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The Irregulars (2021)
Not for Sherlock Holmes fans
When I saw this was a story about the Baker Street Irregulars my first thought was "how come nobody thought of this before" and I was excited about seeing it. But after watching the series I was very disappointed. Sherlock is a pathetic, useless, wreck of a man. Watson is a jealous, star crossed would be lover of Sherlock and the Irregulars are not street spies or informants, but the actual brains of the operation. Add to that the anachronistic music and racial roles and it destroys any suspension of disbelief about this being Victorian England. London was the center of a vast, multi racial empire, so adding characters of color with depth and significance should have been easy while keeping the period elements realistic. But having Black and Indian nobility at a party in Buckingham Palace In the late 1800's is preposterous. It's just lazy writing. Needless to say the rest of the writing is just as lazy and fomulaic. The Irregulars deserve to be fleshed out and have their story told, but this was a complete failure.
Emil und die Detektive (1931)
A movie with a tragic backstory
This is a children's movie with a tragic backstory. Only one of the seven boys with named characters survived WWII. The other six died in combat.
Whiplash (2014)
A disturbing glorification of sadism and masochism using excellence as an excuse.
This movie delivers a truly disturbing and sick message to impressionable young people. The carrot that it dangles is "excellence:" and "immortality", but the ugly reality is that this movie is about a sadist, sociopath music teacher who enjoys mentally, verbally and to a lesser extent, physically, torturing his students. The supposed drive for excellence is only the rationalization that the douche bag uses to get away with it. Excellence can and has been achieved without resorting to this sort of mental violence.
Even more disturbing than Fletcher is Andrew, his student. Only someone with extreme low self esteem would subject themselves to the level of abuse he accepts. Andrew obviously has some serious psychological issues because he sabotages himself at critical moments so that Fletcher can have more reasons to insult and demean him. He seems unable to set an alarm clock, pay attention when he is driving and even more preposterously for a person supposedly obsessed with becoming the greatest drummer the world has ever seen, he forgets his drumsticks at a critical moment. The only conclusion you can draw is that he is a masochist.
This movie is really about homoerotic sadomasochism, complete with jealousy fits. It's not about music or the drive for excellence. Make no mistake about it.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Felt like a remake, but still liked it overall
++++SPOILERS AHEAD++++
I was getting a strong remake vibe thru out the movie. Many elements of the original story are simply rehashed. For example; Rey is an orphan, a tinkerer and a gatherer (like Luke). As a matter of fact, she seemed like a composite of Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. The parricide element is also straight out of the original (it seems to run in the family) among many other things (remember the Death Star attack?)
Then there is the problem with Rey as a character... She defeated a fully trained Jedi fairly easily, knows more about the Millennium Falcon than Han Solo and is an ace pilot although there is absolutely no explanation as to why she has all these skills. Even Luke Skywalker needed training even though the Force was strong with him as well. I sure hope they explain that on the next installment.
Entertaining movie for the a new generation of fans, but an unabashed money grab with regards to the older generations.
Defiance (2008)
Have I seen this before?
Another "true story" that is made trite and meaningless by Hollywood. I'm sure the story of the Bielski brothers could have been inspiring enough without adding all the Hollywood melodrama.
The bit about trying to make Tuvia Bielski into some sort of modern day Moses had me cringing. Even more cringe worthy was the scene in which Zus Bielski raids the Police station. All the Germans die on the first shot, but our hero takes several bullets to the chest and keeps on going. The next day all he has is a flimsy sling around his arm and looks none the worst for wear. He is talking with his brother as if he had only suffered a sprained muscle.
The climatic scene with the tank is just ridiculous. First of all, it never happened in real life, but if you are going to include it, at least try to make it realistic, otherwise it degenerates into comedy... Three Stooges type of comedy.
In the end the film reminded me of "Inglorious Basterds", it turned into a silly revisionist revenge fantasy.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
The best HP movie yet
I've read all the books and loved them. What I find really annoying is that the same people that whined about PoA, Gof and OotP not being canon enough, go to see HBP and suddenly are shocked and outraged the movie doesn't follow canon. Obviously these people have a learning disability.
The two and a half hours flew by when I watched it. That's saying a lot considering how little action there is in this installment. At the end you finally feel like you learned something about the characters. That they are "real". That you can relate to them. Despite all the teenage Angst, Harry and friends are maturing. It is also the most visually satisfying of all the HP movies.
As the book, this movie does an excellent job in setting up the Grand Finale.
V for Vendetta (2005)
Hits too close to home
The neocon reviewers don't get it. This is not a movie about the US government today. They hate this movie because it shows where this government is leading us. "V" is a true hero because the government he fights is unambiguously evil. We are not there, yet. This movie is merely a warning. It ask us to "look ourselves in the mirror" and not let our fears override our values. The dangers we face from terrorists are real, but also the fear mongering and deception of this government are real. That's the only way to explain how something as un-American and un-patriotic as the "Patriot Act" ("Articles of Allegiance" in the movie) can get that name and be accepted by the citizens of our country. We as a nation are sure to face new attacks from terrorists, but we should never renounce our liberty for the sake of security. As Benjamin Franklin said: "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither". Maybe the intentions of the neocons are good, but as "V" says: "I'm not here for what you hoped for, I'm here for what you did"
++Spoiler Warning++ The movie itself is brilliant, the dialogue stupendous. In real life walking around quoting Shakespeare may be pedantic, but in a movie with a subtext about the power of words it's more than appropriate and actually enjoyable. "V" is a flawed hero, driven more by the desire for vengeance than by ideals, but idealistic never the less. He realizes his shortcomings; he has became a monster and tells Evey as much in the climactic scene: "You are right about what I've become, there is no tree at the end for me". In other words, there can be no happy ending for "V", no tree to climb with his love like Edmund Dantes. The genius of that scene is that it makes the movie morally consistent. In the end with the announced destruction of Parliment "V" just gives the people the opportunity to lose their fear of the government and reclaim their freedom, but it still takes the will and civil courage of the people to actually walk the streets to take back the liberty taken from them. This is a "movie a clef" and as a metaphor is simply perfect and should be seem for what it is ... a warning.
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
A worthy adaptation of the book
In spite of its detractors I feel this movie is a worthy adaptation of the book. Oddly enough the books feels faster paced than the movie at times and of course the fans of the book will miss several details, but here are two reasons I would still recommend this movie: The acting of Ian McKellen is extraordinary, specially how he projects the excitement of the grail quest. But for me, the Finale alone is worth the price of admission; Tom Hank walks towards the Louvre pyramid following the Rose Line to a crescendo of stirring music by Hans Zimmer until he reaches his goal, kneels down, and strikes a Grail Knight pose. The hair in your back will stand up. It just amazing how good music can make a scene unforgettable.
U-571 (2000)
What history?
The greatest fault of this movie is not that it copies and rips off whole scenes from "Das Boot", but that it pretends to be somehow "historical". Forget about the Enigma machine for a moment, for me the last straw came when U-571 was being hunted down by "the entire German Navy", like the German navy had free roam of the seas or like it was a massive threat. Besides, in the movie the German Navy can't seem to shoot straight anyway, so why worry?. I would put this movie in the same category as "Air Force One" and "Independence Day", all of them are plain "Hooray for us" ego stroking movies, totally divorced from reality.
Battlefield Earth (2000)
A historic achievement... in the history of crap
A hundred years from now film students will be watching this film as an example and as a warning on how bad acting, bad directing but above all a bad script can make a mockery of film making. Adjectives are not enough to describe the sheer badness of this film. The script is so ludicrous you will laugh out loud at this crap. The sad part is that this movie was intended as an homage to Scientology, a sect that claims to raise the IQ's of its followers... but hey ... if you believe your body is possessed by thousands of aliens spirits, I guess you can believe the premise of this movie. There are so many ridiculous moments that it has to be seen to be believed.