Very ambitious and promising concept ruined by poor acting (except Dev Patel's), weak script and mediocre camera work. Lots of excessive pathetic moments.
Reviews
16 Reviews
Seven Seconds
(2018)
Russian movie concept on American soil
27 February 2018
"Seven Seconds" crime drama series based on Russian movie "The Major" by Yuri Bykov. I saw "The Major" probably a year ago and never expected to see an American drama made out of this. I'd like to avoid spoilers no matter "Seven Seconds" can spoil "The Major" at some point. However it's hard to call "Seven seconds" a pure remake of "The Major" although both have similar concept but only "Seven seconds" contains more complications, outcomes and so delivers a different story.
"Seven Seconds" amazingly creates this "like Russian" movie feel as it's a slow paced, has a lot of pauses, cops actually look like Russian guys and even main prosecutor drinks a lot though it's not a vodka digested. Both movies start in the winter. In general, both stories tell us that life can be cruel and cops and officials have their own morals especially when law and justice meet a real life. Acting is as good as a cast. I was really surprised to see acting of Michael Mosley and David Lyons, both are just great. Story is brutal, grim and pretty intense no matter it's a slow-paced movie.
"Seven seconds" is another good case of how a foreign concept or a story can be transformed into a great drama raising important questions. For example: Andrey Zvyagintev's famous "Leviathan" movie is based on an American story of Marvin John Heemeyer and his armored warfare against authorities however it's hard to find any kind of an "action" in this one. "The Major" puts a very Russian concept on American soil and it looks just fine.
There's another great drama by Yuri Bykov - "Durak" ("The Fool"). I don't see how this story can be transformed into a scenario for an American movie however it's a very good one, just check this out.
"Seven Seconds" amazingly creates this "like Russian" movie feel as it's a slow paced, has a lot of pauses, cops actually look like Russian guys and even main prosecutor drinks a lot though it's not a vodka digested. Both movies start in the winter. In general, both stories tell us that life can be cruel and cops and officials have their own morals especially when law and justice meet a real life. Acting is as good as a cast. I was really surprised to see acting of Michael Mosley and David Lyons, both are just great. Story is brutal, grim and pretty intense no matter it's a slow-paced movie.
"Seven seconds" is another good case of how a foreign concept or a story can be transformed into a great drama raising important questions. For example: Andrey Zvyagintev's famous "Leviathan" movie is based on an American story of Marvin John Heemeyer and his armored warfare against authorities however it's hard to find any kind of an "action" in this one. "The Major" puts a very Russian concept on American soil and it looks just fine.
There's another great drama by Yuri Bykov - "Durak" ("The Fool"). I don't see how this story can be transformed into a scenario for an American movie however it's a very good one, just check this out.
Certain Women
(2016)
Rough bunch of meanings
6 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is worse than "Night Moves". Both were made by the same director - Kelly Reichardt. I'm a fan of "Night Moves" - this one was a big surprise for me. Both movies have some similarities - intelligent, slow-paced, focused on something behind the scenes so you have to decode this coded meaning. However there's a big difference between these two: "Certain Women" simply doesn't work as "Night Moves" does.
Three key stories of women didn't catch my attention so I felt myself like I was watching some rough material work for some reason. Movie simply doesn't provide any clues. Is this about feminism? Is this about twists of women's fate? Is this about lesbian love? No answer. I like slow-paced movies of this sort but this one is simply boring movie delivered as a rough bunch of meanings that I can't decode.
Three key stories of women didn't catch my attention so I felt myself like I was watching some rough material work for some reason. Movie simply doesn't provide any clues. Is this about feminism? Is this about twists of women's fate? Is this about lesbian love? No answer. I like slow-paced movies of this sort but this one is simply boring movie delivered as a rough bunch of meanings that I can't decode.
Charlie Countryman
(2013)
Messy and pointless
14 January 2014
This movie is just boring. Probably that was a sort of Romania Travel board advertising movie but i'm not sure. Scenario jumps from travel promo to love drama and then to something else like unstoppable and broken roller-coaster.
The only one thing kept me watching was LaBeouf, he's definitely a really good actor. Anyway, his acting doesn't save "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman". This movie reminds me a "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in some ways but if Mitty tries to be a sort of didactic movie full of banality, Charly Countryman doesn't try to be anything except a pointless movie with bunch of good actors.
It's worth watching if you're a fan of slow-paced movies with no plot, i simply didn't like this one.
The only one thing kept me watching was LaBeouf, he's definitely a really good actor. Anyway, his acting doesn't save "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman". This movie reminds me a "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in some ways but if Mitty tries to be a sort of didactic movie full of banality, Charly Countryman doesn't try to be anything except a pointless movie with bunch of good actors.
It's worth watching if you're a fan of slow-paced movies with no plot, i simply didn't like this one.
Story of some sort
2 January 2014
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a bit embarrassing one. It's great from visual POV, camera work is great, touch of CGI is relevant and added with a manner. However there's a simple plot problem – it's inconsistent and separated. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty looks like a group of several separated stories and clips with only one obvious connection between - Walter Mitty and various foggy ideas behind. Yes, there're a lot of great moments in those scenes and some of them can be rated from good to excellent but we aren't talking about them like various episodes from Walter Mitty series. It's not a series or one super-long trailer.
Movie pretends to be an enlightening show for some reason so it'd be great to put one big idea there. There're a lot of hints to many ideas but all those hints are hardly visible behind various scenes and confusing reveals.
I definitely expected much more from this one but movie eventually failed to be holistic. Movie feels like questionable book of many chapters "how to improve your life" than a one big movie. I definitely didn't want to buy that book.
It's worth to watch on a screen anyway because visual part is stunning. Mr. Stiller made a good job so let's support his efforts.
Movie pretends to be an enlightening show for some reason so it'd be great to put one big idea there. There're a lot of hints to many ideas but all those hints are hardly visible behind various scenes and confusing reveals.
I definitely expected much more from this one but movie eventually failed to be holistic. Movie feels like questionable book of many chapters "how to improve your life" than a one big movie. I definitely didn't want to buy that book.
It's worth to watch on a screen anyway because visual part is stunning. Mr. Stiller made a good job so let's support his efforts.
The Dark Knight Rises
(2012)
a meaningful something
2 December 2012
I'll try to give a short overview and no spoilers here, so here we go:
1) Bunch of sublime and heroic music. Music matters, each scene in movie, even if this scene doesn't mean something important has a some special heroic and impressive music on background.
2) All actors (Nolan's duties from Inception) make very heroic faces. All with that heroic music, no less.
3) Okay, all Batmans are full of exalted speeches. This time pathetic-o-meter is in red zone. Sometimes i felt like i watching a cinematical hymn to something very epic but couldn't recognise what exactly. May be it's just because of the music.
4) Nolan is on the loose this time. His cinematic talent which i respect especially for Prestige has no borders this time. One scene shifts to another, all shifts are glued with heroic music, each of scene contains at least one meaningful phrase. Everything is epic as well.
5) I like Tom Hardy, but in this movie that could be anyone who can put his talent under that weird respirator. Epic.
6) Everything in this movie is very important. That's very important to make you pay for ticket that allow to watch another Batman franchise with all that impressive heroism.
I gave 5 only for time i spent listening to that heroic music while watching that epic kaleidoscope.
1) Bunch of sublime and heroic music. Music matters, each scene in movie, even if this scene doesn't mean something important has a some special heroic and impressive music on background.
2) All actors (Nolan's duties from Inception) make very heroic faces. All with that heroic music, no less.
3) Okay, all Batmans are full of exalted speeches. This time pathetic-o-meter is in red zone. Sometimes i felt like i watching a cinematical hymn to something very epic but couldn't recognise what exactly. May be it's just because of the music.
4) Nolan is on the loose this time. His cinematic talent which i respect especially for Prestige has no borders this time. One scene shifts to another, all shifts are glued with heroic music, each of scene contains at least one meaningful phrase. Everything is epic as well.
5) I like Tom Hardy, but in this movie that could be anyone who can put his talent under that weird respirator. Epic.
6) Everything in this movie is very important. That's very important to make you pay for ticket that allow to watch another Batman franchise with all that impressive heroism.
I gave 5 only for time i spent listening to that heroic music while watching that epic kaleidoscope.
The Bay
(II) (2012)
a turbid water
16 November 2012
Like its concept, "The Bay" is unclear mess of turbid water and bunch of ideas that swarm around with no reason. What a crowd of specific people we see? Chicken lovers? Water engineers of some kind? Water biologists? Doctors? Policemen? Eco-terrorists? Vegans? Journalists? Newscasters? Really, that's a question I repeated to myself while watching "The Bay". There's no drama because personal stories are so short and superficial that you don't have enough time to memorize names only that stupid screams "oh my, something is wrong with me". Sure, dude, you are playing in this mess, that's really wrong. Did you have a chance to read a scenario before?
May be this movie for horror lovers...But no, there isn't fear just utter mess. I like Cloverfield for its dramatic story mixed-up with horror sci-fi and shown in similar "live cam" - like style, but "The Bay" is far from that, somewhere in turbid water.
May be this movie for horror lovers...But no, there isn't fear just utter mess. I like Cloverfield for its dramatic story mixed-up with horror sci-fi and shown in similar "live cam" - like style, but "The Bay" is far from that, somewhere in turbid water.
Tell No One
(2006)
Too much weirdness
14 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I like French movies but "Ne le dis à personne" isn't a case. French movies are subtle and delicate. That movie is one big self-parody on a great thriller it could be. Movie starts great as a suspense thriller and start of the movie is a best part of the movie. It crashes right after the start and "it could be" a thriller mutates into something weird, boring and artificial. First great idea of a movie - that a man in his middle- ages can keep his skin and face in a very good condition for 8 years so there is no any difference can be seen. Second good idea is that hero goes every year to victim's parents and 8 years later one of them asks if hero has a girlfriend. I have no idea what was their conversation about a year before or two. Main character still rides that good old volvo wagon he had 8 years ago and it still looks the same. Third one - thugs in France want to look like an American gangsters and they drive an old chevy suburban as a pretty neat disguise car for Paris, completing this mastery of disguise with a huge Afro-French guy on a front seat. We don't know anything about half of characters even they play an important role as they just act, speak and make some unexpected actions eventually. This glorious circus played by a cast which drifts from one French movie to another. There's a good camera work, good soundtrack and as I said before - very promising start. I watched that movie with all my patience but more I watched less patience I had. Watch only if you are a French movie lover no matter how bad a movie is.
The Trotsky
(2009)
Good acting of Jay Baruchel in overextended movie
14 November 2012
I watched "The Trotsky" for Jay Baruchel and I'm not disappointed - his acting is great. He's funny and smart at the same time and he can deliver these qualities in a pretty good way. This is a strong side of that movie but here's a weak one - the scenario is too flat and too overextended.
Idea is pretty simple, movie could be more hilarious and less pretentious but director lost that chance.
There isn't a lot of political stuff because story focused mostly on one guy, his behavior and way of thinking, which is very well-played by Jay Baruchel.
For me, as Russian, all that pseudo-Soviet stuff in the movie is okay however there's just a small bunch of real Soviet artifacts with no any meaning or explanation to watcher and I wonder if they can decode what all these songs or posters or what radio voiceovers mean.
Idea is pretty simple, movie could be more hilarious and less pretentious but director lost that chance.
There isn't a lot of political stuff because story focused mostly on one guy, his behavior and way of thinking, which is very well-played by Jay Baruchel.
For me, as Russian, all that pseudo-Soviet stuff in the movie is okay however there's just a small bunch of real Soviet artifacts with no any meaning or explanation to watcher and I wonder if they can decode what all these songs or posters or what radio voiceovers mean.
like a Melancholia movie, this time lobotomized version
3 November 2012
It's a very interesting point of view - be ready for the great end in that easy-living way. To deal with all stuff you couldn't deal before, last days will give you a lot of chances you didn't have before to make a right choice. That's so romantic. Movie concept reminds me a great Melancholia movie, but this time it has no brain but only emotions. I have to say that acting is good, Steve Carell looks more acting than i saw him before, Keira Knightley great as usual, fits her role good but there isn't a lot of depth in movie characters. Is it worth to see it? Probably you'll find it entertaining although it's not a funny movie, but don't try to find a brain in there. There isn't.
Otpusk v sentyabre
(1979 TV Movie)
Great psychological drama
19 June 2012
Story takes place in late 70's, just in 3-4 locations which brings up a theatrical stage feel and it's simple - scenario is based on Alexander Vampylov's theatrical play "Duck Hunting". Movie is dated 1979 however it was banned until late 80's because of a Soviet censorship found in this movie something inappropriate which is hard to say what. Great story and great cast do their job perfectly. This is a dramatic and disturbing movie about desperate man (played by Oleg Dahl) who devastates himself and world around him in some specific way which only Russian authors can describe. He's pretty cynical though has a good sense of humor (as well as his friends), he drinks a lot, he thinks a lot (but it's hard to get his point). If you like movies of Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach or, for example, Scandinavian or German directors, and many others who create that kind of a "personal drama" and you can live with all that Soviet era set-up for 2 hours - it'll be a great time with no doubt.
Bel Ami
(2012)
bunch of awkward things
24 April 2012
I'm not sure that Guy de Maupassant would be really happy to see this dull movie. it's okay, he's not with us so let's make a movie like we want to make it. I'm not going to describe this movie in general, but here're some highlights:
1) Main hero is pretending to radiate some sexual extra powers using his magic smile which i can describe as a "creepy" mixed with "weird". 2) Sometimes he acts like a poor retarded guy that has to be placed in a hands of a good doctor rather than hands of his sexual partner but sometimes looks like he's on drugs from a "Limitless" movie. 3) Other persons act like a clockwork toys and partly zombies. 4) Sometimes you have to enjoy main hero's magic smile evolution for a ten seconds at least. 5) Movie is full of dramatic pauses and they are pretty long so you can fall asleep. 6) I can only give 2 of 10 for its music which i forgot right after the movie was over.
This is one of crappiest movies i've ever seen. i'm not usually saying "give my bucks back for that ****" because any movie is worth to spend money but it'd be better to watch "Bel Ami" for free.
1) Main hero is pretending to radiate some sexual extra powers using his magic smile which i can describe as a "creepy" mixed with "weird". 2) Sometimes he acts like a poor retarded guy that has to be placed in a hands of a good doctor rather than hands of his sexual partner but sometimes looks like he's on drugs from a "Limitless" movie. 3) Other persons act like a clockwork toys and partly zombies. 4) Sometimes you have to enjoy main hero's magic smile evolution for a ten seconds at least. 5) Movie is full of dramatic pauses and they are pretty long so you can fall asleep. 6) I can only give 2 of 10 for its music which i forgot right after the movie was over.
This is one of crappiest movies i've ever seen. i'm not usually saying "give my bucks back for that ****" because any movie is worth to spend money but it'd be better to watch "Bel Ami" for free.
Bullhead
(2011)
A Very Good Movie from Belgium
29 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I haven't seen a lot of Belgian movies and honestly I haven't seen even one before so Rundskop is an one big surprise for me. Not that i didn't believe that Belgian cinematography exists but...anyway. I have to say that I have never been to Belgium so here's my out-of-Belgium very short review. This movie is about young Flemish cattle farmer, beefy guy who acts crazy and weird and has a sort of a story behind him, deep story that determines everything - his behavior, his way of life or way of doing business. Even camera work is trying to show a world around him in a pretty dark and dull way. Scenario is well-balanced, criminal story is good and has an actual background as a base. Matthias Schoenaerts playing his role great, dark and weird but great and I believe he has a future. From Rundskop i'll keep an eye on Belgian movies!
Melancholia
(2011)
ruthless and disturbing
8 August 2011
I've had a chance to watch Melancholia recently and I'm still impressed. Movie doesn't give you a chance you to forget it. There's no need to decode a movie concept – it's simple, brutal and very disturbing although it goes slowly. Kirsten Danst plays her role great, as well as others do – amazingly alive and natural and thanks to Lars Von Trier – he created a great movie that smashes you while you are watching it. Also I was blown away by great music, picturesque shots and movie techniques in general – everything works great together and hypnotizes your brain in a ruthless way. I gave 9 not 10 of 10 just for a last 10 minutes of the movie which I assume could be more pushy and CGIed (and, probably, more mass-marketed and trivial - so i missed these CGI petards stuff a little). Really recommend to spend your time and money – movie's worth it.
Henry's Crime
(2010)
Tribute to Theater
17 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Keanu Reeves plays Henry - a normal good guy who lives his ordinary and pretty boring life until he went to jail, thanks to his strange old pal. This is an intro which occasionally becomes Henry's pointbreak and Keanu Reeves can play it. Yes, it doesn't sound like a very fresh concept but here're several points: 1) Keanu Reeves can play a very ordinary person, common and boring guy 2) Vera Farmiga is great as usual and plays better than she did in "Up in the Air", thanks to a great scenario 3) James Caan is incredible, his character is very deep and funny 4) This is a really great movie about theater and theatrical actors 5) This is a great movie if you haven't got a chance to read Anton Chekhov. Henry's Crime is twisted, funny and has a lot of melancholy in its soul. Really recommend to watch it, it's worth to spend time and money. Don't know why this movie hasn't been heavy marketed as this is a really good movie.
Super 8
(2011)
Downsized Cloverfield
17 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
As a huge fan of Cloverfield movie i expected that Super 8 will deliver at least as same full of dramatic twists movie as Cloverfield did. It's not. Actually that delivers - but in a downsized mode. Scenario is similar - group of guys , some alien, bunch of explosions and dramatic moments but overall execution of the movie looks like this: take Cloverfield, remove all gore and blood scenes, reduce scales of everything and add a pack of kid talks, kid smiles, kid's eyes, flat family drama moments - voilà - result is boring, predictable and very artificial. Really disappointed by this predictable movie may be because of my big expectations.
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