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Perfect Days (2023)
Hot take: I think he's actually sad
There, I said it. I'll expand on it in a sec, just wanted to put it out there.
First of all, I went in with the correct expectations: indie film, slow-paced, romanticising daily life, cool music. And it did tick these boxes, except it was muuuuch slower than I would've liked. I wish there was a bit of a backstory or some more... story added on top of all the mindfulness lessons.
Speaking of mindfulness: I am glad this movie introduced a lot of people to this concept and provided a breakthrough for some of us (slow down and smell the roses) but ofc it won't be that for everyone. I, for one, found it a bit over the top, romanticising and idealising every boring aspect of this man's life, and I don't think that's realistic. Yeah, sure, it would probably be refreshing or interesting for a few days or weeks but eventually I'd want to experience other things life has to offer. Wouldn't you? Is it healthy to never express any opinions/feelings and barely speak to people? Take your work so seriously? Is that happiness? I think there should be some sort of balance and the writer seriously oversimplified what a content life looks like.
And to finally get to my point: this movie only moved me at the end, when Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" is playing and Hirayama is smiling/crying, because that's when I felt a bit of emotion and authenticity coming from this guy. It's not clear what he's thinking/feeling (and I think that's the director's whole spiel, to leave things unspoken, which does leave one wondering what is going on but I also think it's a cop out, because each viewer is doing his work for him, which is creating a backstory and personality for the main character, so that things make sense for each of us. Say what you want to say Wim, give us the story!!!). Anyway, there was a lot of sadness behind the smile, his eyes were red, his face kept going dark and sad and his smile felt forced. That's how I saw him, a repressed man who is forcing himself to stay positive at any cost, because the alternative is bleak. I thought he was just alone by choice at first but by the end I saw him as deeply lonely and hanging by a thread. I'm saying this as a person who enjoys solitude and quiet natural spaces, just like this character. It's a lonely life, because not many people enjoy the little things, the slow things, the mundane things, and sometimes you feel like sharing these little wonders with someone else but there's no one who appreciates the same, so you just kind of resign yourself to noticing and enjoying these things on your own. So solitude turns into isolation, and it's painful. I think that boring "social animals" cliche is true (definitely not saying we should spend all our time in packs, yapping on, ew) and Wenders simplified happiness and "perfection" too much.
I also would like to stress that the mundane is oftentimes dirty and nasty and cruel. His toilets were nice and fancy, and he got to spend a lot of time near nature, but how many of us are forced to live/work in dirty, noisy, crowded urban environments that look nothing like what's depicted in the movie? It's hard to romanticise these common aspects of life unless you live in idealised Japan.
All in all, it was a cute watch with good music. I appreciated the simplicity of the movie, in almost a rebellious sense compared to Hollywood movies, which are all about drama, noise, bla bla, just thought it went a bit too much in the other direction and would've been more impactful had it had a more clearly defined storyline.
Saltburn (2023)
Critique of the rich? Where?
The visuals were stunning, the acting was good and the music really made the scenes come alive.
However I have a big issue with this movie: it's supposed to critique the rich lifestyle but it came across as the complete opposite to me? Yeah, there were a few scenes where they say stupid things, but they are still made out to be lovable, quirky, absent-minded or just stupid or mean. Forgivable human flaws. Emerald Fennel (whose first film, Promising Young Woman, I loved) is herself part of the elite she's supposedly trying to critique, so I wonder if that had anything to do with the relatability bias I kept noticing throughout the movie. She is clearly aware of systemic misogyny and its effects on young women (presumably because she's been affected by it), but she seems oblivious to the same principle when it comes to social class.
Oliver is presented as a sociopath who would lie, cheat, or kill his way to the top, and that's just giving ordinary people a bad name. While I'm sure there are some people from working class backgrounds who would do anything to become rich, they most probably wouldn't succeed even if they did all those horrible things. Statistics say it's very hard to move upwards socially, and if you are going to change social classes, it will most probably be downwards. Most working class people don't want endless wealth, they just want to not worry about everything all the time and enjoy the limited free time they have.
While I'm sure there are also lots of lovable rich people with nice personalities out there, the reality remains that society and its rules are made by and biased towards the rich, so even the most talented working class psychopath trying to deceive the rich and steal their assets would be caught in the act. There're a lot of plotholes, which makes me think the story wasn't very well designed, they were more focused on appearances and emphasising certain ideas. I'm pretty sure the family would've been more suspicious of this random person coming to their house, they would've definitely checked his background and found out he was lying. Why would he lie as well? Would you? Why are they choosing to show the most dramatic exaggerated facets of humanity instead of the regular? How come the police didn't investigate all those "accidental" deaths better? Let's be real, they would've arrested Oliver in the blink of an eye. How were they all so smitten with this guy? It doesn't make sense. He would've been much more humiliated in real life. Which just shows me how the writers have no clue about real life and how most of us experience things. That's what I want to see on screen. Actual stories, actual struggles, real people I can relate to. And this rich posh person is not going to know how to show that. Nope. She's portraying poor people as pathological liars with no morality and rich people as gullible ditzy sweethearts who harmed no one, just happened to be rich, which is sadly not how most rich people acquire wealth.
Don't even get me started on all the disgusting scenes. What's the point of that? Shock for the sake of shock. Real life is shocking enough as it is, why don't you like showing that instead? Oh, it's only cool in a posh context, it's distasteful if you're poor. Smh.
Toata lumea din familia noastra (2012)
Interesting BUT...
I really appreciated this movie, because you can see all the character's angles, but I think we're still supposed to lean with the main character, and I have some thoughts on that. It's subtle, but it's implied that he's the "nice guy" who does everything "out of absolute love for his child" and is "forced" to resort to violence. Which I disagree with. Because in the end, if his actions hurt people, his good intentions amount to zero.
It's hard to know who is telling the truth, who is exagerrating or not, who to trust, they all have (mainly) valid points and it's hard for us viewers to form an opinion from the outside, without having access to any of their background stories or seeing any of the events that are referenced. The guy keeps saying that he's not violent, that he was "pushed" to act like that by his ex and her current partner, but in the end it's our guy who's flipping tables, tying people up and creating chaos in front of the child, the other two seem to take care of the child and at least try to shield her from the drama. So to me, it's the behaviour that counts, and not the justification behind it. He's the one causing drama and subjecting his daughter to violence in the name of love (even if he didn't mean to), and maybe the wife had a point to try to keep him away?
I think he should protect his child from dangerous or traumatic situations if he loves her, but he's doing the exact opposite, and the ex-wife seemed to actually protect her kid. So I'm not sure we should just empathise with him just cause he's the main character. He wants to take her away by all means necessary, but is that for the child's benefit or his pleasure/ambition? Maybe he should've waited for Otilia to come back and talk to her, and not just assume she's doing everything to spite him. Maybe she really was trying to protect the kid, and he was chill about the kid's cold because he really wanted to get away that weekend at any cost. But would that have been that responsible? Who's more stubborn? I'm not sure who's right, to be honest, but at least they didn't start wreaking havoc.
I think Sofia's wellbeing should be the priority, and none of them (and unfortunately the worst in this respect is Marius) seem to be mature enough to understand that. It's actions that matter, not intentions, and Marius's behaviour hurt a lot of people, so it is not excusable in my opinion, even if I can see how he cares about her and how he wants to be in her life and how he's trying to be a good guy. We can't know his intentions, we can just assume they were noble, but the hard truth is that his actions scarred a lot of people that day, so he's not as good a guy as he likes to think and say he is.
Also... The way he switched from begging her to take it back to calling her a wh*re to confessing his love and assaulting her to shouting again... That's just creepy and manipulative. Love? What kind of love is that? Of course that lady wanted to stay away from him and shelter her child from all this drama. The relationship dynamic was hurting the child, not necessarily him or her, and she was wise enough to keep Sofi away from it. This guy doesn't get it that it's not about him, it's about what's best for the kid, and whatever this meeting (maybe others like it before) is not healthy.
His dad needs to grow up too. He cares about him, it's obvious, but why does he choose to show it by shouting at him, humiliating and insulting him? I can see where he gets his unfortunate ideas about love and communication from. People need to learn how to talk respectfully and think before they act, maybe consider what other people are thinking or listen to their side, compromise, think of what their responsibilities and priorities are.
Filantropica (2002)
Romanian comedy with American influences
I actually really enjoyed this. I had pretty low expectations and was expecting a Romanian movie from the early 2000s to be deeply problematic but I was pleasantly surprised by the good acting and funny visuals. The story was engaging and I loved seeing some Romanian staples, like the stray dogs, specific music, and communist blocks of flats in the background. I loved how the director chose to show the commercials and the main character's dreams and phantasies. I felt like he was influenced by American movies and commercials but he made them really funny and it was unexpected. I wasn't expecting it to be so witty and funny, I was expecting a slow, depresssing story, that's what I'm used to when I think of Romanian cinema.
One thing that was disappointing and it consistently is in Romanian cinema is how women are portrayed: as sex objects and/or money-guzzling idiots. There's no personality or story for them, they just exist to show boobs, be pretty, sometimes annoying, and have sex at the drop of a hat. That's really poor on the part of the writers and directors. Women deserve to be portrayed as humans, not just boobs or mouths. There's so many other perspectives that can be shown, not just the sex, I'm sad that male directors somehow decided that's all there is to women...
I'm also not sure how I feel about the beggars mafia premise but I'll have to look into that more. I don't think the majority of homeless people are secretly rich because of begging. They're probably sitting in the rain for a reason and this movie is unfortunately spreading a myth that doesn't help poor people who were unlucky in their life circumstances.
La Gomera (2019)
Tired
Really disappointing. The acting was bad, especially from the main actor (the only exception being Rodica), the plot is not great either, lots of plot holes, unnecessarily complicated and nonsensical. But the most annoying bit is how hard it tried to use tired Hollywood tropes to try to sell it.
There's nudity and rape for no reason, random threats of violence, random mafia, random police double agents, shooting, betraying, and then at the end he randomly gets to Singapore and gets the girl. It's all SO RANDOM.
Also it doesn't make sense to me why that gorgeous woman would sleep with that old boring fart and then choose to meet up with him in an exotic country. Why would she choose to lie about being a prostitute and sleep with the guy when she could've said so many other things??? Men have no imagination and really want to write about/see naked women all the time. Sexist and boring!
His mother giving the money away to church was hilarious, hence the two stars. But then again she is portrayed as this stupid naive oblivious lady - again sexist! The writer of this film has never actually paid attention to a woman, because he seems to only perceive women as sex objects or stupid. Stop being sexist and DO BETTER!
Eu când vreau sa fluier, fluier (2010)
Great acting
Quite an unexpected movie and I was pleasantly surprised to see how good the acting was. I liked the style of the director as well, I like to see uncomfortable silences and beautiful landscapes where poorly dressed prisoners labour. It's realistic. I think there's a time for comedies and fantasy movies to disconnect from reality, and a time for movies that show us sad or cruel parts of society. And I think this movie succeeded at showing some.
I didn't like the way Ana was depicted. There's no insight into her life, into how she felt to be in that situation without her consent. The same goes for the mother. We see the anger of the son but not the mother's story. Why is it all her fault? Where's the father? Why is she judged for being a bad parent but the father is not included in that conversation? Unfortunately, like a lot of Romanian movies, it proliferates the same old sexist tropes. Yes, it is a tragedy that so many children grow up without their parents and in poverty, surrounded by violence but that's a failure on the part of society in general and how we perceive parenting to only be the mother's job. It's a failure of the prison system as well, which practically ensures that few prisoners actually reform.
I would've liked to hear other opinions too, to better judge how justified Silviu's anger was. And I just couldn't believe that the police didn't do more to help Ana. Would they really be that incompetent in real life? I hope they would at least try something.
Glass Onion (2022)
Not as smart as it thinks it is
I liked Knives out and was excited for this one, but while I enjoyed it, something felt off throughout the whole movie. The theme is "genius" vs stupid and I have a feeling that the writer/director thinks he was really smart for writing a murder mystery committed by an "idiot". Never been done before, amazing.
I really don't like it when people make this distinction. I think it would've been more accurate to name the actual root of evil in the rich guy: cruelty. Yes, he is ignorant, but he has absolutely no regard to other people's feelings and needs, only his own. He steals, hurts, lies and destroys without thinking of the consequences. Only to hoard money. That's his crime, not stupidity.
What even is "stupid"? We're all stupid at something and smart at something else. There's plenty of "stupid" people out there who are kind and hurt no one. It's the ignorant people who think they are above others and act with complete disregard to others who are the problem. People who think they are above everything and everyone. That's what we should judge. Stupid can be excused, it usually doesn't hurt others. Cruelty does.
Criticising stupidity while spreading a stupid point is just too ironic.
Coborâm la prima (2018)
Quite bad
I liked the description but it really disappointed me. It could've been much better. The characters didn't feel human, they were just stereotypes and caricatures, and there was little character development.
How tf did they all know the guy in the cool shirt was gay? That's it? If you look pretty and have fine taste in shirts, then you're gay? Very dismissive, they simplified a complex experience until it became ridiculous.
Very poor depiction of autism (the "special needs" implied). Autistics wouldn't run around hugging everyone randomly, giving their toys and sweets to strangers, and smiling and staring at random people. That's a magic elf they had in mind. They really dehumanised the kid and his actual real sensory needs which would've been overstimulated in that noisy crowded environment.
All the random flirting - so unnecessary and CRINGE. Do people ever talk like that? Why the innuendos? Why can't they be friends first? I don't understand why the artsy chick kept talking to that arsehole. Why is she so interested in a random guy who isn't even nice to her? Why is she committed to getting to know him? Why on earth would he think it's a good idea to kiss her after bullying her? Have the writers met any real women and asked them if they would like anything like that? It's not romantic, it's cringe and repulsive, and the guy is toxic.
I could go on like this for all characters, but I'll just ask who thought Cotimanis walking around eavesdropping and dishing out unsolicited advice was a good idea? And the grand speech at the end? Dramatic, but empty. Didn't feel anything throughout the whole movie.
A few good things about it:
Laughed my ass off with my best friend at all the corny or cringey lines, so for us this was quite the comedy.
I'm glad we all agreed the corporate guy was nasty (instant cringe).
I appreciate the positive message and hope it somehow gets through, and also hope that the writer(s) can create some more realistic and complex characters, situations and dialogues next time.
God's Own Country (2017)
Simple, strange and moving
I found it uncomfortable to watch at first. The way Johnny expressed himself (rather didn't express himself) and how he only let his anger out. As a queer woman, it was scary for me to see how the main character could have pretty rough sex without talking to the people involved, but it was interesting to see a gay man's perspective.
I am also Romanian, so I liked that someone from my native country was included in an English production. I think we need a lot more representation. I would've liked to get to know Gheorghe more though, he felt a bit like an immigrant gay version of what the manic pixie dreamgirl usually is to straight male characters: there to teach them how to enjoy life, to laugh, to express their feelings, support them emotionally and all that, without really expressing many needs themselves or being given a personality. I think we do need a person like that to teach us about ourselves and love, but I find it a bit weird that this role of altruistic caretaker usually falls on women, or in this case, an immigrant.
I enjoyed the stillness and simplicity the director went for. It really allowed me to emerse myself in their world and try to empathise with their situation. I cried quite a bit towards the end. The toxic masculinity that Johnny experienced and exhibited triggered my own painful memories about a Yorkshire man who didn't know how to express himself except through anger. I was happy to see how Johnny let Gheorghe in and accepted his tenderness and care. How he learned from him and adopted some of his habits that made his life a bit better. I mean the salt, I found that so cute. It didn't go that well in my case. My Yorkshireman felt threatened by my salt.
Two things I really didn't like were the use of slurs and the scenes where they cut animals up. Were they necessary? Also the first time they get together, grunting in the mud, not saying a word, that felt strange to me. I feel asking for consent and feedback is so important and I can't really imagine having sex with someone like that, without saying a word. Such a moving story, but they had to add some brutality to it, which kind of scared me. It's not healthy to bottle stuff in, which is the whole point of the movie, I know, but is this also something that happens between repressed men? Not talking, just doing? How do you know if it's ok for the other person?
The Most Hated Man on the Internet (2022)
GO CHARLOTTE
It is great seeing women like Charlotte being so smart, brave and resilient. She completely outsmarted that buffoon and brought some justice to the victims of his sociopathic actions.
It is infuriating though that there was no mention of the humiliation and objectification these women went through. How are those not punishable offences? That complete skid of a person didn't receive half of what he deserved. He needs some therapy. Find a real hobby. An occupation. Help someone instead of ruining their lives for fun. How much better the world would be if people would choose to be kind to others instead of exploiting them. So disgusted by those people. That's not a real family, what are people actually thinking? How could they do that to other humans just like them? It was unbearable to watch at times.
We need better regulation against this sort of abusive behaviour!!!
Man vs Bee (2022)
What was this?
It's just Mr. Bean in an expensive house doing really stupid things. Is this supposed to be funny?
They destroyed all that fancy stuff and wasted all that time and money. Imagine how many other things they could've done with that time and money. Things that would've mattered and made a difference in someone's life. This was absolutely pointless. And it's frankly enraging that it was also expensive to produce. Expensive pointless is the worst type of pointless.
Netflix, you can do much better. Invest in artists who can present actual ideas and stories and not just waste our time and burn some money.
Also wtf was that format? POINTLESS.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Hilarious
Laughed my ass off, enjoyed the soundtrack and how the film didn't take itself seriously for the most part. It also had some deeper bits, which I thought could've been better, but Taika Waititi gets a 10 from me for his humour. THE GOATS WERE THE FUNNIEST THING EVER!!!!
I liked Christian Bale's look, really spooky, looked like the Grim Reaper x Voldemort, but I would've liked to know more about him, his backstory etc. I couldn't really connect to the pain that drove him to be the villain.
I also didn't like how children were presented as the meaning of life and the most important thing ever. Thor replaced his love interest with the responsibility of a child. So predictable. Is there nothing else worth living for? And those kids being abducted and then poof! Becoming superheroes with no training, because they're precious Asgardians, the new generation bla bla - that also felt empty, although I appreciate the message that kids can sometimes be smarter than adults and change something for the better. I just feel like there's a lot of movies where having a child is used as a trope and it's a bit boring.
Anyway, I digress. I also didn't like the fact that Zeus spoke with a Greek accent. He's an asshole and I feel like this is again an overused trope - to give the asshole an accent and to sort of link his foreigness to his bad morals. Easy joke to make as well.
Also didn't like the joke about Thor losing his clothes and all the women sighing - I felt like I was in fifth grade again, when all the little boys thought that would be the most hilarious thing ever.
I also believe they could've saved the mighty Thor, but it must have to do with Natalie Portman's contact or something.
Gekijouban Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Eternal (2021)
Made no sense
The animation was soooo cute, but I just couldn't keep up with it. There's a lot going on and I didnt feel like the events developed logically. It felt like the script was just random stories glued together. It didn't lead anywhere and there were too many twists and surprises. Too many characters, incomplete story archs and backstories. No character development. Could've been much more interesting.
I admit I didn't watch the original anime or read the manga, I just vaguely remember a random Sailor Moon magazine I was fascinated by as a kid, so maybe my experience would've been different if I had more prior knowledge.
Look Both Ways (2022)
Could've been much better
Nice idea, pretty bad execution. I would've liked there to be three stories, the third being her life where the result is positive, but she chooses not to have the baby. Abortion is also a valid choice and should be represented in movies as such, not as some sort of last resort or tragedy. Her life would've no doubt been thrown off course and it would've been interesting to explore how that decision would've caused a change in her mindset and direction going forward.
Had a lot of unnecessary rom-com tropes I didn't enjoy. Some of the dialogue was super cheesy and there to just fill up time. Her relationship with the baby's father was also pretty toxic. Maybe they'll get it right when they remake this remake :)
Senior Year (2022)
Got what
I wanted a chill comedy where I didn't have to use my brain and I got what I wanted. It was quite funny and I appreciated the messages it tried to convey, like don't compete with other girls, don't make your online life appear perfect at the detriment of your real life, don't bully people who are simply different and so on, but it was just so... American with all the grandiose gestures, over the top parties and costumes, things working out perfectly and all the big emotions. Cheerleaders still ended up sexualising themselves. And Tiff never explicitly said what she did and I would've liked her to take responsibility for real.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
A lot happened, yet it was so boring
I felt as if I was watching about 10 different movies rolled into one. There were so many characters (can't remember most of them) and so many things going on that didn't really tie in with each other in the end; yet somehow I was bored most of the time. It felt as if a classroom of small children wrote the screenplay, it just jumped from one thing to another and didn't make much sense. There was some drama thrown in for the sake of it. The plot twists and ending were underwhelming, and some of the dialogue was sooo bad. It felt like season 13 of a soap opera.
I didn't feel any chemistry between the actors, it was as if they were all in a meeting over zoom and each of them was thinking what to have for dinner that night while pretending to be in the conversation.
And Jude's confusing accent? And Professor Hick's confusing accent? And their solution for the suitcase problem kinda copying the Order's solution when they had to get Harry out in the beginning of Deathly Hallows?
Also hot take, but I am not a Madds fan - is it just me or does he just act the same in all his movies? He's just... Madds, he's not Hannibal, he's not Grindelwald, he's just himself. A stressed out himself. I honestly don't get the hype around him. I mean, he's cute, but he can't act.
Would have liked to see more about the love story between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Would have liked to see more of Jacob - he was the only funny and authentic bit of the whole thing. Would have liked the stories they did choose to show to make sense and lead somewhere. I wonder what fluff they'll come up with to fill 3 hours for the last movie.
Also did anyone understand the attempted assassination plot line? My brain got tired of trying to make sense of it.
At least Johnny Depp wasn't in this movie - they got one thing right.
Atypical (2017)
Pretty typical
I was excited to watch a series depicting autism, but it was only marginally about autism and very focused on the struggles and drama of the neurotypicals. So very typical. The actor wasn't autistic himself and neither were the writers or director. Disappointing.
It was cute and quite funny at times, but just like any other series. What's the point in making a series that's supposed to represent autism and then not do that? Also really annoyed that they presented the same tired old stereotypes about male autistics. I just felt like the series was about neurotypicals, targeted at neurotypicals and just solidifying same old tropes about autistics.
There's a whole new world out there you're missing out on when you keep repeating the same stories. There are so many different ways autistics can express themselves and different ways they perceive the world that haven't been presented to neurotypicals yet. The experience of autistic girls and women can be so much more different and not a lot of people are familiar with that perspective.
Now that would really be interesting and new, Netflix. Good idea, but do better!
The Gray Man (2022)
So weak
Boring and predictable. The characters were boring and empty, dialogue lame, the storyline equally boring and uninteresting. Hated the gang of charicatures that were given flashy styles instead of personalities or good back stories. Guys, make an effort. You wasted all that money blowing up cars and focusing on shooting and fighting, can you write an actual story about humans and not just boring phantasies of toxic masculine heroes?
Full of sexism and male gaze scenes, we are all bored of them, please pay some actual interesting people to write a decent script and film from a half decent perspective. Objectifying women on screen for the sake of it is not cutting it any more. The only thing I appreciated was that they didn't force Ana de Armas and anyone else to be together romantically and they gave her a few lines that fought the overt sexism of the other characters. And that she saved him instead of the other way around. But still, she had no story of her own. I hate action movies. Please men, go to therapy and talk your traumas out instead of writing repetitive action movies just to channel all those unaddressed frustrations and pent up rage. Talking does help. Anger is undressed sadness. You can make a movie about that experience, it would be vastly more interesting and useful. The rest of the world supports you.
Polar (2019)
Gratuitous murder, violence and female sexualisation
It doesn't have a story or a point or a deeper meaning. A lot of plot holes and bad dialogue. It's as if a 12-year old who needed to prove his manliness wrote this. Who funded this?
All of the blood and violence and random sex and sexual jokes are there to prove how tough and manly they all are, even the women. But the main character is also caring deep inside, but he can't possibly overtly show it, because that wouldn't be manly. I wasted almost two hours on this. And the big reveal at the end? Predictable and underwhelming. No point to it, just a bit of drama.
Why is that organisation murdering people in the first place? And they're paying their assassins employee pensions? Maybe if they had shown a proper backstory, this would've bored me less. Focus on writing and showing a better story and less on blood, naked women shown in the male gaze and embarrassing dialogue meant to sound manly.
The only good thing was Mads acting, which makes me wonder is he dead inside? How did he get through it?
Reality Bites (1994)
Confusing af
Interesting - when I could understand something. It moved so fast and there was so much drama and talking and fighting that I couldn't keep up with it. What is this movie about? It rarely makes a point, it's just endless blabbering and toxic relationships and privileged kids. I liked that it allowed that sort of existential angst of the 90s to be portrayed but at times I felt it was just random rambling and shouting about nothing.
I absolutely hated the unstable dynamic between Troy and Lelaina - what's his deal and why are they so randomly mean to each other, then really tender and kind? Is that supposed to be passion or worse, real love? So unhealthy. I get the quarter life crisis mood and disappointment with the real world, can totally empathise, but I was left so confused.
Liked the soundtrack though.
This Is Us (2016)
LOVED IT except for season 6 + please include more identities
Loved the first few seasons, including season 5 - it tackled more topics than the first four, and I loved the fact that they talked about race and gender identities, I would have liked to see more of that. It bothers me that the show was so straight and cis - I would have liked an LGBTQ+ portrayal to be in the spotlight among the main characters. Wasn't a big fan of seeing covid on the screen, but the show is all about authenticity, so I guess it made sense to include it.
Season 6 let me down though - very soppy, some of the dialogue was so bad, not believable, not authentic, it felt like pointless drama, but also boring at the same time. It just feels like the writers didn't know where they were going with it and it was very cringey at times when they were all getting emotional and saying big words and crying, but it didn't make any sense and the stories felt forced and rushed. And some scenes were soooo slow on the other hand. And all the flashbacks. It felt random and not authentic at all.
And I also felt the show is a bit unaware of how privileged all the characters are. They're all rich and successful because they're good people? Again would have liked to see more realism there, aka systemic oppression, not just a portrayal of rich people. Looking around me, I don't see many families like that.
Still glad I started watching it and man, did I need the uncomfortable discussion about race, it opened my eyes to my own ignorance. For context, I am European, white, cis and straight, so I enjoy watching stories that give me insight into others' experiences.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Felt like my insides exploded on screen in a good way
LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING 💛
I didn't watch the trailer, I didn't know what it was about, the title sounded catchy and it just looked like something I would enjoy. So I went with no clue and zero expectations.
And this movie was such a revelation. It's all my depression and anxiety accumulated during many years which peaked during the pandemic expressed in a super expressive movie. It's hilarious, it's deep, it's sad, it's dark, it's annoying at times, it's colourful, it's relatable, it's hopeful, it's just everything. It allowed me to let some feelings and thoughts that had been buried deep down back to the surface again. It's given me some hope and comfort.
It's not just me and that's comforting. Maybe more people than I think are feeling like this. Maybe there's still hope of making some sense of this meaningless strange existence. Maybe there are no rules and we can embrace googly eyes.
I absolutely loved the message and the form and the actors, this movie touched me more than I can say. I will make everyone I care about watch it. We need more stuff like this in our lives!!!
Malèna (2000)
So problematic
Yet another movie through the male gaze. Poor Monica Bellucci is criticised because she didn't have enough lines and "a doll could've played Malèna", as another reviewer put it. As if that's her fault and not the scriptwriter's/producer's/original writer of that story's and whoever else's fault it was, who decided to make Malèna a mere sexual object and a martyr putting up with abuse. She could've been given lines, a personality, a story of her own! We don't learn much about the little kid either, except that he likes to masturbate a lot, maybe he could've been given a personality and future dreams and be made a real person, but Malèna is simply a nonentity, she's there for everyone else. Why is that the vision of the writer/director, etc.?
So evocative of patriarchal views. Why is she not responding, defending herself, moving out of that town, moving in with her dad, literally anything that could make her situation better? Because in the writer's mind, she's supposed to be pretty and take it. His intention was never to make her human, she's there for him to masturbate over and to feel like some sort of hero, even though he does nothing to help her either and dreams of her as a sexual object, just like the rest of them. Such a disgusting movie. Is this all that men's lives revolve around? I hope not, but this guy making a movie like this and getting praise for it might encourage people to think this is normal. Stop normalising the objectification of women on TV and in real life!! Grow up!! Women are not here just to parade in front of males and be judged on their sexual desirability!!! Women have voices and will speak up when they're treated unfairly!! Women know they are not martyrs and they don't have to take abuse from anyone!! Stop perpetuating dangerous tropes in movies ffs!!!
And the dad beating the kid, then taking him to the brothel, and those women being portrayed as heartless vipers, all the competition between Malèna and the other women in the town, not to mention the 15-year old actor having to do some pretty odd things for this movie - all so problematic. I sure hope in the 22 years since this was released and appreciated, the film industry has become more ethical and more voices are being allowed to present their visions. Sick of dirty little boys visions of women being shown everywhere.
Things I liked: the actors were good, the scenery was amazing, the musical score equally good. Just can't get over the problematic patriarchal themes. It's as if some men never outgrow their puberty years and just refuse to acknowledge that the world does not revolve around boobs and masturbating, and of course themselves. There are real issues out there, real hobbies, real women with real lives (yes, they still have boobs, but they are and do a lot alongside having boobs), and they choose to show their wet dream on TV. Disgraceful.
After Life (2019)
Ode to Gervaisness
This show is just a symphony to white maleness. Every character is there to revolve around Ricky Gervais. No character development for anyone else. Very reflective of how he probably perceives the world in general. That poor late wife of his is only shown laughing at his distasteful jokes and putting up with his bullying. She had no life, she just existed to confirm he's so funny and clever. He tries so hard to prove that if you make someone laugh you can get away with anything. So sick of old white males starring in shows about themselves presenting the same obtuse ideas and jokes. Not everything is about yourself and your little limited view of the world. I would've liked to see more of the other characters and less of Gervais thinking he's so clever in every situation. 3 because the acting was good. Not him, he was cringey, especially when he was aiming for sad and touching. The jokes were boring and crude. Wow, I said something rude or shocking, so iconic. Grow up.
Last Christmas (2019)
Token Yugoslavians played by non-Yugoslavians?
Cute. Predictable. Had some funny moments and it does spark Christmas kindness.
Appreciated the representation of Eastern Europeans, God knows the UK needs more of that, but there's several issues I have with this movie: got basic events wrong, it perpetuated some harmful stereotypes; except for the dad (Serbian), they hired English actors to play Croatians, their parts were exaggerated and ofc not written by actual Croatians (they really couldn't find some Croatian writers/actors to properly represent them and not just make charicatures out of them?)
So yeah, appreciated the attempt and intention, but the whole Yugoslavian ethnic background seemed to be there just to mimic diversity and representation and didn't actually serve a purpose in the plot, were just used as dramatic comedic acts with no actual background story, which imo does more damage.