MOVIE: Barbie (2023)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Barbie Year: 2023 Rating: PG-13 Length: 114 minutes / 1.90 hours I’ll admit that the only reason I watched Barbie (2023) was because Greta Gerwig directed it. I loved her style in Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019). Going into Barbie, I was prepared for a full commentary on feminism, especially through the lens of the “perfect woman” that so many girls grew up with. And while the casting was flawless, there still felt like moments where Barbie could have gone deeper with the subject matter but declined due to pressure from Mattel. Its writing was smart and snappy, but it’s also a movie about a beloved childhood toy. Of course, a lot of Barbie wouldn’t work if the cast was different. Margot Robbie is the epitome of the classic Barbie look. Ryan Gosling gnaws on the scenery and almost steals the show (thus enforcing the patriarchy, ironically enough). Other standout performances go to Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, and America Ferrera. That there are...
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MOVIE: Babylon (2022)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Babylon Year: 2022 Rating: R Length: 189 minutes / 3.15 hours If there’s one thing in common with Damien Chazelle’s films, it’s how they center on the sacrifices people endure to pursue their dreams. Whiplash (2014) focused on the physical limits someone might endure to become a successful drummer. La La Land (2016) highlighted how relationships and careers might need to take a second seat to pursuing a dream. First Man (2018) showed how a family might suffer to pursue something greater. Following this trend, Babylon (2022) gives light to the inability of some who have attained their dream—sometimes at great personal cost—to keep it in an ever-changing world. I can succinctly state the problem with Babylon as “I didn’t need to see that.” Clocking in at over three hours long, there were plenty of storylines that could have been cut. For instance, we’ve already seen Brad Pitt’s story of a famed silent film star struggling to find relevance in the talkies through the Best...
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MOVIE: Amsterdam (2022)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Amsterdam Year: 2022 Rating: R Length: 134 minutes / 2.23 hours Ever since I saw Silver Linings Playbook (2012), it convinced me that David O. Russell's films were good. When American Hustle (2013) and Joy (2015) didn't quite live up to my expectations, I figured it was a fluke. They were OK movies, just not to the caliber I had expected. I was cautiously optimistic about Amsterdam (2022) since it advertised such an all-star cast. Then again, the other movies also had all-star casts as well. Let's just say that this movie was probably my third strike against seeing any more David O. Russell films. Now, don't get me wrong—the acting in Amsterdam was great. These interesting characters were fun to watch, and it's clear that Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington are all talented actors (along with the many other actors involved, which would take too much space to list them all). The angle of injured military veterans was another element that...
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MOVIE: Birds of Prey (2020)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) Year: 2020 Rating: R Length: 109 minutes / 1.82 hours I will admit: Margot Robbie is perfectly cast as Harley Quinn. The fact that she even got her own movie after her debut in Suicide Squad (2016) is a testament to this. That being said, she's a bit of a shallow character past being "Joker's girlfriend." Look no further than Birds of Prey (2020) to see what I mean. If it were truly a Harley Quinn standalone film, it wouldn't have needed the sub-plots of a handful of other characters to make the running time long enough. As it stands, Birds of Prey is meant as a sort of "origin story" for this titular team of female heroes. The fact that it needed Harley Quinn to make it marketable is a bit of a disappointment in the ability of the writers to create a story that would give these women agency without resorting to...
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