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Phildevans
Reviews
True Detective: Night Country: Part 5 (2024)
Not True Detective. A cheap poor cousin.
Huge fan of season 1, it's perfect. Season 2 couldn't hit the same heights and season 3 was forgettable, but all felt like a True Detective season. That feeling of underlying dread throughout with incredible high quality writing, acting and production. Each season grabbed me and pulled me into their world. It was an event.
Season 4 Night Country forgets all of that. It's poorly written. There's a number of plot holes - Hank states he will not kill and in the next scene commits murder infront on the Police Chief. Stupid stupid writing! The production is several levels below previous seasons (CGI is poor too). Feels cheap. The tone is very different and lacks the feeling of dread. I didn't care for the characters and it washed over me like a cloud in the wind desperate to float on the coat tails of much grander clouds.
If Season 4 was a Netflix series under a different title it would be average. But as a True Detective season, it's poor.
I'm no longer a fan and won't be seeking out Season 5.
Wonka (2023)
The perfect family Christmas movie
A beautifully crafted, magical, uplifting musical with a huge heart that will make you laugh and leave the cinema with a huge smile.
The songs are strong and catchy (despite some initial negative reviews) - my 9yo daughter has them on repeat on Apple Music.
The performances are great. Timothee Chalamet plays the role perfectly. You'll be charmed. The supporting cast, including a scene stealing Hugh Grant as a Oompa Loompa, all add to the mystical magic of the film.
The special effects are brilliantly done. For a film with a budget of $125m, it easily looks more impressive than some superhero films costing twice that amount. You will truly believe chocolate can make you fly.
..and it's very funny.
My only negative opinion was of Matt Lucas's performance. I'm not sure what processed Mr Lucas to play his role in such a fashion, but that aside...
It's a wonderful film. A truly magical, uplifting 2 hours of pure joy. Your kids will love it.
Stay until the credit finish to see the bonus Oompa Loompa song and wrap up of the story threads.
Go see it!
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Masterful. 10/10
A thought provoking, multi layered, end of the world film shown through the lense of 5 characters confined to a house.
Excellent performances from the cast, tight script, and wonderful direction from the maker of Mr Robot makes for a frightening film that will have you thinking for days afterwards.
..and the ending? Requires a level of intelligence. Don't be put off by others.
The soundtrack will have you reaching to grip your seat as the tension builds.
In summary, a character study of human vulnerabilities during an apocalyptic setting, in a rare, perfect film.
Well done Netflix. 10/10.
Echoes (2022)
WHAT IS HAPPENING?!
If I could cast my perfect mini series, this would be it. There are some fine performances on display here.
But the script and direction is poor. I used to believe there was nothing more confusing in life than attempting to understand a Christopher Nolan movie after one viewing, but this manages to achieve it with spades to spare.
I gave up after episode 3. Abandoned it. I rarely do that. I was the sicker who made it through all 8 episodes of Pieces Of Her.
A real shame.
Dear Netflix, please give the cast a better project next time.
Stars awarded for the acting. Zero stars awarded for plot, script and direction.
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Poor mess of an ending
Loved Jurassic World. Fallen Kingdom was an excellent addition and set up a number of thought provoking threads. Dominion feels like a poor cousin in comparison. It's a mess of a film and shows Colin Treverrow fluked the first (and best) film of this trilogy.
Dominion's trailers show dinosaurs living amongst us. But the film opens by explaining another bad corporation has most of the them back in a park. So much for setting up that narrative in previous films. So our protagonists head back to the park to rescue characters that have found themselves trapped there. Yup, you've seen it all before.
Dominion is bland, the action lacks any jeopardy for its characters and the dinosaur fights are...boring! A poor film that likely ends Trevorrows director career.
Moon Knight (2022)
Lots to admire. Shame about the story.
First off, I'm not a comic book fan. I approach this as a fan of high quality drama.
Moon Knight looks incredible. The sets, special effects and costumes are blockbuster movie quality. Oscar Isaac is also incredible here. He's a force of nature and Disney are lucky to have him.
However, the story is complex, ambiguous and is the ingredient that lets down the show. I watched all 6 episodes wondering what the hell was going on. This naturally leads to the viewer becoming disengaged. I didn't care for the characters as I didn't understand whether I was watching reality or mental illness at play. None of which was explained. I believe this was the writers intent, but this approach meant I didn't care about the characters or any journey (if there was one) they are on. Is the viewer supposed to simply enjoy the ride rather than understand any kind of plot?
Moon Knight looks great, has an extraordinary Isaac performance, but missed the opportunity to be legendary by poor story choices.
West Side Story (2021)
Greatest film of the past 30 years
Forget Scorsese, Kubrick, Coppola. Steven Spielberg is simply the greatest ever filmmaker. When Spielberg turns it on, he's in a league of his own.
He turned it on for this film. This is a true masterpiece and the finest film of the past 30 years.
Ariana Debose wiped the floor with her performance of Anita. She deservedly won an Oscar.
Be thrilled, be enchanted, cry tears, go see it.
Servant (2019)
Very poor season 2
Loved season 1. Season 2 nothing happens. Same trick every episode - creepy atmosphere, suggestions of something big about to happen...then nothing. Nothing! Do the writers have any idea where's this is leading?! It's become tedious and I'm bored. Switching off after episode 7.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Forgettable Movie (Spoiler Free)
A fast paced (too fast in parts) space action movie that ticked off boxes as it rolled. It has some poor narrative decisions, lacked emotional weight, with a storyline that was predictable and ultimately a little boring. It was a forgettable film and the worst Star Wars movie of the recent sequels by some distance.
It provided answers to all the questions raised over the saga, and had sprinkling of Star Wars magic in some scenes, but overall, wrapped them up in a Meh film.
As JJ has said on record, it was an impossible task to replace Leia. I feel it was an impossible task to conclude this saga with a decent film in the time the director had. I wished Lucasfilm had delayed release and spent more time on development.
The same problem occurred with Solo. Please, please, please Disney, delay these films until they are properly cooked!
A Star Is Born (2018)
Incomprehensible diagolue.
A potentially spectacular movie spoilt by incomprehensible diagolue from Bradley Cooper and Sam Elliot. Both actors mumble their lines rendering the film impossible to follow. A real shame. I wanted to love this film but was left admiring its technical camera work instead of being emotionally engaged. Disappointing.
Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience (2017)
What a con!
Similarly to the previous reviewer, I felt the "filler" segments between Peppa stories simply didn't work. I took my two year old daughter to see this, expecting 72 minutes of Peppa cartoons. What we got, was 6 (or so) Peppa episodes between 42 minutes of a presenter and puppets. I don't want to see a presenter and puppets! Very poor! Avoid.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Another dumb ass bland Alien film. Give it up Ridley!
I'm a huge fan of the first two Alien films. The previous installment, Prometheus, was a HUGE stink. This film is slightly better than Prometheus but still suffers from stupid writing... Astronauts land on unknown planet without their spacesuits on and become infected. Seriously? Who does this? Are they THE DUMBEST astronauts ever? Prometheus's astronauts did the exact same thing. Its simply not credible and the film lost me at this point. Dear writers, I am not dumb. Please don't treat me as such! The writing aside, there's nothing new to see here. I was not scared. The intended scares did not make me jump. Act 2 was a little boring and the Michael Fassbender twist I guessed early on. I feel hugely let down. Again. For the second time in 5 years! Dear Ridley, please do not make anymore. Theses films do not hold a candle to the first two. They are dumb, bland and do not add anything to the franchise. On the positive, the visuals were beautiful (as always) and Fassbender was excellent (again!).
Prometheus (2012)
Ridley Scott turns into Tim Burton:Beautiful film but poor script!
The good news - Prometheus is a beautiful looking film. The special effects are incredible.
The bad news - major plot holes, lack of character development, a script written for the stupid, lack of suspense and excitement, totally unmemorable and boring! This film is badly written. David Lindelof has created a script for the stupid. Its full of ridiculous scenario's (laughable, really!)-characters do stupid things totally at odds with their professions. Plus, they are underdeveloped, so you simply don't care about them. The script lacks any credibility. It also lacks any kind of suspense and is completely boring! I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, but this insults my intelligence.
Approach with zero expectation and admire the way the film was shot - its beautiful, but don't expect anything else.
I rate this film 4 (for the direction and beauty), but 0 for the script.