Manifesto. An artfully done overview of different contemporary art viewpoints. This movie is a visual treat. Good acting too. 8.5/10
The Square. Another art-related indie film. This one is a social satire, essentially pointing at people’s/society’s hypocrisy. (What happened to the square?) This movie is a little bit longer and less streamlined (plot-wise), so a bit of patience is needed, but it has a number of well-done ironic scenes, some of which are subtle (as with street beggars) and some quite powerful, as the noted “jungle” scene with Terry Notary. Okay for one time viewing. 6/10
What Happened to Monday - a dystopian sci-fi movie. It’s pretty solid. I can recommend it, especially to the fans of the genre. The focus is on the story, so don’t expect flashy CGI.
I must say I’ve been disappointed with most of the movies I’ve been waiting to see in 2017 (most of which are indie movies), so I sort of gave up on checking out any of the upcoming movies for 2018. But then I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Germans actually made a movie about the Otzi the Iceman. In the movie, he is portrayed as the “good guy” seeking revenge against the “bad guys”, but of course, in reality we can’t dismiss the possibility that Otzi himself was the “bad guy” who was running away from revenge seekers. Or maybe good/bad was a tenuous distinction back then anyway, in that there were no “good” people back then, only people/clans with differing interests and needs.
(Oh, Otzi, whatever horrrible things you might have done in your life, you’ll always be the “good” guy to us! ) youtu.be/zgoeJ02ZHFE
As for me, I did not like that movie. I thought the movie would be a little bit more rational, but it wasn’t. The movie’s general theme is about divine retribution of sorts or perhaps checking the overconfidence of man. The name of the movie refers to the Greek myth of Iphigenia in which King Agamemnon accidentally kills a sacred deer belonging to goddess Artemis. Artemis in turn curses Agamemnon and only by sacrificing his own daughter would the curse be lifted. This is the divine eye for an eye, or divine punishment/“justice” movie. The movie had a little too much weirdness/voodoo atmosphere for my taste. I understand it’s the director’s aesthetic taste but I think the point could have been presented more tastefully. I also didn’t like the movie’s use of famous actors to draw attention to itself (granted they played their roles well), because it gave it a somewhat desperate/whorish aura.
Perhaps the main theme and lesson of the movie could be visualized by the scene in which the surgeon’s wife kisses the feet of the teenage boy Martin, in that even the best of man must bow to the whims of gods, the gods’ ultimate say-so in the life of man. This would be my best interpretation of the underlying theme in line with the Greek myths.
3/10.
Watched it again yesterday. Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce and Jackie Weaver.
Inspired by real-life events related to Melbourne’s infamous Pettingill family, a dysfunctional criminal family whose clout in the underworld is slowly unraveling.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieQrj9Yy8s[/youtube]
Atomic Blonde [5/10 Had my kind of soundtrack. The movie plodded along without much of interest occurring and the plot was relatively weak, also the fight scene’s where direct punches to the head occurred, were not realistic since no one was ever knocked out. The twist at the end didn’t make up for all this movie lacked.] I still prefer Geena Davis as the bad-assed spy in…
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuma1M09B0[/youtube]
The Long Kiss Goodnight
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOh2ZoUui8[/youtube]
A Ghost Story [3.0/10 The movie could have been more interesting. My biggest beef other than the lack of action and dialogue was the director’s camera work, choice of long shots, too many long shots that lasted for friggin’ ever. This movie caused me viewer’s pain so “BAM!” low score.]