"This has to be satire" I proclaim, as zaney appears from behind a shrub in a purple jumpsuit and a Incredibles style eye mask. The fact that everyone took this film seriously when it was new was probably it's early downfall. And probably why nobody has heard of it today. Yet it now holds onto that niche cinematic quality of being so bad it's good. The good guys in this really weren't that good, and I found myself routing for the bad guys. Who for me made the film fun and watchable. Some terrible 90s special effects mixed in top quality stunt work. Whilst the scenary and plane/helicopter camera work is about the best I remember seeing. Well deserved 7 and will be recommending in future.
Reviews
14 Reviews
Cherry
(I) (2021)
Gosh tier filmmaking
13 March 2021
After tough last week, I was hoping to lighten the mood watching the small screen at the weekend, I probably shouldn't have picked cherry as my go to evening viewing, this film is dark, Tom drags the audience through his trauma from young man to wash out, it's an excellent film but more in a requiem of a dream sense than Forrest gump let say, it's at times brutal.
This is in every sense an epic, the sheer scale of the film left me awe, the fortunes surely spent in some cases must have been enormous for mere seconds of final film, but epic film making does noth make an epic, so we turn to the cast; excellently acted, throughout, brilliant.
soundtrack; I want the OST so big tick there too
Direction; easy to follow, maybe a little long ok then.
So why haven't I given this top marks then, well I don't really subscribe to the whole concept of films must have meaning. Yeah sure there's a couple of political statements in there, but nothing to rock a boat. Its probably down to the fact it feels like a 3hr film, it was hard to watch at times, and there were moments which I wanted to laugh at but didn't know if I should
-3 marks for the above points
+1 for use of real helicopters instead of CGI
8/10
8/10
The Age of Adaline
(2015)
Shallow romance
6 March 2021
I think an audience deserves more depth, especially in the characters Adaline was alright, but Ellis was as creepy and shallow as any bloke I've ever met. In stalker like pursuit of Adaline, her constant turn downs seem to fall on deaf ears as he tries ever harder to woo a lady, whom from the start has shown little or no interest. If you can survive that you have a Harrison ford to creep you out in the second part. Though he is less weird, the film has protracted parts between the two which allows the mind to prepare itself for an intimate scene between a young Blake lively and an older Harrison ford, fortunately this doesn't occur. The concept behind the film is good and theres some nice scenes between the boring creepiness, but it really doesn't save this. My partner apologised for it when the end credits began to roll. -6 for Michiel Huisman inability to understand no mean no, +1 for no CGI helicopters.
Moxie
(I) (2021)
Good guy Seth
3 March 2021
This will go as one of the great high school flicks alongside such films as Easy A, Mean girls and the breakfast club
It leaves the male viewer with an understandably blooded nose, but there is a lot to be learnt here. What the audience are exposed to is the very worst and the best of men. It's a bitter pill to swallow from the beginning. But this isn't about the guys, it's about the girls. United in a growing tour de force behind the guise of a clever high school magazine. The premise is clear and that's a good thing, film work was excellent, writing was good and covered a lot of issues (though some issues seem to be chucked in there like the writers were ticking things on a checklist). It's fits the feel good factor that all high school films fill and you will most likely feel better educated on a very many social issues. -1 for that weird date scene in the funeral parlor +1 for no CGI helicopters, 9/10 timeless classic
I Care a Lot
(2020)
Two bad guys one good film
20 February 2021
Two villains is a concept I haven't really seen explored since Layer cake, I enjoyed disliking both sides and watching them battle it out for final victory. The film had some really strong visual moments and the concept made for a really strong base. That said I didn't really build on that a great deal. The film missed Marla's back story, like how did she get into guardianship, and realised it was profitable? From there the audience are expected to tag along, so tag along I did, as. This isn't a film that expects the audience to think. It all seems a bit two dimensional, Roman doesn't really seem to hold a grudge, he starts angry, but seems to settle when he should be most angry. The film looses a point for henchmen incompetence (girl you gotta check they dead). Despite this the film is still competent and enjoyable, but you'll find holes in it
The Full Monty
(1997)
The hat is still on
12 February 2021
Watching this once again in 2021, in the post BLM and #metoo movement world and with homosexuality now more commonly accepted. This film does now appear rather archaic. Gaz would be left behind by his friends to wallow over his former job at the steel factory, but this is not the modern and upcoming city of Sheffield in 2021, this is 1997, the industrialization of England has come and gone. The working classes in the north are on their backside, struggling to rapidly modernise in the face of overseas competition. It hardly makes what I wrote at the start right, but it's a real world view of how Sheffield was in the 90's.
Right, that out the way, it's a brilliant story line based loosely on a true story. It Takes a simple concept - get rich quick, and adds slices chonky complicated wedges of unemployment, divorce, mental and physical health all rapped up in ever interesting surrounds of South Yorkshire. We don't often get big film cameras in our part of the world, but when we do, oh boi. It's still a well acted flick, hugely enjoyable and entirely a film to see before you die.
Greenland
(2020)
A Heck of a disaster movie
6 February 2021
After a glut of disaster films between 95' and 2015, I'd had a welcome respite from watching the planet being murdered to death, but decided on a change of pace this evening
I thought I'd take a look at Greenland after a seeing it arrive on Prime Video. bribing the partner with a tub of Ben and Jerry's we settled down for 2hrs of Gerard Butler.
Let's get straight to the point, Greenland is quite the thriller, the Ben and Jerry's tub was only half eaten by the end of film but also quite deformed. Squeezed ever tighter during the films numerous tension filmed scenes. There were some outstanding scenes throughout the film, many of which I felt could result in one of the main characters demise, a rare thing in modern film. It's not without its flaws ofc. Naturally the film looses a star immediately for the unnecessary use of CGI planes and helicopters. But there are other elements of the CGi that you can tell were put together rather poorly. But that didn't bother me half as much as the overly "graphic" news reporting. Which kind of broke the reality for me. I just can't imagine the deaths of millions would be streamed via news networks, I can't tell you why it bothered me but it did.
Other than the above and a few other minor niggles, This is a competent film id happily recommend, this is not a disaster film in which we follow and extraordinary character. Just a dad trying to save his family.
Wild Target
(2010)
What is this!!!
31 January 2021
The title says the phrase I was uttering through out this film. Wild target is as confusing as Emily blunt digging up the back garden looking for flowers. It's a low brow comedy that at times skirts on the edge of slap stick. That said it did make me laugh. The small cast and feel good vibe means the plot is easy to follow, so you can fall asleep and wake up 15 minutes later and dial straight back into the story.
It's all very British, and that helps cover some of the short comings, it's watchable I guess for fans of the cast. But there are far better films that follow the same plotline.
The Great Escapists
(2021)
In theory it works
30 January 2021
The great Escapists is an interesting Lark. Take two presenters who've made engineering shows in the past, throw them on a desert island together, and get them to somewhat realistically live and attempt to get off the very same island. It's a concept we've seen play out before with other survival shows. But what TGE adds is a little more gamey in its design, imagine playing a survival videogame, take Rust for example. You got some pipe, and you got some wood, you put them together on a crafting table and all of a sudden you have gun. All without any of the in depth engineering knowledge, TIME or machinery required to make even a simple firearm work affectively.
You have to pull yourself very quickly away from thinking this is a bear grills style survivalist show. This is two people with a lot of assistance creating comfortable and fun island living, just sit along for the ride. The beautiful setting and incredible set design is interrupted occasionally for scenes in a police station when Hammad and Tory are explaining their story to officers. It's a weird narrative.
I must applaud them for trying that, even though it does slow the pacing
Im rather conflicted by this show, I like it, it's got that pointlessly entertaining edge I think everyone can enjoy, but I still don't think they made it perfect. Weird narrative and crazy inventions a side. I wish they'd spent more time explaining the engineering. Doing the drawings and creating something we can invent along with. Something more akin to the wheeler dealers maybe. Another aspect I think they got wrong is the setting. The desert island was beautiful. But the inventions seemed at odds with the environment, and I think they could have made much simpler inventions and show would have been all the better for it.
That said, the inventions were incredible, I'd love to see a show where Hammond and Tory make great inventions at home using tools and gear from the local DIY.
I still think it's worth watching though. Just for the eye candy setting.
Pretty awful
28 January 2021
I thought I'd leave it a few days before I wrote a review, to see if the PTSD of sitting through this would subside and allow for me to write a respectable review.
Who'd have thought sticking 10 good comedians in a room together and watch them try to make each other laugh would be so unenjoyable. I use the term unenjoyable as opposed to unfunny, because I did on a number of occasions, laugh. But alas just because I laughed it does not make this a good show. The de-scripted nature of the show makes it very broken and hard to settle into, rebel is to far from the action and it takes her a minute to waddle down the corridor to warn or remove players from the game using a VAR system that further slows the show down.
It all seems very cobbled together. Most of the comedians don't seem to know why they're there, many of them have forgot how to be funny or what got them famous, and the show descends Into a childish mess of loud noises and career Killing farce.
I simply can't recommend it
The Thick of It
(2005–2012)
Intelligent comedy at its finest
18 December 2020
It's simply excellent if you can get into the thick of it. I must have attempted watching through it at least 3 times before i finally sat through the whole 4 series, and once I managed to do so I found a great level of comedy that only a few series have been able to match, the narcissistic personalities of those in power seem very close to home. Whether this is how government runs is not for me to decide, but it feels true. And it's in that truth where the comedy lies, the beautiful semi scripted rants, the human worming and the media spin only add to the foundations, the fly on the wall camara work seem to have put some off, bit this is a listening comedy still very much attached to its roots in radio.
The thick skinned characters all contribute something, and we all end up wishing we could talk to our colleagues the way they do.
I really enjoyed the thick of it, It seemed to get better as it went along, and by the end I just wanted more. It's weird because I don't know if I could recommend it to anyone. You'll just have to see if you like it for yourself.
Logan
(2017)
What the X-Men franchise should have always been
12 December 2020
I decided December would be X-Men month. Watching the films in chronological order so I understood the storyline. In comparison to the avengers storyline, X-Men barely seemed worth making, the concept is solid, but the end product lacked in almost all accounts, 2d characters, bad villains, poor pacing,And bad writing. I would have probably placed the X-Men franchise around 4.5/10.
Then I watched Logan. Had every other x-men film been created to the same standard as Logan (exceptions being the Deadpool series), avengers would have a serious contender.
From the outset the grittier violence level, darker tones and lack of silly outfits sets this apart immediately. Picking out a small cast of remaining mutants only helps as it finally gives the audience time to develop a relationship with the X-Men, understand their flaws, and garnish them with a sense of humour, something the franchise has been lacking dearly in its overwhelming pursuit of seriousness.
Stripping back the X-Men, and removing much of the technology, vast casts, and grandeur did Logan a world of good. The improved writing really allowed Hugh Jackman to shine, well beyond what I thought he was capable of, and despite sharing the screen with Patrick Stewart, he really held his own, as did Dafne Keen.
Keen really did shine bright here, despite. Being mute for most the film she still managed to feed us with enough character.
This is a brilliant film, I can understand where my fellow reviewers are coming from but I think many of them are wrong to be overly critical. This was an outstanding addition to the franchise. Void of all the previous X-Men failings. It should have always been gritty and well thought from the very beginning.
8/10
8/10
The Monuments Men
(2014)
Try hard attempt at a true story.
27 August 2020
If only the monuments men could get past telling us what it was trying to be, it might have had a chance to tell us a good story.
the reality of the premise behind the monuments men is that this would have been an easy tale for anyone to tell, and one that most would have enjoyed. A bunch of senior art experts go after art stolen by the axis forces during WWII. Dare I say it the film could have followed anyone of the individual stories of any of the members of the MFAA and been much better for it, but pulling in a big cast, and following all the 7 members, monuments men finds itself to spread out to find the time to tell a good story, as a viewer I couldn't tell what period in history I was sat in nor what location, so building up my own mental picture wasn't possible. Toward the end the cast do come together (well all the Americans anyway) but at this point I was frustrated and disenfranchised. I would have given the film a lower mark but the cinematography and the sheer scale of locations and sets used, means that, someone at least, worked really hard.
Those looking for historical accuracy might find that in the title ad the general overview, but little more, names are changed locations on maps aren't really real, even the history behind some aspects of the film have been modified for the audience, when in reality they just needed to tell the truth, and it would have been a better film.
Next time someone in Hollywood is looking for a good story, they might like to consult the biography of one Albrecht Gaiswinkler. Who spent most of his pre war years as opposed to the Nazis in Austria. Deserted the Wehrmacht during the war and then was airdropped back into Austria by the allies to protect the art hidden within the altaussee salt mine, for 5 months and with help from 300 locals, he protected the valuable art from being destroyed by the Germans whilst maintaining and active resistance within the town and villages surrounding the area.
His story then proves what could have been
If the film got past what it thought was important and just told a story.
Bering Sea Gold
(2012– )
It's not great really
7 June 2019
Well into the 8th season, the show becomes more and more dribble. at the start I was thinking if these folks just stop bickering they might actually get some gold. But they don't, stupid decisions follow and the amount of gold you see the guys get, dives after season 8. The content of each episode crashes and the endless recaps begin. If you do embark watching this trash do it on a platform you can skip along quickly.
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