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Reviews
La fille au bracelet (2019)
Interesting but shallow and ultimately hollow
How did the police can identify a suspect in 4 hours?
Why were the clothes that Lise was wearing at the party and the day after the party not central to the investigation? Why would any murderer not leave any bloody footprints after such a vicious crime?
Surely the police have zero case at all against Lise if they discover that her clothes are entirely blood free, or the police have no doubt at all if her clothes are spattered with blood - and yet blood-spattered clothes or the lack of them were not mentioned once in the movie.
Towards the end of the film, with time running out, I had a terrible feeling there was not going to be an ending. Then the credits rolled, and the wife went ballistic.
There is a crowd that will love the ambiguity at the end of this, but the ambiguity wasn't earned. In the real world, there would be no room for ambiguity in a case like this, the clothes and footprints would be enough to establish guilt or innocence.
Scoring it a 6 because of the acting and the early potential of the film. But it's a dud in my opinion.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Mehvil war
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Civil war wants to be taken seriously. The stakes are high. Thousands of people have died due to events in previous movies. And it's all the fault of the Avengers. Scarlet lady feels bad about killing a dozen people for about 5 minutes, Tony Stank wants to sign a document that will guarantee that they don't smash a single building next time there is a threat, not even if the alternative is the planet being destroyed.
But really what this film about is kicky kicky, punchy punchy, smashy smashy, between friends.
The film utterly fails to explain why someone like hawkeye would intentionally try to murder his friends with his arrows. The action is ridiculous. Some of these people seem to genuinely trying to kill each other. Over what? Failure to sign a document? A disagreement in the beyond reasonable doubt guilt of a prisoner?
The film fails to explain why these guys, after going through hell together previously, even have a reason for the kicky kicky, punchy punchy, smashy smashy.
Somehow the mastermind of this whole civil war plot managed to turn the avengers against each other by stealing VHS footage of Starky's dad being murdered by Bucky. He lures the best friends into a silo, shows them the VHS footage, then mic drops. The entire scheme was about his assumption that Tony Stark and Captain America would not be able to reasonably use language to settle their differences rather than try to murder each other, so of course, buildings will be smashed, roads will be torn up, innocents will be terrorised.
On the plus side, the acting is pretty good. The action is fine. The special effects are excellent, spidey was fun, but without a story that makes sense, it all falls flat.
Bei tou zou de na wu nian (2013)
An odd mix of genres but the core story was very well done
I was lucky to have a chance to watch this recently on an international flight (which is where I tend to find good Asian movies with English subtitles).
The core story of "The Stolen Years" centres around the memory loss of a newlywed woman, in the midst of the most romantic period of her life.
What follows is twist after twist after twist, with the the centre of the movie revolving around a quest to discover the reason behind the breakdown of the marriage. In among this human drama are several 1-dimensional characters and odd musical numbers, one of which that seems to break the third wall for no particular reason at the height of the drama.
If you ignore that set-piece, what you get is a very well acted drama about the nature of love and sacrifice. I particularly liked the representation of the relationship through home videos. The chemistry between the leads was tangible.
The movie ended on a strange beat, and one that made me feel truly sad. Worse than losing somebody you love is to see that person slide into depression then oblivion. I can't think of a worse fate for any character, but for such a vibrant character, it truly choked me up.
I would have given the movie an 8, but the supporting cast and the odd musical number took me out of the movie long enough to feel that it was only worth a 7. Still, a very good movie, and one that I would recommend.
Man of Steel (2013)
Spectacular Failure
Superman 1978 is an almost perfect movie. It has an epic scope, unbelievable pacing, heart, romance, adventure, grief, remorse, loss, redemption, humour, perfect cinematography, unbelievable casting and - the music, well, it is just one of the most end to end enduringly entertaining films ever made.
Superman II was also a very good movie, but suffered a little at the hands of Richard Lester who tried to up the comedy elements, but still - Superman II remains an excellent movie, not least for Zod. For an adventure film to truly engage its audience, it is important to have an antagonist with gravitas and for the action to have meaning.
Superman III, IV, Returns were all wasted opportunities, and so we have been waiting many years for a movie worthy of the potential shown in these first two movies.
Well, let me start with what I liked about MoS.
1) The casting was very good, in particular, Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner. HC is Superman. He's just perfect for the role.
2) The scene at the end of the movie where Superman is struggling to uphold his values at all costs, then must ultimately compromise in a no- win situation was handled perfectly. Killing is not something that Superman does, and it was right for Superman to look so full of remorse at the end of it.
Now, for what I disliked:
1) The flashback narrative structure gets in the way of connecting with Clark and establishing the excitement of discovery that was integral to the 1978 adaptation.
2) By only flashing back to Clark's childhood we never get to really experience the love Clark had for his adoptive father. There are far too few scenes of Clark with Jonathan, and those scenes that there, although excellent, are far too short.
3) Shaky cam does not suit cinema at 24 fps. The action was far too fast for 24 fps and even if the camera would have been steady, this would have been a problem. The action was often incomprehensible. Epic action on a large scale requires either a static camera or a camera on a smooth path.
4) Bleaching out of colours is not the same as realism. The colour palette could not have been more bland.
5) Editing. When Metropolis is being approached, we see citizens in the street just staring up, not running. In the third act, every few minutes a new building is destroyed, and at that moment it cuts to people on the street, only just then getting out of their cars, then starting to run at the point the building starts to fall. Mid way through the final act, after many buildings have already been destroyed, the daily planet decides to evacuate. Any reasonable viewer would have expected an evacuation of all buildings immediately after the first building starts to fall in the city, and mass panic on the streets immediately after that. But the streets are empty for the most-part, aside from bit- parters from the DP.
6) Co-incidences everywhere. It seems that when superman falls to earth he always lands near someone he knows.
7) Punch punch, kick, kick, smash, smash, punch, punch, kick, kick, smash, smash; for 45 minutes, with the narrative crawling forward. Unfocused and without any kind of progression of narrative. Humans are punched by beings with enough strength to topple skyscrapers and they manage to get up without even a broken bone. The action was never satisfying because action needs to have a goal in order to be satisfying. We never understood Superman's goal when engaging the Kryptonians. How could he neutralise them? It's exciting if you are willing the protagonist to win, but it doesn't feel exciting when their adversaries seem to feel no pain and appear to have no weaknesses. Jor- El's solution was a method to end the sheer boredom of watching one set of pixels collide with another set of pixels without consequence.
8) In the 'gritty' new world of this Superman, are we supposed to believe that a pair of glasses conceals superman's identity. Christopher Reeve was masterful in that he played CK completely differently to Superman, and was not so muscular that it was obvious how strong he was, plus in that adaptation, CK's identity was safe by default and it was Superman that was introduced to the world. I felt that this adaptation would just ignore the alter-ego, as it is simply not believable in the world they created, and with his past already revealed to a large number of people already.
9) Zod and his followers are boring antagonists, and also suffer from having a legitimate grievance with Jor-El over Jor-El's unilateral decision to doom the Kryptonian race with a single exception. The best antagonists exude charisma but should be entirely self-serving. Zod's cause was just at the beginning of the movie. Later, after deciding to modify earth in such a way that it would wipe out humanity - their cause is obviously unjust but the dame is done - you sympathise with the antagonist, not bad in itself, but in a movie that asks you to be invested in action scenes, you cannot enjoy progress in a battle to which you are indifferent. Loathing the antagonist is essential to enjoying action movies.
10) We are told that Clark is 33 years old (the age that sacrificed himself for humanity). Add to that, JK's sacrifice for his son, and Superman's explicitly stated symbolism of hope, and its as if you're being hit over the head with a bible.
Such a disappointment. Heavy handed, self-important religious subtext, shaky-cam instagram cinematography, bombastic score and precious few character moments, weak antagonist, a ridiculous introduction to CK the reporter (that hold the same posture and acts the same as CK/Superman), action for action sake without goal, mcguffins, terrible editing, the list goes on.
The Ghost Writer (2010)
Badly casted wasted opportunity
This movie left a bitter taste in my mouth. I am a huge fan of conspiracy/spy movies/thrillers in general and the best of these include gems such as 'The Day of the Jackal' (1973), The Parallax View (1974), Blow Out (1981) but this movie is not on the same level as these films that were based in reality. In modern times, movies are becoming increasingly dependant on self-awareness, 3D gimmicks and CGI at a detriment to a narrative that is internally consistent and realistic. I had hopes that this movie would buck the trend. It did not buck the trend.
Lets start with the casting problems:
1) Ewan McGregor plays the Ghost Writer as a completely bland character with no particular special cognitive skills. His accent seems forced which begs the question why did they not let him use his natural accent or why not hire a person that naturally owns the required accent?
2) Kim Cattrall - her accent is completely unbelievable and detracts from the movie. I have no idea how she was cast? Her presence in this movie greatly devalues the movie.
3) Pierce Brosnan - He just seems more American than British these days and always seems to play the same character. It's obvious from the way he plays the character that he is flawed but innocent of the conspiracy and the lack of doubt in the acting greatly reduced the pool of suspects. A more ambiguous performance was required here to hold the tension.
The twist when it comes was alluded to almost an hour earlier and the logic behind the encoded message in the manuscript bordered on inane. Why not just send an email to the authorities to guarantee the original Ghost Writer's safety? How does everyone know that the answer was in the manuscript? How can the author be sure that anyone could find his message?
At the end, why would the ghost writer reveal that he knew the secret when he knew that it would get him killed? If he knew the secret why not just either pretend he didn't know or take it to the British secret service. Once the secret is out, there is no value in killing the Ghost Writer. He made himself into a target at the end and in the end I felt no sympathy for the character at all. A movie should make you empathise with the protagonist but the whole thing was a mess.
The character walks into danger again and again. He follows the satnav to where the original Ghost Writer travelled to knowing that the same fate could befall him. He met the British politician without anyone else aware of it when he didn't know what was happening. He could have died.
He let Ruth Lang know that he knew the truth when doing so made him into an instant target. This just stinks of bad writing. A good political thriller comprises of a character forced to take risks or a character that is compelled to take risks. No character walks unarmed into obvious danger unless there is a compelling motivation to do so. The Ghost Writer was a non-character. We know nothing of his background and he barely shows any emotion at any time.
The introduction of the father of the murdered soldier was muddled and couldn't have made it clearer that the character was going to try to assassinate Adam Lang.
To summarise, it seems that the art of political thrillers is lost. I have hopes that one day Christopher Nolan may tackle similar material and am certain that it will not be dumbed down in such a way. If you need a fix of intelligent movies, check out Shutter Island or Inception both of which have fully realised protagonists and internally consistent narrative.
I give this movie 6 out of 10 as it is not a terrible movie (I save the 1 to 5 scores for movies that are 'bad') and is just merely a disappointing movie that should have been so much more.
The Woman in Black (1989)
A little known supernatural masterpiece
** Contains slight spoilers. No major plot information is given. ** At time of writing, just under 20 years have passed since the premier of the television adaptation of "The Woman in Black".
I was 13 when this was shown on ITV (channel 3) in the UK on Christmas Eve. It was billed as a chilling ghost story and was promoted well for several weeks before Christmas.
The whole family gathered to watch a good old-fashioned ghost story together. Myself, my two brothers (14 and 9 at the time), my mother and father. It was Christmas, and the room was dark save for the light of a well decorated Christmas tree in the corner. Everyone was eating well and drinking well. My mother and father were drinking wine and had just sat down to relax after preparing the Roast meat for Christmas dinner the next day.
Then it started....
The movie started slowly, presenting Arthur and his family and then detailing his reluctant assignment to the coastal village of Crythin. The mood is built masterfully.
The Woman in Black is used sparingly throughout the movie. The menace growing upon each visit. She tears through the movie like Jaws and the hatred shown on her face serves to unnerve the view and the viewer never feels safe at any time after the the second visit outside the house on the marshes. Even though I have seen the movie several times now, and even though I know when to expect the visits on-screen, I feel apprehension in every scene of the movie after the second appearance.
There are moments of absolute terror used extremely effectively in the movie but these are used without gore to create a state of absolute terror in the viewer. The story, production values and acting int he movie are all excellent as is the direction. The introduction of the dog into the movie provided some small comfort for the viewer as the viewer gradually begins to empathise with Arthur. I felt deep concern and attachment to the dog throughout the movie.
There is a moment in the movie that was so unexpected and scary that red wine ended up on the walls and ceiling of my home during that first viewing back in Christmas 1989. My father just so much that the wine flew out of his glass and we all screamed together in unison.
The thought that someone can hate you so much and that you can never escape it is so scary that it stays with you long after the movie ends. This movie is a true classic and the finest ghost story I have ever seen and I have seen many.
In all the years that followed there has never been a story to rival the Woman in Black and it seems a shame that it received so little acknowledgement. I would like to see an American remake out of curiosity and to raise awareness for this original version. This story is timeless and this adaptation, whilst not completely faithful to the source material, is also flawless.
A hope this film will receive the recognition it deserves in the years that follow.
Windtalkers (2002)
A masterpiece of criminally bad film-making
Not being a fan of Nicolas Cage or John Woo I went in with low expectations of this movie. What I got was something completely awful in terms of historical accuracy, entertainment value and artistic merit.
Nicolas cage must have taken out hundreds of Japanese soldiers throughout the movie and the movie goes to great length to show his passion for killing the Japanese yet strangely at the midpoint of the movie we discover he can speak Japanese fluently and acts with kindness toward the Japanese without any kind of explanation. It was obviously contrived to show that he is a man with depth, yet he is not a man with depth He is a man that is badly written. Somehow there is a romantic interest introduced into the movie that is suddenly dropped at the half way mark. He shows no interest in the affections of a nurse that showed an interest in him and the whole thing makes me feel like it was introduced for the purpose of showing clips of romance in a trailer.
The friendship with Navaho Indians is contrived. It was obvious from the outset that Nick Cage would be tested with his orders to protect the code. Except there is no drama in this. Nick lets the most valuable code of the war willingly cross into enemy lines during the friendly fire incident. He should have been court marshalled for this yet he received a medal of honour. Probably because he single handedly eliminated a whole enemy platoon.
Japanese soldiers never appear on the horizon, they appear from left, right, behind front, always popping up and screaming so that they can be easily dispatched by one man army Nick cage and his slo-mo director buddy. In war, you have soldiers to protect your flanks.
The scene where the marine threw his chocolate to encourage a Japanese child to run to safety had me laughing out loud and crying with despair as to how it was possible that this movie received any kind of budget at all with such a laughable script.
WindTalkers is the worst war film I have ever seen. The action scenes were pure A-Team and if there were any justice int he world, then Nick Cage and John Woo would be permanently banned from making any further movies.
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Poor adaptation of terrible Musical
Growing up in the 80s, and having a fondness of electro-disco, I love ABBA. I also love movies and especially musicals.
Having seen the stage version of this show with my mother some 4 years ago, I went into this movie with exceedingly low expectations and still left disappointed.
Mamma Mia suffers from a story that features some of the most unsympathetic characters ever. From Merryl Streep as the woman who had unprotected affairs with three loves of her life in the same week and never informed any of the possible fathers that they had a daughter, to her over-the-hill girlfriends who can neither sing nor dance.
Nothing is taken seriously, but nothing feels natural either. Old-style musicals blend music into story lines naturally and the music is based around the story. Here, the opposite is in effect. The lyrics of the music often have only a passing applicability to the wafer-thin plot device and often contradict the story itself. I found myself forced to not listen to the lyrics other than the chorus which more often than not fit the story with the rest of the lyrics relegated to noise to be ignored.
It just doesn't gel.
Performances are uniformly bad from everyone but it is the script and the singing that is particularly bad.
The girl-power message of the movie seemed over-stated. True equality comes from treating everyone with respect equally, not from making a unilateral decision to remove a father/fathers from your child's life. Youth is treated as a big joke and entering into marriage when young is implied to be a huge mistake. This movie is sexist in a way that would not be acceptable of the gender of the key players were inverted.
Donna's friends were simply loathsome creatures. Screechy without a modicum of musical talent. They were simply there to re-enforce the girl-power message but in being present, they were responsible for butchering some of ABBA's finest tunes.
I was hoping that a movie would remove the flaws of the stage-show and inject a little more believability into any of the characters. This did not happen.
If you love musicals, and if you love ABBA, then give this movie a miss. I love both, but this movie is enough to make you go cold-turkey.