adsitm Reviews

A Night to Remember (1958)

A dramatization to remember

[10/10 · 14 January 2020]

This masterpiece pays a dignified and accurate respect to the hundreds of victims to one of the greatest avoidable disasters of the last century. It is leagues above the soapy and overlong picture by Mr. Cameron. On the Criterion Collection disc I just reviewed, these black and white images convey the inconceivable pain these poor souls went through due to the arrogance and mismanagement by the White Star Line. Some scenes are so powerful, such as the the adjusting of the clock in the parlor by Mr. Andrews and the lowering of the lifeboats by Mr. Lightoller, that they were recreated shot by shot in the 1997 adaptation. This is the vastly superior effort and it is tough but required viewing to get a real grasp of this event in April 1912.

May the 1517 souls Rest In Peace.

-10/10 *M. Adsit reviewing.

Knives Out (2019)

Splendiferous

[10/10 · 26 December 2019]

A glorious film by Rian Johnson, best known as the writer and director of Star Wars Episode IIX- The Last Jedi. I enjoyed every millisecond of the film. The consistent main feature was the Kentucky drawling Daniel Craig, a chameleon of a thespian, if there ever is one these days. Written, directed, and produced by Rian Johnson, all of our expectations were subverted in this picture with a nice little twist at the end. What a ride. I would call it his best film so far, hope there are more to come like this from him and others.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

A Joke

[1/10 · 25 December 2019]

A revision of the famous quote from the absent Yoda best sums up this dumpster fire, made by a council headed by the puppet Sith Lord Jar Jar Abrams (J. J. Abrams): "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear (of change) leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering (of story)." A revision of the script originally developed from the fired Darth Maul-like franchise destroying hack Colin Trevorrow and company should have been made before release. The film is a tree whose branches are blowing in response to an ever changing wind of demands. The past is revered but ignored, the characters are lost in a fog of deceit and confusion, the demand to please true fans is unmet. The film produces a sensation of staring into the suns of Tatooine, damaging but strangely without a feeling of painful emotion (or any at all). Strange it is, the Skywalker saga conclusion. Indeed.

The Lighthouse (I) (2019)

lyrical, but lonely

[10/10 · 14 November 2019]

A wonderful entertainment piece/art house film. It is very thought provoking. The chemistry between the leads is apparent and both performances are excellent. The cinematography is beautiful i.e. shot on location with Panavision camera(s) using B&W Kodak 35mm.

Mr. Robot: 404 Not Found (2019) Season 4, Episode 4

Triumph

[10/10 · 30 October 2019]

A triumph. It is one of the best 48 minutes of TV I have seen.

Judy (II) (2019)

Beautiful

[9/10 · 3 October 2019]

A powerhouse and immersive performance by Renée Zellweger anchors the narrative about the tragic and beautiful last months of the Golden Age of Hollywood legend Judy Garland's life in late 1968. The film is powerful and the song numbers are spot on. A very moving work. Her formative years locked in an odious contract and how it may have lead to her demons are showcased by a nice actress; and this is not a distraction, but essential to filling in the complete story of who she was.

Ad Astra (2019)

Masterful control from Gray and a high point for Pitt

[10/10 · 25 September 2019]

All I will say is that it is a wonderful and original film with strong influences from 2001: A Space Odyssey Apocalypse Now, and Interstellar.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

Incomprehensible And predictable

[2/10 · 7 August 2019]

The buddy comedy bromance didn't come together here. They are dull and limp. The romance point is stronger with rock & kirby. It's a visual effects heavy bombastic non-thrill ride. Dialogue when they are trying to break up is so boring I zone out. Deadly virus- yawn all you need to prevent is quarantine or face masks (see contagion).

The stakes didn't feel real to me and there has been a tired formula that has developed after 8 previous films. Even the rock's or Elba's magic can't make up for this being some terminator rip off macguffin (the only trick up its sleeve). Why is some stupid ai in charge of him? It can talk cute and have some flashing lights in a wall. Shaw is monotone and shuffled to side, as usual. The only reason anyone did this is probably to get a free trip to Samoa (Hawaii). the family is so crazy and dysfunctional there; who would want their help no matter how desperate you are? They don't seem like they know how to screw in a light bulb between the ten or so in their household. Mom is a total buzkill- how do you fight with a stick and heart vs guns. Old school against #elbanator?! Viewers my advice is to stick to the main film series which is better. Hope the Rock does the 10th in the main series and more.

P.s. Barely any international elements done in plot (Samoa uk).

Tully (2018)

Alright I'll vent on this- everybody kidding themselves see below

[1/10 · 7 August 2019]

Matt Adsit---- 1.4/10

This is an overrated and dull dumpster 🔥 from jason, much worse than you may have assumed if you didn't see it. It's my understanding that Jason Reitman the director really damaged Theron's body by having her put 40 lbs of weight on for her part in this second rate piece. It's now impossible for her to lose all of it. She is no spring chicken and he shouldn't have put her in a spot where she is blabbing about it in second rate puff piece user question on NYT.com. Give her a break.

Dir. Jason could have used a body double or a prosthesis. This is far from anyone involved's best work. So his actions display disregard for strong & empowered females everywhere.

From what I see, this only serves to up-jump MacKenzie Davis (halt &catch fire (a vastly superior project)) to a transition to film and to burnish the director's indie credits. It failed and made collateral damage out of a great woman.

Advice- don't do this for a crap picture like this 'tully' charlie. Total fluff made the rounds at festivals and got a higher meta score than it ought to. Garbage with next to nothing plot, runtime, or underlying message; or for that matter understandable content. Tully didn't make its budget back since it was of poor quality. See something else and retain your time. Would recommend charlize's work in such esteemed projects as monster fast and furious 6 or even long shot (with the overly honest and bumbling Seth).

I usually only review films I've seen that spoke to me. But this one did so for all the wrong reasons. #metoo equal rights and power etc.

Fleabag (2016–2019)

Terribly sharp and uniquely relevant

[10/10 · 30 May 2019]

Fleabag is a masterful rendition of the brutally honest and universally appealing television genre of short form millennial dramedy. It's funny mostly in how tragic her life is, but the rest is a woeful situation that finds humor in human connections gone wrong. A fourth wall breaking showcase of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's raw talent and her truth telling ability, I cannot stop relating to the show and all its ironies, even if it's not accurate to the US. She is able to get the actors to become very method and you may forget you're watching a performance. Fleabag herself is such a sympathetic character whose flaws and brokenness from her bad choices becomes almost too much to handle. If you have a heart, your empathy goes out to her and crazy family dynamics she has to navigate to stay sane. It's so relevant to what many 20-something's are going through in all areas of life.

Highlights include how one may have romantic relationships that are hard to maintain. They can be over because of an arbitrary choice you had no idea the partner was even considering. The parental and family dynamics are strengths and hit right on the nose. All of this and more is accomplished via the tight writing that must come from a very personal place. The performances from the ensemble sell it, especially the slithery and dramatic manipulator character Olivia Colman plays.

The Favourite (2018)

A sublime film, whip smart, and the best of the year

[10/10 · 21 December 2018]

The year closes with this excellent gift from Yorgos Lanthimos. He executed flawlessly a whip smart script from Tony McNamara & Deborah Davis.

This costume drama/comedy focuses on the power games of the Lady Sarah and her penniless cousin Abigail. Former lady Abigail vies to further herself and become "the favourite" of Queen Anne, played to great effect by Olivia Colman.

There is a beautiful social critique contained in the film. It asks us why we cannot accept others for who they are if they have different preferences than us. Social mobility is touched on in the character of Abigail. Examined are questions are how much further really we've come from this time period and if we're as advanced as we think we are. The absurdity of the limits of supposedly absolute power by a queen is a really funny subtext here.

Ultimately the elements making this the best Lanthimos film and a shoe in come awards season are the phenomenal cast, direction, and the many questions left to ponder.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Best sci-fi film of all time...one of the best generally

[10/10 · 24 August 2018]

After over 50 years, we have not created a sci-fi film surpassing this black monumental monolith. It asks huge questions about who we are as humans- where we came from and what the next step in our evolution is.

You will see stunning space scenes and current technology predicted long ago (video phones, artificial intelligence, touch screens, LCD displays to name a few).

Highly recommended as it is in the pantheon of greats.

Virunga (2014)

Amazing accomplishment

[10/10 · 21 February 2015]

This salient ant-war, anti-business exploration, pro-conservation documentary touched me and made me feel something special. It effortlessly brings us in and causes us to care for the workers of this national park and their deep mission to preserve it at all costs. And it also makes it indisputable that what they are doing is right for such a beautiful park. War is a terrible thing when in the face of such majesty. This movie is gorgeously shot and wonderfully paced.

It becomes obvious how right the mission of the main characters in the movie is. Everyone so bravely fights for this park and does whatever they can to expose corrupt business and government officials who seek to undermine it for their own benefit. The terrible consequences of war in this often unstable region on thousands of citizens is also unflinchingly portrayed. Finally, you get an intimate portrayal of the gorillas our protagonists so bravely protect with their lives, if need be. It was simply amazing, which makes this film a must see.