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Reviews
Ashes in the Snow (2018)
Does not quite work
While this is a story that needs to be told, somehow this film does not come together. The lead, Bel Powley, has a wide eyed look that seems to be almost a caricature of innocence. The attraction of the soldier and her mother does not have feeling and he is poorly explained. Some of the problem that the actors had was in the writing. For example nothing in the Bel Powley character showed the leadership as the dying mother declared. She showed innocence, not the clever reading of people that leaders have. Still there were touching moments and a history that should be known.
Melancholia (2011)
Painfully pretentious
A painfully pretentious movie. All of human emotions are folly if the world is going to end. Don't we know this? Haven't movies been here before? See On the Beach to view an exploration of people dealing with the end. We sit through many emotions and characters acting out without enough information to understand any of it. There are whole scenes that go nowhere. Justine on a rock under planet light. We already know that she is seriously disturbed. Is there a purpose here beyond showing her naked body? Where do her psychic abilities fit in? The whole script reminds me of a sophomore in film school. The only positive feature is that it is beautifully filmed. Maybe this is why so many movie critics got taken in.
Romance (1999)
Disturbingly hot
I couldn't identify with much of it, but this movie did hit on the disquieting contradictions of sex and "romance". Some of the imagery has haunted me and gets to some parts of the female sexual psyche that many will not want to explore or even have pointed out to them. It has taken me years to get cynical enough to really appreciate this movie. Not for the young romantic!
Beloved (1998)
emotionally gripping
I haven't read the book, but I still do not understand all of the complaints about this movie being too confusing. Maybe they didn't want to understand it or didn't understand that it was a story about incredibly powerful emotions. What a gripping, horrifying emotional journey! I can understand why Oprah, with her great empathy, would want to do this project. The acting was terrific and touching. There are images that I will never forget. No movie has ever gotten us so far into the head of an ex-slave.
Living Out Loud (1998)
I found this movie to be incredibly realistic
As a women who is going through a divorce of a 20+ year relationship, I found this movie to be incredibly realistic. The story isn't hollywood and the characters are believable. I wish I had seen it earlier.