December 5, 2023
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Aimyon, Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Gemma Chan, Hayao Miyazaki, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi, Karen Fukuhara, Ko Shibasaki, Luca Padovan, Mark Hamill, Masaki Suda, Robert Pattinson, Shōhei Hino, Soma Santoki, Takuya Kimura, The Boy and the Heron, Willem Dafoe, Yoshina Kimura
Boy? Or Heron? (CREDIT: GKIDS)
Starring: Japanese Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshina Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Kunimura
English Dubbed Cast: Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Dave Bautista
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Lethal Flames and Freaky-Looking Talking Animals
Release Date: December 8, 2023 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: During the middle of World War II, 12-year-old Mahito’s mother Hisako dies in a hospital fire. One year later, his widowed father Shoichi remarries Hisako’s younger sister, Natsuko, and they all move from Tokyo to the countryside. Everyone at the estate is eager to lavish attention on Mahito, including the gaggle of maids, as well as a strange, persistent grey heron. Soon enough, that bird leads Mahiko into an alternate world where parakeets are the size of humans and Mahito’s missing granduncle is a wizard keeping existence in perfect balance. As the boy and the heron make their way through this parallel plane, the entire fate of his family might just rest upon the success of their journey.
What Made an Impression?: A Thin Line Between Reality and Fantasy: If you had no idea before reading this review that The Boy and the Heron was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, chances are you would’ve figured it out immediately upon reading that synopsis. In his decades-long career of helming animated classics like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Ponyo, Miyazsaki has tapped into eternal childlike wonder by having fantastical realms spring up within the confines of real world settings. Mahito’s trip into the alternate reality is so gradual that it almost feels like this sort of thing could happen to anybody who’s watching. It certainly helps that his situation always remains tethered to his starting point. That’s the sort of magic that Miyazaki is famous for, and it’s just as potent as it’s always been.
Seeking Harmony: Mahito’s world is in flux in pretty much every imaginable way on both grand and intimate scales. He’s been displaced by war, he’s lost a parent, and now animals are talking to him! No wonder the ultimate message of The Boy and the Heron is about putting everything back in balance. Mahito’s granduncle faces a mighty foe in this struggle in the form of the king of the parakeets, which feels a bit like avian slander, but in the context of the story, it works appropriately enough. Anyway, by the end of the movie, it’s kind of questionable whether or not full balance has actually been maintained. But perhaps that’s because the story is not really over. Mahito will be an adult soon enough, and this is exactly the sort of formative experience he could use to make sure that he grows up to be a valuable citizen of the world.
Subs vs. Dubs: And finally, I’ll offer a note about whether you should seek out the subtitled or dubbed version of The Boy and the Heron. I saw the former, which I generally prefer when it comes to foreign-language films, because I like to hear the native tongue, and I usually have the captions on anyway even when I’m watching something in English. But in this case I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see the dubbed version, because the English voice cast looks so promising. I’ll probably have to check it out eventually just so that I can hear Dave Bautista as the Parakeet King. If you have a choice between one or the other, I think you’ll be fine either way. And if you have the time and the inclination, then go ahead and give both versions a whirl!
The Boy and the Heron is Recommended If You Like: Miyazaki in general, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Aflac Duck
Grade: 4 out of 5 Parakeets
October 25, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alessandro Nivola, Amsterdam, Andrea Riseborough, anya taylor-joy, Beth Grant, Chris Rock, Christian Bale, David O. Russell, Decision to Leave, Ed Beglery Jr., Gina Prince-Bythewood, Go Kyung-po, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, John David Washington, Johyn Boyega, Jordan Bolger, Jung Yi-seo, Lashana Lynch, Lee Jung-hyun, Margot Robbie, Matthias Schoenerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Park Chan-wook, Park Hae-il, Park Yong-woo, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Sheila Atim, Tang Wei, Taylor Swift, The Woman King, Thuso Mbedu, Timothy Olyphant, Viola Davis, Zoe Saldana
2 Women, 1 King (CREDIT: Sony Pictures Entertainment)
The Woman King:
Starring: Thuso Mbedu, Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Jordan Bolger, Johyn Boyega, Hero Fiennes Tiffin
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: September 16, 2022 (Theaters)
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July 12, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Ariane Labed, Asa Butterfield, Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Fatima Mohamed, Flux Gourmet, Gwendoline Christie, Jaimie Alexander, Leo Bill, Makis Papaditriou, Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU, Natalie Portman, Peter Strickland, Richard Bremer, Russell Crowe, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, Thor, Thor: Love and Thunder
CREDIT: Marvel Entertainment/Screenshot; IFC Films
Thor: Love and Thunder
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe
Director: Taika Waititi
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: July 8, 2022
Flux Gourmet
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie, Ariane Labed, Fatima Mohamed, Makis Papaditriou, Leo Bill, Richard Bremer
Director: Peter Strickland
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Release Date: June 24, 2022 (Theaters and On Demand)
Wow, here I am, a few days older and a few days wiser from having taken in a couple of the latest cinematic offerings. As Thor: Love and Thunder began, I felt invigorated by the current state of the MCU in which we’re not just building up to the latest chapter. Or, we are, but it’s not thuddingly obvious what direction we’re headed in. That felt freeing! But then after a while, I was worried that I had lost the plot – what was the deal with the kids again? At least we had a lot of fun with Russell Crowe’s Zeus. I wondered why he was doing an Italian accent, and then I realized it must be Greek, so that was a journey.
As for Flux Gourmet, the uncertainty was even more ever-present. Partly that was because I’ve never seen any other movie quite like this, but more pertinently it was because I kept nodding off. I guess I need to institute precautions when drinking vodka lemonades during a mid-afternoon show. Anyway, this flick ultimately struck me as most relevant in dramatizing what it’s like to be diagnosed with celiac disease. And any part not expressly about that was probably still metaphorically about it.
Grades:
Thor: Love and Thunder: More Love, Decent Thunder
Flux Gourmet: Straightforward Flatulence, Everything Else in Flux
June 22, 2020
jmunney
Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Cinema
Alicia Vikander, Amy Adams, Barkhad Abdi, Best of the 2010s, Best of the Decade, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Daniel Radcliffe, Denis Lavant, Elisabeth Moss, Ethan Hawke, Florence Pugh, Hugh Jackman, Isabelle Huppert, J.K. Simmons, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Franco, james mcavoy, Jennifer Lawrence, John Goodman, Judi Dench, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Pierre Coffin, Rosamund Pike, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tom Hardy, Uma Thurman
CREDIT: YouTube Screenshots
Back in April, I revealed my lists of the best podcasts, TV shows, TV episodes, albums, songs, and movies of the 2010s. I declared that that was it for my Best of the Decade curating for this particular ten-year cycle. But now I’m back with a few more, baby! I’ve been participating in a series of Best of the 2010s polls with some of my online friends, and I wanted to share my selections with you. We’re including film performances, TV performances, directors, and musical artists, so get ready for all that.
First up is Film Performances. Any individual performance from any movie released between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019 was eligible, whether it was live-action, voice-only, or whatever other forms on-screen acting take nowadays. For actors who played the same character in multiple movies, each movie was considered separately.
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December 2, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
24 Hours of Le Mans, Catriona Balfe, Christian Bale, Ford v Ferrari, James Mangold, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Le Mans 66, Matt Damon, Noah Jupe, Ray McKinnon, Remo Girone, Tracy Letts
CREDIT: Twentieth Century Fox
I’m not sure what the message of Ford v Ferrari is, and I’m not sure if that’s a mostly good or mostly bad thing. (We could be doing a lot worse in this world!) Is it about how you can’t ever stop American individualism from being as individual as possible? Or is it about how the United States won’t ever stay an underdog for long, even in pursuits usually dominated by the Europeans? If it’s either of those, then why is the main character an Englishman? Maybe it’s about how teammates stick with each other no matter what, and the whole American-ness of it all just be how it be. Certainly what stuck with me the most is the friendship between Christian Bale’s vroom-vroom-goer Ken Miles and Matt Damon’s vroom-vroom-guider Carroll Shelby. It’s an oft-contentious relationship, which only makes sense when you’re gearing up for a race that lasts a full day. Such competition, such support, such politics behind the whole affair – I saw it all!
I give Ford v Ferrari 240 out of 360 Laps.
December 17, 2018
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam McKay, Alison Pill, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Dick Cheney, Eddie Marsan, Jesse Plemons, Justin Kirk, Lily Rabe, LisaGay Hamilton, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Tyler Perry, VICE
CREDIT: Matt Kennedy/Annapurna Pictures
This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Jesse Plemons, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe, Justin Kirk, Tyler Perry, LisaGay Hamilton, Eddie Marsan
Director: Adam McKay
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Rating: R for Profanity in the Halls of Power and Images of War and Torture
Release Date: December 25, 2018
If I’m understanding Vice correctly, then Adam McKay believes that Dick Cheney (here embodied by Christian Bale) is directly or indirectly responsible for everything that is wrong with the current state of American politics. That actually is not as much of a stretch as it sounds. During his eight years as vice president, Cheney wielded a degree of influence that was profoundly unprecedented for the position. The conventional wisdom is that his views on executive power and surveillance now represent the status quo for whoever is occupying the White House. Thus, McKay is not so far off the reservation to imply all that he is implying. But he may have bitten off a little more than he can chew with the expansiveness of his argument. He was similarly ambitious with The Big Short, but that earlier effort is more durable to scrutiny because there he laid the responsibility on forces that were perpetrated both actively and passively by many people. It may very well turn out to be true that Cheney’s influence is as wide-ranging as McKay claims – it’s just tricky to say so about a person who is still living.
Interestingly enough, that tenuousness is baked right into the script. If not for a few key decisions, the life of Dick Cheney, and ergo America, could have played out very differently. Without the presence of his wife Lynne (Amy Adams conjuring Lady Macbeth), he could have ended up a drunk nobody. And if not for his propensity to see life like a chess match in which he is ten moves ahead of everyone else, there might be no Patriot Act, ISIS, or extreme income inequality.
The thesis of Vice is that it was all so close to going differently. Through fourth-wall breaking and formal experimentation (like playing the end credits halfway through), the message is that all that we have been living through was not foreordained. Some may find that frightening, as it indicates that we are always on the precipice of disaster. And McKay’s propensity to cut to random footage of pop culture ephemera may come off as a lamentation that we are too distracted to do anything about it. But I actually see encouragement. You don’t have to like Cheney for him to be an inspiration. If you have a problem with the way things are in the country right now, maybe you can see an opportunity where everyone else sees the masses placated by “Wassup!” commercials. I’m not sure how well Vice works as a movie, but I choose to see it as an exhortation to make things right.
Vice is Recommended If You Like: The Big Short, Oliver Stone’s political thrillers, The Daily Show, Fourth-wall breaking
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Unitary Executive Theories
December 19, 2017
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam Beach, Ben Foster, Bill Camp, Christian Bale, Hostiles, Jesse Plemons, Q’orianka Kilcher, Rory Cochrane, Rosamund Pike, Scott Cooper, Stephen Lang, Wes Studi
CREDIT: Lorey Sebastian/Yellow Hawk, Inc.
This review was originally posted on News Cult in December 2017.
Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Adam Beach, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ben Foster, Bill Camp, Stephen Lang
Director: Scott Cooper
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Rating: R for Western Hostility
Release Date: December 22, 2017 (Limited)
Christian Bale excels at playing men who are forced into carrying the weight of a profoundly demanding mission, whether by their own volition or due to leverage someone else holds over them. The Dark Knight’s “the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now” is basically that status as personal credo. In the 1892-set Western Hostiles (Bale’s second collab with his Out of the Furnace director Scott Cooper), he plays a much more reluctant protagonist, an Army captain forced to deliver a Cheyenne chief and his family back to tribal lands, under threat of losing his pension if he refuses. He looks like he hasn’t bathed in years; that stink and his impressive mustache tangibly represent the brunt he is under.
Ergo, Captain Bale (Captain Joseph Blocker is his character name) is filled with a lot of hostility, and he is surrounded by a lot of low-grade or full-blown hostility, whether it be from his fellow soldiers, the suicidal widow (Rosamund Pike) whose family was recently slaughtered, his Cheyenne transports, or the natives that ambush them. We might have our winner for Most Accurate Title of the Year right here.
While nobody in this film is particularly heroic, I do worry that its portrayal of Native Americans hearkens back to a more racist tradition of Westerns. The opening scene presents a group of Comanches at their most savage. For no clear reason, they burn down a family’s home, skinning the father’s scalp and mercilessly killing him and his two young daughters. I am sure that some natives were actually this brutal in late-19th century frontier America, and I do not mean to say that I think that Hostiles is implying that all of them (or all of this particular tribe) were this awful. But the fact that this worst version is all we see of them and that this portrayal is presented so bluntly is concerning.
At least we can appreciate at the aesthetic pleasures (or anti-pleasures, really) with fewer moral qualms. If you ever wanted to see Ben Foster tied up in the cold, muddy rain at night, Hostiles is the film for you. Cooper’s designs for how icky and uninviting nature gets without modern amenities is thoroughly harsh. Lovingly so, even (at least the crafty attention to detail is loving). You’ll probably want to shower afterwards, in a cathartic sort of way, or if you’re a 19th century fetishist, you’ll run right out and find the closest available barren lands.
Hostiles is Recommended If You Like: John Wayne and Clint Eastwood at their most rugged
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Hostiles
April 20, 2017
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Angela Sarafyan, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, James Cromwell, Oscar Isaac, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Terry George, The Promise
This review was originally published on News Cult in April 2017.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale
Director: Terry George
Running Time: 134 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Acknowledging Crimes of Humanity Against Humanity
Release Date: April 21, 2017
This February’s Bitter Harvest strove for epic love against the real-life backdrop of the Soviet Ukrainian famine of the 1930’s. The effort to shine a light on an oft-ignored chapter in history was admirable, but the tame dramatization resulted in a less-than-memorable story. The Promise operates by much the same principles of historical examination but ends up with something more compelling, thanks to a more complicated romantic scenario. The setting in this case is especially relevant: the World War I-era systematic extermination of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire, which the Turkey (Ottoman’s successor) to this day refuses to refer to as “genocide.” If shots of fleeing Armenians can stir up empathy for today’s refugees, then The Promise will prove its worth in at least one way.
Furthering the Bitter Harvest comparison, The Promise is the latest in a long line of American-produced historical epics with questionable casting. There are some Armenians and Turks among the supporting cast, but the main players consist of a mix of Guatemalan (Oscar Isaac), Iranian (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and French Canadian (Charlotte Le Bon, although at least in her case she is playing an Armenian raised in Paris). Even the main American is played by a Welsh-Englishman!
I am not systematically opposed to an actor’s ethnicity not matching up with the character, but when a movie is about the attempted destruction of an entire people, and only one of the principal roles is played by a member of that people (Westworld’s Angela Sarafyan), the optics do not look great. Isaac’s accent work is solid, and he brings so much decency to his performance such that his lack of Middle Eastern heritage does not detract from the film’s overall quality. Still, it is worth considering this issue from a business and humanistic standpoint.
The Promise illuminates how emotional and familial well-being are insignificant but also essential in the face of widespread disaster. The synopses I have encountered have billed this as a love triangle, but it is really more of a quadrangle. Armenian villager Mikael (Isaac) moves to Constantinople for medical school, which he can afford thanks to the dowry he receives after agreeing to marry fellow villager Maral (Sarafyan). While in school, he meets and falls in love with Ana (Le Bon). She quite passionately reciprocates his feelings, though she is married to American journalist Chris (Bale).
As war breaks out, the story takes a turn toward labor camps, escapes under cover of night, and attempts to flee the country. The romantic rivals are allies in the greater struggle of exposing the truth and rescuing their loved ones. Isaac conveys the burden and resolve of a man bound by duty that is at odds with his once-in-a-lifetime romance. When he and Bale share the screen, the tension is riveting – you are never sure if they will punch or hug each other. This is the struggle of an existence driven by both emotions and morals. When humanity – both the principle and the population – is threatened with extinction, living right and living passionately still must find a way.
The Promise is Recommended If You Like: Atonement, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan
Grade: 3 out of 5 Sacrifices
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