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Stranger Things - Season 1
8.8
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In the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in 1983, a young boy named Will Byers goes missing. As his...
Science fiction child actors television supernatural monsters
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Enola Holmes (2020) in Movies
Oct 4, 2020
Millie Bobby Brown - a confident raw talent (1 more)
Henry Cavill as a new take on Sherlock
The unsinkable Millie Bobby Brown
Sherlock Holmes never had a sister. But if he did, what adventures would Enola Holmes get up to? That’s the premise behind this Netflix feature. starring rising star Millie Bobby Brown.
Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) thinks she’s been named as such because it spells “alone” backwards. (But then, she admits, that it doesn’t seem to follow for either kcolrehs or tforcym!)
Enola has been brought up by her dearest mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) to be a strong and confident woman, free of the normal 19th century rituals of ladylike husband-seeking niceties: for her, it’s all mental gymnastics and martial arts. But when on her 16th birthday her mother vanishes, Enola sets out on a quest to find her. But Eudoria is a Holmes, and knows the value of clues and how to cover her tracks.
Of greater concern to Enola is her brother and ward Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who is intent on packing her off to the Victorian finishing school of Miss Harrison (“Killing Eve’s” Fiona Shaw). But while trying to escape from her brothers – not a trivial matter when one is the famous detective Sherlock (Henry Cavill) – Enola encounters a Marquess on the run (Louis Partridge) and adventure, intrigue and murder are on the cards.
Filming in this “Fleabag” style – where the lead is constantly breaking the fourth wall – requires a confidence in delivery that many young actors would struggle with. But not Millie Bobby Brown. Her asides and camera glances – while not quite as skillful as the astonishingly accomplished Phoebe Waller-Bridge – are nonetheless impressive and constantly entertaining. An underwater wink at the camera was particularly enjoyable.
So… actress – tick!
But perhaps more impressive to me was that the 16 year old – most famous for her role in “Stranger Things”, which I still haven’t watched – was also a PRODUCER of this movie. Which makes me think she is a serious person to watch in the movie business (if there ever is a movie business left after 2020). I read that she is the youngest person ever to appear on the annual list of the “world’s 100 most influential people” by Time magazine: so others agree!
The supporting case are a broad array of British acting talent, with Henry Cavill being particularly appealing as Sherlock, Burn Gorman at his slimy evil best as a murderous henchman, and Sam Claflin being as anonymous as I always find him. (That’s a compliment by the way: whereas I see some actors and think “oh, there’s <<Tom Hanks>> again”, I never recognize Claflin until the credits role… he is a chameleon of the acting world).
But acting the socks off everyone else for me is Frances de la Tour as the Marquess’s grandmother. A deliciously twinkling and charming performance from an old dame of the screen.
The similarities with “Fleabag” are not coincidental, since the director is Harry Bradbeer; director of all of the episodes except the original pilot. But it’s unfortunate in some ways that the style has been interpolated into the Holmes story. Since, of course, this approach was previously done by Guy Ritchie in the two very entertaining movies featuring Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law. And for me, that’s a shame. Since although the styles are markedly different – here we have a lot of Paddington-style cardboard animations – the “feel” of the films is the same. As such, it doesn’t feel as novel as it should do. Why couldn’t she have been someone else’s sister? Houdini perhaps? Or Oscar Wilde?
As two hours of entertaining escapism, Enola Holmes worked well for me. Brown is eminently watchable, and given the Netflix response to the movie, a sequel would be – I expect – on the cards.
(For the full graphical review, please visit the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/10/04/the-unsinkable-millie-bobby-brown/. Thanks.)
Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) thinks she’s been named as such because it spells “alone” backwards. (But then, she admits, that it doesn’t seem to follow for either kcolrehs or tforcym!)
Enola has been brought up by her dearest mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) to be a strong and confident woman, free of the normal 19th century rituals of ladylike husband-seeking niceties: for her, it’s all mental gymnastics and martial arts. But when on her 16th birthday her mother vanishes, Enola sets out on a quest to find her. But Eudoria is a Holmes, and knows the value of clues and how to cover her tracks.
Of greater concern to Enola is her brother and ward Mycroft (Sam Claflin), who is intent on packing her off to the Victorian finishing school of Miss Harrison (“Killing Eve’s” Fiona Shaw). But while trying to escape from her brothers – not a trivial matter when one is the famous detective Sherlock (Henry Cavill) – Enola encounters a Marquess on the run (Louis Partridge) and adventure, intrigue and murder are on the cards.
Filming in this “Fleabag” style – where the lead is constantly breaking the fourth wall – requires a confidence in delivery that many young actors would struggle with. But not Millie Bobby Brown. Her asides and camera glances – while not quite as skillful as the astonishingly accomplished Phoebe Waller-Bridge – are nonetheless impressive and constantly entertaining. An underwater wink at the camera was particularly enjoyable.
So… actress – tick!
But perhaps more impressive to me was that the 16 year old – most famous for her role in “Stranger Things”, which I still haven’t watched – was also a PRODUCER of this movie. Which makes me think she is a serious person to watch in the movie business (if there ever is a movie business left after 2020). I read that she is the youngest person ever to appear on the annual list of the “world’s 100 most influential people” by Time magazine: so others agree!
The supporting case are a broad array of British acting talent, with Henry Cavill being particularly appealing as Sherlock, Burn Gorman at his slimy evil best as a murderous henchman, and Sam Claflin being as anonymous as I always find him. (That’s a compliment by the way: whereas I see some actors and think “oh, there’s <<Tom Hanks>> again”, I never recognize Claflin until the credits role… he is a chameleon of the acting world).
But acting the socks off everyone else for me is Frances de la Tour as the Marquess’s grandmother. A deliciously twinkling and charming performance from an old dame of the screen.
The similarities with “Fleabag” are not coincidental, since the director is Harry Bradbeer; director of all of the episodes except the original pilot. But it’s unfortunate in some ways that the style has been interpolated into the Holmes story. Since, of course, this approach was previously done by Guy Ritchie in the two very entertaining movies featuring Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law. And for me, that’s a shame. Since although the styles are markedly different – here we have a lot of Paddington-style cardboard animations – the “feel” of the films is the same. As such, it doesn’t feel as novel as it should do. Why couldn’t she have been someone else’s sister? Houdini perhaps? Or Oscar Wilde?
As two hours of entertaining escapism, Enola Holmes worked well for me. Brown is eminently watchable, and given the Netflix response to the movie, a sequel would be – I expect – on the cards.
(For the full graphical review, please visit the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2020/10/04/the-unsinkable-millie-bobby-brown/. Thanks.)
Stranger Things
8.8
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TV Show Watch
This thrilling Netflix-original drama stars award-winning actress Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, who...
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
6.6
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Movie Watch
In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity's fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a...
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Movies
Apr 18, 2020
The sequel to 2014's disappointingly action light reboot is thankfully an improvement and contains an abundance of giant monsters smashing the shit out of world landmarks and each other. The plot is of course complete gubbins but they have a pretty decent cast who do the best they can to take the material seriously. As a big 'Stranger Things' fan I find it pretty hard to dislike Millie Bobby Brown even if her character here is nowhere near as interesting. The main selling point of the film is of course the monsters and I thought the special effects were very impressive. My advice is to just switch your brain off and enjoy the sheer stupid spectacle of it all and you'll get some fun out of it.
Dork_knight74 (881 KP) rated Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Movies
Aug 29, 2019
Fun!
Took me a while to finally watch this one. There have been more than a couple "not-so-good" godzilla movies made that made me wary. This one, however, turned out pretty good. The acting was good(Millie Bobby Brown impresses again), the cinematography/ effects were great. I appreciate that they went with the "older" look to the monsters(they were awesome). The action scenes were intense and the story(whilst taking a lot-and I mean a LOT-of liberties with science and nature) was very entertaining. A few cheesy jokes, a corny scene here and there, a couple jump scares and the remake of the Godzilla song thrown in make this a fun watch for everyone. This is what a movie should be-entertaining and fun(even with the socio-political undertones). REALLY worth a watch!
Stranger Things - Season 3
8.7
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TV Season Watch
In the summer of 1985 in Hawkins, the new Starcourt Mall has become the focal point of the town,...
Nickg24 (492 KP) rated Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Movies
Aug 15, 2019
The King Deserved Better
Was looking to forward to this next chapter in the Godzilla movies but alas bar one or two good things about it the majority of this film was poor.
My main criticism is for the human characters all fell flat.You couldn't really care about them,it seemed their only purpose in the film was to go on about their scientific theories or make crass jokes (can't pronounce one of the monsters names so let's call it gonorrhea instead) and is it just me or was millie bobby brown just plain annoying.They could have made Charles Dance bad guy a little more bladder,he just seemed to polite for my liking.
The CGI was good in parts with the final showdown between godzilla and ghidorah being the best of the titans fighting each other.
I really hope they improve things for the next installment in the series when godzilla faces kong.
My main criticism is for the human characters all fell flat.You couldn't really care about them,it seemed their only purpose in the film was to go on about their scientific theories or make crass jokes (can't pronounce one of the monsters names so let's call it gonorrhea instead) and is it just me or was millie bobby brown just plain annoying.They could have made Charles Dance bad guy a little more bladder,he just seemed to polite for my liking.
The CGI was good in parts with the final showdown between godzilla and ghidorah being the best of the titans fighting each other.
I really hope they improve things for the next installment in the series when godzilla faces kong.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Enola Holmes (2020) in Movies
Sep 28, 2020
Not very mysterious
It could arguably be said that we don't need yet another incarnation of Sherlock Holmes and his family. And in the case of Enola Holmes, I'd have to agree.
Millie Bobby Brown is wonderfully endearing and enigmatic as Enola, and even Henry Cavill as Sherlock wasn't half bad (I actually wish there could have been more of him in this). The problem is the story and whole premise of this film. It's trying to say something about female empowerment but then contradicts itself constantly by Enola spending her entire time trying to outwit her brother and chasing around after a boy. It's also a little lacking in actually mystery - the story it puts forwards is rather dull and not particularly mysterious. This film seems to be aimed at a younger audience, and for adults is just an average kids film. Indeed this is probably a film best suited for young/teenage girls and not one I'd recommend if you're not a teenager!
Millie Bobby Brown is wonderfully endearing and enigmatic as Enola, and even Henry Cavill as Sherlock wasn't half bad (I actually wish there could have been more of him in this). The problem is the story and whole premise of this film. It's trying to say something about female empowerment but then contradicts itself constantly by Enola spending her entire time trying to outwit her brother and chasing around after a boy. It's also a little lacking in actually mystery - the story it puts forwards is rather dull and not particularly mysterious. This film seems to be aimed at a younger audience, and for adults is just an average kids film. Indeed this is probably a film best suited for young/teenage girls and not one I'd recommend if you're not a teenager!
Chloe (778 KP) rated Enola Holmes (2020) in Movies
Nov 7, 2020 (Updated Nov 7, 2020)
Millie Bobby Brown (1 more)
Henry Cavill
Lacking mystery (5 more)
Lacking plot
Too much done badly
Disappointing
Boring
4th Wall
Disappointing
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is the first time that I have felt disappointed about a Holmes universe remake. Usually they are done well out of respect for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The plot could have been so much better, it seemed to get lost within itself.
There were some good ideas and potentials for much better plot e.g. the suffragettes rising and the bombing plot but this was only touched on. The only reason we kept watching was to see if the mother was going to be involved with a bombing plot. The feminist aspect was then reversed when she went chasing after a boy, although with a political meaning this was still heavily focused on their relationship.
All the clues were spoon fed to you and had no real significance. There was no audience immersion like other Holmes movies. I don't know if that was what the 4th wall stuff was supposed to do, this did not work for me and soon became boring as it added very little.
This could have been half an hour shorter and achieved the same story.
Considering this seemed to be aimed at teens, some of the fight scenes were brutal especially where Enola is nearly drowned!
The only redeeming features are the cast list. Bobby Brown was endearing and is an excellent young actress. With more Henry Cavill in it this may have improved the whole story.
There were some good ideas and potentials for much better plot e.g. the suffragettes rising and the bombing plot but this was only touched on. The only reason we kept watching was to see if the mother was going to be involved with a bombing plot. The feminist aspect was then reversed when she went chasing after a boy, although with a political meaning this was still heavily focused on their relationship.
All the clues were spoon fed to you and had no real significance. There was no audience immersion like other Holmes movies. I don't know if that was what the 4th wall stuff was supposed to do, this did not work for me and soon became boring as it added very little.
This could have been half an hour shorter and achieved the same story.
Considering this seemed to be aimed at teens, some of the fight scenes were brutal especially where Enola is nearly drowned!
The only redeeming features are the cast list. Bobby Brown was endearing and is an excellent young actress. With more Henry Cavill in it this may have improved the whole story.