The Substance Review

        Of all the films that I’ve watched this year, this one is easily up there in my level of enjoyment. There were other horror films that were decent, some were sequels and a prequel. I’ll say that this year is probably the best in terms of horror. What makes this one different was that I didn’t even know it existed. To me it is the perfect mindset to watch a movie by going in blind. Not knowing what you’re going to see and not knowing what to expect. The Substance is easily the best horror film of the year and one of the best horror film of the decade.

1.     Elizabeth and Sue

        Just as the film starts, I thought it was going to be some art film that’s trying really hard to be artsy for the sake of it. Then it started to click when we see this new substance at work as it duplicates the egg yolk that is presented. With that, we follow Elizabeth as she is an aerobics instructor, it is established that she has been doing it for a long time and considered washed up. Much to the ire of the producer, she overhears his conversation to let her go. After a car crash, she receives an invitation to try the new drug called The Substance.

        She follows through and takes it. From there, she spawns a younger clone of herself, named Sue. As with any horror film, it has that monkey paw effect where Elizabeth gets some unintended consequences. This film is a lot to take in, which I will go over. There’s really two ways to do this kind of story and with how its presented is going to the tongue and cheek angle. Like, the film is embed with irony where there’s no possibility of rust as far as what you’re going to get when you are watching it.

        What I mean by that is just how it’s shot is so in your face as far as subverting voyeurism. Meaning, those shots where one part of a woman’s body is shot in a seductive and up close way. One example is Quentin Tarantino’s recurring visual motif of shooting woman’s feet in a majority of his films. With this film, it sets up the difference between both Elizabeth and Sue’s aerobics show. Obviously, Elizabeth’s is reminiscent of the 80s aerobics such as when Jane Fonda unintentionally made it popular. Sue meanwhile has a hyper look to it where the workout outfit is more revealing, and it has a lot of those voyeur shots that I mentioned.

        Additionally, I love how there is a clear distinction between the two characters. Elizabeth seems endearing enough where she is kind, although becomes self conscious over the revelation that she is too old. Sue meanwhile is young and definitely abuses her use of the substance so she can have more fun. It has to be stated that both of these characters are one person. Especially in the moments where Elizabeth becomes concerned that the mysterious vendor tells her that the “she” that is the problem is really her.

        If there’s one thing that makes the film work is whenever Dennis Quaid is in. Originally Ray Liotta was supposed to be in the movie, but he passed away just before filming started. Who knows how he could have pulled off the character that Quaid portrays. Dennis plays Harvey who’s the main producer, and everything about him is so over the top and gross that it is enjoyable to watch. One scene in particular when he and Elizabeth are discussing her future, he eats shrimp during the discussion. The way it’s shot and how he eats it is so disgusting that it’s basically the appetizer of what’s coming.

        The moments he shows up is never a dull moment. He’s so over the top that it does not come off as he is not trying or it’s just a bad performance. All of it is on purpose since it definitely showcases how out of touch as far as wanting to control his stars by having them be perfect and smiling. He never receives his comeuppance but is basically the problem representing just how cutthroat the entertainment business is.

2.     Body Horror and Youth

        For as much as I’ve been talking, this is the most unique body horror film that I’ve watched in recent memory. For those not in the know, what body horror is specifically is a type of film where we see the human body be mangled into something like an abomination or be transformed into a creature. It was prevalent during the 80s with films like The Thing and The Fly to name a few. Those films use it as a way to represent the fears of the AIDS virus at the time and they were very graphic.

        This one is like a pendulum where it is tame briefly and then swerves into bloody disgusting. I’ll break it down further by showcasing the tame aspect. As we see Elizabeth take the substance, she convulses and then Sue bursts the formers back all grown up. It’s like a reverse Alien where the offspring spawns from the back instead of the chest. There are rules that both have to follow so that the host doesn’t have any consequences, and of course that’s thrown out the window as soon as Sue embraces her independence.

        We really see Sue as a younger version of Elizabeth as she parties and gets grabby with her boyfriend. She abuses her host to the point where Elizabeth starts to encounter severe aging in her limbs. I just love how gradually she is aging and it’s hilarious as she fights back by eating foods that ruin Sue’s figure. It’s not just the body being ripped to shreds but more so how it’s getting abused because of how wild the offspring is.

        As I mentioned earlier, when Elizabeth reaches out to the vendor and complains about what Sue is doing, the voice says that they are the problem since they are one. In a way, one can interpret the film as having commentary on women’s appearance and when they are in the entertainment business. They have to be beautiful but immediately when they age, a new replacement is discovered and becomes the new face in beauty. It makes the moment when we see Elizabeth ruin her makeup tragic since she doesn’t embrace her age but gets jealous of Sue’s popularity.

        I just feel bad for the only guy that talks to Elizabeth since he genuinely cares for her and isn’t aware of what’s going on with her. Like the moment when Elizabeth is applying layers of makeup and rubbing it off her face is just tragic in the bigger context. It all inevitably leads in the fight between the two and, for a moment I thought the shots that we see would be skewed like seeing two different perspectives fight, but it’s just crazy how much strength Sue has as she beats up the decrepit Elizabeth.

        Lastly, I’m at odds with the ending of the film. I don’t want to give it away. I mean I’ve talked about so much that people will stop reading this and go watch the film. Why are you reading this far? Anyways, the last minutes is when the film gets really bloody as a new character pops up and is an amalgamation of both Elizabeth and Sue. Like this thing is so gross, and it’s utterly hilarious that it grabs a cutout of Elizabeth to make people think that it is her. From there, it’s reminiscent of Carrie with the level of blood and carnage that I think it’s too much. Again, maybe it’s dependent of the mood.

3.     Overall

        The Substance is easily the best horror film of this year and I’ll even say it’s up there with the best films of this year as a whole.

Transformers One Review

        It’s been a while since I talked about an animated film. The last time was three years ago during the summer. Looking back on it, I think it would’ve been better had I focused on one kind of animation instead of doing a quasi-exploration of the style. With the animation films of this year, it’s basically been dominated by Inside Out 2 and Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot. I was thinking about doing Pharrell Williams’ documentary Piece by Piece, but maybe at another time. That unorthodox LEGO documentary and Transformers One were some of the bombs that the animated scene had witnessed and I think it’s indicative of the potential downturn of the Hasbro brand. 

1. Memories

        Me and Transformers go way back. I didn’t grow up with the original 80s series, my very first exposure to them was with Transformers: Armada when it aired on Cartoon Network. Just the simple idea of a robot morphing into a car is cool, more so that any one of them can transform into a tank and what not. It ostensibly skewed towards the boy angle since the whole series has that playground fight feeling to it. Nothing seemingly complex but one side going against another in a continuous bout. 

        That fandom spiked with the release of the Michael Bay films that came out during the early 2000s and 2010s. Albeit, none of them are any good and one can say that the first one is the only tolerable entry prior to the future release. Maybe in the future I’ll talk about that live-action franchise since it did influence me with the special effects and, well that’s basically it. For the meantime, this is practically considered the best animated film of the Transformers. 

        Just before I talk about it, there already was a Transformers animated film that came out in 1986. Released during the peak popularity of the toy line and show, some regard it as the best Transformers film all around. I haven’t had the chance to see it, but I probably will include it in my hypothetical retrospective of the film series. One thing I will bring up is the fact that as an animated film, it didn’t hold back on the wanton violence that it had. Some consider it as an hourlong commercial, but it showed that the series can be mature albeit without going into a ridiculous degree of stupidity. 

2. More Than Meets the Eye

        I remember seeing the title of the movie as a soulless animated cash grab that Paramount Pictures was going to put out. This was when they had many films planned out back when Michael Bay was the director and I couldn’t believe that they were going to release an animated film. I think it was the hesitation of just questioning it and my reluctance to even watching it if I had nothing to do with my day. Inevitably, I saw that this entry was gaining great reviews and I fortunately watched it in the comfort of my home. 

        Since it does have One in its title, the film is basically a part one in a sense of the story between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Specifically, showcasing the brief friendship and rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Or as they’re referred to as Orion Pax and D-16, but just to make things easier I’ll refer to them as how we know them. 

        So yeah, story wise the film is mostly straightforward as we follow Optimus and Megatron as miners, they’re harvesting Energon since it’s the source of power for the autonomous robotic organisms. It’s established that an object known as the Matrix of Leadership helps the power source flow through the planet, but it’s been deemed missing which causes the miners to extract it. Bonus points is awarded since it’s both Optimus and Megatron that kick off the odyssey as they uncover a conspiracy. 

        I think what I like about the film is that it sets itself apart from the other entries since it does a lot of world building of how the fight started. Since the scope is big, it manages to make it personal between both Optimus and Megatron since they are the faces of the opposing belligerents. While it’s a shame that Peter Cullen didn’t make a brief cameo in the film, Chris Hemsworth tried his best to be Prime.  He did good for the most part, since it’s tough to not be the token good guy but give him enough pathos were you understand who he is. 

        Even the supporting cast is great as it’s refreshing to finally hear Bumblebee have a voice that was muted for most of his appearances in live action. As well as Alita being the voice of reason when balancing both the main characters and Bumbleebee’s naivety. It works in a sense where it helps the comedy be good and lay down when the dramatic stuff is about to happen. 

        The same can be said about Megatron. Out of everyone, he’s the most interesting since we see just how he became the leader of the Decepticons. His whole arc is something to where we see that he has this adulation of a fallen leader and basically wears the deceased face as a symbol. When he inevitably learned how the leader died, it sends him over the edge where now he is full on aggressive with what he wants to do. 

        With how the whole origin angle that the movie has going for it, we see the tiny details of how the characters morph into how we know them. I think it adds into a layer of seeing where the icons of the two factions come from and seeing just what exactly they are fighting for. Like, it adds more and it makes it interesting where the whole thing is predicated on the current leader Sentinel Prime dealing with a supposed enemy. 

        I’ll go far as to say that the lines are blurred since we see that both the characters are faced with a predicament of how to deal with the revelation. Optimus wants to expose Sentinel’s crimes while Megatron wants to outright kill him. It’s deep as far as an animated film goes since it adds a layer of moral confusion since there really is no “right” way of doing what they just learned. And all of it leads into I think the best part, when it’s all lined up to the future. 

        Lastly, I’ll say that the animation is pretty good from Industrial Light and Magic. Everyone who knows that company knows that they mostly deal with special effects in most of the action and sci-fi films. This isn’t their first animated film, Paramount’s and Nickelodeon’s Rango was the company’s first foray into animation and it became an Award winner surprisingly. Most of the designs are inspired by the Transformers Generation 1 look and the action is good, especially in the moments that don’t involve transforming.

3. The Degradation of the Brand

        I established that I watched the film in the comfort of my home, and I have those feelings where I feel bad that I didn’t give the film its due when it came out in theaters. The film bombed as it didn’t have enough of the financial legs to be considered a hit, even in the overseas market it didn’t fare much better. There are multiple angles to consider when any film bombs in the box office, sometimes the product is bad just by the look of it. 

        In some instances, the marketing didn’t do any favors for the film. While yes, it did market for kids but the way it went about it made seem like it was a buddy adventure film rather than an origin story of two friends becoming enemies. More so that the release just came out from another Transformers film that was a disappointing follow up to 2018’s Bumblebee. It was way too soon to have an animated film after a live-action one, muddying up a franchise that was in a middle of a reboot. 

        I honestly doubt that there may be a sequel where we see the fight in the planet Cybertron. It only makes sense that it focuses on the war, but the problem with the animated approach is the potential broadening of an audience problem that it may have. Would it be geared for children, teen oryoung adult audience where they’d even care with what’s happening? It remains to be determined what the potential sequel Paramount may do, since Hasbro isn’t financing any future films after this one’s box office bust. 

4. Overall

        Transformers One is an underrated animated film that does the series justice. 

Dune: Part Two Review

        It’s no surprise that many sequels have dominated this year. Most of the highest grossing films are sequels. While some have come out that have diluted any good will that the prior entries had going for it. Few stand out as being worthy of being part of the exclusive club of being better than the original. Dune: Part Two is immediately up there as being the one to surpass the original. And I feel that it’s the definitive sequel of this year. 

1. Paul’s Survival 

        I still remember the first movie’s marketing. There was no indication that there would be any continuations, but assuming that the whole book would be adapted under one film. And after having the chance to watch it, I remember the title card appeared as Part One as it showed up in a split second just as the movie begins. In some way, I was upset but seeing how the book is dense with detail and plot. I was for it in the long run. It’s now becoming a thing where a seemingly adapted work must be expanded into two films, but marketing doesn’t advertise it as such. 

        With that, we hear Princess Irulan narrating how House Atreides have met their end. The baldheaded Harkonnen has control of the planetary fief as Paul and his mother Jessica live among the Fremen. Events occur as Paul is plagued by more visions of a galactic jihad breaking out as he tries to exact revenge on his father’s death. This is probably one of the most complex sci-fi film that has a lot going for it. I’m only going to cover some aspects that I deem as worthy since there’s only so much to cover that I probably will need a podcast to nail down everything that this film has done right. 

        First and foremost, it’s a massive improvement over the first film as far as plot progression goes. Don’t get me wrong as I love the first film, but it’s one of those instances where a lot is going on where the first film is mostly set up with seeing Paul grow to becoming an unintended leader. I’ll focus on that aspect since I love the film’s execution of Paul becoming the chosen One in this story. It must be stated that this isn’t a type of sci-fi film where there’s blasters and what not. There’s a lot of intrigue where the whole background is as interesting as the characters. 

        The moments where Princess Irulan and the Bene Gesserit is interesting to see. I’m a sucker for Florence Pugh, while some think that she doesn’t do much in the film as far as narrating and basically that. I love the moments where she talks to the Reverend Mother. It’s established that she’s the best student that the Mother has taught but gets too good when she starts to question the motives of the sisterhood. Such as asking if their plan might blow up in their face. 

        The action moments are much better as we see Fremen attacking the Spice Harvesters as sabotage. Especially the one moment where Paul learns how to ride the sandworms.  The exhilaration of seeing Paul struggle and then finally being able to control and ride the creatures is just great. While it’s great to see, it all comes down to the idea of predestination and religious fanaticism, but before I get into that topic. I should at least expand more on the vistas that we see and the other characters. 

2. World Expansion

        I think out of all the planets that we see in this one, Geidi Prime is easily the most interesting visually. We get a small glimpse of them in the prior film, but here we see just how visually stark it is when compared to the other two vistas. We see that it’s a brutal world and get an introduction to the secondary villain Feyd Rautha. You’d probably never know that he’s being played by Elvis star Austin Butler under the makeup. He looks freaky and the best scene involving him is when he’s in the gladiator arena. 

        Just the whole moment showcases two of the threats in the film. The malevolent Sisterhood looks at Feyd as a potential project as the nephew of the Baron kills the remaining Atreides survivors in the arena. I just love everything about the scene with the monochromatic colors and the creepy looking picadors. We see how Feyd fights as he enjoys it and takes honor with killing whoever is fighting him. The moment when he deactivates his shield and tosses it away shows he has confidence. 

        We see another member of the Bene Gesserit as Lady Margot Fenring uses her Voice and seduces Feyd to get his offspring for the collective. We see more of the Sisterhood as both Margot and Irulan follow the orders of the Reverend Mother, specifically we see more uses of the Voice. It’s like a Jedi mind trick, but their inflections trigger what they want. We’ve heard the prior use as it has a haggish screech to them. While both young women use it more seductively and curiosity. It’s hard to tell, but there’s an audio crunch whenever they do it.

        If there’s one complaint that some ardent fans of the book have is that Alia isn’t front and center in the film. She does appear, albeit in Jessica’s womb since she gets mutated after her mother drinks a liquid that only the believers consume. I think the change is necessary since it’s weird how Paul’s sister just shows up. Her appearance is more like asking Jessica what’s happening and seeing how her mother is gaining followers for her son’s role in the prophecy. 

3. Fanaticism

        This is probably the defining feature of the film that I feel gets overlooked a lot whenever I read some articles or watch discussions on the film. The film is really about the dangers of fanaticism. Throughout the whole movie, Stilgar and a few Fremen believe a prophecy of the Lisan Al Gaib, the one who will liberate the people of the planet. Paul tries to avoid the prophecy as he dismisses the idea as a product of the Bene Gesserit’s control over everyone. Like everything he does, unintentionally sets him up as being the guy. 

        With how it’s handled, it’s done great as it’s presented as the story doesn’t have Paul be passive and then everything falls into place. Paul is very active as he tries to do everything to avoid fulfilling the prophecy. And it’s compounded when he reunites with his combat trainer Gurney and recontextualizes the prophecy as revenge. Gurney is filled with retribution and he helps Paul try to get back at the Emperor and Harkonnen. It’s one of those things where it has the idea of predetermination. Basically, what I said that Paul tries everything to avoid being the Lisan Al Gaib, but inevitably embracing the role. 

        When he becomes that, it’s the most awesome looking thing I’ve seen. He’s walking to meet the southern Fremen as a sandworm breaches the grain like a whale. The music even has a heavy sound as he’s now super cognizant with his abilities. While that’s nice and dandy, the context makes it so much more heartbreaking like it’s a tragedy. He manages to have Fremen be united in their fight, but he’s saying all of it since he has no control since he sees multiple futures.

        I haven’t even mention Paul and Chani’s relationship since I feel that this counteracts with the fanaticism angle. This detail changed with how it’s presented but we see that Chani doesn’t believe in the prophecy, seeing that it’s use is for enslavement of her people. The moments between both are sweet as they bond more as he learns the way of the Fremen. It then goes tragic near the end since Paul embraces his new role and Chani is heartbroken. 

        It's very rare for a sequel to expand more and this one is the rare case of doing everything right. The common complaint being that the sequel does the exact same thing but doubles it or go in a different direction where it’s nowhere near connective to the prior story. With this one, it expands so much more and makes the character not a savior but a tragic one where he’s bringing unintended bloodshed that he doesn’t want. This is the rare example of subversion of a character. 

4. Overall

        Dune: Part Two is easily the best sequel of this decade and one of the best films of the year. 

American Fiction Review

        Another year has passed and so many good films that I’ve watched in the theater. I think this year is tied with last year due to how much I’ve watched in the theater, my local film club and in the free time that I had when I’m not doing this. If there’s one thing to note was that this was the year of the sequels. While I will talk about one of the sequels, I feel that it’s time to talk about the best films that I’ve seen and the ones that were under the radar. All this month will be just about that. 

1. Monk’s Bibliographical Conundrum 

        I’m cheating with this one since it came out last year, but my city finally had the chance to screen it. The trailer for the film is interesting since it has the author create a white lie and it blows up in his face from a book he wrote. Seemingly it had that schadenfreude aspect like The Producers since the author decides to write something he knows is bad but becomes successful. Little did I know that it’s so much more than that. 

        We follow Thelonius who is nicknamed Monk, he’s a brash author/professor who goes to Boston to visit his family. He attends a book festival and sees another black author Sintara who is promoting her book on her interpretation of the African American experience and gets frustrated at the adulation she receives. Meanwhile, Monk wrestles with his family as he feels financially burdened to care for his ailing mother. To remedy it, he decides to write his own book in the style of what he read. From there, hilarity ensues. 

        There’s a lot to unpack in this comedy, but I should state that this isn’t a type of comedy where it’s a gut buster and you’ll be writing on the floor. What makes the film work is that we see Monk wrestle with his unexpected popularity of his book and what’s going on in his personal life. I love how there’s a balance between the absurdity of the book and the charm/sadness with what’s going in Monk’s personal life. I feel that in one way the film is one of those rare ones where it has a commentary on how to tell a story and how a group of audience will gobble up a specific story. 

        While I’ll talk about that interesting aspect of the film, I really do like just how Monk gets wrapped up in the book’s success. He’s not a perfect protagonist since he gets annoyed at books that he deems as beneath him and how he feels not in touch with his family. For as much as he hates the African American stereotypes that is deemed popular, in a meta sense his story in the film is very much like that. It’s the whole package of sins of the father, alienation, and wrestling with himself of being who he is to name a few. 

        For the comedic moments it’s great that we see just how much Monk puts up with when his book becomes his best seller for all the wrong reasons. It’s established that Monk writes great academic books but nobody buys them. Which in turn makes him create a pen name and create a personality that is everything he hates. Just seeing it led to the book being sold and even get a movie deal is hilarious since Monk can’t fathom how far the whole endeavor is taking him.  Just the moment between him and the movie producer is hilarious as he tries to have a tough exterior but is completely making it up as he goes.

2. Selling Out

        Aside from Monk’s initial storyline, what I find interesting is that the whole film is like a takedown of the perceived stories of African Americans in pain and bondage. Ones where the only good storylines is when there’s so much misery and death that it’ll make an emo teenager blush. Now, that’s not to say that all those stories are bad but ones where they’re commercially successful enough where we feel for Monk since there’s not one where there’s at least a happy ending. There’s even a moment when he sees a commercial for a movie marathon but it’s mostly for movies that have the same downtrodden trope that has become ubiquitous among the African American stories

        As I mentioned earlier, Monk’s story is very meta with how it hits the usual black story. With how it’s dealt with is by having him be a part of the list of judges to select the winner of a prestigious book award. Of course, the judges is predominantly white with Monk and Sintara being the ones to have the whole group be diverse. It’s funny in a sense, where the white judges picked the books and speak highly of them where Monk and his associate think it’s too on the nose. 

        Speaking of Sintara, I just love how Monk gets so annoyed that he takes his books in a bookstore and literally tries to move them preferable. Only to see that Sintara’s new book is on a special cardboard display. The whole film has these two characters apart until they’re selected as the judges. The best scene in the whole film is when both are in the room together alone. 

        I just love how there’s a clear contrast between them based on what they’re eating. Simply, Monk asks her why she doesn’t see her book as pandering as his. The back and forth between them perfectly shows the situation and one where there’s no clear resolution on the whole matter. I think it’s better since it’s not preachy about it or has an inherent message of what’s right and wrong. Just how anyone is responsible for buying the stories that keep getting published and released. Even better is that Monk hasn’t even read her book to adequately have an honest opinion on it but just argues on just the concept of it.

        I think in some way people want a resolution of this idea of being a sellout. With how the ending deals with it is up to interpretation. Not to detail the types of ending that we got since the whole film is like what Monk wrote in his foray into film. It highlights that while Monk sold out, he still maintains who he is and is merely going with what sells for the people to watch. I think it’s great since Monk himself hasn’t changed but goes along with it. 

3. Overall

        American Fiction is one the best films of last year, but the best original film of this year.