finneypollard

Visually very pretty, I have to admit - scenery and costumes. For the most part Chalamet's Wonka was very appealing, and most of the other actors were good, but nobody quite seemed enthusiastic enough. The story is thin and didn't grab me at all. Characters are too mediocre - need to be more over-the-top for this kind of fantasy. And sadly the music was very, very mediocre. Songs were musically and lyrically simple and didn't really contribute to the overall film. All sounded very similar. Only a couple stood out (Oompa Loompa, Sweet Imagination). You can definitely tell that the additional songs were NOT written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Otherwise it was as if they just slightly tweaked the basic idea over and over to make this feature length. It was occasionally fun, but not enough. Maybe it got more interesting in the second half, but I didn't see any reason to keep watching past about 45 minutes, and that was a stretch. Could've been great, fell very short.

Good film, a little disjointed, plodding at times, and a tough, dark story. The lottery win was presented in snippets throughout the film, which was a little frustrating (kept wondering if I had blinked and missed something until at least halfway through). I lived all over Texas for twenty years, and I do feel they captured the West Texas vibe well, although the location overall was less important than the story itself. Wardrobe was also perfect. Film a solid 7/10.

But here's the thing: Andrea Riseborough's performance was truly the best I have ever, ever seen. Absolutely 10/10. I'm a grownup (and then some), and I've watched movies for decades and decades. This woman was phenomenal. I have not seen the other nominee's films, but (no offense, y'all) I can't imagine how anybody else could have been any better.

I watched the entire thing mainly because of the exceptional acting by Ms R, as the movie itself unfortunately didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped.

Quirky film, but, damn, the lead actress was phenomenal. Glad I hung in until the finish.

Beautiful job by Andrea Riseborough.

I love this little show. It's a change of pace for HGTV, featuring two pleasant, likable, down-to-earth guys who salvage terribly broken-down houses to help lift up a sad part of old Detroit. They actually do the work themselves, living in one project while finishing the next. It's fun to watch them do practical but very clever renovations on a tight budget and turn near-wrecks into unique, cheerful, very affordable starter homes for people who might not otherwise be able to become homeowners. This is much more grounded in reality than most of HGTV. If you want a feel-good show and a change of pace from the usual steady stream of zillion-dollar cookie-cutter makeovers, I highly recommend Bargain Block.

Very fun movie, clever, well done. Tom Hanks is brilliant. It's a very cute movie. I saw it when it first came out and again today - yeah, 35 years later. I didn't remember much of the details, and honestly today I was creeped out that Josh had a sexual relationship with an adult woman. I know he was a temporary "adult," but the kid was thirteen years old. I'm no prude, but I am a pediatrician, and this is not an appropriate story line for any movie, not in the eighties, not now. The "ick factor" episodes of Friends comes to mind. I can't believe anybody thought this was okay. Granted, it was only suggested, but this is weird, weird, weird, and very wrong. That part could've been left out. It wasn't necessary at all. This movie truly is a great, fun concept, extremely well executed, but with that one huge, very creepy flaw that leaves me shaking my head.

This is a engaging, touching, and entertaining film, very well acted, and visually beautiful. Sure, Spielberg was being a bit self-indulgent making a film loosely based on his childhood, and he softened the edges of the character based on his mother. But it is his best effort in years, a wonderful piece of art. Thumbs up, 4.5/5 stars. However I had trouble getting past the fact that young Sammy was played by an actor with very blue eyes, while teenage Sammy (last 80% of the movie) had dark brown eyes. Where were the continuity folks? Contact lenses? Was it intentional? Did they just not think it mattered? Definitely both of these actors gave excellent performances; I hope to see Gabriel LaBelle nominated for an Oscar. But this switch was startling and made no sense. It seemed an odd and huge glitch in an otherwise near-perfect film.

Not at all what it looked like in the trailers. Absurd, idiotic, disjointed plot, not funny at all. It's really cringy that two wealthy middle-aged women would write a film insulting to middle-aged women of limited education and limited means. Kristin Wiig is usually clever and funny. I don't know what happened to her to cause this mess. Utterly unwatchable. This was included in a streaming service I subscribe to, so I didn't pay extra for it, just wasted precious time before I gave up and moved on a third of the way through.

Interesting show, nice hosts. They do very good work. Fun to see turn-of-the-century (that other century) homes reclaimed in small-town America. Unfortunately almost to a person, the homeowners are far too hammy with the camera. I'm sure we'd be excited too if the Marrs remodeled our home. But these folks too often really, really overdo the shrieking, jumping up and down, clapping, and OHMYGOD-ing. Unfortunately the reveal portion of the show requires frequent use of the mute button. The Marrs are great. The director needs to tone down the hill-folk overacting at the reveals, though, seriously.