Talk to Her (2002)

I've been meaning to watch Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her (Spanish: Hable con ella) for the longest time as I read a lot of great things about it. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. 

Benigno (Javier Cámara) is a nurse who has dedicated his past four years of life to his only patient, Alicia (Leonor Watling), a young and beautiful dancer in a coma as a result of an accident. Marco (Darío Grandinetti) is a journalist who is in love with Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female bullfighter who is also in a coma after being gored by a bull. The two men meet in the hospital and a friendship begins to develop.

The plot manages to be interesting and disappointing altogether. With a part of it set in the present and a part set in the past, Almodóvar skillfully plays with time and makes the story more interesting by using texts to indicate the period. What's fascinating about it is that he doesn't always indicate when we are seeing a flashback which makes the story more confusing and intriguing. Not to mention the surprising twists. And yet, it never fully engaged me and I found that the plot relies too much on contrived coincidences, especially on Benigno's story --I mean, the girl Benigno has a crush on has an accident, goes in a coma and is submitted to the hospital in which Benigno works? Come on, Pedro, you can do better than that.

That, however, it's that big of a deal since Talk to Her is all about its characters. They are very unusual as Almodóvar's protagonists are usually strong and striking female characters and this time around the protagonists are two men. Unfortunately, although Almodóvar put a lot of effort and time into developing the characters and getting us to know them, I never felt sympathy for any of them, which is something you are supposed to feel because of the way the characters are delivered to us.

Warner Sogefilms, Sony Pictures Classics

On the other hand, they are quite interesting as Almodóvar plays a little with gender roles. Lydia is a bullfighter which is associated with men as it is a traditionally masculine activity. Benigno is a nurse which is usually associated with women. Same goes with Marco who is very sensitive. At the same time, these characters have still those characteristics associated with their gender.

The cast does a good job, the standout easily being Javier Cámara. He is superb as Benigno as he portrays the character's sensitivity and neediness very well, not to mention how he manages to deliver some incredible things with a very straight face.

And yet, in spite of all that, Talk to Her didn't really work for me and only in part, it has something to do with the awful way animals were treated while making this film. Bulls were killed for real in this film.

Thursday Movie Picks: Television Edition: Spin-Offs

I skipped May's Television week of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks because I had nada to pick from (I don't even remember what the theme was) but I just couldn't miss spin-offs week. Without further ado, here are my picks

Better Call Saul (2015- )

Before becoming Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman, he was Jimmy McGill, a struggling lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This show shows us how he became Walter White's morally challenged lawyer. This show is so good, and the mix of comedy and drama is just right. Not to mention how good Bob Odenkirk is. 

The Cleveland Show (2009-2013)

A spin-off of Family Guy, it follows Peter Griffin's neighbour Cleveland Brown as he moves with his son to Stoolbend, VA, to start a new life with his old high school sweetheart, Donna, and her two children. It's not nearly as good as Family Guy but I enjoyed the episodes I've seen.

Young Sheldon (2017- )

Sheldon Cooper has always been my favourite character from The Big Bang Theory, mostly because he's the one I can relate the most, and this series follows the early life of Sheldon, a child genius growing up in Texas. If you don't like Sheldon, just watch this and you'll fall in love with him. Iain Armitage is so lovable, Zoe Perry just nails the role of Sheldon's mother and Annie Potts is brilliant as Meemaw. 

Seabiscuit Movie Review

Seabiscuit (2003)

Watch Seabiscuit on Amazon Video
Written by: Laura Hillenbrand (book), Gary Ross (screenplay)
Directed by: Gary Ross
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Cooper, William H. Macy
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
The true story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of the nation.

Verdict
It's an almost prototypical feel good, heartwarming underdog story. Despite insurmountable obstacles the underdog triumphs, and this really pulls out all the stops on the obstacles. The movie also does a great job of contextualizing the story.
Watch it.

Review
Opening with a brief history and the social context of the time, this ties three underdog stories together during the Great Depression.

Tobey Maguire plays Red Pollard.

Charles Howard is a bicycle repair man that ends up becoming the largest steam automobile dealer in the states. We know that industry won't last forever, but a personal tragedy is what ultimately leads him to horse racing. Red Pollard is a well-off kid when the depression hits, forcing him to leave his family and survive by being an amateur boxer and horse jockey. Tom Smith is a horse trainer that's a bit out there.

With that premise, these three men cross paths with a wild colt, Seabiscuit. Tom's an animal lover at heart and Howard trusts his judgement since Howard doesn't know the first thing about horses. Red is willing to ride for anyone that will give him a chance.

There's a nice subtlety to the movie. It knows it doesn't have to show everything, and moments that could be gory are avoided. Things like Howard's sons' tragedy aren't shown. Imagination will fill in the blanks.
Part of that is the time period. This feels a lot like a wholesome 90's movie, on the brink of being too saccharine. The downside to that same feel  is the slower pacing. This has a lot of narration that adds little and frequently cut out to provide context. It does a nice job of building to moments even if it does stack everything against Seabiscuit when we already know the horse will triump.

I do wish the horse felt more like a major player. War Horse (read my review) managed to make the horse feel like a main character, but Seabiscuit is just a means to carry the plot.

 It's a tale of broken people and a broken horse that became a rallying point. People wanted to see something good. It provided hope during desperate times. It's crazy to imagine a sporting event so big today that businesses shut down for a race. While it may have been one of the biggest horse races ever, I don't see a horse race doing that again.

DAILY CALL SHEET: JUNE 27, 2018

Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) Girl group gets gored by a ghostly greaser with a drill-tipped guitar and a dislike for the sexually active. It's Freddy plus Jason doing the Stray Cat Strut. TIL: Chastity is not repression; it appreciates and respects God's gift of sex.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Freaks (1932) - “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss

And finally, here’s one more Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom review for you, this time from Catholic Skywalker who has a problem with the film’s particular sour brand of moral equivalence.

PODCAST 314: Why Don't You Play in Hell? & Neon Maniacs [Movies That Kill Edition]

This week Forest brings his "Oh the Humanity, oh the Japanity" series to an end with Why Don't You Play in Hell? about a filmmaker who allows a Japanese mob movie to bankroll the filming of their own mob war...king of. Cory follows up his House reviews with another odd duck, Neon Maniacs about genre movies that kill...kind of.

CONTINUE READING

Blockers (2018)

I saw the trailer to Blockers months ago which is the reason why I wasn't anything good from it. Actually, I was expecting it to be pretty damn bad which is why I wasn't planning on watching it. Unfortunately for my brain, I read some positive reviews and I watched it. 

Lisa (Leslie Mann), Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) and Mitchell (John Cena) are connected with each other because their teenage daughters, Julie (Kathryn Newton), Sam (Gideon Aldon) and Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan), are friends since they were little. While snooping in Julie's room, they stumble upon their daughters' pact to lose their virginity on prom night so they make their mission to stop them from sealing the deal. 

There's all you need to know about the plot as the film barely has a plot. And it's very clichéd too. The weird and great thing about it is that it is not as shallow as one would think after watching the trailer. There's some sort of coming-of-age plot going on with the adult characters as they realise that teens, their daughters included, need to make their own decision when it comes to sex, and it is quite charming. 

The story also emphasizes how our society, people in general but especially parents, views losing virginity in a completely different way when it comes to girls. If a teen guy does it, it is something to be celebrated; if a teen girl does it, it is some horrific thing that destroyed her innocence forever. Unfortunately, this theme isn't as explored as it should have as it is mentioned only by a couple while arguing. 

The characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, especially the adults, and yet they manage to be quite likeable, with the younger characters being the most interesting of the bunch. The performances, on the other hand, are just decent. 

Universal Pictures

While the film is quite sweet and heartwarming, it is a bit disappointing when it comes to comedy. Though it's not as raunchy as I thought it'd be, and some of the jokes are funny, most of them didn't work for me and there wasn't really a laughing out loud moment in the film. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Movie Review

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow (written by), Michael Crichton (based on characters created by)
Directed by: JA Bayona
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, James Cromwell, B. D. Wong, Jeff Goldblum
Rated: PG-13

Plot
When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

Verdict
This is a lot of dinosaur action and very little cohesive plot. What happens when dinosaurs are brought stateside? A lot of destruction. This attempts plot and character development, but it's always contrived and characters generally make dumb decisions to move the plot forward. Towards the end I was ready to be done. The ending  is annoying, from a reveal that's present just for shock value to the repercussions. While it leaves it open for a sequel, and one is in the works, it's completely unsatisfying. Now I will go watch Jurassic Park (1993).
Skip it.

Review
The original Jurassic Park, based on the Crichton book came out in 1993. Twenty five years later and the movie franchise is still going, sparked by a resurgence when Jurassic World released in 2015 (read my review). Jurassic World was a really big budget B movie, and the sequel is more of the same.

This is much like the first Jurassic World. It throws a lot at you and there is a lot of contrivance. It follows the rule of cool often. We get a big scene or a fun scene, but it's not always logical.

It's not a Jurassic Park/World movie without a roaring T-rex.

There are quite a few throwbacks to the original. It seems to be a mandate that we get a roaring T-rex. The first scene is a group of mercenaries on the Jurassic World site, stealing Indominus Rex DNA from the bottom of the ocean as the park has flooded partially. It's a set the stage scene, much like the 1993 movie's opening. They are attacked of course, but they don't close the gate and let the megladon out, which is dumb. The megladon could have jumped over the wall if it wanted. We see it jumping in these scenes. While it did escape, why didn't it escape sooner?

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire, returning from the first Jurassic World and running a non-profit to save the dinosaurs as the island from Jurassic World has a volcano that will kill all dinosaurs. Should genetically altered dinos returned from the grave live or should nature follow it's course? It's an interesting question that the movie doesn't explore.

John Hammond created Jurassic Park. Has his partner Lockwood ever been mentioned? They play up the name as important and I was wondering if I should know the name. He was Hammond's silent and unknown partner. Until now. I had never heard of him. He tasks Claire with saving the dinosaurs on the island. She recruits Chris Pratt's character Owen.

Mills is the main villain, entrusted to manage Lockwood's estate. In his first scene he seems nice and earnest, but in the next scene when he yells at the grand daughter you just know he's going to turn out bad. While Claire was told she's saving and preserving the dinosaurs, Mills wants to retrieve the dinosaurs and auction them off to the highest bidder. His excuse? It will fund future philanthropic ventures of the estate.

The premise of this movie? What if an auction for dinos found a way.

My biggest question from this movie is about the auction. Did Mills really outfit the basement of the mansion just for this auction? There are dino cages on tracks with various holding cells. This is not something you just have on hand. He built the perfect room for an auction, and this is on top of the lab they have to create new dinos like the laser guide Endo-raptor.
What could possibly go wrong with bringing dinosaurs stateside, putting them in cages and auctioning them off in the basement of your mansion? This is the premise of Fallen Kingdom. Why is it subtitled Fallen Kingdom? From watching the movie I determined the reason is only because it sounds cool.

Jeff Goldblum makes a cameo for no real reason other than fan service. I was surprised he didn't have any cliche lines like, "Life finds a way." There is a lot this movie could cut that wouldn't affect anything. We get two new characters, Franklin and Zia, who work with Claire. Franklin is comic relief, a catch all computer engineer that's afraid of everything. Zia is an outspoken and tough dino vet. You could cut them completely and not lose anything. There's a slightly unhinged mercenary, Wheatley, leading the dino extraction. He double crosses Owen early on. Why would you leave a guy to die instead of finishing the job? The main reason is that if  Wheatley was competent the movie would end before it begins.
Lockwood's grand daughter is part of a big reveal towards the end that goes absolutely nowhere. It's got big implications, but apparently that doesn't matter.

Chris Pratt plays Owen.

This got to a point where I was just waiting for the movie to get to the point, any point. Characters make such dumb decisions just for the sake of the plot. The ending to this is eye roll inducing. From character motivations, to how it unfolds, to the repercussions. It's just dumb. It's the kind of ending that makes the rest of the movie worse, and this already wasn't hitting on much.

Franchise movies have subscribed to the idea of throwing as much on the screen as possible in the hope that something will connect to viewers. These types of movies don't have a point, they are mindless action with huge set pieces, lots of CGI, and the occasional attempt at some kind of plot. The Fast and the Furious franchise, as well as Terminator and even the Marvel movies play to this. I couldn't figure out how Jurassic World did so well at the box office. This follows the same formula and is even worse. I bet it will be a box office smash.