tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72306234138257112022024-03-17T10:25:18.933-04:00American Culture Critic - A Unique Critical PerspectivePaul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-12895807913378225742023-12-08T16:30:00.004-05:002023-12-08T16:30:58.545-05:00THE AMERICAN CULTURE CRITIC PODCAST: A FIRESIDE CHAT<p> The latest American Culture Critic Podcast is LIVE! A somewhat informal affair wherein I and my producer Adrian De Jesus discuss topics ranging from the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the latest cinematic superhero offerings, genre fatigue, The Killers, and Killers of the Flower Moon. </p><p><br /></p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka6VwSvsDR8</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-2271058321255457092023-10-23T09:10:00.010-04:002023-10-23T09:11:12.996-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 10 – THE KING AND I (1956)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dn7VpPSfpqgBB3B3JYwqU1bPzggg8FV23U4drKxAjMMxzPFCDimRiC_KKeu7nN8_fbit4hYvoLriWAznEFX14Rh-G-qvWl8iwJaenXhtG7lCGPSeyxqDuNw9YWsIBVgvGEsY3oa8LHNfhnsUwLzJFSWhqsZISQnq6BWhCVlZkp9SvfwMlyLSMHT35P7Z/s1200/43952823_10217524464887162_8754279930738507776_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1200" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dn7VpPSfpqgBB3B3JYwqU1bPzggg8FV23U4drKxAjMMxzPFCDimRiC_KKeu7nN8_fbit4hYvoLriWAznEFX14Rh-G-qvWl8iwJaenXhtG7lCGPSeyxqDuNw9YWsIBVgvGEsY3oa8LHNfhnsUwLzJFSWhqsZISQnq6BWhCVlZkp9SvfwMlyLSMHT35P7Z/w400-h256/43952823_10217524464887162_8754279930738507776_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where warranted)]:</span></i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 10 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. Y’know what? Fuck it! I challenge all the moderators of FanFreeks.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Others might think differently, but in my estimation Rodgers & Hammerstein shot the proverbial wad with this one; both a helluva production and a helluva film. Yet some assert it would be problematic to produce as it was originally presented so many decades ago. After all, The King of Siam (Yul Brynner), its male lead, was chauvinistic, self-centered, entitled, and stubborn, while the women were presented subserviently. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But in my opinion, those critics miss the point. Mistress Anna (the beguiling Deborah Kerr), the female lead, was anything BUT subservient. Her own person with a strong sense of self, wit, and poise, she was the "very difficult woman" who was progressive in a way that challenged everything the King held dear. The story is more than an (almost) chaste love story between two people of different worlds; it’s also a story of inexorably encroaching progress, and of the pains of generational transition when the old must give way to the new. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In the hands of any other actor, the King would have been insufferable. But no one…absolutely no one…could have ever been more suited to the role than Yul Brynner (it had once been a dream of mine to someday play the role but the closest I ever got was to subtly homage it during living chess games at Vizcaya in 2001). When one discusses charismatic, magnetic performances, his is textbook example. Yet if you pay close attention, the twinkle in his eye and the subtle smirk belies any seriousness his character takes himself. More often than not, he is a brat; a man who balances his responsibility to his people and culture with Pimp Daddy energy. There are moments wherein he’s a mischievous boy in a man’s body; one that’s fearful of this new world and way of life that's encroaching on his beloved nation. He epitomizes a way of life that arguably can no longer survive but instead of embracing change in the form of the beguiling and steely Kerr-as-Anna he rebukes it, sending her away. By not embracing that love…and by extension that way of life…he withers and dies, but not before recognizing and instructing the next generation in the form of his son, to embrace the new ways while remembering the old, for only in that understanding that true progress and prosperity can result. Brynner pulled it off in spectacular fashion, his performance was so beloved he played the role for years even after his initial Broadway run and this performance…a total of 4,625 times on stage (even under excruciating physical duress). It bears mentioning that at the end of the iconic musical number, Brynner and Kerr engage in a primal, erotically passionate stare down that surpasses almost anything else of its kind ever in celluloid, all without word or touch.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The image above exemplifies the film completely. Two people of differing perspectives, each imperious and strong in their own way, but standing together as equals, all smiles (subtle though they be), basking in each other’s presence despite themselves, yet each too stubborn to acknowledge that, despite their differences, they’re stronger together.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In my opinion, there’s never been a greater love story put to film.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-4488345247522550302023-10-20T12:39:00.004-04:002023-10-20T12:39:58.979-04:00 TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 9 – GOLDENEYE (1995).<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27OFPNDeov0y3eQ_pa5gajW7NSXjQXg3M6M1rbTiOitN_6wSAD1ig8S1raI18F5QEZNIAX2QoacoHfeJ-kRolrU9AJ5_rWXs1YYxFMmMfatMKNVwEv4LbBJ-3y5480Ka9nk9NXDbfEBk__1SyNsZF-116lHuuCouvAxErxYgX0tzrYxPTwrT0YoS80o-c/s480/43787695_10217516907818240_3963933232826679296_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="472" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27OFPNDeov0y3eQ_pa5gajW7NSXjQXg3M6M1rbTiOitN_6wSAD1ig8S1raI18F5QEZNIAX2QoacoHfeJ-kRolrU9AJ5_rWXs1YYxFMmMfatMKNVwEv4LbBJ-3y5480Ka9nk9NXDbfEBk__1SyNsZF-116lHuuCouvAxErxYgX0tzrYxPTwrT0YoS80o-c/w394-h400/43787695_10217516907818240_3963933232826679296_n.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on
Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that
made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation
as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being
reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where
warranted)]:</span></b></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 9 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that
inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew
Baldwin. Inspired or not, thy will be done.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This choice would have been more appropriate for day 7, but
that would have been too obvious. Suffice it to say, this one was difficult
because it’s more the film series rather than any one film that impacted and
inspired me, and it can be summed up in a single line:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>“Bond. James Bond.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">What started as a mocking introduction in “Dr. No” has
morphed into a declaration (Hell, Roger Moore’s delivery of the line
practically demanded acknowledgement by genuflection). A character who started
out as a stone-cold killer changed to become something different within the
times he was represented. He’s been derided as much as he’s been celebrated: a
representative of arrogant-yet-in-decline British imperialism at best, and
“kinda rapey” (in Millennial speak) at worst. Yet for all that, 25 films later,
we still follow his adventures no matter where they lead. The films were an
exotic travelogue at a time when tourism was not so affordable. Some of the
lushest scores by John Barry were inspired by this series (as well as some of
the most dated. I’m looking at you, Georgio Moroder and Bill Conti) and the
women; oh god, the women…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">(Wipes drool off computer)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">>Ahem<</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Connery is undisputed King; the standard by which all others
are judged. Craig is the worthy title holder and longest serving actor in years
if not in film. Moore was the charming tongue-firmly-in-cheek rogue with a twinkle
in his eye. Dalton was damned good and closest to Fleming’s literary take,
despite the naysayers (think about it. He was Craig before Craig); a great Bond
in a world that wasn’t ready for it. Lazenby was…ok.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But this...this is MY Bond, and this was his best film. I
had been waiting for “Goldeneye” since the television series “Remington Steele”
premiered. Brosnan was a natural for the role. Because of that show, the public
believed he would be the successor (the producers of RS must have felt the
same, for how else can one explain the off-key parody of the “Bond” theme used
in the series’ very first episode?).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">He was to have been Bond for 1987’s “The Living Daylights”,
but a last-minute “fuck you” stunt by NBC precluded that from ever happening.
The public would not let go, though. Brosnan’s series of “Diet Coke”
commercials kept the hope alive. EON Productions had to take legal intervention
to stop Putnam Books from putting Brosnan’s silhouette on the covers of the
John Gardner-penned continuation novels. For six years, the franchise was put
on hold due to various lawsuits. In 1994, when the litigious smoke cleared,
Brosnan's frustrating journey to the role finally ended here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">“Goldeneye” reinvented the mythos without destroying it (a
female “M”, a Moneypenny who, while still love struck, wasn’t exactly pining
either), putting everything that was great about Bond there for all to see. It
had Brosnan’s only adversary who was 007’s equal (Sean Bean), a very crazed,
effective assassin (Famke Janssen in a go-for-broke performance), a capable
heroine who wasn’t afraid of one-upping “our hero” (Izabella Scorupco).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The irony is that this pop-culture build up to the crown
yielded a triumphant climax in this one film…to the detriment of those that
followed. Because of the lackluster reception to Dalton, the aforementioned years
of litigation that kept Bond out of theaters, coupled with the changing zeitgeist,
the producers “played it safe” with the character. Thus, the three films that
followed were nowhere near the standards here. Unfortunately, it’s also
undeservedly tarnished Brosnan’s take. One only needs to see films such as “The
Fourth Protocol” and “The Tailor of Panama” to see what “Goldeneye” hinted at.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A sexist, misogynistic dinosaur and relic of the Cold War he may be but to this day, Bond endures.
In my opinion, Brosnan made it his own, and this is his Bond at his finest. </span></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-56393133679130738592023-10-19T12:17:00.002-04:002023-10-19T12:17:58.584-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 8 – ROCKY (1976)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZABogcid35C3UHPWY18AxsTaZbSJGTKVgDQVqyd1mufG_0Cjv-Qb_FxWKfzpCqly03oSkT5-ItYJt8BMkCWCYjFYYL7zQZ2A9Es161fKOlP4h5uKHEkoWj7LOhPtMtyJk_8AsBCvnJ06IVvF_zTENGsmj9PRm3RxLvhY_vsv1sOtcD4P_aZxG1FwssdN/s800/43636828_10217509064422160_7935809075659407360_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZABogcid35C3UHPWY18AxsTaZbSJGTKVgDQVqyd1mufG_0Cjv-Qb_FxWKfzpCqly03oSkT5-ItYJt8BMkCWCYjFYYL7zQZ2A9Es161fKOlP4h5uKHEkoWj7LOhPtMtyJk_8AsBCvnJ06IVvF_zTENGsmj9PRm3RxLvhY_vsv1sOtcD4P_aZxG1FwssdN/w400-h225/43636828_10217509064422160_7935809075659407360_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where warranted)]:</span></i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 8 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. Do it today, ‘cause there is no tomorrow.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Speaking of Sly (see day 6)… </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Yo, Adriaaaaaaan…we got 'n Osca’ winnah, ova’heeya….</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Oscar winner. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">All these years later, who’da thunk? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hell, even back <i>THEN</i>, who’da thunk?! </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">After all, this 1976 film went up against some serious pedigree for “Best Picture” at the 49th Academy Awards. Compared to such sophisticated fare as “All the President's Men”, “Bound for Glory”, “Network”, and “Taxi Driver”, “Rocky” was the uncomplicated and relatively simplistic “odd man out”; the "Marisa Tomei" of its day. But then, the John G. Avildsen-helmed feature was truly a study of “the underdog” in both narrative and actuality. It's thematically resonant and deeper than the critics gave it credit for. It also had the advantage of being released at the right time...or perhaps it was created because of those times, rather than in spite of. The Seventies was a very powerful, experimental, and examinatorial period in cinema; one wherein society’s ills and problems were being reflected back to us in celluloid with all stories tinged with varying shades of grey. The zeitgeist of the time didn’t help matters either. For all the “come on get happys” and "free love" of the period, there was equal or greater amounts of reports of government corruption, rising crime rates, job decimation, and economic hardship (sound familiar)?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">So is it any wonder that “Rocky” made the impact that it has? Though the plot is based upon fighter Chuck Wepner’s ability to go the distance with then-champ Muhammad Ali, the film (as to many degrees all the films that followed were) is autobiographical, running parallel to creator Sylvester Stallone’s life. According to legend, he wrote the script at his most destitute. The producers wanted to buy the script but wanted a name attached at the lead (his biggest roles at that time was a part in the ensemble film “The Lords of Flatbush” and a film Sly would rather be off his resume, “The Party at Kitty and Stud's” [later retitled “The Italian Stallion” for obvious reasons]). Stallone held fast, insisting he be the lead or no deal. In a foreshadowing of the film’s thematic hook, against all odds, the producers acquiesced. Maybe that’s what made Balboa so appealing against the likes of Woodward and Bernstein, Howard Beale, and Travis Bickle. It was a film that showed the world as an unforgiving landscape that blocked our development at every corner; a world that dictated who one was opposed to presenting the chance for self-identification. It postulated that when that rare opportunity in life presents itself, it has to be grabbed as ferociously and tenaciously as possible with both hands with an iron grip. That despite circumstance, we can rise above it all and surprise not only our naysayers, but ourselves. Whether or not one succeeded in the venture didn’t matter…it was the attempt to rise above the hole that is fatalistic expectation was all-encompassing. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It’s said that the best stories are the most personal; the ones wherein the author is personally invested, and the audience identifies with on a fundamental level. I believe that’s why it won, and why to this day it remains one of my favorites. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In that sense, we are all “Rocky”.</span></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-27126553366925378642023-10-18T12:52:00.004-04:002023-10-19T12:26:31.133-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 7 – STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx86v8Yzmjig_2rviQoMYd6gB852ANekp4mxBEMwxTKMSJyKvd6VMJRvpQfbXOnFBYRGzmQgV4z7ZE7BgBTs3-aATUjzpQmwxnA_dZ5LfKPQ5otAwnE_2DQORAPUqTfqT3eyFG-08q5RJKIv7bQiOzCkwJ0WElkLiJYjnc7a99q8LH0dfEbOgzEC3wmjpP/s756/43447412_10217501215665946_4618015481666732032_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="756" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx86v8Yzmjig_2rviQoMYd6gB852ANekp4mxBEMwxTKMSJyKvd6VMJRvpQfbXOnFBYRGzmQgV4z7ZE7BgBTs3-aATUjzpQmwxnA_dZ5LfKPQ5otAwnE_2DQORAPUqTfqT3eyFG-08q5RJKIv7bQiOzCkwJ0WElkLiJYjnc7a99q8LH0dfEbOgzEC3wmjpP/w400-h225/43447412_10217501215665946_4618015481666732032_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where warranted)]:</span></i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 7 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by the esteemed educator and author Andrew Baldwin. You got your own choices to post, don’t you? What’re yew waitin’ fer?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here’s another “big surprise” entry. In truth, the surprise was actually WHICH film of the first two film in the series to choose! The first film may have been derided in later years as “The MotionLESS Picture,” but that film "wow’ed" me in so many different respects that compensated for the action-less narrative. For the first time, one got a tangible sense of the immense size of the U.S.S. Enterprise. For those of us used to reruns of ‘60s (state-of-the-art-on-a budget) effects, the special effects of the first film were astounding. Further, Jerry Goldsmith’s (with uncredited assist from series theme composer Alexander Courage) orchestrations were nothing short of phenomenal. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But my personal winner, even to this day, remains the most powerfully affecting. It was a game changer. Back then, as the intrepid crew of The Enterprise was created on broadcast television, they carried with them the same subconscious expectations of television as it was back in the day: done-in-one adventures with the characters resetting back to the status quo by episode’s end. Yes, there’d be some moral imparted and people learning something new about themselves, but by the end each toy was put back in the box as pristine as they were taken out. Even the first film followed this paradigm.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Not this time. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Instead of being forced to wear Vaseline on their faces and pretend to be only 2 ½ years older rather than a decade, the actors were presented as the were in “real time”, facing issues rarely explored on broadcast television. Instead of being treated as avatars of well-worn pop culture catchphrases, they were presented as three-dimensional characters. The weight of their history and age upon their shoulders, even if it only seemed to weigh down Admiral James T. Kirk. The crew found themselves facing their mortality and the real prospect of death in intimate, real fashion that they never had before.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><b>"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and -- patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing." </b></i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> - Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">So much can be said for this film…the space naval score by rising-star composer James Horner, Ricardo Montalban’s real-chesty, go-for-broke performance, the debut of the then-fetching Kirstie Alley…but it’s the relationships that carry the film, none more powerfully than the image presented here. Back in the day, the actors were marginalized; their talents dismissed by the nature of the material and medium of the original presentation. Say what you will about Shatner (trust me, I do), but he is capable of powerful subtlety. The late Leonard Nimoy was the show’s and films’ blessing, being the type of actor whose presence elevates the material he’s given. Yes, the scene can be considered a cheat because the emotions were for many bolstered from years of seeing these characters in endless reruns (“Star Trek”, technically, has never been off the air). But it was that moment that many realized that they saw these characters as real people, and that the “big death” was akin to that of a family member. The status quo was gone. There was no reset; no pat, pithy comeback to end an episode and off to the next adventure. Instead, there was the understanding that despite the death, life goes on.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><b>"You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life."</b></i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><b>"Just words."</b></i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><b>"But good words. That's where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them.</b></i>"</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> - David Marcus (Merritt Butrick) and Admiral Kirk (William Shatner).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The consequences would carry over from this film onward. Most importantly the characters emotionally matured, now in sync with their physicality. It would take two films for that status quo to be reset (to a certain degree), but here there was something the franchise had lacked until that moment: Unpredictability. It felt like it had truly gone where it hadn't gone before. There was a new tomorrow on the horizon; a bittersweet one, but a new one nonetheless.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It felt…young.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-34247890605832003922023-10-17T11:07:00.006-04:002023-10-17T11:15:15.554-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 6 - SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjVhloksKeENzmqxtjTOzKkzBrxzgznivcot5qW5SMK0ykr7Wey4WBA9zGEWojvrk4bRlo9kAh_h1LndGmN2Bqy6p1GGT5KFE29c0GMDbmna9tNDZEtBzXfhyphenhyphenvIaGaM-gjoVVf70SpVi7tD_y_mh0BWKZXeY1toaLzkxy0Ljmu5sepwEBCl-KVtV625J0/s516/43403078_10217492748534273_5522987536433020928_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="409" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXjVhloksKeENzmqxtjTOzKkzBrxzgznivcot5qW5SMK0ykr7Wey4WBA9zGEWojvrk4bRlo9kAh_h1LndGmN2Bqy6p1GGT5KFE29c0GMDbmna9tNDZEtBzXfhyphenhyphenvIaGaM-gjoVVf70SpVi7tD_y_mh0BWKZXeY1toaLzkxy0Ljmu5sepwEBCl-KVtV625J0/w318-h400/43403078_10217492748534273_5522987536433020928_n.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where warranted)]:</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 6 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. If you want to participate…what?...today should have been day “8”? What happened to days “6” and “7”, you ask? Hey, no one said nuthin’ ‘bout it havin’ to be consecutive….</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">>Ahem<</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">There are some common themes in my previous selections, but this one is different. To paraphrase another film, as far as I can remember I always wanted to be a dancer. Actually, that’s a misstatement because “wanted to be” implies a conscious choice. It was something I already was. According to my parents and people who knew from birth, it seemed I could naturally boogie right out of the womb. When I discovered Tom Jones, I would emulate his performances using my bed as a stage with a disconnected tape recorder mike in hand. So when John Travolta’s “Tony Monero” exploded on the pop culture scene in his now-and-still-iconic white suit, I had to see it. While the women (and some men) were screaming for the sex symbol Travolta had become almost overnight (“Welcome Back, Kotter” notwithstanding), my eight-year-old self was enraptured by the dance. To subsequent generations, the music and styles may seem the height of cheese, but dancers GET IT. Life is movement, movement is life, and dance is its ultimate expression. The music and the moves made me come alive inside. The electrifying soundtrack fronted by the Bee Gees and including the likes of Kool & The Gang and Miami's own KC & The Sunshine Band (which was only used in post; Travolta and the other actors were dancing to Motown standards during filming) was the highest grossing of all time until Prince's "Purple Rain” and is inextricable from the film.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">However, that same little person wouldn’t get much of the narrative or its motifs until he got older; themes that would run parallel to his own life in many ways: Dance as an escape from a dreary existence; the longing for something more (in common with other films on my list); the quest for an identity, the desire for respect in a world that withholds same; the realization that the party can’t last forever, where one has to dismiss the superficial and be stripped to their essence to see what is there and determine what comes next. When the (dancer’s) high is gone and all one’s left is an empty dance floor…to borrow a song lyric, “[o]h, yeah, life goes on…long after the thrill…of living is gone.” </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The film is dismissed in many circles as schlock, but that’s mostly due to aesthetics. For all its party atmosphere, it’s a particularly deep piece of cinema dealing with very adult conflicts. It’s a time capsule of its period, but its story, and the issues it tackles, are timeless. It’s a difficult coming-of-age story with no real resolution (let’s just pretend the Sylvester Stallone-directed '83 follow up never happened). But in the backdrop of life's capriciousness, there is the momentary, unbridled joy brought about by the dance. The film posits that it may be transitory, but that is what makes it all the more powerful and exultant.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This image is so iconic that the film’s title need not be mentioned.* Suffice it to say, in December, 1977 in a movie theater on a Saturday night, I was struck with a fever; and you know what?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I didn’t want to be cured.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">*Except in this article’s title, natch. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-70033461904413014082023-10-16T12:11:00.000-04:002023-10-16T12:11:03.664-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 5 - THE CROW (1994)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfARaZtVRw6eXZqXa3IOMHIdjeX3ellFScCqI8BfcbmhsUk3JkMy6wD4NlJgeZiNgd3wZygEqHqm4PaZCnXoONXaSRmsofxpR2sisMxMDqLn-lzeQDoxoupcwE1JN5lgpOJ9kICHBiJInHknvc2EYL5iMfZBRbmz4LfBMe-vf_j_HShapfqGl1njIalKUO/s500/43350240_10217463251996878_7332452701277519872_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="500" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfARaZtVRw6eXZqXa3IOMHIdjeX3ellFScCqI8BfcbmhsUk3JkMy6wD4NlJgeZiNgd3wZygEqHqm4PaZCnXoONXaSRmsofxpR2sisMxMDqLn-lzeQDoxoupcwE1JN5lgpOJ9kICHBiJInHknvc2EYL5iMfZBRbmz4LfBMe-vf_j_HShapfqGl1njIalKUO/w400-h271/43350240_10217463251996878_7332452701277519872_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification/update where warranted)]:</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 5 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. Anyone else care to try? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">“Take your best shot, Funboy. You got me dead bang”.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">No, Mr. Lee…you had US “dead bang”.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">“Reality Bites”, “Dazed and Confused” …those films and a few others are among those considered the cinematic benchmarks of "GenX". Well, I submit that “The Crow” (1994) is THE seminal film of that...my...generation. While those films did humorously touch upon the concerns and preoccupations of those of us coming of age in that tumultuous period, this film (despite its fantastical nature) touched upon and explored the existential angst (whether affected or not) that simmered beneath the surface, belying the dismissive Boomer sobriquet of “the slacker generation.” Ours was the generation who saw all our institutions crumble as we grew into adulthood: Church scandals, Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Contra, skyrocketing divorce rates and broken homes, Reaganomics, the Iraqi war, Rodney King, Compton, Nicole and Ronald, S&L…is it any wonder that a certain degree of nihilistic apathy developed? This film captures those concerns in atmospheric, Gothic, foreboding fashion. In that sense, WE collectively ARE Eric Draven, a victim of a world that has robbed him of all foundation (represented by his wife Shelley, ethereally played by Sofia Shinas), stripping him of his very life. However, his frustrated anger and despair cry for vengeance; to make sense of a world made senseless by forces beyond his control…and it’s only in the supernatural that he finds his outlet, one not afforded to the viewer. My own world had crumbled by this point, to which I almost lost everything, including my own life. Because of that, perhaps I’m making more of this than warranted; reading into it more than I should. But the film is literally a work of art for it is emotionally evocative in a way that goes beyond simple film. But isn't that what good art is supposed to do? Stir the emotions? Inspire self-reflection? The soundtrack by various grunge artists and the bittersweet, haunting, tribal, affecting score by Graeme Revell adds to the aesthetic. It is initially oppressive and permeated with a sense of loss.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">That loss is no more powerfully felt than it is in the form of Brandon Lee as the title character. In many ways, his story is that of Draven’s: a man on the cusp of stardom and (arguably) a happy life until fate unexpectedly robbed him of it. Lee had been known primarily as the son of martial arts “god” Bruce Lee, and his highest profile film to date had been the eminently forgettable “Showdown in Little Tokyo”, playing second banana to Dolph Lundgren (even going so far as to proudly comment on his co-star’s manhood in script in an especially embarrassing sequence). Yet he was more than a martial arts star in the making. He was a bona-fide actor who gave the performance of a lifetime, which serves as both the apex of his craft and a hint of what could have been. The tragedy of his on-set death only adds to the material in a way in-and-of-itself supernatural. Like the character he portrays, Lee is the specter that hangs over the entire production like a shroud; his presence, and lack of same, permeating every facet and aspect of the entire film. Ernie Hudson is especially moving as “Officer Albrecht”, representative of the previous generation whose job is to protect the next, yet woefully inadequate to the task. Rochelle Davis, as “Sarah”, gives an equally moving performance representing the next generation whom ours is charged to protect. Yet how protective and nurturing can one be when one is dead inside? "The Crow" offers a bittersweet response.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Like the comic that spawned it, “The Crow” is a film that transcends itself. Yet, it is also subversive, for beneath its nihilism is a theme that resonates especially in the film’s tagline “real love is forever”, for this film is ultimately about love: How it uplifts us when it’s there, and how we despair when it’s gone. Love drives us, motivates us, and figuratively and in this film literally, restores us to life. There is no way to truly remake this film…though not for lack of trying Like yesterday’s cinematic choice, a host of diminishing sequels (and one moderately successful television series) followed, each incapable of capturing the evocative power of the original.*</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Truth is, no matter what I say about this film, it would still be inadequate. “The Crow” is an iconic piece of art; one that despite its air of oppressive despair, shows us that where there is love, there is hope: it’s a film that reminds us that no matter how bad life can be…</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">…it can’t rain all the time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">*As of this writing, a remake starring Bill Skarsgard and Danny Huston will be in theatres in 2024. While whether it succeeds or fails remains to be seen, it will be due to its own merits. I’ve said on this blog before that “every generation deserves its own iteration”, and from that idea is the understanding that it will be its own entity completely devoid of the circumstances mentioned above, both internal and external, that makes this film so special.</span></i></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-1583113809970865382023-10-13T12:48:00.002-04:002023-10-17T16:27:48.294-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 4 - "HIGHLANDER" (1985)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsL-el_G7-Nx7jTgCgbCdAxyImHOxzOp4JW8485PKVkAjqGQGeU8QGdtNYPBHJXKqYPIzPVaqtuDWCO7gR_RyZOvP11hMHDu983-L27j0blGNoMV1n8sOhe81JvXahNlaiY-0QUHqjEthSQPavcbW4pVi1c-7ukVcdUKGS08ulCdx2LpXx1KxMdrAN6TN/s620/43176090_10217455939894080_2924168169255862272_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="620" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsL-el_G7-Nx7jTgCgbCdAxyImHOxzOp4JW8485PKVkAjqGQGeU8QGdtNYPBHJXKqYPIzPVaqtuDWCO7gR_RyZOvP11hMHDu983-L27j0blGNoMV1n8sOhe81JvXahNlaiY-0QUHqjEthSQPavcbW4pVi1c-7ukVcdUKGS08ulCdx2LpXx1KxMdrAN6TN/w400-h217/43176090_10217455939894080_2924168169255862272_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification where warranted)]:</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 4 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. Do or do not, there is no care.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">What started out as a class thesis project turned into one of the most maligned and mocked film franchises in modern cinema. Where to begin? Gregory Widen’s original soulful and earnest screenplay about the inherent tragedy of immortality undermined by money-grubbing producers and a too-cool-for-school director hoping for a quick buck; a lead who at the time barely knew English, much less emulate a proper Scottish accent; a proper Scot cast as a Spaniard with an Egyptian pedigree; a film that was clearly meant as a “done-in-one” branched out into ever-worsening film sequels that only marred the original’s legacy.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Yet for all that, “Highlander” (1985) captures the imagination with it’s barely-scratched mythology of Immortal beings living among humanity “down through the centuries, living many secret lives, struggling to reach the time of the Gathering, where the few who remain…will battle to the last.” Christopher Lambert’s performance as “Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod” may have been wooden, but his screen presence perfectly fit the film’s milieu and zeitgeist; his unique accent totally appropriate for an individual having lived throughout the world for four centuries. Looking at those feral-yet-haunted eyes (an unintended-yet-welcomed consequence of the lead's myopia), one could imagine all the joys and tolls of those lifetimes lived. Despite only being available for a week of shooting, none can deny that Connery made the most of it, imbuing a much needed levity to balance the gravitas a character like “Juan Sanchez Villalobos Ramirez” would carry. Clancy Brown, a fine actor in any production, had been hampered by Peter S. Davis & William Panzer’s desire to make the fearsome “Kurgan” into a stock, cartoonish ‘80s nutjob (in the original screenplay, the Kurgan was as weighted down by his immortality as much as Connor was, fighting for “the Prize” only because it was all that was left to him, which would have made for a much more meaningful and powerful take).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Say what you will about director Russel Mulcahy, his MTv-generation sense of style gave this film its own distinct identity, and the one-two punch of Michael Kamen’s score along with the stirring soundtrack by Queen elevates what could have been B-movie fare to something close to mythic. Case in point, Brian May was inspired to write “Who Wants To Live Forever” after watching the montage of MacLeod watching his beloved wife, Heather (Beatie Edney), whither and die while he remains unchanged…it’s this sequence that elevates the entire film, and presents a glimpse as to Widen's narrative intentions. Be that as it (Brian) may, the soundtrack and orchestrations perfectly underscore the sense of weariness and loss an unending lifetime can evoke, yet at the same time provide a stirring, rollicking sense of occult adventure. This film is (despite it's flaws) "a kind of magic"...and it is felt throughout the film. Without embarrassment I can say that, for a time, I was obsessed with this mythology. As with the Immortals, the film stands outside the fringes of the every day. Much of the mythology wouldn’t be properly (in varying degrees) explored until the series it inspired several years later. But here, just a hint of that world was enough to incite the imagination. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The image above is the climatic shot, representing not only the receipt of “The Prize”, but also a moment of orgiastic catharsis: Pain, pleasure, power…release...the culmination of a nigh-interminable existence…all embodied in one image. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The film’s most famous tagline is “There Can Be Only One.” In truth, there <i>should have been</i> only one for, marred though it be, “Highlander” achieved all it had to do in one.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">(And for the record…to this day I absolutely LOVE that Masamune katana).</span></div><p></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-55711784658332383632023-10-12T11:50:00.002-04:002023-10-12T11:52:49.921-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 3 - "THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS" (1992) <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZYn9A2mQl5t_csuzY5DxSBMJRaL9hb6scnbMt79C2XREk9vsyORPIJIjb8yLxHxuhWR_8QTAeGXDFrJzmmc6JaX-Naq40Tplg71pepJhgcKMEwz9szziHFYDoNoFbf0uDqg1t00iHEk7gM4ZbdSz3C8mAEfkpwRoTlVdCzWQDsruOTa0kSomSnNFp3Tp/s1000/42987139_10217447168434799_1638406895301558272_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="676" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbZYn9A2mQl5t_csuzY5DxSBMJRaL9hb6scnbMt79C2XREk9vsyORPIJIjb8yLxHxuhWR_8QTAeGXDFrJzmmc6JaX-Naq40Tplg71pepJhgcKMEwz9szziHFYDoNoFbf0uDqg1t00iHEk7gM4ZbdSz3C8mAEfkpwRoTlVdCzWQDsruOTa0kSomSnNFp3Tp/w320-h294/42987139_10217447168434799_1638406895301558272_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety (with some modification where warranted)]:</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 3 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew Baldwin. Have fun doing your own.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Fuck “Titanic”! THIS is the seminal cinematic historical romantic fiction of the ‘90s (fight me!). Michael Mann took a plodding, near-interminable novel and turned it into one of the most visually arresting, dynamically riveting, emotionally resonant adaptations ever put to screen. Daniel Day-Lewis surprised all and sundry in his turn as Nathaniel (the original “Hawkeye”), proving that the then-darling of the burgeoning indie scene could easily slip into the shoes of a heroic, romantic lead. Madeline Stowe’s “Cora” was, like the heroine mentioned in yesterday’s choice, not a wilting wallflower waiting to be rescued, but a woman of strength and fortitude equal to that Nathaniel’s. Most especially, Wes Studi’s chilling performance as “Magua” put him among the pantheon of the greatest of screen villains. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The cinematography, which included the incredible vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is nothing short of breathtaking, matched by one of the most powerful, arresting, and as-close-to-spiritual-as-you-can-get scores ever recorded for film by the combined talents of Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman (with assist by Daniel Lanois). Trust me...I could go on for DAYS about this score (and it counts among my top five). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It’s high adventure, soulful romance (especially epitomized in the chaste but doomed love between Alice Munro [Jodhi May] and Eric Schweig [Uncas]), and powerful performances that stay with you yet demand re-watching. I know I'm "breaking the rules" by posting two (three?) images, but both relationships depicted not only epitomize the entire film in their respective shots, they also anchor the film, in my opinion, in equal measure.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGheyh1lhAFWDEzzftTufDWzwOoMkWXi9aWLGGM9IB7tY3Sawa_lLBSc8eatqB4jwVVc77xaZ51zr1qLlWwzqafS3FHFupTjiW1_UphZLBsE0IE8nRv1KDi7AfQpNvfuFK69wc2o8NQ7y2sOvDWVp89wh8qgy-z15CToEABTV_xu1bgKBESfnKwzcnNfW/s484/43040025_10217447176354997_3129478931833421824_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="484" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGheyh1lhAFWDEzzftTufDWzwOoMkWXi9aWLGGM9IB7tY3Sawa_lLBSc8eatqB4jwVVc77xaZ51zr1qLlWwzqafS3FHFupTjiW1_UphZLBsE0IE8nRv1KDi7AfQpNvfuFK69wc2o8NQ7y2sOvDWVp89wh8qgy-z15CToEABTV_xu1bgKBESfnKwzcnNfW/w428-h344/43040025_10217447176354997_3129478931833421824_n.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><p></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-83176704948211554112023-10-11T10:27:00.004-04:002023-10-17T16:29:01.571-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 2 - "STAR WARS" (1977)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqt6zVMx6hUXYSEW6S-_qlQnJ-wt4Bu1vPlm9V9auqohpr2oKqUGOepTDqzMgE3stRiOl44Fx7qTZUG1KdUElN2Oo01hVE0LXj8QCe4dwWVfI6O9KebGBExKsM7zOtJABMfjDD0oL2DRd1tX41JB_qtnFhop-LiK9h4CAzVi5C6l30DdjfkSyXZR6LGeG9/s1332/42950888_10217439730568857_6363207891150700544_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1332" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqt6zVMx6hUXYSEW6S-_qlQnJ-wt4Bu1vPlm9V9auqohpr2oKqUGOepTDqzMgE3stRiOl44Fx7qTZUG1KdUElN2Oo01hVE0LXj8QCe4dwWVfI6O9KebGBExKsM7zOtJABMfjDD0oL2DRd1tX41JB_qtnFhop-LiK9h4CAzVi5C6l30DdjfkSyXZR6LGeG9/w400-h236/42950888_10217439730568857_6363207891150700544_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><b>[Back in 2018, there was a social media challenge on
Facebook in which a person posted a picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that
made an impact on them. However, I went a step beyond and posted an explanation
as to why they made that impact. For the sake of posterity, they're being
reposted here in their entirety (with some modification where warranted)]</b></i>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Day 2 of 10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that
inspired you, 10 days, one image. I was nominated for this challenge by Andrew
Baldwin. I won't be challenging anyone to share but if these posts inspire you
to do so, by all means...go to, go to.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This film is seminal to GenX and the generations that
followed. Most adore it, some are "meh" about it, few cannot stand it.
Yet George Lucas' long shot, little-film-that-could became a juggernaut for a
nation feeling the weight of historical/cultural strife and cynicism; providing
an antidote that was both throwback to a simpler time and a timely reminder of
(there's that word again) hope. It was one of those forever films, and that's
not hyperbole folks. In fact, this film in a sense paved the way for
yesterday's choice, even though "Superman: The Movie" (1978) lagged
in pre-production hell for a couple of years before this film debuted. With its
themes of plain "good versus evil", it was dismissed by the critics
at the time as Saturday morning kiddie-fare (harsh, but understandable given
that its inspiration was steeped in the serials of the thirties and forties). Debatable
as to whether or not it was intentional, further scrutiny showed that it is
replete with mythological themes and constructs, wholly recognizable to the
collective Jungian unconscious (even noted mythology scholar/expert Joseph
Campbell gave it his seal of approval).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For some, "Star Wars" is Han Solo (Harrison Ford),
the mercenary shoot-'em-first cynic who undergoes a character arc to come (or
return) to the hero that lies beneath the cool exterior. For others, it's
Princess Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher), an ahead-of-her-time (or
perhaps, of-her-time) heroine of equal measure who was anything but a damsel in
distress. Many others view it as Obi-Wan Kenobi (the late Sir Alec Guiness) and
Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse/Bob Anderson)...both father figures
of a previous generation locked in battle, both figuratively and literally
passing their sins and conflict onto the next generation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But the image [above] is "Star Wars"' core
essence; a bildungsroman for a young farmer named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill),
who epitomizes 70's (or any other time's) youth. Dissatisfied with society and
"the way things are", locked into place by family responsibility and
circumstance, looking wistfully off into the distance for adventure and
excitement (things he would be admonished later for craving), accompanied by
John Williams' (there's that other word again) iconic theme, seeing the twin
suns, one shining brighter than the other, not realizing that they (would come
to) symbolize the choice as to which path he would take; a mirrored opportunity
to rectify the error of his (then unknown) progenitor.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In my opinion, this image represents every child's...every
person's...hope for a life full of adventure and fulfillment. While the events
of the latest film in the series would mar it's finish, the image here is still serves as powerful a testament of the desire to truly live as any put to film.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p><p></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-88607174126231534202023-10-05T10:23:00.003-04:002023-10-12T12:38:42.238-04:00TEN MOVIES THAT MADE AN IMPACT ON ME: SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE REVISITED: DAY 1 - "SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE" (1978)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UDaj0-rCaeqJ0MAeqoJ48IujXRjw_BmtR4__Ytch7Pv_8DazgV1DcQd3ife4l-_cvxcPMfMaxHtLetvnbTcBrlpnMWoJJHJIIXMFYkoz9tNcNY4X6TTrV9YOmKdYTfYhC4f0ZfjxXNTxUB5U0m881q8-WTdQwZflwnCBYq5rrGKJAIf9yUKpYWvNOslm/s620/42922912_10217433719538585_8636757956093804544_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="620" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UDaj0-rCaeqJ0MAeqoJ48IujXRjw_BmtR4__Ytch7Pv_8DazgV1DcQd3ife4l-_cvxcPMfMaxHtLetvnbTcBrlpnMWoJJHJIIXMFYkoz9tNcNY4X6TTrV9YOmKdYTfYhC4f0ZfjxXNTxUB5U0m881q8-WTdQwZflwnCBYq5rrGKJAIf9yUKpYWvNOslm/w563-h200/42922912_10217433719538585_8636757956093804544_n.jpg" width="563" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>[Back in
2018, there was a social media challenge on Facebook in which a person posted a
picture a day for 10 days of 10 films that made an impact on them. However, I
went a step beyond and posted an explanation as to why they made that impact.
For the sake of posterity, they're being reposted here in their entirety].</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I usually
don’t take up social media challenges, but this one is fun and plays into my
side role as critic, so why not?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Day 1 of
10 movies that had an impact on me. 10 films that inspired you, 10 days, one
image. I was nominated by this challenge by Andrew Baldwin.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For anyone
who really knows me or frequents this page, #1 should come as no surprise. For
a nine-year-old kid who was still optimistic enough to believe in fantasy and
heroes, this film lived up to its tagline “you’ll believe a man can fly”. A
film celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, it’s quixotically dated yet
timeless.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It seemed
that destiny wanted to ensure that all the pieces fell into place: Noted Bond
franchise director Guy Hamilton was on tap to direct when his tax exile status
in England precluded him from doing so, leading the Salkinds to reach out to
last minute replacement Richard Donner, fresh from “The Omen”, who lived up to
his credo of “verisimilitude”. Jerry Goldsmith had been first choice for score
(so much so that the teaser trailer featured his music from the film “Capricorn
One”), but his schedule wouldn’t allow for it. However, he did recommend his
buddy John Williams, who created one of the most rousing musical scores ever
produced for film. The cast, from Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Terrance
Stamp, to Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, Ned Beatty, Valerie Perrine, and a slew
of others were, to varying degrees, believable in their roles. Ground breaking
(for the time) special effects gave the illusion of reality within the fantasy.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But were
it not for the person pictured here, this film would not have worked. Rarely
does an actor give such a pitch-perfect performance; more so when the role he
or she plays is based on a preexisting entity. Yet Christopher Reeve’s
portrayal became as iconic as the part he took on and is still the standard by
which all others are judged. This picture captures all that. The hope and
determination of the character evidenced just in the eyes alone. The pose a
study of soaring power and resoluteness. You can practically hear John
Williams’ equally-iconic theme in the background. In this case, the weight upon
Reeve’s shoulders to carry the day where Herculean, yet he did it as
effortlessly as the Man of Steel himself.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For some,
it’s a near-perfect mythological three-in-one film (science fiction, Americana
coming of age bildungsroman, superhero adventure); for others, an un-ironic
quaint fairy tale peppered with a smidgen of cheese. However, for a
nine-year-old sitting in a theater in New Jersey across the bay from New York,
living during the time of Son of Sam, rising crime rates, black outs, and
protests, this movie not only showed to power any film can convey, but also
reminded him that there is hope and good in the world...and that everything
will be all right.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“You’ll
believe a man can fly.”</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">Indeed.</span></p><br /><p></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-20241555845628666452023-08-26T16:08:00.001-04:002023-08-26T16:08:16.687-04:00ACC'S LATEST PODCAST - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD DUDES<p> His Dudeliness producer and I discuss one of our favorite modern films...and get a bit deep into the discussion.</p><p><br /></p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NW3z770q1o&t=3s</p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-24511873143016714132023-08-09T20:50:00.006-04:002023-08-10T11:23:26.891-04:00A PIECE OF HISTORY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtrHdWoCSe6ZGdG8eCydx1FVyAXolAZ8YU-sh4ZHylaw8RqAZ1B_jhNo-2W3VPXG8XX53th2IaG0jVRxkTr6xeRWoobOayPMqhUVWesO2jsuGRE7G14nvG4ER3xROBGwBIs2xYpdqvlnvYP0xb7SEJI4UupWSkY6OMlqzbcvn30c9SgHj51d-7QT_jwSm/s3540/pro-TBOtbsEO.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3540" data-original-width="2655" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtrHdWoCSe6ZGdG8eCydx1FVyAXolAZ8YU-sh4ZHylaw8RqAZ1B_jhNo-2W3VPXG8XX53th2IaG0jVRxkTr6xeRWoobOayPMqhUVWesO2jsuGRE7G14nvG4ER3xROBGwBIs2xYpdqvlnvYP0xb7SEJI4UupWSkY6OMlqzbcvn30c9SgHj51d-7QT_jwSm/s320/pro-TBOtbsEO.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">I pass</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> this monument daily. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">It's in the general vicinity of my day job, standing there since 2014, becoming so much a part of the landscape that it seems </span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">almost innocuous in banality.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost.</div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">A portion of the Berlin Wall, situated before Wolfson Campus of Miami-Dade College in Downtown Miami, Florida; gifted to it by Germany to commemorate the then-25th anniversary of the fall of the wall. It's most appropriate that it was presented to this institution of learning.</div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">It's a piece of History (capitalization intentional). <span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">It's an indictment of modernity.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXn_BHSEwlgG09ri37pjxvTFc3xiLm84b8wPoHGJsSNYcDuMA_PDjVMmvuwzcpmVlcMqBu6CTbocmp3TTZ145ZSvCg0k-mN34bi50DaKNXqPYKlmyxmJxeb_ADDc4eaBXJYomd7oJcxJkmc2s-ufs5EvtjYrGuax0waCCMD5kVtKNx-DctumcwfSjYMpOn/s3540/pro-Ey4S61Be.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3540" data-original-width="2655" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXn_BHSEwlgG09ri37pjxvTFc3xiLm84b8wPoHGJsSNYcDuMA_PDjVMmvuwzcpmVlcMqBu6CTbocmp3TTZ145ZSvCg0k-mN34bi50DaKNXqPYKlmyxmJxeb_ADDc4eaBXJYomd7oJcxJkmc2s-ufs5EvtjYrGuax0waCCMD5kVtKNx-DctumcwfSjYMpOn/s320/pro-Ey4S61Be.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">This relatively small piece of concrete separated East Berlin from West for three decades; the physical embodiment of an ideological divide, and an inorganic symbol of <span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">misery.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">It's a testament to the suffering of families and loved ones forever separated. It further serves as tombstone for countless lives lost in attempting to scale its walls...seeking escape and freedom; to <span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">allow for unfettered expression of the human spirit in the face of oppression.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmYOGwj97TnUy2i-Ki3-3Qv_HjBTQXFnNaeTI9fWe-Giktx8-ylX7zyts828KmmkCQfpQGrENDRcNo6AlaupjYXNodC-G8G_d1Afg-GgjijxOxADHdXyNfgvylOWHzAqt7O3-dY-eRJDPT7rjG0qy27n0r83gOrDo_m04nngB1u1imvCiIg1JOr4_73J5/s3540/pro-vhKDApHO.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3540" data-original-width="2655" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmYOGwj97TnUy2i-Ki3-3Qv_HjBTQXFnNaeTI9fWe-Giktx8-ylX7zyts828KmmkCQfpQGrENDRcNo6AlaupjYXNodC-G8G_d1Afg-GgjijxOxADHdXyNfgvylOWHzAqt7O3-dY-eRJDPT7rjG0qy27n0r83gOrDo_m04nngB1u1imvCiIg1JOr4_73J5/s320/pro-vhKDApHO.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The graffiti is original, and what is graffiti but history's tattoos? It represents the thoughts, ideas and, most importantly, feelings of that cultural zeitgeist; resistance in the face of persecution. Proof that in the shadow of tyranny, hope and defiance could be etched in proverbial ink.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">For those of us who lived up until the time it came crashing down, it's regrettably hard to fathom that it's full significance would be lost to those who were born a</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">round the time of, or after, its collapse. </span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Writer/philosopher George Santayana was purportedly the first individual to utter the practically axiomatic quote "[t]hose who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." That sentiment has never been more appropriate than now.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">We're still haunted...persecuted...bedeviled by bigotry, hatred and division in a country that should honestly know better. Land of the free and home of the brave, so long as one meets the small, confining racial, socio-economic criteria; especially in the state wherein I reside. </div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06ItACzkhWb0nj-7dukfhBtxKLtYkHVMU0KCrFo47GjP-tbRsuAFqiw58aPWxU7WopEYp32oEQygyOWP5c4KdQS_3-1pz8m06iLQPxGooxPaoV0TnqosRLGyj1UvJ612cOXaDD2HAf-9NfAH0alJteW8NB5pe9a79uxxVWwAfzcGSSV_xE7TGSwQ4Jwaa/s970/364236221_512073371102167_6464443981783216866_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="970" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06ItACzkhWb0nj-7dukfhBtxKLtYkHVMU0KCrFo47GjP-tbRsuAFqiw58aPWxU7WopEYp32oEQygyOWP5c4KdQS_3-1pz8m06iLQPxGooxPaoV0TnqosRLGyj1UvJ612cOXaDD2HAf-9NfAH0alJteW8NB5pe9a79uxxVWwAfzcGSSV_xE7TGSwQ4Jwaa/s320/364236221_512073371102167_6464443981783216866_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">This is another section of the Berlin Wall. It resides in Orlando, Florida...</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">...behind a pop-culture-themed restaurant...</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">...in a theme park complex. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Note the lack of graffiti. Though uncorroborated, it's rumored that a groundskeeper (whether ignorant of history or simply uninformed) mistook the art for vandalism and had it pressured cleaned; "sanitized" to an almost pristine, modulus finish.***</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">In other words...whitewashed. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">A blank canvas, saying n</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">othing of the history once embedded in the stone of the pain...the anguish...the unmitigated evil and destructiveness inherent in it. </span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">To the point where even our own institutions of learning a</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">re undergoing their own whitewashing pr</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">evalent not only in our culture but that of the world.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">One cannot look upon this without realizing both the irony and the appropriateness of its current condition and the circumstances behind it. T</span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">here are certain government officials and special interest groups that would rather whitewash history and prevent our fully understanding it...from learning from it, for their ideological and financial benefit. The banning of literature, the obfuscation of scientific fact and theory, the denial of the existence of race theory, the oppression of alternative expressions of affection between human beings...our teachers metaphorically handcuffed to the point of insufficiency and ineffectiveness...it's as if Florida is becoming more of a Red state than it collectively realizes.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">I pass by a monument daily, now part of the everyday landscape. It's part of the background. A simple piece of stone that says so much if one only pauses to "hear" it and heed its warning.</div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">History is not something to which we pick and choose. History simply is. If we are to learn from history and hopefully apply its lessons in the future, it must be acknowledged. That is ultimately why a section was gifted to an institution of learning.</span></div></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-align: justify;">It's a piece of History. </span><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">It's an indictment of modernity. That indictment being:</span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: justify;">...</span>we haven't learned a goddamn thing.<br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div dir="auto" id="x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">***If I'm incorrect in my facts, a sectional retraction will be published.</div></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-56263876327366619792023-06-14T11:17:00.002-04:002023-06-14T11:17:49.777-04:00THE AMERICAN CULTURE CRITIC PODCAST IS LIVE!!!!!<p> The blog's corresponding podcast is now LIVE. Please give a listen to the first episode here:</p><p><br /></p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQexCll9rs&t=4658s</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-2269401429778372132023-06-06T20:54:00.014-04:002023-06-07T14:07:53.291-04:00A Tale of Two Barrys: "The Flash" Is Dickensian Romp Filled With Emotional Heft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzklxHz0nBaJOmeqfnlRksbqfKVETS6DaCEPAtX7-nS71vU6tSKiDGq0F0jcOWTRid5pEZ8qYTXdon7ajkBI-lreWR72f32GrFD1DyvJLlM8ZAMLs8JSeM3SAQ-6wlGAzPZs5fPB_P7UO_vT0BvTsQ81XhAMxLGB_xlAbY8mAuhnj6MNPGP-baeO77A/s1620/AA1cd2Jm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1620" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzklxHz0nBaJOmeqfnlRksbqfKVETS6DaCEPAtX7-nS71vU6tSKiDGq0F0jcOWTRid5pEZ8qYTXdon7ajkBI-lreWR72f32GrFD1DyvJLlM8ZAMLs8JSeM3SAQ-6wlGAzPZs5fPB_P7UO_vT0BvTsQ81XhAMxLGB_xlAbY8mAuhnj6MNPGP-baeO77A/w400-h266/AA1cd2Jm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt 45.0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[NOTE: THIS REVIEW PERTAINS TO AN
ADVANCED SCREENED WORK-IN-PROGRESS VERSION, AND NOT THE FINAL CUT. AN ADDENDUM
MAY OR MAY NOT BE ADDED AFTER THE OFFICIAL CUT RELEASE] [MINOR SPOILERS ABOUND]<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"It was the best of times, it
was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of
hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing
before us, we were all going to direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
other way...."<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Charles Dickens; "A Tale of Two
Cities".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I - I took the one less traveled by - And that has made all the
difference."<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Robert Frost; "The Road Not
Taken".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Comparing
a super hero film to the literary likes of Dickens and Frost seems pretentious,
but The Flash, directed by Andy Muschietti, is a weighty film disguised as a
popcorn flashy fun film that plays to the conceits and themes of the quoted
from works above: duality, alternate paths, and the consequences of decisions,
measured or rash, are replete in the story of one man's inability to accept his
grief and, in doing so, try to change the immutable. The quotes above
succinctly encapsulate the story's premise and stakes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It's
no secret that this film as had a troubled production from its announcement
five years ago: Production delays, actor availability, the COVID pandemic, the
diminishing quality and box office returns from each DC film released in
between, and the public relations nightmare that is its lead. It's a film with
a delicate balancing act of measuring tragedy against fun and, surprisingly
enough, The Flash equally manages to do both.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A
few years after the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Justice
League</i> (2017), Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is a forensic scientist with the
Central City Police Department; a position which allows him to continue his
search for elusive evidence that would exonerate his father Henry Allen (Ron
Livingston, taking over for Billy Cidrup) of the murder of his mother, Nora
(Maribel Verdu). When the latest attempt fails, a frustrated Barry returns to
the past to alter the events leading to her death, causing a chain reaction
that can result in the destruction of the multiverse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It's
appropriate that this film tackles this subject. In the comics, it was the
Barry Allen version of The Flash who ushered in not only the Silver Age of
comics, but the concept of multiverse and alternate timelines in the DC
universe. Further, the plot (fleshed out by screenwriters Christina Hodson and
Joby Harold) is loosely based on the DC Comics story line
"Flashpoint" by writer Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. While this isn't
the only adaptation of the story (having been covered in animation in the DC
Animated Universe "The Flashpoint Paradox" and in the second season
of the CW series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Flash</i> starring
Grant Gustin), it is the one that's most ambitious in its scope. It's a tight
story that doesn't slow down and doesn't chintz on the drama. The ramifications
of Barry's actions are disastrously epic, and Muschietti's horror background is
in full evidence here as a dystopian feeling of foreboding hangs in the air. Barry
finds himself in a new timeline wherein not only is mother alive, but he finds
a happier-go-lucky version of himself and a world without heroes...save one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As
aforesaid, the problematic nature of the film's lead ran the risk of tarnishing
the production as a whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">N</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 16px;">o matter how fast the plot goes, it cannot outrun the shadow of Miller's real-life malfeasance. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However, if
one can divorce the art from the artist, it can be said that Ezra Miller pulls impressive
double duty as two different iterations of Barry both visually and in
characterization. The Barry we first see in this film is not the ADHD sprite we
met in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Justice League</i>. Though still
somewhat spastic and unsure, this is a Barry who's matured and embittered by a
system he's sworn to uphold. The contrast between "our" Barry and the
Barry who is unmarred by tragedy and unencumbered of responsibility is immense,
allowing for the opportunity for character development that Miller sinks their
teeth into. For purists, Miller's interpretation of Allen has struck a sour
note. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet one cannot deny the fact that when playing their version of each
version, they bring their A-game. Miller engenders sympathy for Barry as the
character comes face-to-face with the consequences of his actions, even as he
believes that they can be circumvented. [</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Personal
note: Perhaps I'm a bit more receptive to the performance than most. I myself
have recently suffered a personal tragedy, which makes Barry's quest much more
tragically relatable to me. But for me to feel that resonance shows how
effective their performance is</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">]. There's only perhaps one moment of
unintentional humor from an overdramatized scene, but one cannot argue that the
performance is a solid one. Ben Affleck returns as Batman one last time to
provide Barry sage wisdom, and it's the most relaxed performance he's given as
the character; offering a glimpse at what could have been.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It's
no secret that the tale involves a world without a Superman. Instead, it has
Supergirl, originally teased by an open pod in Man of Steel (2013) and finally
paid off in the form of newcomer Sasha Calle. Sasha is...fierce; imbuing Kara
Zor-El with loads of Latinx fire. Her fish-out-of-water character exudes
confidence to the extent that one can't help but accept her almost immediately
as Kal-El's cousin. Michael Shannon and Antje Traue reprise their roles of
"General Zod" and "Faora-Ul" from the aforementioned film,
imbued with a villainous precision brought to fruition; even more deadly than
in 2013, if that can be believed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Honestly,
the real hook of this film is neither its star nor its premise. It's a return
31 years in the making:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael Keaton,
donning the batsuit as his version of Batman. Just as there's a notable
contrast between the two Barrys, it's also a contrast between two Bruce Waynes.
While Affleck's bat is still a broken, weary warrior whose mission hangs upon
his shoulders like a shroud, Keaton's version is age-tempered and centered, if
no less eccentric. His Batman is more efficient and effective than he was in
<i>Batman</i> and <i>Batman Returns</i>. It's a performance that's imbued with history and filled with poignancy. Keaton is having a blast in the role, and it shows. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
screening I went to was unfinished, therefore no observation concerning the CGI
can be fully assessed until the actual film release other than the those
concerning the two Barrys, which was where the majority of the focus was for
this version but, given what was shown, the visuals will be nothing short of
spectacular. Benjamin Wallfisch score is more than serviceable, even if the
only themes that are recognizable are not of his orchestration. Nevertheless,
it hits the emotional beats where it needs to.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
ending was cut short and no end credit scenes were shown, but even in this
version there were surprises galore (and if you've seen any of the
behind-the-scenes production footage, you can guess at least what one aspect of
the "surprise ending" will entail). It closes the book on one chapter
of DC cinematic history while it celebrates all that came before, implying that
every interpretation is valid, and every representation is respected. It's a
surprising love letter to DC live-action output. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Though
this version was still a work-in-progress and despite its controversial lead,
The Flash promises to be a satisfying conclusion to the Snyder-verse of DC
films (the trouble-plagued forthcoming <i>Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom</i>
notwithstanding); one that is epic in scope and intimate in emotion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Run,
reader, run...to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i>Flash. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-11584566653850297552022-12-13T11:31:00.001-05:002022-12-13T11:31:12.286-05:00AMERICAN CULTURE CRITIC GOES AUDIO<p> The American Culture Critic blog is getting its own podcast.</p><p>Watch this space for the first episode, coming soon. </p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-63102839448685929832022-03-06T17:36:00.042-05:002022-03-07T16:40:57.107-05:00NO RIDDLE FOR THIS, NO RIDDLE FOR THAT, GO AND SEE THE BIG BLACK BAT: "The Batman" Is A Retro Yet Modern Triumph.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7GV_NAmIPx8FWKs1d6unM1joIdj8A71_9MNbCkSUjucTPWNNCGRQJ389J1OOCrertOaptOk4lYZu6Rla0TsW0uh7D9KK7GGAmD_5ZuamseoALa41ozMBF8o8v08A5mZD4aIVpUhTtbVCP-UwtEM9d9yfKR8YRHIoy0K4-lDczBXzFFdKBn-cemgjoDQ=s2560" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1467" data-original-width="2560" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7GV_NAmIPx8FWKs1d6unM1joIdj8A71_9MNbCkSUjucTPWNNCGRQJ389J1OOCrertOaptOk4lYZu6Rla0TsW0uh7D9KK7GGAmD_5ZuamseoALa41ozMBF8o8v08A5mZD4aIVpUhTtbVCP-UwtEM9d9yfKR8YRHIoy0K4-lDczBXzFFdKBn-cemgjoDQ=w400-h229" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Matt Reeves' "The Batman" is a dense film. At three hours, it is overlong, filled with enough twists and turns to require Dramamine, and it has the most controversial lead casting since 1988. It is also perhaps the closest we've ever seen the comic book Batman translated to the screen. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Gotham City is a municipality under siege. An individual known only as "The Riddler" (Paul Dano) is grisly targeting the city's elite. Lieutenant James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) is assigned to the case but his competence is called into question for his partnership with The Batman (an extremely effective Robert Pattinson). The duo's investigation is further complicated by the presence of Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) and Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell), whose involvement leads them further down a rabbit hole that leads to what could be the destruction of Gotham and its citizenry. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Director and co-screenwriter Matt Reeves reportedly told Christopher Nolan that it was his intention to unseat "The Dark Knight" (2008) as the ultimate "Batman" film. While that will be a matter of debate for years to come, this film is a major contender for the title. It's reminiscent of Nolan's first effort, "Batman Begins" (2005) in that Gotham is itself a realized character with it's own identity; one without the matte genius of Anton Furst's Gotham for "Batman" (1989). Gotham City is nihilistically and darkly oppressive, where the light is subsumed and overwhelmed by the shadows even in the daytime. It could easily fit into the 90's aesthetic and intensity of David Fincher's "Se7en" (1995) and the noirish sensibilities of Michael Mann's "Heat" (1995); aesthetics that are bolstered by the stunning cinematography by Greig Fraser who, under Reeves' eye, turns each scene as a painting. And for the purists, Easter eggs abound that honor the past while bringing The Bat to the present. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Casting directors Lucy Bevan and Cindy Tolan should get bonuses for the talent they amassed on the screen. Jeffrey Wright is the most proactive not-yet-Commissioner Gordon ever put to film. Zoe Kravitz' Selina Kyle conveys the <i>felinis catus</i> traits without devolving to caricature; a fully realized individual in her own right with understandable motivations. Further, her chemistry with the lead is downright and naturally electrifying. John Turturro channels his inner Don Corleone to bring mobster Carmine Falcone to life, yet bringing a restraint to his performance that reminds one of why he was the darling of indie film. Perhaps the most entertaining performance of all comes by Colin Farrell, practically unrecognizable under the prosthetics to bring Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin to life. He is clearly having the time of his life in the role and brings much needed levity this heavy film needs. Paul Dano's "Riddler" is no comic character. He is terrifying in ways that are almost banal and way too close to reality. He evinces moments of Frank Gorshin (look him up, young'ins) without the glee. His character is disturbed in a way that shakes one to the core. He could be Keyzer Soze, Jeffrey Dahmer; an animal in human form. However, his Riddler is also imbued in tragedy, one that calls out a major issue with the Batman mythos in these modern times. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The biggest question is, does the transition from one creature of the night to another work here? Back in the late 80s, I personally gave "Mr. Mom" (Michael Keaton) a chance and was pleasantly surprised (as was the rest of the world, given the high anticipation for the forthcoming "The Flash" attests to). Robert Patterson is more than just "Cedric Diggory" or "Edward". Just seeing "The Lighthouse" (2019) could convince naysayers in my opinion. As the titular character, Pattinson delivers the honest goods. His Batman is cold, focused, intimidating, and intelligent. He effectively uses his body language to convey menace in an outfit that could invite ridicule in lesser hands, and the rage he evinces is shockingly palatable. Some would take issue with his interpretation of alter ego Bruce Wayne as he seems to play it like an emo goth (an analogy that ties in with the role Pattinson is most famous [until now] for). But if one pays close attention, it befits this character interpretation. It's a performance that merits the fact that this is the first Batman film since "Batman Begins" where the focus is primarily ON Batman/Bruce Wayne. He's the main character, not a guest star in his own film; which makes the question of which is the mask and which is the reality all the more potent. (The film does provide its own answer to that question). If there's any actor that gets the short shrift in screen time, it's Andy Serkis as faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth. However, Reeves ensures that the character, and his dynamic with Bruce, isn't wasted; leading to a powerfully poignant development. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In this writer's estimation, Michael Giacchino can do no bloody wrong. Though repetitive, his score is a character in its own right, giving auditory heft to the unfolding events, capturing each moment's mood and ambiance. It in turn thrums and rhapsodizes, engendering anxiety, tension, fear, and romance. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This film will be a divisive one, as it is fully reflective of a post-2000 zeitgeist. It is, as all good art is, timely as there are hints of climate change and political commentary. It's definitely a younger generation's Batman. But that's how it should be. Every generation deserves its own iteration. The fact that Matt Reeves is able to deliver timelessly recognizable characters and myths into modern sensibilities, is nothing short of a revelation. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The bat signal shines again. Batteries to power, turbines to speed. Roger and move out to your local theater and watch the experience that is "The Batman". </p>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-17042952470662767442020-12-27T15:09:00.013-05:002021-01-03T22:16:58.301-05:00Some Kind of Wonderful: Wonder Woman 84 (a/k/a WW84) Is A Noble Effort With Mixed Results (Minor Spoilers)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VfiGx_NhCrA/X-jsjZY3kzI/AAAAAAAAAiw/OXxCJk7DlXw1tdzeydiWW0AQf-hj6B8_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1777/WW84-15306r.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1777" height="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VfiGx_NhCrA/X-jsjZY3kzI/AAAAAAAAAiw/OXxCJk7DlXw1tdzeydiWW0AQf-hj6B8_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h179/WW84-15306r.jpg" width="400"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div><br></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Following on the heels
of <i>Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice</i> (2016) (and released
just before the controversial <i>Justice League</i> (2017)), the
Patty Jenkins-directed <i>Wonder Woman </i>(2017) took what (or
rather, who) was the best part of <i>BvS</i> and built a foundation
that was more than just a film; it became a cultural touchstone that
transcended its comic book and cinematic milieus. In short, <i>Wonder
Woman</i> is a tough act to follow. "Is", not "was".
The colors are brighter, the bombast is greater, the stakes seem higher, but
despite attempting to tackle some pretty hefty and current culturally relevant
themes, <i>WW</i><i>84 </i>attempts to
do too much with mixed results.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The year is 1984. Diana
Prince (Gal Gadot) is an antiquities researcher at the Smithsonian Institute
who still finds the time to don the red, blue, and gold; rescuing civilians yet
somehow remaining an urban legend, all the while still PINEing for
the decades-deceased Steve Trevor (as in, Chris Pine; </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Star Trek; Unstoppable</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">). She crosses paths with wallflower/co-worker
Barbara Minerva (Kristin Wiig; </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">), who is in
possession of a magical stone that can grant wishes to whomsoever possesses it, at significant cost. This puts her and Diana in the crosshairs of the television
personality with the mega-watt smile and chutzpah to match, Maxwell Lord (Pedro
Pascal, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Mandalorian; Game of Thrones</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">).
This leads to a domino effect of events that will not only test Diana’s mettle,
but may cause her to sacrifice all she holds dear, including herself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">It is an ambitious film in attempt and scope with resonant themes that, given the time period wherein these events take place,
show that not much has changed. Yet like the mythical Icarus, its reach exceeds its grasp. At 2 hours and
30-plus minutes, the film’s pacing is one of its major faults. By the same
token, it’s pacing is understandable. Jenkins takes the time to allow the characters to
breathe in development. However, there are times when those scenes continue
long after their point is made. Further, there are a few plot holes and leaps of
logic that undermine the film’s narrative flow. Another issue is that of the
special effects. The film is sumptuous to look at. Definitely brighter in
visuals and in tone (at least, on the surface), but at times a few effects, including
some involving the Lasso of Truth, look like they needed one more polish before
release. But underneath all the 80’s glitz and glamour, Jenkins and fellow screenwriters
Geoff Johns and David Callaham, can’t help but bring our current concerns to
the fore. Political commentary aside, we are living in a year where we’ve faced
despair and loss daily. Who now wouldn’t want to wish away our troubles, or
wish our loved ones back into our lives? The film’s conceit is the old adage of
being careful what one wishes for...which is both necessary yet hard to take
given that we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic. Yet it’s one that
gives Godot’s Diana an extra dose of humanity that grants an
almost-all-powerful demi-goddess some relatability.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Speaking of the
narrative, it is peppered with echoes and beats from DC films from the past,
namely </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Superman II</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Batmans Returns, Forever, and Robin</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">. The
homages are there if one looks for them, but executed in such a way that it’s
not distracting for those not in the know. The action set pieces, when they
finally do take place, are engagingly well executed, even if it does take some
time, and the aforementioned leaps in logic, to get there. Hans Zimmer’s score
is surprisingly diverse and helps carry the story along, even if at times he
left the temp track to Marvel’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ant-Man</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">’s
acoustics on repeat (not to mention a key </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">BvS</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> underscore).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Fault cannot be found with
the actors, whose performances are the best part of the entire affair. Gal Gadot’s
Diana is a woman in transition between </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wonder
Woman</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> and the warrior we meet in </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">BvS</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">.
While still beguiling, there’s an added pain behind her eyes and aloofness in
her carriage. But, as with the first film, the heart of the proceedings is the
relationship between Diana and the newly resurrected Steve Trevor. They bring
in the necessary humor and poignancy that bolster the movie. Their chemistry
together is as electric as in the first film, and as genuine as one can get.
Theirs is a team of equals, each leaning on the others’ strength even at the
time of their greatest weakness. In </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wonder
Woman</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, it served as that film’s spine. Here, it serves the same function while almost beubg enough to forgive
the film's faults. It follows a mythological hero's journey trope for Diana, and anyone who is not affected by their journey has citrine
stone for a heart.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Kristin Wiig borrows
heavily from Michelle Pfeiffer in her portrayal of the (unnamed) Cheetah, yet
surprisingly makes Barbara a formidable, menacing character in her own right,
with understandable motivations. Perhaps the most challenging of roles, Pedro
Pascal’s con-man-entrepreneur-turned-world-dominator Max Lord is the epitome of
the 80s “greed is good” Gordon Gekko/Tom Vu/Tim Robbins mentality. Again, without
getting political, Pascal manages to turn in a performance which is at times
over-the-top camp, yet totally in keeping with the time period…yet, even with
that, he turns in moments of dramatic gravitas that belie the bluster. He
serves as cautionary tale of ego unchained; one which is made all the more
terrifying when taken metatextually. As a whole, their combined performances lead to a
rounding climax that doesn’t end in the way a standard super hero film would…and
is all the better for it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">For all its issues, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-style: italic;">WW84</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> should be lauded for being something different, something new.
Think of it as a James Bond film pre-2006, when the films were only tangentially
connected by character alone. It tries to do too much to varying degrees of
success. Yet despite its logistical and pacing issues, <i>WW84</i> is, at its heart, a fun movie that tries to show that despite
our hardships and personal turmoil in a world seemingly gone mad, hope does
exist if one has the fortitude to grasp it…even if that message does seem heavy
handed at times. Despite the hiccups, it embraces the, dare I say, wonder.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Oh, by the way…STAY! THROUGH! THE! END! CREDITS!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br></div>Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-39353054643937402722019-11-06T11:31:00.000-05:002019-11-06T16:56:59.902-05:00PRESCRIBED MEDICINE: Make An Appointment To Visit "Doctor Sleep" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftGE6T_opLY/XcLl011oODI/AAAAAAAAAco/20PUI0uQOC88PwxgpM3B0JxBTFwqONh2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ds_11206r.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftGE6T_opLY/XcLl011oODI/AAAAAAAAAco/20PUI0uQOC88PwxgpM3B0JxBTFwqONh2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/ds_11206r.0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Sequels are tricky things. They rise and fall on a number of
factors, not the least of which being the time gap between them; especially
when a film is considered beloved and iconic, as in the case of <i>The Shining </i>(1980),
which was released thirty-nine(!) years ago. One would expect that given those
factors, no attempt at continuation could live up to that legacy. However, <i>Doctor Sleep</i> offers cure to that ailment of doubt. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The film takes place decades after the events of <i>The
Shining</i>, where we find a grown-up yet down-on-his-luck Danny Torrence (Ewan
McGregor), a vagabond who uses women and drink to try and drown the echoes of his
traumatic past and dull his “shining” ability. However, when he comes across of
similarly-gifted girl named Abra (Kyliegh Curran), who has become the target of
a nomadic group of “shine” (or “steam”) eaters led by a sorceress known as Rose
The Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), a reluctant Danny races against time to keep the
girl alive. The road they embark upon leads them back to his past, where he must put the demons,
both literal and figurative, finally to bed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Despite Stephen King’s well-documented distaste for Stanley
Kubrik’s adaptation of his earlier work, director/screenwriter Mike Flanagan
wisely adapts the King-penned sequel novel as a direct sequel to Kubrik’s film,
enlisting McGregor’s ability to emulate previously-established characters to help
weave the events of this film into the overall narrative. McGregor completely nails
Danny’s despairing, rudderless existence; an ironic consideration given that it’s
his performance that anchors the film. The attention to detail is nothing short
of exquisite; lovingly slavish (as well as one subtle in-story parallel to McGregor's most famous, also inherited role). The story homages and parallels the original in many ways; some obvious,
some subtle, but melds organically within the narrative’s structure without
distracting from the proceedings. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In this day and age, wherein the cinema has further embraced
the so-called “roller coaster ride” nature of modern franchise blockbusters, an age where
mutant powers of mind-manipulation and such are evidenced with increasing
regularity, the question becomes how to differentiate its expression between the
milieus of super-heroics and horror. The answer lies in characterization. Ferguson’s
“Rose” may not have the mania of Jack Nicholson’s “Jack Torrence” or the
chilling presence of Tim Curry or Bill Skarsgard, but she is a siren: beguiling,
chilling, and deadly. Her troupe, the “True Knot” are also menacingly evil,
with the standouts being "Crow Daddy" (Zahn McClarnon) and "Snakebite Andi" (Emily
Alyn Lind), and the troupe engages in one of the most uncomfortably horrific scenes
ever put to film, with the barest minimum of gore. The most horrific aspect,
however, is the villains’ banality despite their supernatural abilities. The
film’s pacing is slowly methodical, but never dull. Each scene is kinetic even
when still and, just like Danny’s intentionally sublimated power, threatens to burst
at any moment. Even more effective is the sense of Rose’s presence even when
she’s not on screen. The Newton Brothers’
score also contains homages to Wendy Carlos’ orchestrations from <i>The Shining</i>,
while using them in ways that ramp up that aforementioned tension within stillness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This film echoes James Mangold’s <i>Logan</i> (2017) in
terms of a grizzled veteran taking on the tutelage of an equally powerful
adolescent, following similar beats. But unlike "Laura/X-23" of that film, Kyliegh
Curran’s "Abra" is much more savvy, self-possessed, and self-assured. In many
ways, she’s the film’s driving force. Her performance is such that she stands
equal to McGregor, though she also has moments which remind us that she’s still
a young teen involved in events beyond her control. Nevertheless, her character
is a force to be reckoned with and Curran sells it. To say more would be to give
away key plot points and surprises but suffice it to say that Carl Lumbly, Henry
Thomas, Alex Esso, Cliff Curtis, and (especially) Jacob Tremblay do justice to
their respective roles. The film is also sumptuous to witness. The cinematography
by Michael Fimognari is sublime; it’s expansive nature quixotically enhancing the
film’s oppressively bleak tone. The special effects are top notch with nary a
blip to be found.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Much like the recently-released <i>El Camino: A Breaking Bad
Story</i> (2019), <i>Doctor Sleep</i> continues the tale of a character whose
fate was left uncertain at the conclusion of their original story. And, just like
that film, <i>Sleep</i> provides a-more-than-satisfying continuation. It expands the mythos
of the original story without diminishing it’s mystery or impact, yet also stands on its
own foundation with moments and performances that will stay with you even after
the credits have rolled. Far from having a somnambulist effect, <i>Doctor
Sleep</i> may keep you up at night. It sucks you in and, like a vivid dream, you’ll
have a hard time waking up…not that you would want to.<br />
<br />
*Special thanks to Ian Erik Morris for editorial assist. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-79251771327784659332019-07-08T09:31:00.001-04:002019-08-01T10:00:14.608-04:00AMERICAN CULTURE CRITIC IS ON HIATUSPaul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-69745709151854080422019-05-01T16:09:00.001-04:002019-05-01T16:13:08.649-04:00‘NUFF SAID: Go See Avengers: Endgame. [NO SPOILERS]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nykn04j4M_w/XMn77I6EbnI/AAAAAAAAAbM/wKLTc3R9ytIhN5PnkEBQFfzRgpK809i5wCLcBGAs/s1600/avengers-endgame-28501-1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nykn04j4M_w/XMn77I6EbnI/AAAAAAAAAbM/wKLTc3R9ytIhN5PnkEBQFfzRgpK809i5wCLcBGAs/s400/avengers-endgame-28501-1200.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It’s been eleven years since Marvel Studios released its
first entry, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iron Man</i> (2008).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been one year since audiences were hit
with a gut-punch of a cliff-hanger with the end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avengers: Infinity War</i> (2018). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avengers:
Endgame</i>, directed by Anthony and Joseph V. Russo, not only concludes the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinity War</i> storyline, but also an era of
filmmaking. It honors what came before while hinting at what’s to come, all the
while presenting it epically, if not evenly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) has succeeded in his plan
to wipe half of all life from the universe, including a good chunk of Our Heroes,
leaving the survivors Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.); Captain America (Chris
Evans); Thor (Chris Hemsworth); Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson); the Hulk (Mark
Ruafflo); War Machine (Don Cheadle); Rocket (Bradley Cooper); and Hawkeye (Jeremy
Renner), reeling from their collective and personal losses. A glimmer of hope
comes in the form of the once-thought “dusted” Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), which leads
the remaining Avengers to embark on a journey through time and space to put
things right once and for all, a journey replete with trial, pain, heroism, and
triumph, but not without loss.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The source may come from comics, but the Russos don’t treat the
material as such. There is an overwhelming gravitas from the beginning, with each
character trying to cope with the aftermath of their defeat in their own way.
Just as it seems the film will be bogged down by that sense of oppression, the
plot kicks into high gear with a narrative that is filled with homages and nods
to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s collective history. Yet its to the Russo’s credit
that the film never loses sight of the stakes not just from a universal
standpoint, but for the characters own journeys whether it be ensuring family
safety or suffering from PTSD; the end results of same being highly effective
for some characters, egregiously ball-dropping and insulting for others (not
just for a character in particular, but ideologies as a whole). What could have
been a very dramatic examination of survivor’s guilt is offset with comedy of a,
shall we say, derogatory connotations. To say more would be spoiling, but
suffice to say that it’s one of the more off-putting, quixotic elements of the
film, even if it does come with a very emotional payoff of its own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With a cast this
large, it would be expected that some character arcs would fall by the wayside
but, given that the majority of the film focuses on the original line-up as
presented in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>, the
slights are particularly deplorable. But on the flip side, when the arcs work,
they are emotionally resonant. The film’s greatest asset is also its greatest
weakness. It cannot stand alone as its own entity (which makes it so difficult
to review in some respects) for not only does it rely on the film that came
before it, but also on the audience’s emotional investment to these characters
for over a decade. Without same, the film would be robbed of its dramatic heft.
Yet it makes good use of said investment, creating a story that is epic in
scope yet human in presentation. Yet all the goodwill in the world cannot save
a film from bad acting, and all the actors, from franchise starter Downey, Jr.
to latest additions Tom Holland (Spider-Man) to Brie Larson (Captain Marvel,
who doesn’t have all that much to do in this film despite fears of acting as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>deux ex machina</u></i>)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>dial their acting talents to “11” into
this film to deliver a solid dramatic piece. It’s a cliché to say “you’ll laugh,
you’ll cry, it’ll be a part of you”, but for this film it’s a certainty, and
for as much of that credit goes to the directors and actors, a good chunk of it
has to go to composer Alan Silvestri who, after mostly repetitive orchestrations
in the past couple of years, delivers a score as powerfully evocative as the
narrative it supports. It is a varied soundtrack that is by turns ominous,
defeatist, light, humorous, rousing, heroic and, dare I say, epic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In truth, all involved in the production have
brought their “A” game (pun intended) and it shows on the screen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking as a life-long comic book fan, however, the film is
perhaps the closest representation to a living comic book put to screen. It’s
the double-sized annual concluding a multi-issue story arc and presents it with
all the grandeur and spectacle that is expected from the source medium. It
builds to a rousing climax, even if it the denouement leaves the audience scratching
their heads in some instances. Yes, it’s calculatedly manipulative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then, aren’t all movies? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avengers: Endgame</i>
serves as a definitive statement of Marvel Studios’ dominance of the superhero
film market. It marks the end of an era in some respects, and the beginning of the
new in others, and does so with bombastic yet human style. It’s a film that, despite
its narrative flaws and hiccups, makes the use of its…assemblage…for an epic,
dramatic whole. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-72411898444511326022019-04-07T15:50:00.002-04:002019-04-08T10:02:24.559-04:00CHARMED: "SHAZAM!" Casts A Mesmerizing Spell (MINOR SPOILERS)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d_YQtO5Iv6w/XKoitmOsnaI/AAAAAAAAAaI/ZohRNYytkzsGr_ZqTUsx6WakKMYYbZMgACLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BYzViNmViZWYtMjg4Yy00YzdkLTk5YjEtMzczNDQzMjJkYWU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjQwMDQ%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1500%252C1000_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d_YQtO5Iv6w/XKoitmOsnaI/AAAAAAAAAaI/ZohRNYytkzsGr_ZqTUsx6WakKMYYbZMgACLcBGAs/s400/MV5BYzViNmViZWYtMjg4Yy00YzdkLTk5YjEtMzczNDQzMjJkYWU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjQwMDQ%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1500%252C1000_AL_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>"Big </i>(1988)<i>...</i>but with super powers."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That's what <i>Shazam!</i> has been billed as prior to release. But it's more than that. It's an affirmation as to why these types of characters have endured for almost a century in popular culture. If <i>Justice League</i> was Warner Bros' first step in bringing fun back to their DC Extended Universe brand, <i>Shazam! </i>cements it. While more based on the 2011 comics relaunch material than the original version of the character, the film is sure to win over purists, casual fans, and non-fans. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The basics of the mythology established by Bill Parker and C.C.Beck's creation remain the same: Young orphan Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is chosen by the ancient wizard known as "Shazam" (Djimon Hounsou, building serious comics cred) to become the champion bearing the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. However, in this case, his choice is predicated by necessity due to the release of the Seven Deadly Sins of Man by Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong, in DC's soapbox again after his turn as "Sinestro" in the abortive <i>Green Lantern </i>(2011))<i>. </i>Billy's life is replete with unwanted conditions, and he must learn to navigate them and his newfound abilities as the grown-up Cap...Shazam (an incredible Zachary Levi, <i>Chuck</i>)...lest Sivana and the Sins take that power for themselves.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While this sounds like yet another dark entry into the DC films staple, it is quite the opposite. While it does deal with heavy themes, in some ways less effective than others, it also offers a light-hearted, fun aspect to being a super-hero. Unlike previous iterations wherein the boy and the man were two distinctly separate personalities, here Billy and Cap...Shazam...are literally of the same mind and, along with his foster brother and self-proclaimed super-hero expert/fanboy Freddy Freeman (<i>It</i>'s Jack Dylan Grazer), show a less heroic, yet arguably more realistic portrayal of a scenario wherein one is suddenly gifted with extraordinary abilities. It's Levi's realistic portrayal of a boy in a man's body...and his ability to capture Angel's personality without delving into parody, that sells this film in its entirety. His energy is infectious and the viewer cannot help but be drawn in by it. Director David F. Sandberg, working from a screenplay by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke, endeavor to make magic, both literal and figurative, onto the big screen, even if it borrows concepts from franchises such as <i>Harry Potter</i> and <i>Monsters Inc.</i> to do it. And for the most part, they succeed. The film emphasizes fun with a capital "F" (showing respect to the concepts and history of the character) while at the same time handling weightier affairs such as child disenfranchisement, societal marginalization, and what it means to be "family" with mixed, short-changing results. Certain arcs, such as that of Grazer's Freddy, don't carry quite the heft they should. Its internal logic falters somewhat (Billy's possession yet lack of utilization of his power pantheon gifts in certain circumstances, for example) and the narrative contains pacing issues which undermine the whole. However, humor is at the forefront, from fish-out-of-water scenarios to the deft, tongue-in-cheek references and handling of Cap...Shazam's legal history regarding the character's name (which this purist author still has to reconcile, as if you couldn't tell) which is shared with another recent film by the Marvelous competition. It's that fun factor that overrides the films weaknesses. Despite it all, its the first "happy" film the DCEU has had since its launch.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's clear that everyone is having a ball, from Angel's Batson, whose performance is eerily reminiscent of a young Tobey Maquire, to Strong's Sivana, who manages to exude super-villain menace without over-the-top "mustache twirling". But watch out for Faithe Herman as "Darla", one of Billy's foster siblings. She's so precocious she steals every scene she's in and melt's the coldest of hearts. There is not one sour note in the entire cast. Benjamin Wallfische's score is the film's acoustical mission statement, even as it borrows melodies from other superheroic franchises (one that is definitely intentional in a good way). The visuals are as bright as they've ever been in a DCEU entry (without going into Technicolor-overload as in the recent <i>Aquaman</i>), and the pop culture references are sure to bring smiles to comics and non-comics fans alike).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Shazam! </i>is filled with stakes, adventure, and heart...so much so, I half expected the late Stan Lee (or even Tom Hanks) to cameo. However, this film is no Marvel Studios rip. It's a film that provides a tonal course correction while at the same time serving as one of the more feel-good film entries of 2019. <i>Shazam!</i> casts a beguiling charm spell that will engage even the most jaded view. It captures the essence of the mythology (and the hopeful adventure it entailed) that enthralled a certain child to risk parental ire by breaking the antenna off an 70's-era AM/FM radio and, clad in nothing more than a white bath towel cape tied around his neck and his tighty whities, running and hoisting said antenna into the air and hollering "Shazam!" at the top of his lungs in the middle of a lightning storm (needless to say, the hide-tanning received was more painful than the possibly averted lightning strike). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Shazam!</i> is the closest that the DCEU has come to providing a comic book experience certain to charm both kids and adults alike, and that is certainly a cause for a celebratory dance.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqgB5-w6ZoA/XKpE8A1-78I/AAAAAAAAAac/kLIXeX2VQ8M81X171PPKN7tTjt-zTJ3kQCLcBGAs/s1600/tenor.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="268" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqgB5-w6ZoA/XKpE8A1-78I/AAAAAAAAAac/kLIXeX2VQ8M81X171PPKN7tTjt-zTJ3kQCLcBGAs/s1600/tenor.gif" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-84016726686641322852019-03-10T13:31:00.001-04:002019-03-11T12:15:30.779-04:00MARVEL-OUS: Despite The Controversy, "Captain Marvel" Is A Solid, Engaging Film.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7Edk66TI00/XIUxMWlkUyI/AAAAAAAAAZY/5XCHOEgKf8QwSvedo89F1g6fKod134jCQCLcBGAs/s1600/Marvel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="474" height="191" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7Edk66TI00/XIUxMWlkUyI/AAAAAAAAAZY/5XCHOEgKf8QwSvedo89F1g6fKod134jCQCLcBGAs/s320/Marvel.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<i><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
</i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>'"Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I shake it off, I shake it off." </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- Taylor Swift; "Shake It Off" (2014) </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Incomprehensible. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Such a lovely, yet weighty word...a "twenty-dollar", haughty, and perhaps pretentious word; however, it's one that completely captures the essence of "DAFUQ[?]". </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What I mean by "DAFUQ" is the sheer level of controversy over a super-hero film about a character few outside of fandom even heard of (well, at least this version of the character with a famous and controversial name, but I digress). That's what I find incomprehensible. Don't get me wrong. I've heard all about Brie Larson's misconstrued comments, Samuel L. Jackson's comebacks to the "haters", fan blasts that the real "Captain Marvel" belongs to the distinguished competition, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige's attempt to push the character as the greatest thing since Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster put pen to paper, Rotten Tomatoes review hacking, etc.... </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And this was all BEFORE the movie was released to the general public.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Incomprehensible.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Incomprehensible" because the film itself is quite good, even if it arguably exists solely to keep the title character from becoming a <i>deux ex machina</i> in the forthcoming <i>Avengers: Endgame</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Captain Marvel</i> follows the journey of an amnesiac named "Vers" (Brie Larson) an intergalactic police person/warrior for an alien race known as the Kree who are attempting to eradicate their sworn enemy, a shape-shifting race known as the Skrulls. Sent on a mission to extract one of her own, the endeavor goes south and she ends up on Earth circa 1995, where she meets up with Agent Nicholas J. Fury (Jules Winnfield...er, Samuel L. Jackson) and his newly minted-partner Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). Pursued by Skrull leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Vers goes on the run not only to find a human named Lawson (Annette Benning) who holds the key to the race war, but to find out the truth about herself and the power she wields.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pretty straight forward, yes? Well, not quite. The movie almost follows Marvel Studios' by-the-numbers playbook, but it does manage to turn some aspects on their head, even if they telegraph the results before their revealed. Directorial duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck do a good job of keeping their screenplay (with assist by Geneva Robertson-Dworet) relatively brisk and engaging, even if the beginning plods with obligatory exposition. However, one of the strengths of the script is the willingness to subvert expectation. Some of those attempts work, some not quite as well. But on the whole it makes for a stronger film. Though it is blatant in its attempt to subliminally convince the viewer that Captain Marvel has always been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, kudos go to the director/screenwriting team to pepper the film with pieces of the decade-plus history; pigeon-holding this film in that pantheon without contradicting or retconning what came before, even as it sets up the pieces and elements for the aforementioned <i>Endgame</i>. If you're a follower of these films, some questions will be answered, some will be raised, but none will be so jarring as to take you out of the narrative.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A word to comic purists, be warned...this film, more than any other Marvel film to date, throws out any and all comic canon regarding ANY of these characters, so expectations should be checked at the door.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking of the narrative...it is a condition of storytelling that narratives reflect the times they are created, whether in agreement or in opposition. And it's this reflection of the cultural zeitgeist that is at the heart of the controversy (so perhaps it's not so incomprehensible in that perspective). Is there a feminist agenda? After all, there are women's issues referenced in the film that resonate even tody, but I would also state that there are strong human (and inhuman) characters in this film who happen to be of different genders and races so, if that's one's basis for the "feminist" critique, then yes it is, but it's nowhere near as heavy-handed as, say, the CW's <i>Supergirl </i>series. On the contrary, it's organic to the proceedings; undertoned but not existing for its own sake. But that argument is so pervasive in the discourse regarding this film, the meta-commentary regarding cultural assimilation and terrorism is practically swept under the proverbial rug. It makes for a subtle yet powerful commentary regarding patriotism and humanity, one that doesn't provide any easy answers, but makes for consideration if one knows where to look for it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the few drawbacks to the film is that the script on its own is a perfunctory affair, where the characters go from point "A" to "B" without much effort. It's economic storytelling; omitting details that some might find necessary or useful. There may be some head scratching here or there, but given the ultimate purpose of this film, it's understandable why the producers chose to go that route. Another uneven element here is the film's special effects. In some aspects, they're above par but lacking in certain others. Luckily, the weaknesses are not so overt as to become distracting. Perhaps the focus was on the film's climax, which was as rousing a visual spectacle as Marvel Studios' has ever presented. Known primarily for his work on Sy-Fy's series <i>Krypton</i>, composer Pinar Toprak does provide a rousing, if generic, score that bolsters the proceedings.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The performances are top notch, with Brie Larson leading the way. Her character is competent, tough, capable, yet surprisingly vulnerable. Her cool demeanor is a result of the character's journey and not the merits of Larson's acting. The fact that she can make such an initially distant character sympathetic with such ease belies that critique. Frankly, it's refreshing to see a superhero enjoy their powers on screen for a change (which, among another scene or two is, to this reviewer, reminiscent of another film circa 1978). Samuel Jackson presents a nascent Nick Fury, one who's not quite the hardened, world-weary spy we first see in <i>Iron Man</i> (2008) (speaking of which, kudos go to the SFX team for their work on both Jackson and Clark Gregg...cinematic de-aging has come a long way since <i>Tron: Legacy</i> (2010)), who enjoys a great chemistry with his co-star as well as allowing himself to show his "softer" side. Speaking of Gregg, while he doesn't have much to do in the film, it serves as a nice compare-and-contrast between his character here and how he's presented in ABC's <i>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.</i> As far as the aliens, the casting of Mendelsohn as Talos was an inspired choice, both in terms of his surprisingly down-to-Earth (excuse the pun) performance but also the subliminal expectation his casting entails.As Kree warrior Yon-Rogg, Jude Law is as reliable as he always is, even if the material doesn't give him that much to work with. However, the MVP in this film supporting wise is Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, whose friendship with Vers provides the emotional heart of the film, humanizing the main character even further. Also, keep a close eye on the character of Monica Rambeau (played by Azari Akbar and Akira Akbar, respectively), not only is the character precociously engaging, but will probably feature in the films to come. Special kudos go to Annette Benning as multiple characters, seemingly having a ball with her performance.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Captain Marvel</i> is a solid, collaborative superhero film that works even as it tries to be fresh. While not among the best of Marvel Studios' output, it's a good film with strong characters running a spectrum of gender and race without calling undue attention to it. It also features not one, but two tributes to the recently-departed architect of the Marvel Universe, so be sure to bring a tissue or two (and minor spoiler...this is arguably the first cameo as the man himself and not some stock character. See the scene and you'll know what I mean). Whatever your prejudices or (mis)conceptions, <i>Captain Marvel </i>is enjoyable and fun. So ignore the haters, shake off the vitriol, watch this film and judge for yourself. To consider otherwise is...incomprehensible.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
...or would you prefer, inconceivable?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge">
</span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X9L_5HeqVxI/XIVIWDwbP4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/11ce14xAhQEc-Q57hj1Xw3lQYTIjg3pCACLcBGAs/s1600/the_princess_bride_0342.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X9L_5HeqVxI/XIVIWDwbP4I/AAAAAAAAAZs/11ce14xAhQEc-Q57hj1Xw3lQYTIjg3pCACLcBGAs/s320/the_princess_bride_0342.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></span></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><br /></span></div>
<span jsname="YS01Ge">
</span></div>
</div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-53334150348345776442018-11-25T11:58:00.005-05:002023-10-26T11:46:48.475-04:00LEARNING FROM THE PAST: "Creed II" Is A Crowd-Pleasing Legacy Film That Resoundingly Stands On Its Own.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhSYe8LQzOI/W_rE66L-ZRI/AAAAAAAAAZM/nQEOrBmN4wsDfNFn1nGf22rfFL7T-sW5QCLcBGAs/s1600/creed-ii-barclays.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhSYe8LQzOI/W_rE66L-ZRI/AAAAAAAAAZM/nQEOrBmN4wsDfNFn1nGf22rfFL7T-sW5QCLcBGAs/s320/creed-ii-barclays.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It is unfortunate that in most cases the sins of the father<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fall on the son…people refuse to forgive and forget and heap past
wrongs upon<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">innocent generations.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->E.A. Bucchianeri<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We are born with our father’s names. We are not <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">responsible for their failures. We are responsible<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for what they made us believe in. That is our only obligation. And it
is<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even then a choice which we may sometimes be wise to ignore.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Warren Eyster<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Legacy; a weighted noun...one that
comes to roost in all individuals at some point in their lives. It is
measured in every walking step of life, either evolving or crumbling with every
passing second even if it is not a conscious consideration until much later in
life. It is either something we create, destroy, live up to, or live down. “Legacy” indeed weighs heavily in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Creed II</i>, and it is explored and examined in a surprisingly deep
and affecting way.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Of course, first and foremost, the film is either 1) the
latest installment of a cinematic legacy; begun way back with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocky </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(1976)</span>; or 2) the second of its own
franchise, working to live up to the promise the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Creed</i> hinted at. Either way, this film is the result of those legacies and cannot but help to bear their burdens. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Creed II </i>is the sequel to what is considered the most disposable of the <i>Rocky </i>films. Thirty years
after the events of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocky IV</i>, we learn that Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) has lost everything as a result of
his defeat at the hands of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, who returns to the
role yet again and serves as a producer and screenwriter). Abandoned by both wife and country,
he is an embittered-in-exile pariah whose only hope of redemption rests in his
son Viktor, a heavyweight contender who is a match for his father in his prime. When Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan) finally wins the
heavyweight championship title, the Drago clan challenges him for it. For the
Dragos, it’s a chance to restore honor to the family name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Adonis Creed, it is the opportunity to confront
his legacy head on, bearing the face of the family that killed the father he
never knew, Apollo (Carl Weathers, whose presence is felt in the film
even though he is not).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
One doesn't need to have seen the previous <i>Rocky </i>or <i>Creed</i> films to enjoy this one, as it's structured in such a way that a layperson can easily follow. By the same token, however, the film is dramatically bolstered by that cinematic history.
While the film follows the tried-and-true <i>Rocky</i> formula to a certain extent, director Steven Caple, Jr., along with screenwriters Sascha Penn, Juel Taylor, and Stallone tweak it so that the end result feels fresh. But then, the <i>Creed</i> films as a whole are more <i>Rocky</i>
and <i>Rocky Balboa</i> than <i>Rocky II – V</i>. The film is a raw and more
human presentation, and not just because of its “street” undertones. Caple's direction is filled with close ups, lending itself to an immediacy and intimacy that reaches the viewer on a more personal level. It’s rich in
characterization and, though the fight ring choreography is engaging and brutal,
the real conflicts are internal as each character wrestles not only with the legacy
they leave behind, but that of the seeds they plant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Furthermore, each character is broken in some fashion and are
trying their best to make do with the pieces. Most impressive
is that while they are the film’s antagonists, the Dragos are not villains.
While Drago still harbors no remorse for killing Apollo, his failure has
defined his life and has made a casualty of his son. Conversely, Viktor wants to redeem his
father and his name. In fact, their inclusion in the proceedings make this film
superior to the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Creed</i>, as they
provide a defined focus the first film lacked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On the flip side, Rocky is yet-again estranged from his son Robert
(Milo Vetimeglia) and has no desire to again cradle the broken body of a Creed.
At the center of all this is Adonis, still trying to balance being
his own man and living up to his father’s legacy, while wrestling with the
prospect of history repeating itself, and all this even as he and his lover and partner Bianca (Tessa Thomspon) work
to find their footing as a couple while maintaining their individuality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The narrative </span>borrows beats from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocky II </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">III</i> (especially the former) to push the story forward, yet they're tweaked so that they don’t come across as hackneyed rehash. The downside is that
the pace slows considerably in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is one of those cases were “slow” doesn’t equate to
“uninteresting”. There’s no navel gazing here, but instead successful
investment of character that makes the slower-paced moments bearable if not involving. When the action comes, it comes with an uncompromising in-your-face
brutality that reminds us that violence is not a pretty, choreographed thing. Kudos to the sound department for engendering wince-inducing effects that the audience is made
to viscerally experience with each punishing blow. Unlike Balboa, who was practically superhuman at the
apex of the film series, the underdog Adonis is more flesh and bone here, and
he is made vulnerable in body and spirit more affectingly than Stallone was.
Jordan’s acting ability is nothing short of phenomenal given his ability to
evince the vulnerability behind his tough façade. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yet this film is equally Stallone’s, wearing his
second-go-around as a supporting character as comfortably as Rocky’s old hat
and jacket. The weight of his years and legacy hang over Rocky’s still massive
frame, a man who’s still trying to find his place in a world that is no longer
his, and not wanting to see the mistakes of the past resurge. The moment when he
comes to realize why Mickey walked away from the Clubber Lang challenge in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocky III</i> is nothing short of sublime.
For all the knocks Stallone has gotten throughout his career, it’s easy to
forget that he always considered himself an actor first and strived to live up
to that designation. His old friend and sparring partner Lundgren is even more
revelatory here. His Drago is, given his culture, upbringing, and
circumstances, a hardened yet broken man. He says little, but his mannerisms
speak volumes. There are two poignant scenes that strip the character down
and subvert the audiences' sympathies. The same can be said for Florian Munteanu as the Viktor, the gargantuan wrecking machine…one who was not made so by cutting-edge
Soviet sports science, but by the in-the-trenches grit and determination of
his father. He, too, is not all that he seems, and his true motivation for
wanting to take Creed down also flips the script sympathetically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Tessa Thompson, who continues to impress in both
acting and her set of pipes, is equally compelling as Bianca. While hers
is a supporting role, her character stands equal to that of Creed’s. Though she never
played the part in the original films, Phylicia Rashad commands the Mary Anne Creed character (and the screen) as
if she’s always played it, imbuing the character with the actress’ own
innate dignity and grace. Rashad's Mary Anne celebrates the Creed legacy even as she is a
casualty of it, and grounds the film with the perspective of a mother who
stands to lose another one of her men,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but with the strength of steel herself for the outcome and survive it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The film is also a celebration of the franchise’s rich
legacy, recalling poignant moments in Rocky’s life, as well as peppering it
with little Easter eggs here and there (Hi, Cuff and Link!). Yet it still
manages to stand as its own entity. It is a film of both regret and redemption,
of condemnation and celebration. Yes, some of it is formulaic, but it is by no
means predictable…at least, not completely, and it does so to such an extent
that this reviewer recommends bringing a set of handkerchiefs to the theater.
Trust me, they’ll be necessary. This film honors it's legacy even as it modifies it and, at the same time, forges its own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Creed</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">II</i> is a quality legacy film that only seems like
pop fluff on the surface. It is so dense and thematically rich that this review
couldn’t even begin to dig deep enough for analysis. Despite a meandering
middle, it is a rousing and satisfying film filled with surprising acting
performances. It celebrates its cinematic past while leaving the viewer
wondering what tomorrow will bring. The past is not disposable, the future is
promising, and that will be this film’s legacy. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
*Special thanks with gratitude to Ian Morris for proofing assist. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7230623413825711202.post-79767333089896755002018-11-18T10:51:00.000-05:002018-11-20T10:43:42.961-05:00STOLEN HOURS: While It Has Its Charms, "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" Is Anything But Magical<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkMduyR4BJM/W_GIZOfwhpI/AAAAAAAAAY4/VjAjNBcZolYUwEQ9CgWQvZaGkxDaAqH_ACLcBGAs/s1600/180313_3683283_Fantastic_Beasts__The_Crimes_of_Grindelwald_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kkMduyR4BJM/W_GIZOfwhpI/AAAAAAAAAY4/VjAjNBcZolYUwEQ9CgWQvZaGkxDaAqH_ACLcBGAs/s400/180313_3683283_Fantastic_Beasts__The_Crimes_of_Grindelwald_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm sure you've heard
some iteration of the following phrase before: "That's ___ hours of my
life I"ll never get back." When that statement's uttered, the
somewhat humorous implication is clear: time was stolen. It's practically
a crime. And, speaking of crimes, the <i>Fantastic Beasts</i> sub-franchise
is a cash grab, plain and simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok...all attempts at
snarky thematic humor aside, the above statement is less indictment than it is
statement of fact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After all, J.K.
Rowling's "Harry Potter" creation has become a pop-culture
juggernaut, remarkably achieving in a twenty year or so span a level of beloved
notoriety that rivals that of a certain mouse; not to mention filling the
coffers of not just Ms. Rowling, but Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic Press,
and Warner Bros., among others. The fact that the original "Potter"
story was wrapped up in a tidy little bow in both print and film, was not going
to deter the possibility of milking this particular cash cow for all its worth.
It's to be expected these days, as shared cinematic universes are part of the
current cinematic zeitgeist. Further, there isn't anything wrong with it, so
long as what is being presented has not only maintains the quality of it's
previously successful entries, but it's established lore as well. <i>Fantastic
Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald</i> lacks in both departments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking place sometime
after <i>Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, </i>Magizoologist
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is in quite a pickle. Under unwanted
scrutiny from the Ministry of Magic, he's allowed the opportunity to travel
abroad only if he accepts the offered position of Auror; a position he
vehemently despises. Add to that that his childhood sweetheart, Leta Lestrange
(Zoe Kravitz) is about to marry his high-ranking Auror Brother Theseus (Callum
Turner), and that Auror Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) is cooler than a
Dementor towards him, the normally-flummoxed Newt is practically
discombobulated. Oh, the evil Gellert Grendelwald (Johnny Depp) has escaped and
is hot on the trail of the "lost boy" Credence Barebone (Ezra
Miller), who holds the key to Grendelwald's ascension to power, and Queenie
(Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger) are in the midst of a domestic
dispute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Given all that director
David Yeats, working from the noted-author’s screenplay, has a lot to juggle.
It’s clear that Rowling is keen on expanding her Potterverse by world building
a part of its past. However, unlike her original “Harry Potter” novels, which
showed meticulous care and great attention to detail in every page with an
organic flow, the script and presentation are cursory and haphazard due to the
fact that the film tries to cram too much at once. As such, noted callbacks to
the original story seem more an exercise in ersatz “name-dropping” as it is
actual plot development. Further, die-hard Potter purists are sure to get their
wands bent when the script plays the retcon game, and much of the action, while
spectacularly rendered, lacks the weight necessary to hold much interest as it
unfolds. Unfortunately, this carries over into the characters as well, as their
motivations and presentation are so muddled that one could care less how the
climax affects them. For example, the film violates the “show don’t tell”
narrative rule frequently, allowing for some head-scratching developments.
Perhaps Ms. Rowling will address them in the inevitable sequels. Perhaps not.
The fact that the viewer is left to fill in the blanks on their own is a major
weakness; egregiously so for those not chapter-and-versed in the Potterverse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But, again, the film is
not without its charms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Redmeyne’s
socially-awkward, absent-minded professor shtick as “Newt” continues to charm
even the most jaded movie-goer, so much so that the film lacks when he is not
on-screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equally as missed, due to the
fact that she doesn’t appear until much later in the film, is Katherine
Waterston’s “Tina”. Their chemistry together is beguiling and sweet, and serves
as reminder that theirs is a journey of equals, two parts of a whole struggling
to find each other. Dan Folger’s fish-out-of-water comedy misses more than
hits, but his character’s good-natured and well-meaning presence still lightens
the mood, even if his and Sudol’s story arc is less than satisfactory. Ezra
Miller is fascinating actor to watch, even if one is not quite aware of what he’s
doing…which fits his character of "Credence".</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Jude Law’s take on an earlier
version of a familiar character is all his own yet slyly hints at the individual
he’s destined to become. Controversial though the casting was, Johnny Depp
hangs up the proverbial phone and turns in a sinuous, charismaticly-arresting
performance as the film’s big bad who acts as analogue to the current
socio-political landscape, and adds a chilling element to his performance. If
he had done this in his other established franchise, he might have not risked losing that gig.* Unfortunately, Zoe Kravitz is left with the short end of the stick. Her "Leta" never seems to rise above stock, despite her connections to both
the main character as a piece and the universe as a whole. Yet to varying
degrees each character is a victim of the busyness of the script.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Artistically rendered,
it is a beautiful film to watch. The sets are evocative of early Disney,
wherein one could feel themselves transported to a land of pure imagination.**The
special effects, while still weak when it comes to kitchenware, improves with
each film; especially the fantastical beasts who have such personality to make
one wish they existed in real life. James Newton Howard’s score carries the
film, blending original orchestrations with call backs to John William’s
beloved score, carrying the film as it should, even keeping the more lackluster
sequences buoyed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But the film is, ultimately,
“damn[ed] by faint praise.” While it does have good elements, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Crimes of Grindelwald</i> is the weakest
entry of all the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter</i>
universe films. In truth, it fails to deliver on the faint promise delivered by
the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fantastic Beasts</i>. Thus, it
robs the audience of its expectations, and that is the biggest crime this film
could perpetrate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">*Though other factors are mitigating that possible casting decision.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">**Statement cribbed from a non-Disney film. </span></div>
</div>
Paul Llossashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11019336962588774823noreply@blogger.com3