AmericaFerrara – Credits Rolling

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: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Ever since I heard they were doing a Barbie movie, my excitement went through the roof. I waited and waited and while it seemed everyone in the world was able to watch this movie before me, my time finally came last night. And it was everything I had hoped it would be and more.

In Barbieland, the women are in charge. There’s President Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Nobel Prize Winning Barbie. And then there’s stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) who is perfectly content with her day to day life. But when she starts malfunctioning, she starts to question why things are the way that they are. The only way to fix herself is to make the journey to the Real World to find the girl who plays with her. Along with Ken (Ryan Gosling), this will be a trip that changes not only Barbies forever, but Kens too.

There is simply not enough words in the English vocabulary to describe just how much this film means to me. It was so brilliantly done – not that I ever had a doubt with Greta Gerwig at the helm – but I’m still so pleased that it surpassed my expectations. Usually when a film is this hyped up, it can never be that good. But it was!

Robbie is absolutely perfect as our lead. Not only is she stunning, she gives a career best performance as her character starts feeling emotions she never did before. I also don’t recall her acting in such a comedic role before and I liked it! The big scene stealer here though was Gosling as Ken. All those rumours about him being tipped for an Oscar better be true because he was phenomenal. There were equal parts silly and hilarious mixed with a kind of redemption that just fit. I could go on and on about the others in this cast, but the list would be endless. So many stars in one movie is usually a mess, but that wasn’t the case here.

I want to live in Barbieland. The pastel colors contrasting with the darker tones of the Real World was well thought out, though I’d choose the former any day. And I want every single outfit that Robbie wore. Combined with a steller soundtrack, on the surface the film seemed like it would be one thing, but once the dust settled and it got down to the nitty gritty, the moral of the story became a lot more important than I ever thought possible. I went from laughing my head off one minute to crying the next.

Barbie was smart, funny, thought provoking and filled with girl power. With Robbie and Gosling leading the pack, I never had any doubts as to how amazing it would be. I can’t wait own it and watch it a million times on repeat. To Greta Gerwig: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now onto Oppenheimer!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️