Crystal Clear

UNITED [2011]



- The greatest sports biopic I have ever seen

- Makes the wise decision to focus on less scenes showing football and more scenes showing the chemistry between the team mates of Manchester United, many of whom sadly perished in the 1958 Munich crash

- The break-out role for actors Jack O'Connell (Bobby Charlton) and Sam Claflin (Duncan Edwards)

- David Tennant gives a dynamic performance as coach Jimmy Murphy, and Dougray Scott gives a painfully underrated performance as Sir Matt Busby

- Never fails to make me cry. The acting is outstanding and realistic among the group; the scene where they crash is cleverly shot as a fade-out from the crash into silence, and slowly coming in to the POV of Bobby as he awakens to a confusing/devastating sight of burning metal and dead bodies

- Contains one of the greatest movie endings I have ever seen. Deeply emotional and well done as they choose to show an imagination from Murphy's POV of the Busby Babes who died as if they had never gone.

Full five star rating, forever one of my favorites

Logan

Scream 2022
Decent movie had you Guessing throughout the movie who the killer(s) where .

One particular scene early in the movie, The The sheriff played by a woman, has a son . He is in danger at her house , she’s driving so she has to turn around calls in for back up. Yet when she arrives at her house, 3-5 minutes later, no police cars.. That , although minor , was a flaw
The first teen to get attacked is in the hospital, gets moved to a private floor, yet when the killer shows up at the hospital there’s nobody on the whole floor of this hospital .. another plot hole ..
Even in the final 15 min when more killing and the killers are eventually revealed, people getting stabbed but still able to fight back!

Crystal Clear

^ Glad to know you enjoyed it

Monthly genre reminder for all ~

February - COMEDY

Romance | Drama | Sci-Fi | Parody

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COMEDY/PARODY - Hot Fuzz

- Hilarious take on the crime/mystery genre, spoofing Clint Eastwood, Cluedo and The Wicker Man -- even includes Edward Woodward in the cast to reinforce this as a Pegg/Frost love letter to the film
- Edgar Wright's quick cuts once again magical, a great way of showing the action and setting up character in a short session of clips
- Timothy Dalton is hysterical and delightfully villainous in this. Always keeps Pegg's character on edge and guessing
- The Two Andys. Pure duo genius casting. Paddy and Rafe

{ 5 star brilliance }

Logan

Going on Tuesday, March 1 to see an early IMAX only preview of the Batman.
Saw Jackass last Saturday.. It is exactly the way the other movies and TV shows . Dangerous dumb stunts. Can’t remember a main steam movie showing me so much male frontal nudity . It was funny in its own way .

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COMEDY + SCI-I/PARODY - The World's End

- This felt a lot more serious than the other two, but still managed to blend drama with comedy and sci-fi AND action to a tremendously respectable degree.
- Great to see so many of the cast from the first two back in very different roles, such as Paddy Considine aka one of the two Andys from Hot Fuzz as older Steve
- The reference to alien/robot terror in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is so well done. The timing is great, because it turns the road trip/pub swapping buddy movie aspect of the first half of the movie completely on its head and becomes genuinely creepy. Also, the physical comedy of the guys defeating the robots is very well done. The stunt work is immaculate
- Another James Bond actor - from Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz to Pierce Brosnan here really emphasizes Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's respect of the action genre.
- Love the evolution of the gang as shown from teenagers to adult age, and the various foreshadowing clips of how their actions earlier on dictate the events later on. For example, we see Steve, Andy and Gary as a Musketeers trio at the beginning and it very much ends that way. Also the actors who played the younger versions of the leads were BRILLIANT. I felt like I was watching found footage of real friends.
- Simon Pegg plays a great paranoid goth here, a character with deep-rooted emotional problems and an obvious codependency. It was a refreshing change to see him play a character who isn't the answer to all the problems, unlike the other two guys he played in this trilogy.
- I was thrilled Steve got the girl in the end sorry Gary, but you were clearly only into her for the hook-ups and the initial thrill of stealing your friend's crush. Steve's feelings for her were true.

{ 4 and a half stars, excellent end to the Cornetto Trilogy }

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Comedy/Romance (one more for February) - Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Some brief observations:

~ Holly is extremely annoying, (despite Audrey's overwhelming charm,) and I don't know how Paul had the patience to stick around as long as he did... Yes I know it's the power of love, but boy did he put up with a *lot*...

~ Cat is the cutest

~ I feel sorry for Mickey Rooney that he had to spend a majority of his post-Tiffany's career apologizing for his Japanese portrayal in this. Whilst I don't think it's as offensive as people claim, the character does feel like a caricature and his teeth were OTT. I don't think it hurts the movie, however. He's just... The annoying upstairs neighbor, as intended.

~ I'm glad Paul and Holly were endgame. The chemistry was there, and the love story progressed believably. I liked how they helped each other to grow and snap out of their warped fantasies.

atwoodsmariano

had you seen it before?

re-posting this here

atwoodsmariano

gonna do a double movie review for 2 movies I watched a month ago

one of the movies I had seen before but didn’t do a review on here before and the other I watched for the first time

loved both and Meg Ryan plays the lead character of the main romantic couple in both of them

Anastasia (1997)



+ What did you like best about the movie? Why?

obviously the romance between Dimitri and Anastasia was one of the biggest highlights for me

it really felt like a romantic comedy like Meg said in an interview with their banter

their banter was one aspect of their romantic relationship that I loved (the train scenes were gold)

also the angst and romantic tension (2 almost kisses!) was a huge draw for me

really got into the romance as I was watching

I liked the added background to their relationship with how Dimitri saved Anastasia when they were kids

+ What did you like least about the film? Why?

N/A

+ Who was your favorite character in the movie? Why?

I love Anastasia obviously with how fiery her personality was (loved Meg’s voice acting)

but...Dimitri was my favorite and a big part of that was John’s voice acting with just how charming and attractive he made him - the animation also added to that

I have such a crush on him after watching the movie

his journey/character growth from just wanting the reward money to no longer wanting it and really coming to care for Anastasia and willing to do anything to reunite her with her grandma was well done

+ Who was your least favorite character in the film? Why?

N/A

+ Comments:

this was a movie that I did not grow up with/heard of as a kid so I’m so happy/glad I finally watched it

did know some of the history behind the fall of the Russian monarchy so it was interesting to see how it was incorporated into the movie (it got dark especially during Anastasia’s sleepwalking nightmare)

the scene where Anastasia was reunited with her grandma was so wholesome

I also loved the animation for this movie and the music

+ What would you rate this movie out of 5 stars?

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)



+ What did you like best about the movie? Why?

I liked the whole concept of fate/destiny and being meant to be with someone

it’s definitely something I like in other shows/movies I’ve seen

the radio show was a nice touch to showing how Annie felt connected to Sam even though she’s never seen him in person

+ What did you like least about the film? Why?

N/A

+ Who was your favorite character in the movie? Why?

I do like Annie and Sam (Annie more than Sam) but Jonah is my favorite

liked how he cared about his dad and thought Annie would be a good match for his dad

thought Ross Malinger gave a really good performance as Jonah

+ Who was your least favorite character in the film? Why?

the woman who Sam dates because she was annoying

her laugh ooofff

+ Comments:

I love the version of When I Fall in Love that plays during the end credits

was on my watchlist for years and finally got to it 3 and a half years ago

glad I finally watched it because it’s definitely one of my favorite 90s rom-coms

+ What would you rate this movie out of 5 stars?

atwoodsmariano

Audrey was so charismatic in this movie

I didn’t even realize that was Mickey when I was watching the movie

saw his name in the opening credits but didn’t put two and two together

but overall I agree

re-posting this here

other side notes: I loved getting to see what New York looked like back then

I would also rate

Crystal Clear

Great point and I always think of that 90s song when I hear the title.

I agree with your mum that Holly was a very troubled character and I think the only reason why she's bearable is that we spend the whole movie seeing her through Paul's eyes, and he adores everything about her - flaws and all. His patience is what makes the journey worth it.

atwoodsmariano

I do love that BAT song

oh also was that your first time watching?

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D E E P W A T E R [for March - Romance/Thriller]



+ What did you like best about the movie? Why?

This is difficult... I will say Ben Affleck's character (Vic, I think) was portrayed really well and I was conned into thinking he was fantasizing about killing Melinda's lovers rather than actually doing it, because Ben played the troubled/victim card really well.

Ana de Armas plays an intriguing, sexy and arrogant femme fatale. Her character is baffling but they chose the right actress.

Oh and THAT (brief) car scene of Charlie and Melinda having sex and it was cleverly filmed as a montage of Vic remembering how and why he killed Charlie. It reiterated how Vic is both tormented and extremely dangerous - and also that he knows he's not enough for his wife, yet for some inexplicable reason he will not let her go.

+ What did you like least about the film? Why?

The ending is unforgivably terrible.

The central relationship is unforgivably terrible.

What was the friggin point of giving Melinda two key lovers in the movie (Charlie and Tony) if Adrian Lyne was going to end up spending MORE time on her sex scenes with Vic??? It makes NO damn sense. The whole point is that she's supposed to have hotter sexual chemistry with her boyfriends, and it drives Vic insane - and she even VOICES how "boring" she finds Vic.

- So what happened? Did Ben Affleck insist on having the most love scenes with her? Is COVID lockdown to blame for the lack of heat in this movie? God d a m n i it

+ Who was your favorite character in the movie? Why?

Charlie. Thank you Jacob Elordi for being an extremely sexy piano tutor and I would've preferred a movie where Melinda runs off with Charlie and they are hunted down by a crazed Vic. A road trip horror movie would've been more interesting than what we got.

+ Who was your least favorite character in the film? Why?

THAT. KID. Oh my gosh. THAT kid. Vic and Melinda's daughter. I haven't been THIS annoyed by a child actor/kid character since that young girl in the original Pet Sematary movie. This one talks like an adult. It's irritating and NOT believable. And I hate that she ends up siding with her dad in the end. That is some garbage writing.

+ Comments:

See my comment in the 'favorite character' section about an alternate scenario. I swear to god, this story BADLY needed a change in direction and I would've been all for a simple focus on Vic being driven insane by Melinda and Charlie's fling. What on earth were these script writers thinking??? If that source material really was *that* bad, then do what I said. Focus more on Charlie. The fact that he's barely in the movie is an absolute joke.

Oh and how stupid was it when that guy (the only sensible guy in the movie) tries to phone his wife whilst racing away from Vic in the end? Like we all didn't see that crash coming.

I honestly wanted and expected better. I wanted more Charlie, more Tony... What did I get? Melinda covering up for Eric's crimes just because their daughter is a whiny and creepy brat.

I think the writers and director lost sight in the end of what actually makes sense for these characters, based on the star power of Affleck and de Armas and their brief romance which made headlines during COVID lockdown. They had Elordi and Finn Wittrock RIGHT. THERE. and wasted them both.

What would you rate this movie out of 5 stars?

atwoodsmariano

I added a question to my last post

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All the way through, yes

Up until then, I had only really saw the Mickey Rooney parts and the last act of the movie from where Paul loses his temper with her.