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tywoolworth
Reviews
Pig (2021)
Not perfect, but so well done... recommend++
First of all, Nic Cage is NOT my favorite actor...But he does an amazing job here. Like, award level job. How was this not nominated? How did this not win?
Anyway, the movie is NOT about a pig. The movie is about being human in society, which encompasses every person in every career, at every age. It addresses the importance of real vs fake, it address loss, and it does a fantastic job of revealing the real person vs the façade of career.
Not a spoiler: but at one point (actually twice), the protagonist faces a man who begins the conversation with listing his business importance. Then the protagonist proceeds to speak to the real and emotional, and circumvent what the person believes to be the most important. It breaks them.
I was not expecting John Wick, I had already heard about the movie, which is why I was willing to see to it. Good reviews. They did not disappoint.
Recommendation: do NOT go into this movie with genre expectations, but see it!
HOWEVER, do not expect this movie to give you neatly wrapped-in-a-bow answers to ponder over. This movie forces you to ask questions of your own life, but does NOT provide answers.
The King's Man (2021)
A fun bit of fiction!
There are so many reviews here that took this movie too seriously - having historical events, does not mean it is supposed to be historically accurate. Lighten up people.
I found it entertaining. It had a message that "war is bad," as the protagonist must balance his desire for peace with the need to end the machinations of evil.
I did not watch the second Kingsman movie, but I knew the organization in the original film existed to prevent wars - so the protagonist's motives were correctly applied. I also knew from the first film how the Kingsman org was created, with money which did not go to aristocrat heirs. So the first half of the film was important for the development of that, and I thought they pulled it off well, showcasing both bravery and the ridiculousness of war at the same time.
I found the film entertaining, but I can see how/why some would not like it. It was not a war movie, it was not a spy movie, it was not quite an action movie, etc. However, it did tell the story of a reluctant hero, and how loss drove him to balance a need for peace with the ability to enforce it.
Kanata no Astra (2019)
Not really into anime, but love sci-fi. This turned out GREAT!
*NO SPOILERS*
I struggled a bit with episodes 1-3, as the mystery was not addressed yet (only subtly), but the real science-fiction element kept me interested. There were too many sub-plots which did not add up to the sci-fi overtones of the premise. BUT I WAS WRONG - each of the elements were answered, and in a logical way.
Overall, I was impressed with the writing. It DID deliver on the premise, and it kept the pacing, mystery, and character development. Great job crew!
I would RECCOMEND this mini-series. It was wrapped up nicely. Do not expect a second season, this was a complete telling of the story, and it was done well.
Made for Love (2021)
Inconsistent and unlikable main character
I have only seen the first three episodes, but it seems the writers can't quite decide on what the character of their main protagonist is.
It feels like they went around the writers room and each person added something she would do in each scene, but no one looked at the character for consistency. She comes accross as erratic, unlikable, unpredictable, victim them victimizer, sane then crazy - and not a character an audience would root for.
The script was written more for shock value than to tell a cohesive narrative.
The Irregulars (2021)
I watched the entire thing, here are my spoiler-free thoughts
First off, I did not mind the non-historic casting, culture, or dialogue which pretended to be Victorian England. It's fiction, just go with it. Don't complain about that while watching a show about supernatural monsters.
I also did not mind the mediocre acting, it was a bunch of young unknown actors who were trying their hardest. It was not too distracting.
I'm not really into the music/soundtrack, I honestly don't even remember it. Not my thing. I did not find it distracting.
It was the story... it was so bad. It started with a mystery (great!) - it ended with a sky-beam (bad). I am not joking. The finale was such a waste. It was a waste of everything leading up to it. It was like they didn't know how to end it? It was all too predictable, while not making any sense at the same time. It did not even follow it's own story-logic.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
I will keep HBO Max membership if they keep doing this! Take my money
Great job Zack! I signed up for HBO Max just to watch this - will keep membership if they keep doing movies like this!
Movie was an EXPERIENCE from start to finish.
HBO - please let Zack make more of this series!
Archive (2020)
Quite literally the worst... in a literary sense.
This falls into an easy-out, bad-writing, cliched, and fundamentally flawed type of ending that treats the watcher with distain for even attempting to follow the story. Waste of time. Insulting. They should be ashamed of such bad writing.
Artemis Fowl (2020)
A made-for-tv movie from the 00's???
Quite literally the worst... Nothing made any sense. It really felt like 2 different movies mashed into one - like Kenneth Branagh made a separate movie, and Disney made a separate movie, and then they were mashed together into this nonsense.
Captain Marvel (2019)
A heroes' journey - not a heroine's journey??? Progressive or not?
First of all - I never read the comic book, so I am writing this based solely on the movie - not as a fan who acts like they own the source material.
The good:
I was blown away by how they used the heroes' journey instead of the heroine's journey for her character arc. It was progressive, and more so than others (Wonder Woman) who rely on the classic tropes of (the female protagonist) first building friendships to team-work her problems away. Other comments have focused on how the movie didn't delve into her vulnerabilities to humanize her and connect with the audience, but that would only be necessary in heroine's journey. This IS truly PROGRESSIVE, as her character could have been switched with any gender and it would still tell the same story. Good job Disney. Good job writers. Good job people who enjoyed the movie without needing it to conform to your rigid expectations.
The bad:
I don't usually watch trailers, as I like to be surprised in a movie, however, the teaser trailer I saw showed more of a character arc than the actual movie did. Throughout the trailer, it was about her falling down and not letting it stop her - but that wasn't in the movie - it wasn't even mentioned other than a 15 second montage near the end. I don't know why they cut it and chose to focus on her getting her memory back rather than growing as a character, but there it is...
Lastly, and I have to mention this - she had the (spoiler) inside her all along??? Really??? Dorothy or Wonder Woman much? StarLord had the power inside him at the end, but he didn't use it to suddenly god-like-dismiss all his problems (and antagonists) away like the final act of Wonder Woman.
Conclusion:
Fun, enjoyable, check your brain at the door and relax.
Tomorrowland (2015)
Brilliant and Imaginative!
Inspiring and full of wonder.
This is not for people who like to have their movies explained in monologues, or for movie watchers who want to see destruction, bleak imaginings, or pessimistic scenarios (such as every futuristic and post-apocalyptic movie out there). If you are comparing this to Mad Max, then you have completely misses the point of the movie...
I saw Ex Machina the other day, which although was a brilliant movie until the final act, played on my (completely human) sense of doom and gloom. I am finding this overdone story formula to be getting quite tired. I am a big fan of science fiction, but find them more and more trying to be intellectual by pandering to the audience's fear of the unknown,rather than wonder of the unknown. They constantly devolve into a fight for survival against the machines, bombs, aliens, etc that are really only out to get them. I absolutely loved Athena's character in the movie, as it was full of hope and possibilities rather than most movie versions of that type of technology.
Brad Bird has done it again, the movie filled me with child-like wonder, and got to me imagine fantastic possibilities. As another poster pointed out, if you didn't "get" this movie, or found it boring, no worries - but this movie was clearly not for you. Please be content watching your bleak sci-fi movies.
Maybe I'm an old-school millennial, but this movie brought back everything I used to love about movies growing up, the ones that got my imagination going with the sense that anything was possible.
I would definitely recommend this movie, but please go see it with an open mind.