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The Jesus Rolls (2019)
Unfunny and Pointless
I was going to start this review with "only the 2nd worst The Big Lebowski sequel on Letterboxd" but at least the Funny or Die parody trailer is short.
Honestly, wasn't expecting this to be so shockingly bad? I had heard from some people it wasn't good, but was cautiously curious. Using Jesus as a spinoff character felt odd since in The Big Lebowski he's basically just a joke character who nobody takes seriously and in the film could be cut. But it also meant that there's a lot of room to work with, sooooo maybe?
But no. This movie is disjointed, moving from disconnected (be it by logic or themes) plot point from disconnected plot point, characterization is pretty thin, John Turturro still has the mannerisms from The Big Lebowski down but plays Jesus with oddly low energy (and a poor script means a lot of attempted comedy just Dies), the cinematography felt shockingly bad (multiple shots that I am pretty sure were inside a real car/train looked almost like a green screen due to poor framing), and probably at least 20 minues of this 85 minute movie are languid sex scenes. It's the kind if film where I was checking the time repeatedly to see how close to over it was, having lost all interest. The only good part of the movie is the end, which does tie one plot point together, but even then it messes up by going on for too long and should have just ended with a fade away after the tire stops rolling. Honestly one of the worst films I've seen in a while.
Ambition (2014)
Guys, make more exposition scenes like this!
Watching this made me think "wow, why don't more movies have exposition scenes this good?" and considering it is a 5~ minute short dedicated to getting you interested in the Rosetta space mission that's about the best praise it can have, right?
This honestly makes me want an entire movie about this master/student pair, IDK, going on her first real nanomachine mission in space to do some sick exploration and getting into some hijinks and having this as an exposition scene before it starts / to show her becoming ready. Also the poster is sick.
The Nightingale (2018)
Tasmanian Aboriginals :handshake: "The British are the absolute worst." :handshake: The Irish
A fairly good film I feel is largely let down by the fact that, to me, it drags its feet on the way to the fairly strong ending. At times it dips into a level of despair that comes across as practically misery porn, largely in very happenstance circumstances that exist solely to make the situation more bleak for the main characters. The last time that Clare and Billy come across a wandering slave band sticks out to me, as the two already had more than enough motivation and the film already established how brutal and monstrous they were, so it only serves to deal a crushing blow to Billy's wish to see his people in the north again, of which I wonder if there was a more organic way to do so. The plot generally feels like it resets when Clare and Billy first catch up to Hawkins' group and she fails to shoot, and around that time like there's a good three places the plot could have ended and felt good. I love the final scene with Clare and Billy at the beach, but this movie really felt as though it needed a slight trim. A tighter pace about 15-20 minute less would have improved the movie I feel.
The three rape scenes to begin the movie also felt borderline gratuitous. I say "borderline" because it is clearly setting up an scenario of extreme lose and the brutality of them fits in with the movie's overall tone and messaging, but given how clearly things are going to play out it comes across as almost voyueristic and is only held back by the fact it's too disgusting to reach that level. I'd also say a good part of me wishes I had more personal knowledge about Tasmanian aboriginals, because some of this stuff came across as potentially "white person writes black culture inaccurately".
There's a lot to like, though! A big one is the performances, as everyone felt like they turned in a good show, with Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr and Sam Claflin all turning in particularly strong performances. Aisling's use of expressions and handling of scenes with minimal or no dialogue feels like one of the highlights, Baykali's was consistent through the movie but felt like it spiked up strongly in the ending scenes and Claflin does well as an amped up lout representative of British oppression of the time period. And while the movie does at times descend into misery porn-esque feelings, it also uses the brutality to strong effect, of particular strength is Jago's death scene which is one of the more brutal and drawn out ones I've seen. It also works well with the callousness on display: It's easy to kill other people if you don't see them as people.
I must also say I am so glad there wasn't any pointless moralizing over Billy's vengeance at the end, an act certainly understandable and not equivalent in some way to their deeds. The injustice upon them was great and it is not as though they were going to change their ways by all indications. It does feel like Clare should have been more involved, though, given what happened to her throughout the film. The movie could have arguably been more thematic, but I'd say painting a picture of its era via this revenge flick is itself thematically opening up, and there's enough to read into if you want.
Overall, a thoroughly brutal movie that suffers from pacing issues and some specific nagging parts bouyed by acting performances, the final payoff at least being worth it and using its brutality to pain a strong picture of its purpose.
The Dawn Rider (1935)
Somewhat Bizarre, Mostly Poor
Honestly, what a weird film in some ways. The first 11 minutes feel like a random events plot to set up the rest of it, and the movie blatantly feels like it should have just had Ben/John be friends to start the movie. The entire thing feels off when the film treats them like close friends who have a rift growing when in actuality they literally just met and Ben only knew his dad. The ending also goes RIGHT to comedy music with the coroner measuring the bodies after what is supposed to be a very dramatic scene of everyone dying. And then the movie has a super happy ending even though Alice's life got wrecked with her brother and close friend / rival love interest dead.
About 50% of this film is riding horses, but without a deft touch behind the camera there isn't much energy of them. But in some ways the often amateur editing (there's a multitude of VERY clear cuts) actually makes it better? It gives it almost an amateur home movie feel, even though in this case it was just cheap production. It almost felt like the rough cuts could have been turned stylistic.
The bartender being the guy who can most beat up John Wayne in the movie is quite funny. Dunno why he didn't shoot ol' John when he had a clear shot and literally was there to kill him though.
Jin-Rô (1999)
A solid tale elevated by aesthetic and style.
Jin-Rou, or Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, is a movie that mixes together intensely beautiful graphics, immersive soundwork and music with solid but ultimately somewhat uninspired story.
Prevalent through the entire film is a supreme sense of mood that largely comes down to the overall aesthetics of the piece, giving the film a foreboding and dark sense throughout it. Scenes such as the start of the movie, for example with a yet-unnamed terrorist/freedom fighter stepping through the water-soaked underground to deliver satchel bombs only to find herself hiding and fleeing from the military that she only hears from afar, would flounder in a film that lacked this must polish. From the blocking to the sound of steps through the water to the grizzly ending it is striking. And this can be seen although the film: The fire of molotov cocktails against dark streets in protest, the contrast of sparkling water to more gritty urban environments and particularly effective use of facial emotion or other cues tha work together with the rather low-dialogue nature of the work. I will also note this movie features spot-on sound effects for the various guns used in it which is a nice touch.
This goes hand-in-hand with the terrifyingly ominous Protect Gear that the Special Unit utilizes, bulky with the menacing glow of red night vision goggles that conceal the user entirely to the point of feeling almost like a horror robot. They are used sparingly in a wise decision that ensures their impact is felt when the right moment comes, especially as this movie is not particularly afraid to go into loving animation on the messier parts.
The animation gets a nine largely due to a few off model scenes with the faces. While good at showing expressions through much of it, especially in the eyes and in very subdued expression, it sometimes struggles when it comes to very outsized ones such as intense grief or happiness. Normally this would not be a big enough deal to drop the score down a point, but one of the worst times it happens is right during the largest emotional climax of the entire film and it took me right out of the moment. And getting a moment that important to the film to the point it takes me out of it is plenty enough to downgrade it compares to others.
This mood helps prop up the plot and characters, which while more than it seems on the surface graded out as mostly a Good. The use of Little Red Riding Hood allegory is smart, but after a certain point wears out its welcome when it would feel stronger if it was more condensed and we instead got somewhat more insight into the characters. This is particularly true since in a move that seems to be going for a more subtle approach elsewhere, everything about said allegory is taken to the film like a sledgehammer and aside from perhaps a brief fake-out (which, if intended, did not fake me out) makes some of the points that are supposed to be more hidden far too obvious. It IS used well in chunks of the movie, particularly the ending, but having good sides doesn't stop it from dragging down other parts somewhat.
The film's sharpest and strongest focus outside of the start is probably on the internal affairs of the government and the twists and turns that come with the Public Security Division, the Special Units Division, the police and the main government clashing and vying against each other. Henmei ends up a notable character due to this and it tends to be when the movie is most articulating a point as well. It also leads into the twists and turns, that I won't spoil, later in the movie that give the plot the majority of its depth.
While this does help a lot, it also leads into an issue I ran into for the characters: The revelations we get may add new context to previous scenes, but it also feels like it emotionally or logically rides up against them as well. It is hard to get into details without large spoilers, but it renders aspects of how Fuse and Kei (the main focus of the majority of the movie) rather fuzzy and unrealistic. Or if not unrealistic, at least not exactly tight storytelling. This is another reason that reducing some of the Little Red Riding Hood allegory for a bit more insight, be it direct or simply giving us some breadcrumbs so that we might come to our own conclusions, would have been a great tool as it could have been used to help paper over or avoid these issues. This goes moreso for Kei, who despite a large amount of promise ultimately ends up rather flat, I would have liked a bit more of a look into her. I will note I appreciate the film's anti-authoritarian and anti-fascist themes, but it does feel like they are largely relegated to the start and end of the film and could have been perhaps explored more.
To a degree I wonder if the film had a tough task to follow after the initial 13 minutes or so as the riot at the start of the film feels like the high point of the film aesthetically. Despite the fact that the entire start essentially is lacking in names, we only find out the name of terrorist girl Nanami later, it nonetheless gets us invested in these events quite naturally. Nanami's walking through the streets juxtaposed against the violence of the protests for freedom, with the kind of cool yet tense music reflective of a dark thriller backing it, is a strong point and the result of her delivery is some very well done animation. It also certainly feels like it had a lot of room to inject plenty of meaning into it if it was a full movie, enough that it could have surpassed the movie in messaging.
Overall, a solid movie that drags its weaker parts along with some strong audiovisuals that help invite interest even at weaker points and drag some scenes beyond what the screenplay would suggest. Well worth checking out if the premise is intriguing, but don't expect anything beyond the norm.