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.