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davey79
Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Brilliantly bonkers
I'd been looking forward to watching Dial of Destiny for a while, as I was confident they would make amends for the disappointment of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. However, the reviews have been scathing, hard to avoid and almost put me off going to see it.
Luckily my 13-year-old daughter gave me good advice:
"Stop reading reviews. It's just people's opinions. You should watch the film for yourself" 😄
We recently went to watch it together and it was one of the most enjoyable cinema experiences I've had in recent years. The 2.5 hours flew by and, although the film is far from perfect, it felt like a great and worthy addition to the series with humour, heart and some of the best action sequences in the lot.
Ignore the haters and self-appointed experts and allow yourself to be swept away by this brilliantly bonkers Indiana Jones movie!
Granite Harbour (2022)
A poor substitute for Shetland
I'm from Scotland and met my wife in Aberdeen. We were both looking forward to this mini-drama, eager to reminisce over a familiar backdrop. Although the city of Aberdeen is well represented, it is spoiled by the god-awful music!
The acting is unnatural with dialogue delivered like everyone is simply reading their lines. Why do Scottish actors sound like they are doing an impression of a Scottish person? It's strange to listen to. It sounds like they are exaggerating their Scottishness whilst speaking clearly so that viewers south of the border don't need subtitles.
We switched off towards the end of episode one after the predictable chase scene on foot. It was executed at a jogging pace, yet the police officer still couldn't catch-up! Lucky for him the man he was chasing fell over, although what caused him to fall over is a mystery.
Sadly, this is a clichéd detective show that feels like a student project filmed with decent cameras.
By the Sea (2015)
Underrated Gem
My wife and I opted to watch this film, despite the many negative reviews, as we had just returned from a wonderful holiday in Gozo, Malta, where this "French set" film was actually filmed and thought it would be nice to see familiar scenery and locations.
We were both surprised at how much we ended up enjoying the film and the narrative. It is beautifully shot with great attention to detail, especially regarding the interiors and the fashion.
It plays like a subtle, engaging, independent French movie, that, for better or worse, has two Hollywood stars in lead roles. Had it not, I am convinced it would have earned much more positive attention. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt play their roles well, but if you dislike either, it may cloud your judgement and you will not like this film.
Watch with a positive mind :)
The Weight of Elephants (2013)
Beautifully shot film of nothingness
My wife and I enjoy good dramas that are close to reality, often resulting with films in which not much happens. However, this film took nothingness to a whole new level.
I don't like to be overtly critical of independent movies, but this particular one left us feeling a little annoyed and extremely bored. Admittedly, it was beautifully shot and the acting was subtle and convincing, but the narrative was immensely dull. The pacing was also excruciatingly slow, but we persevered, believing something would happen to take it up a notch. Wrong. Film ends. Credits roll. Evening wasted.
I am sure some people might enjoy this, or should I say "appreciate" this movie, but I personally don't think it should have extended beyond a short film. Sorry.
Life's Too Short (2011)
It Grows on You
I, like many others, was very disappointed after watching the first episode of Life's Too Short. It simply didn't live up to expectations. Very high expectations I must admit. As a fan of The Office and Extras, I had been regularly checking Ricky Gervais's blog for news about his new comedy featuring Warwick Davis. The clips were funny and combining elements of The Office with Extras, as Gervais had warned, made sense to me.
However, as I sat down to watch the first episode, excited like a little boy on Christmas Day, I simply didn't laugh as much as I had hoped. Reading scathing reviews by The Guardian, The Independent and The Metro didn't help. They brought to my attention the fact that Warwick was doing a Brent impression, Gervais was massaging his ego by showing-off his cool celebrity friends and that the jokes were cruel and simply not funny. Watching episode 2 wasn't much better. It was better, just not much better. Then I decided to do something. I decided that I wasn't going to read any more reviews or comments by people who were claiming that Gervais is a nasty bully who has only done one good thing. I decided to watch Life's Too Short in the same way as I watched The Office and Extras. I decided to watch it simply as a new comedy on TV. I didn't know anything about Gervais back then. There was no hype. I didn't even find The Office funny first time round, if truth be told.
It worked. Relaxing in front of the TV for Episode 3 had me laughing out loud regularly. A scene in Episode 4 had me crying with laughter. I don't remember the last time that happened! Life's Too Short had won me over. I thoroughly enjoyed Episodes 5 and 6 and I will sit down and watch the last episode tonight. Can't wait.
Finally, here are my views on some of the common discussion points on Life's Too Short:
1) Warwick is simply doing a Brent impression
Warwick is 20% Brent, 15% Gervais, 5% Gareth Keenan and 60% Warwick Davis. Good combination in my opinion. Brents exist, especially in Gervais's world.
2) The jokes are cruel and not funny.
I honestly believe The Office touched on taboo topics in a stronger way than LTS, especially regarding disability and race. The media, and most of the UK, have gone on PC overdrive since "mong-gate". How would they react if The Office only hit our screens now? Yes, many of the jokes in LTS rely on visual humor, but why is that a problem?. I laughed at Warwick climbing a bookshelf because it was so absurd, so crazy, yet somewhat believable. His expressions and body language were fantastic. You felt his pain. It reminded me a little bit of Steve Martin carrying an overweight Kathleen Turner up a flight of stairs in The Man With Two Brains. Oops. Does that mean I am laughing at fat people?
3) Gervais is showing off his cool celebrity friends.
Episodes 1, 2 and 3 had A-listers. This was a nice way to carry on from Extras, which this show is kind of related to. After that, however, the show takes on a life of it's own, unless you consider Keith Chegwin, Les Dennis, Shaun Williamson and Cat Deeley as cool celebrities you want to show off to the world.
You can drink a nice cup of hot tea when watching Rev. I wouldn't recommend that when watching Life's Too Short.
P.S. I Love You (2007)
Utter Crap
This film is utter crap. The Scotsman (Gerald) does an awful Irish accent. Why is he Irish? Do the writers think there are no Scotsmen in America? I started watching this with my wife after reading its good reviews and couldn't comprehend the terrible acting, let alone the incredibly naive plot line. "Sad and emotional" - my ar*e!
In conclusion, this film is utter crap. The Scotsman (Gerald) does an awful Irish accent. Why is he Irish? Do the writers think there are no Scotsmen in America? I started watching this with my wife after reading its good reviews and couldn't comprehend the terrible acting, let alone the incredibly naive plot line. "Sad and emotional" - my ar*e!