MovieChat Forums > Licorice Pizza (2021) Discussion > New Entry on my Top 10 List, but...

New Entry on my Top 10 List, but...

posted 2 years ago by JackNorth (244)
4 replies | jump to latest

...I just watched this last night. Didn't know anything about it, except that the title rang a bell in connection with Academy Awards.

The storyline was a little jarring at first...we (wife and I) had no idea of who these characters were, how long they had known each other, etc. But we were hooked. Great acting (from novice actors, no less!) and funny situations. Of course, I immediately looked up the details of all involved.

All in all, brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen another quite like it. But...

...yes, I was a little concerned about the age difference between the characters. Yeah, they could have made her character maybe 19 or 20, and his 16. That would've made it a bit more acceptable. But the awkwardness faded as the film went on. And I just knew, before checking out this web discussion, that people would either love it or hate it. As the saying goes, "that's why they make chocolate and vanilla."

I loved it.

Not that anybody cares, of course.

[–] HEHEHO2022 (4) 2 years ago

making his character older would have change the story completely

[–] liscarkat (17106) 2 years ago

I have no problem with their age difference. I wish I had had a twenty-five-year-old female friend like that when I was fifteen.

[–] SandyR (7710) 2 years ago

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Everyone says There Will Be Blood is PT's masterpiece. It may be. But I'm not compelled to watch it again. I could watch Boogie Nights over and over again. This movie feels similar. Great work all around.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Everyone says There Will Be Blood is PT's masterpiece. It may be. But I'm not compelled to watch it again.

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Its the same for me. For me, its the great benefit of being a "regular person who enjoys movies" and not required to adher to some higher critical standard. "Objectively," There Will Be Blood may be more of an acheivement because of the material that needed to be tackled and the epic/artful way in which it was. And of course there was another great Daniel Day Lewis performance in there. His opening "John Huston-voiced" sales pitch to oil investors was classic "Oscar bait" -- a very long speech fully memorized and well spoken. And his ending murderous madman's "I drink your milkshake! I drink it UP!" speech went into the great lines movie book.

But I'm not compelled to watch the whole film of There Will Be Blood again, and I've watched Licorice Pizza several times in the last year since it was released -- and individual scenes even more times.

I like the characters(especially Gary and Alana), the love story, the era, the set-pieces, the music, the mood...everything.

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I could watch Boogie Nights over and over again.

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Boogie Nights has its share of rewatchable scenes, but its second half sure goes dark, bleak, violent and mean. I rather like the gentleness of this movie -- and the intelligence of the characters -- more. At heart, Boogie Nights was about some very dumb and damaged people.

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This movie feels similar. Great work all around.

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Great work all around is right: writing, acting, cinematography, music...