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pjbenney
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Reviews
Better Things: England (2022)
Could have been a perfect episode, except...
...all of the Liverpool scenes were filmed in London and several characters make reference to being in London. So they were never actually in Liverpool, despite the fact that Phyllis's family were supposed to be from Liverpool. Massive, unforgivable blunder. Once you get over that though, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)
Truly abysmal
I watched all 68 minutes of the pilot and it was a mess. Bears no resemblance to the original Penny Dreadful. Even if we accept that it's not set in Victorian London, it lacks the suspense, the subtlety and the style of the original series. It's a cop show with some bad special effects slapped on top. The two "witches" or whatever they are engineer racial tension... just because? It's hamfisted, contrived and very dull. Rory Kinnear was good but not enough on his own to keep me watching. 3 stars only for Rory.
Hightown (2020)
Decent
Don't get the hate. It's not particularly highbrow but it is gripping and the two main characters are likeable if flawed. Good cinematography, varied plotlines and a banging theme tune. Get over yourselves. It's decent.
The Lovebirds (2020)
Awful
The two leads are brilliant actors and this should have been a great film. Was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately both characters make the most inexplicably stupid decisions at every opportunity. It's contrived and infuriating and I turned it off within about twenty minutes. I was expecting a modern Agatha Christie / Clue sort of thing but instead I got two annoying people who lie to the police and flee a crime scene. Not to mention the fact that the steering wheel would have had fingerprints... Maybe if I'd watched for longer someone might have realised that, but I'll never know.
Skate Kitchen (2018)
Audio is a mess
The Spanish lines were easier to understand than the rest of it. The English dialogue needed subtitles. I liked the story well enough but the audio was so rough I couldn't hear what was being said most of the time.
Umi ga kikoeru (1993)
One of the most nonsensical films I have ever seen.
Nothing in this film makes any sense nor is it clear why the characters react the way they do. Maybe the translation was poor but the dialogue is absolute nonsense and the characters seem to enjoy slapping and punching each other for no reason. Most of them are stiff, rude and awkward and I'm not sure why the guy was sent to a hotel rather than being invited to stay at the house he was already at. Something was lost in translation here. Not at all romantic or even nice. The main girl was an absolute brat.
Dead to Me (2019)
Unlikeable
Sorry but I really hated this. The two leads are neither funny nor endearing nor interesting and I didn't feel anything while watching it.
Isle of Dogs (2018)
The first Wes Anderson film I couldn't bear to finish.
Uncomfortably racist, the dogs are ugly looking and the plot is all over the place. Neither funny nor moving nor clever, the soundtrack doesn't fit and it's generally uninteresting. Maybe one day I'll watch the rest of it. Maybe.
Alex Strangelove (2018)
Staggeringly ignorant.
This could have been a good film. It's got a witty visual style with just the right amount of cutaways and special-effects gags. But the language that pervades the film is staggeringly ignorant, tone-deaf and at odds with its subject matter. For a film that rightfully attempts to normalise same-sex relationships, it's disappointingly blasé about alternative gender and sexual identities - and many of the main characters unhelpfully try to persuade Alex that he's not gay or bi, that bisexuality doesn't exist, or that it's just a phase, or it's all in his head. Jesus Christ.
This film is disturbingly irresponsible and I would recommend you watch Love, Simon a second time instead of enduring this contradictory mess.
The parent characters barely got a look-in and added nothing whatsoever, while the FMC barely passes the Bechdel, if at all.
I think this is the first time I have ever felt compelled to write an IMDB review - to make sure nobody else is subjected to this garbage.
4/10 because the main guy was a good actor - shame he had to get mixed up in this.