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zhongweiwu
Reviews
Tár (2022)
Self important, pretentious, piece of garbage
Look, if you have a story about a conceited lesbian conductor who abuses her power and self-destructs, ok, tell that story. This rambling, self-important, pretentious references to composers and music all just serve to detract from whatever it is that the director or writer thinks they are trying to achieve. This is a rambling 2.5 hours of my life that I can't get back, and I am a classical music lover, including particularly Mahler and Elgar. Yes, Blanchette gave a performance. I wouldn't call that strong performance, it's weird alright. I would call it "trying-too-hard". Yes, 2022 is a year of giant pretentions of art, rather than art. Everything everywhere all at once is just a piece of garbage playing the most trite storyline of them all: teenage rebellion wrapped in some "multi-verse" junk. And this, this is simply a missed opportunity for a good movie. It could have been great, it could have been ground breaking. But the actual product reflects the quality of cinema these days: that it, they are pretty much all junk.
Tulip Fever (2017)
A rare gem
While it started with a doubtful romance and insufficient character buildup, the 2nd half of the movie really turned into a great story of what makes us human. The weakness of the mind, greed, lust, deceit, and betrayal, all to be finally redeemed through one's recognition of your own failings, and your inadequate yet honorable attempt to redeem your own failings. Superb acting from the main cast, and what a delightful little gem. If you are looking for some cheap satisfying Hollywood ending, this is not for you.
Of course the cinematography and the costumes all make this a well orchestrated periodic piece. But Walsz was superb, and Alicia Vikander has really blossomed into a versatile young actor. The supporting cast also carried our their roles with precision and aplomb. Overall, highly recommended.
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
What positive things can I say about this movie? Well, cinematography was not bad
Away from that, it's fallen short. While the story of a girl abandoned from her youth, living on the outskirt of civilization, castigated off by society can be tremendously interesting and affecting our hearts, this movie turned it into a poorly written murder thriller with very bland court room drama, in addition to 2 very shallow relationship stories with men that are, SURPRISE, no good. In the process, we see very little character development, almost none on the men, and a movie that's not sure if it's a heart wrenching life story about the main character, a poorly conjured bad romantic story, or a murder mystery. Avoid.
Big Fish (2003)
Fake sentimental trash
It is not that Ed Bloom tells lies, it's that he tells fantasy stories that are simply just pointless trash. In the end, the son's indictment rings true, we never know who you really are. Giants, Siamese twins, werewolves, they ultimately is a pile of talltales that never amounted to anything. To add a modicum of pretense of a real person behind this trope, Tim Burton resorts to some fake philanthrope which this forgettable character supposedly bestowed upon a town ravaged by modernization, and it is so fake that this empire built on sand completely crumbles. The fabricated sentimentality rings so hollow at that point I shut it off.
Persuasion (2022)
It's so bad it persuaded me to leave a review.
I have not read Persuasion the Jane Austen novel. Nor have I seen any other versions of it. So I am evaluating it purely on its own. And that, my friend, is what is called a disaster.
It is not clear what they wanted to express, but this Anne Elliott is full of sarcasm which made the romance completely fall on its face. There was no chemistry between them, nor any believability. The Wentworth character looks like he doesn't want to be there at all. And then there is Henry, no one knows if he's a philanderer, or just comedic relief.
The dialog, either you are "clueless", which is completely modern and does not try to pretend it's a period piece, or you are a Jane Austen adaptation, where the phrasing reflects the Regency period. You can't pretend to be both.
All in all, it is insufferable even 5 minutes in. I only finished it because it's supposed to be an adaptation of Jane Austen, whose every other movie I liked.
A Rainy Day in New York (2019)
Great charmer but it's really for New Yorkers
You can't quite figure out if this is a "catcher in the rye" story or something else until you are more than half way through. But ultimately it's always Woody Allen. Jokes about a neurotic literary and verbose younger Woody Allen like character, searching for a rudder against an upbringing of privilege, an overbearing mother, unfulfilled potential and a complete lack of direction in life. It also pretended to be a comedic love story. But ultimately it's neither a love story nor a "catcher in the rye" tribute. After you strip away the facade of spoiled rich kid persona, a superficial girl friend, a run-in with Hollywood, and the pretentios-ness of 5th Avenue spreads and the Carlyle Hotel, it's really all about a sentimentality, for a rainy date under the Delacorte Clock in the central park, for a romantic notion of urban sophistication. It is no wonder it's hard for non New Yorkers to love it.
I Care a Lot (2020)
Ludicrous script, crappy acting, and ugly romance forced down my throat
It's a rare gem where it tried to be different and cool, but ultimately empty with just ugliness.
Mulan (2020)
Would you just stop pretending?
A pander to capture Chinese audience, a lead actress that never learned how to act, a script infested with political correctness, a waste of time.
The Lake House (2006)
Contrived
The dialog is passable. However, the romance is just contrived. If you really pay attention, there is no real chemistry between the two, and no basis for the love story. There are a couple of sub-plot to give you a bit more of who each of them are, but they don't really work. The logical holes are also too big and very distracting.
I Am Mother (2019)
Quite clever, but ethical question unresolved
Basically the movie is a giant ethical exam. So APX03 passed the test. But the problem remains: if humankind is wiped out because of ethical failures, how can just one person passing the test gonna make "a new beginning" succeed?
Underworld (2003)
Beckinsale
That's why I watched it. The rest is, well, doesn't really matter, does it? If it matters to you, then well, it doesn't add up, not very interesting, and well, many parts should be removed for all I care.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
2 Hours I will never get back
If there is a more pretentious, preachy, empty, illogical, self-important, self-conscious movie made in recent years, please tell me so I can avoid it. This movie was a complete waste of time. In its endeavor to preach to us, it resorts to a complete non-sensical plot, the paranormal, the nudity of Nicole Kidman and stupid killing. Yet, despite the piling on of all these devices, its eagerness to preach just falls flat. Shove that moral superiority, that pretentiousness, and try to tell a normal life story without the self-superiority, and you might just become a real film maker. As is, Lathimos is just pure unadulterated garbage.
The Children Act (2017)
Grandiose, disconnected, empty
This is one of those highly self-conscious movies that seek to exploit a grand theme of the conflict of religious faith, morality, and parental love. Yet it fails miserably. A judge that fails to invest in her marriage, pours her heart out for a stranger "beautiful" boy, who decides to stalk her because she ruled to save his life despite his religious beliefs, that in of itself requires real character development, which was not there. A Jehovah's witness boy who refused blood transfusion, yet has a change of heart after he was overruled and saved. How, why, and who is this young boy? Almost 2 hours, and we still cannot figure out. The boy who decides to take his own life in the end, crying how can his parents who claimed to love him could let him die? But no character development of the parents whatsoever. Emma Thompson is supposed to have acted "grandly" in this movie, but really it rings extremely hollow. The art of movie making is dying. This is just one example of it.