I found this film riveting. Fantastic yet understated performances by all. Laysla De Oliveira is perfect for her role - absolutely stunning and fully believable. Atom Egoyan is a master storyteller. It was a very personal journey for me watching this film - I understand that some may find it boring or tedious if they somehow are unable to relate to the characters. I certainly could relate to them, though. I am sorry to see so many low ratings for this film - I think it deserves much better, and I think there are many people who would benefit from watching it.
Reviews
5 Reviews
Prescription for Love
(2019 TV Movie)
Jillian Murray makes this movie watchable
29 February 2020
This is a very predictable storyline. No surprises except for how watchable Jillian Murray is. Usually a movie like this, I would have stopped watching after 5 minutes. But I couldn't take my eyes off of her the whole way. She made me cheer for a character with absolutely no depth! Even though I knew exactly what would happen, I wanted to keep watching because of her. The movie itself deserves a rating of 2 out of 10 - I've given it a 5 because of her. If that sounds like not much praise, I disagree - this could have the greatest actors or all time playing these roles and it would still be a terrible and predictable movie. I hope Jillian Murray will get a chance to play a really excellent character soon so that we can see how she does when she actually has some material to work with!
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
(2018 TV Movie)
Not quite right
4 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
JC Superstar is undoubtedly my favourite musical. I have watched the movie countless times, listened to the original recording countless times, and I've attended 4 live performances of it. I know this rock opera inside and out. I was very hopeful that this version would blow me away. But it just never did.
I'll get to my actor critiques in a moment. First, a couple of production notes. 1 - I thought a few choices the directors made were interesting. Having Annas be the one who says "Someone Christ, King of the Jews" to Pilate was very bizarre. That is intended to be one of the guards who clearly had never heard of him before! 2 - A few lyric changes caught me off guard, but I have no objection to them trying to modernize the words a bit to fit a modern day audience. 3 - I do realize that a stage production is sometimes limiting, but for Jesus to only throw ONE CHAIR during the temple scene made it completely underwhelming and almost laughable, which it should never be. 4 - I suppose that the falling ladder was sufficient to get the point across for Judas' suicide, but all the stage adaptations I've seen before managed to actually give us a visual of Judas hanging. I do not know how they did it, but they did! This one needs more here. 5 - And lastly, in terms of criticisms, I thought the 39 lashes scene really missed an opportunity. Watching what happened on stage never explained why Jesus' back was all cut up from being whipped 39 times. you
There were a few good points too! 1 - the crucifixion scene was quite moving and really put a new spin on that which I thought was neat. 2 - Most of the costumes were great, especially the priests. Perhaps not Jesus', but the rest were on point. 3 - I've seen some people complain that he music was "too loud" or "drowned out the singing" at times. I really disagree. The music was played fantastically throughout. I could have done without the mosh pit in front of the stage, which did occasionally distract from the acting, but I understood it. Again, a new twist which generally speaking, worked as intended.
John Legend is a great singer. He was not a good choice for Jesus though. He completely wimped out on one of Jesus' best moments during Gethsemane. His range is just not right for this role. Also, his body movements as he strained to hit some notes and his inability to really show Jesus' emotions were distractions. Jesus' role in this opera is almost more about acting than singing, although it is a challenging vocal range that is needed at times too. Legend just doesn't have the acting chops for it, and I was surprised that he didn't seem to possess the vocal chops either.
Brandon Victor Dixon was a phenomenal Judas. By far the best part of the entire show. I knew nothing about him before watching this performance, but I cannot wait to see more of him now. He was the highlight of the entire production.
I thought having Alice Cooper perform as King Herod was a great choice from a marketing standpoint, but he never really seemed to buy into the role as such. I saw another review suggesting David Lee Roth would have been a better choice - I think that would have been amazing!
Norm Lewis always seemed to be trying too hard too keep his voice as deep as he could. It is vital to that role, for sure. But HD cameras did not help him hide that it was a strain for him. That part needs to be menacing! He never managed to scare me.
No one else stood out to me. Everyone else was adequate but not great in their roles. I think there must have been much better choices for Mary than Sara Bareilles, but she did ok. Erik Gronwall made the most of his big moment, but I thought he was just ok as well. Ben Daniels actually did quite well as Pilate. It was too bad that his final note of the production was missed, though. But it is a difficult thing for any singer, so I can't say that it took away from his performance as a whole. Lastly, in terms of actors worth mentioning, Jin Ha was just fine as Annas- not fantastic, but not poor.
Thanks for reading!!
I'll get to my actor critiques in a moment. First, a couple of production notes. 1 - I thought a few choices the directors made were interesting. Having Annas be the one who says "Someone Christ, King of the Jews" to Pilate was very bizarre. That is intended to be one of the guards who clearly had never heard of him before! 2 - A few lyric changes caught me off guard, but I have no objection to them trying to modernize the words a bit to fit a modern day audience. 3 - I do realize that a stage production is sometimes limiting, but for Jesus to only throw ONE CHAIR during the temple scene made it completely underwhelming and almost laughable, which it should never be. 4 - I suppose that the falling ladder was sufficient to get the point across for Judas' suicide, but all the stage adaptations I've seen before managed to actually give us a visual of Judas hanging. I do not know how they did it, but they did! This one needs more here. 5 - And lastly, in terms of criticisms, I thought the 39 lashes scene really missed an opportunity. Watching what happened on stage never explained why Jesus' back was all cut up from being whipped 39 times. you
There were a few good points too! 1 - the crucifixion scene was quite moving and really put a new spin on that which I thought was neat. 2 - Most of the costumes were great, especially the priests. Perhaps not Jesus', but the rest were on point. 3 - I've seen some people complain that he music was "too loud" or "drowned out the singing" at times. I really disagree. The music was played fantastically throughout. I could have done without the mosh pit in front of the stage, which did occasionally distract from the acting, but I understood it. Again, a new twist which generally speaking, worked as intended.
John Legend is a great singer. He was not a good choice for Jesus though. He completely wimped out on one of Jesus' best moments during Gethsemane. His range is just not right for this role. Also, his body movements as he strained to hit some notes and his inability to really show Jesus' emotions were distractions. Jesus' role in this opera is almost more about acting than singing, although it is a challenging vocal range that is needed at times too. Legend just doesn't have the acting chops for it, and I was surprised that he didn't seem to possess the vocal chops either.
Brandon Victor Dixon was a phenomenal Judas. By far the best part of the entire show. I knew nothing about him before watching this performance, but I cannot wait to see more of him now. He was the highlight of the entire production.
I thought having Alice Cooper perform as King Herod was a great choice from a marketing standpoint, but he never really seemed to buy into the role as such. I saw another review suggesting David Lee Roth would have been a better choice - I think that would have been amazing!
Norm Lewis always seemed to be trying too hard too keep his voice as deep as he could. It is vital to that role, for sure. But HD cameras did not help him hide that it was a strain for him. That part needs to be menacing! He never managed to scare me.
No one else stood out to me. Everyone else was adequate but not great in their roles. I think there must have been much better choices for Mary than Sara Bareilles, but she did ok. Erik Gronwall made the most of his big moment, but I thought he was just ok as well. Ben Daniels actually did quite well as Pilate. It was too bad that his final note of the production was missed, though. But it is a difficult thing for any singer, so I can't say that it took away from his performance as a whole. Lastly, in terms of actors worth mentioning, Jin Ha was just fine as Annas- not fantastic, but not poor.
Thanks for reading!!
Extant
(2014–2015)
Very disappointed
12 September 2014
I had high hopes for Extant. Even after the Pilot episode was a bit disappointing, it kept me interested as to where this story might go. It has gone nowhere except straight into the toilet. Now, I keep watching it only because I have to see where this train wreck will end. Some of the acting is absolutely terrible, but I think this is more the fault of the writers who have given the actors nothing to work with. Halle Berry is as beautiful as ever, and manages to do as well with her character as possible, despite the brutal material. Pierce Gagnon does a great job as Ethan - after his fantastic performance in Looper, I hope this show does not stunt his growth as a great young actor. Even Hiroyuki Sanada does a fine job as Yasumoto. Grace Gummer as Julie has a few good moments. But those are the only positive things I can say about the acting. Michael O'Neill and Maury Sterling are especially bad for the roles they are playing, but again - the characters are terrible, perhaps even the greatest actors would look brutal in those roles. The odd moments of good acting that I mention above are all that has saved this show from being a ONE out of ten. I just couldn't bring myself to give a show with this bad a plot a three out of ten, though.
The Beaver
(2011)
Jennifer Lawrence is the only good thing about this movie
18 December 2012
I have to say that I am AMAZED that so many people have given this movie a positive review. I found it so difficult to watch, I could not take it seriously at all. I understand what the movie is trying to tell us, but most of the acting and the plot lines are so pathetic, despite some very good actors.
Having said that, I did think that Jennifer Lawrence's performance was very good. Her acting and her character were the only positive for this movie that made it watchable at all. In the scenes that she was not in, all I was thinking was that I couldn't stand watching this, but I wanted to see what happened to her character. She is reason that I gave this movie a 2 out of 10 instead of a 1. Might seem like small praise, but even her great performance cannot change that this is a terrible movie.
Having said that, I did think that Jennifer Lawrence's performance was very good. Her acting and her character were the only positive for this movie that made it watchable at all. In the scenes that she was not in, all I was thinking was that I couldn't stand watching this, but I wanted to see what happened to her character. She is reason that I gave this movie a 2 out of 10 instead of a 1. Might seem like small praise, but even her great performance cannot change that this is a terrible movie.
Tell Your Friends