[Top Gun: Maverick (2022)]

Finally saw this (on a plane, no less, lol).  Cruise's performance, the Iceman scenes / references, the cinematography, and the final mission at the end really saved this movie.  I loved that Maverick and Iceman developed a deep friendship.  As for the nitpicks:

I was pretty disappointed they didn't do more to develop Rooster's character -- they found an actor who really resembles Goose but gave him few opportunities to seem like a real person.

I also could not get into the Penny character.  She was just a bundle of movie stereotypes: sassy bartender / the lover the hero won't commit to / etc.  ZZZZZ, boring.  

I can believe Maverick and Charlie wouldn't have lasted long-term as a couple, but I would've liked a cameo or update on Kelly McGillis' character.    

And how do you have Jon Hamm and Ed Harris in a movie and give them such boring, nothing characters and uninspired dialogue?  In the original, everyone had their own personality, even supporting and minor characters like Iceman, Slider, Tom Skeritt's character, Goose's wife, the bald commander at the beginning, Cougar, etc.  Really made me appreciate how well-written the original was. 

But again, I'm nitpicking.  It's a fun movie in its own right.

[Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence - General Discussion]

3 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

What is it about Raven that she was able to realize this guy was nuts, yet none of the others except the guy (can’t remember his name) did the same? Was it something about their childhood, trauma they endured that made them more vulnerable? They all had insecurities, but none of them struck me as making them so susceptible to Larry’s influence. Did it become group think after a few of them succumbed to him? My inner psychologist wants to know what the heck happened. 

...

I’d like to know details about what Isabella actually did. The documentary skimmed over it. 

It seemed like there were four friends in the group (Raven, Juli Anna, Gabe and Max) that mostly escaped Larry's focus.  Larry zero-ed in on the people who were particularly vulnerable at that point (Isabella - lonely; Santos and Claudia - had a history of depression already; Dan - questioning his sexuality; and later, Felicia and Yalitza - school / career stress) ... and then started to isolate them from the others.  Then he got them in the apartment, limiting their sleep with all night discussions that turned into interrogation sessions, giving them adderall and keeping them in a state of constant busywork and "self improvement" -- typical cult leader shit designed to make it so victims are exhausted and don't have a moment to stop and think clearly.    

What's scary is it seems like it could have happened to anyone if Larry caught them at just the right moment.  Felicia was actually doing great in life, but was stressed out and sleep deprived from starting her residency.    

At the very least, Isabella was picking up and keeping track of payments from Claudia, knowing Claudia was escorting to give Larry the money.  It sounds like she was also present for / possibly a co-conspirator / accomplice in Larry basically torturing Claudia to get more money and "confessions".

[Stolen Youth: Inside The Cult At Sarah Lawrence - General Discussion]

Holy hell.  At least Larry will never be free again.  But holy hell ...

When the Rosario family reunited ... 😭.  Thank God this family has been able to start to heal.  Still so heartbreaking that Larry deliberately destroyed an entire family for years, and destroyed Felicia's career and her mind (though she has bounced back admirably, and I have high hopes she'll find a way to rebuild her medical career).  I hope someday Santos will finish college, too (if that's what he wants).     

I totally understand Claudia not wanting to appear in the documentary, but I'm glad we at least had some information that she reconnected with friends and family.  I hope she's doing well and is also rebuilding her life!

Isabella was really still so entrenched in the brainwashing during filming.  At some point I think it's really going to hit her as to what she participated in (especially helping Larry victimize Claudia) and ... yikes.  

I have to assume Talia's lawyered up and was told "hell no" to cooperating with the journalists or documentary.  Granted, Larry had brainwashed her from childhood, and it was pretty hazy if / how much she was involved after graduation.

I have to call serious bullshit on that college.  The dean getting that insane email from Claudia should have been a wake up call to figure out what the hell was going on!  How do you receive a meandering, unhinged email from a student, "taking back" alleged things she said about a middle aged guy that is apparently hanging around campus and causing drama ... and not investigate more??  

[Velma - General Discussion]

This show has a fairly disturbing obsession with "hot" girls in high school (commenting on the hotness, resenting the hotness, making fun of the hotness).   Part of this is the already-extremely-tired commentary on dumb pretty girls getting killed in slasher flicks, but this show takes it so far, I can only assume the writers felt dissed by the popular girls in high school and still, in middle-age, have a weird hang up about it.  

[The Menu (2022)]

Ok, that cheeseburger looked really good.  Also ... the birthday cake.  Sadly, nobody touched it ... I would've been stress-eating that whole cake.  😁  

There were a few things about the movie I would nitpick, but overall?  Great fun, very well acted (especially Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes) and a tightly-written, not-overlong thriller that I really enjoyed.  

I liked the fact that Margot saved herself by giving the crazy Chef a moment of happiness and nostalgia in his work again.  Interesting that the Chef mentioned nobody had tried very hard to fight back ... except Margot, who was suspicious of everything from the start, and had more of an opportunity to form a plan.   

It sort of broke my heart when Margot looked back one last time and Judith Light's character slightly waved to her, like, "save yourself, it's ok."  I felt really bad for that character (although I suppose there's an argument to be made, given her husband's ... uh, sex talk ... that he may have victimized their daughter in the past and she knew or should've known).  

As for nitpicks ... the very last scene, where Margot almost smiles a little at the burning island was odd, or maybe I misread her facial expression.  Also, I could sort of see Chef's crazy cult of chefs (who he's been emotionally abusing for who knows how long) being brainwashed to die, and the spoiled, dysfunctional guests being so overwhelmed by the situation they eventually give up ... but Tyler being ready to die from the outset and that much of a foodie was nuts.  

[Velma - General Discussion]

33 minutes ago, aghst said:

I haven't watched and don't know if I will.

But how can you have a modernized and more diverse Scooby gang without Scooby Doo?

 

Well, yes, fair enough.   The absence of the titular dog is glaring.
 

 But since it’s supposed to be an “origin story” for the humans in the gang, the more pressing issue is that the human characters are so grating.  

[Velma - General Discussion]

I always thought Scooby Doo was dumb, but then my nephew got into it and I developed an appreciation for the goofy fun of the original series and the later Mystery Incorporated series.

"Velma" is not for kids, but really what is the point?  Adult Scooby fans usually acknowledge the franchise is comfort food, and the audience (but not the characters) are in on the joke that Shaggy's hungry all the time ... for, uh, some reason, wink, wink ... and the mysteries are goofy.   Making the mysteries darker is fine, but the constant self-referential / meta snark and the characters being unpleasant is a terrible choice.  I assume anti-drug Norville will discover pot and become Shaggy, and offensive brat Fred will grow as a person ...  but the show is just screaming at the audience "Look How We Made Everyone's Personalities Opposite!"     

And why can't we have a modernized and more diverse version of the Scooby gang where the characters keep their lovable quirks and their sense of fun?  Why must every modern portrayal of a teenager involve the same miserable, sarcastic affect and unrealistic dialogue?  

I realize I'm overthinking a cartoon, but it's exactly the kind of thing that drives me nuts: cynicism and gratingly unpleasant "funny" characters and redoing something badly.

[Fleishman Is In Trouble - General Discussion]

I didn't know what to think of this series, but Episode 7 had me actually crying a little for Rachel.  Claire Danes knocked it out of the park in this role.  

Agree they should have given Josh Radnor more to do.  I did love his scenes in the last episode though -- as much as I had empathy for Libby's mid-life crisis, I was glad Adam finally told her that everyone else was not necessarily happy or shallow, they just weren't wallowing in their ambivalence the way she was.  

Good for Seth.  His proposal speech was sweet.  

Glad to see Rachel there at the very end ... 'cause Toby and Libby were, uh, pretty cavalier about the fact that she was alone in her apartment having an extended nervous breakdown.  Like ... did Libby just trust Rachel would get herself to the doctor the next morning?  And Toby didn't think about maybe making sure his kids' mother didn't harm herself?  That really bothered me.   

[S03.E02: What It's All About]

Oh, look, someone finally told the writers about non-competes.  🙄

Apparently cute Alfie did not escape this show.  So much for the dramatic departure last episode.  

Mindy's bandmates encouraging her to take the solo gig was a very sweet moment ... and then Emily started singing that horrible song, which ruined it.  My poor ears!  

 

 

[S03.E01: I Have Two Lovers]

Wardrobe's brutal assault on the senses continues, I see. 

Why are they doing this to poor Kate Walsh?  Her character is just so stupid now.  

Speaking of stupid ... Luc offhandedly mentioning Emily working with Sylvie is one thing, but why the hell did he tell Madeline about the McDonald's pitch?  

In a real world situation, Emily would have been fired from Savoir immediately and sued for breaching her non-competition and non-solicitation agreement.  Even Emily would have to know that what she's doing is insane.

Poor Alfie ... he was better and more interesting than this show deserved.

This show has gone from pleasantly dumb to aggravatingly stupid.   

 

[Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)]

(Spoiler tagging some of this because it's still fairly new on Netflix)

Gave it a second watch and I appreciate more that this wasn't really meant to be a whodunnit, but more a commentary on

Spoiler

the extremes you'd have to go to to stop someone like Miles.  And that what brings him down eventually is his sycophants finally seeing no personal benefit in sucking up to him anymore.

 

However.  It was still kind of unsatisfying for me.  The entire second half of the movie is exposition and flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks!).   Come to think of it, the first half is also too much explaining and too little showing through character development or action.  Building a certain character up to be this odious and not having them be the victim certainly subverts this kind of murder mystery set up -- but, again, really unsatisfying, because I was so looking forward to them getting killed lol.  

Whether one enjoys this kind of social commentary may depend on how much escapism you want from your movies.  This is kind of the same issue I had with Don't Look Up ... I agree the things / people being parodied / satirized deserve it, but I'm still spending over two hours being beaten over the head with their awfulness.  Eh.  
 

ETA:  It’s still pretty fun, I would recommend it for light viewing.  I just think there were a lot of missed opportunities here.

[Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)]

This was fun in parts but I didn’t love it.  The characters were so one dimensional to me, except for Blanc and Helen.  
 

At least in Agatha Christie whodunnits the dialogue is more sly and interesting and you get some fun romantic entanglements along the way.  Here, every character was just broadcasting their awfulness constantly— like, we get it, you represent this annoying type of influencer, etc.  Which is not to say Kate Hudson didn’t have some funny scenes but it was the same joke over and over.

Also I get why the end of the movie is Helen destroying everything in sight, but that doesn’t make ten straight minutes of smashing and burning stuff that interesting to watch. 
 

I’ll give it another viewing on Netflix because I feel like I must be missing something, but I expected to like this a lot more.  I would watch another movie with Blanc, though — Craig is fun in this role, and so different from 007 that it highlights his talent as a versatile actor.

[Happiest Season (2020)]

On 12/13/2020 at 10:13 PM, Spartan Girl said:

But I guess the LGTBQ community should have their own "person gets crapped on while meeting their future in-laws" movies too.

Ha!  Good point.  Although I found this movie way more tolerable than, say, Meet the Parents, because at least Abbey had Riley befriending her and John came to literally rescue her.  

[Happiest Season (2020)]

Such a cute movie, but it's very hard not to root for Abby and Riley to end up together, because Riley is so kind to Abby (and of course Plaza looks gorgeous in her scenes).  I have empathy for Harper, but she's so thoughtless to Abby for a long stretch of the movie and I'm not sure she completely makes up for it by the end.  

Jane is going to end up being the happiest, most successful member of that family, and that is how it should be.  

I love that John comes to be with Abby.

This movie made me really like Kristen Stewart - she's great in it!

[S02.E01: The Summer Palace]

Kendall is a pathetic figure, but at a certain point ... dude, you have children of your own, one of whom has special needs.  It's long past time to get it together for them and back away from the toxic family drama.  Which is what he should've done before he got himself into this situation in the first place.  

These people are such joyless freaks.  Tom and Shiv abandoning their honeymoon for this is pure insanity.  Oh, and of course Shiv gets Tom in charge of TV news ... which she just told her father he should abandon entirely in the future.  LOL.  

Watching all that food get thrown out physically pained me ... but why did they put it out while still searching for the source of the gross smell, anyway?

Gerri, Karolina, Karl ... they all look pained babysitting this dysfunctional family.  But this is the paycheck they signed up for.  Hope they're saving up their money.  Financial Independence, Retire Early, kids!  

[S01.E10: Nobody is Ever Missing]

Well, damn.  That poor waiter (and right after he'd gotten a big chunk of money for signing an NDA, too).  They probably would've been better off just hitting the deer ...  

Even from a purely selfish perspective, Kendall would've been better off trying harder to rescue the waiter / flagging down help.  Probably could've lied that the waiter was driving so they didn't get him for DUI.  

The siblings having one nice moment hugging and laughing together in the boat was sort of poignant.  

Greg turned out to be quite Machiavellian!  I wonder if he would've approached Kendall like that if Tom hadn't freaked out on him that morning, though.  

How does Gerri get through a day without slapping Roman?  The woman has serious self restraint.

Shiv is a piece of work.  Nate - a smarmy, cheating bastard, but still - was horrified by how corrupt the deal between Gil and ATN was ... though maybe Nate should also question Gil's morals.  Tom - also a bastard but I sort of felt bad for him here - really got blindsided by his wife telling him after they're married she doesn't want monogamy.  It was also pretty rich for Shiv to lecture Kendall about the timing of his hostile takeover ... um, Shiv, you've spent your wedding weekend basically blackmailing your father.  Please, girl.  

I still don't understand how Tom and Shiv even became a thing.  Do we ever find out why she "was a mess" when they met?  Not sure I can handle more seasons with these people, I may just Google it LOL.

[S01.E08: Prague]

For heaven's sake, Frank, move on with your life.  Why is he still dealing with anyone in this family?  I guess he just feels bad for Kendall.

Tom keeps basically asking Shiv to tell him what to do, and she simply does not care about his problems or questions.  If he weren't so awful, I might feel bad for him.  I actually do kinda feel bad that instead of going to Prague he got taken to this horrible sex party in a train tunnel.  I'm also mildly shocked he had actual friends (but now that he's abandoned them outside a train tunnel, possibly not anymore).

I did not see that Senator, Shiv's new boss, melting down like that on ATN.  Whoops, Shiv.  

I'm with Greg, that party was nightmarish.

[S02.E07: Arrivederci]

Daphne is - for now - mostly content with the trade-offs of her marriage (she puts up with Cameron's infidelity and general obnoxiousness, but there's still real affection in the marriage and she loves her kids and certainly loves the money).   A shaky foundation for the future, but for now it's working for her.  

I think Harper and Ethan have always had this kind of passive relationship, and they likely bonded over being serious, quiet people who never had much reason to argue.  Ethan earning a ton of money, and the couple spending more time with people like Cameron, created tension and revealed that these two don't communicate.  

[S01.E07: Austerlitz]

Stewy being in awe of how much piss was in the bag thrown at Logan was gross but hilarious.  

Kendall appearing and shutting the door in Roman's face right after the housekeeper lied that Kendall was out was also hilarious.  

Maybe I'm just terminally lazy and unambitious, but Kendall apparently still has trust money or something coming in ...  like, just chill out, man.  But of course he's been raised to have no inherent self worth.

That poor therapist lol.

Poor Kendall, only on drugs does he seem halfway happy.  I was actually impressed Roman ran off to get him and seemed actually concerned.

[S01.E06: Which Side Are You On]

I'm on team "Logan only realized what was happening when Ewan walked in and Frank was being weird."  But he's a nasty old schemer and can bully his way out of anything on the spot.  

I think the terror threat was real, not a manipulation by Logan ... even these people have to bend to actual real world circumstances sometimes.  Kendall seemed shocked when the helicopter pilot firmly told him no, there was no way to skirt the law.

Sort of impressed Kendall was able to give his speech while panting and walking.  Wasn't Stewy supposed to be a yes?   Too bad for Kendall, but he gave it his best shot, and maybe should've factored in Roman, Stewy and Lawrence being less than reliable.  Obviously, he learns nothing because the show goes on for more seasons, but would've been nice if he used this as a reason to start a new life.   

So Frank got fired from the same job twice in the span of a month?  Oh Frank.  And now you don't have your exit package.  

Shiv and Nate are perfect for each other (perfectly awful, that is), but I suspect they both need to be the boss in their relationships.  Tom is so awful that he kinda deserves this misery.  

Connor is such a weasel, but Alan Ruck cracks me up in this role.

[S01.E05: Went to Market]

Greg's offhand comment "he's pretty lonely and afraid" - about Tom - was so on the mark.  And yet Greg is getting pulled into this awful mess, as well.  Run away, Greg!  He'd be better off couch-surfing and waiting tables through his twenties.  

The bitter irony is that these people have all the money in the world and they are constantly terrified and miserable and have nobody to really talk to, and keep playing dumb power games.   Even Frank, who probably should have enough money saved up to retire and had "escaped" through his impromptu firing ... let's himself get pulled back into this shit.

I want to feel bad for Kendall, but he brings a lot of this shit on himself by leaning into the power games against his dad.  Go to therapy, take the money and build a life for yourself to escape to, kid.   

[S01.E04: Sad Sack Wasp Trap]

Is the entire point of this show to be grateful not to be born into one of these billionaire dynasties?  'Cause it's really working for me LOL.  Rarely am I rooting for TV characters to gang up on and murder an old man, but I might make an exception for Logan.  

Run away Willa!  And Rava!  And Greg!  Get away from these people!

If Tom wasn't such a toxic opportunistic weirdo, I might feel badly for him in this situation.  But also ... why isn't this situation being handled entirely by legal?  Why does he have to do anything?  

(I actually once worked with someone like Tom, so his scenes are deeply uncomfortable for me.  Ah, memories of walking on eggshells around a needy, insecure narcissist ...)

[S02.E07: Arrivederci]

29 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Seriously this. He also apparently didn't give the Valentina actor (so presumably he didn't give any of them) any information about who Valentia was/what drives her/her history so the actress had to make it all up herself in order to be able to play Valentina.

Writers letting audiences form their own opinions about the story/characters is one thing, but Mike White just seems like a lazy writer to me.

You CAN have ambiguity when it serves the story, but here there was an awkward shift in perspective for certain characters that didn't work: Lucia, Ethan and Harper became mysterious characters hiding things from the audience in the last few episodes of the season.  Whereas for the first part of the season, we saw everything even if other characters were kept in the dark (i.e., we knew exactly what Ethan did and didn't do that fateful night, and Lucia's plans were all explained through her talks with Mia).  

Whereas, Valentina goes from mysterious to just ... cringeworthy.  It wasn't even touching to see her more vulnerable side, it was just pathetic because she blatantly used her position as employer to try and please the women she liked.  

I'm still upset about Tanya!  Maybe it's just that the scene on the boat was the most intense and well acted of the season (Jennifer Coolidge really made me feel her fear).  And for all Tanya's (many!) faults, she really was just desperate to be loved and her ending was tragic.  

The best acted and most interesting characters in the season were probably Tanya, Portia, Daphne ... and Jack.  I actually think the Jack actor sold it, going from obnoxious "fun" guy, to his drunken confession, to his final scene with Portia.  

[Unpopular Opinions: "I hate BLTs from Kelly's!"]

On 10/20/2022 at 11:35 AM, Cheyanne11 said:

With her return today (I believe), let me just say I don't like Holly.  She's irked me since the day Luke first saw her skinny dipping in that mountain lake.

Having gone back to view her 80s stuff … yeah she’s always had annoying traits, but she could also be quite likeable and sympathetic back in the day — and back then Robert or someone else would actually call her out for something on occasion and she might admit she was being unreasonable.

She’s been ruined since her 90s return, which made no sense and she was never the same character again.
 

[S02.E07: Arrivederci]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I thought Season 1 was much better: more cohesive themes, more interesting characters (even the loathsome Shane was more fleshed out than many of the characters this season).   
 

I feel like they threw too much into this season and tried too many twists and too little character development.  Lucia had some depth and self doubt in one episode… then she became an elusive character revealed at the end to be happily grifting.  Valentina goes from competent and prickly to an idiot making puppy dog eyes at any attractive lady who smiles at her.  I’ve already complained enough about Ethan and Harper.  And more could’ve been done to explore Dominic - is he truly an addict or just has never gotten serious about fidelity before his wife left him?  He’s infinitely more interesting than Albie … the actor was good, but we had a ton of screen time with that kid, mostly just having the same scenes with Lucia over and over by the end. 
 

The whole thing with the legend of the severed head and the ominous naked paintings never really came to anything.  The one major death was really about a criminal plot and greed, not sex or infidelity (and on some level was about Tanya realizing way too late that failing to “get her shit together” made her a target for those that would use her).