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Reviews
Coming Soon (1999)
Enjoyed this movie when I was younger...
I enjoyed this movie when I saw it, I was too young to truly understand it's charm but was charmed nonetheless. In my opinion it was poorly advertised as a woman's American Pie, although there is humor here it is more satirical than American PIe's slapstick comedy.
The film involves 3 rich, yuppy high school girls as they apply to college and explore sex. Bonnie Hoffman was superb in her role as the "mean" friend, and that is a loose term. She has her moments of being mean to her friends, in the way one passive aggressively hates on a friend due to extreme insecurity. Her character portrayal is a more realistic and subtle parody of a 90's rich girl, at least at the time it was released. That being said, this film overall parodies the lifestyle of rich New York kids in the 90's, which was scandalized to the point of seeming like soap opera plots and dramatic acting in other entertainment at the time.
I did not find Ryan Reynold's character charming, just odd and a bit childish, which is unfortunate as he is the main love interest and a waste of an actor's natural charm. The character of Nell was complex, and in my opinion should have been the protagonist in a more serious coming of age version on the film. Stream was fine in her role, that being she wasn't excruciatingly annoying, but not quite complex either. This film had more of a feel like Empire Records without all the outlandish subplots and dramatic acting, than a mainstream comedy like American Pie.
I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of the established actors in the film, from Mia Farrow's spiritual, hip mom character to Peter Bogdanovich's pretentious artist.
There was also subtle focus on the overwhelming pressure of getting into Ivy League school, but making fun of how ridiculous it is kids with a higher social economic status "struggle" with it.
The main topic of this film being a young woman proactive exploration of her sexuality, which often gets labeled as boring. I enjoyed this character's outlook on her sexuality and open curiosity about it. This film handles it sensitively without debasing it and without shoving it down your eyes and earholes. Compared to its contemporaries where sexualized women were portrayed a needy or overly promiscuous, and overall objectified. I truly feel this movie was ahead of it time.
The Legend of Korra (2012)
If you were a fan of Avatar the last Airbender, you can appreciate this show
Korra brought a lot of nostalgia for me when it came out. Just as ATLA brought some serious themes, Korra got deeper in a introspective level.
The first season came in with the expectation of only having one season. When it was further developed we saw the avatar having to change with the world that was always developing. ATLA dealt with a world that was facing the chaos of one villain. Korra dealt with so many dynamics of a world progressing and so many external issues. Instead of a hero who was trying to fix the world into peace, we had a character having to experience all the problems in a society that so many issues that needed to be identified.
This show was for fans who had so many questions about how bending could be considered an elite society, how a world is moving away from spiritualism, when it is so fundamental, is actually overlooking how it is hurting a larger powerless society. Korra's growth was something I could identify with. We need to change and humble ourselves to serve the greater good.
Korra's humbling, so to speak, was very easy for me to identify with. But it was a hard journey. I love Janet Barney's voice work in portraying such a strong character and making her vulnerable at the same time. I can watch this show over and over.
The actors portraying the other characters, such as Tenzin, Lin, Kuvira, etc. Were excellent.
Selena: The Series (2020)
Watch this with an open mind
When I first watched this, I came in with the mindset of one of many things. All I have as an image of Selena, is Jennifer Lopez playing a dynamic woman who faced a tragic end. There is a lot idealism for Selena. I also had read Maria Celeste's book, and although the family refutes the book. I took it to mean Selena was a person I would never truly know. She was gone before we could know her personally and as a multi-dimensional person.
The first season didn't show us anything we didn't already know. She was a fun-loving, dedicated woman who loved her family, her potential career and her fans. I got to see the family as a whole. How fame and the road to fame affected the family individually. I didn't find much fault with the actress portraying her. But, I did feel how I idealized Selena as a character and felt that it would let me down no matter who played her.
The second season showed how much stress and pressure the family faced. It also brought the character of Yolanda, and the vulnerability a lot of famous people face in trusting people could be. It was a subtle pace in how a person who can be a fan and friend can also be a person who has an unhealthy fixation on someone. The actress who played Yolanda did a good job in showing how this facade can be undetected. She played her part in being possessive and unassuming at the same time. And it also comes on the time that the actual person's parole is coming soon.
Selena's struggle into becoming an American icon, also illustrates how American audiences treat their idols compared to Latino audiences. There is a lot of expectation and pressure that is overwhelming. Seeing how it affected her personal relationships was something I had not seen nor understood, and I am glad the family decided to show us this. It humanized her in a way I had not seen.
As much criticism this series might get, I appreciated seeing this side of the story. It could have only been produced with time. The movie came so quickly at the heels of her death and romanticized by fans alike. It's best to watch this with an open mind and with the expectation we can never know a famous character so personally.