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marc-shellard
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An error has ocurred. Please try again1. The story and concept 2. Characters and acting 3. Cinematography, visual effects and editing 4. Structure, pacing and tone 5. Rewatchability (entertainment value) or analytical value 6. Quality of the genre elements (eg. horror, comedy, drama) 7. Score 8. Writing (includes internal consistency) and dialogue
An average is taken and +/- for overall impressions and personal feelings.
Films that aren't rated 8, I recommend on an ironic level, as pure unadulterated entertainment or as a guilty pleasure.
Reviews
Outnumbered (2007)
The unflinching honesty of family life
Such an accurate portrayal of middle class British family life. I love the writing for this show, especially the children. They're so genuine and real. It's particularly good at depicting how a child's mind cuts through all adult BS to cut to the core of things, especially Karen. I love how intelligent and insightful she is for her age.
Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner are fantastic as the tired Mum & Dad of three. Also a big fan of how the drama is subdued and realistic. You rarely see a sitcom with such restraint, there's never any divorces or weddings, dramatic break-ups or big romantic gestures. It's just real life.
Andor (2022)
Finally, Star Wars is well written again
Star Wars has ever never been a masterpiece in writing more than it's been a great universe for storytelling potential. The original trilogy was a game changer but still blockbuster entertainment (although I'd argue it transcends that), and since the Disney acquisition Star Wars has felt a lot more flat and uninspired, even terrible in some cases. And now we have the best piece of Star Wars since probably The Empire Strikes Back
Andor is such a breathe of fresh air for a cinematic universe that really needed it. The start is a little rocky and cliche, but the way it jumps into it after the third episode, following each event naturally, introducing great characters, ideas, set pieces, monologues and you name it along the way.
Finally, the Empire is explored the way it should be. We get to see the wrestle for freedom, the demons that come from fighting fire with fire. Love the way it fleshes out the universe more, but the real hero of this show is the script.
I'll think I'll enjoy Rogue One more on a revisit too now. Here's to a good season 2, I hope they do this story and these characters justice.
Rick and Morty: Full Meta Jackrick (2022)
Charlie Kaufman Rick & Morty, a meta masterpiece
An amazing sequel to the story train episode which is a fantastic episode from season 4. Absolutely hilarious and fully establishes that Rick and Morty are aware that we exist in our own dimension as "the viewers". Loads of fun character work.
It's genuinely one of the most meta episodes of television that currently exists.
I also agree with the writer that 'back to season 1' critiques are not well founded. Sure seasons 4 & 5 had some episodes that were below par for Rick & Morty but they also had some of the best episodes. Seasons 1 & 2 had plenty of weaker stories.
Season 6 has not missed and I'm here for it. Can't wait for this 3 part Rick Prime arc!
Ozark (2017)
Almost great for the entire series
A really good show, that is pretty consistently quality through the first 3 seasons. A lot of people compare it to Breaking Bad, and while I think it doesn't come close to that shows perfection, I can see elements that make it somewhat reminiscent.
The acting is fantastic, particularly Laura Linney (Wendy) and Julia Garner (Ruth). Jason Bateman acts very well in this, but I have a hard time distinguishing the actor from the character. Perhaps that just a personal bias, as I've seen him in so many other less dramatic roles.
The story suffers from pacing issues, a lot of the time spent in the show is spent on meandering around plot points when it should be developing the characters more. I feel like the only characters with substantial arcs were Wendy and Ruth. Wendy was my favourite by far, love the direction they take her in the later seasons.
The finale. A mixed bag for sure. Seemed like they didn't know what to do with the characters. Which brings me to the story. Sometimes this show feels incredibly well written, other times characters feel like they make decisions that are completely out of character. It's hard to quantify exactly when this happens but certainly in seasons 3 & 4 I noticed discrepancies.
Although it drags from time to time, I still think it's a well made and produced show with lots to offer. Plenty of great moments, heaps of good actings, visually pleasing. Just wish there was some more creativity to make it stand out a little more.
The Simpsons (1989)
After watching 20 seasons back to back
I love the Simpsons, it's an almost perfect satire of the American family life. With so many iconic characters, clever jokes, sharp writing; there's so much to enjoy in the flawless golden age of the Simpsons, but as everyone knows there is a gradual decline in quality over the years. What else can I say what hasn't already been said.
There's much debate online about where this decline begins, and lots of "where the Simpsons died" videos showing the specific episode that marked the end of the beginning, but I think it's a pretty steady decline in quality with no obvious turning point.
I believe the golden age is seasons 3-10, with seasons 11-15 being very strong too.
Here's how I'd rank the first 20:
Season 1 - 8/10
Season 2 - 9/10
Seasons 3-10 - 10/10
Seasons 11 - 9/10
Seasons 12-15 - 8/10
Seasons 16 & 17 - 7/10
Seasons 18 & 19 - 6/10
Seasons 20+ - 5 and probably lower/10
I believe the decline is the result of the writers and animators being burnt out. You can see less effort in the jokes, reusing and recycling material from the earlier seasons. I don't really factor this into my score because what the Simpsons achieved for modern animation and comedy far outweighs the mediocrity the sags on never-ending production of this show.
If it had stopped at season 10, this would be a masterpiece. It didn't, so it's not. Unlike Game of Thrones, it has the good fortune of having a standalone episodic structure so the lack of quality later on doesn't effect the early seasons.
It'd be impossible to pick my favourite episode, but I think my favourite season is season 6; just so many amazing episodes back to back.
Succession (2018)
I increased my rating upon my second viewing of Season 2 Episode 5
Masterful television, one of the best written shows I've ever seen. Every character is complex and well written in their own right. Brilliant dark humour. Existential criticism of capitalism and society, deep commentary on patriarchal relationships, with some juicy environmental subtext thrown in for dessert. A fascinating study into the way language is used in the corporate world, even in the relationship between language and power. Brian Cox is an acting powerhouse, and all the children play their parts beautifully.
I won't go into spoilers, but the dinner table scene in 205 is just everything that encapsulates why this show is above most current programs running.
These are the people who are really in charge of the world, and they're broken. The world will never heal until they do.
Money wins, how sad that it does.
Dune (2021)
A near perfect beginning to what could be the next masterpiece saga
Denis Villeneuve is one of my all time favourite directors, responsible for modern sci-fi classics like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, underrated gems like Prisoners, Sicario and Enemy and one of my all-time favourite foreign language films Incendies. So naturally when I heard he was attached to direct Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic Dune, the project quickly became perhaps my most anticipated movie release of all time! He's the perfect choice to adapt this material, and has all the materials to make this series a modern day masterpiece saga the likes of which we haven't seen since Lord of the Rings.
Needless to say my expectations were very high, and I'm so pleased to say it delivered in nearly every aspect. I was not expecting this to be what feels like an appetiser for a dense story yet to be told (was unaware this was called Dune: Part One), but the world and the characters are set up beautifully. The film is truly epic in scope but remains grounded with the characters. The cinematography is gorgeous complimented with a fantastic, fitting score. Sound design, world building, run down future technology, its just done superbly. The pacing is slow and deliberate but there's never a dull moment. Exposition is constant to get us to grips with this universe but it never feels forced or overbearing. I was nervous about Timothee Chalamet but he was great as the lead. All the supporting cast was fantastic but Rebecca Ferguson really stood out to me as being exceptional. It was a difficult job to balance between character development and world building but I think giving the preference to world building will pay off in the sequels. I honestly wish this film was even longer!
Denis confirms his position as one of best working directors today with another modern sci-fi classic under his belt. Give this man more amazing material to bring to the screen! I hope that this becomes my next sci-fi obsession that increases with each instalment of this franchise, and I for one am excited to see where this story goes.
Those that know me know I rarely give 10s, there's perhaps 20 films out of the 1,400 I've seen that have that honour and this might just be the first film in a year to earn a spot among the best of the best (last one The Holy Mountain watched Dec 2020). I will rewatch soon and see how I feel, less excitement clouding my judgement, so for now we'll stick with a 9.
Brüno (2009)
Just as funny, clever and satirical as Borat, just more outrageous
I think this film reveals that people are more uncomfortable with gay stereotypes than with race stereotypes. It does literally the exact same thing as Borat, a overly exaggerated stereotypes walks around America and shines a light on peoples unconscious bias towards said stereotype. Sacha Baron Cohen goes the extra mile with his projects, you can see it in his performance here, the acting is fantastic you can barely tell that Borat and Bruno are the same person. He's a satirical genius, I enjoy watching him criticise America and this is no exception - this film goes especially hard on the vapid and superficial nature of the fashion and film industries. The set pieces he arranges for this film are just as impressive and hilarious as ones in Borat, and will also have you guessing which ones are real and which are fake. I really admire how far he's willing to go for comedy, literally will put himself in danger; that kind of dedication is seldom found in today's comedies and that deserves recognition. In fact, according to the IMDb trivia, the only scripted scene was the bit with Harrison Ford and that is kind of incredible if it's true. "Is your baby fine with lit phosphorus?" I mean come on people can't you see that it's exactly the same as Borat, making fun of ridiculous people?? If you didn't like this but loved Borat then you might have some inner homophobia that you might have to address.
Chaos Walking (2021)
What a waste of such fantastic source material
When I heard that Charlie Kaufman was writing the script to one of my favourite young adult science fiction series, I was excited to see what he would do with such wonderful source material.
And as it goes with studios, they rewrote, reshot and massacred this project into a badly written, wet fart of an adaptation.
For those who have read the series, don't waste your time. Nothing that made the books great is on display in this film. Mayor Prentiss is an amazing character but Mads is given nothing to do here he's just a basic villain. The spackle are poorly designed and are not a prominent feature of this story. No New Haven, no Ask and the Answer, I AM THE CIRCLE AND THE CIRCLE IS ME is not explained and is just there. At best, this is a reference to the source material and is basically an entirely different story.
For those looking for a new sci-fi adventure, I'd say this fails as a film too. The story makes little sense, the acting is quite poor, the world, characters and their motivations are not established well at all. Things just happen for no particular reason. It's an intriguing concept that has awful execution, if you want explore this universe I recommend reading the books, they're wonderful.
I can't believe this is a world where the Twilight franchise has 4 films and this series only has 1. As a film I'd give it 3/10 but for the dishonour and disrespect it gave the books I give it a 1/10. I'd love to see this series done properly, with 3 films each based on the 3 books, there's more than enough story for a franchise. Please let Charlie Kaufman write it his films are creative and interesting.
The Lion King (2019)
A soul-less reimagining of a beautiful film
A painfully transparent cash grab by Disney, missing what made the Lion King a stellar film; emotion, heart, soul and character. It's literally worse in EVERY single way.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
You once were a ve-gone, but now you will be gone
Creativity in comedy is rare to find from the genre in today's film landscape. Edgar Wright is one of the few working director's whose films are filled with so much passion, personality and energy; this is particularly true for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Like his other films, Scott Pilgrim excels at showing why comedy needs character and heart. Actors like Michael Cera and Audrey Plaza are perfectly cast in their roles (absolutely adore Chris Evan's cameo), allowing for the intented comedy to be delivered effectively. He even manages to get a good performance out of Brie Larson for heaven's sake. On top of this, Edgar Wright uses every tool at his disposal to squeeze every ounce of comedy and fun out of this wonderful script, by making the most of his editing. The way objects and characters enter the frame, the way sound edits are used for comedy (the use of the apple delete noise always cracks me up), the way he transitions from one scene to the next are all examples of how he uses the cinematography brilliantly. This adds so much to the entertainment value it baffles me that other comedy directors don't use similiar techniques. The pace and wit is relentless, the film is weird and quirky, hilariously sharp and entertaining from start to finish. Genuinely never a boring or slow moment, not a single frame or line is wasted; I challenge you to find a comedy released in the last 5 years where you can say the same.
Her (2013)
Love in the digital age
At the heart of every truly great science-fiction film there is an emphasis on character that aims to reflect on some element of the human condition usually intended to open our minds to thought provoking predictions of an impending reality. Her is a beautifully writted and acted story that delves deep into the complex nature of love, relationships and social aspects of the human psyche in a world where evloving technologies have solved all our problems, but keep us isolated; making the film a Black Mirror-esque prophetic vision of the future and a strong commentary on relationships today. The film shows Theodore (excellently played by Joaquin Phoenix), in the midst of divorce, fall in love with his operating system Samantha (beautifully voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Through it's stunning cinematography, the film conveys a true sense of social isolation in Theodore, as he learns to accept his divorce and find something real in an artificial consciousness, pushing the boundaries of what society considers a "real" relationship. The film boasts a diverse array of themes, from technology and loneliness, loss of love and acceptance, what it means to be human. The score is absolutely fantastic and enhances the emotional experience very well. It had me thinking on my relationship, and what love means to me, and if that isn't what true art is then I don't know what is.