nphilip21 Reviews

City on a Hill (2019–2022)

Kevin Bacon is so good

[9/10 · 27 April 2021]

Watched season one and quite enjoyed it. Watched five episodes of season two now and I'm really hooked.

It get's better and better.

Kevin Bacon is really, really good. Great acting.

Good story. Quite a lot of interesting characters.

Definately worthwile.

Tuntematon sotilas (2018–2019)

Very, very good - must watch for fans of WW2-material

[9/10 · 6 July 2020]

1941, the finnish army is on the offensive.

A year after fighting a legendary war against the invading russians, the finns take to the offensive as Nazi Germany and the axis powers invade USSR in the largest invasion in the history of the world.

We follow the finnish army pushing into Russia and then follow the same troops as they retreat back towards Finland three years later.

The action is very good, the character developement is very good, the acting is very good.

At times it's moving, grizzly and even slightly absurd.

This is basically Band of Brothers on the russian/finnish front.

Very good.

Watch it!

Tiger King (2020–2021)

Absolute baffling - and fantastic

[10/10 · 27 March 2020]

I just had to leave a review here.

I very rarely do, but I need to tell anyone who's in here trying to figure out if Tiger King is worth while: IT IS!

Just do it.

This is up there with Making a murderer,The Jinx etc.

I just could not believe what I was watching. An absolutely fantastic series of programmes that leaves you wanting more, more, more.

This was great. Pure and simple. Unforgettable. Stayed with me for dayes.

Joe Exotic and the world around him is nuts.

Britannia (2017–2021)

Ignore crazy reviews - this is good!

[9/10 · 20 January 2018]

If you havn't seen the series yet and have come on here to see the reviews, please don't take any notice of the absurd amount of negativity on this board. At the moment this has got a 6,6 rating. Absolutely criminal. This should at least be an 8.

The main problem here is that people - and certain media - are watching this and and asking the question: is this the new Game of Thrones? No, it's not - and then people get dissapointed and thrash it.

This series is good in it's own right. Good acting all way round, quite an interesting plot, very nicely shot. If you're into series that take place in a historical setting I reckon most people will like this.

Basically you get straight into it - the Romans arrive in England 44 AD and it takes off from there. My wife and I are enjoying this and we're huge Game of Thrones fans and are very into Vikings as well.

Give this a shot. Peel away all the predujice. Ignore the lazy critics and over the top reviews on here. Don't listen to the idiotic debate of historical accuracy. I have a masters degree in History and still understand that tv series are allowed a certain element of artistic freedom.

Give it a go. I reckon most people will enjoy this.

The Death of Stalin (2017)

A great political satire

[8/10 · 21 December 2017]

Watched this at the cinema last night and although I was looking forward to it and was expecting it to be good I was still pleasantly surprised.

Firstly: the actors all put in very believable and impressive performances. A joy to behold. Secondly: the plot is as intruiging as it is funny and really keeps you glued to the screen. Thirdly: this made me laugh out loud at least five times during it's run-time. You know: the sort of laughs you just can't hold back even if you try.

In essence this is a very dark film that makes light of the crimes against humanity all these people were actually guilty of comitting. Some people might find it offensive that they are portrayed as quite funny and engaging characters. But I think Iannucci does such a good job reminding the audience of the nature of these people that he keeps a balance and really succeeds with this movie.

Very enjoyable. One of the best movies of the year. I really enjoyed this - and if you like whitty dialogue, good acting and an intelligently unfolded plot - you will too.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)

Goes slightly down the tubes

[6/10 · 27 November 2015]

Although semi-enjoyable and a solid, albeit very predictable end to the franchise, The Hunger Games more or less goes drastically down the tubes in these last two installments (in reality one movie).

One of the biggest reasons for me liking the first and second movies where the surprisingly small amount of cheesy, silly moments that could be expected in a teenage-style movie. They had nerve, surprising plot-twists and where refreshingly brutal - both graphically and emotionally.

These last two installments get increasingly cheesy as we go along. The quite compelling actor that is Jennifer Lawrence (loved her work in Winters Bone, Silver Linings Playbook and especially American Hustle - she nailed that) gets reduced to a child-actor in a lot of scenes and looks surprisingly ordinary. This isn't entirely her fault though - some of the scenes and lines she's forced to do are simply cringe worthy! Also, although the Hunger Games-films understandably get more and more serious and develop into a full scale critique of the world powers and a somewhat philosophical film about society as a whole, it sort of ruins the fun a bit. The movies simply get ordinary, slightly irritating and flat in a weird way.

The ending is amateurish. It sort of underlines how far this thing has fallen since the first movie was released.

Despite all this I'd definitely recommend seeing this if you're a Hunger Games-fan. I don't know about paying to watch it in the cinema, but watch it and then quickly get on with your life!

The Salvation (2014)

Intense and unforgiving

[8/10 · 23 May 2014]

Saw this on premiere-night in Denmark and left the cinema relieved and with a smile on my face. Director Kristian Levring delivers a very believable, dark and uncompromising western set in a very classic western atmosphere.

The story is straightforward and although it moves along slowly at times (fast paced at others), it's quite intense and is generally beautifully shot.

If you're going for a feel good movie, this is not it, but if you like classic westerns, you'll enjoy it.

Mads Mikkelsen and Mikael Persbrandt deliver solid performances as the danish brothers Jon and Peter who've emigrated to America after fighting the Germans in the danish/German war of 1864. But for me, Eva Green steals the show as the mute Madelaine (princess). She has a very mystical and powerful presence and leaves you wondering, wanting more.

All in all a very enjoyable picture that is a great testament to how far danish cinema has come. This is quite uncharacteristic for a typical danish movie, but Levring really pulls it off and I think any lover of westerns will find this a solid addition to the batch of quality westerns in the past 10 years (The Proposition, 3:10 to Yuma, True grit, Django Unchained etc.) It doesn't quite reach those levels, but it's close and it's enjoyable.