Way better than I thought it was going to be. I saw it advertised on TV and it looked rather bland. But when a friend tonight suggested we watch it, I figured we might as well give it a go. I've got to admit, it's something that's never crossed my mind, perhaps coz I'm not particularly a Royalist. But it's never occurred to me that there will have been and will continue to be many gay or bi-sexual Royals who have had to hide their sexuality for public image. Same goes with politicians and arguably anyone under the spotlight. In an ideal world, nobody SHOULD have to hide who they are and this film brings up a very good point. I love the speech that Alex makes when their sexuality is exposed to the world as I agreed with every word. I won't repeat it here (my memory's not THAT good.) But watch it and if you're a half decent human being, you'd agree with it too. The acting by every actor was brilliant and believable and as other comments have stated, the chemistry between Alex and Henry (Taylor and Nicholas) was very well portrayed. Plus, I've gotta admit, it's worth watching the film just for the eye candy.
My takeaway from this is...oh it's actually a sci-fi movie.
I understand the message and the point of the story, that's not why I think this was a lackluster movie. I think movies about presenting toxic masculinity, misogyny, and so on in a digestible way can be pretty helpful for those conversations.
My issue is with the pacing of the story. Within 20 minutes we are already shown the cracks of the world. There was no bridge to the issue, no stimulus, nothing. By 20 minutes pur main character was already in conflict. For the rest of the movie I was very confused at Alice's behavior. I felt that a person who was confused and paranoid about her reality would be more concerned with trying to find normalcy, but instead she made herself a big target for Frank. It was kinda confusing why that was the behavior the story writer decided to have. The twist was okay, it wasn't hard to understand what the whole movie was a metaphor for or that this was a fake world. Something that bothered me is...what does Jack do in the real world? I would've loved to know... because there's no way a doctor is making less money than him right now. Actually...why are they living rough? She's a doctor... a surgeon. She makes money and yet... they're on hard times? No explanation there. All we see is why Jack falls into this alpha male trap from Frank. While I understand the sci-fi dystopian part of the film is the "twist", this movie kinda felt flat until the end. There some rules that needed to shown like why only men? Why do men die in the game they die in real life? Who is and isn't a NPC? The kids are NPCs...are the red suits also? What is Frank irl? And especially...you're telling me that Shelly knew all along but just played along due to her power over the other wives? And...wait a minute, Jack and Alice already had a preexisting relationship before Victory but it insinuates that a man can kidnap any woman they want and induct them.
what I mean to say is, a thought provoking film leaves you questioning...a confusing and poorly written one can also. It seems this was trying to go for the first one but ended up being the second one. I liked Florence Pugh's performance, the cinematography, the world building that we did get, and the aesthetic but could not understand the "why" that progressed the story.
scorsese deliberately packaged the final scene as an ambiguous ending, and the key word is "packaged" because it was only made to seem like you could even choose between two endings.....but nope, there's only one true ending and the brilliant storytelling just leaves no argument on that case.
how Shutter Island managed to put me directly in Teddy/Andrew's exact state of mind at that moment of realization was really smart and frightening and I could feel what a delusional mental patient would have felt like right until the ending. it made me doubt my real life for a minute because I realized that it could be happening to me too, I could be unknowingly living a life of lies, and it's because Leo perfectly portrayed Andrew's fear and emotions realistically.
the uncomfortable feeling of insanity and events which did not make sense from the middle of the film already hinted that something wasn't right at all, and it was hella uncomfortable and worrying indeed, like I didn't know if my mind was in the right place, if I was drifting further from the film. the final act completely threw me off. I was so glad it did how it did.
as much as I wished that Andrew could eventually be cured, the poignant result of how he chose his own end tied up Shutter Island with a perfect bow.
[7.4/10] Not to beat this drum yet again, but I like this show best when it’s the adventures of Aziraphale and Crowley, and this one put them on the backburner. Still, there was enough to enjoy here to make things worthwhile.
For one, I’m actually on board with what’s going with Adam. I like the idea that he can make things real just by sort of willing them into existence, and with the mental influence of Anathema’s conspiracy magazines, that means the rise of Atlantis, and spying Tibetan monks, and friendly alien constables. It’s a bit of a hard shift from that to him deciding to remake the world with his three friends as captives, but there’s at least a bit of genuine scariness to that.
I’m less on board with Pulcifer and Anathema meeting and then nigh-instantly going into the throes of passion, but whatever. Shadwell realizing that he’s put Pulcifer in danger, and Queenie giving him bus fare and enough for a coffee and a snack is a kind of cute response to all of it.
And what we do get of Aziraphale and Crowley is pretty good! The “old couple having a tiff” routine between them is particularly enjoyable (especially with the random bystander telling Aziraphale that he’s been there and “you’re better off without him”). Aziraphale being roughed up by his fellow angels, and his mounting dissatisfaction with the way things are going is intriguing, and it being enough for him to utter a curse-word when being accidentally shuffled off to Heaven is a neat development.
I particularly like Crowley’s caper here too. Using Home Alone tactics to defeat his foes with holy water is a nice touch, and while a little cornball, the chase in the space between atoms has a bit of verve to it as well. But I particularly like his little breakdown before that. The discussions about being punished for asking questions, about testing but not to the point of oblivion, are pointed and sharp.
I also enjoy the introductions of Pollution and Death, and the shading given to the delivery man. His preternatural devotion to his otherwise mundane task is great, especially his “ours is not to know why” approach to it. There’s even some legitimate pathos when he writes an “I love you” note to his wife before taking the grim step toward delivering a message to death.
Otherwise, it’s interesting to see the show pulling the trigger on Armageddon with two episodes to go still. Bits like Heaven seeming as interested in the fight as in preventing it, Crowley wanting to run away to Alpha Centauri, and Adam’s view on remaking the world in his own image all have some juice and intrigue to them that makes me curious to know what happens next.
