stevesky-15087 Reviews

Zora (2020)

LOST IN TRANSLATION

[3/10 · 8 December 2023]

I don't know what they are smoking over in Croatia but it must be strong stuff as here is a creative film with strong actors that makes absolutely no sense and worse than anything has no point. Tge good. Acting is top notch. Everything else? Terrible. A story that burns slowly and drops hints along the way that really come to nothing. No one's motivation is clear at all... from tge warring factions. To the arrival of the stranger. To the workmen. To the religion woman. To the daughter. To the mother. Even the young kid who turns his back on his father, gets hypnotised under water and then just goes back to his Dad. Honestly. As does the mother. When the dancing clowns from the 80s turn up you'll be begging for it all to stop! Upon further thought I think this must be because of some sort of cultural divide. Nothing here makes any sense. I've since read Croatian reviews and even they do t really offer up much explanation. But I guess the biggest crime you are left with is why put all this effort into making something that makes no point. At the end you are left feeling nothing and asking the question 'so what'. The mother's actions and motivation is ridiculous. The stranger's character is totally unbelievable. And everything about this movie leaves you asking 'why'. The best accolade anyone can give to a movie is that they would tell their friends to watch it. After 2 hrs I say no. I was being paid to sit through this. You won't be. So I say to the director, next time you get 2 million dollars to make a movie it's a great cast give me a call, I help you make it a success.

The Astronaut (2022)

SO SO

[5/10 · 4 December 2023]

The cast were great. Good acting and emotive subtitles. The story was simple and if you can get past the completely unrealistic plot and concentrate on the message it's an ok way to past the time. Nothing much happens. That's the film's problem. And what does happen is just not realistic. But I guess we don't always have to have realism in a film. I wouldn't recommend anyone go see this, it's not a must see movie, but for what it was, a film about a man perusing his dream in order to fulfil his grandfathers, then it's ok. But would have liked to have seen this cast with a more meaty script and a much more involved story. P. S. The 'love interest' looks like Sinhead O'Connor on a very bad dress down relapse day. 1 out of 10 for wardrobe in this one.

Red Desert (1964)

WHATS THE POINT

[3/10 · 28 November 2023]

Made in an age where cinema didn't really have to do much and most of it acted as filler for the empty cinemas. Don't get me wrong, there are some true masterpieces that don't make any sense, but this isn't one of them. The story is simple and dragged out way too long. Nearly two hours. Loads of wide shots of factories. Harris walking about. Steam. Machinery. All way too long. But those were the days of cinema like this. My main question is why cast Harris in an Italian speaking movie? He's no Clint Eastwood. The 'story' as it is could have cast anyone in his role. Harris's strength are in powerful English delivery. Not this kind of arty farty film. There are many an old soul here (bless them) tgat hanker for and eat up this kind of film, but don't let them deceive you. This is film making and story telling that deserves to be left in the past. Modern audiences will be yawning after the first bragged out 20 mins. Hoping fir something to happen. It gets a 3 because it's in focus and the camera is directed well for the day. But if this movie was lost in a fire no one would miss it. Don't waste your time. Films that are no fun at all should be left just fir pretentious old film critics to nostalgia after.

UPDATE: I JUST READ TGST THE ACTRESS WROTE IN HER MEMORIES TGAT AT THE PREMIER SHE FELL ASLEEP HALF WAY THROUGH AND RICHAR HARRIS WALKED IFF TGE FILM BEFORE ITVWAS FINISHED - TGAT SAYS ALL YOU BEED TO KNOW. DONT LISTEN TO TGE PRETENTIOUS REVIEWS HERE. BY TODAYS STANDARDS THERES NOT EVEN MUCH CINEMATOGRAPHY TO GET EXCITED ABOUT. THESE REVIEWS ARE JUST OLD PEOPLE REMINISCING ABOUT THE 'GOOD OLD SLOOOOOOOW DAYS'. FOR THE REST OF US IT IS A BOREFEST. THE STARS WERE RIGHT!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

GILLIAM GILLIAM GILLIAM!

[5/10 · 3 November 2023]

Released in 2009 this film does one thing... proves that TG can't write or direct any more. This movie has all the Gillian visuals and at times is stunning. He's always been a quirky director but in this film he's simply negligent. Strange performances and character chemistry that just don't work.... Coupled with a clunky script that is just strange... and not in a good way. The main characters are so badly directed you think that they simply can't act. But it's not their fault it's the directors, for giving them a script that is extremely... weird. But it could have been saved if Gilliam had stepped in and said, 'Guys this isn't working, let's cut down some of the clunky dialog and try it a different way'. I'm not sure I like the sexualisation of the 15 year old girl too. Or when Verne Troye is forced to wear black face and a woman shouts 'I want to adopt that unfortunate black child' I nearly spat out my cornflakes. The whole thing is just strange and doesn't work. Not even the story is that intriguing. But Gilliam has a reputation for making ill conceived movies that don't make sense. Time Bandits, Barren Munchen, Brazil now this... previously ;y they've all been saved by charm, wardrobe, incredible production design, and stunning practice effects... now that we are in the age of digital effects we aren't impressed by computers, as much as we are with real craftsmanship. So 4 for visuals and 1 for trying. Pity no one has ever said to him 'come on now mate.... WTF is this? Let's try and make a little bit of sense of this one!'. Lol.

My So-Called High School Rank (2022)

MILDLY INTERESTING FOR 25 MINS

[2/10 · 16 October 2023]

The pressures of being young and a student... someone should tell them that this time in their lives is probably as easy as it gets. It's only going to get harder from here. The idea of this doc only supports (or deserves) a 45 min show with add breaks at most, not a whopping 1hr 45 mins. It would have been much more interesting to follow the underachievers, the ones constantly at the bottom of the grade tables, rather than the 'average' students in this. You just know that you'll most likely never hear from any of them again, so who cares. Student range from the obviously privileged to the equally deluded. The kid who got given a scholarship made for a nice (scripted?) moment, but you can't help thinking someone just flushed $18k down the toilet as he had little to no demonstrable talent for acting. Overall not worth 25 mins of your time let alone 101. Nothing of substance here... pass on this.

BS High (2023)

NICE ATEMPT - INTERESTING BUT FLAWED

[7/10 · 28 September 2023]

A thoughroughly interesting story that took some time to get started if you (a) aren't an american and don't understand the American Football and education system and (b) didn't know the story. The amazing thing is how the scum bag Roy isn't in jail. His manipulation and damage he's done to everyone he's ever met is palpable. Its also incredible that he's still walking. A truer sociopath, narcissists and selfish, remorseless being you could never meet. The failing of this documentary is that the directors did not punish him enough with cross examination during interviews. I understand that film makers need to placate the subject until they don't need him any more for their film, but I wanted to see more of his suffering on camera. The biggest question is why would he be part of this doc in the first place... but that tells you everything you need to know about this selfish, self centred ego.

I wish nothing but ill will for this despicable manchild for the rest of his miserable life. The only good thing is that people like this always get what they deserve in the end. He's like a Don King without the money. As for the film, we'll put together and shot. It's simple stuff though, so anyone with half a brain could have shot it. There's no imaginative direction here. A worthwhile 90 mins.

How Do You Measure a Year? (2021)

OPPORTUNITY MISSED

[4/10 · 18 September 2023]

This is hardly a new idea. Many film makers over the years have done something similar and sone have committed even longer periods of time. SEVEN comes to mind, where the amount of time devoted to the project is so long that the original film makers died and it had to be completed by others. And here is the problem with this short. If you are going to do this you might as well put some effort into it. The questions start of revealing but soon turn boring as more or less the same 5 questions are asked, revealing very little. Tge most shocking moment occurs early on at 3. But apart from that (which is never really followed up) there's very little of interest. Second most interesting/annoying is the time between 14 and 15 where Ella suddenly picks up the incredibly annoying teenage girl habit of saying 'like' after every 3 words. This gad never been part of her vocabulary or speech patter for 12 years. I'm pleased to say she seemed to have lost is within 2 years and must have been solely due to peer pressure and the group of friends she had at that time. Mildly interesting. But that's it. 17 years of filming and nit much of interest to show for it. In other similar projects we see people grow, change jobs, meet parters, have children, fall on hard time, die... in this film all we really get is a young girls explanation of what she thinks power means growing up through the years... and it's not very profound. So a missed opportunity to ask some really insightful questions and see how Ella's attitudes changed. Having said all that what does come through most is that this was an interesting project for their family to do... does it deserve I terbational release? No. There's more interesting footage on just about every family's video camera tapes up and down the country.

The Pelican Brief (1993)

WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY TOO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG

[5/10 · 23 May 2023]

God this movie was long. Even saying goodbye took 10 mins. And then it still wasn't over. Ok story. Reasonable acted. I just don't like Julia Robert's. In anything. She over acts. But it's reasonably engaging. It just doesn't warrant the 2 1/2 hours it smugly drags through. It could have been done and done in 100 mins. Instead it's a full 150 mins long. Denzil is great in most things but I enjoy him more when there's some action involved. This is Robert's'' vehicle made at the height of her star potential (where is she now?) A bit like Kenu Reaves without his humility, Julia git lucky done how and got to act in a series of very high profile movies written just for her... trouble is, ne of them are memorable. And quite honestly, what do you even remember Pretty Woman gor... it ain't for being a great movie or story. So an easy pass. Only watch if you absolutely have nothing else to pass the time.

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO THE ORIGINAL... BUT

[6/10 · 12 May 2023]

If you were around when the original came out nothing can compare. It was so unique. So over the top. So shocking. So amazing. And so.... Original, you just had to make all your friends watch it. Everything that's come since, except ED2, has been... ok. And that's the category where this movie falls. First off the lead actress, ED woman, was very good. The rest were cool too, but she stole the show. They made the right casting decisions choosing someone quirky looking to begin with who could pull it off. But what gets me in these modern horrors is... there's no rules. Where are the rules by which characters make their decisions by. For example, it's established early that the demon can walk up walls and ceilings, yet it can't get back into an apartment by the windows? Every main character who gets turned goes bad instantly yet the ones outside the apartment just lie around? Where does the spirit come from? How does it infect people? It drifts into one woman no problem but has to wait until another person has a fight with it? How many spirits are there? It can split up into multiple people and control them all at once? What are the rules here for Gods sake? What about the amalgamation at the end? Why? How? What happened there? And while we are on the subject... the woman at the end just hop skips and jumps her way into the car park without a care in the world after a night of horror. She noticed nothing? The access to the car park was drenched in blood 20 seconds ago!

So look... there's nothing new here. No original ideas and no amazing story/plot. We saw much better 40 years ago (Christ that long) and these young directors are just rehashing the same old things, but it was a distracting watch for 90 mins or so, I just don't think any of these modern horrors are worth paying for. Nothing compares to the shock and awe factors of 40-50 years ago. Even today nothing is as incredible as The Exorcist, Texas, Halloween, Evil Dead, Elm Street etc etc. There have been some decent new ideas, The Nun, Conjouring etc but in these Evil Dead rehashes there's nothing to get excited about.

Willy's Wonderland (2021)

JUST MORE STREAMING 'FILLER'

[5/10 · 16 April 2023]

I love Nicholas cage. When he's good he's fantastic. When he's bad tho the project is diabolical. And unfortunately he has the same ethos as Bruce Willis, in tgat he's got bills to pay and will do anything for money. That's not to say for a low budget 'filler' movie this isn't an easy watch. It is. But it has loads of plot holes. Questions that are never answered. Like why doesn't he let tge girl kill the puppet. Why does he not vat an eyelid. And why does he keep on cleaning? Guess he just doesn't care. And neither did I. Tge re are some fad directing mistakes and some nasty editing. But I think where I kinda lost real interest was not really caring about anyone in tge movie which is the biggest mistake all below average movies make. If you don't take tge time to build tge characters who cares. Your project will never be more than average. Then the second mistake was to not make the animatronic characters remotely threatening. Hell, Nick dispatches them so easily you think 'why didn't the townsfolk just come in one night and take them all out themselves?' But hey ho. I liked the crazy awkwardness Nick bought to this and no doubt it paid for his house to be painted, so there you go. It's ok to watch for its 80 min run time. But easily forgoten. Onto the next Anazon/Netflix/Hulu low budget airtime filler.

Beatles Stories (2011)

A MAGNIFICENT USE OF A YEAR OF YOUR LIFE

[9/10 · 12 April 2023]

I've often thought whenever we get the chance to hear the private stories and anecdotes of the famous, about meeting OTHER famous people that they are fascinating. Of course the more famous they are the better. If both sides of the encounter are famous then it's absolute gold! Yet how depressing that 99% of these stories and encounters are lost to time for little more reason than neither side wrote them down or shared them with us, the normal folk. This is where I have nothing but gratitude and admiration for Seth and his Labour of love. Thanks to him we have 2hrs of gems about the most famous 4 to have ever lived and yet it is or course a mere drop in the ocean. Imagine just how many more stories there are and the countless thousands of others who have wonderful stories about the beetles that we will never know. And that's just the beetles. What about the millions of other fascinating stories that will never be told about other superstars. This should be a series. I'd love to see a whole host of films like this. But ahhhhh, who has the time? Well Seth found the time and I thank him for it. And judging from his IMDb credits it's the most important thing he's ever done. Seth! What are you wasting your time with, man?! Forget all that other stuff and make more films like this! I want to see ELVIS, LED ZEP, GnR, MOTLEY CRUE!

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

OH WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

[4/10 · 24 February 2023]

So the movie starts out very promisingly. It contains just the right amount of mystery and intrigue. Then the others show up and descend on the house and your interest is peaked. But as soon as the premise is revealed it's all downhill from there. There's no real plot and nothing left of interest is ever really explained. You are just left with this ridiculous premise. You'll have so many questions at the end with none so big a question as... WHY? THE MORE I think about this it's a bit of a rip off. It's a cross between THEM and THE CABIN IN THE WOODS and not as good as either of them. I like Batistuta., I just think the plot and story was very weak. By the end you'll be thinking... why can't anyone in the 21st Century make a decent thriller anymore like we used to get back in the day. Seven. Now that was a movie. It's not enough to just churn out a half baked idea of a film. We need plot, dialogue, twists, turns, great acting and a grand finale that leaves us with something to think about. You aren't even left scared for any of the characters. They just all wimpishly accept their fate. This just left me thinking... I'm glad I didn't pay for that. Final question.... How do these directors get these jobs. Most cinema fans could do better.

The House of Violent Desire (2018)

WHY OH WHY OH WHY

[3/10 · 24 January 2023]

First the good. Fantastically shot. A good music score. Great camera work. Fabulous lighting. But next the why. Why oh why oh why woukd you go to all this effort and then cast so badly. At least 4 of the 'actors' can't act. I mean hardly at all. It is an intriguing film for about 30. Minutes, but the bad delivery of lines takes you out of it when you think you might be getting drawn in. The location is amazing. But film ultimately doesn't deliver. A real shame as given the crew talent on this it deserves better. I could have made a truly epic Satanic movie given all these option. I've no idea how much it cost but it looks much better than it's obvious low budget deserves. I just don't understand why the director chose to make this story and cast (some) of these people. The production team could have spent their talent and time much better.

Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)

WoW

[2/10 · 27 November 2022]

As a non American I've never ever heard of this guy before. I came here in 2022 after seeing a video of 'what happened to Paul's shore' tgat cropped up on you tube and had to see if he was un funny and un talented but amazing guy successful as tge clip claimed this, back in 2003, was meant to be him comeback redemption movie and it is incredibly, for two things, first, tge incredible amount of cakes from famous people he managed to call in and second how unbelievable bad, considering it's a 'comeback' movie, it is made. Tge directing, shooting, lighting and editing are plain awful. Not having any nostalgic or emotional attachment to the guy from the 90s I can safely say those that do are woefully misguided. This brand of 'comedy' is just tragic. It's so bad. What were you all thinking. As far as I can see this guys talent back then was that his mum owned a famous comedy club and basically that gave him a career, albeit a limited one. Once that had run it's course and the Pauly gravy train had run it's course, it was all over in about 7 years. Not bad really for someone with little to no talent. He had a good run. So don't feel sorry for Pauly. Not only is he still working but he got to star in a load of movies. Most people would give their right arm to have had that life back then. His life was so good he was able to pull together this group of celebs including Pamela Anderson and Charlie Sheen to make this amateur looking crap. So, 21 years later did it work? Nahhhhh. Of course not. He's still as obscure to anyone outside 1990s US as he ever was. He's gone back to tge clubs and still doing stand up. Is he funny in 2022? You tell me. Judging by this I've no desire to find out.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

WOKE THOR

[5/10 · 14 September 2022]

Where to start with this absolute mess. The frustrating thing is that it contains glimpses of what we loved about Ragnorok, but, unfortunately, the writing partnership shows its inexperience and this movie is one hot mess. It has no idea what it wants to be. But it is sure of one thing. It wants to reinforce all the wokey stereotypes of the day. Well, well done. You succeeded in that, but along the way it makes for some really bad story telling and third rate scripting. Remove your brain and watch it like a 6 year old and you'll be fine. And BTW who signed up GnR for the sound track. Can't these directors get any original music to use rather than 30 year old dad rock. The closing track by DIO is 40 years old for Gods sake. Don't get me wrong. I love classic rock but it really comes to show a lack of creativity and imagination when you are a director in 2022 and you have to rely on 40 year old music for 90% of your sound track.

Samaritan (I) (2022)

ANOTHER FILM LET DOWN BY THE DIRECTOR

[5/10 · 1 September 2022]

I don't know what it is about the current crop of film makers but the last three films I've seen are failed by the director. It seems like no one can pace or tell a story properly these days. Don't these young directors watch the story tellers of the past. This was OK but very one dimensional. Stallone is not suited to being a super hero. He's best playing the strong yet vulnerable types. The guy can act. He doesn't need to be this kind of character. The film seems to jump about a lot and I got the impression that bits we're being trimmed out all over the place. But look, you don't have to go too deep on this one. It passes the time in a vaguely enjoyable way. It's just cannon fodder for your eyeballs and another Amazon filler movie that has a zero rewatch ability factor that leaves you not caring how it ends either way, let alone leaving you wanting a sequel lol.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

THEY DONT MAKE FILMS LIKE THIS ANY MORE...

[3/10 · 5 August 2022]

...THANK GOODNESS. I'm 54 in 2022 and managed not to have seen a single MM film. One boring Sat afternoon For some reason I thought, why not watch this classic famous movie. Boy, have I not been missing anything. Granted Russel and Monroe are magnetic on the screen, but this is a film that has little to offer. Too many songs... and bad ones at that... Story, goes nowhere and quite frankly you feel sorry for everyone involved... particularly the men. MMs character is just... well, disgusting. How the actress herself managed to become popular off the back of it is amazing. I doubt they would today. The scene where she meets the old diamond guy is just super super cringe. She calls her first 'catch' Daddy and just drifts from one 'con' to the next. You can't help but hope she meets a nasty end. I'm going to watch one more MM film that I meant to watch instead of this one, Some Like It Hot... this is a dud that's aged badly.

Dune (2021)

BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL BUT...

[5/10 · 22 July 2022]

Ok... like many others I have a real real problem with modern day audio in movies. Watch movies from the 70s + 80s HELL even from the 60s and you can hear just about every single word. Modern movies? Forget it. But this film takes bad dialogue audio to a new level. Some of it is down to the audio mix... but really most of it is down to the actors. Actors in the past had much much better diction and could make their voices heard, even when being emotional, mainly I think, because a lot of them plied their trade in theatres where there was no microphones. You had to be heard in every corner of a huge auditorium... but modern actors just can't cut it. Somewhere along the way they all thought that whispering was a substitute for emotional acting so whenever they want to convey something of importance or danger or jeopardy they resort to whispering it! You see it in loads of movies. And It's rubbish.

But onto the film. It's taken me countless attempts to watch the original Dune but just can't get through it. I either fall asleep or just can't take any more. I must've tried to watch it 20 times over the years. So I was very excited to see a modern take on it... one that might up the pace and thrill a bit. After all the trailer was spectacular! Boy was I wrong. But now in 2022 Ive concluded tgat it. Ever was the film makers fault. Tge story itself is just plain boring. Infact it is damn mundane. And that's true of the 2021 version. It's way too long. Nothing much happens. And anything that does happen you're left feeling that you couldn't care less about it anyway. In the first hour I could have cut it down by half and made more sense of it. Visuals are great. Editing average. Sound awful. Directing uninspired. Plot boring. Script verbose. Effects great. Music adequate.

So in conclusion I'm left feeling that I was right all along way back in 1984... it wasn't me. It wasn't too clever for. It wasn't too complicated. It was just way way too dull. Some projects should be left just as books. And this is one of them. Not every work of literature deserves or is suited to a movie. And this is proof of that. I won't be coming back for any more and to be frank I doubt if this will ever be completed. It requires a huge budget to make and it's just not worth it. I'm not sure how well Part 1 did at the box office but given it's cost I'd be very surprised if a film company stumps up the cash for another. However, it could live on as an 8k or 32k Classic in the future, surviving on the visuals. Just like it's forefather. If only the can sort the sound out.

Elstree 1976 (2015)

A GREAT IDEA FOR A MOVIE... but...

[5/10 · 19 July 2022]

Track down a group of people who aren't famous but millions of people would give their right arm to have been in 1976 and interview them. In case you hadn't realised it these people had parts large and small in the original mega smash Star Wars. How fascinating it would have been then to hear their stories about being on the film, how they got into it, what role they played, their memories of the life changing moment... instead what we get is way way too much waffle about their mostly uneventful lives. I'm 10 minutes in and not heard one interesting thing. The opening sequence has the great idea of introducing the interviewees with their action figures but because the 1970s action figures look nothing like the people who played them you gave no idea at all who or what they did... except 'Dave' of course. 20 minutes in now and still nothing interesting or even Star Wars related. I'm going to skip through the rest in the hope it picks up. Ok. 25 minutes in, things start to get a bit more relevant. Someone starts to talk about Elstree. Let's see how this goes. Now we might actually find out who these people are. Anecdotes are starting. The first 25 mins was just a waste of time. False start I'm afraid 27 minutes and we're back in the realms of obscurity and nothing much to tell. Hang in Dave's just said he got invited to lunch with Alec Guinness and George Lucas. Ok I think you get the point. This is slow paced and not very imaginative film making. It could have been 60 minutes long, but probably stretched out for financial reasons. I could have made a much better movie than this if I'd had the access. We have Greedo... not heard anything from him interesting. We have an XWing pilot. Nothing interesting heard yet. Storm Troopers... tales of smoking breaks and their reluctance to be called in to shoot because there was a heatwave in 1976. 30 mins in starting to get some stories now. And so it goes on. What I'd say to conclude is that the film is mostly just underwhelming... not many interesting stories and the people telling them mostly could not be bothered to take part when they were there. But it still makes you wish you could have been one of them. Watch from the 30 minute mark and save 30 mins of your life.

Exeter (2015)

THIS DIRECTORS SUCKS

[1/10 · 10 June 2022]

After ruining Conan reboot in 2011 it's amazing this guy got another chance at all. But this is what happens when you give a 60 year old pop music video director the reins of a big movie with a story to tell and scenes to shoot that are longer than 5 minutes. Honestly not seen a director with less imagination, technique or editing awareness since I ran a film school for under 20s. Hope he stops now and goes back to Cher interviews. One camera. Tripod and sound mic. Leave the movies to the big boys.

Entertainment USA (1983– )

ALL BUT FORGOTTEN

[9/10 · 3 June 2022]

I highly suggest you catch this on YT. A simple show, wittily written and presented that crams a lot into its few minutes. Such a simple idea that would still work today. One man travels America reporting from a different city each episode telling us what's hot and interesting to do there, whi,st interviewing the current hot celebrities, pop stars and actors that happen to be in town whilst also bringing us stories and interviews from more 'normal' folk along the way. One of THE best series of my early years, EUSA was unmissable for all youngsters back in the day. And it's still interesting today.

The Batman (2022)

NO NO NO NO NO NO. NO NO! All you people giving this 10s...

[5/10 · 30 April 2022]

... must work for the film company. First, I was prepared to give Patterson the benefits of the doubt, but don't believe the hype, he doesn't pull off the role. Second... this movie is way too slow. The pacing is well off. Even when there are action scenes RP can't home a candle to John Wick and you'll feel like you'd be better off watching that. Third, pc bases are covered with a kick ass back woman with attitude and a black Gordon.... Yaaaaaaaaaaawnnnnn. She adds nothing to the story and he can't act that well. But that suits this movie well cos neither can the star. Lastly, typically in all modern movies because most can't act they reduce themselves to whispering, which they think equates to gravitas and 'dramatic acting', no.. it just makes you have to turn the volume was up to have your ears blasted when the sound effects and action one along. Why can't modern movies get the balance right. Where did we lose this skill. Watch any pre 1980s movie and you will never struggle to hear what the actors are saying. Ever. It's not a terrible m'obie. But it's a movie with absolutely zero personality. The characters in their film noire style are just bland versions of all that have come before. I liked the take on the Penguins, but not even Batman's new Nirvana theme tune can't save it. The Dark Knight Trilogy still rules supreme. This is ok to see once but you'll never want to watch it again, let alone sit through 3 x 3hr instalments. Don't pay to see this.

The Curse of Oak Island (2014– )

A GOOD IDEA THAT REGULARILY OFFERS NOTHING NEW

[4/10 · 17 April 2022]

I've been watching this show since the very beginning and I used to love it. I find the brothers and team very likeable. The issue I have is with the production and the way their story is told. First off, the way it's edited there's only ever about 15 minutes of worthwhile material in each episode. The rest is filler or repetition and recaps which they use over and over again. The show could be 20 minutes long. Second, the writing of the narration and its delivery, if you are unfortunate enough to suffer the US version... (it's redone in the U. K thank God)... is god dam awful. It's lame, boring, repetitive and just obtuse. They use the same sayings over and over again. So lazy. Rick says 'Gary's found a hammer tool in the swamp!'.... Cue lame ass writers and narrator; 'A hammer tool? Found in the swamp? Could it be.... Blah blah blah'. Rick says 'Gary's found a round shaped band in the woods' Cue narrator... 'A round shaped band? Found in the woods? Could it be.... Blah blah blah'. It is just awful wring and lazy unimaginative delivery. Third... the American habit of building something up that then comes to nothing after you sit through a commercial break. Honestly, they still using this awful attention grabbing trick in the 22nd century? It's enough to turn you off. Fourth... everything in the show is revealed in the tease at the start of the episode in 30 sevonds. Really you only need to watch the first 2 mins and the last 2 mins and you've seen it all. And lastly... they've been banging on and on now for 8 series and found nothing. The story and history is fascinating, but I think we've seen it all now. Until the brothers can report that they actually have something worth reporting or filming they should call it a day. I want a conclusion but I'm not prepared to spend another 5 series and 70hrs of junk tv to find out what it is.

Sex Pistols: Agents of Anarchy (2019)

MOSTLY SEEN BEFORE

[6/10 · 8 April 2022]

All the usual clips are here that we've seen a million times before supported by new interviews, but little new info. However, it's all nicely put together. The problem is the story's all been told before. What this brings is a nice compact package for 'the kids' who have no idea of who the Pistols were or how little music today has progressed. The biggest problem with this movie is I watched it On Amazon and the narrators audio all the way through was completely miss mixed. You could hardly hear a thing the narrator was saying for the first 25 minutes. Could be a streaming or Amazon ingest problem. But. It was terribly balanced. Sonia, check it out. I don't know why documentaries constantly use the same clips for these shows. I mean, I get it, there's a limited amount of footage but they literally use the same shots. Probably just lifted from other documentaries rather than going back to the source and selecting different ones. Worth watching if you've seen everything else on You Tube.

Tolkien (2019)

THEY DON'T MAKE MEN LIKE THIS ANY MORE

[7/10 · 31 March 2022]

Tolkien was a genius. That's all you need to know. Not having the best start in life and having to cope with the horrors of life in the trenches it is even more incredible that he survived to become one of the greatest writers to have ever lived. That is Tolkien. The film however is a different beast and whilst an entirely watchable and credible movie, we'll acted and well written, it's just not that interesting. Not to say Tolkien's life was boring, far from it. You just have this overwhelming desire to be watching the fantasies inside his head that pepper the movie more than the biopic that is this film. It does however paint a picture of privileged classes and their education in the early 1900s that our American friends will find most quaint. In summary a reasonable film and a story that needed to be told, but it never really gets going. A remarkable brain inside a less than remarkable film.