the miseducation of cameron post

This is a weird one to review, and not because the movie is weird, it's because of the topic of the film. This is a story about a teenage girl who gets put in a gay conversion therapy center. Needless to say, that's a thorny subject matter to tackle, and immediately gets a specific reaction depending on the person. Not only that, but this story is siding with one specific point of view in an almost propaganda-like manner, which I don't think helps the movie. 

All that wouldn't have been an issue, if I didn't think the movie was a bit flawed. Yes, it's easy to sympathize with the plight of the title character; Cameron Post, in how she is coping with the fact she is being told that her homosexuality is evil. I also thought Chloe Grace Moretz portrayed the character excellently, and it felt believable to side with her in this premise. However, the contents in themselves weren't really that interesting.

You get bits and pieces of topics that warrants some discussion; via certain character highlights to specific plot points, but the story itself didn't feel it was necessary to delve deeper into those issues. I think I would have found the whole thing more fascinating, if they did more of a contrast between the two sides, instead of just seemingly mocking the other point of view of this story. Since this is what was decided for this movie, I thought it was mildly interesting overall, but mostly it just meandered and spun it's wheels over and over again. 

Not to be a prude or anything, but I also don't know why it was necessary to linger on multiple scenes where Chloe Grace Moretz is passionately kissing somebody (girl or boy), and have her simulate some sexual acts. It just seemed a bit indulgent, unless they were going for some kind of shock value or titillation with those scenes. 

I expected to get some good insight or even some good enlightenment about the premise for "The Miseducation of Cameron Post," but all I really got was a shallow perspective on the topic. To be honest, I was kinda bored a lot of the times. Which is too bad, because this is a subject matter truly worth exploring more in detail. Maybe there's a better movie out there for this. 

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alpha

Positives... 
- Kodi Smit-McPhee continues to prove his versatility as an actor here. 
- The bonding between the boy and the wolf (dog) is truly engaging. 
- Cinematography and the visuals in general are excellent. 
- Plot premise is pretty simple, but it's still effective enough to provide us with an epic story. 
- As it is to be expected, there are some good emotional scenes in the movie. 
- Looks like it's more than just a big budgeted dramatization of what prehistoric times could be like. 

Negatives... 
- Sometimes it looks like it's just a big budget dramatization of what prehistoric times could be like. 
- I admit to feeling a bit bored during the first quarter of the movie. 
- Kinda panders too much towards dog lovers more than it probably should have. 
- Multiple scenes might take more suspension of disbelief that you would expect. 

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mile 22

Positives... 
- Iko Uwais and Sam Medina are in this, and they're pretty awesome. 

Negatives... 
- You really don't need to watch this movie just to see Iko Uwais and Sam Medina. They can be found in much better films. 
- Just because characters are acting all badass with attitude, does not make them automatically cool.
- Unlikable protagonists simply does not make me enjoy watching this movie. 
- James Silva; as played by Mark Wahlberg, has got to be the most obnoxiously toxic and unlikable character I've ever seen in a movie all year. He is absolutely not a character you want to try and build a franchise around. It makes me angry just thinking about him. 
- Action sequences are serviceable at best. Not terrible, but nothing that exciting either. Which is unfortunate because this movie relies on the action beats to make us like the film. 
- Whole movie felt obnoxious and loud and constantly tries to be in your face. 
- Story thinks it's so clever, but I'm not willing to give it that kind of compliment. 

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crazy rich asians

I want to start this with an amusing observation in that "Crazy Rich Asians" may as well be called "Asian Instagram The Movie." Seriously. Most things you see on Instagram are well highlighted in this film. Eye catching scenery and tourist locations? Check. Mouth watering images of food and cooking said food? Check. Living the life and partying it up? Check. Blatantly flaunting products and merchandise? Check. Beautiful people dressed in fancy clothes? Check. Extravagant social gatherings and events? Check. Situations and status that you wished were actually your real life and not make believe? Check Check and Check! Needless to say, visually, this movie is very pleasing to the eyes. How's the story though? 

The story is an adaptation of the Kevin Kwan novel of the same name, and it's essentially the familiar love story of a regular nobody ending up with a super rich popular person. There's the family that doesn't exactly approve of the coupling. Our main protagonist has to rise up to the challenge of proving their own worth. Adversity is encountered. Hilarity ensues. Lessons are learned. Drama. Romance. Comedy. Typical stuff right? Yes, but thankfully Director Jon M Chu, plus screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, are able to make a derivative premise into something very enjoyable to watch. Of course all the significant subtext involving Asian culture is a huge part of what makes this story go beyond being "typical," and I could dissect all of that if I wanted to here, but this is a spoilers free review... 

It does help this movie to have a fantastic cast though. Like Constance Wu. Wow is she awesome in this. She plays her role as Rachel Chu so well, that it's hard not to root for her in this movie. Lovable and sympathetic, she is our heroine in this story as well as the audience surrogate. This movie would not work as well as it did without Constance Wu in the role. The huge ensemble cast definitely helps though, with highlights coming from Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Nico Santos, Ronny Chieng, and many more. Wait. I'm not forgetting somebody. I'm saving him for last. Henry Golding as Nick Young. Wowee, this man has that Je Ne Sais Quoi. That "It Factor." That screen presence. What a charming man this Nick Young is. Rachel Chu is lucky to have him. Speaking of which, I thought the chemistry between them was great, and I was genuinely invested in their pairing. 

There's going to be a lot of people that will talk up the Asian factors to "Crazy Rich Asians." Stats will be thrown, representation will be lauded, and more people will be educated on things Asian. All that is important and all, but at the end of the day, if we're talking about this movie by itself... then this is a familiar romantic comedy, that happens to have beautiful visuals, and is entertaining as heck. It's still all about these rich and famous people, full of indulgent opulence, which can be off putting and unrelatable at times. So its not perfect, I have some issues with it, but it's undeniably enjoyable and fun to watch. It puts a smile on my face, and possibly even a tear drop or two. 

As an Asian American, I'm proud of this movie. 

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blackkklansman

Just from watching the trailer of "BlacKkKlansman," you should know exactly what this movie is about. It's no secret that Director Spike Lee is relaying a specific point of view to us through this film, that's inspired by the true life memoir of Ron Stallworth. There are liberties taken of course, but just know that interactions Stallworth had with KKK Grand Wizard David Duke are mostly true. They are entertainingly true. 

As mentioned already, there are fictional accounts in this story. There are characters specifically created just for the movie to play on certain plot threads that are tied to the themes of the movie, but there were some that were also created to protect the identities of the real life people involved. A lot of those liberties are the familiar cliche plot tropes that you will find in the story, and I genuinely thought I could have lived without several of them. Some of those derivative story beats only made this true story feel more fake than I wished it was. 

Spike Lee could have also used a bit more trimming with this film. A lot of the first half of the movie felt like it dragged a little, but I did appreciate how he allowed a particular speech by Corey Hawkins to play out in it's entirety. Same thing with the Harry Belafonte sequence. Despite some questionable editing decisions, I admit that I generally enjoyed the narrative of the movie anyway. A lot of what I found particularly entertaining were the portions where Adam Driver is playing the undercover cop within the KKK, especially how they handled the moments when people in the Klan were suspicious of him. Exciting stuff. 

I know John David Washington as Ron Stallworth will be a huge talking point for people in regards to this movie, and he is indeed good in the role. However, I honestly thought Adam Driver stole this film from him as Flip Zimmerman. I found Flip's character arc to be much more interesting, and Adam Driver played the role of the undercover cop amazingly well. Also, a quick acknowledgement to Jasper Pääkkönen, who was excellent as the primary antagonist of this movie. 

Yes, "BlacKkKlansman" does indeed feel like an important film, that has commentary that directly alludes to current events. Yes, Spike Lee can be very heavy handed with the subject matter, which can be a little too much. Yes, the overall story as told in the movie is flawed, and there are whole acts that I found myself questioning why I'm seeing what I'm seeing. With all that said, Yes, I think everyone should see this anyway. 

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slender man

Positives... 
- Director Sylvain White knows how to give the movie a nice creepy tone that's filled with dread. 
- The suspenseful setup to the scares can also be pretty effective. 
- Main Female leads are good in their roles. 
- Javier Botet. Look him up and see why he is perfect to play Slender man. 
- There are things to like here for people that are fans of Ringu/The Ring or A Nightmare On Elm Street. 

Negatives... 
- Ringu/The Ring and A Nightmare On Elm Street already exists, which makes this feel unnecessary to have around. 
- Doesn't really add too much new to the genre. Cliche and derivative. 
- Certain scenes feel illogical enough that it kills the suspension of disbelief. 
- Some of the plot threads simply do not get satisfying resolutions. 
- Yes, several of the scares are annoyingly manipulative. 

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the meg

Positives... 
- You know why you're seeing this. It's a Jason Statham vs Giant Shark movie. Oh, and to see people getting eaten by that Giant Shark. 
- Unsurprisingly, this movie is not trying to be a masterpiece, but it's big set-pieces involving the shark are entertaining enough to watch. 
- It's decent to check out in 3D (yeah, I actually saw it in that gimmicky format). 
- If you wanted a shark movie to just be what you expect it to be, then don't worry, this one follows a lot of predictable cliches, plot tropes, and have very familiar character archetypes, associated with what you expect a shark movie to be. 

Negatives... 
- This movie follows a lot of predictable cliches, plot tropes, and have very familiar character archetypes. If you're looking for something different or more prestigious, this is not it. 
- There's one particular plot trope that I truly truly wished was not part of this movie, but unfortunately it's constantly forced on us multiple times over. 
- Throw logic out of this movie, because it's only there when it's convenient. 
- Could have been spectacularly trashy if it went for a full R-Rating. 

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flavours of youth

Positives... 
- Anthology film covering three different stories? I like. 
- Animation is good and pretty? Nice. 
- A bit poetic in the narrative? I dig it. 
- About nostalgia, relationships, and hope? Cool. 
- All melancholic, sentimental, melodramatic, emotional, and introspective? Sure. 

Negatives... 
- It can get too melancholic, sentimental, melodramatic, emotional, and introspective, to the point where it starts being a little too heavy handed. 
- If you've seen enough of these kinds of stories, the plot progressions are generally familiar, and relies on enough predictable plot tropes. 
- It probably should have taken more risks with the stories. 

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Watch It On Netflix 

christopher robin

I might be alone in this, but during the first 15 minutes of Disney's "Christopher Robin," I was concerned that it really was just a nostalgia grab, filled with silly bits for the kids, and melancholic scenes for adults. It was going for the broad strokes to please a general audience, and was way too obvious in regards to it's intentions to pull on the emotional heart strings. I was immediately in my "don't fall for their trickery" mode as I was watching it. Then suddenly, I fell for it anyway. 

Besides those first scenes where I actually did feel a little restless by what seemed to me a pretty drab and uninteresting setup to the story of the movie, it really picked up in a huge way once Ewan McGregor and Winnie The Pooh were finally put on screen together. The chemistry and interactions between the adult Christopher Robin and Pooh was simply wonderful. Just ignore a few plot conveniences and predictable tropes, and just get yourself sucked in to the movie's premise. 

In many ways, I kind of just wished this movie just revolved around the characters from the Hundred Acre Woods, because they really made this film as whimsical and charming to watch. Jim Cummings in particular really stands out at how good he is voicing Winnie The Pooh; and Tigger too, but I got to also give kudos to Brad Garrett as Eeyore, and Nick Mohammed as Piglet. Ewan McGregor looked like he was really having fun in the role of Christopher Robin, which is good since the journey of his character was essentially for us to fully enjoy the story. 

By the end of "Christopher Robin," despite my reservations on how some plot elements were handled, or the tonal shifts between scenes made for adults and scenes made for children, I grew to really like this movie, and several of the set pieces they showed us. I appreciate how it was willing to completely commit to it's thematic idealism of a story, without worrying too much about how it could easily be dissected and nitpicked on. Sometimes we just want to watch a movie that is simply good for the soul, and this film fits that role excellently. 

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blindspotting

As a movie, "Blindspotting" is kinda all over the place in pacing, tone, style, and themes. This might have to do with the fact that this is Carlos Lopez Estrada's first time directing a feature length movie. It might also have to do with the fact that this is also the first feature length movie written by Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal; who both happens to also star in this. Now before you pre-judge this movie as an amateur hour first effort, let me just tell you that this is more similar to it being an acclaimed instant hit from first timers. 

The movie can get random at times, and can jump from a comedic skit type of bit, a social commentary scene, to a full on emotionally powerful dramatic set piece. This style and pacing works in the context of the story though, as it follows roughly around a three days period, which allows it to be a bit more stream of consciousness with it's narrative. I somehow feel the need to emphasize that this direction really does work. It's quite funny when it wants to be, and it's quite dramatic when needed as well. This movie feels fresh a lot of the times, but there are still moments that felt cliche, with familiar story tropes, and plot conveniences as well. Overall it should successfully keep your attention throughout. 

Give a round of applause to the two main leads of this film though; also the writers, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. Both are really good in their roles, with Diggs playing the more straight-man of the duo as Collin, and Casal being the wild out of control guy as Miles. Both have flaws, and strengths in their characters, but they make it easy to feel completely invested with them. Great chemistry between the two! Janina Gavankar also gets to shine in this as Val, who is instrumental in one of the more emotional plot threads of this story. 

Besides the two main leads, what's likely going to stick out with "Blindspotting" are what this film is all about. This movie has quite a lot to say! It talks about the city of Oakland, California. It talks about gentrification. It talks about cultural appropriation. It talks about police shootings. It talks about profiling. It talks about guilt. It talks about second chances. It talks about identity. Plus many more. Needless to say, after watching this movie, you will have an opinion one way or another. That's a good thing. 

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