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AlexAtkinUK
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Thunder Road (2018)
Not a comedy but I feel a lot of people are missing the point here
There is nothing funny about seeing someone having a breakdown, so I really don't understand why this is classed as a comedy, even a dark one. Especially when a child is involved, there's nothing funny about that.
However as an almost documentary of just how messed up people can get when having a breakdown, I think he nailed it.
People are complaining the main character is not likeable, well of course he isn't, nobody is fun to be around when they are having a breakdown, that's the point. Its not who they are, its just how they are in that moment, when utterly broken. But look around the sets carefully, especially the house, there are clues all over that before all this he was a good father and it all went badly wrong. He loves his daughter but is completely unable to cope with the situation he has found himself in.
I think the real flaws are leaving it up to the viewer to pick up on this, likewise we don't really understand what his wife is actually like, so its hard to know what to feel as things play out. But I think the idea is that neither is "the bad guy", they are just humans trying to cope in a messed up situation.
That opening act sure is hard to watch but you absolutely need to watch this right to the end and watch carefully, to really pick up on all the details. The way every character in the movie is flawed is perhaps too realistic for some people, I can understand that, but I don't think it makes it a bad movie. It just expects you to go in more with an open mind, to think for yourself rather than having all the details spelt out for you. As someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, having made some pretty messed up decisions (they didn't feel like something I had control over at the time) in my own life, I am able to understand what its like to feel like you have no control over your actions or life and have no idea what to do next.
I wouldn't want to watch it a second time, its too depressing, but I do not regret seeing it once.
The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
The most overrated movie of all time?
They literally threw EVERYTHING at this movie in a hodge podge fashion.
LEGO have always overblown the characters to be "funny", but honestly in this movie it just makes Batman unlikeable so that even by the end, it was just too much.
Using unexpected franchises together is what makes some of the LEGO games so interesting, but when you literally throw EVERY franchise at it like the movie does, it just feels lazy. You don't get time to appreciate them and quite frankly, for a movie with so much action I was shocked to find I was bored.
ANYONE can throw everything at a movie and hope something sticks, its not clever or interesting and feels like it lacks any structure.
Its such a shame, as the underlying ideas aren't bad, its just so poorly executed. It tries to make itself unique by throwing a ton of different franchise bad guys together, but in a way that totally betrays their characters so it just doesn't fit. The fact its part of the LEGO franchise to me does not excuse this lazy plot, it just feels like a huge missed opportunity for a more cohesive story where it at least makes a tiny bit of sense for these bad guys to be working together.
If you love this movie, then great, but I honestly think its the most overrated movie of all time.
The Florida Project (2017)
A disturbingly realistic interpretation of the American underclass
I'm not going to say this film is terrible because most of the content seemed to be ad-lib by the kids so was utterly convincing and it was all played out disturbingly realistic. However, I also cannot understand how some people found it funny.
Seeing these kids raised by foul mouthed parents who just let them run wild left me feeling really disturbed, because I'm all too aware this IS realistic. Seeing kids which more than likely would become maladjusted themselves due to learning a ton of bad habits and no respect for anyone is not my idea of a good time.
The big problem however is the end of the movie which suddenly goes from this almost documentary style realism to suddenly this cheerful music, implying something positive happens at the end - except it doesn't. The movie just ends at this point, with no resolution and with a scene that felt completely out of place with the tone of the rest of the movie.
So while I give the movie credit for focusing on a very tough subject matter, I was left wondering what the actual point was? What was I supposed to take from this movie?
Young Sheldon (2017)
Has me laughing out loud in a way The Big Bang Theory hasn't for several seasons now
I'm not one to typically laugh out loud, but the two episodes I have seen so far have really hit the spot.
Personally, watching The Big Bang Theory has become more a habit than a great enjoyment for several seasons now. There is the odd funny joke, but once almost all the main characters paired off, it just lost the relate-ability and the writing just hasn't been that funny.
Young Sheldon is like a breath of fresh air. Still a group of misfits, but a much more interesting scenario. Seeing these vastly different people trying to just get along is hilarious.
I just hope they keep the balance and do not exclusively focus on Sheldon, a show works best when ALL the characters are well written, but so far this is looking very promising indeed.
It (2017)
Lacks the subtly of the mini-series and the comedy is badly misplaced
What made the mini-series great was it relied mostly on your own imagination to drive the horror, the visuals were very subtle and you were never quite sure what happened to the kids until the end.
This re-make throws all that away in favour of very graphical horror, something you can see it almost any other horror movie out there.
The comedy is also really awkward and feels extremely misplaced in a story that is supposed to be deathly serious.
Mommy's Little Girl (2016)
Poorly written contrived story, other movies have done this so much better
While the plot starts off fair enough, child looked after (abused) by her grandparents because her mother was an alcoholic, it all goes downhill from there. Its not even clear WHY they were so mean to her, did they resent looking after her? Its not entirely clear.
The acting by the little girl is so incredibly forced most of the time, you get little hints that she probably CAN act but the writing and directing of the story never gives her a chance.
For most of the movie the people she is killing very much deserved it, they pushed her to it. But as it devolves into killing innocent people it goes down hill fast.
The killing of her teacher who has nut allergies was especially contrived and it was made so obvious it was coming long before she did anything to earn it, my cat could have recognised the signs.
Dragging us through the character finding out what an epi-pen is and oh look, she just happened to be tasting wedding cake with marzipan soon after and there HAPPENS to still be some in the fridge later. :rolls eyes:
Except anyone with a severe nut allergy wouldn't eat something without asking first, let alone marzipan that you can usually smell a mile away. Then the fact Almond allergies are pretty rare anyway even amongst nut allergy sufferers, yet the symptoms come on so fast she is unable to defend herself from a 10 year old girl to call 911? Give me a break!
Its such a shame, as other movies have done so much better with similar material.
Jørgen + Anne = sant (2011)
Extremely relatable if you are European and very well done all around
Someone recommended this movie to me and I was very sceptical as I hate having to read subtitles on movies as I find you miss too much of what is going on visually.
This movie however blew me away. Never have I seen a coming of age movie so believable, partly because most are set in the US and very hard to relate to as someone from the UK. However this being in Norway its not hugely different to the UK, at least in the context of the movie.
The way the kids let their imaginations run wild, the adults completely oblivious to what is going on, it all came across so realistic. It makes a pleasant change for a movie like this to not just be outright patronising to the audience and its making me wonder if I shouldn't be watching more European movies.
The fact that a movie in a language I do not understand brought me to tears should tell you all you need to know about how well done it was. With the excellent acting and pacing I reached the end never feeling like I had missed anything reading the subtitles.
I would highly recommend anyone who likes heartfelt coming-of-age movies should give this a chance, especially if you are European so cannot relate to the very different culture in the US / Hollywoods exaggerated, stale take on the subject.