What I Watched: November 2023

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Kicked off the month with an absolute sucker punch. I was unfamiliar with the viral internet videos of Marcel the Shell so was unsure what I would get going into this. I did not expect to have my heart ripped out of my chest and trampled by a shell wearing such stylish shoes. This film is one of the best visual representations of the grief I have seen in cinema. The documentary style works perfectly, allowing the viewer to connect with Marcel and his grandma and really get to see the details of their relationship. B just spending time following a loose plot, time can be paid to the intricacies of human (and shell) relationships and how they change. A very powerful piece of filmmaking.

4.5/5

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus

Michael Cera puts in a unbearably strong performance as an unlikeable, self-absorbed, insecure asshole. His performance makes this film so overwhelmingly cringey at times and his conflicts with Crystal Fairy had me hiding behind my hands I was so uncomfortable. The majority of the film goes like this, until the ultimate goal of the story is achieved, and a complete character transformation occurs. Symbolic of the eye-opening nature of the hallucinogenic cactus they are hunting for, the effects transform Jamie and his realisation of how terrible he has been this whole time. The time of them tripping is excellent and surprisingly warm and uplifting, considering how unbearable the characters had been up to that point. All in all, a lovely little film.

3/5

Bottoms

This was one of my most anticipated films this year, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I loved Shiva Baby so was unbelievably excited to see Rachel Sennot and Emma Seligman collaborate again. I was not disappointed at all. This film is hilarious. Rachel Sennot and Ayo Edeberiri have incredible chemistry and hilarious delivery of lines. The absurdity is dialled up to the max here, elevating it above a standard high school comedy. The concept of the film is so funny already that by leaning into the ridiculousness, Seligman delivers one of the funniest films in recent times I can think of. The jokes come a mile a minute and from all characters. Even the moral arc of the characters is dealt with in a jokey manner. The final battle scene is truly a work of art. Bonus points for the Charli XCX soundtrack.

4.5/5

Fantastic Mr Fox

What a fantastic film. Anderson’s first foray into animated work with source material that was a match made in heaven. Anderson utilises the medium to its fullest effect, creating a lush, lived in world with weird character designs and even weirder dialogue. But, it all works, the whimsical score, the oddly human animals and the even odder human designs suit the direction Anderson takes the story. This is a film jam packed with Quotables and such beautiful attention to the characters. The way the fur bristles in the wind, the always funny swirly eyes and the recording of audio mimicking scenes just makes it impossible not to love this movie. This is jam packed with heart and I could not love it more.

5/5

The Killer

I really wanted to love this coming into this movie, but sadly I left slightly underwhelmed. Maybe I set the standards too high with this being a Fincher film, but this just felt very by the numbers. This is a story I have seen told countless times. Do not get me wrong, Fincher does a fantastic job of telling this story and I was engaged the entire time, I just wanted a little bit more. The Smiths soundtrack was a fun little inclusion that I really enjoyed every time it came on, but everything else let formulaic. Having done some reading on this post watch, I understand that this was intentional and a commentary on his filmography, but the film being an inside joke does not make it more enjoyable.

3.5/5

Reservoir Dogs

Tarantino sure knows how to make a movie. After watching The Killer, I was craving a fresh take on an established tale. A heist gone wrong is a story that has been told a million times, you’d be had pressed to find someone who has not seen a version of the story. Tarantino subverts the expectation of the audience by drip feeding information through a non-linear story. With each seemingly random scene, the audience learns new context that creates tension and provides more context to scenes that have just been witnesses. The practically single set traps the audience in this scenario with the characters and heightens the already palpable anxiety in this situation. Such a simple story, masterfully told, it is hard to believe this a feature length debut.

4.5/5

Napoleon

The less said about this snooze fest the better. I had very low expectations going into this and somehow, I was still disappointed. Three hours of film and the only thing I felt by the end was confused. Who was this film made for? It was not historically accurate; it was sort of funny but also tried to be very serious? The tone makes no sense. Three hours of footage and it somehow felt both rushed and dragged out. The editing style was jarring, and the performances did not sell it for me, it was a weird choice to have everyone British apart from one American. The battle scenes were grand but for a great battle mind there were very few warfare scenes. Save yourself the time and just watch the trailer, all the best shots are in there anyway.

2/5

Saltburn

Finally, potentially my biggest disappointment of 2023. I went into this film with such high expectations. I love Barry Keoghan and had heard great things about Emerald Fennel. The extended cast and plot only added to my anticipation and the trailers fully reeled me in. Unfortunately, this film did not fully deliver. I will start with what I liked about this film as, despite my disappointment, there was still plenty to like. This film looks gorgeous, the aspect ratio perfectly frames the shots, really highlighting the grandeur of both Oxford and the Saltburn estate. The camerawork is astounding and the sets so wonderfully astounding it is hard not to get sucked into this world. The performances are all wonderful (minus a dodgy accent from Barry), Jacob Elordi perfectly embodies his character and really steals the show. The story starts of really promising but really falls apart in the final third. This film would be far better served remaining as an erotic thriller. There is a brilliant story in here somewhere, but this film tries to spin too many plates without really succeeding on any front. A film of this nature with such ridiculous characters and the dynamic between the two leads simply cannot not be a class commentary on the upper class in this country. This film seems happy to frame the family as simply out of touch in a silly way, rather than the sinister undertones that clearly exist. Pamela’s treatment is essential to the plot but treated almost as a joke and there is a fumbled and slightly uncomfortable attempt to address race in the story. I really wish the class dynamic was explored more rather than the option Fennel takes to gawk at the extravagance of the upper class.

The murder mystery story really did not work for me. The film straddles this line between erotic thriller and murder mystery and takes the easy way out by choosing to focus on the latter. It becomes boring and formulaic, turning an interesting dynamic into a dull and frankly ridiculous, unearned conclusion. The twist is the most obvious thing going and really ruins what was a promising story. I was far more interested in the dynamic between Oliver and Felix.

I cannot discuss this film without the hype surrounding the outrageousness certain scenes. I must say, I was underwhelmed. This film is nowhere near as scandalous as it thinks it is. There are three scenes that come to mind, and they really disappoint. The only one that had the desired impact on me was the bathwater one because it makes sense to the context. At that time, Oliver is displayed as obsessed with Felix and unable to control himself around him. So, his action there make sense and contribute to developing the story. The other two are cringeworthy and not in the desired way. The line ‘good thing I am a vampire’ sounds like it could have come from a teenager’s fan fiction and the grave scene goes on for far too long and makes no sense at that stage of the story. These two scenes felt forced to give this film some buzz and ultimately are detrimental to my overall perception of the film.

Overall, a very frustrating film, one that has an engaging story within it, but suffers badly from misdirection and a desire to do too many things.

3/5