Squalor, a miserable terrible job, homelessness, a bleak and poor future, and extreme depression are all realities that are the beginning of the new movie "Love Lies Bleeding". This movie starts with the main character Lou, played by Kristen Stewart, with her arm (while wearing rubber gloves) inside a disgusting clogged toilet bowl trying to fix the clog. Perhaps the dilapidated gym she was working in did not have a plunger? This first scene sets the tone of this movie, which is shocking, at times disgusting, vile, and all about the lowest levels of humanity, including even homelessness.
The story is about the lesbian relationship between Lou, and Jackie a female bodybuilder played Katy O’Brian, who starts to use steroids. It is Jackie’s steroid abuse and the domestic abuse suffered by Lou’s sister Beth, played by Jena Malone from her husband JJ, played by Dave Franco that are the main parts of a story that deteriorates into a Shakespearian tragedy involving multiple murders.
There are several scenes of the intense physical relationship between Lou and Jackie, obviously making this film not for children. While the story is good overall, there are the standard “let’s try and be different” insane and delusional visual scenes that are derived from the gross abuse of Jackie’s constant shooting vials of steroids. Some of these scenes are so crazy that anyone could argue they almost ruin the entire movie. Why try so hard to create visual effects that nobody has ever seen before, rather than just concentrate on the quality of the overall story?
Ed Harris, plays Lou Sr, Lou’s father, who is not only the wealthy owner of a gun shooting range but also has most of the police force under his control. Lou’s horrendous poverty, despite her father’s wealth, is due to their severe estrangement and is a source of numerous scenes of rage and conflict throughout this film.
The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Love Lies Bleeding are way too high 92%, with my rating at 80%, and a recommendation mostly for the acting and the parts of the story that do not include off-the-wall visual scenes that have no business being in any movie.
Movie Reviews From a Screenwriter
Movie Reviews and Opinions From a Screenwriter's Perspective
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Friday, March 15, 2024
Movie Review: Arthur the King
For any aspiring screenwriter or movie producer, submitting the script for the new movie "Arthur the King" would most likely be rejected because the story of one exceptional dog following a group of 4 endurance racers through a huge forest and mountains would be considered too unbelievable. For this story to be greenlighted as a major movie, it would have to be a true story, which it is. However this film does not begin with the standard, "this is a true story" message at the start of the movie, you have to wait until the end to realize that this incredible series of events actually did happen.
This story follows the career of an Ironman athlete Mikael Lindnord, played by Mark Wahlberg, who assembles a group of friends and endurance racers to participate in the world's most difficult endurance race, the "Adventure Racing World Championships". This race includes running, hiking, climbing, biking, and kayaking through the most difficult terrain in the Dominican Republic. I remember thinking while watching this film, why anyone would ever want to risk their lives for a sporting event like this that requires a team of 4 extreme athletes to trek through 435 miles of mountains and jungle in 10 days.
To participate in this race, Lindnord has to get corporate sponsorship and assemble a group of 3 other athletes, finally accepting only 50 thousand dollars to risk the lives of 4 people. I wondered how any person could make a living in a sport like this, with so little money involved with so much danger.
The majority of the movie is about the preparation for the race and establishing the relationships between the other 3 participants, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, Simu Liu, and Ali Suliman - with the dog, making his first appearance with the group of athletes after the first 70% of this story. The dog, who the group named Arthur the King, is an abandoned stray in the city of Santo Domingo, who after hooking up with the team mid-way through the competition bonds with Mikael Lindnord and displays a level of intelligence that is unmatched by any dog I have seen portrayed in any movie. Somehow, this dog was able to follow the group of adventure racers through over 200 miles of jungle and mountains and managed to save several of their lives along the way.
Several highly emotional scenes between the dog and Mikael Lindnord are very well done, especially with an ending that is worth sitting through these 90 minutes. This is a story that is definitely for dog lovers and reminds all of us that there is so little we truly know about the intelligence of pets.
The Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 67% is once again, way off, with my rating a solid 85%.
This story follows the career of an Ironman athlete Mikael Lindnord, played by Mark Wahlberg, who assembles a group of friends and endurance racers to participate in the world's most difficult endurance race, the "Adventure Racing World Championships". This race includes running, hiking, climbing, biking, and kayaking through the most difficult terrain in the Dominican Republic. I remember thinking while watching this film, why anyone would ever want to risk their lives for a sporting event like this that requires a team of 4 extreme athletes to trek through 435 miles of mountains and jungle in 10 days.
To participate in this race, Lindnord has to get corporate sponsorship and assemble a group of 3 other athletes, finally accepting only 50 thousand dollars to risk the lives of 4 people. I wondered how any person could make a living in a sport like this, with so little money involved with so much danger.
The majority of the movie is about the preparation for the race and establishing the relationships between the other 3 participants, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, Simu Liu, and Ali Suliman - with the dog, making his first appearance with the group of athletes after the first 70% of this story. The dog, who the group named Arthur the King, is an abandoned stray in the city of Santo Domingo, who after hooking up with the team mid-way through the competition bonds with Mikael Lindnord and displays a level of intelligence that is unmatched by any dog I have seen portrayed in any movie. Somehow, this dog was able to follow the group of adventure racers through over 200 miles of jungle and mountains and managed to save several of their lives along the way.
Several highly emotional scenes between the dog and Mikael Lindnord are very well done, especially with an ending that is worth sitting through these 90 minutes. This is a story that is definitely for dog lovers and reminds all of us that there is so little we truly know about the intelligence of pets.
The Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 67% is once again, way off, with my rating a solid 85%.
Monday, March 11, 2024
Oscar Winners 2023
The good news is that, unlike last year when "Everything Everywhere All At Once" won for best picture, this year's horrendous and disgusting disaster "Poor Things" did not win best picture. The bad news is that Lily Gladstone did not win Best Actress for "Killers of the Flower Moon" which would have made her the first American Indian to win an Oscar. The Academy decided to give the Best Actress award to Emma Stone for Poor Things, and a performance that I thought after seeing this horrible production, an actress would be too embarrassed to accept any award, due to the series of insane and crazy scenes Stone portrayed in this film.
I was disappointed that Paul Giamatti did not win Best Actor, however, Oppenheimer was a stronger overall movie than Giamatti's "The Holdovers". Cillian Murphy was excellent in the lead role of Robert Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer won 7 Oscars, and most critics were expecting many more wins. My main problem with the movie was the non-stop background music throughout, even during many important dialogue scenes. Robert Downy Jr. won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, well deserved and long overdue.
Killers of the Flower Moon was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 0. This also happened with Martin Scorsese's 2019 movie, the Irishman. Scorsese has been nominated for 16 best director Oscars and has only won one for "The Departed", released in 2006. There is something very wrong with the voting members concerning Scorsese.
I thought that Kimmel was once again, OK as the host of the Oscars, and I think its time for a new host for next year.
Best picture
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"American Fiction"
"Anatomy of a Fall"
"Barbie"
"The Holdovers"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Maestro"
"Past Lives"
"Poor Things"
"The Zone of Interest"
Best supporting actress
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers" — Winner
Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer"
Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple"
America Ferrera, "Barbie"
Jodie Foster, "Nyad"
Best animated short film
"War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko" — Winner
"Letter to a Pig"
"Ninety-Five Senses"
"Our Uniform"
"Pachyderm"
Best animated feature film
"The Boy and the Heron" — Winner
"Elemental"
"Nimona"
"Robot Dreams"
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Best original screenplay
"Anatomy of a Fall" — Winner
"The Holdovers"
"Maestro"
"May December"
"Past Lives"
Best adapted screenplay
"American Fiction" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Oppenheimer"
"Poor Things"
"The Zone of Interest"
Best makeup and hairstyling
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Golda"
"Maestro"
"Oppenheimer"
"Society of the Snow"
Best production design
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Napoleon"
"Oppenheimer"
Best costume design
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Napoleon"
"Oppenheimer"
Best international feature film
"The Zone of Interest," United Kingdom — Winner
"Io Capitano," Italy
"Perfect Days," Japan
"Society of the Snow," Spain
"The Teachers' Lounge," Germany
Best supporting actor
Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction"
Robert De Niro, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Ryan Gosling, "Barbie"
Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"
Best visual effects
"Godzilla Minus One" — Winner
"The Creator"
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"
"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
"Napoleon"
Best film editing
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"Anatomy of a Fall"
"The Holdovers"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Poor Things"
Best documentary short film
"The Last Repair Shop" — Winner
"The ABCs of Book Banning"
"The Barber of Little Rock"
"Island in Between"
"Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó"
Best documentary feature film
"20 Days in Mariupol" — Winner
"Bobi Wine: The People's President"
"The Eternal Memory"
"Four Daughters"
"To Kill a Tiger"
Best Cinematography
"Oppenheimer" — Winner "El Conde"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Maestro"
"Poor Things"
Best live-action short film
"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" — Winner
"The After"
"Invincible"
"Knight of Fortune"
"Red, White and Blue"
Best sound
"The Zone of Interest" — Winner
"The Creator"
"Maestro"
"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
"Oppenheimer"
Best original score
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"American Fiction"
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Poor Things"
Best original song
"What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" — Winner
"It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"
"I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"
"The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"
"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best actor
Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Bradley Cooper, "Maestro"
Colman Domingo, "Rustin"
Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers"
Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"
Best director
Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"
Yorgos Lanthimos, "Poor Things"
Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall"
Best Actress
Emma Stone, "Poor Things" — Winner
Annette Bening, "Nyad"
Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall"
Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"
I was disappointed that Paul Giamatti did not win Best Actor, however, Oppenheimer was a stronger overall movie than Giamatti's "The Holdovers". Cillian Murphy was excellent in the lead role of Robert Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer won 7 Oscars, and most critics were expecting many more wins. My main problem with the movie was the non-stop background music throughout, even during many important dialogue scenes. Robert Downy Jr. won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, well deserved and long overdue.
Killers of the Flower Moon was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 0. This also happened with Martin Scorsese's 2019 movie, the Irishman. Scorsese has been nominated for 16 best director Oscars and has only won one for "The Departed", released in 2006. There is something very wrong with the voting members concerning Scorsese.
I thought that Kimmel was once again, OK as the host of the Oscars, and I think its time for a new host for next year.
Best picture
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"American Fiction"
"Anatomy of a Fall"
"Barbie"
"The Holdovers"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Maestro"
"Past Lives"
"Poor Things"
"The Zone of Interest"
Best supporting actress
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers" — Winner
Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer"
Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple"
America Ferrera, "Barbie"
Jodie Foster, "Nyad"
Best animated short film
"War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko" — Winner
"Letter to a Pig"
"Ninety-Five Senses"
"Our Uniform"
"Pachyderm"
Best animated feature film
"The Boy and the Heron" — Winner
"Elemental"
"Nimona"
"Robot Dreams"
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Best original screenplay
"Anatomy of a Fall" — Winner
"The Holdovers"
"Maestro"
"May December"
"Past Lives"
Best adapted screenplay
"American Fiction" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Oppenheimer"
"Poor Things"
"The Zone of Interest"
Best makeup and hairstyling
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Golda"
"Maestro"
"Oppenheimer"
"Society of the Snow"
Best production design
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Napoleon"
"Oppenheimer"
Best costume design
"Poor Things" — Winner
"Barbie"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Napoleon"
"Oppenheimer"
Best international feature film
"The Zone of Interest," United Kingdom — Winner
"Io Capitano," Italy
"Perfect Days," Japan
"Society of the Snow," Spain
"The Teachers' Lounge," Germany
Best supporting actor
Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction"
Robert De Niro, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Ryan Gosling, "Barbie"
Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"
Best visual effects
"Godzilla Minus One" — Winner
"The Creator"
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"
"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
"Napoleon"
Best film editing
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"Anatomy of a Fall"
"The Holdovers"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Poor Things"
Best documentary short film
"The Last Repair Shop" — Winner
"The ABCs of Book Banning"
"The Barber of Little Rock"
"Island in Between"
"Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó"
Best documentary feature film
"20 Days in Mariupol" — Winner
"Bobi Wine: The People's President"
"The Eternal Memory"
"Four Daughters"
"To Kill a Tiger"
Best Cinematography
"Oppenheimer" — Winner "El Conde"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Maestro"
"Poor Things"
Best live-action short film
"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" — Winner
"The After"
"Invincible"
"Knight of Fortune"
"Red, White and Blue"
Best sound
"The Zone of Interest" — Winner
"The Creator"
"Maestro"
"Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One"
"Oppenheimer"
Best original score
"Oppenheimer" — Winner
"American Fiction"
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
"Poor Things"
Best original song
"What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" — Winner
"It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"
"I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"
"The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"
"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best actor
Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Bradley Cooper, "Maestro"
Colman Domingo, "Rustin"
Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers"
Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"
Best director
Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer" — Winner
Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"
Yorgos Lanthimos, "Poor Things"
Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall"
Best Actress
Emma Stone, "Poor Things" — Winner
Annette Bening, "Nyad"
Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall"
Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"
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