Tag: JennySlate

The Electric State

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Based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State follows Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown), an orphan, whose life hasn’t been the same since the war. She teams up with a robot and a smuggler named Keats (Chris Pratt) to find her long lost brother who she presumed was dead.

Directed by the Russo brothers and boasted to be the most expensive Netflix project ever made, one would expect this film to be slam dunk. Unfortunately that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. While there were some glimmers of hope at the beginning, my interest in the film grew thinner and thinner as the time went on and I just didn’t really see the point anymore.

Where the film excels is in its special effects and cinematography. The various robots that the audience meets throughout come with their own individual personalities thanks to the voice talents of Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan and Jenny Slate. The world building was pretty impressive as well with the vast lands of a post apocalyptic United States. As the film took place in the nineties, I also loved the throwback songs that were featured throughout as it really helped set the tone.

Brown is great in everything she does. I’ve grown to admire her as an actor over the years and she does what she can with the role. I can imagine that talking one on one to a robot for most of the film couldn’t have been easy. I can’t help but think that Pratt is being typecasted in yet another Peter Quill sort of role. I’m also not a fan of his in general so I found watching his scenes to be a bit annoying. Stanley Tucci is supposed to be a villain, but I didn’t find him menacing whatsoever.

Pacing was also an issue for me. It felt kind of all over the place and I’m wondering if maybe it had been made into a show instead of a film would it have fared better? The same can be said about the characters. Aside from Michelle, we really didn’t have much backstory on Keats or Tucci’s Ethan Skate which left them rather one-dimensional. I also couldn’t figure out who the target audience for the film was supposed to be.

While I may not have had high expectations for The Electric State, I was still hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. I guess this is something that I should just expect from Netflix going forward though I really wish they would give us more quality films.

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: ♥️♥️♥️

I Want You Back

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Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) are both dumped on the same weekend. Struggling to move on from their respective exes Anne (Gina Rodriguez) and Noah (Scott Eastwood), the two stumble across one another in the office building where they work. After much commiseration, they come up with a seemingly perfect plan: break up their exes’ new relationships and win them back.

An offbeat romantic comedy, I Want You Back has been getting lots of praise since its initial Friday release. While the storyline may come across as predictable, there is still a lot to enjoy here. You’ll want to root for Peter and Emma from the get go, not only to make their exes regret their choices, but to also get together themselves. The chemistry between Charlie Day and Jenny Slate was really charming to watch, not to mention the two are really funny individually.

The supporting cast in Rodriguez and Eastwood, as well as their new love interests Logan (Manny Jacinto) and Ginny (Clark Backo), all added that something extra. Ben McKenzie of The OC fame also had a cameo in this as a dad. Oh how times have changed. He’s still hot though. The intricacies of these characters was fun to watch and never provided a dull moment.

Though there is nothing particularly special about the plot, I Want You Back reminded me of something from the 90s or early 2000s. It kept me engaged throughout and apart from that abrupt ending, I couldn’t help but be swept up in the ambiance of it all.

Rating: ♥♥♥.5