Hot Takes On Film

  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975 UK) King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table embark on a journey to retrieve the Holy Grail. I put coconut shells in the picture above knowing that most of my readers are going to get it. If I say “it’s just a scratch”, most people will get that too. So why am I featuring a film like this. It’s because the younger generations are missing out on this fine classic. I you have seen it, watch it again. If you haven’t, go watch it. Older folks please tell the younglings about this and Life of Brian too. Kidnap them and make them watch this (Yeah, don’t do that). Tell them that the origins of several memes are in this film and to unlock the secrets all they have to do is watch. Cast member Eric Idle revealed in a tweet in 2011 that Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Pink Floyd invested in the film because the studios wouldn’t. It shows you what suits really know. Boy howdy that same story shows up a lot. Studios pass on a project and lat

 The Sea Beast (2022 US) Karl Urban voices Jacob Holland, a monster hunter straight out of a Robert Lewis Stevenson Novel encounters a precocious little girl who gets him to see things in a new light. This gem seems to have been overlooked for the most part last year. That's a shame because it had a lot to say. The primary theme was the heights of colonialism in the 18-19th century hence the Stevenson reference (Treasure Island) or even Pirates of Penzance. It even had a Kaiju nod with a smart monster who was neither bad or good but just defending itself. It even had the monster whisperer in the little girl. Super common in Kaiju films. I loved the color grading in it. So pleasing. Sea Beast was directed by veteran animator Chris Williams who has been animating since Mulan. Recently he directed Moana and Big Hero 6. This film was nominated for Best Animated Feature in the last Oscars but lost to Pinocchio.  Tough year. I really did enjoy it and do feel it deserves more fanfare. So

 BoxTrolls (2014 US) An orphan is raised by creatures living beneath the city of Cheesebridge. When the aristocracy comes for the creatures the boy takes action. Based on the book "Here be Monsters". Laika Studios brings you this dark but relevant story about corruption, entitlement, hypocrisy, and marginalized communities. You will remember Laika from some of their other works such as Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. I like to call the Oregon based studio a "stop motion factory". I have always despised hypocrites and used the word when I was very young, like 4 yo. Adults were well impressed. Not so impressed when I called them one. I just love stop motion. When you are making it, it's like playing with really expensive dolls. When I was a kid my dolls had quite an involved storyline and backstory so this was a very natural evolution. Don't judge me. What is so lovely about these types of films is that the puppets are hand made as is some of the sets.

 America: The Motion Picture (2021 US) George Washington teams up with his historical friends to kick out the British. In my first year in college I took a colonial American History class. It turned out the class was a weeder class meaning it was so ridiculously hard that it weeded out some of the history majors. For some weird reason there are a lot of history majors here in the U.S. Suffice it to say I learned a Shatner ton about Colonial American History. With that said I can assure everyone that this film was not historically accurate. Brought to you by Matt Thompson from Adult Swim. It definitely runs like something from Adult Swim. So don't watch this with kiddos around. Channing Tatum plays George Washington. He does great but I would have gone with Patrick Wharburton. Maybe he wasn't available. Veteran writer David Callaham wrote the script in all of its frat boy ways. But don't worry Callaham and Thompson skews everyone. I can assure you that there is something in

 If you are expecting a Disneyfied version of this, don't. The film leans more towards the 1881-2 novel by Carlo Collodi. You know, the one where Pinocchio was hung at the end for being a "Bad Boy".  Although, that did not happen in Del Toro's film, he did not spare the audience of some tough moments. A long time ago just after my daughter was born my husband and I went on a date night. We left our daughter with uncles and went to see Pan's Labyrinth. After the movie I was so traumatized by bad things happening to children, that I had to call and see if my baby was OK. What I noticed moving forward is that Del Toro has something bad happening to a child in all of his films. Even the sexy fish film had a moment of that. What I want to know is "who hurt you Guillermo?" "Who hurt you"? This movie was full Del Toro in all of his glory and trauma. Was it good? It sure the heck was. In fact he won best animated feature at the last Oscars. I love how

 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

 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

 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

 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. An Uber rich tech dude invites his lifelong "friends" to his private island for a party. Things don't go well. This is nominated for an Oscar in the category of best adapted screenplay because its "adapted" from the first film. Apparently, all sequels go in this category. I do think that writer director Rian Johnson got a bit hosed with this film. First it had a very short theatrical run before it went to live on Netflix. Johnson pushed for another theatrical run but Netflix refused. Now its stuck in Oscar "rules" hell with this. It should be nominated for best picture because it did the theme of roasting entitled people better than Triangle of Sadness. And..and this is the fun part, I didn't want to throw up watching it. Anyway, Daniel Craig returns as Blance alongside Jonelle Monae. Wow the two make a spectacular pair. There was so much that stood out for me but here are a few things. The jokes were subtle and

Its still #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and time for another brilliant film from Gina Prince-Bythewood. The Woman King (2022 US). I love Viola Davis and I cant get over just how bad-ass she was in this. I just love how much she and the other ladies trained and bulked out with muscle. Bythewood did a fantastic job directing this. There was just so much that stood out but lets break that down. The acting, led by Davis was extraordinary. The production design (costumes, sets, lights etc) were a Wow! Bythewood did a great job blocking the actors (movement) for maximum effect. There was a lot to say here. Surely the Academy would acknowledge this. Nada, Zilch, Zip. Completely snubbed. Surely it wasn't due to the controversy (glossing over hard truths) because Elvis had the same damn problem and look where it is (See my Elvis post). I will say it again "filmmakers are not required to make an historically accurate film". The Academy knows this and furthermore has decades of precedent i

  Always Be My Maybe (2019 US) after Crazy Rich Asians Netflix had a hankering to get in on the action so they made this romantic Comedy. Starting Ali Wong and Randall Park and Keanu Reeves as himself, two longtime friends work through their romantic issues. I loved this one too especially the cameo by Reeves. He looked like he was having so much fun with it. Wong and Park have serious comedy chops and deliver some funny moments. Although, I would categorize the film as charming with flashes of funny. Find it on Netflix and should be available in all regions.