Scattered Frames: Buyin’ some mud for her on Spring Break
Hello friends! Welcome to the third edition of Scattered Frames. I’m still catching up with this year’s top award contenders. Here’s what I thought about four of them.
Her: While I loved the kooky yet believable world Spike Jonze created to set his romance in, and despite some lines of great dialog in his screenplay, I found this movie to be quite dull. It’s possible that the type of relationship like the one Theodore and Samantha have could become normal in our society and similar ones are probably happening right now, but I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to actually buy it. Also, when she started to get all needy and insecure, I wondered “what’s the freakin’ point?” 3/5
Spring Breakers: This film has style to spare and is suitably entertaining, but even something as visually and aurally intoxicating as this can get a little repetitive. James Franco’s portrayal of gangsta rapper Alien never went far past caricature, but that didn’t bother me a lot as my eyes were fixed upon Vanessa Hudgens. 3/5
Mud: Definitely one of the most underrated films from earlier in the year, Mud is a very solid drama, albeit a little long for a relatively simple story. Young Tye Sheridan and the biggest actor right now, Matthew McConaughey, render stellar performances in this engrossing Southern thriller, penned and directed by Jeff Nichols. 3.5/5
Dallas Buyers Club: Despite his character being seriously under-developed, Jared Leto impresses as Rayon. I still don’t know if I support the avalanche of awards he’s gotten so far, though. But make no mistake, Matthew McConaughey absolutely owns this movie and gives a riveting performance as survivor and entrepreneur Ron Woodroof. His work is stunning but it could’ve been much more poignant were it not inside a film that’s so straightforward it’s actually kinda flat. 3.5/5
I love the brevity!
I probably like Her, Mud and Dallas Buyer’s Club a touch more than you. And, oddly, Spring Breakers much less than you.
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Thank you. And yeah, that’s how I felt. Everybody seems to like those three more than me and I think I enjoyed Spring Breakers more than most.
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Aw, it’s a shame you didn’t love Her as much as I did…. Still, glad you finally saw these flicks!!
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FINALLY! Someone besides me who didn’t just love “Her”! I really thought I was the only one. LOL!
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Glad to see there’s more people in the club. I didn’t hate it but I certainly didn’t love it!
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Great thoughts Fernando. I absolutely loved Her. Much more than I was expecting to. I think I thought it was going to be quite dull like you found it. For me, I didn’t really have to suspend relief, cause I found the sci-fi world really grounded in reality.
Am liking these Scattered Frames posts of yours man.
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Yeah, I found everything very well grounded in reality, except for the relationship, which I think I never could quite wrap my head around. Glad you liked it, though.
And thanks! I’ll keep ’em coming 🙂
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I’ve only seen Mud from these but I loved that one, thought it was fantastic. We don’t get Her until next week but really looking forward to that one. Nice reviews man.
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Thank you. Hope you like ‘Her’. And I enjoyed Mud, but it didn’t completely wow me. Maybe if it’d been a bit shorter?
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We seem to agree on Dallas Buyers Club. It was seriously lacking on the screenplay, which is likely why you call it “flat” and note Leto as “under-developed.”
As for Mud, we’re in agreement too, but I thought it was rather overrated, not under. 98% on Rotten Tomatoes? Come on now. I’d also be curious about what comparisons you drew between Mud and Huck Finn (if you’ve read it). Nichols says Mark Twain inspires him.
I enjoyed Spring Breakers quite a lot more than you. I mean, yeah, Franco comes off as caricature, but Jesus what an awesome performance. And yes, I can see where it comes off as repetitive, esp. near the end, but I was just…along for the ride, I guess you could say.
As for Her…yours is the most negative review I’ve read so far!! I’ve seen this placed as #1 on people’s end of the year lists, far more frequently than any of the other Best Picture nominees. I actually think the insecurity sounds like a neat climactic shift in the movie, but you mention it as dull, and I’ve never seen the movie, so I shouldn’t speak. And I should just, you know, go see it, maybe with lowered expectations.
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Yep, DBC definitely has a weak screenplay.
And now that you put it that way, it really is OVERrated! Didn’t know that was its score at RT. And no, I haven’t read that one but I’ve seen many people comparing both.
Glad you had fun with Spring Breakers. It is a fun movie but it started to get a bit tedious for mee towards the end. Can’t say I enjoyed Franco a lot; he was pretty (unintentionally) funny in that role, I’d say.
And yeah, everyone seems to love Her but I was bored and after a while I started really disliking Samantha.
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Great reviews. Still have to see Her. I think I liked Dallas Buyers Club quite a bit more than you did though.
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Thank you. Hpe you enjoy Her more than I did. And yeah, DBC just didn’t wow me as I thought it would.
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Nice mini reviews Fernando, I really like this feature! Bummer you’re not as keen on HER, seems like you have the same reaction as my boss even though he really wanted to love it. It’s funny but I didn’t find it boring at all, I must be in the right mood at the time 🙂
As for MUD, yes definitely one of the most underrated films from last year, that one even made my Top 10!
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Thanks, Ruth! Glad you like the feature.
Yeah, I remember you loving Her; guess I have to agree with your boss, haha! And who knows, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for that type of movie, like you say.
I also remember you liking Mud a lot. It was pretty good, I have to say, especially McConaughey and Sheridan.
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Yeah, I’m curious if HER would hold up as well on second viewing. I plan to rewatch it when it’s out on dvd as my hubby hasn’t seen it.
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Have fun! Let me know how you feel about it once you see it for a second time.
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