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Reviews
Drops of God (2023)
A revelation
What a fantastic series. Brilliantly scripted, wonderfully taut story about the most complex of subjects. We were gripped, fascinated, educated, sad and happy all the same time! How could a Franco Japanese joint effort at filming wine tasting be this good?
It was.
If you are looking for sex, violence, swearing, fantasy or horror you came to the wrong place. If you are looking for characterisation, thrilling information, whodunnit, family intrigue, detective stories...this is your weekend viewing. Once the pilot is watched, there is no stopping. I congratulate the crew that made this. I hope they got to drink a LOT of wine in the process of filming...
Prisoner's Daughter (2022)
Hidden Gem
Everyone knows Brian Cox is an excellent actor, and holds an audience...but Kate Beckinsale? She was superb.
The whole cast was excellent. This was the most unlikely best movie of 2023 for me. Just heart-rending, and real.
It surprises me that people have criticised the script. It was very accurate, and portrayed how each character would have played out: the smart kid, the bullies, the drugged up ex, the angry daughter, the ex con. Also, life in Las Vegas. Lack of jobs, having to work multiple jobs, life without credit. Exhausting and - I don't know how they did it - Ms. Beckinsale looked exhausted!
I hope the actors get the credit they deserve, along with the Director.
Ghost Town (2008)
Gervais is annoying but this was good, and strangely moving
As a Brit, we know Gervais well and while I cheer him on from the sidelines, enjoy his cold calculated comedy at the Golden Globes and feel his pain watching the US version of The Office take off without him...he is not my preferred evening viewing. But this crept up on me. It is a strangely compelling storyline, and while it is true Gervais is (to repeat a marvellous and rather unfair quote about Rupert Everett) typecast as a w****r, he was perfect as the unlikely link between our world and the next world.
The film has wonderful characters dropping in, and zips along, and nearly mimics the feel (and music of) of As It Gets, a Greg Kinnear classic.
The Family Man (2019)
Laughed a lot, learned a lot and was rocked back by realism
This is just fantastic writing. So clever, and so real. The realism contributes to the occasional shock of violence, far more than any amount of Hollywood CGI.
This is a crossover for those who are unfamiliar with Indian movies and mini-series. Beautiful acting, excellent production quality. Subtitles a small price to pay.
The King's Man (2021)
A historically accurate action roller coaster and anti-war epic
Let's start with the poems. Beautifully incorporated and read by Fiennes, who is superb throughout.
I so thoroughly recommend this film, but you should see it twice - and research it between movie visits - to appreciate the fact that this is very nearly historical fact. That, in itself, is frightening, and should frighten you. The plot and characters are excellent, and subtle. Perhaps Holland and Ifans are exceptions to that - but not in a bad way. I would applaud their massive contribution to the quirks in the film. No spoilers.
Watch it. Twice (minimum)
Horizon Line (2020)
Know how to fly a plane? This film will be incredibly painful
If the ability of this couple to deal with a crisis when things go badly is any indication, I think they would be better off not hooking up...as they clearly will, given the way the film is edited at the end.
Any other passenger would have dealt with these two screechy millennials straight away by tying them up, then taking a bearing from the sun and returning.
Simples.
Your Honor (2020)
Tragedy that Shakespeare would have been proud of
Wonderful writing and superb acting (with a few exceptions). Throughout, the viewer is only too aware this cannot end well, yet we are compelled to watch. That's tragedy, pure and - in this case - not so simple. Great plot, exceptional atmosphere and filming.
The Dig (2021)
A great story that needed a better script
The film is packed with acting talent - as an audience member you can almost see the rivets popping as they go for that Award...but, oh dear. The overall experience is far below expectations because there is so little explanation of the importance of the find. The implications of what they found literally changed history.
Who cares if Lily James' character has an affair? It is made painfully obvious why. She plays a character who was Britains's best archaeologist: you wouldn't know it from this storyline.
So much more could have been explained, and we would have loved it. I think they bent time to make Basil (Ralph Fiennes) look heroic, but I am not wholly convinced even after this propaganda. Yes, the British Museum are bullies...but thank goodness Britain has this world class institution.
The Two Popes (2019)
Bring a perfectly laundered handkerchief
This crept up on me. I was not very interested in the storyline, am not
Catholic, and could not see how this would work.
It is fabulous. Beautifully filmed. Exquisitely acted.
By the end I was in floods of tears. 61 yr old bloke tears.
I wager Hopkins or Price will get an Oscar. Pryce, I think.
Highly, highly recommend.
Holmes & Watson (2018)
A unique waste of money - almost
Everyone has said it, so I will not repeat what other's have said: this is a uniquely poor film.
Bad writing
Weak gags
Bad cosmetic surgery (Will Farrell)
The supporting cast do their very best...and probably enjoyed the film's production, although I am told John C Reilly is B.A.C. (look it up)...
...but there is really one feature which is the most painful, for the UK audience - the rubbish British toff accents. Get it right, please God! You have been paid enough.
Dunkirk (2017)
One of the best war movies of all time
Perhaps more emotional for a British audience, admittedly, but this film was gripping in a way that is quite unique. Please see this movie: if only to understand the realities of war, presented in a manner that still (incredibly) allows the film to achieve a 12 Rating. There is no blood, you see. But there is horror. Not manufactured horror, the realisation of what it would have been like to find yourself there, with your badly fitting military clothing, the chilling wind and sea, the time ticking away before the enemy arrive.
The audience doesn't see the enemy. But you hear them. Another remarkable aspect of the film is (quite correctly) conjure the full throated sound of a German machine gun fired in a sleepy town.
I congratulate those who made this movie.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
Sophisticated comedy, wrong love story
Tina Fey is easy to like. She is funny, real and a self-described "solid 9.5" to look at (against a 15 for Margot Robbie, admittedly)
She deserves to do very well with this film, which she carries and produces, and I think it will do very very well.
There is a lot which helps here. Kim Barker's book itself (The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan) was a very good read. The scenery is stunning, and well filmed. The music is excellent.
But...
Martin Freeman, her Scottish Kabul-style temp lover, is just not compelling. Still the Hobbit. Sorry.
Christopher Abbott, playing her translator and handler, is far, far better and deserved the greater attention that character was given in the book.
The Martian (2015)
Ridley: oh dear
Ridley Scott has a superb track record and I have seen nearly all of his films.
I read The Martian and eagerly anticipated the movie.
A strange disappointment. There is so much that is good (landscapes, the cast, much of the science) but the one thing missing, the key ingredient, is tension. The book achieves that by introducing cloud cover as our hero approaches his destination (bringing battery life to a halt) as well as car crashes, electrical failures, communication breakdowns with Earth and much else. Not in the film.
Why not? Was there so much else which needed to go in? Not really. Earth scenes of NASA arguments, news conferences and cheering were hammed up.
Could do better, Sir Ridley - or was that your last film?