![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Tiggy's Week in Film
Nov. 25th, 2019 05:48 am
For about four months over the summer, I literally never set foot in a cinema because I had zero interest in what was being released. And then a bunch of interesting or fun films all came out at once, so I've been to see three in one week. Please spread out the good stuff more, studios!
First up was Terminator: Dark Fate, which had mediocre reviews and terrible box office. But the trailers looked AWESOME, so I went anyway. And I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed it. The plot is nothing new - it's largely a rehash of the original Terminator, with some added elements of T2. But that doesn't matter, because it's done well. Linda Hamilton was exactly as fabulous as the trailers made her look and Mackenzie Davis was as great as she always is. I liked the way they used Arnie too. I wanted fun entertainment and that's precisely what I got.
Thursday night, it was the turn of Ford vs Ferrari, which was released as Le Mans 66 in the UK, (don’t ask me what it’s called in the rest of the world). It’s a film I was definitely ambivalent about. The trailers I’ve seen for it were actively BAD and left me with zero interest in it. They reeked of a formulaic, Rocky-style film but with cars instead of boxing. Yet the reviews I’d seen were all fairly positive about it, which didn’t fit with the seriously crappy trailers.
Anyway, we got an invitation to a free screening with free food thrown in, so we went. And it genuinely was enjoyable, and pretty damn good. It took that Rocky formula that the trailers stank of and messed with it and made a genuinely engaging story with really good acting, especially from Christian Bale. It’s only half true, of course, with some added drama that didn’t happen in reality, but the pacing and scripting was tight.
And tonight we've just been to see Jojo Rabbit. This film has had some pretty mixed reviews, but looked very promising from the trailers. It’s the story of a ten year old boy in the Hitler youth who discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl.
I’ve had differing reactions to Taika’s films before - What We Do in the Shadows was pretty funny, while The Hunt for the Wilderpeople left me cold. Jojo Rabbit I really loved. It starts out mainly comedic, with some darker undertones, because war and Nazis, and then becomes genuinely heart-breaking as it goes on. In terms of tonal shift, it really reminded of another WWII film Life is Beautiful, which went from cute romantic comedy to a concentration camp half way through. And like Life is Beautiful, Jojo Rabbit doesn’t cover up the tragedies, but claws some hope back out of it all.
And while I'm here, we also went to see Parasite a week ago, which had ALL the buzz coming out of its win at Cannes and nothing but excellent reviews. The reviews and trailers make no secret of the fact that there is Something They're Not Saying (the trailers actually advertise it full on) and what starts out as a comedic social satire has A Twist half way through which changes everything. It is a genuinely good film, though perhaps inevitably over-hyped, given the degree of hype. I'm delighted I've seen it and probably wouldn't watch it again.
First up was Terminator: Dark Fate, which had mediocre reviews and terrible box office. But the trailers looked AWESOME, so I went anyway. And I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed it. The plot is nothing new - it's largely a rehash of the original Terminator, with some added elements of T2. But that doesn't matter, because it's done well. Linda Hamilton was exactly as fabulous as the trailers made her look and Mackenzie Davis was as great as she always is. I liked the way they used Arnie too. I wanted fun entertainment and that's precisely what I got.
Thursday night, it was the turn of Ford vs Ferrari, which was released as Le Mans 66 in the UK, (don’t ask me what it’s called in the rest of the world). It’s a film I was definitely ambivalent about. The trailers I’ve seen for it were actively BAD and left me with zero interest in it. They reeked of a formulaic, Rocky-style film but with cars instead of boxing. Yet the reviews I’d seen were all fairly positive about it, which didn’t fit with the seriously crappy trailers.
Anyway, we got an invitation to a free screening with free food thrown in, so we went. And it genuinely was enjoyable, and pretty damn good. It took that Rocky formula that the trailers stank of and messed with it and made a genuinely engaging story with really good acting, especially from Christian Bale. It’s only half true, of course, with some added drama that didn’t happen in reality, but the pacing and scripting was tight.
And tonight we've just been to see Jojo Rabbit. This film has had some pretty mixed reviews, but looked very promising from the trailers. It’s the story of a ten year old boy in the Hitler youth who discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl.
I’ve had differing reactions to Taika’s films before - What We Do in the Shadows was pretty funny, while The Hunt for the Wilderpeople left me cold. Jojo Rabbit I really loved. It starts out mainly comedic, with some darker undertones, because war and Nazis, and then becomes genuinely heart-breaking as it goes on. In terms of tonal shift, it really reminded of another WWII film Life is Beautiful, which went from cute romantic comedy to a concentration camp half way through. And like Life is Beautiful, Jojo Rabbit doesn’t cover up the tragedies, but claws some hope back out of it all.
And while I'm here, we also went to see Parasite a week ago, which had ALL the buzz coming out of its win at Cannes and nothing but excellent reviews. The reviews and trailers make no secret of the fact that there is Something They're Not Saying (the trailers actually advertise it full on) and what starts out as a comedic social satire has A Twist half way through which changes everything. It is a genuinely good film, though perhaps inevitably over-hyped, given the degree of hype. I'm delighted I've seen it and probably wouldn't watch it again.
