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Scarlet Street (1945)
A Classic Noir-- depressing, emotionless, pity-inducing.
Fritz Lang, as expected, delivers another cold, depressing noir. Quite a memorable film, the actors definitely carried it to the full noir glory. My hats off to Robinson for such a sincere performance. Robinson was tormented by his wife, his lover, his lover's lover, and even his wife's former lover. The only person that showed him mercy was his boss after he caught him embezzling money at the expense of a woman. Despite his severely emasculated identity, he kills his femme fatale though is not reprimanded. Instead, he lives with this agonizing hallucinations and the nagging voice of Kitty (Bennett). After an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide (Hollywood keeps this in, to show a little morality after his crime), he ends up living as a bum for years. Overall, 9/10.
Drag Becomes Him (2015)
A lovely documentary.
After watching Jinkx win season 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race nearly 6 years after the fact, I stumbled across this film in hopes of just a small glimpse into their life. Oh, how I was surprised! This is a comprehensive documentary that dives into some of the most intimate moments into Jinkx/Jerick's life. Not once did I yawn while watching this eccentric personality unfold before me. No bars are held back.
What's more, the majority of the documentary is shot and told in the PNW, where I have the spent most of my own life. It was quite endearing to see shots of Portland and Seattle, and many of Jinkx's life experiences can attest to the PNW culture.
Overall, great film and this made me even more of a Jinkx fan. Thank you for this documentary!
Moonlight (2016)
Binds three big social identities into a single coming-of-age drama..... beautiful.
From start to finish, impeccable film work. Dynamic shots, great use of contrast lighting, and impactful sound and visual design. Albeit, some shots were held for a bit too long for my liking ..like when Kevin cooked the meal for Chiron - but it just made scenes even more meaningful.
What's more interesting though, is how the film approaches three of the big social identities.. race, socioeconomic class, and sexuality. Chiron fits into all of these categories... he is a black non-heterosexual man brought up in poverty. Coupled with the beautiful cinematography, this made his inherently melancholic life story transform into a masterpiece.
To further elaborate on the content, the three parts of the film each represented a different period in his life. This is typical of a coming-of-age drama, and the general set-up was similar across the stages. First stage, Chiron is a young boy. Second, Chiron is a teenager. Third, Chiron is an adult. Within all these, you see how the three social identities shift and adapt to Chiron's current stage of life. Each of these are different in their own way.
However, I believe the one binding aspect across the stages is the beach. The allegorical emphasis of the beach is a sense of calm, contentment, and freedom. In each stage, the beach signifies a happier moment in Chiron's life. Juan teaching him how to swim, his first homosexual experience with Kevin, and discovering Kevin lives by the beach.
I wouldn't consider the presence of the beach a spoiler, rather something to look out for and to interpret it how you feel when you watch it.
Regardless, this is an absolutely stunning film. Recent coming-of-age films tend to move towards a comedic approach, which, albeit, is not my cup of tea. I was entranced through this entire film, thoroughly impressed.
Noordzee, Texas (2011)
A quiet & humble coming of age/coming out film.
This film is cinematically serene-- I want to say nearly a third of the film consists of aesthetic shots of the coastal town and it's hidden beauty. There is little dialogue, most of the story is interpreted through the actors. There is a seamless flow to the film (until the end, where everything seems choppy & sped up) Overall, an aesthetically pleasing film that is a very different take than the typical coming out stories that use common themes of bullying and self-shame as a crutch.
Here's my main qualm with this film, it was a bit too slow, which further translates to boring. If you enjoy slow dancing, taking in the sights and sounds, and love stopping to smell the roses, then I am sure you will enjoy this film. At first, I appreciated the aesthetic clips of waves crashing and Pim looking solemn, however as the film progressed it felt forced, unnatural, and unnecessary. It detracted from sincere moments in the film & left the viewer in a grudge (the viewer being me).
Second, I disliked the ending. I thought the film, maybe an hour in, was absolutely beautiful. However, the ending was tragically... terrible. (((Major spoiler))) From what I take, Sabrina & Gino's mother dies from some sort of kidney thing, Sabrina takes on a job at a local eatery to sustain herself and Pim, and the movie ends with Gino coming back from France(?) and professes his love to Pim. I thought, the entire time, this is incredibly lame. This mercilessly reminded me that this movie derived from a YA/children's novel-- instead of a sweet ending to a peaceful film, you have an unrealistic, over-the-top conclusion that doesn't ride with the rest of the book. After the mother dies, it just didn't make sense to me. Maybe it's my human morals talking, but after a loved one dies, you don't resume your petty love triangle, have some respect for the mother. She was a relatively minor character, but the fact that she passed away & the romance continued made me angry.
Overall, 6/10. I had high hopes after reading reviews prior to viewing, and for the most part, I am not completely let down. It's a stunning film & it deviates greatly from the typical coming out film, but it just was a little lackluster.
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Biased on the book
The film is aesthetically pleasing and the lack of soundscape compared to the harsh details makes for an interesting juxtaposition. However when comparing to the book, I thought it was bland and detail-less. I am can imagine that if you did not read the book, it would be difficult to follow along with the film's storyline. I would've appreciated a more explicit introduction of characters like old Trip Fontaine and his current life, I thought it was rushed over and it didn't mesh with the rest of the film. The ending was also disappointing, they completely skipped over the moral of the story (as it was said in the book) and chose to leave the film on an eerie cliffhanger. Not a fan.
Something I did like about the film is how they depicted the boys (or the Greek chorus, if you will). They captured their teenage infatuation perfectly, I especially liked how they read scenes from the story (or at least gave very descriptive narrations). What I was watching on screen alongside their narrations gave an amazing double effect.
In sum, it wasn't a terrible film & it's the only adaptation of The Virgin Suicides that I'm aware of. Book wins over movie.