Grave

Raw (2016)

Written and directed by Julia Ducournau

Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, and Joana Preiss

Yesterday on Twitter, I saw a discussion about this film. I enjoy body horror movies and I wanted to check this out. Um... yeah. I needed more.

Justine (Marillier) is starting veterinary school where is a different environment than under the protection of her parents. Certain rituals at the school makes Justine question her morals like her being a vegetarian, where has the sudden taste for human flesh.

I was expecting a lot more with this movie. A new called "Raw", I wanted to be grossed out or something. There were great scenes of body horror, but they were few and far between.

There were scenes in this movie that didn't make scene. The ending reveal was supposed to be for shock value. When you think about it, it doesn't make sense nor character choices that happen in the beginning of the movie.

I want to fix this movie with Justine and Alexia go batshit crazy with the flesh eating. Be ravenous. Make them crave it until it reaches a point of no return. Something. The movie lacked any depth for me to recommend it anyone.

Rating: 6/10

Best Picture Nominee Catch Up Movie: Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Stars: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, C.J. Wilson, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Ivy O'Brien, Gretchen Mol, and Tate Donovan

Going into this unofficial blog-a-thon, I knew that there will be some Best Picture nominees that I would enjoy and not. I loved Lonergan's directional debut, You Can Count on Me very much. It was one of my top ten movies of 2000. This movie is not it.

Lee Chandler's (Affleck) world is turned upside down when news of his older brother, Joe (K. Chandler) dying. While trying to make funeral arrangements, Lee learns that Joe wants him to be the guardian of Joe's teenager son, Patrick (Hedges).

I thought I was being punk'd. The more I watched this movie; the more rage I was building up.

Everybody is this movie was an abrasive asshole. Who was the audience supposed to sympathize with? Lee? A depressed a janitor that have multiple flashbacks with the "good times" with his brother, nephew and his wife-- ex-wife, Randi (Williams). Patrick? An overachieving pompous prick that spouts a million questions a minute to Lee. Who?

I don't understand the praise for this movie. The dialogue. My god. I cannot with it. There is something about actors putting on a Boston accent  irritates me. The characters don't like real people. They act like people for a bad melodrama. Do any of the character ever talk to each other? Ever? That answer is resounding no.

I hated this movie so much that I turned it off. I could not torture myself anymore. The level of fucks I had to give with this movie ran out. Use wikipedia and save the trouble.

Never been more disappointed in Kenneth Lonergan than I have with this movie. Fuck right off with this movie. Insufferable dreck.

Rating: 1/10

Arrival

Arrival (2016)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay by Eric Heisserer

Based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang

Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mark O'Brien, Tzi Ma

I'm trying to catch up to the movies that I missed out on during my hiatus of watching movies. This is one of them. I heard nothing, but good things about it. It's Denis Villeneuve. I would expect an experience and it was. 

Louise Banks (Adams), a linguist professor from an unknown university is having a normal day until the Earth is visited by twelve spaceships positioned around the world. She is summoned by the military to make contact with help of theoretical physicist, Ian Donnelly (Renner) at one of the sights in Montana.

When you go into a Villeneuve film, you know you are going to get eye candy. The visuals, the sound, the cinematography are top notch. The action is a slow burn. I like a slow burn. It doesn't have to be us versus them mentality that other movies have done.

Amy Adams went through it in the movie. I was surprised that she was not nominated for an Oscar for this. She was the anchor. It hinged on her being perfectly in the moment. She was. Mind boggling.

The things that hindered this movie was the ending. I did not care for the ending. It felt like a cop out. You gonna go this route. When all is revealed, you felt like the ending is a slap in the face. You are on this journey and rug is pulled out from under you. Eye rolling moment. 

The other thing is Forest Whitaker who plays Colonel Weber. More importantly, his accent. His first scene, I thought that Weber was South African. Nope. Apparently, he was going for a Maine/New England accent. Some of the words that came out of his mouth were hard to hear. Who made that choice? It was the wrong one.

Rating: 8/10

La La Land

La La Land (2016)

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, Terry Walters, Callie Hernandez, Jessica Rothe, Sonoya Mizuno, and John Legend

I have avoided this movie like plague. Too soon for that saying? When a movie is an homage to better movies, I will look at it with a critical eye. This movie. Oh, boy. Be prepared. I am gonna rip this film to shreds.

The movie takes place around a year. Mia (Stone) is an aspiring actress that goes on countless auditions. Sebastian (Gosling) is a jazz pianist-- that's very important-- that wants to open up his own club. They met and have a relationship, blah, blah.

The movie starts with a musical number with people stuck in LA traffic singing about... (collective shrug). I didn't understand why everybody in the film is dressed like a Power Ranger. Monochromatic dresses. All kinds of no.

Chazelle was trying to make a Astaire/Rogers type of musical, but he failed on every level. What was up with the flashy cameras swoops? That shot in the pool that went in a circle faster and faster? Mia and Seb floating at the conservatory? How did this movie win six Oscars?

If you are going to make a musical, have people that could actually sing and dance?! A novel concept! The cringe look on my face when Emma and Ryan were "singing and dancing." Oof! No. Dub them. Holy shit.

The music was fine. By fine, I mean, boring. Side note: I enjoy jazz music. I would rather listen to actual jazz musicians than this. Jazz is not dying as Sebastian said. Jazz is Seb's personality. Seb's character is a pompous, mansplaining hipster jackass. I hated him. So much. Mia was just big eyes. Mia supposedly loves classic movies, but said she never watch "Rebels Without a Cause." Fuck off.

I did not get their "love story." Is it because the script told them to? They are like oil and water. The biggest beats of the movie didn't make sense. They don't have phones? Call each other. No? Oh, the script told them to.

This is like watching a car accident, a train derailment and a plane crash all into one. It was all a cacophony of nonsense sounds. My face was horrified.

Rating: 0/10

Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Directed by Tom Ford

Screenplay by Tom Ford

Based on the novel, "Tom and Susan" by Austin Wright

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Ellie Bamber, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, and Michael Sheen

After I enjoyed A Single Man, I was looking forward to watching Tom Ford's follow up. I heard that the movie didn't get that much fanfare when it came out. I can see why.

A gallery owner, Susan Morrow (Adams) receives a book manuscript in the mail. It comes from her ex-husband, Edward (Gyllenhaal). As Susan begins to read the manuscript, the events of book are shown onscreen.

I have plenty of thoughts. I understand that Susan did not like or encourage Edward's writing career when they were married. Fine. The story that Edward wrote is not good. It was annoying to me. I did not care about the book character's lives. I was checked out.

I would have like the movie better if the book parts happened in the beginning and then it is revealed to be a book. Sure.

I cannot with this mess. Sorry.

Rating: 1/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Nineteen: Moonlight

Moonlight (2016)

Directed by Barry Jenkins

Screenplay by Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney

Based on the play, "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Stars: Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex R. Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Jaden Piner, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe, and Patrick Decile

There was a time that I tried watching this movie and stopped because I was in one of those moods. Those moods where I knew it the first five minutes that I was not gonna like. I stuck with it and my opinion never changed.

The movie is separated into three moments of Chiron's life. One when he was ten befriending a drug dealer, Juan (Ali) as his mother, Paula (Harris) becomes addicted to crack. Then as a teenager, he is confronted of possibly being gay. Finally, him in his mid 20s trying to come to terms about being gay.

It bugged me that the Chiron had his head down through the whole movie. Say something! It was mopey Chiron throughout the two hours of this movie. It annoyed. Why was the movie getting so much praise and awards? Nothing happens.

Being a queer man of color, I did not relate to much in the movie. I understand that it's not a perfect exact journey to everyone. I did not see themes that were supposed to happen onscreen with blackness or masculinity. 

I see the same stereotypes that make it more palatable for commercial audiences; drug dealers, crack addicts, being "hood." I don't see the hype for it at all.

Rating: 2/10

Pride Month Movie - Day Six: Ah-ga-ssi

The Handmaiden (2016)

Directed by Park Chan-wook

Screenplay by Sarah Waters &  Seo-kyeong Jeong & Park Chan-wook

Inspired by the novel "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters 

Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Hae-sook, Moon So-ri, Min-chae Yoo, Dong-hwi Lee, and Yong-nyeo Lee 

I saw the name of this movie pop on a best of list by Rotten Tomatoes. I have to say I was blown away by this movie.

Set in the backdrop of 1930s Korea under Japanese colonial rule, a young woman, Sook-hee (Tae-ri) is selected to be the handmaiden of a Japanese heiress, Hideko (Min-hee). The more time that they spend to together; the closer they become. Under the surface, Sook-hee is secretly trying to defraud her.

I did not know what to expect from this movie. It was like an onion. Layers upon layers are revealed. I loved every second of it. I was checking to see how much was going to happen. I was in for a wild ride. Every part of the movie tops another part. 

This is a movie that must be seen to be believed.

Rating: 10/10

Wild Prairie Rose

 Wild Prairie Rose (2016)

Directed by Deborah LaVine

Screenplay by Sharon Greene

Stars: Tara Samuel, Troy Kotsur, Suann Spoke, Betsy Berenson, and Maya Brattkus

I was scrolling on twitter and saw that Troy Kotsur retweeted this movie. He said that it was his first independent movie before breakthrough role in CODA.

The movie takes place in 1952 where Rose (Samuel) comes back to her childhood town somewhere in South Dakota to take care of her ailing mother, Pearl (Spoke). As the mother deals with arthritis, Rose comes up with an idea to make a movie for her mother. Rose enlists the help of local repairman, James (Kotsur) to film the movie. She realizes that James is deaf, not dumb as the townspeople think.

My thinking is that this was a TV movie at some point. The movie feels like a ION/Pureflix type of movie. The beginning of the movie is a slog to get through. The movie really starts when Rose meets James.

I'm not saying that the movie is great. The movie is cute. Perfectly fine.

 

Rating: 6/10