Movies
I think I expected something a bit more special. The Green Knight is certainly no ordinary costume drama or Medieval adventure, but it isn't quite as magical and/or mysterious as advertised. That didn't come as too big of a surprise (not a big fan of Lowery's previous film, and A24 certainly has its limits too), but I think I was hoping for a bigger improvement. The film is a retelling of the story of Gawain, one of king Arthur's nephews. On Christmas day, the Green Knight is summoned and challenges the knights to land a blow on him. As a reward, they'll be given his axe, but in return to must travel to the Green Knight's chapel a year later and receive a similar blow. Lowery chooses atmosphere over narrative, which is definitely appreciated, but neither the cinematography nor score is all that exceptional. The performances are decent, there are some memorable moments, but I wanted it to be bigger, bolder and gutsier. It seems that's just not something I should expect from Lowery in the future.Read all
Another adaptation of the Peter Pan story. Films keep tumbling out of the Disney remake machine, I've long lost track of what classics they've covered and what they still have in store. It gets only more confusing when others outside of Disney also adapt these classic properties, but for what it's worth: there's a new Peter Pan adaptation, and it's directed by arthouse favorite David Lowery. Wendy is sent to boarding school, but she'd rather stay home and keep her life as is. The night before she has to leave, she is visited by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, inviting her on an adventure to Neverland, a place where nothing ever changes. Wendy agrees to join them, but soon enough she and her brothers are chased by malicious pirates. There's a lot of hoopla about the casting (and some of the choices here are quite silly), but it's the bland direction and the somewhat unadventurous take on an already overfamiliar story that's the real killer. Lowery never made me understand why the world needed a new version of the Peter Pan saga, which is the first priority of any remake. Not good.Read all