Reviews

Spike Lee could not have released this film at a more appropriate time given the protest that's currently happening. If the Oscars were happening this year I would put my money on Delroy Lindo winning the best actor award. He was amazing in this and his acting and Spike Lee's direction was so good. Especially the scene when he goes off on his own in the jungle and was talking to himself. What a rollercoaster this was. From the beginning they are all hugging and having fun at the club but it gets more and more grim from there. My favorite scene was when they were on the boat going past all the shops and Paul gets offered a chicken. The tension was insane and the series of emotions that Paul and the seller goes through was intense. Paul went from simply saying "no" to saying racial slur to crying and admitting that he's been seeing ghost to getting everyone together. I didn't really like how predictable some of the scenes were. When they introduced Hedy, I knew that the land mines were going to come up later down the road. Speaking of that, Eddies death was so expected; when they showed a wide shot to Eddie walking backwards away from the group, I 100% knew he was going to blow up. At the same time, I didn't expect Spike to show us the aftermath of the land mine explosion. I love the fact that Spike Lee didn't use deaging in the flash back scenes. I feel that having the present day Blood in the flash back was a great use of how memory works; you always picture you current self in old memories. Also, because Norman died, they all never got to see him grow old so he is always young to them. The scene that got me feeling emotional was when Paul sees Stormin' Norman's ghost one last time and Norman tells Paul that his death was an accident, it wasn't Paul's fault and he forgives him. All in all, another great film by Spike Lee and the timing could not be more perfect for it's release. The ending with the gold being donated to great causes like children disabilities and Black Lives Matter was very sweet.

This film has been on my list to watch for years now and for some reason it kept getting pushed down further and further for other films. I'm very glad that I finally got to watch it because it was very entertaining from the opening shot to the final shot. I know that this is a film by Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), and you can see a lot of characteristics from him throughout this film. This film has basically two halves; the first is the back on the train where all the lower class lives and the second, where the lower class attempts to take over the rest of the train. I really enjoyed the first half but the second half felt so rushed and scattered. Like, every time they break into the next train it gets more and more ridiculous (in a bad way). I though bullets were scarce but apparently all the guards are just shooting like they have an unlimited magazine. The most ridiculous part is when the main henchmen is shooting Chris Evans character from across the train through the windows. First off, that's not how bullets work and second, if the air outside is unbearably cold, why is he creating so many unnecessary holes in the train? I'm usually not one to nit pick things and I know that this movie is set in a dystopian future but I can't help but wonder how they are getting all this material and how they can even afford to keep this train moving. Who is maintaining the tracks? If theres huge chunks of ice covering the tracks and the engine collides with it going full speed, something is going to have to give. The ending was kind of a let down and was the shot of the polar bear an indication that those kids were eaten alive? Polar bears are the top human predators. Overall, it was a very entertaining movie but I can't help but wonder how the train runs. It's an important detail that is unfortunately left out.

I went into this movie only knowing that it was filmed in 2017 and finally being released in 2020. I know it's not the producers fault (studio changed licensing) but the fact that the movie took its sweet ole time to be released is a telltale sign that it's not going to be that good. Anyways, on to the movie. First off, what's with the random lame slow motion? Just every once and a while they felt the need to include a slow mo shot. Second, the script was kinda meh. It didn't really flow too well, I know, I know, it's just a crew trying to get from one station to the next, how much dialogue could there possibly be? Well, if I was trapped underwater with little to no visibility, I would be communicating what I see, what's ahead, if everyone was alright, what's the plan etc etc. A lot of people are complaining about the color grading and I didn't really have too much of a problem with it. It's just a greenish hue, which kinda fits the deep underwater theme. Also, the guy who died at the beginning when his helmet cracked, why didn't he say something so they can organize another plan? I mean clearly the scientist chic was scared of going outside the station so she could've easily stayed behind and wait for the others to bring help back. I'm also curious to how much the pods can carry? Certainly two 110 lb girls can fit into one pod right? I'm sure they have plenty of workers down there that are bigger than both those girls combined. I get it, there has to be a big final sacrifice so we can have a hero. With all that being said, I do have a few good things to say about Underwater. First off, when KStew was being eaten by that hydro predator thing, that was pretty cool how she was able to escape with the flare. I also like when she shot up the flare out into the abyss and we get a reveal of the Cthulhu. That was mega dope. Overall, a somewhat okay film with okay action. I wouldn't recommend for people to really sit and watch but it's a good film to watch and it's airing on TNT and there's nothing else to do. Even with that, I'd still try to find something else to do.

I want to start off by saying that the final 10 minutes of the film is one of the best I've seen all year and 2019 had a lot of good ones. Heloise portrait with her kid and her finger on page 28 got me feeling some type of way. And then the emotions that Heloise was displaying while she was watching/listening to the orchestra was devastating. I'm not sure if she knew that Marianne was there or not, but for sure she remembers her old friend/lover. She doesn't regret the pain she's feeling about losing her lover but she remembers the first time Marianne played that piece for her on the piano (harpsichord?). The way Heloise looks at Marianne while she was playing was when, I believe, was the first time she wanted to kiss Marianne. The ending scene was my favorite but a close second would have to be the bonfire scene; the cinematography was so good here. We follow the three characters and Heloise slowly falls behind the flames of the bonfire and now we are left with Marianne and Sophie. We see other girls paired off talking to each other, Sophie acknowledges one of them. Sophie and Marianne get to the nurse(?) and receives the news that she is still pregnant. Sophie follows this by downing a bottle of wine; I love the comedic relief that has for this tense sequence. Out of no where we hear a tension filled humming that sounds like a string was about to snap. This is the second time all movie that we hear music (there's only 3, I think). Heloise mentions earlier that she doesn't get to hear a lot of music at this place; I'm guessing the director wanted music to be sparse so that the audience could relate to Heloise when hearing music. Anyways, the humming gets louder and louder (right now my heart is racing) then two of the girls start singing, followed by two more, then three more. We finally see Heloise again on the opposite side of the flames and she locks eyes with Marianne; her dress catches on fire but she doesn't seem to care/notice. Fire is the universal symbol for love/passion and they both realize that they are in love with each other. The dress on fire implies that Heloise knows that she's in love but doesn't care about the consequences (she's to be married in a few days) and how their love is inappropriate and that this can only end one way, pain. The Orpheus/Eurydice is the call back for the film's story. After Marianne hugs Heloise for their final goodbye, she immediately makes the poet's choice and runs out to keep her lovers memory pure. Before Marianne could make it out of the door, Heloise calls for Marianne from the steps above. Marianne is forced to turn around and make the lover's choice and see's Heloise in her wedding dress; throughout the film we see Heloise in her wedding dress but every time Marianne turns around, Heloise would disappear, she finally see that their relationship is over and Heloise is really going to get married. I'm disappointed that France did not put this film up for nomination in the Best International film category for the Oscars.