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Film reviews

Smile Review

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I have two words, and they are SAY CHEESE! Smile is a terrifying, daring, and creepy experience. It is one of those horror films where I felt stunned. There are lots of jump scares, several hidden terrors, and little evidence to fight the horror. With Sosie Bacon and Kal Penn as doctors in a hospital, it is an excellent partnership to face the terror of Smile. Throughout the film, I was wondering who is next to face horror. I will say, however, the horror is airborne. Better hope for more resources and psychological aspects if the horror keeps getting warmer.

The psychological shockers incorporated with Smile is where the darkness unravels. One scenario leads to a death or an accident. Then there is a layout of cases that make no sense but are linked to the same type of scenario. The unraveling puzzles in Smile is bizarre. I even found myself afraid if someone were to have happy looks around me. Smile really knows where to find its label for its haunting aspects

In Smile, Bacon plays Dr. Rose Cotter who just witnesses a traumatizing incident with a patient. Her colleague is Dr. Morgan Desai (Penn). Morgan believes that Rose should take a break from her job working with patients to help clear her head. That is because following the incident, Rose starts to see disturbing images in her head, and it is taking over her daily life. The disturbing images are people smiling. That  is what her patient was doing before the incident happened. Soon, Rose starts to see even more harrowing images in her mind, and it is invading her personal life as well. Her fiancé Trevor (played by Jessie T. Usher) does not know how to be on the same page as her, as do many others. This only puts Rose into a deeper hole as her terror is coming closer to her. Time is of the essence to confront the horror in Smile.

The pattern of Smile is like patterns of seeing ghosts. The concept of Rose seeing people with happy faces, and the past event from her traumatic episode is where the pattern becomes invigorating. As that continues, the more the problems for Rose are unexpected. The film’s trail is a landscape of a pattern that is supernatural with illusions. I love illusions, and Smile sold me on its illusions.

The context of terror is accurate in Smile. The many happy face in the film is a symbol of what is meant to be scary. It comes and goes in many enthralling fragments. Much of which is awry. No one can escape what is to come with Smile.

Two words, and they are, BE AFRAID! Smile had me afraid. It will have many afraid. Some of the film may be predictable. It is in some fragments. It is not though, in every aspect. There is many surprises waiting to come around with Smile. Just be ready for creepy faces. Three stars.

Film reviews

See How They Run Review

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See How They Run is a mystery and comedy thriller that contains many fun cliches. It also has that comedic detective vibe. It is rather clever. The film is a mystery that is not intended for seriousness. The film is presented in multiple laughing fragments (while the subject matter is serious). Therefore, the film is more geared on having fun with the mystery, instead of having shock or suspense for its audience.

See How They Run is directed by Tom George. A director who has directed TV series gearing on criminality and laws. With his series Defending the Guilty on BBC, George knows how to make his character scenarios correlate with harsh scenarios. He knows the right quirks to serious situations.  He also knows how to have unexpected surprises with See How They Run.

In See How They Run, the film takes place in London. The setting is the West End in the 1950s. A movie version of an award-winning play is in the works. The production hits a pause when one of the crew members has been killed. The detective assigned to this case is Inspector Stoppard, and he is played by Sam Rockwell. Another detective that is still new to the field teams up with Stoppard. She is Constable Stalker, and she is played by Saoirse Ronan. With many associated with the production, both Stoppard and Stalker find themselves putting together the puzzle of who the murder might be. The issue though, is that there are a ton of people involved. There is Leo Kopernick (played by Adrien Brody), Mervyn Cocker-Norris (played by David Oyelowo), Richard Attenborough (played by Harris Dickinson), and many more names. The case is a tricky puzzle. The crazy aspect is, that many of the people associated with the production do not have the minds of a murder. Most of them have their own strange personality, and none of which seem to make sense to neither Stoppard or Stalker.

My joyful moments with See How They Run was the pieces of the investigation being put together. The realizations are humorous. Most of them though, are harrowing. In the harrowing realizations, its presentation is filled with silly character reactions. That is why I enjoyed See How They Run. It is a film with a suspenseful event; however, it also knows its characterization process in terms of finding its funny.

See How They Run is an idea of a film that is almost brilliant. It just lacks in some development towards its conflict in the film. Overall, though the issues are sporadic and has misdirection. Most of the misleading factors is where it becomes entertaining. It knows how to make its audience laugh and it also knows how to make them ready for laughing resolutions.

The film is fun for the mystery. It is also fun for the many curiosities for its audience. See How They Run is unique in its approach towards a crime. Does not enter it serious, but it brings lots of entertaining value to the table of events in the film. Three stars for See How They Run.

Film reviews

Don’t Worry Darling Review

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There are films where sci-fi is captivating and there ones where artificial intelligence is out of this world. In Don’t Worry Darling, both those elements are mediocre. Don’t Worry Darling lacks in both entertainment and characterization. The biggest appeal is the film’s cast. The film may have a stellar lineup of celebrities, but that aspect does not make the film any better. Even the writing is unstructured. That leads to the pacing being off also. Don’t Worry Darling look cool (to me) at first, however it is a disaster in all forms.

The film falls in genre categories of Drama, Mystery, and Thriller. Realistically it is sci-fi. The sci-fi aspects are vibrant in the beginning. When the conflicts arise, the film is poor and uninviting. From my experience with Don’t Worry Darling, it is because of its lacking foundation in the setup of the film. There is not much detail to why or how the setting is in the film. There is also not much evidence or background on the conflicting issues or resentments with all the cast in the film. The one inviting aspect was the actress, Olivia Wilde. She is not only one of the leads of the film, but also the director.

In Don’t Worry Darling, the film takes place in California. The setting is an experimental community that is utopian. It is setup where the men go to work, and the women stay home. The characters are Alice Chambers (played by Florence Pugh), Jack Chambers (played by Harry Styles), Bunny (played by Olivia Wilde), and Frank (played by Chris Pine). The film is setup where the men work for a prestige company, while the women stay home. As the more secrets tend to cause questioning, the ladies begin to rebel against their husbands wishes. That is where Don’t Worry Darling begins to lack. There is no foundation setup of the dynamics of the families. To further elaborate, it is also just poorly written and one where I felt I could not take the performances seriously. There may be a bigger secret to the film’s center of its problems. The film’s directing though is absurd.

As the tensions starts to add fuel to the fire in the film, that is where I felt there was more not making sense. The expectations of husbands and their wives is wacky. On top of that, there is occurrences that do not add value to the film’s suspense theme. Most of the unexplained dramatics are out of tune. There is little to no explanation of their happenings. Don’t Worry Darling do not know how to captivate its audience. It also does not know how to create invigorating character dynamics. All the moments of its characterization factors are ridiculous.

Don’t Worry Darling was promising for me at the start. I knew of the mixed clashing conflicts with the actors and filmmakers, that the film may not be that great. I still had faith in it though. It did not live up to my expectations though. It did though live up to the technical aspects with the brisk and amazing scenery of California. Regardless though, the film had disappointment after disappointment. That is rather unfortunate, because the all-star cast had me excited to have the experience to see Don’t Worry Darling. Sadly though, it is one where many should expect to set their expectations low.

Trying to remain positive here, but it is not coming easy. Don’t Worry Darling was probably one of the most mediocre experiences for me this year. I feel that it could have been so much better. It is obvious though, that the film was rushed and with all the previous conflicts, that that probably was factor to why the film turned out how it was. Two stars for Don’t Worry Darling.