tofualicia Reviews

The Irishman (2019)

Brilliant Work.

[9/10 · 13 February 2020]

Marty never fails to disappoint. For someone who has the attention span of a fish, 3.5 hours of this epic went by so fast. Scorsese has the kind of magic that never leaves the viewer bored.

I can't pick my favourite. De Niro, Al Pacino and Pesci were amazing. I haven't witnessed such a good performance by all of the main cast in a long time. Every scene they were in was a delight to spectate. They brought in so much life to the characters which pulled on my heartstrings. The Irishman is one of its kind.

Easily one of the best films in 2019.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

A waste of great visuals.

[3/10 · 11 February 2020]

Making myself watch films that grab my attention even if I know they're not exactly "kino".

Man, the writing in this was horrible to sit through. It was so lazy. Felt like it was targeted towards a younger audience, except the SFX for the creatures were exceptionally good. What a shame it was wasted on such a bland film.

The Souvenir (2019)

Mixed Feelings

[7/10 · 8 January 2020]

Being in love has this cunning way of tricking your brain into seeing no flaw in the person you're fixated upon. When people around you scream "dump him!", you turn a blind eye and convince yourself that the person you love is not the monster they say he is. The person you love will always be the most charming and kind, even when they're not.

The Souvenir tells a story about a privileged film student who involves herself in an intense relationship with a shady older man, who is full of charisma.

I can definitely see why this film is getting mixed ratings. The pacing was rather slow and the story was under-dramatized. I see a lot of reviewers really disliking this film due to the unbearable toxic romance between the two characters. I mean, I can somewhat agree. Seriously, just break up already! But sometimes relationships are just... like that. People often stay in toxic situations even if they can clearly see the red flags. People cling on to the slightest glisten of hope when everything is falling apart. As they say, it really... do be like that.

I loved the cinematic direction they took in this film. I felt like I was looking into the memories of the protagonist. The faded dream-like colour scheme really pulls the film together. I was really lured into the soft pastel universe that was created on screen. Did I mention how much I loved the cinematics?

What I couldn't see past was how unlikeable Julie and Anthony are. Julie is a privileged film student that tries really hard to be interesting, and Anthony is this pretentious, manipulative douchebag of a person. I just can't seem to find any redeeming qualities in the characters, which makes it hard for me to fully connect with this story. But maybe this film wasn't made for the viewer to be connected to any of the characters. Maybe this film was made to be consumed as what it is. A naive girl falling in love with a secretive older man.

Nevertheless, The Souvenir really made me sit and ponder about the film a lot. I'm still processing the emotions I've felt throughout the film and that should be enough for me to give it a good enough rating. I just wish it could've resonated with me in a stronger way.

Hustlers (2019)

Overrated.

[4/10 · 13 December 2019]

Just because a movie has confident women in it doesn't make it a "yaaas queen" feminist movie. The crime they committed was awful and shouldn't be glorified in any way.

Way over-hyped, but I can't say I wasn't slightly entertained.

One Child Nation (2019)

Could've been more informative.

[13 December 2019]

This was an extremely difficult watch. An awful time in history which I was barely aware of since I've grown up with the idea that the policy was a "normal" regulation. Would've loved it if they did more coverage on the political spectrum of One-Child Policy. Well, time to do my own research.

Marriage Story (2019)

Immersive.

[8/10 · 13 December 2019]

This film really showed me the exhausting process of a divorce. A side I've never seen because I'm one of the lucky ones that weren't a product of a failed marriage. I never fathomed how hard it is to leave your partner but also maintain a good enough relationship for your child. To be completely selfish yet selfless at the same time. Marriage Story has opened my eyes to what 50% of marriages go through.

The pacing was amazing. I loved the editing style and the flow of the story. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson were very convincing and absolutely killed their roles. Fantastic screenplay. There were multiple scenes where I really felt so deep in my soul it gave me shivers. Such a raw performance. I haven't stopped looping the scene of Adam Driver singing "Being Alive" because it was so goddamn beautiful.

If I were to nitpick and find a weakness in this film, I would have to say it was dialogue-heavy and lacked quiet scenes. There wasn't much time for the audience to digest the powerful scenes. Other than that, it was an amazing film that lived up to its high rating. Although I've watched a few films after watching this at 3 am in my bed, I can't stop thinking about it. I guess film twitter really did hype up a great film.