Sherazade Reviews

Song to Song (I) (2017)

Visually competent but where's the script?

[4/10 · 8 December 2017]

Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman are such seasoned actors that they could convincingly walk around for three hours without any purpose or direction and still sell a story. Rooney Mara on the other hand (try as I may each time to look past the privileged life that gave her a Hollywood career and believe whatever it is she is trying to convey to me) just didn't cut it as the lead actress, she just gave off an aura that she was uncomfortable the whole time which just seemed to confirm that there was indeed no script or that hers was just constantly being revised and shared with no one else but her. When even Cate Blanchett in her blink-and-you'll-miss-her cameo is Oscar-worthy compared to a film's lead actress, there is a problem.

Tulip Fever (2017)

WTF did I just watch?

[2/10 · 6 December 2017]

Stupid fever is more like it. Irritating as heck cast (except for the always marvelous Dame Judi Dench) essaying a disjointed and irritating as heck variety of roles guided by an irritating as heck script about star-crossed lovers who barely meet each other before they decide to start humping each other like bunnies all flanked by the backdrop of the 17th century Tulip rush in Amsterdam. Don't even get me started on that maid because I would never finish, she was so entitled and utterly irritating I almost had to stop watching. If you wanted to be stupid on-screen Justin Chadwick, first get actors who aren't irritating to dilute the script as well as our suspense of disbelief so we can at least tolerate you making a fool of yourself.

The Wizard of Lies (2017 TV Movie)

Outstanding!

[10/10 · 30 October 2017]

I don't believe I have ever seen an HBO film before this one but this was a welcome introduction. It was stellar film-making actually, all involved should take a bow and be really proud. The film grips you from its opening scenes and doesn't let go of your attention even after the credits begin to role. Robert De Niro was so good in this, it was like he became Bernie Madoff, in fact the entire cast was so good it was like watching the entire thing unfold in real time. Bravo! And for what it's worth I believe the sons and the wife did not know.

Passengers (I) (2016)

Entertaining

[8/10 · 29 October 2017]

I hadn't even ever heard of the film until I found myself watching it and I must say I was thoroughly entertained and surprised especially by Chris Pratt's (who for a great deal of the running time was alone on screen) acting skills. Jennifer Lawrence is Jennifer Lawrence, she is always going to give you that. Great chemistry, great acting, decent plot. I loved it.

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

Good but not great

[7/10 · 29 October 2017]

This was a really picturesque film with an equally attractive cast, the acting was also very good but I felt the director lost his way three quarters of the way through and the whole drama started to look and feel melodramatic and episodic. That and the fact that open endings are not my sort of thing. Don't leave me to form conclusions, this is your film.

Lady Macbeth (2016)

Wow!

[7/10 · 29 October 2017]

This acting was on point but to be honest to me this was more of a horror film than romance. The introduction of each new character seemed only to prove that there is an even more daft person than the one who was previously holding your attention. The content is very disturbing and it certainly was a different look at life in 1800s England. Definitely a one time watch, once is enough.

The Whole Truth (2016)

Solid drama

[8/10 · 24 October 2017]

This is the sort of film that you figure out about five to ten minutes in but you keep watching because of all the pains its writer(s) and director have taken to convince you otherwise. There were many hidden treats, like seeing Renee Zellwegger acting again after all these years, Keanu Reeves not only deliver a top notch brilliantly well-acted courtroom drama but also showcase rare and unexpected sizzling chemistry with Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Hollywood, please cast them in something else after this.

The Last Face (2016)

Brilliant, thought-provoking but offensive all at the same time

[7/10 · 22 October 2017]

When you're trying to bring attention to an issue, especially the injustices of the world like crimes against humanity taking place in many parts of Africa, try...just try not to make a torrid romance the basis for your opus. Someone should have told Sean Penn this when he embarked on the journey it took to make this movie but I guess he was too in love with his then lady love Charlize Theron who plays the lead actress in the film that he felt compelled to pay tribute to her continent by making a film that he hoped would show he cared. The romance between Theron's (Wren) and Javier Bardem's (Miguel) is so embarrassingly distracting that as the atrocities around they pile on, it is hard to feel any true emotion because when the focus should be on such atrocities, Penn focuses his time and energy on the lovers instead. It was almost like making light of a serious issue. That said, the acting was very good which at least saved the script and effort from falling flat on its face.

47 Meters Down (2017)

Rubbish!

[4/10 · 17 October 2017]

I only kept watching to make sure they both got eaten by the beautiful and magnificent creatures who were minding their business in the ocean before these two idiots (and their equally idiotic enablers) came along to ruin their day. The only thing good about this film was the beautiful underwater scenenery. The sharks were awesome too but woefully underused, also notable was the score. The end.

The Wall (II) (2017)

No Where To Hide In a Film With Just Three Main Characters

[7/10 · 18 September 2017]

Aaron Taylor-Johnson continues to amaze me film after film, his grasp of the American accent as well as his intense acting skills are both commendable. That said, the praise begins and ends with him when it comes to this film. John Cena was just there to curse and make stupid decisions, the real meat of the script takes place between Isaac (Taylor-Johnson) and the elusive sniper on his tail. Isaac is so haunted by both his conscience and the sniper that at some point I began to wonder if Dean (a deceased soldier buddy of Isaac's) was really dead or if he was the man masquerading as the ghostly sniper.

Wind River (2017)

Strong performances by all involved

[9/10 · 18 September 2017]

An incredibly difficult subject to watch and I'm sure it was just as difficult to tackle for the cast and crew as well. I found myself getting increasingly upset as the story unfolded, without giving too much away, there is just no excuse for the mistreatment indigenous people, no excuse at all.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Chill out, it's all been done before and better,

[4/10 · 14 September 2017]

Same script, different cast. I'm not sure why this film is so highly rated, I mean it had its moments and an attractive cast but haven't we seen it all before? I'm giving it 3 out of 5 stars because it could have easily been 5 out of 5 if they'd just toned down the unnecessary "purge' violence and nonsensical objectification of the female characters. A princess is held against her will and promises sexual favours to a random guy who happens to just be by her cell and promises to open it as soon as he saves the world? Yeah right, Hollywood misogynists, go kick rocks. Better luck with part 2, which hits theatres in a few days.

Beauty and the Beast (2014)

Sorry Disney!

[10/10 · 13 September 2017]

This film kicks the arse of anything Disney ever cleaned up, sanitized, recycled, re-churned and has fed us for years including the most recent fluff starring Emma Watson. They had us believing for years that Belle just up and went to that castle and fell in love with the Beast, yeah right! The fairy-tale belongs to the French people and they sure told their story right in this movie. I want this one in my collection. Oh! And the soundtrack's awesome too. A+

The Daughter (2015)

A very rare and startling film...

[8/10 · 13 September 2017]

The performances were top-notch, I mean...it's the sort of film where if you can't act you can't be in it and I'm glad the casting director understood that. I probably have to re-watch the last quarter of it because I was crying so much I could hardly see the screen but this is definitely a recommended watch, great script, great acting and just a well-rounded drama.

100 Streets (2016)

So beautiful and sad at the same time...

[8/10 · 13 September 2017]

I suppose melancholy would be a perfect term to describe what it is really. The experience of watching this was almost voyeuristic because of the manner with which is was shot, it was a very intimate portrait on the lives of seemingly everyday people just dealing with the trials and tribulations of everyday life and making the most of it. Life happens to all of us whether we like it or not.

Baywatch (2017)

It was at least entertaining and the stars had great chemistry...

[2/10 · 12 September 2017]

But what's good about is so short and small that it can be summarized as I have done in my title up there. Most of the jokes were in poor taste (making fun of Stevie Wonder and Steve Irwin...really? Calling Zac Efron every boy-band and boyish pop singer there ever was?), the excessive swearing (the original Baywatch aired on regular television and was a success without the potty mouths) was unnecessary, the toilet humour was ridiculously overdone and every character's role so over-exaggerated that at one point I began to wonder if I was watching 'Baywatch' or 'CSI: Miami' the movie. This film spent so much time posturing and flexing its lame muscles that even it had to wonder at some point what was the point of this exercise.

Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017)

Reclaiming My Time

[1/10 · 3 September 2017]

I stopped watching the minute I spotted grandpa Willis (butt naked) being beaten up and eventually chased through the streets by the brothers of the twenty-something year old woman he had just slept with. I like grandpa Willis but I really think it's time for him to retire if these are the kind of scripts that are landing in his agent's inbox.

The Circle (I) (2017)

So bad it tried to double back around to good but failed...

[3/10 · 29 August 2017]

Commerce Bank (Now TD) saw this poorly scripted, badly edited, talent and time wasting movie coming a mile away and quickly abandoned their name and logo so by the time the movie finally got made no one would remember the similarities in logo....but I did ha-ha! But on a serious note, this film was far too ambitious for its own good at times some of the cast members seemed to have abandoned whatever script they'd been given and appeared to just be playing it by ear. For me, this was Emma Watson's best performance since the Harry Potter series (too bad it was in a film not worth her salt), John Boyega was woefully wasted in his role he might as well have been playing a ghost, Tom Hanks phoned it in as did his partner in rhyme and crime (no pun intended) Patton Oswalt. I didn't even recognize Bill Paxton (until the credits rolled) and I cried. R.I.P. Bill.

The Bounce Back (2016)

It is so bad that...

[1/10 · 21 April 2017]

you can literally feel the cast struggling (with their d-rate talent) to grab at the strings of what should be the script. Characters pop-up everywhere and anywhere even when them being there makes no sense at all, the scenes (while trying not to be) are whiny and preachy and even the actors cannot seem to commit to the delivery of the insipid lines they are reading. On one end the film is saying therapy has no purpose but you're letting a life coach tell you what to do, on another end you're saying life coaching serves no real purpose but you're letting your vapid friends tell you what to do. This film has no real mission and therefore the only logical moral to any of the tales it tells is to solve your own life issues as you see fit, preferable without the help of this POS excuse for a film.

Split (IX) (2016)

Paisa Vasool!

[8/10 · 6 March 2017]

"Paisa Vasool" (Hindi expression often used by satisfied moviegoers exiting the theatre) means "Money's Worth" and that's what you can expect to get from watching 'Split.' James McAvoy gives one of his career's best performance(s) and his director M. Night finally redeems himself with a much deserved and long awaited blockbuster comeback from a career slump following a string of poorly conceived & received box office under performers (The Happening, The Last Airbender, The Lady in the Water & After Earth). Finally, M. Night has returned to the beast mode he was in when he gave us (The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village & Unbreakable) and you dare not leave your brain at home for this one because there is a lot of thinking, comparing & remembering required. Special props to the attention paid to stereotypes in this film, the embodiment of those clearly defined roles and filling them was impeccable & quite remarkable. If you loved 'Identity' & 'Unbreakable' you will love 'Split.'

The Ones Below (2015)

So many plot holes I had to review this film...

[4/10 · 22 January 2017]

This film could have been great if the makers would have just paid a little attention to detail. I had a question for almost every scene, for instance why was Kate's husband so money hungry? It almost seemed he was always in a hurry to get away from his wife because of one thing or the other but in the scene with his mother-in-law when he described his successes at work before the updates on the child he was about to have with his wife, I just deduced that he's a money hungry d-bag. Kate for all her many flaws was too trusting and needy but why? Okay so we know that her brother died tragically (this is not explained, audience is left to figure it out) and there is a rift with her mother but hasn't the writer given us enough to at least feel sorry for Kate when the story begins to unravel? Anyhow, here is one thing I know for sure...this film was made on an approximately 3.5 million dollar budget and only returned $42,951 at the box office (that's not even a flop it's a disaster) and the reason probably being its little audience walking out in anger, demanding their money back and warning others not to waste their hard earned cash on this turkey.

Warcraft (2016)

People loved 'Sausage Party' but hated this?

[10/10 · 11 December 2016]

Flawless entertainment as far as I am concerned, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I have never played the game(s) or read any previous literature or synopsis from which it was or might have been adapted. I don't understand the negative reviews across the web, face it no book is ever going be adapted into a film just the way you see it in your mind and the same goes for video games or what not. The film crossed 400 million dollars on a 160 million dollar budget for a reason, it was good. Like it or leave it, as of the time of this commentary it remains the most successful film ever adapted from a video or computer game, surpassing even Lara Croft, Prince of Persia or whatever else you want to throw at it in comparison as of the time of its release, so there.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Okay so...

[7/10 · 9 August 2016]

This was half and half for me. Half good half bad and I suppose that is much better than being totally bad like many Batman films before the Chris Nolan ones. Ben Affleck thankfully passed the test, Henry Cavill was his usual awesome self as Superman the second time around and the supporting characters were apt to their tasks especially Gal Gadot as Wonder-woman and let me just say that I am happy she is getting her own standalone film because with the amount of promise she showed in this film, she was NOT done justice with the small screen-time she was given here. The worst offender to me besides the shaky script was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, I usually love him and I think he is a fantastic actor but he was horribly miscast in the role and I believe even he knew this because his approach was to try his best to ape the late great Heath Ledger's Joker and of course that act sank faster than the Titanic....at least with me.

Fitoor (2016)

Who does that?

[1/10 · 14 July 2016]

Just when I was starting to settle into the story they aged the main characters and it was all downhill from there. Don't get me wrong, the setting (Kashmir) was stunningly beautiful and the plot was well established easy enough to follow, it's just that all the acting, projecting and emoting was chocked up to the masterclass actress that is Tabu (Begum) and that just wasn't fair considering two other people were hired to play the lead characters. If you are paid to act, then you should act. Katrina Kaif (Firdaus) can't act, I don't even think she bothers, I believe she is just happy to get one script after the other and knows in her heart all she has to do is show up and look pretty while others do the acting. Aditya Roy Kapoor (Noor) presented Fitoor (Obsession) very well, in fact it was downright scary but I'm afraid that's all he did even in the scenes that didn't require him to be obsessed. After selling obsession for two and half hours, director Abhishek Kapoor presents its final sigh as love? Who does that?

Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)

Everything WILL NOT Be Fine

[3/10 · 9 July 2016]

James Franco just keeps getting worse and worse as an actor and of course because he is a good looking guy and a "White" man in Hollywood it doesn't matter because he would continue to get film roles in which he plays the lead character flanked by actors and actresses that innocent film-goers such as myself love and have no choice but to suffer through just because they are starring opposite James Franco, the lucky Hollywood golden boy. Watching this film (which wouldn't have been bad if it didn't have Mr. Franco) was like watching a very long commercial break during Franco's ill-advised stint as an Oscar co-host opposite poor Anne Hathaway a few years back. How much longer do we have to endure this guy's sleep-walk excuse for an acting career?