Friday, July 15, 2022

Movie: Notes From 2015 Movies

Found some of my old notes...

The Danish Girl ««

Not impressed with the how the story unfolded. I think they missed the mark by showing Einar/Lili revealing their nature by modeling their legs. It felt like there could have been a better way of leading the audience down that path. Consequently, I wasn’t able to suspend reality. Acting was pretty good, and I was happy to see Matthias Schoenaerts who’s name rarely makes it on the movie’s poster, but who always adds to a film.

Brooklyn «««

This was a please surprise. I thought it was going to be the story of a girl torn between two men, but there was much more to the depiction of an Irish girl who made her way to New Yor, finding empowerment along her way. Excellent costumes and personal styling!

The Martian «««
Was not expecting to laugh during this movie, even though it was nominated for Best Musical/Comedy by SAG. Felt like Castaway + Stark Trek.

The Revenant ««««
Iñárritu’s direction and cinematographer Emanuel Lubezki created a visually beautify film that backed up an interesting story acted out with great performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. An overall good movie with a very intense bear attack scene.

Far From the Madding Crowd «««««
Reminds me of Pride & Prejudice (2005) + Places In the Heart (1984). This year has given us several stories of women’s empowerment, and this is one of those. This one is about a woman with options, and she seems to choose the hardest option whenever faced with a decision, which isn’t necessarily bad since it makes for a good story on the screen. In my opinion, you must purposefully try to make the landscape look bad when filming in the English countryside. It is quite beautifully captured in this film and so was the on-screen chemistry between Carey Mulligan and Mattias Schoenaerts (Here he is, again!). I could watch this over and over and now have the DVD to make that happen!

Pitch Perfect 2 «««
They grew into their britches, so to speak, in this movie – Just like Flight of the Concords, Season 2. The first movie was funny: the on-screen chemistry of the ensemble felt like natural magic and resulted in some hilarious scripted and what felt like ad-lib moments. Part deux felt very produced and written.

Room ««««
Amazing acting pulled me down the rabbit hole, or in this case in the room with the actors. It was difficult and intense at times. Room isn’t just about two people locked in a room, but really about the difficulties of being in that locked room, and then what it feels like to get out and deal with the onslaught of everything, person, and emotion beyond those four walls.

Mad Max: Fury Road ««««
Sooooooo good. This amazing action movie is a conglomeration of three stories:
1. The continuation of Max’s internal battle against survivor’s guilt.
2. The escape of the harem and their endeavors to find The Green Place and freedom.
3. Everyone making their way and battling for more in this post-apocalyptic desert land.
The action sequences are fantastic and original. Hearing about the making of the movie before I saw it got me very excited. I prepped by watching the previous Mad Max movies and listened to the review on Filmweek.
I’m amazed by the badass women depicted throughout the entire Mad Max series of movies and Charlize Theron brings her A-game to add to it. Great movie soundtrack!

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