Show, don’t tell
The Karate Kid 2010
It’s amazing that the filmmakers copied so much of the original and this was still so pale in comparison (and pale in its own right). I don’t know where to begin… Premise A twelve year-old (Jaden Smith looked even younger) is too young to experience the level of bullying Dre did, too young for most [...]
Letters to Juliet
What a great little movie! Character / Show- don’t tell – For the moment when Sophie started to appreciate Charlie, the movie needed to present action instead of the grandmother telling Sophie about his good qualities. A simple thing would have been for Sophie to see Charlie assisting his grandmother in a specific way (aside [...]
Jennifer’s Body
This started well and then lost direction. Structure/Plot Once Jennifer (Megan Fox) transformed, the movie and characters failed to have an objective or focus. It wasn’t clear what Jennifer was up to (though okay for the ‘why’ to come later) and the idea of her vs. boys was talked about more than it was shown. [...]
27 Dresses
Sub-par romcom, though I liked the leads. Structure/Plot The movie started like My Best Friend’s Wedding, with Katherine Heigl’s sister falling for the guy Katherine loves, her boss (Edward Burns). The problem was that too much time was spent on the sister and boss considering Katherine’s opposition to them as a couple remained the same [...]
Wedding Crashers
Character, Ending, Show- don’t tell At Vince Vaughn”s wedding, Owen Wilson told his girl, Rachel McAdams, that he’s changed. The Golden Rule of movies is, ‘Show, Don’t Tell.’ We should’ve seen the transformation because the only “change” was him looking thoughtful at the sight of the widow crying at the funeral. Even average romcoms do [...]
Breach
Well made, interesting, but not at par with the true, thrilling episode of international esponiage this is based on. Objective/Stakes and Show- Don’t Tell There’s no tension until the end and that’s because the stakes are minimal. Though he’s the main character, Ryan Philippe potentially getting caught and perhaps murdered are not enough because that’s [...]