LSD eats YOU
- Climax (2018): You just know that Gaspar Noe is an acquired taste. One that I’ve not fully acquired. Climax is a drug-induced frenzy, turned into a cinematic frenzy, featuring some hypnotic dance sequences, that does all your Noe-esque expectations justice. That being said, I perhaps lacked the proper viewing environment to become fully engulfed by the whole thing, which is why my enjoyment stopped short of actual fascination. Still something to see, if you don’t particularly mind a lot of sex and violence. 7/10
Hey, Ho, Captain Dick
- Vice (2018): In this poster child for a director’s reach exceeding his graps, Adam McKay plays around too much for his, and the movie’s own good. Chrstian Bale and the solid cast will carry it for you, but there’s interestingly little that I did not know about Dick Cheney which is first portrayed here. While the overall result is both entertaining and scary, the more inspired moments of filmmaking are generally brought down by the lack of stylistic coherence – a consequence of trying to be too witty and irreverent. 7/10
Three To Go, Please
- Instant Family (2018): It usually amuses me, when a light comedy ends up getting rated similarly to more ambitious works of film, like the two just described. Alas, when things just click in comedy-land, everything seems simple. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne rock the pants off their ‘are we really good enough to be parents’ roles, which is why everything digests so easily. Parts of it feel rushed though and the children could have done with more screen time, which is why IF is not the movie of the week. It is, however, your ‘most likely to be watched’ of this particular list. 7/10
Truly Free
- Free Solo (2018): Keeping in touch with the award winners, I was both impressed and underwhelmed by Free Solo. It’s a sturdy documentary about something that’s hard to really catch on film, yet somehow the director duo of Chin and Vasarhelyi manage to do it justice. Alex Honnold, our free climbing protagonist, is a quaintly socially awkward guy, whose story, I guess, inspires. What stuck to me was a statement that Honnold makes early on, about the whole affair being low risk/high consequence, and the manner in which he conducts himself somehow underlines that. So much in life is about framing and aiming. The part about me being underwhelmed has more to do with me adoring the non-nominated Won’t You Be My Neighbour, a more mischievous and enrapturing documentary for my tastes. Alas, I’ve never been the mountain climbing type, so we shouldn’t hold that against Honnold. 8/10
When Going Undercover Isn’t Hardcore Enough
- A Private War (2018): I am completely oblivious about the media, barring whatever I come across in movies. That being said, this is not your usual media newsroom movie, although it has bits of that. It captures part of the story of Marie Colvin, a celebrated war correspondent who – not completely unlike the protagonit of Free Solo – is fearless in doing something that no normal person would even consider. There is more at stake here, which is not to say that this imbues the story with more purpose – I’m all for self-actualization above saving the world. Colvin is a dry and gritty character, haunted by what she’s seen, almost helpless in pursuing this path that her life has put her on. Some criticized Rosamund Pike’s portrayal for being too one-note, but I find it’s a strong effort because you need to capture this drive that ends up making less of a person out of you. It’s what happens with most people who are consumed by their work. So in spite of some weakness in the narrative, I found myself captivated by APW. 8/10
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