thefirstcut

Amanda Seyfried in You Can See Everything is SO BADASS. First off, thank you to Amanda Seyfried for joining this project. There are so many actors who have played questionable tech founders who probably wouldn’t reprise their role (case in point, Jesse Eisenberg). What was interesting to me was the two layers of analysis that took place: Nathan Fielder was studying Elizabeth Holmes (to understand her) while Amanda Seyfried was studying Nathan Fielder (to understand his biases). Though, Seyfried of course tried to understand Holmes as well. Seyfried also served as the voice of the audience. She was saying exactly what the audience was thinking—which felt cathartic and quite frankly a relief. I have so many more thoughts on the film itself, but since my original tweet blew up, I thought Seyfried deserved my follow up thoughts.

This one hurts. Rest in Peace to the iconic and talented Patrick Stewart. An absolute legend in his own right.

The film that made Léa Seydoux a star:

This is the masterpiece you receive when a 8-time Oscar nominee (Glenn Close) and 1-time Oscar nominee (Jonathan Pryce) give it their all on screen:

The moment Anthony Hopkins won his second Oscar:

Olivia Coleman must host the Oscars. She’s undeniably funny, charming and can command a room. She’s not your standard comedian, but I think this can be an interesting angle.

One of the greatest line deliveries ever put on film:

Daniel Craig is without a doubt the James Bond with the most game.

Episode 9 (Season 2) of Dark Matter gave us an absolute masterclass on how to close out the penultimate episode of the season.

10 years ago, War Dogs was released.

You Can See Everything (5⭐️s) is Nathan Fielder’s pièce de résistance.

Now Watching.

Street Fighter (2⭐️s) is not a movie you’re meant to over analyze. You sit back and enjoy the ride. I’m a 90’s baby, so I grew up playing Street Fighter in any arcade I could find with the quarters my parents were willing to hand over. It’s nostalgic. That said, that doesn’t mean the movie doesn’t have its faults. I enjoyed the movie because it imbued backstory (the origin of Ryu’s intentions), the flashbacks in animation were a nice touch, and some of the quips of humor landed. But the editing was choppy and the fight scenes were hit or miss. The plot was also all over the place. But as a Street Fighter fan, maybe that doesn’t matter. Street Fighter lived up to its name. You wanted a fight, you got it.

My hot take is that villains always have more interesting backstories than heroes. Clayface (4⭐️s) supports my conclusion. A Gotham crimeboss disfigures Matt Hagen at the peak of his Hollywood career. He turns to experimental treatment to restore his face, but it erodes his grip on reality, sending him down a path for revenge. First, the body horror goes there. There were multiple times during the movie I had to cover my eyes because it was uncomfortable to watch. Some scenes were so disturbing I was surprised it was a DC film. With that said, I was excited at the direction DC seems to be going. Give me the gritty and the disturbing. It was a slow burn that paid off with a third act that can only be described as 10/10. Clayface is not an anti-hero or redemption story. It’s a story about a villain being a villain.

Pitt and Blanchett: Babel and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I mean, Samuel L. Jackson can literally teach a masterclass on line delivery alone.

Samuel L. Jackson arguably has the best body of work.

The best Pixar movie:

“Thanks for the adventure, now go have a new one”

I am not sold on VisionQuest yet. The first two episodes set up a plot centered on a father/son relationship, which is new for Marvel. But I think I'm a little . . . bored?! WandaVision and Agatha All Along had such powerhouse leads in Elizabeth Olsen and Kathryn Hahn. So far, the only actor I've been excited about is James Spader, whose Ultron is a sharp, welcome contrast to the rest of the characters. I'm still invested, and I'll keep watching, but I'm hoping Marvel pulls something out of its hat for the rest of the season. The foundation is there; it just needs a spark.