Zotis' Film Watching Diary

→ in
Tools    





When I saw I had a mention from you I genuinely expected it to be aimed at me.

What is it about super heroes?
They're only any good if played for laughs and/or kids.




__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



Joy (2015)


I've been really impressed with Jennifer Lawrence lately. I kind of lost faith in her after The Hunger Games trilogy and was dismissive of her other movies. But the way that other actors and filmmakers talked about her in various interviews made me reconsider. I've been extremely impressed with everything of hers, and even her performance in The Hunger Games was excellent. Joy was no exception. She was spectacular. She really gives every role her all. I remember Robert De Niro being impressed by her before doing the movie, and honestly I found De Niro's performance lacking. De Niro didn't produce convincing emotion. There was one scene where he was supposed to be so angry he started smashing things, but he didn't actually seem remotely angry. The children were quite wooden, but the rest of the cast was fine. Lawrence stole the show though. She was spectacular. The movie was based on a true story about a woman who invented a mop and then traveled around trying to sell it. She went through a lot of hardship and Lawrence did a brilliant job portraying the stress and anxiety of all that weight and pressure on her shoulders.




You Were Never Really Here (2017)


Winner of the Best Actor and Best Screenplay awards at last year's Cannes, Joaquin Phoenix sports a grizzly beard and personality that makes him almost unrecognizable. Slouched, quiet, humble is the character Phoenix portrays that hides a troubled past behind sad eyes and studies other people seeing through their lies. A truly remarkable film that makes me excited for modern artistic cinema. Exciting, realistic, cruel, and savage ingenuity portrayed through the lense. Phoenix sheds tears authentically without cuts demonstrating his phenominal control over his mind and emotions as an actor. You can really tell he has become the character for the role. His performance is so compelling it almost made me forget that the cinematography and music were also superb. The music was Refn-esque. Several times I had a sensation that I would describe as The Neon Demon meets Good Time. This was through a combination of cinematography and music. I also noted that the violence delayed gratification with a fleshed out story and characters, and when the violence came it was almost relentless. I say almost because it didn't quite unsettle me. Overall an almost perfect film, extremely enjoyable to watch. Artistic, thoughtful, and exciting.




The Villainess (2017)


A ruthless South Korean blood bath with long POV blood squirting action scenes in the style of Hardcore Henry, The Villainess was a bit of a shock to my system. The story revolved around highly skilled and trained since childhood deadly assassin Sook-hee's murderous quest for revenge. This movie was awesomeness incarnate with aesthetic flare, a sexy heroine, and a katana equipped motorcycle battle. It was the best kind of action movie as far as I'm concerned.




Peppermint (2018)


A boring sappy chliche soccer mom transforms into a Mary Sue female rip-off of The Punisher. If you've seen the trailer then you already know the entire plot and it's predictable ending. Jennifer Garner is the lead, and she's pretty much the same character as she is in everything she does, except this time she's taken some MMA and shooting classes. I've never liked her, and always found her to be rather dull. This movie was no exception. I wasn't expecting much from this film aside from some entertaining violence, which the movie certainly did deliver. There were plenty of scenes of Garner going Tom Cruise on generic bad guys, racking up scrapes and bruises, and showing at least a little bit of pain. Far from realistic, this film is right up the alley of anyone who likes typical Hollywood blockbuster action movies. For me it was rather difficult to endure. I should have listened to my inner voice and avoided the movie. It didn't appeal to me at all. I considered walking out half-way through, but stuck around until the dust settled, and bailed on the incoming sentimental final few minutes. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone with an ounce of class, but for the average pleb I'm sure it'll be a blast. There are a lot of blanks being fired from SMG's with no recoil, exaggerated blood, and all the sappy melodrama superficial shallow people love. Finally I must say that the child actor playing her daughter wasn't bad, it was really due to a lack of direction that she was so wooden. You can't expect much from a little girl, but a good director knows how to bring a realistic performance out of their actors. This wasn't the case with this film. The little girl was too wordy, articulate, and cheerful to resemble an actual girl if you ignore how wooden her line reading was.




Assassination Nation (2018)


When I watched the trailer I thought it was going to be a superficial overtly sexual glorification of violence, but I was pleasantly surprised. I can't give any credit to the music. It was a rip-off of The Neon Demon. But it was refreshing to not hear the Inception bass. The movie did glorify violence, but not in the Tom Cruise/John Woo shoot-em-up sort of way. There was a fair amount of discomfort and shock to a lot of the violence, which was a good thing as it didn't let me feel too comfortable with all the blood and death. The violence didn't really start until half way through the second act. I really appreciated that, as a lot of action movies dive right into the violence after the first act. This movie had a lot more story and character development than an action movie typically would. I'd say this was more of an action/thriller. What really surprised me most about this movie was that it actually had substance. The characters had personalities full of flaws, and the message revolved around self-righteous hypocrisy. There was real trauma, depression, anger, and a reason for the violence. It wasn't gratuitous, but had substance and purpose behind the sexual and violent content. I recognized the lead's face, but for the duration of the movie couldn't place her. After looking up who she was I remembered her from The Daughter. She is Australian actress Odessa Young. I never expected to see her in a movie like this. I think this movie will be right up the alley of anyone who liked Spring Breakers. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Odessa Young does next in her career. I'd like to see this movie again while it's still in theaters.




Maniac (2018)


Jonah Hill and Emma Stone absolutely killed it in this psychological drama (I must admit to my own embarassment that I thought Emma Stone was Elle Fanning for the entire show. I was wondering why sometimes her blond hair had dark roots and her eyebrows were dark...). Both of them have caught my eye in the past, and seeing them together was unexpectedly brilliant. The series suddenly appeared on Netflix, and once I started I was hooked. The episodic endings weren't all excruciating cliffhangers, though a couple were, but I felt like the series could have ended several times. The episodes were so well rounded and closed that they could have been stand alone movies. When the series finally ended I felt extremely satisfied. All of the actors killed it, even the extras. There was a very clever plot device that allowed for extras and supporting actors to appear multiple times, and that was the dream-like sequences of induced subconscious reality (for lack of a better term). The characters were put into a drug induced state of subconscious reflection wherein they would dream and experience alternate lives. So within that narrative there was a surface world where the characters were themselves, and there were multiple dream worlds where they appeared again in various roles. All of the various stories were interesting and creative. The acting was superb with a lot of intense realistic emotion, and no wooden acting from even the weakest extra. The story was a gripping tale of two people who's fates were intertwined amidst depression and adventure as they faced their greatest fears alongside their hopes and dreams. All of the characters were delightfully flawed. The characters were thoroughly scrutinized and deconstructed. Many of them exhibited a tremendous lack of self-awareness, but the series was incredibly self-aware as it embarassed and exposed its characters and their vulnerabilities. I found myself shedding tears almost every episode, and learning things about myself too. This show was so awesome I don't even know where to start or what to talk about. I loved the quirky doctors administering the experiments and their internal monologues. I loved how smart they were, yet how in denial of their own flaws they were. I loved how they would analyze each other and expose each other's weaknesses, and at other times they were completely wrong in their assessments of each other due to their own inadequacies that they weren't yet willing to admit to themselves. I think my favorite character was Dr. Azumi Fujita, played by Sonoya Mizuno (someone I've never heard of before). Despite her awkward nerdiness, she was elegant. I liked her intelligence, and her awkwardness only added to that. Her bob hairstyle with thick bangs, futuristic lab coat, and large rounded glasses accentuated her curvaceous lips. And normally I'm not a fan of cigarettes, but she looked really hot in quite a few scenes with a cigarette dangling between her lips.


Justin Theroux played a brilliantly complex doctor, as sophisticated as he was childishly absurd. Rome Kanda played a hilariously charming drug addicted doctor. Gabriel Byrne played Hill's intimidating yet endeering mafioso father. Julia Garner was the perfect choice for a soft sister to Stone. Garner's character was normal to an excruciatingly boring degree on the surface, but surprisingly insightful and sensitive once you dug a little deeper. The sister bond between Garner and Stone was a delightful mixture of the love/hate bond that so many siblings share. Jemima Kirke was delightful in a toned down smaller role, but she had wonderful roles in all of her portrayals on the surface world as well as the dream worlds. In one scene Billy Magnussen playing Hill's brother comes into the room and assassinates the FBI that Hill's character was informing for, one of them being Kirke. Magnussen's character senses that Hill's character is uncomfortable with it and says, “It's because she's attractive.” And it's so true. If she was as ugly as the fat black guy who got killed, the audience would have felt just as little sympathy. It's remarkable how we feel sympathy based on surface beauty like that, and the show makes a point about it. I am telling you, this show is incredibly self-aware. Magnussen was brilliant in a number of characters throughout the movie, portraying heroes and villains. But most of all I was impressed by Sally Field. I am telling you, she is not an actress that has been on my radar. Sure, I've alwasy known about her, since she is quite prolific, but I've never cared for her. I've never thought much of her at all. She's like my mom, just boring and there. I was truly blown away by her perfomance in this series. She played two characters, Theroux's mother, and the computer's subconscious that was modelled after his mother. The computer is quite insane, but does inspire sympathy, and Theroux's mother is part freudian nightmare and part insightful genius in her own right. She adopts a psychological approach that the other doctors criticise as mainstream popcorn, but is also in touch with the spiritual side of fate that the more atheistic doctors are not willing to admit to. She's brilliant in her self-deception, and lack of self-awareness as in her analisis of the solution to other characters' unwillingness to deal with their personal problems. I can hardly praise this show enough. It was almost a masterpiece. If only the music had been a little more original, but the biggest flaw for me was the cinematography. Some shots were really boring, and none of the shots were particularly interesting. If only they had a cinematograhper with as much talent as one of the supporting cast, it could have been a true masterpiece. As it stands this is still a superb series that deserves attention. I think it will be enjoyable for plebs as well as snobs, so I recommend this show for absolutely everyone! A must see!!! This is undoubtedly the best series I've ever seen. It's well above the standard for television.




Mandy (2018)


This was a psychedelic trip down acid lane for sure. Definitely meant to be watched on LSD, it gives you the feeling you're on LSD (at least it made me think it was giving me that feeling, I'm not sure since I've never tried LSD). The visuals were quite striking throughout the film, with seizure inducing flashing lights and vibrant colors. It was probably for the best that Cage didn't have very many lines, but there were a couple of scenes where he pulled off some pretty remarkable performances. In one scene where he slit a man's throat, blood pours into his face and he looks with eyes wide open despite all of the fake blood in his eyes. It looked painful, and was certainly intense. My favorite scene was probably when Cage, in tighty whiteys, has a bit of a freak out and chugs some vodka after being brutalised by delinquents. It was a long shot involving quite a mess of blood and alcohol. That would have indeed been difficult to re-shoot. The story was fairly simple, but elegant. Some religious cult of psychopaths take his girlfriend, and he goes on a crazy revenge spree. I found all of the characters to have substantial personality and individuality. The music blatantly copied Refn, but it was still good music.




The Last Kingdom (2015)(Series)


The historical aspects seemed pretty reasonable to me as far as I could tell. King Alfred, the king of Wessex, was familiar to me from my reading of Winston Churchill's The Birth of Britain. The story revolved around Uhtred of Bebbanburg, played by Alexander Doetsch, a Saxon who was taken prisoner and raised as a Dane after his father died in battle. The series was based on a novel series by Bernard Cornwell called Saxon Stories. What really made this show work for me was quality acting across the board, solid writing, and brutal realism. There were many strong performances from the cast that really helped me sink into immersion. The violence was gruesome, and the plot was full of war, betrayal, mistrust, and heroism. There was a resounding theme of doing the right thing despite not being trusted by friends and allies, and striving for justice and truth. Some of the characters developed strong bonds, and the betrayals stung deep into the hearts of friends and lovers. The main character was excellent as an authentic person, he was heroic, but he was also flawed. There weren't a lot of clear cut good guys and bad guys. There were some, but many of the characters laid in some grey territory. I could see people's motives, and empathise even with the villains. One thing that I found very distracting though was the make-up. There were too many male actors wearing thick amounts of lipstick and eyeliner.




Sweet Virginia (2017)


This was a slow-paced moody atmospheric movie that I think tried to be artistic, but lacked depth. I felt confused about the pacing and music. I'd say this was two parts drama and one part thriller. A tad predictable, this just felt like a simple movie overall. Odessa Young was a pleasant surprise, but her talent seemed wasted on a fairly insignificant minor role. John Bernthal was the lead, and I really wasn't buying his character who timidly hung his head and avoided eye contact at times. The cowardice seemed inconsistent, and there was no delving into the psychology of any of the characters unfortunately. I felt that Imogen Poots gave the strongest performance among the cast members. Overall it wasn't a bad movie. It just wasn't a good movie either.




The Pirates of Somalia (2017)


This was an intense drama about an aspiring journalist who decided to go to Somalia and interview the pirates since there were no other journalists willing to because of the potential danger. It's based on the real events of Jay Bahadur's adventure there. He was played by Evan Peters who delivered a solid performance. Peters' wit gave me a few hearty laughs. I think the real heart of this movie was Bahadur answering the call to adventure, risking his life to make the world a better place and further himself as a man. The movie was exciting and inspiring, but never harshly violent, frightening, or emotionally intense. I think this was a very accessible movie that plebs as well as snobs can enjoy.




Miracle Season (2018)


A bit of a superficial tear-jerker, this drama's was about a volleyball team's struggle to become state champions in the wake of the death of their star captain. After opening with a lighthearted pursuit of happiness, tragedy befalls. It didn't have to try very hard to make me cry despite the music and writing being rather bland. At least the acting was solid. If you've seen the trailer you know the whole plot, and I knew how the movie would end half way through the trailer. If you watch it without seeing the trailer, you should know the ending within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. It was extremely predictable. There were some touching scenes, and some hyped sports moments, but it was a fairly generic feel-good flick.




Kiss Me First (2018)


Kiss Me First has a bit of a misleading name. It's not a sappy romance, it's actually quite an intense thriller about virtual reality and a suicide/death cult. It has romantic themes, but its focus on relationships is much broader. The attractions between the protagonist and a couple of the other characters are mixed up, complex, and include friendship and love. There was a lot of intense emotion and sexuality that portrayed convincingly by many cast members. Tallulah Haddon played a stellar lead as Leila, delivering an impressive emotionally overloaded performance as a timid but brave young woman dealing with tremendous loss and guilt while fighting through personal challenges for the relationships she cared about. Simona Brown played Tess, an emotional wreck struggling to find joy and happiness while dealing with addiction and depression. Matthew Aubrey played Jonty, Leila's quirky but fun roommate. I enjoyed the humble way characters struggled with avoiding and resolving their problems. The show demonstrated self-awareness in the way it wrote its characters and dealt with their problems.






Like Me (2017)


This was an artful exploration into the maddening realm of a demented teen with a thirst for adventure beyond moral boundaries. Addison Timlin was unknown to me. She played the lead role with confidence and delivered a solid performance. Larry Fessenden looked like Jack Nicholson, especially with long messy hair like a madman. I wonder if that's what they were going for, or if it was a coincidence. Timlin kind of looked like Winona Rider. The story was pretty abstract as it revolved around a series of events in which Timlin's character, Kiya, sought material to make viral online videos. I was impressed with what was captured in this movie. The sets were elaborate in a sort of Andy Warhol way. I felt an exhilarating sense of adventure that made me want to leave everything behind, move to another city, and do crazy things that most people would never dream of doing. I gather that this movie was really a celebration of life that just went horribly wrong...




I have to ask what you mean by "The sets were elaborate in a sort of Andy Warhol way." I ask only because elaborate isn't a word I'd use to describe his work.



I'm talking about his parties, not his art. He might have an elephant in one room and a pile of dirt with daffodils growing in another room, and the whole place covered in tin foil with a live band playing. Here's an example in the movie: