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nataliy_spivak
Reviews
The Shape of Water (2017)
Disappointing
I was really excited to see this movie. I'm a fan of GDT, especially his movie Pan's Labyrinth. After seeing the trailer for The Shape of Water and all the hype it started receiving I knew I really wanted to see this film and boy was I disappointed when I did. I was expecting the same kind of whimsical feel / story as some of his other movies and instead got something that at times was almost absurdly laughable. Yes, this is a fairy tale but even fairy tales need to have some rhyme and reason. The movie was incredibly predictable in most parts and in other so ridiculous that even for make belief it was too contrived. There were a few bits that were inserted in for some kind of effect that were so out of place and unnecessary that it just looked silly and I found myself flat out laughing at the absurdity. I will say that all the actors did do a good job with their roles and the sets and imagery in parts was really beautiful and well done. Outside of that what I thought was going to be a magical movie turned out to be very underwhelming, making me wonder why it's receiving the praise that it is. See the trailer which is much more captivating.
Grand Piano (2013)
Don't Waste Your Time
I was looking forward to seeing this as I like movies about music and thrillers and this one looked to combine both. I could not have been more disappointed. It started out as if it would be entertaining and then quickly took a turn downhill. There was basically no story, no build up of any characters, everything that was shown in the trailer was basically the whole move and the "twist" that was supposed to be delivered was so flat and that it solidified the idea that there was no point to the movie.
The other thing I want to mention relates to an earlier review in the posts with which I couldn't agree with more. When you make a movie about a medicine you would hire and consult with medical professionals, same would go with police, scientists and so forth... Why was it so difficult then to consult someone who even played basic piano for this movie so that it would at least slightly appear that all of the piano playing wasn't completely fake. The first thing I noticed is that when the character "Tom" was playing, NOT once did he hold down the pedal. In the pieces he was playing the pedal would be used almost non-stop and he kept his feet flat on the floor the whole time which would never happen. There is also no way he could keep conversations like that while playing correct notes even if he was a world class pianist so the whole thing looked fake and kind of ridiculous.
This on top of everything else just added to the disappointment.
Museum Hours (2012)
Slow and Meaningless
I was interested in seeing this film because I love art and seeing movies that are not main stream and have something different to show. When I first watched the trailer for this film it looked like a story that intersected the beauty and art of the museum with a friendship that would form between a security guard working there and a woman visiting her ill cousin and their bond over the art and life. Boy was the trailer misleading. I appreciate "art house" films and those that want to portray something different but this was so terrible that I struggled to stay awake pretty much throughout.
I was strongly contemplating not finishing it at all but I felt bad for the time I invested into watching some of it already and kept hoping that maybe something more would happen and it never did. There was no character development or any connection between the characters at all. You could as easily just film people walking by on the street and probably have more excitement then what was portrayed here. There was no plot nor any connection between any of the scenes. I think as far as a film it deserves less than 1 star, I gave it 2 because I did enjoy seeing the pictures of some of the art but those would be better served perhaps in a documentary about the city, here it had no connection to anything.
I don't understand all of the high reviews that this movie is getting. This is just one of those films that is 'artsy' for the sake of being 'artsy' with no point or reason. Don't waste your time with this one, you'd have more fun watching random people walk by on the street.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
Terrible
Rarely is a sequel to a popular comedy ever as good as the first one but you expect to get a least a few laughs
not the case with Anchorman 2. This collaboration of nonsense banking on very cheap laughs regurgitated from stale material that stretches on for duration of two hours was almost at times painful to watch. I'm a huge Will Ferrell and especially Steve Carell fan and feel this movie was an embarrassment to their career. There were a couple funny parts (very few and far between) but I would definitely skip this one if you're anticipating anything even remotely as funny as the first one.. or anything funny at all for that matter.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Very Disappointing!!
I rarely write movie reviews but after seeing the Beasts of the Southern Wild over the weekend I was overwhelmed and almost upset that this movie received so much acclaim and praise as it did. I don't know if this is one of those scenarios where a what is perceived as "artsy" piece of work gets made and receives praise for being "different" or conveying some sort of 'big' message but I thought the film was awful! I consider myself a pretty sophisticated individual and usually really love "indy" films but just because this is not a main stream movie doesn't make it a good film. First, let me start with the camera work. I understand that the film makers wanted to create a feel of this being a sort of low budget documentary but this went way beyond that. The film was so shaky that it made me nauseous. The rest of it was pretty much a very sad depiction of an abusive alcoholic father and the other inhabitants of the 'island' who are either drunk, prostituting or mumbling stuff through the whole thing that no one can understand. What made me actually pretty upset is that the movie almost doesn't paint the father as a bad person and when rescue help comes on their island to get them out of the situation, instead wanting something better for his daughter since he cannot provide for her, they act like barbaric savages towards the doctors and the rescue help. I felt the movie almost made a point to say that it's okay to drink and beat your kids as long as there's some kind of philosophical message behind it... of which there was none. I really wanted to see this film but left disappointed and even angry that such a picture received all this praise. It was awful to watch!