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Riviera (2017)
Great binge watch
Terrific show, well acted with some nice surprises. Ms Stiles is awesome, as is her nemesis first wife. excellent entertainment. The cars, villas and hotels are all fabulous, as is the styling of the super rich. the parricidal baby sister is a great acting performance. I thought the good police guy was great, and the Russians as bad as ever.
That Awkward Moment (2014)
Give this film a chance
I read all the reviews posted on IMDb after watching this film last night. Apart from the "plastic penis" scene, the whole thing was pretty watchable with some nice ensemble pieces and hearty guy banter.
The only one who did not belong in the cast was Zac. The relationships of his two friends and their love interests rang true.
Would Zac have been that clueless to not realize very early on that Imogen Poots was the one worth ditching his bachelor antics for? His non attendance at the funeral (spoiler alert!}, would never have been forgiven.
This film had brat pack written all over it, but would have been cast with Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy and Emilio Estevez, and been about 100 times better.
Summer in February (2013)
Why did Dan Stevens leave Downton?
I find it strange, that Cambridge educated Stevens chose to leave probably the most successful period TV drama of the last 20 years to star in exactly the same role in a period movie! He was very good, understated, doesn't overact - leaves that to Dominic Cooper to ham things up. But what was Matthew doing in Cornwall, and why did he feel the need to go to Nigeria? I didn't really care for the love interest either, and for a woman who was supposed to be educated and liberated a la Austen, why does she marry the most inappropriate ego-centric genius who happens to ask her.
There was a scene as she walks along the cliff where I was literally willing her to throw herself over -might have spiced things up a bit.
Having said that, I did enjoy the film, mostly for the scenery and the accuracy of the manners and costume. The story line was weak and the heroine unattractive and ineffective. The two male leads were overcast but made the whole thing work.
By the way, a shout out to Cornwall, the most beautiful coastline of anywhere in the world.
American Hustle (2013)
Really enjoyable movie
This was great. First of all Christian Bale must surely be the best actor of his generation. I'm sorry, Bradley, you caught a supporting role here, you were good but not brilliant. Also, Amy and Jennifer were outstanding. I would have given Jennifer more dialogue, but she was terrific.
The big surprise for me was Renner. His portrayal of the New Jersey mayor, was part Goodfellas, Godfather, Chris Christie, but all heart and every scene was unbelievably authentic. You could see how the Bale character fell in love with this guy.
The plot fell a bit thin at the end, but I didn't care. This should have cleaned up at the Oscars instead of that space nonsense.
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Classic Woody
Not quite a 10 but not far from it either. OK, so I'm a Woody Allen fanatic and you have seen this character many times in the guise of Judy Davis, Diane Keaton and numerous others. Still, Blanchette was quite remarkable, and made the others seem like they were there to make up the numbers. The dialogue was Allen's usual snipe at wasps being stung by their own financial risk taking. It appears that Alec Baldwin is seemingly destined to play his 30 Rock character over and over again for the next 10 years. If you are a snob you will get a real kick out of this movie, especially when you have a working class brother/sister, then this really rings true.
Mad Men (2007)
Mad Men - Binge Watch Thanksgiving 2013
The show is great! I have not enjoyed such good writing and ensemble acting since Sex & the City. There are some episodes that seem to be style over substance, and others where you are so drawn in to the characters lives, you are sharing their emotions with them. Don't be fooled by how easy this seems - this is acting master class 1 on 1. Draper disgusts and attracts you at the same time, while other characters go through the most enormous transformations and life-changing events.
My only gripe, and why this gets a 9 rather than a 10, is that they drop plot lines all the time, boyfriends, girlfriends, old characters just seem to disappear as if they were never really meant to be in the show. But, who am I to grumble.
John Slattery is awesome! It will be very difficult to reconcile watching a great TV show on a weekly basis, waiting 7 days for my 1 hour fix. We have become too impatient and demand instant gratification.
I am at episode 4 of season 5 and I am out of discs for about 3 days! Help, me Dude, I need my SCPB fix, why the hell are they so excited about an airline that is about to go broke!
This Must Be the Place (2011)
Sean Penn and Judd Hirsch are fantastic
OK, so you are probably wondering why the hell is Sean Penn doing a bad Robert Smith impersonation, and what is with this whiney little voice? The answer is that his character is an unloved child in a 50 year old man's boy, choked with resentment and alienation about a music career he did not deserve. It is not difficult to see why a religious Jewish family in New York state would completely freak out with their creative and anti-establishment son. He was disowned by his father, but through pursuing his father's torturer he finds redemption and salvation and even forgiveness. Once the scene moves to the US, the film picks up in both pace and story. The scenes between Hirsch and Penn are breathtaking and the conclusion is ugly and redemptive. A wonderful film if you can get through the first 20 minutes without giving up and asking too many questions. Penn, Seymour-Hoffman and Joachim Phoenix are probably this generations greatest actors.
The Master (2012)
Excellent Acting, poor storyline
As ever Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquim Phoenix were excellent. I was very impressed with their acting.
However, at over 2 hours long the story dragged and was very disjointed. I kept on waiting for the story to get better and it didn't. After seeing the score out of 10 for this film I was really looking forward to seeing it, don't bother.
This director has made much better films than this, it was so disjointed and messy.
It must have been a poor year for acting if Amy Adams was nominated for best supporting actress, as she did nothing out of the ordinary.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Wonderful performances - a new brat pack is born
I watched this movie the other night on DVD after hearing some positive reviews about it in the media.
First of all let me say that Ezra Miller (the gay half brother and life of the party), delivered an Oscar worthy performance and I am encouraged to watch "We need to talk about Kevin", now as a result.
As for Emma Watson, she is an absolute darling and a complete heart breaker for our poor hero.
I am very pleased with the high school scenes and the lead actor's behavior was very believable.
The soundtrack was superb, but probably wasted on anyone under 35. It sure was a nicer and simpler time when you made mix-tapes for your girlfriend full of love songs or the Smiths, whichever was more miserable at the time. There were no computers, no mobile phones, but still these people managed to lead exciting extra-curricular lives, as we all did back in the day.
My only criticism is the abuse and mental illness all came as a bit of a surprise from a plot perspective. This was glossed over perhaps too much, and rushed through too quickly at the end.
All in all, an excellent and profound picture. The chemistry between half brother and sister, their dance routines and the party sequences in general were just brilliant. I could watch this again soon, it is that good.
Skyfall (2012)
Disappointing
When this film was released in November 2012, it received excellent reviews. Therefore I had high hopes when I took the film out on DVD.
What a letdown. The plot was very weak and had been used many times before.
As a child I watched the Roger Moore Bond films, so he has always been my favorite Bond.
It is a shame that the humor side of Bond has been removed.
This film was far too long and even Javier Badem was weak as the villain.
I am not a great fan of Daniel Craig as Bond, he is my least favorite, Clive Owen would have been much better. Hopefully now that he has done 3 films they will replace him with someone else.
Game Change (2012)
OMG - this was awesome!
Within 2 minutes I was hooked. Within 10 minutes I knew I was in the middle of something special. I waited a long time to see this on DVD and I loved every minute of it.
Julianne Moore was phenomenal and so was Woody Harrelson.
HBO have got their house in order - this was one of the best things they have ever done.
I didn't realize how little interaction there was between McCain and Palin, they barely saw each other. Ed Harris was wonderful as McCain, and the choice of language when they realized what a mistake she was had me laughing out loud.
Definitely written with a tongue in cheek left wing agenda, but generous at times to the poor, misguided Republican party.
I could watch this again in a heartbeat.
Looper (2012)
They lost me in the middle
So the idea of the film is very interesting, until you start to think about how this all pieces together.
If you start demanding the viewer make enormous intellectual decisions while trying to concentrate on a fast moving sci-fi plot, then you are losing the audience by the minute. I watched this on DVD and was interrupted twice by my wife asking me to explain the plot. My 80 year old parents would have given up after 10 minutes.
Anyway, Bruce Willis certainly deserved his fee for the movie. Why they plastered a fake nose on JGL thinking that made him Bruce Jnr, well it just didn't cut it for me. As to why the hell Emily Blunt agreed to do this film, it should have been Olivia Wilde or Elizabeth Banks.
One point I would agree with - the demonised kid (future criminal overlord) was brilliant and very scary.
What you had here was a killer idea - in the wrong hands - this had all the makings of a Total Recall (the original) and left me thinking B movie all over.
You might enjoy this movie more if you are completely drunk or with a group of teenage boys who like violence.