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I expected Antwone Fisher in the first few moments of the film after he beat up another Navy man, to be just another movie about some angry guy who overcomes prejudice and becomes an officer and a gentlemen...And that might have been cliched as we've had a lot of movies like that.

But instead we get a wonderfully nuanced character who is both shy and suffers from low self esteem and is a virgin...all of that because he was sexually abused as a child and it's scarred him as an adult. To me that is heart felt and original. And the real Antwone Fisher rose from being an abandoned and abused child living in poverty to writing a freaking movie! That's not fake or cliched, that's amazing.



Barry Lyndon: I am an easy sell with costume dramas. Add to that the fact that this movie is pretty much a black comedy, and I am all in. Great score and gorgeous cinematography. I also think O'Neal is great here. My favorite Kubrick. This was an overdue second watch.
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How do we stand with Sea Inside and Deer Hunter? Are they still in?
Deer Hunter is an official out.

Sea Inside there's a good chance it won't stay since Moviegal hasn't posted. I won't officially eliminate it yet but I would definitely save for last if time strapped.



I watched The Sea Inside last weekend. I'll post my review of in case it gets cut:

There are plenty of things in The Sea Inside that deserve praise. Ramon Sampedro's flashbacks to the incident that changed his life and his flights of fancy are visually interesting and help define who he is. I also like how the movie leaves the answer to whether Ramon has the right to end his life up to the viewer by presenting, but not weighing in on either side of the debate. I especially like the scene where Ramon argues with paraplegic euthanasia opponent Padre Francisco, the highlight being when Ramon's mother disputes the priest's claim that she and the rest of the Sampedro family are not doing enough to support Ramon. You also must give credit to Javier Bardem for not only being utterly convincing as a paraplegic, but also for how well he expresses Ramon's desire to live with dignity despite the role's physical limitations. With that said, a much different debate played out in my mind during the entirety of the movie about whether a dramatic film was the best way to tell Ramon's story. While watching his father speak his mind about his son's desire to die and the conversation with the priest, I couldn't help but think that I'd rather hear them do the same thing on a podcast or on one of the debate shows Ramon listened to on the radio. Also, whenever Ramon spoke about his philosophy on life and death, it made me wish that I was watching him or Bardem as him do the same thing in front of a camera in an Errol Morris documentary. In other words, Ramon's story and the euthanasia controversy at its core seem better suited for debate and discussion rather than dramatization. We spend a lot of time in Ramon’s bedroom, for instance, and while Bardem and director Amenabar do as much as they can to make these scenes compelling and have us empathize with how hopeless and bored Ramon is, my empathetical boredom eventually became actual boredom. Not to mention, the parts that allow for visual invention like the ones that take place inside Ramon's head are pleasing to the eye, but they only (and should only) compromise a small portion of the movie. In all fairness, Amenabar and company did the best they could in their chosen medium to warrant me giving the movie a mild recommendation. Nonetheless, I wish I had read Ramon's book Letters From Hell, which the movie mentions, instead.



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If you aren't over halfway by now you are technically behind. About a month and 20 days left.
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Seriously though, I'm 5/15, so I'm decidedly *behind*. The ends of the month are usually tough for me cause I always end up catching up with my own challenge, but maybe now that March started I can sneak a couple of "freebies" before going all-in into my challenge again. Another good thing is that I've already seen Vampyr (last year), Barry Lyndon, and Beasts of Southern Wild, although the latter two were years ago so I wouldn't mind a rewatch of both. But anyway, I'll try to catch up with a few this week.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I had watched Aniara last Thursday and need to type out a review.
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Beasts of the Southern Wild



This was my second watch but I basically remained the same on how I felt about the film. I do think the highlight of the film was the great performance by Wallis, and it was quite impressive to see her nominated for an Oscar. I wonder if she will have any more big gigs yet in her career. I think Zeitlin did a decent job directing, but the problem was that it was a screenplay that I really didn't care for. I didn't really feel any connection with Hushpuppy's father, which I think hurt how connected I was to the film. I wasn't even sure that the guy was a good father. Had he been maybe I would have felt differently. I think the film would work better without the fantasy elements being in the film too, they kind of take away from the emotional aspect of the story in my opinion. It's just an ok film to me.




Beasts of the Southern Wild



This was my second watch but I basically remained the same on how I felt about the film. I do think the highlight of the film was the great performance by Wallis, and it was quite impressive to see her nominated for an Oscar. I wonder if she will have any more big gigs yet in her career. I think Zeitlin did a decent job directing, but the problem was that it was a screenplay that I really didn't care for. I didn't really feel any connection with Hushpuppy's father, which I think hurt how connected I was to the film. I wasn't even sure that the guy was a good father. Had he been maybe I would have felt differently. I think the film would work better without the fantasy elements being in the film too, they kind of take away from the emotional aspect of the story in my opinion. It's just an ok film to me.

Like I said earlier today, I haven't seen it since its release, but this two things is more or less how I remember feeling about it.



Beasts of the Southern Wild



This was my second watch but I basically remained the same on how I felt about the film. I do think the highlight of the film was the great performance by Wallis, and it was quite impressive to see her nominated for an Oscar. I wonder if she will have any more big gigs yet in her career. I think Zeitlin did a decent job directing, but the problem was that it was a screenplay that I really didn't care for. I didn't really feel any connection with Hushpuppy's father, which I think hurt how connected I was to the film. I wasn't even sure that the guy was a good father. Had he been maybe I would have felt differently. I think the film would work better without the fantasy elements being in the film too, they kind of take away from the emotional aspect of the story in my opinion. It's just an ok film to me.

I definitely think you are supposed to feel the way you did about the father. In fact I would call neglect abusive. I think part of the heartache of the film is that coupled with the fact that they obviously love each other a lot. Hishpuppy needs more, that's what makes the riverboat scene so astounding for me. One of my favorite scenes.



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Riverboat scene was good Sean. I don't know something about the father daughter relationship just doesn't click with me affecting how I feel about the movie overall quite a bit.



The Man From Nowhere (2010) -


Overall, this is a solid action film. My opinion on it was slightly tinged by the awful dubbing in the version I watched (specifically in regards to the young girl), but fortunately, I was able to adjust to it after a while and, though I still would've preferred watching a non-dubbed version of the film, I found enough to enjoy about it.

To get it out of the way, yes, the action was definitely the main highlight for me. The various action scenes in the film were diverse and inventive enough so that the film didn't feel like it was repeating itself as it rolled along. The fight in the bathroom, the terrific window jump where the camera follows the protagonist out the window, or the final fight all had great choreography and I can see myself revisiting those scenes in the future. In fact, some moments were so jaw-dropping, I found myself rewinding the film on several different occasions to watch them again. Nowadays, it's rare for action scenes to impress me since I've seen so many of them, but this film was an exception to that.

As for the story, it's fine, I suppose, but I definitely think this is a case of action over story. A number of plot elements (mysterious loner with a criminal past, kidnapped young girl, tragic backstory, villainous side kick who's more skilled than the main villain) are clichés which I've seen in other action films. For the most part, I didn't feel like the film was able to find a unique voice in tackling these plot elements for it to avoid these pitfalls. Of course, this isn't to say I disliked the story by any means. Again, I think it was fine. It just wasn't anything spectacular, in my opinion. If I rewatch the film, I'll likely skip to the second half where most of the action occurs.

Overall, in spite of my reservations towards the story, I did like this film quite a bit as I felt the action was strong enough to make up for the missteps in the narrative. I don't know if I'll watch this film from start to finish again, but I can definitely see myself rewatching the second half in the future.

Next up: Rudderless



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Aniara

Strangely, I sort of bounced back and forth regarding being intrigued on how things pan out to an indifference to what was occurring; and that is not against the film itself. I do believe it was solely on me for no real concrete reasoning. It just sort of came to be.

I do know that I found the first third of the film very intriguing. How everyone reacted to being lost, adrift, and how it was dealt with by everyone involved. Including the Mima Host and it's eventual shutting down when it could no longer deal with the constant over-use/addiction by the passengers attempting to seek some sort of solace as time moved forward and hope faded.

The movie did an excellent job of the wide variety of expectations, hopes, disillusionment, denial, and the sense of pointlessness.
Though at some point, much like the inhabitants of the space craft, I did seem to meander off as the spotless interiors became trash-ridden and everyone searched for higher meaning in quasi-religions. Which is a solid route to follow, story-wise, but I still wandered off until time began to speed up in the final act as the population diminished. My interest perked up. Finding the final act quite rewarding.