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Reviews
Bombshell (2019)
A brilliantly compelling with many ramifications for the present.
Diane and I viewed this intellectually stimulating film yesterday, and we were both stunned by what we saw and heard. Living as we do in Australia, we were not privy to the antecedents of this picture therefore, we can but judge the screen activity in isolation to the other media productions regarding these events. Furthermore, Diane remembers the circumstances which the film encapsulates, but my poor memory has nothing of these screen events.
The screen awards already given to the leading actors speak beyond anything that I could type in these comments. The trio of female actors about which the film is fashioned is superb in all respects. Their impact on the framework of the Network, it's operating philosophy, the male personnel who formulate the news behind that philosophy and, mainly the one male who controls it all is nothing less than a Bombshell.
There can be little doubt that people watching this movie, Bombshell will immediately see the terrible relationship between the events scripted in this movie and the events being played out in a New York courtroom involving a no less powerful man who seems unlikely ever to survive the allegations against his reputation.
The Good Liar (2019)
In my humble opinion two cinematic masters can do little wrong.
Diane and I watched this fabulous movie yesterday: I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end; Diane enjoyed it but several minutes ago told me that it was forgettable. Because of my increasingly deteriorating memory I cannot say when in the future I will forget this beauty of a film, but as I watched it, I loved what I was seeing on the screen.
Ok, so two Masters of modern cinematic acting played in a movie that some in the audience predicted the film's ending-so what! Personally I enter a movie hoping to be entertained for the time of the film, and one need only see the names of the actors playing in the movie under consideration and I knew immediately that my afternoon would be complete with scintillating performances by two of cinematographies contemporary greats.
I do not need to be befuddled by a twist and turn script to be satisfied by a film's spent afternoon; unless the film is a complete bomb, I will be happy to depart with my time.
The Irishman (2019)
A fabulous movie-its length gives depth to the greatness of cast and director.
The Irishman is not a film for everyone. It is not a film for women who are more comfortable with films containing women characters of substance; it is not a film for Hollywood Action-character movies with multiple follow-ups, and it is not a film for people to whom Gangster films are a put-off. Having said that, it is a film for film-goers who enjoy the slow development of story and who enjoy an afternoon of continuous story manipulation: of character, of time sequence and historical operative.
The final substance of the film dealing with Teamster boss, Jimmy Hoffa allows Pacino to dominate the screen with a pizazz that only a Great like Pacino can manage.
Diane and I missed this magnificent film on the Big Screen and watched it on our home small screen but by whatever size screen, make every effort to see it.
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
Having never been in the Vietnam War, this film was a superb view of the conflict
As I typed in the title of this comment, I was not in the conflict, but it seemed to be the best war movie that I have ever watched. I was struck by what I thought was the reality of the scenes none of the reality of those scenes had I ever watched before in a movie.
I have not read any of the other comments prior to typing this so I have no idea what they thought about this film.
The individual scenes and the characters struck me as real-life; those scenes inside the company headquarters were particularly rifitting with the "fog of war" settling over everybody concerned.
I thought the cinematography was superb as was the direction and his selection of individual shots.
My only touble with the film was the sound: my poor hearing prevented me from picking up the nuances of the dialogue; however, the photography was such that the movie rolled out to the end superbly.
Hotel Mumbai (2018)
A very strong movie from beginning to end.
Unfortunately, these comments are coming after having seen this totally brilliant film some weeks ago; I report this because it may have an impact, good or bad on all that I type.
I thought the movie was superb from beginning to end and I urge any person who has an interest in contemporary history to see this beauty. Hotel Mumbai is incinerating from start to end. You must know so many movies lead the viewer to the edge of a pit, leave the viewer there and then resolves the tension with the movie ending soon after. This film, however, leads the viewer to virtually innumerable pits from beginning to end; the stress is never relinquished.
My dear wife tolerated this film; it is not precisely a "chick flic" and she endured it only because we were together. She disliked it for all the reasons I enumerated above. Diane thought that it was too violent-actually nonstop with very few quiet points in between.
Regardless of these two very divergent opinions of Hotel Mumbai, I think it is well worth seeing. As I mentioned earlier if you have any interest in current events you owe it to yourself to watch this brilliant film.
Vice (2018)
A film that brings to life the dispicable actions of the few.
Diane and I saw this wrenching film yesterday, and I hated reliving the very early Otties in American history. The period of this film is an immense disgrace in American history, and I make no apology for thinking this way; America put the world through a shameful period of years and the world, in general, was caught up in their disastrous reasoning.
All this that I think about the substance of the film goes nowhere in any way of deprecating the mechanics of the movie. The Director did a superb job in manipulating these extraordinary actors that brought this film to fife.
Further, the screenplay itself was faultless while the film was able to follow the elaborate directions from Director, Adam McKay. All of the actors were as good as their string of award nominations have proven.
My overriding distaste for the actions of these political monsters that were so well orchestrated by the people that made this marvellous film in no way detracts from the merits of this. I am amazed that they could bring to such a collection of evildoers a life that almost makes palatable.
Green Book (2018)
A Road-Movie with heart.
Diane and I watched this brilliant movie yesterday, and we were both extremely impressed by the sympathetic writing of the, what could be an explosive script. Any film that attempts to travel the extremely volatile paths of this movie is bound to make viewers hugely nervous, and it did, at least for me.
The pre-desegregationist Deep South might be unfamiliar to many viewers, but the film dealt with the realities of being a Black Person in that awful area with sensitivity and understanding; we admired the scriptwriter's ability to do so. The penultimate scenes were particularly good with their dealing of this point; the pianist faced his worse moment when he was forced to dress in the broom closet before the performance even though he was a world-class performer.
Every performer connected with this film is of award-winning stature. See this movie, or you will miss out on a superb piece of contemporary film-art.
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
History presented for the non-history intellect.
Diane and I saw this marvellous film several hours ago, and we both enjoyed all that we saw immensely. I have read only a few of the viewer comments, but I thought the comments about the film's authenticity were superficial. Those items did not detract from the authenticity of the film at all. I refer to details that a person with knowledge of the period would find discomforting.
For viewers like Diane and I, we were enlightened by the drama of the interaction of the various groups. I speak about the interaction between the two Queen Monarchs and the male "Barons" (I am unsure of the proper name for them). The give and take on both the English and Scottish sides seem to make the real drama of the movie.
Again I admit to my woeful ignorance of this period in English history, and therefore, I was duly impressed with the drama and history that emerged as this film progressed to the ending that had been telegraphed at the very beginning of the movie. What surprised me was the extraordinary drama that developed around Queen Mary's choice of a first husband as well as the tension that had grown around the intrigue of her courtier and the trouble that caused trouble among her advisors.
Without giving too much more away, see this film under any circumstances; it is a real winner in all phases.
The Favourite (2018)
A magnificent period piece that virtually sets the Benchmark for the style.
Diane and I saw this Brilliant film this afternoon at our favourite cinema in Fremantle.
As I typed in the Lead the film takes your breath away in it's ability to bring the viewer into the rooms and halls of a pre-industrial castle with it's savage darkness everywhere and therefore seeing candelight as I have never seen it filmed before.
This, for me, lack of light envellops the actors totally; it is as if they are showing themselves in a science-fiction story that had so little to do with reality. Of course this betrays my complete modernism because I and nobody in the film has ever had a taste of profound richness envelloped in virtual darkness.
The costuming was as brilliant as the lighting and the actors playing their roles in this medieval staging were superb: I will leave it at that.
Hurricane (2018)
An unexpected piece of recent history that fills in the bigger picture.
Diane and I viewed this remarkabley good film film last nigh at the Polish Film Festival to a completely filled large theatre here in Perth something that that neither one of us had ever seen before.
I do not share the comments that I have read before typing my own comment here because I was not struck by how inexpensively it was made.
I sat through the entire movie and thought how totally unHollywood it looked: it was made virtually like a documentary with no recognisable "stars" and a script that called for the natural appearance of women who were virtually in equal number to the men the males in the film.
We enjoyed the script that again was normal as opposed to the generally "movie" words and dictation eminating from the mouths of unnatuatural Hollywood stars in movie make balieve.
Diane and I as well as the not unexpected approval of the audience enjoyed the film immensly and we would reccomend it unreservedly to future customers.
The Merger (2018)
Soft, softly as the film explores its nuances.
I think Australian movies are brilliant and Merger is a beautiful case in point! Of course you can tell the ending after the first mouthfuls of popcorn, and of course, the same commentators will delight in telling all possible viewers that the film is simplistic and quickly drawn. However, there are dummies like me who are not put off by simplicity and who actually enjoy these movies because the strength of the movie lies in how deft the script is: how deftly the pieces full knowing what they are and where they fit together.
It is so easy to take it out on a film that in no way requires the audience to look ahead and to be clouded in unknowing until the final minutes of the film. Instead, we are softly floated along knowing what will be happening, and our only mental questions involve how the script and the actors will carry it off. And in the case of the Merger, all concerned with the production carry it off brilliantly.
Book Club (2018)
Four doyens of modern film ta ke the viewer on a magical look at relationships.
Diane and I saw this marfellous film yesterday and we both left the theatre thinking the same thing about what we had just seen; we laughed along with the rest of the audience at the beautifully delivered straightfaced lines provided by the script.
The four members of the Bookclub have decided to read a modern book that examines relationships and these four women begin an examination or reexamination of relationships. Because these four women are doyens of modern cinema they are able to shed the oft writen and spoken concerns about "done to death", "plastic characters" and "flimsy dialogue".
Both of us give credence to these concerns but this film surmonts these concerns; see the film, enjoy the film and do not wrap up in film scool trivialities.
Whitney (2018)
Not necessily what I wanted to see but beter than I thought it would be.
As has been our practice over the past years, Diane and I went to the movie on Essex and left sometime later with the same opinion about this film; it was about a remarkable talent. I was not sure upon entering the cinema if my impression, Bobby Brown was responsible for the drug addiction that killed her was correct.
We both thought that the film was fair; however, we both felt that the movie play ed too much on the negatives of her addiction. About mid-way through the film, the viewer was submerged by the negatives. I did, however, go from thinking that Brown should die for his actions in denying the world's greatest singer a continued life. Preferably, after the film, We saw that Whitney virtually suicided and Brown greased the slide because she did most of it herself from an age before she even knew him.
Diane and I thought the movie was absorbing with a little too much emphasis on the downward towards the peak of her career. See it if you were a fan and who couldn't be a fan.
The Bookshop (2017)
A delightfully soft film that draws your emotions in many directions
Diane and I saw this marvellous English film this afternoon, and as with many movies we watch together we have diametrically opposite views of the film. Generally, Diane felt that the movie left the characters too hollow in that those characters gave the viewer too little upon which to judge anything about them-they had no substance.
I, on the other hand, had no difficulty with the film. I saw the movie, not as reality but as a spere of imagination: imagination where the viewer skates over the outline of the film as presented by the writer and director. In essence, the movie should be seen as a metaphor for human actions in any sphere.
I almost felt that the movie was like one of those old-fashioned board games like Clue where any character could win given the confines of the instructions; who will get the business: Ms X, Mrs T, or Mr Y, Etc. I sat back and enjoyed my popcorn enveloped in the softly drawn characters and Englishness of the scenes.
Breath (2017)
A beautiful look back at the way it was and it was so good: the film and the time.
Breath elicits both very emotive nostalgia as well as a sincere appreciation of the trials that young potential suffers must undergo to succeed against nature; the film is an examination from many angles of the personal hurdles that must be overcome before success in this sport is attainable. Of course, this is not to say that most films do not undertake a similar exploration but I felt that Nature, Baker and the two youngsters did it with aplomb.
Before you sling arrows of dispersion at the acting, remember that the actors had no experience before the camera in any form. They were chosen by the first-time director Simon Baker because of that inexperience. In my opinion, this inexperience adds mamothly to the richness of the proceedings and draws the audience into the significant surfing action that takes place on the screen.
I can't swim so have never contemplated learning to surf, but I can easily relate to the drama and intensity of the emotion that drives most surfers to forsake the normal progression of jobs leading to careers and spend time searching the horizon for their next wave. The film explores this metaphysical as most movies do not.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
A fabulous movie that will intrigue the movie habitues
Again, Diane and I disagreed with the value of this film; I thought that it was pure cinematic gold while she thought it was base tin. I am drawn to softer movies that roll out their direction quietly rather than slapping the viewer in the face to make sure that they know what the film is about. This marvellous British film is about something, but it meanders around before it finally sets its various subjects.
I won't bother to rewrite the nerve's of the film; those details are available better than my disjointed writing in other excellent IMDb comments. Suffice to say that the substance of the movie is tender, warm and extremely non-Hollywood with all that last comment carries with it: no guns, no cars and no violence of any kind.
The viewer does not have to think about the film; just let the beauty of the environment, the building interiors and the warmth of the interaction of the characters envelope you and relish a movie experience that requires you only to go to another place, another time with an abundance of warm characters. Drown yourself in a sweet movie experience.
Chappaquiddick (2017)
i was glued to the film which indicates the film's intensity for me.
As I wrote in the headline I was glued to this film; I thought it was intense, well composed-direction, acting and overall production. Diane, whose opinion I value greatly, believed that the film was too soft, too manufactured.
I was out of the States at the time of the events, so perhaps that indicates why I found the film so captivating: I took it as a re-look at a historical news event that had considerable impact that I had missed for which I wanted to examine. Beyond valuing his brother's contribution to American society, I have mixed feelings about what his potential impact would have made.
I have only read several of the earlier comments and found them to be kicking the Kennedy memory, and I prefer to stay away from that entire Kennedy impact, for or against, on future American society. I believe the film dances a fine line between the two political posts and the result is very satisfactory to me but considerably less so to others. My recommendation is to see the film, draw your own conclusions and be satisfied with examining an undoubtedly significant event in recent American history.