Over 3 years without a movie review. Grad school, a full-time job, and the crushing weight of mediocrity left me without the drive to write here for so long. Luckily, I am excited to be back to my passion, writing again. It is freeing to write, to practice, and to express myself just because it's what I love to do.
I hope to write more reviews here, especially since I'm seeing so many movies each month (shoutout A-list). But, if anyone comes here looking for movie reviews (Hi Mom!), I am publishing reviews with Frame Rated. It's a great community of film-loving writers. Check me out here: https://www.framerated.co.uk/author/robertenglish/ While it's tough to remember to write color as "colour," just having the chance to have people read my reviews for new releases is some of the most exciting work I've been able to do this Fall. Check back in January for reviews for The Holdovers and American Fiction and much more to come. Thank you all (Hi Mom!) for supporting me. I know all those who have supported me over the years aren't reading this, but I am still so glad to have had thoughtful, supprtive people in my corner.
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* Minor Spoilers Ahead I can't start this review without first noting that I am a huge Nolan Fanboy. I am extremely biased to his work, usually overlooking flaws to revel in his filmmaking. Tenet is a flawed movie, but I absolutely loved it! As with Nolan movies of the past, Tenet is a project wrapped in secrecy. The cast had to read the scripts in locked rooms and couldn't divulge the plot to anyone. While Hollywood has grown to romanticize this concept a little too much, making projects seem more important to others, I have to agree that this is a movie that deserves as little information known about it as possible. Much of the fun of the movie comes in discovering the plot as it unfolds and the countless hours of debate and questions that come after the movie. Tenet is an incredibly confusing movie. While the action happens, I almost wanted the movie to step back to let me process what just happened, but the film moves so quickly from each scene to the next without much time for viewers to digest what crazy thing just happened. It does not help that the dialogue is inaudible at times. I don't know if this is a product of viewing in Imax or not, but it's been a problem with each Nolan movie since Interstellar. The sound design is great and refreshing, but if I'm straining my ears to understand what the actors said on screen, that's a problem that should have been addressed. Another problem that should have been addressed is character development. Dunkirk had none, and Interstellar and Inception have little character beyond the protagonist of each film. It's a problem that should be addressed in rewrites before the film even enters production. There's a way to have a complex action plot with good character development, I just think Nolan rarely thinks about these routes. What Tenet lacks in character it more than makes up for in plot and action. This is where my bias comes in as a Nolan-film lover. Good scripts should have good plot and good character, but I give Nolan the slip because his plots are fun, inventive, and so fun to watch. And Tenet is one of the best stories he has crafted. The action is incredible. The effects are gorgeous. The acting by the main three characters are incredible and add to what is not on the page for each one. The third act of the film is bonkers for lack of a better word but so entertaining. Incredibly paced to have me on the edge of my seat. Tenet deserves to be seen on the big screen and I'm glad they waited until it was safer. It's sad to not see Hans Zimmer collab with Nolan for this film (though, I am excited to see what he created for No Time to Die and Dune). But, Holy Shit! Ludvig Goransson created a flawless score. The music is beautiful to listen to and adds so much to the atmosphere of this movie. Tenet isn't a perfect movie. A lot of the problems do lay in the script. Though, Tenet is one of the most fun movies I've seen. Definitely one of the best action movies made in the past few years, if not more. It deserves multiple rewatches and conversations to decipher the intricate plot and to enjoy the innovative action over and over again. I will continue to pay for Christopher Nolan movies until the day I die. I hope he continues to push new boundaries in filmmaking and continues to make some of the most visually exciting movies ever brought to the big screen. What would make it even better if he learns to write more complex characters. 9/10 It's been over a year and a half since Red Dead Redemption II was released by Rockstar, but it took me a while to find the time to commit to playing it. What better time than a quarantine to play through Arthur Morgan's journey? The next 36 hours that I would spend playing this game were some of my favorite times playing a video game I could remember. I have very fond memories of playing the first game over the course of a summer. The voice acting, the gameplay, the setting, the overall epic scale of the game were incredible. RDR2 improved upon every single category. The game takes place over a massive map that I wouldn't mind spending 5 minutes traversing to my next mission because it was just so beautiful to take in the sights and sounds of the American landscape the developers created. Climbing a mountain for treasure and looking over the trees was so relaxing, especially in a time when we're homebound. Not to mention how incredible the soundtrack to this video game is. I especially geeked out in the final mission when they brought back the theme from the first game. What really makes this game stand out beyond the fantastic graphics and gameplay is Arthur Morgan himself. Since this game is a prequel to the first one, you go in with the assumption that Arthur will die at some point in this game since he did not appear in the first game. However, nothing can prepare you for how sad it is once he does pass. If you fully commit to the game , playing as many side missions as you can, you really get to make Arthur your own, helping out ordinary citizens and earning Arthur the title of a "good man." You can spend the time going around killing everyone in the game if you like. But, I committed to earning him full honor as he progressed to doing the right thing more and more throughout the game. Once he passes his hat off to John Marston creating the full circle, I teared up for the first time ever playing a video game. No game had made me care more for a protagonist than RDR2 did. If you haven't played Red Dead Redemption 2 yet, I highly suggest you take the time to play this masterpiece of a game. You'll find yourself lost in this world for hours either trying to complete challenges or working along Arthur's journey, enjoying the company of this great man. The attention to detail is almost uncalled for how good it is. You won't regret this journey.
Thank you, Arthur, for making me feel so alive even while playing a video game. SPOILER FREE! You're welcome internet!
From the first teaser trailer, I was always a little skeptical about Onward, Pixar's first original film since Coco in 2017 (which is definitely in my top 5 Pixar movies of all time). Onward on the other hand, is lower tier Pixar. I'd place it in the bottom five with A Bug's Life and Cars 2 and 3. Don't get me wrong, Onward is still a good movie. But, from a company that consistently puts out bop after bop each year, I was expecting a lot more. Each original Pixar movie either has great humor with jokes that always land and/or a compelling emotional story that brings you to tears by the end. Onward's jokes just were not outrageously funny. Especially with such a unique world of fantasy turned 21st century, there was a lot more room for clever jokes that were never there. Fortunately, Onward picks up on the emotional aspect of the plot, just not in the same fashion that Coco or Inside Out did to me in the past. It took a little for me to get invested in the characters, but once I did, it set up for a very emotional third act. I had to shake the chills off my body, so that was a pleasant surprise from a movie that did not feel like it earned it for the first 45 minutes. The other thing that bugs me is that Onward had Pixar's parent company written all over it. This felt more like a Disney movie to me than the consistently better Pixar movies. The jokes were forced, the B plots not as convincing. Especially the whole announcement of the "first gay animated character" was a whole bummer. It's 2020. LGBT characters should be common place in movies. If you're going to have one scene featuring a gay character, don't pat yourselves on the back and announce it all over the internet like you're some huge ally. Also, I feel like making your "first gay" character a cop just is a bad move for decades of historical violence of cops against LGBT people. Feel like that shouldn't have been said. Despite Disney's obvious intervention in this film, Onward was an enjoyable ride. I'd much rather watch most Pixar movies in my free time. But, Onward has a great heartwarming story about two brothers at the core with great voice acting from Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. 7/10 A perfect movie overshadowed by a decade of bad press
The Social Network garnered so much attention and awards in 2010 for depicting the creation of the juggernaut that is Facebook. More than one of my film classes used it as an example of good film making techniques. And with good reason. The screenplay has such an incredible handle on structure and has some of the most iconic dialogue of the 21st century. The editing is perfect, weaving scenes from three different time periods so effortlessly. And the soundtrack adds to the mood with such an inventive theme (made by the dudes from Nine Inch Nails??). But, unfortunately, watching the movie in 2020 really adds so much more to this movie than director David Fincher could have ever imagined. Basically every month, Facebook is in the news and it's always bad news. Facebook has become the epitome of the dark side of social media. Fake news being spread like wildfire. Online bullying. Hate groups being able to spread information and recruit members easily without any obstructions. Online hate and lies leading to actual murder. That happens all over the world. Or just data-mining like crazy. Text your friend that you want some Ben and Jerry's and then two minutes later log into Facebook and an ad for Americone Dream pops up. According to the movie, Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create the website to join an exclusive club at Harvard and/or to impress his ex-girlfriend. But, that justification can no longer appease the narrative of a nerdy guy becoming the youngest billionaire in the world when his platform has become an extremely dangerous site in our society. This doesn't diminish the effort of the filmmakers in any way. I'm just thinking that history will have to look back at Facebook as more than a social networking site with an insane backstory. The creation and resulting lawsuits of Facebook are no longer the most interesting things about Facebook. I give the Social Network a 10/10, but as I sat down to write about it, I just can't shake the bad taste the platform gives me in 2020, especially as we come towards an important election in November. Maybe you'll be able to detach yourselves from the present while watching it. But, as I watch Jesse Eisenberg's performance, I'm reminded of the real Mark Zuckerberg sitting before Congress acting absolutely robotic and disinterested in the spread of fake news and the spread of our information across the web. The final words to this absolutely breathtaking masterpiece really could be the entire review for the 2017 epic Blade Runner 2049 directed by filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.
I watched this movie for the second time last night and it reminded me how much I loved it. Before I go any further, just note SPOILERS! But, this movie came out 3 years ago and it's free on IMDB TV right now, so go watch it. I spent a lot of my time yesterday in quarantine thinking about snow. I was listening to the soundtrack to Little Women, as one does when they have no job and no sense of what to do with your life. And it reminded me somehow just of the feeling of snow. How I can't remember the first time that I saw snow was, but throughout my entire life, I've built up these memories of what snow is like. About halfway through the movie, when Officer K is visiting with Dr. Stelline, she talks to him about how memories aren't fully formed with details. "We recall with our feelings," she tells him. I can't remember the first time I saw snow, but I remember how snow made me feel. Seeing that first snowfall. The pure excitement building up when putting on my snow overalls and bulky boots. The exhaustion I felt running through deep snow with a big smile. Snow is an elegant tool in this movie to display human feelings. I really would love to sit here and talk about how perfect this movie is. How the cinematography is some of the best use of light in the 21st century. How Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch's score encapsulates the future so perfectly (while also reminding me of Mass Effect). How the action is paced perfectly and even though it has a whopping 2 hours and 44 minutes of screen time, every second feels earned. But, instead I just want to focus on the theme: what is it to feel human? The 1982 Ridley Scott version touched on this theme so well and so deeply that there are 3 different versions because no one could decide on the right way to showcase them. I think that Blade Runner 2049 does an excellent job of exploring this theme even deeper. In between the plot of locating the missing child, Villeneuve fits in the entire plot to the movie Her with the relationship between K and Joi. It's such an elegant way to showcase K trying to find some connection in a world that rejects him. He's looking to be a part of something. And he comes across it in the form of Hope. Hope that he is more than a "Skinner," which seems racist, but I don't know, we'll find out in 2049. It's incredible that we can relate to K so much. He feels that he doesn't belong, but is searching for something that would make him special. I feel so much sympathy for K, just trying to figure out his place in the world. I like to believe that he feels a little hope sitting in the snow. I know I do. |
Rob EnglishYou ever get a two pack of cookies that has an extra cookie in it and you get really excited? I'm that third cookie. Archives
December 2023
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