Godless. Netflix Mini-Series Review.

How important is filmmaking quality in comparison to compelling  storytelling. I get the sense that’s the question lots of people will be asking whilst watching Godless, a seven episode, 7 and a half hours miniseries that was one of the key originals released by Netflix in the final few months of 2017. Written and directed by prolific screenwriter Scott Frank the miniseries is very much a love letter to classic westerns of the 50s, 60s and 70s. I’m going to give you as a reader the plot summary for the series in my own words. I want those of you that haven’t seen it to think about was on this plot could potentially sustainin 7 and a half hours of watching time.
An outlaw name Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) is terrorising the 1880s american West. He had a former protege named Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell.) Roy eventually escapes Frank and managers to betray him during a battle. After this battle Roy finds refuge in a barn this is on the property of the widowed Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery.) The property is within the town of Le Belee. Two years before the events of the series the town fell victim to a mining accident that was responsible for killing off over 90% of the male population. This now means the town is run in large part by women. Meanwhile the town Sheriff (scoot Mcnairy) is also looking for Frank as well as facing the possibility that he could be going blind. The rest of the series is about Roy building a relationship with Alice as well as several other members of the town as Frank and his army of one hundred men attempt to hunt him down and make roy pay for his betrayal.
The plot I just described sounds like basic Western 101. In a lot of ways it is . This mini series has NO surprises whatsoever in it’s running time. What makes the series so special though is that it’s the first thing where I feel like you can sit someone down in front of a section of it and use it as an example of the fact premium level TV can now compete with the best of Hollywood films. Westworld and Stranger Things S1 got close to achieving this (I don’t watch Game of Thrones so I can’t comment on it) but I really feel that this it’s the first time I can say it definitively. The filmmaking on display despite still technically being a “TV series” is absolutely incredible. Shot in incredibly cinematic 2.35:1 (as opposed to 2:00, the ratio of Netflix normally uses for it premium original content) incredibly wide shots of dusty landscapes, panning shorts across wide areas 8 shots following the characters as they ride on horses through the landscape look simply STUNNING. i’m not sure what the budget per episode was for this but my first thoughts what’s that it had to be within the tens of millions per episode range. There are occasions throughout some of the episodes (5 of which are between 70-80 minutes long) when nothing would be happening on screen with the exception of the makers of the series flexing their muscles in terms of what impressive shot they can show you next. Often this can come across as pretentious and time wasting but when something looks this good it’s hard to complain. To say the filmmaking within the series merits 10/10 is an understatement. It’s more likely to merit 100/10.
It’s worth saying that outside of the series shear beauty it does also have solid performances and a few decent characters (despite all the characters being your standard western archetypes.) the series also uses its beauty to frame some very strong action sequences and the series ends with an absolutely glorious 20-minute gun battle along with your standard western showdown between hero and villain. These factors probably elevate the series from a narrative perspective to an extremely light 6/10. However as I hope has been established you hopefully aren’t going to be watching this for the narrative.
Godless is an amazing technical achievement. It really doesn’t matter that over the course of the miniseries the plot and scripting hits every western beet you can imagine. The strong performances and incredible film making on display are enough to make the series worthwhile. Part of me thinks that a good amount of footage from this series will be used in Netflix show reals for quite some time to come.
7.5/10

I Tonya. Quick Review.

There are basically three  types of award contender. You have your dominants, mid-level contenders and fluke nominations. This review is going to look at a film that is firmly lodged in the middle of the park for the 2018 Awards season. This is I Tonya, a dramatization of the inside story behind former Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding and her career, scandal and the domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her husband (Sebastian Stan.) this is all framed as a broad black comedy and the trailers have very much sold the film correctly. Going into a UK preview screening of the film I was expecting something solid but not necessarily spectacular. I knew Allison Janney was winning every Supporting Actress award going for her performance as Hardings hard edged and very foul-mouthed mother. How does the film hold up based on this knowledge.
I had to say the I Tonya was an interesting film in a few different ways. There is no question whatsoever that despite the fact this is a story where abuse and domestic violence are part of the narrative the films black comedy and sense of humour are generally very entertaining. Within this praise however is also the core problem with the film. It doesn’t really know how to juxtapose it’s two very distinct tonal styles successfully. This is one of those films where the tone can change in a matter of seconds and it was a somewhat jarring experience for me as a viewer. The film also suffers comparatively in my estimation from the fact the UK release comes after the breakout success of The End of the F***ing World from Channel 4 and Netflix This is also a jet black comedy trying to fuse in elements involving some deadly serious topics (two of the episodes have the central characters encounter a potential paedophile add a rapist professor) but these deadly series elements are integrated a lot better into the flow of the overall narrative and the series benefit greatly as a result. To make the comparison even more prevalent both have seen short in 1:33 1 to signify a different time period compared to the main narrative. This is where the comparison is pretty unavoidable in my viev if you’ve seen both.
As much as the previous paragraph may have come across a little bit negative I want to stress that I Tonya is still quite an enjoyable film. Allison Janney will indee win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and gives one of the most scene stealing performances of recent years. Margo Robbie is also great in the title role and continues to prove she is an actress of considerable talent who has a long future ahead of her (beyond simply resurrecting and redefining the Harley Quinn character for the millennial generation.) it’s also great to see McKenna Grace the little girl from the supremely underrated Gifted have a small role as one of the younger versions of Tonya as she grows up. The film mostly nails the black humour it is going for (despite the jarring some of scenes.) However, beyond the performances I can see the film fading into relative obscurity after this year’s award cycle because as entertaining as it is it lacks that knockout punch that would lift it up from “above average” into the realm of greatness.
7/10

The Shape Of Water. Quick Review.

If you have ever seen a Guillermo del Toro film you know what he does well. Dark,dream like fairy tales with a sinister adult edge. From the first trailer it looked like The Shape of Water was very much heading in this direction. As a result, I had been looking forward to it since late last year when the first trailer doped. The film opened to a decent level of critical acclaim (particularly for a film about an infatuation between a mute woman and a fish like creature in 50s America. ) However, it was the films Oscar season run that really surprised me. To say it looks like the kind of style and story that is not made to be a front runner in Oscar season is an understatement. I felt like I was living in bizarro world see a Del Tero film up for 13 Oscars. However this along with the amazing ad campaign meant I had to see the film at the earliest possible opportunity. Having seen it, does it live up to the hype.
The answer to that question very much has to do with what audiences expect from it. On the one hand (as I hope has been established by the opening paragraph) it’s Del Toro playing with a set of toys that he loves and is clearly very comfortable with. On the other hand he does it so well this it’s hard to complain. The film is excellently performed (particularly Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon.) The film also boasts exquisite production design that makes the whole thing look like a Gothic pop up book, excellent motion capture work from Del Toro and general motion capture veteran Doug Jones (he can also currently be seen doing added vocals along with motion capture work on Star Trek: Discovery) and an absolutely mind blowing score that might just be the best film score from 2017. The film will not be for everyone (as should be obvious by the plot) but I think the marketing has done a good job of giving a good idea for the tone and feel of the film) so that even with the Oscar nominations and ward wins the audience for the film will very much know that they’re going to watch something with a plot this bizarre It’s clear that Del Toro would not have the marketing for his film any other way. In terms of the awards campaign I think the content of the film definitely helps it in the aftermath of Harvey Weinstein and his ilk but unlike with Moonlight last year I don’t feel the film would need a huge amount of explanation and backstory in terms of the political and potential backlash factors the resulted in it winning Best Picture (in the unlikely event that Shape of Water won best picture in 2018.
It’s worth saying that the film does have a few minor negatives to prevent me from giving it a perfect 10. The film has this very strange Singing In The Rain style musical interlude that may only last a few minutes but also very much interrupts the flow of the film. The film also doesn’t really “get going” so to speak until the central creature of the narrative is introduced 15 minutes in (something that can very easily happen in these types of films that are reliant on a very specific element of the plot from an overall narrative perspective.) It’s worth saying it’s somewhat remarkable that I enjoyed the film so much considering the UK preview screening I saw was projected in the wrong aspect ratio. This cut off the tops of characters heads in certain shots (annoying but tolerable.) The incorrect aspect ratio really stood out however when some Russian villains are introduced that want to capture the film central creature. These scenes are in Russian with English subtitles. This is normally no problem for me as I do not mind watching foreign films. However the incorrect aspect ratio the film was projected in meant to the subtitles for the scenes were cut off by the bottom of the screen and were barely legible as a result. I plan to go and see the film again hopefully projected in the correct aspect ratio. Well this didn’t necessarily hugely detract from my enjoyment of the film it was definitely noticeable and distracting in some scenes. This is not the films fault but I figured it was something that might be worth mentioning in this review.
In the end The Shape Of Water mostly lives up to the hype. It’s beautifully made and incredibly well performed with strong characters and an engaging story. The story might be a bit too weird for some but the marketing has not mis-sold the film in any way. For as much as there are definitely minor net pics (the musical interlude,the someone slow opening 15 minutes) the film still kept me engaged as a viewer from start to finish. It slots in nicely behind Call Me By Your Name as my personal second favourite of all the Oscar Best Picture contenders for 2018 (having seen eight of the nine.) Both or films that very much deal with the central theme of infatuation bringing out a sense of raw humanity in people and do it absolutely spectacularly. It just so happens that in the case of Shape of Water it’s an amphibious fish creature bringing out the raw humanity in a mute women. As much as I don’t consider Shape of Water particularly romantic (like I said it’s more about infatuation) the fact it home will be competing for screen space what’s the final 50 shades film when it releases in the UK on Valentine’s Day just makes me laugh. If you could find a film that is thematically the complete opposite it would be Fifty Shades of Grey.
9/10

12 Strong. Quick Review

Ever since Clint Eastwood American Sniper was a breakout American hit during it’s wide release in January 2015 there has proven to be a market for very militaristic,pro american military based action dramas. Michael Bays 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi joined the fray in 2016 and after a very brief setup period was basically Call of Duty : The Movie. 12 Strong has come into the equation in January 2018. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and Michael Pena the film tells the story of 12 American soldiers who were the first to fight back on horseback against the Taleban in Afghanistan immediately following 9/11. I had seen one trailer for the film before going to see it. The question is how does it compare to the other films in this sub genre that has very much appeared since the breakout success of American Sniper.
Honestly, all three of these films are roughly in the same area quality wise. I probably say 13 Hours is the worst purely because well it’s not as atrocious has the worst of the Transformers films it very much is a Michael Bay film with some of his filmmaking tendencies and I simply did not care when it turned into Call of Duty The Movie in its second and third act. I thought American Sniper was fine but not worthy of it 6 Oscar nominations and mostly very forgettable outside of Bradley Cooper and Sienna Millers performances. Honestly, 12 Strong is not going to get nominated for Oscars but I very much feel the same way about it as I do about American Sniper. It’s fine with some good action sequences but even as you’re watching it you are unlikely have a grasp on the characters names or anything that resembles a real motivation beyond the fact that 9/11 has just happened and they want to go and get revenge on the Taliban. Despite the lack of character the performances of, Hemsworth, Shannon and Pena are actually pretty decent. The film makes the smart choice to break-up the gun fights and action scenes which character moments and quiet scenes. For as much as these mostly don’t work they do a good job of breaking up the action scenes so that each action scene and gun battle are relatively distinct. The action scenes and gun battles themselves are very solid with a good level of intensity and tension. The film is also incredibly well shot it’s a lot of picturesque wide shots. You could argue that the film entirely succeeds on these merits alone purely because that’s what 99% of the audience will be watching it for. You could certainly do a lot worse in terms of Friday night bear and pizza type action films but from a critical perspective the lack of anything stand out beyond above-average action sequences and good cinematography really does drag the film down. The film is definitely slightly too long at 130 minutes but whilst I was watching it I was never desperate for it to end as can be the case with some films of that length that don’t entirely earn it it. I think this is because as much as anything doesn’t really stand out in the film be on the action sequences it’s still a very watchable time waster.
6/10

All The Money In The World. Quick Review.

At the time of writing this film needs little introduction. It is important to state however that this was not always the case. I remember seeing the original Kevin Spacey trailer for Ridley Scott’s dramatisation of the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III not even knowing it was being made (what with the fact this is such a famous story.) There’s also the fact that it was the second Ridley Scott film he made in 2017 after the collection of studio notes that was Alien Covenant. I may not hate that film as much as some but the scene in which the film basically stops and there’s an extended sequence of Michael Fassbender’s David playing the flute (yes, seriously) is without question one of the most cringe worthy moments in 2017 cinema.

From that first trailer I had no expectation either way regarding this film. Then the Kevin Spacey allegations broke (interestingly the first victim known to the public can currently be seen on Star Trek: Discovery playing Lieutenant Stamets.) The rest of the story it’s public knowledge. Spacey’s lightning fast replacement by Christopher Plummer (apparently Ridley Scott’s initial choice anyway) and the re-shooting of all of Spacey’s initial scenes in 8 days. When you watch the final product it’s easy to explain how this could be achieved. With the exception of a first act that largely takes place in flashback most of Plumber’s scenes take place within the Getty mansion. However it’s still an enormously impressive achievement. Plumber then got nominated for an Oscar to add to the media narrative around this film. Lest we forget the pay gap between Mark Walllberg and Michelle Williams that became public knowledge (which we will be getting to in then next paragraph ) for the re-shoots. The insanity of this media narrative is what persuaded me to check the film out and one of the last screenings at my local cinema . How does the actual film hold up outside of the media narrative around it?.

The honest answer is very well. I’m under no illusions that the film will be remembered mostly for the media narrative around it upon release but All The Money In The World is a terrific film in its own right. The story is very well worn but Scott and the team that worked on the initial production and the Plumber re-shoots have managed to put together a very engaging and intense character based thriller that I think anyone who enjoys films in the genre will get a kick out of. There’s no denying how superb Plumber is in the role of John Paul Getty II. I didn’t see the trailer they released containing some of Plumbers footage but I will say the makeup used to age Kevin Spacey in the initial trailer that was released looked very unconvincing.

If you look at that makeup vs the performance Plumber delivers in the final product it really is the difference between ageing up a middle aged man to play an older person and actually hiring an older person. The film is also aided by an excellent script and an award worthy central performance from Michelle Williams as the grieving mother just looking to get her son back. This brings us on nicely to the very widely reported pay gap. Granted, Mark Wahlberg probably had the most to re-shoot of any member of the cast but the amount he was paid in comparison to William’s is frankly insane. This is particularly because well he’s performance is decent he’s very much just playing a variation of Mark Wahlberg elevated by the good material. I went into the film thinking that he was going to be second lead when in fact he is probably a distant third lead behind Williams and Plumber (his character does not even get introduced until the end of the first act.) Even though the dispute was resolved in the end through a donation I think this whole debacle may well have shown the world that Mark Wahlberg for as charisma as he can have is a massive diva who will likely wood come back for the right amount of money.
If the film has one legitimate problem however it’s definitely the flashback heavy opening act a lot of which is used to establish the multi-generational relationship between members of the Getty family before the kidnapping. These scenes did a decent job of engaging me as a viewer but they would definitely the first thing I’d cut down significantly if I was editing the film down from it perhaps slightly over long 130 minute running time.
In the end, however for as much as the media narrative is probably what mainstream culture will remember about this film it deserves to be remembered as a very good thriller in its own right. Excellently written and performed I found the film engaging from start to finish despite story being relatively well worn. If the form is still showing at your local cinema i’d recommend giving it’s a watch regardless of the various stories that’s come out of the production.
8.25/10