Movie Analysis : Tar

Directed by : Todd Field

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14444726/

Don't be so eager to be offended. The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring kind of conformity. 

Spoilers ahead...

Lydia Tar, a renowned conductor/composer (Cate Blanchett) is among very few artists who have won all of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. She is the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, and working towards the final Symphony i.e Gustav Mahler's Symphony no.5. Everything is good, with a loving wife Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss) and a daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic). But, there's something more to Lydia, which comes out whenever there's a mention of mysterious Krista Taylor (Sylvia Flote). The situation is only going to get worse for Lydia when some truths come out. 

Its a strange movie, initially it felt like a biopic on Tar but then no such person exists, so it's most likely inspired from some artist because the detailing is high when it comes to orchestra/classical music. You are bound to feel like an alien watching the first hour if you have like me never heard or shown interest in this kind of music. Of all the famous musical composer names mentioned in the movie, the only one I know about was Beethoven. 

Your patience is going to be tested with a 3 mins long opening credits having no visuals and just a folkish song running in background. And then its followed up by a 12 mins long interview sequence with Lydia and a host at a live stage in presence of large audience. It's asking a lot to keep interest going, I somehow succeeded but some average moviegoer may struggle. Not to say these scenes serve no purpose, we do learn how strong and confident Lydia is, and almost managing it very well in a male dominated society. 

There's two notable scenes, one involving the class scene where a different opinion on Bach offends Tar, or to put it she feels the student is offended by her strong views in favour of Bach. This is the first hint that Lydia might actually be abusing her power. Then, the scene where Lydia threatens a classmate of Petra suggests how far Lydia can go even if in this instance she probably did the right thing. 

The 2nd half picks up pace a lot, as the element of sexual abuse and the mysterious night scenes create a sort of haunting feeling. Both the supporting characters of Francesca Lentini (Noemie Merlant) and Olga Metkina (Sophie Kauer), are fantastic adding more layers to narrative. While Francesca is looking for a promotion working hard day and night for Lydia as her assistant, yet someone else gets the nod. And Olga serves as a new girl in the orchestra letting you draw a parallel with Krista whose story is never shown in detail. 

Felt Nina Hoss is under-utilised and there could had been more of her involvement with Lydia before or after the Krista scandal. Infact the entire movie never tries to go into the dynamics of how Lydia was over-controlling everything, rather it's goes in the way of studying Lydia's fall without showing the rise, we don't even get to see one full orchestra performance, its just the classes or rehearsals. 

Cate Blanchett without any doubt gives a terrific performance, from being a dominating non-sympathetic force at work, to a caring mother to Petra and her growing interest for a new girl. She beautifully takes you through the journey of being famous and how by the end everything falls apart. Love the scene where she is watching an old videotape and tears start rolling down her cheek where its not the performance of the orchestra conductor but his words about music that hits her hard.  Also, enjoyed that hilarious scene when she sings 'you are all going to jail, your apartment's for sale' in sarcastic response to being told to leave the place because of her loud musical disturbances. 

Overall, Tar keeps shifting from being great to boring to interesting. Its worth a watch just for Cate Blanchett. 

My Rating : 6.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Triangle Of Sadness

Directed by : Ruben Ostlund 

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7322224/

I am so good at being manipulative. I don't know, I do it and I don't even realize that I am doing it.

Spoilers ahead...

Told in three parts, 1st is 'Carl and Yaya'(Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean), about their relationship. 2nd is The Yacht, where they both are invited on a luxury cruise for the super-rich, with The Captain (Woody Harrelson) and 3rd is 'The Island' where the survivors from the yacht assemble to find a way out.

The dark humour works in some scenes like the dining bill argument between Carl and Yaya, or a staff member fired from job because Carl complained about him been bare-chested while at job despite Carl himself been bare-chested. Abigail (Dolly De Leon) counting the food at the island and keeping most to herself because she believes she is no longer a servant rather the captain as she is more resourceful to everyone else.

Rest of the movie just was either too long to sit through or way too pretentious to my liking, the whole political angle through the intercom conversation between the drunk Dimitry (Zlatko Buric) and the Captain while the yacht was a total mess felt very boring to me. And then the seasickness leading to puke and later flooding of floor with it along with sh*t, just was too much gross to watch. Surely there were better ways of showing the ugliness of super rich than by having them enjoying their dining while some are puking all around.

I understand the movie was a take on class divide, the way rich ignore/treat the poor or underline their existence, power corruption, racism, and some political-socio talks. The route taken to show all that despite being a satire/parody never made me feel interested. The Island part where the tables turn in respect to the class level was good, but it kept dragging on un-necessarily without anything valuable happening.

Not much to talk about any actor's performance, I couldn't find a single character to like. Every year, there's always one Oscar nominated film that isn't my type or I dislike it a lot. I think this year it's Triangle of Sadness. 

My Rating : 3/10 

Movie Analysis : Halloween Ends

Directed by : David Gordon Green

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10665342/

I have run from you. I have chased you. I have tried to contain you. I have tried to forgive you. I thought maybe you were the Boogeyman. No, you are just a man who's about to stop beathing.

Spoilers ahead...

The Halloween trilogy ends with a final showdown between Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers/The Shape (James Jude Courtney). 

Story follows 4 years after the events of the last film Halloween Kills. But before that we are shown a very interesting 2019 Halloween night scene that reminds of the original Halloween (1978 one) as a young guy Corey (Rohan Campbell) is asked to babysit a boy for a family. What was supposed to be a normal night turns bloody, but its not Michael (loved the twist).. instead the little boy's prank ends up in an accident resulting in his death with the blame going on Corey. 

How I wish this was the 2nd film of trilogy and not the final one, because the plot of Corey getting labelled as new Boogeyman or next Michael Myers was a pretty good thought. Even the irritating Allyson (Andi Matichak) for being stupid to go against Laurie advice, would had worked then.

Unfortunately like many others, I watched the film anticipating some chilling scenes involving Michael, who is missing for about 30-40 mins and even after that gets very little screen-time with a very underwhelming climax. It was almost like being cheated because the trailers totally left out the Corey part, and stated as a final battle between Laurie and Michael. Some may argue that it still was, as the evil returned in form of Corey this time and Laurie had to first fight him out and then go after Michael. 

Does the movie give a proper ending to Michael Myers and what exactly was he ? No, to be honest, Laurie believing he wasn't a boogeyman but actually a man doesn't addup to the previous movies. How can he survive fire, bullets and what not! Why would he stay silent for 4 years, if the arguement that the number of kills he does makes him stronger then didn't he kill so many people in last film events? Or the logic of he's strong only till Laurie lives in fear or trauma. Or is it about mask, (this is a very odd theory but I read at some youtube comment), that the evil was passed through the mask to Corey, and he dies only once the mask was taken out by Michael, with the final shot showing the mask, it suggests that evil will be out again soon. I personally would had liked the open end, Michael Myers going missing very much like it happened in 1978 movie.

Its sad that the director didn't learn from the mistakes of 2nd film, once again there are numerous under-written characters(the radio guy, bullies of Corey, Allyson's co-staff nurse and doctor, even Corey's own mother) that are so bad that you don't care that they die at hands of either Corey or Michael. I also missed the main theme music of Michael not used enough but then he himself was hardly much in the film. 

I personally still prefer this movie over the last one, because the Corey story was very engaging for me. Rohan Campbell was able to portray very well, how a community that turns up against an innocent can lead to the rise of evil and change that person into a total monster The 2nd kind of evil that's not born by birth, which Laurie talks about in one of the scene. If they had connected it with Michael and also made Michael more involved since start, it would had up the movie level a lot. 

Horror wise, there are few jump scares that land, others don't. Gore lovers (I hate such horror) would get some good scenes specially when Corey goes on a kill spree. 

Jamie Lee Curtis was always the consistent actor, love how her character goes through firstly that incident at teen age and then living through the trauma to seek revenge and thereby losing more of her family she kept trying to save from Michael Myers. If only the rest characters in the franchise were as well written!  She would be missed along with Michael Myers. 

Overall, Halloween trilogy finishes on a very average and wrong note, it started on such a promise with the 1st film but since then the decline was unstoppable. I am still hopeful of another reboot with new actors and a much better writing because the original Halloween deserves lot better sequels than this, and there's lot of scope. 

My Rating : 5/10 

Movie Analysis : Elvis (AmazonPrime)

Directed by : Baz Luhrmann

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3704428/

If I can't move, I can't sing. 

Spoilers ahead.. 

Biopic of one of the American music's biggest icon, also known as 'King of Rock n Roll', Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) that shows his rise to stardom from poverty to living in Vegas residency. The film showcases all the highs and lows of Elvis life including the biggest influence of his controversial manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). He died at 43.

I feel someone has to start the trend of making a series based on biography rather than a film because even showing just the best and worst moments of a personality is too much to manage in a 2hr30 mins movie. Or you can just show particular phases of that personality. Elvis suffers from that like many past biopics have, yet it also entertains and isn't one-sided negative portrayal like Blonde was. 

The biggest mistake they did was narrating the film from Colonel Tom Parker's point of view. Why would you wanna tell the story of a famous person from the eyes of someone who financially abused him aleast in real, if not more. And it doesn't help that for a change Tom Hanks really was annoying to watch whether it was his makeup as oldie or the times he breaks the fourth wall. Editing also during first 30 so mins was way too fast and trying to be too stylish to my liking. 

Before this movie, I had heard only one track of Elvis, that too accidentally came across through 'The Conjuring 2', the song was 'Can't help falling in Love'. So, more than the life of Elvis, its his songs that I really enjoyed watching and listening  for first time. Austin Butler has done a tremendous job because I couldn't really differentiate between his and Elvis voice. From the little I heard or saw Elvis, it felt Austin nailed the looks, mannerisms and added more to it. Whether its the early days when he felt lost with the success coming his way, or later on when the slow decline happens and he is desperate to be back in the eyes of his audience. Austin for me is a huge contender for the Oscars win.

 I loved the way they introduce Elvis with the 'That's all right' track, and later on his improvised take of same track during the Vegas Rehearsal was easily the best moment of the movie thats edited really well with other versions simultaneously. Among other tracks, 'Trouble' is another I enjoyed a lot watching Elvis rebel side. Also, the whole angle of how much Elvis was influenced by the Black style of music which lead to some controversies is very well explored. He even hangs out (felt more like acquaitance than friendship) with B.B King (Kelvin Harrison Jr). It would have been nice to see some opinions shown about his music from their community too that didn't like the fact how Presley was basically using their music and getting the fame.

Elvis equation with his parents, military angle or the fall out with his wife Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge)  all felt half-baked, again its more to do with how much you can sneak in for a movie length time. Even his death felt sudden, the whole drug addiction or bad eating habits angle wasn't explored too, all we see are his addiction to the prescribed pills. I did however liked the choice of ending movie on his last performance, when despite not feeling healthy his singing didn't lack any bit of energy. 

Stranger Things fame Dacre Montgomery (playing Steve Binder) was lovely surprise for me, though it was more of a cameo role. Special mention to the gorgeous cinematography and costumes throughout the movie. 

'I will Fly away', 'Hound Dog', 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Strange Things Happening Everyday' and 'Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child' were the other performed tracks that I liked. 

Parker was a fraud, and never let Elvis perform overseas because he was not a Colonel, and there was no passport, what this did is make the narrative go in direction of 'He's the sole or biggest reason' why Elvis life got destroyed or he died early. It would rather had been nice to give some blame on Elvis himself too. There's a scene where Elvis refers to Parker as his father, and initially he doesn't see any  foul play in the decisions Parker makes. I don't really feel Parker ever really cared for Elvis, and rather he was just a big tool for him to earn money, more than he deserved.

Overall, Elvis for people like me works because I enjoyed learning about the career of the great music icon, but a better narrator and more characters developed properly would have been something else. 

My Rating : 7/10 

Movie Analysis : To Leslie

Directed by : Michael Morris

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8129806/

You are living, right ? I am sorry it ain't a fairytale. We all should have done things differently. But you are what's wrong with you. Not anyone else.

Spoilers ahead...

Journey of a West Texas single mother, Leslie (Andrea Riseborough) who wins a $190,000 lottery. Instead of having a secured and stable life for herself and her son, her lifestyle choices makes that money end way too quickly. Years later, she gets thrown out of a roadside motel, staying at her son's James (Owen Teague) place lasts few days only as she can't quit drinking. She is forced to live with hippie relatives, Dutch (Stephen Root) and Nancy (Allison Janney), which expectedly also doesn't last long as Leslie isn't someone who will obey the rules. Having no job, no where to live, Leslie by chance meets a kind man, Sweeney (Marc Maron) who is the owner of a motel along with Royal (Andre Royo). Sweeney offers Leslie a job at his place along with a room to stay at. The only question is, will Leslie change this time or her same routine cycle will continue on ?

We all make mistakes, and we all deserve second chances. Just in case of Leslie, she keeps on denying those chances, the urge to have one bottle of liquor is too much than to be able to enjoy mother-son time with James. 

Leslie is not a likeable character, yet the terrific acting of Andrea Riseborough makes it really tough to not sympathize with her. At times, you feel like telling her 'please no, not this time, give it a try atleast'. That's how it is with broken people, they would appear like mean bad people but its just a very bad phase they are going through. Andrea very well captures the vulnerability of Leslie through many silent shots we see in the entire film. 

There's this excellent scene when Leslie is at bar having a drink while a song starts running 'Are you sure, this is where you want to be?', and she chuckles as if saying 'Really, is this bar going to tell me I am living my life wrong way?', but as the song keeps playing, her thoughts wander around how true those words are. Its probably the first turning point in her life, and other one is when she meets Sweeney.

One question that came to my mind was that, did Sweeney offer help to Leslie just out of kindness, or was it because of the past related to his wife who was also an alcohol addict. Whatever be the reason, Marc Maron plays a very important supporting role, because at a time when everyone considers Leslie a hopeless case, its just him who is willing to give her a chance to change. The fact that he knows nothing about Leslie's past and sees her just as a lady who is coping with this addiction, helps too. 

Scenes between Sweeney and Leslie are great to watch, mostly because for a change Leslie shows honest interest. Love the talks they have about Royal or his running across field habits, or his choice of music they play, and the way their relation develops over time. I felt little angry when Leslie shuts him off and leaves the motel, for a moment I felt the narrative might be leading to a very dark sad ending. 

The ending is heart-warming even if it doesn't fully suggest that Leslie will forever stay clean. I love those 2 last occasions when Leslie has alcohol in front of her, and she overcomes the urge both times. 

Overall, To Leslie is a tough watch, at times irritating too but a strong and if I may say Oscar winning performance by Andrea Riseborough makes this a good watch. Its a pretty interesting character study of an addict that we have seen a lot before. 

My Rating : 6.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Turning Red (Hotstar)

Directed by : Domee Shi

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8097030/

Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Meilin (voice by Rosalie Chiang), a 13 year old Chinese-Canadian girl living in Toronto wants to be independent but with a very overprotective mother Ming (Sandra Oh), its asking for a lot. She participates in a daily duty of honoring their ancestor at her family temple. One day she wakes up as a red panda and learns it's a family thing/curse where any strong excited emotions would bring the panda out until its controlled through a ritual. 

I felt the themes of parents (in this case just the mother) having full control over their children and the age of 'almost becoming a woman' aren't explored well enough. Rather its the fluffy red panda that gets silly scenes to get laughs out which clearly meant the target audience here was not the adults. 

In past Pixar movies has brilliantly showed the dynamics of a child and parent, both struggling to come to terms with each other's interests, lifestyle and the whole coming of age. Whether its 'Inside Out', 'Coco', 'Luca' (with whom this movie's concept of turning into panda resembles too), or even 'Soul' where the only 2 scenes were so maturely handled. 

Meilin becoming a rebel and letting out her frustration towards her mom near end of movie didn't really needed a panda concept. Infact, watching all ladies of Meilin family turning into pandas by the end made it even worse to watch. Also, it didn't help how much stereotyped the friend circle of Meilin was, nor does the way Meilin handles the panda to make money out of it just to enter a concert specially when she is so smart always getting A's in subjects. 

There are few decent fun Panda moments specially when Meilin goes to school all worried if she gets excited which for her age she does a lot, she may reveal the panda side to everyone in class. I liked the scene where her friends is the reason she finds a way to control the panda for time-being.  Also, her father suggesting there's nothing wrong in keeping a little messy side with you, but why did it take him whole film's screen time to give this advice!

The best takeaway for me was the 4*Town's song 'Nobody like you', I instantly liked it.

Overall, apart from some laughs, Turning Red didn't work for me and the message it wanted to say never comes across as it should had. 

My Rating : 4.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Mrs Harris Goes To Paris (AmazonPrime)

Directed by : Anthony Fabian

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5151570/

Them days are over when you can treat people like scum and expect loyalty in return.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a widowed and very kind lady works as a cleaner at some houses. One day she sees a gorgeous dress that one of her owner bought for a marriage, which she immediately falls in love with. Being a dreamer she wants to buy a similar couture Dior dress. Once she arranges the money in different unusual possible ways, she heads off to Paris that would not only be an adventure but also change the way House of Dior works. 

The idea of wanting to go to a country despite not having money just for a dress felt crazy to me, but on a second thought I felt everyone have their own dreams and probably Ada Harris was to wear one of those gorgeous outfits that she otherwise never gets to wear, specially not been young anymore. Like my dream is to have a PlayStation which may sound silly or not worthy for others.

There are many times I wrong guessed the narrative, like the dog race I thought she would get again lucky or when she reaches Paris and seeks help from stranger guys to reach the House of Dior and I was worried her money is about to be stolen when she wakes in the morning. So glad, the film never went in these directions. 

The main two themes, kindness and dreamer are fully well explored thanks to the adorable performance from Lesley Manville. She is so good that in some scenes you just wish she wouldn't be so kind whether its to that house owner who keeps finding excuses not to pay her salary, or that young spoilt brat who is selfish. Love her change of tone in the scene when she misunderstands the guy who came to give pension money after learning about her husband's death few days back. 

Apart from the obvious visuals including Eiffel Tower, the Paris scenes are great to watch for the detailing shown regarding the work at 'House of Dior'. Again, the same thought came to mind when I saw people bidding sit for some 100 dresses modelled around and then choosing the one they wanna buy. Does this happen in real ? Is that a rich society thing ? I am probably not right person to talk about fashion yet I was all the time engaged in how this works, the kind of uneasiness Claudine Colbert (an excellent Isabelle Huppert) feels when Ada Harris comes unannounced because to see a cleaning lady try to buy such expensive dress full of reputation was very new. That is shown through the happy reaction of the models who are pleased to know how much Dior is wanted.

Ada Harris interactions with all the people she meets in Paris, and immediately forming a bond is great to watch. There's Andre Fauvel (Lucas Bravo), who she helps professionally for the inputs that would help Dior succeed in longer run among the modern woman, and also personally his secret love for one of the models Natasha (Alba Baptista). She has a lovely equation with Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson) that includes a heartbreaking scene, probably you can argue that Ada got little carried away.

Both Ellen Thomas and Jason Isaacs are good in their supporting acts, always around to comfort Ada Harris whenever she feels low. It was easy to guess the ending would be on a dance between Archie and Ada. 

The hiccups for me were how quickly the conflicts are sorted out in span of a small scene, whether its Claudine Colbert's change of heart, or how the main head of 'House of Dior' immediately agrees to the ideas of Andre Fauvel. And, the romantic train scene to stop Natasha from leaving was very filmy (it would had been airport if it was Indian film). 

Overall, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is one of those sweet movies that I enjoy watching even though its not the kind of genre I usually prefer.

My Rating : 7/10