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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Minari (2020) in Movies
Apr 4, 2021
Pleasant Enough
With it’s 6 Oscar nominations (including nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor), the drama MINARI has become a touchstone of films with Asian (or Asian-American) roots.
And…it is worthy of these accolades - and this place in history - for MINARI is a warm-hearted, loving look at a Korean-American family trying to make it’s way in the world in 1980’s Arkansas.
Written and Directed in Oscar Nominated fashion (for both categories), Lee Isaac Chung presents a realistic American family looking to forge a new living while still remaining true to their cultural roots.
Steve Yeun (THE WALKING DEAD) is Oscar nominated for his lead role of Jacob, who moves his family to Arkansas in the hopes to start a farm that specializes in Korean food. Yeun’s performance is earnest and sincere and I am happy for him that this performance is nominated. The rest of the family unit is strong - with the stand out being Yuh-Jung Youn as the Grandmother. She brings the most interesting and nuanced character to the screen and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulls the upset and wins the Oscar for Supporting Actress. Finally, veteran character Actor Will Patton is a spark of energy as a local who helps Jacob on the farm.
And…that, ultimately, is the problem with this film. Writer/Director Chung spends most of his time creating the atmosphere and the characters, He fails to realize that there really is no compelling event to drive the plot forward. It’s a “fine” slice-of-life film and one that is enjoyable to watch with a strong, charismatic cast, but nothing really happens and that, finally, is a problem.
This is most certainly a deserving Oscar nominated film - especially in these pandemic times - with big budget Blockbuster films pushed to the sidelines, this type of quiet film is thrust to the forefront - and good for them and I’m glad that the spotlight is shining on this film. I just wish there was more plot and a more compelling reason to watch this film.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And…it is worthy of these accolades - and this place in history - for MINARI is a warm-hearted, loving look at a Korean-American family trying to make it’s way in the world in 1980’s Arkansas.
Written and Directed in Oscar Nominated fashion (for both categories), Lee Isaac Chung presents a realistic American family looking to forge a new living while still remaining true to their cultural roots.
Steve Yeun (THE WALKING DEAD) is Oscar nominated for his lead role of Jacob, who moves his family to Arkansas in the hopes to start a farm that specializes in Korean food. Yeun’s performance is earnest and sincere and I am happy for him that this performance is nominated. The rest of the family unit is strong - with the stand out being Yuh-Jung Youn as the Grandmother. She brings the most interesting and nuanced character to the screen and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulls the upset and wins the Oscar for Supporting Actress. Finally, veteran character Actor Will Patton is a spark of energy as a local who helps Jacob on the farm.
And…that, ultimately, is the problem with this film. Writer/Director Chung spends most of his time creating the atmosphere and the characters, He fails to realize that there really is no compelling event to drive the plot forward. It’s a “fine” slice-of-life film and one that is enjoyable to watch with a strong, charismatic cast, but nothing really happens and that, finally, is a problem.
This is most certainly a deserving Oscar nominated film - especially in these pandemic times - with big budget Blockbuster films pushed to the sidelines, this type of quiet film is thrust to the forefront - and good for them and I’m glad that the spotlight is shining on this film. I just wish there was more plot and a more compelling reason to watch this film.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)

Antonio Banderas recommended Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in Movies (curated)

Illeana Douglas recommended Rosemary's Baby (1968) in Movies (curated)

Carnival by Kanneh-Masons
Album
Decca Classics announces the release of Carnival, a very special collaboration between Academy...

Sarah (7800 KP) rated La La Land (2016) in Movies
Nov 23, 2017
Don't understand the hype
I saw this first at the cinema and had such high hopes from all of the praise, and I really hated it. Having watched it again recently, I do appreciate it a little more now but it still doesn't deserve all the hype.
I love musicals, but this is not the right kind of musical. The songs and music are actually very good, but sadly there just isn't enough of them. Where's the people bursting into song every 5 minutes? I'm also not a fan of the old school musical, although i do appreciate why they've gone down this route.
Performance wise, I think Emma Stone does well and the dialogue between her and Ryan Gosling is quite funny and witty. Not too sure on Gosling, he seems to play the same character in everything and his singing voice isn't great. I also think JK Simmons is vastly underused, which is a shame as he's a fantastic actor.
Sadly not my kind of musical.
I love musicals, but this is not the right kind of musical. The songs and music are actually very good, but sadly there just isn't enough of them. Where's the people bursting into song every 5 minutes? I'm also not a fan of the old school musical, although i do appreciate why they've gone down this route.
Performance wise, I think Emma Stone does well and the dialogue between her and Ryan Gosling is quite funny and witty. Not too sure on Gosling, he seems to play the same character in everything and his singing voice isn't great. I also think JK Simmons is vastly underused, which is a shame as he's a fantastic actor.
Sadly not my kind of musical.

Kieran Harvey (51 KP) rated The Gift (2015) in Movies
Jul 18, 2017
Great cast (6 more)
Brilliant thriller
Great acting
Build up of tension
Amazing third act
Genuine character build up
Phenomenal writing and directing
Fantastic movie
I was looking forward to The Gift for many reasons, including I love Joel Edgerton and believe he is anot extremely underrated actor. I love Jason Bateman, I love horror and more specifically thriller movies, and I love it when smaller movies get great critical success.
So when I was watching this I instantly fell in love with it as it is just a fantastic and beautiful piece of filmmaking. More people need to see this and appreciate it. The thriller aspects are executed to perfection and there really isn't anything I don't like about this movie. The 3rd act is one of my favourite endings to a movie ever and I strongly believe it deserves much more credit than it already has. Joel Egerton not only directs and writes this but he stars in it too which is just brilliant so please go and check this movie out
So when I was watching this I instantly fell in love with it as it is just a fantastic and beautiful piece of filmmaking. More people need to see this and appreciate it. The thriller aspects are executed to perfection and there really isn't anything I don't like about this movie. The 3rd act is one of my favourite endings to a movie ever and I strongly believe it deserves much more credit than it already has. Joel Egerton not only directs and writes this but he stars in it too which is just brilliant so please go and check this movie out

Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Batman - The Telltale Series in Video Games
Jul 24, 2017
It's Batman (1 more)
Troy Baker
Frequent glitches are still present (1 more)
The Joker
Telltale's best for a while
The world's greatest detective gets the Telltale treatment and for the most part it works.
Playing as both Bruce Wayne and Batman is a lot of fun, the original storyline is interesting and the incorporation of the other characters in the Batman universe is well done.
Troy Baker makes a great younger Batman and the voice acting is pretty solid all round.
Unfortunately Telltale still refuse to update their engine and the game suffers from a frequent amount of glitches due to this.
Also, while I was willing to accept a different take on the characters in this world for the most part, I found this version of the Joker underwhelming. He didn't seem like much of a threat and I didn't like his voice actor either.
Overall though, as a Batman fan, I had fun with this and I am looking forward to seeing how Telltale's version of the Batman mythos plays out in future games.
Playing as both Bruce Wayne and Batman is a lot of fun, the original storyline is interesting and the incorporation of the other characters in the Batman universe is well done.
Troy Baker makes a great younger Batman and the voice acting is pretty solid all round.
Unfortunately Telltale still refuse to update their engine and the game suffers from a frequent amount of glitches due to this.
Also, while I was willing to accept a different take on the characters in this world for the most part, I found this version of the Joker underwhelming. He didn't seem like much of a threat and I didn't like his voice actor either.
Overall though, as a Batman fan, I had fun with this and I am looking forward to seeing how Telltale's version of the Batman mythos plays out in future games.

Awix (3310 KP) rated Mirror (Zerkalo) (1975) in Movies
Mar 24, 2019 (Updated Mar 24, 2019)
Autobiographical art-house excursion into who-knows-what is less well-known than the same director's adaptation of Solaris but equally obscure, if you're not in the know anyway (and I'm not). A man shares his dream-like reflections of his life and that of his father (the same actor plays them both; the same actress plays both mothers - see how this could be a bit mystifying?) and the parallels between them.
One of those films which is so revered you really do want to like it, but it's also one of those films which is so oblique and impenetrable that you kind of slip into a zen trance while watching it: there isn't a moment of it which doesn't make a sort of sense at the time it's on screen (well, maybe there are a few), but there's very little sense of a conventional narrative. Mesmerising more than anything else, with some truly beautiful sequences and images on the screen; a technically brilliant work of art but only marginally a piece of narrative cinema.
One of those films which is so revered you really do want to like it, but it's also one of those films which is so oblique and impenetrable that you kind of slip into a zen trance while watching it: there isn't a moment of it which doesn't make a sort of sense at the time it's on screen (well, maybe there are a few), but there's very little sense of a conventional narrative. Mesmerising more than anything else, with some truly beautiful sequences and images on the screen; a technically brilliant work of art but only marginally a piece of narrative cinema.

Sheridan (209 KP) rated The Highwaymen (2019) in Movies
Apr 24, 2019
Excellent acting (1 more)
Period cars and outfits (love it ?)
A Different Side to Bonnie and Clyde
I really enjoyed this. It was complex and interesting, and the characterisations were fantastic. I will admit it was a little slow to start and there were parts I thought needed more explaination (but then it happens a little later and it fleshes the characters out more). I often find the story of Bonnie and Clyde to be romanticised (which to an extent I suppose it's true) but those versions never really show how truly violent and senseless their crime spree was. This however, shows how callous and truly intelligent they were as a team, it's refreshing to see that, because it truly was the truth of the situation. I've always been a fan of Woody (Zombieland is still one of my favourite movies) and this movie shows a different side of his abilities as an actor so that was pretty cool. Overall, it's a thoughtful and interesting film I enjoyed immensely.

Erika (17789 KP) rated Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) in Movies
May 11, 2019 (Updated May 11, 2019)
I'm not one to hand out a 10 rating, but I loved this film, and can't wait to see it again.
First: This was not obnoxious Deadpool Ryan Reynolds (sorry not sorry), this was peak Ryan Reynolds from 2005 (Waiting/Just Friends), AKA, the best Ryan Reynolds.
I feel like this movie was made largely for the people that grew up with the OG Pokemon. There were several references back to Pokemon: The Movie with the introduction of Mew 2. It all seriously made me smile. It was fairly easy to figure out what exactly was going on, this is technically a kids movie, but I enjoyed the entire ride. I loved the entire world that was built, and I'm completely ready for sequels.
The main character, Tim, played by Justice Smith, was hugely likeable and entertaining. I'm assuming Ryme City was in Japan, and since there's only one Japanese actor in the entire world, Ken Watanabe makes an appearance as Lt Yoshida from the Police Department.
I fricken loved this movie.
First: This was not obnoxious Deadpool Ryan Reynolds (sorry not sorry), this was peak Ryan Reynolds from 2005 (Waiting/Just Friends), AKA, the best Ryan Reynolds.
I feel like this movie was made largely for the people that grew up with the OG Pokemon. There were several references back to Pokemon: The Movie with the introduction of Mew 2. It all seriously made me smile. It was fairly easy to figure out what exactly was going on, this is technically a kids movie, but I enjoyed the entire ride. I loved the entire world that was built, and I'm completely ready for sequels.
The main character, Tim, played by Justice Smith, was hugely likeable and entertaining. I'm assuming Ryme City was in Japan, and since there's only one Japanese actor in the entire world, Ken Watanabe makes an appearance as Lt Yoshida from the Police Department.
I fricken loved this movie.