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The Women (2008)
Not bad at all!!
I really enjoyed this movie so it upset me to see so many negative reviews. I thought this movie was a great reflection of what women are truly like, as it is so frustrating to me to constantly see women portrayed as "strong" by acting exactly like men. These characters actually acted like women, which was a nice change of pace.
The story itself was a nice balance of humour and heart, with unique characters and an important development of Meg Ryan's character that was subtle and real.
I would understand why men wouldn't like this movie, but I urge women to give it a chance. I really liked it, and although it is not the deepest, most life-changing film out there, it is an enjoyable and relatable cinematic experience.
Table 19 (2017)
trite & poorly paced
I was really looking forward to the movie from the trailer, but man was I disappointed.
The "surprises" in the plot (and there are many!) were all very predictable, yet there were also times where characters would figure things out that NO ONE would have been able to guess, and their explanation of how they figured it out was based on the flimsiest of logic.
The overall movie was just not funny! It ran way too long, and you had to watch multiple plots unfold as like 9 characters you didn't care about all embarked on their own journeys. Without giving anything away, there were quite a few characters that ended up getting full backstories when their personalities were far too one-dimensional and unrealistic to ever allow the audience to care about them.
Really not funny, really not good. Just Hollywood making different movies with the same 5 clichés they've been using for years.
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special (2017)
Not a troll, just disappointed
Let me just say that I am actually a big fan of Amy Schumer. While I don't think we agree on everything, I think she's hilarious and I love her stand up (usually).
Unfortunately, this comedy special completely fell flat. She didn't seem to be trying AT ALL, drinking wine on stage, telling a joke once every two minutes instead of a steady stream of punchy comedy like usual.
I think she definitely has begun to phone it in now that she knows she's got a solid fan base, and I don't like it. To blame "internet trolls" on her low ratings is a childish move, and does not take accountability for her poor effort.
I also really didn't like the fact that some bits were reused from stories she's previously told in interviews! Watching the special, I could point out at least 3 stories that I had already heard before on various talk shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and Ellen. She should be performing original content.
Good thing it was free.
La La Land (2016)
Trite
I was expecting it to be overrated, and it was.
Every bit of the film was so clichéd that it was very un-special for me, and seemed to drag on for a very long time.
I didn't like the fact that everything was too perfect, because it made it hard to relate to any of the characters. They were broke, relatable "dreamers" with designer clothes, expensive cars, and no flaws. The characters were very underdeveloped, and there did not seem to be any chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
The music was really boring and simple, and every song was forgettable- except for City of Stars because they played it every five minutes. The script felt like it was written in a week. The director seemed to play it safe with every aspect, and relied more on visually pleasing cinematography to tell the tale instead of gripping acting and a well written story.
If you want a real love story, watch Titanic.
Rogue One (2016)
Am I the only one who didn't like it?
I've seen all the Star Wars movies, and while I'm not a massive fan, I can definitely appreciate the old ones after seeing this new addition to the saga. The original three (and following prequels) had a certain heart that was inherently missing from Rogue One. While the CGI wasn't as good, and the fighting wasn't as badass, it just connected viewers to the storyline a lot more than Rogue One did. Even the prequels had a certain charm, because you could see how hard they were trying to please Star Wars fans, and continue telling the story. This movie was trying to be cool and gritty, but it ended up ruining everything that Star Wars is known for.
What it lacked in charm, it also lacked in Star Wars-ness. You easily could have swapped out "death star" for any other futuristic sounding weapon and you'd have had your run of the mill action movie. It felt more like Avatar than Star Wars, especially since there were so many human characters and so few aliens/droids.
EFFECTS Rogue One was purely a money grabber, and you could see that all their energy had gone into the effects (although Princess Leia looked crazy fake).
You also couldn't really appreciate the CGI, because it just looked like live-action shots. Also, seeing the same things for 2 hours makes you pretty numb to it by the end.
SCRIPT The script was the laziest piece of garbage I've ever heard, and the part where Jyn finds the secret plans labeled "Stardust" could be seen from a mile away. The plot was so simple, yet I also found it hard to understand what was going on since the pacing was so choppy and there were so many irrelevant characters.
They repeatedly tried (and failed) to add comedy to the film, one example being the cringy banter between Jyn and the robot that no one cared about.
The fighting sequences were also too frequent, and it felt like the last 45 minutes were pure action. It made for a rather anti-climatic ending, since we'd already seen 100 explosions throughout the duration of the movie.
ACTING Everyone was fine. Literally no person stuck out in my mind, and no one had a developed enough personality to even distinguish a single trait. All the team mates on Rogue One were so blandly portrayed that I don't remember any of their names. The blind guy was actually quite annoying, and the praying thing got old after 2 seconds.
The Dressmaker (2015)
Disappointing (very mild spoilers, I won't ruin anything though)
I was overall disappointed when I finally saw the film. I read the book ahead of time, which was much better, and that probably heightened my expectations of the film.
To keep this brief, the 3 strongest parts were Kate Winslet's acting ability, the costumes, and the set design. The 3 weakest parts were the casting, the pace, and the acting of everyone else.
GOOD
1. Kate Winslet's acting: as always, Winslet was brilliant. She conveyed every emotion perfectly, and completely stole the film.
2. The costumes: this was massively important, as it is a central plot point. The dresses were spectacular, and they did a good job of making Una Stubbs' dresses ugly too.
3. Set design: they perfectly captured Tilly's little cottage, the smudgy town, and the desolate landscapes. It was visually stunning, and I love the lavender on the porch.
BAD
1. The casting: this was the biggest problem for me. While Kate was phenomenal, no amount of good acting made me overlook the blatant age gap between her and her co-stars. Tilly is supposed to be a YOUNG girl- not 40. She was 15 years older than her love interest, Liam Hemsworth. Sarah Snook who played Gertrude Pratt, a girl supposed to be her age too, was about 12 years younger than her.
It made it worse that they tried to act like they were all the same age, because they were clearly so far from it. It was distracting and off-putting. They either should have cast elder costars for Winslet or a younger actress to play Tilly Dunnage. Imagine Idris Elba playing a KKK leader- he could act perfectly, but his looks would make it hard for the audience to believe it entirely.
Her body was also an issue. While she is a knockout, and has aged incredibly well, no one can pretend that she looks 25- or that her figure does. The idea that men would literally be stumbling and tripping over themselves because of her appearance at the rugby game was just not feasible.
2. The pace: the pace was choppy and unprofessional. The first half was pure comedy, and the second half all of a sudden became drama. They tried to include many plot points from the book, which made it feel more rushed and forced important details to be hastily shoved together. One part that they really shouldn't have rushed was the process of Teddy courting Tilly. In the book it took quite a while, where the movie version had Tilly going out with Teddy almost instantly. It took away from the suffering she had supposedly gone through in her past when she so quickly fell in love again.
3. The acting: I don't know if perhaps Australian films just have a different style, but as a Canadian watching, the entire thing felt overacted by the supporting cast. The attempted humour completely fell flat because no one knew the meaning of subtlety. I've seen descriptions calling it a "black comedy" and let me straighten that out right now-it is not at all.
Judy Davis has gotten a lot of chatter on her role, and I will agree that her emotional parts were acted superbly. The "funny" parts, less so. However, I know what caliber of actress she is, as well as Caroline Goodall, which leads me to conclude that the fault lay with poor direction- not lack of talent.
Overall, I was just waiting for it to end. If you are to watch it, perhaps you will not agree with my review, but I wanted to post it for reference regardless.
American Hustle (2013)
Not Interesting
This is the second movie of David O' Russell that I've seen, and the second time I have been incredibly bored and disappointed (the first was the Fighter). This movie had a cool concept, but the actual "hustle" part of it was dry and stupid. I just wanted the movie to end. It was barely about the actual crimes they were committing, and more about stupid, repetitive drama between Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, and Christian Bale.
Another problem I have is when directors hire a bunch of crowd pleasing actors and just expect the movie to be good. Sure, there have been many movies that have used big casts and still actually been good movies (Inception, Dark Knight Rises, the Departed), but this one fell flat. David O' Russell is not a good director. Don't watch it.
The Fighter (2010)
Why Does Everyone Love This Movie
I watched this movie because everyone said I had to. That it was amazing, was such an inspiring story, and that Christian Bale was awesome in it. I'll give them that. He did a good job. But everything else was disappointing. There was no emotion in the entire movie. I didn't feel anything the entire time. In the end, when Micky won the fight, I didn't even care. There was nothing leading up to it, nothing to make me excited about it.
The entire movie was a downer, everybody hated each other and complained all the time. Amy Adams, who is normally beautiful looked terrible. Melissa Leo somehow won an Oscar (??!!) for her role, when she didn't have a challenging, significant nor sizeable role in the film. She didn't have many lines, and had the oh-so-difficult role of being a rude person and a bad mother.
The character development was a disaster. Christian's character did a complete 180 in the blink of an eye, and all the other characters were the exact same the whole movie.
Finally, Mark. Mark Wahlberg has done some great work. His performance in the Departed was outstanding. But in the Fighter he was boring, dumb, and lacked emotion.
All in all, I felt I owed it to anyone that hasn't seen it to give them the other perspective, since majority of these reviews are positive. Don't watch it.
Warrior (2011)
Film Making at its Best
Such an incredible movie. I decided to watch it after I saw the rating of 8.3 on IMDb, as well as my love for some of the actors in it. It was powerful, emotional, and had amazing fight scenes in it. I actually didn't know how it was going to end, which was a nice change of pace. The most brilliant thing about this movie was the amount of emotion it was able to convey with the simplest of actions. Tommy lying with his drunk dad. A nod that Paddy gives to Brendan. You will walk away feeling awestruck and moved. I have seen other fighting movies, some good (Million Dollar Baby), and some bad (the Fighter), and this is definitely one of the best ones I've ever seen.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Well acted and beautifully sad
I gave this movie ten out of ten because it will touch your heart. Leonardo DiCaprio was nothing short of magic in his role, bringing the movie to a level that could never be achieved without him. The storyline was heartwarming, the characters were realistic and the parts were well cast.
I had a bit of a problem with some things though; like John C Reilly's character. While he is a good actor and was nice to the Grape family in the movie, he didn't really have a developed personality. He didn't have a background or character development or even a reason of why he was so nice and helpful to the Grape family.
Another thing I didn't like was the ambiguity of the ending. Amy finds a job in a new town after the house burns down and Ellen moves away with her which is a happy ending for both of them but Gilbert and Arnie just go where they want to go....? You see him reconnecting with his girlfriend when she comes back to visit, but the bag he's carrying kind of implies that he doesn't have a house. I thought the ending could have been though out better, because there is no way he could take care of his brother with a life of hitch hiking and his grocery job.
But don't let my review ruin the movie for you. As I said, that was implied but you don't really know how they are living. The movie also had many good parts, which I don't have room to fit all of them in and it is definitely worth seeing.
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
disappointing
This movie was unrealistic and stupid from beginning to end. The main character was incredibly ugly, and there was no way Robbie- let alone 2 other guys- would ever like her. Georgia and her friends were annoying and uncool, and the worst stalkers ever. They loudly followed the boys around in the beginning, complete with some synchronized dancing. The boys never seemed to notice, even though the girls were about as subtle as a gun.
This movie isn't like the normal dumb teen movie, where the gorgeous girl is nerdied up with glasses and has a few tumbles to be adorably clumsy, instead there's a butt ugly girl that does things like watch the popular girl undress with binoculars and shave off half her eyebrow. She wasn't a likable character at all, and didn't even get a makeover halfway through. A hint to the casting director- don't hire a best friend that's prettier than the main character.
The plot was inconsistent when it came to kissing. Half the time kissing was the biggest deal in the world, and then the other half people kissed five minutes after they met someone. The Dave character was completely in love with Georgia, and then was introduced to the Indian best friend that looks about five years younger than everyone else and immediately made out with her.
The surprise party in the end could be seen from a mile away, and the part with Lindsey was entirely unnecessary. It didn't even make sense how she pulled the plugs and the microphones went off- and then she used it five seconds later. And how she allowed Jas to slowly pull her bra stuffers out without moving.
All in all, the movie's crap. Don't watch it.