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Ethan Singh

Film Review: “Wendell and Wild”

by Ethan Singh September 26, 2022

written by Ethan Singh

I love desserts. I never thought that that would be a statement that was needed to be said but as I venture further and further into adulthood and my dreaded thirties, I have noticed and unsettling trend: desserts are as unfashionable as cowboy hats in Times Square. I mention this because Netflix’s recent forays into animation have very much struck me with a sinfully sweet aftertaste. Let’s think about Arcane. Much like the tiramisu at Pecora Bianca, it’s not the reason you showed up but it’s the keynote to end off a great experience. Very few subscribe to Netflix for its animated content but it proved that it’s more than just a cherry on top, it’s a palpable final note.

Now not all desserts are great. For example, much to the chagrin of many fall lovers, I can’t stand pumpkin pie. But Wendell & Wild, the most recent Netflix animated film, is not quite that. It’s something like Paris Baguette – it’s like and fluffy and slightly sweet, but not quite the sugary punch you’d expect. You know dessert would be a satisfying meal, but you at least expect something that could excite your senses without destroying too many teeth. You don’t need it to fill you with nutrients. In the film world, that’s what Nolan and Tarantino are here for. Wendell & Wild, especially given the creative minds behind it, left me feeling a bit disappointed and bored while altogether remembering “right, this is a movie for children, after all”.

The strongest part about this film is the creative mind behind it all: Henry Selick. His animated art style is by far one of the most inventive visual experiences in the world of film today. He manages to push the boundaries of his iconic clay style animation to the limits and just when you think he’s exhausted the limits of his medium, he goes even further and creates something entirely new. He wasn’t the only creative talent at play here. In fact, there were many incredibly talented voice actors who were able to help bring this film to life, for example, Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key. Their performances helped to carry the movie and it’s hard to imagine this movie working without them.

Back to talking about desserts. The reason why animated children’s movies and especially Wendell & Wild instantly brought my mind to think of dessert was because like many of the overpriced bakeries that are speckled across Manhattan, they look better than they taste. Every detail is precise, prim, and pretty but leaves me longing for the unassuming masterpiece that is my mother’s baked goods. The one thing Wendell & Wild has is that polish. It is an incredibly inventive and beautiful movie and it’s a joy to watch. It is a quintessential exemplar of the phrase “every frame a painting”. However the themes are explored at a surface level, character development is so rushed as to feel overlooked, and the plot can best be described at simplistic. Pixar showed that animated films can explore deeper themes in a real way nearly thirty years ago, but to compare the two even with Pixar’s weak recent releases would be a disservice. In the end, Wendell & Wild is a beautiful mediocre pastry in a world where Michelin starred outputs has been the established bar for years.

September 26, 2022 0 comment

Film Review: “The Silent Twins”

by Ethan Singh September 20, 2022

written by Ethan Singh

I oftentimes compare films to food because each experience leaves me with a phantom taste that settles ever so abruptly on my tongue. With Silent Twins, I remember that feeling distinctly: gummy worms. It’s something of a treat in that it was mesmerizingly beautiful and yet altogether tough to digest after a two-hour sitting. However, it’s the first film I’ve seen in a while that accomplished its primary role as an indie film, which is to do something new and altogether inventive. The story follows twins who almost inexplicably refuse to talk to anyone else save for each other. It then follows the two as they grow up, fall in love, become writers, and so much more. At the end of the day, it’s a film about mental health that is delicately told and certainly worth a watch.

The woman who helped tell that story was Agnieszka Smoczynska, the director of the film. She’s spent the past few years working to adapt this story to film and her efforts were clear. She beautifully weaved scenes of joy with bleak depictions of sadness, and strategically used stop motion animation to tell an alternate story that paralleled the one which the sisters experienced. This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon but especially considering the nature of the film and the subject matter, this method of storytelling carried this film from another batch in the bin to something worth studying and taking a look at. In fact, without these interwoven animated features, this film would altogether lose any semblance of meaning. Additionally, the film delves highly into surrealism when it comes to conveying sensations and emotions. These scenes are both beautifully shot and incredibly well done.

The other woman who made this something of a standout film is Letitia Wright who was both the star and one of the producers of the film. To say she delivered a great performance would be a disservice to her craft. Her performance, along with that of Tamara Lawrance, carried this film as they occupied more than the majority of the screen time. Each possessed the type of magnetic personality needed to keep an audience entertained when the backdrop of each scene is bleak, dark, or more often than not, harrowing.

In the end, there isn’t much to lay fault to this film but there is a great deal of room to give credit to its inventive storytelling. I felt the film was too long and had a few scenes that were over the top in their presenting. For example, there is a surreal scene late in the movie that exists to convey the message that those committed in an asylum are essentially just dead bodies waiting to expire. While the message is poignant, the scene was not and altogether felt jarring compared to the overall narrative. This is a fairly minor gripe considering the overall body of work. For those looking for an interesting movie going experience, this is certainly one to keep on your list.

September 20, 2022 0 comment

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Exclusive: Robert Pattinson, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis, Alesso, John Turturro & More Talk ‘The Batman’ At World Premiere [Video]

by Ethan Singh March 4, 2022

written by Ethan Singh

It’s hard to believe but it seems the pandemic may be finally coming to a close, at least in the world of cinema. Nothing indicated this more so than the New York Premiere of “The Batman”. In all my years writing about film, I’ve yet to experience a red carpet with this much excitement, fanfare, and scale. Walking down Broadway to Lincoln center was an exercise in anticipation. You could see and hear thousands of people crowding the streets, just waiting for a glimpse of the A-list cast of “The Batman”. And whenever a star made their big appearance, the roar those fans made could be heard for miles. The red carpet itself was another beast in and of itself. It was a sprawling complex of tents which featured the actual bat mobile from the film, the costumes of all of the heroes and villains, and a series of artwork reminding you that this was going to be the biggest premiere of the year.

It was a pleasure getting to cover this event and interview Robert Pattison, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis, and more. Check out our coverage below:

We also spoke with ALESSO, who composed an original song for the film!

March 4, 2022 0 comment

Entertainment Film

Film Review: “The Batman”

by Ethan Singh March 2, 2022

written by Ethan Singh

I often get asked about my thought process on writing a film review because from the outside, it can seem rather opaque or very intuitive. Throughout the years, I’ve come up with a simple system. When a film is made purely for entertainment like a summer blockbuster, my review will seek to answer whether or not it was an enjoyable experience. However, when a film is meant to be a true artistic product, I take an entirely different approach and try to answer whether or not it was a good film as well as an enjoyable one. Superhero movies often fall into the enjoyable experience category but Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” is more than an enjoyable movie, it’s an explorative and fresh new take on the genre.

There’s a lot to love in this rendition of the tried and true classic hero. First off, Reeves was clear in his inspiration for the style of the film. It’s clear that he was heavily influenced by the grittiness of 70’s filmmaking when it came to laying out his vision for this new franchise. Every part of Gotham feels like a mix of New York and Chicago at their worst. Real, dirty, and downtrodden cities plagued by crime and corruption alike, all while avoiding the more easy and hyperbolic depictions of poverty that can be seen in many other comic book movies. This sense of gritty realism doesn’t just stop at the environment. Characters move, fight, and act like they would in a real setting and with weapons one can reasonably find in a large city. This realism hit its peak for me during a car chase scene which felt like a modern rendition of the car chase scene from “Bullitt” or “The French Connection”. I’m sure we all still remember the chase scene from the Dark Knight, but this one tops that in my book, simply for the realistic approach that was taken.

The characters in this film are just as interesting. Colin Farrell’s Penguin is equal parts endearing and terrifying. He captivated your attention every time he appeared on screen. Zoe Kravitz’s character was well written as well and given a large part in the film. At times, it felt as if she was the protagonist of the story, especially with how well Kravitz brought the character of Catwoman to life. John Turturro’s Falcone was especially interesting as a number of great actors have played this role but his performance seemed the most authentic. He really felt like a character out of a Scorsese film. Lastly, as I’m sure many are wondering, Robert Pattison is a great Batman. I’m personally a fan of the Christian Bale version of Batman but Pattison’s take seems to be a variation of just that, which is exactly what I would want to see.

However, Batman’s character is where I start to find issues with this film. For a film called “The Batman”, the movie has very little to actually do with Batman. This is not an origin story, but rather a chapter out of Batman’s life two years after he begins fighting crime. The film opens by setting the scene in Gotham, that now criminals fear the dark because of Batman. As a symbol and an idea, he is very clearly defined, but as a person, he’s relegated to being a plot device. Like in the comics, Batman truly plays as the world’s greatest detective, but we follow him as he goes from crime scene to crime scene, slowly piecing together the puzzle that the Riddler is leaving him. Neither Batman nor his true self, Bruce Wayne, have any motivation here except to fight crime and get to the bottom of this mystery. There is no internal conflict, greater struggle, or crisis of identity. The only moment where this is touched upon is with Andy Serkis’ Alfred, who, similarly to Michael Caine’s Alfred in the Nolan trilogy, questions how far Bruce Wayne is willing to go. Except here, Alfred is given much too small a part to have any consequence. The Riddler was also somewhat of a disappointment. Despite being such an interesting take on the character, he ends up coming off as rather stale. So much of the buildup to this character paints the picture of some demented mastermind, but when we meet him, the moment is a bit underwhelming, at least to me.

The flaws I found in both of these characters really made me ask the question I really wanted to ask: What was this movie about? And I still don’t think I know. Unlike the Nolan movies, these played out a bit more procedurally. The film is by far the best looking and the most visually stunning, but it doesn’t ask big questions like the Nolan movies did, nor did it have the sort of captivating dialogue that’ll keep fans coming back for years to come.

Again, these flaws are only worth pointing out because the film is an artistic masterpiece for the comic book genre. It genuinely helps to push the envelope in a unique and new direction that previous films haven’t gone to before. It would also be good to mention that this is the first in a trilogy of films, so much of the overarching thematic meaning can be built up and defined as the franchise continues. None of that takes away from the fact that this is a good movie that is absolutely worth watching. This is easily one of the best movies I’ve reviewed in a while and I can’t remember the last time I sat through a three-hour movie and wasn’t bored. Be sure to chec it out in theaters on March 4^th when it releases in theaters.

March 2, 2022 0 comment

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Film Review: “Uncharted”

by Ethan Singh February 18, 2022

written by Ethan Singh

The Uncharted franchise was always an interesting series to me. As someone who grew up playing video games in the early 2000’s and continued to do so on and off into the present day, I got to experience firsthand the evolution of gaming from a pixelated mishmash of goofy mechanics and cobbled together stories to the birth of cinematic gameplay. I don’t think another series truly represents that transition more so than Uncharted. When the first game came out, it really served as a vanguard for Sony, ushering in the future of storytelling in videogames as well as a paragon of hope for the flailing PlayStation 3. In retrospect, it’s easy to see why. Uncharted has always been a series that focused on translating the bombastic, edge of your seat excitement of a summer blockbuster to a video game kids and adults alike can enjoy. To see this concept then be translated to a film may seem like a natural step to many, but for others such as myself, it had seemed like a step in the wrong direction. After seeing the film, I really think it falls into the category of the latter.

First things first, this movie is a generic treasure hunt movie. There is some untold fortune in some exotic location and in order to get it, our pioneering heroes need to trot across the globe in order to find it. Luckily for them, they have the knowledge, skills, and equipment to do so and are on the verge of collecting the last piece of this centuries’ old puzzle. Unluckily for them, they aren’t the only ones. This plot description may carry the gist of Uncharted, but it also describes about a dozen movies from the last decade alone. Nothing truly interesting occurs, there are no incredibly breathtaking feats of action, and the characters are interesting as cardboard.

Procedural cop dramas – television series like Law and Order where events play out in a structured and predictable manner across the genre, regardless of the show’s name – have been a thing for decades, but nowadays it seems that we’ve entered the age of procedural action movies, where every burgeoning action franchise attempts to do their best Fast and Furious imitation. It really makes for a digestible but altogether uninteresting experience, like eating your wife’s cooking on a Thursday evening after eating dinner at home every night for the past week and packing leftovers for lunch at work the next morning.

However, that isn’t to say this is a bad movie or a flawed one. Being bland doesn’t mean bad. In fact, there isn’t anything overtly trite or awful in this movie. In fact, I did enjoy one aspect of this film: the performances of Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. Without these two, this movie would be unwatchable. Their charisma and talent alone make these characters likable and makes you as a viewer want them to succeed, at least at a surface level. Whatever deep-seated emotions or inner conflicts they attempt to resolve over the course of this two-hour runtime are altogether useless, unimportant, and uninspiring to me as a viewer and for that, it makes a discussion on themes, deeper meanings, motifs, and the like, pointless. With that said, the lack of compelling characters is not the fault of the actors, but the scripts they were given.

If this film was dropped on a streaming service in time for a long weekend, I’d say this is a must watch, because in the world of the multitude streaming services we find ourselves in, the more content the better. But because this film is not streaming and is only premiering in theaters, this really is a hit or miss decision. If you were a fan of the games, this may be an interesting experience worth watching. However, I did find it strange that they’re telling an origin story for Nathan Drake in the present day while the games are set in the mid 2010s. If you’re in the market for a basic action movie though, this is exactly what you’re looking for.

February 18, 2022 0 comment

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Cosplayer Highlights from NY Comic Con

by Ethan Singh October 20, 2021

written by Ethan Singh

Each year Comic Con attracts the best cosplayers around and despite the impact of a waning pandemic, this year absolutely did not disappoint.

This year was my first Comic Con experience ever and I got to experience in my hometown of New York. As a kid I always wanted to witness the magic of Comic Con in person but over the years, I just hadn’t had the chance. One thing I had learned in recent years is that the cosplayers here at pretty much the best you’ll ever see and when I finally got to the Javits center and witnessed it all in person, I was just stuck in a state of awe for about a half hour. Seeing a lot of my favorite comic book and video characters be brought rather realistically to life was incredible. Here are some of my favorite shots of the cosplayers from over the weekend.

October 20, 2021 0 comment

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Postal 4 at New York Comic Con 2021

by Ethan Singh October 20, 2021

written by Ethan Singh

If there was ever a place to share an early preview of the latest installment in the cult classic Postal Series, NY Comic Con is second to none.

Most gamers today are probably too young to have played Postal 2 when it came out back in 2003, but chances are, many have had a chance to play it today. In fact, I’d bet most dedicated gamers who follow the latest news, trends, and culture of gaming have at the very least some knowledge and respect ofr this 18 year old game. Despite the age, this series has seen a continual renaissance and revival throughout it’s life, first in the early 2010s when Valve’s Steam made it widely available again to a new audience and not too longer after as numerous famous YouTubers like Pewdiepie and Videogamedunkey have played it on their channels which reach millions and millions of viewers.

Given that, I was delightfully surprised to see Running with Scissors, the development team behind the Postal series tucked away on the Comic Con show floor with a demo in hand. Even more interesting was that I got the privilege to chat with Mike Jaret-Schachter from the development who’s been deemed the ‘Chief Bidet Officer’. Cult fans of the series probably already knew who he was as he’s literally engrained into the fabric of the game, but it was a genuinely amazing experience to meet him in person and to hear his unbridled passion for the series and for the fans. He recounted the rocky history of team after Postal 2, which included the strange chapter of Postal 3 which was admittedly not very good and very much only released in Russia. However he along with a few other developers came together to build a proper team and finally create the true successor to Postal 2, Postal 4, all on a shoestring budget funded more or less by their own meager pockets. Especially in this day and age, it was encouraging to see a team of game developers who are literally working for the love of the game and on their own time and money.

Taking a look at an early build, I was genuinely surprised at the graphics. Despite being in development still and by the Developer’s admittance, needing to undergo a visual upgrade, the game looked really good. It’s a little weird seeing a Postal game with the kind of graphical fidelity that the Unreal Engine can provide. With all that said, I’m super excited to see where this goes and glad I got the chance to highlight my favorite surprise from the floor of NY Comic Con 2021.

October 20, 2021 0 comment

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David Harbour Talks About Life Before “Stranger Things”at NY Comic Con 2021

by Ethan Singh October 20, 2021

written by Ethan Singh

Ever wonder what David Harbour’s life was like before Stranger Things? It may not be what you would’ve expected.

Success as an actor is often hard to define. Sometimes critical acclaim or commercial profitability are the metrics used to define success. However, there’s another lesser attained category that only a few actors ever get the honor of being – a cult classic. Thanks to Stranger Things, David Harbour has certainly hit that mark. He hasn’t always been the household name he is today and chances are most fans wouldn’t have known his life prior to the culture defining Netflix series. But judging from the response at New York Comic Con this year, they certainly wanted to know more and David was happy to share about his life prior to the show.

For starters, he grew up in New York in the East Village and stayed there for much of his life as he pursued a career as an actor. However, he wasn’t exactly dominating the big or small screen in any capacity. His appearances were mostly confined to recurring roles on short lived TV series and doing off Broadway plays. It got to the point where he was started to worry about where next month’s rent would come from. He was on a tv series that had just shot its first season and he needed it to get renewed to ensure he’d be fine financially for the coming months. He waited by the phone and hoped to get the good news, but when the phone rang, it didn’t go the way he wanted.

As you can imagine, he was saddened by the news, but it was relatively short lived. Not too long after, he got a call to audition for a certain Netflix show – Stranger Things. After auditioning though, he wasn’t exactly encouraged. He figured at first that someone with a better track record or name would get selected as it was a fairly large role and he was right. Someone else did get selected but ended up rejecting the role. Who passed up on that opportunity, we may never know, but the rest, as they say is history.

It was really great getting this story and many others like it from David and other cult classics at Comic Con. Be sure to check out the other coverage here on the Knockturnal for more interesting stories like this.

October 20, 2021 0 comment

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Film Review: ‘Lamb’

by Ethan Singh October 8, 2021

written by Ethan Singh

Easily the worst thing I’ve seen all year

Not all films work for everyone. There are in fact people who did not enjoy commercial successes like Titanic or critically acclaimed films like Citizen Kane. By and large, however, people did find something to love and adore in these films. I mention that because when I saw Lamb I was rather puzzled. So much so in fact, that I decided to chat up several of the other reviewers and writers afterwards only to find more of the same reaction.

The film opens on a couple who are seemingly devoid of joy in their lives and spend their days tending their flock sheep. That is until an ominous and mysterious visitor comes and leaves ‘a gift’ on Christmas Eve, so to speak. At this point during the onset of the film, I was genuinely intrigued to see where this was going. There were hints of Kierkegaard and a divine connection, a teasing of the subtle take on a narrative structure that would continue throughout, and most curiously a very unsettling discovery of events. But all of these threads either led nowhere or to a payoff that simply isn’t worth it.

From the opening scenes to the inciting incident, the film takes its time in dreary fashion. I’m always willing to give a filmmaker the time to tell his story, however, from those opening minutes, the film continues to meander for another entire hour. To better describe what that looks like, it’s reminiscent of a silent film of the pre-code era. The majority of the film, especially the first two acts, are just framed shots of mundane activities, not unlike b-roll you would find in passing at the MoMA. To be fair, these scenes are beautiful to see and are brilliantly shot, but film has progressed to be more than just moving images during the past century. The only breaks during this monotony are the first climaxes of the first and second act and the midpoint. And to clarify, I’d give more details as to what these moments were, if they didn’t completely ruin the film for any poor soul that would subject themselves through this film.

Despite all that, there is some credit to give. This is Valdimar Jóhannsson’s feature debut and I do admire the fact that he tried to take a daring approach to tell a story. There were numerous creative liberties he took with telling a narrative story that made this film even remotely watchable. Specifically, the way he went about discovery of information – through the use of mise en scène and strategic timing – was particularly good and unique. However, that’s the only positive I can give this director or this film. The sad fact of the matter is that the underlying story itself is so tragically underwhelming and unsuitable for the format of a feature that it inevitably reflects poorly on him. At the end of the day, the plot is a paper thin story that’s been told hundreds of times during the past century to much greater success. Here we have something I’ve seen common in many European films of the past decade: a few good twists and tricks, but no actual substance. And that to me is rather damning considering the current state of American cinema as well. Additionally, and I always repeat these in my reviews, not all stories need to be told in two hours. If this story was told through a ten-minute short, it still wouldn’t be good, but, it would be at the very least digestible. It’s far easier to endure ten minutes than the torturous ninety-seven I sat through.

Performances were great all around. Needless to say Noomi Rapace breathed much needed life into the film. That’s not to say she was alone in that, as Hilmir Snær Guðnasan and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson rather perfectly filled their roles. They were understated when needed and dynamic when the moment called for it. It’s also another credit I want to give to Jóhannsson as great performances are also due in large part to solid direction.

All in all, this film was very much like a train that’s run out of tracks – it went nowhere. In fact, it’s definitely one of the worst films I’ve ever seen and after getting initial reactions from others, I’m not alone in that opinion. It doesn’t even make sense to discuss the thematic message of man’s relationship with nature as it’s a touch trite in this day and age and it doesn’t come across very clearly in the film. Despite that, I genuinely believe that Jóhannsson has got what it takes to be a great director and should get more projects in the future. Lamb releases on October 8^th, and unless you plan on making a drinking game out of the film or exploring experimental storytelling, I don’t recommend you see it.

October 8, 2021 0 comment