Nothing else to say
Up until about 15 minutes into Belfast, it never occurred to me that memories were able to be in black and white. I’m not talking about those shown in fiction, but my own personal memories.
That director Kenneth Brannagh’s movie had me thinking like this speaks to it’s power as what will surely be an Oscar front runner in the next few months.
While I have never seen the Twilight films (nor do I plan to), I am aware of the aftermath of the saga’s two lead actors. I don’t refer to their personal lives, but to how the public responded to their acting talent. Before Twilight, Robert Pattinson was most known as Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter Franchise. Recently, I finally became a fan when I saw his solid work in The Lighthouse and TENET (2020). It will help his career more so now that he is about to be the latest Batman.
As for Kristen Stewart, the first film I remember her in was way back in the film 2005’s Zathura (remember that one?). While she did some great work in films such as the very underrated Adventureland (2009), there was more promise to her acting chops when I observed her in Still Alice (2014). Still, I admit to feeling uneasy when I found out she would be cast as the late Princess Diana in Spencer.
That uneasiness only lasted about ten minutes into the picture.
I was as shocked as the next person when it was announced that Eternals had a low score on Rotten Tomatoes (as of this writing, the critic score is 49%.) This still did not deter me, as I had a good amount of hope knowing that Chloe Zhao was at the helm (more on her later).
When it was over, I left the theater knowing I was on the fence for this film as much as I have been for any film in some time.
“Unusual movie” was what I heard from a fellow audience member at the end of the credits of Last Night in Soho, the latest film from Edgar Wright.
I responded something to the likes of “True, but that does not make it bad.”
Much thanks must be given to the little voice in my head.
When buying my ticket for Dune, the voice told me to try and buy a seat as close to the screen as possible. While my neck did not start truly hurting until the last forty minutes or so of the film, the voice was correct, as the experience gave me small vibes dating back to when I watched the original Star Wars Trilogy re-released in the mid-90s when I was nine years old.
There was a lot to try to digest while walking into No Time to Die, despite having an extra amount of time to prepare for the film (it was one of the first to delay its release at the beginning of the COVID pandemic). It would be the end of the Daniel Craig era, the only actor who truly could threaten Connery as the best Bond (as of this writing, I have seen just under half of the films in the franchise).
Well, by the end of the 2 ½ plus hour film (the longest 007 film to date), there was even more to digest.
Despite my qualms I had with the first Venom film, I did have some high hopes with the upcoming sequel when I saw the first film’s post-credit scene.
While I have stated I am not an expert in comic book lore, I feel I know enough to know that Woody Harrelson would be the perfect actor to play the villainous Cletus Kasady/Carnage. Even with him added on to this universe, the result is still a basic run of the mill action packed CGI fest. It is a shame, since there are a decent amount of moments in Venom: Let there be Carnage that had me smiling almost like a symbiote invested entity would.
It seems worth mentioning that anyone’s opinion of a biopic will definitely depend a lot on how well that person knows the source material. The more one knows, the higher the expectations.
To put it candidly, I knew virtually nothing of Tammy Faye Baker, other that she, along with her husband, was one of the more popular televangelists of the 1970s and 1980s (just before my time). At many points of The Eyes of Tammy Faye (based off of a documentary from 2000 of the same name), I realized they were the reason I would see other televangelists as a kid when I would be flipping through channels early Sunday mornings (paving the way for the likes of Joel Osteen).
(Not long into Dear Evan Hansen, I realized the best audience I could write to would be myself as a High School Senior.)
Dear Mark A. Lester (circa 2005),
This truly seems like uncharted territory. I mean, when was the last time you saw a movie where a nonagenarian directs themselves in the lead role?
While I admit to not seeing all of his films (both in front of and behind the camera), I have seen more than enough to know that Clint Eastwood has long since made his mark not only as cinematic legend, but an American relic. Regardless of what age he is in the movies, he still plays the no-nonsense, hard lined tough guy as good as anyone ever has. No one else ever looked more terrifying when holding a gun.
Nothing else to say