If there was one movie in 2019 festival going people wouldn’t shut up about, it was definitely this one. Portrait of a Lady on Fire was all I heard about from certain people I trust, so I was really looking forward to it.

And the result… I don’t want to say it was underwhelming, because that just wouldn’t be fair, as this is cinema in its purest form. Let’s just say, it took me a while to get used to this quiet (except couple of parts, there is no soundtrack, no background music, nothing at all) and slow burning (get it? Because she’s on fire…) drama. I’m having a hard time writing about this movie without getting into some details of a plot or possible spoilers, so without further ado…

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

The “issue” is, I’ve seen a trailer and I heard what the movie is actually about – two women falling for each other, in a time where that thing wasn’t really easy to do. And the trailer was cut exactly as modern trailers are – to sell you the movie, to get you to see it by ANY MEANS NECESSARY. So it made this movie look like something, it wasn’t really…? I know this is not a movie’s fault and I mean, don’t get me wrong, this movie is definitely about a painter, who’s tasked to paint a wedding picture of a woman in secrecy. But soon, the truth comes out, and they start getting closer, until they fall for each other. So far so good, right? Yes, except if you go into this expecting a “juicy” drama, you’ve come to the wrong show.

When I said “slow burning”, I meant slow burning, as we don’t actually see them admit their feelings for each other until there’s “only” 40 minutes left. Most of the movie is basically a setup for us to fully understand both of these characters. Which is a ballsy choice, to make a movie in this day and age, where attention spans are getting shorter, and we are so used to scenes, that have 156 cuts in a minute and on top of that have dramatic music in the background, to tell us how to feel about it. This film doesn’t do that, it lets each of us decide how we want to feel and the absence of any music was a brilliant choice. So brilliant, I need to talk about it a bit more.

Plenty of filmmakers nowadays rely on soundtrack/music, as it can make, or sometimes, break a scene. And there is nothing wrong with that, after all, we all are suckers for a great soundtrack, me included. And Portrait of a Lady on Fire could’ve had some sort of ethereal, piano, maybe a few violins kind of soundtrack, really easily, that would’ve underlined some scenes, where it would’ve worked so well and I would’ve probably loved it even more. And yet, I am so glad it didn’t. As when you remove these “clutches” (and I need to repeat this again, I am in no way, shape or form disrespecting any sound people, musicians etc., as I admire what they do and I could never do what they do) you almost strip the movie of clothing, that protects it and reveal everything, bones, bruises, skin. You make your film more vulnerable. And that is why it worked so well for this particular film, in order for us to fully feel, what these women are feeling for each other, we needed to have the protective layer stripped, so it can standout even more. Céline Sciamma, I admire and applaud you.

That is what makes Portrait of a Lady on Fire unique – what could’ve been yet another, run of the mill kind of historical drama (but hey, this time with lesbians!) we’ve seen so many times before, was elevated to a higher level, because somebody in charge had the balls to not only do something risky, but also was smart enough to know, how to convey the lesbian love story. What I mean by that, Céline Sciamma is not only a woman director, but also lesbian. And we desperately need more people like her directing stories through her eyes, as she knows more about this than your average dude. You can tell this wasn’t shot in salacious way, where bunch of guys wanted to see (naked) girls make out. That’s yet another aspect that worked about this movie – everything was portrayed with such a raw honesty, it genuinely sneaks up on you, where once you see the final 5 minutes, you do get a bit emotional, because you’ve been on this journey with them.

The only slight knock I have against this film, there are scenes that could’ve been trimmed, just a tiny bit – maybe 10/15 minutes or so. I am all for building up atmosphere, slow burning dramas, but maybe, just maybe, if couple of scenes here and there stayed on the cutting room floor, this would have flown slightly better for me.

But who knows? Maybe, once I see it a second time, I won’t mind it at all and my rating will change, who knows. What I know for sure is, I will follow Céline Sciamma more closely now and I’m secretly hoping I’m not the only one (people in Hollywood, give her a call, a decent amount of money, don’t talk into her process and just let her work, are we clear?) as she deserves to be a household name. I can’t wait what she’s got in store for us next.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

His Girl Friday is yet another classic, that’s been escaping me for quite some time, but finally, I’ve managed to catch it, watch it and digest it and establish why I like it.

Just the sheer amount of movies that “borrowed” something from this film, or that copied one or more characters, would probably ended up being a longer list than all the intellectual properties Disney now owns (the thing is, nobody really knows, as we, as a society, just stopped counting at this point. My strategy is, if it exists, it either is owned by Disney, or it will be in about 5/10 years), so that’s impressive as it is. But on top of it, His Girl Friday is actually entertaining and funny movie… well at least after 20/30 minutes.

I don’t know why, but I had hard time “getting” into this movie. I am not sure whether it was the quality I’ve seen (there was a version on Amazon Prime, that wasn’t remastered or touched in any way, not that would need that, but it might influence the way you feel about a movie or a TV show if the quality is not that great) or something else, but it took me a while to get used these characters and the surprisingly swift (and I don’t mean Taylor) tempo of this movie. But once I got in, then I started to understand why this movie is classic, but somehow sneaky classic…?

Don’t get me wrong, I know movie fans who would mention this movie every once in a while, but it’s not really in the same discussion as Casablanca (1942) or Gone with the Wind (1939), where this film not only broke some barriers (I would imagine there were not that many movies from 1940 or prior about a woman, who’s clearly better in everything than the men around her) but also established that you can actually have actors talk the way people do in the real life, over each other and really, really fast. And not only to see, but embrace the chaos, that comes with that. It’s easy not being impressed today by this movie (as much) anymore, but His Girl Friday did everything we are used to now, and did it back in 1940, 80 years ago, and counting! That is why I believe it should be part of the conversation, about movies, that transcended the medium by influencing thousands that came after it.

His Girl Friday is that kind of a film, that even though it doesn’t get the “full” marks today, I fully admit I probably need to re-watch it at some point, and to be honest, it doesn’t bother me at all. Actually, I am looking forward to it. And here’s why. My idea of what’s good, bad, or in between changes as everyone’s, as we see more, grow, learn new things on daily basis. I might have not fully appreciated this movie a few days ago when I’ve seen it for the very time, but there was something about it, that forces me to write, that I’m not done with it. And in a couple of years, when I know more, I will re-watch it and I’m almost positive I’ll like it even better, and I (probably) will even like the first 20/30 minutes of this, which is the only reason my rating is slightly lower today.

As more and more movies are being released almost daily now, I tend not to re-watch plenty of things, as I tend to feel guilty for not discovering new, great movies, that I have in all my watch-lists over several of streaming services. But I have couple of movies I’ve already watched on a special “list”. That list is for films, I need to give another chance to, as I might have watched them in a weird period of my life, or I was in a bad mood, or if I just felt like the person I am today, can’t fully appreciate them, for whatever reason. This movie definitely goes to that list.

That’s all for today! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I still don’t understand what happened – on paper, Miss Bala had everything necessary to succeed – Catherine Hardwicke is definitely capable director, Gina Rodriguez is so fit I would believe her being able to kick some ass after only a few days of being captured by Mexican gang… so why is this movie so below average?

I think part of the issue is not enough character work for us to care about what happens to Gina’s character – the movie wastes literally no time to throw her into a really bad situation, but we only get to know her on basic level, where any kind of danger she’s subsequently in, we are not as invested. I don’t blame Gina herself, she’s doing pretty much anything she can to make this movie watchable, and the movie “moves”, so it never feels still, but yet, somehow, despite all the action scenes, colourful settings, and the fact Gina’s character is in some kind of danger every 3.5 minutes (on average, I did the math so you don’t have to), you find yourself pretty bored.

Because of that boredom, I started to notice the scenery more and more, and this is how you know this movie is not that great – Miss Bala is about a woman, who gets, by a complete coincidence, mixed up with a cartel, really dangerous one (even though that’s kind of given, isn’t it? I don’t think there are cartels that would solely be focused on petting puppies and muffin sales) and yet, this movie didn’t pull me in, and therefore I had all the time in the world to see the beautiful Mexico and I want to go visit it even more than before watching this film! And that (I’m pretty sure) is the opposite reaction of what I was supposed to feel right after finishing this movie. Yes, somehow, I can actually imagine using this film to advertise holidays in Mexico! You know, just ignore all the cartel stuff, or the corrupt police, and you’ll be fine… probably.

The movie itself advertises the fact this is based on a Mexican movie with the same name, Miss Bala from 2011. And I honestly want to see the original, out of morbid curiosity, just to see if it’s any good and what happened, because then, maybe, just maybe, it will help me understand, how this movie, that has plenty of pretty decent action scenes, Gina Rodriguez, and is being directed by somebody, who knows what they are doing, could turn up so… painfully below average, where you don’t really care about anyone in the movie.

I do feel the need to apologise to any of you, dear readers, as I feel like this entire review is really bland, but then again, so is this movie. I’d tell you to go watch it to understand why I am struggling to come up with something, except I can’t recommend this movie with good conscience to anybody, other than (maybe?) some hardcore fans of Gina Rodriguez. And even they would probably be disappointed.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Late Night is definitely product of our time, where more and more we are getting comedies, that address harsh reality and injustice of today. This movie (or more precisely, its main star and screenwriter, Mindy Kaling) focused on late night setting (which is understandable, as she used to be an intern for Conan O’Brien, so she knows this environment really well) and the representation (or lack thereof) of women, and people of colour and how hard it is to get a gig like this (still?).

The movie definitely let’s you know that straightaway and isn’t shy about it, and I reckon that’s why this movie is rated fairly low on IMDb (currently sitting on 6.5/10 with 23.500+ votes) as just a mere mention of things like that irks some people the wrong way. I think this movie could’ve easily been a preachy, way to “woke” of a movie to be enjoyable, but, because of all the talent involved and the clever screenplay by Mindy, it’s not that at all. It’s actually the very opposite of that.

Late Night is a smart movie about a few real issues (the movie mainly touches on topics such as race, sex, age, you know, the to-go topics for the most awkward dinner conversation with your elderly relatives, you will ever have) but it never goes overboard with it, meaning we still are watching a comedy, where the one and only Emma Thompson proves that she’s still a force to be reckon with. Her relationship with Mindy felt real, and the two of them had a really good chemistry together. Mindy herself was great, I thought she did really well, especially playing “against” an icon such as Emma, but she held her own.

My main and practically only issue with this movie was (surprisingly) with the script, where event though it was clever, I felt it wasn’t clever enough. Let me explain…

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

The first thing about Late Night is that it’s about Mindy’s character mainly, and we are supposed to be rooting for her, as she’s fighting everybody and works her way up, BUT… it’s not as much because of her own skills/abilities, but because the choices are either made for her (like her being hired had nothing to do with her skills at all) and she’s dealing with that, or she’s bad at her job, until her co-worker points her to the right direction, tells her what she should try, so she does it and of course she succeeds. There is a point, almost one hour into the movie, where she makes a decision to attend the charity stand-up thing, she’s been talking about for most of the movie, even though Emma Thompson’s character tells her she’ll be fired, if she goes. And at that moment, I’ve realised that might be her first actual decision without anybody else giving her direction, or where some sort of coincidence happened. All I am trying to say is Mindy Kaling is clever, likeable and adorable, so of course we all want her to succeed in this movie, but it shouldn’t take her (especially if she’s the main character) almost an hour before she takes her destiny into her own hands.

The only other thing I’d say about the script is, I honestly wished it would’ve followed some nontraditional ways, as you can safely predict what happens next. For a normal, “switch your brain off” comedy, that’s not a problem, but for a comedy that’s a smart, bitty (that’s 100% a word!) and wants to address several (important) issues, you’d think they would didn’t feel the need for the fairy tale happy ending, or they would at least threw something into this mix, that wasn’t so predictable. I expected bit more, story wise, to be perfectly honest.

But other than those two points, I had a blast and Late Night is a delightful, smart comedy, that’s definitely worth seeing. I don’t think you will have a bad time with these two amazing actresses.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

First of all, I hope you’ll forgive me for that bad pun, but it was there, so I had to take it. Second of all, there is a reason behind that pun, as The Lovebirds works in a unison, where Kumail Nanjiani makes the movie funny, but Issa Rae is the main star, who makes this the surprise comedy of this year (so far) for me, and elevates it.

The Lovebirds starts as almost a drama about a couple, who we see fall in love, just to watch them couple of minutes later breaking up. I, as almost always, had no idea what this movie was about, so when the movie turned into a murder mystery, I was perplexed and slightly annoyed I have to say, as I was interested in their relationship and wouldn’t be opposed exploring it in a proper, heavy drama.

That obviously didn’t happen, as this movie is mainly a comedy, but along the way we do get to explore them and their relationship carefully and see, what’s happened between them, so my mild annoyance turned into me actually enjoying the ride. Plenty of jokes landed, the story might have been slightly over the top at times, sure, but I have found myself really entertained. I need to admit, until now, I wasn’t really familiar with Issa Rae at all. But after this, I definitely need to look into her filmography, as she’s the one who (at least for me) is the main star of the movie, and that’s difficult, as Kumail is great in this too! Not only he’s funny, but you understand his character really well and in some more dramatic scenes I thought he’s doing something, we don’t see from him as much. If he’s the heart of the movie, Issa would definitely be the soul of it, as if her character didn’t work, the movie would’ve turned into paint-by-numbers comedy, that wouldn’t stand out at all.

I honestly believe it’s mainly because of Issa, and the mix of charm, comedic talent and charisma she brings into this, the movie works and is memorable, as she’s a breath of a fresh air, something we don’t get to see (at least in a mainstream movie) every day. I do hope this will be her “coming out” party, as I understand she’s already famous, but I wish this movie will break her through to the mainstream audience, so the next time they will see her, they would know her name. I for one will remember that name, as I will be actively looking for it.

If you want to give this movie a chance, do it, but try to accept the movie on its own terms. The reason I am saying that is this movie currently sits on IMDb with 6.0/10, which is incredibly low. Either my standards are going down (which is totally possible) or people go into this expecting something else and have a problem with what’s actually on the screen. That’s something I’ll never understand, especially when comes to this movie, as it knows, what it is and it doesn’t pretend to be something else. It’s just a slightly crazy comedy, with some truths about relationships and one really insane night. Nothing more, nothing less. And that’s what I love about this film, it never feels out of place. On future viewings, my rating will probably be going even higher, as I have really enjoyed myself. Definitely a pleasant surprise.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke