Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson 

Story by Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins

Based on the book by Carlo Collodi

Featuring voices by Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton

Did you know that there have been four Pinocchio films that have been released in the past five years? I did. I have only seen the original film and this movie. My final verdict is that I think I don't think I like the story of Pinocchio.

Cricket (McGregor) recounts the story of Gepetto (Bradley) who mourns the loss of his "son," Carlo in WWI. Gepetto was devastated by the loss and goes through bottles of booze. One day, he makes a wooden boy named Pinocchio (Mann), a rambunctious being. You know the story.

I understood that del Toro wanted to make his version of the story different from the Disney version or any other version that has been released. Cool. It was nice to see a different storyline with the character. My main problem was the character of Pinocchio. He is very absent-minded and annoying that I wanted him to die. Seriously. The storyline with the fascists was weird.

The only redeeming thing about the movie was the end.

Rating: 6/10

The Batman

The Batman (2022)

Directed by Matt Reeves

Screenplay by Matt Reeves & Peter Craig

Based the character, "Batman" created by Bill Flinger and Bob Kane

Stars: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, and Andy Serkis

Full confession: I have not watched a superhero film is over three years. I was going through superhero fatigue. I needed that break. After the bad taste that The Dark Knight Rises did for me, I was not looking forward to another Batman movie. I didn't care to see the Batfleck ones. Could not be bothered. This movie has raised the bar for superhero movies in general.

Everyone and their grandma knows the origin of Batman (Pattinson). This story reminds me of the 2016 Telltale video game that I played and beaten. The movie follows that story line and the famous story The Long Halloween.

There is a serial killer on the loose The Riddler (Dano), but not The Riddler you know. This Riddler places the entire city of Gotham in constant fear when very important figures are picked off one by one. The Batman teams with Lt. James Gordon (Wright) and Selina Kyle (Kravitz) to track down The Riddler to bring him to justice.

I had my doubts when it was announced that Robert Pattinson was going to step into the role of Batman. Many actors played Batman well, but not Bruce Wayne like Kilmer or Keaton. Many played Bruce Wayne well, but not Batman like Clooney. Pattinson belongs to the former for me. His Batman is like the Year One Batman; raw, brutal and uncompromising.

Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano were the standouts of the movie for me. The score, the action, the lighting, the narrative harmonized well together to make a cohesive movie.

Rating: 10/10

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Based on the epic poem, "The Odyssey" by Homer

Stars: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Holly Hunter, Charles Durning, Michael Badalucco, Chris Thomas King and John Goodman

It has been a couple of years since I last saw O Brother, Where Art Thou? I never heard of the movie until I saw that soundtrack of the movie winning beaucoup amounts of Grammy that next year. Seeing the movie at the time, the music is the probably the best part of the movie. The movie was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography. That has to say something, right?

Picture it, Mississippi 1937. A chain gang. Running through a vast field. Ulysses Everett McGill (Clooney), Delmar O'Donnell (Nelson) and Pete Hogwallop (Turturro) embark on a grand journey to find hidden treasure that Everett hid for an epic robbery. On their journey, the trio meets a blind seer that tells them that they would find a different kind of treasure. Will it be national stardom as they record "A Man of Constant Sorrow" as the Soggy Bottom Boys? Changing the tide of a gubernatorial race? Being infamous for hanging with notorious gangster "Babyface" Nelson (Badalucco).

As I stated before, the music of the film is the best thing about the movie. I don't like listen to Southern bluesy country music. I was so into it. You know, my feelings about the Coens. Their filmography is sketchy. It seems like that they have no success with their dramas then their comedies. This is one of the comedies I liked more their other ones.

My Rating

Do the Right Thing

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Written and directed  by Spike Lee

Stars: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Joie Lee, Roger Guenveur Smith, Rosie Perez and Samuel L. Jackson

For the longest time, I wanted to see Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, because the movie was supposed to be a mirror to society's view on race relations. This movie was before the Watts riots, but the movie gives similar feelings from the Civil Rights Movement. The movie was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello. I feel like the movie gives the same vibe as Crash, which disappoints me a little.

Taking place during a course of a hot summer day, the protagonist is Mookie (Lee) who works as a pizza delivery man at Sal's Famous Pizzeria. It seems that everything is fine when Buggin Out (Esposito) notices that there is no black people posted on the Hall of Fame. He demands that black people would be put on the wall. When the temperature outside gets hotter, the tensions between the different races living in Bed-Stuy flares up. Peoples true colors come out to the surface.

Personally, I thought the reason for setting the rest of the movie's events into motion was kinda stupid. You are eating in an Italian owned restaurant. You have been going there all the time and now you notice that no black people were on the wall. Besides, it is Sal's (Aiello) business. He could do whatever the fuck he wants. This really irked me that that was the jumping off point to set into motion about Radio Raheem (Nunn) with his boombox blasting Public Enemy's Fight the Power or the random neighborhood kids trying to get outsiders out of the neighborhood.

For me, the movie was mixed bag. The final act of the movie was best part of the movie that I cannot spoil for those who haven't seen it. If the last part of the movie was stretched to rest of it, I would have loved the movie. It feels jarring to me. It tries to throw ideas at you to make you feel one way or another. I didn't like much of this movie from the beginning. I don't know what it is. I did not connect with it that I thought I would.

My Rating