cinemapersonified

Rating - 8.9: Overall, Josh Safdie shows why he is one of the best directors in Hollywood as he works with Timothée Chalamet to create a thrill ride that takes you on an anxiety-filled adventure across both NYC and the world as you follow Marty Mauser's pursuit of greatness, showing both its benefits and its sacrifices; while Josh Safdie executes this movie well on so many levels, it is held back by its middle section dragging because the side quests, while necessary, really take away from the focus of the movie.

Direction - Great: The macroscale is built similarly to 'Uncut Gems' as it is great at building this high-anxiety environment that encapsulates Marty Mauser's pursuit of greatness at all costs; The direction on a microscale is great as Safdie gets the most out of his actors to build high-intensity interpersonal scenes that move the story forward and keep you engaged; The fact that Safdie continues to get the most out of non-actors shows not only the excellence in casting but his ability to get the most out of the people he is working with; The storytelling is very good as it creates an anxiety-thrilling epic across both NYC and the world as we see Marty test his limits in pursuit of greatness; He builds tension perfectly as he creates a tonally similar movie to 'Uncut Gems' with how anxiety-inducing it is

Story - Good to Very Good: The concept is a loose biopic about a young, cocky table tennis player who is in pursuit of greatness as he goes across the world to survive and be the best possible version of himself; The plot structure is an epic as we go across both NYC and the world as Marty does whatever it takes to become the greatest ping-pong player; This epic structure works for the most part, but the side quests in the middle hour of the movie do drag down the film; The character writing for Marty Mauser is so infectious that it inspires you to be something bigger than yourself

Screenplay - Very Good: The dialogue is so fast-paced and anxiety-inducing that it fuels the adrenaline rush of the movie; The humor makes this movie funny and helps make the overall experience entertaining despite how anxiety-inducing it is; The symbolism is strong as building Marty Mauser's identity makes you leave the movie both inspired to pursue greatness while simultaneously showing you what it means to be content and have enough; The foreshadowing is strong and helps give the movie a sense of closure, which is something previous Safdie movies lacked

Acting - Very Good: Timothée Chalamet - Great (The biggest reason why this movie works because he IS Marty Supreme. The way he fights to show he is the best in his profession, and is so obsessed with greatness that he will stop at nothing to achieve his dream, is captivating; All the other performances work through him, as he is the reason everyone delivers an elevated performance in this movie), Gwyneth Paltrow - Good to Very Good (While her role is minor, she her presence is known on screen as she shows her experience as an actress and has this dynamic with Chalamet that works very well for this movie and their respective characters), Odessa A'zion - Good to Very Good (Give a bigger role and makes the most out of his as she shows range and has very good chemistry with Chalamet, helping him in this con-filled adventure), Kevin O'Leary - Very Good (basically plays his real-life persona, but it works so well because his dynamic with Chalamet makes him both a beneficiary of and an antagonist to Marty Mauser; also, it would be very funny if he started getting nominated for this performance.), Tyler Okonma - Good to Very Good (Basically plays Tyler, The Creator, but it works so well for his character as his chemistry with Chalamet really makes his scenes), Abel Ferrara - Good (Plays his character well), Fran Drescher - Good (Has good chemistry with Chalamet as she plays this mother-son dynamic well), Rest of the cast - Good (Josh Safdie continues to show why he's one of the best directors in Hollywood as he gets so much out of his actors and is able to get career best performances from non-actors; everyone in this cast works well to help tell the story and make this an anxiety-filled adventure)

Score - Very Good: The score sets the tone by creating an anxiety rush that keeps you locked into the chaos

Soundtrack - Very Good: The soundtrack is an extension of the score, helping to tell the story and set the emotions of the scene

Cinematography - Very Good: The fast cuts and different camera angles feel well-executed as they aid the fast-paced nature of the movie, helping create an adrenaline rush that keeps you on the edge of your seat; The use of film is visible, as the grain adds a sense of grit and rawness to the story

Editing - Very Good: The editing is an extension of the cinematography as its fast edits feel well-executed, aiding in the fast-paced nature of the movie and helping create an adrenaline rush that keeps you on the edge of your seat

Sound - Very Good: The sound helps pump up the anxiety and tension throughout the movie as it is a key factor that keeps your heart pumping and makes you lean to the edge of your seat

Production Design - Good: The production design helps create New York as a character as the raw grit aids Marty's pursuit of greatness; The shots outside of New York help show how Marty will go around the world to pursue his dreams, helping amplify the stakes in the climax with how foreign the world is to him

Costumes - Good: The costumes help date the movie and create some iconic outfits for Marty and the other characters

Pacing - The pacing is incredibly fast like 'Uncut Gems' to mimic the high intensity of Marty's pursuit of greatness, but the movie does feel a bit slow in the middle when it drags with these side quests

Climax - The climax is very well-executed as it feels like a pinnacle for the rush you go on with Marty as he tries to prove to both the world and himself what he is capable of doing; The ending feels satisfying and helps show the importance of being content in life

Tone - The tone is similar to 'Uncut Gems' as the high-paced, anxiety-inducing rush throughout the movie invokes feelings I felt from the last Safdie brothers film.

Rating - 5.9: Overall, this movie is only worth watching for the visuals and technical aspects since there is nothing memorable about the conflict, story, or characters, making Avatar: Fire & Ash feel like a boring Way of Water DLC.

Direction - Decent: The direction on a macroscale is great, as Cameron shows why he is a visionary on a grand scale by creating this beautiful world of Pandora, filled with both nature and violence; The direction on a microscale is bad, as you do not care about any of these characters, their relationships, or the story because everything is just so generic; The storytelling is bad because you do not care about anything that is going on, as there really isn't a new conflict in this movie, making Fire & Ash feel like a Way of Water DLC; The movie builds tension poorly because you do not feel emotionally invested in these characters, so you do not really care about them

Story - Bad: The concept is basically a Way of Water DLC because nothing new is introduced in this movie, making it feel like there is no conflict introduced; The plot structure is bad, as this movie is an hour longer than it needs to be, making many parts of this movie feel boring and useless; Character writing is bad because none of these characters are memorable, making it hard to feel invested in the story

Screenplay - Bad: The dialogue is generic and uninteresting; The symbolism is the same anti-capitalist, respect Mother Nature message that the other two movies have; The foreshadowing makes this movie too predictable

Acting - Pretty Bad to Decent Rest of the cast - Pretty Bad to Decent (None of the performances in this movie are memorable; the cast has decent chemistry, but you don't really care about any of their relationships to make their performances memorable)

Score - Good: It uses themes from the previous movie to make this feel like part of the franchise; It helps with setting the tone

Cinematography - Great: The movie is incredibly shot, as it shows the beauty of Pandora and the adventure we go on with these characters

Editing - Good: It feels like a box office production, as it is tightly edited

Sound - Great: It helps make this movie feel like a blockbuster with how it uses its sound to complement the visuals

Visual Effects - Incredible: It uses its almost $400 million budget to help beautifully animate this world through CGI, as the visuals are the only reason anyone should go see the Avatar movies; Also, CGI helps animate the production design, costumes, and makeup for this movie, as everything is done through computer graphics

Pacing - Pacing is unbearably slow, as this movie does not need to be 3.25 hours long; They could have cut one hour to save this movie because it gets so boring at moments

Climax - The climax is not worth it because you are just so exhausted from watching more than 2.5 hours to care about what goes on, and even then, the climax is just too formulaic and predictable

Tone - The tone is like the other Avatar movies, a CGI sci-fi adventure.

Rating - 6.9: Overall, "This Is Spinal Tap" is instrumental in helping popularize the mockumentary, as Rob Reiner is able to captivate us with a fake documentary about a fake band, but it is just way too short to have a cohesive plot.

Direction - Decent to Pretty Good: The direction feels like a low-budget mockumentary that makes fun of the absurd lifestyle of rock stars who hate to admit they are past their prime

Story - Pretty Good: The concept is a mockumentary about a group of rock stars past their prime, with the whole movie making fun of how dumb and out of touch they are; The plot structure is really short, as this movie is only 80 minutes and feels very rushed in the final 30; Character writing is pretty good, as it creates all of these characters as dunces and gives them some personality that makes you wonder if they are based on anyone in real life; This concept of the mockumentary helped pioneer the genre and made this movie iconic because you really think it is based on a real band

Screenplay - Decent to Pretty Good: The dialogue is filled with dumb humor, as it shows how stupid these rock stars are; The movie is filled with iconic quotes and jokes that make this movie memorable, as it is able to stand over 40 years later

Acting - Pretty Good Rest of the cast - Decent to Pretty Good (Everyone in the cast plays their role well in helping show how out of touch and dumb these rock stars are from the rest of society; the chemistry in the cast is pretty good and this helps with the comedy)

Soundtrack - Pretty Good: It makes you wonder if Spinal Tap is a real band, as it is integral to helping tell the story

Cinematography - Pretty Good: The concert shots feel like they were taken from live performances from the 70s and 80s, as they feel like something Led Zeppelin would put out; The handycam shots are integral to making this movie feel like a mockumentary

Editing - Pretty Good: It helps make the movie feel like a mockumentary about a rock band

Sound - Decent to Pretty Good: It is very 80s; It helps mix in the rock moments

Visual Effects - Decent to Pretty Good: It is very 80s and helps with the comedy, especially the spontaneous combustion

Production Design - Decent to Pretty Good: The stage set pieces are integral to the comedy and help show how everything is going wrong for the band

Makeup - Decent to Pretty Good: It makes the characters feel like rock stars from the 80s

Costumes - Decent to Pretty Good: It makes the characters feel like rock stars from the 80s

Pacing - Pacing is incredibly fast, as this movie is only 80 minutes long when it should be at least 90 minutes

Climax - The climax is very rushed but gets the job done

Tone - The tone is very much a mockumentary about a fake rock band that has fallen into irrelevance; This movie helped pioneer how the mockumentary was told, and a big part of that was its tone.