aapple2001 Reviews

Don't Read This on a Plane (2020)

Patchy

[4 September 2021]

Good eye candy with the variety of locations, the music is off-putting, there are flashes of entertaining writing and the frequency of poor acting is frustrating.

Ultimately this film is unsatisfying.

Pig (I) (2021)

A rewarding slow-burner.

[4 September 2021]

The commonality of loss and many forms and layers of love and sublime passion are the elements of this finely crafted movie. The more I think about this film, the more depth it has.

3 Women (II) (2020)

Did not engage me at all.

[4 September 2021]

The stated budget is $30,000 and it shows.

The movie looks and sounds like a student film from the first year class.

I could not get further than the first 6 1/2 minutes.

Wooden acting, poor audio, contrived blocking, undisciplined editing and amateur camera work.

Maybe it improves after 6 1/2 minutes but I was not hanging around to find out.

Dickshark (2016)

There's a vision with a certain charm, but ......

[9 March 2021]

I have mixed impressions about this title.

Production is cheap. Lighting and cinematography are dreadful. The pace is glacial, the editing frustrating, and why oh why so much slo-mo?

There's a lot of female nudity, and all the actors are obviously there for the love of it because no-one is taking themselves, the nudity or the film too seriously. They can't even suppress their mirth at times. I can forgive the cheap props, gratuitous boob shots and micro-budget film-making because the ideas expressed are quite high-brow.

Others are complaining about the dialogue. It initially comes across as silly stuff, what seems to be many ad libs, off on tangents and probably a lot was shot in one take. There are gaps in the dialogue, the actors break eyeline, look at the camera or over to where I suspect the script is available to be read off camera. The script is at times frustrating and could have been shot and edited much, much better.

But the thing that surprised me within the eccentric dialogue are the observations and commentary on modern society, such as myths and clichés accepted as fact, the poor discipline in modern education and then, importantly, the call-back to a classic by Mary Shelley.

**Ding!** Dick is a modern Victor Frankenstein, destroyed by his own power and one of his own creations. The dialogue up to that moment has reflected Shelley's themes on the uneducated and the use of knowledge for good or evil. Does Dick even consider science for good or bad, or is the pursuit of science its own reward, as well as an excuse for fondling breasts?

High brow conversation and low brow visuals.

Is this porn? No, female nudity is not porn, besides which there are no male actor's bits seen on the screen. "Dickshark" is a direct descendant of the monster-nudie and nudie-cuties of the 60's. Remember Francis Ford Coppola's first couple of movies - "The Bellboy and the Playgirls" and "Tonight for Sure"? Who could foresee "The Godfather" series or "Apocalypse Now" from those nudie-cutie origins?

I make note of a few minutes dedicated to music credits at the end. I respect Bill Zebub's effort here of one artist promoting other collaborating artists. But Bill, if you read this, please get a fresh pair of eyes to check your spelling before delivering the final product. Mistakes abound!

In summary, if you can endure the glacial pace and many shortcomings in the craft of film-making evident in "Dickshark" there is a high concept running underneath all the boob shots and ridiculous props. .....and it pays to know Mary Shelley's writing.

Joan of Arc (II) (2019)

No passion

[2 March 2021]

Anyone who is knowledgeable about the history of Jeanne the maid of Lorraine will be puzzled by this torpid representation of her ordeal.

The casting is baffling. A 10 year old plays Jeanne, who was 19. The wonderful Fabrice Luchini, a man in his late 60's, plays King Charles, a man in his mid 20's. Apart from Luchini, most of the cast are dreadfully wooden. The camera work is perfunctory at best. The first 40 minutes is excruciatingly slow and shot mostly in sand dunes near the English Channel / La Manche. We are expected to suspend disbelief enough to imagine this variously represents the vicinity just outside Paris or in the garden of the Château de la Trémouille. A battle scene consists of about two dozen cast on horseback performing an equine dance routine. The dialogue appears to be straight from a play this film was based on. Exposition by announcing characters as we watch them trudge through the sand is amateurish beyond belief. The editor must have been high when this section of the film was cut. Incredibly long passages of nothing happening.

I gave up around the 35 minute mark, and a day later was about to write a review when I thought to be fair I should watch the movie in its entirety first and try to fathom how it achieved the awards it received. So I sat and watched the rest.

Around the 40 minute mark the locations shift to inside Amiens cathedral which provides some photographic interest and gradually the dialogue picks up. I assume the dialogue is from Jeanne's trial. Towards the end of the film, Jeanne's prison in Rouen is a WWII bunker in the middle of nowhere.

The budget for this film is supposedly EUR1,500,000. I can't see what it was spent on. The money would have been better spent shooting the stage play with no other pretensions.

'Cahiers du Cinéma' named Jeanne (Joan of Arc) the 5th best film of 2019. I assume they only saw 5 films. The French film industry is better than this.

This film has a certain look and feel which can be described as cheap and tedious. So don't bother with this one. You will only be exasperated that you wasted over 2 hours for nothing.

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Bound to be a classic of the genre

[21 January 2020]

Not being a rev-head I did not know what to expect, but Le Mans '66 / Ford v Ferrari was a wonderful surprise. The story behind Caroll Shelby the man and his relationship with Ford and the racing team is great drama. This is a film full of great acting, well directed, flawless cinematography that varies from beautiful to exciting, with a perfect sound track and absolutely brilliant editing. There is a lot of depth and emotional range in the interactions of all the characters.

Marriage Story (2019)

Not bad, certainly not excellent

[20 January 2020]

For those that have not gone through a divorce it is a challenge to connect or empathise with the characters. Personally I did not care for any of them. The acting is good, and I get that those who once were in love and are now divorcing will say some horrible things, and lawyers will go for the jugular to leverage a result, but I found some scenes seemed forced such as the heated argument in Charlie's apartment. For example accusations resembling fathers and mothers came out of nowhere. There was nothing that set this up. There's nothing particularly innovative about this film. The cinematography and editing is perfunctory, nothing special about the soundtrack, wardrobe set design etc but there are many nods to the stage for those looking for something a bit deeper. MARRIAGE STORY was nominated for Best Film category and therefore I expected a lot more than was delivered.

The Morning Show (I) (2019– )

Strong story arc and superb cast

[13 January 2020]

On the recommendation from a friend I started looked in to this series. I incorrectly assumed from the cast list it was a comedy. Instead I was drawn into a well crafted drama. The nuances depicting different facets of a conflict avoids preaching, plus all the intrigue and twists over the first season, superbly directed, shot and edited kept me totally engaged. The cast is a revelation of new depth from the leads best known for their comedy.

I look forward to season two.

Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

self-indulgent and pointless waste

[5 August 2016]

A film with no plot, no drama, no conflict, a comedy with no laughs, filled with male characters I couldn't care less about, female characters only there for eye candy and sex, and there's a sappy "Frontiers are where you find them" attempt at philosophy in the final scene.

So boring the characters themselves fall asleep at the end. By the way, that was the spoiler.

Maybe if you like early 80's music and hair styles, and people in their late 20's and early 30's pretending to be be 10 years younger while wearing shorts there's something for you. Otherwise don't be fooled by all the good reviews this title received. This movie goes nowhere and then the credits roll.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" is a waste of time.