Cinemablography

A Spooky Take on Compelling Women

10/9/2024

by Megan Sechrist

*This Article Contains Spoilers*

With October comes the height of the Halloween season. As one prepares a list of films to watch in the spirit of Halloween, the films of Tim Burton will likely hold the majority of that list. Tim Burton is known for his gothic, German expressionist aesthetic, which is perfect for the spooky season. He is famous for producing/directing works such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Beetlejuice (1988), and Corpse Bride (2005), as well as working continuously with famous actors such as Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder.
Burton takes an interesting spin on the horror genre especially when it comes to women. In a traditional horror or slasher film, women often take on the “damsel in distress” role. The women in Burton’s films are strong, and learn valuable lessons about acceptance, self-discovery and confidence by the end of their stories. Women in Tim Burton films have purpose far beyond the “damsel in distress” role and are inspiring and widely adored by his audience.

One interesting example of this is the character of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ironically, Sally (Catherine O’Hara) is a character that does not quite align with the previous description. A large part of Sally’s character is her love for the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington. However, the love that she has for Jack goes beyond the surface level appreciation that the rest of Halloween Town has for him. She understands that loving someone is accepting their joys and addressing their faults. She is Jack’s voice of reason throughout the film, trying to prevent him from taking over Christmas Town, to no avail. Sally is strong but does not allow her strength to weaken her feelings. Burton worked with long-time collaborator and star, Danny Elfman (singing voice of Jack Skellington), to create the famous soundtrack for this film. In “Sally’s Song”, Sally laments on her loneliness but continues to be a good friend and advisor to Jack. Despite the introduction, Sally does end up becoming a damsel when her creator locks her in a tower, but she is no stereotypical damsel. She ends up saving herself by committing an inspiring act of bravery and jumping out of the window of her tower. She then proceeds to save Jack himself by reigniting his love for Halloween. Her charm and kindness then convinces Santa to forgive Jack for trying to take over Christmas, which brings the first snowfall to Halloween Town.

An example on the complete other end of the spectrum is Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice. Lydia, brought to life by Winona Ryder, is a teenage girl who is struggling with her family dynamic. Her mother is dead and her father has remarried to her step mother, Delia Deetz, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara. Lydia describes herself as “strange and unusual,” spending a lot of her time in morbid thoughts, dressing in dark clothing, and generally being gloomy. Between Delia’s constant criticism, and her father’s general absence, Lydia feels out of place in her own family. She finds friendship in Barbara and Adam Maitland who are the ghost couple who lived in the house prior to the Deetz’s. Lydia is the only person who can see the Maitlands, which creates a special bond between them and a friendship that Lydia can grow her identity in. Lydia helps the Maitlands navigate the afterlife, which results in Lydia finding a place of belonging in a cause that is bigger than herself. Unfortunately, this bond is capitalized on by Delia which further strains her and Lydia’s relationship. In the end, Lydia saves her family and the Maitlands from the demon Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) in an act of sacrifice, which results in Lydia almost being married to the demon. She is strong, against Beetlejuice’s wishes, which solidifies her character development; being the first time she does something for someone other than herself. By the end of the film, Lydia is better-adjusted to her family as Barbara and Adam take on a parental role in her life in addition to Charles and Delia. Even after the Maitlands move onto the afterlife, Lydia has a better understanding of herself and how she fits into the Deetz family and grows into a young woman with the encouragement she received from her ghostly friends. It is Burton’s beautiful testament to growing up.

A less popular, but still widely known woman from Tim Burton’s catalog is the titular character of Corpse Bride, Emily. Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), much like Sally, is a woman who longs for love but is able to put her emotions aside for the happiness of the one whom she loves. Emily has a rather tragic backstory beginning with her own murder, committed by her ex-fiance Barkis. All Emily wants is to be loved, so when Victor (Johnny Depp) places a ring on a tree while reciting wedding vows meant for his fiance, Victoria, he is horrified to find out the tree is actually Emily’s bony finger and that he is now engaged to her. Due to her desire for love, she is overjoyed with finally being married. Victor realizes his mistake and starts to panic over the accidental marriage. Emily struggles with her unrequited love throughout the rest of the story but continues to put Victor’s feelings above her own, trying to be the best wife she can, but Victor only has eyes for Victoria. When Victoria is manipulated by Barkis, Emily makes the ultimate decision to save her and restore Victor and Victoria’s relationship. Emily learns to love herself and be the best version of herself for her own benefit, not for the benefit of any man she may be interested in. In the end of the film, Emily turns into a cloud of butterflies, a common representation of the living making contact with the dead, which is very fitting in the context of the film. Emily is a strong, selfless woman who learns the importance of loving herself; a fantastically complex and dynamic character by Burton.

Tim Burton does not waste his women characters on boring damsels, he uses horror to create strong, selfless characters who learn the most valuable lessons at the end of their films. They work together with the men of their films to create powerful storylines that are rich in teamwork and morals, and carry important messages about the balance of gender roles in the new age. Sally, Lydia, and Emily are just three of the many important and inspiring women that star in Tim Burton’s films and we continue to see more. Add Burton’s films to your Halloween watch lists for a frightening watch with valuable female leads!

Perfect Days: A Reflection of Appreciation

10/2/2024

by Eli Alderfer

*This Review Contains Spoilers*

Critically acclaimed director, Wim Wenders, is no stranger to success. Known best for his works, Wings of Desire (1987) and Paris, Texas (1984), he has made a return to cinema with 2023’s Perfect Days. Though Wenders did have numerous works since the 1980s and 90s, they went largely unrecognized, but Perfect Days made a name for itself at Festival de Cannes, where Koji Yashuko was awarded best actor. Wim Wenders takes us through the day to day life of Hirayama, a Japanese man who cleans public restrooms around the streets of Tokyo. While many would think this job to be lowly and wretched, Hirayama finds appreciation of his duties and the environment surrounding him, never complaining about it.

Although a fictional narrative, Perfect Days is presented in a style that is comparable to that of a documentary. There is not much of a story in the traditional sense, but rather it is the simple account of a man who loves life, following him as he cherishes kindness and the beauty of the world, even on the gloomy days. On his day to day, Hirayama has his agenda perfected, waking up to water his plants first thing in the morning, to reading a book under the dim lighting of his room after a day of work. He owns only the simplest of technology, and his cassette tapes are his most valuable possession; in wealth of both the wallet and the soul. Although the film is in Japanese language, American audiences will recognize many classic rock hits from The Animals, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Patti Smith, along with some other familiar tracks. Perfect Days is comforting not only audibly, but also visually.

Wim Wenders is known for cinematically pleasing compositions, and Perfect Days is no exception. The aesthetics contribute to the calming atmosphere of Hirayama’s “perfect” life, presented in a square aspect ratio. A smooth blend of purples, greens, reds, and blues are utilized to create Wenders’ familiar palette of tranquil colors. The prominent green palette of Paris, Texas returns in Perfect Days, where it similarly represents the stagnancy and isolation of our main characters. Wenders perfectly balances cool and warm tones in his scenes, highlighting emotions throughout the film. One aspect that came as a surprise was the monochrome scale, used in each of Hirayama’s dream sequences. His dreams are displayed not as stories or events, but vague layers of memories, often including people and nature, in a grainy black-and-white frame.

The first half of the film focuses on Hirayama, and his seemingly perfect life. He is not only content with his mundane life, but he is happy with it. He smiles at strangers and studies the trees above him, photographing them to preserve the memory. He hardly says a word a day, until his niece, Niko, runs away from home to live with him. As the film shifts into the second half, we begin to see more of who Hirayama is. He is comforted by Niko’s presence, and opens up to her about life. Hirayama, aging and wise, and Niko, young and curious, admire Tokyo together, repeating the line “Next time is next time. Now is now.” We are reminded not to worry about the future, but to just live in the present and appreciate the blessings we have.

In the final act, Hirayama’s home is visited by his sister (Niko’s mother) who has come to take her daughter home. Niko is resistant, but her mother insists. It is here that we see much of what Hirayama has bottled up and hidden inside of him. His sister is wealthy and snobby, judging Hirayama for the work he does cleaning restrooms. He becomes defensive when his own sister criticizes him. After Niko and her mother leave, the film concludes with a long shot of Hirayama initially smiling, but then crying while Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” plays off of his cassette tape. We realize that Hirayama may not have been entirely happy throughout his “perfect life,” but he shows kindness and finds the goodness around him, rather than subjecting to the conformity of societal dissatisfaction.

Perfect Days is a subtle but emotional ballad. Held strong by aesthetics and acting, Yashuko’s performance as Hirayama was well deserving of his Cannes award. With Wenders’ return to filmmaking, we can hope for more films as beautiful as this. Perfect Days is a slow but intricate reflection of life, serving as a reminder that if you smile at the world, the world will smile back.

Hollywood's Most Powerful Couple

4/17/2024

by Megan Sechrist

Emma Thomas is now an Academy Award winning producer after Oppenheimer was named Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars. She is one of Hollywood’s most successful producers and her films have collectively grossed well over $6 billion. Thomas’ long and illustrious career has produced great films such as The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception, all of which were directed by her partner in filmmaking and in marriage: Christopher Nolan.

Thomas and Nolan have been married since 1997, quickly becoming one of the Industry’s most influential couples. The two often credit the success of their films to each other’s creativity and have proven themselves time and time again to be one of the driving forces of Hollywood. Their latest and greatest release, Oppenheimer, was an incredible feat of filmmaking which both Nolan and Thomas worked very hard to achieve. When asked about the making of their latest release in an interview with Variety, Thomas described it as “ the riskiest film we [Thomas and Nolan] have made.” In the interview, she touches on many of her responsibilities as a producer: casting, technical discussions, and the logistics of bringing the script to life, but also as a support system and critical opinion for Nolan, as well as a creative influence for the film. Oppenheimer was a very risky film to produce, especially with Nolan’s flare for practical effects. Thomas expressed her main concerns being the cohesion of the script, the runtime, and the mood of Nolan’s films as interpreted by audiences.

The words of those the duo have worked with is truly a testament to their character and the strength of their marriage. Cillian Murphy referred to Nolan and Thomas as “the most dynamic, decent, kindest director-producer partnership in Hollywood”. As partners who both work in a creative field, communication and honesty is incredibly important to the success of both the film and the marriage. When presented with the script for Oppenheimer by her husband, Thomas had both praises and concerns. She notes that, while she was very excited about seeing the first test of the atomic bomb, also known as the Trinity Project, come to life thanks to the incredible crew, she had fears about how the story would cohesively come together. As a producer, a film as detailed as Oppenheimer seems very daunting to convey to audiences because of the complexity of the storyline that Nolan had written. Three timelines, dozens of characters, and a three hour runtime is a lot to achieve. But, through hard work, mutual trust, and a great team, Oppenheimer was brought to life and is now the Motion Picture Academy’s 2024 Best Picture.

In Jimmy Kimmel’s Oscars 2024 opening speech, he remarks on the increasingly long runtimes of films this year. Along with this came a quip about Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon in which he stated “your movies were too long this year.” Scorsese’s film has an astounding runtime of 206 minutes, almost 30 minutes longer than Oppenheimer, which still left Kimmel upset. Emma Thomas also found concern with the Oppenheimer runtime very early on in the production. Nolan and Thomas partnered with IMAX for this production to ensure the best quality possible. However, IMAX has a strict 180 minute maximum runtime for films shown in their theaters. Thomas says, “When you look at that book [American Prometheus], there wasn’t any version of this film that wasn’t going to be three hours.” Telling the story of the father of the atomic bomb is no small task, and doing it in under three hours requires incredibly detailed planning and strategic cuts by producer, Emma Thomas. Picking moments from a life as fully lived as J. Robert Oppenheimer’s is important to his accurate portrayal, and having a screenplay as successful as theirs calls back to the character and teamwork of Nolan and Thomas as a partnership. Thomas, being the practical and logistical mind and Nolan being the creative mind balance very well when it comes to pushing the boundaries of filmmaking.

Thomas claimed that she “was very grateful that we had this IMAX platform that we had; we couldn’t go any longer than three hours.” One of her biggest fears while making the film was that she “didn’t feel there was a guaranteed audience for this film.”. Even with Christopher Nolan being one of the biggest directors in the film industry, the audience and box office success was still a major concern for Thomas. COVID-19 took a big hit towards movie theaters and the plummeting numbers, as well as the summer release date, ended up making Oppenheimer a tricky film for Thomas. The risk only grew when the box office race for “Movie of the Summer” began with Barbie, a notoriously bright, happy, and pink film, but the two are more similar than audiences first believed. Thomas believes “There is humor in his [Nolan] movies, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for it. The other one I don’t get is people have said his movies are not emotional.” The combination of audience interpretation and the underlying humor in Nolan’s films are the reason Oppenheimer was as successful as it was, and it was all thanks to the work of Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Thomas proclaims “we are [Nolan and Thomas] not empire builders, we are about the individual film.”, which is apparent in just how much work the two put into each of their films. They recently received British knighthood and damehood in honor of their service to the film industry and celebrated another great success at the 2024 Academy Awards where Oppenheimer won seven of its thirteen nominated awards including Best Director for Nolan. In his speech, Nolan thanked the cast and crew of the film, the Academy, and “the incredible Emma Thomas. Producer of all our films and all our children.” Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas truly are Hollywood’s most powerful couple.

How Do You Live? The Two Miyazakis: Legacy or Love

4/10/2024

by Noah Shin

Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, after a 10-year hiatus, released The Boy and the Heron (2023), which earned him his 2nd Oscar for Best Animated Feature film at the 96th Academy Awards. The movie tells the story of Mahito, a child grieving the loss of his mother during the bombing of Tokyo in WWII, as he encounters a mystical heron and travels to a different world through a mysterious tower that has a connection to his family's history.

The Boy and the Heron is consistent with Miyazaki’s filmography, which explores themes of loss, coming of age, and decisions on how one should live one’s life. However, The Boy and the Heron has a semi-autobiographical element, similar to The Wind Rises (2013), his previous ‘final’ film. The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki’s revisitation of themes raised in The Wind Rises on the dilemma of choosing between art and creation, or love and relationships, but comes to a more hopeful conclusion.

Choosing between art and relationships is an issue Miyazaki has dealt with in his own life, which he addresses in The Wind Rises. In this film, the protagonist Jiro devotes himself to his designs rather than spending time with his wife who is dying from tuberculosis. He succeeds in creating a ‘masterpiece’ but it comes at a significant personal cost as he misses the passing of his wife. The Wind Rises, Miyazaki’s first semi-autobiographical and most historically grounded film, reflects a parallel in Miyazaki’s life with his strained relationship with his eldest son, Goro. As described in the documentary series, 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (2019):

"The veteran filmmaker, devoted to his work, was an absentee dad. Goro’s exposure to his father growing up was mainly by watching his father’s films" (“Ponyo is Here” 32:18).

In his life, he prioritized his art over his family, but The Wind Rises could be interpreted as Miyazaki’s retrospective reflection on what was thought to be the end of an illustrious career, where he questions whether his artistic legacy was worth the personal sacrifice.

The Boy and the Heron likewise reflects Miyazaki’s continued wrestling with the inevitable end of his career and the question of his legacy. In many ways, Miyazaki himself is represented by Mahito’s granduncle atop the mystical tower. We learn that the granduncle is responsible for building the fantastical world Mahito is transported into, but faces a dilemma: he must find a successor to keep the world alive after he is gone. This is why he calls Mahito into his world, as he must pass the torch to someone who he believes should be someone from his own lineage, both literally in a biological sense and metaphorically in an artistic sense; the successor must uphold an integrity of vision. The granduncle was said to have spent his life building the tower and creating his world by arranging and balancing a set of otherworldly stones. He is looking for a successor who will continue to maintain the world after he is gone. His hope for the successor is not that they conform to the shape of his own world, but rather that they establish their own vision in creating the next one. Likewise, Miyazaki has spent his life co-founding and building Studio Ghibli and creating his own fantastical worlds through film. As the granduncle in the film, he has searched for possible successors, including his eldest son Goro, to carry on the creative legacy. New York Times reports: “He has tried multiple times, without success, to pass the creative torch. ... All of which raises some huge questions for Studio Ghibli — questions so deep they are practically theological. What will happen to the company when the great Miyazaki is gone?” (Anderson). This question of succession is closely tied to the decision to preserve his artistic legacy.

However, there is an evolution in Miyazaki’s perspective from The Wind Rises to The Boy and Heron, reflecting a change in emphasis from legacy to love. In The Boy and the Heron, Mahito is given two choices. He is given the choice of inheriting his granduncle's world and becoming the new creator and shaping it as he sees fit, or he can return to his ordinary life in the real world with all of its flaws. Here, the film revisits the essential crossroads of The Wind Rises, choosing between devotion to art or devotion to one’s own life and family. Miyazaki chose to create art in his own life, becoming one of the greatest animation directors of all time. However, it seems he has regrets at the end of his career regarding some of the sacrifices he made and the impacts of these decisions on those around him. He has openly stated, in regards to his son Goro, “I owe that little boy an apology” because of his absence throughout Goro’s childhood (“Go Ahead - Threaten Me'' 22:28, 10 Years). The Wind Rises is his biopic about Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, but which also has semi-autobiographical elements that mirror his real life decision of prioritizing his artistic career. However, The Boy and the Heron has stronger fantastical elements which allows Miyazaki, as the character of Mahito, to vicariously explore and choose the other option of love and family that he did not choose in real life. What if he did not become one of the greatest animators but rather chose to be more present in his family and relationships? In The Boy and the Heron, Mahito returns to the real world to be with his family.

In The Boy and the Heron, in what may be a revisitation of Miyazaki’s dilemma of choosing between legacy and love, both Mahito and his granduncle represent two perspectives of Miyazaki. The granduncle represents a part of Miyazaki that wants his animation legacy to live on through a successor, who will not only maintain it, but also safeguard its integrity from competing commercial interests from within the kingdom who do not share his pure artistic vision. Interestingly, young Mahito also represents a changed, older Miyazaki. One that, in the fantastical The Boy and the Heron, made the decision to devote himself to his loved ones rather than his creative work. Mahito chose life over art, in a way that Jiro from The Wind Rises did not. This begs the original question Miyazaki poses, both to himself and the audience, in the original Japanese title of The Boy and the Heron, How Do You Live?

This Barbie is Saving Movie Theaters!

2/28/2024

By Megan Sechrist

It is no secret that movie theaters, like many other businesses, took a hit during COVID-19 which still affects their traffic to this day. With the birth of streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, MAX, and Tubi, we can watch all of the most anticipated films from the comfort of our own homes. Many films today go straight to streaming services and just skip the theater run entirely. I’ve seen quite a few films in the theaters this year and I can confidently confirm that I was only in two max capacity theaters this year: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

   Teenage girls are often viewed as “obsessive fan-girls” when it comes to things that they enjoy. Young women are criticized for their hobbies and interests which is an idea that Gerwig fights against in her films. Strong, outspoken characters like Lady Bird McPherson and the March sisters, along with Gloria, Sasha and Barbie herself battle gender stereotypes in their respective scenarios. It is no wonder why young women flock to theaters around the world to watch these films that inspire them to be themselves. It is young women who single handedly saved movie theaters in 2023, and it all started with Barbenheimer.

     The term “Barbenheimer” refers to the two most highly anticipated films of the summer, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which were both released on July 21, 2023. Very quickly, people realized that it would be a box office race between these two films to see which would have the better opening weekend numbers. There was a clear divide in the media over who was going to see which movie, as people started to pick sides and buy tickets in order to help their favorite win the box office race, until someone suggested seeing both. All of a sudden, movie-goers across the nation were excited to see both Barbie AND Oppenheimer, with some fans even going all out with a costume change in the middle of the showings. It became such a spectacle that even Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie hopped on the train by buying their tickets to see Oppenheimer! Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) joined the trend by supporting Barbie in the theater. Murphy is quoted saying “I’ll be going to see Barbie 100% — I can’t wait to see it… I think it's just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out on the same day.” for People Magazine. At the end of the record-breaking weekend, women made up 38% of the Oppenheimer audience and 71% of Barbie audiences. As for the box office, Barbie ended up making $155 million ($70 million in the first day) and Oppenheimer walked away with $82.4 million by the end of the weekend. Barbie ended up winning the box office race and broke the record for highest grossing film directed by a woman, all because women wanted to see a reflection of themselves on the big screen.

  Greta Gerwig has become an inspiration for young women across the globe. Being one of the most famous women directors in modern cinema, Gerwig has spoken a lot about her experience in the film industry and how women are making more of an influence now than they ever had! Her characters are often compelling women who are fighting for their place in a world that doesn’t always accept them. These women reflect Gerwig’s personal journey, especially in her career. She is fighting for her place in the film industry; an industry that has always been dominated by men. Gerwig is quoted saying, “For so many female characters, and for women in general, the idea that desire and ambition are shameful is everywhere.” The fact that she is able to create women who fight to be themselves is just what we need at a time when young women have this much influence over an industry as powerful as Hollywood.

It would be ignorant to talk about the influence of young women on the movie theater industry without also talking about their influence on social media, especially TikTok. TikTok is one of the most influential apps in the world right now for younger generations, and teenage girls use it to influence each other. Ideas can go viral overnight on TikTok, one of these viral ideas being the idea of seeing Barbie and Oppenheimer as a double feature. Women caught wind of the idea of making a day of seeing both films and went right along with it. Barbenheimer became not only about seeing movies but about being with friends and family. Without the encouragement to see both movies and the threat of feeling left out of conversations, neither film would have been as successful as they were. All that encouragement came from social media influence, which reached an even higher level when Taylor Swift announced the theatrical release of her Eras Tour.

It is quite obvious that Swift’s key demographic is young women. Her most popular music is all pop tunes with themes of romantic relationships, but she writes so much more than that. Taylor Swift writes music about grief and loss, the struggles of being a woman in power, friendship, innocence and childhood, and so much more. It is the complexity and relatability of her music that captivates women, creating some of her most dedicated fans. It is no surprise that her newest film would ride off the success of her re-recorded albums and her renowned Eras Tour. Through her social media, Swift encouraged her fans to see her film in their Eras Tour costumes, trade friendship bracelets, and sing and dance around to all of their favorite songs. AMC jumped on the bandwagon by making collectable cups and popcorn buckets, free posters, and AMC brand friendship bracelets. After the success of Barbie, Swift’s team as well as AMC knew exactly what to do to appeal to young women in order to prompt them to come to the theaters. AMC was so onboard for what this would do for their company that they issued a statement informing all Swifties that singing and dancing is allowed and encouraged in the theaters during showings of The Eras Tour. Because of the dedication of Swift’s fanbase, as well as efforts from AMC, the film grossed $92.8 million during its opening weekend. These events are inspiring other famous women to try their hand in the film industry so the queen herself, Beyoncé, released a concert film of her tour, Renaissance, at the beginning of December 2023.

Inspirational women such as Taylor Swift, Greta Gerwig, and Beyoncé are paving the way for women to be present in all aspects of the film industry. During her Little Women press tour, Gerwig said “It feels that there is both a sisterhood, which is wonderful because nobody wants to be at the dance party on their own, and also that their [women filmmakers] films are being put alongside great male filmmakers’ without an asterisk. I’m happy for it to be special and not special at the same time.” The idea of women in the film industry is becoming more and more normalized and that, in part, is due to the overwhelming support from the women going to the theaters. We, as women, know how to have fun at a movie. It is a social event, it is a place for us to appreciate art, and it is a place where we can watch ourselves reflected on the screen and finally feel like we are making a difference in the world of film; starting with saving theaters!

Author Megan Sechrist, at the showings of Barbie and The Eras Tour.

The Wonderful World Building of Henry Sugar

2/21/2024

By Lau Lu-Zheng

Of all the auteurs (directors known for their signature style) in modern-day Hollywood, Wes Anderson is certainly one of the more recognized by the general audience for being a visual maverick. In fact, during the late pandemic to 2023, a trend appeared throughout TikTok and the likes featuring people depicting a day in their lives in a Wes Anderson aesthetic, brandishing his unorthodox style of muted warm colors, symmetrical compositions and focus on subjects as well as objects, not to mention the close-ups and fourth wall breaking — all these things were considered in these shorts.

While this was an attempt to celebrate his unorthodox aesthetic, paying homage to some of his more popular works, such as his leap into animation, Fantastic Mr.Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021) (almost all of the shorts revolved around a recognizable theme, Obituary, from the soundtrack), Anderson seems dismayed by the audience’s emphasis on his style, but not the content of his works. “Is this really how people see my films?” Anderson ponders in an interview with Collider. “Even if the form is essential, a film is first and foremost a script, a cast…”. After all, a beautiful shell is still a shell, the story must be aided by the form, not the other way around.

Anderson proves this point with his latest works: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and its three sibling films: The Rat Catcher, Poison, and The Swan, in his first partnership with Netflix. In fact, according to another interview with Deadline, Anderson had been dreaming of filming Henry Sugar for a while, but had concerns with adaptation from the original novel by Roahl Dahl.

“Because I realized that much of what I’d always loved about the story was simply his voice throughout it, and I said, “Well, there’s one way to keep his voice — just use it.” And so that’s what we did.” Dahl continued. Hence, the film’s style was encouraged by the content of Henry Sugar: It became a sort of meta-narrative depiction of a mysterious fictional or non-fictional “Henry Sugar”, narrated by characters of the story itself to the camera, all the while told by Roahl Dahl himself (played by Ralph Fiennes) in a set as closely resembling his study room, using old photographs.

The film revolves around a character nicknamed “Henry Sugar” for the sake of animosity: Henry trains and meditates daily like an Indian monk he had read about to see through cards at his local casino. Dahl tells the story in real time, and as that happens, so do the characters, all aware that they are acting and, in a way, performing the scenes out like acts in a theater with the sole purpose of explaining the story. While this happens, a hundred moving props and set constructors whirl around moving characters to set the scene. The cinematography involves dolly shots from miniature replications to real life, seamless transitions from prop to prop, and on-stage tricks like quick dress changes, all the while boasting the beautiful symmetry and colors of Anderson’s worldbuilding.

The meta-narrative world goes into different stories within the stories, from a scene of Roahl Dahl telling a story about Henry Sugar who reads a story about a doctor who tells his story about a monk, and the likes. The characters hardly move, but the world changes around them, from backgrounds of early London to India, a library, circus, and casino, crossing space and time non-linearly, creating a dreamlike world. The mastermind behind the elaborate set design, Adam Stockhausen mustered his background in theater and procured interlacing and well-timed sliding background sets, props, and intricate tricks like a few trompe l'œils, in this case, the apple boxes that were slid to the perfect position to create a camouflage illusion, to mimic levitation.

All in all, Henry Sugar treads new exciting waters for storytelling, melding novels and films into greater cohesion in the field of adaptations and adds just another point to Wes Anderson’s brilliance at using his signature aesthetic not just for the aesthetic (while it certainly is easy on the eyes), but to express the story — the content and crux — as it wants to be told.

A Ghost Story: Loss & Longing

2/7/2024

by Eli Alderfer

*This Article Contains Spoilers*

David Lowery’s A Ghost Story is captivating yet aesthetically mellow. Although the film is about a ghost after life, it is not a horror film but rather a softly drawn drama that reflects on life, death, and love beyond the grave. Lowery’s perspective on grief is heartbreaking in the most poetic way

A Ghost Story tells a simple tale across various timelines, following C (Casey Affleck) and M (Rooney Mara), a young married couple in their first home together. The narrative finds its structure after the death of C in the beginning of the film. C takes the form of spirit, wearing a sheet over his body for the remainder of the film. Devastated by the loss of her husband, M lives in quiet solitude, as C watches over her from the afterlife. Generations come and go throughout the home, offering many perspectives of lives across time. Lowery’s portrait of a soul is a unique blend of loving and longing, framed in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio to express the feeling of being metaphorically boxed in. C’s ghost cannot escape being confined to his past life, because he has not yet let go. His sorrow torments him, holding him hostage for generations. Flashbacks of happiness, sadness, and hard times intermix with C’s fading memory of his beloved M. C perceives time differently than humans, and so audiences get lost in an unending existence, only held still by feelings of love and longing.

While the film explores the abstraction of time, A Ghost Story’s main focus is on the idea of heartache. Lowery’s angle on grief is distinct, as it looks at it from both sides. Most films about tragedy and loss only look at grief through the eyes of the living, but Lowery questions the living emotions of the deceased. In A Ghost Story, we see both C and M struggle with grief and denial. Although they are in different dimensions, they remain connected through the pain of missing each other. The atmosphere of emotional pain in a sci-fi-esque drama is a unique vision that blossoms from a beautiful film.

  The film communicates through compelling visuals rather than dialogue. The few instances of dialogue that are present provide depth to the story as thought provoking ideas rather than expositional interactions. Much of the dialogue centers around the main question: “How are we remembered when we’re gone?” The film explores this idea through emotions and the passage of time spanning from C’s existence. A Ghost Story achieves a sense of inspiration for life, reminding us not to waste away our lives, because at any given moment, it could all come to an end.

The acting in A Ghost Story is notable as Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck perform well together, but it is when their characters are separated that their emotions shine. Even with a sheet covering his body for most of the film, Affleck is able to make us feel the sense of emptiness his character endures. Despite the lack of dialogue, the audience is able to connect deeply with the characters, due to Mara’s and Affleck’s silent emotion, presented through expression rather than verbally. Emotion can often be found in the eyes, and so A Ghost Story integrates many close shots of the characters’ eyes in order to provoke empathy. Affleck and Mara are able to pull on the heartstrings of the audience, making the experience a more fulfilling watch.

   The cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo alone is enough to encapsulate the thematic emotions of A Ghost Story. The visuals bring a soft and dreamlike feel to the story, which helps to further the idea of death and timescapes. As a film that does not include much dialogue, it is important for the visuals to be engaging, and A Ghost Story executes this perfectly through the use of colors and lighting. Warmth and comfort are identified through soft, yellow tones, while regret and loneliness are shown through dull greys and blues. The colors contrast each other, as does C’s mentality over time. This dreamlike atmosphere builds mysticism and shows the passion put into this film.

   The musical score brings yet another layer of emotion to the film. The original score by Daniel Hart is a somberly dramatic addition, which proves its importance due to the lack of dialogue. The film also features the original song “I Get Overwhelmed” by Dark Rooms, which helps convey the themes of anxiety, depression, and longingness. The lyrics explore the overwhelming state of the world we live in, and the pain that comes with life, but without pain, there could be no healing. This song sets the tone of the film early on, and is played again at the end as it re-encompasses the loss felt between both C and M. A Ghost Story is brought to life by the emotional score, satisfying the space left by the speech-free script.

   Lowery’s elegant tale of the afterlife is poignant, but may not be for everyone. A Ghost Story is a fascinating perspective on love and despair, but its lack of dialogue prevents it from reaching the necessary character building and connection. The cinematography and score make up for what is lacking, creating a rare spectacle that is in a class of its own. With only a ninety minute runtime, A Ghost Story is a short, worthwhile watch as an independent and poetic tale.

Atom Eve: A Bridge Between Seasons

1/31/2024

by Corban Reinard

*This Review Contains Spoilers*

It has been two long years since the first season of Invincible aired in 2021, when the show seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Despite having a large comic run that spanned volumes and volumes, many had no knowledge of this franchise. This resulted in very little anticipation for the show, as its marketing was almost non-existent. Perhaps this was an advantage to the show, as it gained popularity over the internet with hundreds of clips, discussions, memes, and more, roping in millions of new fans with only eight episodes. Soon, Invincible swept the superhero genre and set a whole new standard for modern superhero media and television..

Then for two years...silence. Almost no word of progress or a release date for the second season. Many fans waited impatiently and much hype around the show seemingly died off. That is until January 2023, when the first teaser for season two appeared, and the hype resurfaced.. Expectations have shot even higher, and as of October 14th 2023, we now have an official trailer for Invincible’s return, on November 3rd. It is clear to see the show isn’t going anywhere, and everyone's favorite blue and yellow superhero is here for a good while. Fans of the show are living large, especially after being gifted with an additional short film in order to tide them over until season two, that being Atom Eve.

Atom Eve first appeared in season one and quickly became a fan favorite amongst the cast. Not much of her life was shown, but what was shown was enough for some fans to relate and sympathize with her. Her struggles shown through the show, from her relationships, to her parents, to her leaving home, as well as her hinted romantic interest in Mark Grayson (Invincible), only to come up short. While the show focused heavily on Mark and his trauma, fans can also see that Eve has gotten the short end of the stick through the way she interacts with Mark.

Atom Eve takes place years and years before the events of Invincible, beginning with Eve’s birth. The show sets out to establish that Mark is not the only superhero who has it rough. Fans may even be able to argue that Eve had it just as rough as Mark. We see from the beginning that her entire existence seems to be based on secrecy and lies, as she was an experiment created for a secret organization, giving her powers. She was swapped at birth to protect her from being hunted by the organization that created her, meaning her parents aren't her biological parents, which she comes to realize in the course of the episode. We watch her struggle with her identity, not being understood by her parents for her ability to comprehend atoms and being deemed “weird” by her father. She finds it hard to make friends and keep relationships. Atom Eve could very well be a relatable vessel to those with conditions or mental states that may deem them “abnormal” or “different.”

Eve’s struggle to find herself leads her down a path of discovery of her origin, how she was created, and how they have tried to replicate her powers in other creatures since her absence. Eve is forced to confront her “siblings” (failed test subjects of her ability) and fight them, forced to watch them die at her hands, and at the hands of their failed genetic makeup. Through confronting her seemingly “pseudo family,” the author is showing that Eve must also confront and accept her creation and her broken past. When she hugs her lab brother as he dies, it is her way of embracing who she truly is and what her existence means.

Perhaps what hits the viewer hardest is that Atom Eve doesn’t get her happy ending, not yet anyway. In the climax she is forced to watch the death of all of those which she loves, including her mother, and her scientist protector who has followed her since her birth. Eve uses her powers to erase her creators memories of her, albeit, a sort of sloppy and rushed solution. The short film makes things easy for her in the end by letting her do whatever she needs to, which feels like unsatisfying reasoning. However, this is the quick wrap up that was used to solve this issue, and it is, unfortunately, disappointing and worthless. Her family is still dead. Her parents still don’t understand her or anything about her life. She is still alone. Watching through the first season of Invincible after watching this could change your perspective on her, knowing what she has gone through.

Invincible has been known for its immersive worldbuilding. It shows small glimpses of the larger universe to make the viewers wonder what else is out there. This show continues this trend by showing it’s a large world out there. A large world with more stories and infinite possibilities. Worldbuilding is important to make audiences feel like the world is lived in instead of feeling like an empty hub with mindless drones. To create a special to extend the story of a side character is an endeavor worthy of praise. The special did not need to be made, but the producers understood how much the world mattered to the fans and wanted to give them more. Even if it wasn’t the continuation of Mark’s story, it was an unexpected and much appreciated gift in the end.

Comedic Warmth of The Holdovers

12/18/2023

By Eli Alderfer

Alexander Payne’s newest feature is his best work to date. The Holdovers (2023) is a true display of Payne’s eccentric style that brings irony, comedy, and drama to the big screen. Although being an independent film, The Holdovers caught the attention of many modern movie-goers but was ultimately shown down by The Marvels and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, seeing as The Holdovers was less accessible to common audiences. Alexander Payne has certainly had his ups and downs as a director, having achieved success with Election (1999), balanced by Downsizing, one of 2017’s biggest box office flops. The Holdovers won the hearts of the audience, and quickly placed Payne back on a high note.

Loosely based on Marcel Pagnol’s 1935 French film Merlusse, The Holdovers tells the charming tale of a teacher and a student, stuck at a boarding school over the holidays in the 1970s. Every year at Barton Academy, a handful of students stay on campus over Christmas break, as they have no home to return to. One of the unfortunate souls includes Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), whose mother and stepfather are honeymooning over the holiday. With his guardians away, Angus is left with no choice but to stay at Barton, under the careful supervision of the most despised teacher, Mr. Hunham. At first, the two want nothing to do with each other, but over the weeks together, they come to realize that they aren’t so different from each other. The dysfunctional characters, matched with the nostalgic spirit of a 1970s holiday season, make for a heartwarming comedy.

To achieve the 70s-esque tender look to the film, The Holdovers was shot on a single ARRI Alexa Mini, paired with a variety of vintage lenses. Cinematographer Eigil Bryld served as the sole operator of the camera and utilized his creativity to deliver a 1970s vibe. The footage was then consistently overlaid with warm tones and digital grain. The direction from Payne and cinematography by Bryld make for a pleasing movie, but The Holdovers would not have had the same memorable effect without the writing from David Hemingson. The Holdovers is well written, and the jokes hit the bullseye with every line.

On the note of humor in The Holdovers, one of the reasons the film is so amusing is due to the comic delivery provided by the characters and their actors. Paul Giamatti plays a wall-eyed professor in his best role, adding to the visual comedy and verbal witticisms. The sarcastic portrayal of Mr. Hunham is a tailored role for Giamatti. Alongside Giamatti, the quick-witted film stars two rising actors, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa. Randolph embodies Mary, a grieving mother and the head cook of the academy. Randolph’s bittersweet performance in The Holdovers is one to remember, as she made us feel the whole spectrum of emotions throughout the film. The Holdovers also serves as Dominic Sessa’s cinematic debut as the lead role of Angus Tully. Sessa performs exceptionally as Angus, providing a natural character through realistic expressions and emotions, offering great potential for future projects. The actors worked naturally together, pulling the story together into something that felt genuine and emotional.

One of the most captivating elements of Payne’s dysfunctional comedies is the use of music. In the opening scene, the score playing above stunning winter landscapes is breathtaking. The score evokes a sense of reminiscent nostalgia. Mark Orton’s original score plays off the familiar Christmas hymns that are sung peacefully throughout the film. Not only does the film feature a cozy original score, but also holiday classics from The Temptations, Andy Williams, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens. The intentional selection of music accompanied both the bitterness and the warmth of the story.

As per the typical film by Alexander Payne, The Holdovers focuses on the characters and their expressions, rather than the actions and events in the film. The three main characters in the film are connected by the same feelings of grief and longing as they come to understand each other, despite their differences. The colors used on screen help to express how the characters are feeling, with the use of cool colors to express sadness or bitterness, and warm colors to express a sense of calm or belonging. The Holdovers takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions, seeing joy and sadness, but also sparks of romance, growth, and moving forward.

A touching film, The Holdovers sits at the top of the list for Christmas movies. The attention to detail ranging from the costumes and the music, all the way to the filmmaking techniques deserves applause on its own. Even for those who did not live through the 1970s, the film washes over you with sentimentality and a feeling of stillness. The Holdovers is an example of the passion that is often missing in modern films and tells us a familiar story in an original way. The Holdovers is full of heart, quickly becoming an instant classic and the perfect holiday movie.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

12/11/2023

by Megan Sechrist

Taylor Swift’s newest concert film showcasing her Eras Tour was a fun experience. I went to the movie theater the week after it opened, and it was still packed with fans who were singing, dancing, and trading friendship bracelets. Even AMC was in the spirit by providing free posters, collectible/reusable cups, and popcorn buckets, and giving their employees AMC brand friendship bracelets to trade with Swifties coming to see the show! It was really a very exciting time and it was only the second max capacity theater I have been to this year, the first being Greta Gerwig’s, Barbie.

The film follows the set list of songs of Swift’s tour for the most part. It starts with the Lover album, followed by Fearless, evermore, Speak Now, Red, folklore, 1989, to the acoustic “surprise song” set that changes with each show, ending with her newest album Midnights. The concert itself has roughly a 210-minute runtime, so fans quickly became alarmed when it was released that the film would only be 169 minutes long. After its release, it was revealed that fans' favorite songs such as “The Archer,” “tis’ the damn season,” “Long Live,” “cardigan,” and “Wildest Dreams,” as well as many of the speeches Swift made throughout her show, had been cut from the film. While this was disappointing, I do believe it was a necessary sacrifice to keep audience retention throughout, as a 210-minute movie feels much different than a 210-minute concert. However, Swift quickly turned this around by announcing the release of the extended cut of her Eras Tour film a little over a month late.

The timeline of this film’s release is surprising to me. The footage was filmed over the course of Swift’s five Sofi Stadium shows during the first leg of her U.S. tour. During these shows, fans started to get a hint that an Eras Tour film was coming due to the camera people present on the stage with Swift while she was performing. These five shows took place from August 3rd to August 9th, 2023, which means that the entire film was shot, edited, and distributed in approximately two months to meet the release date of October 13th, 2023. Because of this, the movie felt quite rushed. There were minor issues throughout, and some of the film felt a little thrown together. That being said, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour remains a very enjoyable experience.

For the most part, The Eras Tour is well made. Enticing cinematography, well-designed titles themed around leading audiences through each of Swift’s “Eras,” and other creative elements to keep fans interested for the entirety of the runtime. I appreciated the intentional editing choices of this film, based on which era Swift was performing at the time. For example, her folklore set had much longer shots to convey the album's escapism, nostalgia, and romanticism. On the other hand, her reputation set was fast-paced and intense, with dramatic angles and quick cuts to better reflect the tough, intimidating style of music she is playing.

One thing that could be improved upon, which is not necessarily the fault of the filmmakers but rather the distribution, is the price of admission. Swift’s team decided that admission would cost $19.89 to pay homage to Swift’s birth year, and her fifth studio album’s rerecording was released just a week after the film's opening. While I think this is a cute concept, the admission price is almost $9 more than any other film being shown at AMC. A notable downfall of a “virtual concert” based on concert compilations is the film continuity, as the problem with filming one movie throughout five shows is that they are five slightly different shows — Her hair looks different, dancers are at slightly different positions, her nail polish is chipped, and so on — It is these slight differences between shots that ruin the illusion of a continuous video of the concert.

The cinematography, however, makes up for the continuity errors. Shots from the reputation set and the “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” song are among my favorites. It effectively captures the mood of each era/song and adds to the immersive quality of the film. My favorite shot in the movie is the arc shot during the transition between “Don’t Blame Me” and “Look What You Made Me Do”. The fast pace circling of Swift’s silhouette as she rises up on a platform with flashing lights in the background truly captures the essence of reputation as an album.

The other valuable aspect of the production is the graphics. As I previously mentioned, each set on her tour is themed around a different “era” and each one of her “eras” has a different theme. The choice to include the names of each album before the songs began is relevant because each of the titles is designed to represent the essence of the era and helps the film’s overall organization. The credits are quite impressive as well. The names of the cast and crew, as well as the statement of thanks from Swift, are all presented as letters on friendship bracelets to pay homage to a tradition started by her fans. The tradition of trading friendship bracelets is inspired by a line from the fifth track on the Midnights album which says, “…so make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.”

This film is as valuable as its predecessors: Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour and Miss Americana. It is pretty aligned with the concert films genre at large, and it would have benefited from an extra few months in the editing room and a cheaper ticket price. The Eras Tour was still a good time, and as someone who stood outside Acrisure Stadium to listen to the tour, it was fun to finally have a chance to experience what was going on inside.

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