dundeal78 Reviews

The Liberator (2020)

It's actually good.

[7/10 · 12 November 2020]

I'll get this out of the way: The filter was a difficult thing to get past. It did make it appear cheap, which it is not. But it did give the feeling of watching a graphic novel, which didn't fit with a WW2 story, in my book anyway. However, I also understand this was a budgetary consideration. It also made me consider how this story got "shopped' to producers. With Band Of Brothers already out there, and the standards it set for this kind of project, I'm sure the story would either have gotten altered to fit the budget or rejected out of hand because of the cost it would have to bring it to the same quality, or done with terrible special effects and third rate actors. So I got over it. We got CGI tanks instead of cardboard bulldozers (the snobby critics would've carped about the tread and bogey patterns of the Panzers as they did about Saving Private Ryan and BOB.) It still made me drop a couple of stars, though. The story itself was compelling, and what might have been sacrificed for filter, the dialogue wasn't sacrificed and the story got to be told the right way. And that's better than not getting to see it at all.

Hollywood (2020)

Tarantino proved it could be done, Murphy shows how it shouldn't be done.

[2/10 · 10 May 2020]

Well acted, Gorgeously filmed; Poorly conceived. Revisionist History can be a riot. See Inglorious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, even The Man in the High Castle. You can throw history aside, suspend disbelief and still have a good time... as long as the story is well told and, more importantly, logical within it's own framework. This, sadly, does not. No story is believable if everybody wins, gets everything they dreamed of. This was like watching a Stanley Cup or a Super Bowl where no score is kept, both teams get the trophy and everybody gets a ring... and the world is a better place for it. That adds up to boring, dull, silly, and a waste of time.

Charité (2017– )

Another step in the right direction for German television.

[8/10 · 20 June 2019]

I watched the original Charite', which was focused on the "competition" between Drs. Robert Koch and his developing treatment for tuberculosis, and Emil Behring, who discovers an effective cure for diphtheria. Both series are well produced and written, and capture the "zeitgeist" of both eras represented in this series. Both series set high standards for both production and performance, but I have to give the nod to this latest installment. It backs off the melodrama a bit more than its predecessor, and gives-- what I believe-- a more clear-eyed perspective of the political times and the trials and tribulations of the German people in WW2. It scores extra points in that this perspective is viewed through the eyes of non-combatants and non-political figures in Nazi Germany. This series and "Babylon Berlin" (really waiting for the next installment of this gem) are huge leaps forward for German television, threatening to not only becoming a peer of the BBC and other British programming, but shows signs the Germans are ready to assume the role of being the class of European exporter of "small screen" production. Good stuff.

Triple Frontier (2019)

All downhill after the first forty minutes.

[5/10 · 15 March 2019]

It started out great, enough time to get some character development established-- enough for this type of movie, anyhow-- but then starts a pretty quick slide. Once we knew who everybody was, and got a glimpse of what made 'em tick, that aspect of storytelling seemed to go out the window. For some reason, everybody seemed to forget who they were just at the wrong time in the movie. I've no problem with character's "changing hats," but only if it moves the story in a sensible direction. This... just didn't, especially with Affleck's character. Conflict between characters, especially in a movie like this-- again-- was never fully explored, but every such conflict-- rather than sustain some tension as a good story should-- was immediately resolved with a "bro hugs" and a few deep, a little overlong, "eye contact slow nods." Didn't work for me. There were also some moments where a snap decision was necessary and obvious to all involved, but the snap decision always had time for a little debate. The last third of the movie was a frantic slide to a pretty cliche ending as well. I guess it's okay as a means to kill a rainy afternoon, but it's nothing I'd ever consider watching again.

The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)

An obscure fact of the holocaust with a rather tepid telling.

[5/10 · 27 February 2019]

Overall not a bad movie, but I found it slow, a little prone to cliché, and oddly distant. I found it hard to become emotionally engaged. The characters, even the man playing Boix, sort of bled together and it became difficult to find a way to attach to any of them. They were rather interchangeable. While I understand the focus was primarily on an administrative department of what was arguably to most brutally operated of the labor camps, the brutality that was a daily fact of life in Mauthausen was only occasionally brought to bear, and even then it felt like an afterthought. I also agree that the SS were essentially cardboard stereotypes, spotless uniforms and sporting a perpetual craggy grimace. I didn't feel they needed a more "human" treatment, but they were just as interchangeable as the rest of the cast. A well shot film, and mores so that it had an obviously limited budget, but I think if failed in the aspect of basic storytelling.

Charité (2017– )

I'm baaaack. (I've seen it now.)

[8/10 · 20 April 2018]

Overall, good television. There are a few points that an American audience may find cloying, but I had no problem with it. It may be too "soapy" with the romantic entanglements woven into the story. I could have done without the melodrama-- less of it anyway-- but it has to be taken into consideration this is a "continental European" drama. In many ways, this can be attributed to the timeframe of the story. Late nineteenth century European society was more heavily church dominated in that era. So, what seems like quaint, outdated and even eyerolling concerns that weigh so heavily in this story can come off as silly, in that period these were issues that strongly impacted daily life. While these subplots may seem overly dusty to most viewers, it certainly is historically appropriate. There is also the fact that this was produced with a German audience first and foremost. As I've seen in other recent German productions (Babylon Berlin; Our Fathers, Our Mothers --aka "Generation War" outside of Germany) , the romantic subplots aren't presented in quite the same fashion as they are on this side of the Atlantic. As for myself, I find it a refreshing shift in presentation.

Production, writing and performance are all high standard. Well above what is typical German television. While it might not grab a huge audience in the U.S. because of its subtle but still distinctly different style in telling a story, I strongly encourage folks to give it a try.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Wow, what a let down.

[5/10 · 28 November 2017]

The other negative reviews cite this movie of a Coen Bros. ripoff. I'm not ready to be that harsh, but there is certainly an element of a cloning attempt here. The big problem is it tries to hard to be quirky, offbeat and irreverent, but at the same time attempts to wedge some pathos in here and there to balance it out. It just... fails. One problem is-- and curse me for saying this-- the movie is too short. It's as if there was a time limit on character development-- make a few comments and now it's up to you to see the big picture. Call a man a racist, and you're given the job of applying this assumption to everything a character does stems from this. Give a man cancer, and now you're job is to apply sympathy to his actions. An extra half hour would give both the director and the audience room to come to a better understanding of what lurks beneath, what drives the character's behavior. I'm trying to avoid a spoiler, but the last conversation Mildred has with her daughter is a perfect summation of what is really lacking in this movie. If you see it-- which I'm not saying you shouldn't-- you'll know exactly what I mean. I'd wait for the post-theater release.

The World Wars (2014)

Lazy, sloppy, inaccurate, irresponsible. An insult to history.

[1/10 · 18 June 2014]

Spoilers, perhaps? (The whole thing is spoiled.)

I don't see much value in excoriating an already amply panned production, but this mess needs all the dumping on it can get. This was bad enough for a history buff as myself, but to present this as a primer for WWI and WWII "neophytes" is an outrage. The evidence of low budget/low quality is evident immediately to anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of either war. The late 1915 helmets showing up in 1914 and earlier, the mismatched weaponry represented in re-enactments of both wars-- B-17s serving as Heinkels and Dorniers??? Germans using cold war era Russain armor? When I first saw an SS officer (?) standing behind Hitler, it was one thing to have the collar tabs of an Unterscharfuehrer with officer's epaulets, but seeing a Wehrmacht general's hat tucked under his arm was something inexcusable.(Yeah, I'm 'showing off' a bit...) It was that type of indifference to detail that exemplifies what's wrong this entire production. If the big details are grossly inaccurate, and the little details reinforcing an overt indifference to the thought put into a project, how can there be any reason to believe there is a shred of merit in the project? Which, ultimately, there wasn't. If this channel is attempting to get back to its "roots" this is a miserable way to do it. I have no problem with them trying to simplify history for a new generation of viewers, but for crying out loud, at least be accurate. That's the shame of this half-a**ed production. It demonstrated how far this channel has fallen, and how indifferent they have become to their viewers.

The Debt (I) (2010)

Not so... good.

[2/10 · 15 April 2014]

One of those movies that on the surface is great but one logical question at any point in the film puts it right in the dumpster. The elaborate capture scheme, the blown extraction, the hostage situation while coming up with plan "B" all falls apart when you attempt to find the logic in their actions. Why not grab him off the street once they have solid ID? (Perhaps the evil doc and the missus commuted together? Still, a snatch and grab would still make more sense and be less risky.) Wouldn't you tie him up a little better in the back of the van? I don't think any agent in the world would put that much trust in pharmaceuticals. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. Back at the ranch after their rollicking escape, why agonize over plan B? Shoulda just busted a cap in him in the back of the van and headed for home. Or, if getting him back to Isreal was a that big a priority, but the secondary option falls apart, knock him off in the apartment and... head for home. I couldln't help but think that's what the folks in Tel Aviv would have ordered. (Check our "Munich", Mossad had no problem with "snuff and run" in that story.)

Klondike (2014)

Coulda been waaaay better.

[3/10 · 28 January 2014]

Possible Spoiler (s)...

Was looking forward to it, if fact glad that another "reality channel" was dipping into the mini-series market such as History with the Hatfields and McCoys. More disappointed in this than the aforementioned. While the H&M on History was over-melodramatic and flirting with silly, it was still riotously entertaining and the performances by the cast were from very good to superb. Most of the cast in Klondike seem to be on lithium. H&M did a great job in developing characters, using every chance they were on screen to expose their motivations, flaws, strengths, and did it through dialogue and interaction with other characters-- even gestures. In Klondike this very important facet of storytelling is handled by one-line descriptions or a pat phrase. The pacing of Klondike is another issue, break neck for twenty minutes and snailish for forty. Tim Roth-- who is soooooo underutilized they could have put a cardboard Tim Roth mask on a mannequin and wheeled him around-- is the resident thug/soulless usurper, but in watching the show you have to wonder if he's not behaving that way out of simple boredom. He seems to bore the hell out of whoever he's threatening, anyway. The business woman (so uninteresting her name escapes me) is also victim to the writing. What drives her? What brought her to Dawson City? Mom died in childbirth? Well if that don't make ya wanna head to the boonies and sell booze, what would? Al Swearingen she ain't. The hooker? Drop me with a preacher and the turnaround is miraculous. Again, couldn't she have fared better as a gal-fer-rent in San Francisco or New York? One would think you have to be pretty motivated to peddle your virtue if you're going to go through all that trouble to find a whorehouse with the Help Wanted sign...? Her transition from saloon trollop to Florence Nightengale strains belief. Richard Madden is serviceable-- again a victim of the script-- but comes nowhere near the performance he gave us in Game of Thrones. Sam Shepard is the only cast member who seems to be trying to inject a little life into his character, but again the limits of the script seem to hogtie him.

I won't go into the RCMP or the Natives, but they also fall victim to cliché.

The camera work is a delight. The setting spectacular. The mud looks real. Otherwise, an overall disappointment.

Gran Torino (2008)

Ouch!

[1/10 · 20 October 2011]

Clint should never have gotten behind the camera for this one, much less back in front of it. It's been stated over and over about how clichéd this movie is, and that's probably its strongest point. It's downhill after that. The acting-- Clint's in particular-- is dreadful. I applaud the use of Hmong character's, but they should also be able to perform. Nope. The worst part of this film, for me, is that it is supposed to be "courageous"-- so white-boy Clint spews as many slurs as he can, scattergunning epithets for every ethnic group he can come up with-- but dare not whisper the "N" word--even in a potentially "appropriate" scene-- which makes him totally unbelievable. If he was at all true to his character it would have popped out of his mouth smoother than "zipperhead", as living in Detroit would've afforded ample opportunity to hone that facet of his racism. His disdain for Asians had over 50 years to get rusty before the new neighbors showed up.

Beyond overrated. Had anyone besides our beloved Clint-- and I mean that!-- been involved in this we're talking' straight to DVD, because it's STILL not too lousy a movie for Hollywood to make.

I Love Sarah Jane (2008)

Brilliant

[8/10 · 21 May 2010]

This short accomplishes what mainstream Hollywood-- more often than not-- fails to do in 2 1/2 hrs. You have a solid grasp of every character in the film. You develop sympathy and disgust, you see what makes them tick. And everyone of them is genuine. Maybe even the zombie. The kids are believable, and in fifteen minutes you have a full understanding of how complicated they are, and a genuine feel for their complications. To convey that in fifteen minutes of silly whimsy is truly a work of genius. It also provided a solid sense of place and the social circumstances surrounding what truly is a complete story. No mean feat. I loved it.