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Reviews
Encounter (2021)
Potential, but Act II falls flat (spoilers)
This is not a terrible film, just meh. Telling you now, if you are going in expecting a badass sci-fi movie (finally with POC protagonists), it's just...not.
The first Act is strong, and while you figure out quickly that this alien invasion is all in his head, there are brief times where you're just not sure and I really liked that. Plus, the tension with the kids finding out it's fake and the dad unraveling was really good too. Bravo to Riz throughout it. He's great as usual and his chemistry with the kids is wonderfully endearing.
However, Act II is where stuff just goes flat/falls apart for me. Malik just randomly stops believing in the aliens and comes clean to his son about his past in prison. Heartfelt and all, but its like, ok, what was the point of all this then? I would have loved it if Malik continued to truly believe this was real all the way to the end. It was pretty disappointing that he just abandons this belief fairly quickly and all the tension is gone about his mental state/relationship with his sons. He's pretty much cured by the end, as he's aware it's him, he's the problem, putting his kids in danger, and he decides needs to escape. Just....anticlimactic.
Anyway, it would have been cooler if he still believed he was saving his kids from aliens, and let audience decide if he is or isn't crazy. Then maybe have an Inception like cliffhanger ending "suggesting" that maybe he was right. Maybe aliens ARE taking over, he just called it too early or they made people think he's crazy so no one will listen. Something. Otherwise this whole bait and switch with labeling this film as "sc-fi" movie, when it's not, is just lame and the movie just leaves you feeling cheated.
Emerald City (2016)
It was promising, but too much going on.
I know I'm late to the Emerald City train. I saw the trailer sometime last year, was super excited, then forgot all about it until I re-newed my Hulu account and saw it on my feed. Anyway, overall I liked the show, however, I can see why they cancelled it.
First, the costumes are gooorgeous. I love Trisha Biggar's work in Star Wars I, II, & III, the costumes were about the best thing from those movies, and honestly they are here too. My favorite was the Witch of the East, her flowing red gown with her black feather collar and ruby hand clasps, stunning. Too bad she was so short lived, because it would have been nice to see more of her character.
Second, I love Adria Adjora as Dorothy. I thought she was gorgeous and it was great to see a Latina play that part. I also liked West's casting, don't remember the actresses name, but she was very good as well.
Third, I love the re-imagining of the original story. I love how it's updated for modern times, I love the science vs magic dispute (even though they didn't really flesh it out much), I like that ScareCrow/Lucas was in search of his memory (clever), Tin Man/ Jack was this Frankenstein half boy, half machine (ok, i can dig it), and Cowardly Lion/ was a disgraced, solider who cowardly murdered the royal family to save his own life (dope). There's a lot of great things about the story that I liked, but those are just a few.
Weak Points. Where the show took a turn for the worst was near the end. There was just a lot going on, a lot of loose ends to tie, and a lot were not able to tie together nicely. The "war" and "beast forever" climax it keep building up during the show was lackluster at best. A lot of the story was very convoluted and confusing to follow. There's the Wizard of Oz who is power hungry and ruthless and big on science, even though he never uses it; Glinda, who is cold-hearted stuck up bitch who was boring as hell to watch (Except her costumes); West, who interesting enough was the strongest character of the series, is a strung out nympho who is haunted by her past (one which never made sense to me); Tip, the boy who turns into a girl, who turns into a princess, who turns into a witch, only to turn back into a boy, then BACK into a princess again (not kidding); Jack, Tip's best friend who she kills and is turned into the Tin Man; Langwidere, selfish, princess who's really a robot (eye roll). And so on. There's a host of half ass characters and plots that don't really make sense, and never really go anywhere. Either they though the show was only going to be one season so they jammed as much in or they thought they would have more seasons to flesh these characters out, either way it's a mess. Near the end I no longer cared what happened to the characters, and that's when I knew why this was cancelled.
Overall, it was a decent attempt, but it sucks the story was so sloppy, because it had A LOT of potential.
All Eyez on Me (2017)
All Eyez Script: Straight Outta Wikipedia
I was very excited to see this film. I've always been a Tupac fan, however, was too young to really comprehend the full scope of his career while he was at his peak. So I was hoping that watching this film would give more insight into the man, the genius, the legend that was Tupac....boy was I wrong.
The major downfall of this movie is the script. The writing is atrociously bad and the pacing is very quick and fragmented. I literally felt like I was watching a reenactment of a Wikipedia bio page. Just like "Ok now this is Tupac in Maryland", "Now here's Tupac in NYC", "Now here he is in Oakland", so on so forth. No flow, no emotional compass, nothing to really connect his previous life to his life after he was famous. They didn't even stay on any one part of his life long enough for you to really learn anything about him before he was famous, as if none of that was really important, which is BS. Even when it got to the part of him rapping or his poetry, didn't even show that as a pivotal part of his life or show how important that was to him. Very boring, vague, superficial and lazy writing that glossed over all the essential parts of his life, and just focuses on....nothing really. No real insight.
Likewise, the dialogue was just as excruciating. Some of the scenes played out like a bad daytime soap opera. Scenes that were suppose to carry a lot of the emotional weight were rushed through and fell flat. They did a lot of telling, not showing, which is always takes away from the movie because the audience is not emotionally invested in what you're portraying.
All and all, the movie didn't do him justice, at least not on par with the expectation it generated from the trailer and especially not on par with Straight Outta Compton.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)
Movie was good, but book was better (as always)
I watched the movie over the weekend, and while I LOVE the sheer fact that they even made a movie about Henrietta and her family's life, I have to say the movie didn't have as much of an emotional impact as the book did. To me the movie is more of a big long commercial for the book. A way to reach a broader audience and get more people interested in who this women was and her role in modern science. Also, to know how her family had to deal with the hoopla about her cells and being taken advantage of every step of the way.
First, the movie was not bad. I liked Oprah as Deborah (love it even more knowing that Deborah was a huge Oprah fan, and would've been ecstatic to meet Oprah, let alone have her portray her in a movie). The actors portraying the family did very well with what they had, and the movie covers a lot of the key points from the book. I also loved the flashbacks of Henrietta before she was sick, and seeing her with young Deborah was very touching.
However, the biggest problem I had with the movie is that it felt it was very rushed, almost incoherent. Now I understand that could have been deliberate, with especially with the jazz infused intro and Deborah's chaotic personality at times, but I don't think it helped give the audience much time to really feel empathy for the characters. Thank God I read the book and know how all of this effected them in detail, because in the movie, you feel almost nothing for them because nothing's explained very well, and you barely had time to process who each were, and what their mother meant to them. Each scene rushed you to one point of the story to the next. We spent the most time with Deborah, who obviously was the main family member who wanted to know the most about her mother. It was her and Rebecca who did all of the foot work in terms of researching what happened to her mother and her older sister, Elsie. But, in the movie they barely touch on why she was so paranoid. For most of the movie, you're just wondering what the hell is wrong with this woman? There's hardly any empathy for her. Then there's the climatic scene at her cousin's house. This was such an intense emotional scene in the book, especially finding out that after that moment, Deborah was on the verge of a stroke. Knowing this further explained her erratic behavior and the emotional roller coaster she'd been on with her mother's cells. But in the movie, they just rushed through it without giving any context as to why this particular moment was so crucial to her story. Plus, the scene was lackluster at best, zero emotional payoff, did it no justice, and my biggest disappointment from the movie.
Overall, I HIGHLY suggest reading the book. I also, suggest listening to the RadioLab podcast episode about the book as well. Not only does it go into more detail about the impact of HELA cells, there's audio footage of Deborah, Rebecca, and that night at her cousin's, which gives that scene even more emotional weight listening to actual footage. The book goes into so much detail on not only Henrietta's life, but the trials and tribulations of her children and what they went through all those years dealing with all the excitement about her cells. Furthermore, it gives more detail as to WHY John Hopkins and other scientific entities never gave compensation to the Lacks family. The "why" part is just as complicated and important as the story itself. Whether you agree with it or not, it's still very fascinating story.
Regardless of how good or bad the movie is, I'm happy Henrietta, Deborah, and the Lacks' family story is being told and they are getting the recognition they deserve. I think it's important to at least know who this woman is and to honor her. As the movie and book pointed out, there's not one person on this planet that hasn't benefited from HELA cells in some way. I know I have, so I say thank you Mrs. Henrietta Lacks.