Every single frame of this movie is a delight - even the closing titles. It is an explosion of outrageous colour, extravagant lenses, and delirious shots. Like an Escher woodcut electrified into life.
I adored director Yorgos Lanthimos' earlier film The Lobster - this feel almost like that film was injected with several million more dollars and a sprinkling of psychedelics. This magic is what happens when you give creative people freedom to be as weird as their dare.
As beautiful as it all is, the story is vicious and nasty. It has a slimy and voyeuristic atmosphere which suffuses the sex-scenes, moving them from titillation to pivotal set-pieces in the development of the characters.
This isn't an easy film to watch. While it superficially shares a garish palette with Barbie and a sceptical view of science with Oppenheimer, it is so far away from those two mainstream films that I am stunned it exists.
It is impossible not to be constantly entertained - and continually horrified - as the film progresses. It is visceral fun.
After watching the First few series of the TV show "MAS*H", I thought I'd give the original movie a go. It isn't very good. Even if you ignore the rampant racism - and there is a lot of racism - you still have to content with the brutal misogyny - and it is toe-curlingly grim. […]
Even if you ignore the rampant racism - and there is a lot of racism - you still have to content with the brutal misogyny - and it is toe-curlingly grim. Then you get the homophobia which, may have been of its time, but the sexual assault isn't. And if you can get past all of that, you still have to suffer though a movie that gets so bored of its central thesis (war isn't fun) that it gives up ⅔rds of the way through to... do a sports movie?
Similar to How I Won The War, MAS*H is a set of barely interconnected "comedy" sketches. Sure, the humour and the slang are dated - but that can be overlooked. Some of the absurdism works well - but is done better in the TV series. The juxtaposition of the comedy and the bloody surgery is influential - but hardly revelatory.
In the end, MAS*H is a mess. Sure, war is hell - but you'll have an enjoyable time sexually assaulting women and getting boozed up. Yeah, some kids'll die - but think of all the fun you'll have drinking, playing golf, and abusing the people around you.
I think Frankie Boyle said it best:
American foreign policy is horrendous 'cause not only will America come to your country and kill all your people, but what's worse, I think, is that they'll come back 20 years later and make a movie about how killing your people made their soldiers feel sad.
Before you leave a comment telling me how wrong I am - take off your rose-tinted glasses and watch it again.
I just love Sandler in this register. It’s no longer a surprise when he pulls a well-defined and memorable dramatic performance. Now, 189 days into his mission, Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler), the forlorn cosmonaut protagonist of “Spaceman,” is hurtling toward Jupiter to study the mysterious Chopra cloud. He is nearing his...
Classics of Pagan Cinema: Meg Elison combines the folk magic of Lasse Hallström’s 2000 romance “Chocolat” with her own memories of coming to Witchcraft – and coming to terms with her mother.
Oppenheimer is... fine? I guess? For ever gorgeously composed shot, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every heart-breaking moment of self-doubt, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every celebrity cameo, there's a minute of plodding exposition. That's why this is a decidedly average film. Every single actor is incredible - stuffed as it…
Movie poster.Oppenheimer is... fine? I guess? For ever gorgeously composed shot, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every heart-breaking moment of self-doubt, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every celebrity cameo, there's a minute of plodding exposition.
Aide: A young guy trying to make a name for himself, didn't like what you did to Oppenheimer.
Strauss: What's his name?
Aide: Kennedy. John F. Kennedy!
I mean, the actor delivers it well, but it isn't exactly a masterful plot construct.
Robert Downey JR - freed from the franchise shackles - gets to act once again. He is outstanding - which is incredible seeing as the only dialogue he has is narrating what's happening in flashbacks.
Similarly, when it comes to the naming of the "Trinity" site, Oppenheimer just recites a random bit of poetry. There's no rhyme or reason to it (and it seems none was given in reality) so it sticks out compared to the (endless) exposition in other scenes.
Every single frame is a masterpiece. Nolan and his team know exactly how to get the most out of a film shoot. But the rapid changes to aspect ratio are a constant distraction.
The mini-physics lectures contain less detail than a do-your-own-research YouTube video. Which is fine; this is a piece of entertainment, not a physics lesson. The constitutional implications of Senate confirmation are less educational than a West Wing episode. Which is fine; this is a piece of entertainment, not a civics lesson. The exploration of workers rights and the rise of intellectual communism is dismissed without thought. Which is fine; this is a piece of entertainment, not a political philosophy lecture.
But because the film tries to cram in so much, it ends up not really exploring anything.
And on it goes. For every moment of beauty and delight, there's a moment of clock-watching and eye-rolling.
Watched American Fiction. It was fantastic. All the actors did great, and the movie did an amazing job of telling a real family story in the midst of the plot. I love movies where no one is a cardboard cutout, and this was exemplary of that complexity.
It didn’t hold back from making fun of sacred cows and it ended up feeling incredibly real.
Spaceman movie review & film summary (2024) | Roger Ebert (www.rogerebert.com)
I just love Sandler in this register. It’s no longer a surprise when he pulls a well-defined and memorable dramatic performance. Now, 189 days into his mission, Jakub Prochazka (Adam Sandler), the forlorn cosmonaut protagonist of “Spaceman,” is hurtling toward Jupiter to study the mysterious Chopra cloud. He is nearing his...