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Liu lang di qiu 2 (2023)
Expected the plot to be tighter
Good things about the movie: special effects were really cool, I love Andy Lau's performance, I believe it's a type of role he has rarely attempted. Spectacular movie.
Now moving on to the bad: parts of the plot were not closed and left one scratching their head - what was the point of that? Is this thing evil or not? For a movie of such high production quality, I really expected the plot to be tighter. The movie could be shorter. The UN parts were long and didn't add much to the movie for the most part except for one speech.
Overall, similar issues as the first movie. Even disregarding the nationalistic tone, plot logic has been sacrificed for grandiose scenes and lines.
Duo guan (2020)
All talents need a Bo Le
My favourite part of the movie is where Lang Ping was choosing the new players from the pools of players in the regional teams, other sports, etc. All talented people need a Bo Le, which is a Chinese saying to mean someone who recognises one's talent. The film abundantly shows the skill and strategy of Lang Ping as a coach, not to mention her dominating spirit both as a player and a coach. Kudos to Gong Li and to the director for capturing the raw emotions of the non-professional actors (real volleyball players!)
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Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Gripping from start to end
How many of us would have liked to be still at some point in our lives, amidst all the action? How many of us have wished life would slow down just a little for us to be lifeless rocks staring into a canyon?
How many of us have wondered how life would have turned out if only, what if, we made that other choice, took that other job, married that other person? How many of us have wanted to shake hands with ourselves who have made those choices and see in our eyes happiness or regret?
And how many of us have struggled with the bond with our mothers? A bond which is both life-giving and endlessly annoying, which can be controlling, demanding, misunderstanding, yet which we know deep down ties us to a woman who will follow us to the abyss?
Everything Everywhere All At Once explores the above themes. It is also deadly funny in addition to being relatable on so many dimensions. Definitely give it a watch.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Didn't really like it
Rescuing the villains seems weird especially when they are forcefully injected with an unknown serum. The multiverse concept was already played out in the animation and I felt it was a bit lazy of them to do it again. Overall, I prefer the previous Far From Home to this.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
We see legends at work together
Is this an unpopular opinion? Here we see nearly the best, and definitely the prime, of Leonardo DiCaprio as a charming young man, and supported in the best way by the excellent Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. I also didn't realize until I checked that that is young Amy Adams! What a treat!
Délicieux (2021)
Delightful
Delightful, pure, with great emotional payoff. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A take on aristocracy with French characteristics. Plus points for helping me improve my French listening.
Dune (2021)
Solid film but introduction can be shorter
I thoroughly enjoyed it - after inadvertently missing the first twenty odd minutes. Later I caught up on the earlier portion but didn't think I missed much. Most of the information could be inferred later and wasn't necessary as exposition. The shorter duration made my viewing more enjoyable. I don't think I would have enjoyed the full 156 minutes at this pace.
For example, one of the moments that really turned the film from neutral to good for me was when Jessica used the Voice on the attackers. The surprise element was greater without the earlier primer, which in my opinion was not entirely necessary. They're witches; it is implied they have certain mythic powers.
Her (2013)
No idea why they fell in love
Four points for the performances by Phoenix, Adams, Johansson, pretty decent cinematography of the cityscape, the ending where all AIs float away into some N-dimension neverland to pursue truth & philosophy about the universe, instead of harness their powers for world domination... I'll have to admit, didn't think of that one.
The rest: movie was too long, dull, no idea what the ex-wife and AI (Samantha) saw in this man. Not sure why the AI would continue to patronize him and flatter his big male ego. At first I thought it was programmed this way for commercial brownie points, but since all the AIs floated away in the end, this was clearly not the case. The science and engineering behind this is not believable at all. Letter-writing by voice as a profession should not exist.
The Undoing (2020)
Really slow
Slow and unable to keep my attention. I was pretty convinced I had the right murderer from the start and was genuinely annoyed by how stupid some of the other characters are. Many unnecessary scenes, eg. Grace fainting. The son getting thrown out of school. Etc. I did not enjoy Nicole Kidman's acting, thought it was an excess of pouting, broody looks, "stoicism", and her hair was distracting. But mostly just that the plot was bad and slow.
American Chaos (2018)
Good journalism
This is a brave and insightful piece of journalism that continues to have relevance. It deserves a wider audience than it has gotten and I'm frankly surprised there aren't more works covering the voter surge that brought Trump to power in 2016. Remarkable documentation of a historical moment and the processes leading to that moment. The ratings are necessarily skewed because of the political nature of this piece but I enjoyed it immensely.
Knives Out (2019)
Not all that good
Solid entertainment. I was kept pretty much interested for two hours. I really liked the first one-third: the mix of characters, their personalities and backstories, the beautiful house and detailed interior decor.
Then came the girl who vomits if she lies (frankly ... ew). One expects things to get really good from here - this could be a special ability that helps our detective piece together the mystery. Except it is quickly revealed that there is no mystery and the whole case, motivation process and outcome, is played out in front of the audience before the movie is half through. What?
I held out hope when the morphine overdose was revealed. No throat has been slit, so surely, something is left to solve. Nope. Turns out to be wholly a suicide. We realize everything before this is kind of useless, and follow the main character on her quest to escape culpability (except I did think she was at fault and should be caught, so was not really convinced).
The middle section meanders and loses itself in inheritance drama. A blackmailer appears - is murdered. I frankly could not figure out if the second murder was done to hurt or help the main character - could be either and I did not much care. Only wanted to see the ending where I was sure there is a twist.
The last part of the movie picked up and was almost as good as the first, although the denouement was somewhat predictable (many plot points follow so much hinting as to make them predictable, even if they were not at the start). The black sheep turns out to be ... really the black sheep, I had high hopes that the most like grandson to the grandfather would continue to foster the family's special bond to the main character, nope that was all false. Also: overused motifs of the game Go, being a good person, seeing through if knives are props, etc.
Final note on what I perceive to be the misplaced idea of guilt in this movie. Main character did not directly kill the grandpa but did indirectly cause his misguided suicide. In a civil lawsuit, would she not still be held accountable (somewhat) for his death? So the slayer's rule would still work? Consider also the case for her negligence and that she had champagne.
And in the alternate scenario, even if she was the one to administer what she thought was medicine (actually morphine), she would not be held guilty if it's proven someone swapped out the drugs? (which is possible given the eye witness of the housekeeper).
It is tragic that the old man must die either way. Overall, pretty good/not bad, really good performances by the cast, less than solid plot (if it were more of a comedy it would have worked - alas), too much vomiting, and too indulgent towards the main character who at best I think is a neutral not morally superior person.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Satisfactory ending
I love the detailed dive into each character's psyche, making us feel so much closer to each of them - and then the interweaving of their fates in the thunderous finale. This movie did not disappoint. Should be an 8.5 stars in my books if there was the option. I love the performances from each actor. Perhaps a little too many meandering drives from the rear seat for me, and I only understood the movie fully after I googled and found out the backstory (a particular disadvantage as a young-ish person, I guess).
The Great Hack (2019)
What am I watching?
What is the point of this documentary? If you already knew your data is being taken by companies whose tech products you use, there isn't much new here. Cambridge Analytica former and current employees point fingers at Facebook, Facebook points fingers back at Cambridge Analytica, amidst it all we see the protagonists gleefully post their responses to the situation on Twitter and this whole thing is aired on Netflix. Am I the only one seeing the irony here?
Despite all the complaints, this documentary isn't an advocacy to stop consuming big tech (in fact I waited for them to bring up Netflix as one of the tech giants, to break the fourth wall - they did not). Way too much sympathy for former Cambridge Analytica employee Brittany Kaiser, many gaps left in the content such as use of social media for elections before 2016, what really is free will and free choice, and the actions tech giants have taken since 2016 to revamp their privacy policies. If the cardinal sin is misinformation, the documentary arguably contributes to it.
Murder Mystery (2019)
Entertaining
I like it. It's funny. A lot of the humor is pinned on making fun of tropes in age-old detective novels, such as the Agatha Christie series, which I happen to have read nearly all of, so I got most of them. But I understand that not everyone does. Reactions are exaggerated, deux en machina spins out of nowhere - it's meant to be good fun. Sandler and Aniston were great.
La La Land (2016)
Magical
One of my favorite movies ever. Utterly enchanting and magical. The ending was perfect and gut-wrenching. Both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling delivered stellar performances, but the star of the show is the song-writing, choreography, and cinematography/camera-work. A story that will leave you pondering about the limits of dreams and the seams of reality, the breaking points in-between, and which sacrifices are worthwhile.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Unconvincing performance
I loved, loved, loved the music but Lady Gaga's performance was unconvincing to me. She was emotional, yes, but the moment she goes onstage I just cannot believe she is a novice singer unused to large crowds. Gaga takes the stage and boom, it becomes a Gaga concert, which I thoroughly enjoy but does not serve the story. The love story was drawn out, as was the conflicts after married life, and I fell asleep before the finale. Also, I was deeply distracted by the fact that Cooper cannot really play the guitar and it was very obvious that camera angles try to hide this fact. I wish he could have chosen to play any other kind of singer than a guitar-playing country singer, else, get someone else to play it.
The Favourite (2018)
Dark and completely enrapturing
Beautiful performances from the three women leads. The dark comedy of the plot completely upends any previous impression you may have of the British royalty. Completely enthralling and it keeps you engaged from the beginning to the end. One star is taken off for moments which were too dark and disturbing even for me.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Witty, self-aware, extremely artistic
Several moments the art moved me to tears. This is animation for the adults. I would recommend anyone to watch just for the graphics alone.
Hard to find anything with the plot either - it is funny, witty, strong and very self-aware. Think Deadpool levels of self-awareness. One of the best films of 2018.
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Terrible as a work in its own right
Reviewing to put the rating for this movie in its proper place. We saw the movie for Lin-Manuel Miranda and the reasonably high ratings it received and we were sorely disappointed. Miranda has a terrible accent and pops in and out for no reason, and the plot was so lacking we left the cinema halfway, making this the second movie ever for which I left early, the first being Eat, Pray, Love (but that was when I very young). Two stars are for, firstly, Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom we still love, and secondly, it being a musical which is an automatic plus for me. That said, the potential of the music was not harnessed either. Do not bother, or else, watch and feel vindicated.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Good cinematic but terrible plot and no characterization
The movie starts out rather slowly but seems to have potential. The breaking point comes when one realizes that the Batman is loony enough to try to destroy Superman for no particular good reason other than that "if we believe there is even one percent chance he is our enemy, we have to take it as an absolute certainty". (?? what?? really??) All the motives for all the actions by every character are weak. The showdown between Batman and Superman seems so improbable if they were made by rational characters that the fighting gives one no enjoyment. The reason for them to stop fighting and uniting together once more is equally weak and unbelievable. When one reaches the part where the monster is unleashed, one can only laugh. The ending is equally long and dreary - even though everyone guessed Superman is not dead, the producers took really long with the suspense.
Throughout the movie, there is no character development. Batman only looks stressed and the Superman only looks mildly concerned. There are many potential moral points of conflict to take the characterization further, but they are not used. Wonder Woman is hugely unnecessary and Lois Lane only breathlessly rushes herself into trouble. The villain is believably crazy and I thought he is the reincarnation of the Joker. Action scenes are too shaky and there are also flashing lights. The score is repetitive, loud and intrusive. The three stars are for Henry Cavill and the cinematography, with some breathtaking landscape and rich imagery.
Zootopia (2016)
Really great movie with thought-provoking themes
Best animated movie I have ever watched. (Big Hero 6 is a close second). I love the plot, love the characters, love the conflicts, love the irony. The script is funny and light-hearted and cracked me up at so many places. The characters are well-developed, have great chemistry and are lovable.
More importantly, the movie delivers important messages. I knew there is a theme from the start, yes, but it is not at all what I expected. I was blown away by the plot twists (there are a few) and the striking parallels the movie draws between the Zootopia world and the real world. Definitely a movie for both kids and adults.