Dallas Fisher

    Movie Reviews and More

    • TCFF Day 1: Hamnet

      This year was my first time receiving a media pass for the Twin Cities Film Fest, so I was at an all time high in my movie going brain. I was going to be able to bring my fiancé with me, we were meeting up with other members of the critics association before the opening night screening, and we were then going to attend said screening (Hamnet) six weeks before the general public would have the chance to see it. Before any of this could happen, I had to pick up my media ticket that was saved under my name in the ticket office. Upon receiving my ticket I read that I was seated in seat A5. A5!? I hadn’t sat in the front row for a movie since Mockingjay part 2, and that was only because seats were not yet assigned and I arrived too late for the midnight premiere.

      Obviously I wasn’t too thrilled to have been put that close, especially since I had purchased a ticket in a better row for my fiance. Nonetheless, I was still excited to be one of the first few people in the country to see this film. I found my seat right under the screen, and luckily I wasn’t the only critic to be sat that close. The showtime had come and gone, 7:15 became 7:30. I never expect festival screenings to happen right on time, but I also wasn’t in the mindset to see a flash mob dance to unlicensed music that had nothing to do with the film. After a few other speakers we were finally at showtime.

      Hamnet is the story of the Shakespheare’s, more specifically the time around the death of the title character and only son. My relationship with Shakespheare’s work is what I would call non-existent. I understand his themes of tragedy, love, and exploration of what it is to be human, but what I’ve never understood is the purpose of just saying his famous lines in a movie for the sake of having the lines there. At times this made it very obvious that this was in the Shakespearean universe, and at others it made changes or purposely avoided saying names of characters to confuse you out of the story. I know this is adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel of the same name, so things were either changed on purpose for artistic freedom or pulled from historical works. Either way, those little aspects of how the story was told bothered me to an finite amount.

      Removing the issues I had with some of the ways this story was told, I found a lot of it to be quite extraordinary. Chloé Zhao puts forth her best looking and most potent love story. It’s once again impossible not to fall in love with Jessice Buckley and everything she brings to the screen. Her acting is clearly the most important of her career and it buckles you with every turn of the knife. While I can’t say I had 100% empathy for what her character goes through, you’d be remiss if the way she screams through grief doesn’t pierce your heart a million times. Paul Mescal barely needed to do anything to captivate the entire audience even when he wasn’t the only one who was begging for your attention. His and Jessie’s on screen presence makes for the most romantic outing of the year with a story full of young love and heartache.

      Most of Hamnet feels like a period piece that isn’t quite past being anything more than that, it does still have its grand moments and heroic themes though. The actors all do an incredible job at portraying every emotion necessary while the set design should go down in history as one of the best ever. It’s quite possible that my disdain and general uninterest in children muddled the impact of the emotion, or maybe it was my perspective of the screen. Either way this leads to the most competent and breathtaking finale of the year where its smarts are shown off in a profound way that catches you off guard. I shall expect to see a ton of Hament during awards season where I will be rooting for individuals but not the whole.

      7.4/10 for the movie, 6/10 for the start of the fest. We can only go up (the auditorium) from here.

    • After the Hunt

      Luca, Luca, Luca…..

      I’ve sat on this movie for almost three weeks now, so let’s see what thoughts I can get out.

      I never know if I should explain a movie in my reviews because if you’re reading this, I assume you know who’s in it, who made it, and what it’s about. Anywho, After the Hunt stars Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri. It is directed by Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Suspiria, Call Me by Your Name). In typical nature, Luca directs a world filled with life-like relationships but somehow still handles things in the most Hollywood of ways. This film sees a college professor at odds with multiple close relationships amidst a dark accusation.

      The truth of the matter is, this movie has a lot to unpack when it really shouldn’t. The seriousness of the situations are heightened by their nature and then completely forgotten about by dinner. No evidence is revealed, truth is left in the shadows, and performance optics are more the focus than the substance. Trying to say a whole lot is great, but only when it leads to anything of note. Just because topics are important, doesn’t mean they make for anything thoughtful.

      The conversations between characters are oozing desperation. Every single performance felt disconnected from the other actors and the audience. They certainly paint a picture with their performances and words, but it drones on and on until it ends. Intimate shots of characters’ hands were supposed to portray what exactly? I’m not sure, but this could be the start of wikiHands. Once it pulls back from their digits, we get pretty well off performances that work better as a singularity. It does suck when Ayo is used as a baby instead of someone with a naive innocence, while Garner and Garfield give it their all without giving something that will last. The only stand out fragment of this film is Michael Stuhlbarg’s on screen fallout where he is saying everything I wanted to say to these fictional characters.

      I am sorry if this “review” is all over the place and couldn’t hone in for more than a sentence or two, I’m just basing my writing on how this movie was handled. Certain aspects of this are alarming and instead of feeling intimate feelings towards them, I was mostly unfazed. Luca makes a movie with some superb faces, but it felt like I was in a classroom with a great teacher and still couldn’t wait for the school day to end.

      Tick Tock

      4.2/10

    • A House of Dynamite

      Kathryn Bigelow is the master of political thrillers and it’s a shame it took almost a decade and a half to get another good one out of her.

      A House of Dynamite pits the president, journalists and everyone in between against a rogue nuke on its way to the United States, and that’s what makes this the scariest movie of the year. Not only is it too realistic for our own good, it’s laid out in a way that you can’t dare look away. Bigelow takes what could be considered boring, phone calls and Zoom meetings, and turns them into the most interesting spectacles of the year. This movie is absolutely the most engaging, edge of your seat thriller you will see for a long time.

      This plays out more like a three part mini-series than it does a movie, and that’s mostly for its benefit. Each segment is equally as gripping as the last even as it shows the same beats play out, just from a more specified angle. Choices are made that order you to pay attention to it beyond the film. Even at two hours with a repetitive nature, it moves quicker than most. It’s strategic in showing, or not showing, dilemmas that countdown towards a destructive ending.

      The acting from everyone involved is nuclear and decapitating, with the reality of these situations lifted to unbelievable heights. Some of my favorite performances of the year fill this movie, but they will never be spoken about because of their short lived status. Every performance builds tension with a taste in that air that can only be described as palpable. Rebecca Ferguson is a force, Jared Harris and Tracy Letts are demanding, and Anthony Ramos is finally likeable.

      Saying all these positives leads me to the most unfortunate aspect of it, the “ending”. Make sure you don’t look at your watch to know when it’s coming, because honestly it’s still nice to know what is coming, without knowing exactly when. It’s almost like the writer (Noah Oppenheim) wanted this to be a cliffhanger for a second season of a show we are never going to get. Instead, we get something that isn’t satisfying, nor complete. If the final few moments matched the rest of the film, we would be talking about one of the movies of the year.

      Brace yourself, catch your breath, and make sure you have the knees when this comes on your radar.

      8/10

    • John Candy: I Like Me

      Since this is my first time reviewing a documentary, I do have to preface it by saying I normally don’t watch, or even like, documentaries. That being said, John Candy: I Like Me is a touching, hilarious, and somber look at the life of an all time great human. As most documentaries do, this contains talking heads and old footage, and it does those aspects about as well as anyone else. It was definitely helpful that this included some all time great actors, who also happened to be friends, to distract you from some inconsistent story telling.

      As a long time movie fan who wasn’t too familiar with Candy’s human career, or film career really, this is about as informational as it gets. There’s so much to be learned about the short life of Candy, without getting too deep in the woods. It gracefully touches on his family life and it was so sweet to see said family telling stories from their own experiences. He was not only a comedian, but a family man with a tragic past that he wasn’t trying to repeat.

      Being that movie fan, I was elated every time an old co-star of Johns came on screen. Whether it was Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, or Catherine O’Hara, every word out of their mouths showed his true character and that he had chemistry with everyone he ever encountered. So much old footage brags about his grand and joyful presence. That footage also showed how much weight he carried, literally and physically. Seeing all this footage felt like a constant slap in the face because of its emotional abundance, for the first time a slap in the face wasn’t a bad thing. It made you feel like you were living through his personal emotions throughout his limited career and life.

      I loved seeing all the locations of movie sets he was on, his at home videos, and old interviews with Candy himself. At points it felt like these were all stories that I could have looked up on my own, but it was nice to see them all in one convenient place. His craft was perfect and this had me itching at the bit to go back for multiple watches of movies I missed. John Candy was truly one of a kind and they do him enough justice with this doc. Have your tissues ready.

      7/10

    • The Smashing Machine

      You would think a real wrestler acting in a combat sport movie would make for some exciting fight scenes, right?

      The Smashing Machine, the newest in the line of biopics about fighters that have been addicted to drugs and yelling at their spouse. You get an abundance of both of those things in this rendition, but not done in the most exciting of ways. The MMA part is super interesting on the surface, because it’s showing how today’s UFC started. Not only does it barely touch on that, it also fails to make the fights have any visual or inspirational impact. Benny Safdie’s direction leads you to believe you are watching the fakest of fights, the sound design didn’t do it any justice either. All of this is a huge failure, as you have a real life wrestler as your lead and his existence is wasted in a role perfectly suited for him.

      Speaking of, Dwayne Johnson plays Mark Kerr who is the MMA fighter at hand. He’s large and no longer in charge, in the ring or at home. Johnson has been getting tons of praise for his transformation and I will say he does transform, sort of. He has a new hair piece, teeth, and tons of prosthetics on his face to make him look just a little bit less like The Rock. Plus, his voice and manurisms are basically the exact same. So, I personally don’t understand the praise. He feels and looks super unnatural even if he is naturally funny for what he slightly has to do here.

      His counterpoint in the story is played by Emily Blunt. Now, going in I was under the impression her performance as Dawn was going to at least get her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. The entire runtime I was waiting for her to do anything that wasn’t your typical “girlfriend in a biopic” thing, but that time never came. She looks good, she cries, she yells, then she’s gone. Sorry to say, this was one of my least favorite performances of hers and the most disappointing for one that had so much hype. Johnson and Blunt together were also missing everything that made for an entertaining relationship drama. They were stale and it probably isn’t their fault as the writing for their scenes together was basic beyond belief.

      This is a strange movie where it couldn’t seem to get one thing completely right. Nothing was stuck with long enough to add tension or enthusiasm. The direction, while intentional, added an effect that was offputting but the costume design is the only high praise I can give this movie. For a movie about fists, it never hits and I was fighting to not leave the theater.

      P.S.

      As far as biopics and their enings showing the real people go, this might be the worst of them all.

      4.7/10

    • The Lost Bus

      Paul Greengrass perfected a genre in directing with what he did on a few of the Bourne films. Bringing that same style to a movie where a bus driver is operating a vehicle while talking on the phone doesn’t quite hit on the same level. Now listen, The Lost Bus absolutely has its place in front of the right audience. I might not be that audience.

      Matthew McConaughey came out of a 5+ year leading man retirement to act against a cell phone, that is the most disappointing aspect of this entire project. You had two pretty great actors in Matthew and his cohort America Ferrera, but neither one of them got the opportunity to do much outside of those phone calls and shooing faceless children along. As you can tell, I don’t like movies where the main character is on the phone for a majority of their screen time. Maybe this story just wasn’t meant to be told in this format, because drama and disaster are shoved to the side in an attempt to give big names for screen time.

      Aside from the acting from our leads, this movie is a disaster movie that repeatedly hits you over the head with tragedy. A lot of the runtime it’s things that do little to nothing to move the plot forward or to give our leads exposition. It’s more of a trauma dump than anything. Dialogue is too explanatory and over the top C-level acting from the surrounding cast fills the air. I’m glad both sides are portrayed, but the responsibility of everyone involved is muddled with movie logic (especially with the kids) that made me want to step into the fires instead of away from them.

      Circling back to Mr. Greengrass. His direction was all over the place. On the positives, some choices made this feel like a found footage film that brings you into the realism of the situations. If a camera crew was on site for this type of disaster, I’d be more invested in the stakes. His camera movements also made it feel like a zombie war film, which did not fit the vibes. There were shots that felt stolen or unfinished, all while some POV shots reminded me of the black smoke from LOST, and all of that resulted in more of a comedic effect.

      Suffocating nightmarish situations are absolutely portrayed here, but they felt more like fiction in a non fiction world with the intermediate levels of acting and direction.

      5/10

    • One Battle After Another

      In a world where resistance and the idea of a revolution is more prevalent than ever, One Battle After Another is a movie that solidifies PTA as a mainstay in the fight for film supremacy.

      Speaking of a revolution, there will need to be a new one started against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if Sean Penn does not win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His nasty, yet brilliant work as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in this movie is the best acting to come from this man’s mind and body in his entire career, and maybe anyone’s career. As a painfully menacing force, Penn forces you to look around every corner whether he is on screen or not. Penn does not work in this film if he didn’t have the scope of PTA’s vision or the other fantastic players to bounce off of though, so let’s get to them.

      If Penn wasn’t in this, we would exclusively be talking about Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob. Channeling his inner Jeff Lebowski, Leo turns in a performance that only expands on his role as Rick Dalton from the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood trailer scene. Bringing almost a laugh per minute, he brings levity to a pretty serious role as a father figure doing everything he can to protect his daughter. Said daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) turns in a child performance that is far from the annoyance that she could have been. Can you even call this a child performance when she’s 25 in real life though? Either way, the multiple layers of her performance are not to be ignored. Benicio Del Toro and Teyana Taylor only bring those layers deeper and deeper to add an uncontrolled electricity to every scene. Regina Hall is in this movie too, sorry I’m not saying more, I wish you did more <3.

      Many things are clear within this and that includes showing off that not only is PTA a perfect director, but also a writer. Taking you up and down hills of circumstances that will not only have you laughing from absurd truths, it will feed you non stop energy through disbelief in what you’re witnessing. I wish I knew more about the technical aspect of films, as all I can say the scale of everything brought to screen is simply put, beautiful. You could be in a car, a karate studio, or a mountain road and you’ll be lost in the freedom of every shot. This film is important for many many reasons as it digs a tunnel deep into your brain with its strides and details. Everyone and everything is running circles around anyone who dares try to come close.

      I could get nitpicky with the small details I found to be expected, but I won’t be a prick. The social commentary is important, the performances are on another level, and the direction had me losing my mind. OBAA is a highlight from the big screen as the seasons change.

      9/10

    • Roofman

      Talk about a bait and switch, but in a good way for once!

      Roofman is a tale mostly set in the nostalgic setting of a Toys “R” Us that should have been exclusively goofy, but it became much more than that. Channing Tatum plays a real life career criminal (Jeffrey) that made his living by robbing McMillions from a place no one ever thought to look, up. With Tatum’s range he was able to play the role of Buddy the Elf mixed with Tom Hanks from Cast Away, and let’s just say isolation did him well. I could go on and on about how impressed I constantly am with Channing and what he does with the roles he chooses, or is chosen for. Here he is resourceful, romantic, and a genius idiot all wrapped up in one. Safe to say, he’s a jack of all trades.

      This movie does something that 99% fail to do, and that’s surprising the audience. It’s pretending to exclusively be a comedy, but in reality it’s all encompassing. Without spoiling specifics, it heavily becomes a family oriented film where dumb choices can easily ruin it all. The opposite of a mistake was made when casting Kirsten Dunst as the potential love interest, as Dunst’s kind heart and romantic nature really brings you into the story even further. There’s a realism to how relationships work here that always makes me a sucker for what I’m watching. I can’t go much further without mentioning the heck of a supporting cast around them too. Peter Dinklage is perfect at playing a dick (Peter Dicklage), with Lakeith Stanfield and Ben Mendelsohn adding the finishing touches.

      As Jeffrey pushes his luck with every aspect of his life, your heart will race, and there’s quite a few hold your breath moments that will keep your eyes glued to the screen. I keep dancing around it, but there is a comedic edge that is hard to deny. Within the seriousness of this, it’s super funny. Lines are delivered with a sneaky ease, especially as mistakes are made throughout. At first you might think things are played safe, and sure you have to suspend some disbelief but this is one of the surprises of the year.

      You’d be a fool to count on Tatum failing.

      7.8/10

    • Eleanor the Great

      How far would you go to tell your story?

      Well, Eleanor (June Squibb) would go a long way to tell hers*. Squibb is absolutely the perfect casting for a role of a 94 year old woman that moves to New York City and does anything she can to fit back into the world. She is feisty, sarcastic, but still so sweet. She reminds me very much of my grandma, or at least a grandma I wished I had. After a long wonderful life, Eleanor makes this move to be closer to family and along the way she meets a young girl Nina (Erin Kellyman). Together they form a friendship through beautiful storytelling, a particular story that feels very close to home for first time director Scarlett Johansson.

      Johansson’s directing style is what I would unfortunately call a little basic. The camera’s view is looking at the world with glossy eyes that are maybe a little too light hearted for something that feels too serious. Now I’m not saying Scarlett didn’t break out some emotional moments, because there’s one particular monologue within a story that just broke my heart and it was profoundly acted by Rita Zohar. She also builds that unexpected relationship between Eleanor and Nina that carries that movie through all of its stages. Chiwetel Ejiofor is typically on a level of his own so we didn’t have to worry about his presence, even though I do wish he was more involved.

      Emotionally this movie will take you on a journey and that is what it’s going to be remembered for. There’s deception through necessity, humor within Squibb’s perfect nature, and sadness that will hit you from every direction. I say all that but when you circle back to the way this is directed, its pace is slightly all over. Big chunks are not super impactful, especially in the aspects that feel like they would have been revealed in real life at a much earlier time. Some story points hit in a way that only feels convenient for a movie plot, but you’ll still feel for these characters that bring out the most from within themselves.

      Sometimes in life you need to be selfish and this movie doesn’t downplay the rights and wrongs of that, because all stories deserve to be told in one form or another.

      6.6/10

    • A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

      A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

      From the man that brought you After Yang (Kogonanda) comes another fantasy drama, this time with forced romance. I say forced because this movie would have worked better if this was solely a friendship journey instead of a romantic one. At no point did I feel like these (Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie) characters were meant to be together. Even though I liked the way they look together, something about their character’s dynamic feels off. The playfulness is lost in the brick wall style change of scenery that completely pulls me out of whatever they had built previously.

      Let’s break down this title. I’ll start with big; They mention Big. That’s about the only thing big about it. Bold is described as : showing or requiring a fearless spirit. To me, they’re just driving cars to and from a wedding and then walking through some doors from their past. Not exactly bold in my opinion, especially with the pretty bland aspects of their past lives. Beautiful, okay yeah I’ll give them that. The characters are impossible to look away from and the coloring around the world to the clothing makes for an incredible palette. Now journey is a word that can be used for a trip to the store or one across space, so it’s hard to deny that this was a journey. With all these defining adjectives, I will say I expected more.

      I really liked Farrell and Robbie together, like really really liked. Just as romantic prospects, they don’t fully work (sorry for saying it again, it’s true). Placing them on a rainy soundstage for 90 minutes was super smart, because they can certainly act and act well off each other. Their fate is placed in the hands of a pretty lackluster script that tries to speed run something that didn’t even need to be talked about unfortunately. Too many doors were opened, or maybe just the wrong ones.

      The message of this film is one we have seen countless times. A woman who thinks she isn’t good enough for anyone and a man that is lost. It doesn’t do anything new to make you feel empathy for their pasts, that they focus too much on. There being no pushback to the slight fantastical change to their lives also left a sour taste in my mouth. A lot of the small journeys they go on felt inconsequential to their future and the quirkiness had me feeling like I was watching an inside joke of a car commercial instead of a story meant for the masses.

      A lot of negatives to basically say, it’s fine. If only it had some heart.

      5.6/10