Change Your Image
aspergian
Reviews
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001)
Two Gallons of Bromide and a Heap of Radio-active waste
This conscending writing is supposed to represent "working-class people", but all it does is regurgitate the same cliches and treats working-class people as though we're all a bunch of ingrates that lollop around in pubs, behave like purile idiots and wear adidas and other "chav" clothes.
Low brow isn't the word to describe this abomination, this poor excuse for a comedy sitcom. It airs the most juvenile, mind-numbing comedy material ever. I never liked it when it first aired (admittedly when I was a teen) but upon adulthood it still remains among some of the most trashy stuff the BBC commissioned and doesn't present a very flattering picture of the demographic is supposedly represents.
The loveable, well-intentioned yet laughably idiotic working-class British caricature is still alive and toxic in the UK in the form this programme.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Entertaining but exorts the audience to almost admire Wall Street banksters?
The Wolf of Wall Street is an entertaining and amusing enough film. It has plenty of crude scenes which are designed to shock and amuse, which is fine though ultimately becomes rather predictable.
Given that the film is loosely based on the real Jordan Belfort's memoirs it puzzles me that the director would have used Belfort's memoirs to create a film that basically sends the message that "greed is good" to the audience.
This isn't a film that gives the audience any lessons to be learned as a result of the pursuit of short-term profits which are based on a machismo-style lying and swindling. This is simply a film that tells an amoral story all the way through. There is no central message, apart from the message that it's fun to swindle the general public through dodgy insider trading and exploiting legal loopholes to accrue massive amounts of wealth and status.
While 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is an entertaining film for those who don't want to think about what they are watching. For those who are actually aware of the enduring effects of the 2008 banking crisis, it is ultimately depressing to see a film that has no moral message and falsely elevates sociopathic characters like Belfort into a kind of tragic hero who serves as a kind of twisted Nietzschean role-model to narcissistic people who only care about the pursuit of wealth and status.
Avenue 5 (2020)
Unentertaining
Think of The Thick of It but in space. There's nothing new here except the setting and that the material isn't entertaining. Avenue 5 has woefully little going for it and it is better to skip it than endure the character's tedious cross-analysis of one another for cheap laughs, which don't even work because they are so long-winded that you only end up falling asleep at how boring the whole monotonous exercise is.
Veep (2012)
An anaemic, overrated version of The Thick of It
I don't know if it was the fact that it was a US format or if it was just the quality of the jokes that landed flat, but The Thick of It is far better than this. The cast of Veep just seem to completely fall flat. The chemistry and the funny yet awkward and oddball character dynamics are not just not there. It's just one unfunny juvenile joke bungled in, one after the other. It's completely flat, a pale imitation of Ianucci's original work.
Utterly depressingly...blank and banktrupt of anything new. Far too predictable.
I Am Greta (2020)
Does Greta Thurnberg's Message Unite the Majority?
I have always supported Greta Thurnberg's message. the climate crisis is a problem. The positives her is that the film highlights the hypocrisy of the world leaders in saying that they care about climate change, yet it is clear they treat Greta's message as a kind of interesting sideshow or spectacle for them to simply look as though they are listening and action is being taken. the film also sheds light on the narcissistic atmosphere of the political, cultural and religious elite as appearing to care about the issues she presents. However, these elites are simply going through the "meet and greet" formalities simply because (most likely) they are happy to associate with her to look as though they are on her side in order to enhance their own image.
The film does show Greta's awareness that the media are seeking to portray her as the leader of the environmental leader who began 'schools strike for climate', a point she is seen to reject in the film when a reporter tells her this. It is unfortunate that in some cases among her supporters this is the case of treating her as some sort of environmental figurehead or heroine, particularly online, have the impact of producing the opposite result Greta had intended. The latter who support Greta Thurnberg for her identity are people who have, perhaps unwittingly, created a cult of personality around her, prioritising her identity over what she proposes to do to tackle the climate crisis.
I will never forgive Thurnberg for spreading an ageist message that it is the fault of everyone of a certain age that the climate crisis is a problem that they and they alone have caused as opposed to the system as well as capitalism itself. She does in fact criticise the systemic problems but she is overly focused on uniting the youth as opposed to those outside the youth. She lacks the empathy/theory of mind that there are those on the fringes of society who are atomised and outsiders who find it difficult to even belong to any social grouping, let alone organise and join a movement. Her Aspergers or age should not excuse her of this as I have Aspergers myself and have the empathy to notice the difficulties associated with the outsiders that she seems to be unaware of.
Greta is also too eager to valorise one segment of the population, the youth, as the ones who will provide the solution. Although she means well, divisive identity politics will NOT create any intergenerational solidarity in tackling the climate crisis in the long-term. The youth segment of the population are not a majority, therefore it is incumbent on people within environmental movements to include everyone instead of demonising older individuals that they don't even know.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
A world of blandness.
Grey, dark suited characters spouting monotonous lines. Gaudy, flat atmosphere. Honestly, I switched over after 30 minutes. The story fails to engage your interest. There's nothing really new here in terms of the sci-fi genre it represents. Same old social & technological messages. It just isn't very interesting or exciting.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Empathising with unredeemable misanthropes?
They will be people that tell you that this film is about a two flawed lonely embittered individuals. However, in reality it is about a failed writer whk turns to fraud. That's really all there is. The rest is just a pretty weak emotive window dressing attempt to justify what Lee Israel did.
No matter how the plot is spun to make you empathise with these character they are fundamentally selfish and unredeeming. I am not sure that the character of fraudster Lee Israel is an accurate portrayal either. Richard E Grant plays a character who is so baseless you simply do not care about him and absolutely disgusted by his nihilistic outlook.
Like many films, directors prefer to use their artistic licence to create a romantised depictions of characters that are not true. It is best to take with a grain of salt and recognise that in reality most people who are depressed and lonely don't resort to the things these characters appear to feel fully justified in doing what they please because it's their "norm".
Gisaengchung (2019)
Mediocre, at best
I'm unsure as to why the film has been overrated. The main theme of the film is status, class and betrayal. However, I think the film fails to make these themes compelling and thought-provoking enough to motivate the audience to care about the characters. The first half is extremely uninteresting and it is difficult to not be sickened by the actions of the family, despite their poor economic background.
There is some intrigue at the second half but to be honest I found the overall structure of the film's plot to be too chaotic and convoluted. compelling enough. As a result, there is something missing from the film. The events that occur within the film are quite surreal and hokey. Some are the scenes are downright bizarre and made you wonder why the character said that in such a melodramatic, unrealistic way. This affects the believability in what you're seeing, thus negatively affecting any sense of connection with the characters.
Forgettable.
The Lobster (2015)
Uninteresting.
I understood the "comedic" satiric on relationships and the human condition and so on, but, like all the film that I happen to discover have been directed by Yorgos Lanthimos it just wasn't interesting. It felt like you were being subjected to someone's, presumably the director's, personal piece of ideology, maybe based on his angsty diary entries was being shoved in the everyone's faces. Okay, maybe I'm not being totally serious, but, point is, the film is a bit like the stereotypical experimental film a college student would churn out for their latest project they've been assigned by some pretentious, overbearing art teacher.
The Favourite (2018)
Don't let the trailer fool you. This film is one big cartoonish farce carry-on.
The film does touch upon the absurdism of the ruling elite but barely which is why I will give it a 2 instead of a 1. It is stunning that this film is THE first film that elicited a desire for me to go to sleep. Sadly, I couldn't because of the appalling repetitive strings and organ playing, the former of which attempts to create a sense of pacing, the latter a sense of imminent castastrophe. The advertising of the film led me to believe that the film would focus on the wider history of why Queen Anne is the way she is, examining her reign and so on. However, this is not what the film does at all. NOTHING HAPPENS.
Instead we get an initially semi-interesting but quickly uninteresting story of two largely similar machiavellian women who fight for the queen's affection, interspaced with a melange of scenes of palace debauchery, stunted attempts at comedic irony and absurdism, the odd slapstick moments and sarcastic "witticisms" that aren't really all that interesting of funny except if you are one of those who boast and prattle on endlessly endlessly about sarcasm being your "second language". The attempts to make the audience laugh are so frequent that the drama in the film is more akin to a bad television sitcom comedy-drama than a periodic drama. It's a shame that Queen Anne didn't play a more central role in the film. The acting was good, the writing and style of the film just wasn't.
Kynodontas (2009)
A dark comedy for compulsive liars & other anti-social people
I'm sure the film for many pretentious, trivially minded, "radical" postmodernists would be viewed as raising shedding light on what would happen if you subjected humans from birth to psychological tortures based on deception. Apparently it's funny that the father and mother habitually lie to their children about what various objects are called. If the objective was to make a satire out of perceived normative family social dynamics, the film has failed miserably. If the film's objective was to create a farcical & barbaric piece of trash, I would say it's a job superbly done. Overall, it is of no value.
If anything, this film demonstrates how insulated art house and independent cinema producers desire to be. Stick the badge of artistic license (&, somewhat bizarrely, the badge of dark comedy) on a film that encourages its audience to laugh at the language, narratives and existential questions of identity twisted by psychological manipulation & you'll know what kind of people that this film attracts. It is a nihilist's dream!
Brazil (1985)
Terrifying, tragic, moving, romantic and tragi-comic! Definitely one of my favourite films.
What the title said...and more..
The film perfectly encapsulates the sense of alienation, the feeling that everyone around you is completely mad and you are just trying to maintain a peaceful, average sort of existence. Great fun and a very imaginative emotive rollercoaster ride. But it is not for the faint hearted!
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Painful to watch
I had high hopes for this film. However, they were quickly dashed when I sat through this American drivel. The "humour" of the film consists of stilted acting, monotonous deliveries. All of these are probably deliberate and presented in a blatant sarcastic way that just passes as dull. It's way apparently really funny to focus your main character, who is a card board cut out dullard, to say mind numbingly unfunny things and all the banal phrases that are considered universal language to the club of a young generation at the time the film was released.
The film is a testament to the recurring claim that Americans don't get irony and when they try to apply it they desperately grapple at it clumsily like in this film. It's probably the worst attempt at a comedy I've ever had the misfortune to witness.
Relatos salvajes (2014)
A funny film if you're a sociopath...or nihlist, maybe?
If you relish at the act of forming pretentious psychoanalytic symbology of simplistic random, occasionally cartoonish collections of "edgy" stories whose leading characters all meet some form of gratuitously violent and disturbing demise, this is the film for you.
While there is something that tries to pass as dark/black humour in there at all the usual cues, it just wasn't funny. Personally, I found it all quite predictable, boring and a little sad. The sadness came about as a result of the total pointlessness of the film. However, based on all the exaggerated glowing reviews, I think that sort of cynical, snobby, postmodern, existential, angsty "edginess" is exactly the sort of thing that this film was aiming for.
Secretary (2002)
Deep, provocative and even a love story if you're a nihilistic, boorish postmodernist
Those that find the film all of the above would probably tell you that they admire it because it is an exploration into the self. It's all about the inner dialectics of the infinitely subjective human condition, self liberation, know thyself, etcetera, etcetera.
The deep "academic" stuff aside, it's really about is a mentally ill woman who happens to like hurting herself (cutting) who gets exploited by her employer who happens to be a sadist. There's lots of sex in it and it is deeply symbolic, but it's just not that interesting or emotional, unless you have sado-masochist tendencies. It's a twisted film for twisted people. I'm sure they would agree.
The History Boys (2006)
Rather alienating
There are some decent scenes in this film, however I feel that the overall quality of it is marred by its own self-indulgent narrative running throughout the film. The twee remarks and observations go from funny to outright predictable. The overtly romantic portrayal is annoying too, even in its attempt to portray "male vulnerability" underneath all of the 'boyish antics of a adventurous youth'. And then there's the teachers who idolize their brightest and best while also envying them to some extent due their own missed opportunities. It comes off as cringe-worthy and self- indulgent. However, I can imagine this would appeal to a largely middle class demographic, who frequently bathe in such phantasmagorical theatrics, because it feeds their age and gender biases.