kembattery Reviews

Blindsided (2013)

don't waste your time

[3/10 · 16 May 2024]

Predictable, unduly long in its supposedly nerve-wracking scenes, exaggerated, trite in its plot and ending. In other words, if you're a cinephile don't waste your time on this film. Fine actors - and all of them are - are never a guarantee to retain your attention. The director makes unforgivable factual mistakes and borders sometimes on the ridiculous. The film drags on and makes one lose interest. One of the decisive factors in my evaluation regards cruelty on the one hand and sheer bad luck on the other: when these are exaggerated and exploited to such a degree, any film becomes boring. The viewer, exasperated, exclaims: "Come on! Give me a break!"

The Cheat (1984)

good story, great actors

[9/10 · 31 March 2024]

To watch this film today makes one very glad of the progress the West has made in the past fifty years over this erstwhile taboo subject. The well-portrayed prejudice regarding gay men, the injustice, the violence, the unacceptable hypocrisy of society has not yet been eradicated, but films like these - delicately explicit - definitely help make the general public more aware and more tolerant.

The actors could not have been better chosen, the director is top. The story itself is excellent, convincing and well-developed, combining elements of thriller, love story and classical drama. Super recommended.

The Pledge (I) (2001)

good story, great movie

[9/10 · 15 November 2023]

After more than twenty years after its release, The pledge is as new and young and fresh and gripping as ever. It is ageless, like everything classic. This is not surprising, based as it is on a story by one of the most compelling dramatists of the Twentieth Century: Friederich Dürrenmatt. Plot, characters, acting, directing, are all superlative. A lavish cast is not always a guarantee of excellence, as we al know. In this case, every single performance is an aesthetic delight, however short: del Toro, Redgrave, Rourke, Mirren, Clarkson, Shepard, Eckhart - only a few minutes each and yet memorable. And then there's the great Nicholson with an intense Robin Wright under a superb Sean Penn. A two-hour display of talent at the service of a great story . Who could ask for more...?

The Postcard Killings (2020)

good thriller, great settings

[8/10 · 12 November 2023]

It's a good thing I did not read the IMDb reviews before watching this film - I would have been (perhaps) biased against it. For those of us who are art lovers, the idea of a killer who creates his gruesome scenarios imitating famous artworks makes the story interesting from the start by coupling intrigue with refinement. The emotional element of a father seeking justice for his child is not new, but it is inevitable not to feel for him as he suffers - whether you like this "trick" or not, you cannot deny it works. I certainly was surprised at the whodunnit solution, powerful enough to be able to exclude the suspense element, which becomes irrelevant. Adrenalin gives way to aesthetics, psychology and compassion. Good movie, definitely enjoyable. GREAT casting.

The Hidden Child (2021)

a moving film

[9/10 · 9 November 2023]

It's not every day that we find an Italian film without the usual clichés. Albeit containing some elements that could push it that way - Naples, the Camorra, family ties, etc. - the story never falls into the banal. On the contrary, the context seems to enhance the depth of the characters, their unique relationship and their individual complexity. The story's suspense factor, present from beginning to end, envelops the viewer in its atmosphere of unpredictability. Subtle, refined, exquisite in its nuances and surprises, the film unravels slowly but steadily, taking us into the ultimate realm: that of our own emotions.

Contempt (1963)

the epitome of nothingness

[3/10 · 16 September 2023]

Boring, empty, pretentious. Without the indisputable beauty of Bardot's body, dressed and undressed, the film would flop like a cold soufflé. It was difficult to get to the end without falling asleep or, worse, having the conviction that you had wasted almost two hours of your life. The absurd dialogue, the phony characters, the obvious intent of creating an itch in the viewer, the absolute lack of everything that makes a movie interesting, makes one wonder at the success of this silly film. The only explanation might be its "Frenchness", its "Nouvelle Vague"ness, its utter snobbishness. But it's time to say it, folks: "Le roi est nu".

Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)

A hymn to hypocrisy

[5/10 · 10 June 2023]

A series with a highly immoral "moralistic" perspective in which the virtuous, faithful and loving behave abominably in the name of honesty, sincerity, feminism and pseudo-progressive nonsense. The utter hypocrisy of the final message is such that the spectator is left wondering whether it might be meant to be funny. Typical of an age where the politically correct craze hides the worst tradition of intolerance, the series could prove a backlash in its blatant lack of principles. The acting is excellent, the setting impeccable and the pace acceptable. It is a real pity that with a stroke of the pen (the final episode) the author (or screenwriters?) turn an otherwise good legal thriller into an altar of double standards.

Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)

good series, bad novel

[7/10 · 29 June 2022]

The series is a definite improvement on the dreadful P. D. James novel, a presumptuous manipulation of one of Jane Austen's most wonderful works.

It seems to be an evil of our times to try hiding one's lack of talent by leaning on someone else's. Madame James, in fact, steals Austen's wonderful characters to create her own "sequel" of the Bennet/ Darcy saga, with dire results. The truth is Ms. James' capacity as a writer comes nowhere near that of the great early- Nineteenth Century novelist we all love and respect. In this particular case, the original characters are transformed into mediocre, banal and unattractive heroes and heroines who wallow in the muddy waters of a pseudo thriller, in turn a bad copy of Agatha Christie.

That said, the series based on that awful novel was a pleasant surprise: great acting, beautiful settings, great photography and one or two changes in the plot make for a very pleasant evening. It would have been even better if the script writers had gone a step further and changed all the names of characters and places, thus eliminating any possible connection with the incomparable Pride and Prejudice.

Summertime (1955)

embarrassingly bad

[1/10 · 29 April 2022]

The schoolgirl fantasies of a middle aged American spinster - played by a melodramatic Hepburn in her worst film ever - symbolised by dark and handsome Rossano Brazzi against the backdrop of a Venice of fluttering pigeons and gondolas... Zero chemistry between the two actors make the unlikely love story even harder to believe. The ludicrously sentimental music score doesn't help. The film and its otherwise excellent director illustrate the foreigner's stereotyped idea of Italy and Italians showing a total ignorance of the regional differences of this complex country. Deplorable.

Dark Buildings (A Crack in the Wall) (2018)

a subtle, convincing thriller

[9/10 · 17 August 2021]

With excellent actors and a great director, this story takes the spectator along its tortuous path of deceit and mystery effortlessly till the very end. In a film world plagued with incomprehensible plots, unacceptable incoherence and useless pseudo-originality, this movie is a good example of good old fashioned story-telling without snobbish intellectual pretensions without ever falling into the banal or the obvious. Greatly Recommended!

Romeo and Juliet (1976 TV Movie)

Faithful, unpretentious.

[9/10 · 3 July 2019]

Watching this 1976 version in 2019 - almost half a century - is quite a challenging perspective in every way. This performance withstands the test of time and comes out as a respectable, credible and enjoyable one. The protagonists play their parts with a sense of urgency and passion which is suitable for the age of the characters and perfectly believable. The rest of the actors are also good. In comparison with the recent performance of Orlando Bloom as Romeo (an actor with a bad theater voice and trying to be original all the time), this old version is a haven of respect for the author and for the Shakesperian tradition.

Loving Pablo (2017)

a let down

[2/10 · 13 March 2019]

It's difficult to imagine that a film with a pair of such talented actors could turn out so badly. Not only is the script as mediocre as can be - simple, vulgar, obvious - but also the direction of León de Baranoa could not be worse. He even managed to make two giants like Bardem and Cruz look like cheap actors, both over-acting at all times, both as unattractive as possible, both caricatures of real people who were probably much more interesting in real life than the way they are portrayed. Not to speak of their physical aspect: Bardem disgustingly ugly and fat, Cruz pathetically trying to look younger than she now is. Despite my efforts, I couldn't even get to the end of the film. What's more, I had the definite sensation that I had wasted precious time over a film that was not worth seeing.