Reviews

Cute. Satisfying. Scar was great. Zazu not so much. Liked the small changes to the storyline.

In the age of on-demand services, people should stop caring about whether films are remade.

I love Marvel. Proves blockbusters don't have to be dumb and fans appreciate attempts at in-movie logic and detail. A fresh reassurance that the MCU will continue to inspire and entertain.

A beautiful movie with a wonderful lesson to tell. Its fault is that it is more of a series or anthology than one main narrative, but if you don't mind falling in love and caring about characters in a movie, this will be one of those films that you will keep coming back to and gaining or regaining wonderful fragments to cherish and think about as a family and human being.

An imperfect film struggling between an interesting sci-fi and a transformers movie. Beautiful visuals, interesting plot threads, edited for the mass.

Fanservice movie with beautiful graphics. Fills the inner child with giddiness and the outer adult with meh and a few bits of chuckles.

The target demographic for this documentary are people interested in understanding the minimalist movement. If you have already dived into it a little bit, you won't get much out of it aside from reassurance that you are not alone. But of course, one of the main points of minimalism is to not need outside validation to be happy. 🤷‍♂️

Also, not sure if this a directorial error, but the least interesting people in the documentary are probably the two main people highlighted on the cover - The Minimalists. They have the least practical and actionable substance to say but unfortunately seem to get the most screentime.

Boring and nonsensical but who cares when the art is magnificent, the characters are inspiringly designed, and the fights ooze cool. Go in this movie to celebrate your childhood yearning for superhero coolness and you will come out fulfilled.

A Black Mirror level episode, but didn't have the complexity or narrative to require the running length, especially compared to other Black Mirror episodes.

The film has an intriguing premise and builds a world worth exploring. And while the cast manages to pull us in, the screenplay is ultimately a bit lacking and at times nonsensical, with a climax that does not deliver, leaving the whole film a bit meh and probably about half an hour too long.

It's a decent film to watch if you like the likes of The Mist, but overall it's one of those "well I've already got Netflix so I might as well watch it" type of films.

Black Mirror episodes usually scare us psychologically by drawing us into a future where the technology we use today changes us to behave in "horrifying" way perfectly normal to those in the story.

Metalhead is a different type of Black Mirror episode, using cinematography and action to create a thriller that is nonetheless terrifying.

The world building was simple but effective, using the lack of colors to show its bleakness. Most of the episode is a run & chase sequence between the human protagonists and a dog-like machine that may have been originally built to help us, but it manages to be more satisfying than most big budget blockbusters by making the humans smart and able to combat back and forth with the brutal AI that also adapt to every situation.

In the end, Metalhead still leaves you with the same feeling a Black Mirror episode does. It leaves us with questions about the future, questions about what happened, and fear about a future of what what we are currently building today.

Much of the Ocean franchise is more about the star power exuding their charisma on screen. And in this part, Ocean's 8 is admittedly enjoyable. The big names' chemistry is energetic and the experience can be like being starstruck from watching them hanging out with each other.

On the other hand, the lesser known supporting cast show their inexperience and seem like they're there just to show that acting is not easy.

Moreover, when you go into a heist movie, you expect to exercise some suspension of disbelief. But it is also the creators' job is to create an experience that makes it easy for the viewer as well. Unfortunately, Ocean 8 fails at this at every turn.

For every great riff-off between the headline stars, you get insulted by the poorly thought out plot and improbably circumstances and dues ex machinas that the movie throws at you. Ocean's 8 is an emotional tug of war, with fun moments leading you to forgive its faults only to be followed by a more and more benign situation that takes you out of the movie once again.

Over all, the movie is entertaining for what it is, but see it only if you're either a superfan of one or more of the leading actresses, or you don't mind having your intellect and standard expectation being insulted by the creators just because you happen to be interested in watching what looks like a fun popcorn flick.

It is ironic that I find it hard to put the movie into words, for the feature film should've had the same problem making a visual media about the sense of smell. And yet, 2 hours and 27 minutes later, I find myself sympathetic to a pathological murderer deluded in his quest to find his worth through emotionlessly taking the multiple lives of others to achieve his ultimate quest of creating the ultimate perfume using his extroardinary sense of smell, the only skill he's ever had in his dark, cursed life that was meant to be abandoned since the day he was born.

In some ways, this is a work of art, visual eye candy that compensates the lack of smell with abundance of colors - or lack of it when appropriate. In other ways, it is a dark fairy tale in the form of the original Alice in Wonderlands with twisted story and characters that somehow entertain. And in some aspects, it is an allegory of religion and our search for happiness and love.

Overall, it is in the end a satisfying movie experience; a film that leaves you a bit changed, planting something that will stick in your mind, reminding how everything is not always what they seem - or smell.

Proof that a bland script with inexperienced leads when directed with cinematic craft can manage to turn a plain storyline and characters into an enjoyable thriller with a suspenseful and ultimately satisfying payoff.

Likes:

• It doesn't shy away from Thailand's problematic traditions of school "sponsorship fees" and class differences without having to make a big deal out of them.
• While I was critical of the leads' acting in the first paragraph, Bank (Chanon) does get to show his capabilities in an intense stand-off and Lynn (Chutimon) does well in the scenes that require subtlety despite being a stick stiff when she's supposed to be a normal schoolgirl.
• However, they all pale in comparison to Lynn's father who delivers the role so well you want to join Lynn in every tearful hug.

Dislikes:

• Needed variety and realism to the cheating techniques in the movie. Shouldn't have been that hard to research, really.
• The Thai illogical-for-entertainments'-sake style strikes here too like the motorcycle fleets and Bank's sudden change in character in the end.
• In every scene where she's required to show any type of emotion or be a normal schoolgirl, Lynn is basically just a talking stick.
• I'm tempted to dock off a half star for the STIC testing chief's style of speech alone.

Overall, it started slow but builds up decently enough, with the cinematography and Lynn's father saving the movie by adding the touch of class and emotional relevance the movie needed to make you care. Probably would've been a better movie if shortened by about 20 minutes. If you're looking for a Thai popcorn flick that's not half-assed, this is a good candidate.

I must admit, I've come to embrace the convoluted and groan inducing plot elements of Sherlock. This episode's finale seems to state "You know what, you're not really here for the problem solving, you're here for the characters." And I have to admit - they may be right.

In essence, Sherlock is a superhero movie series and the main reason you want them to make more is because of nostalgia. You want to see them doing their things again, even if they're no longer in their prime.

This installment was all about emotion. And somehow, the random final montage got me to feel emotional as well.

I enjoy watching Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. And I hope, with some time to rest, I may once more get a chance to revisit another trilogy of them from the comfort of my home.

At the start of the film, the movie confidently says that by the end, you will believe in God.

And when you finish the story, you will.

The series will likely never be able to escape the trap of having Sherlock utilize his intellect in a way that does not either bore us with repetitiveness or alienate us from being too far reaching.

However, I found this particular episode's arc of Sherlock redeeming himself to Watson and of Watson to himself and Mary to have a particular touching message that somehow allowed me to to forgive the cheesy writing of an eyeball rolling new character and scheming of Sherlock that requests a bit too much of suspension of disbelief.

It also helps that the special effects are eye candy, the performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and especially Toby Jones are a joy to watch, and Amanda Abbington's Mary ironically feels much more human and natural than her previous outing. In the end, while the plot was all over the place, the third act brought just enough character moments and delivery to get me back satisfied and actually curious about watching the final installment of Season 4.

"I've heard so much about this movie with references in pop culture and more than one mentions of how it was the best screenplay ever made, and while it is never good to go into a movie overhyped, it definitely delivered.

This movie contained everything. Action, comedy, drama, suspense, plot twists, deceit, and most of all, true love.

Overall, it is just a beautiful movie.

It is a shame I was not old enough to see this movie when it came out to realize that the pacing and style was intentional. I thought it was simply a relic of the times. Now that I know I can appreciate the added layer of parody and the genius of the balance between parody and tribute.

The whimsical fairy tale mood takes us along on a heartwarming journey that has us root for the heroes while smirking at the quips. Every character is lovable, every line is quotable, and every layer is clever and witty. The script itself will definitely be worth further scrutiny.

The cultural effect this has had is well deserved. It is slightly surreal to recognize modern tropes, characters, and stories in this script and realize that I am watching what has inspired them.

Dread Pirate Roberts. Vizzini. Inigo Montoya. Count Rugen. The Grandfather. I will revisit these characters and story again in the future.

Not to do so would be inconceivable."

First of all, I have to say I quite enjoyed the first Goal! movie. However, while Goal! II improves upon the great football action portrayed in the movie, all elements of storytelling are lost.

In this installation, Santiago Munez gets his big break when Real Madrid are interested in signing him from Newcastle. His imminent decision to move to Spain causes problems which reflects the real life of a professional footballer, for example; Santiago plays in the same position as his friend, Gavin Harris, who has already settled in Real Madrid,and therefore his competitor is his own best buddy; the allures of coming with living in a posh celebrity lifestyle (there's probably about a hundred chicks included in the film, 90% of them quite hot); plus a few other points the movie brings out such as his family ties. In fact, the movie tries to focus more on the emotional and personal impacts so much they never really give any importance to winning football matches at all.

Moreover, despite the attempts at focusing on the changes to his personal life and the emotional impact he must endure, the movie never follows throughly with these subplots and we're left out in the cold. You never get to see the tension build between Gavin and Santiago and even feels like a non-issue sometimes, yet it's conveniently resolved at the end. In fact, everything gets so conveniently solved or left to forget it's often irritating. The only real issue the movie tries to explore is between Santi and his fiancée, and that is left to be resolved in Goal 3 when he goes to the World Cup with Mexico.

But despite these minuses, Goal II can probably be ranked amongst the best football films, not just because of a dire lack of them, but also because of its great football action and intelligent improvisation of real life situations. The swap-transfer of Santi is humorous, and the on-field action sequences are great. Yet the movie's strength can also lead to its downfall. While it contains a vast number of football stars, it gets irritating how none of them ever really talk, and how Beckham is somehow suddenly forced into the film as a major character without him ever needing to act or open his mouth. In fact, I got irritated at being forced to look at Beckham doing nothing so much I grew to dislike him more from this film alone than from anything else (personally, I admire his footballing skills and especially his professionalism).

Overall, it's one big high-end product-placing film with sub-par acting, bad character development, horrible screenplay, but great football action and beautiful camera work at times.

It could be a pretty good watch during the off-season, but if you're not a football fan, I highly recommend you to avoid it.