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David McK (3372 KP) rated The Imitation Game (2014) in Movies

Feb 26, 2022  
The Imitation Game (2014)
The Imitation Game (2014)
2014 | Biography, Drama, War
7
8.1 (44 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Drama based on the life and times of Alan Turing, the so-called father of modern computing, who worked in Bletchley Park during World War 2 to break the hitherto-believed-unbreakable enigma machine that the German high command were using to send radio messages to their fleets.

This flits back and forth between three timelines: the 1950s (just before Turing committed society, after being found guilty of Homosexual behaviour, which was outlawed at the time), the late 30s/early 40s (his work at Bletchley) and the 1920s (his childhood at a public boarding school, where he was bullied).

Cumberbatch manages to bring a different aura to his portrayal of Turing than he did previously to Sherlock - even though both are geniuses who struggle with a low EQ (Emotional Quotient) - while Kiera Knightley does her period piece acting as his fellow (perhaps even smarter) codebreaker Joan, who has to also put up with the misogynistic attitudes of the time.

And yes, the Imitation Game of the title is a real philosophical conundrum (which is described during the movie itself).
  
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Lee (2222 KP) rated Luce (2019) in Movies

Oct 30, 2019  
Luce (2019)
Luce (2019)
2019 | Drama
6
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr) is the perfect student. Captain of the high school track team, a passionate member of the school debating society, a great writer and a polite, grown-up young man that just seems too good to be true. Luce was adopted at the age of 9 from war-torn Eritrea by white couple Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth, sporting a pretty dodgy American accent). Following years of therapy and the devoted efforts of Amy and Peter, he seems to have successfully put his horrific and traumatic childhood behind him, embracing his future in America.

But then one day, Luce's history teacher, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer) becomes disturbed by a recent assignment that Luce has submitted. The purpose of the assignment was to write an essay in the style and thinking of a historical figure of their choosing - an idea which Luce seems to have embraced a little too passionately with his choice of Frantz Fanon, a black philosopher who was highly supportive of violent revolution. At the same time, a search of Luce's locker reveals some highly explosive fireworks, and Harriet is worried to the point where she calls Amy into the school in order to discuss her concerns.

The assignment, and the fireworks discovery, leads to a series of conflicts among all of the main characters. Luce remains polite and calm throughout, claiming that he was merely doing what was asked of him for the assignment. He states that his locker is shared with friends, so the fireworks must belong to one of them. Tensions are also high between Luce’s parents, seemingly regarding some lingering resentment they have about the fact that Luce is not their biological child. Meanwhile, Harriet is involved in a series of cool, calm stand offs with Luce, each of them believing that there is more to the other than meets the eye.

There are a lot of times during Luce where motivations and actions of characters aren’t very clear. A number of tense moments occur along the way too, in order to try and ramp up the tension, including the introduction of Harriet’s mentally ill sister, horrible racist graffiti on Harriet’s house and accusations of sexual assault. You never know who to trust or what to think, and it all feels as though it’s building towards something big.

Unfortunately though, that’s not the case, and it all just kind of fizzles out towards the end. It’s clear that the filmmakers are more interested in delivering undertones of privilege and prejudice throughout, promoting more questions than they provide answers, and that’s not for me. Overall a pretty solid movie, let down in its delivery towards the end.
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Groupers (2019) in Movies

Sep 16, 2019  
Groupers (2019)
Groupers (2019)
2019 |
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Meg is the mastermind behind the plan, she wants to use the experiment for her studies and to get revenge on the bullies from her brother’s school experience, she does remain in control of the situation for the most part, until we learn she isn’t alone in her plan. Brad is the typical high school jock, he thinks he is gods gift to women and will pick on anybody different, including pushing homosexuals to limits they shouldn’t, he isn’t willing to accept them in his world and does struggle to deal with the situation. Dylan is the other bully, he is the type of bully that just follows the leader and when put in the situation the pair find themselves in, seems to start showing his true nature, one that Brad doesn’t like. Orin is the brother that was the victim of the hate crime, what happened to him pushes Meg into her actions. We do also have a couple of groups of colourful characters that put a spanner in the works of the plan.

Performances – We have an excellent cast here, with Nicole Dambro taking centre stage on the more serious side of the film, while Cameron Duckett getting the most laughs from the main cast. Peter Mayer-Klepchick does a great job too and for the final act we do have everyone hitting the high points in the performance.

Story – The story here follows a woman that wants to experiment on a couple of school bullies that treated her brother homophobically and wants to prove that you can’t choose whether to be homosexual or not. This does start by coming off like a twisted revenge styled movie, with the story coming off like that, it is the second half of the film where we get to put over the message that was wanted to put forward, even if it is done with the comical tone at times. The story does have the prospective rewind idea, which does give each scene a new light, which is good to see. This is a story that does go in a different direction that you would expect and will surprise you at times.

Comedy – The comedy does come in strong in the second half of the film, where everything adds up and gives us laugh in every line.

Settings – The film is set entirely in one location, the pool in the abandoned neighbourhood, it does give the events a real-time feel too.


Scene of the Movie – Durant settles everything.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain moments do get repeated too much.

Final Thoughts – This is a funny comedy that still manages to get the important message across too. It has great performance from the whole cast too.

Overall: Comedy that will make you laugh a lot.