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An error has ocurred. Please try againWho do you cheer for in Tom and Jerry cartoons: Tom the cat or Jerry the mouse?
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Reviews
Joy (2015)
Plain boring and horrendous
I started watching this movie with high hopes considering it was the work of David O. Russell (who has made some great movies) and highly praised stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro (my favorite actor of all time), and Bradley Cooper. Unfortunately, after the first thirty minutes or so I lost all my hope... it seemed like a childish movie made by an amateur film-maker!
The script was utterly immature. The main message of the movie was female empowerment, a cause worthy of fighting for and to which I say kudos; however, it was represented in the most childish way. Let me give you an example: "You are going to grow up and be a strong, smart young woman. Go to school meet a fine, young man. Have beautiful children of your own. And you're gonna build wonderful things that you do in your room." Sounds like an advice a 14-year-old, obnoxious, recently-turned-feminist girl would give!
Furthermore, the story was completely disoriented and difficult to follow. One doesn't even know how time passes in the movie! I mean after Joy grows up there's clearly some significant passage of time, judging from some of the major occurrences (for instance grandmother dying, etc.), yet the movie gives absolutely no information about it. I was also bothered when the narrator of the story died in the middle of the story, nevertheless still miraculously narrated the events after her death... this is what I call 'posthumous narration' -- yep, seems legit!
The directing was so horrendous it gave me a freaking migraine! Very rarely one can find a scene in this movie in which the camera is actually stable. I don't oppose to a fluent type of camera movement but in this case it was a continuous, subtle, yet super annoying jerky motion that went on and on and on...
Moreover, there are certain scenes in which the acting is incredibly fake. For example, the scene in which Joy walks out of the garage just before releasing her anger by shooting -- never seen this fake of an acting from Jennifer Lawrence before. (I kind of think it's a directing problem though, considering the high level acting Jennifer Lawrence can perform, the director could have and should have repeated that scene)
In conclusion, the movie was disappointingly weak and boring. I certainly do not recommend it.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Deeply Dark and Perplexing, yet Funny and Enjoyable
I want to start off with the fact that this movie depicts a very gloomy, painful and complicated travel into a schizophrenic mind, albeit it is marvelously seasoned with comedy to soothe the pain that the audience goes through. In my opinion, most of the audience would agree that the movie, theatrically speaking, is a masterpiece, if not, very close to one. However, the complicated representation of the content of the movie throws it into a debatable zone. Some argue it was a waste of time while others seem to have loved it sincerely. In my opinion, the movie was actually pretty much close to masterpiece rather than a 'waste of time' when considering both of its theatrical aspects and mind-boggling, brilliantly assembled story.
To elaborate my stance further, specifically on why I think the story is very well represented, I choose to concisely present a possible explanation to the ending that left many baffled and possibly is the main reason why quite a number of people hated the movie. In fact, there are a number of relatively equally plausible ways to explain the ending since it is a surreal story, but here I cite the one that, to me, seems more logically fit to the story.
~SPOILER ALERT~ *a possible explanation for the ending*
At the theater, Riggan shoots himself in the head and dies; what we see subsequently is a flashback to his own hallucination of what happens to him after he shoots himself. He hallucinated this probably sometime before shooting himself in the head. The references that make me think why he did not fail to kill himself in the theater and what follows is his hallucination of a perfect, impeccable aftermath, are as the following: 1- after the shot the body silently falls to the ground (as a 'dead' body does), 2- movement of the camera finally stops its continuous "delusional" motion and the suspense is made for the audience that the movie is actually going end, but suddenly the meteor seen from the beginning reappears (at the beginning after this instant he was seen hallucinating, hence, implying that what comes next is hallucination), 3- then the jellyfish is shown implying that he again failed his suicide attempt (note that the hallucination has begun at this point already), 4- in the hospital things are the way he wanted them to be, ideal to make him happy (Sam is weirdly nice to him, ex-wife stands up to his agent, and the three of them are seen together as he wished before he shot himself, moreover, surprisingly no one is even mad at him!), 5- no stitches or severe scars on the recently operated shot nose, 6- bandage that looks like the Birdman's mask, 7- clean shaved beard (right before he shot himself he had his goatee on, then in the hospital is a clean shave!) just as how he was when he portrayed Birdman years ago, 8- a phenomenal review by the stubborn-Hollywood- hating reviewer who had just sworn she would destroy his show, 9- the title of the review being "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance", which at the opening scene was suggested as another name for the movie, suggesting that the reviewer has realized she was ignorant towards his talents as an artist, but most importantly to Riggan himself "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" means that he surprisingly experiences a far better uprightness and goodness in his life without having any knowledge about his theater shooting's aftermath, 10- him having power over the "Birdman" who is finally under his control, 11- having a completely new look transforming him into a new legendary person that everybody loves and remembers for his artistic abilities rather than the "Birdman", 12- being famous in social media, this time not because of an embarrassing video, but again because of his art, 13- and finally gaining the "real" (not the delusional type) power of flying in a way that others can see him fly, which is implied as Sam who is surely not a hallucinate sees him fly, making him into a "real" superhero without the need for a "Birdman" but only himself, Riggan. In conclusion, in his hallucination at the end he has answered the very same questions typed at the beginning of the movie: "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?" "I did." "And what did you want?" "To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the Earth."
As I have mentioned above, I think this is a fantastic movie because of its theatrical accomplishments as well as this kind of critical thinking that it requires for one to do in order to make sense out of the story. Furthermore, I hope my possible explanation of the ending can help some of those who were confused.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)
John Oliver is redefining satire and he's doing it flawlessly
This guy, John Oliver, is seriously brilliant! He is the best thing to happen to the American TV after Jon Stewart. I've never been a die-hard fan of TV series or talk-shows, rather only occasionally watching some of them here and there. But after I watched one or two episodes of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight last year, I was addicted to watch it every single week until now, and I sure will never stop following the show. It is unbelievably entertaining, funny, as well as being highly enlightening and sharp about the world's recent political, social, and economical issues and news. The only thing that I would want to be changed about this show is its running time which, as of today, is only 30 min every week (this is very annoying!).
What I love about this show is that it is actually making changes in the society to some extent. The show tackles issues that are essential to our everyday lives, perhaps not the most obvious problems, but surely really fundamental ones. For a civilian researching aiming to find the source of the problem in certain fields may be a pain in the neck, but every week John does the research and with a funny tone presents it to us. Issues that we should help to raise awareness about or fix in our society in order to live a better life or make life better for those who are unfairly suffering.
Additionally, I am very much impressed by John's courage in tackling sort of taboo topics too. For instance, as a dedicated Football fan I have always been irritated and angered about FIFA's corrupt heads who are really overturning 'the beautiful game' into a business of theirs for personal benefits and a source of worldwide power. No one in the world of football really dares to reveal anything about their corruption and the people who are not directly and closely related to football don't really care or are not heard about this issue at all. Yet John Oliver devotes a couple of episodes to this issue and brilliantly gives FIFA a slap in the face, at least, makes a united voice to let the mafia head know that the people who love Football are not stupid and know what he's doing with their favorite sport. This was just an example about Last Week Tonight's versatility of topics and fields that are effectively and impressively undertaken every week.
Most TV shows are truly a waste of time, but this show is not. It is a fantastic show to spend some time on and cheerfully want to follow it weekly. I personally always share his videos with my friends and they have started loving it too. Trust me; it's an awesome way to end a week.