christophershobris

David Cronenberg's The Fly still holds up nearly 40 years later as a beautifully, but horrific and depressingly tragic horror-drama with multi-layered characters and subliminal themes spotted throughout. Still Jeff Goldblum's finest work to date - in my opinion. He makes you feel sympathy for his character Seth Brundle with charisma, and nerdy who gets a spark in his life after meeting the love of his life while concocting a world-changing invention. It's because of the smart acting from Goldblum that makes you feel sympathetic when he's going through his transformations. Geena Davis does a lot of the heavy lifting herself especially towards the film's end who masterfully captures the horrific but tragic nature of the circumstances. Goldblum and Davis being a real couple at the time, help make their relationship all the more believable. Howard Shore's score has the classic orchestral music playing with eerie strings, moments of intensity, and brilliantly making the audience feel the raw emotions of what's going on. This may be his best score outside of The Lord of the Rings. Cronenberg's writing needs to be acknowledged. He takes what we typically see in a love triangle; this also involving the third major character, Stathis played by John Getz; and spins it on it's head. Seth is the main character, but more of a victim of circumstance then a hero. Stathis starts out as the unlikable egotistical, jealous, schmuck but still shows he does care about Ronnie. Stathis develops and actually becomes the hero of the film which is not typical for a character like Stathis. Ronnie is torn between the two, who clearly loves Seth, but after Seth's horrible transformation, must make the heartbreaking choice to end his misery. In this case, the jerk becomes and the hero, saves the day, and gets the girl in the end, while still not in the best of situations. The last thing to bring up is what made this film what it is and that's the incredible, iconic makeup and creature effects from Chris Walas and his team. Back when practical effects were king, with the aid of puppeteering, and everything had to be made from the ground upward. Walas, Cronenberg, and Goldblum work together to come up with the Seth's transformations into the human-fly hybrid including Goldblum's twitches to act more fly-like which was interwoven into Walas' final creature design of Brundlefly in all it's disturbing, yet spectacular glory. This is the only film I can think of where the makeup artist receives the first credit, and it is more than deserved as well as the Oscar that went with it. This film is near perfection. Even the effects after 40 years hold up extremely well. There are a few moments where it's obviously a puppet or animatronic, but its very easy to miss and something you won't notice unless you're looking for it. Since this film came out in the 80s, a lot of people may not have seen this film. If you are a horror, sci-fi, or just a movie fan in general, you owe it to yourself to watch this one-of-a-kind work of art.

After a decade of Disney live action remakes with less than mixed results; DreamWorks decides to enter the ring. They bring back one of the most if not the most iconic animated film of all time (and I truly mean that) with a fresh spin for a new generation or for people who never got a chance to see the original film back in 2010. For starts, the smartest thing DreamWorks and Universal did was bringing back the original director/creator of the 2010 film in Dean DeBlois. He has been tied at the hip to this franchise pretty much since the beginning. This is the first animated-to-live action remake to have the director of the original film return for the remake. This gives the film authenticity right off the bat. Even though this is his first attempt at live action, he knows the world and characters so well it would seem like a natural fit. And I'm happy to say, it does. As for the film itself, the story is very similar to the original film with a few tweaks here and there. DeBlois chooses not to mess with the iconic story but rather give it a new set of wings leaving alone what isn't in need of being fixed in the first place. However one element that is uplifted a little more is the father-son theme. The boy and his dragon story is still very prominent and is still the main focus and core of the overall story. Speaking of the boy and his dragon. Mason Thames as Hiccup along with the sound design by Randy Thom mixed with the animation of Toothless beautifully recreated the iconic bond between the two. Thames makes Hiccup his own who is handsomer in comparison to his animated counterpart but still retains the awkwardness and is still believable at being an outcast. Toothless' design is a bit different with the look of a salamander, the color and behavior of a black panther, with some added textures to his scales. His eyes are more reptilian and are intensely green, along with achieving a balance between being realistic but still very expressive. This was integral as Toothless' eyes are his most important feature. His face and body are also able to be quite expressive as well and they utilize this effectively. The way he moves is slowed down a bit allowing us to feel the weight and overall body mass which I felt was a nice touch making him more elegant and grounded in reality like he could exist in a live action world. Each scene with Hiccup and Toothless are handled with the same amount of love and care as before as this is the one element that was successfully transitioned from animation to live action pretty much flawlessly. The emotional, powerful, and beautiful relationship between Hiccup and Toothless reign supreme. They alone are worth the price of admission both on land or in the sky. As for the rest of the characters, Gerard Butler returns to play Stoick. He's pretty much the same as before but the way Butler delivers his lines are different. However he retains Stoick's - well - stoic behavior with raw power but sensitivity when needed. When acting with Thames they are able to capture the discombobulated relationship with complexity and believability. I also feel Stoick's relationship with Toothless is enhanced with some subtle changes within scenes that make their relationship more meaningful in the end. It isn't how it starts its how it ends. Sometimes facial expressions and silence is more powerful than words and Toothless as well as characters that share scenes with him embody this. Nico Parker as Astrid has some changes to her character compared to the previous version with some added action scenes and dialogue. Her relationship with Hiccup is still enjoyable and Parker holds her own very well. Nick Frost as Gobber does a serviceable job. John Powell's score is expanded from the original and still delivers the same energy and epic quality these films are known for. The visual effects including the backgrounds taking place in Iceland is perfect for depicting Berk. The cinematography by Bill Pope is a solid replacement for Roger Deakins who captures the flying scenes about as efficiently and effectively as Deakins before him. However, the film doesn't work 100% of the time. This film is 30 minutes longer than the original film and you definitely feel those 30 minutes as the film does drag at times and feels unneeded. Some of the dialogue delivery is a bit off, the comedic timing is weak, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut are forgettable, and the "mid-credit" scene is not important and is not needed to stick around for after the film ends. Overall, this is a rare remake that works. It doesn't surpass the original but it doesn't need to. What's important is does this film have the ability to stand on its own merits? And I can confidently say yes. If you are a fan of the previous How to Train Your Dragon films it won't take you long to get back into the story and characters you know. If you have never seen the original film, you owe it to yourself to experience and find out why How to Train Your Dragon is an absolute classic and masterpiece. Have fun!

This is the third film in the Willy Wonka movie franchise. The first with Gene Wilder, the second with Johnny Depp, and now with Timothee Chalamet. This film falls right in the middle of the two in terms of preference. Not as good as Wilder's version, but better then Depp's version. This film definitely hits more on the lighter side. Similar to the Paddington films. Ironically, this film is directed by the Paddington director Paul King. However, he directs this in such a way that it barely prevents it from being a kid's movie. The themes are mature, and a lot of the storylines will go over a lot of kids heads. Nothing graphic or inappropriate or anything like that, however, the kids may ask the parents about what's going on from time to time. But if you are an adult and appreciate the Wonka franchise up to this point you will find enjoyment with this one. Timothee Chalamet doesn't do anything particularly memorable as Wonka, but does an effective job nonetheless. The film does feel a bit stale at times, and feels like it drags. This is where the more mature aspects come into play. Its hard to understand who this film is meant for. Families with older kids are recommended, or adult fans of the Wonka franchise are more aimed towards. There are moments of humor with a nice appearance from Mr. Bean himself Rowan Atkinson. Olivia Colman is deliciously devious in this as well. The musical numbers aren't as good as Wilder's film, but certainly catchy and connects to the story effectively. Overall, this film works and does it's job well enough to satisfy fans and is a solid addition to the Wonka franchise.