Movie Reviews

This month, the Movie Reviews Column is revived and restored by Lizzie Keeling as she reviews movies Encanto, Midnight in Paris, Crimson Peak, and Crazy Rich Asians.

Movie Reviews

By Lizzie Keeling

Good evening, dear readers. My name is Lizzie, and I will be your host tonight and for the foreseeable future. I have four movie recommendations and reviews, all following the subject of love in some way or another, some familial and some romantic. The movies reviewed this time around are all found on paid streaming services but it is easy to find just as good movies on free streaming services like Tubi, YouTube, and other completely legal and trustworthy websites. Please fill out this Google form to give me any movie recommendations you might have.

ENCANTO (2021)

Encanto is geared more towards adults than children, but people of all ages can relate and connect to the story and its characters. The story takes place in a village hidden in the mountains of Columbia and follows the Madrigal family, who were each given magical powers and live in a magical house, and Mirabel as the magic surrounding the Encanto is threatened.

The short film “Far From the Tree” that was played in theaters just before Encanto sets the tone for the entire film; Encanto and “Far From the Tree” both deal with the very real and prevalent issue of generational trauma. For instance, a family with unresolved trauma continues to pass on their trauma, coping mechanisms, and expectations onto their children and then they pass it onto their kids and so on, creating a cycle of abuse that is very hard to escape.

The Latinx representation has also been praised. For young kids, seeing people that look like them playing the heroes in movies they love breeds positive self-image. Additionally, non-Latinx kids also gain acceptance and positivity towards those cultures.

Encanto still has me and my friends in a chokehold. The animation is some of the best I’ve ever seen, the songs are all in my Spotify rotation, and the first thing I want to do once the credits are over is watch it again. 11/10 stars.

Midnight In Paris (2011)

The opening sequence of this movie is absolutely stunning, featuring beautiful French scenery and cool jazz music. Now, I was not expecting an Owen Wilson voice over, but I was nonetheless intrigued. There is a warm tone to the whole movie, both literally and figuratively, and it makes viewers feel cozy and adventurous at the same time. The main character, Gil, who is visiting Paris with his fiancée and her family, finds himself wandering the streets of Paris when, at midnight, a car full of classic literary legends from the 1920's picks him up and takes him to a party, where he meets the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and the alluring Adriana. This movie was hilarious. When it was listed as a comedy, it was listed correctly. The sense of humor is dry and situational but, if that is not your thing, the plot and characters are captivating and the cinematography is *mwah*. Even the drama with his fiancee, Inez, is enough to warrant a rewatch. 8/10 stars.

crimson peak (2015)

I saw the trailer for this movie, and it looked so cool I just had to see it, and if that is not as good a reason as any, I don’t know what is. Crimson Peak is a campy horror soap opera. Edith Cushing falls in love and marries Sir Thomas Sharpe, and she moves into his and his sister's mansion, which sits on top of a clay mine. There are parts of this movie that should not be funny, but are funny anyway, which I think adds to its charm and campy nature. The costumes and set design are elegant and haunting. The color palette is washed out and dingy but eye-catching, all the same. The story is a whirlwind and the actors play into that. The plot takes care to develop the characters and give them sympathies, making this a completely fleshed-out film, and demonstrating that not everything is black and white. It’s crimson. 8/10 stars.

crazy rich asians (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel and Nick as they travel to Singapore for a wedding. This is also the first time that Rachel is meeting Nick’s family, and, as the title describes, they are indeed crazy and rich. Rachel grapples with his family’s high expectations and insane social/party lives as they gear up for the wedding of the century. The movie was filmed almost entirely in Singapore and Malaysia, which adds to the genuineness of the film. The wedding scene, in particular, was bougie and no doubt cost an arm and a leg, but the emotion felt raw, the characters' openness and vulnerability in this scene was impactful and very nearly brought a tear to my eye. The cinematography is often brought up in regards to this movie and I have to whole-heartedly agree. There was an extra level of care given to the visual aesthetic for this movie and you can definitely tell. This movie has gotten a lot of praise.

However, there are a lot of comments out there that are basically saying the same thing, that “it’s just another typical rom-com but with Asian people." In my opinion, you can just say you only like to see minorities as side characters. Having an all-Asian cast in a movie that takes place in Asia is not forced diversity. It is normal-- and if you did not want to watch romantic comedy, then you should not have watched one of the most popular Rom-Coms of the past decade. Rom-Coms are not particularly my taste, but I can make an exception when something is this good. 7/10 stars.

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