Raul's Film Thoughts

*You're, not your.

Your is a possessive pronoun.

You're is a contraction of the words "you" and "are."

You are welcome.

If you're going to be a dick and correct people, perhaps you should proofread and not make grammatical errors.

__________________

Wohoo! I'm liking Typo Bot.

Sentences are lacking a subject.

Here is an alternative sentence:

Typo_Bot knows all.

Typo_Bot never fails.

Typo_Bot is coming for you.

You'res sincerely,
Typo_Bot

Improper sentence structure
Here is an alternative sentence:

Wohoo! Humans are inferior. All hail Typo_Bot

Your Welcome
Typo_Bot

I'm pretty sure your suggested alternative sentence, itself, would prompt another correction.

Going back to Manchester by the Sea, I feel like I need a more proper review to illustrate how much I connected to it.

Hush



I thought this film had a great concept, but the villain felt far too fragile for me. I almost got the sense that Maddie could kick his ass on a one on one fight. Also it didn't seem very scary since he was tapping on the windows when Maddie was deaf. It didn't add any scariness to the setting for her, so it didn't for me. I just feel like it could have been much much better.

I liked it more than you but I agree the villain was lame.

Crack is whack, folks.

If I remember right you liked it. So, sorry Swanny boy.

?No need to apologize.

Fences



This is a film that I should have over but in the end was only one I liked. The two core performances are the big positive of the film. Denzel was very into character as Troy. Viola Davis put on a very powerful performance and her big scene certainly is one of the most well acted of 2016. She actually outshined Denzel in my opinion but they were both very good. I think Antwone Fisher (another film directed by Denzel Washington) had a bit more heart to it, this one could certainly lead people to feeling cold to it. I also liked the supporting role of Stephen Henderson. What I didn't like was the films pacing at times and the mere fact that it felt like a rather stationary film, which could have definitely been what it was aiming for (it's called Fences, after all). But it almost felt too simple a film for me. I would have liked to have seen an actual heartwarming connection between the son and Troy as well as it would have made the ending more genuine.

-

That the villain was "fragile" was only refreshing to me, since your typical horror/thrillers usually got the smart psychological killer or whatever. This was a "normal dude", who could make mistakes, who was also probably a more realistic version of a man with mentally twisted issues. The movie also made that point clear when they decided to have the killer remove his mask. Then it was clear this movie wasn't going to be what it seems like you wanted it to be.

I thought the tapping on the windows was interesting and disturbing enough, since the effectiveness comes from the fact that we know something is there while she doesn't. That's a classic horror tool, weird you seem to write it off like that. But if you didn't think it was scary, well that's you opinion and that's fine of course. And I do understand why someone wouldn't like it, but I'm not too fond of your arguments though.

__________________
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Interstellar



I think I would put this one up there in Nolan's filmography, but probably not quite top 3 material. I will say it does certainly feel lengthy, but perhaps it was a lot of film to digest. The cinematography was sensational as it is with all of Nolan's films. He seems to bring a lot of layers and concepts to the forefront of this film. I almost felt overwhelmed at times much like how I did with Inception on a first watch. I really thought the performances were good all round. Nobody really stood above anyone else but they are all solid. McConnaughey certainly has talent when he's given the right role and Chastain is growing as a favorite of mine. I was really touched my the father daughter scene before he left to pilot. And there were other scenes that were just beautiful to see when they visited the other planets. The water planet looked epic. The one where McConnaughey and Damon were on was a thing of beauty as well. The score was great. I'm still wishy washy on how I feel about some of the end scenes and also about how I feel about the overall story in general, but I absolutely admire this film from a filmmaking standpoint. This won't be my last watch.

I agree with everything you said about Interstellar.

I understand your criticisms of Fences as well but I think I put them out of my mind as the film progressed. I think the stationary part comes from being a play. That aspect would be hard to change without adding to the material. I can understand feeling that way though. I tend to teally respond to one location movies so it didn't bother me. I should have taken more advantage of Broadway when I lived on Long Island. I think I am a play person despite only ever having been to three or four.

__________________
Letterboxd

I think its because I wanted to really love Fences, being a Denzel guy and all but I didn't necessarily love it. I think it stung more because of the fact that the performances were so good. It's hard when you feel you are stuck in the middle between how you feel about a movie.

I'm really glad I got to Interstellar, but I also wonder if I was in the right mood to fully watch it. May have been a better night movie perhaps.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn



I must say that this was a very captivating movie. The movie did have certain lulls and at one point felt like it would fall flat head the end, but the ending was especially beautiful. I won't go to into detail with it now since Sean hasn't seen it yet but there are certainly some very heartwarming scenes near that ending. The acting is what drives this movie. Peggy Ann Garner gave an amazing childhood performance and the other performances were very good as well. I liked Dorothy McGuires performance the second most probably. James Dunn's performance really grew on me. At the beginning of the film I wasn't so sure, but he had a special charm to him when all was said and done. For an early film, there's certainly some heavy scenes in here. The camera work is beautiful and it seems like that is a constant standout feature of Kazans. I see this film being a contender for my 40s list.

+

La La Land SPOILERS POTENTIALLY

Just when I thought I saw the best movie of 2016 already (Manchester by the Sea), this movie comes and absolutely blows me away. I'll just start off by saying this is by far and away the best musical I have ever seen, and for those who haven't seen it, yes it IS. The only knack I can actually think of is the opening scene only in the sense that it had me worried about whether I would actually like the movie or not. The song was catchy but it started off to be a fear of the unknown.

After that, I loved getting to know the two main characters. I loved the chemistry that Mia and Sebastian had together. In particular, I say give Emma Stone an Oscar now. Her performance as Mia was simply outstanding. She had a lot of range with her character, I enjoyed her songs, and she was a very interesting person. I really like Gosling as well. Seeing the two characters come together and find common interests was really entertaining for me.

The best thing about the film may be the look of it. So many skyline scenes with beautiful colors, and the backgrounds and settings used in the film were just simply stunning. I love the scenery when they are dancing in the planetarium and when they are looking for her car. I also like the setting of where Sebastian and Mia meet for the second time when he is playing piano. Just seems like it would be a really cool place to hang out. I also like the catchy theme that became their song. Almost reminds me of the song Sam plays in Casablanca, which it may have been aiming for. The film exudes other coolness, like for example, the poster of The Killers in their apartment . The musical numbers in general are something that will really stick with you. They were all pretty brilliant.

The movie makes relationships and bonds feel like they are the most important thing in life because they are. And the characters start to realize this even when caught up in their own ways.

How about that ending? That one really got me by surprise. I've heard people don't like that ending but I really think it was perfect. At first I thought it was her thinking about her potential future and thinking she may regret it, so it really got me when it wasn't that way.

In all, this is the first year I remember seeing two films I would consider absolute favorites in the same year. I assume this one would continue to grow on me as well. A top 10 potential movie for the future.

Glad you loved it Raul. Funny, I felt the exact same way during the opening number but forgot aboit that till you wrote that. Good stuff.

I have A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on my 40's watchlist; it sounds promising.

I can't say I'm interested in the other movie yet.