Dallas Fisher

    Tag: writing

    • Twin Cities Film Fest Recap

      Twin Cities Film Fest: 10 Days. 150+ Movies. 2 Theaters.

      My stats: 7 Days. 6 Movies. 2 Theaters.

      This was my second ever festival experience and my first at TCFF and it’s safe to say there are many ups and downs to the whole thing. Here I will get into both sides of the coin and offer up my thoughts on all the films I saw, whether it was in person or at home with the screening pass.

      Before the fest even started I had the director of I’ve Seen All I Need to See reach out to me for a collaboration. This was such a cool opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I was able to create a post for a competition on instagram and thankfully two people won the chance to go see the movie. I was unable to see the movie in person but watched it on the streaming pass. If you like moody dramas and metal music, it’s worth checking out!

      I went through my first day scenario and Hamnet thoughts in a separate blog that you can find on my page, but I will touch on that a little more. I firmly believe sitting front row for a big time awards film affected my thoughts on it and that sucks. While the story wasn’t my typical cup of tea, everyone involved in it was, and I didn’t like it as much as everyone else seemed to have. Now I’ll never see it again for the first time and I might not ever want to in general. I’ve had a few situations where an important movie was watched in undesirable circumstances and I never take the time to go back to them. To end this paragraph I do want to give anonymous shoutouts to a few TCFF employees that reached out to me to discuss my issues that night, you were truly helpful and understanding.

      My second day was a much better time all around, as I was placed in a better seat and got to see one of the better surprises of the year in Christy. Can you believe Sydney Sweeney made a better combat sport biopic than The Rock this year?? Sweeney is likeable, at least to me, for the first time in her acting career. If you ignore her on again, off again accent, this is by far her best and most dynamic performance that we’ve seen from her. Sure, it’s not the greatest in the realm of biopics and its over two hour runtime isn’t ideal, but this does a lot of different things right. Seek it out when it hits theaters very soon.

      I know I said my second day at the fest was better all around, but that was a lie. That’s because I walked up on a guy actively breaking into my car as I was leaving the movie. I heard a car alarm go off in the direction of where I was walking and took the time to hit the lock button on my fob just in case it was mine. Sure enough, it was for me! And there was a guy standing at my car asking if the alarmed car in question was mine. Now listen, I’m a person with a pretty calm demeanor, so I wasn’t immediately upset or yelling at this guy. I just asked him what he was doing at my car and he tried to gaslight me by saying he walked up to it with the windows and door already open. At this point I had already locked the car again, yet his hand was still on the door handle. I told him “I can take care of my own car” and he said okay and got into his own car (which of course was right next to mine) but not before a few more seconds of spouting lies. I slammed my door shut and headed home.

      I took a few day break from the fest and returned back to the theater on Tuesday night to check out a movie called Cotton Candy Bubble Gum. The only reason I chose this one was because of its timing (my fiance was working) and it was a comedy, so I thought I would give something different a chance. This night was a disaster to say the least… Ten seconds into the movie, I knew this wasn’t for me. It’s a bad sight when a writer makes a comedian unfunny on screen while using every curse word and Final Cut Pro filter to only bring the movie down even more. I say all this with having only watched ⅔ of the films because of technical issues. Twice within the middle section of the movie, it cut to black. On that second instance, I cut my losses and left the theater knowing nothing could have changed my mind on the thing anyway.

      Now Wednesday night was a big night, I was seeing Bugonia. The Newest film, and most recent collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone. I knew nothing about this film going in, except Stone was bald in it and that’s all I needed. I knew a lot of people at this screening and for the first time, this felt like a community event. There was a photobooth set up from the studio and they were handing out free t-shirts. These things brought a memory I will never forget.

      Now as far as the movie goes, I wasn’t quite as impressed. I will start with the things I was impressed by though. Emma is sensational.This was the most I have liked her in the Yorgos era. Not only was the shaving of her head worth it, it was necessary. The score is brilliant and magnifies the intensity of everything happening on screen. Yorgos also knows how to make the small things feel huge. Now Jesse Plemmons, he was out of place. I usually love him, but this felt like something he would have done early on in his career. The story also felt too similar to a different film that I won’t spoil (and yes I know this is a remake* of a 2000’s film). I can admit this is a very weird film while also feeling too accessible for the “normies”. Usually you walk away from a Yorgos film talking about how little you understood but how you still loved the ride. Here I understood everything and was left a little unimpressed with the outcome. I’ll score this one a 3 out of 5 here because of how much I loved Emma in it.

      The screening of the fest for me ended up being Rental Family. I had plans to see a couple more on the final night but life happens.

      Now Rental Family. Starring Breandan Fraser, this immediately became one of my favorites of the year. Brendan has recently been such a sweet presence on screen and this movie was no different. It takes this story in lovely directions that I was not expecting. I don’t have too much to say on it, mainly because my eyes hurt, but seek this movie out when you get a chance. It’s the feel good movie of the year with performances that will steal your heart, and I’m not exclusively talking about Fraser. I was so happy I was able to make a movie at the Edina Mann theater work in my schedule.

      Thank you to everyone that put these films on at TCFF. Thank you TCFF, MNFCA, and everyone that has read this. I will always be grateful for the opportunities to attend events like this. My experiences weren’t the most ideal at times, but some things weren’t in anyone’s control.

      Final Ranking of Films

      1. Rental Family
      2. Hamnet
      3. Christy
      4. Bugonia
      5. I’ve Seen All I Need to See
      6. Cotton Candy Bubble Gum

      Maybe if I ever become a full time movie person, I will have time for more films at festivals.

      Until next time.

    • If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

      Let’s get one thing straight before I get into too many thoughts on this movie, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is absolutely a horror film.

      Told in the most intimate of ways, this hardly pulls away from what Rose Byrne is suffering through. You feel her frustration, pain, and annoyance with the world she has found herself in and Bryne is the most stretchable she has ever been. Ultimately this performance proves that she has a spot saved for her in the best actress race. You’ve seen similar things from Rose, like in Neighbors, but you’ve never seen her open a hole this big. She is medicinal and makes me always want to score 100% on breakfast.

      I can only imagine what parents have to go through on a day to day basis and here it only elevates the fear I’ve had about being one for my entire life. Luckily I’ve already made the decision to not be one and this solidifies my choices even more. This was two hours of not being able to breathe or get a break from something that wasn’t even real, it was like a faraway dream where all I wanted to do was unplug. It doesn’t blame or shame anyone for their actions and definitely helps you understand this life. That being said I still wanted therapy after.

      I can give all the praise in the world to Bryne, and Conan for his best role since the Valentines Day episode of The Office, and even A$AP Rocky giving his second competent performance of the year (what a world we live in), BUT If I Had Legs I’d Kick You doesn’t work in the most complete sense. You get lost in the world the more it’s built and it stumbles the more it opens up. If parenting is this difficult, I legitimately don’t understand how there could be any satisfaction from it. It is a flood of emotions at times and I couldn’t help but ask myself why? The weird intricacies only confuse the plot even more and it double parks in your brain instead of being reasonable. Sure, at times it is humorous in the ways it portrays how humans cope with certain feelings, but it feels too little too late, and too strange for everything else going on.

      While this is a prolific look through a microscope at what motherhood can be like, it’s also an irritating piece that forces you to meet Rose Byrne on her level. That level is scarce these days, which makes it even more frustrating that you unfortunately can’t wait to hang this one up.

      6/10

    • 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.

    • 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

    • 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