edg0123 Reviews

The Breadwinner (2017)

Definitely one of the best animated films of 2017

[8/10 · 23 February 2018]

There were some pretty good animated movies that came out last year, like Coco, Loving Vincent, and The Lego Batman Movie, but there were some that were on the worse side, like The Emoji Movie and The Boss Baby. And The Breadwinner definitely falls into the better side.

Along with unique and impressive animation, this movie delivers an interesting story that is told very well. It is certainly not the happiest movie, with the main topics focusing on sexism and war, but it is not trying to be happy, rather, it tries to be hopeful and enlightening. It treats these topics with respect and dignity, and seems to know what it's talking about. The music is used appropriately and is honestly fantastic.

The only negative things I could say about this film are that the voice acting is okay and the ending could have been executed better, with it ending maybe a little too abrupt. Also, it feels a bit short and the pacing is a bit fast at times.

Sadly, The Breadwinner will not win best animated picture at the Oscars, because both Coco and Loving Vincent are better made movies and are more popular. But, this film deserves a chance to be seen, as it is not only one of the best animated pictures of 2017, but is one of the most underrated movies of that year.

The Open House (2018)

One of the worst endings I have ever seen

[4/10 · 14 February 2018]

I honestly think this movie was pretty decent in the beginning, albeit the writing and some of the performances, especially from Sharif Atkins, who was easily the worst actor in the film; his character was also basically pointless and added nothing to the movie.

About halfway through the movie, you realize that nothing has really happened yet. You start to notice the cliches and the characters' actions become kind of stupid. Things start to happen that aren't really logical and don't make any sense. The movie starts to throw in cheap jump scares that your average bad horror film would have. Despite all of this, it really isn't that bad so far.

But then the last 15 minutes come. This is when the "action" starts. Naomi is tortured and killed by someone in black (who doesn't even show up until now) and Logan escapes into the woods. Soon after, the man finds him and kills him, too. Then we see a car driving down a road towards the open house. That's the end. Seriously. That is literally how this film ends. No actual resolution. No questions answered. Nothing. I bet the writers thought that it was smart or "deep" to end the movie without giving any answers. It's not. It's actually stupid and incrediblly unsatisfying. The whole point of a mystery thriller is the suspense of finding out who is the one behind everything, but the movie gives us so little characters, and the ones they introduce, we learn nothing about. The film tries to trick us into thinking it is this one lady, who is their neighbor, but we know nothing about her, like who she really is and what her motives could possiblly be. There is this one scene about halfway through the movie where she shows up in the middle of the night and is acting completely insane. The character that witnesses this doesn't really react and is never brought up again. Every time they see her after that, they acted like she didn't do anything. There was no reason for this scene except for the fact that the film was trying to convince us that she was the antagonist. And is she? I don't know. If she is, why would she be after them? I don't know. If it isn't her, who else could it be? I don't know. There is literally no one in the movie that could be the villain. It would have to be a guy, with us getting a very small sample of his deeper voice and with his credited name being just straight up "The Man in Black". There are like, 5 men in the movie, and one of them is killed by the villain, and the others are barely introduced.

I hate to say this, but the movie thinks you are stupid. It thinks that it can get away with such a cheap ending, and sadly, it kind of does. Unless you want to see a disappointing "horror" film, I would recommend you stay away from this one. Definitely not the worst movie I've ever seen, but definitely one of.

The Polka King (2017)

Overall a pretty solid movie

[6/10 · 13 January 2018]

Basically everything about this movie was about average. The acting is fine, the characters, while sort of bland, are interesting enough. The story is good, the writing is good, and so is the directing.

But there are some things that fall flat. For example, the cinematography, for the most part, was bland. Every shot lookedthe same and felt the same. However, I thought the lighting was well done. Also, some of the perfomances felt a little off. But, I do believe that Jenny Slate and, especially, Jack Black were able to carry the film and make it more fun to watch. Although this movie is listed as a comedy, there really is little comedy to be found. It's not that the movie is necessarily unfunny, it's just that there are no jokes or humorous situations. I did find myself smiling sometimes, not because it was funny, but because there are some fun or satisfying moments in the movie.

For every negative this movie has, there is a positive that slightly evens it out. While it does leave some to be desired, this film is pretty solid and enjoyable. If you are thinking about seeing this movie, I would recommend it. Just don't go in with too high of expectations.