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Expats (2023)
Child disappearance told differently
The start of this 6-episode mini-series is very promising. It tells a story of American expats living in Hong-Kong, China. Not anywhere in Hong-Kong - it's the posh and luxurious suburb of Hong-Kong, which might as well be an upper class, residential area in Cunnecticut. The plot revolves around Margaret (Nicole Kidman) and Clarke (Brian Tee)'s youngest son's disappearance at a nighttime market.
The story is narrated by the girl who was with the child that night and "lost" the boy. We don't quite know what happened, we only know something terrible happened, which keeps the story engaging and pulls you in. The characters are introduced and gradually we find out the tragedy and see how it impacts not only Margaret and her family, but the close-knit expat network around them. The plot started falling apart in the 5th episode, which is not only the longest, but also the one where more characters are introduced (Charlie, Tony and Auntie) and you wonder what their role is in the story and why should the viewer care. The very last episode doesn't offer a resolution: Margaret's family moves back to the US, Margaret decides to stay in Hong-Kong, and the viewer is left hanging in the air with their questions.
Very average, C+.
Colette (2018)
A story of female empowerment
We are in the late 19th, early 20th century in France. The movie tells a story of Gabrielle (a.k.a Colette), a young country girl, who moves to Paris and then lives in the shadow of her literary entrepreneur husband, Willy. Willy's literary business deals primarily with writing books, but the only trouble is that he does zero writing: he comes up with a rough idea of a plot and then commissions the work to one of his several ghost writers to write the story of his imagination. He then takes credit as it is his name that goes on the published book.
Desperate for a new story, Willy, instructs his wife, Colette, to write. She does - and it's a huge success. The protagonist of the story is Claudine and the book is auto-bibliographical: it depicts her own feelings, emotions, opinions and memories. She writes another and another - and the Claudine-series is born.
It is a story of female empowerment, women being recognised for their talent and work, a story of freedom and authenticity. Only years later, after her divorce from Willy, she manages to get the authorship rights for the Claudine-series.
To me, the below dialogue (or rather monologue by Colette) sums up the entire story:
"You found me when I knew nothing, you moulded me into your own designs, to your desires, and you thought I could never break free. Well, you're wrong. Claudine is dead now, she's gone, you betrayed her. And I - have outgrown her".
Colette broke free and continued to write many novels and short stories.
Ordinary Angels (2024)
Heart-warming story
I was really looking froward to this movie when I saw the trailer - it didn't disappoint.
Troubled Sharon (Hillary Swank), while struggling with her own alcohol addiction, finds a new calling in her life to help a family: Ed (Alan Ritchson) is a widow with two girls, one of whom has a liver disease and not only are the medical bills up the roof, but the little girl also needs a liver transplant. Sharon is a big-mouthed, loud and cheerful woman, also pushy, and someone who doesn't take no for an answer. Her assertiveness and lack of ability to respect boundaries makes her succeed in all the activities, fundraisers and meetings she organises to help the family financially. It is also something that you kind of question, whether it was actually true: did this family just let her in their home so easily? Accept the money and let her look after the girls too, when she was a complete stranger? .
Hillary Swank and Alan Ritschon have great chemistry, the dialogues are funny, with some scenes pretty hilarious. Some parts are really hard to believe, but overall it is an enjoyable movie.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
OK - Quite funny
Super-rich helicopter parents hire Maddy (Jennifer Lawrence) to help their son, Percy to come out of his shell before going to college. "Coming out of his shell" also means dating him hard, i.e. Having sex with him, and in exchange Maddy would get an old Buick, which would help her continue Uber-ing, making money and saving her house.
The choice of actors were great, the performances ok too. There are some forced and overdone scenes, especially in the beginning when the two start dating, which is when it trues a bit silly, but overall I enjoyed watching it. There isn't anything super special about this rom-com, but if you want something light hearted and funny, give it a go.
Road House (2024)
Poorly made, but the macho look with six pack dominate
A local bar (The RoadHouse) in Key West Florida attracts a lot of unruly guests, who start fights, bring violence, break furniture and scare the other guests. Since the cops in town are not much help, the business owner recruits a washed up former UFC champion (Jake Gyllenhaal) to be the bouncer.
It is a good 1/3 into the movie, after a ton of fighting scenes, you are still left wondering what the underlying motive is for the violent behaviour in the bar and what is it that carries the story. Well, it turns out that the drama revolves around the classic uber-rich-family-wants-to-build-a-fancy-rich-resort-on-the-beach and need-the-local-business-to-get-out-of-the-way. Because the local business doesn't want to give up, they choose different methods (i.e. Intimidating through violence and aggression).
The story is extremely flat, the script and dialogue a very poor with even more poor performances. I like Jake Gyllenhaal and he was great playing a fighter in Southpaw, but there is nothing that stands out in his performance in this movie - except his six pack.
If fighting, violence and blood is your jam, you'll like this movie, but otherwise there isn't much to enjoy about it.
Memory (2023)
Good performances but very slow moving
It tells a story of Sylvia (Jessica Chastain), a social worker, who, after a high school reunion, is followed home by a stranger. This stranger, Saul (Peter Saarsgard) is really just lost because he has dementia and doesn't remember where he is or how to get home. The two then get to know each other and have an affair.
What lies beneath the love affair is trauma, mental health problems, abuse, and addiction. While I appreciated that the film was trying to portray these issues slightly differently than most films, it is extremely slow moving: half way through I almost lost interest as I struggled seeing where it was headed. Only about half way through we get to find out more about Sylvie's past, her drinking since she was in high school, addiction and sexual abuse by her father - which both Sylvie's mother denied and her sister never talked about or never provided support to Sylvie.
Jessica Chastain and Peter Saarsgard pull off good performances and they are great together.
Ok to watch once, but it doesn't make much emotional impact and is quite forgettable.
One Day (2024)
A genuine story of love and friendship
I read the book many years ago and it immediately loved it. It's one of those that will stand out. No surprise, it's also popular to among filmmakers.
Emma loves Dexter. Emma loved Dexter before they even met, as she had had a crush on him during university years. The two then become friends and go on a journey together. The story is essentially about relationships: friendship, romance, marriage, divorce, being in love and the myriad of emotions and feelings that go with it.
Ambika Mod was an excellent choice to play Emma: she is pretty, but not that classical beauty, witty, opinionated and blunt. It's exactly her bluntness and cynicism that make her socially awkward at times. Dexter, a good-looking, popular boy, while quite superficial, he also has a good grasp of character - played excellently by Leo Woodall. The two characters have great chemistry on screen.
The structure of the storytelling is brilliant: it covers around 20 years of their lives from graduation day til their late 30s and early 40s, but only telling it though one day: 15 July. While each episode is only about half hour and it shows 1 year, it is enough for the whole story to unfold slowly in front of you. This structure (or mini-series) also allows to explore the characters more and unpack their emotions.
People come into your life for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime. The story of Emma and Dexter, who met at their university graduation, is one that will capture your heart. Emma came into Dexter's life to make him a better man.
This Is Me... Now: A Love Story (2024)
Overpowering visuals and animation - lacks essence
I lost interest after like 5 minutes, as it turned out to be a dream she was telling her psychologist about and I really wasn't in the mood for something like that. Very lame beginning, and you begin to wonder what this is all going to be about. But - my curiosity led me back to it the next day, so I pushed through.
While I appreciate the creativity to tell her story in a very different way, like in a "movie", it lacks coherence. It's overloaded with visual effects, fancy stuff, animation and bad acting - all of which overpower the message she is actually trying to tell: her emotional struggles with men and relationships in general. She manages to rise above from the ashes like a Fenix, but none of that matter at the end, because by the time you just get exhausted from the million other distractions that go in this movie.
The Iron Claw (2023)
Raw and emotional, with good performances
A family story where 5 boys suffered emotionally under an authoritarian and controlling father and a religious mother - all of which is put in the context of wresting. With all sincerity, the father did what he knew best (wrestling) and so the 5 boys grow up being punched and pushed and physically extorted to the maximum as the norm. So much so that one son after the other tragically dies. We don't know too much of the oldest son as he dies at age 5, then the other three boys through illness, accident and suicide. The only one surviving at the end is Kevin (Zac Efron).
Quite frankly, I was sceptical about this movie, but I was surprised at how it depicted this tragic(?) story in such a raw way, giving the viewers also space to fill in the gaps, and not be too much "in your face". There are sciences with the sons' deaths that they are not a close-up scene. For example, when Michael takes pills and walk out on the field to die there, when they found him and the emotional nature of the scene is felt from a distance without having it zoomed in.
I found the movie lose momentum a bit and become flat halfway through, but it may have just been due to the intense wrestling scenes, which I found boring.
Ferrari (2023)
Disappointing
The plot is extremely slow moving, it picks up a bit at 3/4 and climaxes almost towards the end with the major crash that kills the driver and 9 other people, so you wonder - was this the focus of the story? And that's the point: it's hard to tell what is the story the film is trying to tell? The financial crisis Ferrari was going through, his love affair and son from his mistress, passion for racing? It goes a bit in all these direction but doesn't really dive into any of these aspects. For example, the race that end with the major crash has. Long, dragging and boring scene, where I almost wanted to give up.
Performances by Penelope Cruz and Adam Driver are totally average, it could have been anyone really playing these parts.
Another pet peeve of mine is language: why do American (Spanish) actors force an Italian accent? Since the movie is not Italian with Italian actors, they might as well speak normal English, rather than English with an Italian accent. It never makes sense to me. This just makes the film less authentic.
La sociedad de la nieve (2023)
Real gem - highly recommended
The survival of the Uruguayan rugby team for 71 days in the Andes fascinated and inspired me since I first heard about almost 20 years ago. While I thought Alive (1993) was good at the time when I watched it, it doe not come close to this masterpiece by J. A Bayona. His amazing cast of newcomer actors, not to mention Spanish speaking (Argentinian and Uruguayan) is an excellent choice. It makes it more relatable and authentic as opposed to having a celebrity who can easily "steal" the story.
The story has a spiritual element/layer as it is narrated by Numa (one of the boys who dies 10 days before the rescue). His voice reflects their struggles, their reflections, their thoughts and feelings and the meaning of it all. You are pulled into the story right from the get go and experience what they were experiencing. The fantastic music amplifies and perfectly matches and reflects the feelings and emotions. Amazing cinematography, shot at real location.
If you want to watch a true story of the strength of human nature, love, loss, friendship, willpower and motivation, adversity and overcoming the impossible - I highly recommend this movie.
Succession (2018)
Overrated show - flat storyline with unrelatable characters
I began watching this show after seeing the popularity and ratings, so I thought I'd check it out. The first 2 episodes of S1 didn't engage me, but I thought it might pick up, so I watched 5 more. Well, I could not for the love of God understand what people love about this show - I find it totally overrated. It is a flat story: characters I couldn't relate to whatsoever living a life that maybe 1% of population live. For example, the cousin, Greg - while I understand that his role was to be annoying and really awkward, but his character really drove me crazy with his silly behaviour and speech, or maybe it was bad acting...It was also ridiculous that he just showed up at the old man's birthday party and then a bit later was trusted to do some dodgy task in the office.
While there are some issues and problems it portrays that all human beings experience: drama at family gatherings or proving yourself to your father and yearning his approval and acknowledgement, but these don't get the highlight among all the other superficial stuff that the rich in this show deal with.
I do not recommend it.