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Reviews
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)
Story marred by poor, wooden acting
I must admit that I am perplexed by the rave reviews. We made it through episode 1, but a potentially very interesting, albeit harrowing, story is fatally marred by dire direction and woodenly amateurish acting.
Surely a story such as this deserves far better performances and direction. The sets are clearly well designed to be fair, but the rest is sadly lacking. Especially with the lead performances, although Harvey Keitel as the much older lead is immeasurably better. I suspect the woodeness is due to the non English actors speaking English? Perhaps they are concentrating more on the foreign Language rather than their performances? It would probably have been far better if they spoke their native language and the series was subtitled.
Very disappointing, and a wasted opportunity.
The Playlist (2022)
Interesting story that suffers from repeat re-telling
Techie dramas aren't really our thing, but this was so highly rated we gave it a go.
On the plus side: interesting story, very well acted, slickly produced.
On the negative side: after a great opening episode, we eventually find ourselves being pulled through the same effects from different people's perspectives. Whilst an interesting, if not wholly original, concept, this relentless re-telling eventually becomes tedious. We gave up the will to keep watching at the beginning of the 5th episode, and sadly won't be going back for more. Maybe if we were more immersed in the tech world this may have been more compelling..
The Menu (2022)
Disturbing and unsettling masterpiece.
What an interesting and disturbing film. I was genuinely startled at times, enjoying the dark humour at others, and unsettled throughout.
Excellent acting by a perfectly picked cast, Fiennes is superb. I was initially troubled by his cruelly cold demeanour, but eventually had some sympathy for his actions.
Clever storyline, beautifully shot and wonderfully atmospheric. The storyline dragged slightly three quarters of the way through, but picked up towards the finalé.
Overall a truly unusual, thoughtful and very good cinematic experience. Ignore the iffy reviews, immerse yourself in this film and thank me afterwards.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Ignore the critics, wonderfully immersive film
We watched despite being put off by the dodgy reviews, so glad we did.
Beautifully shot immersion into a strange, 'mid-century modern'ish world. The deep sense of unease gradually builds, and the eventual realisation of what's really going on is quite startling.
Yes, it drags a little bit in places, but the momentum increases as the unease builds. The misogynistic patriarchal overtones are eventually explained.
The acting is generally pretty good, although Styles appears a little wooden initially. He improves as the film progresses though, and as his character gradually unravels.
Well worth a watch.
Fresh (2022)
Stunningly good and unsettling movie
Blown away by this, one of the best of its genre. Acting was faultless by all concerned, and what starts out as a touching romance slowly and disturbingly unravels into something dark and terrifying. It's also what you DON'T see that has your stomach tilting.
This was all the more terrifying as it was done in a way that seemed so matter of fact that it felt pretty realistic.
Silent Hours (2021)
Dreadful and overlong
Good grief...we only kept watching this as it was so laughably bad! Numerous tedious sex scenes, a lead character who is as wooden and uncharismatic as a 2 by 4, and an utterly daft storyline.
Only watch if you have nothing better to do and fancy a laugh.
Trauma Center (2019)
Pretty diabolical - Willis is hilarious
Drab story, wooden acting. Willis seems permanently drunk and slurring. Only good bit was when heroine used defib to zap baddie!
Rootwood (2018)
Dreadful - don't bother
Barely made it to 10 minutes in - clunky, poorly directed, lame.
Brothers' Nest (2018)
Deliciously slow build up to a very dark comedy
Great acting by the two real-life brothers, and a well crafted storyline gradually leading to a series of violent events that had us gasping and laughing uneasily. Brilliant.