The Bride

 

The Bride

We're still at the start of this year, but hands down, this film is the worst movie of the year. This is Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut, and she stumbles badly. I normally do not comment on direction, but this movie is chaotic.  It seems that the actors ad-libbed their roles.

This is the bride of Frankenstein.  As with the original 1935 film Frankenstein, or as they call him in this version, Frank, he is seeking companionship. He goes to the mad scientist, they dig up a corpse, and with a few bolts of electricity, the bride is reanimated.

The movie is a hot mess. Gyllenhaal tried to stitch different motifs in the film. There was the monster subject, then the gangster element. Since the film was set in the 1930’s, there was jazz era music and dancing. These elements conflicted with each other. She made her own monster.

Gyllenhaal must have called in her favors. For such a crap movie, the star lineup is impressive. Christian Bale is Frankenstein. He is hardly recognizable with heavy prosthetics and staples on his face.  I had a hard time identifying   Annette Bening as the mad scientist. Penelope Cruz looks dowdy as an assistant inspector. Peter Sarsgaard plays the police inspector; thankfully, he fits the role. She got her brother Jake Gyllenhaal for free.  

Jessie Buckly is the bride. Throughout the movie, there is tar on her face. To pay homage to the 1935 version, her hair is frizzed. Mel Brooks gave Madeline Kahn the same hairstyle in Young Frankenstein (a much better movie). Hopefully, no one saw this movie before she received the Oscar for Hamnet.

There are just five seconds at the end of the film that the movie has heart and is coherent.

I think Maggie deserves a mulligan. Good luck next time.

 

Project Hail Mary

 

Project Hail Mary

This is a joyous movie. It is a science fiction movie, but it is about friendship and sacrifice. Ryan Gosling is Ryland Grace, a scientist and reluctant astronaut. The Sun is in jeopardy of being extinguished in thirty years due to a microorganism called Astrophage. There is one star, Tau Ceti, that has survived the Astrophage infection, and Project Hail Mary is to go to that star system and determine how it has survived.

This movie has the weight of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think it is that good. Gosling is the main protagonist, and he carries the movie. He plays the role with humor and tenderness. Sandra Huller is Eva Stratt Grace’s superior and the head of Project Hail Mary. When she fails to persuade Grace to go on the mission and save humanity, she has him drugged and placed on the spacecraft. After prolonged suspended animation, Grace awakens to find that his two shipmates have not survived, and he is alone.

On his journey, Grace encounters a rock-like, five-legged alien astronaut whom he names Rocky. Rocky is also on a mission to save his plant’s Sun from the Astrophage. Each cannot live in the other’s atmosphere. Since Rocky is a mechanic, it builds compartments where Grace and he can survive. They become true friends willing to sacrifice for each other. As silly as it may seem, the scenes can bring tears to your eyes.

The overall special effects are dazzling. Rocky is a puppet and not CG. There were several puppeteers operating Rocky in the style of Japanese puppetry, Bunraku.

This movie is more than just sci-fi; it defies that label. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% score.