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Reviews
Utopia (2014)
Political correctness lampooned
This series is brilliantly written as it opens up an issue that is often 'tolerated' by the average common sense white collar office worker. I love the depth and the way it systematically exposes the ridiculous time wasting of political correctness in the workplace.... However......
The only thing stopping me giving this 10 out of 10 is my total confusion as I attempt to reconcile the fact that this series is a showpiece of the ABC, which has to be one of the biggest proponents of bending over backwards to avoid 'offending' the leftism leaning mindsets where the whole 'political correctness' brain fog stems from in the first place !! Hmm ...'Tis a mystery 🤣
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
If I thought this was worthwhile, I'd need my head examined
7 out of 10 ....sounds worthwhile ....You're joking aren't you ?? Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman seriously do their collective careers a major disservice by taking up this horrible plot .
......You know, I used to have this really silly idea that movies were something people used to
watch for the sheer 'feel good' element to them and to take people away from some of the awful and horrendous realities in this world, in order to enjoy a life that is better portrayed on the screen ......This movie reaffirms to me that a lot of peoples heads live in a rubbish dump in regards to entertainment and most have taste in movies that is a joke.
How can it be that others rate this cinematic waste of space and who exactly are the numbys who make movies like this ?? It's beyond stupidity and totally ridiculous as 'entertainment'
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Seven Seconds (2018)
Ridiculously long drama and very 'unsatisfying'
I enjoyed immensely the build up to what seemed to be a thoroughly well written drama about how 'crime doesn't pay' and was anticipating the ending..... but then .... The last few episodes !! ......Sheeez .... I got SO annoyed with the continuous focus on drama that was so drawn out and just not interesting or relevant to seeing a completion to this court case and ready to see the rotten animals who were perverting justice FINALLY get their just desserts in the final episode .....and then .... NO JUSTICE !! Look, I dont watch TV to see this type of totally unrewarding tripe served as a satisfactory completion to finishing a good story !!! If I wanted that (?) I'll pick up a newspaper !! This may be true and ''realism' in the real world but is totally unrewarding, unexciting, unfulfilling and makes me want to throw my TV remote at the wall !! I'll be checking EVERY TV Series ending before I watch it in future to make sure I NEVER let this happen again !
Anon (2018)
Unexciting and bland
It seems like this movie was made to hammer home the inevitability that one day we're just going to have one meaningless existence of programmed reality, which basically fulfils no purpose but merely a mediocre attempt at 'being alive' for some reason (?) ( although I think an AI robot is probably having more fun than we will ) maybe in the future there are only about a dozen or so people existing in whatever cities that survive ..... that's the way it is portrayed here, nothing but empty streets, empty emotional content and empty sense of purpose of existence .....oops ! My apologies ...apart from AI type ramblings from actors who may as well have been AI robots ( that will probably happen in the industry future anyway ! )
Look, I know it's meant to be portrayed in an investigative mode but for most of the movie, every single soul is devoid of any natural human empathetic response of any kind ( I don't think I detected one single smile or moments of levity of any kind ) but instead are intensely analytical of everything that is going on around them.
I can just imagine all the computer geeks getting a real buzz out of this movie, but for most people, it's a banal robotic trip involving your thought processes ....and not much else. The storyline is extremely well thought out, but the only thing is, it has completely removed the human element of existence by reducing human beings to programmed computer chips that play out some monotone melody of existence and calling it 'Life'. It certainly made the future look, very depressing, but on the bright side, at least we may all have our own personal TV in our heads !
Family Switch (2023)
This is what movies should be - FUN
You know what ? The real sad thing in this day and age is that people expect 'realism' and 'drama' in films and sadly they've forgotten the escapism, entertainment and just a good time out watching the screen.
I couldn't believe the low ratings for this movie ! ... I thoroughly enjoyed this ! ...Why ? Because it was FUN !! Whatever you do, DON'T expect a 'deep and meaningful' message, even though that comes across, but it's wrapped up in a very clever role play reversal of mum, dad and the kids chaotic attempt at finding themselves in each others bodies ( a bit of a new take on Tom Hanks 'Big' movie ) The acting of the different role-plays between mother, father, son and daughter was really well done and unlike a lot of comedy I see these days, I had a lot of GOOD laughs ! ( especially the role reversal between the French bulldog and the baby ! ) The concept of too many Christmas movies these days is so cheesy and syrupy but this (?) was just good old fashioned fun and a great fantasy ride and should leave you at the closing credits with at least a smile .... sure is a welcome change from some of the heavy stuff that films are these days.
Infidel (2019)
Say what ???
I seriously wanted to get into this movie, the actual plot and storyline made for a riveting and tense thriller ..... it's just the severely lack of conviction in most of the acting that left me feeling like I'd eaten my favourite chocolate ice cream but somehow I was tasting cheese ....the Christian wife looked about as emotionally distraught as a woman who'd lost her Christmas list and had to write another one .... The husband acted like a man who was wrongly fined a little too much for a parking violation.... The Iman judge/official (?) he was as convincing as a concerned dentist and the rest of the cast acting convictions had been infected with a similar form of what I'd call 'apathy disease' ...hmm... maybe medication caused it .... or medication maybe could've fixed it (?)
Unfortunately this was SO continually distracting for me as I watched, some of the action was good but this whole 'apathy disease' was too apparent for me to really enter into the movie plot..... maybe Matt Damon, Charlize Theron and Eric Bana would've helped (?) .... but the producers couldn't afford them ( sigh ) oh well, the ending was good, it gave me time to choose something else .... and to eat something to get the cheese taste out of my mouth 😊
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Ummm ..... Say What ??
Seriously ? I've rated this movie 6 out of 10 mainly because of the entertainment value of the special effects alone... if it wasn't for that (?) I would've given it a 1 out of 10. There is a subtle twist in this movie to elevate to almost 'sacred status', the level of artificial intelligence in these robots versus the depraved nature of humans who make them ... As brilliant as some of the work on this movie was, it spoke to me of a total misunderstanding of what it really means to experience true and rewarding life. Confused humans who can't understand it and therefore all they do is raise questions without giving an answer that is revealed in the following
Choice. Will. Autonomy. Why do we have it ??
Created human beings can be a part of the process, but no one or nothing can give that to another, it's something that has to be received from the life source ... and not stupid aliens either, where did theirs come from ? ....There's a beginning and an end, an ORIGIN of ALL life, but for the continuing of that (?) there is only ONE who is far above and beyond that.... but the type of new age message this film promotes totally distorts that message .... and thats why it will disturb so many people.
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
When will Australians learn how to act
Seriously ??? I can't believe the totally disconnected delivery of convicting dialogue from the people in this film called 'actors'.
No matter how good you try to tell a story in film, if your actors aren't convincing (?) you're wasting your time. The Australian Film industry can be joke in this regard and ruin their potential to market themselves in viable storytelling .... .
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)
A Sham
Another movie in the same unenlightened darkness as 'Mary Magdalene'. It appears to be based on a load of dramatic imagination and fantasy birthed solely in the mind of an unregenerate heart untouched by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let me put it this way; How could you ever expect someone who's never met the person of Jesus to reveal any truth behind these following words:
" If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light, but if the light in you is darkness, how deep and great is the darkness"
Against the Ice (2022)
Thoroughly captivating
Riveting scenery portraying the incredible harshness of the Arctic landscape. The main characters were well cast and played their parts very well. The true story about this amazing survival is so very well done, holding your interest and keeping the tension constant ....umm ... One small detail though.... I couldn't reconcile two men spending over a year in the harsh Arctic environment...but they still maintained reasonable haircuts and trimmed beards ! 😂
Rocket Science (2007)
What's 'amusing' about teenage pain
Seriously... I could have enjoyed this movie if it actually made a statement about how tragic it can be for teenagers to grow up. But this movie seemed to emphasise the teenage years as almost amusing amongst the pain.
Some challenges teenagers are facing, should never be to 'sent up' as something we can have a good laugh about. The stuttering of the main character was just plain horrible to watch, there's definitely nothing funny about some teenage awkwardness or distress. This attempt by producers is more about poking fun at tragedy. How about more of Hollywood making a movie advocating teenagers being rescued from pain rather than the obvious realities of the terrible world that too many of them have to endure growing up. Not a fan of movies like this.
The East (2013)
Self righteous drivel
If I could've given this a negative 5, I would have. The 'superior moral' tones of this movie reflected by the activists in this movie was nauseating. This world isn't 'being destroyed' by greed, it's being destroyed by death which corrupting every living thing. This type of climate change agenda is thoroughly ruining our economic stability, threatening many a stable family and fuelling absolute hatred towards anyone who is a 'denier'. I'm sick of the whole circus and any movie that promotes it. End of rant.
Nomadland (2020)
Overall Depressing
The producers planning this movie must've thought;
'Let's make a movie ... one that may make someone identify with the desire for especially older people to throw themselves in front of an eighteen wheeler.... But let's throw in a lot of beautiful scenery so that the characters misery-guts attitude doesn't altogether cause the audience to go on prescriptions for Prozac'
Look, to be fair, they're only showing this as one person's experience and I know the acting was well done and it might've won rave reviews for its 'realism' but the sad thing about this movie was the intense sense of despair and hopelessness portrayed not just by her, but I seem to think the general message of; 'This is real life and anyone not like this is out of touch' The scenery was all in dull tones, greys and tinged with barrenness, I think this was deliberate to reflect the attitude of the main character.
I'm so glad that life is way bigger than how this movie portrays it and that there ARE myriads of people who DON'T sink into a hole after calamity, become miserable, give up on enjoying life and reject people who want to reach out to you.
Maybe the title could be changed to; 'How Not To Handle Your Old Age' ..... Okay .... might be time to go and watch 'Police Squad' again to get the jolly's happening...
A Lonely Place to Die (2011)
How about a dialogue that I can understand
Seriously, this film had tension and good potential, all of it so promising to deliver a gripping movie .... The only problem was the flipping dialogue ! I could hardly understand it !
Some of the conversations were spoken like the actors had just woken up and they were speaking through their nostrils with half a mouth of yogurt...maybe if I was Scottish, it would've been more able to hear it better. Apart from that, it wasn't too bad.
East Side Sushi (2014)
Relational, realistic and memorable
It really surprised me how much I enjoyed this satisfying movie ! The simplicity of the story of a struggling mother trying to make ends meet and excelling by putting her hand to something and to grow and learn, in spite of oppositions against her...In the end, this movie ends up being such a thoroughly believable, simple, realistic and thoroughly enjoyable storyline.... it shows that movies don't have to be filled with tensions and special affects to make them successful... this was a great movie for all the right reasons and left my wife and I with the 'feel good' factor that seems to have been left behind by many movie makers today. Great effort !
La Belle Époque (2019)
Is there a 'Groundhog Day' lesson here ?
20 minutes in and I found myself thinking 'I hope this slows down a bit' lots of rapid French dialogue, eyes working hard watching actors while trying to read subtitles .... that settled down and it became a little easier to follow.... Loved the soundtrack, my wife and I were just in our twenties in the 70's and this was a great visit down memory lane, such a great message with this movie, could be about using the past for building toward a better future or my takeaway on it was to learn from your past not to throw the good stuff away, for a marriage to survive and even thrive, we need to revisit our initial attraction to our spouse. Having been married close to 40 years, it was a good reminder, you can leave the theatre with a smile inside, a realisation that love doesn't have to die and for anything to last and bloom, we have to maintain it with careful attention.
The Invention of Lying (2009)
Fascinating portrayal of lying as exciting and truth to be boring
This movie was fascinating in regards to its insights into typical concepts of religion. No apologies for taking a deeper analysis of this film, it was a film I found really insightful, enlightening and annoying at the same time. 'Man in sky' was presented as a confusing concept and total enigma and 'truth' was presented as dead boring and delivers 'zero' in regard to 'fun' creativity and enjoyment of life. Whereas 'Lying' was the trait to come across as creative and fun. The 'honesty' in this film didn't represent truth. Real 'Truth' imeans absolute completeness in every facet of life, anything less than that has lies running through it. This film starts off to show exactly that, portraying 'truth' as completely irrelevant to creativity and wholeness, a very.sad perspective on a life lived with 'honesty' that ultimately has selfishness at its core. and that always produces miserable people. At least the ending brings some sort of a right perspective on the correct application of love and compassion as a foundation for truth in relationships.
Literally, Right Before Aaron (2017)
Critics need to 'lighten up'
Sheeeez......some of the scathing criticism of this movie is totally undeserved, I found this movie hilarious at times, but you'll totally miss that if you watch with wrong expectations....however I can understand why a myriad of people are dissatisfied with it, they remind me of people who walk into MacDonalds wanting a cheeseburger and get served butter chicken....totally not what you wanted BUT this movie makes 2 statements 1/ On the more serious side (?) anyone committing to what should be a lifelong union and then rips the other persons heart out, is going to create a huge mess ( emphasised by the way the movie ended )
2/ From the comedy side, it pokes fun at the dumb and inane wasted effort that people put into trying to cope with rejection. The main character is SUPPOSED to be lost, aimless and pathetic because ( maybe it's just me ) the message of this movie is; 'You lost. Get over it. For goodness sake have a laugh, life is SO much more than idiotic people who let you down !....learn to forgive and move on
Mary Magdalene (2018)
Interesting for all the wrong reasons
We should've been expecting the worst, when we walked into the theatre there were only 7 other people....only a week earlier we'd watched the movie 'I can only imagine' and thoroughly enjoyed it... this movie (?)
Where do I start..
1/ most of the dialogue is in barely audible, hushed 'holy' tones that reinforce the attitude that God seems to be some austere,
super serious bloke with a white beard and a big stick who gets easily annoyed.
2/ Joaquin Phoenix plays a 'Jesus' who speech at times reminded me of Elmer Fudd, he certainly didn't look like someone children loved to be around, and would easily get either cranky, distressed or stares wistfully into space causing one to think 'what's he on?'
3/ I couldn't see any recorded historical accounts being accurately interpreted onscreen, ( except when they showed Jesus on the cross and even then the look on Joaquin's face looked more like he was suffering from sinus issues and not the agony of being crucified )
4/ there's a historical account of Jesus making a whip of cords and causing mayhem in the temple by overturning the money changers tables and driving them out - in this film Jesus walks over to the money changers, has a bit of a whinge, starts ripping off some of the gates/fences where the goats are being held, then proceeds to get crash tackled by the disciples and dragged away before he gets arrested
5/ Jesus gets put in the tomb and Mary falls asleep outside till Jesus WAKES her up once he's risen, thoroughly against the account recorded in scripture
6/ the bond between Jesus and Mary at times looks like 'Uh-oh ..are they getting a teensy bit inappropriate?.....
7/ In scripture there's is a famous account of a woman, believed to be this same Mary, breaking open an alabaster flask of
VERY expensive perfume and anointing Jesus head and washing his feet with her tears, it is not even mentioned let alone portrayed in the story.... I mean 'hellooooo' isn't that one of the biggest thing in the Bible about Mary ? It was so significant that even Jesus reiterated that 'this story will be told for generations to come' ....but obviously whoever dreamed up this script found that story too 'demeaning' to women.
8/ the movie had a depressing feel to it which wasn't helped by the lack of colour in their clothes in those days (?) everyone had either old dark/light grey, off white or brownish type clothing....it began to add a very dour and sad tone to proceedings.
9/ Jesus said in the scripture; 'straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life'
This movie would reinforce a common misconception; 'Straight is the gate, narrow is the way and MISERABLE are the few who find it'
I'm probably getting your curiosity going now but my friends and wife and I considered walking out because it was just boring, depressing and a lot of it's portayal was definitely not in line with what we are told had happened in the New Testament, we kept thinking 'Sheez ! This sure would put you off going anywhere near a church'. To summarise, this whole movie is just a persons interpretation of what 'they perceive' is seen in scripture. The New Testament is either an accurate portrayal of historic events or it isn't, it's unfortunate when the authority of what is written is belittled by mankind's opinions
#endofrantreview
The Great Wall (2016)
Outstanding set and costumes
This is a great action movie....Look..anyone expecting epic theatre in regard to acting performances will be thoroughly disappointed. The artistic value of this movie is in the set design and costuming and the epic battle scenes.... I found it to be an Asian version of Lord of the Rings, I was very impressed with the costume design and set design, especially the costumes, I found them to be outstanding, thoroughly enjoyed this movie for what it was, I didn't expect much and it was everything I thought it would be, some good one liners thrown in throughout the script as well.