The status of Wes Anderson rises from film to film. The ability to cast Scarlett -- as a main character and Margo in a completely passing role -- testifies to his superstar status. That is not to speak of Tilda, Goldblum, Cranston and assorted array of other stars frequently working with him. The movie is well wrought and absolutely meaningless.
The first question appearing with some critics is: did Ari invited his mother to the premiere? Ari must be afraid, very afraid. Now he acquired a cult following and, seemingly despite the admonishments of his mother, can sleep with any number of Scandinavian or Baltic models if he ignores an occasional Nazi tattoo in intimate places. This is not to deny artistic qualities of the movie. Some scenes, for instance exposition of a proverbial "bad neighborhood" can even evoke a laugh among three hours of the movie released as a comedy.
The main difference between his daring "Midsommar" and "Beau is afraid" is that, despite an impeccable acting by Joaquin Phoenix, and a cameo by Nathan Lane, his hero cannot inspire any emotional connection. So empty is his thinking and so will-less his behavior that Beau Wasserman has all reasons to be afraid.
The weakest in years. My bet will be on "Ice Merchants", a politically correct parabola of the global warming but the critics put their bets on nicely rendered but feeble-brained and predictable imitation of Saint- Exupery's "Little Prince", "The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse".
A surprisingly attractive thriller despite using many cliches (how it could be different in this day and age?).
These days director's stature can be gauged by the ability to cast Margot Robbie. If Margot's vehicle "Amsterdam" was undercooked, Babylon is overcooked with too many plotlines to untangle them all by the end. To manage these plotlines they applied a device already employed (unsuccessfully) by the end of the "Boardwalk Empire", that is adding another plotline as a scaffolding to support the previous one. The scenes of fighting with the snake as well as the suicide of the Brad Pitt's hero, and, gigantic distraction in the form of underground palace of De Sadean pleasures would be completely unnecessary if the auteurs followed logic of the characters and made already existing plotlines deeper -- the personalities of the wives of Brad Pitt, his business manager, etc.
Why Cameron desperately clings to this Rousseauist fantasy that tribal societies live in peace and harmony with nature? Violence is endemic feature of the tribal way of life. Human hunter-gatherers are blamed for destroying big Neogene fauna. Concerning the coexistence with the other sentient species: modern humans invasion of Europe is linked to the disappearance of Neanderthals.
Reeking of political correctness... the boy is gay raised in multiracial family, the ruler is Native American lesbian and even the dog is a three-legged mutt, the flick is saved by an inventive subject matter--the travel through the anus of a giant turtle into her organism to save the world.
