Reviews

I skipped through this one online to see if it was worth a watch. The titlesequence was the first thing that made me want to watch it, the editing of it and the moving of the titles, sharp is the only way I know how to put it. The next scene I saw was a wide shot of the girls' car driving along the ocean. The cinematography was awesome there and again the editing got me, also the voices of the girls talking was slowed down which made it real weird and creepy. Yes it reminded me of Lynch's L. A. movies about 2 women and identity and stuff, but somehow it didn't feel exactly like a soulless copy of that kind of movie. The scene where the girls talk about this guy who liked one of them I thought, ok, it's cliche to talk about that but this movie IS about two girls, there's bound to be girl-talk. I'm a fan of Mackenzie Davis and both the girls acting was good.

I think I saw the opening quote as well which kind of put me off: yet another film where the subject is what it means to be a woman etc. But the snippets I just described made it feel relevant in terms of exciting and inspired use of the craft. I ended up watching the whole thing the night after. The first 5 to 20 minutes made me want to stop, because indeed it was yet another movie about what it's like to be a woman. So I thought, alright, let's at least watch a bad movie then, being an aspiring filmmaker I might learn how NOT to do things. Yes the story was a bit shallow. The dialogue I thought was alright, the acting was good and I believe the directing did a lot to make this movie special. Again cinematography and editing where also real good. If the story had been a little thicker, more satisfying or more clear even, less 1 dimensional and vague, I think it would have been a way bigger success. But I think for the craftsmanship portrayed in this movie for everything except the plot, it doesn't deserve the low rating it has. Same crew and better script is something I'd like to see happen. But this movie is way better than the loads of crappy stuff being poured out constantly by new directors.

Yes I loved the parking garage scene with Queen, that was great. And Wright was smart to have us walk out the cinema with that scene in mind, because the rest was so helplessly boring, cliché, and cliché again. The constant music was less than a gimmick, it worked against the film at times. So completely form over substance. I always loved the first half of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. When I saw it I thought it was going to be my new favorite film. But after that it took a nosedive into boyish nothingness. I hoped to see more of that genius I glimpsed in Scot Pilgrim in Wrights work. Or at least to see him progress, and I guess he has, a little. But please, the teenage diner dialogue, between Baby and Deborah? And even the story itself. If you're gonna play with cliche's you've got to do something with them, it's not enough to use them. I kept consoling myself with the idea that Edgar is still a boy, he's a young writer, director, but alas. Wright would be better at adaptions. He has some great moments in writing, genius actually I think, but they're moments. It just makes me so angry to see such bad films get so much praise. It just fuels the s*** jet.

I want to give it a 6,5...

The ending, is I think why this movie is getting such a bad rating. Some people were expecting Emma to be the 'good guy' and overthrow the system, others were expecting her to join the bad guys. I've read a short article about Ponsoldt, the director's intentions on Business Insider. To me it seems that the ending is the creepily ambiguous one it should be. At first you think Emma is saving the day, but then you realize she's just condemned the entire world to zero privacy. Ponsoldt said that he thinks technology etc. In itself is good, but the way large corporations handle it is wrong. This view is seen in the ending, but we don't get the full happy end feeling. The music and last shot of the billboard, broadcasting 'everything' doesn't necessarily make us feel all good. I didn't feel that anyway. But that's just it, technology and where it seems to be heading isn't necessarily all good. It's unsure, it's up to us to make sure it does end up good. If anything the ending causes you to talk about these issues, which is probably the best effect you could have, and also the only thing Eggers wants to achieve.

To me it did feel like the ending was solely grim. And I liked that. Emma gives the power to the people 100%, but in doing that also eliminates privacy completely.

Besides the ending I was happy that the film wasn't as tame as I feared. I'm happy sex was at least named although I would have liked a little more depth on that issue. 3 minutes for the bathroom OK, global democracy agrees on that, but what are the time limitations for intercourse? If they create time windows for that how long are they? And when? And what's to say you don't use that time to 'be your worst self'. 3 minutes doesn't give you a whole lot of time, but.... 20? 10 at the least? It's getting too PERSONAL already. Anyway I thought all of that would be interesting to get in to.

I also liked the bad Tom Hanks. This was the first time I couldn't see Woody glowing through.