i really liked this and i don't know why????? anyway a+ to the filmmakers who know that friendship is magic and made sure doug and carson were cool before the end of the movie
all i remember is my friend made me watch this instead of a horror movie when she stayed the night at my house and i spent the entire thing thinking bitterly about how i could have had scifi monsters or something instead of a mean girls remake for the new generation of teenagers
the cast does a good job with the story (mostly talking about julia and avan here) but the ending wasn't for me at all. had the movie ended after the book club signing scene it would've been perfect for me. now i haven't read the book at all so i'm trying to reserve judgment on the content itself but -- a parole officer who asks a psychiatrist to deal with dangerous situations with people she considers possibly unhinged??? i mean the man is undergoing a midlife crisis here and she's the one with a badge and training. and i'm hoping the reason he's so terrible at negotiation is because he works specifically with children like god forbid he is always this awful when someone is hostile
man, i knew the general plot going in and the ending still hit me like a bag of bricks. i'm not crying there's just a tree branch in my eye. first this movie threw killer quotes at me like "if all i ever gave you was a hammer" "everything would be a nail", then it made me emotional about my own damn name.
the pacing and the atmosphere of the movie are something people are either going to love or hate. it's very much a movie about communication and thinking before acting, and the themes ring painfully true in today's global culture and political climate. so i think where you fall on the spectrum of opinions on national security, how countries ally themselves and what your own personal mentality is when it comes to fight-or-flight with the unknown will REALLY affect your perspective when you watch this film. the main stars were good—i love anything involving amy adams, to be fair—and i liked the stark contrast between the clinical approaches louise and ian took and their impulsive reactions and gut decisions. the supporting cast was believable to me; the impatience, ignorance and paranoia on the parts of the government and military. plus ian's skepticism that eventually bled into openness once he had what any cynical scientist wants—to see it to believe it. forrest played a convincing colonel who just wanted to deal with the threat like any other threat; i can't blame the man for not having the desire to sit through language acquisition with aliens time, language acquisition can be exhausting! but these were all things that felt real, and made it easy for me to connect with the characters. it lacks the action and thrilling suspense of some sci-fi movies, i'll admit, but from the very beginning it was clear that the movie wasn't trying for any of that. instead, it was poignant and surprisingly relatable for its genre. also there's nothing cooler in the universe than linguistics.
a really solid adaptation! i think netflix should be in charge of adapting all of stephen king's works from here on out. this was a good, uncomfortable watch—since many of his books are uncomfortable reads, it's nice when a movie pulls it off as well as the author did. and i cackled when gerald referenced cujo. the acting in this movie was A+, carla and bruce had amazing chemistry and carla excelled in playing both parts of a mind psychologically tormenting itself and desperately trying to survive.
patton's awesome with standup, he's so incredibly personable when he's telling jokes. i loved his interactions with the front row, and also how honest he was about his struggle with segueing into the part about the grieving process. he also had such refreshingly candid commentary for those people who talk about losing a loved one like it's some beautiful, spiritual journey. i think a lot of the laughter i let out during that section of the special was more empathy than humor. some very real material in this, both personal and global. at the end it felt like we were all a little unburdened after experiencing the routine, audience and patton alike!
a huge variety of jokes, but still cohesive once it wrapped up! i loved getting to hear all of the accents he's been working on. it's hard to pick favorite moments, but i'd say great britain colonizing india is pretty high up there.
i generally love louis c.k.'s material to begin with but i only really lost it when the "i'll try the best anything, if it's the BEST" bit came around. i can't believe how hard i laughed at turtle extinction.
i'll never get over how emotionally captivating this franchise manages to be considering how many special effects go into each film, and the amount of suspension of disbelief required to lose yourself in the setting. to be fair it's as much a reflection of the real world issues going on today (and decades ago, depending on the movie in question) as it is a sci-fi dystopia, but damn. there aren't enough award for the number of people who must be responsible for making caesar so incredibly real.
the film has an incredible underlying tension. i've seen people across social media criticize it for being an uncomfortable experience, but that slight discomfort is why it's so effective in terms of the horror genre. it hits a little too close to home in a deeply divided society because aside from the minor details that take this over into the realm of horror, it's all realistic. it's all something we've experienced firsthand, be it as chris or as a bystander. i love this movie, discomfort and all. i'm so happy jordan peele has been getting recognition for his filmmaking; he's got so much talent and his work shows just how robust that talent is. two things though: CHRIS TAKING THAT KNIFE TO THE HAND I FULL BODY RECOILED. and the alternate ending is worth a watch.
As a movie looking back at a period of mass hysteria and paranoia, and the issues of trying to use regression "therapy" to work through traumatic events, the film is great. Truly. But going in with the expectation of it being a horror-thriller type of movie makes it incredibly disappointing. Again, as commentary on what it's based on, I think it does a solid job; being that it was marketed as something else, it's inevitably a letdown.
another day, another movie by tom ford with abel korzeniowski composing that leaves me wondering what the fuck i just watched and how the hell to classify the way it made me feel. i mean, obviously it's an amazing movie. just not necessarily a ride my emotional processing skills were prepared for. jake was definitely my favorite of the cast but aaron taylor johnson did a great job and gave a performance light years beyond the roles he usually executes. amy was also amazing, playing a woman at times impossible to empathize with and at other times truly heartbreaking. the cinematography and score were perfect, duh. there were a couple of jump scares that worked surprisingly well and set the tone for the high intensity emotions involved in each situation, so they didn't feel out of place at all. most importantly, though, armie hammer was disgustingly beautiful during every single moment he spent on screen. an actual movie critic could probably say something to the way everything was filmed and how it made for a stark contrast between grit and polish, youth and age, and so on -- but i definitely have no leg to stand on there, so i stick to what i know and that's 'damn, armie hammer is a work of art'
this is a good movie and worth the watch, but if i'm being totally honest my main takeaway is that chris and jennifer have insane chemistry. like, the movie is over and done with and i'm still just marveling over that eye contact in the dining area.
this made me really appreciate noomi rapace's acting skills. the plot was a little contrived and the movie requires some suspension of disbelief -- less for the premise and more for the notion that 7 identical siblings successfully hid themselves in said premise -- but all in all it's an enjoyable film with believable characters. i watched with a friend and more than once we were clinging to each other and cheering for one of the sisters.
awesome movie. like others say, the alien is incredibly advanced and the science and biology that was used to make it believable were what made this movie terrifying. sure, i was a little horrified any time calvin darted around, sort of how i feel when a spider darts around, but it was the implication throughout the movie that was truly terrifying. as humans we've survived and thrived despite our weaknesses and handicaps because we've used our intellect to advance far beyond any other animal on earth. this little martian was outsmarting them at a frightening pace and it wasn't even evil; just witnessing how desperate it was to survive was simultaneously horrific and heartbreaking. as bummed as i am by the one direct death calvin caused, i mean -- the guy WAS trying to kill calvin with fire and all, so i can't blame the alien. humankind has done way worse in its time trying to survive.
the twist at the end was easy to predict but no less enjoyable than if it came as a shock. more than anything, i hope there's a sequel in which we learn more about how calvin's biology works and in which jake's character lives to struggle through adjusting to earth's atmosphere after well over a year. fingers crossed calvin plays nice with him.
good psychological horror, with a lot of open endedness. if that's something you can enjoy, you'll like this movie! but if you go in expecting a lot of jump scares or gore you'll be disappointed because there's a minimum on both counts. i really liked the acting in this film, particularly christopher and kelvin! there is some intense humanity in their performances.
the plot is kind of whatever to me, in the way that most social media plots are when i've been spoiled by a series like black mirror, BUT like other commenters have said, the actors are all believable and emma roberts is a surprisingly likable protagonist. i've lowkey always liked her crazy bitch roles but i'm glad she's proving to be more versatile. and i love dave and samira so much that i would probably watch two hour footage of a garbage dump if either had a brief cameo, so that helps. this is one of those movies that exceeds expectations if you go into it just expecting a quick, entertaining movie - it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's certainly memorable.
i didn't ask for these emotions, where can i return them
i watched this episode first, out of the entire series, and wow what an impact. i was actually told about this show and particular episode in passing by a friend who thought i'd appreciate the punishment and it took me part of the episode to recognize that this was what she'd been talking about. i love this actress to begin with, but when it dawned on me what was truly going on with her character i was even more impressed. i felt for her so strongly at first and when the truth of her situation was laid out for her i felt so conflicted - because as my friend had guessed, i wholeheartedly supported the eye for an eye angle that these people had taken, and only wish that the man had been put through it too. still, the actress created such a bond with me during her character's desperation to survive that i couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her at the end. but boy, what an intense way to handle sentencing someone for their crimes - it felt very much like a modernized gladiator fight, in that the woman is being punished but it's still a form of entertainment for everyone else involved. modern society dictates that the moment we start "playing god" or taking pleasure in the suffering of others, that we've gone too far, and i think like the rest of the series, this episode of black mirror makes you seriously consider what modern society has done both right and wrong.
i love netflix for so many reasons, and this is one of them. there are a ton of screen adaptations out that have failed to do their original book justice, but it especially bums me out when an author is unable to write the screenplay for an adaptation of their book or unable to have enough of a say in how their story plays out on screen. this series, unlike the movie adaptation, has lemony snicket written all over it, and watching it has been so much fun.
the kids are what really make this show. also, they're better actors than like 90% of the seasoned adult actors currently on television so please remake every tv series starring them.
i'd put this firmly in the guilty pleasure category of tv shows that i watch: good but a bit silly. i have to say that i picked this up because i've missed lauren german with all of my heart since she left chicago fire and now i'm sticking around for all of the characters. they're all really charming! i think the spin tom ellis is putting on lucifer is entertaining and while this show could be far darker i think the current tone suits it pretty well.
the comedy in this show is spot-on in how offbeat and almost unbelievable it is. if it keeps going like this throughout the season i'll be watching the whole way through.
