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Lou (2022)
Overlong, tedious and rather absurd at times.
This was a time filler not a classic. Allison Janney was her usual steady self, but the rest of the cast were comatose. Considering that her daughter has been kidnapped by her sociopathic father the mother, Jurnee Smollett, seems almost disinterested. The other thing that irritated me was how much physical damage all the characters sustained. Get stabbed in the chest you just pack it with gauze and carry on as normal. Shot in the leg just hobble a little with barely any sign of pain. Just ludicrous.
This film could easily lose at least twenty-five minutes of screen time without anybody noticing. Even the end credits ran for eight minutes. I did like Jax the dog though, he gave a stellar performance.
I would look for something more interesting if I was honest.
Kate (2021)
Bland, predictable and overlong.
Not the greatest movie ever, but strangely watchable for the first hour or so, then I started to get bored. Could easily have been a half hour shorter. Not the worst film ever but don't get your hopes up.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
This is One to Definitely Miss!!
This film starts off with the ridiculous premise that a suitable earth-like world has been discovered orbiting Jupiter. Where has it been hiding for the last few millennia? Playing peek-a-boo?
It doesn't get any better. It jumps from one crackpot nonsensical incident to another. All of them seemingly designed to fill up the film's time to get it to two hours duration. (Which, to be blunt, is probably one and a half hours too long.)
I really like some of George Clooney's films, his best include A Perfect Storm; Syriana; and Gravity, but seriously do NOT bother with this load of tosh. I sussed out the supposed "twist" in the ending after half an hour.
Utter tripe. Avoid.
Eye in the Sky (2015)
Tense, thought provoking Thriller.
I always like watching Helen Mirren's work, this was no exception. This film shows the moral ambiguity of Drone wars. Is it justifiable to launch a Drone strike to take out a Terrorist who might kill hundreds of innocent people, but at the same time kill an innocent girl? This movie mounts up the tension gradually, steadily and it maintains the uncertainty right up to the final conclusion. I loved watching this film. Intelligent, beautifully constructed and very thought provoking. A movie I can watch many times into the future.
Us (2019)
Do NOT bother going to see this Car Crash of a Movie!!
My daughter loved "Get Out!" and really wanted to go and see Nolan's latest offering. We went and watched "Us" and both of us came out very disappointed. It started off fairly well with a feeling of unease gradually building. At some point, I am no sure exactly where, it went off the rails. I found myself laughing out loud at random points. The "Horror" dissipated and it sort of degenerated into a farce. To say there were several holes in the "plot" suggests that there was an actual "plot" in the first place.Two people got up and left halfway through, I very much wanted to join them. I soldiered on for the sake of my daughter even though she was looking dispirited too. Some of the "fight" scenes were just laughable. The father dispatches his Tethered copy on the boat and then a few minutes later they are all sitting around the dining table surrounded by their neighbour's bodies. They all had the emotional depth of a rock. As the film went on it just got dafter and dafter. Supposedly every person in the USA had a Tethered copy living under the Carnival Hall of Mirrors! That is a very big cavern that can house over 300 million people who all eat raw rabbit!! It is difficult to believe how anybody could rate this Film as a 10. Some people are calling "Us" the best Film they have ever seen!! "Us" isn't even the best Film I have seen in the last 24 hours. (If you want a decent Film to see try "Blue Ruin".) The twist at the end was just so predictable I was expecting it halfway through the Film. I have awarded "Us" 3/10 primarily because the actors tried their best and the Cinematography was very good in parts. The Script was terrible and parts just a joke. In total for two tickets, Nachos, drinks, and two Taxis this Film cost me about £50. Complete and utter waste of money. Trust me, you can watch this on the TV in a few months. Do NOT pay Cinema prices to see this lemon!
The Old Man & the Gun (2018)
Really slow, unimaginative and laboured effort.
Redford and Spacek are very charming and smooth talking but horrendously un-interesting. I would have loved to agree with the professional's rave reviews, but I don't have any reason to push this film as a "Classic". It just isn't. Bad script. Laboured and deeply boring. Avoid.
The Festival (2018)
A complete waste of 98 minutes of my life. Appallinglybad.....
I gave this one star only because I couldn't give it zero. Really,really, really, really bad. Terrible moronic script. Wooden acting. No interest in the characters at all. Nothing actually happened. Just puerile and boring. My daughter and I were going to see BlacKKKlansman but we got the time wrong. This was the only late film showing. I wish we had saved the money. Utter tripe. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!
Grow Your Own (2007)
Entertaining and heart string tugging family feel good movie
I had never heard of this film and so didn't know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. Well written, well filmed and with some great performances. Amusing, idiosyncratic with typical Allotment politics throughout. Hardly a Citizen Kane or a Casablanca, but there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half. You feel pleasantly refreshed after watching it.
Freestyle (2010)
Not as bad as the Review Scores say.
This isn't high art, but it's not that bad. It is trying to be a street film which is "down with the kids". It has about as much menace and contact with reality as an episode of the Magic Roundabout. It's a pleasant film aimed at young kids or perhaps teenagers. Citizen Kane it's not. I am having difficulty writing anything about it, as the "plot" is so simple it's laughable. The young actors try their best, but it would be difficult for Meryl Streep to make anything worthwhile with this script. I was on my laptop when this came on and so didn't really watch it, just had it on in the background. (For which I will be eternally grateful.) If you want a film to entertainment some youngsters for an hour or so, they'll probably like it. Adults will be bored stupid.
Divergent (2014)
Only watch if you are a fan of the book.
Started off quite well and grabbed my attention. Unfortunately after an hour I was losing the will to live. Very predictable chick flick for adolescent girls. (Not being patronising, it just is.) Couldn't wait for the end to come. (Which, of course, cues up the next episode nicely.) Why do films based on books insist on being so long? At least 45 minutes too long. I am unsure who the prop guy was, but I reckon he had a job lot of old Blakes 7 guns to get rid of. Hilarious. It was also a bit disturbing watching the love interest angle. As although nothing really happens, Shailene Woodley (Aged 24), looks 14, and Theo James (Aged 29), looks like he's in his early thirties. Very strange. I would not recommend this film to anyone except die-hard fans of the book.
Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
Even by Adam Sandlers standards this film is bad.
This film is so appalling bad, I can't begin to review it.
There is nothing of any substance in this film.
There is no wit.
There is no subtlety.
There is no humour.
I only managed to watch the first ten minutes. I was feeling nauseous by then.
Both my young children were pleading with me to turn it off.
Adam Sandler should have a public warning on all his films. If you want to refresh just how unfunny Mr. Sandler is, Google his filmography. It is like a criminal record of legendary unfunny cinematography.
If you watch this film you will regret it for the rest of your life..... and possibly longer.
Blackhat (2015)
Seriously dreadful Michael Mann Movie.........
I gave this "movie" one star only because I can't give it a zero. I liked the concept and thought I'd give it a try. Really poor decision. There are soooooo many holes in the plot-line that it became a real effort to keep watching. I eventually started doing a crossword and just glanced up for the very infrequent "action" sequences. The so-called "chemistry" between the leading couple is totally unbelievable. Wei Tang is a very beautiful woman, but she has as much sizzle in this film as last nights left over KFC chicken leg. Note to Chris Hemsworth - If you are supposedly making love to a gorgeous woman at least look like you might conceivably be enjoying it. Another very strange part of the film is the finale. Chris Hemworth pushes his way through the thousands of parading Indonesians. He out maneuvers his opponent and then stabs him in the face repeatedly with a large screwdriver..... Nobody bats an eye. Nobody even seems to steer clear of the homicidal maniac amongst them. I know Asian people have a, perhaps deserved, reputation for taking lifes little hiccups with a phlegmatic disposition, but really???? It is only after the kalashnikovs start firing and various random Indonesians somehow get in between Chris Hemworth and the henchmen that the crowd gets a little more animated. Was Michael Mann on magic mushrooms when he "directed" this scene? Didn't Chris Hemsworth think to ask him "You know Michael when the guy gets stabbed in the face, wouldn't it be better if some of the crowd ran away?" As for the dialogue..... Jesus H Christ! Don't even go there. I can't believe somebody actually got paid for this twaddle. Another little annoying point is, if you are getting shot at by a Kalashnikov, it is NO USE sheltering behind a traffic sign. It will NOT stop high velocity rounds. Also how do five or six professional terrorists, armed with automatic weapons, miss a man with a pistol roughly forty yards away? I find it difficult to believe that this is the same Director who made Heat and Thief. What happened to you Michael in the 34 years since you made Thief? To sum up do NOT waste your time watching this movie. P.S. to Michael Mann. If you are going to make a really bad movie, please don't make it two hours, ten minutes long. Have some mercy and compassion for your viewers.
Spy (2015)
A Really Bad Movie.........
My daughter told me this was a funny film, so I watched it. I will never trust a teenager again. I forgot that teenagers will laugh at a fake willy joke every time, and this film does the same. Showing a male member is faintly amusing the first time, but by the fifth time it's just boring. I made myself sit through the last hour, because I had hoped it might improve. It doesn't. The first ten minutes are by far the best. It drops off a cliff after that. Puerile, profane, badly acted, ham-fisted and just really unfunny. The dialogue is appalling, the action sequences are ludicrous and the obsessive swearing just gets old very early on. Don't watch this if you have a mental age older than six. Adam Sandler would be ashamed of this movie. Avoid........... no, seriously just don't watch this tripe.
Seventh Son (2014)
Lack lustre fantasy pay day for Bridges and Moore.
Really not up to the standard of the actors available. Bridges and Moore will have hopefully been paid a ton of money to make this dross.I can't believe for a minute that the script interested them. I watched it whilst playing on-line and phoning my daughter. You can turn off the sound for minutes and really not miss anything. Don't pay cinema prices for this. Straight to video would have been the best it could hope for. The cinematography is OK, the costumes are hilarious and Mother Malkins' Castle has really gone downhill since she was imprisoned. P.S Bridges has the most irritating attempt at an interesting voice all the way through. Really not good, sorry Jeff.
Autómata (2014)
Blade Runner Homage
Good script, if very evocative of Blade Runner at the start. It starts very well and lays out the plot line fairly quickly. It then runs on smoothly into the slums outside the city. Banderas's character, Jacq Vaucan, tries to track down the person who has managed to break the robots protocols. Eventually, encountering Melanie Griffiths character, Dr. Dupre. Unfortunately, Melanie Griffiths role was more a cameo than something she could get her teeth into. A real shame that the script disposes of her character so quickly. Jacq Vaucan is a world weary, burnt out and disillusioned man. It is the robots who begin to reawaken his humanity. Overall, very much worth watching, but it is over long by at least 20 minutes. A more ruthless editor could have perhaps made this a better film. Still an unexpectedly reasonable little gem for sci-fi fans.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009)
What an Amazing Story.
Very watchable biopic portraying the true life story of Irena Sendler. Although obviously not made on the same budget as Schindler's List, it is still an amazing story of a truly courageous Polish woman. The acting is good overall and excellent by Anna Paquin as the lead. It is another example of how individual people walk into danger, when most people would hide away. If you Google "Life in a Jar" you will get more information on Irena Sendler's amazing life and how her story finally came into the public consciousness in 1999. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Recognized by Yad Vashem in 1965 and supported from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in New York City. A very life affirming story.