Reviews

A wonderful honest look at the challenges of morbid obesity and what the struggles and the psyche goes through.

At first. You would assume the title is a description of the protagonist.

Braddon Frasier gives a wonderful performance and we know it comes from a place of genuine experience given his long history of depression.

It's truthfully a touching piece with dark subject matters (suicide, depression, neglect, and abandonment). It's wonderful story telling that touches emotional beats all from the location of a secluded apartment.

It really shows how even viewing the world from such a limited and contained space could be a wonderful platform for some of the deepest emotions.

The title of the whale refers to Moby Dick and the way it ties in is just wonderful to see.

The Queen's gambit is a Netflix series that follows a chess prodigy from infancy to adulthood. The series shows the internal turmoil she faces as she progresses to be the best chess player the world has ever seen.

The series is wonderful to watch. The story elements are subtle. In the opening scene of the entire series, we see Beth Harmon in the Bath Tub. We then hear a knock on the door. She emerges frantically to get dressed in what looked like wrecked hotel room. The cinematography is superbly well paced and timed. We see the panic behind closed doors and the pose and finesse that is shown on the stage. That was all done in the first 3 minutes of the show. In those 3 minutes, the show marvelously plants seeds that will be unraveled throughout the series. We get introduced to the tournament, the green pills, and an internal panic. We never fully understand or revisit that moment in the film until the almost end of the mini series. What makes the show super compelling is how is poises chess to be entertaining to watch. Every Chess game is essentially the same from a props perspective but every one of them is different. They had one chess game that was framed as an attempt to flirt. One chess game is framed as a domination. One chess is framed as ridicule. There are small nuances in every game that keep you at the edge of the seat as you pieces move on the chess board.

The Queen's Gambit is a marvel to look at and watch. If I had to be picky, there is a bit of an deus ex-machina when a long lost friend comes out of nowhere to provide help when the protagonist is the deepest runt in her career. It's understandable considering how short this miniseries. The ending is still satisfying and there are elements worth a second watch.

This film has some great little twists and features.

Finn is a young boy that has "stains". He sees these "stains" as what makes him unique. Which is why only his stains sparkle and look magical.

He sees these stains on other people but they don't sparkle like his because they don't see them as something special.

Finn at the beginning feels like he's part of a group. He's innocence allows him to be part of a group. You are trapped in his world but if you watch it again and focus on his environment you see it differently. From him eating a bowl of cereal. To his messed up room. From his mom watching the TV. They made it so well that in the first watch you focus on Finn's narrattive and dismiss where he is.

They are able to get you attached to this boy in such a short time and that is magical on it's own. This story has been told a thousand times but this is the one that really leaves a mark

The one phrase at the end that hits me real hard is "My friends are not like the others. But they are not like me either"

It's a realization of Finn that he's isolated and lonely. Even though at the start he saw people who are similar to him in his 'stains'. His abuse makes him feel different just like his peers' abuse makes them feel different.

You are given a spark of hope when a friend throws a ball at him and we hear laughter from the group.

It's beautifullly done and marvelous to look at.

I watched this film yesterday and there's something about it that is just soothing for the soul. The music was just enough to send me somewhere mystical. The animations and drawing are stunning. If you were to take one frame of the movie, it wouldn't probably mean much but the way these frames are put together is simply gorgeous.

It's a movie that is drawn that talks about drawing whether it is drawing blueprints for a wall or drawing for the Book of Kells. (Before this movie I didn't know such a book existed.) You never see a character writing words they always draw.

The movie was spiritual in a way even though it wasn't theological which was quite a feat for an animation that speaks about monks trying to write a bible.

The movie has a lot of camera shakes and drone shots but I think its because the settings are a bit difficult to do anything else.

A lot of shots were in buses and from personal account they don' t have a lot of space for a tripod or any kind of Stabilizer.

Drone shots were only used to establish settings. There are areas in Beiruts were the roads are too tight for SUVs to come with their equipment. In addition, these roads aren't paved.

So I understand that the crew needed a portable setup. Drones and DSLRs

Some people are saying that these were done just to get the hype for the film but in my opinion there is an economical reason for the style the movie was done in.

The crew was also working with inexperienced actors so a lot of them would uncomfortable with talking with the camera head on. That would be a reason why for most of the scenes the camera seems hidden and in strange angles.

There seems to be consistent argument that the Director picked the pretty faced boy to compile the story more to the foreign audience. To be honest, the movie industry has been shameless about this from a . I would agree that the main character was played by some one who wasn't as pretty. The story would't have been as significant to me.

I would also like to emphasize that the main character and his family are meant to be Lebanese not Syrian or Palestinian in the film. There has been a repeated concern that the movie depicts Syrian refugees in a very poor manner. The movie does the opposite. It depicts Syrian Refugees in a better situation than the local poorer community.

Now as much as I like the film, the movie did have its flaws which were pointed out by the low rating reviews. I was going to give a 10 but after reading the reviews. I had to drop it to a 9.

*********************Spoilers********************* The second character you see in the film is the director herself. She plays as the child's lawyer and is somewhat playing the kid's savior in a way. It annoys me because it depicts the image that only the director herself can solve the situation. She is also putting herself on a self proclaimed pedestal. It also states that she sides with Zain's solution that these people shouldn't have children. I understand that Zain is 12 years old and is quite short tempered but his lawyer should be educated and a bit more reasonable. Again, if the lawyer wasn't played by the director I would be more forgiving.

In addition, throughout the film Zain does not beg for money. He always buys what he can and tries to find work. This made me like the character more. The fact that he thought himself as a capable individual who didn't want anything handed to him. *********************Spoilers*********************

If you are lebanese, I highly recommend to watch this. It's rarely we have movies that depict these kind of situations in the country. They are always shunned to side from the public eye but they need to be brought forward and discussed.A Movie that is current to the times. If you are a foreigner, I'm not sure if you could relate to a lot of the inside jokes.

This movie is quite wonderful to watch. I'm a huge harry potter fan and JK Rowling doesn't disappoint with this screenplay.

Even though it's a different medium than what she is used to. The movie is very well down.

There are slight hints to harry potter world with mentions of Hogwarts, the ministry of magic, The textbook that harry potter uses in Hogwarts "Fantastic Beast where to find them"

The movie does stay true to roots. Gellert Grindelwald is portrayed by Johnny Depp and during the film we can see that the character has a gay Ora around him in the way he touches and speaks with Grivence and his hair style. When Gellert even mentions Dumbledore there seems to be a sign of affection.

The movie is a standalone and leaves you satisfied. It's part of a franchise but you can leave the movie completely happy.

The movie talks about Portuguese priests who go to Japan.

The movie isn't enjoyable or as enjoyable to non-Christian believers. I'm Christian and the movie tackled subjects that are quite difficult and have been points of criticism to the church. "The Availability of Confession to redundant sinners", "patience and nonviolence", "the limits of unconditional love".

The movie doesn't necessarily answer them head on but doesn't ignore them.

The movie discusses about pride, anger. suffering, and faith.

The movie gave me a headache because the frustration the priests feel and the pain they had to watch and endure was overwhelming.

The ending is hard to swallow but fitting.

I gave it an 8 because i felt that it was more forced than natural. It's not a walk in the park to appreciate the movie especially the moments of silence. The movie has almost no scores or soundtracks which help show "praying to no one".

The actors acted the part and I understand why Scorsese picked them for the roles. I read he picked the young priests with angular features to display how spontaneous and impatient they were as well as impulsive.

The older priests were given rounder features to show a calmer individual, slower and patient.

The movie is beautifully done. Every emotion comes naturally nothing is forced. You appreciate the subtle script lines. There is enough conflict, passion, and love for you to move with the characters through the plot.

*******************************************Spoiler****************** **********

The ending is not your conventional love story ending. However, it is original and authentic. I will not guarantee that you will love it but you will be moved one way or another. The tragedy builds up the character and eventually the plot. Action is character.

*******************************************Spoiler****************** **********

It will make you appreciate BlueGrass Music. It is quite underrated for how powerful the movie is. It's a movie that progresses without any of the characters saying "I love you". It's spoken in action and stares. Action is character. For every fallout they have in words there actions are always 'speaking their true intentions'

The title is The broken Circle Breakdown which sounds redundant but it describes the movies chronological order. We cycle through the events. We go back then forward then back. The cycle is broken until it breaks down.

If you let it be, this movie could redefine your enjoyment for the subtle things