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Panic Room (2002)
A Better Version of Flight Plan
Panic Room is an enjoyable film with good performances and skilled camerawork. It was great to see how space was used to create tension throughout, as the film was able to utilize the room's location within other areas of the house to create tension as the characters move in and out of it. I thought that this movie was thematically and structurally similarly to another movie I watched called Flightplan. The difference is that this movie much more efficiently used the features of the house to advance its plot more so than how the plane was used in the Flightplan, and I also believed in the relationship between Jodie Foster and her daughter more in this film. I also really enjoyed the dark sense of humor that the movie has throughout, which really added to an enjoyable experience. While Panic Room is less serious and more incidental than much of Fincher's more well-recognized work, it is still a fun ride that is expertly made.
Nelyubov (2017)
Chilling Look at Russian Society
This is one of the bleakest films I have ever seen. All the performances are great, particularly the two parents, who presented a cold, detachment to each other and to the rest of the world. The use of music is great as well, adding to the unnerving intensity of the film. I thought that the amount of run time devoted to the child was good; he is pretty much only in the first 10-20 minutes or so of the film, and does not appear afterwards. However, I wished that more scenes in the beginning focused more on this child's emotions and reactions to his parents. This would have made his absence much more powerful when the parents actually begin looking for him.
Oldboy (2013)
1/10
Me: Mom, can we have Oldboy (2003) at home?
Mom: We have Oldboy at home.
Oldboy at home: Oldboy (2013)
Neco z Alenky (1988)
Wonderful Animation, Mediocre Storytelling
The animation in this film is fantastic, filled with creative use of materials and transitions. Unfortunately, what brought the film down significantly was the use of narration with a close up on Alice's lips; every time that happened, I was brought out of the film.
Sing Street (2016)
Cheerful and Uplifting
I enjoyed the creative musical numbers in the film, particularly the Riddle of the Model sequence. The characters were all interesting and fun to watch. The movie is also very inspiring and uplifting, and definitely promotes a great perspective on how to deal with challenges in life. The only misstep the film has is its ending, which did not seem to know how to resolve it. Also, I thought that the musical numbers at the end of the movie with the concert were not as emotionally impactful as they needed to be for it to feel like a proper climax and resolution. Overall, however, I enjoyed the movie a lot.
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Incidental but Enjoyable Coen Brothers' Film
This movie can best be described as a compilation of creative set pieces that the Coen Brothers played around with, loosely tied by a deliberately unrealistic narrative. What makes the movie enjoyable is the good performances and funny jokes throughout it. However, the experience watching it was not as memorable as most other Coen Brothers' movies. The scenes were enjoyable to watch, but nothing really made me feel invested in the story or feel like I was part of its atmosphere. I know the film is meant to be casual and fun, but I think it still could have done more to make each character and setting distinguishable and memorable. An example of a movie that has a similar meandering story set in LA, but with much more memorable characters and dialogue, is one of the Coen Brothers' previous films, The Big Lebowski.
Overall, the movie was fun to watch but didn't leave much else of an impact on me.
The Prestige (2006)
Well-done
I really enjoyed this movie, even if I don't think it is quite the masterpiece as others see it as. There is a lot to appreciate about the film: the performances by Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, among others are all excellent, the script was expertly written, and the score was suspenseful and unnerving in a good way. Like many Nolan films, the best aspect to this film is the writing. The movie travels between different timelines seamlessly to deliver its narrative and I found this really effective. Many themes are incorporated cleverly in the script, such as duality and the price of obsession. The reveal at the ending of this movie is hinted at in many small details throughout the film, and it is great that a viewer can more readily observe these details after multiple viewings of the film. The entire script definitely was expertly structured and successfully played out like a magic trick.
The only reservation I have about the movie is its ending, which I have mixed feelings about. In the end, it is revealed that Borden had a twin brother the entire time. As said before, I think this reveal was expertly tied in to the rest of the script, but I think the concept itself is kind of stupid. There were many times where I considered the possibility that Borden had a twin, but I dismissed it because it seemed too simple. Even Hugh Jackman's character mentions once that Borden may have a double in delivering his trick, but dismissed it because it would be unlikely that the double also had an injured hand. However, the movie simplistically just states at the end that the double indeed had an injured hand and purposely injured himself to create this situation. Beyond that, there were also many things that didn't see realistic at all with this reveal. For instance, it makes no sense that Borden would need to let his brother die in prison. He could have just implicated Hugh Jackman while pretending to be Fallon, and then let his brother get released. Beside this plot whole, I felt that there were two ways to which this (in my opinion, overlysimplistic) ending could be justified. First, it could be argued that the obviousness of the ending was its point, and like a magic trick, it was always right in front of the audience but ignored because they want to be fooled. Otherwise, the ending could be understood as a shaggy dog story, where the point is that Angier sacrificed his entire life just to figure out and outcompete Borden's trick, up to the point where he found actual magic and risked his own life, just to find out that Borden's trick was just that he had a twin. The underwhelming reveal of Borden having a twin may just be intentionally used to emphasize the dangerous and ironic consequences that come from becoming too obsessed in your work. I am not convinced with either explanation, but I could see how someone could validly argue them.
The movie could have been a mindblowing masterpiece if it wasn't for the ending, but other than that, it is still pretty great, particularly due to its superb script. Definitely worth a watch.
Eden Lake (2008)
Notable, but flawed
This film delivers a solid emotional impact, as it deliberately plays with a wide range of sentiments. The beginning starts out incredibly sentimental to try to arouse as much sympathy as possible for the young couple who are the protagonists. This melodrama continues even after the horror part of the film begins, as the film really emphasizes the extent to which these two people love each other and the hope and promise they had before this incident. The movie is also shot very well, with a hyper realistic feel in the parts that are supposed to demonstrate innocence and a more gritty image in the parts that are supposed to be brutal. Unfortunately, what brings this movie down is its plot, which often has characters (both the protagonists and villains) making very unrealistic and unreasonable decisions. In general, the plot felt incredibly generic and felt like it was going through a prototype of these type of survival horror films. There are also many plot contrivances that occur (particularly towards the end) just solely to make the main characters suffer as much as possible, and I felt that the decision to include these contrivances did not add to a compelling narrative but instead felt like a simple manipulation of audience sympathy. Regardless of the mediocre plot, however, I overall enjoyed the movie, as I was impressed by its sense of bleakness and despair that so many horror movies today are lacking.
Local Hero (1983)
7/10
A delightful film with solid performances by the cast all around. The film perfectly captures the quaint beauty of a Scottish coastal town and allows you to get to know its characters as if they were real life friends.
The relationship between Burt Lancaster and his analyst Moritz was very funny, but it sometimes seemed jarring and misplaced in those parts of the film. Other than that, the film was very enjoyable and memorable.
The Revenant (2015)
9/10
On a technical level, it is virtually perfect. The cinematography, editing, soundtrack, and camera movements all contribute to a full-sensory immersive experience.
DiCaprio, Hardy, Poulter, Gleeson, among others, all give great performances.
The film constantly explores the strength of man (both spiritual and physical), as well as the connection between man and nature, and the depiction of man as just another species in the animal kingdom (especially notable in a climatic sequence towards the end of the film).
The film perfectly balances technical agility and transcendental tone in a way that is both brutal and poetic.
The Emperor's Club (2002)
2/10
There was nothing that engaged me with the movie as a cinematic experience. Performances, directing, cinematography, editing are all plain and bland. There is no aspect of the film that makes me believe and feel invested in the world and its characters.
What makes the overall film much worse than mediocre is its extremely didactic plot that kept asserting its philosophical importance in terms of morality and the role of a teacher in society. Watching the film constantly felt like doing homework.
It feels like this film was made solely for high school teachers to show to their English class.
A Simple Favor (2018)
5/10
Great performances from Kendrick and Lively. Surprisingly, the jokes are really funny, especially if you like black comedy.
Movie changes tone from thriller to comedy way too often and felt clumsy.
I was invested in the story until the "reveal" happened,which was underwhelming.
The film uses a lot of music and references from the French New Wave era, which could be interpreted positively as a stylistic choice to make the movie feel more "indie", but felt instead like the director just trying to assert how semi-literate he is in the subject matter.
A Quiet Place (2018)
5/10
Great use of sound (and lack of) to create tension and depict the atmosphere that the characters are feeling. Performances are mostly good. Competently directed.
Many plot holes/questionable decisions, which didn't take me out of the film but it did make the script seem poorly written. It seems like the script was written from the perspective of "What if ____ happened?" or "It would be cool if the characters were in a situation where _____ happened", instead of focusing on making a world that was believable. There were also several jump scares that were startling, but they didn't make any sense when you actually think about the rules of this world. Soundtrack was good and intense, but it was overused and sometimes took away from the tension.
The Rapture (1991)
7/10
Great atmosphere that feels very apocalyptic and melancholic.
Focuses more on the influence of faith and the silence of God more than the actual rapture.
Mimi Rogers gives a very good performance.