#this might have been the most male gazey scene in the movie and turns out i am no better than a man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gatalentan]

Shall We Dance (2004): Jennifer Lopez & Lisa Ann Walter

[victimhood]

My TOG cast and crew movie reviews

Ok so watching TOG revived the part of me that LOVES indie-ish/European Arthouse films and I blitzed through a bunch with more to come! Idk who this review serves but I just had to explode in writing or...the feelings would go nowhere.

Love and Basketball

My movie rating: 4 / 5

Favourite parts: the conflict between a tomboy sports loving protagonist and a conventional homemaking mother. To sound cliched, this is the sort of thing only a woman filmmaker can bring out in her films. There’s so much nuance and tension expressed in all the individual women in the film and where that lies in the enforced dichotomy of woman/not a woman--thereby highlighting that IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A DICHOTOMY all of these are in the broad spectrum of womanly behaviors bc they come from women!!! The ending where a husband supports his wife in HER basketball game? LOVE THAT. Music choices are also A++ in this film.

The film also provides some insight into respectability politics--here we have an NBA player who wants his son to do something more conventionally “respectable”. I am not American nor am I Black so someone with more insight would be able to speak to this better, but even so as an audience I could feel it!

TOG cast rating: none, bc it’s the director!! This is Gina Prince-Bythewood’s breakout film but you can palpably feel that she poured her heart and perhaps some of her life experiences in this film!

Martin Eden

My movie rating: 3.5 / 5

Don’t understand the movie, slightly put off by the Nietzschean individualist philosophy. Doubly so after I read that the author of the book (Jack London) is a socialist?? (FTR so am I so like...I’ve had enough of white male indivudalism!!) Stuff like that always reminds me of (500) Days of Summer which is anti-manic pixie dream girl and yet is beloved by aspiring MPDG-philes. Here is a quote from the author himself: London wrote, "One of my motifs, in this book, was an attack on individualism (in the person of the hero). I must have bungled it, for not a single reviewer has discovered it."

Though I have not read the book, I hope the movie is a little more pronounced, in the unraveling of the eponymous protagonist. Luca gives an impressive show of his Acting Range as the protagonist moves through life and goes through a whole bunch of political beliefs in reaction to the situation around him.

I love movies that show the impoverished side of Europe though. The movie does a good job of showing the class conflict within society--at the end of the day, the Martin Eden that has risen through the social ladder is a self-despising man. The bread mopping scene is great, and truly, there is no love for Luca Martinelli like the camera’s love for Luca Martinelli. I love Luca’s bad teeth in this too. Dental health is possibly one of the most obvious, yet most unremarked markers of social class. Nice detail.

TOG cast rating: 5/5 Luca really carries this film on his broaaaaad shoulders. Thank you Luca. Thank you Pietro, for making a movie that lingers so lovingly on Luca’s face, inspiring many a writer to pen horny paeans to the Roman nose and the Byzantine eyes. I even saw one about the lop of hair over the eyes. Yes….watching Luca is a very physiological experience.

They Call Me Jeeg (Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot)

My movie rating: 4 / 5

Ok this movie is quite male-gazey in the conventional action movie way. Moments where the damsel is in distress are filmed in a somewhat titillating manner. That aside, the damsel in distress does get a moment of glory, though it shortly precedes her death. The hero of the film I also found not too groundbreaking. He starts out as a thief but is given superpowers, and he’s mostly a sad loser who watches too much porn in his free time, though the damsel’s belief in him helps turn him around to the greater good. The story moves at a quick pace and with twists and turns at each corner which help the enjoyability rating.

Really, the standout of this movie is the villain. Fabio (Lo Zingaro) is fantastically deranged, in a style that surpasses the Joker. The only thing I truly have to say about this movie is that the moment where Lo Zingaro barges in on the hero and the camera POV switches from third person to first person and the hero is on the verge of fainting but all he sees is Lo Zingaro saying “Ciao”.........reader, I am speaking from the afterlife. Again, truly, there is no love for Luca Marinelli like the camera’s love for Luca Marinelli. My heart stopped when I saw Fabio’s face in such a tender, loving proximity...and yet...he is deranged...he wants to kill you….TAKE ME NOW FABIO I AM YOURS *lovelorn Victorian sigh*

Perhaps I might issue a CW that there is a trans character in the film. The character doesn’t appear for too long, and I think the portrayal is mostly neutral to borderline negative for playing to stereotypes. The damsel in distress’s story carries a huge TW for sexual abuse and incest.

TOG cast rating: 5/5 just for that 1st person POV scene alone--that was life changing. I did not expect to be greeted so intimately by a completely deranged motherfucker. I want it as my phone wallpaper.

A Bigger Splash

My movie rating: 4.5 / 5

I loooooooved Bigger Splash so much?? But this is because I love Tilda Swinton and I love Ralph Fiennes. While watching this, I don’t know why, but I just kept thinking, aaaaand this guy is also Voldemort (Fiennes). I love the implausibility and yet here we are.

Matthias is so boyfriend-shaped in this movie, I wanted to snuggle up against him and have him care for me. He’s a wonderful boyfriend, and Ralph Fiennes’s character truly, is the Most Annoying Mansplainer type ever, like, you’ve probably met that type, who thinks he’s slick and loves the sound of his own voice and I 100% related when Matthias’s character just...has had enough of Ralph Fiennes’s character. But oopsie, the rest is a spoiler.

THE SOUNDTRACK IS AWESOME also it’s got St Vincent covering the Rolling Stones and St Vincent is the lesbian guitar hero of your dreams, please give St Vincent more love.

TOG cast rating: 5 / 5 Matthias is butt naked in the opening scenes of the movie, and then he appears full frontal nude later on. But mostly he just looks so snuggly like a big boyfriend hoodie.

Rabat

My movie rating: 4 / 5

Wow ok I LOVED THIS ONE A LOT. Idk what I was expecting, but it was a beautiful, beautiful ride. It’s a perfect expression of the “roadtrip story” form. It’s got the adventure, the hijinks, the conflict and the “transformative growth” that comes out of the conflict. It’s about the MENA immigrant experience in Europe, and though from a different community as someone who’s had the immigrant experience myself I loved the part where they talk about people back home thinking they’re rich for having moved abroad. Yet--in many white-dominated countries, non-white immigrants live under an incredibly bulletproof glass ceiling and moving “upward” in society is a pipe dream. I loved when the main character Nadir mentions his dad’s taxi being a reliable source of income for the past 15 years. I think it’s such a warm and human film played by very warm and human characters, and [mild spoiler] I CACKLED SO MUCH at how Nadir “resolves” the question of marriage--I can’t go into too much detail bc the movie builds up to this but I LAUGHED SO MUCH. It’s the blend of total inappropriateness delivered in the most sincere package played to perfection.

TOG cast rating: 3/5 criminally underused Marwan bc he is not the main character. Marwan is a womanizing, alcohol-loving Tunisian friend in this story who buys a...bootleg? Hugo Boss suit for 200 Euros and then rips it up to form shorts bc the weather is too hot. The story implies he has a more complex backstory re: his relationship to his father as well as having impregnated a girl and escaping paternal responsibility for that but doesn’t give us much more. At one point, one character remarks that he would do “horrible” things (implying sexual interest) to Marwan’s character and ALAS I MUST AGREE.

...AAAAAND we’ll have more to come!! I promised a friend to watch Beale Street together so it’s gonna take a while for that to happen thx covid.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam Italia episode 1 reaction

I was on the fence to whether I would watch/react to this one, because a) some of the production choices turned me off, namely the Sana casting and b) this will be the fourth time I have seen S1 unfold and like, what more can I say about it, really

but I decided to watch because all of these remakes have been helping me learn about film-making and storytelling and how the same material can play differently depending on cinematography, music, acting, editing, etc. for better or worse. and well, I had a lot of thoughts on it.

Clip 1 - one day this monologue will simply be Jonas reading the lyrics to All Star by Smash Mouth

For a moment I wondered if the opening monologue wasn’t going to be Eva’s writing, and she was reading it to Jonas (Giovanni) and he was going to give her some kinda condescending mansplain-y constructive criticism. Turns out it wasn’t but that might actually be an interesting way to adapt that scene (although the idea of watching this scene for a fifth time is not ideal).

Honestly I’ve seen so many conflicting takes about the opening speech that I’m just going to accept it’s something that I can’t get the significance of as a non-Italian and leave it at that. I do appreciate that they did change it to be something that’s specifically Italian.

This Eva is very … cute? I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. Her personality seems a little meeker and marshmallowier than Emma’s or even OG Eva or Hanna. 

@skamremakesfromhell mentioned this in a post that Skam France and Skam Italia make it more obvious that the Eva and Ingrid characters were once friendly and OG Skam and Druck keep it more ambiguous. Most people I’ve seen react to Skam initially assume that Ingrid and Sara are like the school’s mean girls/popular clique rather than girls who have a history with Eva. Personally I prefer the ambiguity because it subverts expectations (especially when you’ve seen a million teen dramas featuring the requisite clique of popular bullies) but I guess you always learn by the end of the episode that Eva and Laura have a history so they don’t drag it out too much.

Eva waving at them is charming, but maybe a little much, though that’s kinda why I think she’s a cuter character. She’s the only one of the Evas trying to get a reaction out of the other girls. It makes you wonder what she thought would happen. Did she want a wave back? She really wants Laura to still like her. Also, notable that it’s the Sara character (I think) who gives her the finger, not Laura.

Also Giovanni is the only one of the Jonases to not notice Eva looking at Ingrid/Laura despite her being the only one to wave. Depending on your POV, it’s because he’s so wrapped up in explaining himself that he doesn’t notice Eva’s little moment of distress, or that his back is turned to Laura so he simply doesn’t notice. Or a combo of both.

I did like the visual choice of having Martino behind the bars (trapped in the friend zooooooooone) as well as his line, which according to the subtitles, is something like “in a couple there are no secrets but there also aren’t secrets between friends” which is some decent foreshadowing.

The banter seemed like Eva was more cool with them teasing her without that undertone of ganging up on her, or at least she played it like she was very amused by it. 

Clip 2 - chilling at home

I liked seeing Eva going about her evening alone, rummaging for food, that kind of casual solitude when you’re on your own.

Good job making that video chat look realistic.

No hate toward the actor himself but how old is Martino IRL … I think he’s fine performance-wise so far and he and Eva had some nice friendly chemistry in this conversation, but that dude just does not seem like a teenager. Which means some of the stuff he does later is going to look worse coming from someone who seems old enough to know better.

I looked him up and he’s like 20-21 in real life, and color me surprised. Not a teenager, but not as old as I would’ve guessed.

Martino being like “aw come on let me see” when Gio shows up, lmao you obviously do not want to see what happens next, bro. A girl is going to be a turn off for you.

Tiny changes of little importance - the first Sara to get a septum instead of fake lashes, and the first Jonas to enter through the front door like a normal person rather than climbing through the window/balcony.

I think it was a nice detail that they established that Eva is deliberately avoiding events and parties because of Laura. It adds to her loneliness and lack of friends, and it’ll be a bigger step of character development when she starts going out.

How long were the boys at Elia’s? Or did they go over there two days in a row? Because the first clip is definitely meant to be Friday and this one is Saturday, unless it was originally supposed to be the same day and they changed it for whatever reason. Gio not answering his phone during that time period is way different than not answering for like 5-6 hours. 

Giovanni calling her a koala is cute. Is this a specific Eva-and-Gio thing, or is this typical slang, like do Italians call each other koalas? That’s adorable.

Gio, they teach you in Lying 101 not to give more details than you need to.

His acting is a little odd here and I’m not sure if it’s shaky acting or a decent job of portraying someone lying out of his ass. For now I’ll be generous and go with the latter.

I thought the chemistry between them was a little off, but well, at least they seemed cozy when they were about to get it on. 

I was kind of confused as to why they showed the phone lighting up at first except, duh, it was to show Gio was lying about his phone dying. Not sure how I feel about that shot? Seems like too much POV breakage/hinting to the audience. I think it’s a good idea but maybe they could frame it in a more subtle way, like Eva and Giovanni are going at it in the frame and only eagle-eyed viewers would spot the phone.

Also I see that it’s Martino trying to get in touch, so I find that better and more subtle than if it were like … Laura. Martino texting in itself is NBD, it’s just that Gio’s phone is not dead.

Clip 3 - theater kids

This is not a relevant observation in the slightest but I’m entertained by the little details, like when Eva snacks on that cracker/cookie thing you can see a giant-ass crumb fall down her sweater from a distance, or in the previous clip there’s some fuzz stuck to her foot when Gio wraps it around her waist. It’s really really small stuff and probably not intentional, tbh, but I do like when Skam keeps things not perfect. Life is full of crumbs and fuzz, embrace it. 

I love the theater kids and their quirks in every version. These two are giving off middle-aged office manager vibes. 

Again, it is nice for Eva to consider a social event in line with her avoiding them because of Laura.

Clip 4 - Giovanni ruining the couple’s getaway 

I think this is the first time an Eva has called out a Jonas for being boring and not partying. Which, I mean, depending on the company I would probably prefer doing something mundane with some good friends than going to a party with a bunch of assholes.

And I thought Druck made it more obvious, Skam Italia just blatantly says Martino’s mom is crazy.

The acting is weird because I wouldn’t say it’s stiff, exactly, but a lot of it is very … acting. The handshake between Eva and Gio is cute, though.

Clip 5 - party time

Eva, I hope you charged your phone before you went out (9%).

So the getting dressed scene definitely felt, uh. A little male-gazey in a way that the other versions haven’t. Not Michael Bay making Transformers movies one-handed level of male gaze, just enough that I noticed. In those other getting ready scenes, the Evas were shown in varying states of undress, but it felt like a practical thing and not for titillation. This time around, there are definitely some pans up Eva’s body clad only in her bra and underwear and some full body shots (and it’s in shadow but there’s one shot where I thought she was completely topless, though in context I don’t think she is). Not a huge fan of that. At least it didn’t last long.

This is unrelated but this is something I deeply appreciated about Skam, I would not have said the girls were sexualized. Even in scenes, for instance, when Eva and Noora were shown in their underwear and T-shirts, it was casual and not sexy. I’m pretty sure the only nudity on the show was dudes and something like Even walking out of the hotel room naked is the total opposite of a sexualized moment.

Eva’s mom comes home mid-montage. I can’t quite get a read on their relationship yet? Eva is not open with her about where she’s going, but her mom still lets her go out. But Eva having both her parents in the picture is a significant change.

Oh God I love that fucking theater guy who dresses and acts like your car salesman uncle on a family wedding dance floor after a few drinks.

I know Laura’s words are chosen for cruelty not accuracy, but Eva’s eyeliner doesn’t seem particularly excessive, except for being smudged.

Well, Eleonora, that was gay. That was really, really gay. The gayest Noora intro yet. A round of applause.

Why did you fuck off home immediately after gently touching a stranger’s face instead of making further conversation, though? Or is that part of your red-lipped allure? Now I’m imagining Eleonora just constantly fixing girls’ hair and brushing eyelashes off their cheeks whenever she’s in line at McDonald’s or buying toilet paper, then vanishing and leaving a trail of broken hearts across Europe. 

The shot of Eva in front of the mirror, all fractured into multiple Evas, is some good stuff. Eva giving Vilde (Silvia?) a hug was also nice. Again, this Eva’s a marshmallow.

Legitimately one of the best parts of all these remakes is seeing all the Chrises/Alexes/Sams/Fedes be thrilled and bond instantly over their shared names.

This time Eva excused herself and Fede before Silvia asked them to leave so at least she was spared that extra humiliation.

Oh but she makes up for it by having Boy Fede call her a dick tease in front of Laura and Sara.

Boy Fede was kind of hilarious in a douchey way.

The text message afterwards has Eva downplaying the party’s shittiness to Gio, btw, saying she left after she saw people doing the train/conga. Sparing herself further embarrassment.

General Comments:

I’m not happy with casting an actress who is apparently both white and non-Muslim as Sana. Like all Skams I’m watching this on Google Drive/unofficial websites, but if this were say, a film showing in theaters, I wouldn’t buy a ticket for it on that basis. If it were a show I could watch or stream legally I wouldn’t give it the views. It’s really not excusable. Actually one of the most obnoxious things is that they also had this Sana wear a hijab. That annoys me even more than if they’d just said she was a Muslim who chose not to wear one. Probably because a hijabi actress has like … barely any opportunities for roles that will let her wear one.

Unpopular (?) opinion: if we give them the extreme benefit of the doubt that they searched and searched and just couldn’t find a single Muslim actress for the role (and I doubt this is what happened but going along with this hypothetical situation), then it probably would have been better if they rewrote the Sana character to be another racial, ethnic, or religious minority, played by an actress from that group. Because Muslim representation is of course important, especially in the current political climate, and I don’t mean to minimize that at all, but there are other minority groups who could have their stories told accurately, which is part of Skam’s importance. 

Also, there’s one thing I want to address about the use of offensive language and whether it’s justified because it’s realistic/accurate. I am not commenting directly on the stuff seen in the Skam Italia trailer because we don’t yet know the context and whether it’ll be called out, and I’ve also seen some conflicting translations of it. But on a general note, I don’t think that “realism” should be an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card for characters saying offensive things. It depends on how it is handled within the text. I am sure that there are Norwegian teenagers who say much, much more offensive things and use slurs more frequently than the main kids in Skam. But Julie chose to present our protagonists as largely open-minded and willing to grow. For all we talk about Skam’s focus on realism, it often presents an optimistic, even idealistic worldview. Feuds end in peaceful dialogue and understanding. Worst case scenarios are averted. Friends usually support each other in times of need. Hardly anyone is a true villain. It’s debatable how much of that is realistic. But it’s hopeful, and it’s the model that teenagers need. 

Think of it like this, an admittedly extreme example: Julie could choose to set American Skam in a conservative town and made all the characters Trump supporters - because hey, realism!  That is an accurate representation of certain parts of the United States. But I’m guessing most of us wouldn’t enjoy watching the version where Trump fans are our heroes and they’re never challenged on their beliefs. There are some shows where I can tolerate, even enjoy terrible people being terrible, but that’s never been the appeal of Skam.

Anyway that’s my limit of hot’n’spicy discourse for now. I’m trying to stay in my lane but I had to get that out since the Sana thing especially is unavoidable.

Overall the show felt distinct enough that I had some thoughts on it besides just being the 4th version of these scenes that I’ve watched. 

The acting is a mixed bag for me so far, some moments worked and some didn’t. I thought Martino was decent and the non-Eva girl squad was fine. Not sold on Gio yet. Eva herself had some moments I enjoyed but when it got more serious it fell a little flat. I do think she has a likeable personality, though.

The visual style of the show is certainly striking. It’s flashier than OG Skam but I like the colors and the energy.

I’m a completionist so I will probably keep watching because that is how my brain works.