sessedup Reviews

The Portrait of a Lady (1996)

The Victorian era's response to narcissistic abuse

[3/10 · 19 May 2021]

Ugh. Just cuz there's music swelling doesn't mean she deserves to be cornered by a handsome man and touched in such and such a way. I slogged through this 2-hour movie and all I feel is disgust.

For all that time spent, there were so many flat characters. Why was this such a pain? Blech!

Raising Victor Vargas (2002)

Not as bad as these trolls' reviews say...

[5/10 · 11 April 2021]

Not sure why there are so many bad reviews. For me, the first act built up my dislike of many of the characters, mostly Victor. But you know, that only gave him two more acts to GROW, which he did.

I'm not sure how much experience the writers/director actually had as a DR New Yorker but the toxic masculinity and sexual harassment seem par for the course. I just kept siding with all the women who were getting hyper-sexualized and bothered by the nasty comments. Truly crude. And as a woman, I felt Judy's (and even to some extent Vicki's and Melodie's) aversion to male attention were completely justified. Even to the point where I thought Judy might have had a history of sexual abuse. But honestly, if you're getting stopped in the street on the daily by some men who aggressively tell you they want to "double penetrate" you, you might not want a boyfriend, either.

Overall, a good film that describes what it's like to be a teenager. The awkward conversations, the raging hormones, the fights with parents. And oh, man, I felt so sad for that grandma. Usually I don't sympathize with the old-fashioned characters, but she had her hands full and I felt the discord within their family life was extremely realistic and fraught. Again, not sure where those nasty comments are coming from. This was certainly more realistic than Knocked Up or 27 Dresses or some other "romantic" movie, with their well-to-do characters living flawlessly in large apartments in the big city.

Worth a watch if you're feeling sentimental.

Emma. (2020)

Stars for costumes, but not for the acting

[4/10 · 13 November 2020]

Okay, I saw a feature for this movie in Vogue prior to its release, and now I know why. Another reviewer called the costumes and sets "sumptuous." Yes, that is the word.

However, all of the characters were caricatures. Even the brilliant Bill Nighy and Rupert Graves couldn't do much with the weird lines and characteristics their men were assigned. I was disappointed, too, by the foolishness of Elton and even Harriet. They are, admittedly, both foolish in the novel, but in there it's at least believable that Emma might return Elton's affections, or that Knightley might return Harriet's. In the movie, both characters were way over the top, so there was no real tension driving the plot forward, which is a disservice to the subtleties of Austen's fiction, I think. I won't even get started on the fake news that was Frank/Emma's coy flirtation.

I could go on but I won't. All I'll say is watch the BBC miniseries with Romola Garai as Emma. Vain and arrogant though Emma Woodhouse may be, at least you won't detest her within the first five minutes.

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

A rare case where I like the movie more than the book

[7/10 · 16 September 2020]

I read Che's diary and I gotta say, the cinematography, well-rounded characters, and of course, Gael Garcia Bernal's gorgeous face, made this movie more alluring than the book. I've watched it twice and the story does get richer with age. It's also inspired my own travels through South America, with Che's troubles over injustice in the back of my mind. Would recommend.

The Weekend (IV) (2018)

Had potential but was underdeveloped

[4/10 · 7 September 2020]

I just didn't find it funny. Main female lead was rude and immature. Dewanda Wise was gorgeous and skillful as always, rounding out her character as best she could with a flat script. B-story about the parents' separation didn't fly. It was too long and yet, so little happened.

The Cutting Edge (1992)

Go-to rom-com with a sizzling lead pair

[10/10 · 29 March 2019]

This movie has a lot going for it: the fabulous skating, the accomplished screenwriter (who also wrote the Bourne movies and Armageddon, to name a few), and the amazing chemistry between two underrated actors, Moira Kelly and DB Sweeney. I've never seen either of them in anything this good. This movie rocks.

I've watched this movie three times in my life, and it just gets better with age. The dialogue is biting, witty, and classic; the acting is poignant and delightful; and it's a PG style rom-com with a lot of heart. It never gets cheesy, cringey, nor crude, and I love it for that. It makes my heart ache. And the skating is phenomenal!

The Heiress (1949)

I'm usually not into old movies

[6/10 · 4 March 2019]

My favorite line: "Morris has gotten greedier over the years. The first time, he just wanted my money. Now, he wants my fortune and my love." Spoken like a truly hardened, bad*** bi***. Catherine Samson has the wackiest hairstyles but her iron-tight forward gaze speaks volumes Without her raising her voice a mere degree, de Havilland keeps the audience guessing her true thoughts. The sets are beautifully elaborate backdrops for a script that reads like a play. And it's written by a woman; so the main character is realistic!

The 'Burbs (1989)

Mysoginistic, ridiculous, genre-less

[1/10 · 10 January 2019]

Totally ridiculous. Tom Hanks and his idiot Co-stars overact sooo much. The movie moves so slowly because it doesn't have an engine. Is it a comedy? No. A horror flick? No. A thriller? NO! It's just a weak commentary on the desperation of the suburbs with xenophobic overtones. Plus they treat the wives like objects with no personalities (except nags). Also, spoiler: Tom Hanks and his crew break and enter, cut municipal power lines and BLOW UP A HOUSE, AND DON'T GET ARRESTED. wtaf? Terrible, terrible terrible film. Do not waste your time.

The Quiet American (2002)

Very faithful adaptation of the novel

[7/10 · 10 January 2019]

Michael Caine brought it in this faithful adaptation of Graham Greene's novel on budding American involvement in Vietnam. The scenery and environment of the movie brought life to the half century old novel, lending intrigue and poignancy to a tale steeped in metaphor. I recommend this movie to any fans of the novel or Vietnamese history.

Julie & Julia (2009)

Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci saved this film

[4/10 · 9 January 2019]

The half of this movie dedicated to the fabulous Parisian world of Julia Child and her doting husband deserve recognition. The wardrobe, setting, and food were superb! The tension seemed real; there were multidimensional portraits of all the characters in that storyline. I found myself dreading when the movie would switch back to Amy Adams' and Chris Messina's neurotic, flat marriage. Idk why Adam's took this role. She's a great actress but the woman she played in this movie was a straight up beeyotch with very few few redeeming qualities. None of her friends, nor her husband, had any roundedness to their characters, and all she did was complain! I was not into her half of the film, but Julia Child's story was much, much more compelling

It's a good movie for a rainy day or a day you're feeling adventurous cooking... Bc it will make you hungry!

Shut Up & Sing (2006)

Wouldn't watch again or recommend...Not enough defense of free speech!

[5/10 · 7 January 2019]

I'm watching a movie about the Dixie Chicks. They sank from the hottest country band in the country when their singer, Natalie Pasdar, made a comment at a UK concert in the early 2000's about being "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." Chaos ensued. The singer keeps saying things that dramatize the situation. She's a drama queen at her height, revelling in the mean things people say about her. Committed to opposition of the naysayers. To be fair, there are a lot of people burning their CD's and making threats against them, calling them dumb bimbos, saying they should be strapped to bombs and dropped over Iraq. Ironic that their single at the time of the controversy was about a soldier returning home. It's weird how many opinions can turn in an instant. And this was before the Internet was big! The early 2000's. One of the members stated the uproar needed to come from the heartland of America, a country music base for their supporters. Unfortunately, the radio stopped playing their music; silenced them. A boycott of their music, which disappeared from the popular ear. The band took up the tack of free speech to defend their lead singer's throwaway opinion. Though this movie I'm watching doesn't focus on that as much as the backlash against the band and their opinions and being hurt by the backlash.

The movie has few to no details about the war and its repercussions on free speech, anyway. At one point, Natalie says she just wants to be like Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen: choose not to make appearances on national TV. LOL what??? Bob Dylan was one of the most vocal anti-war musicians ever. The movie makes no allusions to the war protesters of the past: about MLK Jr., Pete Seeger, Joan Baez in the Vietnam era; and barely any arguments are made about the right to perceive your President in any way you want. There were a ton of haters against Bush (though the movie did clearly state the timeline of events as well as when Bush's approval rating downturned)! But who brought up the history of the south (much of their country music fan base) and the consequences of mass opinion there: slavery, segregation, sexism, the whole lot? I was sad to see the musicians shy away from holding their aggressors to account, and stewing in sadness and anger. Jeez, you'd think the big mouths who made the statement in the first place and then called on the First Amendment to cover their asses would at least make a show of defending the First Amendment. Everyone has a right to say what they will.

Instead, this movie is about three women's (mostly Natalie's) refusal to forgive people who manipulated their lives into chaos and fear. I get it's hard to be hated, and it takes a special type of person to thrive on negative publicity; but I don't request anything more than an acknowledgment of the right that everyone's taking advantage of to make their statements.

The Dixie Chicks took the risk to speak up, though, and kept making music; didn't apologize for their opinions. And that I respect. I do. It inspires me to do so too. But I wasn't really sure that their motives from the outset were really true...

The movie had footage from a meeting with the group's (British) manager when news came rolling in about their hate. The group members were basically all like, okay, let's apologize and rescind the statement; Natalie insisted the opinion was valid; and the manager egged them on to defend it and blow the scene up. Any publicity is good publicity, right? Reality TV before reality TV was ever a thing. Their, by their own admission, numbers never bounced back: CD's sold, tickets sold, sold-out concerts. But they are convinced they're in a better place musically and stronger as a group. Seems true, so. May be something people say to save face.

The movie has great music in it! I will definitely be adding some Dixie Chicks albums to my rotation. The soundtrack is on point, but the narrative could have defended free speech more. And the singer came off kind of like a spoiled brat.

The Hate U Give (2018)

Could not stop crying

[5/10 · 8 November 2018]

I used a whole pack of tissues. There were many moving scenes, with the story trying to balance the devastating with the lighthearted. The main characters were flawed and very righteous. But there were a lot of flat characters: Seven, Starr's best friends (except for the poster child for white privileged racism), her bf, and the drug kingpin, the catalyst for the B story. I was not really impressed with the movie as a piece of art, though the soundtrack and sneakers were pretty dope. Some scenes were clunky and the dialogue unrealistic, not to mention its bloated runtime (whatever happened to the 80-min movie standard??).

But overall I thought the story line and Stenberg's acting were emotionally engaging. I really got her character's internal struggle, and was invested in her perspective. There were a lot of nuances and just as many blurred lines. For example, Starr's father has the kids recite the Black Panther bill of rights verbatim, which her mother was presumably on board with. But later in the movie, the father completely betrays his wife's wishes and heads straight into a dangerous situation with their son, to confront a drug lord. You didn't really get a sense of the consequences of this breach of trust on their marriage. That's some real stuff. But it was absent from the narrative I think because the movie tried to deal with so many issues (as you can read in other reviews). The result is heart wrenching but ultimately surface-level. Glad I watched it!

Queen: Mercury Rising (2011 Video)

Filled in all the gaps that Bohemian Rhapsody left wide open

[9/10 · 7 November 2018]

This 1 hr film featured short, sweet, charismatic interviews with subjects who obviously knew Queen personally, or were players in the music biz throughout their joyful tenure as rock gods. It seems quite credible as well as powerful.

I just watched Rami Malik portray Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, whetting my appetite for more info on Queen. This documentary delivered! As a '90s kid, I missed Queen's meteoric rise, but Queen: Mercury Rising conveyed a real sense of the pomp and circumstance of a band that had the once-in-a-lifetime talent to back it up. Not only did the band members come together serendipitously, but Freddie's whole package (vocal range, confidence, hella style, and musical bravado) and the band's string of hits were evidently nothing short of a coincidence of timing and charisma. The film postulates that the music video for Bohemian Rhapsody--in itself a marvel--revolutionized music videos forever after. This tidbit contributes to the movie's well-rounded picture of the band's established name in the annals of rock 'n' roll, worldwide. VH1 would hardly exist without Queen. No wonder, given their unique artistic style.

Something I wished the feature film Bohemian Rhapsody had done was describe the band's struggles within the music industry. Without being contrite, this docu did a nice job of calling out Queen's early record labels for taking advantage of them; and pointed out (with grace, seeing as many of the interviewees were in the biz) that despite their commercial successes, for the band members, it was always still about making magnificent music. It's clear that the filmmakers freakin' love Queen, and want you to, too!

The band's (and especially Freddie's personal) relationship to their audience was on full display in this film. It gives a sense of Mercury's power over an entire stadium, and that he always expected to be a superstar. He gives me chills.

One thing this movie lacked was proper titles/captions on video clips and photographs. Sometimes, the narrator or experts would make a reference, like Queen's early influences, and play a short clip of a skiffle band or something, but I didn't really get why. The editing was a bit choppy. BUT, the timeline of success ups and downs is very clear, so nbd!

The end of the film was handled quite nicely, wrapping Mercury's untimely death into the fabric of Queen's story. The rest of the band, who were featured in interview clips taken shortly after his death, paid genuine tribute to the legend. It seemed they respected and loved him and were heartbroken to see him go. Same goes for those involved in this film. Surely by the end of the movie, you'll be emotional if not in tears. So worth the hour of watching. Happy viewing!

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Shallow portrayal of an epic rock band

[4/10 · 7 November 2018]

"What about the other band members?" was a question I must have asked myself fifteen times throughout the film. The narrative follows Freddie Mercury, who is an irresistible badass, but completely flattened all the characters around him, including (but not limited to) all three band members, Mary, and all of the record label guys. Side note: RIP Mike Myers' career. He has fallen so far, playing a (fictional) douchey record exec with a questionable accent who passes on Bohemian Rhapsody because it's too "out there". That abysmal performance is emblematic of the entire film, which disappoints in almost every way. Rami Malek portrays an emaciated, pitiable Mercury with a checkered past and some alluded-to sexual exploits. His primary qualm in life is that he's lonely and doesn't feel loved. Idk if this is actually true... The whole emotional scope of the film seems faked, and it upsets me that it's so hard to tell when this biopic is making facts up. What a waste of opportunity.

Not having grown up in the eighties, but still quite a big Queen fan, I did NOT get a sense of the impact of Queen's meteoric rise to fame, their overall influence on rock music, nor Freddie Mercury's absolute genius. Instead, the lead singer came off as a flamboyant diva who whipped out hits at convenient times; and the rest of the band mates were so 1-D that, literally, any fights between the friends were solved by... Wait for it... The power of rock n roll. Wtf?

The picture was, in reality, so much more complicated, with drug addiction, philandering and gobs of money influencing these musicians. Instead, people acted like a bunch of children reading an inflated do-gooder script. Why, Hollywood, WHY must you make a mockery of life as we know it? It seemed to try to avoid the trope of most musician biopics that play up the common problems for artists on the road, but in excluding those conflicts, the film became superficial and boring. It tried too hard, sadly. Tbh this movie could have used more explicit drug use, gay sex, and WAY MORE LIVE QUEEN!! But I do have to give four stars for the delightful anesthetic, the wardrobe, andddd the ample use of Freddie Mercury's actual voice instead of Rami Malek's. But still, you're better of watching Highlander for a fuller Queen soundtrack.

I'll be checking out a proper documentary on queen next!

Treasure Island (1990 TV Movie)

Very true to the book

[8/10 · 5 November 2018]

I haven't seen the other adaptations of this Stevenson classic, but I was delighted with this one. After reading Treasure Island for the first time, I was eager to see a flesh and blood version of the adventure story. This film delivers! The language is picked straight from the book, the acting is impeccable, and the scenery and ship bring you to that place. Superb movie, and bonus points for a young Christian Bale!

American Beauty (1999)

I don't get all the fuss...

[4/10 · 4 November 2018]

The fact that this movie won Best Picture just re-affirms in my mind that I can't rely on the Academy to judge movies fairly. Sure, I wasn't around in '99 to see the competition but seeing this movie now (in my twenties in 2018) really doesn't do it for me. It was so boring! You're watching all these people's secret lives and it's so tawdry: a love affair, a company downsizing, and a teenager smoking pot.......? The climax happens, finally, in the last fifteen minutes, and doesn't make much sense to me. Whoever wrote this screenplay really needed an English professor reading over his shoulder asking what the characters' motivations were. WACK AF.

Barring the really weird Lolita overtones, the movie itself seems like a film school's senior project. Couple the narration from the grave with the overall message ("look closer" at people's seemingly picture-perfect lives), and you have a wholly unimpressive film. Two of the principle characters, Jane and Ricky, were flatter than a board, and two of the minor characters, Buddy and Ricky's mom, were flatter than them! A waste of Alison Janney, imo. Not to mention Peter Gallagher. Smh so sad.

I didn't get why Jane hates her father so much, except inasmuch as any suburban white teenage girl "hates" her life; and Ricky was effing creepy, always filming people and varying his facial expression between empty and on the verge of crying. Weird, weird, weird.

If you want an existential movie with snappy dialogue, go for The Truman Show, Office Space, or The Game. American Beauty really missed its mark.