KaBrainy Film Blog

We are a couple. We love films.

[kabrainy]

Up (2009)

The greatest adventure is just getting back home.

“That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.”

It goes without saying that the beginning of this film is masterfully crafted, even bringing us to tears. However, this created my biggest issue with the film in that the beginning of the movie is perfect, not only the montage but every moment before he leaves for Paradise Falls. After he leaves, it becomes more of a cliche story, but that’s not a bad thing at all, it’s well made and not boring in the slightest.

Last time I watched this, I didn’t like the villain, but here I think the character is well-written and is a perfect antagonist for Carl, but Muntz’s presence overall was just lacking in screentime. I like that they both had a passion for adventure, but Muntz ventured more into obsession and pride more than genuine fun. It’s an interesting dynamic to have and one that reflects Carl’s character arc of moving on.

This film deals with grief, life, death, adventure, meeting your idols, not letting go of the past and moving into the unknown future. Carl holds onto the house as his last memory of Ellie, but he realises that he has memories and other items to keep her spirit alive. It’s a lot deeper than you can recognise as a child, the message becomes clearer through its subtlety, kinda similar to Pete Docter’s other movie Soul.

It’s also funnier than I remember, I thought Dug would be annoying this time around, but he wasn’t. Dug actually surprisingly had a good personality and character arc that can easily be empathised with. Everyone was fun and the voice acting was great. 

The idea to have the main character be an old man is so unusual for a kids film and it’s appreciated. They show Carl has so much heart and energy. His character arc and personality suited an old main character really well, while subverting the expectations of a grumpy old man character.

The animation was gorgeous, and this movie knows how to show and not tell. They imply a lot of things through imagery and character reactions, especially in the earlier sequences. The music paired along with the visuals were great, although there was one scene when they initally return Kevin home, but are sabotaged - the music here sounded pretty messy.

Some continuity issues bugged me, namely Russel appearing on the porch while they were in the sky. He clearly wasn’t near the house before it took off. There were wide shots of the surrounding area and the two guys didn’t say or see anything. And why does Carl have a cane when he is so clearly agile and able for his age, but whatever none of that is too important.

This film is great, I just wish it was as good as the beginning all throughout. Regardless, it’s fantastic and one of the last great Pixar movies before they got a bit stale.

8/10

[kabrainy]

Gone Girl (2014)

You don't know what you've got 'til it's...

“What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What will we do?”

Hands down one of the best mystery films of all time. The way that everything is so masterfully orchestrated, us as the viewers are following along with the main protagonist and question everything as well as discover new things along with him. We are following a fabricated crime in the digital age.

The way news spreads in this film is incredibly effective, everyone knows “everything” and they all learn it at the same time, being emotionally manipulated by articles, public events and TV shows. Any moment Nick fucks up, it gets spun into an elaborate murder, with him being analyzed at all times. His idiocy and utter incompetence hurts him even more, especially when he hilariously smiles and poses next to his missing wife’s poster.

The film’s commentary on the media’s manipulation is reflected in the film’s first half, and that’s genius. Through the first half we only see Nick’s perspective and the dairy entries, thus we don’t get the full story and we definitely don’t trust Nick all that much because of his foolish actions. Then, when we get to the second half, we see more of the picture and understand that everything was carefully planned by Amy to frame Nick, it’s just genius.

Amy’s plan fails too and every smart character in the story recognises her lies, but the general public are still listening to the media and sympathise with this woman despite not even knowing her. Nick is still trapped at the end, but can’t do anything about it, it’s quite tragic. 

David Fincher’s direction is great, as are the performances (even fucking Tyler Perry) and script. The cinematography was nothing too flashy, but David Fincher is great with making basic set-ups, like shot-reverse-shot, still look compelling - always making sure we see reactions of the characters which is vital for a story like this. The opening and ending shots being almost identical, with only Amy’s expression changing, speaks volumes. She won, and these two shots prove that.

Though a relatively new genre title that's been popping up as of late, the ‘Good For Her’ Trope. Gone Girl, being arguably one of the most prominent films within said Neo-genre, fits the themes of some sort of female empowerment in that Amy, though not in a positive are sane way, takes charge of her lack luster husband, high expecting parents, and decades old stalker. Though we don't sympathize with her, and even want her to win, in the end she does at a grand cost, but in a weird way you're let thinking, good for her. 

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score was fantastic. It’s not in your face, but so effective in its subtle nature. The editing was portably the weakest part. Especially the editing in Desi’s murder scene, took us out a bit as it felt they were trying to force suspense. Every other suspenseful scene was fine without the over the top editing, so why have it here.

Overall, this film was absolutely amazing. Phenomenal. 

K - 8/10      B - 10/10

[kabrainy]

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

The Greatest Battle Lies Within.

“You get you're rent if you fix this DAMN DOOR!”

This movie is definitely the worst of the trilogy, I don’t hate it but it can be frustrating especially in comparison. While it is bad, it’s still better than most MCU films in my opinion. To add insult to injury, this is also the longest in the trilogy. 

Spider-Man is hardly in this film, he first appears at the 30 minute mark. The villains in this movie suck, especially Venom. Venom has no need to be in this film, arguably black spider-man is important, but Venom is such filler and adds nothing emotionally - when all other villains in the trilogy do. I appreciate that this film tackles the question of ‘what if Peter lost himself and he was evil’ but barley he's less evil and more of an asshole - which just come across as unintentional comedy. Harry was a decent villain and his arc was okay, but the amnesia plot device was actually worthless-  that was the epitome of lazy writing - he could’ve just been omitted from the majority of the film.

Sandman was underutlisied I think (he also had the best CG effects in the movie), had the writers focused on writing him as the compelling villain for Peter and Spider-Man, like the previous two movies, this could’ve been good. But he shows up early in the film so they can show he has a daughter, then he gets his powers, then Spider-Man beats him, and he’s gone for a long time after that point. Peter thinks he’s dead for half the film, meaning he doesn’t care about this villain emotionally, but yet the film tries to force emotions on us at the end. Also, I fucking hate that they retconned Ben’s death, practically removed a lot of the development Peter went through - it was revealed in bland dialogue and a dumb flashback too, once again being lazy.

The movie sets up a villain, has Spider-Man fight them, then they disappear and the movie introduces someone else. This is the cycle until the end of the movie. 

*The rest of this review is basically a rant

The action was subpar and clunky, not as memorable as others. Both Green Goblin fights were fine (also sidenote, they had Harry hit his head and fall off his glider three times in three different action sequences). Just overall uninventive.

The movie is still fun and funny for the most part, but had a shit ton of boring and uneventful sequences. Bully Maguire was of course funny, but for the most part it was unintentional humour. 

The effects were worse and there was a large amount of CGI used in comparison. Bill Pope’s cinematography was still good for the most part.

Editing was weird, you had Eddie being fired and then suddenly the dancing montage begins without any rhyme or reason. Danny Elfman didn’t come back for the score, but even when they used his music it didn’t feel as effective.

The characters were underutilised. Aunt May was in like two scenes. Also, Peter was unusually rude even before he got the symbiote.

I still enjoyed the film, but damn this is a fall from grace. It’s so messy and uninventive. Sam Raimi’s personality doesn’t even come through all that much, neither does the personality from the music, action and visual presentation.

K - 6/10          B - 5/10

[kabrainy]

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

“And if you're gonna freak out every time that you see a frozen chicken, I think we should go to the hospital. I don't know anything about this.”

After watching the film, the reasoning behind the above movie poster can be up for debate. This film is a bitter sweet film about grief, depression, and family. The way in which the film is told through a combination of jumping back and forth between the past and the present is great, and how all the events are revealed is done in an interesting way. However the pacing can be a bit slow at points thus disengaging the viewers.

Lee is such an incredibly well written character, him and his story alone carry the entire film. It’s so tragic, and so human at it’s core. He has gone through so much, and you don’t realise the true extent of it until like halfway into the movie. When his brother dies you recognise that his reaction is quite small and he’s clearly depressed beforehand. Once they reveal his kids died because of him, you understand that he is still lingering on that part of his life, he doesn’t have much room on his mind to think about this new loss in his life. 

The performances are absolutely amazing. Such a strong glimpse into the life of a tortured soul. It’s incredibly depressing, but kinda beautiful by the end. Especially when you see Lee on the boat and he gives like a half smile. Sure this man did something horrendous, but it was an accident, and you want him to be happy again. The scene in the police station is devastating man, this guy just wants to be dead and treated it so urgently. The scene after the funeral when Lee is trying to say he wants to see Patrick when he moves is moving, he is struggling so hard to admit this.

As incredibly written as this character is, it can be debated as to whether or not anything really happens in terms of development, and what development means in terms of all the characters. All the decisions that are made and why the characters make them are intriguing, but there are two really big grievances throughout the film and one grievance gets more focus than the other and its questioning as to why that is the focus of the film. 

The script, cinematography, music and direction are all fantastic, but there is not a single bad performance. Michelle Williams is a bit iffy in one scene, but other than that it was solid all around. Although the movie is sad and written in an almost nihilistic way, the cinematography juxtaposes this. Every shot is so peaceful, with the colour correction being so bright. 

There’s not much that occurs in the plot, but following Lee and Patrick, as the last Chandlers, deal with their grief in different ways is engaging. My only minor problem with the film is after you learn everything about Lee’s past the movie loses my attention a little bit.

K - 6/10               B - 9/10

[kabrainy]

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Sacrifice 

Whoa... He just stole that guy's pizza!

This movie is the ideal superhero movie, it follows the necessary familiar beats but every aspect is purposeful. It’s cliche and predictable, but it still finds ways to shock you while being so endearing.

This film deals with the concept of with great power comes great responsibility and Peter has simply not been responsible thus he looses his powers. The villain is amazing and the ending is amazing, everyone in these films is so human at their core I love it. Peter gets dragged through the mud with all of these horrible things, losing the girl, losing his job, being poor, failing in school, Aunt May even falls out with him for a short period of time. He struggles and is beaten down, while always getting back up for himself and to inspire others. His self-realisation arc is the best I’ve seen in superhero films. Some people dislike him losing his powers and just regaining them, but to me it’s a subtle character arc that isn’t often found in these blockbusters. The train scene where Spider-Man doesn’t say a word, but the citizens of New York dominate the scene is so fitting and telling of his inspiration to others.

MJ sucks, she has so many issues with herself and loves to take it out on Peter - and John at the end, why not break up with him before the wedding. Every other character is great. I wish Doc Ock had more time with Peter before turning. Aunt May is still the sweetest, even though she has setbacks in her life and is even upset with Peter for a bit. An underrated aspect of this trilogy is Harry’s character arc, and this film does great in progressing his decent.

It’s not as camp as the original, it’s more visually grounded and more believable, but it’s still shot so unique and amazingly, with many shots and sequences being stuck in my head. Bill Pope being the DP was a fantastic choice, it’s even more kinetic than the first film. Every action sequence is fantastic. They’re so creative with the fight scenes with Doc Ock, because both him and Spider-Man climb and throw projectiles, it makes for great back and forth. The hospital massacre was brilliant, Sam Raimi’s horror skills came strong in that scene.

Another improvement from Spider-Man 1 was the humour. I was laughing at unintentional things in the original, but this sequel is pretty hilarous, especially when showing Peter be a loser.

Overall, this is the ideal superhero movie. Unbreakable and Logan are great for being subversions of the genre, but here is the strongest movie within the genre. 

8/10

[kabrainy]

Zola (2020)

Y’all wanna hear a story?

“You wanna hear a story about how me and this bitch here fell out? It's kinda long, but it's full of suspense.”

Through beautiful direction and overall presentation, this wildly famous stripper-saga story was brought to life in a unique and interesting way. However, though it has some merits, it ends up being held back, more specifically because of the formatting of the source material. In theory, having a film based on a wild set of tweets about a weekend in Miami gone wrong sounds like an entertaining watch. However, there aren't many creative liberties taken with the story. The Twitter thread itself doesn't have a strong enough structure and thus it translates poorly onscreen. Though it added comedic effect, cutting away to Stefani’s perspective of the story towards that latter third of the film had no real purpose. With that being said, the plot is still entertaining, just not impactful.

Because the source material is tweets, the filmmakers rightfully made the decision to not simply show texts or tweets on scree, but rather have the actors say it out loud. Now whether this works or not can be up for debate but it was some creative liberty that was taken to presumably keep the story fresh. However, it can at times come off as weird and unnatural and actually take viewers out of the film. 

The cinematography was great. With some of the classic notable A24 grain and use of colors and light throughout. There were many notable fantastic visual elements throughout, specifically the “Who are you going to be today, Zola” scene. It was strongly glamorized in how it was shown, and matched with the harp music it was great. Using this dream-like, “stripper” aesthetic to overlay this ‘night gone wrong’ is a good dichotomy. The way in which they subtly show who these characters are, ie. the overhead shot of Zola and Stefani going toilet, having Zola squatting while Stefani carelessly sits, from having Zola’s pee be pretty clear contrasting Stefani’s pee being damn near orange. You see the differences between these girls and it’s early foreshadowing that they should not be together. 

The music choices were great, so upbeat and relevant to the movie and the year it’s set in. I swear Run the Jewels music was made for movies. And again, the harp and angelic music used for certain scenes were great. It fit incredibly well with the dreamy, romanticization of the stripper life. The sound mixing as well was very good. For example, when Zola was stripping, at first she’s clearly loving it, and then the diegetic audio from the club fades in and it’s just full of coughing and laughing, that’s quite hilarious.

Overall the movie is simultaneously funny and dramatic, it doesn’t really take a break from one for the other. Performances were great. Colman Domingo coming in with the Nigerian accent for the first time was both hilarious and scary. Taylour Paige, Riley Keough and Nicholas Braun do great in rounding up the main cast.

It felt as though the film was basically style over substance. However there was still had substance and purpose, it’s just the style was miles ahead.

7/10

[kabrainy]

Spider-Man (2002)

Turn your world upside down.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Was this the best film of all time, no. Is this amongst the best superhero films of all time? Absolutely. This feels like what a comic book film should be like especially one about the friendly neighborhood Spiderman. It’s so camp and stupid, but its fitting for a superhero movie.

The practical effects are great. Everyone is so perfectly cast in this film. Everyone loves to joke about the teenagers not looking young enough, but it’s not that bad, they’re great in their roles. Peter is such a damn loser, but his Spider-Man is so damn cool. Uncle Ben is barely in this and he still is extremely memorable and perfect in this, his death still carries so much weight even though you already know it’ll happen. Of course J.K. Simmons is amazing. 

For the most part you got a little peak into each character and what their lives are like and why they are the way that they are. For example, MJ’s abusive house and bully boyfriend, Harry’s power obsessed rich dad. It was a nice touch, even though those characters still fell a bit flat it worked. Casting is something that later live action Spiderman films seem to lack, along with the visual presentation.

Cinematography and visual presentation is kinetic as fuck, so suitable for a comic book movie. Way more engaging in its presentation that most projects now. The action is a bit lackluster, especially compared to the sequel, but it’s edited together well, and the final Green Goblin fight from the bridge to the abandoned building were both great. New York being a sort of character in the fight was a cool idea.

Danny Elfman’s score is so compelling and sort of empowering. Every moment the music came in it was brilliant.

All memes aside, the movie is also quotable, “with great power comes great responsibility” is phenomenal. Anything Green Goblin says is fucking hilarous. And hilarously, Flash Thompson is the most quotable character of the film. 

Overall this is a great origin story, better than any other Spider-Man retelling. It’s good on its own, while also effectively setting up the future. Especially with Harry’s hatred towards the hero - the trio in general are set up well. While the movie is so camp and does feel dumb at points, the emotional beats weren’t missed whatsoever.

7/10

[kabrainy]

Thirteen (2003)

It’s happening so fast. 

“He was crippled, but only his body was cracked. It's not simple, nor is it an easy matter to explain. "Let's just leave it at that," she says and closes the holy book of lies. She covers her eyes, denying to herself what she thought happened.”

This film is what Euphoria aims to be. Thirteen is an incredibly raw and very strong portrayal of peer pressure and difficult family from a thirteen year old’s perspective with very mature themes and imagery. The quality is definitely a product of its time, the shaky handheld camera, the screaming dialogue and the early 2000s rock music throughout. However, all this this works very well to tell this incredible story that creates a surprisingly good film.

Every single main actresses performance was amazing, especially considering some more heavy and disturbing scenes and considering the two main actresses where around thirteen themselves. The characters are all well written and they all have flaws, but the way in which they interact with each other, and care about each other feels so organic and is portrayed in an organic way. 

Evie and Tracy are two manipulative, and selfish pricks from start to finish but it doesn't feel flat in any way; It makes sense because they're thirteen rebellious, naive, and clearly full of angst as a result of their respective familiar situations. The big betrayal at the end when Evie doesn't get her way, is very effective and incredibly telling of her character. The supporting characters also impact the story in a great way without needing too much screen time. Brady’s character comes across clearly through both Tracy’s dialogue of his past and that short glimpse of a flashback. Having Mason go from sexualizing Evie to absolutely hating her was solid development. 

Catherine Hardwicke’s directorial debut shows immense talent that honestly surprised us. The color grading works really well here, having everything look muted with blue and grey hues, and then having it switch to more color towards the end is great. The cinematography and camera movement was a bit jarring at the start, it’s very fast paced and packed with zooms and other movement, but once you get used to the style it’s interesting. There’s one shot where the camera tilts into a dutch angle as a character attacks and it’s great. 

The sexualizing of young teens made us very uncomfortable at times, especially the scene with the lifeguard . However, after finding out Nikki Reed, who was thirteen at the time, co-wrote and starred in it, it did put us more at ease. The raw nature of the film definitely works in its favour, showing the teen-angst and what some kids are subjected to. 

The one negative that we took away was the overall portrayal of black people in the film. We don't know if this a contoniuos issue with the director as in her later Twilight film there are barely any black people. Almost every grown man the girls get with are black, so most of the black characters are pedophiles or seen as gang members and overall there is no positive portrayal of a black person. 

The film does an excellent job at putting the audience in the mind of Tracy, someone who is just figuring things out and just wants to be cool and have friends but goes the wrong way about it. Just like this thirteen year old girl, you think all her current problems will be the end of the world. It’s an effective movie in everything it protrays.

K - 8/10          B - 7/10

[kabrainy]

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

“Spiritual is not the world. Heavy, Afro, Fem-centric is the word.”

We both heard a lot about this film in the past couple of years, and were kinda disappointed to be honest. It’s decent and impressive for such a small scale project following a black lesbian filmmaker. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as this goes. I appreciate it more than I actually like it. 

The movie doesn’t switch it up enough, much of the comedy falls flat, a lot of the editing is baffling (I swear there were 3 different scenes that fade to black as a character says “hey”). The search for the watermelon woman was interesting as they reveal more things, but the way information is revealed isn’t varied enough in my opinion. The progression from scenes to scenes didn’t feel natural, it felt like: here’s a scene, here’s another, here’s an actual important scene, now back to the filler scenes. 

Cheryl’s didn’t impact her goal enough too, it may have been better if the film focused more on the search rather than her failing friendship and other relationships. There’s an extremely explicit sex scene in this movie too, which adds nothing - we’ve seen enough writer/director/actor combos write themselves into a sex scene.

The dialogue and performances were stale throughout, and I think that’s mostly due to the direction and writing.

However, the cinematography of this film was great. The “documentary” scenes were shot on a camcorder, while other scenes were shot on more high-end equipment, and fabricated archive footage is shown throughout. It helps the film stay fresh visually, when the plot doesn’t. 

The blurred line of fiction and reality of this film is fantastic and probably the strongest aspect of the story. Throughout I was wondering if this was a mixture of real and scripted scenes, but it’s entirely scripted, with Fae Richards not even being real. This works so well for the film’s portrayal of black actresses in Hollywood and how they’re uncredited, and subsequently forgotten - reflecting reality.

6/10

[kabrainy]

Shutter Island (2010)

Someone is missing.

“What is worse, to live as a monster, or die a good man?”

This is definitely one of those films that is worth a rewatch as there are some nuances and details that would pay off the second time around. The twists and turns, the absolute rollercoaster that this film takes you on is really great and genuinely enjoyable each second as you get closer to unlocking the truth. The progression and story are strong, but the ‘fake’ twist in the cave was definitely the worst part. In the end it wasn't even that vital to the overarching plot. However, the really twist at the end was not only natural for the progression of the film but the but a reveal for both the audience and the protagonist.

The performances of Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley were especially strong - they give very subtle reactions to certain things happening like if Teddy was to step out of line all of a sudden. If you're paying enough attention, toward the latter third of the film, a single character reveals everything that's happening in the film but is passed off as insane by the protagonist. Whether this enhances or ruins the film and its ending is really dependent on the viewer. 

Visually, the film is great. From the use of color grading in different dreams or flashbacks to using moving camera shots in more surreal sequences. The details in the background to having characters holding something in one shot to having their hands be empty in the next to show the decline in Andrew’s mental stability. The blood from the blanks at the end in the lighthouse. The overall portrayal of delusions was incredibly effective throughout. The music was fantastical, the recurring theme in particular. 

Overall, great film. Not as good as Goodfellas, but good.

K - 7/10      B - 8/10

[kabrainy]

Awaara (1951)

The children of honest people are always honest ... and the children of thieves and dacoits are always thieves and dacoits

This is a fantastic film, the story is near perfect. There’s no loose ends, everything comes together to build this cohesive film. 

Every character is compelling, you forgive them for the bad things they’ve done, and their arcs are incredibly engaging - they’re real people. The way their lives are intertwined is interesting, they all effect one another in ways that, sometimes, only the audience can recognise. 

The choice to have the film start in the courtroom was questionable, but in the end it seemed more purposeful in setting up the plot, themes, and characters. The entire film you’re waiting for the in-film reveal of the judge being Raj’s father, and when it happens you get a well-deserved emotional parental moment and how he now understands he is the “villain” and his initial theory was incorrect about children growing up. It’s effective as I wasn’t really expecting the reaction from the judge, I thought he’d just keep being ignorant, but I was wrong. 

The cinematography is stunning, every sequence is well shot. The use of shadows, and lighting in general, elevated the film. 

The musical aspects of the film, but mostly towards the beginning. Around the final third of the movie, it seemed to packed with songs and they’d go on for a while (especially the dream sequence). This also made for some unintentional comedy, mainly in the scene Rita realises Raj is a thief and a singer almost mocks Rita’s love laugh and how she was deceived. 

Following from the music, the pacing was pretty bad in the second half. The movie probably could’ve been 2 hours if they cut some of the songs shorter, one of us actually fell asleep during this portion. The film also had odd tonal shifts, there’s comedy inbetween this drama-musical sandwich - very weird.

Overall it was fantastic, one of the best plots in film honestly. The performances were great, along with the direction, cinematography and music. The movie’s take on morality and good vs evil, and forbidden love, and so much more is truly effective. This film is packed and that’s for the best, it has everything it needs.

K - 7/10      B - 8/10

[kabrainy]

A Quiet Place (2018)

If they hear you, they hunt you.

Who are we if we can't protect them? We have to protect them.

After three years since its release, A Quiet Place has garnered much attention for being thing amazing horror film that is sure to keep you on your toes. After watching this waste of 90 minutes, both of us were throughly confused as to what this film did that grand such attention.

The concept of these blind homicidal aliens that have super sensitive hearing and this ‘final family’ with a deaf daughter is interesting initially. However, nothing happened plot wise and it took more than an hour for them to even hint at the monsters’ weakness. The rules of this world are at times contradicting and make no sense. The weakness didn't make much sense, has no one tried microphone feedback before this point? Or calling someone from another phone and putting them close together? Or a dog whistle? Why was it at this point in time, the only saving grace is some convenient feedback from a cochlear implant? The way this film ended on a cliffhanger felt more akin to that of a TV Pilot rather than a feature length film. Honestly, it is probably one of the worst movie endings that either of us have ever seen.

The alien monsters are so inconsistent. In the opening sequence you see them immediately arrive at the origin of a sound, but then later in the film Marcus screams and it takes the monster minutes to arrive and doesn’t even do anything. There’s just so many scenes were sounds should be prominent, but it isn’t and it feels unnatural and false, the monsters would be on their ass if the film was consistent in what it established.

Overall, the plot was disengaging and the characters were blank slates and one dimensional. The concept of having to be quiet is interesting, and how a family like theirs would manage was shown in an interesting way (ie. the sand, and the chip aisle being completely full.) However, the concept doesn’t work for a feature in my opinion.

Yea Dad, Wakanda Forever.

3/10

[kabrainy]

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

There are so many different ways to hate. Count them yourself.

I know how difficult it must be for you to overcome all those years of upper middle-class suburban oppression. Must be tough. But the next time you storm the PTA crusading for better... lunch meat, or whatever it is you white girls complain about, ask them WHY they can't buy a book written by a black man!

Another addition to the high school movies based on classic literature. Unlike Easy A, however, this was charming, creative and had us invested. For me it was my first time, but my partner had seen this before and liked it a bit more than prior.

The plot of the film is genuinely engaging, all the characters, and how they get entangled in one anothers’ lives is overall fun to watch unravel. Although, the film did confuse me in who the main character was, it starts with Cameron and you follow him for a good chunk of the movie, but then he accomplishes his goal of getting the girl and is basically sidelined for Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger - leaving other characters to feel insignificant. The set-up of the film has you invested and anxious to see it all blow over at the end. Sadly, when it does all blow over, there’s not much consequence, and that’s one of my least favourite parts of this film - it doesn’t feel impactful to me, but it is still fun journey overall and I would rewatch.

The characters are suprisingly well-written overall and have depth. Kat especially grew on me. She’s very annoying at the start but then you get to know her more and understand why she does what she does, mostly in her introvertedness and protection of her sister.

The movie cleverly presents the classic literature homages, much more subtly than say Easy A. You never hear the title “The Taming of the Shrew”, but instead you are given several Shakespeare references, one of the weirder one’s being Mandella’s romantic love for him. 10 Things I Hate About You coming together by the end in the form of the sonnet, I thought was genius. Also, the several romantic subplots in the film also felt reminiscent of old plays. The sonnet was one of the better sides of the movie’s dialogue which, at other points, felt a bit unnatural and at some points unfunny.

On to the humour, the film is actually funny, it does sometimes fail, but for the most part jokes land. It surprisingly had a good blend of visual and verbal comedy. One stand out moment being the principal writing the erotica and there’s a subtle vertigo effect that stops when she gets writer’s block. The cast is great, and they definitely elevate the humour throughout. 

The score was serviceable and was one of the least interesting parts. The soundtrack was great at times though, with the large scale “Can’t take my eyes off you” being quite fun. The cinematography was cool, as mentioned the vertigo effect worked well. There’s a single take that lasts kinda long at the party and it wasn’t all in your face. 

Overall, it was fun and is probably rewatch. 

K - 7/10        B - 6/10

[kabrainy]

No Country for Old Men (2007)

There are no clean getaways.

“Anywhere not in your pocket. Where it'll get mixed in with the others and become just a coin. Which it is.”

For myself, this is a rewatch, probably for the fifth time, and it’s still so damn special. The story is so familiar, but the presentation in every way makes it stand out from every other crime thriller and other Coen Brothers films. It’s not my favourite of theirs, but it is an incredibly masterpiece. One of us was a bit underwhelmed based on the hype, but agreed it’s still a fantastic neo-western.

The cinematography, the (lack of) music, sound design, performances, dialogue, direction - all of it works so damn well. The details in this film are great, and it does require active spectatorship to the point where you may not even realise the main character is dead when he’s killed. The choice to have Llewelyn die off-screen is so interesting, it makes him seem like a random guy destined to become another story for Sheriff Bell to tell to another police officer. 

The ending sticks with you, along with many other scenes. Every moment is absolutely necessary in understanding these characters and their motivation, or sometimes - with Chigurh - makes you question more about the cast. The main trio never properly meet, which is so unique, Chigurh isn’t even the one to kill Llewelyn. Chigurh as the villain is very menacing and feels almost out of place in the film, like he strolled in from a thriller about a serial killer. Everything from his costume/hair design to his voice just strikes fear into the viewer.

Wanted to keep this review brief since I would wind up snowballing otherwise. This film is a masterpiece, the themes of morality, greed and fate stick with you long after watching, no matter how many times. It’s truly amazing.

K - 7/10       B - 10/10

[kabrainy]

Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

Music runs in the family.

“Every now and then, Frankie, we have to accept our circumstances and adapt accordingly.”

This film was on both of our watchlists for a while, and let me say that this film was absolutley boring, unfunny, and was a completely failed attempt at emotionally engageing us as an audience. The story itself was very bland and anticlimactic with little to no progression throughout. Hearts Beat Loud had potential but it fell short in the grand scheme of things.

Hearts Beat Loud had potential but it fell short in the grand scheme of things. The story was interesting because you have this single father who is in the midst of giving up his dreams and selling his record shop while his only daughter will soon be going off to medical school. It felt as though the filmmakers had something to say, but didn’t do so. It could have been engaging, but it rwasn’t and ended up being boring and we lost focus. 

The film throws you in immediately, which can sometimes work, but it definitely didn’t in this case. It was incredibly confusing and we were forced to care about these characters that we knew nothing about and therefore couldn’t care less about. Towards the very end is when you start to care a little bit but even then its too late cause the film has already ended. 

Rather than focus on the only saving graces of this film, that being the plot and the characters, the film decides to focus on their music. The music itself isn’t even that great and it’s very generic indie-esque music. They show you an hour long music making session where you hear the same song repated several times. It feels like a fake music biopic, but it’s missing the real-life band that you would care about.

Again, this film was just an awful missed oppurtunity. Its unfortunate.

4/10

[kabrainy]

T2 Trainspotting (2017)

Face Your Past. Choose Your Future.

“Nostalgia! That's why you're here. You're a tourist in your own youth. Just 'cause you had a near-death experience and now you're feeling all fuzzy and warm. What other moments will you be revisiting? Like you were the one who gave Tommy that bad gear?”

We recently re-watched Trainspotting for the 25th anniversary and made the decision to watch this shortly after. One of us (me) had scene it before and on second watch my opinion didn’t change, something that makes it clearer that its miles behind the original.

One of my most polarising opinions comes from the film dwelling on the past. It feels a bit weird when they show you scenes from the previous film because it makes me want to watch that film instead since it’s more fun, emotional and full. Although, on second watch this seems intentional and it works for the film’s theme of memories and the past, something Veronika explicitily mentions in one scene. In the original film you could argue that heroin is being glamourised in certain scenes, but here every mention of it or scene with it makes you hurt, especially with Spud. The film overall reflects this tone, as it isn’t as flashy but instead more slow and focused on a single plotline. The callbacks to some traumatic scenes (Tommy’s and the Baby’s deaths) were incredible reflections of the film’s themes. The decision to have memories be almost therapeutic for Spud was a fantastic choice and it shows that dwelling on the past can be good or bad. The flashbacks, while slightly unnecessary, were presented in a unique way using shadows/ barely visible scenes playing on a blank wall. Overall it is interesting to see these characters together after 20 years.

Now, the plot - along with characters - is one of the film’s weakest components. The plot is incredibly straight foward and doesn’t allow much to interpret, it’s more direct in its approach, and it’s very obvious in certain scenes like the “Choose Life” scene, even though it was great. Upon watching the original Trainspotting you have much to think about and unpack, but here everything is how it’s presented, you can’t think much about the friendships, use of drugs, family, the economy, because it’s all delivered directly to you. Begbie is weaker in this film for sure, characters in general are. He is played more like a villain here, whereas previously he came across as a character that you just don’t necessarily like, but still not a typical movie villain. Here he’s on a quest of some sort, and it felt oddly grand or epic for a film like this - ultimately out of place.

The callbacks were great on the more subtle level, with the music and editing cues, I wish the film was overall more like this. The film continues the motif of trains and relates it to moving on, or staying on the same track. It’s really up to interpretation and that’s definitely a good thing, especially since it builds on the original’s theme while also making its own version of it.

This film is good, but unspecial. The structure and approach to many things are just typical cinema, and as a result it feels weird as a sequel to one of the most unique and special films of all time. The visuals and music were still great here, but once again just not as good. The score is bizarrely better here than the soundtrack. Regardless there are many sequences and creative decisions that will stick with you after the film is over, it’s a deserving sequel at the end of the day and we would recommend it.

It’s a very different film with a different approach and outlook on its subject matters. It’s a well crafted film, but upon second watch I probably won’t ever watch it again. Meanwhile I’ve seen the original Trainspotting at least 10 times and it never gets old. 

K - 6/10         B - 7/10

[kabrainy]

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

They're all Tuned up for a rematch.

“If we're going out, we're going out Looney!”

Such a glorified HBO MAX ad, with barely utilising the Looney Tunes characters. Although when they were used it was fun and cool. It was also unnecesarily long and was (miraculously) worse than the original by a noticeable amount.

Although, it was a Warner Bros. ad, the sequence when LeBron and Bugs track down the other Looney Tunes was entertaining, but it should’ve been left at that instead of the Serververse literally being HBO Max.

The plot was so shite, and it took so long to get to the meat of it all. Spent like 20 minutes with LeBron and his family which is immensely boring, unfunny and complete with bad performances. When they finally get to the Serververse and Looney Tunes it got slightly more entertaining, but then took a swift dive in the third act. The final basketball game made no sense most of the time, but did have some cool ideas in it. The game was also one fucking hour and it felt as such, building on the already excessive length. The goon squad sucks balls as well, they have one moment to show off each power and then they’re never used properly again.

The most entertaining aspects here is the Looney Tunes, which they do not spend enough time on. I care more about Bugs missing his friends than the main emotional arc of the movie. Mixing all this with the shameless Warner Bros./ HBOMAX advertising, makes this film feel like a missed opportunity. It can be funny at times, but only in the Looney Tunes moments, everything else falls hard on its face. Some subtle and background jokes are well presented, and as I said the scenes in the other Warner Bros films were a fun and digestible amount of fan service.

In comparison, the rules and the world they created in this movie is much better, and it does have a unique idea with connecting the movies while letting them stand on their own. A bad comparison, however, is the music. The original space jam soundtrack is great and is probably the best thing to come from it, but here every song is incredibly unbareable and misused.

The animation in the trailer looked really bad, but in the finished product it looks nice enough. The 2D animation is probably better if I had to pick. The CGI is good too, except on the smoother Looney Tunes (Porky and Elmer) and Don Cheadle. Don Cheadle suddenly became CG and it looked awful. The rest of them looked good, especially the one’s with fur or additional textures.

Lola Bunny looks awful in CG too (and kinda in 2D), Zendaya voicing her makes it worse since she just sounds like a normal human rather than a cartoon character. Granny as a character was annoying too, she seemed nothing like her original self, but instead some trope from animated kids films - the old person that’s secretly epic and can fight.

Like popular opinon, we don’t think the original is great, but at least that stayed more true to Looney Tunes (and basketball at that) and was entertaining. This annoyed me and was such a shameless HBO Max advertisement, that doesn’t even work in the UK since we don’t have it. Not all these things are even available here lol. The original Space Jam was also a clear marketing ploy, but they were more clever at poking fun towards that aspect.

*Big Chungus epic and dies at the end lol

K - 2/10              B - 3/10