The Menu

I heard The Menu was good via my favorite film podcast. I saw it was available on HBO Max so I made sure to not read or listen to anything else about it so I could go in unsullied. I am really glad I did. I really enjoyed it, and not having any clue what was happening really added to the experience. 

As the story unfolds it took me a little bit to get my bearings about what was going on. As the audience we follow a specific couple. I had a really difficult time figuring out the nature of their relationship. I also didn’t understand the man’s role in the dinner party until the true intent of the chef started to be revealed. 

The first part of the movie was confusing, but I liked that experience. It was great. It set the stage for this grand show, but the second half didn’t deliver. There were several things that came from a much more conventional film. I was waiting for something more profound and meaningful, but it let me down. 

This movie is about a chef making food, but more generally it is about an artist creating art. Once art is put out into the world the artist has no control over how it is received. It will be misunderstood and criticized. It will be loved and appreciated for the wrong reasons, by people the artist doesn’t like or respect. Usually the artist has little recourse. They become tortured. They may change their art in constant response to the dialog from fans and critics. This movie is about an artist who is tired of the narrative. He doesn’t want to play this game anymore. He wants to take back control of his legacy, for better or worse. 

I really liked the ideas that were set up. I was just really underwhelmed by how it all got resolved. Still, this is a movie worth watching. For me it might even be worth watching a 2nd time. The movie will hit different once you understand what is going on. I want to experience the first half again and see if I still appreciate it as much as I did the first time around. 

I recommend The Menu. If you have HBO Max it is a solid psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. 

** Spoilers **

There were several plot elements down the stretch that didn’t seem to match with what I thought the movie was trying to do. 

I didn’t like the sequence where he made the men run away, only to immediately catch them. I guess this was to give them a glimmer of hope, much like the coast guard guy showing up. He wanted to watch the guests get that sparkle in their eye thinking there was a chance to get out of this, just to see it die again. 

I also didn’t like the fight between the girls. That was like a scene from an action movie. 

These things weren’t terrible… they just didn’t fit with what I thought the rest of the movie was doing. They weren’t as narratively interesting as I thought this movie was going to be able to achieve. 

Those things were minor compared to my biggest complaint with the ending. I hated the way the girl gets to escape. It was so simplistic and surface-level. She saw a picture from when he worked at a burger place… so she asked for a burger so he would realize his love for cooking once again. It was all so… lame.

I don’t know what I wanted to happen, but I wanted it to be more interesting. I wanted it to carry more weight and have more meaning. 

The Menu wasn’t as satisfying or deep as I wanted, but it was still a good flick that is definitely worth a watch.

Ex Machina - Robots With Attitude

It is a rare occasion that I write about a movie on this blog. Last week I watched Ex Machina and I am forcing myself to write about it even though I had a very lukewarm reaction. Over the last few months I have watched at least a dozen movies without creating a single post. I need to get back at it.

Ex Machina is a low-budget sci-fi film about artificial intelligence. Nathan, an accentric billionaire is working on some top secret stuff on his island compound. Caleb, a programmer at his company, wins a chance to visit the island and work on a special project. Caleb is wisked off to the island and introduced to Ava, the humanoid robot with the face on a angel and a silicon brain.

Ex Machina seemed like it was right in my wheelhouse. It was reviewed well and I usually eat up this type of sci-fi/drama/suspense. My expectations were pretty high… and they were letdown in almost every way. I am not saying it was a terrible movie, but I didn’t find it to be nearly as “smart” as everyone made it out to be. The dialog felt awkward and forced, which always kept me at an arms length from the story.

The entire plot hings on the relationship between 3 characters, and the motivations behind those relationships. Even after everthing is revealed in the end I’m not sure I understand what is going on in the characters’ heads. To the film’s credit I thought about it quite a bit when it was over, but I feel like there are some pretty big plot holes, and I still don’t understand what is going on in Caleb’s brain. Maybe I need to watch it again, which I might do since it is now available on Amazon streaming.

Ex Machina does a really good job of creating tension from the beginning and sustaining it throughout. There is always this sense that something isn’t quite right, and from the beginning Nathan made me uneasy. Even so, I feel like his actions were mostly justified. Maybe it is just my personality, but I could not humanize this being that is clearly not human. When it came down to it I could not understand why Caleb acted the way he did, and it seemed incongruious with his character. His supposed relationship with Ava, which happens in short snippets over just a few days, does not justify anything his character does in my opinion.

I like thinking out the concept and ideas behind Ex Machina. I think it is intereesting to consider the possibility of artificial intelligence and what that would mean. Ex Machina raises the idea that true AI would include the concept of free will and the desire for freedom. How would the creation overcome the feeling of being enslaved by the creator? I guess the plot of Ex Machina gives us a what-not-to-do.

Korean Cinema - The Chaser

I felt like I hadn’t seen a non-cartoon movie in months, so I decided it was time to go in the complete opposite direction by watching a Korean film. I’d heard The Chaser was decent and available on Netflix so I decided to check it out.

Even though I don’t like horror movies I have become quite a fan of Korean films that show quite a bit of gore. I really liked Oldboy, Mother, and even I Saw The Devil. Mother wasn’t bad at all, but both Oldboy and I Saw The Devil get pretty gruesome. I’d say The Chaser was on par with those films, retty harsh, but with a couple scenes that were even more difficult to watch.

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Some initial thoughts on Drive

Drive came out on DVD and bluray this Tuesday. I made sure to reserve a copy of the bluray from my nearest Redbox kiosk so it would be waiting for me to pick up after work. I had tried to remain as ignorant as possible about the film. I knew it had received plenty of critical praise; but that is a toss up as to whether I'll like it or not. I did know not to expect an action movie. The first preview I saw for Drive presented it as a fast paced action thriller. Had I gone in with that expectation I might have been taken off guard.

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Does the Dragon Tattoo remake deserve to exist?

I think this question is totally ridiculous! Of course it deserves to exist. If somebody wants to attempt making art, why should anybody stop them? However, there might be a few people who wouldn't agree. Which I find insane. I read a review from eonline and in the comments "Mal" chimed in with this insightful gem.

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Review: Trollhunter

If you have netflix instant you might want to queue up this little Norwegian film. Sure it is subtitled, but don't trick yourself into thinking you are watching some deep artsy film. Trollhunter is a lot of fun. We watch from the perspective of college students who go out in search of an alleged bear poacher. They track down the culprit, but get more than what they bargained for.

The entire time is spent behind the lens of their camera, so it is a found-footage style film. While I did enjoy The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, the format is not my favorite.  Trollhunter manages to do it in a way that is not nauseating or distracting. They actually use the format to add to the tension and tone of the movie. And that I can get on board with.

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#133: Black Swan (7/10)

I finally got around to seeing Black Swan. It seems like an entire year has passed since this was initially getting hyped. Amazingly I went in completely unspoiled. I knew nothing about the film other than the actors' names and the subject matter. Overall I was really impressed with it. It lived up to most of the praise I'd heard over the past several months.

Even though I really liked the complete film it was uneven for me. I loved 80% of it, and hated the other 20%. I suppose that is the way I am with most films that I really like, but this one felt exaggerated in its unevenness.

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#132: Devil (5/10)

The Sixth Sense blew my mind. Unbreakable wowed me. Signs disappointed, and The Village down right pissed me off.  I skipped Lady in the Water. I laughed at the scathing reviews of The Happening and frowned when everybody hated The Last Airbender so much.  I had no intention of watching Devil, even though it got middling reviews when it came out last year.  By some miracle we got free HBO and Cinemax for a weekend and Devil was on, so I DVRed it.

I suppose my expectations for Devil were so low that it could only exceed them, so it is a little unfair to say something like "it was better than I thought it would be". However, it was. I have to admit that I very much enjoyed the entire process of watching this movie. It is short and sweet. I'm not saying there isn't any room for improvement; because there is a lot of that, but I'm definitely glad I watched it.

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#131: Super 8 (6/10)

Maybe I pay too much attention to film news, but I feel like I heard about Super 8 coming out a full year ago, and it was one of the most anticipated movies for me this summer. I didn't know anything about it, and I had no reason to be excited about it. I suppose I bought into the hype. Now I have seen it, and the result has been to plunge me deeper into my abyss of film despair. I wanted so badly to be blown away by this film. I was too young to experience the magic of the Amblin films back in the 80's. Super 8 was my chance to have a little piece of that.

The beginning of Super 8 was pretty great. The first shot specifically was wonderful. As we meet the main characters I felt like the groundwork was being laid for a super enjoyable movie going experience. There was a simplicity; almost a familiarity in how it was set up. As we built up to train depot scene everything was still on track. Unfortunately it peaked right there, and much like the chaos that took place in that scene, the movie went off the rails and never managed to get back on. Of course I didn't know that at the time. I was always rooting for it to pull everything together in time for a magical ending. That didn't happen. I left the theater scratching my head.

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#106: The Box (4/10)

There is a mysterious box on your front door with a button. A man tells you that if you push the button you will receive a million dollars, but somebody you don't know will die. A pretty interesting premise to base a movie on. I thought there was a lot of potential. However, I didn't like the direction it took, and the ending was really disappointing to me.  It is a forgettable movie that fails to capitalize. I give it a 4 out of 10.

The Box is very stylized and at first I wasn't sure I liked it. As it went on I started to really get into it; almost like a "B" movie. It was a nice pace and did a great job at building the mystery and suspense.  Diaz was fine in the lead role for the most part, but at times I found her distracting.  As we neared the climax the pace started to pick up and the movie started to fall apart. I could have loved this movie if it had an awesome ending, but it did not.

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#090: The Crazies (7/10)

I didn't totally know what I was getting into when I started The Crazies.  I'm sure I have said it before, but I am not a big fan of scary movies.  I wasn't expecting The Crazies to be extremely scary, just provide several moments of tension.  I was more scared than I thought I would be, and that was a good thing.  This is a pretty well made horror film, and provides quite a bit of enjoyment.  I don't think it is a perfect movie by any means, but it is worth watching.  I give it a 7 out of 10.

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#088: Inception (8/10)

This past weekend I made it to the theater for the third time in 2010.  Yes! Inception was powerful enough to draw me to the cinema on opening weekend; an extremely rare occasion.  I am not disappointed that I coughed up matinée rates to see it.  Inception was visually impressive, and an overall enjoyable film to watch on the big screen.  My initial reaction was an 8 out of 10, and I will stick with that.  

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#086: Shutter Island Spoiler Edition

I went to see Shutter Island on opening weekend at the theater, and it remains one of the best films I have seen so far in 2010.  There is so much interesting stuff going on in this film that I wanted to write about it again in a spoiler edition.  If you haven't already seen this great Scorsese film, then don't read on, I don't want to ruin it for you.I don't want to seem like I am over-hyping the twist ending of this film.  I think the ending it good, but I can see where others might find it somewhat predictable or anti-climactic.  The first time I watched the film I honestly had no clue what was really going on, nor did I really try to figure it all out.  I was just enjoying going along for the ride.

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#078: Triangle (7/10)

At the heart of every film is a story.  That story might be simple, complex, happy or sad; but that narrative will untimely determine how well you like the film.  Triangle tells a very interesting story.  It didn't have the money or star power behind it, but this film still works on so many levels.  Whether you find this experience to be very derivative, bewildering, or genius; it will at least make you think.  The visual effects aren't the greatest. Sometimes you might feel like you are watching a b-level movie.  Still, the story is pretty great and I had a ton a fun with it.  7 out of 10.

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#063: Shutter Island

At some points Shutter Island got pretty crazy, but never too crazy.  Propped up by great acting and cinematography, the sometimes meandering story still works really well.  I give this psychological thriller a solid 7 out of 10.

I was interested enough by Shutter Island to make a trip to the movie theater by myself to check out the new Scorsese flick on its opening weekend.  I went in with an open mind and almost no expectations, and I left satisfied by another solid film from a seasoned director.  However, I don't think everybody will share my sentiments.

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#058: A Perfect Getaway

I knew very little about this film going in, and that is really the only way to watch it.  Therefore, I am not going to give much of anything away about the plot.  I will say A Perfect Getaway is a "who-done-it" thriller that tries to keep you guessing.

From the beginning I felt disconnected from the characters.  It is not a problem with the film, I just didn't get into it right away.  It seemed to take quite a while to gain any momentum.  It was able to slowly develop a sense of tension and mystery, but through the middle I still wasn't feeling invested in what was going on.  Having said that, the climax of this film was surprisingly intense and effective.  If you are really into the film from the beginning I can only imagine the ending will even be more exciting to watch.

Part of my problem with the beginning is that I was expecting a more traditional thriller.  There usually seems to be an inciting incident that sets off a chain of events, or creates a mystery.  This film doesn't take that route.  Rather is allows you to spend time with the characters and watch them go about their business.  I have to credit the film for choosing the route it did.  I think all the time we spend getting to know the characters in the first part is what makes the ending work as well as it did for me.  However, if you are looking for a film to hook you in with intense action from the start, this isn't going to indulge you.

Overall I would recommend A Perfect Getaway as an enjoyable rental.  Knowing nothing about the plot of the film helped the premise to be more impactful, and made the last act of the film a lot of fun to watch.  Don't expect to be blown away by some amazing twist; just expect to be entertained by a well constructed thriller.

-deric