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Reviews
Shôgun (2024)
So far, so very good
The cinematography is amazing. The lightening is perfect even in the night. The dialogue and conversations are funny yet intelligent. Almost every scene is filled with suspense. Its a historical fiction in a way so its not going to be exactly like the book. Its been a while I have been so excited about a TV show. This is amazing on every scale. Only time will tell if it will be on par with great shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones but so far, so very good. The director compared the politics of Shogun to succession. The politics and power play is just so exciting to watch unfold. If you are a lover of historical T. V. series, I urge you to watch this series and you will be glad.
Schindler's List (1993)
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire"
This is a story about a man who is by no means a perfect man. His flaws were out there for all to see. He was initially a businessman who was indifferent towards the massacre of Jews. He was a profiteer of slave labour and only cared about money. However, as the story progresses, so did Oskar Schindler grew in empathy and fellow feeling, so did his humanity developed. He made a difficult and dangerous decision to protect Jewish lives in a time and place where their lives meant nothing to their persecutors and Infact, killing them was seen as an act of honour and shielding, loving or expressing any form of humanity towards them was seen a betrayal of a nation ruled by Adolf Hittler. One of the major turning points in his principles was when he realized the sheer scale of mass murder and persecution at the site were Jewish bodies were exhumed .
Schindler's list is the best holocaust movie ever made. The story is horrific and yet it also teaches viewers that there can still be love in a world full of hate. A little love, a little empathy a little sacrifice will always go a long way in making a better world for a lot of people than one can imagine. It teaches us that the greatest achievement isn't how much properties or wealth one acquires but how much one is able to impact lives, change lives, make lives better with what one has acquired. It teaches us not to sit aloof and watch wrong doers and evil doers continue to perpetrate injustice but to stand for what is right and always chose the side of the oppressed. Marin Luther King said " in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silent of our friends". There is a "schindler" in all of us and we are compeled by the principles of humanity to dig deep and find that "schindler" whenever we see injustice occur.
You know one of those movies that changes your views or challenges your beliefs about life after those credits hits, this is one of them. You can never finish watching it the same way you were before you started watching it. It breaks you into pieces when you learn that that sheer human wickedness and hatred knows no bounds but it also comforts when you also realise that human love and kindness knows no bounds.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Great acting but not a great movie
I know a lot of Christopher Nolan fans aren't going to be happy with my review but hey that is the beauty of opinions, they are like noses, everybody has one. I must say that I love a number of Christopher Nolan's movies such as The Dark Night and Inception and the Dark Knight is on my list of the top 20 best movies of all time. Thus, if I do not find this movie outstanding, my opinions are not born out of sheer hatred but one may say I probably see things from a different perspective.
I had to watch this movie 4 times before reviewing it in order to give it the benefit of the doubt and ensure that my criticisms are as objective as possible given the massive critical acclaim it has received from cinephiles and film critics. Unfortunately, I genuinely do not find any justification for the massive critical acclaim it has received from movie lovers and critics other than for 2 reasons. These I think may be due to the fact that it is a Nolan movie and also benefited immensely from the Barbenheimer hype on social media. Below are some of the reasons I do not find this movie outstanding.
To begin with, when you hear one of the biggest movie directors in the world is working on a movie that will visually document the life of one of the biggest scientific minds in the world and a historical event that did not only physically changed the world ie. Hiroshima and Nagasake but also significantly changed the scientific and geo political state of the world, you expect a well detailed story that will be remembered and that will evoke emotions. 'Oppenheimer' was not as detailed as I hoped it will be. Throughout the 3 hour movie, the only subject matter that was discussed was the communist affiliation of Robert Oppenheimer and the how scientists were recruited for the Manhattan project. Sure, there were glimpses of Oppenheimer's educational background but that only concentrated briefly on his time in college. The viewer is not furnished with details of Oppenheimer's parents, childhood and what informed or influenced is passion and interest in quantum physics. The story just jump speed to Oppenheimer's short time at college and boom! Before we know it, he's a lecturer recruiting scientist on the Manhattan project with General Leslie. There were no documentation on how the average Americans saw Oppenheimer and how the world at large especially the Japanese viewed Oppenheimer. It was almost as if the movie sought to project Oppenheimer as a victim instead of a contributory figure in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasake. It was almost as if Nolan wanted the viewer the empathize with someone who in General Leslie's word was a " dilatant and womaniser". This is because the hearing on Oppenheimer's security clearance and how Admiral Strauss tried to sabotage his image in order to have his security clearance revoked took a chunk of the screen time which was not the most important event in the history of Oppenheimer and in my opinion didn't deserve that much screen time.
Furthermore, the movie failed to evoke any sense of emotion and empathy for the victims of Oppenheimer's invention. I get the idea of Nolan trying to keep the focus of the story on Oppenheimer but he would have sold the story better if the viewers were made to see, understand and appreciate the effect of Oppeneheimer's inventions and activities on Hiroshima and Nagasake and even in the United States at that time. The only thing we saw was the celebration of the scientist at Los Alamos after they received the news of the dropping of Atomic Bomb. How did the Japanese feel? How were they affected? How did Americans feel? Which section of Americans were for and against the dropping of the Atomic Bomb? All these were missing from the story and instead, all we see are scientists congratulating themselves and a whole one hour been spent talking about Lewis Strauss' relationship with Oppenheimer and whether Oppenheimer was a communist spy. In my Opinion, that was insignificant to the story and we should have been made to see the physical, emotional, psychological effect of the bombing. Afterall, that is the reason why Oppenheimer told President Truman he had blood on his hands but nothing of that was visually captured. Take Steven Spielberg's " Schindler's List" for instance, even though Spielberg was telling a story of how Schindler saved over a thousand Jews from Nazi Persecution, he also visually documented the torture and murder that were committed by the Nazi's. This evoked emotions from the viewer and made them appreciate Oskar's role in saving the Jews more. Nolan only concentrated the emotions on Oppenheimer and Neglected the victims and consequences of Oppenheimer's invention. I do not think any Japanese watching Oppenheimer will appreciate the concept of the story.
Again, there were so many unnecessary flashbacks. If a director is going to flashback to an event or scene in the movie several times, then maybe the best option is to put that entire scene somewhere in the story. The hearing should not have been at the beginning of the movie because Nolan kept going back and forth with which would easily confuse any casual viewer ( I mean people who do not watch movie like brain surgeons but do so for the fun of it). Instead, he kept going back and forth to the same event which does not capture any significant interest from the viewer given that it was all about communist affiliation and in all honesty, I do not think most people watched the movie to learn about Oppenheimer's communist affiliation.
However the few highlights in the movie were the stunning performances from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Junior and not forgetting the visually impressive cinematography which could easily be taken for granted because I mean this is Nolan and this is one of the things he does best. I would not be surprised if the casts win best actor and supporting actor but for the life of me, I do not think Oppenheimer was as an outstanding movie deserving of best picture as far as the story line was concerned especially given the highly competitive year 2023 had been as far movies are concerned. I can name several non fiction movies that where far better in story telling than Oppeneheimer. Visually stunning, yes, acting performance, yes but story line of the movie, a big no and this is coming from a lover of Nolan's movies since The Dark Knight. At times, it felt like 3 hours of constant non stop talking and " much a do about " nothing by men in suits.
81st Golden Globe Awards (2024)
ALLL THE AWARDS WERE DESERVED
This has been one of the best years in the last decade for the movie industry in terms of the quality of movies that were released. Therefore, going into the Golden Globes wards, I expected to see some great movies and amazing acting performances get some awards and they did not disappoint.
Cillian Murphy's performance as Oppenheimer was one was not only one of the best performances in his career but it also placed in him on a pedestal where he will get more lead acting roles from directors. I was glad his work got recognized.
I was also glad to see lily Gladstone win the best actress awards. Her performance and award has placed her on a new pedestal as far as her acting career is concerned. She is also a big competitor with Emma Stone for the Academy awards in March. Its going to be the most competitive best actress category at the Academy in years given that Emma also won best actress for motion picture .
The awards I was most happy about was Paul Giammati's win. I was hoping his fantastic performance will be recognized and it was. This also makes best actors category an exciting one for the Oscars.
D'avine joy win was so predictable. Her performance as supporting actress was just outstanding and there was no way she was going to lose that category. This is one of the most deserving awards given to all actors, directors and movies I have seen in a long while. There's very little to complain about to be honest.
PS: I hope Zac Efron and the iron claw get recognized at the Oscars even though the movie was released a bit late.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Jessica ! Only Child ! illonois! Chicago
I know I am pretty late to the review party but its never too late to acknowledge great artistic work and give credit where credit is due. Hmm where can I begin?, let's start with the interesting title " Parasite". At a first glance of the movie description, one may quickly presume that the struggling Kim family are the parasites leaching off their host, the Park family by using deception and tricks to get them to sack their workers in order to replace them and have their entire income come from the Park family. This is partly true. However, this story can also be viewed from the angle of exploitation and how descriminatory, delusional and naïve a lot of rich people can be. It also explores the inherent greed in most people who are willing to do anything to climb the to the top of the wealth ladder.
First of all, let us look at the Kim family in perspective. From the first scene, we realize that this is a family that struggles everyday and can barely afford the necessities of modern day living such as internet connectivity. They can barely afford fumigation or insectides and they have to rely on smoke from community fumigation to get rid of insects in their room. A friend of Ki- Woo offers him an opportunity to apply for a home tuition job in the wealthy Kim's household. Seeing an opportunity to make some money, Ki woo forges a college certificate with the help of his sister, "Jessica" in order to be employed to be Da-Hye's teacher. This is where the first deception begins. Upon seeing how naïve and gullible Mrs. Park is in the sense that she immediately employed him without thoroughly examining him or his documents, he sees an opportunity to further exploit the Kim's family and probably in his mind, an opportunity to change his own family's fortunes.
Gradually, other members of the Kim family also infiltrate the Park's household with deception realizing how "trusting" and naïve they are. The story had a sharp and interesting plot twist when the Kim's realized they were not the only ones leaching off the Park family. Due to their inherent greed, they decided to be hostile to another set of "parasites" knowing that they themselves are parasites leaching off their host. Sometimes, even parasites who know very well they are parasites will even fight and srumble for the crumbles of their host. However, the disparity between the rich and the poor especially in modern times is so gigantic that it will take a transformational step in order to climb to the ladder of wealth. This opposes the notion that struggling and working hard in life will automatically make you rich. The hard truth is that, most often than not, it is simply not enough and people do not only have to work hard or smart but need to find themselves in the right place with the right people in order to become wealthy. For instance, a person born into a rich family is more likely to become wealthy with a quarter of the hard work a poor person puts in. That is just a fact. However, societies cultural hegemony has fueled the belief that poor people are simply not working hard or smart enough and one can become wealthy simply by working hard or smart and obeying society's rules and regulations. It blatantly ignores the role of location, gender, family, race, ethnicity among others which play a more significant role in determining the future of a person.
This cultural hegemony has fueled the belief of rich people such as Mr. Kim to further see themselves as above poor people in terms of class and respect and as such, those people who work for them should know their limits and never "cross the line" which is why he fired his driver even without getting to know the truth behind the alleged affair in the car. He refused to "bring himself to the level" of confronting his driver over an issue because he simply saw himself as superior to his workers, he would rather his wife make up an excuse than to fire him to confront the situation head on.
Again, the Park's family in a way can also be seem as parasites because they tend to give their workers extra work they did not bargain for without considering their schedule or the emotional impact these chores will have on them. For instance, whilst the Mr. Kim and his family where still spending the night in a basketball court because their home was submerged in water, the park's family seemingly without consideration for their poor workers ask them to come and help in setting up a place for an impromptu party without even trying to find out how they spend the night after the heavy rain. They tend to believe that the money or the wages they pay them will make up for any inconvenience and humiliation they are putting them through. As time went on, the Kim family begun to feel emotionally drained from the chores they are been made to perform and the lack of consideration being given to their emotional well being by the the Park family. They also slowly come to terms with the fact that no matter how much deception or what they call " plan", they will never be in the wealthy class. They begin to regret the plan they have hatched for themselves and that plan instead of being a tool to escape poverty became a prison and a tool for inferiority complex. This can be demonstrated in the scene where Min asks Da Hye whether he fits in the party and the family and even though she nodded affirmatively, he did not believe he fits in and can actually ever fit in this wealthy class.
Out of all the members of the Kim family, the only person who had any resemblance to fitting in was Ki Jung ( Jessica) as Min alluded to when they were sitting in the absent Park's living room celebrating their seemingly successful "plan".
This movie has a lot of genres in one. It starts as comedy, slowly becomes a dark comedy , drama then becomes a horror in the climax. It is a mixed bag of emotions. There is no true hero or villain. You can blame the Kim family for being greedy and you can be also blame the Park family for being delusional and descriminatory and most importantly, exploitative. In the end, they are all parasites exploiting one another in various ways.
In the end, Mr. Kim hides in the house that provided for him and becomes a prisoner of his own thoughts and actions (plan) after commiting a gruesome murder of Mr. Park. Life they say comes at you fast and this is especially true when you take a deceptive step.
His son's dreams of having enough money to buy the house one day and re unite with his self imprisoned father but in reality this is practically impossible as according to the director, it is going to take Min over 100 years realistically to buy that house.
Some of the interesting symbolism I also observed in the story was the symbolism of the rock which was given to Min as a gift from his friend. Outwardly, it may look like a rock until you realise that it was floating in the water during the flood which defies the law of density. Min also saw the fake rock as a sort of representation of his hopes and dreams because he tend to carry it with him even after the flood. Those dreams probably included that he believed one day he was going to marry Da- Hye and live in the house and become a member of the wealthy Kim family and since that dream was built on deception and tricks, it became as fake as the rock and in the end the fake rock which represented his dreams became an object that lead to his demise. This was an intelligent subliminal symbolism from the director.
Another symbol of the disparity between the Kim's poverty and the park's wealth was whilst "Jessica" was relaxing in a bath tub and watching television in the house that belonged to the Parks pretending it belonged to her, reality dawned on her when she sat on the toilet that was over flowing with faeces smoking a cigarettes in their room during the flood .That act shows how she realizes and accepted her situation. It also represents despair and a failed plan
This is undoubtedly Boo Jon Hoo's magnum Opus and it is on my list of the top 10 best movies of all time . It came as no surprise to me that it became the only non English movie in history to win an academy for best picture.
The Holdovers (2023)
Without The Holdovers, the body devours itself
The holdovers is a story about 3 characters who are all going through depressive moments in their lives and through fate or to an extent school rules and family commitment, they end up having to spend the Christmas together in the cold winter. First, we have Paul Giammati's character, a teacher who prides himself in being a disciplinarian and would stop up at nothing in trying to instill discipline and his principles into his students. However, he also has some inner demons he's battling and perhaps may be using toughness and strictness to hide his internal fears and weaknesses. These weaknesses may be seen in his inability to form deep social and romantic relationships, his inability to be adventurous and try new and exciting things and his fear of expressing his true feelings and emotions to others probably due to the fear of being rejected. He also has stereotypical perceptions about the students in Barton as he assumes that a lot of them are just spoilt, entitled , little brats who need be " straightened out" . Due this thought, it has become extremely difficult if not impossible for him to see any good in them.
Secondly, we have Dominic Sessa's character, Angus who on the first impression might come across as another rich, entitled, little brat. However, his behavior is influenced by underlying factors. This underlying factors include the fact that he's dealing with the repercussions of broken home. He does not feel loved at home and to distract himself from that thought he resort to acting out to fill in the void and emptiness he feels. He's also managed to convince himself that is behavior is to an extent attributed to who is father is and this has made it difficult for him to see himself for who he is and carve out a personality for himself.
Last but not least, is D'avine Joy's character, Mary is a grieving woman who is still grappling with the loss of her only child, Curtis Lamb and her former fiancée. She may be fun and look normal most at times on the outside but anytime she's beside herself, the feeling of emptiness, depression and nostalgia creeps in and she sometimes act out in dealing with it .
These 3 characters are united by fate. As time goes on, they learn more about one another and begin to see the good in each in the most unconventional way. This movie reminds me of the saying that " everything in life happens for a reason" and sometimes the people who you dislike the most are the ones who might help you in one way or another.
For instance, Angus Tully in a way helped Mr. Hunham to learn how to live, be himself, chase after his goals and stop living in perpetual fear even though it came at a cost of him being expelled from the school for breaking school rules. Mr. Hunham had always wanted to write a monograph and travel around the world. If he had not gone to Boston with Angus for him to be expelled, he probably would never had mustered courage to ever leave Barton in order to follow his dreams.
Also, Mr. Hun ham helped Angus Tully to see the good in himself and not always see himself in his father who was mentally challenged. He gave Angus the ability to believe in himself and became a father he was lacking . Mary and Mr. Hun ham became the family Angus Tully wanted and this helped him to see the good in people and also appreciate life.
Mrs. Mary on the other hand was able to deal with her grief in the company of those 2 men and to an extent the cleaner. They became her comfort and joy. This is one of the most relatable human centred movies I have seen in the last decade. It is a movie you can never get tired of seeing no matter how many times you have seen it. It has the perfect balance of joy and sadness, tears and laughter among other experiences.
The setting, cast, direction, dialogue end everything else was so simple and relatable. Is is the perfect definition of " less is more".
There are butterflies n your stomach during and after the movie and you can feel again, live again and believe in pure neighbourly love again. No gimmicks, no unnecessary effects just perfection. And to think that this was Dominic Sessa's first movie! WOW JUST WOW.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
A timeless piece that gets better with each watch
Based on David Grann's book, killers Of The Flower Moon captures a tragic history of systematic murder of the Osage people for their oil wealth. Scorsese vividly captures the themes of greed, exploitation and power play in this chilling non fiction story. He also unapologetically displays the culture of the Osage people in their dress, music, funeral and superstitious beliefs. One does not only appreciate the level of callousness and deceitfulness demonstrated by these greedy "wolves" but one is also sucked into the culture and life of the Osage people in a way you could imagine it when reading the book. As far as the 3 leading characters are concerned, Leonardo DiCaprio's character as Ernest Burkhart was played to perfection. He was servant in the US army infantry division and came to live with and work for his uncle. However, his inability to reflect deeply on the consequences of orders given to him by his uncle made him a tool that was used in perpetrating the heinous crimes committed by his uncle in order to have the headrights to his wife's family oil wealth. He was also a morally conflicted man who in a way tried to convince and deceive himself that he was doing the right thing by obeying his uncle's orders. Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart was the soul of this story. She symbolizes the irreversible physical and emotional damage the genocide had on families. Her subtle, soulful, haunting and emotionally alluring portrayal of Mollie Burkhart was an outstanding achievement and one for the ages. This is a movie that gets better with each watch and its only when considerable time has passed before cinephiles and film critics will realize how truly outstanding this movie is.