swestley

When Midsommar started- within just a minute or two- I thought- holy crap- sign me up- I am loving this. That's a rare experience- the right out of the gate thing. And Florence Pugh- I'd never seen her before. She's remarkable. Truly. So, I'm giddy watching this thing. It's unnerving, intense, real, and so creepy and edgy. The sound design is amazing, mixing, music, cinematography, performances- all lead by a great, visionary type director, who's clearly inspired by Stanley Kubrick in a very good way. But- the resolution, sadly, was not particularly gratifying. It felt like a 'let's create an ending here- how about this?' On immediate reflection- I would have accepted that ending, but the movie was sooo long that when the resolution came- I was agitated. All this for that? But--I've read a number of glowing reviews- so you must still watch this- as the amazing things about it are so standout. And different. And committed. And engrossing. You might eat it up- just as I did. Up to a point.

I made the mistake of buying the series on Blu-ray. Jeez! It apes pretty much every Coen Bros movie, from Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men- and steals numerous beats from Fargo the movie- which I love dearly. I would have bought into echoed beats from the movie, mind you, but many of them are merely lifted- with no organic purpose to the story at hand. Then there's the bad guy- Billy Bob Thornton. Loved Billy Bob in numerous roles- particularly The Man Who Wasn't There. Love that movie! But here...jeez again! No! And I was down for an amazing series- hence jumping the gun and buyin' the damn thing. It's impossible to connect to this story - episode after episode; the bad guy appears to be a step ahead of everyone, and shows no concern for any flippin' thing. Why's he doing stuff anyway? I still don't know, nor do I care.

Most annoying character- Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard. Most appealing character, Bob Odenkirk. Characters that I feel utter indifference toward- everyone else.

Anyhoo- yea, I hated it. Long live Fargo the movie.

Footprints, written and directed by Steven Peros (who also wrote the Peter Bogdanovich film The Cat's Meow), is a modern day fantasy, set in a town inspired by fantasy, and filled with a great many broken dreams. Sybil Temtchine is very affecting as a woman who wakes up one sunny morning on the footprints of Hollywood's famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. Ironically, or, perhaps, expectedly (?), the first person to greet her in this Tinseltown landmark is a rather irate, if comical, homeless person.

Our Gal, Temtchine's name in the credits, embarks on a journey of sorts to try to find out who she is. Not necessarily a heartwarming story, Footprints certainly tugs at your heartstrings, especially when we arrive at it's revelatory moment. And, without giving anything away, it is one of those moments that stays in your mind.