Lady in the Water (2006)
6.6
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When Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) rescues an enigmatic young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from...
Westworld - Season 1
8.7
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TV Season Watch
The one-hour by ten episode drama series Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial...
Westworld - Season 2
7.4
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Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park --...
Broken Flowers (2005)
7.5
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Bill Murray stars in this poised and off-beat comedy drama from writer-director Jim Jarmusch. Don...
The Public (2019)
9.0
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In "the public" an unusually bitter Arctic blast has made its way to downtown Cincinnati and the...
Dean (6921 KP) rated The Batman (2022) in Movies
Mar 31, 2022 (Updated Mar 31, 2022)
This is a different style of Batman compared to all the others. It's dark, gloomy, broody and noir like at times with a strong detective element to the story. Gotham looks great with its real locations adding character to the setting.
This is a dark, aggressive, loner Batman with Bruce Wayne more of a recluse than a playboy. It seems that Bruce Wayne is the real mask for this character. It's interesting to see a new Bat Cave, Batmobile and other key things from the comics.
The assembled cast is strong, especially Jeffrey Wright as Lt. Gordon who has some great scenes. It is a bit long but not in a way that will have you checking your watch waiting for the end, as the story is good.
It's not better than Dark Knight but it's definitely up near the top end of Batman Films. Although I personally enjoy some of the others more, I definitely admire the quality of this version.
The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America
Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
Book
When Tony Kushner's Angels in America hit Broadway in 1993, it won the Pulitzer Prize, swept the...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The French Dispatch (2021) in Movies
Jan 4, 2022
Such is the case with his latest effort THE FRENCH DISPATCH. It is a visually STUNNING film that you can turn the sound off and just drink in the images depicted on screen with your eyes - but the story these pictures tell was, unfortunately, not all that compelling.
Starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright and a whole bundle of known stars, THE FRENCH DISPATCH tells the story of a Sunday Newspaper insert called THE FRENCH DISPATCH (think PARADE MAGAZINE). The quirk of the FRENCH DISPATCH is that this insert in the Liberty, Kansas paper in the 1930’s(or so) focuses solely on the goings-on of the French town of Enui. Stories told in the flavor of the New Yorker.
So…this setup is just, really, an excuse to tell 3 different short stories and tie them together with an overarching theme - getting the French Dispatch ready to publish. A good enough excuse for a movie - provided that the 3 stories being told are interesting enough - which they are not (and therein lies the issue with this film).
Bill Murray is a congenial enough host of this party as the Editor of The French Dispatch. His character is the “through line” of this film and if you are going to anchor an anthology film with a character/actor, then Bill Murray is a pretty good anchor.
The first story, telling of a life-imprisoned person (Benicio Del Toro) who finds a muse (Lea Seydoux) and becomes a world famous artist, thanks to the efforts of his patron (Adrian Brody) is the best of the bunch. This story is written/narrated by a character played by Tilda Swinton and it is her performance that is the highlight of the film for me. Because of this narration - and because this is the best written/most interesting and best acted of the 3 stories (by Del Toro, Seydoux and Brody), I was excited as to where this film was going to go from here.
Unfortunately, that direction was down.
The 3rd story - narrated by a character played by Jeffrey Wright about a Police Commissioner’s son who is kidnapped is absurb - and almost succeeds when Anderson decides to animate the car chase - but ultimately isn’t quite as good as the first piece.
And then there is the middle part that stars Timothee Chalamet as a student that starts a rebellion. This part is written/narrated by a character played by Frances McDormand and while these 2 are “game” for what is given to them, the story is not compelling and, to be honest, a bit boring. This middle story (the longest of the 3 tales) is where the movie loses it’s footing.
And that’s too bad for Anderson - as is his custom - fills every frame with interesting pictures/visuals that are a marvel to look at and fills almost every minor role with some sort of major star looking to work with him. Almost the best part of this film was to spot the star in a cameo role. Willem DaFoe, Saoirse Ronan, Liev Schrieber, the “Fonz” himself, Henry Winkler, Cristoph Walz and Anderson “regulars” Jason Schwartman, Edward Norton and Owen Wilson (amongst others) all show up - briefly - to lend their talents to this absurdity.
Well worth checking out for the visuals, just don’t look for much in the way of plot or drama.
Letter Grade: B (did I mention that the visuals are STUNNING?)
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Specimen Science: Ethics and Policy Implications
Holly Fernandez Lynch, I. Glenn Cohen, Barbara E. Bierer and Suzanne M. Rivera
Book
Advances in medicine often depend on the effective collection, storage, research use, and sharing of...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Batman (2022) in Movies
Mar 7, 2022
The character himself has gone through many iterations over the years, and most of them come with their own merits, but he works aesthetically and thematically better at the darker end of the spectrum. This Batman is certainly that. The narrative takes place wholeheartedly in the criminal underbelly of Gotham, bathing in it's corruption. It's noir-thriller construction compliments the setting perfectly, presenting a slow burning crime piece, with occasional bursts of action, that never feels boring over its near 3 hour runtime.
Pattinsons take on the character could be the very best yet. Through projects such as The Lighthouse and Tenet, he's proven that he has the chops for this kind of thing, and he nails it without a doubt. I was pleasantly surprised by how much on screen Batman we got. He's under the cowl more often than not, and it's an understandable direction to take considering how great the suit looks alongside the general aesthetic of the film. Paul Dano's Riddler is a worthy foe as well. This villain is portrayed as unhinged and dangerous from the get go, a person who is angry and upset with the world, and who has the capacity to bring Gotham to its knees. His master plan is wonderful to watch unfold. Dano is golden in anything he appears in, and my only real complaint about The Batman is that we didn't get more of him.
Colin Farrell, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, and John Turturro are all fantastic supports. It's a well rounded cast, playing well written characters.
The direction and cinematography on display is some of the best I've ever seen in a comic book movie. Reeves has a great eye, from Cloverfield to his Planet of the Apes entries, he has a certain brand of cinema magic that suits Gotham down to the ground. Throw Greig Fraser into the mix, fresh from his outstanding work with Dune, and you have a pretty solid pairing that results in a breathtaking, visual feast, all backed up by a phenomenal music score, from the ever reliable Michael Giacchino.
I can't heap enough praise onto The Batman, a patient, unforgiving, enthralling, and bleak comic adaption that sits at the top of the pile that is deserving of its glowing reviews.