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Civil War (2024)
Wizard of Oz remake for the hard of thinking
First of all there are much better films about journalism, such as Salvador, the Killing Fields, the Year of Living Dangerously and technically Full Metal Jacket.
This is a reworking of the Wizard of Oz with the slight exception of cowardly lion who was initially the obese journalist who still went on the impending death march.
The other characters yo yo-d between the tin man and the scarecrow to go on the suicide mission and make absurd decisions which required a brain damaging suspension of disbelief in the first place.
Granted the action scenes were well done but the finale was a let down as you could see the ending a mile off, you didn't need to be a member of Mensa to figure it out.
If the rebels won, the current president would be incarcerated, summarily executed or would have fled the country.
If the rebellion was crushed then the president would have been celebrating the uprising being quashed.
Anyone with a modicum of brain activity above coma level could have figured it out.
So there was no tension as the ending was revealed in the penultimate act.
That annoying wannabee photojournalist that was using a Nikon FE-2 camera (film) with just a 50mm lens, where was her kit bag, how many rolls of film did she have, where did she stash the tanks, developer powder/liquid, using body temperature to estimate the developing time, I didn't see her once change cameras whilst shooting. Surely she could have spent ten to twenty bucks on an auto-winder/motor drive for the camera(s) I was half expecting her to bring out a medium format camera (Hasselblad or Rolliflex) or one of those old large format field cameras with the old fashioned magnesium flares (watch the birdie) with the neck braces for the subjects.
If she had three identical Nikon FE-2's then she could have taken (36x3) 108 photos/exposures did Wagner Moura reload the cameras for her?
It was probably some bog standard f2 or f2.8 50mm lens, not even an f1.7 or even an f1.4!
Ps you wouldn't dry the film in the open air as dust and other particles would stick to the film, you might as well scrub the negatives with sandpaper.
Digital equivalent would be to leave your memory cards next to a high powered magnet or take all the photos in jpg mode and find that all the files got corrupted.
Sorry I went off on a rant but traditional chemical silver halide based photography is an area I know reasonably well and it's a joke that the debutante/war tourist didn't use any other lenses nor did you see her swapping her cameras.
Poor Things (2023)
Sick Things for sick people.
Poor things
Despite the great cast, production values and cinematography this film is another example of the truly depraved state of hollywood.
The whole film is a deliberate yet covert attempt to normalise grooming, child abuse, infant rape, prostitution of minors, sex trafficking, mind control and ritual abuse.
The whole premise of the movie is that the mind of a baby is transplanted into the recently deceased mother who had yet to deliver the baby.
Outwardly the baby (Bella Baxter) has appearance of her mother, but for all intentional purposes the mental age of a baby. This is enhanced by her being in a state of arrested development be her environment which is a gilded cage, owing to her "adopted" father figure who is really her handler or pimp. He be-troth's her to a suitor (medical doctor/assistant) via an elaborate contract, yet allows her to go on an extended "vacation" with a sleazy lawyer who is a complete stranger who just happens to sexually assault her on their first meeting at her home then whilst on said "vacation" routinely rapes her as she is not of the age of consent as Bella Baxter has the mental age of child.
Furthermore, her suitor wanted to wait for her to be of age before marriage.
Just because someone looks older (or is perceived to be) doesn't mean they are in actual fact older.
How people can't see this film is the blatant promotion of child molestation and child rape is mind blowing.
Hollywood is truly vile and repugnant.
Heojil kyolshim (2022)
Decision To Leave (Should have left the cinema earlier)
Film made little sense. Trying to be a thriller and comedy yet managing to be neither.
There were a couple of scenes that were of note, namely the knife fight when the detective donned a butcher's chain mail glove and the detective piecing together what may have really happened to husband number one.
One character in particular's actions made zero sense and there wasn't enough explanation apart from love or a misplaced case of erotomania as there are nods to Brief Encounter as the audience only saw the detective kissing the murder suspect near the end of the film. As what counts as courtship is domestic chores and sleep advice.
Little is ever shown, just very vague hints if that.
Sometimes too much subtlety can leave the audience in the dark.
The detective spending time with the suspect in her home was questionable to say the least and he seemed more like an automaton/puppet going through the motions and she was pulling his strings.
Was she in his home as all the crime scene photos /murder books were on display? Very odd indeed.
If the woman was a murder suspect she would have been surveilled and the police force would have flagged his involvement with her. All it would have took was a phone trace on the detective's phone to discover that he was in her apartment whilst being a person of interest.
Then we have the suspect killing herself or perceived to kill herself at the end via drowning (Siren overtones). She could have had any man she wanted but kills herself (a nod to Romeo and Juliet with reversal of demise.)
Why kill herself?
The detective's wife had split up with him and he could have easily ran away with the suspect and nobody with have been none the wiser.
Absurd conclusion.
I wish I had decided to leave the movie Decision to Leave in the first place.
2 out of 10.
One point for the cinematography and the other for the sound editing. Abysmal plot, silly character decisions and motivations.
Over-rated, nonsensical, meaningless, purposeless, undoubtedly the Park Chan-Wook fans will love this.
Avoid unless you are in the latter group.
Men (2022)
Men (dacity) of the 5/5 stars reviews.
If you enjoyed Mother (2017), In the Earth (2021), Titane (2021), X (2022) and liked Lamb (2021), you'll love this.
Regrettably, I found the movie would have been better as a short perhaps 15-20 minutes long as that would have suited the lackluster story and gap-filled dialogue with pregnant pauses.
Rory Kinnear was very good at playing multiple roles but ultimately his performance could not save this dire, dreary and overlong movie which seemed to me as if the director was trolling his audience.
It is evident that there are nods and mini homages to the Hammer House of Horror flicks and Tales of the Unexpected vibe. The creepy church with the graveyard, the pub that reminded me of the league of gentlemen series, the male full frontal nudity that reminded me of the Tango ads (minus underpants), Arnold Schwarzenegger's Axe/Chopper as a Chekhov's gun plot device, the damsel in distress going to a quaint but secluded country house/hotel in the middle of the English countryside off the M4 (bad judgement, bad decisions, zero logic), using pauses as cheap way to build tension (but there were a few in the audience that had the good sense to walk out after 40 minutes, I wish I had done the same, as I really wanted this movie to improve.)
Do directors after much success deliberately make movies that are more concept in "style" of modern art to base on shock value, or meta experimental symbolic visual set pieces to work as cryptic metaphors for the audience to figure out the unsubtle references of the Garden of Eden, fall from grace, purgatory, repetition of hell or eternal damnation. Themes such as redemption, guilt and forgiveness are handled relatively well.
Perhaps this movie is what happens when the director has the green light and is surrounded by yes-men/women, but no quality control at all (i.e. A serviceable script and a plot with pace.)
The measure of a good movie is one that you can watch again (and again) and enjoy it as well as notice the subtleties that you may have missed on the initial viewing. Wish I had never watched this at all.
This is not a horror movie, it is just a horrible movie avoid unless you liked the five movies mentioned at the start.
Caveat lector.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
The Many Sins of the Many Saints of Newark
The Many Saints of Newark The "Moltisanti" ironically means "many saints" of a crime family so a nice bit of titular wordplay.
- - - - -
A prequel to the much loved Sopranos series that I had high hopes for.
The Good *********** There is much to get excited for as the high production values, good acting and the more than capable cinematography was much evident.
Nice opening speaking from the gravestones in particular and if there were to make a series of it, you'd probably have the panning shot of the graves again and voice of the character you are going to portray.
From a technical standpoint all was achieved very well.
Ray Liotta (ii) was the standout for me.
A couple of songs from the era but there wasn't any score to add to the mood of the film's atmosphere.
Themes such as honour, duty, misplaced loyalties, betrayal, discrimination, mental health, respect, revenge and wordplay of the title were conveyed adequately.
You could even argue that mafia is a metaphor for the government in this film and if you get out of line you get whacked. The ones with the true power, you don't really notice until it is too late.
Very understated part when Dickie was in a shootout against Harold which showed that Dickie wasn't completely irredeemable.
The Bad *********
The casting was pretty good but, Liotta's young bride seemed a bit off as Richard 'Dickie' Moltisanti (Nivola) later had an affair with. Nivola's wife was better looking in my opinion than his stepmother and it would have been better if the two wives roles were swapped as that would make sense.
The Punisher/Johnny Boy Soprano (Jon Bernthal) character could have been fleshed out more as I felt that Dickie/Nivola seemed more like a bit part in his own movie.
The pacing was a bit muddled and it seemed more like a soap opera than some of the Sopranos best episodes. (More Soapy than Soprano.)
The movie felt lacking as there was little payoff for all of the setups that the movie alluded to.
It is a shame, initially it had all the ingredients of being a really good gangster movie but it seemed more like part one of a pilot of a series that needed two or three parts to be of any substance and build up momentum.
TLDR ******
If you are a fan of the Sopranos you may feel a bit short changed with it but still enjoy it for some characters.
(Much preferred the WIre to the Sopranos.) If you are not a fan of the Sopranos it's like a watching the first part of a (three part) made for TV movie that seems empty, unfinished and very underwhelming. It does have its moments but they are few and far between. (I sense that there may be a directors version/cut that is a LOT longer which may be worth the time.) Great production values, mostly competent cast but let down by derivative script, poor pacing. I imagine that most of viewers may have expected less Dick(ie) and more Tony.
Perhaps it should have been called My Uncle Dickie.
Shame such a wasted opportunity.
4/10.
It Comes at Night (2017)
$ h I t comes at night - caveat emptor
Dear movie lovers, If you liked horrible movies such as "It follows", "The Babadook", "The Transfiguration" and "the Witch" 2015 then by all means, I'm sure you will love this.
Don't forget to collect a free lollipop after you have seen the movie.
Try and watch a few seasons of the vastly superior the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits (black and white versions if you want to be seen as being trendy,retro or hipster).
However, if you like horror movies that have actual plots, dialogue, characterisation and purpose that keeps the viewer engaged by the merits of the actual material (by having material and not a singular plot device) instead of stretching out the payoff that the film or more accurately the practical joke that tries to pass itself off as an original piece of work. (Even though it rips off "the Monsters are Due on Maple St" from the Twilight Zone and Right at Your Door 2006).
There was not enough material to sustain a feature length movie nor the keep the viewer engaged. This is not a horror movie. It is a horrible movie.
From a technical point, the execution and implementation was very well done.
But there is not enough plot to stretch a full movie.
The only character I did care about was the dog. Even then I don't think that the dog was really remunerated. (dog's screen time 5-15 minutes) Actually I should have read the plot on w i k i p e d i a, would have saved me a lot of grief.
en.w i k i p e d i a.org/wiki/It_Comes_at_Night#Plot
Budget of $2.4 - $5 million. Money for nothing. Could have bought some pens and some sheets of paper and added an actual plot and a script.
Suppose that is asking for too much in this day and age.
The w i k i p e d i a plot summary has more detail than the movie itself. (Yes, that is the movie verbatim, should you wish to go and torture yourself by all means go ahead a watch this movie.)
Otherwise avoid.
The Face of an Angel (2014)
My impression/viewpoint of the movie
Firstly, I wish to extend my condolences to the family of Meredith Kercher.
It is unfortunate that the film gives very little concern to the ongoing trial almost as an afterthought.
The film spends too much time on Daniel Bruhl's character or more accurately lack thereof.
Daniel Bruhl can act but in this role he seemed so detached that maybe it was the drugs or maybe there was a lack of empathy for the role.
Then again Daniel Bruhl was too busy inspecting bedroom furniture in the company of Kate Beckinsale's character and then chasing after (for research purposes for the new movie - there's a line for the gullible) model turned actress Cara D(thick eyebrows). Conveniently placed English 21 year old who just happens to be working in a bar within earshot and walking distance of the crime scene. (cue the source music from the Human League - Don't you want me 1982 either that or Kraftwerk - the Model may be more fitting.) The movie goes off into another pointless tangent, perhaps an advertisement for the Tuscan Tourist Board, where Cara D and Daniel Bee(ruhl) frolic on a little beach.
When watching this film you wanted to get a picture or idea of who Miss M Kercher was like. But you feel let down that it is just a few scenes that don't really establish that. Perhaps it was a ploy by Winterbottom to highlight the fact that she was murdered.
Furthermore you wanted to discover more about the accused and the background of the investigation but the audience was only given second hand anecdotal quips and hearsay from characters garnered from meetings in public houses (gosh for a minute I thought I was watching Eastenders or Coronation Street there.) I was really looking forward to seeing this, but if you enjoy movies where the main protagonist (who really only gets that title by mere screen time rather than actually doing anything) goes to bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cafés and office meetings, then you will probably love this film.
However if you are not in the habit of seeing movies that are just blatant advertisements for the Tuscan Tourist Board for Club 18-30something then do yourself a favour and avoid this movie at all costs.
It's such a shame that there was so much talent and production values (including Kate Beckinsale's faking fake orgasms but not in the style of when Harry Met Sally more like when Katy met Danny). That there may be a good movie in the all of the footage that was shot but they probably forgot to include it.
I really hoped that this film would get better but it didn't.
It's time I have wasted watching this movie that I can never get back. I could have watched something more interesting like varnish dry.
La migliore offerta (2013)
Don't miss "The Best Offer"
Quite simply one of the best movies I have seen in ages.
Beautiful music by Ennio Morricone. Sublime cinematography by Fabio Zamarion. Masterful direction and writing by Giuseppe Tornatore.
An Oscar worthy performance by Geoffrey Rush and first rate performances from all of the other actors and actresses too.
< RANT > It is quite a mystery as to why The Best Offer did not get a cinema release in the places such as the UK. Perhaps the demographic did not bear well for any profit. More is the pity. As we are inundated with generic romantic comedies, pointless sequels, horror movies (the genre should be a dead giveaway ie "horrible" moves), remakes or more accurately blatant copies for those who are afflicted with short term memory loss (eg Total Recall, insert next remake here ........) < / RANT >
However, if you do happen upon a copy of the movie or know someone that does have a copy, make arrangements to see the movie as soon as possible.
But be advised please refrain from reading any plots or synopsis's as they may ruin this truly outstanding film. In addition avoid critics such as Mark Kermode who seem to relish in spoiling the plot and hence the enjoyment of the film. Nobody likes a grass or a snitch.
If you like movies with a bit of mystery and elegance you will not be disappointed.
Enjoy the experience that is "The Best Offer".