Film reviews

Perfect Days Review

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The mind of director Wim Wenders is one where art is a development. He often focuses solely on people, places, or fascinations. One of the themes in his new film Perfect Days is that of loneliness and routine combined with mental structure. There is a feeling of appreciation that flows smoothly through the film’s faithful cinematography. Wenders is gifted in his ability to explore a character or a place to the smallest detail. In Perfect Days its sole focus is on one man who lives a very orderly life, and when he is out of that routine, his mind expands in directions of realizations and fascinations that are astoundingly well written.

Perfect Days takes place in Japan and introduces its audience to Hirayama (played by Koji Yakusho). Hirayama is a man of routine—he is quiet, structured, organized, and thrives creativity in his solo life. He works full-time as a janitor. Hirayama’s routine is multi-step, a vivid exploration by Wenders and his direction to create a portrait of a unique character. Most of the beginning is Hirayama working his shift as a janitor. Hirayama displays a look of annoyance, yet he continues to be persistent with his seemingly mundane job. The company he works for is called The Tokyo Toilet and it is a distasteful vocation to those around him. Despite the low-grade job, Hirayama is a pleasant man. He helps his colleague Takashi (played by Tokio Emoto) when he can, and he has a good heart. The film delivers the sense of reality in which Hirayama chooses to live a solo existence.

The beautiful and artistic value of this film lies is the moments of fascinating nature—Hirayama absorbs the outdoors and takes photographs. He enjoys breathing in what is on the outside. Perfect Days is a vast journey of one man trying to find the positives around him, despite his low social status. Hirayama is fascinated by plants and does projects with them. The scenery of Japan is Hirayama’s playground.

The film is a contemporary experience of an introvert living a life of highly structured activity. It encourages its audience to think positively. Hirayama has one main mode that lifts his spirits the most…cassette tapes of classics! In his work van he loves to listen to music by Lou Reed, Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, and many more. The song “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed is played in the film and that song truly correlates to the life of Hirayama.

Even though the film keeps a strong focus on Hirayama it does explore another character, Hirayama’s niece, Niko. Hirayama has not seen Niko in years, and there are some family conflicts that are not explained. At first, viewers would expect Hirayama to be annoyed by Niko’s sudden arrival, but he is welcoming. This is a chance for Hirayama to share what he is passionate about in his search for happiness in the world. Whether it is books, music, or movies Hirayama always has something rewarding for someone. He does not see how nice he really is to those around him, but he is also not confrontational.

The theme of happiness within solitude is presented strongly in Perfect Days. There is that technological aspect of Wim Wenders that I recognized from his 1987 classic Wings of Desire—photography moments in black and white with fluorescent forms of movement. The true sensations of Wenders direction are seen through Hirayama’s eyes as he explores happiness and art in Perfect Days. This is an unforgettable experience, howeverthere may be a few moments of quietness and slight boredom. Regardless, its presentation is a masterpiece in the context of structure and pacing and moving aspects brilliant in their form. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for Perfect Days.

Film reviews

The Underdoggs Review

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With Snoop Dogg as the lead, audiences can expect a whole lot of gangster attitude and graphic dialogue in The Underdoggs. The film’s context is not inspiring but somehow its directing is clever. Movies in which a sports celebrity is serving probation usually grab my attention. I enjoy comedic scenes and bizarre connections like those in Role Models (2008) and Champions (2023) which both featured characters during a probationary period. However, in The Underdoggs there is also a lot of Straight Outta Compton (2015) poured all over it. The foul language even expressed by very young characters made watching The Underdoggs uncomfortable at moments.

The film focuses on a man named Jaycen played by Snoop Dogg. Jaycen uses to be a professional football player and now lives in a high-end mansion in California. His reputation has been down the drain for years. His agent Ryan (played by Kal Penn) believes that due to Jaycen’s bad reputation finding speaking or networking opportunities is not worth this time. Jaycen’s problemslead to a harsh plateau which puts him in a position to do community service where he ends up coaching a young football team of misfit kids. The film is about how aformerly famous athlete thrives in community service to prove himself worthy.

At the beginning of the film, the writing is atrocious due to the repeated graphic language by Dogg and the athletes on the team he is coaching. The dialogue was a big turn-off for me in The Underdoggs. It was hard to sense a feel-good vibe with the slew of bad language, particularly from the teenagers. It brings too much negativity to a story that should be about good sportsmanship and self-improvement. The film does have some happy moments where Jaycen provides inspiration to his team, but most of the time the movie is dominated by Dogg’s attitude.

The vulgarity does not stop and is combined with poor behavior by the players as well. Viewers would reasonably expect some encouragement based on the film’s setup, but there is very little joy to be found amidst the foul-mouthed characters. The Underdoggs is one of the most disappointing movies so far this year but could have been improved upon if the language had been toned down.

While the film suffered from poor writing for a sports flick, the negativity was likely added for entertainment purposes. One high note comes in the way of a twist. The character Kareem, played by Mike Epps, is arguably a worse influence than Dogg’s character, Jaycen. Both are not great role models to inspire young kids, but they come around over time. Dogg and Epps as partners-in-crime will appeal most to young viewers.

Overall, the context remains the biggest problem with the film. It never successfully finds the right mix of being funny, serious, and heartfelt. The script is filled with so much toxicity that it is hard to find a joyful mix. Will Jaycen achieve success as a coach? Find out in The Underdoggs. Two out of four stars.

Film reviews

I.S.S. Review

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When it comes to movies set in space, there are always limited resources for scenes set many miles above the earth. Movies with this premise invigorate and captivate me because time is typically of the essence. In I.S.S., the mission of the film is critical and the conflicts in a space shuttle boil. From my experience with the film, however, I felt that the direction was a bit misconstrued. The story begins with the foundation of going into outer space, but the writing is lacking. As the film moves forward, tension and danger rapidly rise. I.S.S. has some amazing visuals of a spaceship adventure, but it is rushed.

The film is focused on American and Russian astronauts. The American astronauts are Dr. Kira Foster (played by Ariana DeBose), Gordon Barrett (played by Chris Messina), and Christian Campbell (played by John Gallagher Jr.). The Russian astronauts are Weronika Vetrok (played by Masha Mahkova), Nicholai Pulov (played by Costa Ronin), and Alexey Pulov (played by Alexey Pulov). Everyone on board is there to conduct research missions. However, their main mission turns to protecting themselves when they are informed that the United States is at war with Russia. Both the American Astronauts and the Russian Astronauts are told to take control of the I.S.S. Soon, no one on board can trust anyone which leads to mixed messages and concerns about survival. The onboard missions no longer matter when the primary goal is to stay alive to see home again. Because the astronauts are at odds, communication between the crews breaks down on the space shuttle.

The film demonstrates how the war on Earth turns into a treacherous war between the teams aboard the I.S.S. Again, the writing does not provide much context as to why individuals are at risk or how they are associated with what happens below. The film becomes a death match in space which is played out for the purpose of maximizing suspense. The scenery may seem revolutionary, but the concept itself is somewhat blurry. Why is there a war on Earth? How do the astronauts relate to it? How do they contribute to the conflict? Some of these questions are explained…barely. The film just jumps from moments of actionto various conclusions.

This movie is not amazing enough to have mass appeal with audiences, but the frequent floating in the I.S.S. did appeal to me. I found the home life on the spaceship more fascinating than many other aspects of the film. The set design is strong in I.S.S. and appears to provide a realistic idea of how the inside of a space shuttle may look in real life. However, the set alone was not enough to make the movie an exhilarating experience.

I.S.S. is monumental from a technological perspective, but the writing is completely rushed. It should have been an experience of epic suspense. Unfortunately, since there is no puzzle to it, it fails to be breathtaking. I left the film feeling neutral about my experience. Two out of four stars for I.S.S.

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