Director Alfredo Tanaka’s short film is more about the experience and technical prowess he presents than about the narrative. The narrative, to its credit, feels a lot like some kind of contemporary folklore that breaches the ideas about tragic love and living up to the wealthy and elite. “Marie” is a weird and absolutely bizarre movie, but one that works well thanks to the pretty great direction, top notch editing, and just bang up make up effects.
Tag Archives: Romance
The Allnighter (2022)
I’ll admit, I didn’t think I would like Aimee Graham’s arthouse drama, mainly because the premise is kind of bizarre. It begins as this kind of weird night out with two random people, then devolves in to a car theft and odd detours, and then transforms in to this pretty hypnotizing drama about two kindred spirits. Despite the narrative that feels like it goes literally everywhere, “The Allnighter” is thankfully not hindered by this one caveat. Truth be told, “The Allnighter” is altogether pretty stellar, and it’s a film that kept me hooked right through the very end.
Poor Things (2023)
Emma Stone is an actress that has continued to challenge herself time and time again with roles that we’d never expect her to take on. Originally beginning her career in a teen comedy, she’s managed to really escape pigeonholing by exploring new and interesting roles. Bella Baxter is probably one of the best performances of her career, one even better than her turn in “Birdman.” As Bella, Stone is remarkable in the way she evolves, and develops and grows in to something that we never quite recognize when the film has ended. Although “Poor Things” will get so many interpretations, I pegged Yorgos Lanthimos’ film primarily as a statement about the illusion of bodily autonomy.
Maestro (2023)
Bradley Cooper’s film about the life of Leonard Bernstein is why I’m firm in my opinion that pretty much most music biopics are just terrible. Bernstein is an interesting figure that we learn almost nothing about by the time the movie ends. We explore his torrid private life, sure, but Cooper opts to kind of step back from the artist that was Bernstein in favor of the person. That’s understandable considering “Maestro” is a pitch for an Oscar from the starting gate.
Elemental (2023)
People gave “Wish” a lot of guff for feeling like an AI generated movie, but I think when it comes down to it, “Elemental” is so much more guilty of this claim. “Elemental” is one of the laziest and more lethargic Disney films ever produced from Pixar and Disney. It’s such a dull concept that’s overcome by social commentary that literally clubs us over the head every chance it gets. “Elemental” is about immigration and the immigrant experience. Element city is America, or The Land of opportunity. We’re told that a least thirty times over the span of ninety minutes.
Barbarella (1968): Arrow Video Limited Edition [Blu-Ray]
Now that Hollywood is once again considering a remake of “Barbarella,” it’s that perfect time to re-visit Roger Vadim’s wonky science fiction mind fuck. Jane Fonda fresh off of beginning her Oscar caliber career took a break to headline what is one of the trippiest science fiction adventure films ever produced. Decades later it’s shocking how much “Barbarella” was a precursor to magazines like “Heavy Metal” allowing the writers to build a world and an engaging heroine, while also fully embracing the inherent sexuality of the narrative.
“Airborne” at 30: Still The Fantastic 90’s Bonanza
In the 1990’s everything was “Extreme” or “Mega.” Everything had to be what with the introduction of things like X Games, which gave way to a huge tidal wave of things that were more adrenaline fueled, faster, and often times advertised “This isn’t your daddy’s:” Insert product here. Along with the sports being more extreme, the movies were more extreme, and the 1990’s carried over the skateboard generation from the 1980’s. Where the massive influx of skateboard movies permeated cult cinema, the 1990’s were where there were even more efforts to integrate it in to mainstream cinema. While it didn’t quite succeed (we did get “Brink!”, I guess), we did manage to get great films like my childhood favorite “Airborne.”