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Showing posts from December, 2019

Marriage Story is Heart-wrenchingly Good

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Marriage Story  is a phenomenal and depressing movie. 2019 seems to be, for whatever reason, the year film felt like tackling agonizing and realistic depictions of breakups. From Midsommar 's fantastical take on a relationship's unraveling during cult rituals, to Marriage Story  (which I feel should have been called Divorce Story, since it's a little misleading), film has began agonizing over the details of romantic relationship's downfalls with no hope in sight of any sort of reconciliation.  I would like to begin this review with confessing my adoration for Adam Driver, and admitting that it took Jojo Rabbit for me to realize Scarlett Johansson can act in roles other than playing the silent tough lady. Marriage Story , however, really shows more depth and levels to her acting. It's unfortunate that the infamous fight scene has been circulating the internet as a bit of a meme, since within the context of the film it's heartbreaking and has some of the

Ready Or Not is Gruesome Fun With Layers

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Ready Or Not  is your traditional wedding story. A woman marries a rich man, and she has to survive until daylight while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns and crossbows. You know, it's just like every other wedding you've been to. There's a lot to say about this movie and it's commentary made on the wealthy privileged elites of society, and there's also a lot to say about Samara Weaving's performance as the bride who just can't seem to catch a break. Class warfare is the most blatant theme throughout Ready Or Not , and it's sort of a play on those stories of the wealthy hunting humans for fun. The family's dysfunction leads to her new husband, Alex, having complicated feelings about the role he's forced to play. Like the wealthy who contemplate whether the role they play in society is truly beneficial or actually actively harms the poor, he sways back and forth from longing to protect his wife and feeling certain that he has a duty to

The Art of Self Defense Examines Toxic Masculinity

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The Art of Self Defense  features Jesse Eisenberg as Casey, an awkward and anxious man who signs up for classes at his local karate dojo led by a chauvinistic and eccentric sensei. After years of being mocked for being himself and a particularly traumatic event, Casey decides he wants to become what he's afraid of. So, he sets forth in doing just that, and slowly works on transforming himself into the same type of men who have belittled him and tormented him for his entire life. It's a strange combination of Napoleon Dynamite and John Wick, but with more of a message to deliver than either of them. The Art of Self Defense  aims to help its audiences understand what toxic masculinity is, and that it's not some inherent trait every masculine man has. When masculinity turns toxic it takes the form of men picking fights with one another over a glance or bad parking job, it turns into men who harm and harass women just because they can. I, like many other women, have endur