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neilkempe
Reviews
Moonfall (2022)
Should've Could've Would've
This should have and could have been so much better. And it would have been with a better effort from the producers.
Shallow characters, thin plot lines, cliched dialogue, an absence of mass numbers of extras in large disaster scenes, and a complete absence of any geo-political personnel, makes this a fairly empty vessel for an experience in computer game cgi.
With some genuinely good actors and access to such high end film making resources, this is just disappointing. In my experience, most film school graduates could have and would have made a much better effort of this production.
The whole thing is a pretty fair warning about getting too comfortable with AI, but it should have been so much more.
The end jump to "we just gotta kill this thing" sums up the shallow clumsiness that hounds this movie.
Expats: Mainland (2024)
Come on, please
We have been watching this show from the start and have looked forward to each episode as it dropped. Had I reviewed the first two episodes I would have given a 7 or 8 out of 10 but these last couple of episodes have begun to drag behind a become quite frustrating. It feels like a case where the writers had decided it was going to be a certain number of episodes and so they now have to pad it out to go the distance. This depletes the story's tension and interest factor as it becomes overloaded with padding. Long transitions through corridors, unnecessarily drawn out pondering, painfully lengthy build-ups to key reveals - way too slow. Don't do this. Come on please! Hopefully the next couple episodes will reward the viewer with some of the pace and slickness the first two episodes promised.
The Flood (2020)
The Depth of Meaning and Feeling
Negative reviews of a movie like this say way more about the reviewers than the movie makers.
This is a great story, well told, poignant and beautiful in its cinematography and other production values, and truly well acted.
Movie makers like Tarantino and co. In Hollywood in no way own the rights to be creative when it comes to such eclectic story telling, regardless of any and every minute historical detail that some may wish to pick apart. And there's so much here that is unique, inspired and new - and right here in Australia!
The truth and power of this story is in its meaning and what it genuinely represents - a history of cruel, bigoted, ignorant treatment of innocent people in their own land. Sadly, we still have a long way to go before some may be able to watch a movie like this without feeling an overwhelming need to cancel it - just the way so much of the real and actual historical injustice has been cancelled.
And, by the way, it's a ripping yarn and, in an intellectually intelligent way, it's entertaining.
There are countless crucial angles and perspectives on a huge range of real issues packed into and around the central narrative which, in case you missed it, is actually a great love story as well. The truth within each of those real issues gives us a movie of genuinely worthy proportions.
Love Is in the Air (2023)
Light entertainment - very light.
I'm a fan of Delta and a huge fan of Australian movies - but this did not work well at all.
It's lolly water iced with cliches and a predictable plot.
I do not understand why these kinds of movies are made. I understand that no-one forces us to watch - so, there's no need to do so then be all negative about it - but, like I said, I'm a Delta fan and a huge Australian movie fan - so, you just want to give it a shot.
But when the writing lacks depth, edge and light and dark, it ends up being little more than a relatively polished episode of Neighbours or Home and Away.
And , unfortunately then, the acting, directing, even the music, flops to the same low levels. Pity.
Little Fish (2005)
Any slower and it would be stationary
I am a massive fan of just about every actor in this movie but even that was not enough for me to be gracious about it. The acting is good. The idea is okay. But the pace makes pedestrian look an olympic games 100m sprint final. While filming this, why don't the actors tell the director "can we please get a move on here? After all, we do have lives to get on with!"?
I understand the importance of making movies with gravitas and substance, but gravity is the only substance here. It's a downer. Much of the plot could have been covered in a much faster fashion - just to hold the viewer's attention or, heaven forbid, provide some suspense and entertainment. But I dare say Saturday night in an emergency ward waiting room would provide just as much entertainment and at least that would provide some reason for genuine viewer engagement. Ho-hum.
Oh, then something happened at the end and I woke up a bit. No, it didn't. Not really.
This is a movie, sadly, that is so hard to care about.
Did I mention, however, that it's jam packed with good actors.
The Handmaid's Tale: Safe (2022)
Getting silly after so much previous intelligence
I have so loved this show right through but the silliness it has arrived at, thanks to some incredibly incredibly silly writing, can be summed up in one question: why did June just stand there and let herself get run over?
She looked like anyone other than the smart representative of strong survivors we had so come to admire and root for. When writers do this, it becomes a slap in the face to the viewers and to the intelligence and cunning and strength June previously portrayed. It's a road. You are in the middle of it. Some redneck is revving the engine - what do you not get?? Why do you writers do this?
137 Shots (2021)
Swagger and bluster and the wielders of force
Robert Kennedy's opening speech sets the tone for questioning a culture of violence that has torn at the throat of African Americans for centurions. Strap a gun on the hip of a right winged, alpha male and add a badge of authority and watch him swagger as he gets an itchy trigger finger. Then watch as his eyes light up when he hears those words "shots fired" and he realizes his chance to pull that trigger has just arrived. And who knows, the ultimate power every gun happy bully ever dreamed of may just be justified as he unleashes his prejudice with fatal consequences. Wake up America. Strength is defined through emotional intelligence - not violence!
Darklands (2022)
Yeh... nah
Good quality production, great actors, original plot - the first half was so promising. But overall the writer over-thought this by miles. I get what the point is. It's great to challenge this world's abilities to be unfairly judgemental and unempathetic, but the means by which it tries to do this is over the top. It's actually quite silly. Who funded this? The complexity with which the whole thing unfolds is truly unrealistic - regarding both the initial incident and then the convoluted events that follow. The movie just keeps revealing one unlikable charachter after another and in the the viewer is challenged to like anyone, except for borish journalist's husband. I started by enjoying it and ended up thinking it was silly. And I'm a huge Nadine fan.
True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)
Promising but confusing
This movie cannot make up its mind between form and substance, art and entertainment, narrative and psychology. It's just a weird take on the whole Kelly conumdrum. Seriously great stars and good acting, but strange costume and design decisions, and silly script with overly busy dialogue and strange sequences. Overall ended being too much hard work to be enjoyed, even with a couple of nice glasses of red.
Jasper Jones (2017)
Massive disappointment
Loved the book. Great book. Looked forward to the movie because I was so impressed with the book. Equally and opposite I was incredibly disappointed with the movie. In comparision, the movie was shallow, overly simplistic and lacked character development - it missed all of Charlie's inner struggles and demons, fell way short with his mother's and father's complexities, the richness of Jeffrey's story was cheapened, and the build up around Mad Jack was just 2-dimensional.
Honestly, please just read the book and do not watch the movie.
Sweet Girl (2021)
Unrealism Taken to Another Level
As per the many negative reviews, the irritation of a 5 foot small 90 pounder displaying near superhuman abilities and more resilience than hardened steel is beyond the pale. Please show more respect for the viewers if you want to be taken seriously as writers and filmmakers. Good production resources and film talent wasted by silly writing and plot development.
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)
Negative reviews totally justified
The biggest crime connected to this documentary is the grand larceny of the viewer's time. All of the negative reviews are totally justified. I wondered when the thing would get somewhere - but it was a long, unrewarded wait. Would Netflix either lift their game please - or offer to finance the filming of my ceiling fan just going round and round and getting nowhere. The only thing I gained from this is sympathy for Alisa - and for Pablo. Total sleep fest!
Departure (2019)
Unvelievable, contrived and wooden.
For once I will use the phrase "well there's 4 hours of my life I'll never get back". This promised much, teased a bit and just dragged to the end justifying the critical reviews regarding silly and unvelievable plot twists, contrived ideas, poor direction and wooden acting. How do these low grade productions get financed? This could have been good, but it aint'.
The Haunting of Bly Manor: The Two Faces, Part Two (2020)
A tangled mess
Once again a plot so convoluted and mish-mashed you can sense the writers adding way too many ingredients to this particluar broth - it's almost a case of viewer-abuse. You can just hear the workshopping: "let's go this way now" and then someone else "oh we'll add this now" and "yes and then we'll use a knock on the door or an entry into a different room to change not only the scene, but the very souls, personalities, time zones and dimensions the viewer is witnessing." Ho-hum for so long... and about as scary as a sock full of lawn clippings. Honestly, it is a genuine case of stuff the viewer, aren't we such clever little writers. Not!
Charlie's Farm (2014)
Waste of time
This a cheap rip-off of the genre with no originality. Poorly written, delivered predictably and weakly, and full of cliches. Ho-hum.
Space Force (2020)
Funny, intelligent and timely.
This show is a great tongue in cheek comedy. I feel for those who are so negative about it - they are taking life way too seriously. The characters are a great blend of the unusual, the predictable, the unique and the comedian/straight-role interplay. Steve's character is wonderfully conflicted yet so determined to try to make things work - and it's great to see John Malkovich in a role like this. The whole thing just works.
Await Further Instructions (2018)
Writers these days.
Good start then got stupid. That's all. Typical of writers these days.