I enjoy a lot of Taika Waititi's work, WWDITS being one of my favorite films/series ever, but this movie really took me by storm when I first watched it. It's funny, emotional at times, and that Kiwi accent really takes me out with the some of NZ's unique humor.
Jun 10, 2024
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Jan 21, 2025
When this came out in 2019 it wasn't really on my radar so I'm catching up to it late.
I expected this movie (based on the trailer more than anything) to be a dark comedy about World War II, the politics of conflict and man's inhumanity to man.
What I didn't expect was that it would be a low-key masterpiece.
It goes from "satire" to "drama" in like a nanosecond.
Scarlett Johansson is terrific here and the "kid actor" portrayals (typically I'm not a fan of child thespians, having grown up in L.A. around a bunch of damaged examples of this) are among the best I've ever seen.
I can't recommend this movie enough. The music direction is incredible (I loved the inclusion of German-language versions of Beatles and Bowie tunes) and director Taika Waititi (who also portrays a slapstick Hitler here) has created a unique Venn Diagram where self-skewering humor and childlike innocence collide with the cynicism of the modern world.
It won a bunch of awards but that isn't as important as the visceral takeout (and mind explosion) I had from watching this film.
Sep 26, 2024
watched happiness a couple months ago for the first time at the movie theatre i volunteer at and got such a kick out of the way this movie had us all laughing then wincing then groaning in a span of seconds. it was so tense and there was this general vibe of "are we allowed to laugh???" and solondz says, yes yes laugh, so you can also feel the pain, then laugh about that too
watched wiener-dog yesterday and again really enjoyed how mean the whole thing can be and then bam outta nowhere he hits you with these moments of real sweetness. stacked cast also
those are the only two i've seen but very excited to keep discovering his movies
Jan 22, 2024
Top Recs from @juniperberry
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People in your life who don't pressure you to text or call them all that often and vice verse. Such a relief through the web of constant pressure I feel to keep up with people due to social media. Like nah it's cool if you don't text me that same day, we got lives to live buddy, I'll see ya when I see ya.
Jun 10, 2024
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Although not horror in it's traditional sense, the dystopic and serious nature of the rules set in this black comedy movie are beyond horrific. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it a couple of weeks ago. It's an insane watch.
Jun 5, 2024
(me screaming this heaven sent song at the top of my lungs)
"And I'd give up forever to touch you'
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't wanna go home right now"
Jun 18, 2024