Reviews

As well as eye opening--although this 'should' already be known but sometimes one doesn't quite understand until they 'see' it--account of what hell on earth truly looks like from the POV of Prostitutes from certain countries (probably isn't this bad in some countries but this is a probably a good mean average for a lot).

Really interesting how the filmmaker shot this; it almost felt like I was watching the movie "Kids" (1995). Interesting how the one woman from Mexico said she loved the life style--as Nina Hartley has been in porn for so long because she has said multiple times how much she loves the lifestyle--but this viewpoint is, I'm sure...very rare.

The hypocrisies and contradictions throughout this movie were funny because it made you see a truth of how messed up and misinterpreted everything can be.

A brilliant documentary! My only criticism is that sometimes it feels like you're watching "Laguna Beach" or "The Hills" (more so in Thailand than anything, but it's understandable in some way that questions had to be asked and situations had to be understood--such as the guy coming into the room to have intercourse in Mexico).

You feel the worst for the Bangladesh girls as that truly was hell on earth. And when the one girl talked about how life for girls should be better than this, you want to yell out loud and say, "It is!!" Sometimes it's not ones fault where they are born or how they are simply born into the lifestyle. Sometimes one gets dealt a bad hand with their life from the beginning...and that's absolutely when you need God the most...because you have to believe the afterlife is a better place!

The film, Harriet, is historically accurate on the main key points. However, it is a film, and so it does play out as a historical fiction novel. But with the key points and the essence of the woman herself, it's very accurate. And anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Cynthia Erivo commands and dominates her performance as Harriet Tubman. She embodies the very nature and breath of one of the most beloved and brave people in history (and who they should absolutely put on our currency and I hope they still do).

I give a point off for the fiction in the film. And I also give a point off for some of the bad music score that is played in the beginning. A better music score would have made the film more powerful (however the song 'Stand Up' is terrific).

In the end, a very good film and a must see!

I agree with a lot of the reviews for Parasite. Parasite is a wonderful work of art that is open to many interpretations. One interpretation that I haven't read yet, which I found throughout the film is...karma.

The poor Kim family struggles to make it in life. However, the Kim family cuts corners i.e. they lie, manipulate, cheat, etc. And as the old saying goes, 'you only get what you give in life', and that's kind of why the Kim's are where they are. The Kim's are good people in some way, as Mr. Kim demonstrates, expressing his shame about the driver they got fired. The Kim family has a conscience and they have some values, as most of us do.

However, if you cheat, lie, deceive--it will always come back to get you i.e. the scene in Parasite where husband Park and wife Park are on the couch thinking of the underwear and they start sexually going at it while Husband Kim and daughter and son Kim are hiding under the table, listening to this. How awful that must have been for father Kim to hear that with his children right next to him. How embarrassed husband Kim must have felt at hearing he smells terrible, from husband Park, in front of his children--and how their was nothing husband Kim could do about it as he and his son and daughter were hiding under the table. The metaphor being that most of us in life can do nothing about it.

But the Kim's did manipulate and cheat their way to the top, therefore their karma came back to bite them. And oh how it bites the Kim family in the very end. And it bites the Park family too. As the Kim family uses the Park's, the Park's use the Kim family for cheap labor--which in turn is a metaphor for the class war and for the war of employer vs. employee and how we all except such crummy wages and demands as a part of our society.

In one scene, Mr. Kim says, 'no plan is the best plan.' Which is the same as the old adage, 'If you never have any expectations then you will never be disappointed.'

Also, you could look at the stone like the story 'The Monkey's Paw.' Just like in The Monkey's Paw, the stone brings the Kim's good fortune...but at what price.

Parasite is brilliant on so many levels that it's really a film you need to see two or three times to take it all in. It's a film that demonstrates that there is always someone worse off and Husband Kim gets his ultimate karma by taking the place of the person who was worse off than he was. Karma. It will always get you. And Parasite demonstrates this beautifully.

Wonderfully acted and spiritually directed in the genre's most clever form. Parasite is not only a must see, it is a film you will not forget.

I've read the reviews for The Lighthouse and I also read what the Eggers Brothers were going for with the film. However, like any great painting, the painting is always subjective to many different interpretations. And I'm sure the Eggers Brothers would be open to many different interpretations with their beautiful work of art: The Lighthouse.

I saw The Lighthouse how a lot of the reviews saw it. But to piggy back on those reviews as well, I also saw Pattinson's character being tempted in every given direction, comparing his temptation to Jesus Christ's temptation of the 40 days and 40 nights.

However, Pattinson gives into his temptation eventually and murders (a couple times) and goes for the forbidden fruit.

The Lighthouse is a terrific film with many allegory's and many interpretations. Willem Dafoe is the incarnate lighthouse keeper and sailor of that time. The Lighthouse is cinema at its finest.

Joaquin Phoenix has had a wild and electric acting career and his rendition of the Joker doesn't disappoint. Phoenix's Joker represents all of the sadness and mental illness in the world and how society throws it to the side, like 'garbage.'

A character portrayal which displays the origins of how someone with a chemical imbalance can break down and go postal or even tragically participate in mass shootings.

The nuances and the idiosyncrasy of the performance is brilliant and tragically sad as this Joker relates to many people in real life. Other films Joker reminds me of is Taxi Driver, and Falling Down.

Finally, as brilliant and as academy award winning as the performance is, as this is a movie, it at times glorifies the Joker's behavior and because this movie hits so close to home with a lot of people, I only hope no one goes out and does something bad after seeing this film. There is nothing glorified about this sad and depressed behavior in real life and there's nothing glorified about doing evil things in real life. It's a just a movie.

I understand that 'Hold the Dark' is based upon a novel. I understand that 'Hold the Dark' does even in fact have some eye opening metaphors which are relatable in the world we live in. With that, this is just a very dark, ugly and evil film. Most films that are great films, that are dark like this film, at least have an arc to where there is some sort of silver lining or they at least have some likable characters making amends, etc.

The only likable thing in this film is Jeffrey Wright's character, and that's it. And that's not enough to salvage the film, for me. Some may love the symbols and metaphors this film represents, but not me. It's not my cup of tea. Everything about this film is ugly and evil and leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Savages are always in the dark as are these characters. I can imagine a brother and sister in an incestuous relationship would always be in the dark too.

A great look at our social commentary for the time. People will always be people, bad people, good people, no matter what the time or technology is, history repeats itself with the people. Humza brings out beauty and inspiration through the dangers of society. Kaylyn is instagram incarnate, where it will be a lifestyle for her through and through. Same probably for Humza. For Emma, instagram won't be a lifestyle for her.

Emma will hopefully look back in 20 years on the cruelties of people and technology, and shake her head and laugh (understanding at the time it hurt, but in the now, how unimportant they all were) as she's living her dreams out in peace and harmony. In the end, we all want validation from the world, it's human nature. But even if you have 1 million followers, you still may not find the peace you are looking for. Peace comes from within. It's true, it can be hard to find the peace with all the noise in the world, but it can be found in the silence of nature, the beach, helping others (as Emma's mom lovingly touched upon), etc.

To find that peace from within when the going is good or the going is bad is ultimately what we all want. To find the peace within, even when others aren't liking our Instagram pages or when we're not at the beach or in nature.

Emma's going through an age we all went through, when we felt our insecurities the most. Hopefully she knows that black guy who made that comment to her is not worthy of her. Hopefully she knows it's not her, that-that black guy just gets off on making hurtful comments to people, there's many like him. Beauty is to the eye of the beholder. It's subjective. Some may find Emma to be the most attractive woman in the world, and some may find blondes to be, or this or that. It's all subjective. Hopefully she knows that. Hopefully she realizes how beautiful she is.

This was the funniest comedy special I've seen in the last 10 years. It had old school comedy, mixed with modern comedy, mixed with the best of Steve Martin and Martin Short. Their stories were hilarious. Everything was hilarious! Other comedy specials have nothing on this one.

Also, a nice five minute segment of great banjo playing by Steve Martin bringing some calmness and tranquility in between the laughter. A must see!!

Had potential, but...Yeah, the many 'what went wrongs' with this film. The Fantastic Four with Jessica Alba wasn't perfect, but at least there was chemistry between the four of them and there were some good fighting scenes, and it was fun at times.

This version of Fantastic Four falls flat in every area. There is no chemistry between the four of them and that's because there's no arc built for them to come together as a team. This film needed another 30 minutes of fighting another villain so the chemistry could come together because at the end of the film, you're saying to yourself 'I don't want to see a sequel with these four again.'

Also, there's no arc for an apology by Reed (Miles Teller) to Ben (Jamie Bell). Yes, Reed apologizes, but Ben never forgives him, but instead, they fight Doom together for 10 minutes and then all of the sudden everything is peachy keen between the two of them. There was never a scene showing the forgiveness. There was never a scene where all four really fight together and become a team, and show the chemistry. There was never really any fun. Instead, everything was just lost in the bad plot.