Three Thousand Years of Longing

A gorgeous, captivating tale of love, passion and desire shrouded in a mysterious fable of magic, history and wonderment. George Miller’s pandemic project was a fascinating study in storytelling and its transportive powers.

Tilda Swinton was effortlessly magnetic - she could read a phonebook and it would be magnificent - and Idris Elba, embodied an unexpected tenderness despite his hulking presence. Their chemistry had a warmth and sincerity that felt honest and real, and that really helped to sell the plausibility of this fairytale.

Miller’s direction was assured and the narrative flowed beautifully. Each story within a story had a start, middle and end that was both satisfying and yet continued to deepen the central intrigue and mystery.

A great screenplay that never clearly delineated its path and paired with an evocative and at times haunting score by Leo Holkenborhg aka Junkie XL, this film immersed the audience in a seemingly too short 108 minutes journey of discovery and modern myth telling. 

Nope

Jordan Peele’s latest may be his most mass-accessible elevated horror film with a great cold open, tight first act establishing the characters and premise, a superb, thrilling second act that was tense, scary and exciting, and a slightly muddled third act where Peele just missed nailing the ending bullseye for the sake of awe and spectacle. There were a few points in the last 30 minutes of the film where Peele could have ended it and it would have been great! But that rushed, over-wrought finale with (new) characters exhibiting slightly odd - thus far uncharacteristic - behaviour brought the thinking audience out of the intense moments Peele had expertly crafted prior. 

There were still social, racial, religious and critical commentary seeded through the film, as typical of Peele, but it was less overt than “Get Out” and definitely “Us”. This could be his way of getting more mainstream, but some may see it as the start of selling out. Regardless, this film was a spectacular. A large screen - IMAX - early Spielbergian spectacle (with a tinge of subversion in the gape-and-awe genre) that was gorgeously shot by Hoyte van Hoytema with superb sound design by Johnnie Burn and music by Michael Abels. 

Acting wise, the core pairing of Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. Kaluuya continued to shine after his recent Oscar win and his eyes remained as fascinating expressive as ever; Palmer, always an underrated actress, was funny, tough, vulnerable and even child-like, and really held your attention. Steven Yeun was great as usual but this was not his story although his character had a great (largely unexplored) arc. And Brandon Perea was a good horror surrogate/ comic relief. 

“Nope” was a summer blockbuster with under-the-line Oscar potential that should be watched on the big screen! A sequel won’t be surprising.  

Bullet Train

Whitewashing aside, this film was a squandered dud that cruised solely on Brad Pitt’s charm. Based off a Japanese novel, this American film - yet still set in Japan - by director David Leitch was a terrible Quentin Tarantino/Edgar Wright wannabe. It so desperately wanted to be as stylish cool and quippy/witty as “Baby Driver”, “Kill Bill” or “The Hateful Eight” but everything it did just did not land. Even the needle drops were not as fun as they could be.

It lacked humour (dark, dry, lame or otherwise), the cast did not have chemistry together (Andrew Koji and Hiroyuki Sanada were great; Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry’s odd couple schtick was routine but it at least it did work, although once separated they kinda collapsed; Joey King just did not work - at all), the action, violence and gore were uninteresting and flat (just not enough blood or thrills with way too outrageous scenes on green screens that displaced the film from any possible reality), and essentially everything was just so predictable (every single beat, twist and storyline was so clearly telegraphed and badly foreshadowed it might as well be written for a child).

The A-list cameos were cute, but those occasional glimmer of fun could not salvage this uninspired ride.

Pitt is a good comedic actor (see: the “Ocean” franchise, “Moneyball” and “Burn Before Reading”), but this film just did not serve him well. Pity. This could have the potential to spin off a new franchise for him a la Keanu Reeves and “John Wick”.

Stay for the mid-credits scene. 

Elvis

A gorgeously shot, tightly edited, beautifully cast music biopic of The King that was unfortunately over-wrought, over-long, over-acted, and over-simplified. Simply put, too much Baz Luhrmann and too little Elvis Presley. 

After an excruciating and unnecessary 159 minutes, we never learnt much about Elvis the man.
If “Top Gun: Maverick” was a 2 hours musical video for a Lady Gaga song, then “Elvis” was essentially a near-3 hours sped-up, jukebox remix, mtv montage of Elvis’ hits.

It was emotionally vacant and distant with nary any sense of empathy or sympathy. Elvis, remained, as ever, a mystery. His ideas and motivations were glossed through, his paradoxes and his relationships paper thin and superficial. Lurhmann’s Elvis was all sequinned gloss but cardboard thin.

Austin Butler was pretty and nailed the young Elvis, but his mimicry was affecting and shallow especially off stage. Butler lacked the range and vulnerability to carry the emotional moments that Luhrmann and co’s script demanded. He had no chemistry with any of the other casts, not even - as the show put it, his greatest love - with the audience. Which was weird, because for all of Luhrmann’s faults, he always managed to create a central pairing worth rooting for: Satine/Christian, Daisy/Gatsby and Juliet/Romeo. But here, Elvis and Priscilla were as cold as a dead fish, and Elvis and the audience were as distant as the Grand Canyon. This was even more apparent when we get the epilogue with the docu-footage of Elvis’ live performance. Now, that was a star who connected. However, to Butler’s credit, he shone as a showman. When he was on stage, at those times, his Elvis felt lived in.

And of course, then we have Tom Hanks. That was a performance if nothing else. Taking away that atrocious accent, Hanks was a decent villain especially given how damn annoying his character was. Essentially a one dimensional slimeball that thought too highly of himself who for unknown reason, no one seemed to care enough to challenge or undermine him directly. But when they finally - finally! - did, that conflict just kind of deflated inconsequentially and we are just left with one big “huh?!”

Luckily, Elvis’ music was impervious to the Luhrmann’s excessiveness, and Luhrmann, again for all his faults, always had a good ear and knew how to use music appropriately in his movie. Although, in this case, it may have played better to those familiar with Elvis if Luhrmann had just allowed some songs to be played in full and just simply without all the zooms, cuts and camera spins. But, Elvis’ hits are forever. Simply the highlights of the film.

The film will undoubtably get some below the line Oscar nominations, eg editing, sound, costume, and hair & makeup; maybe even score, song and cinematography. If it maintains its momentum through the next 6 to 8 months, there might even be an oft chance for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Picture (Hanks’ performance might be too polarising for Supporting Actor).

A beautiful film to watch for the Elvis fan, but don’t go in expecting too much; for the non-fans, it might likely appear dull, pointless, ridiculous and needlessly excessive.

Black Phone

A superb, anxiety-inducing horror/supernatural thriller by Scott Derrickson, based off a Joe Hill short story, with great performances by the two child leads - Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw - and a scarily unhinged Ethan Hawke.

Heavier on the psychological suspense than true scary horror, the film took its time to establish its premise in the first act, but things got moving and the adrenaline started pumping once we hit the second act, and - boy oh boy! - the third act was just a non-stop, heart racing, pearls-clutching, twisty-bendy ride that led to, most importantly, a satisfying conclusion.

There were only one or two really good scares, but Derrickson had crafted an atmosphere that kept you engaged and almost constantly on the edge of your seats, and those good scares really earned their moments.

The screenplay was co-written by Derrickson and his frequent collaborator, C. Robert Cargill, and was unfortunately peppered with clunkers that was only saved by the actors’ delivery and Derrickson’s direction. Luckily, Hill’s story provided the backbone for the film and the premise itself was interesting enough to support the narrative through its 103 minutes runtime despite some of the unevenness. The atmospheric score by Mark Korven helped too.

Hawke was the biggest named star of the film and he reunites with Derrickson to create a psychotic villain that was creepy and unnerving and just evil. Although almost always hidden by a mask - a great and equally creepy mask! - Hawke still managed to exude an utterly menacing and terrifying presence through his speech, eyes and mannerisms. He was, at times, reminiscent of Tim Curry’s Pennywise. Especially with those damn balloons.

A brilliant theatrical experience with potential for a sequel, and for once, I might actually look forward to what could be next if it follows the two children. 

Empire of Light

Not even another brilliant performance by Olivia Colman - with one absolutely phenomenal scene at the end of the second act - and gorgeous cinematography by Roger Deakins - which, in all honesty, though beautiful may not really be his best work,  or Oscar-worthy - could save this very basic and uninspiring film. 

Written and directed by Sam Mendes, this film, for all its ambition, simply lacked depth and nuance. Mendes may not have been the best choice to tell a story about woman with mental health issues (?bipolar) or racism. In both cases, the rendering was superficial and slight, routine and insincere; most egregiously, the emotional beats were terribly manipulative and not earned at all. This was truly despite Colman giving a great performance and newcomer Micheal Ward in a potentially star-making turn. 

Colman's face was just a miracle of micro-expressions. She is capable of having so much emotions just dance and play across her face at any one time. It truly was a marvel. Even when she is still, her eyes and those micro-expressions just never stop. Shame she was let down by Mendes in one of his most middling scripts.

Ward was an interesting revelation and his chemistry with Colman was strong. He has the potential to go far in this industry.

Toby Jones was the other standout and his little moments were delightful. Colin Firth, not so much. What a waste of an actor.

Deakins' cinematography was gorgeous as always. Both his night-time outdoor captures and those indoor ones within the Empire Cinema and Colman's character's private space were beautifully lit and intimately captured. However, his Oscar slot might have been better served if it went to Hoyte van Hoytema for Nope, Janusz Kaminski for The Fabelmans or Claudio Miranda for Top Gun: Maverick.

Music was by Trent Raznor and Atticus Ross, and the piano-heavy score was lilting and fitting but also, unfortunately, unremarkable and un-memorable.

Empire of Light was an obvious Oscar-bait, but Mendes should have kept the story simpler and used the wonder of films as a more consistent through-line and a secondary plot that perhaps he was more personally in-tune with

Babylon

Without the heavy expectations of Oscars hanging over it, Damien Chazelle’s decadent, hedonistic depiction of early Hollywood, and inadvertently another love letter to the magic and wonder of movies and movie-making, was actually fairly entertaining albeit overly long at just over 3 hours. 

The end result were three storylines that were all underserved, unfocused and hollow, a waste of all three stars - Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and an underrated Diego Calva - with the best moments actually being the scenes where Justin Hurwitz’s excellent, jazzy-focused, Oscar-nominated score, and Linus Sandgren’s brilliant but un-nominated camera work, took centre stage. 

That opening sequence and the second scene that followed were major highlights that set the bar so high that unfortunately Chazelle was unable to meet again … until the final - albeit very self-indulgent and unnecessary - final scene. 

Chazelle simply tried to tell too much and wanted to make too many points in this film, and it would have been better storytelling if he had focused on just one of the three storylines: the silent movie superstar trying to transit to talkies (Pitt in a fun, self-deprecating yet ultimately self-conscious role), the ride and fall of a starlet who buckles societal conventions but end up buckling under it all (Robbie in a role that was perpetually at a 10 even if the scene did not require even a 5, who perhaps Chazelle needed to exercise more restrain and nuances over her character), and the supposed audience surrogate, an immigrant who rose within the ranks of Hollywood studios (a charming Calva, reminiscent of a young Antonio Banderas, who nailed the wide eyed wonderment but not so much the frantic energy of a power studio executive). 

If he has really wanted to explore all that, Chazelle would have been better expanding “Babylon” into a mini series which would have allowed these three characters and all the side characters to breathe and develop and seemed more human and relatable. 

Of the supporting cast, Jean Smart had one terrific, Oscar worthy scene. Both Li Jun Li’s and Jovan Adepo’s storylines were shoehorned in and wasted. In a series, they could have easily been one whole episode to themselves to show depth and layers, but here they were seemed performative, painted in broad strokes simply for inclusivity: Asian, Black and Queer. Chazelle had no business in telling those stories or at least he was no equipped to be the person to tell those stories. 

In that sense, Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” was a cleaner, more direct and accessible, and more emotionally resonant movie about the magic and wonder of movies than “Babylon”. 

The best aspect of the film was truly Hurwitz’s score. Even just closing the eyes and listening to the score for that three hours may have been a better overall experience. Although Hurtwitz really ought to reduce his derivations of his own Oscar-winning “La La Land” score. 

Sandgren’s cinematography was also excellent with a lot of interesting camera movement and angles. Many long shots that were immersive, dynamic and entertaining. Pity he was not nominated, though not sure who from this year’s list he should replaced. 

Just for the first 30 minutes itself, “Babylon” should be watched on a big screen. It had so much potential but Chazelle just could not streamline his vision to tell a focused story.