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Sara's Notebook (2018)
Movie
Laura Alonso is a Spanish lawyer from Madrid who arrives Democratic Republic of Congo (center of...
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated The inbetween (2022) in Movies
Jun 3, 2022
The movie starts with the aftermath of an accident. A young boy and girl are lying on the ground and the girl wakes up in hospital, it then rewinds to show us what happened prior to the accident (182 days).
Its clear from a conversation that the girl is adopted but won't connect with her adoptive parents, instead she spends time with her camera by herself. During a trip to the cinema she meets a young lad who offers to translate the movie for her and they hit it off straight away.
It then goes back to the hospital where we find out that skye (the boy) and tessa had become a couple, and skye had died and become stuck in the Inbetween (hence the movies title) trying to contact tessa.
There's a lot of back and forth between the time lines as skye and tessas relationship develops. I like that they used the difference in colour to show which timeline we were watching, the memory is bright and cheerful, whereas the present has more of a grey ish tint to it. I thought the performances were very good, though I did feel the length was a bit too long. Everything could have been wrapped up in an hour and a half rather than 2 hours. As for the storyline itself, I love a good romance movie so I can't complain, though I do feel the movie would have better if it wasn't back and forth all the time.
Its clear from a conversation that the girl is adopted but won't connect with her adoptive parents, instead she spends time with her camera by herself. During a trip to the cinema she meets a young lad who offers to translate the movie for her and they hit it off straight away.
It then goes back to the hospital where we find out that skye (the boy) and tessa had become a couple, and skye had died and become stuck in the Inbetween (hence the movies title) trying to contact tessa.
There's a lot of back and forth between the time lines as skye and tessas relationship develops. I like that they used the difference in colour to show which timeline we were watching, the memory is bright and cheerful, whereas the present has more of a grey ish tint to it. I thought the performances were very good, though I did feel the length was a bit too long. Everything could have been wrapped up in an hour and a half rather than 2 hours. As for the storyline itself, I love a good romance movie so I can't complain, though I do feel the movie would have better if it wasn't back and forth all the time.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Lesson of the Evil (2012) in Movies
Nov 15, 2021
*Big band music playing loudly in the background*
Takashi Miike's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 - which, yes, is every bit as messy and overstuffed as that sounds; though I fear that if this were leaner you could miss out on the finer details like the weird German folklore stuff or the fleshy gun with the talking eyeball. The third act here is better than anything in even 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰, probably the greatest thing Miike has ever done - just as demented, tasteless, and perfectly staged as reported plus it lasts around a solid, uninterrupted 45 minutes. Simultaneously fun and hard to watch in the sense that you can't believe that not only are they actually going for this, but they're going for it *hard* (given the director, I'd expect no less). I'm confident in saying this has the most straight-up brutal use of the shotgun in film history that I've seen. Hideaki Ito is flawless as this fucked-up closet psychopath who just bleeds raw antihero charisma, this kind of character can tire so easily but him and Miike sell it in full - partly because (and this is one of the things I love most about Miike) there's zero pretension to be found here. The precise type of ethically repugnantly, formally playful, feverish trashy thrills you'd expect out of this are exactly what you get - no clichéd moral handwringing or bullshit pulled punches you see in a lot of Western cinema for this genre. This is the real shit, another bonafide cult classic from one of the masters. Plus it's generally bizarre as hell, too.
Takashi Miike's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 - which, yes, is every bit as messy and overstuffed as that sounds; though I fear that if this were leaner you could miss out on the finer details like the weird German folklore stuff or the fleshy gun with the talking eyeball. The third act here is better than anything in even 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰, probably the greatest thing Miike has ever done - just as demented, tasteless, and perfectly staged as reported plus it lasts around a solid, uninterrupted 45 minutes. Simultaneously fun and hard to watch in the sense that you can't believe that not only are they actually going for this, but they're going for it *hard* (given the director, I'd expect no less). I'm confident in saying this has the most straight-up brutal use of the shotgun in film history that I've seen. Hideaki Ito is flawless as this fucked-up closet psychopath who just bleeds raw antihero charisma, this kind of character can tire so easily but him and Miike sell it in full - partly because (and this is one of the things I love most about Miike) there's zero pretension to be found here. The precise type of ethically repugnantly, formally playful, feverish trashy thrills you'd expect out of this are exactly what you get - no clichéd moral handwringing or bullshit pulled punches you see in a lot of Western cinema for this genre. This is the real shit, another bonafide cult classic from one of the masters. Plus it's generally bizarre as hell, too.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Belfast (2021) in Movies
Jan 14, 2022
In short, Belfast is a very human and truly wonderful piece of cinema.
It's visual style is both stunning and simple, and is brimming with plenty of striking imagery.
It's themes are rich. The setting explores the civil unrest between Protestants and Catholics in 1960s Belfast. This turbulent moment in time is a constant presence for sure, but the main bulk of the narrative deals with a working class family who are struggling with debt, and are looking to potentially relocate to England in light of the city wide violence. The very heart of the story though is found in Buddy, the young son of the family who is dealing with growing up and not wanting to leave. Buddy's actor, Jude Hill, is excellent. He embodies innocent childhood and the adventure that comes with it. He's an 11 year old actor, holding his own against screen veterans such as Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench (both fantastic as always).
Other than Buddy, most of the heavy lifting is undertaken by the mother, played by Caitriona Balfe, who really deserves an Academy Nomination for her role here. Jamie Dornan also stars, who proved to be a pleasant surprise for me, only knowing him from the obvious, and is a welcome addition to an all round stellar cast. Throughout this, the narrative touches upon loss and loneliness, and the moments of life that manage to be bittersweet.
Belfast is a sometimes heartwarming, powerful, occasionally funny, and often melancholy tale told with a lot of love and care. Kenneth Branagh has delivered a slice of cinematic gold.
It's visual style is both stunning and simple, and is brimming with plenty of striking imagery.
It's themes are rich. The setting explores the civil unrest between Protestants and Catholics in 1960s Belfast. This turbulent moment in time is a constant presence for sure, but the main bulk of the narrative deals with a working class family who are struggling with debt, and are looking to potentially relocate to England in light of the city wide violence. The very heart of the story though is found in Buddy, the young son of the family who is dealing with growing up and not wanting to leave. Buddy's actor, Jude Hill, is excellent. He embodies innocent childhood and the adventure that comes with it. He's an 11 year old actor, holding his own against screen veterans such as Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench (both fantastic as always).
Other than Buddy, most of the heavy lifting is undertaken by the mother, played by Caitriona Balfe, who really deserves an Academy Nomination for her role here. Jamie Dornan also stars, who proved to be a pleasant surprise for me, only knowing him from the obvious, and is a welcome addition to an all round stellar cast. Throughout this, the narrative touches upon loss and loneliness, and the moments of life that manage to be bittersweet.
Belfast is a sometimes heartwarming, powerful, occasionally funny, and often melancholy tale told with a lot of love and care. Kenneth Branagh has delivered a slice of cinematic gold.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Red Sparrow (2018) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Good Lord! How much sex and violence is acceptable for a UK-15 film?
I recognise that it’s a “thing” that I get into periodic ‘ruts’ of ranting about particular aspects of cinema. But it’s not spoilers in trailers this time! No, the most recent rut I’ve been in is concerned with the correctness or otherwise of the BBFC’s rating of UK 15-certificate films, which seems to have been the rating of every cinema film I’ve seen recently! In my view both “Phantom Thread” and “Lady Bird” should both have firmly been 12A’s to attract a broader teenage audience. But here’s a case on the other side of the balance.
“Red Sparrow”, the latest film from “Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence, has Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy“, “mother!“) as Dominika Egorova, a Russian ballerina, who after a horrific accident (cringe) is forced to serve the State in order to keep her mother (Joely Richardson, “101 Dalmations”) in their Bolshoi-funded apartment and with the necessary medical treatment. She is sent to a spy “whore school”, ruled over by “matron” (Charlotte Rampling), to learn how to use sexual and psychological means to ‘get in the pants’ (and therefore the minds) of foreign targets.
Always elegant. Charlotte Rampling back on our screens as “Matron”.
And she turns out to be very good and – without nepotism of course, given that her creepy uncle Egorov ( Matthias Schoenaerts, “Far From The Madding Crowd“) is high up in the special services – she is sent on a mission to Budapest to try to uncover a high profile mole, who’s CIA handler is Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton, “The Great Gatsby“, “Black Mass“). Supervising Egorov’s operation are his two line managers General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“) and Zakharov (Ciarán Hinds, “Harry Potter”). Sucked into a web of intrigue, Dominika needs to use all her skills and charms to complete her mission… which equates to keeping herself and her mother alive.
Now on the tarmac, Joel really wans’t looking forward to his Ryanair flight.
This is an extremely uneven film. In places it is quite brilliant, particularly the twist in the ending which leaves you thinking (like “Life“) that the film is actually better than it was. In fact – subject to a couple of severe reservations discussed below – the script by Justin Haythe (“A Cure for Wellness“) and based on a book by Jason Matthews, is quite sharp. But – man – in its direction the film seriously takes its time. In my book, a film needs to have a pretty good reason to extend its stay past 2 hours, and this outstays its welcome by an extra 20 minutes. Many of the scenes are protracted – leisurely walks across streets etc. – for no particularly good reason.
Pwoaahh – look at those. (I’m referring of course to Joel Edgerton’s buns in those speedos).
And so to those major reservations: the sex and the violence.
I’m no prude when it comes to sex, but some of the scenes in the ‘whore school’ left me feeling like this was less about a “Times Up” initiative of empowering women and more about providing an array of sordid titillation on the screen that just help entrench mysoginistic views about women. (Did anyone else hear Kenneth Williams saying “Oooooh, matron” to Charlotte Rampling’s character?) There were men and women attending this training camp, but did we see – later in the film – any of the men subjecting themselves to sexual humiliation or subjugation in the field: no, we did not. I love a really good erotic film… but this just left me feeling dirty and used.
Who wants to go to the f***ing party? No one seems to have remembered to bring a bottle.
And then there’s the violence. I’m definitely not a fan of the sort of violent-porn of the “Saw” type of films, but heavens – if there was a reason to make this an 18 certificate it was the violence involved. Violent rape, a vicious revenge attack, extreme torture, skinning alive: was there nothing in here that the censors thought, “hang on a minute, perhaps I don’t want a 15 year old seeing this”. I have seldom seen and heard more flinching and whimpering from women in a cinema audience than during this film. If you are adversely affected by screen violence, this is really one best to avoid.
“The Cold War hasn’t ended – it has splintered into thousands of dangerous pieces” intones the matron. Similarly, this film has potential but splinters into many pieces, some good but far more sharp and dangerous. With similarities in tone and content to “Atomic Blonde“, there’s a good ‘post cold war’ spy film in here trying to get out. Unfortunately, it never quite gets both legs over the wall.
“Red Sparrow”, the latest film from “Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence, has Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy“, “mother!“) as Dominika Egorova, a Russian ballerina, who after a horrific accident (cringe) is forced to serve the State in order to keep her mother (Joely Richardson, “101 Dalmations”) in their Bolshoi-funded apartment and with the necessary medical treatment. She is sent to a spy “whore school”, ruled over by “matron” (Charlotte Rampling), to learn how to use sexual and psychological means to ‘get in the pants’ (and therefore the minds) of foreign targets.
Always elegant. Charlotte Rampling back on our screens as “Matron”.
And she turns out to be very good and – without nepotism of course, given that her creepy uncle Egorov ( Matthias Schoenaerts, “Far From The Madding Crowd“) is high up in the special services – she is sent on a mission to Budapest to try to uncover a high profile mole, who’s CIA handler is Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton, “The Great Gatsby“, “Black Mass“). Supervising Egorov’s operation are his two line managers General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“) and Zakharov (Ciarán Hinds, “Harry Potter”). Sucked into a web of intrigue, Dominika needs to use all her skills and charms to complete her mission… which equates to keeping herself and her mother alive.
Now on the tarmac, Joel really wans’t looking forward to his Ryanair flight.
This is an extremely uneven film. In places it is quite brilliant, particularly the twist in the ending which leaves you thinking (like “Life“) that the film is actually better than it was. In fact – subject to a couple of severe reservations discussed below – the script by Justin Haythe (“A Cure for Wellness“) and based on a book by Jason Matthews, is quite sharp. But – man – in its direction the film seriously takes its time. In my book, a film needs to have a pretty good reason to extend its stay past 2 hours, and this outstays its welcome by an extra 20 minutes. Many of the scenes are protracted – leisurely walks across streets etc. – for no particularly good reason.
Pwoaahh – look at those. (I’m referring of course to Joel Edgerton’s buns in those speedos).
And so to those major reservations: the sex and the violence.
I’m no prude when it comes to sex, but some of the scenes in the ‘whore school’ left me feeling like this was less about a “Times Up” initiative of empowering women and more about providing an array of sordid titillation on the screen that just help entrench mysoginistic views about women. (Did anyone else hear Kenneth Williams saying “Oooooh, matron” to Charlotte Rampling’s character?) There were men and women attending this training camp, but did we see – later in the film – any of the men subjecting themselves to sexual humiliation or subjugation in the field: no, we did not. I love a really good erotic film… but this just left me feeling dirty and used.
Who wants to go to the f***ing party? No one seems to have remembered to bring a bottle.
And then there’s the violence. I’m definitely not a fan of the sort of violent-porn of the “Saw” type of films, but heavens – if there was a reason to make this an 18 certificate it was the violence involved. Violent rape, a vicious revenge attack, extreme torture, skinning alive: was there nothing in here that the censors thought, “hang on a minute, perhaps I don’t want a 15 year old seeing this”. I have seldom seen and heard more flinching and whimpering from women in a cinema audience than during this film. If you are adversely affected by screen violence, this is really one best to avoid.
“The Cold War hasn’t ended – it has splintered into thousands of dangerous pieces” intones the matron. Similarly, this film has potential but splinters into many pieces, some good but far more sharp and dangerous. With similarities in tone and content to “Atomic Blonde“, there’s a good ‘post cold war’ spy film in here trying to get out. Unfortunately, it never quite gets both legs over the wall.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in Movies
Apr 30, 2018
Non-stop action (2 more)
Tugs at the heart strings
Moments of goosebumps
Scenes in Edinburgh Waverley station reminded me of my morning commute and therefore work :( (1 more)
Obvious impermanence
Just stops short of perfect
Contains spoilers, click to show
Contains spoilers, look away now.
You have been warned.
OK, here goes. On leaving the cinema I felt a mix of emotions. Excitement at the events I had witnessed, Anxiety for the wait for the next film, Thoughtful over the conclusion (Thanos, work complete, settling down for some time on the farm). But no sadness. Not a jot. I had just watched some of my favourite characters perish: the excellent new incarnation of Spider-man, the strong principled leader of Black Panther, all of GotG except the rabbit one, etc etc. One click of Thanos' fingers and they were gone. But ... I just didn't really care. I knew that the next film is going to involve another click of his (or more likely someone else's - my money is on Nebula) fingers and all his actions will be un-done and it turns out nobody died after all, because Disney.
The fact that it was all the new members of the team/universe that perished and all the original avengers survived (hawkeye TBC) was a total cop-out. I am so bored of Captain America and Iron Man (though I like Stark's comedy quips), and Hulk is fatally flawed as a hero due to being totally uncontrollable. Prior to Ragnarok I strongly disliked Thor, but now I do seem to dislike him less. Plus it is hard to see how any of those are strong enough to overpower Thanos and fix what he has done (if it comes down to a sombre, from-the-heart Cap speech that makes Thanos see the error of his ways then the cinema will see ROSS SMASH).
The whole movie is outstanding, don't get me wrong. The action, the pacing, the different new interactions, the story and backstory and the humour. Oh my, the humour. I think this is possibly the funniest MCU film yet - the writers really have nailed the one-liners this time. It could be that there is more tension and the humour cuts through it, that you notice it more, but so funny. The scenes with Spider-man (IRON SPIDER!!!), Iron Man and Star Lord and Drax were awesome.
Outstanding moments for me:
Thor's appearance in Wakanda (kicking names and taking asses) - proper goose-bumps
The first conflict in New York - Spidey, Iron Man and Dr Strange against Ebony Maw
The battle on Titan
Annoying moments for me:
Star-Lord ruining everything - twice! All he had to do was kill Gamora when she asked him to (before Thanos realised and made his gun shoot bubbles!). And then when they were so close to getting the gauntlet off Thanos (I was convinced they would get it off and Nebula would take it and be so much worse than Thanos). I guess this showed the human side and how emotional attachments are what define us blah blah but it was another moment where an illogical action from one person ruined the endeavours.
Still, the emotional rollercoaster was better than I expected and I am so looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and part 2.
You have been warned.
OK, here goes. On leaving the cinema I felt a mix of emotions. Excitement at the events I had witnessed, Anxiety for the wait for the next film, Thoughtful over the conclusion (Thanos, work complete, settling down for some time on the farm). But no sadness. Not a jot. I had just watched some of my favourite characters perish: the excellent new incarnation of Spider-man, the strong principled leader of Black Panther, all of GotG except the rabbit one, etc etc. One click of Thanos' fingers and they were gone. But ... I just didn't really care. I knew that the next film is going to involve another click of his (or more likely someone else's - my money is on Nebula) fingers and all his actions will be un-done and it turns out nobody died after all, because Disney.
The fact that it was all the new members of the team/universe that perished and all the original avengers survived (hawkeye TBC) was a total cop-out. I am so bored of Captain America and Iron Man (though I like Stark's comedy quips), and Hulk is fatally flawed as a hero due to being totally uncontrollable. Prior to Ragnarok I strongly disliked Thor, but now I do seem to dislike him less. Plus it is hard to see how any of those are strong enough to overpower Thanos and fix what he has done (if it comes down to a sombre, from-the-heart Cap speech that makes Thanos see the error of his ways then the cinema will see ROSS SMASH).
The whole movie is outstanding, don't get me wrong. The action, the pacing, the different new interactions, the story and backstory and the humour. Oh my, the humour. I think this is possibly the funniest MCU film yet - the writers really have nailed the one-liners this time. It could be that there is more tension and the humour cuts through it, that you notice it more, but so funny. The scenes with Spider-man (IRON SPIDER!!!), Iron Man and Star Lord and Drax were awesome.
Outstanding moments for me:
Thor's appearance in Wakanda (kicking names and taking asses) - proper goose-bumps
The first conflict in New York - Spidey, Iron Man and Dr Strange against Ebony Maw
The battle on Titan
Annoying moments for me:
Star-Lord ruining everything - twice! All he had to do was kill Gamora when she asked him to (before Thanos realised and made his gun shoot bubbles!). And then when they were so close to getting the gauntlet off Thanos (I was convinced they would get it off and Nebula would take it and be so much worse than Thanos). I guess this showed the human side and how emotional attachments are what define us blah blah but it was another moment where an illogical action from one person ruined the endeavours.
Still, the emotional rollercoaster was better than I expected and I am so looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and part 2.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Deadpool 2 (2018) in Movies
May 18, 2018 (Updated May 18, 2018)
Some razor sharp lines of dialogue (2 more)
Clever direction
Extremely funny from start to finish
The Merc With A Mouth Is Back
Contains spoilers, click to show
Deadpool 2 is the kind of sequel that knows exactly what it is. It doesn't pretend to be anything original and it's main focus is getting a laugh out of it's audience over anything else. It succeeds greatly at this with the film being hilarious throughout and it comes very close to being as funny as it's predecessor, it just doesn't quite get there. I think that the main reason for this is because it chooses to focus more on a story than the last one did and through that, the humour loses some of the momentum that it builds up.
Okay, spoilers from here on out. If you haven't seen it yet, why the hell not? Go to the cinema right now.
Although the first movies laughs have better momentum, an argument could be made for this movie's individual lines being funnier. My particular favourite was the jab Deadpool has at his creator Rob Liefeld for not being able to draw feet properly in his comics.
I loved how they chose to show off Domino's powers. Her power of 'luck,' could have came across really lame onscreen, but David Leitch's fantastic direction helped it to come across brilliantly. I also loved the cameos, from the room full of X-Men, to Brad Pitt as the Vanisher.
When they killed Vanessa at the start of the movie, I was disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing her character develop in this movie and I felt like just killing her off to give Deadpool motivation for his arc in the movie was pretty lazy. Then, they immediately rectified it with the hilarious Bond-esque opening title sequence. Then I thought that they were going to make Vanessa become Death, who is Deadpool's love interest in the comics because he has so many encounters with her, but at the end of the movie we see Deadpool going back in time to reverse her death from happening, which also sort of negates a lot of the emotional beats that the movie surprisingly managed to hit during it's finale.
The Juggernaught is the movie's surprise villain and while it is nice to see him in his comic accurate form, the CGI used is really cartoony and even hard to swallow in a surreal superhero movie like this one.
However, that's not why anybody watches a Deadpool movie. If I was looking for deep, meaningful character arcs and realistic CGI, there are a ton of other movies for that. Deadpool is there to make you laugh and there is no doubt that it succeeds at that.
There are some comedic moments that feel oddly dated, like the constant references to dubstep for example and I feel like they missed a trick not bringing up the fact that the director was swapped out during the film's production or the real life scandals involving TJ Miller, but every joke earns at least a chuckle, which justifies it's place in the film. It may not as quite as novel because we have seen it before, but there are plenty of scenes in here that will have you laughing out loud in the cinema and fans of the character will not be disappointed.
Okay, spoilers from here on out. If you haven't seen it yet, why the hell not? Go to the cinema right now.
Although the first movies laughs have better momentum, an argument could be made for this movie's individual lines being funnier. My particular favourite was the jab Deadpool has at his creator Rob Liefeld for not being able to draw feet properly in his comics.
I loved how they chose to show off Domino's powers. Her power of 'luck,' could have came across really lame onscreen, but David Leitch's fantastic direction helped it to come across brilliantly. I also loved the cameos, from the room full of X-Men, to Brad Pitt as the Vanisher.
When they killed Vanessa at the start of the movie, I was disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing her character develop in this movie and I felt like just killing her off to give Deadpool motivation for his arc in the movie was pretty lazy. Then, they immediately rectified it with the hilarious Bond-esque opening title sequence. Then I thought that they were going to make Vanessa become Death, who is Deadpool's love interest in the comics because he has so many encounters with her, but at the end of the movie we see Deadpool going back in time to reverse her death from happening, which also sort of negates a lot of the emotional beats that the movie surprisingly managed to hit during it's finale.
The Juggernaught is the movie's surprise villain and while it is nice to see him in his comic accurate form, the CGI used is really cartoony and even hard to swallow in a surreal superhero movie like this one.
However, that's not why anybody watches a Deadpool movie. If I was looking for deep, meaningful character arcs and realistic CGI, there are a ton of other movies for that. Deadpool is there to make you laugh and there is no doubt that it succeeds at that.
There are some comedic moments that feel oddly dated, like the constant references to dubstep for example and I feel like they missed a trick not bringing up the fact that the director was swapped out during the film's production or the real life scandals involving TJ Miller, but every joke earns at least a chuckle, which justifies it's place in the film. It may not as quite as novel because we have seen it before, but there are plenty of scenes in here that will have you laughing out loud in the cinema and fans of the character will not be disappointed.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Cold Pursuit (2019) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
What can I say about Cold Pursuit? It's bad. Unfortunately it's not in the "so bad it's good" category.
From its opening with an Oscar Wilde quote and music that sounds like a mix of the 80s and Sherlock Holmes I was intrigued. I knew I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but I had hoped for something entertaining at the very least.
One thing that I was quickly baffled by was the between scene captions, a terrible font pops up with the relevant information and then it blows away as if made by snow... but not every time. I did wonder if even the graphics people got bored of doing it.
SOP for me and new movie releases is that I make 2 A5 sides of notes, for Cold Pursuit I made 7... SEVEN... and the general consensus of most of them was "WTF", "ridiculous" and "why?!" In fact those were probably the most used words on all the pages.
The characters are all over the place. Viking's relationship with his son, the token gay relationship that felt like it had just been wedged in and White Bull's gang dubious frolicking... I just don't even know what to say about it.
I can't sit here and list all the bizarre things, neither of us have the time for that so let's skip to the things I enjoyed. There are just three things, much quicker than covering the other stuff!
Wingman's wife was a star for me, and that nail sharpening technique was inspired... totally stealing that.
One of the scenes has Coxman chasing his next target with his snowplow. He comes up on him quite menacingly and then the film did a great job of fooling me, I was expecting one thing and given another. That part of the scene came together quite well, it's just a shame about what followed.
Viking's son was surprisingly wise in almost all of his scenes, very laid back, just going with the flow. Out of all of it though I loved the scene about fantasy football when he's talking with Mustang. It was was a nice little addition.
That's it, I'm done with the things I liked.
The cinema was "full" when I saw it. There were 30-40 people, which for our cinema and this type of film on opening night in a small screen, wasn't bad at all. There were old and young, there were people who snored and people who laughed, I fell into neither of those last categories. Honestly I was in too much shock to do anything other than pick my jaw up off the floor.
Ultimately Cold Pursuit is another prime example of why you shouldn't put some of your best scenes in the trailers. The whole thing could probably have been sold on lesser scenes in the trailer and then the impact of the bigger ones would have potentially given it a few more stars.
What you should do
I can't in good conscience recommend this to anyone, Neeson has performed much better acts of revenge in many of his other films... just watch one of those... perhaps from behind a snow globe to make it seem like you're watching Cold Pursuit.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Please could I have Coxman's ability to get into places where he clearly doesn't meet the dress code.
From its opening with an Oscar Wilde quote and music that sounds like a mix of the 80s and Sherlock Holmes I was intrigued. I knew I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but I had hoped for something entertaining at the very least.
One thing that I was quickly baffled by was the between scene captions, a terrible font pops up with the relevant information and then it blows away as if made by snow... but not every time. I did wonder if even the graphics people got bored of doing it.
SOP for me and new movie releases is that I make 2 A5 sides of notes, for Cold Pursuit I made 7... SEVEN... and the general consensus of most of them was "WTF", "ridiculous" and "why?!" In fact those were probably the most used words on all the pages.
The characters are all over the place. Viking's relationship with his son, the token gay relationship that felt like it had just been wedged in and White Bull's gang dubious frolicking... I just don't even know what to say about it.
I can't sit here and list all the bizarre things, neither of us have the time for that so let's skip to the things I enjoyed. There are just three things, much quicker than covering the other stuff!
Wingman's wife was a star for me, and that nail sharpening technique was inspired... totally stealing that.
One of the scenes has Coxman chasing his next target with his snowplow. He comes up on him quite menacingly and then the film did a great job of fooling me, I was expecting one thing and given another. That part of the scene came together quite well, it's just a shame about what followed.
Viking's son was surprisingly wise in almost all of his scenes, very laid back, just going with the flow. Out of all of it though I loved the scene about fantasy football when he's talking with Mustang. It was was a nice little addition.
That's it, I'm done with the things I liked.
The cinema was "full" when I saw it. There were 30-40 people, which for our cinema and this type of film on opening night in a small screen, wasn't bad at all. There were old and young, there were people who snored and people who laughed, I fell into neither of those last categories. Honestly I was in too much shock to do anything other than pick my jaw up off the floor.
Ultimately Cold Pursuit is another prime example of why you shouldn't put some of your best scenes in the trailers. The whole thing could probably have been sold on lesser scenes in the trailer and then the impact of the bigger ones would have potentially given it a few more stars.
What you should do
I can't in good conscience recommend this to anyone, Neeson has performed much better acts of revenge in many of his other films... just watch one of those... perhaps from behind a snow globe to make it seem like you're watching Cold Pursuit.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Please could I have Coxman's ability to get into places where he clearly doesn't meet the dress code.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Parasite (2019) in Movies
Feb 9, 2020
It’s so metaphorical.
Everyone said “Go see Parasite”. Everyone said “The one rule about Parasite is that you don’t talk about Parasite”. So I went to see Parasite. So this is a review about Parasite without talking about Parasite.
Kim Ki-Woo (Woo-sik Choi) is a student living with his family in poverty in a sub-basement room, sponging off internet signals and scrounging a living, of sorts, by assembling pizza boxes. Opportunity presents itself when his best friend, the slightly older Min (Seo-joon Park), goes abroad to study. For Min is an English tutor to the up-market Park family’s school-age daughter Da-hye (Ji-so Jung). Not wanting his fellow ‘frat-boys’ to move in on future romance – he’s lined up Ki-Woo as his replacement.
Ki-woo knows he’s lucked in when he visits the swanky Park residence and manages to pull the wool over the eyes of Da-hye’s not too bright mother Yeon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo). But the influence of the family’s “lucky rock” doesn’t stop there. Ki-woo sees an opportunity to get jobs for his sister Kim (So-dam Park), his father Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) and his mother Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang). And gradually the poor Kim family start to encroach on the rich Park family’s lives.
You might think that’s the story. It’s not. Just when you think you know where the film is going – a gentle comic tale with farcical elements – the movie takes a sudden left turn into The Twilight Zone.
To say more, if you’ve not seen the film, would be cruelty beyond measure. It’s a truly astonishing script, by writer/director Bong Joon Ho, and my nomination for the Oscar for best original screenplay.
It’s the details that get to you. This will be a superb film to watch multiple times. There are fabulous details scattered throughout. You know how the more expensive the car the more “solid” the clunk is as you shut the door? Listen to the sound effect when the Park front door shuts! Look what happens to the “one of a kind” lucky rock!
As for one of my favourite films from last year – “The Farewell” – you very quickly get to accept and embrace the subtitles. YOU MUST NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF. This is a masterpiece of cinema, well-deserving of its multiple Oscar nominations and its Cannes Palme d’Or award. At 132 minutes, it’s not a short film, but seldom have two hours flown by faster. It’s totally gripping. At times hysterically funny; at times shocking. A class struggle movie of a calibre that Ken Loach would never have imagined!
Gripes? I had just one. An action near the end of the movie seems bizarrely out of character and was a “WTF” moment that I didn’t think the film needed. However, it did set up a wonderful story-telling finale that I will think about for many months.
It provoked that seldom found reaction in the cinema when the end-titles ran. A hubbub of chatter and appreciation.
It comes with a highly recommended from me.
For the full graphical review, check out https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/02/09/one-manns-movies-film-review-parasite-2020/.
Kim Ki-Woo (Woo-sik Choi) is a student living with his family in poverty in a sub-basement room, sponging off internet signals and scrounging a living, of sorts, by assembling pizza boxes. Opportunity presents itself when his best friend, the slightly older Min (Seo-joon Park), goes abroad to study. For Min is an English tutor to the up-market Park family’s school-age daughter Da-hye (Ji-so Jung). Not wanting his fellow ‘frat-boys’ to move in on future romance – he’s lined up Ki-Woo as his replacement.
Ki-woo knows he’s lucked in when he visits the swanky Park residence and manages to pull the wool over the eyes of Da-hye’s not too bright mother Yeon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo). But the influence of the family’s “lucky rock” doesn’t stop there. Ki-woo sees an opportunity to get jobs for his sister Kim (So-dam Park), his father Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) and his mother Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang). And gradually the poor Kim family start to encroach on the rich Park family’s lives.
You might think that’s the story. It’s not. Just when you think you know where the film is going – a gentle comic tale with farcical elements – the movie takes a sudden left turn into The Twilight Zone.
To say more, if you’ve not seen the film, would be cruelty beyond measure. It’s a truly astonishing script, by writer/director Bong Joon Ho, and my nomination for the Oscar for best original screenplay.
It’s the details that get to you. This will be a superb film to watch multiple times. There are fabulous details scattered throughout. You know how the more expensive the car the more “solid” the clunk is as you shut the door? Listen to the sound effect when the Park front door shuts! Look what happens to the “one of a kind” lucky rock!
As for one of my favourite films from last year – “The Farewell” – you very quickly get to accept and embrace the subtitles. YOU MUST NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF. This is a masterpiece of cinema, well-deserving of its multiple Oscar nominations and its Cannes Palme d’Or award. At 132 minutes, it’s not a short film, but seldom have two hours flown by faster. It’s totally gripping. At times hysterically funny; at times shocking. A class struggle movie of a calibre that Ken Loach would never have imagined!
Gripes? I had just one. An action near the end of the movie seems bizarrely out of character and was a “WTF” moment that I didn’t think the film needed. However, it did set up a wonderful story-telling finale that I will think about for many months.
It provoked that seldom found reaction in the cinema when the end-titles ran. A hubbub of chatter and appreciation.
It comes with a highly recommended from me.
For the full graphical review, check out https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/02/09/one-manns-movies-film-review-parasite-2020/.
