vesil_vesalier

What the world seems to want is a well-balanced, upstanding member of society that contributes in an inoffensive way to the majority as he or she creates mind-bending art of remarkable caliber. A prince of creativity, along with a saint who has no questionable personal tastes or occasional trips to the darker side of the intellect.

It's a horrible shame that Vincent Van Gogh's achievements were only appreciated AFTER his demise. That during his lifetime he was regarded as a kind of leper, an outcast... somebody misunderstood and terribly feared, for some reason.

So, in a jaw-dropping, unbelievable achievement of filmmaking the likes of which I never would have comprehended, much less imagined, we have LOVING VINCENT. Eight hundred and fifty three oil paintings create the animation we see here, and though I thought I had an idea of what I was getting into before I saw this...

I was WRONG. Oh my lord I was wrong.

With tears in my eyes and my jaw dropped to the floor for the first hour at least, the visual feast before my eyes is like nothing I have ever seen before in my life. The actors come to life, their caricatures made of a skin that was of Vincent's hand... as though we were watching a tale unfold through his eyes.

Is this the most action-packed, thrilling piece of cinema you will ever see?

Not by a long shot. In fact, there isn't much in the area of action anywhere to be found. I suppose to some, that may be a detriment. Surely, if you feel nothing when you look at a painting, you will most likely be bored to tears watching this film. If the painting has no meaning to you beyond a swath of paint swirls, and you cannot see the majesty, the difficulty, the scope of attempting to capture a moment in time that can both speak enough to the viewer to tell a story and at the same time show a glimpse of the world as the artist sees it, this film is not for you.

So not everyone will see what I saw when Loving Vincent. Indeed, if you are unfamiliar with him or his works, this might fall flat on your radar. The plot is not truly its strongest part.

The spectacle is. The ability to interweave Vincent's life through a world made of paintings that he himself painted, showing landscapes and buildings and people interacting in HIS VERSION of the world is simply indescribably beautiful to behold.

Nobody pulls any punches here in terms of acting. You could simply call these voice-overs, but as you will be able to tell by the credits at the end, the actors went to a lot of trouble to BECOME the characters behind the oil, most likely in an effort to help out the more than one hundred painters who made LOVING VINCENT possible. Three that stand out, in my mind, would be Douglas Booth playing the itinerary protagonist, Armand Roulin. The stunningly charming and beautiful Eleanor Tomlinson playing Adeline Ravoux. And finally Jerome Flynn as Doctor Gachet (though that last one might be a bit of bias on my part - he impressed me deeply with his performance in GAME OF THRONES).

I want to stress that NOBODY should be discredited here, from the characters who did not even get names to the postman with the extraordinary beard, to the children who only briefly interact with Armand through his exploration of Vincent's life (and death). Everyone has a purpose. Everyone adds to the beauty seen before our eyes.

It has always brought me the worst sadness to think of Vincent and his life. Such a shame that everything he did managed to create lasting impressions down through the years, but only after his time of suffering and struggle on this earth ended. At the very least, this is a brilliant, heartfelt, loving tribute to the poor man and what he gave to the world, long after he went to the dust.

David Lowery writes and directs one of the most creative, interesting, surprising films I have ever seen. It involves a dead man, dressed in a sheet with cut-out eyes. Halloween costume-style.

I admit, when I first saw the trailer years ago, I was surprised. It did capture my interest, however, so I made sure to put it on my list. Then it showed up on Netflix.

It's surreal nature and truly stunning cinematography reminded me early on of Terrance Malick's work, although there actually IS a narrative here, instead of a set of majestic shots sewn together over a period of hours (no offense to you, Mr. Malick. You march to the beat of your own drum).

And I'm not going to lie and say the film is perfect, because it is far from it.

Casey Affleck continues to surprise me. He plays C here, the titular main character whose fate drives the majority of the plot. If that's him under the sheet the whole way, hats off to him for managing to portray a volume of emotions while wearing it (and also being able to pull it all off without losing the sheet. That must have been tough).

Rooney Mara continues to do what she does best, deliver poignant, sometimes painful performances. The first film I noticed her in was THE DISCOVERY, in my opinion an underrated gem of a movie involving people and their reactions to death. The similar veins of dealing with such a subject are explored here, albeit in a completely different (and truly original) way.

The biggest plus for me in this film was the careful shots of the ghost and its eyes. Somehow the slits seemed, at least to me, to change proportionally with the emotional state of the man behind the curtain, so to speak. It's possible it was just an accident, or that I'm looking too much into it, but I want to believe that something truly magical was happening here, where what should have been really freaking difficult if not impossible to pull off was being done right in front of my eyes. When he was angry, I could feel it. When he was sad, I noticed it. The eyes (or lack thereof) spoke volumes.

The film is not without its problems. In an effort to deliver atmosphere, a few of the scenes run on too long for my taste. It threatens the continuity of the film, and worse, given the wrong atmosphere, it could shift into unwanted humor as a result. To have a dramatic piece involving a man watching the world unfold around him while he wears the kind of costume you'd see a parent with little to no money throw together at the last minute for a kid's Halloween costume, trying to keep the pace going while you spend more than ten minutes without shifting the camera risks you losing the atmosphere. In the defense of the director, I will say that never happened for me.

But I can't lie and say I wasn't distracted occasionally by it. Looking around the room instead of watching what was on the screen, because what was on the screen wasn't changing enough to keep me interested.

So I felt the pacing is what brought down the rating for this film for me. That was the big flaw in the narrative. For me a film is all about flow, and if you lose it, the magic can be lost.

All in all this film is a study in the possibilities beyond life, the consciousness of existence, with some beautiful scenery thrown it to give the narrative atmosphere and sometimes even tension. A wonderful piece to behold, all in all.

If you're looking for something truly original, I recommend giving it a try.

The first time I saw Millie Bobby Brown was, like so many others, in STRANGER THINGS. I'd heard about the show from so many people, and didn't get the hype until I rolled the dice and gave it a shot. Being a huge fan of Stephen King's work helped to make me appreciate something truly unique and even special in the show.

It's refreshing, being someone growing older in years, to see such talent in the new generations to come.

ENOLA HOLMES stars Millie as Enola, Henry Cavill as Sherlock, Sam Claflin as Mycroft, and the always legendary and wonderful Helena Bonham Carter as their mother, Eudoria. It was directed by Mr. Harry Bradbeer who, up until this point, seems to have only directed television episodes and shorts.

First thing's first then... hats off to you, sir! For a wide selection of choices that I found to be absolutely wonderful in delivery, charm, humor and writing. However you managed to pull all of this together is quite surprising and refreshingly original.

Three things stand out for me in this film. The first is the choice to constantly break the third wall, as they say. Looking back at the film it was quite a bold and wonderful way to make light of something that could have been a much more serious film - which would have detracted from its overall delivery. I laughed out loud SO many times during the run of the film and have thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

The second was the cinematography. I have a bad habit of sounding out "Beautiful shot" whenever I see one in a film, and this one had so many I was floored. The scope of the camera amidst lush green forests and broad spectrum cityscapes truly added to the wonder of the film. I have the urge to attempt to go and capture as many as I can and have them scroll through the background of the desktop of my computer.

The last was Millie herself. While watching STRANGER THINGS I have been impressed by EVERYONE'S acting (well except for Wynona Rider maybe, but I've always been on the fence with her ability anyway). I liked Millie's delivery, but felt the same way I did when I was watching Emma Watson in Harry Potter... I saw potential, but a lack of experience. It is wholeheartedly refreshing to see Millie really strut her stuff here. She is amazing, and I look forward to everything she will do with her career as the years roll by.

Now I'm not going to claim the film is perfect. It does have some pacing issues, where the flow slows to a crawl in some spots and takes a bit too long to pick back up again. Also the entire stretch of the story involving Enola attempting to conform with the school she's assigned to felt unnecessary and even somewhat poorly delivered. Sam Claflin's Mycroft doesn't have the charm I'm used to seeing in other portrayals of Sherlock's brother, to the point where he was infuriatingly unfeeling toward his sister and her situation, making him more of a nuisance than I felt he should have been.

But these issues are very small, and the parts the film hits on more than make up for the misses. I almost forgot to mention Tewkesbury, played by Louis Partridge, who at first seemed to be a bit of an empty character, only to develop nicely as the film rolled on.

Helena Bonham Carter needs to be mentioned, so much as she doesn't need to be. A legend in her own right, she gives the film exactly what it needs in the few scenes she is in, as the caring but mysterious mother of the Holmes clan. I've never seen her deliver a bad performance, and she does her usual here.

All in all, I loved ENOLA HOLMES. It's charming in its delivery, beautiful in its scenery, hilarious in its humor and touching just where it needs to be in all the right places. I had a lot of fun watching this film, and I look forward to watching it again when the opportunity presents itself.