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Reviews
Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)
Trash made by a talented man
I'm a fan of Joe Berlinger. I am not a fan of this piece of trash. It gives a voice to online bullies and conspiracy theorists who believe they know better thank detectives and coroners for three of the four episodes. The real tale here is one of a lonely, mentally unstable woman who stopped taking her medication. Her death leads to the online harassment of another adult because of the actions of idiots online. This just left me angry.
Gattaca (1997)
A masterpiece
Elegiac and chilly vision of the future...but a movie full of soul. The pacing is measured, the performances are understated and deliberately enigmatic. There is a murder mystery and a love story but they remain off-centre. Hawke is fantastic as our lead. He brings the humanity. Thurman's initial ethereal presence gives way to something more earthbound. Law, in a very early role, is a magnetic and angry presence. There are subverted similarities here to his breakout role in The Talented Mr Ripley. Everything works - the music, the sets, the costumes. It's a movie that has had a profound effect on me. I love it.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Dornan steals it
I knew Jamie was funny in interviews but that doesn't automatically translate to screen. In the first few minutes I wasn't sure. He seemed subdued. I expected a cameo, but he's central to the movie, and by the time he lets rip with an ode to seagulls or love or something... well goddamit he'd won me over. The movie around him is a bit hit and miss, though it's more hit. While dissimilar in plot, I found the movie resembled Zoolander in tone and sheer mentalness. I like Zoolander.
Everyone Is Doing Great (2018)
More depth than I expected
The leads are terrific. Colletti is sweet and driven and Lafferty finds subtle humour in his 'retired' actor. You feel for these guys, even when they are the cause of their own misery.
What really sells the show and keeps it from being a two-hander, are the female roles they've written. The women here are smart and flawed. Alexandra Park in particular knocks it out of the park playing a actor who has continued to be successful, married to a man who seems to have given up. Her scenes with Lafferty (himself a revelation - who knew UGGS could look sexy?!) are heartbreaking.
I blasted the season over three nights and wanted more. The love and experience that's gone into this make it tangible. I truly hope we get another season.
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)
I don't get it
This isn't really a movie.
It aspired to an R rating as a badge of honour, cutting out a huge chunk of teen girl audience but weirdly didn't use that R rating to be either explicitly violent or have a lot of swearing.
Harley is front of centre and I like Margot Robbie but there is zero peril in this movie. It moves from one incoherent sequence to another, focusing on colourful characters, but fails to make any of those characters remotely compelling.
This is not a movie - it doesn't go anywhere, doesn't add to Harley's mythology and features zero allusions to the D.C. universe other than mentions of The Joker.
It's just an odd, odd series of decisions masquerading as cinema.
I don't get it.
Glass (2019)
Stunning conclusion
Evocative, intriguing, superbly acted. Sure it's light on action and horror but I loved every minute of it. The opening, the credits, the inclusion of characters from Unbreakable and Split. I was surprised where the movie went and left the theatre replaying scenes trying to decipher it. I loved the score. I loved McAvoy and Paulson but everyone has a moment or two to stand out. Can't wait to watch it again.