texastay Reviews

Cinderella (I) (2015)

Made me fall in love with fairy tales again..

[10/10 · 23 March 2015]

I'm in my 20s and it's been a long time since i've actually enjoyed watching a fairytale. Cinderella helped me fall in love with fairy tales again. I actually think that now as an adult I can appreciate fairy tales more than when I was a kid.

What I love most about the movie is that it promotes kindness and courage, which may sound cliché but in the movie we see that kindness attracts the right kind of people, without kindness Cinderella would have never attracted the prince that first day in the forest, and she would have never attracted the fairy godmother.

If Cinderella had become bitter and angry like her step-mother and step-sisters, she would have not only made herself no better than them, but she would have pushed away the prince and the fairy godmother and her life probably would have stayed the same or even worse, she may have ended up just like her step-mother and step- sisters.

I never realized it before, but Cinderella is more of a story about kindness and forgiveness. Although it is a romantic story too, I think the romance element of the story is not the most important part of this story.

The Giver (2014)

Good message, however...

[2/10 · 14 November 2014]

This movie is essentially a sci-fi version of the 1998 movie "Pleasantville". Both movies have similar themes and the same core message. Watch Pleasantville instead, it tells the story much better.

The Giver takes itself too seriously and there are so many details in the movie that just do not add up.

Like for example, why does the role of "the giver" even exist when the rulers of the community obviously want to keep the truth a secret? Why not get rid of the role of the giver all together and not have to worry about the truth coming out???

If you were disappointed by this movie then PLEASE watch Pleasantville.

Giant (1956)

Used to be my favorite movie...

[6/10 · 13 November 2014]

The first time I ever watched this film I was about 17 years old and I loved the movie because being a Texan, I could relate to some of the themes in the movie.

Now that i'm in my 20s, I tried watching this movie again but I just couldn't finish it. The movie goes on way too long, there are so many things about it that just feel too unrealistic like Liz and Rock getting married after only knowing each other for barely one day, and Liz wanting to stay living in an ugly desert after having moved from the beautiful and lush green east coast, etc.

But what bothered me the most about watching this film was the hypocrisy of Liz's character. She judges the Texans for their unequal treatment of the Mexicans and yet whenever there is a scene in Liz's home back east the African-Americans are not treated equally to the whites, and yet this hypocrisy is never explored.

I think that this was a good movie for its time because it brings up the issues of racism, sexism, and poverty in a time when these issues were not discussed in movies, but now that it's the 21st century I feel this movie is dated and there are other movies out there that deal with these controversial issues much better.

Burt's Buzz (2013)

A One Sided Story

[5/10 · 13 November 2014]

Burt seems like an interesting person but I think there is a lot more to the Burts Bees story than this documentary lets on.

The other founder of Burts Bees, Roxanne does not appear in this documentary so the entire premise of this documentary feels very one sided and you feel like you're not getting the whole truth.

In the film they explain how Burt lost millions of dollars for signing a contract and leaving the company behind and the director seems like he wants you to feel sorry for Burt, but then we learn that Burt cheated on his girlfriend/business partner Roxanne with a much younger woman so it's hard to have sympathy for Burt.

The film doesn't really get into all the details about Burt and Roxanne's relationship but I feel like that would be a much more interesting story than just hearing the one sided version from Burt.