This movie was ok (it wasn't boring nor was it very entertaining). At first I didn't understand the point it was trying to make. Was it you can shortcut your way to your dreams if you lie, cheat, and steal (as that was exactly what she did)? It wasn't about the pressures of class division (as a review I read states), as no one treated her as any differently regardless of her social status and any division she felt was just in her head. Her anxiety against her parents, the school, and the upper class of her school turned out to be non-issues, and when she got to where or what she wants, she just finds that the grass never gets greener for her once she was on the other side. In fact, she just becomes resented by those she abandons to get there and ultimately ends up longing for the side she left. If anything the movie was saying that those who are rich aren't as unexclusive as those without think, and they are just like everyone else. Just as the main protagonist was rebelling against her life to gain acceptance, so were the kids of the rich in that they are also just seeking acceptance. That doing anything to get your dreams won't lead to satisfaction as life on the other side isn't any better, you just end up hurting others by getting there that way, and in hindsight blinded you from what you already had. I guess the movie had something to say after all. ★★½ - Not dull, nor was it very entertaining.
I think _Lady Bird_ is my film for 2017 where me and everyone else on the planet just straight up do not see eye to eye. At no point during _Lady Bird_ did I feel drawn in. I genuinely did not enjoy my time with Greta Gerwig's directorial debut. I haven't come across a single other person who feels the same, but I must be honest to my experience. Normally this is where I would say something along the lines of, "It's just because this isn't my sort of movie" except that last year _Edge of Seventeen_ dealt with virtually identical subject matter and that was one of my favourite movies of the year. So I'm just wrong I guess? _Final rating:★½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid where possible._
This is one of my absolute favourite movies of all time. I understand why some might give it low ratings as it is directed at a very specific white female audience but all I have to say to that is "they didn't understand it". This is the ultimate comfort movie for me and I will take no criticism.
Full review: https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/attention-attention-attention-lady-bird-review The opening image of writer/director Greta Gerwig’s impressive debut, _Lady Bird_, is of Marion (Laurie Metcalf) and Christine (Saoirse Ronan) asleep together in a hotel bed. Their faces are close, like mirrored images of each other. Not only do they look alike, they are two sides of the same coin. It’s why they get along so well and why they can wound each other so deeply. This mother-daughter relationship is the crux of the story Lady Bird tells. The movie chronicles Lady Bird’s (as Christine insists on being called) last year of high school in Sacramento. She can’t wait to leave, and is hoping to graduate and attend an East Coast liberal arts school. She’s looking for culture, and Sacramento has probably been in her rearview mirror for as long as she’s been alive.
_Lady Bird_ is a fantastic coming of age story that is a lot deeper than its contemporaries in the genre. It deals with more than just boys and self-discovery, but familiar past, the complex relationships between parents, and the deep understanding that home is comfort no matter how terrible it may seem in the moment. It is all crafted so well that the experience is instantly relatable allowing many viewers to resonate with her. Despite this movie being a tad overhyped by many critics, it is still a brilliant film that is easy to watch and can somehow make me laugh and cry at the same time. **Score:** _90%_ | **Verdict:** _Excellent_
Garden variety coming of age films are so prevalent that it’s all the more refreshing when something truly personal and original like “Lady Bird” comes along. The small scale intimacy of the story about a teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood in Sacramento feels raw and real, its cozy focus creating a universal anecdote that relives (with bittersweet affection) a part of life that’s filled with constantly fluctuating highs and lows. This is exactly the type of indie filmmaking that we need more of, and the awkwardly charming Greta Gerwig has hit a home run with her equally awkwardly charming directorial debut. The film gives an unromantic glimpse into middle class life in 2002, where we meet Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan), her recently laid off and depressed dad (Tracy Letts), and her hardworking, steadfast mom (Laurie Metcalf). The film is perfectly cast, with Ronan and Metcalf being the real standouts (the two are at their best when pushed into blow-up clashes between mother and daughter, an emotional tug of war between a teen impatient to break away from a hometown that’s beneath her and a mother so desperately hanging on that she’s unable to express her love and disappointment). It’s apparent the actors felt emotionally connected to the material while on set, and their performances bring a biting honesty and empathy to the family dynamics of Gerwig’s screenplay. Gerwig has said the film is semi-autobiographical and she writes with an authentic voice, taking great care with her story (a story told with the hindsight of being a grown up). She brings a confident wisdom, an earnest insight, and a fresh voice through a witty and bright script that mirrors her true-to-life, free spirited personality. It’s as if the film exists within its own glowing aura. With Gerwig at the helm, the film has a particular hipster quirkiness written all over it, yet its sunny disposition and sharp humor is abundant with sincerity and avoids falling into the trap of being overly cynical or jaded. The film is so observant that I could totally and wholly relate to our adolescent heroine through a realism that instantly transported me to the past. While I grew up in a different decade, some of the situations seemed like actual pages ripped out of my own high school experience. There are plenty of moments in a teenage girl’s life where the trivial becomes momentous and the momentous becomes devastating, and they are presented here with a poignant and compassionate vibrancy that I’ve rarely seen so accurately captured on film.
Saoirse Ronan is "Christine McPherson" (aka "LadyBird"). In the final year of her high school life, she has to deal with all of the conflicting influences as her adulthood - and future - looms. She has a strong relationship with her father; a more torrid one with her mother - and generally resents what she perceives to be her family's rather hand-to-mouth existence in Sacramento. It's a tale of her emotional development, her boyfriends (Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet) and of her journey to adulthood that is at times poignant, at times self-indulgent but unfortunately, for me anyway, pretty disengaging. Her character is selfish and thoughtless - although not unsophisticated. Like many a story of our adolescence, it is fascinating for those it effects but is little more than dreary hormonal stuff for observers. This is the latter, I'm afraid, with plenty of well trodden clichés to make 94 minutes seem quite a lot longer... Not for me, I'm afraid.
**_Saoirse Ronan coming-of-age at a Catholic school in Sacramento_** During her senior year in 2002-2003, a girl from “the wrong side of the tracks” (Saoirse) takes on the struggles of a challenging mother, friendships, romance and a school play, as well as the pursuit of “culture” and a college education in the East. "Lady Bird" (2017) was somewhat based on the writer/director’s experiences growing up in Sacramento. She went on to fame with her 2023 hit “Barbie.” This is the first movie I’ve seen of hers and she’s a proficient writer & filmmaker, but her style turns me off somehow. It’s not just the few digs at wise Conservativism, but the overall writing and filmmaking, which failed to draw me into the characters and their experiences. Her style just isn’t my thang, speaking as someone who appreciates compelling coming-of-age flicks, including artistic ones, like “Clueless,” “The Man in the Moon,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Little Darlings,” “The Virgin Suicides,” “Footloose,” “The Way Way Back” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” Even spare-change Indies, like “Everlasting Love” and “Colossal Youth,” are all-around superior entertainments. The similar “Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael” had its issues, but it’s a masterpiece compared to this. I’m not saying “Lady Bird” doesn’t have its artistic appeal but, by the last act, I can honestly say I hated it. Odeya Rush as Jenna is one of the few highlights, along with Timothée Chalamet as the cool dude. The film runs 1 hours, 34 minutes, and was shot in Sacramento, areas of SoCal and Manhattan. GRADE: D+
Book superstore magnate, Joe Fox and independent book shop owner, Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet—both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.
Movie Star Rating : 6.7 Read More
Three lovable party buds try to bail their friend out of jail. But just when the guys have mastered a plan, everything comes dangerously close to going up in smoke.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
Mollie is a single working mother who's out to find the perfect father for her child. Her baby, Mikey, prefers James, a cab driver turned babysitter who has what it takes to make them both happy. But Mollie won't even consider James. It's going to take all the tricks a baby can think of to bring them together before it's too late.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
Alma, petrified, does not know how to react when her son, age 8, wants to dress as a fairy and go to school. She asks advice from her neighbor, and eventually the entire building debates his right to behave cross-gender.
Movie Star Rating : 0 Read More
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Movie Star Rating : 7.5 Read More
Haley is a naturally gifted athlete but, with her social behavior, the teen seems intent on squandering her abilities. After a final brush with the law, a judge sentences her to an elite gymnastics academy run by a legendary, hard-nosed coach. Once there, Haley's rebellious attitude wins her both friends and enemies.
Movie Star Rating : 6.8 Read More
Two wealthy sisters, both heiresses to their family's cosmetics fortune, are given a wake-up call when a scandal and ensuing investigation strip them of their wealth.
Movie Star Rating : 5.3 Read More
Selma's mother died giving birth to her, and Selma's step aunt is living proof that men only cause trouble. So the 11 year old girl makes a deal with her best friends that they will stay away from boys and dedicate their lives to science. And by the way, Selma was probably born on another planet and not meant to fall in love with anyone. But what happens when her friends break the pact, and she actually meets a boy who's not like the rest?
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
A successful, womanizing middle-aged man decides to move out of the house he shares with his wife after she confesses to having an affair. He looks for a new place to live and ends up moving into his wife's lover's apartment as a roommate. The husband begins to take an interest in the artistic work of the lover and coaches him for a big job interview. Little does he know that the job he's helping the lover to get is within his own company... A story about strange circumstances and the limits of friendship.
Movie Star Rating : 6.1 Read More
The life of 20-year-old Nico from upper class Zurich is all party, sex and drugs when she meets Paco, the front man of a rap band. She finds herself drawn to his independent, creative and profound way of life, so different from her own. With naiveté and infinite self-confidence, she tries to adopt his lifestyle - without anticipating the consequences.
Movie Star Rating : 5.8 Read More
Bad Hombres 2024 - Movies (Apr 17th)
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire 2024 - Movies (Apr 17th)
Immaculate 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
An American Bombing The Road to April 19th 2024 - Movies (Apr 17th)
Red Island 2023 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Eddie Murphy Hollywoods Black King 2023 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Himalaya 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Dune Part Two 2024 - Movies (Apr 14th)
The Deadly Swarm 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Jimmy Carr Natural Born Killer 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Brain Tumor 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Sweet Dreams 2024 - Movies (Apr 16th)
Roommate Regret 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
Killer Fortune Teller 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
Pure O 2023 - Movies (Apr 15th)
LaRoy Texas 2023 - Movies (Apr 15th)
Brian Simpson Live from the Mothership 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
Model House 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
The Long Game 2023 - Movies (Apr 15th)
Sting 2024 - Movies (Apr 15th)
The Kelly Clarkson Show - (Apr 17th)
The Bold and the Beautiful - (Apr 17th)
Drama Queens Drama - (Apr 17th)
Tipping Point Australia - (Apr 17th)
Star Wars- The Bad Batch - (Apr 17th)
X-Men 97 - (Apr 17th)
Grand Cayman- Secrets in Paradise - (Apr 17th)
The Curse of Oak Island - (Apr 17th)
Neighborhood Wars - (Apr 17th)
The Challenge- All Stars - (Apr 17th)
Lopez vs Lopez - (Apr 16th)
Tucker on X - (Apr 17th)
Fixer to Fabulous Italiano - (Apr 17th)
Moonshiners - (Apr 17th)
FBI- Most Wanted - (Apr 16th)
Saving Lives at Sea - (Apr 16th)
Big Little Crimes - (Apr 16th)
Police Interceptors- Pursuit and Capture - (Apr 16th)
The Chase - (Apr 16th)
CMT Music Awards - (Apr 16th)