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Reviews
Andor (2022)
Surprisingly good
The people who claim that this series is "boring" because "nothing happens" in the first three episodes are the "Star Wars Fans™" who feel that what a "good" Star Wars film/series needs is lots of kung-fu-lightsaber fights, with everybody doings a ridiculous amount of somersaults and one or two people constantly mowing down mobs of idiotic cannon-fodder enemies against all odds.
Thankfully so far this series seems to take a very different route. It makes sense when you check the credits. It was created by Tony Gilroy, who was also a writer on "Rogue One", one of the few watchable Star Wars outings since the original trilogy. And the first three episodes where directed by Toby Haynes, who among other things, directed one of the best episodes of "Sherlock" and "Black Mirror" respectively.
The result is a fairly dark, grown up version of the Star Wars universe. Stylistically it's a heavy mix of Star Wars and the more gritty realistic designs of Blade Runner and Alien. Which is a good call in my book, considering some of the design-silliness the prequel trilogy kicked loose.
And contrary to some peoples claims, there's actually a lot happening in the first three episodes. It's called story and character development. There are action sequences but they never feel silly and always serve a purpose. Most of all, they are somewhat believable, which serves to create actual tension and interest.
The writing is fine and the casting is on point so far.
Incredible. If I didn't know any better I'd never have guessed that this is a Disney production. Fingers crossed the rest of the series can live up to the high standard set by the first episodes.
Scare Me (2020)
A really pleasant surprise
Seeing the poster and reading the summary i had very low expectations for this, especially considering the usual quality of shudder productions.
The premise of the film is super simple and yet the writing combined with the stellar performances of all (four or five) actors involved in this just totally made my evening. The production quality in general is also surprisingly high. Sure the general plot, especially the ending is nothing super exciting but this movie is just so much FUN to watch! I have no idea how anybody can find this "boring".
I didn't mind at all that the horror stories here were simply told instead of shown. Quite the contrary actually. That's because they're being told so extremely well and in an interesting way. At times this was more immersive than so many other horror films.
With so little innovation or even ambition to be found in most horror movies these days, films like this one should be celebrated!
Extinction (2018)
My God, those kids...
I'm not even going to bother examining this movie in detail, because even if this had excellent writing, story, pacing, visual effects, etc. (and it doesn't) it would still be borderline unwatchable because of those obnoxious kids.
If the director had any sense, he would have noticed after shooting the first couple of scenes, that he'd made a terrible, terrible mistake and the script needed to be rewritten to either take out those kid completely (they don't really serve any purpose), kill them off in the first 10 minutes or AT LEAST cut down on their gratuitous lines and keep their overacting in check.
Alas, he didn't and we're left with an excruciating facepalm of a movie. Avoid.
Disobedience (2017)
Surprisingly shallow Melodrama
I have no idea what's supposed to be so "complex" about this film, as some other people claimed. This is pretty much as straight forward as it gets.
There's exactly one scene in the film, close to the end that genuinely surprised me and felt meaningful and satisfying (you'll know the scene I'm talking about if you watched the film). But then immediately after, the film switches back into "stereotypical-forced-melodrama-mode" with a vengeance.
The ending simply makes no sense to me and in my opinion runs contrary to the "big revelation" about freedom the film serves a couple of minutes before.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Spaceballs 2 finally!
Everybody relax, they just messed up the title of the film. This is the long-awaited sequel to Spaceballs obviously.
Mugen no jûnin (2017)
If you are a fan of the Manga you will probably be disappointed.
Making 100 films in half a lifetime requires a director to move at a brisk pace. This is probably part of what gives Miike his signature style. And in many of his earlier films especially, this works in his favour.
This is not one of those films.
If you're going to translate a Manga/Comic with a huge fanbase to film, you should take your time and pay attention to the source material.
Fail #1 - The Look: Blade of the Immortal has high production values but it's not even close to capturing the beautiful aesthetic of the Manga. The fight scenes especially look very much like traditional "Chambara". A more stylized approach would have been more suited. And in 2017 there are more than enough examples of how to do this right. The way Manji disposes of his enemies is unbelievably dull and unspectacular. "Lone Wolf and Cub" from 1972 did a better job.
Fail #2 - The Cast: The two main characters are just wrong. Manji is 26 years old in the Manga and has kind of a cocky, youthful, nihilistic demeanour. Takuya Kimura is not a bad actor but he is in his mid- 40's and just seems like a completely different character. He doesn't resemble Manji inside or outside. Hana Sugisaki, while being about the right age, was just bad. Especially in the "emotional" scenes her acting completely falls apart. Bad directing/a rushed production schedule? Maybe. But it is what it is.
Fail #3 - The Writing: All in all the writing is way too verbose and often feels ham- fisted. There were many scenes that would have been improved if the characters had conveyed their emotions through acting instead of spelling them out. The film also commits the mortal sin of having the characters explain the plot several times. It's lazy and insulting to the viewer.
Fail #4 - The Relationship: Even though the film is 140 minutes long it fails to convincingly show the all-important bond between the two main characters developing. There are a couple of attempts but they fall flat on their face because of the aforementioned problems with writing, acting and direction. The weird age difference between the characters doesn't help either. Manji feels more like "Creepy Daddy" when he's supposed to be "Big Brother".
Fail #5 - The Manji Symbol: This is less of a problem with the film itself than it is a symptom of what went wrong here. Replacing the Manji symbol on the main character's back with..."something(?)"...(obviously to avoid confusing the poor, ignorant western audience about Manji's political views) shows that Miike didn't care enough about this film or it's source material to put up a fight and say: "This symbol is being associated with the Manga, the main character is named after it, it's use makes sense plus it looks cool so it should be in the film!".
Note for those not familiar with the Manga: The main character called Manji aptly carries the "Manji" symbol on his back. The Manji symbol is a left-facing Swastika (Sauwastika). It's an auspicious symbol still widely used all around Asia, mostly in religious contexts. Among other things it symbolizes an "endless cycle" and "eternity".
4 Stars for nice sets, costume design, sound effects, music, post effects and despite everything being fairly entertaining. But the Manga deserves a much more dedicated adaption than it received here.
Landmine Goes Click (2015)
this movie is certainly not for everyone...
...it caters to a specific audience. namely those who enjoy movies like "i spit on your grave" or "they call her one eye".
while this is obviously not a high budget film it certainly does not "feel" cheap like some reviewers here claim. i suppose these lucky people have never had the "pleasure" to see a "cheap" film. don't be fooled. the entire presentation, camera work, sound, music and acting are solid...no more, no less.
someone also wrote that this movie had "nothing to say", which is almost comical considering the kind of film we are dealing with here. films like these do not focus on "story" or "character development". they mainly try and trigger basic human emotions in the audience by simple means and with varying success. it's called "exploitation cinema" and as mentioned before, it's not for everyone.
that being said i found the ending of this film to be uncharacteristically thought-provoking. ultimately it does have something to say and as a result manages to lift itself slightly above most of it's genre brethren.
fans of the genre won't be disappointed.
The Nice Guys (2016)
i can't believe this is a movie by shane black...
...i mean after all, he's the guy who wrote and directed "kiss kiss bang bang"! he also wrote "lethal weapon 1 + 2" and "the last boy scout"...so by default one might think "here's a guy who knows his way around a buddy-action-comedy", right? so how did this happen? 90% of the time the humor/writing is flat and feels forced. the story feels aimless but is pretty transparent at the same time. what little chemistry there is between the main protagonists feels weak and trivial. the characters in general are boring and one dimensional.
ryan gosling's character is "dumb".
angourie rice's character is "bratty".
kim basinger is "evil".
margaret qualley is..."sleepy"? the only character i liked was russell crowe's. i mean there's not much happening with his character...no real arch or anything. he's just a mean but kind of likable badass. and the character is "working" mostly because crowe is the right guy for the part.
one of the biggest flaws of this movie is that ryan gosling is simply miscast in this role. he's just not a funny actor. i have rarely seen more cringe inducing, awkward "comedy performances" in a single movie.
it's really too bad...i can think of many actors that would have been a better match to play gosling's character and could maybe even do "something" with those bad lines and silly performances.
the ending of the movie is totally pointless and random. it's just there as a last reminder that you just wasted 2 hours of your life with a movie that you have basically seen many times before. except this time people just couldn't be bothered to put any effort in.
do yourself a favor and re-watch "kiss kiss bang bang" instead.