In-Review: April 2024
Tennis hype, Cyberpunk stories, New Home Video Releases, and links
The summer movie season is now in full swing (pun intended). While not the box office smash that I might’ve imagined, Challengers wooed critics who praised Zendaya’s movie star aura and the spectacular soundtrack from Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor. Speaking for myself, I was enamored by the performance and soundtrack of Challengers as well. It absolutely lived up to my expectations, but it’s not the lurid sex romp the promotional image above led many audiences to believe. I would describe it more closely with Alfonso Cuaron’s Y tu mamá también minus the visual climax. I’ll probably end up discussing Challengers more on the podcast if you’d like to hear my in-depth thoughts on it, but needless to say, I thought the movie was great. I was buzzing after I left the theaters and while I didn’t buy the designer version of Zendaya’s shirt in the movie, I found a similar version on TeePublic that I expect to be rocking all summer long.
Now we have a May that promises a new Ryan Gosling / Emily Blunt collaboration, another entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise, an animated cat that happened to love lasagna, and the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road. By my estimation, that’s a little something for everyone, but for those looking for other offerings, the Independent Film Festival Boston starts tonight. There are several films still available to purchase tickets for (Two A24 pictures, I Saw the TV Glow and Janet Planet have sold out) including Thelma, Ghostlight, My Old Ass, Daughters, and more.
Here are the movies I caught up with in April:
Mini-Review: Mars Express
A mysterious murder mystery with a human and her cyborg counterpart? Where have I heard this story before? Director Jeremie Perin’s Mars Express wears the influence of Ghost in the Shell on its sleeve, but thankfully it stands apart from that classic with slick animation and reviting characters.
Private investigator Aline Ruby and her android companion Carlos Rivera are investigating the murder of a college student. The search for the killer leads Aline and Carlos face-to-face with an array of interesting characters from android hackers to synthetic sex workers. Half the fun of Mars Express is exactly who or what Aline and Carlos will come across next.
Outside of exploring the murder, there’s a lot of world-building aside from the main adventure. Androids are common here on Mars even if android and human relationships still suffer in the 23rd century. Aline and Carlos have been friends for a long time, but Carlos lost his body in an earlier conflict and now lives in a synthetic body. Watching Carlos navigate the world as an android is distressing— even though he retains the memories of the past, no one will accept his new form, except for Aline.
There’s an even bigger push from the corporations in Mars Express to move away from the androids that pervade all assists of their daily lives. Whether it be towards organic war machines or general racism towards androids, there’s a big emphasis on the eventual removal of the A.I. counterparts. It’d be easier for this change to happen if people could tell each other apart from possible synthetic clones. One of the main characters, Jun, who has been targeted for assassination during the opening salvo of Mars Express, has an illegal clone working as a sex worker. Her reasoning makes sense (can’t imagine how much college tuition will be in the future), but there’s nothing to tell them apart on the outside.
Watching Mars Express unfold is an absolute joy. The animation is slick and extremely detailed. The best science-fiction can create beautiful new environments filled with minute details we’ve never seen before and Mars Express has plenty of weird and interesting creatures at its disposal. The android body that houses the mind of Carlos for instance—it’s easy to forget that you’re watching an android move. That’s a credit not only to the animation team that brought the character to life or the team that created that concept but the performances of all the actors involved. I watched the new English dub for my screening of Mars Express and it was extremely well done.
The greatest rub against Mars Express is that its central murder mystery gets lost in the weeds. Not only is it hard to follow all the intricate beats, but ultimately it’s not what’s important in this story. It’s much more about the plight of the androids and their struggle towards freedom.
Fans of Ghost in the Shell will find plenty to love with GKIDS latest release. It’s a slick, entertaining, and thought-provoking science-fiction story. While the murder mystery pushing the story forward gets muddled, there’s plenty here to celebrate and enjoy. I, for one, can’t wait to see what director Jeremie Perin has in store next after the terrific Mars Express. [B]
Home Video Releases
Warner Bros. has a few new and upcoming releases that the It’s the Pictures audience would be interested in. First, they’ve released the Academy Award-winning film, The Departed, on 4K UHD. The new disc features a new 4K master overseen by the film's editor Thelma Schoonmaker and should please fans of the feature. While I’ve always found The Departed more good than great, there’s no denying this is the best way to view the movie at home.
Another new release from WB is the 4K debut of the Ocean’s Trilogy (Ocean’s 11, 12, 13). The 4K remasters were completed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) with the participation of director Steven Soderbergh. I watched Ocean’s 11 last night and the movie looks as good as it ever has with the new 4K transfer. Even if the Ocean’s movies do not entirely bowl me over, there’s no denying their entertainment value— they’re incredibly easy to watch and feature great actors from George Clooney and Julia Roberts to Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
May will also see the home video release of the hotly anticipated Dune: Part 2 from Warner Bros.
Paramount Pictures has two new 4K UHD releases in May as well. First is a new 4K UHD of The Crow. Brandon Lee’s final picture comes home with a beautiful new transfer with a Dolby Vision grade on the image. Next is the anticipated 4K UHD release of Once Upon a Time in the West, the 1968 Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone. Starring Henry Fonda as the villain and Charles Bronson as his nemesis, the film is often considered one of the greatest Westerns and films of all time.
Links
An interview with I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun from Vanity Fair.
Speaking of Mars Express, here is a lengthy interview with director Jeremie Perin.
The story behind the Dune 2 Popcorn Bucket from the people who made it.
If you thought Challengers was all steamy threesomes and tennis, get ready for Churros.
I’m a big fan of Shogun and its finale aired last week. Here’s a piece on the finale and why the biggest battle happened off-screen.
Fallout is the biggest TV show in the world right now. Should you play or replay Fallout 4?
GKIDS announced the streaming and home video dates for The Boy and the Heron.
There’s a show on Netflix called Baby Reindeer that everyone is talking about. If you want to know why that is, The Ringer might have an answer for you.