john-2441 Reviews

From (2022– )

Soapy Blood Bubbles

[3/10 · 23 May 2023]

I pressed on till E7 but could take no more. It's derivative, cliched, predictable and leans heavily on the 'supernatural' being a license to get away with any kind of logical inconsistency the lazy or inept (take your pick) writers decide to choose.

In the end I couldn't decide which was worse, the logical contradictions about the powers their antagonists posses or the waffling conversations that go nowhere despite going on and on and on.

There's way too much badly written dialogue/monologue with the characters taking the audience on lonq winded, epithet laden unpacking of past traumas or injustices they suffered at each others hands. It gets so bad at times you start to marvel at how the actors can persist with it.

Its a soap opera with some passable horror.

It's not dreadful but it nearly is.

Mr Inbetween (2018–2021)

As good as it gets

[10/10 · 23 May 2023]

In terms of a crime thriller this is right up there with Breaking Bad and The Sopranos.

The plot devices, dialogue, screenplay and acting are all very well done, extremely inventive, never telegraphed and realistic. If you are a fan of Australian understated gritty realism then this is the show for you.

Ray pulls off the role of understated, competent and calculated hit man with such panache it's hard to see how it could be done better.

The way the ruthless effectiveness is played against his underlying sense of fairness and justice is very cleverly and sensitively approached.

The distinct lack of a swaggering bullet proof ego that characterizes so many Hollywood attempts at this genre is thankfully absent.

While it might not be a completely fair comparison it makes shows like Reacher look like something the WWE would come up with.

The Next Three Days (2010)

Weak copy of Anything For Her

[3/10 · 26 July 2011]

I wondered if it was going to be worth watching with Russel Crowe in it and my doubts were confirmed very early on. The very first scenes and Crowe is in full blown belligerent over confidence mode, it just doesn't work in a film requiring this level of subtlety.

His extremely casual relaxed approach in the few hours after his wife is arrested for murder look really poor, totally unbelievable. Is looking that relaxed on your wifes first night in custody bad acting, total lack of empathy for the character or just some form of psychosis? In terms of screenplay it is an almost identical carbon copy of the original French movie "Anything for Her" - but with no visible reference to the fact is a copy, but that is where the similarity ends. Do yourself a huge favour and watch the French version.

Remember Me (I) (2010)

Clichés, good bits, ridiculous end

[2/10 · 11 August 2010]

This is yet another potentially great human drama slaughtered by trying to appeal to so many people it ends up losing any bite. The story is about relationships and how the results of our actions can reverberate in ways that are profound but unpredictable.

It uses some quite dramatic violence early in the plot seemingly in order to charge the emotional conflict later - as the plot unfolds you just end up wondering why they bothered - if they had chopped the first and final 5 minutes it would have stood on its own – probably even more plausibly.

A talented (of course) almost estranged son of wealthy business man dates the feisty daughter of solo parent ex-cop for revenge but falls in love. Throw in some parallel interpersonal family incidents, a very dramatic introduction and utterly unforeseeable even more dramatic ending to give it the guise of 'mystique' and there you have it.

At times good acting and screenplay hampered by clichéd plot and at least one unbelievable casting mistake. Pierce Brosnan looks totally out of place, his accent drifts between Irish American & James Bond and he ends up (in part due to the story) looking more caricature than character.

The typical American 'wonderment with riches' is ever present - the rebellion is little more than tugging of the forelock at the idea that people might actually be more interesting than wealth & privelidge.

Deadly Impact (2010)

Deadly Impact - Hardly

[2/10 · 12 April 2010]

Another revenge flick that makes ridiculous demands on the audience - the acting is only just above the typical WWF performance, nothing else is. The plot, premise and screenplay are pure simplistic pantomime. Don't bother unless you are really sucked in by the plots in WWF. Why oh why do these action films have to have such contrived story lines to execute screenplay. An irritating dick-waving contest between and evil 'mastermind' who despite having the ability to take on any challenge sets about playing games with the dumbest cop in police enforcement history. It is very hard to imagine an psychopath so cruel that he would not have just finished the idiot in the first scene and spared us all the agony.

Transporter 3 (2008)

The Very Worst kind of Action Movie

[1/10 · 7 March 2009]

James Bond meets the Dukes of Hazard. As ridiculous as the Dukes of Hazard with none of the charm. As bombastic as James Bond but with no style. Utter garbage - The Incredibles was more realistic.

Inconsistent with far too may factual as well as continuity errors. The stunts are un-convincing, some are so laboured they are absurd. The ones that do work are stripped of credibility by the absurdity of the others.

The premise is fundamentally a ransom scenario for documents signed under duress! - utterly ridiculous! Almost as ridiculous as thinking that politicians have any interest in environmental issues.

The love interest scenes could have easily been replaced with Staham masturbating, the only reason they didn't is because it would have created an emotional intensity the rest of the movie couldn't possibly hope to have matched. If you have to watch Crank again - instead of!

Traitor (2008)

If you've read Fisk or Chomsky this will make you vomit.

[2/10 · 18 November 2008]

If the middle east is something you have ever taken a serious interest in this will leave you seriously disappointed.

Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Appocolypse Now all had something you could at least feel a visceral connection with. This movie has none of these things. Far more hopelessly inaccurate films about the middle-east managed to create loathing towards the stereotype Arab hate figure -this film struggles with ambiguity.

It wanted to be a grown up film about the failure of the human spirit that is war, it ended up being and empty double agent non-thriller.

Its like trying to cover up for the most monumental cock-up humanity ever made by saying it didn't really matter, just caused a few confused spy dramas.

Garbage.

August Rush (2007)

August Rush - should have been called August Gush

[3/10 · 17 March 2008]

The film starts well and builds a story about a young boy living in an orphanage and on a mission to find his parents.

The story centers on the main character's (Evan Taylor) musical prodigy and a fairly consistent theme of blind hope that it will assist him in finding his parents. Unfortunately after a promising start showing the interaction and tensions of orphanage life for the strangely talented youngster the whole plot descends into insulting implausibility and effusive schmaltz - even my wife couldn't bear it.

The youngster while on his mission to find his parents pulls off ever more unbelievable musical feats and of course we discover his parents are either already those affluent nice people, or the sort that can mutate from rough musicians to chauffeur driven businessmen at whim. A great idea, reasonable cast, terrible plot development, cloying schmaltz and very predictable ending.

Love Again (2003 TV Movie)

Love Again - A Deep Insight

[10/10 · 13 January 2006]

Brought Philip Larkin to life in a way that is worthy of the greatest performances of all time, and not just the ones that are measured by popularity. It shows a stark portrayal of Larkins life as the greatest unrecognized poet of his era - which is exactly how he would have wanted it, such was his disdain for cankers and medallions. It dramatically exposes the raw beauty in the intense sadness of Philips observations of our relationship with our own mortality, and lays it our in a way that seems to have missed even the great philosophers. for anyone interested in profound observations of our relationship with life, love and death this is a must.