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Struggle Meals (2018)
I really wanted to like it
As someone who makes struggle meals for myself and others that come out delicious, some
Of these are maybe too simple. Others: yes, you will have to invest in some garlic powder and paprika at some point to make food that isn't hyper bland. But then that will last a pretty decent while and per serving cost just Pennie's. So the prices are pretty on. The meat cost varies by region but won't be super off. Advice: stick to the butchers/managers specials of the week. Generally meat that will need to be cooked or frozen within the week will be much cheaper too. So throw it in the freezer and just make sure to cook it the day after thawing.
Back to the show....yeah the use of the word "instagrammable" was super off putting. I get it: well-to-do suburban kids are all over Instagram struggling to make meals or to show off that they aren't relying on mommy and daddy (usually while in a super high class kitchen, using "cooking hacks" that amount to dry nonsense, or are just the literal way something is generally cooked). But let's assume people are coming to the show to find meals to make on the cheap. That's really the underserved market this is for, no?
Otherwise, just seems it's a show to not serve that market and instead serve people who just want to pretend they are that market online for clicks. I do sometimes post how to make things on my feed, but it's bc friends of mine see my food and ask me about it. It's to show people they can make a marinara in the time it takes to boil water and pasta, or an Alfredo on even less time. I'm also all about not wasting scraps. So this realllly feels like I should be the market for it either way, however I am not an enjoyer of the show. Hope
It helps some people who are lost though. Potatoes and eggs ARE a great way to stay alive. And rice.
Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter (2024)
Eye Opening, both Shock Value and Shocking
This is not a flawless documentary. It does provide countering viewpoints in the character, issues, circumstances, and resulting analysis by people personally involved for more than just the specific questions they would have reliable and/or sensational views on. Built that these folks knew and interacted with the folks in question or were the folks in question. I think personally that the existence of agitation and engagement contemporary to the various allegations against Nick make it unlikely that no part of the allegations are true. Of course a court of law would be the fairest way we have devised to determine justice for the accuser and accused, but charges were not brought in the second case described, and the first allegation had taken place informally/separate from a police report. Now, to simply say "that means it's bc the allegations were not serious or credible enough to prove something or even be valid" has two fallacies. First, the stance that the court of public opinion and, by association, the #metoo movement at large is not an appropriate venue for adjudication fails the sniff test for the lack of charges as well. It leaves one in an unprovable situation one way or the other (this is only a fallacy and unprovable which applies to this specific question, not believing women writ large, as believing abuse victims of any gender simply means you start from a place of believing they were abused, much like if my hammer was stolen I don't first prove I had a hammer and never lent it out; I digress). Second, that sexual crimes have a relatively low rate of charges per report, and a shockingly low rate of conviction for charges, partly because they most often happen in private situations. Non-party Witnesses are generally only present to place the time of private interaction at best, and often even that is nonexistent due to the nature of SA. Since District Attorneys often have elections to contend with, charges are less likely with any crime that is not likely to be a "win" for the prosecution. So it is fairly common for SA crimes against adults that are not paired with battery or some other legal aggravation to not be pursued.
Mostly unrelated to the above, I am contemplative and open about my own identifiable biases, so I will admit the documentary provided confirmation for my belief that two things can be true about the latter half of it. Aaron can both be an erratic and problematic person AND someone being antagonized and/or silenced by a celebrity relative's team. Even Aaron's sister-in-law contributing money and interview time to a channel dedicated to a major antagonist's focus on him speaks to support of the antagonism, if not complicity and coordination. If Nick wasn't a part of that and his wife just decided to do it on her own, at the very least a truly caring brother would recognize his little bro was getting deep in the online obsession, or at least after acknowledging privately and in interviews his little bro was spiraling speak with his wife about not engaging in a negative way. After all, he was already pulling away from the chaos-which can, in circumstances, sometimes be the best choice.
Anyway, about the film. It wasn't completely even handed, and it had unrelated faults as well, but it also presented opposing views (even dedication most of one of the four or five episodes just to Aaron's erratic behavior notwithstanding it possibly being related to Nick). It skewed in favor of those bringing allegations, but stated that repeatedly and specifically while providing various POV. It was concise and chronological. Of course it could not be comprehensive without the first hand narratives of all those involved (like Nick and his wife, who declined to respond). Watch it and decide for yourself.
Her (2013)
An Excellent Movie, if Heavy Handed in Parts
The film is excellent. The angles kind of give me A24 vibes. The use of color is absolutely brilliant and the lighting is gorgeous. The costuming is brilliant and distinct. Joaquin Phoenix is a perfectly whole character, as is expected from his performances.
I watched this movie way after it came out. It was efficient at laying down various technologies' use. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a slow movie that isn't a slow burn. It's well paced and engaging throughout. The sound design was fitting, but heavy handed in parts.
If I had any complaints about the movie, they are of things that to change at all would fundamentally change the nature of the movie. A couple cringe things not worth mentioning because I don't have a suggestion about what to do instead.
Zola (2020)
Surprisingly Excellent
I'm from Florida (different part) and it felt about as shady as FL cities do. The set design was appropriate and realistic. The room of mirrors seen in the first scene and throughout has this chintzy feel. Where money spends time in cheap environments. I think they used some film or a filter that gives it a bit of loss. This was clever.
The music and sound are absolutely excellent 10/10. Every track and sound effect just fits perfectly. Helps pace the movie. The characters are believable and fun in their own ways. Fun is a weird word, but this is a movie, for entertainment. Also, if anyone feels like the blonde is over the top, I've met multiple people exactly like her. I mean /exactly/.
So the acting and characters were great. The writing is great. Obviously based on texts, so the story goes to Zola herself of course. The sound and soundtrack and sound design are all weirdly incredible for a movie of this kind. You usually just don't get that in a dark comedy. It has enough that feels like camp, enough that feels like Florida, and enough scenic cohesiveness to warrant a super high score. Without the sound, 8/10. But 9/10 as it is.
Significant Other (2022)
Forget the Negative Reviews
Or read them in full versus the text of the positive ones. The negative ones are for single dimensional viewers.
This film has great pacing. The top half isn't slow, but it isn't physical action filled either. It does have drama (in a good way) that acts on nerves. The acting is excellent and realistic. The cinematography is beautiful. The use of focus and focal points is well directed. The costuming has outfitting and color based on changing states of mind. Subtle. I like not having a spoon forced to my tonsils in order to engage me. The lighting becomes a story point of its own, in more and more obvious ways.
It's a movie that rewards you for paying attention, while not punishing you if you look away for a moment (though I recommend the former).
The set pieces can feel a bit fantastical and placed, but this isn't a documentary and they are quite beautiful. The CGI obviously doesn't have a blockbuster movie budget behind it, but it is used sparingly for necessary moments and isn't the focus point of those scenes. Allow yourself a little fantasy in your sci fi. The storyline has fair amounts of foreshadowing without giant blinking arrows pointing that out. This is seriously worth the watch and sorely underrated. I was pleasantly surprised.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
My Favorite Movie as a Kid
I know. It's the sad one. The one with quiet spaces about friendship and the loss of it. The one with two very famous actors becoming buddies and then becoming responsible for the life tracks they are bound to. This is a story of true love and also a story of hard truths.
As a child, my sister and cousins weren't the biggest on this one. It didn't have the action my cousins wanted or the softness that my sister did. As we became older children, they got into it. The slow burn. The slow burning down of childhood and childhood heroes and the rock and a hard place decision-making that comes with it.
This may be the most real of the coming-of-age stories that Disney put out. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but the sunshine and rainbows it does have are real and raw and honest, warts and all.
Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster (2023)
Not sure why the bad reviews
Hearing the story about CATCHING him is literally in the title. Makes sense it would be about the process and journeys it took to, you know, catch him. Rochelle is brave, but an imperfect hero. Every human is. Still, she is the one who pushed to the limit and made this happen, or I'm convinced he never would have been brought down. Apparently people want more about the victims, which is usually an ethical approach to the true crime genre, but this is about children who were preyed on by a monster.
Are you trying to out the victims in their current lives? Are you trying to hear more tawdry details of abuse? I don't think the negative reviewers thought through the alternative.
I think the filmmakers did a good job of showing the extent of his depravity while also not creating a spectacle of it. They celebrated the people steadfast in bringing him down. Goal accomplished. Would have liked a little more of the taped calls with him, but that's my only note.
Assassin (2023)
Hmm and Meh
Unfortunately for the actors in this film, it seems the writing isn't enough to be gripping in a weird way. One would also imagine this is a film that came about after industry folks knew about Bruce Willis' aphasia (and by this time were feeding him words to repeat through an earpiece). The ethics of that don't feel hazy, they feel wrong. You can tell by the completely monotone delivery of short bursts of language, mostly while looking in a certain direction, like one does when listening, or remembering, but not usually when experiencing dynamic emotions through the scripted words. Or at least acting like it. Bruce Willis is great and I won't judge him based on him being wrung out for money after experiencing an illness specifically disabling to his career craft.
I hope I get a chance to see the other actors elsewhere to experience what art and entertainment they can provide.
WandaVision (2021)
Love me some Scarlet Witch
A complicated anti-hero who exists across timelines? Not talking about Deadpool (this time), but it will be the most fun you have had with Marvel since. A great balance of humor and seriousness. Enough action to hold you in this visual treat.
Great use of different camera styling to exemplify the various time periods it exists within. WandaVision gives us a journey through processing complex emotions without feeling heavy and melodramatic. Whether you are or aren't a Marvel fan, get into it and you will not be disappointed. As an added bonus, you get Kathryn Hahn, whose facial expressions never fail to, well, express.
Dietland (2018)
Wish there were more seasons!
I can be pretty indifferent to a lot of television shows, it this was clever, well shot, well acted, had great dialogue-and I've been thinking about it for years now.
A masterpiece but just one season. Worth it anyway, even if it is GUARANTEED to leave you with blue you-know-what's knowing it will never be finished. Funny, heartfelt but NOT mushy, raw and honest about the struggles and triumphs of a larger woman. Hits on topics about size, gender, work hierarchy, dating, violence,
The dark side of diet programs, the cult like followings of some of those programs, actual cults-and hits them all hard.
Truly worth the watch. Would still be on board if season two came out next year, half a decade-ish after the first.
Pain Hustlers (2023)
I'm missing what the low ratings see
It's a nine, instead of a 10 out of 10. This movie doesn't spend every moment on high glamour shots, though it could have with this tale. It doesn't need to for this genre, as the story itself is a sensationalization of a blockbuster true story. Th there a lot of stories coming out about the big players in the opiate epidemic. I think this one is important because it shows more than just the executive and accounting and lifestyle side. We actually get very little lifestyle outside of the company actions, which I appreciate. Also, it shows ways that legal fentanyl managed to penetrate the market for off-label pain management prescriptions. The acting is well done, the casting fits, and it's well told. I like this style of narratives based on a true story. "I, Tonya" did this too, where they have little cut ins of the people who consulted on the movie, which are also characters in the story of course. Allows them to give you little tastes of what the people are like, but also highlights that this is a fictional
Account of a real thing, as told by public sources and the people in the story telling the story they want told. It's clever and it's entertaining
Well made movie about an interesting and important subject. Doesn't feel like a documentary, but in a good way. And I love documentaries.
It also illuminates something that happens in most corporations' decisions, but which can be a dangerous mindset in the dark. Which is that a demand by stockholders for growth in a company, rather than strong corporate governance practices and market share resilience, can drive executives (who tend to get a large portion of their pay in shares) to drive the demand into adjacent markets. In the health sector, this would be patient groups.
Combine this with a strategy that does make sense for most companies, but here became the framework the pill mills could be built on: targeting the smaller doctor practitioners who weren't being courted by the Big pharma reps. Less expensive marketing, which is good because it allows small and midsize companies to compete in the market at all, but doctors whose patient volume and share of advanced cancer patients is going to be smaller because they have less patients in general, and because the larger doctors and hospital groups will be doing other care for many of these types of patients and often handle the pain management as well. I'm sure you can see how this could easily lead to patients finishing up cancer care or specialist care or experiencing side effects from cancer treatments they want to have documented but wouldn't need an oncologist appt for, hitting up their local Dr to see what can be done. This doctor will see them after the cause of the pain subsides. How can it even be determined properly that, when taking a pain medicine-which doesn't target specific pain-you can tell when the pain subsides to not need it? After all, taking this stuff chronically leads to feeling pain from withdrawal when you don't have it. Which feels just like, well, pain. It's a difficult situation. But greed at the small level scales too.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
hear me out, it's worth the watch
I'm not a big RomCom person. And the premise for this one is a schoolboy fantasy to be sure. But it's well executed, we'll cast in general, and Jennifer Lawrence SHINES. Her character is believable and whole. Subtle and extreme all at once.
This is a story of going inward and finding your way out. This is a story of when push comes to shove. This is a story of push and pull. Of in and out....yes, like that too. It's not graphic, despite some brief full frontal frontal nudity. It's done in a way that doesn't feel gratuitous and actually is done in a way that makes it funnier. This starts out in a way that would land in that "raunchy corny" space the 20-teens couldn't get enough of-and that probably killed theater going for a while. Admittedly, I enjoyed this one from the couch.
But the important part is that I enjoyed it.
Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
criminally underrated! YOU MISSED THE POINT
This is a tongue-in-cheek parody of action movies while managing to be a pretty good one. The plot is secondary to the scenes and laughs. Honestly, how everyone missed that is beyond me. Watch it again if you missed that the first time and you will be gleefully laughing as every bullet zips by.
The out loud jokes are funny. The obvious jokes are very funny. And the non-jokes made just by the scenery, or voices, or change ups of actors between scenes are extremely funny. This movie is a satire of graphic novel movies and action movies in general that has honestly only gotten funnier with age. The plot is one big "But WHY", which is the long joke. The main character fits so many perfect 'leading man' cliches. Worry not! We also get many perfect action movie tropes in both his ability to piece things together out of this air and know exactly what to do, other characters like the helpful sex worker, the german-then-southern maniac hellbent on killing things, etc.
I really can't recommend this enough without doing the disservice of explaining it. I think the types of people who would reallly realllly realllllly enjoy this film are likely to be out off by that 6/10 star rating, but I'm confident if a streaming service featured it, the right people would see it and celebrate it. It is a hidden masterpiece. Besides being actually funny and non-stop from First scene to last, it is just an excellently executed film. It's vibrant and visually stunning like the graphic-novels-made-movie that it makes fun of. It has slick fighting scenes and shoot outs, completely over the top but we'll choreographed. It even makes use of the same trashed car in a certain chase scene that is really just funnier and funnier each edit. Seriously, this is a great movie to watch and even better on subsequent watches.
Gisaengchung (2019)
I'm not an award chaser
I'm not an award chaser, or the kind of person who thinks something is good just because it had the best campaign for a murky board of the powers-that-be. That isn't why this movie is great, but it is great. The direction and cinematography are excellent. They create a perfect narrative scene. The movie is easy to follow without spoon feeding. It is interesting, dramatic (a genre with a lot of terrible films), quirky and surprising, a little humorous, beautiful, sad, hopeful, thrilling, action packed, raw, real, and more. I don't gush about many movies like I am this one, but there isn't a thing I would change about it.
Do yourself a favor and watch it.
The Boulet Brothers' Halfway to Halloween TV Special (2023)
Great and Campy
If you are looking for the campy side of horror, and fun skits paying image to classic tropes, then this is the special for you. Give me a Galway to Halloween special any day of the week. Sure, there are corny bits. That's part of the fun of it. Someone said they hated the camp scene, but from how they described it, the over-the-top went right over their head. I thought the whole thing was cute. It's a departure from the drag competition and drag horror events the Boulet Brothers usually produce, but this is a celebration of the quirk and camp and all that makes classic horror amazing. If you don't think there's humor in horror, you probably aren't a big horror. Fan anyway.
Barbie (2023)
I didn't think it would be good.
But damnit, it was GREAT. The opening scene was good, then the first scene in Barbieland worried me. Not worried me like it would be bad, but that I would be right: that it would be good by virtue of being so over the top. And it was that too. But it's a surprisingly serious movie. In theme, not execution. But it says a lot of quiet parts out loud. What we did with our Barbies. To them. Who is Ken anyway? Why is Ken? What is death and why does it matter? What is motivation and what is success? What is feminism and what is dementia t progress? Honestly. I would have thought you were blowing my horn. And that sounds fun for a Friday night, but this is worth it. And a good movie to brave the theater for. The link was weird but vibrant and balanced in a way the big screen really lit up.
Also, no spoilers, but the Ken bonfires scene made me actually laugh out loud. And I love comedy, but almost never laugh out loud.
First Cousin Once Removed (2012)
At first I felt gross
At first it felt gross. That he was being watched like this. That I didn't know who had consented. That I could see something I feared, out loud. That I needed to see it. That there was some...not glee...not entertainment...but some kind of fulfillment, for me. To watch someone forget until they couldn't speak language and it was unclear if they were aware that they weren't or that it was expected that they would. He says it in the beginning: he's a mirror.
This documentary isn't unaware. It isn't a stripping of dignity. Do we think people who lose their memories some whole become less dignified beings? Or is that something we take from them in our minds when we don't think they need it anymore, or understand they have it in the first place? This was a good documentary.
Long Shot (2019)
Chocked How Funny This Was
I was shocked how funny this movie was. Seth Rohan reprises a stoner role, sure, but don't let that pigeon-hole this movie. That is a fact about his character, not his character in general. We also get the all season Charlize Theron in a role of Secretary of State and Presidential candidate. The side characters are funny as well.
Of course you will see some comedy tropes repeat themselves through the movie but-news flash-it's a comedy. The plot isn't hyperrealistic, but it does have a dose of social commentary that manages to not feel like an after school special.
Finally, yeah that amount of elbow movement is upsetting. Work on the wave.
Q-Force (2021)
I didn't get to though the first episode
Stereotypes that are just apparent, but no real punch lines. Like watching low hanging fruit but without the jokes to go with it, or more layered jokes besides. What felt like a long set up at ten minutes, the pacing seemed weird and couldn't keep me interested.
Gonna describe a couple things but they all happen in the first ten minutes, so I don't think they are spoilers, but make of it what you will.
From the beginning of it, we see someone who Loses his time in the spotlight moments after getting it because he reveals he is a gay man. Okay, so here we see that discrimination coming for the LGBTQIA community. This is real. I've experienced that. There is a funny joke (the only one I can remember from the bit I saw) about diversity-or lack thereof-in organizations of this sort. The air bnb jokes are meh. The weigh in scene is promising as it is entertaining, though Without jokes to follow-or jokes that just rely on "haha this stereotype exists" don't really land. I'm pretty okay with offensive comedy content, so there could be ways to use the stereotype in a bit, but that's not what we see here.
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Give and take
Denzel Washington shines as always. I was worried about that at the start of the film but his performance really took off. The styling of Travolta was questionable, but he did a solid job, as well as the rest of the cast. Unfortunate editing and swinging of the camera that made it feel like a weekly cop drama. Unnecessary way to pump up the suspense. Great story once it got setup. The setup was long-ish, but the climax and ending didn't feel sudden and rushed. Didn't have that feel like man at action movies like they made a whole movie just to peice together a trailer or something.
Oh, and skater dude should dump that girl.
The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018)
A director, in portrait
A director described by his portraits, his direction discerned from sketches of memories and memories of sketches. Light is explored in painting and set design, all in an effort to paint Orson Welles in a new light, or figure what light he saw himself in as he positioned figures on a stage. I figure this film goes far enough in capturing the expanses allowed us from Welles' mind and how his lines frame future films. However, I'm a little lost in the repetition of the particular picture with sideburns.
I suppose I am led to see it differently in the different "acts" of this exploration. It feel youthful, then classy, then a marketing shape cut out of virgin clay, then fringe, then cool, then something else entirely. Self-obsessed? Not in a selfish way.
The bee will always make honey.
Moon (2009)
Some moments an eight
But overall I wouldn't call it "inspired". The cinematography is great, the score is heavy handed, the acting is good, the little details and references have a great subtle humor, but there is a certain something missing for me.
Hit my sci-fi spots at least, with a classic "alone in space" contemplative themes have veins through it. Would have preferred those veins were more in the forefront, rather than the movie feeling the need to catch everyone up on what's happening with otherwise pointless exchanges.
The set design is thoughtful and the costuming is practical. Overall, I wasn't entirely bored, but it wasn't riveting either.
La fée Carabosse ou le poignard fatal (1906)
Worth the Time
I will say I was confused at first, as I'm not used to watching pantomime, however the plot made sense to me. The bard/minstrel/possible princely fellow gets his fortune read from the witch and his true love is revealed to him. He then also fancies her Four leaf clover.
The bard gives a bag of sand for payment and flees, with the hag in hot pursuit. When he is being attacked by ghasts, he shows this clover and we see him escape. Then he is being attacked by various delightfully colored animals, shows this again and it works as a sort of wand to summon an angel who will defend him against anything. Including the witch, who previously held this item.
She deserved better than the movie gave her. As for the acting, it is the creator himself in the witch role and it shines nicely in this turn of the century film.
Je tu il elle (1974)
1/3 was good
The first part I could "see" what was going on, and I can get into video still frames of sort. These fade-outs were slow in a way that was awkward, then felt deliberate and meaningful and restful, then felt flatly back into awkward before scene cutout.
The second third of the movie was good. Still scenescapes, but less of a bathtub story, and some character development for both. The dialogue/monologue was good. The sexuality of it was awkward and one sided-very meaningful for this portion of the story. All three stars are for this part.
The last third was meh. There wasn't a spark between them, only for mischievousness. As a lesbian, I'm also confused by the extended sex scene. I think human intimacy can be beautiful, but here we see...loving wrestling? I think they were trying to allude to tribbing. It failed.
Whitmer Thomas: The Golden One (2020)
You know? At first I hated it.
The intro song wasn't the most musically technical brilliance, but it was lyrically sound. I continued. The act started and it was awkward. In a way that felt on purpose but not endearing. Then it continued. The cohesion came and went, but the rambling became endearing. Then it became funny. Some of the songs were of questionable quality, but they cut to and away quickly enough to not lose me. In all, I liked the songs...even the ones I didn't think were great. It's hard to explain, but he grows on you. And his persona is the joke. Or is that his personality? Either way, this is a unique ride, and my recommendation is to ride it out. I think it's worth it. Really8/10, but giving it nine to bump the rating.