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One Tree Hill: Prom Night at Hater High (2007)
Hahahaha, This Show is Nonsensical
Hahahaha, how did Derek know when prom was or that Lucas would show up late to pick her up?? Why would she answer the door and stand there for 8 seconds giving him ample time to assault her? Why does this show exist????!
One Tree Hill: Pictures of You (2007)
Hahahaha this show is hysterical
Hahahaha, literally nothing makes sense. Everyone leaves the campus despite a school shooting a couple months prior. What a rip off of the Breakfast Club. Mark Schwann doesn't deserve to clean the scum off of John Hughes shoes, hahaha. What a loser.
One Tree Hill: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness (2006)
Whatta Turd!!
Oh man, none of this episode made sense. "Hey, should I go down to the police station and identify my stalker?" - Peyton. "Nah, I don't see why that'd be necessary, just stay here, watch the entire press conference, go home by yourself and don't wait for me to tell you it's him, I'll just somehow get to the police station after all of that, even though I'm leaving the press conference now." - Lucas.
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)
Darkly Intriguing and Incredibly Innovative
The plot alone is enough to spark a person's interest - the mob sets out to catch a child killer whose crimes are both attracting too much police attention, as well as terrorizing the community. The film was written by the director, Fritz Lang, and his wife at the time, Thea von Harbou; and is the first of his films to feature sound. The intriguing story, innovative shots, use of a musical leitmotif, suspenseful scenarios, thought-provoking themes, and enthralling acting performances (especially from Peter Lorre), set this film apart from any other at the time, and helps distinguish itself as one of the greatest films.
With the opening scene of a mother anxiously awaiting the arrival of her daughter home from school, the audience is immediately engulfed in the suspense of the film. A brilliant shot showcases a small girl bouncing a ball off of a wanted poster, detailing the previous crimes committed, as we see the creeping shadow of a large man approaching. The man begins whistling "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg, quickly allowing the audience to deduce the murderer's identity without displaying any of his facial features. We simultaneously watch as the mother's distress grows with each passing moment, each check of time feeling bleaker than the last. The two layered perspectives are continuously spliced as we see the man purchasing a balloon for the child from a blind street-vendor, the girl's place at the dinner table remaining empty, and the devastating final shot of her ball rolling away across an empty field and her balloon lost in the telephone lines overhead, ending the scene.
Once the suspenseful stage is set, we then see the irrepressible fear and paranoia inevitably run rampant through the public; as well as the tireless but futile efforts of the police to catch the murderer. Showcased are their failed attempts at raiding clubs, difficulties with interviewing contradicting witnesses, and diligently examining crime scenes. All of which seem to only be increasing the public's hysteria, as well as the investigators' frustrations. With a need to disassociate themselves with the culprit, the mob comes to a revelation; to rid themselves of the unwanted attention, they must catch the murderer themselves. Two meetings are seamlessly weaved together as the criminals and police both mull over strategies to catch the offender, both parties settling on completely different tactics.
The remainder of the film is a vitrine of suspenseful story-telling and layered perspectives. The innovative musical leitmotif, of the man whistling the same tune, is highlighted throughout the film as a form of identifying the villainous character, and giving an eerie sense of his presence when he is nearby, even off-screen. The audience is stimulated with fluid tracking shots, precise uses of silence, gripping suspense, and a lurking presence that imminent danger is "just around-the-corner." The two different strategies used by both the mob and police both end in successful detections, as the murderer is eventually identified by both parties, and cornered by the mob inside of an office building. All of which culminates in the "trial" held by the criminals accompanied by a large crowd at the end of the film.
The public "trial" is where the film pivots and evolves from a suspenseful crime-thriller, into a thought-provoking discussion on mental illness, as well as the psyche of a human being. The murderer tragically and passionately articulates to the large crowd the inner turmoil with which he is faced with every day, claiming that he has no control over the "evil thing" inside him. His argument is supported by a previous scene in the film, in which he is shown incisively drinking in an effort to try and suppress his malicious impulses. He argues that he has a compulsion to commit these heinous acts, while the de facto "jury" is constituted of criminals who break the law by choice, and questions why they as criminals believe they have any right to judge him. His "lawyer" argues the same point, stating that if he is a mentally ill man, you would need to take him to a doctor, not an executioner, in the hopes to help improve his mental health. The "lawyer" continues by stating it is unjust to kill an insane man, and that he must be turned over to the police. Unconvinced, the crowd and the criminals claim that he will only use his mental illness to manipulate the system, leading to his release into the public and continuation of evil crimes. But as the enraged mob begins to approach the accused with the intentions of executing, the police arrive and the man is given a proper trial. Though the outcome of the trial is not divulged to the audience, the film ends with a shot of the grieving mothers, one stating that "This will not bring our children back, one has to keep closer watch over the children! All of you!"
It is a haunting ending to a fascinating film. The story speaks to the uncontrollable and seemingly inevitable evils of the world. It addresses the responsibilities of parenting, the innocent ignorance of children, and the endless subconscious conflicts of a mentally ill individual. It brings to mind the question if a person cannot control their compulsive urges and the children are deemed too helpless to protect themselves, is the onus then on the parents to take extra precautions to ensure the safety of their children? Throughout the film we see other parents escorting their children to the school and being present to greet them as soon as they are dismissed, showing that if enough care was taken maybe some of the crimes could have been avoided. Various points of view are consistently layered throughout, to help illustrate different perspectives of the same events. The story begins with the sympathy of the parents accompanied with disdain for the murderer, but ends with some sympathy being shifted towards the murderer and some disdain being shifted towards the parents. The film tackles all of these issues while at the same time successfully delivering a thrilling crime drama. It was deemed by the director himself, Fritz Lang, to be his magnum opus; and although I have not seen Lang's entire extensive catalog, the brilliance of this particular film makes it difficult to contend the notion that a better film was ever created by Lang.
A Serious Man (2009)
Perception, Paradoxes and Duality
A Serious Man on the surface is a story about a Jewish physics professor whose life, both professionally and personally, is unravelling around him, as his marriage, family and career are all in turmoil; resulting in him pondering the meaning behind it all and trying to find answers through his faith and friends. Highlighted throughout the entirety of the film is the uncertainty of his tenure, which is accompanied by his son's efforts to prepare for his own Bar Mitzvah.
Under the surface, however, the film is far more complex, as it frequently explores the concepts of perception and paradoxes, while the story unfolds. Characters are often set in similar situations where the reality of the scenario is dependent on the perception of the character. Many of the hardships that the protagonist of the story, Larry, faces are unbeknownst to him, as they require an action to unveil the reality of the situation. Until an action is taken, multiple realities of the same scenario can simultaneously exist, creating a paradox.
The paradox theme is immediately introduced with the opening scene of the film, as a 19th-century Eastern European husband tells his wife that he was helped by a man, whom he has invited to their home. His wife knows of the man and proclaims that he is dead, and therefore the man her husband invited must be a dybbuk (possessed spirit). The man arrives and laughs off the accusation, but she stabs an ice pick into his chest. Bleeding, he exits their home before the husband or wife, or audience, know whether or not he was truly a dybbuk. This leaves us with the paradox that the man was both a dybbuk, while also not being a dybbuk, since there was no confirmation both realities must remain true in our perception. A couple scenes later in the film, Larry is shown teaching his physics class the quantum mechanics thought experiment of "Schrödinger's Cat", a paradox in which two entirely different realities can simultaneously exist due to the subject's unknowingness of whether an event did or did not occur.
At the beginning of the film Larry is under the impression that his marriage is a success, but in reality, his marriage is a failure. Larry quickly comes to this realization, as his wife requests a divorce to marry another man whom she has become close with. This reality was present the entire film up to this point, the only variable was the perception. His wife's paramour, Sy, had previously attempted to confront Larry regarding this reality, but was unsuccessful, resulting in the paradox that Larry's marriage is both a success and a failure, with the only variable being his own perception.
Perception, paradoxes and duality are constantly present throughout the remainder of the film; the junior rabbi's perspective advice, the paradox of his student's bribe (he both accepts and denies the bribe, up till the last moments of the film where he decides to keep it), the duality of him and Sy getting into simultaneous car crashes with opposite results; the themes are constantly present as the events of the film occur. All leading to the final scene where both Larry and his son are in scenarios which could result in life or death, they are both completely safe and in incredible danger depending on the perception of the paradox that they are experiencing.
A Serious Man maintains the classic Coen Brothers off-beat humor, where the quirkiness and unpredictability of everyday life is observed often in a humorous light, but also delves deep in the concepts of perception and the dramatic results of such unpredictability. Though it may not be as gripping or enthralling as other Coen Brother movies, it is one of their more abstract and cleverly written films to date.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Whiny Fans Deserve This
This is the product of everyone who cried and moaned that the Last Jedi was just too "different." This, this uninspired, directionless mishmosh of Star Wars characters doing nonsensical, meaningless "Star Wars" space missions.
Fans needed Rey to be somehow related to a previous character, for reasons of either serendipity or to settle an argument it would seem; so here you go, she is somehow, through no means of logical sense, related to Palpatine, way to go Star Wars fans, really needed that to be jammed in there. So now not only in TFA was Rey on the same planet as the Millennium Falcon and a piece of the map to Luke Skywalker (still yet to be known is why he would even set up a jigsaw puzzle map, thanks JJ for thinking that one through), she also is the granddaughter of Palpatine, holy smokes is that ridiculous. I do not understand the constant need fans have for everything being connected.
The franchise should not be about how this character connects to that character, or "oh man wouldn't it be cool if they were all a part of this big plan", the franchise should be about connecting the audience with the characters, not the characters with each other. By humanizing the characters you make them relatable, more susceptible to empathy, by turing them into myths and legends you create a story where the audience could care less about the outcome of the characters or their development, but instead caring about "cool space stuff" happening.
But this is what you fans get and what you deserve. Instead of taking Last Jedi for what it was, a great movie that embraced the past and ventured into new uncharted territory for this franchise, you cried and complained that your fan-fiction theories did not pan out, grow up. All I see are fans gripping and whining about how the sequel trilogy ended up, look in the mirror, your closed-mindedness and inability to grow really killed what could've been a great addition to the franchise. Next time think and rewatch, before you complain.