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Reviews
Arkansas (2020)
A solid rural noir flick with a personal tone
A lot of reviewers seem to reference Quentin Tarantino to express how this film's aspirations are out of its reach. And they may be right, insofar as this movie dialogue and action are quite the same as say Pulp Fiction. The question is: was it the director's intention to actually try to equate Tarantino's film? I'm not so sure.
Yes, Tarantino's influence is quite obvious. It is gangster flick with quirky characters and where things slowly get out of hand. But are those elements Tarantino's exclusive domain? Don't other films make use of such tools in their narrative toolbox? Of course they do! My point is no film is made in a vacuum and the fact that one of the critics' main arguments is the similarities with Tarantino's work, is a testimony to the director's work.
My opinion is "Arkansas" uses some of Tarantino's themes to tell an original story, all the while creating a mood of its own. Liam's character is an interesting portrait of a smart outcast who struggles to find meaning in life. His partner offers a funny, self-deprecating look at hipster culture while never completely muting its relevant criticism on our society. It's not overdone, and it's there to make dialogue interesting and thoughtful, sparing us constant comedic or cool-sounding dialogue. The overall restrain that permeates the movie, in the rhythm, the setting as well as the acting is a very welcome change from oftentimes overly dramatic crime movies I see trying to grab my attention.
A solid 8/10 for me. I will watch it again, as soon as I get a better display (some scenes are indeed a little dark).
Man on Fire (2004)
A good story marred by flashy editing
There are a lot of things to like about this film: the plot, the characters, and the photography are great. Denzel Washington carries the story beautifully, and watching the relationship between his and Dakota Fanning's characters evolve during the first half is in my opinion the best part of the whole movie.
Unfortunately, the viewing experience is largely diminished by the editing. I found the fast-forward-like, jittery sequences meant to show time or emotional breaks in the story are a major distraction. I really believe the film would have been as good without all that flash.
As it is, it feels like music video clips or cheap action TV show sequences being forced into a story that otherwise aspires to be something bigger.
I was also disappointed to see the tropes of torture and rough interrogation used so heavily in the second half of the film.
The Witcher (2019)
Good Idea Poorly Executed
I have never played the game nor read the books, so I went into this knowing nothing of the main character or the universe. I love fantasy and I like Henry Cavill's work, but it took me two sittings to get through the first episode, but I've now made to episode 5, albeit grunting and cursing more than a few times.
Henry Cavill's portrayal of Geralt is convincing and enjoyable to watch, but it too often feels like that's the only solid thing in this show. Time and again, I'm pulled out of the story by dialogue that sounds odd, cheesy, or sometimes even downright nonsensical. Now that's not the actors' fault, and Cavill's performance has to be lauded here because he manages to hold our suspension of disbelief despite the not-so-great material he is being asked to work with.
That being said, there is also a lot of shaky acting peppered throughout the show that makes the viewing experience really tough. Ciri's grandmother the queen, the Nilfgaardian villain and the doppelganger in episode 5 come readily to mind.
The storyline has been decried for its lack of clarity and I cannot disagree here. I was mildly disoriented at the episode 2 mark, but by episode 4 (the banquet) I was utterly lost and swearing heavily. This is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoyed Westworld. I think it has to do with pacing and how you transition in and out of different time frames. Where Westworld managed to keep me only mildly disoriented so as to be entertaining and suspenseful, The Witcher seems to keep wanting to push me around not caring whether I'm following or not.
As I make a list of all the things that I find lacking, I realize this is a show I wish I could love, because there is potential. The costumes, props and sets look great and make me want to know more about the world, but frustratingly little of it is ever showed. As another review said, names of places are tossed around but none of them ever really stick. It still very much feels like a generic fairy tale where names of places and people are mentioned in passing, but we never get to find out or even get a sense of what or who they are.
In the end, I wish this series had been blessed with better writing and directing (and maybe casting, but I believe most "acting" problems could/should be solved by good directing). It seems to me that the hype around The Witcher is largely due to the video game's success and I doubt the series would have fared as well had it had to win over a totally new audience.