Arctic (2018) ****

Source: Imdb

This adventure film about a man stranded in the unforgiving frozen desert that is the Arctic is a singular tour de force. It does what neither “All is lost” nor “Life of Pi”, both films with a similar plot, could: it is utterly spell-binding. In fact, I started myself a mug of tea at the beginning of the film, putting the bag in and planning to take it out 10 minutes into the film. That never happened. When the credits started to roll, I discovered the mug, long gone cold, with the bag still in it, sitting right by my hand. This film is so entrancing that I completely forgot all about my beverage within the first couple of minutes.

Anyway, the script was magnificent, offering the perfect balance between the monotony of being stranded in a bleak place like the Arctic, and intense moments of fear, determination and drama. The dialogue was minimal and much of it was probably ad-libbed by Mads Mikkelsen in his native language. He was the perfect choice for this role, making his character’s harrowing journey 100% believable. Watching him, it was easy to forget that this is all fiction, that the actors are all ok. He gave an entirely credible, brave, physical, hands-on performance the likes of which is hard to find, and it was impossible not to feel his pain, his desperation, hopelessness and determination. Extraordinary work.

The production side of things was equally impressive. Clearly, they did shoot this on location in some northern part of the world, amid real ice and snow, not on a sound stage with rice flakes and crush ice. Even the polar bear was real! This must have been a challenging production through and through, and the biting wind, the wet and the cold practically seep through the screen. The chosen colour pallet was simple, but effective: White, black and red. I only realise now that they were gradually introducing increasing amounts of green, the colour of hope, the more the character himself looses hope.

Aside from the excellent directing by Joe Penna - absolutely remarkable for a debut! - and editing, the costume and make-up department did a magnificent job at keeping things consistent and realistic. To top it all off, the atmospheric score fit the picture perfectly.

This was a good one. Shocking, nail-biting, torturous and dramatic up until the very end. 4/5

Arctic on Imdb

Apollo 11 (2019) ****

 

Source: Imdb

This magnificent documentary about the first moon landing is presented in a style I’ve never seen before. Using only original footage and a few very simple illustrations, this film follows the journey of famous astronauts Armstong, Collins and Aldrin to the moon and back. The footage is expertly combined and edited, using original audio. Gorgeous and artistic cinematography – a lot of it done by the astronauts themselves – and lovingly-done colour enhancement make this a visual feast of a special calibre. The nail-biting atmosphere of this world-changing event is underscored by some beautiful music from Matt Morton. A masterpiece. 4/5

Apollo 11 on Imdb

Honey Boy (2019) ***

 

Source: Imdb

This autobiographical drama about a young actor and his difficult relationship with his father is a tale of heart-breaking loneliness. The script, while having slightly experimental overtones, was poignant and concise – a great first piece of work from Shia LeBeouf (though I doubt there will be anything quite like this coming from his feather again). The only thing that was missing was clear resolution of the central conflict, as well as a classic tension arc.

Particularly impressive was Noah Jupe’s performance as young Otis. He did most of the heavy lifting and deserves all the credit for why this film works so well. It is very easy to emphasise with him and he perfectly portrays the delicate balance between being a child, a professional actor, and the adult in the relationship with his father, played by Shia LeBeouf himself. While I am usually a great fan of Shia's work, I found that his young co-star stole the show a bit in this one, but I think he meant for that to happen. Everybody else was just supporting cast, even Lucas Hedges, who brilliantly played the older version of Otis.

Clearly, a great team worked on this. The directing by Alma Har’el was superb, the cinematography gorgeous and artistic with beautiful shot composition, colour pallet and excellent lighting. The editing left room for a few long takes, giving the actors enough breathing space to practice their craft, while at the same time giving the film an even, optimal pace. Composer Alex Somers delivered an awesome score to help underline the melancholic, bleak atmosphere.

Despite all of this, the film inexplicably failed to fully engage me emotionally. 3/5 (but would watch again).

Honey Boy on Imdb

Alita: Battle Angel (2019) **

Source: Imdb

 This sifi movie about a warrior cyborg with amnesia was quite the disappointment. With an uninteresting script full of clichés and plot holes, an uninspired back story and flat characters, this really did not make for great entertainment. The choice of Christoph Waltz as a cyborg doctor was the only unpredictable thing because, for once, his character was a good guy. Overall, performances lacked vigour and enthusiasm. The lead actress was unrecognisable beneath the CGI mask and body. Her look is a puzzling choice. Next to her real-life colleagues, she looks like a person plucked straight out of a computer game: waxy and unreal. Character motivations were shallow at best and undefined at worst, making it hard to sympathise with anyone. The film also spent way too much time on hyped-up CGI fight and chase scenes. Those might have been good demo reels for visual effects and CGI etc., but made for boring viewing after a while. To top it off, with a runtime of 2 hours – which already felt really long – the film still didn’t manage to provide a proper ending, instead hinting at a sequel that nobody needs. 2/5 for an unimaginative story told in a crude and dull way. Visual effects are not everything, people!

Alita: Battle Angel on Imdb

Hidden figures (2016) ****

Source: Imdb

This thrilling drama about the contributions of black women to NASA’s space race certainly has a lot of heft. While discrimination and racism are one of the main issues that the film addresses, it is not put at centre stage in an on-the-nose way. Rather, it is quite a subtle undercurrent that infuses everything with a frustrated kind of tension. The plot itself – putting a human into space – is gripping in itself, but watching these ladies tackle the challenges presented to them with brains and poise was even better. The film also illustrates clearly how biased people are: One of the pivotal scenes, with Katherine calculating in front of a group of military machos, only works because, deep down, they are all aware that the maths she is demonstrating is neigh impossible and requires exceptional intellect. If they didn’t know that, seeing a black lady is doing it would immediately make assume that it could be done by a trained monkey, and the director would be totally discredited for claiming his department needs time to do the maths. Everybody seems to be aware, though, of the complex feats these women are performing.

All actors did a good job. I particularly liked Kevin Costner’s performance as program director Harris and loved to hate Jim Parsons prejudiced asshole colleague. Octavia Spencer was great as competent supervisor looking out for her girls, too.

On the technical side, this piece did well in visually portraying the 1960ies. Good costumes, nice cars and flawless sets. Editing could have been a little more decisive, though, as there were shots and scenes which seemed superfluous. It was obvious that the original “director’s cut” of this must have been much longer and was then trimmed down to just the right runtime. Still: the tension was definitely there throughout. Lastly, I expected more of the score, but it was notable mostly by its absence.

4/5

Hidden Figures on Imdb