Reviews

Daniel, a police agent on suspension from work for assaulting a colleague, has fallen in love through an app with someone who lives thousands of miles away from him, bang in the middle of nowhere in Brazil.

After his text messages and phone calls unexpectedly go answered, he opts to hit the road and drive some 2,700 kilometres northwards from Curitiba, where he tirelessly looks after his senile old father, to Sobradinho where his new platonic love lives.

When Daniel finally makes it to his destination, he is in for a big surprise that he wasn't in the least bargaining for when he embarked on this make-or-break trip into the platonic unknown.

It is a two-hour film, every second of which I really with easily charismatic Daniel, and much more so because I did not know what this film was about, and to my pleasant surprise it didn't put me to sleep despite the beginning being a bit slow. You soon begin to take pity on Daniel because he is fully devoted to the care of his mentally disabled dad while he awaits trial for his misconduct at his workplace. To make his existence more miserable than it already is, the girl he has met online and imbues him with the energy to soldier on is no longer replying to his text messages or taking his phone calls, all of which makes you feel sympathy for good-hearted Daniel.

If you don't have a good command of the language, I recommend you watch Brazilian films in Portuguese with the aid of subtitles in a language that you speak. The beauty of these foreign films resides in the language that they are made in, and Portuguese is one of those languages that is quite pleasing to the ear, and much more so when you you are able to understand it and speak it. I really liked the dialogues that Daniel had with his lover towards the end of the film, especially the way his lover uttered words in a northern Brazilian accent.

I would have expected the end to be slightly different chiefly because the culmination and display of their pent-up emotions only lasted a mere 3 to 4 minutes. I wanted a bit more which would have been like the icing on the sweet and sour cake that the director throws at the viewer right at the end.

Ten minutes into episode one, and you are already utterly bewitched by this TV series, which you will delightfully lap up in just one sitting if you have nothing better to do and even if you had, you would rather continue watching the 25-minute episodes. I loved the heart-felt chemistry between the two main characters from the moment they clapped eyes on each other. Although one of them is more physically attractive than the other, they somehow put together an explosive combination that will win you over from the start. Both of them are sweet and loveable, and whoever was tasked with casting them for both their roles did an excellent job.

All in all, I highly recommend this feel-good TV show, while I look forward to the second series, hoping that it will be as captivating and engrossing as the first one.

I recently watched Netflix's Heartstopper in just one sitting thanks to the infectious effusion of chemistry that emanated palpably from the two main characters. It is an epic feel-good TV series and left me panting for more.

Shortly after I learned that Young Royals was much in the same vein, so I set about watching it but unfortunately didn't like it as much because I failed to see such chemistry, only feelings that were contrived and an apparent lack of meaningful dialogues between the two main characters, so much so that both of them do struggle to touch the fibres of your heart. I have nothing against Omar, but I think he was wrongly cast for this TV series. Moreover, I don't know if it was because of the Swedish language, which I do not speak, but was in fact how I watched this show with the aid of English subtitles.

Despite it all I am looking forward to watching more palpable emotion and more meaningful dialogues particularly between the two main characters in the upcoming season.

I really liked it and in fact watched it in just one sitting. I highly recommend it.

However, it is true that the lead character could have been more expressive and likeable, especially in her interactions with her fiancé in which I saw no chemistry at all and found their acting rather contrived as if they had both signed an agreement so as not to kiss each other on the mouth. It was a bit weird. Other than that, the plot is compelling and racism across British police is superbly portrayed.

How can Netflix dub this French documentary into different languages and not realize that the first thing that they must do is lower the volume of the original language so that any other languages being used on top is audible enough and therefore comprehensible? There are parts that you cannot pick up what is being said in English because the original version is so loud that it drowns out the English narration and subtitles have to be used if you want to understand what they are talking about.

Not only does this happen in this documentary, but also in lots of other ones that I have watched on Netflix.

And to make things worse, subtitles do not coincide with the what is being said in the language you have chosen to watch the material. Netflix should be more professional when it comes to subtitles. If they decide to translate a film, TV series, documentaries etc into different languages, the least they could do is transcribe the dubbed versions word for word, and use them for the subtitles, so that what is being said in the language of choice coincides with what you are reading in the subtitles of such language.

It is a total disaster that can be put right if Netflix had the decency to do things in a more professional manner.

I do not know why this film is being heavily lambasted. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. In fact I was quite tired and about to fall asleep when I decided to give it a go, and it kept me awake until the very end, which never happens when a film is rubbish. Do not take notice of the bad reviews and simply watch it and see how contradictory these bad reviews are. I must say that I found the book quite boring and never finished reading it, but not the the film which I highly recommend watching.

I couldn't make sense of this film even with subtitles, not because of the constant dribble they talk, but due to the lack of clarity in pronunciation. Some of the actors, like J.D. Washington, badly need enunciation lessons.

Then the scene with Michael Caine and JD Washington at the restaurant seems as if the two actors hadn't filmed it together, because there is not a single camera frame showing they are seated at the same table at the same time. Check it out and you will see for yourself. Then in that restaurant scene the cameraman drove my eyes nuts: the camera was trained on either of them for every single line they said. In that single short scene the camera bounces off from actor to actor more than thirty times. Crazy for the eyesight. It puts you to sleep in the hours of darkness if you are lying in bed or lying on the couch after a copious lunch.

The storyline unfolds at the speed of light which makes it so convoluted that even subtitles won't help you make sense of it all. You have to have a degree in physics. I don't think that will even help.

If you are having trouble getting off to sleep one night or have run out of sleeping pills, play this film for five minutes and the constant switch in camera angles will make your eyes roll and you will be out for the count in less than five minutes.

Do not waste your time on this film which could have had more potential if they had dumbed down the script and hired a different cameraman.

The gripping trailer of Unhinged left me gasping for the film earlier this year. Only last night was I eventually able to sit down and see it after a unconscionable delay due to the prevailing coronavirus pandemic which only helped to add to my growing impatience and to further building my hopes up.

However, after having spent two long hours seated in front of the screen, I conclude that the trailer may have been perfectly concocted, but the film is utter rubbish, a huge disappointment. My initial hopes were dashed in the blink of an eye, in a matter of minutes into the film.

Why did Russell Crowe agree to star in this film in the first place? Was it because the role was offered to a more appropriate Nicholas Cage, but he rejected it and Crowe came along and snapped it up out of hand because he badly needed the money he was paid for it?

Take my word for it: films play with your imagination, but nothing in this particular one is plausible. From the wishy-washy mother who is being road-raged to the invulnerability of Crowe who can get away with his crimes and nobody around him dares to stand up to him or at least call the police. He spends most of the film driving his SUV at full pelt around town and infringing every speed limit, but the police do not show up. This film is not in line with what would happen in real life. It is totally unreal, and that is where the film fails to capture your attention, to relate to it.

You do not get to like the characters or feel sorry for them: Crowe angry and guzzling psychiatric medication the entire film, the pusillanimous mother who doesn't know whether she is coming or going. The only one who saves this film from the blazing fire is the little boy whose interpretation I really liked.

Do not waste your time and money on this film. If you had high hopes like me, sorry to burst your bubble, but this film is not worth a damn. Watch End of Sentence, for instance and you will enjoy every minute of it.

Watching the first few minutes of this highly recommendable film will be enough to grip you tight for its remaining duration. From the poignant moment of a terminally ill mother who visits her young son in prison so that she can bid her last good-bye before she passes away to a joyful yet tearful quick swim of an estranged son and a loving father in a freezing cold lake somewhere in Ireland, this film is sure to invite you to take a back seat and be part of the same voyage of self-discovery that father and son begrudgingly embark on. Immaculately acted and well paced, the sentimentality hidden in it will make you relate and endear to the two main characters, especially to the father for whom I felt deeply sorry. His perseverance in salvaging his strained relationship with his son is impressive and will bring tears to your eyes.

Mark my words: this film does not have a bit of waste from the very beginning to the soon-arriving end. You will not want this film to come to an end, and the prospect of a sequel wouldn't be a bad idea after all, because the magic of this film will make you fall in love with the two main characters from the early beginning.

This unasumming low-budget film has the appropriate ingredients for keeping your eyes glued on the screen. The film depicts a real fight for survival in a barely trodden territory where murderous minds succeed into leading a double life that will allow them to make a killing of unsuspecting innocent souls driving through it.

I tried to watch this compelling Russian TV series in Spanish, my mother tongue, but thought better of it after a few minutes because the dubbing was inexpressibly bad. Then I tried the English version, but to my growing dismay I also found it utter but utter rubbish. Undeterred by this off-putting linguistic experience, I opted to watch it in Brazilian Portuguese, the dubbing of which I found decent and acceptable, although I am not quite fluent in this language so as to make a sound judgement about the resulting quality of it. I also noticed that the subtitles do not match the audios, which coupled with the terrible dubbing experience really discourage me from trying foreign TV series on this entertainment platform.

My word of advice to Netflix is that if they intend to dub their foreign films and series into as many languages as they possibly can think of, they should at least do it conscientiously and in a professional manner. Truth be told that if this series hadn't piqued my curiosity, I would have given it up as a bad job fifteen minutes into the first episode, which wouldn't have been the first time I have done that when viewing Netflix foreign content. I am under the impression that they want to churn out as much viewing content as possible but regrettably most of it lacks the good quality that really gets you hooked on tv series. In all honesty, I am now considering cancelling my subscription because Netflix is going from bad to worse and they still haven't come to that realisation.

I don't know If it is only me who perceived that Netflix series are getting worse by the day. I am thinking of cancelling my subscription.

Far too many repetitive fights. I reckon in Casablanca there cannot be any male population left because all of the men from there were slaughtered when John Wick was trying to escape from it. If there had been fewer repetitious fights and more substantial dialogues, the film would have turned out to be more appealing and compelling. Utter rubbish.

Agyness Deyn squanders her singular theatrical talent in this film just as she so well did in Sunset Song. Her performance in Electricity comes on really strong in every single image or frame she is on making her taxing role gain and perhaps surpass credibility. I have seen her in these two films so far and I have grown very fond of her interpreting skills. There's something about her acting that I find captivating. It strikes me though as if she had been suitably pigeonholed to enact really harsh roles that can only fill us with heartfelt sympathy, pity and compassion for the characters she portrays so majestically. They don't half know how to endure pain! I cannot wait to see her in her upcoming films interpreting other roles and we might as well test and hopefully taste her potential versatility. Cinematographically speaking I think she has a promising career ahead of her with lot to offer for us to just behold and relish it jaw-droppingly. Just wait and see! In the meantime, keep off watching the mundane hotchpotch of unsubstantial films that abound these days and stick to this delectable one.

It goes without saying that Hardy's performance is out of this world in this film. He majestically masters the dual role of the Kray brothers, squandering nonetheless and much to my regret a wealth of talent against the backdrop of a story which I personally found boring and rather long drawn-out. The beginning seemed promising, but the initial effervescence started to fizzle out miserably when we are peppered with a series of isolated occurrences randomly depicting the Kray's wrongdoings that barely have interconnection or worse still some of them are lacking in completion. The film is also romantic to a fault which contributes to defeating the purpose of the violent and savage nuance that was expected of it. It seems to center on Ronnie's romance with Frances, rather than focusing more on the two brothers' ruffianly and reckless misdeeds. Apart from Tom Hardy's superb performance, the film is not something exciting to write home about; primarily because it doesn't produce, at least in me, the desired exhilarating results of having watched an entertaining epic film.

After watching the trailer my nephew and I went to the cinema to see this film with great expectations which proved false when it gradually dawned on us how these plummeted down woefully as the story line unfolded. The plot is terribly powerless and the film is merely some sort of exaltation to a bunch of risky sports which the 4 or 5 main characters practise to excess throughout the duration of the film. Indeed a fair portion of it is dedicated to and consumed by the portrayal of spectacular yet improbable scenes of these thrill seeking sports. I must say that the visual effects are great, but the story line is glaringly deplorable. And to add insult to injury, the unfitting sudden end of the film certainly confirms its consummate deplorableness. On the whole the film wasn't worth either our time, let alone our money!