57/100
A tad bit too reliant on special effects and ornamental pleasures to the point that the simple, timeless story gets a bit lost in the end; but A Christmas Carol is a mostly satisfying adaptation of Dickens' legendary holiday tale. Carrey and Oldman gives very fine performances as leads in this, and there's some neat artistic representations of some of the more abstract, undefined elements to this story, but again at times it feels like a bit much. It's…
12/100
Indefensibly stupid and hardly any fun; Transformers: The Last Knight is the kind of movie many will apologize for, though it's certainly not worth the discourse it inspires. Sure, there's some epic imagery, a couple truly exciting moments where Bay shines as an action aficionado and the finale, despite severely faulty narrative foundations, felt extremely satisfying; suitably epic considering the stakes involved. The new characters are alright. I was a little uncomfortable to discover the young girl early on…
I've been seeing lots of "controversy" over the supposed value of La La Land vs something like Moonlight, usually insinuating that La La Land's comparative levity somehow renders it lesser. My quick two cents would that be that yes, Moonlight is a magnificent portrait of masculinity in 2017's world, with broad, valuable insights on how race, sexual preference (*orientation*) and class all influence and inform one's identity. Basically a vehicle and showcase for compassion and empathy in a world seemingly…
In light of recent events, I'm reminded of Fermi's paradox. A cynical and unsettling notion which suggests the reason we've never been contacted by extraterrestrial intelligent life is that the no civilization has survived long enough to innovate to that level. Or, in simpler terms, that the fundamental nature of intelligent life is to ultimately destroy itself. As tech and sciences progress further and further, what matters is how we allocate that technology; what leaders we elect to control it…
