Assorted Movie Reviews
(Published: 2020/07/08)
Wow, that title makes it sound like the movies are candy. I was going to say liquorice all-sorts but the amount of people who don’t like liquorice is actually astounding. I love liquorice, especially black cats. They used to be a bit hard to come by but now they’re at my local grocery store and I am so happy. Anyway, I’m getting off-track. This week is my first of two weeks of holidays and I’ve been watching quite a few movies, so I thought I’d do a quick review for each of the movies I’ve seen so far. I’ll try to keep adding to the list, too. These reviews will probably be a tad pointless because there are so many reviews on these movies already, but if you’re looking for good movies to watch, maybe this will give you some suggestions!
(Ps. Most of these movies are on Netflix)
Marie Antoinette
I watched Marie Antoinette last…Wednesday (yikes, I’m only 15…my memory is a little worrying sometimes). Marie Antoinette is, yes, about Marie Antoinette and is directed by Sofia Coppola. Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides) is one of my favourite screenwriters and directors and I thought it might be a good idea for me to watch some of her other movies. While it wasn’t as good as Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette was an enjoyable movie. It was a little slow and I don’t think Marie Antoinette said a single word for the first half hour of the movie, but the film made me empathise with Marie Antoinette. I really have such a lacking historical knowledge of the French Revolution so I don’t know how accurate the portrayal of her personality was, but I thought it really showed that she was just a girl like any other, with the struggles of becoming an adult (especially with the added pressures of pleasing the soon-to-be king of France). I’d say that half the reason the movie was as good as it was was that Kirsten Dunst is really a brilliant actor. I love her performance in all her movies. The scenery of Versaille was also so beautiful and I would love to visit Versaille someday.
All in all, I’d give Marie Antoinette a solid 7/10.
John Wick: Chapter 1, 2 & 3
I love, love*, love* the John Wick series, which is why I watched it for the second time last week. I love the concept of this whole other world of assassins and they are such visually striking films. Plus, it is just such a good premise that everything starts from someone killing John Wick’s dog. Keanu Reeves plays John Wick perfectly, the action is so blunt, and it is so exciting! I love being in the John Wick universe for a little while. If you enjoy action movies and haven’t seen John Wick, you need to. The John Wick movies are probably the ultimate action movies for me.
Absolutely 10/10.
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Heartburn
This one fell a little flat. I didn’t really enjoy Heartburn, a romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson*.* I am usually a fan of Nora Ephron movies (who directed Heartburn), particularly When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail, but this film never seemed to reach the level of satisfaction you’re supposed to feel at the end of a movie. I think the worst thing about the movie was Jack Nicholson seeming to constantly be CHEWING. It wouldn’t have been so bad if there weren’t sound effects to go with it. Very gross. Anyway, that aside, it was the fact that the storyline seemed to drag on that spoiled it for me, I think. The message was one worth sharing, but the story wasn’t quite up to scratch.
4/10.
High Fidelity
High Fidelity is basically a film where this guy narrates his moody thoughts about his life and past relationships. I found the dark humour quite funny and the movie was very enjoyable on the whole. While I wouldn’t say its a favourite movie of mine, I thought it was good and I always like watching John Cusack movies. I also found it quite entertaining that John Cusack’s character literally stands in the rain moodily at least three times. It’s an entertaining throwback movie (can I even say ‘throwback’ movie if I didn’t live in that time..) and being a music-lover, I enjoyed the references. (I partly watched it a couple of years ago and I didn’t get the references then, so I feel kind of accomplished that I now do haha).
8.5/10.
https://images.memes.com/meme/421298
The Wedding Singer
This was a very fun movie and if High Fidelity was a throwback movie, this is a throwback movie x 10. I usually don’t like Adam Sandler in movies but I thought he was very good in this one. Drew Barrymore was also really good. I don’t have much to say about it other than if you feel like an upbeat, generally entertaining movie, you should definitely consider it.
9/10.
Plus One
It could be worse, could be better. I don’t know if I was too young for this rom-com, but I didn’t really enjoy it very much. I have seen a lot worse, I guess. I really enjoyed Maya Erskine’s performance and I think it was the best bit about the movie and probably the major reason some of the romantic scenes were actually pretty cute. Plus One received 89% rotten tomatoes on the basis of not being a cliche movie, but I don’t think I agree that it wasn’t cliche. Anyway, you should probably check this one out for yourself.
6/10.
Where Hands Touch
Oh my gosh, I cried. I read some reviews where they said they didn’t feel anything but I cried so much! I literally looked like a tomato by the end of this movie. Where Hands Touch is set in WWII and is about a girl who is half African and half German. She is treated terribly by the German authorities and somehow meets and falls in love with a German soldier. I thought it was quite a good movie and I need to remind myself never to watch sad war (or dog) movies because I am such a sucker for sad movies. I was surprised to see it had such a low rotten tomatoes score. I know the film had its flaws and I do agree with the some of the reaction to the movie, but there were a couple of things I did at least partially disagree with. Firstly, I don’t believe it romanticised or glorified Nazis or Nazi labour camps. In fact, I thought it did the opposite. I thought the camps and the treatment of the people in the camps was portrayed as being absolutely horrible. There were also comments of it being inappropriate to have a love story at the centre of the film but I feel that made the film more appealing to younger audiences and helped to raise awareness of this lesser known discrimination, which was the point of making the film to begin with. It certainly isn’t one of my favourite movies, or even an extremely memorable one, but I did enjoy it while I was watching it. I would recommend it if you’re in the mood for that type of movie, although I know that there are many better movies of its kind.
6/10.
Constantine
I actually really enjoyed Constantine! I don’t think it’s a good, good movie, if you know what I mean, but it was very enjoyable. Again, Keanu Reeves was very good in his part and it was certainly an exciting movie. It’s not the type of movie that is going to win any awards, but sometimes you don’t want that sort of movie (and it has the best scene in it with this song called ‘Passive’ by A Perfect Circle). Google says its a horror movie but I’m a scaredy-cat and I didn’t think it was very scary. It was more of an action movie than a horror movie, I think. So if you like movies like Underworld or you want a supernatural movie that isn’t quite horror, this is the movie for you.
7.5/10.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt 2
Well, I only watched this because I was so desperate for a movie and was in the mood for an action movie. The last time I watched this I was too young to watch the big action scene at the end, but now I watch it, it’s disappointingly un-exciting. Groan. I was only watching it for that scene! Everything else was a little laughable and quite …Twilight. As you may have gathered, I’m not a Twilightsupporter. All I support is the Muse music..
5.5/10 ..it’s entertaining to a point but really not a good movie.
The Witches of Eastwick
This movie was hilarious and quirky and I really enjoyed it. The casting was perfect and I highly recommend it to anyone who would like a quirky comedy with a hint of horror (I mean, I know I couldn’t watch that cherry-vomit. So gross).
9.5/10.
Resident Evil
Cweeeeepy. So creepy. It’s been a while since I’ve been creeped out by a movie. My opinion of horror movies is that they are really quite pointless so I don’t watch classic horror movies. However, I do watch action horror movies and this was the scariest zombie movie I’ve seen in a while (World War Z pales in comparison!). It’s not a movie that is going to win an Oscar but it certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat. I do recommend this, although I don’t recommend you watch it late at night!
7/10. (9/10 enjoyment rating though)
Notting Hill
This must be my third or fourth time watching this movie. Of course, any movie with Hugh Grant in it is likely to be very good, and this one never disappoints. It’s a classic, watch it.
9/10.
Sabrina (1995)
This is a very nostalgic movie for me because I watched it a lot when I was younger. It was a bit of a disappointment watching it now. I still enjoyed it but it confuses me how a movie like John Wick seems to pack so much into its two hours, yet Sabrina can’t make its love story seem plausible. Honestly, we are given only about two conversations and an overnight personality change to make us believe this love story works. I think I need to rewatch the original and see if it does any better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a somewhat sweet movie, but it doesn’t quite hit the spot.
6/10.
Underworld
I’ve already mentioned this movie! Admittedly, I haven’t seen very many vampire movies, but it is the best of those I’ve seen. If you’re in the mood for an action flick with the coolest female vampire costume I’ve seen (and coolest everything, really), Underworld is the perfect movie for you.
8/10.
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About Time
Ahhh. I loved this movie. I don’t really understand why it received such a low rotten tomatoes score, but I don’t care. I like the movie too much. I cared more about the second half than the first. The first half was funny but I felt that I enjoyed the Bill Nighy and life’s message part more than the love story. It was such a happy movie and I am glad to have watched it.
9.5/10
Destination Wedding
Oh, help me. Do not watch this movie. It was soooo terrible! I thought it looked like it would be a moderately rubbishy movie but maybe Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder would save it, but it was just…a train wreck. The two main characters were the only people who spoke during the whole movie and they spoke the. whole. time. The screenplay was terrible as far as I’m concerned and it was actually painful to watch. I couldn’t see any romantic connection whatsoever. I’m so sorry for completely burning the movie but it kind of deserved it. It was filmed in only 9 days though… (and you can tell. Oops I tried to redeem it a bit there)
2/10.
On the Basis of Sex
I am usually a fan of biographical movies and this one did not disappoint. Felicity’s character’s final speech was quite moving and I thought the film sent a really good message about gender equality. I was also very pleased to have both Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer in one movie! On the Basis of Sex might not make it into my list of favourite biographical movies but it is certainly not far off.
8.5/10
And a brief note on some tv shows I tried out..
I can’t really have an opinion on this because I only watched half an episode, but Riverdale is just terrible! I have been hearing about it for over a year now and couldn’t even be bothered trying it after seeing some snippets here and there – until earlier this week. Maybe I need to keep watching, but the cliches were already piling up in the first half hour! Veronica is sooo annoying, I really don’t like Archie and I’m hoping I’m not meant to like him, and Bettie is such a cliche that I can’t even feel sympathy for her. It all felt a bit soapy to me. I feel like I need to skip about three episodes in when the murder story starts because I can’t take the high school drama.
I also tried a black comedy show called Black Books which was a little funny though not as funny as I expected. I think I’ll give that show a bit more time to warm up though.
I watched the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery a couple of nights ago which I found to be a little mechanical at the very beginning but I warmed up to it a bit more at the end (probably just because I’m a science-fiction-head). Klingons are so annoying! I have no patience for their slow-talking. I hope I do end up liking this show because I am really desperate for a good tv show.
I also watched The Innocents which didn’t hold my attention for more than an episode, although I’m sure other people my age might enjoy it. I didn’t get more than ten minutes into Between. Oh, so painful.
Last of all, I watched the first episode of The Umbrella Academy which was surprisingly quirky and fun. I have yet to continue watching that but I will give the second episode a shot. Please, if you have a suggestion that isn’t Riverdale, The 100, Pretty Little Liars, or 13 Reasons Why, I’d love to hear about it!
(Scrolls up and realises how many tv shows and movies I’ve watched in the past week and a half… I can’t tell if this is an unhealthy amount)
I hope you’re all well!
Credit to: EJ Hassenfratz for the featured image. It’s so fun!