ccave-62620 Reviews

Atypical: Ernest Shackleton's Rules for Survival (2018) Season 2, Episode 10

Cheap, easy, formulaic

[17 August 2019]

I dont usually review episodes, but I had to comment on the storyline with Casey and Izzie.

Given how much judgement Casey had about her mom, and the way she continued to punish her, I knew from the get go it was only a matter of time before Casey found herself in a similar position. It's the quickest, easiest way to create that understanding within her towards her mom. I will admit, it took me a little longer to catch on that it would be with Izzie. I'm disappointed for a number of reasons, but I'll explore the main 3:

1. It suggests that a person's understanding can only come from what they themselves have experienced, and shows a lack of depth and empathy of the character. It is the easiest way to inevitably help Casey find forgiveness for her mom, but the source of of it is ultimately selfish and that makes the forgiveness meaningless.

2. It reinforces the idea that you cant be that close to someone, or love someone, without it becoming romantic. First society creates the notion that men and women cant just be friends, but now women and women cant just be friends either? It cheapens the bond between the two friends, and feels unnecessary.

3. It creates the idea that, no matter how a person feels about cheating, or how good a relationship is, in the right circumstances a person will cheat. But that's not true, because it is a choice - a difficult choice, but a choice nonetheless. Not only that, but doing it this way steals the attention from the love between Casey and Izzie.

The worst part is it didn't need to happen. They could have had Casey acknowledge her feelings towards Izzie, understand her moms actions and confusion about the bartender and dad, and still honor her relationship with Evan. She could have been honest with Evan about what almost happened and either worked through it or broken up, acknowledged her feelings to Izzie and either explored them further or explained why she couldn't, and confided in her mom about the experience and that she understood her mom more but was using her betrayal as a lesson to do things differently. The writers went for the obvious drama, and not only is it below the standard of such an amazing show, it is too easy, unnecessary and cheap.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Destroyed by it's own hype

[6/10 · 3 May 2019]

I probably would have enjoyed this movie more had there not been so much hype around it. But sadly the expectations were established and definitely not met.

Bridget is likeable in a goofball sort of way, and has a few good moments, but overall it was difficult to respect her character and therefor root for her success.

It was also difficult to find the relationships believable - especially between her and Darcy, who had little to no interaction. One thing I did like was how she and Darcy noted each other's faults before expressing their love. Too often people have this misconception that true love is someone who finds you perfect and who you find perfect. Those who have been in long term relationships know this isn't the case. There is something genuine in saying "I see the worst in you and I love you" and it's a rare take for a romcom.

Darcy's business partners role was unnecessary and served no purpose to the plot, other than to make me question how good of a guy Darcy really was. He consistently included her in his life in such a personal way with no purpose other than to avoid attending functions alone. Given how even his family and friends viewed their relationship by the end, it was clear he was knowingly misleading her. But because Bridget is our lead, the writers don't care about the emotional games this woman would be subjected to.

It had great potential, but is one of those films you'll only really enjoy if you dont think about it too much.

When We First Met (2018)

Simple, light fluff

[6/10 · 3 April 2019]

The premise of time travel in movies has always been that one small change in the past can have very dramatic changes to the present. Given how promising the movie started off, I was excited to see how the different scenarios would play out. Unfortunately, the various story lines fell short. Each new variation of Avery and Noah seemed random and disconnected, and completely out of character.

Most notably, given what a nice guy Noah is portrayed as, and the strong feelings he has for Avery, why would them hooking up lead to a 3 year "friends with benefits" style relationship where they are hardly even friends, and Noah is (as he puts it) "full asshole"? Perhaps more of an explanation was needed.

The writers tried so hard to show that Avery and Noah didn't belong together, that the story lines seemed forced and extreme. In each story line you could have replaced Avery with Carrie, the inevitable soulmate, or any random girl for that matter, and the relationship would have failed. It would have had more of an impact if the different variations of their 3 years together were genuine and more realistic, or if the couple at least had a fair chance, and it ended because it was clear they were just suited better as friends. Or Noah realised he wasn't as happy as he thought he would be. Or Avery couldn't help but fall for Ethan. Or anything other than the doomed-to-fail over exaggerated scenarios the writers chose.

The acting wasn't bad, but it was difficult to care about Noah given how his character traits and feelings seemed to be determined more by his given situation rather than him as a person. The jokes were sparse and alot of the times fell short.

There also wasn't enough of him and Carrie together to warrant her being "the one". It is implausible that Avery's best girl friend (Carrie) and best guy friend (Noah) would see or talk to each other so seldomly over the course of 3 years. Or that Noah would become so close with Avery but somehow never learn the music, the movie and the foosball table weren't actually interests of hers. If these points were so important to him that it caused him to realise Carrie was actually the girl for him, how did it never come up again over the course of 3 years?

At the end of it, it didn't feel like Noah realised he was not in love with Avery but was actually in love with Carrie. It felt more like he couldn't get a real shot with Avery, so he chose Carrie instead, simply because fate wanted it that way.

The writers should have put more effort in, but it was still enjoyable enough to pass the time.

Fear (1996)

Enjoyable, although predictable. There was potential for more.

[6/10 · 24 February 2019]

The movie is predictable in it's plot, but unique enough in it's execution (until it's final scene) that you want to keep watching. This combination makes it a movie you can watch more than once without losing interest.

The cast was great, although Reese Witherspoon does over act her emotions on occasion, and Mark Whalburg slips in and out of his accent. Alyssa Malano isn't bad either, although she brings nothing new to a typically scripted character.

There was ample opportunity to give this movie more depth and originality, but it seems the writers went for a familiar story line without giving it the time and thought it deserves. The biggest plot misses for me were; 1. Nobody has a cell phone. Although at the time the movie was made (1996) cell phones weren't what they are today, given that they have been available most people since the 1980's it doesn't make sense that a businessman like Steven, who seems to work around the clock, wouldn't have one 2. When Nicole is looking in through the window and catches David and Margot about to have sex, it is very clear that it is against Margot's will.In fact, it is a very unsafe situation she is in, yet Nicole leaves, only making the decision not to be with David anymore. She doesn't try stop it from happening, or get her friend help, or check on her after. I lost respect for the character after this, as essentially what she witnessed was her best friend's rape, yet she couldn't see past her own hurt feelings. It would have been a more powerful "break up scene" had she helped Margot and confronted David. 3. Later in the movie, Nicole confronts Margot about what happened with David, and Margot says she was forced into it (which Nicole saw first hand). Rather than Nicole not being able to see or be there for her friend because of her own trauma, or being angry at Margot for not warning her about the type of man David was, she was actually upset about the fact that Margot had sex with David at all. In fact, she reacted as though this was an affair Margot had happily participated in, and not the sexual assault that it was. I was disappointed at the approach the writers took, and felt more sympathy for Margot than Nicole, feeling Nicole was the bad friend in that scenario. Again, I felt It would have been a more powerful storyline to have this shared bad experience with David strengthen the girls' bond - especially given Margot's presence in Nicole's house anyway for the final scene. 4. On a similar note, as Margot was with David's friend and presumably at the house regularly (enough to be comfortably having sex with the friend in a crowded living room), surely she would have witnessed the dark side of David that Nicole clearly knew nothing about? 5. During the final scene, Laura tells Steven the house cannot be broken into and he should know this as he designed it himself. She then lists the numerous reinforcements he put in place to secure it. Given how much thought he obviously put into the security of the house, and that he does this for a living, why would he overlook something as simple as a security gate at the bottom of the stairs? On the off chance intruders get in, the family can hide safely upstairs and at the very least buy themselves some time. 6. In the same regard, why not have an emergency back up telephone line - or a handheld transceiver perhaps - to the guard house? Or a safe with a gun? 7. After what David did to the car, and the fear over Nicole's safety, and Steven trashing David's house knowing there would be retaliation, why didn't Nicole at least carry pepper spray with her? And why wasn't the security guard informed of the situation, given they had even informed the school? 8. Margot arrives and shortly after the house is attacked. Didn't she see them following her? And if they arrived before her and hid, why not barge in when the door was opened to let her in? 9. Gary is beaten to death in the woods near after school. By that same evening Margot is at Nicole's house to inform her of his murder. It seems implausible that this would be enough time for his body to be discovered and the crime scene investigated enough for Margot to know that not only has he died, but how he was murdered. The movie doesn't depict any close relationship between them that the family would call her, and if they did call why not call Nicole, his best friend, first? And they couldn't have heard from the school, as it happened after school hours.

Although these are my burning questions, I was able to look past them and enioy the movie nonetheless. I've actually watched it more than once and would happily watch it again. I would recommend it to anyone who can enjoy a movie that is what it is, pure entertainment without trying to be anything more.