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nickburman
Reviews
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
Batman/Bond/Yawn
After a promising start (although the sequence of events glossed over necessary details making you wonder what just happened!) it quickly plummeted into incredulity and cliches. The dark, overly sadistic criminal, predictable results of impossible events and nameless/faceless victims make it feel and often look like a marvel comic book farce. Idris is better than this, and the original Luther proves it, but there is no humanity, creativity or grit to hold the attention of anyone with an ounce of empathy or intelligence. Save yourself and your evening by watching ANYThing else. If you've watched any thriller from the last ten years you know what's going to happen and I can guarantee you can guess the ending.
Why did they film this?! Ugh.
Suspicion (2022)
Good start and then flopped
After a strong start the writers seemed to have dug themselves into an ever twisting plot and wrapped it up with a weak, preachy diatribe about telling the truth and climate change. I was really enjoying the first six episodes then the story got more and more incredulous. Why was someone sitting in the middle of a crime scene talking to a recent murder victim (the police were outside)? Why did one of the suspects run off with someone who had admitted guilt? Why was the crowd chanting for so long after the kidnappers needs were met? It all got a bit much and the plot unraveled too quickly.
Save yourself and don't bother. The ending is not worth sitting through eight episodes!
God's Not Dead (2014)
Bad PR
What a deplorable excuse for a film! With terrible acting, cheesy script and an incredulous plot, the only people wanting to watch this would be the choir to which it is preaching.
With this as an example of how the church sees people outside of the church, why would anyone want to go?
I really can't believe they made three sequels.
Angela Black (2021)
Awful. Dull.
There was nothing in the first two episodes to convince me I needed to waste more of my life with this. The characters have no depth, the acting is shallow and the plot about as suspenseful as paint drying.
The Nest (2020)
NOTHING HAPPENED!
I mean nothing.
They moved. An animal dies. Rory says sorry.
That's it.
Of COURSE the acting is brilliant. They're great actors and I wouldn't expect anything less. But there's more to a film than acting. This was nothing more than a thinly veiled theme that could be summed up as a moralistic one liner.
Spare yourself two hours of boredom and watch paint drying instead.
tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
Cheese
A musical about a musical featuring fake rock music to try to sound rocky. Ugh. The cringey music missed the mark so badly that it made the film unwatchable. If you're going to play rock, at least understand the roots of the genre and make it authentic. Simply adding distorted guitar sounds to a tune doesn't make it rock!!
Skip this if you like music.
La casa de papel (2017)
Got really dull really quickly
Shallow, predictable characters didn't hold my interest for very long. After a few episodes I couldn't care less if they succeeded or all got blown up. That is always my rule of thumb - if I stop caring about the characters, I'm out. There's no artistic merit, lots of silly scenes that make no sense, and a lead character who is meant to be creepy and chilly but instead spouts nonsense without any insight.
Clearly, there were ideas ripped off from Inside Man. Watch that instead. Clive Owen is brilliant!
Should have ended in Episode 4!
Mare of Easttown (2021)
Dull. As. Dishwater.
While I can admit that Kate Winslet can be considered "amazing!!!!", you need more than one performance to carry along a story with any interest or intrigue. This story has little traction, no variety or contrast and the only driving force encouraging any sort of momentum is the murder mystery. After all the boredom, I really don't care who did it. Maybe it was the crazy guy who lives in the woods. Maybe it's the cop's Dad. I couldn't care less. And that is the fault of the writing for not giving me any space to interpret, think or be engaged.
While the characters are believable (which should be a given), I don't find that I care about any of them. They're all ordinary, and not in an intriguing way!
After watching I feel like I've lived there too. And I'm as bored as all the other residents who are dying to get out and live their lives somewhere worthwhile.
I wish I could get a refund... thanks Amazon.
The Woman in the Window (2021)
Great start that went downhill.
With such a good cast, how could anything go wrong?
It started out with intrigue and suspense. After a while, I figured there were only two ways this could go - I won't spoil it, if you're into that kind of thing - and naturally, it did go one of those two ways. However, the real disappointment was the sudden fight scene that I've probably seen a thousand times before. The ending was completely unnecessary and veered into a quasi horror/90's suspense thing. It could have ended a scene earlier and the story would have been complete.
I haven't read the book and reviewed it as a film. If your'e bored, watch it. Just don't expect to have your paradigms shifted or your views of modern cinematography changed in any way. It's a simple, predictable piece of ...er... cinema.
The Dig (2021)
A nice nap.
Being from Suffolk I thought this would be an interesting story about Sutton Hoo. I love long, slow films (There Will Be Blood for example) but The Dig just didn't have enough content to make it worth the stay. In 2 hours they dig a mound, find treasure (we get a glimpse of a couple of golden unidentified objects) and give it to the museum. That's it. I suppose the pathetically weak romantic subplot involving two minor characters was an attempt to add momentum. The other main draw was apparently the dialect coach who helped Fiennes. Great.
If you want scenery, go for a drive. If you want to know anything about Sutton Hoo, visit Wikipedia. If you want romance, watch Bridges of Maddison Country (if you must). Otherwise, you'll learn nothing and experience little, but hopefully have a nice nap with The Dig.
Even the title is dull.
Inheritance (2020)
Rubbish!
What a terrible film. The female lead is ridiculous and melodramatic, making unreasonable choices and unbelievable dialogue. As a DA you would think she could withstand the darker side of humanity, but she seemed to have little fortitude of any kind. She regularly walked through scenes gasping for air, with that corny furrowed brow that you usually see in teen horrors as the unwitting tiptoe through the graveyard.
Predictable, with shallow characters and a plot that made you wonder who you were rooting for. I just wanted it to be over, I didn't care who won in the end - they were ALL monsters!
Save your money and time and watch Run Fat Boy Run instead. Or socks drying in front of the fire. Anything but this drivel!
The Irishman (2019)
Long? I didn't notice the time.
Don't be put off by reviewers who were bored or thought the movie was too long. They probably prefer Star Wars. The Irishman is full of fascinating characters, great storytelling and brilliant performances. This movie is a classic. The subtleties and nuance make it a pleasure to watch. Don't think about the length, just walk right in to Scorsese's world and enjoy.
Dark River (2017)
Is it over yet?
The weak story line was saved from drowning in the sea of sweeping landscape shots by the strong and convincing acting, but still ended up as challenging and thought provoking as a damp paper bag. Half way through, after having my patience stretched, I was willing for the end (either of the world or the film, I wouldn't have minded which) to come quickly. It didn't.
Dull. Dull. Dull.
Whiplash (2014)
A very VERY dangerous message.
If you think that bullying, shouting and verbally abusing people who look up to you, hang on your every word and depend on you for their career is the best way to motivate them, you will love this film.
Whiplash comprises scenes of Fletcher yelling incessantly at students, sometimes causing them to cry. But he doesn't just raise his voice at people who have committed atrocities (unless you think that playing 2bpm too slow or too fast is tantamount to a war crime). His abuse knows no bounds, including homophobic slurs, familial insults and long strings of pathetic adjectives. And he just does not stop.
Why does he do this? Apparently it's to get young impressionable and desperate musicians to be the very best that they could be, and without which the world would be deprived of another genius. He claims the same motivation that spurred Charlie Parker to greatness would work for anyone. Of course, the story he quoted was largely false and grossly exaggerated to make his own point. (Parker had a cymbal thrown at his feet, NOT at his head "nearly decapitating him").
At no point in the film is Fletcher reprimanded for his behaviour, despite it being cited as an underlying cause of a student's suicide. Even at the very end, Andrew's smile is seen as condoning the treatment because the end justified the means. This is a very dangerous message.
Since the verbal abuse is the main point of the film, you have to accept it to enjoy the film at any level.
The very idea that abuse is encouraging in any way or brings out the best of anyone at any time and in any profession, let alone in the arts, is absolutely ludicrous. As a musician for many years, I have yet to come across anyone who has been thankful for being abused by their mentor or teacher.
If this film was made sixty years ago, when people were less sensitive to these issues, I could understand the flawed plot. But in 2014, the idea that the abuser could get away with his crimes at such length is ludicrous.
The message this film contains is abhorrent and the handling of it in poor taste. If you want to watch a film about up and coming artists and the creative spirit, look elsewhere. Anywhere but at Whiplash.
By the way, I bought the DVD to watch this, which will go straight in the bin. (1 out of 10? That's far too generous).