info-43610 Reviews

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Ruined by the director and cinematographer

[5/10 · 21 August 2020]

A collection of great actors struggle to save a half decent script from an incompetent director and a cinematographer with a revolting aesthetic sense.

Those two guys should be forbidden from ever doing anything more artistically challenging than commercials for a new car.

Oh, and the music selection is decent but uninspired.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Makes a grown man cry

[10/10 · 4 January 2020]

I have watched thousands of films over the years. Some terrible, some good, a few brilliant. This is one of those very few brilliant films I have watched.

Hotaru no haka is a heart-wrenching story that is beautiful and so very sad. It is also the only film that ever made me cry.

Pu-239 (2006)

Great potential - disappointing outcome

[4/10 · 12 December 2019]

I had great expectations for this movie. The story was promising and I thought that the great Paddy Considine as the protagonist would mean a compelling execution.

This is basically two different movies edited together. One part is great, the other not so much.

There are some great scenes in the first half of the movie. But the script is honestly a terrible mashup. It starts as a heartfelt dramatic depiction of a family cast into great troubles but then out of nowhere appears a bunch of thugs that even Guy Richie cut out for being too ridiculous. Considine together with parts of the cast are great, doing the best of the disjointed and sometimes plain stupid script. However, not even he can save this movie.

The writer/director very much would have needed a producer that could tell him to get his stuff together. Trying to combine drama and stupid dark comedy doesn't work unless the director is a genius. Scott Z Burns is not a genius.

Also, please lose the stupid "russian" accents.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996)

Groundbreaking does not equal good

[4/10 · 30 November 2019]

I had great hopes for this anime but was disappointed.

Sure, it may have been the first anime to bring religious and philosophical motifs into the script and sure, the characters are multifaceted.

But the writing is uneven, with too many simply stupid elements, and the protagonists just acting like idiots at times. There are some episodes where I just lost interest a few minutes in because the plot was contrived and didn't forward the story arc.

I want to like this more but the writing is just not good enough to be hailed as a masterpiece.

Follow the Crows (2018)

Promising low budget debut

[8/10 · 6 October 2019]

I really enjoyed this bleak and atmospheric post-apocalyptic film. It sets a mood and doesn't try to offer any explanations. It simply offers up a picture of a world and some characters that makes me feel for them.

There are obvious signs of the minimal budget and the lack of professional script writing but the director uses the available resources to his advantage. Simply by using the camera with natural scenery and lighting we are offered a believable portrait of emotionally stunted survivors aimlessly trying to survive a harsh world.

I really look forward to the next project from this team.