Vox Lux (2018)

I remember seeing the trailer to Vox Lux on TV after it premiered at Venice last September and you know what stuck with me? Natalie Portman's Black Swan-alike makeup. Despite the film's forgettability and my lack of interest in seeing it, I still checked it out because of my love for Portman. 

The film follows 18 years in the life of Celeste Montgomery (Natalie Portman as an adult, and Raffrey Cassidy as a teen). After surviving a school shooting in 1999, she is catapulted into stardom thanks to the writing skills of her sister, Ellie (Stacy Martin), and her passionate manager (Jude Law).

Yet another movie that relies on narration and chapters to tell the story, Vox Lux is a bizarre mess that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. While the first part is very interesting to follow as it is a brutally honest portrayal of the modern pop culture where terrible circumstances and tragedies are exploited to achieve money, fame, success, as well as a compelling look at a teenage experiencing sudden fame and trying to deal with surviving a tragedy, the second part, following 31-year-old Celeste, is just very boring, and the theme of terrorism doesn't really fit in.

The characters aren't particularly good either. The main characters are unlikeable, they lack motivation and their personalities aren't always coherent. I didn't feel anything about them, I didn't care. As for the minor characters, they appear from nowhere and disappear without leaving a trace.

The acting is also quite confusing. I love Natalie Portman but I did not like her in here. Not only her characters looks a bit like Nina, her performance too is similar to that she gives in Black Swan. The problem? That kind of performance doesn't fit the film. To be honest, I'm not even sure what she was doing here —like, what's up with her accent? It's only distracting. As for the rest of the cast, Jude Law looks like trash and doesn't have a lot to do here; Raffrey Cassidy, on the other hand, who for some mysterious reason plays both teenage Celeste and Celeste's daughter, Albertine, gives a quite compelling performance. The whole casting is weird to be honest as neither Jude Law nor Stacy Martin age.

Neon

There's some good in Vox Lux too. Willem Dafoe's voiceover narration definitely makes the story more compelling, the cinematography is interesting and the songs, while they are dreadfully performed, really captures the "make you feel happy" nature of pop music thanks to the lyrics written by Sia.

Hotel Chevalier (2007)

Months ago, I watched Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited for the first time and, as I was expecting, I loved it. Thanks to Steven from Surrender to the Void I learnt about Hotel Chevalier, a short film prologue to The Darjeeling Limited. 

In this short, Jack (Jason Schwartzman), one of the Whitman brothers, is lying on a bed, wearing a robe and ordering from room service. His peace is disrupted when he gets a call from his ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman) who informs him she'll be there in 30 minutes. He tides the room, draws a bath, changes his clothes and puts on Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go to My Lovely.

She arrives, looks around, brushes her teeth and exchanges some awkward words with Jack. Someone knocks on the door; it's the waiter with room service. As soon as he leaves, passion takes over. Or does it?

Hotel Chevalier certainly is an important backstory for The Darjeeling Limited, as we get to know more about the relationship between Jack and his ex-girlfriend --we don't learn much but enough to develop a bit further Jack's character and know something about the ex-girlfriend who is only mentioned in the feature-- and there are several elements in here that also appear in the feature film that you won't catch if you haven't seen the short already.

Does it work as a stand-alone film? I'm not sure about that as it is a little confusing at first even though you have seen the film, and you will feel Natalie Portman's character when she asks, what the fuck is going on. Without The Darjeeling Limited, both past and future are left to interpretation/imagination. Also, because the story Anderson tells here is very limited, the drama comes off a little cold. It's that coldness, that lack of emotion that really stuck with me about Hotel Chevalier though.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

That, and the stunning visuals. There's a combination of yellow and dark colours that fits the story and characters to perfection as they portray how they feel around each other, comfortable and yet a little awkward. The background music is a little too loud and, at times, it makes it kinda hard to understand what the characters are saying, but is really beautiful.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

There's still plenty of time since Isle of Dogs hits theatres here (May 17 unless they decide to postpone it for some dumb reason) so I decided to take advantage of this time to watch the Wes Anderson movies I haven't seen yet. The Darjeeling Limited was one of them and it was also the one that had been on my watchlist for at least 10 years (I added to my list because of Natalie Portman but I'm so glad that at the end I didn't watch the movie for her because it would have been a major disappointment since she's barely in the movie). 

A year after the accidental death of their father, three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), meet on a train, the Darjeeling Limited, and embark on a journey across India in an attempt to bond with each other. But Francis has something else in mind, visiting their mother (Anjelica Huston) who didn't even show up at their father's funeral. 

It's the typical Wes Anderson story about a dysfunctional family. There's the estranged brothers, the daddy issues, and the shitty parents, basically, who fucked them up. And there isn't much of a plot either, just a lot of things happening that don't really make a story. Also, it unfolds slowly (I totally see why someone may not like this).

And yet, the journey both physical but mostly spiritual of these three brothers is so fascinating, it kept me glued to the screen as if I was watching a thriller. The Darjeeling Limited is about letting things go, leaving the baggage behind --and these three have a lot of them, both literal and figurative ones. 

And it's also very fun to watch. Their journey does not go as planned, of course, and the brothers are forced to cope with many difficult situations --like a poisonous cobra on the loose on the train-- and things get pretty hilarious. The humour is dry and quick, and most jokes rely on characters' traits, but they work. 

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The characters are just as fascinating as the journey. Though Peter and Jack don't have a reason to join the journey in the first place --they complain as if they were forced to do this-- they are quirky and interesting, very flawed and yet likeable, but most important they feel real. And the relationship between them --or siblings in general-- is depicted very well. 

Of course, the actors playing them are important as well. Adrien Brody was the standout for me. His character, Peter, is the one with a wider emotional range, and Brody does a great job delivering that, and some good slapstick too. He also has a beautiful chemistry with Owen Wilson which makes their scenes very enjoyable. Jason Schwartzman is a bit weak though. He just doesn't seem to be able to come out of the shadow of the other two. Anjelica Huston does good as the runaway mother and there's a nice Bill Murray cameo too at the beginning. 

At last, The Darjeeling Limited has some pretty striking visuals --fantastic cinematography, surrealistic colours, beautiful composition, gorgeous and interesting locations-- and a great soundtrack that fits the story very well.

Annihilation (2018)

Though I didn't really like Alex Garland's Ex Machina (but I'm planning on giving it another chance), I was really excited about his latest film, Annihilation, and really pissed off that everybody outside of the US got to see this on Netflix instead of cinemas. It has an upside though, no money wasted if the movie sucked, but that was not the case. 

A year after his disappearance, Kane (Oscar Isaac) goes back home to his biologist wife Lena (Natalie Portman) but he doesn't remember where he's been and how he got home. He suddenly gets sick and is rushed to a hospital. Once there, in order to help Kane, Lena joins a team made up of an anthropologist (Tuva Novotny), a physicist (Tessa Thompson), a psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a paramedic (Gina Rodriguez) and embark on an expedition into the Shimmer, a mysterious electromagnetic field.

It's a pretty simple plot that unfolds at a quite slow pace, it does have a few twists here and there but nothing that mind-blowing to leave you speechless, the final twist included which I saw coming miles ahead. There are many plot holes, several unnecessary subplots and nothing makes sense basically since nobody really cared about answering the questions posed. And yet it's engaging and very enjoyable.

The characters too are flawed but they all have interesting backstories --revealed through flashbacks or a few lines of dialogue--, they are developed and we get to know each main character both emotionally and psychologically. Sure, most of the things they do don't make any sense (above-mentioned plot holes) but it's still fascinating watching them in the Shimmer, how they react to the weird and bizarre happenings and I was invested in the characters' fates.

Paramount Pictures, Netflix

Natalie Portman gives a very good performance as Lena. She is able to deliver, at every moment, complex emotions only through her facial expressions, she carries the whole film and gives it its emotional charge. The support provided by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tessa Thompson is pretty solid too, and Oscar Isaac gives yet another great performance. I did find, however, Gina Rodriguez and her character utterly annoying. She is miles away from Jane Villanueva, the role she is most known for, and I give her credit for playing such a different role here, fact remains she was annoying.

As for Alex Garland, while his script hasn't won me completely, I liked his direction. He skillfully built tension and suspense and delivered an exciting science-fiction film enhanced by a magnetic score and even more magnetic visuals.

THOR 2 Will NOT Feature Thanos But Another Major Villain Plus Loki!

THOR 2!!! Yes. And another major villain! Mads Mikkelson perhaps? I think that's the safe bet as he is confirmed to be joining the production as a villain - and you don't get much better than him really. I am a big fan of his work - you could see his raw talent going as far back as PUSHER. He can say so much with just a look - he doesn't even have to verbalize.

So some questions! What villain will Mikkelson be playing? Will he be teaming up with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who is definitely in the sequel? Some have been speculating that Mads will be playing The Executioner. Hmmm.

One thing is for sure: Thanos will NOT be worshipping death in this movie. Producer Kevin Feige spoke about the super villain and THOR 2 to Empire: "No, future, future. But there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist..."

I have to agree with Marvel's line of thinking here. Keep the uber villain until THE AVENGERS 2 and keep bringing out the rich library of antagonists from Marvel's vault. And I certainly want these villains to be authentically from Marvel and not newly created villains. Why on earth would you do that? 

So what else did the super producer have to say about THOR 2? Says Feige: "We're going to see the other side of Asgard. It's not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie and Thor returning with Jane Foster."  

Mads Mikkelson in VALHALLA RISING

THOR 2 is looking exceptionally bright with the addition of Mads. Man I love how Marvel casts their movies! Joining Mads will be Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander and Ray Stevenson. 

Marvel will begin shooting the production this summer in London and it is being directed by Alan Taylor (GAME OF THRONES). You can set aside theater time in your calendar for the movie starting on November 15, 2013.

Sources: CBM | Collider | Variety