The 90’s were a decade, where you got a few smaller movies, that are considered almost untouchable cult classics nowadays, where even if you haven’t seen the movie, you’d know some quotes, or even memes. Office Space (1999) comes to mind instantly and Friday is definitely in this conversation too. We all have seen/used the meme and many people on “the Internets” have used the “Bye, Felisha!” quote, that comes from this movie. It is safe to say that Friday definitely made an impact on our pop-culture.
And yet, it’s such a simple movie. Which is kind of the point, the day in the life of a few people, who just want to chill, maybe smoke some weed, but things get in a way. What I liked was the vibe of this movie. It doesn’t rush anywhere, it takes its time, trying to establish some characters, even a few instances of foreshadowing, which I appreciated. Plus, this is the movie that gave us Chris Tucker. And that depends on you, whether it’s a plus or minus, as I know certain people love him and certain people don’t really like him, as he can be a bit over the top with his delivery. But in this movie, he shines and I finally understood how he came about. If you ever wondered why he had a career, watch Friday. Ice Cube might be the main protagonist of this movie, but Chris Tucker is the one, who stole this movie for himself in every scene he’s in.
I was slightly surprised how many jokes don’t really land (or didn’t land for me) in this comedy. Maybe it’s because I don’t really like weed, so I can’t relate to that aspect…? Don’t get me wrong, there are some funny scenes, but there isn’t one that stands out, or good few where I would laugh really hard. Sometimes I chuckled a bit, but mostly I was just enjoying the story and some characters in this movie. What I am trying to say, if I were to judge this movie as a comedy first and foremost, my rating would have been lower.
But I try to judge the films I see as whole packages, and for me, Friday mostly worked. Again, don’t expect any Oscar drama, after all, this is meant to just be a simple stoner(ish) comedy about a guy, who manages to get fired during his day off and then he’s trying to help out his friend, who happens to owe $200 to a local drug dealer. And of course, the dealer wants the money by the end of Friday, otherwise there won’t be any Saturday… And that is pretty much it. Only thing I left off is the fact you get to meet a lot of interesting characters along the way, and when the movie is over, you kind of end up in this mindset, where you feel like it wasn’t bad, but something was missing and it didn’t hit the spot for you.
Overall, if you happen to love the occasional weed and can relate to people who just like to chill, let’s say on Friday, doing nothing but smoking some weed and trying to get some money, this movie might be for you. Or if you fancy a really straightforward movie, where you don’t really have to use your brain, where the story is nicely self-contained within one day, Friday is also the movie for you. But if you are in the mood for a movie, that gives you something extra, this ain’t it, chief.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
As many other movie fans, when I learned Hollywood is making a sequel to Blade Runner (1982, my review here) I was worried, as if the last 15 years or so had taught us anything, it’s rarely a good idea to make a sequel 10/20 years later. Usually, I would give you couple of examples, but there are so many, you can literally google “unnecessary sequels” and you might be surprised how many there are. But when I learned it’s going to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, Roger Deakins will be behind the camera and they casted Ryan Gosling in the main role, I… felt a bit of hope? I still wasn’t 100% convinced we needed a sequel, but they got so many talented people behind this, I started to hope this might not turn out to be a garbage on fire, as most of these “20 years later” sequels.
And it turns out, they did the best they could. Blade Runner 2049 is visually stunning movie. We need to address that first and foremost, as the visuals are definitely on pair with the original. As Blade Runner was stunning when it came out, but obviously given the current technology being much better than what they had in 1982, this movie looks breathtakingly stunning. Part of it is the technology and CGI, but much bigger chunk of that goes to Deakins being probably the best cinematographer we have at this moment. His vision directed by Villeneuve works for me and I really hope these two will work with each other for as long as possible.
The performances were great. We have surprisingly good performance from Dave Bautista, we also have as always great Robin Wright (even though you could say she’s playing a variation on her character Claire from House of Cards (2013 – 2018) again, but hey, if something works…) to stunning and heart-breaking role for Ana de Armas, who is definitely forging her path in Hollywood of being one of the top leading actresses of her generation to Ryan Gosling, who is trying to give us “young Harrison Ford” as his performance felt quiet, subdued, really reminding me of Harrison’s performance in the original film. The only person that didn’t fit for me was Jared Leto. I just can’t take him seriously in almost anything, but in here, there was another thing that bothered me about his character. While watching the film, it felt wrong, almost as he was “too young” to play it… I couldn’t explain it, but his lines and his character motivations felt like it would be much better fit for somebody bit older than him. After the movie finished, I went to check the Trivia section on IMDb and yeah, the very first one confirmed my “suspicion”, that his role was originally meant to be played by David Bowie, but unfortunately he died before shooting. And that made me even sadder, as I could imagine Bowie nailing that role, bringing his genuine quirkiness to that character… It’s a shame we didn’t get to see his version.
The overall story I found intriguing. I don’t want to go over too many details, as it’s pretty long and “full” movie when comes to the amount of information, so further viewing will be necessary for me to properly form an opinion, but I liked how they didn’t really bother to answer whether Harrison’s character was Replicant. Instead, we get more pressing question – what if Replicants could reproduce? Would that make them equal with humans? Would that start the revolution, the uprising everybody is afraid of? How is it possible? I really liked how they went about making this sequel, that yes, we had certain call-backs to the original Blade Runner, but mostly it was trying to be its own thing.
The best thing I can say about Blade Runner 2049 is this – it is definitely not a short movie (164 minutes) but not only the runtime did not bother me (the movie never bored me or felt too long), but when the movie finished, I wanted more. I wanted to go back to that world, I wanted to know what happens next. And that’s always a good sign, when movie leaves you with wanting more. I could easily imagine making a limited TV series with a proper budget, maybe 6/8 one hour episodes, if the people behind this movie and the original one joined forces and “finished” the story, we could have something truly great on our hands.
Overall, this film seems like a small miracle – what could have been just another “sequel made 20 years too late” turned out to be really, really great film, where everything looks stunning, most performances are great to watch, the story makes sense, it doesn’t rely to heavily on the original film, but there is enough from it to make sense and it leaves you wanting more. Only reason I am not giving it full rating is that I need to re-watch it again, to take everything in, to digest it properly, as this definitely is a movie, that will reward multiple viewings. And I can almost guarantee that on my second viewing, when I pick up more hints and information, my rating will almost certainly go up. I don’t think there was much more they could have done better than this. If you liked the original Blade Runner, I think you should enjoy this one too. Sure, it looks/feels different, but at the same time, it does feel familiar enough and that is the magic touch of Denis Villeneuve. Now I am more excited for his version of Dune (2021).
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Out of all the movies I have seen in my (relatively) short life, this is the movie where my opinion has changed the most on. Because as most of movie fans now know, when comes to Blade Runner, it’s all about the cut you watch. And unfortunately, I think I’ve seen the “normal” one first, which left me confused and mildly infuriated (and to be fair, I was 15, so plenty of things did probably go over my head). But there was something really intriguing about this movie, so when I was looking up more information about this film, that’s when I found out about different cuts, that change this movie. See, there’s the theatrical cut, the director’s cut and the final cut. You can see the differences between them here for yourself. So after some time, I managed to get my hands on the director’s cut and I liked the movie a bit more. I started to understand what the fuss was about. And then I’ve learned there is a new version (as it only came out in 2007) called the final cut. And for my money, please don’t bother watching any other cuts than the final cut, as that is the true Blade Runner movie, at least in my book. Ever since I’ve watched it, and I have watched it several times now, I have completely turned around on this film, where it’s almost in my TOP 10 movies of all time.
You always hear or see how this movie influenced a lot of our pop-culture, and it’s absolutely spot on, as without shadow of a doubt, there are only a handful of movies that influenced everything that’s been made after them as much as this one did. What Ridley Scott created was a ballsy thing, as prior to this film, sci-fi movies were either black and white movies, that didn’t age well, or Star Wars, which is great, but tonally really different (read – hopeful). Blade Runner might either be the very first one and if not, one of the firsts for sure, to play around with the concept of dark future, where everything is bleak, dehumanized, plenty of big corporations around (why does this sound so familiar…) and it rains a lot. Like basically the entire movie. And it sets the mood for what you are about to watch so beautifully… it’s eerie, yet beautiful, the same way this movie is complimented by the legendary soundtrack made by Vangelis. All pieces fit together.
I could go on and on about why I love this movie, but let’s focus on two things here – the performances and the endless debate whether Deckard (Harrison Ford) was in fact Replicant himself.
The performances in here are plenty of times so subtly amazing, the first time you watch this movie, you might not like most of them. Let me explain – most of them are not conventional performances, they are not “in your face” acting, and they need to be unique, as most of the actors are playing Replicants, and the main idea here is whether they actually could be more human than humans. We know they can’t (or at least they shouldn’t) feel any emotions, yet plenty of them seem like they do. Does that make them human? Two actors I really need to mention are Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah as both give different, yet great performances. Rutger is almost this poet, who has seen things (one of the best final scenes in movie history, every time I watch it, it gives me chills) who can be really cold blooded killer to make things done, but at the same time this almost gentle giant. And then there is Daryl’s character, who acts almost like this kid, who’s just too curious about everything, but you get the feeling she could snap at any time. There is always something sinister lingering about her. When comes to Harrison himself, the first time you watch the movie, you might argue he seems almost comatose, as his performance is really subdued, but the more you think about the main conflict and the more time you watch it, you understand why he’s doing what he’s doing and why it ultimately works.
Ok, let’s talk about the question. Is our main protagonist, the Blade Runner (somebody who hunts and kills Replicants for living) Replicant himself? It depends who you ask is the honest answer. Harrison is on the record for saying he isn’t, and he is in fact human, Ridley Scott said he absolutely is a Replicant and you can read countless of theories that support both sides of this argument. For my money, I would say Deckard is human, but if you think about it, does it matter that much…? As sure, if he’s a human, then we have the obvious theme of “human x machine” and how towards the end, the machine is more human than the human, who was ordered to kill it and in that process, the human is loosing pieces of his soul, his humanity. But if Deckard was in fact a Replicant, we have “machine x machine” which might not sound that intriguing, but also gives us something unique, as then you can think about how one machine/Replicant is supposed to be the “bad guy” and yet he saves our protagonist and how the other, who we are supposed to be rooting for, is killing Replicants. And if he himself is a Replicant, he’s killing his own kind and it seems that it did affect him too, so maybe he’s got a soul…? Again, you can read this movie in several different ways and that is at the end of the day, the sign of a great film. It gives you a lot of clues, but it leaves the ultimate decision in your hands and if you want to believe Deckard was a human, you can. If you want to believe the opposite, you also can.
Blade Runner is truly a masterpiece, if you allow yourself to be pulled into this eerie, mysterious future that’s now in the past (remember it takes place in November 2019) you shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s definitely something, that doesn’t feel as unique now, as it’s been copied to death by variety of movies, TV shows, anime… you name it. And yet, it ages beautifully, like a fine wine. As mentioned before, when I watched this movie for the very first time, my rating was around 3/5, as I was disappointed that I didn’t get to experience the brilliance people were raving about. But once I found the final cut and have seen it 3/4 times now, everything’s changed and now it’s one of the top contenders for my personal TOP 10 movies. And that’s no small achievement. I honestly can’t remember a movie where I would flip my opinion on that hard (from being mediocre to one of my favourites). The magic is here, it works and it’s real.
Overall, you need to be in a certain mood to watch this movie. It’s not something to watch when you want to be cheered up, that’s for sure. And yet, I can imagine putting this film on a rainy Sunday afternoon, where the weather is bit gloomy, cuddle up underneath a warm blanket with a hot drink of your choice and go to this rainy world, where nothing is as it seems, it’s full or rain, dream unicorns, origami, Replicons, and existential questions about what does it mean to have a soul, what makes a human… you know, the good stuff. 🙂
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Let’s get one thing straight – Missing Link is definitely one of the “lesser” Laika movies (the studio behind such gems like Corpse Bride (2005), or my personal favourite Kubo and the Two Strings(2016)) but it’s almost like saying “Pixar’s lesser movie”. Because as with them, even their “lesser” movie is still really, really well made, told and executed. And Missing Link has a few things going for it, that worked for me.
The first one is the voice casting – Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry, Zach Galifianakis, Zoe Saldana or Timothy Olyphant are great and pleasant to listen to. They also give this stop-motion animation that extra level of charm, personality and that is definitely THE main thing this film has going for it, big time. It’s really charming. I can’t really explain it, because overall, the story isn’t anything new we wouldn’t seen before, it’s your typical “explorer finds a new species, but he’s trying to get him to his own people, rather than profit from it”, but there are evil people after them. So they go from one location to another, escaping one escapade after another.
But there is something about the stop-motion of this movie and that voice cast, full of really talented people, that even though you know exactly where the story is going (Missing Link is definitely more of kids movie, rather than “adults can get something out of this too”) you will still be glued to the TV screen. It’s funny at the times, cute most of the time and most importantly, the moment the movie starts to drag on a bit, it’s only about 10 minutes from being finished.
I know this might sound weird, complimenting the fact this movie is short (the runtime is 93 minutes) or making it sound like it’s a benefit, but it really is, as to me that is an underrated art, knowing when your movie should end. There are movies that definitely overstay their welcome, so for this film to be fully aware of what it is and knowing when to end, it’s definitely a benefit.
Also, I need to talk about the end credits, where you can see how painstakingly slow the process of stop-motion animation actually is and how much work goes into every shot. Those have always fascinated me, and I know it’s almost “standard” at this point for stop-motion animated movies to have a scene or two during the credits to show the fans how the movie gets made, and I will always respect people behind these movies, because you can tell they really care and it shows, as this movie is stunning to look at.
Who I really want to talk about in this movie, is Zach’s voice performance as Mr. Link/Susan. I used to think he’s not a great comedian, but the older I get, the more I appreciate his comedy chops. And in this movie, his performance was perfect. What pleasantly surprised me was that plenty of A list celebrities, who would do voices for animated movies, especially in some sort of creature/animal role, they would usually do a “shouty” performance, slightly over the top. Zach took it in totally different way, making his character really sweet, tender and quiet. Only thing that did get old, especially towards the end, was his character taking everything so literally. It was funny the first couple of instances, but repetition only works so many times before it doesn’t.
Overall, even though Missing Link won’t be attacking any TOP rankings/lists when comes to “best animated movie” or even “best stop-motion animated movie”, but it’s still a really good movie, that targets kids exclusively. Parents might have a good time too, but they will have much better time with some other stop-motion movies. For example the prior mentioned Kubo and the Two Strings is to me on the same level as the best Pixar movies, because that film is stunning, with great performances, brilliant story and really big chunk of heart in it. I am not going to say you will get the same experience with Missing Link, probably not. But it still has its charm and I don’t think there is any danger of you dying from boredom.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
The Devil’s Own is your typical “story of two movies”. The first half is really great, because it’s full of promise, it’s almost all setup for something big to come. For a great finale, for a great “punchline” almost. And it just never comes. Or, what comes is the bare minimum you’d expect to come…? I thought from someone like Alan J. Pakula (for whom this was his last movie he directed) I just expected more.
The main issue I had with this film, it is very much of its time, which I don’t necessarily mind that much, but I do mind when that gets into its own way. Let me explain – the main issue here is Brad Pitt is playing IRA terrorist, and you can kind of put together what he is/stands for from the movie, but I don’t think it was enough. You don’t really get any information about the history/context about Ireland and Northern Ireland, or IRA, just are just kind of thrown in the middle of everything, because I would imagine in 1997, most people knew enough about that conflict, so maybe the people behind this movie didn’t feel the need to explain too much (after all, we all know what’s happening, right?) But then, movies should work on its own. They should provide you enough knowledge so you can enjoy it, even let’s say 20 something years in the future, rather than say “oh, you don’t know about this? Well, you should really go to the library more often…”
I was expecting some big monologue from Pitt’s character, where he would sum up the situation, why is he fighting, how it’s more nuanced, than what the average American would know, and once we got to that scene… I just felt like the movie gave us the bare minimum, where his entire thing was triggered with his dad’s death (which is not a spoiler, but the very first scene we see in the movie). And for a character motivation, that is fair enough. But if your main story is about how this war doesn’t have any winners, just losers and how it’s more complex, you really should show us the complexity/nuance.
What I liked was the feel of this movie, that almost 70’s raw-ish perspective on things (not just with Pitt’s character, but with Harrison Ford‘s cop character too) so I really enjoyed that. Almost like Pakula captured the decade he shined in the most and managed to bring it to the 90’s. Speaking of Harrison, I did enjoy his performance, the “cop who never stepped over the line” kind of guy, always honest and honourable, that kind of character always suits him. When comes to Pitt’s performance, let’s just say the Irish accent was… ehm… interesting…? I mean, there are definitely much worse UK based accents in American movies, and Pitt at least tried, but just saying “Aye” a lot, doesn’t make you Irish.
As I wrote prior, for the first half of this movie you are intrigued, as plenty of things are setting up nicely and you can’t wait how things turn out. And then, it’s dragging along, and the movie loses momentum in its second half, where the ending should affect/shock you more, but at that point, you are really bored, to the point where you don’t even care anymore. Which is a shame, because you can tell this has been done by somebody, who understands the craft. But, as one of the golden rules of Hollywood says, it’s not about how you start, but how you finish…
Overall, The Devil’s Own is a movie full of promise, but not enough payoffs. If you happen to know more about the Ireland x Northern Ireland situation and IRA, you might enjoy this movie more than your average movie goer (I know a few things, but I still could use a lecture or two, so I wouldn’t mind if the movie at least tried to give me more context) if you know nothing about it, you just need to be satisfied with the fact, that Brad’s character is one of those “good bad terrorists” as that’s all you are given by the movie. And yeah, people in Ireland say “Aye” a lot, did you know that?
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
This movie reminded me why I love movies that are older, even if by only 20 something years. As every movie (as long as it’s not historical drama or something along those lines) is a time capsule of an era, or a certain time period. But I’m a Cheerleader deals with the fact that Megan (Natasha Lyonne) might be… A LESBIAN?! Imagine the horror… 🙂 Which this movie pokes fun at and at the same time reflects on her experience throughout all of this, and does it really well.
I find it hard to write about But I’m a Cheerleader as it’s almost one of a kind movie. On a surface, it might seem like pretty straightforward comedy, where parents think their daughter can be cured of her lesbianism, so they send her to “rehab camp”, where in a couple of weeks time, they should cure her of all the gayness and make her ready to jump on any dick in her general vicinity. But dig deeper and you will find it’s also tender, gentle story of a few girls coming to terms with who they are, while this silliness is happening in the background.
A big part of this movie’s charm goes with the casting – from Natasha, Melanie Lynskey, Clea DuVall, to RuPaul (as a man!) and in tiny roles Michelle Williams and Julie Delpy! And I need to stop to discuss Ru, as I am so used to his Drag Race persona, I never realized how much “on” he is. What I mean is, in here, he actually uses his “normal” voice, which I almost didn’t recognize, as he’s talking much much higher, even when he is out of drag. It was definitely fascinating seeing him act and to be “prototype” of this manly man and him being the coach for all the gays, that should turn into men, under his supervision.
And I think if you knew who he was back in 1999, you’d appreciate this film much more than your average movie goer, as even that fact (RuPaul being the one who coaches young guys and giving them advice on how to be a man) is making mockery of this idea, that you can “cure” gay/lesbian thoughts. And that is something this movie does really well, as this topic could have been turned really sad really quickly. And yet, it never goes there, there is always a hope.
Something tells me that if you wanted to make a movie like this today, it wouldn’t be a comedy, rather it would be this deep psychological drama, mixed with bit of a thriller, where they would let you wallow in a dirt and misery for just over 2 hours. But I’m a Cheerleader took entirely different route and took this topic as a challenge, it made it into almost light-hearted comedy, that doesn’t shy away from dealing with the idea of how fucked up this system is. And it does it in a very different, more optimistic way and I really, really liked that.
I think we kind of lost this form of filmmaking, where if we want to make a movie about something that’s serious, there can’t be any joy in it, as it is serious, right? This film reminds us that not only it can be done, but it can be done really well, especially if you let somebody like Jamie Babbit write and direct the movie too.
Overall, But I’m a Cheerleader feels like almost a unicorn in the dark. It’s shinning bright, it’s making mockery out of everybody, who is still thinking homosexuality can be cured and actually takes its time to introduce and develop characters, so you as a viewer can easily identify with them. And that is worth a lot as I can’t imagine how it must feel like being a teenage girl, who’s not only confused about liking girls, but now she’s being told it’s bad and she shouldn’t do that. But this movie shows you her experience and perspective so well, it’s really easy to understand and not only her character, but everybody at the “camp”. I think I might re-watch it at some point, as I didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I have.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Ever since I’ve seen the first trailer for Jojo Rabbit, I knew that this will be a film like no other. I had faith, as Taika Waititi has proven himself several times now (from What We Do in the Shadows (2014), Thor: Ragnarok (2017) to somewhat underseen and underappreciated Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) which if you haven’t seen it, please do yourself a favour and do see it) and plus the topic was more than intriguing (young kid, who during World War II adores Hitler so much he sees him as his imaginary friend, what’s not to love there, right?) and the cast! From Scarlett Johansson to Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen and surprisingly great Rebel Wilson, everybody fits perfectly and put their 100% into every scene. No wonder this movie is just pure perfection and I don’t say this lightly.
There are times, where I don’t know how to rate a movie and I need to think about it, how I felt about it, etc. And then, there are times where you are just so into a movie, you are enjoying it and no matter what’s happening on the screen, I know easily what my rating will be. And from around 20 minutes in, I knew Jojo Rabbit will be that case. But it’s not purely because of that great casting, or that wacky aspect of this movie, even though that part contributes to my main point. And that is this movie does something, that plenty of films try to do, but only a few succeed – mix comedy with some heavy themes. Balance crazy, wacky scenes with some dramatic ones. Plenty of times, one feels distracting and you as the viewer, get annoyed easily. Especially if one part of the movie is much better than the other (for example the comedy part is better than the dramatic part). And that is the main reason I have enjoyed this film so much – it’s perfectly balanced.
Jojo Rabbit feels like the most perfect blend of wacky comedy about a kid, who wants to be Hitlerjugend really badly, but for variety of reasons, he never succeeds as much as he’d want to. But deep down, it’s about plenty of other stuff and that is the thing – every time the movie feels like it might get skewed too much into the wacky stuff, there is always something, that reminds you that yeah, even though you are laughing, because let’s face it, Hitler as portrayed by Taika himself is funny. But the things that are happening (like, you know, the war) have real life consequences for everybody and especially our main protagonist. And to me, that is something extraordinary. This could have gone wrong so easily, or could overstayed its welcome, but it never does. And that goes for the dramatic scenes too – when some scenes happen, they hit you and they hit your hard (especially one scene that I unfortunately had spoiled for me because of Twitter, quite pivotal scene, so imagine my frustration) but they never take you out of the movie, they are there to work as almost a contrast for the comedic part of the movie.
This might sounds really cheesy, but I don’t care – I think the reason this movie works so well is because it reflects life itself – plenty of things around us can be really wacky, sometimes can feel almost surreal, and then something major happens, where even though we were fine and laughing just a few minutes/hours/days ago, we are not laughing now. And to balance it out like this… my hat is off to you, Taika. The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay is definitely in good hands.
Also, let’s talk about the cast. As I’ve mentioned prior, it’s not only star-studded, but everyone is great, no matter how small their role might be. For example, Stephen Merchant is in this movie and I don’t think this is a major spoiler to say, he’s not there a lot, practically he’s in just one (quite long) scene, but I guarantee you, you will remember his presence. Same goes for Sam Rockwell, who it seems like said to himself “I’ve been acting since 90’s, but nobody’s noticed me, so let’s turn it up a bit” and he continues in this impressive streak of great roles and brilliant performances, where we need to start having a conversations about him being one of the best actors of our generation. I don’t think Scarlett had a better role in years, as again (with plenty of people in this movie) her role is not that big (the film mainly focuses on Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie and I will talk about them soon) but she does her absolute best with her role. Her scene at the dinner table, where she plays both herself and Jojo’s dad, is simply amazing. Well deserved nomination for her.
The main star is obviously Jojo, aka Roman Griffin Davis and… wow. When he made this film, he was around 11 years old and Jesus… to act like a kid and at the same time actually act, talk about talent. You know it’s always risky to have a kid be the protagonist of your movie, but did he deliver. And the same goes for Thomasin McKenzie. She was a great counterpart to Jojo, more then equal partner to him and in their scenes, they really complemented each other so well, they both felt really natural. Really hope both of them have long careers ahead of them.
The same way I said we need to involve Sam Rockwell in the conversation for one of our best actors of today, I honestly believe Taika has earned his place to be in the same conversation for one of our best current writers/directors. He’s got his unique voice, but he’s not banking on just that. He’s managed to give us a superhero/comedy, horror/comedy, adventure/comedy, and now almost historical drama/comedy, but here’s thing – he can mix any genre with comedy so well, it doesn’t get repetitive or annoying. He doesn’t feel like one trick pony, because everything he does has his handwriting all over, but at the same time it feels really unique. I don’t think it would be too big of a reach to call him “Stanley Kubrick of comedy” as no matter what he does next, I will be there, patiently waiting and there is a good chance I will enjoy whatever he does next. So far, he’s yet to have a miss and I don’t think that is coming anytime soon.
Overall, if you’ve seen the trailer and you think you don’t want to see Jojo Rabbit because it’s “just a silly movie with Hitler in it”, please do yourself a favour and see it. Because it is much, much more. From the casting, to the musical choices (where else would you hear The Beatles or David Bowie in German?) everything fits together to create a really unique, funny, sad, yet somehow hopeful piece of a film. I will definitely re-visit this movie and gladly.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
The African Queen is the perfect example of a movie, that simply can’t be judged based on today’s standards. Not because something highly not politically correct is taking place, no. I was actually quite surprised, that the movie aged pretty well and there were almost no scenes/dialogues of that nature (but then again, I might have missed something, I am sometimes not woke enough). No, the reason for this film being judged by the standards of 1951, is the adventure seems almost laughably not adventurous. Most of this movie is taking its sweet time, and even where there is some action, it’s nothing too exciting. And the ending!
Which again, I can only say this, because I’ve been raised on movies, that might be average, but they are way more exciting than this. But again, that’s only because people behind those movies grew up on films like The African Queen and were inspired. And of course, the technology has evolved significantly, the stunt work became it’s own industry almost… there are bunch of reasons newer movies will be more entertaining than this one. But most of them won’t be as “movie like” as The African Queen and that is this movie’s biggest weapon. It actually behaves like a movie, it has a good and entertaining story and two of the biggest names from the “old Hollywood” era.
Both Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn are great in this movie (again, by 1951’s standards!) and they actually make a good couple, where you don’t struggle to believe those two could form a couple (and the age difference between them is “only” 7 years, which for a film from 1950’s is almost progressive, given how young the leading ladies usually were, no matter who the male lead was) and dare I say there was some chemistry there? What surprised me was the fact that Humphrey won his only Oscar for this role, and not only that, he was “the last man born in the 19th century to ever win a leading role Oscar.” (source IMDb.com) which puts everything into perspective regarding the age of… not only this movie, but everything. I mean, this year (2021) this film will turn 70 years!
What I really liked about this movie might just be the fact it takes its time. With everything, from the action, to building a relationship between our main protagonists, but…! It doesn’t do it in the cliché way of “first, they hated each other, but 30 minutes later, they understood they can’t live without the other person”. No, in here, Katharine’s character is more puzzled, maybe slightly disgusted by Humphrey’s choices, but I never got the feeling that she would be despise him. On the opposite, because he doesn’t behave like anyone she knows, she seems intrigued by him! Which if anything, is still kind of revolutionary and not done often enough in today’s movies. Notice how if our main protagonists are a man and a woman, they NEED to hate each other, despise each other first, before (eventually) falling for each other. I always found that false, as plenty of time, you don’t despise people straight away, do you? You behave more like Katharine’s character, where you might look at the other person with some fascination, and try to get to know them.
The other interesting this is how towards the end, this movie skews slightly more towards a comedy, albeit unintentionally. I think I can at least hint at some spoilers for a movie that’s been out (checks my watches for some reason) for almost 70 years now, but the scene with the torpedo and how not only Humphry knows how to home build one (or two!) but even when their boat sinks, by sheer luck, it still fulfils its destiny. Or the fact the captain of the ship that takes them hostage and wants to hang them, would be kind enough to marry them just before… but that’s (old) Hollywood for you. Anything goes, as long as our protagonists end up happy, with each other in their arms.
Overall, I understand why The African Queen can be found on various different “best of” lists, whether it’s best movie, adventure, romance etc. It’s still an enjoyable, entertaining movie, that knows when to end and how to occupy your time for almost 2 hours, where you don’t feel the time, which is definitely a good sign. Would definitely watch it again, at some point in the future.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
