carcinodevil

IMDb member since August 2016
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    IMDb Member
    7 years

Reviews

Eyewitness
(2016)

Progressive, soft, with an honest and intimate portrayal of teen sexuality.
There are very few shows involving queer personalities that crawl outside of the (largely) sexual aspects of the character's life and motivate an understanding behind their growth. Accurately screening conflicts and current struggles of queer teens is incredibly difficult and can often times can go wrong if it does not capture its targeted audience. Most of the time, the entire depiction of a gay relationship is highly sexualised, dramatic, and far from realistic struggles, but I think Eyewitness maintains its quality interpretation of what it means to be a queer teen.

Philip and Lukas are but two, rather awkward, teenage boys in love who have to go beyond battling the trauma of witnessing a homicide, but also to put their little secret relationship until lock and key. The series shows the transformation of several characters and explores several key themes that are often ignored when it comes to family relationships, careers, and LGBT struggles. The most prominent of these elements are:

1) The correct and honest visualisation of internalised homophobia and anxiety. Eyewitness succeeds in creating a fascinating and heartbreaking perspective of a boy who struggles with accepting himself, and battles the presumptions of many people in his town. They show the fear, the discouragement, quick panic attacks, sweat, and suicidal tendencies that come with it. They show the rash anger, uncertain feelings, and regretful mistakes that can be a result of it. It is something that has touched the hearts of many fans.

2) The brave development of Helen, from her life onwards from the city and into the small tow of Buffalo where she is forced to juggle her career as well as her relationship with her husband and foster son Philip. It is a unique representation of a woman who is fierce and utterly determined, and strives to empower her stance as a female in charge, as a mother, as a wife, and as a friend.

3) Diversity in the cast is outstanding. It's wonderful to see not only new faces on screen, but to see POC representation as well.

4) An honest and rather innocent perspective of a teenage queer relationship. Not quite as risqué as other shows would have it, Eyewitness shows two boys in love, but in the most realistic way possible. It's nothing certain, never rushed, hardly exaggerated. This is the story of two hesitant, shy, embarrassed, awkward boys who do not understand how to convey their feelings, and in trying to, often fail or struggle in the heat of the moment. It shows the confidence Philip has in his identity, his patience and demand for respect with the closeted mind of his partner Lukas, and the hesitancy that Lukas has to face in trying to accept who he is.

For critique, the series is brilliant with much of their work, but a mutually identified flaw distinguished by the audience would have to do with: 1) the lighting and colouring of the show. As beautiful as the screen play is, the colours are simply too dull at times. 2) The timing of the show, although is a grand total 42 minutes typically, seems to be unsatisfactory at times, almost making the episodes and each individual story progressing within the show appears rushed.

Nonetheless, a fantastic watch! Incredibly funny at times, full of suspense and warm teenage love. Surely anticipating a second season. Thank you Eyewitness Team!

Blended
(2014)

Finally a movie that is actually funny, but...
It was an enjoyable film with fantastic concepts, and a better comedy than what you see commonly nowadays. The ridiculous and hilarious chemistry between Sandler's and Barrymore's characters was astounding; even more, Barrymore perfectly delivers the character of a troubled mother. Although the movie was fairly entertaining, it was unnecessarily inappropriate at times that almost ruins the hilarity of the situation that the two families are in. For example, the useless sexualisation of Ginger, unwanted hyper-sexuality of the elder son, and the rather crude sex-innuendo's in between scenes throughout the movie. It wasn't that they weren't funny, but that they were unnecessary considering the context and the concept of the movie.

Some worth watching scenes are definitely in there: Thorne's attempt at a boyish muse (her basketball scene was a killer), amazing shots of the beautiful sceneries, the fantastic African dancer's being everyone's favourite, Barrymore's parachute trip, Nickens in general, etc. Overall, a good comedy by Frank Coraci!

Before We Go
(2014)

Heart warming.
*SPOILERS*

This was an unexpected story to follow through with. Although some concepts came into question, the central dynamics that developed throughout the film with the characters was amusing as it was touching. For example, the protagonists didn't follow through with what the audience might initially expect (wife cheated, guy who takes advantage). Instead you find yourself with genuine characters who face struggles we all do, and the choices we force ourselves to make. It shows that sincerity can show itself in hopeless places too. It wasn't the typical romance movie I was expecting, nor was it going out of its way to do more than what it could. Chris Evans didn't disappoint as Nick, and offered more than just a pretty face to his character. There was emotion behind his fantastic directing as well; consider the scripts, the jokes, the so called life lessons, all that was shared between him and his apparent company. In the world of cliché movies, this one is worth watching.

The ending was probably my favourite part. Really incredibly shot and the script here was amazing. Brooke kept walking all the way into the train, Nick kept smiling, she pulled out the feedback check, and the mystery behind his "Turn Over" became a thrilling end to a heart warming romance story!

Hello, My Name Is Doris
(2015)

Sally's done it again.
This movie was undeniably entertaining and cute. The twists and sentiments that it had were both touching and worth watching. The plot was enjoyable throughout and maintained development, and viewers are in for a truly refreshing story that explores what love really means. I really enjoyed this film because it's carries with it a tale you don't often see portrayed or given value to in today's Hollywood. Although it reminded me much of The Intern, as great as both movies are, this one was more exciting with Sally Field's incredible performance and how well she boded the emotions of her character. This is a fantastic watch.

Ultimately, Showalter offers a movie that will leave you feeling the same silly joy that Doris feels over pencils and Baby Goya.

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