Megan_Shida

Ben Stiller plays the Hallmark CEO woman who travels from big city life to a small town and learns the meaning of Christmas... I can't believe this movie was so bad. Ben Stiller can be funny, has good film sensibilities, and certainly has enough movie experience by now, but everything about this movie is wrong. It is not funny. It is not profound. It is silly in obnoxious ways and dramatic in ways that are not earned or profound. David Gordon Green directs and he has made funny movies in the past like Pineapple Express but this movie is just somber and inappropriately goofy. I wasn't expecting an Oscar winner, but this is so far from entertaining that it is offensive and just a waste of time. Maybe Green should go back to directing tired Halloween sequels; Nutcrackers is awful.

This is a really powerful movie. It's an indictment of Okinawa where there are twice as many teenage pregnancies as the rest of Japan. We see are protagonist, a single teenage mom, faced with no economic options and no help from family or government. The system is crooked, having no qualms with using resources to remove her child from her care but offering none to help her. This movie is the plight of many young women in a similar situation and the results are bleak: abusive relationships, prostitution, substance abuse, and crime. The lead performance is powerful and the film is shot in a really raw and powerful way, leaving no respite for the viewer as we experience the world from her position. Overall a bit long and I think maybe too focused on making a point, rather than telling the story. It's a powerful film not concerned about the viewer's entertainment.

Really interesting stylistically and an amazing ode to the 90s with all the themes of the power of media, tv, and corporations. Not to mention the looming pollution in the sky in the film- but hey, because of fires in Canada, there's smoke over much of the northern US right now. I think the plot itself is very hard to follow- it's pretty loose. I found myself really enjoying the style and color choices, and was interested in the movie, though. This movie definitely won't be for everyone but I think a lot of the experimentation pays off and at only 80 minutes or so it is fun. There are few films I would compare it to but there are some Tank Girl and Brother From Another Planet vibes. I am definitely glad I got to catch this movie, it is full of energy and charm.