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The Laundromat (2019)
Movie? No. It's an educational video about Tax Fraud
This should have been a documentary. It was very disjointed as a film. I thought and wanted this film to be about Meryl's character getting financial justice regarding her husband's death. I thought the movie would follow her journey of uncovering some majorly corrupt companies. We get to see snippets of that, but mostly we're given an hour of tangent scenes involving conmen elites from all over the world who somehow are connected to the narrators. Honestly I failed to follow most of it.
It's an educational film with the bottom line message of: American laws allow for corruption and tax evasion.
And the ending was super weird... Streep stripping out of her movie characters to chat with us about said corruption... feels like a political campaign with celebrity endorsement. It's not a film!!
The Age of Adaline (2015)
A Unique Premise with Uninspiring Characters.
Blake lively can't seem to capture the essence of a 107 year old trapped inside a 29-year-old's body. I'm aware nobody knows what this actually looks like, but I figure in the very least this might include a noticeably archaic vocabulary or something of the sort. Instead she faked a slightly more "proper" way of speaking that didn't sell me.
Also I'd expect such an old woman who has experience so much of life to bare something of a personality. Instead her character was totally nondescript. She was polite and apparently great with trivia, nothing else. I understand she had to keep a low profile, but surely it wouldn't have jeopardized her to crack a joke, express passion.. show annoyance or idiosyncrasies of any sort. And yet despite her empty character, we are to believe that she was this incredible person that made William and his son fall head over heels for instantly.
Next, the narration doesn't work. The story would have been more impactful without such detailed explanation of why Adaline stopped aging. Leave a little mystery next time! Otherwise it just seems like a far fetched plot trying super hard not to be.
Also, I don't know if our grandmothers are secretly attracted to 20-30 year old men, but something tells me they aren't. So Adaline falling for Ellis seems sort of implausible to me, also.
More thoughts: Adaline's relationship with her daughter wasn't believable one bit. There was no chemistry there. And despite the challenges of bending reality where we have an older daughter/younger mother situation, it CAN be compelling if you cast the right people. Freaky Friday comes to mind.
Overall the film was slow and didn't pick up until William recognized Adaline. But truthfully, I wanted both of them to fall in love again. Or at least have some moment of truth where he helps her discover why this happened to her.
It was thrilling to see William connect the dots as to who she was and I got chills through my whole body when he confronted her about the truth. But the mysticism was quickly killed once Blake dropped the ball with her acting. She wasn't digging deep enough. Same can be said for when she finally tells Ellis the truth. Looks like there were no questions asked. He just accepted it on the spot. Yeah, very compelling.
The Giver (2014)
Where's the Beef?
They skipped right over the meat of this story!!! I have never complained that a film was too short until now. To squeeze such an intricate story into 1 hour and 30 ish minutes is totally unfair.
Right off the bat, Jonas's character was too earnest and innocent. Bad acting in my opinion. His virtuousness/piousness wasn't natural considering he was a mere kid.
Secondly, I was disappointed that they skipped right over the natural progression of Jonas's relationship with the Giver. We see they clearly rub each other the wrong way at first... but then within minutes of the film we are to understand they're thicker than thieves? How did that happen? And even though they apparently bonded with each other, I found their physical closeness unnatural. Their faces were often way too close to each other (outside of the exchanging of memories) and if you're not going to show us how they reached that level of bonding, then their touching and physical closeness is of course going to seem odd.
Next, don't tell me we're to believe that after one missed injection, Fiona experiences romantic love for Jonas. I can't remember how it plays out in the book, but surely they didn't capture it well in the movie. Too dramatic. Escalates too quickly.
What else? The ending. Come on, carrying a baby through all those extreme conditions past the boundary with no visible food or water supply? Not to mention the scene where they fall into the water. I know technically babies instinctively hold their breath or something but that scene was ridiculous.
This could have been a super moving film. But everything escalated too quickly and felt rushed. We were shown the beginning and then the end. No middle chapters.
Sex Education (2019)
Long, Boring and Aims to Desensitize Teen Sex
I will disclaim I didn't make it past 3 episodes.. but I've seen enough. Watching portrayed 16/17 year olds "get in on" is not something I'm fond of. Before pressing play I assumed the show was about young adults and their sexual escapades. Not mere teenagers. Feels wrong to be an adult watching such scenes even if the actors are technically older. But the comments I've been reading say this was made for a teen audience, which is even worse!
I don't think normalizing teenage hookup culture and educating the characters and thereby the audience about these in-depth sexual techniques and topics (the banana blow job scene comes to mind) is something we should be putting money and fancy cinematography behind. We're not talking normal sex topics like "make sure to use protection" and knowing about STDs. We're talking about bum hole stimulation, gag reflexes/blow jobs, gay sex, trans sex, etc. What happened to the message of: care about someone first before jumping in bed with them??
I will say that I found the premise of having a sex therapist mother as a teen boy interested and intriguing, along with not knowing why Otis was having trouble masturbating. But clearly not interesting enough to find out. I see the real hook of the series is supposed to be Maeve and Otis's pending romance, which is a completely vanilla, boring, and overdone story. YAWN. I'm more interested in any dynamics surrounding the mom/sex shrink.
I swear all the tropes are so boring! Like Maeve getting pregnant, and Otis and the gay boy trying to achieve popularity, and the mean girls, and the bully. There's really no unique element here, folks. It's just the shock and thrill of some high-def sex scenes.
I understand the story and characters eventually reach a university setting which I feel is more appropriate. Wish it started that way.
Cruella (2021)
A Tale of Two Emmas.
No doubt entertaining, but not quite the origin story I wanted. Off the bat, it's very hard to compete with Glenn Close as Cruella in my book. So watching Emma Stone take over that role was an interesting choice to witness. She definitely captured Cruella once she donned her black and white hair again for the fancy ball scene and beyond, but her fake British accent used for "Estella" kept me from getting lost in the movie a bit.
I legitimately fell into a mini obsession with Emma Thompson as the Baroness. Her subtlety of facial expression was killer. A true queen. Though, her character was stunted by the writing. I felt they bludgeoned the audience over the head with the narcissism theme. We get it!! She's full of herself! But they made sure none of us could forget it by squeezing on-the-nose dialogue about how great she thought she was in every scene. Ugh. So cheap. So one dimensional. Give us hints about a person! Don't spell it out for us like children.
Another big miss for me: no fur. How can this be Cruella without the FUR?! I know for today's world genuine fur might need to come with a trigger warning, but to me, it's not a Cruella story without that crucial aspect. The Dalmatian spot obsession and fur coat thing is teased at one moment, but it's not enough. We'll never know why Cruella was obsessed with fur and Dalmatians.
What else? The music was great!!! And the fun graphic elements of the newspaper headlines laid on top of the film definitely makes you feel like the movie is "good" even if it's really just all flash and glitter.
Oh and don't get me started on the CGI dogs. I don't understand why they used CGI for every Dalmatian scene. It doesn't feel authentic to only use animation for a crucial aspect of Cruella's history.
Last point: I think the Baroness mother-daughter story was too spelled out in the end. It felt like a classic "shoot we gotta wrap this up, boys" moment for the writers. More show, less tell please. Same goes for when Cruella stood at the fountain one last time explaining to her mom (but mostly the audience) that the cruel, mad girl stuck insider of her is the real her. If she truly was this crazy person on the inside the whole time, and Estella was all an act for her, I wish we'd had seen the "real" her poke through every so often. But instead we just see what seems to be a very genuine and kind Estella character. Then one moment she switches to the Cruella character. It's jarring - which is probs the point. But also unbelievable is my point.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Cute, Quirky, Clever. A Bit Too Violent.
Surprisingly funny, artistically creative and a feel-good family film. Several times I chuckled at the dialogue, to which I tip my hat to the writers. They successfully incorporated a lot of funny modern-day technological themes all of us in this digital world can relate to and laugh at. Definitely found the story to be unpredictable. I think the robots malfunctioning over the bulldog was a very clever twist. And the doodle-style art was super fun!
I will say, I found it to be too violent, especially for what seems to be a kids film. Lots of explosions and extreme drops from unimaginable heights, car crashes and robot assaults. At every moment of wreckage I thought - they would never have survived that. And yet each time they are left without a scratch. Not only is it a bit hard to watch these child like animated characters get bashed around, but it's also highly unrealistic - even for an animated adventure like this.
Also it puzzled me to no end as to why the family failed to use their new robot friends to their advantage beyond a few moments. They could have continually commanded the two "brothers" to attack and defeat any threats the family faced. But mostly, their robot pals went underutilized.
Also, I was off put by how casually the family handled the robot takeover - an event you'd think would be very jarring and panic-inducing. But even from the get go, the didn't seem very shaken up. Hello? Where's the emotion? The fear? I know they have to keep it light hearted for the audience, but felt myself wanting for more believable emotion coming from the fam.
On a random note, as a lesbian, I applaud how the creators very subtly made the daughter gay in the end. I thought it was handled well and didn't feel like it was being shoved down our throats, or that it was her singular personality trait.
Lastly!! Loved the reveal that the Mitchell family is real! I have yet to look into what exactly this means... but very interesting. And the credits with bonus pictures of the cast as kids was a very nice touch! I love the wholesomeness. For real.
Feel Good (2020)
Feeling Not Good, but GREAT about this show!
I am thoroughly and utterly impressed, practically beside myself as to how realistic this show was! I know that much inspiration was drawn from Mae Martin's personal life, so no wonder, but still. Hats off to the makers here.
As a lesbian I felt that every ounce of this show was relatable and palpable. I felt like I personally knew each of the main characters. But it was not predictable by any means. The wit was well written. The Characters all interesting in their own right. The relationship between Mae and Scott really had me at the edge of my seat.
It's not often we get a glimpse inside such an unusual relationship where a victim and her abuser are ex lovers, yet close pals for years after. Factor in Mae's fluid sexuality, addiction and masculine style and you have even more layers of dimension here. I found it incredibly interesting that despite Scott's dirty deeds, his character was depicted in a very human light. He wasn't made out to be this gross and horrid man. He seemed genuinely caring for Mae and surprisingly forthcoming about his mistakes. I'm sure none of us expected that!
It left me personally confused as to whether he was really a bad guy or not. Ultimately Mae decides it's unhealthy for her to keep him in her life, but it's all just very interesting and unpredictable to say the least. It's empowering to see Mae grow as a person and confront her demons in the end.
I only wish they'd come out with more seasons! It feels too short of a story at this point! There's a lot that could be touched on, like her gender identity crisis and future with George, certainly.
Also loved that Phil was such a loving teddy bear. It's nice to see genuinely good and harmless men on the screen. They're not all bad! And we need reminders of this.
Sound of Freedom (2023)
A Triumph for Angel Studios and a Call to Righteousness.
Overall, a very powerful movie that easily evokes a strong sense of compassion and righteousness. I enjoyed the way it was artfully filmed along with the music they weaved throughout it. The acting was excellent as well. I was especially impressed with the kid's' performances.
I appreciated how close the filmmakers kept to the legitimate real-life story. It makes watching all the more emotional.
I know critics have said that the movie was self-indulgent and hero-centric, but I did not feel that the depiction of Tim Ballard was self-important at all. Quite the contrary. I thought he was represented as a most humble savior. Indeed, he is shown as the hero, but the fact is that he IS a hero. We can obsess and praise superhero movies with fake characters but not movies about REAL heroes? How unfair.
Additionally, they successfully captured the balance of showing just enough of the precursor moments before the horrific child abuse. This way, it didn't feel like they were overdoing scene cuts or relying entirely on the audience's imagination. They gave you just enough to make it feel believable without crossing the line or creating a stomach-churning experience (though the premise alone accomplishes that).
There were several things I didn't like, however. Starting with how 'whispery' Tim Ballard's character was... it was like he never spoke at a normal volume.. felt like most of the movie was filming his close-ups with a low whispery tone. Felt a touch over dramatic.
Equally, there were a lot of jump cuts back into the past that confused me, and then more jumps to keep moving the plot along in the present. Felt unnatural? Confusing? It's hard to describe.
The father of the main child victims - the boy and sister - I think underplayed his grief and eventual euphoria to have been reunited with both kids. Just wasn't believable. I was expecting his character to fall to his knees with gratitude for getting his kids back from the clutches of sex trafficking. But instead he sort of just calmly embraced his kids. It needed more if you ask me.
In the middle of the movie we're introduced to the fun-loving, cigar-smoking Colombian man who would then help Tim Ballard uncover the powerful sex traffickers. These scenes felt jarringly casual and nearly playful. I could tell the filmmakers used these scenes to give the audience a sort of breather between such intense scenes and depressing material, but it just felt out of place to me.
Lastly! Some of the eye contact shots were too long. And I could have done without one of the characters acknowledging "that's the sound of freedom." Oh, and it seemed in real life, Tim's wife had way more of a crucial role in his decision making, I wish the film captured more of that. She felt like an unimportant person in the film unfortunately.
All in all, I find myself repeatedly impressed with Angel Studios' thoughtfulness and attention to artistic vision and detail. Hats off!
The Hammer (2023)
Yikes.
This was painfully cheesy, cliche and unrealistic. If hallmark dabbled in murder mysteries, I think this is about what they would produce.
I mean, really? You want me to believe she as a judge was allowed to smack someone in the court room with the gavel, tamper with evidence and play case detective? You don't need a background in law to know that nothing about this movie was realistic.
The phony southern accents were hard to get through and the acting was pretty bad. Also, the blatant sexism against Reba as a female judge felt outdated for modern day, even for the south.
Every "mysterious" incident in the film was what we've all seen thousands of times: a phone call from a spooky heavy breather, anonymous threats written out on paper, a dead pet, that sort of thing. At no point did the film successfully evoke a sense of wonder and thrill in me. Plus, the situation with Reba's character and her past with her dad and sister is sort of left undisclosed. They teased it, then left it undeveloped.
Also, why was Reba such a vagabond? Living in a tent on her truck?? Going to sleep with a FULL face of makeup and hairspray? Yeah right.
And don't even get me started on the ending. They wrapped it up way too quickly and spelled out absolutely everything for the audience as Reba's character connected all the dots out loud. And then you want us to believe that by simply stepping on the gas and charging into a stack of hay Reba escaped her death? As if that collision would have knocked out the gunman sitting passenger while Reba sat there on the drivers side unharmed?? It was embarrassing to watch actually. Did some teenagers write the ending?
Then just like that, all was well in the town. Party on, padnaw!
Ghost World (2001)
Interesting... but kinda pointless?
The dynamic between Enid and Steve Buscemi's character definitely intrigued me because relationships like that are so unusual and hang in a delicate balance. But overall it moved too slow and ultimately sort of ended in a plateau.
I understand the premise of young girls learning who they are and what they want, and often times realizing that what they think they want is not actually as gratifying, but this was almost too understated in my book. I wish we had more of a glimpse into what was going through Enid's head when she decided to retreat after having sex. What truly freaked her out? Intimacy in general? Him becoming clingy? We'll never know.
Also, Enid's angsty destructiveness got old and Scarlett Johansson's character seemed totally pointless to the plot, and I wish she had more of an integral role because I think she perfectly captured the essence of unenthusiastic teen.
Certain parts were definitely clever and funny. I also appreciate the amount of detail they injected into capturing the character of a dorky, jazz-obsessed guy. I just felt like it was a bit long. And it would jump from scene to scene sometimes which would leave me wondering why some scenes were even included. Like for instance when she dyes her hair green. What was the point of showing us that brief clip? Or any scene with that one guy who worked at the video store who kept calling Enid a Jew and such?? What did their relationship serve?
And the ending. She left town? Did she learn nothing?? Meanwhile her bestie seemed to grow up a bit. Also felt the sad piano music didn't fit with the rest of the punk-ish, dry-witted theme of the movie and was too dramatic considering nothing profound even happened.
The Birdcage (1996)
Over the Top, but Pretty Funny
I must admit this got quite the belly laugh out of me, but it took a while before I started to really enjoy it. It starts off sort of slow and hits you over the head with gay stereotypes. I understand that's what's suppose to make the film funny, but I thought Albert's character was overdone. Robin William's character wasn't as flamboyant, but he still carried on the gay theme and humor along with it. Albert's extremely dramatic performance got old fast.
I did enjoy the relationship between Arman and his son's mother. I felt that was very believable/realistic.
The eventually dinner party scene had me in fits! Genuinely hilarious still to this day in age.
Judy (2019)
An Earnest Attempt. An Underwhelming Outcome.
While Rene Zellweger unduly impressed me with her facial expressions and mannerisms that successfully captured Judy Garland, her voice and line delivery ruined it for me. Obviously the voice is a crucial component in making the character feel real, so I'm surprised they cast Rene, frankly. Rene's voice is very distinct. She doesn't have the talent to manipulate it to sound different and that shattered the illusion of the character for me.
Also I felt the writers were a bit lazy in their attempts to mimic Judy's nutritiously witty remarks. In real life, Judy was as sharp as tack coming up with zingers often, but the ones in the film felt like low hanging fruit to me. Not very clever.
I will say, however, that I was shocked at how good the makeup and hair was, and even Rene's body shape was uncanny. Frail, thin arms, a tad hunched in the shoulders, sort of twitchy - really just spot on!!! I'm telling you if only they would have done a voice over for Rene to replace her voice with someone else's, they'd have the true Judy. I know, not realistic.
Moreover, the singing was not enjoyable. It wasn't bad, and there were rare moments when I could really imagine Judy, but overall the numbers were boring. If you're going to try and showcase the sheer talent of an icon... you'd better make it goose-bump good. How can you expect the film to be grand when the singing totally fails to resemble the wild talent of the star?? Maybe people's imaginations really took over for this part (specifically those who rated the film highly).
What else? It felt pretty long. Showing one short chapter in her life did not need to be dragged out to two hours.
Asteroid City (2023)
Every great artist has his rise...and his fall.
I fear Wes Anderson's prime is behind him. This was even worse than French Dispatch in my opinion. Asteroid City feels aimless and lacking in any real story. Several plots and relationships are teased on screen as if they could be the focal point, but I assure you none of them are.
I understand often a story can have many within itself, but in that case (if it's done well) you are given multiple developed plots. Here we have precisely zero developed plots. You won't know who to care about or why you should.
You'll first find yourself investing in the playwright, then your focus will be forced to shift to the father of the four kids and the tension between him and their grandfather. Actually.. it seems you should rather pay attention to how the playwright is in love with his lead actor..no wait.. it's about a love affair involving Scarlett Johansson's character.. wrong again, it seems to be about the brainiac kids. Scratch that, I see now it's about the "special" encounter (no spoilers). No? I give up.
None of the characters have much depth, either. They're sort of cliche types. Also, why cast Tom Hanks and Steve Carell in such insignificant roles? Feels like a waste of talent to me. I thought in the very least, Carell's character was going to be used to sprinkle humor whenever he had a brief line. Not the case.
In the end I see Anderson tried to be clever and meta by having one of the leads express: "I still don't know what the play is about", which I assume Wes knows his audience will relate to, but it's not cute to me. It's as though he acknowledges the film has no point, and offers no remedy. Ultimately, he didn't know how to wrap up his own story. So he didn't. He lazily killed off the playwright and sent the rest of his characters home. And if you think I've just spoiled stuff, I really didn't, trust me.
The famous scene with the incessant chanting of: "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep." feels like forced significance, but leaves you with no explanation.
All the back and forth between the real world (the cast putting on the play) and the invented world (the play itself) did not make the story more compelling, it only served to distract the plot from getting anywhere.
I rated it at least 4 stars because the acting wasn't bad and some moments (mostly involving the three little girls) got a chuckle out of me.
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
Walked Out of the Theater
I think I've walked out on a film only twice in my life, and never did I think one of those times would involve a Wes Anderson film.
After an hour plus into the film I couldn't tolerate yet ANOTHER tangent story with a new set of characters, new plot, new time period, new pieces of prefacing information, etc. It was mentally exhausting for me to have to keep throwing out everything I learned and watched for 30-40 minutes just to start over and study a whole new plot scenario. I can't say it wasn't interesting, though. It was just too convoluted. No story was easy to digest (not that I want that in a film), but if you're going to have 5-6(?) different stories in one film then they have to be somewhat easy to catch onto and understand.
The acting was good, but you don't get to sink into any character and become fond of them because it's pretty quick paced and there's several entirely separate stories to get through. Maybe they all tie together in the end but I didn't make it to the end!
Bottom line is - you have to work very hard mentally to keep up. And not in an Inception type way, more in a way of studying several chapters in a history book type way.
The Chosen (2017)
Agnostic but I still love this.
It's beautifully filmed and every actor is wonderful. I can see where some might be annoyed with the accents but I think it adds. The detail of even seeing the flies buzzing around the poor or even just around the food in general is a nice touch, even though it might sound silly to say. Even the theme song is great, too. Powerful and a song I would gladly listen to on Spotify. This certainly makes me wonder if I will start a new chapter in my life that includes the Christian faith. I can't believe it's taken us this long to produce a show like this, but I'm certainly glad we have. Watch it and be prepared to feel lots of beautiful emotion.
My Days of Mercy (2017)
Not nearly as meaningful as you think it will be.
If you think the film will showcase a beautiful story about people on opposing sides coming to understand each other like the plot suggests, you'll be disappointed. This movie could have been profound I imagine, given its serious material and relevance to the current political divides in our world, but it's really just a sad story with no real resolution.
It annoyed me immensely that the writers didn't even bother making up a good excuse for why these two female characters were drawn to each other. I mean, we're really given nothing. Kate's character sees a downtrodden and frumpy Elliot Page stepping out of a camper in the distance and that's enough for Kate to pursue her like there's no tomorrow? It's like - one minute she's super passionate about being pro-capital punishment, and the next she's awkwardly inviting her anti-capital punishment "enemy" to a night out. And the worst part is we don't even get to see the relationship unfold into something deep where they challenge each others' stances and such. However we do get some sexy love scenes. But there's no depth to the relationship.
Page's acting was compelling, per usual, though. It is what carries the film.
Tár (2022)
Watched it, Can't Even Recall What Happened
I appreciate that the filmmakers dared to explore a character such as Tar despite backlash from the Lesbian feminist community. Too often we see men in films who predictably hold high positions of power and abuse it along with their subordinate women. Not only does Tar explore what it might be like for a woman to do the same, but a lesbian at that. I just think this is a character unlike film has ever seen before. There's truly nothing predictable about it.
That said, the film was indeed long and confusing. Lots of business politics I failed to understand along with the high brow composer references. Also, this film skips all of what would have been the good bits, the compelling stuff. Though a large theme of the movie involves Tar's affairs with her students, there is pretty much zero depiction of it. So if you were like me (guilty) and hoping for some sexy love scenes, you will be disappointed.
Also I have zero comprehension of the ending. I don't understand where or who she was composing for...really I got nothing out of this movie. There was no one to empathize with, which was also off-putting. You definitely don't empathize with Tar, but also not really her wife either - because we don't really get any depth of her character.
The acting was needless to say, wonderful, but at the same time it can't carry the film when you don't understand what's really going on. There were some very cool parts with a distorted style of filming with Tar's face... representing her dream state.. that was hauntingly beautiful. But.. doesn't save this film. Probably would never watch this again in my life.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
The Male Version of "Carol," but Less Compelling
Elegantly filmed with nice acting subtlety that keeps you wondering what the characters are thinking. Really enjoyed the use of French and Italian languages. This added to the whimsy of the watching experience. The film feels much like the movie Carol considering the way it's artistically filmed, the setting was in the past (the 80s), there is little dialogue, and the plot features a gay older person/young person relationship. However, this film didn't quite capture me as much as Carol did.
I find that if you can make an audience believe and ultimately understand a romantic relationship when there is very little dialogue to spark or progress it, that is pretty powerful. I think this film attempted to do this, but for me it left me feeling like I couldn't quite grasp how or why Oliver and Elio were drawn to each other. There is one point when the elder of the two - Oliver - says to Elio "I like the way you speak" and I wish I understood what he meant by that - because Elio hardly spoke at all. It seemed like the film wanted us to believe that such an intellectual philosopher type like Oliver was drawn to just a mere kid because that kid was maybe an old soul type who spoke straight to the heart or something... but none of this depth of character was really shown. I never got a feel for really who Elio was. Or anyone in the film, really.
One point the two were biking around town and there was an incredibly vague dialogue exchange between the two, basically to the effect of Elio saying "I know nothing about important things." and somehow from that Oliver said "Why are you telling me this?? Are you telling me what I think you're telling me? (that he was gay)". This was so unrealistic to me. Like, come on. What? I'm sorry but I'm gay, too, and I know that our gaydar is not that strong.
Contrastingly, some parts of the movie were too on the nose, too explanatory of what was happening. Like when Elio's mother would read from books where the plots were spot on to what Elio was going through in the way of secret love and desire, and finally when his dad gave him this big talk at the end of the film about how the love he shared with Oliver was a beautiful thing and that he himself was never brave enough to chase that. It was very clear the writers were like "GET IT? THE DAD IS GAY". And I am sitting there like - 'okay but where was this overly specific dialogue at the beginning of the film??'
LASTLY - this quirky inside joke between the two lovers that the title is based on - calling each other by their own names - was very odd to me. Am I suppose to understand that Oliver is a narcissist or something? Who wants to call out their own name in such a sensual manner? I can see the writers tried to invent something creative that the two could share just with each other but.. they missed the mark.
The film was beautifully shot, though, and interesting and unpredictable enough where I give it a 7!