marcusscrowley

Uncle Drew (2018)

Great film if you're 9 years old

I love basketball, and movies about basketball. I also love watching Kyrie, Reggie, Shaq, Nate and Chris *play* basketball. I also rate The Blues Brothers - which has a similar but stronger storyline to Uncle Drew - as one of my favourite all-time films.

Uncle Drew, though, was disappointing. Despite the players' hall-of-fame talent to entertain, the story, soundtrack, jokes and on-court action were uninspiring. The rivalry between the heroes and the villains was cringey to anyone old enough to not play in a sandpit.

To my mind, the best line was a throw-back to a famous Chris Webber incident in college. The best actor was Reggie Miller and I appreciated Nate for looking cool under a ton of prosthetics while having very few lines.

Big Deal (2021)

Peeking behind the curtain of Australian politics

"Big Deal" shines a big, warm light on some of the systemic issues which prevent Australia from being a more effective and equitable country. Craig and Christiaan take the dry topic of political donations and explain it in a way which manages to be both sobering, humorous and riveting.

It pulls back the curtain of politics in the land of Oz and reveals that the real levers of power lie in lobbying by special interests and the ability to promote untruths on social media rather than - as Australians are brought up to believe - the elections.

The sums of money involved in Australian lobbying sound comparatively small, and this is something I feel the creators skipped over, although one of the interviewees does mention the daily cost of TV campaign advertising.

Look out for a particularly poignant scene, at the end of which Christiaan's daughter exclaims, "I want Adani", a reference to the Adani coal mine which has long been opposed by activists.

"Big Deal" ends with a persuasive call to action to meet and discuss political issues within communities.

Queer Eye: Lost Boy (2019)

Seemingly impossible task

One of the better episodes i've watched. I didn't think the lads were going to be able to help the fellow because he was so far gone mentally and physically but it was inspiring to see the man's smile shine through by the end of the week. 100% feel good TV.

Yin mi de jiao luo (2020)

Great story but it fails towards the end

It's a fascinating and intricate story centred around three children from poor families in southern China. The production values are high. The three young actors do a great job as they navigate the many complexities of the real world: educational pressure, marital bliss, financial and health crises. There are no easy choices between right and wrong.

Unfortunately - as other have commented - the editing and storyline drop inexplicably in the last three episodes. I'd happily watch it again in a few years time as the characters and themes were so endearing, but I'd hesitate to recommend it to anyone because of the mangled ending. Perhaps the producers ran out of time or money.

Playing Frisbee in North Korea (2018)

Any new glimpse of the DPRK is welcome

This is a pre-pandemic production based around a wet and dystopian tour to North Korea. The director enters by foot over the northern border with China. The 'illegal' footage is understandably shaky but fascinating. The tour footage is supported by interesting archival footage and (somewhat poorly lit) interviews with various Korea experts.

I loved the scene when the frisbee came out in the final minutes. I wonder what impression the visitors left in the minds of the young children?

Logan's Run (1976)

Has aged really badly

Two nights ago I watched this with my son Netflix. I had grown up with a vague memory of this having been a terribly exciting film from watching it on TV as a boy.

While the story has some thought-provoking twists, this movie has aged very badly. The acting, gender roles, soundtrack, and special effects are all hard to swallow. It's that much more remarkable that Star Wars came out the following year (1977).

I'd recommend The Island (2005) and In Time (2011) as more modern and entertaining takes on the same story. Maybe I'll look back on them in 40 years' time too and have a good laugh!

Chang'an shi er shi chen (2019)

Terrible subtitles

I have just finished watching episode 1 and won't be watching any more. The whole thing looks gorgeous and is full of promising characters - it even has camels! But the English subtitles are so wooden that the whole thing made little sense. It wasn't helped by a unrealistic plot involving a manacled prisoner mumbling every so often through his lanky hair. Perhaps it's a blast if you speak Mandarin, though, based on the earlier reviews here!

Project Blue Book (2019)

Great if you're a teenager

I have just finished watching this with by teenage son and his adult cousin. I should say that I am quite familiar with the history of UFOs and even read one of Dr Hynek's books a few years ago. I have also just read "The Close Encounters Man" which is an excellent biography of Dr Hynek.

The production values are high. It looks great, and the costumes and sets transported us back to a different time. (Why did we ever stop wearing hats!)

The main characters were all interesting and the acting - particularly Laura Mennell's - was pretty good.

My son enjoyed every episode and eagerly looked forward to the next one every week. My nephew and I were less impressed, for the following reasons:

• The history of UFOs in that era is interesting and twisted enough without needing to embellish it with a sidekick, Russian spies and mysterious artifacts.

• The journey Dr Hynek took from skeptic to believer isn't depicted in a convincing manner. It wasn't something that happened overnight; it was something he struggled with for years. The series shows him ruminating and discussing his thoughts with Quinn but I'd like to have seen his inner conflict play a bigger role. Hynek was a serious, intelligent, energetic man who never had a UFO sighting of his own.

• Hynek was shown performing an autopsy on a bird and hypnotizing an abductee. In real life he was an astronomer and physicist. By depicting him as a can-do-science-hero, the producers diminish his legacy and insult the intelligence of the audience.

• The military top brass are presented as one dimensional. I pulled out the first episode of the X-Files and watched it again to compare. X-Files was a much more considered and intricate story that felt as though it was written for adults instead of teenagers. You always had the sense that characters were driven by their own complex motivations and that there was a lot more to them than was shown on screen.

• Quinn is an interesting counterpoint to Hynek's character, but he's totally fictitious and - despite just being a captain - seems to just do as he pleases when faced with a crisis: jump into a plane, get into a fistfight, and attend meetings with the Secretary of Defense. That's not the way the real world worlds and not credible at all.

• The on-screen testimony of Hynek to what I assume was a congressional panel in the last episode irks. He throws Quinn under the bus by contradicting his account of the events, and then merrily explains to Quinn afterwards that he did it to stay in the loop. Quinn suddenly is OK with that. Adults don't think and behave this way. Generals and politicians don't behave this way, all the more so in the middle of the Cold War. It's all really too silly, alas.

The Alienist (2018)

Looks brilliant but not perfect

Loved this until the final episode: great acting, sets, costumes, music and lighting. The story wasn't bad either but similar to other crimes drama I have seen. I felt the Teddy Roosevelt character was the weakest and least convincing but the three main characters were a pleasure to watch and see develop.

I was disappointed with the final episode. I felt the villain the friends spent so long unmasking deserved a more considered denouement. Why did he just knock the men out in the reservoir when he was armed with a dagger? How was he connected to the man with the silver smile? What was the rock climbing and eyeball collecting all about?

I'd like to see the same characters live into a second season, but I guess that depends how many other people enjoyed this first season.

Serenity (2005)

Really awful

This is the first time I've read so many reviews that I disagree with. My wife and teenage son and I sat down to watch this based on the high scores from other reviewers. We made it to about the halfway point and unanimously agreed to bail. The acting, special effects, script, set design, cinematography and stunts were downright terrible. Even the introductory titles looked like a student production. I double checked that there were not two movies with the same name and perhaps we'd watched the wrong one. Nope. I've never given such a low rating to a film.