Sundance film #3
I was looking forward to this the most out of what I’d picked out, but I ended up disappointed
For starters, there was some rancid smell that whole time. I couldn’t tell if it was a person who hasn’t showered in 3 days or someone had opened tupperware with week old Italian food. Nasty either way
The film opens with genuinely one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. The singer was off-beat and just sounded like doodoo. If you’re gonna pay money for a song in a movie, choose a good one. At least it did have significance though
The performances were ok. I expected more considering it’s John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, and Steve Buscemi, but they didn’t have enough to do to warrant a great performance. Tatiana Maslaney was the only actor who really did something, but that something was still not enough
The movie, for a while, is very much “young people suck, I miss the glory days”, but then it kinda becomes that plus “haha old boomer” and both of those are annoying tropes
The dialogue’s alright, the cinematography is good, the directing is decent, but nothing very special
Now, here’s where we get into the real issues. There’s like no background to any character and certainly no development. It plays it off as if there’s both for the main character but he stays the same. The only thing that could make an argument is that he gives two people things they wanted, but 1. he was generous to those he liked the whole time and 2. they were barely set up
There’s a whole scene I can’t spoil which attempts to give background to Harry, but it just does not work. There’s no set-up to it aside from one random line
And what’s worse is that the movie tries to put you on the side of the main character and shows the antagonist to be an asshole. What sets up the plot is Harry (main character) stealing from this asshole, who then holds him accountable and makes sure he gets his stuff back. I’m all for movies about bad people. I eat that shit up, but there’s nothing in here that can convince me that the kid is in the wrong here. He is 110% in the right but everyone in the film and the film itself try to push that he’s a dick
I also found this to be far too simple of a movie for what it makes itself out to be. There’s basically nothing to this. No set-up, no background, no character, no development, barely a plot. It’s quite the nothing burger
It’s been a while since I’ve been genuinely critical of a film (whether enjoying it or not), so I’m glad this one gave me the opportunity to really critique it
I can’t see this really going anywhere after release. It’ll likely fly under the radar then when you look at these actors’ filmographies, you’re like “wait I didn’t know this came out”
Bonus: John Turturro has an ugly ass outfit and Jamie Lee Curtis has on one of the worst wigs in the history of film. It’s very noticeable
Sundance film #3
I was looking forward to this the most out of what I’d picked out, but I ended up disappointed
For starters, there was some rancid smell that whole time. I couldn’t tell if it was a person who hasn’t showered in 3 days or someone had opened tupperware with week old Italian food. Nasty either way
The film opens with genuinely one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. The singer was off-beat and just sounded like doodoo. If you’re gonna pay money for a song in a movie, choose a good one. At least it did have significance though
The performances were ok. I expected more considering it’s John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, and Steve Buscemi, but they didn’t have enough to do to warrant a great performance. Tatiana Maslaney was the only actor who really did something, but that something was still not enough
The movie, for a while, is very much “young people suck, I miss the glory days”, but then it kinda becomes that plus “haha old boomer” and both of those are annoying tropes
The dialogue’s alright, the cinematography is good, the directing is decent, but nothing very special
Now, here’s where we get into the real issues. There’s like no background to any character and certainly no development. It plays it off as if there’s both for the main character but he stays the same. The only thing that could make an argument is that he gives two people things they wanted, but 1. he was generous to those he liked the whole time and 2. they were barely set up
There’s a whole scene I can’t spoil which attempts to give background to Harry, but it just does not work. There’s no set-up to it aside from one random line
And what’s worse is that the movie tries to put you on the side of the main character and shows the antagonist to be an asshole. What sets up the plot is Harry (main character) stealing from this asshole, who then holds him accountable and makes sure he gets his stuff back. I’m all for movies about bad people. I eat that shit up, but there’s nothing in here that can convince me that the kid is in the wrong here. He is 110% in the right but everyone in the film and the film itself try to push that he’s a dick
I also found this to be far too simple of a movie for what it makes itself out to be. There’s basically nothing to this. No set-up, no background, no character, no development, barely a plot. It’s quite the nothing burger
It’s been a while since I’ve been genuinely critical of a film (whether enjoying it or not), so I’m glad this one gave me the opportunity to really critique it
I can’t see this really going anywhere after release. It’ll likely fly under the radar then when you look at these actors’ filmographies, you’re like “wait I didn’t know this came out”
Bonus: John Turturro has an ugly ass outfit and Jamie Lee Curtis has on one of the worst wigs in the history of film. It’s very noticeable
