Misfortunes of Imaginary Beings: 03/10/20

A blog formerly known as Bookishness / By Charles Matthews

"Dazzled by so many and such marvelous inventions, the people of Macondo ... became indignant over the living images that the prosperous merchant Bruno Crespi projected in the theater with the lion-head ticket windows, for a character who had died and was buried in one film and for whose misfortune tears had been shed would reappear alive and transformed into an Arab in the next one. The audience, who had paid two cents apiece to share the difficulties of the actors, would not tolerate that outlandish fraud and they broke up the seats. The mayor, at the urging of Bruno Crespi, explained in a proclamation that the cinema was a machine of illusions that did not merit the emotional outbursts of the audience. With that discouraging explanation many ... decided not to return to the movies, considering that they already had too many troubles of their own to weep over the acted-out misfortunes of imaginary beings."
--Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum (Chad Stahelski, 2019)

Mark Dacascos and Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Tobias Segal, Randall Duk Kim. Screenplay: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, Marc Abrams. Cinematography: Dan Laustsen. Production design: Kevin Kavanaugh. Film editing: Evan Schiff. Music: Tyler Bates, Joel J. Richard.

I'll admit that I haven't seen the first two John Wick movies, for much the same reason that I've never watched any of the Taken or Fast and Furious movies: Who needs another action movie franchise? But the films have gotten enough positive response, and I like Keanu Reeves enough, that I gave in and watched the latest in the series. I wasn't disappointed: It's full of well-choreographed fight scenes that are almost balletic (not to mention ballistic) in character. The sets and cinematography are handsome. Reeves doesn't disappoint, Halle Berry is terrific, and I liked seeing old favorites like Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and Anjelica Huston. It was nice to see Mark Dacascos, whom I knew only as the Chairman on Iron Chef America, in his martial arts element. On the whole, I'd say it's on a par with the best of the James Bond and Mission: Impossible movies. Will I watch another John Wick movie if one comes my way? Probably. But let me say it again: Who needs another action movie franchise?