Reviews and Ramblings

 What a fucking trip this film is, I’ll say that much for it, but not in a good way. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, other than I had been looking forward to seeing this film since it came out, but every time I had it on my schedule to go see in the theatres, something came up. So when it popped up on Disney+, I said ‘HELL YEAH, LET’S GO!’ And honestly, it was a bit of a let down, considering it won MULTIPLE Oscar Awards this past year. While some may have been deserving, one that I would absolutely fight against is for Best Director. Sean Baker is already known to be slightly problematic and this film did not do any favours for that argument. A rising role in the film industry, especially since the COVID pandemic, has been intimacy coordination. There are still plenty of people that don’t know about it nor understand its true purpose. While the main actors did consent to forego an intimacy coordinator for this film, due to not only the content, but the explicit nature of ea...

 Good evening y’all! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted on this blog, but I’m back, baby! Films are a HUGE part of my life now, so I’ve decided to revive this blog and well, if anyone does happen to read my reviews, great. If not, well, at least I can get some energy somehow, IDK. I’ll be starting posts this week, I’m going to aim for one post a week, but it might be more, who knows. I have an A-List membership with AMC so many films will be ones I watch in the theatre and I’m going to be a weirdo and have a notebook with me so I can take notes as I watch. But also, I have access to a couple of major streaming services and I have a very nice home theatre set-up now, so some will be watched there. It’ll be easier to take notes though of course it’ll also be easier to be interrupted since I have 2 fur children and 1 scaly baby now. Such is life. The reason I plan to take a notebook to the theatre with me is because I now have 3.5 years of experience being part of the Spooky ...

It's been a very long time since I'e written a blog post.  Especially one about a movie. Struck By Lightning certainly is not a move I had heard of until I found it on Netflix.  But it certainly spoke to me.  It seems to be one of those typical, coming of age teenager angst movies.  But what it really is about is real life.  The protagonist, Carson Philips, gets struck by lightning his senior year of high school and the movie is about his semester leading up to when he died.  He has a mother who is an alcoholic and dependent on prescription drugs and a father who left his family and started a new one simply because he didn't want to deal with them anymore.  Carson is an outcast in high school and ends up blackmailing other students into participating in a Literary Magazine so that he can better his chances to get into his dream college. This movie really spoke to me because Carson has been dealt a lot of shit in his short 17 years of life.  Wh...

Somehow I never got a chance to watch "Say Anything" starring John Cusack until tonight when I stumbled upon it on Netflix.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing has yet to be determined because we all know that Netflix sucks the life out of you and it was at least my third movie of the day. I digress - this post is about my feelings on the film, not a synopsis of my day. I have heard reference to one specific scene of this film for many years.  It has never even been a reference to the entire scene, though.  It has only ever been a reference to a very particular moment in that scene - Lloyd (played by John Cusack) standing outside Diane's (played by Ione Skye) window.  I mean, that image is even on the movie poster.  I am sorely disappointed in how that scene played out, actually.  I thought it was going to make everything better, but it didn't. This film is in the genre of Romantic Comedy, and while some things were funny and there was romance i...

If you have not the read 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkein but plan on seeing the film based off of it, I have two tips for you - don't worry if you haven't read it, you practically do not need to with how detailed the film is and that being said, that's because the tiniest book in the series about Middle Earth, The Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings is split into three films, each will probably be as long as the first, which was almost 3 hours long. For once, I probably will NOT complain about how the films don't follow the book. There is a problem with that however - I have not read any of the books. I own 'The Hobbit' and 'The Two Towers' (which is actually the culmination of Books 3 & 4 in the series, 'The Treason of Isengard' and 'The Ring Goes East'. I love when authors do series because it just makes it easier for the world to last for the fans. I am a HUGE fan of the 3 films that are currently out and maybe that's ...

This is actually my first food review I've ever written, so I hope you enjoy it! This is their Facebook image. I got to visit German Bistro in Tampa on MacDill Ave earlier tonight. I went to meet with some members of the USF German Culture Club, which I am the current president of, and can I just say 'WOW!'. I only ordered the Potatoe Pancakes and Sauerkraut, but oh man was it good! The potatoe pancakes were fresh and hot, the spicing of it was PERFECT! The sauerkraut was not the stuff you get in cans, either. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as fresh sauerkraut, but it was the best kind I've ever had. We then got to try their homemade apple strudel because they wanted to support the club. Now, I worked at a German Bakery in Fort Lauderdale one holiday season and this apple strudel was even better than that, even though I personally made it fresh (then again, that was before I could actually bake). The restaurant is a little smaller than I had expe...

Let me preface this by saying that this is legit the first time that I have actually seen 'The Notebook'. That may be sad, it may not be. Regardless, it's true. I have heard about people talking about it since it was released in theatres in 2004. Essentially, it's about a woman's whom is retold the story of her own life from a book she wrote herself. At the end of the film, it shows her husband, Noah, flipping to the beginning of the book where she wrote "The story of our lives by Allison Hamilton Calhoun. To my love, Noah, Read this to me and I'll come back to you." The film is adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. I have not read the book either, so this was a completely new experience for me as I was expecting a very romantic, gushy, chick-flick type film. It took me about half of the film to realize that the story was about Allie as the flashbacks are longer than the current-time scenes. The story itself is very beautiful ...

This film adaption based off of the novel "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, came as a surprise to me. Having just completed the 3-book series before I watched the first film was certainly helpful because otherwise I would have been highly confused had I only read the first book. While watching the film, the person I was with had to have some scenes explained by me as simply saying 'Book 2' or 'Book 3' because the scenes were actually from stuff that happened not in the 1st book. In the novel, there were quite a few flashbacks - in the film, the flashbacks were much less in number, but also not shot the way I expected. Beware there are spoilers of the storyline and some details as this is more a comparison of the book to the film. Then again, the entire film was shot in a way I was not expecting. The angles of shots, the use of music over silent scenes, and the overall choices by director Gary Ross were not pleasing to myself, a self-described fan of ...

I get a pretty awesome opportunity later this week. I get to watch Hitchcock's Rear Window again. Sure, this could happen at any time on my own. However, I will be watching in my History of Photography course. It has been about 6 years since I have seen this film. While that's not that special, I will be reviewing my notes and view of the film from my first viewing before I watch it again. Here is my first review While it will not be required to write another review on this film, I plan on it. I feel like being able to review a film after 6 years with only those 2 views of the film will be an interesting read for myself later in life. Maybe I won't let myself see it again for another 6 years and write another review then. Who knows - but I think it will be very interesting to see how aesthetics and my comprehension of things has changed over the years. So, be on the look out for it! So, until next time--

As always, Johnny Depp delivers as Jack Sparrow. Ingenious plans that sometimes get foiled by the British (although in this movie, once by the Spaniards), dashing good looks, and ever-present confusion as to which side he is on. While the majority of this film takes place in Spain and on islands, which is duly-noted in the music with constant guitar riffs added into the favourite PotC songs, it doesn't quite always seem to work as well. In this film however, he plays along-side 'Blow' Co-star, Penelope Cruz, who plays Angelica Malon, a long-ago lover of Jack's. I will not bore you with the details of the film itself. Mainly because I can also guarantee it will leave your jaw hanging open at least thrice, and don't want to spoil it too much for you. The viewer can expect to miss the addition of Depp's co-stars Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) and Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), sadly. Even though the plot of this film does not call for either of their charact...

Alright so, I was going to write a constructive review on Twilight. However, I realized that as terrible as it is, I don't have enough respect for it to write a review about it. I don't CARE enough to write a review about it. I did want to let you guys know that I have actually read all four books in the series though, so now I am actually able to argue over it. But like I said, not even enough substance to it to care enough to write about it. So, until next time--

Nick of Time, directed by John Badman and produced by D.J. Caruso, was one of those films that, even though it was an hour and a half long, it did not seem to be that long. It took almost half an hour for the story to get going, though. The title sequence, a montage of close-ups of a gun being loaded and a clock working that turns into actual film sequences, was interesting, but reminded me of the title sequences of "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" and "Sweeny Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street", both of which Johnny Depp also stared in (although after Nick of Time). Now, I am a huge fan of Johnny Depp, but this was not the only similarity I saw to some of his other films. He did do a wonderful job portraying a father who is forced to become a killer, which is not a recurrent roll. However, we have seen him wear glasses before, and be a killer before. The father roll was a nice change, as he is a father himself. I am confused however, as to when the film was su...

An action packed movie, 'WANTED', directed by Timur Bekmambetov, definitely includes some scenes and ideas never before seen. By me, anyways. And I have seen a fair share of action films. Unbeknown to me, this film was based on a comic. However, this film was far from simple drawings. Although I was able to call out who the main characters' father really was before you actually found out, the story line was so detailed and so well mapped out, that I almost didn't catch it. There were a few other surprise elements in the plot as well. However, the dialogue of another main character, Sloan, played by Morgan Freedman, could have been cleaned up, and was reminiscent of Samuel L. Jackson's dialogue in 'Snakes on a Plane'. Wesley, played by James McAvoy, is the protagonist in this plot, who gets drawn into "The Fraternity" by Sloan. At one point, it seems that Fox, played by Angelina Jolie, and Wesley will end up together. However, fate (as the film woul...

The music at the beginning of the film already reminds me of an older movie from the 60s or 70s. As soon as you see visuals, you can automatically see that it is an older film. However, you may know that I love grainy films because of when or how they were made. It make me happy. The acting so far is wonderful. In fact, I am watching to it right now. I'm in the middle of watching it. It is clear that in this film, made in 1974, the events take place in the early 70s. This is evident through the costumes and the way people talk. It is also self-evident that it takes place in New York, by the accents. Now, even though this movie is classified as a drama/thriller, there are elements of comedy (for example, when the directors of the Japanese subway system start to speak clear English and one of the transportation lieutenants' has been speaking to them like they are stupid. Another amusing element of this film is that a bunch of the major characters are named after colors. To me thi...

As many of you may know, I absolutely love any movie that Mr. Johnny Depp does. Well, the same goes for this movie. Even though he plays a hardened criminal who robs banks, I could not help but feel empathy for his character (it must be that I just love him so much!). But otherwise, as I was watching the movie, despite the bad sound system and people coughing during the quiet parts, I enjoyed it very much. The make-up people did a wonderful job covering Mr. Depp's many tattoos, and I am sure they even had to change around some details like where he got shot in order to keep his character up. There was one mistakes on make-up's part, however, and that was the fake mustache they used for Depp, did not cover his own mustache (you could see hte stubble growing, and it was very distracting). Obviously the costuming was done superbly (the movie is based in the 1930's) snd matches the time period perfectly. They even found old pocket watches that worked. One thing noticed however,...

I just read up on "America's Worst Mom" in my favourite news source - The Week Magazine. In case you haven't read or heard about this, a mom, Lenore Skenazy, let her 9 year-old son, Izzy, ride the subway home alone from Bloomingdale's in New York City. I think that that whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion. I mean, honestly, why can't parents raise their children the way that they want to? Why does the entire nation have to make their opinion known? Clearly, Izzy was safe, and was very proud of himself for making his own way home. His mother did not abondon him. Her and her husband had agreed that Izzy would be allowed to do this. Izzy himself asked to be left anywhere, any time, to find her own way home. I think this idea is wonderful, actually. I know that I am not parent, but I did help raise my 6 year-old nephew, and will probably help raise my not-yet-born niece or nephew. I was also around when my 6 younger cousins were growing up ...

Alright so, I totally got an awesome opportunity tonight - I got to see a private screening of a movie. This has not happened for me before. The movie? I Love You, Man. Not only was this movie hilarious, but the actors were great, as was the story-line. Now, it is a little twist off of a combination of other movies but it is pretty original. The only problem I had with it, was that it took a bit too long to get to the climax of the story. Sure, it was great to see the friendship develop, but at the same time, I even caught myself looking at my watch. This rarely happens, as I am such an avidly fanatically-minded person, but when it does happen, it's for a reason. This time, it's because the development of Peter & Sydney's relationship took a bit too long. However, as sexual as some of the jokes were, the costumes were fine, the lighting was great, transitions and shots were put together beautifully, and most of the wide frames were good. However, some of the moving wide...

A complete and total waste of an hour and a half. Seriously. The only good part of the movie were SOME of the costumes. The movie took parts of Narnia, Harry Potter, Snakes on a Plane, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The DaVinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harold & Kumar go to White Castle, X-Men, Nacho Libre, MTV's Cribs, Click, some Jackie Chan moves, Flavor of Love, Borat, Star Wars, James Bond, and of course American Pie. I am sure there are more that I missed, but as I said, it was a waste of time, and I barely paid attention to it. However, I decided to stick it out. The filming was pretty bad, although a lot of the accents were good. The costumes for the Narnia part were fairly accurate, and Chewbacca and the Storm Troopers were correct (minus Chewbacca's blue hair, of course). However, the outfits for the Charlie/Chocolate Factory were totally off (Willy Wonka looked REALLY creepy), the Oompa-Loompas were just WRONG, the shots of the entire movie were okay, c...

Okay so, I was watching this program about all the "sex crimes" of teacher/student relationships. Now, I can understand how some of the cases are sexual exploitation. However, does that mean all of them are? Sure, many teenage boys have a fantasy of having sex with their 'hot, young teacher', which I think is completely normal. As well as some teenage girls have similar fantasies. But, if these fantasies are played out, as in, the student and teacher have a sexual relationship, how different can their relationship be, than one of a teenager, and an adult the same age as one of those teachers, but of another occupancy? Is it really much different, if say, while I was in high school, I had a sexual relationship with a teacher the age of 25, when I was 16; versus, having a sexual relationship with a 25 year old college student, or office worker (not at the school) while I was 16? I'm not saying that ever happened to me - no, I never had teachers whose age was anywher...

Okay so, I saw "The Day The Earth Stood Still" last night, but I have yet to actually develop any actual feelings towards the movie. It didn't seem to sink in. I know the plot line, and I saw how it was made, etc, but I can't seem to develop any kind of opinion or feelings towards it. I did have fun - my two good friends, Sean and Tynan took me out, and we had a lot of fun. Although I was sooo cold in that theatre! About 1/2 hour into the movie Sean offered me his jacket but I'm too stubborn. Although, when there was 1/2 hour left in the movie, I finally took it. Although the movie is a remake, I have a feeling that the plot deviates a little bit. But, some people tell me that it is only an okay version than the original. The costumes were very intriguing, though. I am not quite sure what year it was supposed to be set in, though, so I can only assume by the costumes that it is placed in modern day, most likely in 2008 or the past few, or next few years. The ...