Change Your Image
Garrrry1234
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Sundown (2021)
As confusing as it is interesting.
Really difficult to say whether this is worth watching or not. With an ending as convoluted and confusing as the rest of the film yet a myriad of questions and interesting quirkiness it's really hard to recommend watching this as much as it is to give it a miss.
I like the fact that it eventually shows the grittiness and danger of South America to foreigners rather than painting it as a picture of paradise that a lot of movies portray. It quickly goes from showing the friendly staff and glamour of five star living in Acapulco to the seedier and much more deadly reality of existance there not only if your foreign but if your foreign and rich enough to attract the attention of criminals.
I liked the fact that your kept guessing what exactly Neil is doing abandoning his family at such a crucial moment. Is it his wife and kids? Is he severely depressed and no longer caring for anything? Is he a good person or a terrible person? This, and the fact it's all happening in such a precarious setting as Acapulco, it's beaches, it's seedy Motels and it's jails is what is most interesting about the movie.
What I didn't like was the fact that nothing is quite explained and nobody, not one character acts like a normal human being would ever act in similar circumstances.
At not time does Neil ever act like a human being with feelings. In fact with the exception of when he is told his sisters been murdered and the scene where he is signing over the business to his Niece and Nephew does he show any human emotion whatsoever. Is this because of his cancer? It mentions its in his frontal lobe so may be an explanation, but who knows because it's not made clear at all.
The fact he picks up and starts a relationship with a pretty shop girl by barely talking. Showing no emotion and pretty much silently woo'ing this girl onto the beach, into her heart and into his bed with no charisma, no communication and no desire to do anything but get drunk on the beach each day is a mystery. Is that the point? That she didn't actually care about him and was so poor even living with him in the state he was in was better than the little she had without him? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Then there's the ending. An ending without an ending. Neil walks off from the hospital, leaving the shop girl behind and it cuts to a single chair looking over an unrecognisable beach that we hadn't seen before from a room we hadn't seen before. Is this his room? Is this where he died alone? Who knows, because it's not explained!
Frustrating stuff really.
Them (2021)
Much better than anything Jordan Peele has put out
It was only when I read a few reviews that stated 'Them' is only similar to a Jordan Peele production in that its shot similarly but is far superior that I decided to try this out. They were right in every way.
While based around racism just like Peele and shot masterfully Little Marvin gives us a realistic, mich more layered and complex while simultaenously horrifying and far less ridiculous offering than Peele ever has.
If you were too watch only the first one or two episodes you might be forgiven for thinking that 'Them' was going to be yet another series that spreads hatred of whites at every turn while portraying any black character, their motives and their lifestyle as purely angelic compared to the white devils they are attacked by at every turn. And this is exactly how it starts. You are almost bored by the repetitive nature of the fantasy Peele continously puts out in his films and this seemed like it was going to be no different.
But persevere. It gets so much better for fans of good horror and dark, foreboding and terrifyingly fun TV series. It got so good we were comparing it to the first few seasons of American Horror Story. Excellent stuff.
Dark, sickening and yet layered story telling at its finest. The only let down for me was the final episode because I wasn't too happy with the way they wrapped it up after such a deeply disturbing build up. Some might like it though. If not, true horror fans will thoroughly enjoy the majority of this series.
The Oak Room (2020)
No explanation whatsoever
Your going to sit through an hour and a half of movie with slightly interesting storytelling (and when I say slightly I mean 'ever' so slightly because no one story is ever more than a filler. And no single story is more interesting than the other). Only to end with no concrete explanation of what it's about or why the slightly interesting happenstance's even occurred.
Its poor storytelling when the viewer is left having to 'make up' interesting scenario's of why something happened in a movie just to make the movie more interesting than it actually was.
The amount of reviews on this site where people have had to conjure up and theorise a reason why Stevie was there to tell the story? Or what he found in the basement? Or who this Thomspon character was exactly? When the movie itself doesn't actually explain any of it, let alone provide evidence to confirm any of these theories proves this is exactly what this movie is. An annoying movie with no ending or reason provided for the viewer leaving it up to them to 'make up' an ending they think is the best ending all for a reason of their choosing.
I know right, like a re-making of yet another bad art film where the pretentious writer thinks it's in someway profound for the viewer to 'decide for themselves' and wins them a bunch of pretentious arthouse awards decided upon by a bunch of equally pretentious art critics who all do so well patting each other on the back and giving each other awards while only the docile and the equally pretentious clap for them all and everyday viewers cringe.
The settings are OK. The atmosphere is OK. The acting is OK. The storytelling is not horrible just goes nowhere and leaves you wanting answers. All of it adds up to about a 5 out of 10.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell (2020)
Has no idea what it wants to be
The entire time your watching this you are continously interpreting and then re-evaluating what the movie, or its underlying message, is all about.
While this might be the drawcard for fans of this type of cerebral and convoluted writing. Other viewers will more than likely remain frustrated, confused, exhausted and outright annoyed at the seemingly endless demolition of what the viewer could naturally consider to be the ultimate goal of the movie.
Every time you think you have it figured out your proven wrong. If you think its a movie about the dangers of drugs. Your wrong. If you think it's a movie about a horrible tragedy occurring and the characters ommiting it from their memory in order to cope with the guilt. Your wrong. If you think it's about mental illness. Your wrong. If you think it's about alternate realities colliding. Your wrong. If you think it's a love story about finding happiness in any situation with your one true soul mate. Your wrong.
Turns out it's about all of these messages yet none of them at the same time. Who really knows because none of its really explained in any detailed or coherent manner. None of the writing is ever very clear. None of the acting is especially good enough for the viewer to be able to forget their frustration because they're so taken by any form of spectacular writing or acting throughout the entire confusing experiment.
And this isn't even the most frustrating part of the movie. Because it turns out in the end that the main character doesn't even take advantage of the alternate realities in any way that would satisfy most viewers by ensuring he spends his life with the one he loves for example, or ensuring he achieves a life of comfort through his art etc. But instead the protagonist chooses to stay in the life he's so miserable in yet with a slightly higher degree of happiness due to the fact he isn't living in a drug fazed fugue state that he was originally in. How unimaginative, boring and cowardly can you get. I mean, his ultimate reality didn't even have him promoted to a higher level within the mundane workplace his original reality had him in. He was literally still reporting to the same person and presenting the same quarterly statistics as he originally was, Albeit, in a clearer and more positive manner because he wasn't living in a haze. How much more dissapointing and sad could an ending get? Really?
The Stranger (2022)
Dark and disturbing Aussie masterpiece
One of the best Aussie films I've ever seen. It literally fills you with dread from the very beginning. Painting a hopeless and dark picture of both the criminal element within Australia and the dark, distasteful, heartwrenching and relentless job our Police Officers deal with in their daily duties.
The fact that the Director hides the hideous crimes of the lead character and ultimate purpose of the entire premise of the movie in such plain sight while still unclear until well into the movie is just great writing.
That the viewer is left sickened and aghast for the characters within it at the realisation of what this person had done, and what the characters had been subjecting themselves to in order to catch him once that premise is slowly revealed is an absolute masterpiece of storytelling.
Superb acting. A foreboding and unwaveringly desolate storytelling. This is just superb.
Mr. Mercedes (2017)
Wholly overated and shockingly bad.
Honestly, the most dissapointing thing about Mr Mercedes is how much everyone talked it up as "brilliant" and how "smart" it was when in reality it's just ridiculous.
Im shocked by how many reviews actually claim anyone who doesn't rate this show well is somehow stupid while they completely fail to comprehend how poor the writing is on this show. It's got to be some form of bad joke. Is it?
The only way the series from the very first episode even progresses at all is if you choose to accept that detectives in the state of Ohio are the most undertrained and stupid people on the planet with absolutely no ethics whatsoever and even worse crime fighting skills.
Every cliche is at hand. From the grumpy drunk ex detective with a heart of gold. To the kid with a magnificent future ahead of him somehow happy to be around him. Theres the spoilt daughter with an alchohol and drug problem. Theres the multiple woman who are somehow attracted to an overweight drunk that's horrible at his job and unable to have a single conversation without swearing, threatening someone or just failing to express even the most profoundly important facts that a serial killer is stalking and tormenting him.
This in itself is one of the most mind boggling travesties in the writing. There's of course the friends around him who don't believe him about the stalking and contact a serial killer has made despite his past history of being the lead detective on the case. Nope, he's just imagined it.
Then there's the new lead detectives on the case who just so happens to be one of his best friends who also dont believe him despite this being the first real bit of evidence and possible contact made with a serial killer that slaughtered and killed 16 people two years prior. Nope, they turn him away aswell. Good friends and superb detectives indeed.
This all could be set aside as reasonable given that the main character fails so miserably in presenting any form of coherent argument to even his 'so called' friends let alone anyone of importance (keep in mind that this is supposedly a detective of some 30 years who would have been required to not only present himself proffesionally but also constructively argue and provide coherent evidence in a court of law).
But even the slightly intelligent has a good understanding that unless they live in some third world dystopian nightmare or somehow travelled back to a period in time where policing was so haphazard that being given viable information about an ongoing serial killer investigation from the ex lead detective on a case would somehow be ignored there is absolutely no way your falling for this level of inept storytelling. Its truly a case of a suspension of belief.
The detective skills on show by both the main character and the dumbest and laziest pair of detectives still working in what must be the most forgiving of police departments in the world is but one aspect of the abysmal writing your going to be subjected to if you choose to partake in this mess. I will only quickly mention how utterly ridiculous his friends are. How disgustingly misogynistic it was to watch an attractive and young Mary Louise Parker apparently fall head over heals for an obese and sloppy drunk for no good reason or how stereotyped and contrived the serial killer and every character involved in 'his' life were.
There's truly so much wrong here that I could go on forever. These are just some of the obvious gaping holes and therefore easiest ones to mention. Given that the majority of reviews claim the first season that I just watched is the only good season I suggest you avoid this nonsense unless your really really bored and want to laugh at how stupid it all is.
Tales from the Loop (2020)
Not for everyone dystopian journey
As titled, this series isn't for everyone but for those that enjoy watching anything that centres around cold war era socialist type dystopia's and the nature of people in these situations will most likely love this.
It is slow. Sometimes, painfully. But the reward is that its also sometimes exhilarating, awesome in possibility and scenery and then horrifying at times in its cruelty, lack of humanity and, if your able to watch it to the end, the immense sadness of the final episode.
And that's what makes this worthwhile in my opinion. The emotion each scene causes, the depressive realism of people who have been raised and taught it seems to hide and stimmy every emotion they possess. The seemingly endless possibilities within this world of advanced machinery combined with a backdrop of what seems to be soviet style late 70's to early 80's technology that never advances despite the large spanse of years the series story plays out in. And as mentioned the horror of these never ending possibilities that as harmless in intention as they are, often prove to be brutally catastrophic to the main character and those around them.
Love it or hate it, tales from the loop is worth watching atleast once just to see whether this type of series effects you the way it does others. While it was a struggle sometimes, the rewards far outweighed the time spent watching it.
Final Space (2018)
Brilliant first season 10/10, horrible second season 1/10.
Aaargh, it's so hard to write this review given how great the first season was and how awesome it was compared to the disaster that is it's second season.
The first season was just great. With superb character development focusing on the relationship Gary has with each of the shows characters that all have complex, believable and most importantly, interesting backgrounds that you want to know more about while they turn from being mere strangers into a group of people who will do anything for each other.
Combine this with excellent writing and a great soundtrack, you got an animated masterpiece that most people loved.
The second season is what you get when a new group of writers take over, understanding nothing about the characters and why people love them. A group of writers who merely read the synopsis on each character, watched one episode, misunderstood the entire reason why it has such a solid following and convinced themselves that they could do it better by changing every aspect of what makes it great.
It really is that bad. Gross out humour has replaced intelligent humour. Incoherent storylines with no clear path of rhyme or reason replaces smart, story driven coherent and purposeful episodes. And vapid, uninteresting and expendable characters replace lovable and necessary people you want to learn more about.
Seriously, the characters are so polar opposite to what they were in the first season compared to the second that they weren't even recognisable as from the same universe. Season 2 is what anyone with intelligence dislikes about the majority of animated series. They're just noise, chaos and anarchy with sound bites of adult humour thrown in that just results in white noise. Completely empty and 100% expendable.
I'd still recommend watching season 1 atleast. If you love it like most did. Do yourself a favour and don't even try season 2 so that you don't have to experience the pain we all just did.
Titans (2018)
Season 1 is nothing short of epic!
Just starting to watch Season 2 now but the ending of Season 1 alone has prompted me to put my two cents in.
Im going to have investigate further on IMDB to see what else the writers have been involved in because this season was just great story telling in my opinion.
Everything has been written as it should. From the dark noir universe that anyone who is a DC fan knows and loves, to the equally dark backgrounds of each character that remain unstimied by the 'feel good' nature of their competitors in the Marvel universe.
Each character has been written so that you learn to love them for their suffering and ability to persevere through dark and deeply emotional ordeals in a convincingly realistic bad world.
The best thing, keeping true to the DC world they're more than willing to hurt, break, torture and kill anyone that tries to hurt them or the rest of the group. This is exaclty why adults watch DC and children are entertained by Marvel. They're polar opposites.
Add to this that Hank is perfectly cast and acted. Dick is yet again just some great casting. Even Donna as timid as she seems is a genuine threat when she gets serious.
If this isn't enough for you to atleast give season 1 a look then know that the final episode was some of the best tv I've seen in years, rivaling even the great writing of the latest Batman trilogy. Without too much of a spoiler you need to watch it just to see Batman in all of his anger filled glory absolutely destroying people to the point where you genuinely fear for his victims. Like I said, epic!