James Alastor

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<<No spoiler>> I watched Tatski Fujimoto's look back yesterday on the 12th of November, unlike many films which just serves me a plot and finishes them satisfied and fulfilled, by the time the credits rolled for Look back I was left with more questions than answers and tears. Why do we draw? Why do we make art? If we don't like what we are doing why not stop? These were few of the many questions that imposed in my head, growing up as a child who's identity in school was the "art kid" and "drawing kid" this film left a significant personal impact on me like it did for many others; I talked less and drew more back in elementary, I was praised for the most amateur art works (mostly dinosaurs and cartoon characters) and was obsessed for more validation. I used to only eat and draw in Interval (recess) back then. I even have the same artbook which the characters used for a long time now. The film feels like Fujimoto's love letter for drawing but also a critique of being an artist, whether being a mangaka or a traditional artist: we all have a shared experience of passion, resignation and ambition when it comes to making art. Of course the film is not perfect. The biggest problem I had with this feature, was that it didn't last longer, I honestly could have watched another hour of this, but there was no filler or wasted moments in the film as it did not miss a beat, the story was engaging all the way through with my eyes blurred with water half of the time. The animation and art style of the film was one of the most unique I've seen in a while from an animated film in general; it has the animation of a Science Saru production but also neatly weaven with Fujimoto's art style. The Ghibli like water color back grounds go hand in hand with the slice of life aspects of the film, despite being only 55 minutes it felt as if 20 minutes passed, as time flew by so fast I couldn't simply believe it, its like there wasn't enough time to look back at those past memories. Which reminds me, are good films those that leave you with a satisfied experience or are good films those that leave you more questions. Why not both? 5/5 Shark Kicks

Scariest Film of the Year>> I genuinely taught the film was scary throughout almost all its run, except the ending and some scenes in the middle. I was expecting this to be a grounded thriller but I should have read the signs early in the film there was going to be some supernatural elements which I was not expecting in the middle. The pros -------------- The music score complimented horror scenes very well and I personally loved the lead actress performance as she manages to show a person who is stoic due to the nasty things she's seen and experienced. The tone of the film in the beginning was just near perfect as it had a great vibe of disturbing mystery. The cinematography and sets are also extremely well done, along with the film having one of the bests openings (if not the best) of the year. As said before the horror elements work quite smooth and terrifying, giving me goosebumps and almost tears at times, especially in the first half. The film also had a decent narrative and most times engaging story. The cons --------------- Alrhough the story holds up most of the time, it kinds of falls abit by the near end, maybe because I was expecting this to be a thriller and not a supernatural film, but im a nacker for realistic horror like the babadook and midsummor. At times the detective scenes for me got abit boring especially by the near end, also despites some of the plot twists being quite decent and even good, the other ones did not really tie up for me or didnt have much build-up. Finally Nicholas cage, I thought he was explosive in the beginning scene of the film, but the more that was relieved the less allure and mystery of his character longlegs slowly faded, but he still gives a good transformative performance. Final verdict ------------------- I mostly think the film is good, if not almost great, but it is really a terrifying unconventional horror movie.

Well I can tell my expectations killed the film. When I watched the trailer few months ago, I saw a promising film with strong best picture material and "Maestro" soon became one of my highest anticipated films of the year. The cast and acting in the movie was always stellar! and some of the best direction given from Bradley Cooper, the cinematography was as phenomenal as shown earlier in the trailers. But when time arrived to actually watch the movie, I was met with a somewhat soul-less product. The problem lied down on to its screenplay, which I personally thought was rather choosing a safe direction for the events of the life of Leonard Bernstein to unravel. The screenplay did not want to dive deep into the mind and passion of music of the late composer, instead it wanted to focus on his complicated relationship with his wife Felicia, which sadly only looked like the surface, not attaining a great depth into their chemistry and why they got along so well. It's rather a checklist of events that seep its way chronologically, without really feeling real or authentic. The acting was great but the screenplay may not have been the best guidance for the path of the film's narrative. This may have also affected the sympathy for the characters a lot as well. Never once in the movie, did I feel that Leonard Bernstein loves his music, his work and is committed to it, I never felt like his love for music and workaholic nature was driving him away from his family & Felicia's career is crystal-clear to be shown as a great one while not knowing any of her struggles and spend the entirety of the movie either being jealous of her husband's affair and causing some discomfort to him as if she was not interested. Bernstein's music also may not have been used as effectively either, marking the cathedral scene and "postlude" some of the only good examples on the use of music which hit a emotional string. Not to mention musical conductor/ maestro films have been recently been some of my favorites like "Tár 2022" and "Amadeus 1984", which both made me appreciate and love music even more than I already do. Maestro doesn't have to fill their shoes, instead it only had to show how its story and authenticity can be proven different from its predecessors while still invoking love for music and difficulty of craftmanship. The beauty of Maestro lies in the editing and cinematography & some committing performances by Cooper and Mulligan. I do believe the film could have done a lot more to be a better movie and there is a better movie but Maestro leaves the audience with an empty shell of an experience. Do I recommend it? I don't think so.. Justice for Leonard Bernstein's life was still achieved by this movie but as a film it really did not show anything more to cinema or expand it.

I watched it in a cinema in Dubai, I've got to say, Rotten Tomatoes and film critics took this film way too hard than it deserved. As a cinephile myself, I got to say this is one of Illumination's best work right after Minions 2 (which is mid but I enjoyed), there was a lot of hard work put in to the animation and the voice cast is spot on and bearable, the only star I reduced was for the story and dialogue as there were some parts of the film that I wished were more fleshed out and more better character chemistry but this impacts the film very little, and the film stays true to its purpose, that it is a Mario movie, and is a feast to fans of the beloved franchise and new-comers who are discovering the world of Super Mario Bros. So good job to all of Illumination and Nintendo, and thank you for reading this review, have a good day.