Worth checking out if you liked shows like Pushing Daisies or Dead Like Me. Kristen Bell is great in this too. So good at playing a bitch lol. Yet she's a likeable one.
Even as someone who rates this so highly, it is easy to see why so many may be put off. From the opening scene, this is a film utterly committed to its theatrical style and format, making no concessions to those who may be put off by the excess and editing style that dominates the opening scenes and many that follow. And yet this is not a film out of control - far from it, the format perfectly suits the environment within which this musical takes place and each of these moments serves the story and stage format that Luhrmann is trying to adhere to. Nor is it these scenes that remain with you at the end - fortunately for a film whose essential message is about the power of love, it is in the central love story that the film’s greatest strength lies. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman have yet to better their performances here and one would have to be a hardened cynic not to be swayed by their romance. Each of their musical moments together are beautifully played and so committed are they to playing their romance straight, that there is a genuine feel to their chemistry. It is also in these scenes where Luhrmann alters the frenetic style, allowing for these quieter moments to shine. The choreography is superb and the film is edited to within an inch of its life, the highlight of which is a stunning rendition of Sting’s "Roxanne" to a tango (though it is equally likely that the film’s version of Madonna’s "Like A Virgin" will linger in the memory too, but for different reasons). Luhrmann's finest film to date.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the 2014 Godzilla film in the sense that it's trying to be a drama first and a spectacle second. Don't worry, you'll get more of the titular monster here compared to that film, but those who are just looking for destruction are bound to walk out disappointed. In theory this should be right up my alley for that exact reason, but despite being a relatively small Japanese production, the end result I found oddly commercial. Take the character drama, which thankfully is handled more interestingly than the Gareth Edwards film. It puts in just enough work as an analysis of post-war trauma in Japan (I like that they play up the angle of Godzilla as a metaphor for this, wish they'd pushed that a little further) and they put more effort into making us engage with the characters than a movie like this usually would. However, there's still something very calculated and safe about it. In particular, the dynamic between our main 'family' is very obvious because it uses many predictable tropes that play out exactly as expected. For example, our tortured protagonist doesn't quite view the little kid he's living with as his daughter yet (I wonder where that'll go). Moreover, there are plenty of cheesy calls, which during its worst moments lead to scenes that are straight up manipulative. Without going into spoilers, this movie has one of the most annoying final scenes I've seen in a long time, completely backtracking on a major emotional beat of the movie. It honestly felt like the movie pulling a middle finger at its audience. What doesn't help either is that the dialogue, acting and filmmaking aren't the best. Subtleties are spelled out through exposition, every emotion is underscored with generic string sections, the actors are overdoing it at points (even for Japanese standards, trust me). Long story short, the choices all feels very ... Hollywood. I'm not expecting Grave of the Fireflies here, but why focus half of your movie on this aspect when it isn't anything special. The action bits I found slightly better. This movie generally has decent direction, with some design/effects work I'd genuinely call excellent. The fact that they made this with less than 1/10th of the budget of Godzilla vs Kong is really funny to me. Still, the sequences with Godzilla aren't visionary enough where they'll leave a mark on my brain, which is something you really need when you're working in the big monster/disaster genre. Going back to the 2014 film, that movie has a very distinct atmosphere with a very memorable finale. The camera placement and overall presentation here are much more on the functional side. Entertaining enough, but also very reliant on convenience and cheesy, ridiculous moments. For instance, I dare anyone not to laugh at the news crew standing on the roof when Godzilla attacks the city. It's so stupid, but played completely straight. Overall, while I expect a lot of people who think they're cultured for liking Hollywood movies that aren't made by Hollywood will like this, I thought it was the usual middle of the road same old, same old.
5/10
Poor Succession imitation that remembers it has to be scary every now and again, so throws in a jump scare from nothing. Really not vibing with this one after 2 episodes, but we'll see if it improves.
"There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make. You can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for 20 years... and you may never, ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out."
"And even though the world goes on for eons and eons... you are only here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain... wasting years for a phone call or a letter or a look... from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes, or it seems to, but it doesn't really. So you spend your time in vague regret... or vaguer hope that something good will come along."
Fun fact: Caden Cotard was named after Cotard's Syndrome, which is a rare mental disorder characterized by the delusional belief of oneself being already dead or putrefying, and it usually begins with psychotic depression and hypochondria.
This one never gets old and even better: it changes its meaning every time depending on whatever's been going on in your own life lately.
The best film of the 2000's (not kidding) will probably never find an audience beyond the arthouse crowd because everyone else was busy obsessing about The Dark Knight or some shit at the time.
Even a lot of of critics needed a few more years to get the memo. You won't even find this one in a whole lot of "best of 2000's" lists either. Not that it would mean a lot anyway - these lists aren't made up to recommend you great movies. They rather aim at generating ad revenue by way of evoking a sense of nostalgia in most readers. You can't do that with movies they haven't seen.
Yeah, screw that and seriously, if you didn't get the chance back then, do yourself a favor and give this one a try now.
Gotta give a trigger warning for profound existential dread though. If you require your movies to be nice and uplifting, this one's not for you. Better watch Avatar or some sh** instead so you don't run the risk of actually feeling something.
This movie was great because I fell asleep in the theater and had an amazing nap
The hesitancy of Jeff while giving his number to Claire got me curious. He was leaving his number to the fridge guy at the beginning of this episode as 773-555-0901. He told Claire as 0902. A sad tiny detail.
Cheese Nazis and Swissploitation...
Yeah... Not as fun as it sounds. I can't really tell if this was too stupid, or actually needed more stupid. All I know is that all the good damn cheese may have fried my brain...
Honestly, screw Shiv. Her narrow-minded hatred for Ken led to the point, where she rather handed the family's company to a man she knew for a few weeks only and lied to her all along, and her betraying, joke of a husband who used her as a stepping stone. Instead of keeping Waystar and becoming CEO in a few years when Ken eventually messes it up. But no it was more important to Shiv to see Kendall fail, rather than keeping her chance alive to win, what a petty, loser mentality is that.
That was such an incredibly sad but perfect and correct ending.
I don't understand people who didn't like the ending because their favorite character didn't win. After 4 seasons with these despicable characters did anyone expect the Roy kids to unite and defeat the bad guy with the power of love and friendship? It was never going to end that way.
The three siblings just could never get over their egos. They all proved, through the 4 seasons, that they’re basically useless and the only reason they were ever in the discussion to be CEO is because Logan was their father. They'd rather destroy everything than have only one of the trio take the upper hand. Shiv just could not let her brother have a win, even if it meant her losing as well. Perfectly summed up their whole family dynamic and the show as a whole.
The siblings are so entitled and self-absorbed they never saw Tom coming. They’ve never had to work for a damn thing. I don't like Tom, but it makes sense for someone like Tom, who worked his way from the ground up and earned himself the position he was in.
The scene with the siblings making that awful smoothie and them watching their dad reveal yet another side of himself was so nice among the insanity that came in between.
That penultimate shot with Shiv and Tom in the car was phenomenal. Complete shift in the power dynamic. After marrying him specifically because she thought he was weak enough to keep holding power over.
Kendall not winning every season. That’s rough.
Willa revamping Logan's apartment with a cow print couch.
In the end Conor was the only one to have any kind of a relationship with Logan, the other kids are never shown having moments with him like he did at the recorded dinner.
Greg translating the Swedish in real time is the smartest thing he’s ever done. Four seasons and I cannot for the life of me understand why he would put up with that. His uncle offered him $250mil to get away from the firm.
But the biggest thing for me coming out of this episode is Kendall’s son isn’t really his. It really came out of nowhere and seemed more like a fact than a rumor the way everyone reacted to it.
All in all, Succession stuck to the show’s core till the end. In a way it’s a predictable ending but because it’s television and we expect some twist where a cool character comes out on top we don’t expect the expected. The outcome is pretty much what you’d expect from all the characters knowing their faults
[Netflix] Funnier than the films created by Charlie Brooker for Netflix, the idea is sustained thanks to the character that Diane Morgan has performed for years. This idiot reporter who believes her cousin more than the experts, is the reflection of a society that prefers unidirectional knowledge. The show is not as superficial as it seems, although the comedy is structured around the same idea of anachronistic questions to surprised historians. Philomena Cunk represents the worst face of historical presenteeism, and despite this, she is capable of drawing us a smile from her serious face.
They should really go back to focusing on their own self-contained stories, like in earlier seasons, instead of constantly parodying real-world events. Things move so fast nowadays to the point where this episode already felt dated by the time it was released.
lol for the queen of spades game, couldn't they have all agreed to simply surrender to the blue team in the last round to beat it? there is zero reason to even side with the queen in the first place if the last round has the blue team as taggers
If I ever traveled to Avatar world, I would invent arrow proof cockpit glass for the helicopters and become rich.
Denji's thing with boobs is getting really annoying now and Power backstory was pretty weak.
And this is where the show went completely off the rails. It seems more concerned with making sure that characters get drunk/high/have sex than exploring any interesting psychological aspects.
There's no book club?
Worth the price of admission right there. Such a great line! :D
I do NOT get how / why a 5th season here would make any sense whatsoever. This feels like a series finale to me.
[AtlàntidaFF '22] Perhaps a step towards a different way of understanding cinema, but obviously a consequence of the stroke he suffered in 2020, Gaspar Noé dialogues with death, tired and frustrated old age, in the shadow of dementia, in one of his calmest but also darkest films. There are echoes of "Amour" (Michael Haneke, 2012), but also of the split screen of "Forty deuce" (Paul Morrissey, 1982), there are two performances/improvisations that recreate decrepitude without being ashamed, which ends up being the best part of the film .
I love it! But cant get around the thought I am watching a medieval-fantasy 'bold and the beautiful'-flick ....
Never have I seen a movie fumble so hard in the third act, but here we are. The first 2 acts are legitimately amazing and horrifying, but the writing and characters take a huge nosedive once the third act starts. The ending, if you can even call it that, didn't wrap up any of the plot threads introduced. What happened Jordan Peele?
You always think this is the best 80s horror movie of all time, then you think about the so-so acting, the bad blocking, the violent edits and remember that The Shining came out four years before this, so then you shut up.
:pray::pray::pray:PRAYER CIRCLES FOR KIM WEXLER:pray::pray::pray:
Overbloated beyond belief. Lots of pointless dialogue scenes that serve absolutely no purpose. Particularly annoying is the overextended boring epilogue that goes on forever. Sure there are good scenes here and there,, but not enough to justify the two hour plus running time. This episode ought to have been 75 minutes maximum.
Decent season so far. A bit disappointed in the retconning, though: after Eleven escaped in season 1 she had to learn how to speak but here she's having full-on conversations with One... Still, looking forward to the finale.
Go away Helen Mirren boner
Thanks to Melisandre we could actually see what the fuck was going on!
This episode was so dark, even the Night king's guard didn't see Arya coming...
My therapist will hear about this episode.
They didn't even need the Dothraki. Greyworm, Gendry, Tormund, Brienne, and Jaime killed like 2,000 wights each
The Night King was reduced to Tyrion level of Stupidity.
Confirmed death count: R.I.P
Edd
Beric Dondarrion (aka. Barricade Dondarrion)
Lyanna Mormont (Lyanna 'Giantsbane' Mormont. Killed a giant at the age of thirteen in the Battle of Winterfell. Her greatest and final act. And now her watch has ended.)
Theon Greyjoy
Jorah Mormont
Night King
Melisandre (Melisandre: "I will be dead before the dawn.")
99.8% of the Unsullied
99.9% of the Dothraki (Dothraki's flaming weapons slowly disappearing in the dark was the most terrifying scene EVER)
Confirmed living:
Ghost
Drogon
Rhaegal
Jon yelling at a fucking Dead Dragon!
Jon: We did it. We defeated the dead.
Bran: We don’t have time for any of this. Cersei has 4 elephants.
One of the Best part was the slow piano montage of everyone dramatically fighting to the last breath with a shot in the middle of Sam lying on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
RIP Azor Ahai Theories
RIP Night King
RIP Logic
RIP Lighting in the Episode
RIP Lyanna Mormont True King in the North
RIP Arya as a good character
RIP Melisandre the confused woman
RIP Theon protecting Useless Boy
RIP Jorah and Beric Defending Strong woman
RIP Good storytelling and 9 years of Hype
RIP Winter and the Long Night
RIP Me
None of the prophecies mattered, nothing was resolved between Bran and Night King, all eight seasons of build up and the NK dies from one quick stab. No surprising twists, no intelligent storytelling, the storyline ends like this. The whole long night ends in one battle.
The war council preparing for a siege, they send out their cavalry to die in the first 10 seconds, 20 or more wights surrounded every character, and yet every main character manages to retreat. Theon with around 20 archers managed to defend against a horde of wrights. We see Jon surrounded by a crowd of wights, and next scene there's no more wights left.
I think this time it's a bit of a stretch to say DB Weiss and David Benioff planned this well. By their own admission they've only known Arya was going to land the finishing blow for 3 years and when you account for the 2 year hiatus, that's just season 7. Even then, Arya got the job because she's a fan favorite, not because this is what she's been building up to. Her story never even had a hint of "White Walker" plot. I think Mel talking about shutting eyes forever back in season 3 was purely about her faceless man training. Mel said the "Blue Eyes" comment second in season 3 but they retro actively made it the last color while reiterating it this episode to force prophetic weight onto it.
From a story writing perspective this was not Arya's fight to win anymore than it would've been Oberyn Martell's. Her experiences made her a highly skilled fighter but her plot didn't set her up to be the savior of the realms of the living.
"Send the dothraki first since they are barbarians"
"Dragons are our heavy artillery let's keep them flying in circles without doing NOTHING for say 2/3 of the battle. Even if they all stop before a flaming trench and sit there nearly aligned for tenths of minutes. We can not win the easy way this must be EPIC"
"It's a massive invasion of Savage, quick and merciless undead but we like to walk orderly and calmly in libraries"
"By the way, libraries are still dead silent while people are being ripped to shreds outside"
"Hey, look, Arya slipped past 4.000 undead and learned Rey's air saber trick"
"Every major character gets to live even after being surrounded by dead. (jorah and theon were already half dead - oh yeah, theon, seems Arya waited in the shadows while you were impalled too. Go team.".