Anomalisa (2015, dir. Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman)

The goal of great animated films is to go where you can’t go with reality-based, live action, fictional cinema.  Most animated films thus transport the viewer to fantastical locales or create characters that have qualities that you couldn’t find in your typical actor and character.  This can be found in Disney’s preoccupation with animal characters with human qualities.
 
Anomalisa, as an animated picture, doesn’t take you to unimagined worlds or depict action that is unrepresentable in live action.  In fact, the film’s depiction of its world and characters is fairly conventional and could even be considered realizable if it were a live action movie.  What it does do that only an animated film could have done, however, is delve into psychological depths and personality environments that could only be accomplished through its own medium. 

This is an animated film that is definitely not for kids.  It contains sex and swearing.  Interestingly, only three voice-actors are used, although there are several more characters than that.  The reason for this is that the main protagonist, Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) only has ever heard one voice in everyone he meets or knows (everyone else is voiced by Tom Noonan).  This includes his wife and son.  However, one day he hears a new voice.  Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is unique in this way and he thus immediately is attracted to her.  The focus of the film is on their brief relationship and on themes of loneliness and conformity. 

The film is enjoyable and funny at times.  Perhaps the reason that Tom Noonan voices all the other characters is because writer Charlie Kaufman wanted to stress the mind-numbing uniformity of modern day existence and to express the idea that someone unique and right for us can come along when we least expect it.  At the same time, in showing Lisa’s voice at one point slowly starting to change into that of Noonan’s, Kaufman is showing how our initial joy in finding what appears to be love is often dispelled and demystified as we grow acquainted with the object of our desire.

Season 4 of "Luther"

The new season of "Luther" has arrived on Netflix and its only two episodes long.  I'm not sure why.  It doesn't allow for a lot of character development and as much psychological intrigue.  Furthermore, an agreeable character from the first three seasons are shoddily done away with and haphazardly and dismissively written off the fourth season.  I won't spoil for you who that is.  It may be obvious.  Perhaps this is only temporary but I wasn't happy with that characters' sudden absence.

Another things that continues to bother me about this show is the increasingly ludicrous and outlandish nature of the murders and perpetrators.  In this season, the serial killer is a cannibalistic madman who's idiosyncratic ticks make him like an overdrawn cartoon character.  This show should take a lesson from other European cop shows like "The Fall" and "Happy Valley" where serial killers are apparently ordinary citizens with some human qualities that makes the viewer find it difficult to accept and mistake them for their true, malicious identities.

Idris Elba is a charismatic leading man and some of the new characters are OK.  Season four of "Luther" may, however, leave you with a feeling of mental-undernourishment and dissatisfaction. Hopefully, future seasons will be longer, more psychologically-realistic, and a return to its previous strengths.

Thoughts on Season 2 of "Bloodline" (A Netflix Original Series)

In my previous analysis of season one of the Netflix series, "Bloodline", I argued that the show could be seen as an example of neo-noir.  With its delving into the depths of the dark side of human nature, its dealing with emotional turbulence, often dimly-lit exterior and interiors, and general feeling of despair and conflict, the series, in its new season, continues to exemplify its strong noirish tendencies.


The death of Danny Rayburn (Ben Mendelsohn) near the end of the first season signaled a profound shift in the trajectory of the show's characters, mainly his surviving family members.  Brother John Rayburn (Kyle Chandler), sister Meg (Linda Cardellini), and brother Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) find themselves in increasingly deeper trouble and conflict.  The arrival of Danny's estranged son Nolan (Owen Teague) throws a monkey-wrench into the situation as those dealing with Danny's death have to accept him into the fold.  With Nolan comes his mother Evangeline (Andrea Riseborough) and other associates of Danny including new character Ozzy (John Leguizamo).

The Florida heat is palpable as the sweat drips off the characters' brows and there is an impending sense of doom that is telegraphed from the first moments.  John is running for Sheriff and his and his siblings' responsibility in Danny's death comes to the fore and is constantly threatening to undermine their chances at peace, life and family well-being. 

The second season is gripping and suspenseful at times.  It surpasses the first season in quality and interest and is one of Netlix's finest dramas.  Danny's influence continues to pervade the family and seeps into the consciousness of each individual.  Danny was a festering cancer who's treachery is felt long after his death, but the second season does his character justice by developing his charisma and emotional identification through a series of flashbacks that allude to his previous life before the events of season one.  He is not totally evil, as any human being alive isn't completely, but possesses admirable qualities such as his ambition to become a successful restaurateur and chef.

The amount of trouble that the Rayburn siblings find themselves in seems insurmountable and impossible.  They constantly are digging themselves into deeper holes and problems.  The show is clever in how some of these crises are evaded or suppressed temporarily, while others are required to be faced head on.  By the end of season two, new problems present themselves, others are slightly answered perhaps, but the sense of doom prevails always.  This is noir after all, where answers to the pro-filmic world and its character's problems are never clear-cut, easily-digested or pleasant.