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Jagun Jagun (The Warrior) (2023)
Far from what I expected. Reeeaaaally far.
Finally I thought I'm gonna see a good movie about African culture, because I'm really interested in it, but this movie's been a huge disappointment.
What I mostly care about in a film is the story, the characters and consistency. I don't give a thing about cinematography and visual effects at all, I don't care if there's no music at all, or if the dialogues sound scratchy. I don't even care if it's filmed with a calculator.
I don't have high expectations, so as for me, I'm satisfied with a movie, if the story is "barely okay" (no need for epic plot twists), if the characters are relatable (just be "human", you know?), and if there are no huge plotholes.
But this thing... it was like Birdemic.
Eight for Silver (2021)
Liked it, but didn't really understand the point - and this is what spoiled it for me
I sort of liked this movie. It had an eerie atmoshpere all along, typically a Van Helsing style feeling - for me, at least.
The CG, in my opinion, was pretty good too - the monsters were textured nicely and their movement was not half bad either; one would sort of expect a little bit more in 2021, but somehow this quality fitted well with the vibe of the movie.
The cast did a pretty decent job too, and it was also a pretty fair take on this whole "lore".
The only thing I don't understand is the 'lesson' of this movie. Basically, the Romani people arbitrarily settle down in the land of someone else, saying, "This land is ours because its sacred," and when the rightful owners take out these intruders, the Romani people, with their last breath, curse the children of the !rightful owners! To turn into monsters. Srsly, what? It was not okay how they took care of the issue at hand, but, really... if intruders invade my land, I should just let them do as they please? Is this basically what this movie was about?
The Strays (2023)
A great movie about actual social issues
This movie was so, so, so heavy that we were just sitting and talking about it for about 1 hour. This movie is about so many things.
Primarily, it is about current and widespread social issues, particularly about parents who should never be parents. You see, Cheryl hooked up with a criminal (or someone who later became a criminal), and even gave birth to 2 kids, then left the whole family, including the kids. In the end, she leaves the whole new family again, but 4 kids this time. She is simply not cut out to be a parent, because she goes for superficial solutions as soon as big issues come - like giving 20K GPB to the first 2 kids, just to make the 2 older kids to leave her new family alone. We hear so many stories about these parents, be it male or female, hooking up with the wrong partner, having kids despite the problematic living conditions, and then leaving. It is always the kids that suffer the most, and in similar cases, many kids turn out to be criminals. So basically, this is a self-sustaining issue, a very serious issue, and not only because these kids turn out to be criminals, but also because these kids would deserve a fair childhood, a better opportunity, happiness, and they also could be the next Einstein or Tesla or Musk - but are denied of the opportunity.
This movie is also about how nuanced people are. Cheryl, on the one hand, is so, so, so superficious and wrong about so many things: she wears wigs to hide her real hair which she is probably ashamed of and/or is trying to act Y to fit in the community; each morning she's putting on a MASSIVE make-up; then there was the 20K, and there's her entire behaviour, etc, etc. On the other hand, however, she's the vice president of a private school, she's an ace teacher, she's organising charity stuff, etc. So while Cheryl practically ruined the lives of her first 2 kids, she did some great stuff for others. People are not just A or B. I know several married policemen who also have kids. They literally save people's lives on a daily basis, they provide for their families, they are doing great stuff, but on the other hand, they are doing some adult films from time to time - of course, without anyone in their family knowing about it -, or having affairs.
And... Well, there are so many other things I could write about with regard to this movie, but in the end, I just want to share 3 stories about guys I know personally. I'll use fake names, but everything else is real.
A) Joey was 9 when his dad told the family at 5 p.m. That he's going out for a pack of cigarettes. His dad never came back - probably left for Western Europe, the US, Australia or UAE. Joey was a fun kid before with average grades, but after his dad left, he became a bully, dropped out of high school later on, started drinking heavily as a teenager, became a drug abuser + dealer, and so on. He's a frequent visitor of different jails. Last time I heard, he killed a fellow prisoner, so he won't be back to society for a decade or so.
B) Herb was a prodigy. His dad also left the family when he was 13, so Herb he started drinking, and barely finished high school. He's 43 now, never had a decent job, and alcohol has heavily affected his mind by now. Since he's discovered antidepressants, he's attempted suicide several times.
C) Steve was a normal, slightly anxious kid. One afternoon in 1996, when he was 6, he was alone at home with his dad. His dad told him he's going out to the shed for something. Steve was playing on, then his mom and elder brother came home in the evening. His mom was asking where's dad, Steve said he's gone to the shed for something, mom told Steve to go and tell dad to come back for dinner. The 6-years-old Steve went out to the shed and found his dad, who hung himself. After that, Steve started to behave slightly erratically, but still finished high school, even got a BSc degree diploma. However, he's got tons of psychological problems issues he's not even trying to get treated, he doesn't work, but drinks a lot, does synthetic drugs, and so on. Until 2012, it was still fun hanging around with him, we could even talk normally and stuff, but since then, he is behaving even more erratically, like he's having multiple Facebook profiles where he's having incomprehensible conversations with himself and stuff. Me and some friends tried to help him, like to go to therapy or have some serious conversations with him, but he's just getting more and more unpredictalbe and now I'm afraid of running into him in the street. I mean, I'm literally afraid of him.
P. S. In my opinion, the actresses and the actors did a great job too. Each character they played just gave exactly the vibes they should have. The director, well, hats off! We need more of you and your stuff!
Glass Onion (2022)
One of the best films ever... until the final minutes
This was a great movie until the Mona Lisa was destroyed.
I watched this movie with my fiancé. As soon as the first questions were raised, we started brainstorming. So each time another important information was revealed - about 13-15 times throughout the movie - we paused and started brainstorming, and we really enjoyed the whole movie - which was great, because I usually do not enjoy these kind of mystery movies. That is, until the end. Until they destroyed the Mona Lisa painting.
Destroying a priceless piece of art for personal revenge and/or revealing the wrongdoings of a bad guy is a big NO. Personally, I am not fond of Mona Lisa, I feel nothing when I look at this painting - Bosch's stuff are much more my cup of tea -, but it is very precious for the rest of humankind. Destroying such paintings - or any piece of art, be it "famous" or "unfamous", "significant" or "less significant", "priceless" or "cheap" - should not be celebrated. This act in the movie had a very deep message and this is not a good message.
The Horrific Evil Monsters (2021)
Nope
It took me 20 minutes to realize that this will not get any better. I feel embarrassed for even trying. And there were so many positive reviews! Goodness...