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deslaughton
Reviews
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Not a Greek 'drama'. Like a nicely shot wedding video. No twists or tension.
When I watched this fluffy, pleasant looking film, I was waiting for the plot twist that creates the tension that pulls me in, which is present in pretty much every other film I've seen and enjoyed. Would she find it hard to woo her dream husband? Nope, it all went swimmingly. Would there be a hitch in the planning of the wedding? Again, no. Would her traditional Greek family oppose her union with a non-Greek? Ochi. Not at all. Her dad was a grumpy stick-in-the-mud in regard to pretty much everything, but not an obstructive bigot. This lack of any real 'risk' in the straightforward procession to the central characters' wedding really threw me - I can't recall any other movie where the plot is so devoid of potential pitfalls - in that respect it renders itself unique. I honestly didn't think it possible that a likeable story could exist where the hero/heroine doesn't really have to overcome anything. But I did quite like it, I have to say.
Destiny: Kamakura monogatari (2017)
Had read the Manga version, really liked the movie too.
I saw this yesterday, on a long-haul flight, with English subtitles - I was intrigued, because I already own the manga version, and have a Youtube channel dedicated to Kamakura (Green Morning Dragon Productions). I am not a huge fan of Japanese cinema - I find it overly melodramatic, and stocked with agency 'tarento' who leave me cold. Thankfully not the case, here. Very well cast - the two leads, Takahata (my first introduction to her work, and hopefully not the last) and Sakai were excellent together, the story was engaging, without being schlocky or ludicrous, and the film looked luscious - the special effects were outstanding, and brought a lot to the film. If you're into Harry Potter, I think you'll like this for the creatures and the well-executed fantasy element too. A clever, romantic fantasy, with heart.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Very entertaining, likeable, morally ambiguous characters, overly gloomy cinematography.
I found myself buying into the premise of the story more, as the film progressed. I thought all the actors did well, and liked their performances. Not a single bad note, in the acting side of the movie. The actors playing Han and Lando got it right, Woody Harrelson had fun, and I had fun watching him, and I thought Emilia Clarke's flawed, broken but adorable anti-heroine may just be my favorite Star Wars female character now. I was squinting somewhat for the first half hour or so, because of the darkness of the cinematography - I've noticed this trait at least since Tim Burton came on the scene (e.g. Batman, 1989) and I don't like it, or see the point, of scene after scene of gloomy, hard to see sets. For that reason alone, not a perfect 10, but I was thoroughly entertained nonetheless.