Reviews

Full English Breakfast? More like a dogs dinner. Writing,acting,directing,editing as all sub standard. The dialogue at times is incredibly inane "France is so far away". Says one character who later takes the Eurostar to Paris. One of the actors does not say anything but he does bite his bottom lip to let us know he is thinking.The sound is often completely out of sink with the action. The padlock on the lock up could probably be cut with a pair of blunt scissors.The fake reviews on here are more literate than the script but as laughable as the film.Dave hits people with a golf club while playing the Four Seasons.No doubt celebrating his kill with some Lambrusco.The look of the film is like a school project and at no time does anything resembling a professional standard of film making occur. I watched this "film" and I use the term loosely as I was amazed that something so poor found its way onto Netflix.Avoid at all costs.Unless of course you want to buy a family pack of crisps and have a right East end knees up watching this trash.

This film has many different rhythms and paces. At first the prolonged sex scenes last so long that they became uncomfortable and disturbing.Although the sex with the prostitutes was consensual Depardieux grunted in almost pig like fashion as he lost himself in debauchery and lust. It had the feel of a porn film but with believable characters. The scenes with Depardieux and Bissett often have the feel of improvisation particularly at the beginning. It would have been nice to have seen more of the victims reactions to the abuse that they were subjected too. The unrepentant nature of the lead character is alarming and brutally honest.He does not seek to be cured even after his arrest makes his life fall apart. He shows no feeling for his victims and just is a serial abuser. His blunt attempts at seduction is seen to be successful in one instance due to his wealth and status and overt womanising. Like Bad Lieutenant this film delivers moments of brutality and spiritual abandon. In both films the central characters are spiralling out of control. The Gauguin nudes on the walls of the apartment are well placed. In all despite the lengthy sex scenes and drawn out almost real time arrest the film is well constructed and well acted. The surreal almost "bad actor" dialogues between Bissett and Depardieux as they confront the aftermath of his arrest fluctuates between the inane and the poetic. I really liked the line that,"The reverse of Love is not hate but indifference" delivered by Bissett. The fact that this film is based on true events adds weight to the subject matter. A difficult film to watch and an adult film on more than one level.

This film deals with a difficult subject and the way to be accused of something can be enough for you to be excluded by society. The film is well written,acted and produced.The pace of the film is excellent and never sensationalist.When so many films nowadays require the viewer simply to sit back and be entertained this film drags you through a moral maze and very straight forwardly forces you to deal with the issues raised. Due to the subject matter it cannot said to be enjoyable yet as a piece of film making it is important and to be praised.The performance of the central character binds the film together. Without having empathy for his character and for all of those caught up in the unfolding events the film would not work.The sanctity of childhood and the way that his son is at the same time also ostracised by the community provides a harrowing contradiction."Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".

I watched ,"The Reader",last night and really enjoyed it. I thought that it was an intelligent screenplay and a wonderful cast ironically with the exception of Oscar winner Kate Winslet. Her performance was not bad enough to unbalance the film but she really was not a great choice for the main part.Crucially the plot needed her to mirror the complexity of the situation.Instead her German accent was weak, her range was limited and made it impossible to have any empathy for her.For the love story of the film to make any sense she need to be erotic and show love for Michael. The missing scenes were of the actually events for which she was being charged. No burning barn,no executions.No space for those who actually suffered at her hands.

Such a bad film.Pretentious,disjointed, unbelievable, saccharine, self indulgent.Tiresome.This is the second worst film I have ever seen. The worst half of the audience walked out. I had such high hopes for this film and they were smashed after the first 5 minutes. Every character was sickly sweet and their every action perfect and staged. The best actors were the young children with Downs Syndrome. Woeful. Please avoid this film. It is easy to wish to avoid slating this film due to their being characters with disability. I myself am disabled and also have worked as a psychiatric nurse with patients who had Downs syndrome. This is why I had hoped that the film would be uplifting and honest. There is a great Korean film that deals with the lives of the disabled in called Oasis.

What stands out in all of Sion's Sono's films is the voice of the director.His humour and ability to move through different styles within the same film. I think that this is a very positive feature in all of his films that I have seen to date. There is a brooding intelligence behind all of his films.This is a very stark violent film and one that has the most provocative dialogue.Much broader questions are being asked outside of the action.I think that it is no coincidence that Guilty of Romance,Suicide Club, Love Exposure and this film are all based upon true events.I think that Sion's dark humour helps to elevate his films above the genre of just shock horror.There is a lot of breast grabbing and an intoxication with sexual pleasure in this film.Sexual acts are often violent and deviant in his films and the bizarre Christian symbolism is odd and challenging.I really liked how the candles were lit on the alter using a spray can. What is normally a quite painstaking process was violent and disturbing.Can it be possible to enjoy films that are a constant assault to one's senses. I think so and Sono's films are not inane or banal.There is always the driving force of this poet and film maker. I am interested that other reviewers have mentioned," Visitor Q", and I would add ,"I Saw the Devil", as possibly the most disturbing films that I have seen..Murata in this film is introduced as a friendly kind man with an obsession with fish.His character openly refers to how he was abused as a child later in the film.His wife however a woman who enjoys sexual gratification at any time and in all forms is probably the most depraved character in the film.All of the madness includes strange around the table tableau's of normal? family life.The opening of the film showing the casual shopping and the emotionless acquisition of fast food is funny and sad at the same time.Do Sono's films celebrate the perverse and deviant? I am not so sure.Jodorowsky is the only other film maker who is so assured and unafraid to include imagery that is poetic and psychological.

I really like this film because it did not contain any dialogue that did not sound true to life.It deals with a very bleak subject matter in a mature and unsentimental way. This adds to the atmosphere of the film. It is filmed wonderfully in a swirling picture of colour that echos the stark situation of a rural village caught up in a war that is forced upon them. It is spiritually beautiful and life affirming without trite resolutions. I would recommend this film highly as it challenges the viewer to form a reasoned response to what is presented before them.I do not like war films full of special effects and blood splattered walls when just a visceral response is unavoidable.This approach often lends itself to a numbing effect where human life has no value at all. I do remember the colours used in this film as they were central to the emotional content of the film.

This film has an overload of good actors and a very interesting script,however it fails so much more than it succeeds. It left me wanting to never visit Paris again.(I am sure Paris is breathing a sigh of relief).In reality I love Paris the city. Mainly because the film was so indulgent and vain. As for the lead actor I really ended up wanting him to die due to his narcissistic attitude to his illness. I read a review that said that the film left many things unresolved much like life.Which is exactly the type of bullshit that this film propagates. It was just a few people shagging around.When they did have sex we did not get to see anything that remotely appeared to hold true to life. I did like the animation section of the film which I thought was genuinely inventive.The way the interwoven stories overlapped in an arbitrary fashion was banal.I am a big fan of French cinema and recognised so many of the actors from much better films.The music was also very irritating.For me the only thing that was left unresolved at he end of the film was why I subjected myself to a film that patted itself on the back at every opportunity. This is not cinema,this is not life,this is a very poor film dressed up as a masterpiece.Avoid honestly avoid.Unless condescension is your bag.

I just watched this movie because I like Kirsten Dunst. So I was able to muse about how her teeth for a American and movie star are far from perfect.This was what kept me watching and the hope that she might get her tits out for Orlando.However when our dream couple do have sex we are not allowed to see this happen.Orlando's character is so gay in this film it was most likely felt inappropriate.(I often wondered why Americans feel a need to remake classic Asian films and by doing so destroy them.)So the jerk off lost a billion not a million dollars,I care even less than Kirsten's character did.So Orlando washes his socks and next shot he is wearing them again this monumental attention to detail probably compounds the feeling that this film was cobbled together.I enjoyed Susan Saradon's tap dance class and the round of applause the audience gave her for committing career suicide.Whatever next she would drive off the end of a cliff? Oh no she has already done that.One of my brothers died of cancer last year and there was no point in this film that I recognised any of the genuine grief one experiences at a time like that in this film.He was cremated something that appears to be a big deal in this film.What shocked me most of all was that this film was made in 2005.It feels more like mid eighties.America has made many great films,the early seventies spawned some absolute classics.Now we get monumental toss like Will Smith punching an alien in Independence Day.This film fails on so many levels that if I was American I would change my nationality after watching this film it is so bad.It is amazing that somewhere along the line no one thought wait a minute none of this bullshit rings true.What I will say is I did manage to watch the whole film and for this I hope Karma rewards me.America is so in love with itself in the film that it is shameful.The only character who gets off lightly in this film is the father who has died and even he is not that believable.Shame on you America.You cannot do irony,vulgarity perfect just perfect.

I really like this film. It has a good comedic thread and still maintains a great drive and occasional authenticity. I really love the scene on the train when the couple are travelling to her folks. The close up of the carriages moving at the start of the scene is so wonderful and pure cinema.Does anyone know the image of Che Guevara behind the gangster bosses room? It is so funny when he tries to imitate it.I would love to be able to access this image.I like that we get to see the brutal side of the gangster figure when he is goaded into a fight.This film overall is light and redemptive and very funny. Cheers and enjoy the movie.

This film is wonderfully acted. It is an emotionally violent and physically violent portrayal of a man who was exceptional in his approach to his chosen profession of being a career criminal. If the actions in this film were not known to be based on fact then they would appear to be too incredible. Gangster films should be extreme and violent and this film delivers by introducing a physiological element to the portrayal of the central character and his associates. The question that intrigued me most was how did this man manage to live so radically in opposition to the moral compass of his time. It appears quite easily. Like the chainsaw scene in Scarface it begins with Mesrine becoming desensitized to violence, torture and murder while serving as a solider and this might be seen as a trigger to the path he chose. Jodorowsky once stated in relation to films," I love violence". It would be ridiculous to make a film about Mesrine without trying to show realistically how the ability to embrace violence is integral to a gangsters life. Mesrine is not a film that blithely attempts to create an anti-hero instead it charters the life of this man in a warts and all portrayal. However it also shows that a violent person can be charming and charismatic in equal measure. From the cradle to the grave this man's life was extreme. In life and certainly in film one of the greatest tragedies in life is if someone is boring. Many things can be levelled at Mesrine but having lived a dull life is not one of them. His life makes a cracking film. If everyone acted like Mesrine society would cease to exist.How do I like my bank robbers? Violent, resourceful and ruthless. Mesrine is almost a criminal version of James Bond. A man who can murder, who is cold blooded in any physical confrontation and who has an eye for the ladies. That Mesrine gave interviews about his lifestyle and attempted to justify his actions is fascinating. I am slightly saddened that such a good film does not rate more highly. I would attribute this solely to the fact that it is subtitled for those who do not speak French.

This film was really poor. I went with two friends and they both really hated the film. People started walking out of the cinema halfway through. Essentially the film is so condescending and self indulgent. I have no doubt that the movie luvvies who are parodied in the film love it. However for the general public it is a real bore. The over loud gun reports. Bruce Willis wants to keep his beard, big deal.Robert De Niro is late for meetings, that's drama.The moments in the film that appear that are meant to be subtle are laided on with a trowel. Big cast real letdown. Still I am sure everyone involved was well paid. And movie critics will over praise the film to feel like they are part of this oh so wacky world.