DANCES WITH FILM 2021 REVIEW! Image if you made a 2021 version of Yours, Mine, & Ours but, the parents were living out their best 50 Shades of Grey fantasy; They/Them/Us explores this concept and so much more in this quirky, strange, and heartfelt comedy. The film blurs the lines between off-beat blended family comedy and raunchy sex comedy with more Us and Them, 2017. Directed by Joe Martin. Starring Jack Roth, Tim Bentnick, Sophie Colquhoun, Andrew Tiernan, and Louis Dempsey. SYNOPSIS: A young political insurgent plans to wreak revenge on Vì vậy, "Chúng ta của sau này", ngay từ tựa đề phim đã khiến mình hình dung về một cái kết không hoàn chỉnh của hai nhân vật chính, Phương Tiểu Hiểu và Lâm Kiến Thanh. 30 Tết năm ấy, Tiểu Hiểu và Kiến Thanh lần đầu gặp gỡ trên chuyến tàu về quê ăn Tết. 10 năm sau, cả hai tái ngộ trên chuyến bay hối hã về Bắc Kinh sum vầy gia đình. Review Summary: Despite Justin's hatred towards it, Us and Them is still a satisfying listen worthy of the mighty Godflesh name. Godflesh was quite possibly one of the most influential bands of the 90s, whether it was realized or not. Countless acts have cited them as an influence since the 90s, and their sound is certainly evident in bands The first obvious problem is the title. Friends & Family is much better although I don't know why it couldn't be called Gavin & Stacey. Us & Them sucks. Basically, this all depends on the cast. As a network TV sitcom, this is mostly standard with a bit of heart. The cast has good chemistry and this has a solid mix. English 101 September 2, 2012 "Us and Them" 1. The title of David Sedaris's piece "Us and Them" refers to the Tomkey family and the author's family. The family which is considered "them" is the Tomkey family. In this piece we are meant to sympathize with the Tomkey's because of the author's harsh and unreasonable judgment of them. ebIEm. There aren't very many realistic relationship movies out there. Most are mired down by cliches and melodrama where everything always works out in the end. If that is what you're hoping for with this movie, you'd best move on, for this is one of the best films about relationships that I've seen in recent are work. Period. And the more expectations that two people bring to the table, and the more differing goals that are brought, the more likelihood that the relationship is ultimately is a poignant story of two people who meet on a train, heading home for Chinese New Year. I've lived in China. There is no greater mass migration on the planet than during Chinese New Year. I lived in Shenzhen, a city of 20+ million. The city looked like a ghost is a young man living in Beijing. His dream is to create video games. He works at a small kiosk. He doesn't make much money, and his room in his apartment looks more like a metro station...people crammed together and living in bedrooms that look more like cubicles. It's a simple existence that doesn't seem to hold much promise, based upon Jianqing's is a young and vibrant woman, full of life, and seems to hop from place to place. Her dream is finding true love. So much so, that she invents stories of boyfriends in order to make her own goal-Jianqing-jealous to the point where she hopes he might come Xiao-Xiao pretty much takes the initiative and the two make love. She moves into Jianqing's cramped bedroom. Xiao-Xiao's dream is fulfilled, and she even reminds a frustrated Jianqing that she doesn't care if they live in a box. However, Jianqing firmly believes that Xiao-Xiao can't possibly be happy in their current living situation. In the process of trying to better their living situation, he slowly begins to alienate her, failing to understand that Xiao-Xiao only cares about being with story is masterfully told by taking us back to 2007 and progressing through the years up to present time. All of the flashbacks are done in color. The present is in black and white. The director is demonstrating a time when dreams were attempting to be realized up to the point where everything is now stale, desolate, and unfulfilled through the black and white landscape of crushed and unrealized dreams. Of course, in the present, after bumping into each other for a final time, they begin to wonder if things could have been different. Based upon how they each saw things, they realize that it couldn't have been. Xiao-Xiao has a bit more wisdom to see the folly than can only focus on-what he feels-his failure to provide for Xiao-Xiao. Xiao-Xiao already knows the futility that he was already everything to her; that he never needed to struggle and fight to make her happy. She was already happy. But, of course, he failed to see in the end, when they are finally able to let go, do the vibrant colors begin to fill the landscape, almost as if it were happening in that very moment of their realization and appreciation for what they had...and frankly, still only do people's expectation and goals often differ, but people also change as time moves on. Depending upon the couple, these can appear to be insurmountable barrier. And for those who choose to refuse to see what is right in front of them in the other, it too often is just that an insurmountable relationships fail due to a lack of communication; to talk things out when it's obvious that things are moving in two different directions, taking each person with them. Perhaps a film like this will inspire folks to look a bit harder at what-and more importantly who-is right in front of them. It's funny and sad how often most people fail to notice. 9 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote. Permalink If you had to guess which legendary rock and roll artist has a new concert film featuring characters that include “Refugee,” “Drone Pilot” and “Palestinian Girl”, there’s a good chance your guess would be Roger Waters. The former Pink Floyd front man is practically defined by his decades-spanning collection of songs and concept albums that dive headlong into hot-button social and political issues that include capitalist greed 1977’s “Animals”, youthful alienation 1979’s “The Wall”, and the futility of war 1992’s “Amused to Death”. In 2017’s principled and tuneful “Is This the Life We Really Want?,” his first solo album of all-new rock material since “Amused to Death,” Waters turns his skeptical yet hopeful eye toward refugees and President Trump, among other topics. The album’s most biting songs, featuring ferocious lyrics tailor-made for tweet-sized social media messages, are also the highlight of his latest concert film, “Roger Waters Us + Them,” a sonically superior if sometimes draggy affair that earns its stripes by affirming the timelessness of Waters’ thematic concerns and proving that fresh material doesn’t have to be the medicine we’re forced to swallow to hear the classics. Shot over three nights in June 2018 during the Us +Them tour stop in Amsterdam, the film looks and sounds fantastic and should easily rope in his aging fan base. If they blink and miss its two-days-only theatrical release in October, the DVD is set for store shelves in early 2020. Indeed, the age of his fans leads co-directors Waters and Sean Evans to make the odd choice of limiting audience reaction shots primarily to tattooed and pierced men and women in their 20s and 30s. One young woman actually sheds a tear. While this reads as a fairly silly way of arguing that the 76-year-old songwriter and bassist can connect with a younger generation, it does remind us of the universality and insolvability of the problems that distress him so greatly. Some of the younger concertgoers are not too far removed from the prison-jumpsuit-wearing local kids who line the stage for “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2,” a multi-cultural group who eventually rip off their orange vestments to reveal T-shirts that read “resist.” “The Last Refugee” gives voice to one of Waters’ latest topical concerns, augmented in aching if ineffectual fashion by live-action sequences. If he never gets us feeling the same level of sadness and anger over the ongoing worldwide refugee crisis, it’s not for lack of trying. In his matching black T-shirt and jeans, Waters still cuts an authoritative yet hip figure, the coolest grandpa ever. While his voice has never been one of pure velocity and clean lines like Freddie Mercury’s, it’s still in very fine form, his cracked and battle-scared warble conveying authenticity and righteous fury. And make no mistake, for a man championing peace, he sure sounds furious. The film’s highlight is a blistering multi-song reaction to Trump starting with “Picture That” “picture a leader with no f—ing brains” from the new album, followed later by the one-two punch of “Pigs Three Different Ones” from “Animals” and “Money” from “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Here, editor Katharine McQuerrey works with the music and the stage visuals including billboard-sized Trump quotes and Pink Floyd’s legendary floating pig to devastating effect, giving the film the political charge we’ve been waiting for. It obliterates any nagging worry that the 156-show tour is merely trading on Water’s past glories like so many other rockers of a certain age taken to running wheezy laps around the nostalgia track. Any Roger Waters arena concert is an unparalleled spectacle, and while DP Brett Turnbull’s coverage of the band onstage breaks no new ground, the crushed blacks add a dark and provocative edge. The stage includes a 94-foot wide LED screen, and about halfway through the concert, a giant metal grid and 16 moving screens descend from the roof. Seen live, it was presumably an awe-inspiring contribution to the evening’s overall effect, an epic vision that Turnbull’s arena-encompassing wide shots can suggest but never fully convey. The movie’s title is adapted from the “Dark Side” track “Us and Them.” Replacing the “and” with a plus sign makes the point that if humanity is going to survive the only way forward is together. It’s a notion that he’s taken to controversial extremes in recent years having repeatedly and unrepentantly stepped on the age’s geopolitical third rail the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Us + Them,” both film and concert, ends with a spoken-word plea for justice for “our brothers and sisters in Palestine” who, in Waters’ telling, live under Israel’s deeply repressive apartheid regime. In today’s politically polarized culture, criticizing both Trump and Israel risks leaving a whole lot of money on the table in terms of concert revenue and DVD and streaming sales. But this is “Us + Them’s” primary achievement, one that should not be blithely dismissed in this PC era Although Waters is sometimes aggravating and occasionally trouble-making, he is, to repurpose a lyric from “Breathe,” not afraid to care. “Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way,” sings the band’s David Gilmour stand-in, guitarist Jonathan Wilson, in the Pink Floyd classic “Time.” It is not, thank goodness, Roger Waters’ way. Completed kobeno14 people found this review helpful Story Acting/Cast Music Rewatch Value This review may contain spoilers How Expectations and Different Goals Affect A Relationship There aren't very many realistic relationship movies out there. Most are mired down by cliches and melodrama where everything always works out in the end. If that is what you're hoping for with this movie, you'd best move on, for this is one of the best films about relationships that I've seen in recent are work. Period. And the more expectations that two people bring to the table, and the more differing goals that are brought, the more likelihood that the relationship is ultimately is a poignant story of two people who meet on a train, heading home for Chinese New Year. I've lived in China. There is no greater mass migration on the planet than during Chinese New Year. I lived in Shenzhen, a city of 20+ million. The city looked like a ghost is a young man living in Beijing. His dream is to create video games. He works at a small kiosk. He doesn't make much money, and his room in his apartment looks more like a metro station...people crammed together and living in bedrooms that look more like cubicles. It's a simple existence that doesn't seem to hold much promise, based upon Jianqing's is a young and vibrant woman, full of life, and seems to hop from place to place. Her dream is finding true love. So much so, that she invents stories of boyfriends in order to make her own goal-Jianqing-jealous to the point where she hopes he might come Xiao-Xiao pretty much takes the initiative and the two make love. She moves into Jianqing's cramped bedroom. Xiao-Xiao's dream is fulfilled, and she even reminds a frustrated Jianqing that she doesn't care if they live in a box. However, Jianqing firmly believes that Xiao-Xiao can't possibly be happy in their current living situation. In the process of trying to better their living situation, he slowly begins to alienate her, failing to understand that Xiao-Xiao only cares about being with story is masterfully told by taking us back to 2007 and progressing through the years up to present time. All of the flashbacks are done in color. The present is in black and white. The director is demonstrating a time when dreams were attempting to be realized up to the point where everything is now stale, desolate, and unfulfilled through the black and white landscape of crushed and unrealized dreams. Of course, in the present, after bumping into each other for a final time, they begin to wonder if things could have been different. Based upon how they each saw things, they realize that it couldn't have been. Xiao-Xiao has a bit more wisdom to see the folly than can only focus on-what he feels-his failure to provide for Xiao-Xiao. Xiao-Xiao already knows the futility that he was already everything to her; that he never needed to struggle and fight to make her happy. She was already happy. But, of course, he failed to see in the end, when they are finally able to let go, do the vibrant colors begin to fill the landscape, almost as if it were happening in that very moment of their realization and appreciation for what they had...and frankly, still only do people's expectation and goals often differ, but people also change as time moves on. Depending upon the couple, these can appear to be insurmountable barrier. And for those who choose to refuse to see what is right in front of them in the other, it too often is just that an insurmountable relationships fail due to a lack of communication; to talk things out when it's obvious that things are moving in two different directions, taking each person with them. Perhaps a film like this will inspire folks to look a bit harder at what-and more importantly who-is right in front of them. It's funny and sad how often most people fail to notice. Read More Was this review helpful to you? Us and Them 后来的我们 is a Chinese tragi-romance told through two narratives. In the present, ex-lovers Jianqing Jing Boran and Xiaoxiao Zhou Dongyu meet by chance while stranded on their way to Beijing over New Year’s. Stuck together for a night, their reminisces turn into flashbacks, bringing us to a second tale of romance in their younger days, as they tried to start lives in the city. It’s Tough Being YoungJianqing and Xiaoxiao first meet as they try to eke out a meager existence in Beijing. Fresh in the city from their homes in the countryside, the pair initially meet on the train ride home while Jianqing is still a college student. Later, the two become shop owners peddling pirated software and Japanese adult videos. They both see Beijing as a city of limitless opportunity. Jianqing has dreams of making video games, while Xiaoxiao wants to obtain a Beijing residency permit a 户口, or hukou, granting access to local public services such as schools and hospitals, or even the right to purchase a house — an aspiration shared by many migrant workers in urban China who originally hail from the countryside. This era of their lives occurs in the early 2000s, the same decade when many Western millennials came of age. In many ways, Jianqing and Xiaoxiao’s struggles to “make it” in the big city echo the struggles of young people across the world. Saddled with the expectations of their parents and society, young people today are put under tremendous pressure to attain success not only materially via home ownership and a high-paying stable job but also familially a la parental questioning of “when will you get married?”.In many ways, the tight-knit family environment of China worsens this problem. Traditionally, once a year over Chinese New Year, Chinese millennials’ parents and relatives gather for 团年饭 tuan nian fan, or a “New Year get-together dinner”. During these family reunions, it is common for relatives — however distant from your daily life — to question your relationship status, roadmap to marriage, and your plans to “settle down”. These questions annoy the latest generation in China so much that they have resorted to obtaining fake girlfriends and boyfriends to avoid scrutiny from their elders. The difficulty of reconciling familial pressures with reality have led many youths in China to give up entirely on fulfilling the expectations of their parents and relatives. This has given rise to sang culture in China a self-ironic rejection of the definitions of success imposed by the elder generation, and an embrace of a more personal and modern definition of success. Jianqing though, is not stereotypically unsuccessful. In fact, over time he achieves the classic hallmarks of a successful young man in China owning a home in the city, having a nice car, and garnering a stable, high-earning job — the oft-repeated mantra in Chinese 有房有车有钱 “youfang youche youqian”. These three qualities are often required for a man to find a girlfriend in China, and have often been satirized for representing the materialism that has come to dominate relationships in China for example, in this spot for Didi — Chinese Uber. Image courtesy of Dou BanBreakups and Tech StartupsNo tragi-romance would be complete without a breakup story. Therefore, it’s no spoiler that Jianqing and Xiaoxiao eventually split on sudden terms in their younger days. What then makes Us and Them different from other tragi-romances such as My Old Classmate is how the male protagonist decides to deal with the breakup Instead of wallowing in sorrow, Jianqing decides to build his own video game inspired in part by Xiaoxiao, which ultimately leads to his material success in the present day. Of course, building a tech startup isn’t as easy as a mere 15 minutes in a movie could capture, but it was admirable to see Us and Them depict Jianqing pulling himself up by his bootstraps and channelling his newfound loneliness and general misery into a more positive channel. It would then be difficult to classify Us and Them as a classical tragi-romance because, unlike the male protagonists in many Chinese tragi-romances, our protagonist actually succeeds in building his own business and eventually joins a larger game studio as a senior business leader — senior enough to fly business class. Jiangqing attains such material success that he is able to purchase a home in Beijing for his family — attaining the dream of his ex-lover. Image courtesy of Dou BanWhy Bother?That said, Us and Them spares no time before it jumps back to a stark reminder that, despite all the material success Jianqing might have in the world, he may still not be happy. This explains then, the sang culture that has taken root in China what’s the point of participating in the rat race if you’re just going to be miserable when you cross the finish line? Even if you become the millionaire CEO of a tech startup, are you going to ever truly be happy? We can easily evoke the Americanism of “it’s lonely at the top” here. As Jianqing and Xiaoxiao talk in the present day, Xiaoxiao mentions that she started to learn English — and says “I miss you.” However, she quickly corrects herself and says she meant “I missed you” — just as Jianqing replies “I miss you too.” This awkward exchange shows that ultimately Jianqing isn’t sure whether he truly wants this materially successful life, or just wanted to be with the sweetheart of his younger days. However, Xiaoxiao recognizes that the past is in the past, and no amount of regret can change the decisions that she and Jianqing made to get to where they are and Them will bring you on a roller-coaster of emotions; and ultimately it might encourage you to drunkenly look up your ex on Facebook and send them a message which ironically the protagonists of this film would never be able to do, given Facebook is blocked in China. After all, you never know — maybe you’ll find yourselves reminiscing together about the cheerful days of your and Them Chinese 后来的我们—China. Directed by Rene Liu. First released April 2018. Running time 1hr 50min. Starring Zhou Dongyu and Jing Boran. Movie Reviews By Reviewer Type All Critics Top Critics All Audience Verified Audience Prev Next Joe Martin is clearly a filmmaker to watch who might have worn his influences on his sleeve in this film, but he has proven he is a stylish filmmaker with a lot to say. Full Review Original Score 3/5 May 12, 2023 As the narrative continued forward, I began to lose track over what Martin was saying, and started to focus more on how dour the characters really were. Full Review Original Score C+ Jul 10, 2020 A thought-provoking film but its wayward tone and uneven execution lets it down. Full Review Original Score 2/5 Jun 5, 2019 A stylishly violent home invasion movie. Full Review Original Score B- Oct 22, 2018 Writer-Director Joe Martin's Us And Them is a class war, social commentary filtered through a post-Quentin Tarantino cinematic world. Full Review Original Score Oct 18, 2018 Turns out jerks come with all different sized bank accounts. Full Review Oct 14, 2018 All in all, the effect is like Guy Ritchie has remade Michael Haneke's Funny Games after huffing old copies of the Socialist Worker. Full Review Original Score 2/5 Oct 12, 2018 It feels as if there are three different films struggling to get out and though it can be tense, this can undercut it at times. However, it's sparkily shot and edited, and the camerawork is interesting. Full Review Original Score 3/5 Oct 10, 2018 Biting, witty and cruel class war satire that goes too grim and too far to be as much fun as it wants to be. Full Review Original Score Oct 4, 2018 The script's hyperactivity distracts enough from the fact that its musings on class conflict are underdeveloped at best. Full Review Original Score 2/5 Oct 4, 2018 Us and Them is anchored by stellar performances, Roth especially, but it can't decide what it wants to be or who it wants to champion. Full Review Original Score Apr 18, 2018 Not as sharp as it thinks it is but funnier and better handled than it sounds from its description, Us and Them benefits from a solid sense of humor and a sure hand keeping the tone steady even as it changes direction regularly. Full Review Original Score 7/10 Apr 5, 2018 Who knew an Occupy Wall Street-approved plan would end in violence? Full Review Original Score 3/4 Mar 16, 2018 The gimmicky structure and style is more distracting than effective, and it mostly fails to compensate for an underdeveloped plot. Full Review Mar 15, 2018 With frothing energy and unfettered vulgarity, "Us and Them" lances the boil of working-class grievance and watches as the infection spreads to everyone in its path. Full Review Mar 15, 2018 As sleek and polished as Us and Them looks, it finds Martin not only biting from more established filmmakers, but biting off more than he can chew. Full Review Mar 14, 2018 Us And Them might be a little slighter than expected, but Jack Roth's charismatic fire-starter has enough anarchistic anger to appreciate. Full Review Original Score 6/10 Mar 20, 2017 Us and Them feels precisely like the type of movie we so desperately need right now. Full Review Original Score 4/5 Mar 16, 2017 Roth continues to anchor the film and Martin has style to spare, but this is one of those projects that most of all makes you excited for what its star and director will do next. Full Review Mar 14, 2017 While Us and Them may be simplistic and outlandish in approach, there's no arguing with the rampant injustice onto which it shines such a harsh light. Full Review Mar 12, 2017 Prev Next Do you think we mischaracterized a critic's review? A Lot or a Little? What you will—and won't—find in this movie. What's the Story? In US AND THEM, during the 2007 Chinese New Year, Jian Qing Jing Boran and Xiao Xiao Zhou Dongyu, two young adults, meet on a packed train leaving Beijing for their hometown for the holiday. Over the course of a train ride filled with drinking, card games, and pranks on other passengers, Jian Qing and Xiao Xiao begin to develop a bond that will last for years. But while Jian Qing has feelings for Xiao Xiao that go beyond friendship, Xiao Xiao seems to prefer being in relationships with older men whose financial and material success far outweighs their physical appearance, personality, and the fact that they are often already married. In Beijing, the two work numerous odd jobs to make ends meet as Jian Qing works to become a successful video game developer. Over time, as Xiao Xiao becomes less materialistic, Jian Qing struggles with trying to pursue his life's dream as his friends become more financially successful. Their relationship is shown through a series of flashbacks as Jian Qing and Xiao Xiao in the present day run into each other and get reacquainted after their flight out of Beijing is canceled. As they talk, they reflect on what might have been, and must contend with what could still be, despite all the changes in themselves and in the world around them. Talk to Your Kids About ... Families can talk about romantic dramas. How does Us and Them compare to other movies in which two people fall in and out of love? Why do you think scenes set in the present were in black and white, and the flashback scenes were in color? What are some of the ways in which the movie evokes the recent past in pop culture and Chinese society?

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