Olivia Wilde‘s follow-up to Booksmart (2019, a film I enjoyed) was supposed to be brilliant. I remember when the first trailer dropped, and I couldn’t wait to watch it. But then, the behind-the-scenes drama started to unravel (google “Don’t Worry Darling behind the scenes drama” or “Don’t Worry Darling Shia LaBeouf“), the second trailer dropped and didn’t do much for me, and then, the awkward promos for this movie, trying to pretend like everything is/was fine whilst they were making it… Oh yeah, the fact this movie got middling reviews also didn’t help, and I just kind of forgot about this movie until it arrived on one of my streaming platforms, where I finally caught it the other day. And… yeah, there are some issues.

I can’t decide whether this movie’s biggest problem is its predictability or whether it’s the fact that the film is as deep as a kiddie pool. Don’t Worry Darling desperately wants to be a movie about something larger than itself, but it doesn’t “walk the walk”; so to speak. Every time I thought we were finally examining something (an idea, story element, side character) in depth, the movie said: “Nah, forget about it!” It was frustrating as there were some hints of brilliance, but everything was very surface-level.

For example, a big part of this film is knowing something is wrong here. And if you have seen literally a few movies in your life, you can safely predict the big “twist”. Which is fine; sometimes, it’s not about the destination, it is more about how you get there and the road you take. That is when I thought the movie has to put the cards on the table and will finally explore its main characters for us to understand them. And no, that doesn’t happen. We see glimpses of something that should give you everything you should need, but that fell flat for me. For a film that wanted to be this big piece about freedom and feminism and seemed to be exploring ideas of leadership, faith and ignorance, it does very little work, and instead, it focuses on the aesthetics of the 1950s more than anything else. Don’t Worry Darling may be one of the best examples of “style over substance”, unfortunately.

The one major thing this movie had going for it was Florence Pugh. Her character carries this movie on her tiny frame, and at times, it feels almost undeserved. I would love to compliment other actors, as there were many great ones here (from Olivia to Chris Pine, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan or Timothy Simons), but unfortunately, neither made an impression because they were not given anything compelling. Take Chris Pine and Gemma Chan – they play a couple in this movie. We understand he is evil, but do we ever learn why? Without going into spoilers, no. We never find out why he does “it” or how “it” came about. Gemma Chan had two decent scenes, and her final one was supposed to be impactful, but it wasn’t because we don’t know anything about her! Is she also evil? Or did she spot her chance? There are a couple more questions about her character, but asking those would be “spoilery”, so I won’t. But her final scene was wasted because we have never learned anything about her or Pine’s character. They just exist.

That brings me to Harry Styles. Look, is he the best actor? No. Was he bad? Also no. He was… ok. His performance was perfectly “serviceable” in this film, but again, we learned next to nothing about him. And we should have, given what we find out about his character later on, really should have spent more time on/with him to understand his motivations besides the five-minute scene that was supposed to give us all we needed. The problem with that scene was it felt very two-dimensional. Don’t Worry Darling wants to play this complex 5D chess game about life, freedom and choices (or lack thereof), but it shoots itself in both legs when we are given the bare minimum about all our characters. And don’t get me started on that ending that pretends to be hopeful (?), but in reality, it’s not, and I don’t think the movie realises that.

I feel like Olivia has bitten more than she could chew for her second feature. I like her, but I have to say, she shouldn’t have directed this movie as it felt… weird. There were choices made that would every now and then take me out of the film (like having the camera spin in circles when a few of our characters are having a conversation) but most importantly, this feels like a movie that we have seen so much already, you have to bring something new. Subvert the genre, do something different, don’t give us the bare minimum with barely two-dimensional characters and call it a day. Imagine how this material would have looked in the hands of someone like Jordan Peele or Christopher Nolan. You know, directors who understand how to subvert expectations and take you on a journey you won’t forget. Unlike this movie, I struggle to remember now, and it hasn’t been even a week since I saw it!

Overall, Don’t Worry Darling is one of the luckiest movies ever because it had Florence Pugh, who singlehandedly, uplifted it above average. If it weren’t for her, my rating would be just average, as that is what this movie is – a fine movie with some pretty visuals and flashes of intriguing ideas, but nothing that would stick with you for too long or get explored any further. It’s also one of those movies where the behind-the-scenes drama would have probably made a better movie than the one I just witnessed. I hope Olivia’s next directorial attempt will be better as I still have hope (and I also really enjoyed Booksmart and hope it wasn’t a fluke).

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

Until next time,

Luke

I expected nothing going into this movie, but I knew this movie was getting decent reviews. And despite not knowing what this movie was about, I enjoyed the ride. Bodies Bodies Bodies may be one of the most influential movies of this generation, given how faithfully it captured everything going on right now. From social media to different talks about micro-aggressions, race and in the middle of it, it’s an intriguing (even though at times infuriating) whodunit that hilarious now and then.

The concept is simple, a bunch of teenagers (mostly girls) get stuck in this remote mansion during a hurricane. There are secrets, tension and some unexpected guests, and when this party game I have never heard of (I guess it’s mainly played in the USA) goes wrong, we are in it with them, not knowing what happened. And as with any whodunit, you will soon discover there are many motives, secrets and animosities within this group of girls, so you flip flop between who is the killer or not quite often. And then, at the very end, we go back and see what happened and… I didn’t guess it correctly. I will leave it at all, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I will say the payoff is worth it.

I strongly believe the legacy of this movie will live or die on multiple viewings as despite understanding the movie’s themes and why certain characters had to have been this way, I still found them insufferable. Again, I realise that was the point of this movie, how two things can be true at once but yeah… It didn’t make my watch any easier. There were times I was having a blast, and then there were other times when I hoped the movie would finish soon. Also, let’s talk about my main issue – lighting.

Yes, most of this movie happens during a hurricane, so it makes sense there would be no electricity. But Jesus, the number of times you can literally see nothing but pitch black on your screen, and you can only hear things happening infuriated me. I would say most of this movie’s lighting was provided by phone flashes, and the film looks exactly how you would imagine it. The worst thing about it is they are in a mansion! Ultra-rich people live there, so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of reality for them to have backup generators or something like that would have provided light. If you want to keep the tension, ok; make those fail at crucial times or something like that, but we have had movies lately that popularised both whodunits and horrors in broad daylight. I wish Bodies Bodies Bodies would take a page from those movies.

I know many people enjoyed Rachel Sennott, and sure; she was fine. But for me, the most intriguing characters were Amandla Stenberg and Maria Bakalova, both for different reasons. Amandla nailed precisely the type of girl who doesn’t realise how lucky she’s had it and makes everything about herself. Maria had the most difficult role because it seemed the movie was trying to convince you more than once she was the killer (I am not telling whether she was the killer or not) so she had to be more coy, shy and closed whilst still trying to be part of this new “friends” group. I hope both Amandla and Maria have long and award-worthy careers in front of them.

This movie is a wild ride from the start to the very last second, and it stays with you whether you like it or hate it. I think the ending persuaded me to rate it slightly higher, and that is why I am intrigued to potentially go back to this movie after some time, knowing what I know now and seeing whether my knowledge of all the twists and turns enhances my experience or dampens it. Again, if for nothing else, Bodies Bodies Bodies will 100% be remembered as one of those “captured the generation/period correctly”. You know how when you watch some movies from the 80s and you can’t help but think: “Damn, this movie is very 80s!” I can imagine someone watching this film 20 years from now thinking: “Wow, this captured the 2020s well.”

Overall, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a fascinating movie. It knows what it wants to say; it has an intriguing whodunit storyline, and it also has a plethora of fascinating characters and an ending that will not leave you cold. However, those characters can be insufferable, and the lack of proper lighting throughout the movie bothered me (based on reading some other reviews, more than the average person, so this might be “me problem”). So yeah, this movie is the very definition of “a mixed bag”, although quite enjoyable, funny and insightful mixed bag.

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

Until next time,

Luke

This movie is one of those I had little to no information going in. The only thing I knew about it was that it was a brutal film, but I didn’t know what it meant. I did not see any trailers; I only saw a poster, and I thought it looked interesting enough, so one day when I went to the cinema to catch up on movies, I started with Sisu. And what a tone for the rest of those films it set.

If you have stumbled upon my blog in the past, you may know I love me some “raw films”. I always defined that term as a movie that gives you everything it promises on the tin and nothing more. It is, for the lack of a better word, as simple as it gets. I understand this might sound like a backhanded compliment, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with having simple films as long as they make them brilliant. Think of it in food terms; sometimes, you go to a restaurant and order a simple cheeseburger. You’ve had many cheeseburgers before, but if the bun is nice and crispy, the meat is cooked just right, and all the ingredients are high quality; therefore, you will love it and not ponder whether you should order something more complex.

Because Sisu is that cheeseburger that could have just not worked at all, but the filmmakers knew how to cook and stylized it as almost a western (the chapters, the font, you will definitely think of the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone) but made it ultra bloody. And also, you see all the details. That is something I appreciated about Sisu; they played this card of blood and gore, not panning away from the violence, and stuck with it throughout the film. The filmmakers also gave us a great excuse not to feel sorry about the people being slaughtered as they were Nazis. And I know this statement is weirdly political now, but Nazis definitely were the bad guys.

When I talk about simplicity, this is exactly what I mean. A man finds gold. The same man takes it and travels with it, encounters Nazis who want the gold, and that sets off everything. Despite its simplicity, I don’t want to spoil anything else because I don’t think this movie is as popular, so the less you know about it, the better your viewing experience will be. I will say that Sisu is a Finnish word that can’t be translated directly. The movie starts with this and essentially says it means a force of unstoppable determination that comes out when most necessary. And yes, this dude is hard to kill. And that would be my only criticism.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was this man literally must have been John Wick’s dad or something because he survives… Well, pretty much everything. I could see the initial things, but the longer the movie is, the more our silent hero survives. And I can think of at least two or three instances towards the end where the filmmakers must have said: “Oh well, we are making a fantasy movie about gold and Nazis, let’s go wild!” and that is where they lost me, albeit only a tiny bit. Was the last 20/30 minutes still as cool and gory as everything before? Yes. Would I appreciate it had it been less cool and more grounded? Absolutely. But such is life. It will be fascinating if I ever rewatch this movie and how I will feel then.

One last point – can we get Jorma Tommila into one of those John Wick shows, or if they ever decided to make a fifth one, could he be in it? He’s got the physique, he’s got the chops, and most importantly, he’s got the charisma. I have touched upon this above, but the dude barely talks in this movie. He mostly grunts and communicates everything else through his expressions, grunts and body language. Now, was this the most demanding role? No. But it is still hard to pull off, and he did it, and he did it flawlessly. I would love to see him in a great Hollywood action movie.

Overall, Sisu is a great film that deserves to be seen more. It’s one of those “the less you know, the more fun you will have” movies, but at the same time, make sure you are comfortable with some gore, blood, and Nazis being slaughtered. It also showcases how you can make a simple movie if you make it stand out and put some effort into it, and you can tell Sisu had talented people behind it. From the cinematography to the editing, the movie flows well, has decent characters you can easily root for and an ending that might make you chuckle. I wonder how well it holds up on a rewatch.

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

Until next time,

Luke

Let’s clear something up first – I know IMDb has this movie as a 2021 release, but it’s not. The way they operate is if the film had any premiere, no matter how small, that’s the year they are going with. And The Black Phone did premiere at two festivals in late 2021; however, the movie did not have its “full” US and international release until June 2022, so I will stick to that. I hate these technicalities where a movie played in one or two festivals, but it’s not released wide until several months later… it’s just confusing for everybody.

I was pretty hyped for this movie because Scott Derrickson has made some great films (many love the first Doctor Strange (2016) movie) and one excellent horror film. I am, of course, talking about Sinister (2012). I made the grave error of seeing it in the cinemas, and that still remains to this day the movie that affected me so much I couldn’t sleep well that night (what didn’t help was the screening finished around 10 PM). So yeah, Scott coming back to the horror genre and making a movie based on a short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King‘s son)? It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? And yet, what should have been another excellent horror, ended up being… still great but slightly underwhelming.

The first thing you can feel is the, for the lack of a better word, “Kinginess” of it all. Although Stephen didn’t write it, his son seems to like many of his dad’s elements (the 70s, high school bullies, kidnapped children), but if it ain’t broke, you know how that saying goes. And also, that wasn’t my issue with this film. The only serious gripe I had was that you could tell this was based on a short story by Hill. Yes, although this movie has a reasonable runtime of 103 minutes, at times, you can almost feel like this should have been even shorter. Maybe that story didn’t justify feature-length treatment at all. I don’t know, I didn’t read it, but there were a few scenes where it seemed like they were padding the runtime by any means necessary, especially towards the end. Not to mention, the movie feels like a fucked-up version of an escape room, where the ghosts tell him where the next useful thing might be hidden.

Luckily for most of this movie, you can focus on great actors. Mason Thames was a perfect choice, his character has the most growth out of all characters in the film, and he sells it without a hitch. Ethan Hawke is scary and mysterious, and although we never know much about his character, I didn’t mind that level of “mystique”. Every time he was on the screen, I was captured by his performance, despite the fact he wore a mask covering his mouth for most of the film. But I would argue the main star is Madeleine McGraw, aka Gwen. Her tenacity, pluckiness and general attitude (“Jesus. What the fuck?“) are so addictive, and she provides everything. From some moments of much-needed levity to an emotional scene at the end. I hope to see her in more movies.

I also liked the subversion of the “bad/alcoholic dad” trope. Jeremy Davies shines in this role, and when we are first introduced to him, we think we know exactly where this is going because we have seen this (alcoholic dad character) done to death. However, I am in the camp of “there is more than meets the eye”, as, throughout the movie, you can actually understand him and see him clearly, not as a monster, but as a broken man who only does what he thought was the best, mainly for his daughter. As with The Grabber (Ethan’s character), it is left very much up to you whether the dad has changed at the end or not.

Many times on this blog, you could see me write something like: “This should have been a TV show”, but I honestly feel like The Black Phone has the opposite problem. For everything I have just listed (and it is a great movie I would still recommend), I can’t shake the feeling that if you are adapting a short story, you should make sure it justifies a feature-length movie. Because for as many excellent things as I can name about this movie, I can’t still get over that weird thing where the film has you hooked from the start, only for it to let you go over time. And sure, the ending is brilliant, but everything in between is… fine. And I know Scott is capable of more than just “fine”.

Overall, The Black Phone is a great movie that could have been excellent if only we had something more to chew on. It’s an interesting tale of a superb beginning, an okay middle portion and an excellent ending that would, in most cases, make for slightly above the average rating. However, thanks to Scott behind the camera and are four main protagonists, I must go somewhat higher, as it has an undisputed quality. I would recommend The Black Phone, especially if you crave something “Stephen King-like”.

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

Until next time,

Luke

I don’t remember a mainstream film being as controversial as Blonde in some time. What’s more interesting about this controversy, it seemed to have started by casting Ana de Armas in the titular role of Marilyn. And after the first screenings happened, people were split on this movie, some calling it an achievement, many more a failure and horrible exploitation of Monroe’s legacy. Blonde has been on my watch list for a while, but when (seemingly out of the blue) Ana de Armas got nominated for an Oscar, I had to sacrifice almost three hours of my time to see what that controversy was about. And let me say this was a hard film to digest.

This film was purposively designed to shock, to facilitate a reaction, to break through the mould of the everyday averageness of most of today’s movies. There are many things, scenes and images from this film which won’t leave you any time soon, so in that narrow instance; you can call Blonde a success. You can call it many other words, but one thing is for sure, you won’t forget that you watched this film, for better or worse.

The issue is whether that is enough for you. Blonde is based on a book that states it from the get-go is a piece of fiction. It’s supposed to be a mere “What if this happened in Marilyn’s life”. And there were a few things this film is talking about that can be argued are possibly correct, like mistreating Marilyn when she was alive, almost “tossing her around” like some sort of human-sized toy. Where the issue for me (and many others based on reading some reviews after watching this movie) lied was that this film does the same thing it’s blaming its audience for. There is a scene which almost breaks the fourth wall and puts the blame onto us for what’s happening to Marilyn. But isn’t it a bit hypocritical? Isn’t the idea of making a film showcasing Marilyn in a certain way based on a work of fiction doing the same thing, just using her name to sell itself? It is because if you were to remove the name Marilyn Monroe from this film, nobody would care about it. Or its viewing audience would shrink by 50%.

Let’s talk about Ana’s performance. I had no problem with her portraying Marilyn, despite the fact she “had an accent” (one of the most common criticisms you can read about her casting is that she sounded too Cuban). I will judge her based on her performance rather than the fact she happens to be Cuban because Jesus fucking Christ. Anyway, I thought she was outstanding. There was no moment where Ana wasn’t in this 100%, for better or worse. It didn’t matter what the scene demanded, she gave the film all she had. Is it an Oscar-worthy performance? Honestly, you can flip a coin at this point for me, more likely not; however, I wasn’t mad/annoyed she got nominated. She carries this film not because she plays the main role but because she becomes the film. You needed somebody as strong as Ana to lead this film and never once flinch. There more I think about it, the more I am talking myself into Ana being rightfully nominated, as she was one of two things that made this movie stand out. The other is the cinematography.

As I stated above, Ana’s nomination wasn’t expected (for me), but I wouldn’t have been surprised to see cinematography nominated. That aspect was the other thing that couldn’t be denied. How beautiful this film was, despite what was happening on the screen. The beautiful cinematography by Chayse Irvin lifts this film for me; despite having a hard time with the story or the hypocritical message, I was stunned many times looking at the film purely because his work was so excellent. It is a shame he didn’t get the recognition he deserved.

At this point, it’s so hard to distinguish what is fact and fiction regarding the one and only Marilyn Monroe. From some reading I did about the actual Marilyn, she was ahead of her time on many social issues and not as dumb as she was portrayed. However, she seemed to have many demons, and her entanglement with some of the most powerful men of that era also didn’t help her. The biggest irony of it all is that this film thinks it’s somehow in Marilyn’s corner when in reality does to her memory what others did to her when she was alive, profiting off of her name. Since there are so many stories, books, movies, legends and myths about Marilyn, she seems almost like this mythical being rather than just a being. I am not sure what the purpose of the fictionalised “what if” book about her life should have achieved, and maybe the book itself is a masterpiece; I don’t know, as I have not read it. But the film based on that book succeeds in shocking you but fails in almost every other aspect, as it seems painfully unaware of the irony of what its mere existence does to Marilyn’s legacy.

Overall, Blonde is one hell of a depressing film that showcases Ana de Armas and her talent. We can discuss whether she deserved that nomination, but one thing is undeniable. She gave this film her everything and then some. I admire that. The cinematography is also stunning, and based on those two facts alone, I am almost willing to cautiously recommend this movie. What is stopping me are the scenes that mix reality with pure fiction and how many people will go into this film, not knowing it’s not supposed to be viewed as reality. Also, the fact it blames the audience for what happened to Marilyn whilst doing exactly the same thing is a choice. I would say, read a thing or two about this book and then about the actual Marilyn. And then, and maybe then, go check out this film if you want to see something unique; something that will stay with you for a while. But get ready to be disturbed.

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

Until next time,

Luke

I remember seeing this film dropping on Netflix in the fall of 2022 and seeing people mostly praising it, especially for its technical side. It has been on my queue for a while, but when it got nominated for nine (!) Oscars, it jumped to the top of my queue as I always try to watch as many nominated films as possible before the ceremony. Of course, this review was written long after the ceremony, so we now know it managed to win four out of those nine nominations (Best International Feature, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score), Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Achievement in Production Design). Not too bad for Netflix. Anyway, there is another “twist” with this review, this is one of the rare ‘based on the book’ films, and I actually read the book some time ago. But I remember liking it; the book sucked you in and described the horrors of war well, especially the “meat grinder” process. Where (mainly) young soldiers are replaced by other young soldiers whilst this war goes on. I also, given the… nerd? Cinephile? All the above? Yes, you can call me all the things above; I watched the “original” film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), which won Best Picture and Director that year! See, directors and producers in Hollywood, there is a clear cheat code for winning some Oscars! You just have to remake All Quiet on the Western Front! 😉

If only it were that easy, but it is a fascinating coincidence that both the original film and this “remake” managed to impress that much. Before we get into this one, let me give you a quick review of the 1930 classic because it will play somehow important part in this review later on. The 1930 film is still a great showcase of the brutality of war; it especially delves into the characters and “replaceability” portion of war well. However, it is a war film made in 1930, and the time was not as kind to this film as to many others from the same era, so it drags a bit too much. Its runtime of 152 minutes also isn’t helping. But it is still a solid film, 7/10.

Now the 2022 film focuses heavily on the technical side, from stunning cinematography to the score; I will discuss this in detail soon, as that seems to be a bit of a controversial topic. This film shows you everything in such a stunning way it’s hard not to watch it with amazement sometimes, especially; if you can stream it in 4K on a 4K TV. I could understand why it got nominated (and even won some) for the technical categories, as this film is visually stunning. Where it lacked; is the story/overall theme of the original book or even the movie from 1930.

Let me explain – we get the “meat grinder” element in this film in the first scene, and it was done/shot well. But everything after that felt like something we have seen before, many times. That is the one disadvantage of war films (and if you think about it, it’s pretty fucked up) that we saw so many of them over the years from so many different wars it’s hard for any of them to make an impact anymore. You still feel all the despair; you still feel the hatred towards the people on the very top who have all the time to talk details about while somewhere else entirely, young men die. But we became so desensitised to it all that it no longer packs that punch it should have. Also, I couldn’t help but think the people behind this film focused more on the technical side to make it stand out that way, and that is why I found the narrative element got lost a bit. So, I found myself in a weird situation, especially watching the original from 1930 and this movie back-to-back. I was bored more with the original but liked the story/overall narrative, and I liked this one from the technical/visual side but thought the narrative side wasn’t as impactful as the “original”.

Let’s talk about the soundtrack that managed to win the Oscar too. I am not ashamed to say I loved it, but it had to grow on me throughout the film. Because the first time it pops up (and I am, of course, talking about the “bass element”), it almost takes you out of the film as it sounds almost too modern. But the more time I spent watching the movie, the more I got into it. And in a sense, I wish the story wasn’t afraid to take such a massive risk because that would be one way to do it. If you think about it, whether you love or hate the soundtrack (and I have seen many who don’t like it), you notice it. It announces itself it won’t blend with other war movies’ soundtracks. And that (at least, I believe) was the point. It felt like Volker Bertelmann (the man behind it) had a realisation that if this movie has any chance of standing out, he needs to do something that hasn’t been done before in this genre. He took a big swing, and it worked. And I wish the film followed his example and tried something new-ish too.

I am and have always been a believer in judging something on its own merits. So even if I forget the film from 1930, All Quiet on the Western Front is a technically flawless film that managed to find something to make it stand out amongst the other war films. Unfortunately, that something wasn’t the most important part of any film, the story/narrative. And maybe, that’s the cruel irony of this film because even the movies (both this one and the original) and the book talk about how war never changes. And now, that was my main issue with this film, how nothing about it will surprise you. Is it really a fault with this film then or the war itself? Deep, I know, bet you weren’t expecting that 😉

Overall, All Quiet on the Western Front is a film that’s worth watching, especially if your broadband speed and TV can give you the 4K experience this film was made for. There is some chance that if you haven’t watched the 1930 film or never read the book, you may like it even more than me. I would still recommend this latest retelling of this famous novel that shows you how war never changes, using the same beats we can all expect from a war movie. And again, if you think about that sentence, how many different war films we’ve had because we have had so many wars just in the past 100 years, that’s fucking depressing.

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

Until next time,

Luke