Reviews

Something of a mess and never really takes off. I won't go over the plot but say most of the events take place in a hotel room with stories being told in 'flashback'. There's no chemistry between the leads and no dramatic arc to speak of. Very little humour. The pacing is clunky. The film wants to say a whole lot of profound things about storytelling etc but never hits the mark. As for people wetting themselves over the visuals, have they never seen a film by Terry Gilliam?? I enjoy Tilda Swinton and I realise I'm supposed to gush over anything she does, but seriously, this one is pretty forgettable.

So we're onto Season 5. Just watched the first episode and wondering if I will continue. It's just so depressing. Not that I want/need to watch happy-clappy TV, it's just that when the real world is already depressing do I really want to see it on my screen as well? Plus let's talk about June. She's becoming plain annoying tbh. It isn't helped when the director keeps giving us the Kubrik big close up every few minutes. That camera framing has become tedious. So while I admire the acting and production values and it's continual critique of society, I'm not sure if I will continue. However, I do feel invested so may tough it out.

This is a movie that gets worse the longer it goes on. It's a classic example of a good story that is just terribly told. I'm not a paid up member of the Judi Dench Love Club (happen to think she is overrated as an actor - limited range and always seems to be 'acting'), but here she is completely wasted. So many moments of her looking pensively into the distance to convey...what? Bittersweet memories? And it was just inconceivable that the Young Joan Stanley would keep getting sucked in by an obvious slime bag. The drawn romances just turned this into a dreary soap opera. There's no real drama. No tension. Best avoid it.

'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande' would work better as a stage play because that's what it basically is. Not that there's anything wrong with it being a film, only that, like a stage play, the script is often forced, self-consciously witty and you can never really suspend your disbelief that here are two actors....acting.

I'll state upfront I'm not a member of the Emma Thompson love club. It's not that I dislike her, it's just that, like Judi Dench, I think she is very overrated. Like many British actors she has a very limited range and always comes across as an actor who is....acting. On stage this wouldn't be so glaring, but on film it is (recall her awful clunky acting in Harry Potter).

Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable rather short film with some funny moments and aimed more squarely at an audience of women of a certain age. I suspect it will touch parts of their own anxieties and seeing Thompson full frontal nude could also be reassuring. As one woman in the cinema said, 'I don't feel so bad about my body now' (which can be read as a good thing, while perhaps also undermining one of the film's intentions).

I can't help but mention that while this film has been billed as 'sex positive' and 'body positive', it's difficult not to ignore the presence of McCormack who represents a white, female fantasy stereotype - black, chiselled body and large penis (the latter clearly evident). Maybe that was the whole point of his casting. But still, not exactly 'body positive' for male audience members.

I managed one and half episodes and just couldn't continue. I see so many people raving about it but just can't see it myself. From the poor acting and script to the tedious whiny emo central character I just can't commit. I can often appreciate style over substance but this just doesn't cut it. Costumes are nice though.

Why watch this? Well, if you're a fan of the series, enjoy etiquette and love clothes, then this has it all. They race through so many plotlines to give us all our fav characters something to do and get us up to speed. It's all delightfully silly of course. It's a show where mislaid egg spoons is seen as a major catastrophe!

It starts as a version of NIKITA.

Then becomes a version of JOHN WICK Throw in some JASON BOURNE and BOND.

Add some intertitles cadged from KILLING EVE Make it really really really violent with OTT action scenes.

And then you have THE GRAY MAN.

Fine performance by Herriman and I'd walk over hot coals to see Mia Wasikowska on screen. Some good additional performances from the supporting cast. What usually let's an Australian film down is at least one awful performance and a terrible script. But here, both are pretty much on point. What does let it down is the plot and a rather ham-fisted sociopolitical point to be made about violence against women. An important theme but treated without any nuance. The dramatic climax is, unfortunately, cringeworthy.

Most of the movie is foretold in the set designs which cast this film in a kind of fairytale light. Pay attention to the character's apartment décor and, of course, the paintings at the community.

It's inescapable to not think about 'The Wicker Man' while watching this (and please, the 1973 film with Edward Woodward, not the 2006 remake with Nicolas Cage), where outsiders finding themselves unwittingly part of an ancient ritual. It seems to be a cinema genre in itself. Midsommar is more than just a horror film though, or thriller, or psychological drama. Unlike Robert Eggers, who slaps folkloric references together, hoping it adds up to something, Ari Aster actually tells and engaging story full of subtext. Fundamentally it's one young woman's emotional journey to find a 'real' family.

This is a terrific film that has stuck with me since my childhood. It is totally believable and should be mandatory viewing for all the tech nerdburgers gleefully marching us towards the cliff of artificial intelligence.

Nighy's stiff character plays well against Blunt's carefree spirit. Throw in Ron Weasley and it's a funny soup that delivers. It's a film that seems to have gone under the radar but one which we regularly watch on a stay-at-home Friday night and want a chuckle. It's an original idea that's told with English wit and pace. Well cast and a good script.

I was 17yo when this came out. My head was filled with the writings of Carlos Castaneda and paintings by the Surrealists. I was just about to start my psych degree. I was primed for this movie. At the time it just seemed so daring - the concepts and the visuals. On the big screen those visuals really do blast you. Looking back at it now it does seem very dated but it still has a wonderful charm. Ken Russell gives full reign to his nuttiness. And consciousness itself has become a respectful field of scientific research. It was amusing when the music video for "Take On Me" by Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha borrowed heavily from the climactic ending to this film. Give it a go. It does get silly. But just enjoy the ride. You can see Hurt is an accomplished actor in the making.

From what I understand the early life of BTK is pretty unknown so much of this story is pure invention. It's largely a sanitised, soap opera about a good boy turned bad because of circumstances beyond his control. Don't seek out any real grit and drama here. It's all very mild. But on the plus side it's a workmanlike production with reasonable acting etc.

Okay, so I haven't seen this film since I was a kid. The reason? It was too damn terrifying. COS became a byword for everything scary in my family. I really should watch it again just to see if has the same effect. Reading its backstory now it's even more remarkable that such a scary film was made on such a low budget.

It looks good. Lovely B&W, gritty, good performances etc but...... Eggers is eager to use metaphors, symbolism, myth, Greek legends etc but does it really tell us anything? I don't think so. It's more a grab bag of 'stuff' mashed together in the hope that something 'deep' will come out of it. It so desperately wants to be profound. As someone said, 'There wasn't nearly as much going on as the cinephiles and movie theorists will invent for it'.

One of those quiet films the British do so well. Well cast and acted. Broadbent does his usual turn as a gently bumbling Englishman. I've never seen him in a role that's any different. Mirren is wonderfully grumpy. No great drama but a study of real humans. Based on a true story with some liberty taken with the facts. The trial is a particularly good with much of the dialogue taken from the actual case itself.

I'm not going to join the chorus of those getting huge thigh sweats for this movie. It has it's good and not so good points. Yes, it's a wild ride. Very inventive. Good acting. Good action sequences. Amazing editing (should win an award just for that). But sheesh, it's so damn unnecessarily long.

It could have been 110 minutes and told the same story. It's way too self-indulgent. Scenes drag on and on and provide no additional clarity to the plot. It seems like the filmmakers just wanted to include everything they shot regardless of whether it moved the story along. If the film had been more succinct and got to the main point of the mother-daughter relationship, I would have enjoyed it much more. It was like, 'Let's bombard the audience with absurdity. Throw in lots of butt plugs and dildos etc. Oh wait, we need to make it profound. No worries, we have 30 more minutes'.

The length of this movie was it's biggest fault. Plus squeezing the 'message' in the finale seemed like an afterthought (it wasn't, it was just made to feel that way).

I started the film feeling disengaged. Then it made me angry. Then I struggled to stay awake (seriously). Finally the 'message' roused me. It wasn't a particularly profound message for me personally but at least it was there.

Oh, and I believe much of the excitement about this film is also because it references other movies. Cinephiles, critics and the film industry loveys adore seeing these insider jokes on screen.

There's no doubting that this is a well made series. Well cast, acted, directed and the era is captured well. The main character's story arc is a well worn one, a take on the hero's journey (complete with a magical black character). So there's nothing truly new here. We all know what will happen and what the outcome will be. Still, it was fun to watch and worth the time.

I've watched JOJO several times now. Well cast, good direction and editing...and just bloody funny. BUT it also has a heart and some genuine emotional moments. Those who said they didn't laugh need to seek medical help asap. It's in my TOP 20 films.

Where do I start? No real drama. No character development. The most cornball dialogue. Sloppy plot. Poor use of a potentially spectacular landscape. Bland soundtrack. I think any episode of VIKINGS would surpass this film. I was blown away by how ordinary it was and almost walked out. It was cinema by numbers that added up to far less than its parts. This film should have been absolutely epic. Terribly disappointing. It was well over two hours of boredom. Anyone claiming it a masterpiece should be banned from entering Valhalla!

Halfway thru Season 1 and this is one of the cheesiest and most threadbare series around. It's laughable how the bad guy always coughs up their guilt when cornered. Just awful. Reminds me of the endings to eps of Scooby Doo - 'I woulda gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those pesky kids!'. The plot for each ep is comically simplistic. Tom Ellis' incessant grinning that's supposed to pass as some kind of devilish mischievousness is tedious. Does it get any better??

This is an enjoyable but 'small' film. But with such big personalities as Buñuel, Lorca and Dali during one of the most tumultuous times in Spanish history it could have been, and should have been, so much more. Still, Lorca's pain and torment is conveyed very empathically.