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Bliss (2021)
Horrible acting, laughable writing, bargain bin Matrix
If Salma Hayek still doesn't feel comfortable with English speaking roles, then stop casting her to have to speak large passages of English dialogue. It's like she couldn't understand when to emphasise the correct words, and in turn the performance was a mess. Owen Wilson has no excuses, he just sucked.
I don't know if they thought they would be making the next Matrix here, but it's definitely the bargain bin version.
The Feed (2019)
Good, but rushed
The Feed takes quite a lot of elements from the premise of several Black Mirror episodes of trying to perfect a technological system that will on the surface vastly improve humanity's quality of life such as social media, information, health monitoring, communication all controlled with your mind, and then attempts to outline the dangers such technology could have on society.
Generally, the show looks quite slick and can be quite inventive with its uses of 'The Feed'. The idea was right with where the story goes, but the problem is, it is so rushed that you have no time to explore or process any advancement in the story. By the time you get half way through the first season you've already moved from basic privacy invasion and glitching to full on murderous viruses and full on mind control, an arc that really should take several seasons to get to. Not to mention a Shakespearean storyline of the main family being so out of place with the general narrative.
If we were given the time to invest in the characters, this show would be a lot easier to digest
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
Blue Jasmine, the light version
If you've seen Blue Jasmine, then watching Cate Blanchette head towards a breakdown due to a mental illness left untreated will be a familiar viewing experience for you. Your fandom of that film will probably go a long way towards judging your enjoyment of this film, as this is essentially a Cate Blanchette showcase.
Bernadette is treated as more of a dark comedy than a serious drama, which does add some more entertainment into the mix, but at the same time lessens the emotional impact and pathos of the characters. The middle third of the movie with the introduction of the therapist and trying to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with Bernadette dragged on unnecessarily, but a strong start and ending make it worth a watch.
Cats and Peachtopia (2018)
Not what I was expecting
Took my daughter as it looked like a similar movie to Secret Life of Pets, which she liked. Started off in a similar sort of manner and I thought it would be a fun, happy, adventure type movie. However, it really turned into some very sinister themes, ones which really upset a lot of other children in the cinema. I don't want to give any spoilers, but there's definitely a few scenes towards the end that just aren't appropriate or have any place being in a cutesy kids animation.
Good Boys (2019)
A lot to like
Apart from really basic storytelling that feels like it takes one too many homages from Ferris Bueller, the constant one-liners more than make up for the lack of original plot. There were barely a few minutes that ever went by without me at least cracking a smile at something delightfully naive, dimwitted or insulting the boys were saying to each other, and a lot of credit needs to be given to the boys' acting for the delivery of those lines. Especially Tremblay, who really nailed the dead pan and oblivious nature that the jokes needed.
Comedy is subjective and it's tough to find good ones these days, but Good Boys should go down as one of the better ones of 2019.
Midsommar (2019)
Wicker Man meets Lars Von Trier
This is a very difficult film to place in terms of a rating. It is unsettling so many times throughout the movie, which is good, but I thought the escalation of 'events' for each supporting character never really felt earned because they weren't given much to work with beforehand. I think at certain points as well you need to ask yourself 'what do i gain out of watching this?'. It's one of those ones I couldn't find myself looking away from, but also couldn't quite get into it at the same time.
No One Saw a Thing (2019)
Unfocused
It's not a badly made documentary. Good use of old footage, particularly news coverage that helped place how noteworthy this murder was at the time. Interesting story....initially. However, it needed to stick to the one, as advertised, Ken Rex murder and keep their foot on the gas with it. Should have been a movie in truth because added unnecessary episodes turned it into a story much less interesting
Unbelievable (2019)
Very solid series
Merritt Weaver and Toni Collette really anchored the season well, they were excellent. Kaitlyn Dever put in a decent performance, if not maybe a bit inauthentic and guilty of the same expression for 75% of it. She's still pretty young though and a positive step for her in getting dramatic roles in the future.
The season's strength came from taking the time to thoroughly examine each detective's decisions and how they process each bit of new information that comes their way. The weakness is there's never really enough credible red herrings to buy into which results in the investigation petering out in a kind of lacklustre way. Worth the watch though.
The I-Land (2019)
Tries to be 'Lost'...and it lost
I love a good island mystery where no one knows who they are or where they are or why they are as much as the next person. Ten minutes into watching this crap and i was praying for a meteorite to hit the island and put an end to everyone's suffering.
Literally the first lines out of all these characters make it seem like it's just another bad day at the office for them as they IMMEDIATELY make plans on how to survive for the long haul. They at no point seem freaked out or really all that troubled about the situation they find themselves in which is absolutely bizarre. One guy is even like "great! Stranded on an island means i get to rape anyone i want!"
The dialogue is so so bad, the delivery extremely stilted. It doesn't even feel like they're real people most of the time. It's also not even worth watching for the twist, hardly groundbreaking.
Trautmann (2018)
A Story Worth Being Told
Quite often in sports biopics, the story far super cedes their sporting achievements. This couldn't be any more true in the case of Bert Trautmann as his fascinating story gets told here; becoming a hero to many Englishman not so long after fighting to kill them.
What this film succeeds in is balancing when the right time for poignancy is and when to include some levity. What lets it down is the pacing. There were a few times where I felt the wrong moments were being drawn out, where more important and interesting moments were being rushed through too quickly.
You don't need to be a football fan to enjoy it, it's a human interest story above all else.
Child's Play (2019)
Creepy, but an unnecessary revival
Even in the modern age, with technological advancement in theory providing an opportunity to push the limits of what Chuckie could do and look like, it always felt like we've tread all the water we're ever going to need to tread with this character.
This movie was going to live and die by how scary the Chuckie doll could be, and to be honest I think it was successfully creepy enough, something about the way those thick rubbery lips could contort themselves into some unsettling expressions did achieve the desired result. Unfortunately creepy was the gear that it stayed in, and never threatened to move into more chilling territory. The kills were as gaudy and over the top as you would expect from this franchise. It's up to you if you find them creatively entertaining or tacky and lame. I also found the kids quite off putting in their obnoxiousness at times which made it a harder task in rooting for their survival.
Late Night (2019)
Inauthentic, but fine for a light watch
A decent enough premise for the basis of a dramedy, but Late Night really suffers from a lot of scenes feeling very forced and inauthentic, particularly on Kaling's end. The plot you can piece together from start to finish yourself, which takes an element of interest away from it. There's some decent enough social commentary jokes peppered throughout and overall it's a movie that washes over you in an inoffensive manner. You don't have to concentrate too hard on this, so a good one to stick on while doing other hobbies.
Hex (2018)
Not even an entertaining bad horror.
I tried to think of anything redeeming to come up with to be even remotely balanced, but I couldn't. The acting is laughably bad delivering dialogue that is even worse. I thought to myself "hey its only 80 minutes, even if it's bad it'll be over quick". That 80 minutes just would not end.
I Smile Back (2015)
Will hit close to home for a lot of people
I came into watching 'I Smile Back' having recently come out of a relationship with a woman suffering from severe depression, both having younger children from previous relationships. I was aware of her depression right from the start and it wasn't an issue as it never manifested, up until the last 5-6 months that is. For the 85 minutes this film played, it was like I was watching my life played out by Josh Charles and my partners by Sarah Silverman. Almost perfectly Adam Salky's adaptation of Amy Koppelman's semi-biographical novel highlights and encapsulates the rigors and devastation depression can have on someone's life and the loved ones around them.
As the film goes on and you are rooting for Silverman's character to get it together, get healthy, and be happy; the most common questions that keep reoccurring (as in my own experience) are how much is depression to blame for the erratic behavior, the self-destruction, the poor life choices, the hurting of others? Where does the depression end and the person begin? What should be forgiven and what cannot be? Coming from a position of clear bias and sympathy for the husband, I 100% related to being in that position that he is doing everything he can to help her, he clearly loves her and wants his family to be happy together. Often, love and good intentions are not enough in these scenarios, and decisions need to be made about whether to keep fighting in the hope things get better or to let it go so it doesn't destroy everyone. 'I Smile Back' really balances these questions so there's no clear right answers.
I was a little wary initially of Sarah Silverman being in the title role. Even with her previous serious roles I still felt that in your face, over-the-top personality wanting to burst out. Not in this. She nails it, and really makes you feel every emotional high and low. Unlucky not to be recognized by the Academy this year.
My only criticism is something which I rarely ever say about movies, is that I wish it was longer. I think the affect and anxiety that his mother's depression had on the eldest boy needed to be explored even more. We only get a very surface level of symptoms and afflictions of the child, and it would have been fascinating to get more on what affect it was having in his and his sister's life. I would have also liked a little more of a POV perspective of the husband and how he handled everything.
Overall, a very realistic and relatable projection of a debilitating and devastating condition.
Doragon Bôru Zetto Fukkatsu no 'Efu' (2015)
The whole franchise needs a fresh start
I've been a fan of the Dragon Ball franchise for about 17 years and seen all iterations of its series' and movies. DBZ: Resurrection F has convinced me that this time period and set of core heroes & villains within the Dragon Ball universe needs to be abandoned in favor of expanding the lore by starting from scratch. It's not that this particular movie is bad, it's perfectly acceptable, but we've seen all this before multiple amounts of times.
The Namek/Frieza saga in the DBZ anime series is widely considered by fans to be the peak of the franchise. A cat & mouse strategic hunt for the Dragon Balls followed by a season long epic battle for control/peace of the universe, for DBZ fans it doesn't get any better than that. So it makes sense that Frieza would be a logical choice for a revival & revenge story. It would be, however, had he not already died 3 times at the hands of the Z-Fighters already. By the end of the Dragon Ball GT series (set roughly 10 years AFTER this movie) Frieza was seen as a relatively weak fighter that no-one took that seriously anymore. Yet here he is, in-between deaths, posing a massive threat again. That's why this franchise is stale.
Now to DBZ: Resurrection F itself. Starting with the positives - the animation is beautiful, the colors and lighting absolutely pop out of the screen. Most of the voice actors reprise their roles well (although it's a bit jarring hearing the changes in Bulma & Frieza as well as others). The humor and fight scenes have not been lost over the years.
The negatives - it takes about 30mins of filler time to set up which is too long especially given the familiarity of the characters fans will already have. The story is much too simple and goes down the way everyone knows its going to with zero surprises.
Verdict - Everything between the period of Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball GT has been done to death, and nothing is gained by setting any new stories in between them. We need a Dragon Ball Genesis series of movies or anime set long before the Goku era, or conversely set it well into the future focusing on the descendants of Goku & Vegeta or an entirely new planet and species.
Inside Out (2015)
A must-see for parents and kids alike
There's a reason Disney/Pixar dominates the critical and commercial market. They are on an incredible run of heart-warming, imaginative, funny, intelligent, and gorgeously animated films. Inside Out is no exception as it attempts to illustrate the trials and tribulations of navigating through childhood.
The story centers around A young girl named Riley, who up until this point has had her childhood memories, thoughts and personality controlled by Joy (one of a handful of emotions brought to life as creatures living inside the child's mind). This all begins to change after Riley is forced to move home, and the stresses of her and her family's new life mean Joy is struggling to keep control over Riley's life as Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear begin to take over.
As with many Disney/Pixar films that try to cater to a wide range of audiences, Inside Out can sometimes feel like about five films in one. However, Pete Docter and his writing team have created such a well rounded screenplay brought to life wonderfully and enthusiastically by a talented voice cast that it all comes together to create a wonderful movie with bucket loads of heart.
I took my 4 year old daughter, and while there was a enough humour and action to keep her interested - the sweet spot for children is within 8-12 years old to get the maximum out of the emotions, story, and relativity. As always, look out for the beautiful Pixar short-movie, 'Lava' to kick-off the experience.
Jurassic World (2015)
Excellent entertainment without the warmth and charm
If I was forced to choose one movie from my childhood to call my favourite it would be Jurassic Park. I went into this from the trailer really looking forward to it as I liked the idea that they managed to realize Hammond's dream and finally create this amazing theme park rather than it all going balls up at the research stage.
Overall I thought it was really entertaining, it looked amazing, and I was never bored for a second. There was a really nice blend of referencing the past, little nods to nostalgia, and then some new really creative exhibits and activities to do at the park that made me wish something like this was real. The plot was fine, it was only ever going to go down the way everyone expects it. I found myself thinking a lot through it that it just lacks a bit of charm and warmth, that's not unique to most action movies today though. There's two major issues I had:
1) Human characters - I love Chris Pratt but he was very miscast here. Not much joy or fun in his character. Bryce Dallas Howard was pretty dull unfortunately, if we were supposed to feel the attraction building between her and Pratt throughout the movie then their lack of chemistry totally threw that out the window. Older boy was so unlikeable - the whole weirdness with his girlfriend and then checking out other girls at the park went nowhere, seemed pointless, and just made him seem like a jerk. Younger boy was okay, but I never felt the urgency that he ever thought he was in danger or was terrified like the kids in the 1993 movie really gave off. Vincent D'Onofrio - I'm not sure why we needed such a super villain character, was Wilson Fisk fresh in his mind?
2) So much Military and war stuff - Is the world so obsessed by super military weapons and impending war that we can't even have an innocent movie about dinosaurs without the grander picture being about creating killing machines for the Army?
It was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, the creation of the dinosaurs were fantastic, the action was edge of your seat stuff. Fans of Jurassic Park will get a kick out of the nostalgia but may be left disappointed if they try to compare the two, as with the Jurassic Park sequels that suffered in the same way.