Reviews

I really wanted to love this, but sadly there just wasn't much to love. I'm not sure what they were trying to say in the overall film because the plot was really lacking and had no direction. They made the main character be quirky and unconventional, and I think that was meant to come off as endearing. However, they just made her appear as an adult stuck in a childish state of mind with delusions of mythological creatures. It wasn't cute. It was just kind of sad. They didn't give you anything to root for.

There was some real life stuff thrown in mainly to perpetuate the idea that she fantasizes about a unicorn because she can't cope with reality and it's struggles - failing out of art school, being bad at your job, parents not understanding you, etc. I couldn't tell if the magical aspects were a metaphor for mental illness or if they were there just to add to the childlike wonder of a woman in her 20s who has the mind and taste of a 10 year old girl. There were some cute moments, but the overall tacky aesthetic just didn't really work.

It was pointless to give her requirements to complete to qualify for the unicorn because she didn't actually meet any of them, yet she gets the unicorn anyway. She didn't seem to really learn anything. She never talked her issues out with her parents. Each parent just had basically one line of semi-advice and then that was it. She didn't get a promotion at work. She actually got fired, so she wasn't financially secure. Even the "stable" that was built wasn't fit to house an animal of any kind and the hay she bought wouldn't be edible because she dyed it all different colors. Still, they gave her the prize, she talked to it about memories she had with an imaginary unicorn friend as a child, the carpenter is a "believer" all of a sudden, and then she immediately gave up the one thing she had been obsessing over since youth. Then she walked away hand in hand with presumably her new boyfriend. So... was it really a boyfriend she wanted all along?

There were so many other things that just either weren't necessary or that made no sense - like the creepy, low key harasser boss who apparently makes his rounds with all the women in the office or the rude guy at the hardware store who blew her off for no reason when she asked one question about a product he sold. He sent her away to find the unqualified guy he hates just so they could build a romantic relationship. Just... what was the point? How many adult women are still obsessing about wanting a pet unicorn? What is the moral of this movie? I have so many questions.

This may be the art student in me complaining, but it does annoy me when people portray artists working and then have them cover their whole body, clothes, etc. in the medium they're working in when it doesn't make sense. This character was a painter but how is she getting globs and globs of paint all over her face and clothes? Is she part of the painting? Is this performance art? Does she scratch her face with the bristle side of her brush? WHY DO THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT PAINTERS LOOK LIKE?

This was promoted as a Black Widow-esque Russian spy movie, but that was a very broad comparison. There was virtually no action in the film. Instead it focuses more on the psychological aspect of being a spy and the consequences. Jennifer did a passable accent, but she only ever spoke English. I would've expected a Russian spy movie to have some Russian language, yet no one ever speaks it.

She was blackmailed into going to Sparrow school, but then did nothing they asked and eventually got removed from it to do something else. They weren't learning fighting from what I could see. They only shows one quick scene of some people shooting guns. The whole education process seemed to be figuring out what kind of sex their targets wanted, but not what they'd actually be getting from the targets.

I didn't quite get the relationship between her and the American officer. She's trying to manipulate him to get what she wants, but then she tries to kiss him and he shuts her down. Yet later out of nowhere she goes to him and forces herself on him into a super awkward and very short sex scene. She's on him super into it and he's just underneath not even really reacting, aside from touching her side a bit. It was a very unnecessary sex act that that did nothing for the story.

I thought Jen's overall performance was good. She had some intense scenes to film, including rape and torture. Though at the same time nothing really stuck out for me in terms of memorable scenes. Then the ending was beyond predictable. I knew who the mole would be and that she would give them her uncle in the end. I found the entire film to be disappointing - both because it wasn't the action film I was promised and the writing wasn't that great.

Melodramatic acting. Characters were hardly emotional when they're friends died. You knew most of the people would die because the trailer told you everything. Totally predictable plot line. The deaths weren't even extreme. I can't be bothered to add anything else.

This show has potential and could have been an epic fantasy show about sirens. However, due to a horrible lack of character development and mostly bad writing, I couldn't get into it. There are a few plot lines but you never get that many details about any of them so you don't always know what's going on or how you should feel. I had no attachment to any character because the performances are all lack luster and never got me emotionally invested. There are multiple deaths in the show and yet I felt nothing for any of the characters because they either weren't on screen enough or when they were we learned nothing about them. The main character, Cal, isn't even that likable and she gets a bit annoying after a while.

In an attempt to make the show more interesting and/or adult they added in the F word a lot and also a bunch of unnecessary sex scenes for relationships that have no value to the actual storyline. They just wanted to show hot people having sex for the sake of having sex because they think it's sexy or edgy. It wasn't either, and it didn't work.

Trolls was not that great. Definitely not one of Dreamworks' better films. The troll characters were adorable, but a bit over the top. There wasn't any attempt of characterization with anyone except the two main trolls. The rest were just filler and background noise. Making their personalities super happy and hyper was fitting for the quirky dolls I grew up with in the 1990s, but the dialogue and story were so badly developed that the whole movie lacked the entertaining aspects it should have had. Not even the villains were interesting. I couldn't even tell you their names.

The animation was done really well (no surprise as Dreamworks is great). Making the environments look like arts and crafts, with felt textures, glitter and sewing, was a neat way to build the world, even if it looked cartoonish at times. The scrapbooking was super cute. I loved that Poppy made elaborate cards for all occasions (or just because). It resulted in some funny situations. It did feel like Dreamworks tried to make up for the bad story by making the imagery really busy as a distraction, and that didn't help the situation.

I was expecting original music, and was a bit disappointed to find out that the songs were mainly mash-ups of popular hits. With the exception of a few, not even very good hits. Justin Timberlake's voice was wasted in this. He only got one song, but it was one of the better ones in the movie.

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this movie again.

Secret Garden is one of my all-time favorite films. I love everything about it. Starting with the music, this is also one of my favorite soundtracks, which I listen to regularly. It is emotional and incorporates beautiful instrumentals with strings, flutes and pianos. During the more high tense scenes the music gets louder and shrill, and the pace quickens with the flow of the characters. The pitch is low and dreary. Then when it's calm and slow the music smooths and becomes a relaxing melody, sometimes accompanied with quiet singing.

The color scheme increases the mood by being very washed out and dark for most of the film. There are a lot of muted colors mixed with blacks and dark grays. It gets gradually more colorful as the film progresses and the garden begins to grow. The lighting gets brighter, more colors are introduced in the backgrounds and sets, and even Mary's clothes go from blacks to yellows and whites. The changes along the way are subtle, but by the end of the film the contrast is polar opposite to how it started. The garden goes from dead to being full of lush foliage and flowers. The significance is mirrored in the family when they go from three lonely people with bad dispositions and blossom into a loving and happy family.

The movie isn't a fantasy film, but it does evoke a feeling of magic. The children's imaginations and the wonder they feel by sharing this secret garden allows for a "what if" aspect to the story. Even when they are doing the experiment to bring Lord Craven home it doesn't feel like much of a stretch for them to believe that what they are doing is real. There are some really beautiful time lapse videos of the plant growth that add to the enchantment of the movie. With roots and leaves sprouting in an instant, transforming the landscape into something unrecognizable.

The actors are all great. Of course there is the always lovely Maggie Smith, who here played a rather nasty and pretentious woman. You couldn't help but hate her a bit. The performances by Kate Maberly as Mary and Heydon Prowse as Colin were impressive, particularly when you consider they were only around ten years old when this was filmed. Their characters were full of fervor and forcefulness at first, and then softened by the end of the film into almost entirely different people.

This is a wonderful coming of age film that I think is great for all ages. I would recommend the book, as well. There of course are parts from it that didn't make it to the film. It really is a lovely story and a wonderful film.

Sherlock is a good screen adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novels. It has great actors and good writers. The chemistry between Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch is visible and you can tell they have a lot of fun together. I really like their character's relationship dynamic. John has pretty equal footing with Sherlock, but he lets Sherlock have most of the credit and attention because he knows he enjoys it. They would do anything for each other and really respect one another. They banter back and forth with ease in both their personal and professional lives and it creates a nice flow for the narrative. It says a lot about how great their friendship is.

Secondary characters like Mary, Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson, and Molly do not disappoint. They are well written and add a nice humor to the show. Lara Pulver as Irene Adler was delicious and sexy. Unfortunately we haven't gotten to see much of her as she was only in two episodes, but I hope in the future they bring her back in a bigger role. She would bring an interesting chaos to the show. The only character I really haven't liked was Moriarty. I wasn't happy with the choice of actor or how his character was approached. He was too comic book villain and it didn't really fit with the feel of the show.

While the show is not lengthy by any means, it is nonetheless entertaining. If you don't mind waiting ages between seasons, Sherlock is jam packed with mystery, intrigue, humor, emotion, and talent. Well worth the wait.

I remember loving this film as a child, back when I was blissfully ignorant of the hidden themes. Now that I've watched it as an adult I have to say this has to be one of the most abysmal children's films ever. The story is very inappropriate. Thumbelina gets passed around like the flu at an elementary school and sexually harassed by nearly every male character she comes in contact with. Almost every other character physically and/or mentally abuses her. I don't know what kind of message the writers were going for, but that is not a good one to be giving to children.

Sure the follow your dreams theme is good, but I don't see how getting lost, abused, and then at the end of the movie marrying a guy you've spent maybe an hour with counts as someone following their dreams. Even if that guy just happens to be a prince (shocker). The rest of the story doesn't provide much more in terms of quality. There is the stereotypical and unrealistic love at first site relationship and the problem of not fitting in and wanting more. The overall story has a lot of holes and spacing issues, with a very inaccurate time line. The characters were mostly terrible or annoying. The mother, for all the love she claims to have for Thumbelina, doesn't even go looking for her when she goes missing. Instead she sits at home in the off chance someone else will find her, even though she told no one the girl was missing.

The only redeeming factor in the movie are the ballads. "Let Me Be Your Wings, "Soon", and "Soon (Reprise)" are all great songs, even if they seem out of place with the tone of the rest of the film. Thanks, Barry Manilow.

Aliens 3 is the worst of the series. While not a terrible film, it doesn't compare with the mood or quality of its predecessors. The film took a long time to get started and once it did it didn't have the same amount of excitement or action. It felt mostly like a bunch of scared people running around in circles and not a whole lot happening in the middle. Sigourney as always was great, but even with her performance it was hard to make up for the low quality script. The trilogy deserved a better ending. A perk though was getting to see a young Charles Dance.

Fantastic sequel! This was even better than the first movie. The action scenes were plentiful and non-stop once they started. There were so many more aliens, with explosions and gun fire all over the place. Parts of the story were very similar - the political agenda and the last minute alien space float - but the overall plot was new and more interesting. It's hard to expand on characters when there are so many in one movie, but we did get to see a wider view of Ripley's backstory and an expansion of her personality. You can tell that she grew as a character and a fighter.

I love that the aliens aren't CGI. You can't beat having something real in the shot for the actors to interact with. It is more visceral and makes the performance believable. Plus I think that is part of why these movies hold up. If the aliens had been computer animated they would have been held back by the technology of the era. With the puppets you get a realism that makes a huge difference. Aliens did not disappoint.

I know I'm REALLY late to the party, but I finally watched Alien. I can see now why it's so huge and spawned so many sequels. The film was very well put together, which is no surprise considering it was made by Ridley Scott. The sets were great, the atmosphere was great, the music was great. I was thoroughly creeped out by the alien lifeforms - both because they were really ugly and anything parasitic gives me the heebie-jeebies. The main creature alone looked pretty terrifying.

Sigourney Weaver as always was a badass and I really appreciated the grit and strength of her character. She stood her ground against her male counterparts who weren't following the rules and then was ruthless with the monster. It made me happy at the end when she saved the cat. It's not just because I love cats (or because I would also be that person), but because it's important not to consider lower lifeforms any less of a priority than humans. The cat was there, it was alive, and therefore it was worth saving. I don't know if that's what they were going for, but think it is a very good message.

The only real issue I had with this film was that the characters made such blatantly bad decisions in terms of the situation, which were clearly made so the story would work. Of course they shouldn't have brought an unknown alien life form back onto the ship. No, they shouldn't have left it mostly unattended and attached to their crew mate in a room that was wide open. And no, when it went missing they shouldn't have walked into the room with no weapons or no way to trap it, all while leaving the door wide open for most of their search. Then they kept separating to find the creature, with no real plan of what to do when they actually did, aside from sending it out into space. They were already told it was pretty indestructible. I would have liked to see more effort put into the escalation of the story in that respect, but as the end result was so good it's something I can look over. I will definitely be watching the other films.

This movie isn't one of Pixar's best, but it is a nice film. I enjoyed the relationship between Spot and Arlo. It was endearing and adorable. I found it enjoyable to watch their relationship grow during their pilgrimage to find Arlo's home. With that said, it was really sad. The movie is heavy on grief and heartache. The humor that there was definitely helped balance that out, but I think it was one of the more solemn films from Pixar. It's non-stop hardship and it got a bit depressing. However, there are a lot of really sweet moments about family and friendship that made me smile. I think parents will get more out of this than kids, but the movie is certainly entertaining for both adults and children.

I don't know how I never knew this movie existed but I just saw it and I really liked it! It's a great coming of age film. There are pirates, aliens, adventures, treasure, adorable animal sidekicks, a robot companion with great comedic timing and hover boards. What more could a movie lover ask for? This movie has a bit of everything and the story isn't bad. I would actually like this to be a series because I think it could be really cool. A live action version would be interesting to see.

These movies are fun and entertaining, and a nice tongue in cheek ode to James Bond - films that are by no means less absurd. The villains are hilariously ridiculous to the point of over- saturation. They're crazy on the verge of cartoon crazy and Poppy was particularly over the top. Yet it kinda worked since these films don't take themselves seriously. Taron as Eggsy is always charismatic and great at the action scenes. I've seen him in several other films/TV and I really hope he continues to do well.

I really liked the first movie. It wasn't perfect, but it was good. There was humor, charm, and that fight scene with Colin Firth is probably one of the best in film ever. With that said, this second movie was a disaster. The film makers tried too hard to recreate things from the first movie instead of letting the second stand on its own. At the end of the day this movie was basically a dramatization about the legalization of drugs using spies. (Side note: The movie definitely made a statement about U.S. politics that was appropriate given the current climate, but nonetheless depressing.)

The main issues I had are below.

1) The plot of the movie starts when Charlie gets the Kingsmen information and gives it to Poppy, but the reasoning is never explained. We know he hates them, but she wouldn't have even known about them unless he had told her. She's an American and they're a very secret British government agency. So why did she take on his vendetta so viciously?

2) There is no mention of the events in the first movie. They could have closed it up with a short conversation and moved on. Yet there is nothing about how everyone was going around killing each other or how tons of politicians and celebrities abruptly died.

3) We're introduced to a new agency in America, but then learn virtually nothing about them. We know they make alcohol and have very stereotypically American toys that are not as concealable as their British counterparts, but we only ever see one member long enough to characterize them. He ends up being a bad guy and dies. Anyone else we see has no personality, and I'm pretty sure they only got the A-list actors so they could put them on the poster. Why was Channing Tatum even in this? He was frozen the whole time. (I can't stand him, but that's unrelated.)

4) I love Colin Firth as Harry so I understand why they brought him back, but mostly it was pointless. They killed him off in the first movie because it was unexpected. That movie kept stating how it's "not that kind of movie", yet clearly now it was, because his death wasn't final. Now anyone can come back from the dead, which means no one's death means anything. They didn't even do anything interesting with his character! The amnesia thing really didn't work for me and it felt like a cop out.

5) They took Roxy and Merlin and I was really mad. Roxy didn't even get a chance to be an agent! She got killed right at the beginning of the film! I was so close to yelling obscenities in the theater. I had been looking forward to how her character developed. However, given that Harry came back, maybe these two will show up alive in the next movie in some far-fetched way.

6) They never explained how Harry knew that Whiskey was working against them. He just said he knew, shot him, and then they left it. And I don't care how great your technology is - no one comes back from a bullet wound to the head that quickly.

7) Did we need to have the fingering scene at the music festival? No. I think they were trying to one-up the butt sex scene from the first movie, but even that joke was in poor taste. I think the scene's real purpose was so they could set up a plausible reason for Taron to have his one obligatory shirtless scene. (That part I didn't mind because daaaaaamn he's fit.)

8) The first Elton John joke was funny, and maybe the second. Any joke after that was more than was necessary. They overdid it on Elton.

9) A royal wedding. Seriously? A royal wedding? That was just stupid. Why did they even have him dating the princess? The film didn't need a love story. It needed a better writer.

Overall, not impressed. All I can say is if they make a third installment they better get Tom Hiddleston to be a Kingsmen agent to make up for this terrible sequel.

This movie is an incredibly boring hour and a half of nothing. There is barely a plot and what there is goes unexplained. The most exciting thing to happen in the entire movie was a phone getting ripped out of the lead's hand, and it wasn't that exciting. I'm pretty sure the movie was some convoluted way of explaining the dangers of house mold. Don't waste your time.

The premise for this movie was really interesting, which is why I decided to watch it. However, the plot was really lacking in the imaginative details I was hoping for. We never hear any stories about the afterlife, or see the afterlife, or learn about how it was discovered. The characters spend the whole movie trying to film what they think is the afterlife, only to disprove the main plot line in the process. We just end up with an anticlimactic story line and an unnecessary love story that did nothing for the overall film. It's only purpose was to give the main character a reason to keep living in a time loop of what was primarily a very mundane moment.