August Rush: a couple of quick recaps and we're done for the month!

- September 10, 2024

If there's been radio silence it's because when I travel, I tend to concentrate more on the visit and the travel than on - yes, I know - writing about film. So, August resulted in only a couple of movies. Three, but Deadpool and Wolverine I'd seen and wrote up. The other two? Well, let's take a look.

There's top tier Soderbergh and like everyone else, there's middle tier. Some of his more challenging works tend to miss the mark (think Bubble or even, to some degree The Girlfriend Experience and Contagion, though the latter two are among my favorites), while some of the big crowd pleasers might be a bit thin, but I'd argue remain fun. Ocean's Eleven is a respected near-classic, but the sequels are less well-regarded. I like 'em all but I might point out here that like the Coen brothers, even the lightest of Soderbergh's work still has something worthwhile and is - as far as I can recall off the top of my head, never (or if not "never", rarely0 poorly executed.

Lucky Logan is sometimes referred to as the Hillbilly Ocean's movie and while that's not entirely inaccurate, it misses some of the more salient points that make the movie a hoot and I'm not sure, but I'd say it's just a few beats away from a masterpiece (a word that I sometimes feel should be tossed out of the lexicon, at least for a while.)

Sure, the focus is on a caper/heist replete with twists, double-backs and double-crosses, and yes, it does have a pretty stacked cast (Channng Tatum, Adam Driver, and Daniel Craig headline, with some great turns by Hilary Swank, Farrah Mackenzie, Todd MacFarlane, and Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson as Craig's brothers). There are certainly plenty of reasons to love the flick; it's a hoot written by Julie Asner under the pseudonym Rebecca Blunt since Soderbergh didn't want people to think his wife was getting special treatment; this was Soderbergh's first film after going into "retirement" - ha! -- and sure, it might seem as nepotism, but the truth is that it's a tight script).

I think I've dithered about this elsewhere and likely will again, but why wouldn't I consider this a better Soderbergh? A couple of things come to mind; first off, it may not have the "thematic richness" of his greatest work but second, the question is somewhat flawed from the get-go and I refer back to my parenthetical statement above; what if we just chucked words like "masterpiece" or "great" when we're looking at any work of art at the moment?

Even mediocre Soderbergh is going to stand head above shoulders over most product that comes out of any given studio. And of course, this is very much an entertainment and hey! - movies are (I know, right?) entertainment. Revisiting the flick years after seeing it in the theater was a genuine hoot and completely enjoyable.

And now for something completely different; Time Masters (1982)

From René Laloux, who gave us Fantastic Planet in 1973, a meditative and thought provoking animation if there ever was one, comes a slightly less meditative and thought-provoking animation that is still amazing to look at.

The reason it's so eye-catching is because the design of the film is by Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, who also worked on the scenario with Laloux from Stefan Wul's novel "L'Orphelin de Perdide".

On the face of it, the story is simple; a young boy is brought to safety by his father on the planet Perdide where the human population has been wiped out by real murder hornets. His father has sent an SOS to an old partner Jaffar to rescue his son Piel. Jaffar's ship is transporting a particularly lucrative, if annoying cargo in the form of Prince Matton and the chunk of his planet's treasury that he pilfered, along with Princess Belle. This sounds like Joss Whedon's Firefly but that's about where the shared details end.

Sure, there's deceit - Matton is a duplicitous fellow who almost costs Piel his life; there's nobility; Jaffar and Belle are caring souls out to save Piel; there's the crusty old codger who's seen it all and is familiar with the planet and its dangers - Silbad, but mostly, there's the lush visuals and leisurely pace of the film that gives you time to linger and take it all in. It's glorious.

There's also a twist that may or may not be effective, but I found it one of those time-twisty details that I enjoy but in this case, perhaps owing to the visual virtuosity, didn't elicit much more than "oh, hey, cool!"

The film doesn't overstay its welcome at around an hour and nineteen minutes, and while there are some kind of funky "let's try this and then this happens and then this happens" moments, the film is so contemplative that it renders any narrative weakness moot.

I also kept wondering why I hadn't seen Time Masters. I vaguely remembered hearing about it, but came to find out - reading descriptions on schedules is helpful, after all - that it hadn't been shown in the U.S. and what was now making the rounds was a spiffy 4K restoration.

As I write this, I'm enjoying a delightful afternoon in New Jersey and I think I'll have enough time to get back on the posting wagon. I've been catching up on a few key older films this past week and look forward to getting those up and out.

On vacation, you say? My life is a vacation!

Time Masters Gallery

Seriously, open these on the biggest monitor you can find. These stills can't do justice to the film, but they do give a good idea of what's in store for the viewer. Remember to double-click to launch the slideshow or just open each picture in a larger format.

There is a kind of Cowboy Bebop in some regards in the film. This is - Jaffar, Belle, and Silbad in a casual moment.

Jad and Yula, the two mind-reading gnomes, whose running commentary on the quality of some people's thoughts are priceless; "His thoughts are stinky!"