I definitely was interested, was happy that it popped up as the Screen Unseen movie last night, but it disappointed me somewhat even when I wasn’t expecting full-on greatness or anything.
This is a pretty fair assessment, even if slightly more positive than I came out:
The most interesting aspect of it to me was the portrayal of some of the infighting that broke out over still-lingering tensions with Germany at the time as Germany used the games to try to rebuild its image, but that subplot got more of a back seat than I would have liked.
Ah dammit, didn’t check which one you were replying to. Well, you got bonus content anyway. Emilia Perez is pretty divisive; I don’t hate it like some do (though I’m seriously not exaggerating about how bad the musical numbers are; they’re truly brutal), but I’m definitely not interested in seeing it go on any awards binges.
I saw LKJ’s very middling review and was hoping I would feel more positively. I agree with him a lot, but not all the time, so maybe this would be different.
Indeed this time is different, but not in the way I would have liked. This movie is an absolute disaster in every way. The script is a mess and the songs are horrendous.
And dear Christ the acting. Selena Gomez gives one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen. Karla Sofía Gascón honestly isn’t that much better. Zoe Saldana is overacting to a painful degree, but easily gives the best performance of the three leads by default.
If this wasn’t a near lock to get a BP nomination next month, I would have turned it off after 45 minutes, and I’m a stickler for finishing things I start. I’m not sure a movie has ever pissed me off this much.
I finished it 15 minutes ago, and I can’t remember a single song. It’s a fucking musical.
On January 17, it will easily take the place of The Fabelmans for worst BP nominee of the 2020s. I’m scratching my head looking for something redeeming and coming up 100% empty.
I didn’t see Joker 2, but I saw the reviews talk about how the musical numbers in it amounted to people besides Gaga kind of just mumbling/growling their way through the songs rather than really full-on singing, and while that did not sound good, I couldn’t get my mind around what the hell that would actually sound like. Turned out all I needed to do was watch Emilia Perez, because the songs were strikingly close to that exact description.
I hate you both because now I want to seek out this movie. Hard to resist dipping into a train wreck. I have no problem laughing and then turning it off.
Man the middle of Wicked dragged for so long. The plot and characters are incredibly insipid and obnoxious too. Every character besides the main one is awful. The set and costume design is incredible though, as well as the choreography and singing (studio singing always bugs me in musical movies, but I realize I’m alone in that - Les Mis was awesome in that way)
Also saw Wicked tonight. From what I saw I’m giving it a 7.5/10. But I am realizing I went to Movie Tavern where I got an overpriced burger at the beginning of the film and my eyes were a little heavy during the midway part of the film
I don’t think you’ll be laughing. If you hate it like I did, you’ll just be pissed off.
Or maybe you’ll like it. It certainly has its fans for some reason. I’ll definitely be interested in your thoughts. This morning, I searched out some reviews by trans people and they’re pretty polarized too. Some liked it, some found it to be offensive. Reviews from Mexican people were generally negative.
I’m still annoyed at it this morning. Usually I can come up with something I liked. Darkest Hour was horrendous, but I can respect Gary Oldman’s performance. The Shape of Water was stupid beyond belief, but the visuals and score were top notch. Here, I’ve got nothing. I hated the acting, the screenplay, the music, the directing, literally everything.
See, I thought the initial groundwork that the movie laid up through the first meeting of main characters set the table for a pretty interesting movie ahead. And then a scene shortly after that had me reacting like Michael Scott to a bidding war breaking out over a hug from Phyllis, as I was left stammering, “what…the hell is going on here…”
I do think the concise implied point that David Sims is making is fair: that at times, the movie manages to simultaneously be zany AND boring at the same time, which is threading the worst possible needle there is.
But I do think that EB overstates the overall case against it. (And obviously The Fabelmans is roughly 1500x better than Don’t Look Up, the Best Picture nomination of which is the Academy’s least serious act in decades.)
What did they find to be offensive? Could you like a review or two?
I did not know the premise of the movie. Now I am a lot more interested. I am about 20 minutes in and am liking it so far. If nothing else, I will appreciate the precedent it sets for other trans movies to dominate an awards season.
