Some quick thoughts on some recent viewings.
- I, Tonya - Margot Robbie puts in some work to play a person that I've always been somewhat sympathetic towards. That being said, my feels about Tonya Harding have no bearing on the quality of the film itself, which is why I'm quite relieved to say that it's good regardless of these thoughts. The Goodfellas style approach was a smart approach to go for as it helped to add a coat of black comedy to scenes that would be rather dark without it and the narration given. The movie isn't flashy or anything, but the skate scenes are very nicely directed. I'm the type of person that usually doesn't give much thought to biopics due to the subjects not being allowed to be shown in a negative light, and I also believe that there is typically a glass ceiling on the quality for the more conventional entries into the genre. While I, Tonya can't escape those genre conventions completely, it's more honest than most. It appropriately shows her fuckups while also giving her props for her achievements.
8/10 "Good"
- Wind River - I feel like it was a bit on the nose with it's themes and also felt conventional for most of its runtime, especially in regard to certain characters. I also wish that Sheridan had gone a bit further with the Cowboy/Indian concept and pushed it to the forefront of the picture. The story itself is alright, but I believe the biggest obstacle this film had to overcome was Sheridan pulling double duty as writer/director. He's had an incredible past few years as a writer (Sicario, Hell or High Water) and like many of his peers he has attempted to raise his stock by becoming a director of his own works. The problem is that, judging by this movie, he's nothing special as a director. I've seen what can happen when his words are channeled through other filmmaker's visions and the results have been completely successful so far. With pulling double duty, he may have spread himself a bit thin and the script suffered as a result. This basically sums up my biggest disappointment with the picture, if the script was polished and given more care while also being handed off to an established director we could have had something special. Instead, we're left with just another crime/thriller.
6/10 "Passable"
- Iron Man (Road to Infinity War Rewatch) - I rewatch a lot of movies. Usually this is because I let my new viewings stew in my brain a bit before jumping onto the next, so popping in something I've already seen acts as a palate cleanser. With Infinity War approaching I figured I jumping in and rewatching the MCU will serve this role quite nicely. My main takeaway from Iron Man is that Marvel owes all of their success to Robert Downey Jr. He IS the reason that this film is a success and with a lesser actor I'm not sure if this franchise would have ever taken off. The best moments are whenever the focus is on him (his homelife, building suits, conversing with Pepper) and whenever that focus is elsewhere the movie suffers for it. Jeff Bridges is trying here as the villain, but there's not a whole to work with aside from one memorable line about a box of scraps. It's also interesting that one of the MCU's biggest problems was already apparent with their first outing which is the third act being a letdown. The villain is basically a clone of the hero, which is a decent trope to use to symbolize a hero at odd's with himself, but Marvel definitely goes to this well way too much. The robot battle at the end did nothing for me. There were no stakes and I just sat there thinking how I'd rather be watching Robocop face off against Kane again. Still, Downey Jr. gives enough to make up for these faults and there is entertainment to be had.
7/10 "Decent"
- I, Tonya - Margot Robbie puts in some work to play a person that I've always been somewhat sympathetic towards. That being said, my feels about Tonya Harding have no bearing on the quality of the film itself, which is why I'm quite relieved to say that it's good regardless of these thoughts. The Goodfellas style approach was a smart approach to go for as it helped to add a coat of black comedy to scenes that would be rather dark without it and the narration given. The movie isn't flashy or anything, but the skate scenes are very nicely directed. I'm the type of person that usually doesn't give much thought to biopics due to the subjects not being allowed to be shown in a negative light, and I also believe that there is typically a glass ceiling on the quality for the more conventional entries into the genre. While I, Tonya can't escape those genre conventions completely, it's more honest than most. It appropriately shows her fuckups while also giving her props for her achievements.
8/10 "Good"
- Wind River - I feel like it was a bit on the nose with it's themes and also felt conventional for most of its runtime, especially in regard to certain characters. I also wish that Sheridan had gone a bit further with the Cowboy/Indian concept and pushed it to the forefront of the picture. The story itself is alright, but I believe the biggest obstacle this film had to overcome was Sheridan pulling double duty as writer/director. He's had an incredible past few years as a writer (Sicario, Hell or High Water) and like many of his peers he has attempted to raise his stock by becoming a director of his own works. The problem is that, judging by this movie, he's nothing special as a director. I've seen what can happen when his words are channeled through other filmmaker's visions and the results have been completely successful so far. With pulling double duty, he may have spread himself a bit thin and the script suffered as a result. This basically sums up my biggest disappointment with the picture, if the script was polished and given more care while also being handed off to an established director we could have had something special. Instead, we're left with just another crime/thriller.
6/10 "Passable"
- Iron Man (Road to Infinity War Rewatch) - I rewatch a lot of movies. Usually this is because I let my new viewings stew in my brain a bit before jumping onto the next, so popping in something I've already seen acts as a palate cleanser. With Infinity War approaching I figured I jumping in and rewatching the MCU will serve this role quite nicely. My main takeaway from Iron Man is that Marvel owes all of their success to Robert Downey Jr. He IS the reason that this film is a success and with a lesser actor I'm not sure if this franchise would have ever taken off. The best moments are whenever the focus is on him (his homelife, building suits, conversing with Pepper) and whenever that focus is elsewhere the movie suffers for it. Jeff Bridges is trying here as the villain, but there's not a whole to work with aside from one memorable line about a box of scraps. It's also interesting that one of the MCU's biggest problems was already apparent with their first outing which is the third act being a letdown. The villain is basically a clone of the hero, which is a decent trope to use to symbolize a hero at odd's with himself, but Marvel definitely goes to this well way too much. The robot battle at the end did nothing for me. There were no stakes and I just sat there thinking how I'd rather be watching Robocop face off against Kane again. Still, Downey Jr. gives enough to make up for these faults and there is entertainment to be had.
7/10 "Decent"
