Yep. I shit you not those visual with the faces morphing and how it looks is SPOT ON to so many trips I've taken. It's not like Fear and Loathing where it's all cartoony and shit all the time. It totally felt like I was on acid while watching it. Love it.
"Looking like Nic Cage dressed in Kurt Cobain's closet. I mean that as a compliment" - BillyG
"Too cunty for wine bars, too dainty for real bars." - Anderson
Call Me By Your Name man directs a bloated, unfocused mess.
Dakota Johnson was miscast as Susie Bannion.
She and the score at times are the strongest components of why things fall apart.
When things go into the final act (of six) Johnson’s mousy voice and wooden delivery rescind whatever progress was made by the bizarre yet at times interesting choreography that precede or run concurrent.
The supernatural aspects of the film are mostly left to the edges of the story, often appearing as jarringly edited dream sequences, as historical events and heavy handed commentary take center stage (which a director with more conviction in their ability to tell a story would keep to the framing, allowing the audience the courtesy to uncover subtext on their own time without it being served up in clunky dialogue like a high school production).
The multi role performances by Tilda Swinton are strange choices, as outside of her turn as Madame Blanc, the other two seats she occupies are unfortunately half baked in their results. Granted, the German psychologist belongs in an entirely different film and drags much of the runtime kicking and screaming to its ridiculous two and a half hour length, but it is her turn as Helena Markos that ends up derailing whatever sinister reveals were being calculated up to the final act.
It’s scenery chewing when there is no scenery to chew, a gnawing upon an already desiccated corpse of a story whose innards have long since been disintegrated.
And then there’s score. The hyped Thom Yorke’s score is another part of the tonal problem in the film. When horrible or sinister things occur that are beyond belief, the music runs counterpoint and the scenes land with a dull thud. Maybe independently the music is a nice solo project for fans of the guy, but as a score it doesn’t work very well and at times actively robs sequences of their potency.
Save yourself the time and seek out the 4K restoration of the original. This remade one is a grand misfire.
Last edited by Captain Russ; 01-17-2019, 08:47 AM.
Reason: Small edit to wording regarding the Markos performance.
THANK YOU RUSS. I was on the fence with purchasing the new one to show Lesley. I thought she may enjoy it more than the original but I think I'll go with my gut and just show her the original.
"Looking like Nic Cage dressed in Kurt Cobain's closet. I mean that as a compliment" - BillyG
"Too cunty for wine bars, too dainty for real bars." - Anderson
Watched the Netflix Fyre Documentary. It went from "oh he's a dipshit techbro that got in over his head" to very quickly "oh he's defrauding the shit out of everyone" to "oh fuck he's been a fucking crook for a LONG time" and then the dipshit starts up another crooked ass company. What an idiot.
VENOM- Holy shit, this is...good? Well, probably not good in the objective sense but it's way more fun than I expected based on the trailers. That mid-credits scene- WHAT.
READY PLAYER ONE- I really liked the spectacle of the Oasis and how crazy all the action was. My recommendation to first-time viewers would be to watch it on mute or with a soundtrack-only option because all of the dialogue is uniformly awful.
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