The Movie Journal

  Maniac: Episode 10 "Option C" “Option C” provided an engaging finale for Maniac . It is hard to say if the series reached or surpassed my expectations because I honestly did not know what to expect. I knew there was talent behind the camera in Cary Fukunaga and in front of the camera with Jonah Hill/Emma Stone. I dug the weird vibes in terms of production design and the story itself. The writing could have been better especially when trying to incorporate mental health themes which is a tall task in itself. While the crux of the action happened last episode, this episode ties everything up. One thing that I was immediately surprised with is how the show did not force a romance between Owen and Annie down our throats. Subtle hints, perhaps. Now the opposite is true for James Mantleray and Dr. Fujita, who ends up having an amazing car. In this mostly-satisfying finale, Mantleray and Fujita must face the CEO of Neberdine’s after the failed trial. Meanwhile, the trial is fini...

  Maniac: Episode 9 "Utangatta" September 21, 2018 Maniac’s “Utangatta” is a chaotic episode that has much going on and little that one could actually understand…yet it still is lots of fun. Both Emma Stone and Jonah Hill deliver excellent performances. One could be annoyed with Hill’s accent, but he has some truly amazing lines. As I try to decipher the plot, I liked the spy angle with a sci-fi twist. Of course, Russia had to be involved. The episode reminded me of 2001: A Space Odyssey as we see who GRTA truly is and the race to shut her down. Like I said, this episode is filled with delicious chaos. Fukunaga may not have the super glue from the previous episode, but still managed to make the episode somewhat coherent. Fukunaga does a solid job wrapping up the main plot as we will focus on resolutions to end this series. As a side note, I liked how this episode tackled mental health and I was moved during the scenes where Annie interacts with Ellie and admits she has been l...

  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) It is not very often that you see a Western musical with a frontier setting. Then came along MGM’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers . If you can forgive the film’s plot (boy, some things did not age well) or the lackluster acting, this film will rank relatively high on the list of best musicals. The film’s tone is so happy and endearing and also very infectious. More often than not, the tone will leave you smiling or tap-dancing. Or you just might need to sing along with some of these songs. I never heard of this picture until the film caught my eye, but I actually knew some of the songs. Great songs are scattered throughout, but my favorites are “Wonderful Day” and “I’m a Lonesome Polecat.” When the film was in production, MGM did not really believe in the film’s success. It was filmed in a studio backlot and the budget was not on par with lavish musicals of the time period. In fact, the budget was often trimmed, and cash was transferred t...

  Wall Street (1987) “The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for the lack of a better word, is good.” (Gordon Gekko) I will be the first one to tell you that I am not an expert at the financial system and probably will never me. If only to see the Michael Douglas performance that everyone raves about, I eventually had to give Oliver Stone’s Wall Street a watch. A complete turnaround from the Oscar-winning Platoon , Stone made a film that is not so much a criticism about capitalism, but how cynical the 1980’s were. The film is very intelligent, so some terms/statements flew over my head, but I got the gist. Despite that strike against me, I still found the film to be reasonably entertaining with a killer performance by Michael Douglas. Coming off the success of the war film Platoon (also starring Charlie Sheen), Stone wanted to make something different. He linked up with a friend of his named Stanley Weiser and asked him to write a screenplay about the quiz show scand...

  Empire of the Sun (1987) My thoughts are complicated regarding Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun . It is one of the director’s most ambitious films and it has a strong narrative pull that displays the notions you would come to expect in a Spielberg film; child separated from his parents, child finding hope and magic, etc.). At times, I was drawn away from the film because the kid, named Jim, is a spoiled brat. I gather that was the intention of Spielberg and writer Tom Stoppard, but holy moly that kid was annoying…especially in the beginning. But through the terrors of war, maybe he will learn a lesson or two. With that in mind, the film is beautifully photographed thanks to Allen Daviau’s camerawork. The production design is excellent as I felt the Japanese POW camp felt authentic. As usual, John Williams crafted another beautiful score which is par for a Spielberg movie. Any narrative shortcomings were made up (to a degree) on the technical side of things. The film was bas...

  Maniac: Episode 8 "The Lake of the Clouds"  September 21, 2018 “The Lake of the Clouds” continues the storyline of the last episode, almost as if it were written as a two-parter. Once again, both storylines impress at times. The fantasy section remains the strongest as we learn more backstory and Julia Garner’s performance continues to be awesome, but the mafia story improved. Jonah Hill’s acting is not the greatest here (although I love his “Annie, I’m a hawk” line.) That story has some solid twists and turns regarding betrayal. I did not see this act of betrayal happening. Also, the episode ends on a sense of terror. GRTA, which is the pathology of Greta, does something you will never forget. I did not feel as if the episode is as well-paced, so it did feel a little slow at times. In this episode, the mob story turns into The Departed . Owen’s dad believes that one of his brothers is the rat, but the true rat is someone you would least expect. He orders the cops to be m...

 Maniac: Episode 7, "Ceci N'est Pas Une Drill"  September 21, 2018 “Ceci N’est Pas Une Drill” is a very interesting episode of Maniac . It sets up the effects of the C-Pill as it takes our characters into different directions; Owen into the mafia world and Annie into the land of fantasy. The episode is very short (a brisk 22 minutes) but it sets up everything well. Upon further watch, this episode is deep and more thematic. I had to watch once more but I got the message how stability within a genre works well as coping mechanisms, which is why Fukunaga decided to use these two genres to get the point across. I think the fantasy world works better for me. No offense to Gabriel Byrne and his “hippocampus” drill method, but Annie and Ellie elven story is a sweeter, more relatable part. Plus, Jonah Hill looks like he is trying to impersonate Post Malone with those tattoos and hair. Annie and Owen are now taking the final C pill. In Owen’s story, his dad wants him to the tak...