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Favri
I work at a college as a janitor even though I feel like I'm smarter than most of the people who go there. Sometimes I see an equation written on a blackboard like half an equation and... I just figure it out.
Ratings
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Reviews
The Quiet Hour (2014)
All-round outstanding production
I had the great pleasure of seeing The Quiet Hour at the Raindance screening in London and was hugely impressed. Everything about it is worthy of note - interesting original concept, great script, fantastic direction, top notch performances by the cast and fantastic production value.
This sci-fi, post apocalyptic thriller tells the story of a young girl and her blind brother who do their best to survive in a world that has been torn apart by an invasion of mysterious aliens who kill all humans in sight. Their routine is interrupted by a wandering stranger, who may or may not have the best intentions...
I couldn't believe this film was done on a low budget, the production value is absolutely excellent, it looks and feels like a very sophisticated production. This is what independent films should aspire to be like!
Dakota Blue Richards delivers a truly superb performance as the lead, showing us just what she is capable of, and Karl Davies and Jack McMullen are equally convincing and excellent. Zeb Moore and Brigitte Millar are also worthy of note, absolutely rock their parts. Stephanie Joalland is clearly a very talented director, every shot is carefully and cleverly put together and, as a fan of post apocalyptic films in general, her use of the landscape and scenery is brilliant. I can't remember the last time I've seen such a good directorial debut! I am sure we will be seeing a lot more from her.
Gripping from beginning to end and beautifully shot, I cannot praise and recommend this film enough - watch out for it because people will talk about it once it's released. Very much looking forward to Frenzy Films' next production!!
Lady in the Water (2006)
Still the worst film I've ever seen.
I had the pleasure of watching Lady in the water about a year after it came out. I say pleasure because after watching it I found comfort in the fact that I knew the odds of seeing a worse film decreased substantially. Admittedly, The Last Airbender and The Happening were serious contenders, but didn't quite have all the elements of awfulness that this little gem has. I don't enjoy bashing M Night. I studied The Sixth Sense and I am actually a big fan of Unbreakable, which I will happily watch whenever it's on. Why is this film so bad? Well, think of any reason which makes a film bad, and you wouldn't be wrong. The plot does not even attempt to engage you and is absolutely ridiculous - not in a "oh that could never happen..." kind of way (because let's be honest there are plenty of unrealistic good movies, that's hardly a flaw in itself) but in a "why have you written this ridiculous pointless ting" kind of way. The characters are... nothing. That's what they are. They barely fit the definition of characters. They are not explored, they have no journey, they just happen to be fictional and in a "film". As many people do, I really like Paul Giammatti. I mean, he's an excellent actor with an impressive range. He is does comedy as well as he does drama. I really can't go on enough as to how good he is. Barney's Version being a just one example of his talent. So, this film is redeemed by an excellent performance by good ol' Paulie, you are thinking, with new found hope! No. I am surprised he has left this film out there to be seen. Don't get me wrong, he is still a good actor in it, he's a professional at the end of the day. It's that the rest of this film is so bad that it crushes his good work. So sorry, I realise I've written so much and not even told you what the film is about! So, there's a water nymph that lives in a swimming pool of a crappy motel, that needs to go home. Oh, OK, you're thinking, that doesn't sound bad at all! OK. How about no context at all is given and all the questions you have won't be answered. Not enough? OK, how about we throw in a very unsubtle dig at film critics by... putting a bad person who is a film critic in the film in quite a pointless role. Just to be sure, let's throw in some entirely pointless characters like a guy who has one hugely developed muscular arm. I won't "spoil" the end for you, not just because M Night does an excellent job of that himself and I could never compete. What I can say is it will make you angry, make you wonder if any thought whatsoever was put into this, make you question why you even bothered watching this thing and whether you should ever watch anything again. Ever. It may even make you question life itself. Then, that's where the magic happens. That is when you will realise that you've seen and touched the bottom of film making. And that is where you will find comfort and reassurance, eventually realising that anything else you watch after this will be better.
Tron: Legacy (2010)
One for the kids...
So, last night I watched Tron: Legacy at a new state of the art cinema in London. Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Jeff 'The Dude' Bridges and pretty much anything he has starred in. The film was promising – in the pipeline for quite a while, big budget ($13 million alone spent on costumes!), 3D filming technology better than Avatar's, Daft Punk providing the beats... and Jeff Bridges!! Then reviews started coming out – and they haven't been good. Now, usually I am not one to care for reviews or film critics (yes, the irony...) but inevitably my expectations were lowered.
One thing was clear from the start: the plot is definitely not the strong point of this production – Kevin Flynn is stuck in the virtual world he created, his son Sam discovers this and tries to save him. Nothing ground breaking, but that's not the point. The point is to be blown away visually, to make you stop caring about how weak the story is. Now, the filming for Tron: Legacy was done in 64 days. As impressive as it is concerning. The post production lasted 68 weeks. THAT is promising. I read this and instantly stopped caring about the story, months before the release. I was, unfortunately, a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, visually, it's stunning. The fight scenes, the bike scene(s?) and the city built on the grid are beautifully done and deserve to be seen on the big screen, in 3D. What disappointed me is that I did not feel they made the most of these impressive visuals. To put it simply, I wanted less talky, talky, more fighty and bikey racing. Or at least, if you have to sit through the dialogue and plot/character development, make it worth our while. Here is what confused me even more: check the credits and you will see that 8 people are mentioned in the Writing credits; 2 for the screenplay, 4 for the story and 2 for the characters. There is no evidence of this. Or rather, there is a doubt as to whether the script was reworked a few too many times. In my humble opinion, they could have done with half the dialogue and double the action – that would have made sense. Instead they tried to make the plot more 'complex' and the characters 'deeper' and ended up with an action film, with not enough action. Although, let me repeat it, the action sequences are brilliant. Which inevitably made me wonder "what if..." even more. What did not disappoint at all was the awesome soundtrack and equally awesome costumes. Really great stuff. I doubt many movies can say they have Daft Punk, Journey and Eurythmics in the listings – the sounds are just amazing from beginning to end and very well used. The costumes look incredible. The lights and materials were all real and incorporated into the suits for purposes of realism – excellent choice! Crazy money, but money well spent. Again though, these accomplishment made me wonder what this film could have been had it disappointed a bit less in other departments. The contrasts in the music in particular, as well as the ones in technology, such as the old Arcade vs the encom skyscraper vs the Tron world, were something I felt deserved a bit more screen time and attention.
Disney took a few risks in this production – making it PG was almost a given (it's Disney and they'll go as far as PG-13 with Pirates of the Caribbean but not further), picking Joseph Kosinski as Director and Garrett Hedlund as lead, to name a few. Unfortunately the film is 'very' PG – I don't expect or want loads of violence, gore and profanity, but odds are if I've seen the first Tron, and I can't wait for the long awaited sequel, by now I'm old enough to handle slightly more 'rated' scenes and dialogue which I feel could have added a bit of passion and flare to the film. Kosinski's career highlights so far, from what I've read, are trailers for Halo and Gears of War. I understand Disney's logic in hiring him (less famous = more control by Dinsey) but he might not really have been ready for this huge leap. A slightly more experienced director would have brought more to the table and might have appeased the fans. The older ones anyway... Hedlund was actually not that bad. At times. His character (as with the others) is unfortunately treated very superficially, so the challenge is not huge, but he still does what he has to do... My only thought is, regarding his upcoming crucial role in On the road, that I seriously hope he had some insightful, inspiring and helpful talks with Jeff Bridges in between shoots, because he will need to step it up a notch!! I refuse to comment on The Dude's performance as it was not unbelievably amazing, which is what he has made us expect from him. Let's just say he could have pretended he was a bit more into it... though I can see why he wasn't...
To sum it up Tron: Legacy was an entertaining and impressive visual experience. An amazing soundtrack, impressive costumes and visuals were not enough for me to leave the room smiling. It took me a few minutes to come to the conclusion that this was in fact one for the kids. And I sincerely hope the kids loved it because when I was younger, when my expectations were lower and I hadn't seen as many movies as I have today, something like this would have made an impact and made my imagination run wild (definitely without traumatising me). I just hope they'll make one for the older fans... in my lifetime...
6.5/10
Running Scared (2006)
Don't be scared...
The pleasure derived from watching a film you know nothing or very little about and thoroughly enjoying it is as rare as it is enjoyable. Odds are you won't have seen that many trailers for running scared, you won't really know what to expect and you might be hesitating wondering "is this worth my while?". Well, if you are after a heavy dose of psychological and physical violence, mixed in with fast paced action and suspense, then it's definitely worth your while. Running scared follows the gritty, urban, dark adventure of a kid and a mob enforcer running , chasing and being chased by all kinds of equally dark and disturbing characters. This is one of those films that will grab you from the opening scene and take you on a crazy action-packed ride, through constantly changing settings, right until the end credits roll. Paul Walker delivers a solid performance, probably one of the best you will have seen him in to date. Cameron Bright (Now, apparently, involved in the Eclipse saga) also stands out amongst the cast, he takes on what, by comparison, is not an easy role and definitely delivers. The dialogue is more than passable and occasionally even worthy of note – there a few good lines throughout the film, generally delivered quite well. The direction is great – Wayne Kramer, who had already done some outstanding work on The Cooler and Crossing Over, proves once again he is extremely good at what he does. So, whilst this is no award winning material(probably no need to say this, but don't go expecting anything better than the likes of Training Day) it is much, much better than a lot of action thrillers out there. It's gripping, exciting and it will surprise you, shock you and keep you very much entertained for the best part of 2 hours. So, my suggestion is: turn the lights off, grab a beer and keep the ashtray within reach.
Canoe Man (2010)
Could have been better...
Considering the story is quite a fascinating one, this could have – OK, should have, been better. For starters, it felt like a re-enactment rather than an actual film or a documentary, which wasn't great. The acting is actually OK, there are no moments of brilliance and it's far from great, but you can tell the cast (for the most part) kind of knew what they were doing. The camera work is pretty bad, awkward shots, unnecessary use of slow motions and, colour filters and... well, quite boring. What keeps you watching, essentially, is the story itself. It's curious to see, to understand, how this couple managed to get away with this for as long as they did. Unfortunately the production just doesn't add anything to it – the script isn't great, the dialogue feels fake at times and the voice over is doesn't feel like it is adding anything or helping us understand more what's going on in the wife's head. This is definitely a story that should be told, but it probably could do with a bit more on the creative and production side of things. Adding a bit of drama and making it more engaging would maybe have gotten a few more viewers interested.