Film & Tv
- This was a lot weirder and less funny than I was expecting. Also, the main character's behavior actually didn't seem that terrible given the insane pressures she was under. I wanted to strangle several people who were jerks to her, and that includes her husband, whose yammering voice on the telephone turned out to belong to Christian Slater. Not cool, man!
- My experience of this movie had two contradictory themes: eye-rolling annoyance at poor characterization and implausible events (Agnes intentionally giving birth alone in the woods being the most egregious) and genuine emotion at portrayals of grief and catharsis. The good parts were in the latter half, which initially made me rate this at 3.5 stars, but then I remembered earlier bits that greatly irked me, so I subtracted half a star. My favorite performances were by the two kids who played Hamnet and Judith. The scene where Judith views her brother's body and says, "It doesn't look like him. That's […]
- This had far more gunfire and dire peril and less ping pong than I was expecting. I gather it is only very loosely based on the real Marty Reisman, and his family is not happy about how this movie portrays him. It is entertaining to watch, though. After the first crazy thing that happens, you realize that there's no way to predict where things are going, so it becomes pretty suspenseful! Probably the least believable thing in it is that a woman of Kay Stone's stature would have anything to do with a scrawny, conniving weirdo like Marty, but Gwyneth […]
- Who cares about the dad, this is all about the sisters. I cried when Agnes brought Nora the script.
- The "vibing" approach to telling this story did not work for me. Characters appear briefly then disappear, events happen then fade away, with their importance seemingly being only to make the main character more morose. I'm sorry, but I wanted to know: What happened to the dogs? What happened to the friendly Indian shopkeeper? Why did Robert start walking in winter and end up at Claire's fire tower in summer? Where did the two horses and the cart go? Was there actually a girl with a broken leg, or was he crazy? I could go on and on. If the […]
- A fabulous Valentine's Day (re-)watch.
- Another Lanthimos joint, which means… weird, messed up, depressing most of the time. But it also pulls you in, making you wonder, WTF? I did not like this as much as The Favourite or Poor Things, but it kept me engaged, even though I had been spoiled on a key plot point ahead of time.
- It's the Shark / Ninja / Expensify movie! Branding ridiculousness aside, it's… OK, I guess. But way too long and predictable. Not sure how it was nominated for Best Picture.
- This was gripping and also puzzling for many reasons, primarily due to my cluelessness about Brazilian history, but also because of the time jump to the future that happens partway through the film and then goes back and forward again a few times. Lack of narrative control would be my go to explanation for many films, but in this case it fits with the sense of a society going off the rails and no one knowing what the rules are anymore. The ending left me with a feeling of sadness but also hope for the future. Complicated!
- Oof, this was a slog. It depresses me to think of how much time del Toro spent on improbable set design and gross special effects vs. meaningful interpretation of the source material. And what's with the softening of the ending? The Creature is craving death at the end of the book, not resolving to make the most of life and rescuing hapless sailors from the ice. I stand with my previous position that Danny Boyle's stage production is the best adaptation of this story, and far superior to this movie.