Jump to content
  • entries
    697
  • comments
    2,107
  • views
    447,841

Entries in this blog

Pre-Oscar Thoughts

Well, the ceremony hasn't started yet, so I can share my opinions on what I hope wins, what I wish was nominated, and so forth.   First of all, I haven't seen Three Billboards or Lady Bird. I was really interested in the latter. The former didn't catch my attention so much, although a friend of mine has a strong interest in seeing it. In any case, from what's nominated, I've seen most of them, but from what I've heard of Lady Bird, if it's anything like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I'd kind

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

All the Money in the World Review

How can such a great thriller from such a great director have such ugly cinematography? Don't get me wrong, right away I noticed Ridley Scott's penchant for gorgeous master shots. He can capture the atmosphere of Italy quite well in a single take. Yet, this may well be the ugliest filter I've ever seen in a movie. Perhaps I could count 300 and The Immortals, which sear my eyes, but those are caricatures to begin with and were never meant to be taken seriously. This, though? Really, Ridley?

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

The Post Review

Spielberg can make an Oscar-worthy movie on a dime, it seems. While The Post doesn't reach the same level of prestige storytelling as some of his bests, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln, and others, this most certainly won't detract from from his portfolio. One day, I will have all of Spielberg's movies, and will watch them in a marathon, and this movie will hold up as one that belongs and contributes to the Spielberg Pantheon.   John Williams takes a back seat and only has one m

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Phantom Thread Review

Daniel Day-Lewis is Jordan Peterson possessed by Sheldon Cooper. Obsessed with designing his 50's era high fashion dresses for regal, important people, the only person whom he can stand to have around him is his own sister. He notices a waitress one day and asks her on a date that is inexplicably as sensual as possible, from beginning to...end. Well, not until end. The end turned very business-like. I'll be honest, this first act of the movie made me feel very uncomfortable, because I couldn't u

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Game Night Review

Best comedy I've seen in a while. Re-watchable. This movie doesn't waste a single beat, and every single detail is relevant. You never wonder, "Why did this have to happen?" You know, when you're a film critic and you watch a major blockbuster, and you think that a certain scene is pointless. Every part of the writing has a point in being there, some sort of payoff. I had a lot of fun guessing what might have been going on the whole time, and I'm satisfied with all of their twists.   Th

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Curling in PyeongChang

I have to give it a hand to the Edward Norton look-alike, Mr. Dad-Stache, Mr. Not-to-be-confused-with-the-creator-of-Superman, and John Landsteiner (I couldn't think of something creative for you, sorry). That epic final move in the eighth end was increadible. I fantasized that they would pull something like that off, but man, I thought I was only fantasizing. Congratulations to those guys. People all across my birthstate of Minnesota are celebrating right now. Was pretty good to see the wh

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Germany beat Canada....

Wow. I saw this come up on the news. My goodness. I thought that when the American women won gold, then Canadian men would go on to win gold, and we'd be even. But I guess that Canada is walking away without the either. It's so strange. And I honestly didn't expect Germany to beat Canada. It was just assumed that it would be Canada and Russia. And not only that, but Germany is going on to the gold medal game? Germany? They haven't won a medal in forty-two years. It was bronze, and so was their o

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdmyoMe4iHM   DON'T STOP BELIEVING!   24601

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

People are Ridiculous

By now, I'm sure many of you have heard of Elizabeth "Eddie the Eagle" Swaney. The "games" the system by "taking advantage" of the obscurity of a sport in order to get into the Olympics. There are so many myths that her detractors are believing, particularly that she didn't work at all, and that she had special privileges and resources in order to show up for qualifications that others didn't have. I can dispel those pretty easily. She's really into sports and works pretty hard, and she also

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Black Panther, in brief

Saw it earlier than I thought I would. It's pretty good. Its villain is better than the usual MCU villain, but that isn't saying much. It is far and away the thinking-est MCU movie, but again, that isn't saying much. The movie is visually distinct, but also doesn't have the most memorable action. Good story. I liked the side characters. Lots of great female characters. I liked the bald ladies, although they're so tough that I'm surprised that T'Challa was the only person who technically h

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Black Panther Pre-Review

So, uh, I was going to watch Black Panther, but the Olympics were on. Major fan that I am, I watched the Olympics instead. I will watch Black Panther next weekend instead, even though my review will be pretty late compared to everyone else's. And by everyone else, I mean everyone else. The opening numbers are at Avengers-level.   Also, my car ended up totaled due to slippery roads, and I'm facing some family drama, and I have college homework, and I'm working on an art project that's incredi

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Men's Free Skate Program

Thoughts on the various "bests" of the free skate (I didn't get to see the short program):   - Yuzuru Hanyu had the best outfit. And also the best fans, by far. I honestly can't complain that he won. - Javier Hernandez had the best underdog backstory. It's always remarkable when someone can inspire his country and perhaps popularize a sport. - Jin Boyang had the best selection of music. You simply can't go wrong with STAR WARS. Who knows? Maybe he'll popularize it in China and Episode IX w

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Canada, and Other Misconceptions

I think that I should clear this up, since I'm not sure how many people think that I'm serious when I make jokes about Canada.   First of all, I really like Canada. I've been there, and half my friends are Canadian. I have multiple Canadian pen-pals whom I exchange actual physical letters with, complete with illustrations on every page. If you asked me off the top of my head to list ways in which Canadian identity is unique and distinct, I could list perhaps ten. If you gave me time and a sheet

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

American Women's Hockey

I'd like to congratulate our amazing women for paving the way for the U.S. too win the gold in the Olympic tournament. We've literally never lost in this event, and it's amazing.   "Wait!" I can hear you say, "Isn't is Canada that's going on to the finals?"   Why yes, Jimmy. Canada indeed. A.K.A. America Junior. Canadians are like the Russians going under the Olympic banner; they're Americans who just use a different flag. Otherwise, they speak like Americans, shop in America, trade with Am

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Johnny Weir looks like...

Tom Hiddleston.   #CastTomAsJohnny #OhHaiMark   In other news, I watched The Post, 12 Strong, and All the Money in the World, and yet somehow haven't written reviews for any of them. I'll have to get those quick knocked out of the park before Black Panther comes out.   24601

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Uncle Tom's Cabin, chapter 5

Eliza informs Tom that he and her son, Harry, are about to be sold off to a particularly course slave trader. Eliza resolves to flee to Canada to find freedom and protect her boy, but Tom says that he will do the right thing and take the terrible news completely upon himself so as to spare the rest of the plantation any punishment. He says that it's the right thing to sacrifice himself like this, the godly thing, and then he collapses into his chair and starts crying. At which point, Harriet

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Uncle Tom's Cabin: chpts 1-3

I'm reading the book right now, and I bought two copies, one which I sent to a friend of mine. We decided that she and I would read about five chapters per week and talk about it with each other as we're reading it. I'm a little behind her, because I took the time to read a 42-page-long forward.   You know, I'm genuinely really liking it. The characters are immediately very strong, and I do find it well-written. It's interesting to think that for about a hundred years, mainstream America mis

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Shape of Water Review

Guillermo del Toro is basically kind of a demented Jim Henson. He likes telling fairytales, and he even tells them in a very fairytale sort of manner with the dreamy way that he directs, but he also adds a sinister side that makes you wonder whether or not he's disturbed. Overall, I'd say that The Shape of Water is a bit more feel-good than his average fairytale. In a nutshell, it's basically Beauty and the Beast but with the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and it has the same positive feelings

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Light Speed Kamikaze

Fun fact. If you shot a marshmallow at the Earth going at 99.99% the speed of light, it would hit with the force of about two thousand Hiroshimas, if I've done my math right. If you add a few more nines to the percentage, that power output goes up exponentially. Let's say that it wasn't at light spee So imagine how much more powerful a lightspeed kamikaze run for a ship normally weighing one ton would do, especially when they're going faster than light speed. If you had a big ship, it would dest

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

MEGA!

Ben Solo wants to Make Evil Great Again. And who knows, he might just transcend his grandfather. After all, he's more evil than his father ever was. Vader may have killed children, but it was when he was trying to save his pregnant wife. He also had genuine ideological differences with the Jedi and thought that they were evil. Whereas Ben not only complied with the destruction of a dozen or so highly populated planets, but he even killed his own family members (his father successfully, his

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Bad Reymance

A lot of people were shipping Rey and Finn. And to be honest, while they're both outsiders, I never thought that they had enough in common. She was a determined, heroic person and a believer in ideals (and the return of her parents). Finn was a coward and too pathetic. It's way too imbalanced to work out.   Rey and Poe makes a little more sense, since they have many more personality traits in common. If Rey is in fact a Skywalker, it would fit with family tradition to marry the best fighter

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Let the Past Die

Shid auld acquaintance for fergot and ne'er brought to mind? Shid auld acquaintance be fergot and auld lang syne?   Should we forget those times? Or perhaps we should never forget, when the past strengthens us, when the past reminds us of who we are and where we belong, of who our friends are. When we remember the good things, and not cry that it's over, but be happy that it happened.   Incidentally, I have a great memory with a friend of mine. Great memories. And this midnight, I thi

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

The Disaster Artist Review

The interesting thing about this film, if viewed as a prequel to The Room, is that it almost retroactively makes the original film good. Not in a "so bad it's good" way, but actually admirable. You understand what Tommy Wiseau wanted to do. The Room wasn't a pretentious film by a talented director who was patting himself on the back for his talent, which I really hate. It's a sincere attempt by someone who convey life the way that he sees it. Granted, Tommy's way of looking at life is incre

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

Forced Puns

Hey, I think that it was a huge mistake for Ben to become an enemy of his own father. You should never make a foe pa like that.   That spot where Rey stabbed Ben in the chest healed impectably fast.   The Resistance will Carrie on.   I'm a Kelly Marie Fan of the new character. She really Rose to the occasion.   Chewy has no money to eat expensive food and is a porg guy.   ♫♪ Poe Rey Shmi Finn Solo Tico ♫♪     24601

Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean

×
×
  • Create New...