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markellisiddon
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The Acolyte (2024)
Who is this for?
I'm just baffled who this series is aimed at? I get that reinvention is a good thing, but the conflicting and contradictory nature of so much of this show seems almost designed to annoy people that like Star Wars. Is the play here that they are trying to alienate the current fan base and instead find a large new audience? I really don't think this can possibly work. It's really starting to feel like just making something people that like Star Wars would actually watch is something they are actively trying to avoid.
It's kind of depressing on so many levels. It's now starting to feel like the brand that Star Wars was is just not what they want Star Wars to be. When I think about the endless stories they could make instead, that would not exclude new audiences and still excite old audiences, it's just bizarre how we end up here. With such a middling show that seems to be made for an imaginary audience.
I guess the good thing about trying to alienate an audience is that eventually all of us feeling disappointment and then writing about, it will just stop caring anymore so there will be less people complaining. Maybe that's what Disney want?
Leo (2023)
Don't sleep on this movie
This film really caught me off guard. The script feels razor sharp and seriously funny. It works on levels that younger kids will enjoy, but adults also can really enjoy. I honestly laughed harder in parts of this movie than in many other comedy movies. The juxtaposition of what we usually get in these animal movies for kids, with a much more sharp and surprisingly funny script. I'm in my 40's and watched with my 12 year old who also really found it funny. It's up there with one of my favourite animated family movies. Don't sleep on this one, I worry it might get overlooked as something way less interesting than it actually is.
Ambulance (2022)
Nothing good to say.
I don't review films anymore... But this film... Oh my. What a mess of a film this is. Feels like it was made by an A. I algorithm. Fed everything Bay has done before then a bunch of other better films he didn't. Everything is derivative. Not in a flattering inspired by way, just a dead behind the eyes rehash of better movies.
The cinematography just stinks. So intrusive and unnecessarily all over the place. Stylistically they are tapping into the old Bay tropes, over saturated, lens flare (so much lens flare), weird lighting choices that constantly pull you out of what little drama there is. The drone shots are pointless and lazy. If you aren't innovating with the technology, or if the shots aren't bringing anything to the table other than showing off the drone operators ability to fly through/under/over things doing barrel rolls, then why do it? Possibly to distract the viewer from what little substance the film has.
The acting... I mean, again, they fed the A. I. Nicolas Cage and Jake Gyllenhaal and what we get is lots of shouting and zero character. You won't remember anything about anyone in this film. Our protagonist is given a plot that's so think that if you wiped your ass with it you'd get a palm full of crap. There's nothing to care about, zero. No jeopardy, as we aren't rooting for the bad guys and yet we're watching them in a never ending car chase. It's just bizarre, soulless trash. I imagine somebody in a meeting at some point looked at a spreadsheet of viewer trends and saw that they watched a lot of chewing gum action films from the 90's so decided to just go to the source (Bay) and just asked him to do exactly that. Literally just turn everything up to 11. Which would be fun if it was in the hands of a filmmaker at least making an effort to do something (anything) different. I'm sure people will defend it as a fun easy action film watch - dumb fun so-to-speak. But it's just dumb. A painfully bad film.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
"Hi"
A triumph of cinema. Performances, script, aesthetics, cinematography, music. A complete package. I love this film. Like scrolling through somebodies photo album (the running scenes throughout emphasised this vibe) so warm, nostalgic and authentic. Feels like a classic pairing with the two leads showing a multidimensional relationship with a detail of the mundanity of human relations rarely found in most films. It finds the humanity in the cracks that form between people, and it's through these cracks that we find truth. Once again I think Anderson has created something special, such a singular vision.
Prop Culture: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (2020)
This Ep got Rick!!!
Love this show. It's a gift. This episode though had such amazing access to Rick who I adore, respect and miss as one of the iconic and memorable actors of my generation. It reminded me what a joy he was to watch and what star power he had. I respect that he chose to prioritise his life differently, and I love that the body of work he left behind is enviable to any actor. I have a 9 year old son who knows who he is from his key roles that seemed to dominate cinema during a period of cinematic creativity that's truly lacking today. This episode made me miss him and of course made me hope we'd get to see more of him in the future. I wonder if people truly realise what an achievement it was for this show to get Rick to open up so much about his experiences on this film. Bravo!