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Reviews
Saturday Night Live: Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (2024)
Best show in 30 years
Ryan Gosling is a true entertainer. I had wished in another forums comments early in the week for Papyrus 2 and Alien Abduction with Ryan part 3 with a guest appearance by Kate and I was fan serviced like an unbalanced five blade. Kate wasn't the only cast member returning, Kyle Mooney made a welcome return as the Avatar graphics designer and of course Emily Blunt in the monologue.
While Ryan may be a phenomenal actor and entertainer isn't a professional comedian per se so being able to not break in almost every skit is forgivable. Heck Heidi Gardner is one of the best at not breaking and completely lost it in the now iconic Beavis & Butt-head skit. Most of the rest of the skits were top tier too. The engagement one absolutely killed me.
And finally even though I'm not a country music fan I actually really like Chris Stapleton. Altogether it makes sense that this episode now has one of if not the highest rated SNL episode on IMDB.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Great cinema but too long
There's nothing that can be said negative about this film except its run time. Story is engaging and captivating, acting and set pieces are so real and engrossing. But at almost three and a half hours, by the end during the most important scenes, I'm not thinking about the story or the characters, I'm thinking about how my knees hurt and how bad I have to pee. Everyone else in the theater is shuffling in their seat too. Scorcese makes movies for the big screen, he's old school Hollywood, so he needs to take this into consideration now that he's putting out three plus hour long films. I could think of plenty of establishing shots and story beats that could have been cut and not affected the story. Otherwise release to streaming.
Bones and All (2022)
Starts well, ends dull, not relatable
I'm sure it was a good book but it didn't need to be a movie. Though I really tried hard, I simply couldn't identify with the plight of teenage cannibals. Yes I get that it's an allegory for drug addiction and my girlfriend didn't have to explain that to me afterward at all. But still, this film takes itself way too seriously and could easily have removed about 30 minutes of run time and nothing would have been lost.
The mood of the film changes abruptly at times, some scenes that could have been great come up short. Yet the acting was decent and special effects were great. Maybe it'll make more sense when I start craving human flesh.
Smile (2022)
I can't believe this has the same rating as the Babadook
This movie was unfortunately not worth the watch. It succeeds in creepiness with the smiling thing and mood setting. The lead actress is very good while some supporting actors are not. And while the plot is explained, the smiling motif isn't which means it was just a forced device for a creepy effect, which takes away from the plot. I think it could have been better. I was falling asleep by the end.
What boggles my mind is how this and a comparative psychological thriller The Babadook have practically the same rating at about 6.7/10. Smile should be 5/10 while the Babadook should by comparison be a 7.5/10.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Bananas
Bananas is the word that comes to mind if I had to describe EEAAO in one word.
This film gets all its 7 stars for acting, originality, and frequent bouts of bonkers hilarity. I haven't cried laughing in a long time and kudos for having a scene good enough to get that out of me. It was the score in that scene that actually put it over the top for me.
That's a good transition. "Over the top" is the best way to describe the 3 missing stars. It tried to take itself way too seriously at some points for something so zany overall. In my opinion if the heartfelt scenes and the moral messages could have been less heavy handed, I think it would have had a better impact.
I hate to say I found myself bored at times and the run time could have been shortened. It tried to tie up literally every single minute storyline and character, except for some reason with Big Nose, who should have had a bigger role in the plot I think.
Overall it was a really fun experience and I'm glad it exists in this universe.
Severance: The We We Are (2022)
The finale finales are
After the slow burn of painstaking yet brilliant world and character building for the first 8 episodes of the first season of Severance, the ninth and final one saw the series dump a tanker of acetylene on it and sent this series rocketing at whiplash level speeds. The pedal hits the metal as the innie characters finally get outtie with the clock ticking for each to both obtain and/or explain as much information as possible before time runs out and they may never see the light of day again. My watching position is usually laid back on my couch in a pile of pillows with a regular glance at my phone. This episode helped me understand what "pushed to the edge of your seat" really means.
Breaking Bad: Half Measures (2010)
This part lost me
As always with BrBa, the acting is superb, the production is top notch, the story keep good pace, and there is something to take away from it. Mike's talk with Walt is the highlight of the episode by far. But there's an aspect to the story here that I lost me. Gus would never take such dutiful interest in two street level thugs and stick his neck out to protect them, and especially leave himself identifiable to them! Not to mention, I thought they weren't supposed to be selling their product in NM either! So I like how the story played out but I don't like how it was handled. Had to be said.