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Brandon_Marlo
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Athena (2022)
Good, worth watching despite weak plot and over-acting
I see there are a few unhappy reviews here, and while I share the criticisms relating to the poor plot and overacting, shouting actors, you should know a thing or two about director Romain Gavras before watching Athena.
Until now I knew him for his controversial yet fabulous 2007 music video of a song called 'Stress', by French band Justice. It caused such a backlash that it was banned on French TV.
Watching it should be a prerequisite to watching Athena, because this music video showcases Gavras' aesthetic and talent in 7 minutes. It is violent, captivating, eerily beautiful, expertly shot and edited but it is also deep and puts the viewer before his own voyeuristic relationship with violence. It follows a gang of feral youths as they rampage through Paris, gratuitously attacking people and damaging property.
I see Athena as the long version of the 'Stress' music video. Unfortunately, I think the latter is better than the former! It's so hard-hitting and arresting that 7 minutes is all you need. A feature film is simply too long to sustain that level of intensity. I feel that Athena peaked too early, after what is probably one of the most superb opening scenes in French cinema in years.
Romain Gavras is without a doubt the master of this style of directing. I don't know who else does it that way. Maybe Gaspar Noé is on the same level.
I can't rate it higher than 6 due to the plot and acting. If direction and photography were the only criteria, it would be a 9 or a 10. It's definitely worth watching once.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Philosophical horror
If you ask enough questions, you may either not like the answers, or find the lack of answers equally upsetting - the fact everything is so absurd, in the end.
There's a sort of philosophical angst to it all. A point where the questioning becomes delusion and confusion, it all mixes up into a muddled existential whirl. 'Everything is the same, once you look close enough', says the talking pig. Yes, there's a talking pig. And musicals.
Twighlight zone, philosophy, time and self, and it all comes down, possibly, to the fact a man just wants a woman in his life.
This will make sense when you watch it, and you should, if you like unusual but well made movies.
Les choses de la vie (1970)
Very poor script which seems to owe its cult following to how quintessentially French this is
The 70s Frenchness of this cannot be overstated: wall-papered interiors, old motor cars, retro designs, white helmet-wearing motorbike gendarmes and enough smoking to give you cancer just from watching it.
There's also no denying this is a very well made film. It looks gorgeous and the soundtrack is addictively nostalgic.
Alas the plot, dialogues and characters are *extremely* limited and barely get the movie off the ground. The lack of depth of characters is probably the worst offence in this picture. They are utterly unrelatable, not believable and the viewer feels no sympathy nor antipathy towards them. They are as believable as cardboard cutouts of themselves. Therefore, the main protagonist's dilemma, not knowing whether to stay with his mistress or his wife, his reminiscence of fond memories, wife, places and children, are of no effect whatsoever. That is the failure of this picture which could have been great had someone bothered to worry about the script rather than the style.
Passengers (2016)
I loved it
This is a top-notch movie. Yes it's science-fiction, but not the ultra realistic type we have got used to of late. At its heart this is a love story played out by two beautiful actors who have terrific chemistry on screen. Very underrated film.
The Sacrament (2013)
The horror of colonialism
Being ignorant of the historical events this film is based on, I watched every second of it with bated breath. I rate this very highly because it is very well done and acted.
Let me first deal with criticisms behind the low ratings.
I see a lot of critics are disappointed it's just a re-telling of historical events, but I don't see why that would be a problem. So what if it's true or not? A film is a story. Up to you to decide whether it matters that it's inspired from true facts. I'm very forgiving of true stories told in film. If you you want fact, watch a documentary. If you want to be entertained, watch a movie, and this one will do just that.
Of course it's predictable. Many plots are. I'll paraphrase Hitchcock who said that when there's a bomb under the character's seat, the director knows there's a bomb, the audience knows there's a bomb. What matters, is how will the character know he's sitting on a bomb? And thus the criticism of predictability is dispatched as being irrelevant, in my opinion. The point is what the characters are going through, because they don't see it coming and a skilfully directed film will make you identify with them and live the story through their eyes. I believe this has been achieved in this picture.
Now I will explain what I liked about it.
The horror of religion is a common theme in film and it's done well here, but I don't think that's the real focus. I see it as the horror of colonialism, a modern twist on Heart of Darkness. The character known as Father played by Gene Jones pretty much steals the spotlight and the movie is all about him. He is deliciously charismatic, sinister, revolting, mysterious and detestable at the same time. The cinematography, props, decoration and location all subtly allude to someone with a violent military past in war-torn African countries, where he possibly commanded the most horrific human rights abuses. The scene that takes place in a office near the end was superb - the 60s radio equipment, bamboo cabinet and office supplies are from another era and superbly evocative of colonial administrations as they were back then. I'm quite sure it's no accident props were chosen this way, and you'll see there are many, many other choices that go in this direction.
Overall, the mixture of Vietnam war references, pith helmet-ear colonialism and end of 20th century AK-47 African massacres are are all superbly blended into a oppressive atmosphere that illustrates the evils of colonialism, and of a people oppressing another into submission. I'm my no means a snowflake millennial obsessed with racism and bent on reminding everyone, every minute of the day, how evil white people, slavery, colonialism and racism are, quite the opposite, but this is clearly the point of this film and it's done excellently well.
Serpico (1973)
Don't fall for the high ratings
It's a trap. I fell for it. It's forgivable: a young Al Pacino, filthy 70s New York, dirty cops, true story... and high ratings. Who'd have though it could have been such a dull, poorly scripted and edited movie.
In reality it's both boring and laughable. The undercover costume act by a short man becomes more Woody Allen than anything else. I lost it when he appears at the precinct in full Hasidic jew outfit. I think we get the point that he is undercover; usually, plainclothes are sufficient to communicate this to the audience, however short their attention span may be. To see him appear in a new outfit every two minutes is extremely distracting.
The rest of the time you're wondering quite what the relevance of a scene is or its importance in the wider plot.
There's very little tension. Any that builds up, falls flat.
I'm sure the story of Serpico is fascinating and worth telling, if somebody knew how, but this isn't it.
Into the Inferno (2016)
Tremendous disappointement
Be under no illusion, this is not a volcano documentary. Whatever it is, is not even very good. You will learn almost nothing about volcanoes. There's some 'volcano porn' cinematography but it is dwarfed by a meandering, aimless succession of locations and people without any regard for any kind of unity of time and place, topped by Herzog's monotone narration and grating German accent throughout. It's possibly the worst voice over I've ever heard, and exists only because the director has cast himself in his own film.
Confusingly, an eminent British volcanologist takes on the role of both interviewee and interviewer at times, and combined with Herzog's over-bearing vocal presence, you are never quite sure who's in charge of this enterprise. It may be that was an artistic/directorial decision, but it sure when right over my head in that case, and felt to me more like it came out of a lack of planning and focus on part of the director.
There is an anthropological dimension to the documentary, looking at the people who live with the volcanoes, but it is conducted in a deeply unsatisfying way. We're treated to long, interminable minutes of a village chief's ridiculous and childish superstitions ("The volcano talks to me.. but I cannot say, it's a secret....the volcano is annoyed because foreigners come here...").
This dull and prolonged pseudo-anthropological exercise in filming village people do their incomprehensible volcano-related rituals is followed by various other uninteresting bits until the documentary takes us to North Korea, where Herzog insults your intelligence with fury by suggesting - shock horror - that North Koreans are brainwashed into blind patriotism and admiration for their leader, and - wait for it - that they engage in propaganda! His apparent surprise is such that the film turns into a tired repetition of the same old news about North Korea, and the volcano that brought him there is pretty much ignored.
In summary, it's not a good volcano film - you don't see that much, and learn next to nothing. It's not a good documentary about people either. Herzog and his British buddy are rather inept at talking to people and drawing out their interesting side in a way that documentaries demand. What's left is Herzog's ego and unpleasant voice.
They Look Like People (2015)
Very, very disappointed
There must be some fake review trickery at work here because this doesn't come close to deserving the praise it has inexplicably received.
A schizophrenic man's fight with his hallucinations takes its toll on his long lost but newly-found buddy and the latter's love interest. So far, so good.
However, the actors are bad. One of the actors' diction is mumbled and rushed to the point of incomprehension. There's no suspense and any attempt at creating a feeling of dread or anxiety falls flat. Now, I will explain why that is.
The key to this type of film is to maintain the border between reality and hallucination blurred enough for the viewer to be second-guessing what's real the entire time. Why? Because only then do you identify with the character and see the world through their eyes. Only then can you feel their despair for real, as you are emotionally involved with their plight. Don't take my word for it: watch Black Swan, the Babadook, the Tenant, Lost Highway or even the excellent Enemy. They all follow the same recipe: you don't know any better than the characters whether it's in their head or for real.
The problem here is that the mental illness is given away early on. If you don't guess it in the beginning, a scene soon after where the main character meets his therapist makes sure you get the point. Consequently, none of the hallucinations have any impact on the audience: you know it's not real. The soundtrack fills with the sound of insects buzzing the moment a hallucination begins, and this becomes a tired signal after the third time.
Also, cinematography is junk - they managed to make New York and Brooklyn look boring and dull - that's quite an achievement.
The only un-sarcastic achievement I will award is what seems to me to be clinically accurate depictions of schizophrenic hallucinations as described to me by a schizophrenic friend: voices, visual distortions and particularly people's smiles extending unnaturally to their ears.
Mother! (2017)
Aronofsky set the bar too high with his other excellent movies
Spoilers!
I really wanted to like this but just couldn't. Too much was packed into this film. The themes covered were:
(1) The horror of religion (2) The horror/downfall of humanity (3) The anxiety of artistic creation (4) The horror of motherhood
I think each theme has at least one excellent if not classic movie that covers it really well, for instance (1) The Witch or The Wicker Man (1976 of course), (2) Children of Men, (3) Lost Highway/Inland Empire, (4) Rosemary's Baby.
I think Aronofsky, who I like very much due to his past masterpieces, bit off more than he could chew here. You can't reinvent all these excellent above-mentioned films into one even when you are as brilliant as him. It's a pizza with too many toppings.
There were some excellent delirious and nauseous Aronofsky-esque moments but on balance it's not a film I can recommend.
Bitter Moon (1992)
Explicit but moving, a very personal movie for me
This is a very subjective review. The movies I like best are the ones that provoke a deep and prolonged emotional response, however flawed from an objective point of view.
Therefore I have no problems in giving it a 10/10, because that's how it made me feel. I was completely and utterly engulfed by the characters and their tragic story. It is extremely moving, and although the explicitness of the film seems to have put a lot of people off, I actually found its candidness to be what made it such a strong and compelling expression of human nature.
1990s Paris is beautifully photographed in this film, which also moved me as I grew up there in that very period. Every little detail of 90s urban life that no longer exists is there, and took me straight back: the characteristic brown upholstery of Parisian buses, people's clothes, car models and now long gone rolling stock of the Métro. Even 90s telecommunications technology features in a very meaningful way (Minitel, for those in the 'know' - a precursor to the Internet which the French more or less invented).
Maybe it's not the film for you, and Polanski can't resist the odd Hitchcockian joke and surreal scenes, which for some reason puts people off, personally I like them very much.
The final irony of the movie is of course that its main protagonist, a failed writer who complains he has not published a single word, ends up being his own beautiful, revolting and tragic story of his own life.
Le locataire (1976)
So traumatising I haven't got over it several days later
You know that sinking feeling of dread you experience in nightmare before you realise it was all a dream? Until then, everything is very real, and truly horrid.
Well, prepare to enter that nightmare state of mind. You will never escape, no matter how many times you tell yourself it isn't real.
The nightmare will follow its own logic and torture you with its inventive and hurtful twists and turns, much like the protagonist whose fate is not only inescapable, it is inflicted with almost sadistic delight, a sort of death by a thousand cuts.
I can't put words on the existential angst this masterpiece has provoked in me.
I thought I'd seen everything, and I've read Kafka.
This is several levels above.
I can't stop listening to the haunting soundtrack which is like an anchor - every time I play it, I'm drawn back into the nightmare.
Black Mass (2015)
A film that doesn't know what it wants to be
Would you write a love story without love? An action movie without action?
Then why do a film about a gangster without crime? Yet this is what Black Mass is. You might see a few murders being committed, but you never see what makes Whitey Bulger a gangster. You never understand what caused him to become one, or how he subsists. A few passing references to vending machines, some nonsense about the street value of loyalty (repeated about 20 times in case you didn't get it the first time) but nothing about the organised crime gang he leads, how its income is generated, the system behind it, its hierarchy.
The classics of this genre all adhered to this principle: show the crime, show the system. Casino, Goodfellas, The Departed, Scarface. What's good enough for them ought to be good enough for Black Mass, which strangely departs from the principle and offers nothing in exchange.
What's left is a disappointing mixture of characters and plots that fail to deliver any dramatic tension. In this context, the mis- casting of Cumberbatch and Bacon is even more blatant – but none is worse than that of Depp. He is not terrifying at all and his make-up is a constant distraction. The mascara is even flagrantly visible in some scenes. Even when he was committing awful acts of violence, he was not believable.
A very sad failure for what could have been a new classic gangster movie.
The Imitation Game (2014)
After careful consideration, I am afraid to announce this film is overrated.
While it is a moderately decent film on a noble subject matter, I never felt thrilled, moved or otherwise captivated in a way that deserves over the top praise from other reviewers in my humble opinion.
I felt that many opportunities to create dramatic tension and stunning photography were thrown away as a result of the insertion of ill-fitting material (black and white footage of Hitler? really?) and poor script and acting (Keira is bland as vanilla I am afraid to say).
It wasn't all bad. Translating the challenge of cryptanalysis into film is a challenge which I think was valiantly attempted, though excessively dumbed down.
A number of sub-plots are introduced in different time frames, one in Turing's childhood and one after the war. Sadly they fail to deliver any meaningful drama, again as a result of mediocre writing. If anything they are distracting and defuse any tension that might have built up in the scenes that precede them. As such, the editing did feel amateurish. The ending was extremely disappointing: why use lines of text to depict that which can be shown instead?
Finally there is a rather out of place scene with a barely disguised and hypocritical feminist agenda. I say that because that particular scene was fictional and never happened in reality, so its existence can only be justified by such an agenda. I refer to the moment Keira Knightly attempts to sit an exam to join Turing's code breakers' team. An incredulous usher, convinced she is present for a job interview as a secretary instead (because the evil patriarchy couldn't possibly contemplate she is as capable as men - see how subtle that was? wow) refuses her entry until our hero Turing intervenes and allows her in.
We are also told this female character has a double first in mathematics from Cambridge. If wartime Britain was so sexist, why does she hold such a distinguished degree? And if sexism is so evil, then why fall does the script fall in the trap of using her as an emotional element in the story but glosses over the contribution her brilliant mind made to Turing's efforts? Now THAT my friends, is sexist and the film could have done without this ridiculous and off-topic political manifesto. It was the final nail in the coffin as far as I was concerned.
I shall not watch this again, however I do fancy reading a biography of Alan Turing, maybe something the film can take credit for.
Real Gangsters (2013)
The high ratings are fake, it is actually a terrible, terrible movie
Where do I even start? The movie barely reaches the dramatic and artistic level of a layman's impersonation of classic film gangsters played by Joe Pesci, Robert de Niro, and other references of this genre. Personally I enjoy very much telling my friends to fetch their shine box, and retorting 'funny how?' to their comments, and other such delightful moments that gangster films have given us. But to consider that these moments of (bad) play acting on my part have any artistic merit would be unimaginable. Yet this is exactly what this movie purports to achieve. As a group project of teenagers pretending to be Joe Pesci, then this movie could work. But to consider it is anything better borders on insanity. The sets are cheap and ugly, acting would make 1st year drama students cringe and the plot and dialogue - good god! It seems like it's written by a 5 year old who has made sure he is in EVERY scene and has 80% of the lines, a further 80% of which are the F word. Only the cast of Goodfellas can pull off that amount of swearing with class. Here it's just cheap and unimaginative. I would only recommend this movie as an example of why professionals should be left In charge of script, cast, costumes, set, props, direction- you know, the usual stuff. It is embarrassing to watch and I wonder if d'Angelo is not secretly pulling a massive trollface.jpg at all these negative reviews.
The Railway Man (2013)
A great story but poorly executed
Singapore, 1942.
The sun finally sets on the British Empire. Eric Lomax, a signals officer, is ordered to surrender with his unit to the Japanese imperial army and is sent to build the notorious Burma railway with thousands of other POWs.
Although his engineering skills initially spare him the worst of the brutality and physical hardship endured by the men laying the tracks, events take a dramatic turn for the worse and Lomax endures unimaginable torment at the hands of a young Japanese intelligence officer.
The script writers decided to use present-day Lomax as the story-telling device, where flashbacks to the Death Railway are interspersed with an ageing and tortured Lomax struggling to cope with his memories - and alienating his wife in the process.
And herein lies one of the biggest 'killers' of the film in my opinion. Used correctly, this type of device is great for building tension and revealing plot points (as Stefan Zweig masterfully demonstrated with his novella Chess, also about a man tortured by his memories of imprisonment).
However we spend so much time in grey, dull Britain at a painfully slow pace that any tension that is built up in the flashbacks falls flat. The momentum of the action is wasted.
As for the flashbacks themselves, for some subtle, but unknown reason to me, they fail to convey the heat, dust, malaria, exhaustion and death these poor men suffered. It might be something to do with the location, or the acting which is ropey at times (a Japanese guard reprimanding two prisoners for having a conversation tries as hard as possible to look angry and terrifying, but ends up looking rather silly instead).
I could only give 5 out of 10 for this poor script writing. The photography was immensely disappointing too. You just don't feel the humidity or heat of the jungle, but strangely you feel the utter dread and dullness of British coastlines very well. Despite some instances of cruelty by the Japanese captors, as a viewer I felt the sight of a Japanese guard didn't instill fear in me. Instead you're thinking how neat their little hats are, the way that flap at the back keeps the sun of their necks.
I suspect Lomax's book is much richer in detail and atmosphere, which is why I can recommend you read it - but I can't recommend that anybody goes to see this movie.
Quartet (2012)
So full of clichés you'll want to retire, too... to another screen to see if something better is on.
Cliché #1 - old people dancing in their samba class is 'funny' = check
Cliché #2 - old people saying 'f_ck' is hilarious = check
Cliché #3 - dirty old man is a womaniser but in cute and harmless way = check
I felt the movie was insulting my intelligence. There's something so utterly patronising and mawkish about this kind of 'feel good' movie I just want to reach for the bucket.
I don't demand realism from movies, I'm not that type of guy. But you know there's something wrong when you want to rip out your hair and shout 'c'mon!!!' with open arms at the screen in a crowded movie theatre.
The characters are simply not believable. Anyone who has set foot in a retirement home will feel an immediate sense that none of these residents are anywhere old or invalid enough to be in a home. They move about with too much energy and are having far too much fun, when they're not pretending to have dizzy spells. But they gave Billy Connolly a cane, so, whatever, I guess that conclusively proves he's an old man.
The residents are overseen by Dr Cogan, the in-house doctor. Putting aside the fact you never see her perform a medical act (unless you count giving a disapproving frown to residents who want to stay up past midnight - naughty naughty!), she would be more believable as saucy chamber maid than a doctor. A role Sheridan Smith lends absolutely no sense of authority or seriousness to, but then I suppose she only did what she was told.
I will never, never see this movie again and you should all save yourselves and avoid watching it in the first place if it's not too late.