Change Your Image
EvanStoria
Reviews
Maya and the Three (2021)
Way too violent for kids.
Yet another overly violent film aimed at children. The premise of the story is charming. The reality is noisy and violent.
I like Mayan history, but my kids won't be watching anything this violent.
Friends from College (2017)
Fun, but irrelevant in 2021
This was probably funny in its day, but in a post pandemic, climate crisis, BLM world, it just seems wasteful. People with every possibility for great lives (Harvard grads) just seem to waste a lot of time by making really bad decisions in their personal lives. Perhaps that's the point. But hard to care.
Some comic moments are well structured, and definitely made me laugh, I do really want to know what happens to each person; but it's so hard to believe that everyone in this friend group is emotionally stunted and can't mature past the emotional games of high school and college. Everybody in your friend group can't be an immature jackass.
A few additional characters (maybe parents?) to show how spoiled, privileged and banal these characters are would have rounded out the story and probably gotten them a third and fourth season.
Emily in Paris (2020)
It's a bore.
Sorry, it's a bore. I don't know if it's just the state of the world right now, but this almost makes me nauseous. The main character isn't just inexperienced in European travel, she seems to lack the most basic workplace interaction skills.
To add insult to injury, the formula for each episode is 100% predictable. Emily messes up, everyone hates her, Emily apologizes and sets about to fix it, she gains a centimeter in being accepted by her work peers. Zzzzzzz. It's like MacGyver but if MacGyver was a vapid, young insta-marketer.
I can tell that the actress herself is significantly smarter than the role was written, so that makes her acting come off as -- ugh. I don't even have a word for it. With just a little more effort they could have written something meaningful, instead of a desperate attempt to make Sex In The City in Paris.
She has no family that stays in touch with her? No American friends who stay in touch with her? No parents? In the days when technology makes it almost impossible to escape your friends and family? Not believable.
It's just an empty shell.
August in Berlin (2017)
Quirky and Different
Different than my usual taste in films. Definitely made me think about traveling and what sort of unexpected friendships happen when you are out of your element. Lead female character is good writing. She starts out so guarded and then changes over time. A friend shared it with me. Not sure how you can get a copy to see it. Doesn't look like it has distribution yet.
Waking David (2016)
Loved it. Outstanding directing.
I did not expect to love an independent film by a first-time director. Just wow. A few possible rough edges in the editing - but possibly that was on purpose. Not sure. A very brief scene or two might have been able to be deleted. But I absolutely did not see the surprise ending coming. Tension-wise very well done.