Reviews

This came together quite cleverly. The observers observed interrogating the dichotomy predominate in American culture. Both the inability to fully connect and empathize with people they've subsequently othered, while also wanting to feed the hate machine by continuing to actively participate in the othering, so it can continue. There is no Good side and the idea that the battle of ideologues won't end in anything other than the bloody destruction and disintegration of the very thing supposedly the battle was for in the first place.

And then, ironically, in following the very people who are supposed to be not participating, but trying to merely observe and codify what is actually happening, only end up aiding to the unreality and transformation of supposed journalism. Feeding the machine in their own way, dehumanizing, all to capture not the humanity, but the instant gratification of base desires that feed into the cycle.

Egregiously boring with terrible information design. Why the heck this is 10 episodes I'll never know, especially when information is redundantly expressed so many times over.

While it is pertinent that he preyed upon the marginalized and the system in its efforts to aid the privileged continuously failed both him and the victims, it is also sandwiched into boring content. Not even the production seems interested in keeping viewer attention. It is so dull. Perhaps to match how otherwise boring the killer is. How anyone made it through ten episodes is beyond me. I made it about halfway. Bored to tears watching a show about a serial killer. Incredible.

The shows is great. Drama, acting, plotting, and specifically, showing a nuanced depiction and subversion of the typical cop procedural. Anyone can find something to identify with, even if it's just as simple as it being a good drama. Each character has their own arc and B plot. There's intersections with lots of different crime as well as cops being good at their job and not being good people, or their inability to be effective at their job while excelling in personal areas.

Because of the nuanced depiction though, the "main" characters arc feels particularly strange towards the end. And the finale just feels bad, scraping away all the nuance in favour of some twists that feel like they treat the characters very poorly, and therefor unearned.

Honestly, as much as it's talked about in cult corners, this is still criminally underrated. It is the millennial, more optimistic Catcher in the Rye. The movie does a great job of adapting the source material, making it much more clear that the perennial preoccupation with many men to be emotionally immature and inability to self diagnose, but rather hold a solipsistic narrative about the world and their place in it is a -problem-, and one many don't seem inclined to even do much as acknowledge.

I saw this movie at something like 14 and it's been a cautionary tale all my life. True, I saw it at an impactful age, yet every time I watch it I get more out of it and also have the benefit of nostalgia lancing into my brain with the soundtrack and absolute fantastic lines.

Miles and miles better than the book, which was a mess I couldn't even bring myself to fully get through. It's fair to say this is probably more like a fantasy epic for all its historical accuracy, but it does correct a lot of the issues I saw, as a laymen, with the book only 30% through.

The performances, production values, character arcs, all come together to make for a surprisingly entertaining tale. The novel being so universally known and sold so well, it makes sense why they didn't adapt something classical from the Japanese cannon, and done it some justice. But maybe with this success there is room for that as well.

Both wanted more from it and got what I didn't expect. The mythology around the character is well done, though it starts so slow I almost came to expect for it to stall out. The pay off is good though, even if it fails to transcend the incredulity of a massive skill increase via training montages.

Still, it's a heck of a come up and it has some more meaningful things to say, as well as genre subversions, than most action flicks. One of the things I liked the most actually, was how the camera became more stable as his skill increases. The annoying shaky cam staple gets much more tactful, as does the choreography. It even manages to invite more people into the mayhem, beyond the typical stoic, lone revenger. Even if, again, their incorporation as to their skills is a major hand wave you just need to roll with.

Maybe my expectations were too low, but I actually didn't mind this. It's very 90s, unapologetic, and has more going on than you'd expect. Lee's performance is actually earnest, though performances are decidedly mixed, overall. It knows what it's going for and, heavily stylized, gets there.

Could be the 4K transfer did it some favours. 90s films were notoriously over saturated and had wildly heavy blacks, making some of the home video transfers absolute crap to watch. This was a pleasant surprise on that front as well. Practical effects hold up well and the details are good. I don't know that HDR was doing much. Maybe the original is so bad you'd only know if you'd seen it before on other formats.

Also, how dumb do you have to be to compare this to Joker. Yeah, the guy has face paint on, but that's about it. What, the city looks like Gotham? The character and story is nothing like it. Ignorance is bliss though, as I can see with how well and for what reasons that film entered the zeitgeist.

I have to say I picked this up because of both Embeth Davidz and Kevin Kline, who wouldn't give that a try? As far as the boys-in-boarding-schools subgenre goes, this appears like a predictable foray, albeit charming. However, if you stick with it, the ending is really quite good and sets it apart.

Especially in today's times, the messaging is really well handled and feels very applicable to today, which is kind of a feat, given boys in a boarding school are somewhat removed from the everyday-ness of the average person. This situates the students and responsibilities of the teachers there in a realistic way, while also making room for the touching-inspirational queues we expect from the tropes.

Yet, as I said, sets itself apart. Say no more. Very much worth a watch!

The performances are really top notch and the actual events are nice to see put in a timeline. With a heavy focus on Comey, a man I knew next to nothing about as a Canadian, we go through the Hillary emails incident, primarily, as well as the fallout and subsequent short tenure after the election, with the Trump admin.

It's great at showing the thinking and drive behind Comey, but less so at delineating what is factual and what is dramatized, which is how these things go, but with how heavy handed it is in depicting Comey as morally upright and just, it's even more important to communicate what parts are verified. Because by the end, though entertaining and an important story to get out there, it does feel like slanted propaganda, rather than a presentation of unbiased factual events people can rely on to get the whole story. Which is, presumably, what they were looking to do?

Either way, still entertaining and well done. Just was expecting something less dramatized, I guess.

Uh, kinda legitimately worse than the remake? Both villains are cartoonish, but the end fight is beyond incredulity. The idea he could pose a threat to Dalton and Dalton's subsequent decision meaning anything whatsoever after carving a bloody path to him is just so, so silly. It tries to take itself seriously while also not doing so, messing up the tone. There's TnA to try and make it a fun boys film, but at every level it sort of weeks by on the fun factor, because it's quite a mess. I think you need your nostalgia goggles on for this one.

However. Clay is excellent and was apparently a cool Canadian musician and I am Canadian and so I benevolently give this movie a passing grade. Rip king.

Also. Swayze.

I for one am living for the straights are not okay 90s homoerotic resurgence. It's no Top Gun remake, of course, but it doesn't take itself seriously whatsoever and from time to time I like to see angry men hurt each other. Objectively, yes, this isn't very good. But it is a vibe I was into.

The best way I can explain it is this: you know those people who watched Venom and unironically had a good time with it and the only explanation is that these people are just built different? Well this is my venom. (Though I know this movie is not good and wouldn't claim it to be. It is Fun. At the right time, in the right mood. So good it's bad.) (unlike venom)

Heavy in symbolism and thematics, the slow burn of the film makes you dwell in uncomfortable moments in order to confront them, even as all the characters actively choose not to do so. The performance of Gracie and Joe's lives comes under scrutiny by a woman who performs for a living, a new creature introduced to an environment with a predator-prey dynamic long established.

I think the movie does a great job at showing both the complexities of the characters, both presenting as "normal" and loving people, but with the horror of revelation around seemingly mundane and innocuous life events.

We get the meta commentary on a real life situation with the case this takes obvious inspiration from, the overt meta with Natalie Portman being an actress playing an actress, and how her lens and drive to become and understand a pedophile uncovers troubling dynamics for the audience participating in a story like this-and then we get the conflicts coming to a head with direct symbolism in the film too. The last part, I think being key to showing what the film is about, what it's saying about the couples dynamic, and the morality conflict at play, hinted at directly by Portman's character being asked in an acting class very directly about playing characters who are "bad" or morally grey, or evil.

Really well done at every level. Not shocked to see some people thought not much, if anything, "happens", but I think audiences have been conditioned to expect shocking events a little too much. I like how the film invites you to think about what it's saying, and what you think about it, but also have a definitive stand on a troubling topic.

You would think of all the Moshfegh novels so far, maybe A24 Lapvona would be a slam dunk. Eileen... is a bit of an odd choice. I liked the book a fair amount, but almost all of my enjoyment was from the interiority of the character. I was kind of hoping this movie could actually make me like the book more.

Sadly, without the interiority and the alternate ending, this didn't quite come together in any very meaningful way, for me. It's serviceable in terms of the plot and alright with performances, but it lacks thematics and hopes to skate by on subverting the expectations of the audience, I think. Maybe that would have worked better for me had I not read the book? It still feels understated, quiet, and mousy to me, though. And the transition from Eileen's meeting of a particular character to the fallout feels unearned as a result, making it hard to buy into.

While the performances are fairly uneven, I really enjoyed this adaptation of a book I really enjoyed. It's concerned with showing showing the casual damage family dynamics cause even with the privileged. Without communication skills people are just socialized into unfulfilling, cyclical abuse trauma. All with the backdrop of a mystery, which is more a whodunit than a whodunit.

The book is much better at keeping things interesting between the A plot and B plot by virtue of being in the heads of the characters, feeling more relatable, and dovetailing each kids' story with the overarching plot. The show isn't bad.

In fact, it's kind of funny reviews that dislike it say they gussed the ending right away, so it wasn't good, when the actual point is being able to emphasize with fallible people all thinking they're doing what's right for them and the family. Patting yourself on the back for being unable to empathize and being fixated on the mystery is a weird flex, but what can you expect from the general public, I guess.

I really like the two lead characters, even if they will-they-won't-they isn't very interesting. But the main thing that holds it back from being good is the writing. Too many wild contrivances, often feeling like it just wanted something something thrilling every now and then to hold the attention of people on their phones while watching.

I couldn't make it past the second season after there just so happened to be a helicopter outside of a defunct prison and the subsequent fallout, and just the truly bizarre plot twists obviously meant to placate people who don't like it when they can guess who the killer is. But most people can and do guess who the killer is correctly, so you're better off just writing a solid a plot, rather than padding it with a meh B and throwing in the unbelievable bits.

I have watched a crap ton of these kinds of shows and really like Nordic-Scandinavian noir procedurals because they tend to be more myopic, character driven, and tightly written-which this is. If you want overly dramatized twists so you can't guess the killer and wild plot beats with gorgeous, likable, actors for the partners, which 90% of these shows are, this is not for you.

This is for fans of the also pretty great Canadian show Cardinal, Midnight Sun, Mare of Easttown, Wisting. Personal, slow burn but well written shows. Not something as bombastic and shocking like Happy Valleys plot beats develop into or The Killing, The Bridge, Pagan Peak, with substantial sub plots. This is 8 episodes a season, much more tight.

The characters are flawed and realistic and the casting is subversive of type. Though, the leaders I would say are still quite attractive, the hotshot young one has a great character arc across the 3 seasons, and the relationship between the detective and him fits the show very well. The lead is only unlikable only if you don't like competent, confident and over 30. I don't need or want characters to be likable. I want them to be understandable and compelling in ways I haven't yet seen much of, or at all.

The writing is excellent. I always know who does the murder regardless of the plotting, it's just the way it is unless the show deliberately withholds information from the viewer. Instead, the red herrings and the investigation proceeds in such a way as to bring a very nice character arc and thematic crescendo, which is much preferable to me over a wild twist. Every character and every piece of dialogue is there for a purpose, even if you don't realize it until the last couple episodes, and even side characters are well written. They're dynamic, sometimes for descent queer rep, sometimes to hit a trope or to subvert it.

The acting delivers, though isn't academy award level, but far more serviceable than anything you'd be watching on mainstream. Very pleasantly surprised.

It took me this long to get around to this, and that's my bad. I don't have any nostalgia and I know Bell from The Good Place. Veronica Mars holds up, for the most part, pretty well. Especially the first season. It's gritty, realistic, and has interesting characters with a noir-esk narration that just works.

The wheels do somewhat begin to fall off near the end of the second season, and the third was not great, the fourth being really medicore. My problems with the show feel like they stem from staff writing issues. Throughout the seasons threads are introduced that are entirely dropped. Most of the time with season finales. Wtf ever happened with Logan's dad, or Grace? (Thankfully addressed in the second, and pretty great novel), or why does the s4 hook start with her saying she met a girl and got attached and that's 'never good', when nothing of consequence is foreshadowed by that. There's a lot of little things like that which just continue to pile up into major contrivances.

But my largest problem is with Veronica as a character. She's presented as smart and sassy, but they work so hard sometimes to take away her agency. She's the number one smartest moron, apparently, who constantly needs guys to save her. Or else the writers are so enamoured with specific plot beat twists so she just completely misses really basic conclusions to things. Then there's Logan, who is annoying at best, wildly contrived at worst. Some episodes the writers try to do something with it, but most of the time it's another thing just hand waved. It's actually maddening sometimes.

However. That's not to say it's not worth watching. It does have its own niche corner pretty well blocked off. There's not really another show as decently written or produced as this one was. I wish they'd dug into issues they poke at and developed the characters more, especially in the last two seasons. But, it is what it is. Still worth a watch but no where near an 8.5 average rating, imo.

This was way better than I expected. Had the plot not gone a little off to the bend and become slightly contrived and hand waved, this would have easily been a 8 or 9. Absolutely adored the first half, absokutely golden. Well worth a watch at the very least. Better than most. Had it kept things a bit more centered it would have really been something great.

The earnestness, from the characters to the depiction of working class Boston, and even the romance felt well done and rare. The performances were all pretty solid too. Not stand out, but not a bad one in the bunch either. The family aspect of it really brought the performances together, for me.

Understated and sometimes interesting, but the lethargy in between the times it's coming together really detract from the overall film experience. I do like the actual message and symbolism and performances, though. Some laugh out loud moments and some true-to-life connective tissue between people being, maybe not inspirational, but positive. All across a few days of our MC having to make space for people while trying to engage with herself and her art, despite it all. It's a descent story and worth watching. I wish it had impacted me more; maybe it would be for people who are more into it (or are artists).

Better than the first even, for me. It's neat that with Paul's omnipresence, you could think of this as just another permutation in the multiverse that has played out. And the updates are very welcome. The Baron from the previous film. More autonomy for the women, reflecting more overtly the culture, and some much larger implications around the children of dune too. The baby is not yet born, but in the books by the time the showdown happens, it's been quite a few years. Also, Chani is very different. I like that I don't know what will happen next, despite reading the two trilogies.

One thing that does bug me, though, is not including the water ceremony for Jamis, killed in the previous movie, so not a spoiler. The absolute best part of the book is Paul having to carry Jami's water afterward, and the ceremony where people remember him, in which Paul says: I was a friend of Jamis. He taught me that when you kill, you pay for it. And when he cries, people say He Gives Water To the Dead.

For a more... moral Paul being portrayed in the movie, it's wild they didn't include it. It's a powerful moment.

This does what it sets out to do and has a fantastic performance in it, but I do miss the days when A-A-Ron could make things more intellectually interesting and complex, like The Fountain. But when you read the critic reviews of the film you can see why he's made really heavy handed things since. All of them didn't even get what the movie was about, and that was them doing their job. I remember coming out of The Matrix as a teenager and going to the washroom, only to hear some adults asking each other what the heck the movie was about. Yall are why we can't have nice things and instead have to have wildly explicit Disney movie endings.

I'm not sure a movie has ever went from something I really didn't like, to something I really, really enjoyed, quite like this. But then again, I don't think this is quite like anything I've ever seen, so that fits. It certainly has elements of many things, but it comes together in such a novel, interesting, and thought provoking way.

It was also laugh-out-loud funny, which is very rare for me. It's aesthetically incredible, it has a form-meets-function camera progression that mirrors the character growth, which was itself pretty exceptional. The dialogue was fantastic too, both in terms of delivery and in how the characters are crafted. Verisimilitude is pretty vogue these days in writing, but I always preferred characters to be, well, Characters. In a fantastical setting like this, all the more reason.

This will definitely benefit from rewatches and I know I'll be looking forward to them. Such a novel work.

Huh! I didn't quite appreciate this when it first came out, but I'm quite impressed with it now. I had no idea it was a King story either. But it does feel like one after a ways into it. I hadn't remembered it was even horror. I do think it could have delivered more pretty easily. I wonder if the original story does?

Either way, it's a haunting and unique piece well delivered. The kid isn't exactly incredible but gets carried with a wildly good experience from McKellen. As I said. It probably could have had more teeth, but it's way better than I expected and remembered. Probably because it is even more relevant today? Or more poignant anyway, with fascism flying flags all over these days.