☼ a masterpiece ☼
someone: what’s up?
me: thinking about The Korean Gothic Lesbian Revenge Thriller That’s Captivated Cannes
beautiful acting, great directing, astounding writing, i simply love being slapped in the face by plot twists and this was an especially amazing movie because it not only had one twist but two!
i mean i had to take a fukcing step back because that shook me in the best possible way god bless you chan-wook
I believe that RLM in their review of the last one compared these movies to Taco Bell.
Everything has the same 5 ingredients, just placed in a different order.
It’s hard to argue with that after seeing this film.
It’s plagued by the exact same problem as the Terminator franchise; the creatives behind it are clueless on how to expand the franchise beyond the lore of the classics.
As a result, you get these rinse and repeat movies that are high on the nostalgia bait and devoid of anything interesting.
This somehow manages to be the worst one of the trilogy, I’d say it’s about on par with something like Jurassic Park III.
It’s somehow the dumbest Jurassic film (no, I haven’t forgotten about the military subplots in the previous 2, but this one literally introduces a new dinosaur nicknamed the ‘Giga’ and an evil company called ‘Biosyn’) with some of the cringiest dialogue and acting I’ve seen in a long time, none of which is embraced by the filmmakers. I think it’d play much better if this material was treated like a spoof, or at the very least more tongue in cheek (could’ve used more hallucinations of a dinosaur screaming “ALAN!”). It’s trying so hard to be sincere and Spielbergian, but it doesn’t work.
Moreover, the new characters are still either boring clichés or annoying, it looks too glossy, it’s way too long given how little’s going on, action’s alright but nothing that’s truly impressive or visceral; it’s just a bland mush of forgettable nothingness, and Jeff Goldblum’s charisma can’t save any of it.
3/10
This movie was just getting mediocre reviews (it had only been out for a day) when I decided to see it. I think I know why and I’m going to disagree with them. This film is about Norse legend and mythology, no less and no more. It is a bleak tale about a bleak period where honour was defined by vengeance and brutality was its bi-product. Our culture is not use to straight up Homer-esk tales of heroes and gods. Our culture likes its mythical heroes to be served with humour and wisecracks. This treatment is in dark contrast to that. It is, however, beautifully crafted. The locations are stunning in their natural beauty. The cinematography is intentional and captivating. The action sequences and the CGI are painstakingly real and truly brutal. The performances are faithful to the culture they inhabit. As is my custom, I did a quick exit poll of others leaving the theatre with me. The three people I spoke to each gave it a 9 out of 10. Nothing mediocre about those ratings. I agree and give this film a 9 (beautifully crafted) out of 10. [Heroic Mythology]
what i find truly beautiful about this movie is the way every single character shares the same exact view of themselves.
all of them believe that they are broken people, and there is no way of fixing themselves, that they are "past redemption"
yet, each and everyone of them expresses it in a different way through their actions and emotions
the protagonist is the most obvious, he feels that he is a monster, he doesn't want to go the hospital because he did all of this on purpose. he doesn't want redemption because he is trying to literally self destruct.
the daughter has no friends, and growing up in a broken family made her think that she is not good enough to even care.
the missionary believes that his stealing and smoking has put him past redemption, so he runs away from home desperately trying to find something that will excuse his actions.
the nurse was labeled as "the black sheep of the family", and eventually accepted this label as a true part of her persona
the mother never recovered from a broken marriage and ended up mistreating her daughter, being ashamed of how she grew up to be.
all this people really are the same, they just chose different way to cope with this ideology.
some chose to eat, some drank, some started looking outward for another person to "save", and so on.
But in end the message is all the same, you shouldn't give up on yourself because you are wrong, you do matter and it's not too late.
yes, you abandoned your child when she was just a child, and yet she still loves you deep down and wants you to be part of her family.
yes you have no friends and your family wasn't the best but that doesn't mean that you will never be worth anything, someone will love you.
yes, you stole and disappointed your father, but stealing a couple grand doesn't matter. Your family cares about you more that they care about a mistake.
I could go on but i think i got the point across. this is just a beautiful beautiful movie, it's really sad and honestly tough to watch at times because it hits hard, but it's definitely an experience that we should all have.
Coincidence that Alexander Skarsgård — aka. Eric Northman — stars in this movie? I think not!
I think it's really easy to miss the point of this "horror" film. Keep an open mind to the end and look for the clues.
For me, the Babadook was a manifestation of the mother's grief. The ending feels really awkward unless you think about how people deal with grief. You don't "defeat" it but you manage it. And at any moment it might consume you all over again. The boy isn't allowed to feed it at the end because like grief it can't be completed processed as a child.
If Steve McQueen shows the racial discrimination in England between 1969 and 1982 en su antología "Small Axe", we could almost take "It's a sin" as the witness to sex discrimination from 1981 to 1991. "They all died because of you," says the character in Jill, in a phrase that is a clear accusation to Margaret Thatchers or Ronald Reagans that caused thousands of deaths. In times of coronavirus, it is important to remember that there have been diseases doomed to inaction and rejection.
It has been said that it is the best series by Russell T. Davies and without a doubt it is, perhaps because he has managed to create a mosaic of lives in which practically all positions are in front of AIDS, starting with ignorance and misinformation. Ritchie, Roscoe, Colin and Jill, perhaps to a lesser extent Ash, are representations of a threatened community (aka society), facing unknown danger. But the anger that has caused the abuse, denial and death is replaced by an optimistic position: "I wanted you to be the first to know: I'm gonna live." The first episodes, above all, show the vitality of a secret but explosive freedom.
"It's a sin" is an exciting series, heartbreaking, difficult to see especially for those of us who live the AIDS pandemic in the present, who feel fear and pain very close. It is a tribute to the victims, but also a story of survival.
Oh, we're not stopping here, and we can't wait to figure out where we're all going.
despite what you think of her choices during this identity crisis, it's a good show to finally have a woman be the focus. Women are not one-dimensional and it's a good to be getting more shows that show that complexity, as well as womens desires. I find the show human to explore some peoples life issues openly and even though billie is the main character so we are following her inner turmoil, all of the characters have some flaws. It puts you on a position where you can understand differemt characters actions for being human yet dislike it too. I kind of like the subtle questions about psychology, monogamy and code switching, women's roles to play wife, wondering who you really are as a person, still able to be a great mom while doing this. also their friends that took them to the sex party are horrible "friends", damn. if there is a 2nd season, I'm not really sure what more could be done, but still interested to see. i hope she finds out who she really is and makes her feel whole, depending on her choices, with or without a man. I finished the show really quick
Jill took ALOT of flack through all of this, and she just responded with kindness. I want to be more like Jill!
This movie is about a 7 but what brings it to a 10 is the experience of watching it in theaters. Watch it with as many people as possible.
Rating: 1/10 only reason it got one was when the younger sister sticked the lion with the dart only competent one in the whole movie.
Show proves to me that i cant trust rotten tomatoes score. How the fuck this is sitting at 69 right now is beyond me. Maybe its just super fans of Idris
Horrible cgi
Bad acting
Worst decisions by all characters
Annoying children
Even Idris dialogue was annoying as fuck.
Cant believe i wasted time i could have watched absolutely anything else.
Cant believe they did my boy Charlto like this. I think he’s just will to do anything that involves africa. His pride is fucking up his movie stats. Perfect senario would be he only did this so he made a deal to do district 9 part 2 lol
Didn’t think another movie could be as bad as “Rogue” with Megan Foxx but here you go.
Lets see if i can count the bad decisions if i cant even remember all of them since it was so much lol
So the lion can’t smell i guess :man_facepalming_tone3:
This show has solidified that i dont want to travel with kids :joy:
Shouldn’t this show just be called Revenge? Pretty sure its been done already.
I always love seeing Australian cinema out there. And movies about demons...spirits etc. They're something I'm especially keen on.
Talk to Me is about Mia, a girl grieving her mother's sudden death two years prior. She is introduced to this unbelievable game that her classmates play where they set a ceramic hand on the table, grasp it and say "talk to me", leading something out there to come to the other side.
This movie doesn't shy away from gore, and it's especially impactful as the characters are teenagers. The tension builds in each scene, almost explosively delivered in horrifying outcomes (especially given the sound mixing and how freaking loud it is). There's not really noticeable music in this film, just the regular bush doof pumping beats but nothing I really enjoyed and it still keeps its jump scares kind of obvious with the sound cues.
The story unravels with really great pacing but I found Mia's character development to be a little weak. I can justify it by seeing her as just a teenager out there, lost and alone. She's an outcast because her family changed, no one can relate to her and she's sad and a downer. She's still grieving her mother and the movie's core concept puts her back at the start of her grief journey. She's drawn in by having a connection to someone, by feeling like she's part of a group...which leads her to make poor choices. I did feel like we needed more growth to come through - she has a found family who love her and care for her but she still almost falls to the words of her spirit mum, she's not able to see what's really surrounding her...and that didn't make that much sense to me. It's obvious she cherishes Riley and Jade, and feels loved by them. so I needed more convincing to believe that the script choices were ones she would make.
I did wonder if her wearing yellow in every scene was just style choices or a symbol of her place in her grief journey and joy...but I'm not sure.
I did really enjoy the ending sequences of the film and how it tied back to its lore. It's a solid film and worth the watch.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Beautifully played by all and very much worth a watch. It's because of the acting and the attachment to the characters you will probably have as a result, that you might feel a sense of loss as the series draws to an end. I know I did.
Personally, I liked the first movie more. This one is trying to do a lot: not one, but THREE megs, another creature surprise, corporate espionage, swimming at 25,000 feet, secret evil base, dino doggos, uncle with the clicky button going all Jaws 4 with the psychic connection with the shark... (Jiuming made me cringe so much). It's a lot, and not really thought through. Just meh for me.
i was going through the first episode and realized that this thing looks very familiar. It is the same story of “Candy” watched and release not over a year ago. What the heck! Did they completely run out of ideas?
So unmark and remove from watchlist.
Loved the cemetery scene and the awkwardness in the movie.
"WE HAVE TO CUT OUT THE CANCER."
Hear me out...this movie is actually really good. Yes, it's CAMPY and some parts are stupid, suspend your disbelief, but the jump scares are legit, the scenes are tense, the effects are really good, the music is great and the cinematography, just wow.
Madison is pregnant, living with her husband, who we quickly find out is abusive, so in a moment of calm as he goes downstairs, she locks the door and stays in their room for the night. Unfortunately, an entity is in the house with them and it brutally murders her husband and then attacks her, killing her baby. The crime is reported to police, but shortly after Madison starts seeing deaths as they are happening. the police think she's crazy, but they can't deny it when they find the first murder victim.
This was such an unexpected film for 2021. I expected it to be another generic demonic possession or supernatural film but really, the story was so good. There are some really creative filming techniques. The acting in parts is really good, other parts its a bit shit - very much Youtube horror movie vibes. But the dialogue in the tense scenes was so believable, my favourites being the scene where the detective sees the killer scaling down the fire escape and chases after them and the scene in the holding cell where Madison opens her own skull up. I think my enjoyment of this film was boosted by the good viewing experience (10 people in the cinema, about 5 of them left before the movie even started and never came back).
There were some missed opportunities, I think, especially in the scene where the old man is lying down for bed and the red light can be seen under the bed - if the blood had flown out over the edge of the bed or through the mattress that would have been such a great shot. Plus, there were a few logical leaps that don't exactly make sense given the outcome of the story - this being why did the sofa seat have an indentation at the start when the monster is not invisible? Why are none of the psychic powers/experiments really explained? How come Madison can manipulate electricity? Where are the other people who were interred at that facility? And why can Sidney just enter the old facility - it's not patrolled by guards?
The characters are so charming and have quite well-developed through the course of the movie. I actually loved Sidney so much, she was so caring and real. I thought Kakoa was so badass (and also kind of hot?) and the dynamic with Regina felt like a deliberate play on good/bad cop/tired detective over this shit.
The music in this film is particularly noteworthy and atmospheric. It's overall such a great soundtrack. I'm so glad I saw this, do not miss it. Go in expect it to be kind of poor but please be wowed.
I didn't know wha to expect from this, but ended up binge watching the entire series today.
Truly harrowing and shows just how much this tore through communities in the 1980's, with so much denial from those in control. Perfectly cast, Olly (Ritchie) and Callum (Colin) were outstanding - but it was Lydia (Jill) who shone. Her empathy, good nature, kindness, especially in the end, makes you feel warm about mankind - there's always good people out there.
I'm not a fan of RTD, but I will take my hat off to him for this, truly, heartbreaking series that deserves to sweep the boards at any TV Awards in the coming year (it's up there with Chernobyl for me, a serial everyone should watch) and if it doesn't, then somethings very wrong.
To see how it affected the group of friends - changed their lives forever and Colins demise was the worst. A quiet, seemingly shy chap. His sleazy boss trying it on more than once, then giving him the cold shoulder and effectively firing him when he didn't get his own way - or assumed he had the illness after their trip to New York. It was unexpected and pulled at the heart strings seeing him deteriorate and the two words 'Liverpool Shirt' then made sense as to who .. and when .. The scene of him and his Mother eating a TV dinner together will be hard to shake off. I think his death hit hardest as he wasn't out sleeping with everyone, just one .. but that's all it took. So sad.
We laughed. We cried.
"They died because of you . . . " clearly a line aimed at politicians of the time, but equally this stands true today with some governments handling of the current pandemic . . seems lessons never learned.
81 I The Northman is about fury. How a boy becomes a man. How a man becomes a beast. A beast that can tear his prey apart like slaughtered sheep. A man who was born because of anger about his dead father. He promises his motherland he will avenge, save and kill. He is the one who decides on someone's faith. A noble prince with a rage. When you hear the howl of the wolves in the middle of the night, His rage comes to that land.
Alexander Skarsgård is a fantastic actor. His performance in Big Little Lies grabbed everyone's attention. Then he surprisingly played a character in Succession. Plus The Northman, he becomes an unbeatable actor. How his body movement and expression show the furiousness of a man. The moments when his character, Amleth attacked a village is the best performance of his in The Northman.
Alexander Skarsgård is certainly not the only one who has great performances in this film. Let's mention Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, Willem Dafoe, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicole Kidman. They all killing the scene. Just a fun fact, Alexander Skarsgård, and Nicole Kidman had their performance together as husband and wife in Big Little Lies. That is why when we realized it, it felt a little weird watching their interaction in this film.
Robert Eggers is a very consistent director so far. After The Witch, The Lighthouse, and now The Northman, He truly can show the world his capability of directing. He is a rare talent in this modern cinema. He has his signature style in the way he directs his films. If you are familiar with his works, all his feature-length film has a similar tone. An old tale of an old historical story that is visualized in a dark tone. Every film he directs has great characters. He is a pure legend.
But unfortunately, The Northman is not appreciated by a general audience. Because of bad marketing and losing the competition with blockbuster films, its profit is not that great. A film that prioritizes art elements is often hard to accept by general audiences who seek entertainment only. We could not blame the people because every one of us has our reason when watching a film. That is why a director like Robbert Eggers should be respected because he still makes a film with his style without being attached to the popular film format.
We should also mention how great the cinematography is in this film. Almost every shots have a strong message for the sake of the story. It also helped us to feel the atmosphere of the old Nordic time. We could see how different the culture and the way they behave in this film if we compared it with modern-day people. Even to this day our civilization still has primitive tribes, it is different compared to The Northman which is complete madness. Just knowing the fact back in the day people act like that is incredible to think about.
My Instagram: @hardalikesmovies & @moviemanner
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Rating: 80.38
Plot
P1: 1.5
P2: 1.0
P3: 1.8
P4: 1.8
Director: Robert Eggers
Favorite Characters
1.7: Amleth
1.5: Queen Gudrún
1.4: King Aurvandil War-Raven
1.3: Olga of the Birch Forest
1.2: Fjölnir The Brotherless
1.0: Thórir The Proud
Character Score Meaning
0.0 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 : Terrible
0.5 - 0.6 - 0.7 - 0.8 : Bad
0.9 - 1.0 - 1.1 - 1.2 : Average
1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 : Good
1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2.0 : Great
Well, I can agree that none of "the family" was sympathetic, but I still enjoyed the series. I also think it should have been just made into a movie instead of having to keep reloading since it was all showed at the same time. I did like the ending. I especially liked catching the bad guys. I didn't find it boring but I would have like some more closure on some of the characters and what happened to them afterwards.
Seeing Immaculate right after The First Omen did not do this movie any good, in comparison this is B-movie level with a comedic undertone (intentional or not?). It's not necessarily a negative but I laughed throughout this movie, could not take it seriously and it's in part due to seeing Sydney Sweeney dressed as a nun—I mean come on that's got to be a joke. It felt to me like Sydney was playing it slightly as a comedy too, everything from the dialogue to the facial expressions she's making. To that point, i'm mixed on her performance.
The story is very straightforward and so are the themes, I wish they were a bit more complicated and layered. Nice body horror and lots of blood but the scares are cheap (loud noises). The cinematography is good but again, I saw The First Omen right before and Immaculate is just a lesser version on that level too. There's still some interesting visuals like when Sydney's dressed in blue in that beautiful costume and a few horrifying pregnancy visuals. Boring and slow in some parts. The ending is the strongest part of the movie but it sorta ended right when it finally got interesting.
I really liked this show. It was both very thought-provoking in its description of how HIV and AIDS was treated in the 80's and how badly the authorities failed in their handling of this disease. It is really a disgrace and should be a testament to what to avoid when new infectious diseases emerge especially those associated with lifestyle and moral issues. However, I also really liked the portrayal of the people. They had so much fun - dancing, kissing and making out. It must have been a wonderful time despite the disease looming in the background.
This wasn't the comeback i was expecting, but maybe after Fallen Kingdom my expectations to have a better JW movie were a bit too high. This one continues to deliver a serviceable but simplistic thriller story, dragging on a bit too much at times especially near the end. The addition of older cast from JP along with new connections to those stories and characters didn't do much to make this one feel fresh or interesting. I felt the special effects were even better than Fallen Kingdom which was already fantastic on that regard, so that was nice. Overall i think people who have enjoyed Fallen Kingdom will have no issues appreciating this one as well, it's a more of the same kind of deal with some funny moments and a couple of well made action sequences but, yet again, it lacks and can't quite catch the magic of Jurassic Park.
Not your normal action flick but I eventually enjoyed watching it exactly for that : it's something different (like contemporary art)
Nikole Kidman acting was really awful here ; all others were spot on.
Very nice settings and landscapes (it was actually filmed in Ireland)
On the horror side, it's good. Spiders multiplying and growing, invading the whole building. Well, given the timeline it looks lie they have one generation every 10 minutes, but who cares. Slight disappointment that the biggest one is only about half car sized though, I expected more excess.
Tension and fear are well handled, building throughout and with some good core scenes.
However, I found it culturally shocking. Characters are mostly young people living in "underprivileged suburbs" to use the term in the summary above. If presented to me without context, I would have said it was almost propaganda designed to make these people look bad. However I saw it following a presentation by the movie's team and it was clear that they felt this was their origin, and they were clearly proud to represent themselves this way, in a movie by them, for them.
The shocking point is about character interaction. Apart from the couple exchanging normally between themselves a few times, and 2-3 instances where a younger character speaks respectfully to another one, there is almost nothing, in the whole movie, that could be considered a dialogue.
Whether addressing a friendly neighbor, or an annoying one, a customer, a friend, a brother or sister, a cop, no matter who, they do not speak at each other. They bark. They shout. They insult. They provoke. They assault. They threaten. They demean. Constantly. On every single sentence. And it's all one way communication. There's no dialogue, no answering to the other. Casual conversation does not exist. Everything is a conflict, a contest of who shouts the louder their aggressive affirmation.
This is crazy. It's literally exhausting to watch.
Doesn't help that the main character is a piece of shit. He behaves like he's the white knight of the neighborhood,but the way he treats everybody, including his sister... Everything is his fault, but that does not seem to even occur to him (until maybe very late). Plus backstory with his ex best friend showing he was also a huge asshole in the past.
Backstory that is a bit wasted, by the way, since it's only evoked once the guy is dead, and even if there were a few hints, because of the dialogue issue evoked above, there was basically no way to understand that they even knew each other beforehand. He's not talked to with animosity, but not more than the other friend. He's clearly not welcome and told to fuck off, but so is the sister.
Last but not least, the ending. They just break the quarantine and it's the end. Flash forward to a bit after with no talk of any other consequences.
They were spiders. That kill in a few minutes. That went from one to thousands, and from tiny to cattle size basically overnight. At a moment where it's shown that dozens of heavily armed and armored cops can do nothing to stop them. And they just break the quarantine and get out ?? Let's be clear, there's no way they didn't unleash this on the whole city and are not responsible from tens of thousands deaths.
[Netflix] Reflecting a feeling of loss that leads the protagonist to a certain emotional euphoria, but at the same time to reject those who try to lend him their support, the series is balanced on a tone of dramatic comedy that darkens as the character becomes finds himself more and more lost. Beyond the feeling of loss and the inability to accept his grief, the story also addresses the search for a queer identity, an exploration of contradictory feelings that become more intense in certain environments, and that the story manages to elaborate in its complexity.
Impeccably written, staged, acted, directed, amazing performances from everybody, so many great faces, so much raw emotion, so ambitious from a visual storytelling standpoint, so good at mixing up fun, tears, laughs, all range of emotions, so perfectly timed in every beat, what a fucking masterpiece. The final episode destroyed me but the whole show is out of this world. Episode 1 perfectly introduces a huge amount of charachters with just a couple of strokes, you instantly love them, you want to spend so much time with them and then... and then... Jesus.
Funny how the whole world broke out in Dinosaurs when only a couple were let free in the last movie. Plus a lot of the dinosaurs on the loose weren’t species that were let go in the last movie.
It’s nice that there’s a raptor with feathers. Though, why ? A couple of dinosaurs were let loose and raptors suddenly look how they are supposed to ?
There’s a little too many heroes and it never felt like any were in danger. The movie needed more villains with guns to be eaten.
With that said it was nice to see the Jurassic Park characters team with the Jurassic World characters. Though all they really get to do is run away from dinosaurs together. While saying that they know each other’s work.
