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mike500
Reviews
Contratiempo (2016)
Basically a live-action "Detective Conan" special - and nothing special
If anyone is familiar with the very popular manga/anime "Case Closed" aka "Detective Conan", this is a sort of similar movie, with the same kind of twists and the ultimate reveal at the end. The anime TV series ran for over a thousand episodes now, and while i have only watched a fraction, many of them had equally good twists as this movie, some were even similar. Even the "block of ice" thing, yeah they've done exactly that before as well.
Now, this is a reasonably entertaining little movie with a smaller budget (but still looking good) and decent acting, but nothing too special and nothing spectacular. Certainly not something to give 10 stars for, when a popular weekly anime series has twists and reveals of similar calibre pretty regularly. And that anime is itself heavily influenced by "Sherlock Holmes", so it's just an example of such a "whodunit" type of content. So if you think this is some groundbreaking, jawdropping stuff that warrants a 10/10, maybe you haven't seen as much of this kind of content yet, otherwise the rating would end up being far more level-headed.
The Fall (2013)
Amazing. Realistic. But no catharsis (yet).
This series, so much we know from the tag line, is about a serial killer, and the female cop trying to catch him. The serial killer and his circumstances are presented with a chilling realism. To the outside world, a loving family man, a trusted counselor. Inside, a twisted mind. Now, serial killers are relatively rare, but you could easily liken him to a child abuser. Often times, those people similarly manage to fool everyone around them. Kids are even entrusted in their care, kids that will end up becoming their victims. There is such a sickening element in this alone that certain scenes of this series are difficult to bear.
This also leads me to a word of warning for victims of abuse planning to watch this series (be it sexual, physical or mental abuse). You will likely be shaken up by the events taking place, and worst of all, there is no catharsis taking place here. The entire series so far - Season 1 & 2 - is very well made, showing realistic behaviour of both of the perpetrator and the police. And just like in real life, things go from bad to worse right under people's noses, but they realize it all too late. The viewer, helpless witness to what is happening, can only direct hateful expressions at the TV, or however you choose to deal with it. But there certainly is no happy ending in any of this. If you watch some of this before going to bed, you might be a bit worked up and have trouble falling asleep. I can only imagine that it must be worse for abuse victims watching this.
So, for all its brilliance, for all its realism, it is also tough to watch at times. Please keep that in mind.
Murderers, rapists, and other such people are often labeled "monsters" and "inhuman", he is called that in this series too. This, of course, is wrong. Instead of dehumanizing such people, the much more troubling realization is that they are very human in the end. If this series teaches us anything, it's that sometimes those people are living right amongst us. Ultimately, we can only counteract this with love, and watching out for any signs of people dear and near to us being in some kind of trouble, especially kids. They might experience something bad, and we must try to spot it and help them.
8/10, absolutely gripping, well-made series with great attention to detail.
Whiplash (2014)
Critique from a drummer and a human
(Only mild, generalized spoilers ahead, do not worry.) I have played the drums in a Big Band for over 15 years, from my teenage years until well into adulthood. 90% of the time with another drummer, sharing duties. Which is exactly the scenario here, so naturally, i was intrigued by this movie. And it started off promising. A young drummer is eventually invited to practice with a prestigious Big Band. Many of the little details depicted here are pretty much on point.
But i cannot begin to describe my disappointment in what unfolded on the screen. The drummer and the band leader (and even the other band members) display such sorry behavior that it becomes tough to endure. You want to raise your voice to the band leader, in place of the drummer and other band members, who fail miserably to stand up for themselves. Instead, you have to endure scenes of bullying and manipulation, and people taking it lying down, like prison inmates going through a boot camp.
Only the behavior shown here is worse. The people in this movie are not desperately trying to reduce the length of their prison sentence. Instead, they are desperate for acceptance, for approval, for prestige, for fame. They accept humiliation, they accept being put down, and they do not stand up for themselves. On the contrary. They think that this is alright. They have embodied the whole twisted concept of it all. A society where striving for fame and for outside approval beats any sort of moral values. But shouldn't these values be the most important? To think for yourself and to stand up for yourself, to have values and to defend your values, when people try to coerce you, manipulate you or attack you? But we see people that were brainwashed enough to play along with this farce. Worse, to even support it in a way.
If this wasn't troubling enough, what also puzzles me is the overwhelming praise this movie gets by critics and viewers alike. Have we really become so morally degenerated and cynical that this sort of story is now worthy of the IMDb Top 100 Greatest movies of all time? Let me clarify, my objection is not about the production values, the actors (well, a bit), the camera-work or anything like that. It's about the story that's being told, which is the most important part by far, after all.
Another thing: This is supposed to depict the act of playing music together, which should be a joyful thing. Playing in a band is a celebration, a give-and-take between the players, an almost sacred and highly social interaction. And a band leader is good when he gives advice, not critique. When he develops people instead of using people. When he motivates instead of manipulating. When he inspires enthusiasm instead of fear. When he is leading, not bossing around. In this movie, they get everything wrong.
Overall, i'm thoroughly disappointed with this movie on several levels. I reluctantly have to give this Top 100 movie the lowest score, simply due to the overwhelming urge it gave me to stop watching it.
The Expendables (2010)
Not quite, Sly. Not quite.
What a cast. Many of these A-list actors could fill cinemas on their own. Putting them all together in one movie should surely multiply its appeal and magic, something like a Dream Team? Predictably, it's not the case. Neither of those actors, some of whom my childhood movie heroes, get enough time to develop their characters on-screen. They're all empty shells of action heroes, one trying to be cooler than the other. Maybe just with Stallone and Statham playing off each other, this movie would've amounted to something more.
Today's coolness and manliness then, according to this movie, consists of riding motorbikes or hot rods and killing lots of bad people for money. I do not really agree. Going back to a benchmark of mine, The A-Team has shown that being cool doesn't depend on scenes of gory, meaningless killings. Yes, Rambo also killed a lot, but that was not as meaningless as this. There was some personal motivation and reason. Here, they piled on kill after kill, none of which have any impact.
With these actors, the plot should've been much more focused on hand-to-hand fights. Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, all their fighting abilities are criminally underused. And when there's a short fight scene with Jet Li for instance, they don't really use their own style (kung fu in this case), plus we get the usual bad "american" fight editing, using shaky cameras and extremely short cuts.
The humor is also badly limping. The plot is rather ridiculous (at one point i thought "did they really just make up an island for this movie?") and only a means to generate various unlikely scenes of violence. Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against violent movies, but this left me feeling empty and detached.
Too many cooks spoil the broth, never has this saying been more appropriate. Had this been a more focused attempt with two or three main characters, it might have worked better.
Mahiru no hoshizora (2005)
Slow-paced yet beautiful movie
A movie based very much on beautiful visuals, with little talking and few scenes that actually advance the plot. No action scenes whatsoever. It may sound boring, but i lost myself a bit in those images, a fact i also attribute to the mesmerizing actress Kyoka Suzuki. At no point did i want to fast-forward throughout this movie.
The vividness of this movie is also enhanced by the use of natural sound, with all the real background noises. Nothing was added or removed later by the sound department. This gives the scenes an authentic feel.
7/10