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MsShirlyS
Reviews
Genie (2023)
No wish for a fortune?
It seems nobody talked about this, but I've been having the question during the entire movie as soon as I saw the almighty genie: is it possible for a guy who has to work so hard to raise his family not asking for a fortune from the genie?
Yes, asking money can be cheesy and money won't always do good things. But it's definitely reasonable and pretty much every ordinary people's wish, isn't it? To not asking for it makes the main actor looks off, the writer look lazy, and the entire movie feels wrong at the very first beginning, even just as a silly holiday movie. To make it worse, all the wishes asked are not surprising or fun. The only moment that I laughed was for the wish "go to the hell". It's especially ironical that the numbers the genie left for the main character was considered to be lottery numbers. It is the only time the movie talks about money, and it feels nearly stupid. Unfortunately, Melissa's good performance is not enough to save this movie.
Inside No. 9: Love is a Stranger (2023)
Not surprised at all
The episodes of Inside no. 9 always have surprising endings but this episode is sadly not one of them. I've literally known Vichy is the serial killer from the start, by reading her reactions to the news of the serial killer on the radio. There are definitely no concern of her for the news. Her peaceful reaction is definitely a spoil. It's a bummer as I had to go through the entire 30 mins with the largest surprise-to-be had been spoiled.
There are definitely still fun moments and surprises, and the performances are strong as usual, but with the biggest twist spoiled, I had less fun watching it.
Manjianghong (2023)
Not convinced by the core value at all
I can see that Yimou Zhang tries really hard to have multiple twists in the movie in order to surprise the audience as much as he could, and the movie has some fun moments for sure, but I am not convinced by the final twist - the purposes of the gang, which is to pass on the poem written by Yue Fei before he was executed. This just seems too nationalistic, political, twisted and pointless, and literally makes this movie more like a propaganda movie than a piece of art, as the core value is so twisted!
People's lives are more precious than anything. It's a great deed that people sacrifice themselves to save another's life, but it's just a brain wash that people are willing die to pass on the love to their ruler.
It's really sad to see the twisted value in so many Chinese movies nowadays, and Yimou Zhang just contributed another.
Glass Onion (2022)
Too many flaws and too predictable
It's a crime movie with some surprises and gave us a good weekend night, but there are just so many things that don't make sense and make the movie with countless flaws and disappointments.
For the starter, Miles(Edward Norton) killed his previous partner Andy (Janelle Monáe) before the gang gathered on his island, but he still sent his invitation to her. If this can still be explained as the way to cover his murder, then it doesn't make any sense that he believed the twin of Andy is And herself when he saw her, because he had already killed her!
And when the big muscle guy played by Dave Bautista found out that Andy is already dead, his reaction was not "Then who is that gal?! A ghost!" Instead he saw it normal like and asked for things from the murderer Miles? And how can he be hundred percent sure Miles is the murderer anyway? Just because he saw him driving to Andy's home on the road the night he went there? And after he asked, Miles confessed to him?
Last but not least, what is wrong with that girl who finally found out the evidence of Miles' lie but put it just in front of him without being careful? It's like the director is telling the audience: "Don't worry! The evidence will soon be destroyed by that guy, just wait for it yo." It's so disappointing to see those really silly mistakes to be made after being so smart for a long time.
Well, it's still worth watching for fun but not even close to a good crime movie.
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It (2022)
Amazingly good
Showing the audience how stop motions are made is always a sweet reward after watching the movie, but the creator of this short animation went way further than that.
I was more than satisfied to see the relationship of two dimensions of the time, one of the motion graphics and another of the production of the motion graphic, all at once. It's awesome to see the supposed-to-be-emotionless puppet character developed his self-awareness and made his own choices. It is not a strange subject for many sci-fi movies, but probably the first time be seen of a stop motion character.
It's also a lovely story many of the audience can definitely connect to. It is amazing to see so many layers in a less than 10 mins animation.
The White Lotus (2021)
Not convinced by Jennifer Coolidge'a performance
I watched this TV series after hearing Jennifer Coolidge won the best supporting role. I did hope to see the breakthroughs she makes after playing Sophie in Two Broke Girls for so many years, but I am not convinced at all. Honestly I am very disappointed as the way she talks and the personality of the character she builds up remind me nothing but Sophie. It's like Sophie sinks in her and she can't get rid of it and talks like a normal person. However, to be fair with her, the only good part of her performance is in the last episode of season 2 where she shot people on the boat in panic. But still, it couldn't justify the reward that she wins.
But I am glad that I find this show because of Jennifer Coolidge. It's a good show, very dramatic and fun. It's also very comforting to see people relaxing in the sunny beach and ocean when I am trapped in the winter at home.
The Old Way (2023)
A western movie that can't even raise an audience's heart beats
The movie starts with a dramatic and unpredictable scene like a decent western movie, but that's unfortunately the one and the only one interesting moment in the entire movie. The rest of the movie is easy to predict, without any real tension and just makes me feel boring. The story itself is not really that bad, as almost all western movies are about revenge, but it seems the director is an amateur or a film school new graduate who lacks the skills to tell the story in a solid way or build up the vibe right. It is just not right that a western movie can't even raise an audience's heart beats.
Probably the only highlight of this movie is that the performance of the little girl is great.
Blonde (2022)
Neither informative nor perspective
I didn't know much about Marilyn Monroe to be honest, but even in that case, I feel this movie is neither informative nor perspective. It's piled up with pieces of sadness and tragics. The events in the movie are fragmental and serve the sad emotion much more than plotting. I had to check Marilyn Monroe's life on my phone while watching the movie to get a better understanding of which rumors the movie is talking about and why it is important. As a person who doesn't know the star well, all I got from the fragments of the moive is that Marilyn Monroe had a really sad and tragic life because of her naive trust in men.
If there is something good about this movie, I think it is the hypnotic and poetic vibe. Nice shoots and background music.
Fall (2022)
Unpredictably good without manipulative arrangements
I didn't have many high expectations of this movie the first few minutes I watched them. I've noticed the stereotypical casting and cheesy performance and I thought the story would be dull as well. But as a person who is super afraid of heights, I kept watching it as it was really interesting to see others choose to risk their lives to climb crazily high and I was safely sitting on my couch watching.
It became better after Becky and Hunter arrived at that tower. The cause of the danger is pretty predictable, but I appreciate that there is no dangers caused by something as cheesy as broke ropes which always appear in other movies out there, and the conflicts between the two girls didn't turn them back on each other. The steps they take to survive are more reasonable than manipulative, and the solutions to survive are super. I can see the efforts and thoughts the writer put into the scripts. A lot of surprises along the way, and I really enjoyed them while I was terribly frightened.
What's really the best surprise to me is the twisted ending where Becky finally figured out what truly happened to Hunter. It made me feel very content and let me forgive all the other flaws, give it 9 stars and also recommended it to my friends!
London Fields (2018)
My eyes!! Terrible performance!!
I don't really have much to say about this movie. Some said the performance of the lead actress Amber Heard is terrible in this movie, but I beg to differ the performance of Jim Sturgess (Keith) is the true disaster! Every scene of him literally burnt my eyes and I wish I could drag him out of the screen and punch him on his always opened mouth! His relationship with the lead actress makes zero sense.
It has a great potential to become a really good movie. The shots are nice, costumes and makeup are very fine and detailed, the lighting is good too. It is a crime that a movie looks so pretty has a story and performance that bad.
Inside Out (2015)
Could be a 10 if the logic wasn't wrong from the start
This movie has a great potential and it was supposed to be a 10 out of 10 movie if it didn't make a terrible mistake about the logic consistency. The unclear and inconsistent relationship between the characters and their inside five emotions really mess up this movie.
The five emotions inside all the other characters other than Riley are literally themselves-same kind, personality, gender and age with the characters, and they interestingly display the process of thoughts and emotions before they show their feelings, say and do things. For example, the insides of Riley's parents, the girl who sells the pizza, and even the cat and dog on the street all follow the same rule.
But Riley's inside is a total mess. The relationship between Riley and her inside five emotions doesn't follow the same rule. While other characters inside emotions interestingly display the process of their thoughts and emotions, Riley's emotions are not Riley herself, as they come before Riley. They are older, they have two genders, and their personalities have nothing to do with Riley. When Riley is still an infant, they are already young kids who try to take care of Riley. Instead of being Riley's emotions, they are super nannies who babysit Riley and make sure she is psychologically and physically well. They are also Riley's commanders and Riley is their puppet.
In addition, instead of being the process of Riley's feelings, they are the cause of Riley's feelings. Riley starts to act weird not because of things at school, but only because her Joy and Sadness are accidentally missing. What's worse? Even this inconsistency couldn't be consistent. It's a total mess and feels very wrong from the start.
Killing Eve: Just Dunk Me (2022)
Face down landing starts here
It didn't quite make sense to see Eve be so angry at Nell without any explanation after they realized how important they are to each other at the end of season 3, but I accepted the fact anyway and hoped what come next will wrap it up nicely. But no, it's just the start of the ultimate face down landing. The ambitious goal of revealing the 12 had never been really in the picture, and we are all tricked. The entire show eventually just want to take four years to simply tell a story of flirting.
Killing Eve: Hello, Losers (2022)
Bitter disappointment
It's really nice to finally see these two women make peace with their relationship and truest enjoy each other's company after they fought with each other for nearly four seasons. Villanelle and Eve's road trip is the only good thing to see in this episode as the rest is a disaster.
Eventually the Twelve who have been chased for 4 years are just some suckers who have no names or backgrounds or lines or chance to show their faces on the screen. I was curious how the writers are going to wrap up the Twelve thing when the season 4 started with a strong intention of reviving them, but it turned out they don't even try. I honestly feel it can be more creative and convincing to just wrap it up with something like... I don't know, probably COVID kill them all? And Carolyn kills Villanelle and Eve just because Eve crossed her? Nothing makes sense at the end. A completely waste of good performances and stories.
Sex/Life (2021)
I was wondering why it's rated five until I saw the ending
It's not that bad at the beginning. I knew it's a super cheesy show after watching for 5 mins, but its nice shots and lights made it at least watchable. I had been consistently annoyed by the main female character, but I thought she was just some typical stupid and innocent woman who will eventually figure out whom she really wants. But OMG, the ending is more than just terrible. 8 hours in my life has been completely wasted. I bet the main character will be hated for playing this stupid show.
Your Honor (2020)
Could be better
It could be a well-made TV series with great point if only there could be less Mr. White and more conscience struggles of the judge.
It's especially unnatural to see the struggles of a decent judge who has to break bad to save his son is completely missing in the series. And when he lies, all we can see is Mr. White applying his fake smiles, voice, and hand gestures. The performance and writers are definitely to blame.
It's a pity that there are too many manipulative designs and musics, and the story don't go deeper with the murdered mom and understandings between two mins-liked fathers. If only the judge could be slightly bigger than someone who thinks only his son is worthy saving and others are OK to die for his son's mistakes, or at least has struggles when he does those dirty things.
Lastly, the scenes like the judge being super talkative on the court, and the judge poisons the witness make complete no sense. I am sorry but we audience have been to the court and we are not that dumb.
The War (1994)
A highly underrated movie
It says a lot with a simple story happened between kids. A inspired and sentimental movie.
The only flaw could be Lexi Randall's weird performance in it.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Great film
Nice to have a film made by Disney which reflects the real issues we have in the real world. A lot of surprises in the movie, it's sentimental and fun.
Wo he wo de zu guo (2019)
Brainwashing propaganda with twisted values
To sacrifice your love, family and everything, just to make the government LOOK GOOD even it's dirty and rotten inside? And this is something to be proud of and cry for? I honestly don't see the point here, but at least we can see how far someone can go after getting brainwashed. Probably nowadays only people from China and Northern Koreans will feel for this film.