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andrew-york80
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Wonka (2023)
British Twist to the Humour
I entirely get the mixed reviews here, anyone who watched the series Ghosts or Horrible Histories will recognise a lot of the actors and writing style. The songs lyrics are along a similar vein, humorously rhyming and engaging. In other words it's a very British take on Wonka that predates the books but is instantly recognisable through frequent references to Gene Wilder's version of the film.
The story us completely unique, the dialogue will evoke chuckles as you watch the film and it's for adults and children alike of a certain mindset.
To me the film is more of a homage to the original, not so much to the reboot, and a fitting tribute to a great British author.
Masters of the Air (2024)
It's no band of brothers but is ok
Based on first 2 episodes.
Ok lets start by addressing the three elephants in the room from episode 2.
Night area bombing, yep the brits switched to this after they found daylight missions would create unsustainable losses. The Germans pretty much did the same during the blitz, we were just better with the 1000 bomber raids later in the war. Given this was total war, then it's perfectly justified as the enemy's industrial base is inevitably located within or near to civilian population centres. Also Americans can hardly take the high moral ground having dropped two nuclear bombs onto Japanese cities which would have otherwise been dropped on Germany had they not already surrendered.
Portrayal of the RAF, was this the RAF or Bomber Command, i'm not really sure but it felt like stereotypical casting, same is true though for the yanks to be honest.
Scots dislike of the English, some do, but so what can you say but it's hardly representative.
These aside, the series is already repetitive but given the theme that's unavoidable to me. It would be good to have seen some kind of a story or narrative per BOB but maybe this will develop further in. Character development could be better but again lets see. The action sequences are good despite being cgi heavy.
So I will keep watching but it's typically US biased, shame as its a story that needs telling just in a better way.
Napoleon (2023)
What a shame
The story of Napoleon in film is something thats been long overdue, and of course it will always be compared to Rod Steiger's brilliant performance in Waterloo. But what we have here is a complete disaster of a film, bad at everything it tries to do. The battle scenes were naturally stymied by the length of the movie, but bore minimal resemblance to the historical events, for example Napoleon charging in with his cavalry at Waterloo!! The acting was largely dreadful and does little to dhow the genius of Napoleon, quite the opposite as he comes across as a pathetic wimp fir much of the film.
Save your money and your time, don't buy or watch under any circumstances.
An Ungentlemanly Act (1992)
Available on Britbox
I was still a school when the invasion occurred and I recall watching this movie when it came out and was keen to watch it again once I subscribed to BritBox. Its as good as I remember and worth watching as it depicts how the conflict started and forms part of our history. It feels accurate although the humour is perhaps a little outdated, and the acting is good on both sides. It's amazing how few people died in the initial invasion but of course what followed was a different story altogether.
Politically the issue is still contested by Argentina, but hopefully we won't see a repeat anytime..
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Great visuals, underdeveloped plot, messy overall
I've been looking forward to this overdue return to Pandora for some time. The visuals, I have to say are everything you would expect adding new elements to the beautiful world of Pandora to a similar, perhaps better quality as the original. Then we come to the plot, and messy, unimaginative, repetitious and uninspired cones to mind for the film as a whole. Fans of Star Wars will recall that Disney really screwed up with the repetitive plot lines of the third trilogy made exactly the same mistake here by bringing back the dead villain from the first film albeit as a Pandorian clone who somehow possessed all of his past memories. Not to mention that he somehow acquired a son from from original film who basically was treated as a "pet" throughout the entire film by the Pandorians themselves. Further plot holes exist and the human side of the storyline is very confused, unlike the original.
What a shame and it doesn't make me keen to watch any future films as I believe more are planned as it will inevitably turn into some bizarre Opus Magnus to James Cameron and ruined by Disney.
Game of Thrones (2011)
Entirely Entertaining
Watched for the first time on blue ray. Definitely unsuitable for non-adults due to the gory violence, themes of torture, murder, nudity, profanity and more. Ive read the books, and even met the author a couple of times, but enjoyed this more although a 8 series long its a fair chunk of time to get through. Understandably, the book series was not finished when the series ended so series 7/8 are perhaps the weakest as they tried to tied things up and yes the last episode of series 8 is a snoozfest but overall its a masterpiece of television adaptation. I waited a long time to buy this as I dislike sky and the price to buy was so high for a long time, but finally took the plunge and have no regrets buying now.
Devotion (2022)
Could have been a lot better
About two weeks before seeign the film I read a newpaper article about the first black naval fighter pilot and the institutional racism he endured to get there. The story was new to me and clearly this was a man's life to be celebrated. The film itself was well acted, and well made with credible CGI sequences during the combat scenes, but it also only focussed on the time after he got his wings and was assigned to his carrier up until his death. There are only two action sequences in the film which was a surprise, and its hard to classify this as a was film and really its a biopic of part of his life.
It could have been so much better, you hardly saw the racism he was subjected to because the early days of his life and training were not in the film. Instead there were hints through the dialog with the other pilots as well as a past acquaintance who turned up in the last 20 minutes of the film (a bit like the way Star Wars treated the relationship between Luke and Biggs in the first film). It could also have been a better war film that it was, and it almost felt that the war in Korea, which took his life, was a side-story. Overall the film was far too sedentary.
So id say that its worth watching one time, but only one time.
Foundation (2021)
Great Sci-Fi but it's not true to Asimov's writings
Watched as far as Episode 8 and I have to day that I'm really enjoying the series so far. The overtly WOKE approach to the characters is disappointing but they are still believable and the multiple storylines of Empire, Terminus, Seldon are engaging and entertaining despite not following the books. The visuals and effects are great and it's clear that the production values are quite high.
BUT - if you have read Asimov's books as I have multiple times, there was one thing I saw today that goes against the biggest and most famous concept that he introduced - namely the 3 laws of robotics.
First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
So the assassination by Empire's robot (who I suspect is supposed to be R. Daneel?) at the end of episode 8 simply cannot happen. It even feels contrary to the zeroth law of robotics:
Zeroth Law
A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
So for that reason it's an 8/10 but I still commend the series as a whole because its a great piece of sci-fi.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Promising with great production values
I mistakenly assumed this was based on the silmarillion but it's not, instead it appears to be based on the appendices at the end of the lord if the rings book, specifically the second age. Two episodes in and it came alive in the second episode for ne so looking forward to seeing how this evolves. Clearly there is a lot of artistic licence with the storyline so will draw criticism as a result as everyone has their own vision etc of middle earth, and of course will be influenced by the films. Production values for a tv series are little short of amazing.
So overall, ignore the bashers, judge for yourself an personally, I look forward to the upcoming episodes.
The Witches (2020)
Hard to compete against the original
If I hadn't seen the original film, then I may have scored this higher. There's nothing overtly wrong with it but to me it feels just a little flat vs the original, and only improves once the cgi kicks-in. People new to the book may even prefer this version but for me the original is far better.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
On the fence
Provisional rating 5
Final rating 6
It just doesn't quite hit the mark with how this fits in with past/future events as a self-doubting Kenobi struggles to rescue the child Leia against a raging Vader and his inquisitor cronies.
Like:
Production values seem to be a little higher than The Mandalorian
The vulnerability of Kenobi is interesting
Dislike:
Vader is too angry compared to EP IV with random killings versus calculated evil
Vaders voice seems sampled vs live recorded
I'm still waiting on Kenobi to connect with Qui-Gon Jinn, per the end of EP III and in a recap at the start of this
From the r2d2 recording in EP IV, I'm not sure that Leia actually met Kenobi in her childhood
The series has very little to do with Luke
Leia is a little annoying
Script is poor and definitely inferior to The Mandalorian
Kind of on-par with Boba Fett, which was poor until Mando turned up
Rating went up due to answering a long-standing question around Qui-Gin Jinn in the last episode. Otherwise series was just a bit of filler from Disney...
Dune (2021)
Prefer the Lynch version
As much as I enjoyed this film, I preferred the originality of David Lynch's version. I have read the book but a long time ago and thus film like the book felt just that little bit tedious to sit through. It's odd but given the length of this version, many of the characters are lacking in definition - especially Rabban and Baron Harkonen. Where also is Fayed, the emperor, the backstory to the betrayal it all feel bit sketchy to me. The atradies characters feel a lot more real so why thus odd imbalance? The other oddity here is that so many lines are the exact duplicate of lynch's version, delivered the same way in the exact same scene. Close your eyes and it could almost be the earlier film. I will say however that charlomet steals the film to give the standout performance.
So overall it's visually great, but just as I'll happily re-watch lynch's version - I'm just not so sure I'd do the same with this.
No Time to Die (2021)
A good time to finish
Twenty-five films in, and as much as I enjoyed Daniel Craig as Bond, his retirement is the perfect time to end the series, even aside from the ending because simply where do you go from here? This as someone who has grown up with Bond all my life, most of them average and gimmicky spy flics, with Connery and with Craig the best Bonds by a mile. It's been a great run, so please let it die with Craig as anything that follows will not compare and just serve to milk audiences their hard earned cash whilst offering little new.
Resident Alien (2021)
Great watch - plot shifts with every episode
A lot of the reviews here seem to be after the pilot. This review is based on the entire series.
There is always the chance that a series will hook you in on the first episode and be kind of "meh" thereafter, but you keep watching in the hope that at some point it recaptures the essence of the first episode. Not so with Resident Alien, the scriptwriting which is excellent, continues to be good throughout the whole series and importantly it evolves over time vs simply repeating on a theme. The evolving plot actually negates some of the poor comments such as one person being horrified that an alien would want to kill a child which begins in the first episode and evolves into something else over the full series to become something that is critical to the overall plot line regarding the alien's mission to destroy all humanity.
People reacting badly to the plot themes from the each episode, which are quite dark, need to stay with it as the whole is better than the individual parts. You do get to see the world from the eyes on an alien, and part of the interest is to see how the alien evolves with each episode becoming more empathetic towards human society over time but never losing the fact that he is an alien on a mission who will never fully under our society. You have to remember of course that an alien will not see things the way we do which is why, having crash landed on earth, is wanting to kill a child (who incidentally is the only one who sees him in his true form) is actually very plausible.
There other characters in this series are also very well written and compliment each other well as the plot intertwines their individual characters and personalities - the town mayor, the police chief, the doctor's assistants and the lady who runs the town bar etc.. New characters are added over time to create a fairly rich cast of people, adding to the complexity of the storyline, such as the government's alien hunters and so on..
So overall I gave this a 9/10 because it's a brilliantly developed series, and it was definitely my thing to watch. Best advice is to watch it in its entirety to get the best enjoyment out of the series.
Can't wait for series 2!
Cruella (2021)
Was actually ok and better than expected
Interesting vs brilliant, feels like it could of been a Tim Burton film. Well acted with ties to the books and I guess the only flaws to me were the drawn out first 20 mins or so which just felt a little flat but get past that and it begins to entertain. The schizophrenic characterisation of Cruella is well done but like the Titanic suffers from knowing the end will be. Nice Easter egg in the credits to look for.
Overall kind of ok.
Vigil (2021)
Enjoyable despite flaws
Agree with what's said here about the technical flaws as the first thing I said was the sub looked too large to be credible inside. Anyway, pretty gripping stuff, if slightly prone to analysis, clearly some artistic licence involved on the storyline & performances by the crew of the sub. Suspect it's far more professional than this - at least I hope so :). My guess after ep 2 is that the HR guy, petty officer or whatever he was called is the villain but lets see !
Coming 2 America (2021)
Sad sequel trying to recapture the glory days
Felt like a film for the boys (I.e. old cast) vs a true sequel, very sad. Jermaine Fowler and Leslie Jones by far put in the best performances, the rest felt dated and wooden with too many cameos.
Avoid!
The Mandalorian (2019)
True to Star Wars
Well worth the sub to Disney, love the humour, love the characters, style of production which seems to get better each episode. It's the read deal, unlike the last 3 films...
1917 (2019)
Very tense for 90 minutes
I haven't watched a film with this much tension in years, there was very little letup in the first 90 mins, not your classic war movie but full of the horrors war, where everyone is a defacto hero and simply trying to survive. The film itself is pretty linear and predictable so you can say that the plot is shallow in this respect but if ever you wanted a film to embed you in the movie rather than being a spectator then this is pretty damn close. The cinematography was amazing and the soundtrack just brilliant. To me this film was everything that Dunkirk was not.
The Right Stuff (2020)
Good so far
Two episodes in, it's slower than the film but then with 8 episodes it would be. It's deeper than the film focussing more oif the back-stories of some of the astronauts (Glen, Shepard and Grissom). It's well made with believable characters so overall gets a 7/10 from me and could go higher with more episodes. Only negative so far is that Chuck Yeager who featured in the film is absent here which is a pity as it looses something because of this.
Main thing is judge for yourselves, but a low score at this stage seems unfair.
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Linear and Predictable
No real twists to the plot in this film, could have been better written. Surprised that someone convicted of murder in the USA can get parole after 6 years, so feels a little fake there. Wouldn't go out of my way to watch again and if you like, then he's been in better films.
Midway (2019)
Better than Pearl Harbour but still not great
So I grew up with films like Tora Tora Tora and the original Midway. Sadly the two modern day counterparts Pearl Harbour and Midway are both full of Hollywood BS, although at least midway tells it better than PH did. Strong cast, should have been great BUT one pilot withJedi-like dive bomber skills taking out not one but two Aircraft carriers, not to mention 6 bombers and a runway with just one bomb earlier in the film and oh dive bombers that appear to outclass zero fighters piloted by the cream of the Japanese navy.
Sorry it's time Hollywood stopped the flag waving crap.
Greyhound (2020)
Enjoyable - but The Cruel Sea is better
Admittedly The Cruel Sea is one of my favour war time movies but it spans the lifetime of two ships vs a single crossing. This movie is however very intense and superbly acted without denigrating the efforts of the allies, since US movies often overplay the US achievements in the war (which were significant of course but they were not the only ones fighting).
I'm not sure, but I'm also not convinced that the air cover was that good in 1942 either.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Reminded me of Jackie Brown
Saw this on a flight to the USA, having got used to QTs gory style, this one seemed closer to the style of Jackie Brown. Solid story of Hollywood life, good supporting cast - two stories in one really. The film ended is a more recent QT style with plenty of gore and a nice flamethrower for added value.
Not his best work, but still good.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Tragic end of a saga
When the original Star Wars came out it was simply amazing, the next two films were also brilliant in their way. The next three films - prequels if you like followed a different path but to me were highly enjoyable despite some of the flaws.
Then came episodes 7-9, GL had sold out to Disney and the franchise handed over to directors and scriptwriters who again tried to advance the story to what in all intents and purposes was a cross between botched reboot and a woeful facsimile of the original films.
In this latest and final instalment, the same weak and utterly confused storyline was extrapolated to it's inevitable conclusion, although it probably should have been called Rise of Palpatine since it transpired that the major character was the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (who had somehow managed to resurrect himself).
This was one of many plot twists or exposes ranging from horse-like creatures charging across a star destroyer, love interests randomly thrown in from out of nowhere. Leia in reference to the fan-fiction that followed the original trilogy, suddenly exposing herself as a Jedi Knight oh and then voluntarily following Luke into a green-glowy existence to save Rey. A very fat and wooden Lando Calrission, entering from stage right, ghosts of Han and Luke appearing to help out every now and again - what an absolute tripe-ridden and confused ending to the series.
Comedy interest as usual come from C3PO and frankly this was the best performance in the film. Sadly this is about the only good thing I can say about the film except perhaps that it was less tedious than episode 8 and had all the usual special effects that we have come to take for granted. Nods were given to past characters, with an obligatory show of Ewoks celebrating the evil empires downfall (again). Hell they even threw in a pointless lesbian kiss at that point for good measure (why??????).
As a Star Wars fan since the first movie, I felt obliged to go see the film, but also I feel saddened by the utter corruption of the series which really can be summarised as follows:
Ep 1 : Sowing the seeds of the Empire and Darth Vader
Ep 2 : Start of the Clone Wars
Ep 3 : Rise of the Empire, Palpatine and Darth Vader
Ep 4 : Start of Luke story and the Rebel Alliance, Death Star #1 is blown up
Ep 5 : Luke's journey to becoming a Jedi
Ep 6 : Destruction of Palpatine and the end of the Empire, Death Star #2 is blown up
Ep 7 : Who knows but there is some kind of Death Star again, gets blown up
Ep 8 : Hell hath no fury like a long drawn out space chase
Ep 9 : A thousand Death Stars each mounted on the ass of a Star Destroyer, they all gets blown away!
Enjoy (if you can)!