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A Man Called Otto (2022)

A Man Called Otto is a 2022 comedy-drama film directed by Marc Foster from a screenplay by David Magee. It is the second film adaptation of the 2012 novel A Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, and an American remake of the 2015 Swedish film of the same name written and directed by Hannes Holm. The film stars Tom Hanks, Marinana Trevino, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Ruflo. 

Otto Anderson, a 63 year old widowe, lives in Suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After retiring from a steel company, he plans suicide, having lost his wife Sonya, a schoolteacher, six months before. 

During a suicide attempt by hanging, he is interrutedby his new neighbors: Marisol, Tommy, and their two daughters, Abby and Luna. Ottos has flashbacks to his past: years before, he tried to enlist in the army, but was unable to having hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. he meets Sonya on a train after giving her back a book she had dropped. 

Otto attempts suicide again, this time via carbon monoxide poisoning. He has another flashback of him having dinner with Sonya, telling her that he is not enlisted in the army due to his heart condition and doesn’t have a job, making Sonya kiss him. Marisol interrupts Otto’s suicide attempt, asking him to her and the kids to the hospital after Tommy falls off a ladder and breaks his leg. 

Otto has a flashback to his graduation with an engineering degree, when he asks Sonya to marry him. During a suicide attempt by train, an old man faints and falls on the railroad tracks. Otto saves the man and the good deed becomes a viral video. Otto then takes in a stray cat, which he had found to be a nuisance. Otto takes Marisol for a driving lesson and they go to Sonya’s favorite bakery, which the couple had gone to every weekend. There. he tells her about his friendship with a guy named Reuben, the two having worked together to set up rules, with Otto as chairman of the neighborhood association. The two grow apart after Reuben’s preference for Fords and Toyotas over Otto’s Chevrolets and the “coup” of replacing Otto as chairman. Reuben, who suffered a stroke, is now confined to a wheelchair and is cared for by his wife Anita and neighbor Jimmy. 

After dodging a social media Journalist named Shari Kenzie who is trying to interview Otto for his brave act in the viral video, he gets mad at both Marisol and a Dye & Merika real estate agent, not wanting to accept Sonya’s death. He tries to kill himself with a shotgun, but is interrupted by Malcolm, a local transgender teen Otto has befriended, who asks to spend the night after his father kicks him out. 

Ottos learns that Dye & Merika is planning to force Reuben into a nursing home and take their house, after illegally finding out that Anita has Parkinson’s disease. Otto agrees to help Anita and Reuben. After having a heating fight with Dye & Merika, Otto was voted out of chairmanship after the neighborhood is not accessible to Sonya after a tragic accident leaves her paralyzed and she has a miscarriage. Otto and other neighbors come together with Shari Kenzie to take down Dye & Merika to force them to not buy over the neighborhood. 

The character of Otto at times resembles Larry David’s character in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Otto starts out like Ebeneezer Scrooge, very grumpy, never happy. Eventually, his neighbors turn him back into the fun, funny, caring man he used to be when his Sonya was still alive. They show him how to live again. He starts out so bitter and cheap, he has his electric, phone, and cable turned off. He doesn’t own a cellphone or a fancy car. He is very unhappy, as he is lonely, retired, has no friends, or close family, and nothing excites him anymore without his wife. He tries several times to kill himself but he thankfully gets interrupted every time. His neighbors and new friends show him that suicide is not the answer.

This film is pretty slow for a good portion of its runtime. Parts are laugh out loud funny, there are also heartwarming and cute scenes. There are also some very tragic moments as well. Tom Hanks is great as Otto Anderson, but that doesn’t make this movie any better. It is good at best. The Swedish version, A Man Called Ove is better, but still not great either. Both are of a man who loses the love of his life and becomes big grump, a constant eye roll, middle finger to anything that bothers them or that is remotely positive. Both men learn there is more to life and they also learn how accept the death of a loved on and move on. 

This film will likely not be winning any awards, except maybe Hanks. Scrooge type characters have been done to death. The story of a once bitter person becoming kind hearted again, that too has been done too many times. Yes, the Swedish version is better and the book is good, but overall the entire story is far too similar to many others. The sad, sad, happy, sad pattern is not original either. Had this story had something more intense than a real estate company trying to take over a neighborhood, it maight have been more enjoyable. Overall, I found myself rather bored and depressed for most of this movie. There were times I found myself laughing and smiling and some parts really warmed my heart, but those parts are so few. 

I’m glad Otto became a better man again, but his Grinch-like attitude was dragged out for too long. I wanted to like this movie, but I found it rather boring and unoriginal. Another crankypants, get of my lawn character, though well acted, was just wasted talent. This film is just a stretched out waste of time with a pretty bow tied around it for the most part, until the tragedy comes. Sweet and sad story, but not an entertaining movie much at all. 3/5 13+ 

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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The Banshees of Inisherin is a 2022 dark tragicomedy film directed by Martin McDonagh. Set on a remote Island off the west coast of Ireland, it stars Colin Farrell and Brendand Gleeson as two lifelong friends who find themselves at a dead end when one quickle ends their relationship, with startling consequences for both of them. Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also star in the film. 

At the tail end of the Irish Civil War in 1923, on the fictional Irish Isle of Inisherin, folk musician Colm Doherty quickly starts ignoring his lifelong friend and drinking buddy Padraic Suilleabhain. Padraic, though friendly and well liked by the islanders, is too “dull” for Colm, who wishes to spend the remainder of his life compsing music and doing things that he will be remembered by.  Padraic’s life is disrupted by the loss of one of his few friend; as he grows more and more tramatic at the rejection, Colm becomes more hostile to his old friend’s attempts to to talk to him. Colm eventuallly gives Padraic an ultimatum: every time Padriac bothers him or tries to talk to him, Colm will cut off one of his own left fingers with a pair of sheep shears. 

Though Padriac’s caring sister Siobhan and troubled local boy Dominic attempt to stop the pair’s escalating brawl, their efforts prove ineffective. After a drunken Padriac confronts him in the pub and tries to apologise, Colm cuts off one of his fingers and throws it at Padriac’s door. After Padriac sees Colm meeting with a fiddler from the mainland, he tricks the fiddler into going back home by lying about their father’s death. 

Padriac visits Colm to scold him for behaving awfully. Colm reveals the he has finished composing his song, which he calls “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Padiac tells Colm about lying to fiddler to run him off the island, and maybe the three of them could have drinks . Colm cuts off the rest of his left fingers with the shears and throws them at Padriac’s door. 

This film is considered a comedy and there are some laugh out moments, but the rest of the movie is very slow, disturbing, and sad. The scenery is breathtaking, the music is beautiful, and the acting is superb. Brendon Gleeson is great as Colm and Colin Farrell is outstanding as Padriac. The film is really slow for the majority of it’s runtime of nearly two hours. It’s only a tad funny and mostly it’s just one sad thing happening after another. 

I guess I don’t really understand the whole tragicomedy thing, as I don’t find cutting off fingers as revenge and death of loved ones funny. Had this film been categorized not as a comedy of any type, I might have enjoyed it a little more. But we get is a semi-funny, slow, drunken and depressing story, mixed with a beautiful location and equally beautiful music. Kerry Condon does a fine job as Siobhan and Barry Keoghan is good, not great as Dominic. 

The two main charaters Padriac and Colm, are two self-loathing loners, that could really use a friend or a lover. The only friends the two have after they break up are animals, Padriac has his donkey and horse and Colm has his dog, but they need more human interactions, some physical touch. They are two of the most depressing characters I have ever seen in a movie. They are called nice by other islanders, but they aren’t always so jolly, they end up constantly seeking revenge on each other, instead of leaving each other alone, or maybe just saying “Hi,” and walking on. They seem to do a lot of beer drinking, to point of being drunk nearly every day, which makes them do stupid things, like pub fights. 

There is a little bit of humor in this film, but also this film is not heartwarming, uplifting, or romantic. It is basically two miserable men that hate each other and need desparetly to get off that island, meet people, and try to have a relatively “normal” life. Though this movie takes place in the 1920s, everyone on the island is living like amish people, only with alcohol and tobacco use. There are no cars, no electricity, and likely no plumbing either. It seems odd for the time period, but I guess that’s island life in Ireland back then. 

Overall, this is a very slow, a tad humorous, disstressing film. The scenery and the fine acting don’t make this one any better. Some things are left unaswered in the movie as well. Had there been more action, this film might have been more entertaining, but instead is quite boring and sad. I was hoping this one would have been fantastic judging by all the awards it has recieved, but I have to disagree, except that Farrell and Gleeson do deserve their awards, but definitely not Best Picture or Best Screenplay worthy. It is a drunken, dawdling somewhat mess of film. 18+ 3/5 

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The Menu (2022)

The Menu is a 2022 American black comedy horror film directed by Mark Mylod and stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Holt, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo. 

Tyler and his companion Margot Mills travel by boat to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant owned and operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik, located on a private island. The other guests attending the dinner are Lilian, a food critic; her editor Ted; wealthy couple Richard and Anne; George, a post-prime movie star amd his personal assistant Felicity; and business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce. The guests are given a tour of the island by the restaurant maitre d’ Elsa, who notes that Margot was not Tyler’s original guest for the evening. 

The courses and Slowik’s following speeches start to become more distressing and violent. On Slowik’s orders. one staff member kills himself and another cuts off Richard’s finger when he tries to leave the restaurant. The restuarant’s main investor, while strapped to a harness with angel wings is drowned in front of the guests, who later try to flee when Slowik gives them 45 seconds to escape, but are caught by staff and are threatened by Slowik that any attempts to leave will result in more severe consequences. Slowik proclaims all the guest were selected because they make a living off exploting the work of artisans like him, then declares that the night will end with everyone dead. Since Margot’s presence was unplanned, Slowik gives her the choice of dying with either the staff or the guests. 

Slowik turns on Tyler, revealing that he was invited personally and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone’s death, which infuriates Margot, since he knowling coaxed her to join a trap for dying. It is revealed that Margot is a prostitute named Erin (who had sex with Richard) whom Tyler has hired for the evening, knowing that she would die. Slowik humiliates Tyler further by forcing him to cook (which he does very poorly) in front of everyone, then coaxes Tyler to commit suicide by himself with his necktie in a nearby storeroom. Slowik decides that Erin belongs to the staff and asks her to retrieve a barrel needed for dessert, falsely saying that Elsa forgot it. 

Elsa sneeks into Slowik’s house, which contains a replica of Hawthorne, only to be attacked by Elsa. Erin kills Elsa in self-defense by stabbin her in the neck. After seeing newspaper clippings of Slowik’s past life in barely decorated office, Erin finds a radio, calls for help, and returns ti the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer arrives from his boat, bringing hope to the guests, holding Slowik at gunpoint. The officer then reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise and returns to the kitchen. 

Due to Erin’s disloyalty, Slowik now claims that she belongs to the guests, but Erin mocks his dishes and complains that she is still hungry. Having just seen a photo of a young, happy Slowik working at a fast-food restaurant, Erin asks him for a cheeseburger and fries. Moved by her simple request, Slowik prepares the meal to her requests. Erin takes a bite and praises his food, then asks if she can get it “to go.” Slowik packs the food for her and let’s her leave. Erin finds a boat docked nearby and escapes the island. To end the dinner Slowik pays tribute to s’mores by covering the guests in marshmallows and and hats made of chocolate. 

Memembers of the tiny 1% get stuck on an island owned by an amazing, yet insane chef and his equally talented cooks. The guests, aside from Tyler, Richard, and Anne, think they are just going to be tasting some of the most exquisite foods and wines in the world in a beautiful location. That is just a portion of what these guests get at this insanely expepensive restautant on the secluded island of Hawthorne. The food and wine may be considered tasty, but the portions are miniscule and the disturbing “performances” both leave you hungry. You think the first “performance” is just a show and the only one, until every course is followed by one, making it hard to eat, because you instantly lose your appetite. 

This film is considered a black comedy (dark humor), but I don’t understand why. How is someone drowning, someone shooting themselves, and someone having a finger cut off funny? It’s not, it’s disturbing. I didn’t chuckle not once for the almost two hour runtime. I found that the violence was too much and with less of it, this would have been a very enjoyable movie. With a great cast, I was expecting something great, but what I got was just a long movie where people eat, drink, and die. The acting is superb, the clothing is gorgeous, the food is prepared beautifully, the scenery is breathtaking, but the story is weak. The entire film is spent in and around the restaurant, mostly inside, giving the film a claustrophobic, cabin-fever feel, especially since there is no way for guests to leave unless Slowik allows them to. It’s Slowik’s way, no ifs, ands, or buts. 

Slowik is a very powerful and strict man with a booming voice and a stare that feels like it’s slicing you in half. He claps really loud to get everyone’s attention and every time he does, you jump and get angry. He is a brilliant, but twisted man and very unpredictable. He is equal parts intriguing and scary and the character seemed to have be created just for Ralph Fiennes. 

This movie jumps from really slow to really unsetting really fast far too much, making it hard to enjoy. Why this is categorized as a black comedy I don’t understand. Death is not something to laugh at and the deaths in this movie are very obscene. They are over the top gory, where you want to look away, but you still hear the sounds and that’s just as bad. Most of the film is dark too, not just because it’s at night (aside from the begining), but it seems there is hardly any light regardless. Slowik may want a certain ambience in his restaurant and house, but it’s hard to see clearly at times and it’s hard to enjoy the movie overall because of this. 

Normally I enjoy weird movies, but this one was not just weird, but so disquietning, that I found very little enjoyment in it, aside from the fine acting from the main cast and the lovely attire and food arrangements. Had I had known about all the grusome dying beforehand, I would have seen something else altogether, as that is more offensive and perturbing than entertaining. Adults only 2.5/5 

 

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She Said (2022)

She Said is a 2022 American biographical drama film directed by Maria Schrader, based on the New York Times investigation that exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey, and Rebecca Corbett, and the 2019 book of the same name covering the investigation by Kantor and Twohey. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as Twohey and Kantor, alongside Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, and Samantha Morton in supporting roles, and Ashley Judd appearing as herself. 

The movie tells of several women’s stories of their incounter(s) with Harvey Weinstein formerly of The Weinstein Company, as well as a few stories about other powerful famous men like Bill O’Reilly, author and fomer political commentator and television host. It also tells of how very powerful men have gotten away with sexual misconduct, how it is often covered up, swept under rugs, and ignored. Since the exposition of Weinstein, his jail sentence, and the bankruptcy of The Weinstein Company, more women have come forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment against him and other famous men, like Bill Cosby, Bryan Singer, Roman Polanski, and Danny Masterson. 

Just like Twohey’s and Kantor’s NYT story and the book based off of it, this is a very important film, not just for women’s rights, but to show that just because a not just man, but person is of powerful status, that doesn’t mean that they should be able to get away horrific acts. It also proves, that standing up for yourself instead of pretending you weren’t hurt is better than staying silent. Although sometimes speaking out against someone and what they did to you or someone else, doesn’t always work to punsih that person, it does expose that person’s true nature. So many big name men who have been accused of bad things have had little punishment (being banned, or just a few years or months in jail, probation, etc.) and are walking around free men, like Bill Cosby being let out of jail, Bill O’Reilly still writing books, Polanski still making movies. It is sad the people that still support abusers. 

The acting in this film is great from Carey Mulligan who plays Megan Twohey and Patricia Clakson who plays Rebecca Corbett, but Zoe Kazan is good, not great as Jodi Kantor, someone else could have done better in her role. Andre Braugher is fantastic as Dean Baquet, former NYT executive editor from 2014 to 2022. Jennifer Ehle does a fine job as Lauren Madden and Samantha is equally good as Zelda Perkins. 

The film is very slow for the majority of its runtime, making it extremely boring for the most part, but when Twohey has her baby, women start coming forward with their stories, and the article gets published, it gets more exciting, but not a whole lot more. With a plot like this one, you should expect the film to be pretty slow, but not so slow, it’s hard to watch, despite the importance of the story. I found myself looking away many times throughout the viewing. As a feminist, I was so excited to see this movie, but was left very disappointed. Love the story, the acting was superb, but the slowness made it almost unwatchable. I felt more like I was watching a Dateline or 20/20 episode, rather than a movie. No, you don’t need lots of action, romance, sex, or humor to make a film a great, but don’t lollygag around for the majority of the runtime. 

Overall, feminist will probably enjoy this film the most. Conservatives may want to steer clear of this one, because they do trash talk several powerful conservative men, as well as The Fox News Channel. You have to be made of rocks to not get that this is a liberal feminist film, as well as one about female rights, but this is a movie that is needed and has been needed for a long time. Something had been needing to be done about sexual harassment towards females, not just in Hollywood, not just in the entertainment industry, but all workplaces period. I’m glad females can speak up for themselves now, because for decades, we are taught to keep mum, remain calm, and pretend negative things never happened. Maybe more films, television shows, books, and news stories like this one will continue to shine a light on subjects on like this. 18+ 3/5 

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Don’t Worry Darling (2022)

Don’t Worry Darling is a 2022 American psycholigical thriller film directed by Olivia Wilde. The film strars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Oliva Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. The movie follows a perfect housewife living in a company town who begins to sense that a sinister secret is kept from its residents by the man who runs it. 

In America duran unspecified time period, Alice and Jack Chambers live in an a perfect 1950s-styled neighborhood in the company town of Victory, California. Every day, the men go to work at Voctory Headquarters out in the surrounding desert while their wives, stay home, to clean, relax, and cook dinner for their husbands. The women are discouraged from asking questions about their husbands’ work and told not to go out to the Headquarters. Margaret has become an outcast after taking her son out into the desert, resulting in her son’s apparent death, although she claims that Victory took him from her as punishment. While attending a party hosted by Frank, Victory’s mysterious founder and leader, Alice sees Margaret’s husband try to give her medication. Later, she sees Frank looking in on her and Jack while they are having sex in Frank’s bedroom. 

One morning, while riding the trolley across town, Alice witnesses a plane crash out in the desert. She rushes to help and comes upon the Headquarters, a small building covered in mirror-like windows. After touching one, she experiences surreal halluncinations before waking up back home later that night. In the following days, she experiences increasingly strange occurrances. She recieves a phone call from Margaret, who claims to have seen the same thing Alice did. Alice goes to see Margaret and witnesses as she cuts her own throat and falls from the roof of her house. Before she can reach Margaret’s body, Alice is dragged away by men red jumpsuits. 

Jack dismisses Alice’s calims and says Margaret simply fell while cleaning the windows and is recovering. The story is further backed up by the town physician Dr. Collins who tries to give Alice prescription drugs. Alice becomes increasingly paranoid and confused, and during a special Victory event, where Frank gives Jack an outstanding promotion, Alice breaks down in the bathroom and comforted by Bunny. Alice tries to explain everything to her, but Bunny reacts furiously, accusing Alice of being selfish. 

Sometime later, Alice and Jack invite and rest of the neighborhood, except Bunny and her husband Dean, to dinner, with Frank and his wife Shelley as special guests. Frank speaks privately with Alice in the kitchen, implying that she is right in her suspicions. Propelled by his confession, she tries to expose him over dinner, instead, Frank gaslights her, making her look deranged to the other guests. In the aftermath, Alices begs Jack for them to leave Victory. 

This film is a lot like The Stepford Wives, and at times seems like nearly a rip-off of the story. Despite the behind the scenes controversy with the cast, the acting is superb by nearly all but Harry Styles, but the story falls flat. It is far too similatr to The Stepford Wives and has a bit of a Desperate Housewives with an A24 twist, although this film was not produced by them. Harry Styles, isn’t a bad actor, he did a great job in his other film from this year My Policeman, but I think the reason he was just okay in this movie is becasue his character is meant to be handsome and empty. Sure he looks the part with his slim suits and perfect features, the camera loves him, but when it comes time for him to be deeply emotional, especially in scenes with Pugh, he doesn’t even compare to her talent in this one or his My Policeman role. 

Much like Stepford, everyday is the same, the men leave for work at the same time with their fancy cars, gorgeous suits and lunchboxes, and go to their jobs at the Victory Project, which they can’t talk about with their wives. The wives spend the days cleaning, vacuuming, scrubbing this and that in their houses and maybe a dance class. There is almost always day drinking. Wilde plays Alice’s next-door neighbor with her cat-eye makeup and Cheshire Cat grin, she brings both mystery and arrogant sexiness and humor to the strange world. 

Also like Stepford, the leaders are all about control: trying to keep mayhem down, which obviously doesn’t really work, because several neighborhood citizens start to get suspicious of the goings onaround them. The movie just gets stranger and stranger and really confusing at times. It seems to jump from one bizarre scenario to another. Some scenes are just plain weird and have no dialogue, only intense and/or creepy music. 

This film, though classified as a physchological thriller, has the cerebral factor, but it is not as thrilling as most thrillers. So many scenes make no sense, like a scene where Alice is wrapping up leftovers with plastic wrap and decides to wrap her head and face too until she can’t breath and then rips it off. These moments are left unexplained until nearly the end, when you realize there really was something in Victory’s water, that it was all about control, mind, body, lifestyle. The leaders of Victory want to turn the residents into human robots. 

The art of the film is flawless,  from the brilliant cinematography from Matthew Libatique is, to the exquisite production design from Katie Byron, to the beautiful costumes from Arianne Phillips, which will probably be the only awards this one will win, because it sure as heck isn’t going to be Best Picture. You don’t learn the truth about Victory until close the end of the movie, but it takes a prolonged twist craziness to get there. Florence Pugh could win Best Actress, but she’d be the only one deserving of an acting award. The plot is nearly unoriginal, the film is pretty slow for much of its runtime and overall, just seems like a mess of weird events, some rather disturbing, filled with an attractive cast in beautiful attire. 18+ 2/5 

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My Policeman (2022)

My Policeman is a British drama directed by Michael Grandage, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Bethan Roberts. The film stars Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson and Rupert Everett. 

Set in 1950s Brighton, a gay policeman, Tom Burgess, marries schoolteacher Marion Taylor while being in a relationshio with Patrick Hazelwood, a museum curator. The secret they share threatens to damage them all. 

Although this film is rather slow for the majority of it’s runtime, it is still very well done. Harry Styles has proven he is more than just a handsome talanted pop singer, and  although he’s not quite DiCaprio, he is also a rather talented actor as well. He takes his roles very seriously and it’s nice to see an ex boy band member do someething completely different. 

Tom is a Brighton policeman, who though homosexual, meets Marion, who falls in love with him and he claims to have fallen for her too. The two marry abd move to the Brighton countryside. In between the meeting of Marion, he meets Patrick a museum curator that is also gay and the two fall in love, but know they must keep their relationship secret, as homosexuality is frowned up. The two secretly meet up, first after Tom agrees to let Patrick draw him, they get drunk, and the two start to kiss, but Tom stops it, as he is married. Tom then realizes he has feelings for Patrick and they start meeting again more reguraly in private. 

Marion who is trying to find Tom, finds him in their barn makking out and such. Tom agrees to go on a trip to Italy with Patrick to help him find pieces for his museum. He goes as his paid assistant. The trip ends up being more of a homosexual vaction, than work or site seeing. Marion recieves a postcard from Tom from Venice and angerily, she burns it. 

The film flashes back and forth from the past to present day and shows Marion finding Patrick’s diary where he  has written about his love for Tom he calls “My Policeman.” Present day Tom is elderly and in poor health and Patrick is in a wheelchair and has to be looked after, after being beat up in prison after someone reported him at work for being a pervert. 

Marion sees Tom at the beach, his good looks and charm instantly catch her eye. They meet and he agrees to teach her how to swim. The pair fall in love until Tom meets the much older Patrick and just marries and uses Marion as a way to cover up his homosexuality and relationship with Patrick. 

This film is very slow for most part, but the acting is superb from all of the leading cast. There is a lot sex, particualy between Tom and Patrick, and one such scene is very long and rather explicit, so there is lots of nudity and not just in the love making scenes, but in scenes without sex, but all of the sex and nudity is done tastefully, though the both could have been used less. It’s like, “We get it, they’re in love and they enjoy making love.” 

This is definitely one of the better LGBTQ films I have seen, much better than Cannes Film Festival Winner Blue is the Warmest Color. I don’t understand why My Policeman has such mixed reviewes and such a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as I found it excellent. Maybe it’s the slowness of the film, too much sex, the homosexuality didn’t sit well with conservatives, or all the above. Conservatives needs to learn that homosexuality is real and natural and not a choice. 

This movie shows how in 50s and present day England how love shouldn’t be something  that has to be hidden, that you ahould be able to love who you want freely. Marion does realize that she was keeping Tom and Patrick apart and eventually lets them be together. 

This film has drama, romance, heart, and heartbreak. It maybe slow, and forget what most people say about this one, it is truly a great movie. 18+ 4/5 

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The Good Nurse (2022)

The Good Nurse is a 2022 American drama film starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne as two nurses, one who suspects the other of being responsible of a string of patient deaths. The film is based on the 2013 true-crime book of the same name by Charles Graeber about the serial killer Charles Cullen. It was directed by Tobias Lindholm and also stars Nnamdi Asomugha, Kim Dickens, and Noah Emmerich. 

In 1996, a patient admitted to the ICUward of St. Aloysius Hospital, Pennsylvania suffers a seizure. Despite the efforts of the hospital’s staff to resuscitate him, the patient dies. 

Seven years later, in 2003, Amy Loughren, a single mother and nurse working night shifts at Parkfield Memorial Hospital, New Jersey, is introduced to Charles Cullen, an experienced nurse recently hired by the hospital as additional help to her shift. Uknown to the hospital’s administrative staff, Amy is suffering from cardiomyopathy; her lack of health insurance, lack of kin and the fear of retribution shoul her condition be revealed, prompts her to keep it a secret. Despite her condition, she has no other choice but to continue working as a nurse for another four months, in order to obtain health insurance to afford a health transplant. Charlie discorvers her condition and agrees to keep it a secret, also stepping in as a caregiver for her two daughters. 

When Ana Martinez, a septuagenerian patient amitted to Parkfield mysteriously dies, the hospital’s administrative baord contacts the state police, represented by detectives Danny Baldwin and Tim Braun, to inform themof the incident. Nonetheless, the board, led by Linda Garran, the hospital’s risk manager, downplays it, claiming the death was unintentional and that the reason for reporting it was simply to go by health protocol. Regardless, Baldwin remains distrustful of the board, noting that it had acted to report Martinez’s death seven weeks after it had happened. He instantly zeros in on Charlie, noting that he had been convicted of minor charges in 1995. The duo begin interrogating the hospital’s medical staff; when Amy’s turn comes, she notices that insulin had been administered to Martinez, despite her being a non-diabetic. She is further questioned about Charlie’s character. but she speaks up for him. Braun tries to contact the hospitals where Charlie had previously worked at, but none are willing cooperate. Parkfield finally shares its investigation with the police, but Baldwin notices that it is fragmentary, leading him to snap at Garran for her being unprofessional, causing him and Braun to be banned from the hospital. 

When Kelly and Anderson, another ICU patient, suddenly develops an odd cognitive symptoms, Amy discovers that insulin had been given to her. Kelly suffers a seizure and dies, despite Amy’s efforts ro save her. Baldwin and Braun subsequently visit Amy, revealing to her that Charlie had previously worked at nine different hospitals, and that none are willing to talk about him. Baffled, she visitis her friend Lori, a fellow nurse who had previously worked with Charlie at a different hospital. Lori reveals that during Charlie’s tenure, her hospital had dealt with the unfathomable deaths of numerous patients, with the finding of insulin in several of them. 

With Redmayne and Chastain being two of the biggest names in film right now, and this being a true crime film and based on a best-selling book, you’d think this would be a really good movie, but it’s far from it. The story is great, the acting is superb, but the whole film is really slow, to the point of being really boring. The book is anything but boring, I couldn’t put it down when it came out, so when I found out there was to be a movie version starring them (and I’m a huge fan of both), I was expecting it to be outstanding and I was extremely disappointed. Not only is this film very boring, there is very little detail about Cullen’s life growing up, like in the book. 

When you learn about Cullen’s crimes and how the other hospitals basically “covered them up,” it makes you question hospitals, health care, and the law then and now. Despite the slowness of the film, the plot is still bone chilling, especially learning that the horrific acts went on for years and years. This is a dark film and it has the feel of Ozark, which is another Netflix production and maybe it’s a Netflix thing that all new shows and movies and such from them have to look like this, which is a bit annoying and unoriginal and makes you wish someone would turn a light on. 

Eddie Redmayne who plays Charles Cullen, is very soft spoken, except for to Amy’s daughters, which is not like the real Charlie, who is very talkative to most everyone. Ed goes a little broader in the final scesn but, he’s earned it, as for what he has been in up to that part.  Jessica Chastain who plays Amy Loughren, is very shy, like the real Amy. Both Eddie and Jessica are great in their roles, but that may be the only awards this film wins, because I’ll be shocked if it wins Best Picture. 

The film doesn’t go into nearly as much detail about Cullen’s crimes, life, and upbringing, but it does go into a good ammount of detail during the trials. Nnamdi Asomugha does a fine job as Danny Baldwin, Kim Dickens is really good as Linda Garran, and Noah Emmerich does a fine job as Tim Braun. 

Had this film had more light and didn’t feel so Ozark-y or like an Investigative Discovery special or Dateline episode, it would have been more enjoyable. There’s not much gore or violence, which is odd for a crime film. You do see several sick people with scars and peeling skin and the interrogations scenes can be disturbing. There is lots of of cursing, but no drinking, smoking, or sex. Naked dead bodies are shown full frontal. 

Overall, not one of Netflix’s best films. Go for the book, and skip this one. 18+ 2/5 

Posted on by chloetalksfilm

Top 75 Films That Deal With Addiction and Recovery

  1. A Star is Born – 2018
  2. Notorious – 1946
  3. Drugstore Cowboy – 1989
  4. When a Man Loves a Woman – 1994
  5. Requiem for a Dream – 2000
  6. Sid & Nancy – 1986
  7. The Hustler – 1961
  8. The Panic in Needle Park – 1971
  9. Ray – 2004
  10. Leaving Las Vegas – 1995
  11. The Basketball Diaries – 1995
  12. Phantom Thread – 2017
  13. Shame – 2011
  14. Rocketman – 2019
  15. Uncut Gems – 2019
  16. Ben is Back – 2018
  17. The Man With the Golden Arm – 1955
  18. Clean & Sober – 1988
  19. Don Jon – 2013
  20. Half Nelson – 2006
  21. Flight – 2012
  22. Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot – 2018
  23. Traffic – 2000
  24. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – 1998
  25. Another Round – 2020
  26. Rachel Getting Married – 2008
  27. Beautiful Boy – 2018
  28. 6 Balloons – 2018
  29. Factotum – 2005
  30. Crazy Heart – 2009
  31. Rush – 1991
  32. Betty – 1992
  33. Trainspotting – 1996
  34. Gia – 1998
  35. Tender Mercies – 1983
  36. Barfly – 1987
  37. The Lost Weekend – 1945
  38. Days of Wine and Roses – 1962
  39. The Rose – 1979
  40. The Way Back – 2020
  41. Christiane F. – 1981
  42. Pay it Forward – 2000
  43. Basquiat – 1996
  44. Lenny – 1974
  45. The Sound of Metal – 2019
  46. Gridlock’d – 1997
  47. Judy – 2019
  48. Once Were Warriors – 1994
  49. Her Smell – 2018
  50. Nil By Mouth – 1997
  51. Clockers – 1995
  52. Down to the Bone – 2004
  53. Tarnation – 2003
  54. Jesus’ Son – 1999
  55. Devdas – 2002
  56. Midnight Cowboy – 1969
  57. Silver Linings Playbook – 2012
  58. Gone Baby Gone – 2007
  59. I’ll Cry Tomorrow – 1955
  60. The Gambler – 1974
  61. Bigger Than Life – 1956
  62. Easy Rider – 1969
  63. Julia – 2008
  64. Affliction – 1997
  65. Destroyer – 2018
  66. Long Day’s Journey into Night – 1962
  67. Drunken Angel – 1948
  68. Smashed – 2012
  69. A Star is Born – 1954
  70. A Star is Born – 1937
  71. I Walk the Line – 2005
  72. The Wolf of Wall Street – 2013
  73. My Left Foot – 1989
  74. Oslo, August 31st – 2011
  75. The Shining – 1980

Posted on by chloetalksfilm

Ticket to Paradise (2022)

Ticket to Paradise is a 2022 romantic comedy film directed by Ol Parker. The film stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts as a divorced couple who choose to destroy their daughter’s (Kaitlyn Dever) wedding. Billie Lourd, Maxime Bouttier, and Lucas Bravo also star. 

Two divorced parents, David and Georgia Cotton, travel to Bali after learning that their daughter, Lily, is planning to a man who is named Gede, whom she just met. They choose to work together to destroy the wedding to stop Lily from making the same mistake they made twenty-five years ago. 

This is definitely a chick-flick with all the cheesiness they ususally come with. Parts of this movie are laugh out funny, but most of the time, it is overly cheesy, awakward and predictable. You’d think with two award winning stars, this film would be really good, but it just wasn’t and makes me wonder if this is the kind of work they will being from now on. This one is really a disappointment. The story has been done to death. The best thing about this movie is the Bali scenery, the beautiful clothes, the few laugh out loud moments, and the romance. 

Roberts and Clooney who are normally fantastic actors, should be ashamed theat they chose to be in this film. I mean I’m sure they had a blast filming it, but with the unoriginal plot and basic rom-com humor, it seems like their award winning is behind them. Julia Roberts, who normally wows in her acting, was almost as bad as Kaitlyn Dever. George Clooney performed the best and was far funnier than any of the other actors and actresses. 

I found myself slightly bored at times and other times, rolling my eyes at the cheesy scenes. Being a hopeless romantic, I was hoping for a lot more romance and the most lovey-dovey parts, came towards and at the end. Even watching this movie with a lover, wouldn’t have made it more entertaining, it was cute at best. 

Kaitlyn Dever’s (Lily) and Maxime Bouttier’s (Gede) characters were underwritten, which makes no sense, as the film is suppose to about them as well and instead it focused on Clooney’s and Robert’s characters more. It should have been written to focus equally on all four. Also, Wren (Billie Lourd), Lily’s best friend is ignored by her for the majority of the film and that’s unfair, especially after Wren goes back to the U.S. 

Paul (Lucas Bravo) is a short-lived character in the movie. He is a much younger airplane pilot, from France, who is dating Georgia for most of the runtime. Bravo is not a very good actor and his character is sweet, but mostly he is just eye candy. The banter between David and Georgia is rather hilarious, so that does make the movie a little more engaging. 

Wren, who like Lily, were just looking for a vacation after graduating college. Neither expected to find love and the moment Lily did, it was like Wren wasn’t there anymore and you end up feeling sorry for her who spends the majority of her vaction drinking and flirting, but never hooks up. Lily is a bad friend. The only good thing about Lily is she’s cute and smart, because her personality is blah. 

This movie isn’t exactly terrible, it’s cute and funny at times, but mostly just another lackluster romantic comedy, whith nothing new to give. The location and handsome men are pretty much the best thing about this one.  13+ 2/5