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Before I get into this, I want to say, don't read this OP and just see the movie. I'm gonna get into some spoilers that are clear from the trailers and then some deeper spoilers but really, go in with as little knowledge as possible and be delighted by as much as this movie as possible because it's quite simply wonderful. If that doesn't convince you or you've already seen it, read on.... I saw Colossal at Sundance this year and in many ways it's a pretty typical indie comedy. It tells the story of a girl named Gloria who just can't get her life together. Newly out of her pretty nice writing job, she's living in the big city being supported by her boyfriend and spending her nights drinking with her friends. She then drunkenly wanders back home just to pass out and repeat the process upon waking. This gets her dumped and kicked out of her boyfriend's apartment until she can get her poo poo together. She can't afford to live in the big city, so she's forced to move back to her small hometown to a depressingly empty house her family still owns but no one lives in anymore. There she reconnects with a nice childhood friend named Oscar who seems to like her, owns a bar and gives her a job. Rather than getting her life back together she spends her nights drinking with Oscar and his friends at the bar after closing and stumbling home early in the morning. This all so far is basically a fairly typical setup to a pretty typical Judd Apatow-esque "adult learns to grow up" movie until Gloria finds that when she stumbles home in the morning through a particular playground, a giant monster appears in South Korea mimicking her movements and causing havoc. So yeah, that kind of changes things. What director Nacho Vigalondo has made here is a very funny and unique movie that deals very well with some relatable and serious issued. The movie deals with what you'd expect it to with messages about personal responsibility and owning up to your actions. However, rather unexpectedly, those issues get resolved fairly quickly and slowly the movie becomes one about abuse as it becomes clear that Oscar is not really a very nice guy. He happens to appear as a giant robot in South Korea and is not afraid to use this to get what he wants This creates a big shift in the tone of what is a pretty light film but it makes it work. It's a movie that knocks down the myth of the nice guy while also showing how women in a wacky Apatow-esque situation can be taken advantage of and kept in a place of helplessness with no control over their lives. As I was originally watching the movie I was taken aback by this shift of focus but really this is a far better place for it to go and take advantage of it's Kaiju backdrop. Of course this type of story couldn't really be told without some really good performances and Hathaway brings it, always keeping the movie grounded and Sudeikis plays his arguably trickier role so well that it manages to not give away certain things too soon. This movie is very silly but it's also very serious and that kind of tonal dissonance would destroy a lesser film but this film somehow manages to pull it off kind of effortlessly making all the very different parts feel like they belong together. So far this is my best movie of the year, so if you get a chance just see it god damnit. Here's a trailer that you probably shouldn't watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT2khohvjLE
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# ? Apr 18, 2017 23:49 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 03:06 |
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Just came from seeing this and I loved it. I had no idea it tackled themes about toxic masculinity and the "nice guy" stereotype, only the alcoholism stuff, but it did a superb job with both. Hathaway was great but Sudeikis was a revelation - he really was the perfect choice for the role. Balanced the humour and heavier stuff real well although my audience were laughing at a few moments I don't think were intended as funny, such as the firework scene. Was pleasantly surprised it could keep such a bizarre concept gripping the whole time. Exceeded my expectations by quite a bit!
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 00:42 |
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The moment you mention in your spoiler is definitely intended to be funny, it's just that the movie does an incredible job of transitioning from slapstick hijinks to pitch-black discomfort comedy as it goes on. What especially rules is that it leans pretty heavily on visual gags delivered through fairly long, fairly static takes in both modes, making the transition seamless in a way where it can often take a few moments to realize exactly what kind of laughter is going on The only other Vigolando I've seen is Parallel Monsters, which manages a few similarly stellar dark visual gags even though it's much shorter and a weaker movie on the whole. Is he always this on point as far as comedic craft?
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 00:52 |
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Jenny Angel posted:The only other Vigolando I've seen is Parallel Monsters, which manages a few similarly stellar dark visual gags even though it's much shorter and a weaker movie on the whole. Is he always this on point as far as comedic craft? Oh boy. See Timecrimes. It's fantastic. I saw Colossal over the weekend and I was not expecting the movie I got. I loved it, even though it was different than what I expected. The person I saw it with, going only by what I told her it was about based on the trailer, definitely did not love it, however. Massive spoilers below. I only saw the first trailer and new it was by Nacho Vigalondo, so I went in mostly blind on purpose. The moments that were the coolest for me were when he showed that a giant robot joined her, because I just wasn't expecting it at all (not sure if it was in any of the previews) and when Hathaway slapped Sudeikis and everyone in the world cheered. Those moments played with the premises in ways that I didn't expect, and I was really digging it. When the movie changed to be more about an emotionally abusive relationship I didn't really know how to react, to be honest. It was hard to watch (which is a good thing) and they managed to hit all the right beats. When he bought her the furniture and apologized and said that it was just because he was drunk I knew it was not the end of his behavior, and was left wondering how the hell they were going to resolve everything. I do think the resolution felt a bit strange with her deciding to go to Korea and hoping that the monster thing worked both ways. It felt like there was a scene cut, and to me that scene would have been during the flashback of her remembering that when she was a kid and the skies turned dark and opened up. I feel like there should have been a gigantic doll bent down and towering over her. The same doll that the little girl dropped in Korea all those years ago. This would have given her the idea that the phenomenon goes both ways. As it stands now, she just looks at a chart on the wall and decides to go to Korea. It wasn't that it didn't work as it was, it's just a strange leap of logic to make. That said, when thinking about where they were going with everything, I half expected her to just shoot him or bring a weapon, or for one of the other two guys to intervene and I'm very glad it didn't go that route. I agree that Sudeikis did a fantastic job, the movie definitely hinged on him. Superrodan fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Apr 19, 2017 |
# ? Apr 19, 2017 01:03 |
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One thing I really like in the movie is that the big twist is that Oscar is a insecure, petty dick and has always been. It's such a rarely tapped varient of the more typical "character is secretly the villain". I mean it seems basic and slight but the movie does treat it like a twist, building up to it through a gradually revealed flashback. It's also not really noticeable but it does what a good twist does where it makes you recontextualize tons of scenes in the movie. Pretty much everything Oscar does is in service of controlling Gloria and making her dependent on him. The twist also full nature of who he is also explains his really casual attitude towards what's going on. Jenny Angel posted:The moment you mention in your spoiler is definitely intended to be funny, it's just that the movie does an incredible job of transitioning from slapstick hijinks to pitch-black discomfort comedy as it goes on. What especially rules is that it leans pretty heavily on visual gags delivered through fairly long, fairly static takes in both modes, making the transition seamless in a way where it can often take a few moments to realize exactly what kind of laughter is going on In relation to what I said above, so many scenes manage to work in two ways without really giving a hint the other way is present. As the movie goes on some scenes go by in a very unusual way but most of the movie just seems to be working on the expected level. Also I really need to see Vigolando's other work. I kind of dismissed Timecrimes because that is a name that makes it sound like a direct to video sequel to Timecop made 20 years too late, but now I'm interested.
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 01:05 |
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Yeah to be honest it took me until this year to realize that Timecrimes and Timecop were different movies
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 01:15 |
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I edited my other post to include my thoughts in an attempt not to double post, but it turns out people posted after me, so whatever. Timecrimes is a very different movie than Colossal. What they have in common is a sense of dark humor and mystery inherent in av unusual sci-fi premise. I haven't seen Open Windows or the third VHS movie yet but I'm gonna take a crack at them soon. EDIT: I would also be really interested in hearing some film reviewers from South Korea's opinions on this. Superrodan fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Apr 19, 2017 |
# ? Apr 19, 2017 01:22 |
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Unfortunately Open Windows is trash, although it leaves a few things intriguingly murky for a while before turning into a loud fart noise and a DVD of Untraceable. I absolutely loved Colossal, it's probably at the top of my list for the year so far. Hathaway and Sudeikis both absolutely killed it (unsurprisingly and very surprisingly) and not many things can give me the visceral skin-crawling reaction like the firework scene or the tearful apology in Oscar's hoarder hovel. As soon as it went there, every other scene seemed like it was on the verge of spiraling back.
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 05:22 |
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A monster movie/apatow comedy from the creator of timecrimes. Aaaa? I kinda can't wait
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 07:42 |
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I really wanted to like Timecrimes, but I'd seen 'Triangle' shortly beforehand, which is the much better time loop movie.
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 07:50 |
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saw this at Alamo Drafthouse along with a small Q+A from the director. Did not expect to love it this much, the trailers made no indication of the twists and turns therein. Totally echo everyone else's sentiments about the sharp, clever ways it transforms into something else. This was probably the best work Jason Sudeikis ever did and I thought Anne Hathaway was also fantastic. This and Get Out have been my favorite films so far this year.
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 14:31 |
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I thought Open Windows was actually kind of decent.
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# ? Apr 19, 2017 19:28 |
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I didn't like Timecrimes at all but I loved this. It's great magical realism- they don't get hung up on just why this is happening but flesh it out just a little, and the characters are always understandable. The cast is just perfect. You feel like it could have all fallen apart if they didn't have just the right people. The Drafthouse preshow for this has the director talking about which films he stole from while making this, citing influences from Young Adult to King Kong to Uncle Bonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 00:04 |
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I've tried to get through Timecrimes at least three times and what keeps stopping me is "This isn't Triangle" Seriously everyone watch Triangle e: beaten like a time loop
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 00:06 |
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On the other hand, I watched Timecrimes first and thought Triangle was pretty mediocre in comparison.
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 07:03 |
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Superrodan posted:On the other hand, I watched Timecrimes first and thought Triangle was pretty mediocre in comparison. You should probably go back and warn yourself to watch them the other way around. precision posted:I've tried to get through Timecrimes at least three times and what keeps stopping me is "This isn't Triangle" It's a hell of an achievement that Triangle makes something as intricately crafted as Timecrimes seem pretty half assed by comparison.
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 07:04 |
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Saw this tonight, easily the best performance from Sudekis and I can see this revitalizing Hathaway's career as well but the plot and premise are just so original that I hope this gets a lot of nods for screenplay once awards season comes around. Can't think of many films that deal with female alcoholism either besides 28 Days and its sequel, 28 Days Later.
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# ? Apr 20, 2017 08:34 |
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Have you ever read a review of a movie and thought "man, what parallel universe movie did this critic watch?" Well here's Rex Reed's Colossal review. quote:COLOSSAL DC Murderverse fucked around with this message at 03:15 on Apr 24, 2017 |
# ? Apr 23, 2017 05:56 |
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I think the part that rules most is his brief throwaway line of sympathy toward Dan Stevens, confirming that the movie's biggest sin in his eyes was pulling Stevens away from his proper home in middlebrow period fiction
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 06:02 |
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Rex Reed continuing to get paid to write reviews for movies he clearly did not actually watch. Living the dream. Also I did not realize that was Dan Stevens as the boyfriend.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 06:07 |
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Jenny Angel posted:I think the part that rules most is his brief throwaway line of sympathy toward Dan Stevens, confirming that the movie's biggest sin in his eyes was pulling Stevens away from his proper home in middlebrow period fiction uh, his real home is b-movie actioners where he plays sociopathic super soldiers who charm the pants off of people. (go watch The Guest if you haven't)
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 06:09 |
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I have a feeling there was a minor plot point cut from the film. Early in the runtime, Hathaway randomly pulls on her hair a few times, and it felt just enough of hey-notice-this thing that I was expecting a payoff. One of the things that isn't really touched on too much is that When he's about to trash the city for the last time, Oscar is actively listening to the reactions from Seoul. I feel that in that moment, his plan on attacking the city isn't to get back at Gloria, but to get some sort of reaction out of someone. He had stopped being cheered or feared.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 06:54 |
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well part of the whole thing for Oscar is his life sucks and he feels weak and powerless. one of the reasons he embraces him being a robot so really is because he finally is important and had power (which is also why he gets so annoyed when Gloria won't let him participate in the apology). by the end here's just reveling in his power, figuring that if he can't control a girl he thinks is better than himself, he might as well terrorize a city. also I think the hair thing was just about giving Gloria ticks that would be reconizble when she was a monster. I'm not sure if she does the hair thing as the monster but it just generally establishes her as being the type to do that sort of thing which is emphasized more with the head scratching thing
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 07:17 |
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MisterBibs posted:One of the things that isn't really touched on too much is that When he's about to trash the city for the last time, Oscar is actively listening to the reactions from Seoul. I feel that in that moment, his plan on attacking the city isn't to get back at Gloria, but to get some sort of reaction out of someone. He had stopped being cheered or feared. Doesn't the movie explicitly state something just before this? Gloria says "You don't hate me, you hate yourself" or something to that effect. It's not that he's lost control of Gloria, but that he never had any control over her or his life at all - exemplified by the bar.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 07:33 |
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glam rock hamhock posted:well part of the whole thing for Oscar is his life sucks and he feels weak and powerless. one of the reasons he embraces him being a robot so really is because he finally is important and had power (which is also why he gets so annoyed when Gloria won't let him participate in the apology). by the end here's just reveling in his power, figuring that if he can't control a girl he thinks is better than himself, he might as well terrorize a city. also it's where she got struck with lightning the day her and Oliver went into the area that would become the park for the first time and she saw him crushing her project. I think that also has something to do with how spacey she is.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 07:58 |
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glam rock hamhock posted:also I think the hair thing was just about giving Gloria ticks that would be reconizble when she was a monster. I'm not sure if she does the hair thing as the monster but it just generally establishes her as being the type to do that sort of thing which is emphasized more with the head scratching thing Nope, the monster never does that pose. She does it twice in the first half hour of the movie. It's just weird, is all. DC Murderverse posted:also it's where she got struck with lightning the day her and Oliver went into the area that would become the park for the first time and she saw him crushing her project. I think that also has something to do with how spacey she is. No, different area of the head. She got lightninged on the top of her head, had nothing to do with the sides of her hair.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 10:16 |
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Okay, so paid, professional film criticism is dying a slow and painful death, and yet, Rex Reed is still getting work.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 19:17 |
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Maxwell Lord posted:Okay, so paid, professional film criticism is dying a slow and painful death, and yet, Rex Reed is still getting work. The way I read his review, it seemed like he didn't actually make the connection that they didn't just "Identify" with the monster, but were literally controlling them. It just seems like he was asleep for the movie or something. The way he described the plot just doesn't really make sense, at all.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 19:48 |
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Also, you know, that review kind of spoils the whole movie, so thanks for that too.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 20:20 |
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precision posted:Also, you know, that review kind of spoils the whole movie, so thanks for that too. You'd be surprised, I think. There are definite spoilers in there but he gets so much wrong that if you wanted to see it based on that review, then you'd be disappointed.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 23:20 |
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It spoils a lot that it doesn't get wrong, including the biggest twist of the movie. It should have tags on it.
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 23:35 |
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Escobarbarian posted:It spoils a lot that it doesn't get wrong, including the biggest twist of the movie. It should have tags on it. Yeah even the trailer doesn't hint at Jason Sudeikas being the robot
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# ? Apr 23, 2017 23:46 |
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My original better name for this thread was Hathawayzilla vs Mecha Sudeikas but that felt far too spoilery, especially considering what the trailers choose to hold back
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 02:36 |
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haha holy poo poo that review is ghastly. "director's name sounds like a mexican dish" jesus christ, get hosed.
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 14:20 |
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Superrodan posted:
A minor but important distinction to Oscar is he didn't buy her the furniture, he just gave her some of the trash he's literally been hoarding, not because he wants to help her, but because he's literally pushing his baggage on her to 1)make him feel better and 2) pretend he's a nice guy so he can 3)control her What's more, the movie never explicitly states that she asked Oscar for any of the furniture or favors, he always says she said it when she was drunk and she can't remember (weird plays on drunken consent, as well)
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 16:28 |
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Franchescanado posted:What's more, the movie never explicitly states that she asked Oscar for any of the furniture or favors, he always says she said it when she was drunk and she can't remember (weird plays on drunken consent, as well) I thought the bit with the futon pretty heavily implied she never asked him for any of the stuff - he drops an offhand "You could really use a futon in here" that she's unresponsive to, and like a day later he shows up with the futon and acting like she was the one who brought it up to him. I was kind of surprised there wasn't an explicit revelation that he snuck in with the key and deflated the air mattress with how that sequence played out.
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 19:53 |
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Power of Pecota posted:I thought the bit with the futon pretty heavily implied she never asked him for any of the stuff - he drops an offhand "You could really use a futon in here" that she's unresponsive to, and like a day later he shows up with the futon and acting like she was the one who brought it up to him. I was kind of surprised there wasn't an explicit revelation that he snuck in with the key and deflated the air mattress with how that sequence played out. He seems to take advantage of self-destructive behavior but unable to actively be destructive: he guilts her to drink, but doesn't force her physically, he steps on mulch because it isn't real to him, he calls out the coke addict but didn't provide the drug just the venue. Popping the mattress would be too assertive for him, that's why his punch and her black eye is the first physical attack and her last straw as a victim.
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 20:01 |
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In general, most of his "nice" behavior, when looked back on is all about control. He's her boss, he is decorating her house, determining what she needs and gets angry whenever she shows will that is counter to what he wants. The only control he ever lets her feel like she has is about the abandoned half of the bar but even then he never goes forward with what he said he'd do and makes her feel like it's her fault. In general I like the movie's deconstruction of the nice guy and the cool chick. Both are things that seem fine and movies love but in this they are shown as being nothing more than ideas that conform with male ideas of entitlement. Oscar is the nice guy but it's all really a means of control and is used to pressure Gloria into feeling like she's always in debt. Meanwhile Gloria is the cool chick that can keep up with the guys but all it really does is hold her back in standing up for herself and has her brush of things that are a big deal because she doesn't want to be a bitch or anything. I also like that by the end, even the well meaning boyfriend is revealed to sort of be a better off, more together Oscar
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# ? Apr 24, 2017 21:20 |
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MinibarMatchman posted:haha holy poo poo that review is ghastly. "director's name sounds like a mexican dish" jesus christ, get hosed. Rex Reed has always been more interested in making quips than reviewing. In his review of Repo Man he wrote that Alex Cox "shouldn't be allowed to direct traffic."
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# ? Apr 25, 2017 00:27 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 03:06 |
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Cacator posted:Saw this tonight, easily the best performance from Sudekis and I can see this revitalizing Hathaway's career as well but the plot and premise are just so original that I hope this gets a lot of nods for screenplay once awards season comes around. Can't think of many films that deal with female alcoholism either besides 28 Days and its sequel, 28 Days Later. Smashed? This was an excellent movie, it didn't take the easy routes but the plot twists didn't feel forced either. Kind of reminds me of Seven Psychopaths in some ways.
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# ? Apr 25, 2017 00:40 |