mother!

A polarising and confronting film that on the surface appeared like a "Rosemary's Baby"-esque psychological, horror thriller, but on a deeper level, it can be construed both as a religious allegory and a socio-political commentary. 

This was a technically superb film-making from writer/director Darren Aronofsky that constantly challenges, deliberately confronts and purposely confuses; beautifully shot by Matthew Libatique throughout and Aronofsky and Jóhann Jóhannsson's unique decision to abandon all musical cues only served to highlight the unsettling unease. 

Jennifer Lawrence anchored the film with another captivating and award-worthy performance. Michelle Pfeiffer was a spot-on casting and Javier Bardem's choice of portrayal took a bit of getting used to, but made a lot of sense on hindsight. 

The film's overall real awards chances will all depend on how it is ultimately received. "mother!" is brave film-making and really deserved to be watch with no foreknowledge (even what was above might be too much information). You will either love it or hate it, and you will likely come to a conclusion before the film ends. 

One of the most polarising films in a long time. 

Victoria & Abdul

A light and frothy, historical comedy of errors that was elevated by a fabulous performance from Judi Dench. Just like his previous film "Florence Foster Jenkins", Stephen Frears' latest was entertaining and fun with a superb lead actress that mined the depth of a superficial characterisation to give an illusion of prestige and complexity. 

Agreeably, Frears and Holland brought a little known bit of history to the forefront, but as much literary licence as one affords to such productions, we did not really learn much about Victoria. The main conflict derived from a relatively forced and generic class war, rather than on a personal or emotional front. Essentially, the story lacked bite and the 106 minutes run time was filled with gorgeous sets, witty English one-liners and put downs. 

Dench was, as usual, brilliant. In a vanity and make-up free role, she brought strength, grace and vulnerability as she commanded the screen. And Frears knew it with all the tight close ups and one-takes whenever Dench launches into one of her monologues that runs the gamut of emotions. She, like Meryl Streep in "Florence Foster Jenkins", might have a chance for a Best Actress nominee, depending on how this year's crop of actresses turn out. Although like FFJ, the film itself might also likely be looked past. 

Ali Fazal held his own as the charming Abdul and made him a protagonist likeable enough to root for against the snobbery of the English aristocratic delightfully brought alive by a well-cast Eddie Izzard and delicious Olivia Williams. But he ain't Hugh Grant. And the character of Abdul itself lacked dimension and was presented in such ambiguous terms that it appeared that Frears and writer Lee Holland had no clear idea how to present him or his relationship with Queen Victoria. Was he just a simple man in awe with his Queen? Or was he a devious schemer just in it for his own gains? But if it was the latter, then why did he not work harder? 

Cinematography was pretty and by Danny Cohen; music was by Thomas Newman experimenting with a hint of Indian folk but never really straying from generic Newman. 

A good film with a solid cast that was utterly entertaining but also easily forgettable come next year. Stay for Dench and a slice of history, and leave with a knowing smile. 

The Beguiled

This film belonged to three women: the superbly nuanced Nicole Kidman who is on a red-hot streak this year, the restrained luminosity of Kirsten Dunst and brilliant writer/director Sofia Coppola who transformed a simple story into this gorgeous, tightly-paced, Southern Gothic/noir-ish and atmospheric film that focused on the characters rather than the more sensational aspects of the story.

Coppola's directed this film with a very assured hand. The story moved at a clipped pace and nary a scene was extraneous or longer than necessary. She captured the complexity of the women (Kidman and Dunst) and the innocence of the girls (especially standout actress Oona Laurence), and also the tumultuous paradox of a teenager (brought petulantly to life by Elle Fanning, the other named-actress who had decidedly much less to do than the publicity/marketing would suggest).

The film has two distinct acts and the change and evolution of Kidman's and Dunst's characters were fascinating to watch. They were definitely not one-dimensional characters but neither were they written, or portrayed as, stereotypical cliches. They were what Ryan Murphy would wish he could have written for Jessica Lange and his bevy of film stars back in the early days of American Horror Story. 

Actually, The Beguiled does have its sensibilities within the realm of AHS' reality but the difference is that Coppala effortlessly elevated the material above camp. And it would be fascinating, in this day and age of Peak TV, to envision Coppala and co bringing this to the small screen as a limited event mini-series. Four to five episodes to adequately flash out the characters, and maybe even add more layers to poor Colin Farrell's single white male Macguffin.

The lack of coloured characters was simply written off as "the slaves ran away", and I do not think it was as a big a deal as most made it out to be. It was logical. It made sense. Most importantly, it was not part of this contained, almost bottleneck-like, story, and neither would Coppala be the most appropriate director to tell that story.

Kidman commanded the screen. Her nuanced performance added layers to her character whom we never really fully understood, but so desperately wanted to find out more. Who is she?  Who was she? What is she really thinking? 2017 has really been Kidman's year. First we had Big Little Lies, then her scene-stealing performance in Top of the Lake: China Girl, and next up will be another team-up between her and Farrell in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer and between her and John Cameron Mitchell in How To Talk to Girls at Parties. Whether any of these roles will win her any awards will be hard to say, but she is definitely on a streak/resurgence as her Botox wears off.

Dunst, like Kidman, is also having a resurgence of sort which can tracked back to her astounding performance in Lars Von Trier's 2011 Melancholia, which was then followed by her breathtaking turn in season two of Noah Hawley's Fargo. Here, Dunst was an epitome of restrained beauty. Despite not having being told much about her character's backstory, Dunst still managed, like Kidman, to imbue her character with so much mystery. And yet, when she breaks out of her usual confinement, it was not surprising, but seemed so entirely true to character. Bravo to Dunst and Coppola.

Farrell had much less to do here. But his charming Irish roots definitely helped to sell his character. However, Coppola obviously paid less attention in rounding out his character than her female cast, which is understandable given the limited length of a feature film. And especially in this case, where Coppola chose condensed brevity over indulgent expansiveness.

Like aforesaid, Fanning role though pivotal, was actually much less in comparison to Kidman and Dunst. And fellow actress, the standout Laurence (of Southpaw and Matilda fame) definitely had a meatier role than her.

Cinematography was by Philippe Le Sourd and was gorgeous. Coppola and Le Sourd chose to film much of the film with as naturalistic a light as possible, and the result was an intimate aesthetic. But yet, it gave the audience, so used to modern day lights and electricity an oddly contrary sense of unfamiliarity.

Music was by the french rockers Phoenix (frontman, Thomas Mars, is married to Coppola), and with an excerpt from Monteverdi's Magnificat. The result of which, was like the lighting, something familiar to modern audience yet juxtaposed in a foreign setting.

The Beguiled was simply a beautiful film to watch. Yes, it may be superficial in its scope, but in its simplicity and brevity (94 minutes in total), it engages and it challenges, and it very definitely entertains. Let the Oscar season begin!

It

Disclaimer: Let's be clear about this upfront. I am a fan of the original 1990 miniseries. I had watched it at least four to five times, and unashamedly, TIm Curry's Pennywise is the personification of all my childhood - and adult-life - fear. I HATE clowns. Consequently, comparisons will be inevitable.

This 2017 remake was definitely not as creepy or scary as the 1990 mini-series and I doubt it will spark a new generation of coulrophobia. Without the breadth of a mini-series, the film lacked the time to properly develop all the characters and the central core identity of The Losers Club loses its depth and complexity. That, ultimately, led to a narrative that lacked urgency and empathetic investment. Pennywise v2017 was also designed (and presented) as clearly evil and monstrous, whereas the success of the original It mini-series could be heavily attributed to Tim Curry's portrayal of Pennywise as a benign-looking clown (an oxymoron!) with the evil/madness only bubbling beneath the surface...till the end.

Objectively, this film was a decent horror movie. A decent and typical Hollywood horror flick that served its scares through jump shocks and ratchet-up strings. It mostly eschewed mood and atmosphere for horror tropes and sets. That being said, there were two well-directed scenes that served up genuine scares and would have been even more effective had director, Andres Muschietti, followed it through with an eye for pure terror a la Hideo Nakata (Ring リング) or even James Wan (Insidious or The Conjuring).

The screenplay is credited to Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga - the original director of this remake, and it is hard not to imagine how his vision might have been instead - and Gary Dauberman, and the non-horror moments of the film served to propel the narrative, but again lacked depth and purpose. Themes of abuse, racism, ignorance, evil and loss of innocence were briefly prodded but never explored. Gender, racial and religious stereotypes, though not milked for laughter, was still apparent and attempts on subversion was futile.

Kudos to the young actors though. They were all great and inhabited their characters suitably. But as aforesaid, some of them got short-changed by the restrictions of film-storytelling. Nonetheless, our central quartet definitely stood out especially Sophia Lillis as Beverely. I can see Amy Adams as the adult version of her.

Bill Skarsgard looked terrifying in his makeup and he did imbue his Pennywise with a manic, diabolical energy. However, it lacked subtlety. We see his Pennywise as evil from the get go and something clearly to fear. The obfuscation of a friendly clown veneer was lost.

There was also an over-reliance on CGI which worked for some key moments, like the depiction of It's lair, but most other times, it felt distracting and lacked the visceral punch of practical effects.

This film was an update of the classic 1990 mini-series, but instead of making it fresh and updated, it just felt like a tired, modern retelling - with better CGI - of what most would have already known.

Tulip Fever

The only thing that this film served up in the end was a desire to get some tulips for home. That was how distracted my mind was as I sat through 107 minutes of badly written dialogue, poorly conceived characters, unfocused directing, chemistry-less romance and narration; yes, let-me-tell-you-what-is-happening-and-what-will-be-happening-as-it-unfolds narration.

From the get go, we were introduced to a clunky introduction. If just based on the words themselves, by writers Tom Shepard and Deborah Moggach (also author of the book the film is based on), it would have been an impactful and mysterious prologue, but director Justin Chadwick chose to underscore that with heavy-handed, hit-you-on-the-head-with-a-sledge-hammer imageries, such that within the first minute or so, practically the whole plot is known. It was all downhill from there.

Furthermore, the insistence of having so many characters and subplots, but yet not adequately servicing any of them enough, made the plot paper thin and the characters under-baked. Things happen, accept it. Barely any moment was utilised to explore the motivations of these characters.

But at least the production value seemed high. And everybody looked good.

Tulip Fever was shot in 2014 and the reason why its released was delayed till now is abundantly clear: to capitalise on Alicia Vikander's post-Oscar fame. And here, Vikander showed why she was earmarked - and clearly destined - for bigger things. Pre-Ex Machina and The Danish Girl, Vikander brought a fragile vulnerability to her character that hinted at greater depths and complexity, not that Chadwick put that into much use.

Poor Dane DeHaan is not having a good year. Or even a great run of years. After his breakthrough role in Chronicles and a promising turn in The Place Beyond the Pines, he kind of made a left turn culminating in this year's duds Valerian and A Cure for Wellness. Interestingly, these dud were by respectable directors, who clearly see something in him, but sadly neither could bring it out of him. And similarly here, DeHaan barely had any chemistry with Vikander, and spent most of his time behaving more like an infatuated puppy dog than a man in love.

Holiday Grainger and Jack O'Connell rounded out the other pair of lovers in this tale. Grainger was lovely and perhaps her character should have been the lead. Maybe she was, but the edits and marketing, post-Oscar 2016, decided to focus on Vikander instead. O'Connell stood out in Jodie Foster's Money Monster, and like DeHaan, Hollywood still do not really know what to do with him.

Christoph Waltz was a delight. As was Judi Dench. But, inevitably, this film felt beneath them. Tom Hollander and Zach Galifianakis rounded out the supporting cast. With Cara Delevigne (oh, hey Laureline) and Matthew Morrison (Mr Shue!) in cameos.

There is a very good story, and possibly a great Romance, somewhere within this film, but perhaps we can find it in the book instead.

The Defenders

The Defenders was absolutely bingeable and entertaining. When the team-up occurred, it felt natural and the cast had a genuine chemistry. The series expects the audience to know the backstory and did the story dove straight into the lives of our heroes. Catching us up on what they had been since we last saw them, and not really bothering to explain who they are to newbies.

The Defenders also really benefited from the shorter-than-usual series length. At eight episodes, we had less filler moments and the story momentum was allowed to flow naturally. However, the downside of this team-up was that each of the heroes had to have sufficient screen time which led to a sacrifice in character developments for them, the secondary characters and unfortunately, for our villain as portrayed brilliantly by Sigourney Weaver.

No doubt about it, Weaver was great. She elevated the material and was easily the most enigmatic and magnetic personality on screen. But as a character, she was just not given enough screen time to be developed and understood, as unlike our previous Big Bads: like Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, David Tennent's Killgrave, and even Mahershala Ali's and Alfred Woodards's Diamondback and Mariah, and even the Meachums. Her motivations were vague and her ambitions broadly sketched. With what little we knew about her, she could have been so fascinating. And with Weaver in the role, Alexandra Reid could have been more than just...that. A whole series could easily be devoted to her.

Then we have the other big drawback, and that was the decision to make The Hand the main antagonistic force. It was inevitable ever since The Hand was introduced in Season 2 of  Daredevil, but with The Hand came the mystical stuffs and unfortunately also a focus on what made Iron Fist the weakest story of our four heroes. Danny Rand remained the most undeveloped hero and having The Defenders lean more into his story was a shame. But at least we also had Matthew Murdock - tied to The Hand via Stick and Elektra - as the other arm of the story.

That, unfortunately, left Jessica Jones and Luke Cage as the outsiders, but at least we had some character growth for them. The acceptance of the fact that they are heroes and need to do the right thing.

Not so much for our favourite sidekicks who basically served as narrative tools and exposition dumps. Then again, this is The Defenders and not The Sidekicks.

Other minor points of improvement for Season 2, if it happens, will be to improve the fight scenes, relying less on frantic Michael Bay-like cuts and edits, and also better banter. Just can't help thinking, what if Joss Whedon was in-charge of The Defenders?

By the end of the series, I ended up still feeling the same as I went into it. Jessica Jones remained the most interesting character with Krysten Ritter the actor that most personified the character she is playing; Daredevil needs to go back to the simpler and more fun times of Season 1, let Charlie Cox smile more; Luke Cage's story needs to be more than just keeping Harlem safe and Mike Colter needs to be more than just an unbreakable hulk; and Iron Fist desperately needs to have Danny to grow up and lose all that petulant, child-like angst, especially since as charismatic as Finn Jones is, he, like Colter, is not exactly the most nuanced actor.

The Big Sick

What a great movie. Sincere, honest, touching but yet never schmaltzy and oh so funny. The fact that it was based on the true story/romance between Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon (played here by Zoe Kazan) just made it all the more emotional and effective. Even knowing how it played out in real life did hardly impact the emotional investment of the audience, and that is the power of great storytelling by director Michael Showalter, co-writers Nanjiani and Gordon, and uber-producers Judd Apatow and Barry Mandel.

The biggest drawback to the film was the run time. Clocking in at 124 minutes, the film could have been even tighter if they had perhaps tighten it by 10 to 15 minutes. However, having said that, it must be said that the film itself was already very well paced with very, very few scenes that did not work, but then again some side plots could have been kept on the editing floor.

From drawback to strength, the five biggest strengths of The Big Sick was (one) the great chemistry between Nanjiani and Kazan; (two) Nanjiani's great comedic timing (so reminiscent of his character on Silicon Valley); (three) the script - honest and funny; (four) the inclusion of Nanjiani's Pakistani family and its traditional values; and (five) Holly Hunter.

Nanjiani and Gordon's love story must have been such a personal one for them both to tell, and Kazan managed to step into Gordon's shoes and helped to relay that connection to the audience. Although she played more the straight woman to Nanjiani's deadpanned, comedic talent, she still managed to score some good laughs. And for Nanjiani to try to emulate those complicated feelings he had for Gordon onto Kazan is surely no mean feat. Although it does help that most of the key emotional sequences were not opposite Gordon.

The inclusion of Nanjiani's Pakistani family was a brave choice and it mostly worked, although at times it did felt like watching two separate films. But it was only by telling that story then could most American audience appreciate the complexity of Nanjiani and Gordon's relationship. It also further added dimensions to Nanjiani's character and of course the inevitable conflict.

Hunter was the breakout star of the film if we could use that term on such an accomplished actress (where has she been all these years besides a brief stint on Jane Campion's fantastic The Girl on the Lake?). Hunter did all the heavy emotional lifting on her little shoulders. She was fantastic to watch, stealing every scene she was in. One particular silent moment near the end sealed her status as an enormously talented and underappreciated actress. She gave a look. A look filled with so much damn meaning.

Ray Romano co-starred as Gordon/Kazan's father, and although not exactly playing against type, Ramano still managed to bring some emotional heft into his i'm-funny-but-it's-not-intentional, bumbling-dad role.

Nanjiani's Pakistani family also brought the laughs, but as aforesaid, some of their scenes, as funny as they were, did stretched out too long.

The Big Sick was a great romantic comedy, so unlike your typical rom-coms, that deserved to be watched. Coming out in Summer surely will help it to draw in audience and the monies, but Hunter and the script should deserve some awards-chatter and love too.