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Blue Lights (2023)
Second season is not good
I was really enjoying season two until the final two episodes when it became apparent that the writers didn't have the commitment to construct a complex drama that respects the viewer's intelligence.
As you watch this, ask yourself if the ending puts too much of a red bow on things, whether all the story threads are addressed, or if it all ends too suddenly and too simply.
Here's the biggest problem. If Thompson's gone, then who replaces Thompson? Somebody worse? The writers aren't even bothered to address this question? Are the town's problems with drugs over and done with? No? So why are we celebrating? The cops certainly don't have things under control.
Why does Thompson's posse turn their back on him? Also doesn't make one bit of sense. They just leave? Then his sister says some bad things about him and the whole community rejects him? Really? Just like that? After he did remarkable favours for so many in the community, reliving them of their debts? No one stood up and said a word for him? Both unbelievable and unsatisfying. Not to mention a rotten way to treat a pretty good and potentially complex character. There was an opportunity here to continue the Thompson story arc to segue us into season 3. Instead we a sudden, abrupt and pathetic end.
Again, the writers just don't respect the viewer's intelligence by devising plotting and character arcs that beggar belief. I'm supposed to think that Bradley has a sudden change of heart, out of the blue, finding his conscience and becoming a team player despite being presented earlier in the season as a ruthless hired gun with the manners of a German gestapo officer? Pet peeve: I hate it when shows turn bad guys into good guys without sufficient justification. It's bad writing.
I'm also somewhat put off by the show's insistence that these Irish cops and this police department are scrappy underfunded underdogs. Are they really? Even though they are able to afford expensive simulation exercises where a police car's engine is destroyed with a molotov cocktail? I don't necessarily mind copaganda (most cop shows are), but please make it good.
The problem with this season is that it is simply not serious drama. This is closer to Disney than anything. If you're looking for serious thoughtful drama, this is not it.
Paparazzi (2004)
It is no fun...
... when bad guys and good guys are one-dimensional unless there is humour to be inferred.
Here there is none. I have had fun at the expense of Chuck Norris films, some of Arnie's less than stellar fare, and even Jean-Claude Van Damme's disasters. They're simple minded, but hard to take seriously because you can't help but laugh seeing Charlton Heston in a supporting role.
Paparazzi is just boring. The film plays it straight: the Hauser character shows no charisma, the bad guys are the lowest of the low, and we know how it will all end.
Why make this?
Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004)
I was not disappointed
I went to see Miyazaki's newest work "Howl's Moving Castle" with some minor trepidation. This was not a pet project for him from the start so I had reservations as to whether it would be able to match the visual mastery of his earlier works. I was delighted to find out that Miyazaki delivered a film that has become an instant favorite with me.
Being a Miayzaki enthusiast, I have seen all of the master's feature length directorial efforts. "Howl's Moving Castle" now only trails "My Neightbour Totoro" as my favorite Miyazaki work. What works for me the most in this film is that Miyzaki was able to join together the best of his early and later film-making traits into a brilliant baroque work of art. "Howl's Moving Castle" possesses the innocence and quiet beauty of his earlier films and the haunting, darker, more brooding excellence of "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirited Away".
As with "Mononoke" and "Nausicaa", "Howl's Moving Castle" is a deviation of a previous Miyazaki film. It is, in many ways, reminiscent to Laputa: Castle In The Sky when one considers elements such as Howl's castle paralleled with the castle of Laputa, the central theme of war and the multidimensional villains (or are they? Consider how Miyazaki's characters are rarely purely evil, as there are layers of goodness in all of them).
There is a scene in this film that had me in awe and made me realize that I was witnessing a masterpiece within a masterpiece. It is delightfully underplayed. When Howl sends old Sophie to see madame Suliman she winds up climbing a dreadfully long set of stairs with the witch of the waste on the way to Suliman's castle. I was astounded with Miyazaki's craftsmanship here. First of all, the visuals are astounding and and humorously over-the-top. Miyazaki wickedly underscores the age of Sophie and the obesity of the witch of the west to bring out the humanity of both of these characters, their weaknesses in particular. Miyazaki is also very consistently patient here - one would expect in a Disney movie for the director to simply cut from the bottom of the stairs to the top of the stairs as the characters come to the entrance but he lets the viewer in on this amusing experience. There are nice subtle touches here like Suliman's dog who is carried by Sophie to make the experience even more strenuous for her. Miyazaki also goes to great lengths to show Sophie's kindness - this first becomes evident on the stairs when she is surprisingly sympathetic to the witch, developing into a central themes of the film - the theme of kindness, forgiveness and understanding.
These characters are multidimensional, they have human traits and allow the viewer to identify. Miyazaki's approach is the complete polar opposite to that of American animators who worked on cartoons like the roadrunner and the coyote or Bugs Bunny. These characters are mortal - they feel pain, they feel joy and sadness and we are in on this to experience these feelings as well. Miyazaki never cheats the audience with pop culture references or token characters - there is warmth and touching humanity even in the most cunning personages. This is missing today in works by studios such as Disney where we expect characters to be immortal, even in the most violent sequences. Miyazaki borrows more from Russian animation - works like "Hedgehog in the Fog" and "The Snow Queen" - to make these characters absorbing and devoid of clichés.
"Howl's Moving Castle" is a film for all ages, moreso than his previous two efforts which seemed to cater to adults, I would say. This film's humour, I felt, was much sharper than in "Spirited Away", bringing back Miyazaki's patented light-hearted silliness of "Porco Rosso" and "Kiki's Delivery Service". I felt that I had to have been missing something in the character of Howl (as I saw the dubbed version into English) - he is serious, tragic yet also surprisingly goofy, especially in his obsession over his looks, specifically his hair. I am looking forward to seeing this with subtitles so I can admire the Japanese voicework to see if Christian Bale's dubbing was appropriate.
I cannot recommend this masterpiece enough. If this is Miyazaki's swan song it could not be more appropriate.
4/4
The Terminal (2004)
Bigoted Garbage
Tom Hanks' character in "The Terminal" is really supposed to be a rough prototype of the Slavic "muzhik" (this becomes clear when Hanks calls mustard "gorchitsa", which is Russian for mustard), but it is so misguided and blatantly stereotypical that it becomes offensive. I suppose that Spielberg felt that he would be successful in going for cheap laughs by creating this obscene American representation of a foreigner and I am sure that he did succeed with many people. Spielberg has sunk to a new low with this movie by making fun of a person's accent and his inability to pronounce words like 'cheated' (sounding like 'eat sh*t'). It seems he found an audience willing to consume this dross.
Piglet's Big Movie (2003)
Another Disney Abortion
Previous comments have already covered that this movie basically recycles old Winnie The Pooh stories (including the original book) - the little kids may not care but don't the authors owe more to the fans of the series and actually produce a decent screenplay? What I enjoyed about the series from the late 80s and early 90s is that it was, in large part, accessible for both adults and children. They were cute but rather intelligent.
This movie borders on the sadistic at times - such as the scene where Kanga puts Piglet through the ordeal of giving him a bath, while perfectly knowing that he is Roo. Now, I realize that this is yet another recycled story but the way it is handled resembles something from the Animaniacs. The writers basically said 'let's make something that'll make the kiddies laugh before they are old enough to realize it is not funny.' There is no sensitivity or creativity shown whatsoever.
My advice to parents - buy Milne's book or, if you are desperately looking for a rental, get your kid a Miyazaki.