One Sentence Media Reviews
I made it halfway it's pretty stupid and regressive / doesn't hold up well, couple good laughs but Crystal's character is annoying.
Sorkin did a ton of primary research into the hundred year old story of the great depression, and it really shows, with a delicious texture of characters and events, seasoned by a fairly light economic analysis.
A kid's book should be sweet, simple, and entertaining, but this supposedly popular typing cow book's only jokes are parent-aimed, with a story no toddler would care about; I think it's mainly purchased by aunts at borders who think it's funny and don't understand that what they think is funny doesn't matter.
Annoyingly stupid, cheesy music, and badly written budget action flick in classic Luc Besson pattern (little girl turned revenge superhero); I couldn't get through it and I don't remember how it ended up on my list.
"Gut microbiome expert says (almost) every modern ailment is caused by gut microbiome deficiencies" ...news at 11.
Lee’s narration has a beguiling innocence that masks the sorrowful content; it is a children’s book and some parts made me wish I’d read it in school instead of now; perfect ending.
This movie typifies all the good bad and ugly of what happens when you give Tarantino too much money - the shots and cast, the music the set the acting, all really well done, and the plot, it's got that great Tarantino zazz that you have to love even if the man is super annoying, but the style, the cuts, the fourth-wall-breaking narration and random on-screen text, they're just too much, too inconsistent, and they take away from a pretty interesting idea for a story.
It's not the absolute most memorable heist / action movie of the era (I've seen it before years ago but only figured that out partway through) but it's got great leads, great music, and tons of that early 70s style I love.
Meandering is OK if that's your goal, and I'm glad I stuck through this artsy documentary because the meditative setting and tone were really lovely, and the theme (reusing garbage in general, and saving food from waste in particular) is one that's resonated with me my whole life.
This technical dive into geopolitics, currencies, and international finance had a tough balancing act to pull off, and it honestly did it pretty well - dry and technical enough to mostly explain its topics, cut through with a few choice anecdotes and name calling to not be super boring, broad enough to give a useful perspective overview without getting too abstract - I wouldn’t recommend it to someone unless they like thinking about interest rates and foreign currency exchange tho.
This impressively prescient viral outbreak thriller saw it all coming 9 years early, and for that it was well worth the watch, but as a movie it pulls its punches and spins off too many subplots and never really coheres into a great story.
I've watched two other movies recently that both had this problem of being a little too cartoonish and serious at the same time, like pick a lane - torture and murder don't mix so well with slapstick and superhuman strength - or maybe they do, if the tone is right, and Payback just has a bit of a tone problem, but I will say to conclude this very long short review that seeing early Mel Gibson, before he went nuts, you really remember why he was such a star.
I found this classic western cartoonish and tedious, and all the main characters looked the same to me.
Maybe not a Pynchonian masterpiece, maybe not always the most responsible or serious of his ouvré, but certainly, if what you're reading Pynchon for is that subtle brain massage coupled with that deep, actually profound understanding of man, and people, and places, Against the Day is a rollicking good time, a confusing and absurd mess of emotions, a variety of trips to a wealth of scenes well worth the effort, so if I could offer only one piece of advice, it'd be to stick with it.
Love Jarmusch and all his friends (swinton, murray, etc etc) and they’re so fun to watch, but it’s baffling how bad the writing is in this silly zombie movie.