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[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The Harder They Fall

dir. Jeymes Samuel/2021/2h19m

The Harder They Fall is a revisionist western revenge film and the debut feature from musician/producer, and they younger brother of Seal (yes, the Kiss From a Rose guy), Jeymes Samuel.  It stars Jonathan Majors as Nat Love who, as a young child, witnessed his parents murder at the hands of the brutal Rufus Buck.  As an adult, and the leader of his own gang, he learns that Buck is to be released from prison and sets out for revenge.  Alongside Majors is an absolutely stacked cast including Idris Elba as Buck and Regina King and Lakeith Stanfield as his loyal gang members Trudy Smith and Cherokee Bill.  Delroy Lindo appears as the badass sheriff Bass Reeves and Zazie Beetz plays Loves love interest and fellow gang member Stagecoach Mary.

One thing I found really interesting, and one of this films USPs, is that Samuel has taken real people from Black history and put them all together in this hyper-stylised fictional story.  This film, unlike most other westerns, doesn't show Black people just in how they relate to White people at the time, instead choosing to excise whiteness altogether in order to focus on these little known people.  We don't need another film about Wyatt Earp, but after watching this I want to see a film about Bass Reeves.  This film also isn't that bothered about being historically accurate.  The characters speak in a modern parlance and it's shot unlike any western I've ever seen, at times seeming almost like a music video.  The music, largely a mix of dub and reggae, is also fantastic and really fits the mood of the film despite it being anachronistic.  

This very polished and stylish production does tend to take away some of the dramatic weight at times, as does the amount of humour in the film, this has a lot more jokes in it than I was expecting (the cut to the "white town" actually made me laugh out loud), but the performances, particularly by Elba and Majors, always keep you rooted in the events.  The rest of the performances are all great, particularly Stanfield, who I've loved in everything I've seen him in, and Lindo who I believe I've only seen in a couple of Spike Lee films before now, but I want to see everything he's done now.  This is a great debut from Samuel and a really unique take on the genre that is well worth watching.

 

[djw180 6,839]

Blue Velvet (1986) dir. David Lynch

 

 

 

David Lynch's eerie masterpiece set in a small US town with a seedy underbelly. It stars Kyle MacLachlan as late teens Jeffrey who find a human ear in land close to his house. He takes this to a detective he knows lives nearby and, despite being warned not to, starts investigating himself assisted by the detective's daughter Sandy, played by Laura Dern. Their investigation leads them to nightclub singer Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini) but when Jeffery decides to spy on her he witnesses local gangster Frank (Dennis Hopper) who clearly has an obsession with Dorothy and has some kind of hold over he.

It's very, very, David Lynch, almost surreal at times and quite scary at others. Frank is probably one of the most terrifying characters outside of horror, working himself up into a screaming frenzy with some narcotic gas he carries around and inhales via a mask. You know the two teenagers have got them selves involved in something very dangerous but Jeffery will not back away. Issabella Rossilini is fantastic,  playing a very troubled character.

I have only seen this once before, a long time ago and I don't think I really appreciated it then. Now it's a definite 10/10

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The Power of the Dog

dir. Jane Campion/2021/2h6m

The Power of the Dog is a western from Jane Campion (The Piano), her first feature film in over a decade.  It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, who works the family ranch with his brother George (Jesse Plemons) in 1920s Montana.  The status quo is broken when George marries the widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and she moves into the ranch with her softly spoken and sensitive teenage son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee).  Phil immediately starts to psychologically torment Rose and Peter, leading to Rose becoming an alcoholic.  The film culminates in a brilliant showdown between Phil and Peter which ended in a way I did not see coming, and it really gives a sinister edge to Peter's character.  

I've not seen all of Campion's films, but I believe that this is the first one with a male main character and she really gives him her full attention.  Cumberbatch is fantastic in this in a way that I've never seen him before.  He is such a threatening presence in this film, you always feel that he is seconds away from performing some brutal act of violence.  In my favourite scene in the film he even manages to make banjo playing intimidating.  There is also a strong undercurrent of homoer*ticism and s*xual relationships that it seems like he is trying to subdue.  In a lot of the encounters between Phil and Peter you don't know whether he wants to fight him or f*ck him, especially in their final conversation.  There may also be some inc*st type deal going down; before George marries Rose they shared a bedroom, and at times Phil really seems like he is jealous of their relationship.  

The rest of the cast are fantastic, especially Smit-McPhee.  The chemistry he has with Cumberbatch really reminded me of the dynamic between Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood.  Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, True History of the Kelly Gang) has a blink and you'll miss it role as a housekeeper on the ranch, which just feels like a waste of a great actor.  The film, shot in Campion's native New Zealand, looks incredible and her direction really makes the most out of the landscape, particularly the mountains looming ominously on the horizon, a particular fascination for Phil.  

I think that this is a fantastic film that is unlike any other western I've seen.  It's a slow burn of a film, but there is a constant building up of pressure that you are award of throughout that keeps you on the edge of your seat, especially when Cumberbatch, giving the best performance of his career, is on screen.  Highly recommended. 

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Tokyo Godfathers

dir. Satoshi Kon/2003/1h32m

From Satoshi Kon, director of Paprika (a big influence on Christopher Nolan's Inception), comes Tokyo Godfaters, an animated Christmas film about three homeless people, middle aged alcoholic Gin, transgender woman Hana and teenage runaway Miyuki, who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and set about returning her to her mother.  

Unlike most of his other films, which are often surreal and deal with different planes of reality, this is a fairly straightforward story, but I think that works in the films favour when it comes to delivering the classic Christmas film message on the importance of family, and what can make up a family.  However, that's not to say this is your regular Christmas film. 

This film is full of strange characters and a lot of slapstick, madcap action.  At times it's like a classic farce with lots of close-calls, misunderstandings and staggering coincidences.  The character animations are crisp and clean with a great sense of movement, while the backgrounds are full of detail and very well lit, really evoking the season. 

Like the story, Kon keeps his direction simple here, really wanting to focus on the characters, which are the heart of this film, and by the end I had really grown to love this dysfunctional family.  I don't think that this is as good as Paprika, which is a hell of a trip, but this is an unconventional Christmas film that I think is worth watching.

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Last Night in Soho

dir. Edgar Wright/2021/1h56m

Last Night in Soho is a British horror film from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz).  It stars Thomasin McKenzie as Ellie, a 60s obsessed young woman from the English countryside who moves to London to study fashion at university.  When things in the big city don't turn out quite how she had hoped she finds a supernatural escape during her sleep where she is transported back in time to inhabit the body of swinging sixties Soho starlet Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy).  Sandie wants to be a star, and thinks she has found some help in the form of club promoter Jack (Matt Smith).  But just like Ellie in the present, things for Sandie aren't as glamourous in Soho as she had expected. 

I had reservations going into this because I don't think that the films he has made without Simon Pegg co-writing (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Baby Driver) are as good as the ones with him (Shaun, Hot Fuzz, The World's End).  This film he co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who also wrote 1917 and to me, the story is the weakest part of that film.  The opening 20 minutes or so didn't do anything to get rid of those reservations; the whole country-bumpkin goes to the big city thing felt quite cliched, and when she gets to university she is met by a gaggle of bullies straight out of Mean Girls which almost had me rolling my eyes.

However, once the whole time travel aspect of the film starts it gets really interesting, and Wright gets a chance to show off some of his trademark visual flourishes, I particularly loved a dance scene where camera movement and choreography allowed Ellie and Sandie to switch with each other several times when dancing with Jack.  Then, about halfway through, things start to get quite dark and the film turns into a full on ghost story and I really think this is Wright's best film since Hot Fuzz.  It's also a gorgeous looking film, very clean and stylish.  The scenes in 60s London look fantastic.  The lighting, all buzzing neon, gives the film a real Suspiria feel to it, which matches the mood of the film perfectly.  

I was moaning in my Power of the Dog review that Thomasin McKenzie's role was too small for her, so I was glad to see her in the lead role here and she is brilliant.  As is Taylor-Joy as Sandie, who almost seems like the more confident alter-ego of Ellie.  And, even though they don't actually speak to each other, they have a great chemistry on screen.  Matt Smith is a real leering menace here, a far cry from his bumbling childlike Doctor Who, and there is also strong support from legends Terence Stamp and, in her final role before her death, Dame Diana Rigg, to whom the film is also dedicated.

This is a loving ode to British horror films as well as being a reminder that blind nostalgia is a dangerous thing, it also has a fantastic soundtrack, as you would expect from an Edgar Wright film.  This is well worth watching.

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Babylon

dir. Franco Rosso/1980/1h35m

Babylon is a British drama from Franco Rosso centred around the Jamaican sound system scene in London.  It stars Brinsley Forde (member of reggae group Aswad) as Blue, member of the Ital Lion sound system.  Rather than an explicit plot, the film follows Blue as he tries to make it with his group against their rivals, work as a mechanic with a racist boss, help his single mother with his younger brother, and deal with racism in the community and the police force.  

This is considered a classic in the Black British film canon, and watching it I could see how far reaching its influence is.  From Isaac Julian's Young Soul Rebels to Steve McQueen's Lovers Rock, even early Guy Ritchie.  The lead performance from Forde is great, he really embodies the frustrations of a young Black man living in a hostile world.  The supporting cast is mostly good, but there are a few soap-opera style performances in there.  The main supporting actors are all solid though, so this is never a problem.  

Even though there's no solid through line propelling the film forward narratively there is an urgency about the production that lends energy to every scene, and this ramps up in the last twenty minutes as things for Blue start to spiral out of control.  Coupled with a brilliant dub and reggae soundtrack this makes for a really entertaining and engaging film.

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Time

dir. Garrett Bradley/2020/1h21m

Time is a documentary directed by Garrett Bradley focusing on the life and work of Sibil Richardson, whose husband is serving a 60 year sentence for participating in an armed robbery, a crime for which she herself served over three years.  Comprised of home video footage shot by Richardson herself over the course of the last 20 plus years combined with footage shot by Bradley about the latest attempt to secure Robert's release and her work advocating for reforms in the prison system, Time really shows you that, makes you feel that.  Time.  Despite it's short running length we really get a sense of how much time Sibil and her children, who we watch grow up throughout the film, has spent waiting for other people.  

In one of the most telling scenes in the film Sibil is put on hold when she calls up the judge for news about the latest appeal.  The phone rings, and rings, and rings, and rings, and rings, and Sibil sits there, stoic and patient, waiting.  Just like she has been for years and year.  Time passes and her husband, who never killed or even hurt anybody during their robbery attempt, sits rotting in a jail cell shackled by a disproportionately harsh sentence and a heartlessly bureaucratic system.  

This is one of those films that leaves you angry at the injustices of the world while at the same time being amazed and inspired by the resilience and courage of some people.  The footage shot by Bradley is gorgeous, real crisp black and white photography which really contrasts with the grainy home videos shot by Richardson.  It's surreal seeing a little six year old boy in one scene, then seeing the man he came to be the next.  Again, it's all about Time.  A strong recommendation from me.  

*

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Titane

dir. Julia Ducournau/2021/1h48m

Titane is a French body-horror film from Julia Ducournau, and it won the top prize at the Cannes film festival this year.  It stars Agathe Rouselle (in her first feature feature film role) as Alexia.  As a small child she is involved in a car crash, leaving her with a titanium plate in her head.  As an adult she works as one of those models who writhe sexually on ridiculous looking cars at car shows.  After performing at one of these shows, when everyone else has gone home, she has s*x with one of the cars and is impregnated by it; we see her leak motor oil from her v*gina and lactate it from her n*pples.  She is also a serial killer who has to go on the run and conceal her identity.  To do that she disfigures herself and pretends to be a boy who has been missing for a decade, going on to live with the boy's father, the fire captain Vincent (Vincent Lindon).  

This is a violent, confrontational, uncomfortable film which, in the second half after meeting Vincent, becomes at times quite tender and moving.  It takes skill to make a character so unsympathetic at the start of a film, then ask us to care about their emotional wellbeing by the end, and Ducournau and Rouselle have that skill by the bucket load.  Rouselle gives a brutally physical, transformative performance, telling Alexia's story without the use of much dialogue.  We never learn why she does the things that she does, we don't get a scene where she tearfully spills her guts to someone else, we are trusted to piece together her history for ourselves.  

The relationship between Alexia and Vincent does a lot to give us that history, and the second half of the film becomes all about parent/child relationships, something that both of those characters really haven't experienced yet, but have found in each other in one of the most messed up ways ever.  Ducournau's direction is fantastic, channelling Cronenberg and JG Ballard into her own twisted autosexual fairy tale.  I highly recommend this film, but be prepared to see some messed up stuff that you won't soon forget.  

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Cryptozoo

dir. Dash Shaw/2021/1h35m

Cryptozoo is an animated film by Dash Shaw about a zoo for cryptids, which are animals who are so rare that they are thought to be mythological.  Lauren (voiced by Lake Bell) travels the world saving cryptids and bringing them back to the zoo.  She is driven on her quest due to a childhood encounter with a baku, a dream eating cryptid that took away her nightmares.  Meanwhile, the military want to capture the baku in order to suck all of the dreams out of the hippies, ending the counterculture movement once and for all (the film is set in the late 60s).  

This film is a trip, and I mean that pharmacologically.  This is Jurassic Park on acid, one of the most singular animated films I've ever seen.  Inventive not just in its style and use of colour, but also in the transitions and editing, at times this film is almost overwhelming to the senses, but in the best possible way.  The animation also has a very retro aesthetic to it, it reminded me of a mix of the film Fantastic Planet and cheap Saturday morning cartoons.  I don't mean cheap in a bad way, I just mean the characters have a purposefully janky, stilted way of moving.  

This is one of the most inventive films of the year with a strong animal rights message which I can totally get behind, not being a fan of zoos myself.  The voice cast is strong all round, Bell is a sympathetic lead, and I really loved Peter Stormare as the hedonistic faun Gus.  If you want to see an animated film that really pushes the limits of creativity and experimentalism then you need to check this out.  

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by LimeGreenLegend

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Klaus

dir. Sergio Pablos/2019/1h37m

Klaus is an animated Christmas film directed by Sergio Pablos which presents an alternative origin story for Santa Claus.  It stars Jason Schwartzman as Jesper, the lazy, entitled son of the head postmaster general.  Sick of his son's attitude he gives him an ultimatum; establish a postal service in the far flung frozen northern town of Smeerensburg  in one year or he will be cut off.  To make matters worse, everyone in the town belongs to one of two clans, the Krums and the Ellingboes, who are locked in a generations long blood feud, so no one is really in the mood for writing letters.  Jesper then concocts a story for all of the town's children that if they write a letter to the reclusive toymaker Klaus (JK Simmons) he will bring them a toy.  

This is a fantastic film in every respect, but the best thing is the animation.  This is traditional 2D animation, but there are times, thanks to the lighting and the dynamic, flowing direction, that it looks like 3D.  It has a real lush storybook feel to it that feels both unique and also like classic 2D animation.  The cast is mostly great.  JK Simmons is both intimidating and warm.  Joan Cusack is brilliantly withering as the head of the Krum clan, and Norm Macdonald lends his dry sarcastic humour to the film as the ferryman.  Schwartzman, to me, is grating at the start of the film.  That is part of his character, but it was a bit too much on a couple of occasions.  This softens after he arrives in Smeerensburg and the film becomes a sort of fish out of water deal.  My other small negative is the use of modern pop songs in a couple of scenes, it really didn't fit and kind of detracts from the otherwise great score.

In the future this will become a Christmas classic, something that will be re-watched year after year.  It's sentimental but not schmaltzy, funny without being simple or crude and every frame is a joy to look at.  If you're looking for something seasonal for the whole family to watch this Christmas then you won't do any better than this.  

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The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

dir. Wes Anderson/2021/1h48m

The French Dispatch is the latest film from Wes Anderson about the French branch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun newspaper who, under guidance of the founder and editor Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) produces a monthly magazine much like The New Yorker.  There is a clause in his contract that upon his death the issue featuring his obituary will be the last.  That last issue makes up the content of the film.  Presented as an anthology film, it is made up of a cycling tour of the fictional town in which it is set, the obituary, and three articles.  These articles make up the bulk of the film, being about half an hour long each. 

The first, The Concrete Masterpiece sees arts writer J.K.L Berensen (Tilda Swinton) reporting on the hot new artist on the scene, Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), a clinically insane murderer serving a life sentence.  Finding his muse in prison guard Simone (Léa Seydoux), and with the help of art dealer Julien Cadazio and his uncles Nick and Joe (Adrien Brody, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler), he becomes a sensation.  They then eagerly await the unveiling of his follow up piece.  

The second article, Revisions to a Manifesto, is a political piece about a student uprising, a parody of the real events in France in 1968.  Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) is writing a profile on the leader of the student revolution, Zeffirelli (Timothée Chalamet), but the two soon become involved in a physical relationship, and she edits and re-writes his manifesto.  

The final article, The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner, sees Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) visiting a police station to report on the master of "police cooking" Nescaffier (Stephen Park).  Things take a turn when the son of the police commissioner (Mathieu Amalric) is kidnapped by The Chauffeur (Edward Norton).

These articles are bookended by The Cycling Tour, where Owen Wilson's cycling reporter travels around Ennui-sur-Blasé talking about it's history, and The Obituary, where the staff of the magazine come together to write Howitzer's obituary.  

This sounds like a lot, and it is, but it all unfolds at breakneck speed without ever feeling like its rushed.  Each segment feels self-contained and distinct, but with a connective tissue running through them, both in Anjelica Huston's omniscient narrator and in how we see Howitzer giving notes to each journalist after reading their articles.  This is the most Wes Anderson film that he's ever made, so if you're not into his style you probably won't like this, but if you are you will love this.  There's the beautifully symmetrical compositions, the bright pastel colour palette and the meticulous camera movements.  He also utilises some 2D animation at points, including a hilarious car chase in The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner.  

This won't win over any Anderson haters, but fans of his idiosyncratic, quirky universe will love this just like I did.  

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Quo Vadis, Aida?

dir. Jasmila Žbanić/2020/1h42m

Quo Vadis, Aida? is a Bosnian drama detailing the massacre of thousands of men and boys in the town of Srebrenica, a supposed UN "safe zone", by the Bosnian Serb army, lad by General Mladić (Boris Isaković).  The film follows Aida (Jasna Đuričić), a former teacher and translator for the UN.  At the start of the film we see her translating for the local mayor, telling him that his town will be safe from invasion.  Once it becomes clear that things are going south quickly she goes from selflessly trying to help other people to desperately scrambling to try and save her husband and two sons.

This is a grim film with the only spark of light coming from the strength shown by Aida in such desperate circumstances.  One thing that stuck with me after the credits had rolled was not just the obvious inhumanity in the murder of thousands of people, but also in the cold indifference of pointless bureaucracy and endless red-tape, which can be as evil and destructive as any invading force.  

The lead performance from Đuričić is incredible.  The dawning realisation of what is unfolding plays out perfectly in her expressions to devastating effect.  Isaković is a great antagonist, his demeanour conveying the fact that he believes he is a hero despite the atrocities he commits.  The direction, utilising a lot of handheld work, gives a realist documentary feel to the film which helps to hammer home the fact that these things actually happened.  A grim but brilliant film with a heart-breaking coda which shows that the effects of these events continue to impact lives years later.

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The Nightingale

dir. Jennifer Kent/2018/2h16m

The Nightingale is an Australian revenge film from Jennifer Kent (The Babadook).  Aisling Franciosi stars as Clare, a female convict living with her husband and infant child in Tasmania in 1825, when it was a British ruled penal colony.  After British officers led by Lt. Hawkins (Sam Claflin) kill her family she sets out for revenge with the help of aboriginal tracker Billy (Baykali Ganambarr).  

My favourite thing about this film is the way Kent weaves in elements of horror into the film in the form of hallucinatory visions Clare has of her husband and child, haunted by them.  It keeps this film from being a totally average revenge film, which it mostly otherwise is.  Franciosi and Ganambarr have a great chemistry, very combative at first, but learning to trust and rely on each other as their quest progresses.  However, Claflin is a bit of a pantomime villain here, as are the rest of his gang.  I get that we're supposed to hate them, but this feels like its being rubbed in our faces.  I feel the film, and the impact of their grotesque acts, would be greater if there were more subtlety involved.

The film drags a bit in the second act, but it picks up in the third.  Like the film Blue Ruin our protagonist doesn't suddenly turn into an action hero, and her confrontation with the object of her revenge plays out very differently from what you would expect.  This is a good film, it's well directed with a couple of good performances, but it could've been a lot better with a few small changes.  If you want a decent revenge film I would still recommend this, but otherwise don't go out of your way to seek it out.  

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Spider-Man: No Way Home

dir. Jon Watts/2021/2h28m

No Way Home is the third MCU Spider-Man film, again directed by Jon Watts with Tom Holland reprising his role as the web slinging superhero.  This film picks up from the end of Far From Home, with the world now aware of Spider-Man's real identity, Peter Parker, thanks to the returning J.K Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.  Not only does this affect Parker's life, but also those of his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).  To this end he seeks the help of sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make everyone in the world forget who he is.  This works exactly as intended and the film ends after 20 minutes.  That's not quite true, but it's hard to talk about the rest of this film without getting into serious spoiler territory.  

This is a great movie, but it feels like it's part of a Spider-Man universe rather than the larger Marvel Universe.  I haven't yet seen the three previous films in the series; Black Widow, Shang-Chi and The Eternals, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by skipping straight to this film.  But if that means that they're going to produce more focused, standalone (even though this is the third in a trilogy) stories then I think that's a good thing.  There were times in the MCU pre-Infinity War where some of the infinity stone stuff felt shoehorned in just to remind people that it was even a thing.  And while this film gets very crowded from the second act on it still feels fully focused on the character of Spider-Man, all of them.  

I'm not the biggest fan of the MCU, I think most of them are entertaining but nothing ground breaking, but I've always really like the Spider-Man films, and this is the best of those.  If you've not seen the previous Spider-Man films (and I don't just mean the MCU ones) then you will probably be totally lost here.  I, however, had a blast watching this, which I think is the best live action Spider-Man film ever made (the animated Into the Spider-Verse is a legit masterpiece).  

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Spiral: From the Book of Saw

dir. Darren Lynn Bousman/2021/1h33m

Spiral is the ninth (!) film in the Saw franchise, of which I have seen the first 6, mostly out of morbid curiosity.  Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (also director of Saw 2, 3 and 4), Spiral stars Chris Rock (!) as detective Zeke Banks, son of former Chief of Police Marcus Banks (Samuel L. Jackson), and an unpopular man in his precinct due to the fact he ratted out a dirty cop.  When a Jigsaw copycat killer starts to target dirty cops Zeke is assigned to the case along with his rookie partner William Schenk (Max Minghella).

While this is an interesting direction for the Saw franchise to take, my biggest problem with it is that it's not a Saw film.  This is a knockoff Seven style serial killer thriller that was quickly rewritten to cram it into the Saw universe because that would make more money at the box office.  I think there is a decent idea here in the serial killer targeting dirty cops, but the execution is just lazy and at times badly written.  One example that happens early and annoyed me greatly is when Rock's character is telling his boss how he only works alone and hates people and is a lone wolf.  No more than three minutes later he is chatting it up with his new partner and spilling his guts about his ex-wife like they're Riggs and f*cking Murtaugh.  

Chris Rock is surprisingly decent in this more dramatic role.  At times the over the top comedian threatens to pop out and take over, but for the most part he's playing it straight and I think with a better script he could do well in films like this.  The direction also plays it straighter than the previous Saw films, with the nu-metal music video editing and speed ramping toned down a lot, though not totally excised.  The ending, with Sam Jackson strung up like Pinocchio, is ridiculous, but it ends the film with a laugh.  It may be unintentional but it's better than being left confused and/or depressed like most of the other Saw films with their convoluted plot and nihilistic attitude.  

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Petite Maman

dir. Céline Sciamma/2021/1h12m

Petite Maman is a French magical-realist fantasy from Céline Sciamma, director of the incredible Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  After losing her grandmother, eight year old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) and her parents temporarily move into her house in order to clear it out.  Her mother (Nina Meurisse) becomes upset and leaves during the night.  While out playing in the woods the next day Nelly comes upon another little girl who looks exactly like her (Gabrielle Sanz, twin sister of the actor who plays Nelly).  When Nelly asks her her name she says it's Marion, the same name as her mother.  Nelly realises that this is her mother when she was her age, and the two quickly become friends.  

Like her other films this is all about female relationships, but I don't think she's ever made a film about the mother/daughter relationship before (maybe a bit in Tomboy, but that's not the main relationship in the film).  I love how she has found a brilliantly unique take on the idea here and she executes it with perfection.  The plot may sound far fetched, but it is presented with such childlike simplicity (in a good way, it has an innocence to it) that it becomes just matter of fact.  That just doesn't come from the writing and direction but from the lead performances from Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz.  They are incredible in this, even self admitted child-hater @djw180would love this film. 

A beautifully tender and gentle fairy-tale from one of the best filmmakers alive, this is one of those films that feels like a warm hug and makes you believe that the world may actually be a good place.  Maybe the best film of the year, and it manages to do all that in just over an hour.  Watch this ASAP.  

 

[djw180 6,839]

Thanks @LimeGreenLegend, reminded me I watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire recently and not got round to writing a review yet.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The Matrix Resurrections

dir. Lana Wachowski/2021/2h28m

The Matrix Resurrections is the newest film in the franchise, this time directed by Lana Wachowski solo, without the co-writer/director of the other films in the franchise, and her sister, Lilly.  Keanu Reeves returns as Thomas Anderson/Neo, with Carrie-Anne Moss's Trinity the only major cast member to come back.  The film sees Anderson as a video game developer with mental health issues; a suicide attempt and trouble distinguishing the real world from the fictional world he created for his biggest hit, The Matrix.  Of course this is all a simulation and with the help of a new gang, led by a version of Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) created by Neo himself, he is reborn and once again sets out to save the remnants of humanity from the creator of this new Matrix who had been acting as Anderson's therapist (Neil Patrick Harris).  

I really liked the first act of this film.  It's very self-referential and meta, it does get a bit over the top with that at times, especially in the video game office where they're all talking about how revolutionary the original Matrix was, and how much it blew everyone's minds, but for the most part I thought it was really interesting.  The same goes for the early scenes with Anderson and Harris as his therapist, I honestly would have loved to see a whole movie about that.  The problems for me begin when they get to the real world.  It becomes very badly paced and just plain boring, with most of the characters speaking in the nonsensical gobbledygook which people mocked the original films for.  Also, the action scenes are quite forgettable.  I only finished watching this a couple of hours ago and I would have trouble describing any of them.  There is nothing here that comes close to any fight scene from the original, or even the highway chase from Reloaded.  

Apart from Harris, there are just two (and a half) new characters who I liked.  Firstly there is Jonathan Groff (who steals Hamilton as King George) as the new version of Agent Smith, and then there is Bugs (Jessica Henwick), the character who tracks down Neo to wake him up.  Abdul-Mateen II is good as Morpheus, but he's kinda pointless and seems like he's there just because they need a Morpheus because the original had a Morpheus.  And that brings me to the biggest problem I have with this film.  Thematically it has the exact same point as the first film and it brings absolutely nothing new to the table.  I actually laughed when the film ends and they start playing a bad cover version of Rage Against the Machine's Wake Up, because that just summed the film up perfectly.  Like the original, but worse.  

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by LimeGreenLegend

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Some Christmas films since it is the season 🙂 

The Muppet Christmas Carol

dir. Brian Henson/1992/1h26m

The Muppet Christmas Carol is the directorial debut of Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, to whom the film is dedicated.  It is a fairly faithful telling of Dicken's classic Christmas story, but with added muppets.  The human cast is headlined by Michael Caine as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.  I love the framing device of this film in having The Great Gonzo play Charles Dickens who, along with his trusty sidekick Rizzo the Rat, acts as storyteller and guide through the film.  While they are clearly there to handhold younger viewers so they don't get confused by the plot they are still hilarious, getting some of the biggest laughs from me throughout the film.  

A lot of this film is played as a fairly straight adaptation, which is a great strength.  Kermit is a sweetly sincere Bob Cratchit and Caine's Scrooge is the best version of that character ever committed to film, and he has some strong competition.  Taken in isolation you would think that you were watching an RSC production.  That also goes for the direction.  There is some great darkly Gothic shots in the film, especially as Scrooge stalks around his house, that give the film some real weight.  

This is also a musical, and every song is an absolute banger.  My favourites are Scrooge's introduction song and It Feels like Christmas sung by the Ghost of Christmas Present.  To me this is the best Christmas film ever made.  A Christmas Carol is the best Christmas story ever written (sorry Jesus) and this is the best film version of that story, you can't argue with the science.  This film turns me into a hot mess of tears shed because it fills me with so much warmth and love for my fellow man and general Christmas spirit.  I watch it every festive season, and you should too.

======================================================

A Christmas Carol

dir. Tom Cairns/2018/1h12m

A Christmas Carol is, unsurprisingly, another version of the classic story.  What stands this one out in the crowd is that it is not an adaptation of the book, but rather the one man stage show of the story that Charles Dickens himself adapted and performed, to great acclaim.  In this version Simon Callow takes the roles of storyteller, his stage a crumbling old warehouse with a few minimal props.  Callow is no stranger to Dickens, having played him in several different projects, as well as playing Scrooge, and his familiarity with the material is evident.  In some beautifully composed long takes he speaks reams of prose as if they were his own words, popping into his head that instant.  This allows him to really focus on the performance, and that is what makes this something special.

Even though he is just one person, Callow has that ability common amongst the best of storytellers, in that he can become another person with just his voice and a change in expression, a change in his movements.  Every character he goes through has a distinct presence and if you can let your imagination go with it he really becomes them.  

It's really hard to have a unique take on a story that has been told countless times, but Cairns and Callow have found one here by taking things back to their origins, and seeing this story performed as closely as to how Dickens himself would've done it is really something special.  

======================================================

Krampus

dir. Michael Dougherty/2015/1h37m

Krampus is a horror/comedy film based on the German folk story of a demon who punishes those who fail to embrace the spirit of the season.  Adam Scott and Toni Collette star as Tom and Sarah, whose son Max (Emjay Anthony) loses his Christmas spirit when he gets sick of his family fighting.  The house also contains Max's sister as well as his aunt and uncle and their three kids, and his great aunt when a blizzard hits the town and a demonic creature resembling Santa lays siege to their home.

This is a decent film but it kinda plays it too down the middle.  It's not funny enough to be considered a comedy like Shaun of the Dead, and it's not gory enough for the type of film that it's trying to be, like Peter Jackson's Braindead.  There are times when it becomes over the top silly with stuff like killer gingerbread men, and times when it wants to be taken seriously and it doesn't really tread that line as stomp clumsily all over it.

That said there is still a lot I like, like I said, this is a decent film.  I like the general concept and the design of the Krampus (though they do show it too much, which takes away from the horror), and the performances are all solid.  I feel like this would be a much better film if it lent more heavily toward either the horrific or the comedic, but as it is it's a fun watch, and something different for this time of year.  

 

[djw180 6,839]

@LimeGreenLegend I've seen Simon Callow doing a one-man Dickens show live, many years ago. I don't remember if it was just A Christmas Carol he did, but although I'm not a big Dickens fan, I do remember enjoying it.

[djw180 6,839]

A couple of films seen recently,

 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) dir Celine Sciamma

 

 

This is beautiful, award winning film, it won best screenplay at Caen and was also nominated for the Palm d'Or and best non-English language BAFTA. It's exquisitely shot with stunning cinematography of natural outdoor and period in-door scenes. The characters are in well designed costumes that complement the scenery and are very well acted.

Set in 18^th century France, Marianne is an artist commissioned to paint a portrait of Héloise, the daughter of a wealthy widowed countess. Mother and daughter live with their maid in an isolated châteaux, and most of the film features just these four characters. Héloise does not know Marianne is there to paint her and does not want to be painted, because she knows her mother wants a portrait made to impress her would-be husband, and she does not want to get married. So Marianne is just introduced as a companion who has to work on the picture from memory when Héloise is not around. After one unimpressive attempt at a portrait Marianne extends her visit, and with the countess away becomes closer and closer to Héloise with them eventually becoming lovers. As well as just a great story it also deals with issues such as un-wanted pregnancies, women's position in society at that time, what sort of roles they were and were not allowed to do and which could give them some independence etc. The story is quite slowly paced without any over-top danger or tragedy.

 

9/10

 

 

Sightseers (2012) dir Ben Wheatley

 

 

A dark, British comedy about a 30-something Birmingham couple taking a caravan tour of England's Pennine Hills, with a few murders along the way. Imagine, if you can, Carry on Camping meets Natural Born Killers and that gives you an idea of this film's plot.

It's very good. A little quite gory in places but not over the top, just when someone gets run over or beaten to death with a rock, then the body does look like that has actually happened to it afterwards. It stars and was co-written by Alice Lowe as Tina and Steve Oram as Chris. Along the way they meet, and sometimes kill, many actors recognisable from British TV and/or bits parts in films. I love the opening credits showing Steve physically plotting their intended route with pins and thread on a big map showing their planned visits to attractions I remember from similar holidays (minus the murders) as a child; Crich Tramway Museum, Blue John Cavern, The Keswick Pencil Museum and Ribblehead Viaduct.

Chris seems to be Tina's first serious boyfriend. Her mum, who she lives with, makes it 100% clear she hates him and tells her daughter no good can come of the holiday, which actually turns out to be true, though probably not quite how she meant it. The killing spree seems to begin unintentionally as Chris takes an understandable dislike to an rude and obnoxious fellow tourist at the Tramway museum, then accidentally-on-purpose reverses his caravan over him. This leads to a very funny line I can't remember word for word but something like 'Oh yes, you'd be surprised at the damage the underside of a caravan can do to a human body'. Then as they continue their trip various other tourists fatally annoy Chris and later Tina, but all the killings seems to be just accidents, at first. Another example of the humour worth a mention is a pair of hand knitted crotchless panties that we see Tina proudly examining (see trailer), we assume she knitted them herself. The lead character's Brummie accents also seem to add to the comedy for me, as I just can not take a murderer seriously when they sound like that.

As well as being a very funny and original story, it does have some great shots of scenery from places not too far from where I grew up, live now or remember from childhood family holidays.

8/10

 

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) dir Armando Ianucci

 

 

This adaption of Charles Dicken's famous novel has a star studded cast but for me falls a little short of expectations from that cast and director. It stars Dev Patel in the title role with support from Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Cappaldi, Ben Wishaw and a host of other actors, some more famous as TV comedians such as Daisy May Cooper and Paul Whitehouse. I found the story seemed to move too fast at times for me, almost trying to cram too much into the 2 hours. But that does sometimes seem, to me, to be the case for adaptations of Dickens novels. Though I have never read one, just not a huge fan, I suspect these often tend to be too long to fit into the usual acceptable cinema run times. It does look very good though and there's good performances all round so worth watching.

 

7/10

 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by djw180

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

The Hand of God
dir. Paolo Sorrentino/2021/2h10m

The Hand of God is a semi-autobiographical drama from Italian director Paolo Sorrentino.  It stars Filippo Scotti as teenage Fabietto who enjoys a happy life with his family in Napoli and loves nothing more than football and Diego Maradona (the title is a reference to his infamous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup), and can't be more excited when rumours spread that he is going to sign for Napoli.  Then tragedy strikes and he is left facing an uncertain future when he has an encounter with director Antonio Capuano (Ciro Capano) which changes the course of his life.  

This is a film in two distinct parts; the first hour feels like a glorious celebration of life and family.  There is one brilliant scene at a large family gathering that I could've watched for the duration of the film, every family member so rounded and full of character.  There are darker moments, his aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri) is not only the spark for Fabietto's s*xual awakening but is also in an abusive relationship and suffers from mental health problems.  For the most part though the first half is all about family.  That absence is heavily felt in the second half and it feels like a totally different movie, not in a bad way though, it really represents the changing of Fabietto's life.

This is a fantastic film made with a quietly heart breaking sense of nostalgia and full of naturalistic performances.  Scotti's lead performance is brilliant, especially since he's a relative newcomer and has to carry pretty much the whole film.  A movie about the comforting, even therapeutic quality of films and an ode to the possibilities of youth, this is well worth watching.

==========

The Lost Daughter
dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal/2021/2h2m

The directorial debut of Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter stars Olivia Colman as academic Leda, on a working holiday in Greece whose peace is broken by the arrival of a large and loud American family and she becomes obsessed with young mother Nina (Dakota Johnson).  This is intercut with flashbacks showing the young Leda (Jessie Buckley) struggling with being a young mother herself.  

Olivia Colman is brilliant in everything she's ever been in, and she continues that trend here.  This is a total character study of a complicated woman and she is totally believable in every scene.  Being an actor herself Gyllenhaal is entirely focused on performances here, and the way she shoots Colman you can feel how much she loves her as an actor, obsessing over her in much the same way Leda obsesses over Nina.  This is a film full of extreme close-ups that at times feel intimate and at other times feels threatening.

This film is full of some uncomfortable but genuine representations of motherhood with some subtly shocking moments that are all the more shocking just for how real and underplayed they are. However there is still room left open for hope and reconciliation in a way that again feels totally real.   A fantastically assured debut from Gyllenhaal with one of the best performances of the year from Colman, this is a film I highly recommend.  

==========

The Last Duel
dir. Ridley Scott/2021/2h32m

The Last Duel is a medieval revenge story directed by Ridley Scott and written by, alongside Nicole Holofcener, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, their first writing collaboration since Good Will Hunting.  Damon stars as Jean de Carrouges, a knight under Count Pierre d'Alencon (Affleck), with Adam Driver playing Jacques Le Gris, his friend and squire.  Jean starts to resent Le Gris as he feels he is taking everything that he deserves.  The final straw comes when his wife Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) accuses Le Gris of r*ping her while her husband was away.  This is what leads to the titular last duel.  

This could've been one of Scott's lesser medieval mud and blood films; Exodus, Kingdom of Heaven, but what really elevates this is the Rashomon-like structure.  Split into three parts we see the same events from three different perspectives.  Firstly from Jean, then Le Gris, and finally from Marguerite herself.  This leads to subtle differences in both performance and story as both men make themselves out to be noble and the bigger man in each of their confrontations.  What really makes the film is the final chapter where Comer gets to take centre stage and the film becomes not about two men and their egos, but by how dangerous it is for a woman to tell the truth in a situation like this.  

This is solidly directed, Scott really knows how to shoot these period films with a great authenticity while maintaining a pleasingly glossy Hollywood sheen.  I also loves the climactic duel, which goes through several stages and really takes things back to his debut film, The Duellists, in which each of the several duels were totally unique.  The performances are all great, especially Comer and Driver, and Affleck is having a lot of fun as the spoiled Count.  Scott's best film since The Martian, check this one out.

==========

Azor
dir. Andreas Fontana/2021/1h40m

Azor, the debut film from Andreas Fontana, is an Argentinian drama set in the early 80s.  It stars Fabrizio Rongione as Yvan de Wiel, a Swiss private banker who travels to Buenos Aires to conclude some deals after his partner goes missing.  When he arrives he finds a country under military dictatorship and in a constant state of unspoken unease.  

This is a film about quiet corruption conducted in plain sight.  De Wiel is impotent to do anything about it, so he becomes quietly complicit, there is nothing else he can do.  He goes from meeting to meeting with incredibly powerful people, even religious leaders, and all he can do is watch, rumours about his missing partner feeding his paranoia which is perfectly soundtracked by an ominous synth score, reminiscent of The Thing.  

There is little backstory or context in this film, like the business meetings everything about this film is under the surface and better left unspoken.  The direction from Fontana is great, he even manages to make scenes set outdoors feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable, and Rongione's performance conveys the growing unease and hopelessness about his situation.  A great slow burn of a film that really gets under your skin, one to look out for.   

==========

C'mon C'mon
dir. Mike Mills/2021/1h49m

C'mon C'mon is a drama starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny, a radio documentary maker who is making a show about children and what they thing the future will be like.  He is contacted by his estranged sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) who needs him to look after her son Jesse (Woody Norman) because her husband is going through a serious mental health crisis.  

Shot in beautiful looking black and white and with some lovingly intimate close-ups, this is a tender and honest film about father/son relationships, and also about caring in general; flashbacks show Johnny and Viv clashing about how to care for their dying mother, Viv struggling to care for her very sick husband, and Johnny caring about Jesse despite how crazy he makes him.  This is all presented in a naturalistic way which adds to the realism of the piece; a scene in which Johnny loses Jesse in a supermarket is panic inducing.  

Phoenix is fantastic in this, giving a real subtle and nuanced performance as a man slowly opening up to his feelings thanks to a precocious little boy.  Norman is also great as Jesse, giving a performance that feels both naturally childish but also mature beyond his years.  Hoffmann is very sympathetic as a mother struggling with her husband's condition and raising a young son, and her interactions with Phoenix, mostly over the phone, are some of the highlights of the film with some very real discussions of what it's actually like to have children, much like The Lost Daughter.

In lesser hands this could've ended up a mawkish, sentimental Hallmark channel film-of-the-week, but thanks to Mills and his fantastic cast what we instead get is a gentle and beautiful film about family.  Another strong recommendation from me.

***

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

Here's what you've all been waiting for, the only list that matters, my top ten films of the year.  This could've easily been a top twenty as there were loads of excellent films released in 2021.  Some honourable mentions first, Pig, The Green Knight, Last Night in Soho, Azor, The French Dispatch, The Hand of God, The Last Duel and Quo Vadis, Aida?  Now on to the ten best films of 2021.  Needless to say I highly recommend everything in this post.

10 - Censor dir. Prano Bailey-Bond

9 - After Love dir. Aleem Khan

8 - Cryptozoo dir. Dash Shaw

7 - The Lost Daughter dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal

6 - Shiva Baby dir. Emma Seligman

5 - The Father dir. Florian Zeller

4 - C'mon C'mon dir. Mike Mills

3 - Titane dir. Julia Ducournau

2 - Petite Maman dir. Celine Sciamma

1 - Annette dir. Leos Carax

I'd love to hear your opinions if you've seen any of these, and would also like to know what your favourite film of the year was.

[Con 5,703]

The Power of the Dog (2021)

I have a confession to make. I did not set out to watch this originally as I was set to watch King Richard (2021) but I could not find a stream. So I read a brief description of this and it said something about a rancher who becomes upset and becomes cruel to others when his brother marries a woman with a son. Until something happens one day. 

In my mind, I thought, I bet the rancher becomes injured and like in Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), has to humble himself to those he was cruel to. But that is not how this film materializes and I found myself remembering just how much homosexuality played a role in some of the most tough-guy group personas, like the samurai, the roman warrior, and the American cowboy. At some point in my childhood all those men were portrayed to be the examples for what real men should be like. Real macho men. But truth is that history tells a different story when it comes to the ambiguous sexuality of most of them. 

What I liked about this film the most was the setting. At one point, I was just enjoying the big Montana sky. Even remember saying to myself just how beautiful all that open space is. But then I discovered that the film was shot in New Zealand....didn't matter, I really thought we were in Montana the entire time. That is a testament to all the actors and cinematography which really transported me to 1925. One of the things I enjoyed was watching how the ranch transforms as the family becomes wealthier. But it never is shown fully completed, we do see they build a fountain in front of the house in the last act, and I just loved those subtle things in this film. How everything in the ranch evolves with time, including the character's secrets. That is another positive in this film, the character relations and situations just come together really well and I could not help but look forward to how everything was going to be resolved. My favorite thing in the film came when we realize that almost everyone has a critical secret that could change the trajectory of the story drastically. I mean, even Bronco Henry had a secret and he was dead. 

Here was another film that normally, I would have been bored to death while watching since I'm no fan of those old time periods where working was considered fun and the only thing one could do in their life. I generally do not find stories of people polishing horse saddles or herding cows very entertaining. Like, I'm super glad I wasn't born on a farm and had to be a cowboy as I know, I would have disappointed my family since I would have worked on the farm until I was old enough to get the f*ck out the place. Needless to say, I related to Peter Gordon (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) because he suddenly has to live amongst the same people that look at him as inferior because the kid seems to prefer art and hospitality to ranch work. But this is not his fault, since we learn that his father has died and his mother runs what seems to be a chow hall, and he has had no choice but to help his mother. I have a similar experience growing up because I was raised by a single mother in the ghetto. When I should have been learning about cars and oil changes, I instead was playing football and basketball. Without that a male figure in my life, I still loved cars but I just wanted to own one and not worry about maintenance as I could pay someone else to get dirty. Of course, the first time I was around a bunch of car heads, I felt so out of place as I didn't know the difference between a carburator and a fuel injector. I remember one of saying to me, "You don't know how to do an oil change?", as if it was this huge "man" sin. They looked down on me for my lack of mechanic ability but not one of them bothered to ask me why I knew or cared so little about repairing cars. The truth was, I just wasn't around car culture growing up like most boys with fathers or older brothers or even uncles. Over the decades I have learned to do some car things but my first option is to always pay someone else to do it. Same thing with using tools and construction, but in that case It was trauma that prevented me from wanting to work with tools or industrial equipment. You see, when I was 13 years old, I was at the babysitter and this family was attaching an extra room to the house. They had this circular saw setup outside to cut the wood, well the guy using it gets called and he turns his head and makes the mistake of not taking his hand off the wood and in a split second, his hand and fingers are pulled into the saw. I was standing near him when it happened and I remember his scream and he pulls his hand away from the saw and it his hand is now aiming at me and in a nano-second, I was splashed with so much blood that my shirt changed colors and then we had to go look for the guy's thumb which had gotten chopped off and thrown. So, yeah, once I got to high school and had the option to take wood shop or computers, naturally, I took computer class.  All of that is why I enjoyed the twist in Peter's actions, when it is all said and done, there was no one more hard-f*cking-core than Peter, I mean, he is killing the innocent just so he can practice, despite the fact that he is probably years from actually having to cut something open. The film paints Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) as the cold-hearted one, but is Peter the one with the thicker testicular wall when it's all said and done?

I liked the way we see George Burbank (Jesse Plemons) begin to distance himself from his brother and how Phil deals with it. He knows his brother is pulling away and he doesn't understand why and when he meets Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst) he is even more disappointed in his brother. This makes Phil really lonely and upset and is when begin to see his layers peel away. That first montage of Phil's naked mud bath at the pond was the first hint I got that perhaps Phil had homosexual tendencies but it is handled so well that it is really open to interpretation there. It's not until I saw him with the BH monogrammed scarf that things started to fit into place about Phil's secret. It was a cool twist since up to that point, Phil had been a man's man, a manly cowboy...the opposite of Peter. 

I'm not going to lie, it took me a few seconds to understand what happened to one of the main characters in the last act....I did not put it together right away, but when I did, it was so brilliantly satisfying....was it  done on purpose? We aren't told either way and that was just fantastic. It's one of those things you can debate all day about and never be wrong or right. The thematic elements are superb and the film drips heavy with them. I can guarantee you that in the many themes, there will be at least one of them that will affect you personally, either force negative or positive thoughts into your mind.  

Time for some of the things I disliked, here are some negatives I found had to do with the pacing, especially at the start. I'm used to dialogue setting the next scene in motion but here  dialogue is used for character reactions and then we are at the next scene which had no relation to the previous scene. But once Rose moves in, the film goes to traditional storytelling. I also had a small issue with how sensitive they portray both Peter and Rose as they serve the cowboys, I felt it was a bit lame that Rose starts crying about her son being insulted for his artistic flair. I did feel it was about 30 minutes too long as they could have trimmed some unnecessary moments and gotten to the end sooner. It drags and will certainly make people that want faster moving stories to tune out within the first hour. 

Final Verdict...3/5... I found that the strength of this film is that it could have gone in so many directions and that only means that if you are watching it and trying to guess what is going to happen next, you will probably be 2% right and 98% surprised. The film is superbly acted by every single person we see on screen. Their despair really comes across in their actions and decisions. The tension of the secrets being revealed was fantastic, as I waited eagerly as to what would happen once the secrets got out....and better yet, what would be the catalysts to revealing the secrets. This is a great film to watch with your gay friends as it could lead to some serious heart to heart talks about what they have been and go through and how they have coped. If you don't have gay friends, you should still watch it because you will enjoy how the farm and it's inhabitants evolve.  Peter's character reminded me of Martin Lang from "A Killing of a Sacred Deer" (2017) and I really liked that mysterious character and Peter certainly was that throughout the film. I have to mention the great job the costume department did in this film. Every garment is perfectly assigned to every character and it really convinced me that I was in 1920's Montana. I know some people will think the film is about toxic masculinity but I didn't feel that way, not just because of character development but because being a tough guy back then had to be the norm. I mean, it was the wild west. Cities and towns were just starting to be established. The Native Americans were still trying to reclaim their land back and some were still being pushed from it. As a man, I feel you had to be tough and not let anyone see your weakness because unlike today, being tough then was detrimental to one's reputation. I really wanted to give this 4/5 score, since I enjoyed the semi-dark ending, even If I didn't feel the crime deserved the severe punishment it gets, but the film is just a bit too long thanks to moments that seem to go nowhere. I recommend you watch this because I think it will enrich your mind, destroy your expectations, and teach you something about how you perceive others as weaker or stronger than yourself and how that can be a harsh lesson to learn.  

Edited January 8, 2022 by Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

@Con I was the same for the ending here.  I was sat watching the credits letting the final images process in my mind and when I put them together I thought it was brilliantly done and makes you think about who was really in charge in the relationship between Phil and Peter.

[Con 5,703]

1 hour ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

@Con I was the same for the ending here.  I was sat watching the credits letting the final images process in my mind and when I put them together I thought it was brilliantly done and makes you think about who was really in charge in the relationship between Phil and Peter.

Tremendous. As it dawned on me exactly how the illness is brought to its victim and if you think about it, Rose is the one who really makes that happen. Had she not sold Phil’s property. When I first watched that scene with the Native American and his son, I do remember feeling like that scene comes out of nowhere and had no meaning except to show just how much the alcohol was affecting Rose as she was now becoming defiant! 
 

I think the rope element was brilliantly used as again, I remember it coming up a lot and there I was thinking that rope was going to end up around someone’s neck. Perhaps even the most innocent of them all, George. 
 

So yes, that is why I said I liked how this film could have easily went in so many directions. The film allows you to play with several scenarios in your head while you watch and that, I think is why people are loving it. 

[Con 5,703]

1 hour ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

@Con I was the same for the ending here.  I was sat watching the credits letting the final images process in my mind and when I put them together I thought it was brilliantly done and makes you think about who was really in charge in the relationship between Phil and Peter.

Also remember that Phil had lost a little power once Peter discovers the secret spot. Again, another narrative element handled with class. There was strength in not seeing the characters discuss the situation and only see Phil soften up a bit afterwards. I guess the fear of his secret coming out would have truly hurt his reputation, especially amongst the other men. Phil learns from Peter, he wishes he was like Peter, not afraid to be himself, not affected by being teased or bullied for his deposition. I think Phil admires Peter’s courage from the start but it takes the fear of his secret being revealed for him to change. 
 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

3 minutes ago, Con said:

I think Phil admires Peter’s courage from the start but it takes the fear of his secret being revealed for him to change. 

but by then it's too late and he's already made an enemy out of him.  Maybe Phil was so hostile towards Rose not because she was getting between him and his brother, but because she was getting between him and her son.  Didn't you just love the scene where he sh*ts on her mediocre piano playing by expertly wielding a banjo like it was a weapon!

[Con 5,703]

2 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

but by then it's too late and he's already made an enemy out of him.  Maybe Phil was so hostile towards Rose not because she was getting between him and his brother, but because she was getting between him and her son.  Didn't you just love the scene where he sh*ts on her mediocre piano playing by expertly wielding a banjo like it was a weapon!

Spoiler talk:
Bro that banjo scene is as great and I was hoping they would have become a duo. Why do you think Rose freezes and does not play for the Governor? 
 

I know Phil had become an enemy, but did you feel he had done enough to deserve it? 
How twisted was the rabbit element? It works so f*cking well because of the justification, allowing us not to fully see Peter for who he truly is. 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

3 minutes ago, Con said:

Why do you think Rose freezes and does not play for the Governor? 

I think it's her humiliation.  She knows she's not very good but George can't see that because he loves her too much.  She has heard Phil play by then and knows he's a much more accomplished musician than her and will only use that information to mock and belittle her, which he does.

[Con 5,703]

26 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

I think it's her humiliation.  She knows she's not very good but George can't see that because he loves her too much.  She has heard Phil play by then and knows he's a much more accomplished musician than her and will only use that information to mock and belittle her, which he does.

Awesome. I just don’t know why she wouldn’t just learn an easier song to play. 
The way I thought happened was that George thought she had been practicing but instead she was boozin’, never learned the song and when it came time to play, her liquored up nerves didn’t allow her. I liked how subtle George plays his utter disappointment in that night. Bro we keep talking about this film, and I’m gonna have to raise my score up. 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,175]

6 minutes ago, Con said:

The way I thought happened was that George thought she had been practicing but instead she was boozin’, never learned the song and when it came time to play, her liquored up nerves didn’t allow her.

That could also be a big part of it, I hadn't really considered that angle but it fits perfectly.

 

6 minutes ago, Con said:

I liked how subtle George plays his utter disappointment in that night.

Same here, Jesse Plemons was fantastic in this.  

 

7 minutes ago, Con said:

Bro we keep talking about this film, and I’m gonna have to raise my score up. 

There's a lot here to unpack because nothing is spoon fed to us.  It's an incredibly well written and performed film.  I'm expecting it to get a load of Oscar nominations next month.