Jersey Boys (2014)

I never thought I'll see the day when I'll write a review for a musical on my own will (= not being forced by some very important nomination), but.. here we are. How did that happen? Well: 1. I was looking for a "sleeping pill" a couple days ago, 2. I remembered that somebody told me once that the movie is good, 3. since a couple days ago, I didn't manage to watch anything else, and I doubt I'll have the time this weekend, therefore, this is the only option. Sorry, but I never liked the genre, so it's gonna be a brief entry, although I have to admit that "Jersey Boys" is decent in respect to the ratio of singing time/dramatic script.

In my ignorance I didn't hear until watching this movie of "The Four Seasons" or of Frankie Valli - who are the main theme here, because what we have is actually more of a biopic than a musical. Even though I heard before "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", I never knew exactly who sings it (in my defense, at how many covers it has...). Well, I found out now who wrote it and performed it for the first time. So, what we have in the movie is the period of assembling the band and getting their name known, a name that gives you more results on Vivaldi if you YouTube search it. We also have a short bio of the band members, who, as the title says, started their rise in New Jersey.

The movie is fine as a mixture - it brings together a bit of comedy, a bit of action, a bit of drama - Clint Eastwood (directing here) actually does a pretty good job I'd say for what he's supposed to put on screen. The script has some nice touches, such as getting you out for a bit from the standard model and giving you from time to time a first person interaction with the band members who are giving you some personal feedback on their life story. Unfortunately, besides finding here the familiar tune above, there's nothing that impressed me much in the bunch of '60s pop-rock songs that brought fame to the band during those years. And again, unfortunately, even in a musical biopic there's quite a bit of singing. So.. after all it's just a matter of taste ;)

Rating: 3 out of 5

A Star is Born (2018)

... or where can lead a failed attempt to see the latest "Halloween", for which the management of the local cinema considers allocating large projection rooms only at late hours. Call me picky, but if I move my bones up to a cinema I want a big screen. Consequently, I preferred "A Star is Born", despite my worries towards the lethal combination for my taste in film: musical + romance. But considering that while getting older I discovered liking also movies with a simpler subject and let's say more... calmness (check out last week), considering that the latest similar experience - "La La Land" - was surprisingly original, and considering also that most reviews for this one are over the top, I said... ok, fine. But it wasn't really fine.

What we have here is the third remake (this means four movies, just to make it clear) having the same title as the original released in 1937. I don't know how much the subject varied through the years, but for what I saw I imagine it can't be much. The originality is close to zero. Jack, an alcoholic soft-rock singer meets Ally, an anonymous singer in a bar, they like each other, they marry, her career goes up, his carrer goes down, and even though towards the end we catch a glimpse of balancing the odds, all goes away melodramatically with a garage, a beam, a belt, and a song for the one who passed away. Sorry for the "spoiler", but the movie is so one-sided that it gets annoying. And I don't want to start debating now what I mean by "one-sided".

The only part that was sort of good, for a musical, is that it's not extremely boring. The songs are ok-ish, but again reminded me that I can't really like a movie in this genre - it's a matter of taste. I can watch a concert, I can listen to a soundtrack - but I don't really need a shallow script to wrap it up. About the romance, I can't even say that this was depressing as usual... You want a romance, re-watch "Jerry Maguire", we have there too a guy with a career going down... or "Stardust", might be a bit cheesy, but it's not cliche + we really have a star ;). This one was just... bland.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (barely...)

Coco (2017)

When I've seen the trailer for "Coco" I had a deja vu with "Book of Life", and I decided to let it pass, even more having two additional issues with it: 1. musical (animated or not animated it's still a genre I detest) 2. Disney/Pixar = excessive tear-jerking coefficient. I (hardly) reconsidered my decision following the reviews that place this as the best animation of last year. It was not the best idea, but not necessarily (or well... completely) because of the above reasons.

The context is indeed very similar to "Book of Life". We have a location somewhere in Mexico. We have a boy, Miguel, who wants a mariachi career but his family pushes him towards shoe making (well, there's a difference from the bull fighter in the other movie... but anyway). We have old unsolved family issues. We have the "Day of the Dead" context. We have the passage to the netherworld, where Miguel searches for his great-great-great-grandfather who left home with his guitar becoming a family outcast. And from here onwards, fortunately we have a different story. The good part is that overall is better organized than the story in "Book of Life", especially concerning the ending. The bad part is that the story in "Coco" is much more simpler/linear. Another bad part is that out of three essential twists, I've seen two coming much quicker than I should've = no exaggeration, but these were predictable from the first minute when the character/the twist element entered the scene. This thing made a consistent part of the movie pretty boring... and it's also enough as a reason to not tell more about the story :)

In respect to the musical part, this is quite consistent but fortunately tolerable. The excessive tear-jerking coefficient (trademark Pixar) is there, and it's the main problem I had with this movie, but unfortunately didn't go the way I expected... I didn't roll my eyes or check my watch to see how much time I still have to endure the torture. It's just that... let's say it's not a movie I would recommend watching at some moments in your life... can get very painful... but I'd rather not go into details.

Rating: 3 out of 5

La La Land (2016)

1. I hate musicals. 2. Romances are depression triggers. 3. What the hell I'm doing at this movie? ... I was asking myself around a week ago when I was ready to jump from my seat and head to the nearest exit of the cinema hall where "La La Land" was running contrary to a strong habit of finishing a movie once I started watching. And while I was trying for one more time to justify to myself that I'm there for blogging interests in respect to an almost certain Oscar contender, that initially seemed tolerable and to be in the same line with "Whiplash" = where music is the movie subject, not the way of expression (didn't watch the trailer, big mistake), well ... the change arrived ...

So, to be clear, "La La Land" is a classic musical = we have the specific singing and dancing intermezzo scenes. Maybe not so frequently, but definitely hits you from start with a scene of a traffic jam in a sunny Californian winter where people have nothing better to do than get off the wheel and develop a group choreography in the middle of the highway. After that the focus moves at last on the main characters, she - an aspiring actress in Hollywood with no success, he - an aspiring jazz pianist in Hollywood with no success. A couple (with no success) gets formed quickly and up to the middle of the movie the story advances in a painfully jolly, optimistic and ... well, musical way (I'm a grumpy grizzly, but even so, trust me... there are limits...). From halfway onward we have a gradual change towards the cruel reality, which I don't know how harsh and/or credible might be, but anyway it gains a lot from the contrast with the first part, so much that I thought I'm watching a different movie. Which ended in an emotional climax with an "what if?..." scene featuring an alternative reality flash that has all it needs to hit you hard if you have some unsolved question marks for turning points in your life. This and the camera work, which I have to admit it's really good, save this movie. Even so, I hate musicals (maybe less now, but still...)

Rating: 3 out of 5 (totally subjective)

Fish Story (2009)

I have neither the time, nor the mood for writing lately. It's probably noticeable :) ... I didn't lose track yet on the rate of entries/week ( I know that I'm one behind ;) ) = maybe there are still some chances to catch up. The good side is that long breaks bring better movies. Like "Fish Story", or "Fisshu sutôrî" in Japanese, because we have something from that part of the world...

I don't really know in what genre to fit the movie. I guess I could mix together comedy, drama, romance, musical, SciFi, and maybe others. As a short summary I can say that's a sort of concise "Cloud Atlas", better centered on the "in-depth idea", more lighthearted, and without box office claims (now don't get me wrong, I liked "Cloud Atlas", but sometimes got a bit lost in details). The movie starts with the apocalypse of 2012, when a comet has a couple hours until hitting Earth, and the planet inhabitants wait helplessly for the end. Including the residents of the Nippon archipelago. I'm not gonna give any spoiler ( although the outcome is sort of predictable, but not the details ;) ). We slowly move back to 1975 (with some stops on the way). when an unsuccessful punk band, with lousy sales and about to disband, releases a last album including ... "Fish Story". A song with lines that make no sense, and which gets a cassette recording with an enigmatic silenced part in the middle. Stuff that over the years gives birth to various urban legends on the song break reason. And so, the movie carries us forward and backward in time, with various scenes that connect more-or-less to "Fish Story". It's sufficiently chaotic to put your brain at work a bit on trying to tie the loose ends, but at the same time it's perfectly structured not to give you headaches. The story unfolds in a pretty concise manner, although it might not seem so in the beginning. But pretty much everything starts connecting from a point onwards in a sort of long time propagated butterfly effect. And if by chance you still get lost in the story building chain, don't worry, you'll get it before the end ;) ...

I could start with the movies philosophy and what it wants to transmit to the public ( if it wants something :) ). However, I guess that the "in-depth idea" I was mentioning that's more clear, maybe it's clear just for me. So I'll let everybody to get a personal conclusion. On my side I'll stick to the "Cloud Atlas tagline": "Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." ...

Rating: 4 out of 5