Film Reviews - Ant-Man and Carol
Jan. 3rd, 2016 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatGot dinner in later than intended and its taking longer than I thought, salmon and aspergus, over greens, cucumber, daikon radish. (I'm splitting it in half, for tomorrow's lunch. And if there's enough maybe Tuesday's as well. Grand Central and Madison Avenue have things to buy for lunch, but they are pricey.)
Saw two more movies this weekend:
1. Ant-Man starring Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Paul Rudd, and John Slattery in a tiny role. The casting in these series is pretty good. Also this Marvel action drama, unlike various others, focused on the characters. Lots of juicy character development/back story - with the main focus on the father/daughter relationship, as opposed to father/son, which was there but not a focal point. It also gave us both of Marvel's ant-men, Hank Pym, the scientist who created the character and formula, and the new ant-man, Scott Rudnick, the thief, who Pym trains. They stuck close to the comic book back story here. We even got Janet, the Wasp, tragic demise explained. The villain was silly, but also developed. Overall - fun action flick, with lots of insightful science on ants.
Made me appreciate the ants. Ant-Man is a rather cool, lesser known superhero. He was also a founding member of the Avengers.
2. Carol directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett, Ronna Mooney, Kyle Chandler, and Sara Paulson. I found it hard to get into. Beautifully filmed, but poorly written. No real dialogue to speak of. And I felt as if I was watching the characters from a distance, an issue I often have with Todd Haynes films. Also, you know there's a problem when Sara Paulson (Abby) and Kyle Chandler (Arch) are the most sympathetic and relatable characters and they really aren't supposed to be.
Both Carol (Blanchett) and Therese (Mooney) are beautiful but cold and sort of wishy-washy. I found it difficult to care what happened to them, and as a result, had troubles sticking with the movie.
It reminded me a little of Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides - in that the director is more interested in moody atmosphere and pretty visuals than dialogue or putting the viewer inside the characters. We are always held at a distance...looking through a plate glass window at them.
So, of the two, I enjoyed Ant-Man more, oddly. It had better dialogue and character development.
Saw two more movies this weekend:
1. Ant-Man starring Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Paul Rudd, and John Slattery in a tiny role. The casting in these series is pretty good. Also this Marvel action drama, unlike various others, focused on the characters. Lots of juicy character development/back story - with the main focus on the father/daughter relationship, as opposed to father/son, which was there but not a focal point. It also gave us both of Marvel's ant-men, Hank Pym, the scientist who created the character and formula, and the new ant-man, Scott Rudnick, the thief, who Pym trains. They stuck close to the comic book back story here. We even got Janet, the Wasp, tragic demise explained. The villain was silly, but also developed. Overall - fun action flick, with lots of insightful science on ants.
Made me appreciate the ants. Ant-Man is a rather cool, lesser known superhero. He was also a founding member of the Avengers.
2. Carol directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett, Ronna Mooney, Kyle Chandler, and Sara Paulson. I found it hard to get into. Beautifully filmed, but poorly written. No real dialogue to speak of. And I felt as if I was watching the characters from a distance, an issue I often have with Todd Haynes films. Also, you know there's a problem when Sara Paulson (Abby) and Kyle Chandler (Arch) are the most sympathetic and relatable characters and they really aren't supposed to be.
Both Carol (Blanchett) and Therese (Mooney) are beautiful but cold and sort of wishy-washy. I found it difficult to care what happened to them, and as a result, had troubles sticking with the movie.
It reminded me a little of Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides - in that the director is more interested in moody atmosphere and pretty visuals than dialogue or putting the viewer inside the characters. We are always held at a distance...looking through a plate glass window at them.
So, of the two, I enjoyed Ant-Man more, oddly. It had better dialogue and character development.