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Reviews
Signs (2002)
Signs is Excellent
Signs is an all round excellent film, intelligent and engaging the audience more deeply than expected. The science fiction plot as a small farm location microcosm of some wider global invasion is really a cleverly written vehicle for a deeper narrative on faith and providence that is well woven into what might, in less skilled hands, have been an unlikely plot device for such themes. Mel Gibson, Jaquin Phoenix and the entire cast are pitch perfect as is the direction, editing, and pacing. The musical score from James Newton Howard is outstanding, and the cinematography from Tak Fujimoto is also outstanding. The alien CGI could have been better but it is what it is and doesn't detract too much from what is otherwise a very well made and enjoyable film, and one of my favourites from M. Night Shyamalan.
Invincible: This Missive, This Machination! (2023)
What is this rubbish?
Season one started average but turned out to be very good, and the show held much promise. Season two started off a little lacklustre, but then episode 2 made no sense, and now with episode three it has fallen off a cliff into a steaming pile of excrement. What happened? Who is writing this low IQ, degenerate and juvenile garbage? You had an interesting story, you had decent characterisation, you had something going, and now it seems you're hell bent on destroying your own show. Its so bad it feels like a real bait and switch. I can't imagine how any team working on a series could go from good to utter garbage without any self-awareness at all. What's going on? Because after a good season one this show is imploding faster than a submarine at crush depth. What a disappointment.
Nefarious (2023)
A Solid Film
This is one of those movies that takes place mostly in a single room, and does a solid job at maintaining audience interest in that context. Is it earth shattering? No. But this is a competently told story that doesn't lose its way and, thematically, its one of the more interesting films I've seen in recent years. There's plenty of supernaturally themed films that have bigger budgets but much less to offer. Could they have done more with it? Yes. Nevertheless it kept my interest, and believe me, I get bored with most movies pretty easily these days.
But for me the biggest stand out was Sean Patrick Flanery's performance. He stole every scene he was in, and as imperfect as the dialogue was at times, was riveting from beginning to end. His character was of course vital to the success or failure of this film so casting here was important, and in the hands of a lesser actor, it might have missed the mark. But Flanery's performance is outstanding and elevates this film, so its worth watching for that reason alone.
The Portable Door (2023)
Enjoyable but needs a new sound mix
I haven't read the book so I can't judge this movie on that basis. It's a nice looking film with nice photography, there's no problem with editing or pacing. Its what you'd expect from this type of film. The cast was suitably solid but for me the highlight was Sam Neill: His was a stand-out performance, an absolute delight. He just stole every scene he was in and was loads of fun. However, the movie would have been better if not for serious problems with the sound mix. The music is so overwhelmingly loud it drowns out the dialogue to the point where you're struggling to discern what is being said over the sheer loudness of the music. You might as well turn subtitles on. How does such a serious blunder occur? It seriously detracts from what otherwise might have been a more enjoyable movie.
GATTACA (1997)
Underrated Gem
Gattaca is a slow burn but pefectly paced sci-fi film noir (I think I can get away with that). It takes its time to develop the characters and story yet is tightly written and doesn't waste time on sub plots that might distract and slow things down, and it succeeds in delivering paranoid tension at a constant simmer without over hyping anything. The characters are played very well with strong yet understated performances from its excellent cast. The musical score seems appropriate with just the right amount of emotive movement, and the austere styling and cinematography are picture perfect. This movie never seems to have gained the attention that I think it deserved, yet I think its reputation, and relevance (especially at the time of reviewing this in 2021) has only grown over time. This is one of those more notable stand out movies of the 90's that is more cerebral and thoughtful than most and well worth watching.
Fear the Walking Dead (2015)
Fails to Deliver
I thought season 1 was off to a good start, it's well made, the cast is good, it hinted at more and seemed to be going somewhere. The show had much promise and potential, but that's where it ends. Season 2 and beyond fails to deliver anything that was alluded to in Season 1. It's aimless and that the show's creators didn't really have a plan beyond the first season really shows. Fear the Walking Dead ultimately fails to deliver on any of the promise of it's first season, and is a disappointment.
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
A grim and moving achievement.
Told to you by the veterans themselves and seen through their eyes, this film takes you on an unforgettable journey from civilian life a century ago to the deadly trenches, no man's land, and into a terrible bayonet charge on German machine gun positions in the midst of the full frenzy of war. Then it takes you back again to a world that has not the slightest understanding of what you've been through. Dedicated to Peter Jackson's grandfather who was a veteran of WWI, this is a landmark film and a must see for all.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Underwhelmed
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them suffers from a lack of story development and relies all too heavily on an overabundance of special effects. We spend an inordinate amount of time following our main characters chasing CGI creatures around and looking more like a Pokemon game than actually delivering anything that's terribly interesting as far as story development goes. The film looks great and the performances are solid but it is so lacking in the aforementioned that I found it increasingly tedious as the film dragged on. If you're dazzled by movies heavy on creatures and effects and don't care if its a bit light on story, you'll probably love this. But if you're looking for something that's going to deliver a compelling story that decides to get interesting some time before three-quarters of the way through the movie's two-hour running time, then you'll really need to look elsewhere. I give this five out of ten not because it's utterly terrible, it isn't, but it's just not interesting enough and I don't think it warrants the high scores people are giving it. There are far better films that rate that high.
Tian jiang xiong shi (2015)
Unwatchable
This film is bad from the beginning. From the tacky and obvious, overly shiny CGI, to the overblown screenplay to the editing and direction. Everything is a mess. It's one of those new films that at once looks both good and terrible at the same time. It's all slickness and high definition, and absolutely awful. The ability of the film makers falls well short of their ambition, and it shows. Jackie Chan, John Cusack and Adrien Brody are unable to redeem this sprawling piece of slop which completely fails to engage or interest, let alone convince of, well... anything. This film has no heart, no soul, and no intelligence. I wasn't expecting greatness, but this is a disappointment even for someone settling down for a tacky piece of popcorn fun. Garbage.
Bound to Vengeance (2015)
Underrated
This film deserves a better score (5.8 at the time of this review). It's a good looking, high quality film that's well directed and edited by José Manuel Cravioto. If you're somewhat cynical and expecting a formulaic and predictable escape and revenge plot you will be nicely surprised by Rock Shaink Jr. and Keith Kjornes very well written screenplay that delivers unexpected twists and revelations as it unfolds. The running time is slightly short but quite a lot happens in that time, yet you are drawn in without it ever feeling rushed, the pacing is perfect. Richard Tyson is outstanding and Tina Ivlev is a revelation delivering what for her has to be a landmark performance. I hope to see them both in more great films because, with their performances here, they deserve it. It's a solid effort that's worth watching. Overall I give it a 7.
Inside the Firestorm (2010)
The most harrowing bushfire documentary ever.
I was in Geelong on Black Saturday, February 7th, 2009. I remember the unusually quiet streets, the dust and dry leaves blowing violently in the strong gusty hot winds of the 47C (116F) plus heat. I remember the strangeness of the day, it was not bright and sunny, but dusky, everything was cast in a dusty golden hew under the smoke in the atmosphere that had cast its shadow over the whole south of the state of Victoria. It was a strange and memorable day already, and we knew from the sporadic news reports that the bushfires were bad, but no one who wasn't directly in the path of the monster fully understood just how bad. No one fully understood the full horror that was unfolding across the state, it was only later, into the evening, and into the night... We were transfixed by it, the speed, the ferocity, the scale, the terror, the total desolation... Loved ones were gone, whole towns were gone, we saw cars strewn upon roads as if a bomb had blasted them, streams of melted metal across the road. Unless you were in Victoria on that day, I'm not sure you can fully appreciate this documentary. But for me this brings back memories, and it brings tears. This is simply the most harrowing documentary covering any bushfire disaster ever.