Uncensored/Ad-free version on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/90346855?pr=true Uncensored/Ad-free version on RUclips: ruclips.net/video/ip8BdHVZF_o/видео.html Thank you for your support!
American fiction won the people choice award but as some that has watched this channel for nearly a decade you RARELY cover black films. You did like get out and moonlight and pens that are hard to ignore like Steve McQueens 12 years but avoid black films most of the time and this realization is pretty On top of the fact you lack a lot of cultural context of these films so your takes don’t always come across as the most informed. Nothing like critical drinker but has big wince moments for aure
"the holdovers is safe and predictable" ok sure but did you miss the constant underlying anxiety created by the fear of death and its usurpation via the genuine connection between three drifting souls
These recent film fest mega reviews are my second favorite series from you, after your yearly lists. Concise and never spoilery, recommending great watches!
Hey Adum i really loved this video But please start posting your annual list videos again. I'm eagerly waiting for the 2016 movie list video and videos on the best movies from other years. Your list videos have really helped me discover many new movies and I love how you narrate them. So please bring them back🙏
Yep I'm more excited for his Film Festival reviews, as it's where the artsy films I'm more interested in will premiere, and I can get a good heads up. The Contestant and Dream Scenario are now higher on my list, and AGGRO DR1FT sounds interesting.
Worth noting that 'Close Your Eyes' is directed by Victor Erice, who hasn't made a narrative feature film in the past 40 YEARS. Truly a crazy return to form for him
I saw the Boy and the Heron in Japan when it originally releases and calling it a vibes movie is pretty accurate for explaining it to the average person. It's parts auto biographical, parts throwback to other Ghibli films, and parts deeply personal. Without getting into spoilers there are parts of the film where it really feels like he is speaking directly to his grandchildren, whom he is quoted as saying he made the movie for. It's not even a cultural or translation difference thing either. Even Japanese audiences were very perplexed by the story in the film. I left the film pretty confused by it but it also had a way of leaving an imprint and I was thinking about the film for a few days even after I saw it.
The Zone of Interest: 9 Anatomy of a Fall: 8+ About Dry Grasses: 8+ The Contestant: 8 Dream Scenario: 8 Fallen Leaves: 7+ Hitman: 7+ Perfect Days: 7 Robot Dreams: 7 Four Daughters: 7 Close Your Eyes: 7- The Boy and the Heron: 6- Aggro Dr1ft: 5 The Holdovers: 5 Memory: 5 The Settlers: 4+
I think the thing about movies like The Holdovers being formulaic and obvious that works for me is when the delivery feels authentic and natural for me. Same with The Fabelmans, it’s more like an adventure with character development where we know how it gets there, but it’s the quest that makes it fun anyways. Like building a Lego set. What made The Holdovers work so well for me was just the chemistry between everyone and the cozy feeling seeing three loners bond during a time where people so desperately need that kind of connection.
It’s nice to hear Adum actually being generally positive and passionate about filmmaking when these videos come out. So much general release stuff is just not all that remarkable so it’s nice to see films that are actually trying to stand out.
i was maybe 7 when master of disguise came out. when we rented the video tape, i woke up in the middle of the night and started watching it. i laughed so hard that i woke up my dad on the other side of the house, and he stormed into the room and was very scary
he was probably coming to remind you about 9/11 and how they had to stop filming Master of Disguise while Dana Carvey was still in his turtle suit for a moment of silence.
@@lolzforlunch that's true, and he actually spoke those words verbatim, in the third person past tense. and the child he was speaking to? barack "you're mama" obama.
Hey Adum i really loved this video But please start posting your annual list videos again. I'm eagerly waiting for the 2016 movie list video and videos on the best movies from other years. Your list videos have really helped me discover many new movies and I love how you narrate them. So please bring them back🙏
I learned about yms through those. They are great because they are so exhaustive. I would rather have one every second year than one per year with diminished quality.
i watched this video a month or so ago because i wanted to hear Adams opinion on The Holdovers and i was upset because "wow the movie must be kinda mid" but i literally just got done watching it and holy shit it's phenomenal. watch movies on your own. don't listen to critics. i nearly cried on multiple occasions.
Same here! I watched this last week and boy this movie has so much heart to it and I was fully engaged the whole time. Adam be smoking some weird crack sometimes idk what his problem was but I I think he needs to give this another try
Oh yeah, Adam’s take is wild. Product placement???? And then the example that he gives of a label “cheated towards the camera” is the BACK LABEL on a bottle, which is the exact opposite of that - in fact, that’s what you do when you DON’T want to show the label!
The other reason i feel they should have kept the original Japanese title is because it ties it directly to the book it was based on which really enforces what the film is about.
When Adum says that the child performance in AoaF is fantastic, he isn’t lying. Milo Machado-Graner was amazing as Daniel, and I really hope he gets a supporting actor nom. The third act really tied the movie together for me, and a large part of that was due to his performance.
@@NikoJr. Was he supposed to sound like he had a head cold or something, because I thought Chris Pratt was gonna be the one we needed to worry about, but it ended up being someone else entirely that felt out of place.....
To be fair, Miyazaki often includes a lot of stuff this is pretty common folklore in Japan which can seem novel or exotic to outside viewers. It's kind of like if you just shoved in Paul Bunyan or the Headless Horsemen into a movie with no explanation. Folks in the U.S. would get it, but it's a little obscure for even some Canadians.
A clarification in case anyone cares: the "you" in "How do you live?" is explicitly plural. I felt that'd be worth pointing out, because the english sound implicitly singular to me.
What I learned is most movies now are longer than they need to be. I blame streaming services wrestling the market away from theaters and cable networks. Without the constraints of commercial breaks or bladder capacity, filmmakers don't have to keep it snappy and are using it as an excuse to soak up time with impunity.
@@maximrukinov3101no offense but HOW? You like being glued to your theater seat for 2.5 hrs and for every movie experience to feel like an obligation? Across the spider-verse was beautiful film, and it could've been an hour shorter in runtime and would've been SO MUCH BETTER. The poor children next to me were asking their parents when the movie was finally going to be over-- they were all haggered and exhausted by the end of it. That's NOT how you should feel after going to the movies
@@soymilkman you have a fair point! I am just voting for more liberty to filmmakers than to producers as the latter ones tended to cut great movies in the past. I hate the fact that there's such a thing as "director cut" in existence - all movies should be director's cuts with less restraints on length we have now. Theoretically at least :) I understand that it has a side-effect of bloated blockbuster movies, though. At least something positive in living in Russia for me as we don't have many of these anymore, lol XD
@@soymilkman this is more of a subjective issue here. A movie being long is only an issue depending on the person. I personally have sat through 4 hour+ movies with no issue but I know some can't even get past 2 hours so just check the length of a movie before you decide to sit in a theater all it takes is one Google search.
@@soymilkmanyou’re talking about blockbuster mainstream movies like Spiderverse being long, which is completely irrelevant to the films discussed here, because yeah movies made for general audiences like that should be shorter, I agree. But movies like the ones from film festivals most ppl never watch in the theatre, these are all indie movies anyways, they have limited releases if any, i mean fuck most ppl never watch indie movies anyways they disappear onto streaming services. Long running times is not the problem. I mean jesus long running times have always been part of film festivals because its all artsy. Spiderverse has completely nothing to do with the sort of runtime of film festival stuff.
Thank you for being generous to The Boy and the Heron, Adum. 😂 I’m glad you’re able to appreciate the filmmaking craft despite the narrative elements not really doing it for you. You really can’t flaw the technical elements of Ghibli’s films. I’m a huge fan of Miyazaki, not a single film I don’t think is at least “pretty good” and Princess Mononoke has been my favorite film since I saw it like 15 years ago now. So needless to say, anticipation is quite high, after waiting for a damn decade. Possible I might not end up loving it, but I will relish every moment of it as if it truly were his last.
@@farkasmactavishNot so sure about that. I'm Japanese and I watched it in theaters this summer in Japan. Some parts did seem like it would be lost in translation, but even then the plot felt very meandering. The film felt like it was trying to say something important, but to me it was unclear what that was. I agree with Adam's assessment that it was a vibe film. That being said, it was an extremely beautiful movie.
My favorite film was The Wind Rises from the same director when I fully rewatched it weeks ago. It felt so atmospheric, well-rounded and empathetic, more than it has any right to be. That said, I’m really excited for Boy and the Heron, and from the synopsis, it kind of sounds like it’s going to be a meditation on grief and learning HOW to live.
@@farkasmactavish Not really, the reception in Japan is pretty much the same. The movie is actually about Miyazaki's life and the anime industry, but if you don't know too much about those you'll probably just think it's some weird "deep" movie about grief or loss or something. For example, I bet none of the people in the film theater with me understood what "the 13 perfect blocks" were meant to be.
Totally disagree about The Holdovers. It's an instant Christmas classic and tons of other people are feeling the same way. The letterboxed reviews are almost unanimous praise. And I fundamentally disagree with your ideology about it being predictable. So what if a movie has familiar beats? You could say Star Wars is predictable because it's a typical heroes journey story. Doesn't make the film any less compelling. Just because you can piece together the beats of a story doesn't mean it warrants turning it off halfway through. There were plenty of surprises throughout and even if a plot element felt familiar, the performances and nuance of the scenes made up for it.
Star wars had groundbreaking effects and music and great characters and that makes the simple journey more palatable. I liked the movie but it was unnecessarily predictable and that did make it feel more artificial and made me care less. Its goal was to be comforting and nostalgic and familiar, and it succeeded in that for better or worse.
Funny you use Star Wars as an example since Adum doesn’t like that very much either lol (tbf he has it at a 6, but doesn’t care for it much). I guess it shows how consistent he is!
Glad that the "This Man" story finaly got to exist as a movie. Idk if these are the same people who where working on the original film or a new team reviving the idea, but im glad to see realized anyways.
I just watched through The Boy and The Heron, and while I do agree that it’s more of a vibe movie, the narrative is deep and it handles the topic of grief very well and it a different way than we’re accustomed to in films. Usually in other movies, people would lash out and declare that they hate everything. Here, Mahito feels disconnected because of his grief and can't enjoy his new life because of it.
Adum pretty much summing up my general issue with most of the Miyazaki canon. The craftsmanship and creativity of the visual design are off-the-charts, but his inability to marry these ideas to a proper story makes it far less compelling than it should be. "Naussica", "Princess Mononoke", and "Spirited Away" are the best Miyazaki films because they find the narrative that best explores themes and ideas of the entire production.
Honestly, as someone who enjoys the films, that sounds about right. I don't know why some Miyazaki fans treat his work like they're profound narrative/intellectual masterpieces. I'd actually call most of his work to be more akin to "poems" in the sense that the narrative (or story and it's structure) isn't really what's important, more so the emotions that are being conveyed through the imagery and sequence of events. Which is super neat for what it is and why I like them but, other than probably Mononoke, they aren't particularly articulate in what they're trying to say.
As a Ghibli fan, I thank you for the sanity check. I felt like The Boy and the Heron was Miyazaki's weakest film by a long shot and my family who I watched it with did not agree. It lacked any of the necessary character development that it acted like it had done. I love slow, quiet films but this movie spent all its time budget on too many of those scenes and then expected you to care about people who you and the other characters knew little to nothing about.
You are the first person with a negative review on The Holdovers. My favorite film of the year and great performances. It was never boring at any point. Did you actually watch this film? I wonder
Really loved how happy you were to talk about the slew of movies in this video. I don't know it just really set the mood for this video in a really good way. Super excited to watch "How Do You Live" (The Boy and the Heron). It feels like the end of an era with it being Miyazaki’s last film. One thing that I think should be mentioned is that "How Do You Live" is also based off a novel. So that might be why a lot of things feel like they should be interpreted figuratively instead of literally. Or feeling like little moments were adding to the world rather than having a major impact on the overall plot. Also I love for every insane or bad Nic Cage performance we always have a fantastic one just to keep us on our toes. It's why he's one of my favorite actors. Comparing the aesthetic of Aggro Dr1ft to an old Suda 51 game was also hilarious.
A Ghibli employee has already revealed that Miyazaki is working on another movie 😂 they said something like “ I can’t stop him, he won’t quit working till he dies”
@@flyingorange4493it’s moreso that it took inspiration from the novel’s themes and settings, and I believe it exists as an object in the film. But I’m terms of the story it’s completely it’s own thing. It was also one of Miya’s favorite books as a child so it’s a very personal connection.
I could not disagree more with Robot Dreams. Every scene felt important and I loved the tragic vibes of the movie. I have not ugly cried over a movie in a very long time.
23:16 should recommend "A Scanner Darkly" which Linklater did a few dark and thriller films before making "School of Rock," & "Boyhood." That's something.
Confused by the Nebraska slander. It's a super nice movie, Bruce Dern gives an outstanding performance, funny writing, and a great ending. Also an amazing score by Mark Orton.
Zone of Interest is fantastic. I'm really disappointed it wasn't nominated for cinematography. The way the movie uses lighting was amazing, and every shot was engaging and meaningful.
Johnny Glazer back at it with a banger. Need to see this one immediatley. Thank you Adum for a deeply personal review video. Your emotion, enjoyment and excitement is absolutely palpable across this video. Thank you
W take on The Boy and the Heron. I liked the slice of life stuff at the beginning but once all the wacky stuff starts happening the rest of the film may as well be nonsense. There are things that “mean” things here and there but so much of the fantasy elements are totally interchangeable and don’t relate to the grounded story at all, it’s just there to show off creativity and animation. Which are nice sure, but if they mean nothing then I’m not really impressed.
Since you care about pronunciation, here's a tip for Kaurismäki: the letter ä makes a different sound than a, and in this case you can pronounce "mäki" exactly like "Mackey", as in the South Park character. Otherwise perfect! Also glad you liked the movie. Kaurismäki has a very distinct style especially in terms of dialogue, it's super interesting to hear a non-Finnish person tackle his material.
38:11 "most of the movie is not bad, it's just fine, it's just forgettable, it just doesn't need to exist." I know this line was probably more of a stream of consciousness rather than something purposefully written out but personally I find the "it just doesn't need to exist" part really obnoxious. We wouldn't really have good movies without fine ones.
My partner and i saw The Boy and the Heron and like. I've never watched a Miyazaki movie and not known what it was trying to convey and I am glad I wasnt too off in it being wack with its narrative. It doesnt have an 'ending', it just sort of.... stops? Really abruptly and in a way that was so unsatisfying me. I was interested in the eerie feeling of the first two acts but by the third i was just wondering how they were gonna wrap things up and... lo and behold they didnt really haha. That last tacked on scene that was 'and after the war we went back to tokyo' and then the movie went to credits was like a smack across the face
Fallen Leaves is a very Finnish film in the sense that you might not pick up on all the cultural nuances as a foreigner. Still glad it got the attention it deserved
10:40 Correct me if I’m wrong, but a lot of Japanese Amines had to be censored in the US in order for them to be suitable for children. Blood and death were more prevalent in shonen amine, at least in the late 90’s/ early 00’s.
OMG - somebody needed to say what Adum said about The Boy and the Heron/Anatomy of a Fall. I didn’t think The Boy and the Heron wasn’t good. It was fine, but I was just bored out of my mind after the first act. It had moments, but I wasn’t in love with it. I also felt Anatomy of a Fall was a delightful surprise because I went in knowing very little. It was great, but too long. Heck, I feel like you could say that about most of the Best Picture nominees.
New ghibli film had no trailer or pre-release screenshots here in Japan. I couldn't believe some of the spoiler shit I saw in the north American trailer. Wasn't a good idea.
I watched the IMAX Live presentation of the 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense. I had to travel 26 miles one-way to re-watch my second-favorite movie of all-time, but it was worth it. However Spike Lee's interview with Talking Heads at TIFF was awkward as shit to watch.
43:50 I'm definitely wanted to see it. Looks original and sorry to say it but I liked animated films where like furry characters in a comfortable connection even I've seen Kiff in Disney+, whether Bluey was a comfortable kid Australian show which was popularity in Disney+, and other ones. So, I will see it if it comes in New York and would put "Made in NY" would recommend see Robot Dreams in limited release and looks like French and Spanish animator has soft spot of making a furry animated film in 80's NY setup. Thanks Adam. If Oscars can't find this consider this movie, I would come over and knock the door for pleasing this movie.
42:20 Can someone please give context what he means by Robot Dreams being ""narratively unsatisfying" and having "mild tragedy"? Is there something triggering I should be aware before seeing this?
Yes, I have seen it before and have also heard others called this the animated version of Past Lives. It's just that when I heard him say tragedy, I assumed the worst.
The opinions on Boy and the Heroin are valid - but naive. The film is about Hayao Miyazaki himself and it expects the viewer to understand that. When you contexualize what happened understanding that the - why of it all - comes together more.
Very good vid. A little disappointed that Adam seemed unfamiliar with Wim Wenders's & Aki Kaurismaki's work. Being familiar with them would no doubt augment the experience of watching their newest films.
Was kinda disappointed in Zone of Interest. After seeing the trailer, I had a pretty clear picture of what the movie was about and the film ended up being exactly that. Aside from the score and a couple sequences, the film had no surprises. Obviously not expecting a big twist or anything, like it was just the premise of the movie, but longer. It never progressed. Still appreciate the craft in making it, and it's by no means bad, but I'm just confused why that doesn't bug other people.
Maybe I'm not a smart man, but I saw Zone of Interest, and while I agree with you that it was refreshing to get a film about the holocaust that wasn't exploitative, it felt to me it was trying so hard to be artsy and make me feel like I'm watching a masterpiece rather than actually being one. I found the 3 minute black screen at the beginning pompous, and the incredibly slow pace of the film was exceptionally dull. I understand the subject matter, and I think it had a great observation about how we relate to this family and their goals outside of the war. But I think the film could have been 45 minutes shorter.
Good Toronto films Adam, very well done. I would see "The Boy and the Heron," "Dream Scenario," "Aggro Dr1ft" (controversy for this acid film), and "Robot Dreams." Too bad no "Pain Hustlers," "Maestro" and latest David Fincher's "The Killer" which both released earlier in film festival and coming out in Netflix, but that's okay. Just check them either in your reaction trailers or later reviews.
Suggestion: could you put the release date on the screen with the film poster so we can take a screenshot and have the movie and it’s release date for reference later
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Uncensored/Ad-free version on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/90346855?pr=true
Uncensored/Ad-free version on RUclips: ruclips.net/video/ip8BdHVZF_o/видео.html
Thank you for your support!
TIFF Rhymes with YIFF, Coincidence? I THINK NOT
Luv ya bud. Thanks for the uploads.
PLEASE REVIEW SCOTT PLIGRIM & SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF WHEN IT COMES OUT :0 @yms
American fiction won the people choice award but as some that has watched this channel for nearly a decade you RARELY cover black films. You did like get out and moonlight and pens that are hard to ignore like Steve McQueens 12 years but avoid black films most of the time and this realization is pretty
On top of the fact you lack a lot of cultural context of these films so your takes don’t always come across as the most informed. Nothing like critical drinker but has big wince moments for aure
Calling The Boy and the Heron Miyazaki's "latest final film" is funny and accurate
”Newest final film”*
No it’s not it’s only the beginning
"the holdovers is safe and predictable" ok sure but did you miss the constant underlying anxiety created by the fear of death and its usurpation via the genuine connection between three drifting souls
"Usurpation"
@@arch_dornan6066i thought it was usurption for years lol
These recent film fest mega reviews are my second favorite series from you, after your yearly lists. Concise and never spoilery, recommending great watches!
Hey Adum i really loved this video But please start posting your annual list videos again. I'm eagerly waiting for the 2016 movie list video and videos on the best movies from other years. Your list videos have really helped me discover many new movies and I love how you narrate them. So please bring them back🙏
Yep I'm more excited for his Film Festival reviews, as it's where the artsy films I'm more interested in will premiere, and I can get a good heads up. The Contestant and Dream Scenario are now higher on my list, and AGGRO DR1FT sounds interesting.
Both of these always leave me with a lot more movies on my watchlist.
Most of them I hadn't heard of before.
Ponyo is legit one of the best movies ever for a kid under 4. And too chill to ever be annoying. A great tool for a parent.
Literally just watched Ponyo for the first time less than 24 hours ago. Cannot agree more. Best for kids, enjoyable for everyone
ham!!!
I can say my 4 year old Daughter LOVES Ponyo. Howl's Moving Castle is in my top 3 so I love being able to share a Miyazaki film with her.
Yes! My daughter always remains captivated by Ponyo whenever I turn it on. Watching my daughter's excitement makes me love the film even more!
It also rules because Miyazaki criticizes himself and his relationship with his son with the dad character in the movie
Adam can say “I absolutely loved this movie,” deliver no criticisms and then still give it a 7/10 lol. Not complaining, I relate to it haha
Worth noting that 'Close Your Eyes' is directed by Victor Erice, who hasn't made a narrative feature film in the past 40 YEARS. Truly a crazy return to form for him
Well, 31 years, but still a lengthy gap
I saw the Boy and the Heron in Japan when it originally releases and calling it a vibes movie is pretty accurate for explaining it to the average person. It's parts auto biographical, parts throwback to other Ghibli films, and parts deeply personal. Without getting into spoilers there are parts of the film where it really feels like he is speaking directly to his grandchildren, whom he is quoted as saying he made the movie for.
It's not even a cultural or translation difference thing either. Even Japanese audiences were very perplexed by the story in the film.
I left the film pretty confused by it but it also had a way of leaving an imprint and I was thinking about the film for a few days even after I saw it.
bro was smoking crack on holdovers. that movie was amazing.
He usually does when it comes to good movies
For real that movie slapped
The Zone of Interest: 9
Anatomy of a Fall: 8+
About Dry Grasses: 8+
The Contestant: 8
Dream Scenario: 8
Fallen Leaves: 7+
Hitman: 7+
Perfect Days: 7
Robot Dreams: 7
Four Daughters: 7
Close Your Eyes: 7-
The Boy and the Heron: 6-
Aggro Dr1ft: 5
The Holdovers: 5
Memory: 5
The Settlers: 4+
The winning ingredient seems to be Sandra Hüller. She got a nomination for the Oskar this year as well for Anatomy of a Fall
I think the thing about movies like The Holdovers being formulaic and obvious that works for me is when the delivery feels authentic and natural for me.
Same with The Fabelmans, it’s more like an adventure with character development where we know how it gets there, but it’s the quest that makes it fun anyways.
Like building a Lego set.
What made The Holdovers work so well for me was just the chemistry between everyone and the cozy feeling seeing three loners bond during a time where people so desperately need that kind of connection.
That’s such a good point, I feel like it’s this year’s Fabelmans.
Oh man, the Fabelmans was horrible, sooo cheesy. I bet Holdovers is waaaay bettet.
I love film festival season. That's when the real good shit comes out.
💯
Both in terms of movies and Adum’s content. I love these videos.
It’s nice to hear Adum actually being generally positive and passionate about filmmaking when these videos come out. So much general release stuff is just not all that remarkable so it’s nice to see films that are actually trying to stand out.
@@JoshLeitzel yeah hearing him gush over About Dry Grasses genuinely made me happy
Usually mine comes out around the holidays. Turkey and ham really grease the ol wheels, if you know what I mean.
i was maybe 7 when master of disguise came out. when we rented the video tape, i woke up in the middle of the night and started watching it. i laughed so hard that i woke up my dad on the other side of the house, and he stormed into the room and was very scary
It's my favorite movie starring Mitch McConnell
he was probably coming to remind you about 9/11 and how they had to stop filming Master of Disguise while Dana Carvey was still in his turtle suit for a moment of silence.
@@lolzforlunch that's true, and he actually spoke those words verbatim, in the third person past tense. and the child he was speaking to? barack "you're mama" obama.
Many such cases
Hey Adum i really loved this video But please start posting your annual list videos again. I'm eagerly waiting for the 2016 movie list video and videos on the best movies from other years. Your list videos have really helped me discover many new movies and I love how you narrate them. So please bring them back🙏
To my knowledge, they're not gone. Just takes a long time to watch every notable movie from a year.
I completely agree though. I love those videos.
I learned about yms through those. They are great because they are so exhaustive. I would rather have one every second year than one per year with diminished quality.
@@TheZigzagmanThey’ve at least slowed down in frequency
@@phil5037 but over all content production and quality is much higher.
He’s workin on it
YMS and Big Joel is quite the combo
Large Joel sighting right up top. That's some feel good shit right there.
That looks like small Joel to me, not large Joel
@@stevedomique9278 text book large Joel.
What about the Oompa Loompas?
@@jakecravens8833large joel is a millionaire I doubt he would hang out with either Adam or Big Joel
YMS and Big Joel together in the same frame emits a catastrophic energy i can't quite comprehend
if only little joel had been there
i watched this video a month or so ago because i wanted to hear Adams opinion on The Holdovers and i was upset because "wow the movie must be kinda mid" but i literally just got done watching it and holy shit it's phenomenal. watch movies on your own. don't listen to critics. i nearly cried on multiple occasions.
For real. it's fantastic. Dude was smoking lint when he made this video
Loved it as well, one of my favorites of the year. Is it formulaic? Certainly. But the execution and characters are done so well.
Don't listen to critics? Pretty sure most critics enjoyed it. YMS is an outlier.
Same here! I watched this last week and boy this movie has so much heart to it and I was fully engaged the whole time. Adam be smoking some weird crack sometimes idk what his problem was but I I think he needs to give this another try
Oh yeah, Adam’s take is wild. Product placement???? And then the example that he gives of a label “cheated towards the camera” is the BACK LABEL on a bottle, which is the exact opposite of that - in fact, that’s what you do when you DON’T want to show the label!
The other reason i feel they should have kept the original Japanese title is because it ties it directly to the book it was based on which really enforces what the film is about.
When Adum says that the child performance in AoaF is fantastic, he isn’t lying. Milo Machado-Graner was amazing as Daniel, and I really hope he gets a supporting actor nom. The third act really tied the movie together for me, and a large part of that was due to his performance.
Yiffin at Tiff
Tiff....in
YIFF???
Fred Armisen sounding misplaced in The Contestant and also as Cranky Kong earlier this year is too hilarious to me.
Fred's voice and Cranky Kong did not go together at all
@@NikoJr. im so glad that thats like the one single voice we can all agree just sounded so out of place in that film lol
@@NikoJr. Was he supposed to sound like he had a head cold or something, because I thought Chris Pratt was gonna be the one we needed to worry about, but it ended up being someone else entirely that felt out of place.....
I couldn't stand the vibes that monkey was giving off. I would assume Cranky would have a gravely old man voice, but Fred just sounded....Jewish?
@@spimbles Seth Rogen didn't fit either, yeah I'm dying on this Kong Hill
To be fair, Miyazaki often includes a lot of stuff this is pretty common folklore in Japan which can seem novel or exotic to outside viewers. It's kind of like if you just shoved in Paul Bunyan or the Headless Horsemen into a movie with no explanation. Folks in the U.S. would get it, but it's a little obscure for even some Canadians.
maybe he just didn't like the movie
We got TWO fifty minute videos within a week?!? Thank you Adam 😊
Seeing him explain Argo Dr1ft is basically how you can interpret Karine as a person really
A clarification in case anyone cares: the "you" in "How do you live?" is explicitly plural. I felt that'd be worth pointing out, because the english sound implicitly singular to me.
What I learned is most movies now are longer than they need to be. I blame streaming services wrestling the market away from theaters and cable networks. Without the constraints of commercial breaks or bladder capacity, filmmakers don't have to keep it snappy and are using it as an excuse to soak up time with impunity.
I feel like it's more of a good thing than not, TBH.
@@maximrukinov3101no offense but HOW? You like being glued to your theater seat for 2.5 hrs and for every movie experience to feel like an obligation? Across the spider-verse was beautiful film, and it could've been an hour shorter in runtime and would've been SO MUCH BETTER. The poor children next to me were asking their parents when the movie was finally going to be over-- they were all haggered and exhausted by the end of it. That's NOT how you should feel after going to the movies
@@soymilkman you have a fair point! I am just voting for more liberty to filmmakers than to producers as the latter ones tended to cut great movies in the past. I hate the fact that there's such a thing as "director cut" in existence - all movies should be director's cuts with less restraints on length we have now. Theoretically at least :)
I understand that it has a side-effect of bloated blockbuster movies, though.
At least something positive in living in Russia for me as we don't have many of these anymore, lol XD
@@soymilkman this is more of a subjective issue here. A movie being long is only an issue depending on the person. I personally have sat through 4 hour+ movies with no issue but I know some can't even get past 2 hours so just check the length of a movie before you decide to sit in a theater all it takes is one Google search.
@@soymilkmanyou’re talking about blockbuster mainstream movies like Spiderverse being long, which is completely irrelevant to the films discussed here, because yeah movies made for general audiences like that should be shorter, I agree. But movies like the ones from film festivals most ppl never watch in the theatre, these are all indie movies anyways, they have limited releases if any, i mean fuck most ppl never watch indie movies anyways they disappear onto streaming services. Long running times is not the problem. I mean jesus long running times have always been part of film festivals because its all artsy. Spiderverse has completely nothing to do with the sort of runtime of film festival stuff.
Thank you for being generous to The Boy and the Heron, Adum. 😂 I’m glad you’re able to appreciate the filmmaking craft despite the narrative elements not really doing it for you. You really can’t flaw the technical elements of Ghibli’s films. I’m a huge fan of Miyazaki, not a single film I don’t think is at least “pretty good” and Princess Mononoke has been my favorite film since I saw it like 15 years ago now. So needless to say, anticipation is quite high, after waiting for a damn decade. Possible I might not end up loving it, but I will relish every moment of it as if it truly were his last.
I'm willing to bet it's better for a Japanese viewer, who's aware of certain cultural quirks and symbolism that don't appear in ours.
@@farkasmactavishNot so sure about that. I'm Japanese and I watched it in theaters this summer in Japan. Some parts did seem like it would be lost in translation, but even then the plot felt very meandering. The film felt like it was trying to say something important, but to me it was unclear what that was. I agree with Adam's assessment that it was a vibe film. That being said, it was an extremely beautiful movie.
My favorite film was The Wind Rises from the same director when I fully rewatched it weeks ago. It felt so atmospheric, well-rounded and empathetic, more than it has any right to be.
That said, I’m really excited for Boy and the Heron, and from the synopsis, it kind of sounds like it’s going to be a meditation on grief and learning HOW to live.
@@farkasmactavishyeah i wouldn’t be surprised if a good amount of the dialogue was changed from the original meaning in the english dub
@@farkasmactavish Not really, the reception in Japan is pretty much the same. The movie is actually about Miyazaki's life and the anime industry, but if you don't know too much about those you'll probably just think it's some weird "deep" movie about grief or loss or something. For example, I bet none of the people in the film theater with me understood what "the 13 perfect blocks" were meant to be.
Thanks for giving Miyazaki a 6 instead of a 5 ❤
22:55 For those slightly confused, the new Linklater film is actually called "Hit Man" not "Hitman".
L + ratio + Holdovers outsold
Holdovers was a slam dunk
Adam got Armond White mode on The Holdovers.
Totally disagree about The Holdovers. It's an instant Christmas classic and tons of other people are feeling the same way. The letterboxed reviews are almost unanimous praise. And I fundamentally disagree with your ideology about it being predictable. So what if a movie has familiar beats? You could say Star Wars is predictable because it's a typical heroes journey story. Doesn't make the film any less compelling. Just because you can piece together the beats of a story doesn't mean it warrants turning it off halfway through. There were plenty of surprises throughout and even if a plot element felt familiar, the performances and nuance of the scenes made up for it.
Star wars had groundbreaking effects and music and great characters and that makes the simple journey more palatable. I liked the movie but it was unnecessarily predictable and that did make it feel more artificial and made me care less. Its goal was to be comforting and nostalgic and familiar, and it succeeded in that for better or worse.
Funny you use Star Wars as an example since Adum doesn’t like that very much either lol (tbf he has it at a 6, but doesn’t care for it much). I guess it shows how consistent he is!
Glad that the "This Man" story finaly got to exist as a movie. Idk if these are the same people who where working on the original film or a new team reviving the idea, but im glad to see realized anyways.
The song you liked in Fallen Leaves is called "Syntynyt suruun ja puettu pettymyksi" if you didn't know
The artist is Maustetytöt
I just watched through The Boy and The Heron, and while I do agree that it’s more of a vibe movie, the narrative is deep and it handles the topic of grief very well and it a different way than we’re accustomed to in films. Usually in other movies, people would lash out and declare that they hate everything. Here, Mahito feels disconnected because of his grief and can't enjoy his new life because of it.
Love hearing Adum excited about movies. Sounds like there are some good ones this year, hope I'll be able to see some of these!
Adum pretty much summing up my general issue with most of the Miyazaki canon. The craftsmanship and creativity of the visual design are off-the-charts, but his inability to marry these ideas to a proper story makes it far less compelling than it should be. "Naussica", "Princess Mononoke", and "Spirited Away" are the best Miyazaki films because they find the narrative that best explores themes and ideas of the entire production.
so you're saying that vibes are the "stickiness" that holds miyazaki's films together?
Honestly, as someone who enjoys the films, that sounds about right. I don't know why some Miyazaki fans treat his work like they're profound narrative/intellectual masterpieces. I'd actually call most of his work to be more akin to "poems" in the sense that the narrative (or story and it's structure) isn't really what's important, more so the emotions that are being conveyed through the imagery and sequence of events. Which is super neat for what it is and why I like them but, other than probably Mononoke, they aren't particularly articulate in what they're trying to say.
21:33 - unless you're Tarantino and you just decide to legit choke the actress yourself to make it more realistic
Love these festival videos everytime, really sold me on watching About Dry Grasses and checking the director's other films
I appreciate you letting us know the release dates!
your reviews are so well-thought out and articulated. amazed that we get so many punchy reviews in one video! thanks adam
As a Ghibli fan, I thank you for the sanity check. I felt like The Boy and the Heron was Miyazaki's weakest film by a long shot and my family who I watched it with did not agree. It lacked any of the necessary character development that it acted like it had done. I love slow, quiet films but this movie spent all its time budget on too many of those scenes and then expected you to care about people who you and the other characters knew little to nothing about.
Very well said.
You are the first person with a negative review on The Holdovers. My favorite film of the year and great performances. It was never boring at any point. Did you actually watch this film? I wonder
Really loved how happy you were to talk about the slew of movies in this video. I don't know it just really set the mood for this video in a really good way. Super excited to watch "How Do You Live" (The Boy and the Heron). It feels like the end of an era with it being Miyazaki’s last film.
One thing that I think should be mentioned is that "How Do You Live" is also based off a novel. So that might be why a lot of things feel like they should be interpreted figuratively instead of literally. Or feeling like little moments were adding to the world rather than having a major impact on the overall plot.
Also I love for every insane or bad Nic Cage performance we always have a fantastic one just to keep us on our toes. It's why he's one of my favorite actors.
Comparing the aesthetic of Aggro Dr1ft to an old Suda 51 game was also hilarious.
A Ghibli employee has already revealed that Miyazaki is working on another movie 😂 they said something like “ I can’t stop him, he won’t quit working till he dies”
I thought it was said that the movie just took the name from the book and changed the story, no?
I feel like I heard "The Wind Rises" was supposed to be Miyazaki's last movie. Some people just don't feel like retiring haha
Cage doesnt have bad performances, just ones even more batshit insane lol
@@flyingorange4493it’s moreso that it took inspiration from the novel’s themes and settings, and I believe it exists as an object in the film. But I’m terms of the story it’s completely it’s own thing. It was also one of Miya’s favorite books as a child so it’s a very personal connection.
I could not disagree more with Robot Dreams. Every scene felt important and I loved the tragic vibes of the movie.
I have not ugly cried over a movie in a very long time.
So many good films! Excited to watch many of them.
23:16 should recommend "A Scanner Darkly" which Linklater did a few dark and thriller films before making "School of Rock," & "Boyhood." That's something.
He watched it and gave it an 8/10
Confused by the Nebraska slander. It's a super nice movie, Bruce Dern gives an outstanding performance, funny writing, and a great ending. Also an amazing score by Mark Orton.
Zone of Interest is fantastic. I'm really disappointed it wasn't nominated for cinematography.
The way the movie uses lighting was amazing, and every shot was engaging and meaningful.
Yeah it's incredible, editing is fantastic too
Johnny Glazer back at it with a banger. Need to see this one immediatley.
Thank you Adum for a deeply personal review video. Your emotion, enjoyment and excitement is absolutely palpable across this video. Thank you
I watched it, one of the easiest 10/10s I’ve given.
"how do you live" is such an amazing title just to get laymaned down
W take on The Boy and the Heron. I liked the slice of life stuff at the beginning but once all the wacky stuff starts happening the rest of the film may as well be nonsense. There are things that “mean” things here and there but so much of the fantasy elements are totally interchangeable and don’t relate to the grounded story at all, it’s just there to show off creativity and animation. Which are nice sure, but if they mean nothing then I’m not really impressed.
Always love your film fest videos, I get lots of good recommendations from them.
Since you care about pronunciation, here's a tip for Kaurismäki: the letter ä makes a different sound than a, and in this case you can pronounce "mäki" exactly like "Mackey", as in the South Park character. Otherwise perfect! Also glad you liked the movie. Kaurismäki has a very distinct style especially in terms of dialogue, it's super interesting to hear a non-Finnish person tackle his material.
oh and cenk..Tschenk, at least the turks I know pronounce it that way
The Holdovers already feels like a classic
Can’t wait to watch Boy and the Heron. Wanted to see it at TIFF but sold out quickly. 😅
its... meh. definitely disappointing, id say
38:11
"most of the movie is not bad, it's just fine, it's just forgettable, it just doesn't need to exist." I know this line was probably more of a stream of consciousness rather than something purposefully written out but personally I find the "it just doesn't need to exist" part really obnoxious. We wouldn't really have good movies without fine ones.
Great video bro. Glad to see so many bangers this year.
Aggro Dr1ft looks like the cinematic equivalent of a shitpost and I am all the more excited to see it
Why? Its kinda shitting on you, the audience.
Time to update my Letterboxd watchlist.
About Dry Grasses really impressed me! Glad you loved it too!
It was a pleasure meeting you during Robot Dreams
Can't wait for the YMS International Film Festival, or YIFF to the cool kids
Boy, am I glad I finally found a movie reviewer with simmilar tastes to mine. I love you, disgusted face ❤
@ 22:10 rant, YES!! Hard Agree Adam. That's my new ironic nickname for YMS! I'll see myself out.
im noticing he really likes movies that incorporate music well
I hate it when movies do that
@@EdgieAlias lolok
i really love these videos of yours. they make me want to go to movies more often, and i often follow up on your recommandations
My partner and i saw The Boy and the Heron and like. I've never watched a Miyazaki movie and not known what it was trying to convey and I am glad I wasnt too off in it being wack with its narrative.
It doesnt have an 'ending', it just sort of.... stops? Really abruptly and in a way that was so unsatisfying me. I was interested in the eerie feeling of the first two acts but by the third i was just wondering how they were gonna wrap things up and... lo and behold they didnt really haha. That last tacked on scene that was 'and after the war we went back to tokyo' and then the movie went to credits was like a smack across the face
Fallen Leaves is a very Finnish film in the sense that you might not pick up on all the cultural nuances as a foreigner. Still glad it got the attention it deserved
50:57 The dog is cute! He has a backwards baseball hat on :)
Still intrigued about Aggro Dr1ft...but then again, I love almost everything Korine has done...even Trash Humpers
What happened to the Saw X discussion?
Thank God I wasn't nuts im still looking for it too
@@ricardoreyes1576 Apparently it was taken down due to having too much footage of the movies.
Thank you so much for bringing this up I was so confused
It’s been back
Aggro Drift feels like a rappers promotional video for a new clothing line
10:40 Correct me if I’m wrong, but a lot of Japanese Amines had to be censored in the US in order for them to be suitable for children. Blood and death were more prevalent in shonen amine, at least in the late 90’s/ early 00’s.
OMG - somebody needed to say what Adum said about The Boy and the Heron/Anatomy of a Fall. I didn’t think The Boy and the Heron wasn’t good. It was fine, but I was just bored out of my mind after the first act. It had moments, but I wasn’t in love with it. I also felt Anatomy of a Fall was a delightful surprise because I went in knowing very little. It was great, but too long. Heck, I feel like you could say that about most of the Best Picture nominees.
Real talk, what you said about the Miyazaki movie is 90% what I feel about all Studio Ghibli movies
I believe Robot Dreams is based on graphic novel! That might provide more context for some of the issues.
Miyazakis last film will be a partially completed work that he was working on during his retirement. The man is an artist but refused to retire.
New ghibli film had no trailer or pre-release screenshots here in Japan. I couldn't believe some of the spoiler shit I saw in the north American trailer. Wasn't a good idea.
Wow, definitely interested in the Nasubi film. Thank you Adam!
I watched the IMAX Live presentation of the 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense. I had to travel 26 miles one-way to re-watch my second-favorite movie of all-time, but it was worth it.
However Spike Lee's interview with Talking Heads at TIFF was awkward as shit to watch.
It's film festival time, and hopefully I would be able to watch the movies I'm interested in, in less than a year 😔
If the review of Aggro Dr1ft is so aggravating I don't even want to know what the actual movie would be like...good job Adum!
Torille.
Thx for checking out the Finnish movie! Happy you liked it.
Great seeing you at TIFF, Adum!!
43:50 I'm definitely wanted to see it. Looks original and sorry to say it but I liked animated films where like furry characters in a comfortable connection even I've seen Kiff in Disney+, whether Bluey was a comfortable kid Australian show which was popularity in Disney+, and other ones. So, I will see it if it comes in New York and would put "Made in NY" would recommend see Robot Dreams in limited release and looks like French and Spanish animator has soft spot of making a furry animated film in 80's NY setup. Thanks Adam.
If Oscars can't find this consider this movie, I would come over and knock the door for pleasing this movie.
But how could I possibly find time to watch ANY of these when there's so many Disney made properties to complain about endlessly?!!!
30:23 I LOVE this video!! So glad you’ve seen it.
drop us a link at least my man
do you have a link please?
42:20 Can someone please give context what he means by Robot Dreams being ""narratively unsatisfying" and having "mild tragedy"? Is there something triggering I should be aware before seeing this?
Do you know Past Lives? It's kinda those vibes, but there's nothing triggering really, it's just a bittersweet story
Yes, I have seen it before and have also heard others called this the animated version of Past Lives. It's just that when I heard him say tragedy, I assumed the worst.
Yesss my favorite videos from you are the festival videos! I'm ready to take notes and discover a bunch of cool movies
The opinions on Boy and the Heroin are valid - but naive. The film is about Hayao Miyazaki himself and it expects the viewer to understand that. When you contexualize what happened understanding that the - why of it all - comes together more.
They're smaller roles but I think Michael Cera also really works outside of that stereorypical role in Molly's Game and The World's End.
Him playing an alleged Toby Maguire in mollys game is so funny
21:36 They would've put the sounds just like the grunting sounds that you hear in "GoldenEye" in N64 game.
"RARH, ILL" 😖
Very good vid. A little disappointed that Adam seemed unfamiliar with Wim Wenders's & Aki Kaurismaki's work. Being familiar with them would no doubt augment the experience of watching their newest films.
Was kinda disappointed in Zone of Interest. After seeing the trailer, I had a pretty clear picture of what the movie was about and the film ended up being exactly that. Aside from the score and a couple sequences, the film had no surprises. Obviously not expecting a big twist or anything, like it was just the premise of the movie, but longer. It never progressed. Still appreciate the craft in making it, and it's by no means bad, but I'm just confused why that doesn't bug other people.
These past two videos have been bangers, I love the 45 min+ times lol
Maybe I'm not a smart man, but I saw Zone of Interest, and while I agree with you that it was refreshing to get a film about the holocaust that wasn't exploitative, it felt to me it was trying so hard to be artsy and make me feel like I'm watching a masterpiece rather than actually being one. I found the 3 minute black screen at the beginning pompous, and the incredibly slow pace of the film was exceptionally dull. I understand the subject matter, and I think it had a great observation about how we relate to this family and their goals outside of the war. But I think the film could have been 45 minutes shorter.
did you just crank out 15 film reviews in one movie? What a machine
Good Toronto films Adam, very well done. I would see "The Boy and the Heron," "Dream Scenario," "Aggro Dr1ft" (controversy for this acid film), and "Robot Dreams." Too bad no "Pain Hustlers," "Maestro" and latest David Fincher's "The Killer" which both released earlier in film festival and coming out in Netflix, but that's okay. Just check them either in your reaction trailers or later reviews.
Suggestion: could you put the release date on the screen with the film poster so we can take a screenshot and have the movie and it’s release date for reference later