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The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022)
Insensitive, Uncritical, and Artificially Positive
This tragic event has some incredible accounts of survival and heroism that are inspirational, and this documentary covers that well. However, by focusing only on these "positive" stories, it horribly glosses over the culpability of tourism operators (who had warnings that they ignored) and the ineffectual response of the government (that failed to send aid, and possibly left people to die on the island, only civilians evacuated some people). In trying to present an ultimately uplifting movie, the documentary is unforgivably uncritical of the greater story and the lessons to be learned. Almost all of the documentary focuses on the stories only of survivors and the amazing responding heroes (civilians, not first responders) and fails to examine (even for 1 second whether tourists should have been there - the tour operator was found negligent) or to tell the stories of the victims or even give them any semplance of an identity (with the exception of the 2 local guides who died there). Instead there is brief graphic with the names of the 22 people who died there that flashes briefly at the end. There is a time to be uplifting, but not at the expense of completely ignoring culpability and anonymizing the dead. This is, without exaggeration, one of the most offensive films I've ever seen and one of the most bizarre choices for a documentarian. Disgusting.
Joker (2019)
So boring it's not funny!
There are about 20 minutes of this film that could be salvaged. Otherwise it is endless drawn out scenes of atmospheric monotony. Would have been a great sleep aid if the score wasn't so great.
Enlighten Us (2016)
Slow and biased
This subject matter and access to insider sources of this documentary is outstanding. This is a fascinating story and this movie gets at much of this.
I found a few problems severely limited this film. For one they wait too long in the film to explain the foundational event - which makes much of the film too disorienting. Another problem is that much of the screen time is taking with long pointless shots of people walking to their cars or other non-eventful activities. This comes at the expense of establishing fundamental details about the central event that remain unanswered (and could be answered by the people interviewed if they only decided to focus on that instead of filming people walking to the car again).
The documentarians got amazing access to the central figure of this story. Perhaps to keep this access they never ask him the crucial questions or don't press him hard enough. Even if they couldn't get him to answer the questions, they could have talked to other people to get the necessary details of this issue addressed.
Instead, this film left me thinking that it is a deliberately biased account and overall a missed opportunity.
Superman Returns (2006)
Little action in film
Superhero films are ultimately judged on two things: 1) special effects 2) action. Yes a decent and semi-plausible storyline is also crucial. Everything else is gravy.
This film had only 4 action sequences that I can remember (and one was rather short). And those scenes were rather lame. Superman picks up heavy objects and stops them from falling and stops bullets. Oh boy - how exciting is that! Rather than actually do heroic things (as happens in almost all other superhero films) this film just has a lot of posturing and atmospheric shots.
The special effects were good. But they can't make up for a long, dull film.
What a disappointment!
Even episodes of TV's Wonder Woman from the 70s had more action, tension and fun.
Even the Cottonelle commercials with those kittens tossing toilet paper has more action!
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
every traveller's fantasy
This movie is a wish come true for everyone who's been on vacation somewhere beautiful and exotic and doesn't want to come back. While the film is predictable and full of Italian stereotypes, it is full of charm. I love Tuscany and this film has captured the look, feel, and taste of the region wonderfully. While the acting is quite good, the screenplay is funny & poignant (albeit formulaic), the direction is competent but the real value of this movie is in vicariously fulfilling every traveller's dream.
Trudeau (2002)
Trudeau for teenagers?
This is one of the most anticipated TV movies in Canadian history an boy was it a let down. It's not for a lack of dramatic material or talent of the actors. I blame the director completely.
What was he thinking with the cheesy special effects like a young girl passing a rose to Trudeau which turns technicolour as she gives it to him, or Monkees-like hijinks representing Trudeaumania, or constant obtrusive switching to black and white and use of multi screens? The only real positive comment I have is that Colm Feore did an incredible job as Trudeau, capturing his vocal and physical mannerism perfectly, but more importantly offering an emotional depth to the character.
Trudeau's life and times are an excellent source of dramatic material that was just ruined by the direction that seemed more intent on picking up young viewers than doing justice to the story. I'd hate to think of how much money the CBC spent on this!!!
Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998)
I hate WWF but this film is great!
I hate wrestling for many reasons. I was stuck for something to watch one night on TV and ended up watching this. Within minutes it had me glued with its behind-the-scenes footage of such a fake industry. But as the story unfolds you really get to feel for Bret and his family (such as his younger brother's death performing a dangerous stunt).
This film really shows the power of the documentary film to show a glimpse into someone's real life. It just so happens this person is in a larger-than-life business.
A must-see for everyone - wrestling fans or not!
The Monster Club (1981)
Bad, but not that bad!
I've seen this movie twice. Once as a kid staying up late after my parents went to bed and it scared the hell out of me. Also I was particularly fond of the stripper that peels off not just her clothes but her skin too - COOL!
There are three short stories in this film. There's one about a gold-digger marrying a monster for his money, but when the monster discovers her plot he turns her into a hideous monster. That was okay, but the best one is the about a movie location scout stumbling upon a zombie village.
Yes it's campy, yes it's dorky, but there are some good thrills and chills too.