel, and I think Zimmer captures this really well in some of the score.

          Sometimes the film drags, and it’s hard to remain focused. The film doesn’t hand-hold you with exposition, but it’s also hard to follow along at all points. There isn’t a tremendous amount of action, but that’s not what the story or film is. Just realize that going in. It’s always hard to tell the performance of a film with streaming, but with a $40 million opening knowing that it’s also streaming on HBO Max, it does give me hope that this film is successful enough to receive funding for future projects. And it is a great film and worthy of sequels. There’s story arcs and developments, and despite an obviously incomplete story at large, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I think we deserved a post-credit scene, but ah well. If you have the time to see this more philosophical film, treat yourself to a truly cinematic experience at the theater.

 

By David

Gillipedia Official Rating: Big Brother is not pleased

          David Lynch found success in Eraserhead and The Elephant Man. And if you’ve seen Twin Peaks or his 40-minute nightmare fuel Rabbits (available on YouTube), you understand that Lynch has a style. He’s experienced, and his refusal to follow trends or tell a logical story almost seems to fit in well with the lore of Dune. His 1984 version even has cult status among groups. Many will tell you that the film is a failure both critically and commercially due to the oft-blamed studio interference that obstructed his vision and demanded a shorter runtime. I’m here to tell you that this is just a bad film.

          Whereas Denis’s Dune feels like in lesser hands could’ve been a B-sci-fi film, David’s Dune is exactly that. The sand worms are also actually impressive, and they do what they can with the limitations of the technology, but there’s also enough wrong to wring out chuckles from me for the silliness or poor effects. Like the shields that I previously praised literally looks like a prototype for Roblox or Minecraft. Literal rectangles surround the characters and these blocky bubbles obscure any kind of action. Luckily, it’s not used heavily. Strangely, it’s not used heavily. As in it’s used while training Paul just like Denis’s version, but that’s the last use of it despite its obvious advantages in combat—the climax in particular.

          This film is over 2 hours, but it’s still shorter and goes through the complete story. I was expecting less time to be spent in the first half. But really, with all the exposition to get through, so much time is spent in the first half that once we reach the point where Denis’s ends, it feels like we switch over to the highlight reel. There’s obviously so much content that is cut, but some scene changes make zero sense, some scenes have little to no impact and are way too long, and this film somehow feels even longer despite the shorter length. Not to try to spoil the obvious, but Paul and Zendaya’s character fall in love. In this version they meet, something else unrelated happens, and then I swear the next scene they start making out. There was no motivation or development. And rather than being an outlier, this is more of a common theme with this film.

          The film starts out with a space lady explaining the story and setting and plot. Then we even get a visual of the places and the confusing names. It’s way more simple, but I actually kinda appreciated it, and the tone felt more aligned with what little I recall from the audiobook. Then we reach Caladan and see the troops of the emperor dressed in garbage bags. I thought I was being harsh when I had that thought while watching, but it turns out I wasn’t far off and wasn’t harsh enough. Apparently, they were body bags from an abandoned fire station. To make things way creepier and gross, these were, let’s say, already lightly used body bags. These costumes of course stand out, but some are actually pretty good and the production design also is reminiscent of even some old films like Cleopatra where so much budget was consumed by costume and set design. Jessica’s hair reminded me of a serpent. But in a good way, you know?

          The Harkonnens look like the incest version of the Weasleys in Harry Potter. The Baron is super gross, but it’s more of a just ew why do I have to see this kind of way and not as menacing. For the second half of the film, he’s really just a fat, ugly man in a flying onesie. Oh, and Sting is also here and wears a sexy thong at one point. The Harkonnens are terrible in general. They are the definition of a maniacal laugh. They are evil because they’re supposed to be, and their cruelty also elicits cackling from themselves and constant smirking. You can’t convince me that that was a result of studio interference. David, do better.

          There’s limited cuts and camera movements, and the limitation of green screen also stagnates many scenes. It also makes the film feel like a play at times. And the actors don’t help with this; they overact in every scene, and the result is super cheesy. Mix in laughable green screen, and you sometimes have an enjoyable experience while watching. But it’s not bad enough to be a so bad it’s good film. The concept of Dune is too good to allow it to be terrible, but the execution fails in many areas. The star Kyle MacLachlan is actually pretty good. He later works with Lynch on Twin Peaks, and some people may know him in his humorous role as The Captain in How I Met Your Mother. OH. There’s also frikin Patrick Stewart. Did not see that coming. A young Linda Hunt also has a small role—I know her from NCIS: Los Angeles. And to top things off, Toto did the score.

          Some of the expositional elements help with understanding everything, but that could also be a result of me watching this film the day after watching Denis’s. One of the most annoying things is whispered inner narration that all characters have. I guess that might be part of the studio interference of needing a more intelligible story, but it happens the whole movie and inexplicably at times. It’s interesting to see how lines of dialogue are carried over and a general structure of some scenes, but this is not a film worth watching. In fact it only made me appreciate Denis’s execution that much more after seeing how bad this film was. Honestly, this would be a pretty scathing review if I also didn’t laugh at the cheesy moments. To finish things off, the film couldn’t end without getting me to chuckle one last time. The end credits start with the cast, but it shows a slightly transparent version of each actor over crashing waves, and it feels just like an In Memoriam.

 

In Brief:

• You can watch Disney’s Cruella for free on Disney+. I’m glad I didn’t pay for it, but as a fan of The Devil Wears Prada, I enjoyed this film. It felt like the familial twist is really forced, but I give it props for the effort. Emma Stone and Thompson are a joy.
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage is entertaining. Director Andy Serkis describes it as a love story, and it really does feel like it. It’s nice to see the sequel be kinda irreverent, but it can be a strange transition with the unhinged Carnage played by Woody Harrelson. Not excellent, but it’s really entertaining and pretty funny on occasion.
• I do take a look at a Rotten Tomatoes score for a film, but you can’t always trust it. Just a friendly reminder.