Tag Archives: netflix

Film Reviews: No Time to Die. Hair. Luckiest Girl Alive. 13: The Musical. Glass Onion. Don’t Worry Darling. The Watcher. Halloween Ends. Everything Everywhere All At Once

19 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by in blake shelton, movies, Naomi Watts

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No Time to Die

This is how my dad and I spent our Christmas Eve. I’m struggling to see how Bond will return after this, but nonetheless No Time to Die was a fun addition to the franchise. I still wish they cast Tomasz Kot as the villain, like Danny Boyle wanted, he would have been amazing in this role.

8/10

Hair

I watched this previously as a kid, but didn’t remember it well. The ending is the perfect metaphor for how unprepared American youth were for the Vietnam War. They take it very literally, preseting us with a shocking ending, as one of the characters cries as he boards the plane, to later meet a tragic end.

7/10

Luckiest Girl Alive

I was surprised to learn Jessica Knoll wrote the script, because the film was so much weaker than her book. Chiara Aurelia plays the younger version of Mila’s character and is just as amazing in this role as she was in Tell Me Your Secrets and Cruel Summer.

6/10

13: The Musical

Sometimes I wonder if anyone still remembers that Liz Gillies and Ariana Grande both got their start in the original 13. Graham Phillips, who later starred on The Good Wife, played Evan in the Broadway version. I love musicals, so naturally I still remembered the chorus to two songs from this one and didn’t hate this movie.

5/10

Glass Onion

Absolutely nothing happens in the first hour of this film, which is also significantly worse than the first one, with very average acting and characters who happen to be both extremely annoying and pretentious. The murder couldn’t be less original… and yet they are still making a third one of these somehow?

4/10

Don’t Worry Darling

Matthew Libatique sure knows how to film things prettily. His shots and Pugh’s acting save the show.

5/10

The Watcher

I watched this because Murphy cast Naomi Watts as one of the main characters, but I ended up loving almost every minute of it.

8/10

Halloween Ends

Not enough Laurie Strode or Michael Myers. And the new male lead was annoying.

5/10

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The self-harm aka the paper cut scene made me furious and there were some other things I didn’t like, but I sure enjoyed Michelle Yeoh’s acting.

6/10

Film Reviews: Seaspiracy. Shoplifters. Quick Change. Unfaithful. Chef. Cape Fear. Red River. Fatal Honeymoon. A Week Away

17 Saturday Apr 2021

Posted by in movies

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Seaspiracy

I’ve been vegan for 11 years and since then I’ve been trying to educate my parents on the disastrous effects of animal consumption, sadly without success. I’ve asked them to watch this with me today and they were left shocked, but I don’t think this will affect their eating habits. We’re watching Cowspiracy tomorrow.

8/10

Shoplifters

I watched Our Little Sister last year and loved it, and finally got the chance to watch Shoplifters. My dad said it was too slow for him, but I absolutely love Yasujiro Ozu’s films and this has a similar structure and slow pace.

9/10

Quick Change

I loved every minute of this and I only learned of its existence yesterday. And I’m so glad I did, Geena Davis and Bill Murray are great and the film is truly funny.

‘Since when is illegal to run for a bus?’

7/10

Unfaithful

In my middle school music room the teacher had a giant poster of this film on the wall, distracting the students. 13 year old girls would swoon over Richard Gere and others would laugh at the poster. Many seemed to know this film, I didn’t. I finally watched it today and it’s everything I thought it would be, and that’s not a compliment. Also there is a rape that turns into a consexual sex that is just repulsive. Actually all of the sex scenes in the film are.

3.5/10

Chef

A friend has been telling me about the 1 Second Everyday app for a while now and I remember their website saying ‘as seen in Chef’ and yes, the film promotes different apps, mostly focusing on Twitter. The father-son relationship is charming and the film shows working working in a family business well. Whenever I think of food trucks, my mind automatically goes to Switched at Birth and Daphne getting a food truck from her estranged biological father.

6/10

Cape Fear

I just really felt like rewatching this today. Also, I don’t think I’ve noticed it before, but Jessica Lange is rocking that short haircut. Juliet Lewis and Robert DeNiro share an extremely gross kiss and have both been nominated for Oscars for their roles.

9/10

Red River

You know it’s a bank holiday If I’m suddenly logging a lot of westerns watched with my dad or romcoms and TV movies watched with my mom. This western was directed by Howard Hawks and stars John Wayne. This must not have been easy to film with the hundreds of animals running around. This film also made me want to check out other films Joanne Dru has been in and I haven’t heard of her before watching this film.

7/10

Fatal Honeymoon

I’ve heard of this case before and this was a good enough and typical for Lifetime recreation of events. Harvey Keitel stars as Tina’s father. I also really miss living in Queensland and think of Australia almost every day.

6/10

A Week Away

So this is Camp Rock for hardcore Christians? My family only made it through 30 min.

2/10

Film Reviews: Our Souls at Night. Disappearance at Clifton Hill. Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal. Goon. Stripes. Tartuffe. Red Joan. Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder. Death to 2020

15 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by in Jane Fonda, movies

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Our Souls at Night

Redford and Fonda’s 4th film together. Does The Chase count though, they barely had any scenes together. I’m a huge fan of both, so this was a real treat I’ve been saving for a stressful day for almost four years.

7/10

Disappearance at Clifton Hill

I appreciate them trying to make this horror creepy, the sound mixing certainly was spooky at times and I was invested in solving this mystery, but it just wasn’t exciting enough.

5/10

Operation Varsity Blues The College Admissions Scandal

I have been following this case closely for 2 years, and this documentary didn’t teach me anything new. Also, I’ve been a fan of Lori Loughlin since Full House and Felicity Huffman since Desperate Housewives, so 2019 was a weird year for me.

5/10

Goon

I have been following this case closely for 2 years, and this documentary didn’t teach me anything new. Also, I’ve been a fan of Lori Loughlin since Full House and Felicity Huffman since Desperate Housewives, so 2019 was a weird year for me.

4/10

Stripes

You know I’ll watch any comedy as long as John Candy stars in it.

6/10

Tartuffe

I was not expecting for both of Murnau’s films I watched today to be this bland. I love Sunrise and Nosferatu, but this and The Haunted Castle were dissapointing.

4.5/10

Red Joan

I was considering seeing this at the cinema two years ago, and I’m glad I didn’t. This is only good enough to watch in the background while doing something else. She spends the last 15 min of the film trying to find a way to run to Australia. Can I get on a boat an move back to Australia too, please?

5/10

Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder

My family loves Hallmark mysteries, so here I am. I’ve only seen one other Hailey Dean Mystery before, Death on Duty and I liked this one much more. I actually got the killer wrong, and that’s always nice.

5/10

Death to 2020

A lot of the material is not funny and some is plain stupid, but the jokes about Boris Johnson were on point, including calling him a scarecrow. Most delivered by Hugh Grant.

‘In the UK, everyday citizens celebrate the countdown to Brexit-cide and the recent installation of newly-elected Prime Ministerial scarecrow, Boris Johnson.’

‘Prime Minister and haystack Boris Johnson decides that since Britain is no longer part of Europe, it can safely ignore the warnings. He encourages those who haven’t already died to go about their business as usual, but with a greater emphasis on hygiene.’

‘The Prime Minister might have to be replaced by someone less qualified than him. Which is impossible.’

5/10

Film Reviews: The Towering Inferno. Happiest Season. Little Fires Everywhere. Two Women. The City of Your Final Destination. Cafe. Peter’s Forest. The Christmas Chronicles 2. The Secret Garden

09 Saturday Jan 2021

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The Towering Inferno

This was an uncomfortable re-watch post 9/11 and the Grenfell tragedy. This film clearly contributed to many questioning why no helicopters were used in the evacuation of the Twin Towers and the Grenfell Tower.

7.5/10

Happiest Season

I’ve seen a lot of Christmas films and none of them focused on a same sex couple. I think the fact that I could relate to it automatically prevented me from hating this film, even if multiple scenes annoyed me. Lauren Lapkus playing a security guard gave me Orange is the New Black feels. I loved the way Stewart delivered the ‘They also think, that… I’m straight.’ line. And that Clea Duvall cameo.

‘That lifestyle choice.’
‘Such a shame.’

‘They’re my parents and I’m scared that if I tell them who I really am, I will lose them.’

7/10

Little Fires Everywhere

I’ve just rewatched this with the family today and it’s still a great mini-series. I probably enjoyed it more now, as my family was so into the story, they pleaded we watch another episode even though it was already 4am. What stroke me the most while I rewatched this was AnnaSophia Robb’s portrayal of Reese Witherspoon’s younger version. I’ve been following her career since Bridge to Terabithia, so I know apart from The Carrie Diaries, she’s had many roles in many small and very average projects. She gives a wonderful performance here and is a better Elena than Reese herself.

10/10

Two Women

The middle parts were a bit slow and uneventful, but the last ten minutes are brutal and compelling.

7/10

The City of Your Final Destination

I’m taking a break from watching shitty Christmas films with my family to dive into my favourite, Italian neorealism. I watched this for Laura Linney. It reminded me of Youth, but it wasn’t quite as good.

5/10

Cafe

This reminded me of Jennifer Love Hewitt’s abusive husband arc on 911. This average TV movie dips its fingers in numerous genres including psychological, sci-fi, mystery, fantasy and drama. It’s not for me, but my pre-teen self would surely appreciate The Sims reference.

5/10

Peter’s Forest

This reminded me of that Grey’s Anatomy episode back in season 3 I believe, when a person with HPV came in and he was covered in warts that looked like tree branches. Here, someone has their tree branch arm chopped off at one point.

5/10

The Christmas Chronicles 2

The first film was fun, but even the Back to the Future twist didn’t help the sequel. Also, It’s hard to believe Chris Columbus wrote and directed this film.

5/10

The Secret Garden

Is this a remake of The Secret Garden or Bridge to Terabithia? Out of all the recent remakes, I knew from the minute I saw the trailer, this was going to be the most pointless one. Why would you remake Agnieszka Holland’s timeless classic? Because special effects are so advanced nowadays? The Secret Garden doesn’t need them.

4/10

250 Best Films Watched in 2020

31 Thursday Dec 2020

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I’ve watched 907 films in 2020. I’ve made this list on my letterboxd, and thought I would screenshot and paste it here. I was very much obsessed with Filmbox Arthouse and Mubi this year. A few are rewatches, but ones that I haven’t seen in 10+ years, so I’m leaving them in. Almost all of them are first time watches. Some of these were reviewed on here throughout the year, if there’s a film on this list you’d like me to review, or any film really, please let me know.

Check out my 2019 list: https://joanneholly.com/2019/12/13/200-best-films-watched-in-2019/

Film Reviews: The Craft: Legacy. Horizon Line. Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight. The Other Lamb. After-School Special. Scarface. What We Do In The Shadows. The House That Jack Built. The Turning. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting. Conte D’Ete

09 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by in movies, sarah paulson

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The Craft: Legacy

I have a feeling other than myself and the 50 year old male in the audience, no one at my screening has actually seen the original The Craft, which is disappointing. Legacy would have been so much better if they chose to focus on what happened to the four girls from the first film, instead of creating a whole new story and then desperately try to make a correlation at the end. Also, I’m disappointed two scenes from the trailer weren’t used in the final film.

5/10

Horizon Line

Way better than I expected. The question here is, did you catch yourself imagining what you would have done if you were in the character’s shoes, while watching the film? If so, it means the film is a success. Last film watched at the cinema before the second national lockdown, possibly the last film watched at the pictures in 2020?

7/10

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight

Poland is known for its beautiful forests, among many things. The filmmakers took every slasher based in the middle of nowhere and put it into one quite entertaining watch. I think the slasher it made me think of the most is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Also, I really love the title.

6/10

The Other Lamb

The red and blue wardrobe sure reminded me of The Handmaid’s Tale. I loved this atmospheric horror from Polish filmmakers Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. The film is visually stunning. Disappearing from Mubi in 2 weeks.

8/10

After-School Special

I never would have guessed they were going to go there. This left me shocked and uncomfortable, but this short was supposed to do just that, so it worked.

6.5/10

Scarface

I’m a big fan of Brian De Palma, so obviously I love his Scarface remake. Today I finally got to see the original and I didn’t like it quite as much as the remake.

7/10

What We Do in the Shadows

This was my third attempt, successful this time, and I’m still not in love with it and I don’t really understand why.

6/10

The House that Jack Built

‘I couldn’t resist running that little old lady over.’

Lars von Trier’s return to horror. I can’t stop thinking of the hunting scene.

8/10

The Turning

I remember deciding not to see it at the cinema earlier this year, and yet I chose to waste my Halloween on it? What’s wrong with me?

2/10

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Awesome title, average film.

5/10

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting

I grew up watching Goosebumps the TV series, and I don’t think I would have enjoyed this film much as a kid, because it lacked scary parts. The hypnotising song was awesome though and I will still most likely watch the sequel if there is to be one. I’ve been following Oona Laurence’s career since her SVU episode and the brilliant film The Lamb.

5/10

Conte D’Ete aka A Summer’s Tale

I wish this wasn’t my introduction to Éric Rohmer, because it really put me off checking out his other films. Three of his films are on Mubi, and I was hoping to watch them if I liked this one, but now I don’t think I will. This was a required viewing for film school and there is no way I’m picking this film to write my next essay on.

5/10