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Reviews
Kicks (2016)
Valuable insights into the teenage mind
Kicks allowed me to gain some very valuable insights into the mind of a kid growing up in Ridgemont, Oakland. When you hear of all the blood being spilled in those most violent and godforsaken places of the US you begin to wonder where it's all coming from.
The movie is about a kid who longs for peace of mind and a firm social standing. Alas where our protagonist lives such a firm social standing is mostly determined by status symbols and more importantly by proving one has the power to acquire what others desire in order to show that eventually they will belong to the select few who find a way out of the hell they were born into.
But those left behind have no role models left but those who left it all behind, those long gone from the moral vacuum that keeps holding younger generations captive. A vacuum that not only makes sure these young people remain right where they are, but further fuels their despair by sucking in drugs, guns and unprotected sex.
The film tackles many subjects - lack of family identity, lack of moral guidelines, drug and gun availability, the media infusing our minds with questionable role models and the products that define them are only a few of them.
At the same time it's a coming of age film about a boy who reaches a point where he has to learn what it means to stand up for himself as well as ask himself what is worth to be stood up for and how much it is worth.
The kid's voice-over narrative reminded me of the pieces of prison wisdom presented by the guy in a wheelchair from Oz. These poetic moments bring some peace into the relatively loud, violent and fast-paced story.
Aesthetically the movie was absolutely flawless, the trailer gives you a good idea what to expect in this department. The story is split into chapters and each chapter is introduced by a song that is descriptive of the content that is about to unfold.
There's nothing bad to be said about the acting either. These kids do their job better than most adults can.
The sexist elements and overstylization of the subculture presented might put some viewers off. I for my part felt they were essential tools that allowed us to peek into the minds of teenagers in poor urban American neighborhoods and that thereby allowed us to see what it is these kids desire - The simplicity of leading a life that has been promised to them.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
James Bond Dies Today
Despite having spent around 2 years of my life watching movies, I've never finished an entire James Bond film. They've never appealed to me, I just fail to feel the magic of the old ones, myself being born in 1983, while the lack of originality in the newer ones plain put me off. Be that as it may though, this movie I felt. Not having seen a trailer it took me by complete surprise, like a long awaited answer to a primal yearning would, filling a hole in my conscious desires with heaps of guilty pleasure.
My attempts at resisting the charm of the script's self awareness proved futile, not just in respect to the explicit meta references, but also in Deus Ex Machina appearing as a projection of the viewer's voyeuristic appetites, an ever-present companion who is dying to cheer with us and proudly admits the simplicity of it's nature, the very same way the protagonist proclaims awareness of the euphemism behind his desire to drink a glass of plain old Gin.
Terri (2011)
It's not Cyrus
Some spoilers ahead...
Anyone who thinks this is anything close to the brilliance of Cyrus will be disappointed. I'd still recommend watching it just to see how many mistakes a team can make when it aims at creating a cool alternative, pseudo-independent movie.
The protagonist for example is way too fat for any average flawed teenager to relate to or for any adult to see his kid in him. Even if your kid was that fat you wouldn't want to admit it to yourself. I mean the boy has no chin whatsoever, not to speak of his missing neck. I'm sure he once called these things his own, but for now the humongous entrance to what other people know as their food processing apparatus has taken over anything in it's close proximity (most prominently this is the neck and the chin as mentioned earlier). Those body parts simply became engulfed in the giant uni-cheek which along with the mouth in it's very center ceased to serve it's former function of securing the boy's survival and must now be serving the sole purpose of incorporating caramel covered T-bone steaks into it's host's body as a means of replacing all other worldly desires that could ever spark up.
Worldly desires though come in the shape of a gorgeous looking 15 year old blonde cheerleader and basically force-feed their sexuality onto the poor boy who's not even consciously starving for sex or love, but for candy. A lot of it. Poon is not what he'd ever select from the menu though and it's nothing anyone looking like him would just be offered for free either. For a boy like this getting poon requires a brilliantly sharp mind, it requires finesse and cunningness. The only real attempt at reaching for poon the boy ever shows is his dressing in pajamas for school which he might expect to leave a lasting impact on women. The movie is never too clear on the why he's doing it, but I guess it was supposed to demonstrate honesty as in "what you see is what you get, I won't even dress up for you. That's hoe much man I am baby, come get it!" Oh by the way, that's basically the premise of the movie: A fat kid too cool or too troubled to even care enough for clothes which sparks the interest of his principal or whatever counselor who then guides him through life... or not... or who really cares? The movie isn't very specific on the impact this bizarre counseling/friendship type of relationship has on the boy's life either. I never really found out whether he's just blessed with coolness or a deeply troubled teen or something in between and I don't really care because he gets raped by blonde cheerleaders, nothing I can really relate to.
But back to the lovestory: It just makes no sense, these things are just plain unbelievable and there's no other apparent qualities that kept me seriously entertained or got me started to think. The thing doesn't even work as a fairy tale because it tries to depict real life or that's what it seems to be trying to do. The boy is basically caring for his senile grandpa alone, the kids abuse drugs once, they are all massively troubled, it's no fairy tale at all. Gorgeous blondes and freakshows don't form couples. Not in highschool and especially not if the freakshow's parents aren't loaded.
The other kid character with the trichotillomania (compulsive scalp-picking and hair-pulling) was the only half-way believable character to me, but he seemed out of place. I still cannot see what function he served, aside from a desperate attempt to breathe some life into dead celluloid.
I was really happy seeing this be made and looked forward to watching it, but it turned out as much as I tried liking it, it turned out to be just another piece of junk from Hollywood that was more shallow than a Sudanese oasis recently ravaged by a horde of thirsty elephants.
See it only if you're really really into movies that never should have been made. It really seemed more like an idea, a concept with some events forced upon it to make it a movie. I found it amusing to see how hard Hollywood tries to satisfy the demand for anything that's 'not-so-Hollywood', but fails hard and delivers a hidden parody on itself instead.
4/10 because I got my Hollywood fix alright and it gave me the initiative to write my first IMDb review ever. ;)
Nobody Loves Alice (2008)
Thanks for ruining my evening!
This is my first comment ever. I feel betrayed. There seem to be a lot of fakes votes for this movie. The acting could have been a lot better, even though I've seen worse. The actress who plays Alice wasn't even all that bad to be honest. She didn't have much to say either though. What's worse is the unbearably slow pace of the movie, the lack of events or twists, the enormous predictability, the lack of depth in the portrayal of the main character. If I had the chance to turn back time for about 2 hours, I'd probably do it. I don't even want to waste time criticizing this in detail, it's just not worth watching. I honor upcoming film makers who are enthusiastic about what they do, but creating fake reviews is just sad. If I would have went at it with extremely low expectations I would have probably watched it half way through at night until I'd have fallen asleep and wouldn't even have regretted it. This way I just feel betrayed.
Having given you my opinion on this flick, let me tell you I'm a big fan of low budget productions, generic horror flicks and b movies (the latter for the laughs mostly). If you want to watch a psychological thriller like this one, I can wholeheartedly recommend "The Spiral". It's a lot more professional than this one, but still in the lower range of high budget movies these days, has excellent character development, a well thought out satirical component and kept me on the edge of my seat (bed actually) for the whole time through (while there's a steady increase of suspense throughout the movie). May which the other commenter on this movie compared it to, is also worthwhile to see.