We watched Hanna and it was pretty good! The lead actress Saoirse Ronan was great, and I haven't seen her in too many other things but now will try to do that. The soundtrack was also good, definitely enhanced the action sequences of the movie. There's fairly intense violence but it's limited to situations where it makes sense, and it's a kind of background necessary to the plot without becoming an end in its own right. So the violence did not bother me in this movie at all. The more important theme seemed to be exploration of what it means to live a happy life, and what the nature of human beings is - or if there is one, or if it's varied - and these were interesting questions to be explored in the way that they were. I thought it would have been a little better if the evil forces that had set up the situation and had to be opposed were less monolithically evil, particularly considering the larger themes, but it is what it is. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it was how it explored her attempt (?) to establish a true friendship with another girl her age - or maybe rather the accidental development of such a friendship and the effort to pursue it. The truth and purity of the communication between the girls was juxtaposed against all the other deception and cruelty, in a way that brought into focus what is pleasant and harmless in life and what is hurtful. Interesting movie overall.
Then I watched a movie called One Small Hitch, which was about childhood friends who agreed to pretend to be getting married for the sake of their families. You know how that goes. It was ridiculous but less ridiculous than most movies of this particular genre, if you can imagine a kind of tiering system of ridiculousness applied here. Trust me that there is one and it's just sad that I know it. I would not recommend that any other people watch this.
Movie Review Thread
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #30: Detroit
This got me bad. There is a benefit for not knowing the details of the historical events found within, and that benefit is feeling the horror that continues well after the film ends. Then again, to know the details and see it recreated is its own horror, because we see these moments recreated throughout our shared history, and that's part of the horror. Semi-spoiler: there is no catharsis here. White supremacy, abetted by the white fear, white silence, and white neglect of those who know better. These are humans attacked by evil, and one-by-one every valve of justice is closed. It's a disgusting portrayal of injustice then and injustice now. The film firmly ends at the end of Act 2. We are at our lowest point, and Act 3 is us now. We decide if there's catharsis or if this is a never-ending American tragedy. "13" was similar in its outlook. It doesn't let us off the hook.
To be clear, the film is great, essential, I'll probably never watch again, and available on Hulu.
This got me bad. There is a benefit for not knowing the details of the historical events found within, and that benefit is feeling the horror that continues well after the film ends. Then again, to know the details and see it recreated is its own horror, because we see these moments recreated throughout our shared history, and that's part of the horror. Semi-spoiler: there is no catharsis here. White supremacy, abetted by the white fear, white silence, and white neglect of those who know better. These are humans attacked by evil, and one-by-one every valve of justice is closed. It's a disgusting portrayal of injustice then and injustice now. The film firmly ends at the end of Act 2. We are at our lowest point, and Act 3 is us now. We decide if there's catharsis or if this is a never-ending American tragedy. "13" was similar in its outlook. It doesn't let us off the hook.
To be clear, the film is great, essential, I'll probably never watch again, and available on Hulu.
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Tahlvin
- Scottish Joker
- Posts: 5397
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Re: Movie Review Thread
Wash: "This is gonna get pretty interesting."
Mal: "Define interesting."
Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die?"
Mal: "Define interesting."
Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die?"
Re: Movie Review Thread
Onward
This one's a rarity: a Pixar movie I was not in any way excited to see. And after I watched it, Doug Loves Movies clued me in to what my problem was. A bunch of Doug's guests raved about the movie, and Doug said he just had no interest. He explained that he didn't like the aesthetic of the art style. He said he'd seen plenty of other animated things in the past with that sort of aesthetic, and they weren't things that appealed to him. I realized that was MY problem as well.
But once you get over that, it's a romp. It's got some stupid stuff, but it also has a lot of funny. And it's Pixar, so it will move you by the end. In a world where magic has faded, but mythical creatures populate our American suburbs, two elf brothers rediscover magic and go on an epic quest to try to reconnect with their dead father. On the way, they learn about the meaning of family.
My whole family liked this. The centaur cop stepdad is probably my favorite character in the whole film. It just worked for me.
Boondock Saints
I can't believe it took me this long to watch Boondock Saints. It was bloody and silly and violent with some of the most amazing overacting I've ever seen. Aidan and I talked at length on the podcast, and it has it's flaws after 20 years, but it was a great watch.
Never Grow Old
Not much of a fan of western dramas, but Eli has been playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2, and he wanted to watch more westerns. This one was recommended by an algorithm, so we gave it a shot. It's a tale of morality and redemption on the frontier. It's not terribly original, but it does it's job well. Emile Hirsch is the young family man who is waylaid in this podunk frontier town until they have the money to finish their journey west. He chaffs at the restrictions and hypocrisy of the church that runs the town, but then has to face his own morality when bad guys make his coffin-making suddenly profitable.
My main problem with the film is the protagonists passivity through most of the film (which I get is the point... but it's still frustrating at times), but the most important reason to watch this movie is to see John Cusack (who I didn't recognize until I heard his voice) as the villain. He is straight-up evil the moment he enters, even when he's not doing anything at all. And he's really good in this.
Five years from now, I won't remember anything about this film except for John Cusack, and that's enough for me.
This one's a rarity: a Pixar movie I was not in any way excited to see. And after I watched it, Doug Loves Movies clued me in to what my problem was. A bunch of Doug's guests raved about the movie, and Doug said he just had no interest. He explained that he didn't like the aesthetic of the art style. He said he'd seen plenty of other animated things in the past with that sort of aesthetic, and they weren't things that appealed to him. I realized that was MY problem as well.
But once you get over that, it's a romp. It's got some stupid stuff, but it also has a lot of funny. And it's Pixar, so it will move you by the end. In a world where magic has faded, but mythical creatures populate our American suburbs, two elf brothers rediscover magic and go on an epic quest to try to reconnect with their dead father. On the way, they learn about the meaning of family.
My whole family liked this. The centaur cop stepdad is probably my favorite character in the whole film. It just worked for me.
Boondock Saints
I can't believe it took me this long to watch Boondock Saints. It was bloody and silly and violent with some of the most amazing overacting I've ever seen. Aidan and I talked at length on the podcast, and it has it's flaws after 20 years, but it was a great watch.
Never Grow Old
Not much of a fan of western dramas, but Eli has been playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2, and he wanted to watch more westerns. This one was recommended by an algorithm, so we gave it a shot. It's a tale of morality and redemption on the frontier. It's not terribly original, but it does it's job well. Emile Hirsch is the young family man who is waylaid in this podunk frontier town until they have the money to finish their journey west. He chaffs at the restrictions and hypocrisy of the church that runs the town, but then has to face his own morality when bad guys make his coffin-making suddenly profitable.
My main problem with the film is the protagonists passivity through most of the film (which I get is the point... but it's still frustrating at times), but the most important reason to watch this movie is to see John Cusack (who I didn't recognize until I heard his voice) as the villain. He is straight-up evil the moment he enters, even when he's not doing anything at all. And he's really good in this.
Five years from now, I won't remember anything about this film except for John Cusack, and that's enough for me.
All I know is my food tastes better when I take my food-tastes-better pill.
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #31: A Wrinkle In Time
The common wisdom here is that this is a messy bomb. And as much as I rooted for this film, the common wisdom has a point. It's kinda messy! But I thought Ava did a fine job in her first big-budget film, and I hope she gets more chances. Hollywood: give women and minority directors the second and third and forth chances you give white men! That said, it's for sure my least liked of the three films I've seen by her. It was written by Jennifer Lee, director of the Frozen films, and I do wonder if animation would have been a better suit for this. The film did work at times, and I thought the climax was good. Some of the actors were very good, Storm Reid in particular. Some of the cameos were enjoyable, some were fine. One got a big ole zero from me, but I'm not going to blow up their spot, because I love them otherwise, and I've definitely moved in the last three years to try to appreciate everything. But their character was just missing something, maybe something as simple as sound-design. Every line fell flat. Maybe just me. Overall, it was ok. I wish it was great, but I felt a distance from the fantasy, and feeling immersed in a fantasy is pretty important in a fantasy film.
The common wisdom here is that this is a messy bomb. And as much as I rooted for this film, the common wisdom has a point. It's kinda messy! But I thought Ava did a fine job in her first big-budget film, and I hope she gets more chances. Hollywood: give women and minority directors the second and third and forth chances you give white men! That said, it's for sure my least liked of the three films I've seen by her. It was written by Jennifer Lee, director of the Frozen films, and I do wonder if animation would have been a better suit for this. The film did work at times, and I thought the climax was good. Some of the actors were very good, Storm Reid in particular. Some of the cameos were enjoyable, some were fine. One got a big ole zero from me, but I'm not going to blow up their spot, because I love them otherwise, and I've definitely moved in the last three years to try to appreciate everything. But their character was just missing something, maybe something as simple as sound-design. Every line fell flat. Maybe just me. Overall, it was ok. I wish it was great, but I felt a distance from the fantasy, and feeling immersed in a fantasy is pretty important in a fantasy film.
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Phoebe
- Canned Helsing
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Re: Movie Review Thread
I was confused by it, but also sleepy and then fell asleep, so I can't render any useful judgment.
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Tahlvin
- Scottish Joker
- Posts: 5397
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Re: Movie Review Thread
Greyhound, available on Apple TV+, starring and screenplay by Tom Hanks, and based on a story from C. S. Forrester (of Horatio Hornblower fame). Dan Carlin interviewed Hanks on his Hardcore History Addendum podcast about the movie. It's the captain and crew of a US destroyer escorting a convoy across the North Atlantic in the early days of WWII. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It covers an aspect of WWII that doesn't get a whole lot of attention, getting the troops and supplies to the front line in Europe. And there's a brief appearance by Elisabeth Shue, one of my celeb crushes from back in her "Adventures in Babysitting" days.
Wash: "This is gonna get pretty interesting."
Mal: "Define interesting."
Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die?"
Mal: "Define interesting."
Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die?"
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #32: Riding in Cars with Boys
Good stuff, often very funny Penny Marshall comedy. The story of damaged people really trying to do their best. In this case, it's a story of parents and kids. The parents often they fail miserably and cause trauma for their children, but sometimes they get it right, and all is kinda forgiven. And it's kinda like all parents. My parents did alright. They did better than this. But I still have plenty to talk about with my therapist. I guess in this film, what runs through it, is selfishness. Everyone might be trying to make it seem like they are caring for others, but really they'd rather cut-their-losses with those around them, because then life will be perfect. Her father shows this, she shows this, and her son too. Penny Marshall, as in A League of Their Own, gives her actors top-notch parts. Drew Barrymore I'll always root for. Brittnay Murphy always finding the funny in a scene. James Woods can go screw but is good here. Steve Zahn, before the McConaissance there was the Steve Zahnassance, and he's at the top of his game playing a goofy lovable hate-able tragic redeeming character.
52 By Women 2020 #33: The Old Guard
A non-stop entertaining action film. Charlize is living up to her Furiosa as a stoic kick-ass leader with simmering pathos. That she also produced the film shows that she was really excited to continue the action side of her career. And that it's getting such positive buzz seems to be good omen for possible sequels (or prequels, there's a lot to mine in its backstory) -- even though Netflix makes some great films and brags about their clout and success -- they rarely produce sequels to their films. But here's hoping. I don't want to spoil too much, because discovering the way this world works is part of the fun. There's parts of this film I really liked for its multiculturalism, its feminism, it's wonderful lack of male-gaze, what loves stories are there and what are not, that feel like important steps, but also should simply be the standard. Sort of when a politician who you hate finally stands up, like bravo, but also how messed up that it's taken this long.
Also a wonderful addition of Frank Ocean's "Godspeed" at just the right time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XTucr9A3U
Good stuff, often very funny Penny Marshall comedy. The story of damaged people really trying to do their best. In this case, it's a story of parents and kids. The parents often they fail miserably and cause trauma for their children, but sometimes they get it right, and all is kinda forgiven. And it's kinda like all parents. My parents did alright. They did better than this. But I still have plenty to talk about with my therapist. I guess in this film, what runs through it, is selfishness. Everyone might be trying to make it seem like they are caring for others, but really they'd rather cut-their-losses with those around them, because then life will be perfect. Her father shows this, she shows this, and her son too. Penny Marshall, as in A League of Their Own, gives her actors top-notch parts. Drew Barrymore I'll always root for. Brittnay Murphy always finding the funny in a scene. James Woods can go screw but is good here. Steve Zahn, before the McConaissance there was the Steve Zahnassance, and he's at the top of his game playing a goofy lovable hate-able tragic redeeming character.
52 By Women 2020 #33: The Old Guard
A non-stop entertaining action film. Charlize is living up to her Furiosa as a stoic kick-ass leader with simmering pathos. That she also produced the film shows that she was really excited to continue the action side of her career. And that it's getting such positive buzz seems to be good omen for possible sequels (or prequels, there's a lot to mine in its backstory) -- even though Netflix makes some great films and brags about their clout and success -- they rarely produce sequels to their films. But here's hoping. I don't want to spoil too much, because discovering the way this world works is part of the fun. There's parts of this film I really liked for its multiculturalism, its feminism, it's wonderful lack of male-gaze, what loves stories are there and what are not, that feel like important steps, but also should simply be the standard. Sort of when a politician who you hate finally stands up, like bravo, but also how messed up that it's taken this long.
Also a wonderful addition of Frank Ocean's "Godspeed" at just the right time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XTucr9A3U
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akiva
- Melancholy Camper
- Posts: 1262
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:29 pm
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Re: Movie Review Thread
Reel on a repeating loop
Re: Movie Review Thread
All I know is my food tastes better when I take my food-tastes-better pill.
Re: Movie Review Thread
Another Version of You
Indie rom?-com? about a dude who is hopelessly in love with a girl who just married someone else and will never feel the same way about him. But now, he has a way to explore alternate worlds and maybe find one where she DOES feel the same about him.
It's long and weird at some spots, but also very innovative and original at others. I loved the actor who played his sister. I thought she was great. So I went to see if she was in anything else I'd know, and it turned out she killed herself shortly after the movie's release. Not relevant, but very sad.
The ending disappointed me. I was looking for something more profound. Here the protagonist was learning something about love and relationships and happiness, and then right at the end, they drop in a twist that seems to undermine all of that. I don't know exactly how I would have done the ending, but it wouldn't have been this.
Gretel & Hansel
Not good. There were some dark atmospherics and great tension building. I felt like I was watching something in the vein of The VVitch, but the acting from both Gretel and Hansel was just sub-par here, which was disappointing, because I thought Sophia Lillis was one of the best things about It, Part I. But then even leaving the acting aside, the dialogue was terrible at parts. So really, I'm just going put the blame on the writer and/or director and not pick on a couple of kids.
Eh. Just didn't enjoy it.
The Girl on the Train
Okay, this is my last new (to me) movie review so far, and I just don't have the energy for it. It's a murder mystery/thriller with Emily Blunt (always awesome) as our protagonist(?), whose recollections and culpability are constantly in question, because of her crippling depression and rampant alcohol abuse. So when her ex-husband's nanny winds up dead, even she doesn't know if she did it. In the end though it felt very made-for-tv-movie-ish, and I wasn't completely invested. We watched it because Lisa had just read and loved the novel, and afterwards, she got to recount how many shortcuts the movie took, and why the book was so much better. Give it a pass.
Indie rom?-com? about a dude who is hopelessly in love with a girl who just married someone else and will never feel the same way about him. But now, he has a way to explore alternate worlds and maybe find one where she DOES feel the same about him.
It's long and weird at some spots, but also very innovative and original at others. I loved the actor who played his sister. I thought she was great. So I went to see if she was in anything else I'd know, and it turned out she killed herself shortly after the movie's release. Not relevant, but very sad.
The ending disappointed me. I was looking for something more profound. Here the protagonist was learning something about love and relationships and happiness, and then right at the end, they drop in a twist that seems to undermine all of that. I don't know exactly how I would have done the ending, but it wouldn't have been this.
Gretel & Hansel
Not good. There were some dark atmospherics and great tension building. I felt like I was watching something in the vein of The VVitch, but the acting from both Gretel and Hansel was just sub-par here, which was disappointing, because I thought Sophia Lillis was one of the best things about It, Part I. But then even leaving the acting aside, the dialogue was terrible at parts. So really, I'm just going put the blame on the writer and/or director and not pick on a couple of kids.
Eh. Just didn't enjoy it.
The Girl on the Train
Okay, this is my last new (to me) movie review so far, and I just don't have the energy for it. It's a murder mystery/thriller with Emily Blunt (always awesome) as our protagonist(?), whose recollections and culpability are constantly in question, because of her crippling depression and rampant alcohol abuse. So when her ex-husband's nanny winds up dead, even she doesn't know if she did it. In the end though it felt very made-for-tv-movie-ish, and I wasn't completely invested. We watched it because Lisa had just read and loved the novel, and afterwards, she got to recount how many shortcuts the movie took, and why the book was so much better. Give it a pass.
All I know is my food tastes better when I take my food-tastes-better pill.
Re: Movie Review Thread
Movies I've REwatched during quarantine (so far)...
The Girl with all the Gifts - I still love this movie. It's not quite as profound as the first time, since I know what's coming, but it's just a great film.
Kingpin - I got as far as Ishmael's first game after meeting Roy, and I just couldn't keep going. It just wasn't funny. I wish I had fast-forwarded to the end just to watch the final face off against Bill Murray, but I was so disappointed, I just couldn't do it.
Rat Race - Watched with our kids just to see if it still holds up, and it turns out, IT DOES! This dumb-ass ensemble comedy still made our whole family laugh just as much as it did 20 years ago. It's really really dumb, but it's good physical comedy that isn't mean-spirited.
Zombieland: Double Tap - Just needed 30 minutes of something I knew I liked to zone me out before bed. 2 hours later, I had watched the whole thing with no regrets. Great film!
Avengers: Endgame - Hey, it's Avengers: Endgame. It's still really good. Tony Stark is still overrated.
Thor: Ragnorak - Taika Waititi can do no wrong. THIS is the Thompson/Hemsworth buddy chemistry that should have revived the Men in Black franchise.
A Million Ways to Die in the West - Again one to watch with the kids. So much fun. Watching Neil Patrick Harris shit in a hat made me laugh just as hard this time as it did when I saw it in the theater with my dad and brother. Unbelievably juvenile, but still funny to me.
Spaceballs - Unwatchable. Didn't even make 15 minutes.
Dude, Where’s My Car? - Good watch. The kids loved it. But more importantly they now understand a bunch of references that their mom and I use all the time.
Cabin in the Woods - Man, I've seen a lot of Chris Hemsworth during the pandemic. This movie is a blast (as always), and my son Eli, who HATES horror movies was roped into watching it and adored it as much as the rest of us by the end. Good flick.
Lockout - Guy Pierce stars in Die Hard: Space Prison Edition. It's amazing fun! Watch it!
Airplane! - 40 years on, and the comedy still holds up. This movie always amazes me.
The Girl with all the Gifts - I still love this movie. It's not quite as profound as the first time, since I know what's coming, but it's just a great film.
Kingpin - I got as far as Ishmael's first game after meeting Roy, and I just couldn't keep going. It just wasn't funny. I wish I had fast-forwarded to the end just to watch the final face off against Bill Murray, but I was so disappointed, I just couldn't do it.
Rat Race - Watched with our kids just to see if it still holds up, and it turns out, IT DOES! This dumb-ass ensemble comedy still made our whole family laugh just as much as it did 20 years ago. It's really really dumb, but it's good physical comedy that isn't mean-spirited.
Zombieland: Double Tap - Just needed 30 minutes of something I knew I liked to zone me out before bed. 2 hours later, I had watched the whole thing with no regrets. Great film!
Avengers: Endgame - Hey, it's Avengers: Endgame. It's still really good. Tony Stark is still overrated.
Thor: Ragnorak - Taika Waititi can do no wrong. THIS is the Thompson/Hemsworth buddy chemistry that should have revived the Men in Black franchise.
A Million Ways to Die in the West - Again one to watch with the kids. So much fun. Watching Neil Patrick Harris shit in a hat made me laugh just as hard this time as it did when I saw it in the theater with my dad and brother. Unbelievably juvenile, but still funny to me.
Spaceballs - Unwatchable. Didn't even make 15 minutes.
Dude, Where’s My Car? - Good watch. The kids loved it. But more importantly they now understand a bunch of references that their mom and I use all the time.
Cabin in the Woods - Man, I've seen a lot of Chris Hemsworth during the pandemic. This movie is a blast (as always), and my son Eli, who HATES horror movies was roped into watching it and adored it as much as the rest of us by the end. Good flick.
Lockout - Guy Pierce stars in Die Hard: Space Prison Edition. It's amazing fun! Watch it!
Airplane! - 40 years on, and the comedy still holds up. This movie always amazes me.
All I know is my food tastes better when I take my food-tastes-better pill.
Re: Movie Review Thread
Hamilton
Oh yeah, Hamilton. Just as good as everyone says. I totally get it now. Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute genius, and this movie moved me powerfully. The whole family was rapt for the full 160 minutes. The choreography and cinematography for the movie version made it really live. Loved it!
Oh yeah, Hamilton. Just as good as everyone says. I totally get it now. Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute genius, and this movie moved me powerfully. The whole family was rapt for the full 160 minutes. The choreography and cinematography for the movie version made it really live. Loved it!
All I know is my food tastes better when I take my food-tastes-better pill.
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #34: Tomboy
Another great Celine Sciamma film, this dealing with a child named Laurie trying on a new personality and gender as Michael. And it works for them, as they thrive. Of course, it's all going to fall apart, because of society and secrets. That Laurie puts up with the secrecy and humiliations says a lot about how we don't give kids the vocabulary to explain their situation, the intensity of identity, and the shame society puts on being different. There's some relief, though, when things go wrong but right. When the little sister, who loves her older sibling, embraces and adores the new identity. Then there's the perfect ending, where Laurie sees the path ahead in clarity. I've tried to do ok with noting gender here, because although birth and culture gives us one answer, and Laurie throughout the film gives us another, there is yet another answer as the last line in the film, and I don't want to spoil it.
Another great Celine Sciamma film, this dealing with a child named Laurie trying on a new personality and gender as Michael. And it works for them, as they thrive. Of course, it's all going to fall apart, because of society and secrets. That Laurie puts up with the secrecy and humiliations says a lot about how we don't give kids the vocabulary to explain their situation, the intensity of identity, and the shame society puts on being different. There's some relief, though, when things go wrong but right. When the little sister, who loves her older sibling, embraces and adores the new identity. Then there's the perfect ending, where Laurie sees the path ahead in clarity. I've tried to do ok with noting gender here, because although birth and culture gives us one answer, and Laurie throughout the film gives us another, there is yet another answer as the last line in the film, and I don't want to spoil it.
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Phoebe
- Canned Helsing
- Posts: 7208
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Re: Movie Review Thread
SO many good movies I want to watch here, I cannot keep up! Keep the reviews rolling though, I am writing it down!
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #35: The Bling Ring
My first Sophia Coppola film, a great shame that it's taken this long, and excited to continue my belated education. The film is solid. The characters, who are the worst (in a good way), sometimes narrate from the future, to show how they changed-- nope, just kidding, they are still the worst. Watching Emma Watson play possibly the worst of the worst was so enjoyable, and her relationship with her mom leads to the funniest moments. The music totally works with the characters and the plot and totally works with me. The excitement of hearing "Power" or "212" or a perfect use of "Bad Girls" made me feel part of the character's joy. If there's any negative, it's the negativeness of society and money and fame and envy, which the film uses to critique but also kinda luxuriate in too. It knows it's being a bit complicit because that's how insidious it all is.
My first Sophia Coppola film, a great shame that it's taken this long, and excited to continue my belated education. The film is solid. The characters, who are the worst (in a good way), sometimes narrate from the future, to show how they changed-- nope, just kidding, they are still the worst. Watching Emma Watson play possibly the worst of the worst was so enjoyable, and her relationship with her mom leads to the funniest moments. The music totally works with the characters and the plot and totally works with me. The excitement of hearing "Power" or "212" or a perfect use of "Bad Girls" made me feel part of the character's joy. If there's any negative, it's the negativeness of society and money and fame and envy, which the film uses to critique but also kinda luxuriate in too. It knows it's being a bit complicit because that's how insidious it all is.
Re: Movie Review Thread
The Beach House- Y'all aren't going to watch this because it's only on Shudder (but it's only $5 a month, y'all!), but this movie was one of the best HP Adaptations I've seen in a long time (other than Color Out of Space). It starts out slow as a young couple squats in a relative's beach house and meet another couple. That night, spores float up from the ocean and everything goes bananas. Nothing happens for the first 40% of this movie and you're thinking, "Okay, it's alright for a slow burn." But it's not a slow burn, because once bad things start, it just ratchets up, and ratchets up and ratchets up. Until it ends and you're looking at the other people in the room and you say, "Holy shit." Great. Starring a bunch of people you've never seen. Just so great.
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #36: The Weekend
An ok comedy, where probably all the best stuff is not the comedy. I laughed a few times. There's a recurring joke of people asking "is she joking?" and a character responding "she's not" and I think it about sums up how I felt on my watch. I was amused more often but the gifts were in the drama and performances. The characters' decisions, misstep after misstep, real and faux, all made sense. In a stunning moment, not in the story but when the credits rolled, I read the name of the main actor, who does a good job of playing a sympathetic unsympathetic character, and felt embarrassed. She, Sasheer Zamata, is the cohost of a podcast I listen to occasionally, Best Friends. I can't believe I listened to her voice for 80 minutes and didn't put that together. And I wonder how I would have viewed the film differently. Anyways, a solidly made and assembled story, though it's right on the edge of whether I'd recommend it (apart from necessity of amplifying voices of black women).
Available on Hulu.
An ok comedy, where probably all the best stuff is not the comedy. I laughed a few times. There's a recurring joke of people asking "is she joking?" and a character responding "she's not" and I think it about sums up how I felt on my watch. I was amused more often but the gifts were in the drama and performances. The characters' decisions, misstep after misstep, real and faux, all made sense. In a stunning moment, not in the story but when the credits rolled, I read the name of the main actor, who does a good job of playing a sympathetic unsympathetic character, and felt embarrassed. She, Sasheer Zamata, is the cohost of a podcast I listen to occasionally, Best Friends. I can't believe I listened to her voice for 80 minutes and didn't put that together. And I wonder how I would have viewed the film differently. Anyways, a solidly made and assembled story, though it's right on the edge of whether I'd recommend it (apart from necessity of amplifying voices of black women).
Available on Hulu.
Re: Movie Review Thread
52 By Women 2020 #37: Lost in Translation
I held off on this film, even though I adore Billy Murray, because a friend of mine really hated this film. Her issue started with the first shot, one of the dozen memorable shots in this film, this one of the butt of a 17-year-old Scarjo. She found it dumb and male-gazey, but I've read since watching many critics and film theorists putting a lot of feminism and positive-critique in the scene. For what it's worth, Sofia Coppola kind of makes my friend's point by saying there was no hidden meaning to the image, and she just did it because she thought it looked artful. I was willing to give it the benefit-of-the-doubt, but yeah, it's not important to the story at all, and like art, hating it is entirely fair.
Ok, let me get beyond the first thirty seconds of the film. I expected it 100% depressing, but it's often joyous and human. The line it tows with these two characters being in the same boat, but not, and what we expect these characters do in a will-they won't-they, and it was great to see the film go in a original direction. I'm not going to say what happened, for those who haven't, but will say I was rooting hard against them getting together. Pits in my stomach often. What else did Sofia do great... oh, the locations! Wonderful settings wonderfully filmed. Glad I watched it. I came in expecting maybe not liking it but also expecting a masterpiece. Instead, I got a really good film. Some flaws, some masterstrokes.
I held off on this film, even though I adore Billy Murray, because a friend of mine really hated this film. Her issue started with the first shot, one of the dozen memorable shots in this film, this one of the butt of a 17-year-old Scarjo. She found it dumb and male-gazey, but I've read since watching many critics and film theorists putting a lot of feminism and positive-critique in the scene. For what it's worth, Sofia Coppola kind of makes my friend's point by saying there was no hidden meaning to the image, and she just did it because she thought it looked artful. I was willing to give it the benefit-of-the-doubt, but yeah, it's not important to the story at all, and like art, hating it is entirely fair.
Ok, let me get beyond the first thirty seconds of the film. I expected it 100% depressing, but it's often joyous and human. The line it tows with these two characters being in the same boat, but not, and what we expect these characters do in a will-they won't-they, and it was great to see the film go in a original direction. I'm not going to say what happened, for those who haven't, but will say I was rooting hard against them getting together. Pits in my stomach often. What else did Sofia do great... oh, the locations! Wonderful settings wonderfully filmed. Glad I watched it. I came in expecting maybe not liking it but also expecting a masterpiece. Instead, I got a really good film. Some flaws, some masterstrokes.
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