Hot Takes On Film

Turning Red (2022 US) It's #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and todays entry is this animated feature from Domee Shi. A 13 year old girl turns into a large red panda when she gets too emotional. In case you are wondering it's about puberty and menstruation. OMG this film created a HooHa in the middle aged dude community. It was clearly not meant for middle aged dudes so seriously just move one. Shi got a lot of grief on different sites for this film. I actually read comments. I know, I know that's never a good idea. TBH it was hind of shocking, how entitled and out of touch certain people are. I read one commenter that gave the film low marks and suggested that "if you want a good coming of age story, watch The Little Prince. It does it better". I'm sure that this person also believes that babies come out of the belly button. Don't take a bath or the baby will drown.  Another person suggested the main character was self centered, annoying and smug so she really shou

 Being the Ricardos (2021 US) This biopic follows the story of Lucy and Desi during a time where Lucy was accused of being a communist. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardman star as Lucy and Desi. When the casting of Kidman was announced fans were not impressed. I was not sold on it but kept on open mind. After all a good actor can become the character and Kidman is a good actress. Well that did not happen. It was Nicole Kidman trying to play Lucille Ball but not doing so hot. Director Aaron Sorkin repeatedly defended the choice. People just were not sold. I did like Bardman's portrayal of Desi.  Like Kidman his resemblance wasn't that close to the real person but he made up for it with voice and physical work. Voice work is so important and when an actor doesn't do the work it shows. JK Simmons was oh so entertaining as William Frawley. Kidman, Bardman and Simmons were nominated in their respective categories but did not win. I enjoyed it but mainly because I enjoy biopics. Fin

 Doctor Zhivago (1965 UK) Its #WTFWednesday and todays entry is this epic film centered around the Russian revolution of the turn of the 19th century. Omar Shariff and Julie Christie star as lovers caught up in the times. By all accounts this is a pretty stunning film. The production design was out of this world and so was the cinematography. It also won an Oscar for the soundtrack. Just the mention of it starts the internal music player in your head. It is that memorable. With all that I turned it off. So why is it in the WTF category? Full disclosure I have a personal history with this film. I was about 10 years old and my parents went to a revival screening of this film. I wanted to go. Even at 10 I loved film. But nooo I wasn't grown up enough for this film. I was so salty over that. Still am. When I turned 18, I rented it just to be a spiteful brat and say it was stupid and glad I didn't go. So I did that. Now that I am older and more mature I watched it again and put away

 The Sixth Sense (1999 US) Haley Joel Osmet and Bruce Willis star in this horror about a boy who can communicate with the dead. Whenever I'm reminded of this film I am also reminded of the meme, with Osmet, "I see stupid people". The horror. This is an incredible film. Being an M. Night Shyamalon film, there is a twist. He sure likes those. It doesnt always work but it sure does here. He made some very clever blocking choices that hide the twist until the big reveal but it is there and honestly you can find the truth if you want. Even if you know it does not take away from the enjoyment of watching this.  Haley Joel Osmet was just fantastic as the boy who was terrified as a parade of ghosts march through his life. I could not even imagine that horror. He was nominated for best supporting actor but lost to Michael Caine in Cider House Rules. Why was he in the supporting actor category? He was the lead. This film was nominated in many categories including Best Picture but l

 Top Gun: Maverick (2022 US) Tom Cruise reprises his role as Maverick in the latest chapter of this franchise. The word I would use to describe this film is satisfying. There are several reasons for that. First is the obvious, nostalgia. Nostalgia is hot right now but TBH it has been for a long time. Remember "Return to Gilligan's Island"? or more recently "Picard"? If done right it can be very satisfying. Returning characters, threads resolved, check check. The script was quite derivative but I feel that was part of the appeal. At one point I thought Maverick was going to say "turn off your sensors and use the force" or "I used to shoot womp rats that size back on Tatooine." That's a callback to another old franchise in an old franchise. Nostalgia stacked on top of more nostalgia. The Russian Doll of post pandemic film. I am not a big fan nostalgia or prequels. The only way to go is geriatric to preschool or Picard to Muppet Babies. I th

  Mad Max Fury Road (2015 AU) George Miller adds another chapter into the Mad Max franchise in this high octane post apocolyptic action film. Charlize Theron stars as a woman escaping from a tyrannical warlord to find her own home. I'm not a fan of post-op films, or many action films or Mad Max for that matter so I was not inclined to go see it. I did watch it one day because I was bored and it was on streaming. See my sci-fi page for why I don't feature post-op films, https://hottakesonfilm.blogspot.com/p/science-fiction-sub-genres.html.  I take issue with the overuse of action in action films. I think it actually slows the pace. I once clocked 20 minutes of a running chase scene with nothing added to the story. In a 90 plus minute film, that's a lot of dead space. When I run into that I usually go get snacks or answer emails or something else because literally nothing happens. I was not fond of the 80's Mad Max. So needless to say when I watched this I was pleasantly

  Ghost Dog (1999 US) starring Forest Whitaker. A mafia hit man in New York lives by the code of the samurai. The film sits on the edge of Neo Noir and some are calling it a Crime/Thriller. It had quite a few Neonoir shots with high contrast and German Expressionism. Unlike, most neonoir it had some quirky and humorous moments that could be seen as not neonoir but I think the dark story throws it back. Whitaker is awesome as a modern urban samurai complete with a code of conduct. Some critics are saying that this was an homage to the French film Le Samourai. I hated that movie so I would rather watch Battlefield Earth than something so pointless. Cool hat though. Needless to say, Ghost Dog was far, far better. For quite awhile I could not find this film except a used DVD. Thankfully its back. Its on Criterion, HBO and Amazon. Loved it. Go see it.

 Ghost (1990 US) A recently deceased man tries to warn his wife of danger with the help of a psychic. This iconic film stars the late great Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. This film has a plethora of iconic moments including the pottery scene which is now a meme. My favorite thing about this movie is the end scene. IMHO it has the most satisfying bad guy ending in the history of film. The demons were brilliant. If you're having a bad day, maybe someone has done something that was totally not cool and need a pick-me-up this scene is like ASMR. Here is the scene  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES3nBGzPUkU. Ghost was nominated in several categories including Best Picture but lost to "Dances With Wolves". It did win in for Best Original Screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin. He wrote many more scripts after this including Jacobs Ladder and Deep Impact. Goldberg won an Oscar for her role as the psychic. She later said in an interview that producers didn't want he

  Bound (1996 US) Todays second entry for #FemaleFilmmakerFriday is this Wachowski sisters neo-noir masterpiece. Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon concoct a scheme to steal money from Tilly's mob boyfriend. Tilly rocks as the femme fatale. It just felt like she was loving this role. Gershon plays the sap and she knocks it out if the park. It’s really hard to shoot noir style in color. The Wachowskis pulled it off with muted color production design and black to get the proper contrast and shadow. I'm not a big fan of the current trend of having bright colors and crushed blacks to get the contrast. Happy colors don't scream noir. It screams Teletubbies. Wikipedia says the budget was 6 million but I heard 3. Why is that important? Lower budgets are really going to cut down on so many things including locations. There was limited locations in this. Either way audiences liked it and it made money at the Box Office. It’s on Tubi and Pluto for free and rentable on other streaming pl

 Coquette (1929 US) It's #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and todays entry is this pre-code drama about a father who doesnt want his daughter to date a boy from the wrong side of the track. Mary Pickford stars as the daughter who was actually 30 plus years old when this was made. Pickford won a Best actress for this, her first talkie film. She did great. Actors at the time were really struggling with how to act in talkies. Pickford made it work. The others, hmmm, lets just say they tried. Although, Pickford didn't have too much creative control in this film, she was a titan in the industry and one of the founding members of the Academy. Pickford spoke about the transition from silent to talkies as being "very chaotic". So being Pickford she brought people together to help professionals talk to each other and ease the transition. Thus the Oscars were born. I can understand the chaos. The tech came out of nowhere. Audiences wanted it.  The theaters had to be refitted, studios had

 9 to 5 (1980 US) Three female office workers (Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton) kidnap their boss (Dabney Coleman). "Tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition. Yawn and stretch and try to come to life." Face it you sang that when you read that. This Dolly Parton original song was nominated in the Best Song category at the Oscars in 1981. It lost to Fame. Tough year though. "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson was also in the mix. Parton said in a recent documentary that Fonda was asking her about the status of the song for the film so Parton played the song by scraping her acrylic nails together to create the beat and then sang the intro. Then she demonstrated it. Well shoot, if it didn't sound amazing. Didn't know that acrylic nails are the hot new sound. I just love this film. It was not nominated in any other categories but really should have. In the documentary Fonda talked about how the three bonded before the s

 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979 US, Klingon) Google has the language for this film as English and Klingon. That's how much Star Trek is part of our society. I am loving being able to talk about this first film in the franchise in context of the 1980 Oscars. Not my favorite Star Trek product but it is still Star Trek and I will watch it. After TOS went off the air in 1969 there was quite a movement of people missing the series. Hence the ST conventions were born. Paramount caught wind of this and decided to make a movie. They hired the insanely talented Robert Wise to direct (Westside Story, Andromeda Strain, The Day the Earth Stood Still) Wise was a once in a generation director with a strong SciFi background. Yay! This is gonna be great! The story was by veteran SciFi writer Alan Dean Foster. Double great! Script by newbie Harold Livingston with very little on his resume much less SciFi. Ooooh ummm. Decades later its pretty clear that it didn't hit the mark. I do think th

  Stray Dog (1949 Japan) written and directed by Kurosawa. This film is beautiful. Kurosawa was the master of Mis en scene. And not only of sight but of sound too. Directors often forget that sound is half the film experience. Kurosawa does not disappoint. Like Raymond Chandler, Kurosawa takes us on a journey to the seedy underbelly of the city creating a thriving character not human in form but human in fu nction. Hell even the weather was it’s own character. The film is led by a hard boiled detective and a soft boiled detective trying to come to terms with post WWII Tokyo in their own way. It’s as if Phillip Marlowe was split into two characters, the dark and the light each having a mutual respect for each other. I could write a long essay on this for a film theory class. But that would be boring. Just watch it and take in Kurosawas brilliance. You won’t regret it. Find it free on Tubi.

  Lured (1947). This noir comedy stars, you guessed it, Lucill e Ball. Noir-comedy you say? Comedy and noir do not belong together, you even said so yourself. And you would be right but hear me out. Lucy was a brilliant comedienne. In fact she was so good that her identity or brand became solidly enmeshed with her. To this day when you see her your brain starts to fill in the spaces and anything she says or does is comedy whether it is or not. When you watch this film it is really hard to turn that off and it becomes another Lucy misadventure. BUT if you can turn it off this is a very solid noir and Lucy is quite good in it. This film doesn’t show up in lists as much as it should but definitely give it a go and tell your brain to shut up. Find it free on Tubi.

 Gone With the Wind (1939 US) Its #WTFWednesday and todays entry is this oh so troubled film. 1940 was a very difficult year for the Academy. Its like a bad gift that they cant get rid of no matter how hard they try. Was this epic David O Selznick production so well done? Sure. Was Vivian Leigh delicious as a Plantation Princess caught in the civil war? Sure. Does it all go away the minute you think just a little bit about the racial problems? Absolutely! Once you do you can't unsee it. I could go on for days about how problematic it was. Not only was this picture in the mix but so was Wizard of Oz. With some of the allegations about the treatment of the young Judy Garland both of these films are now almost completely unwatchable. Context is King-Lorca on Star Trek Discovery. That context just paints these films with a poopoo encrusted brush. To make it worse Hattie McDaniel, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Mammie, had to get special permission to attend the awards

  No Man of Her Own (1950) Based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich "I Married a Dead Man". Eddie Muller of # NoirAlley points out that this film is not on lists of top noirs but should be. It stars Barbara Stanwyck as the guilt ridden, try to do the right thing femme fatale. Carole Lombard and Clarke Gable made a version of this story in 1932 but the studio wanted to remake it Post Hays code. What I love about Stanwyck is as Muller points out, she can convince an audience of anything: gaping holes in the script? Pish Posh Babs is on the job. Although, it runs a little closer to drama than say, D.O.A. it's still a really solid noir. Adapted for the screen by Sally Benson and Catherine Turney specifically for Stanwyck. These ladies knew how to make it work for a female led noir. I enjoyed it but of course Babs is one of my favorites. I had to rent it but it is available.

  Gun Crazy (1950) this celebrated Noir stars Peggy Cummins as the extremely fatal femme fatal and John Dall as the very sappy sap. They have a kind of Bonnie and Clyde adventure. Haven't heard of them? that' s cuz this was a solid B movie with B cast and crew including Russell Harland bringing his B movie ingenuity as the cinematographer. What I love most about this movie is the bank heist scene. Harland bolted a camera on a saddle and put it in the back of a limo. One long heist scene that is quite the marvel. B Movie director Joseph Lewis allowed Cummins and Dall to improvise the dialogue to keep it fresh and this is the best part: Only the bank knew (the cop was an actor). They did a bank heist scene with guns and the city didn't know. Nowadays, PD would shoot your butt. Why? Harland later revealed in an interview that they were broke. He didn't like the scene at first but grew to appreciate it. This is one of my favorite Noirs. Most streaming has this for rent.

  Brick (2005) This Neo-noir stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and was written and directed by then first time feature filmmaker Rian Johnson (Star Wars, Knives Out) and had a whopping budget of 450k (I have also heard 800k). This film was basically a Chandler story... in high school and Levitt was Marlowe. If you think that sounds weird. Well it is kind of but Johnson and Levitt made it work. Getting traditionally noir shots is hard and audiences and fans know their stuff. What I loved about this gem is that Johnson adds to the vocabulary of noir or neo-noir. How? New ways to get high contrast, deep shadow and the incongruent lines of German Expressionism. Johnson did his absolute best to get those lovely noir shots and he did quite often and with a budget of 450k. That's really hard. Johnson is one of my favorite directors. He just keeps surprising me. Like many low budget films this was all about natural light and locations. worth a watch. Rentable on most streaming.

 Nightmare Alley (2021 US) A grifter steals a "magic" act and makes money off of it. Based on the novel of the same name from 1946. Guillermo Del Toro writes and directs this Best Picture nominee. It is classified as neo-noir and that would be fair since the 1947 film is solidly noir. I liked it but...I'm a noir fan and prefer the 1947 version. Don't get me wrong the 2021 version is very well shot, the color is lovely. It has the traditional high contrast and deep shadows of noir but I really saw little of the German Expressionism typical of noir. German Expressionism cares little of lovely aesthetic and more about expressing anxiety. The lines are incongruent and misaligned. Where is the order? There is none and that's the point. The lines in this film for the most part were too symmetrical for that and even the color wheel De Toro used was too symmetrical harkening back to Wes Anderson films that are so symmetrical its like ASMR.  Yeah it had contrast but overal

 Wings (1927 US) Silent film following a pilot through WWI. This was just filled with firsts namely the first Oscar for Best Picture. Its pretty neat to watch and see how the movie industry is starting to evolve. This film was pretty expensive for a silent which tended to run like what we refer to as shorts. The general thought was, if we make better silent films audiences will forget about those pesky talkies. They were sooo wrong. But, and that's a big But, its still a stunning piece of history and art. By todays standards its MEH, though. I admit I'm a film purist and just love watching the evolution of film. I just love how pre-code this was. it had a lot going on including nudity and a man and a woman in a bed together. Scandalous. It had several same sex moments including a kiss. Some are saying its the first gay kiss on film and others are saying, "nah man that's just how they rolled back then." It seemed pretty gay kiss to me. Which is not to say its the f

 Promising Young Woman (2020 US) Its #femaleFilmmakerFriday and todays film is from Emerald Fennell. Cool Name.  Cassie lives out her trauma trolling night club  pred ators. There is a lot going on in this film so the logline doesn't really cut it. However, one of the takeaways here is don't mess with Cassie. This film had some neonoir vibes but in style it did not reach that level. I know the trend is to use bright colors to create the contrast for noir style in film. I don't like it. My opinion is that bright colors are too "happy" for noir. However, the color grading was great and production design was fabulous. At it's heart, Promising Young Woman is a revenge story, a very clever revenge story. Fennell should make a vengeance trilogy like Park Chan-Wook. It was really on that level. Young Woman won an Oscar for the writing (Fennell) and was nominated in other categories including Best Picture and Best Director which lost to Nomadland and Chloe Zaou. Fenne

 Jojo Rabbit (2019 US) a lonely boy in WWII Germany discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in the attic. Oh and his imaginary friend is Hitler. Written and directed by Taiki Waititi, this dark and biting satire goes there. Waititi refers to it as an anti-hate satire. As I have discussed before, Hollywood is having a hard time putting up new and unique stories. Well if you are like me and would totally be OK with not having another remake or sequel in your lifetime, well here 'ya go. It’s weird and it's different. You get used to it then it gets weirder. Seriously though, the kids imaginary friend is Hitler. What do you expect? The theme is mainly blind allegiance. This poor boy has a lot rattling around in his head that he needs to come to terms with including Hitler. Waititi won the Oscar for the screenplay and now he makes Marvel sequels. Yay for the Oscars. Find it on Hulu or for rent in most streaming.  

 1917 (2019 US) A man must deliver an important message in WWI. I’m usually not a fan of war films unless it has something to say and not just gratuitous violence. I call it war porn. But this one does have something to say. It is the usual “the futility of war”. I mean, that’s a solid something to say but it does get said a lot. This one was a little different though. It’s simple in its message. I’m liking the trend lately of simpler plots. Less is more. Your man has a mission and he intends to deliver that message, at all costs. Boom! Mic drop! There is a Ulyssian vibe in that he has a journey and neither the audience nor the protagonist knows what comes next and sometimes when it does show up you’re not sure what “it” is. Now here’s the biggie for this film, the cinematography. The camera goes on the journey and takes you along with it. Sometimes the camera is just as dumbfounded as you as the protagonist. But here’s the thing: It looks simple but it is not in any way simple. It too

 Judy (2019 US) Renee Zellweger stars as Judy Garland in this biopic of Garland in her later years, warts, drugs and all. Judy, Judy, Judy! My aunts name is Judy and I did that to her. "Auntie Judy, Judy, Judy pass pass pass the green beans green beans green beans". She did not appreciate my joke. Too extra! Extra, was kind of how I felt about Zellweger as Garland. I love biopics and I especially love it when actors "bring it". Zellweger did in fact "bring it" here. She even did the singing. Geez Louise singing is hard enough without having to sound like Judy Garland. Zellweger was rewarded with a Best Actress Oscar for this. Now for the Wizard in the room. The film makes some serious allegations about how the studio (MGM) treated the then under age Garland for that film. I cant confirm if what was in the film (and book) was true. If it is, that's some serious child trafficking BS. Adults should really have known better. I have really been put off of T

 Cabaret (1972 US) Liza Minelli stars as a cabaret performer in 1931 Germany and gets involved in a very interesting love triangle with two guys as Hitler rises. Based on the Broadway musical show and books. Wow! there was so much stuff in this to offend a certain subset of the population, at least in the US. I'm just not sure it would get made today without the outrage machine losing their minds. I would totally go watch it but certainly side eye some dude with a big jacket. Yeah its that nuts here. Anyway, this iconic film was breakout roles for Liza and co star Michael York. This apparently was Liza's first opportunity to sing in a film. She really sounds like her Mama. But what a lot of people don't talk about is her dancing skills. Leslie Caron of An American in Paris got in trouble with the Hays people over a sexy chair dance. She later was aghast and said, "that's ridiculous! What can you do with a chair?" Well Liza showed us what you can do with a chai

 Mank (2021 US) Gary Oldman stars as Herman Mankiewicz and chronicles the process and events as he writes Citizen Kane. Mank more clearly defines the issues that Mank had with Randolph Hearst, brilliantly played by baddy Charles Dance. One of the things I loved about it was the call back to the Deep Focus photography style in Citizen Kane. It was like Christmas for me because they often recreated shots from Kane. Oooooh Ahhhh. This won a lot of Oscars including Cinematography. Its actually really hard to get the old timey look on modern cameras but Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt pulled it off with an 8K digital camera no less. He added a special filter and shot in B&W. He deserved the Oscar. No doubt though, there was a lot of color work in post to match Citizen Kane. Why shoot in 8K and not the incredibly low resolution of 1941? 8K gives you a lot of material to work with in post especially color. Although incredibly bulky to work with it can be very forgiving and allows for m

Citizen Kane (1941 US) Quasi biographical film exploring the life of media tycoon Charles Foster Kane. Kane was loosely based on William Randolph Hearst And Joseph Pulitzer. This film is often at the top of best films ever made lists. There are many things to note here but one of my favorite things is the cinematography. The shots and lighting are just beyond stunning. Greg Toland won for Best Cinematography with his deep focus style. Deep focus being where the foreground, middle ground and background are all in focus. It tends to really open up the shot where the director can add little stuff to inform the audience. This is one of my favorite styles although it can be expensive because you have to fill the space. That's why ultra low budget films shoot in shallow focus where just the foreground is in focus. You don't have to mess around with the background that much. Director Orson Wells really took advantage of deep focus whether it was too show the backgrounds architectural

 American Born Chinese (upcoming May 25, 2023 US) Variety and other sources are reporting of a new series coming to Disney plus. Off the back of the successful Everything Everywhere All At Once film, Disney + decided to reunite Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu for this series coming in May based on the graphic novel of the same name. I have no information on whether its good or not but I am looking forward to it. They all seemed to have had a good time together. So sweet. it is reported to have been directed by Destin Daniel Cretton who also directed Shang-Chi. I don't know if he directed all of them or just a few. Here is the trailer.  https://youtu.be/RAeemjfVvM0

 Blonde (2022 US) Ana De Armas stars as Marylin Monroe in this intimate look at her traumas. Armas was nominated for Best Actress this year but lost of course to Michelle Yeoh. I loved her portrayal of Marylin and I can say with confidence that she is poised to go places but the film itself did not quite hit right. The problem with a portrayal of someone that has been heavily discussed is that people have a pretty good idea of who she was. The focusing on her traumas didn't quite land right and it made Monroe seems very weak contrary to the information that I have and so many others have. the Katy Perry song Firework really comes to mind here when looking at De Armas’ portrayal. "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting in the wind?" Other criticisms were that some of the elements that made her seem like that were not even true. Writer Director Andrew Dominik seemed to have something particular to say about Monroe for whatever reason which he is allowed to do. But au

 All the Presidents Men (1976 US) Now lets get back to the films we all love. Two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, investigate the Watergate scandal. Based on the book of the same name. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as the two reporters. This film was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Rocky. That was a tough year as it also had Taxi Driver up for Best Picture. I actually really liked this film but I have to warn you they leaned heavily into the nuts and bolts of investigating. I would recommend taking notes or have one of those string boards to help you keep track of all the bits and pieces and the players involved. William Goldman won his second Oscar for writing the script. His first was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He of course later wrote the screenplay for Princess Bride which should also have won an Oscar but sadly didn't. Very different stories and styles. This film won an Oscar for sound for its Robert Altman style of dialogue. People talking over eac

 Oscars 95. Well now that its over lets check in with how it went. I know I have been critical of the Academy but that's only because I love it. Tough Love.  My issue with them is they have tended to play to a very narrow subset of population making them feel obsolete.  They have made a lot of changes in the recent years so lets see how they did. First I want to congratulate the producers for having a smooth show and nobody got b*tch slapped or any other unexpected weird thing. In a way I'm kinda disappointed. It did make it interesting. Congrats on the appearance of Cocaine Bear BTW.  Lets dig into who won.  Sound. Sound is very hard and tends to be an afterthought of filmmakers who like to focus exclusively on visuals. Top Gun Maverick won. something about the jet sounds. I haven't seen it so I cant comment. But that sounds about right.  Production Design. All Quiet on the Western Front won that. Yeah that probably was very difficult to pull off. Can you imagine being a s

 Dune (2021 US) Adapted from the Frank Herbert novel of the same name. I have always found the 80's David Lynch version to be one of my most disliked films ever and I'm a Sci-Fi fan. So needless to say I, like many other people, was very skeptical of this Dennis Villenueava version. There is a lot going on and I totally think it was the right call to split the adaptation of the book into two films. Although many of the book purists had a lot to say, this film turned out pretty good. Its such a difficult story to tell and be faithful to Herbert's vision. I would consider it the "White Whale" of filmmaking: divisive as heck between the book purist and audience goers. So many opinions about it. So hard to please everyone.. Not sure you need mine so how about a reminder that part two is scheduled for release this year.  Although, it didn't get a lot of attention at last years Oscars it did get recognized. Dune won in the Production Design, Sound and Effects catego

 Cruella (2021 US) Well todays the big day. Its the day we find out what went wrong at a live show. Lets take a look at last years hot movies. Emma Stone stars in this origin story Disney movie about Cruella DeVille. Sometimes you watch the Oscars, well a lot of times, and you go "what  the actual F. Not this time. Jenny Beavan won for best costume design. Wow were they right on that one. I cant say I liked the story much for trying to make an evil Disney character likable enough that you're OK with her going on to kill a bunch of puppies. She had "reasons" for being so deplorably evil. Did we really need an origin story here that tries to wash away sins? But oh those costumes. Wow Wow and triple Wow. The Academy did right on this one. I think it was worth a watch right there. Forget about the dead puppies. That dress is so worth it right there. I mean come on, Stinky Puppies?.or...Irresistible Fashion?...There's no contest here whatsoever, Its the fashion. Do yo

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969 US) After a train robbery goes wrong two outlaws played by Robert Redford and Paul Newman find themselves on the run with a Posse on their butt.. If you haven't see this film I can assure you, you have. Its one of the most influential films ever made and has inspired filmmakers for decades. One of the more recent projects it has influenced is "The Mandalorian". It was a bromance and action comedy and audiences loved it. It made a ton of money at the box office that year. I think that its one of the best films ever made. This film was nominated for an Oscar in many categories including Best Picture but lost to Midnight Cowboy. The Insanely talented William Goldman won an Oscar for the script. You remember Goldman? I will give you a hint, "Mawwaige". When Goldman pitched the script to the studio they wanted to change the ending cuz "John Wayne don't run". can you imagine if Wayne played Butch or Sundance? I co

 My Year of Dicks (2022 US) Todays second entry into #FemaleFimmakerFriday. A 15 year old chronicles her journey of trying to lose her virginity. This animated short was created and written by Pamela Ribon and directed by Sara Gunnarsdottir. I don't normally feature short form films but with a name like that I could not resist. I found this film to be very provacative. Despite its premise and title it's a coming of age story and more about love than sex. Several things stood out for me. First is the animation. Gunnarsdottir used several styles of animation to tell the story. At one point the protagonist barely says anything but speaks volumes through animation. That's talent. I love the voice actors and how much teenagerness they captured. I love how raw it was capturing a time in our lives most people wont talk about openly. Its nominated for best animated short. I hope it wins cuz I like it and this is important, I want to hear a presenter say "D*cks" on live TV

Women Talking (2022 US)Based on the book of the same name. It's #FemaleFimmakerFriday and todays entry is this Oscar nominee from Sarah Polley. The women and girls of an isolated religious community have been repeatedly drugged and raped. The women all know about it but the question is what do they do? I watched this yesterday and my brain is still processing it. This was one of the most philosophical and intellectual films I've seen in a long time. Much of the film is a debate about what to do. Hence the women talking label. There is not a lot of movement and much of the film takes place in the barn loft. The colors are desaturated and the costumes are not meant to grab your attention. You're there to listen.  Although, it is very powerful what they say I have a few criticisms. Firstly, I really don't like the name. Women Talking lends itself too easily to be a joke which I am seeing. Hell I was actually tempted but nah. The themes in it are too serious. Secondly, this

 King Richard (2021 US) Venus and Serena Williams wanted to tell the story of their father Richard Williams. I heard rumblings of "why didn't they make a film about the sisters?" Well cuz its their story to tell any way they see fit.  I really enjoyed the film and Will smith was great as Richard Williams although, I have no idea what he was like IRL. Smith won an Oscar for his performance just right after he b*tch slapped Chris Rock. I know what you are thinking "how could you bring that up?" well how could you not. Marlon Wayans has a comedy special on Netflix right now where he says its his fault that Smith slapped Rock. What? well Wayans apparently had a run in with Rock and prayed to god for vengeance. God said Vengeance is mine. And he did it. At the Oscars. In front of the biggest audience. Anyway, Smith is now chained to that moment for the rest of his life and any past or future role will likely be seen through that slappy filter. Which is kind of a sham

 The Kings Speech (2010 UK, AU) The future King George VI works with a speech therapist to cure his stutter. Colin Firth stars alongside Colin Thecond in this Biopic. It won four Academy awards including Best Picture. It was very well shot. I especially liked the color work in it. Firth does a fantastic job as the King. He won best Oscar. The late Queen Elizabeth II approved of the film about her father. She said it was "moving". Well there 'ya go then. The film was criticized for its inaccuracies though or leaving out certain things about King Edward the VIII. Sigh, I will say it yet again. Filmmakers are not required to create a thoroughly accurate historical film. Sorry! But TBH I cannot with this film. I watched an episode of Los Espooky's (HBO season one) where one of the characters consults a water demon about secrets of his past. The demon wont tell unless she gets to see The Kings Speech. It was an outrageous episode but now I cant unsee it and will now be for

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021 US) This biopic of disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker stars Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield. Its funny that you get and idea about a person based on what the media shows you. Bakker was the butt of late night comedians with her over the top make-up and goofy presentation. What I did not know is that she was a solid gay ally. During the AIDS crisis Bakker interviewed a gay man suffering from AIDS on live TV. She encouraged her very religious following to show compassion to the gay community. She was heavily criticized but kept going and became a gay icon. You can dispute some of the facts but grateful members of the gay community made a documentary about her showing her commitment to them. It was narrated by Ru Paul. Its says a lot that the people that made the doc went to a great deal of effort to tell their story and how they felt about her. I haven't seen the doc but this film was based on it. I feel like I didn't actually know her and

Todays third entry into #WTFWednesday is American Beauty (1999 US) Kevin Spacey stars as an unhappy middle aged dude that seduces his teenage daughters best friend to you know "spice his life up a bit". This Best Picture winner is really effed up. Critics and Scholars responses were just as disturbing. "Well the picture best exemplifies American Life or the middle class struggle or fill in the blank." but what they fail to talk about is the action Spacey's character takes to remedy whatever void he feels. The message that molesting a teenager is OK as long as you have broader societal grievances....Not Okay. I'm not going to apologize for roasting this film. I know some people liked it because it was really well done and it was but it did paint a rosy picture of pedo's being misunderstood. And no matter how well done it was does not give the Academy permission to elevate it and its creators. For the person who graduated from the school of "You misse

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 UK, US) Another #WTFWednesday entry. Obi Wan Kenobi oops I mean Alec Guinness stars as the ranking commander of a group of POWs held captive by the Japanese in WWII Thailand. The Japanese force them to build a pivotal bridge across the river Kwai. This is one of my least favorite films. By the end of it I wanted to blow up my TV. SPOILER ALERT. The group builds the bridge and against the wishes of those under him Guinness orders them to build a quality bridge to the best of their ability and not, you know, sabotage it. It was after all a strategic bridge for the Japanese. Seriously General Kenobi would have sabotaged it. But Guinness had to build it according to British Excellence standards to show...I really don't get his point in this. So with great sacrifice they do it. Alec Guinness has an epiphany and decides he probably should have sabotaged it. After all he, at this point, was aiding the enemy. Then he spends the rest of the film trying to blow

 The English Patient (1996 US) its Wednesday and my favorite day of the week. Why? Because its #WTFWednesday. A day to celebrate filmmaker, studio and academy WTF choices. I would love to tell you what this film is about but I can't. I tried to watch it twice and couldn't get through it. Something about a dude who was in a plane crash and lost his memory IDK. Back in the day everyone I knew was talking about how effed up this choice was for best picture. I decided to be fair and watch it before I judge it. Just couldn't do it. It was so slow and long and pretentious. I only made it half way. When the trailer of a film says its a cinematic triumph, run. Now the word is Tour de force. Also run. I take issue with there being lines of demarcation in the film world. On one side is the Every Person and the other side is the ivory tower elites with the Academy working in the Ivory tower camp. My issue is branding a film like this as true art and the rest of you and your peasant ar