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365days365movies · 3 years

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February 7, 2021: Emma. (Review)

Y’know, I remember nothing of this book. Really, I genuinely remember nothing from it, but the movie?

I really liked the movie! Not that it’s perfect, but I genuinely thought that this movie was excellent. Various reasons for that, primary of which would be that this movie looks absolutely fantastic. And again, I’ll get into that in the breakd won but...I mean, LOOK at this movie!

LOOK! (in Gordon Ramsay)

LOOK!!!

WHAT THE FUCK

DONKEY

On to the Review, yeah?

Review

Cast and Acting: 9/10

First things first: my favorite character in this film is BY FAR George Knightley, and Johnny Flynn is a GREAT actor in the role. Seriously, he manages to hint at his feelings and affections for Emma, far before even HE truly knows them. It’s just a great performance. But hey...I gotta talk about Anya Taylor-Joy, who...WOW. She’s amazing. Might not have been my favorite character in the first haf (which, to be fair, is the point), but she definitely sold that character transformation by the end! Just a legitimately amazing performance, and the chemistry between Taylor-Joy and Flynn is...MMMMMM, chef’s kiss! Oh, also, full credit to Mia Goth, whose Harriet is a great understated performance, and also deserves a chef’s kiss. Seriously, she’s also absolutely fantastic.

And everybody else...is good. They’re great, even, but they aren’t my favorites. Even then, they aren’t exactly always as fitting tonally with the lead performances. It’s not really distracting at all (oh, and Bill Nighy is a goddamn treasure, by the way), but some clashing performances are enough for me to take away a single point. Yeah, that’s it, because the ensemble is still strong, and it’s still fantastic in general.

Plot and Writing: 8/10

Just like the last entry, kind of hard to judge this one without judging the original, but...I don’t remember the original. So on it’s own efforts, it’s great! Credit to Jane Austen for the story, of course, and to Eleanor Catton for the screenplay. So, why not perfect? Because, uh...this movie’s complicated. It’s REALLY convoluted, and the likelihood is high that I’ll forget specific details of it...now, I[ve forgotten some of them now. THIS is why I don’t remember the book! And, no there isn’t much to be done about that, but not much seems to be done about it So, yeah, taking off a couple for that.

Directing and Cinematography: 10/10

Um...it’s amazing? It’s also Autumn de Wilde’s first movie EVER, and she had a background in music album cover photography before this and it looks...amazing? Like, what in the shit? Cinematographer Christopher Blauweit also gets that no slouch award, because he’s goddamn great at his job. And the 10′s don’t stop there, folks!

Production and Art Design: 10/10

Because NO EXPLANATION IS NEEDED HERE. THIS MOVIE IS GORGEOUS. Just pastel cottagecore beauty splattered all over the goddamn screen. gain, I’m not goddamn explaining this shit, it’s amazing.

Music and Editing: 8/10

OK, so here’s the deal with this: it’s fantastic, it really is and all the credit in the world to Isobel Waller-Bridge and David Schweitzer for that. But...it doesn’t perfectly pass the playlist test for me. I would look this up on Apple Music (yeah, I use an iPhone, I’m sorry), but I probably wouldn’t end up downloading it at the end of the day, to be completely honest. But was it good? Of course it was good! And hey, let’s not forget the end credits song sung by Johnny Flynn himself, which I genuinely think will be nominated for Best Original Song.

94%. I really liked this movie!

Might not remember the book very well, but I will remember how much I liked this movie! Might not be perfect, but it’s highest scorer so far this month! Granted, does that mean I like it personally the most? Eh, I just think it’s the best movie, not necessarily my favorite Real talk, Pretty Woman is still winning that fight at the moment.

Anyway, this was fun, but no more Jane Austen for a hot sec. Period pieces, though...I could go for more period pieces...so let’s get NUTS.

February 8, 2021: The English Patient (1996)

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smokeybrandreviews · 5 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Mother May I?

Breh. Suspiria. Breh. Look, i loved this movie. I did. It’s f*cking brilliant. I loved the original. The use of colors and proto-slasher archetype feeds into my film snob sensibilities deliciously. As much as i love the original, this film that we have here? This outstanding movie that has been inspired by Argento’s classic? This thing is spectacular. There is next to nothing for me to gripe about, literally two things, so i’m just going to gush about it.

The Best

The camera work is f*cking amazing in this film. Every lingering shot, every dramatic zoom, every long take, every lazy pan; it’s all f*cking spectacular. Every shot has an energy; a visceral, kinetic, presumption about it and it inject panic into this movie. Seriously, there’s a dance scene at he climax of this film and the way it’s shot is just f*cking tension. Pure, unadulterated, tension. The score helped a lot, too, but that f*cking camera work was goddamn brutal, man.

This movie is bloody beautiful. The muted palette blends perfectly with the stark, bleak, world that Guadagnino has crafted and the way he kind of fills the screen with weird, asymmetrical, positioning keeps you, as the viewer off balance.He favors the left or right side of the frame and, when sh*t goes down, you’re caught off guard by how beautifully centered it all is. The way the film looks is as much a character as Susie Bannion or Madame Blanc.

The f*cking score to this thing is a perfect addition to the vision on display. Seriously, i spoke about the camerawork in that dance scene being tension? Add the intensity of the score and sound design and you have some sh*t that will ruin your goddamn night!

I was flabbergasted by how perfectly this film came together. Like, technically, wise. Everything i just mentioned and the editing, the direct, all of it; it’s f*cking outstanding. The is the best technical efforts i have ever seen put to film and that’s not even an exaggeration. I hardly ever mention that stuff outside of cinematography in my reviews but, f*ck man, EVERYTHING was good in this film!

The direction of this movie is breathtaking. Luca Guadagnino tells the f*ck out of this story! Dude has a vision and he gives that sh*t to the audience like some horrible, alluring, desperate, thing. F*ck, dude, what he got out of these actors? These performance, specifically from Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson? My god! And those dances, holy sh*t!

The pacing in this was f*cking ridiculous! this movie is two and a half hours long but it didn’t feel like that at all. Like, not even close. I legit wanted more when it ended and was visibly upset that i didn’t get anything else. I know this thing isn’t going to make enough money to warrant the sequels Guadagnino has in mind but this thing better make enough goddamn money so Guadagnino can make his goddamn sequels!

The f*cking choreography, man! The sh*t was hereditary meets Black Swan and it world. It works wonderfully! the pieces created for this movie are genius in their own right but as devices to drive the plot? Bro.

The Better

Tilda Swinton deserves, at the very least, a Golden Globe nod for her performances. With an S. She plays several characters and plays the hell out of them. I was enthralled by her Madame Blanc but it was her take on Josef Kempler that sold me. She plays that old man with such despondent futility, it’s actually pathetic. Dude was so inept and just did not know it. Not until it was much too late. She was simply outstanding and that’s saying the most because Ms.Swinton scene stealing performances regularly.

This is easily the strongest performance i have ever seen Dakota Johnson give. Easily. She’s never frail, or naive, or vulnerable. She’s as much a predator as this literal coven of witches and, while she realizes early on what they’re about, her ability to mask what can only be described as pure malice, behind such wide eyes was f*cking incredible. She played these b8Tches like a goddamn game, getting everything she wanted in the end. I’m not going to say she deserves an Oscar for this performance, not like Swinton, but she definitely deserves some recognition here. Her Susie Bannion is almost the exact opposite of Anastasia Steele and gt gave me a newfound respect for Johnson’s ability.

Mia Goth also turned in something marvelous. I’ve always been a fan of ol’ girl but i particularly enjoyed her in this. It hurt watching Sara Sims go the way she did for a second time, but i much preferred where Mia took here this go around. It’s a shame her character ended up where she did because i found myself rooting for her before i knew it.

All of the supporting cast also turned in great performances. I was surprised by how adept Chloe Moretz was in this. She’s usually playing like, i dunno, college-y/high school-y girls and what not. This role was not that. While her time onscreen was hilariously short, what she had, she worked. That being said, i am a little biased. I’m on record as being a total Chloe fanboy. Ma is mad talented in her craft and criminally underrated.

The Good

The only issue i really had with this movie is some questionable camera techniques toward the end. I kind of feel like i know what they were trying to get at but, in practice, it looked a little cheap. So did all that CG blood and gore effects. That sh*t looked like they ran out of money which was unfortunately. They blew their load on that car crash dance penalty in the beginning. Other than those two things, which are negligible in the grand scheme of things, i have nothing to criticize.

The Verdict

The passion behind the camera, the vision framed by the lens, the performances captured on film; It’s incredibly rare that movies can dance that waltz perfectly. Some have come close; The Empire Strikes Back, Inglourious Basterds, the Ghost In The Shell anime film, Thoroughbreds, The VVitch, and Forrest Gump all come to mind, but they fall just short. For one reason or another i can’t uplift them to that pristine status. However, in my life, i’ve been blessed to witness a perfect film more than a handful of times. Alien, to me, is a perfect film. Amadeus is a perfect film. The Dark Knight is a perfect film. Logan. The Usual Suspects. Ex Machina. Akira. Citizen Kane. Black Swan. 12 Angry Men. Blade Runner 2049. Hereditary. These are masterpieces. Cinematic masterworks. And Suspiria belongs with them. The technical aspects of this movie are only outstripped by the performances and breadth of scope. It’s horrifying and brilliant and disgusting and beautiful and goddamn genius. I loved every second of it.

This movies is definitely not for everyone, i freely admit that. Several people walked out of my showing about half way through but I understand why. Suspiria is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the weak willed. This movie demands so much from you but if you’re willing to pay that price, it’s incredibly rewarding. Just know that, going into this, you’re going to have to commit. You’re going to have to accept horror. You’re going to have to allow yourself into this world fully. Approaching this like it’s just another slasher or Blumhouse travesty will only leave you disappointed. Suspiria is not that. It’s art. Brutal, sexual, cruel art.

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