The film follows several different vampires within the house, this includes the four initial ones each one based on a different type of movie vampire. We have the rat like Nosferatuesque Petyr briefly, the Gary Oldman Draculaesque Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), the Tom Cruise's Lestatesque Deacon, and Waititi's Viago who's most akin to Bela Lugosi's classic Dracula. Later we get a Twlightesque vampire in the newly turned Nick and also some time devoted to Nick's friend Stu, a computer programmer. We get some vignettes with each in this film that is entirely comic in its intention. I mention that because this is a bit different from Waititi's other films, perhaps in part because it is co-directed by Jemaine Clement (a fact frequently forgotten by most), where there usually is some underlying attempt at something relatively dramatic within the comedy. Here it is just about the absurdity of the situation. This brings us to Waititi's own performance in the film, who is only Bela Lugosi in that his manner suggests some earlier type of class and expectation. The comedy of Waititi's performance is very much that he isn't at all that you'd expect from a vampire. This right within his only pseudo Hungarian accent, that seems halfhearted on purpose. He's consistent with it, but it is more goofy than anything. This being part of his overarching approach that is of this overly affected sort of manner of his Viago. This in speaking every word with a genteel quality fitting a foppish aristocrat type. The comedy of this comes in as Waititi plays it the same way whether he is gathering the boys up for a flatmate meeting, killing a victim or coming afoul some werewolves. Waititi's performance's comedy comes from the consistency in this manner throughout the film, though with few sort of Oliver Hardy takes towards the camera when commenting on the absurdity of certain situation. These moments enjoyable while still keeping with Viago sort of always half unsure manner as a vampire out of time. A lot of the comedy is really even just some of his random comments as Viago off to the side while the other vampires are doing things, this with Viago as the perpetual peace keeper. Now everyone except Petyr gets there own little story. Vlad dealing with his the beast (aka his ex-wife), Nick dealing with being a vampire, Deacon dealing with another "young" vampire around, and Viago longing after his now elderly former girlfriend which was his original reason for going to New Zealand. Now this might sound dramatic, it's not. It too is for comedy, whether it is his story of his servant sending his coffin to the wrong place, dealing with his now elderly servant over skype and even the resolution involving Viago commenting on the literal age difference between them rather than the physical. The whole situation is still comical and built on that same manner by Waititi. It is all enjoyable, though for me doesn't hit comedic greatness in being purely comic nor is there something else to amplify it unlike his work in Boy, which I think is actually both funnier and has far more meat to it. This in part I suppose goes into this being actually my least favorite of Waititi's films that I've seen, though I do quite enjoy it, but honestly the idea I think even achieved greater comedic heights in the TV series, which I highly recommend.
67 comments:
Louis: what are your ratings and thoughts on the rest of the cast?
Yeah, a 4's about right. I still think Rhys Darby is funnier. I agree this is Waititi's weakest film, although I haven't seen Eagle vs. Shark.
Well, I definitely disagree it’s Waititi’s weakest film (looking at you, Jojo). But a 4 is about right.
Louis: Are we agreed that Boy might actually be his best film overall? I mean, there's a razor's edge between that Wilderpeople for me.
He actually entertained me in this more than he did in Jojo. I enjoyed seeing him as such a meek character in comparison to Boy, and his reaction to accidentally hitting his victim’s artery gave me a proper belly laugh. He’s a 4.5 for me and actually my favorite of the requests in this lineup, though I quite like Alcazar as well.
Wilderpeople is my favourite but Boy is certainly up there for me too. Eagle vs Shark is definitely his worst film though. Not bad but not that good either.
Lucas:
Clement - 4(I think Clement is underused and underrated in general, despite his unfortunate work in MIB3 which I think mainly stemmed from a terrible part. I quite enjoyed his Oldman impression here, as the accent alone gives me a laugh, but I just love little moments throughout his performance, particularly the way he lights up when he hears he can digitally "poke" someone or his face while explaining how he looks like he's 16 years old.)
Brugh - 3.5(He's enjoyable enough in doing the cocky routine, particularly in some of his ridiculous physical gestures at times.)
Gonzalez-Macuer - 3(In a certain sense he has the most dramatic performance through the moments of disliking being a vampire, but more than anything he's decent at just doing the attempt at being the cool punk though I think he is overshadowed in a comedic fashion much of the time.)
Rutherford - 3(I mean he's not an actor, and you can tell. This though works entirely for the part as his sort of "out of it" reactions are quite funny throughout, even if he doesn't seem to be doing it in really an active way.)
Darby - 4(An extremely underrated comic performer, as his work on Flight of the Conchords is one of my favorite supporting comedic turns on tv, despite the show's brevity. His sort of courteous comedy here is used to great effect though in being so sort of quietly affable even if partially annoyed as the "alpha male". I especially love his good language reminders and his playful reaction to seeing Deacon's moon sweater. Brief but he's a hoot the entire time.)
Matt:
Yes, though as almost a 1a/1b with Wilderpeople.
He's a 4.5 for myself, and I still say borderline lead because its Viago who introduces us into the story, and generally serves as it's backbone from there on out. Further more, I'd actually submit the silver necklace scene as a weirdly earnest moment from the performance.
Incidentally, I find the film itself incredibly enjoyable, as it really exploits my love for absurdist deadpan humour.
Also, I might be in the minority with this, but from what I have seen of the show, I still find the film much funnier.
I think strictly in terms of humor, the film and the series are about equal for me. The advantage the series has over the film though is in the amount of world-building it gets to do, which I suppose is to be expected from a series anyway.
Tenet has been delayed.......again.
Bryan: They should just move it to Christmas or 2021 at this point.
Louis: Your 10 favorite directors that act in their own films?
Aidan: Warner Brothers also has Dune scheduled for Christmas, so they could move that to 2021 and place Tenet there. Or vice-versa I guess lol.
Aidan:
David Lynch
Martin Scorsese
Quentin Tarantino (though I wish he'd stop)
Orson Welles
Clint Eastwood
Jean Renoir
John Huston
Charles Chaplin
Mel Gibson
Roman Polanski
Must be an actual visible speaking role, and not just one line.
Bryan: I think Tenet on Christmas and Dune in Summer 2021 might be the best call.
My question about Tarantino is does he think he's a good actor, or does he know that he's not and doesn't care?
Matt: He probably doesn't care. Whether he knows it or not is a different story.
Matt:
Can't say for sure, as he's at least smart enough not to give himself major roles, and clearly has a sense for performances in general. I think though it definitely was an ambition for him to be an actor as well, as he even did Broadway during his superstardom phase playing Roat in Wait Until Dark...terrifying...though for the wrong reasons. I think he saw the writing on the wall though and now sort of "steals" parts here and there.
Louis: Would you have preferred to see Steve Buscemi as Jimmie instead of Tarantino in Pulp Fiction? He's technically already in the film.
Louis: is Katherine Waterston still a 3.5 for Inherent Vice and if so could she possibly go up?
*seconds Calvin’s question*
i believe i have once seen an interview in which Tarantino said he was proud of his acting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSdLxx5xds
here it is
Tim: I mean, that's fair enough to him I suppose. He is a bad actor but besides Pulp Fiction (where my main issue is that it almost seemed like he cast himself as the character to be able to say the N-word), I don't really have a big issue with any of his other small roles in films.
am i the only one who thinks that his Performance in Pulp Fiction is so-bad-it's-good? I mean his line delivery is so weird that it is funny.
Especially "You gotta make some PHONE CALLS?! You gotta call some PEOPLE?!"
As someone who revisited "Pulp Fiction" fairly recently, Tarantino is the one part of the acting ensemble that doesn't really work. That said, he's nowhere near as distracting as he was in "Django Unchained", and I'd actually say he's passable when he's reacting off of Harvey Keitel.
I really adore this film, I just can't bring myself to watch the TV series with different characters because I'm like " I want more adventures with Taika, Clement and Brugh"
RatedRStar: I haven't seen the series but apparently they pop up again in smaller capacities.
Tim: it's probably his 'best' performance in his films but I just have issue with the context of him casting himself.
Louis: your thoughts and ratings for Yoshiaki Hanayagi and Kinuyo Tanaka in Sansho the Bailiff? Just watched it and agree with you, incredibly haunting.
Louis: In terms of box-office would it be feasible to delay Dune until February and keep it in Oscars contention.
Ratings/thoughts on James Caviezel and Dennis Quaid in Frequency?
Louis: The filmed version of Hamilton with the original Broadway cast will come out on Disney Plus on July 3rd. Will the cast members be eligible for ratings/reviews, given that a theatrical release was originally planned?
Tahmeed: Yeah, that's a tricky one because they're still stage performances, and there's different things to look for there than on film.
Matt: Well, even if he doesn't review them, I'd love to get to know his thoughts on the musical itself.
I’m excited for it coming out...then realised Hong Kong doesn’t have Disney Plus...
Louis: your thoughts on Girlhood?
I also wanted to say that i really liked Black Coal, Thin Ice but i can fully understand your reservations and i think you would feel the same for The Wild Goose Lake as well. The movie has a disjointed narrative with many flashbacks that are awfully confusing, still the movie is so gorgeous to watch, with a brilliant use of neon lights and there are some creative action sequences.
As for Waiting for the Barbarians, I did love the movie actually and Rylance should be a lock for a review.
Omar: What category would you put Rylance in?
Matt Mustin: Going by the trailer, there's no doubt in my mind he's lead.
We may have covered a question like this before, but out of the oscar's recent acting fields, what would be some performances you guys were most excited to see get in?
For myself, even though I wanted Richard E. Grant to win, I was really thrilled that Sam Elliott was nominated for "A Star is Born". He's been such a reliable supporting presence over his film career, and it was very satisfying to seem him recognized in that manner.
To a lesser degree, I also appreciate the inspired choices made in the best actress category (Ex. Isabelle Huppert in "Elle", Marion Cotillard in "Two Days, One Night", Rooney Mara in "TGWTDT", etc..)
Mitchell: Daniel Kaluuya getting nominated was inspired.
Mitchell: Tom Hardy in The Revenant, I know DiCaprio's supporting players usually do well but he didn't even get a BAFTA nomination.
Matt and Luke: Agreed on both, and the fact that Hardy missed out on a lot of precursors made his nomination all the more satisfactory.
It’s weirdly fitting that Pattinson & Depp are in a film together, as both of them first became known as teenage heartthrobs, and Pattinson is currently in his “auteurs” stage like Depp was for most of the 90s.
Mitchell: Willem Dafoe in At Eternity's Gate for sure. Was rooting for him basically the whole season and he was my choice for Best Actor that year. I was beyond elated to see him get nominated despite only having Golden Globe and BFCA nominations (and some other critic group mentions) backing him.
Matt: Rylance is the leading actor of the movie; Depp is supporting, he’s featured mostly in the first half.
Mitchell: I, of course, went static when Banderas got nominated.
Bryan:
Yes....though if they swapped roles I imagine he would've been a most obnoxious Buddy. I will say I think Django/Hateful Eight is the worst of his work, where it is the most distracting. Although for the latter I think the whole use of the narration was the weakest choice of the entire film, as I think he could've done a flashback purely through visuals (Dario Argento Black Gloved killer type).
RatedRStar:
I'll say I felt the exact same way about What We do in the Shadows...at first...I think what helps is the new crew isn't aping any of the other actors, they're all doing their own different takes on the comic vampire.
Calvin:
Glad to hear you appreciated as well, Kyoko Kagawa's final scene has to be one of the most haunting images put to film honestly.
Hanayagi - 4(Although very much a director's film and in turn leads often are the least served roles, though I'd say he is barely a lead. Hanayagi though is good in his scenes of portraying sort of the state of contentment initially of the corruption of just being part of the system of cruelty. His breaking out of this is effectively done, though Kagawa's work carries it most in my mind, but he is good too in granting the sort of emotional reaction for the change. Although his work becomes of this sort of quiet conviction he too is moving in the scenes of discovering sort of any real justice still coming far too late in many cases.)
Tanaka - 4(Her performance too is quiet moving, albeit brief, in showing still this sort of mother's grace initially in portraying both an overwhelming grief but with this powerful hint of perseverance. She though is especially haunting in her late scenes in portraying sort of the moment of seemingly hopelessness, though with a most earned reaction of just the potential of hope finally.)
Luke:
Based on Villeneuve's other films, I only think it will be a modest success at most anyways (likely to my own chagrin), however I think it could easily do as well there as December. People are surprised when films like Black Panther and Deadpool do well in February, but I'm not. It's not the month, it's the films, usually nothing does well because there's nothing that has the hype, or is worth watching for the grand scale audience. I bet Deadpool 2 would've done far better if it released when the first one did, rather than in the sea of blockbusters. February honestly would be ideal.
Tim:
It's been too long since I've seen it, haven't seen it since I've come out though I remember liking both of them.
Tahmeed:
Yes they're eligible, I'm taking the academy's guideline this year and any and all streaming is up for grabs, as long as it is a film for 2020.
I will say though be warned, I will be taking the cinematic critical eye, and not put "staging" into account. I'm sure for example James Whitmore probably was great to watch on stage in Give Em Hell Harry, on screen less so. But sometimes, particularly for musicals, more theatrical works anyways, so we'll see. I'm looking forward to it either way.
Omar:
Definitely preferred it over Boyhood...
Seriously though I liked it quite a bit. My only real reservation was the acting falls a little bit into sort of amateur shyness that you see with non-professional casts, where there works feels a little timid at times, and you'd wish someone would really "grab" a scene so to speak. Still no one is bad, and you get more of Schiamma's great eye here. She just has a great sense of creating a sense of place, here a very different one then her most recent, though similar in granting you so much detail and vibrancy within it, while also really connecting within the idea of sort of the emotion of the unsaid.
Calvin & Michael:
No regarding Waterston, although I quite like her later scenes her opening scene has far too much of her extremely mannered tendencies, which oddly typically come at the start of her films...except Steve Jobs where that's the whole thing.
hm, too bad, since i am just a sucker for that movie
Tim:
Correction *haven't seen it since its come out*
John Smith:Louis, your thoughts on the ending to Five Easy Pieces. Rewatched the film and hit me like it alway does. I feel it is really honest to the characher of Robert Dupe. You understand why he does it.
Also your top 10 Jim Carrey movies.
Also wonder if you have seen any Mikeal Nyqvist Swedish work. His performances in 'Togheter' and 'As It Is In Heaven' are 5 star performances. Will request him if i win a year (:
John Smith:
The ending is just befitting to Bobby, and is very directly the sort of ending that would suggest 70's Nicholson, which is uncompromising and dares to be unsympathetic.
Carrey movies:
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. The Truman Show
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. The Mask
5. Man on the Moon
6. The Majestic
7. I Love You Philip Morris
8. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
9. The Cable Guy
10. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
I haven't seen any of Nyqvist's Swedish work.
I’ll agree with Emi and Aidan on Banderas and Dafoe. And with Mitchell on Huppert for Elle. Also another one easy to forget is Edward Norton for American History X who missed out on a lot of precursors.
Louis: I think that final shot of hers might be one of my all-time favourite static shots, if I’m honest.
I'm (intentionally) slowly making my way through HBO's Watchmen and I just finished episode 3. Jean Smart's really one of our best actresses, isn't she?
You know, I was thinking about something with Watchmen. Has anyone else thought about how, like the movie, the needle drops are on the nose, yet infinitely more clever?
Robert: Well, there's actually reasons for them in the series.
Robert and Matt: agree with both things you’ve said Mx
By the way, why not, MVP per episode so far.
Episode 1-Don Johnson
Episode 2-Regina King
Episode 3-Jean Smart
Honorable mention to Tim Blake Nelson in all three who's only showing up sporadically but is completely fascinating.
Matt: What do you think of Jeremy Irons so far?
Calvin: I'm very much enjoying him, and I love how the way the show is using him is basically just "And now here's Jeremy Irons for a couple of minutes. And now back to the show!"
I will say they did not do a very good job of hiding who he actually was, although I suspect they weren't really trying to.
Matt: Honestly anyone's who's read the source material, seen the film or have the faintest knowledge about either would probably realise that Irons was born to play the role, so I concur with your assessment.
Well, even just the fact that they tried to keep it a secret in promotional materials really meant that it couldn't have been anybody else.
Calvin: Your rating and thoughts on JGL in 7500.
Luke:
3.5 - (could go up even though he barely has a character to work with in the strictest sense of the word. This isn't really detrimental though as the film's approach is really just that of capturing the immediacy of his emotions in the moment, so to speak, of the hijacking of a plane, and In that regard he's rock solid. He doesn't quite own the film as say, a Jakob Cedergren or Tom Hardy, but he guides it through every step of the way with his strong portrayal of the physical and emotional draining nature of his character's duties. I'm glad to see him back again)
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