Colin Parton's Blog, page 9
April 19, 2021
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. Based on true events – this never bodes well. We meet Katherine as a child and we immediately know that she is gifted. The way that the community rally around her and her parents is fantastic.
There is a great film making moment setup here when her teacher asks her to solve the complex problem on the board she takes the chalk that is handed to her and solves it. This is referenced in a later scene when she is at a department of defence briefing and the exact same thing happens and she blows them all out of the water with her brilliance.
The first scene that we meet three ladies when they are grown up is great. Their car is broken down on the way to work at Langley and a white cop stops. We know there is going to be trouble and from this one scene we learn the state of play – race relations and the sexism that the three leads will face.
We also get to meet the three ladies forceful nature and the different ways it manifests itself as they get this police officer to escort them to work. Truly great script writing.
The use of the African American ladies as ‘computers’ feels demeaning at first. But there is a lot going on here. First, computers isn’t necessarily the derogatory term that it sounds like. Second these are relatively good positions for such talented ladies. Also looking back now at the term it has a powerful ring to it. You were so good at math you are called a computer.
The polish engineer who is working on the re-entry vehicle is a great counter point to Mary who is encouraged to become an engineer by him. He makes the point about escaping Nazi Germany and launching people into space – if he can do that what can she do?
Then our heroine, Katherine, is placed in the Space Team headed by Al Harrison, Kevin Costner. She spends much of her time trying to fight against the ridiculous restrictions placed on her.
One of the mathematicians redacts all of his reports so that it is almost impossible for Katherine to check his work – but she finds a way. The racist oppression is something else – They don’t want her drinking out of their coffee percolator so get a crappy one installed – etc etc.
By far the worst is that there is no bathroom for Katherine in this section of Langley so she has to treck across the base to the west side to the coloured bathroom. While this is powerful the first time – and frustrating the second. The third time is just ridiculous. Her boss blows up at her the last time that this happens – And she lets loose back.
He had no idea that there were no bathrooms and about how she was been treated. After storms out of the room he paces over to the coffee cart and dumbfoundedly pulls the ‘coloured’ label off the percolator. This was a powerful scene and the tension in the room was palpable.
Yet the very next scene destroys it all. Harrison is taking a sledge hammer to the ‘coloured’ bathroom sign in the Western section – which is the bathroom that Katherine has been travelling to this entire time. The signs he should have been removing were the ‘white’s only’ in his building. I cannot believe that this got missed as it feels like a mistake – but it’s there so I have to rate the film on it.
The undertone of sexism in the black community feels a bit shoehorned in for me. At the church picnic right at the start both Mary’s partner and Katherine’s would-be husband make a big deal over what women can and can’t do. Then nothing really at all. You can’t try to force further ‘ism’ discussion and then leave it dead.
There are some truly terrible lines in this film. “We all pee the same colour” is up there.
There are some fantastic moments as well. Dorothy’s character has been trying to negotiate a supervisor position for herself and when the IBM arrived – protect her girls jobs. She does both by teaching herself fortran. This culminates in a great scene of her leading the entire group over to the new computer room.
When Jim finally proposes to Katherine the reaction of her and the kids is actually really touching – “Why are you crying? He hasn’t asked you yet.” To which Katherine responds – “He will.” Turns to Jim “Won’t you?!?”. It has a realness about it that is just fantastic.
Then after Katherine has saved them all – many many times – they fire her – because the IBM is much faster. Then, just as they are about to launch Harrison recognises that the numbers are off. He confers with Stafford – Katherine’s co-worker – who agrees. The big flop for me here is that neither of them recognise that they need her to check the numbers.
The call for her comes from Glen – the man they are about to launch. This is fine as they set him up from the moment he comes on screen as been progressive – he ignores the rules when they arrive at Langley to meet the African American ladies. So it makes sense for him to request this – especially after her display at the Department of Defence briefing. It’s just sad that it isn’t Harrison or Stafford who make the call.
Katherine’s checking the figures is another brilliant scene as she calculates the landing zone and the telecast of the launch is happening on the TV in front of her.
Overall a fun movie but just a bit too Disney. Some nice scenes but also some poor ones.
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April 18, 2021
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks - Season 1 Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. The segues at the start between Laura’s mum and dad finding out at the same time about her death are really great film making. The setup has all the feel of detective drama – but Lynch quickly throws that all out the window.
In a ‘normal’ detective series we are presented with a clue and then the detectives will spend some time trying to ascertain what the relevance of the clue is – and then how it brings us closer to the truth. Twin Peaks does not follow this at all.
We are presented with clues and then they are fitted into the tapestry of the narrative almost immediately. Then we are onto the next clue.
I have never seen a detective – murder mystery – move at such a high pace. The clues related to the crime are almost irrelevant. While they are important in been the thread we follow – it is the characters surrounding this thread that makes the story so interesting.
Special Agent Dale Cooper is absolutely brilliant. He strikes a clean cut image from the moment he enters. He certainly seems a bit kooky as he constantly talks to ‘Diane’ on his dictaphone – even when there are people around – and about the most mundane things.
The characters relationships are real and complex making their desires and goals all pull in different directions. Having said this the town feels way too small to have this amount on infidelity without everyone knowing what is going on.
Audrey is another very interesting character. She seems hell-bent on causing as much damage in any situation as possible. At some level I think it attention seeking that lead her to essentially wanting to be Laura. There is a lot more to it but this is the basis of her motivation.
Leo Johnson is one creepy individual and all eyes are on him for the murderer from episode two. But there are plenty of other contenders from Bobby, the boyfriend she is cheating on, to almost everyone who new the ‘real’ Laura.
The opening of episode three is pure Lynch. Ben & Jerry delivering lines and thinking they are hilarious while eating brie baguettes – so no one – not even them – can understand what is been said.
Episode three also brings us the art of zen detective work – when we realise that despite his clean-cut appearance – Special Agent Dale Cooper is a bit crazy as well. We also learn about the ancient good versus evil fight that is happening between the town and the forest that has been waged for generations.
Behind the story of the murder investigation everyone’s lives continue. There is the land deal that Ben is trying to setup as well as the infighting between the manager and owner of the lumber mill.
Everyone is important to the story and everyone’s lives are real. they all have motivations and goals that are occurring around the main plot. In this rich tapestry every character’s place is real – you look around and you cannot find any bit parts.
After a lot of setup and focus on the side plots in episodes 5-7 episode 8 delivers in spades the high speed drama we have seen so far everything is coming to a head all under the same roof at ‘One Eyed Jacks’ – this is truly masterful storytelling and we are left at the end with a huge cliff-hanger.
Dale is shot. Jerry is about to walk into a room at the brothel with his daughter in it. Big Ed’s wife is on the verge of death from suicide. There only lead to the big murder is about to be murdered by Laura’s grieving father.
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Blue Velvet
Blue Velvet Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. I came to this film straight after finishing Twin Peaks season one. This was a complete coincidence but lead to some interesting thoughts as soon as I saw ‘Directed by David Lynch’ in the titles.
What sort of wild ride were we in for? Lynch doesn’t keep us waiting long – after the lead’s father suffers a heart attack in the opening scene there is a disturbing close-up into beetles in the grass. This trope occurs a number of other times in the film – the ants in the infamous ear is another one that jumps out.
I’m not exactly sure what he is saying with either of these shots but boy do we know he is saying it. We very quickly meet the lead, Geoffrey, following this. He finds the instigating ear in the part behind his house while walking home from visiting his father in the hospital.
Geoffrey becomes interested in the case and the tit-bits of information that he garners from the detective’s daughter lead him down a path into the seedy underbelly of his home town. I find the role of the detective’s daughter very interesting.
At first we feel that Geoffrey is just using her to find out more information about the case – which she is eager to volunteer. Then he starts to take more of an interest in her – kind-of – this is not clear. She is upset when her boyfriend finds out about her and Geoffrey’s escapades.
But then there is this party they go to where she declares her love for him and he says it back – with a little hesitation but not enough to really read much into. Then on their way home they come across the naked and distraught Dorothy.
The way that Geoffrey holds Dorothy reveals that she is much more than the focus of Geoffrey’s investigation and Sandy is beside herself. Geoffrey also seems upset by the whole experience. But it does feel that this scene exemplifies his pull between the dark side (Dorothy) and the light (Sandy).
From the moment he finds the ear Geoffrey takes more and more risky steps to find out what is going on. To start off with this is just interest but it morphs into love/lust for Dorothy and wanting to save her kidnapped partner and child. I’m not sure what he thought would happen if he was successful.
There are some really weird lines in this film. When Geoffrey is breaking into Dorothy’s apartment Sandy says: “I don’t know if you’re a detective or a pervert.” To which Geoffrey replies: “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” Yep Creeper.
There are some neat moments that are handled really well. For example, Sandy is going to signal Dorothy’s return to the apartment but Geoffrey misses the signal because he is using the bathroom. This is because he was drinking beer before – all well setup for an important plot point that could have come off as contrived.
All of the normal tropes of this sort of film are broken almost instantly. Geoffrey gets caught – then he falls in love with Dorothy. Then he starts to become the horrible man that he has just watched beat Dorothy.
The steps into the underbelly of the town are easy for him to make and he soon understands a lot of what is going on with the gang that has kidnapped Dorothy’s husband and child. Then he gets caught by the gang.
The weirdness of the gangs antics get turned up a notch and Geoffrey takes it all in his stride even hitting Frank when he decides it has gone too far.
We learn that some of the cops are rotten and the detective might even be in on it. But Geoffrey doesn’t care. Like when he hit Frank with a likely change of death – he wades into the gang war to try and save Dorothy.
The shoot out and the end is great. Both the cops taking the gang headquarters and Geoffrey confronting Frank in Dorothy’s apartment – powerful stuff.
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April 9, 2021
Kind Hearts & Coronets
Kind Hearts & Coronets Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. This is a comedy. It took me a few scenes to realise. It’s just that dry. But when you realise it is perfection. Like laugh-out-loud funny.
The basic plot is we know that the hero is going to be hung from the first scene. The plot is that a man is disowned – essentially cast out of the family tree and he plots his revenge – slowly murdering those above him in the line of succession to become duke.
Each murder is a tiny tale of how he inculcates himself into their lives and how he is keeping everything else above board – like his relationship with his married childhood friend. All very scandalous.
The twists and turns are unpredictable and exciting. At every step it feels like he has just been caught. But he manages to escape again and again. And you kind of want him to because all the targets are insufferable.
If you are a fan of dead pan humour with a dark slant than this is for you. If that doesn’t sound like your thing you can almost pretend its serious and the murder mystery plot will carry them film. The lead is spectacular. Highly recommended.
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The Night Of The Hunter
The Night Of The Hunter Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. I really can’t understand why this is one of the ‘must watch films’ and on lots of top movie lists.
The characters are pretty much all two dimensional. You can pick what they are after and going to do a mile off. Which is why when the main baddie tricks people it is just so frustrating because no-one would ever be fooled.
It is a desperate time. None of the characters are particularly inspiring or heroic. The story is the struggle of the kids of a hung bank-robber trying to keep the secret hiding place of his final heist secret from the ‘preacher’ who has inculcated himself into their lives.
There are some really weird visuals as well. There are some weird floating heads at the start who introduce the story. When our two heroes flee the town by boat there is a weird animal – then cut to – river montage.
There just isn’t anything very enticing about this film. No great performances. The story is bland and predictable – much of it completely pointless. Skip. There are too many great films out there to waste your time with this one.
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The Florida Project
The Florida Project Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. The realness of what little shits kids can be will punch you in the face with this one. But they also steal the show. All of the kids in this heart-wrenching tale are spectacular.
The kids normal existence is pretty depressing as you see them begging for money for a single ice-cream that they all share. They are also constant plot drivers – turning off the power to the motel and setting one of the abandoned houses on fire.
Perhaps I identify a little too well with their antics. I find the kids super real. The main girl is fantastically mischievous – she teeters on the edge of being really bad. She keeps pushing the boundaries but she knows when she is in big trouble.
This film has some great talent in it. Almost as soon as the credits are over we are shocked to see Willem Dafoe as the overworked motel manager, Bobby. He is fantastic with the kids – but he knows if you give them an inch and they will take a yard.
Bobby is a real and enigmatic character. He is torn between being excellent at his job at running this terrible motel for the rif-raf that it attracts to kowtowing to his boss that gets him to impose some pretty ridiculous things on the populace.
He is always there as well. He is switched on and present. Stepping in to save the kids from a paedophile and to get the harmless old lady from skinny dipping at the pool.
Lots of the story is told from the perspective of the kids which is really tough to do. It’s hard to show complex stories this way because the kids just don’t understand what is going on. So normally I would say it doesn’t work.
That’s normally – here it is brilliantly used. We are dragged along with the delinquent mother who as she hawks perfume at hiked up rates. We slowly realise what is going on with all the baths that the girl is taking – the WOW moment here is devastating.
The down on her luck – delinquent – mum is great. She is very hot and cold with everyone but is fiercely defensive of her daughter and is also her best friend. I’m not a parent nor do I think I could offer any advice. But I know when it isn’t working – and sister – this ain’t working.
As the focus tightens on her mum’s inability to support them you realise that we are heading for a train wreck – the question is just how and when. The end is powerful and the confrontation between the authority figures and the daughter is poignant.
And then the story is done and the kids disappear into the crowds at Disneyland. Obviously.
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April 7, 2021
Death At A Funeral
Death At A Funeral Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. The opening credits felt very long – like old school running the entire cast long. The sombre delivery of the wrong body at the start sets the mood.
The pills have a good setup but as they are brought up again and again for comic relief it becomes too much. You can’t just have a nod to how much you repeated the joke at the end to get out of it.
The actor who plays the guy tripping off the first mistaken pills is fantastic – everything really was so green.
The actor who plays the ‘responsible’ son is great – was the lead spy in Spooks season one. He plays awkward so well – pausing to flip the palm cards as he delivers the eulogy. This sort of acting is hard – impressive work.
The plot of how to get rid of Peter Dinklage’s character is more than a bit ridiculous when we realise that he isn’t actually dead. How on earth did they all miss that – and immediately jump to murder. These steps are not only far-fetched they are completely unbelievable.
Overall a weak plot with repeated plot points that don’t work well on the second or third time. Having said that there are some absolutely brilliant set pieces and the film is worth watching for these.
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Rocket Man
Rocket Man Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. Coming into the story towards the end is handled really well here and the surreal conversation with a younger version of himself is great. He chases himself into his own past.
The film uses magical realism throughout with aplomb. It turns powerful moments on their and sprinkles them with magic. After all, there is only so much of watching someone perform songs that one can watch.
The relationship with his parents is heart-wrenching. As is his relationship with his new producer. So much pain as Elton spirals.
The creative genius is something to watch. The humanising performance of his co-writer and the realness of their relationship is touching.
The incredible filmography and visual craft used in this film could be discussed ad-nauseum. And I will when I come back to write the full article – there is just so much to say.
I really enjoyed this as a counterpart to the biopic style we have seen recently, especially like Bohemian Rhapsody. This is spine tingling good but is a completely different beast.
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Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series. The setup at the start of the film using ‘archive’ footage is an interesting touch to set the scene. Cassidy and the Kid are already famous.
We are introduced to the Sundance Kid in a typical scene in at a card game in a saloon. Nothing special but his shooting is special.
The story proper starts at the end of their careers. This isn’t the rise of the notorious duo. This is the end of them – if this was the story of their lives this would be deep in the third act.
As their careers wane they fend off challenges and when they mount their next robbery they are met by a strange train that is carrying a group of horsemen that quickly dispatch all but Butch and The Kid.
This is the meat of the story. The group of almost supernatural bounty hunters tracking our anti-heroes. They find out who is tracking them and that they have no escape so decide to flee the country.
Then we cut to a weird montage of photo stills that tell the story of their flight from the US to Bolivia. Cool photoshop skills but such a weird way to tell the story.
The rest of the story is about their escapades in Bolivia until their final stand off against the Bolivian army. Really this is a movie of set pieces and the creative team really couldn’t care less about what comes in between.
The tracking scenes are fantastic as the Kid and Butch put their best plans into action only to see the horsemen follow them perfectly – even over uncrackable terrain. These scenes are so good because we are with our heroes having no idea who is chasing them.
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