Showing posts with label Haley Lu Richardson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haley Lu Richardson. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The Edge Of Seventeen

I'm not even mad they didn't use the song.


Shit, that was really a good movie. I mean like, holy hot damn this movie was great. I actually wanted to see it in theaters when I saw the trailer but never got around to it until now, and I'm trying so hard not to dash my brains against the wall while berating myself for not seeing it earlier. I was greatly impressed, expecting a more comedic film about teenage angst and day to day life dealing with various teenage situations, and instead what I got was a funny, emotional, and completely wonderful movie that not only did I incredibly enjoy but also relate to. My girl Hailee absolutely just slays this movie, she is a great actress in this and just further reinforces why I appreciate and love her so much as an actress. She plays a very introverted, very cynical teenager Nadine, who is going through a rough patch when her one and only friend hooks up with her brother and the movie focuses on her emotions and how she's handling it whether in a good way or a poor way. I was kinda stunned how much I saw of myself in Nadine, like I fully 120% identified with her and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I know some people will see this movie and see Nadine as a very self-centered, selfish, and maybe even a crazy teenager but I strongly disagree. I remember being a little too much like this, a supremely hot mess of mixed emotions, thinking every soul should revolve around me, and having straight up meltdowns from seemingly insignificant details but in reality it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Many teenagers are like this, and still are but we all come to terms with it and grow past it into better people just like Nadine. She fully accepts she's a unpopular and neurotic person at times but she tries to make it better and finds a bit of solace in her history teacher played by Woody Harrelson. I was expecting a lot more building on their relationship and how they would become very good friends but it's not really the focus, and yet it's still great. He can be a wise ass and she can throw it right back at him, it's a great dynamic and even I've had relationships like that with my teachers. Everything was done incredibly well, the story and characters are wonderful, the film looks beautiful at times, the music is quite nice, and though it's more a drama bomb the comedy never failed to make me have a good laugh. Though there's one scene, and I'm not even sure what it was because it's not that long nor does it have much going on but as it played all I said was, "Holy shit this is a great movie.". It's a calm down scene where events have built up and an emotional climax has been reached but then it gives the audience time to reflect and calm a bit, it's just one shot for about maybe 30 seconds but the subtle music, lack of dialogue, and the events that led up to it really hit this movie home for me as a great movie. I have nothing but love for this movie and can't give it anything less than a sterling recommendation and a perfect 4 stars, check it out! Huge thumbs up from me, and hopefully you too.

One more before the end. And somehow I doubt you've heard of this one.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Split

Well. That was interesting.



That's the word I would describe Split, interesting. This is an interesting film, centering around 3 teenage girls who are abducted by a man with multiple personality disorder, accumulating 23 personalities that the girls must try to use in order to escape. And just like Unbreakable it has a very fascinating premise before anything even happens. A thriller based around a person with multiple personalities is a film idea that I don't think I've ever come across, at least not off the top of my head so it already won brownie points for originality. But then the movie goes and goes, and another thing I noticed in this movie like Unbreakable is this continuous mystery that builds and builds to a fantastic reveal. No discredit to the other actors in this movie, but this movie would be hard to do without James McAvoy, I mean he gets it and if he didn't win awards for this, I'm gonna be upset! He changes on a dime and it is amazing to watch, he pulls off every persona, he's a joy to watch in...several ways, it's a great performance. And I'm sure lots of praise has been given to Anya Taylor-Joy who plays the main girl Casey, but there was a lot to her character and she was so interesting to watch because she seems and is in fact a very damaged character and thus acts like an outsider even in this heavy situation, I'm not sure if we will see her again but I will be looking out for her cause she did good. It was a shock to know that Shyamalan actually got the cinematographer from It Follows, this guy just really knows how to film uncomfortable, stressful, and scary situations and make it look good while doing so so that was a treat. Just all these elements complimented an interesting and creepy story and I'm even more hyped to see what will come of Glass, just to see what they do with these characters and this world they built. So join me next time for our final(?) foray into the Unbreakable world.