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The Spanish Princess (2019)
Lame and not believable.
I am a sucker for period dramas, and I love Tudor history. Its unfortunate, however that these tacky productions keep being made for mindless consumption.
I saw another review entitled that it it is like Wolf Hall, in being an unconventional take on the tutors.I would argue that there is a big difference in the two productions, primarily stemming from the quality of writing.
Wolf Hall strayed from the known (or typically described) traits of many of the characters, but the narrative was relatively realistic and low on mindless sensationalism. The Spanish Princess strays straight into modern dynamics, not interesting and not believable. I liked some of the casting choices, but overall, this is modern, mass produced garbage using the appeal of history to attract viewers it does not deserve.
Red Dragon (2002)
Lots of potential buit flawed
This is a movie that is made and lost by its performances. I loved watching Ralph Feinnes and Phillip Seymor Hoffman and Emily Watson. The film was ruined by flat performances, mostly by that of Edward Norton who played no discernible character except himself. It took me several watches of this movie to figure out what i didn't like about it, and it was the lack of interest created by Norton and Harvey Kaitel.
The opening scene with Lector and Norton's character are exciting and promised a great set up of a movie with justifiable reason for tension between them. But as the film progresses, this becomes silly. Norton's character comes of as not what he is being portrayed as (someone smart or perceptive or gifted), and Lector comes off as being petty.
More more interesting and compelling are the performances of Ralph Feeines as a fledgling dragon, and Emily Watson (in a rather unusual role for her) as the blind love interest. This had so much potential, with two disabled people being themselves with each other, facing their demons, avoiding the pitfalls of pity, ... too bad it was overshadowed by a the lame plot line of the stereotypical "gifted" detective entangled with the madman.
32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide (2017)
It is what it is, the exploration of a difficult experience
I was only inspired to write this review after reading another review that put the movie down for not putting an emphasis on what that review thought should be the "lessons" of the film. That reviewer suggested that we don't know how good we have it and need to focus on that, and the movie should have talked about that.
I think that is a bizarre and oppressive opinion about what the film "should" have been.
What was the film then? I don't see this movie talking about lessons, but rather being an exploration of a sister's struggle with the aftermath of her sibling's suicide. It documents a personal journey that only one person could document. It shows Hope's feelings, regrets and actions after the death of a sister with whom she had a complicated, though loving relationship. It was, as you would expect, moderately paced, relatively serious, lacking "action, but had occasional moments of optimism.
When you live with mental illness, there are not always easy answers or firmly defined messages about how you need to feel about it. The movie is well made, without any serious flaws besides being what it is: a movie that will not appeal to everyone for obvious reasons. I enjoy hearing about people's personal experiences, and I thank the sister for making it.
HHhH (2017)
For me, this was the movie that Anthropoid wasn't. Good.
I guess I would give this movie 7.5 out of 10. That is subject to a few conditions. First, I like historical drama and I was very disappointed with the movie Anthropoid, which was on the same topic. Second, ther's a slight flaw in the way the movies is divided into two halves. for a while you aren't sure what's happening and not in a good way. What I liked about his that I did not like about Anthropoid? In Anthropoid, i felt little connection to the characters and in this movie, there was an emotional component, even giving some insight into how H himself might have been. I loved that they included the perspective of his wife.I love that they show her giving birth alone while he coldly works. That shows some of the personal cost that is involved in being a mindless killing machine. When the movie transitions form the Heinrich family to the Czech resistance, I love the cinematography, but i would have liked a tiny bit of context. If you know the story, you figure it out one enough, but if you don't know, its disorienting. Another reviewer here complained about the lack of moral context, that is, why these characters fought to hard to do this and what did they achieve. Its true that that is understated, but I like it. They mention it in passing as they debate shutting down the operation. And its implied in the sadness of the end. It was a real sacrifice. maybe an un-thanked sacrifice, maybe a symbolic one. It didn't stop the war and it led to retaliations and suffering. The benefits were not discussed, but as they suggested, it showed the world that there was resistance, that the Nazis were not invincible.
Indignation (2016)
Solid film, reasonable watch, not original though
While I find some films on IMDb over rated, i feel like this one, which is currently ranked at 7, about right. A few important notes, I enjoy historical based drama, questions about philosophy and religious identity, and so this film all had elements that I am naturally well disposed to. Also in its favour is that, while it did not have a lot of action, it moved faster than many of today history films which spend so much time setting things up that the film becomes too long. The drawbacks of the film is that the elements were not as original as one would like, and the conclusion was anticlimactic. The movie touches on themes highlighted in movies such as "a Serious man," the Butterfly Effect, MR. Nobody, Sliding doors, etc... It does a good job of exploring those themes in a simple story without becoming too bizarre and too convoluted. The payoff however, while philosophically profound, doesn't feel as profound as in those other films You could call it "understated," but it also felt anticlimactic. . A minor criticism is that I don't enjoy seeing women portrayed as borderline personalities whose intentions are to victimize others.
Loving (2016)
slower and more dull than watching paint dry
I like to make my reviews brief and more or less to the point. My title of this review says most of what you need to know: it sounded like an important historic event worth learning about, but the overall telling over this story was dull, slow moving, and emotionally uninspiring. If you are inspired after watching this movie, its probably because you brought more empathy or imagination to the story than the script writer or the director. The good news about the story, is it s straightforward and not complicated, convoluted, or exaggerated. Also, I suppose you could say that the acting was not "terrible," for the most part. A notable exception to this was the husband, Mr. Loving, who was played with little warmth, reliability, or emotion. Even if the husband in real life were a man of little emotional depth, it would hard to imagine an actor playing him with so little dimension and warmth. There was also one of the lawyers that was not very able at acting, though his part was small. Nobody presented a tour-De-force performance. If you have a ton of patience for an uneventful, emotionally flat narrative, this movie gets you where you are going. If not, I recommend you go to wikipedia or someplace else to read about the events-that might be more interesting.
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
If you like biographies and histories, this is for you
I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I browsed the other reviews to see what those who did not like it said about it, and its fair of them to say its not a fast mover. However, I am someone without a lot of patience for slow movies, and this one had me engaged. To be fair though, its with noting that I enjoy learning about people and events, so if you are not inclined towards those topics, you might be bored. There's is not a lot more to say. Its arguable that its a bit formulaic: there is both triumph and tragedy, which Hollywood loves. however, presuming its fairly accurate(and I have not looked into that), who can argue with that? The acting was fantastic, the story compelling. If you care about stories of interesting people, intellectual and cultural history, this one is a beauty
The Sea of Trees (2015)
See Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence instead. A lame exploration of deep issues
Sorry this review is poorly written. I'll try to clean it up later.
My God, the patience you would have to have to watch this movie and like it. The pace is slower and more painful than a cat playing a mouse to death. It is not, like some bad movies I've seen incoherent from end to end. I mean the story is consistent with its atmosphere. So if one takes out the agonizingly boring beginning, its not terrible, but its barely OK.
A couple of men face the stereotypical male demons of shame, guilt, "achievement," and the burden of women. They consider suicide but end up confronting their ghosts, demons, etc...through the judging and questioning of the other. In a sacred brotherhood of overcoming, the two struggle together, yada yada yada. Don't get me wrong, the themes are important ones. And some of the clichés should be repeated because they matter. But the story and script was not compelling. It was during the flashback that I remembers Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. It also used flashbacks of regrets and shame, male bonding, sacrifice and sentiment. It even also uses song to bond the men. MCML, however, had some really original aspects. it also considered their sexual issues, issues of war, morality and mortality. Of course MCML lacks the symbolism of the suicide forest, but it touches on other symbols, both creatively and profoundly. Admittedly, MCML is tortuous and less coherent. You have to make sense of it, and its not fed to you. But it is interesting, whereas this was just not.
Stranger Things (2016)
80s movies stolen and given bad diaologue/acting
Even though I often find movies on IMDb overrated, I was expecting something good from this because of the 9.3. I am convinced that this is a case of the people rating something highly be cause it seems like it should be good. yes, its got lots of references from the 80s, but that does not mean its any good. We'll start with the worst dialogue ever. there were several places where the writings was so bad and you could actually see it straining to be funny. Worst in this department were the three screechy kids. One of them was a kind of hybrid character of GOONIES' Chunk, and Stand by Me's Vern. The chemistry between him and the black kid just missed the mark, the dead pan was never deadpan enough and the "clever dialogue" bits fell flat. although I' admit the other kid actually seemed to fit in the time and place being represented. Winona Ryder. She is so hit and miss. There are moments when she seems quite believable as the character but at other times ....just not. Worst though, might be the lack of originality, with ideas being stolen from all sorts of 80s titles. The 80s atmosphere felt less like the 80s and more like some a version of what a current have imagined it would be like from their distorted 2016 perception.
Risen (2016)
fine for religious folks, but too doesn't have staying power for those not already invested
I try to keep my reviews short and sweet and to the point. If you are a Christian and already believe in the resurrection of Jesus, you will likely enjoy seeing it portrayed. If you don't already have that investment, you will most likely get bored. At times the movie feels like two different films, one pre and one post resurrection. the pr-resurrection one tells unfolds a bit like mystery. After the resurrection and the conversion of the tribune, the film falls flat if you are not already a believer. the performances were okay but not spectacular and it lacked any emotional punch. If you want a better religious movie that covers the same material but has more power, watch the robe. if you have the guts to be more "philosophical" than religious, watch the Last Temptation of Christ instead
Elstree 1976 (2015)
Only moderately interesting
I'll make my review of this film short and sweet and without much care to finesse the details. I usually like documentaries about people, and a movie about the extras of Star Wars should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, the film focused on the lives of few extras, some of whom were interesting and some of whom were not. I found a few of the anecdotes of working on the actual film or conventions amusing but there was an awful lot of rambling on by people who I could care less about. I could care less about some guy playing squash with Kiera Knightly's father, or about the guy who had a backache and ended up taking too much Valium. While I often find the stories of regular people interesting,this put far too much focus on people telling mundane details of their lives and careers. A better movie would have been made by interviewing more people and including more interesting details, or alternatively, to follow the lives of one who had a particular unique story or path of this life. You might like this if it covers one of your very favorite favorites, but if you want something more than just filler, i don't recommend it.
The Program (2015)
Solid biopic, not high drama but interesting and well acted
I was a bit surprised to see this biopic had a rating of 6.5 after I watched it. I find most IMDb reviews far too generous, but in my opinion, this rating was about right.its a solid bio-pic that tells an interesting story of a cheater and his downfall. I am generally not very interested in sports, but I do like true stories of people and their weakness, and Armstong is a flawed character, who even in disgrace and failure never seemed able to really grasp the enormity of his flaws. The movie was coherent, well scripted, an d reasonably acted. and I've looked at the reviews that have marked it lower than that, and most of them complain that its is not as powerful in the end as it should be. I guess, to some extent, I can see where they are coming from. Who can argue that the the level of dishonesty displayed by this man should have ended in a total downfall of heart-wrenching magnitude? Like Armstrong (eventually), the movie tells it like it is and doesn't contemplate the full enormity of the situation for dramatic effect.
Cake (2014)
a thoughtful look at pain, ...a reasonable film but not Oscar worthy
I had mixed feelings about this film. First the good: I enjoyed the thoughtful attempt to explore issues of pain, tragedy and suicide. I enjoyed many of the performance, including Anna Kendrick as Nina's ghost. I thought Jennifer Aniston's performance was reasonably good, but certainly not worth all of the hand-ringing claims of Oscar snub. It was simply not so great as to be at the level of the greatest actresses. The less good: i didn't believe most of the relationships, much of the dialogue. the dark comedy elements, in my opinion, interfered with the serious drama going on. There were snapshots of authenticity that were powerful and meaningful, but the incongruous setting made the whole thing not gel very well for me. In short, despite my interest in these themes, I did not enjoy much of the film because of the writing/and or directing.
Flashdance (1983)
Don't expect high art, but this was the 80s.
I give this a reasonably high rating of 6 or 6.5, but that is with some serious caveats. First, more than half of the charm of this movie is nostalgia. If you grew up in the 80s, this movie was cutting edge for a teenager. It captured the feeling of energy and mania at the time in the music scene. On the upside, the characters are sympathetic and you can care about their story if you can overlook the ridiculousness of a few aspects of it. The downside includes those ridiculous aspects, and the fact that the story romanticized a lot of bad things. Like pretty woman, it gives the illusion that if the "bad girl" gets vulnerable enough, a sensitive man will save her. In Pretty woman its a prostitute, In Flashdance its a stripper. In real life, its just not true.
The Cat's Meow (2001)
Poorly written, slow, annoying
As always, my reviews are short and sweet and to the point, designed for people who, like me, know what they like. If you have a lot of patience for a slow set up, you might like this movie more than I did. I watched this movie because it was recommended to me and I had never heard of it, despite having worked in a video store and being a fan of both period pieces and true stories. While the actual true story involved is one that made me want to watch this movie, I am afraid the movie lost my interest fairly quickly. The set up of the characters and their relationships was slow and not very engaging. Secondly, the characters were written as goofy stereotypes rather than people who seemed real, and this did not work for me. One character was portrayed as so screechy and annoying, I hated every second she was on screen. I'm just not sure that was necessary to inflict upon the viewers. 50 minutes into this film, with no murder having happened, I decided to go to youtube instead to look for a documentary that would tell me what happened without making me suffer so much.
The Dressmaker (2015)
An okay attempt at Cohen brothers meets "Steel Magnolias," good themes though
my reviews are designed to be short and sweet and without much attention to literary style...people can feel free to take them or leave them, as I know I am not an exceptional writer, but I know what I like. In my opinion, this movie could not decide if it wanted to be a weighty drama that considered important issues, or a light and playful movie like "Oh brother, where art tho?," or Django Unchained. While some movies are capable of combining the two, I like a consistent reality and tone in a movie, and for me, this movie did not successfully achieve that. If you are less demanding of a movie in terms of expecting a certain consistent atmosphere, you might like it more than I did. But for me, it was like a serious drama filled with interjections of playfulness that did not quite work. These scenes were always signaled by music reminiscent of Django unchained or Kill Bill. This seemed really contrived to me, where they were signalling the time for comic relief and levity, even though it did not fit organically with the story. It seemed like the directors were using a formula designed to emulate those types of films, even though it was not suitable. The petty rivalries in the town are treated like comic fodder in such a way that they seemed inconsistent with the drama that I was trying to be engaged in. The second half of the movie works for me better than the first half, as the more serious aspects of the drama come into focus. There is an examination of prejudice, justice and personal transformation that at times is substantive. The merits of this film, in my opinion, lie in its attempt to look at those more substantial issues such as bias and personal tenacity. However, I like a movie that creates a tone and reality that holds together in a way that this did not. This reminds me of other movies, such as Mr. Nobody, where I enjoy some of the philosophical themes, but found the plot wandering and too torturous for me really to enjoy it much.
Lady Jane (1986)
Extremely historically inaccurate, ..but enjoyable
I give this film a 7 our of ten with an important caveat-it is far more inaccurate historically than any decent historical film should be. I am not talking about the small kind of details than many historically oriented people might complain about... I'm talking about the major details such as the focus on reforming the shilling, which is made to look like a major accomplishment of Jane's even though it did not occur at all in her very very short reign. Most of this film is completely fabricated, from the depiction of her personality to the relationship with her husband. The only thing that is true is that she was used as a pawn by people around her who wanted a protestant queen instead of Catholic queen....and their misuse of her in this plot cost her her life. In all likelihood, so much of the biographical details are fictionalized because we have so little information on what she was really like.
The reason I give the film so high a rating is that its a total guilty pleasure for someone who likes a a bit of historical drama. Helena B-Carter is great as a a Jane that is willful, but both strong and vulnerable at the same time She's a pleasure to watch in this, even if we have little information to suggest how Jane herself was. I also like the complexity of the relationship with her husband, even though by most historic accounts, he was a drunken louse and there's no reason to believe they won each others hearts as they did in the film. In short, this is a reasonably well written and presented historical drama, even if not a great representation of Jane and her life.
Parkland (2013)
A pretty poor effort
I was very excited when I heard that they were making a movie about Abraham Zapruder and the events that unfolded at the Parkland hospital at the day of JFKs assassination. Unfortunately, the story was poorly told and kind of cobbled together in bits and pieces. Paul Giamatti is often hit and miss for me, but I liked him as the earnest Zapruder, who in real life, DID sell the footage at a low price to a reputable source rather than try to get as much money as possible. had the script focused on telling his story, rather than diluting its subject by adding in the drama at the hospital, this movie could have been made good. The downfall of this movie largely (ironically) the depiction of events at Parkland, the hospital they named the film after. Zac Efron is completely and utterly unbelievable as a doctor at Parkland. this film falls down in its inability to capture any sort of authenticity at the hospital. If you like history and want some authenticity, I would not bother with this film. If you are curious about some of the names such as Zapruder, and you aren't picky, its something okay to throw on if you are bored on a rainy night.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
A terrible movie.... bad cast, bad history, lame lame plot
I love historical movies, both ones based on true stories and ones that are historical fiction. I purchased this movie because I found it cheap somewhere and I thought, how bad could it be, and now I can't unload it on anyone. After watching it, I was pretty dismayed to see this have such a high rating on IMDb. i like to keep my reviews short and sweet for people who like me, know what they like and don't like and have short attention spans. First, the positives: Kate Beckinsdale looks great in this movie. On the down side, and it has a huge downside if you care about interesting plot and characters, ...this has none. It is formula romance drivel at its worst. The romantic story is lame, uninteresting, unbelievable, and miscast. if it was simply the same old drivel but done really well, I'd give it six. It wasn't
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Some good performances, but boring, not engaging. Wasted potential.
I write my reviews short and sweet for people like me, who know what they like and have short attention spans. Hail Caesar totally fell flat for me. I would rate this at a 5.5 out of ten. I generally like the movies of the Coen brothers, but I could not get interested in what was going on. I was totally and completely disinterested in what was going on, and what the point was. This is in contrast to movies such as their A SERIOUS MAN, in which I was not sure what was going on, but was keenly interested in figuring it out and finding out what would happen. There were moments when I really regretted how bad this movie was for me. Scarlett J, Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton are all favourite actors of mine. Their performances were not deep or meaningful, but the characters seemed briefly interesting, and it made me aware of what a lost opportunity it was. George clooney, who I sometimes like, was not especially good in this. Make of it what you will.... you might like it more than I did.
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Goofy, campy and a bit too "sherlock", but fun
There were moments when I thought this movie might be really really good. Those moments passed, and the complaints that I have about it are a bit contradictory. For me, first and foremost, its a bit too campy. There's a lot of Sherlock-esque slapstick camaraderie. Along with the goofiness, the medical inconsistencies were a bit too silly. Yes, i understand that the underlying premise of the movie is medically improbable, but you think they would make a more coherent story than an 18 year abscess. There were times when I thought the writers just didn't make an effort! A few too many poorly written diversions were also thrown in in order to add create action and add time. If they had been a bit less sloppy, they might have raised some existential issues worth consideration.
In the other hand, a few of the more modern aspects were interesting. I liked some of the departure from the book in terms of how the assistant ended up with the doctor. I liked the visualizing of the internal organs and bones when the doctor looked at living matter. The costumes were also great.
In short, i wish this had been about 50% less silly, and the plot more coherent. The actors were both entertaining (although Igor was not always believable, he was at least hot).
I keep waffling on whether or not to give it a 5 or 6.
Solace (2015)
Decent supernatural crime thriller, some clichés, but not totally predictable
Its interesting to me that this movie has such mixed reviews. It is not stellar, but I don't think its as dismal as some of the bad review would suggest. If you like a movie with some unexpected turns, this has them. There are some clichés and aspects of the plot that have been used in other films, so i can not say its totally original. However, the re-used ideas are put together to make a reasonably watchable and interesting. Its a bit like Hannibal meets the Sixth Sense, meets Matrix. If you are unable to suspend disbelief about the paranormal aspect of the plot, you won't get very far into it. However, I would say that the characters and world are fairly consistent and it seems as though what is happening is real in the universe its happening in.
A Serious Man (2009)
Ambiguous, philosophical, subtle. Not for everyone.
I generally write short reviews to offer a contrasting opinion to movies that I think are rated too high. I was pleasantly surprised to find this movie really interesting and more enjoyable that its current rating of 7 suggests. Generally speaking, I like a movie to be coherent, linear, and consistent, and this movie was not always any of those things. According to most of my criteria, it should have annoyed me, but it mostly didn't. This may not be a movie for everyone however. Its a dark comedy, and it raises questions that it does not answer, mostly about the unreliability of there being a connection between one's actions and the outcome. Of note, I study philosophy, and so the Kafkaesque nature of human life and the theological questions this movie asks are of specific interest to me. This movie will not be for everyone. If you don't like Jewish culture, it might be annoying. The only scene I found annoying myself, is the opening scene which i think depicts Russian Jews telling a folk tale, which, while thematically linked to the movie, is not consistent with the time and place of the rest of the movie. The movie is not fast moving, the laughs are not "out loud," and the meaning is ambiguous. It might be recommend for those interested in existential issues, an interest in theological questions, and a misanthropic streak.
The Danish Girl (2015)
A decent movie, interesting story, not exceptional
I am a person of short patience and I write my reviews for people who find most movies on IMDb over-rated. I enjoy history, existential issues, and biographies...so all of those interests of mine should be taken into account in regards to my opinion of this movie. At the time of writing this review its average rating is 5.8. I think that is a bit tight or a bit low. I would give it a 6.5. What I liked about the movie was the interesting story. I often complain about pace in a movie being too slow, but I think this was relatively well paced for a the telling of this couple's story. I find Eddie Redmayne to be overrated as an actor. This is consistent with his performance in this movie. He certainly looks great in the part, but I found his gasps and sighs in the early scenes to be rather unbelievable, as the character awkward and scared and learning to come to grips with the truth that his identity is not what it seems. I found him rather more believable as the newly blossoming trans-gendered girl, enjoying his femininity. Alicia Vikander as the wife of "Lilly/Einar" was outstanding. All of her emotions appear deep and authentic. Her pain at adjusting to all of the changes. Her struggle to let go of her husband because as she comes to realizes he is seeking out his essence. All in all, a reasonable portrayal of a couple's struggle.people might argue that the story lacks some of the important problems that face trans-gendered people, most notably, being repressed and rejected by society. But all politics aside, this is one person's story.
Max (2002)
Won't be enjoyed by those who aren't philosophically adverturous
I don't remember how I got introduced to this movie but had the rare urge to order it from ebay after reading a review of it that got me interested. I read that "The movie has stirred some concerns that humanizing Hitler may desensitize us to his historic evil." I think that idea is preposterous. First, the movie does not really humanize him much. And secondly,I think we SHOULD be asking questions such as what Hitler might have become under other circumstances.
It also touches on questions about how art was impacted by modernity, how Hitler could be viewed as sort of a piece of performance art that embodied many of the forces at work in History, at that time. There were some good performances, especially by the young Hitler. I found John Kusack convincing only half of the time.
Unfortunately, the story and script wanders. None of the ideas are developed. I find the persona of Rothmann, a fictional character, distracting from the questions about Hitler, and those questions about Hitler keep me distracted from caring about Rothmann.