Moonlight

The hype was real! I expected big things, and very possibly even a new "favorite movie of 2016." Almost! For now, I'll give it the silver. The Lobster was just exactly what I want from a movie, guys. I make no apologies for that! But I'm not here to talk about The Lobster. Let's talk Moonlight.

This was quieter and gentler than I expected it to be, but also even stronger - and that soft confidence stems primarily from the trio of performances that constituted the main character through the years. (Oh yeah - if you didn't know, this is gay black Boyhood.) It's a subtle movie, but one that i'd be impossible to call pretentious. There's no hidden meaning here, no red herring, nothing "tricky." There's a boy. He becomes a teen, and then a man. He comes from circumstances, as people do. And it gets better. This is that story - loss of innocence, newfound confidence, and that awkward middle portion in between. (High school sucks, right?)

Now, La La Land is probably going to win Best Picture at the Oscars. I have some thoughts on that, but hey, whatever. That said, up until a month or two ago, Moonlight was the odds on favorite to win Best Picture. And it still might! But now that I've seen it, I don't think so. This is so vehemently not Oscar bait. It's a reserved, low-budget, low-concept movie without any star power or big names attached to it. Manchester by the Sea has a better shot. Hell, Arrival has a better shot. But here I go again, talking about movies that aren't Moonlight!

Moonlight was very, very good. Five stars. Mahershala Ali was just outstanding, captivating. Naomie Harris may have quietly been even better. What a genuine-feeling goddamn delight this was!

Rams

This isn't even one I'd heard great things about. Mixed things, more like it. But - but! - it's Icelandic as fuck and I loved just about everything about Iceland when I went there. Big fan, folks. So I gave this a shot. Ninety minutes, why not?

It was fine. Really nothing memorable. Had all the makings of a two-star movie right up until the ending, which was touching enough for that extra half star. Make sense? Anyway, this was middle of the road stuff, this here. You can safely ignore it.

Embrace of the Serpent

How much do the Oscars matter? I saw this movie appearing on a handful of 2016 year-end best lists and finally checked it out, only to learn (remember?) that it was a 2015 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film. Gah! (I still really want to see 2015 winner Son of Saul though.)

It was decent! Not great. I wanted more.

Two pet peeves with this one. One, despite taking place in the Amazon Rainforest, it was shot in black and white. I get what they were going for, I think; so much of the film's theme revolves around white outsiders (and by extension, we, the audience) vs. natives who live in the jungle, know the jungle, understand the jungle in ways they and we never will. So by desaturating it completely, you can make it feel extra alien, extra off-putting - not to mention extra old, which, hey, the movie takes place in the early 20th century, so why not? But still! It's the Amazon goddamn Rainforest! So lush and so green! Gimme that Planet Earth-quality nature footage. Wow me like Terrence Malick, "mood" and "atmosphere" and "vibes" be damned. (Eh. Fine. It's probably a lesser movie if it's in color.)

Second one - the movie's in nine different languages and none of them are English. (This in and of itself is fine.) So naturally it's subtitled. But holy hell, have you ever tried reading shadow-free white subtitles on a black and white background? Gimme those gross ugly yellow things, movie. Come on!

Alright, these complaints are weak as hell.

Batman: The Telltale Series

I've seen Batman in a vast array of different forms. There's been Robins who have put on the cowl, a universe where Batman becomes the Green Lantern (or the Bat-Lantern, if you will), even a version of Batman that's fulfilled by his father, Thomas Wayne, who uses a bunch a of guns and battles an alternate form of the Joker—his wife, Martha Wayne. Needless to say, in a world that has seemingly exhausted this character to death, what else is there left to do?

I guess that's only limited by your imagination, something that the folks at Telltale Games seem to have no boundaries on. Batman: The Telltale Series takes the Batman we know and love and throws him into the interactive narrative style I've also become accustomed to in other Telltale Games like The Wolf Among Us or The Walking Dead (never played the Game of Thrones versions, though). The main focus for this adaptation is to move away from the actual Dark Knight and put attention on the man behind the cowl, Bruce Wayne. 

By stripping Bruce from his armor, we get a more vulnerable and dynamic hero. We get to see how Bruce's politics in the public can actually help shape Gotham and, in turn, the characters who live in it. As with most "choose your own adventure" games, I'm always curious by how impactful my decisions are on the story. For instance, take the game Life is Strange. Stan and I both played this game and thoroughly enjoyed it, yet we had the same frustration -- our choices, however different, didn't seem to change the ending. The game will conclude on one final choice no matter how you play. You would think, in a game where all you do is make decisions, there should be a whole host of endings to land on... not just one. Thus is the downfall to some of these decision-focused games.

That said, I don't feel like Batman suffers from this problem (I say having only one play through). The main reason I have some level of confidence my decisions truly do create a whole slew of different narrative timelines is because when comparing notes with Sweeney, I realized that we managed to get two completely different Harvey Dents. Sween's Dent went the classic route of becoming Two-Face where I managed save Dent's face from being mangled (note: that didn't change him from becoming an evil asshole, though). OK, they may not be radical departures from one another, but they do carry slightly different paths and potentially different side stories. That in itself is satisfying. 

In these "choose your own adventure" style games, it's just more satisfying to see your decisions mean something. And through my decisions as Bruce Wayne I feel like I had the opportunity to see a Batman I don't normally encounter in other material. Yeah, I still played Wayne as the good guy rather than a raving lunatic, but, still... the fact that I got to put more attention on seeing how the public views Wayne, therefore relating to what public power he has, was a really interesting perspective. 

While the story was an interesting addition to the Batman-world, I do have some gripes—mostly being game glitches. Seriously, Telltale... this was borderline embarrassing for a developer with over a decade of experience. Scenes would have frequent loss of frame rates. Lag would often occur when making narrative decisions. Hell, one scene Martha Wayne completely lost her face. 

No wonder Bruce is haunted by the death of his parents. That's the face of nightmares!

Now, even the best of games will encounter the occasional glitch. Just look at Bethesda and Skyrim. That game is loaded with delightfully funny glitches that could cause characters to float off into the heavens for no reason at all. Then again, if this Batman title was an open-world sandbox game as massive as Skyrim, I might let it slide. But these Telltale games seem fairly straightforward. Sure, I know next to nothing when it comes to video game development and coding, however, it seems like these problems could be avoided in a game as linear as these. 

Whatever. A small gripe, but one I've seem to continuously notice in various Telltale titles. It's not going to prevent me from playing these games in the future, just a small wish it could be improved upon. But don't let my whiny complaint convince you that this game isn't worth playing. Far from it. Regardless if you're a Batman fan or not, this is a fairly quick play that's sure to entertain. 

Not to mention there will likely be a sequel. One based on some weird guy you first meet and build an innocuous relationship in this game. 

Seemed like a fairly gentle fellow. Wonder what could go wrong?

Krisha

Okay, I admit - I'm cranking out short 2016 movies at this point. This one's another eighty-minute breeze and it comes from A24, who can do no wrong it seems. Eh. I didn't love this. It was very well done, no question, but it depicts an older woman, an addict, struggling throughout a Thanksgiving weekend with her extended dysfunctional family. It was raw and messy and just felt very "slice of life," but it's not a life I wanted to be part of for even just eighty minutes. I realize that's the point - it must be emotionally exhausting both to be an addict and to deal with a loved one struggling with substance abuse. I dunno! This just wasn't for me. Still, can't call it a bad movie or even a boring one, and most other people seemed to really enjoy it.

The Fits

I liked this one a whole lot, but there really isn't much to it. (Which may have been what I liked about it.) Almost every character in this is a young black woman (there's one notable slightly less young black guy) and it takes place in a Cincinnati school and gym. The plot, inasmuch as there is one, revolves around an epidemic of shaking and seizures ("the fits") that seems to be affecting the girls on a dance team one by one, starting with the older girls, then working its way down the social totem pole. Main character Toni isn't worried about the fits at first, then resents her same-aged friends for having them, and the movie ends with - spoilers, yeah, but none of you are going to watch this - Toni enduring her own bout of the fits. Guys, the fits are a metaphor! Thin-as-hell story aside, I loved the way this thing was shot, the way it felt, the way it used nothing but first-time (and likely last-time) actors who were just inner city Cincinnati kids. It's eighty minutes long and on Amazon Prime if you feel like checking out some solid, simple film making.

The Little Prince

Can't stop won't stop. Gotta keep cranking out these 2016 movies so I can properly reflect on the year that was by the time the Oscars roll around in two weeks.

This? This was fine. Felt a lot like a Pixar movie, maybe ten percent less overtly cute and funny, ten percent more effectively poignant and sad.

A Bigger Splash

Sometimes a Letterboxd review suffices, and I feel okay about this one:

Hedonistic like a modern day Great Gatsby - less poignant, but funnier, sexier. This is one where rich, white rockstars saunter lazily around an Italian island with their friends and lovers. Everyone is barefoot and at least half-naked all the time and everything is flirting and jealousy and seduction. Ralph Fiennes is phenomenal here, all giggling and excited and dancing terribly and just having a fucking blast. Swinton's much more reserved, her character recovering from vocal chord surgery, her performance coming largely through stilted smiles and sunglasses. Struggles in the third act, exchanging the fun, decadent vibes for more of a straight farce, but Fiennes' party-loving goober alone makes it all worth it.

This is on HBO right now and while I can't think of anyone on the blog who'd like it more than I did, I mean, check it out if you like. This Ralph Fiennes performance is criminally underrated.

The Dresden Files: Changes (Book #12)

Twelve books in and I'm beginning to lose track of what's happening in these stories. For instance, as I'm typing out the title of this post, I blindly write in "book 11" before questioning myself, "Wait? Was this the eleventh book?" To double-check myself, I searched online to see book #11 was actually Turn Coat, the previous book I read and the series, and -- for the life of me -- I couldn't tell you what happened in that story. I know it has something to do with someone betraying someone else... but, ugh... my mind is a little frazzled keeping all these events in order. It's all turning into this magical stew of Die Hard-like action. 

That said, I don't think I'll have that same problem with this book. Changes is by far the most epic story to occur in the Dresden series... so far. The story opens with a huge spoiler -- Quite literally the first line of the novel is a bombshell of a reveal. And from that huge reveal, to story goes into high gear. Pulling in characters (both good and evil) from the entire franchise to build towards the largest fight Dresden has ever faced.

Changes is an appropriate title to this story as everything the readers have come to know and love about Dresden and his life are turned on their head or completely destroyed. Much like how Hermione comments at the end of the Order of the Phoenix (the movie version; can't comment on the novel), she says, "Everything is going to change now. Isn't It?" (Well. don't quote my quote. I'm paraphrasing here.) But that's the sentiment this book carries. Change.

I'm not sure if Butcher is able to write Dresden back into his former life or not after what choices and actions he's forced to make in this story, but even if he could go back... would I want him to? Tough call. 

All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoy this addition in the series. It might be my favorite so far. If not my favorite, then at least ranking in my top three. I'm chomping at the bit to see where Dresden goes from here. 

Sween, you still reading these? If you are, where ya at?

David Brent: Life on the Road

Loved The Office. Loved it so much I was one of those guys who (wrongly, spitefully) turned up my nose at the very existence of the American remake of The Office. But the thing about The Office that sat so well with so many people was that it wrapped itself up neatly after just two six-episode seasons and a two-part Christmas special. (Gotta love the Brits and their brevity. The longest-running British sitcom I can think of is Peep Show, which finally called it quits after... let's see... yeah, 54 episodes in total. Accounting for the half-hour episodes, that whole show had the same runtime from start to finish as the 27-episode first season of The O.C.)

I digress. My point is that Ricky Gervais and company seemed to know when to quit with The Office. Until they decided to bring it back - sort of - thirteen years later. Remember that small-scale redemption arc David Brent went through in the show's finale? Yeah - turns out, thirteen years later, he's still miserable and shallow and incessantly needy. In this movie, he takes a leave of absence from his new job (shitty, where he's no longer even a manager) in order to tour England with a crappy little band. It's funny enough, I guess, and it's always nice to revisit an old beloved show ('memba The Office?) but it doesn't really feel like it adds anything to The Office. Rather, if anything, the existence of this thing detracts from the show's wonderful finale.

It's still a must-see if you're a fan of the show, of course, but I can't imagine anyone seeing this without first seeing The Office and not shuddering.