Arvostelut (2 988)
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Korkean paikan rakkaustarina (2024)
“Slay the Spire”, but they wanted to be a bit like Free Solo, but with a heist and a fatal love/hate relationship like in The Deepest Breath.
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Napoleon (2023)
The quality of the material is undeniable, although (so far) rather tentative. The strangest edited film in a long time. One thing is that it's abridged to the point of shame, that even a layman feels that whole long passages are missing. Another thing is that even in the scenes that did make it into the theatrical cut, it's often obvious that those are also significantly cut; there's no continuity of shots, dialogue, logic, sequence. I have no doubt that when it is in its final, considerably longer form, it will be a very much improved and coherent experience that, while not historically faithful, will be spectacular in the best sense of the word. So far, however, these are merely impressive scenes with shoddy characterisation; more a feature length trailer than a film.
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The First Omen (2024)
If redundant and unwanted prequels and remakes of genre classics have to be made because producers and the times demand it (too bad the audience doesn't), then please at least do it with care and in a form like the one here. It breathes the early seventies, it manages to evoke a dense disturbing atmosphere and specific imagery, and even if it doesn't avoid cheap scares, it doesn't build on them. The author is not afraid of more serious themes, so it's not "just consumer horror popcorn". The cast is excellent, the work with movement and (surround) sound is exemplary and it doesn't do the original any shame in any respect. Were it half an hour shorter, it would even reach for the lower rungs of the pedestal in the much-loved nun-horror subgenre of recent years.
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Lumberjack the Monster (2023)
Due to the imaginative nature of the whole concept (Japanese folk horror meets Dexter meets Black Mirror), it repeatedly cycles through (necessary) passages where one character explains at length to the other (read the viewer) "who, what, why, how". It doesn't have a breakneck pace, and it feels a touch longer than the billed two hours. The infodumping could have (and should have; even considering the author's abilities) been delivered in more cinematic language rather than through static conversations, with the special finale feeling like a live-action episode of Scooby-Doo. It doesn't matter that much, though, because the ambivalence of the characters, along with the concept, pull it off. A hard to describe study of (a)morality, where the responsibility for oneself, who is or isn't a monster under the surface, where the responsibility of a psychopathic personality for whom actions (don't) speak begins or ends, but delivered in a genre-bending trashy style of Takashi Miike. There is a rampaging monster, but there are no horror scenes. It's seen from the point of view of the police, who make their way to the crime scenes, and primarily through the eyes of one of the potential victims, who doesn't feel like a victim, on the contrary, she herself is often on the hunt. It's original, imaginative, thought-provoking and just plain good. However, there was room and talent involved to elevate this to another of genre chameleon of Miike's timeless cult films. It's intriguing, it's out of the ordinary, but for many it will be more of the "much more fun to discuss in the pub over a pint than to watch for two hours" variety.
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Tappava tunnustus (1980)
Undisguisedly Hitchcockian. The script is very stupid, but what Brian De Palma spoils as a screenwriter, he makes up for mightily as a director. Plus, he's not afraid to use the skills of Ralf D. Bode and Pino Donaggio. More than one scene could have gone straight into the textbooks as an example of "how to slowly build a scene that evokes intense subliminal tension, shot by shot, without words" or "how to walk around a gallery for a few minutes and not breathe".
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
After nine years, the spin-off prequel to the fourth installment of the established franchise from a nearly 80-year-old geezer... If it weren't for the Mad Max franchise and the old-timer George Miller, one would have expected a mess. But that series is Mad Max and that old man is the visionary Miller, or once again, a peculiar, lavish, audio-visually polished spectacle, brimming with ideas in literally every scene. My only criticism is that the running time is too (especially in one particular chapter). It teeters on the edge of "more of the same" vs. "more room for characters and world building but not more of the same". Which isn't necessarily a criticism, but a more pronounced lean to one side might not be out of place. Either way, they are just minor details.
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The Dynasty: New England Patriots (2024) (sarja)
A riveting flight through of two decades of love, hate, ups, downs and twists and turns surrounding the New England Patriots. It's true that put together like this, there are so many controversies, affairs, strange behind-the-scenes shenanigans and twists and turns that it defies all probability. If it were scripted, it would inevitably end up in the trash, because this (and "this" could be a serial killer on the team, Putin the thief, the underinflated balls affair, and the fall of an exemplary American to the bottom, and many many more) is just too much, stuff no serious viewer would fall for... But it all happened. Everyone is on camera, they go for controversy (for me, they should have gone more deeper in some areas and not let the actors slip away with a learned formula). The games are edited magnificently, it has drama, juice, it doesn't flinch from the skeletons in the closet (and that the Patriots have plenty of those). And that's where the familiarity and appeal of American football completely misses the mark for me. It has one flaw. Owner and tycoon Kraft comes off almost like a good fairy tale grandfather, while Coach Belichick, on the other hand, comes off as a "Palpatine goon". Yet it is clear to everyone that the owner and creator of one of the most powerful organizations in world sport is not going to be a fawning grandfather who knows nothing about nothing, has seen nothing, and has been fooled by everyone through a mischievous smile. Anyway, I hope that Apple will continue this concept of "following in the footsteps of dynasties" and that the dynasties of the NBA and NHL will receive similar care. | New England Patriots: 5/5 |
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Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023)
As a likeable "what a great university Davidson is" recruitment video, passable, as a non-conflicting "I'm finishing my old school and broke the record for most three pointers" vignette about Stephen Curry, also passable. But you learn nothing about Curry himself, nor about his "against all physical and statistical odds" more than successful career (he was one of the three best basketball players in the world at one time). The first years in the NBA, the series of injuries, the three titles during the Warriors' reign, the retreat from the limelight, and the shocking fourth championship. No space is given to that at all. Instead, we see Curry a hundred times, hanging out with his family or former teammates. And yet, Curry himself, the entire Warriors era, and even the coach who has spent three decades with young men at the university deserve a proper documentary.
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Menus plaisirs - Les Troisgros (2023)
Everything you wanted to know about this fancy French family-run three-Michelin-stars restaurant, but were afraid to ask. Meticulous, without the slightest exaggeration riveting (yes, watching the routine performed by proper professionals for four hours of footage in this rendition can indeed be, and is, riveting), all revealing insight as if you were standing right there working with them (to the point that after completing those four hours you are entitled to be paid for a half shift worked). Frederick Wiseman keeps a watchful eye on everything from food preparation, debates over the investment wine list, the work of the journeymen as well as the managers, the clientele, the suppliers, the interconnectedness of departments and activities... A heaven for process analysts, and anyone else who is interested in "how and why things get done". I went into this with the expectation that I would inevitably watch parts of it, but I ate it up like a raspberry. There are so many interesting areas to delve into in even greater detail that, as much as that enormous running time seems like an unbearable obstacle, it is the only blemish on the beauty in the finale. It could have done with an hour longer director's cut.
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Tokyo Vice (2022) (sarja)
"It’s not how much you do that counts, it’s what you get done." Michael Mann's pilot episode does the series a disservice by offering something different from the rest of the series. I'm not saying that it's better or worse, but it's vastly different. For one thing, at first glance it's right in his typical "handheld digital camera" visual style, and then it sticks to the template word for word. This is paradoxical, because the rest of the series forges a different visual style, using the template only as a supporting skeleton on which it isn't afraid to build its own stories and character fates. In any case, what remains from the source material is an investigative look behind the curtain at the turn of the millennium in (not only) Tokyo, at the details of the clash between Western and Eastern mentality, socio-political themes, the penetration of corruption into state power, detailed analyses of "how things works in practice", etc. On the other hand, the addition of the excellent yakuza storyline as seen through the eyes of one of the smaller clans is essentially the best possible adaptation of the iconic "Yakuza/Like a Dragon" video game series, and some of the characters who get minimal space in the book are among the series' driving forces and mainstays. While it's a representative of its genre, it's not exactly a crime drama. The fates, characters, cultural specifics, and neon genius loci of Tokyo's alcohol-soaked late-night Kabukicho play a clear role over crime and investigation. The result is a series that is at first somewhat detachedly cool, gradually excellent and creepingly heart-tugging in its characters, and repeatedly, often outright phenomenal, that demands that the viewer invest time in it, go along with it in many ways, and best put it together as one film. It proudly follows the unmistakable "it's not TV, it's HBO quality slow TV" legacy and manages to repay that considerable viewer investment with interest. | S1: 4/5 | S2: 5/5 |