Quarantine Film Reviews 2: 5/16-5/21
The Social Network Rating: 9/10
The movie that got robbed of best picture in the real academy awards, The Social Network, starring Jesse Eisenburgh and directed by David Fincher, was one of those movies that just compels the audience from start to finish. The writing was incredible and probably the best part of the whole film was the dialogue because it never felt forced and sounded like something a person would actually say, and for Mark Zuckerberg’s case, something a person with an extremely high IQ would say. It is a must watch in my book and definitely would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. A weird thing in the movie that didn’t really affect the movie’s actual content or the actors capabilities but affected my personal viewing was the fact that they casted Andrew Garfield to play a latino man-which was beyond off putting especially when they referenced him being invited to join those final clubs (I believe that is what they are called) so they can have diversity-but his performance was good nonetheless.
Pride and Prejudice (2005) Rating: 8/10
The 2005 adaptation, starring Keira Knightley and directed by Joe Wright, of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice gave me butterflies in my stomach and a grin I couldn’t control from ear to ear. I haven’t read the novel yet, so I can’t review the accuracy of it or not, but it was still pretty easy to follow the storyline from start to finish. The only thing that was blatantly clear to the viewer unfamiliar with Austen’s story was the lack of character development. I could tell when certain characters were introduced that they were important to the story but I didn’t know enough about who they are to care about what happens to them or why they’re important in the first place. In terms of acting, Knightley’s performance was not as great as it was in The Duchess, but I’ll give her kudos for the fact that she grew as an actress since this movie and The Duchess are three years apart. If you like a romance story that makes your feet curl at the thought of it, this is the movie for you.
The Darkest Minds Rating: 7/10
The Darkest Minds, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, is your typical, hunger games-esque teen movie. It’s kind of a mindless movie, which can be nice if you don’t want to think about what you’re seeing like I do with trash reality TV or want to do chores and just want something in the background. I’m not the biggest fan of Stenberg’s acting-I find her to be quite emotionless on screen-but she and the actors do an ok job in this film. One thing that really bothers me is the soundtrack; it takes away from what could have been a Divergent or Hunger Games and makes it a The Duff or If I Stay movie. These pop songs aren’t bad in films, in fact I complemented the use of pop songs in my Booksmart review, but the plotline doesn’t call for that kind of music at the points in which it’s used. This movie isn’t great, or even good for that matter, but it isn’t bad either and may be enjoyable for some (I know I would have loved this movie 4 years).
Lady Bird Rating: 9.3/10
Lady Bird, starring Saorise Ronan and directed by Greta Gerwig, is an instant classic and a new personal favorite of mine. Constantly seeing movies and tv shows that fail to capture the reality and true nature of being a teenager, both Saorise’s acting and Gerwig’s direction and writing was a refreshing take of life as a modern teen with still being interesting and unique enough to take the audience away from reality. Also kudos to Jon Brion who did the music, it really complemented the story and moved me emotionally during the more heart aching scenes (in combination with the plot and the acting). I don’t have much to say, and to be honest I’m writing this review a couple days later so I don’t remember where I took points from, but I highly recommend this movie.
Birds of Prey Rating: 5/10
As the follow up to Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey starring Margot Robbie and directed by Cathy Yan is one cliche after another with an f*** men message. The plot is cheesy and makes no real sense (especially the mcguffin of the film, I didn’t even know the significance of it until the end, but the payoff wasn’t worth it). It’s hard to watch this movie which is all about female empowerment when there are characters and films like Wonder Woman who have a better plot, better character arcs, and effectively produce the message of feminism. I guess I have to give credit where credit is due; the cinematography is actually good, I enjoy the actress’ performances (I just don’t think they had a lot to work with), and the fight scenes were highly entertaining. I think this movie and the majority of the DC movies just makes me mad because I grew up watching the Justice League cartoon so I want the live action movies to do well, but they just aren’t (with the exception of Wonder Woman).
Moonrise Kingdom Rating: 9.3/10
This movie, Moonrise Kingdom starring Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward and written and directed by Wes Anderson, is an instant favorite of mine (I know I said the same for Lady Bird but they’re pretty much on the same wavelength of movies). This movie was funny but in a way where you didn’t know if it was polite to laugh and even though I was by myself, I felt bad for laughing at the characters’ actions as if they would’ve felt hurt by me laughing at them. The cinematography and the direction was stunning, as most Wes Anderson movies are, and the plot was engaging and entertaining. I wasn’t a big fan of the soundtrack with an exception being the very beginning and at times the acting fell flat. One of the best Wes Anderson films and a worth it to watch.
