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jill_grant-rowe
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Reviews
Bloodline (2015)
A Masterpiece
Having now watched the complete series in an utterly unstoppable binge I can say without a shadow of a doubt that, for me, this is up there with the greats like True Detective, Breaking Bad and Rectify (to name but a few). Never so much has a show swayed my feelings towards the characters; I had several about faces with regards to my sympathies but it left me feeling that nothing is ever black or white. This is not for those who want a fast pace and constant excitement. The characters are developed slowly and cleverly as is the storyline which keeps you guessing. The cinematography is phenomenal and I bet you will all be wanting to move to The Keys after watching this I do hope they make a follow up series, however if they want to leave us wanting more but very satisfied at the same time stopping here would do just that. The cast, without exception were stellar in their performances.
Gone Girl (2014)
Utter Garbage
I have not read the book but will now just in the hope of finding something that justifies the hype around this story. The film was like a farce which to me verged on the comical with the cartoon-esque type characters. Another reviewer comments that had this been billed as a dark comedy it might have just cut the mustard and with that I agree but a tense psychological thriller? No way. It was not cleverly written, there were plot holes galore (the diary really bugged me...even after slight burning I think they could have told that it had been recently written)and the whole of Amy's escape story was just utter hogwash. The acting was abysmal; with the exception of Carrie Coon (Margo)who presented the only sympathetic and remotely realistic character in the whole thing, Not my cup of tea at all.
13 Sins (2014)
Oddly Humorous
Am I the only person who found this film oddly funny? The main character seemed comic to me as did Ron Perlman and some of the scenes were almost slapstick. Yes it was gross and macabre towards the end but even then it seemed somewhat Monty Pythonesque. I had as many laugh out loud moments in this film as I did 'eeeew' ones and they even had some 'keystone cop' chases thrown in for good measure. The description 'tongue in cheek' was made for this film, psychological horror thriller?...you are having a laugh! I could not possibly take this film seriously as a horror thriller but as a first rate black comedy yes I could and I really enjoyed it.
The Counselor (2013)
A Dishonest Film
This is a dishonest film. It is not what it says on the tin. From the trailer, cast, director, synopsis etc you are probably expecting a high octane, on the edge of your seat thriller, with a strong plot line and characters you can love or hate. Sorry but it does not give that at all. This simply is a self-indulgent film (self-indulgent by the writer), with actors badly delivering unintelligible lines of philosophic dialogue with neither rhyme nor reason as to how they got there and what their motives are. This is the sort of thing you would expect to have to sit through, not too willingly, when you have a very good friend who is taking screenplay classes and has to do an obscure showcase. Most students, if not all, refrain from applying a Hollywood budget, getting Ridley Scott to direct and having Brad Pitt et al in these showcases though and maybe McCarthy should have thought twice about having his screenplay debut in such a fashion and kept to the more traditional avenue of a few friends in a small theatre. I am sure his friends would have said nice things about it but I can't think of one.
Heretic (2012)
A valiant effort but pretty bad
This film was apparently a first time effort for its makers and with that in mind was not too awful
. The acting was not bad, pretty natural in fact, but was not helped by a script that lacked logic and progression and some dodgy direction. Quite often the characters seemed to have forgotten something they said a couple of minutes before and drama was forced into the script rather than created by writing craft and careful direction. This made some of the characters almost unbearable to watch, the policeman for example. The script writer could maybe have researched police procedure, shouting "I am a police officer
" does not grant much at all. The cinematography was professional and the sound track was OK though a little over powering at times.