#2022 in film

[filmografie]

Favorite films of 2022:

Hive, dir. Blerta Basholli

Great Freedom, dir. Sebastian Meise

The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft, dir. Werner Herzog

TÁR, dir. Todd Fields

What Do We See When We Look At The Sky?, dir. Alexandre Koberidze

The Eternal Daughter, dir. Joanna Hogg

One Fine Morning, dir. Mia Hansen-Løve

Nothing Compares, dir. Kathryn Ferguson

Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

Decision to Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

[feeling-through-film]

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

The one thing that makes life precious, you see, is how brief it is.

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Movie**

Tár (2022)

Director: Todd Field Cinematographer: Florian Hoffmeister

[agentnico]

Elvis (2022) Review

Don’t know what to make of this, but for some reason the go-to way of showing emotion in this film was to have characters stare through windows. The amount of window glaring shots in this movie was redonculous! 

Plot: From his rise to fame to his unprecedented superstardom, rock 'n' roll icon Elvis Presley maintains a complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker, over the course of 20 years. Central to Presley's journey and happiness is one of the most influential people in his life - Priscilla.

Elvis Presley is arguably one of the most significant musical icons of the last century, and his songs have been played and enjoyed until this day and onward. Personally I didn’t grow up listening to Elvis. Instead being a Russian born kid, my family played the Soviet version of Elvis - this chap with the easy-to-pronounce name Muslim Magomaev who’s voice did resemble Elvis’ quite a bit. Worth a YouTube search if interested. Anyway, enough unnecessary Soviet promotion. Back on topic, seeing as music biopics have been made cool in recent years thanks to the successes of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman respectively, now the King gets his due. This comes to us from director Baz Luhrmann for better or worse, as what we get is a visually popping motion picture that really captures the colourful flair of Elvis’ shows and costumes, however this is very much an example of style over substance. Especially the first half of the movie rushes through Elvis’ earlier life and plays out like a montage with quick cuts and transitions, so much so that in prior to hearing of Austin Butler’s incredible transformation into the role I felt like I was being deceived, as there were hardly any scenes that played fully and allowed the actors to freely show off their acting chops. Instead we were being treated to a best-of playlist of Elvis’ greatest hits (not complaining though, listening to those was great) and a bunch of intercut sequences that were ticking off points off of Elvis’ Wikipedia biography section, and it was difficult to get engaged in the proceedings. Well, minus Elvis’ first performance in front of an audience where I feel Baz Luhrmann got inspired by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story where women began getting so horned up by the singer they began undressing themselves. Okay, that version was only in Walk Hard and what we get in Elvis is a PG version of that where women simply bit their lips and screamed in collective horniness over Elvis’ twitching leg dances. 

It is not only till the second half of the film however when we reach the Las Vegas stage (pardon the pun) of Elvis’ life that the movie pulls the brakes and actually finds a narrative purpose by unravelling the controlling relationship between the singer and his manager. During these points Austin Butler’s performance really does shine, as you see the pain and inner turmoil he feels from being a humongous success, but not having any real freedom or personal choice. He was simply used as a pawn on a chess board played by businessmen who wanted to export him for all his worth. And Butler also dabs well with the musical sequences, dancing and singing his way to Presley glory.

The main issue however with Elvis minus the lack of narrative direction and too much focus on the visuals over anything else, is that it does the questionable choice of being narrated and told from the perspective of the villain. Colonel Tom Parker, played here by Tom Hanks in a fat suit and a head-scratching accent, was the manager who exploited and used Elvis for his own gain. And the movie proves how despicable of a being he is, however with him narrating the story one has to question - why? Is the movie trying to redeem this persona? Cause the story told still paints him as the bad guy. It just seems like a directorial choice that doesn’t make much sense stylistically or narratively. Okay, put it simply, it doesn’t make any sense at all. 

Overall Elvis is an enjoyable and fascinating look at the life of the famous icon, with a solid performance from Austin Butler and a grandiose visual palette from Baz Luhrmann, but similar to the director’s previous works, he puts too much focus on the style and as such loses the focus or the narrative substance. Though this is redeemed in the second half. That being said, this makes me keen on seeing more biopics of popular music stars, as its always fascinating discovering the personal life of people we only see as celebrities. Maybe David Bowie? One for David Grohl and the Foo Fighters? Heck, my inner child is screaming for an ABBA biopic! Make it happen!! Then again there is that Madonna biopic coming out made by Madonna herself, which is one of the most obnoxious things I’ve ever heard, even from Madonna! 

Overall score: 6/10

[thejewofkansas]

MISTER ORGAN Review (by guest critic Anna Boyles)

This review was submitted by my friend Anna Boyles, who viewed Mister Organ earlier this year; it debuts on Amazon Prime November 21, at which point I may review it for myself. My deepest thanks to her for offering her time and talent. Near the beginning of 2016, I went to the True/False film festival. It was a trip provided by the University of Kansas’ film department which I only applied to go…

[doctorharleenquinzell]

2022 was truly the year of Peter Cushing for me

[zegalba]

Gab Bois: Film Collection (2022)

[zanephillips]

Jordan Oosterhof in Punch (2022)

[ghosthierophant]

NOPE (Jordan Peele) / Regarding the Pain of Others (Susan Sontag)

[filmografie]

Favorite films watched in November 2022:

Felicia’s Journey (1999), dir. Atom Egoyan

The Garden of Delights (1970), dir. Carlos Saura

Nothing Compares (2022), dir. Kathryn Ferguson

Pollock (2000), dir. Ed Harris

Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), dir. Richard Attenborough

[feeling-through-film]

The Lake House (2006)

Life is not a book, Alex. And it can be over in a second. I was having lunch with my mother at Daley Plaza and a man was killed right in front of me. He died in my arms. And I thought, "It can't end just like that on Valentine's Day." And I thought about all the people who love him, waiting at home, who will never see him again. And then I thought, "What if there is no one? What if you live your whole life and no one is waiting?"

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Movie**

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Director: Edward Berger Cinematographer: James Friend

[agentnico]

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) Review

Casting Cate Blanchett as the voice of the monkey that simply goes “ook-ook” and “eek-eek” is either the greatest vocal performance ever or the grandest mockery of a famed Hollywood starlet. Either or - it works!

Plot: Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi's classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion musical directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.

One begs the question is there really a need for yet another Pinocchio adaptation after the gazillion that have come out previously. We even had the Disney remake come out a couple of months ago with Tom Hanks doing his best flustering about in front of a green screen and though that one is a fun drunk watch, honestly the tale of the living puppet has been overdone one too many times. However when a director like del Toro comes into play, things are a bit more interesting as he is a director with such a distinct gothic surreal style that I decided to give this Pinocchio a go after all.

I am glad I did. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a shoehorn for a Best Animated Picture nomination at the Academy Awards as this is some of the best stop-motion animation ever put to screen. The amount of detail on all the character designs and the smooth transitions from scene to scene - this movie looks incredible. Even the imagery that at times can be classed as creepy is also eerily beautiful in the typical del Toro way. Pinocchio himself is a very rough and rigid build, one that resembles a wooden Frankenstein monster, as he has been built within the plot during a drunken blunder, and it shows. Again though, due to the innocent playful vocal work by newcomer Gregory Mann, he imbues the dire doll to be a very likeable and adorable little chap, one that you care for and want to see succeed. It’s typical del Toro do mix the frightening with the beautiful to create a concoction of the fantastical. And this movie is a visual feast. Also straight up impressive. The amount of work that goes into stop-motion....I could hardly have the patience to make a short 30 second LEGO stop-motion YouTube vid, let alone a full fledged feature with originally designed figures and puppets. 

Reinforcing more that this is Guillermo del Toro going fully Guillermo del Toro, the film uses the fantasy tale to address some serious mature adult themes such as death and an abundant amount of fascism. No really, even the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini makes an appearance in the movie! This is very reminiscent of del Toro using fiction to provide a social commentary on historical events, like in his magnum opus work Pan’s Labyrinth. However these unsettling themes are balanced out with a good chunk of child-friendly comic relief (Ewan McGregor’s cricket gets squashed numerous times yet he always gets up again like Charlie fricking Chaplin) and musical numbers, which results in a bit of odd tonality, however again, it’s Guillermo del Toro through and through. 

In conclusion, was there a need for yet another Pinocchio adaptation? Nope, however Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio embraces its title to the fullest in that it is del Toro through and through. For better or worse, as does one really need to see Pinocchio praise in song the mighty Il Duce? Depends on the audience member, as its not for everyone, but I myself really enjoyed seeing the director’s vision and the impressive animation. Shame though that Ewan McGregor doesn’t sing ‘Be Our Guest’ in this one but I guess that’s forgivable. 

Overall score: 7/10

[thejewofkansas]

The Weekly Gravy #127

Marlowe (2022) – *** Maybe it was the low expectations, but I’m a bit baffled as to just how weak the reviews for Marlowe have been. No, it doesn’t come near the noir classics it pays homage to – and it probably could’ve chosen a stronger source material than the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville (writing as Benjamin Black), especially since several of Raymond Chandler’s novels…

[fleurum]

the movie of all time 🐎

[julesdap]

a hungry audience