Inconceivable Reviews

And that's why Juno left Bleeker out of all her decisions regarding the baby...even though they considered themselves a couple, what happened between them was basically a one night stand, they didn't really have any true feelings about each other.

Review #8: Mr. Nobody (2009)


A couple of days ago, I watched 2009's Mr. Nobody starring Jared Leto and written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael, and next I'm going to try and synopsize this film and miserably fail because it's just way too much.

Leto plays a boy named Nemo who's parents have divorced, therefore he has to choose with who he wants to stay, and he has to do so before his mother gets on a train and leaves. The 8 year old literally has less than a minute to decide with who he should go, which bothered me, because why would the parents enforce this kind of decision on their child while he has such a small amount of time, and if they did actually bother to ask him before all of this then why would the mother recklessly go on a train knowing that her child still hasn't made a decision. Awful parents.

The movie is basically a walking talking Schrödinger's cat theory, it explores both possibilities (staying with his father/mother) and all the different outcomes that would stem from those two decisions, while teasing us with reality, and what he really has decided.

My issue with the film is that it goes beyond just the above, and crams in endless ideas in just one movie, and it feels really heavy and I didn't like that, not to mention the film is already over two hours long.

A lot of things they do in this film is way too confusing, and it's not like I usually have an issue with that (in fact one of my favourite films is Enemy) but this time it feels as if they're throwing puzzle pieces at you of five completely different puzzles and they're asking you to assemble everything up. There are quite a few concepts in this film that just annoyed me and made me scream "WHY!?" in my head.

What I absolutely despised is the ending, and the "big reveal", I don't want to spoil anything but for me it made the whole film pointless.

And no, I didn't just hate this film, there are a lot of things I enjoyed a lot about it and wished they would have explored even more such as Nemo's life with each of his love interests in his alternate realities, I actually felt pretty invested in those story arcs. The directing in this film is incredible, there is a lot of great camera work that amazed me. The acting as well is really good, Jared Leto did a phenomenal job and so did the supporting actors (especially Toby Regbo and Sarah Polley). But all of this still can't overshadow my problems with the movie.

I wanted to like Mr. Nobody so bad, but I would be lying to you if I said I did. There are a lot of things to enjoy but double the amount to dislike which left me quite disappointed by the end of the film and that is why I'm going to give this a B-

__________________
I'm probably the most critical, picky and hard to please moviegoer, ever.

I'm one of the few people on the planet who has never seen Casablanca, but your review is making me re-think that...really enjoying this review thread.

Thank you. And you should definitely watch Casablanca, it's a must see film for everyone no matter their preference when it comes to movies, you won't be disappointed!

I just watched and reviewed Mr. Nobody (2009), I liked it a bit better than you but yes it does cram a lot of ideas into a 2 hour movie. I actually would have liked it to be even longer so we could get more details about his alternative life stories.

Review #9: Anomalisa (2015)


Anomalisa, the so called most human film of 2015. Do I consider that statement to be correct ?

Anomalisa is a stop motion animation drama film, starring David Thewlis and Jennifer Leigh, it's also written and directed by one of my favourite writers, Charlie Kaufman with the help of Duke Johnson. I knew I was in for a treat walking into a Kaufman film, and I was right. Really right !

Anomalisa presents to us the tale of Michael Stone, a customer service expert that lost his connection to the world and feels as though everyone around him is tedious, he travels to Cincinnati to promote his latest book and he meets Lisa, a fan of his writing. The two have an intriguing connection and spend the rest of their time together possibly falling in love with one another.

The most outstanding part of the film is the stock motion, after a short time you forget that this all an animation due to how well done it is, the movie was made in almost 2 years, and the makers efforts are very appreciated and commended. I also adored the character of Lisa, I thought she was very sweet, innocent and loveable. The connection between Lisa and Michael is very interesting to me, it felt very one-sided yet genuine at the same time.

The character of Michael is a study piece to me, he wants someone interesting to talk to and he is losing his sanity because he can't seem to find that person, and most importantly he is afraid of losing that person once found. The movie drops hints and clues everywhere for the audience to collect and use to understand the bigger picture, which is not complicated, but what makes it more special is how the puzzle pieces perfectly fit by the end of the film.

Anomalisa is a very realistic feature, the story including the stock motion and the voice acting all help to add in to the realism. There's also quite a few funny scenes that earned a chuckle out of me.

I only have a few petty nitpicks about the film and they definitely don't take anything away from the amazing experience you'll get while watching this picture. So is this the most human film of 2015 ? Well it's the most human stock motion film I've ever seen I'll tell you that, so go ahead and watch Anomalisa which I give an A-

Review #10: Brooklyn (2015)


Brooklyn, the highly praised drama of 2015, do you remember it ? You know...the one that got nominated for three Oscars ! Do I think it deserves the buzz it got from the critics and the viewers ? You'll see.

During the 50's, Eilis, a young Irish woman that lives with her mother and sister, leaves her small home town and immigrates to America hoping to find a better future for herself. While there she is struck by homesickness, romance, success and tragedy.

Let's start first with the positives, then get to the negatives (if there are any); I really enjoyed the acting in this film, everyone does a fantastic job at portraying life during the 50's, I didn't think anyone stood out but that's not necessarily a bad thing, it just shows that everyone was consistently great. The clothing also helped in adding to the realism.

I also felt quite invested in the relationship between Eilis and her family, to the point where I think I was sadder for her than she was herself. Might I add that the writing for the whole film is incredible.

While in Brooklyn, Eilis falls in love with an Italian guy named Tony, and I unfortunately didn't feel as invested in their relationship as most people were, now don't get me wrong I do think they had great chemistry with each other, and it was really cute seeing them together on screen, but the lead up to them being in love with each other was a bit rushed for me. I could swear that they were together on screen for a total of 7 minutes maximum before they declared their love for each other. Which also leads me to my next critique which is Eilis's character, she blossoms from this extremely shy and homesick girl into a confident woman overnight after just one night with a guy, I don't buy that.

I might be getting into some minor spoilers but my next point is quite crucial, in the second half of the film Eilis has to go back to her home town for a specific reason and she meets another guy that she clearly and slowly gets emotionally attached to, that's fine and dandy but there was no established conflict between her and Tony in the first place for her to do that, their relationship was literally portrayed as perfect. And what's even worse is that this issue is never really addressed which was a big turn off for me.

The film can literally be cut in half and it would still be the same thing, and that's because the main character goes from point A to point B over the course of maybe 40 minutes ? If not even that. Eilis's character reaches the end of its reach during the first act of the movie, then remains the same for the entirety of the next hour.

Now it might seem that I am leaning more into hating this film than liking it, but that is far from the truth, I'm just quite disappointed. Overall, Brooklyn is really good, it managed to emotionally grasp me at times, the writing and the acting are very admirable, and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous therefore I'm going to give this picture a B+ (I'm actually jumping back and forth between a B and a B+, if there was a rating between those two that's what I would give it)

Review #11: Sleepaway Camp (1983)


I actually thought that I have never seen this flick before, well that's until the ending came and I remembered that I had already watched Sleepaway Camp when I was really young, back then I thought the film was terrifying, do I think the same now that I have grown up ?

Sleepaway Camp is about Angela, an extremely shy teen who goes to a summer camp with her cousin Ricky, there she gets bullied by a bunch of people for being so timid, and coincidentally all of her bullies start dying mysteriously, which begs the question, is their deaths her doing or someone else's ?

Alright cut the crap, this film is total dog ****, and I actually kinda liked it. It's one of those extremely campy and cheesy "horror" movies from the 80's with atrocious acting, it has everything you would expect from a slasher film of that time period and some more. But it also gives the vibe that it is self aware of it's truth, I mean just by the acting alone you can tell that nobody was taking their job seriously, it's really that bad ! It reminded me of a less funnier version of Johnny from "The Room" or Arnold and the witch from "Trolls 2". Also the script is just plain dumb. Period. And the dialogue is just the best part of it all, not only do the actors act horribly, but they have to say some really weird, funny lines as well.

Although, it doesn't really work as well as Trolls 2 or The Room did for me, it simply isn't on their level. It was funny, yes, but it was the kind where you say in your head "hahaha that is funny" instead of actually laughing out loud. But there were a couple of scenes that earned a burst of laughter out of me.

One thing I was impressed by was the make up in this film, it was pretty darn decent for such a low budget movie.

Now let's talk about the ending or "the twist" at the end (Don't worry, I won't spoil anything), It really caught me off guard and shocked me, it was hilarious yet in a way really creepy, I really wish it was used in a much serious and scarier film than this one, it was THAT great.

Sleepaway Camp has a steady story to follow, it definitely isn't messy or all over the place in that aspect, but the editing in this film is really bad, it's almost as if they thought you wouldn't catch the many mistakes they've made, for example you meet a guy with an actual real moustache but yet the next time you see him he has a drawn one, it's really funny, and there are a lot of other "hopefully the audience won't notice" moments all throughout the movie.

Overall this is a cult classic, it is must see for horror fans and definitely for any one who's into goofy and cheesy films and I have no doubt that they would enjoy it more than I did. But at the end it didn't work for me as much as I hoped it would so I unfortunately am forced to give it a C+

Review #12: The Edge of Seventeen (2016)


I feel as though every decent teen comedy is an exact replica of the previous one.

The Edge of Seventeen is a coming of age film that follows Nadine, a 17 year old girl who's high school life is depressing, and things get more unbearable for her when her best and only friend starts dating her brother.

To be quiet honest, I feel like I'm reviewing Juno all over again, because this has a lot of similarities to it and to every other good teen comedy (Easy A, Mean Girls, 10 things I hate about you...), it has the sarcastic humour, the cartoonish characters, except this time they are a bit less unrealistic.

Everyone does a good enough job playing their roles with Woody Harrelson being the standout performance, he was my and I'm sure other people's favourite character, every scene he's in is very enjoyable and funny.

Another thing I really admired was how the film didn't solely focus on the lead, which was a good choice since she is a pain in the arse and becomes really unlikeable over time, but not enough to completely hate her and that makes for a good balance, since it's good to see a fair portrayal of a moody teenage girl.

The movie does unfortunately fall in the usual clichés you would expect in these kind of films, and you can pretty much predict what's gonna happen by the end of the flick, but god does this one completely turn to total garbage in the last 10 minutes. They pretty much flush out all of the characteristics of the lead character and replace it with traits of a goodie goodie girl for no real reason other than to have your typical happy ending, and that is very disappointing to see in a movie that was already going well.

The film is pretty enjoyable until things become way too convenient near the end, to the point where you can literally pick up any of the coming of age movies endings and put it in this film and it wouldn't make a difference.

The Edge of Seventeen is a really funny teen drama with interesting characters that have a good chemistry between them but overall the movie doesn't add anything new to the table in my opinion, and completely drops the ball by the end of the film, therefore I'm giving it a B-

Review #13: Manchester By The Sea (2016)


Casey Affleck has become my favourite Affleck after watching this film.

Casey Affleck plays Lee in Manchester By The Sea, a miserable man who hates life and unfortunately things get worse for him after his brother's sudden death, he is asked to become the guarder of his nephew but he feels as though he isn't in the best shape to do so.

I have to say this movie has one of the best acting I have ever seen, everyone is pretty much flawless, Casey Affleck delivers an oscar worthy performance with his perfect portrayal of an isolated man , Michelle Williams is incredible and so is Lucas Hedges, they all give their best and that is definitely appreciated.

The movie is mostly a tragedy, but it showcases that in such an original and realistic way, the characters don't just sit around moping and crying forever after the death of Kyle Chandler's character, they move on with their lives and have to deal with all the applications that need to be done after the death of a person, and I rarely have ever seen that shown before in a film. At the same time the tragedy never feels as if it's taken lightly, in fact you can feel and sense the grief in the atmosphere for the entirety of the film.

Lee's character is so complex and interesting, you feel for him and all of what he's gone through, as the movie goes on you start to understand why he is how he is and why he's making such decisions throughout the film. His relationship with his nephew, Patrick is one of my favourite parts to watch, it is so loveable, there is a genuine sense of care between the two of them.

There is also a lot of humour going on for such a tragic film, and it works perfectly since it balances everything out, and it definitely doesn't take anything away from the emotional scenes in fact I believe it makes them much more impactful, I mean there's one specific scene between Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams characters where they meet down the street, and it literally breaks your heart, at least it broke mine, at that point you're so emotionally invested in these characters and you feel their sadness as much as they do.

For a movie that is played out of order, it never feels messy or all over the place, and for a movie that is over 2 hours long you don't feel any kind of boredom whatsoever at any point, in fact you leave this film wanting more and I gotta give huge props to the director for that.

The only negative I have is the music and the score, I felt that it was pretty annoying at times but yet pretty well done at others so it was very inconsistent.

Manchester By The Sea is a fantastic film that should definitely be seen as soon as possible, it deserves all the praise it gets since it's rare to make a very emotional tragedy as well as this one, and I am happy to give this an A