To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I remember it rather well, when it was released, it was a huge critical flop and it was even nominated for the Razzie Award for the Worst Picture. Well, sure, the damned thing was not good, no doubt about it, but calling it one of the Worst Picture of the Year was really pushing it though. First of all, I have to admit that I actually never watched the original TV-show and, to be honest, it didn’t seem to be really good but the concept did have some potential though. In this case, Blumhouse went for a horror take on this story which was, once again, not necessarily a bad idea since there was apparently always a dark undercurrent in the original TV-show, something they apparently never really explored at the time. In fact, I have seen recently another movie and a famous TV show focusing on such luxe all-inclusive resorts such as ‘The White Lotus’ and ‘Infinity Pool’. ‘Blink Twice’ was also dealing with the private island of some rich dude, not some luxe resort, but the vibe was actually quite similar. It’s also interesting that, in each of these projects, staying in such resorts actually ended pretty bad for the guests. Anyway, coming back on our main feature, unfortunately, it was so poorly written though. Indeed, the various characters were all poorly fledged out, except maybe Melanie. Above all, there were just too many plot-holes and the various twists were more annoying than actually entertaining. At the end of the day, I’m not sure the damned thing made any sense whatsoever. Indeed, they went basically for some ‘Inception’-like structure with various layers of fantasies but it was just way too ambitious and convoluted for such a cheap Blumhouse horror flick and it seriously backfired. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t one of the worst movies I have seen released in 2020, it was still pretty weak and you should probably avoid it. 

Since this movie was directed by Noah Baumbach and starring George Clooney, I was quite eager to check it out. I actually loved ‘Marriage Story’ which was and still is my favorite movie released in 2019 but, somehow, I still haven’t watched ‘White Noise’ yet but, since it was a critical flop when it was released, I keep postponing watching the damned thing. Anyway, I actually liked this movie, above all thanks to Clooney who a perfect choice to play this character. Of course, there was an interesting meta aspect since he was playing a huge movie star and many complained that he didn’t even have to act here but that’s ridiculous. Even if his life might be similar to Kelly’s, he wasn’t playing himself. On top of that, it’s also something that was tackled in this movie, the fact that an actor, when they become a celebrity, actually always act a part when they are in public. I also did appreciate that, even though such huge stars are really wealthy, they are also terribly lonely and their lifestyle is so weird and so detached from the real world, it’s a wonder they can play regular folks at all. So, all this was pretty neat but, unfortunately, the whole thing was rather poorly written though. This movie was actually co-written by Emily Mortimer who also had a small role in this movie but I’m not surprised that it was her first gig as a writer. Concerning the flashbacks, I didn’t mind them but I wonder if the movie wouldn’t have worked better without these scenes as, they were rather random, in my opinion. A bigger issue was this road trip thing which annoyed me so much. Of course, during this trip, the main character met some colorful characters and learned about himself and life in general but it is such a lame lazy writing gimmick. Another issue was that there were just too many characters involved. I mean, the cast was impressive (George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Emily Mortimer, Greta Gerwig, Riley Keough, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Isla Fisher, Eve Hewson) but either they were given too little to do or they ended up in some rather half-baked sub-plots. The best example would be Adam Sandler’s character. Sandler was pretty good here, his character was actually so interesting that he almost hijacked the whole movie but he was also involved in a lame love triangle which was not only rather bewildering and, above all, completely unnecessary. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t a home-run for Baumbach, it was still a decent watch though, above all thanks to a fine George Clooney, and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Emma Thompson and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, while I was watching the damned thing, I discovered that I never watched actually a talk-show like this one. Anyway, it was pretty neat to see how the production was going on behind the curtains and, well, it didn’t make such TV-shows really attractive, to be honest. I also liked the fact that the whole writing staff was composed of middle-aged white guys and I’m sure it’s not far from the truth. However, Thompson was a perfect choice, I can’t remember the last time I saw her playing a character so entertaining and she really nailed it. On top of that, she had tons of chemistry with John Lithgow and they made a really convincing and believable couple. Concerning Mindy Kaling, she was a good choice as well but, unfortunately, her character was rather poorly written. She was already the only woman in the writing staff, she had also some Indian roots but why on Earth didn’t she need to have a blue collar background as well? It was really unnecessary and it made her look completely unqualified to get this job. She should have been simply a professional comedian who was trying to have her big break in this business, that would have been more satisfying. Hugh Dancy’s character was also interesting as he was basically a selfish womanizer but he wasn’t portrayed as a dangerous sexual predator. It was also refreshing that Mindy Kaling’s character didn’t fall hard for him and didn’t have sex with him (such a shame that she still ended up with another white dude from the writing room though). Unfortunately, after the big scandal which was seriously predictable, the guy completely disappeared which was rather weird and unsatisfying. Concerning the plot, well, it was seriously predictable and generic and they could have made an effort to make it more original and interesting. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still neat to see Emma Thompson back with her A game and, only for her, it is worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I have always been a big fan of Marlon Brando, I was quite eager to check it out. At the end of the 50’s, Stanley Kubrick just had his breakthrough with ‘Path of Glory’ and he was supposed to make this movie with Brando which, on paper, did sound pretty awesome. However, Kubrick was fired or did quit at the beginning of the production so we will never know how this movie could have been with these 2 giants involved. Eventually, Brando took over the directing duties and it would be his only directing credit. To be honest, it is not surprising that he would never direct again because directing demands such a huge investment in time, energy, responsibility,… while, as an actor, he didn’t even learn his lines and very often worked only to get a big paycheck. But how was the damned thing after all? Well, it was actually not bad at all. Indeed, even if it was nothing really original or ground-breaking, it was still a solid vintage Western. Above all, back then, Brando was such a charismatic actor, he was just quite spellbinding to behold, even if this movie which was a big flop would be the start of the worst decade in his career (you could also argue that, even though he was active for 50 years, beside the 50’s and the 70’s, pretty much everything else he did was rather underwhelming). Karl Malden was also pretty good here and the scenes involving the two men going through a whole range of emotions were really neat. Eventually, the only issue was that, with a running time of almost 150 mins, it was just too long. In fact, Brando’s first cut was almost 5 hrs long which would have been pretty much unwatchable but, at that point, he was already so fed up with working on this project and the studio took over the editing process. As a result, you can imagine that Brando originally wanted to go even deeper in exploring the complexities of the characters involved. At least, you might hope so. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Marlon Brando’s work. 

I never really understood why ‘Zootopia’ became such a box-office success. By now, I have seen it a couple of times and, sure, it is a cute and well made animated feature, I’ll give you that, but not much more than that. However, my youngest daughter saw it when it was released with her big sister in the movie theater when she was just a kid and, since she really enjoyed it, she was quite eager to see this sequel in the movie theater as well. Well, to be honest, once again, I wasn’t really impressed. Sure, it was another cute and harmless colorful CGI animated feature but, as far as I was concerned, it was all rather tedious. The only thing which was interesting was the evolution of the relationship between Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde but even this was just too skin-dipped for my taste. It was also a nice touch to finally get acquainted with the underground reptilian society but I still don’t really get the fascination about this rather generic animal anthropomorphic world and this sequel didn’t change my opinion. The funny thing was that, when it was over, I asked my daughter what she thought of it (for the record, she was 10 years old when she saw the first one and now, she is 19 years old). Well, even though she is a big fan of  ‘Zootopia’, to my surprise, she didn’t hate the sequel but she was certainly not blown away either. The reason why was that, according to her, the plot was just way too similar to the previous movie and she was completely right. Indeed, the plot was basically the same and I’m rather surprised that the critics turned out to be so positive when they went for such a very similar concept for this sequel. Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t care much for it, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Jim Carrey and since it was available on Amazon Prime, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it was definitely one of the weirdest and obscure movies Carrey made ever since he got his breakthrough back in 1994. Indeed, you might wonder how he did end up in a Polish thriller like this one. So, it was definitely a bold move from him and, only for that, the movie did get some extra points. However, you might still wonder what made him choose this project since it was such a cheap and above all completely unremarkable Polish thriller after all. I didn’t mind that the whole thing did look so dreary but I did mind that there was basically no pulse whatsoever concerning the story and the directing. I also felt bad for Charlotte Gainsbourg. Sure, it is one thing to play something seemingly degrading for Lars von Trier, after all, even if you don’t like his work, the guy was and still is an artist, no doubt about it. But why would you do it for something so obscure, and above all, so weak? Concerning the story, I’m not sure if the damned thing actually made sense after all. I mean, how was Greger involved at all with this murder? Why was he arrested at the end? Coming back on Carrey, some critics thought he gave here his worst dramatic performance but I don’t think he was so bad and the main issue was not his performance but the fact that his character was so poorly developed after all. I mean, the old trope of the disgraced police officer obsessing on a specific case has been done to death before and they certainly didn’t do anything interesting with it. It was also rather pathetic that they gave him a family but neither his wife or his daughter had much impact on this story (I think the daughter didn’t have a single line of dialogue after all). After this project, Jim Carrey wouldn’t release another movie for 4 years and he would eventually come back only for the Sonic franchise, probably only for the money, which is rather sad. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was really weak and you should probably avoid it, even if you are interested in Jim Carrey’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but my youngest daughter suggested I should check it out. Well, it turned out to be a decent Netflix true crime documentary, no more and no less than that. To be honest, I actually figured out that the perpetrator must be an adult almost right away. It also made sense that it would be a parent of either Lauryn or Owen but the way it was cleverly constructed made it seemed at first rather unlikely. I have noticed that some of viewers were shocked that Kendra Licari, the actual catfisher, was given so much screen time in this documentary but, in my opinion, it was actually one of its strengths. Indeed, when you watch such documentaries, you don’t expect the actual perpetrator to be interviewed at length like it was here. Of course, the woman was just batsh*t crazy, some kind of really toxic narcissist, and the way she seriously downplayed everything she did was just baffling. I was also stunned by the scene during which she was caught. Not by her, but by Lauryn’s behavior. Indeed, you would have expected her to either burst in tears or go completely ballistic but she seemed so numb. Maybe she was in shock? It was also intriguing that she seemed to really forgive her mother almost right away but I think it was very noble from her. However, it also displayed the mental grip she had on the poor girl. Some viewers also complained that it took the police so long to trace these messages but it is easier said than done. In fact, in case of cyberbullying, the police usually doesn’t do anything (that’s why so many people can get away with such awful things online). I had a colleague who was harassed online by an ex-girlfriend and, even though he knew who it was, even though he brought some evidence to the police, they did nothing because she didn’t actually literally physically threaten him. I was more amazed that neither Lauryn or Owen wouldn’t simply get rid off their phones. I mean, when I was their age, the damned things didn’t even exist and we were fine. Just do something else with your free time, go for a walk, read a book or something and, above all, protect your mental health in the process. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was not bad though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.