Change Your Image
goldprince1559
Reviews
The Polar Express (2004)
Magical with some flaws
Let me start by saying this film definitely captures the magic of the book. It has all the makings of a Christmas classic. From the story to the music to (most of) the animation, the whole film will fill you with Christmas cheer. Kids and adults alike will enjoy the movie.
That being said, the film does have flaws. The character animation was done with motion capture. While this is cool and innovative technology, it doesn't quite work right. Some of the characters faces are downright creepy with weird, dead eyes. However, it's somewhat easy to ignore and just focus on the story.
If you've read the book by Chris Van Allsburg, it's a very short and sweet tale with beautiful drawings. For the movie, they did have to add in some more characters and plot points. Some of the characters seemed unnecessary (e.g. The hobo, some of the other kids) or looked downright weird. There was also another kid on the train who was meant to be an obnoxious nerd with a really annoying voice. Not sure why they wanted a character like that in the movie. He gave me a headache.
Overall though, this is a film meant to entertain you and instill you with Christmas spirit, and at that, it succeeds.
Yesterday (2019)
Charming movie with flaws
Yesterday tells the story of an unsuccessful musician named Jack who one day wakes up and realizes no one knows The Beatles or their music.
First off, the film has an awesome concept. The first half of the film is really fun to watch seeing people not knowing who The Beatles are, Jack coming to the realization that he can claim the Beatles music as his own, and his inevitable rise to stardom.
The second half of the film is where it kind of lost me. The filmmakers seem like they didn't really know what to do with the story. There's a will-they, won't-they romance story going on that seemed somewhat out of place. And you come to find out there are other people out there who remember The Beatles and menacingly follow Jack around seemingly threatening to expose him as a fraud. These strange subplots were unnecessary and dragged the film down.
The two lead actors, Himesh Patel and Lily James, are very likable and make the film fun. Kate McKinnon plays Jack's manager, and she's funny, but almost seems like she belongs in a different movie.
Overall, Yesterday is definitely worth a watch. I just wish they'd focused more on how fame can change you and the ethical dilemma of stealing work that isn't your own. Still an enjoyable film though.
Infinity Pool (2023)
Too much gore, too little substance
Infinity Pool follows a struggling writer named James Foster who visits a resort with his wife in the fictional nation of La Tolqa. After spending a day drinking with another couple they met at the resort, James accidentally hits and kills a man while driving back to the resort on a dark road. They decide to forgo calling the police and ditch the body as they believe they would end up victims of La Tolqa's strict criminal justice system. The next morning the police tell them that they know what they did and the punishment for this crime is to be executed. However, for a hefty fee, they can create a "double" of James (basically a clone) who can be executed in his place. James agrees to this and witnesses his double being executed. After recovering from the initial shock, he finds out that other people staying at the resort have also committed crimes in the country and have had doubles created of themselves. This leads James to discover an underworld of debauchery where nothing seems to matter because you could always just have a double created.
This film has an interesting concept, but rather than explore the depths of that concept, it seems like the setup was just created to show some crazy orgy and murder scenes. The entire latter half of the film is not grounded in reality at all and is just nonstop gore, sex, and hallucinations. Imagine if you could relatively easily create a clone of yourself. What would that mean for morality and consequences? The film is much more interested in showing a bunch of naked people having sex and murdering than in answering these questions.
Deep Water (2022)
Good acting bad pacing
I thought the two lead actors (Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas) did a really good job with their performances. Ana de Armas plays a promiscuous wife who is constantly flirting with other guys, while Ben Affleck plays a jealous husband.
Where the movie lost me is there is no real storyline. It just goes from scene to scene with Ana de Armas cheating on Ben Affleck right in front of his face, and Ben Affleck looking hurt. Then the guy she was flirting with goes missing. How many lovers have to go missing for people to realize Ben Affleck was the killer? There was really no payoff at the end and whole story was just disorganized.
Prisoners (2013)
Fantastic film
This film is gripping from start to finish. Amazing story with great acting. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhall give some of the best performances of their careers.
Wireless (2020)
Good concept, dumb characters
I love movies/shows like this where the hero is stranded and needs to find a way out. However, the main character in this makes so many stupid decisions that it makes it unbelievable.
The show starts with our protagonist, Andy (played by Tye Sheridan), driving from the mountains in Colorado to a friend's New Year's Eve party. However, a big snow storm is approaching and they've closed all the main roads so the drive will now take over 9 hours according to Google Maps. Andy decides he needs to get to this party so he finds a shortcut on some backroads. This is where the stupidity really starts:
1. Most of the time while Andy is driving, he is texting, Facetiming, on his ex's Instagram, on Tinder, etc. I don't think I saw him look out his windshield once while driving. He even sets a reminder for himself to stop texting and driving. You need to set a reminder to stop doing that?
2. His shortcut doesn't pan out as he drives for a ways only to realize the backroads are closed.
2. His distracted driving leads him to spin off the road and his car gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. He makes no attempt to get his car unstuck. Luckily he has cell service and he calls AAA, but when he hears there's a high queue, he just hangs up.
3. He calls his friend to come pick him up which makes absolutely no sense. All the roads are closed so how does he expect his friend to get there within an hour or two? Additionally, his friend tells him to start walking. Why? So they can meet in the middle? He's going to go out into the freezing cold and start walking for the next 9 hours while his friend drives up there?
4. The show tries to be all deep by juxtaposing Andy literally being trapped in his car with him being trapped in the web of lies he's created around his drinking problem.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this unless you're really bored and want to watch what is essentially an hour long Chevy Colorado ad.