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Reviews
Baby Reindeer (2024)
Heartbreaking and incredibly brave
Imagine living your absolute worst nightmare over a period of months/years and having the sheer will to write it down, get Netflix to make it and star in it. I am on episode 4 and this episode hits very very hard.
I am so sorry Richard Gadd experienced what he did, I hope that writing this and acting it out gives him closure because he so deserves it. I couldn't imagine laying all my shame and darkest recesses so blatantly open to day light and for others to peer and poor over.
I truly doff my cap to you because this is hard and brutal watching. Let alone the experience knowing this isn't fiction.
Whilst this may not be a true review I just had to offload how hard this hits. Good luck Richard!
Mayfair Witches (2023)
Resembles the books in name only!
So the series follows the very basic premise written by Anne Rice which I think is a shame, Lasher was badly cast in my humble opinion, however I liked Rowan, and Annabeth Gish did a great job.
I am glad it's been several years since I read the book or I may have been more offended and disappointed.
Anne Rice does get some adaptation credit and I wonder how much, and how much control she had as it really isn't that faithful to the books.
That being said I did enjoy it, it was still well written and sumptuous and I am glad it had a decent budget and not a "lifetime movie" feel to it.
Worth a watch!
Great Expectations (2023)
This should have been great.. but manage your expectations.
Watched the first episode, the cast not bad at all, but the acting was like they were doing a reading in costume. Fell very flat, none of the characters remotely believable and very 2 dimensional. Having been made SOOO many times, this really didn't need making, save the TV licence fees BBC!!
The casting choice for Estelle was wrong, she should be cold, aloof and remote, not wooden and annoying. Olivia Coleman is a wonderful actress but she was a poor caricature of Miss Haversham.
Magwitch was the only believable character, and as for the writing, leave Dickens alone and stop messing with work that's lasted for years!
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
This should have ended with Chadwick Boseman..
The tributes to Chadwick Boseman are absolutely wonderful and very moving, and were absolutely worth the airtime. (That's what gets the 4 stars) The problem is the rest of the movie... we have a character that looked like a love child of iron man and bumble bee (transformer) which fell massively short in terms of storyline, massively lazy writing,
Letitia Wright is a talented actress and all the traits that made her an awesome character, her humour etc were all lost and the character development fell very short for me, and just seemed to be a catalyst for her character rather than her character naturally developing (call me a cynic) badly miscast as the new Black Panther.
Mayans storyline and development was gorgeous and so well done but felt like an aqua man/avatar rip off... so this just wasn't the place for that storyline, (this could have had its own epic movie!) and don't even start me on the female warriors new costume, a cross between Abe Sapien from Hellboy and the predator...
Now don't get me wrong, it's marvel and I LOVE what they do, this felt like it was badly thought out, the writers threw everything at the wall to see what sticks and way too much stuck... that's just my 2 cents, the reviews will no doubt be 8-9 stars and that's cool, but man I wanted to love this but when you start writing a poor review in your head half way through you know you're not loving it.
Umma (2022)
Not a typical horror
I think if your expecting a horror movie you'll be disappointed but if you peep behind the curtains it's got some lovely messages, the complexity of mother and daughter relationships, the guilt of not being a good enough daughter, the regret of not being a good enough mother, and also moving to a foreign country.
It gives you some insight into a different culture. Sandra Oh is great in this role and it's simple storyline but complex in other ways.
Not every horror has to be gruesome or earth shattering, but give you some thought into the parallels of real life, sometimes relationships, real ones can present enough horror!
House of the Dragon (2022)
Not a strong start..
Yes it's gorgeous and yes its got wings, but not sure it has legs yet!
The male leads are weak, Matt Smith hasn't yet sold his character, and the king very 2 dimensional, its nice to see the other houses and their names mentioned, but the series needs to add depth to the characters not just trade off the old familiar characters... we shall see! I hope it gets stronger.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
Nicholas cage is terrible
There really is nothing else to say. But I have to write 150 characters. I've no idea what Idris Elba was thinking when he did this.. surely he could see Nicholas Cage is beyond all hope.. is this 150 characters yet?
The Head Hunter (2018)
Clever story telling
I rarely leave reviews, but thoroughly enjoyed this. Very little dialogue and few effects. For a low budget I think it's done extremely well. Clever storyline with a clever ending. Probably one of the more interesting movies I've seen in a while.
The Open House (2018)
Definitely NOT the worst movie ever
Ok peeps.. if you've read other reviews you may see some unhappy amateur critics.
However, if you've been around long enough and seen enough horror movies you'll realise this is a LONG way from the worst horror movie.
Unfortunately we live in an age where every twist and turn is explained, spoon fed to the drooling masses.
That's not gonna happen here, life isn't always tied up in a nice neat little bow for you to unwrap with a blow by blow narration of every scene.
If you want a movie that's well crafted, builds uneasy tension, great acting and well directed, stow your cynicism and you don't expect your life to be changed, this will do fine.
Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019)
A 2019 take on a 70's movie
I actually think this is a really good documentary, a great insight into how the story was developed, how Giger was fired and rehired, great background and insight relevant to any Aliens geek need for info, like myself, I'm not sure I agree with all the opinions around the hour point, but rather than dismissing it out of hand it's an interesting talking point.
Another reviewer mentions " most of it comes through the lens of mentality and the myths of patriarchy, female oppression and such nonsense" however it's worth baring in mind that to have a female lead in a big budget horror movie that didn't just bare her breasts was unheard of at the time, so not so much a "myth" of patriarchy but "fact" of patriarchy and female oppression.
Yes the movie is viewed through the eyes on the #metoo movement and how far we have come since this movie was created, as a social conversation, which despite not appealing to all, doesn't mean it should be ignored.
Vox Lux (2018)
Crashes somewhere between a star is born and a nasty hangover
Firstly I'll state Natalie Portman is incredible. The movie has been created in the style of a biopic, really interesting first half of the movie, the brutal school shooting is terrifying. The scenes shot in Sweden were vomit inducing in speed and style, I had to keep looking away. The second half was a separate movie IMHO and felt totally disconnected to the first Half.
Not for everyone, but another opportunity for Natalie Portman to really shine.
Dune (2000)
Truer to the book than others but took too many liberties
I don't often write reviews but I had to... having loved the first movie by David Lynch since I was a kid and just finished the book I had to write!
This rendition is the truest to the book out of the two movies and it's hard not to compare this to David Lynch's version. However huge liberties were taken by the writers and imho it dumbed the story line and made it somewhat ridiculous turning one of the best sci fi books written to an almost comic book level. The emperor is made to seem naive and the princess irulan a genius... not sure how that works, as the emperor wouldn't be naive.. and certainly wasn't in the books. Irulan shouldn't have had such a grandiose story line... clearly they wanted to give her more lines.
Gurney Halleck is played by PH Moriarty and was appalling and not remotely believable. Chani played by Barbora Kodetova, again not remotely believable and should never have been given such a powerful role. The baron Harkonnen played by Ian Mcneice had flashed of genius but very limited and over acted... he's a cold calculating character who thinks he if far smarter than he is, was a disappointment overall.
The set design and costumes were garish and looked like something out of the 80's it would have been better to have spent their budget on decent outdoor sand scenes.
Saskia Reeves I think did a fair job, clearly she had a great grasp of who Jessica is meant to be. Alec Newman was badly cast in my opinion, Paul Atredies is meant to be 15-16 and Alec was not only too old to play him but did a shocking job... wooden and two dimensional and doesn't remotely inspire an audience let alone a legion of fremen warriors.
That all being said, the script kept some important scenes that David Lynch's version didn't and was all the richer for it. The weirding way was much better shown, although I like the ideas of the weirding module in David Lynch's version.
The scene with the reverend mother and Jessica and the water of life I think was quite well done and the introduction of Alia and her as a child was very good.
All in all I gave it 4 due to the content being more accurate, but deducted 6 for the shocking acting and writer liberties. The book is good enough as it is, it doesn't need rewriting by writers that think they know better. I would just like to see a clever, well acted, try to the book version...
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
Beautiful, rich and heart breaking.
I have to say i knew nothing about Diane Arbus when i bought this film, however, the film has certainly led me to investigate her. i found the film beautiful, and quite haunting in a way, Kidman and Downey did a superb job of rendering beautiful characters to film. Having read a little about Diane Arbus, which i appreciate, makes me in no way an expert on her, would have enjoyed this film, and the point it was trying to make. i think the point being, to get people like me who have never heard of her to find out a little about her, and see a little of what she saw, that beauty is all around us, and ugliness, your interpretation of either, maybe somewhat reliant on which side of the bed you get out of on that day. Her photo's have a bleak richness, the film displays this quality. i loved it and Downey will never be the same again for me, gone are his days at just Romcom, this makes him a very talented man in my eyes.