what is going on to all my movie fans out there and welcome back to my channel my name is Elliot
and this is movie files today we are here to discuss the 34th feature length film who I
consider to be one of the greatest directors of all time Steven Spielberg now this new Coming of
Age drama story is Loosely based on Spielberg's Adolescence in his first year as being a director
and this film goes by the name of fablements now I had the opportunity to see this film in theaters
the other night and I was very excited to check it out for various different reasons but there's been
some buzzwords thrown out about this film number one is it one of the best films this year will it
be nominated for Best Picture come Oscar season will Steven get another Best Director nomination
we'll be discussing that and so much more in today's spoiler-free review but before we get
into it if you all haven't already consider subscribing to the channel and hitting that
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this very video which Speaking of this video If you all enjoyed my spoiler free review make sure
you're hitting that Thumbs Up Button make sure you hit that share button share this review to anyone
and everyone you know that might be interested in seeing this film but I'm also very interested in
knowing your thoughts on this film in the comment section let's talk Pros let's talk cons Direction
Story performances and if you're someone that follows the Oscars what nominations if
any do you see this film getting let's talk best picture best Direction screenplay performances any
productional awards let's have those conversations in the comments below so let's start off with my
positives and I want to talk a little bit about how this story came to be and a little bit about
the story that I really enjoyed now for you all that do not know this was a project that's been
in the works for a very long time dating all the way back to the 90s in which Steven has
some reservations understandably so this is a very personal story this is Loosely based on his life
but also he didn't want to hurt his family and particularly his parents because this story does
dive into how they end up getting a divorce so you can understand where the reservations come
from But as time goes by and as Stephen has gotten older in age and has like I said this is his 34th
film he's wanting to do more passion projects and we saw that last year with West Side Story and
in developing that story and finishing that and also during the pandemic he sat down and decided
you know what let me go ahead and make this film because it means something to me and when I talk
about meaning something you see that throughout this narrative him and his co-writer Tony Kushner
and tail is filled with heart and love it's about filmmaking it's about being an artist and what it
means to a person to have their family and how having their support is so important and to me
it does a great job of showcasing making your dreams a reality and showing you both sides of
what it looks like to potentially fulfilling that dream but also on the other side for a person that
doesn't accomplish their goals or accomplish their dreams I thought the film did such a great job of
displaying that narrative and just again I'm a Steven Spielberg fan my favorite director of
all time he's made my favorite movies of all time one being Jurassic Park and we're going to talk a
little bit about the filmmaking of this movie in regards to our main character Sammy but I just
love seeing someone putting their story out there and also having the passion to express some of the
more dramatic moments of their life so I really appreciate the narrative and the story that we got
here but also from a productional standpoint this film is absolutely gorgeous to look at the movie
is so incredibly well made from The Amazing score from one of the best composers of all time and
John Williams so from a technical aspect this film will definitely get some love in those apartments
but again going back to John Williams this is a much different score than what we might be used
to with John Williams Indiana Jones Jurassic Park you know all those different franchises Star Wars
this definitely has this Harkens back to kind of that E.T Vibe where when you feel his score just
kind of that it makes you feel good inside is the word that kind of comes to mind but speaking of
feeling good Inside Man the performances that these actors give us this film is nothing short
of spectacular I really feel like everyone in this cast stepped their game up is this for the simple
fact that they knew they were working with one of the greatest directors of all time but also
knowing that this was a passion project you can tell that all and I've seen some of the behind
the scenes of this film being made and hearing the different interviews from the cast you can
tell that not only did they want to do right by the characters but they also were working with one
of the greatest directors so they just inherently just want to be like yo this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity and I thought that everyone that stepped on screen gave a great performance
but there are definitely some standouts and there's some different characters I want to
kind of bring up and in particularly the fableman family I really enjoyed their Dynamics I enjoyed
everyone from his grandmothers the the sisters that were involved in a mysterious Uncle I'll just
say that I thought the family Dynamic it was just so relatable and just so great seeing that family
element be brought into the script I thought that was a highlight I also want to bring up Seth Rogen
as uncle benny who continues to show me that when it comes to being more dramatic and having these
roles being less silly and more rooted in reality he does a great job there's some characters that
take place a little bit later in the film and particularly when we focus on Sammy's high school
years and there's a particular character by the name of Monica who plays Sammy's girlfriend and I
thought she was hilarious she's very religious and she has this type of obsession with Sammy that I
found to be very funny but transitioning into our main cast which just gives Stellar performances
starting off with Paul Dano who is Bert who is Sammy's father who's an engineer he's a loving
father a loving husband who believes Art Moore is a hobby than an actual career and he has this
very loving presence to him he's very supportive and lot of different ways he has a lot of great
things about him but he's also flawed because like I had mentioned in kind of my breakdown there he's
someone that considers filmmaking playing music you know being an artist as a hobby more so than
a career so there's that conflict within the house that we'll talk about with his wife a little bit
later but Paul Daniel could do no wrong on my eyes I thought he was great and I'll get to a little
bit later I wish we would have gotten a little bit more of Paul Dano but when he was on screen he did
a great job but pivoting over to my first time being introduced to this young man by the name
of Gabriel LaBelle who plays our lead character by the name of Sammy he is very charismatic he's so
Charming but at the same time he's a product of his mother by showing how much he loves art and
making movies and sometimes that puts a strain on a relationship that we see Sammy going through in
this film I really enjoyed following him through being a little kid to him going through high
school going through his journey and particularly the family elements and the drama that comes with
him and his sisters him and his family only that stuff was fantastic but again going back to Sammy
as a young kid it brought me back to being a kid and particularly Steven Spielberg as I mentioned
Jurassic Park my favorite film all time seeing those dinosaurs for the first time I didn't see it
in theaters Jurassic Park I saw that home for the first time and I've seen it in theaters since then
but just being a little kid and just picturing myself as Sammy seeing those when his this film
takes place in the in the mid 50s early 60s and just seeing the The Greatest Show on Earth and
seeing the particular scene of the trains crashing and just me being a kid and just thinking about
those dinosaurs coming alive it just brought so many things home to me and it was made it
just so heartwarming to see those moments and seeing magic and seeing the cinema and I'm a big
cinephile myself just seeing all those stuff take place and seeing how that shaped Sammy throughout
his adolescence years to become a teenager who's just such a great journey to explore but got to
talk about my favorite performance of this film someone that carried the emotional weight and
was responsible of bringing all the emotional resonance to the story and excels at it tenfold
I'm talking about the one and only Michelle Williams who plays his mother in this film
she is an artist herself she's the fun one of the family she's willing to she's one of those moms
that literally in this film chases a tornado with her kids in the back seat I love her performance
and speaking of back seat as I briefly mentioned her breakdown there she's an artist herself she
plays the piano she's a singer but she is a wife in a mother of three so her career had to kind
of put put on the side so what did that kind of do to her character as you'll see in the film
it kind of built this resentment and this kind of another life type of scenario and it kind of
comes out in a very interesting way but again Michelle Williams never fails to impress she
is just a generational type of actress for me and again going back to those Awards I wouldn't
be surprised if we see her name get brought up that's type of a performance she gives she gives
an award-winning potentially winning performance definitely nominated performance but I can see her
winning the award she was fantastic in this film and I thought she just excelled at everything she
was given again some of the best moments loving moments some of the heartbreaking moments comes
from Michelle Williams as the mother and she was absolutely fantastic but let me go back to
one of my favorite elements of this movie which is the filmmaking and seeing our character Sammy
falling in love with movies and attempting to recreate that magic I was talking a little bit
about earlier and seeing his first film on the big screen and what that did to him and seeing
him shooting his own short films and editing and him capturing some of the best moments of him in
his life with his family was just so great to see and again I'm a sucker for movie making especially
when it's like a period piece like this in mid 50s early 60s they couldn't just press a
button to edit something or press a button to cut something when it comes to watching dailies you're
watching those reels you're actually cutting the film itself all those movie making elements was
just so fantastic to see and just made me as someone that went to school for filming video
it has a passion for movie making some of my favorite elements come from that aspect and also
I mentioned the relatability factor just seeing that family Dynamic was something that stood
out to me and that feeling when I'm watching this film after walking out I just had this
sense of relatability and I really enjoyed them highlighting it was like to be a Jewish person
during that time and again the word that comes to mind is after I walked out it was like this
warm feeling that just came over me walking out of this film that's something I always look forward
to and seeing a film like that let's get into my criticisms getting the small things out of the way
first I was never bored why watch this movie but I will say at two and a half hours I feel
like there could have been about 10 to 15 minutes slimmed off or chopped off of this film it felt a
little bit too long on the tube never bored but it could have been like I said 10 to 15 minutes could
have been taken out of this movie and selfishly I briefly mentioned it I'm such a Paul Daniel fan I
thought he was great and it makes sense why he's not in the film that much because he is a father
that works a lot and trying to push the envelope technology but I just wish we could have spent a
little bit more time with Paul Dano because he's just so great in the film and I just wanted more
of him the selfishly it's not really a criticism because he's great in the film I just wanted more
of that particular actor in the role but also a criticism of mine is I'll say that the film
has different tones that it plays with and it could be a bit jarring when you're switching
from being serious and dramatic to transition to more comedy beats and almost sitcom Vibes which
also ties to the story shifting from different kind of conversations from science and art and
bullying and parents being divorced so it's not that it doesn't handle those themes or
those different tones well it's just that it was jarring seeing us switching from this to
that because at first I'm thinking okay this is a film a film about family about filmmaking but
then it shifts into these other elements that again weren't handled badly it's just that I
think it plays better on a re-watch when you kind of know what to expect and to go in this
movie but last thing I want to mention as far as my criticisms I love seeing the filmmaking
of Sammy fallen in love with making movies I just personally wish it would have Dove a little bit
deeper into maybe more of the struggles about getting into the film World especially knowing
that this is Loosely based on Stephen's life so I wish it was a little bit more of that in this
film before we get into my score and if you all should give this film a watch and if there'll be
any nominations given to it in my personal opinion if you all haven't already make sure to like this
review share this review leave your thoughts in the comments and of course subscribe to the
channel overall I really love seeing this story of how chasing your dreams can be so rewarding when
you have the support of your loved ones which Speaking of your loved ones your family can be
both a gift and a curse sometimes but ultimately I really love how the film captures the elements of
Steven's life and how those moments shaped him in becoming one of the greatest storytellers of all
time the production of this film was fantastic the performances were phenomenal and ultimately this
film is going to land in my top five best films this year I'm gonna give the Fable men's a 4.5
out of 5 five and after seeing it I definitely see again now made it for Best Picture best Direction
Michelle Williams getting some Oscar nominations and maybe even winning and I wouldn't be surprised
if it gets maybe a nomination for best screenplay and John Williams scores so definitely check this
out and when you do let me know your pros and your cons your thoughts on all the things we
talked about in this film and do you think it will get those nominations and will it win let's talk
about that in the comments if you stuck around to this point in the video put in the comments right
now hashtag Steven Spielberg is the goat you all are awesome hope you enjoyed this review just a
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