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Reviews
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
Bland Minions-by-numbers
A disappointing cinematic experience this one. Little plot, bland and flat set pieces, no real character development, some odd issues with pacing make this the worst so far of the minions/Despicable Me franchise. 87mins passes fairly amiably and quickly but the lack of any real wit to the script and a bolted together feel make this a film you leave without any particular impression being made and a slight feeling of being conned. To be honest, it all felt woefully generic; the content capable of being swapped out with any of the many other similar films advertised in the trailers without anybody noticing. Are we reaching the end of the line for this sort of computer animated film?
Ricco (1973)
Efficient and effective if often stupid low budget Italian crime flick
Christopher Mitchum is woefully miscast as son of dead mafioso out of jail and out for revenge. He's pitched against evil soap factory owner/drug smuggle Arthur Kennedy, who dissolves his enemies in sodium hydroxide and turns them into soap. On the way we get a particularly graphic murder, an amusing face dissolving in an alkali vat special effect and plenty of people getting double crossed and/or shot. The plot is thin and at times stupid, the acting pretty dreadful, Barbara Bouchet is useless as ever as the love interest. But it has strengths - great urban and countryside visuals, a fair amount of sleaze, decent pacing. Most of all - it's clear that all involved seem to have had a fairly good understanding of quite how ludicrous the entire enterprise is and don't hold back from hamming it up where necessary. Most of all, despite the flaws, the whole thing barrels along sufficiently fast and efficiently to avoid boredom ever setting in. At the very least a fun watch if you're into this sort of thing.
Diamanti sporchi di sangue (1977)
Just about adequate poliziotesschi, not really worth bothering with
Disappointing late entry into the De Leo poliziotesschi canon. An at best functional (but not compelling) plot, low budget, lacking style or swagger, with fairly restrained content and an awful lot of incredibly poor acting give this the feel of a watered down "made for TV" version of his much better early 70s outings.
Worth watching if you're an Italian crime film completist. Otherwise give it a miss.
Alfred Packer: The Musical (1993)
Mildly amusing, overlong but quite endearing student film
Mostly interesting as an insight into what Trey Parker got up to when he was at film school. This is moderate more than riotous fun. A slight story, which runs very long and very slow for the first hour, enlivened by a few decent gags and some (very well done) musical numbers. Things pick up pace towards the end, which is just as well. A reasonable way to pass a couple of hours of your time but not brilliant or essential. Despite some quite graphic gore the overall impression it leaves is wholesome and endearing more than anything else.