Stars: 3/5 ⭐️ This movie is honestly just horrible. Follow Avery played by Mika Abdalla, and Larson, played by Jake Short, it's about how Avery must build an app that will teach her how to properly have sex with her boyfriend, Casper, so Avery employs Larson to train herself how to have sex. Now, here's the thing, Avery is just straight up mean, constantly. She talks about how prom is superfluous, which just means superficial, and how she's "sapiosexual" i.e. attracted to intelligence, and to my knowledge, it's not a sexual orientation, it's just what people say, instead of saying that they don't want to date a dumb person, even though defining intelligence is impossible, so immediately I didn't like her, because she meant academic intelligence, and her whole world was wrapped around them. Furthermore, I really hated her when she decided to just recruit her best find who liked her sexually to do this stuff, and yes, it's also on him, because he could have said no, but we're sticking with her for now, I'll get to Larson. Having the guy who likes you do this stuff is just insensitive to the tenth degree, and the fact that she couldn't recognize that was a little disturbing. Also, this isn't a hate comment, but she should have considered if she even liked sex, because she kinda talked about it in the philosophical sense most of the time, and she never really had a want for it, until her boyfriend was like, let's have sex, and then she felt that she had to learn how to properly have sex, even though she never really seemed to enjoy it, except when she orgasmed. And then she does actually have sex with her boyfriend, she doesn't really like it, so literally, she could have been asexual, which I think would have been great representation, but she's not. Now onto Larson, and why I hate him. So when Avery tells him the plan, he understands what she wants out of it, which is to know how to properly do all the sex stuff, and that nothing would come of it, and he agrees. But he seems to think that she's going to fall in love with him, and honestly, I thought that too, but she didn't, and then he got mad at her for not feeling the same way, even though she expressed her motivations. Also, when he tries to get her to go to the science museum the night before her STEMCON, which is why she's building the app, he gets mad at her that she doesn't want to go, which I don't get. She says that she needs to get sleep for the next day, which I agree with her, and then he gets all pouty about it. It's so annoying and aggravating. The only people I really liked were the teachers, and Avery's three moms, because they were dropping g bomb advice left and right, and they seemed very genuine and kind to Avery. The side character kids in the movie were bearable, there was one, where when I immediately saw him, I was like, GAY! and I was right because he talks about how his boyfriend broke up with him near the end of the film. And before segwaying into the end of the film, the movie brought up the idea that sex and love are intertwined, and it kinda proved and disproved it at the same time. Proved it with Larson, but he already had preexisting feelings for Avery, and disproved it with Avery, because in the end she still feels nothing for Larson. It was weird, and I want to extract the meaning of, it matters who you are if sex and love are interwoven because for example causal sex usually doesn't lead to love, and not all love leads to sex, but I feel that that wasn't the message it was going for, so I wish it was more clear about what it was trying to say. With the ending, I said how I would give this movie a full extra star if the main characters didn't get together, and they didn't get together. Which I will say is the best part of the movie, because the girl is so unlikable, yes, she is smart, but also she just drags Larson around, to do whatever she wants, and it's a bit weird in the first place that she would get her best friend, who she knew liked her to do this sexperimentations. So, in all, this movie is a skip for me. I haven't seen any other American High productions, but they all seem like they're a hit or a miss.
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Stars: 4/5 ⭐️ TW: Suicide So... Damien Chazelle must love his jazz, cause his two big movies follow people in jazz, most recently La La Land, and before Whiplash. So, Whiplash is about a freshman drummer, Andrew, played by Miles Teller, at this fictional school in New York City, called Shaffer, which might be the fictionalized Juilliard, since there is Fordham in this universe. Andrew is trying to be the best, and so it follows his ups and downs with his teacher, Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons, who is incredible in this movie. Right from the beginning, the relationship between Andrew and Fletcher is set up perfectly where Fletcher is ruthless, and Andrew is blindly persistent and will do anything to achieve greatness. Andrew is so blindly persistent that he gets into a relationship and then breaks up with her soon after, gaslighting her, saying how their relationship will fail, because he will have to focus too much on drumming to pay attention to her, and not care for her and it's not said, but it seems that even extends to himself. Even when it seems logical to quit, for example when Andrew stays up until 2 in the morning by Fletcher to get a drumbeat right, he continues to do it, until he gets it right, and then the day after, he gets T-boned by a truck trying to go to a concert, and he gets out of his car and runs a few blocks to get to the place to be in the concert. Also, if it's not obvious there are going to be lots of jazz music in this movie, and at least 15 to 20 minutes are devoted to jazz music, which can be cool since it seems that most of these people actually play, so it's not weird cuts, and we actually see them play, which can be cool for the first few times. There is a part where Fletcher has the students listen to this kid, Sean Casey, play on a recording, and when he's first brought up, Fletcher says that he died in a car crash, but later we learn that Sean Casey killed himself from the emotional distress from Fletcher, and a woman, assumedly a lawyer goes to Andrew to help get Fletcher disbarred. When we see Fletcher later, he kinda brings up Sean again, and says how he believes that he needs to push these students past their points to break into something new, and something beautiful, and says the phrase, "good job," will only ruin people. And while that might have some merit, it shows a darker side in how people are believed to neglect their mental health in order to achieve greatness, which I think is completely false. However, the film believes that that might be the case with the ambiguous ending where it ends with a multiple minutes set from Andrew purposely pissing off Fletcher in front of a lot of famous people, and well-respected musicians. The end of the film has this twisted team-up between Fletcher and Andrew, and it seems like Andrew somehow respects Fletcher for breaking him, which didn't sit right with me, however, it made sense in the whole of the movie with the toxic cycle, which is set up when Andrew gets T-boned by a truck, and then runs a few blocks to do a concert because he believes that he must. So, I would recommend this movie if you're are into music, you really like jazz, you're a creative, or if you're trying to go pro in sports. This movie can speak to anyone who believes that they're destined for greatness in whatever field they're in, but I don't think this movie has aged well enough to still connect with everyone who watches this. Stars: 3.5/5 ⭐️ So, it seems like Wattpad is the place where Hollywood is getting their ideas from now. So, Through My Window, follows this girl, Raquel, played by Clara Galle, who has a crush on her neighbor, Ares, played by Julio Peña, who is the middle child to this rich family. And, let me start by saying this movie morphed from predictable to actually surprisingly unpredictable. So, in the beginning, it's the generic thing of the hot, emotionally unavailable guy plays mind games with the quiet girl, until he realizes that he's it for her, and then they start a secret romance, only for something to happen to the girl, and she stops wanting to be with him, only to realize that she does want to be with him. The hot guy also learns to love and says I love you to the girl, and it's this whole thing. So, now we've got like 90% of the plot out of the way, let's actually talk about some great things in this movie. Surprisingly the first sex scene was shot really well, where it was very artsy, and had Indie film vibes with the coloring, and the camera movement, which sadly was lost for the other sexual scenes. But, that's not to say, that other parts of the film weren't shot well, because there was a transition at the end of the film, which I really thought was awesome. Also, the makeup throughout this movie gives a nice pop to the characters who wear it, and I thought it was a great symbolic way to show how they're feeling, or who they are as people. And the ending, of this movie. Spoiler alert, the love interest, Ares, almost dies. Like he gets pushed into a drained pool, and then when he picks himself up, he slips, hits his head on the pool tile, slides down to a deeper part of the pool, and then almost drowns, and I was there, just so shocked and surprised that that was part of the ending for the movie. The ending though was great in my opinion, because the domineering family of the hot guy relents a little on him because he almost died, and lets him go study what he actually wants, which is medicine, and I'm happy that they actually do set up his character to be intelligent, instead of like, he just surprisingly goes to a top school because name brand and stuff. However, even though the main romance was pretty well executed for these types of movies, it felt that the other plots didn't get the attention that they deserved. Raquel had a friend, Yoshi, and he always wanted to be with Raquel, and she made it obvious that she didn't want to be with him, and he was being a baby about it. Raquel's other friend, Daniela, gets with Apollo, Ares' little brother, and they kinda have a push and pull relationship, because Apollo is like a kid, and Daniela is about to go to college. Also, side note: Ares' family company is called Alpha 3, which is a reference to Apollo, Ares, and Artemis, which are the names of the boys, Artemis is the oldest kid in this family. But speaking of Artemis, he has a plot where he's been slated to take over the family business, which we do see play out in relation to Ares, but he also is sleeping with the maid/assistant. So, I kinda wish that they got more time, instead of long montages of Raquel and Ares having sex, because it didn't really push the plot, and tells you that they might not even like each other on an emotional level, which is something increasingly obvious with teen rom-com movies. So, is this movie worth the watch? I guess. It's an interesting take on this genre since it all started with a Wi-Fi password and some major stalking. Stars: 5/5 ⭐️ I was so happy I saw this, cause it's amazing. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar tells you everything that you need to know. Barb, played by Annie Mumolo, and Star, played by Kirsten Wiig, who both write this movie as well, go to Vista Del Mar after getting fired from their job at a furniture store. And while they're there, they bump into Edgar, played by Jamie Dornan, who has his own plans at Vista Del Mar... and that is to kill everyone there was a swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes so that he can impress Sharon Gordon Fisherman, who hates Vista Del Mar, because of a traumatic childhood story from there. What's great is that even though there is a plot to kill hundreds of thousands of people, the movie is super light and super funny, and extremely endearing. Barb and Star are that perfect amount of annoyingly funny, where they'll be cracking jokes, that are annoying people around them, such as the Trish/airplane scene, but to the audience it's funny, and it makes you laugh. They're also written, where they're just genuinely nice people, and they always find the good in everything, and the worst thing that they do is lie to each other, but it's pretty small, and they tell each other almost immediately, because they love each other, and they didn't want to lie to each other, but they felt like they had to. Also, the emotional arcs that both Barb and Star have been done perfectly where it's emotional, as well as hilarious. Barb's is that she's the nervous one, and going to Vista Del Mar, she was just going to do nothing without Star, because she was afraid of dying, but then she starts to push past her comfort zone, doing more and more daringly hilarious things. On the other side, Star feels like she can't love anymore after her husband left her for someone else in town, but when she meets Edgar, she finally feels like she can love again, and Edgar finally feels safe and happy with her, since he doesn't feel like he has to go through all these hoops, as he does with Sharon Gordon Fisherman. With the arcs as well, I thought for a second it was going to be Barb and Star fight over Edgar because when they first meet him, they all do drugs together, and then all have sex, and it seems like they both want to be with him, but then it's just that for Barb Edgar helped her push her bounds, and it made me so happy to not have to see the two fight. And it's not like I would expect that from the type of movie, but I wasn't sure. What's also great is that the villain, Sharon Gordon Fisherman, isn't like the worst person in the world, and she's redeemed at the end, because you learn that she's never had friends, and after she kinda just fought to the death with Barb and Star, they say that they'll be her friend, and she then is like, okay, I won't kill anyone. Also, there are some musical numbers in the movie, I think 2 or 3, and they're both entertaining enough where you don't want to skip because they feel like they're pushing the plot, and I'm not sure if that was actually Jamie Dornan singing, but if it was, I'm surprised that he hasn't been put in a musical yet, to my knowledge. In all, Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar is a great buddy comedy, where everything in the movie just works. Stars: 3/5 ⭐️ So this movie is camp. It's not good camp, it's not bad camp, it's just camp. Following Lux, played by Eliza Coupe, and George, played by Christopher Charles Baker, they embark on a journey to kill George's dad/Lux's husband, because they want money. Now, one of the first things that I realized in this movie, which as pointed out in other reviews, was an uneven tone throughout the movie. When the idea is raised to kill the dad, Marcello, George doesn't really want to do it, because killing is amoral. However, there is this hitman, Joe, played by George Finley, who they meet the night prior, and take home, who tells George it's fine that they're going to kill Geroge's dad, and George miraculously is totally fine with it, even dealing the death blow. It's noted that George and Joe have some sexual tension, but when Joe is initially brought home, it's to have sex with Lux. Now, the reason that he is important is that he is a hit-man from the dark web, who is going to take care of Lux and George's problem. And he does. Actually, all three take part in the killing, but then when Lux and George go to get the money, turns out that George has a half-sister, Caitlin, played by Lala Kent, that he never knew about. So... George and Joe go kill her. But here's where it gets camp. When George and Joe bring home Caitlin's body in a body bag, they have an argument outside of George's house, which is really a mega-mansion, but anyways, it ends with Joe choking George, and shoving him down on the truck. Now, I thought he was going to get killed... Nope. Instead, and get this, Joe performs oral sex on George, as kinda like a power-play move, and George is moaning, and groaning and stuff and when he releases, to say, he grabs Caitlin's body bag. Then ensues, because now they have the money, a montage of Joe hooking up with Lux, but we never see it, just hear it, and having sex with George, which we do see, and it might have to do something with the fact that the actor who plays George, Christopher Charles Baker also wrote the movie. But anyway, while this is happening, there is an insurance investigator, because Caitlin is presumed missing, and not dead, and they're trying to find Caitlin, to inform her. After a while, Lux and George kinda get tired of Joe and decide to frame him for all the killing, which is motivated by two other things, besides disinterest in Joe. 1. The insurance investigator almost finds Caitlin's body, but thankfully not, so they don't have to kill the insurance investigator. 2. George and Joe have a falling out and stop having sex. So, Lux and George initiate their plan, and call the insurance investigator over, after they kick out Joe, but here's the twist. Joe and George teamed up, to get the money, blamed it on Lux, killed her, and the insurance investigator. There is also this running plotline, which I'm only talking about now because it takes flight in the story is that George wants to be a movie star, and now he is, and he's famous and stuff. But here's the other plot twist, which I have a gripe with. Turns out that George has another half-brother, and it's actually Joe! So, here's why this sucks. Joe comes into the picture before George's dad died, even though it is said that many people try to claim to be George's half-sibling after his father's death, not before it. Also, I don't know what Joe's plan was, but if it was to play the long game, it was to continually have sex with his half brother, and assumably get married, and not even kill him. Like what was the plan for Joe? It should have been explained, maybe that Joe was going to kill George on a private vacation that they're planning, or something like that, because if not, why didn't he reveal it before? They could have split all the money, and everything else could have happened. So, throwing in that twist made absolutely no sense, because it's just revealed that the main character has had incest throughout the whole movie, which is just gross. Now, do I recommend this movie? Kinda. It's a movie written by gays, about gays, and for gays. So if you want to support gay media, then yes watch the movie. If you like crazy camp movies, watch this movie. If neither of those are your things, then I don't think The Estate is for you. Stars: 5/5 ⭐️ I went into this movie hesitant, but I think it's probably one of the best rom-coms I've ever seen. Here's why: it feels genuinely real, and all the characters are super root-able in the film. Following Izzy, played by Laura Marano, she gives a haircut to a prince, Prince Thomas, played by Mena Massoud, and from there, she and her two friends, Destiny, played by Chelsie Preston-Crayford, and Lola, played by Grace Bentley-Tsibuah, are invited to Lavania, this fictional place. Anyways, they go there, because the prince is being married, but the thing is, the princess doesn't want to be married, and it's literally an arranged marriage, because of a whole thing, about money, and how Thomas' family needs the money. But when we meet the soon-to-be wife, I thought she was going to be mean, and stuff like that, but nope! Quite the contrary, she was my favorite character, she has ambitions, and wants to be a businesswoman, and is only in this for her parents as well. And, what's great is she never beefs with Izzy, she's super chill around Izzy, and she's actually really the one who initiates the calling off of the wedding because she wants to pursue this business adventure with dog purses. She is this kind soul character, and I loved her so much, and I was so happy that they didn't vilify her character, and if anything does the opposite. Anyways, back to Izzy, and Thomas, what made Izzy so likable is that she is likable. They didn't try to make her quirky or stand out or anything, but she does stand out because of her kindness. From the get-go of the movie, she's kind and is always saying hi to people, and she seems like a person that people would love to be around. And the times where she's not happy are justified. The first is when she's cutting Thomas' hair, and a servant is berated for dropping something, which Izzy helps, and then tells Thomas that he should have said something because it was no way to treat that person. And the only other time she isn't super friendly is when she leaves Lavania because she doesn't want to ruin the wedding. I think just making Izzy a kind-hearted person, instead of going out of the way to make her have all these quirky interests was refreshing, because yes, we don't know that much about her, but we understand that she is a good person, even great. Even when she goes to Lavania, she becomes fast friends with the guards, groundkeepers, housekeepers, butlers, and cooks of the house very quickly, by just being friendly and kind, complementing them, and asking them questions about themselves. The only thing though that I didn't really like is Laura Marano trying to do an Italian accent, and she would sometimes flip flop. This movie is amazing, and what's even greater is that it punched us with gay representation out of nowhere, and I didn't see it coming and I loved it. We learn that Walter, Thomas' assistant more or less came from a poor town, and was selected to watch over Thomas at a young age. But the thing was, even though he got to live a wonderful life, have a stable job, and meet amazing people, he left a man behind, Richard. And the thing is, making Walter gay didn't affect the plot, and I loved it, because it was just this gay man living out his life, and his gayness didn't really affect the plot. He could have liked someone named Rachel, and it wouldn't have changed anything, and when Walter tells Thomas this because he's talking about how love is important, Thomas reacts only to the fact that Walter had to leave someone behind, and it was amazing. So, watch this movie, cause also Laura Marano sings in this, and she has a great voice. Also she produced it with her sister and her mother. Stars: 2/5 ⭐️ This movie is dumb. And sadly, not dumb fun. Following Emma, your classic hot ditsy girl, played by Alexandra Daddario, after she spills her secrets to a hot guy, Jack, played by Tyler Hoechlin, she then learns that he's her boss. And now, since they're both hot, they must date. See, the thing is, there are so many actors who I love are in this movie. Examples, Tyler Hoechlin, Kimiko Glenn, Laverne Cox, and Sunita Mani. They're all amazing, and stupendous actors, but, god, the plot was so unbearable. Some things would happen, that would make no sense. For example, how every time Emma and Jack are in a solo scene, it feels like an exposition dump on how quirky Emma is. Which felt ham-fisted, to then later have been brought up in an interview, like reminding you how quirky she is, pissed me off. Also, when Jack goes on in the interview about the quirky things about Emma, how do all her co-workers know all that about her? They aren't close-knit. Now, if her ex-boyfriend, which I will get into in a second, realized that, and then said that, and then everyone dog piled on, that would have made ten times more sense, because Emma has some very niche things, like crying when hearing Imagine Dragon's Demons. But, let's get into the boyfriend. Not to rip into this movie, solely, because other movies do this too, but why is the boyfriend that Emma leaves seen as unattractive. Like, he's an average-looking dude, who, after looking at his IMDb profile, I think is attractive, but they make him out to be weird, and disgusting, which I didn't think he really was. In fact, I thought he was a wonderful man, because after he found out that his ex-girlfriend was flirty with another guy before they broke up, he takes it in grace, and wishes the best for her. Now, the bigger issue is that he's compared to Tyler Hoechlin, who looks like he could be a model, and here's the thing, that's his only trait throughout the movie. He's hot, and people like him, cause he's hot and pretty chill. And the kicker is, Emma falls in love with a guy that she doesn't really know about. The movie is about secrets, but it makes it out to be that Emma doesn't know anything about Jack, which is, like, what? Also, the movie should be so lucky that it's a movie, and not a show because conveniently every time we cut to Emma and Jack on a date, she's talking. It pisses me off so much, that this guy, Connor, played by David Ebert, Emma's boyfriend turned ex, is somehow looked down on, cause Jack comes along and is hot, cause you know who should be seen as icky. Emma! She's in this relationship with Connor and doesn't like him anymore. From what it seems, they've known each other for a long time, because at the beginning of the movie, Connor asks her to move in with her, so I'm assuming he's been pretty open about himself, compared to Jack. I'm only stating that because it seems that Connor is emotionally available unlike Jack, who is so withdrawn. Also, Emma has this flirtationship with Jack going while she's still with Connor, even though she plans to break up with him, and I was waiting for that to happen. Also, she never communicates how she feels to Connor until she breaks up with him because it seems like she's missing passion, and he can't please her orally either, and it's assumed that Jack does, cause hot people know everything about sex. Anyways, this movie is based on a book, so I wonder what the differences between the book and the movie were, cause honestly, I wish that Connor was more of a villain, so it would give Emma more reason to be with Jack, besides the fact that he's hot, which I have always hated as the drive for some of these characters. But, to close, I wouldn't recommend this movie. The actors that I have mentioned have been in other great stuff, and I recommend going to watch that instead of this. Stars: 4/5 ⭐️ I liked this movie, and I also didn't like this movie. Following Vada, played by Jenna Ortega, Vada deals with the fallout from a school shooting. However, the movie isn't about the fallout of a school shooting, but more of the friendship that blossoms, from the school shooting. Vada is in the bathroom when the shooting happens, also in the bathroom is Mia, played by Maddie Ziegler, a dancer/influencer. They hide in the bathroom together scared out of their minds, and then halfway through the shooting, another kid, Quinton, played by Niles Fitch, runs into the bathroom, and the three hide together and form pretty much a trauma bond. After the school shooting, which happens 8 minutes into the film, so we jump right into, Vada starts to hang out more with Mia, than her only other friend, Nick, played by Will Ropp, whose character I didn't really like, but we'll get into him later. Throughout the movie, Vada keeps saying how she's low-key with her emotions but seems that there is a block in her brain because she still experiences her negative emotions through the amplification of drugs, and alcohol, which I think was a good angle for her character. She also was very realistic in how she talked and acted, where I felt that I had met a version of her in high school, with the only thing that was a little annoyed with Vada was her saying "Lol or Yolo" in speak, instead of text, which I felt was cringy. The movie though does stick with a very accurate depiction of teen life, as Vada's younger sister is a Youtuber/TikToker, and we see the sister, Amelia, actually do TikTok dances, which I thought just made the movie so real, cause that's the first time that I've seen that in a TV show or movie. As the movie progresses though, Vada gets sent to therapy, which I wish we got more scenes of, because I thought those two scenes were the best, because the writing, acting, and directing in those scenes were phenomenal. And as Vada goes through her emotions, through more or less self-destructive behavior, like taking ecstasy, just to have Nick take her home, because she makes a pen explode in her mouth while she's high, or gets stoned, to go on rants about what she hates in the world, she starts tone able to feel her emotions sober. However, we don't get that much of that. In the end, when I thought there was a least ten more minutes left of the film, Vada gets a CNN notification that 12 people were killed in the shooting, and she starts to cry and hyperventilate off-screen, which I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be an ambiguous ending or not, but the movie ended on such a depressing, yet kinda hopeful, but not really, since the hope felt a little cut short, note. For movies revolving around Gen Z life, this makes sense, since most Gen Z people have an aura of depression constantly since we're told the world is going to die in the next however many years, but also to make me feel worse leaving the movie, isn't what I want to feel. For a movie about grief, I think the movie does a great job, but I do wish, maybe because this isn't seen at all, but more hopeful renditions of Gen Z livelihood, because hope for a tomorrow is never horrible. But now let me get into the character Nick because I did want to say one thing about him. He kinda sucks as a character. He is this guy, who after the shooting happens, he questions why he wasn't killed and believes that there is almost a divine reason or something along those lines of why he wasn't killed. And I hate the idea of a person taking a moral of the story route from such a tragic event because Vada echos my thoughts at the end of the film, where she says how she sometimes thinks why she wasn't killed like there was some higher reason that she lived, but the ore she thinks about it, she knows it's not. It was a tragedy that happened, which no moral attached. Also, for the character Nick, he takes this lead in regulating guns, which I thought was great for his character, but the thing is, while he was doing that he kinda just dipped on Vada. He says how he gave her a month of space and love to start to heal, but he never reaches out to her, he never asks her what she wants from him, he just disappears from her life, which is so horrible for him to do. What also made no sense with his and Vada's character is that they're set up to be these really tight friends, and yes, a tragedy can change that, but it doesn't feel like there is a shift in their friendship, but it's just that Nick disappears because they don't have any arguments, or fights, or anything before Nick gets put in the background, so that's why I didn't really like his character. But, in all The Fallout I feel is a movie you should only watch once, just to watch it, because it felt mentally draining watching such a tragic movie, which has such a weirdly depressing ambiguous ending to it. |
AuthorRyan Jones is an aspiring screenwriting, and an environmental enthusiast and activist. Archives
February 2022
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