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kendrickakeller
Reviews
You Hurt My Feelings (2023)
A cute, yet mediocre time. Forgettable.
Definitively mediocre and proud of it. So much so that the characters justify to each-other regularly how disappointed they are with their own art. All of the actors really felt engrained into their roles and the sincerity here was refreshing, although the talent wasted. A charming and chuckle worthy movie, for sure, but not memorable in the slightest.
I'm starting to get tired of these upper-class "late-coming-of-age" films about characters experiencing ever so slight growth or pressure. Half of the characters are bored themselves. I've met just about all of these characters in real life and they're barely more interesting in-person.
The stories in the movie are satisfied with being simply relatable, while the protagonists-- very realistically-- argue and quibble about their interpersonal issues that they spent most of their lives doing little about. And yes, it's very realistic, but this film begs to be more. Notable because the film spends a good amount of time poking fun at overly precious writers and the ironic lines drawn between Fiction and Creative Non-fiction, doesn't that seem off for a movie this creatively devoid?
This is a film about writers and written by a writer, literally a few jokes about Screenplays. Shouldn't that lead us to expect a less rote adventure? Maybe I'm weird for expecting comedies and characters to be exciting, unpredictable, and unique, but it felt like the writer and actors were suppressing their power-levels here. Any random episode about the Sopranos has more to say about this movie's themes than it did.
Sanctuary (2022)
A funny, yet shallow Single-Act
Pointifully performative and bitingly funny-- as a rom-com *Sanctuary* is less of a character study and more of an intense single discussion between Christopher Abbott, Danita Battle, and he prying eye of the viewer. This does feel like a more twisted Netflix or Apple TV date night movie and while the cast carries the film, it does so through both the best of times and the worst of times. While the film's opening is gripping and sexy, and the ending emotionally powerful, very little happens between minute 30 and minute 85.
To make matters less convenient, the actors and filmmakers make it painfully obvious in the first 20 minutes that the Dom is in love with Hal and feels the need to demonstrate her value without telling her Sub, "I love you." That would ruin the power dynamic. The result, is a story that feels drawn with a few aimless scenes. I would expect this from a movie with 30 minute long scenes.
Films like this seem to rest in the strength of their cinematography, acting (mostly closeups), and the dramatic tension in the dialogue. Director Zachary Wigon, and writer Micah Bloomberg can relax because of the good acting and editing on display here (many movies do); however *Sanctuary* may have had stronger foundations and really stuck the landing if they didn't.