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Reviews
Taken (2008)
Ten points for a parodt
If it were meant aa a comedy Take could have deserved 10 out of 10.
The movie starts okay with father and daughter and his concern about her. And their trip to Paris is something that could be considered worthwhile. Even what happened to the daughter has some suspense in it.
And then father comes to Paris.
My suspension of disbelief has been tried above all limits. Running with a speed that makes it possible to follow a car makes Liam Neeson a sure candidate for gold medals in any olympic sport. As a shooter he is the best in the world. The rest of the cast should follow my crash course 'Shooting for Villains'.
Sometimes I had a good laugh, but as a thriller/police film it is definitely rubbish.
Beat the Devil (1953)
Laughed out loud
I don't know why this old movie has such a low scores. Of course, it's not as fast as a 21st century movie, but it contains several really hilarious moments, and a decent plot.
John Huston is the director, so the movie is technically okay, and has a good narrative.
Add to this a couple of stars, such as Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida and Peter Lorre. And the really great, but underrated Jennifer Jones. In spite of her co-actirs, she plays the protagonist of the movie in her role of Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm.
Of course, all the characters are a bit of a stereotype, but I think a good comedy - and I laughed out loud a couple of times - needs a bit of stereotyping.
The Father (2020)
How could they talk like that?
While watching 'The Father', I thought the dialogues were completely unrealistic. How could the daughter be surprised by the father's reactions every time... She knows he is demented.
But then I thought about this as one of the really great things in the movie: It's all the perception of the father. It's his reality. The one that is mixed and confused. What a great movie!!!
Guilty Bystander (1950)
True Noir
Everything is in it: the dark shades, the twists in the plot and the troubles policeman and some ravishing ladies. Totally restored in 2019. A long story, but some gripping scenes in the end.
Bella Mafia (1997)
Cliché upon cliché
There is nothing against another Oedipus saga mixed with Romeo and Juliette. And I have no objection whatsoever against Vanessa Redgrave and, especially, Nastassia Kinski.
But this tv-movie builds cliché upon cliché making it a tv-movie that has all the traits of tv-movies in the pre-HBO/Netflix era: cheapish, and eh.. cliché.
Spoiler: It might be that the reference to Oedipus is a spoiler, but a good movie is spoiler resistant.