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Doctor Strange (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
2016 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The humour (on the rare occasion there is any) (1 more)
The visual effects
The baffling fight scenes (0 more)
Visually, this film is stunning. It takes what Inception did and takes it into a whole new dimension (literally). With fights going on around constantly moving scenery, standing on the walls of buildings, or while the world around the fighters goes backwards it really was a visual treat.
However, the rest of the film seems like something of an afterthought. The story follows super-surgeon Steven Strange (not that one) trying everything possible to heal his badly damaged hands after a car crash that he caused himself by being an arrogant twat. This desire to fix his hands takes him to Tibet where he is taught lots of waving arms and making orange sparks appear in the air. All of this is rushed through and he just suddenly manages it. Once he manages to use the mystical power the first time he suddenly becomes a master at it ("we need a montage") and becomes his old arrogant, know-it-all self. And then he starts battling Mads Mikkelson, gets a magic cloak and stops the end of the world.
I'll be honest - very little of this film makes sense, and that's in the context of the Marvel Universe. What he's doing with his power, how he's doing it and what he is ultimately capable of is barely explained and you just have to accept it.
I hope Doctor Strange is a critical component of the Infinity Wars storyline, otherwise this was just a very pretty waste of time (a bit like Kelly Brook).
  
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
1954 | Crime, Mystery
A mid-tier episode of "Law & Order" from the 50s that's as mildly rousing as it is boring in a nearly 1:1 ratio. Yes the writing is impressively airtight, and always leaves you looking for some sort of holes to no avail - one of those films where you play a fun little guessing game in your head every time a character says or does something. Could they have slipped up? Do the other characters know that? But here's my main problem with this: it's so DRY holy shit. Yes the story is rigorously optimized for this sort of deal, but that's all there is to chew on here - nothing else. The characters in this movie exist only to explain and inform each other about the story as it happens - outside of the first couple scenes there are no little moments of interpersonal interaction between characters that involves anything else besides telling people what just happened, no moments of humor outside of a bad gay joke and a couple telegraphed duds, no personality building beyond how they react in relation to - again - the singular crime narrative. That's virtually every single scene, so it quickly feels like you're just watching the same thing over and over again. This goes straight past staunchly formal and almost into rudimentary, but Grace Kelly and Ray Milland are wonderful enough to carry this very talky one-trick pony along with the sheer attention to detail of the plot. Still definitely fair but way too straightforward, I can't act like dozens of better ones have been done even if this did potentially pave the way for a lot of them.
  
Puzzle (2018)
Puzzle (2018)
2018 | Drama
Goldilocks... It's the only way I can think to describe this film. It's not too short or too long, it's just right. It's a simple tale and yet thought provoking. Everything about it is just right.

A movie review isn't really the right place to go into those thought provoking moments, but everything is done so well that you really do identify with Agnes and what is happening in her life.

The one thing I didn't like about this film was the ending... it's not even really that I didn't like it, it's just not where I wanted the film to go. It was still a perfect conclusion to the film.

Both Kelly Macdonald and Irrfan Khan are excellent in Puzzle. Seeing them develop throughout the film was a pleasure to watch.

I very much enjoyed this film, even though I'm fully aware that my limited comments don't exactly suggest that, but this one stayed with me for quite a while after I left the cinema and I'm not really sure how to properly express that in words.

What should you do?

This one is a double edged sword. It is great and I really feel like you should see it. But at the same time, if you're prone to thinking about your own personal situation and possibly not in the best frame of mind then it might not be for you at this time. Maybe wait until it's streaming and then you can just walk away if you need to.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

The shop full of jigsaw puzzles.