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gregnovik
Reviews
Good Girls: Egg Roll (2020)
Writer has lost the thread.
Pretty disappointed with this episode. While the actors all seem to be doing their best, the plot has stagnated. I'm guessing the writer didn't read the previous episodes plot synopses and muddled through. Didn't laugh more than a couple of times. Annie's new crush is giving me the creeps. Wondered where some of the characters disappeared to. Wasn't even particularly chilled by the threat of Beth's imminent death, mainly because we've seen this so many times before. And why is Beth surprised when Rio shows up? Previously we saw her thinking of that possibility. The multiple pregnancy tests scene was juvenile and tossing them into the bathroom bucket for her idiot husband to discover was pretty pathetic. I thought she was supposed to be smart, and I hope she gets a chance to be clever in future. Fingers crossed.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Drivel
I doubt that the writers of this film ever bothered to read Upton Sinclair's book. Who's got time to read in Hollywood? If they had they would have seen a social commentary, a chronicle of the times, some incredible Americana but what we get here is drivel. This film seems to have been scrubbed of all reference to greed, the struggle of working people to unionize in America, the complicity of law enforcement with the rich. What an incredibly disappointing film. So much effort and talent, time and money wasted. The team that made this movie had an opportunity to do much much more.
"Oil!" is full of amazing scenes and characters and while it drifts like the film, at least it has something to say about life. 2008. What a perfect time to learn about oil. As we fill our gas tanks we might be thinking about how hard it was to develop this resource; to find it, release it, and tame it for our benefit. But that would be an industrial film. Of course that is also history, a theme Hollywood has a reputation for playing fast and loose with. Too bad we couldn't have gotten a story about a man with ambition who succeeds. What's wrong with that? Contrasted by his son who observes life and doesn't do much with those observations or his money (except enjoy himself). There are women characters in the book too (not like the film). The book has nudity, and lots of sex (not like the film). The book has some violence but probably not enough for audiences today, so I suppose that didn't sit well with the "suits" at the studio. Can't sell a film these days without killing of some sort can we? So let's get some fights going, and homicide might be helpful. This whole bum-numbing 2 hour mess was probably edited by teams who worked at different paces. But that's no excuse for such inconsistency. We get panoramic shots that never want to end and are boring as hell. It's like the team who shot the B-roll got to edit it!! We get Lewis erupting with no real motivation. What's he so worked up about? He doesn't seem to have any competition, at least not that I can see in this film.
The book has elements of real people like J. Paul Getty, Howard Hughes, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Billy Graham. These are people who helped define America (with the exception of Davies). But I guess these figures have been largely forgotten or removed from the record by some sort revisionist new-think ministry that is subtly altering America these days. I can't see any future life for this movie.
Ken Park (2002)
Stunning Realism
This is a film about relationships. My congratulations to the people responsible for making this film because I've never seen anything remotely like it. Not even "Kids". Shocking, gripping, honest, mature, in-your-face. "Ken Park" is the first film made that takes us into the world of American families to show us what really goes on. Life is not all sweet and charming even though we might wish it to be. Movies don't have to be sappy and happy. There don't have to be car chases and killings, cops and good-guys and bad-guys. To those viewers raised on soap operas and "Friends", turn away because you won't find this film funny.
A shocker for sure...banned in most countries tells you a lot about it. When I see that it makes me WANT to see it. The sex is totally credible. You don't have actors grabbing for sheets or towels to cover up their bodies--hey just like real life!! The scenes are tense, the technical side perfect. You are going to be exposed to some troubled people and they're not only kids. Adults are having a hell of a time getting through life too. Some want a lot more than the 2 point 3 kids and a white picket-fence house in the 'burbs. They long for illicit sex. But look for more, you'll find it in this film. These are characters disturbed by life and not able to function, exactly like your friends and co-workers and neighbors. Lots of people stumble through life and don't have a clue how to behave, how to be loving or tender. Relationships with some people are constant conflicts which they don't even understand themselves. This film shows us some. The sad part is most people don't even realize how screwed up their lives are.
I'm not going to review the plot. You just have to see it yourself and form your own views. Because films have to be seen---that's the art form. I'd also like to congratulate and thank everyone involved in this production for having the courage to give us something worthwhile. In the 1930's there was a film movement called surrealism which was designed to shock people. It did, but today we don't get much shock value out of those old films. "Ken Park" isn't surreal, but it really does shock...maybe it's "hyper-realism". So real you feel totally nervous, never knowing what you are going to see next. All the green-screen and digital video effects dished out by Hollywood can't compare to the plain, good, unselfconscious acting and direction. Every character gets my "Oscar" and the direction and camera-work are so incredible they defy description. Whoever wrote the script knows how to write. Kids aren't as verbal as a lot of movies make them out to be. That lack of dialogue is what always distinguishes a great film for me. I'm not a big fan of voice- over to make plot points, but this film is so outstanding in so many ways the short bits of narration do not diminish it. Great work all around but if you grew up on "Disney" forget it.