Movie Monday Free Talk

I rewatched Penelope (2006) the other day. It's a curious little movie that never really knows what sort of tone it's trying to strike, but still mostly works thanks to a stellar ensemble cast that are a treat to watch. The movie is about an upper-crust girl born with the nose of a pig, a family curse that can only be broken by her finding love from someone of her own kind. It's a modern fairy tale with a moral about inner beauty and self-acceptance. The movie is rated PG, a romantic comedy with some more serious moments too. Some spoilers ahead.

Christina Ricci carries the movie well as the titular character, despite wearing a comical pig-nose prosthetic for most of the film, and Catherine O'Hara does a wonderful job as her restrained manic mother (these are the roles that woman was born to play). If you ask me, the real star of the show might be Simon Woods as the antagonist, with his sneering aristocratic revulsion at the mere thought of Penelope's nose that's delightfully over the top. It was also a pleasure to see Nick Frost and Russell Brand in minor roles, as well as a pre-Lannister Peter Dinklage playing a hard-boiled paparazzi type (with an eyepatch!). Reese Witherspoon does her best in the role of a pretty forgettable friend, and James McAvoy supplies his roguish good looks as Penelope's love interest who apart from that isn't a terribly compelling character.

Penelope's world is a dreamlike place that won't commit to any country or time period in particular. People speak in both American and British accents, vehicles have driver's seats on the right, newspapers are pervasive, and there are no computers in sight. That's about all we get. A few fleeting glimpses of the city remind me of Tim Burton's Gotham City, oddly enough. Usually the focus is squarely on Penelope and the broader setting is inconsequential. The set design's worth mentioning too; Penelope's home is a lustrous cage for her, with a dream bedroom and a library with a hidden door and a one-way mirror. The wardrobe in this film is also colorful and fun.

Though I enjoyed the movie, I found its message problematic. It purports to be about inner beauty but as soon as Penelope's curse is broken, her pig nose disappears and then everyone loves her. I think I would've preferred an ending where there was no curse after all, and everyone came to love her for who she was in spite of her appearance. As I mentioned, I also thought James McAvoy's character was one-dimensional and not a compelling romantic lead. He betrayed Penelope's family and tried to steal from them, though he did make amends for both. He falsely represented himself as someone else for most of the movie. As far as I could tell, his motives were self-serving the whole time. The only real reason Penelope fell for him was that he didn't immediately jump out a window the first time he saw her. I thought their whole relationship was hollow and unsatisfying, and he probably could've been omitted from the movie entirely without changing much.

I really appreciated how Dinklage's character was handled. Which is to say, as a normal character and not as a "dwarf" or "little person." Of course we've all seen his tremendous work in Game of Thrones, but even there his height is a frequent topic of conversation. Penelope is notable in that it doesn't mention it once. This wasn't a role written for someone of his stature, it was just a normal role that any actor could've played. By not lampshading it, the filmmakers afforded him a ton of dignity that's sadly hard to come by in Hollywood. This is something I'd like to see more of in general.

All things considered, this is a quirky popcorn flick that I mostly liked. It had been a few years since I last watched it and it was better than I remembered, with a few laugh out loud moments. It's a bit rough around the edges but enjoyable nonetheless.

I watched BREWSTER'S MILLIONS for the first time this past weekend and thought it was hilarious and very ahead of its time. Apparently they're remaking it, as well.

Check out The Congress - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821641/

Rather a trippy film in the latter part but a great film about where acting could go heading towards with the rise of technology.

Saw a couple recently that are worth sharing:

• Paisan (1946)

  • An Italian neorealist film that covers six unconnected vignettes whose main theme is language barriers. There were certainly some poignant moments which I didn’t expect from such an old film (they tend to be more dry by modern standards). Overall I really liked it, but it’s one of those films I wouldn’t suggest to others given that it’s foreign and black and white, which tends to turn off most people.

• Short Term 12 (2013)

  • An indie film about a center for troubled youths. Certainly tugs at heartstrings at times, but the true magic is how delicately it handles many taboo subjects throughout the movie. Enough comedic counterbalance to keep it from getting too dark, it was less weighty than I thought it would end up being (although it’s not shy talking about mental health issues).

• Mid90s (2018)

  • A coming of age story written by Jonah Hill, I think the most impressive part of the movie is how well it captures the “vibe” of the 90s. Everything from the film quality to the vernacular is very reminiscent of 90s life, but that could be because I also grew up in LA during the 90s. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

• For All Mankind (1989)

  • A documentary about the Apollo missions, it’s touted as being “the most expensive movie ever made” because it solely features footage taken by NASA during the space race, backdropped by audio recordings of many astronauts. It was honestly not as awe inspiring as later Apollo movies, but the fact that everything being viewed was indeed real life was somewhat humbling about the experience.

• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

  • A true-to-life story about an editor of Elle magazine who had a stroke and ended up experiencing locked-in syndrome. Based on the book he wrote entirely by blinking his left eye, it was an interesting off-the-beaten-path movie. Gave some added appreciation for the faculties we can still maintain, even if we complain about their effectiveness at times.

Lawrence of Arabia: Not only does it look great, it was better than I expected even viewing from a modern lens. I mean yeah, Alec Guiness in brownface is there, and there are still stereotypical depictions that wouldn't stand in a modern film. But it takes a story that starts off highly "white saviour" and then also kind of dismantles the saviour complex of the character in a pretty interesting way. Much more of a nuanced and interesting perspective than I had assumed from the reputation of the movie.
La Chinoise: I'm a fan of New Wave, so I was prepped to enjoy this, and in fact, I did. I find Godard's decision to loosely adapt Dostoevsky's Demons a fascinating one. Demons is a clear rebuke of its subjects, it hates the political and moral nihilism its characters inhabits, and Godard's loose adaption of the structure of Demons is an interesting because he seems much more understanding of his characters (more mouthpieces than characters, really), more impressed and affectionate toward their youthful idealism, even if I still do interpret him as a critic of existing radical ideas and frameworks, lamenting the lack of a better solution. The alienation effect is also on full display here, Godard films himself filming the film, you hear his voice asking the characters questions, Brecht is namedropped a few times in fact. Many such tactics to ensure you're never fully engrossed in the characters, and always understand that the viewpoint the film is presenting is in fact a viewpoint. It never attempts to disguise itself as a narrative proving a moral right of a particular situation. The first half hour was incredibly dense, if someone is interested but turned off by that I'd urge them to watch through it, because it all starts to tie together and make sense as it goes.