Ready Player One (2018) – Movie Review

*The following review contains spoilers*

It’s been a while. But I’m back! I was writing my review on mother! but then thought I needed a second viewing (which hasn’t happened yet) so that’s coming hopefully in the near future. But my review today was something I’d never thought I’d write because I was never going to see this film. However my friend dragged me along to it (hi Jess), and because I’m such a nice person, I went. Who am I to pass up a cinema experience? I had never read the book or seen the trailer or had a clue what this film was about. I was not looking forward to this film. But after the credits rolled, I was pleasantly surprised.

Ready Player One is set in 2045 and the VR game (OASIS) has taken over the world. When its creator (Mark Rylance) dies, he challenges all OASIS users on a quest to inherit his fortune. We follow Wade/Parzival (Tye Sheridan) and Samantha/Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) who work together to find the pieces of the puzzle. Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) is the CEO of a video game conglomerate and will do anything to stop them, or any other users, from winning.

Sci-fi is my least favourite genre of film and I would say action-adventure is my 3rd least favourite. Side note: 2nd least favourite goes to Western. So like I said, I thought I would have a not-so-good time watching this. But this was such an entertaining film to watch. I had a great time and was engaged throughout the entire thing. There were some major aspects that I didn’t like, but I’ll get to that. First, let’s focus on the stuff that I thought was good. The first act of the film was amazing and probably my favourite part. I loved the world-building and introduction to OASIS and the characters. The premise of this film alone has a great underlying theme; technology taking over society because people do not want to deal with the real world. Though I think Black Mirror executes this much better, it was still great to watch it explored via film.

My next favourite aspect was race track sequence to get the first key. I was gritting my teeth the whole time wondering what new element would come next. The pacing paired with the sounds were fantastic, it actually felt very 3D like. The scene later when Parzival goes backwards through the course was a real treat to watch too. This segues into my next point, which is that the visuals and effects were very well done. The OASIS users felt like Final Fantasy characters and had that distinct look. Even the details that went into the haptic suit looked amazing. A commendable thing they also did was the effects and editing of Halliday’s journals through the museum; the pauses, zooms and change of angles looked effortless.

Now the stuff I didn’t like. This list will probably be ordered from most to least problematic. The love story between Wade and Samantha felt SO forced. My friends told me that the events of the book took much longer than the film, which is fine, but you’d expected the writers to adapt it well. Their avatars had more chemistry than the actual actors did! Which brings me to my next point; I did not like Sheridan’s acting in this film. His portrayal of the character felt really flat and I didn’t end up caring for his character much. Though, he did a great job voice acting for Parzival. I have nothing to compare Sheridan to because I have not seen any of his other films, so the fault could have been the direction given by Spielberg.

Let’s go to another cast choice which I hated. TJ Miller as i-R0k, god what a bad choice. Every time he spoke I could feel myself getting pulled out of the film. Not only did his voice not suit the avatar, but the writing for him poor. Barely anyone laughed at his lines, and when they did, I’m sure it was pity laughs. Now the very ending of the film I didn’t like either. When it faded to black, I remember saying outloud: “Really?!” To refresh, the ending shot was VO of Wade wrapping up how he put the OASIS fortune to good use, while showing us him and Samantha in a swivel chair kissing. Like, really? They couldn’t have had the ending shot be a little bit more epic, rather then focus on the forced and boring love story. It left a sour taste in my mouth when it ended. One last tiny thing was that the video game/film/music references were just a little overdone. But I’ll let that one slide since all the references were justified when they were used.

Overall, I enjoyed myself way more than I thought it would and it was a fun time. I will see this film again, but not anytime soon. Here’s hoping I get to write more reviews because I had fun with this one. I’m going to see A Quiet Place in a couple of days and I’m really looking forward to that, maybe I’ll write a review for that if I feel that strongly about it. Thanks for reading!

Rating: The world-building was the best part. The love story was the worst. Still an enjoyable experience! 3/5.

Baby Driver (2017) – Movie Review

*minor spoilers ahead*

So it’s been a while. I may have not published a review since the start of the year but I have been watching plenty of movies and television in 2017 so far. But when I saw the trailer for this film I knew it would be something I’d want to watch and immediately talk about. I don’t usually get drawn in to Edgar Wright’s films (I’ve only seen Shaun of the Dead and a third of Scott Pilgrim) but I decided to head in to the cinema as soon as it was released.

Baby Driver follows Baby (Ansel Elgort) who is a talented getaway driver and has been in business with his crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) for years. His skillfull technique is due to listening to various songs and following the music while the crimes are taking place. After meeting the girl of his dreams, Debbie (Lily James) he sees a chance to forget his shady lifestyle. However, he gets sucked into a heist that’s doomed to fail and has to fight for his freedom.

Yes, I did pull some phrasing on the synopsis from a google search. Now I’m going to segue. I had such an enjoyable time watching this film. The characters, the music and the storyline were so well done. The script was witty, heartfelt and had an air of mystery about it that played to the character’s personalities. There were times in the film that I knew what was going to happen but I didn’t know how it would play out, which was exciting. For instance, when Joseph (CJ Jones) and Debbie were introduced as being important to Baby, I knew their lives would be at risk in some way during the last act. But as I said, it was fun to watch how it played out. The dialogue was sharp and clever but at times it felt a little cheesy, particularly in the warehouse planning scenes. And like, half of Doc’s lines. The only minor script problem I had was during the climax when Doc was talking to Baby and Debbie in the underground parking area. Also the last 10 minutes felt really quick, like they had to tie Baby’s story up. Other than that, a very solid script. Which brings me to characters.

All of the actors were exceptional. Elgort of course suited the character of Baby perfectly and he had his mannerisms and facial expressions down to a tee. From the opening scene of him miming Bellbottoms, it was clear to me that he would nail the role. I’m going to have to watch out for more of those patterns in my second viewing. The character who surprised me was Buddy, played by Jon Hamm. His character was really entertaining to watch and had such a presence in all the scenes he was in. Debbie was sweet, charming and a little bland but James pulled it off well. Her and Elgort’s love story was something I hadn’t seen in a film for a long time – real chemistry. I truly believed they both cared deeply about one another. Jamie Foxx played Bats and his character was kind of… eh. I wish the writers wrote him a little more passive because every scene Foxx was in was too much of killer looks and anger towards other characters. Spacey as Doc was fun but I couldn’t help but cringe a little a couple of times. His performance was just shy of great. Perhaps on my second watch I’ll feel differently. Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) was a lot of fun as well. Her playful chemistry with Hamm was definitely something I noticed and both of those characters were unexpectedly awesome.

Like any blockbuster, the cinematography was great. There were a few shots that caught my eye; the tracking shot/opening where Baby was walking down the street with the lyrics to the song he was listening to. The CU shot of Baby and Debbie tapping their feet to the music – I don’t know why I love it so much, it was short and sweet. The blocking of multiple characters in the elevator was really pleasing to the eye. And of course the first car chasing sequence was so unpredictable and fun and a great set-up to the tone of the film. Of course, the music in this went hand-in-hand with the script. I’m listening to the soundtrack as I’m typing, and I don’t know how, but it SOUNDS like the film. That’s how much the music carries the film, and it totally pays off.

Going from the music to the editing. From word of mouth and conversations about it, Wright’s editing is always very stylised and detailed. I thoroughly enjoyed each beat of music being used to, for example, have a character close the boot of a car and cock a gun. The editing wasn’t overdone, but it added an element of surprise and entertainment to the story. Another mention of a shot that I love was when Debbie was in the diner and talking to Baby on the phone. The lighting on her face was gorgeous. And the lighting in general was really well done. And the practical/visual effects looked great on the big screen too. The death of Bats was so sudden that I accidentally yelped in the cinema. Awesome.

This was such a fun movie. I’ll need to see it again to strengthen my opinions of some things, but for now please see this film if you love action/comedy movies. Or if you’re an Edgar Wright fan, you won’t be disappointed. The trailer is below, and it doesn’t spoil anything – huzzah! I even had a ball watching the trailer again. Also, sorry if this review was all over the place. It’s been quite a few months. Hopefully my next review will be sooner rather than later.

Rating: So I guess I’ll need to watch more Edgar Wright films if it’s anything like this. 4.5/5

P.S: If you want to hear another review (that’s far better worded than what I could ever do) check out Adam Johnston’s review of Baby Driver on YouTube. I’ll link it here.

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017) – Television Review

First of all, a belated Happy New Year to you all! (idk about ‘all’, do people still know this website exists?) Sorry I’ve been absent but I was overseas right before Christmas so my movie watching was limited. Though I did go to the cinemas in Tokyo and saw the recent Blair Witch film. Spoilers: it was pretty terrible. I have started up my obsessive relationship with the cinema again though and hopefully this year will be a great year for films.

This review was meant to be for A United Kingdom but after writing the first 200 words I didn’t really want to fully review it. Because it was pretty bad. The film, not my witty writing skills. Please go see La La Land at the cinema instead. Safe to say that film was an utter delight. So instead I will be reviewing something I had been so longing for ever since Netflix had announced it. I knew the exact time of day it came out so my fandom friend (hey Jess) and I got together to binge watch the whole thing. I had read and completed the ASOUE book series in 2015 and it is my favourite book series of all time. The way it was written impressed me so much and the story and characters were just the same. So I was hoping the Netflix series wouldn’t disappoint.

A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the Baudelaire children – Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes) and baby Sunny (Presley Smith) – receiving the news that their parents and home have perished in a terrible fire. Mr. Poe (K. Todd Freeman) is in charge of their affairs and sends them to their new guardian Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris). But he has an evil ploy to inherit their giant fortune and will never stop to do so until he succeeds. The Baudelaire orphans however are the most clever children and will always find their way out of his schemes. They also discover that something bigger is at play in their lives.

*small spoilers for the 1st series and the book series*

I have reviewed the 2004 film adaptation on my blog and you can read it here. But be warned. How I wrote back in 2014 was very very unfortunate. I gave it a 2/5 and I think today I would give it the same rating. Partly due to the fact that Jim Carey still shits me off. The thing that I was so grateful for in the series was that the stories of the Baudelaires had room to breathe. Each episode was dedicated to half of a book and the story felt very fluid. It was very nice to see the events unfold just like it was in the book. Daniel Handler (who was the author of the series) wrote the teleplay and was exec producer which is probably why the storytelling was so successful. I especially noticed the similarities between that of the writing in the book and the dialogue/narration in the scripts. Particularly the scene on Briny Beach in 1×01. The writing had the right amount of dread, dark humour and mystery that surrounded the world of these characters and settings. There was even the twist of the Quagmire parents (Will Arnett and Cobie Smulders) in 1×07 which I enjoyed. Jess on the other hand had to pause and was rocking me back and forth saying “WHY SAM, WHY DID THEY DO THIS TO US?!?!?!?” That’s when I knew it had the emotional impact on the audience that I thought it would. I loved the writing and I hope it will continue on until next season.

Bridging between writing and characters, I’ll talk (type, really) about Lemony Snicket (Patrick Warburton) and his role. I’m so glad they included Snicket’s constant narrations. It felt exciting to see him pop up to tell us definitions, stories and the foreshadowing of the episodes. I was really apprehensive when they announced Warburton would be cast at Snicket as I didn’t think the role suited him. I was very glad I was proven wrong. Warburton has known to have had really big and comical characters in the past, as his voice is very distinct-able. But in this he kept a certain mysterious and engaging presence in the story. Next up is Harris’ performance as the villainous Count Olaf. He definitely didn’t play the man of how I was expecting it, but I loved it all the same. It took a few episodes to make his character believable but once I was settled into the story, I really enjoyed his performance. He had just enough comical moments to make me enjoy watching him and just enough sinister moments to make me loathe the character. The one recurring character whom I did not enjoy was Justice Strauss, played by Joan Cusack. I didn’t find the character to be really warm and caring, like in the books. Instead she played the character as an odd woman with pretty iffy dialogue. Next up is Freeman, who played Mr. Poe. Like Harris, it took a couple of episodes to warm up to the actor but I really enjoyed his performance. Mr. Poe’s character was infuriating which was how it was meant to be played, so kudos to you Freeman.

Now onto the main cast, the kids. The first two episode I had the main film cast in mind so it was hard for my brain to part with those actors. But when the credits rolled on the last episode, it’s safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed the casting of the Baudelaires. Also another nice factor, they were all of appropriate age!! Little Smith who portrayed Sunny looked the part and was of course the adorable factor of the three. She didn’t act much and it’s hard to critique a baby but she was edited to be pretty believable. Then there’s Hynes as middle child Klaus. I loved this casting choice the most out of everyone. He looked the part, was given dialogue that was true to the character and acted the part very well. Weissman played Violet and I felt the same of her. I liked how her character wasn’t overdone, like in the film version. She was very stripped down in her performance, look and actions. Neither her or Hynes overdid their shining moments in the episodes and actually acted like (clever and very smart) children would in their circumstances.

Let’s talk about the look of the series! I am very pleased with some aspects but also very disappointed with others. The atmosphere, costumes and cinematography were the pros. The look felt realistic with a bucket of dread poured all over it which is what it needed. The costumes for all the cast (particularly Olaf) were pretty outstanding and true to the characters. The way the episodes were captured were great as well. Ones that spring to mind are Violet using her grappling hook to save Sunny in the suspended cage, the Baudelaires facing with the collapse of Aunt Josephine’s house and the parallel shot near the end of 1×01 with the Baudelaires and the Quagmires. What I did not enjoy very much was the CGI and VFX of the season. They green-screened so much – and what was worse (or should I say unfortunate, am I right) is that is was very very noticeable. For a show that was expected to look so crazy and great I wish they did a much better job at making the background settings looks at least believable. The scenes on Lachrymose Lake looked especially shocking. They say it was a big budget shoot but that did not reflect in the environment at all. In saying that, I did think that in 1×07 and 1×08 it was less noticeable. Also I did not enjoy the scene where Sunny suddenly jumps onto “Captain Sham’s” wooden leg and bites it off. It was a great reveal but Sunny’s jump looked SO unrealistic, it wasn’t even funny.

I had no real problem with the editing and music. Though I could have done without the random ensemble song at the end. That was bizarre. The opening theme wasn’t something I loved, but I enjoyed the visual imagery. The colour scheme looked very grim too when it was surrounding the Baudelaires which was a good touch. The second season has already been greenlit and will consist of 10 episodes this time which I’m looking forward to immensely. I trust that they will use the same style and tone as they did quite well in the first season.

I had a great time watching this series. It felt true to the series and even though there were some not great moments sprinkled here and there, it made me excited for the future of the series. The trailer’s below and I prefer this one 100% to the other one I watched. The one I watched didn’t really get me enthused. But I’m glad my expectations were exceeded. The team overall did a great job and I’ll be watching the series again in the near future.

Rating: A great adaptation of a great book series. 3.5/5

Victoria (Season 1) – Television Review

There’s something about period dramas that captivate me. The language, the settings, the costumes, the regal-ness and politeness etc. My favourite movie of all time is a period drama. (Ever After: A Cinderella Story. At least I classify it as that genre anyway. Side note: If you haven’t watched that film, please do so. PLEASE) I had no idea about this particular series until I stumbled upon it a few days ago. 8 episodes; a perfect binge session. I had watched The Young Victoria with Emily Blunt a few times so unfortunately my mind couldn’t watch it with a clean slate.

Victoria (Season 1) follows Queen Victoria’s (Jenna Coleman) accession to the throne at age 18, her reign for the first few years and her duties as Queen of the UK. It depicts her marriage to Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and her relationships in the palace, both personal and professional. The series also features Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell) and many other important figures for the royals in the 19th century.

Like I said, The Young Victoria was in the back of my mind. Particularly in the first couple of episodes, all I could do was compare the story, settings, and characters with that film. Which is why I struggled with the first episode a lot. Thinking back, it may have been the length of the episode (70 minutes) though it was well paced. I’ll detail it more in the next paragraph, but I found Victoria to be too entitled and arrogant in the beginning. However, once the story started to move forward, I found myself enraptured in the world and caring about the characters. The series added or took away elements about the characters that changed the tone and structure of the story. Which was expected as this was a far bigger production (of 1×70+min and 7x50min episodes) than a feature film. I wasn’t expecting as many sub-plot lines as there were. Albert’s brother Ernest (David Oakes) and his flirtatious affair and Miss Skerrett’s (Nell Hudson) secret past was a nice balance between stories. Daisy Goodwin wrote 7 of the 8 episodes (Guy Andrews wrote 1×07) which was great because the tone and style of the series never changed or faltered. There were big sections of episodes which I didn’t care for (namely 1×01 and 1×02) as I felt things were being set-up for the rest of the series. But once the conflict with Lord Melbourne, the Parliament and Albert arose, I enjoyed it greatly.

Character time! As mentioned, I did not like Victoria’s portrayal in the beginning. In the pilot in particular, I felt she showed little emotion and was much like a brick wall when she spoke to others. This changed in 1×04 when meeting Albert. I won’t lie, I’m a sucker for olden day romance. Hence my favourite movie of all time. Coleman’s and Hughes’ chemistry was undeniable as the couple. I had no trouble believing that they truly loved each other. I was gradually growing on Coleman’s performance but I was struggling a lot with Hughes. I understood what they were trying to do with Albert’s character but it came off very cold and emotionless for several episodes. This included some scenes with Victoria; the dialogue was written as if they cared for each other but his delivery was very monotone and stern. Up until 1×07 did I feel that way. I didn’t have much of a problem with the other characters, supporting and recurring. The antagonists of the series did a great job in their roles – the Duke of Cumberland (Peter Firth) and Sir John Conroy (Paul Rhys). Guys. There’s also a puppy in the series. Dash, the Queen’s lap dog, makes an abundance of appearances which I was truly happy about.

A big part of why I kept watching this series were the settings and costumes. This went hand in hand with the cinematography because this show had some beautiful shots. One in particular I remember was Victoria walking to Lord Melbourne in Brocket Hall in 1×03. Another one was the entrance of Victoria in her wedding dress walking down the aisle. Man, this show has a lot of walking. I also liked how close and intimate the shots were between Albert and Victoria, particularly the bedroom scene at the end of 1×05. My last mention is the moving wide-shot of Albert enjoying the locomotive ride in 1×07. Let me get back to setting and costumes. For the love of god, it looked amazing. And more importantly, the production looked like it’s time. There are some modern adaptions of the Victorian age that look very artificial but this was close to effortless. The palaces, parks and streets of the UK were gorgeous and looked authentic. The lighting the colouring were also played around with a bit, which added to the emotion of the scene and/or characters. Everything felt real, which I loved.

Okay, post-production. My major fault for this show was its scene transitions. They pulled me out of the story and it felt like I was watching scenes sometimes rather than the episode as a whole. It didn’t happen all the time but when it did I facepalmed. This issue had to do with sound design as well as the music would just cut out and go towards a new establishing shot. The actual music and scoring I liked. I would need to watch the series again to form some more thoughts on it, but mainly I didn’t have a problem with it. The theme song and opening titles were too long and a bit annoying though. I skipped thorough it all the time after 1×01.

I loved this series. Even just watching the trailer back it made me want to re-watch it. It may not be for everyone, but if you do like stories about love, duty, and royal drama (or if you simply want to watch something very pretty) please find a way to watch this series.

Rating: I am honestly hating that I wasn’t born in the Victorian era. Great stories with great heart. 4/5.

Dirty 30 (2016) – Movie Review

I love watching YouTube. No, not the cat video side of things. But rather the comedians, artists and other content creators that the website has to offer. YouTube personalities have already been changing the game by getting into Hollywood and creating films. Known as “The Holy Trinity” of YouTube, three women have just released their second feature film online and with a small cinema release. I personally think they are the funniest women I’m subscribed to on YouTube (besides Natalie Tran ofc) and have been following their careers for years. I bought the film on iTunes because I want to support their work, but did I like the film?

Dirty 3o follows Kate (Mamrie Hart) who is about to turn 30 and finds a blast from her past that reminds her she’s not where she wants to be in life. Her two good friends Evie (Grace Helbig) and Charlie (Hannah Hart) decide to throw her a big birthday bash to get her out of her rut. Old friends reunite, new people come along and Kate lets loose for one night of fun.

This film has all three women as executive producers, M. Hart and Helbig created the story, and M. Hart and Molly Prather wrote the screenplay. So clearly these three had a very prominent part in the creation of the film. The good parts of the story for me was the pacing of the film and the amount of set-ups and pay-offs it has. It’s set over 4-5 days and it packs a lot of content into a 90 minute film, but it works in the way that its written. There are a lot of plot lines in this film as well as many characters, but somehow an equal amount of time is spent going through a lot of plot lines and resolving them. A particular section of the film that I enjoyed was Kate’s inanimate letter. It was the inciting incident for the film, rolled through the middle and by the end it definitely paid off. The dialogue is definitely more millennial/slangy than any other  recent party film, which is definitely related to the actors and writers who’s professions are on the internet. It was a bit overkill and made the overall tone of the film just a tad cringey. Another section I really didn’t get was when Evie had a massive freak out when Charlie punched the teenager. I didn’t understand the motivation behind it at all. The bad parts of the story though had more so to do with characters than the overall story.

Main characters first. Out of the three women, M. Hart hands down was the best actress in this film. Knowing her personality and style of humour from her YouTube videos, it was hard at first to try and think of her as ‘Kate’ but she played the role very realistically and had me really rooting for her character. Helbig and H. Hart’s characters were the same amount of charming but I still felt like they were actresses more so than characters. One of the big problems I had was the relationship of Evie and Todd (Andrew Ridings). I couldn’t understand how they had even had a successful enough relationship to get married. Their relationship felt very black and white to me and I wished they had explored it some more. The stoners and the homeless man didn’t need to be there. They added humour to the story, but it felt awkward and unnecessary. Richard aka “Raven” (Adam Lustick) was an added layer to the film. I didn’t hate his character but it felt a little childish to have a grown man go goth on weekends. Kate’s love interest Dan (Matt Dellapina) acted the heck out of his character also. Their chemistry was very lovely to watch.

Other secondary characters like Oliver (Mikey Murphy) and Kinsey (Katherine Hughes) were a pleasure to watch on screen as well. I want to also give massive props to the antagonist, Ashley (Anna Akana) who was definitely the outstanding character in this. Akana is herself, also a YouTuber and I knew her personality from her videos and social media. She killed this role. Her dialogue was delivered really well and I could understand her as a person. The character of Rufus (Drew Monson) didn’t have much screen time but his role was very endearing. It was a nice change to see him in a different character than that of Not Cool, which was one of my first reviews! Time flies when you’re doing nothing with your life but watching movies.

The cinematography of the tee-pee scene was epic. I wasn’t expecting it to look really pretty on such a great scale. Overall, the camera work was great, which went hand in hand with the editing. The party montage was edited really nicely along with the rest of the film. The colour grading of the film was a bit too saturated for my liking. And some of the music choices (with said party montage) was weird and hard to listen to. There was a moderate continuity issue I noticed in my first watching with Kate drinking most of her drink then it being almost full in the next shot. I usually don’t notice those things, I just wanted this to be a humble brag for myself that I caught a conti issue.

The trailer is down below and it sums up the film but doesn’t give much away which I luuurve. Overall, I had a fun time watching this and am proud of these women. This is their second feature film they have worked on together, the former being Camp Takota. I enjoyed that film too, so if you want to give that a watch, please do so.

Rating: When you give YouTubers a chance to produce good media with great stories, it’s always a wake-up call to mainstream media. I love that. 3.5/5

Ruby Sparks (2012) – Movie Review

SPOILERS AHEAD. If you have not seen this film but want to, I implore you to do so before you read after the first two paragraphs. There is more to it than meets the eye.

Trivia: This was the first film I saw by myself in a cinema. I skipped class and wanted to go to a movie. That may sound a little sad but I relish in that experience. It’s good sometimes just to see a film in a comfortable dark space with only your thoughts. It had just come out too and I hadn’t heard much of it, I went in with no expectations with just having had seen the movie poster. I was reminded of this movie recently so I watched it for a second time.

Ruby Sparks is about a successful yet lonely author Calvin (Paul Dano) who is struggling to write his next novel. He starts to create Ruby Sparks, a woman he created in his head to be his muse. One day, Ruby (Zoe Kazan) appears in his home, acting like they’ve been together for a while. Calvin believes he’s crazy at first but discovers she’s real and becomes immediately fascinated and enamoured with her. She becomes apart of his life and truly start a relationship together.

I remember coming out of the cinema in awe. I wasn’t expecting this film to have such strong themes and become very sombre.Kazan wrote the script, with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris as Directors. In my re-watch those feelings came flooding back and I fell in love with the film again. But I also tried looking at it with ‘film brain’ and in the end I still enjoyed it overall. What I noticed more was the overarching theme of perfection. This trait was of course portrayed through Calvin who kept getting more controlling and self-indulgent towards Ruby as the film progressed. Reading other various reviews like Roger Ebert’s made me wonder if this film had the intention to comment on the re-writing of women in cinema and the need to change their stories. There is a shift of mood in the story completely when Ruby wants to spend a little time away from Calvin (the phone call exchange while she was the a bar). From then, tensions are running high and suddenly it flips from a romance to an almost dark comedy. Calvin’s need to keep her close and to keep her perfect in his eyes is what’s so tragically great about the last 30 minutes.

Which brings me to actors. I always find Dano so fascinating as an actor, he plays very obscure characters. The most memorable being Dwight from Little Miss Sunshine. Calvin is an example of a great passive protagonist, and his occupation as a writer adds to his perfective nature. Dano was very well cast, his look overall completes the character. He speaks with his eyes a lot in this film and sometimes says many thoughts with a look. A notable scene is at the cafe when he finds out people other than him can see and interact with Ruby. Kazan has been in many features before this, but I had never heard of her. Like Dano, she has an unusual and striking face. As Ruby she brought strength and personality to this character, still managing to capture that naivety and grace. Kazan is just too good in the final typewriter scene (if you’ve seen the film, you know what I’m talking about). It made me look at the story in a different light and her performance was very commendable. There were supporting characters such as Calvin’s family, ex-girlfriend and therapist but I really felt like it was Calvin and Ruby’s story all the way through.

Cine wise, this film looked fairly good. There were no moments were I was ‘wowed’ with the shots. Pro: the shots of Calvin vs. the typewriter. Minimalistic shots suited this films style well and it served a purpose to what Calvin was feeling. Con: the slow-mo underwater shots between Calvin and Ruby. Too cheesy. Especially with the VO. The costumes were so great as well. I liked how Ruby was dressed a little kookier than everyone else as to show that she was “out of this world”. Music was great too, normally I hate the overuse of ‘Ca Plane Pour Moi’ in films but it worked for the montage. And even though it wasn’t explained how Ruby came to be, the climax + ending worked well for that mystery.

Down below is the trailer but if you have yet to watch this film and want to don’t watch the trailer. It doesn’t really spoil anything but I found it doesn’t match the style at all. I mean you could watch the trailer before the film. But don’t. I’ll put it below anyway.

Rating: Came for a romantic tale, saw so much more than that. 4.5/5

Suicide Squad (2016) – Movie Review

If you guys know me personally, you know I’m not a fan of superhero movies. It’s not a genre I particularly enjoy, and this goes with full on action flicks. But this film has got a lot of people talking. Most critics conclude that it was terrible. So I was curious as to why people thought it was bad (except my friend Jane, she loved it) and went in to the cinemas today. I didn’t want to go in having other people’s thoughts in my film brain so I went in with a clean slate. Clean-minded slate. Whatever, you get what I mean.

Suicide Squad (from now I’ll just type SS) is about a group of meta-human criminals who are promised early release from their prison sentences if they complete a mission from the U.S Intelligence. The mission is to stop The Enchantress (Cara Delevigne) from corrupting and taking over the world.

This film is getting torn to pieces by critics. And I’ll admit I kind of sided with them for a bit even before seeing the film. Which people shouldn’t do at all because then they’re hating something that they haven’t even seen. Basically, I didn’t hate it. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve seen either, but it definitely is not deserving of all the constant hate. This movie had quite a few problems though, one of which I’ll bring up now, since it’s related to the story. So Amanda Weller (Viola Davis) was recruiting these criminals at the very beginning of the film. But The Enchantress didn’t start wreaking havoc on the city until about 20 minutes after that. So that didn’t make any sense to me whatsoever. Why was she recruiting them, because she had a hunch? I may be missing a part of the story, but if I’m not then that was really badly done. The script for this film was pretty average. It just felt like a whole bunch of jokes and punchlines (which I’ll get to soon) with a sprinkling of plot. The plot is VERY vague. The SS were just going around from one part of town to the next fighting. Films need plots.

Okay, let’s talk about characters. Firstly, the introduction of them. It really annoyed me that Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) got these big winded backstories, yet the other members of the SS like Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara) got 1/3 of screen time. Yes, Smith and Robbie were the selling points for this film. But you don’t base your character arcs off of who you want to see in that role. Besides that, I actually enjoyed how the character introduction were done. It made me want to see these people in action. I did have a problem though with all the text that came up on everyone. The shot is over in a few seconds that audiences don’t have time to read all that. Just put something like ‘Harley Quinn: loves her puddin’. That was a bad example by me but you get the point. Take Guardians of the Galaxy‘s character introductions/backstories that audiences get. It’s quick, entertaining and we feel like we know those characters a bit more. I don’t favour Marvel over DC, as I said I’m not super fan of either. That example just popped into my head, don’t kill me.

All of the actors did a tremendous job. Though Davis’ character could’ve been written a little better. Her delivery was great, just a couple of her pep talks felt cheesy. Smith, Courtney and the whole SS gang were acting their butts off as well. The whole SS really clicked and had great chemistry. An honourable mention has to go to Ike Barinholtz, who played Griggs (the guard who gets on Deadshot’s nerves). I know him from The Mindy Project and his role was completely different in that tv show. He NAILED this character. I was really impressed with his performance. After the first few minutes, I forgot that he was in TMP. Right, let’s talk Harley Quinn now. As said, Robbie was flipping awesome in this role. People often said to me that she was over-sexualised, which wasn’t the case for me. Those short did show her ass a little, and there was that risqué dance in the gold clubroom,  but that was about it. It was her character’s writing that I didn’t like. I mentioned this, but I felt all her character’s dialogue was, was PUNCHLINES. Every time a character would say something, she would chime in. It kept going (until the final battle with the Enchantress) and it was really not fun to listen to. I liked none of her punchlines. Why were they all given to her?! Correction, she got 99% of them. The other 1% were shared by Deadshot and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). When she said the line ‘Love your perfume, what is that? The stench of death?’ I WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE. The only line that I thought was funny from her was the ‘weeee!’ she did when it was a wide-shot of her getting wheeled out of the prison.

I almost forgot to write this paragraph on the Joker (Jared Leto). It’s probably because I wanted to forget about him. His performance was the worst thing of this film for me. I hated when he was on screen. Even when he was with Harley Quinn I couldn’t stand him. And it’s not because I’m comparing him to any other Joker. I haven’t seen some of those Batman films in years. It’s just because it was really bad. Ugh, I hated it. He looked so animated too.

Let’s talk about cinematography and design. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding. There was nothing, camera-wise that wowed me. But there is some pretty terrible CGI. That concoction that The Enchantress was weaving looked really fake and over-the-top. Speaking of, that crown thing on her head was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen on top of a person’s head. The rest of her outfit was cool though. I actually felt like this film was filmed entirely on sets and soundstages. It looked really artificial at some points (eg. the SS bar scene, any scenes on helicopters/airplanes). But, there were actually some cool scenes in this film. The underwater scene where Batman saves Harley Quinn then punches her in the face. June’s first transformation into the Enchantress in the film (particularly the close-up of the two hands coming together). Harley’s fight in the elevator, and her hanging from the drapes when we first meet her.

I don’t usually talk about editing and music often in my reviews, but this is another hot topic of discussion from this film. Everyone hates the editing of this film, but I only disliked the first 30 minutes of it. I was so relieved when it just changed back to a normal editing style. What the heck were all those weird “artsy” quick cuts in the beginning? The one where the Joker has Harley on the examining slab comes to mind. There were definitely a few more that came out of left field. After that, the editing was pretty standard. I was a fan of the music they used. I wasn’t a fan of how often they used it. It felt like they were beating us over the head with “cool hip song” after “cool hip song”. We just need a few good hits and a score.

But like I said, this film does not deserve being torn to pieces. I just watched the trailer now, and I’m glad I didn’t before. It doesn’t spoil the film necessarily but it does have all the cool moments in there. And it looks like there’s a few scenes that didn’t make the cut. Please don’t just hate this film because others are hating it. See it for yourselves and then form your own opinion.

Rating: An average score for an average film. 2.5/5

 

The BFG (2016) – Movie Review

Edit: I started this review weeks ago then uni work decided to take up all of my time, so apologies for the lateness. I hope to write more regularly in the future (but it’s me, so who knows what’ll happen)

It’s been a while since I reviewed a family/kids film, even though I see them a lot. I knew nothing about The BFG when I was looking through my local cinema movie times, but my friend, Jess, really wanted to see it. So we got our tickets and headed in to watch it. She told me that it was based off of a Roald Dahl book – when the credits were rolling, she thought it was a very accurate portrayal to the book and loved it. But did I?

The BFG follows a little orphan girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) who discovers a giant (voiced by Mark Rylance) roaming around her street in the middle of the night. Not wanting to be discovered, the giant takes her back to his land – Giant Country – to live out her days there. Sophie nicknames him the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and follows him along his profession of catching dreams. When Sophie is threatened by other giants who are stealing and eating various children, she hatches a plan with the BFG and calls upon the Queen of England and her army to defend Earth and fight off the 9 pesky giants.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. I imagine if you’re going in knowing the plot of the BFG, this wouldn’t surprise you much at all. But, like I said, I knew nothing about it so I was surprised as to how this movie panned out. There were elements that I liked about this film, but the bad outweighs the good. Dahl definitely has a vivid imagination when it comes to storytelling. I have not read the book so I can’t compare book vs. film but the universe adapted by Director Spielberg was pretty solid. I believed the world of Giant Country and all the characters in it. What I did have a problem with was the script. The overall plot of this film (though very out there) was fine, but the dialogue of everyone was very cringey. I also don’t like flatulence humour and that was 15% of the writing. What made it worse was that it wasn’t even executed well. While the scene was happening in the Queen’s palace when they all drink the weird green bubbly fizz, you could feel the uncomfortable in the cinema. What I also particularly had a problem with was the BFG’s misunderstanding of English vocabulary. The first few words were cute, but the joke was overdone and some of the words he mistook for the actual words, sounded nothing like the actual pronunciation. Also his occupation was never really explained. He just had to catch dreams. Dreams of who? And for what purpose?

There wasn’t one character that I thought was written well. This would’ve been okay with me if this didn’t include the bloody TWO MAIN CHARACTERS that take up most of the screen time. I’ll talk about Barnhill first. The writers wanted to make her cute yet feisty with a heart of gold… but I was terribly annoyed. There were moments when I thought she was adorable but overall her character came off as demanding and narcissistic. She also seemed to say her lines in a very slow-paced way, where she had to annunciate every word. Barnhill wasn’t the worst choice for this film, but she certainly wasn’t the best. I thought Rylance did great acting work for the BFG, but the material he was given was the worst part. Though he was animated really well, which brings me to other points.

What this movie lacks in writing it makes up for in location, cinematography and design. This film is SUPER pretty. Not only the CGI locations, but how they shot the streets of England as well. The best scene of the film for me was near the beginning when Sophie is taken and the BFG is hiding in the streets. It was done really fluidly and I loved watching it. One other scene in particular that I remember is when the BFG takes Sophie to Dream Country through the pond and there’s a sequence of Sophie interacting with the different types of dreams. Going off of that, the special effects pay off in a good way. Sophie climbing into the snozzcumber, the BFG making the dreams, the sequence of the giants tormenting the BFG, the helicopters carrying the giants away in large nets… it all looked pretty realistic. The score in this film was heartwarming as well. It’s got a Disney feel to it and it accompanies what’s happening in the scene very nicely.

I wasn’t disappointed in this film, I just was moreso confused and left the cinema with an uncomfortable feeling. It does have great elements but writing wise, it just didn’t do it at all for me.

The trailer actually doesn’t spoil this movie?!?!?! What are the chances!!!! If you are planning on seeing this film and want to know the style, the trailer is spoiler-free so watch away. But I will say I had more fun watching the trailer than the film.

Rating: Sorry Jess, I really tried. 2/5

Orphan Black (Season Four) – Television Review

*spoiler alert*

Brace yourself for a longer review. It always happens with TV seasons because there’s always more content and characters. I was going to review Finding Dory, but I’ll save that for my next one, as I wanted to talk about Orphan Black; specifically season 4. Before this aired, I went back and watched the full series to immerse myself in the world and characters. Also because it’s a big hiatus between seasons and I needed the refresher.

If you’re not familiar with the series, Orphan Black is a story about Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) who finds out she is one of many genetic identicals. Through this discovery she uncovers secrets, organisations and enemies all hellbent on manipulating and destroying Project LEDA; the cloning experiment that created Sarah and her sisters; Alison (Tatiana Maslany), Cosima (Tatiana Maslany), Helena (Tatiana Maslany), Rachel (Tatiana Maslany), Beth (Tatiana Maslany) have the most screen time, but there are 22 overall. I never really know how to describe this show’s story. Partly because it has a lot to do with science, specifically biology and I am definitely not knowledgeable in that area. But of course there are other elements like humour, drama, romance and family. This season dealt with new clones, new power-plays and heartbreaking moments. If what you just read interested you, watch the show from season 1!

So now I’ll be talking exclusively season 4, with traces of previous seasons. All in all, it was a pretty good season. I found I liked it MUCH better than the third, which felt disjointed in its style and story. This season (I’m saying ‘season’ a lot aren’t I) it definitely had a familiar look to it again, while still managing to once again out-do the production value. Story-wise, this season was very gripping. There was a major cliffhanger from 3×10 with Delphine (Evelyne Brochu) being shot by an unknown person for unknown reasons. This of course was resolved in 4×10. Other plot points were Sarah’s worm-bot, Cosima’s illness and work on a cure, Alison’s consequences of committing crime, Helena’s pregnancy, Beth’s backstory, Felix’s (Jordan Gavaris) birth family plus a few more here and there. Like I said, a lot of characters. This season was fairly well paced in dealing with a great amount of content in 10 episodes. Episodes 7 and 8 were the only episodes were it felt filler-y and dull. And there were a couple of character arc’s that I felt weren’t fully wrapped up; Kira’s (Skyler Wexler) unknown power, Mika (another clone) and where she is now, and Art (Kevin Hanchard) coming to terms with Beth’s secrets that led to her death.

Speaking of, a special mention to 4×01 which was entirely a flashback of Beth’s story. It was a great way to kick off the season and gave the audience answers to questions we’ve been having for years. After that, the story just kept delving into more moral issues like Evie Cho’s (Jessalyn Wanlim) Brightborn company that dealt with euthanasia. Of course there were some lighthearted moments including new clone Krystal and Felix’s birth sister, Adele. However the overall tone of this season was very serious and so were the character’s stories. It was handled quite well, especially the finale which concluded each plot of the season but still left audiences asking questions.

Characters and actors now. Maslany is half the cast on this show, that’s not an exaggeration. How the hell has this woman not won an Emmy yet. She was nominated at least. Mad props to the make-up department as well who make each clone look so unique. All the clones have such different stances, mannerisms and movements it’s hard to tell that it’s the same actress. My favourite clone changes all the time, but for this season it was probably Krystal. She made her debut in season 3, though we didn’t see her much. Now she definitely had more of a role this season, being unaware of her biological history yet knowing enough to piece most of the story together. Maslany’s portrayal of her kills me every time she’s on screen sipping her Starbucks.

The other clones of course had a more prominent part this season. After Sarah’s encounters with Mika and finding more about Beth, she is swept up again with Rachel. I REALLY was starting to trust Rachel. And then she screwed everyone over in the finale. Never again Rachel. I still hate to love and love to hate her though. Alison had a pretty ridiculous plot, but at least she was more involved with her sisters than in the last season. Cosima was struggling with her illness, although I’m annoyed she never got angry at herself or at others since she is aware that she would have a short time to live. But perhaps she will be okay since she was saved by her soulmate. I really liked how the Cosima/Delphine arc played out, even though it did take forever. Helena kind of popped in and out of episodes which I was a bit annoyed at, but I loved her more maternal and gentle side. All of the other actors were outstanding as well but let’s be real, Maslany steals the show always.

I mentioned before that this season had the fresher look of season 3. Season 3 did it kind of weirdly, but this season went back to its original roots in cinematography and style. Production value was awesome, particularly the sets and locations. Places that come to mind are the bridge sequence between Sarah and Felix (and Beth), the prison where Donnie stays in for two days, and the village off the house on the island of Dr. Monreau. Everything felt larger in the OB world and it gave perspective to the themes of the season. Another element that did particularly well was music and scoring. Particularly in Beth’s scenes it added a lot to her emotions. Some of the original themes made their return, such as Helena’s and Delphine’s. And of course a big congratulations to the continuity/camera crew for making multiple clone scenes look so seamless. I found the scene in 4×10 where Sarah and Krystal are talking to look totally real.

There is so much more I could say about this show but I felt like I rambled enough. If you are into shows about family, science and/or nicely written characters, please watch all the episodes if you haven’t already. Season 5 will be the final season of this series. You know what else I love about Orphan Black? The trailers. They don’t spoil anything, hallelujah! I am sad to wait another 10 months to see these characters again. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got all 12 episodes of Orange is the The Black waiting for me on Foxtel.

Rating: I am not into sci-fi shows at all, but this is definitely the exception. 4/5

P.S.: I have probably gotten more out of this show thanks to a podcast I listen to called Talking Shite. They’ve given a recap on every episode of season 4 (plus a few general ones) and my emails/reactions to each episode are in all of them! Tara and Ashlee are fellow Aussies and probably understand the show much more than I ever could. Give them a listen at https://soundcloud.com/talking-shite and show them love on https://www.facebook.com/Talking-Shite-An-Orphan-Black-Podcast-1741127629449819/.

Eddie The Eagle (2016) – Movie Review

I was invited to go to an advanced screening of this film back at the start of April, and was super pumped to go. Biopics are always fun, especially when it has an endearing story. Of course, a week later, my friend’s birthday dinner was on the same night. So I was a good friend and went, but as I was eating my gyoza I thought of that sold out session where people were forming an opinion on Hugh Jackman’s American accent. But the birthday dinner was fun too! Cheers for inviting me Natalie. So last night I finally got the chance to watch this film.

Eddie The Eagle is based on a true story about Michael “Eddie” Edwards (Taron Egerton) and his ambition to compete in the Winter Olympics. With help from former ski jumper Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) and the support of his mother, Eddie wins over the hearts of many and shows sheer determination and bravery.

First and foremost, the best things about this film were the music and colour grading. I usually have a format in my reviews (some might say) but had to mention this first because it added to the film’s story and characters in a significant way. Onto the actual plot and characters. This of course was Eddie’s journey as he struggles to find his way to fulfil his lifelong dream. From the very first scene, we start to understand his character through his determination and ambition to stay underwater. The script was different from what I’d thought it would be, in a good way. It didn’t over-do the whole hero’s journey aspect and stayed focused on the characters. The dialogue was well paced and the beats were all there.

Now onto Egerton. From seeing the trailer earlier this year, I didn’t have any clue this was the same actor who played Eggsy in Kingsman. This role just proved that he is very versatile, not only in his delivery but in his mannerisms and body language. The stakes were high throughout the whole film and 95% of that was for Eddie. Egerton played the ambitious and almost innocent parts and that brought out a reaction in me where I really wanted the character to succeed. And when he didn’t my heart would break a little. And just quickly I’ll say Jackman always delivers. After I saw the horribly written character of his in Chappie, I wasn’t expecting a spectacular performance in this film. But he was pretty good. Though I will say his small storyline with him and Christopher Walken’s character was a bit of a derail from the overall story. You could tell that the crew definitely wanted to milk all the availability of Jackman and throw in unnecessary scenes. But all in all, a great cast!

Onto the technical side now. This film is SUPER pretty. As I said, I thought this was due to the excellent colour grading and mise-en-scene. That’s right, I know lingo. Every shot was really placed well from the actors to the props and the environment. The grading just enhanced that, which added to the films’ vibrant and uplifting story. A colourful plot deserves colourful shots. There’s also something about super-imposing text in the middle of a film that either makes or breaks it. The editing of these info texts (eg. 70m Jump and Calgary, Canada 1988) was very well placed and enhanced the audience’s reactions to the plot points. The only scene that I thought felt out of place was when Peary did the 90m jump and it became this weird slow-motion dreamlike scene. Set-design! I don’t talk about that much on here because for me I don’t notice in much as other aspects (mainly character and editing, let’s be real). But set-design and cinematography went hand in hand to make the 70’s and 80’s look realistic. I loved the layout of the Edwards home in 1973 and the use of the skip ramps. Kudos art department!

Music was another thing that I mentioned that I loooooved. Everything about this film was so hopeful and heartwarming and the music fit in really well with the mood. Bit of a sidenote: I recently finished my 2nd watch of all episodes of The Carrie Diaries (yes, I know) and it really used a lot of popular 80’s songs in every episode. So much so that it became cringy and overbearing. But this film did it quite well, bringing in the original score when it needed it.

If you’ve read all of this new review, thank you very much! If you’ve just skimmed, thanks as well! I know many people use it as an excuse but I have been quite busy these past few months. Hopefully I get really into writing reviews again, I sure as hell missed it. I actually would recommend watching the trailer before the film. Most trailers for biopics are edited well, as a large number of people know that person’s story. I would really recommend this film, it teaches an important lesson about perseverance and strength. Blah blah blah, give your rating now Sam.

Rating: Edwards studied law after this. Fascinating! 4/5