Anttell Reviews

Sleepers (1996)

A mixed bag

[6/10 · 5 March 2019]

The first half of the film is really strong and the scene that serves as the transition to the second half (the bar scene) is fantastic. I felt that the the latter half as a whole was a bit of a bubble though: there is a lot of The Count of Monte Cristo (the book that is referenced in the film a lot, check it out if you haven't) -esque revenge build-up but the payoff is a disappointment. For me, there were also slight pacing issues towards the end, along with some tonal choices I wasn't a fan of. Still, I'd say it's a fairly recommendable drama.

Rating: 6/10

Killshot (2008)

Solid stuff

[6/10 · 5 March 2019]

A pretty solid thriller with a problematic production history. Rourke is good (and looks weird as hell as he does these days) as the psychopathic hitman, and we also get to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the verge of his cinematic breakthrough.

Rating: 6/10

Year of the Dragon (1985)

Captain Stanley White reporting for duty

[9/10 · 5 March 2019]

A cigarette smoke filled rich gritty eighties noir, it's the kind of thing that's right up my alley. There are some superb looking action scenes in this one. It's a bit rough around the edges, the screenplay is diverse, even messy but in a good way, and the grainy dvd print just adds to the hazy experience. I'm currently checking out Rourke's films and this just might be the best I've seen.

Rating: 9/10

The Predator (2018)

Disappointing

[4/10 · 23 February 2019]

I've been fairly interested in this one, mainly because of Shane Black, but missed it on it's theater run. My initial feeling of the film was that it tried to be something special, but the end result just wasn't there. I like the bloodiness (even if it's not quite the way I'd prefer), the quirky/comedic/macho comradery, the iconic theme, and altogether the film had a couple of nice moments. But there's still just too much of that bland modern actioner look and I felt it just suffocated a lot of the good underneath it. The first two Predators are known for their distinct looks and atmospheres, this won't be. The screenplay's also quite the mess. So unfortunately this chapter of the Whoopi Goldbergs from outer space isn't going to score many stars from me.

Rating: 4/10

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Emotionally stronger than the first one

[8/10 · 21 February 2019]

The Lego world is under a threat - surging Duplos are causing havoc, but there's something even more sinister in the horizon, something is coming (not winter), something horrible...something horribly girly. President Business' daughter, aka the Sister, has to be stopped, but is everything like it seems...after all, Jeff Daniels said it the best: "This time travel crap, just fries your brain like a egg."

I'll dedicate this messy, pop culture referencing (pretty fitting, right?) text to my sister, love you.

Rating: 8/10

Cold War (2018)

Fantastic

[9/10 · 21 February 2019]

A tragic love story for the ages. The film actually had an interesting effect on me: for the past couple of years I've kind of lost my touch to the idea of true love, but this film left a longing feeling inside me and ignited some of that lost passion. Joanna Kulig as Zula is absolutely mesmerizing, such a photogenic actress, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if she made a Hollywood breakthrough in the coming years now once she's had some international fame.

This is my number one film of 2018 at the moment and it'll in all probability stay that way.

Rating: 9/10

The Favourite (2018)

Wigs...a lot of wigs

[6/10 · 18 February 2019]

I appreciated this more than I actually liked it. An unconventional blend of costume drama and comedy coupled with strong performances and a clever ending which ultimately reveals who wins and who loses or if there even are winners or losers. Emma Stone's kissassery 101 is fun to watch in this Amadeus' (1984) little brother (or sister).

Having said that, for me, the film didn't really have laugh out loud moments, nor did it's cleverness make it to the "awe territory".

Rating: 6/10

Vice (I) (2018)

Fun

[7/10 · 2 February 2019]

Cartoon politics. If you want to see a serious take on the subject this isn't for you. If you want to see Bugs Bunny & co invade the White House and are ready to surrender yourself to wackiness and caricatures, you might really enjoy this, I did.

Ps Gotta love the combination of Marvel horns and Dick Cheney.

Rating: 7/10

Logan (2017)

Bleak stuff

[7/10 · 2 February 2019]

A sharp screenplay, and the film itself is very much unlike any other X-Men film. The third act isn't on par with the rest, but this is a nice acquaintance for sure.

Plus, it features the most badass kid ever.

Green Book (2018)

As Sweet as It Gets

[7/10 · 25 January 2019]

A feel-good movie before anything else, a sweet story with lots of heart. Really wish this kind of a thing would win the Best Picture this year, but it doesn't seem to be in the stars for it. Great chemistry between Ali and Mortensen. Not for cynics.

Rating: 7/10

Roma (2018)

Life's beautiful

[7/10 · 25 January 2019]

I liked Roma. Obviously it looks great, it also has elements of an epic family saga, although it doesn't quite hit that note fully, kinda wish the film would have been longer for a bigger impact in that regard. More importantly Roma has a liberating aura - life's a chaos where undesirable things happen, but in the end you'll survive. For me, the film had the potential to be a grand study of life, but it's more of an essay the way it is, still good.

I've yet to see a masterpiece from Cuaron, but have immense respect for him for tackling different genres - versatility is highly admirable, whether we're talking about directors, actors or film buffs for that matter.

Rating: 7/10

Django (1966)

The D is silent

[7/10 · 21 January 2019]

This spaghetti western was originally banned in several countries due to the graphic nature of some of it's footage, Quentin Tarantino later used is as inspiration for Django Unchained, most obvious similarity between the two films being that they both use Luis Enríquez Bacalov's absolutely terrific song "Django". It's a straightforward story-driven one and a half hour shooting gallery, a close comparable would probably be Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (although it's been ages since watched that). A couple of memorable moments and the soundtrack lift it over the three star fence.

Rating: 7/10

The Mule (2018)

OK

[5/10 · 17 January 2019]

Pretty vanilla all around, nothing really stands out. Having said that, it's good to see Eastwood play the lead role in his own film again, it's been ten years since Gran Torino. He even flashes the famous grimace on at least one occasion. The film is more humorous than I thought it would be, and for me those tongue-in-cheek moments are it's strong suit.

Rating: 5/10

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

There's a lot of good here

[7/10 · 12 January 2019]

Sequel to the philosophical scifi noir masterpiece is a fairly worthy successor - more of a biblical story where as the first one dove deeper into the subject of humanity. Loved the score here, some of the cinematography, and the mostly brief action bursts are done in an impeccable style. Villeneuve was definitely a good fit to direct the film. I would've prefered that there wasn't a link to the original's story and altogether it's not a bullseye of a film for me. It could have been a deeper affair and it sometimes looked too polished, but it's definitely recommendable.

Rating: 7/10

Phantom Thread (2017)

Dynamic duo back at it

[7/10 · 9 January 2019]

This is stylistically probably PTA's most restrained film. It's an exaggerated essay on issues in relationships. A good elegant film but I'd be hesitant to call it more than that, out of PTA's filmography I prefer it only over the mess that was Inherent Vice, although I'm kinda interested to give IV a rewatch. But yeah, great to see Day-Lewis and Anderson reunited.

Rating: 7/10

Split (IX) (2016)

The Beast is loose.

[5/10 · 31 December 2018]

It's alright. Silly, which isn't exactly surprising, but I found it interesting enough, it had some thrills and excitement. Though at some point I was mostly just waiting for the Unbreakable-connection to surface (which turned out to be a bit underwhelming). It's not nearly as good as Shyamalan's earlier work and I also found The Visit to be a lot scarier, but it's ok enough.

Rating: 5/10

Get Out (I) (2017)

Great

[8/10 · 30 December 2018]

At the same time scary and over the top hilarious. Kudos to Peele, will be interesting to see Us.

Rating: 8/10

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Fantastic

[9/10 · 23 December 2018]

An underrated genre-masterpiece. It's been almost 30 years but it doesn't look dated one bit, on the contrary, it looks way better than most of current action.

Fun fact: Renny Harlin uses Finland-references in his movies - here it's the Finlandia hymn that is played during the planes landing.

Merry Christmas!

Mortal Engines (2018)

Go see it!

[7/10 · 7 December 2018]

As far as post-apocalyptic 'hell on wheels' films go, I'll take Mortal Engines before Snowpiercer and Mad Max: Fury Road. Really liked the epic production design in this one.

Rating: 7/10

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Quality

[7/10 · 7 December 2018]

I rewatched most of MCU before Infinity War and after IW was in the books decided to take a little break with Marvels. Feels good to dive into MCU again, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a good one, I'd say better than the first. A lively script, good humour - Ant-Mans are probably the quirkiest films in the series.

Tried to do a ranking of MCU, but it turned out there are just too many films pretty much tied so I'll just list the big three for me at the moment:

Iron Man Spider-Man: Homecoming Avengers: Age of Ultron

Rating: 7/10

Darkman (1990)

Too campy

[5/10 · 5 December 2018]

Raimi's dark/violent superhero-prelude to his Spider-Mans. I liked the ambition here, and the fact that there's clearly an artistic vision of what the film should be. It's also fun to spot some details similar to his later superhero adventures, and there's also tons of good uncompromising eighties stuff some parts of the film remind me of. Unfortunately the film looks cheap on a regular basis which is pretty off-putting and there's some unintentional goofiness involved.

Rating: 5/10

Widows (2018)

McQueen goes thriller

[6/10 · 5 December 2018]

So, Widows... Quick thoughts:

• Not a slam dunk for me, I liked McQueen's last two dramas better, especially Shame which is probably in my top 10 for the decade.
• Still, belongs to the richer half of thrillers thanks to themes surrounding the main plot.
• A well made heist scene.
• A darker Ocean's Eight (terrible comparison, I know)
• Ending feels rushed, wasn't really rewarding, but I liked the last line.
• Thematic similarities to Gone Girl, not nearly as good as a film though.
• Is all around steady, but I felt it never found a higher gear.
• Cynthia Erivo would beat me in arm wrestling.
• I'm officially in love with Elizabeth Debicki
• Expectations I had for the film maybe took away half a star (out of five)

Rating: 6/10

Silence (I) (2016)

Scorsese delivers once again

[8/10 · 27 November 2018]

Such an intelligent film about humanity, faith, power and legends. I feel it was missing the last little touch that would make it a personal favorite of mine, that remains to be seen, but there simply can't have been many films more profound than this since it's release.

Rating: 8/10

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

A real page turner

[8/10 · 26 November 2018]

Reeeaaally liked this one. Six stories from the Wild West that only overlap thematically (life in the West, death). I felt that the second story with James Franco was the weakest here, loved Waits', Neeson's and Kazan's stories. The story that ends the film is also superb, but I think that the real (if I'm right) theme-appropriate meaning is a bit too hidden, it might be easy to see it only as regular Old West folk chitchatting without thinking that there's anything supernatural there despite the strange last couple of minutes. It's early but at the moment I'd say that this is one of my favorites from the Coens. :)

Rating: 8/10

Hell or High Water (II) (2016)

A modern western

[7/10 · 18 November 2018]

A poor man's No Country for Old Men. The first half is pretty meh, but this is a somewhat rare case where the final action scene actually elevates a film considerably and isn't boring as hell - really liked the last half an hour in general. Jeff Bridges is good, although maybe some more variety in his characters' mannerisms from time to time wouldn't hurt.

Rating 7/10