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Reviews
The Full Monty (2023)
It's a no from me!
This is a bit of a pointless revival (is that the right way to describe this?).
I enjoy the '97 film but that was a product of its time with the writing not evolving too well to keep the interest of original fans, as well as attract new ones. The film worked well for its time but this doesn't work now, as much as I like Robert Carlyle and the rest of the original cast.
The new additions, most notably Des, didn't interest or captivate me at all. The younger cast are not great in their roles and the pointless story just bores me. The aforementioned Destiny is not a likeable character in the slightest, and is acted poorly by someone who looked completely disinterested.
I didn't hold high hopes for this, but was ready to be pleasantly surprised, for which I really wasn't.
Some may enjoy this, and if so, fair play to you but I simply didn't. It was silly, not well acted and just pointless.
It's a no from me!
Empire of Light (2022)
Intriguing if anything.
I grew up in Margate until the age of 14 from the mid-80's until the late 90's and have memories of seeing a few films at the Dreamland cinema that doubles for the Empire in this film.
I also went back to Margate in May 2022 for the first time in 25 years and saw the sets and frontages for the Empire cinema after filming had wrapped. I was intrigued by this film. I have fond memories of Dreamland, the sea front and Margate as a whole so it was nice to see familiar sights in this film. 'The Jolly Boys Outing' episode of Only Fools and Horses episode is also a favourite of mine as it's how I remember Margate.
That's where the intrigue ended whilst watching this film. Yes it was great to see some of these familiar places that I know so well but within a story that just falls flat. I found myself more interested in the surrounds rather than what is front and centre. Seeing the old Coco's now a run down shell of what it used to be was just a bit sad and had a bigger impact upon me than the plot of the film. Which I was disappointed with because there is a very good film in here somewhere but some bits just didn't work for me.
The film does demonstrate some of the awful attitudes of the 1980's towards race and mental health etc but the pacing of the film is all over the place and makes it a bit difficult to fully take everything in. In some places, the film drags along at a slow pace then speeds up and races through pretty quickly, then slows down again.
The performances are, for the most part, pretty good and it is shot beautifully with a very good score. There were some 'shock' moments that were intended to ignite a specific emotion for the viewer but it just fell flat. The fact that I was slightly more impacted by the settings and familiar surroundings than the actual plot was a bit telling. Maybe it was my familiarity with the setting that distracted me, so this a review based solely on my own feelings.
It's by no means a bad film but it definitely doesn't merit any repeat viewing in my opinion, even if it is nice to see familiar sights. I feel that there was a bit of a missed opportunity here as it has the basis of a very good film but it just falls flat for me.
Some people may enjoy this much more than I did but it was nice to see the Dreamland cinema back to a familiar glory.
5/10.
Devotion (2022)
Gripping, exhilarating, Excellent.
I don't usually watch a film lower than a 7/10 rating but I wanted to give this a go. It was far better than it's current 6.7 rating and I was not disappointed.
As the title of this review says, it was gripping, exhilarating and I really really enjoyed it. I did a bit of reading on the subject matter but I won't spoil anything here. The film showed that social barriers, even during times when prejudices are rife, can be broken down and a brotherhood can be formed no matter what race or social standing these men came from. The bonds formed were between two human beings with a deep respect for one another and their teammates.
The aerial dogfighting scenes are incredible and exhilarating. Everyone is well cast and it's very well acted. The film is shot magnificently, nobody missed a beat. I applaud this film in different ways.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I would highly recommend it.
Excellent!
Prey (2022)
Good but not great
Prey was pretty decent. It had some very good action scenes, some very good cinematography, some very good set pieces but it just felt a bit flat by the end.
There were some good ideas that I didn't feel were fully fleshed out. It is difficult to do something new with a predator movie and the filmmakers tried to do new things but some aspects of the film felt rushed.
Take the film's lead. I liked that they went in a different direction with the type of lead for this film and she wasn't a Mary-sue as some have stated, but the equality message was a little on the nose at times and that just felt forced. She lacked real depth in the end, even though the blueprint for a fleshed out, well rounded character was clearly there. It was a good idea that she would try to outsmart the predator by learning more about it and trying to use her ability to learn quickly against it but they still tried to make her a strong, all powerful fighter who could easily take out a group of larger French trappers with little effort.
I didn't feel that her character needed to be showcased as an all powerful, brutal fighter able to hold her own against any adversary. This resulted in a lack of depth for me. Brute strength didn't need to kill the predator but whits and smarts combined with her physical skill would and that just wasn't realised fully.
In the end, these aspect weren't full explored and barely scratched the surface. It came off as a bit hammy to appease those who shout the loudest on social media. The lead character's arc was very straight forward and I felt that she had so much more to offer as a protagonist. She felt very one dimensional and almost failed where Sara Connor & Ellen Ripley succeeded.
The dialogue wasn't great either. For a film set in the 1700's, the dialogue was too modern and really took me out of the film far too often.
What I did like about the film was that it was straight forward, has no silly side stories and sub-plots and was well directed. It tried to go in a different direction which I thought was great, in concept. The action was brutal and fun to watch (in my opinion anyway). The acting from the small whole cast was good with the exception of some of the dialogue.
Prey doesn't stack up to the original, nor it's underrated first sequel but is a huge improvement upon The Predator and could be considered maybe slightly better than Predators. I'd recommend it to any fan of the original, but don't get your hopes too high.
13 Factors That Saved Apollo 13 (2014)
Excellent, in-depth documentary
If you've seen Ron Howard's Apollo 13, then you know the story. However, this documentary goes deeper into what went wrong, and what went right.
It's a very fascinating story that can be told until the end of time and with this documentary, you learn a few new things that compliment what you already know.
Interviews with the people who were involved in the rescue provide a great insight into not only what happened to get the crew home, but what was the thinking and feeling during the disaster.
It's scientific, thorough and very very interesting. The drama of how dangerous and critical each step was in successfully getting the crew home is heightened and at the forefront of the documentary but balanced with the extraordinary stories of the efforts by everyone involved to make it a successful rescue.
If you have any interest in the Apollo missions, and/or Apollo 13, then this is a must see documentary. Excellent from start to finish.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Edit - Seasons 1 & 2 Awful! Season 3 excellent!
Season 1 & 2 - The writing, awful. The dialogue, awful. The premise, confusing and awful. The acting, sometimes awful, sometimes passable.
Season 3 - Now that's more like it! It still has its faults and at times weighed down by poor writing decisions from season 1, but Terry Matalas and team really pulled off the unthinkable with season 3 to make it a fun, well written, very well acted and exciting season.
I give the series a 7 purely because seasons 1 & 2 bring the score down.
For me, Terry Matalas saved Star Trek from Alex Kurtzman. Matalas knows trek, he's a fan of the original series movies, which is clear to see, and he's a fan of The Next Generation, which was a necessity for running this show. He gets it and I applaud him.
The CGI is excellent, I like the new Titan. The production was brilliant, if not a little dark. Jack Crusher is an interesting character that I wanted to know more about. I was excited to see the old crew of the Enterprise D/E reunite. And there's even a cameo from my favourite Trek ship the enterprise Refit (well, it's 'A' equivalent from star treks 4 to 6).
The score for season 3 is also excellent. There's a few nods to the scores of Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, which I found to be a very nice touch. It's a very Star Trek score, with a lot of new material to compliment the familiar musical cues.
Give seasons 1 & 2 a miss and go straight to season 3, but just know that Picard died at the end of season 1 and was brought back as an android... yeah... that's a thing!
New trek is on its backside with people who simply don't get it and try to aim it at the wrong people. Even Strange New Worlds is a key example of how not to do trek. Yet Picard Season 3 is the exception. It's run by people who get star trek and it's aimed at the fans. If only Terry Matalas would do a follow up series on the Titan A / Enterprise G.
In Search of Tomorrow (2022)
Must watch for any sci-fi fan -and/or movie buff
Excellently structured, brilliantly paced and very very thorough at over 5 hours long, and what a fantastic documentary it is.
To go through each year and go from movie to movie per year just fills the whole documentary with so much content, and it's amazing to see and hear from so many talented people that not only worked on these films, but many people who were inspired by these films.
It's a deep dive into all aspects of what made 80's sci-fi so amazing, so captivating, so memorable and how a lot of the ideas of the technologies have even come into existence in every day life today.
I grew up with so many of these movies that I still watch today and this documentary gives a great insight into the making of these films, the ideas that came together to get these films made and how they inspired many aspects of not only the making of future films but how the technologies have been developed from these ideas.
The documentary doesn't just go through each year with some of the most important films per year, it also goes over the scores, the heroes/villains/anti-heros, the development of the special effects, the science behind the movies, and so much more.
My review can't do this documentary any justice so I can only say, if you haven't watched it yet, watch it. It's a must see for Sci-fi fans and movie buffs alike.
Highly recommended.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Clever satire but by no means subtle
As the headline states, this is a clever satirical comedy but you don't need multiple viewings to understand what is being parodied here. For the most part, this is a well written, well acted and well directed film but I did feel like I was hit over the head a bit too much with the satire. The film was a little too long and did drag a bit through the second act.
That said, the jokes mostly hit, with the obvious parodies being western society's attitudes to the world via social media and capitalism. 'The world could be ending tomorrow but so long as I have 100,000 likes on my post then who cares? Nothing is more important than my popularity and making money'.
Although the main antagonist is supposed to be a comet that will collide with the earth, wiping out all life, it turns out that modern society is actually the main antagonist. We are our own worst enemy. The comet cleverly, but not subtlety, substitutes for the Covid-19 pandemic and/or global warming, with media personalities, tech moguls, pop-stars and political leaders etc blindly trying to use the crisis to their own gains, yet this all back fires due to their own ineptitudes. All because they want to be more popular and make more money. Blinded by greed and stupidity.
There is also fun poked at the social divides that social media creates such as the 'person who listens to the science' vs 'the person who listens to the untrained anarchist ranting and raving about conspiracy theory's to fit the narrative'.
The cast are all on good form. No one seems poorly cast and they look like they had fun with the material. Even some of the visuals are excellent but as I pointed out earlier in this review, the film could have been trimmed down a bit. Overall, I enjoyed the film. It got a fair few laughs with some really funny moments such as Jennifer Lawrence's character seemingly more annoyed throughout the film about the White House General charging them for free stuff than the main impending threat and it brilliantly captured western social attitudes in an amplified way.
Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer (2021)
Unfocused and bloated
Ok, we get the point regarding how Times Square was in the late 70's early 80's. I get that the main subject matter is interwoven with the environment but I wanted to know more about the serial killer, the investigation, the discovered motives, the deep dive into the mind of such a sadistic person and the aftermath but it's more a documentary series about the porn and sex worker industry in Times Square at that time, which so happens to include a serial killer.
It's important to set the scene and give an understanding of how things were in those days but this documentary series really focuses on sleaze of the time far too much. There are glimpses of the investigation that are interesting in the first 2 episodes, but then it goes back to describing the sleaze again. The subject matter is hard hitting, shocking and is almost difficult to watch at times more because of the focus on Times Square itself, as if the main subject matter was shocking enough. Episode 3 is an improvement and does focus much more on the investigation itself but feels a bit rushed to get the story told.
Just as it's getting interesting, boom, back to the sleazy stuff and Times Square. Yes this is important stuff to an extent in the overall 'narrative' but too much focus is given to the way things were in Times Square and some of those who controlled it but this should have been secondary to the main subject of series, or a completely different documentary altogether as it is interesting to see how Times Square has changed from then to now. The main investigation felt secondary, especially in the first 2 episodes and towards the end of the final episode. This easily could have been a 1 hour documentary as it feels bloated and very unfocused (that word again).
Some may find all of this interesting and well put together but for me, it wasn't easy to watch for many reasons. This is an average docuseries with an interesting main subject matter that felt secondary to another narrative and executed in an uninteresting way.