Film Review - "Babylon"

Babylon

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva

"What's that you say? The director of La La Land has released a film about Hollywood's transition from silent to sound films in the 1920's?? Sign me up!"

*Three-and-a-half hours later*

"Oh."

I guess I'm doing a pattern with my reviews: divisive, universally acclaimed, and now back to divisive. The general public really does seem to be split down the middle with Damien Chazelle's latest, and I would say that's where I fall too. I liked most of Babylon, but definitely not all of it.

As I mentioned earlier, Babylon chronicles the period in Hollywood where studios were transitioning away from silent to sound films. The film focuses on how six(ish) characters navigate this changing landscape, including Manny Torres (Calva), a Mexican immigrant who loves movies and wants to be a part of something bigger, Nellie LaRoy (Robbie), a rising star with rough edges and a knack for getting into trouble, and Jack Conrad (Pitt) a legend of the screen who may be past his prime.

I think it's important for every fan of Damien Chazelle's La La Land to know...this is not La La Land. This is not a love letter to Hollywood*, but rather a criticism of it, specifically this era. Chazelle is intent to take the viewers' rose-tinted glasses off and show us the cruel and grotesque truth of this golden era. Thing is, Damien, you don't need to show me a POV of an elephant getting diarrhea to get that point across.

There's some really cringe and gross imagery in this film that might unsettle some. Many of it particularly comes from the opening sequence that has been seen in all the promotions, and a rather bizarre side-quest it takes in its third act, featuring an odd cameo from Tobey Maguire. 

That kind of leads me into my next problem with Babylon, and that is its 189 minute runtime. I can do long films. I love Avengers - Endgame, and I've watched The Irishman multiple times. But the script of Babylon lacks focus, so the pacing suffers, and that close to three and-a-half hour length is undeniably felt. Babylon wants to show us how this period in Hollywood effected all these characters, but it fails to juggle their stories. Lady Fay Shu (Li Jun Li), a Chinese-American lesbian cabaret singer, and Sydney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), an African-American jazz trumpeter, have very interesting arcs that aren't given all that much attention. So much so that you almost forget they're a part of this.

The main focus of the film is on Calva's Manny, Robbie's Nellie, and Pitt's Jack. Calva gives a fine performance as Manny, who is very much a proxy for the audience. An outside perspective invited to the big party, if you will. That aside, Manny is just not very interesting is a character. There's not much depth to the character, and is arc throughout Babylon is just rather convenient. Margot Robbie is giving her usual best as Nellie LaRoy, and commanding every scene, but I worry she's starting to get typecast. Nellie gives off the same vibes as say Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad films, or her performance of Tonya Harding in I, Tonya (A film that I love by the way). Brad Pitt's Jack Conrad is by far the most compelling character in the film, as he's the one most effected by the changes around him, and Pitt plays him wonderfully. You can tell he's having fun with the role, and as if there's almost an emotional connection to it for him.

When Babylon actually focuses on how the men and women working in Hollywood at the time were effected by these major changes, it excels. There's a great sequence where Nellie is working on a sound set, and the entire crew is struggling to adjust to the new production techniques. Last thing of note is Justin Hurwitz once again delivers a great musical score to a Damien Chazelle film. It's a shame he lost the Oscar, to All Quiet on The Western Front of all films. (Like...War is hell. We get it. Move on.)

Babylon is an otherwise fine film, but its sum is not as great as its parts. I think some more time in the editing room, and a few rewrites of the screenplay for it to focus more on Pitt and Robbie's characters would have made this a much better film. I hate to say it, but some more studio supervision might have been necessary in this case. Again, I don't dislike the film, but it's not something I can see myself rewatching multiples times (like La La Land). That said the discussion on this film is very divisive, some calling it trash, and others a misunderstood classic. The discussion means Babylon probably won't be going away for awhile. So in some way, does that make it a timeless classic? I don't know, but again, Damien, POV shots of elephants with diarrhea...take a chill pill. This isn't an Adam Sandler film.

*The ending sequence of this film does not fit in with the rest of it, and almost makes you aware that you're watching a movie...which is probably good that it comes...at the end.*

Film Review - "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio"

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Directed by...yeah him and Mark Gustafson

Starring Gregory Mann, David Bradley, and Ewan McGregor

I'm still in disbelief that in the year of our lord 2022 we got THREE Pinocchio films. There was no doubt in mind that the Disney live-action remake, and that meme-fuel from Luminescence starring...Pauly Shore, would be terrible though. Conversely, I had no doubt that this would be the best Pinocchio film of the year by a long shot.

It's nice to say we've got another great film adaptation of Pinocchio after eighty-years, and my god is it beautiful.

Del Toro puts his own unique spin on the classic tale by Carlo Collodi. During the first World War, the son of woodcarver Gepetto (Bradley) is killed during an air strike on their small village in Italy. Twenty years later, in a drunken, emotional rage, Gepetto cuts down a pine tree in the hopes of "making" his son again. The magical Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) sees this and grants life to the wooden boy, named Pinocchio (Mann).

Naturally, and frankly more realistically, Gepetto is very hesitant to accept this sentient puppet as his new son...in fact he's kind of freaked out by him, as is most of their village. Nevertheless Pinocchio goes off on the usual adventures. He's tricked into skipping school and joining a carnival, is drafted into war, struggles with his own mortality-wait...

Again, Del Toro puts his own unique spin on Pinocchio, and it works so well. The idea of a grieving Gepetto creating Pinocchio in a drunken stupor like some kind of Italian Doctor Frankenstein is just so beautifully GDT. But there's so much depth here that we don't see in other adaptations of the Pinocchio story. The original story is dark and the film leans into that (The opening sequence is like Up turned up to eleven). This isn't an animated film manufactured to babysit children. It has lessons for them but for adults, too.

There's heavy themes about faith, war, morality, and loss. There is life after death. Death is what gives life meaning. It's hard to believe Pinocchio is teaching us about this. Brilliantly I might add. I'm a big cryer when it comes to films. This was the first time where the film ended, I sat with it, and after really digesting what the film was saying to me, that is when the tears began to flow. 

The idea of telling the story of Pinocchio in stop-motion is genius, particularly because stop-motion is called animation, but it's photographed just like regular filmmaking. It's not drawn on paper or rendered in a computer. It's animation, but it's real, like Pinocchio himself. The animation is gorgeous. The characters have so much beautiful, intricate details. The depth of field in the shots are breathtaking. The sets and sweeping backgrounds of the Italian countryside look as real as can be. The lighting is amazing. Guillermo del Toro is a firm believer that animation is cinema. It is not a genre or just for children, it is a medium that deserves the industry's respect. He says it with his full heart and soul in this film.

The voice-acting is stellar. Young Gregory Mann is wonderful as Pinocchio. He's a brat but there's enough innocence and heart in the character that you still root for him. Which is nice because at his core, the character of Pinocchio is a little $h*t! Caretaker of Hogwarts Argus Filch, aka David Bradley, plays Gepetto with the perfect balance of gruff and empathy. At the expense of another Up parallel, it's like an Italian Carl Fredericksen. This story is just as much his as it is Pinocchio's, and Bradley sells it.

Ewan McGregor is charming as always as Sebastian Cricket. Christoph Waltz is wonderfully despicable as Count Volpe. Ron Perlman is his usual best self as the Podesta. Finally, Cate Blanchett gives the performance of her career as Spazzatura (In your face Lydia Tár!).

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio just took home the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and it was more than well deserved. This film is a beautiful labor of love from a man who loves animation and filmmaking, with a wonderful story that can resonate with all ages. It may just be my favorite film of last year, and that's no lie.

...I still need to put my Top Films of 2022 in writing...as well as my Top Films of 2021. I can never get those rankings out on time...

Film Review - "Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania"

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

Directed by Peyton Reed

Starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, and Jonathan Majors

I feel like I'm in the minority when I say I enjoyed Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The narrative that the franchise peaked with Avengers: Endgame and that "The MCU is in shambles" has been running rampant for the better part of the year now, despite the fact there have been some great entries in theaters and on Disney Plus.

Judging by the critical and commercial response to Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, the film to kick off Phase Five of the MCU, it looks as though that narrative won't be fading away anytime soon. Is this film as bad as the general public is making it out to be? No. Is it the next great film of the MCU? No. 

It's fine. It's just fine.

Scott Lang (Rudd) is enjoying his life as a famous Avenger. Life is perfect, except for the fact his daughter Cassie (Now played by Kathryn Newton) is following in his footsteps the wrong way i.e. being an activist and ending up on the wrong side of the law. She's also recently been working on a device to communicate with The Quantum Realm. The device works, and unfortunately sucks Cassie, Scott, and the entire "Ant-Family" into the Quantum Realm.

Separated from the others, Scott and Cassie work to find a way home, while Hope Van Dyne (Lily) and her parents Hank Pam (Micheal Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) search for them. The group is unaware though that a sinister tyrant of the realm named Kang (Majors) has his own plans to escape, and he needs Ant-Man to do it.

The film definitely had a lot of promise but falls short of delivering on the game-changing story the marketing suggested. That's not a bad thing. Not every MCU film needs to shake up the status quo. But when you're kicking off a new phase, while also being the final film of a trilogy, and introducing the franchise's next big bad...you kind of expect more. Quantumania is a very safe, light-hearted film.

I would go as far as to say the focus is on family like in the previous Ant-Man films, but that's really not the case here. The main cast is separated very quickly in the film and the great character dynamics we loved in previous films are lost. The natural progression of Scott and Cassie's relationship as father and daughter was a nice direction to go in, though.

As I said the film introduces the MCU's next big bad (Or rather, introduces him if you didn't watch Loki, and even that's not totally true because multiverse, variants, etc.) and that is the film's greatest strength. Jonathan Majors brings such charm, menace, and gravitas to Kang. You really do get the sense that he is the next Avengers-level threat. Quantumania builds off what was established in Loki while also clueing in the uninitiated and making him a full-fledged character. Since we've got a few years before Kang Dynasty, I'm excited to see what the MCU does with Majors and this character. Hopefully we get more time with him. Or his variants.

Paul Rudd is still great as Scott Lang, but this time he gets some more dramatic material to work with. He has great chemistry with Majors and their scenes together really feel like classic "hero and villain" confrontations, if that makes any sense. Kathryn Newton slides nicely into the role of Cassie Lang. I miss Emma Furhman but Newton is talented enough that there's real promise for the future. Michelle Pfeiffer gets more to do as Janet Van Dyne, and really deserved more screen time considering the story they wanted to tell. Sadly, Evangeline Lily and Micheal Douglas are not given as much to do as they have in previous films, which is a shame.

Bill Murray and William Jackson Harper join the MCU as new characters. They're great but each isn't much more than a glorified cameo. Just a few minutes shorter than The Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness. Corey Stoll returns as Darren Cross, but instead of Yellowjacket is now M.O.D.O.K and look, the character is a giant floating head. Of course they're going to play it as a joke. But his character in this film just feels like a weird afterthought. 

Last thing I want to mention is the visuals. Outside of one particular sequence, the Quantum Realm is very standard sci-fi. There's nothing incredibly distinct about it, but that's not detrimental to the film. However, the previous Ant-Man films definitely were more creative with their visuals, specifically how the Ant-Man and The Wasp's special skills made for unique fight scenes. You're not going to find a fight on a Thomas the Tank Engine train-set, or a giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser being thrown at a biker gang.

Outside the context of the larger MCU, Quantumania is a harmless family adventure. Alas it's no grand conclusion to a trilogy like Civil War or Ragnarok. The best thing it does is clue us in to a greater threat that's coming, played masterfully by Jonathan Majors. The MCU is not in shambles as some would suggest, but the divisive response to this film is not going to quell the discourse. 

Arguably, the MCU is going through a bit of growing pains as it finds its footing in a post-Endgame world (Interestingly both within its story and production. More on that later). Personally I've grown up with this franchise, I'm still on board, and interested to see where we go from here. Not every MCU film can or will be perfect, but no film is. As Scott Lang himself says in this film, "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that there's always room to grow."