Huh. Surprised they missed the opportunity to feature the song by Ritchie Cordell - either as recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells or the insipidly pop cover by Tiffany. Must be an indie flick. Real indie.
interesting pondering of the eternal questions: what is beauty? what is art? what is pleasure? and even what is pornography? While Cox doesn't seek to tell us what we should find beautiful in life, this movie does try to get us thinking outside our own, private, little boxes and accept that others have differing views on these things. Find your own beauty and pleasure in life.
While there are no dance numbers, Disney was able to get this one under 2 hours with musical montages. Otherwise, not particularly noteworthy. It's pretty much average and what we'd expect from a Bollywood family comedy.
Sort of like the unwanted love child of Deadpool and The Burning Bed if raised by the lamest Bond villain of all time. I mean a totally stupid Bond villain.. Kind of sums up what I thought of this one. I thought Moss fit her role and Hodge was fine. The controlling partner and his lawyer/brother and the sister were completely one-dimensional. The plot was predictable from the death notice onwards. And did I mention the twists? Yeah, it had those as well and they weren't a bit invisible. I'm baffled by the popularity, but in the age of superheroes, this is what Hollywood does with the abusive controlling partner narrative.
meh. Some funny social commentary with plenty of low budget CG makes this about as bad as some docudrama showing life in the Marxist-Leninist produced by South Florida Republicans and Spanish Francoists. Probably my least favorite Cuban movie and while I'm not amazed it made TSZDT (look at what they did with virtually no budget!), it's a stretch to call this one of the best of any decade via Cinema Tropical. Talk about list bloat!
Unlike others, I found myself thinking throughout much of the movie how much more interesting it would be if it avoided the horror conventions and relied more on the human drama and its suspense thriller aspects. So while I agree the first hour dragged along, it was because of the jump scares and such. But I do agree that too many dots were left unconnected and that was ultimately what I found unsatisfying.
In another movie, I applaud leaving me decide the reason why or what happens next; but since this movie is asking us to suspend disbelief and believe in something many don't or can't believe in, we need a bit more exploration of the how and maybe the why. While the Priest's final word might tie that up for some, it requires some more acceptance of Christian beliefs than I can muster.
However, as one who doesn't like horror movies very often, I thought this was better than most of what I've seen from the genre over the recent past. That it was made in Venezuela is also a bit surprising if we are to believe what is being reported about the Bolivarian Republic. Pretty high quality work for what some call a "failed state."
While I found the concept interesting - telling a story from a dog's point of view - can't really say this succeeded, unless, of course, one considers dogs to be just like humans minus the opposable thumbs and ability to form real words, sentences, etc. So yes, it's a severely anthropomorphized view of the world purportedly from dog's POV. Still, if we set aside this issue, it's a story that will probably touch dog lovers and it's not a terrible take on the human condition. Some might even need a hanky here and there because there is sadness: where most movies would have one terrible life event, this one has at least four (by my count). It's not all sadness though and there are themes about staying the course, doing what you love, caring about others, etc that are still resonant.
Can't recommend or not since I don't really know what you're looking for in a watch, but will say my dog was quite riveted. (Note: that's mostly because the editing style generally moved quickly between dog and human screen time. He finds dogs much more interesting than humans, but only if things keep changing. So this one kept his attention.)
Otherwise the execution is acceptable. I generally don't have huge technical requirements in a film and mostly look that they don't spoil the storytelling and they didn't, at least not for me. It's often cute, interesting if you like dogs, but not destined for many best of lists. Not sure if it would make a best films about dogs list or not: haven't given that much thought until now.
so wanted to be edgy - "sex friends"? I mean, how censored is that?!? No, just another one written for endless adolescence rather than adults who have adult relationships that are sometimes funny, sometimes painful, and usually end badly. No idea how this ended up on my watchlist, but someone needs to be punished.
Moral of the story: you deserve your high school best friend. Ugh. I thought the whole point of going to NYC was to get away from the numbing pointlessness of adolescence that was high school, not to take it all with you.
The only plus I'll give this one is the totally rad 80s soundtrack - has to be the best I've heard in years. Only one song was a clunker and it was enjoyable to hear things I've haven't heard in decades. Did the 80's really end 30-some years ago? Seems more like 50.
Pat Benatar rocks and rules forever! (But where was Cindi Lauper, the story did all but set up most of her big hits - guess they came from different corporate universes?)
Maddening because of the subject matter - the trafficking of underage women for sex, against their will, for profit - but even more maddening because the filmmakers fail to address the 230 billion ton elephant in the room: Section 230 of the CDA and why courts, time and again have found no legal reason why a young girl's rights to her own person do NOT supersede the right to publish and profit off of illegal vice crimes as well as the violation of human and civil rights. The film's creators say: look at the elephant. The elephant is right there. The elephant's really big. There's a big elephant standing right there. It will take an act of Congress to move this elephant but Congress, while pontificating about the elephant's immensity and proximity, isn't able to actually do anything about the elephant, it's being, it's location, and the youthful lives that continue to make it fatter and more unmovable.
Well, that is, until Congress finally acted in 2018 and courts finally considered holding the owners and feeders of the elephant responsible ...
Everyone (who isn't an adult and willing participant in this trade) is horrified. We get that it's awful 15 minutes in and we get that nothing's being done not long after that. We hear lots of folks talking about how sick it makes them, but no one broaches the subject as to why Section 230 is so inviolable.
Ugh.
Too much emotion (positive and negative) and not enough discussion about how money twists the legislative and judicial branches around their hallowed pillars and seemingly pillories the Republic's good sense. I don't doubt the earnestness of the filmmakers, but maybe someone needs to cross documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism - both pedagogy and programs - to do something more, that gets at the questions the viewers are asking. To anticipate the questions forming in viewer's heads and answer them and not just play the old "oh, isn't it just terrible" card. Handwringing. More handwringing.
Quite NSFW - no sex, but enough closeup of body parts that we don't usually spend a lot of time looking at (outside of porn).
Much like Linn da Quebrada's life somewhere between male and female, my reaction is somewhere between good and bad, like and dislike.
If you're not open to the whole idea of gender queerness, then you'll probably want something a little less in your face -- though this wasn't really the issue for me. IDK, I know the music didn't really grab me but the editing worked well enough, and the visuals were interesting, conjuring up images of a music video.
This isn't really a statement of how the world should be - though messages along those lines can be extracted if one wants - no, this is a statement of how Linn da Quebrada is, with views of both the public and the private. Other characters revolve around her, but besides Jup, do we really get to know any of them? Maybe mom? A bit?
Guess the other issue is Linn da Quebrada doesn't come across as a quite fully developed character in this documentary. It's very much about the images she wants the world to see. Kind of reminds me of those "Meet the Queen" TV specials, just different. REALLY different.
The Ruben Brandt, Collector Drinking Challenge Game
Toss a three-sided coin
Heads: take a drink for each visual art reference
Tails: take a drink for each cinematic art reference
Not-Heads/Not-Tails: take a drink for each musical art reference
Good luck making it through the first act without getting alcohol poisoning!
Absolutely pectacular!!! Thank the gods of Olympus Ahnold learned a bit of diction. Hercules with an Austrian accent? Not an issue - much of the time he sounds like he's got a dumbbell in his mouth. Of course Pretzie repeats some of the least understandable lines.
The two Keanu Reeves scenes really made this for me: I mean, that restaurant and that dinner. What a trip! Thought this was fun because the characters were interesting even if the romcom plot was, well, predictable at best but guess some find that comforting.
Also, after literally seeing at least a hundred productions set in San Francisco that are completely devoid of LGBTQ... characters (and allies, lol), at least they remembered who else lives by the bay.
Seems much more like a Christmas special, but clearly someone was looking at the financial projections. From where I sit, can't imagine they'd be disappointed, but who knows with movie financiers.
Was actually surprised that Fellowes was the writer: it just didn't seem as well written as the series. Too much crammed in - like every character had to have a plotline and something to do. It was a bit much.
While the series is one of my all-time favorites on either screen, I feel rather meh about the movie. Sure, it's beautiful to look at in every dimension: set design, costumes, props, and cast but that doesn't carry the movie if one is the slightest bit critical.
As said, fans who enjoy the world will probably feel like it's a worthy extension. It's by no means bad, it just isn't anywhere as good as the series. Okay. I've seen it and said what I thought. Next? And please, let's not have another DA. No real need. Fan fic would be a better way if people simply can't let the characters rest.
combine Brownbread's and ulic's comments and you've about got it: This film rocks awful. Yup, awful is what it does really well since pretty much everyone is horribly miscast (but maybe Caine and Schwartzman), generally the writing sucks toad wings, and a joke every 25 minutes does not a comedy make. Then there is the crazy framing device ...
On the other hand, through acts one and two there are glimpses of the macho ego driven Hollywood entertainment machine grinding along: it's not hard to believe that Ephron, Marshall, and crew were getting their digs in. Certainly felt rife with inside jokes and digs though I've no inside information, but it did feel that way up until the sappy love story took control of the turd - sorry, that should be third - act.
You'll see more cameos in AF:TM than at a cut rate antique mall - guess it's fitting given their advancing years and all. Otherwise, like the others have said.
Comments 151 - 175 of 468
Movie comment on I Think We're Alone Now
xianjiro
Huh. Surprised they missed the opportunity to feature the song by Ritchie Cordell - either as recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells or the insipidly pop cover by Tiffany. Must be an indie flick. Real indie.Movie comment on The Jury Goes Round 'n' Round
xianjiro
that was probably the worst 18 minutes I ever spent in the 1940sMovie comment on Jagdszenen aus Niederbayern
xianjiro
Razing that village - including the inhabitants - would have made the world a better place.Movie comment on Man of Flowers
xianjiro
interesting pondering of the eternal questions: what is beauty? what is art? what is pleasure? and even what is pornography? While Cox doesn't seek to tell us what we should find beautiful in life, this movie does try to get us thinking outside our own, private, little boxes and accept that others have differing views on these things. Find your own beauty and pleasure in life.Movie comment on Unknown
xianjiro
about the only thing missing is January Jones' character -Movie comment on Blood Tea and Red String
xianjiro
Artist's websiteArtist profile from public TV (seen 20210209)
Movie comment on Do Dooni Chaar
xianjiro
While there are no dance numbers, Disney was able to get this one under 2 hours with musical montages. Otherwise, not particularly noteworthy. It's pretty much average and what we'd expect from a Bollywood family comedy.Movie comment on The Invisible Man
xianjiro
Sort of like the unwanted love child of Deadpool and The Burning Bed if raised by the lamest Bond villain of all time. I mean a totally stupid Bond villain.. Kind of sums up what I thought of this one. I thought Moss fit her role and Hodge was fine. The controlling partner and his lawyer/brother and the sister were completely one-dimensional. The plot was predictable from the death notice onwards. And did I mention the twists? Yeah, it had those as well and they weren't a bit invisible. I'm baffled by the popularity, but in the age of superheroes, this is what Hollywood does with the abusive controlling partner narrative.Movie comment on Juan de los Muertos
xianjiro
meh. Some funny social commentary with plenty of low budget CG makes this about as bad as some docudrama showing life in the Marxist-Leninist produced by South Florida Republicans and Spanish Francoists. Probably my least favorite Cuban movie and while I'm not amazed it made TSZDT (look at what they did with virtually no budget!), it's a stretch to call this one of the best of any decade via Cinema Tropical. Talk about list bloat!Movie comment on La casa del fin de los tiempos
xianjiro
Unlike others, I found myself thinking throughout much of the movie how much more interesting it would be if it avoided the horror conventions and relied more on the human drama and its suspense thriller aspects. So while I agree the first hour dragged along, it was because of the jump scares and such. But I do agree that too many dots were left unconnected and that was ultimately what I found unsatisfying.In another movie, I applaud leaving me decide the reason why or what happens next; but since this movie is asking us to suspend disbelief and believe in something many don't or can't believe in, we need a bit more exploration of the how and maybe the why. While the Priest's final word might tie that up for some, it requires some more acceptance of Christian beliefs than I can muster.
However, as one who doesn't like horror movies very often, I thought this was better than most of what I've seen from the genre over the recent past. That it was made in Venezuela is also a bit surprising if we are to believe what is being reported about the Bolivarian Republic. Pretty high quality work for what some call a "failed state."
Movie comment on The Art of Racing in the Rain
xianjiro
While I found the concept interesting - telling a story from a dog's point of view - can't really say this succeeded, unless, of course, one considers dogs to be just like humans minus the opposable thumbs and ability to form real words, sentences, etc. So yes, it's a severely anthropomorphized view of the world purportedly from dog's POV. Still, if we set aside this issue, it's a story that will probably touch dog lovers and it's not a terrible take on the human condition. Some might even need a hanky here and there because there is sadness: where most movies would have one terrible life event, this one has at least four (by my count). It's not all sadness though and there are themes about staying the course, doing what you love, caring about others, etc that are still resonant.Can't recommend or not since I don't really know what you're looking for in a watch, but will say my dog was quite riveted. (Note: that's mostly because the editing style generally moved quickly between dog and human screen time. He finds dogs much more interesting than humans, but only if things keep changing. So this one kept his attention.)
Otherwise the execution is acceptable. I generally don't have huge technical requirements in a film and mostly look that they don't spoil the storytelling and they didn't, at least not for me. It's often cute, interesting if you like dogs, but not destined for many best of lists. Not sure if it would make a best films about dogs list or not: haven't given that much thought until now.
Movie comment on No Strings Attached
xianjiro
so wanted to be edgy - "sex friends"? I mean, how censored is that?!? No, just another one written for endless adolescence rather than adults who have adult relationships that are sometimes funny, sometimes painful, and usually end badly. No idea how this ended up on my watchlist, but someone needs to be punished.Movie comment on 13 Going on 30
xianjiro
Moral of the story: you deserve your high school best friend. Ugh. I thought the whole point of going to NYC was to get away from the numbing pointlessness of adolescence that was high school, not to take it all with you.The only plus I'll give this one is the totally rad 80s soundtrack - has to be the best I've heard in years. Only one song was a clunker and it was enjoyable to hear things I've haven't heard in decades. Did the 80's really end 30-some years ago? Seems more like 50.
Pat Benatar rocks and rules forever! (But where was Cindi Lauper, the story did all but set up most of her big hits - guess they came from different corporate universes?)
Movie comment on Gojira tai Megaro
xianjiro
I would have called a creature that spits exploding poop from it's mouth "Megalacacalon"Pretty much sums this one up. eye-roll
Movie comment on Synonymes
xianjiro
quite challenging and quite a challenge.Movie comment on I Am Jane Doe
xianjiro
Simply maddening.Maddening because of the subject matter - the trafficking of underage women for sex, against their will, for profit - but even more maddening because the filmmakers fail to address the 230 billion ton elephant in the room: Section 230 of the CDA and why courts, time and again have found no legal reason why a young girl's rights to her own person do NOT supersede the right to publish and profit off of illegal vice crimes as well as the violation of human and civil rights. The film's creators say: look at the elephant. The elephant is right there. The elephant's really big. There's a big elephant standing right there. It will take an act of Congress to move this elephant but Congress, while pontificating about the elephant's immensity and proximity, isn't able to actually do anything about the elephant, it's being, it's location, and the youthful lives that continue to make it fatter and more unmovable.
Well, that is, until Congress finally acted in 2018 and courts finally considered holding the owners and feeders of the elephant responsible ...
Everyone (who isn't an adult and willing participant in this trade) is horrified. We get that it's awful 15 minutes in and we get that nothing's being done not long after that. We hear lots of folks talking about how sick it makes them, but no one broaches the subject as to why Section 230 is so inviolable.
Ugh.
Too much emotion (positive and negative) and not enough discussion about how money twists the legislative and judicial branches around their hallowed pillars and seemingly pillories the Republic's good sense. I don't doubt the earnestness of the filmmakers, but maybe someone needs to cross documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism - both pedagogy and programs - to do something more, that gets at the questions the viewers are asking. To anticipate the questions forming in viewer's heads and answer them and not just play the old "oh, isn't it just terrible" card. Handwringing. More handwringing.
Movie comment on Bixa Travesty
xianjiro
Quite NSFW - no sex, but enough closeup of body parts that we don't usually spend a lot of time looking at (outside of porn).Much like Linn da Quebrada's life somewhere between male and female, my reaction is somewhere between good and bad, like and dislike.
If you're not open to the whole idea of gender queerness, then you'll probably want something a little less in your face -- though this wasn't really the issue for me. IDK, I know the music didn't really grab me but the editing worked well enough, and the visuals were interesting, conjuring up images of a music video.
This isn't really a statement of how the world should be - though messages along those lines can be extracted if one wants - no, this is a statement of how Linn da Quebrada is, with views of both the public and the private. Other characters revolve around her, but besides Jup, do we really get to know any of them? Maybe mom? A bit?
Guess the other issue is Linn da Quebrada doesn't come across as a quite fully developed character in this documentary. It's very much about the images she wants the world to see. Kind of reminds me of those "Meet the Queen" TV specials, just different. REALLY different.
Movie comment on The Lazarus Effect
xianjiro
seen here on 20201114Movie comment on Ruben Brandt, a gyujto
xianjiro
The Ruben Brandt, Collector Drinking Challenge GameToss a three-sided coin
Heads: take a drink for each visual art reference
Tails: take a drink for each cinematic art reference
Not-Heads/Not-Tails: take a drink for each musical art reference
Good luck making it through the first act without getting alcohol poisoning!
Movie comment on Hercules in New York
xianjiro
Absolutely pectacular!!! Thank the gods of Olympus Ahnold learned a bit of diction. Hercules with an Austrian accent? Not an issue - much of the time he sounds like he's got a dumbbell in his mouth. Of course Pretzie repeats some of the least understandable lines.αμάν πια!
Movie comment on Always Be My Maybe
xianjiro
The two Keanu Reeves scenes really made this for me: I mean, that restaurant and that dinner. What a trip! Thought this was fun because the characters were interesting even if the romcom plot was, well, predictable at best but guess some find that comforting.Also, after literally seeing at least a hundred productions set in San Francisco that are completely devoid of LGBTQ... characters (and allies, lol), at least they remembered who else lives by the bay.
Movie comment on Downton Abbey
xianjiro
Seems much more like a Christmas special, but clearly someone was looking at the financial projections. From where I sit, can't imagine they'd be disappointed, but who knows with movie financiers.Was actually surprised that Fellowes was the writer: it just didn't seem as well written as the series. Too much crammed in - like every character had to have a plotline and something to do. It was a bit much.
While the series is one of my all-time favorites on either screen, I feel rather meh about the movie. Sure, it's beautiful to look at in every dimension: set design, costumes, props, and cast but that doesn't carry the movie if one is the slightest bit critical.
As said, fans who enjoy the world will probably feel like it's a worthy extension. It's by no means bad, it just isn't anywhere as good as the series. Okay. I've seen it and said what I thought. Next? And please, let's not have another DA. No real need. Fan fic would be a better way if people simply can't let the characters rest.
Movie comment on Evan Almighty
xianjiro
I'd hate to have to drain that swamp.Movie comment on Bewitched
xianjiro
combine Brownbread's and ulic's comments and you've about got it: This film rocks awful. Yup, awful is what it does really well since pretty much everyone is horribly miscast (but maybe Caine and Schwartzman), generally the writing sucks toad wings, and a joke every 25 minutes does not a comedy make. Then there is the crazy framing device ...On the other hand, through acts one and two there are glimpses of the macho ego driven Hollywood entertainment machine grinding along: it's not hard to believe that Ephron, Marshall, and crew were getting their digs in. Certainly felt rife with inside jokes and digs though I've no inside information, but it did feel that way up until the sappy love story took control of the turd - sorry, that should be third - act.
Ugh. Just plain ugh.
Movie comment on Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
xianjiro
You'll see more cameos in AF:TM than at a cut rate antique mall - guess it's fitting given their advancing years and all. Otherwise, like the others have said.Showing items 151 – 175 of 468