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johnblox
Reviews
24 Little Hours (2020)
Truly Pathetic!
Anyone who gives this more than 1 star is deluded. It's embarrassing! Worst film I've ever seen. I was fascinated to watch it to the very end, just because it was so bad. Awful, ridiculous story, the most terrible acting I've ever seen, worse than a primary school would make, bad audio recorded on an inline earphone mic I suspect. Just unbelievable that this even exists. Any positive reviews have definitely been brought. I haven't logged in to IMDB for years, but made the effort just for this. I even started clicking on other reviewers profiles to see if they were real. Sorry to guys who made it, as I hate to negate, but you just wasted 1:23 of my life.
Ricky Gervais Live: Animals (2003)
Best stand-up DVD bar none
I have watched many, many different UK comedians standup routines, both live and on recording. This is far and away the funniest. Ricky Gervais, together with Jimmy Carr and Steve Coogan urinate from great heights on the average comedy of such luminaries as Harry Hill, Peter Kay and Eddie Izzard. I last remember laughing a lot like this at things like Eddie Murphy's raw decades ago. When humour is sanitised by political correctness or tries so hard to be intellectual it simply isn't funny, it self defeats its very existence. Fortunately Gervais suffers from neither. He takes the risk, IS offensive (if your an uptight person who gets offended by comedy that is) and pulls it off. I wish more comedians would ignore P.C and be as offensive as they want. I recently watched a Roy Chubby Brown stand-up routine which was awful. The fact it was overtly racist wasn't the problem, it simply wasn't funny and so got boring, I turned it off after half an hour. Had it been funny it could have been as any-ist as it liked as far as I'm concerned - IT'S COMEDY!!!. There's too many people desperately looking to be offended enabling them to preach their high moral standards for kudos in their sanitised peer group's eyes. We live in an offensive world, deal with it.
I have now watched this about 5 times and am still left with an aching belly. I had to rest 40 mins through on the first watch as it hurt so much from laughing I thought I was going to die. It's the casual don'gi'a'f*** mischievous schoolboy delivery and the excellent material that makes it a classic. If you don't pi55 yourself laughing then wonder 'how come someone hasn't noticed that you're dead?' Well done Ricky - a breath of fresh free air in an era of PC Stagnation - Thx
Ricky Gervais Live 2: Politics (2004)
A perfect size 8
Still funnier than most comedians, not AS funny as his 1st stand-up DVD Animals an '8' as opposed to Animals '10'. I hate people who claim "I'm not easily offended, but I found this offensive!!!" Errr YES you ARE easily offended. Anyone who finds ANY comedy offensive is easily offended. Offense is NOT caused by words its caused by the underlying intent or actions accompanying them. As far as I'm concerned ANY comedian can say anything about anything they like, as long as it is funny and not malicious. There's too many white liberals complaining on behalf of various minority groups, totally against their wish. Just cos you're not oppressed yourself it doesn't give you the right to carry the mantle for the gay, black, single mothers out there. Sorry to rant O.T but in Gervais case it is needed. His comedy is NOT for those "not easily offended", (whatever that means, who defines 'easily'?) No it is for those "not offended by comedy", period!.
One last point I'd like to make about Gervais Stand-ups is a sign of their greatness is how when down the pub you repeat a line or 2 with a fellow fan you are both in stitches. Be it mimicing the 'cumming out the window' or politely asking if you can "... in their hair", (shrieks with laughter). It has that great quality of being great to repeat and get even more enjoyment remembering it than when originally watching it! Tears streaming !! How great is that!!!! - Yo Word
The Langoliers (1995)
Great Science Fiction Concept
I really enjoyed this film, as did others I know who've watched it. Its one of the 10 or so films that still sticks firmly in my mind. Shown in 2 parts. I missed part2 and thought of it often for over a year, til I finally saw part2. I have to give it 10 really, regardless of acting, or sfx. I judge it purely on the effect it had on me. I don't see why it has 5.5 in IMDB, could you watch the film and not enjoy it? Best Science Fiction concept in ages, along with Matrix etc...
K-PAX (2001)
Exactly what a great 'movie' should be
Watching this a day after watching 'panic' room I am still absolutely baffled that they have a very similar rating. This film deserves 10/10 as opposed to negative 10/10 for panic room. Anyway I think the first comment on imdb sums up the film well. What is maybe more interesting than re-commenting on the film are the following comments, where people comment on the inaccuracy of its portrayal of a mental ward? and other absurd things. ALL MOVIES ARE FICTION. Even those based on fact especially when made by hollywood. In fact if hollywood got a chance every invention, heroic deed and advance of man would be down to the Americans, I digress. I advise you to ignore all negative comments as it is a fantastic film in terms of 'you watch it, you are engrossed from start to end and leave with a great feeling in your stomach and go away telling people to go and see it'. Any 'loose ends' are minimal not the gaping holes of unbelievability in other films. I just wish hollywood would spend more time getting decent scripts like this before they pump $millions into movies. Also unlike most hollywood films you don't get that moment 2/3 through where you realise they got bored and just wanted to pad it out to some/any conclusion, no it is great from start to end.
Panic Room (2002)
utter garbage - 7.4/10 - proof if ever that imdb MUST be fixed
This film is utter utter total crap, I couldn't even be bothered to watch the end of it, though half did (the end is the ultimate in crap endings). Its the kind of film playing on the siege mentality done to perfection in 'zombies dawn of the living dead', except that in this film, the loose ends and unreality get to the point where halfway through you just wanna scream at the screen and go 'oh yer - how realistic that is - not!'. To be honest I half expected donald duck and mickey to knock at the door.
Now for some brief examples and possible spoilers so stop if you wannna actual suffer and see this movie with no for knowledge. OK here we go. A woman who learns all camera positions in 24 hours all of which just happen to be at head height (though don't appear that way on the monitors), a door that stops when it detects an obstacle that conveniently forgets that one time, people who can survive sledge hammers and falling 30 feet. Sure if the people concerned were affiliates of buffy, but they were meant to be regular guys. There are many others (the fire!, the phone!) For me the very nature of this film as with say oceans eleven or the score which are somewhat similar is that it covers all angles in the clever plot so there are no loose ends. This was so loose and unbelievable that it unraveled before me and half way through just left me idiot spotting how crap the script was. Can I score this with a negative number it is total worthless garbage. I HATED IT WITH A PASSION. How did this get 7.4/10 on imdb? It must be fixed, it got the same as 'naked' ? yer right.
Naked (1993)
must see - top 10 all time
There's little point describing the film, best thing is to assume that if you are broadminded and unshackled by ego driven prejudices you will enjoy it. BUT it has to be watched 2-3 times before it can be truly enjoyed. The first time it is watched it leaves you feeling a bit confused, a bit depressed and glad that you can shrug it off with "its only a film". I've watched it about 10 times now over the years as I've shown it to others, just as it was shown to me by another 'fan'. The thing that makes it so good is just that its a ****ing brilliant film, its what films should be, highly entertaining, thought provoking and capturing the moment in time when it was made. I hate it when people cast there own ego driven bull***t interpretation of films, like they have some god given power to be able to see the truth that 'all' the other less intelligent fools who they graciously share 'their' planet with will just never understand, so I won't. If you lived in the UK through that era you will relate to the legacy left by our class system, whether non Brits (unless of a subversive disposition) will relate is less likely. Americans in particular who either live or in the main pretend to live the American dream may relate less as it is a bit too real and in your face in showing the other side of the 'failed' dream. Though to repeat it is still ONLY a film... Did that help? no? now you can see why I'm the kind of subversive person who would enjoy this film :)
PS - make sure you watch it at least a second time a few months later.
Fight Club (1999)
Worst Ad Campaign for best film in History?
Like other Hollywood Haters, I avoided this film on the basis of the ad campaigns. When I finally rented the DVD, I watched it once then again, then babysat others through it and ended up watching it about 6 times in a month. Why I kept watching It I dunno I was mesmerized like a rubbernecker at a motorway death circus. I know the story, how it begins, how it ends and yet still feel the need to look just one last time to confirm that I haven't missed anything. I had an argument with a friends wife who proclaimed that he hadn't seen it as he didn't like that sort of film. I asked her did she not enjoy it then, finally after a few minutes it dawned on me that the stupid American b**** hadn't even seen the film, yet KNEW he wouldn't like it? She took offence saying "how dare I say she doesn't know her husband", now where did that come from? I laughed at the arrogance of one who can proscribe the film intake of another when they haven't even partaken of it themselves.
We live in the era of the Super Disinformation Highway, so it is hardly surprising. Maybe the ad campaign was deliberately miss-run in order that the film would end up in cultsville which it deserves to. It seemed symptomatic of the times, "Hey its a new millennium and who really gives a S**k (which is it s*** or f***? maybe 'SHUK' a new hybrid from some LA Project... Yawn!!!). No one buys into the lies of the work ethic any longer, we all know its a necessary evil, we all hate it, we all entertain fantasies of surviving world war three, out with the old in with the new. Well this movie is that great thing that captures the mood of the western world circa 2000. Science has explained it all, we all know the truth, there is no god, no purposeful future but must carry on and carry on pretending as there is no more worthwhile alternative. We can all live out our destructive fantasies suppressed by years of evolution and training. Then again its only a movie.
Summing up - you MUST watch this film, there's only about 5 films ever made that are worth watching more than once (Naked?, Withnail...), this is one of them. After watching it, I did genuinely make some life changing decisions. I'm only here at IMDB cos I came looking for other Edward Norton stuff - he rocks hardcore. The new DeNiro, great to see them together in 'The Score'. I just hope Norton picks good scripts and doesn't blow his cool. PS - Anyone know where I can get a Tyler-Durdan Jacket from?