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Reviews
Dark Waters (2019)
As a movie - not so good
The theme of the movie is very important. So are the subjects (they seem to be real people). But, as a film, in itself, this is not as good as it could be. Or how it should be.
I admire Mark Ruffalo quite much. But the whole film rests on his shoulders. And his shoulders only. The other characters - and actors - just don't seem to serve their purpose that much. I was especially disappointed of Tim Robbins, but I admit that it could be the failure on the director's part.
As a movie, it is a bit too long, and kind of shuts down somewhere in the middle (abt. At 1 hour mark). After that, things go a bit awkward and the plot and direction (or editing?) just jump to places. Other characters apart from Mr. Ruffalo's don't carry the weight they should.
But, if you don't know anything about Du Pont or other chemical giants, and the consequences of their doings, this film could provide some useful information.
I just wish they squeezed it to 90 minutes, not over 2 hours as it is now.
Tomb Raider (2018)
There's nothing, basically, since 1996
In 1996, I bought the first Tomb Raider/Lara Croft video game for Playstation 1. With the kids, we played it through, and the 2nd Tomb Raider game too.
At the time, it was a new, fascinating way of an adventure for the whole family. The 3rd etc. Games just started to suck, in a big way. Too much shooting, not enough smart puzzles to solve.
Nowadays, having watched these Lara movies... They are just complete nonsense in and out. Just as books usually do not turn out as great movies, this is a fine example of the Hollywood nonsense fiction.
Cinematically, I admired some shots, esp. The still ones. But is the adventure there? Not. Are the characters interesting enough? No. Are the actors there? Not. Is the plot anywhere believable in any way? Not.
This movie is just FX nonsense, and half of it is just your average CGI stuff.
Maybe I'm just too old? Not.
The Dark Tower (2017)
Not much ado about everything
Yet another disappointing film of Stephen King novels. Is there some competition about of who makes them worst?
The two stellar actors can't save this "Much ado about" the everything that this film could have been. I mean, just compare this to "Dune". Read the books, saw the film, now eagerly waiting for the part 2 of that.
Having read most of the King books by the time they were published, this is yet another limbo. Dear would-be directors: It's not about SFX or anything trivial, even not about stellar actors - it should always be about the content. Which this film is not about.
La La Land (2016)
Probably not worth your while if you're serious
All this hype abt this movie for years. Sigh, I had some expectations. Turns out, nothing.
No use for me to list all the faults. What I'd like to say: check out the film "De-Lovely" instead. Made in 2004, it's everything La La Land really wanted to be for today's spidersupertransformerwhateverbatmangollum audience.
People like Cole Porter, George Gershwin etc... Some of the best songs, musicals were composed & written 50-90 yrs ago. Just listen to "Night And Day". :-)
Näin pilvet kuolevat (2021)
Agony of drought
I hate to write a negative review of a Finnish document film. But... How can a film about clouds, rain and water be so unbelievably dry? So slow and uninteresting that it's pure torture to watch it?
I mean, if you really want to make science, and especially climate change as a subject, as dull as possible, this is the way to do it. Can't imagine how any more distant the average taxi driver or other John Doe could feel about science, or funding science and education, or encouraging their children to higher education, after trying to stay awake watching this film.
Beautiful photography, at times. Music, kind of poetic, I guess? Editing... oh dear, apart from writing the whole thing over and up again it would've been easier to delete at least 30 mins of the material and tighten the rest up!
Is this art? Is this education? Is this really a document, even? To me it seems this film tries to tick all the boxes at one go, but because of attempting that, it fails miserably at all of them. I'm really sorry, because I really would have liked to like this film a lot.
Finally, it seems that the archive still clip from 1967 could possibly be about the herbicide operation called "Ranch Hand" (Agent Orange etc. Chemicals), if not of "Popeye".
Knives Out (2019)
Frustratingly disappointing
I had high hopes for this film, with the ensemble cast and everything. Turns out it is just disappointing. I gave 5/10 just for the set and the photography. Basically a whodunnit "mystery" with a totally predictable plot and outcome.
I guess somebody had a (bad) heureka moment of doing a Poirot-like crime mystery. I suggest watching a real Poirot or other decent private investigator film instead of this total waste of two hours. Also, Daniel Craig is in a completely wrong film and role, with a laughable accent. I feel sorry for him.
But the craziest idea is, as it seems to be, to make a *sequel* to this nothingness. And it's also ridiculous - but totally fitting for an American movie - to have a fr***ng CAR CHASE in a mystery film that happens in a mansion!
Path to War (2002)
Lots of food for thought, even after all these years
For not being an American, I can skip most of any entertainment value or partisan things, and dive deep into some of the films' innermost sentiments.
Not everything (like the nature or whatabouts, quirks of the persons of the main characters) have to be pin-point accurate for a film to not make a lasting impression, or at least show the frantic feeling that the people depicted here must surely have gone through at the time.
Not a document as such, of course, but very strong acting overall, on a script that holds itself fast and tight from beginning to end.
The food for thought - the lesson the US should have learned in 1972 - of course today refers to the clusterfuck called Afghanistan in 2021.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
So much promise, so little to say
Let me see... Cliché after cliché. Nothing much to say about this film except that.
This "movie" leaves no doubt that these Potter films finally turned out to nothing but a Hollywood franchise and box office wannabe-hits.
In a movie about magic, magicians etc. Things and topics, one really wants to see a "car chase", really? Or a subpar CGI goblin/elf like in that-other-movie-series about "My precious"? Or so many other self-evident and obvious scenes?
Nothing more to say, really. So much promise, so little to say.
The Current War (2017)
Obviously not a documentary
Aside of what so many people have written here of the historical inaccuracies, I actually kind of liked the mood and the freshly - but not too artsy - approach of telling an important story in a bit different way.
Of course Tesla could've been made a more visible character. But the real fault of portraying him, as well as the main characters of Edison and Westinghouse is that they are left thin and distant.
Also, the screen time or presence towards the Westinghouse role seems to overpower that of Edison's. And still the director doesn't make an effort of explaining us the hows and whats of the Westinhouse air brake technology. It remains unavoidable sideline, which is disappointing, to say the least.
No explanation to why Edison's son learned and why he used the Morse code. There's no obvious connection to why this happens, although we're told that Edison's wife used to operate the Telegraph (why, actually, in the first place?).
Executing people with electricity is and was an absurd concept to the World outside the US. And quickly checking the net it seems neither Edison nor Westinghouse actually invented this.
In a funny way a still quite liked the *feel* of this movie. At least it was way different to any of the superhero BS of today's filmmaking. Maybe we still have some hope of somebody actually trying to touch other people's feelings through moving pictures after all.
Let's hope so. Waiting for that I give this movie a 7 out of 10.
Transcendence (2014)
Initially promising, then collapsing
The concept is good enough, at least promising. There are many thought-provoking ideas. Unfortunately this movie quits them after an hour or so.
What keeps amazing me - or actually it doesn't, at all - is the way that the American film industry has the ability to turn even the most promising ideas into something that demands cars crashing and flying up in the air, people riding monster trucks with machine guns, and nowadays even zombies to grow out of ground.
Is there really not any other way to project dystopian fears than your age-old imagery of the wild west, like people ambushing others on rooftops?
I don't even care to mention all the obvious loopholes (like the greatest intelligence ever not figuring out a way to spare the rest of the World from collapsing, although its vision originally was to make the World a better place?).
Cinematographically pleasing, some great FX, but what a waste of cast - and my time. Sorry.
The ABC Murders (2018)
Not Malkovich's fault
Although, at first being sceptical of how Malkovich could bring any new angle to the all-so-established world of mr. Poirot, I have to admit that this again is a show of a class actor at his best.
As for the 4-episode mini-series (as shown in Finland just weeks ago), it would've been a good idea to cut it to just 3 episodes. Even two 2-hour-long episodes could well have done it, if edited well and true to the plot...
Thanks.
Serenity (2005)
Tries to be everything
This movie has a promising start, but then it just flops. It tries to be everything for every viewer, and contains all the possible cliches of westerns, scifi movies and series. I won't begin listing all of those. If you've watched films for over 40 yrs, like I have, you'll be bored to death, and the only pleasure is writing down which scene is from which film every 5 minutes or even less.
Same goes to music. And the actors are B/C class, or at least the director is. Sorry, but don't waste your time with this garbage, really.
Les saveurs du Palais (2012)
Keeps you wishing some more of it
For me, the major setback was NOT knowing abt. any possible Vol. II. This is just the kind of film you realize right from the start you wish it never ends!
Chevalier (2015)
Boring
One word: Boring.
It'd be a total waste of words to write anything more about this BS.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Don't bother
The original wasn't a great movie, but it was 1000 times better than this sequel. Don't waste your time. Don't bother.
Gomorra (2008)
A wasted chance
An admirable effort, but too many loose ends. Even having read the book, it was exhausting trying to figure out who's who and how they relate to each other. When you don't get that information, it's outright impossible to understand the motives of the characters. And if you don't understand their motives, you just don't care about them, which makes the whole movie indifferent. Sad, but true. I really would have liked to like this film.