Lifeless10 Reviews

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Slightly over hyped for me

[7/10 · 24 July 2023]

So today I watched Oppenheimer and it was good. I was extremely excited for this one and my expectation meter was quite high but it turned out to be just good, not extraordinary or beyond expectation, it was a good movie.

A lot of the things Nolan did right in this one: to begin with he remained very true to the source material. Also, he made everyone acted their hearts out which was quite an astonishing feat.

Acting on the other hand was amazing, Robert Downey Jr. Will definitely get an Oscar for his performance so will Emily Blunt. Matt Damon was also outstanding but Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer was the star and his acting was beyond outstanding and it makes sense because it was a movie driven by acting and the script and Nolan made it look quite captivating.

Now we'll come to some of the things I didn't like: I'm not a fan of Nolan's style of directing, although he did some thing differently in the first hour of the movie but then got back to his old roots and it felt like a sequel to Inception or any one of his movies.

Also, for the life of me the way his characters talk. Dear Lord, no one talks like that in real life, he's got so much plot within a plot within a plot going that every single character tries to explain what's happening and what direction the film is taking.

I guess I would've enjoyed the movie better if it wasn't that hyped to an extent where some people I know were saying "that was the darkest movie they have ever seen" which was clearly not the case.

Anyways, I would recommend you to let the hype die a bit then watch it and you may end up enjoying it a lot more than I did or if you're really impatient then catch the hype train and see for yourself what I'm saying.

Apart from a few things he did differently it was just another Nolan flick that people were dying for (including myself but I was roped in sadly) I came home a wee bit disappointed because I watched a lot of interviews on him taking a different direction and all but nope, walked right into that one.

My rating 7/10 Peace.

Tár (2022)

How to level with a complex character

[9/10 · 28 January 2023]

Some of my all time favorite movies are musical; "Amadeus, Once, La La Land, Hedwig and the Angry Inch" to name a few.

So when I heard that Cate Blanchett is staring in a musical about the first ever leading lady to perform in German Orchestra my mind immediately thought it's going to be a biopic but upon doing some basic research I found out the script is written from ground up and the character is fictional it was then my mind was completely blown as I never thought that's possible in todays day and age (no disrespect to any artists)

Tár is a simple movie about a very complex character, she's a perfectionist but deeply flawed, she's an insensitive narcissist but also cares about what others think of her, she's got a I don't give a damn attitude but still wants people to like her. I can just go on and on about her character (it's that well-written) Tár is not a very fast paced film, its an extremely slow burner and the first hour (more than first half of the film) feels completely hollow but the movie picks itself up in the second half and in the third half it answers every question that's raised by morbid curiosity.

Cate Blanchett has done it again, she is without a doubt a queen when it comes to providing extraordinarily compelling performances and I won't be one bit surprised if she wins an Oscar for her larger than life performance.

Not to take anything away from Todd Field as well for creating such a powerhouse complex character. His directing style has always been my favorite, the tendency to pull a rabbit out of the hat really shows that he is one of the most creative minds working in Hollywood currently. Apart from that, every other aspect about Tár is a marvel and it'll be amiss if I don't mention the impeccable cinematography. In recent time I've noticed a certain pattern to make the movie as beautiful as possible which is not at all a bad thing but in Tár's case it was every frame a painting which is an achievement of the highest order.

Overall, Tár is nothing short of a modern masterpiece, it's a must watch and not only just for musical fans.

My rating: 9/10.

The Legend of Maula Jatt (2022)

Looks like there is hope for Pakistani cinema

[7/10 · 19 October 2022]

I watched this movie a couple days ago and I was absolutely blown away on the accomplishment of Pakistani cinema.

To begin with, "Maula Jatt" got a simple revenge driven plot (nothing more) but the execution was impeccable. I will try to give as spoiler free review as I can so here it goes: Sardar Jatt is killed by his rivals and his son Maula sought revenge against the whole clan who plotted against his family's murder and that's as far as I can go with the plot.

The execution as I have stated was just incredible, for a moment I did not believe that I was watching a Pakistani movie, the fight scenes were choreographed masterfully and the VFX & CGI work was equally amazing. I can say that from a technical standpoint this movie was nothing short of a marvel making it a miracle for Pakistani cinema.

Now let's talk about the movie: as I have mentioned before that the plot was simple and nothing more was needed but I still say that there was a little too much going on with the subplot which made it a bit of a drag. If it were to me I'd shaved off at least 15 to 20 minutes of the movie easily.

Acting was outstanding Fawad Khan is a veteran actor, he knows his ways around the character and he was a really good choice as "Maula". However, Hamza Ali Abbasi gave larger than life performance and I loved every second of his screen time and I believe no one else could've played Noori as well as he did, speaking of amazing performances Humaima Malick was equally good as Hamza and in my opinion they both stole the show, no wonder the whole movie picks itself up in the second half.

My only issue with this movie was its runtime which could have been slightly shorter and 2-3 wasted characters like Mooda and Mukkho and Gogi. Also there was no need of comic relief and having said that, a few jokes also felt unnecessary and untimely and bad.

Overall a wonderful watch and highly recommended.

First half 3/5 second 4/5 Total: 7/10

PS: There's hope for Pakistani cinema.

Chernobyl (2019)

I never thought this was possible

[10/10 · 24 May 2019]

I've just completed 3 episodes of "Chernobyl"

I would like to take a moment to appreciate the effort, the blood, sweat and tears in making of this modern masterpiece. Previously people have used the name of the place as a selling point but all of them failed miserably therefore I never thought it was possible in the first place that a show contains this much energy in it, this much potential in it. All of us have heard about Chernobyl (the event) but how well do we know! Everything about "Chernobyl" is picture perfect and I mean literally. Please do give it a try even if you're not a fan you'll become one.

10/10

The Night Flier (1997)

A Horror Masterpiece

[8/10 · 8 October 2016]

I still remember a 10 year old kid with his old man watching The Night Flier, old man understood everything when the kid asked what was that old man replied "Someday you'll understand" and after 18 years just last night I finished watching this movie and all of that nostalgic feelings the memories and the chills hit me with the baseball club.

• Review on the movie now:

• This movie will always be remain favorite due so many reasons; to start off because of its sentimental values (as my dad is no more with us now) secondly this movie was my introduction to Stephan King and finally for being my first ever horror-film.

• The plot alongside its storytelling was absolutely breathtaking, the direction and cinematography was insanely immaculate and the acting was flawless, hats off to the creators and I must say Mr. King would be proud after watching it.

• Overall I'll give it 8/10 with the highest recommendations to all the moviegoers out there, "The Night Flier" is a must watch. • The Night Flier will always snatch an extra point for its sentimental values attached to me.

• Two Thumbs up.

Solaris (1972)

Whenever we show pity, we empty our souls.

[10/10 · 6 July 2015]

Solaris (1972)

Runtime: 168 minutes

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Whenever we show pity, we empty our souls.

What exactly is the thing that makes us all humans? Soul! Mind! Sense! Or perhaps, the ability to judge from right to wrong, now then, when it comes to soul we all know what it is capable of, whereas the mind can only tell us the definition of the right thing and the wrong thing "in this case, the right deed and the wrong one" now the ability to judge between the right and the wrong plays a phenomenal part by delivering the message to the one and only sense to choose what's right and what's wrong.

Did Kris make the right choice? He created a life-form out of his memories and then he made attachments with it and in the end it was all for nothing. Some may say he did what he had to and some may say that was the right choice but in my opinion he didn't choose anything it was Solaris that chose to bring back Hari and Kris was a mere puppet in the play.

Solaris is by far the most beautiful, sensible and touching love story I have ever watched. Exceptional job done by Andrei Tarkovsky, screenplay and the direction as he has never failed to impress, though some of his trademarks were missing from the frame, didn't get to see much of his long takes and dipping water sounds and close-ups of debris moreover I was hoping to see more of Mr. Arseniy Tarkovsky's pleasant poetry and heartwarming quotes but Solaris is more of a self-explanatory picture than words (like a talking photograph) whereas Stalker (1979) and Zerkalo (1975) are vice versa.

To me Tarkovsky's idea of a perfect movie completely differs than the thoughts of a perfectionist, Tarkovsky has never used the same idea again in his work. Stalker was about hope (true or false your choice) Zerkalo was about life and Solaris is about choices.

For sensible audience this movie has to be the best movie ever made and if anyone finds this movie boring or to slow-paced, tedious then I guess they can never understand what art-cinema is all about.

PS: The only reason why I didn't give any Stanislaw Lem's reference is because after completion Lem thought that Tarkovsky didn't do a good job matter fact Lem thought that Tarkovsky has blown his novels whole idea.

Two thumbs up "A solid 10/10"

Chapter 27 (2007)

Why Mark why?

[6/10 · 13 April 2015]

Chapter 27 (2007)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Genre: Crime, drama

No surprise that every John Lennon fan knows about Mark David Chapman. I'll come straight to the point, the movie was bleak, tedious and most of all highly predictable. The element of surprise was equal to nothing, the direction was weak and imprecise plot was very blunt and prolonged for no reason whatsoever. Chapter 27 would have made a hauntingly bereaving impact if it was a 20 to 30 minutes short movie.

Director's exertion from start till end was to show the other side of the image, the happenings of Mark David Chapman but the back story was missing (probably not that important) but we needed to see why Mark David Chapman did what he did?

Acting was good Jared Leto did a fine job playing Chapman apart from the fact that he had to put on extra 80 pounds to play the main character and for that, hats off to Mr. Leto for his ambitious and audacious effort put altogether though at some points I lost my focus and concentration because simply put Leto was too good to play the role but the movie was immensely hollow. The pace of the movie did not match the brilliance of Leto's talent as they were both moving in different parallel at a bad time.

"Overall a weak movie that had all the capabilities to become one of the finest."

"A well placed 6/10"

Calvary (2014)

Say your prayers Father!!!

[9/10 · 8 April 2015]

Calvary (2014)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Genre: Drama

I'll start off by saying the lines delivered by one of the characters named Michael Fitzgerald (Dylan Moran)

"There's no such thing is too much, there's only not enough"

Over the past 15 years roughly put the genre drama has been long forgotten in Hollywood cinema, now don't get me wrong they're still making fantastic movies but the attention is mainly diverted towards entertainment and commercialism (which is also not bad if you want to enjoy the movie in theaters or 3d i-max with friends and a pack of pop- corns) having said that, what about those who doesn't watch movies for the sake of entertainment, to them entertaining movies are boring as anything.

Calvary has the potential to become one of the most talked-about movies of the year but since the movie is Irish I doubt that anyone will bat an eye. However! That won't make the movie bad, that'll only differentiate the taste of people's thinking and attributes.

Back to page one: A lot of wonderful movies came out in 2014 but no one could match the quality of Calvary which makes the movie best of the lot. What makes the movie a great movie? Great direction, great acting or maybe great storyline. Quite frankly Calvary has all of them. The direction is amazing, great handwork done by the director John Michael McDonagh, the close range camera scenes; some of the shots required difficult close range stillness yet they were done brilliantly. Simple but very powerful script written by John Michael McDonagh, not many people can take a simple script, write it with ease and make a masterpiece out of it upon completion. Hates off!!! Literally

When we talk about acting it is understood that each and every role is awfully difficult and playing a priest is total nightmare (impossible) now when the expressions match the exact timing of the moment that is when the character calls the actor that is when the character says itself "he/she was picture perfect to play ME" Calvary showed great performances of much underrated actors in Irish cinema, Chris O'Dowd was amazing as Jack Brennan followed by Kelly Reilly as Fiona Lavelle, Dylan Moran was superb as Michael Fitzgerald but the man who stole the whole show "Brendan Gleeson as Father James" playing a priest is not easy as many would agree but in Calvary Gleeson made it look like a walk in the park, as if he is just being himself and not being the character at all, his performance will be remembered as one of the best he ever outdid.

Thank you team Calvary for restoring the hope of great art movies in me again.

Overall, a bleak masterpiece "Solid 9/10" "Two thumbs up"

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

The Definition of Perfection

[10/10 · 6 April 2015]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Genre: Drama Runtime: 159 minutes

Here's the thing, when the title of the movie is this long and the subject to the matter is told in the title, there is no element of surprise left in it then.

Yes the movie is about assassination of the outlaw named Jesse James who was killed by of his admirers Bob (don't worry folks it's not a spoiler) However, the movie is so beautifully shot that every scene of the movie is worth watching over and over again, the cinematic style blended with lime sepia containing slight mixture of candle light takes and through the glass shots reflect that this movie is nothing short of a modern masterpiece and don't even get me started on the cinematography because that was just "SHEER BRILLIANCE" hats off to Andrew Dominik the director and screen writer of the movie, a big round of applause for Roger Deakins for his marvelous efforts in cinematography. The best thing director did in the making of this movie is he didn't miss any little things, every scene represents details of its own

The cast and crew was picture perfect and the acting was spot on. Brad Pitt as Jesse James was the most real then real characters as if he was born to play the role and Casey Affleck's (Bob Ford) performance was unbelievably second to none. Equally brilliant performances by Sam Shepard as Frank James, Garret Dillahunt as Ed Miller, Paul Schneider as Dick Liddil, Jeremy Renner as Wood Hite, Mary-Louise Parker as Zee James and of course last but not the least Sam Rockwell as Charley Ford. The last thing that any action junkie would be wanting is to make this particular movie another shoot-out, commercial money grubbing flick for their entertainment (which is by the way a curse)

"A complete movie after a very long time"

"A perfect blend of drama, storytelling, emotions and art"

10/10

Moneyball (2011)

Brilliance, Reality, Chills and Brad

[10/10 · 10 January 2012]

Okay, first of all I'd like to tell everyone I'm from Pakistan and folks from Pakistan don't know a thing about baseball {we're more into cricket, hockey and football (soccer)}.

Moneyball has to be thee most anticipated movie about sports, passion, hard work and motivation and I'm pretty much blown away to see that this movie didn't get that much recognition as it deserves. I believe this movie stands equally with movies like "Million Dollar Baby" "Rocky" "Cinderella Man" "The Wrestler" "Raging Bull" and etc.

Brad Pitt as Billy Beane did an amazingly magnificent job and it'll be a disgrace if he's not nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant performance, the way he cloaked himself into the character it was just masterclass and on the other hand he's equally well supported by Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman (who by the way did an amazing job as well)

In my view, Moneyball is arguably second best sports movie ever made.

My Rating: 8.7/10

Assassin's Creed II (2009 Video Game)

Better than the first

[10/10 · 14 June 2011]

Well, I'm going to start from the top,

1: This is better than the first

2: Ideas are better then the first

3: Gameplay is better than the first

Its not like I hate the first Assassins Creed, but it became too much predictable and boring and besides it was the same thing over and over again AC:2 on the other hand gave a whole new idea of gaming and the story was on track the gameplay was even better the graphics was absolutely awesome.

Nuff Said.

In my opinion Much Much Much better than the first.

*****/*****

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Unforgettable...

[10/10 · 30 April 2011]

Grave of The Fireflies:

I had to give this movie 10/10 and I don't think I need a reason to tell you why. I would recommend this movie to everyone, from children to elders because "Grave of The Fireflies" has the power and ability to make a person think again. It is actually a mixture of Horror, Drama, Emotion and if any of you haven't watched "Grave of The Fireflies" then I would say please watch it.

A PIECE OF ADVISE: Do not watch it without a handkerchief because in the end you will be crying.

Deserving 10/10

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Astounding........

[10/10 · 6 November 2010]

The Thin Red Line. This movie is nothing less than a tremendous piece of art, tremendous direction, tremendous acting, tremendous music and not to mention the greatest piece of plot ever..... the tag line says it all: Every man fights his own war..... marvelous, truly amazing and breath taking.... I believe this movie deserved 3 maybe 4 Oscars: Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Music, Original Score and last but not lest Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium...... I not only just watch the film but I share my thoughts with my friends and movie lovers as well..... I gave it 10 out of 10 because this picture deserves it...... Watch this beautiful and real dramatic war film if you are looking for a change in your type.... This war film has the capacity to change the thinking of every single person who is fighting for himself...... Please watch it and learn from it....

District 9 (2009)

Remarkable......

[10/10 · 3 November 2010]

District 9, has now become one of my favorite Sci-fi films ever.

The plot of the movie is just speechless, I first watch this film alone on my Television, after watching this magnificent piece of art the next thing came in my mind,"I think I should share it with my friends" and so I did. Not to mention The Direction of the film, it is just outstanding the way the movie rises.... After watching almost all of the movie I was curiously waiting for the end and I thought it might disappoint me, but it didn't, it totally blew me away because I was expecting a predictable ending but the ending almost made me cry a little.

District 9 is an extraordinary movie and I believe it stands equally with the Sci-fi classics, The Matrix(1999) and 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) which of course are my Personal Favorites as well....

Do watch District 9 if you are looking for a nice plot and I tell you its real.