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Singularity (2017)
Utter nonsense
Seriously, this film was an amateur attempt at film making using a script that must have been written for complete idiots.
John Cusack, might be a well known and respected actor must he be damned embarrassed with the result of this film. Even he couldn't pull any of this film into order.
After we initially learn about humanity fate, it goes goes from bad to worse. The script must have been thrown together by a machine. The script lacks fluidity and appears to have been patched together with a rusty needle, nothing feels coherent.
None of the actors gave anything other than amateur performances, providing neither sentiment or credibility but then again they were using poorly written text, were poorly directed and they had to deal with a terrible story-line.
This was pure torture, from beginning to end..
Rogue One (2016)
Lacks both depth and humour
I have always enjoyed the Star Wars series, especially 4, 5, 6 and was really looking forward to see what Disney could do..
Unfortunately, I found a film that severely lacked what George Lucas et al created...
I honestly got the feeling that the producers simply looked back through the previous films and made a note about what they thought were the best sequences, rearranged into a pseudo script, hired some new faces and started rolling film....
So many of the scenes were simply re-cuts from the originals, OK I understand that the story line had to find some similarities but this was just a dreadful remix....
The original Star Wars characters all had depth, they had soul and above all they had humour. Again Rogue One lacked in all of these domains. The characters were flat, it was impossible to feel their ambitions and they severely lacked humour which was Omni-present in the originals...
The graphics were excellent, the film was of very high production standards but it felt unstitched, it felt amateur, it sorely lacked the pace and excitement that the originals developed.
Hans Solo was a hero, Luke Skywalker grew from a boy into a man, C3P0 and R2D2 had soul, there was action and tension between the principal characters, where was all of this in Rogue One.... nowhere to be found....
It just felt like a slightly above average B series... I do not understand the great reviews, unless if course they are in comparison to the 1,2 and 3 episodes...
I really wanted to enjoy this film but simply came away feeling very unimpressed, it felt more like a marketing adventure rather than a serious attempt to make a good film
Sherlock Holmes (2010)
Painful to say the least
Quite simply, this film was painful from the beginning to the end.
Did the Director not actually review this film.
Many of the other reviews have already noted that the acting was terrible, the plot was ridiculous, the direction was abominable and I could go on for ever.
Seriously the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, unless we are talking comedy or satire, is complex and requires skill from both the Directors, Screen Writers and the actor. This film portrays neither from either of the roles, not one iota of skill ......
Simply put, this is a terrible film.. I really don't want to knock on anyone but this was just terrible...
Love (2015)
Intimacy as it can be, although not for all
This is definitely not a film that will appeal to all. Some of the scenes are in fact very graphic but what they portray is not porn....
For anyone that has lived through some of the scenes in this film it will be very easy to understand why they were included. This film portrays life as it is for some. Those that have not lived these moments will have a very hard time understanding their necessity..
This film portrays much of the torment that flows through the minds of those that have been caught up in the intimacy of a profound mental and physical relation that goes beyond the stereotypical roles that contemporary and politically correct society likes to show.
The film is dark, full of anguish, torment, fear and pain when confronted with the elation of powerful love and sex.
It is a film about emotion, from a darker point of view, it is a film about those on the edge, about real people, living real lives.
The director, with an obviously limited budget, has taken a very deep subject and, in my opinion, successfully portrayed the moments and situations which arise through such a period in one's life.
This film does not make you smile, it forces you to look at another level of this mortal coil...
Not for everyone, as it requires an open mind and a minimum of knowledge of one's feelings and thoughts.
An Inspector Calls (2015)
Welcome change
I was initially hesitant as the poster was not particularly attractive, but I am glad that I did not judge this book by it's cover.
It was quite obvious that this was a piece created for the theatre, and fortunately the actors managed to pull of this filmed version perfectly.
It's one of those pieces where each word has a sense, where each movement and each reaction has meaning.
JB Priestly understood how to portray society and it's problems down to a tee.
This piece/film/play is as pertinent today as it was in it's époque.
I thoroughly recommend this film as one of those that at first appears to be a slightly superficial but with some retrospection we are understand how deep it actually descends.
Definitely worth watching... I have never read any of JB Priestly works but this has given me the initiative to discover this playwright/author..
Maigret: Maigret Sets a Trap (2016)
Contemporary and exemplary
I will highly rate this film for several reasons.
First, this is George Simenon, a 1st class writer. Second : Rowan Atkinson understood the role, the character and the script.
This is a Filme Noire at it's best. The fact that it involves murder is of little consequence, this is about character portrayal, this is a look into the reasoning and understanding of the personas of people and their solitudes, their anguishes, their souls, their darker depths..
In my personal opinion Rowan Atkinson nailed Maigret in a contemporary format. He was subtle and did not overplay. My image of Rowan has completely changed, this man can act, he feels, sees and behaves his role.....
But the film was not just Rowan Atkinson, it was an entire cast, it was a Mise En Scene as it should be... This is exemplary of what can still be done today outside of the glamour of Hollywood..
Living in France I have obviously seen the Maigret films and episodes and this film in no way undermines not fails the originals...
Well done to the screen writer, director and cast for producing a down to earth and deeper portrayal of what has become customary, well done for taking a step aside and giving us something to watch that goes beyond the superficial...
Although this will never become a classic, it is definitely worth adding to any repertoire...
Eye in the Sky (2015)
War is the background, choices and morals are the theme.
I would recommend ignoring the stage settings of this film, this is neither about war not propaganda....
From my point of view the director portrayed, successfully, a situation in which choices must be made an decisions must be adhered to, regardless of the choice. The director was clever enough to include characters who could play on the same level and other from above and below.. Each adhered to the rules but pushed them to the limit of their capacities.
This was not about rivalry but moreover about the capacity of personal success based upon ones own morals...
It's like the game of chess played by many in the corporate world, beyond power and greed therein lies moral... For some moral is a far greater achievement... But at the end of the day, regardless of moral, decisions must be made and Helen Mirren played out her character marvellously.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would definitely recommend it to anyone who can see beyond the stage settings..
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
Not for the close minded
Both films touch on a subject that most people will never likely encounter. It is a psychological/philosophical/sociological drama that requires and open mind and an understanding that goes beyond typical social expectations.
The sex scenes are crude, but they are complementary to the subject matter. This is not a film about porn or sex, it is about a condition that most people will fail to understand.
The film(s) are refreshing in the sense that they are not mainstream or Hollywood, they attempt to put into perspective many subjects which society prefers to ignore..
Not for the faint of heart but definitely worth watching.
Munich (2005)
Hard hitting politics and emotionally distraught souls
Hard hitting, from all points of view...
A difficult story wrought with the troubled past of two nations.. Spielberg has successfully brought about a film which explores a seemingly endless conflict where there are no winners.
It provides us with a political and personal overview of the darker elements of the men, women, families and children that directly endure the brutality and hostility of a fruitless heritage of unexplainable and impossible hatred...
Although the film uses the events of the Munich Olympic killings as it's theme I believe that it explores a much larger panoply of social,political and worldly behaviours... It is a reminder that we as a species are not quite ready to evolve...
Blindspot (2015)
Truly truly awful
I do not understand the level of thinking that went into this. Either it was designed for 12 years or else it was written for a very unassuming audience..
The acting/script is poor to say the least... Sullivan Stapleton is apparently capable of only two facial expressions : A 3000 yard emotionless stare or a 5000 yard emotionless stare, neither of which is even remotely convincing.
Jaimie Alexander was brought in purely for her looks because I can't see many other signs of talent... I understand her character should be confused but that doesn't mean it has to be pathetic...
The other roles are so insignificant that cardboard cutouts would have been just fine... again all characters lack depth.
It's almost as though the script/character creation was written by a computer program, completely devoid of emotion..
The series revolves around an incredibly poorly organised script in which each tattoo amazingly brings our heroes into completely over the board investigations, eventually resulting in being able to save New York from ultimate destruction within a very short period...rinse and repeat...
The plot appears to simply pull sequences/scripts/ideas from every other reasonably good series from the last 10 years.... but without managing to do it successfully.. there is very little coherence, nothing comes as a surprise and the action is simply missing.
It's Prison Break, 24 hrs, CSI, etc melted into a pot of nothingness. It is extremely difficult to find anything even remotely good to write about the series, it just doesn't hit the mark... the writers have not managed to create tension or depth, it's very much a sequence of superficiality.
The trailer looked great but the pilot turned out to be a poorly scripted/budgeted B Movie and from there it has only gone downhill...
I truly hoped that this was going to become a super series but unfortunately it has turned out to be sorely disappointing....
Journal of a Contract Killer (2008)
Gritty, down to earth and hard hitting
This is truly how I welcome the cinema .. A story that has real world characters who have depth and soul... and knowing that it is based on a true story adds even further to the impact.
The violence is portrayed in a meaningful manner, it is not glorified with typical Hollywood "drama", here it is cold, quick and without remorse...
This is not a film that the mainstream media can love because it portrays the kind of reality that it far too heavy to immediately digest. It is in essence a philosophical/sociological view on the darker side of society.
You can't just walk away from this film and forget it...