Movie Reviews

Malcolm & Marie (2021) Review – Not Everything is Black and White

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Do you feel too happy? Are you enjoying your life little too much right now? Do you want to see a movie about two beautiful people arguing about everything, examining their relationship, and proving even hot, rich people have issues? Well, do I have a movie for you! Just login to your Netflix account and watch Malcolm & Marie right now!

Yes, I am being slightly cheeky, so let’s get serious for a second. One of the first movies to be “written, directed, and completed during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States” (source IMDb.com) and thank god it’s not about the pandemic (but trust me, those films are coming) and I think Sam Levinson (the director of this film and the creator of Euphoria (2019 -, also starring Zendaya) made the best out of the bad situation. With very limited resources, with people not being able to travel, he made a movie that happens during one night, it’s literally just two actors and most importantly, it doesn’t feel “cheap”. He made those limitations work for him, where ultimately, you could see something like this being made even if there was no pandemic (imagine… and I have just remembered that video of celebrities singing Imagine, so let me recover from that cringe).

Ok, I am back now, so let’s talk about Malcolm & Marie. As weird as this might sound, it’s definitely up to you how much enjoyment you will get out of this film. I know what you are thinking “well, now you have described literally every movie ever, thanks! So helpful from you!” but with this one, it is almost a different ballpark, as there are only two characters, two actors who pretty much do not leave the screen for 106 minutes, so you are either with them, or not. The movie is also stylised and shot in black and white (I thought that decision worked quite well) and minus the music played by our main characters, it’s without any soundtrack. That worked well sometimes, but sometimes the “song choices” were a bit too much on the nose, so it pulled me out of a moment or two. I understand those characters were being petty towards each other, so the song choices might have been appropriate for them, but in some bigger moments, that wasn’t working for me too much.

But the main “selling” point of this movie is definitely the “gimmick”, the draw if you will – one location, one night, two actors, already mentioned Zendaya and John David Washington. And I could watch those two reading Apple’s terms and conditions for 2 hours and it would still be worth it, as they both give this movie their 100%. I knew both of them from their previous projects, so I wasn’t surprised how great they were, but there was something about this mix that just worked for me even more than I expected. To me, and as much as I loved his work in this film, this is Zendaya’s movie. She can do funny, cute, crazy, sad, mad, sexy, and in some scenes, those emotions can all be there within a few minutes and she delivers every single time. Especially her big speech at the end stunned me and that is where you will see that as with most of relationships, there is a lot to process, there are two sides to everything and yet you can not help but really understand her character a bit more, where was she coming from the entire time and she sells it. Honestly, I can’t wait for her to win an Oscar in a couple of years time, as you know it’s just a question of “when”, rather than “if”. And the same goes for John David Washington, he’s immensely talented individual, who doesn’t (physically) remind me of his dad (for those who don’t know, he is Denzel Washington‘s son) until he opens his mouth, as to me, that is how I knew he is his “kid”, as they sound almost identical. I am glad to see he’s inherited some of his dad’s talent and probably took some acting advices from him (I mean, if your dad was one of the finest actors of all time, you would be dumb not to ask a few questions, especially if you want to act yourself) as he’s brilliant.

Where the movie loses me a bit was towards the end, where some of the arguments feel a bit hollow and technically you can make an excellent short film out of this (let’s say 20/30 minutes) as the main point or even the history between our main (and only) characters isn’t THAT complicated. Sometimes, the movie almost wallows in that misery too much and I didn’t think it was necessary.

What this movie does really well is making you root for a different character every 20/30 minutes. When this movie started, I was 100% in Zendaya’s corner, when John David had his big speech about movies and movie criticism and how today’s society works (“Does the male gaze exist if the filmmaker’s gay and not straight? And to what degree? What if they’re asexual?”) I understood his character better and agreed with him to a certain extent… and I think that’s also a sign of a good movie, where you are basically swinging like a pendulum, and at the end of the movie you understand nobody’s perfect, she’s made mistakes, he’s made mistakes and they either learn to talk about them/live with each other despite those, or they call the entire relationship off. I did appreciate the ending, where to me, it was clear what happens with them after the movie is over, but it is very much open to an interpretation.

Overall, Malcolm & Marie is a hard movie to rate without feeling you need to take sides, or be personally involved. It makes you reflect on your relationships, past and present, and hopefully it makes you understand how sometimes, you are not 100% right and you just need to listen to your significant other and talk to them about difficult things, that are hard to talk about. It makes you reflect on your past decisions and fights you might’ve had and possibly re-evaluate them. Or not and you are here just to watch two hot people fighting for almost two hours, that’s ok too, we don’t kink shame around here 😉

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Street Fighter (1994) Review – Cocaine Is a Hell of Drug

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Where to even start with this one…

Let me clarify one thing – I went into this movie expecting “lesser” film experience, as I have heard stories about how bad Street Fighter is, but deep down, I know I have a soft spot for cheesy, “it’s so bad it’s good” kind of movies, especially from the 80’s and 90’s, as those are the movies I grew up on. But with this one, it’s just so over the top bad when comes to… well, everything, I can’t even enjoy it for how bad it is. There are now stories how Jean-Claude Van Damme was… not on his behaviour on the set, to put it very mildly (and you don’t even have to google hard, it’s all there under Trivia section on IMDb) and how because of it, everything was delayed, or rushed… and you can definitely tell.

I think because of Street Fighter I have finally realised, why is it that I can enjoy some “so bad it’s good” movies and not others. That’s because those movies are not equal and the “enjoyable” bad movies in my eyes, have most of it right, but they might have one or two elements that’s dragging it down (usually it’s the over the top acting, cheesy dialogue, bad CGI etc.) But as long as all the other aspects of that movie somehow work, you (or I) tend to forgive those movies, as you can acknowledge that sure, the dialogue/acting/CGI is bad, but the other elements are alright, and overall that “spice” of badness makes it somehow more enjoyable. It’s like having a scar on your face. Sure, when you spot it the first time, you think to yourself “damn, that’s not supposed to be there, I wonder what happened” but ultimately, it gives you extra character (perfect example is Michael Kenneth Williams – great character actor, who made his real life scar into a benefit, rather than disadvantage, making it work for him and giving him and all his roles that extra level of character) and people love character. But if most/all the elements of your movie are somehow wrong or not working (as with this movie), it’s really hard to root for this movie, or to enjoy it for being bad.

And almost nothing works here – from over the top performances, to bad CGI, bad dialogue, really boring storyline (I mean, it should be street fighting movie, why do we deal with warlords and army…? Why?) and the only bright spot is Raul Julia, who is putting in an alright performance. I love him as an actor and he is by far the best one in this movie, but I do believe most of the “praise” he’s getting on the Internet, is due to the fact of his unfortunate passing and the struggle he had on the set, as he knew and everybody around him knew, he was dying from stomach cancer. And from the stories I have read, despite everything he was going through, he was the perfect professional on the set and that is admirable. So what I am trying to say is yes, he is definitely BY FAR the best actor in this movie and you can tell he’s the only one, who kind of realises “the quality” of the movie he was in, so he was at least trying to have fun with it, but don’t get fooled by some people on the Internet, that he somehow saved this movie. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that great. But more importantly, it wasn’t his job to save this movie, or to make sure it was watchable and he is not the reason this movie ended up the way it did.

Who I also wanted to mention is Ming-Na Wen who is playing Chun-Li. I thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t place her face, so I looked her up on IMDb and not only she is “Fennec Shand” from The Mandalorian (2019 -, my reviews can be found here for the first season and here for the second season), but she’s aged like a fine wine, as she was around 30 when she made Street Fighter, that means she will turn 60 in 2 years and if you see her in The Mandalorian, you would not have guessed it. My only wish is to look half as good as her when I will be her age. Also, just an important side note, her acting is definitely much better in The Mandalorian than in this movie, but that almost goes without saying, as I don’t think she had plenty to work with here in the first place.

I honestly went into Street Fighter with my brain “switched off”, hoping to enjoy another cheesy action movie from the decade, that produced a lot of them (and most are beloved by me). What I got instead was a cocaine powered weirdness. Because you would at least think, if there was plenty of cocaine involved, the movie would be fun and fast paced, right? No, it’s the opposite on both fronts, it’s really slow, for what it is and really boring. I am not saying this lightly, because I usually don’t like remakes, but this should be prime material for a remake – something that exists, we have a film version that’s objectively bad, so let’s try to re-do it, but this time with people who actually love the material, who love the game(s), who care about those characters. Based on the trailer, it looks like we might actually be getting really good Mortal Kombat (2021) or at least that’s what this trailer is promising, so maybe, if it actually is a good movie, maybe we can try to make this one right too?

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

Fleabag Review (Seasons 1 – 2) – Sex and The… London?

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To be fair, I don’t think the comparison with Sex and the City (1998 – 2004) is fair, because Fleabag is actually a really good TV show, that does the whole “women can fuck anybody they want” thing much better. And I honestly believe the only reason it’s doing it way better than the already mentioned Sex and the City is Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Not only her acting performance, that is brilliant by the way, but mainly her witty writing. But not just dialogue wise, but the clever use of breaking the fourth wall and talking to us right after she says something to somebody else in the TV show, is a stroke of genius.

Yeah, I know breaking the fourth wall has been done before, I am aware of it. And for example, House of Cards (2013 – 2018) did something similar with character breaking the fourth wall, but I think Phoebe perfected it. Why I really enjoyed this TV show is because of how there these tiny moments, where we hear something said in the TV show, just for her to tell us something else literally one second later, usually the exact opposite of what we’ve just heard. Simply genius.

Fleabag as a show is really simple and quick binge, where you can’t help but watch it as soon as possible, as all the characters are fascinating in their own way – from the main ones (huge props to Sian Clifford, who is playing Phoebe’s sister and Olivia Colman who is amazing as the “maybe evil” Godmother) to those who are there less often (Hugh Skinner as Harry or Ben Aldridge as “Arsehole Guy”, as he’s credited in the show and IMDb as well). But the main praise needs to go to the amazing Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She simply shines in her role and she’s got such a unique look to her, I immediately fell for her, and I would imagine I am not the first one, not by a long shot. Her performance and writing is just so amazing, I really need to watch another show she has created, Killing Eve (2018 -). I have already heard a lot about it too, but until now, didn’t know Phoebe was behind it, so was a bit down on my to watch TV shows (that currently has about 100 different TV shows). Knowing she is behind it, Killing Eve just jumped good 95 shows in that queue.

What this show also does well, is knowing when to finish and, more importantly, how to finish. Because there are only 12 episodes (and I believe that’s it, I don’t think third season would make much sense) the show almost feels like it has no space to stumble. It sets itself with a really high bar and it never dips below that, which is rare. Only tiny negative think I can think of, is I would love to know why only one person (I won’t spoil who) can see when Fleabag breaks the fourth wall, as it’s never explained. I have my theory as to why only that person can see it while others can’t, but it’d be nice to get something “definitive”. For example, the ending to this show was great, as even though it might seem “open-ended”, when you think about why the things that happen are happening, it’s almost crystal clear. That is why I hope this will be it for Fleabag, even though I would love nothing more than going back to that world, as that ending was perfect. But something tells me, I will re-watch this show.

Overall, Fleabag shows us how to make a “dramady” really, really well. Part of it is the great cast of talented British actors, but the biggest chunk of that success is Phoebe and her uniqueness, that shines through this, in a really good way. I hope she will write more and more original stuff, because she is definitely somebody to watch out for, and someone I will definitely follow more closely (not in a creepy way). Like her name attached to variety of different projects really makes me watch them where I wouldn’t have consider it prior. Example? There will be a TV show version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (coming 2022). If you were to ask me a week ago, whether I would watch it, my answer would be “probably not”. But knowing now Phoebe Waller-Bridge is writing and (looks like) starring in it alongside Donald Glover (who is also writing it), the answer is “hell yes!” And I think that tells you everything you need to know.

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!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

WandaVision Review (Season 1) – It’s Been Great Show All Along!

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I don’t understand it. How are people working for Marvel so brilliant, they made me care about Wanda and Vision? How did this happen? Maybe it’s because they gave them characters and made them actually interesting, unlike the movies they appeared in…? Yeah, that’s probably it. But let’s start from the beginning…

When I first heard about this show, I thought to myself “hard pass” and moved on. Because as I said prior, I didn’t really care about those two characters and now, they will star in their own TV show, that will somehow be a sitcom…? Just nothing about this made sense, which is exactly what those Marvel bastards wanted you to think. And I stuck to my guns, didn’t watch the show until people were talking about how good it actually is and how there is more to it, it’s a mystery kind of show, how they actually work on them as characters… So I broke and caught up on the first 6 episodes, as those were the only ones out by the time I broke. And after those, I was fully on board with WandaVision. And after the finale, I can only say those crazy bastards did it again. They yet again took fairly uninteresting characters we kind of knew, gave them proper backstories, heart and brain and thanks to that, you can’t help by care about both Wanda and Vision.

Let me just preface this – I will try really hard to say as much as I can without going into some serious spoilers, as that was one of the things that also put me over the edge of watching WandaVision – every Friday/Saturday after brand new episode, things were popping out on my Twitter timeline, full of spoilers. Even though I don’t follow people who’d spoil stuff, sometimes you just see enough context clues or a name trending on Twitter and say “hey, why is X trending” so you’d click on it and found out that they either appeared on this show, or will appear, or are rumoured to appear here. And it got to the point where it’s not just day or two, these spoilers became regular thing on Twitter, so the only “real” solution is not to go there at all. Anyway, back to this review.

Yes, first 2 episodes you will be thinking “what does this mean?” but if you stick with this show, I can promise you, everything will be explained. I mean, everything when comes to WandaVision. That is my only “quarrel” with this show – it’s Marvel after all. So they can’t just make one contained show, give us all the answers. They need to tease us with more things! So even though this feels contained more or less, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any questions once the show ended. But mostly I am just amazed how they managed to pull this one off. How I didn’t really care about either of those main characters and now, I need to know more about them, mainly what will happen to them from here on.

I need to talk about a few people here. First of all, it’s been great to see Kat Dennings again and the fact she is Dr. now, brings me joy. She needs to be in more things, as she’s not only pleasant to look at (after all, I am but a weak man) but I love her sense of humour. I really hope Teyonah Parris will become more important moving on beyond this TV show (and from what happens to her, I would presume so?) as she was also great. It’s been awesome to see that Kathryn Hahn is finally getting the recognition she deserves, as she’s spectacular in this show. But it’s mainly about Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen. And I think the main reason this show works so well, is they understand their characters and how they function, not only in this show, but in their relationship, so it’s reflected heavily in the entirety of WandaVision. What am I talking about? The fact Vision is the brain and Wanda is the heart and soul of this show and their relationship. If you have already seen this, think about it and you will see I am right. Vision has plenty of amazing lines (the one that will stick with you is 100% “What is grief, if not love persevering”) and Paul Bettany delivers those lines really, beautifully. Which is strange, as he’s technically a robot and in his delivery, you can tell it’s kind of robotic, but in the best way possible…? It’s hard to describe, but what he did with this role, is definitely top notch. But even that can’t compare with what Elizabeth is doing with Wanda’s character. She goes above and beyond and she deserves some recognition. Most emotional things on this show “fall” on her and her character, and she delivers. But not only with this, everything else, even the early comedic episodes, they are both brilliant in them.

What I really appreciated is WandaVision kind of brought back the hype surrounding a TV show, by releasing it one episode/week, it managed to build up more and more hype around it and managed to give us something that almost everybody watched. And that isn’t a small achievement, as we live in age of “content” (sorry, Martin Scorsese, I hate that word too) where there are so many movies, TV shows, YouTube videos available to us at all times, everybody is watching something else, or everybody is watching the same thing on Netflix for a day or two and then the hype dies down. Since Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) ended, I can’t remember a show that would achieve what WandaVision achieved. Even The Mandalorian (2019 -, my reviews can be found here for the first season and here for the second season) and that was a great show, didn’t feel like it managed to hype up as many people on weekly basis, where fans would talk about the possible plot points, trying to predict what will happen the next episode… I guess with WandaVision it might have been slightly easier to do, since it is technically a mystery show…? Who knows why, but Marvel struck gold yet again.

Overall, if you liked most things Marvel has done in the past decade and then some, I don’t think you will disappointed with this show. Make sure you stick around, as everything becomes much clearer later on, but again, don’t count on having every question answered, as it’s Marvel and you know they will probably answer some questions in one of their 45 839 upcoming movies. 😉 And if you think “I don’t know whether I want to watch it, as I don’t really care about Vision or Wanda”, I understand you, as I was the same as you. But I think you will care, if you give this show a chance, Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen make sure nobody underestimates their characters ever again. Can’t wait to see more of them… well, hoping to see more of them.

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!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Review – Silent, But Powerful

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Ever since I got more serious about movies, when I started to “track” the TOP movies of all time, read about the most influential movies from the years long gone, The Passion of Joan of Arc was a title that came up a lot. Many called it one of the most influential movies of all time, others said it’s still as powerful today as it was back in 1928… long story short, I have heard a lot about this movie. And finally, I managed to watch it.

This film is definitely powerful. There is something about this being silent film, where it just works better without any dialogue, just the overpowering music score and great camera work. That is all you need to make an impact. That and of course, powerful story, and what other story could be more powerful than a woman being prosecuted and burned to death (I really hope nobody considers this a spoiler, for historical reasons) for something she believes in greatly. That’s another aspect of why this movie is cherished and has been ever since it’s been made, the stunning imagery between Joan and everybody else, where she is the only woman in this film (apart from maybe some other ones in a crowd scenes…?) and she goes up against these usually old men of power, where they try to get her to betray her faith, and she just does not. And eventually, when she does, she realises it’s wrong and chooses death (again, I would hope everybody is familiar with the historic story behind this movie).

The only thing I would say, which is the only reason I can’t give it higher marks, the movie drags on a bit. And to be honest, I don’t think I am judging this movie based on today’s standards. But I have watched other movies from that era (perfect example is Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), which was simply a perfect movie) and I can appreciate them in their own right. But I honestly felt that the length of The Passion of Joan of Arc is bit too much. Because at the end of the day, the story is simple enough, this could really be 20 minute shorter, if you really wanted. All I am saying is sometimes, even though I was admiring the movie, I found myself a bit bored, and that should definitely not be the case, mainly when comes to a movie about this subject.

But other than that, there is nothing I could say against this film. The Passion of Joan of Arc is still a relevant, chilling and overall impactful piece of cinema, that definitely has its place in history. It’s unbelievable how much were the actors able to get across without any dialogue, without any words, just some good old fashioned text on the black background, powerful piece of music, brilliant camera work and great acting.

Overall, I think your enjoyment of this film heavily corelates with how much you care about influential pieces of cinematic history. If you are a casual movie fan, who doesn’t really care for silent movies, you might want to skip this one. If, however, you would consider yourself a cinephile (like me) and love to explore movies from any film decade to see how films were made almost 100 years ago, The Passion of Joan of Arc would be the movie for you. The only thing going against it is the pace of this movie is slightly uneven at times, but the last images from this film will stay with you.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Review (Seasons 1 – 7) – Almost Perfect

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After the mediocrity that was Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008, my review here) I have finally started to watch this TV show, as I’ve heard it’s much, much better and almost its own thing, compared to the movie. The first episode in and I have discovered something interesting – most of these episodes are anthologies, meaning they don’t necessarily follow chronological timeline, so sometimes you might see things happen/somebody die in episode #2, just for them to live in episode #3. Luckily, there is a handy list (here) where if you want to watch this show (and the movie) in chronological order, you can (and I would recommend it, as it makes more sense to me, especially if it’s, like mine, your first time). Just a tip. 😉

What I need to say right from the start, the fans on the Internet were 100% right. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (the TV show) is actually way, way better than the movie, that’s mediocre, with one eye closed. The main reason for that, is this is the first time where Star Wars property was allowed to expand beyond what we known from the movies (and of course, back when this show started (2008), there were only 6 Star Wars movies) and even though the show had to operate within certain constructs (after all, the show takes place between episodes Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002, my review here) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005, my review here)) so you know where things must go and how/where the main character will end up, they made their best effort to make the journey as interesting as possible. As that old saying goes, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey that matters” or something along those lines.

Just before I am going to get any further with my review, this might contain some SPOILERS, so tread carefully.

Overall, I think this TV show came a bit too early, but only couple of years too early. Why…? Well, except the last 2 seasons, this TV show falls into the same trap thousands of TV shows prior this one fallen into – the filler episodes. And the problem with working with extended universe of Star Wars is, sometimes, we focus on characters outside of the main story for a couple of episodes, that are not that interesting. There are couple of episode about Jar Jar being the hero (I think twice he had at least 2/3 episode story arc, that was quite painful to sit through) and couple of other episodes about droids, really young Padawans etc. Look, is it possible these episodes have their fans and we get to learn a bit more about the Star Wars universe? Absolutely. For example, the episodes about young Padawans getting the crystals for their lightsabers, then constructing them and then being the heroes, did show the “process” of how would you go about getting your own lightsaber, so I can’t say this was wasted time, it’s just… it wasn’t the most engaging peace of The Clone Wars. And you can definitely have these episode, but if you were to condense them into 1/2 episode(e), rather than having them stretch out over multiple episodes, that might help? And this is why I think this show came bit too early – because my guess is the people behind this felt the necessity (or it was just a regular order from their bosses) to hit that “magical” number of 22 episodes per season, where sometimes all we needed was just 16, or 12 episode and we would be fine.

Take the final (7th) season – 12 episodes evenly split between 3 story lines – Ahsoka Tano and what did she do after we’ve seen her last time, those episode were fine. Then we have the introduction of The Bad Batch, that’s more or less just a 4 episode promo for the latest animated Disney+ show, premiering 4/5/2021. And no matter how likeable or cool these guys were, those episodes felt distractive, as they had some link to clones, but we could again do without those episodes, or condense them into 2 episodes max…? And then we actually have the “main” story, the last 4 episodes and those were simply stunning. Visually gorgeous, story-wise it hit all the emotional points it needed and gave us some sort of closure. So even out of the last season, what we really needed was maybe 8 episodes, maybe just 6 even…?

And I guess that’s the only reason I can’t give this show the full marks. For every truly great episode/storyline/character, there is at least one that drags on, in each season. I am pretty die hard Star Wars fan, but even I would sometimes struggle to get through episodes, mainly the ones with Jar Jar as the hero, as they were just… not that great, to put it mildly.

What I need to appreciate are two more things about this show – the animation style and character development. Naturally, as years went on and technology improved, the better each episode looked, where the latest ones look almost nothing like the movie from 2008. Honestly, the level of improvement is exceptional. But even that is nothing compared to the character development, mainly with Ahsoka Tano. If you have only seen the movie (as I have for the longest time) you would really not like her, as she was jut a young, bratty child. But in this TV show, they actually work on her character, where you can see her growing up, maturing and it all happens so naturally, that she feels like a real life character. When I remember how I really didn’t care for her character in the movie as opposed to later stages of this show, it’s totally different character. But again, it’s done so well, the progress felt so natural, you don’t question it, you go along with it, because it makes total sense, that Ahsoka would mature, would see more things, change her opinions, develop her own style. I was really happy with her, and I can’t wait to see what Rosario Dawson does with that character in another upcoming (but this, it’s live action!) tv show, so far called Ahsoka (release date unknown).

Overall, I can definitely recommend this TV show, with a caveat that in every season, there are episodes where you will follow certain characters that you won’t necessarily care about. And then it depends how big of a Star Wars fan are you, because if you are not THAT into it, I would maybe just avoid this show. As I said before, I am die hard Star Wars fan, and even I struggled with some of these “filler” episodes. I honestly think that If you were to cut around 20 episodes, this would have been really, really close to perfect TV show and I wouldn’t have anything negative to say. But even with those still in mind, when this show hits some high moments, it delivers and there are some stunning sequences and chilling moments. After all, it sold me on watching another animated TV show, Star Wars: Rebels (2014 – 2018) so you see that it can’t be that bad. 😉

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!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

The Office Review (Seasons 1 – 9) – A Lot of Beauty in Ordinary Things

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I feel like I need to start this review with a little backstory – I have seen the original (British) The Office (2001 – 2003) a long time ago, when I was much, much younger, so I don’t think I have appreciated the awkward humour as much as I do now. That was part of the reason I have never been interested in the American version of this show. But the more time you spend on “the Internets”, the quicker you learn how much this show means to “my generation” and, mainly thanks to Netflix, how many “new” fans The Office gained after the show wrapped up back in 2013, to the point where there is no doubt about its cult status. So I finally gave in and watched the entire thing.

The Office is definitely one of those shows, where you see (especially in the earliest episodes) how the culture (even though it only started in 2005, so not that long ago) changed when comes to what jokes were… acceptable? This area has always been a bit challenging for me to talk about, as I definitely believe in no lines, when comes to comedy. Because I think comedy has always been a great tool to “touch the untouchable”, to “mock everyone equally”. The smarter comedies definitely challenged believes, ideas and mocked everybody and everything (I mean, look at works of Monty Python (1969 – 1974 and their subsequent movies) and people often forget that when comes to comedies, there is a difference between “this show/joke didn’t age well” to character work. What I mean by that, is most of the inappropriate jokes in The Office come from Michael and/or Dwight, but there is a reason for that. Michael is supposed to be this borderline idiot, who can’t help himself being that way and Dwight is supposed to be a different “breed” altogether, where he has no filter, and he says it as he sees it, plain and simple, as that is how we was raised. So next time, before you read another “think piece” about how this movie/TV show didn’t age well, it’s worth recognising whether that’s true, or whether it’s more to do with certain character choices, who in real life, would say inappropriate stuff like that. There is a difference between trying to be edgy and making a point, trying to make character come alive.

When comes to the actual show, I can’t help but side with the vast majority of people, and say I also fell in love with it. Sure, the first season is rough around the edges (partly because the first season is pretty much remaking the original and it’s only from the second season the show is starting to stand on its own) and the last two seasons aren’t as great as the few prior, because of departure of one of the main characters (I knew who it was prior watching this show, as it was/is pretty much public secret, but just in case somebody has never heard about it, I won’t spoil it) but even those seasons still have plenty of great stuff going for them, so I can’t lower my overall rating.

As with any comedy show (at least nowadays), the key is your characters. If you make the viewers to fall in love with them, make them feel like these people are your friends/co-workers (even though deep down you know they are not) you have won the toughest battle. And this show definitely makes you love its characters. From the ones who are there from the start, like Steve Carell as Michael who is brilliantly dumb, yet caring when it matters, Rainn Wilson as Dwight does a fantastic job as first I didn’t like his character, but he ends up being one of your favourites, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer aka Jim and Pam are definitely much better couple than Ross and Rachel from Friends (1994 – 2004, yeah, I’ve said, fight me! :-D) and I could basically name everybody else. But what this show does brilliantly is introduces you to new characters, who from the start, might not seem as interesting or funny, just for them after a while to “come alive” and you love them as much as the “original cast”, mainly Ed Helms and Ellie Kemper. I need to compliment mainly Ellie playing Erin, as her character could have easily been just an annoying stereotype of a dumb “secretary”, but she does so much with that role and her comedic timing is so on point, you just fell for her in no time and her orphan storyline is also touching.

This is what this show does really well – it gives every major character backstory, where it pays off in a long run. What I mean by that, is you don’t get your typical “oh this is a Pam episode” or “this is Dwight episode”. They always do couple of things here and there in each episode, and then connect the dots and once it falls in place, it clicks for you and you understand certain characters much better. So, eventually this show has plenty of character arcs throughout it, where the Jim from season 1 is different Jim to the one in season 9.. Plenty of comedy shows don’t do that with their characters, as it’s usually not a requirement, because we are not watching for the characters, but for the comedy, for the laughs. At least, that’s how it used to be, back in the “good old days” (but were those days actually good?) and yes, now it’s more of a standard for even comedy shows to do this, to go more into characters, but The Office does this really, really well. I will give you an example – Ed Helm’s character I really didn’t like, then I tolerated him a bit. Once he became a bigger part of the show and they slowly started to flush his character and gave him a backstory, you actually understood him and where he was coming from. And once you understood him, why he was/is the way he is, you can actually sympathize with him and like him, because you can tell he’s doing the best he can, with what his character had been dealt with.

As mentioned above, this show definitely has some weaker spots, mainly in its last season there are some character decisions, that almost ruin a few things, but they always manage to salvage it and again, even in the last season(s), you find so many funny things. That’s also a really important thing that I need to mention – you laugh every single episode. And I mean every episode, even if the storyline is weaker, or something is happening with one of your favourite characters that you might not agree with, there always are some killer gems/jokes hidden throughout the episode. I have seen a plenty of comedy shows in my time and only few have at least one A+ joke in every episode, and we are talking 9 seasons here! Not too shabby, my hat is off for the writers of this show.

I can definitely see myself coming back to this TV show in the future, and I understand why it became the cult it did in the past couple of years. The Office might seem rough around the edges at first, but if you give it a chance, you will discover, it’s quite ordinary. And as Pam said, there is a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Even if you end up not liking some of these characters, you will eventually learn to tolerate and understand them (in my case it was Angela). To me, that’s the thing about this show – it resembles real life, with plenty of these characters being so real, we knew them even before watching the show, because you’d probably met somebody as weird as Dwight in your life, as dumb as Michael, as dreamy as Pam/Erin or as cool/down to earth as Jim or Stanley. I will definitely visit this office in the future and unlike the real one(s), I will be looking forward going there again.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Lucky (2017) Review – Harry Dean Stanton’s Farewell Couldn’t Be Better

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Films like Lucky are so rare nowadays. Why? Because in their simplicity, their straightforwardness, they feel like pure, raw cinema. I know this might sound really pretentious, but I don’t know how else to express what I felt while watching this movie. Because here’s the thing – on the surface, there is nothing too special about the story. We follow an old person, who’s going about his monotone life, basically waiting to die. He’s got his routine, his friends, he is surrounded by people most of the time, but he still feels lonely. And afraid of what’s coming. Doesn’t sound too special right? Well, John Carroll Lynch (for whom this is a directorial debut and what I great one!) made it special, by casting the best people.

Harry Dean Stanton was always a great actor of small recognition. I honestly feel it’s a shame that he never was at least nominated for an Oscar (anyone who’s seen Paris, Texas (1984) knows it wasn’t for luck of great roles showcasing his talent) as he’s always been one of those actors, who no matter the movie he was in, he always delivered. And Lucky might be one of his best performances. It’s almost unbelievable and sad that he knew this might be he his final film. Maybe that is why he put his heart and soul into this film and without any exaggeration, you can feel it. This movie touches you on a deep personal level, and pulls you in really slowly and without realising, you are in. And you can feel everything he feels – the pain, the uncertainty (will there be another day?) the loneliness… And most of it is shown, not spoken.

That is what I really appreciated in this movie – plenty of “big” scenes don’t rely on dialogue, they rely on Harry Dean Stanton to do his thing, they rely on others around him to rise to his level and they do. Like David Lynch (one of my favourite directors ever and really close friend of Harry’s) playing his good friend here. He’s not given plenty of scenes, but those ones he’s in, he’s got such a presence you won’t forget him. The same goes for Ron Livingston – another one of those actors, such as Harry Dean, who’s mostly in great things and he’s usually good, but doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

Even though Lucky deals with the heaviest topic(s) possible (death, loneliness) it never feels exploitative, it never feels like it’s being “sad for the sake of it”. It feels organic and that is why the sad scenes resonate with those touching scenes (Harry singing at the birthday party, or his speech at the bar towards the end about “the truth”) so beautifully, they hit you the way you won’t be expecting. They definitely hit me and that is how I knew I absolutely adore this movie. It’s not flashy, it definitely takes its time, but man, if it isn’t one great, film!

Usually, I don’t have a problem writing a review for a movie I really loved, as it’s quite easy – you just describe what you love about the movie, right? But with Lucky, I find it surprisingly difficult, as I didn’t expect for this movie to get to me as much as it did. Everything resonated with me on personal level, as at the end of the day, aren’t these the things most of us are worried about? The fact we will end up all alone, by ourselves, no matter what we do, the fact that nothing really matters, and yet, we keep on smiling, we keep on going…? And this is what the movie is about. The will to keep on going, the need for another human being to be there for us.

Lucky is truly one of a kind movie, that is small in scope, but big in everything else, especially heart. And I don’t really care how cheesy this might sound, because I don’t think there is a better to describe it, even if I were to consume the entire Thesaurus. Lucky feels like a raw force of what a movie should be and the perfect farewell to a truly underappreciated character actor, who Harry Dean Stanton definitely was. If you feel like honouring his memory, do yourself a favour and watch this film. I don’t think you will regret it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Until next time,

Luke

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