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broehl
Reviews
Future '38 (2017)
Clever little film
It does a great job of capturing the pace, rhythm and snappy dialog of a genuine 1930s-era film, with plenty of satire and just good-old fashioned funny dialog.
Another reviewer compared it to Airplane, and I see what they mean. Both take a genre of film that has a very specific style, and honors that style while still doing a parody of it.
The short 75 minute runtime is similar to that of many films from the 1930s, back before two and a half hours become the norm. It also allows them to keep the pace up, which is a key element to this kind of film.
The twist near the end actually caught me by surprise!
All in all, a very enjoyable film. Might watch it again with friends, especially if they're movie buffs.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
I kept hoping that it would eventually make sense...
... but it doesn't.
It's basically just a series of increasingly strange and random events, followed by the closing credits.
Almost all the positive (or even mixed) reviews I've seen are from people who have read the book on which the film is based. Their knowledge of the plot (and in particular, the ending) allowed them to follow what was going on in the film. I'm happy for them.
But a film should stand alone -- I should be able to watch it from beginning to end and appreciate it for what it is, without having to already be familiar with the story before the opening credits roll.
Taken by itself, the film makes no sense. As I kept watching it, minute after excruciating minute, I was hoping that it would eventually come together and make my two hour and fifteen minute time investment pay off. The fact that it doesn't is hugely disappointing, and is the reason I'm spending time writing this review -- to warn other people of what to expect.
Yes, I've read the various reviews that explain what's actually going on. But there are so many loose ends and unexplained random characters and events that are left unresolved at the end of the film that it really does feel like just random nonsense thrown together in an effort to make the film seem deeper or more meaningful than it actually is.
The in-film references to abstract art are perhaps intended to give us a hint about this. But this film isn't abstract art -- it's more like a Rorschach ink blot, in which audiences are forced to invent interpretations for themselves in order to create meaning where none exists.