Porco Rosso. It was a little less appealing to me than some Miyazaki, possibly for superficial subject-matter reasons (fighter pilots, semi-uncouth protagonist). It had some intelligence, though, and interesting dialogue. The attraction of the protag to the young girl is quite up-front a lot of the time, though ultimately no social rules are broken. The plot doesn’t deliver on several fronts: most obviously, it doesn’t reverse the spell on the protag, which seemed obligatory as soon as the spell was mentioned. The surprising discovery that Miyazaki plots on the fly, not before the drawing is done, could be related. (22 Sep 2023)
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The Graduate 1967
The Graduate. For a while I was somewhat disappointed (Hoffman’s sometimes effortful performance didn't always appeal to me) despite strong points (Bancroft is flawless, Ross very effective). But soon I developed a strong emotion for the film that overrode my reservations. The story suggests a parable in how little it needs to tell us (the omnipresent Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack becomes an abstracting element as well) - in this regard Ross’s simplicity of effect is perhaps more important to the film…
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Barbie 2023
Barbie. The film surprised me: it's certainly very strange by blockbuster standards, relying on art direction and iconography instead of on an emotionally direct story. Its feminist discourse, obviously unusual at this budget level, is mostly a baseline that the film wears lightly and plays with. Gerwig and Baumbach’s dialogue squirrels oddball, smart jokes away in the film’s crevices: the Kens’ patriarchal takeover is particularly funny, with Kens prattling on to Barbies about gender-linked topics like The Godfather's greatness. Some…
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Asteroid City 2023
Asteroid City. The film instantly had a negative effect on me, for some reason: the effects that Anderson likes are so pure and sui generis that the film feels arty, but I‘m not sure what arty experience it’s reaching for. Drama isn’t much of a possibility until the appearance of the alien, quite a way in, and the film never cares to offer much in the way of narrative expectation. The exaggerated desert ambience is more essential to the film’s…