Don't get me wrong, I don't think this was a bad movie but I have to admit I'm shocked to see it at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was well acted and some scenes were moving but overall it felt like it lacked direction. Often it felt like loosely tied together vignettes rather than a feature film that contained some scenes that were at best unnecessary and at worst confusing to the audience.
shareMaybe its loose structure is a feature rather than a bug. People are tired of the same cookie cutter structure.
shareYeah thats what I thought to. It wasnt even a hype movie
shareI can see some people appreciating that about this film. For example I was a big fan of Napoleon Dynamite and that was completely different for its time but also featured a pretty loose structure.
This one just didn't work as well for me. Maybe because it lacks the quirkiness of a movie like N.D. Of course I'm also a 43 year old man so I'm guessing I fall well outside the target demographic for this film lol.
It’s a bit overhyped. For me this is a 4/5 star movie, when given all the buzz I was expecting 5/5.
shareThe whole Rotten Tomatoes thing is always relative. I still don't understand exactly how Tomato scores work, since I know no critic rates a movie on a 0-100 scale. When you read reviews in places like Variety and the Guardian you don't even see a grade; they usually just summarize the film and mention 1 or 2 things they like and don't like about it. Inevitably there will be a critic who brings the score done to 99%--this happened to Toy Story 3 in 2010--unless there's a time at which reviewing locks or something. Ultimately though it shouldn't be too much about that anyway.
It was definitely like vignettes, but I agree with Jes Sayin; I think this was Gerwig's vision and goal. She did write the film after all; what we see was obviously a screenplay shot. For me it worked. I liked following a high school student through her final year of high school.
What do you think of Mike Leigh movies? I think Another Year was one of the very first slice of life films I ever saw--there really aren't too many--and I really appreciated simply seeing people live ordinary lives on screen. Sometimes the cinematic is great--American Beauty--and sometimes it's too tidy and artificial. Lady Bird works for me, but it may be more because of the acting than anything else. At the end of the day, this was sort of The Edge of Seventeen for adults. Or Mean Girls for that matter.
the way rotten tomatoes works is by taking treating each rating as a good or bad (no gradations, or nuance)... so as long as you avoid "bad" reviews a movie will be rated highly...
Conversly, if your movie is indiocyncratic or controversial enough to put off a few people, then you're rating will fall quickly as any negative review is counted as "rotten"...
So "agreeable" and "passable" movies get more highly rated than movies with more edge, style, or that deal in challenging subject or themes... You know, the kind of movies that define cinema and inspire people...
I've seen enough great movies rated poorly and passable drivel rated highly to know not to put ANY stock in ratings... I never check rates of any site or magazine... That's no way to judge art, it's a system better suited to grading cement...
I haven't seen any Mike Leigh movies, guess I have some homework to do!
shareIf you do watch one, I suggest Secrets & Lies.
shareThanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out.
shareHow/where did you see Secrets & Lies? I’ve had it on my Netflix queue for I think ten years now and it’s never become available. (I still get DVDs, and I get them precisely because there aren’t as many titles available to stream. But when I can’t even get a DVD I don’t know what to do.)
Should I just buy it? I love Another Year and Happy-Go-Lucky and I can’t say I love Vera Drake but I was very glad I watched it. I assume Secrets & Lies is amazing.
I saw it years ago on this thing called... a VHS! Hard to believe I used to watch stuff on that.
shareI still have dozens of Disney films on VHS. And Home Alone. But I sure as hell can’t rent S&L on tape. I may just buy it. It’s a known great film. It’s significant he was nominated for directing.
sharePeople are creating hype over the 100% on RT. It just means no critics hated it, receiving no scores below a 6. I just saw it myself and was entertained through out, found all characters were well written and performed. At just 94 minutes the movie moves and never feels boring, if anything I could of spent a little more time with Lady Bird. I gave it a 9 on IMDB.
shareI liked it too. Its pretty relatable if you've ever been a teenager and has a good message about gratefulness towards parents who are doing the best they can.
I'm trying to go for an engaging, funny youtube channel so, if you have the time, take a look. Hope you enjoy what you see and if you have any thoughts or criticisms, i'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance. A review of the movie here-https://youtu.be/VG9oZ4p6dDc
I haven't seen the film. According to IMDb the premise is: "In the early 2000s, an artistically-inclined seventeen year-old comes of age in Sacramento, California." If that doesn't say this movie is about absolutely nothing, then I don't know what does.
shareI've literally never even heard of this movie until today right here on this site.
shareIt's because it's a "safe" movie. You can't really hate it if it's trying so hard to be "gosh-darn cute and lovable". Personally, it's a 7/10 at best. I've seen this type of movie many times before and better.
shareI agree although I thought what it lacked was a better ending. Not how it ended but where it ended. Yes, it was a coming-of-age slice-of-life movie but they could have just added a bit more and I would have felt less ripped off on this one.
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