Sounds like another Manic Pixie Dream Girl film.
Finally watched this movie after avoiding it like plague for years. I always thought of the Girl on the Train as trying to capitalize on Gone Girl fever, but it proved to be a great thriller for a Sunday evening. Hard to watch this woman being a mess for the majority of the film, but once the intrigue grabs you, it's hard to look away.
Four hours! The first part with Caesar was pretty interesting. I loved how Cleopatra's tendrils slowly wrapped around him and turned him into her own personal weapon. She was a great tactician. Second part with Marc Antony was more of the same thing, plus a few underwhelming battle scenes, so it dragged tremendously. The movie regains its pomp and glory once Octavian enters Cleopatra's palace and learns of Antony's death. The subsequent monologues and a dramatic suicide scene really captivate.
Really great visuals, but incredibly painful acting, nonsensical science, convoluted plot, and confused editing really hurt this film. Lots of cliches about self-sacrifice and inspirational speeches of cooperation. Blah blah blah. United Earth Government is the most pessimistic entity imaginable, ready to throw humanity under bus at the slightest sign of trouble. Like multiple times. I love space movies that don’t deal with aliens, and I had high hopes for Wandering Earth, but that is the most I’ve ever been deceived by RT.
If you love Golden Age Hollywood like I do, you’ll marvel at Hail, Caesar! Great cast, great writing, and superb style as brought to you by Coen brothers.
Since I’ve seen the original Norwegian movie, watching Cold Pursuit felt kind of redundant. I don’t think Liam Neeson is a good fit for a dark comedy like this. The Norwegian villain was much better, plus Kristofer Hivju and Stellan Skarsgard! Just watch the original!
That scene where the two girls get a Lyft from their high school principal and it's uber-awkward? That's the whole movie in the nutshell. Kids, your actual high school experience may vary.
Stalker is a cinematic equivalent of meditation. Some people will get in touch with the universe, and some will pointlessly sit there wondering what's for supper. I was rather mesmerized once the setting moved into the Zone. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic.
I was expecting a different movie. Speculative fantasy maybe. The premise really sold Yesterday to me. Imagine that nobody in the world but you remembers The Beatles, and now you can become a best-selling artist singing their hit songs. Guaranteed success! How would that turn out? Instead, all I got was a cheesy romantic comedy, and not well-written one either. I lost it completely when Ellie told Jack to abandon the one dream he's ever had to be with her, and it was supposed to be his moment for a grand gesture. You'd never do that to the person you supposed to love! Jack is not an appealing leading character. He spends most of the movie sort of whining and having this aloof look on his face. His "girlfriend" is desperate and annoying, and is just not a good girlfriend on more than one occasion. His parents are dicks. Ed Sheeran's cameos were pretty cute, but no more than that. If you are okay with settling for just another mediocre romantic comedy, then you'll be okay with Yesterday. Music was the best part, duh.
I see flashes of brilliance here and there, but the character development is too hasty, and they use a montage (eyeroll) to set up the plot. Like it's some kind of cheesy heist movie. These women decide to hustle it up themselves and just fall into a successful gig. No struggle, no tension. The Kitchen does not go deep enough to be a successful film. Andrea Berloff tries really hard to imitate Tarantino, but falls flat. Too bad, because several scenes were done very well. No more montage!
Eh... For the first hour and a half, I'd say, the movie struggled to find footing. Adding the clueless old men and their drama, and leaving out Bethany for most of the adventure was a wrong move. Dwayne Johnson did horribly trying to impersonate Danny DeVito, but the slack was promptly picked up by Awkwafina, who did superbly as a grumpy grandpa. Kevin Hart as Danny Glover was okay - I actually chuckled a few times, - but not as funny as in the first film. I missed Jack Black as a ditsy cheerleader because his other character is completely forgettable. Karen Gillan, unlike in the Welcome to the Jungle, has little to work with. Her sole purpose here is to be hot and kick ass. I liked the action sequences (especially the monkey bridge one), but the rest was just meh. I really wish the writers found a better explanation for the characters ending up in the game again.
This movie shaped my worldview when I was a teenager. It defined who I am today.
Great character and house design, but the plot is more of the same old same old, let’s all get along and nobody messes with my family. Wednesday’s storyline is pretty boring too. But overall not bad to spend time. I can never get enough of the Addams family.
I was probably the only person in the audience who didn’t care all that much for this adaptation. I know I didn’t care as much as one older gentleman who kept obnoxiously laughing at every minor cutesy scene. Besides, I am very fond of the 2017 PBS Masterpiece miniseries, so I cannot help but to compare. I don’t mind Saoirse Roman as Jo. Given all of her past work, she was a natural (if predictable) choice. I still liked Maya Hawke’s version more. There was more substance to her Jo March. Annes Elwy is more of a Beth to me. And I find it hilarious that Emma Watson, who can’t act her way out of a bag, was cast as a wannabe actress Meg. Every time she came on screen I cringed. The only exception for me was Florence Pugh, whose delightful portrayal of Amy overshadowed Kathryn Newton. But I am not surprised, because Pugh is quickly becoming one of my favourite actresses.
Same with the non-titular characters - Laurie, Marmee, Aunt March, - PBS had better casting.
As far as the direction goes, I hated the nonlinear plot. A lot of times it was hard to tell when we were looking at the past, or the present, and how old the characters were supposed to be in each scene. Whenever the director wanted to show sisterly love, she’d put on a scene full of chaos and giggles, and rolling on the floor laughing, and camera zigzagging between the twirling, chattering bodies. I guess chaos is perfect to guise the shallow characterization or underbaked scene setup. It’s a lazy way to show the relationship within the loving household.
The choppy shuffle of the scenes also made Laurie look like a terrible person. He was professing eternal love to Jo one moment, then fast forward one scene, and he is already in love with Amy. There needed to be a sensible length of time allocated for character growth to make sense of his change of heart, but the direction scrapped that idea.
With all of these negative elements, the new Little Women felt too long for me to bear. I was relieved when it was finally over.
Martin Lawrence said it best, “This is some real telenovela sh*t.” What a terrible, convoluted mess of a plot.
A extra star for the beginning, and an extra one for the metaphor. Otherwise a very weak film with very weak characters that do things that make no sense.
You gotta love and appreciate Tarantino's style to enjoy Death Proof, because this is the least mainstream film of his that I've ever watched. Definitely not for the masses.
Gloria Swanson is a treat to watch in Sunset Blvd. In any other film she would have come off as overly dramatic, but as a washed-up silent era diva she is absolutely perfect with all of the accompanying hand-wringing, dramatic head angles, and intense eye glares. It's old school acting, where theatre was more of an influence than realism.
William Holden's Joe is a typical macho hero of the Golden age: sounding grumpy and slightly shouty, but simultaneously emotionally blank. He typically calls his much younger love interest "kid", grabs her by the shoulders and smashes his mouth into hers as his interpretation of a passionate scene. I sort of dislike him. He takes advantage of Norma's wealth, but then acts like it's a burden, age shaming her to no tomorrow.
At the same time, the movie is a wonderful satire of the realities of Hollywood. How sad that a woman past her early thirties is considered a has-been with no prospects? While not as bad nowadays, the practice seems to persist, with most movie moms with teen children being played by 30-year-olds.
The structure is also neat, being told from the point of view of a murdered man. In the end, this film has an unmistakable tinge of gothic fiction - a tale of a haunted house, where the haunting is the apparition of regret, old glamour gone shabby, and madness. The monologue and snappy lines also put it squarely into a film noir territory - the quality kind, not overdone to death. Billie Wilder was a visionary filmmaker.
I had to downgrade my original rating. In my early 20s I loved this film, but now I see some glaring issues that become apparent with maturity. The film is entertaining enough, but feeds on the typical melodramatic stereotypes of shallow romcoms that the original show tried to destroy. Samantha's storyline of choosing to be true to herself is probably the only thread still linking this generic cheese fest to the superior characterization of the small screen. Some things didn't age well. I had to pause for a bit to figure out what was wrong with Sam's tummy - still looking. Carrie accusing Miranda of ruining her marriage was just rich too. Women (Carrie, Miranda, even Louise from St. Louis) who must forgive men who jilt them is the kind of backwards empowerment message I have to scratch my head at. I feel like the show that gave so much power and freedom to women, destroyed all that progress with toxic and immature romance drama of the movie. It's not horrible, but it is disappointing to the fans.
Gotta love this poor rich people act. You marry into a blatantly racist, rooted in outdated tradition, highly ceremonial family, and then surprised pikachu face because they act exactly the way they've been acting for hundreds of years. The royal family's upmost concern is with the outward appearances, so no, they will never acknowledge your mental health problems because that would not look good for them. Did they not do the same thing with Diana? Hello? Price Phillip's track record alone should have given you an indication of how your mixed race child will be received. Once you exit the inner circle, yep, you are pretty much dead to them. Do you not know about Edward VIII? Again, Diana? Didn't think you had to curtsy to the Queen behind closed doors? How naive are you? If you wanna be married to a prince, that's the kind of shit baggage you have to put up with. Nobody sent you to this marriage at gunpoint. It ain't right what they did to you and your kid, but did you really expect anything different?
The underwater cinematography is one of a kind, even by today's standards. And the scene where Lindsey drowns and is then resuscitated is alone worth sitting though nearly three hours. What a performance by the entire cast! That said, the ending is bad... like very bad. It's cartoon-y and heavy-handed in its message, and feels like a awkward pacifist cheeseball, which Cameron continues in his overblown Avatar. This man has no nuance.
My feelings about DeepStar Six are colored by childhood nostalgia. It was on a continuous rotation for a couple of months on one of those movie channels, so I watched it probably like a dozen times. Loved it then, and it still stands up well today. Not a lot of substance, but much better than the underwater thriller released the same year - Leviathan, - in terms of character likability.
I'm fine with movies not aging so well, but the blatant misogyny in this movie was uncomfortable even for me. Some really bad directorial work in places, and odd editing. The creature was cool and puppeteered nicely when it was fully formed. I really enjoyed Peter Weller's and Richard Crenna's acting, but the rest of the cast were awkward.
A great Friday night popcorn flick. Sure there are some things I would have liked fixed up, but did I have a good time? Absolutely!
Couldn't get over how blatantly "manic pixie dream girl" this movie is, so it soured my impression of it.
Fantastic dialogue, with majority of zingers delivered by the incredible Ann Sheridan. A very good film noir.
I watched it fully expecting a good old bad, B-movie fun with cheesy CGI and laughable acting. Maybe a couple of bikini shots in the water before a bloodbath. Turned out to be a pretty well made horror flick full of tension and somewhat moderate on gore. Stars Mia Wasikowska and Sam Worthington before they became famous. I would have given it a higher rating, but the dog dies in the end . You had one job, Pete.
The movie has such a delightful level of absurdity, it certainly wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea… or cappuccino. Personally, I think it has cult classic written all over it.
I had a great time until the random meltdown and the Mona Lisa burning in the end.
A bit disappointing. I was hoping to get a drama about serious life questions, mortality, meaning and fulfillment, but with a dash of romance thrown in to round off the characters. Instead, I got a romance that uses serious questions to propel a questionable relationship. I'm baffled that a woman's decision to choose a dream to follow instead of giving it all up for a guy she spends two nights and a day with is somehow bad, selfish, and automatically worthy of regret.
Also, I don't get, why Lanie gets to live, because she gets shot regardless of choosing to walk out on her big opportunity. What exactly broke Jack's prophecy? It would make more sense for her to decide to come back to Pete and then find out that the elevator she was supposed to take actually plunged to the ground. Instead, it's left to a cheesy line about part of her that didn't know how to live . The writing is very late 90's.