Month: September 2023

Flora And Son

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Flora (Eve Hewson) is a single mother in Dublin who is struggling to raise her troublesome son Max (Orén Kinlan). In an attempt to find him a hobby, she rescues a guitar from a dumpster. But when Max is uninterested in the instrument, Flora decides to take up some lessons herself.

Hewson finally gets the leading role in a project and after seeing her in some hits over the last couple of years, she more than deserves it. Her performance as our lead was so endearing. You just want her to succeed in everything she does, no matter the amount of mistakes she’s made to get there. Starting guitar lessons is the first time she truly does something because she wants to and it’s so inspiring to see.

The relationship Hewson shared with Kinlan was that of a proper mother and son. All the bickering aside, their shared appreciation for music elevated the story and made for some really genuine scenes. Additionally, the friendship between Flora and Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a guitar teacher who lives in LA, was also one of the strongest aspects of the film. Though they never interact in person, the chemistry that seeps through their video calls is simply lovely. I thought it was a smart touch to have the two brought together in a dreamlike state during these moments.

When I learned that this was directed by John Carney, the same man who brought us Begin Again, everything made sense. Being my favorite movie of all time, I wasn’t surprised to completely fall in love with Flora and Son. The theme music played throughout was one again done in such a magical and beautiful way. This story was uplifting, touching and definitely gives you hope. That is truly the recipe of a great movie!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️.5

Bottoms

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Every now and then, a movie will come along and charm the socks off you. That is Bottoms.

PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are best friends who couldn’t be more unpopular if they tried. After accidentally injuring the star quarterback, they come up with an elaborate lie that they they are starting a self defense club for women. What nobody knows is this is all part of a larger plan to lose their virginities to two cheerleaders that they have massive crushes on.

The relatability and awkwardness of our main characters were so spot on. These are the types of girls that I went to high school with; unsure of who they are, but not without hopes and dreams for themselves and their futures. Seeing such a strong friendship flourish on screen was also refreshing and lovely. You could tell that they were each others’ ride or dies.

In the past, I’ve felt like the typical high school movie is overly raunchy and more often than not with a male perspective. This time around, the women were in the forefront. Women supporting women is so important. The sisterhood that developed between the fight club members was so genuine. People who would never mesh on paper such as offbeat Hazel (Ruby Cruz) and cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber) teamed up for the greater good and it was so empowering to watch.

On top of all this, the film was actually very funny. A lot of that was thanks to Nicholas Galitzine who was the big scene stealer. I’ve seen him in quite a few projects over the years, but never like this. Give this guy all comedic roles because he fucking smashed it.

Overall, Bottoms was the most fun I’ve had watching a film in a long time. There was so much to like about it, but at the end of the day it came down to how heartwarming it all was. I’m so glad I decided to give it a chance!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Dumb Money

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When the world was staying home during the pandemic, people used this time to improve their health while others opted to spend more time with family. Then there were those who picked up a new hobby – much like Keith Gill aka Roaring Kitty (Paul Dano) did when he started buying stock in GameStop. What started innocently enough soon turned into a revolution with everyone around the nation following in this regular guy’s footsteps.

I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about this story. My husband followed it and couldn’t wait to see this version of what went down, but I went into it almost blindly. What an eye opening experience! While the financial jargon went over my head a few times, I have to say that I became totally invested and learned a lot.

Biographies can be hard to pull off because one never knows how much or how little include of someone’s life. But I thought the pacing here was done so well; the tone was set right from the get go and as soon as things got going, it didn’t let up for one second. While the events took place over a specific period of time, it still felt cohesive and sequential.

The cast was filled with some big names such as Seth Rogan, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley and America Ferrara, though the standouts for me were Pete Davidson and Paul Dano. The former completely stole every single scene he was in and had me in stitches. He was the typical dipshit brother and he worked it so well. And then of course was Paul Dano. This is his film. He embodied Kitty so perfectly and was the driving force throughout. I’m starting to realize there isn’t anything this guy can’t do.

I went into Dumb Money expecting one thing and walked out of the cinema having experienced something completely different. I mean that in the best way possible! It was such a wild, educational ride with exceptional performances from everyone. A definite home run for me.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Love At First Sight

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Based on the novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, the film follows two people who meet by chance, fall in love over the span of a six hour flight, and the lengths they’ll go to to find each other again.

Hadley Sullivan (Haley Lu Richardson) is used to things going wrong in her life so when she misses her flight to London for her father’s wedding, she bites the bullet and gets herself a ticket for the next one out. Oliver Jones (Ben Hardy) is a mysterious British guy who she meets along the way. Sparks immediately fly, but when they’re separated after landing, can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

This rom com screamed cute. I liked how it was different than similar films of the same genre lately. Not only was the chemistry between Richardson and Hardy absolutely adorable, there was substance behind their characters that gave their relationship some extra oomph. Hadley is dealing with abandonment issues after her dad (Rob Delaney) leaves to teach at Oxford, while Oliver is struggling with the imminent loss of his mother (Sally Philips). Each had baggage and instead of keeping it to themselves, they wanted the other to know what was going on.

My favorite part of the whole thing was Jameela Jamil as the narrator. Right from the get go, it was like she was reading the audience a fairytale and as the movie went on, it was so fun to see her pop up in each scene. Acting as a Jiminey Cricket of sorts, she donned the hat of airplane passenger, flight attendant, customs officer, bus driver and bartender to lead Hadley to Oliver and back again. This was a fresh, interesting take that I felt really worked.

Taking place in the vibrant London, I loved attempting to count how many places I could recognize. And thanks to a soundtrack with some really catchy covers, Love At First Sight was an enjoyable enough watch for me. It may not be anything to write home about, but it’s definitely one of the better titles that Netflix has put out lately.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

A Haunting In Venice

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Now retired in Venice, our detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is invited to a seance on Halloween night by author and friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey). What starts off as innocent fun turns deadly when one of the guests is murdered.

I’ve heard some say that this is the best Agatha Christie adaption to date and while I see the appeal, I have to disagree. In some ways, I actually preferred Death On The Nile. The pacing this time around just seemed really off to me. It took ages to get to the nitty gritty of the story and as a result threw me off indefinitely.

Another gripe I had is that some characters didn’t feel entirely necessary. Jamie Dornan as Dr. Leslie Ferrier was extremely underused and kind of annoying whenever he was on screen and I didn’t see the point of Desdemona (Emma Laird) and Nicholas’s (Ali Khan) characters. I also would have appreciated more backstory on Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen) and his relationship with Alicia Drake (Rowan Robinson).

That being said, Branagh once again brings it as our favorite detective. He’s got some great moments and the moustache is more on point than ever before. Though I was at first hesitant about Fey’s casting, I thought she did a fine job and was a great match for Branagh. And of course, who can forget about Michelle Yeoh as medium Joyce Reynolds who is just an all around powerhouse? A special shoutout also goes to Jude Hill as Leopold who was delightful and stole every single one of his scenes.

With enough jump scares that had me watching from behind my hands and the beautiful backdrop, A Haunting In Venice is a fun enough romp perfect to kick off spooky season. Even if the film didn’t quite do it for me this time around, I would happily sit through another Poirot caper in the future.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️