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neildanderson
Reviews
Dune: Part One (2021)
Didn't really get it.
Sorry, but I didn't get the fuss about this. It was far too long, with lingering desert shots, moody music, and weird flashback/forwards, but little actual story, and Timothy Chalamet has the charisma of a pantomime horse. Maybe it makes a difference if you know the book, but I won't be rushing back for the next one.
Superstore (2015)
Cringingly awful
Terrible acting, terrible writing, no jokes. I don't understand the good reviews for this lame and dated "comedy"
Stillwater (2021)
Ok but way too long.
Somewhere here there is an interesting story about crime, families, redemption and love.
However, at almost two and a half hours, much of which is people staring into the middle distance, this takes too long to resolve.
Take an hour off this film and it could be great, but at this length it's a struggle to stay involved.
Six Minutes to Midnight (2020)
Waste of a good cast
This seemed an interesting idea, but it was so badly executed. It was part slapstick, part thriller, part spy film, and part character study, but didn't achieve any of them well.
The cast are all excellent, but no one shone in this, and all in all was a waste of an hour and a half.
Hope Gap (2019)
Boring boring
Two annoying and boring people discuss how annoyingly boring they are.
No spoilers here because nothing happens.
Black Narcissus (2020)
Dreary and lacking depth.
There's some stunning cinematography but otherwise there's little to commend here. The characters are two dimensional, the plot lost in the dialogue and attempted suspense laid on with a sledgehammer, losing its point. Apparently there's a ghost story hidden in here somewhere, but I failed to find it.
There are a few good performances, but pretty much all the main characters struggle with terrible miscasting.
Essentially, it tells you that nuns don't have a great life, and sometimes dream of sex; which I think we all suspected.
Ava (2020)
Promises but fails to deliver.
There's great potential here to examine the motivations and consequences of a killer, but the film quickly descends into John Wicks style shoot em up.
Ava can take out an entire army (who politely queue up to fight here), but apparently can't shoot Colin Farrell in a hotel room from 3 metres.
The plot seems to have been abandoned along the way in exchange for fight scenes and a breathy soundtrack.
Good actors are really wasted on this film that could have been fantastic but is hardly even average.
Perfect Strangers (2020)
More Turkey than cracker.
The story starts out as an interesting tale of people thrown together, but gradually the interest fizzles out as it turns to a saccharine and obvious ending. Only the last 30 seconds saves it from complete festive cliche.
Tenet (2020)
Impenetrable and way too long.
This seems like a film based on a filming technique. The plot revolves around a device that allows people and things to travel backwards in time, passed on from the future. It touches on the paradox this gives, but provides no explanation.
A billionaire has the a weapon from the future that will destroy all life on earth and decides to use it because he's dying. There's no explanation of why he'd do this. It relies on the idea of the evil genius who just wants to destroy for no reason. He has an army of people working for him, with no explanation of why they would given that he's going to kill them all.
While an unreliable plot can actually add to a film, such as Momento, or fantastic effects can add to an impenetrable plot, such as Inception, or can be ignored for a fun plot, like Terminator, this does not achieve any of these.
And at 2 and a half hours this is far too long. A good hour could have been lost with no detrimental cost.
On the Rocks (2020)
Disappointing
Pretty much no plot. No twist. Nothing to engage, and no surprises. There's a couple of funny parts, but ultimately a slow-paced film with little redeem it.
The idea that somehow there is something in plot of "woman thinks her husband is unfaithful but actually he really is just at work" is ludicrous.
A great cast and fantastic director are wasted in this snooze-fest.
Hamilton (2020)
Don't believe the hype
I just didn't get the hype around this. It's clever but it's sooooo long and ultimately doesn't engage.
Normal People (2020)
Am I missing something?
There are rave reviews about this but I fail to see why. The two dimensional characters aren't padded out by the actors, who are far too old for the parts. I've literally found no plot in the first few episodes and have given up.
Dull dull dull.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Too shouty and the music track is awful.
Managed about 10 minutes of this mindless shouting over a terrible synth soundtrack. Everyone needed to knock it down by 50% to make this watchable.
Had to pass before my head exploded.
Truth Be Told: Graveyard Love (2019)
Another Dreary US Drama
This started well, but quickly reverted to a collection of over used tropes. Crocked cops, jailed child killer, black protagonist ends up working with racist criminal who sees the error in his ways, the journalist who's the only one who can find the truth, Incompetent police, evil twin, it's slow, sloppy and cliched.
Marriage Story (2019)
Not a comedy and not worth the good reviews
Two unpleasant, rich, unbelievable people use unlikely dialogue to be horrible to each other to get custody of the most annoying kid ever.
I don't get why it's billed as a comedy drama, it isn't. Not worth the reviews and awards it's been given. I can't really find any redeeming qualities in this waste of two hours.
Queen of the South (2016)
Unrealistic and badly paced
Hugely overrated this badly acted, and appallingly scripted show lacks empathy for the characters and a consistent pace.
The characters are two dimensional, plot cliched, dialogue ridiculous and acting terrible. The music is pretty bad too. I'm looking for a positive but struggling...
MotherFatherSon (2019)
Terrible dialogue put me off.
The premise was interesting but God, the dialogue is terrible. People just don't speak and behave in the ways this shows. The idea of a kid singing to a seal so it didn't die alone is just ludicrous.
Managed one episode all the way through, but I really can't stomach any more. A waste of a good cast.