Spoilers ahead...
tick, tick...BOOM!
Directed by : Lin-Manuel Miranda
If I thought that what you thought
Was that I hadn't thought about sharing my thoughts
Then my reaction to your reaction
To my reaction would have been more revealing.
Set in New York City, its the directorial debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda that is based on Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) who died of an aneurysm at the age of 35 right on the day of his off-broadway preview of 'Rent'. A musical biography of sorts that works for most parts thanks to excellent performance from Andrew Garfield, its a character that you support despite him being very selfish, and not treating his friends/love with same respect or time as they do. Sometimes I feel if the artists (or most of them, can't be all) actually are like that, and you just have to accept them for that rather than go away from them, atleast for those who are part of their life. Coming back to film, its a flashback story told at a time when Jonathan was busy in workshop of his play 'Superbia', when everything seemed to him was going against him, whether its his girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) who wants to join a job which meant going away from New York, his close friend and room-mate Michael (Robin de Jesus) about to shift to new place, there's this writers block as Jonathan struggles to write a song required for 2nd act of the play and there's this fear of 'I will be 30 soon' giving thoughts of what if all this doesn't work and the 8 yrs long struggle leads to a flop adventure.
Jonathan is someone who wants to have a song on anything he sees or thinks about, even' Sugar'. A reason why it doesn't come as surprise when an arguement with girlfriend leads him to feel like using that whole scenario as his song in future. That scene is my fav of the film for the way they cut it at same time with 'Therapy' track, because on one hand we got this song enacted in a very comedy manner about complex relationships by Jonathan and Karessa (Vanessa Hudgens, she gives such amazing expressions in this track) and on other hand we are watching Jonathan and Susan having a very serious fight, giving this whole sequence a very strange dramatic emotional tone. 'Boho Days' and 'Come to your Senses' were other two main lovable songs, also I liked 'Swimming' (gorgeous under-water visual of musical notes), '30/90', 'Johnny can't Decide', 'Why' and 'Louder than Words'. The sub-plot of Aids was little underwhelming for me.. Overall, tick, tick.. BOOM delivers with Andrew Garfield's act, I had issues with him in 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' but in here he was fully satisfying, even his singing was totally upto the mark. Some very good musical numbers to enjoy, plus got to learn a bit about Jonathan Larson I never knew about.
My Rating : 7/10
Licorice Pizza
Directed by : Paul Thomas Anderson
You are always thinking things, you thinker! You thinker! You think things!
Story of Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), former is 25 yrs old girl (or so she says) and latter is a high school 15 yr old boy. They meet, try to date, eventually become friends and later professional partners. Set in San Fernando Valley, California, 1973, the story is mostly about how various events keeps happening in life of Alana and the choices she makes while Gary is most of the times part of it. I enjoyed the first very long sequence that involves Gary hitting out on Alana, making compliments, flirts and eventually asking her for a date which she keeps declining for the obvious agegap. Its a regular scene but the way its shot, the camera handled and the debut lead actors enact makes it very cute and sweet. Unfortunately, after this the movie keeps going in all sort of directions, Gary and Alana will be together one moment, then totally on different routes and then be together again. Kind of gets frustrating plus the various events that happen, be it Alana trying a hand at actress job even if she has to do full nudity or her attempt to join a political workplace, everything feels half baked. Even the cameos of Sean Penn (I literally was waiting for his part to end) and Bradley Cooper were frankly very boring. I did enjoy the lead actors, little early to say if Cooper Hoffman has the same brilliant talent his father used to have, but in this film I did like him. Alana Haim is wonderful too, as a girl who keeps looking for opportunities to make her life better than what it is. Licorice Pizza as a entire story won't work, but if you see it as a coming of age or a story about the growth and learning things as the life goes on for youngish couple then maybe it will give you quite a bit to like. For me it was very underwhelming!
My Rating : 5/10
Encanto
Directed by : Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith
Maybe your gift is being in denial?
A Columbian family, Madrigals stays in a place called Encanto and their house is magical with each member of the family having a magical power except for Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). When the house starts having cracks, Mirbabel takes it to herself trying to save the family. There's some lovely characters with different magic, one can fill the place with flowers, another can lift heavy objects even a complete church, one controls the weather, another can change into various human getups, one can understand birds/animals language, another can heal people through food and one can see future visions. Its a pretty sweet movie that explores themes of 'Over-expectations' or 'Living in Denial' very well. Where the film does lack is the quality of songs which do keep the narrative going but once the film ends not a single song stays with you. Performances by everyone as voice-overs is very good. The Mirabel and her grandmother part is slightly annoying in parts, or maybe its just the outsider feeling in your own home is something I don't enjoy watching. Disney's Encanto does qualify into my category of films that may not be great but you still feel time well spent.
My Rating : 6.5/10
Raya and the Last Dragon
Directed by : Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs
The world is broken, you can't trust anyone.
Maybe it's broken, because you don't trust anyone, you just have to take the first step.
There was a time when Humans and Dragons lived together peacefully in Kumandra, until an evil force known as Druun (purple roundish shaped that turn every living thing into stones) wreck havoc resulting in dragons sacrificing themselves to save the humanity. 500 years later, when the Druun return again, its all about will the Humans unite to face it or they will stay greedy and think about themselves only. Another Disney film that works on an interesting theme 'Trust'. Would you trust someone who betrayed you? Or take a leap of faith because sometimes to fight evil you need to have everyone by your side. The start of film is little overloaded, as through a flashback we are told how humans are living in 5 sections of Kumandra (called Heart, Fang, Spine, Talon and Tail), each of them having a part of the gem. Its the gem which the last dragon living somewhere all hidden used to save the mankind 500 yrs ago. As expected from Humans, they want to get hold of all gems.
Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) from 'Heart' takes it to herself to find the last dragon and collect all the gems on the way to get her father and everyone else back who are now stones. Its when Raya meets the last dragon Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina) that the film gets very engaging, a reason being the excellent comic timing of Awkwafina suiting the dragon character to the tee. You feel instant liking for her innocence, the magical powers she possesses everytime one part of gem is given to her and her constant ideas of wanting to send gifts in return of taking gem are often hilarious. But at the heart of it, she is offering the message of how good world would be if we are together and trust each other, rather than developing prejudices resulting in only hatred. This works in the film, felt more like fantasy to me.. because in real world this is next to impossible because Humans don't work that way. Apart from Sisu, Raya is interesting character who is very complex and forms a great bond with Sisu, and later there's the adorable con-artist baby with its three little animals and also the boat guy 'Boun' (voiced by Izaac Wang) and her own pet 'Tuk Tuk' she rides on while travelling.
The villain or betrayal part played by Namaari (voiced by Gemma Chan) is little boring mostly for the predictability. Again, its a film that isn't great and yet you feel entertained for everything it tries to offer whether its the animation, story or the message.
My Rating : 6.5/10
Flee
Directed by : Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Oh my country, you have lost your melody, your voice.
Oh my country, you are in pain and there is no cure.
An animated documentary that tells the story of Amin Nawabi who is about to get married to his long time boyfriend and feels its time to confront his past. He shares with a close friend, what he went through before arriving in Denmark as a minor refugee. I don't think I have previously seen a movie that was animated as well as documentary, and Flee excels very well in both departments mostly. The tone of interview which Director has with Amin who is his close friend, is very friendly and informal that makes you feel more for Amin as he slowly opens up. He talks about his childhood in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, his father taken away and then gone missing, his mother, sisters and brothers fleeing to Russia which is in post-Soviet stage, the human trafficking attempts to flee to Sweden where his elder brother lives are some of the painful times he has been through. Oddly, I saw this film at a time when Taliban again took the power in Afghanistan (just last year) and currently the Russia-Ukraine war is on.
But, Flee isn't just about the struggles caused by the war kind situation.. its also about Amin's love for men which only makes more obstacles as its considered a sin in his country. The most heartbreaking scene probably was when Amin and his family along with many others are stuck on a boat and a passingby ship has people standing there to take their helpless looking pics rather than offering help or the one where Amin knows the fate of the girl in police van but doesn't help (not his fault though, in that situation he would only have ended up with more physical scars). Also, many good use of tracks, I loved the Afghanistan one (Sar zameen-e man) that talks about how my country is in pain and has no cure to it. Lovely use of live-action archive footage at some stages keeps the narrative smooth.
The only issue I had was that the animation despite creating good emotions has something missing which say a real character based or Amin himelf would had done. But I can't really complain knowing he would had wanted to keep his identity hidden and not risk any more problems when his life is sorted at present. The hand drawn animation I have never been a fan of, is a major reason for pointing this out. Anyways, Flee still successfully showcases the experiences of a refugee or how tough surviving can be for individuals made to go through these times.. and at every point you could feel what Amin went through thanks to a very well thought out narrative.
My Rating : 7.5/10
Luca
Directed by : Enrico Casarosa
Some people, they will never accept him. But some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones.
Set in Italy, the story is about sea creatures, Luca Paguro (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) being one of them always lives a routine life where his parents especially his mother is very protective not wanting him to ever go to the land surface. One day Luca happens to meet another sea creature Alberto Scorfano (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) who unlike Luca loves going to the land surface. Their bonding eventually leads to them wanting to go to a small human town, Portorossa and participate in a Cup race where the prize would be a Vespa scooter they both dearly want to travel the world.
I felt the movie was very boring or passable for atleast 20-25 mins until Luca-Alberto enter the human town. From there its a fun ride specially by keeping sea creatures transforming into humans when they are on dry land creates some laughable moments and also dangerous ones. For instance, when Luca's parents arrive in search of him, their only way is by trying to put water on every human kid they see of Luca's age to check if they turn into sea creature. I also enjoyed the bonding Luca-Alberto have with Giulia Marcovaldo (voiced by Emma Berman). I am not sure if there's really any gay subtext or the jealousy we see Alberto has is more to do with close friendship Luca is forming with Giulia that upsets him. Giulia's always hyper mode is fun and so are her 2 worded italian phrases she says often. The villain Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo) is irritating but has very less scenes. The movie never tries to go into dark zone, or explore any possible themes like 'Humans vs Sea Creatures'. Rather its about Luca learning life about humans on land, sun, solar system, and a school where he can learn much more. The practice leading to the race is fun, though the eventual race isn't given that much significance as the story rather keeps focus on the Luca-Alberto bonding all the time. Despite some issues and a very average 1st act, the film makes up for that later on for a decent watch. By the way, I am happy I didn't see this movie in theatre, just for that end credits scene which I am sure I would had stayed back for and get really mad why I waited for this scene!
My Rating : 6/10
The Mitchells vs The Machines
Directed by : Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe
Humanity will survive.
You can't survive without me. Watch what happens when I turn off the Wi-Fi.
A dysfunctional family where Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) has applied for a film school, her brother Aaron Mitchell (voiced by Michael Rianda) being a major dinosaur fan (I wish he was friends with Ross) seeking someone having same likes, her dad Rick Mitchell (voiced by Danny McBride) with whom her relationship has grown apart with time, her mom Linda Mitchell (voiced by Maya Rudolph) who just wants to see her happy and there's a pet dog (or pig or loaf of bread, you will know) Monchi (voiced by Doug The Pug). Katie's dad decides for a car road family trip, more of a forced one while driving Katie to the film school. Its only going to get worse when they will learn about rising of Robots where humans are about to disappear leaving Mitchells as the only family left as the last hope to fight and save humanity.
I enjoyed the side characters more like Aaron specially his shy mode whenever neighbours girl would come to talk, or Monchi hilariously causing a glitch in the working of Robots, and Pal (voiced by Olivia Colman) asking one of robot to place her (she's a smartphone) on the table so through vibrating she can get her frustrations out. The dad-daughter angle of Katie-Rick was bit of both, at places the emotions works but at places it doesn't. And it doesn't help that the actions are so loud and violent, whether its Katie's short films she made or the sudden powerful mode Linda gets in the final act. Could had got more with Pal's character, that I felt was very limited in her actions. The whole theme of 'How Humans treat technology as everything and above people' these days also isn't explored the way it should had been. Rather we get the humans vs robots excess fight scenes! Still A decent timepass animation movie, just fails to satisfy me.
My Rating : 5.5/10
Four Good Days
Directed by : Rodrigo Garcia
I just want now to be now. The way it is for kids, or animals, plants.
Being an addict for 10 years and visited detox house 14 times, Molly (Mila Kunis) knocks at the door of her mother's Deb (Glenn Close) house to seek help and get clean. As expected Deb initially suspects its another routine case of Molly who would try to steal money to get high like she always done, but eventually Deb decides to help Molly and the doctor suggests a magical shot that would keep Molly fine for a month only if she can stay sober for next 4 days. The film explores all the moods and struggles an addict goes through, however it keeps it very light in a way that the proceedings stay very one note and you never get any shock value or say hard-hitting moments as a movie on drug addiction demands. There's even a forced like scene where Molly is seen preaching teens about what a mess her life became just because she never could resist the feeling of getting high. I do liked the soft background theme that runs a lot throughout the narrative, and Deb-Molly relationship is good to see too however I would had liked more of them maybe through flashbacks or something else because here it was just Deb all the 4 days worried when Molly would do the mistake and ruin another chance. Basically, 'Four Good Days' is more about to find out whether Molly succeeds by the end of 4 days or its going to be nothing again. Its a watchable movie, not totally gripping, just the characters needed more detailing to let those emotions flow. Mila Kunis and Glenn Close do their best though with their performances to keep you engaged.
My Rating : 5/10
The Hand of God
Directed by : Paolo Sorrentino
What a shitty world this is.
You go buy dessert and when you get back your husband's in jail.
Set in 1980s Naples, its a coming of age story about a young boy Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti) who goes through a tragedy losing his parents. A very strange beginning to the film and I knew this won't be my kind of film, got tempted many times to stop watching, it was almost midway when Fabietto goes through loss and the drama gets interesting with him trying to discover himself. Even then it was still a hit and miss with not everything really keeping me hooked. The only plus points I found were, firstly the locales of Italy shown are eye-catching, there's little but sweet bonding of Fabietto and the guy he becomes friend with, or the entire conversation of why Fabietto wanna be film-maker and lastly the scenes of Diego Maradona whose famous goals are shown though I felt the use of his scenes hardly does anything to the story development in any way. The Hand of God just fails to make any impression on me!
My Rating : 3/10
