Late Night is definitely product of our time, where more and more we are getting comedies, that address harsh reality and injustice of today. This movie (or more precisely, its main star and screenwriter, Mindy Kaling) focused on late night setting (which is understandable, as she used to be an intern for Conan O’Brien, so she knows this environment really well) and the representation (or lack thereof) of women, and people of colour and how hard it is to get a gig like this (still?).

The movie definitely let’s you know that straightaway and isn’t shy about it, and I reckon that’s why this movie is rated fairly low on IMDb (currently sitting on 6.5/10 with 23.500+ votes) as just a mere mention of things like that irks some people the wrong way. I think this movie could’ve easily been a preachy, way to “woke” of a movie to be enjoyable, but, because of all the talent involved and the clever screenplay by Mindy, it’s not that at all. It’s actually the very opposite of that.

Late Night is a smart movie about a few real issues (the movie mainly touches on topics such as race, sex, age, you know, the to-go topics for the most awkward dinner conversation with your elderly relatives, you will ever have) but it never goes overboard with it, meaning we still are watching a comedy, where the one and only Emma Thompson proves that she’s still a force to be reckon with. Her relationship with Mindy felt real, and the two of them had a really good chemistry together. Mindy herself was great, I thought she did really well, especially playing “against” an icon such as Emma, but she held her own.

My main and practically only issue with this movie was (surprisingly) with the script, where event though it was clever, I felt it wasn’t clever enough. Let me explain…

Beware, SPOILERS are coming!

The first thing about Late Night is that it’s about Mindy’s character mainly, and we are supposed to be rooting for her, as she’s fighting everybody and works her way up, BUT… it’s not as much because of her own skills/abilities, but because the choices are either made for her (like her being hired had nothing to do with her skills at all) and she’s dealing with that, or she’s bad at her job, until her co-worker points her to the right direction, tells her what she should try, so she does it and of course she succeeds. There is a point, almost one hour into the movie, where she makes a decision to attend the charity stand-up thing, she’s been talking about for most of the movie, even though Emma Thompson’s character tells her she’ll be fired, if she goes. And at that moment, I’ve realised that might be her first actual decision without anybody else giving her direction, or where some sort of coincidence happened. All I am trying to say is Mindy Kaling is clever, likeable and adorable, so of course we all want her to succeed in this movie, but it shouldn’t take her (especially if she’s the main character) almost an hour before she takes her destiny into her own hands.

The only other thing I’d say about the script is, I honestly wished it would’ve followed some nontraditional ways, as you can safely predict what happens next. For a normal, “switch your brain off” comedy, that’s not a problem, but for a comedy that’s a smart, bitty (that’s 100% a word!) and wants to address several (important) issues, you’d think they would didn’t feel the need for the fairy tale happy ending, or they would at least threw something into this mix, that wasn’t so predictable. I expected bit more, story wise, to be perfectly honest.

But other than those two points, I had a blast and Late Night is a delightful, smart comedy, that’s definitely worth seeing. I don’t think you will have a bad time with these two amazing actresses.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

First of all, I hope you’ll forgive me for that bad pun, but it was there, so I had to take it. Second of all, there is a reason behind that pun, as The Lovebirds works in a unison, where Kumail Nanjiani makes the movie funny, but Issa Rae is the main star, who makes this the surprise comedy of this year (so far) for me, and elevates it.

The Lovebirds starts as almost a drama about a couple, who we see fall in love, just to watch them couple of minutes later breaking up. I, as almost always, had no idea what this movie was about, so when the movie turned into a murder mystery, I was perplexed and slightly annoyed I have to say, as I was interested in their relationship and wouldn’t be opposed exploring it in a proper, heavy drama.

That obviously didn’t happen, as this movie is mainly a comedy, but along the way we do get to explore them and their relationship carefully and see, what’s happened between them, so my mild annoyance turned into me actually enjoying the ride. Plenty of jokes landed, the story might have been slightly over the top at times, sure, but I have found myself really entertained. I need to admit, until now, I wasn’t really familiar with Issa Rae at all. But after this, I definitely need to look into her filmography, as she’s the one who (at least for me) is the main star of the movie, and that’s difficult, as Kumail is great in this too! Not only he’s funny, but you understand his character really well and in some more dramatic scenes I thought he’s doing something, we don’t see from him as much. If he’s the heart of the movie, Issa would definitely be the soul of it, as if her character didn’t work, the movie would’ve turned into paint-by-numbers comedy, that wouldn’t stand out at all.

I honestly believe it’s mainly because of Issa, and the mix of charm, comedic talent and charisma she brings into this, the movie works and is memorable, as she’s a breath of a fresh air, something we don’t get to see (at least in a mainstream movie) every day. I do hope this will be her “coming out” party, as I understand she’s already famous, but I wish this movie will break her through to the mainstream audience, so the next time they will see her, they would know her name. I for one will remember that name, as I will be actively looking for it.

If you want to give this movie a chance, do it, but try to accept the movie on its own terms. The reason I am saying that is this movie currently sits on IMDb with 6.0/10, which is incredibly low. Either my standards are going down (which is totally possible) or people go into this expecting something else and have a problem with what’s actually on the screen. That’s something I’ll never understand, especially when comes to this movie, as it knows, what it is and it doesn’t pretend to be something else. It’s just a slightly crazy comedy, with some truths about relationships and one really insane night. Nothing more, nothing less. And that’s what I love about this film, it never feels out of place. On future viewings, my rating will probably be going even higher, as I have really enjoyed myself. Definitely a pleasant surprise.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

The sequel literally nobody asked for, for a movie, that was slightly better than everybody expected, came… and went, as I didn’t really see anybody talking about it, to be honest. And yet, it made almost half a billion dollars, so somebody did see it. Go reckon…

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is another Disney retelling an old story with darker twist to it, except this time, it’s a sequel to a darker retelling of an old story, where especially the first half of this movie is really dark. And I am not talking about the material, I mean it’s so dark most of the time you can’t really see what’s happening on the screen, as most of the action takes place at night! Whoever is making these choices, as plenty of movie seem to “share” this problem, can that person just… don’t do that anymore? Thanks.

But the second half improves the setting (mostly day) and surprisingly, the movie became watchable, and even entertaining. Most of it was due to watching Angelina Jolie, as I do miss seeing her on the big screen and I wish she would act bit more. I have never understood the hate she sometimes would get, I do think she’s a great actress, when given opportunity (see movies like Gia, Girl, Interrupted or Changeling) and she’s obviously not bad to look at either.

Other than that, this movie won’t really surprise you, as we are given pretty much the same as last time, the story follows a clear path, where we know from the get-go who’s bad, who’s good and that Maleficent is still in between and her daughter (played by charming Elle Fanning) is what keeps her grounded. I did like their dynamic and scenes, just wish they would have more of them. But given the fact where they went with the story, I feel like there was a room for improvement, I am not going to spoil it here, but for me, the villain didn’t have to tip their hand so soon, it would have been a pretty cool reveal to discover what actually happened and who’s responsible. And I know, it’s Disney, it’s a fairy tale sequel, so I can’t judge it as harshly, but that could have been a really decent reveal.

Overall, this movie is almost exact definition of the word “average”, but average by Disney’s standards. That means, you can clearly see how much money they threw into it, the movie looks good, the special effects were alright, and the talent involved was great. But it’s only because of Angelina Jolie and her dominating this role, I’m slightly over-rating this movie. If it wasn’t for her, this could have been a dictionary definition for the expression “an average movie”.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

After almost 2 years hearing about how amazing this movie is, I have finally find myself in a mood for a good horror movie, so the choice was obvious. And because of everything I’ve heard about it, I was a bit nervous to watch it, as my expectations were… lets’ say not low. But within the first 15 minutes, this movie showed me there is nothing to be afraid of… I mean, there is a plenty to be afraid of… I mean, it showed me I am in for a great movie.

A Quiet Place seems like a miracle of a film. It’s not part of any franchise (or at least it wasn’t), it’s relying on its audience to be quiet to actually enjoy it, there is minimum of dialogue, and yet, against all odds, it works perfectly. The main idea behind it might not be that original, but it’s executed so well and so precisely, it just works.

Let’s talk about the main actors – Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are to me the Hollywood’s “power couple” nobody really talks about, but it seems like when they collaborate, they are a force to be reckon with. It’s extraordinary, how much both of them can give us (performance wise) without almost any dialogue. But I can’t forget about the child actors, who, let’s face it, most of the time, are not the greatest actors. But this movie hit the jackpot somehow, as all of them were great, believable and knew exactly what they need to deliver.

Beware, SPOILERS are COMING!

I can’t help but think Bryan Woods and Scott Beck (the story writers) must be fans of one of the best game of the last decade, The Last of Us. Honestly, think about it, there are plenty of similarities:

• Monsters that are blind, but their hearing is excellent, so you need to be quiet, as they are really dangerous and hard to kill. The monsters head’s even look like Clicker’s head (monsters from The Last of Us, see for yourself below).

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPuCtBbidrE/UvCf4IZRPZI/AAAAAAAAClk/sWrOT-_gm5U/s1600/Riverspoons_Clickers_Last_of_Us_05.jpg

• There is a dead child within first 20 minutes of the movie, just to show you this ain’t your typical horror movie.
• The overall apocalyptic feel, where certain scenes could’ve been taken from the actual game and put into this movie and nobody would’ve noticed anything.

Just to be clear, I am not accusing the writers of anything, as matter of fact, I applaud them. There is a saying in Hollywood that goes along the lines of “if you have to steal, steal from the very best” and whether Bryan and Scott have taken inspiration from this particular game, I don’t know. But even if they did, I see no problem with that. Plenty of movies, TV shows, games are just copies of copies, with new, or different twist to the story or characters, and plenty of them are great because of it. Let me just say, if creative people didn’t “borrow” ideas from other creative people, there wouldn’t be any art, as there is always an inspiration from somewhere. And as long as you can give it your own unique twist, people will forgive you.

A Quiet Place also doesn’t pull any punches and does things you wouldn’t expect (at least I didn’t) – the kid dying at the beginning I could kind of see, but John Krasinski’s character dying while sacrificing himself AND making amends with his daughter, who believes she’s responsible for her brother’s death, is a strong scene. And the very end, with Emily Blunt’s character learning that for the very first time, they might just have an upper hand on these monsters, and her just silently looking at her daughter, while reloading a shotgun, with the face that says “bring it!”… let’s just say that last scene definitely swayed me to give this the highest rating. I honestly didn’t expect to love this movie as much as I have.

Side note: As much as I enjoyed myself, I am still not convinced that we need a sequel, even though the ending is kind of asking for it. But John Krasinski pulled off a miracle once. Let’s see (hopefully sooner, rather than later, you hear me, COVID-19?) whether A Quiet Place Part II will be a worthy sequel, or whether it dies, quietly…

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

As most people, I came in pretty late to the “Breaking Bad is actually a great TV show you should watch ASAP” party (I have started a month before the second half of season five aired and actually managed to finish it before it premiered) and as most people, I loved the show, and I thought they absolute nailed the ending in the most satisfactory way.

That’s why I was so torn, when this movie was announced. On one hand, I wanted to go back to that world, and it was with the original cast + Vince Gilligan, who has already pulled it off once with Better Call Saul (my review here) so, why not? But on the other hand, do we want to open something that was once (not that long ago) closed with such a precision, and risking undermining that pretty much perfect ending? Plus, if you think a movie about what happened to Jesse right after the finale of Breaking Bad will be full of happiness and rainbows, you haven’t been paying attention to the TV show and his character, mainly last couple of episodes of the final season (not going to spoil anything just yet, but the scene with the wood… just thinking about it brings back painful memories).

I have decided that I’d watch it, as I the curiosity got the better of me and I do trust Vince a lot, so…

Beware, SPOILERS (for this film and Breaking Bad) are COMING!

I liked it. But I didn’t love it. Here’s the thing – you can’t improve on perfection, and Vince knew that, that’s why we are truly focused on events AFTER the devastating finale, rather than referencing it in any major way. And yet again, Vince has some sort of third eye for camera shots, as he knows how to stage those angles/views that most of them standout (the highlight for me was Jesse in the apartment, looking for the money).

El Camino is great when comes to tension, camera work, performances, (shout out to Robert Forster, as this was one of his last acting gigs before he passed away), name anything technical, and this movie has got it. But halfway through the film, I felt like something is missing. And I’m not as interested in this movie as I should be. Then it hit me. I can’t knock this movie, as it’s not a bad movie by any means. But it’s the very definition of “what’s the point”?

Let me explain – by showing us what happens to Jesse right after, you might satisfy some fans by giving them definitive answer to that question, but you do undermine the ending of the show just a bit, as that means we, as audience, can’t feel what we felt for Jesse’s character next time we are re-watching the show. Jesse’s final scene, where he’s driving away from the place he’d been captured for some time, cry laughing, first with happiness and then with pain, was so haunting, because you as a viewer could feel what he’s feeling, then make up your own story about what happens to this character. And let’s face it, if you are a realist, it won’t be pretty, as he’s a broken man and it will take some time for him to heal. Or maybe he never will… I didn’t need to see him arriving to Alaska, still kind of a broken man, with no actual “resolution”. Nothing is truly behind him, on the opposite, running (which you could argue was the “simplest” thing) is over and he needs to face to his worst demons now and start healing.

El Camino is also story of two halves, where the first one is pure brilliance, and the second is where the fan service truly kicks in (showing scenes with Krysten Ritter and Bryan Cranston) where mainly the one with Bryan felt a bit forced, where it seemed like Vince was almost bullied into having Walt in somehow, as “WE NEED TO PLEASE THE FANS, VINCE, LISTEN!”

But then again, that’s my only criticism of the movie – it only “fails”, because the TV show was as brilliant as it was. To me, that’s an achievement on its own. And let’s face it, in a different timeline, in some sort of bizarre parallel universe, this movie would’ve been much, much worse. And we can’t forget that. If you think about it, this movie shouldn’t have worked as much as it works and yet, somehow it does. Vince is playing 5D chess with everyone and I honestly can’t wait for what he does next.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke