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joelle-jeremie
Reviews
French Girl (2024)
Good writing and genuinely funny
Admittedly a bit niche if no subtitles are available, but for someone like me, a bilingual Québec native, this was pure candy. I enjoyed this thoroughly! It's a written, well executed, light hearted comedy. It also highlights the caliber of fantastic actors that are produced in Quebec. Everyone in this movie is extremely solid even in the context of what I assume is a "made for America" movie. Will this win and Oscar? No. Will you have a good time watching it? Yes. Is that the point of a comedy? Absolutely. I laughed out loud many times! It's cute and played with genuine sincerity. If you come in rooting for yourself to like it, you will. Zach Braff is so much fun to watch and so is the québécois cast. Luc Picard (the dad) is a master. I say, give it a chance and you might be very pleasantly surprised.
Unfaithful: Caught in the Act (2022)
Stop it! stop it! stop it!
This show only has value if you are interested in seeing how an unscripted show should NOT be made, mainly because, it's 100% scripted. It's.... what's the word?.... terrible?! Bad?! Ummm. Whack?! These silly pretend covert cameras that are 100% clearly regular cameras with a stupid grain added to the footage to make it look lofi are so dumb. This show is trash. I wonder if these people think that that's how you break into the acting business....... It's not. Especially with this caliber of terrible acting. Also, this is playing in the background while I'm writing this.... The happy ending that I just witnessed on the first episode is beyond infuriating lol! So whack.
Happiness for Beginners (2023)
Terrible Writing for Beginners
Missed opportunity. Great potential for a sweet story. Instead it's a lot of exposition and useless dialogue. I genuinely feel bad for the actors. The characters are all very clearly defined and had so much potential for comedy and heartfelt relationships but it all fell flat. The main character played by the otherwise wonderful Ellie Kemper, was especially unlikable which made the romance something I found myself not rooting for... like, I didn't understand what this Jake guy felt so compelled by. I haven't read the book this is based on, but the screenplay is weak by all accounts. The actors could not save the bad writing. This feels like a beginner's screewriting class exercise that would have gotten a C- at best.
Maybe I Do (2023)
When playwrites try making film...
This sucks. I rolled my eyes at the very first scene. I love a good guilty pleasure romcom so I was really hoping this was not gonna be terrible. But it is incredibly terrible. By so many standards. Playwrites really need to just write good plays. The pretense of theatre never works in film, especially when dude just does a copy paste of his dialogue in final draft. 30 minutes in and he's still establishing his characters. I'd say good effort, but whenever I see any film made by a dude that adapted the screenplay from their own writing, directed AND produced the movie, it's a good indicator of a person who doesn't know how to surround himself with people who are actually better equipped than themselves to make the project the best it can be. This is whack. Even the little stock music in the background doesn't work. The cast didn't believe themselves. Just awful. The only worthy reason to watch this is if you're studying film and you want to know what not to do.
Our Universe (2022)
Beautiful, awe-inspiring take on the nature of life
I just loved this. The traditional way to present nature docs and science docs as totally separate entities that doeal with totally different subjects has been turned on its head and combined in a way that allows the viewer to understand their relationship to each other and to one's self. It was fantastically done. From the cinematography to the storytelling, i thought it was flawless. The way I experienced this was profound, spiritual, even. Morgan Freeman is my favorite narrator of all time and it almost feels as though God himself is explaining our origins. Wonderfully done... Congratulations to the whole team on this beautiful achievement.
My Dad's Christmas Date (2020)
Just no
Man,... this was so boring. I tried watching this last year when it came out but never got passed the first 10 minutes. Now I remember why. The editing and soundtrack were so badly done it made it completely distracting and painful to watch. Thiswasn't even good enough to be cheesy, it was just not good. The 4 stars are for the actors and the beautiful backdrop that York provided for this movie. Save yourself the time and watch anything else instead.
Yasuke (2021)
Leveling the playing field
While I admit the series is not a 10, it is also not a 3 and should probably be rated between 7 and 8.5. Why some people are SO angry at it, I don't understand. I've rated it higher to hopefully level the playing field. The story is well told, beautifully animated, and the music brings a fresh dimension to a genre that tends to be quite traditional. The American creators of this show, which includes Lakeith Stanfield, are clearly huge fans of anime and gracefully brought a story, that would not typically be told in this genre to life, with the help of talented Japanese artists and animators. Well done! While the story is a fantasy one and not meant to be a historical retelling of facts, the low ratings it garnered here because if this, are genuinely undeserved based on the pure fact that it is, simply a good show and I feel like all anime fans will enjoy it. I, for one, hope to see many more seasons ahead.
The Midnight Gospel (2020)
Unexpected depth
Perhaps the weirdest show I've ever seen, but strangely endearing is the midnight gospel on Netflix. For fans of Adventure time with Finn and Jake, you wont be too put off by the super weird premise of an alternate universe traveling dude having conversations with the strange characters he meets. But what's different about this, what makes it very grown up, is the subject matter explored both visually and verbally by the show's creators Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell who also lends voice to the main character. Psychedelics, high magick, death, ego... my 12 year old watched them with hypnotic focus and listened attentively to the delivery of this information: it's a podcast, animated with ridiculous beauty and sprinkled with the occasional buy-in to the fantasy painted in the mostly unscripted dialogue. Naturally flowing from being very aware that the exchange is taking place in what is probably a very ordinary studio to the interviewee's seamless participation in the visual story line, allowing the viewer to really give in to the uniqueness of the format. This is a very creative way to serve up highly spiritual concepts to those who are willing to let themselves be transported in to this beautiful surreal world. Highly recommended