The Official Review Thread of 2018

Franz Ferdinand
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Franz Ferdinand »

Going back to the Simon thoughts, this quote is from a longer piece on Queer Cinema.
Beyond discourse, the question of what makes a film queer has become subsumed by aesthetics and narratives that display a straight gaze. The most egregious example is one of the most recent: Love, Simon, a gay bildungsroman whose political and moral center is that its protagonist Simon is Not That Kind of Gay. Simon is a blandly handsome high-school teenager (Nick Robinson) who spends much of the film assuring the (hetero) audience that he’s just like them. “For the most part, my life is totally normal,” he says in the expository voice-over. He lives in a big two-story house; his parents are played by L.L.Bean catalogue models Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel; he gets a car with a big red ribbon on it for his birthday like a holiday car commercial. “I’m just like you except I have one huge-ass secret,” he says. “Nobody knows I’m gay.”

So what kind of gay is he not? Well, he’s certainly not like the only out gay student at his school named Ethan, a black femme student (Clark Moore) who delivers many of the movie’s only jokes. In a scene where a couple of jocks are bullying Ethan, Simon remarks, “I wish Ethan wouldn’t make it so easy for them.” When Ethan and Simon finally talk in the end, rather than have Ethan push back against just how good Simon has it, the film whiffs and has Ethan act as a sympathetic shoulder to lean on. Ethan remains a patsy, offering reassurance rather than resistance to the implicit assumption that Simon is “relatable” precisely because he’s white, masculine, and upper-middle class. The gravest injustice in Love, Simon is that a gay white boy couldn’t have grown up like a straight white boy.

It’s easy to castigate Love, Simon, but it’s the middlebrow iteration of a widespread sensibility that trades in sentimentality as a way to render LGBT people sympathetic
The entire article is worth a read.

http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/queer-ci ... to-it.html
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by anonymous1980 »

TULLY
Cast: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Mark Duplass, Asher Miles Fallica, Elaine Tan.
Dir: Jason Reitman.

A stressed mother of two, pregnant with her third unplanned child, hires a night nanny to help her take care of the baby. The third collaboration of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody is somewhat of a return to form for both after tepid receptions of their previous independent of each other outings. We've had a lot of films about parenthood made but his one manages to offer a fresh perspective that's quite eye-opening and thought-provoking. There's actually a third act twist which may lose some viewers but personally I thought it was quite effective. Charlize Theron gives one of her career-best performances in this one with nice supporting turns from both Mackenzie Davis and Ron Livingston.

Oscar Prospects: Theron deserves a Best Actress. I don't know if she'll get it though. Maybe a Golden Globe nom?

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by danfrank »

BJ's thoughts about Love, Simon are almost identical to my own. I'll just add that I found myself wishing that there were films like this when I was a gay teen, though even then my tastes were quite a bit more sophisticated than this. I also found the lead actor, Nick Robinson, quite likeable. The film is likeable enough for what it is, though there was one particularly groan-inducing scene (the ferris wheel scene, for those who have seen it) at the end. As long as they're making these types of films for the masses, I'm glad they made this one.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by The Original BJ »

The tricky thing about Love, Simon is that the very thing that makes it groundbreaking is also the exact same thing that limits it. Which is to say, it's a mainstream mall movie through and through, so the fact that a film geared to this audience (and released wide) features a gay teen protagonist makes it something of a trailblazer. And yet, in order to be a mainstream mall movie, it has to adopt a pretty vanilla teen rom com aesthetic, which makes it simultaneously feel rather generic as a creative work. All of that said, its heart is clearly in the right place, and it's got some enjoyable laughs along the way. Plus, it has an admirably diverse collection of characters, both in terms of LGBT and racial diversity -- I've heard the film characterized as "too whitebread," which strikes me as a strange complaint, given how many major characters of color fill out the movie. There's nothing here that's earth-shaking artistically, but strictly on multiplex movie terms, I found it a watchable enough two hours.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

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I really found Love, Simon so pre-calculated, middle class, safe and ultimately tepid. And at 110 minutes its way too long to sustain the flimsy material. My only interest in seeing the film was the hype surrounding the first 'major studio' gay themed teen film aimed as the masses as opposed to the 'gay ghetto market'. It's impossible to dismiss the acclaim for the film given that many film critics are much younger than I am and I can appreciate that they are coming from a totally different perspective that is not clouded by decades of far more challenging queer cinema, not only from the U.S., but on an international level as well.

U.S. queer cinema has really gone downhill this century some of which has to do with the fact that barriers already broken down during the 1980's in particular and that the nature of cinema has changed. So little gay cinema, unless by a major director, is shunted straight to DVD and/or streaming. Unfortunately, that's were most of it belongs.

I haven't seen Blockers, though I understand that it has gotten some excellent reviews but I'm trying to cut out new films that simply don't appeal to me unless there is some reason the convinces me otherwise (e.g. Love, Simon). And on top of that I can't stand Leslie Mann. She is the Lorraine Gray of the 21st century and she only appears to even have an acting career because she is married to Judd Apatow. Nepotism has always existed in the 'arts' and has produced some great talent over the years but goodness Mann must rank as the worst to ever emerge. I'm sure someone will prove me wrong with even worst examples. Disclosure: I did actually like Mann in The Other Woman.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Sabin »

Franz Ferdinand wrote
Re: Blockers and Love, Simon. One of them is an openly gay-themed movie marketed as such, while the other initially appears to be a gross-out comedy but features an un-marketed and affecting gay sub-plot handled, I thought, quite gracefully. One of the bigger surprises of the year so far.
I've been interested in watching both. Could you speak more to them.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Franz Ferdinand »

Re: Blockers and Love, Simon. One of them is an openly gay-themed movie marketed as such, while the other initially appears to be a gross-out comedy but features an un-marketed and affecting gay sub-plot handled, I thought, quite gracefully. One of the bigger surprises of the year so far.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by taki15 »

JFC, what's up with all this hostility towards Infinity War? If someone didn't know he'd believe you are talking about Transformers Part 65743.
The movie is very good for what it is and unlike some other Marvel movies who have been ridiculously and unfairly lionized ("Thor: Ragnarok", "Black Panther") this one deserves all the praise it gets.
Also, allow me not to take seriously the opinion of anyone who openly declares his disdain for comic book movies in general, the same way I wouldn't take seriously any diet tips from a morbidly obese guy.
Precious Doll wrote:
Sabin wrote:It's television. That's basically it. If you like the show, you're entertained. But don't call it a film.
There was an article in The Guardian today that basically said that. Essentially these super-hero 'films' are just on-going episodes of a superhero TV saga.
You know, the U in the MCU stands for Universe. It wasn't exactly a secret.
Reza wrote:
Mister Tee wrote:
Precious Doll wrote: Only hope it doesn't score a technical Oscar nomination next year....
Bank on it getting a visual effects nomination, and all of us holdouts grudgingly watching it sometime next winter.
I think all of you holdouts will be rewarded early next year. The effects are pretty cheesy.
Another ridiculous statement based on nothing but personal feelings. With the exception of a small scene at the end the visual effects were excellent.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX
Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Bruhl, David Oyelowo, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris O'Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, John Ortiz, Aksel Hennie, Roger Davies.
Dir: Julius Onah.

Yes, I know. I'm late to the party. Finally caught up with this on Netflix (I paid for it, so why the hell not?) There's a major energy crisis on Earth and a group of scientists are sent up into space because apparently wind and solar power does not exist in this world despite the fact that they figured how to do artificial gravity that can withstand a lot of damage. And somehow in their quest, it opens up a rift in the time-space continuum causing clashing of alternate realities. Yes, it doesn't make a nick of sense and it's a mess. Worse yet, it wastes a fine ensemble of actors who are way, way, way better than this. It does manage to be somewhat entertaining for how awful and unbelievable it is.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: D+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by anonymous1980 »

BLOCKERS
Cast: Leslie Mann, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, Geraldine Viswanathan, June Diane Raphael, Gary Cole, Hannibal Burress, Gina Gershon, Graham Phillips, Miles Robbins, Jimmy Bellinger, Colton Dunn.
Dir: Kay Cannon.

When three parents find out their daughters have a pact to lose their virginities on prom night, they go out and try to stop it. When I first saw the trailer, I thought, "Eww, do we really need that movie?" but then the reviews came out and it's not what one fears at all. It kind of takes the teens-going-out-to-get-laid comedy sub-genre but from largely the point of view of the worried parents. The result is quite funny and an often refreshing take on the genre. One scene in particular is hilarious (you'll know it when you see it). The film also largely avoids potential missteps in its handling of its themes and it's also surprisingly sweet. The entire cast is great. It's no masterpiece but it's a pretty solid comedy for its genre.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Precious Doll »

Sabin wrote:It's television. That's basically it. If you like the show, you're entertained. But don't call it a film.
There was an article in The Guardian today that basically said that. Essentially these super-hero 'films' are just on-going episodes of a superhero TV saga.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Sabin »

It's television. That's basically it. If you like the show, you're entertained. But don't call it a film.
"How's the despair?"
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Reza »

Mister Tee wrote:
Precious Doll wrote: Only hope it doesn't score a technical Oscar nomination next year....
Bank on it getting a visual effects nomination, and all of us holdouts grudgingly watching it sometime next winter.
I think all of you holdouts will be rewarded early next year. The effects are pretty cheesy.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by anonymous1980 »

LOVE, SIMON
Cast: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Alexandra Shipp, Logan Miller, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Tony Hale, Keiynan Lonsdale, Talitha Bateman, Natasha Rothwell, Miles Heizer, Joey Pollari.
Dir: Greg Berlanti.

Simon is just your typical average middle-class 17 year old high school student...except for the fact that he is gay. In many ways, this film is far from groundbreaking. We have seen mainstream Hollywood films do teen coming-of-age high school dramedies before. We've seen lots of independent films and foreign films deal with LGBT coming out stories before. We've never seen the two cross, however. A teen coming-of-age high school dramedy about a gay teen coming out released by a major studio is something that surprisingly has never happened. For that alone, I applaud this film. And it also happens to be really, really good. It's like if John Hughes made a gay teen movie...and it was, you know, actually GOOD (yeah, I said it and I will say it again). It's sweet and from the heart. Yes, it may seem slight and mundane to some but it's a start. Highly recommended, no matter what your sexuality may be.

Oscar Prospects: Eh, maybe Adapted Screenplay if the category is empty like this year.

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2018

Post by Mister Tee »

Precious Doll wrote: Only hope it doesn't score a technical Oscar nomination next year....
Bank on it getting a visual effects nomination, and all of us holdouts grudgingly watching it sometime next winter.
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