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malcolm-mcewen
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Frauds (1993)
a real gem of a movie and an excellent performance by Phil Collins
This is weird but wonderful movie that you are going to either love or hate. Phil Collins plays the role of Roland Copping, a creepy twisted insurance assessor with an evil sense of humour, really well. In fact the acting by all is good and would highly recommend you get the popcorn in and enjoy the fun of a movie that threatens to be scarier than it is.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
pseudo-intellectual crap
If this was a tom hanks MASH-UP.. It would be up there as an epic piece of art.... but it's not.
It's not a mash up. It's not the cinema equivalent to a collage. It's just a very glossy but very empty movie.
Had this been a mash up, that's a movie made from other movies, I would have given it a ten. Not for the plot (there isn't one), the acting (Tom Hanks?) or the make up and CGI (which is excellent) but for the illusion of a plot. Something this movie has in shovel loads.
However that's a quality of a Mash up; one that is achieved from excellent editing of a set of unconnected scenes created by different directors from different movies.
And that is exactly what you have here: A set of unconnected scenes drawn together by the main actor (Hanks) and a piece of music called the Cloud Atlas sextet. So No direction needed. And that's the impression you get from this: an absence of direction that results in pseudo-intellectual crap.
but full credit to the boys in the back room who have managed to pull something out of the fire
After the Dark (2013)
philosophy goes right over the heads of Hollywood
This movie was a struggle to watch. It was so full of plot holes it resembled a fishing net. As movies go this one demonstrates how philosophy goes right over the heads of Hollywood.
If one is going to make a movie about a bunch of people living in a bunker for a year then make a movie about living in a bunker for a year and call it big brother. Don't pass it off as a philosophical argument as to who should or should not be in the bunker.
This was supposed to be a philosophical journey about who should or should not survive in a bunker. However that question was never addressed. A philosophical expose would first ask does the species itself, the group as a whole, deserve to survive? Then it would it address which members had priority. However that determination of worth is then based on the previous paradigms values and not the skill sets that would actually be needed in a post apocalyptic world.
So the philosophers pick on the poet and the musician first. Clearly these philosophers see little value in the arts. But the wine auctioneer? Philosophers getting rid of an expert in alcohol? That is like expecting the Pope to chuck out all the Catholics!
So there is no analysis. No logical determination even at the most basic level: i.e. procreation. For the group to then dispose of six women in an exercise that is about human survival is ridiculous? In such a situation polygamy rules. One would aver that it's the silver lining in the exercise?
The first sensible move was the locking out of the teacher. He was the wild card so was by definition secretive. He was also callous and manipulative. A point demonstrated by his with holding of the exit code. Personally if I was about to spend 12 months locked in a room with a man like that I'd shoot myself or do as the students did: lock him out.
It then transpires that the teacher had the exit code and having locked him out they have locked themselves in. The argument is thus made that they should have let the psychopathic teacher in. it begs the question why he didn't reveal this golden ticket early on. There was clearly no advantage in being evasive so the only conclusion is he was a sociopath and thus it was his intent to get locked out.... yawn
In the second 'identical' scenario, for whilst there are some cosmetic changes it simply repeats with one notable difference: The teacher is in rather than out. The group learned in the previous scenario, the one in which they all died; that they need the psychopath for the exit code. Unfortunately entrusting a psychopath with the exit code proves to be fatal. For he uses it early and they all die. A case of Heads I win Tails you lose: bigger yawn..
Roll on the third scenario. Now whilst you wouldn't think it possible the plot manages to continue to deteriorate. Reality and thought exercise become so entangled that both are reduced to the clarity of mud. The gun events, in the context of a thought exercise make no sense at.
In the final scenario the ten who are chosen carry the qualities that make us human: the poets, writers and musicians. It begins to threaten credibility but then the 12 months are up and they leave: to discover the war didn't affect there location this time.... even bigger yawn.
Hey but guess what, a year after the war like some late mail delivery a bomb arrives only it needs manual activation and what do the surviving group do? yup they deliberately detonate it.
The film ends by posing the question and the belief that "philosophy is to life what masturbation is to sex? Well this kind of philosophy even falls short of that target.
Elysium (2013)
yes it's flawed... but
...isn't every Sci-Fi movie flawed? Elysium has its plot holes and certainly some of the contradictions, i.e weaponry undermines the 'credibility' (given that credibility is inherently absent in sci-fi: hence the term science fiction aka not possible). Early on our hero uses three large calibre bullets which explode next to a droid and reduce it to 'dust'. Two minutes later a car he is traveling in is hit with two armor piercing missiles which just turn the car over? Now I know that bigger doesn't always mean better but when it's bullets or missiles that exception never applies.
If we can forgive this and other over sights and, as is necessary in all space sci-fi/sci-fantasy movies, we suspend Newtons laws on gravity, invent the total regeneration medical scanner and human cyborgs...we have a damned fine movie... Good actors, Good CGI and an EXCELLENT metaphor for our times..
A handful of obscenely rich (lets say 1500 or the Forbes rich list) control everything from an ivory tower. In this case it's Elysium, a space station; and the handful of obscenely rich people who live in Elysium have at their disposal the means to make the Earth a better place:
In the movie it's a whole fleet of medical ships which represent the 1.3 trillion $ the Forbes rich keep from the poor....
All they have to do to make the World a better place is share the wealth (resources) of Elysium. But sadly it's just too difficult for the rich in the ivory tower to come down and join Humanity.
It then takes a cyborg terrorist to go up and force them to do so.... not too far from the current paradigm.
So whilst it is sci-fi as regards the elysium space station, space flight and robots its a damned good metaphor for the current state of life on this planet: so worthy of a nine!
Earthbound (2012)
A great Yarn...
As one or two other reviewers note this is a very Anglo-Irish movie. So whilst there are parallels with K-Pax, Earthbound has three things K-pax doesn't have.. Comedy, Romance and Ray Guns! Joe, like so many today, is delusional.. he escapes the pointless boring reality of modern life by living in a fantasy; one in which he believes himself to be the hero son of the planet Zalaxon. Sent here to Earth whilst a battle between Good and Evil is raging on his home world. The delusion having been planted some 15 years earlier into Joe's 11 year old head by his dying father. Joe has then hung onto the fantasy and in doing so isolated himself from the World.
When Maria comes into his life Joe realises a 'contingency' plan: he must 'mate' with a human. However when he then decides to share with Maria the truth about his identity she turns to a former boyfriend, the psychiatrist Richard Webb for Help.
The delusion is then attacked and shattered forcing Joe to confront the truth (as perceived by others) and to accept that perhaps his father lied to him. The ray guns and memory wipes don't work and the hologram of his father that has been guiding him stops appearing..
Joe falls onto the only thing left that is real in his life: his job but when his promotion turns out to be nothing more than two jobs for the wage of one he resigns (inferred).
Then events begin to take over... the ray guns begin to work, the hologram it seems was jammed and Maria, who is now pregnant is Kidnapped by Bounty hunters who intend to use Joe's unborn child as a sacrifice.
With the help of Maria's sister and a tracking device (sat nav) Joe locates the bounty hunters space ship and begins a rescue... one he is able to complete on entering the atmosphere of Zaxalon where the lower gravity gives him super human strength.
After defeating Webb, Joe rescues Maria and the pair drop down to the planet in the escape pod.... to live happily ever after...
If only my delusion was as good as Joe's reality.... then my life would be an 8 out of 10 rather than Earthbound which is a great Comedy, Romance Sci-Fi that doesn't need OTT James Cameron style special effects to make it enjoyable...
Leaves of Grass (2009)
solid balanced and entertaining movie.
Whilst there is nothing deep and meaningful here the plot and characters are plausible. The pace is about right as is the mix between humour and action. Thus Leaves of Grass is excellent entertainment (which is what movies are for) and a movie which I felt came close to nearly having it all(plot, comedy, acting and direction) in just the right doses: with one notable exception... the ending. Whilst often the hardest part to write in any story the ending here was neither necessary nor plausible. A prof of Classic's just wouldn't end up trying to hawk his dead brothers grow operation in order to tie up all the loose ends. So whilst it brings the film to a close, it's a bad close that lets down what up to then was pretty plausible. If it were up to me I would just cut the whole crossbow bit out and let the audience go home five minutes earlier and with a far better impression of the movie as a whole.
Soldier (1998)
nice action sci fi ! clearly the critics don't know their arse from their elbow
like the summary says nice action sci-fi.
Whilst the setting is a bit lame: waste disposal planet, the plot is fine as is the the acting. I didn't see anyone mention Rambo in the other reviews but a lot of parallels here.
This is not not complicated or trying to communicate some deep meaningful message (yawn) and if anything is a bit of a spoof on Stallone aka Rambo.
This is just a good old action style movie suitable for family viewing, so no sex, drugs, bad language or excessive violence.. it's a Sunday afternoon film a dad can enjoy with his son.
So if you like a bit of Russell doing a Stallone on some scrap heap of a planet this is worth getting the popcorn in for...
I did and I enjoyed it
Mary and Max. (2009)
this is a beautiful movie
I don't think I've ever given a ten before but this movie really deserves it. The choice of animation works extremely well and facilitates the telling of a touching story in a humorous but warm style. Offering a unique insight into and a balanced appraisal of the attitudes towards mental illness the movie challenges the very notion of what constitutes mental illness. For Max actually likes being Max, he doesn't want to be cured! It is a great shame that a movie as good as this failed to get the promotion it deserved but its the kind that will stand the test of time and entertain and educate many more for years to come. Highly recommended.
Rampage (2009)
poor plot, poor acting and above all desperate camera work
I tried to sit through and enjoy this movie and whilst I succeeded in sitting through it I wasn't able to say I enjoyed it particularly given that I needed to rest my eyes afterwards. Firstly its very very poor. We see nothing of why or what really motivated this man, we see only his actions. Whilst I could have coped with the lack of depth, I found the camera work to be seriously wanting and can only assume that either the cameraman had Parkinson's, was recruited from youtube or needed a drink! The camera work is so shaky it's unbearable! As in truth is the whole movie..it's pretty hard to slate it further but I need to get ten lines up for this review to be excepted so here it is in short.. rubbish story, no character development, no insight, and so shaky it felt like a live feed from a war-zone correspondent.
The Martins (2001)
gritty believable and sterling performances by Evens and Burke
this is an excellent believable story that reflects the hopelessness that many families face. I can only assume that the critics slated this movie because it depicts a world so far from theirs that it is impossible for them to relate too it. For Robert Martin's world is entombed in a grotty council estate and relies on state benefits to support it. He dreams of a happy normal family, one he is desperate to take on holiday, but like so many is trapped, there is no escape from the council estate in the shadow of the football stadium. Martin, who isn't smart enough to get out of his situation but is smart enough to realize it, pins his hopes on winning competitions. His frustration at failing to win a family holiday on a desert island though pushes him over the edge and leads him to take desperate measures. This is an entertaining and believable movie about real life made even more real by the excellent performances of Evens and Burke: far far far better than the 4.9 it is rated here and whilst a 10 is a little generous it is definitely worthy of an 8/10