Saturday, February 23, 2019

Academy Fight Song















Academy Fight Song:
RAY's Top Ten Films of 2018
with desultory commentary





Wow, what an underwhelming year in film.
None of these films even approach my all time top film list
I saw a total of 11 films so fortunately
the embarrassingly schlocky The Meg didn't have to make this list.
It had a giant shark eat a whale but the greatest special effect
was the hero wearing only a towel in a contrived Chinese meet cute
So here they are not in any immutable order
but pretty much best to worst
 
 
 
Sicario
This was bad mojo but had edgy excitement I crave
Feeds the border security crisis myth but there is no doubting
the murderous excesses of both Mexico and of law enforcement
 
 
Mary Poppins
 
A great new portrayal of Mary by Emily
less impressed by Lin-Manuel Miranda
stagey acting with the high eyebrow eye rolls
A few clunky scenes such as acrobatic bikes
or a hoary music hall bombast
but some genuine elation and stoniness
to suit my stonedness
 
 
 
Mission Impossible: Freefall
 
Nobody has less interest in Tom Cruise than myself
and it's somewhat piteous to see someone of his age
acting the human super hero but between his cool nemesis
and the breathtaking cinematic effects it is a hellish fun ride
The helicopter take-over scene is pure adrenaline
 
 
 
 
 
VICE
 
I have to applaud anything that calls attention
to war and torture criminal Dick Cheney
authoritarian surveillance traitor
 Bale's impersonation actually lacked Cheney's angry
spleenful contempt for the disenfranchised collateral damage
Some egregiously poor taste at times as well
 
 
 
First Man
 
Shake and bake astronauts led a grueling life
rather dull a lot of the time the family
neglect point made again and again
I didn't dig his smarmy best friends acting
but Ryan does fairly well if too introspective
for verisimilitude but after a lot of grim
realistic hardware filming the actual
moonwalk IMAX kicked in like acid
over hashish...per force the climax
was brief but highly rewarding
 
 
 
Mandy
 
Druggy over the top splatter flick yet somehow
intriguing and disturbing in a good way
The Manson family cult leader, the psycho granny
and Mandy herself are all played by quality
English and Irish actors
and Cage is a wonder to behold
 
 
 
 
Green Book
 
It might have been daring in the 1960s
Amusing and not without kicks
 
 
 
Overlord
 
The taking of a death weapon experiment citadel
protected by Nazi zombies
The working title was Overkill
But I suppose it's what it takes to up
the shock and gore quotient
Sort of fun but not mentally  healthy
 
 
 
Black Panther
 
I found this so forgettable I forgot
it was a 2018 film
Last time I go to any Marvel etc
superhero movie whatsoever
As far as it's message I would say
it is escapism take to the level of pandering
Africans had all the wealth and technology all along
but they knew if they used it to help the diaspora
colonists would come and take it
 
 
 
 
BlacKKKlansman
 
Too bad a competent director didn't make this
story it had possibilities

Spike movies as hard as one wishes for him are generally
on the level of farce.
One could accept the cheesy cartoonish acting of his
early indie work but it's of a piece throughout his career.
All the opportunities for suspense or depth
are squandered to make simplistic jokey points
 The litany of what's wrong is topped by the ridiculous
Klan characters: never frightening although
one guy chews the scenery ineffectually acting psycho
while the other chubby one isn't sure if he's drunk or
retarded and is provided as a white Stepin Fetchit
It's an insult to the audience really
and the scene of the fat lady trying to plant a bomb
is so poorly filmed as to be incoherent
Not showing chaos being chaotic
as she dumbly tries again and again to shove it
through a too small mail slot
A mess from start to finish
Two good points: the scene with the black ideologue
giving a fiery speech was electrifying cinema
even as it made me squirm;
and the militant black girlfriend
was highly attractive, charming and sweet.
Like everyone else except for Adam Driver
she couldn't particularly act though

Now one hears Spike attack The Green Door
which certainly had thin sterotypes in the
the white Southerner scenes
But it also had some genuine film acting
and a palpable screenplay

 
 
 
 
 
 
 



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