maddyschiappa Reviews

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

The Overt Feminism is both Insulting and Cringe

[6/10 · 9 September 2022]

I love the contrast of humor with drama. Bale gave an amazing performance and his story was interesting and touching. The visual effects were also amazing and the worlds they continue to create are beautiful.

(The below feelings are my personal ones and personal review of this film and I apologize in advance If you really enjoyed those parts, they just aren't for me.)

But as a female who is also a scientist, I am insulted. The feeling of forced feminism means they are either poor at writing female characters or they are only doing it to check some boxes, lacking genuineness and realness.

Female characters should not feel so forced. For me personally, the whole idea should be to normalize not emphasize. What happened to the Gemora of female characters....

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

I don't get the bad reviews, loved every minute!

[10/10 · 20 June 2022]

I get that people are frustrated about revisiting old characters, but that's why I loved it. I grew up looking up to these amazing characters and having them be a part of what's new and to show how far the world (this fictional universe where Dinosaurs exist) has gone since the first park is fun to see.

I loved that they had a new plot line that added back some different science fiction elements. They aren't terribly new plots, but they aren't necessarily the traditional Jurassic park plots. I am pretty sure they took inspiration from Christons other book Prey (this is a wild leap because I haven't read the book just heard the synopsis).

They had action, they had humor, they had moral dilemma, they had philosophy, they had romance, they had familial love, they had science fiction and most importantly, they had loads and loads of dinosaurs. They even had updated ones using the most recent knowledge from paleontology.

I get it was a lot of "fanporn" so some people are upset, but that's why I am giving it a good review. I LOVED it and it wasn't so overwhelming that it made the story horrible (like Force Awakens).

I hope it gets some more good reviews!

Workin' Moms (2017–2023)

Humorous But Real

[9/10 · 30 May 2022]

I love this show! It brings up real, modern issues women may go through with humorous spins to make it less brutal and more positive. I am not a mother yet and even though all the women struggle and go through hell, it makes me look forward to it one day (hopefully).

Inside Job (2021–2022)

The First Time I felt represented

[10/10 · 26 May 2022]

I have never felt so closely represented by a character (Regan). Don't get me wrong, there are loads of differences. But the way hugging and social interactions are represented was the first time I felt understood in a show. There was no shaming of it, just humor, fun and understanding. Even Brett was great. It was a positive spin on the realistic nature of how people desperately want to be liked and that's OK. Thank you so much for making this!

Ozark (2017–2022)

And it ends like that?!

[8/10 · 17 May 2022]

I enjoyed the entire journey. I watched so many things go wrong and so many things go right. And THAT'S how you end the season finale of all seasons?! I'm so disappointed.

Still give it a good rating though cause it's about the journey not the destination. But the destination was incredibly disappointing. I will just go lie down and stare at the ceiling in a state of depression now.

The Woman in the House (2022)

Too Similar to Woman in the Window and Comically bad acting

[4/10 · 30 January 2022]

It's exactly the same concept of the Woman in the Window which made the entire show predictable. The acting for all the supporting actors was so cold and bad. The ending was comically bad. Just super disappointed because it started good!

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

Lazy writing, zero plot, and offensive "wokification"

[2/10 · 30 December 2021]

Yet again, as a female, I'm offended by the blatant wokification of female characters. The original saga already had empowering minority characters yet they somehow had to blatantly change existing characters in their poor attempt at money grabbing.

The original film was to thought provoke, yet this film reverted to the most basic cinema theme of love is eternal. I never once pondered over any comment made in this film.

The nostalgic element was also lazy. They literally just projected old scenes from the original saga. It was insulting to think people would be satisfied with this. Use new characters, actually develop a plot to guide, and stop blatantly writing characters for "in your face" displays of empowerment instead of writing empowered characters from the start.

Candyman (2021)

Great story, poor writing

[5/10 · 10 October 2021]

I loved the story it was just the execution, acting and dialogue that just wasn't enough for me.

Squid Game (2021– )

Such a wild ride! Ending left me unsatisfied

[9/10 · 5 October 2021]

Things I LOVED: the music, the cinematography, the writing, the story, the metaphors. It was really good!

Things that I didn't love: the ending, the actors playing the VIPs (so bad in comparison to the main characters that it watered down the other actors' performances) and the hand feeding of things that we are supposed to remember. The fun is realizing you remember on your own!

I still recommend watching obviously!

The Guilty (2021)

Couldn't Stop Watching!

[9/10 · 3 October 2021]

I have never seen the original, and I think it is harsh to give a bad review simply because of the comparison to the original. In isolation, the film was amazing. I was gripped from start to finish, the story was interesting the whole way through, and the performance from Jake and the voice actors was amazing.

The Green Knight (2021)

Changed story line to tale made for confusing themes

[3/10 · 16 September 2021]

I watched the film then did a little research about the original tale which helped me make sense of things. With that in mind, I realize the Saint Winifred story took away from the overall theme of testing chivalry and watered down the emphasis on the "exchange of winnings". If more emphasis was placed on the "exchange of winnings" and the Saint Winifred scene was removed, I think the overarching themes would have been easier to recognize. However, you could also argue he was still attempting to be chivalrous, hence that success in the Saint Winnifred story, in which case, he should not have been presented to us at the beginning as so much the opposite before hand, aligning more to the true tale. And if it was intended to be a coming of age, he should have started trying to put his act together during the year prior to his debt due.

Otherwise, some of the scenes were drawn out and with how confusing the story is, that made too much gap for "wtf?" moments. The scenery, music, and ability to recreate the time period were phenomenal thought.

Vacation Friends (2021)

Fun watch!

[6/10 · 7 September 2021]

Not a great film but was funny and enjoyable. I would recommend it.

The Prestige (2006)

Overrated but Good

[7/10 · 30 August 2021]

My only criticism is the way Angier did his final trick was a bit too unrealistic, like it was cheating. It also was buying his way out, so also cheating. I also just didn't like the premise of two men for two hours competing over who has the bigger stick regardless of how it started. But otherwise it was a great watch and great cast.

Reminiscence (2021)

So much potential, poor execution

[4/10 · 28 August 2021]

It had all the context of a great scifi and it had amazing scenery and cinematography, but it just didn't work. I think it was the dialogue and script and it being too similar to other films that it was entirely predictable. Lots and lots of pining. Was bored through much of it. Had so much potential! But I do love the scenery and cinematography, that was well done.

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Loved it!

[9/10 · 4 July 2021]

So like it had the exact formula of a sci fi movie as expected but that formula works. It has a similar vibe to the Edge of Tomorrow but with more character backstory and development. It felt like a really cool advertisement for getting into STEM research, which was amazing! It also had interesting call outs to military but since I have no military experience, I cannot comment on the accuracy. I mean it was cliche but I enjoyed every minute. Good cinematography, cool scifi elements, cool military elements, and cliche family bonding. Will watch again!

Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

I don't get why it's getting bad reviews

[8/10 · 31 May 2021]

First of all, for those who say it's predictable...it's a horror flick, not a potential Oscar film. You watch these for the fun of the ride, not for a masterpiece. Secondly, I watched this after the other Annabelles so I got the whole connection and history, making the allure of Annabelle more fun. Thirdly, it was awesome! I mean come on, you see all these artifacts and are curious about their back stories and then we get a little preview into a small handful of them. Now I want a film about more of them! The theatrical effects were good, acting good, plot is the typical scary movie plot, but hey that's what you expect when you start a scary movie...

I Care a Lot (2020)

Had so Much Potential But Missed the Mark

[1/10 · 30 May 2021]

First of all, it is entirely unrealistic. You are telling me that a, possibly, several decades old mafia cannot properly murder people that have made them their enemy? Or properly tail them to monitor their whereabouts? Or pay off judges and/or doctors to reverse the guardianship? Unrealistic. Further unrealistic, you are telling me NO ONE finds the selling of property and assets suspicious? Some lawyer or the IRS or the FBI would catch on this so quickly. Secondly, you are also telling me that a psychopath can show that much passion and love to their partner? Thirdly, the whole push about women power was much and unnecessary. Men aren't yelling at you and threatening you because they are men, they are threatening you because you are an evil, corrupt human being. Furthermore, there are so many woman who are strong and powerful and this movie is glorifying an evil sociopath. This movie just made me angry for so many reasons. For the ones listed and because it had so much potential.

Iron Mask (2019)

Failed Partnership

[2/10 · 29 November 2020]

So first of all, did not realize this was a sequel, so the beginning was very confusing. So there is ongoing original plot from Viy and this Chinese based plot. The Chinese based plot was actually intriguing and had a lot of potential if that was the sole focus. The only other good thing was the scenery and the costume design.

Besides that it's definitely one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The acting was worsened by the horrible english language overlay. The story moved way too fast and was not well presented, I was confused through almost the entirety of the film. It was comical how bad it was most of the time.

I do hope someone takes the Chinese based plot line and makes it into a separate solo film!

An American Pickle (2020)

Not what I expected

[6/10 · 9 November 2020]

I expected a silly comedy but in reality, it was a serious film with some seriously silly bits. Themes of family, generational differences, community, ethics and forgiveness all had deep roots in the plot.