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BaxterCallow
My 4 favorite films are Paris, Texas, Blue Velvet, Mandy, and Barry Lyndon.
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Sing (2016)
Sing is Garbage
An admittedly glossy, but shallow, heartless, empty, and pandering mess of cinema, Sing is the 7th hit in a row for Illumination. Because with budgets as low as 631 million dollars, they'd really have to mess up to somehow make their money up and then some. While Minions is god awful, Sing seems to actually be somewhat liked by audiences. Who these people are, I have no idea. But IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores do indicate that plenty of people do very much enjoy the film, so let me try and explain to you why I think Sing is actually a terrible, awful, manipulative piece of crap. Have you ever seen The X Factor, and have you ever seen an animal? If you've answered "yes", you've basically seen Sing. Structurally, it has a bizarre setup, because there isn't really a single main character as there is...an ensemble of different characters who are all given just about the same amount of screen time, each with their own little side-plots that offer nothing more than vague stereotypes that all fit into the most trite movie clichés you could ever imagine. You have the Koala, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, whose business is struggling and desperately wants to succeed at his dreams of producing a popular show, because his dead father worked hard to get him to where he is now; There's the pig, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, who's a dedicated mother of 24, who never got to live her dreams of becoming a pop star because she had to look after her kids. Also, her husband works so hard, he basically ignores her. There's the arrogant mouse, voiced by Seth MacFarlane, who's undeniably talented, whose motivation is purely monetary. There's the edgy teenager/porcupine, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, punk rock rebel, who has dreams of becoming a singer and producing her own music. Then there's the shy elephant, voiced by Tori Kelly, who dreams of being a singer, but can't get over her stage fright, which keeps holding her back. Then there's my favorite, the gorilla, voiced by Taron Egerton, who dreams of being a singer, but is held back by his dad who's in a gang, who robs banks, and is a wanted criminal. Now, apart from them all having the same exact dream of wanting to be a famous singer, what do you notice about all of these characters? Apart from being plain horrible, you'll notice that every one of these characters represents a demographic with a stereotype. Young children have the stupid fat pig character, voiced by Nick Kroll, who's just funny and random. The mothers have the other pig character, who's a relatable mother and, wow, isn't it really hard being a mother? Edgy teenage girls can relate to the porcupine who's having boyfriend trouble, and hates wearing anything with color. Edgy teenage boys can relate to the gorilla, who has father issues, and also appeals to those who want to rebel against what your parents say. Shy and reserved people have the elephant character who also happens to have a really stereotypical black family? Then the remaining characters appeal to everyone else, purely because they're cute or because they have vague motivations as us. Point is, everyone is covered, I don't think there's a single type of person who's missing a blatant, simplistic, unsubtle representation. And this movie takes it to the next level, as well, by applying the concept to the very plot itself. Everyone dreams of being a pop star, it's why The X Factor was so popular. So adapting that idea into a movie makes a lot of sense if you want to capture the most simplistic, predictable, general audience possible. So, the majority of the movie is dedicated to animating a bunch of trendy pop songs, that everyone is guaranteed to know at least one of. The segment most people know from this movie is the "funny" and "hilarious" audition scene in all of the trailers. Come to think of it, this film is basically an hour-and-47-minute-trailer. It has about as much plot and character progression as your average trailer does. And you can tell that certain scenes were specifically designed to be workable into a trailer. You know what, I don't even need to explain. Here's some videos for u; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBe1hXRNi4g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiDMJ-MstqQ Your welcome...
The 'Burbs (1989)
An underrated film, but a great finish
The 'Burbs is a weird film, but you gotta give it to the director of Gremlins and Innerspace for the way he did the main conversations throughout it. There are a lot of funny bits in this thriller/comedy. For one it's Walter Seznick's Dog Queenie. I don't know about it, but the dog just makes me crack up when they show him on the screen. Another thing are the less focused parts, like when Rick Ducommon's character, Art Weingartner, grabs a handful of dog chow at the dinner table when Carrie Fisher's character, Carol Peterson, grabs an orange, then she feeds the chow to the dog. A few of the stuff is suspenseful and just...weird at the same time. With such a strong cast and veteran director (Joe Dante), "The 'Burbs" should have been a better movie. The weak link here is the writing. It's a great film, but it's very overlooked.
Donnie Darko (2001)
A perfect twist, and a great deal of thrills
Donnie Darko is like Shutter Island. It needs multiple viewings and a good dose of thinking. A lot of now adult critics think this movie is too "above average" for kids who've seen it at 14, but if they're serious enough, they know not to smoke, or say the words included in it. Yes, the movie involves racism and plenty of swears, but if you concentrate more on the mystery and the time travel conspiracies, it's more inventive than you think it is. Basically to put the plot in an easier way, in a funny, moving and distinctly mind-bending journey through suburban America, one extraordinary but disenchanted teenager is about to take Time's Arrow for a ride. After surviving a freak accident, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins to explore what it means to be alive, and in short order to be in love, he uncovers secrets of the universe that give him a tempting power to alter time and destiny.