1917
I love the idea of following these two soldiers across the no-man’s-land to enemy territory. But the longer I follow them, the longer I live in the POV camerawork, the more removed I am from their reality. I am an observer, not a fellow traveler. I feel like I’m on a boat in a huge Pirates of the Caribbean ride or running beside them in a video game. I have a lot of time to observe the amazing detail of each scene, but I am spending too much time looking for the cogs of the machinery and not enough time in the world.
Still, there are some amazing moments. I jumped, cringed and cried at all the right times, and I was stunned by some of the effects and the art design was top-notch. It was fantastic and the scene at night, running through ruins while flashes of light and gunfire gave it a horror-like atmosphere was top-notch. But the time-jumps and coincidences weren’t as smooth as I’d like. You have a wonderfully set up scene of an airplane crashing and drama with the pilot, which transitions to a group of soldiers on the other side of a building who didn’t see or hear any of the previous scene. I know what’s happening, there is a space/time jump, but it just didn’t feel natural.
Still, it is great to be in the world of WWI as an observer for a couple of hours.
3.5/5
Weathering With You
Rain, rain, rain. So much water, so many drops, falling, landing, splashing. I could watch this animation for hours. And it’s a good thing, because that’s what we get.
A runaway takes up with a strange group of adults and kids, trying to make a living in Tokyo and trying to separate the truth from the myth about Rain Girls. The fantasy element is enjoyable, the animation is gorgeous and the characterization is decent. I love the path director Makoto Shinkai is forging away from Miyazaki and Kon to create a new series of blockbuster anime, although I wish that he might take on some of Kon’s grittiness and characterization, if not the psychological complexity.
I liked Weathering better than Your Name, but it still doesn’t compare with the anime greats, in my mind.
4/5
The Two Popes
A series of discussions between Pope Benedict and the soon-to-be Pope Francis dramatizes not so much the friendship and mutual exploration of hypocrisy between the two men, but two forms of the church. You have a traditional, by-the-book church which has led to hiding and housing great evils, and a socially-aware Christianity that is naive in the use of power. It is dull to the outsider, but to those involved in church discussions between these two groups, it is insightful and dramatic.
And the acting is fantastic, of course. I wouldn’t give either of these men awards for their work, but it is so much fun watching them at play.
4/5