Challengers (2024)

Challengers is a tennis drama and love triangle.

I knew the film was going to hit on LGBTQ themes just based on who the director was, Luca Guadagnino. You'll know him from Call Me By Your Name. There's nothing wrong with his editing and camera choices but I would have reshot some scenes with Zendaya.

Zendaya, despite the poster, is frowning pretty much the entire film. She's supposed to be a former tennis player, mother, and wife, but she acts like a spoiled brat. I don't believe the director intended her to be disliked at the beginning as the film makes her out to be the victim of circumstance and patriarchy.

Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor play the two men in the love triangle. It's not your traditional love triangle. They have a hard time selling being attracted to her but easily sell that they're attracted to each other.

The score was distracting and the writing was erotic fantasy with a super drawn-out ending. The film doesn't understand tennis and has a warped sense of modern-day dating. Result: D

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Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Joker: Folie à Deux is a comic book musical and sequel to the stand-out hit Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix . I truly believe that Todd Phillips is trolling the comic book community with this film. It's weird, unwatchable at times, and nowhere near the first film. Even standing on its own without having the film be even considered a sequel it fails. It almost feels like WB was just paying him to make a sequel. Joaquin Phoneix doesn't phone it in. He just does what he's supposed to do and delivers a performance. He and Lady Gaga are really the only saving grace. While her rendition of Harly Quinn is nowhere near what was expected for a Joker film she still had a memorable but trying performance. Characters you forgot about come back and a few new ones that don't leave any impact other than to just be there and in the film. You see Harvey Dent but there's nothing to his character, partly at fault for hiring a no-name actor in Harry Lawtey who should stay on TV an

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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Avatar: The Way of Water is the followup to James Cameron's original box office winner Avatar. Continuing Jake Sully's story, now protecting his family from Colonel Miles Quaritch again. Written and directed by James Cameron . The worst parts of the writing probably came from the writers of Mulan, both Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. In terms of direction, there was the expectation that Cameron would recreate some sort of magic of Avatar, Terminator 2, or even Aliens. I think Cameron gave the skeleton of the story and Jaffa and Silver added their own dialogue and beats. Cameron doesn't really write boring movies and I was bored through parts of the film. 3 hours and 12 minutes is a long time to have amazing dialogue and writing. Sam Worthington is back but you don't recognize him since he was barely in the first film except in his avatar form. Most people don't know Worthington. Maybe if you played the Call of Duty Black Ops games as he played Alex Mason. I most

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