20s Movie Review - She Said

Director: Maria Schrader
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher

Description: Jodi Kantor (Zoey Kazan) and Megan Twohey’s (Carey Mulligan) quest to break the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 32: A FILM FROM 2022
 
Review: In 2017, the New York Times wrote an article that ultimately contributed greatly to the #MeToo movement. “She Said” follows the story of journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor on their search for the truth behind the scandalous behavior of film producer Harvey Weinstein. A good script and even better performances contribute to a gripping film that captures the seriousness of these crimes ironclad.

With film adaptations of true stories, the questions soon arises: why isnt’this a documentary? After all, the facts are most important. The answer to this is usually drama. It is not just about the events, but how they were experiences. By combining the facts with drama, it is easier to show exactly what the victims went through and how these women dealt with these traumatic experiences.

Another strong aspect is the heavy emphasis on journalism. “She Said” does not simply go from victim to victim to a sudden article. It shows the difficult process of finding people willing to talk and what this requires of them emotionally. Other interesting aspects of journalism are also covered, such as competition, secrecy and Harvey Weinstein nipping you heels. They provide tension and realism.

Although emotions run high, the film falls somewhat short dramatically. For example, it fails to deepen the two main characters with snippits from their private lives. My only nitpick.

“She Said” carefully and powerfully exposes the painful nature of this serious social issue. The rock-solid acting, by Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher specifically, proves the emotional impact. The film’s purpose is never compromised and speaks pliantly about the woes that went on behind the scenes. I seem to be drawn to films about investigative journalism and this is yet another gem that a lot of people might even know about. WATCH IT!!!

Rating: 4,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Tim Blake Nelson, Clancy Brown, Zoe Kazan, Tom Waits, James Franco, Stephen Root, Liam Neeson, Harry Melling

Description: Six tales of life and violence in the Old West.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 25: A MOVIE WITH MULTIPLE STORYLINES
 
Review: A film by Joel and Ethan Coen is always something to look forward to. That Netflix allowed the famous brothers to make a film and gave them a free hand in it makes it even more interesting. The results is an anthology of six stories, all set in the Old West and highlighting an aspect of life in the Wild West.

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” has a book as a window for the narratives. An unknown person opens the book and we dive into the first story. It bears the title of the film and is delightfully ridiculous. Tim Blake Nelson plays the smiley cowboy from the title and comes across as somewhat simple. But he manages to win every fight he gets into. That;s how simple the premise of the first story is.

The other five are more or less the same, but there is enough cleverness in them and references to modern times to keep engaging. Gradually, the tone of the film also changes and the lightheartedness disappears. In ‘Meal Ticket’ Liam Neeson plays the callous impresario of a man without arms and legs. The wretch recites poems, but sees his audience shrinking. This was my favorite story. In ‘The Mortal Remains’ we follow a group of people in a carriage. This is my least favorite of the stories and a bit boring actually. Other stories stand out, like ‘Near Algodones’ where James Franco plays a bank robber, or ‘All the Gold Canyon’ with a starring role for musician Tom Waits as a prospector. The stories are not connected, so it’s sometimes difficult to get into them properly.

It’s not one of the best movies by the Coen Brothers and certainly not one of my favorites, but definitely worth a watch.

Rating: 3/ 5

TV Show Review - Clickbait (Limited Series)

Season: Limited Series
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2021
Starring: Zoe Kazan, Betty Gabriel, Adrian Grenier, Phoenix Raei, Cameron Engels, Jaylin Fletcher, Ian Meadows, Elizabeth Alexander, Abraham Lin, Becca Lish, Jessica Collins

Description: When family man, Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier), is abducted in a crime with a sinister online twist, those closest to him race to uncover who is behind it and why.

Review: In “Clickbait”, the perfect-looking family man Nick Brewer is kidnapped, then his dark double life is revealed on YouTube. What could have been a critical dissection of social media, remains inconsistent and muddles.
How well do you really know someone? Do even people who are close to you always keep secrets from you? The new Netflix series “Clickbait” tackles that question after a family man seems to be leading a double life. In the process, social media plays a paradoxical role: it can both reveal and keep someone’s hidden sides veiled.
“Clickbait” pops right into the plot: Nick Brewer, husband to Sophie and father of two sons, is kidnapped, which his family and sister must learn about via Social Media. There, a video uploaded where an anxious looking Nick holds up two signs: “I abuse women” and “At five million views I die”. Wife Sophie and sister Pia don’t know Nick like that at all, but as the video goes viral and the views mount, taking quick action becomes increasingly urgent.
In search for Nick is a good illustration of the tension between the calm and thorough, but slow, police investigation versus the public that rushes to work with home-built tracking apps, geocaching and open-source intelligence, and uses social media to uncover both valuable clues and spread damaging disinformation.
Despite the good concept and multiple surprising twists, “Clickbait” is unfortunately a bit of a disappointment in terms of execution. The supposedly critical dissection of digital media is muddles, inconsistent and without a clear message. It makes “Clickbait” seem like the umpteenth series or film that wants to do ‘something’ with the dystopian aspect of social media, without offering any original insight.
What doesn’t help is that they chose a large cast of characters, most of whom show little depth and are barely elaborated on. You would expect that, with a set-up that shows the story from various perspectives, you would get more insight on certain characters. The curiosity about the culprit in the whodunnit will probably keep the viewers invested, but there won’t be any emotional involvement.
Because of the good concept and the surprising twist the series has, this series still makes it worth watching. It just lacks in depth and consistency.

10s Movie Review - The Big Sick

Director: Michael Showalter
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Anupam Kher, Zebonia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar, Bo Burnham, Vella Lovell, Myra Lucretia Taylor

Description: Pakistan-born Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) and grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents (Holly Hunter, Ray Romano), his family’s expectations and his true feelings.

Review: Stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani was busy making plans. He was about to break through and has also met a nice woman. And then fate struck.
The originally Pakistani comedian tells his life story in the autobiographical feel-good drama, with some small adjustments here and there. He plays himself. Kumail has a group of his friends around him with whom he not only lives together, but also performs. After a show he always has some drinks in the pub, where he meets the charming Emily.
Their relationship, which starts off as a one-time-thing, doesn’t really get a chance to flourish. Just when it all seems to go in the right direction, there are difficulties. Kumail’s family, who believe in marriage, has a potential bride for him almost every day who always 'just happen to be in the neighborhood’. But as if misunderstandings and miscommunications aren’t complex enough, fate strikes as well.
Short after Emily finds out that Kumail is supposed to marry a Pakistani woman, she gets a mysterious illness which leaves her in a coma. Kumail is forced to call her parents.
Without going into too much detail, the title isn’t a guess as to which dilemma Kumail is confronted with. How far does your responsibility go when a relationship that actually seems to be dead already? And how great are the sacrifices you want to make when the future seems hopeless? “Th Big Sick” starts out as a sweet love story, with the necessary struggles and bumps in the road. But later turns into more complicated matter. On top of that, Kumail has to deal with Emily’s parents.
Director Michael Showalter lets you deal with the change of the tone without a problem. He achieves this because he has writer his characters well and adds the new characters he gradually introduces with sufficient unpredictability and sympathy.
If “The Big Sick” has only been a comedy about difficulties and setbacks, a bit in the tone of Judd Apatow, then two hours of runtime really would have been too much. Bu Showalter’s good balance of drama and lighter moments makes it easy to keep your attention and stay entertained. The real Kumail, who was co-responsible for the screenplay, has not only written his own experiences with this very successful feature film, but also knows how to look back on it with proper self-reflection. His dialogues are subtle and are a hit and the casting of Zoe Kazan as his opponent is a master move.
“The Big Sick” is a true breath of fresh air. I loved the story, the cast, the whole tone of the film. I can recommend this to anyone.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Battle: (500) Days of Summer Vs. Ruby Sparks

I’m not a very big fan of romantic comedies, unless they are a bit unconventional. The two I can think of are going to battle it out in today’s movie battle: “(500) Days of Summer” Vs. “Ruby Sparks”

ACTORS

(500) Days of Summer: This was one of the films that brought us back Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is now one of the more successful actors in Hollywood. Together with Zooey Deschanel he forms an amazing couple. Their performances are amazing.

Ruby Sparks: Paul Dano is an extraordinary actor, I really like him. He does a great job in “Ruby Sparks”. And Zoe Kazan, as Ruby Sparks, is amazing! Fun supporting roles by Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Chris Messina and Steve Coogan.

STORY

(500) Days of Summer: When Tom meets Summer, he falls far her immediately. Summer doesn’t believe true love exists, Tom does. We see the 500 days Summer is in Tom’s life. It sounds like your average rom com, but it’s anything but that.

Ruby Sparks: The story doesn’t sound straight forward and isn’t. It’s about a struggling writer, who writes about a woman who can love him and actually coming to life. It’s an original story (written by Zoe Kazan) and executed very well.

EFFECTS

(500) Days of Summer: The cinematography of “(500) Days of Summer” is magnificent. First off, the story isn’t told chronologically, but there are also some great effects used. Like the split screen, where we see Tom’s expectations and reality of a moment.

Ruby Sparks: The film looks beautiful, but more straight forward then “(500) Days of Summer”.

WINNER

Although I really loved “Ruby Sparks”, “(500) Days of Summer” has been one of my all-time favorites ever since I first saw it

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 91: Ruby Sparks

Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama

Runtime: 106 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, Wallce Langham, Alia Shawkat

Description: A novelist (Paul Dano) struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

Review: Make up your ideal woman and then all of a sudden she is in standing in your house. This is the story in “Ruby Sparks”. Calvin is an ordinary young man who wrote a successful book in his high school years. He lives in a beautiful apartment and still holds lectures and presentations about that book. Everyone is waiting for his next novel, but Calvin is struggling with writer’s block. When he dreams about a beautiful girl, his psychologist advices Calvin to write about her. He names her Ruby Sparks and starts writing about her. And she comes to live. Calvin starts a romance with Ruby and whenever he wants something from Ruby, he just writes it down. It looks like the ideal situation, but it isn’t.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris already made “Little Miss Sunshine” together, a movie that won over a lot of hearts. This time the duo creates another comedy, with a romantic touch. The script is by Zoe Kazan, who plays Ruby.

Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano form a great couple with great chemistry. In the first hour of the film it’s more comedic and Dano shows of his comedic talent. Kazan didn’t only write a fun and original script, but she is also a really pleasant actress to watch. Chris Messina, as Calvin’s brother Harry, is also great in his role and has some great scenes. With them there is also Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Elliot Gould and Steve Coogan, all in relatively small roles.

The high level the movie has the first hour, gets lost a bit in the second half, because the comedy has to make room for more drama. That drama doesn’t work as well as the comedy. It feels forced. In “Little Miss Sunshine” it did work.

“Ruby Sparks” is a fun and sweet film, that sometimes feel like a fairytale. It’s never overly sweet or cliché and it is very original. An unconventional love story.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 69: What If

Director: Michael Dowse

Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 102 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Megan Parks, Mackenzie Davis, Rafe Spall, Lucius Hoyos, Jemima Rooper, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Meghan Heffern, Jonathan Cherry, Rebecca Northan, Jordan Hayes, Oona Chaplin, Adam Fergus

Description: Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who is burned out from a string of failed relationships, forms an instant bond with Chantry (Zoe Kazan), who lives with her longtime boyfriend (Rafe Spall). Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life.

Review: Not very original, but very enjoyable is this romantic comedy “What If”, with Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe, who manages to make us forget about Harry Potter.

Radcliffe plays Wallace. This young twenty something lives in his sisters attic, he has a crappy job as the writer of manuals and has been single for quite some time. Because Wallace and his ex where both in school to become doctors, Wallace dropped out. Since then he hardly has a social life. His friend Alan invites him over for a party and that’s where Wallace meets Alan’s cousin Chantry. The two have an instant connection, but later that night he finds out she has a boyfriend. They decide to be just friends. When Chantry’s boyfriend has to go to Ireland for work, Wallace and Chantry’s friendship develops.

“What If” is a charming comedy, that is fun because of the natural charisma of the two leads. Radcliffe and Kazan have perfect chemistry. The question, if men and women can have a platonic relationship, has been asked many times before. Director Michael Dowse and script writer Elan Mastai gave it a fresh twist.

Another plus is the dialogue. Sometimes strange and cynical, but so pleasant to listen too. The story is sometimes over the top, like the first meeting between Wallace and Chantry’s boyfriend Ben or the moment where one wants to follow the other overseas.

“What If” is still a joy to watch, even with some clichés and unoriginality. Lovely leads and sharp dialogue are the two things that make this movie worth your time.

Rating: 3,5/ 5