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Reviews
Heartstopper (2022)
Heartbreakingly wholesome
This show is exactly what the world needs right now and has needed for decades. I initially found Heartstopper to be very generic, not worthy of anything more than a passing reference. It was only until I considered its wider implications that I realised its importance in media history. The word 'representation' is thrown around a lot these days, but this is something Heartstopper absolutely nails. It accurately represents closeted and out queerness, gay people, trans people, and male bisexuality. Racial diversity was also decent, and teenagers were finally cast as teenage characters, rather than ripped or big-breasted actors approaching 30 years old. I hope this gives the younger generation a more realistic perception of their own body image. Finally, a first kiss between queer characters was given over a minute of uncut and uninterrupted screen time, and it was one of the most beautiful scenes in television history.
Firstly, I want to say that the directing, performances, and score were mostly on point, with some nice song choices in the soundtrack. I'm particularly impressed with Joe Locke's performance, considering this was his first professional role. He had some heavy scenes that he absolutely knocked out of the park, especially alongside his more experienced co-star Kit Connor. Their on-screen chemistry continued to evolve along with their characters', and it was a joy to watch. On other technical aspects with the writing, Heartstopper falls a bit short. The dialogue is often clunky, and Nick and Charlie's relationship seems to blossom at a lightning pace. Perhaps slowing character development down with an extra 5 minutes per episode would've helped, but this might've interfered with its bingeablity. I appreciate that the show is already far more expanded than the graphic novel and actually flows quite nicely, but I think this could've been pushed a little bit further. In particular, the first episode was far too short to introduce the characters and their relationships with one another, and it suffers as a result. Exposition is also often heavy-handed, most infamously with the illuminated 'MUSIC' sign above Charlie's bed to tell the audience that he likes music, which is directly from the graphic novel. The result is a very cheesy and clichéd high school romance. Ultimately, I realised that I just did not care about these technical critiques because of how refreshing it was to finally see queer relationships featured in such a healthy and hopeful way, something that has been the norm for straight teen romances in media for decades.
Heartstopper is surprising in a conventionally unsurprising way. There were so many points where I rolled my eyes, thinking that I knew where the story was going and was caught off-guard by characters simply doing the decent thing, rather than stumbling into the pitfalls of confected drama. Characters actually talk through their issues with one another. For example, Nick sorts out his double-booked dates by talking it out with Charlie and Imogen, and both are understanding and compassionate. In any other show, he would've been alienated after deceiving both of them, but these relationships are instead strengthened with a masterclass in open communication. On paper, this seems like poor writing because so many opportunities to stir up conflict were circumvented, but I instead found this incredibly refreshing. I only now realise how we have been conditioned by media to view legitimate traumas of the queer experience as cheap plot devices. In Heartstopper, there are struggles with bullying, but nobody is beat up because of their identity, nobody battles with homophobic adult figures, nobody is outed against their will (except for Charlie the previous year), and nobody gets AIDS. While internalised homophobia is shown, it isn't really used as a character flaw of the love interest. There is no substance abuse or sexual violence (apart from forced kissing). In fact, there is no sex at all, only innocent teen romance with queer characters centre stage. Who knew such a thing were possible? This renders the age rating of Heartstopper in most countries incomprehensible; it should be appropriate for audiences over 12 or 13 with parental guidance. Is this another case of queer media being slapped with higher age ratings?
My praise of Heartstopper somewhat conflicts with the deep sense of melancholy I had upon finishing the show. I couldn't understand why I was obsessing over such a simple young adult romance and why it hurt me so badly. After some soul-searching and research, I think I finally have the answer. The reason why I love Heartstopper is also the reason why it hurts me. I never had this show or these positive queer experiences during my adolescence. I'm not jealous of the current generation for having this available; I'm thrilled for them, and it's about damn time. It's more like I'm mourning my younger self and experiences that he never had. He never had such a supportive friend group, and he never had a high school romance, which is something that straight people take for granted and can now look back on with fondness. The butterflies, wondering if they like you back, will-they-won't-they. I know this is an experience shared by many older viewers of the show, and I'm not even that old but there was nothing like Heartstopper even ten years ago. Anyway, I'll go cry some more now, and maybe I'll watch it again at some point and finally come to terms with these repressed feelings. Who knew loving queer representation would trigger more trauma than all the violence and abuse of darker shows like Euphoria and Sex Education?
The Wheel of Time (2021)
Hideous compression artefacts
The 4K HDR stream looks like a muddy 720p VCR. This is especially noticeable in skies and skin tones, particularly in Episode 3 (e.g. Moiraine's pale face in the forest scene). The only solution I've found is to downscale to a 1080p SDR stream. And no, it's not my TV settings or internet connection, and I'm not the only one who has noticed this. The amazing work of the director, cinematographers, and colorists is undone by Amazon's greedy compression. So embarassing that Amazon doesn't even treat their originals with proper respect.
Hereditary (2018)
Not perfect but a breath of fresh air
Wow. What an impressive directorial debut from Ari Aster. I had no notion of where the film was going for at least the first half and it kept my attention throughout, even though the pacing is much slower than a typical horror film. As a side note, I wouldn't consider this as a horror film but, rather, a thriller because I barely found it scary. I don't consider this a criticism, just something to bear in mind.
The real joy of this film is connecting the dots after the big reveal and there's so much hidden throughout the film to keep one entertained during the second watch. I don't want to come off as elitist, but it seems clear from some criticisms that many people genuinely don't understand what happened in this film, whether because it was too subtle or they weren't paying attention. This is a shame because I'd like to encourage films that don't pander to inattentive audiences. I found the reveal to be a bit heavy-handed but that clearly wasn't enough for those people. I hope these reviews will be ignored and films will continue to be made that aren't caste from the same old, wornout, Hollywood mould. I'm not saying people are wrong to dislike this film but that some people are verifiably wrong in some specific criticisms.
Tony Collette's performance was, as usual, transcending. I've seen some claim she was 'overacting' but, honestly, how would you expect her character to act in her extreme circumstance and history of mental illness (another detail subtly revealed in the film)? I suppose she should've been chilling out with a cup of tea? The supporting actors were also very capable, except for Alex Wolff. He can pull off the pothead son with ease and even act sad and afraid, but his heaving sobs sounded ridiculous.
Only one plot point irked me, which (without giving anything away) involved a bizarre decision Annie made as a mother regarding her daughter. My only other criticism is the CG flies, which looked abysmal and completely ruined my immersion in the film. They looked like amorphous black blobs, some of which seemed to be crawling over the camera lens. I guess it comes with the low budget, but I'd like to see them remastered. Some other effects were also behind the times, but the flies were the worst offenders.
I'm looking forward to Aster's next feature film. Ignore the haters and give it a watch.
Lunatics (2019)
Boring and unfunny
While rarely taken seriously, Chris Lilley is genuinely very talented. On top of creating realistic characters whose quirks are dialled up to eleven, he's able to act their distinct voices and emotions in a way that makes the audience forget it's a one-man show. In comparison to his other works, the characters in Lunatics are two-dimensional at best, which is a shame considering their variety.
The only characters I found somewhat funny were Jana, the animal psychic, and Kieth Dick, the delusional fashion designer and proprietor in love with an old cash register. But how could anyone feel anything other than sorry for Becky? It's as though her height is supposed to be a joke in itself. Likewise, Quentin's massive arse was a joke that fell flatter than Ja'mie's chest. Were these props really necessary to make these characters 'lunatics'? Quentin's incompetence was cringe-worthy, but there was at least comedy to be found there. Joyce's unhinged outbursts were sometimes funny but should be unsettling for those who know someone with a severe mental illness - once again, I mostly just felt sorry for her. Gavin's foul mouth was funny in the first episode but none of his antics went far enough for me.
There were several missed opportunities for situational comedy. I was almost always left waiting for something to happen. I loved how Ja'mie and Mr G would manipulate situations to their advantage and watching the reactions of other characters when they 'went there'. Unfortunately, some of the supporting actors (particularly Chloe Stout, who played Becky's twin sister Lucy) weren't talented enough to play off Lilley's performance. The scenes in which Becky and Lucy fought and made up were painfully confected, which was also the result of poor writing. Weirdly, the final episode was by far the best and almost managed to save face for the previous four and a half hour-slog. Almost.
You could also argue it's more acceptable to laugh at Lilley's other characters like Ja'mie because it's comedy that 'punches up' - Ja'mie is the worst product of a privileged upbringing one could imagine. Girls like Ja'mie really exist but she's the best of the worst. Is it as acceptable to laugh at mental illness or Chris Lilley seemingly dressed as an African person of colour for no apparent reason? Why couldn't Jana be unmistakably a white South African? It wouldn't have changed her character in any way apart from her afro, which seems to be nothing more than an unnecessary prop, only more offensive than stilts or butt padding. Whatever you think of this political criticism, the laughs at Lunatics were too few and far between to succeed as a comedy.
Overall, I was very disappointed with the series. Clearly, a greater budget does not equal greater quality. If Summer Heights High was Chris Lilley's high point, Lunatics is a new low.
Working Class Boy (2018)
A gripping story well told
This documentary centres on a live show in Jimmy Barnes's hometown of Glasgow with additional interviews and archival images. It's filmed in a simple way but any embellishments would've run the risk of distracting from the core message Jimmy brilliantly conveys through words and music alone. It came across not as film to stroke the ego of the director nor to appease hardcore fans of Cold Chisel, but as an honest account of a human life, which is exactly what it needed to be. Jimmy didn't shy aware from sharing the darkest moments of his life but managed to convey them with an overall purpose of advancing a dialogue about deep societal issues. I admire his bravery in sharing his story and his skill in presenting it not as a 'sob story', but as a holistic account of struggle. Indeed, the trauma is balanced by quite a lot of humour and live music is beautifully integrated throughout. I hope this documentary will encourage frank conversations about how we can break the cycle of poverty, addiction, and violence.
This documentary had my attention the whole time and now I desperately want to read the book.
Love, Simon (2018)
A formulaic Hollywood coming-of-age story with some redeeming features
Apart from the fact that this is the first film from a major studio to feature a gay protagonist, there's nothing special about it. It's definitely over-praised but not necessarily a bad film and probably above average (depending on your perspective).
My fears were confirmed from the beginning of the film: stale dialogue, excessive exposition, uninspiring cinematography and score. However, I felt the dialogue improved as the film progressed and I was never bored. Nick Robinson's performance in particular was very believable when he wasn't forced to say ridiculous things - I think the director and screenwriters could've gotten more out of his performance and I hope his acting career continues to progress. The characters of his three friends were poorly developed (if at all) and it seems all we know about their friendship is they like to drink iced coffee together. Likewise, his family is generic and uninteresting - it's pushed in our faces from the beginning that his younger sister fancies herself as a budding chef...how unique. Jennifer Garner was pretty bad. Also, the teachers are obnoxious and irresponsible.
One of my favourite things about this film is that the central conflict wasn't brought about by generic bullies (who were still in the film) but by Martin. Martin is an outcast kid just trying to fit in and willing to do all kinds of inconsiderate and embarrassing things to gain the affections of a girl, even though he isn't a cruel person. I know teenage boys like him exist. I also liked the addition of a more femme and openly gay character (Ethan) to contrast with Simon's experience.
Although the film needs to be judged independently of the book, the asinine deviations from the source material are fairly inexcusable and seem to mostly serve the formulaic plot rather than credible character motivations. On the other hand, some changes were positive. The film has a better title and I thought the Ferris wheel scene was far more powerful than Blue's reveal in the book, which fell a bit flat, and I was willing to suspend my disbelief that such a shy, closeted gay kid would out himself in front of a crowd of his peers.
I have three main gripes with the adaptation. Firstly, it's hard to believe that a gay kid on the verge of coming out and after a night flirting with a crush would sneak off to kiss a girl in private without any apparent peer pressure. His lame excuse that he was 'confused' nearly ruined the Ferris wheel scene and it seems clear this was only a plot device to mask Blue's identity, rather than something a real person might do. I would've believed he might be compelled to return her attentions in front of peers in order to maintain a straight persona but why in private only to break it off immediately?
Secondly, the revelation that Leah likes Simon instead of Nick could've been handled more delicately - these situations do happen in real life. However, upon learning Simon is gay, Leah selfishly decided to wallow in self pity rather than support her best friend when he needed it most, leaving him friendless because Abby and Nick decide they can't forgive Simon for caving into blackmail. To be fair, Simon inexplicably lied to Nick about Abby having a boyfriend, which is egregious but (once again) not credible - why make up such an obvious lie? In the book, Abby approached Simon about his more subtle deceptions but forgave him fairly quickly after she considered his predicament, as any good friend would. Nevertheless, none of his friends supported him when he was outed because they had their own trivial problems with him. This betrayal is simply forgotten after the Second Act, serving the Hollywood formula rather than emulating the behaviour of human beings with feelings.
Thirdly, after Simon's emails to Blue are leaked by Martin, Bram deletes this email account, leaving Simon truly alone. This was an incredibly heartwrenching scene and a nice addition to the book. But why did Bram delete the email account? Nobody (including Simon) knew his identity from the emails. You might say it was to prevent others from emailing him but as he published this email address to the totally legit school blog along with his initial 'Ferris wheel' post, rather than the more sensible annonymous Tumblr post of the book, the email address was already public. So, (once again) this arose from a need to create tension rather than from credible character motivations.
I think the director could've done a far better job with the film. He was handed fairly decent source material, a generous budget, capable actors (for the most part), and yet only managed to produce something slightly above mediocre. The tragedy of this film is that it could've been so much better.