(2018) Topher Allen Reviews
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- DirectorRyan CooglerStarsChadwick BosemanMichael B. JordanLupita Nyong'oT'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.This is a villain’s story.
Spoiler’s ahead, ye be warned:
In the beginning, we are given insight to what will become an unfortunate backstory. Cue a distracting Marvel Logo full of white actors and the big green guy. Then we are shown a world...beyond our world. Wakanda (clearly using old sets from “The Lion King,” haha, but not just the sets, more on this later). An elitist colony, really, which “hides in the shadows” from the rest of the Earth, keeping their culture, politics, and technology from us...as we destroy ourselves through the centuries with our own cultural differences, political disputes, and technological “advancements.”
From a place on Earth where the origins of human life are known to be, wisdom and technology have given the people of Wakanda invincibility. So, really, the only one we can relate to are the vulnerable. This is why we must be given villains, the true underdogs here. And they are only villains because they have weaknesses, apparently (there are no “villains” amongst the people of Wakanda). They have unfortunate histories. Troubled pasts. Yet, we see how easily corrupt the invincible can be (watch out for the character played by the Oscar nominated lead role from “Get Out”).
“You have a good heart, and it is hard to be king with a good heart,” says the father to the new Black Panther (a role given to the elite of the elite, a role that can be questioned and challenged freely). This rings true as the vulnerable villains easily rise to the top to take the throne. And right here, I have described the trap of the three-act structure, to which Marvel films are religious.
Our invincible hero becomes who he was born to be.
He is challenged by vulnerable villains, who take over.
And the invincible overcome, and rise up once again in defeat of their enemies.
Everything else is filler, and unfortunately Black Panther is full of it. Visually glorious and exciting, entertainment is in abundance here, but so much wisdom is lost in the fundamentals of this old story of good vs bad. We also sacrifice reality with seemingly infinite reliance on CGI, and therefore we lose emotion.
Michael B Jordan’s character steals the show as Killmonger, a well-intentioned man with false motives that have turned him evil. He is the Scar to Chadwick Boseman’s (playing Black Panther) Simba, except we didn’t have the occurrence of Mufasa’s death (an event that happened in a previous film from the Marvel universe) being motivational here. The appearance of Black Panther’s father was merely to share a little bit of wisdom and good intentions from a poorly chosen method of life.
You see, the Kingdom of Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther, much like the Amazonian land in Wonder Woman, is an exclusive club. Killmonger, our villain, wants to spread the wealth, as dangerous as this feels to the Wakandans. But he’s right!
It’s rare a film has me rooting for who is clearly a villain. And this one has the literal scars to prove his villainous nature (one for every fatality at his hands).
And the hero knows the villain is right.
He’s on the villains side!
And yet he still must “take back the throne.”
Rather than unite...rather than turn a terrorist into a patriot. This film had the potential.
Why can’t villains have their day? Why can’t they live long enough to become the heroes? Why can’t they have the capacity to learn, change, and grow?
Because Marvel is still evolving itself.
It has a quota to fill.
It has money to make.
It has a structure it is trapped by.
And it has end credits to wait for.
While I no longer long for a grand finale to show the demise of a rotten villain, cinema does feel like a dying art. With the Olympics playing, I’ve been questioning what a sport really is...and the art of the cinema is being smudged by the sport of movie-making. “Black Panther” is special, and it’s good, and it’s fun...but it will not be remembered by movie buffs. Fanboys and fangirls will love it, and maybe comic book aficionados will worship the live-action portrayal of their imaginations, but that’s all out of my element.
All the talk about this flick has reminded me to revisit Blade and Blade II, two of my favorite films from the Marvel Universe. - DirectorPeter FarrellyStarsViggo MortensenMahershala AliLinda CardelliniA working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.The “Green Book.”
When the filmmakers spoke to reporters after their win at the Oscars, they were asked some rough questions about the film’s controversy. The suggestion is that the reaction to the film has been negative. Spike Lee, director of “BlackkKlansmen,” was asked a “what if” question about the timing of his movie. “I don’t answer hypothetical questions. The movie was made when the movie was made,” he basically said to establish “it is what it is.”
“It is what it is,” the “Green Book” filmmakers could have said. But they said the grown-up thing to say, the truth that “Green Book” is about love. It’s a buddy road-trip movie, after all. Meanwhile, “Spikey-poo,” Spike Lee, insinuated the “Green Book” win was a “bad call.”
Those who see the controversy in the story itself are those who have an interesting perspective, and those who see the love are hopefully seen as just as interesting.
I loved this movie, so you know I see the love. The setting is the sixties. A decade later (the 1970s, thank you, math), and much further down than the deep south (thank you, geography), we’re in the backdrop of “Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s (“Gravity,” “Children of Men”) latest picture, seeking the feeling of growing up, not unlike Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” or “Mid90s,” by Jonah Hill, from what I can imagine (I have not seen the latter pictures, but from my understanding, these two funnymen have become serious directors). 2018 sure seemed like the year of personal films.
However, the center character of “Roma” is not your typical lead. She’s actually your typical background character, the maid for some folks who can afford a maid in the ‘70s. The story is actually irrelevant (although very interesting still), for this is a flick merely showing life (and death) itself, but there’s quite a touch of political commentary that ultimately feels like a meditation on our lack of free will. Even the camera moves freely almost barely capturing what is going on in the lives of the characters. This is what granted Cuarón his best cinematography award.
The opposite is the case for “Green Book,” where the camera is very standard and the beauty comes from what is shown, rather than how it is shown. So where’s the controversy with such a beautiful story?
Most of it is before the movie and in no way related to the movie, but on screen, there’s a scene where the rough New York Italian, played by an unrecognizable Viggo Mortenson, is called upon when Mahershala Ali, playing a genius pianist, is in trouble. In walks the white savior, like a tough cowboy through swinging doors of a saloon, where the Academy Award winning role for Ali, Don Shirley can hardly speak, he’s beaten so bad. Mortenson’s character is ever-accepting, a roll-with-the-punches-literally type, and deals with the attackers in his own way. Contrast this, however, with a later scene where Vallelonga (the Italian name of Viggo’s character who, at one point, is asked to change his name to something easier to pronounce, not unlike many foreign Hollywood actors of the time) is pulled over and they are both taken to jail, despite Ali’s character’s innocence. Shirley is the hero there, getting them removed from the jail full of racist cops, and that should be the end of the controversy. Right?
Well, what are we looking at, here? This is a buddy movie between a highly-educated man of African descent and an uneducated Italian slob who eats too much and smokes too often. Tony Vallelonga is shown how to be more accessible to his wife by Shirley, who is inaccessible himself, but his unrelatability becomes very relatable when we all feel like outsiders even to “our own.” He claims white people enjoy him because he makes them feel cultured, but as soon as his fingers come off the keys, they will still refuse to eat with him. And he recognizes his uncooperativeness with those who look like him keep him alone as well. And that’s the 1960s. And that’s America. This is America.
And “Roma” is México. Filmed in Mexico City, where the director grew up, and with a 100% Mexican cast and nearly 100% crew, this film could not exist without Mexico, so states the director.
Beyond these flicks, we have the self-destructive politics of the Oscars, and I tell you what, I still can’t forget 2005 where I first noticed it. As much as I enjoyed the competing films “Brokeback Mountain” and “Crash,” I saw the results of the contest as racial commentary vs awareness of homosexuality (of which there is a purposefully throwaway moment in “Green Book”). And I felt America wasn’t ready for the homosexuals (this was 2005). It was perhaps the first time I saw the world as immature (although I didn’t see myself as any better, still in high school), but I had still felt “Crash” was superior cinematically. Putting a mirror to society, “Crash” director Paul Haggis said, was the goal.
“Green Book” accomplishes this, and the mirror for the 60s shows us today, actually. And America isn’t better, it’s worse. The prison system and greed itself has seen to that. This is America.
Another runner-up for Oscar night was BlackkKlansmen, the story of the first black police officer in Colorado infiltrating the KKK (this was the 1970s). The ending of the movie, if you haven’t heard, seamlessly blends the story with documentary footage of today. How is this a seamless transition? This is America.
“Green Book” and “BlackkKlansmen” are based on true events and “Roma” was inspired by true memories. And they all won. Spike Lee, director of Klansmen, gave a speech recalling his “Do the Right Thing” film about choosing love over hate. That’s what grown-ups do. “Roma” is the best foreign picture of the year, a film about what it’s like to experience life through things we cannot control. It’s about growing up. And “Green Book” should be shown in schools years from now, in order to show a maturation process from two very different perspectives.
Now, was there a superior film? Did “Green Book” deserve best picture? I’m glad it won.
Having said all of this, imagine if “Roma” had won. This is a Netflix flick. A made-for-televisión-movie. Recognize that “Roma” was a top contender. The only reason “Roma” was shown in theaters was because of it’s Oscar-worthiness (although the director believes it not to be typical “Oscar bait,” and I believe Netflix inspired his freedom to make such a personal film his own way). The theatrical experience is dying (I’m writing this minutes after seeing the second Lego movie, which was great in the end, but not a must-see-in-theaters movie...like “Alita” claims to be, and even that flick by one of my favorite directors felt only like an advertisement for future installments (installments perhaps without the Mahershala Ali character)). How will the Oscars stay relevant? What is the draw of “movie stars” anymore? Is there such a thing? By recognizing non-theatrical films like “Roma,” a film with beauty beyond the names in the credits, the Oscars are recognizing the trend.
The greatest working director, David Fincher, has embraced and kick-started Netflix himself (“House of Cards” and “Mindhunter” are his productions). Plus, the role of Hollywood seems awfully left-leaning (see Adam McKay’s “Vice,” and the cheers during the first few minutes when President 45’s wall is mentioned as a joke). The diverse landscape of America now is causing ticket sales to go down. Make America Great Again (MAGA) has it’s own meaning, the hat being a symbol of minorities, too, but still a large part of our population. Still a part of what makes America. The big movies, “Infinity War” and “Black Panther” both being not just super hero movies, but Marvel movies. Writing these things, churning them out, is for the masses. “Black Panther” was pushed into the Oscar race perhaps only to reach this larger audience, but the only way movies are going to make money is if they reach the right-wing audiences as well. “Green Book” could only do this with an open mind. With open-minded audiences, I mean. “Oscar Bait” means something itself, after all. Viggo’s character could be seen as a MAGA-hat wearer, but...will conservatives instead see themselves as being attacked by the representation of the southern characters who expressed such hate? Audiences are sensitive. This is America.
It’s all a matter of perspective. Watching films from your own perspective is the problem...watching films as if they’re written specifically for YOU is as self-centered as imaginable from an audience member (unless they bring a gun to the theater, which is as selfish as imaginable). I see “Green Book” as a movie for grown-ups. Or at least it is grown-up, but made for everyone. It IS accessible to everyone, as are all films, but what do audiences wish to access? What do people want to see?
It’s PG-13, and consider the fact that it’s directed by the guy who did “Dumb n Dumber.” “Vice” was done by the guy who did “Anchorman,” by the way. Funnymen making serious films (although the comedy always helps. “BlackkKlansman” has a plot that sells itself as a comedy).
“Gotta give the people what they want” is no rule for filmmakers who want to do what they want to do.
Time...a big part of the movies, as we’ve gone back in time a few decades to tell stories relevant to today...showing we have a lot of growing up to do. Time to grow up. - DirectorBob PersichettiPeter RamseyRodney RothmanStarsShameik MooreJake JohnsonHailee SteinfeldTeen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.“With great ability comes great accountability,” is not the saying popularized by the comic, but this flick turns everything upside down in a science-fiction-like multi-verse story with Spider-mans (men and women and cartoon pigs) from different worlds to battle a threat supposedly putting all of them in jeopardy. While it was actually difficult for me to keep the logic straight, the entertainment factor is superb and the characters are truly relatable. This made the film resonate with academy voters to make it the best animated flick of the year. The truth is, the directing is really fascinating, requiring creativity to bring this story to the screen (such a story would have seemed impossible without being animated). The sense of humor is also top notch while the heart of the film is inspiring.
The main takeaway is this...that Stan Lee created a world where we can all look at this character and not only see ourselves, but see the potential in ourselves. A sequel might show the villainous possibilities of the Spider-man character, but this film takes the impossible-to-defeat villain to show that anybody is stronger than those who use their strength through destructive ways. - DirectorMorgan NevilleStarsFred RogersMargaret WhitmerTom JunodAn exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host Fred Rogers.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
- DirectorBrad BirdStarsCraig T. NelsonHolly HunterSarah VowellThe Incredibles family takes on a new mission which involves a change in family roles: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) must manage the house while his wife Helen (Elastigirl) goes out to save the world.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
- DirectorJohn KrasinskiStarsEmily BluntJohn KrasinskiMillicent SimmondsA family struggles for survival in a world where most humans have been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures. They are forced to communicate in sign language to keep the creatures at bay.