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Okuribito (2008)
A stunning film
I didn't know too much about this film going into it, other than the fact that it had won an Academy Award for best foreign film. But despite that I did not expect this film to deliver on the level that it did. The writing, the direction, the soundtrack the cinematography, and the performances were absolutely astounding. I rarely ever see a film that is as powerful, as moving and as profound as this movie. A very poetic and deep movie this was.
It was such a achievement in filmmaking and the entire crew deserves great props. Masahiro Motoki as Diago and Ryoko Hirosue as his wife delivered absolutely gorgeous performances. As well as the funeral home director and his assistant. So touching, so sincere, and so soulful.
I really wish more films like this were getting made. I absolutely loved this film.
Knox Goes Away (2023)
Very well done
I would have to say I found this movie quite enjoyable, I think Michael Keaton brings a level of sincerity and intensity that is hard to beat, and he's obviously a very competent director. The pacing was great, the story was quite credible, and Al Pacino as a supporting actor was really fun, playing a really enjoyable and eccentric character. Marsden was also quite good, as well as Suzy Nakamura as Detective Ikari. She was a very entertaining character.
The cinematography was good, without that handheld camera nonsense, and the soundtrack was quite decent too. It was a slick production.
Overall it was well done, it was a good movie. Kudos to Keaton and the crew.
Poor Things (2023)
A magical ride into darkness
This movie left me quite astonished for a number of reasons, first of all I wonder how this film ever got made. Considering the extent Hollywood pretends to be liberal and open-minded, but in reality they're very, very prudish when it comes to sex. This movie was very open when it came to sexual themes and nudity. Which was great. My guess is that it must have been an independent production that somehow secured Hollywood distribution.
Emma Stone's performance was astonishing, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and right on down the line this movie contained a lot of great performances. The production was gorgeous, the cinematography was outstanding, and the soundtrack was compelling. There were so many things about this film that I found really stimulating and outstanding.
My guess is that there are a lot of Americans that will be turned off by the content and there will be a lot of women that will be put off by the way the sexuality is handled. There's nothing American about this movie, it was magical, it was surreal, it was gorgeous to look at and the story was wonderful. I really loved this movie but I'm not a normal person, and I think people who consider themselves normal (and pure) might have a hard time with the content.
Waiting for the Barbarians (2019)
Quite good, but not an easy watch
This movie is only for those who are very patient and willing to take a rather long journey through a slice of British history this appears to be a somewhat nebulous territory of the empire, more than likely North Africa. Which was ruled by the UK for quite some time. The film is very well done, beautifully staged, a very touching performance by Mark Rylance, though he seemed a bit of a naive character considering that he worked for one of the most cruel empires in the history of mankind. The British were responsible for a level of cruelty and barbarism that was nearly unmatched, in their desperate bid for power, wealth and control.
They're probably can't be too many stories told about the dark centuries of British rule, and this one was told with a good deal of skill.
Road House (2024)
Could have been pretty good
The saving grace of this film is Jake Gyllenhaal. He brings a certain amount of charm, swagger and a lot of screen presence to the role. Other than that there's really not much else to like about this movie. McGregor was entertaining, but super annoying. Had they been reasonable with the violence it would have been a lot more believable, but there's only so many times a man can get run over by fast-moving motor vehicles and get up and walk away.
That kind of thing is so Hollywood right now, it's so Marvel, it's so cartoonish, it's so childlike, it's so juvenile, it's so infantile, it's so unbelievable, and it takes away any shred of credibility that the movie might have had.
Shame on Hollywood for turning out such garbage, month after month.
Beau Is Afraid (2023)
Watch this at your own peril
I really don't know what to say about this movie that I just watched. I was reading a critical review on the movie and they were suggesting that this is the kind of movie that has to be viewed two or three times for one to be able to begin to understand the story, and the allegorical nature of the film.
Ultimately I think this movie was about a man who was so severely emasculated by such a horrific version of mom, that he ended up nursing mental issues that were beyond comprehension.
But if I think about the possibility of watching this film again I think that I would rather eat dirt, or go 10 days without food. This was a hallucinogenic nightmare and though I got some of the symbology behind it, I can't say that I really got the film. I can't say I derived much pleasure out of it, and I can't possibly describe it as any form of entertainment. I've heard it described as a comedy and there were a couple of moments that were funny, but really?
Bones and All (2022)
Very moving. A different kind of road film.
I must admit I always liked movies with the bloodsucker theme, but there was something about this movie that was exceptional. It was poetic, it was very well shot, the performances were wonderful, and it was profound, on a certain level. Quite moving at times, and very well done. Not at all what I expected, well beyond my expectations, and quite poignant.
The locations were really exquisite giving these Midwestern settings a rather rare beauty.
I give a lot of credit to the writer, the director and the entire crew who put this film together. It's one of the deepest bloodsucker films I've ever seen.
Dark Money (2018)
Outstanding and a real revelation
There is no doubt these are very scary times that we're living in, and this movie is certainly proof of that. I've been interested in campaign financing reform for a long time now and this movie does a really good job of getting to the heart of how horrific and heinous that influence this is on American politics. For anyone who has spent a lot of time overseas in third world countries, you see that the corruption tends to be fairly transparent. However in America the corruption is equal to or greater than that which you see in the third world, but it's very well hidden, and it's hidden with a great degree of skill and craftsmanship by criminals organizations like American Citizens for Prosperity, the Koch brothers (who appear to be satanic, lol) and so many other interest groups that fund campaigns in a very dark manner.
This has to stop and the only way it can be stopped as they said in the film, is if we as Americans get angry enough to take things into our own hands like the brave people of Montana have done.
This film is very well done, it's very engaging, the people who are interviewed are real salt of the earth people who are genuine and sincere and concerned about the direction things are moving. This is a very cautionary tale, kudos to the filmmakers.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Astonishing, brilliant, a must see
It is rare that I watch a show that has as much raw power and impact as this show had. All eight episodes were absolutely sublime, the writing was at such a spectacular level that I found myself having to pause and rewind several times to repeat the speeches. The lemon speech was unbelievably good, the direction was pitch perfect, the soundtrack was great, the sets were wonderful, the performances were fantastic, all across the board. All the children, Greenwood, Thomas, and everyone else really shined and I think that's a great tribute to the director.
What a wonderful production, what a fantastic show, what a revelation what a surprise, what a vision. So much ugly truth, in such a poetic form. The entire crew has created what has got to go right up there in the top five shows I've seen in the last 5 or 10 years. A great satirical indictment of the evil Purdue clan.
This is stunning and brilliant work. Not to be missed except by the most timid or politically correct.
One Life (2023)
Moving, heartfelt and powerful. A must see.
Over the last decade or so I've grown tired of Anthony Hopkins as he seems to repeat himself quite often. This was truly an exception to that rule, he gave a brilliant and heartfelt performance, capturing an exquisite, humble man of great kindness and decency. Lena Olin was also superb as his compassionate and highly supportive mother. The story is quite inspiring and it's wonderful to relate to the possibility of an ordinary person doing something completely extraordinary with their life.
It tells the story of a young man who, when faced with the horrors of the Nazi regime does everything in his power save hundreds of lives. At this point in history it's a story we need to hear, and it's a story we can learn from. In this day and age we don't hear too much about heroic lives, and this is quite refreshing.
I found most of the performances in the film to be excellent, and the latter part of the film was an absolutely brilliant conclusion to the story. Kudos to the entire crew for doing wonderful work on this film.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024)
An abysmal failure of a show
I am sitting here quite astonished at how terrible this series is. I sure expected more from Glover. First of all the writing is really poor, there's nothing intriguing about either of the main characters, there is no story development in terms of the progression from normal people to spies, they don't behave like spies, they don't have any tradecraft, nobody knows why they would have been selected, and the entire spy businesses is completely and utterly unexplained.
The series is not funny, and most of all I don't understand why Maya Erskine was cast as the female lead. She's not sexy, she's barely pretty, and it's impossible to relate to her as the seductress that they portray her to be. What does Hollywood have against casting attractive and sexy women? I know a lot of women aren't going to want to hear this but she was terribly miscast for this part, and there's no chemistry between them.
I just don't get the vast majority of what this film and these filmmakers are trying to convey for me. For me this is a total failure.
Land of Bad (2024)
The writing was the worst part
If you're a pure action freak and you have absolutely no qualms about believability, feasibility, or realism you might get a kick out of this movie. Hemsworth was given a really lame script and he was asked to pretend that he's some sort of operator with absolutely no experience, yet he manages to be the hero nonetheless. It's a very cliche story, very poorly written by a hack writer who probably got $5,000 for the script. Somehow the project got two big stars, and got green lit. It was a fairly large production but the feasibility aspect of it was just ridiculous.
There are far better action films out there and the only saving grace about this film was Russell Crowe. He was great as usual, other than that better to take a pass.
Dream Scenario (2023)
Quite a great ride
This is an utterly fascinating film, and is very well written. There is a level of surrealism that is rare in film these days. Nicolas Cage is definitely back to his old form, and bringing alot to the table these days. The film asks a lot of questions of its audience, what I got out of it was the extreme level of weakness that society is engaging in and allowing, by embracing woke culture, Uber PC and allowing cancel culture to happen, especially at the university level, where it's rampant.
The secondary message that I got from the film is that Gen Z is likely the weakest generation in the history of mankind, and some of the things that we need to be asking ourselves are how prepared we for any sort of disaster, a great war, or famine and such. Would the current generation of youth simply crumble under such pressure?
For me this movie asked all those questions, in a very abstract manner and Illustrated the extreme danger that we're all in, by embracing woke culture and victimhood, fake terror and massive self delusion.
Ultimately it's important to acknowledge that dreams are ridiculous, they are a form of mental diarrhea, and absolute garbage. They mean nothing and they simply must be dismissed.
Walden (2023)
A really good film
I live in a world where I often dream about being a vigilante. I sometimes wonder if an opportunity will ever come along, where I can eliminate really bad monsters, who prey on humanity. Especially children, there's never any excuse for that kind of behavior on any level, so when a film like this comes along I find it very refreshing.
I never was a huge fan of Emile Hirsch, though he is a good actor. I consider this to be a truly outstanding performance, he really nailed the nuance, he was able to build a really fascinating and believable character, who was quirky. The script was funny and smart, but at the same time sincere and compassionate.
I really enjoy this film well beyond what I expected going into it. I highly recommend this film for people who don't take themselves too seriously, and understand the potential value of setting limits, and crossing the line if that line needs to be crossed.
As bestas (2022)
A story or tribalism and narrow minded folks
I guess this film was very well done, but I had a hard time getting into the story, as it's a story about incredibly small-minded, incredibly provincial people, who are bordering on the expression of tribalism in their way of life. Small town minds, small town folks, engaging in conflicts that are completely unnecessary, and I guess I just wasn't in the mood for such trite, silly, ridiculous behavior on the part of people who call themselves adults.
I just don't like tribalism, I barely like tradition, and I don't think that spending 2 hours of my life in the sewer of convention was something I was willing to do.
The Beekeeper (2024)
A poor substitute for an action film
The film started out quite well and the very first action scene was excellent, though it was a bit of an exaggeration, however with a fairly minor leap of faith it was somewhat believable. From there it just went downhill, there was that Hollywood tendency to over blow everything and to stretch every premise to the absolute limit of implausibility, which just gets old after a while. You just you want to see some good action, you want to see a good story and you don't want to see a story stretched to the absolute end of what is physically possible in the known universe. However, if you like Marvel type films, silly stories made for kids, or cartoons, you will likely enjoy this drivel.
After about 45 minutes, the film got very tiresome. I also thought the female FBI agent (Lampman) was very poorly miscast, and written, and the South African bad guy was just a ridiculous cartoon.
It could have been a decent movie but it wasn't.
Ferrari (2023)
A very boring racing film
I had a considerable number of issues with this film, the primary one was the fact that they spent way too much time dwelling on the relationship between the Enzo and his wife, in addition to the relationship between Enzo and his mistress (played by a tragically miscast Shaileen Woodley) neither of which were particularly interesting, as relationships, as characters, or as stories.
We went into this film assuming it was going to be a movie about the evolution of Ferrari as a car, as a company, and as a legend, and it ended up being more or less a melodrama about failed relationships. Michael Mann, who is quite an accomplished director, failed on his part to not discern the fact that audiences wanted to see more about the company, and more about the car, and less about these relationships, which I don't think we're all that interesting.
Enzo's first wife, played by the talented Penelope Cruz certainly had reason to be miserable, but her character just possessed this black cloud everywhere she went, and every scene that she was in was difficult to watch.
This was the most boring racing film I've ever seen in my life and I just can't recommend it. It had an incredibly somber tone to it that just didn't work. Very little about this film worked and I was very very happy when it was finally over.
The Baker (2022)
Fairly entertaining stuff
This film was fun. Perlman was a joy to watch, as usual. Though the plot may have been a little bit formulaic, it still worked.
In director Jonathan Sobol's "The Baker", Ron Perlman plays the title role. Donald Gilroy (Perlman) owns Pappi's Bake Shop, and Sobol's camera captures our culinary hero kneading dough quite serenely.
However, Don has a secret, violent past, where he was surrounded by enough guns to recognize when a .38 caliber is fired just by listening to the shot. Well, his peaceful existence in the food industry is disrupted when his son Pete (Joel David Moore) witnesses a bloody and lethal clash between drug dealers. Pete leaves with a gym back full of drugs, the latest rage called Pink, but the head dealers want the sack of narcotics back. Pete is an absolute idiot. The son is sketched out as an total moron. I can see why dad abandoned him. I would too.
Perlman's presence was really all you need, he plays a bad ass very well. That face alone convinces us. The direction was decent, the girl was cute, and the plot was good enough. Not a great film but not a bad film, fairly entertaining.
Saltburn (2023)
Brilliant work. Really stunning
I'm not sure what I expected out of this movie but it sure wasn't what was the delivered. What I got was a totally inventive, incredibly clever script with some utterly extraordinary performances, Barry Keoghan was absolutely brilliant, as was the Felix character, The Farleigh character, Rosamund Pike as usual, and virtually all the supporting actors. This work was exceptionally well directed, the pacing was perfect, the editing was crisp, and the ending was astonishing.
It far surpassed my expectations on virtually every level, this was a really wonderful film, done in a very nasty manner, with great twists and turns.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Decent, but the length was silly
I really wanted to like this film, it was very well made, as usual the direction was excellent, the cast was fantastic with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro both outstanding.
This is a very important story that needed to be told and I'm certain there are hundreds of other stories of Native American decimation by white supremacists and overly entitled white men.
The primary issue I had with this film is that Scorsese has become the most over indulgent director of the decade. I think that considering his status nobody is able to say no to him and nobody is able to reign him in, he is a bit like the David Lynch of the 2020s in a sense that he just does whatever he wants. This movie was not nearly as tedious as the Irishman which should have been a four-part miniseries and had way too many 8 minutes scenes that should have been edited down to 2 minutes. But this film was overly long very tedious at times and it took quite a bit of work to get through it. I didn't expect to be entertained by it, but a more disciplined approach to editing would have turned out a much tighter and far more watchable film.
Russian Doll (2019)
So very annoying
Am I the only one who finds Natasha Lyonne to be incredibly annoying? She grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. She's not the tiniest bit funny, and I don't find the whole time loop to be at all clever. You would think after a given point in time someone would simply learn how to walk down a pair of stairs safely.
Her constant eyeballing and wide eye is annoying. It's comical and unrealistic. I don't see such facial expressions in real life. I also couldn't point a finger at whether it mattered, wilst it's a hint that's she's faking her emotion. I mean, she wants to show what she is, who she really isn't. If that bothers so much, then she's good at it. I guess.
What was the point of this mess? Why is she so popular?
Power Book IV: Force (2022)
A cartoon. If you like dumb, watch this
This is a really pathetic show, very lazy writing, everything just falls into place to create a super drama, but it's so unlike real life where positions are earned, and credibility is something that you establish over a period of years, because you've earned it, and you've proven yourself.
The world does not operate like this ridiculous show, Tommy is so over the top, he is so cartoonish, and so annoying, and his character is drawn like a comic book superhero / supervillain. Somehow, his character worked in Power. Here, it's just a dumbed down presentation, every episode annoys me. I gave up halfway through the first season.
The Mechanic (2011)
Action was comical, story was silly
I guess I'm a bit of a dissenter when it comes to this film, after watching it for the third time. I just decided that the action was implausible, and the Ben Foster character was ridiculous. Not only was he a comic book version of a human being, but his learning curve was absolutely silly. The level of expertise and fighting skills that this guy established after such a short period of time was completely silly, there was nothing to indicate that he had spent years training under his mentor, and he just went from being a drunk fool to a skilled assassin, which was really silly.
Is the audience really that dumb, or is that just what Hollywood presumes?
Efter brylluppet (2006)
An astonishing film
I have watched this film a number of times as I am very fond of Danish film, and especially the work of Biers. In addition I would watch anything the great Mads Mikkelsen does, he's an astonishing actor. This is such a gorgeous film, it is done with the hand of a great artist whose pitch perfect direction makes his film such a joy to watch. It's a very powerful story, great writing, great editing, the soundtrack was excellent, and every single performance in the film was outstanding.
Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) is a Danish emigrant running an orphanage in India. He has only one real attachment there: an eight-year old boy he has cared for since birth. With the orphanage facing closure due to financial pressures, Jacob returns to Denmark seeking funding from multi-millionaire Jorgen (Rolf Lassgård). Since their negotiations will take a few days and Jacob has no other engagements, Jorgen invites him to be a guest at the wedding of his daughter, Anna (Stine Fischer Christensen). When he arrives at the church for the ceremony, Jacob discovers that Anna's mother and Jorgen's wife, Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen), is an old flame. And that's only the first of several startling revelations that will turn Jacob's short business trip into a life-changing experience.
Watch this film. Study this film. It is a wonder of cinema.
Manodrome (2023)
Poor execution, but an important theme.
I can definitely understand the difficulty a lot of people have had with wrapping their minds around this story, everything about this movie is in total contrast to everything that we're being taught and indoctrinated with in contemporary Western culture. Men are not supposed to be in control, men are not supposed to be independent, men are not supposed to be their own people, men are supposed to obey, be obedient, and be submissive.
The celibacy aspect of this story was fascinating what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that most women in America are just not sexual beings anymore and many men live lives of unwilling celibacy so the concept of guys willingly renouncing sex who is rather fascinating and a social phenomena that needs to be explored. I could see a lot of woman being put off by this film and justifiably so, it does threaten the position that they hold so dear. That of big boss. I know man who aren't even allowed to carry cash anymore they make the excuse that they use their credit card because it's easier for them to keep track of expenses but in reality the lack of cash is a form of emasculation.
The cultish aspect of this story was a difficult thing to find a level of comfort with, but the basic movie was a rather interesting story, that needs to be talked about, and needs to be considered. 'Me too" has created an extreme society. Toxic masculinity is the mantra of the day. Men are definitely being left behind by the millions, and most men don't even realize how extremely emasculated they are.
What made the film a bit bizarre is that it seemed like his girlfriend was a very decent person, not a Pinkett like dragon queen or a particularly difficult person. So most of his problems seem to be internal.
Having said all that the movie was very convoluted, the central character's personality was beyond bizarre, and the ending was wholly unsatisfying. This was not a good movie, but it's a very important theme that needs to be explored.