Change Your Image
TheCollectiveCultOfWoollyLydia
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Court Jester (2024)
Could have gone so wrong, and didn't.
The music is a little Sigur Ros drone like, and the colors drab, but once you get past that - you have a surprisingly subdued Pauly Shore giving a pretty good performance as anything but a Court Jester. The message of the film in lesser hands could have come off as mawkish but deftly avoids that pitfall. And that's it's strength - it says what it has to say and there's no padding. Unlike leaving a review on IMDB where you have to fill space even though you've said all that needed to be said, With that in mind, I don't know why you think I'm tearing up, I'm telling you - someone is cooking onions around here...
Nope (2022)
I seem to recall another four letter title about something eating people
You've seen Jaws, right? Then you've seen Nope. Even down to the way they kill the creature. The premise is a interesting take on what UFO's could be (Jack Arnold was convinced that he saw living things not flying saucers back in 1947), but there are these two half baked story lines crammed together uncomfortably - with one of them just being dropped because of a miscalculation in a theme park. Also, the way you stop an animal from attacking or getting spooked is by not looking at it in the eyes? All right, but where were the eyes on the thing that everyone is supposed to avoid?
Let's not mention the heavy handed commentary on the trials and tribulations of filming and fame. You'll know what I mean by the TMZ segment. It was like the movie slowed down an action sequence to reenact the lyrics to Hotel California. There is another potentially heavy handed idea that "Jean Jacket" (yes the creature is dubbed Jean Jacket in reference to a horse that wouldn't be bridled) could be mistaken for a angel. At the end of the film it unfurls itself to look like some sort of giant gossamer parachute organism. Why? In the words of The Critical Drinker; "Don't know". You didn't see it look like that before but I guess you have to go the Theme Park route for a film climax.
And just like Jaws, there is already talk of a Nope II. Hey Jordan, I'll give you this one for free - why not call it "Nah" and go work on something original.
Midsommar (2019)
I'd like The Wicker Man, and for my side? Let me get the Canibal Holocaust, thanks.
That about sums it up. If you've seen TWM, then you know how things move along and end. The CH element is from studying "others" in their native surroundings, and yes - there is cannibalism here, or at least implied. While a step up from Hereditary, and be honest - did you really expect the cheep jump scare / Annabelle type action at the end of that movie, Aster still can't figure out how to construct a film where viewing it isn't an ambient experience. The music was great (like his previous film), the visuals impeccable (you might have another Kubrick in waiting here, I'm not kidding), but he can't write. The dialog is clunky, and the plot telegraphed pretty early on. While I knew what was happening and how it will wrap up, I just didn't care. At some point you realize that you are just being moved from space A to B, etc. and turn your brain off, there isn't much you are going to discover. I'd say save your money and watch it at home, but even then you might find something else to do - at least in a theater you have to sit still.