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Barbie (2023)
Dull and disappointing story
First of all: Margot Robbie is great in the role of Barbie and I also loved the quirky colorful style of the movie from start to finish. Both the pink dominated Barbieland and also the transition over to the real world are well done in my opinion.
Unfortunately there isn't much more to the movie than that. The story and its conclusion can be summarized in one sentence: Neither a male nor a female dominated world is good and we need to find a solution that works for both men and women. That's it, that's all.
The story revolves around the word "patriarchy" with a few jokes sprinkled inbetween, none of which really worked for me. What's left is the empty feeling of lost potential.
The main plot element of the first few minutes, the fact that Barbie suddenly isn't perfect anymore and has to deal with thoughts about death and anxiety while everyone around her keeps up the facade of perfection (that sounds interesting, right?), is almost completely ignored in favor of what I pointed out above; the same goes for the missed opportunity of seriously addressing the consumption culture that led to the creation of this "perfect" Barbieland in the first case. Yes, there's the running gag with Will Ferrell as a CEO and a bunch of other men in suits following him around but the few jokes that result out of this create nothing more than a cynical smile at best. It will not get you to actually think about or question anything in the real world which should be the goal of any good story. If you're lucky you might leave the theatre slightly amused but not with any new interesting thoughts or follow up questions on your mind.
Then in its feminist territory where the movie does attempt to be critical, we mostly get these revelations about patriarchy and the oppression of women handed to us in embarrassing monologues. How can anyone enjoy this? 4/10 for the style and the acting.
Prey for the Devil (2022)
Really bad
It's a standard boring exorcism movie - who wants to watch that these days? I love horror movies and I'm not too demanding and quite easy to scare, but watching people grimace and contort themselves in front of the camera in a "creepy" way is ultimately just annoying. No, a few cracking sound effects, a dark demon voice and a woman as the main character don't make it any better. Apart from that nothing spectacular happens because the main character does not undergo any interesting development during the film - it's all about throwing Bible verses at growling demons. Don't waste your time, watch something else, pet your cat or just go to bed earlier. Your dreams are probably more entertaining than this movie.
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Surprisingly bad
What the hell did I just watch?? I feel sorry for the actors in this movie for having to act out this horrible story on screen. The best part about this was the beginning where they show it all started....but after that it turned into a horrifying, boring mess. It turns out that the premise of the story, that you have to be quiet, is just an excuse to avoid any meaningful dialogues and the development of a meaningful story in general. Emmett is basically the only new, somewhat interesting character being introduced yet we learn almost nothing about him. Why am I supposed to like any of these characters? Who are they?
Now the story.... A DEAF girl going on a solo mission in a world where making just one loud noise might kill you? The one great weakness of the aliens is that they can't swim? Really? And why do the survivors feel the need to encrypt their message through a song instead of just sending out a message that goes "We're on island X - oh and by the way, the monsters can't swim!". Also how did the bandits never find out about this island? And how did the bandits think their robbery would go when in a world like this the victim can just suicide-scream their way out of their predicament? Why did the survivors not prepare any defenses but instead they're living a surreal 50s suburbia life on their little paradise island? It's bizarre.
There are many more flaws I could point out but I think this is all you have to know. Very bad movie.
Nomadland (2020)
One of the most unambitious movies I've ever seen
This film can be summarized with two emotions: Melancholy and apathy. Yes, we get to see a beautifully shot and thoughtfully acted piece of film, but what is it actually trying to tell us? As the audience we get flooded with emotional piano music while we follow a woman living in precarious conditions, meeting different people on her way. Sadly that's all there is to this movie, and it could have been so much more. There is no character development, we don't get to dive deep into the personality of anyone shown on screen, there is no controversy, no asking "Why?", no meaningful dialogues whatsoever, no anger, no sadness, just melancholy and apathy.
Bliss (2021)
A good movie, not just about drug addiction and psychosis...
...but also about reality clashing with utopian promises and fake instagram realities (the kitschy town, the mansion with the perfect pool).
Asteroid mining, synthetic biology, stopping climate change, robots do all the dirty work, a rich billionaire who saves the world - that's what the "real" fake world in this movie is all about, but isn't that also what we're constantly being told aswell? Everything will be fine, science will find a way, progress is inevitable, look at how bad it could be if we didn't have all this. No - this story is telling us that we can't just "science" our problems away, just like Greg can't make his problems disappear by escaping into a fantasy world.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
It's not even trying to make sense
I really wanted to like this, but it's one of these movies where at some point the realisation sets in that none of the odd things going on will be explained to you. They're not even trying, but instead what you see just keeps getting weirder as time goes by. After reading about what the story is supposed to be about, I understand what the movie tried to do but sadly it didn't work for me. Great atmosphere and acting but you won't understand what's happening in any of the scenes