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lauravanderzee
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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Beautiful visuals and a cringe of a story
What's up with the obession with war? Why the constant undercurrent of threats when you have a whole planet to explore? Why not focus on the Pandora tribes and THEIR lives instead of flying in the angry-people-military? This happens on earth. Keep it away from the rest of the cosmos ;)
But I'm serious. Why was this - obviously - gifted team of creators and their beautiful dream of a planet wasted on an outdated story like this? (And I know war is still a relevant topic but perhaps that's because we can't stop dreaming it into existence).
We went to see Avatar 2 in a beautiful movie theater and looked forward to it. Never watched the trailer to be honest. And we couldn't make it through the whole thing. Us and several other people left after 1,5 hours.
Just a couple of minutes into Avatar: The Way of Water it becomes clear that it's the same old story set in an otherworldly Bali experience.
Avatar 2 brings us one cliche after another. The dialogues and the storyline are cringe. The facial expressions - except for that of Neytiri - are unattractive to me and the voice of Kiri sounds way too old for her age. I guess I'm not the target audience.
So, after this vinegar pissing - as we say in The Netherlands - I can only agree that the visuals are stunning, they really are. It's absolutely breathtaking to watch the explorations of the ocean side and I wished that the makes would have focused on their beautiful vision a bit more.
Perhaps it's time to tell different stories. And although our world leaders would disagree (obviously) I'm done with war.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Much better than I anticipated
These 10 stars are for the first 3 episodes. I really don't know if the rest is going to be as good as I hope/wish/need it to be ;)
From the previews I personally got the idea that the entire show would be visibly covered in layers of make-up, fairy dust and sparkly digital Rivendoll vibes, but I was surprised to see that - though still a bit over the top for me - it works. I'm falling in love with it. The cast is outstanding. The story works.
Also, it's really different from shows like GOT. It simply has that specific magical touch (at least up until now!) that sets it apart from the others. Well done.
I am expecting it will be wars and battles from some point on but for now I'm blissfully enchanted by the novelty of exploration. The viewer gets to see a lot of Middle Earth and its inhabitants and there are definitely some interesting figures and stories.
The Wilding (2016)
Well... finish it.
What I loved about The Wilding is its eerie atmosphere. I'd say it's one of the few actually haunting ghost movies.
In my opinion paranormal horrors and thrillers are often not mysterious enough and too predictable. I blame the music for that. It tells you exactly when to position your arm in order to block the view of the screen, while you can pretend you're still watching.
During this unfinished production however, I was TOO LATE with my arm.
Most paranormal experiences of the characters are woven into their lives and into the movie in a very believable way. They creep up on you almost slowly and then hit before you know it.
The Wilding builds up, never too much.
But then it just ends.
For a moment my partner and I thought (hoped) we had missed a gigantic revelation or a puzzle we somehow didn't notice.
I said "oh! Of course! The girl is his daughter but his daughter died when she was 6 so the girl is dead!" That sort of thing.
So.
When you go into this thinking it's a movie, like we did, it's not.
It's supposed to be a series (I understood) and honestly, the story is promising. I'd watch more!
The Green Knight (2021)
Absolutely stunning
Such an epic tale.
Visually stunning.
Beautifully told.
I'm in love with every part.
The giants.
The king.
The vox.
The whole thing.
Must be my imagination.
Must be the moon.