#His knowledge of Disney begins and ends with the movies that have broadway musicals attached to them

[radi0activesmile]

“Friends on the Other Side is part of a picture show?” 

[maczazind]

FILM DIARY 2017: March - "Another Slow Month"

Spring has sprung and with the changing of the seasons comes a plethora of new films arriving everywhere. A busy month in theaters for sure, it seems to be just the start as we gear up for the blockbuster season ahead. But with a few notable tentpoles of the year arriving in the past four weeks, which did I add to my list? And what did I think of them?

As always, the following reflects MY OWN OPINION. If you’d like to see these entries in full as the year progresses, each installment is given the tag “Film Diary 2017” so feel free to follow along!

Each entry includes how every feature was primarily seen and an asterisk which denotes that viewing was the first time I’ve seen that movie in its entirety, despite possibly having seen pieces of the film previously or having a general knowledge of it. Numbering reflects the year’s overall total, not the monthly total.

March 3rd: 34) Mother’s Day* - DVD (Rental - Library); What turned out to be Garry Marshall’s final directorial effort, Mother’s Day closes out a loose trilogy known for a rotating cast of big stars. And while I find all three simply harmless, this final entry isn’t even the best of THAT group. Scenes that feel they should naturally go one way pivot into a different direction and jump elsewhere or sometimes even linger a bit too long before they cut. While the other holiday entries had some decent connected twists at the end, this one lacks that and you can see everything coming from a mile away. Its heart can be in the right place sometimes and some of the cast does have great chemistry with each other, but I just found it mostly falling flat.

March 4th: 35) Logan* - Theater; In the current state of superhero features, Logan felt like something fantastically different: unflinchingly violent and emotionally raw. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the MCU or the DC slate of films, but this goodbye to a character embedded into pop culture for the past 17 years was something that felt right in so many ways. For those who grew up with the character, we received a more adult tale that at the same time feels truer to the comic book character with no restrictions in place to appeal to a PG-13 rating. He is every bit the previously tortured soul, even more so now given events that unfold, with an additional desire to avoid any new loyalties or attachments to newcomers, and the western-like tone drives home that personality even more. You feel for every relationship in the film, whether it be one that has developed for years or one with a young mutant he just became responsible for. Every bit of action is hard hitting. The central plot even has ties to Wolverine at his beginning that feels fitting, while also introducing us to a new central character Laura that shines just as brightly as he does – hell she even steals the show at various points. All of this combines into a farewell to Jackman’s portrayal that is as memorable as it is touching.

36) Woman In Gold* - Streaming (Netflix); You could probably lose track of how many “based on a true story” films there are in a year and this 2015 release fell through the cracks for myself. It starts off rather slow as the movie establishes how the story is going to be told, which frequently jumps back and forth between main storylines that start in the 1940s and the late 1990s while also visiting the 1920s as well. But once things settle and the characters start to actually grow close, an emotionally driven plot takes form and brings out fantastic performances from Ryan Reynolds, Helen Mirren and Tatiana Maslany. It never escapes some cliches nor its delayed start, but the backstory of Mirren’s character demands attention as the flashbacks unfold. It is a mixed effort, but one that has some impressive elements difficult to ignore.

March 11th: 37) Kong: Skull Island* - Theater; It’s been 12 years since King Kong’s last cinematic endeavor and the iconic movie creature is back on the big screen. I went in expecting a fun action movie and that’s exactly what I received. It’s not perfect; I do wish some characters were fleshed out better than their archetypes. But there was something about the fantastic visuals from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the strong war movie atmosphere battling the action-adventure aspects and the reinvention of the classic Kong story that left me feeling impressed. For a character around for the better part of a century, of course it can’t shake some familiar beats from previous installments. But for everything it tries to do and can do, I left the theater satisfied.

38) Hands of Stone* - Streaming (Netflix); In the decent handful of great boxing movies, this one doesn’t exactly touch the classics. Hands of Stone certainly tells an intriguing tale about a big name in boxing with a solid cast, but there is a number of times the film doesn’t know how it wants to tell the events. Often, we change perspectives from our central character of Roberto Duran to that of trainer Ray Arcel and to a smaller degree Sugar Ray Leonard, which crowds up the man under the magnifying glass. While we start from Ray’s point of view, we then shift to Duran’s while volleying back and forth for nearly two hours. This can leave the movie feeling out of focus from the career it wants to tell, while at the same time never quite shedding the typical story skeleton this genre tends to follow. As a whole, the feature doesn’t tend to hit as hard as it wants to even if it does have its moments.

March 16th: 39) Pete’s Dragon* (2016) - Streaming (Netflix); I was raised as a Disney loving child from an early age and yet the original Pete’s Dragon was never a staple in my household. I’ve always tended to shy away from its weirdness (for which I shall leave Practical Folks’ Drunk Disney to highlight here) but was drawn to the live action/animation blend. However, with Disney knocking it out of the park in regards to remakes lately, I was intrigued by this retelling of the cult classic despite just an okay box office opening stateside. And what transpires is a solid, kid-friendly adventure film that shines brightest when focusing on the friendship of Pete and Elliot. There’s something wonderfully heartfelt between the two throughout that David Lowery captures beautifully, evoking similar tones to that of Hiccup and Toothless’ bond in How To Train Your Dragon. The adults serve well and the fish out of water story is fun, but the true weight of the story is best felt with the aforementioned. While not my favorite entry in the remake era, Lowery does an admirable effort of turning a zany musical comedy into an emotional mix of fantasy, comedy and character-driven drama.

March 23rd: 40) Burnt* - DVD (Rental - Library); A comforting watch for those versed in the world of cooking entertainment. Burnt explores the art of fine dining and the passion behind it, even if it’s not a completely riveting journey along the way. Boasting an all-star cast, don’t completely buy into everyone who is on the box art; Lily James and Alicia Vikander, for example, show up for all of two scenes. Once you get past its eccentricities, there is a central cast of about four or five characters that can really shine - with Bradley Cooper giving it his all as lead. Whether or not you can get into the movie, however, lies on your interest about Cooper’s main pursuit. Perhaps a bit too clean of a story in the end and definitely quite crowded, it was still a valid viewing that simply did not come close to my favorites this month.

March 27th: 41) Independence Day: Resurgence* - Streaming (HBO Go); People tried to warn me, didn’t they? What I didn’t expect was to like the first part of the movie ,though. It sets up an interesting introduction and I was actually into it. But the most ironic thing is that once the aliens attack again is where I found the movie to lose itself. It makes dumb decision after dumb decision, killing off people you were surprised made it out of the first film. The mix of practical and computer effects are gone, drowning you in a sea of special effects and CGI sets that really feel out of place the closer you reach the end credits. Add in some unnecessary subplots and characters, and I finally understand why many were complaining last summer. Sure the first one is a popcorn film, but it manages to find a find balance of its premise, campiness and action. This one simply makes too many bad choices, with a majority of the invasion tactic being “do what we did last time” and scrambling/failing to bounce back when it inevitably doesn’t work. Though it was intriguing to see what became of this world, the end result takes a steep nosedive.

March 31st: 42) Anastasia - Streaming (Netflix); It’s been at least a decade since I’ve seen Anastasia and between the upcoming Broadway adaptation and my friend Lily’s long standing love for the film, on a whim I decided to check it out again. From what I recall, I saw the feature in theaters when I was really young, owned it on VHS, but it never hit home as an all-time favorite of mine. Revisiting it now, it was more of a pleasant surprise as the fairy tale motif really focuses more on our characters than anything. There are the kid-friendly cliches of a comedic relief animal, songs and even some magic but all of it tends to fall to the wayside when comparing to the central stories and relationships. Upon the big reunion the film leads up to, I actually got goosebumps despite knowing it was bound to happen. There’s something fantastic in the deliveries of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Angela Lansbury and others that boost what could have been a basic tale. The only fault I tend to have is that the villain of Rasputin feels incredibly tacked on, being kept at an arm’s length for the entire plot and creating hurdles that could honestly exist without him. And while the CGI does not hold up nor is the high definition transfer as crisp, the animation has something to admire in the fact that it’s incredibly fluid as there is rarely a moment where the characters’ lines or mannerism are resting. All in all, I’m really happy to have rediscovered Anastasia at an older age as it helped give perspective and appreciation for various elements that I really believe went over my head as a child.

And that was my month of movies for March. April is already starting to look up with a handful of first viewings, with much to share next month. See you then!

What movies did you see in March 2017? Are there any movies you’d highly recommend that I should add to my watchlist? Feel free to drop me an ask or a reply!