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The Marvels (2023)
Appeal to Disney CEOs: Marvel's Spirit is not Disney's spirit
I have been a Marvel enthusiast since 1976, having witnessed every Marvel film released, both on the big and small screens.
'The Marvels' exemplifies Marvel's current deep-seated identity crisis. Nonetheless we, as avid followers of the Marvel Universe, are so lowering our critical standards for MCU productions that we find satisfaction in mere grimaces from the good leading actors.
Yet, 'The Marvels' entertains only because its brisk pace, that leaves no room for the audience to ponder the plethora of absurdities.
The evident cuts and reshoots speak volumes of Marvel's floundering state. The latest desperate trailer, falsely evoking the Avengers, confirms this. The issues are manifold: omissions, inconsistencies, continuity gaps, absurdities, shallowness, forced humor, errors, and negligence.
All these boil down to a single, overarching problem: an enforced 'Disneyfication' of Marvel, disrespecting the spirits of both Disney and Marvel, and thus disappointing fans of both realms.
To highlight the film's weaknesses:
Inconsistencies and missed continuity connections: The presence of the Skrulls, completely ignoring 'Secret Invasion'.
Stretching believability: Captain Marvel entering the sun of Hala, and generally, the overly simplistic solutions to Hala's problems.
Disneyfication: The planet of Aladdin (sigh!) and cats swallowing people.
Omissions: What is the orbital base, and why is Fury there?
Forced comedy: Kamala's family in space.
Errors: Kamala using her powers even without her bracelet.
Negligence: The lackluster CGI in the post-credits character.
One could write a tome on the overall disaster. Yet, if we switch off our brains, our eyes fill with colorful figurines, and we return home content.
Should we be satisfied with this?
Marvel is inherently different from Disney, thriving on a realism that has made it more successful than DC. Stripping it of its realism is to rob it of its very essence.
The Binding (2016)
A realistic dark drama about the psychological origin of the supernatural
"The Binding" is a movie that possesses multiple symbolic layers of meaning, showcasing Gus Krieger's exceptional mastery of his expressive tools. Initially we are induced to take it as a genre film, and I think that this label is the root cause of its low IMDb rating. When the viewers foreshadow an horror story centered around the devil, they are led to believe that the exorcism scene must inevitably serve as the emotional apex of the narrative. If that were the case, the film would be deemed disappointing, but such an assessment is far from accurate: the exorcism scene underscore the extreme ineptitude, fear, and confusion of the priest Uriel, who dispenses futile advices; facing a genuinely extraordinary event, he feels lost, especially since he himself no longer places faith in the church's ancient methods. If the resolution of all conflicts were to hinge on that single scene, the low rating would be correct. But there is far more depth.
"The Binding" is a realistic and complex cinematic work that derives its strength from the interplay between the metaphysical dimension and the psychological one. The anguish and fear conveyed by the protagonist, the highly skilled and intense Amy Gumenick, seep into the viewer's consciousness from the very first scene and persist throughout. When viewed through the correct lens, Gus Krieger's film emerges as a horror tale, not due the reiteration of the genre clichés but due to its profound thematic content. It doesn't rely on special effects to evoke a profound sense of disquiet, and provoke numerous philosophical questions about the nature of religious faith.
It's sad, but when a movie transcends the limitations of the genre stereotypes in order to deepen the human frailties, there is always a risk of failing to engage the proper audience and being misunderstood.
La terrazza (1980)
Awful movie
Horrible sound, horrible photography, horrible screenplay, horrible acting. It seems to be directed with the left foot. Miles and miles away from the masterpieces 'C'eravamo tanto amati' or 'Una giornata particolare'.
Too much ambitious as well as superficial. It tries to represent the moral and political defeat of a generation, but the characters are two-dimensional.
Very uncertain in the choice of style: naturalistic or grotesque? It would have been better to go with the grotesque, because this kind of naturalism is very depressing. Scola used a bunch of actors who have always played anti-naturalistic characters in the glorious years of Italian cinema, so they are poorly utilized.
I'm sure this film will be forgotten over time.
Amulet (2020)
Horror rests on the unexplicable
Generally the best horror films puts one viewer's foot on the land of logic, and the other on the water of madness, so every now and then, shifting the weight of the body on the second foot, the spectator feels a sense of instability and restlessness.
Amulet does it well. Not everything is logical, but it is a work that manages to keep the interest alive, in spite of the few abstract settings and the lack of action. In every scene there is a very sinister feeling that something has to happen, something very bad, and it is this feeling of anguish and terror that a good horror movie has to create.
Not everything will be explained in the end, and I believe that the meaning must be traced in a well-buried metaphor of the relationship between man and woman, and there's something unsaid about the violence that an unhealthy relationship between the two sexes is able to generate.
For me it was a very interesting author's debut, and I would like to watch other works by Garai in the future.
Zoo (2018)
Very advanced european cinematic sensibility and style
I have seen quite a lot of indian movies, but I never seen one movie like this one.
There is no trace of stereotypes, no typical filter, no self-satisfied wink toward the viewer, like in the 99% of the national production.
The poetic of Sharma is very close to the Zavattini's and De Sica one: the "camera-stalking" of the common people in their ordinary life. And the work he does with the actors is amazing.
This movie has a very european taste. An human partecipate look inside a realistically dry mise-en-scene.
Pleas don't miss it, it absolutely worths the while.
Silent Night (2021)
A metaphor about vaccine and free choice
I had the strong impression that in this movie the ecology theme was only apparent.
I think the real theme is the vaccine and the free choice, and I think the author is tendencially no-vax.
The gas coming with the storm is a metaphor of the virus, and the deadly pill is the vaccine.
The apparently rational adults (a bunch of hypocrits) rely on the media and the scientists who claim there is only one way to escape the disaster: the pill.
The kid is the only one who puts in discussion the scientists, because he finds stupid dying without trying an alternative, and decides to face his fate.
The final scene reveals the authoral intentions: the kid is the only one who survives.
Stylistically there is an unresolved gap between the first comedic part and the second melodramatic part, because the author focused on the ideologic message and not on the artistic representation in itself. In fact, the dramatic part was conceived to stimulate the emotional response of the audience against the silly ipocrisy of the predetermined choice.
Eternals (2021)
The bad reviews are a lampant case of bad faith
The movie is profound, spectacular, brave. The cosmic side of Marvel breath into it. Not for all tastes, for sure. Great acting, stunning visuals, wise script. The director is capable of twisting from the intimistic view to the epic view, without effort. Same ability in twisting from comedy to drama. Great message of humanism, of cohexistence. The real Marvel spirit.
A Classic Horror Story (2021)
You can fool your own mom, but you cannot fool an horror fan
Good acting (especially the young Alida Baldari Calabria), good photography, good direction, but terrible idea and mediocre writing.
A good script supervisor would say to the amateurish writers: if you copy many movies and force the character to explain it into the movie, this trick don't make a meta-movie. The movie remains a copy.
The script is not able to tranform old material into an original idea, because the assembling it's too much artificial and lacks of artistic vision, showing what it really is: an useful trick to bury all the errors.
If you put together pieces of corpses you won't have an human being, you will have a Frankenstein monster.
Boarding School (2018)
The bravery of an artist
I am a huge horror fan, but I don't watch a movie expecting something in advance: that would ruin my view and - most of all - my judgement. So usually I watch a movie, trying to absorb everything with no prejudices. To a movie I ask only one thing: to keep my attention wide awake. After thousands of movies I get easily bored.
"Boarding School" kept me pretty awake and attentive. That's why my score. I guess it's not perfect but it's very original, audacious, well made, and it's all I ask to a story.
I smelled also a metaphorical level, I didn't catch it fully, but my mind was constantly stimulated by reflections about history, psichology, ethic. Not many movies are able to do it.
I'll surely watch it a second time.
Boaz Yakin, please keep being artistically ambitious.
One Remains (2019)
There's some good in it
Very intriguing base idea, some smart dialogues, decent acting (Ryan O'Quinn did a great job), nice atmosphere but... disproportionate premises, some unuseful stereotypes, messy structure of the script (or just a wrong editing). I would like to watch a better-made remake of this movie, a new production with more funds and, of course, with a new script.
Living Among Us (2018)
A wasted opportunity
I enjoyed this movie, but.
Let me explain: I have been captivated by the intelligent idea, the exquisite acting, the creepy atmosphere. The director was able to raise the tension to the limit, then ... at 2/3 of the movie it came an hasty ending: a totally unbelievable escape and some action (very silly action). Sometimes "the less the better": with a little more care on the script in the final part, I think Living Among Us would have been another milestone in the found-footage genre.
Olgami (1997)
A perfectly told story
I enjoyed very much Olgami. A sharp script, great acting, beautiful photography, punctual soundtrack. The movie looks like the explanation of a mathematical theorem about feelings, and it works very well. Not a single boring instant, a fluid narration with some brilliant moments of high tension and suspense, the sane respect of the logic. Some directors should study from this movie the grammar of the cinema: not a single shot is unnecessary or wrong. A standing ovation to So-Jeong Yun, who played the mother: she is able to scare us just with a glance. A critics could be appointed only on the acting of the young friend of Su-Jin, just a little bit forced, but the whole result is considerable.
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
A man who commits a lonely suicide has to be considered a martyr?
I don't want to discuss about technical aspects, my comment focuses on the absence of any deep meaning in this work, because I think this movie is a little bit overrated.
Is it the metaphor of something? I tried to understand it very carefully, but I didn't find any trace of symbols. The dialogs are not funny and are not profound, they seem only pointless and pretentious.
The psychiatric experiment in itself is totally unbelievable for the large amount of energy and money used, and the serious risks implied. The friendship between Cutshaw and Kane is too fast and superficial, and that's why his death is not a dramatic event. The scene at the bar is a very mediocre representation of stereotypes. You cannot say how evil is the "normal" human race, watching a band of drunk bullies. This poor scene is made to raise - very easily - the rage of the audience. It wants to hit below the belt, not inducing any reflection.... so, whose side are you on, Blatty?
But the most important point is: why a man who commits suicide has to be considered a hero, a martyr, a saint? That's the point. 1) A disturbed man doesn't do it intentionally, he is forced by his illness. 2) Someone thinks it's an altruistic action dying for a simple demonstration? I don't think so. 3) He says: "I'm tired of living". OK, so dying is selfish. This makes no sense. No, sorry: it's stupid.
Someone found God or any sort of illumination watching this movie? I don't think so, because it is a fraudulent and messy juxtaposition of strong themes (madness, sacrifice, friendship), but empty of any artistic synthesis.
(Sorry for my poor English)