This is a pretty forgettable movie with flat characterizations and several scenes that feel just plain out of place.
Had I not needed a fourth film (!) to round out my playlist on an international flight, I probably never would have even watched this in the first place. It's just not very good, though the premise showed promise.
There's so much more to this story than the parents' decision whether to consent to organ donation on behalf of their daughter.
That's over in the first 15-20 minutes at most (best estimate I have after watching this half-asleep on a long flight), and the rest of the film is a wrenching character study of how their choice plays out over the following years. I was not prepared for this movie, and wasn't really trying to predict it (because, as mentioned before, I was half asleep)—but that probably made the experience better.
In my notes from the flight, I see my drowsy self gave this "9/10 for feels", so I'll just slap that rating on without overthinking it.
Since I loved the Japanese version of this (https://trakt.tv/movies/you-are-the-apple-of-my-eye-2018), I should put this older Chinese telling of the same story on my list of films to watch, eh?
Predictable to the extreme. Cute enough in the expected ways, but too short and doesn't really do anything with the subject.
Writing a full-length review of this movie would bore me to tears (again), so here are the main points:
That's all. This movie was just a bunch of big-name stars thrown together with the barest hint of a story.
Beautiful cinematography. This is featured in National Geographic's Short Film Showcase on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jEo-ykjmHgg
I feel kind of bad giving this only 6/10, because Gabriel is very talented. In a way, he's almost a modern Mel Blanc.
If I were rating the performer, I would award him a 10/10 for demonstrated talent, skill, and stage presence. But since I'm rating the performance as a whole, I have to take into account the material. Laughing maybe twice in an hour packed with jokes is not a great ratio, sadly.
I don't understand the abysmal rating this has on Trakt at the moment (currently averaging 23%). It's not the best documentary I've ever seen, but it's still a solid one. Obviously rushed in places due to time constraints, but hits the big-picture points just fine.
Watch for David Tennant's voice coming out of Charles Darwin's animated avatar. Pass on the rest.
Captures the mood of the game very well. No doubt the game developer being on the writing team had something to do with it.
Saw a fair chunk of this at the Art Car Museum in Houston just now. They closed before the end of the movie (hell, I thought it was just a typical 15-minute museum piece), but this and the director's other art car film are both on Amazon Prime Video.
*Yawn*
When does this get funny?
Hey, I think that might have been a silent-chuckle-worthy joke. Maybe.
Oh, it's over.
Solid 6.5/10 (rounded to 7)
I probably wouldn't have cast Dev Patel in that role, but it's not as if I can name another Indian actor I'd rather see in it. There just aren't enough of them in Hollywood. It's frustrating.
The film's dramatic arc feels a little too formulaic, leading me to question the precise order of events in the final act, but overall it's a good watch. Just felt like the script could have gone a bit farther in depth on some areas.
The music is not really my cup of tea. There's a ton of repetition, too—where Disney films of old would have written a new song for each scene, Moana reuses the same three or four melodies (and not, IMO, in the good "this is a theme" way, like a good Broadway score). There's also just something about the way the vocals and the animation are put together that doesn't…quite…mesh. When the characters sing, it's like they're lip-syncing. Yes, I know it's animation, so technically they are lip-syncing all the time—but even other Disney films do it better.
Don't come in expecting to be surprised by any of the plot. This is a Disney film, you know how it's gonna go.
I should have guessed that the chicken was Alan Tudyk… Who else could do that?
5.8-ish? Somewhere around that.
There's not really any structure. For a documentary that claims to tell the story of a movie production, it doesn't really say much at all about said process. Title cards try to use the film's progress to tie the segments together, ineffectually. In the end, it's a disjointed mashup of contemporary interviews, poorly preserved TV archives (I swear some of the clips were 16-by-16 pixels), movie footage, and photos. Abrupt tonal shifts don't help it.
Interesting look at Reynolds and Needham, but by no means would missing this be a great loss.
Elsewhere I read a review of this that called out its use of a voice actor to read the closing narration, instead of using an existing recording of Carl Sagan himself reciting those words. Having watched and listened to enough recordings of Sagan speaking, I must agree that the film would have been improved by the use of Sagan's own voice. The voice actor hired simply sounds wooden.
This is such an '80s movie. That description perfectly encapsulates both the good and the bad.
Is it believable? Hell, no. None of the space or rocket stuff is realistic at all (being that close to a rocket launch would at least mess up everyone's hearing), but whatever. This is the kind of comedy where the situation is what's funny, not the details.
It's not movie of the year or anything (remember, Back to the Future and The Breakfast Club came out in 1985 too), and it won't (didn't) win any awards for filmmaking excellence. Frankly I would have liked to see the original version with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, instead of Aykroyd and Chevy Chase (I have a soft spot for the Blues Brothers). But this is solidly in the "good bad movie" category.
6.8/10
Cute short. Really reminds me why stop-motion animation is so cool.
Kind of hard to get past the bookends of sexist jokes, but there are some genuinely great jokes in this where Bill gets away from his "women" material… The man has great presence and comedic talent; I just didn't find some of the material itself funny, even though the delivery was good.
Trakt's rating system makes me round my 6.3, so 6 it is.
It's cheesy, and that's OK. There are enough subtle references and social commentaries to hold interest, and the animation style is quite interesting.
What ultimately ruined the film's tone was the reveal of the real Mr. Business (the kid's dad), and the fact that the entire plot was actually the little boy screwing around with his dad's models. That blew away any small amounts of emotional investment I had in the characters.
This documentary felt pretty weak. Leaving aside the fact that I still haven't found a source for complete subtitles that cover foreign-language dialogue, I have serious issues with how it was assembled. Having people talk on the record but obscuring their identities is fine, but I draw the line at creating a composite character based on several different people. It's a documentary, not fiction.
As others have mentioned (in particular, @rants), the balance is skewed. The whole thing is one-sided, with no coverage of the Iranian side at all.
Superb film, absolutely breathtaking. I couldn't find a single frame that didn't keep me enthralled.
Honestly, I don't feel like knocking off any points for the small flaws I did notice. Some of the accents might have been a bit thick, and maybe it did take me a moment to realize that the "new" boy was actually an older version of the same kid, but meh… Those are tiny details, and the script was otherwise quite tight.
If I sat and thought about it for long enough, I'm sure I could find a plot hole or two to bring down my score, but why bother? There's no reason to go out of my way to tear down such a masterfully executed film.
You should go see this. It's definitely worth the two hour investment.
Available for free on Google Play (limited time offer, valid as of writing).
Spent most of the movie disbelieving that it hadn't yet been 90 minutes. The format doesn't really work.
Understated, subtle style typical of the (modern) Japanese drama films I've seen. The acting is good when it wants to be, but the writing leaves some gaps. There are slow moments, confusing moments, and cliché moments throughout. The early parts of the film set up a nice payoff near the end, and the ending itself could be considered a nice metaphor…but I didn't enjoy this as much as other films in this genre (high school/drama/romance). It's like the concept was still somewhat half-baked, and the script needed a few more revisions.
That said, I applaud the cast for working well with what they were given.
I can see why this is a classic. It's not really a story line I care for, but to hell with that; I ain't marking the score down because I didn't like the plot. I'm rating the film based on production quality and so on. It's got quality in spades.
Infrequently, I have the desire to see a movie done as a stage play, because my background is in theatre and I can't help it. This story is perfect for the stage!
This film is entirely worth watching, and I feel 110% justified in my excitement for watching it—but not for the reasons I thought I'd be. It's a lot more dramatic than I expected, based on the synopsis, to say the least.
I've seen a few Turkish viewers express dismay that this film isn't wholly culturally accurate, so I cannot give it a perfect 10 (and even 9 feels high, assuming the criticisms are accurate). But it is a well constructed movie, slow-paced but thoroughly engrossing. While the characters' dress and behavior may not be true to real life, the broad commentary on Turkey's society as a whole—the state of women's rights in the country, and the society's dominant patriarchy—hold true, even according to the reviews I've read from Turkish viewers.
Not the most well-produced documentary, technically or editorially, but there's enough here to warrant a watch.
I can't get a read on Ashley. She initially seems like she wants to change the industry, but by the end she's back out there scouting new models and lying that models sent to Japan never go into debt after the audience just watched first Madlen and then Nadya get sent home over $2000 in the red.
Great premise, great execution, great writing. There were a couple of bits that could have been done better, but if Trakt offered a 9.5 rating option I would use it.
