The Nightingale
Holy shit. Brutal. I need more films from Jennifer Kent.
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The Nightingale
Holy shit. Brutal. I need more films from Jennifer Kent.
The Irishman (3.5/4)
Finally got around to watching IT chapter 2.
My first thought was that it was about 30 to 45 minutes too long. That ending really dragged on. I enjoyed a lot of the little nods to the book that my wife and kids likely missed since they never read the book but I wish they would have expanded on them a little more. Like when Bill bought his bike back and said something about it being fast enough to "beat the devil".
I was happy to see them bring up the ritual of Chüd but it would've made more sense if it actually worked and they didn't keep the movie going for another hour. I also don't understand why they introduced Bill's wife and Bev's husband but then cut their story lines out completely. Seems like they could've fit them in somewhere.
I thought references to how Bill couldn't write a good ending was a little wink to SK and how everyone always complains about his endings as well. But they sort of beat that joke into the ground.
As always, they can't get the ending right. The book's ending was 100X better. They reduced Pennywise from a nearly immortal being not from this planet to a baby? Ugh. :arg:
6.5/10 with .5 taken out for that ending.
I thought how they defeated Pennywise was great considering Pennywise was a total narcissist. The movie should've focused on that more as the book did.
The film made 3 key mistakes:
1- Bringing The Kids back: not only did it serve no real purpose except for more scares, it dragged down the running time and they just magically built that fort despite no mention of it in the first film? It should've been in the first film, not in the film at all, or they should've filmed both films at the same time to blend it together how the novel is.
2- The lack of characterization killed it. All the adult characters were concerned with was Pennywise whereas in the novel Bill is dealing with Audra, Bev is dealing with Tom, and there is also Henry Bowers (who does nothing of importance in the film considering his role is to take one Loser out of action to make them weaker). Richie is the only one who gets any development and Mike is the only one who seems to have an arc by the end. Bev/Ben are happy, but Tom is still around so she's still married and they have things to deal with. Bill learns how to write an ending, I guess. Considering how character driven the story is, this really hurt the film for me.
3- Pennywise needed clearer motives. In the novel it's quite clear IT hates The Losers because they made IT realize it might be the all-powerful superbeing it thought it was. What makes IT so fascinating as a character is how fragile its ego is and how it's belief it's all powerful is what defeats IT in the end. The reason why IT used Audra, Tom, and Bowers to do it's bidding was because IT doubted itself and that doubt was the key to its weakness. If I remember correctly too, the scenes with IT/Audra/Tom were where IT revealed a lot of its hangups as well. While Pennywise definitely seemed more vengeful in Chapter Two, it wasn't really explained. In the end, it makes the ending feel unexplained when a single scene could've provided that ending with all the context it needed.
Took the wife and daughters to see Little Women. There are films that, as a father, I am proud to have a shared moment with. Hidden Figures was the last one, and now Little Women. A brilliant adaptation that will surely garner lots of award consideration.
I haven't read the book or seen any of the Little Women films. Despite the great cast and Gerwig directing, I don't have a lot of interest in it.
Something I totally get. What I hate is the type of comments that ignore the fact that there is in fact a fine film directed by a woman this year, probably more than one. It's not about nominating a woman just because she's a woman. It's about recognizing the work. Would I nominate it for best picture, probably not. It's certainly deserving as a film, but my issue is with the fact that it's already been done before, not to this effect, but done before nonetheless.
Debra Granik should've been nominated for Leave No Trace last year.
She has no chance but Lulu Wang should absolutely be nominated for directing The Farewell. An amazing film.
I can't wait to watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood again tomorrow with my friend. We're going to drink a bottle of Jameson during it and I know once we get to the last 30 minutes of the movie I'm going to laugh my ass off, and then I'll laugh even harder because I know my friend is going to lose it, and then we're going to end up watching it again after and we'll lose it twice as hard. It's going to be a good night.
I want to watch Nightingale but I have a problem with rape stuff. I can watch demons and zombies and shit like that all day long, but I have a difficult time sitting through stuff like that.
Nightingale... loves every minute of this ride. 8.5/10
Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood... Hanks kills it but I found it slow and a little boring... 6/10
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Uncut Gems:
Despite all the praise for the film, I had no desire to watch it. I went with a friend, and was pleasantly surprised. I used to love Adam Sandler, but I can't stand anything of his after 50 First Dates. He turned in a solid performance here, which we all know he's capable of if he actually tries. It's a super busy film too, with all sorts of bad decisions, and the fallout from them. On a side note, the opening of the film got a huge "wtf?" from the audience :wtf:
8/10
Movie weekend continues.
A Marriage Story... beautifully done and I tried not to pick sides and it was easy. The lawyers were the antagonists here. Not the couple. Heartwarming and sad at the same time. 8/10
Zombie land Double Tap... fun. Not as good as the first but I didn’t mind it. 7/10
Jedi... the wife and I laughed a few times but were creeped out more than we laughed. Haha. 6/10
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What....? :(
I haven't seen this one yet, but I'm dying to. It's such a great story. The one with Winona Ryder and Christian Bale is so good. But it is a little odd to me that they're remaking it yet again especially considering that PBS Masterpiece released a good version last year.
It's getting rave reviews and is considered one of the best of the year by many critics.
I'm very curious to check out Little Women, but it's highly unlikely I'll seek it out in theaters. As soon as that shit is out on streaming though I'm all over it.