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I Care a Lot (2020)
Rosamund yes! Movie no!
I first became familiar with Rosamund Pike with her remarkable performance in Gone Girl. I've been a fan ever since. When I saw she was starring in this film, I was looking forward to another great job on her part. I got it. She's always good in everything she's in. As to the movie itself, I came away disappointed. I gave the film a higher rating than it probably deserved, just because of the acting.
It starts out promising, but as others have noted, changes halfway through and puts Rosamund's character into that of an avenging James Bond type, who after surviving an assassination attempt, heads out to take on the Russian mafia. It seems the writers wanted us to sympathize with her, when we've already become invested in hating her for confining rich seniors in nursing homes, becoming their court appointed guardian and stealing everything of value they own. Her mistake was in unknowingly confining the mom of the head of the Russian mafia, played by Peter Dinklage.
Rosamund was, as always, magnificent, but the plot line was horrendous. The film left us with no one to root for, save the son of a dead mother, who supplies some long denied justice at the end.
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Checkmate for Me.
Hollywood is in a phase of movie making where strong independent women command the screen. That's fine, but often it's done by making the men in the film weak to enhance the female star. Because of that, I'm leery of a show that has a female protagonist.
I'm so glad I decided to watch The Queen's Gambit. It does storytelling the way it should be done. Ana Taylor Joy is magnificent in the lead role. As a chess prodigy, learning the game in an orphanage basement, to becoming the World Champion, we're engaged in her journey all the way.
She's no Mary Sue character. She has demons she has to conquer, and loses matches along the way, gaining insight from her losses. For the most part, the men in the show are not treated as villains, but become her friends and mentors.
The timeline is the 1950's and 60's, and the cinematography, wardrobe, and sets reflecting the timeline are magnificent.
A real thumbs up for The Queen's Gambit.
Letterkenny (2016)
Alpha Gals
Discovered this series while browsing You Tube. Have watched all nine seasons, and enjoyed the show, more so in the early seasons than the latter. As others have mentioned, it became more and more "woke" as the seasons progressed.
Subtitles would have been handy, as sometimes the dialogue is hard to understand, but the wordplay is great between the main characters, and the running gags are fun, "To be Fair", Ostriches, etc. I especially enjoyed Squirrelly Dan and his turning every other word into a plural. I also, like the others in the show, really liked BONNIE McMURRAY!
I know that Hollywood is currently going through a phase of making movie after movie showing female empowerment, while thrusting males in secondary submissive roles. That culture seems to have traveled north and is widespread in Letterkenny as well. Even though the men get most of the screen time and posture, bluster, and fight, the girls in town seem to run the show. Episode after episode show them lecturing and ordering the guys around. That gets to be a bit tiring after a while.
Katy could easily be a poster child for spoiled brats. She's entitled, beautiful, and knows it. She bullies most everyone around her. Always has a sarcastic put down ready for someone, even those closest to her. Also, has a double standard for the men who date her. They can't stray or her brother and his friends will avenge her, but she can "scorch earth" in her relationships. A real toxic beauty.
Lots to like about the show, but it became a bit redundant by the ninth season. I thought it was fine up to the fifth season, and tailed off after that.
Last Christmas (2019)
In love with Emilia
Got this movie because I like Emilia Clarke. I became a fan with her work on Game of Thrones, and watching her many talk show appearances, where I found her personality delightful.
Last Christmas is just a fun movie. A romantic comedy with a twist at the end. All involved did a great job, and Emilia. as expected was adorable. Sometimes it's fun to watch a movie just to be entertained. For me, this filled that bill. The only danger was the possibility of a cuteness overload.
If you just want to relax and really enjoy a movie, I highly recommend Last Christmas.
The Favourite (2018)
History, we hardly knew thee....
The Favourite tells the tale of two cousins in the court of Queen Anne in 18th century England, as they try to manipulate the Queen at the other's expense. It's a feminist production, even though written and directed mostly by men. The director said he wanted the men in the film to be secondary figures, and the women do indeed walk all over them. In discussing the picture, the director, Yorgos Lanthimos, said the actual history of the time wasn't that important to him. Instead, he concentrated more on the women and their relationship with each other. I was looking forward to seeing this movie, but the SJW agenda inserted into a period piece, along with the massive re-write of history, kind of ruined it for me. The acting by the three leads was good, Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Olivia, who played Queen Anne, was especially good, and was rewarded for her portrayal with the Oscar for Best Actress.
American Woman (2018)
Well Done Family Drama
Didn't know what to expect, but was mesmerized by Sienna Miller's performance. She plays a woman who evolves over time from an immature irresponsible party girl who , after the disappearance of her daughter, takes over raising her grandson and despite bad choices in men, goes to school, gets a good job, and becomes a responsible adult. Her family, especially her sister and brother-in-law, are always there for her. They were played admirably by Christina Hendricks and Will Sasso. A well written family drama.
Maiden (2018)
Uplifting story.
An amazing account of young Tracy Edwards organizing an all female crew to compete in the 1989 Whitbread Yacht Race around the world. She went into debt to buy a second hand yacht, which was then rebuilt for the competition. She had to overcome misogyny of the times from not only the other competitors , but the media as well. They not only proved themselves capable of sailing, but won two of the six legs of the race in their class, coming in second overall. After months of being at sea, braving storms and sailing 33,000 miles, they won the respect of their racing peers and the hearts of their countrymen. Much of the on-board action was filmed by one of the crew and was used to take us up close and personal during the race. An excellent documentary.
Batwoman (2019)
Trailers and poor story line contributed to poor ratings.
I should apply to do trailers for upcoming shows. I certainly could have done better than whoever came up with the ones for Batwoman, especially the first one shown. When you do trailers that offend a large number of your potential audience right off the bat, you can expect some of those then reviewing the show to come in with a negative outlook to begin with. While the show wasn't as bad as the trailers indicated, it still fell far short of what it could have been, in part due to the poor choices of demeaning an iconic character, Batman, and men in general. Don't help to doom your show before it even airs. We're all in favor of female empowerment, but do it with a good story line and strong female characters who do the job without having to preach about it.
Tall Girl (2019)
Enjoyed it.
Just another coming of age movie. Although there are plot points to wince over, I for the most part enjoyed it, and thought Ava Michelle did a good job in her first leading role.
The Red Pill (2016)
Eye Opening
Became aware of this documentary through You Tube videos. I rated it as a 10 because it needs to be seen, and also in recognition of Cassie Jaye's courage in doing the film, and dealing with the vilification she has received since its debut. It was banned from being shown in many locales, and she was personally attacked by many in the mainstream media for even doing such a production. If anything, that response only magnifies what the film had to say about the inability of men getting their message listened to in today's cultural climate. I support the dictionary definition of feminism. I wonder how many of today's more vocal feminists do.