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robertalexanderwalsh
Reviews
The Room (2003)
Better than Oppenheimer
You need to be honest with yourself about why you watch movies.
Is it for great directing and cinematography?
You will not find this here
Is it for great writing and acting?
You will not find this here
Is it for a great soundtrack?
You will not find this here
are you looking for profound and incisive social and political commentary?
You will not find this here
however
if you like watching movies to laugh and be entertained
then you will definitely find that in spades in The Room
the story makes no sense and the acting is crap but every single scene is hilarious in it's own way
as far as Tommy Wiseau goes I think he is a bad writer but if he worked on it he might eventually get good. As an actor he is bad but I do think that in the right context he could actually be kind of good. What I mean is that if you gave him an eye patch and had him basically play himself then he could easily be a villain in an 80s action movie. It may not be The Godfather but who cares.
There are tons of movies that critics love and are very professionally made by very talented people that still end up being boring as hell (cough Oppenheimer) The Room on the other hand is terrible and everyone knows that but people still love watching it decades later.
If people could get over their snobbery they would have to admit that it is a great movie in the sense that it is constantly surprising and unintentionally hilarious. I'll take that over some pretentious black and white crap about the holocaust any day.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Okayheimer
I have mixed feelings.
First here is what I liked
The acting is really good especially Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. Their scenes together were my favourites.
The subject is very sad but it is an undeniably interesting part of history
The film is really well made in terms of costumes, location, and effects etc Christopher Nolan is a great filmmaker. Not every movie he makes is a masterpiece like The Dark Knight or Interstellar but they are always at least quite good (except Tenet)
now here is the stuff I did not like
Women. I'm not trying to be sexist. Emily Blunt is a really great actress but I did not get anything at all out of the scenes with his wife or his mistress. I know people argue that you need that stuff to show him as a well rounded human being so he was not just a scientist but also a man with a family it grounds him makes him relatable blah blah blah shut up! No. He was a genius physicist from 80 years ago, I don't have to relate to him, all I'm really interested in seeing how he got the job, how they made the bomb, and if he felt any remorse afterwards for opening the gates of hell and slaughtering thousands of innocent people. The women really don't contribute anything interesting here and I'm not actually blaming the actresses because like I say Emily Blunt is talented, I actually think it is one of Nolan's weaknesses. He doesn't tend to write very good female characters. It's mainly an emotion thing, he is great at the big brain complex rational stuff, but his emotional heart stuff is underdeveloped so I personally just wouldn't even bother to include it, just stick to the thought puzzles and big ideas.
I also don't like the typical framing of WW2 and lionises the allies and demonises Germany and Japan which I don't think is accurate or fair, but I'll leave it there for now
my main criticism is that it is too long and boring. I was concerned going in that it would be. There are about an hours worth of really great captivating scenes when they are planning and building the bomb, but there are about 2 hours of boring scenes where he is either arguing with his wife or in a room at a hearing in black and white with serious men shouting 'is he a communist?!'
honestly I would give it a hard 5/10
it is well acted and well made
but it is too long and boring
even a not so good Christopher Nolan film is better than most other films but I wouldn't even put this in his top 5. Very meh. It's better than Tenet but that is not saying much
he might still have the critics on side but I think Christopher Nolan is in a bit of a slump. Everything he did from Memento to Interstellar was top level classics but since Dunkirk it's all been kind of meh.
White Gold (2017)
this should be more well known
I've just watched two episodes but this is really funny. It was written by one of the same writers who did The Inbetweeners and has two of the main actors (Jay and Simon) The premise did not sound very good to me. It is about a group of guys who are window salesmen somewhere in England in the 1980s. It doesn't sound good at all but the actors are great and so is the writing. There have been several parts so far where I burst out laughing. The main character is played by Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl and he is a really charismatic lead. My favourite parts though are with his two friends and best salesmen played by the inbetwseners guys and their chemistry is still great, it is just like watching some parallel universe where jay and Simon for whatever reason decided to become window salesmen. I never would have expected to watch something like this but it is very entertaining. It's not as good as The Inbetweeners because that is one of th best British comedy shows ever made, but this is definitely entertaining and if you liked inbetwseners you will probably like this too.
Farscape: Premiere (1999)
Farscape Review
I wanted to watch a new tv show and I love sci fi. I was considering watching either Farscape or Babylon 5. Both are highly praised by me fellow nerds so I looked up what people would recommend I watch first and.the verdict was that both shows were great but that Farscape was funnier and better looking but that Babylon 5 was more layered and complex. I have a lot on my mind right now and so chose Farscape thinking it would be more fun and a quick hit. I watched the first episode for free on YouTube and I really did enjoy it. I'll happily watch more of this show. I can see why so many sci fi fans like it. It is very unique. If I get the chance to I might watch Babylon 5 in the future but for now I'm going to watch Farscape.
Daniel Tosh: Happy Thoughts (2011)
Underrated
Daniel Tosh is a really great comedian. People don't give him enough credit. He is consistently funny. I don't know why I like him so much. He has a very unique perspective. One thing I like is that people often say that comedy should always punch up and not punch down. I don't think that's true at all. Funny is funny. I think he is really bold with some of the targets he chooses and I like that. He.is definitely one of my top 10 favourites. I also like Mitch Hedberg and Louis CK. I really like people with a unique perspective who can come up with great jokes that would never occur to me. I didn't really have much to say about this but had to make the word limit. The point is that Daniel Tosh is really funny and you should watch this.