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jamesharbrecht
Reviews
Extraction 2 (2023)
A terrible film for people with short attention spans
The first film was a 7 out of 10.
This one is extremely busy and action packed simply to make up for the fact there is nothing engaging of any note happening at any point.
This is rubbish just like all the John Wick movies after the first one, again a 7 out of 10 that had sequels because it was popular. Expect more sequels of this too.
Films like this have to have action in every second on screen because the attention span of people watching has dropped to levels never before seen in human civilisation. If there wasn't constant loud explosions and gratuitous violence in every single frame then the viewer would have most likely started a tik tok dance or put on another film with less plot and more 'bang for their buck'.
TLDR
This film is dire and was made only because the first one was (rightly) popular.
If mindless action and perforated ear drums are your thing, watch on.
The Father (2020)
As good as film making gets
Extraordinary film. Excellent performances all round and just brilliant made. Not exactly light subject matter but this film certainly takes you on a journey.
The Souvenir (2019)
Absolutely dreadful
This really was a terrible movie. Slow beyond belief, completely dreary and somber without you ever really feeling any true emotion.
It would have been easy to have turned this off half way through or earlier, but it was a rental so I suffered on. Don't make the same mistake.
Katie Says Goodbye (2016)
Olivia Cooke is one of the best of her generation.
A harrowing film but the performance of Olivia Cooke is breathtaking. One of those films you would only want to watch once, but it's definitely an exceptional movie.
I Care a Lot (2020)
Vile topic, ridiculous delivery
Horrible topic, something that is happening a lot in the US. But the delivery here was poor. The lead acted appallingly throughout, somehow excusing herself because she's a woman (even though her victims were often women). The only good thing is when she was killed at the end but the relative of a victim. Avoid or feel grubby having watched this mess.
The Merry Gentleman (2008)
Shocker of a film.
A made for TV movie quality flick not fit for the hallmark channel, the reviews are startlingly generous for what was a bland, slow and ponderous borefest.
I haven't been this surprised at how bad a movie was based on its rating and reviews in a long time. Avoid at all costs.
The Old Guard (2020)
Bang average
Just not very good, simple as that. Felt a bit thrown together and not as smooth as you would want from a big budget film. The bad guy was cringey beyond belief. Nothing particularly original about the film.
One last thing - the music was absolutely APALLING in this movie. It was like a terrible commercial Spotify playlist from a teenager, very inappropriate for what was happening on screen.
Eric Andre: Legalize Everything (2020)
People voting 1 must live a sad and boring life
There are some seriously boring people in this world, imagine voting 1 out of 10 for this. Anyway, ignore the uptight people with no sense of humour that hate their lives and give it a watch. It was hysterical.
Blue Story (2019)
Much better than its score
Shocking reviews showing the ignorance and stupidity of some of the people watching this film.
You don't have to have grown up amongst this type of life to see the message of the film and look past the violence. The violence is a realistic part of this life and only an idiot could think this film glamourises it.
The unfortunate thing is some suburban thickos that have never looked past the end of their own noses will think this does glamourise this life and some people more closely aligned to this life will only see the violence and will forget the meaning.
I thought the film was well put together and did a great job showing how pointless this type of lifestyle really is. Don't be put off by the ridiculous 1 star reviews. How it's even possible to rate a film 1 star I don't know.
Tony (2009)
Criminally underrated
This film is superb and twisted. I watched Repulsion by Roman Polanski recently and the critical review of that film is very very high - to me this film was a better version of a similar type of story.
Tony centres on the descent into chaos of an outcast. It shows how rough and lonely modern life can be. The lead is absolutely brilliant.
This is certainly not a thriller, as categorised, but is a really well made psychological film.
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Extremely overrated
Really below average film that somehow manages an average rating of over 7. Jay Z was the executive producer of the sound track, so it's Hip Hop and EDM set to the roaring 20's. It obviously doesn't work and comes off ridiculous. This makes the film difficult to take seriously and quite hard to get into.
The characters are unlikeable, which isn't mandatory obviously, but it makes it hard to care when this film is essentially a love story. I suspect a lot of the fanfare over this film is the 20's imagery and DiCaprio, but that's isn't enough to make this film engaging - this certainly isn't a great DiCaprio performance in any case.
Too Late (2015)
Really slick
I really enjoyed this movie. Very nicely put together, great dialogue and all round execution. Well worth a watch
Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
As worthy of a ten as you're likely to see
Absolutely superb in every respect. I won't go into spoiler territory but this film is brilliantly acted and has a great ending. Definitely one of the best films I've seen in a long long time.
Climax (2018)
Very over the top with awful camera angles
Wow, let's see how much of a film we can have upside down! Very hard to watch with the strange camera angles. Not particularly representative of the LSD experience, although everyone is different and it's not clear how much they actually took. In any case, this was an opportunity missed - this could have been really interesting but missed the mark by going for shock value and arty camera angles.
6 Underground (2019)
Mindless, mainstream and without substance
Really poor film, just your typical Instagram generation rubbish. This film is 100mph the whole time to make up for the lack of story or anything actually interesting happening. Was difficult to even suspend judgment and just watch it as a basic action movie - the soundtrack was like a top 40 radio and the pace was so frenetic it was just so over the top and shallow.
Avengement (2019)
Much better than expected!
Really entertaining film, much better than I thought it would be going into it. Having seen all the John Wick films, this is better than all of them.
The Way of the Gun (2000)
Shocker
Can't understand such positive reviews for this boring, predictable snooze fest. Absolute load of rubbish.