jkelt Reviews

The Harder They Fall (2021)

Enjoyable Western Playing With Hollywood Tropes

[9/10 · 6 November 2021]

America's self-conception has been shaped by many myths and historical inaccuracies. By the end of the 20th Century, many of these myths had been shaped and warped by the Hollywood Western. Even revisionist Westerns (Little Big Man, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) may have played against the clichés, but still played with those clichés. So, criticisms that "The Harder They Fall" isn't "historically accurate" or that its reggae infused soundtrack is "anachronistic" miss the point entirely. (Did BJ Thomas record "Raindrops Keep Falling My Head" in 1902? Did I hear an electric guitar in the theme to "Bonanza"? Who cares?) So if somebody wants to make a Western with an all-black main cast and reggae music, it's probably the familiar Hollywood "feel" they pine for, not any concept of historical accuracy. This movie is about as historically accurate as most of the thousands of Westerns that went before; meaning it isn't. "The historic accuracy" some people yearn for in Western movies is adherence to the 1950's, not the 1880's.

What the movie does is take some real historical figures from the past (there were Black cowboys, bad guys and lawmen in the old West), and put them in a totally fictional story that adheres to a bunch of Hollywood themes, tropes, and clichés - showdowns and gunfights on main street, hyperviolence ala Sam Peckinpah (Tarantino didn't invent this kids, he's also constantly tipping his hat to the past)- and have a blast with them. There is an obvious sense of humor displayed by director Jeymes Samuel when we see the "White Town". If he wants to make a Western with an all-black main cast after decades of prior exclusion, underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Black and Native Americans in the genre when nobody seemed to mind, who are we to cry foul?

Taken on its own terms the movie is terrific. A stellar cast, beautifully shot, action packed. Sure, some of the shootout at the end is silly, with predictable deaths and heroes surviving exposure in the street that should have killed them 10x over. Just classic Hollywood stuff. Some of the characters are thinly drawn stereotypes (cocky gunslingers), but some are given deeper backstories of childhood and domestic abuse and survival.

In the end, it was a good story well told through great production design, dynamic direction, and terrific actors. What more d'ya want?

Into the Dark: They Come Knocking (2019) Season 1, Episode 9

Weakly reasoned thriller.

[2/10 · 16 June 2019]

This episode had a decent set up, and some emotional motivation for the characters; I'll give it that. But a viewer would have to have a high tolerance for horror cliches and be ready to forgive a total breakdown of any logical coherence for the sake of a few jump scares to really enjoy this. Ultimately disappointing.

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Beautiful, but lacking.

[6/10 · 2 February 2018]

I enjoyed the movie, but found myself unmoved by it. I am a gay man, and cried in real life at the loss of a love as a young man, similarly to the way Timothee Chalamet does at the end of the movie. When the lights came up, the friend I saw it with, also gay, was in tears. For him, the movie dredged up powerful emotions connected to similar events from his life. So what didn't work for me?

As the movie progressed, I found the permission granted to grad student Oliver by Elio's parents to be just too precious to be believed. Everything seems to conspire to relieve Oliver of responsibility for indulging his passion for a vulnerable younger man, including Elio taking the first (and several) overt courtship steps. The story seemed to be clumsily and observably removing any potentially taboo elements in order to give Oliver permission for the romance. By doing so, it flattened the tension for me, and reduced the romance to a cliché. Even though the age of consent is lower in Italy, Elio is depicted with all the badges of minority; a student, living with his parents, inexperienced in his feelings toward men. Oliver is older, practiced at seduction with women at least, a grad student/ guest in the home. So a taboo relationship, or at least some unethical guest behavior is set up. But the parents' permission, broadcast long before the "father-son" talk scene, removes all the gates, flattening any dramatic tension. So the relationship could have been between two 17 year olds, or two 24 year olds, without the feint at taboo. I found myself laughing at the story as it unfolded. It wants to be both naughty and PC at the same time.

Similarly to how I thought about "Carol" with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara after seeing it; I wondered if this wasn't a same-sex romance and otherwise showed me two characters dealing with love and loss, would I care about these characters? Or I they only interesting because of the still-novel twist of same-sex love in a mainstream movie? On that score, I found Timothee Chalamet to be a good actor, channeling desire and loss, but Elio is not that interesting a character. And both Armie Hammer and Oliver struck me a pieces of preppie furniture with no inner life detectable.

Finally, even Michael Schulberg's father-son talk at the end struck me as the ending of an afterschool special or "a very special episode of Blossom." Of course, I wish someone had spoken to me that way when I was a teenager. maybe I'm resentful no one did. But I'm back to the word "precious".

The Italian scenery was lovely, however.

Mother! (2017)

Art House of Horror

[7/10 · 20 September 2017]

******Here Be Spoilers!*******

I enjoyed "Mother!", my biggest gripe being that I thought it was shot with irritatingly low lighting, like I was watching the whole thing through glasses coated with sepia-toned cheesecloth. I found myself squinting at the screen, which, of course, didn't help. I went in having seen the preview trailer a few times (before showings of "Annabelle: The Creation" and "It"), the one that was edited with quick cuts and Bernard Herrmann-like strings. To me that said it was being marketed to the horror crowd; but it was still Aronofsky with Lawrence, Bardem, Harris and Pfieffer. I figured it was going to be more than a horror movie, but seemingly rooted in the horror genre somehow. Maybe that's why I didn't hate it like so many other people seem to.

A jewel is placed in a stand and a burned and rotted house is rejuvenated. A withered corpse under a blanket is breathed back to life, and a day begins. Bardem's male energy is focused on creating a poetic work of art for consumption by the irrational masses of the world, to as he says, "bring life into the house"; Lawrence's female energy is focused on creating a home for him and literally bringing a life into their home in her womb. There are Biblical metaphors (Cain and Abel, who knows how many others?)and problems that 21st Century couples have are introduced. Some are small and comic, some are large, horrid, and hurtful. Then it goes full gonzo-universal, with Lawrence trying to give birth in a war zone inside her own house. The mob perpetrates atrocities. I laughed at times, I was horrified at times. I was confused as to what was happening often. Maybe the jewel is all that's left after the life cycle of the universe goes from Big Bang to inevitable collapse and re-ignition. Maybe Bardem as "Him" is a sadistic demon or a masochistic wizard, with "mother" Lawrence as his suffering muse.In the end, what does it mean? Who knows? Why are people so angry at this movie? Who knows? With Edgar Allen Poe and Alfred Hitchcock, audiences are content with a few scares and a few twists, so why not Aronofsky? At the end of "The Cask of Amontillado" the reader gets a chill of realization that a character is being bricked up behind a wall to be left to die for revenge. (That was included in "Tales of Terror" a 1962 horror film with Vincent Price.) At the end of "The Birds" we never know why the birds came, and Suzanne Pleshette and others have died grisly deaths for no reason except some possible metaphor. At the end of "Psycho" the big reveal that Anthony Perkins is insane and mother was long dead is a crowd-satisfying twist. But Janet Leigh's body is still in the trunk, having died for nothing. Was it all just torture porn? No, a mystery has been solved. So Bardem places a new jewel in the stand, and the cycle starts again, with him as the demon/wizard/poet, and a new woman appears as his muse. We know what she's in for; the horror. The reveal of a twist; the end. "Mother!" took me for a ride worth taking. It made me laugh, gave me a start or two and made me think. It was well-acted, and contained moments of insight into the human condition. Good enough for me.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Terrific Movie

[9/10 · 25 March 2016]

Full disclosure: I am a lifelong Superman and Batman fan. (And I go back to 1958). The critics who are down on this movie don't get it. Many of them are comparing it unfavorably to the "bright and colorful" Marvel movies. I love the Marvel movies, but this is a darker, grittier take on the superhero mythos. To those who understand: this is Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" Batman comics meets Superman's "Doomsday" comics. It blew my mind. It is much better than Snyder's "Man of Steel" in that while the closing battle is intense, it isn't that far over the top.The movie touches on so many Superman and Batman themes that it is a great gift to the fan boys and girls.Plus an utterly amazing and believable take on Wonder Woman. I was enthralled the whole time. Go!

Role Models (2008)

Very funny and touching, too!

[8/10 · 28 October 2008]

Just saw this tonight at an advance screening. It was very funny, and warm hearted. I suppose the humor is often crude, but, hey. The natural dialog reminded me of Superbad and 40 Year Old Virgin. Paul Rudd has developed a deadpan style of improvisational humor that seems to work better and better the more movies he makes. Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Superbad and Robb'e J. Johnson are excellent as the kids. Jane Lynch brings her signature brand of demented free association to the role of the charity-addicted leader of a kids charity. If you liked Superbad, Pineapple Express and 40 Year Old Virgin, go! If you didn't; Dude, like, don't!

American Teen (2008)

View from a disinterested East Coast audience member

[7/10 · 10 August 2008]

I read a few of these posts, and think I might have a different perspective. I live in Washington, D.C., and have never been to Indiana outside of a visit to Bloomington as a child. I went to a public high school in upstate New York, near Syracuse, in the 70's. My friend and I went to the movie to see if and how high school and high school students have changed since we were in school. We were not interested in "Warsaw High" as a institution, nor in learning about Warsaw as a community. And after we left, we talked about the movie and never discussed "Warsaw as a community". We talked about the individual kids. It may help those of you who think the audience is going to draw negative opinions about your community to know that most of the audience doesn't think this was a study of your community - I saw it as a snapshot of a few high school kids from an American town. As I watched, I did wonder about how "typical" high school interactions could be filmed with people wired for sound and with cameras in their face, etc. I knew some of it had to be staged or severely affected by the presence of the camera. The center of the film, for me, was the pressures on, and insecurities of, the kids. I found the individual interviews to be probably the most honest and reliable part of the movie. Jake, Hanna, and the others said some pretty revealing and insightful (and embarrassing) things about themselves; sometimes funny, sometimes touching. And at my age, I know these are kids, as I was once a kid, who will grow up and out of this period of their lives. So I don't see the kids as stuck where they were. Again, it's a snap shot. Kids want to please their Dads by getting in to the right school or getting a scholarship; kids want a boyfriend or a girlfriend; there are cliques; there are jealousies and power trips. Yep, it's high school. That's all I saw. I liked the movie. Sorry if the film crew was rude. But Warsaw, chill out. I have no more or less an opinion of a town I never heard of, and whose name I will forget tomorrow, than before. To a ticket buyer like me, it wasn't really about you; it was touching on the universal American high school experience. Half true, half false; real and also TV and movie generated. The kids all got off to school and are growing up. We should, too. It's all gonna be OK.

Fantastic Four (I) (2005)

Pretty OK

[7/10 · 9 July 2005]

This adaptation of a Marvel Comic mainstay just passes muster. It got the basic characters and humorous mood right, has a good cast, and I hope we get some sequels, which should be better. There had to have been some major editing around one of the climactic scenes (when Reed, Sue, and Johnny first see Ben as the Thing), because none of it made any narrative or emotional sense. That scene was just badly done. But I'm just glad this wasn't so bad (like the Hulk) that any hope of sequels was destroyed. This could be a fun series with this cast. This take on the FF is sexy, fun, and cool. So what if it's dumb fun? I hope this Four gets to fight another day, to take on Galactus and meet the Silver Surfer.

X-Men (2000)

First Marvel-ous Movie!

[9/10 · 15 July 2000]

This is a very good comic-book/ sci-fi/ adventure movie. It is also the first dead-on adaptation of a mainline Marvel superhero comic book series. (Blade and Punisher, etc, I do not consider in that genre). Some of the critics are opining that is is not up to the standard of the first 2 Superman and Batman movies, but they miss the point to comics fans. This movie is as different from those as Marvel Comics are to DC Comics (home of Superman and Batman). Marvel comics, from the 60's on , were darker, denser, and more layered than DC's. This movie catches that, as well as you can in an hour and a 1/2. There are more heroes to be introduced in this movie series, and I am looking forward to that. This initial installment was fun, and well done. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine shouldered the weight of his character, which really carries the movie, despite the presence of bigger stars Stewart and McKellen. Gotta go get my Sir Ian - Magneto action figure!

He Got Game (1998)

Powerful film on the theme of forgiveness

[9/10 · 14 May 1999]

This is a great movie. It was entertaining throughout, and any weakness in the movie's narrative flow is more than made up for by the powerful and spiritual message of forgiveness. I don't want to give the plot away, so all I'll say is that a scene near the end between Denzel's character and his son blew me away. I could hardly get up to leave the theater. As often happens with Spike's films, I don't think most people got what he was trying to do and say here. Vastly under-rated and overlooked, this movie has real value to the right viewers. It wasn't just about the temptations of a highschool basketball star. Rent it!

Celebrity (1998)

Smart, funny, Woody

[9/10 · 5 February 1999]

This is a smart, funny, Woody Allen movie. It is somewhat annoying that Woody keeps writing about the same themes, but he still makes uniquely interesting movies. I laughed out loud a number of times, and that's always worth $7.50. It also made me think, about creativity, relationships, and fame. That's gotta be worth another $.25. Much has been made about Branaugh's imitation of Woody; how come nobody complained when they gave Michael Caine an Oscar for the same ticks and stammers in "Hanna and Her Sisters"? (For that matter, check out Mia and Diane Keaton in any number of his movies. His dialog and direction force many of his actors to sound like him.) I was intigued by the relationship Branaugh had with the book editor who believed in his writing, then destroyed his draft novel when he dumped her.

This is not one of those Woody movies, like "Hanna" and "Bullets Over Broadway" that will cross over to a wider audience. But to his loyal fans, it is a keeper. (Now "Shadows and Fog"...that stunk!)

Frisk (1995)

Disgustingly violent and to be avoided

[1/10 · 5 February 1999]

This film is very disturbing, and it took a strong stomach to tough it out to the end. It brought to mind stories I have heard about Mexican porn "snuff" films, because the audience is treated to squirm-inducing sado-masochistic rape/murders. Characters murder victims on-screen for sexual pleasure, and unless you enjoy watching that, there is no other value to the movie. There was little, if any character development or plot. I had to wonder if Parker Posey knew what she was getting herself into when she did this movie. I read the other review, which referred to this as a "black comedy", but if it is, I must have missed something. I am also dumbfounded by reference to this as a "coming-out" movie, as it is a deeply sick depiction of the edge of any sexuality (Parker plays a hetero-sex murderer), and only fits the most outraged homophobe's stereotype of what gay life is about. Utterly horrible, and to be avoided.