Movie Review: Materialists

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

An extremely charming romance. 

Celine Song once again proves herself as the one of the best directors/writers of romance films. While this may not reach the same heights as Past Lives, it is still a wonderful movie in its own right. This story of a matchmaker who becomes dis-illusioned with her job and with love in general, works perfectly as a charming romance, while also having a great deal more depth than the average romantic film. Most romantic movies are lighthearted fluff and basic wish fulfillment. Even the ones that claim to have a more cynical edge really don't. This movie on the other hand captures the more cynical age we live in today, while always keeping a glimmer of hope. As the title suggests, this film takes a look at the outward artifice that consumes are world today but also admitting how hard it can be to break away from that artifice. It offers hope to those who are lonely and feel that love can't happen for them, while simultaneously offering no easy answers. While in many ways this may still be the type of romantic wish fulfillment seen in your typical romcom, it rings truer and feels more honest than what in you see in typical romcom fluff. 

This movie also benefits from an incredible cast. One can tell that Celine Song is moving up in the film world by having a cast that includes such A-list stars as Dakoata Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. However, none of them feel like they were cast for star power alone. Each is perfect for their respective roles, and it doesn't take long into the film until we stop seeing the actors and just see the characters. The chemistry between the three leads is wonderful as well. As soon as you see Dakoata Johnson and Chris Evans' characters share the screen, you want to see them end up together. At the same time, you can feel the attraction and excitement between Dakoata Johnson and Pedro Pascal's characters. The story may follow some typical romcom conventions and you will probably see the ending coming. Despite this through strong storytelling, good dialogue, great acting, lovable (though flawed) characters and a smart and intelligent look at the world around us, the film is completely captivating from start to finish. 

Another must see from one of the best up and coming filmmakers.          

Logan (2017)

 

Logan was intended as the finale for Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine (though he would later return in Deadpool and Wolverine (2024)) and it would also be the last of be the last of the Wolverine solo trilogy (which also included X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013)).

This film takes place in the year 2029. It is believed that no new mutants have been born in 25 years and Wolverine's healing ability is slowing down causing me to start aging. He has become an emotional self-loathing wreck and is no longer acting like the superhero he once was. He is also taking care of Charles Xavier, who is dying. However, he discovers that there is in fact a new mutant, a child who was created using Wolverine's DNA, he must once again become a hero to protect her. 

From the start, the X-Men movies have had a darker and more serious tone than the majority of superhero films. This film takes this to a whole new level and stands as one of the most mature and smartest superhero films ever made. This movie feels gritter and more realistic than most superhero movies, while still feeling like a superhero film. Though there are action scenes here, this movie mostly plays as a serious drama and much of the story takes a slower pace. This works perfectly as it sucks you into the dystopian world of the film and into the minds of these characters. However, what makes this stand out from the previous entries in this trilogy is that it perfectly understands the character of Wolverine and delves into all the complexities of this character. You understand everything that makes this character far from your typical superhero but one who will reluctantly do that right thing when it counts. With a smaller cast of main characters then your typical X-Men film, this movie can delve into these characters in a greater way and that is just what it does. Laura (the kid with Wolverine's DNA) is a surprisingly deep and complex character, while barely saying a word for the majority of the runtime. She is a highly sympathetic and believable character, while also being one who often gives in to the animal-like instincts that Wolverine has learned how to control better. Charles Xavier has also rarely been better and more complex than he is here. With all this the movie is able to truly play on your heart strings making this a deeply moving and powerful film. These emotions can make this hard to watch at times but incredibly rewarding at the same time. These darker moments are balanced out by some very strong humor (even if it is less humor than there is in previous X-Men movies) and exciting action scenes (albeit very gory ones).

James Mangold returned to direct this film after directing The Wolverine. About making this film Mangold said, "Hugh and I have been talking about what we would do since we were working on the last one, and for both of us it was this requirement that, to be even interested in doing it, we had to free ourselves from some assumptions that had existed in the past, and be able to change the tone a bit. Not merely to change for change’s sake, but also to make something that’s speaking to the culture now, that’s not just the same style — how many times can they save the world in one way or another? How can we construct a story that’s built more on character and character issues, in a way as if it almost wasn’t a superhero movie, yet it features their powers and struggles and themes?”  He expanded on the difference between this and other superhero movies by stating, “We are in the future, we have passed the point of the epilogue of Days Of Future Past. We’re finding all these characters in circumstances that are a little more real. The questions of ageing, of loneliness, of where I belong. Am I still useful to the world? I saw it as an opportunity. We’ve seen these characters in action, saving the universe. But what happens when you’re in retirement and that career is over?” About allowing Wolverine to age he stated, “One of the things we all thought about as we worked on this film is, well, we don’t want to rebuild everything. We want to have some questions. In order to make a different Logan, and a different tone of a Wolverine movie, we felt like we couldn’t hold on to every tradition established in all the movies religiously, or we’d be trapped by the decisions made before us. So, we questioned whether Logan’s healing factor causes him to heal without even a scar. We imagined that it may have when he was younger, but with age, he’s getting older and ailing. Perhaps his healing factor no longer produces baby-soft skin. So we imagined he heals quickly, still, but it leaves a scar. The simple idea was that his body would start to get a little more ravaged with a kind of tattooing of past battles, lacerations that remain of previous conflicts.” Mangold co-wrote this movie with Scott Frank (Get Shorty (1995), Out of Sight (1998), Minority Report (2002), Marley & Me (2008) and Michael Green (Smallville, Green Lantern (2011), Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), Alien: Covenant (2017), Jungle Cruise (2021)). This was Michael Green's only X-Men film, while Scott Frank had worked on The Wolverine. 

The trailer for this movie featured Johnny Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, Hurt. Mangold is obviously a Johnny Cash fan having directed the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line (2005). However, this is not the only reason the song was used. Mangold would state, “Obviously I have a connection and a fondness for Johnny Cash, and his tone and his message and his music. But the real driver in all these decisions is trying to separate ourselves, in an accurate way, from the other superhero movies. We think we’re going to deliver something a little different and we want to make sure we’re selling audiences on the difference. Sometimes even when a movie’s a little different, the studio’s trying to market the movie just like all the others. [Cash’s] music, in a way, separates us from the standard, bombastic, brooding orchestral, swish-bang, doors opening and slamming, explosions kind of methodology of some of these movies.” Over the end credits of the actual film, Johnny Cash's original song, The Man Comes Around, plays. Both songs come from John's highly emotional 2002 album, The Man Comes Around, which was made at a time when John himself was much older and weaker than the young rebel, fans had fallen in love with in the 1950's and 60's. This perfectly fits the themes and the emotional urgency of this movie. 

This movie grossed $619.2 million worldwide with a budget of $97 million. This makes it in the top 19 highest grossing R-rated movies of all time. The critical response was incredibly positive, and it has a 93% critic rating on Rotton Tomatoes. 

Resources Used

https://collider.com/logan-timeline-explained-james-mangold/#images

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3315342/

https://www.simbasible.com/logan-movie-review/

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

This remake is well made but not well made enough to justify its own existence. 

In my opinion the point of a remake should be to bring a new take to a familiar story. That is why I can never understand movies like this. This is not a new movie or a new take in the slightest. This is the same exact movie except in live action instead of being animated. There are no changes to the story and the dialogue is copied almost verbatim. When a remake is this faithful, its existence is simply nothing but cash grab. For a cinematic experience, Dreamworks could have simply re-released the animated version and the experience would have been greater. Yet not as many people would have come to the theater to see that. The result instead is an imitation of the same thing. It is a well-made imitation but still just an imitation. 

Unlike in many of the Disney remakes, the live action filmmaking is very well done (the director is Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the animated film). The cinematography looks great. While the live action sets can't fully recapture the magic of the look of the animated film, they come as close as live action sets can. While not outstanding, the acting is quite good. The emotional beats of the story still hit quite well. 

Nothing about this movie is bad and quite a bit is good. However, that can't overcome the pure lack of any creativity in this copy and paste effort.  

Gay Purr-ee (1962)

 

Gay Purr-ee is a truly delightful, animated feature film from the 1960's. It is sad that such a lovely movie should have not only been completely underappreciated in its day and nearly forgotten today. It is high time this movie is appreciated for the pure charmer it is. 

In this animated film, Mewsette is a cat living on a French farm in the country. Tired of her country life, she dreams of a glamorous life in Paris. She hitches a ride on a carriage heading to Paris. However, when she reaches the big city, her naiveté is taken advantage of by a seemingly sophisticated cat named Meowrice, whose motives are anything but virtuous.

Charming is the best word to describe this movie. Many critics of the day (and some today) criticize the film for being too simplistic for adults and too sophisticated for children. Yet it is exactly the mixture of these elements that endears this movie so much to me. I find the simplicity and straight forwardness of the story very charming. In this way it feels like an old-fashioned story book in the best way possible. The sophistication of the artwork and the humor to me brings a sense of authenticity to this simple Paris based story. There is a delightful stylization to much of the artwork that makes the whole film simply a joy to look at. Many of the backgrounds look like French paintings and fully immerse you in this world. The humor is often cleverer and more sophisticated than it is actually funny. One of the best moments of this sophisticated humor is when we see Mewsette drawn in the style of various French painters. While not exactly funny, this is incredibly lovely. Yet this sophisticated humor fits the film to a tea. To me the sophistication brings this movie a real sense of atmosphere, while the simplicity brings a real sense of charm. Both elements work together to create a delightfully unique and lovely film.   

If there is one complaint to have about this movie, it is that it is obvious that the filmmakers did not have the same budget that was given to those making animated features for Disney. There are times when the animation is as limited as what was being made for TV at the time. However, the wonderful artwork often makes up for this fault. 

One of this film's greatest assets is having Judy Garland as the voice of Mewsette. Her career was going through a major revival around this time. In 1961 she had released what is considered to be one of the greatest live albums of all time, Judy at Carnegie Hall. This album was not only an artistic triumph but also a massive hit spending 13 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard charts. She had received critical acclaim for her dramatic role in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). She also had a CBS Television special on the horizon. She spent three weeks in November 1961 recording her voice for this her first and only animated movie. She was paid $50,000 plus 10% of the gross. She took to voice acting like a duck to water. She brings a real charm and likability to this role, while also seeming so authentic that you forgot that a well-known actress is voicing the character. Her singing voice is also in great form here and she sounds incredible in each of her song numbers. 

This movie reunites Judy with song writers Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. This was the songwriting team that penned the songs for the film Judy is best remembered for The Wizard of Oz (1939). In this film the team is at their best and every song is a pure delight. Some of these songs show the team at their absolute best. Little Drops of Rain and Paris is a Lonely Town are true musical classics perfectly enhanced by the vocal talents of Judy Garland. 

As well as Judy Garland this film also features a great cast of actors some (like Judy) best known for their live action work and other experienced cartoon voice actors. This includes such talent as Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Paul Frees, Hermione Gingold, Morey Amsterdam, Mel Blanc, Joan Gardner and Julie Bennett. 

This marked the second and final feature length movie to be released by the UPA studio (the first being the Mr. Magoo feature 1001 Arabian Nights (1959)) and the only one not to feature any of UPAs characters from their theatrical cartoon shorts. The film was based off of a story written by animation legend Chuck Jones and his wife Dorothy. Chuck was working at Warner Brothers at the time and the heads of the Warners cartoon studio were unhappy with Chuck having moonlighted. This caused a rift that ended with Chuck leaving the studio. He would go on to work at MGM, where he would produce 34 Tom and Jerry shorts and would direct the holiday TV classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). The movie was directed by Abe Levitow. Levitow had worked as an animator on some of Chuck's Warner Brothers cartoons. His association with Chuck would continue after this. He would direct some of the Chuck Jones produced Tom and Jerry shorts and him and Chuck would later co-direct the live action-animation feature film, The Phantom Tollbooth (1970). For UPA Levitow would direct a Christmas TV classic, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962). Regular Jones animators Ben Washam and Ken Harris also worked on this film. 

Unfortunately, this movie was a box-office failure, but I hope that soon it will be reassessed by cartoon lovers, Judy Garland fans and movie buffs. It certainly deserves more attention and love than it gets. 

Resources Used

The Animated Movie Guide Edited by Jerry Beck

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76058/gay-purr-ee#articles-reviews?articleId=613079

Video Link: Celebrating Judy Garland On Her Birthday (Compilation) | TCM

Classic Short Film: Bubbles (1930)

Happy birthday Judy.

All-New Super Friends Hour: Day of the Rats

 

This is the fourth segment of the twelfth episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest. 

In this cartoon, Batman, Robin and Black Vulcan team up team up to stop a rat infestation in Gotham City. 

This is a fun little episode. We see Gotham City too little in this series and seeing it here truly helps give this episode a unique feel. The dark lighting and the urban setting give this episode an almost film-noir type of look that fits this storyline perfectly. The background art and lighting are perfect here, truly bringing the setting to life. The design of the rats here is also perfect, as they have a delightfully creepy look that helps give this almost a light horror vibe that works quite well. This cartoon also has some great action and suspense scenes. The scene with the elevator is especially exciting and well handled. 

If anything works against this cartoon, it is that the short runtime work against it. The segment seems to end as soon as it begins, and this makes the conclusion feel rushed and too easy. 

All in all, this is a very well-made cartoon.