Reviews

So there have been many attempts at bridging the gap between two popular and rewarding (especially financially) industries of films and computer games. As far back as the 1980's there were VHS cassette tapes that allowed viewers to influence the story by making decisions as they watched a show. Those were a different experience to the more modern "Choose Your Own Adventure" and "Fighting Fantasy" type books that influenced later films.

Now we are in the era of streaming, and Choose Love is a very interesting contribution to what could be a revolutionary albeit somewhat nascent field of entertainment.

The ability to direct a film is a novel experience that is not for everyone, but if you enjoy gaming or the books I mention above, then you will most likely enjoy this film.

To address a misguided notion that some people have, the ethics are not "to help the (protagonist) cheat" but to guide her through experiencing young love. Yes there are some options that some will see as morally reprehensible whilst others will see for a bit of fun. The fact is that this is a healthy way for some people to explore their decision-making abilities and their morals, and see how things could be with alternative decisions available for consideration.

Perhaps we will see more of this in the future. I personally hope so!

This film could have been good. It has a cast of notable quality, a script that is polished, and good camera work. However, there are too many frustratingly ludicrous scenes that mar this title. People are constantly driving recklessly and killing others in crashes, or turning their backs on foes that are clearly still a threat. This kind of thing ruins the overall flow of the film. It would have been so easy to do those bits, but it is as if the director has not watched the final cut of the film and just been fixated on making a movie rather than making a quality movie - and it shows!

Having read some of the other reviewers criticisms about this film I felt compelled mention some of the good points take me to enjoy this film and give it a 9. firstly whilst I normally despise anybody who says such cliches as "at least I had fun making this film" when really they mean "this film is terrible" but I really mean it when I say they the cast and crew clearly had a riot making. I fear that some people will simply not get this kind of humour, as it is very much a "League of Gentleman" style of humour (in fact Matt Lucas stars in this flick) and I absolutely loved it with the smuttier aspects of the humour. This film is a wild and wacky tribute to the 1970s and England's time of change. I felt that the film clearly highlighted some of the aspects of punk music such as the idea of being anti-capitalist and anti-establishment together with the motto of "tear it down". I feel it is what helps us become a left wing country and more welcoming to our non-British fellow people. I won't mention about how this amazing defining time in English history is now sadly crumbling because it is too political but I would be amiss to omit a nod the political ideals that this film crams into an overall entertaining endeavour.

If phrases like "this is a local shop for local people" and " this parrot is dead!" amuse you even slightly, then I feel that you will have just the right sense of humour to really grasp this film's eccentricities , for it has many, and they will not be to everybody's liking. So tread careful dear reader, for this title is can be likened to Marmite in my mind . You will either love it or hate it, but I strongly suggest you give it some time. You may grow to love it as much as I have, and I was very pleasantly surprised by my discovery of this movie. It is easily one of the better original comedy films produced recently.

I do not know whether it is because I did not see the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre first, or simply because I am a huge fan of horror movies, but this film is one of my favorites. The narrative is hugely entertaining, and the gore is believable and not over the top. This rates has one of the sickest films that I have seen, due to its over the top sex scenes and horrific violence. I would certainly advise anybody of a nervous disposition to avoid this film, but if you're like me and are never tired of being jump-scared by horror movies, then this is the film for you.

I never quite understood the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, but I certainly understand this one. I feel that a lot of other reviewers are too harsh with their criticisms as being "completely irrelevant and grossly disappointing". This film was a lot better than many other horror movies on IMDB that have higher ratings, in my opinion.

The character's dynamics are succinct and well-acted. There are some gratuitously violent or gory scenes but what do you expect from horror movies these days?

I feel that if you approach this film without any expectations, and without contrasting it against the other films in this series, then you will be able to get a satisfactory amount of entertainment from Leatherface.

I find it incredibly sad to see sexist, amateur writers creating dross like this - eating up good budgets whilst some talented writers get nary a penny to produce their stuff.

Some things that really get to me about British productions at the moment. Sexism (including misogyny and misandry) and racism. Many directors especially on the BBC productions of things like Doctor Who get caught up trying to give a nod to the British equivalent of the US "token black guy" and that is a "token Asian or Middle-Eastern female". The fact that she appears to be over-praised and rude are about the only two authentic aspects of this kind of stereotypical person in the UK. In fact, every stereotype is there. The leering older man who is accused of "using the same line word-for-word on me when I wouldn't give him a blowjob", the cheerful trolley woman who is used to lure the zombies away from the group, the scared and life-endangering young man who panics and lets the zombies in, and the nervous yet competent female assistant.

The main issue with this whole film is clearly a lack of directorship. One of the jobs of a director is to steer the "direction" of a film to give a realistic and accurate illusion that the people we are watching are actually really there and in their life-and-death situation. I can suspend disbelief with the best and worst of people, but when the opening scene shows a pixelated animation for bloody special effects, I should have known what was coming. Dialogue confusingly juxtaposes between contrasting emotions in a some of schizophrenic conversation that rarely matches the scene, the actor's persona, or the whole narrative.

Then there is the acting itself. You see people who are either first-time actors, or have struggled to get work and have not been vetted properly by the casting crew. They even appear to laugh at some moments. I suspect that the fact that the film had no less than 5 people appearing as directors suggests a failure to agree on artistic vision.

The only good actor I could find who seemed believable was ironically the most extreme character - Agent Proteus - played by the talented Leo Gregory who must have had a bad patch when he accepted this script. I've seen him in some other movies and he can turn a turd of a script into a diamond.

Which underlines another important point - there are a lot of damn good British actors out there so why are we stuck with this bunch? Whose fault is it for this film being so lame?

Until we start setting the bar a bit higher and being more critical of our work, we're never going to see the likes of Trainspotting come out again. The time of the Millenials is upon us. Sadly we seem to have given them too much credit and they've given us apathy and a lack of interest in anything challenging. Is it that we are so scared of being accused of bullying because of the politically correct brigade that we've ended up not daring to point out absurdness or badly created media?

We can do so much better than this. It's one I suggest any readers stay very well clear of. (Innit' fam?!)

This film just doesn't make sense. The dialogue, when not inaudible due to the musical score making unheard, is just nonsense. Coupling terrible directing and odious scripts means that I really could not make any sense of what characters were feeling.

For example, character voices cry out top volume in fear as soon as another new character enters focus despite being unknown to the protagonist and seconds before launching into a terribly choreographed fight scene.

Most of the actors are examples of once great actors who now are too tired to give a good interpretation of the script. No surprise to see the terribly depressing form of Michael Madsen there. I expected to see him with another washed-up actor of Tim Sizemore, but he manages to butcher the scenes enough on his own.

Another reviewer wrote about how this film is like nails down a blackboard. I think this is an apt description of scenes that jump around like some Junior film student's project made using home video segments rather than having a set and crew along with others who should have pulled together the show into some kind of discernible storyline or plot. Instead this film is honestly one of the worst ones I have ever seen.

If you want more evidence for how bad this film is, then consider this. My friends are all avid movie watchers. We've all sat through some turkeys in our time, but this was the first film we have ever watched that caused several caffeinated and sugar-high adults to fall asleep during watching it. We've NEVER done that before or since this movie.

I am continually surprised by scores for film ratings on IMDb and other sites out there. Seemingly terrible films get high reviews whilst original and entertaining films are slated to suffer the indignity of being classed in the same vein as their awful bedfellows.

Perfect Creature is a film I've re-watched several times over and over because the story is just so very interesting. Set in an alternate reality that parallels our own, in the sense that it is set in Victorian New Zealand - although it might as well be London - and has a dark macbré aspect to it so works well as a horror / drama.

I really wish this had scored higher although mostly from a selfish point of view in that I want a sequel or spin-off. The storyline has enough bulk that it could have been developed into a franchise (to rival The Walking Dead) but instead it has been squeezed into this 90 minute film. The main protagonist is played by Dougray Scott, but I think Clive Owen would have worked just as well.

A great film - and especially fun for fans of Steampunk, classic Horror, and tense moody drama. Check it out today!

There are few people who can make good and bad films quite as polar opposite as the Wachowski's. They made the Matrix but almost destroyed their genius reputation with the follow-up films. Now they produce a series Sens8 which I must admit crept up on me. I don't like watching or reading previews because the wait kills me when I see something I really like. Such a film is Sens8.

It is an incredibly well written story. It's familiar to those of us who watched The Matrix, because of the philosophical and dramatic moments that pepper the storyline. When it came out on Netflix, I literally binged the entire first season. It's so well written that the director's even add ultra-realism, such as the feedback echo when two callers use their phones to call each other, along with many others. There is also some wonderful humor in this show - including a scene where a machismo-infused actor empathizes with another "sens8" who is on her period.

The story is that multiple people suddenly discover that they are beginning to share mindsets. They begin to appear to each other, especially when one is in trouble. Such a simple premise but it opens up so many possibilities for story lines.

I love this show and really urge you to watch it. You'll be glad you did.

I've always been a fan of Channel 4 drama - in particular dark drama, which is something that they specialise in. Another thing I'm a fan of is futuristic films. Utopia (un-?)lovingly blends the two in a horrific, traumatic, almost post-apocalyptic vision of our own world where Big Brother is everywhere (no - not the reality show!) and we are all slaves to the bigger machinery of political, and industrial Machiavellianism that form most of our modern day conspiracy theories.

It's one of those series that lodges in a dark corner of your mind, and sort of sits there - gnawing away. You may find yourself trying to answer the questions it raises. This is the sign of a truly good drama - one that causes you to think about it even once the episode has finished. Utopia does just that.

Except for Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, I cannot think of another truly memorable TV series like this. If you haven't seen it, watch it now! Now!

I don't tend to review films based on this interesting editing style or that clever visual device, but I find that this film has been going around and around in my head over the last few days. In fact - the only thing that I care about in films is whether or not I enjoy it, and with the curiously named Ill Manors, I find myself giving a definite thumbs up.

The main character of the film - Aaron (played by Riz Ahmed of "Four Lions" fame) seems to represent someone trying to do the right thing in a world where being weak is not tolerated at any level.

Ill Manors is an amazingly frank and gritty film that highlights the dangers of being a "wannabe gangsta" in modern day Britain. With nicely detailed characters, backed up through the use of catchy rap music, this video jumps out of the screen and shows the viewer some of what really goes on out there.

Just a quick warning - it's not a pretty picture - but then I have to ask the question: without family and love, is the world a pretty place? The answer I feel is demonstrated repeatedly in this film.

The main attraction with Ill Manors is that it draws the viewer in by glamorising the lifestyle of a gangster, but then teaches some important lessons about what can happen out there. In modern day Britain, where people are more interested in giving young people their freedom and rights whilst forgetting to teach responsibility - for me, Ill Manors should be commended for trying to get this message across whilst not seeming cheesy or badly compiled.

There were a few points in the film that could have used more research in order to convince me. Drug usage is well researched but is still a little unbelievable based on what I know, so I would have hoped for more from a film.

In the end though, I am really hoping that they make a sequel to this movie. It would be a happy time for me if they did. I would go so far as to say that this is amongst my most loved films, if for nothing else than it being one of the better British ones from a debut director.