SlovakPrincess

Tarantino flirted with one kind of movie but was really making something more symbolic here. I kind of wanted him to develop the dramatic story of a has-been working his way through descending levels of Hollywood and having to come to terms with that, as his more chill side kick (with a dark past) crosses paths with and flirts with an element of the counter culture that turns out to be evil. Because a drama really committed to that (against the lovely back drop of Tarantino's shots of 1960s Hollywood) would've been pretty engrossing. And, yeah, I know, it's Tarantino. Style and quirkiness (that doesn't often land for me but I understand why others love) interspersed with graphic violence is kinda his thing. But don't tell me he couldn't have done something interesting and impactful about two macho men out of place in an industry and world that's changing too fast for them -- Jackie Brown is so good precisely because the two leads face and accept their own aging and hard luck in a hostile world, and it informs their actions through the film. Tarantino's clearly pining for a mythical past world of his media-loving childhood, where macho men could be macho men (and as long as they're "cool" we don't ask too many questions about how their nagging wife died, or whether Quentin was looking for an excuse to have a scene where two women get their faces absolutely pulverized, because if you think about those things for too long ... yikes). Margot Robbie as Tate is an enigma precisely because she's really just a symbol of this world (that never really existed) and yet Tarantino really longs for and wants to "save." We get some really nice tension building with the Spahn Ranch scenes, and Rick putting his all into playing a character he initially felt was beneath him ... only to realize he's still going to have to resort to spaghetti westerns. But that tension gets frittered away in the last act with misguided narration and the ultra-violent twist ending played for laughs that feels rushed after two hours of cruising along slowly and hinting at something deeper. OR, if you're a fan of Tarantino's style, it perfectly fits his vision. I'm not a Tarantino fan, and that's probably why his least Tarantino film (Jackie Brown) is my favorite and I found this film frustrating.

Seriously, that was giving me so much anxiety to watch. In the U.S. system, you can't be compelled to testify or answer questions at all if you're a criminal defendant. And witnesses are only supposed to answer the direct questions posed to them. I was jumping out of my skin wanting to yell "objection!" when Sandra and the psychiatrist just started arguing with each other and exchanging accusations. Holy hell. I would have an aneurysm if my client ever started word vomiting all over the place in court and I couldn't stop them and then it opened up a whole avenue for the prosecutor to question them.

The animation is, once again, flawless and gorgeous. Miles Morales is still a fantastic character. I liked it a lot but nowhere near as much as the first movie. They kind of threw too much story and way too many characters into this thing.

I'm extremely late to the party on this one, but did finally see it. Margot Robbie is a gem - I adored her in this. America Ferreira did a great job as well. The set design was fantastic. A lot of it was very funny. And I really enjoyed Rhea Perlman as the spirit of the Barbie creator. I thought Ryan Gosling was very funny here, but Oscar nominations for him and for the Ken song? Eh ... kind of a bit much, in my view. The way it ended was ... odd?

Emma Stone's commitment to this role and her performance really sold this. She was excellent! The look of the movie was over the top but very artistic, and the costumes were delightful. I was not bothered by the explicit sex, but I did think it was really overdone at a certain point. There was so much focus on that that it made it seem like that was the most important part of her education and growth as a person. I could have done with more of her with Harry the cynic and Martha -- the scene where she learns about the horror of poverty in the world was powerful, and I wished there was more of that. The stuff with the general was just kind of tedious and the movie could have been shorter.

The whole time, I couldn't stop thinking about how swimming for 60 hours straight in shark and jellyfish waters is insane, ridiculous, and unnecessary, and I don't condone it at all. I still loved this movie and was rooting for Diana, Bonnie and the gang by the end of it, though. Diana would be a lot - A LOT - to deal with, but Annette Bening made her sort of lovable somehow. Jodie Foster was fantastic and dynamic as well. Lovely understated performance from Rhys Ifans, as well. The appalled look on the jellyfish suit doctor's face, and the head medic just sort of nervously laughing along, when Diana was hallucinating and Bonnie was encouraging it ... lol, I died.

Ok, I did not expect this movie to be genuinely good?! I thought the story and acting, and the fact that they tried to say something meaningful about the demoralized psyche of ordinary Japanese people after WWII, were a pleasant surprise. I really thought it was going to be just a fun monster flick to take my nephew to, but I was pretty impressed.

They were on that damn train forever, lol. Celia and Jimmy Lee were just the absolute worst, making their wedding guests take like a week off of work to dress up and sit on a train to nowhere. I confess I stalled out in the middle of the Asian Quarter story and stopped trying to watch the 80s stuff for a long while (I have watched clips all over the place, and remember the late 80s from my childhood, but I was trying to do a watch all the way through). Anyway, your enjoyment of the Mr. Big story may depend entirely on whether you like the Duke character or not. I remember liking Duke well enough as a character when I was a kid.... but actually going back and watching clips many years later, and I'm just annoyed to distraction by him. I still really like the actor, while wanting to slap the character, if that makes sense? lol

I think this might be one of my huge problems with the movie, though. It pushes the idea Cassie was so "damaged" her self-sacrifice was inevitable. Most rape survivors and people who lose a loved one to suicide do, in fact, survive and it's absolutely possible for them to have the happy life and healing they deserve. This movie mostly works until the last 15 or so minutes - I'm in the camp of "I was enjoying it and thought it made some important points really well, but the ending ruins the whole thing for me." Fennel went for a big, splashy shocker, not to mention and it's just like ... huh?! And because the little plot-resolution bow she ties on at the end is not realistic, it forces you to think of all the other plot holes. For instance: - What was she actually doing to the guys from bars? Just lecturing them? What on earth was the plan for the lawyer before he repented? If your movie's about revenge, you do have to decide what the mode of revenge is going to be: we only see it with respect to the dean, Madison, and Al. - Her plan for Al was never going to work and she should have just released the video (we could have had some interesting debate over whether posthumously sharing these images of Nina was justified to ruin Al's life, but it would have made way more sense). - The idea that any of these people would be too afraid to report Cassie to the police because of their own past guilt is pretty naive. The dean, Madison, Al (if she'd successfully maimed him), the other men to the point she did anything physical to them ... most of them would have felt perfectly justified labeling her a crazy liar and the cops would've believed them in most cases. - Cassie's "back-up" revenge ( Which is completely unbelievable.

I think one of the things the film does do well is show the Cattons are nice and lovably eccentric on the surface ... become a bother or boring, and out you go. (Except Felix goes out of his way to find Oliver's parents and broker a reunion, completely undermining this -- did Fennel realize creating the "a-ha!" moment for Felix meant turning Felix into a person far more selfless and motivated than most college students, let alone super-privileged ones, would be???). Oliver is too extreme and unconvincing for us to do what Fennel wants -- cheer despite ourselves when he murders a sad, sickly, lonely Elspeth at the end of the movie, and then gleefully dances. Oliver is desperately obsessed AND a calm, cold schemer; painfully awkward AND a sexual god who easily seduces Venetia and Farleigh when the plot requires it -- and some sort of stand in for everyone who resents the super-rich (not for any lofty political reason, just a pathetic, greedy desire to be the super-rich). Give me a break. Fennel has made a very pretty movie with a lot of half-finished ideas that work against each other. Ripley worked because Matt Damon made Tom's desperation to be included palpable and understandable and Jude Law's Dickie was such a magnificent, beautiful bastard that you totally get why Tom desires him and snaps so violently when Dickie rejects him. Hell, Kellie Martin's obsession with and killing Tori Spelling in Death of a Cheerleader worked better on an emotional level than this movie (I'm only sort of joking).

The stuff with Rory and Logan cheating just really, really bothered me. It's unforgivable for people their age, and we never even find out how they fell into this horrible pattern with each other, it's just "oh, yeah, they've been doing this for a while now as we rejoin our story .... la la la [cue the cutesy GG music]" And the audience is just supposed to accept that? Why? They clearly wanted to force a Rory-is-pregnant-but-absolutely-must-raise-it-alone-because-reasons story, which they could've more believably done by having Logan and Rory run into each other, have an ill-advised nostalgic one-night fling that they both felt guilty about afterwards because he's engaged, and part. Teen Rory being drawn to Jess when she was with Dean, and even sleeping with a married Dean (as a thoughtless college kid gravitating back to her high school sweetheart) .... yeah, that was frustrating to watch at the time, but made sense for the story and the characters' ages. I don't think GG was intending to say "Rory is a natural cheater, it is part of her character so it makes sense she's still doing this at 30!" And yet, that's kind of how this ended up.

It's like The Talented Mr. Ripley but poorly written, gross, frustrating, smug, and with the writer/director constantly giggling at me and going "Isn't it shocking?! Aren't you shocked?" No, Emerald Fennel, I'm annoyed. Parts of this could work -- in a movie that knew what the hell it was trying to say. Rosamund Pike (as someone so removed from reality by wealth she's proudly vapid), is easily the best part. Jacob Elordi perfectly portrays that unique mix of noblesse oblige / callousness in the rich golden boy - and he's very good in the scenes where Felix learns the truth about Oliver. Fennel could have done something interesting with Farleigh or Duncan the butler (but apparently chose not to). And the naked dance scene is Barry Keoghan's best work here -- it makes literally no sense whatsoever to tack it on the end of this movie, but in a better movie with a better story, it actually could have been used to great effect, as funny, joyful, or disturbing. Otherwise, Keoghan doesn't work for me at all in this. He's too old for the part and looks it. The script gives him two things to do here: look like a blank-eyed fish out of water or do something disturbing (and boy does Fennel keep throwing that at us -- by the f**king-the-grave scene I actually laughed out loud, because lol please stooooopppp Emerald, we get it). I don't buy whatever sexual hold he supposedly develops over Venetia at one point in the movie. Unlike in Ripley, I'm not fascinated by what makes this guy tick or feeling tension build wondering what he's going to do and if he'll be caught. Just a complete annoying mess.

This movie starts with 15 minutes of utter boredom, starts to get interesting and build intrigue and then at the very end sort of devolves into lunacy. I did enjoy it and Cate Blanchett was awesome as always ... but that had some weird notes and odd choices in it, too. Did we ever figure out if it was just Francesa texting and filming her the whole time? Who was she texting with? And was Olga feeding someone information from the NY trip? Some of the Olga stuff was just odd ... like where did she actually live when she was having Lydia drop her off at an abandoned building? I'm not sure Lydia's hallucinations really added anything to the film.

Some 90 minute movies feel like an eternity. This 3-hour movie felt just right. Absolutely compelling the whole way through. I'm very late to the party on this one, but it 100% lived up to its hype. Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Matt Damon - all excellent. Really, everyone in it was great. A tragic, sobering and very fascinating movie.

This movie was certainly a whole vibe lol. They really nailed it with the change in genres / making it look and feel like the movies from each era. The dance sequence in black and white was lovely, and the color palette they used for the 60s and 70s was gorgeous. Beautifully shot. And of course great use of Bernstein’s music. The acting was fantastic, from both Cooper and Mulligan. The moment when his daughter is “so relieved” to think the “rumors” about him are untrue… and you can see him just dying inside. Bittersweet, brooding, and not a movie I’d be in the mood for all of the time… but I thought it was just fantastic. (And I went into it expecting to say it was overrated!)

Ok, that was far better than I expected and actually quite heartwarming by the end. The nude fighting scene on the beach - one of the writers must have liked the naked fight scene in Eastern Promises, but decided to do a funny version. It was hilarious. Jennifer Lawrence has pretty great comic timing. They actually created a lovable character for Percy, not just the stereotypical clueless nerd who's supposed to be grateful and amazed a girl likes him. Obviously, the were making fun of those tropes, but I really liked him by the end.

It’s a strange movie in that the characters who really experience growth and have a character arc are not Ferris. Jeannie learns to stop resenting her brother so much and is much happier by the end of the film. Cameron will finally face his greatest fear (his father screaming at him and Cameron finally yelling back) and hopefully somehow be less anxious going forward. Rooney is fully defeated and I assume learns to never break into a student’s home again lol. Ferris will skate through life until he runs into a problem he can’t charm his way out of, since he has no experience actually facing consequences. Although he does seem sincere in his offer to take the blame for the car and probably has a new appreciation for his sister. What I like about the "Jean but people call me Shawna" scene is that Jeannie seems to finally be thinking about her own identity apart from loathing her family, and how she wants to re-invent herself and have fun. And Sheen's character saying "ok Jean" and smiling seems to signify that he likes her the way she is, she just needed a new perspective on her life.

Good grief that is a lot of very terrible news. I was not aware John J. York was battling cancer ... I wish him the very best with his treatment, he seems like a very nice person devoted to his family, and who has always been a team player (on a show that hasn't always used him well or much appreciated his character). Poor Billy Miller, and of course his family. That is very sad. You just never know how much someone could be struggling inside, even someone who's talented and well-liked.

That was great! Nice little touch to show us more about Ariel’s character.

That is an excellent point -- the studio creates this situation with a bloated budget and wanting to do everything at once, and then they call the movie a failure because it simultaneously needs big audiences while actively pushing movie fans away (with a crazy long run time and unsatisfying story). And, because they've already decided it will be expensive, there's an impulse to keep adding MORE - more chases, moree scenes, more CGI! We've already committed to a blockbuster so it needs to be MORE! Somehow a cohesive story never gets considered in all of this. It's not a creative failure, it was worth watching for Harrison Ford, but it definitely should have been a lot better. The financial failure of the film was an inevitable, self-created problem.

I watched this again with my young nephew (he liked the chase scenes and still loves Indiana ... he was baffled by the plot, the movie was way too long for him, and he wanted more Salah - join the club, kid!). On rewatch, I still really enjoyed Harrison Ford. It's a genuinely great performance though its impact gets diluted because the movie is Too. Damn. Long. And unfocused. It feels like the movie was written by committee and patched together, so the story and themes never really make sense. First, the theme of the aging hero. Hollywood apparently has no idea how to tackle this topic, so we get these unpleasant extremes -- Indy has to be depressed, crotchety and literally see no value in his life anymore ... until it's time for him to run around and take even more violent punches to the face than he got in some of the earlier movies. All other old characters must be sidelined (they actually put a gray wig on Karen Allen, a grocery bag in her arms and cut her from most of the story, and they have Salah wanting to help out but flatly told no -- these were choices made by the writers to emphasize age, as though older people who aren't Indy can't still travel, drive fast cars or pilot a plane, or help decipher clues, as if Salah and Marion wouldn't still have some helpful connections around the world, etc. Dumb!! Insulting!) There could be some good story to be mined from Indy accepting he can't do the things he used to do, and has to lean on other skills. The movie flatly refuses to do so in a way that makes sense. An 80-year old man could still be studying history and even overseeing archeological digs ... and that might have been a nice last shot for the film, showing Indy re-engaging with his career with Marion visiting him onsite or working alongside him. Neither of them seem like the type to enjoy a quiet retirement, anyway. Second, the allure of time travel or changing the past. If they were going to explore this (with both Indy and Voller) ... then commit to it. Indy mentions for 2 seconds using the dial to go back and save his son ... but later he doesn't even consider it as an option when he has the whole dial. On rewatch, I better appreciated Mikkelsen's performance and the idea of Voller wanting a re-do of WWII, but this villain and his motivation get lost in an overlong movie. And we don't get an explanation of what Indy thinks he'll achieve by staying in the past (bleeding profusely, in the middle of an epic battle) with Archimedes -- Helena punching him to get him home was heroic for her, but it in no way makes sense of or resolves Indy's inner conflict. Again, this is my issue with blockbuster movies these days. Overlong while somehow still feeling rushed and skating over the surface of issues that could be interesting if someone bothered to focus the narrative. (Also what the hell was the point of the CIA stuff? Cut all that out if it's not going to go anywhere.)

I don't even know how I feel about this movie after finally watching it. I loved the performances, and the humor -- for some reason I laughed myself silly when he responded to his sister's letter with "obviously, I don't know what ensconced means." Colin Farrell's line delivery - both tragic and hilarious - absolutely killed me, he's fantastic. But ... wow. I feel like I'm going to have to think about this for a while and whether the folktale symbolism they were going for really worked for me. I was sympathetic to Colm realizing he can't piss away the rest of his time on this earth doing things he doesn't find meaningful just to be polite. And I assume a lot of what was driving this was the "despair" he noted to the priest at one point ... he's basically Vincent Van Gogh, cutting off body parts because he's having a mental health crisis in an era where there's no adequate treatment for it. Perhaps he actually follows through on mutilating the hand he needs to play the fiddle because, deep down, the music doesn't bring him joy or meaning anymore, either. Maybe by the end he realized "wasting time" with Paidraic was not his problem. But of course now it's too late ... feuds and hurt feelings tend to take on a terrifying life of their own.

But she renovated an entire house by herself in Bedford Falls! Look, it's weird Pottersville even bothered to have a library, Potter probably underfunded it. Maybe it was poorly lit and understaffed so overworked librarian Mary lost her eyesight faster.

The movie looks great, Florence Pugh is great -- really the acting across the board was quite good, even Harry Styles in his first big movie performance. Something about the story does not quite hang together for me, though. Olivia Wilde's character, by the end, is revealed to have a lot of complex and conflicting motivations going on ... she should be one of the most fascinating characters in the film. Wilde did great in her last big scene but it ended up feeling rushed for me. The twist at the end with Also it's kind of unsettling that we're left with the impression Alice might have been fine with living like this forever if things hadn't started to become suspicious. We don't see her become bored with her routine, and isn't the whole point that At the end of the day, I'm not sure the movie had anything new to say or said it well.

Not gonna lie, Javier Bardem did get me to tear up a little at the end. Halle Bailey is a gem, and she even did great in the scenes where Ariel can't talk (I imagine it's hard not to just lapse into a vacant smile at times when your character can't say anything). I like the actor they chose for Eric, and I loved the little touch they added where - confused as he is as his girlfriend morphs into a fish - his first reaction is to hug her closer. Melissa McCarthy was a lot of fun in the role of Ursula. As with the original, Ariel's naïveté in basically bargaining away her life is extremely frustrating (Ursula barely tries to hide that she's completely evil) ... but I'm an adult watching a kid's movie, so I'm probably nitpicking what is meant to be a simple story lol.