Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Queer - Oooof - this is going to be a rough post because I hated all 5 of these films. I guess "hated" is a strong word, some I'm indifferent on - but all are 2.5 stars or lower. This is probably the best film of the five, but it's SO boring. I like a lot about it, but overall I think it's very dull. I'm not the biggest fan of Luca Guadagnino's films, though, so it makes sense that I didn't like this (my ranking: Challengers > Bones and All > Suspiria remake > Call Me By Your Name > Queer, which is probably a very controversial ranking). They're all well-made movies, for sure, but I'm always disappointed by the story. It just lacks something that I can't quite put my finger on. So first - the good stuff: The scene in the beginning with him walking in the white suit with Nirvana's "Come as You Are" playing. The way the scene is slowed down to perfectly sync with the song is GORGEOUS. I'm almost never a fan of using Nirvana songs in movies and/or Nirvana remakes because I know how much Kurt would hate it (especially in a fucking Marvel movie! Who let that happen???), but I think this is an exception. There's a lot of thought behind how the music is used - it's not just thrown in for effect. There's also a lot of shots that look like an Edward Hopper painting that I don't think it's a coincidence - they are very beautiful. But that's all I got. Daniel Craig is fine. The other guy...unmemorable. I just don't care about these people, and Craig's character comes off as a sexual predator. The sex scene is not sexy because the guy literally vomits right before. Fucking gross ("do I smell like vomit?" I wish you could see my face as I watched this scene. It's so disgusting). Then there's like a 5 minute long shot of Craig staring off into the distance, smoking a cigarette. WHYYY GOD WHYYYY? It's based on a William S. Burroughs story, which I didn't realize at first (the name William Lee should have clued me in!); I haven't read it but I know some of the history of him living in Mexico and killing his wife during a William Tell game. I think once the film dives into the whole hallucinatory part, it starts to really turn dull (and gross with them throwing up their hearts). Overall, just like Luca's other films, it's just not my thing. 

2. Y2K - I thought this had a fun idea, but an awful execution. I didn't hear much about it during release, but I was super aware of it because some of it was filmed in my town! Like, literally around the corner from my house. I still didn't know much about it - just that it was a teen comedy about New Years Eve 1999. I was shocked that it's an alternate reality story about all the things people said might happen (the computers will destroy the world!) actually happens. The electronics basically turn into Transformers and start killing people. LOL. What a good idea!! I WAS IN! But then, it just goes absolutely nowhere and all of these characters are annoying and feel really inauthentic for 1999/2000. I was 18 and a freshman in college on this day, so very close to these kids (they are in high school, but I don't know if they specify whether they are seniors, etc.). First, the kid from Stranger Things looks like he belongs in the 80s or 2010 and nothing in between. Second, why are the bullies the skater kids?? That makes no sense. Third, New Jersey's own Rachel Zeigler is clearly way too good for this movie. And last, casting Alicia Silverstone as the mom is just plain mean. The saving grace is the kid with the Australian (New Zealand, maybe?) accent. He is fucking hilarious - I DIED during "The Thong Song" scene. DEAD on the living room floor. It's just too funny. BUT GUESS WHAT?!!! *spoiler* They kill him off in the beginning of the fucking movie! The only thing the movie has going for it is the nostalgia factor and they use it all on Fred fucking Durst. I knew he was in this because I was looking up exact filming locations and saw him listed in the cast. But I didn't realize just how big of a role he has. I'm not gonna lie - I loved Fred Durst in 1999. I even had tickets to see Limp Bizkit and someone else (maybe Eminem?) live in Albany, but we drove all the way there and he canceled it like 20 minutes before it was supposed to start. It sucked big time and it made a lot of people very angry. Anyway, he's funny in this - and probably the best part of the movie, but....it's way overdone. I mean, I gave it a whole extra star just for his acapella version of "Faith" because it's still to this day one of my favorite covers of a song ever. But there are just so many other things they could have focused on. And I appreciate more of the subtle nostalgia hits - like seeing the portable cd player glued to the dashboard of his car, because that's exactly how I listened to Limp Bizkit! And it reminded me of picking all my friends up before school and screaming "Give me something to break!!!!". I can picture it so clearly! Good times. I love little moments like that. There's a few laughs to be had, but overall, I was mostly bored and I absolutely did not care if any of these kids died. In fact, I welcomed it. 

3. Holland - Welp, I was really hoping that The Gorge was going to be my worst film of 2025, but this one has it beat. I didn't know much about it going in - although I did see a few less than favorable reviews. But I love Gael Garcia Bernal SO MUCH. And I sometimes love Nicole Kidman. Plus, Rachel Sennott! But then it just starts off really weird with Sennott doing a weird-ass accent, and Kidman watching Mrs. Doubtfire. What is going on?? It's supposed to be a thriller, but it's...not. It's just this woman who becomes suspicious that her husband "has a secret", so she confides in her co-worker and they start to spy on him, and then she starts her own affair with him. But it's clear that her husband isn't having an affair, instead he's just a weirdo. Until the end. We find out that he's a serial killer. And even then, it barely makes it into the "thriller" genre. It's a very slow drama. And a bad one. I don't have much else to say about it because it's a big fat nothing of a movie. Sometimes I think Kidman just takes roles without even reading the script. She just likes to keep working. 

4. O'Dessa - I'll give this film some leeway for its attempt at something radical. It fails miserably, but the attempt is appreciated. It's a post-apocalyptic rock musical based on a retelling of the Greek myths of Eurydice and Orpheus. If it was done well, it could have been this generations Romeo + Juliet. It's hard to pinpoint what went wrong, exactly, but I was very bored for most of it. I like Sadie Sink a lot, but I was here for Kelvin Harrison Jr. with BLUE HAIR (and him singing is even more of a highlight for me). I was surprised at Sink's voice - I was hesitant at first when I learned that she sings the songs herself, but as soon as she hits that first note, I was like "OH OK SADIE"! Her voice is beautiful! But the songs, themselves, are just not my style (it's more bluegrass than rock). And they just go on for FOREVER. We get it, she's a "rambler". But the biggest "miss" of the film is that these two characters are very gay - like super, duper gay (look at that poster! Does that look like a straight woman to you?), but we're supposed to believe that they want each other??? WHAT? They do not sell this heterosexual couple at all. It's very strange. But I do like that both Regina King and Murray Bartlett really go for it with these roles - they are both so over-the-top, but I think they "understood the assignment" as the kids say. Plus Bartlett's featured performance is the only fun song of the movie and the only one that feels different than the rest. And on a minor note: does she just leave the alpaca (or llama - whatever it was)? It's trapped with no food and she just gives it a hug and says good luck, I'm gonna go be a rambler??? What the fuck? 

5. Moana 2 - Not a bad movie, but a very unnecessary one. A lot of Disney princess movies received sequels but none of them were given a budget or a theater release. They were made-for-video movies that were fun for children under the age of 10 to see more of their favorite characters. But to do a sequel like this with a big budget, big stars in the voice roles, and a holiday theater release date is just so UGH. I wasn't really a big fan of the first Moana. It was fine, but I just hate this new over-saturated style of animation. I only watched it like 4 years ago, and I barely remember it. It didn't have any memorable songs or characters or anything. But I know that a lot of kids liked it (and younger adults too! When this was released on Thanksgiving my husband's sister and cousin were all talking about how excited they were for it because Moana was their favorite?! WHAT? They are in their early 30s, but still that seems weird to me). But I have two nice things to say about it: I like the "Get Lost" song by the villain. Super catchy and she has a great voice. And I love hearing all of the New Zealand accents (I'm going there in October and I'm SO excited!). Other than that, I was bored. And because I was bored I started looking up stuff about the movie because I was curious about how much this girl got paid to lead these movies in comparison to The Rock because it's so shitty that he gets like 20 million (minimum - the exact amount isn't disclosed) and she gets 2 million. I get it - he's The Rock, of course he's going to get paid more, but if he were an actual good person he would defer the pay to the actual star of the film. He has enough money. And before you tell me that's unrealistic or idealistic or whatever - it is something that is done, but we don't hear about the good people enough (I remember hearing about Chadwick Boseman doing this for Sienna Miller only after he died. There's talk of several big celebrities that share their pay though - Affleck & Damon, Keanu Reeves, Sandy B., etc.). It's so weird how people are unwilling to share pay for co-workers that worked just as hard as you. At my work, we have a monthly bonus program, and when I was the store manager, if we hit the bonus I would split it up between the staff I thought worked the hardest for that goal. But now we've had 5 other store managers since I stepped down and not one of them has done the same. Fucking weirdos (I actually like them all, but I just find it so greedy and sad to not acknowledge your team).