[YMS] Alright, so I've still got a bunch of Vancouver film fest videos to talk about,
meanwhile I'm halfway through a thoughts on video and a YMS video that I'm trying to get out.
So most of the movies are going to have to wait a little bit.
But there are two movies that I saw that I know have a lot of hype around them.
So I figure I'll talk about these ones right away and leave the rest until later.
First up is Fox Catcher.
This was a really good movie but it's one that I don't feel I ever have to watch again.
The main thing that holds this movie up is Steve Carell's performance.
Now, I already think that his comedic acting has been pretty stellar but it was
really interesting to see him take on a more serious role and I'm sure
that a lot of people are seeing this movie just for that.
He did pull it off very well but I also respect the intelligent decision to give him prosthetic makeup.
Weather or not it was to make him look more like the real life person he was playing,
It's better to have him show up on screen, visually, as a new character rather than just Michael Scott.
It was generally entertaining and parts of it were well shot
but what really made it suffer is how repetitive it was.
I know they're basing it off of a true story but they really stretched it out.
And don't search up anything about the story because there are spoilers.
But I'm glad that there was enough different about it that it wasn't just one of those sports movies.
Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo were also great and it was cool that they
used prosthetic makeup on both of their ears.
Because, although it makes them look a little weird, it helps sell the idea that they're brothers.
This movie was pretty good but, like I said, there's no reason I'll ever have to watch it again.
I got my moneys worth and I'm happy with that.
And I'm giving this one a seven out of ten.
(Static)
The other movie that I saw at Vancouver Film Fest, that I know has a lot of hype, was Whiplash.
And it was pretty fantastic.
This is a movie that really exceeded my expectations.
It was already something that I was looking forward to but I didn't expect it to be this great.
The writer and director previously wrote a guilty pleasure of mine called Grand Piano.
It's just as musical as this film, but the sequence of events is a little bit more far fetched.
Grand Piano was a guilty pleasure but Whiplash is one of the best films of the year.
And J.K. Simmons gives one of the best performances of the year.
Not only did he fit his role, extremely well, as a fiercely intimidating conductor
but he was able to bring a level of depth to his character that I did not expect.
And because of how seamlessly the character was written and performed,
his character was not only believable but understandable.
Without explanation you're gradually able to interpret his motives and why he acts the way he does.
And every single scene he's in is not only massively entertaining but extremely well delivered.
Thankfully, this isn't one of those movies where you have to
be patiently waiting for those scenes to show up as he is
an extremely prominent role within this film.
Miles Teller also did a pretty great job with his performance but holy crap can he ever drum.
As a musician, it was apparent that they were syncing to backing tracks being played
but they were in no way faking their abilities.
Now, I know this isn't going to affect the average viewers experience
but, as someone that plays a lot of instruments, unfortunately there were countless points
in the film that I noticed that what was being played wasn't exactly accurate.
Not only were a lot of the notes distractingly off sync for me
but many of the hits that you hear aren't even being played.
It's not really something that's going to bother the average viewer because,
at most, its only about one hit every measure that's being missed.
Most of what hes playing is also pretty fast so if you're ot the type to pick up on it, its not going to bother you.
Again, it doesn't happen the entire movie but it does happen a lot.
Fortunately enough, I did not notice any inaccuracies in what I would consider to be the most important scene.
And crazily enough, despite the notable inaccuracies of the piano in the film,
there's a short scene where J.K. Simmons is playing piano and hes actually playing it accurately.
I know that musical inaccuracies aren't going to bother people who aren't musicians
but when you’re making a movie that features music so prominently,
I would consider it to be more than fair criticism to point it out.
Part of what I loved about Grand Piano is how amazingly accurate the music was throughout the film.
Obviously it's not completely accurate but it was cheated very well.
In one of my favourite movies of all time, The Piano Teacher, the inaccuracies were
so minor and so well cheated that I was only ever able to pick up on them
after the Blu-ray was recently released.
I'm not sure if I've ever seen a movie pull off such complicated music scenes perfectly
but in Whiplash, it was pretty noticeable for me.
And I gotta say, despite those minor inaccuracies, the music was very impressive.
After I left the theatre I just couldn't stop hamboning.
[Rigby] Hamboning!
[Mordecai] NO!
[YMS] I have a couple more issues with the film as well.
There was a dinner table conversation that seemed really cliched.
They were really preachy on the contrast on the public's view between musicians and sports players.
In that short scene, it felt way too much like we were being spoken to as audience members
rather than the characters speaking to themselves genuinely.
The only other issue I have with the film was the delivery of quite an important scene.
Now, I'm not going to spoil anything 'cause you'll pick it up when you see it
but during a very important initial incident that affects the rest of the movie,
what we're shown visually doesn't make all that much sense.
It'll show you what happened but you'll be like,
"how the fuck did that happen?
It wouldn't really bother me that much if the outcome of the scene was less important.
Because, god damn it, it seems like almost every time something ridiculous happens
it's for the sake of a plot device.
And I'm talking about movies in general because in this one it only happened at that one point.
Now that I've talked about my issues with this film, let me just say that the last 30 to 40 minuets
of this film is one of the best third act I've seen to any movie ever.
I was fixed to the screen and I actually felt like I was in the movie.
Obviously I'm not going to spoil anything but holy fuck the third act was phenomenal.
The third act of this movie is responsible for me absolutely loving this movie.
So get fucking hyped because, despite it's flaws, this film is now in my top four films of 2014.
Part of me want to hold back a little because of its flaws and give this movie an eight,
but believe me, the third act more than makes up for it.
And I'm giving this one a nine out of ten.
[Mark] Well that--
[YMS] AAH! Jesus Christ! [Mark] HOOO! You fucker!
[Mark] (Laughing) God damn it!
[Mark] Oh, OH! Look up.
[YMS] What? [Mark] Look up.
[Mark] I swear to god.
[YMS] Oh my god.
(Heavy breathing) [YMS] Somebodies--
[YMS] Uhhhhhhhh! [Mark] Uhhhhhhh HAHAHAHAHA!