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Reviews
Andor: The Eye (2022)
Writing and production that respects the story
This episode of Andor, like the others in this series, delivers because it shows the writers and rest of the production team actually care about respecting the story and characters. A far cry from some of Disney's recent Star Wars dribble. Obviously Kathleen has been kept far away from this and is present in name only.
This show is building nicely and this episode displayed an eye watering contrast between the celestial event in the sky and the harsh Emperial oppression on the ground. The senate scene at the end was also a chilling reminder of the apathy of those in power to represent the people they are elected to represent.
Hopefully the rest of the season continues in this gritty, character developed fashion.
The Girl on the Train (2016)
A seriously good movie about a serious issue
Excellent suspense.
And conveyed a very real and important life issue in an entertaining and relevant way.
Shazam! (2019)
For kids
Ok movie for kids. Nothing original here, paint by the numbers without hitting any highs. Not required viewing for adults or anyone looking for something interesting.
The acting was fine, shot and edited well, directing kept the story moving, the story just wasn't something new or that interesting. Luke warm origin story, allows the franchise to move forward for those who enjoyed it.
Best seen by kids who haven't seen many superhero stories before. Not as captivating as Big or Stranger Things, which the producers said they drew inspiration from.
Radio Dreams (2016)
Needed more
Existential feelings like anxiety, loneliness and our purpose in the world are very powerful, we have all felt them. If they are conveyed in the right way then we can sympathise with the characters and empathise with them during their struggles. Unfortunately this movie did not provide me the opportunity to do this.
This movie was let down in two ways, the material and the characters. There was not enough material to make a movie. Vacuum cleaning and showing the same thing over and over again are two examples. Secondly, Boshra Dastournezhad's character who was the main character was going through an existential crisis. He had moved to the US expecting more, expecting to be able to make positive change, which is admirable. However, his despair was lost for me in the fact I didn't like him, and thus didn't care for him or his despair. No connection was built with him as there was nothing to like about him. All the other characters where one dimensional so there was nothing to be gained from them either.
The writer tried to manufacturer a connection with the audience through the prospect of Metallica. But as the movie slowly dragged on I lost interest in whether or not Metallica would show up anyway.
See Into the Wild or Lost in Translation if you would like to see an existential movie where we connect with the characters and there is actually enough material to make a movie.
I Am Mother (2019)
Great sci fi movie
If you like well told, well made, simple drama/suspense plot sci fi movies then you'll like I Am Mother.
Its not an action shoot'm up, it's slower burn apocalyptic, polished, machine and human relationship story which quietly challenges you to think through it along the way.
I think 6.5 is an accurate score. A few marks off because it just didn't elevate the experience for me, maybe they could have added another element or two and I just can't call it a classic.
See it if you liked movies like: Moon, 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Chernobyl (2019)
Very good
Chernobyl's strength is in the realism of the story telling. Through the real life gripping and tragic subject matter and the terrific locations, sets and acting.
A slowish fourth episode, and a courtroom episode which came across a little bit like a reveal of the cause of the incident, rather than the presentation of evidence which had been uncovered along the way, were the only slight blemishes for me.
Truly a top notch production.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
They will teach about how bad this is one day
As an avid movie goer and star wars fan I can not imagine how Disney could have screwed this up more:
Unrealised characters - tick
Nonsense plot - tick
Forced attempts at continuous humour - tick
Lack of depth - tick
Abandoning plot points set up in the previous movie - tick
That's objectively. As a star wars fan it's worse:
Characters we have grown to love being written out of character - tick
Ridiculous new powers and star wars lore - tick
Sacralige of jedi artifacts for no reason - tick
No meaningful villain - tick
Treating star wars fans as a money pit and a joke - tick
I only stayed in the theatre so I was not rude to my friends. I apologised for buying them tickets to see the movie and am sad to say I won't watch episode IX. Absolutely no interest. Was going to go to Disney in 2019 to see the star wars land too, but now, absolutely no interest.