That's right, I'm back with another installment of Looking Back at the Films of 2019. And today's movies are Midsommar, Crawl, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Let's get reviewing.
Why Didn't I See Midsommar?
The reason I didn't see Midsommar is because there was no showings in my area. Which I was bummed because when reviews starting coming out and the people I follow on Twitter were giving their thoughts it really felt like I missed out on something special.
What is Midsommar?
Midsommar is a folk horror movie. The film is produced by Square Beg and B-Reel Films and distributed by A24. Midsommar was written and directed by Ari Aster. The story is a group of people travel to Sweden for a midsummer celebration that only happens once every 90 years. Everything seems to start out fine but then they soon discover that this celebration isn't what it seems to be.
My Thoughts
The Good: One thing I will give the movie credit for is it has a very unsettling feeling to it. Everything about the movie with the shots and the setting, everything really makes your skin crawl and your nerves twitch. Another thing that the movie did a good job was our main character Dani going through a disturbing change in character. We really see her turn into something that's the complete opposite of what she was in the beginning of the movie and not in a good way. The final thing I give the Midsommar credit for is the cult in this movie are really good villains. Not only because that do some violent things but because they also took advantage of Dani emotional/mental state, the reason I give praise to that is because it's a very realistic thing a cult would do, which makes those unsettling moments even more impactful.
The Bad: Now despite praise there are TWO big things that really brought the movie down for me and one those were our characters are so stupid! During the first couple of days with the cult they see two elders kill themselves by jumping off a cliff onto a boulder, one of which got their head bashed in with a huge mallet and then after one BS excuse from the members, THEY STILL STAY! Nobody would have stayed after that, explanation from one of the cultist or not. And then when people start disappearing...they still stay! I'll give Dani a slide because she's going through somethings but everybody else is just an idiot. Another aspect of Midsommar that makes the quality drop is that it's pretentious and long-winded. It's long-winded because there are moments that felt like they went on for way too long. And what made it pretentious was there were shots and odd stuff with the editing where it felt like it was the director trying to impress us or make things have more importance to it than it actually has.
The Meh: The okay portion of the movie is the acting. Florence Pugh's performance is amazing. She really nails it with the character of Dani. Everyone else felt just good. Nothing that's going to blown me out of the water just good.
Final Verdict: Bad
Why Didn't I See Crawl?
My reason is the same Midsommar, wasn't any showings. Only this one really bummed me out because it was produced by Sam Raimi. I love his body of work, from his work on the Evil Dead series to his more famous Spider-Man trilogy. And Drag Me to Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful were also fun watches.
What is Crawl?
Crawl is a disaster horror film. The movie is produced by Raimi Productions and Fire Axe Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Crawl was written by Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen and directed by Alexandre Aja. The story is after a devastating Category 5 hurricane hits a Florida, Haley and her father Dave go to a crawl space to wait for rescue. However unfortunately for them some very hungry alligators have also come to their house.
My Thoughts
The Good: Now I was probably in the majority when I viewed this as a Jaws rip-off, so I was expecting something boring because of that, but no. This movie had a really fun and exciting vibe to it. Speaking of which and this is another credit to the movie, I was also surprised how this movie had a lot of suspense to it. I was expecting a jump scarefest and while there are quite a bit in there for the most part Crawl had some actually nail baiting scenes in it. The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is it's runtime is short and sweet. Once again going back to me thinking this was going to be a Jaws knockoff I was expecting it to be unnecessarily long but no it goes by really quick, I was surprised by the time I was done watching it it was only 10:00pm. So thank you to the filmmakers for making this a film with a short and yet still effective runtime.
The Bad: I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
The Meh: One grey area with Crawl is the CGI. It's noticable but at the same time the alligators look real enough, although I do admit it really shines with how the storm clouds looked. That was cool. Another passable thing with the film is character development. It's pretty good but I did feel as though there were moments where it felt like we've been here before.
Final Verdict: Good
Why Didn't I See Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Now this is going to be embarrassing but the general reason why I didn't see this movie was...because...I...forgot. Yes, I somehow forgot about a Quentin Tarantino movie! I am very ashamed okay (🤣)!
What is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (or as it's stylized Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood) is a comedy-drama. The movie is produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The story is it's 1969 Los Angeles and film star Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff Booth are trying to navigate through a change that's coming to the film industry. Also during this time in their lives, Cliff meets an interesting woman who has a connection to the Manson family.
My Thoughts
The Good: One thing that made Once Upon a Time in Hollywood a great movie is the performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie. All three of them we're really great in this, but mostly DiCaprio and Pitt. They really worked well off each other and each scene with them whether they're together or alone was amazing. What also made the movie a blast was the cinematography. It was handled greatly and was gorgeous. Another piece of the film I loved the overall design. From clothing to whatever the characters are watching to the cars to how the sets looked, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood really makes you believe that we're back in the 1960s. I also enjoyed the humor. There are a lot of good jokes in this, I think my favorite might be when Rick Dalton was having a meltdown because he couldn't remember his lines. That was pretty funny. The final thing I'll praise the film for is Rick and Cliff's story, it really was an interesting tale about how they're both going through this change in their lives differently. Rick still wants to be the leading man but this time he really has to fight for it and it also makes him sad because now he feels like he's not as good as he once was. Cliff on the other hand has come to terms with it. Because to him and as he said "he didn't have much of a career to talk about." So it was very interesting to how the two were dealing with this problem in two different ways.
The Bad: I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.
The Meh: Now there is one portion of the movie that kind of slows down and drags, it bothered me but not as much as I think it would looking back on it. So it can almost be forgiven.
Final Verdict: Great
Alright, that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, Jul 30th for my Look Back at review for season one of The Umbrella Academy. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.
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