Dude Rates Movies

This has been quite some time I have abandoned the superhero productions, no matter whether they come from Marvel or DC. To me, they had long forgo the touch of a Sam Raimi's Spiderman or a Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, trading the classical, real-world-compatible depiction of a strong character for a fantasy-land full of ugly CGIs, dark worlds with magic stuff, and cheap gags.

Three years ago I tried my time with The Batman, which was a very good surprise. And this year this Superman appears again as another good one.

First of all, Clark Kent / Superman is simply super likable. He's emotionally vulnerable, doesn't take himself too seriously, and has strong ethics. He even has a dog, which he cares about! Props to David Corenswet for carrying such a nice role.

Second, the movie does a wonderful job at finding the proper opponents to his mighty powers. The true fight between him and Lex Luthor is one of reputation to the world, which does not get resolved by sheer force. And even when it comes to sheer force, the fight scene are well through out, and, of course, spectacular.

Then there is the reverence to the original Superman from Richard Donner: the text effects on the credits and the reprise of the famous John Williams theme. Good stuff!

And finally, the special effects are so good. Top notch photo-realistic CGIs, crazy powerful momentum effects in the fight and flying scenes. What a spectacle!

Of course, there are still some imagery that is not to my taste. All this weird and dark stuff happening in the pocket universe, this woman with her weird nano-particle stuff. Here you still feel the new-era fantasy stuff creeping in. But I can manage.

James Gunn is simply doing too many right things with this super-movie to pass on giving an A rating. 🦸

⚠️ Spoilers ahead

Flawed characters are often interesting, but some of them stretch my tolerance beyond its limits (as can be attested by my recent viewing of Gone with the Wind). Marty Mauser lands in an interesting place in this spectrum, where an all-encompassing obsession makes him an insufferable asshole that only thinks of his only goal: Beating his nemesis, whatever the cost in money, relationships, dignity, and, at some points, close calls to his life.

I found this fascinating to watch, not only because of all the crazy disjointed storylines that emerge from such chaos, but because this heightens the stakes of the final match not to just an athlete's dream, but to the liberation of this character from the slavery of his obsession. So that he can finally think about something else, and so that we can finally have some modicum of hope that there is some good in him, that he can go back home and fix all the mess he has left behind. A path that the ending hints at, but of course never validates — are those tears those of a man who promises himself to become a good father, or those of someone who realizes he is not mentally equipped to succeed at this.

Timothée Chalamet carries this complex character for 2h30 with a spotless and consistent performance. I think he embodies the role really well. I cannot, for the love of God, understand why he didn't commit to this hairstyle for the awards season rather than whatever haircut he actually wears.

I loved the music and editing of this movie. The anachronism of it (80s synthwave soundtrack and tubes on a movie taking place in the 50s) only participates to the overall chaos and creativity. The nemesis is introduced with a leitmotiv that is very much alike the Michael Myers theme from Halloween, which I found very funny. Everything goes very fast but never forgets to land for the good scenes.

Excellent movie.

This movie got me curious about whether it was accurate from a biographical standpoint. My research indicates that besides factuals (birth, marriage, whereabouts, etc), very little is known about Shakespeare's life. Maggie O'Farrell's novel (which the movie is adapted from) is therefore a work of imagination filling in the gaps of what could have been the significance of Hamlet for the English writer.

This is all fine be me, especially when it results in such a fantastic movie.

I feel guilty having criticized Paul Mescal's casting in Gladiator II when I didn't know his talent. Jessie Buckley is excellent too. Together they form the very touching duo which constitutes the base of this tragedy. The cinematography, the music, the story just locked me in totally, culminating to this powerfully emotional ending.

This is the first time I heard someone literally sob in a theater. I wasn't far from it myself.

Such a delightful and sweet movie.

I very much enjoyed the musical numbers, in particular Do-Re-Mi which I'm still listening to days after, and which stays in my head, brightening my days and nights.

I liked how the story honors the power of music, first to reconnect a father with his children, then to literally fight Nazism, and at all times, for celebrating love.

The tension in the final act was keeping me on the edge my seat, and the final rendition of Edelweiss, in its context, brought a tear to my eye.

The gorgeous cinematography subliming the Austrian sets further helps the quality of the movie.

I'm not always a fan of old classics, but this one is a really good one.

This movie takes the time to tell its story very carefully and properly. It hooked me from beginning to end, slowly burning through its outstanding cinematography and Ralph Fiennes' very strong presence.

It raises the usual (but always interesting) questions about faith, in a way that is still very interesting to follow for a non-believer.

It is a good demonstration of the power of restraint. When the end goal of the story is so straightforward, the slightest twist is an interesting plot point. When the diction of characters is so serene, the mere raising of one's voice is an event. When the visuals revolve around men being sequestered inside a conclave, a specific framing or contrast is a painting.

The music sounded a bit too dramatic in my opinion, but it was close enough to being a good companion to the image that it's not really an issue.

Good movie!

On the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. This is really good stuff.

I really enjoyed the urgency of the movie, the attention to details of how TV worked back in the day, and the ethical (and practical) questions raised by broadcasting events on live TV.

It was also impressive to see how talented TV directors, journalists, hosts, actually are. Only matched by the talent of this very movie's crew. 👏

It seems that this movie stayed under the radar, but it shouldn't have!