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Crush (2022)
Amazing Rowan performance, LGBTQ+ Friendly
Rowan can be such a fun actress. While some might think of her performance in Girl Meets World to be a bit plastic, I always saw a star in the making. I read an interview about this film, right before its release; Rowan said she was carefully picking and choosing roles, not trying to burn-out or become old-news at such a young age. She said this wasn't an 'LGBTQ+ film", rather it's a heartwarming story, which happens to have a lesbian main-character. As a leftist, I've seen a lot of cringe-worthy leftist films. This isn't one of them. Yes, there are probably a bit more LGBTQ+ characters in this school than your average American standard, but it doesn't feel forced. Which was their goal. So, mission accomplished. Everything you could love about Rowan Blanchard as an actress comes out in this film. We get that bubbly girl from Girl Meets World, mixed with a more mature artist. She is fun, funny, adorable, and serious; all to perfection. The film was fun to watch. The other cast were also great actors. This could/should be alongside American Pie as a teen-coming-of-age film which is equally hilarious and poignant. Well done!
The Walking Dead (2010)
Occasionally epic, often mediocre...
There were moments in seasons 3-5 that I loved. But, the show has been plagued with a combination of horrible characters and overly melodramatic acting. Often, I found myself wishing a "good" character would die, just because they annoyed me so much. I usually never feel this way with shows. Rick's wife, and that guy she was sleeping with in the first two seasons were both annoying beyond belief, for instance.
It's unfortunate because the show had magnificent set design, costume design, and the zombies were top notch. The post-apocalyptic world they built was unrivaled by most shows or films in the genre.
But, I just couldn't get past the mind-numbingly bad storylines. I felt dumber for watching the show. I'm fine with dumb fun. But this just felt like it was aiming to be clever and totally missing the mark. It's really hard to describe. I'm all in on stupid stuff like Superbad, and I love the classics, like Fellini, Polanski, and Stanley Kubrick created. But, I could just never find a place for this show to fit for me. I watched it for five seasons. I could honestly say I quite enjoyed a decent portion of seasons 3-5, but once Negan arrived, and everyone was OH I LOVE NEGAN, WALKING DEAD IS THE BEST SHOW EVER!!!, I realized this show would never be for me, and I tapped out.
Now, It seems that I saw the writing on the wall, and got out before it took a true dive into the sewers. I considered coming back, but reviews of the last two seasons have been overwhelmingly negative. So good riddance. Oh well.
Snowpiercer: Into the White (2021)
Bean and Blanchard take the helm.
Well, this wasn't the ending many of us wanted. Most importantly the issues with the sections of train moving into impossible directions, in relations to each other, made this finale particularly frustrating. There were some great moments otherwise, though it was unfortunate that we never saw Connelly in the finale.
Going forward we can only hope that Blanchard keeps up the excellent performances and that Bean's character will simmer back down into less of a wild supervillain, as the subdued version seemed much more fitting to the show and actor.
I've only watched the finale once, but I am still holding out hope that Connelly will somehow not have died and return to the train, but that's probably unlikely. If not, it's unfortunate because there was great chemistry between all the main/new cast, especially around mid-season.
Happily (2021)
A Fun Dark Comedy
I can totally appreciate why others are giving this film such low ratings. But, honestly, if you look at any one element of the film, it's mediocre or above. There is nothing about this that made me feel like it was worth anything less than a 6/10. Everyone wants the answers spelled out for them. And, if the answers aren't readily available then it must be trash. Similar dynamic to David Lynch's films on that front. Speaking of which, Dean Hurley, David Lynch's resident sound engineer, did the sound design for this film.
If you are looking for a decent dark comedy film, with a decent plot, absolutely acceptable characters and an above average sound design, you really should just go ahead and see this. I doubt I'd watch this a second time, but I'm certainly happy with the time spent on my first viewing.
Snowpiercer: Many Miles from Snowpiercer (2021)
Keeps getting better.
Another great episode. I loved the atmosphere on this one. Jennifer Connelly being isolated for the extent of the episode made for a really claustrophobic viewing experience. Flashbacks to the original departure of Snowpiercer and 'hallucinations' of Sean Bean and Rowan Blanchard made the episode all the better. If the show keeps moving on its current trajectory l think they might really have something good here.
Snowpiercer: A Great Odyssey (2021)
Blanchard and Connelly Have Chemistry!
I wasn't a huge fan of the first season, but this season has been getting progressively better with each episode. Rowan Blanchard is putting forward an amazing performance in these first three episodes and the mother/daughter chemistry between her and Jennifer Connelly is really moving. Not too mention the always magnificent work by Sean Bean adding even more needed life to this season.
The Morning the Sun Fell Down (2016)
A few good acting performances, not much else.
I found this film after reading a Danny Pudi interview, as I'm a huge fan of Community and Abed is definitely my favorite character. I wanted to enjoy this film. But, it felt incredibly artificial from the first moments. I found the performances by Danny Pudi and Lance Henriksen (the best-friend's father) to both be quite good, even great at moments, but the less than adequate quality of the script and production ended up making even their performances feel forced. The "craig's list girl", Diana DeGarmo, may have given the most convincing performance in the film, unfortunately her role was only secondary. Much of the film's dialogue was cringe-worthy and didn't feel remotely realistic/relatable. There were often moments throughout the film that presented themselves as profound, queue panning landscape or close-up of Danny Pudi pondering life, but the story just fell flat every time. From my humble perspective the blame seems to fall on the production team more so than the cast, in this one. As I'm not familiar with all these actors, some of them may have solid performances in other films.But, this isn't going to be on that list. If you want a great performance from Danny Pudi, go see all of Community. If you want to see an art-film about depression or family dynamics, you're better off looking to Garden State or Melancholia.
TLDR: If you are die-hard fan of one of these actors, give it a light-watch. But, don't expect to see something profound, in any way.