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Reviews
Species II (1998)
So BAD and that's what makes it so good
GUYS, GUYS, GUYS...!!! You've missed the point. This film isn't trying to be anything but a spoof of itself - and it does it brilliantly! With everything taking itself so serious these days, this is the refresher course in laughter we all need. I literally pooped with laughter. In every scene there's another reason to laugh uncontrollably and if you're looking at it through that lens, this film not only doesn't disappoint, it will be one of the entertainment highlights of your life. Guaranteed.
Sex Lives of the Potato Men (2004)
The full emotional spectrum...
This film is an institution. Regardless of critic reviews, it contains humour and lines that are unique to the British Isles and could not be replicated in any other form in any other region of film production. There are too many to list so I won't bother. Because of that fact though it is a cultural artefact to be included in UK national archives and is therefore compulsory viewing for any discerning cultural pundit.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
Less IS More
What a brilliant refreshing change this is to every other movie around.
I watched this at home, initially putting it on in the background just to have something ticking away but it grabbed my attention immediately because of its quiet, undulating way. I wouldn't recommend it for a date. If you go to see it at the theatre probably just go by yourself.
It is captivating and brilliant. It washes over you and slowly takes you into the world and the house the characters, and the spirits inhabit until before you know it - you are in there with them.
The metronome of the film beats slowly yet surely. And the questions asked by it require the viewer to extrapolate based on their own beliefs therefore people may come out with different views and opinions. Nothing wrong with that.
Personally I thought this was a brave and masterful piece of film making depending on the context in which its being watched.
Westworld: The Bicameral Mind (2016)
Not enough payoff for the added complexity...
I really apologise for not being one of the adoring mass but the final episode disappointed. This is probably going to sound harsh to most and I really apologise for that. This is an absolutely brilliant series. This is the best TV I have ever watched. Ever. But...
By the time the end *finally* got there to be honest I was over it.
What started out as a great series, full of promise, the tangent it was on seemed to point higher than it ended up and I mean from a story and directorial perspectives. Sorry - but the reasoning behind the creators having their creations kill them doesn't ring true for me. I felt these were complications engineered to make it 'smart' but it just doesn't resonate with me. It's done to keep the 'keep-you-guessing-factor" high but in the end is over done. It's just trying to be too clever by half and fails in the overreach. And I wish with every fibre it didn't because I love it. LOVE it. But how many times do we watch scenes where just enough is revealed to keep us interested but doesn't move the plot forward at all. At finding out William was the guy in the black hat did surprise me but then again it didn't wow me enough for the investment made in the dual storyline. When you break it down the plot is actually quite simple. The storytelling didn't feel focused and formed well enough to convey the actual story.
I was really a big fan up to the ending.
It's not that I expected more - it's that I expected the story to better told. Too much filler. Too many overlapping / repeat scenes or repeated scene types that don't extend or flesh out concepts enough for the end episode to be worth an hour and a half. By about an hour in it felt like - when is this thing going to end? - really spoiling the investment made in watching all the other episodes and the promise it had. In the end I think too many liberties were taken with viewers time and investment. I hope they find a better way to drive it next season and when they do LOOK OUT! This will be the hottest, slickest, mind laser ever. They'll probably make you check your health insurance before watching... :)