Evil Dead Rise is the newest installment of one of the great horror franchises. This movie is about a mother and her kids living in a run down apartment block when the family aunt comes to visit. As they gather together, an uninvited, demonic guest also slips inside.
The original Evil Dead films have come to define the genre. This film tries to take these conventions into the modern era, which I think it does a decent, but not exceptional job of. It has some really fun and disgusting gore, some great scenarios and the overall tone of fun hellish slasher is entertaining. But the gore didnt push the boundaries for me, and while occasionally a bit funny, it never reached the silly heights of the iconic Bruce Campbell movies. Acting was also decent, with Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie giving a great performance. The production values felt right for a horror movie of this type, doing a lot of good prosthetic and makeup for the demons and gore.
Overall while I definitely enjoyed it, I wasnt hooked and mesmerized like I’d hoped. Evil Dead Rise wont be making it onto any ‘Best Of’ lists, and it doesnt match its legendary predecessor, but its still a right bit of good fun if you like horror.
Infinity Pool is a recent horror film starring Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth, directed by Brandon Cronenberg. This movie was an interesting but perhaps hollow ride. It follows James, an author on retreat with his rich wife to a resort in the fictional third world island nation of Li Tolqa. There they meet the eccentric and mysterious Gabi and her husband who begin to lead James into a debauched, depraved and dangerous diversion.
The locations on display are all stunning from lush beaches to elaborate villas to brutal facilities. It was a really pretty film overall, especially including the main actors Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgard who are just stunning. Goth exudes a sense of otherwordly and unsettling seductiveness and Skarsgard plays against type as a meek everyman. He once again goes beyond his natural good looks and explores interesting new territory as an actor.
The content of the story is a little more murky. While it does play with some conceptually interesting ideas, I feel like the movie never really went deep enough into either the sci-fi or psychological aspects to become truly horrifying. Because of that, although it looks and sounds great, and has an engaging atmosphere, I dont think Infinity Pool is going to stay with me the way some others in the genre have.
But that being said, some of the scenes did really nail the sweet spot of being gory or brutal enough to make me uncomfortable without resorting to cheap jump scares, and I think overall it takes its place as a fun, creepy romp that isnt too deep, but will definitely take you for a ride.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is in my opinion, one of the better celebrity biopic movies we have seen recently. Many of these movies have a tendency to whitewash the lives of these people when in fact the real, messy complicated parts of their lives are the most interesting part. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story manages to take a raw, real look at the artist we all know and love and his meteoric rise to the top.
Thats what I would say, but as you may have guessed, the Weird Al movie is a completely unserious, over the top, fully camp parody just the way we like it. Its goofy, its silly, its a damn good time. Dan Radcliffe is ripped and hot for no reason, the plot gleefully makes fun of itself, even the man Al Yankovic himself gets involved playing a side character.
I didnt laugh at every single joke, and there was a stretch in the middle I thought was a little boring, but most jokes hit and I was always enjoying myself while watching. I think if you like the songs of Weird Al, you will definitely enjoy this movie. Its not gonna win any Oscars but sometimes you just wanna have fun.
Review - Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore
The Bottom Line - 4/10
The Fantastic Beasts series occupies an odd position in the cinema landscape. Certain to bring in wheelbarrows of cash from the die-hard Potter fans, I felt that the first film in the series was actually a very fun adventure romp. However, since then the second film was decidedly less of a fun adventure. Series creator and noted transphobe J.K. Rowling’s baffling villain arc has also cast a noticeable pall on the hype on the proceedings. I think that the 1930s setting, fascinating political background and cute animal focus has great potential for a wizarding Indiana Jones type of story, but sadly this third instalment continues the downward trajectory and fails to make much of an impression.
Before diving into criticism however, there are some positives to note. As mentioned, the period setting is one of the strongest elements here. The costume design can be sumptuous, with classy three-piece suits and evening gowns that feel both time appropriate and magically fancy. When they’re on screen, the eponymous magical beasts are whimsical and fun and very cute. Almost all the actors give great performances, embodying the somewhat stereotypical characters with all the right energy. Some of the side characters like Jacob, Queenie, Theseus and Lala are so colourful and interesting that they carry what there is to carry of this movie on their backs. It’s a shame the writing doesn’t give them too much to work with.
The writing really is the biggest flaw here. Just from a logical perspective, too many things just don’t make sense. The themes and character arcs are so scattered and underserved by this script its criminal. One question I’d like to pose to this movie is, who is supposed to be the main character? Because the promotional artwork and screentime suggests Newt Scamander, but in reality he has virtually no agency or development in this film whatsoever. Dumbledore graces the title of the movie and is the only character who makes any real decisions, but on the other hand he gets very little screentime and his actions doesn’t make any sense. Grindelwald, while played charismatically by Mads Mikkelsen, has a ludicrously flimsy plan and for a supposed evil mastermind he falls for the heroes’ woeful scheme with zero comebacks.
The movie is also tragically long, with many scenes not serving to advance the story or feeling very bloated. The soundtrack is bombastic but intrusive, using cheap call backs like the iconic Harry Potter theme to go with Hogwarts, but without enhancing the scene or any particular mood, simply to prompt audiences to say “Oh, I know that tune!”. The traditionally ‘Potter’ soundtrack is simply tired at this point and hasn’t evolved to fit the tone of these films. But then again, the films haven’t evolved to fit the tone of these films. There is a serious disconnect here, between the fun campy tone of the original Fantastic Beasts and the serious, foreboding drama of the Grindelwald plotline. The film’s refusal to integrate these two elements is one of its worst flaws, leaving the viewers without any clear emotion past the ending of the film because nothing makes enough of an impression to stay with them.
I think it’s a real shame that these movies kind of suck. There are the individual elements of a good movie here, but it just never comes together and makes too many mistakes to be considered even close to good. Having seen some truly good films lately, I just cant encourage anyone, even long time fans, to go and see this one. Go watch something worth your money instead. I sure regret giving anything to Rowling. I was hoping for an entertaining send off to one of the most formative childhood memories I have, but all I got was mild disappointment, which is why I give this film a 4/10.
Strain is a short manga by veteran artist Ryoichi Ikegami and frequent collaborator, writer Borunson. Taking place in the seedy streets of Malaysia, the story follows Mayo, a hitman who’ll kill anyone for just 5 dollars. His cold exterior cracks when hes hired to silence a young prostitute, who he discovers has secrets of her own. The two meeting ignites a spark that sets off a chain of events which reaches further than they could have imagined.
The first and biggest thing to cover with this manga is the incredible artwork. Ikegami is a master of the craft. There are a lot of big character close ups which really showcase the artist’s amazing ability to create realistic faces and bodies. The manga has some very trashy subject matter but the art is always top notch and kind of carries it forward on aesthetic alone at times. The manga reaches its height when the big, brash storyline allows for charismatic characters to emote right in your face with this beautiful artwork underlying it all.
The story is both a strength and a weakness. Its almost painfully cliche and the assassin-with-the-heart-of-gold stereotype just isnt that interesting. But while you enjoy the pretty pictures, the story does build up to some pretty crazy stuff. It starts off kinda straightforward, but by the end theres a twist every chapter and it gets so big and hilariously crazy that I couldnt help but love it.
Strain isnt a masterpiece, but at only 40 chapters it doesnt outstay its welcome. Its bombastic and cool, oozing that slick 80′s aesthetic and marinating in the grimy atmosphere of the mean Malaysian streets. If youre in the mood for a fun little banger, this is a good 7/10 to sate the thirst.
Otoyomegatari is a historical manga set in Mongolia in the early 19th century. The title translates to ‘Bride’s Story’, which is exactly the subject matter. The manga starts off following Amir, a 20 year old woman from a nomadic tribe who arrives in a town to marry Karluk, a boy of 12. Their relationship is surprisingly heartfelt and genuine, and the story follows them for some time before branching off to show the lives of other couples both around the town and further afield.
The appeal of this manga lies in two places for me. First of all is the level of research and detail on display, bringing the era to vivid life. As someone who very much enjoys the historical, its a real joy to see captured the daily life, the intricacies of how people lived in times gone. Steppe culture is rich in tradition, and Ive learned about hunting with bows and falcons, the practice of brides sewing a trove of cloths and fabrics for dowry, traditions of hospitality and so much more from reading Otoyomegatari.
The other appealing point is how touching the story can be. The setting of Central Asia may be unfamiliar to modern readers, but emotions can be universal. This is a story about brides and husbands, and family of all kinds. All of the characters are quite lively and entertaining, and despite being fairly ‘anime’ and exaggerated, they are very easy to relate to with their every day struggles. The couples are just really cute, they’re usually nice, hard working, genuine people finding love on the Steppe, and whats not to like about that.
Im gonna give this one a solid 8/10. The funny parts were funny, the romantic parts were cute and the action is pretty exciting. It was equal parts touching and interesting and gave me a new insight into an area of history I’d never really heard about before. I take away a few points for not being finished - and thus being a tiny bit unsatisfying, and for not going deep enough at times for my taste. Hope you enjoy this one!
Wombs is a short, 43 chapter hard sci-fi manga about a special unit of women in a future war who are able to teleport by using genetically modified aliens implanted in their wombs. The premise alone is interesting but it really nails the execution. There is a strong element of military life, with harrowing battles and harsh training which transitions into more fantastical sci-fi as the strange nature of the aliens and exactly what sinister means the nation is using are revealed.
I really liked that despite how gross the ethical concerns raised here are, it never devolves into sick body horror or gore. The themes of reproductive rights and motherhood are inspected with respect, while carrying an impressive sci-fi world with aliens, AI, dystopia and imaginative abstract representations of a conceptual, cognitive dimension. The art style didnt blow me away, but was always serviceable, maintaining solid mechanical and military designs and also including the more feminine aspects of these women. Details like the specially designed flak vests with adjustable abdomen supports to accommodate the soldier’s pregnancy were very nice.
I give Wombs an 8.5/10, for taking a subject easy to mishandle and crafting a fascinating, readable, punchy and concise sci-fi that really hit the spot for me.
Kuutei Dragons is a fantasy, action and adventure manga with 31 chapters released as of writing, created by Taku Kuwabara. Its a surprising lovely little piece that focuses on the crew of the Quin Zaza, an airship, as they make their living by finding, hunting and butchering the majestic dragons that rule the skies. Our two leads are Mika, a fearless dragon hunter who’s sole desire appears to be to enjoy the best dragon meat meals he can create, and Takita, a sunny young woman who is just starting her career on the ship.
My favourite part of the manga has to be how lovingly each piece of the incredibly detailed world has been crafted. The ecosystem of this world is dominated by dragons - huge, majestic beasts that soar over the land. Airships suspended by balloons travel the skies as well, equipped with functional and effective tools to survive in the hostile air and subdue those animals who live there. A strong steam-punk kind of aesthetic pervades the manga, with that kind of souped up 1800′s era technology battling with the grand mega-fauna dragons. Its very well realized, without any of the cliche or unbelievable elements that often have to ignored in order to enjoy fantasy manga. Despite being completely foreign to our modern world, it feels like stepping into a book on some lost history rather than a fictional tale.
Then there is the artwork, which is really stunning. It was a struggle not to just take pages from every single chapter and dump them all into the review just to show off how nice it all is. Delicate and detailed linework with deliberate shading create a realistic yet stylised setting, which is used to show scenes of epic natural splendor, intimate and emotional moments and grand scale airships alike. The leviathan-like dragons look just as real and believable as all the little pieces of equipment and uniforms and the like, making it a consistent joy to look at. The characters themselves each have a distinct design, avoiding the problem of ‘same face’ that can be a big detriment to other manga. They characters are more cute than realistic, but within such a real setting that just allows them to be more expressive and charming than if they were played 100% straight. Having such distinctive characters lets the author telegraph who characters are and what theyre thinking with ease and thus letting the plot go on without having to monologue about feelings every second chapter.
My final point to touch on is the last main character of the piece, which is food. Much like another favourite of mine, Dungeon Meshi, this story wouldnt be complete without the crucial fact that the crew not only butchers their prey to sell parts and make money, they also eat them! Kuutei Dragons delights in making your mouth water with delicious recipe after delicious recipe of dragon steak sandwiches, dragon goulash, butterflied and roasted dragon, and so on and so forth. Theres a new dish nearly every chapter, and it even gives you a proper recipe so you can make it yourself, if you can find the dragon meat. Its a tasty treat on top of an already good manga that goes down easy!
Kuutei Dragons is the definition of an easy read. Its charming but also engaging. Its light hearted and fun, but then it can be tense and exciting as well. The colourful crew are easily likeable and the regal dragons look as interesting as they look tasty. I give it an 8/10 and a strong recommendation to anyone who like Miyazaki films, fantasy, or thinly veiled whaling allegories.
Oyasumi Punpun follows the titular Punpun, who starts the manga as a child and through several timeskips grow to adulthood. The series is focused on his dysfunctional family and friends and the situations he finds himself in. The twist is that not only does the manga have this sense of off-kilter awkwardness, the strangeness is further enhanced by Punpun himself, and his family, being depicted as small sketchy birdlike creatures although they interact with the world as normal humans.
The charm of Punpun isn’t really charm as such. Of course the artwork is amazing with exceptionally detailed backgrounds, beautiful and visually distinct character designs and an absurdist aesthetic that blends realist foundations with dreamlike and inky occult phenomena. The characters are devastatingly real, with each one being more flawed and intrinsically doomed than the last but still able to show their fragile humanity at times. The story is magical but banal, showing you the frustratingly believable misadventures of a spineless depressive with increasingly less understandable vignettes concerning an insane prophet’s attempts to retune the universe’s essential music. But this complete package is somehow extremely compelling despite how unknowable it can be.
Punpun isn’t a battle manga, its not a horror or thriller and its not quite a drama. I suppose it best fits the Coming-of-age genre, but the age that Punpun comes to isn’t really the heroic state that it is in other stories. He doesn’t really overcome life’s challenges but rather is run over by them over and over again, sometimes learning a lesson only to then have another belief or positive start destroyed. Punpun is in turns heartwarming and then brutally depressing. It’s a lot of fun just hanging out with the characters, but invariably they ask you to walk down this dark alley and you start to see things you wish you hadn’t.
Punpun is one of the best surreal manga, perfectly capturing that space in between real life and a strange other world. Its excessively dark, bitterly comic and searingly lovely. It’s a slow jam that might not go down well with fans of Big 3 style shonen or fuzzy romance type media, but for those willing to look into the abyss, this manga might be a diamond in the rough.
Sicario was one of my favourite movies of the last few years, an intense and gripping drama about the harsh realities of the drug cartels in Mexico and the grim actions of the US in combating them. An all-star cast including Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin were masterfully manipulated by the Canadian maestro, Denis Villeneuve. It started my love for Villeneuve with its surprisingly human and deft take on some confronting topics. The sequel, subtitled ‘Day of the Soldado’ is an interesting follow up but I don’t think it has the same synthesis of action, style and soul to the same degree.
There are some obviously missing pieces to Soldado that lead to problems right off the bat. Firstly, Denis Villeneuve is gone from the director’s chair, replaced by the unknown (to me) Italian Stefano Sollima. Denis is a hard man to follow and unfortunately while Sollima is able to replicate the tone and style of Sicario quite well, what’s not there is the message of the story. Sicario seemed to be commenting on how the brutality of the drug war can drag even the best of us down to the dirt. Soldado starts off already dirty, and lacks a real arc to engage you in the same manner as Sicario. The other big omission is Emily Blunt, both her character and the actor, who does not return for this sequel. Blunt’s acting ability is one thing to lose, but there isn’t really a good replacement for her character in the story either, which served as both audience surrogate and emotional heart.
Despite missing some of what made Sicario great, Soldado is nonetheless a gripping film. It shows both sides of the drug conflict, from the sophisticated and ruthless US military to the ubiquitous and vicious Cartel. Del Toro’s performance as a renegade sicario is once again charismatic and intriguing, while next to him on the main bill Brolin also delivers as the fast and loose danger man clandestinely employed by the US to run their black op in Mexico. The action scenes are weighty and often claustrophobic, with a tight camera keeping audiences right there in the thick of it with the characters. A slightly washed out colour palette compliments the grimy tone. Some negatives are that the music can lean too hard on stereotypically tense music, some slightly suspect young actors and that as a sequel the plot just wasn’t as impactful or concise as the original.
Overall I give Soldado a 7.5/10. It doesn’t have the special star quality that Villeneuve brings to his projects, but it succeeds at telling an intense crime/military/drama story and continues the journey of characters I came to love in Sicario. If you liked the first movie then I think this is a must see.
Bakuman is the story of Mashiro Moritaka, a talented young artist and Akito Takagi, an extremely intelligent writer, as they strive to achieve their dreams of becoming a pro mangaka duo and rising to the top of the manga world in the famous magazine ‘Shonen Jump’.
Considering that this manga itself ran in Jump and is made by a two-man author/artist team, its basically the most meta manga ever created. And the cherry on top is that the duo behind Bakuman, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba are the same duo behind the towering monolith that is Death Note. As someone who not only enjoys manga, but has an interest in the behind the scenes production of it, Bakuman hit all the right spots to get me very interested. And I am glad to report that it really delivered.
Reviewing Bakuman is kind of difficult. Part of that is because its a long journey at 176 chapters, so trying to go over it all is a big job. But another part is that the subject matter is so different to most manga that it really stands out. To use terminology from the text, I’d call Bakuman a ‘non-mainstream mainstream battle manga’. Its about the two leads making manga, but functionally its about their battles with other authors to become the best, especially their main rival Niizuma Eiji. Bakuman manages to perfectly capture the spirit of shounen: pure hearts striving to achieve their goals - but without any violence. Its a pretty refreshing change of pace from the regular battle series and psychological thriller that dominate the market.
The tone is a good place to start with my analysis. As I said, its pretty light-hearted. The story follows two straight-forward, determined individuals who just want to create great art and show everyone their potential. The manga is quite funny, always throwing in little gags and funny side plots to keep things flowing and natural. It also has some heavier moments, dealing with people who’re greedy or lustful but always with a sincere attitude. I think that sincerity really carries the manga because by being a straight story about mostly good people it avoids a lot of the common bad guy/good guy cliches and just keeps the good times rolling.
The characters are very strong as well. The two leads are approachable enough to root for all the way through, even if they arent as emotionally complex as some deeper series. The large side cast is also really interesting, following the other authors in Jump as they also try to make their own names. Some of them, like Hiramaru, the lazy author who just wants to take a break but is constantly manipulated by his editor into continuing to draw, and the author Takagi’s wife Kaya who is always at the studio helping out, are so much fun, and their presence is necessary to insert some more fun and variety. The series constantly introduces great new characters while continuing to focus on and grow the core cast.
And one of the coolest aspects of Bakuman is the manga inside the manga. As a series about Mangaka creating their own series, of course those series feature heavily. Its very cool to see the creation process and eventual realisation of so many amazing ideas and visuals, all of which could be made into real life manga of their own. Following the plots of the stories-in-the-story is pretty exciting alone, before even considering all the main duo have riding on how well the stories do.
I do have two main criticisms. Firstly is that despite having a great story with new developments occuring and twists you didnt foresee, the goals and strategies of the characters are uniform nearly all the way through. The two main characters very quickly decide to become mangakas and reach the number 1 spot in Shonen Jump - and then continue to chase that goal for the entire series. I still got entirely sucked into that journey, but I will say that it was a bit too monotone, and for someone looking for a deep story that goes through multiple layers this could be a big hurdle to enjoying it.
Secondly I have to criticise the art. Artwork is one of the most fundamental aspects of manga - its what you see and how you process the medium after all. In keeping with its less mature aura, the art in Bakuman is light and exaggerated. There are lots of chibi and reaction faces, and the normal art style definitely has a rounder, more gentle style than most manga. But maybe because the story is so grounded in reality, aside from having very recognisable and interesting character designs I cant say the artwork was particularly impressive at all. Theres only so many ways to make a guy hunched over a drawing table look cool after all. I think this series isnt so much about the visuals as the story, and it definitely takes second place in terms of artwork to a lot of other manga.
Bakuman really hooked me, and I ended up binge reading most of it in a short amount of time. As a manga enthusiast, it showed me another side of an industry that I really like and gave me a very comfy kind of atmosphere. I loved reading about the interesting ideas the characters were thinking up and seeing all the goofy antics they got up to. And at the same time, I admired their hard work and determination to work through setbacks and create something amazing. It isnt the prettiest or the most intelligent manga, basically the opposite of Death Note. And thats what makes it so impressive - beating out the traditional genres of manga and forging its own fun and, most importantly, interesting path to success.
A Quiet Place is a new suspense film starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, a real life couple, as the parents of a family in a post apocalypse world where terrifying monsters hunt based only on sound - forcing the family to live alone in silence. Things get complicated as the mother is pregnant, inevitably risking destruction to bring new life.
Also directed by John Krasinski, of The Office fame, I really enjoyed this movie. The conceit of having to be silent for most of the movie results in a very tense and interesting atmosphere, where sounds are jarringly loud and important. The dramatic elements of the film were all great with strong characters and acting. Visually it had great direction and the farm that serves as the stage for most of the film is beautiful from all angles. There were a few niggles for me, like the ending which tonally clashes with most of the film and the lack of real consistency regarding the enemy monsters and how they work. The scary monster part of this movie does feel a bit disconnected from the rich familial drama, and while the jump scares and action are very competent at raising the tension and keeping you breathless, ultimately it could have been integrated a lot better.
Overall this was an exciting and gripping film, and I was very impressed to learn that Jim from the Office made it. Its an ambitious project that may not totally succeed, but hits a nice niche with its own style and strengths. I recommend this one, and as a side note, if you like quiet post-apocalypse style movie maybe also check out The Road, which this movie reminded me of.
This week (or month) on Double Feature we’re looking at two very different, but in some ways similar films. Firstly, Mute directed by Duncan Jones. This one follows a mute bartender in near-future Berlin, who’s girlfriend goes missing. Her disappearance prompts a desperate search that may reveal some dark secrets in the city’s underbelly. Mute was released on Netflix and currently enjoys notoriously bad reviews. The second movie on tonight’s card is Black Panther, the latest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe™ which follows T’Challa, the newly crowned king of the hidden African super-city Wakanda. T’Challa faces challenges to his power and his city, and must use his Black Panther powers to restore peace and maybe even change the world as well. This movie currently enjoys rave reviews and general adulation. As the battle between Netflix and traditional cinema (represented in this case by Marvel) rages on, this double feature will look at each movie in turn and also take a look at the broader scope of the film industry, and what we can expect out of each camp.
First up is Mute, the very soft sci-fi/noir from Duncan Jones, who is also the director of Moon, which exists in the same universe as this movie. I really enjoyed Moon with its interesting premise and excellent acting, but unfortunately Mute doesn’t quite live up to its big brother. Instead of being a straight sci-fi, Mute is more of a noir movie that flirts quite heavily with sci-fi. The main character is Leo, played by Alexander Skarsgard. He is a bartender who lost his voice at a very young age, and lives simply without the aid of technology due to his Amish background. When Leo’s girlfriend suddenly goes missing, Leo finds out she had some shady connections which lead him into the criminal underworld of near-future Berlin and into contact with Cactus Bill, played by Paul Rudd (with an amazing handlebar moustache) who is an American surgeon operating a black market hospital for Berlin’s gangs.
Its very difficult for me to understand why this movie has such terrible reviews – currently sitting at just 10% on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving scathing comments on the internet. In my opinion it’s a fundamentally decent movie. It’s neo-noir, obviously influenced to a high degree by Blade Runner. In the grimy streets of Berlin alcohol, women and cigarettes are passed around and cash flows through the backrooms. The dirty setting hosts a few great characters. Leo and his erstwhile love are played pretty straight and arent that interesting, but their story drives the plot and resolves in a way that satisfied me. The real meat and potatoes here are the other two main characters – Cactus Bill and his mate Duck. These two are AWOL US army surgeons, with Bill yearning to go home with his daughter and Duck wanting to stay and enjoy Berlin’s seedy pleasures. These two have an easy camaraderie and an obvious familiarity with danger. The contrast of their blustering bravado with Leo’s silent directness gave the movie a spark that I enjoyed throughout. The noir influence can really be seen in the characters, who all have complicated emotions and motivations that can really change your perception of them as you see more of their actions. In classic noir fashion everyone must bend their principles and no-one comes out clean. The sci-fi parts of the movie were on the subtler side, showing a future that’s perhaps ten years away. Not all that different to our own lives but with a few upgrades like in-ear phone calls, drone food delivery and ubiquitous giant touch screens. The sci-fi elements aren’t ever thrown in your face, but are kind of always there, popping up from time to time as if to remind you that this doesn’t actually take place in the 1940s.
However despite how cool these things are to me, I can see that there are some real flaws. The story isn’t anything new but rather is just transporting classic noir tropes to a fancy new setting. The plot does seem a bit fragmented at times, especially in the beginning and middle before we learn what ties the disparate storylines together. And though Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux both knock it out of the park with their performances, Skarsgard as Leo has much less to work with as the simple mute, who doesn’t really get to do anything interesting for stretches of the movie.
I give Mute a strong 7/10, its an interesting project marrying the old with the new and built with love, if not the precision and power of a big studio production. It could be because I just love the genre, but I thought the Noir stuff was used to good potential exploring the hidden depths of people and with just good enough plot progression, visual style and worldbuilding to pull it all off. It isn’t a masterpiece by any stretch and ultimately its just pulp-fiction, meant to be enjoyed and then discarded. But I did enjoy it, and though it probably wont stick around in my memory, it definitely doesn’t deserve the abuse its currently getting.
Next up is Black Panther, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe™ movie directed by Ryan Coogler, who made the very well received Creed also starring Michael B. Jordan. Unlike most Marvel movies (see my last Double Feature on Thor Ragnarok), this movie is a standalone that doesn’t directly tie into the main series. Since they didn’t have to put in the usual silly cameos, Black Panther is able to create a style all of its own and direct the production might of Marvel in a more interesting direction. The movie features strong performances, particularly by the villains in Andy Serkis and Michael B. Jordan who each bring a kinetic energy to their roles. The lead actor Chadwick Boseman also puts in solid work as the charming and powerful T’Challa. The soundtrack was famously produced by Kendrick, and though I didn’t think it was a stunning score I definitely want to listen to it again. As I said before the economic brawn of Marvel was well used here, with the production team really having a field day with the visuals and design. The city and peoples of Wakanda are a brash amalgamation of different African tribes and styles, mixed in the same pot with ultra-modern technology and hip-hop. Bright, distinctive characters and, for a Marvel movie, pretty legible action make for a good looking film.
So given all these positives, it’s no wonder that Black Panther currently has around a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (versus Mute’s 10%). Right? Well in my own, humble opinion Black Panther is not even close to that good. I’m going to give it a 7/10, and a light seven at that. We’ll look at why it got such rave reviews later, but for now let’s see where I thought it messed up. Well, firstly the characters. Since this is a superhero movie none of them had much depth, but almost every side character felt very flat. The Marvel ‘hero-shot’ curse was in full effect, where a side character is introduced, has three minutes of screen time set up and then pays off in their big ‘hero-shot’ at the end, all while ultimately not affecting much at all. As a side note, this is basically the entirety of all Avengers movies. The soundtrack was good, but I never felt like it hit that just-right goldilocks spot for me to ever be wowed by it. The city of Wakanda had some cool elements, but a lot of how it works was just hand waved away and didn’t make any sense. The world building was all done by just telling us how advanced they are and how isolated rather than by actually showing us, which didn’t really help me to believe it. But my biggest problem was definitely the forced adherence to the Marvel Formula, bog standard three act plot. The hero’s journey is one well-traveled, and while I liked both the hero and the villain it was all very cookie-cutter, with the interesting bits coming out of the backstory and style rather than the actual events of the film.
So why the ardent praise? At this point I think I have to address the social component of Black Panther. This film features a nearly all black cast and a very black production as well. It’s almost unheard of for Hollywood to produce a big budget blockbuster with any kind of minority focus and this movie is hitting at the perfect time to ride the wave of social change to great success. To me, while it’s great for black people to see real representation on the big screen, I don’t think that this superhero movie either will make, or heralds any particular social change. I think its existence is a result of the changes that are already happening, and thus shouldn’t get any particular praise as a consequence, especially when the film sometimes feels more like its paying lip service rather than paying homage to actual black and African culture.
The problem with reviews and scores is on full display here. The standards for each movie are radically different, and the monolithic nature of the traditional film industry is skewing the results quite heavily. The reviews for Black Panther aren’t amazing just because of some kind of political correctness virtue signaling, though that might be a factor. I think its mainly because it’s a decent Marvel movie. The reviewers know that everyone and their dog is going to see it, and since its actually decent unlike a lot of these movies, if they post a positive review then they gain a lot of credibility with the general public. Since Marvel is such an unmoving presence I think people have just learned to live with it rather than casting the same critical eye over their films than they might other productions. Conversely, Netflix suffers from what I’d consider over-critique. Netflix has embraced the r-selection method of reproduction, producing many smaller or more niche projects as opposed to Marvel’s k-selection of producing less, but more expensive and stable offspring. The many and varied children of Netflix inevitably results in a wider variance of quality, with some great and some terrible products. But the judgment of these projects doesn’t reflect the intentions. Netflix has the opportunity and the means to make weird shit, and have the people who want to enjoy it love it while not trying to cater for every audience. But critics look at these pseudo-indie movies as if they were mainstream “films” and nitpick with a fine tooth comb. Mute is a solid genre flick, but the reviewers are taking a bat to it because it isn’t perfect instead of just celebrating the diversity of choice available. I really hope that they’re able to take the same level of criticism to the next soulless Marvel Infinite Movies movie that comes out and help to get the traditional film industry back to making interesting films.
Double Feature: The Killing of a Sacred Deer / Thor: Ragnarok
Double Feature is a series where I review two movies (or TV shows etc) together. Often when I’m thinking about a particular movie, I’m comparing it to something else in my head. This is a place to get those comparisons out there and see things in a new light.
Today we’re looking at two movies, firstly The Killing of a Sacred Deer and then Thor Ragnarok. I’ve chosen these specifically because they appear to be direct opposites. TKoaSD is a movie by Yorgos Lanthimos, a director known for making strange, extremely uncomfortable but well made movies like his previous works The Lobster and Dogtooth, two movies which I enjoyed. This film makes every effort to unsettle viewers and has no pretension of trying to entertain you, at least in a traditional sense. This film is almost an anti-film when compared to Hollywood blockbusters. Which brings us to Thor Ragnarok, a completely standard Hollywood blockbuster. The third in the line of Thor movies starring the Aussie Chris Hemsworth, and about the 10 millionth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ™. Directed by lovable New Zealander Taika Waititi, whose repertoire of odd but extremely charming comedies made me interested to see a superhero movie in a way I haven’t been in a long time. This film is exactly what it says on the tin, a fun escape with characters you know. Waititi adds some heart but ultimately its just another assembly line production.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a movie that I would call Arthouse. Its not made to entertain you with a typical structure and tone. It is specifically designed to make you anxious and uncomfortable, which in my opinion is one of the strongest human emotions. Lanthimos is a master of bringing those emotions out, which can be seen in his other movies. The Lobster and Dogtooth both have a similar eerie atmosphere created by the oddly stilted dialog, deliberate slowness of movement and the same uncanny valley story that always leads into some unknown, uncharted and unnerving direction. In this movie Colin Farrell plays a successful cardiological surgeon who has secretly befriended a teenage boy. He introduces the boy to his family, but soon after his family begins to fall mysteriously ill. If that premise sounds strange, that is only the beginning. To say any more would be a major spoiler, unlike Lanthimos’ last two films where the premise was already very strange right off the bat.
Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman as his wife, and the actors for the children and the boy, Martin, are all great. Lanthimos deliberately chooses to make the dialog hard to read and unnatural, so the actors aren’t so much ‘believable’ as the characters but rather effective at getting under your skin as a viewer. Each of them is engaging to watch and carry their parts well. Visually the film is very striking, with nice clean shots, well lit and designed sets and an inching, creeping camera that is often doing just as much work as the actors in portraying the tone of a scene. It feels like a long movie, perhaps too long at 2 hours flat given that it never really pulls back on the creepy and just entertains.
The secret to this and Lanthimos’ other films is denial of information. The odd situations are very often just what is immediately happening, without any real setup or exposition, so as a viewer you’re trying to figure out the situation as its happening, without a real audience surrogate to project onto and learn from. Its not really what I would call a rewarding experience, and while watching I wondered if it was just pretension that made me want to consume something like this. I think this is a good movie, taken as the arthouse flick that it is. You have to know going in that its gonna get weird, that its not gonna make sense. With that mindset you can go along for the ride and see something unusual and fascinating. Its magnetic in the way that you cant help but look when someone drops their bag in public – its not that you’re entertained but theres something about seeing that awkward situation that we humans are just obsessed with.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer gets a 7.5/10 from me. Its not a movie that I can say is funny or exciting or dramatic. It’s a very slow, very weird trip that most people wouldn’t enjoy. But to me its fascinating and while I think Lanthimos’ other films are more interesting and better made in the sense that they were more digestible as stories, the way this film constantly applies a growing pressure without ever punching too hard or too soft makes it worth a watch.
On the other hand, Thor Ragnarok. Ragnarok continues the story of Thor, who im sure you’re all familiar with. Basically in this movie his dad Odin dies and this releases Thor’s eeeeeevil sister Hela, the goddess of death. She banishes Thor to a faraway alien planet while she takes over Asgard. Thor is forced to fight in an arena against the Hulk while he tries to escape and save the day. Yep, it’s a superhero movie.
Its big, its dumb, there’s explosions and swords and people make jokes all the time. Aside from the characters we all already know, every character that’s introduced is basically only there for that one big payoff shot. The villain should literally be called ‘plot device’ because that’s her only defining characteristic, besides being evil. Really the good parts of this movie can be listed as follows; some of the jokes are genuinely funny, especially around the middle and start. Some of the special effects are pretty cool. There are a lot of Kiwi and Aussie actors which was cool. The middle section on the alien planet was colorful and fun. Aside from those things, there was nothing special about Thor Ragnarok.
Look, Taika Waititi did his best. The movie is genuinely funny, which is what Marvel hired him for. But he didn’t get to write it and I’m gonna take a wild guess and say a lot of the CGI action bits were mostly dictated by what the studio could do rather than his ‘vision’. Things like the early scene where Loki Is watching all the famous actors and Chris Hemsworth’s brother playing the main cast in a mini play were great to watch, and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie character was cool enough too. But goddamn, this movie was meaningless. I enjoyed the first two thirds as a fun romp, but when it tried to turn up the tension in the third act I couldn’t help but yawn because there were no real stakes. The action was not good enough to sustain the movie, most of it was exceptionally fake CG that looked bombastic but had zero weight. Waititi’s signature character interactions and charming dialog held it together but ultimately this was just a silly side episode in the gigantic Saturday morning cartoon that is Marvel. It gets a 6/10 from me.
These two films are really oil and water. Before watching these, I was hoping to come to some kind of poignant realization that different movies offer different things, and that each are valuable in their own way. But no, it seems some things really are just trash. Thor Ragnarok is nothing. Fluff. Its tasty fluff that you can bring your kid to see, but its fluff. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is bitter and leaves a weird aftertaste, but it actually tries to do something, to make you feel a certain way and show you something new. Thor is corporate trash. Waititi generally makes small, personal movies about people who talk to other people and all the little idiosyncrasies and foibles we have and how they affect each other. Those movies like What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt For The Wilderpeople are lovable journeys through what feels like the lives of real people, even when those people are a group of centuries old vampires living in an apartment in Christchurch. Ragnarok has the trappings, but it does not have the soul of a Waititi movie. That makes me sad because I was hoping to compare the heart touching work of Waititi with the brain touching work of Lanthimos.
But TKoaSD is a real film. It really did touch my brain, making me feel a certain way just as it wanted me to. I respect Lanthimos for being able to so effectively use the medium of visual storytelling, leveraging actors, music and camera in order to manipulate the viewer. Even though I didn’t think it was the best film, it did what movies are supposed to do in my opinion: be interesting. Ragnarok was the opposite, entertaining to a fault, but never pushing the viewer in any way. It presented a sequence of bright colours, attractive people and predictable beats. I cant say this movie shouldn’t exist, since I understand a lot of people really do just want to “turn their brain off” as the saying goes. But to me its symptomatic of the fatal flaw of Marvel Studios. They aren’t making movies, they’re making comics. You know theres going to be another one next week, so why care about this one? Sacred Deer made me feel something, which I value much more than the small 1.5 score difference between the two.
Technically proficient but ultimately not interesting enough. ‘Ancient Magus’ Bride’ (english title) tried very hard to emulate a ghibli-esque sense of wonder and magic, but attached to a very shoujo set of characters in a romance plot. I loved the worldbuilding, but its glacially slow and I never ended up finishing the final few episodes. Good while watching but no lasting impression.
Net-juu no Susume - 8/10
Called ‘Recovery of an MMO Junkie’ in english, this is a very straightforward romantic comedy, with the twist that they meet while playing an MMORPG. Its predictable, goofy and dumb but it gave me some good feels. Has a very fun, lighthearted tone that felt comfy to tune into every week. Sadly it fell too hard into the ‘misunderstandings and coincidences’ chasm at some points but pretty fun overall.
Inuyashiki - 7/10
Rendered in lovely 3D animation and coming from the celebrated author of Gantz, this show is an action romp that basically comes down to one gimmick. Kind Old Man and Sadistic Young Kid are given godlike robotic mecha bodies, they use them for good or evil and they fight. Its cool, its edgy and its seinen. Good if youre into that sort of thing.
Dropped
Juuni Taisen - 6/10
Juuni Taisen is a battle royale show, where 12 warriors of each chinese zodiac sign juke it out. My favourite character died in the first episode and I dropped it after about 5. Cool concept but not very original. I dont think theres much depth here.
Shokugeki no Souma - 6.5/10
The third season of Food Wars did not live up to the potential of the excellent first two. This season’s arc was focused on an eeeviiil boring villain and the cooking was too obscure for me to really enjoy. Dropped about halfway through, needs more badass Erina and less Souma dickriding.
Himouto! Umaru-chan - 3/10
Umaru chan has been, rightfully, labelled as trash by many anime fans. Its a really dumb little-sister-is-really-a-huge-nerd show but the first season was just funny and just cute enough to pull it off. This season was wasnt either and became the actual trash it always was at heart. Dropped after 1 episode.
Special Mention
Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou
This is supposed to be a cutesy, extremely comfy slice of life about two girls wandering around after the apocalypse. I never got around to it, but seems worth a look.
Dies Irae
I was initially excited about Nazi Vampire Battle Royale, but within 5 minutes I could see it was a trashy, ugly mess. Disappointed.
Blend - S
Slice of life about working in a cafe. Got enough community attention that I’m aware of it, but it looks pretty vapid and lacking a good hook to get me past that.
Houseki no Kuni
Another community dark horse, this odd sci-fi looks like something I would want to check out with its colourful and stylised designs. Probably another good comfy show.
So Netflix produces anime now, and they funded a new remake of a true golden oldie of anime – Devilman. The new show Crybaby is ten episodes of madness, an unrestrained explosion of colour and movement. The show has a very unique style of exaggerated motion and shape, but with clean and distinctive character designs. The story is about Akira Fudo, the titular crybaby, who is possessed by a demon but keeps his human heart through willpower, becoming a Devilman. Akira is exposed to the underground world of demons and begins to fight against their brutal infestation.
The demons transform the bodies of their hosts into strange grotesque forms and engage in gleefully sadistic ultraviolence. The animation of Devilman and some particular demons are amazing. Character animation, and designs in general, are very strong with super recognizable and well-defined archetypes. Most interesting visually is the vivid colour palette, best displayed in the nightclub scene early on, where the lighting and blood are super bright amidst the violent motion.
The story is the same as classic Devilman, Akira getting baited into becoming a demon by his ridiculous, awesome friend Ryo Asuka. Ryo is 16 too, but is also a professor in America, loves to drive expensive sportscars, shoot guns, constantly wear all white outfits with fur coats and is also a demonology expert. Ryo is definitely the brains of their demon-fighting organization, which starts to become less and less effective as the demons become more and more exposed and dangerous, eventually leading the story down an epic, if very dark road. Some of the supporting characters are very strong, such as Akira’s friends Miki and Miko, and oddly enough a small group of roaming street rappers who literally bust out great freestyle verses in Japanese describing their situation at least once in most episodes.
The fact that all of this weird stuff can happen inside the same short show makes the fact that they pulled it off heroic. Its such a clusterfuck of over exaggerated exuberance I found it to be a great watch. I did have some issues with the pacing, especially in the second half where it feels like the time jumps awkwardly, and the show is definitely of the exploitation genre so it wont be asking many deep philosophical questions. But they didn’t bother me too much, so I give it an 8/10 for being so much damned demonic fun.
Shamo is a shonen style fighting manga with very dark undertones. I’ve recently been on a manga binge and Shamo is one of the few long (around 350 chapters) and more importantly, finished manga that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. It focuses on Ryo Narushima, who starts the story as a teen in prison after murdering his parents out of the blue. In order to survive the horrible depths of incarceration he learns two things – karate and a vicious drive to survive. Once out in the world he makes his way as a criminal, a male prostitute and a fighter, trying to find his missing sister and challenging anyone who stands in his way. He begins to fight in amateur tournaments and makes an enemy of the powerful Banryuu-Kai karate school, starting a violent feud that lasts the entire manga.
Before going into specifically what I like about Shamo, I think I have to talk a little about the genre. Fighting manga is one of the great archetypes of the media, with iconic series like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and the indefatigable One Piece essentially belonging to the same core of fighting manga. But there is a rich diversity there, and Shamo is definitely on the far side of the spectrum. In contrast to the more stereotypical shonen, with their teenage protagonists, easily hateable villains and relentless optimism, Shamo is dark, dank and dirty. Its protagonist is a deeply flawed individual who commits all manner of heinous crimes and receives just as much abuse. The dark tone and often brutal fights result in a much more interesting read than many of the standard power creeping, grandstanding manga of the genre.
What really sets Shamo apart in my opinion is two things – the realism and the art. Shamo is trying to depict a (mostly) realistic world, and its extremely refreshing to see. Even other ‘realistic’ style fighting manga like Kengen Ashura almost instantly break suspension of disbelief with outrageous techniques or tonal whiplash. Shamo really rides the line on these, introducing horrible events alongside small humorous interludes and featuring almost otherworldly martial arts but presented with total seriousness and as much attention to real fighting details as possible. Ryo’s fighting style is karate, but tempered by his viciousness and experience using it to kill people on the streets. Its not some long lost mystical style and he doesn’t learn new techniques every chapter. Hes just really really good at killing people with his hands, and that’s what he does. Aside from the realism of the actual fights, the realism in world building is also exceptional. Ryo’s sordid story goes from prison rape to gang violence to male prostitution to steroid addiction and on and on and on. Its not a happy world but all of it actually happens, and so often these types of manga throw it in for effect but never really address what makes someone into an animalistic beast. Combining the depressing events of Tokyo’s mean streets with the exhilarating combat of professional fighting elevates both – informing the weight of the fights with honest emotional pathos and bringing a physical edge to difficult internal problems.
As a manga, quality of art is essential and this is the other core characteristic that I love about Shamo. The actual faces and figures of the artist are recognizably stylized, but always in proportion and grounded in reality. Each character is easily differentiated, with differing face and body types, clothes and hair. Ryo himself is always fun to see with his shock of dyed blonde hair, cut short for fights and grown out during training. I really liked the little bits of fashion that crept in, with some great 90s/early ‘00s street cool and gangster style on display. Readability of the fights, key in this genre, is excellent and though some of the fights do suffer from pacing issues such as the inevitable mid-fight monologue, I was kept hooked through just about all of the matches. A very strong point is the lovely chapter cover art, as demonstrated by several of the pictures in this review. Izou Hashimoto mixes traditional drawing styles with ink and oil paints to create many interesting and beautiful pieces of artwork that help to keep you interested and break up the chapters.
The series does unfortunately suffer from slowing down somewhat in the second half. Its split into two distinct sections, with the first focusing on Ryo’s feud with Naoto Sugawara and the Banryuu-Kai school, and the second showing the aftermath and consequences of that. The second half is definitely less focused, and the new characters go in odd directions. The Grand Cross tournament and the new foil for Ryo, Toma Takahara was not half as compelling as Sugawara from the first half. It was still satisfying to follow Ryo’s story to the conclusion, but I definitely felt that the first half was stronger on the whole.
Another less serious criticism has to come from the shocking content. While I praised it for showing the real, dark side of life, it is unabashedly exploitation. Horrible events are played for sheer shock value and at times for comedy, so some readers should definitely be aware that this material may be disturbing or put them off the manga, but then again that sort of person might not be interested in the first place. Anyway – disclaimer done!
To sum up, Shamo fills a pretty specific niche. It’s a battle manga with your plucky protagonist fighting a series of ever more dangerous opponents in martial combat, except instead of a hopeful good guy your hero is a murdering gigolo with deep, deep issues. The artwork is very solid and tonally its phenomenal at instilling you with the same grimy rage as Ryo. I feel comfortable recommending this manga as a solid read, especially the first half. I would say the second isn’t essential reading if you feel youre drifting away, but its worth a read for sure. Especially given how I’d never seen anyone talk about or mention this manga before I found it, I would say Shamo is a bit of a diamond in the rough of fighting manga.
