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Reviews
See You Yesterday (2019)
Disappointed and frustrated
I expected more from a Spike Lee movie.
The problem was that the movie raised a few issues and didn't seem to know which path to take alongside the main time travel plot.
Was this a movie which was going to delve into any depth into the Black Lives Matter issue?
Was this movie about addressing the consequences of anger management failure?
The main time-travel plot was redolent of The Butterfly Effect but not as classily done.
The problem with any time travel movie is the issue of recursive paradox, which was ignored and was always going to leave any slightly nerdy viewer with a feeling of being cheated: had the writers noticed these plot holes and addressed them with some temporal mumbo jumbo they may have been half forgiven but I was left feeling that a deal of laziness had come into the process.
If the movie had had more internal integrity and been better thought out I'd have forgiven the non ending as being somewhat justified. As it was I again felt that the writers had decided they had had enough of this writing lark and wanted to go down the pub. A non ending is justified if you feel that there's enough pithy content to either help a discerning viewer to come to an intelligent conclusion or that the movie had been sufficiently engaging enough and had earned its stripes by the finish.
Lastly, the protagonist acted like an angry, impulsive, selfish young woman and I couldn't work up the empathy to feel her double dose of grief. Instead of feeling sympathetic I felt that she had got what she deserved.
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018)
A poor man's Cohen brothers film.
This movie is a Cohen Brothers movie, wannabe.
It tries to be quirky, weird and humorous and fails. It fails because it wants to be another movie. It fails because the writer/director clearly thinks that such things as an exaggerated coughing fit which quickly slides into tedium is funny and inventive. It has been done before and better.
There are huge gaps in the storyline which have been plugged with truly tenuous and unbelievable explanations.
Some scenes are too long because the writer/director came in too early and left too late. This is glaringly obvious in one scene where two characters are about to drive away. This is preceded by some double-hander business where the characters needlessly argue. This vignette was both irrelevant and not at all funny. Again, it tries way too hard here.
The best thing I can say about this movie is that the cast worked their socks off, as if they were in a decent, well-written movie. They gave the writer and the movie way more than they deserved.
Apostasy (2017)
Accurate and poignant.
You will find a handful of Witnesses who will defend their faith and comment on this movie without having seen it. (They will have been advised via a blanket ban on watching apostate material). As an ex witness of over 40 years, I can attest to the harrowing experiences I witnessed first hand with many of the issues raised.
The film is even-handed, non-sensational and minutely accurate in the way it portrays the methods the society uses dealing with doctrine and transgression.
I feel for those still in "the truth". They are have their lives micromanaged with instructions on prohibited reading and viewing material, their association, leisure activities, their celebrations and the way in which they raise their children.
This movie highlights the abomination of shunning; the pagan practice of excommunication which means that parents cannot speak to their disfellowshipped family. This is a brutal and cruel practice which prevents grandparents from seeing their own grandchildren (for example). This practice is tenuously extracted from scripture and destroys families. This movie shows just how vicious and unloving the faith can be. Videos on the witness site portray parents "doing the right thing" in ignoring phone calls and attempts to contact family members.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Godzilla meets Transformers meets Ironman meets Robocop . .
The good thing about this film was that the CGI sequences (which probably account for 80% of the movie) are convincing and engaging. I enjoyed that part. The script was laboured and in places excruciatingly hackneyed. It made me wince on several occasions; I felt that Idris Elba deserved better. The clichés are somewhat thick on the ground especially with the final "is-he-isn't-he-dead" sequence with such a predictable result. One thing which rankled through this production was the scene where one of the monsters was blown to pieces by chest mounted cannon fire from a Jaeger, this being no more or less than you would expect from an advanced missile system mounted in a jet, helicopter or a ground station. If this was an effective weapon, why deploy the Jaegers. Too many holes in the plot and dialogue to give this higher that a 5, but entertaining if you switch off all artistic and other critical judgment. Kids will love it though!
The Queen Street Gang (1968)
Pre-adolescent Macgyvers
Okay - I have been asked to cast a vote, but after all these years (I was 10 when I saw it) I can only pass judgement on how I felt back then. Being the target audience for this series, I couldn't wait for each episode. The series featured a bunch of school kids who for a number of contrived reasons (but plausible for gullible kids) got involved in espionage and all things 007. One episode sticks in my mind where the kids are locked in a cupboard while the bad guys have left a burning-candle-under-the-rope type death for the kids who using vinegar, a tube of rolled paper and some baking soda, extinguish the candle-flame with CO2 gas. More of this scientific McGyver-type stunts were performed with absolutely no "don't try this as home kids" riders. Great stuff! Looking at IMDb I see none of the child actors turned in any heavy-duty roles in later life. This is a milestone series in my childhood and though the exact plots etc. remain vague and hazy, the feeling of excitement in watching the series is still very strong.
Knight and Day (2010)
A bit of a turkey
Sorry - this film was so bad that I kept comparing it to one of the Leslie Neilsen spoof action movies. The plot was tenuous based on an impossibly stupid premise. The sequences where a complicated escape was required were brushed over by simply having Ms Diaz drugged or made unconscious. We the audience were drugged along with her and never knew how for example, our hero escaped several state-of-the art combat aircraft in a tiny two-man helicopter. Such cop-out sequences were frequent and suggested lazy writing where the writer used a device to avoid inventiveness and creativity. The call-back humour was predictable and not funny. As per usual, the bad guys were useless shots and both Cruise and Diaz were crack shots with their weapons whilst in flight or precariously balanced on motorbikes etc. If you're looking for a movie where no brains are required and you don't question the implausibility of the plot, then the movie is okay; high on 007/mission impossible action. If you're looking for and intelligence, go elsewhere.
Harvey (1950)
One of the most gratifying films ever made.
When I say that the film is gratifying I mean that for me it fulfills all that you might expect from a movie of this genre. It checks all the boxes. It's witty, clever, charming and acted with moments of pure genius. It's timeless; a film for today with no anachronistic aspects. It's probably the one film that I am content to see again and again with friends anytime. Warm and wonderful, I cannot recommend it highly enough. James Stewart excels himself as Elwood P. Dowd, with an understated delivery of every quip and joke. I recently recommended this film (in English) to one of my Spanish students and she was totally enthralled with its charm. It gave us a good talking point in the next lesson and when I quoted one of Dowd's famous lines ("... I recommend pleasant") she was able to remember and quote the line too. This movie is stuffed full of such quotable quotes and if we lived by the credo of Elwood P. Down, I have no doubt the world would be a better place.
Role Models (2008)
Very funny - but . . .
I saw this film over the weekend and though I didn't quite get the belly laughs from it that a previous critic did, it was highly amusing with some clever running jokes - particularly the disingenuous double-entendres which were peppered throughout the movie. What spoiled it for me was the denouement which was predictable and tied up all the loose ends in one fell swoop. At that point I felt slightly cheated. I also felt that to achieve this ending a set of rather contrived circumstances were introduced which I was just unable to buy into.
For me a good film is made complete by an ending which doesn't seem rushed or mangled and one that doesn't leave you with the feeling of "is that it?". Also I personally have a problem with kids using foul language on screen. I don't like to hear kids swearing repeatedly and for me there's something a little immoral in not only encouraging them to swear to order, to but to script the thing for them. Maybe this a puritanical streak I possess but each use of the four letter word by a kid barely out of short pants, jarred a little. Additionally I can swallow so much poetic license and fully realise that it is over-the-top characterisation which make a film funny, but Jane Lynch - the manager of Sturdy Wings - came across as too unstable and wacky to have ever been allowed in such a position of responsibility with young kids. If you can swallow that lot along with the cop-out ending and foul-mouthed kids, then you will find the film very funny, wittily put together and enjoyable.
Happy Feet (2006)
Sorry - not so impressed
Whilst I enjoyed this film at one level, I was disappointed and dissatisfied that the premise didn't gel. Fortunately for the makers of the film 3d animations are enjoyed by kids who can swallow films which have a rickety base and provide a poor foundation for the whole film. The dance sequences were great but then again, getting animated figures to synchronize in perfect time to music is no great feat unlike in the real world. The chase scenes and those which provided dazzling camera work cannot really be applauded too loudly as this is by now de facto standard in animations where anything is possible. If these elements weren't in place you would be left with a poor film with a shaky plot. I couldn't quite go with the idea of a penguin society where its members relied on song to establish a place in their society. I just couldn't buy into it. Having failed to accept that, the film failed for me as this was the basis for Mambo's adventure. I would like to say nicer things about it as on one level I enjoyed it, whilst on the other I was nagged continually that something at the start hadn't worked for me and that the rest of the film was now suffering.