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Phil Maxwell (25 KP) rated Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) in Movies

Apr 5, 2020

Margot Robbie (0 more)

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Fantabulously Disappointing

Having seen trailers for this film quite a while ago I had high hopes for Birds Of Prey. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies that cram packs all the decent and semi decent action sequences into 3-4 minute trailers to try and entice people into watching. So sad.
While Suicide Squad had left me feeling rather lukewarm, there were enough good points in it so that I hadn't left the cinema feeling like I'd completely wasted my money. Birds Of Prey on the other hand... My God!
It seemed more akin to a comic book version of Thelma And Louise (with a couple more tag alongs thrown in to try and simulate the girl power vibe) than anything vaguely resembling how Harley had been portrayed in Suicide Squad- or in the graphic novels for that matter.
It truly is a shame as I think Margot Robbie is quite good an actress, but I think when she'd been handed this script by her agent she should have just chucked it in the bin without a second thought.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Doppelganger (1969) in Movies

Apr 12, 2020

Doppelganger (1969)

1969 | Sci-Fi

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet creator Gerry Anderson turned down Stanley Kubrick's offer of the chance to do the model effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but jumped at the chance to do his own space adventure film a couple of years later. The good news is that all the model-making and visual-effects skill of the operation that Anderson had put together by the late 1960s is on display in this movie. The bad news is that Anderson and his wife wrote much of the script themselves, resulting in a plodding movie which focuses on all the wrong details instead of telling a compelling story.

The problem is that the basic idea - space mission discovers a replica counter-Earth - isn't properly developed, and the characters take nearly an hour to get there, let alone work out where they've ended up. The generally dour tone and rambling metaphysics would become more prominent in future Anderson shows (much of the supporting cast of this film turn up playing regular roles in UFO), but this first effort with live actors is lumpy and frustrating to watch.

Kudos

AT (1676 KP) rated When We Were Vikings in Books

Apr 13, 2020

I enjoyed When we were Vikings, but I had to take breaks from reading it, so it wasn't the fastest read for me on a personal level. I'm a parent of a special needs child, and personally, after dealing with my son all day, sometimes I could only read a couple of pages before needing a break. Like I said, that's just a personal thing. I did enjoy the story, and once I hit the major part of the story about halfway in, I didn't have to take as many breaks. Then there were more things going on in the story, rather than only focusing on Zelda's way of seeing things. I did not like the character of Marxy's mother at all, though. For me, I was almost ready to stop reading at one point because of her. Thankfully, she's wasn't a main character, that takes up a lot of time in the book. To me, what she was doing felt borderline abusive, if not fully abusive, considering the situation. I could've done without her part in the book, though I know it lays groundwork for other things down the road.

Kudos

Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Men in Black International (2019) in Movies

Apr 27, 2020

Meh In Black

A fourth instalment of the MIB series isn’t a film anyone was really crying out for but never the less here it is. Unfortunately its watchable but ultimately quite underwhelming. All though they aren’t a patch on Smith and Jones I thought Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson weren’t actually bad casting and they do successfully replicate the chemistry they had in ‘Thor – Ragnarok’ and certainly try their best but are sadly let down by some pretty weak writing. The plot is messy and convoluted and the humour feeling pretty forced where the original was sharp and snappily written , it’s certainly a job to have any real emotional investment in what is going on . The effects let it down a bit as well with the alien creatures looking as obviously CGI as they did in the over 20 year old original. It’s not terrible though , you can certainly get some enjoyment out of it if you are in the mood for something fast moving and undemanding but you might struggle to remember what it was all about a couple of hours later. Hopefully the franchise ends here.

Kudos

Barry Newman (204 KP) rated The Intruder (2019) in Movies

Apr 29, 2020

The Intruder (2019)

2019 | Thriller

6.6

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

This fairly generic killer thriller is one of those films where people keep doing stupid things that makes you yell at the screen. The wife is frustratingly trusting/thick and is of course sceptical of what the husband is saying , whereas the husband never thinks of contacting the police and keeps leaving the wife alone where he goes off to work despite knowing there is a potential killer lurking about. The clichés are well worn here and the lead couple are so bland and uninspiring I can’t even be bothered to look up their names, the film also has a soundtrack of loud jarring hip hop music which doesn’t fit and distracts from the mood and largely just got on my nerves.

Why I haven’t marked the film lower is solely for Dennis Quaid’s performance. He actually makes a surprisingly decent psycho and puts in a menacing and unsettling performance. He is clearly having allot of fun in the role as well. If you can overlook the flaws I have mentioned previously the film is worth a watch for his performance alone and I would certainly watch him again in similar roles, just hopefully slightly stronger material.