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Rental Family | Film Review

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  American actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser) takes an unusual gig with a Japanese agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. But he soon finds himself becoming too invested in his clients' lives, building relationships that blur the lines between personal and professional. I really liked this movie. The concept is really really interesting. I didn't quite get what it would be based on the description alone, but seeing the idea play out is fascinating, and I'd love to know if the job really exists. Brendan Fraser plays this character perfectly, and with complete authenticity. You become invested in the story so quickly because of this character, and how connected you feel to him. I really empathised with him and loved following him on this journey. But all of the actors are so great and play their parts so well. They have great chemistry, in particular, Fraser and Shannon Mahina Gorman, who plays Mia - their relationship was so special and powerful. One underrated thing that...
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Book Review: Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

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  When Win and Bo bond over their limb differences at a party, they don't expect things to go any further than a one night stand. But suddenly there are new challenges to face, and they have no choice but to get to know each other before their lives change forever. I'd heard really good things about this book. I really liked the premise, it seemed original, which is something that I particularly look for in romance books. I liked this book. One of the notes I wrote was that this was the quickest I'd liked a book so far this year and that's true, I was locked in almost instantly and my interest never waned. Though at the beginning, as much as I liked it, it definitely moved a bit quickly for me. The turn from chapter 4 to 5 made my head spin! I loved being in Win's head, but I really loved all of the characters, rather than just the main couple. They're all written really well, and in particular, their dialogue is great (except for the sex scenes, where the dialo...
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House | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I'd never heard of this film before seeing it on the bucket list, but the premise looked interesting and vague enough that it could be terrible, amazing or anything in between, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Unfortunately I didn't like the film. The score is the first thing you notice while watching it. It really changes the tone of the film, and at times can become overpowering. The sounds are as prominent as the dialogue, which is really interesting. And similarly, the soundtrack, particularly at the beginning, makes the film feel like anything but horror. It takes a little while for this to feel like a horror film at all, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as it's interesting getting to know this world before the horror kicks in. It's shot and edited in a really unique way. It takes a while to get used to, if you get used to it at all, but it's definitely original! I don't know yet if the style was for me, at times it felt like my screen wa...
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The Witch | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I can't say this is a re-watch I was looking forward to. I saw this film a couple of years ago, bearing in mind I'm usually a bit iffy about elevated horror anyway, and from what I remembered, I just didn't like the film. But I tried to go into this re-watch with an open mind. So imagine my surprise when I started watching, getting into the story, and ended up feeling completely different about it this time around. I actually liked the movie and had a good time watching it, which really wasn't the case the first time around! I liked where the film started. Not only do we understand really quickly what these dark forces want and are capable of, but we also get an interesting exploration of grief that carries through the film. The actors in this film are all so great. The child actors play their parts so well, and the adults are fantastic as these characters. Not only do they make the world feel really believable, but they are also good enough that they all feel authent...
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Project Hail Mary | Film Review

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  Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up in space with no recollection of how he got there. As he starts putting the pieces of his life together, he soon discovers his mission to save the world. But he also discovers that he doesn't have to do it alone. I had heard great things about this film. I went into it completely blind, I had no idea what it was about, but because of all the positive reviews I was looking forward to it. Thankfully I loved the film. The story itself was a great one. It's genuinely interesting and is told in a great way. It moves backwards and forwards in the right places, it lets us get to know and love the characters, and it forces us to become truly invested. It was much more emotional than I expected it to be. Even when you start to understand the direction it's going in, I didn't expect to care as much as I did by the end. One thing about space-based sci-fi movies is there can be a lot of technical jargon that the audience doesn...
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Rosemary's Baby | Take 2 | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  There are a few movies on this year's horror-themed bucket list that I've seen before and written posts on in the past, but this is the only one so far that I've wanted to write a second post on. Before I started watching the film I re-read what I wrote about it previously, and not only was it a really short post, but I didn't like the film that time as much as I had when I first saw it. And I assumed that this re-watch would be the same. So I was really surprised by how much I loved the film this time around! So much that I think it definitely deserved a proper review. My main reason for not loving it before was that not much happened, but for some reason, I completely disagree with that now, upon this third (or fourth) re-watch. There is a sinister undertone the entire way through, every single thing that happens in tinged with a feeling of unease and apprehension. Before anything even happens, before Rosemary is even pregnant, the audience is on edge, even though w...
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The Drama | Film Review

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  After a surprise confession causes chaos a week before their wedding, Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) wonder if they can still make it down the aisle. I'd heard really mixed things about this movie before seeing it, on polar opposite scales, so while I was looking forward to it, I didn't have exceptionally high hopes. I liked the film, but all-in-all it felt quite average. There were things about it that I really liked but I didn't love it overall. But I have to start with the confession that kicks everything off. For me the whole situation felt a bit weird. Without spoiling anything, the confession was based on something that hadn't actually happened, mixed in with other confessions from people who actually had done things. So while I understand why that might give you slight pause when thinking of marrying someone, it felt like a lot of what happened as a result was a bit dramatic and based on a character's own issues than the confession itself. Th...
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