So I used to write little film reviews for fun on my Instagram when I first got a Cineworld unlimited card. After the past 2 years of barely any visits to my favourite place in the world, I’m determined to make the most out of it this year, and with plenty of big films slated to come out this year, I’m very excited! So if you want yet another bunch of reviews from an underqualified blog writer, you’re in the right place!
April Update: Hello again! This month has been wild as I swap jobs more than underwear it seems. So this month has been one of the most meagre with only 2 visits. If you missed the March’s edition, you can read that here, and don’t forget to check out my article on some of my favourite films from 2021!
The Lost City
Channing Tatum doing comedy? Check.
Sandra Bullock doing anything? Check.
Daniel Radcliffe taking on roles diametrically opposed to Harry Potter? Check.
Brad Pitt in a stunning cameo? Check
Jewel of the Nile vibes? Check.
So why… why did this fall flat?
Predictable writing, a trailer that served up everything, and a very tame execution.
The Lost City should have taken its hammy cliches and ran with them to the extreme. Failing to do so resulted in an agonisingly standard film that didn’t get the best out of any aspect (except maybe Pitt).
Given the premise and the cast, and the fact everyone involved knows it’s 2022, it should have been obvious that this calibre of film no longer cuts it. Everything has been done before. Perhaps dressed up uniquely, but that doesn’t hide the familiar frame below. So as the film went through the motions, the Lost City went from one of my most anticipated films of the year, to me wondering if this was the result of some contractual wrangling to satisfy a certain clause and avoid court. Yup. That’s how devoid this film felt of genuinity.
Bullock and Tatum do admirably with what they are given. But the fault in this film lies solely with the writing, which was so unimaginative that this film never stood a chance.
The Worst Person in the World
This was one of those films that I went to see because it would expand my horizons. And it did. It really captured an essential aspect of humanity; our whims. Renate Reinsve puts in an absolute star turn as a woman who shifts her needs and wants. She is not by any means a terrible person, but there is societal guilt placed on people who refuse to mould themselves permanently into a shape that it can define and ultimately control.
In the opening scene, Julie is determined to do medicine where her efforts will be justly rewarded. Until she realises that she is more interested in the mind than the body, and switches to psychology before realising she wants something else and switches to photography. This scene perfectly sums up many of our experiences. The pressure to understand oneself as early as possible and commit to that path. Julie on the other hand pursues her feelings and wants more freely, drawing at first awkward yet supporting glances from her mother to outright despair from her partners. In turn, she is forced to take on a burden that the ending never fully explores, because how can it?
It also delivered one of the single most existentially distraught lines of any film ever. When someone in the film is faced with the prospect of death, their legacy seems diminished. “I don’t want to be remembered. I just want to live in my flat”. Something about that scene in general really upset me.
I only realise I have much more to say about it than I thought. Definitely worth seeing, especially alone where no one else can force their opinion on you. Is Julie the worst? Are you?
Richard Mooney 