4v291o

I get why this is generally the least liked film out of the trilogy- Vincent's ascension to the Godfather position feels rushed, contrived and disappoitingly simplistic compared to Michael's long winded and invasive transformation.
Buut this is the only movie out of the trilogy where the female characters are granted more depth and are treated as less ive agents. I especially enjoyed Connie's transformation into a vengeful, but still emotionally sweet matriarch.
Kay's character was still a bit repetitive, but I felt great satisfaction watching her get a new man and stick it into Michael's face. Michael and her had the best chemistry in this film out of the entire trilogy btw.

The parallel between papacy, ascension to higher, divine power and the rise to power through man's greed... yeah they ate, I'd say this is the most conceptual (in of themes) installment.

Why did they make the cousins kiss? Weird, whatever that whole plotline pissed me off.

The first film explored street and familial corruption, the brutal patriarchial lineage of the italian mafia and the crooked ways of the police.

The second film exposed governmental corruption and the further erosion of Michael's soul in his continuous pursuit of profit.

This film depicted how not even something as sacred as divinity and godhood are not exempt from patriarchial greed.

Michael never wanted to be like his father, he simply wanted to protect his family. Once tainted by brutality and its respective power, he craved more though he still wished to be rid of the lifestyle. He tried "legitimising" himself and his family, tried to purge it of its illegalities and immoralities but the streets, the goverment, nor the Vatican could redeem him and purge him of what he'd done. In the end, he lost what he loved most and died on a plastic lawn chair. Damn.

least favourite out of the bunch. maybe i'm just a nevada hater

Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.

if i’d known more about the real life story of these people, i would’ve perhaps felt a stronger pull towards the story or posessed a greater capacity to appreciate how accurate of a depiction of american-italian (mafia) culture this is but alas I don’t. Therefore, the writing alone didn’t do it for me, I wasn’t super entertained by the story.
I can see why this is of great appeal to others and why it was culturally impactful- it is very cinematic.
The female characters are painfully obviously written by men

THIS WAS HORRENDOUSSSS LMAOOOOOOOO

LITERAL torture porn, men should NOT be allowed to make movies

they fully gave blake lively a different script that said she was in a perfume commercial because what was THAT airy ass performance

These mfs were shooting up shit and she was doing voice overs with that forced ass vocal fry omfggggg

Watched on Thursday February 27, 2025.

Why didn’t they give jamie foxx like 10 more songs wth

at no point during this movie was I able to guess what was going to happen next, jesus christ.

i deeply dislike the fact that the film implies patriarchial violence leads to transgederism, but it’s true that patriarchial violence *can* lead to a troublesome sense of identity, especially in regards to one’s womanhood.

I can def see the issues trans folk raise with the piece. If you view it through the intended lenses of the cis director, it comes off as rather strange, ignorant and simple-minded. If you go into this expecting commentary on trans issues, you will be disappointed.

If you go into it expecting nothing, like I did, you may find yourself enjoying yourself (though no promises)

Personally, I enjoyed it and to me, this only solidified that gender is a costume.

As women we often times have to forsaken our femininity in order to “level up” and this forceful departure is often painful and alienating. I think though, sometimes, through the prism of this departure you may end up being able to view the gender binary from a 3rd POV and realise how silly it all is.

I don’t think Albert fully identified as man, nor as a woman, but rather he just tried to push his humanity into whichever side of the gender binary he thought promised him the best outcome. I also don’t think the movie aims to convince you that he was a man, or a woman, but rather that it doesn’t matter.

Albert is a deeply complex story and character and I will need much more time to mull this all over. I don’t think this is a trans film, I think this is a film on identity that aims to prove no point, but rather deliver the message that gender is a prison but ultimately also what we make of it.

Albert experienced the horrors of womanhood himself but then wasted no time cornering Helen, a disimprovished and much younger woman, into his fantasy of a prosperous domestic life. I appreciate that all the characters had their own motivations and secrets, the whole story felt very fleshed out and real.

I thought all performances were pretty compelling thought there were a couple of questionable acting and writing choices.

I think this movie would be granted more credibility (and less hate) if Albert’s transition hadn’t been connected to patriarchial violenve. That doesn’f add anything to the story, if anything it worsens it.

Much to think abt!!!

this film is so visually beautiful- the way it’s shot and edited is so charming and romantic. The montage of jo’s photoshoots across paris is nothing short of iconic, but the finale is probably my favourite part of the film, as far as visuals go. The warm fuzzy glare of the film, coupled with the saturated colorful flowers, create the perfect fairytale ending.

the costumes were breath taking (especially the wedding dress oh my GOOOOD) and they’re definitely the visual element that pops out the most.

“think pink” served as the best possible opening number and is my favourite performance in the whole film (kay and fred’s improv musical bit at the professor’s being the 2nd) but I found the other musical numbers quite weak. Audrey’s vocals were pretty subdued and didn’t make for a very compelling plot device or great entertainment, the lyrics didn’t help much either so music-wise she was the weakest link.

Kay thompson, on the other hand, stole the show as did Fred’s dancing. Nonetheless, all their musical numbers could’ve been better, especially the ones that included any sort of vocal performance. The choreography was fire though.

The story is mainly captivating due to the immersive visuals and the cast’s compelling charm. The writing alone doesn’t really convince me of Jo’s and Dick’s love story. Their meet cute wasn’t that cute and as for what they actually find valuable in one another (except for charm and looks) I’m not quite sure.

Jo’s character arc is a little murky- She goes from being a snob who hates fashion for being a shallow endeavour to eventually acknowleing its value and developing an appreciation for it, this in turn enables her to be more confident…i guess? We get to see very little of Jo’s thought process and what enables her to have this epiphany, other than the fact that she had fun during the photoshoot (though you could very easily argue that that was mostly due to Dick being there). Like yay she had some fun so now all of a sudden she appreciates fashion as an art form? Riiighttt

I really enjoyed Maggie’s character, mostly due to kay’s phenomenally entertaining portrayal, but also because as the movie progresses, her facade as an unfeeling fashionista unravels to reveal the likeable woman beneath. This makes her feel like a real person, and not a one dimensional gimmick. Jo agrees of her own accord to do the show in the end-  thus, Maggie doesn’t have to do anything for her in return. Still, she answers to Jo’s plea and attempts to reunite her with Dick after their fallout . Obviously, she cares for both of them.

I like that Maggie sort of humbles Jo for being a snob, her ironically being the one to advise Jo to treat Dick with empathy after it was Jo who talked everyone ear off about empathicalism (or whatever it’s called) was really funny.

I enjoyed the general message that empathy isn’t just a fancy concept to be studied, but a tangible perspective you need to actively employ in your relationships with others in order to better understand them and make sense of things. Jo put empathy on a petri dish, maggie and dick put empathy in a real life context. In the end, they were all equally capable of empathy and their biases and elitism did nothing but hinder their ability to get what they wanted from another.

Dick’s character is entertaining but although he feels human, he has a pretty flat character arc. He’s not compelling enough as a love interest for Jo. Sure, he teaches her to loosen up and unlike Maggie, he sees Jo’s “unconvential” (???) features as beautiful buut so what? That’s it? Right right.. It’s really Fred’s real life charm that made Dick at least a little enjoyable.

All in all, enjoyable film that stands out for its visual prowess and charming cast but falls short in delivering a believable love story.

that was the most beautiful, sincere thing ever and the ending ripped out my heart

the 3rd most iconic thing to happen in 1989

the other two:
1. The fall of Ceasusescu’s reign and dictatorship at large in Romania
2. Taylor Swift’s birth

a visually immersive and beautiful film with a sweet, compelling and inspirational story<3

the only disney princess live action that matters really!!

pros:
-beautiful sets and costumes
-ella and kit had great chemistry and they looked so good together omfggg cuties
-the film promotes a good message to younger audiences> be kind and stand up for yourself and others!!
-on that note, ella wasn’t given the girlboss treatment THANK FUCK!! this goes to show you can write a strong female characters whose strength is not expressed through steretypically “masculine” traits (leadership, literal physical strength, assertiveness etc). Ella’s strenght derives from her emotional intelligence, kindness, empathy and perseverence!  

cons:
it depicts the concept of a monarchy positively😒🍅👎🏽

hold on let me get my thoughts together

Watched on Sunday July 24, 2022.

This review may contain spoilers.

splendid costume and set design
AMAZING vocals 
…..but the color grading diminished the magic of the practical sets and that just awful back lighting was horrendeous and distracting

This review may contain spoilers.

te iubesc aaron taylor johnson as count vroski