Airport Security

The young couple
in front of us
couldn't restrain
themselves
from kissing
and caressing
when they should
have been
binning
and progressing
their effects
so
I shoved his laptop
down the rollers
and tossed their shoes
to make room for us
and the hundred people
all waiting behind
the couple
didn't even notice
so lost were they
in youth
and hormonal desire.

'Vice' A Review

Vice is a montage heavy biopic about former Vice President Dick Cheney. The film opens on Dick(Christian Bale) getting pulled over for a DUI stop in the 60's, it flashes forward to him as VP getting rushed to a bunker directly after the 9/11 attacks. Flashing back and forth in time with considerable narration, still images, and archival footage the life of the elusive man-behind-the-throne of the W. Bush presidency is investigated and partially elucidated.

Bale, as always, gives every thing he has to the performance. Transforming and channeling Cheney in an astonishing way. Although much of Cheney's internal life, his thoughts and decisions, are still left unclear in the film you get the impression that Bale knows, that's how confident his portrayal is. Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney is also supremely confident, with an incredible scene between the two early on when Lynne calls Dick to the carpet for being a zero. The rest are well cast with Sam Rockwell as W. really shining unfortunately as a result of the fernetic format the actors really aren't given that much time to really act. There is virtually no scene longer than one minute that is not interrupted by narration, hard cuts, or cuts to still images. This creates a feeling of energy and momentum but a considerable amount of depth is lost.

It seems unclear who this film is for. Having lived through the time Cheney was in power myself this contains nothing particularly new. I would hazard a guess the film is meant to energize and educate the younger generation but even if that is the intent it would service the message more to let scenes breath and to let the phenomenal cast do their work. Part of the intent is to seemingly understand the motivations and mindset of Cheney and he is simply not onscreen enough to do that.

The film does succeed exceedingly well in conveying the nature of machinations of power. And confirms that old adage the power corrupts. As an echo and a warning to our current time and administration the film succeeds to a degree but art should not only reflect it should transcend or inspire. Ultimately the film, for all its ambitions and talent, lies relatively flat.

The question isn't how was and is our democracy perverted, at this juncture that is almost immaterial, and unfortunately that seems to be the sole focus of the film. The question is how do we move forward, what does the future hold, what can be done, what can we do. The film does not ask or answer these questions.

Rent It.

Florida Xmas

Spending the holiday down in Florida with Nicole's family. It's the first time I've been out of the Midwest for Xmas. A bit of an adjustment but beautiful weather and nice to spend time with Nicole's parents and sister.

 Saw the sunrise the day after we got here and then went to watch the sunset over the water.

Went on a hike through an abandoned sugar plantation now a state park. The park was totally deserted, the landscape was quiet and stunning but it was pretty eerie.

Santa came on Christmas Eve which was very exciting although he was a little grumpy. We opened presents, relaxed, and watched movies today. We head back tomorrow. It's been a fun, and warm, holiday. Different certainly than my family and our traditions and actual winter but it was really good and about time Nicole and I start splitting our time a bit more equally with our families.

Sunrise

Before Christ
there was The Sun
our first
and most literal
Higher Power.

We few awake
to witness the dawn
all turn precisely
to where She'll break
tapping into
that primordial compass
which never falters.

'Mary Poppins Returns' A Review

Mary Poppins Returns is a musical family film, a sequel to 1964's Mary Poppins, about the banks children all grown up. The film opens on 1935 London and recent widower Michael Banks(Ben Whishaw) is struggling to raise his three children and is in danger of defaulting on his mortgage. With the help of his sister Jane(Emily Mortimer), the lamplighter Jack(Lin-Manuel Miranda), and most importantly the titular Mary Poppins(Emily Blunt) the Banks family may come through on top and perhaps having learned something.

Blunt gives a fair Julie Andrews impression and imbues the character with a bit more of adventure and power rather than brusk silliness that we may be accustomed. It works but it doesn't exactly capture the nanny-we-wish-we-all had of the original. Miranda also does well but suffers from the same affliction as Blunt just falling short of getting out from the shadow of the original. Both are consummate performers, the choreography, singing, and straight acting is all compelling and done exceedingly well but neither of them takes big enough swings to get a big payoff. Whishaw, with one emotional scene, is by far the stand out bringing in a depth of emotion and vulnerability that exceeds its predecessor. The kids are great, the cast is all fun with a couple surprising cameos, but in following(and delivering) a successful sequel to the classic the actors aren't given, or take, a lot of risks. Satisfying but not particularly memorable.

The narrative on the other hand balances perfectly in paying omaĝe and creating something new. The formula is the same, Mary Poppins swoops in and takes the children on a series of imaginative musical adventures with the help of her dirty but charming sidekick. But the set pieces the songs are all new with nods and winks to the original but without ever sacrificing originality. And the message is delivered just as well if not better than the original. A call for hope and imagination rather than greed and despair powerful stuff.

See It.

'Mortal Engines' A Review

Mortal Engines is a post-apocalyptic steampunk movie based on the novel of the same name. Sometime in the 21st century the 60 Minute War devastates the world, not nuclear fallout but the laser-beam equivalent called MEDUSA. As a result people put wheels on cities which role around the blasted world hunting each other for resources. A thousand years have passed(or more its unclear) and London, one of the most fearsome predator cities, has left the UK to hunt the European continent. Hester Shaw(Hera Hilmar) purposefully gets caught by London in order to attempt to assassinate it's one its leaders who killed her mother Thaddeus Valentine(Hugo Weaving). She fails and is thrown off along with Tom Natsworthy(Robert Sheehan) a historian and wouldbe pilot. The two get tied up with the anti-traction league(a group that has settled on land and opposes the predator cities) and are set to oppose London as it seeks to become the world power. Sound complicated? It's even more convoluted than that!

There is no doubt the cast has talent but unfortunately because of the tone-deaf and nearly incomprehensible script and startling lack of direction all performances flounder save for the two seasoned actors Weaving and Stephen Lang(as the Terminator-esk machine-man Shrike). The accents are inconsistent for each actor as well as with respect to the world-building. There is no effective character development, what is there is loose, lazy, and derivative it amounts to nothing at all. A huge cast is feebly introduced, at the sacrifice of the lead character Hester, and then most of them are abandoned until they are needed to propel the increasingly manufactured plot. There is nothing wrong with casting a majority of unknown talent, Jihae as Anna Fang is an inspired choice, but they don't have the professional chops or experience to weather the thoroughly undercooked production without looking like what they are- exceedingly green.

Two of three criteria(all three is ideal) are needed in order to succeed- character, plot, and world-building. Ex-Machina had character and plot, Dredd had plot and world-building. there is a reason most successful genre movies, the two above included, have a small scale. Because its difficult to achieve without considerably focus. Mortal Engines fails on all criteria because it seems to have a fundamnetal misunderstanding of what makes a good story. Hester is the lead character, full stop, her story is the backbone of the narrative. We are given little context for her character until half the bloated run time has run its course. Not investment is created because we are introduced to ten characters in the first ten minutes and none of them carry any weight. Visually, sure, the movie at least has some original design- the cities, the airships, the cloths- but it is all glitzy CGI with no credible context in which to put them(uncompelling characters and a lethargic plot).

Despite all its numerous faults the "world-building" is perhaps the biggest. Genre fiction or film  is difficult and world-building is one of those most mercurial skills and traits of it. We can have dragons and magic, we can have zombies and vampires, we can have whole tractor cities that seemingly run on metal as fuel(?) and futuristic jet air ships with paper wings but they have to adhere to an internal and logic. There has to be solid reasoning and story that lay a foundation for the fantastic. It doesn't need to be possible in our reality but it needs to be reality that makes sense. Perhaps the book delves deeper into the history and technology of the world but the movie has an eye-roll inducing blend of lasers and jets and guns all the while bemoaning how "backward" the world is. There's also the fundamental justification for the predator cities themselves, the Earth clearly has bounced back form whatever devastation it once suffered, as such this overriding motivation for "resources" makes little to know sense. The amount of energy it would require to simply move these various gargantuan monstrosities is so huge it does not make sense with the technology the world purports to utilize. The list goes on and on.

Half-baked, unfocused, tonally(and totally) unaware.

Don't See It.

Heedless

I didn't realize what was at stake
when I voiced my incoherence
which came across
as judgement,
didn't realize until that moment
when it was threatened
what I took for granted,
didn't realize the pain
I could cause or feel
with tactless words.

Love is a dance
not a solo
a twinning
not a tyranny.