A heavy film with a light touch.
In other words, a terrific debut.
Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal are both fantastic.
The real standout is, of course, Ed Oxenbould. It's one of the most quietly affecting performances by a young actor I've seen in any recent major film.
The final shot is a thing of heartbreaking beauty.
Roma is extraordinary in every sense of the word. It's much more than a great film; it is the most important artistic statement of a director with an already impressive oeuvre. It also, to paraphrase Roger Ebert, reminded me why (and encompasses everything I look for when) I go the movies.
Through his images (and amazing production design), Alfonso Cuarón lovingly evokes a specific time and place. But, unlike many directors who have made films inspired by their childhood years…
Cutesy, innocuous indie romance.
It's basically Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, except not as insightful or go-for-broke intrepid, and instead of depressed, neurotic hipsters as characters you have college-aged(?) kids who haven't really rid themselves of their own awkward high-school persona—which is pretty much the same thing now that I think about it.
An impeccable blockbuster.
It virtually has every ingredient of the ideal moviegoing experience: breathtaking action scenes, breakneck pacing, a solidly constructed lead character, wise use of comic relief and an actually involving plot.
It may actually be the first major-studio movie I've seen that has twists inside its twists inside its twists. (I mean, in a way, that's kind of a given since it's directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie.) But even if you can see some of them coming…
Easily the most offensive, artificial and just plain stupid film about grief Hollywood has ever spat out.
It is almost painful to watch such great actors trying to lift the mediocre source material, and ultimately failing to do so.
What's worse, the filmmakers behind this (namely, director David Frankel and screenwriter Allan Loeb) should be held accountable for using a subject so sensitive to cheaply manipulate audience's feelings.
Oh, and the ending?
That fucking did it.
Matthew Vaughn seems to understand what Luc Besson doesn't: being both stylish and entertaining doesn't mean you have to give up intelligence.
While sometimes it's hard to tell if the movie is a 'f--k you' to the spy genre or to the audience itself, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is ultra-violent, ultra-wild and ultra-explosive fun, or as they say in England: it's completely f---ing bonkers!
