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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Casting JonBenet (2017) in Movies

Aug 27, 2017

Casting JonBenet (2017)

2017 | Crime, Documentary

6.0

(12 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Beautifully shot but no way as good as other true crime documentaries

Netflix is an absolute master when it comes to true crime documentaries. However, unlike Making a Murderer and The Keepers, this is a standalone film and it does not explore the crime in detail. As a result it falls short in comparison to the others.

The film is about the notorious 1996 case of a six year old beauty pageant participant, JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead in her own house even though her family said she had been kidnapped.

One of the most important things about this documentary in particular is the fact that it is completely in the perspective of random people who have no connection really with the crime itself. Instead by creating a fake film about this true crime, they reveal the actors' own perceptions and prejudices against the case and against the people involved.

It is also vital to notice while the other documentaries were created to raise awareness and educate the public about levels of corruption in society and institutions - this seemingly does nothing but instead actually is a bit of a mockery towards the young victim of this crime. The actors throw out wild theories instead, and so you know little about what actually happened.

On the upside it is shot absolutely beautifully, so it looks like an art film. A bit disappointing really.

Kudos

Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Game of Death (1978) in Movies

Jun 23, 2019 (Updated Jun 23, 2019)

Game of Death (1978)

1978 | Action, Crime, International

6.8

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating

'Game of Death' was the film Bruce Lee was working on when he died. He had stopped working on this to work on 'Enter the Dragon' and never had the opportunity to complete ‘Game of Death.’ The good news is that Lee shot a good 100 minutes worth of footage (only around 30 mins survived, the other 70 mins are lost) for 'Game of Death' (they only used around 12 minutes of this footage in the actual film). The bad news is Robert Clouse came around and tried to make an entire film leading up to the Bruce Lee footage that was shot including Bruce Lee look-a-likes and a cardboard cutout. The entire film is pretty awful since the story is lame and the acting is over dramatic.

The archived footage of Bruce Lee just seems forced and thrown in to try and make a buck while the actual footage of Lee's funeral feels tasteless and inconsiderate. Clouse would unfortunately give birth to something that would spawn many films including Bruce Lee clones starring the likes of Bruce Li; a lukewarm sensation known as Bruceploitation. The actual Bruce Lee footage is some of his best, but is only shown in its entirety in the documentary "A Warrior's Journey" included in the two-disc special edition DVD of ‘Enter the Dragon.’ So the film itself honestly isn’t worth your time unless you really just want to see Sammo Hung’s brief appearance.