The Truman Show (1998)

I saw one of my all-time favorite movies tonight and decided it needed a review.  Here's The Truman Show (1998)!

SYNOPSIS:
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is the star of his own live 24/7 reality TV show... but he doesn't know it.  He's spent every moment from birth in front of hidden cameras - almost 30 years of uninterrupted life broadcast to the world from the largest stage ever constructed (The size of a small country!).  Everyone he's ever known are just actors on the show, playing a scripted role in his life.  But when a "star" falls from the sky (a stage light labeled "Sirius"), Truman starts to notice little details about his seemingly normal life that are off.  And his curiosity gets him to start pressing the boundaries of his small community, intent to uncover the truth behind his life.

REVIEW:
I absolutely love this film!  Mostly because, as a child, I always felt like I was being watched and/or recorded all the time.  I never truly felt alone and wondered if I was being secretly monitored, and I would tailor my behavior for my "audience."  So when I saw this film in jr. high school, it really freaked me out!

This show is supposed to be aired in real time, but a lot of Truman's world felt like a modernized 50s era.  He was married to the perfect housewife who wore conservative dresses and worked as a nurse.  Truman himself was an insurance salesman, walking to his standard day job in the town square every day, briefcase in hand.  He and his best buddy would hang out, hitting golf balls, drinking a six-pack of beer, and shooting the shit late into the night.

Everything about Truman's life was custom-tailored to be the perfect drama show.  His life was allowed to continue on like anyone else's, but there were details and scenarios added here and there to provide some entertainment to viewers.  And of course, his overall path in life was very controlled.  His town is on an island and he was made to fear water from a young age so he'd never attempt to leave.  His love life was all staged for him, and when he attempts to pursue another potential love interest, the show is quick to "course-correct" Truman and push him back toward their planned path for him.

This film also cuts to various "real people" watching The Truman Show broadcast from their home/work/etc. so you get a small glimpse at the fan base behind the show.  It provides some interesting context to the reality show, as you see how emotionally invested people are with the life of Truman.  It's one thing to imagine him always on camera, but to see others watching him with bated breath shows you how captivating the seemingly ordinary life of a man can be.  It's a fascinating look in the mirror at our own obsession with reality TV programs today.

I'm intrigued by the concept of a man living his entire life in an artificial environment, unaware that everyone and everything is there just for him.  It's interesting from a psychological point of view; both in how he's raised to trust in his environment and how he's "trained" to behave in predicable ways.  And how far he'll go to uncover the truth.  I can only imagine what his life would be like outside his safe little haven.  If he discovers the truth about his life, you'd imagine he'd be paranoid for the rest of his life, sure that there are multiple layers to his captivity.  I'd imagine a man like him would live out the rest of his life a hermit, intent on avoiding the spotlight ever again.

Jim Carrey is famously known for his comedy roles and his "rubber face" routine, but this is my absolute favorite film of his, mostly because it's so genuine.  Some interesting trivia for you: despite his skill at physical comedy, it was always Jim Carrey's dream to be a drama actor.  He used comedy to get into the acting business, but once there, he discovered he was type-cast.  He fought tooth and nail to get drama roles, and succeeded in a few of them (The Number 23, The Majestic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc.).  But Hollywood demanded more comedy out of him, so he stopped getting bigger roles for a while.  Lately, he's resigned himself to doing what he's best known for, and has started making comedy films again.  But I will always remember him for his excellent portrayal as Truman.

RECOMMENDATION:
I can't recommend this film enough!  It's definitely in my top 5 films.  The musical score perfectly suits the drama theme of the film (which is a plot point, where they have a live keyboardist playing dramatic music on the spot as required for specific moments in Truman's life).  The pacing of the film is excellent, allowing you to discover the world both in The Truman Show and outside of it while Truman explores his own little world on the show.  I can't help but be emotionally invested in Truman by the end of the film.  I find myself fighting tears alongside the viewers of his show, as Truman desperately struggles to overcome the obstacles that the producer of the show throws in his way, preventing him from leaving his home.  If you've never seen this film, go check it out now!

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Happy Valentine's Day!  While some are out doing lovely things with their significant others, I'm taking my wife out to see Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) in theaters!  How romantic! 🥰

SYNOPSIS:
Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz), blessed with the power of incredible speed, finds himself stranded on Earth and forced to live in solitude.  But when his electric powers accidentally knock out the power across the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. government sends their top scientific genius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), to investigate.  Teaming up with a local small town cop (James Marsden), Sonic must find a way to escape the evil doctor who is hell-bent on stealing Sonic's power for his own mad schemes.

REVIEW:
- PROLOGUE: The Fandom
As you may know, I'm an a MASSIVE Sonic the Hedgehog fan.  I've been a loyal fan of the franchise since my 9th birthday (almost 27 years ago), when I received a SEGA Game Gear with Sonic 2.  Since then, I've played all the main games, watched all 7 (yes, SEVEN!) cartoon series over and over, and I've collected every single issue of the American comic book series, including all the variant covers released (a whopping 809 comics as of today!).  I rebuilt my personal website (http://cobysev.net) about a decade ago to be a visual display of all the official Sonic comics, and it has earned me a small bit of fame within the Sonic fan community.

- The Disaster
So getting to see Sonic on the big screen was like a dream come true!  This movie has been in and out of development hell for about 7 years now, and for the longest time, it looked like it would never be made.  And then, when the film was officially announced, they released this atrocity of a trailer:

It was absolutely frightening!  What is this abomination?!  I was nervous when they first announced that Paramount, of all studios, would be making this film.  But this first trailer cinched it.  It looked like the film was doomed.

But fortunately, the director heard overwhelming feedback and made this announcement on Twitter:

Pushing back its release date 3 months, the studio got to work redesigning the look of Sonic.  Fortunately, the only completed graphics were the ones shown in the trailer, so there wasn't too much work to be done.  It only cost an estimated $5 million more to fix.

- The Return to Glory
Paramount Studios asked Tyson Hesse, one of the more well-known modern-day artists who worked on the comics and the Sonic Mania game trailers, to help them redesign the movie look for Sonic. Then, three months ago, Paramount Studios released a new trailer with a much-improved look:

It looked like the film would be saved!  No more uncanny valley with the creepy Sonic thing; this Sonic looked just like his movie/comic counterparts.  The entire Sonic fan community went from boycotting the film to anxiously awaiting its release!  But will a simple design change save the film..?

- The Film Itself (Actual review)
Amazingly, this film turned out pretty good!  It's a stand-alone story, retconning previous Sonic lore and introducing its own take on the character.  Sonic is typically characterized as a confident, cocky, and popular character, but this Sonic, while still loud and proud, was actually very lonely.  He's spent years stalking people in the town of Green Hills, unable to show himself but not wanting to live by himself.  He talks to himself a lot, since he's had no one else to talk to, and having a single friend is one of the more important things to him in his life.  It's actually kind of a sad take on the character.

Sonic is also not a hero in this version; at least, not initially.  He hasn't spent his life fighting Robotnik like other versions.  He's never been in a situation where he can be a hero.  He's just attempting to survive on his own.  So when confrontation strikes, he's more likely to run away and hide than confront it, and he spends most of the movie just trying to escape from Robotnik instead of fighting him.  He is pushed to his limits by the nefarious villain before finding the strength to stand up and fight back.

Jim Carrey hams it up for the role of Dr. Robotnik, channeling his earlier comedy roles á la Ace Ventura/The Mask to bring you an energetic and eccentric evil scientist.  He made an obnoxious genius, bemoaning the idiocy of everyone else in the world while bragging about his own intellect to anyone who would listen.  It's never explicitly mentioned how smart he is, but in the Sonic franchise's canon, he holds an IQ of 300.  And I loved his sidekick, Agent Stone!  He's a unique character to this film, but he did a great job giving Jim Carrey someone to channel his character through.  And he took the (verbal and physical) punches like a champ.

The final visual effects were fine for this film.  Sonic didn't look so realistic that you could reach out and touch him, but at the same time, he blended in with the real world well enough that it didn't feel like actors talking to a cartoon character.  The idea of separating his eyes was a huge point of contention between SEGA and Paramount.  The original creators of the franchise fought to keep his appearance the same as his game counterpart, but the film director felt that he couldn't create a real-world version of Sonic with one giant eye and two pupils.  Right. Because a giant, talking, anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who runs at supersonic speeds and eats chili-dogs is totally realistic.  Tyson Hesse found an acceptable middle-ground, where his eyes are separated but, at a glance, still look like the original SEGA character's design.

RECOMMENDATION:
Overall, the plot was pretty straight-forward, predictable at points, and didn't take any huge risks.  I don't want to say too much more about the story for fear of spoiling anything, but I'll just say it was pretty good for an origin story.  As long as there are sequels, this film is perfectly fine as an intro to the live-action franchise.  And it's set up for future sequels; if you stay for the credits, there is a mid-credits scene you don't want to miss!

This is a great film for all ages.  Kids will enjoy it.  I enjoyed it.  Heck, my wife laughed harder at a few scenes than I've ever seen her laugh in a theater before (despite the fact that her overall impression of the film is, "meh.")  I'd recommend this film to anyone!

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Two reviews in two days?  What is this, a movie marathon or something? 😛 My wife and I saw Jojo Rabbit (2019) tonight, and it was so good, I decided you all had to know about it!

SYNOPSIS:
In the midst of WWII, a 10-year old Aryan German boy, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is absolutely enraptured by the Nazi party.  He attends a Hitler Youth group in his village and wants nothing more than to be conscripted and go fight against the Allies in the war.  He even has an imaginary Hitler friend (Taika Waititi) who gives him advice and encourages his blind nationalism.  But when he discovers a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding in the walls of his home, his beliefs are challenged.  Should he do the "right thing" and turn her in, potentially risking his and his mother's (Scarlett Johansson) necks for being associated with her, or should he keep her a secret in order to preserve the safety of his home?

REVIEW:
The trailer for this film makes it out to be a goofy comedy, with a borderline flamboyant imaginary Hitler playing with a young Nazi boy in the woods.  But without any more context, I couldn't really tell what this film was supposed to be about.  I figured, if nothing else, it would be a silly escape for an hour and a half.

After watching it, I realize it's WWII satire, which takes a bright and optimistic youth, bred to be blindly patriotic to his country, and presents him with the reality of war.  It started out humorous, but as the veil of reality was lifted, it started to get more serious and dramatic.  I found myself fighting tears in a couple places; it hit on the horror of war pretty hard in a few spots (without the blood and gore of more adult films).  It was brilliantly written to show the development of a young and curious mind, desperately defending his own biases while also trying to learn more about his "enemy."  And learning that perhaps there's more to other people than he's been taught.

I love that the Jewish girl doesn't deny any of the supernatural claims Jojo makes about her "race."  Rather, she encourages the beliefs and willingly shares more horrors of her people for Jojo to learn.  As time goes on, Jojo has to rationalize for himself just how true her tales are.  Which was an interesting way to develop their relationship.  If she had straight-out denied the claims of "Jewish mind-reading," "blood-sucking," etc., it would've just kept Jojo at a fearful distance.  But by encouraging his biases and being willing to share more juicy details, it fascinated him enough to draw him in, giving him a chance to learn more about her.

I also love that the director, Taika Waititi, insisted on playing Hitler himself.  Because he's Jewish, so he considered it the ultimate "fuck you" to Hitler to play a silly, almost effeminate version of him.  And he pulls it off.  Hitler's known as the serious, hard-charging type, always yelling about something-or-other, so seeing a softer, sweeter, more understanding Hitler was hilarious.  I couldn't help but chuckle every time I saw Hitler on screen.  Even if he wasn't the focus of the scene, he was still doing something ridiculous in the background.  Easily the best part of the comedy side of this film!

RECOMMENDATION:
This was a beautiful masterpiece, telling the horrors of war through the eyes of a 10-year old child.  If your children are old enough to learn about WWII, I would highly recommend this film to introduce them to life on the "other side."  It's perfect for showing you how blind pride in your nation can distract you from the reality of what's happening behind the scenes.  It promotes critical thinking, encouraging you to question everything and not just accept what's told to you.  And it advocates empathy by showing a young boy meeting his sworn enemy up close and taking the time to learn about her.  And like I said earlier, there's no gore or explicit violence, so it's easily digestible for a younger mind.  But regardless of age, this is a film that should be watched by everyone!

Knives Out (2019)

This morning, my wife and I enjoyed the film Knives Out (2019) so much, my wife suggested we immediately re-watch it.  So I figured it was worth a review:

SYNOPSIS:
A renowned crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in the attic of his gorgeous estate the night after his 85th birthday party, apparently by suicide. But the famous Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is hired by an anonymous donor to review the case and scrutinize Harlan's family and hired help, and it appears that Harlan's death may not be as simple as it first appears...

REVIEW:
At first, I expected this to be a modern-day Clue/Sherlock Holmes/Hercule Poirot type mystery.  A crime is committed, the entire family is suspect, and eventually the truth is weeded out through evidence and clues pieced together throughout the film.  But this film went down a different path, instead showing you clips of what actually happened, followed by each character's lie about how it happened.  Early on, you learn probably 90% of the crime, but that missing 10%, that "hole in the donut," as Benoit Blanc put it, keeps you on your toes, waiting for a twist that will turn the whole story on its head.

I also found it interesting that a murder-mystery author ends up the victim of his own murder mystery.  Very fitting end for a man fascinated with the genre.  It spun a web of theories in my head early on, wondering if his experience as a crime novelist was somehow tied in to his death.  Was it actually suicide?  Was it a planned murder?  Was it a red herring meant to distract from another crime?  It added a layer to the mystery that kept me second-guessing every bit of obvious evidence thrust in my face throughout the film.

Daniel Craig, an English-born actor, did an excellent job pulling off an American southern drawl throughout this film, which was a little unexpected considering his character's name is very French.  His detective character loved to wax poetic and had beautifully descriptive imagery in his words.  I enjoyed listening to him talk.  However, I personally felt that his role wasn't as grand as I had originally hyped him up to be.  Maybe I was expecting this brilliant Sherlock Holmes type, but he felt more like a guy who managed to stumble across the right evidence as circumstance allowed it.  He was only perceptive when the plot needed him to be; the rest of the time, he's just going along with the police investigation and providing random insight.  Perhaps it's because they didn't show his thought process very well, so when he just announced a correct deduction, it was just taken as fact without any solid evidence.  Heck, he even makes a comment about that while giving his masterful deduction at the very end; that they don't have a shred of evidence and it's all just his word against others.  Perhaps you're expected to be distracted by his smooth talking enough to not really question him.  He is, after all, a famous detective, so we hold out hope that he knows what he's doing and all will be explained by the end.

Still, it was an excellent film that kept you guessing up until the end.  You think you have it figured out (after all, they showed you earlier what happened), then a twist to the plot appears, adding confusion and misdirection from the story you thought you already knew.  The mystery wasn't necessarily in what happened, but why all the players behaved the way they did and lied, and how it all ties into the mysterious death.  A few times, I noticed my wife putting down her phone, which is rare while watching movies, so that should tell you how captivating it was.

RECOMMENDATION:
This film was so successful in theaters that a sequel has already been greenlit, and there's talk about turning Detective Benoit Blanc into a murder mystery film franchise.  I'm really happy about that; it's been a long time since we've had a good modern detective story and I look forward to watching more.  This film was unique enough in its take on detective stories that it kept my interest.  Normally you get sucked into that formula for mystery films and you spend the film trying to guess the actual killer, but this film found a way to breathe new life into the tired old mystery trope.  I'd recommend seeing this film, and then set a reminder to go see its sequel when it's released in the next year or two!