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Reviews
A Murder at the End of the World (2023)
No matter how much we advance, the moral of the story is the same
If I watched this 15 years ago, Darby Hart would have easily become my heroine, the manic pixie girl of another generation. I really loved the character's quirkiness and fantastic wit, plus the relationship she and Bill share seems unique and very genuine.
I loved the unpredictability of the whodunit and the allegory with the real world where billionaires race to colonize the moon, to create save havens to retreat when the world they greadily blow up ends up uninhabitable. Each of the characters has been portrayed very well and Clive Owen plays the part of his life. Brit Marling is, as always, an unforgettable presence.
"This is too much and not enough." a line so geniously written that kind of sums up the whole series; because in a tale about the evolution of science and AI, the intrigue is set in motion due to the oldest conflict: men wanting to own, control and direct women.
I'm only sorry that this is a mini series and not a proper TV show with multiple seasons. Darby is like a contemporary Lisbeth Salander, but with less grit and more anchorage in gen z culture.
Players (2024)
A feel-good rom-com that could've tried harder with the feel good
A group of friends created a series of scripted games that makes them easily find flings and one-night stands. Like Tinder, just funnier and less creepy. Everything changes when the girl of the group thinks she finds someone worth pretending all the way for - a mature guy with matching plates.
This movie was predictable from the first 5 minutes. Everyone is simply cliche: Mackenzie (who prefers to be called Mack, because why not?!) has to have dude-like attitudes because she writes about sports, Nick has to be rude cause he's British, Adam is the main POC character so he's obviously super smart, serious about the job and caring for his little group of misfits. Then there's this group of supporting white cast who have nothing special about them, except for one of them being bisexual.
Gina Rodriguez and Damon Wayans play their parts stupendously. Tom Ellis is playing Lucifer without the supernatural part. Netflix, of course, had to do yet another politically correct, inclusive piece so the screen is very colourful, both from a race and a sexuality perspective. However, missing the Asian character - why isn't Kirk Asian?! Can a newspaper be led by a white woman in 2024?! I'm outraged.
I wouldn't label it like a waste of time, but this movie could've have tried to do better, less on stereotypes/ clichés and more on originality.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)
A bit of a waste of time
The premise of this movie seemed promising. The chosen cast was also pretty good, with Rachel McAdams and Katie Bates as leads. The girl who plays Margaret did an amazing job, she's the only real and relatable character in this movie.
So basically, in the 70s, Margaret and her family move to the suburbs after her dad gets a promotion which not only ensures a bigger home for the family, but also the possibility for mom to leave her job and become a full time mom. Margaret is sad about the leave so she starts talking to God about this. The premise is even better as religion is no-speak topic in the family with the parents offering Margaret the option of choosing her own religions when she decides to.
Only this could've lead to an amazing movie, but the script is blend and easy to look over. None of the dialogues are memorable. The supporting characters are either irritating or simply dumb. Or undefined at all. There's a forced accent and highlight on the Nancy wheeler character as she's the alpha of the little girl group. The movie slightly touches on the subject of bullying.
Frankly speaking, it could've been much better. Left like this, it's just a mediocre family movie.
Rita (2012)
Not great, not terrible
The first two conclusions you can draw is that Danish people excel at tolerance, but not at fashion. This can easily be labelled as the show in which I've seen awful outfits - or the outfits, clearly not much of the show's budget has been dedicated to wardrobe and props.
While depicting Danish school life, the show touches on very important themes such as anxiety, anger management, bureaucracy, immigration, tolerance, the complexity of parent - child relationships and last, the Danish education system.
While I liked most of the episodes, some made me feel really uncomfortable. I liked Rita's attitude, but in certain situations her foul mouth makes her absurd. The pupils are most of the times cruel and the fact that no one disciplines them makes me feel weary and concerned about our future as a society.
Four Good Days (2020)
Not the best script
The actors had great performances, but the script didn't do them any favor. No matter how stellar Mila and Glenn were with the acting, the story was bland and severely underused. Some scenes were purely useless, while others weren't stressed enough. I would have liked to see a back story of Molly's addiction, some flashbacks, a connection to how she got her kids.
Except for the dialogue, there's nothing and I mean absolutely nothing to the story. 1:43 hours to sit aimlessly enjoying some good dialogue. Somebody said in another review they anyone who didn't use heroine cannot identity sufficiently. I don't think you have to be an opioid addict to comment a work of fiction.
Bottom line, I wouldn't watch it again even if one paid me to.
Little Fires Everywhere (2020)
This is how you adapt a novel
After reading Little fires everywhere, I hoped that someone would adapt it into a movie. I was super excited when Reese Witherspoon announced she'd be producing and staring in a miniseries based on the novel. Now, an adaptation is a vague term... Most of the times, novels adapted for the little or big screen have almost nothing to do with the original piece of writing. But, man, the adaption for this one was super accurate, it followed all the story line and the course of action without having it necessary to insert unrequired people of color or any extra drama. This is exquisite piece of work written by a person of color and adapted by very talented people; it's raw, visceral, mind-bending, it touches subjects that tend to disturb and makes you challenge your own views. Needles to say, the cast was stellar and the played the roles exceptionally. Reese, Kerry, Joshua, Rosemarie and the kids - they all portrayed their characters extremely well. Everything in their acting, from the tone of dialogue, to the facial expressions and the nonchalance was nothing but perfect.
Whoever has read the novel can wholeheartedly say that this adaption is a masterpiece.
The Glass Castle (2017)
Yet another elusive adaptation
I will try not to make a book review or book vs. Movie kind of review, but the truth is that the film portrays like 35% of the harsh reality and extreme poverty that the Walls family had gone through.
A couple of misfit adults try to offer their children a "hands on" kind of education, without doing any parenting in its true meaning. A bipolar artist and an alcoholic are not fit to raise 4 children and it's such a pity the film romanticised this idea of bad parenting by showing only the good bits in Jeannette's life.
From the end credits though, it seems like she's OK with it all. It rakes real courage and intelligence to get over such ill treatment during your earliest development.
The Essex Serpent (2022)
Don't watch this if you read the book
While I cannot say that this book has been the highlight of my year in books, I did enjoy reading it for the penny dreadful feel and I felt like an adaption would be awesome.
However, what we got in exchange is a highly modified story with POC characters included everywhere just to make it 21st century politically correct. This changes the whole narration, making it boring and quite soapy.
I gave it 3 stars for the cast and cinematography. Clare Danes wasn't her best, but Tom Hiddleston and the kid that plays Frankie were spot on.
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Good acting, bad story, too cinematic and clicheic
I wanted to like this movie so bad that I took the 2hrs from my very limited time and actually watched with the purpose of observation. I didn't click for me, just like Ferrante's books haven't either.
First, the pros: the entire cast does an amazing job at depicting the characters. You don't get the vibe of bad acting at all, from any of the people in the movie, even the small parts aren't disregarded. Also, the small metaphors scattered here and there are simply the cherry on top.
However:
1. By moving the place of action and the provenience of the characters, the story feels forced and faked. If Leda is from the US why does she have a British accent? If Nina's family is from Queens why are they spending the holiday in Greece? Or making business there?
2. Bad parenting all the way. The movie is supposed to illustrate how not all women are supposed to be mothers, but instead it manages to depict pretty bad choices. And the way these women behave in relation to their kids is just awful.
3. Bimbo Dakota Johnson may be a victim of spousal abuse and mental illness, yet very little of the story spins around this. Also, is Paul Mescal bound to play Irish characters only?
4. Young Leda is depicted as highly intelligent, even a genius, while middle-aged Leda is good looking for her age. Sorry to say, but Jessie's acting didn't feel to clever, nor did Olivia's looks ravishing. It's not that one is not intelligent or that the other is ugly, it's the gestures that were too prone to selfishness and disregard.
5. I didn't get Ed Harris' role in the story, didn't get his background and motives. Useless screen time.
All in all, we're served a pathetic story about women apparently linked together by their inability to parent, selfish children and pawned men.