For years, I have been writing about how much I don’t enjoy reading.
The only reading I regularly do these days are kids books (to my kids), sports articles, and film articles. I really enjoy following sports and film, even though I have very little time to watch either.
A couple of months ago I started hearing (via podcasts) and reading about two films that critics seemed to like. The thing about these films was that they were both available on Netflix (the only way I can watch films these days). I thought, I can actually watch these, even if I have to watch them in 20-min segments over several days.
Roma was released on Netflix on 14th December. I watched it on 17th December, and I was actually able to watch the entire film in one day (though in two segments). The film is in black and white, the opening shot is amazing, but then....I didn’t do anything for me. I can see how ‘film people’ would talk about the cinematography, the directing, how the the director was making a film in honour of the woman who took care of him as a kid. I get all that, I do, but, to be honest, I thought the film was boring. It was slow-paced, didn’t have much of a plot, and I just didn’t think the main character was particularly interesting, for the film to be a good character study.
Needless to say, I was somewhat happy when, for the first time, I heard one critic who wasn't completely glowing over this movie, on a podcast I was listening to that she was a guest on. Thank you, Tasha Robinson.
Shirkers was also getting a lot of buzz. It won at Sundance; it’s been getting a lot of award nominations; it currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. So when I saw it was also on Netflix, I thought, let’s do this.
This I could not watch in one day, but was able to watch in two.
It’s a fascinating story, and, on paper, should be a great documentary, but I found it very hard to get into it, mainly due to the narration. Something about the narrator’s tone (I should mention she’s also the director and the documentary is about her) was so annoying. I couldn’t put my finger on it, then I happened to come upon this review, which describes her narration as ‘self-pitying’ and that was it. That’s the issue I had with the film. I think, if she got someone else to narrate it, who was not so involved with the story of the documentary, and was narrated in 3rd person, it would have worked better for me.
That's my 2 cents on 2 films. I'm hoping I get to see more films in 2019 than I did in 2018.
I don’t know why my first blog post in over a year is about film criticism, but better that, than about books (since I’ve not read any non-kids books in over a year).
The only reading I regularly do these days are kids books (to my kids), sports articles, and film articles. I really enjoy following sports and film, even though I have very little time to watch either.
A couple of months ago I started hearing (via podcasts) and reading about two films that critics seemed to like. The thing about these films was that they were both available on Netflix (the only way I can watch films these days). I thought, I can actually watch these, even if I have to watch them in 20-min segments over several days.
Roma was released on Netflix on 14th December. I watched it on 17th December, and I was actually able to watch the entire film in one day (though in two segments). The film is in black and white, the opening shot is amazing, but then....I didn’t do anything for me. I can see how ‘film people’ would talk about the cinematography, the directing, how the the director was making a film in honour of the woman who took care of him as a kid. I get all that, I do, but, to be honest, I thought the film was boring. It was slow-paced, didn’t have much of a plot, and I just didn’t think the main character was particularly interesting, for the film to be a good character study.
Needless to say, I was somewhat happy when, for the first time, I heard one critic who wasn't completely glowing over this movie, on a podcast I was listening to that she was a guest on. Thank you, Tasha Robinson.
Shirkers was also getting a lot of buzz. It won at Sundance; it’s been getting a lot of award nominations; it currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. So when I saw it was also on Netflix, I thought, let’s do this.
This I could not watch in one day, but was able to watch in two.
It’s a fascinating story, and, on paper, should be a great documentary, but I found it very hard to get into it, mainly due to the narration. Something about the narrator’s tone (I should mention she’s also the director and the documentary is about her) was so annoying. I couldn’t put my finger on it, then I happened to come upon this review, which describes her narration as ‘self-pitying’ and that was it. That’s the issue I had with the film. I think, if she got someone else to narrate it, who was not so involved with the story of the documentary, and was narrated in 3rd person, it would have worked better for me.
That's my 2 cents on 2 films. I'm hoping I get to see more films in 2019 than I did in 2018.
I don’t know why my first blog post in over a year is about film criticism, but better that, than about books (since I’ve not read any non-kids books in over a year).
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