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Memoir of a Snail (2024) I did not enjoy this. I didn't like the animation and found parts of the story and some of the characters way too over the top. It got heavy handed, manipulative, and lacked any subtlety. There were a couple good moments, but for the most part this did not work for me.
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Black Christmas (1974)
Very effective. Would maybe have preferred hanging out with the different characters even more.
Very effective. Would maybe have preferred hanging out with the different characters even more.
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A Different Man -
One of my favorite quotes from Cinema Paradiso is "progress always comes too late." What happens if it comes too early? This is a hilariously odd comedy in the same vein as Charlie Kaufman's best that examines our relationship with our looks. Would-be actor and neurofibromatosis sufferer Edward is so ready to not feel shy or insecure about his appearance anymore that he volunteers for an experimental procedure. For better or worse, it ends up working too well: I mean, he turns into Sebastian Stan! While Edward's life gets easier in some ways, his insecurities do not exactly disappear. Not only does his comely playwright neighbor, Ingrid (Reinsve), start casting calls for her play, which as luck would have it happens to be about his former life, someone comes along who...I'll just say would not undergo that procedure.
In case you didn't know Sebastian Stan is not just the Winter Soldier, this movie proves it. He's been cocksure (Motley Crue's Tommy Lee), devious (Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev), and with this role, he can add shy, insecure as well as petty to his resume. None of these words describe his "friend" and rival for the play's lead, Oswald (Adam Pearson, who really has neurofibromatosis), with some of the best laughs coming from the endless ways he is who Edward wishes he could be. Tying everything together is Ingrid, who is also very funny for how she makes you wonder if her intentions in writing a play about neurofibromatosis are noble or if she's just a fetishist. On top of all this great acting, there's Umberto Smerilli's mournful jazz score and New York vibes so strong, you can smell the taxi exhaust. It ends up being the kind of indie oddity I love, not just for how it proves that a beautiful face, whether it's old or new, is still attached to the rest of you, but also because I still laugh when I think about it days later. Now, you may be wondering how this compares to that other 2024 movie about body transformation, The Substance. Unfortunately, as of writing this, I haven't seen it. However, that won't stop me from also referring to this movie as "The Seb-stance."
One of my favorite quotes from Cinema Paradiso is "progress always comes too late." What happens if it comes too early? This is a hilariously odd comedy in the same vein as Charlie Kaufman's best that examines our relationship with our looks. Would-be actor and neurofibromatosis sufferer Edward is so ready to not feel shy or insecure about his appearance anymore that he volunteers for an experimental procedure. For better or worse, it ends up working too well: I mean, he turns into Sebastian Stan! While Edward's life gets easier in some ways, his insecurities do not exactly disappear. Not only does his comely playwright neighbor, Ingrid (Reinsve), start casting calls for her play, which as luck would have it happens to be about his former life, someone comes along who...I'll just say would not undergo that procedure.
In case you didn't know Sebastian Stan is not just the Winter Soldier, this movie proves it. He's been cocksure (Motley Crue's Tommy Lee), devious (Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev), and with this role, he can add shy, insecure as well as petty to his resume. None of these words describe his "friend" and rival for the play's lead, Oswald (Adam Pearson, who really has neurofibromatosis), with some of the best laughs coming from the endless ways he is who Edward wishes he could be. Tying everything together is Ingrid, who is also very funny for how she makes you wonder if her intentions in writing a play about neurofibromatosis are noble or if she's just a fetishist. On top of all this great acting, there's Umberto Smerilli's mournful jazz score and New York vibes so strong, you can smell the taxi exhaust. It ends up being the kind of indie oddity I love, not just for how it proves that a beautiful face, whether it's old or new, is still attached to the rest of you, but also because I still laugh when I think about it days later. Now, you may be wondering how this compares to that other 2024 movie about body transformation, The Substance. Unfortunately, as of writing this, I haven't seen it. However, that won't stop me from also referring to this movie as "The Seb-stance."
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I really liked Within Our Gates. And after you watch it, the racist, stereotype portrayals of Black characters in older films just seem all the more unacceptable.
The only other Michaeux I've seen is Lying Lips which I didn't like as much at all.
The only other Michaeux I've seen is Lying Lips which I didn't like as much at all.
This is a sharp, frank and erudite film that seems to pull no punches, a far cry from forced contemporary attempts at 'post-racial' discourse and yet depicting manifestations of racism that persist today.
I also found the actors' performances very interesting to watch and despite the obvious melodrama of the style of the time, as far as silent films go, I found their portrayals to be more human, natural and familiar than what I'm used to from the era. They felt real. Yes I was quite impressed. This is the first Micheaux film I've seen and I would definitely like to see more.
Howard The Duck - That's just painful really. I admit, I only watched it while I was on the computer (which I think helped as I watched a reaction to it yesterday and I was bored/disheartened when I realised how much more of the film they had to watch. What I can't decide is whether watching it like that earned it the .5 or the 1 
) but just how wrong did this go? Or is it exactly what he wanted? Given his output since and what he's done to and with those films/franchises, I could believe that this is very much what he wanted and any changes he'd make to it now could make it even worse. I don't know the original source, so my main theory is that something 'gritty' was given the Lucas treatment and all that was good/worthwhile was washed out of it in a barrage of kid friendly, 80's nonsense and one eye on the merch/sequel train? For all its very many faults, it did feel very familiar and not just because I'd seen it once before when it came out in the 80's (when I simply wrote it off as a bad kids film) but because it feels like the grandfather to many of todays Hollywood films, kids films for adults. This feels very much a prototype born too early, a first attempt out of time and served to an audience who expect or, even, demand more. You could argue that Star Wars was really the first attempt, but it's structure and narrartive are far more conventional and hit so many classic storytelling devices that you can't help be carried along with it. But had it been this cartoony, surely even Star Wars would've fallen foul?
As a curio, I think it has worth. As an artefact, I think it has worth. As a film to actually watch for fun? Rather you than me.
) but just how wrong did this go? Or is it exactly what he wanted? Given his output since and what he's done to and with those films/franchises, I could believe that this is very much what he wanted and any changes he'd make to it now could make it even worse. I don't know the original source, so my main theory is that something 'gritty' was given the Lucas treatment and all that was good/worthwhile was washed out of it in a barrage of kid friendly, 80's nonsense and one eye on the merch/sequel train? For all its very many faults, it did feel very familiar and not just because I'd seen it once before when it came out in the 80's (when I simply wrote it off as a bad kids film) but because it feels like the grandfather to many of todays Hollywood films, kids films for adults. This feels very much a prototype born too early, a first attempt out of time and served to an audience who expect or, even, demand more. You could argue that Star Wars was really the first attempt, but it's structure and narrartive are far more conventional and hit so many classic storytelling devices that you can't help be carried along with it. But had it been this cartoony, surely even Star Wars would've fallen foul?As a curio, I think it has worth. As an artefact, I think it has worth. As a film to actually watch for fun? Rather you than me.
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THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY
(1968, Bass & Rankin, Jr.)
(1968, Bass & Rankin, Jr.)
"Aaron's heart was filled with joy and love, and he knew at last that the hate he had carried there was wrong, as all hatred will ever be wrong."
The Little Drummer Boy follows young Aaron (Teddy Eccles), an orphan who spends his days playing his drum and dancing with his farm animals. That is until Ben Haramed (José Ferrer), a ruthless scammer, kidnaps him to force him to be a part of his traveling troupe of performers. All this puts Aaron in the path to meet the Three Wise Men and eventually Baby Jesus.
Like The Small One, this short gives us another fictional perspective of the birth of Jesus, as we follow Aaron and Ben, until the climatic visit to the manger. The bleak story made it interesting for me, and my kids took it as well as they could. Also, the voice work is solid, especially from Ferrer.
Grade:
Full review on my Movie Loot
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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Nick Park, 2024)
Very good, lots of funny moments, decent plot, good callbacks and so on. Doesn't reach the heights of The Wrong Trousers which I would consider one of the greatest animated films ever made, but it was a great Christmas treat.
Very good, lots of funny moments, decent plot, good callbacks and so on. Doesn't reach the heights of The Wrong Trousers which I would consider one of the greatest animated films ever made, but it was a great Christmas treat.
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I guess not every movie needs to be subtle (that final line really hammered a point home.) I actually really enjoyed seeing more of Adam Pearson after his short role in Under the Skin too.
And yeah, I was really inspired by Pearson and how he made Oswald so confident and comfortable in his own skin. We should all be so confident! Probably a long shot for an Oscar nom, but let's hope he gets some kind of recognition.
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