The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) Review

Title: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Year: 2018
Director: Coen Brothers
Country: US
Language: English

Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have made a wide variety of great pictures that encapsulate many genres. No Country For Old Men is a grim thriller, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou is a comedy western, Fargo is a delightful mix of both the grim and the funny. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was developed for Netflix as an anthology picture that tells six stories, each with a varying degree of dark humour. It proves to knock its audience over with tears of laugher and sorrow. 

This is a film comprised of six stories, each detailing events set in the Old West. 

Throughout the anthology the Coen Brothers pay tribute to the likes of John Ford and other classical Western progenitors. They also pay homage to more modern cinema. All Gold Canyon reminded me of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Revenant. The Girl Who Got Rattled made me think of Meek's Cutoff and the Coen's own True Grit. The last short is obviously influenced by The Hateful Eight. It's a great film to watch for cinephiles who love other Western films. 

Aside from the abundance of references, Ballad of Buster Scruggs is brilliantly shot. The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel is rich and vibrant in detail. Each segment has a distinctive look, but they also remain similar enough to be cohesive. The breathtaking natural beauty, which often clashes with the dark tone of the story, makes the Western Myth come alive. The storybook motif adds to the film's tall tale feel. 

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs works both as popcorn entertainment and as serious reflective melancholy about the meaningless of people's ambitions in the Old West. For me a Western is either a hit or a miss. This is certainly a hit. 

Incredibles 2 (2018) Review

Title: Incredibles 2
Year: 2018
Director: Brad Bird
Country: US
Language: English

Pixar sequels are pretty much a guarantee, even if nobody asked for it. Monsters Inc. has Monsters University, Finding Nemo has Finding Dora, Cars has Cars 2 etc. With exception of the Toy Story Franchise, those sequels tend to be lackluster and draw less praise than the originals. Brad Bird, a self declared auteur, has been quite restrained. He spent 14 years deciding whether or not to make a sequel to the beloved original Incredibles. 

Supers are illegal, and the "Incredible" Parr family are hiding out from the law. The wealthy Mr.Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) seeks to improve their public image. Thus Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) is left to take care of his super kids, which include the unpredictable Jack-Jack, while his wife (Holly Hunter) is out saving the world. 

Bird's vision immerses us in a retro world of black-and-white televisions, vintage colors, and nuclear family tropes, contrasted with a tech futurist vibe out of science fiction. Incredibles 2 is simultaneously of the present and of the past. Michael Giacchino’s score evokes a nostalgic past, albeit younger audiences likely won't catch on. The score improves the fast-paced emotion of the picture. 

The character design is remarkable; we've advanced greatly in technology since 1999's Toy Story. The film's animation is fluid, immersive and atmoshperic. Incredibles 2 looks more realistic than most CGI heavy Hollywood Blockbusters. The characters are more human than Disney's own live-action remakes of past cartoons

Incredibles 2 is a beautiful picture that, although it isn't better than the original, is an astounding entertaining movie that will appeal to kids and adults alike. This will win "Best Animated Feature" at the Academy Awards, I guarantee it. 

BlacKKKlansman (2018) Review

Title: BlacKKKlansman
Year: 2018
Director: Spike Lee
Country: US
Language: English

Spike Lee's BlacKKKlansman is a return to form for the outspoken director known for making powerful pictures about influential African Americans. By no coincidence this picture arrived during a timultuous time in America; where white supremacist rallies show up in Charlottesville & President Donald Trump refuses to disavow his racist following, saying (I'm paraphrasing here) "Well, both sides are equally bad"

Ron Stallworth (John Washington), an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate (Adam Driver) who eventually becomes its leader.

Spike Leeee and cinematographer Chayse Irvin shot on 35mm film stock and gave the image a grainy, ’70s-style color palette, making the picture feel like a gritty police drama. Through editing, split-screens, and sometimes tongue-in-cheek asides, Lee also gives his picture a more modern flair. It is both arthouse and mainstream, both an intellectual think-piece as will as popcorn entertainment. 

Winning the Grand Prix at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, BlacKKKlansman has an incredible balance of humour and gritty drama, which pack a remarkably powerful punch. If you didn't "get" why white nationalism is a big deal, then this picture will help you understand. While Lee seeks to tell the story of Stallworth, I appreciate that he takes his time and allows us to soak in grand speeches about people who are tired of being oppressed by white Americans. 

BlacKKKlansman is one of my favourite films of 2018 and I definitley recommend it to all sides of the political spectrum. Hopefully it will englighten intolerant minds and/or give a voice to those who need it most. 

Ugetsu (1953) Review

Title: Ugetsu
Year: 1953
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese

Kenji Mizoguchi began his film career in the silent era (with 1923's Ai Ni Yomigaeru Hi) and made a staggering number of films for Japanese Cinema until his greatest work of art; the lyrical, poetic and haunting Ugetsu. This, like Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, greatly boosted the interest of Japanese Cinema onto an International Audience. Kenji Mizoguchi, who died shortly after in 1956, saw his films rise to a prominence then unheard of in Japan. 

Family man farmer and craftsman Genjurô travels to Nagahama to sell his wares and intends to make a small fortune. His neighbor Tobei that is a fool man dreams on becoming a samurai. Together their greed and ambition blind them. 

Mizoguchi's Ugetsu came about during a great time; the West was having a booming economic post-war period and they had an unquenchable thirst for the more exotic and "traditional" Japan. He did not make Ugetsu to appeal purely to the United States however; his engagement with the past was not to drum up nostalgia about better times, but rather do the opposite and expose war for the horror that it truley is. 

Mizoguchi blends the realistic and the macabre in an almost seamless fashion by varying the direction between documentary-like views of destruction and bizarre set pieces (such as the phantom boat). Bolerolike music underscores the eerie feelings of dread and chaos that we feel throughout the film. Even scenes of love have an undercurrent of madness wading beneath them. 

Ugetsu is a remarkable "they don't make these anymore!" picture that transends entertainment to create a beautiful work of art. Its as close as one can get to a visual representation of poetry. A memorable experience that trumps every other "ghost" story made before and after. 

Chungking Express (1994) Review

Title: Chungking Express
Year: 1994
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Language: Cantonese
Country: Hong Kong

Chungking Express is a perfect mix of pop & arthouse. It is everything Quenten Tarantino wishes his films were. Cool, yet intelligent. Deliberately paced, yet vibrant and full of manic energy. I saw In The Mood For Love (2000) and within a few days fell in love with it. This picture made me fall head over heels as soon as the run-time ended. I did not know there were living film-makers this great. 

Chungking Express tells two stories; one about a lonely policeman who falls for a mysterious underworld figure, the other about another lonely policeman who falls for a late night server at a restaurant he frequents. 

Originally intended as a money-generating quickie for the director’s Jet Tone company, Chungking Express proves an awe-inspiring work of art that has nods to gangster thriller and screwball romance genres. I love the second story most, which stars a Hong Kong pop star named Faye Wong. It is impossible not to have a crush on her as she innocently dances to The Mama and the Papa's California Dreamin. She gives a giddy vibrant feel to the film that resonates quite well. 

The policeman and Faye have a chemistry not seen since Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey in the 40's. Their brief scenes together light up the screen. We feel like we are expriencing an authentic love that is blossoming in front of our eyes. Few pictures show such bliss so well. I can't wait to experience this picture again and again. It brightens my mood like no other films has. 

Wong-Kar Wai's Chungking Express (and his In the Mood for Love) have made my top 10. If I was to introduce someone to Asian and/or Arthouse cinema I would show them Chungking before any other. I cannot wait to see the rest of this master's filmography.