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An error has ocurred. Please try againAs a bonus I think Solo is optional if you want after III, but I think going right to Andor continues the dark tone III ends on. Skip all other Star Wars content for this version of watching.
I'm sure ill find more to add in the future.
Reviews
Napoleon (2023)
A History Film About The Napoleonic Wars, With No War, No History, & An Inaccurate Napoleon.
This was one of the worst big budget movies I have ever seen. I made it toward the later half of the movie and everyone had already walked out, I decided to also walk out. It was the first film I ever walked out on. Here is why:
Napoleon opens with what is seemingly going to be a historical biography film adaptation of Napoleon's life, what you instead get is a poorly made, half attempt at a comedy. That's not an exaggeration, it really does play out like a half attempted comedy that's neither funny nor entertaining.
It starts in the French Revolution, the first problems was Joaquin Phoenix. I never thought he was a bad actor, but he's bad in this movie. Not only is he a bad Napoleon, not only is he way older looking than actual Napoleon (who is supposed to be 24 at the start of the film), but it's like he didn't even wanna play the role. I don't know what he was going for here but what we got is a bumbling fool with no confidence in any regard, no sign of intelligence, no backstory, no character development, no knowledge of his life outside of his marriage, and above all no historical accuracy whatsoever.
This isn't only Joaquin Phoenix's fault, it's Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa too. Everyone failed this project.
If what you were looking for is a film about the Napoleonic Wars, look elsewhere. There is almost no war in it, and what little war there was, is only little clips of warfare, and then straight back to Napoleon's marriage life. Even if you found the marriage stuff interesting about Napoleon, this still isn't the movie for you, because it's not accurate and the film makes it's point early on, but for some reason they keep going over the same ground already covered about Napoleon's love life. It get's very repetitive and quite frankly, boring.
These clips of combat we get are completely disconnected from the story, it looks like it's randomly thrown in. They're also really short. If you remember, the trailer has combat in Egypt. You see all that combat in the trailer, that's it. There's no more of it. The trailer was better than the movie.
As a history buff (especially history on the French Revolution/Napoleonic Wars) and a film buff, it comes off as offensive to the entire subject matter it's covering in history, offensive to the entire art form of filmmaking, and offensive to the intelligence of it's viewer.
It takes nothing seriously, all these huge events regardless of your opinion is treated with disrespect.
But most historical events are absent from this film. It focuses so heavily on this marriage story that you don't care about it because the film never tried to make you care, to the point where you feel shocked to see how much time has passed and how many events they skipped when you finally see a date pop up on the screen or an actual recognizable event.
Or if you don't know Napoleonic history, you will be entirely lost as to what's happening because it explains nothing, it doesn't even mention why the Napoleonic Wars is happening at all. It doesn't even cover Napoleon growing as a general. Or even growing as a person. The look of Napoleon is even lazily done in this.
This version of Napoleon is such a fool instead of a smart general, he makes Napoleon Dynamite look like a cool, collected, Chad.
From a film making perspective, the movie is horribly made, generic to bad camera work, a bland soundtrack, HORRIBLE writing, a plot that goes nowhere.
The only positives I can find is that some of the costume design is good, the sets are pretty well made, and the one scene in the trailer with the ice was cool. But I'd say watch the trailer again instead of the movie. But that's it. Those are the only good things.
If you like Napoleon you won't like this, if you hate Napoleon you won't like this. If you like history you won't like this. If you don't care about history you won't like this. It's poorly made and boring for all. Find any other Napoleon focused movie and I'm sure it will be more entertaining.
The trailer makes it seem like a different movie. I feel scammed, I feel lied to.
A history film about the Napoleonic Wars with no history, no Napoleonic Wars, and an inaccurate Napoleon that's not fun to watch and at times straight up cringe to witness, makes this movie a solid 1. No entertainment value.
I Saw the Light (2015)
I Saw the Potential
It's not that this movie is particularly bad, it's just missing a lot and lacks substance. The casting is fantastic. Tom Hiddleston plays a great Hank Williams and does some great singing. It certainly looks and feels like the 40s but it also feels like you're missing about 75% of his life. The focus is really just on his relationship life, which is important but there is a lot more to the Hank Williams story. There is a lot of talk about the hard life he lives but we see very little of it. We don't even know anything about his life prior to becoming famous. Nothing.
It's kinda like the director/writer didn't know much about his life because as the movie goes on it gets slower and has what seems like filler. The movie really loses you toward the end, then ends abruptly and emotionless. Also there is very weirdly not a lot of his music actually in the movie, nor it's impact on the music industry. The movie also has a serious issue with telling and not showing with most things outside of his relationship. It starts decent but pretty much goes nowhere then just ends.
It's weird because the actors, the sets, the outfits, the music (what little there is) is all done really well, but this movie seriously fails in the acting department.
In terms of cinematography it's nothing special, very generic. Whole movie comes off not even slightly unique in it's filming styles.
I actually like the title and the meaning behind it, but that meaning sort of flops simply because his life isn't explored enough.
I mean if you like Hank Williams give it a watch, just keep in mind you're not gonna walk away from it mind blown, it was extremely generic and has a lot of problems.
Elvis (2022)
Finally a Musical Biopic That's Unique
Musical biopics are always the same storytelling rehashed but this movie has a great spin on it. The narration is spoken from the manager that ruined Elvis, Tom Parker. Like his manipulations of people in real life it's like he's trying to manipulate you as a viewer, then the movie shows the reality of the situation. I think that's brilliant.
Something that went over a lot of people's head was it's use of current music. This movie isn't only about Elvis but music itself, the evolution of a genre. Music genres are like family trees, each genre is related to another. So there are scenes that play old music that then fades into current to replicate this, and I think that's genius. There are great music icons that get love in this movie like Little Richard, BB King, and even a mention of Fats Domino. Without them music wouldn't be the same. Those people inspired Elvis and Elvis inspired so many other huge icons like the Beatles.
The story is really well written the beautiful sides and dark sides of the music industry. What starts out as a wonderous musical adventure turns into a battle for his own soul, a soul that is later locked up like a prisoner in Vegas. It's almost scary watching the demise of Elvis but mostly sad. I think, metaphorically, this movie is important for any aspiring artist to watch out for the evils of the corporate world of music.
"If you don't do the business the business will do you" is well put by BB King.
The acting in this movie blew me away from every actor. The only actor that I thought was kind of mid was surprisingly Tom Hanks. I think Austin Butler way outdid him in terms of acting.
The thing that really made this movie for me was it's editing and camera work. Very unique for a biopic and at times experimental (which is something we see a lack of in modern Hollywood)
There are moments it almost feels dreamlike which kind of put's you in the shoes of Elvis.
Really brings the time period to life too.
I heard there is an unreleased 4 hour version of this movie. I know some people don't like long movies like this, but I for one would love to see an Elvis epic like that and would happily watch a 4 hour cut.
Great movie all around and the crazy part is... I expected not to like it. Boy was I wrong!
Nanjing! Nanjing! (2009)
A Brutal Masterpiece
Nanjing! Nanjing! (2009) (English title City of Life and Death)
Historical background: The movie starts in 1937, not long before the world breaks out into what is now called World War 2.
The story is about the largest massacre and mass rape in human history known as the Rape of Nanjing (Or Nanjing Massacre) which saw over 300,000 people killed and 80,000 rapes. Japan was similar to Nazi Germany at this time and were fascist, believed that Japanese people were the superior human beings to all on the planet. Japan is creating an empire (which would later lead to Pearl Harbor attack in 1942) and wants to exterminate all the Chinese (Seeing them as less than human) and the Japanese Army takes over Nanjing, which was the capital of China at the time. This leads to some of the worst atrocities in human history on the same level as the holocaust (Which also happened around this time). Japan is still the only country in the world to this day that refuse to say that this massacre happened despite writing, picture and video proof. Also their newspaper reported back when it happened and they bragged about it.
I've always been highly interested in the battle and massacre of Nanjing, because it's always baffled how normal human beings can even do this. I always wondered how? It's so insane to me. I always thought something as huge as this should be made into a film like Schindler's List, and I actually found it!
The movie: The movie follows several characters, all real. The brutality of the massacre is toned down a bit yet still extremely brutal. Everything shown and said is so amazingly accurate I was impressed. I've seen very few movies be so accurate to a conflict.
It really shows you how something like this can happen and how we should avoid it ever happening again.
The moral of the story is good.
In terms of the film itself... it's a masterpiece. Some of the best cinematography ever put to screen, every shot is like a painting.
It's a very visual based movie, there isn't a huge amount of talking. Some of it is even in English.
The director really made this movie feel real. With his handheld camera approach to so many scenes, it almost feels like you're there.
The sound design is very good, and the sound effects for guns, bombs etc... is also very well done.
The soundtrack is genuinely amazing. It adds to every scene.
The acting is some of the best you'll ever see performed.
Every scene in this movie blew me away on how top notch it's directing is. It's must be one of the best movies of my lifetime so far.
A movie like this I think is very needed. People know the brutalities of Nazi Germany during WW2 but few go into detail about the horrors Japan did that was on par with Germany. Plenty of holocaust films but few showing what Japan did. This one does it perfectly
This is an ode to those lost in such a brutal event, so that they may never be forgotten. So that we do not repeat such horribleness.
Sons of Liberty (2015)
Who was this made for? There isn't a single historically accurate scene.
Not one bit of this show is accurate. Actually it's so inaccurate it's not even historical fiction... it's just plain fiction.
You know it's bad when reading about the actual historical events of the Sons of Liberty is more entertaining.
I literally don't understand anyone who likes this show. If you wanna watch what history was like there are better shows like John Adams. If you wanna watch fictional action why watch this at all? There is better fictional action, there are better history shows. Even the show Turn: Washington's Spies is more accurate than this garbage. The big plot pieces are all wrong, the details are all wrong, the sets are all wrong, the outfits are all wrong. The acting is mid to bad. The writing is horrendous. Characters use modern slang and insults. The costume design is cheap and inaccurate.
None of the characters such as Sam Adams, Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Hancock, and Dr. Warren are like their real life counterparts at all. It makes Sam out to be an Assassin's Creed 3 character and grossly overestimates how much he had to do with the Revolution.
Thomas Jefferson is in it for quite literally a split second.
I never wasted my time more on this insult to American history. It's literally offensive that this is how they depict our history.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
The Best of The New Trilogy Is Still Terrible.
The first of Disney SW seemingly starts strong with an intense village assault scene and introduces who I thought was our two main characters. Poe and Finn. SW has started movies with supporting characters before like in a New Hope with Leia, C3PO and R2D2. But you always knew who the main character was when he showed up on screen, Luke. It was so obviously Luke.
I didn't get the same feeling here with Rey when she was introduced. I think it's because we spent so long on Poe and Finn, and it was Finn who I thought the focus was going to be on because he had the most character. A moral, runaway Stormtrooper, with a custom name because he was never given a real one, heart of good, and what I thought would lead up to was a Stormtrooper turned Jedi and that peaked my interest.
Rey unlike Finn had very little character and a background shrouded in mystery that would be good for a supporting character. But no, not only is she the main character she is the Jedi and not Finn. The end even teases and possible Jedi Finn when he picks up the lightsaber and proceeds to get wrecked only to be saved by Rey who has literally less combat experience than Finn, and neither have used lightsabers ever.
Kylo Ren is the more interesting character in this movie, a conflicted young adult Sith trying to become great. What I like about him is that he's not cool but trying to be (But in later films they would ruin this with terrible jokes instead of it being part of his personality)
He is son of Leia and Han which makes you wonder about what happened between Return of the Jedi and this?
The answer is... no one knows. This movie tells you nothing about the state of the Galaxy, nothing about what happened between 6 and 7. Han is back to being a random smuggler for some reason. Leia isn't with him anymore for some reason. There is a First Order that we can only guess is the left over parts of the Empire. Luke is missing for some reason.
And this movie gets worse after you watch the next two, because the next two answer none of the questions.
Everything related to Maz Kanata is never talked about again.
What does this movie do then? The answer is nothing. It's a useless movie that's just a bad rip off of A New Hope, it literally tells the same plot just worse with less fleshed out characters. What you get with this film is a nostalgia party, like the Millennium Falcon being in it for no reason but nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. Nostalgic things are okay sometimes if done right and with reason, it's not like that here. It's literally just quickly thrown together by Disney to get a quick buck.
Finn goes no where in the trilogy, Rey can do everything for no reason out of nowhere. Like a mindtrick. Anakin had to go school to learn this stuff and he was supposed to be the chosen one.
It ends with Luke apparently now being a hermit, totally out of character and yet again without context.
Only really cool thing that really stuck in my mind was the nameless First Order Trooper fighting Finn.
And get this... this is the best one of the trilogy.
Turn (2014)
One of The Best Displays of The American Revolution On Film
There is not a lot of good shows or movies about the American Revolution, this stands out as one of the few good ones:
Turn does what little American Revolution content does, shows the background of the Revolutionary War, the espionage and the inner Colonial American politics.
While many details may be fabricated for story telling purposes, the grand view of the world of the Revolution is almost perfectly done... ALMOST.
I do have a few issues as to why this show is a 9 and not a 10.
There are obviously things that need to be made up in such a plot, either because we don't know the real history because it was a spy ring, or because it doesn't suit film. But there are some historical changes that will leave you pondering: Why? Why do that when reality was much cooler.
Example A: Simcoe
Simcoe in reality was known as cold and sometimes a bit brutal, but overall cool, collective, and very smart and well thought out. Certainly not the crazy blood thirsty sociopath we see in the show. Also to make him like a personal comic book villain to Woodhull was unnecessary, cheesy, and unrealistic. In reality it was a lot more detective cat and mouse between Woodhull and Simcoe. Which I say would have made for a more interesting plot between the two rather than Simcoe just being sorta evil.
There are also many other odd historical changes that I think lower the quality of the story, but I don't wanna go into too much detail, I don't wanna spoil anything.
Even though some historical details can be randomly off there are other that quite honestly impressed me. Like using accurate era political terms, people who back the Revolution being called Whigs, Loyalists to the crown being called Tories. Attention to detail of clothes and weapons.
The show is underrated really. The lighting in some scenes makes you feel like you're in a candle lit room, the acting is convincing and powerful. The characters all have arches and growth. Some scenes will will leave you shocked with it's twists and turns. Even just season 1 has a great start and ends perfectly.
In summery:
Great sets, perfect wardrobe, extremely interesting and unique characters, a great soundtrack, wonderful camera work, and even the lighting was impressive. I also need to mention how great the casting choices are.
While the history is great, there are a few blunders here and there.
That's why I give it a 9/10.
The Green Knight (2021)
An Underrated Masterpiece
This isn't just the story of Sir Gawain, Knight of The Round Table. It is about the journey of manhood.
A beautiful adaption of the old story of the same name. I can promise you a poetic piece that will get you thinking all while enjoying it's gorgeous visuals and amazing acting.
Lovers of fantasy will enjoy this movie, as the original story it's based on is the source material behind modern fantasy.
But do not go into this thinking you're going to be getting epic battles, it's not an action film. This is a film that get's you thinking all while you enjoy the art on display for you.
I was honestly shocked to see that this movie only got a 6 on here. Because I personally think it's great. I feel like this is one of those movies that won't get the appreciation it deserves until much later in the future.
The Batman (2022)
The Batman Movie I've Been Waiting For
I grew up on reruns of Batman The Animated Series, it kind of set what Batman should be in my head. A frightening, shadowy, true detective and this movie perfectly portrays that.
This is the Batman I've been waiting for. I liked Batman 1989 and the Dark Knight, but those weren't quite how I wanted to see Batman, I think they focused too much on the action and in some cases too much on the Bruce Wayne part.
This movie is Batman focused and takes it's time. All perfect castings, gorgeous lighting and cinematography.
This really is THE Batman.
The Northman (2022)
THE Viking Movie
Robert Eggers does it again and brings us another banger.
I've been in search for awhile now for a proper Medieval era film, there are few and far in between. Eggers managed to bring us what I consider as one of the few good Medieval movies that accurately portrays not only the life style, warfare, and look of the time, but the Norse Mythology too.
It is also a great adaption of the story of Amleth. An old Viking tale that would later go on to inspire Shakespeare to make Hamlet.
The set design, costume design and overall ambiance is all stellar. Let's not forget the movie's top notch cinematography.
I feel like I have to give this movie a 10 just because it does everything right, it successfully did everything it set out to do. I was consistently entertained and happy. It being the only good Viking film that now raises the bar super high, I give this movie a solid 10.
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
Life Is Art
When you turn on the French Dispatch don't expect you're everyday average movie or expected story plot. This exceeds the average movie art form. It's not only different as a movie on it's own but it's even different for a Wes Anderson film. It follows an American newspaper company now located in France, this is used as a plot device to sew three completely different stories together, each covering a different section of a newspaper: Art, politics, cooking. It captures life in the French 60s but keeps it relatable for all the modern world. Everyone can find a character to relate with.
The whole movie covers these three different stories all that three different journalists are working on. You view it, hear it for yourself, and also the journalists poetic perspective.
The real metaphor of the movie? Life is art. Even the every day monotony and oddities can turn into poetry once put to a pen and paper.