Oppenheimer wins 7 Oscars (Best Picture) (film & awards)

[Progressive Pessimist]

I expect a lot of accolades for 'The Irishman.' Other than that and 'Once Upon a Time In Hollywood,' I can't think of too many shoo-ins for awards season yet, this year. It's still early though, and this time of year is when most awards season films come out too, so it might be too early to speculate still.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I forgot to comment on 2018. I found most of the movies nominated to be overrated. Especially 'A Star is Born,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' and 'Roma.'

'Boy Erased,' 'First Reformed,' 'Thoroughbreds,' and 'The Old Man and the Gun' were underrated for that year. I also wanted to include 'A Simple Favor,' one of the most unique films I've ever seen for its ability to seamlessly blend the comedy and thriller genres, was also very underrated. But I don't think it's a film that screams "deserves awards recognition."

The biggest snub was definitely 'Won't You Be My Neighbor' in the best documentary category. That probably would have won. It at least should have. And that's not just because it was probably my favorite movie of 2018.

[Progressive Pessimist]

One more update, I finally saw 'Blindspotting' yesterday. Holy s***! Now this was a snub! This is the other best movie I have ever seen of 2018. It's right up there with 'Won't You Be My Neighbor.'

It's like 'Friday' meets 'Do the Right Thing,' but for this generation. It explores themes of class, criminal justice, culture, gentrification, identity, race, and more all in a very organic way with just as much as humor as there is meaningful, gripping drama. Massively underrated!

[Progressive Pessimist]

If we're talking about the movies of 2017, 'Blade Runner 2049' was my absolute favorite film of that year. I also loved 'Coco,' 'Lady Bird,' 'The Shape of Water,' and 'Three Billboards' of those were received awards season attention.

As for films that were completely underrated for that year:
-'Brad's Status'
-'Colossal'
-'Detroit'
-'Ingrid Goes West'
-'The Blackcoat's Daughter'
-'The Killing of a Sacred Deer'
-'Wind River'

And now for those that I found overrated:
-'Call Me By Your Name'
-'Darkest Hour'
-'Dunkirk'
-'Logan'
-'Phantom Thread'
-'Star Wars Episode XIII: The Last Jedi'
-'The Disaster Artist'
-'The Post'

[Progressive Pessimist]

If we're talking about the movies of 2017, 'Blade Runner 2049' was my absolute favorite film of that year. I also loved 'Coco,' 'Lady Bird,' 'The Shape of Water,' and 'Three Billboards' of those were received awards season attention.

As for films that were completely underrated for that year:
-'Brad's Status'
-'Colossal'
-'Detroit'
-'Ingrid Goes West'
-'The Blackcoat's Daughter'
-'The Killing of a Sacred Deer'
-'Wind River'

And now for those that I found overrated:
-'Call Me By Your Name'
-'Darkest Hour'
-'Dunkirk'
-'Logan'
-'Phantom Thread'
-'Star Wars Episode XIII: The Last Jedi'
-'The Disaster Artist'
-'The Post'

I feel so bad for forgetting about 'The Founder' in my underrated films list.

 I usually tend not to care for conventional, straightforward biopics, but the character of Ray Kroc ( I say character since, even though he is a real person, I am just going off how he was portrayed in the film) and Michael Keaton's acting as that character felt really compelling to me. I guess the biopics I like the most are ones where the subject borders on being a villain. I would put 'The Social Network' in that category too. They almost feel like super-villain origin stories.

It was especially interesting since I remember that 'The Founder' came out around the time of Trump's inauguration, and while I hate to bring him into everything (especially my means of escapism), I couldn't help but pick up on the similarities between him and Kroc.

I thought the film was fascinating, and it's a damn shame that it didn't get more attention or praise.

[Progressive Pessimist]

MARRIAGE STORY (no spoilers)

I'm having a hard time reviewing this. It was overall just so damn good, that I can't really say what was bad (nothing) or what were the strong points of the film (everything). This is my generation's Kramer Vs Kramer, and I can say with confidence that Marriage Story is the better film and therefore an instant classic. Drop everything you're doing, log onto Netflix and watch this movie right now. You owe it to yourself. I was blown away when I saw this late Thursday night, and I'm thinking about it all the time still days later.

DECENT BUT NOT GREAT
- Alan Alda
- Ray Liotta
- The pacing
- The smaller characters in the movie

DESERVES A LOT OF PRAISE
- Laura Dern
- The how good and confident in itself the script is
- The underrated subtle cinematography
- The emotion
- How REAL this movie feels

DESERVE MORE THAN PRAISE, WORSHIP-WORTHY
- Adam Driver
- Scarlett Johansson

FINAL SCORE
A (maybe A plus, I'll think on it)

OSCAR TALK
This is a big player for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Actor, Actress and Supporting Actress. It also has a reasonable chance at Director, Cinematography, Editing and Score. Unlikely but possible is Supporting Actor. This is IMO going to win Best Picture unless the Academy goes with The Irishman (likely) or Parasite (unlikely). What a film.

I'm in the process of watching it. It's another one of those that I've had to watch in pieces. I'll get back to you with my thoughts, if I feel like I have anything to add.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I finally saw 'Marriage Story' in its entirety. It really was superb.

It kind of made me depressed though because it really reminded me of my parents' divorce; which became final just this year, right down to one of my parents wanting to settle the divorce outside of using lawyers, and the other going through with getting a lawyer anyway. Thankfully, as messy as it was, their's wasn't as complicated as Charlie and Nicole's. There was no custody issue, for one thing. And unlike the kid in this movie, I took, and am still taking, my parents' divorce very poorly. And that's as an adult too!

 I guess that's one of the movie's strengths though-how relatable it is. It was apparently inspired by Noah Baumbach's own divorce, and as such it really is a story that can resonate with anyone who has been through family issues like this. Our main characters are very realistic, neither of them are perfect but neither of them are bad people either. They're just people. That goes for the very nuanced situations in the divorce too. There will always be awkwardness, there will always be heartbreak, there will always be humor. All of that was here in spades.

 Unlike another Baumbach film, 'The Squid and the Whale,' which was supposedly inspired by his parents' divorce, you don't really root for one person over the other (in that film, the dad ends up being much less sympathetic than the mom). By that notion this film is superior to that one, which I also liked though. There is the added benefit of this film not having the creepy-ass younger brother character from 'The Squid and the Whale,' I will say. Baumbach seems to really like to focus on themes of family conflict in his films, and he's great at portraying them. That even goes for 'The Meyerowitz Stories,' which is another of his films that I would recommend.

I would agree with T'Chenka that it is like a better, updated 'Kramer vs. Kramer.' That's not to take anything away from that movie, it was ahead of its time, and deserves its place as a classic. It's just that 'Marriage Story' is better at balancing its focus on both the dad and mom, and is more contemporary and potentially even timeless.

Scarlett Johansson is an actress who I always thought was great, but never really blew me away with one of her performances until this one! This is her best performance ever. Same with Adam Driver. Both are great in different ways though-Johansson gets a lot of individual moments where she shines, but Driver shines in his interactions with other characters. Needless to say the explosive scene at the apartment features both of those strengths coming together. That entire scene almost felt like it could be its own excellent one act play. Both really ought to be nominated for whatever awards possible.

The supporting characters are all great too. Especially all of the lawyers. Alan Alda was just adorable and Laura Dern was extremely charismatic. I was very surprised to see Ray Liotta make an appearance. I haven't seen him in a recent movie in awhile, and it was nice to see him not playing him typecast as the usual cop or gangster for once.

So yeah, this is definitely one of the best films of the year, and the best that I have seen so far (if we don't count 'Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus'). I found few to no flaws with it. I mean okay, maybe the Steven Sondheim songs could have been cut out, but whatever. They didn't bother me or disrupt the film's pacing too much.

And one last thing: did anyone else think that the boy who played Henry was a dead-ringer for the actor who played Danny Torrance in 'The Shining?' He looked exactly like him! It was almost off-putting! I kept expecting him to talk to his finger.

Also Bob Fossil from 'The Mighty Boosh' playing the judge was kind of distracting.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The biggest problem is the movie’s length.  3 and a half hours is a long time and you feel it.  The movie is okay quality-wise, but once you get to hours and realize you’ve got another hour and a half of meh, it feels more and more like a chore.  It’s also a pretty slow movie.  Plus De Niro still moves like an old person, so that was really distracting.

Couldn't agree more

On top of that, around the two hour mark the movie just gets f***ing repetitive. That's my biggest issue with it outside the unnecessary length.

*Spoilers?*

How many God damn scenes did we need of Sheeran having a conversation with Bufalino or Hoffa about how Hoffa either needs to stop putting his interests ahead of the mob's or how he needs to get whacked!? There is like a 45 minute segment of the film where this is all that happens, starting with that seemingly never-ending scene at Frank Sheeran's party. Oh, sometimes they're eating. That changes it up, right? No! I don't mind a long, slow movie, including other Sorcese films, but 'The Irishman' was just self-indulgent.

[Progressive Pessimist]

With it being the last day of the year, here is every film of 2019 that I have seen, listed in order of how much I enjoyed them:

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus
Marriage Story
Paddleton
Everybody Knows
Cold Pursuit
Shazam!
Us
Under the Silver Lake
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling
How To Train Your Dragon 3
The Irishman
The Last Black Man In San Francisco
Serenity
The Fanatic
Loqueesha

[Progressive Pessimist]

With it being the last day of the year, here is every film of 2019 that I have seen, listed in order of how much I enjoyed them:

Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus
Marriage Story
Paddleton
Everybody Knows
Cold Pursuit
Shazam!
Us
Under the Silver Lake
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling
How To Train Your Dragon 3
The Irishman
The Last Black Man In San Francisco
Serenity
The Fanatic
Loqueesha

Thoughts:

- A movie worse than The Fanatic? Wow. Impressive, almost.
- Isn't Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling a mini-series not a film?
- I hope you eventually get to see Parasite

'Loqueesha' is a film released to Amazon Prime that depicts a white guy getting a job as a radio host who gives advice to people. However, he's posing as a black woman when he hosts the show because they wanted to hire more people of color for their programs. The movie isn't as overtly racist as you might think, but in trying to be self-aware of that aspect and trying to seem smarter than it is, it becomes offensive in an entirely different way. This movie thinks it's somehow going to solve racism yet falls flat on its face with the message it wants to communicate. It's also a "comedy" that is far less humorous than 'The Fanatic' and is extremely cheaply made. I enjoy terrible movies often, and this one isn't quite in that "funny-bad" category like 'The Fanatic' is, but is uniquely baffling still.

And 'Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling' was one 45 minute movie released on Netflix.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I just found this... interesting... video essay on Marriage Story, possibly made by a MGTOW guy. I honestly haven't watched it yet, but the text description ALONE made me want to post it, which I'll share below.

MARRIAGE STORY spoilers ahead!!!

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

"Published on Dec 13, 2019

Marriage Story can be perfectly summed up by the opening and closing sequences. This movie is not about compromise or quality parenting... it is about unilateral control where Charlie should lose everything because Nicole decided she wants more.

In the beginning... it is perfectly demonstrated by her unwillingness to even read positive words about her husband, though he himself is perfectly willing to praise her... and it is reinforced at the end, by her awarding him the privilege of reading those very words, only because he has now lost his career, bent to her will, moved to a city he hates, just to see the child he loves, after she weaponized that child against him.

I despise this movie... it's an agenda-driven piece of garbage meant to reconstruct an emotionally sensitive topic in a disingenuous way."

https://youtu.be/ZLfrf_00Ync

Does he ever end up mentioning that Charlie cheated on Nicole? I really don't want to partake in watching and supporting his channel in any way if he really is part of an internet reactionary circle.

As I said in my summation (well not really, it was pretty long) of the film, the movie made me move back and forth in my sympathy between the couple only for me to realize that the movie wasn't really forcing you to choose sides. It's just how divorces go. They're complicated and nuanced, as I know first-hand from my parents' recent divorce.

Also Noah Baumbach supposedly based the movie, and the character of Charlie specifically, on himself during his divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh, so would he really have a pro-feminist agenda with that being the case?

[Progressive Pessimist]

I have only seen 'Marriage Story' and 'The Irishman' of all the nominees...and 'How To train Your Dragon 3,' so I don't have too many stakes in this year's ceremony. All I can say is that I'm surprised that the Academy didn't give a shock Best Actor nod to Adam Sandler in 'Uncut Gems' and that 'Frozen II' didn't get nominated for Best Animated Feature. Everything else seems about in line with my expectations.

I'm also glad that there is no host again. That format worked really well last year in my opinion. It kept a better flow and helped the ceremony move faster.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I have only seen 'Marriage Story' and 'The Irishman' of all the nominees...and 'How To train Your Dragon 3,' so I don't have too many stakes in this year's ceremony. All I can say is that I'm surprised that the Academy didn't give a shock Best Actor nod to Adam Sandler in 'Uncut Gems' and that 'Frozen II' didn't get nominated for Best Animated Feature. Everything else seems about in line with my expectations.

I'm also glad that there is no host again. That format worked really well last year in my opinion. It kept a better flow and helped the ceremony move faster.

Nostalgia Critic made a video a while back that even on the rare occasion Sandler makes a good film, he gets no consideration for it because important people feel like they have to hate it.

That's a skin-deep reading at best though, so take it with a grain of salt.

It's true. Nine out of ten times Adam Sandler pisses me off and I hate most of his movies and his entire lazy process and reasoning for making them (at least most of the ones from 2000 on, starting with 'Little Nicky,' I liked most of his 1990's comedies) but when he acts in a movie where a real director can get a good performance out of him, he really can be great. 'Punch-Drunk Love' and 'The Meyerowitz Stories' come to mind. I haven't seen 'Uncut Gems' but the directors of that film, the Safdi Brothers, directed 'Good Time' and seem to have very unique visions. A good director can work wonders for an unconventional actor. Tyler Perry was actually very good in 'Gone Girl' to give another example, even though he is atrocious in his own films.

 I fully believe that Sandler was great in the film, and I hope to see it at some point, but it is possible that wanting to give him an accolade for it dredges up memories of 'Jack and Jill.' I almost can't blame them, though he should earn some credit for being able to be a quality part of quality films from time to time.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Where does SNL get off calling something as beautiful as "The Irishman" a white male rage movie? Where did such lack of taste/absolute derangement come from? Do these 'comedians' just get pleasure from irking everybody? I really fail to understand this culture.

The Irishman should be co-movie of the decade

It's SNL... don't they usually just poke fun at things? I don't see a problem unless they're being 100% serious.

I don't think they were.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I didn't watch the Academy Awards last night, but I did look up the results as soon as they were over. I can't say that there were many surprises outside of 'Parasite' absolutely cleaning up! I never thought that the Academy would award it for both Best Picture and Best International Picture. Good for it and those who worked on it though! I especially want to congratulate Bong on winning best Director too, he had some very stiff, well-established competition this year. I want to see it even more than I already did, it's one of the few movies where I haven't heard a single complain about it, and I loved 'The Host' and 'Snowpiercer' so I expect to love 'Parasite' as well. I also knew that this forum would be more than pleased by that.

Overall it seems as if every major nominee went home with at least something though, the Academy always seems to try and do that, and this wasn't much of an exception. 'The Irishman' did go home empty-handed though. I wasn't rooting against it, as underwhelmed as I was by it, but I am somewhat relieved that it didn't win for Best Editing, that one would have irked me.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I saw UNCUT GEMS the other day and it was really good. I give it 4/5 stars. Cinematography wasn't "really good" per se, but it was really unique, like the sound design and the whole movie overall actually.

Did you ever see 'Good Time?' The previous film by these director brothers.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I saw UNCUT GEMS the other day and it was really good. I give it 4/5 stars. Cinematography wasn't "really good" per se, but it was really unique, like the sound design and the whole movie overall actually.

Did you ever see 'Good Time?' The previous film by these director brothers.

I saw Good Time, and honestly I was underwhelmed. I really appreciated many different aspects of it, but the plot kind of fell apart for me in the second half.

I see. I for one liked it, but it didn't really stick with me. The most notable thing to me about it was that it proved that Robert Pattinson can be a good actor. I always thought so but people then still point to the 'Twilight' series as a rebuttal.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I just saw Downsizing (2017), directed by Alexander Payne and starring Matt Damon.

... what the f__k was that? Has anybody else seen this trainwreck? Christ.

Yes. It's a shame because Alexander Payne is one of my favorite directors, I like or love all of his other films and this one had a ton of potential. The concept is great and I enjoyed the first half, but then it seems to have forgotten about it, especially once they introduced one of the most annoying Asian stereotypes I have ever seen in a film, and became a didactic message film about climate change. Payne has made message films before, but he has always done it much better and with much more subtlety.

It was one of the biggest disappointments of the year it came out.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Watched a few films recently, though I'd share my ratings. I'm a bit of a harsh reviewer, but to me a perfectly fine average movie with no big issues is a 3 out of 5 star film. To me, 3 or 3.5 stars out of 5 is definitely worth a watch. I don't hand out 4 stars like candy on Halloween, and a full 5 stars is quite rare.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) - 4.50 / 5 stars

THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) - 3.25 / 5 stars

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) - 3.00 / 5 stars

A MONSTER CALLS (2016) - 3.00 / 5 stars

What were your issues with 'A Monster Calls?' I loved that movie in spite of how depressing it was.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Watched a few films recently, though I'd share my ratings. I'm a bit of a harsh reviewer, but to me a perfectly fine average movie with no big issues is a 3 out of 5 star film. To me, 3 or 3.5 stars out of 5 is definitely worth a watch. I don't hand out 4 stars like candy on Halloween, and a full 5 stars is quite rare.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) - 4.50 / 5 stars

THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) - 3.25 / 5 stars

BIRDS OF PREY (2020) - 3.00 / 5 stars

A MONSTER CALLS (2016) - 3.00 / 5 stars

What were your issues with 'A Monster Calls?' I loved that movie in spite of how depressing it was.

The pacing and script mostly.

Overall there was a lot to like, and the good stuff was really good. For me a 3 star film is like getting a "B" on your report card. I can't fault it too much but the above-average things were IMO balanced out by the below-average things. Good film.

I see. And I wasn't under the assumption that you disliked it, but with a 3/5 you were bound to have some issues with the film and I was curious to hear them.

[Progressive Pessimist]

A couple of films worthy of your attention if you have not seen them. Dont research them because so much internet = spoilers.

1. Blackcoats Daughter (2015)

Un-nerving.

2. Mandy (2018)

My girlfriend Mandee refused to watch it with me because she watched the YouTube trailer and read a review. I was a little dark

3. Don't Breathe (2016)

Immaculate production. Tense.

It's hard for me to put on a movie without my girlfriend trying to look it up on the net. So i have introduced a phone ban on the couch and i play films without telling her anything.

Otherwise she will read the review during the first 5 minutes of the film which drives me crazy.

She can choose whatever films she likes. She brought us Hereditary, which was phenomenal.

I like films that have a story which is new to your brain.

No spoilers.

Finally! Someone else who saw 'The Blackcoat's Daughter/February!' It's become one of my favorite horror movies. It's slow, but I actually prefer a slow horror movie that builds to something. And this one did just that. Don't watch the director's other film, 'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House' though, it's just boring and slow, and not the least bit scary or unsettling. I heard his newest film 'Gretel and Hansel' is good though. I have yet to see it myself.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I revisited 'Samurai Cop' yesterday, one of the most notorious "so bad, it's good" movies of late. I watched it the first time a few years ago and as funny as it was it's low on my list of favorite bad movies (which I am something of a connoisseur of). It faded a bit from memory though and in seeing it listed as available on Amazon Prime, I decided to rewatch it and see if it grew on me.

Nope. But I now know why I was only meagerly ironically entertained by it and found it overrated by bad movie standards. It has a lot of hilariously bad and incompetent moments but they all occur before the 30 to 45 minute mark. You have awful dialogue, awkward editing, awkward sex scenes, bad acting, bad action scenes, bad dubbing, bad sound effects, blatant continuity issues (the protagonist wears a wig through half the film and the other half is his real hair), basically no plot, and a distracting knitted lion head mounted on the wall in one of the film's locations. All that stuff happens in the first half of the film though and after all that it's just those same things all over again with nothing really new to laugh at. It gets kind of old fast...except the lion head, I cackled every time it appeared in the background of a scene.

It's often said that the best bad movies keep you engaged in them due to them constantly throwing new and interesting things to notice and make fun of. 'Samurai Cop' has that stuff, but it runs out of doing anything new and just becomes an overly straightforward revenge film that also resembles a 'Lethal Weapon' knock-off.

I actually instead recommend two of the director's other, more underrated, movies instead 'Hollywood Cop' and 'Killing American Style,' which are also on Amazon Prime. They are much more bizarre and befuddling in the same incompetent ways that 'Samurai Cop' is and in many more unique ways too. I think more people need to see those two films, I don't know why 'Samurai Cop' gets all the attention. I don't even think it has better individual moments than these two.

'Samurai Cop' is better than 'Young Rebels' though, another of the director's films on Amazon, in terms of entertainment. Yes, I made it a goal to see every Amir Shervan film I can. My life is worth questioning. 'Young Rebels' is just a boring action film, and in somehow being slightly better made than his other films it actually becomes less amusing.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Perfect Corona-virus film to watch whilst in isolation:

David Lynch

Eraserhead (1977)

I was always under the impression it was late 1980's because that is when I first saw it after a summer of alcohol and bucket bongs. And I was freaked out then.

But to have made it in 1977 is a true reflection of the genius of his film-making. 

If you're into David Lynch you have to see 'Blue Velvet,' 'Mulholland Drive,' and 'The Elephant Man' too.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I watched 'Doctor Sleep' last night and I loved it! I would put it up there as one of the best sequels ever made and definitely one of the best sequels made last decade alongside 'Blade Runner 2049.' Both movies, despite being made decades later, manage to enhance their predecessor and that's what makes a great sequel!

I do wonder if certain Kubrick purists will find this movie controversial though. I personally think that it makes 'The Shining' better by clarifying and extrapolating on aspects of Kubrick's classic. Not only that but it somehow manages to simultaneously be a sequel to both the book and movie at the same time which is a real accomplishment considering how much they differed and how much King detested Kubrick's adaptation. For one thing, this movie is actually about "the shining" and almost creates its own universe based on that aspect. We get to see a mythology and world being built here, and it's really fascinating. In that sense though this movie is mistitled and I feel bad because that might have been why this movie was a relative flop. It shares that issue with another recent Ewan McGregor film-'Birds of Prey'/'Halrey Quinn: Birds of Prey,' and like that movie should have had a title to establish more familiarity with it. Maybe 'The Shining 2: Doctor Sleep' could have worked. I mean, they only mention who/what "Doctor Sleep" is once. But even then, it's also possible that like with why 'Blade Runner 2049' flopped somewhat, 'The Shining' might just be too much of a niche franchise for the average moviegoer. I do feel that this movie won't be for everyone.
If you're a huge fan of 'The Shining' though, like me, you will get a lot out of this film. It might end up containing a few too many fan service/member berry moments for some, especially towards the end, but I don't feel like they ruined the film or anything. I was fine with them. There was one little easter egg that I guffawed at involving tea cups in particular which only the most obsessive and detailed fan of 'The Shining' would notice, and I wholly appreciate the filmmakers' inclusion of it as well as other painstaking details that make this movie as much of a homage to Kubrick's film as it is a sequel to it. It is not as scary as 'The Shining' though. This movie is actually less of a horror movie (though there are some scary moments, one of which is among the most disturbing things I have seen in a recent film) and more of a supernatural drama-thriller. So keep that in mind when managing your expectations for seeing it. It's also really long, about two-and-a-half hours.

I also want to mention that this film utilizes the novel concept of casting new actors in flashbacks. We don't see that too often anymore and I honestly prefer it to digital de-aging. Everybody they got, especially the new Halloran and Wendy, are great! They may not look 100% like the previous actors but they do feel like them. I do wonder if the casting agent for this film regretted not casting the kid from 'Marriage Story' as young Danny though. The kid in this film was perfectly fine, but the kid from 'Marriage Story' is a dead-ringer of the original Danny (who actually appears in a small cameo in this movie).

As for the few flaws I had, and there were very few, the concept of the shining, while integral to this movie and greatly expanded upon seemed to fall into the trap that the force does from 'Star Wars' (the prequels featuring McGregor also, coincidentally). It kind of becomes too inconsistent, ubiquitous, and vague. The new character Abra, who is great overall, actually might fall into that "Mary Sue" criticism for Rey to some. It didn't bother me, but I'm sure some have thought that. The only other thing about this film that bothered me was Rebecca Ferguson as the villain, Rose. She was actually fantastic in the role, but at times her accent seemed to drift in and out between being American and British. What's weird is that she is actually Swedish, so I don't know what that was about. It was a bit distracting. Otherwise I loved her.

So yeah, this has become another one of my favorite movies of last year. 

[Progressive Pessimist]

The Shining is my favorite scary movie ever and I enjoyed Doctor Sleep very much. It's overlong and casting Henry Thomas (who looks nothing like Jack Nicholson) as Danny's father was disconcerting. But it deserved better at the box office.

You just reminded me of something I forgot to mention.

I was actually kind of disappointed that there was no reference to the guy in the bear suit giving the blow-job to the other guy. For all the references made to the Kubrick film, there was nothing about this. 0/10 stars!