Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Bohemian Rhapsody - Well, where do I begin? First, I am stunned that this was a serious Oscar contender. It's not a bad movie, but it's certainly not a well-made movie. It has serious issues. It's clear that the director left before the film was finished because there is no clear direction (I've read a lot about the allegations against Bryan Singer, and even though these allegations are not the reason he was fired from this movie, all I'm going to say is that Brad Renfro was my favorite actor growing up and it hurt so much when he died. He had so much talent, and he was so young. If Singer is responsible for Renfro's demons, I hope he is brought to justice). The film just consists of very short scenes edited together (poorly) to get from plot point to plot point. I read a lot about all the different controversies around the film (aside from the Singer controversy) - one being the editing, to which I agree. The other being that it erases Freddie Mercury's sexuality, and that I do not agree with. I don't think it's as obvious as some may have wanted, but there are several scenes that reference his sexuality, including a coming out scene. The problem is that the film has no depth. There's no meaning to his sexuality and his identity, so it comes across as ignored, and I think that's what people have a problem with. Also, I LOVE Rami Malek on Mr. Robot. It's the only performance that I know him from, and he is stunning on that show because he's supposed to be sort of cold and unfeeling. I didn't realize that he's just a cold and unfeeling actor. And those teeth that they put on him do not help his performance at all. It's horribly distracting. He does do a good job during the performances, but I can't believe that he actually won an Oscar for this performance (Bradley Cooper was a million times better). Otherwise, it's a "perfectly adequate" film. I've never really had Queen up there as a favorite band, but this film made me realize that I should - five of their songs are in my Top 50 songs of all-time (I don't actually have a list made, but I'm pretty sure this statement is true) and "Another One Bites the Dust" is in my Top 10 songs of all-time (I do have this list. It would surprise you.). Plus, even though it's not my personal favorite, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the greatest song of all-time. And it's really fun to see how it all came together.

2. The Spy Who Dumped Me - Actually a lot of fun. It's like a combination of Spy and The Heat (I was disappointed with Spy, but I LOVED The Heat). Mila Kunis is just fantastic (and so stunningly beautiful it hurts). I really enjoy her in comedic roles. She's a lot funnier than Kate McKinnon, in my opinion. Although McKinnon didn't bother me as much in this role as she has in the past. It's a cute movie about friendship, but there are also some fun action sequences. It's definitely way too long, and many sequences could have been cut (like the circus performance that dragged on forever). However, I laughed out loud several times, and I appreciate a female-led comedy that is actually funny and doesn't try too hard. Also, I love Justin Theroux (since Six Feet Under, but especially after The Leftovers). Obviously, the twists and turns are expected and also absolutely ridiculous, but overall I think this is a solid spy comedy. And they set sup a fantastic lead to a possible sequel. I don't think it will get a sequel, because it wasn't exactly a box office success, but I would totally watch it.

3. Glass - I simply do not understand how James McAvoy is not being praised for his performance in this movie (or for Split). His performance is ground-breaking. It's like nothing that I've ever seen. He transitions from character to character seamlessly. If he doesn't get nominated for an Oscar this year, I will riot (quietly with my 4 cats). The movie...is just okay. I don't really remember much of Unbreakable. I do remember that I liked it more than other Shyamalan movies, but I only saw it once, and that was almost 20 years ago. It's cool that they used the same actor that was in the first one (as a kid), but I wouldn't have known that if someone didn't point it out to me. I'm sure there are a ton of other things that I didn't notice as connections to Unbreakable, but as a stand-alone movie, I was a little bit bored. I enjoyed Split a lot more - it had more tension and build-up. This fell a little flat.

4. The Favourite - I liked this movie, but it is nowhere near the brilliance of The Lobster or The Killing of a Sacred Deer. This felt more obvious, more universal, which isn't necessarily bad, but it was a disappointing watch for me, because I was just expecting something a little more deep. It honestly felt more like a Sofia Coppola film, like if you combined Marie Antoinette with any other Coppola film you would get this movie. The craftsmanship is still there, with the use of  some serious extreme fish-eye lens shots and tracking shots of that hallway (my God, how many times did these actresses have to walk up and down that hallway?!). All three of these actresses are perfect. Just absolutely perfect. I'm really happy that Olivia Colman won an Oscar because she deserved one 8 years ago with Tyrannosaur (HOLY SHIT was that really 8 years ago?? That's crazy! Feels like yesterday.). Emma Stone was the highlight for me, though. She just keeps getting better and better, and continually outshines her co-stars. She's going to be the next Meryl Streep (I would say that's Amy Adams, but it seems that the Oscars like Stone better).

5. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part- Has anyone else even seen this? Because I never saw anything about it when it was released. It was suddenly listed on available movies to rent, and I was completely surprised to find out it was released in theaters earlier this year. After watching the first 10 minutes, I realized why it was released so quietly. I couldn't even sit through the whole thing. The last time I stopped watching a film was when I walked out of one of the Harry Potter films. I can usually sit through even the worst of the worst, but I felt like if I continued watching this movie, it would have resulted in a massive headache. I guess I can't really give it a fair review since I stopped it after about 30 minutes. I just couldn't take any more of the noisy, visually crowded, mess of a movie.