With the release of only her second film this weekend, writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig instantly became a filmmaker that I eagerly watch to see what she does next. Having not yet seen her sophomore feature, an adaptation of the 1970 Judy Blume novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Craig made such a strong impression on me with her directorial debut that she ranks (in my humble opinion) among one of the handful of young/new directors to watch out for. The movie that hit me so hard as to leave this kind of impression years later? It’s none other than the 2016 coming-of-age dramedy The Edge of Seventeen.
Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “The Edge of Seventeen.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] The protagonist of The Edge of Seventeen is Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), a temperamental and self-isolating teenage girl whose only healthy relationship is with her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). However, a drunken sexual liaison between Krista and popular kid/Nadine’s older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) creates a rift in their enduring friendship and sets Nadine off on a downward spiral of self-destruction and self-discovery. Along the steps of her journey, Nadine makes half-hearted attempts to reach out for advice from people in her life. Notably, she rejects a suitor-turned-friend Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto), pines for upperclassman Nick Mossman (Alexander Calvert), and develops an awkward (inappropriate) friendship with her teacher Max Bruner (Woody Harrelson). However, her rather off-putting and abrasive personality combines with her insecurities to make for some hilarious antics but also some emotionally intense moments with both her peers and her widowed mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick). Ultimately, The Edge of Seventeen tells the story of a young woman growing into her own and realizing what she cares about most. Why It’s Worth Watching Given that cliché summary, you might expect The Edge of Seventeen to be just another standard coming-of-age flick that touches on the same themes and utilizes similar plot elements as any of them. But to assume so would be greatly underestimating the sheer amount of talent on display in this film. At its core, the strength of the movie is Kelly Fremon Craig’s awareness of her own strengths & playing into them. Namely, as a first-time director and talented screenwriter, she relies on her incredibly poignant and genuine dialogue (performed by the very talented cast assembled under her supervision) to serve as the backbone of the film. Not that her directing is bad by any means, but it’s certainly not the most original piece of cinema in that sense. However, it doesn’t need to be. The Edge of Seventeen shines in its writing which is more than enough to make it a solid coming-of-age dramedy. But great dialogue & situations for the characters to get entangled with are only as good as the actors bringing it all to life. And while the supporting cast (both young and old) all do well here, the undeniable standout is the great Hailee Steinfeld. As an unabashed huge fan of Steinfeld’s acting chops, I stand by the fact that her turn as Nadine in The Edge of Seventeen is on par with the best work of her career in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit and the Apple TV+ series Dickinson. Given the director’s great dialogue, Steinfeld brings to life one of the most relatable, down-to-earth, and genuine teenage lead character that I’ve seen in a film in the past decade (if not longer). Simply put, her and Crag seem like a great pairing and I can only hope that they team up again in a future project. Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about The Edge of Seventeen. Mainly because I think the writing, directing, and lead performance do more than enough to sell it. On top of that, though, these elements come together to actually transcend the familiar trappings of the coming-of-age flick that I’m pretty aware of by now. But, if you pick only one more movie from this genre to watch for the rest of your life, I don’t think you can go wrong with The Edge of Seventeen. It’s funny. It’s heartfelt. It captures the messy travails of adolescence in a way that many films like this can only dream of. What more can I say? 😊 Have I convinced you to check out Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Image by Vinson Tan ( 楊 祖 武 ) from Pixabay If you’re at all familiar with the biggest names in the history of anime filmmaking, there is arguably no name bigger than Hayao Miyazaki. A co-founder of the acclaimed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, he has directed several movies considered the best of the anime genre from the charming coming-of-age tale My Neighbor Totoro to the Oscar-winning fantasy drama Spirited Away. However, in recent years, several other anime directors have emerged & begun making their stamp on the genre: Mamoru Hosoda with Wolf Children and the Oscar-nominated Mirai, Naoko Yamada with A Silent Voice, and Masaaki Yuasa with Ride Your Wave and Inu-Oh. Just to name a few. 😊
However, if there’s one filmmaker that many anime fans agree is “the next Miyazaki,” it is perhaps none other than Makoto Shinkai. Having come onto the scene with films like The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimeters per Second, Shinkai cemented his place with the 2016 romantic fantasy film Your Name that remains the third highest-grossing Japanese film (both domestically and worldwide) of all time. And since his newest film, Suzume, debuts stateside this weekend I thought it would be perfect timing for me to shine a spotlight on one of my favorite Shinkai films: the 2013 drama The Garden of Words. Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “The Garden of Words.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] With an abbreviated runtime of 46 minutes, The Garden of Words follows two protagonists: the truant student/aspiring shoemaker Takao Akizuki (Blake Shepard) and the self-isolating young adult Yukari Yukino (Maggie Flecknoe). As the rainy season in Tokyo sets in, Takao and Yukari have several chance encounters at Shinjuku Gyo-en National Garden. During these encounters, Takao opens up to Yukari about his passion for shoemaking (including making her a custom pair of shoes). Yukari, on the other hand, remains closed-off about her own life (not even revealing her name to him). When the new school year starts, however, Takao has several realizations about not only Yukari’s true identity but also his feelings for her in spite of the truth about her. Why It’s Worth Watching As I said in the previous section, The Garden of Words is under an hour long (barely a feature film by some people’s standards). And yet, by the time the credits roll, the characters & story that Shinkai tells feel as fully developed as most movies that spin their wheels at over two hours long. Unsurprisingly, the animation deserves much of the credit for this. For those of you have seen Shinkai’s visual style (particularly in recent years with films like Your Name and Weathering with You), his masterful command of using animation to create a vibrant world that feels lived in and grounded will not surprise you in the slightest. With this film, I particularly appreciated the visualization of rainfall as both an aesthetically impeccable part of the frame but also a thematically relevant element of the melancholic tone and narrative. Combined with the lush greenery of Shinkai’s photorealistic take on Shinjuku Gyo-en National Garden in Tokyo, The Garden of Words is certainly not lacking in the visual department. On that note, Shinkai always ensures that the animation is adding to the core story of these two people rather than being the star of the show in an overwhelming fashion. Make no mistake that The Garden of Words is a mature examination of how different growing up can be for different people as well as our need for companionship with fellow humans. And the heart of that story lies with his protagonists, whose burgeoning tease of an offbeat yet believable affection for one another helps elevate Shinkai’s message about the importance of having people who care about you in your life is vital to personal well-being. All of this would be impressive in a two-hour film. But the fact that The Garden of Words accomplishes all of this in a mere 46 minutes elevates Shinkai’s work above many other stories like it. Simply put, his reliance on subtle expressions of emotional development for both the main characters via efficient dialogue and stunning visual cues is what makes this movie (in my humble opinion) one of Shinkai’s best pieces of art and better than many other anime flicks that I’ve seen. Have I convinced you to check out Makoto Shinkai’s The Garden of Words? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst It’s hard to deny that the survival drama show Squid Game took the world by storm not long after it came to Netflix in September of last year. Not only was the show critically praised, but it became Netflix’s most-watched series ever in nearly 100 countries with 1.65 billion viewing hours.
If you liked Squid Game, would you be interested in watching a movie from its creator? In my humble opinion, the South Korean writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk made a great crime drama in 2011 that you should check out if you’re at all a fan of his approach to storytelling. The film in question? Silenced. Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “Silenced.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] Based on real events that occurred in Gwangju, South Korea, Silenced tells the story of Kang In-ho (Gong Yoo) who is the newly-hired art teacher at a school for deaf children. Upon starting work at the school, In-ho notices that many of the children avoid him as much as possible despite his best efforts to connect with them. In his personal life, he is dealing with the wake of his wife’s suicide and checking in on his daughter who is ill. Upon learning that the children are being sexually abused by many of the staff and teachers at the school, In-ho decides to make the kids’ story public and hold the abusive adults accountable. With the help of human rights activist Seo Yoo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), In-ho advocate on behalf of the deaf children but quickly realize just how much the town’s institutions (namely those in charge of them) are working to cover up the truth about the abuse. On top of the pressures of the trial, In-ho and Yoo-jin try to protect the child victims—such as Kim Yeon-doo (Kim Hyun-soo) and Jeon Min-su (Baek Seung-hwan)—from the media, the public outcry, and most importantly their abusers like the headmaster twin brothers Lee Kang-suk and Lee Kang-bok (Jang Gwang). However, as bribery and corruption make the process of bringing their abusers to justice difficult, In-ho, Yoo-jin, and the children develop their own ways of coping with the experience of doing what they can to be heard. Why It’s Worth Watching To be clear, I really liked Netflix’s Squid Game. Its exploration of classism, poverty, and human nature through the framework of a lethal and sadistic game show makes for some damn fine entertainment that has both style and substance. That being said, I think I’m most grateful that I watched Squid Game because it introduced me to Hwang Dong-hyuk. And it introduced me to Silenced. Fair warning: Silenced is not an easy movie to watch. It is a difficult film to get through for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the subject matter of its story emotionally rips your guts out before taking your heart and stomping on it. Is it cathartic? Sometimes, but mostly it’s just downright depressing. So, full transparency, I appreciate those kinds of movies but I know that not everyone does. That being said, Silenced is a film that (if you’re up for it) you should absolutely watch. As a modern-day tragedy, it excels in almost every measurable way. Hwang fictionalizes a real string of sexual abuse of deaf children by corrupt teachers and staff, and thus tells an important story without ever coming off as exploitative or taking advantage of the situation. Like the best “call-to-action” flicks, it does just that: Silenced lights a fire under your ass to get out there and change the world for the better (I’ll get to that later). But what about just as a movie? Does it sensitively handle its themes and characters in a way that is artistically meritorious? Absolutely it does. Silenced never forgets its primary creative goal of humanizing the struggles of these children and the adults who are there for them while also celebrating them overcoming those struggles in pursuit of personal healing and justice for themselves and the others who were molested and abused. Of course, Hwang is only one piece of this incredibly powerful cinematic puzzle that is Silenced. Without a doubt, the weight of these characters’ journeys is on these amazing actors. I particularly appreciated the understated heaviness of Gong Yoo’s performance (the dad from Train to Busan and the Recruit from Squid Game, if you’re familiar). But all of the main cast excel in their roles, from Jung Yu-mi (the pregnant woman from Train to Busan) as the human rights activist to each of the kids. It always amazes me how children that age can play such intense roles in some incredibly emotional films, but these young actors make it look easy from start to finish. I don’t want to leave out the “villains” of the film as they do an equally fine job at the opposite of the aforementioned performers. I found myself loving hating Jang Gwang in the dual role of the deaf school’s abusive headmaster, while Kim Min-sang plays against Baek Seung-hawn very well in what is undeniably one of the standout scenes of the movie. Simply put, there is no weak link in the cast of Silenced. They all bring 110% for the entire runtime which makes the film hard to look away from. If that wasn’t enough to convince you to check this movie out, Silenced is also (in my humble opinion) a fantastic spotlight for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community which has only recently been getting positive mainstream attention in cinema with movies like A Quiet Place and CODA (full transparency, I am not deaf or hard-of-hearing so please take my opinion on this with a grain of salt). Thus, the movie feels all the more important to me because it tells a story that—while tragic and emotionally taxing—never comes off as belittling its deaf characters. Nor does it glorify their trauma or patronize them as people. Instead, Silenced gives agency to its disabled characters to tell their own story (despite their age) in their own way both to process their abuse and seek justice for the crimes committed against them. In other words, these kids aren’t victims because of who they are but because of what happened to them which is a refreshingly modernized portrayal of disabled characters. Has ALL THAT still not convinced you? Well, how about this? Upon the release of Silenced in South Korea, the film sparked so much outrage amongst the general public that the deaf school on which the film was based was shut down, the head administrator was sentenced to twelve years in prison for sexually assaulting a student, and the Korean National Assembly passed a law (named after the film) which removed the statute of limitations for sexual assault against disabled people and children under the age of thirteen. Silenced is a movie that actually changed shit for the better. Doesn’t THAT make it worth watching? 😊 Have I convinced you to check out Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Silenced? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst Image by DONT SELL MY ARTWORK AS IS from Pixabay With a film career spanning eight decades, acclaimed actor and director Clint Eastwood has been a part of several iconic films adored by many (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Million Dollar Baby, just to name a few). But with a tenure in movies as long as that, Eastwood has also made several underrated flicks that don’t get the appreciation they deserve today (Bronco Billy being one of them). Today, I want to shine a spotlight on another one of his directed features that, in my humble opinion, should be seen and talked about by more people: the 1993 crime drama A Perfect World, starring Kevin Costner.
Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “A Perfect World.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] A Perfect World, set in the early 1960s, tells the story of escaped convict Robert “Butch” Haynes (Kevin Costner) who’s on the run for the law after escaping the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. While on the run, Butch kidnaps eight-year-old boy Phillip Perry (T.J. Lowther) as a hostage to aid the escape of himself and his co-conspirator Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka). As they flee on the highway, Butch becomes increasingly protective of Phillip (especially against Terry’s aggressive behavior). Chasing Butch and Terry are Texas Ranger Red Garrett (Clint Eastwood), criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern), and FBI sniper Bobby Lee (Bradley Whitford), with the goal of capturing Butch and rescuing Phillip before they cross the Texas border. Unbeknownst to Butch, however, he shares a past with Red which is motivating Red to capture Butch alive. Meanwhile, Phillip experiences a previously unfamiliar sense of freedom on the road with Butch. Coming from a household of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the boy indulges in experiences with Butch that he never had at home (i.e. wearing a Halloween costume). As time passes on the road, Butch warms up to the idea of guiding Phillip through deciding what’s right and wrong in order to be a fatherly presence (something that, as a child, Butch lacked). But encounters with strangers and the law strain the blossoming father-son dynamic between Butch and Phillip. As Red’s team closes in on them both, Butch must reconcile between his inescapable criminal past and his desire to do what’s best for Phillip’s future. Why It’s Worth Watching In my humble opinion, A Perfect World is one of those films that may not have won any awards upon release but more than deserved some. Furthermore, it’s a movie that is well-made from start to finish but, for whatever reason, isn’t really talked about in the same way that Eastwood’s classics are. Without question, the best part of A Perfect World is Kevin Costner’s central performance. His turn as the charming fugitive “Butch” is one of his great performances that is, unfortunately, overshadowed by movies like Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves. From his interactions with young T.J. Lowther to the mostly understated tension between his and Eastwood’s character, Costner makes the movie worth watching simply for his performance. Luckily, there is even more that makes A Perfect World worth your time. As I hinted at before, I simply don’t understand why the movie is not put up there with Eastwood’s other great directed feature films despite deserving such praise. For one thing, Eastwood demonstrates a confidence behind the camera only evident in the best of his films. Which is particularly impressive considering this movie’s complex themes that require a delicate approach to pull off well. To elaborate, the emotional core of A Perfect World is its exploration of unlikely father-son relationships. The one that’s front-and-center—that between Costner and Lowther’s characters—could have easily felt contrived and disingenuous. But Eastwood’s way of telling their story, combined with both actors’ solid performances, avoids such trappings by striking the right tonal balance so as to earn the audience’s empathy for Butch and Phillip needing each other in different ways. But the subtler, and (in my humble opinion) more impressive, relationship that Eastwood dissects is the (mostly) off-screen dynamic between his own character and Costner’s. Despite rarely seeing the two actors interact, A Perfect World offers up a solid parallel to Butch and Phillip’s father-son dynamic by making Red Garrett into the father figure that Butch never had. Again, this should have so easily felt forced and clichéd but Eastwood never really lets that happen. If all of that hasn’t yet convinced you to check out this movie, I think that fans of gritty crime dramas set in specific historical periods (in this case, rural Texas in the 1960s) will enjoy the film in that respect. Why? Well, Jack N. Green’s cinematography excels at capturing a realistic portrayal of the backroads and fields of the Southwest in order to enhance the film’s themes and character dynamics. I don’t know what else to say but to watch A Perfect World. If you’re a fan of Eastwood, you’ll like it. If you’re a fan of Costner, you’ll like it. Or, if you just like great crime dramas, then you’ll really enjoy it. Have I convinced you to check out Clint Eastwood’s A Perfect World? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay Clint Eastwood has undeniably left an indelible mark on modern American cinema, both as an actor and director. From his work on Westerns like High Plains Drifter and Unforgiven to his Oscar-winning dramas Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima. But what about lesser-known, underrated flicks? One of Eastwood’s hidden gems, which he both directed and starred in, is his 1980 Western dramedy Bronco Billy.
Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “Bronco Billy.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] The story of Bronco Billy follows a rundown traveling circus with “the fastest gun in the West,” Billy McCoy (Clint Eastwood), as its grand finale. The show is hemorrhaging money (causing its stars to essentially be working for free), and Billy’s female assistant quits after being nicked in the leg by his throwing knife during the finale. Upon arriving in a new town, Billy encounters soon-to-be newlyweds Antoinette Lily (Sondra Locke) and John Arlington (Geoffrey Lewis) while trying to get a permit for his circus. Soon, Billy and Antoinette’s fates become intertwined as she evades marrying Arlington (whom she despises) by joining the circus as Billy’s new assistant. Despite her inclination to improvise, she helps the show attract more viewers and start becoming successful. However, the show continues facing obstacles in the form of some of the performers being arrested or their tent burning down and thus leaving the show in ruins. In a desperate attempt to keep it all afloat, Billy proposes some wacky schemes to try and salvage the show and ends up enduring humiliation for the sake of the show. Furthermore, while Billy confronts his inner demons via alcoholism, Antoinette (whom Billy affectionately refers to as “Miss Lily”) reflects on whether or not she should return to her luxurious lifestyle or stick with the new family she has found with Billy’s traveling circus. Why It’s Worth Watching Honestly, I have little to say about Bronco Billy but not because it isn’t good. Quite the opposite; its strengths, while singular in nature, are potent enough to warrant your time watching it. In general, this film is Clint Eastwood effectively parodying both the Western genre as a whole and his career as a Western movie star specifically. By playing this specific protagonist, Eastwood (both in his performance and direction) pulls off self-parody that not only effectively lampoons his image in Hollywood but also never steps into the pitfalls identifiable of an artist trying to say something through such self-parody. Instead, he’s simply having fun bringing this character that he’s played to a comedy that actually has layers (unlike the enigmatic gunslingers that Eastwood played in films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, High Plains Drifter, or Pale Rider). His ability to self-assuredly make fun of himself sufficiently adds to the overall lighthearted tone of the movie’s screenplay and atmosphere. Simply put, it’s not trying to be anything more than a fun, breezy comedy about a bunch of ne’er-do-wells and miscreants barely getting by in life. In this sense, watching their misadventures go awry is entertainment enough because the film isn’t asking you to accept it for anything more than a good, old-fashioned, fun time. While some cinephiles may prefer the darker Westerns of Eastwood’s career (Unforgiven comes to mind), I personally enjoy that he was able to pull off this kind of story in that genre that, for so long, relied on for the sake of higher drama. Sometimes that works, but (in my humble opinion) Eastwood’s career is overstuffed with such takes on Westerns. To that extent, Bronco Billy stands out from the crowd by living up to its potential as a fun romp. To be fair, this probably would not have worked if not for how much the premise of the film’s story balances silliness with grounded realism. By telling a story of down-on-their-luck traveling circus performers trying (and failing) to pull off cowboy schemes in the 1970s that has genuine moments of human emotion, Eastwood injects several funny moments, character interactions, and antics without ever undermining the more dramatic moments. To the contrary, Bronco Billy balances the silly with the sardonic to a thoroughly enjoyable effect. And there you have it. If I haven’t convinced you to check out Bronco Billy than I’m not sure that it’s the movie for you. But if anything I’ve described above in terms of a surprisingly enjoyable comedy that invokes Western imagery and themes for the sake of parody, than I am confident that it’s a movie more than worth your time. Have I convinced you to check out Clint Eastwood’s Bronco Billy? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst |
Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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