Great period piece, great setting and soundtrack. Only kind of a bit aimless though.
It seems to me like Paul Thomas Anderson was more concerned to make a movie about a favorite topic than to tell a story. There are no arcs, characters face consequences for their actions somewhat arbitrarily and the ending is a somewhat an undeserved happy ending.
Great cast, even though Mark Whalberg has awful screen presence and is about as charismatic as a rubber boot.
A good watch, but nothing exactly groundbreaking
Somewhat of a better watch than it's predecessor, probably because of the better pacing afforded by the extra actions scenes and the satisfying closure (to some extent) of the story.
Probably the best ever screening of the classic Frank Herbert story, but still not there in terms of capturing the magic and feel of the original book. I think.
Still kind of flat, lifeless and wooden as most Villeneuve flicks.
A cinematic spectacle, yet somehow flat and lifeless.
Like most of Villeneuve's projects, it's missing something to truly make it memorable.
Improves on subsequent views.
Definitely flawed and at times unbearable to watch, but quite unique and interesting.
Great costumes, set design and atmosphere, horrible pacing and atrocious acting.
Rushed, chaotic and cringey, but still a classic somehow.
Probably one of the first classic episodes.
Bart is kind of a piece of shit.
Being able to relate to George is probably not a good thing.
Gdamn Elaine looks so cute in that oversized shirt.
Not bad at all.
Some of the things it's trying to do kind of fall flat and end up being confusing (I don't even know what to make of the supernatural elements), but it's a pretty stylish and interesting watch.
My god, this sucked.
I mean I get what the movie was trying to do and the subtext, I just wish it wasn't such a horrible uneventful slog to watch and get through.
Much like the rest of Ridley Scott's other historical dramas: an ambitious, grandiose and satisfying cinematic experience, but quite a bit dumbed down for the average viewer's entertainment and thoroughly offensive if/once you know the historical subtext.
Also Orlando Bloom with one of the performances ever.
It's a wonderful thing to be able to find beauty in mundane things and be entertained by everyday life.
Endlessly referenced and quoted, (probably?) quite remarkable for the time and remembered as the starting point of today's fitness obsessed culture. Kind of a boring, understated watch in the present though.
In many ways it's just a cheap 70's documentary: no hand holding, barely any context, lots of footage and some fabricated story lines.
Mostly overrated. But somehow I can't stop thinking about this movie since seeing it. It leaves a lasting impression.
Nothing much happens. There are no arcs, not much is spelled out for the viewer and there are barely any characters other than the 2 main cast. Lots of random cameos though.
This might be Nicolas Cage's best performance ever, but still... it's just more Nic Cage.
It might have something to do with Elizabeth's Shue then.
She's absolutely gorgeous in this movie and her screen presence might be up there with Julia Roberts's "Pretty Woman", Cameron Diaz's "Mask" or Elisha Cuthbert's "Girl Next Door" at a "can't-help-but-fall-in-love-with-the-screen" level.
"Sera" is a precursor of the later "manic pixie dreamgirl" trope: she's seemingly parachuted in from the land of dreams and is barely given any agency other than being the love interest of male protagonist and is on a mission to fulfill some sort of miserable drunk's fantasy.
The love between them doesn't make any sense. They barely know anything about each other.
But somehow, at some level, this feels very real.
A terrible slog that should have been at least decent on paper.
Great setting, costumes and cast (even with the questionable casting of Omar Shariff as a Nazi officer) but it clearly shows it's age in acting and cinematography style.
Horrendous acting, boring plot.
Good news is that it can be safely skipped. I for one would like my 2.5h back.
What was this, a Mentos commercial or something? Some of the "B-roll" scenes of were downright cringey.
So you're trying to tell me that your average obnoxious Chicago bum can come in off the street and "stage" at the "best restaurant in the world"? While everyone gives him all the love and support that he needs to scrape himself off of rock bottom? For no fucking reason other than to advance the plot?
Shit goddamn. Okay that was some good television.
Reminded me a lot of "Sieranevada" (2016).
Ok that was some pretty damn good television.
I'm... not sure I like this. I like the setting and the premise, but the characters seem a bit formulaic and the tension feels forced and artificial. I guess I'll see.
I'm not sure I want to watch this any further.
I mean sure, the maladjusted sociopaths of the elite rich are people too. They have everyday struggles, personal slaves and their own hopes and dreams just like the rest of us, sure.
But I don't give a shit.
I'm not rooting for any of the characters. I'm neither enthralled nor am I having any fun really.
I really, really wanted to like this movie.
The subject matter is insufficiently explored by modern cinema and the more honest conversations we have on this topic, the better.
But this ain't it, chief.
Beyond the limited cinematography (which isn't necessarily the movie's fault since the play it's based on takes place in only one apartment - and that's kind of the point) the characters are also a bit too one-dimensional for a atmospheric drama and the scenes end up being corny instead of impactful.
Darren Aronofsky kind of has this tendency to push everything over the top and here it kind of turns into shock value schlock at times.
It didn't seem to help his cause that what he had to work with was apparently a high schooler's-level-of-depth-attempt at a essay about life, depression, regret and morbid obesity.
Ugh.
- Why were they keeping around a deranged supervillian kid as an orderly and why were they letting him interact with the other potential child superheroes?
- How exactly did that chip keep him from manifesting his powers? Isn't that like critical information to stop other gifted kids gone rogue in the future? Would that chip/thing/whatever work on a demogorgon/mind flayer? Why couldn't he just rip it out of his neck himself?
- why does everyone keep wanting to have Nancy get back together with Steve? Pandering to the kiddie audience or something?
- we're never getting away from that dumb Russia subplot until the very last episode, aren't we?
- Hopper and Joyce are CRINGE
De-aging CGI is getting pretty good overall I'd say.
Useless Russia sub-plot is useless.
I feel the big baddie has been revealed far too early and his design kind of looks comical now.
Just when I thought we could quickly get away from the dumb Russian subplot, they pull us back in for some reason.
Look I get it's a lighthearted show, but there are far too many stupid things that you need to overlook to keep the suspension of disbelief going.
- army dudes (?) seizing a house with automatic rifles shoot worse than stormtroopers and are kept at bay by a fat guy with a pistol
- your average American-house-wooden-wall offers bullet cover
- one of the bad guys casually walks out and never attempts to shoot our heroes (as they are trying to escape in a van coming up the road) for like a good minute
- Kate Bush and Ella Fitzgerald can bring you back from the upside down, but having people shout in your face doesn't. Why hasn't anyone tried punching her in the face?
- Max falls 5m off the ground but is absolutely fine
- Kamchatka has worse security than a summer work camp
- Hopper can "bend" his ankle to his will now, but he can still run barefoot on it in the snow just fine no problem
- did I mention Hopper got even more swole and is still super strong on a diet of bread and water?
As far as acting goes:
It was kind of sad seeing old frames of previous seasons with those happy little kids.
All in all kind of lame.
Well, it's getting somewhat better. Things seems to be settling into a rhythm again.
The show is at it's best in fun little set pieces: Steve and Dustin still seem like a lot of fun and pairing Nance and Robin seems cool. Lucas harming others while trying to fit in is a bit of a stretch, but also a somewhat believable slippery slope.
I don't care for Eleven since season 1 and Hopper should be dead already, it's ridiculous. Dope head Jonathan is annoying and useless.
Also a lot of dumb Hollywood-summer-blockbuster-over-the-top-buildup at the end for some reason:
"This evil, it's like a virus. It just keeps coming back stronger." Are they talking about the Netflix execs that demand the Duffer brothers churn out more half-assed episodes of this show?
Uh, for fucks sake.
First of all, the show suffers greatly from having its characters age too much in between seasons. They certainly aren't cute innocent little kids anymore, and this kind of changes the appeal (and premise) of the show, while making some of the lack in acting talent all the while more evident. It makes the show less enjoyable.
(Meanwhile Winona Ryder hasn't skipped a beat in the last 2 years on still being fucking weird on/off screen and hard to take seriously as an actress).
None of this is something the showrunners could have controlled for the most part. But even so, everything else about the show is still kind of shit though.
Hopper's plot is stupid and cringey, Eleven's plot is stupid and cringey. I get what they're trying to do with the horror aspect, but it's just sudden, out of left field for this show and kind of dumb in execution.
Season 3 sort of wrapped up everything nicely but Hawkins still continues being the poltergeist indian burial ground combined with twilight zone 24/7 for some reason. Will is ...well, comically gay all of a sudden. I could go on.
The premise outstayed it's welcome and the story barely makes sense anymore. The aesthetics and soundtrack still hold up, but that's about it for season 4 of Stranger Things, it seems.
I get that this is Netflix's money making machine, but they really ought to think about sending it off soon already. It's getting super cringey.
The horror is dumb and now over the top, characters are uneven and clichéd. The show seems barely cobbled together at this point.
Meh.
Denis Villeneuve on par for the course.
Breathtaking cinematography, brooding atmosphere, hamfisted dialogue. Plot feels disjointed and flat, scenes have no weight, characters lack arcs or human qualities.
Entire scenes go by one after another and you get lost wondering if a random detail is important to the story or just there to make the characters look cool or something.
You could argue that is just the way that book was written, but I've seen this in everything I've watched from Villeneuve.
Some damn good casting though - I suspect everyone in Hollywood wants to get involved in one of the few big filmmaker projects remaining - It's either this or Marvel movies these days.
Did not impress me in any way, but it's a good (yet overhyped) movie. Will see part 2 and will probably remain the best version of Dune put on screen.
Yeah... I tried liking this but this show just isn't good.
Gave up after Asa Butterfield's character mentioning that "social history" is relevant to the reason why someone would have a gag reflex.
Just dumb.
Ok, I did not see that coming. That was a proper plant.
