Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Conclave (2024)
Deftly made Vatican based thriller - accept the tablet...
A film centred around the machinations of the Vatican may not sound like something of much interest to many, but taking in this is based on a book by the exceptional author Robert Harris, then you know that you are in for a thrilling story, and personally I was very much impressed, but admittedly upfront I'm a long-term fan of the author's writing having reach of bunch of his work over the years (but not this book of the film).
The story centres around the conclave in action that has gathered in the Vatican to choose the new head of the Roman Catholic church (the Pope) after his passing. As this is a Robert Harris story, nothing is all that it seems with conspiracies and double dealings but also selfish agendas and oddities. The story in particular centres around our protagonist, Dean Lawrence played by Ralph Fiennes, a religious man harbouring doubts who is in charge of leading the Conclave only to find the machinations is grinding him down and irreligious in nature. There are some cliches such as the homophobic African cardinal and the racist Italian cardinal battling it out with the American liberal wing, but then who is this young mysterious Mexican cardinal who has appeared from out of nowhere, and what has he to do with anything.
In a similar fashion to Robert Harris' other writing, our protagonist becomes a detective and finds that not all is as it seems, and finds the duplicity of man at the heart of this political religious establishment. There is actually a lot of bias in the writing, but I'm not taking sides and just telling it like it is here.
This is actually a very gripping story & film to my surprise. Raph Fiennes is exceptional and incredibly empathetic as the priest in his unpraiseworthy role trying to ensure the right person is picked without tearing the church apart. If anything, the Oscar nomination for Ralph Fiennes for his role should make up for it in part. The rest of the cast is perfectly cast as we see the battling without any fisticuffs, and the duplicity of certain characters all played out in words. Thankfully there's no skydiving priests like in Dan Brown's abominable Vatican based movie.
The film is well paced, beautifully filmed and keeps you on tenterhooks. It was let down by a few things, but as it may spoil the show, I'll leave it that there, but it doesn't ruin all in the film for me. I would argue that easily they could have cut certain parts out without spoiling the film (and could have made it even better) but will leave it that.
It's a great original adaption that thankfully is a change from the dross that is often forced upon us repeatedly in cinema now. Give it a try, you won't repent the decision to watch it.
Cocaine Bear (2023)
Even PETA should be able to laugh along with this one...
This film is as it says on the tin. So really there is no need to go into too much detail. What we have is a drug drop gone wrong in some US National park, with a bear ending up become coke addicted and going on the rampage! It's bizarrely loosely based on an actual true story, albeit given an inch they've taken a mile.
Anyhow, despite reality shortcomings, this is a crazy but watchable horror comedy splatterfest that never takes itself seriously with plenty of humour, and no one should take anything serious. It's maybe closer to Snakes on a Plane than anything else, but we still will have an audience in thrawl to the looniness as we switch off our reality monitors.
One of the key parts of this film is really the "Isn't that the guy from?" for lots of actors in this, and sadly for some of them it looks like quite a steep drop here. Most notably, this is possibly the last film we'll ever see of the incredible Ray Liotta who has sadly now passed away, RIP. His career really tanked in his final years despite all his talent, but he deserves to be remembered for better than this. As for the rest, like the guy from The Wire ('sheee-it'), Solo, Game of Thrones etc well I hope it was a good pay cheque for each of them. Although I'm sure they had a lot of fun doing this.
The film making is a touch above the usual Tommy Wiseau-esque B movie (think of this more like Tremors than Sharknado). Just hope they don't do any sequels which will likely spoil everything.
You know what you're going to get when you step into the cinema for this. Just enjoy this B Movie homage. It's ridiculous but still fun to watch.
Yacha (2022)
Korean black ops movie - passes the time.
This film is a throwback to the straight to video world action world, where we have here a Korean black ops team trying to stop some malign Japanese government operators. The main roles are played by one unashambedly Charles Bronson-esque actor whilst the other is simply "That guy from Squid Games"! If anything, the latter is probably its only real selling point.
The action is simple and quite good on its obviously modest budget. The problem is that the story is a bit daft, and hard to accept, but leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride.
Clear from the ending they were hoping for some follow up sequel movie, but I think they better just leave it there. Passes the time and nothing more.
The Penguin: A Great or Little Thing (2024)
Season 1 review: This Penguin mostly struts and not waddles...
Everyone seems to have become enthralled by season one of The Penguin, and I can't deny that for a comic book adaption it is of a high standard in some areas, most notably the acting.
The near Oedipal like relationship between our antihero and his mother was quite intriguing as much as it was disturbing, but was an interesting tangeant that really played into the character. Our villains were more believable than your usual comic book characters and I give credit to that.
However, personally I didn't feel highly invested. Whether it is due to comic book movie fatigue or the like, I just couldn't find the motivation to want to know the characters.
It's a decent and gripping show at times, with more in honour to The Sopranos than to the Marvel/DC world. Just sadly for me, I've lost too much interest in comic book adaptations. Maybe once season 2 comes out I'll be more of a convert, just not yet.
Ballerina (2023)
Some mis-steps but reasonably balanced Revenge flick
A very dark revenge fantasy of a young lady (a 'balerina') out to get revenge for the murder of her friend. It leads her into some very murky areas but it turns out she is more than a match for the self-styled alpha male gangsters. Her grief is paid out in bullets & blood.
We have here a stylish film, but the main crux is our lead who gives a strong performance as a lady who is more than she appears. As comfortable with guns as he is in ballet shoes, and gives a whooping to all those who deserve it.
The action is good, the acting is fine as is the dialogue. The only thing is that it doesn't really bring much new to the genre, although you will still be intrigued by it all, and really it's not a long film and well timed. There's humour too. It's a fine Saturday night viewing.
Ojing-eo geim: Chinguwa Jeok (2024)
Season 2 review: Just about gets a Green Light from me
I loved season one of Squid game like what seemed like the rest of the world. Darkly humorous, frightening and thought provoking it was a pleasant change from the norm on the box. However, it could have been a self-contained one-off series but there was no chance of that taking in the financial spin0offs possible. So after the he derisory reality Challenge series, we have season 2 which I had some trepidation before watching it.
So how did season 2 pan out? It was decent thankfully but not as engrossing, albeit still an enjoyable watch.
The big surprises from season 1 were never likely to be matched again as it had all been done, but we have the first couple of episodes firstly dedicated to how our lead protagonists team up and then their attempts to get back onto the island. The rest of the episodes are running through the mostly new challenges with a new set of contestants, whilst we are uncomfortably watching on.
What we have is the shocks attempted to be ramped up to eleven, the violence definitely is, but often at the cost of character development. We don't really get to delve into the characters back stories as much this time which was a huge part of the first season. If anything this becomes a rush through the myriad of childish challenges, but really I found it difficult to empathise with most of the characters due to little time spent on their development. I preferred the cross-section of contestants from season one but there are still very interesting characters. Some of the characters this season really left me uninterested in them (e.g. The unconvincing bad boy rapper Thanos), but there were a few I did like but we get to see so little of them.
The show is as wonderful to view with its direction, settings and colours but I guess as it's no longer new to us we are less engrossed as there's little new to show in this world.
The story was decent but I'm not convinced yet they went down the right direction once back on the island. Some of the inevitable twists were too obvious if not telegraphed. There's still humour and humanity in the show but beware this is still very much NOT for kids.
It was a fine decent return to the nightmare island which probably was good as any of us should have hoped for. I'm still up for the next & hopefully final season when the episodes come out.
Andor: Rix Road (2022)
Season 1 review: not yet reached light speed for me...
Andor seems to have a strong following but I confess that I'm not yet one of them after having completed season 1. Upfront I'm a Star Wars fan like many others (but not obsessively), enjoyed Episodes 1-6 and the spin off Rogue One. I also have watched all the Clone Wars & Rebels cartoons etc but really not enjoyed what I've seen of the various TV series so far.
As for the good aspects of this show, the ensemble is decent for a Star Wars show bereft of Jedi and the Force, with some genuine talent. The acting and storylines are good, focusing on politics, underground resistance and imperial enforcement. That's a different take for this universe and interesting, especially willing to show the shades of grey in these times of graft. It's kind of adapting the hardship of resistance life in Occupied France under the Axis forces during World War, and applying those scenarios to Star Wars.
Yet for all that, I just wasn't gripped by the show but most often confused by what was actually going on. I respect the lead actor who reprised his role from Rogue One, but I struggled to get that invested in most of the rest of the cast despite finding some characters curiously interesting. I just didn't find the intrigue that stimulating whilst the Imperial forces lacked much real depth to want to boo them (that's despite the unarguable evil some executed in the show). Maybe this show is best respected as it's just better than the rest of the subpar Star Wars fare so far from Disney+! Admittedly I've not watched a bunch of the more recent shows across Star Wars so maybe I'm just out of touch.
Maybe another point is that I've just run into Star Wars fatigue. After the very disappointing Obi Wan TV series, I've just lost any faith at present in that universe (although I seem to still come back to it). I want to enjoy Star Wars again like I used to, and maybe my interest for it will rekindle with future seasons. Right now, I think Star Wars needs to reduce content, reassess everything and stop flogging a tired old horse.
Cobra Kai: Eunjangdo (2024)
Cobra Kai: Season 6 Part 2 Review - Bonzai!!! Superb set of episodes...
I just have to state my astonishment. I genuinely thought this show was beginning to overstretch itself and potentially jump the shark, and even thought season five was a fitting end to the run. This Season 6 Part 2 has though blown me away, and I concede that I was wrong.
This show has succeeded on truly dumbfounding all cynicism, with some incredible writing and drama despite the relatively limited budgets and the mostly young inexperienced cast. After what was a decent Part 1 set of episodes, Part 2 has threaded different stories together so well that once the revelations come forth you will laud it.
Daniel and Johnny are bickering as ever whilst the teenage growing pains are still there, but they truly are a loveable bunch. What elevates this show is the heartfelt storylines and development of the characters. There are some clichéd antagonists this season but they don't overshadow the storylines.
Admittedly, there are strands that stretch credibility, but I would just park that. Leeway has to be given in light of the budgetary limitations. The Global Karate tournament is not convincing but the action choreography is still superb and far more enjoyable to watch than even compared to a number of mega budget films (seriously).
I'm being careful to not spill any beans by not going into the storylines for this season here as I don't want to ruin any plotlines (and there's a fair few to keep up with). I would just very much heartily recommend you to sit and watch what has now become to me an all time classic TV series. I can't think of many other shows that have maintained as high a benchmark consistently through as long a run as this one, and once again I emphasise that in light of its more limited scale & budget.
There's lots of humour, surprises and emotional turns along the way in this block of episodes which I rank alongside the best in the show's run to date. I look forward in a bittersweet way to the final set of episodes to arrive next year, although I'm sure there will be some spinoff or future series that will follow our young leads.
Gladiator II (2024)
Gladiator 2 - I was mildly entertained...
If I was to tell you that some of the key action scenes of Gladiator 2 involved man eating sharks and alien-like baboons, you'd think I was making it all up! That's only me starting, and you can already guess how my review of this film is about to go.
We have an unnecessary sequel to the original much loved sand & swords epic, and this one tries to crank it all up. I won't bother giving a synopsis as really it just copies the first film's general story and then flogs it to death with fan service. Worst was the often afternoon TV soap series like storyline coincidences that made many in my cinema burst out laughing. Yes, that contrived and ham fisted!
Our lead man is no Russell Crowe, whilst our pair of ruling Emperors were poor carbon copies of Ian Hurt's Calligula from I Claudius. Definitely missed Oliver Reid and Joaquin Phoenix in this one, albeit Pedro Pascal as a morally conflicted Roman commander was good as usual. The biggest surprise for me was Denzel Washington who seemed to act his part like a New York 1980s gangster! No exaggeration, and he didn't even attempt to suppress his American accent which baffled me, so the character felt out of place.
Safe to say I wasn't convinced but I can't deny that I did find that it was still an enjoyable cinema romp. Not every film has to be an Oscar baiter. It was still watchable & entertaining with its grandeur and spectacle.
Don't get me wrong, the film may all be a load of nonsense but there's still exciting elements too. Just switch off your reality checks, and sit back to watch it, otherwise you'll be left very disappointed.
The Perfect Couple (2024)
Bonfire on the beach....
You know this is one of those stellar casts that the streaming services dream up that will help to target the older and wealthier viewers. That's what we get, in what can be a very delicious bonfire of the vanities of a set of self-absorbed rich Americans living in their bubble, only to see their perfect idyll shattered when a dead body appears. So some schadenfreude.
We can all revel in seeing this lot of luvvies self-destruct, and we see what we already know that behind the façade is a pack of lies and dirty secrets. We already know all this, yet we all still come back to watch it.
Anyhow, the acting is very good, the settings beautiful and so on. Yet, it didn't really grab me. Not sure, if this was dramedy, thriller, mystery or just mish-mash not knowing what it wanted to be.
You can get absorbed into it in a six part-series, but in truth I think this could have been a better more concise show of fewer episodes which could have made it more taut. I often got bored, it's not truly aimed at me, and I wasn't convinced by everyone in this show.
Nicole Kidman is the lead matriarch in this story, and I'll mostly leave it out, but you can't avoid it and say what has she done to herself? She mostly does fax in her role in this series.
It's not for me, nor do I think it ever was. Some will still enjoy it.
Terminator Zero (2024)
Season 1 Review: Terminator reboot in manga styles, decent....
If you were despaired by the news of another Terminator show, then let me tell you that you can relax, this is a fine showing, which is saying something after the lucklustre run over the years after T2 (albeit I did like Terminator Salvation).
By coincidence this week I have watched/finished both reboots to the old Arnie Sci-fi classics that were Terminator Zero Anime series and this Predator:Prey movie, and personally I was happy & mildly surprised by both.
We have a manga/animated series, and Season 1 is an interesting but not necessarily revolutionary redoing of the Terminator story. Based in Tokyo, we have the same story of a Terminator and human sent back to the past to change history. We have our lead protagaonist, Malcolm Lee, who is under threat from the Terminator, whilst his family find out the truth of who he truly is as they come under threat too.
Now, this first season clearly owes a big debt to the seminal Ghost in the Shell, and unashamedly follows similar styles, in particular the existential monologues by certain characters. This adds some gravitas to the story and really keeps your interest.
In truth, the whole backbone to the Terminator narrative has now been flogged to death, and no reboot is going to resolve that. However, the ideas remain, and this series adds a new welcome development to the films.
I recommend it to all. It's got the basic concepts as well as new ones to make it of interest.
Prey (2022)
If it bleeds... we can watch it!
By coincidence this week I have finally watched/finished both reboots to the old Arnie Sci-fi classics that were Terminator Zero Anime series and this Predator:Prey movie, and personally I was happy & mildly surprised by both.
Concentrating on Prey, we have a left-field take as we are taken back to North America as it was at the turn of the history from when it was the home of the American Indian communities before the colonialists took over in time. We follow a young American Indian lady out to prove herself as a hunter, only to find that she is trying to discover a challenge greater than any of her patronising males realise is facing them. Using her intelligence and grace as against brawn, she proves herself to survive against the odds but watches the alien Predator rip apart the strongest of beasts and every male adversary he faces. This film clearly does owe some due to Apocalypto, albeit our actors all speak in English rather than old local dialects.
The budget for this is clearly a fraction of the past movies but what it lacks in special effects budgets it makes up with concentrating on character and setting, and overall it really does work. This isn't some cliched Mary Sue storyline (a term I admit to hate to use), but that's true. This narrative is closer to that of Sarah Connor or Ripley, and we are all the better for it. The lead actress, Amber Midthunder, is brilliant as we follow her journey of self-discovery to protect herself and her tribe, using her acumen first.
In truth, the overall story is not exactly hard to predict, but that is possibly why at the end you're left still surprised by how enjoyable the film & story is. You learn to empathise and identify with our lead, who is really a polar opposite to the other leads in the Predator movies. It's good to see this film finally return to its basic roots after the poor run over the years (most notably Predator v Aliens and Predators). Don't get me wrong I liked The Predator & even Predator 2 but they should have stuck to the themes of the first and build that up.
Anyhow, a very enjoyable popcorn film, and fine return to form.
Gary (2024)
What is this documentary talking about?
There's something very uncomfortable about this documentary on the turbulent life of the precocious talent that was Gary Coleman. For a generation he was loved wherever his flagship show "Different Strokes" was shown, and broke down various barriers without even needing to try but just be himself.
The reality was that behind the curtains, it was all another story and this documentary is meant to be trying to reveal the reality. However, as Gary Coleman has passed away, we are left to rely on a series of contributors whom we are wholly left mostly unconvinced by their sincerity or honesty in their recalling of the young man.
It makes the entire documentary difficult watch, as we know that he was a maturing male stuck in the body of young boy.
Like many others, I was charmed by Gary Coleman in his heyday and loved his exuberance & humour. Sad to see how life transpired for him and certain of his peers.
This documentary probably on what they had on hand, should have been buried. If it's meant to reveal the truth, I'm not sure any judge would be able to give a final judgement on what was presented.
Give this a miss I think, and really maybe now let's leave Gary Coleman to rest in peace.
Cobra Kai: Best of the Best (2024)
Season 6 Part 1 of 3: Cobra Kai - into the last lap... Still loving it...
Cobra Kai is now starting it's last lap after a marathon run but has annoyingly been split it up into three parts. I was surprised by this final run as I genuinely thought the last season was it all wrapped up, but the producers clearly feel they can squeeze more out of it. So how was this part one of three of this extended final season? Unlike many other self styled online media commentators, I very much loved it and very much looking forward to the forthcoming installments.
This is clearly a show that is tying up all the loose ends, with friendships, relationships, work and post-school thoughts at the forefront. Then there is the hidden menace of Kreese! There's still much to ponder as well as a new mystery, and yes some characters go back to being at each others throats despite old hatchets being buried.
The show retains its humour with the long suffering Amanda Larusso as bewildered as ever on being stuck in this 'Twilight Zone'. This has been a slow burn of a season, and is the better for it. Johnny Lawrence is to be a dad but remains immature whilst Danny Larusso is still not as balanced as he thinks he is. Yet we all still love the emotional ride.
The stunning thing is that this show has retained it's quality in writing and humour. There aren't many series in the past generation or two which have maintained as high a standard as this. Give or take some ropey moments, the show managed to just get back on track and keep us hooked.
Supacell (2024)
South London superheroes on the estates, a fine series...
Supacell is a welcome surprise, which busts apart a few very cliched genres. For a start this is a South London ('Sarf Landin') young bois gangsta meets the superheroes film. This might sound ridiculous, but somehow the writers & directors have incredibly pieced this so well together to make it watchable & compulsive.
We have a diversive set of young black adults with their own personal personal problems, finding themselves to have some unique superpowers which is as much a curse as a blessing as they struggle to know how to handle their strengths with without tearing themselves apart. To complicate things, there's some pseudo-establishment group out to get them to take advantage of their powers for their own gain.
Okay, so there's some things already well trodden here but the ensemble actors did such a fine job to make you empathise with them, and you are really interested in them as much as their powers. If anything, the superpowers are really just a sideshow. It's a surprising take.
The settings are quite well known to me personally, so I kind of laughed when I saw them, but the director does well to blend all in, and very maturely done too. It all fits in so well for something done on a relative frugal budget.
The only problems are that there are issues which are a bit too cliched around the black London community that made me groan, and even find a bit contrived, but I'll leave that for the viewer to agree or not. It won't ruin things in my opinion.
Overall, a very fine series and I recommend this to all, and if anything, I'm looking forward to the next season already.
House of the Dragon: The Queen Who Ever Was (2024)
House of the Dragons seems to be drifting away....
House of the Dragon (HOTD) season 2 has been one that has left me very ambivalent about the whole show. After what was a very fine restart for Game of Thrones with season 1 of HOTD, this season has had so many ups and downs, and I'll avoid any clear spoilers.
We have very fine acting in general, but I feel that the jumping around characters gave often little room for proper detail. Matt Smith's character in particular seemed to be trapped somewhere with little challenge, and really was a wasted chance. Alyse Rivers was an excellent character and intriguing but we got to see little development.
I don't want to be over negative but really there were too many moments where I just cringed, the final episode was dreadfully written, and I groaned quite a number of times. Sharako Lohar in particular was possibly the worst & most ridiculous character I have yet seen in the entire Game of Thrones world. I just am not confident for the next season.
There's some modern world nonsense slapped into the show too, which I won't go into as I'll avoid spoilers but it's so sign-posted, and one-sided, I gave up. Whatever happened to the Tyrion Lannister type witticisms, the games of the whisperers, the mediaeval gamesmanship and the fantasy warfare? If anything this show seemed to be like a corporate meeting that was about organising corporate meetings (that's a real thing), as in this was the starting block of the beginning of a war to come which I'm losing interest to follow.
I thought the season 2 started fine, but really have lost a lot of interest. I'll likely keep up with season 3, but really this has lost its way. Can't even empathise with the characters. Each to their own, but I hope the writers can turn this all around.
Blow Out (1981)
Travolta's film noir... Dated but still very intriguing...
Blow Out was one of those now long forgotten films from the 1980s that still has some cult following, especially following some very good words on it from fans like Quentin Tarantino.
We have John Travolta in one of his last great films until he hit the trough in the 1980s (and then resurged back in the 1990s with Pulp Fiction). He plays a sound engineer/recordist who finds himself in some suspenseful murder mystery case. It's late 1980s contemporary film noir, so no one is as they seem, no one should be trusted, and clearly nothing will work out as it should.
Personally, I found it very intriguing. The story is so strange, it actually keeps you hooked with curiosity. Travolta is very believable as the innocent man out to find the truth, but Nancy Allen is wonderful too in her support role. They keep the film very interesting.
The problem is though that the film does now look very dated, and you can see the low budget aspects (which actually can help give it character) but also the loopholes in the storyline. It's not worth questioning every motive, just go with the flow, and the very ending really will catch you out brilliantly.
It's suspenseful and interesting, but very dated. Still a decent watch. If anything, it does kind of make you think after such a decent performance why did Hollywood decide to discard Travolta like they did for so many years later. He was a great screen presence. As for Nancy Allen, well she continued well and became a heroine for her role to come in Robocop.
Civil War (2024)
Civil War - Don't wave the white flag for this one...
Civil War is a movie that very much surprised me. Upfront, I am NOT going to go through the politics and will be fully neutral, even though this film (despite what the director/writer has said) is clearly very topical currently.
We have a film that takes it that the White House is overrun by some fascist president into his third term, and some Californian/Texas alliance has started a Civil War to oust him. What we as viewers actually follow is a small crew of photo journalists out to capture the violence and havoc of the war.
This film was actually very good, but sadly way too underrated by some, maybe in fear of political backlash. The film is clearly influenced by some war classics such as Apocalypse Now as well as the second half of Full Metal Jacket. The film clearly takes no prisoners, and it's a very tough watch and unforgiving. That's why certain people who want safe viewing won't handle it. The lady beside me watching it in the cinema was gasping so often in this film, but that's what war is like.
The actors are excellent, especially Kirsten Dunst as the lead protagonist, but Jesse Plemons stole the film with his incredibly frightening cameo role as a militia men. That scene was tense.
As a story, it's about the impact of what's going on, the tension and reality of conflict. The direction & setting are often beautiful, capturing the duality of civil war which is frightening in your own back yard. That's what it's trying to say.
I really recommend this. It's an intelligent and thought provoking movie, which is another great addition to cinema this year, a year so far that I've been very highly impressed with.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Anya Taylor-Joy is perfect in this high-octane Mad Max prequel.... Brilliant!
I'll be straight up from the start, I genuinely had some reservations going into this movie when I read that Anya Taylor-Joy was the lead for this film, because as much as I respect her acting ability and talent, I just couldn't see how she would fit this role. She was excellent, and so I'm eating plenty of humble pie here. It has to be just put out there from the start.
Anya Taylor-Joy is the crux of the film as the lead protagonist Furiosa, whose back-story we are discovering after being introduced in the last movie. The film is just incredible. The run-time just flies by and you just love it all. The storyline, the humour, the dialogue and the action just flows perfectly along throughout the entire run-time, and you will be engrossed.
It's filmed almost perfectly, and everything fits in spectacularly This is a film made for cinema too, and the sound with the big screen action just goes together so well.
I can't speak highly enough of this. A wonderful and surprise addition to the Max Max story.
Really give it a try. Highly recommended.
Baby Reindeer (2024)
Tough viewing about stalking, abuse and fear...
Has there been a more compelling story that revolves around such a dark take on stalking? Not that I can think of, and before anyone tells you otherwise, I'm going to take this as mostly a fictional story (where the line is drawn on reality & fiction is impossible for us to say, and I don't want to get into that here). The truth is that we only have part of the story from one angle here.
Anyhow, Richard Gadd has written this brilliantly. A disturbing story that centres around a man stalked by a disturbed woman, and our expectations are subverted as we see his backstory to see that he has his problems too, with abuse creating a vicious circle. An incredible aspect to the writing is that the characters are not villains or evil. We'll never know the full true story here, we just have to sit back and understand, which is very important.
We have here humour (dark), violence, sex, insights and confusion. We also have some difficult situations. Richard Gadd is simply a hard up, and struggling comedian, sacrificing much to realise a dream of making it in the media world (one of millions who dream of it). This brings up frightening experiences which he tries to bury for many reasons which he discusses.
It's a difficult watch, but I can't think of much that I've seen that has been as frighteningly compelling and engrossing as this. It brings to light the crimes in our world we shouldn't ignore.
Really highly recommended.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Edgar Allan Poe plays detective....
On the surface of it, this film had so much going for it. A host of fine actors very well known to the UK public at least and to the Harry Potter fandom, as well as a well received novel. Overall though I was a little underwhlemed by the film.
The story revolves around the early 19th Century with murder mystery set in around baracks with the a young Edgar Allan Poe as a cadet roped in to help. It's a faction film (more fiction), and we see some gothic tales and shenanigans inevitably as this is Edgar Allan Poe we are talking about. The real lead of the film is played by Christian Bale who takes on Edgar Allan Poe to find the killers.
Sounds intriguing, and it actually is but I was expecting so much more. I don't deny that the settings & direction were wonderful, whilst the acting is very convincing, but I just found it difficult to invest in the storyline. If anything, I kind of got lost in it all and was very little convinced by it.
It's a decent enough film, but with its cast & likely generous budget, I feel it could have been so much more than it was.
The Good Fight Club (2023)
This series packs a good strong punch...
I found this heartwarming and fascinating series to stream, and I'm so happy that I did. This series follows a blue-collar group of trainees led by an affable coach building up their core fighting skills for MMA tournaments. It's a reality fly on the wall documentary series thankfully without any histrionics, as we see the young set of fighters show us their mettle and growing confidence and friendship found within this environment.
One of the key stories is the surprising and fascinating story of Thomas, a deaf fighter who is working his way up to make it as a professional. Being in the ring is tough enough without that condition, but to him it's just an inconvenience, and it's wonderful to watch the ups & downs he goes through with his mentor.
It's a fascinating and engrossing trip, and I admit that despite NOT being into MMA whatsover but admit this series has really made me reassess that view and respect it all a lot more.
I'd really recommend this series. After all the cod-reality documentaries that seem to pollute the streaming services (especially on Netflix) it's great to watch this down to earth series, which I feel deserves more praise and attention.
Dune (1984)
Bury it deep down in the sand dunes...
After having watched the second film in this updated Dune triology that has taken cinema by storm, I decided to watch the original Dune by David Lynch from 1984 in a retro showing at a local cinema. It was packed out, so clearly there was quite an interest to watch this for a similar curiosity as mine.
What we have is one dreadfully bad movie. Even for the time it likely looked dated and out of touch, especially as it came 15 years after 2001, 8 years after Star Wars and a couple of years after Blade Runner. If anything, this film has more in common with TV show standards for special effects like the old BBC Doctor Who series. In some ways, the film owes a debt to Flash Gordon which is curious as that film was a box office flop, and its 'succcess' owes more to video & TV re-runs for kids. Whatever the case, Dune (1984) is simply a dud and it's hard to believe that the brilliant David Lynch was behind it.
The only positive note I have to state on this film is that the exposition is far better and easier to follow than the modern trilogy in progress. I finally got to understand the point of much that was going on and why.
Back to the negative notes, the dialogue is cringey, there are jumps in the story that makes no sense, it's rushed at points especially in the last third, and the villains are so unconvincing they are laughable. Got to add that the villains look like they were stepped out of Monty Python movie.
Then there is Sting the singer. What was he thinking, and his cameo is embarrassing to watch. Very camp, very strange and an unconvincing bad-ass!
Despite saying all that, the truth is that it's so bad yet still watchable! You can still sit & watch it, in a kind of Tommy Wiseau style. I'd say it's worth a viewing for curiosity.
Untold: Johnny Football (2023)
A story of a frat boy who just never grew up...
I'm coming from the outside on this one, having very little (if not practicaly no) knowledge of the general culture and stories around American Football, especially not the college ball scene. To all of us outside of the US, the strength of the college football scene is incredible.
As for this guy, Johnny 'Football' Manziel, it's not exactly a new story in sport. Across every major sport, there's 1000 of these stories, and we can all highlight some major similarities from Europe, for example Freddy Adu, Islam Feruz, Delle Alli and so on. Great talents who never reached the great heights once forecast for them. We all even know a guy from our school days who we grew up who could fit in this category too.
This is an interesting documentary, although I acknowledge having read up further after watching this documentary, that there is a lot of different ways to tell the story and that also much is missing. However, it doesn't paint the guy out to be any angel, and there's no real Road to Damscus moments either. He is just at heart a record breaking college frat boy who just couldn't grow out of that trance.
The documentary gives enough talking heads to give some opinion and colour, and despite any negative comments, he does manage to reach the NFL when so many others don't even come close. We see though his lack of maturity and responsibility, so no one is surprised on how it all pans out.
I found it very interesting. Happy to see that the documentary doesn't try to pin the blame on others, and all the player himself to take the flak at the end. A fine documentary in what has been a fine series on Netflix.
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
This TV talkshow host cum horror deserves its ratings...
Wow! Having heard a review of this, I was intrigued to watch this film, and I can say that it was a great watch.
We have a film that centres around a talkshow host who is constantly playing catch up to reach the top of the food chain in the 1970s TV talkshow world, and has long past his peak. Now we find him resorting desperately to performing some horror excorcism and seance on his show to boost ratings, and as you can guess already, things get out of control.
First of all, this is a retro horror film and it works perfectly well, and has a wonderful feel like an old Video nasty. However, it's not by any means the most scary film out there, and actually uses a lot of dark humour to mellow the atmosphere, which allows this film to be more accessible to a larger audience. The film feels like a theatre play on screen, and works perfectly for it here with a very claustrophobic atmosphere. You're in but you can't get out.
The film is clearly derivative and pays homage to others like obviously 'The Exorcist' but also found footage movies too, but it's the acting that is the real crux, and I can't think of a single bad performance in this film.
David Dastmalchian plays our TV talkshow host without needing to pander to being smarmy or evil, but really like an welcoming uncle. The benefit then of that is that he sucks you in. The real star turns out to be the possessed young girl (Lilly) who is incredibly performed by Ingrid Torelli, who creates one of the most genuinely disturbing and frightening character portrayals I've seen in years. The young lady broke the mould after what has been decades now of cliched portrayals of young women in horror.
As we follow the happenings, the tension is ratcheted up, but humour provides some respite, and it is quite funny at times without in any way undermining the horror. The twists and turns ensure we are wholly engrossed, and I myself was hooked.
I'd really recommend you catch this when you can in the cinema, this host very much deserves an audience. Just please don't ruin this fine film with unnecessary sequels.