Month: August 2024

Sing Sing

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Based on the real life Rehabilitation of the Arts at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison, the film follows Divine G (Colman Domingo), a man who was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, and the other incarcerated men who put on plays as a way to escape reality. When newcomer Clarence Maclin (as himself) warily joins the group, Divine steps in and helps teach him the craft.

While the film may be simple in its plot, there is so much more to it than meets the eye. For starters, the acting is phenomenal by everyone in the cast. Domingo is known for smashing just about every single role he’s been in and this one was no exception. What was so astounding to me, however, was the fact that most of the characters were actual prisoners who took part in the program and were playing versions of themselves. Coming to this realization really made the whole experience that much more authentic and gave the film a whole new meaning.

Because this is a character study above all else, the cinematography was often up close and personal. This made it feel like we were in the room with them, having these conversations and being privy to their inner most thoughts and demons, but not in a way that was intrusive. This combined with the juxtaposition of the prison shots brought the audience back to reality.

At the end of the day, these men are human just like everybody else. They made have made mistakes, but haven’t we all? When everything was taken from them, they found a way to keep going despite it all. It was so inspiring to see.

Sing Sing was thought-provoking, understated and sincere. It was also full of hope. Everything about it worked for me and I can’t wait to see how well it does in awards season.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Jackpot!

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After another Great Depression, The Grand Lottery is introduced to help boost the economy again. The only catch is that if you kill the winner before sundown, you can legally claim their prize. Katie (Awkwafina) is new to LA when she unknowingly becomes the newest lottery winner. She ends up joining forces with an amateur jackpot protector named Noel (Jon Cena) who vows to help Katie make it to the end of the day.

There was so much wrong with this film, I don’t even know where to start. The one positive I can think of is the cast. Awkwafina and Cena develop an enjoyable friendship that I did like watching. Simu Liu, who portrays Louis Lewis, another protector and rival of Cena’s Noel, is another great addition and it was fun having him and Awkwafina reunited after Shang Chi. I mustn’t forget about Sean William Scott who starred in a feature film again after so long which was a welcome treat. While the script lets them down, it’s easy to tell that they are doing what they can with the material they were given.

Unfortunately it’s pretty much all downhill after that. While the storyline held promise, despite the fact that it’s not something we haven’t seen before, it wasn’t executed well at all. I would appreciated more background as to why this lottery made people so crazy that they wanted to kill the winner to claim the prize for themselves. The action sequences were almost cartoonish after a while and became less and less exciting to watch.

I also didn’t think the film was funny. A couple of the jokes made me chuckle, but most of them fell flat. Very rarely am I a fan of slapstick comedy so I should have realized I would find problems here. It just didn’t work and after a while it all just started to feel like more of the same.

Overall, Jackpot! was a huge waste of time. Aside from the cast who were trying their best, there really were no redeeming qualities. I’m surprised that Paul Feig directed this as I usually like this work. With its runtime coming in at almost two hours, I couldn’t wait until it was over.

Rating: ♥️

It Ends With Us

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Colleen Hoover’s novel It Ends With Us took the world by storm when it first came out in 2016. Now it has been adapted for the screen. The story follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who moves to Boston in hopes of opening a flower shop after a traumatic childhood. She meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) and is swept up is his charm and good looks. But when Lily runs into her first love Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), her relationship with Ryle takes a turn for the worse.

There was a lot of backlash over the casting for the film. Many thought that the actors chosen were too old for the roles and they weren’t who the fans had previously envisioned. Although I read the book, I didn’t have anybody in mind so that didn’t bother me too much. I just decided to go into it as blindly as I could. I actually ended up being pleasantly surprised.

Lively gave a powerful performance as our protagonist. I’ve been a fan of hers for a while now and the way in which she portrayed each of Lily’s mannerisms and emotions was spot on. Sklenar worked perfectly as Atlas; his chemistry with Lively was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Jenny Slate, who played Lily’s best friend Allysa, and Hasan Minhaj who was Allysa’s husband provided some much needed comic relief. I was also very impressed with Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter who took on the roles of young Lily and Atlas. The former was almost like a carbon copy of Lively, it was insane. The only person I had a problem with was Baldoni as Ryle. He simply was not convincing enough for me.

The subject matter at play here is not for the faint hearted. Domestic violence is something that men and women deal with all the time and that question of whether the victim should stay or leave is not as black and white as everyone thinks it is. I thought the way in which this was depicted on screen was very tastefully done. It took some time for those who weren’t aware to figure out exactly what was going on and it really made you feel for every character in the situation.

I was one of those skeptical people who wasn’t sure if It Ends With Us should be made into a film. While I did enjoy the book on some level, I understand those people who didn’t. It was much better than I was expecting it to be and it certainly tugged on my heartstrings! Despite how heavy it got at times, I did love seeing Lily Bloom’s come to life as well as ogling all the fashion choices and digging the soundtrack.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️