Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

Batgirl gets tangled in a plot that seems aimed specifically at her, then the Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon to lure Batman into a trap.

 The appearance was very similar to that of the graphic novels, in particular the colouring was essentially the same and looked natural enough in its movement. In particular the eyes were striking. Mark Hamill makes a very good joker and was easily the best voice performance, although perhaps that was in part due to having the most vocally dynamic character.

 There are two stories on the dvd entitles The Killing Joke and both are good although the title story is easily the better one because the first plot doesn’t include any of the more iconic villains. The first one also ends rather abruptly without any particular twists occurring that one might expect from a Batman narrative and it’s a shame they weren’t really connected apart from giving us some background for Batgirl.

 Part of what makes this story an interesting one to adapt is that it’s one of the darker stories and the heavier elements are kept in so it’s a strong contrast to the other animated Batman content that has already been made. The dialogue seems to be mostly quoted from the comics and it’s still effective and even some of the jokes hit rather well.

 Although there are always cons and pros when a text undergoes a medium change, this one passes more or less unscathed and is mostly a matter of preference. Some of the dialogue passages lose some of their effect because on paper they can be dwelt on more. Fundamentally, however it keeps the main messages and looks good, although it still has the moral conflict of not murdering but still dealing out brutal beatings whenever.

 5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-

 -The first story is considered an extended prologue and is based on the comic “Batgirl Special” #1.

-When Barbara Gordon checks the police database there is a logo in the corner for Lex Corp.

-On the dvd cover, on the Joker’s camera, the word “WITZ” is written, This is the word “joke” in German.

Santa Clarita Diet (2017-9)

A woman is turned into a zombie and her family have to deal with her new requirement of eating the living while keeping her condition a secret.

 This series is amusing and fairly consistent over the three seasons. The type of comedy varies a little but sticks to a few main tropes and then makes little twists on those. The characters are mostly likable, some contrast each other well, and there is a varied cast who all give good performances for the kind of comedy involved which is helped by some rather interesting dialogue.

 The minor characters are inconsistent over the seasons with some drifting in and out of the story and others disappearing for occasionally unconvincing reasons. The main problem is that it was easy to watch and the story was still very much entertaining and intriguing but then it was cancelled as so many good series are being whether they decline or not.

 There is a surprising amount of suspense for a comedy series and the drama is maintained rather well with complicated and varied threats to the family which are believable within the context of the show and are often solved in satisfying ways. The sub-plots are complex in their own ways and sometimes tie in well together. The nature of the virus also doesn’t adhere to all the traditional zombie rules which adds another layer to be investigated.

 By the third season, although there are many new developments and different sub-plots, some tropes do begin to repeat themselves with different characters; however this doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Also some scenes could have withstood being a little heavier in terms of emotion without impugning the comedy value.

 8/10 -It’s certainly worthy of very high praise!-

 -The human flesh eaten Drew Barrymore eats in the show were really made from various foods including cake, pasta, apples, beet paste, and gummy bears; all meat free since ironically Barrymore is vegetarian.

Spies in Disguise (2019)

A spy trapped in the form of a pigeon and an unusual technology expert have to go on the run and stop a mechanical-limbed villain from assassinating all the other spies with drones.

 The chemistry between the two lead characters was a lot better than I was anticipating. The animation was consistently good and added to the comedy at times through abrupt changes in styles or influencing the slapstick style. The humour was altogether rather effective and had some variety; the other pigeons were particularly funny for different reasons.

 The main message of the film was that there is a non-harmful way to deal with all the world’s enemies which has good and bad points. The good part is that it’s ideal to think that love will always beat hate so there’s never a need for violence but even this plot relies heavily on the villain suddenly growing a conscience at the end in order for it to be justified. It’s an obvious allegory criticizing the US military but doesn’t go deep enough into the subtext to deal with the fact that if you’re aiming not to harm and the enemy is aiming to kill then you’re massively disadvantaged unless you have far better funding, more personnel, and more advanced technology; so in this respect it still works as a valid criticism of the US military.

 The gadget ideas were varied and amusing, brought effectively to life by the high quality animation. The message that weird is good and inspires some of the best inventions was a definite credit to the film and is heavily supported by history which proves consistently that notable scientists and creators are often eccentrics.

 The spy organisation was essentially impotent apart from a handful of agents which would make it feel representative of most of the world’s spy factions if the one in the film hadn’t had good intentions. It’s irritating that the title is “Spies in Disguise” when only one, singular spy got a disguise, it was basically just for the rhyme. The puns are varied and as such are wildly hit and miss.

 6/10 -Just a cut above average-

 -Despite the good chemistry the characters had, the two lead actors never met during production. It wasn’t until promotion they met in person.

The Blind Side (2009)

A woman adopts a young black man with a talent for American Football.

 This film is a little difficult to categorise because it doesn’t use most of the staples we’d recognise from big films. It’s fundamentally a drama but it’s fairly light and easy to watch. It addresses various prejudices like race which still very much apply and it does so in a respectful but still realistic way and employs emotion and found-family bonds to do so.

 If you watch it without so much as a basic knowledge of American Football or sport in general then it still makes a compelling film but there are points at which it will become technical nonsense. All the characters beside the main one and the mother are passive and seem to just let her get on with whatever she likes, even on the sports team where they’re described as a family, we don’t even learn any of their names or hear them speak much.

 There are a few enjoyable speeches in which the mother speaks out in defence of her adopted son and there’s even some variety to the antagonists she does this against. There is also a distinct criticism of the education system for not considering individual needs or for only applying extra effort when there is something to gain from the success of the student.

 The film touches upon some overall problems with the system and society as a whole but keeps it mostly on a personal level for the characters. By only briefly mentioning that some issues are systemic it could be read as a feel-good story about overcoming adversity through kindness rather than one person escaping a problem with civilisation that needs to be addressed. It’s also odd that the tutor was the closest character with conflicting interests and doesn’t receive any notable consequences.

 5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-

 -The film is based on real people.

-The lead actor was working as a security guard when he got the job and was offered a role on set security if he hadn’t gotten the role.

L’Age d’Or (The Age of Gold) (1930)

Two lovers try to have sex but are prevented by various elements of society. Also a group of criminals are locked in a castle with no laws to see what they will become when they are eventually released.

 The imagery is somewhat memorable as is expected of a film made by surrealist artists but only a handful of the shots are iconic throughout the hour. The religious aspects are the parts with the most subtext and have far more long-standing images to draw from and satirise, the corruption of which gives this film most of its political and theological messages.

 Although this film is from the same creators as Un Chien Andalou (1929), it fails to really commit to the surrealist style and what are described as dream landscapes are really more just, well landscapes. The plot is still weird and difficult to follow but without the innovative and captivating cinematography style which makes the films more notable.

 One good thing is that even though it’s described as feature-length, it’s still only an hour long, which is at least merciful. The main attraction the film has is the frequent criticisms of the upper classes, their methodology, and the perspective with which they view society. The idea of lawlessness in isolation is also thought provoking.

 The camera is still and used in no particularly fascinating way which makes most of the shots feel similar to documentary style but with varying subject matter. There is an attempt at humour a few times but it falls rather flat. The main problem with surrealism that doesn’t follow through is that it clearly has social messages but they’re so subjective that you can read them from most perspectives which renders them rather meaningless.

 2/10 -It’s not THE worst, that’s something else. But...-

 -Salvador Dali was originally a creator of the project but dropped out early on due to creative differences.

-The footage of the scorpions was a real documentary that the director added captions to.

The Unknown (1927)

A criminal posing as an armless man in a circus falls in love with the ringmaster’s daughter and will do terrible things to get her to love him back.

 There were a couple of effective twists which were well revealed and seemed realistic enough. The story was concise so there weren’t any scenes that particularly dragged, possibly helped by the fact that it was a fairly short movie. The villain was the main focus of the film and the role was performed very well and consistently even though sympathy for him changes very suddenly.

 Since this was early in film history, the amputation in the film wasn’t used as dramatically as it could have been because gore horror hadn’t yet properly established itself as a genre in cinema. It’s also a shame that the character Cojo disappears before the end since he’d been quite a central character for most of the film but isn’t in the final scenes for unclear reasons.

 It was important for a satisfying conclusion that the Strongman learned a lesson about respecting boundaries and developed as a character for it. It was also interesting to see such an early example of women rejecting systems of objectification outside of a Jane Austen novel. This makes Nanon one of the more likable lead women in silent cinema.

 The most unsatisfying part of the conclusion was right at the end where the film tags on some optimistic moral in an attempt to raise the value of the film from entertainment to fable status, it doesn’t feel genuine. Even though the subtext encourages personal space to be respected, it’s still irritating that a happy ending depends entirely on the lead lady choosing a man as quickly as possible as well as it being the main deterrent for the villain.

 4/10 -It’s below average, but only just!-

 -The only surviving print is missing 14 minutes of the first half, depicting the criminal career of the main villain.

Sunrise (1927)

A man is persuaded to murder his wife but when the time comes he cannot. Having seen his plan his wife is afraid and he must earn back her trust and love.

 The framing was notably picturesque, often employing many romance clichés and even subverting the classic love boat scene with the idea of murder. The representation of life in the city is contrasted highly with that on the farm. The latter is show as open vistas and wildlife like a photograph, whereas the city is all constant movement, noise, and a dense population composing constant crowds.

 From early in the film the romance is presented as unhealthy. It’s often not advisable for a couple to reunite after one cheats, let alone attempted murder of the other, so it’s a little hard to route for a happy ending. All the real action is in the framing device at the farm which rather leaves the long city sequence in the centre as an extended diversion.

 The resolution mostly works because the crime was never entirely committed, although ethically the intention should have been enough. The main redemption comes from the pig scene which is both amusing but represents the character coming to terms with his life by using skills learned as a farmer to help in the city by catching the pig.

 The seductress is only chased off and suffers no actual penalty except a fright from the protagonist, this leaves her to move somewhere else and possibly start again; her decision at the end isn’t made clear. The husband is also shown to be a poor partner because he’s so quick to resort to murder, both of his wife and then near the end.

 4/10 -It’s below average, but only just!-

 -The film never names the two main characters.

-It’s one of the earliest examples of back projection in movies.

-The city set cost $200,000 and was reused in later films in an attempt to recover some of the money.

Metropolis (1927)

The son of an industrial tyrant travels to the worker’s city to learn about them and falls in love, but his father employs a mad scientist to give a robot the young woman’s face and sabotage any chances of rebellion.

 The scale of this film makes it something of a spectacle. There are very large, elaborate sets with many extras at times and seeing them all moving together in sync is amusing and works effectively to reinforce the subtext that the workers are part of the machine. It’s also interesting when the scenery becomes more subjective and takes on the mantle of old gods consuming the lives of the city’s civilians.

 The workings of the city aren’t entirely explained, for example why there was a huge machine specifically for not flooding the lowest city levels or how much of the instruments are primitive wheels and levers but the capacity for full cybernetics and A.I. is available. The weakest part of the subtext is that the fate of the city relies entirely on one mediator when a really satisfactory message would be every person working towards the same end.

 Most of the acting is fairly good, if a little overdramatic at times but that works with the exaggerated scale of the fictional world. The dual role of the love interest and robotic antagonist are performed very differently and the design of the robot is iconic. The music is also a strong element because its length and interaction with the narrative reinforces the continuity and scale of the piece.

 Although the ending is presented as happy, there are some parts that aren’t entirely satisfactory. For example there isn’t an actual punishment for the tyrant who caused much of the grief in the first place; the scientist is punished but is also presented as mad so isn’t as culpable for his actions as the city master whose intentions were all deliberately malicious. Similarly the thin man gets away without consequence and the friendly worker who saves Freder isn’t so much as mourned.

 6/10 -Just a cut above average-

 -Several high ranking Nazis proclaimed enjoyment of the film, much to Fritz Lang’s disgust.

-Multiple exposures were done practically, by filming and then rewinding the camera to play new footage over the old, sometimes up to 30 times.

-In an early English version, references to the character Hel were dropped because the name is similar to the word “Hell”; the result was that the reason for the machine woman’s creation was missing.

Village of the Damned (1995)

An entire town blacks out and when they awake a series of conceptions have occurred, all the pregnant women give birth on the same day but the locals are aware that the children aren’t ordinary.

 The child actors were rather decent considering the average performances of young people, especially when there are many. One advantage they had in this story was that the characters were stoic and therefore the performances were very specific ones. This also made them particularly spooky because they were all devoid of any child-like mannerisms.

 The setting was changed from the original novel in which it was a traditional English village. This gives the film a different feel as some of the English stereotype characters remain and don’t work quite the same. One thing that could have been done better was the perspective of the film which constantly roams between families and characters, never giving us a settled point of view. It’s good because it makes the entire village the focus but also keeps the audience separated from the characters. We can almost identify more with the children as ‘others’.

 There’s some information given about the aliens and how the hive mind works but nothing is made certain which keeps their complete nature a mystery, even to themselves. This is effective in that there’s a danger as to what they could grow into and what limits there are to their powers, if any. It’s also left unclear what their plans or main goal is but the film could have used a small hint near the end about that.

 A lot of time is used on the build-up to the main focus to explain the origins of the children which is less interesting because there’s no real explanation or theory given for it. The film also has a partial focus on science but the science elements are vague and it feels like those answers or theories should have been significant, like how they got the stolen child to look alien.

 5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-

 -The director has a cameo as the man on the telephone at the gas station.

-Two of the male children were played by female actors.

-Based on the novel, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The name of the village was kept the same.

Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Salazar’s Revenge, or Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

A dead pirate is searching the ocean for Jack Sparrow to take his revenge and only the Trident of Poseidon can stop him.

 As far as the franchise goes, it’s not the worst one and many of the battle scenes are entertaining and amusing enough. One of the more interesting aspects was that we’re given a little more lore concerning the compass, the nature of the sea magic, and Jack’s past. None of it is made specifically clear but it adds a little more to our idea of the world.

 The humour didn’t work so well in places for this sequel. Many of the jokes seemed somewhat too obvious or just didn’t have the right performance. The family trivia of the new main characters was fairly basic and predictable; feeling like many other Disney action films to come out around the same time, the part on the anchor looked almost exactly the same and felt semantically similar to one near the end of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017).

 This one did better than its predecessor because there was more focus on continuity and some aspects of each of the previous films were included, whereas the previous installment felt as though it was a spin-off from the main series. The effects were up to their usual high standard and were a large part of what made it entertaining.

 One effect that didn’t land so well was the age-down appearance for some of the actors that looked odd and was rather distracting. The villain was alright and performed well by the actor but was overall rather underwhelming. The most irritating thing was that a new token female was included in roughly the same role as the previous one who also appears briefly for a cameo but isn’t permitted to speak.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

 -Some liberties were taken with the shark anatomy like giving them a larger, human-like, rib cage.

-Production locations were used secretly, naming the film “Herschel” so that fans wouldn’t interrupt filming.

-Despite roughly 25 years passing since last seeing Elizabeth and Will in the main body of the film, Will hasn’t aged due to his curse, however Elizabeth doesn’t appear to have aged the full time either.

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (1920)

A mad doctor uses his somnambulist patient to commit murders.

 This is a fair example of some of the earliest coherent horror cinema that helped to establish many modern tropes for the genre. The plot is fairly clear but even so has written explanations throughout to make sure it’s easy to follow and there is even a twist near the end which is effective for such a vintage film and works with the narrative.

 It was difficult to find a copy of this with the original music score because there seem to be various copies available, each with different music. The length of the film was ok but it could have been cut down a little if the murder cliff-hanger hadn’t been repeated in very similar ways since it doesn’t particularly add much to the drama to see the same action twice.

 The set design was one of the most unusual things about the film and the distorted angle of some rooms, along with the way the sets were painted so that the imagery leaked off the walls and onto the floors or ceilings distorted the reality in effective ways and made each scene more engaging. The performances were also odd in the how over-done they were and the make-up was made to be deliberately unnerving.

 The twist at the end is odd, not because of its content but because the aesthetic of the film remains so stylised for it no matter which character we’re aligned with, suggesting that reality is heavily warped for everyone. It wasn’t particularly helpful for the representation of mental health, even for the 1920s, especially by the end scenes.

 6/10 -Just a cut above average-

 -Despite the film being a German production, the title was originally “Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari” rather than using the German spelling “Kabinett”.

-The narrative was allegedly inspired by a circus attraction the writers saw in which a hypnotised man performed feats of strength, entitled “Man or Machine”.

-The appearance of Caligari was inspired by portraits of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

Running Time (1997)

A man just released from prison immediately embarks on a bank heist.

 Although short, this movie contains action, decent actors, and a well formed plot. All this is fairly standard for any halfway palatable film but it elevates itself to being a technically impressive feat by having the entire hour with the appearance of one sustained shot with no visible cuts and it does so remarkably well, without so much as line-fluffs.

 The feature is also entirely in black and white which is arguably a little pretentious and doesn’t add much to the plot but it doesn’t look like it actually takes anything away either and calls back to earlier crime flicks like Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Unlike previous crime movies though it doesn’t show any consequences for the murders committed by the protagonists, in fact we stay aligned with them and invested with them emotionally until the end.

 The characters are also fairly well developed considering how little time there is to provide background with them but this is done through small things and is effective. The cast is diverse in both personality types and physically. The relationship between the main character and his girlfriend is presented in interesting detail and concisely without damaging the realism.

 Having the whole thing done in one shot is very ambitious and therefore necessarily limiting. There are a couple of moments in which the camera has to move on ahead of the characters or make its way bodily to another room. It’s also odd that everything in the film is a 1 minute drive away but overall it’s pretty successful.

 4/10 -It’s below average, but only just!-

The Thief of Bagdad (1924)

A thief plans to kidnap the princess but falls in love with her and must win her heart by competing with three princes.

 The story was amusing with many parallels to the contemporary telling of the story. The magic was fairly varied but the plot wasn’t entirely reliant on it since much of the narrative was told by having the characters complete tasks or avoid each other’s plots. The treasure hinting was probably the most entertaining section of the movie.

 The treasure was supposed to be judged on its rarity but when the three princes get back to the palace, the main focus is on how useful the artefacts were. Some parts of the story were rather slow like the long build-up and there were some characters that may even have been unnecessary. The acting is somewhat overdone but it could be argued that this adds to its charm.

 One of the most notable features was the scale of some scenes, particularly towards the end. The finale looks like it used a large number of extras or some good camera trickery and the sets are all large and varied with a lot of detail gone into the dressing and props which may have been even more effective in colour.

 The hero wins by getting an army larger than the antagonist which isn’t really following the moral about earning happiness since he just finds the best shortcut. His method is also comparable to the villain since taking the princess with military might is both of their plans. This also serves to prove that the issue wasn’t that the hero wasn’t a prince but that he didn’t have the resources to take whatever he wanted like he thought he could in the beginning.

 4/10 -It’s below average, but only just!-

 -When the ape is seen the guards are played by children to make the ape look larger, when the ape isn’t in shot the guards are adults.

-There were trampolines in the large pots so that the main actor could easily jump from pot to pot.

-The Persian Prince was played by a woman although her credit was changed to hide this fact.

Voyage of the Unicorn (2001)

A professor and his two daughters get embroiled in a quest to recover a dragon to save a fairy island from trolls and meet several friends along the way.

 The story is engaging enough and embraces the fantasy genre combining it with the classic adventure/quest format. There is an attempt at back story but it’s mainly just the characters periodically mentioning that their mother/wife is dead and that they’re sad about it. There are a couple of heavier moments because of this but they’re mercifully brief and mostly irrelevant.

 The use of the fantasy elements has its moments but it mainly focuses on the optimistic fairy side of the genre. This leads to many wistful monologuing about faith and a few prophetic slogans repeated now and again. The build-up is to getting the power of a dragon which is just a surprisingly light skull but when it comes to life it’s scrawny and underwhelming but still solves all the remaining problems.

 There’s some variety in the creatures which are included and for most of them the practical effects look efficacious, particularly the minotaur. It’s also fun to see how much of the plot was inspired by Greek mythology and which creatures they borrow from it. The narrative also alters the stories by having some of the villains of myth fancy a boat ride.

 One issue that’s always bothered me about fantasy stories is where the prophecies come from; the plot is all planned out, but by whom? It’s also irritating when the main power is just to believe and only good people can do it, that’s not a power it’s convenient, lazy writing. The two main irritants specific to this story however was that the minotaur who was invited along and then treated like a tool rather than a friend to the point where he doesn’t even get a name, according to Greek myth it would have been Asterion, and the characters let him get mutilated rather than act a few seconds sooner. The other point is Medusa who should really have been their ace, the Greek Thor of their team, instead she was worse that useless, her power gets used once and it misses. They could have just stood her on the bow of the ship, let their enemies get close and then give them all the evil eye, problem solved.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

Dante’s Peak (1997)

A volcanologist investigates a dormant volcano and is concerned it may soon erupt but his warnings go unheeded.

 As with most disaster movies, the main attraction of this film is the effects which show how horribly wrong things could go in real life so that we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that we don’t live on an active volcano. The build-up was slow which worked in favour of the movie because it took time to make the characters relatable and the realism felt a little more balanced with the large scale destruction to come later.

 There were quite a few clichés in the dialogue and phrases that were so overused that it made the speech feel unnatural. Some of the phrases would have worked on their own as they are common ones but so many grouped together made the lead character sound like a seaside fortune-telling machine. The music also got a little over the top towards the end but otherwise worked very effectively.

 Various aspects of volcanic disaster are depicted and many diverse kinds of dangers can be recognised which makes for some entertaining viewing even if it doesn’t teach a great deal about volcanoes that isn’t common knowledge. The subtext in the scenes when officials put economic concerns above human life worked out accurately.

 The end of the film had to inevitably be a happy reuniting with loved ones and swelling music to say that there can be hope after the disaster but the depiction felt a little too family friendly. It’s natural enough to show relief that the protagonists survived but not everyone made it off the mountain and most of the characters would have been pretty naturally traumatized.

 5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-

 -The director had once been a geology student.

-The title is a reference to the novel Dante’s Inferno which describes a journey into Hell.

-The ash was finely shredded newspaper.

La passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc) (1928)

The trial and execution of Joan of Arc after she was accused of heresy.

 Although it’s silent cinema and the role was one requiring limited emotional range, the lead actor is very effective and at times appears to be able to cry on cue. There was all the religious deceit and hypocrisy that you’d expect from a story about theologically dominated justice and the representations of historical inquisition seemed realistic.

 There isn’t any actual suspense to speak of and not just because most people will already know the results of the trials from popular culture. From an entertainment point of view there isn’t much to enjoy from the film since the pace is slow and the content is repetitive questioning and crying until very near the end, with some teasing footage of torture devices thrown in.

 From a historical perspective it has some uses since the title cards and progression of the action is based loosely on the real transcripts of the trial, however the reliability of these is for historians to figure out. The depiction of Joan is a sympathetic one and presents her as a scared person rather than a legendary figure. There are also a lot of close-ups that give the illusion of pace or urgency and some are aesthetically interesting.

 A great deal of knowledge about the subject is expected of the audience, aside from the basics. This is shown by the fact that little attempt to identify with Joan is made since we’re expected to be on her side due to our privileged vantage point to history. What emotion is shown is expected and consistent and the option to pick one god over another doesn’t seem particularly appealing if one has even a working knowledge of both.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

 -There’s no evidence a specific score was made for the film and it was usually accompanied by live music.

-The blood in the blood-letting scene was apparently real and that of a stand-in actor.

-The film was considered lost until 1978 when it was recovered from a mental hospital.