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jenisedong
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The Unforgivable (2021)
Intriguing Story With Good Acting
This film had some nice twists but I could guess half way through where the story was going. The whole concept is intriguing but not super original, especially the twist at the end. There are some aspects of this film that I feel like are a little undeveloped, mostly the screenplay, which causes there to be some plot holes. I had to use a little bit of imagination to make the characters' actions make sense.
I still think this is a pretty good film and a good length. It's executed well and Sandra Bullock's acting is admirable; she most definitely is the star and clear main character. Also this film would probably benefit from a second watch.
tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
Didn't Grab My Attention
I want to start out by saying that I absolutely LOVE musicals. I've watched plenty of movie musicals and Broadway musicals. This one just didn't do it for me.
I feel like nothing in this film popped for me and everything felt expected and flat. I couldn't care much about the conflict since it's a pretty standard struggling artist type of problem. The formatting of this film was also a little bit confusing because they're switching from when Jonathon was writing his Superbia musical to when he's on stage explaining and singing tick tick boom. I'm not a huge fan of the songs in this musical as well. Maybe I'm just not a fan of Jonathon's musical style but the lyrics felt very undeveloped and immature to me.
My favorite aspects of this movie are the technical filming aspects of it. I think the camerawork is pretty great and we get some creative transition and frames making the film seem more artistic.
I quite like Jonathon Larson's life story, it's inspirational but also tragic. I'm unsure that this film portrayed it well though. I feel this film might be more impactful if they focused more on Jonathon's life later on like working on tick tick boom or Rent which gave him incredible success.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Explosive Ending
Wow this film really surprised me. To be honest I almost gave up on watching this, the first half just felt so slow. This really is a slow burn and I only felt truly immersed in the story when the character Pete (Rose and George's son) moved in.
The ending really blew my mind and lingered in my head for a good while which to me indicates really powerful story writing. I'm not going to give spoilers but I think viewers can really try to focus on the power dynamic of the characters and how these dynamics shift throughout the film. The acting is pretty impressive especially with Benedicit Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-McPhee. McPhee for me gave the best performance with a lot of subtlety; I'm hoping he can snag a best supporting actor award. The cinematography also is pretty nice and there's a lot of nice frames. The contrast of Pete and his appearance to the landscape is pretty striking and almost provocative. The sensuality in this film is unexpected but incredibly beautiful and subtle. I think that's another point that would be interesting to focus on while watching this.
I definitely recommend this, just be patient while watching and stay focused because you'll have to do some thinking to tie everything together at the end.
Belfast (2021)
Just Alright
I can understand the appeal to this film and I can definitely see this being a big award show contender but it just wasn't interesting to me.
The story is incredibly standard to me, a typical coming of age story. I fully understand the conflict of this film but it didn't seem very striking to me and I couldn't really feel the weight of their situation and decision to move. Basically I felt like the danger wasn't presented that well. This movie isn't very long but I feel like it could probably still be cut a little shorter. It felt like it dragged at times. Also I don't care much that this film is in black and white and I'm quite unsure if that stylistic choice really helped this film.
I did like Jude Hill and I definitely think he's a wonderful breakthrough young actor. His character and acting are probably my favorite aspects of the film. The acting in general is alright but nothing super groundbreaking.
Knives Out (2019)
A thrill from beginning to end
What a ride! Knives Out is thriller featuring dramatic shots, dark humor, and fun music.
I absolutely love thriller/crime movies so I was expecting quite a lot from this movie and boy it didn't disappoint. The star studded casts acting is wonderful and incredibly natural. There are plenty of family fighting scenes in the movie that subconsciously display how well the actors have fit into their rolls and emotions.
The story is very much like an Agatha Christie classic with a little bit more humor and informality. The twist in the movie at the end and the many surprises throughout make this film not only fun but incredibly engaging. Another thing that's worth pointing out is that the movie's deeper color palette, music, and overall personas mimic some 80s movie trends, which is an interesting way to approach a very modern crime story filled with 21st century references.
Overall this film was exciting, twisting, and surprisingly unpredictable.
*At this point forward there will be plenty of spoilers
Harlan's death really doesn't seem plausible if you think back on exactly what Marta said. After Marta thinks she poisoned Harlan with an absurd amount of morphine, she tells him that he will die in around 10 minutes and will feel symptoms almost automatically. Harlan doesn't seem to have felt anything in the about 5 minutes when he explained to Marta his master plan and gave her the encouragement to carry it out. That's strange right?
Any sane person would probably question why they weren't feeling any symptoms and wait a little longer before acting rashly and committing suicide, Harlan most definitely didn't. On the other hand, it would make more sense if Harlan realized he wasn't overdosed, checked the drugs again with Marta, and concluded that somebody was trying to frame Marta or secretly murder him.
Another thing I feel like the film didn't clear up very well was the blood on Marta's shoe. I can understand that the blood spurted out of Harlan and landed on Marta right before she was about to leave, but just one speck? I don't know about you but that definitely feels a little fishy to me; it makes me think that maybe Marta purposely placed some blood on her shoe to attract the Detective's attention and force herself into a suspect position so she can be closer to the action and the development of theories - more information means it's easier to defend herself.
The last things I want to talk about is the mention of the game Go throughout the film. Go is all about strategy, defense, and misleads. It is mentioned that Marla is the superior Go player, evidently defeating Harlan more times than Ransom. I believe this symbolizes that even though Ransom was coming up with this master plan to get Harlan's will, at the end Marta was always going to beat him because of her displayed manipulative skills in Go.
Oh and also I would like to say that I absolutely despise Benoit Blanc's southern accent, why didn't they go with a British accent, it would sound so much more professional!
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Enjoyed it a little more than I thought
I didn't have a ton of expectations going into this movie but I thoroughly enjoyed The Shining (like much of the human population) so I was expecting a good continuation of the original story line. Overall I think Mike Flanagan was able to deliver.
The way the movie was filmed and edited really exemplified a typical horror movie. Doctor sleep includes a constant mist in the settings, there are a lot of dramatic slow panoramic shots, and the music is eerie and impactful.
The acting is pretty decent but in my opinion Rebecca Ferguson absolutely shined as Rose the Hat. Ferguson put in so much emotion into her character and her expressions throughout the movie were just so unsettling, it was pure perfection.
I didn't find Doctor Sleep to be very scary I might classify it as more thriller, there were a few jump scares and a few shots disgusted me but nothing really shook me to my core, which is fine.
Overall as an avid fan of horror movies and King I enjoyed this movie a lot and might even say it's one of the best horror movies of the year.
Hou lai de wo men (2018)
A simple love story
This movie is a simple love story that follows Xiaoxiao and Jianqing. The film shows their friendship, developing love, and the tragic difficulties that test their relationship.
Overall I would say the story line is pretty basic, the plot is somewhat predictable, and the acting is just mediocre. The film can also be hard to follow and comprehend since it does take place in 3 different time periods. There were a few things things I thoroughly appreciated though. This movie was shot incredibly well, the characters are extremely developed, the film felt quite raw (no sugarcoating), and the screenplay seemed pretty developed.
If you're wondering if you should watch this movie, I would say if you're in the mood for something simple and can tug at your heart strings, go for it.
The Open House (2018)
This movie is just plain bad
I don't even know how to start talking about this movie, it's just really bad.There seems to be no story line present at all, and some parts are just filmed so poorly you actually laugh out loud.
Now is this movie scary? Absolutely not. This movie is incredibly bland and didn't scare me at all.The director uses jump scares a decent amount and it just gets annoying.The suspenseful music which is really important in all horror films is put in the most awkward places. When the story suddenly gets interesting and the suspense starts building, there's no suspenseful music, but when the characters are just walking around there is. This movie is also incredibly slow and just boring, the characters are never fully developed and the film doesn't get interesting until the last 10 minutes or so.
The main problem or interest in the movie is the murderer, and we never know who it is. Maybe I missed some hints, but the movie ends extremely abruptly with absolutely no questions answered, and a huge question mark on the killer.My biggest problem is definitely the ending,there was just no closure or conclusion to all the killings.
This movie is not worth your time, play with your kids, read a good book, and just avoid this movie for your sake.
Fang hua (2017)
Worth the watch
"Youth" is a beautifully made movie with amazing acting, a decent storyline, and a good rendition of a difficult time in China.
This movie definitely has its share of problems though. There seems to be a particularly large amounts of plot holes and unanswered questions. An example would be the strange event involving the main character's sudden emotional downfall. The editing also seems very harsh in places, extremely noticeable in the war shots. I would also like to say that the English translations in the theaters are quite bad to be bland. As a person who both understands English and Chinese, I was amazed by how debatable some of the translations were. They seemed to find a way to overcomplicate the translations, and make the complicated screenplay look simple.
"Youth" has some great acting from newcomer stars like Miao Miao and Elane Zhong. Xuan Huang gave the best performance in the film as Liu Feng, and Miao Miao surprised me with how much charisma she had playing He Xiao Ping. The acting overall is quite strong, and the actors all developed their characters well despite the small amount of character background. The visuals are nothing short of stunning from the beautiful dancing and choreography, to the breathtaking scenery that is very pleasing to the eye. Feng Xiao Gang also successfully produces a movie that accurately depicts the 1970's of China. This time period is basically untouchable, because of how delicate the government was then, but this movie really does try to show how the living condition was back then. Feng Xiao Gang seemed to have found a way to make a movie about the 1970's in China without offending the government too much.
"Youth" is full of lovable nostalgia and relatable moments. This movie will absolutely tug at your heartstrings and make you look back and treasure the moments of your youth.