*spoilers ahead*. You have been warned. Overall, I have almost nothing good to say. It's a decent popcorn flick if you possess the ability to shut down your ghost for 90 minutes.
Let's start with the good:
The visuals are stunning, and Scarlett Johansson is, of course, a very beautiful woman.
Now for the rest:
They played it so safe that the result is a stillbirth.
The acting is abysmal. Johansson never was a lot more than a pretty face, in this flick she has one facial expression, and one only. I could live with that if it did make sense in-universe, but Major Kusanagi is most emphatically *not* a robot.
The melancholia of the 1996 anime has been replaced with melodrama in this one, caused by shitty dialog and severe overacting -- most painfully, on part of Juliette Binoche, whom I still remember as a real first-class actress with a lot of bandwidth.
The story is just a stereotypical origin story.
They lost the humanity of it.
Heck, they even lost the humor. As an example, one of the four scenes that are almost straight copies from the anime is the one on the boat, where Kusanagi and Batou bond over some beer, and banter a bit. In the anime, when the Major chnanges out of her swimsuit, Batou sneaks in a peek, then looks away, but peeks once more. It's obvious that he likes what he sees, but his relationship with Kusanagi is a mixture of friendship, comraderie and professionalism, and he's rather protective of her, so he cannot go there. It's humane, it has a touch of humor, it's something to watch again.
In the update, they play all that in complete and utter seriousness. Major: "I can't trust anyone anymore." - Batou: "You do trust me, don't you?" - Major: "Yes I do." Gnarf.
I could probably live with the above -- I'm perfectly happy just watching Scarlett Johannson be pretty.
What I cannot live with is lack of character motivation, nonsensical plot points and actions that are out of place for a character.
Aramaki would not shoot Cutter like that, vendetta style, thus exposing himself to legal action. Why would the Yakuza host a hacker? Why would it be dangerous to just be in the same room with a ghost-hacked human? Why did the trash collector have to stand during the interrogation? How could Kuse get away after being shot by four machine guns on short range? Why did Cutter remote control the spider tank in the boss battle, when it was clearly established in the anime that those machines possess AI? How on earth did Kuse even get away, after they killed 97 predecessors? How was he able to sneak back into the building? Why would Cutter allow Section 9 to go after Kuse, risking exposure for his murders, when he has all his mooks and could easily just kill him with that spider tank all the time? Why would Cutter, when he monitors his disloyal employee, monitor her in a way that would easily allow her to give the Major an antidote instead of a poison? Why would they rely on their victims taking their "medicine", so their memories remain hidden, when those victims have to come in for regular inspections anyway? And, finally, why is the Major so incredibly valuable to Section 9? She might be powerful physically, but she's basically a borderline psychotic, ticking timebomb. She completely ignores a direct order in the first scene, for crying out loud, without any consequences from a boss who is supposed to be super strict.
Duh.
Empathy. Rationality. Sensuality.
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Friday, April 14, 2017
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Rocky Horror Picture Show 2016: A Very Incomplete Review
I will say flat out that I don't go into this unbiased. My love for the original is too intense for that, and I guess most of us go into remakes of beloved classics with a certain sense of impending doom, dark stormclouds, heavy, black, and pendulous. My first impulse when I heard that they were doing a remake was somewhere in-between "oh no" and "so what". A mental mind-fuck can be nice, right?
So I only saw the few bits that Fox put on youtube. I won't watch the whole thing. What I have seen was quite enough.
Every bit of it feels like plastic dolls walking awkwardly in a perfect doll's house. It feels like something straight from the pits of the marketing department. It feels like something that should be a bit shoddy, a bit worn down, but has been re-edited, re-shot, re-synthesized into perfection until it was so perfect as to make everyone puke.
Let's talk about "Science Fiction / Double Feature". The singing is close to perfect, as far as I can tell. And Ivy Levan sure is a stunningly beautiful woman. But there is a distinct lack of dirty in this version. It sounds like soul music. The role of the singer as an usher is ironically fitting - she's there to preserve order and keep those messy kids from putting their shoes up on the backrest. And, while she acts sexy, and as I said above she is definitely very pretty, somehow she really does not come off as sexy at all. It's like a sideshow act after it was processed multiple times by the marketing deparment's washing mashine.
The same goes for "Sweet Transvestite". So, now we have to talk about Laverne Cox. I actually think she did a terrific job there. It was not her acting that was wrong, nor her singing. What's wrong is the context. (It is in all the details: The elevator versus that... whatever... ramp thingie. The tights compared to that... weird... whatever... mask.)
I remember when I first saw - nay, experienced Rocky Horror. I must have been 14 or 15. There was a distinct feeling of doing something forbidden, of crossing a line of some sorts. Well, the whole thing had the word "Horror" in its title. Back in the 80s, this was not a clear sign for a teenager to go for it. There was danger in the air.
Enter Tim Curry as Dr. Frank'n'Furter.
He was in drag. He was under heavy make-up. He wore suspenders and a corset and stockings. He was dominant, domineering, excentric, fabulous and, well, ahem, extremely attractive.
And that was what made his appearance so delightfully charming: it confused the hell out of me, without me even realizing it until very much later.
Laverne Cox, on the other hand, is a woman. A transgendered woman (well, duh), and a black woman (again, so what). And she's singing about being a "sweet transvestite", which is wrong on many more levels than I care to count.
Not only can I clearly hear the marketing guys who controlled that whole production going "Hey, how do you think we're gonna one-up the original?" - "Ah yes I know, we'll cast a black transwoman!" Only, this does not work. At all. There is nothing intrinsically challenging in that for anyone -- except, I guess, for Fox Network execs, which is a point of unintentional irony in and of itself. Back in the 70s and 80s, a guy in drag, to most of us, felt somewhat wrong. We might have felt a bit like we were caught in the act, and it was a double trap: On the one hand, we felt dirty for our attraction for someone we were not supposed to feel attracted to (they may do some more folk-dancing); on the other hand, there was a little bit of shame for our hypocrisy in precisely that feeling of doing something wrong (I'm a muscle fan!). The film made all that rather obvious by the simple device of an utterly manly guy in drag. You cannot achieve that easily in 2016, and you can definitely not achieve it by casting a woman as Frank.
The new casting also completely takes away one of the most interesting aspects of the show: The huge difference and conflict between Brad and Frank, Janet's internal troubles being caught between those two, which triggers her transformation. By the ending credits, Brad ("help me mommy"), in all his clean-cut, suit-wearing, career-promising unglory is completely defeated. But neither does Frank win -- how sentimental, and even pretentious of him. The real winners here are Riff Raff, Magenta, and Janet. The first two, who have overcome the physical and financial oppression by an egomaniac leader, will go back to the planet of Transilvania and our whole world will do the Time Warp again! -- while the latter has grown into acceptance of her own sexuality, and superheroes come to feast, and is a far way from relying on Brad's brittle protection or indeed his career. *)
This was very relevant in the 70s when they created the show, and the 80s when I first watched it, and it is still relevant today, albeit in different ways. And The Rocky Horror Picture Show totally achieved all that, probably, without even trying.
I have no clue how they try to resolve that issue in the remake; but, sadly, my guess is that they simply don't. It doesn't have to be relevant or vibrant or alive, as long as it's shiny, conformant, and nonthreatening.
Ultimately, I think, this is my verdict about the New Rocky Horror Picture Show: It is totally nonthreatening. In art, this is a death sentence.
The New Rocky Horror Picture Show is to Real Rocky Horror Picture Show precisely what Brad is to Frank: a product of prude sexual repression bound to live a sterile beaurocratic life, bring home the money and die without anybody taking note. A result of postmodern prudery, brought on not by political machination, but by capitalist pondering to the lowest common denominator in the name of profit.
Quite ironic, that.
--------
*) I guess a point could be made just by observing who lives and who doesn't: Rocky's dumb maleness, Eddie's macho attitude, and Frank's over-the-top arrogance don't make it; Dr. Scott, Riff-Raff, Magenta, Brad and Janet survive; but only Janet is transformed in a positive way by her experience
So I only saw the few bits that Fox put on youtube. I won't watch the whole thing. What I have seen was quite enough.
Every bit of it feels like plastic dolls walking awkwardly in a perfect doll's house. It feels like something straight from the pits of the marketing department. It feels like something that should be a bit shoddy, a bit worn down, but has been re-edited, re-shot, re-synthesized into perfection until it was so perfect as to make everyone puke.
Let's talk about "Science Fiction / Double Feature". The singing is close to perfect, as far as I can tell. And Ivy Levan sure is a stunningly beautiful woman. But there is a distinct lack of dirty in this version. It sounds like soul music. The role of the singer as an usher is ironically fitting - she's there to preserve order and keep those messy kids from putting their shoes up on the backrest. And, while she acts sexy, and as I said above she is definitely very pretty, somehow she really does not come off as sexy at all. It's like a sideshow act after it was processed multiple times by the marketing deparment's washing mashine.
The same goes for "Sweet Transvestite". So, now we have to talk about Laverne Cox. I actually think she did a terrific job there. It was not her acting that was wrong, nor her singing. What's wrong is the context. (It is in all the details: The elevator versus that... whatever... ramp thingie. The tights compared to that... weird... whatever... mask.)
I remember when I first saw - nay, experienced Rocky Horror. I must have been 14 or 15. There was a distinct feeling of doing something forbidden, of crossing a line of some sorts. Well, the whole thing had the word "Horror" in its title. Back in the 80s, this was not a clear sign for a teenager to go for it. There was danger in the air.
Enter Tim Curry as Dr. Frank'n'Furter.
He was in drag. He was under heavy make-up. He wore suspenders and a corset and stockings. He was dominant, domineering, excentric, fabulous and, well, ahem, extremely attractive.
And that was what made his appearance so delightfully charming: it confused the hell out of me, without me even realizing it until very much later.
Laverne Cox, on the other hand, is a woman. A transgendered woman (well, duh), and a black woman (again, so what). And she's singing about being a "sweet transvestite", which is wrong on many more levels than I care to count.
Not only can I clearly hear the marketing guys who controlled that whole production going "Hey, how do you think we're gonna one-up the original?" - "Ah yes I know, we'll cast a black transwoman!" Only, this does not work. At all. There is nothing intrinsically challenging in that for anyone -- except, I guess, for Fox Network execs, which is a point of unintentional irony in and of itself. Back in the 70s and 80s, a guy in drag, to most of us, felt somewhat wrong. We might have felt a bit like we were caught in the act, and it was a double trap: On the one hand, we felt dirty for our attraction for someone we were not supposed to feel attracted to (they may do some more folk-dancing); on the other hand, there was a little bit of shame for our hypocrisy in precisely that feeling of doing something wrong (I'm a muscle fan!). The film made all that rather obvious by the simple device of an utterly manly guy in drag. You cannot achieve that easily in 2016, and you can definitely not achieve it by casting a woman as Frank.
The new casting also completely takes away one of the most interesting aspects of the show: The huge difference and conflict between Brad and Frank, Janet's internal troubles being caught between those two, which triggers her transformation. By the ending credits, Brad ("help me mommy"), in all his clean-cut, suit-wearing, career-promising unglory is completely defeated. But neither does Frank win -- how sentimental, and even pretentious of him. The real winners here are Riff Raff, Magenta, and Janet. The first two, who have overcome the physical and financial oppression by an egomaniac leader, will go back to the planet of Transilvania and our whole world will do the Time Warp again! -- while the latter has grown into acceptance of her own sexuality, and superheroes come to feast, and is a far way from relying on Brad's brittle protection or indeed his career. *)
This was very relevant in the 70s when they created the show, and the 80s when I first watched it, and it is still relevant today, albeit in different ways. And The Rocky Horror Picture Show totally achieved all that, probably, without even trying.
I have no clue how they try to resolve that issue in the remake; but, sadly, my guess is that they simply don't. It doesn't have to be relevant or vibrant or alive, as long as it's shiny, conformant, and nonthreatening.
Ultimately, I think, this is my verdict about the New Rocky Horror Picture Show: It is totally nonthreatening. In art, this is a death sentence.
The New Rocky Horror Picture Show is to Real Rocky Horror Picture Show precisely what Brad is to Frank: a product of prude sexual repression bound to live a sterile beaurocratic life, bring home the money and die without anybody taking note. A result of postmodern prudery, brought on not by political machination, but by capitalist pondering to the lowest common denominator in the name of profit.
Quite ironic, that.
--------
*) I guess a point could be made just by observing who lives and who doesn't: Rocky's dumb maleness, Eddie's macho attitude, and Frank's over-the-top arrogance don't make it; Dr. Scott, Riff-Raff, Magenta, Brad and Janet survive; but only Janet is transformed in a positive way by her experience
Thursday, May 26, 2016
A list of short (horror) films
HORROR
=======
Skypemare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFkut11Xpc)
7:09
I really liked that one. It's not your usual slasher story, and I totally didn't see the twist coming.
genre: horror
overall rating: 9 *********
scare factor: 7 *******
acting: 9 *********
plot: Two girlfriends have a video chat on Halloween, while a killer is on the loose...
---
2AM: The Smiling Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u6Tt3PqIfQ)
A really good, short, scary/funny horror film. Well executed and with good atmosphere, and a nice unconventional basic idea.
genre: horror
overall rating: 10 **********
scare factor: 9 *********
acting: 8 ********
plot: A man on a lonely alley has a scary encounter with an uncanny smiling man.
---
Vienna waits for you (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_hsU2O_o50)
In Vienna, you don't rent apartment. Apartment rent you.
This is intense, well written, intelligent and quite scary. The only downside is the less-than-optimal SFX, especially towards the end.
genre: horror
overall rating: 9 *********
scare factor: 8 ********
acting: 6 ******
plot: A young woman moves into an old apartment that not only has a will of its own, but also seems to change its tenants.
---
The Cut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46BhPSCvnAI)
I clicked on it because I fell for the clickbait. Otherwise it's just indistinct.
genre: horror
scare factor: 4, but that's only because of the music; the video itself is a 0
acting: undecidable due to constant darkness.
plot: A man shaves in his apartment.
---
So pretty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwLWAkZCUzM)
It wasn't really scary, but a pretty refreshing take on vampires.
genre: horror
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 9 *********
plot: In the subway, a woman and a man relate over a "Twilight" book.
---
Apartment 41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_dBw7Npsq8)
6:37
Watchable. The basic idea is quite fine, but the unbelievable twist ruined it, and the topic has been done to death (haha).
genre: horror
overall rating: 6 ******
scare factor: 5 *****
acting: 5 *****
plot: A woman moves into an apartment and gets terrorized by a ghost.
---
Audition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwR-3AzzoXE)
14:20
I didn't find this scary, but it has atmosphere and style and is based on a somewhat not-too-bad idea.
genre: horror/thriller
overall rating: 6 ******
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 7 *******
plot: He invites her for an audition, but his intentions are less than noble.
---
Blink (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Ichw5xq44)
12:36
Yeah, well. Whatever
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 4 ****
acting: 8 ********
plot: A man's terrible nightmares invade his real life.
comment: There's really not an awful lot to say. You'll guess the plot twist after 2 minutes.
---
Cougars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CphvRVK0EpU)
15:00
More funny than scary. Lesson learned: If you don't have a budget, don't try special effects. Some good atmosphere stuff going on in the beginning, but it ultimately builds up to nothing.
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 1 *
acting: 6 ******
plot: Young girl's mother is a cougar. Turns out the daughter ain't much different.
---
OCD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0c_f0bDUJY)
7:09
I'm sure this works great as a piece of narrative, but the off-screen narration ruins the movie, and the acting is mediocre.
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 1 *
acting: 3 ***
plot: Guy with OCD has an incident.
---
now,here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74piN4xAdIY)
5:30
A pretty good twist, a neat location and a cute girl... But the production values and bad, bad acting make it stink, sink, and rot.
I wrote a comment on that video on how it might be improved. Find me there... Do you agree with me?
genre: horror:
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 2 **
plot: They go to a derelict house for a photo shoot, and bad things ensue.
SCI-FI
=====
Project Arbiter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWQHBsalOM)
As of writing, I haven't even watched this to the end, but it looks pretty darn good.
genre: sci-fi
overall rating: 9 *********
acting: 7 *******
plot: Something about WWII and the Wunderwaffe. Frankly, I didn't pay too much attention because I was so caught up in admiring the visuals. The only annoying thing is when they try to talk german. I'm a german native speaker, so this really took me out of it.
---
ENVOY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-21AMbFFk)
9:14
Nicely done, to the point and simple.
genre: sci-fi
overall rating: 9 *********
acting: 8 ********
plot: A young boy and his older brother discover something alien lurking in a field.
=======
Skypemare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFkut11Xpc)
7:09
I really liked that one. It's not your usual slasher story, and I totally didn't see the twist coming.
genre: horror
overall rating: 9 *********
scare factor: 7 *******
acting: 9 *********
plot: Two girlfriends have a video chat on Halloween, while a killer is on the loose...
---
2AM: The Smiling Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u6Tt3PqIfQ)
A really good, short, scary/funny horror film. Well executed and with good atmosphere, and a nice unconventional basic idea.
genre: horror
overall rating: 10 **********
scare factor: 9 *********
acting: 8 ********
plot: A man on a lonely alley has a scary encounter with an uncanny smiling man.
---
Vienna waits for you (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_hsU2O_o50)
In Vienna, you don't rent apartment. Apartment rent you.
This is intense, well written, intelligent and quite scary. The only downside is the less-than-optimal SFX, especially towards the end.
genre: horror
overall rating: 9 *********
scare factor: 8 ********
acting: 6 ******
plot: A young woman moves into an old apartment that not only has a will of its own, but also seems to change its tenants.
---
The Cut (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46BhPSCvnAI)
I clicked on it because I fell for the clickbait. Otherwise it's just indistinct.
genre: horror
scare factor: 4, but that's only because of the music; the video itself is a 0
acting: undecidable due to constant darkness.
plot: A man shaves in his apartment.
---
So pretty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwLWAkZCUzM)
It wasn't really scary, but a pretty refreshing take on vampires.
genre: horror
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 9 *********
plot: In the subway, a woman and a man relate over a "Twilight" book.
---
Apartment 41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_dBw7Npsq8)
6:37
Watchable. The basic idea is quite fine, but the unbelievable twist ruined it, and the topic has been done to death (haha).
genre: horror
overall rating: 6 ******
scare factor: 5 *****
acting: 5 *****
plot: A woman moves into an apartment and gets terrorized by a ghost.
---
Audition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwR-3AzzoXE)
14:20
I didn't find this scary, but it has atmosphere and style and is based on a somewhat not-too-bad idea.
genre: horror/thriller
overall rating: 6 ******
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 7 *******
plot: He invites her for an audition, but his intentions are less than noble.
---
Blink (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Ichw5xq44)
12:36
Yeah, well. Whatever
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 4 ****
acting: 8 ********
plot: A man's terrible nightmares invade his real life.
comment: There's really not an awful lot to say. You'll guess the plot twist after 2 minutes.
---
Cougars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CphvRVK0EpU)
15:00
More funny than scary. Lesson learned: If you don't have a budget, don't try special effects. Some good atmosphere stuff going on in the beginning, but it ultimately builds up to nothing.
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 1 *
acting: 6 ******
plot: Young girl's mother is a cougar. Turns out the daughter ain't much different.
---
OCD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0c_f0bDUJY)
7:09
I'm sure this works great as a piece of narrative, but the off-screen narration ruins the movie, and the acting is mediocre.
genre: horror
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 1 *
acting: 3 ***
plot: Guy with OCD has an incident.
---
now,here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74piN4xAdIY)
5:30
A pretty good twist, a neat location and a cute girl... But the production values and bad, bad acting make it stink, sink, and rot.
I wrote a comment on that video on how it might be improved. Find me there... Do you agree with me?
genre: horror:
overall rating: 5 *****
scare factor: 2 **
acting: 2 **
plot: They go to a derelict house for a photo shoot, and bad things ensue.
SCI-FI
=====
Project Arbiter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWQHBsalOM)
As of writing, I haven't even watched this to the end, but it looks pretty darn good.
genre: sci-fi
overall rating: 9 *********
acting: 7 *******
plot: Something about WWII and the Wunderwaffe. Frankly, I didn't pay too much attention because I was so caught up in admiring the visuals. The only annoying thing is when they try to talk german. I'm a german native speaker, so this really took me out of it.
---
ENVOY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-21AMbFFk)
9:14
Nicely done, to the point and simple.
genre: sci-fi
overall rating: 9 *********
acting: 8 ********
plot: A young boy and his older brother discover something alien lurking in a field.
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