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frankboltzmann
Reviews
The Half of It (2020)
There's more than one way to love
Beautiful, quirky, sweet, and silly. This film is a hidden gem with a few great messages about love. It throws you a bunch of red herrings to make you guess the ending, only to leave you more confused, because that's how love is: messy and confusing, but beautiful and bold. This was my favourite scene:
"I always thought that there is one way to love. One right way. But, there are more, so many more than I knew. And... I never want to be the guy that stops loving someone for loving the way that they want to love."
As for the film's message about love: Love is complex. We try to simplify it, just like we try to simplify everything around us, but there is no cookie-cutter way to love. Love is not a zero-sum game either. And the subtle message at the end is one of self-love: be bold and follow what you love, not just who you love.
Bad Roomies (2015)
unexpectedly hilarious dark comedy!
Bad Roomies is the most unexpectedly hilarious comedy I've seen! I was expecting an easy comedy just for smiling and the occasional laugh, specially from what seemed like a low budget indie movie, however, it turned out to have some great breakthrough performances from Tommy Savas and Annie Monroe who were unknown to me. I kept laughing out loud throughout the whole movie! It really makes use of intelligent comedy of situation, through some brilliantly placed comic interruptions. One moment in specific reminded me of Family Guy's exaggerated fights. What is impressive is that this was Jason Schnell's first feature film! Great job with the direction and script-writing. I specially liked the seldom switch to a more emotional side of each character, letting the characters develop a bit more in an attempt to establishing some empathy from the viewers, which is rare in outrageous comedies like this one. I recommend this one to anyone that wants to have a laugh!
Drinking Buddies (2013)
A story that could be told by anyone
I rarely do reviews here, but I just felt like I had to review this one. I can tell that it was improvised since it felt so real and natural. That could have been me with my friends. From the awkward moment where you are with your friends that are a couple, from the girlfriend playing with the guy's finger, everything is so natural and the actors did an amazing job at it. The female friend who breaks up and goes out the next day with you and a couple of guys and gets drunk and you feel like they are taking advantage and you should do something. Feeling bad the next day when you know she was with another guy even though you shouldn't really feel wrong about it. The relapse visit to the ex-boyfriend where she joyfully pretends that everything is as it was and he has be serious and repeat that they're done. The female friend that is having fun with you and asks about going out with the guys and says she's going even though you didn't want to. And the feeling that leaves you with when you realize she's going even without you. And finally, that scene where they are silent and slowly make peace and become friends again.
All of these scenes and details make it seem so real. The predictable thing was that Kate and Luke would end up together, but it didn't happen and Luke learned to forgive Jill. This film is special because it is not special, if that sounds right to you. It's just life. Someone's story. It doesn't necessarily have a message or an outstanding even. It's just actors pretending to be a normal group of people and nailing the performances.
Beautiful and artistic, as life.
Another Earth (2011)
Not what I expected... better!
From the name of the title (and I guess from watching a bit of the trailer, but not all, since I don't like spoilers) I thought this film was about traveling to another earth, identical to ours, where we could start over or live in a reality where our mistakes could have been missed, but with some kind of plot twist, of course, to make it interesting and/or make us think a little.
Thats not what this film is about and neither is it suited or people who like sci-fi but can't have a sci-fi film where the science behind it isn't correct, because this film has a lot of things unexplained or just highly unlikely.
But that's not what this film is about. This film is about two people, a man who lost his pregnant wife and son in an car accident and the girl who is to blame for it. Brit Marling does a wonderful job making us empathise with what the character's thinking, from that moment she understand what she has done, to the moment where she understands that her future in MIT was lost, or from the moment where she feels like all she can do is make his life a bit better day by day, to the moment he tells her about the teenager that killed his family. And William Mapother doesn't fall behind, as he plays the role of a man who doesn't care to clean up his house and who plans on spending his life drinking to forget. However, the two roles make a wonderful combination when he feels happy for her and suddenly asks her to stay, because then, her guilt burns her inside out and she ends up confessing, a moment where you feel both her repentance and his spine-chilling dreadfulness.
Yes, a sad story that didn't really end well, depending on how you see it. My version is that while Rhoda from Earth 1 suddenly decided to give her ticket to John, Rhoda from Earth 2 decided to run away, and both found out the sad truth just by that moment, since she could only have gotten the ticket after submitting her attempt, which she did in order to run away from all that. At least that's what fits well for me, what makes the movie perfect.
I find it really interesting that Brit wrote her own script for this, since it's a nice initiative and it came out beautiful!
It was indeed a wonderful piece that moved me more than I would've imagined. It's just so tragic that both their lives ceased and even thought some might argue that it's her fault, neither of them deserved it, which makes you think it isn't fair, but it's not supposed to be fair or unfair, it's just... life.