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jandobrodumow
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Black Bird (2022)
Formulaic
Another overrated crime story with gushing reviews plastered all over imdb. I don't know if it's that modern audiences have grown up on lesser quality, or their standards are lower, or they are blinded by flash production values and good looking actors. It's not that this show is necessarily bad, it just isn't very good, it's a mish mash of everything you already saw, with a script full of hammy cliched dialogue and on the nose acting. The lead character has no redeeming qualities, hell if he were at least well drawn and complex we might be able to give him a pass, but there's nothing there to work with, just a wooden attitude with poorly written dialogue. Quite honestly I am going to resign my subscriptions from streaming services. Is this the best we can expect? Hyped up, all style and no substance, weakly developed nonsense with unconvincing main characters. Thanks but no thanks.
Men (2022)
Used my brain, shame the screenwriter didn't.
I watched this with someone who really liked it and he was surprised I was checking the time, but if I hadn't been with him, I would have left the cinema a long time before. The film is so painfully slow and devoid of incident for going on an hour. It is literally like watching paint dry, ok we know she lost her husband and had to get away from it all, etc etc, but the premise was not exactly breaking new ground in originality, and the cast of oddballs, reminiscent of the league of gentlemen, did nothing to ramp up a horror type vibe, so we ended up stuck somewhere between Royston Vasey and Hammer house of horror. But it looks good, has a decent score, decent acting from the lead, interesting special effects, it just unfortunately has a screenplay that comes across as very confused and underdeveloped, the story is half-baked and devoid of strong creative twists and surprises. Basically it is just pretty boring.
The Wire (2002)
A work of art
I watched it for the first time in 2013 and happily binge watched every season. I can appreciate that as a weekly show, episode by episode it could be too slow burning for the average viewer. But The Wire has nothing average in it (other than some of the acting in season 2). It's a work of art. Its canvas is the city of Baltimore and every season has a new subject, a new angle. The introduction of new perspectives and sides of the city (which felt odd at the start of season 2), makes perfect sense by the climaxes of seasons 3 and 4, when you realise it's a broad portrait, a social commentary, Dickensian, Shakespearean at times. If you stick it out patiently to that point you are rewarded with quite frankly the most epicly deep and detailed and dramatic television show ever made. It just takes a little conentration and persistence, like some painful long haul flight to some amazing far flung location, once you arrive there, you know the journey was worth it and you know what all the fuss is about. Intelligent, incisive, uncompromising, gritty, heartbreaking, depressing, epic. And for all those who decry the lack of pure entertainment, which this show generally shuns, it has to be pointed out that there are a few episodes towards the end of seasons 3-4 that fuse the gritty drama with entertainment values better than any other show has ever done. I tried to watch the Sopranos for the first time recently and after 10 episodes I was left disillusioned and generally unimpressed, other than the main character's turn, which wasn't enough to hold my attention over the long haul. Also after doing the wire, it's difficult to believe you can find anything which will grab you in the same way. In that sense the wire is like a measuring stick for quality. Nothing else seems to come close. I love Breaking bad too, but when rewatching it, I find myself skipping past the boring domestic scenes. The wire has no similar problems. You can revisit it and happily watch every episode from start to finish. Bottom line, the Wire's greatness lies in appreciating how it unfolds and the payoffs it delivers in those genius seasons 3 and 4. I haven't watched anything as good before or since.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
A confused mess
It's quite a good film, that has frankly a pretty average script. It's touted as a black comedy, maybe because people might be reminded of Marge from Fargo? I only saw a drama with some vague hints at humour, humour which was compromised by the bleak background story propelling the narrative, one of a desperate mother in grief after the rape and murder of her daughter - sorry, but that is hardly a springboard for laughs aplenty.
Let's say the acting is solid, which it is, but the characters are totally off the hook, there's nothing really to care about, especially the redneck cop whose story arc shifts so jarringly that it lacks any credibility, not to mention he should have been locked up for the rest of the film after one of his moments of idiocy.
Best not to go too much into the complete non-ending, along with the baffling insertion of a potential culprit which goes nowhere. I had the feeling I was being set up for a surprising ending, something which might tie some stuff together from the previous two hours. A great ending to this film might have saved it, but basically they completely blew it. Goes to show that endings matter, they can make or break, or sometimes save a film from mediocrity, or completely take it to another level. Overall had the feeling that the script let this thing down, the story logic and choices just completely blew it out of the water. Totally overhyped.
Titane (2021)
At its core, fairly boring.
I get that it didn't need a strong narrative drive and engaging plot because it is arthouse etc, which is exactly why I didn't like it. It meanders along to be honest and whilst it might be visually interesting and offbeat, it really lacks stakes, we aren't being propelled anywhere with urgency, with high tension, basically underneath the flash and the violence and the mental ideas, there isn't really much else going on. It is a flat experience, with one or two absurdist moments thst raise a chuckle, but it doesn't provoke much thought, and I doubt it will lead to much future reflection. Of course some people will say I just don't get it.
Mr. Corman (2021)
Too much angst
The first classroom scene was hilarious in episode one, very bitter and dark comedy but they didn't maintain this level and it just kind of meandered through some downbeat and depressing scenes. When they were playing video games I was reminded of swingers, and I just thought it might be far more interesting to see Mikey as a schoolteacher with his acting ambitions firmly behind him. The problem with this programme is its inconsistency of tone and lack of relatability to the main character, feel like somehow it's been done before and doesn't have that much new to say.
Annette (2021)
Surely it's a parody
I was laughing in places at the tongue-in-cheek absurdity, it has to be a parody this film, nothing more. If that was the intention, the result was pretty good, although for me it was overlong and suffered from too many lulls, and the actual plot was quite weak, although it has some sharp dialogue. Not a masterpiece as some claim, but a very good jab at the musical genre, which I personally have no time for.
How to Become a Tyrant (2021)
Utterly annoying
A strangely convoluted documentary which is so slapdash and tongue-in-cheek that it immediately jars, with it's ridiculous 'your guide to becoming a dictator' as if that is some obtainable goal for 95% of the viewers. Yes I will put the information from this to use in order to orchestrate a military coup and seize the reins of power and perhaps drag the world into a prolonged military conflict - sounds like an obtainable goal. Okay so maybe I don't get it, but the tone doesn't suit the subject material. Of course there are patterns to the establishment of dictatorships but I hardly doubt that it's a one leather glove fits all scenario. Anyway I had to turn it off after ten minutes it was so annoying and the tone also kind of patronizing. I usually like Netflix docs but this one just doesn't cut it.
First Man (2018)
Understated excellence
A very good movie, a slow-burning, moody biopic that fuses science, history, and personal struggles to very good effect. I have read a few reviews here and they range from laughably unaware and one dimensional to pontificatingly over-analytical and nitpicking. This movie goes for the understated approach, and while that might put off the action junkies who demand fast-paced scenes and machine gun speed dialogue, in the end it perfectly suits Armstrong's character - a cool, calm, reserved, logical-thinking engineer. Brains put man on the moon, and those brains operated in silent spaces far away from the melodrama of mainstream society.
I am far from being a fan of Gosling, but his laconic, emotionless performance works here, by accident or design. It is probably somewhere close to the truth of how these kind of people operated. Constantly immersed in their scientific and technological challenges, obsessive, focused, meticulous, no room for error. Everything was built on fatal mistakes and personal determination, learning, suffering, failing and starting again.
The visuals are fantastic and the space missions are magnificently done. I don't know why people are slamming the emotional arc concerning Armstrong's daughter. It is a biopic, and as such, his personal tragedy had every right to be given some treatment, and something as monumental as the loss of his daughter had to be measured on screen, personally for me that arc works without being overly sentimental, and while there is an emotional stiltedness at the core of this film, it is about NASA, science, engineering, space flight, so what exactly would you expect? Overall a pretty great film, visually polished and structurally sound, maybe a little too long? but the moon landing scenes are epic.
What's My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019)
inspiring
It is hard to be balanced when it comes to Ali, he's either a flawed racist loudmouth who belittled his opponents or he's a self-marketing genius, strategist, humanitarian, rebel, champion of the poor who did what he did consciously and purposely in order to elevate himself and his people. The truth of course is somewhere in the middle. Quite frankly it's refreshing to know that Ali was all too human at times and prone to the odd slip up just like the next man, be that in his personal affairs or in the realm of boxing, where he certainly did cross the line more than a few times. But bearing in mind what he went through in such times of great social and political upheaval, it is not difficult to be able to overlook his flaws. This documentary does not take any particular angle on the Ali story, it shows most sides of him, not so much of his family life, which he probably managed to keep more off limits. What it does show is some great fight footage, interviews and rare archive material which I had never seen before, even though i have watched literally every documentary about the man. What is left to say? I mean he passed away but his legend does truly live large and strong, this is such an inspiring film, not so much the film, but the man, so unbelievably great, so inspiring, it is hard to imagine a human being who could be more uplifting, more intoxicating. He literally grabs you by the throat and dares you to get off your ass and do something with your life. A priceless genius, I loved watching this documentary and no doubt if i am ever having a bad week, i will come back to it. Ali is the greatest, period. Study his life and learn, that's all there is to do.
Manhunt (2017)
Picks up in intensity towards the end
I agree with some reviewers that there is an element of formulaic ''rogue agent'' who gets too close to his target and fights bureaucracy at every turn - having said that, you have to accept some dramatic license in this series, and despite the obvious cliches in the set-up it does steamroller forwards into a really compelling drama, for me it wasn't so much the 'how they got him' as it was the tragedy of 'why did he do it'. I think this series didn't offer up a definitive answer to that question, there are hints about his psychological damage during some university psychology experiments, but on the whole, there isn't a deep enough sketch of what specifically drove this man to such extremes. As it focuses mainly on the FBI perspective that's not surprising. Something snapped in Kaczynski and he was obviously a damaged soul, but anyway I found it pretty sad and almost haunting towards the end, the music was really great, and the final visual payoff in the last episode is a really exceptional piece of visual punctuation that refers back to earlier story threads. I wouldn't put the FBI guy in the same league as Will Graham...naturally the title of the series made me compare it with Manhunter, which it probably is inspired by on some level. Overall I really enjoyed this series, whilst a bit slow in parts, the final episodes are really edge of the seat drama.
6 Days (2017)
No connection
It's not a bad film, but there are some gaping holes in the narrative that really don't do it any favors. For example, there was no real fine detail of character painted, I didn't get any sense of connection to the characters, even inner motivation, OK we know the terrorists were motivated by social injustice in their homeland, but who were they as people? It was all a bit superficially portrayed, and there was virtually no sense of how the terrorists interacted with their captives, over 6 days it seems that there should at least have been some interactions between terrorists and hostages. As it stands in this movie, the hostages appeared only as devices to drive the story forward, we didn't know hardly anything about any of them, what they went through, how they felt, whether they tried to do something to help themselves. Same goes for most of the characters, sas too, it was all a bit looking from the outside without any real sense of the human elements of the tragic events...even the hostage who was shot..he was always shown from a safe distance, we knew some facts about his political beliefs but we didn't understand anything about him because it wasn't shown. And the ending, what were the terrorists doing during that 5 minute long entry sequence when the soldiers were coming in? There was nothing at all from their perspective, were they threatening hostages? Trying to kill them? Running scared? There was a gaping hole here as everything focused only on the sas raid. Overall a quite entertaining but very thinly drawn sketch of the situation, which feels like a missed opportunity to show some compelling human drama.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Patchiness
It was never going to be able to live up to the original, how could it? However, judging by the fawning reviews in the media, you could have been forgiven for thinking it had managed to pull off the impossible. Unfortunately I think these days you just have to take the whole review industry with a massive pinch of salt. Is it a bad film? No, not at all. Is it a worthy successor to the original? Difficult question to answer. The pacing is painfully, painfully slow, and I don't have any problem with slow movies, my attention span is fine, but let's face it, the whole thing didn't get into gear for at least 60-70 minutes, there was so little dramatic tension there, I honestly thought about leaving, although I am glad I didn't, as the second half was an improvement. So it's a patchy film at best, moments of brilliance for sure, visually impressive, the script is uneven and often cheesy, the characters not as fully dimensional as the original, the plot is quite well worked out, although the ending was a letdown for me, too sugary sweet. However, there is for me, a huge emptiness in this movie, where the original seemed to have some kind of connection with the society, here it's like a wasteland, you don't get any sense of connection to the world - maybe that's the intention, but it's somehow a lot bleaker than the original. Personally I am not a massive fan of Gosling either, that's just me, I wasn't fully convinced by him. Overall - horrible pacing for the first half, interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying plot resolution, stunning visuals, good performances. It's good, but it's nowhere near as great as the media would have you believe. It's not an insult to the original at all, it's just not in the same league.