My Thoughts on Jumbo

Cinema is full of unlikely love stories, from Harold and Maude's sixty year age gap to Lars and the Real Girl's touching tale of one man's love for his life-size sex doll. Jumbo proudly joins this lineup as a real curio of the festival circuit, as the always amazing Noémie Merlant falls for a handsome stranger at a funfair. The stranger in question? A 20-foot tall pendulum ride called Jumbo. And yet, in the hands of director Zoé Wittrock, this proves to be the start of a beautiful relationship. Right off the bat, Jumbo is working with a bizarre premise, one that will turn a lot of people off but will also attract the kind of film fan who lives for the weird and the wonderful, who gleefully explores the annals of cult cinema in search of the wildest films they can find. If you fit that description, then read on, because Jumbo is very much the film for you. Just maybe not for the reasons you might think

Yes, Jumbo is an incredibly strange film with an attention grabbing premise, but that's not all it is. Actually, the whole point of the film is proving that just because something's weird, that doesn't mean it's not genuine. All the same, if you're coming to Jumbo solely out of curiosity, or even if you just want something different, you won't be disappointed. Wittrock's approach to the relationship is so admirable in how committed it is to taking this story seriously. There's a sex scene between Merlant's Jeanne and the titular ride, and without spoiling it, it's the thematic centerpiece of the film for all the right reasons. Jumbo is attention-grabbing and hypnotically weird, but it never makes a spectacle of its central relationship. The film actively rejects any sort of voyeurism or judgement. It's not an ironic film at all, instead relishing in the sincerity of an unorthodox romance that's no less genuine

It's a must-watch for fans of strange cinema, not because it's so surreal, but because it's explicitly about how it feels to love something even when nobody else can understand it. The film isn't a strange love story, but a story about strange love, and takes glee in sticking two fingers up at the powers that be and celebrating its heroine's passion for fairground rides. By the end, it marks itself as an unlikely feelgood hit, with real joy and love and heart. It's an oddity for sure but if you make it to the end, the film makes it very clear that it understands passion, even when it's targeted at something incredibly niche. Jumbo is a surprisingly wonderful film that takes its odd premise and spins it into something truly wonderful, and when it's done, you'll immediately want to rejoin the queue and get ready to ride all over again 

★ ★ ★ ★

My Problem With Wandavision

So the first of Marvel's TV outings has come and gone and it was... fine. It's funny, for as much as I've talked about the MCU on here, I've never really addressed how I feel about it as a whole entity. Honestly, I think it's okay. It's got some tremendous heights, and some pretty frustrating lows, and the longer it goes on, the more my issues with it are becoming magnified. At the same time, that's creating a greater level of investment in the MCU entries I do love- Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is an eternal comfort film of mine- and I think these two sentiments have collided with each other and evened out to create a total balance of adequacy. Post-Endgame, I've been waiting for something of a confirmation. After such a complete chapter of highs and lows that set records and hit unparalled levels of spectacle, I've found myself in need of a sign that Kevin Feige and his team are genuine storytellers and aren't just creating products in an assembly line so you'll hand over your hard earned green and keep the machine churning. So it's safe to say I had fairly high hopes for the lineup of shows that would start phase 4

So when Wandavision began, I was really, really happy with it. I should say up top that, despite the title of this post, I actually think Wandavision is a good show overall. The first six or so episodes are great, using the sitcom aesthetic to build a genuinely engaging mystery, and tease something larger with aplomb. I also really enjoyed the weekly release and the drip feed of information, and I'm especially happy to see that in this age of streaming and instant access. The show has some real surprises and uses them well, and I think it's only fair that I go ahead and say that what you're about to read is full of spoilers. If you haven't seen Wandavision, I'd definitely recommend it for an uneven but overall fairly enjoyable romp through a world of magic, mystery and laugh tracks. I give it 7/10 distraught witches

So what exactly is my problem? Well, bizarrely, my biggest issue with this installment of the MCU is exactly that: it's a standard installment of the franchise. And that wouldn't be an issue- I generally think their formula works really well- if the show hadn't put so much effort into convincing the audience that it was something different. Right from the start, the sitcom thing feels genuine. It's not just a gimmick that the show is using, it's an integral part of Wandavision's story. And the show does gradually indicate that it's only trying this style on for size and will outgrow it eventually but it also succeeds at making us invest in it, in using references and techniques unique to each of the sitcoms it's homaging. It's fun, charming and massively engaging

That's done so well that even as the show eases its way back into the real world and the scientists on the other side of the Hex, it doesn't feel jarring. It moves relatively naturally, until episode 7, where Agatha is revealed as the villain and the show really starts to sour. Suddenly, everything that made it interesting has a definite and concrete explanation, and most of the intrigue has gone out of the show before it's even reached its finale. The penultimate episode feels like an insult, a handheld tour through the selective backstory of Wanda Maximoff with some half-baked explanation of the sitcom gimmick thrown in for good measure. It's so jarring that what is made out to be such a key character trait is integrated this late into the characters' larger story, and it really lets the air out of Wandavision when it should be lining up its finishing blow

And just in case it seemed like the sitcom homages of the first episode were organic and effective, the show outwardly tells the audience that it was all just a cheap trick. Agatha's line about playing pretend feels like such an insult, a moment where the MCU imitated some big shift in how they tell their stories before delivering the big, neat climax they always do. And that wouldn't be a problem if Wanadavision was honest about what it was going to be but the show tries to have it both ways. I mean this is a show that people were celebrating for its surrealism and all-out approach to its subject matter, and while I can't say I ever thought it was some experimental masterpiece, it did sustain this intriguing remix of superhero stories long enough for me to think it was genuinely interested in trying something different

And speaking of superhero remixes, how about that fake brother? Look, I'm not sure I'm invested enough in either universe to say that the casting of Evan Peters had me champing at the bit for the X-Men to join the MCU, but at the very least I was expecting something better than this. Imagine wasting such a knowing bit of casting, one that deliberately, joyfully fuels a thousand fan theories before culminating in what is essentially a dick joke. I didn't need Wandavision to confirm any theories or even address the multiverse, but that kind of deliberately invoked disappointment really does sting. It's not the first time Marvel's done this kind of practical joke, but because of the nature of the medium and the knowing way they teased at a seemingly limitless array of answers, it doesn't work half as well as the Mandarin reveal in Iron Man 3. Instead, it feels a lot like the sudden shedding of the show's aesthetic, trying something new on for size before ditching it to serve the tried and true formula

Again, I didn't need Wandavision to be the show that changed the universe. It didn't have to confirm any theories or even connect to anything we'd seen before or would see in one of Marvel's 56 planned projects. It just had to assure me that Marvel was moving on from what they got so right in the Infinity saga, that everything post-Endgame would feel like the start of something new instead of a re-treading of old ground and a repeat of past frustrations. It doesn't hurt so much because they failed at the end, but because they succeeded immediately, getting it right before dropping the ball in a way that just feels so insulting. I know it sounds like I hated the show but I really loved those first six chapters, and they really hit the mark in terms of what I needed the show to be. But that home stretch just became a slog to watch, progressively running out of steam before slowing to a stop, finally reaching a neat and safe conclusion that tries so hard to be inoffensive and marketable that it ends up going the other way entirely. I'm going to watch the other shows for sure, but I can't say that Wandavision felt like the best start for the MCU's conquest of the small screen

My Thoughts on Ammonite

 

With his 2017 debut God's Own Country, Francis Lee established himself as a master of both delicate queer storytelling and an expert captor of the rugged British countryside. Ammonite does nothing to refute either of these descriptions, and doubles down on its predecessor's theory that intimacy is a cure for isolation, as well as Lee's enduring use of natural landscapes as a setting for stories about passionate yet routinely overlooked romances. God's Own Country was hailed as a milestone in British cinema and LGBTQ+  representation onscreen, so the question is this: is Ammonite a worthy follow-up?

The short answer? Yes, but just about. Ammonite tells the true story of Mary Anning, a collector of fossils in 19th century Dorset. The film speculates a romance between Anning and geologist Charlotte Murchison, and it's from here that Lee sows to seeds for an understated, largely unspoken romance. The performances, much like the handsome Lyme Regis landscape, initially appear cold and minimal, but over the course of the runtime, Lee is able to unearth the hidden wonders of both. Kate Winslet is outstanding as Anning, gradually warming up her defensive, understated shell to reveal a person who is passionate, insecure and hugely sympathetic. It's a performance that never gives too much at any given time, and Winslet is careful in how she emotes, the perfect way to play a character who has kept her guard up for so long that she's not even sure if it can come back down. Watching Winslet ease into moments of heightened emotion is a real thrill, even if the film's glacial stoicism means that those moments of release few and far between

Ammonite's main issue is its tone. Lee excels at telling a believable, engaging love story, and his visual storytelling is as strong as its ever been. The problem is that he's so good at alternating between guarded, mostly unspoken feeling and wonderfully conveyed romance that the film often gets stuck between the two and comes up emotionally uneven. And that's a shame, not just because of the already discussed tour-de-force from Winslet, but from how fantastically Saoirse Ronan is able to offset her. In another of a string of incredible turns in period pieces, Ronan works wonders in softening the tone and convincing the viewer that the film is worth investing in

And despite its issues, it is. Lee's film is choppy in places but still features fantastic performances and an engaging queer love story that feels a lot timelier than its setting would indicate. It's easy to forgive the missteps because the careful, minimal tone works more that it doesn't. The film struggles to change gears but when it's in motion there is something really compelling about it, and if Ammonite isn't quite as consistently breathtaking as God's Own Country, then it's nice to know that Lee's still got a few more tricks up his sleeve

★ ★ ★