10s Movie Review - Easy A

Director: Will Gluck
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 92 minutes
Year: 2010
Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Dan Byrd, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Fred Armisen

Description: A clean-ct high school student relies on the school’s rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

Review: High School student Olive is a wallflower and is pretty much invisible. Her best friend Rihannon gets more attention after she told everyone she had sex. Olive thinks it wouldn’t harm anyone if she starts a rumor herself, about losing her virginity. This rumor spreads faster than she could have ever imagined.
The story doesn’t sound all that special, but it’s the execution of this story that is almost brilliant. And Emma Stone is fabulous in “Easy A”. This is the movie that introduced me to her and I have been a major fan ever since. Her portrayal of Olive is just great and she is actually one of my favorite female movie characters. Her parents, played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, are great too. They are so funny, I love them in this film. And Amanda Bynes, as Jesus freak Marianne, is really funny as well.
I’m not a fan of romantic comedies, but when there is more com then rom, I tend to like them more. “Easy A” is one of those films, I love this movie! “Easy A” gets an A+!

Rating: 5/ 5

TV Show Review - Truth Seekers

Season: 1
Genre: Comedy/ Horror
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2020
Starring: Nick Frost, Malcolm McDowell, Samson Kayo, Emma D’Arcy, Simon Pegg, Kelly Macdonald, Susie Wokoma    

Description: A team of part-time paranormal investigators use homemade gizmos to track the supernatural, sharing their adventures online. As their haunted stake outs become more terrifying they begin to uncover an unimaginable, apocalyptic conspiracy.

Review: “Truth Seekers” on Amazon Prime lacks the magic from previous collaborations of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Maybe because they hardly share any screen time together. But still, it’s a pleasant horror comedy full of geeky references that you will finish in a heartbeat.

The term horror might be a little strong, since it’s as scary as “Stranger Things”. And it’s not as funny as and Edgar Wright movie starring Frost and Pegg. But there’s a good chance that the charming ghost hunters will catch you during the eight half-hour episodes.
Telecom technician Gus spends his free time as a paranormal researcher. He gets the help of his new colleague Elton John, himself with an aversion to ghosts, and Astrid, who is chased by ghosts. The trio applauded on the sidelines by Gus’ father-in-law, Elton’s sister Helen and Gus’ boss Dave.
“Truth Seekers” doesn’t spend time on dubious heroes. Behind the smiles of the amiable characters are hidden mysteries that will connect all of them like a pieces of a puzzle.
“Truth Seekers” is a fun and quick watch. Not something memorable, but still enjoyable.

Movie Review - Bombshell

Director: Jay Roach
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, Malcolm McDowell, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Mark Duplass, Stephen Root, Mark Moses, Brooke Smith, Richard Kind

Description: A group of women take on Fox New head Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) and the toxic atmosphere he presides over the network.

Review: Based on a true story. “Bombshell” tells the explosive story of the women that broke the silence and accused Fox News boss Roger Ailes of sexual harassment.
“Bombshell” takes on the scandal that many people, mostly Americans, already know about. And this film shines a light on the events that took place during the process. And it’s a typical way of telling a true story the Hollywood-way: lots of sensation but lacking depth.
If this film didn’t have such a strong cast, it would be disposable and forgettable. The film should be more uncomfortable, giving the theme it deals with. There are only a few moments where you feel this discomfort. For instance when the three main women of the story are standing in an elevator. Not saying a word you can see them questioning themselves: did you also…? Or the scene where Kayla (Margot Robbie) meets with Roger Ailes and he asks her to stand and turn around, because it’s a visual medium. But he also asks to see her legs, eventually ending in Kayla pulling up her skirt up until her underwear. This scene shows that most women at Fox News owe their careers by doing something like this or even more. Sadly these kind of scenes are a minority.
The film also, for the most part, focuses on Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), when it was Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) who blew the whistle. I found this an odd choice.
All performances in this film are great. And also a shoutout to the makeup department.
It’s an easy watch and has its moments, but overall “Bombshell” could have been a lot better.

Rating: 3 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 39: The Artist

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Missi Pyle, John Goodmna, Malcolm McDowell, Penelope Ann Miller, Beth Grant, James Cromwell, Joel Murray

Description: A silent movie star meets a young dancer, but the arrival of talking pictures sends their careers in opposite directions.

Review: In 1899 the first experiments to combine sound and film took place, but it was three decades later when the eventually executed this plan. In 1927 America was ready for it, with “The Jazz Singer”. The transition from silent film to a film with sound, forms the base of “The Artist”. It’s a modern day silent film, in black and white, about fictional movie star George Valentin. He can’t adapt to this transition and gets into trouble, but also eventually finds love.
Many Hollywood stars from the silent movie era, saw their careers end, because they seemed old fashioned or their voice didn’t match their image. In “The Artist” George Valentin is such a star. He is successful as an actor and makes equally successful movies.
His influence is that big, that the young, unknown Peppy Miller gets a role in his movie and eventually becomes a big star herself. George doesn’t believe in movies with sound and quits the studio to makes his own films. His first film is a huge flop, his wife leaves him and he goes bankrupt.
“The Artist” does a masterful job in mimicking the atmosphere of a silent movie from the twenties, without imitating other films. It manages to also feel modern and fresh, when you have the feeling you’re watching a classic film.
Silent movies always proof how essential music is for a movie. And facial expressions and body language. Because there is no spoken dialogue, the viewer has to depend on all this to follow the story. some dialogue is shown in written words, but it’s very minimal.
I’m so glad movie like this get a green light, Hollywood needs this. What “La La Land” did for musical in 2016, “The Artist” did for the silent film.

Rating: 5/ 5