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Reviews
Civil War (2024)
It's bad (or maybe I didn't get it)
I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure what Alex Garland tried to say with this film. I'm sure he wanted to make some statement and not tell a story because the plot is very thin. Two journalists are planning trip to Washington to try to capture the last days of the president. It's a dangerous trip (it was stated more than a few times by the characters) but they take along with them an old man and a young girl. On the the road they're getting in all sorts of troubles (mostly because of their own reckless behavior). And ultimately this young girl kinda sorta becomes a better journalist. That's the whole story. 4 sentences.
So then this is gotta be a statement on something. But on what?
On politics? Well, it's never stated who's on the left and who's on the right but there're some not so subtle hints (you probably can guess who are the "evil" guys). Granted, both sides are killing innocent and unarmed people, so there's that.
On horrors of civil war? The movie ain't saying much in this regard. They're some senseless killings but it felt really exploitative and dishonest. Bodies on bodies on bodies but no real drama behind them.
On war journalism? Personally, I feel like the main protagonists were vultures and they exploited death and tragedy for their personal gain.
So like what was the message? And why should I care about it? I really really don't know.
The other thing that really bugged me is the amount of cameos in this thing. Listen, I liked Devs as much as the next guy but seeing almost every major actor from that show here was extremely annoying.
But gotta give praise where praise is due. The movie been shot beautifully. Although I'm not an American so Washington in flames does nothing for me emotionally. And the same goes for the movie itself.
Wicked Little Letters (2023)
Unbearably repetitive
For the first 30 minutes or so I couldn't understand why the rating is so relatively low. But then it all made sense.
First of, let me just say that Colman, Buckley and Vasan are great. They are really doing everything they can to bring their characters to life. But that's about it with the positives.
Unfortunately, the movie is really struggling with picking a lane. It's trying to be a comedy, but it's the same jokes being repeated over and over again. Plus it really clashes with the dramatic aspects.
A little bit about them.
Patriarchy is bad. We know. You really don't need to spend 100 minutes showing the same examples of it. Edith's father is a jerk. The policemen are jerks. We honestly truly get it the first time. The other nine times are simply annoying.
So yeah, this whole thing felt extremely repetitive and one dimensional. Acting is great but it's not enough to save this mess.
The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
This is lowkey a romcom...
... And you should treat it as such.
Yes. This movie covers racism, fake diversity, corporate culture and well, that magic negro trope. But in the very heart of it is a love story and that part was done very well.
Let me just say that, An-Li Bogan is absolutely phenomenal. Like she looks authentic and believable and just wow.
Justice Smith is a more lowkey but he's getting the job done.
Other characters don't really do that much but no one seems out of place.
I wish the story was more focused cause again, it tries to cover a lot of ground and in as a result it doesn't really pack a punch.
Anyway, I didn't find this movie bad or offensive like some other reviewers. It's pretty enjoyable and light hearted despite some heavy topics.
Parallel (2024)
That rating doesn't make sense
Yeah I really don't understand why the current rating is below 5.
Its a solid low budget sci-fi movie.
Yes, it took like 30 minutes to get going but after that it's a smooth sailing with drama, twists and all of that.
Cast is amazing. Which is no surprise considering all of the previous work of Aldis Hodge and Danielle Deadwyler.
Edwin Hodge also was a nice surprise, cause I only remember him in them Purge movies but he did a solid job here.
Yes, the other review is correct compering Parallel to Coherence sinse they both share a pretty similar premise. Although I gotta say that I found this one a little more tidy. Plus, again, the cast here is superb.
Anyway, give this movie a chance.
The Sweet East (2023)
Obnoxious and tedious
Aight. So we're following Lillian who ran away (just for fun) and now she's getting mixed up with all sorts of people. We have some radical artists/activists, some alt right crowd, some actors, some radical religions types. So, I guess, this whole movie supposed to be like a portrait of the country. Or political satire maybe. In reality though, it's very tedious and obnoxious experience.
The main reason - Lillian. She's shallow, superficial, uninteresting human being. She's annoying and frustrating. She got nothing original to say. She's boring and she bored. And not really a compelling or sympathetic character.
Side characters are fine though, but it feels like their potential is wasted on Lillian.
Cinematography is also nice, but not strong enough to carry the whole thing.
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023)
Could have been great
If they developed it a bit more. A lot more, actually. It feels like a short movie's being stretched to a full length feature.
First 30 minutes is basically an intro and you can easily cut it down to 10. Then we get a glimpse of what could have been cause Daisy is great, Dave is great and together they're great. Unfortunately they're just not getting enough screen time. Instead we're getting tons of random shots of city, nature and everything in between. And then after all that the director just dumps the ending and the message. Cause it was time to wrap the movie up, I guess.
It also filmed in that terrible modern "indie" style with 1.33:1 ratio and percussion soundtrack that just sucks any resemblance of life out of the picture.
The result is dull and lifeless. What a shame.
Origin (2023)
More is less
Too many storylines, too many characters.
We got our main heroine. Her husband. Her family. Her friends. Her work. Some more friends. Some more work. In between of all that we got a whole other story about nazzi Germany and WWII.
The message is simply getting diluted in all that mix of historical events and personal melodramatic moments.
It's trying to say so many things at once and the final result feels disjointed and messy.
Not the mention, that ultimately it's not saying anything particularly new. If you've been somewhat interested in the topic of racism, classism and did a little bit of research then you probably won't find anything new in this movie.
Ultimately, it could have been a nice documentary.
Asedio (2023)
Wow
Yeah the other negative reviews weren't lying.
The beginning was pretty nice but then the movie loses its steam quite quickly.
The main character is extremely unlikeable person. She steals, lies and gets other people in trouble. Meanwhile, her actions are best described as nonsensical. But that's also true for all of the other characters. It seems like they're doing things just for the sake of it, without any rhyme or reason. The ending is also ridiculous, almost laughable. Expected more tbh.
//Yeah the other negative reviews weren't lying.
The beginning was pretty nice but then the movie loses its steam quite quickly...//
Surrounded (2023)
OK movie with great acting and questionable art decisions
(This part is strictly for hitting that stupid characters cap. The story fallows Mo Washington (played by Letitia Wright) who's got ambushed by bandits and now have to get it through the night night in the company of their leader - Tommy Walsh (played by Jamie Bell))
So yeah..they made Letitia Wright fight Michael K. Williams during night time with (apparently) one light source that out of frame for the most part of the fight. Filmed it with a shaky camera too.
But aside from that and the ending that I didn't like, it's a pretty decent western with superb performance from Letitia Wright and Jamie Bell.