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Reviews
Batman (1989)
Good early attempt on a comic book film.
Since I grew up with Nolan's Batman trilogy, I'm trying not to compare Batman with The Dark Knight by focusing on this film alone as my reference point for the rating I gave, though because of this there might be some bias in my opinion.
It was an enjoyable watch but not necessarily good quality filmmaking. If I happened to come across it on TV I wouldn't switch it off, put it like that.
Ironically, for a film called Batman we didn't get much of Batman at all. Michael Keaton was a good choice for Batman in terms of overall vibes he gave, but the writing didn't leave me with an impression of his personality or why the cops were after him. Loved Michael Gough as Alfred, it's such a lovely and warm character. Wish we had more moments between Alfred and Bruce, as those moments usually illustrate what Bruce is really like.
I liked Vicki, but I feel as if I know her better than Batman himself. They did make her scream a lot which started to get annoying after a while, but I liked her personality.
But let's get to the real deal. Any movie with Batman and Joker is really about Joker since it's such a fascinating character, so this character has to be spot on. I liked Jack Nicholson as Joker and I think he played a good villain but I feel like the writing let him down. It was just good enough, though. The absurdity of his creative crimes were funny to think about, and the "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" was a good one. Other than that, I didn't find him laugh-out-loud funny or frightening. But he entertains himself well with his own jokes, good for him.
What I found gross was his interest in Vicki. It was such unnecessary writing. Especially the scene where he smells her shoe before throwing it down. Ew. And the scene where Vicki tries to distract him by kissing his coat - was that really all they could think of? I also felt like he lacked motive for his crimes, it felt like he just wanted to keep himself occupied. Overall, I'd say I liked Nicholson as Joker, I just didn't like the script. But he did a good job with what he had.
As I was born in the late '90s I'm not sure what to say about the special effects since I'm not familiar with a lot of movies within this genre from that time. Obviously, action scenes and Batmobiles weren't as good as they would be now, but it wasn't that distracting to me. What I can say is that it felt staged; the city and all the places didn't feel real. Although I prefer real-feeling films, it had an interesting vibe as it felt like you were in the comic books.
All in all, good actors - not that good writing - okay special effects.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
10 Things I Hate About You is unlike most teenage romcoms.
Finally decided to watch 10 Things I Hate About You after seeing shorts here and there on social media. I'm usually not a huge fan of romcoms but a friend of mine told me I would probably like this one.
Well, I can tell you this one's on my comfort film-list! As an adult I actually really liked this slightly more teenage oriented film. I think that's mainly because the main component was comedy and the drama was brought in a more light way while still having just enough to feel compassion for the characters. It covers relatable topics during high school and is fun, heartbreaking and heartwarming to watch all the way through. Usually with (teenage) romcoms the drama is overdone, storylines are way too farfetched or characters are too exaggerated and although we are seeing stereotypes and are dealing with the standard teenage experiences, the filmmakers did a great job at finding the perfect sweet spot.
Based on the stereotypes of the characters the casting was spot on too. And it was so cute to see young Joseph Gordon-Levitt! While most people seem to know Heath Ledger from this film, I only knew him as the iconic Joker up until now. I was curious to see how he would be in a more "normal" role and wow, I knew he was weirdly charismatic as the Joker but as Patrick he seems to carry another, pleasant type of charisma. It remains painful to know we have lost such an immense talent.
There's a small part of me that wishes I had seen 10 Things I Hate About You during high school. I can see how it's such a huge hit for especially that age group. But as they say, better late than never! I understand from other reviews that the storyline is also parallel with some of Shakespeare's work. I'm not that familiar with it but it sure is a cool thing to know.
Since teenage romcoms are more predictable and almost similar in general, I wouldn't go higher than a 7 within this genre. So, based on my standards for review 10 Things I Hate About You gets a solid 7! For its genre, it's the best and most fun I've seen.
Captain Fantastic (2016)
Captain Fantastic has lots of flaws, by my interpretation.
Very mixed reviews on this one. I personally thought it was an okay watch for one time, but it's not something I'll watch again or recommend.
I'll start off by saying I loved the acting. Especially Viggo Mortensen (surprise) as Ben and George MacKay as Bodevan. I was moved by the scene where Bodevan confronted Ben with his college invitations and the help he got from his mother. From both parts beautifully acted, but sadly one of the two times I felt compassion throughout the movie. In this scene I felt for both of them. Another scene was the one where Ben reveals his desperation to save their mother from her mental illness by moving to the forest. Ben's character was interesting (sorry) to say the least. Read that a lot of people don't find him relatable and I agree. But I don't get the idea he needed to be. It's very obvious this is a flawed character.
To point out one flaw, Ben teaches his children that being open minded and respecting others is important except somehow when it comes to religion. Especially Christianity, but all religions were put off as oppressive and causes for violence. Right. Though, in my point of view this controversial behavior also shows a deficiency in the character as a human being, which is something everybody has on a certain level. Just because it's the main character, doesn't mean he has to be perfect. I don't think script writers always aim for perfection in a character.
There are indications they weren't aiming for perfection, because there are more ironies in the father's teachings. Stealing, for example. Removing a body without consent knowing it will hurt others, is another one. Letting his daughter break into the house of his parents in law. Smart writing or not? I'm not entirely sure.
However, there were some things about this movie that really disturbed me. I don't agree with showing the back private parts of a child (twice!), frontal private parts of a grown man in front of children and normalizing cursing to and with children. The first two could have been easily suggested with small alterations in the scenario, while keeping its humor. Cursing could have been kept in the most frustrating situations instead of being constantly normalized.
Captain Fantastic was original enough to finish, but it just didn't do it for me. I didn't like the characters enough to watch it again and although one might interpret the controversies as "smart writing" it only frustrated me, especially given the fact that Ben and the kids seem very intelligent but somehow lack intelligence when it comes to introspection or basic human interaction.
Escape from Pretoria (2020)
Very good psychological thriller!
At first glance Escape From Pretoria is a political film, though as it precedes it seems to lose its objective sometimes.
I'd say it's a very good film overall. It manages to keep your close attention and makes you root for the characters. Always been a huge fan of Daniel Radcliffe and I'm certainly impressed by his performance of Tim Jenkin! I think the casting was really good and the actors have done a great job. When it comes to the characters we don't get to know that much about them and although it didn't really bother me while watching, I would have loved to know more about especially Ian Hart's character Dennis Goldberg.
Escape From Pretoria manages to keep you at the edge of your seat even though there's not necessarily that much happening. The thriller-aspect is - dare I say - perfectly portrayed in a very simple manner. Camerawork, music and the scenario's blend together so swiftly and create the perfect amount of suspense. It's as if you're right there, which is hard to accomplish on film.
What I also found refreshing to see, though I'm not sure if this is realistic for this particular historical event, was that there was no hardcore rivalry between the prisoners. They were even working together and rooting for each other as shown in the very last scenes where they created a distraction and were happy for Tim, Stephen and Leonard when they succeeded the escape. It was nice to focus on the struggle of getting out and the danger of the guards finding out about the escape.
However, the biggest question I got after watching was: What is the film really about? On one hand, we get information about the characters wanting to get out of an oppressive system. But it's still not that clear to me why exactly. In my opinion the filmmakers should have given more context in this sense, so that we could really feel what was at stake at a societal level - because something clearly was. Instead, I only found myself worrying about if they would get caught and how that could affect them personally.
Where the film had the potential to be a fair mix between a political and psychological thriller, it leaned towards a psychological thriller by making it more about the prison break itself. And to be fair, for Escape From Pretoria that works too. You could even argue that one of the strengths of this film is that it makes one think about the "why". It's by no means a lazy watch.
But I stick with my former notes. If the political and prison break-aspects were more in balance and Ian Hart's character had more context, Escape From Pretoria would have gotten a big 10 from me. But since I do feel like something was missing, a close 8 will do.
Taylor Swift: All Too Well (2021)
Good!
Let me start off by saying I really love this song and I'm a big fan of Taylor! Taylor impressively made a huge supportive fanbase that loves everything she puts out. She got there through hard times and an incredible amount of commitment. She shows she doesn't want to stop learning and I love that!
Risk there is that so many people view every single project of hers as higher quality than it sometimes is, and in my opinion this is one of them. Seen a lot of fans even say it's an Oscar-worthy short film and I definitely wouldn't take it that far. I find this film good, but not impressive.
First of all, I'm a bit confused about calling it a short film. To me it seems like an extended music video. If we're really talking about a short film, I expected a little more.
Just like the album Red (Taylor's Version) and its aesthetics and lyrics, the short film for All Too Well (10 Minute, Taylor's Version) completes the autumnal vibes of this era by choosing autumnal colours, clothing and settings. I personally also really like the old fashioned frame that was used.
The storyline in the film reflects the one in the lyrics, which is dramatic enough as it is (in a good way) - but there is no added element to it, which makes the outcome something you'd expect by reading the lyrics. Good enough for a music video but not good enough for a film. For a film, it seems like a pretty standard story (for me this isn't the type of story in film that stays with me).
Sadie and Dylan's performances, often praised by Taylor, are beautifully acted and to me they deserve all the praise they get. I find especially the kitchen scene to be an impressive accomplishment for improvised acting. I think both of them did an amazing job at translating the lyrics into visual art. But that stops at Sadie and Dylan's performance. The dining table scene felt very unnatural and as if there was a lack of chemistry. I didn't believe those people were even friends with Dylan's character. Thankfully, the scene wasn't long. There's also something about the very last scene with Taylor in it that just didn't click with me. It almost felt like a "Hey, I directed it so that would be a fun idea!" sort of thing rather than actually part of the film. Also, the concept of writing a (poetry) book over a break up seemed to be a bit over the top.
So, there were definitely some cracks here and there. It's a good, cozy and creative way to accompany the impressively written, sung and produced ten minute version of Taylor's All Too Well.
The Road (2009)
Unlike other apocalyptic films, The Road stays with you.
From all post apocalyptic films I've seen, The Road scared me the most. Not necessarily in a visual and auditory sense, but in the sense of raw reality.
It's a depressing and dark movie that slurs you in and makes you think about the cruelty living inside human beings. Cruelty that even slips up in the "good guys" because circumstances and self serving people force the good guys to protect themselves and their loved ones.
In this time of ultimate darkness where death and danger are just around the small corner there seems to be one lightbulb of hope and love we can cling on to, as it's everything we have. There's a massive bond between Father and his Boy. Small moments of laughter, comfort and normality seem to carry them and you through the film.
Impressively written, The Road keeps you in its grip even though it's impossible to imagine it will end well. From the dialogue and brilliant acting it becomes clear Father and Son would go through fire for each other and how much the Father cares about living. There's the simple thoughtlessness of children when it comes to speaking too loudly during circumstances that call for silence. And the thoughtfulness of them when another stranger calls out for help. Some instances where Boy is actually right, but where our adult eyes are too focussed on luring danger to see what's right in front of us.
Only thing that I think could have been better were the memory scenes where I expected more depth in the Wife's character. It wasn't essential to the storyline but it would have been a very interesting side plot. If that felt complete, I would have given this film ten stars.
All in all a thoughtful watch during a rainy day with a warm blanket and some Cheetos. And maybe some tissues as well.