Month: May 2017

Today’s quick review: Groundhog Day. Phil (Bill Murray) is an abrasive weather man with an inflated ego who is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. One miserable day turns into many when he finds himself trapped in a time loop, waking up each morning to relive Groundhog Day over and over again. With no way out of the loop, Phil occupies his time picking up new skills, exploring the town of Punxsutawney, and pursuing a one-sided romance with Rita (Andie MacDowell), his charming coworker.

Groundhog Day is a comedy movie with a surprising amount of heart. Phil is one of Bill Murray’s best characters, a misanthrope with just enough humanity to remain likable. His acid tongue earns him the enmity of those around him, but his bad attitude does him no good once he becomes trapped. Instead he must adjust to life in a small town with only one day’s events to live out however he chooses.

This freedom leads to great comedy and profound insights into the human condition. Phil’s ability to live out the day again lets him do just about anything he sets his mind to. At the same time, his imprisonment leads to boredom and suffering. Hedonism quickly loses its charm, and without the ability to end the loop, Phil must find other ways to fill his time and find meaning in his life.

The mixture of a flawed, funny protagonist and a philosophical, human story makes Groundhog Day a unique, impressive movie. Watch it if you are in the mood for an amusing comedy that also lives up to its considerable emotional potential. Skip it if you are looking for a more overt comedy without the emotional weight.

8.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it an 8.0 for an inventive premise, good comedy, and an insightful look at the human condition.

Today’s quick review: Princess Mononoke. Ashitaka, a warrior from a small forest village, strikes down a demon-possessed boar in defense of his village and receives a curse that threatens to consume him. Expelled from his village, he seeks a cure in Iron Town, a frontier town on the verge of a technological revolution. But the town’s hunger for natural resources has pitted it against the spirits and animals of the surrounding woods in an escalating conflict. The humans are led by the stern and pragmatic Lady Eboshi, while the forces of nature are led by Princess Monoke, a feral young woman who was raised by a wolf spirit. With no allegiance to either side, Ashitaka sets about resolving the conflict with as little bloodshed as possible before his own time runs out.

Princess Mononoke is an animated fantasy film from Hiyao Miyazaki and one of his best works. Sound writing, haunting fantasy, brutal conflict, and gorgeous animation combine to produce a film unlike any other. Unlike many of Miyazaki’s other works, Princess Mononoke is mature in its tone and writing. The film does not shy away from violence, using it to emphasize the severity of the conflict and the consequences for the losers. The otherworldly beauty Miyazaki is known for is masked by the brutality of the story, but it peeks through in select places, showing signs of a world beyond the war.

Princess Mononoke offers a surprisingly nuanced take on the question of Man versus Nature. Miyazaki achieves the difficult feat of portraying a conflict with no unambiguously correct side. The humans of Iron Town are greedy, short-sighted, and uncaring, yet they are loyal to each other and their efforts secure a better life for the innocents within their walls. For their part, the spirits of the forest are simple, stubborn, and hostile, possessing all the primal majesty of nature yet rightly fearful that the humans represent a threat to their existence. With both sides blinded by fear and hatred, only the outsider Ashitaka has any hope of ending the conflict with anything short of a bloodbath.

Watch Princess Mononoke if you are interested in an animated masterpiece with thematic storytelling, rich animation, and a mature take on questions of nature and industry. While recognizable as a Miyazaki work from its imagination, its animation style, and its themes, Princess Mononoke is distinct from his other work, tapping into a darker tone to show different sides of nature and humanity. Skip it if you are looking for a gentler story.

8.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 8.5 for outstanding quality.

Today’s quick review: Django Unchained. Django (Jamie Foxx) is a black slave in the 1850s South whose life takes a dramatic turn when he is freed by Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a bounty hunter who takes him on as an apprentice. Together they set out to reclaim Django’s wife (Kerry Washington) from a capricious slave owner (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his traitorous slave (Samuel L. Jackson). But their mission will take all of Django’s self-control if it is to succeed, and failure is sure to result in violence.

Django Unchained is a revenge film from director Quentin Tarantino that meanders between genres. While technically a drama, Django Unchained borrows Western elements and sprinkles in scenes of violent action at irregular intervals throughout the movie. Tarantino’s odd sensibilities give the film a slightly surreal quality as well, not enough to push it into the realm of comedy, but enough to temper the drama and give the film a deliberately cinematic film.

Django Unchained suffers from issues of pacing and tone. The plot’s trajectory is never all that clear, and the film spends enough time on setup that several of its key developments are not introduced until later on. Where Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds were pure fantasy, Django Unchained mixes in grim elements of reality: slavery, rape, and torture. The injection of real drama and suffering into what would otherwise be a violent romp tarnishes the film’s escapist qualities.

Watch Django Unchained if you are a Quentin Tarantino fan or if you are in the mood for a violent revenge fantasy that touches several different bases. For production quality, Django Unchained is as strong as any of Tarantino’s other films, and what it lacks in focus, it makes up for with a potent mix of elements. Your enjoyment of the film will depend on how much you like its dramatic elements; the style and action are pure Tarantino. Skip it if you are at all sensitive to gore or prefer lighter action films.

8.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.5 for violence, style, and a perversely fascinating plot held back by pacing and a peculiar mix of realism and fantasy.