KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Review by Lachlan Thiele

INT. GANGSTERS IN OKLAHOMA - DAY

Film students, film lovers, cinema-goers, and reviews rejoice! Martin Scorsese's latest film is excellent! The Irishman might have been his last 'gangster' film. Still, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Killers of the Flower Moon might not be a gangster film, but there are many 'mob' elements within it. 

The biggest fear people had going into this film was the runtime. Weeks before the release, speculations came out about the length of this film. I saw an article stating it would be 4 hours long! Alas, it's only 206 minutes long, not even coming close to the longest film here at Cannes. I can confirm that the film never drags its feet for too long; there are times when it slows down, but this is only during the film's opening hour. Thankfully it quickly picks up the pace and goes by fast once the whole ensemble is introduced. Jesse Plemons is a late bloomer in the film, only being introduced 2 hours in; as I said, this is where the film starts moving. 

The story is simple: During the 1920s, oil was discovered on Osage Nation Land. Turning them into the richest people per capita in the world! Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to work for his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro). Ernest meets Mollie (Lily Gladstone), and they marry. However, slowly many of Mollie's friends and family are murdered, with those who married into the family taking ownership of the land—eventually, the FBI steps in to investigate. 

Lily and Leo have excellent on-screen chemistry, with Lily performing phenomenally. I hear talks about the Oscars for her, which is entirely valid. De Niro steals many of the scenes he's in, often providing the most laughs. He is ultimately the most 'mob-like character within the film, never pulling the trigger but commanding the troops. Jesse Plemons is the final major character within the story as Tom White. Unfortunately, Plemon's isn't that interesting; I wonder if Plemons wasn't given much direction or if he decided to make the character this way. Still, White moves from scene to scene without much interest. He's just there, leading the FBI but never being an individual; I didn't remember his name after the film; I just referred to him as 'FBI guy.'

Technically, Killers of the Flower Moon is a marvel (Not that Scorsese would like me saying the word 'Marvel'), but just like all of his films, everything is great. Nothing stands out as 'excellent'; the score, editing and cinematography are at the level you'd expect from the mind of Scorsese. 

This leads me to my final thoughts on the film; recently, Martin has been talking about his age and his ability to make films like he used to. Scorsese is 80 years old and doesn't believe he has the same drive as Ridley Scott. Suppose this is to be his final film. In that case, I'd be happy knowing it's not a significant departure from what made him the famed director but a story worth telling from a creator who will continue to be studied and praised for the next many decades. 

FADE OUT.

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY - Review by Ewan Graf

Driving Miss Burkhart

Scorsese better live till 120 to make so more 'pictures'

Killers of the Flower Moon comes from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and is based on a 2017 nonfiction book of the same name. It stars familiar Scorsese collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio as a dimwitted ex-military cook that falls in love with Lily Gladstone’s Mollie. There’s also Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons to round out the most notable supporting cast.

Having read the book this is based on there is quite a bit of difference between those two versions. The Novel was non-fiction, of course, so it mostly detailed the uncovering of the murders and framed Jesse Plemons’ FBI agent Tom White as a bigger player. Additionally, Gladstone’s Mollie is really not in this film that much. Which I don’t remember being the case in the book.

At the front end center - in very typical Scorsese fashion - is the rise and fall of some sort of crime collective that pulls a scheme. Additionally, the looming threat of greedy white businessmen hungry for black gold creates all sorts of troubles for the Osage people.
As more and more of them turn up dead, often in very suspicious circumstances, there is no one actually investigating these murders.

For the majority of the film, we get to see these horrible acts of violence being committed in the most casual, pragmatic way imaginable. 

There are some great supporting performances that especially shine in the comedic beats of the story - there’s actually way more of them than you’d expect. Because the dialogue is incredibly well put together and brought to life by the great talent in front of the camera.

DiCaprio gets A LOT to do here and he’s giving it his all, which sometimes felt a bit too much for his character, but I can’t go into that further without giving spoilers away. De Niro is great as a charismatic authority and Jesse Plemons is honestly not given many moments to shine by himself. There seems to be a very positive response to Lily Gladstone after the premiere here in Cannes, but I wasn’t really a fan of her performance.
There’s a Brendan Fraser cameo that is quite bad but ultimately there’s not a ton to complain about on that level.

AppleTV+ is known for its clean look and Killers of the Flower Moon is no exception here as well. The Production & Costume design is great as well paired with equally excellent editing that made this film seems shorter than it is. Which is almost 3.5 hours that, yes, you can feel but is ultimately worth the stay.

Scorsese recently said in an interview: “I’m Old. I Want to Tell Stories, But There’s No More Time” and I really hope this man gets to tell a couple more stories and make some pictures.
Because this film proves he still has got it just like he did 40 years ago.

2019 was the best cinematic year of the decade, change my mind

A little late but rather later than never I’m sharing my first blog post in the form of a Ranked List of movies from 2019 that I personally enjoyed the most. 

2019 has been my most active year as a movie-goer to date. In fact, I watched over 400 movies, documentaries and short films with about a third of those being 2019 releases. I continued to watch 2019 features well up now, the end of January 2020 due to my initial goal at the beginning of the year to watch as many films released this year as possible. While I noticed just rich and diverse films can be if you look outside mainstream Hollywood and also encountered an abundance of soulless cash grabs that had no other point existing other than making money, which gets frustrating when you are trying to watch them all. Considering that it is my first proper year of seeking art over entertainment when it comes to film my bias towards this cinematic year is founded in these developments. 

But enough of the rambling, for that you will have to tune into my Podcast Quiet On Set released every Monday morning on your favorite podcast app. (plug plug)

My honorable mentions include Pain and Glory, Waves, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, John Wick 3, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Honey Boy, The Farewell, The Art of Self-Defense, Midsommar, Booksmart, Avengers: Endgame, Jojo Rabbit and 1917. The fact that these movies could have been someone else’s Top10 sums up my feelings about this year in film.

#10 - Knives Out

Rian Johnson's latest outing after his fan dividing take on Star Wars The Last Jedi is a whodunnit with enough twists and turns on the murder mystery genre to entertain any audience. Johnson’s characters reflect the contemporary US in an over the top manner while still keeping withing its tonal balance. A sequel was already announced and I am looking forward to what writer/director Rian Johnson has in store next.

#9 - I Lost My Body

I Lost My Body is my favorite animated feature of the year. It's a French independently produced film written and directed by Jérémy Clapin. A touching story about touch itself and a split narrative between Naoufel and his hand, on two different timelines, and I have never rooted for a cut off hand more than this film. Beautifully animated and a great score and sound make this a must-see for anyone who wants more than another Pixar or Disney sequel of an existing IP.

#8 - Sound Of Metal

Sound of Metal has unfortunately not been picked up by any other distributors making it almost impossible to watch this if you did not manage to catch it at a festival as I did. We follow the life of heavy-metal drummer Ruben as he starts to lose his hearing and struggles to accept his fate. The most notable aspect of the filmmaking is the incredible sound design and the captivating performance of Riz Ahmed. This is also Darius Mader’s first feature debut after being a writer on The Place Beyond the Pines and a Documentary called Loot.

#7 - The Irishman

The three and a half-hour epic from director Scorsese and cast De Niro, Pacino and Pesci is a film about legacy, friendship and reflecting back onto life. It feels deeply personal to Scorsese and De Niro as they themselves approach the later stage of their own lives and I was profoundly moved. I enjoy epic stories like this quite a lot and I champion Scorsese to take the leap of faith to rejuvenate his lead actors through CGI in almost every scene. The film certainly dips into the Uncanny Valley a few too many times for the effect to be completely seamless but by that point, I was too invested in the story for it to be a serious distraction.

#6 - The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers' second cinematic feature isn’t anything short of a masterpiece. Let’s in the 1890s on a New England island it follow two lighthouse keepers, both named Thomas, (Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe) as they struggle to maintain their sanity whilst being stuck together in a lighthouse on a remote island. The film is visually stunning in it’s black and white 1:19:1 aspect ratio (almost a square) and is crowned with brilliant performances by Robert Pattinson and especially Willem Dafoe, who brings a career-best performance. Go see it on the biggest and best screen possible as the darker scenes work best when a screen is truly black.

#5 - Little Women

Little Women tells the story of Jo March and her three sisters as she writes a story about them growing up. It is fascinating to watch Gerwig's nuanced work as she’s able to adapt a story about someone telling a story while doing a companion piece in its cinematic form by reflecting on conventions about women in stories. That process happens in the form of Jo’s struggle to write her own story by rejecting conventions and norms set by the publisher. But is it much different nowadays? There’s even an argument to be made that the film itself is being controlled by what the audience is accustomed to experience. Do we as an audience sublimely want our expectation of a happy ending in the form of ‘and they lived happily ever after’ to be met at the end of the film? I love how Gerwig played with that concept of the story shifting in an unnatural way for Jo’s character as if the story told in her book forces the film to reflect that in it’s final few moments. I also enjoyed the frequent jumps back and forth in time because it helped to solidify and ground these characters One notable scene is the transition to Meg’s wedding. Even if you have not read the novel by Louise May Alcott or seen any of the many previous adaptations like me, this film nonetheless stands on its own feet as an individual piece of art with great performances from Ronan and Pugh especially. Also, who doesn’t love themselves as a little bit of Chalamet in their life?

#4 - Marriage Story

Marriage Story is a love story about a couple getting divorced. I absolutely adore the screenplay, the performances by Adam Driver, Scarlett Johnasson and Laura Dern. Moreover, the score and the direction in the blocking and staging do not fail to impress. Noah Baumbach manages to write and direct his best film to date with an introspective and intimate story of a family going through a divorce at its center. It was produced by Netflix and there’s honestly no reason to keep on reading this blog post if you have not seen it yet.

#3 - Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems is best described in one word: AAAAAH! Throughout its entire 2h+ runtime it doesn’t let you breathe and constantly throws you at yet another problem Howard created for himself. He continues to cheat himself out of a confrontation by stumbling into two more he created from his last fuck up. A film that’s been in the works for over ten years has seen the light of day and stars Adam Sandler in his arguably career-best performance. Plus; aren’t we all excited for those four Netflix films he signed on to do due to the lack of recognition at the 92nd Academy Awards?

#2 - The Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Most. Beautiful. Film. of 2019. I could honestly put this film on without any sound and still call it a masterpiece. Céline Sciamma’s story of a female painter obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman reluctant to be painted. It might sound like there isn’t much to this simple plot, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Portrait de la jeune fillle en feu opens on the portrait of the lady on fire. First of all, that painting alone is a work of art, let alone what proceeds in the following two hours of this excellently written and performed masterpiece and once you get to the ending(s), you long to go back to feel again what the characters evoked in you. Fun fact: the film was shot in 8k and you can tell. I can’t wait for my 4k Blue-Ray to arrive when it gets released in March this year.

#1 - Parasite

Parasite was my introduction to South Korean cinema and Boon Joon-Ho’s impressive filmography. After my first watch, I already knew that this would be at the top of the list no matter what comes out for the rest of the year. Even though Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a close second. It’s probably the easiest film to recommend on this list just because it is incredibly entertaining, perfectly paced, well written and acted and shifts genre as smoothly as chameleons change colors. If you weren’t able to catch it in cinemas, don’t worry because it’s set to be released on blue-ray or you can rent it online already. If your still not convinced that you would enjoy a Korean movie with subtitles then I am going to let Joon-Ho speak for himself.

“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” - Boon-Joon-Ho

I hoped this list underlined my statement of 2019 being the best year of films of the 2010s. Even though I didn’t compare this year to other great years like 2014 and 2017 for example, I was pleasantly surprised to see two ‘foreign’ films, produced outside the Hollywood system to be at the top of my list. I can’t wait to explore more than what Hollywood has to offer this year and in the future. Maybe I spiked your interest in a film you weren’t aware of on not convinced if it’s worth the watch.