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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Great - except for the music
This movie is a great take on the spider-man I loved growing up. Lots of references to the good old spider-man, while driving towards a new and slightly less ambiguous interpretation of what a true hero can be. Yes, you can be any gender, any race any species even and be a hero. Jay!
The message is loud an clear and though they laid it on thick, it didn't bother me at all. Great job... but the music?
Just terrible.
I don't get how there are a couple of reviews here actually praising the music!
It's probably a subjective thing, but I did not care at all for the overly auto-tuned tracks all over the place. I don't care to look up who 'performed' these horrible pieces of generic drivel, but they annoyed me to the point where I got distracted from the story and I forgot to enjoy the movie.
To those 'performers': If you can't sing, don't sing on a record.
And to movie-makers everywhere: please make more of an effort and reward real musicians with scores that actually fit the movies they're supposed to flesh out.
I was going to give this movie an 8, but dropped it to a 7 because of the terrible soundtrack.
Strike Back (2010)
Season 1 and seasons 2 - 5 are great, but then...
After the first season it took me half an episode to get used to the new characters, but they sold the premise and I was hooked.
I rated the first 5 seasons a 9 / 10 and I stand by this score. For me this series has everything a guy wants to see. I warmly recommend you give it a try and see for yourself!
However... I'm only two episodes into season 6 and I'm afraid they're losing me.
I'm not sure why, but I've found myself cringing in my seat more often than enjoying myself.
The acting feels stunted. I can't for the life of me spot any chemistry between the characters. So far I'm still looking for a single likeable person - you know, someone to root for.
In the previous seasons every single character had something that made you relate... these new clowns? I'm just not feeling it.
Also actors in the previous seasons moved in a way I would expect special ops to move... in this seasons they are swinging their firearms around while looking the other way - the way they communicate feels off - they're contorting themselves in absurd angles while moving along obstacles... it just doesn't work for me.
To top it all off I wonder what's with the stupid plot twists? I'm just not buying any of it.
For now I'm rating season 6 a weak 5 / 10 because I'm planning to give it another couple of episodes.
But if they keep on ruining the things I used to love this series for I'm tending more towards a low 4 or 3 / 10.
- To be continued -
Medena zemja (2019)
Could not finish it
I want to give the main character in this movie a solid gold 10, framed and hung from the rafters.
Maybe the movie itself also deserves my praise, because it stars this near saintly being.
But I could not sit and watch the neighbors.
Maybe they weren't taught any better - that did not change the fact however that I could not sit there and keep watching them hurt their livestock, their "pets", their neighbors, their environment...
To me they represented everything I saw in the Balkans of which I thought: This is wrong.
If your consist of 80% wrongness, I have to say no thanks.
A History of Violence (2005)
This is not a thriller.
I saw this movie years ago and liked it. At least I think I did.
After seeing it again tonight, I find it lacking in several areas.
The acting is far below par. I've seen many great child-actors at play in movies but the Stall daughter is not one of them also the son and wife become completely unrelatable somewhere halfway through the movie.
Only Viggo & Ed seem to make it to the end without any real damage... too bad the plot steals Ed's spotlight.
Speaking of the plot I found it paper thin and cannot comprehend what it is that some other reviewers liked about it.
Maybe they were fans of the graphic novel?
Style-wise Cronenberg makes a good effort, especially at first but then the plot turns to mush and no style-elements can save it.
To me this was not a thriller. For it to be a thriller I'd have to care for the main characters. When I see actors acting, I'm not seeing the people in a story.
After 15 minutes and some horrible child-acting lines I gave it a 6/10.
By half time only a 5 or so was left... for me the movie ends on a 4/10.
I will not be watching this again. Ever.
Lie to Me (2009)
It grows on you
The first couple of episodes I felt like this series was still trying to figure out what it wanted to be. A couple episodes in it matures.
The actors find their roles, there's a story line threading through it all.
Suddenly you find yourself caring about the main characters. There are difficult dilemma's being offered up and it starts you thinking.
Sure there are flaws, but any series that can entertain and get you thinking an caring is a good one in my book.
A solid 8/10 for me.
I'm eager to find out what happens next...
Flashpoint: Perfect Storm (2009)
Excellent episode
I'm slowly working my way through the entire Flashpoint series, having just recently discovered this gem of a police-drama myself. Suspense always runs high in the story lines and the humanity of it always lingers in my mind in the days following me watching an episode. Perfect Storm will be no exception to this, if anything, it'll be the opposite. I found it the most captivating episode so far. The emotions and issues dealt with felt real, as usual and the actors did another excellent job at blowing me away with their performances. Every single one of them seems in touch with whom they are portraying. In fact a simple look exchanged between characters allows you to look into their frame of mind and feel for them. The messed up situation is shed in a human light, where there's understanding for all of the involved. The conclusion of 'Perfect storm' resounds with Clint Eastwood's 'A Perfect world' and the 'Perfect' in both titles is -- in my opinion -- well deserved. The music score was put together well too... in short: Hat's off to the entire crew! I'm glad I got to see this. (5/5)
MR 73 (2008)
Expect nothing...
This movie should not be rated for its plot, or the good guys vs bad guys, or any other standard used to rate normal movies. This movie is an homage. An homage to the suffering, the courage and the lives of the real people on which the story is based.
Every aspect of this film breathes with the same deep respect for what happened. The reality it brings into the room takes your breath away... You cannot watch this movie and escape its grasp.
Daniel Auteuil and everyone else in the cast did their jobs with dignity. They played their roles the way they should be played and the aftertaste is bitter... but filled with reverence.
Watch this movie without reading the plot. Let it happen to you, expect nothing and allow yourself to care.
I'm sure you'll agree; 10 out of 10. Easily.
Nightwatching (2007)
Fails to do anything but make me sleep and write this comment.
I don't know anything about Peter Greenaway and I don't pretend to be a cinema zealot, but I am very open minded when it comes to movies. I love stories in general and cinema really has a great way to convey stories upon people without having to spell it all out. As the saying goes, an image can say more than a thousand words. On top of this I am an avid Rembrandt fan. Not to say that he's better than anyone else, but as everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion; I will state for myself that I like him better than most other painters. Considering his work is still around, there has to be a good reason for this.
Still... I did not like this movie. Not because I was disappointed by the director or the actors, I'm sure they all tried very hard to make this movie work. Sadly though for me, it didn't. I never fall asleep during a movie, but for this one, I closed my eyes several times. I noticed myself wanting it to be over so I could say I took it to the last minute.
I don't want to label it, but then why would I be posting anything? So I'm going to continue with committing the worst kind of sin:
'Nightwatching' failed to be accurately informative. So it was not a documentary. It also failed to make me laugh or cry or feel any emotion in between, except apathy maybe. So it was not a comedy, nor a drama nor anything in between. There was no action in it, no suspense and no horror and worst of all and contradictory to what you might expect from a movie about a painter; there was barely any art in it either. No scenes with Rembrandt painting or any of his work shown in detail. In over 2 hours of movie, we were treated with 1 analysis of his work during an obscure and darkly lit scene lasting barely 2 minutes.
Besides all this, the title "Nightwatch" is not the original name of the painting. The fact that the painting is called "De Nachtwacht" is because it turned dark over the years. This is an inherent quality of the paint that was used in those days. If you watch this movie with that in mind, some scenes will become obsolete to the point of being annoying.
The fact that Rembrandt cusses with the same 3 words throughout most of his dialogue makes him seem like a defenseless wimp who is powerless to come up with anything else. Therefore removing the option that the entire movie is a tribute to Rembrandt or his work.
If this movie tries to be a shocker, then the makers should realize that nudity has failed to shock ever since it became common in the seventies... Except maybe for an adolescent audience. But then the rest of the movie would undoubtedly turn this crowd away.
As a conclusion I did not tag the 'spoiler' box, because there seems to be no plot to this flick.
Avoidable to say the least. Check it out at your local library if you must, but otherwise don't spend any money on this. You will regret it.
(I don't want to offend anyone that really like this movie. If you like it go ahead! Nor do I want to insult the people that put a lot of effort into it; Next time though, try to make sure your effort joins with a little more sense. So other people can enjoy the fruits of it as well... after all that's what you're doing it for, right?)
Wake of Death (2004)
Van Damme differently
Wake of Death was the first "Van Damme" movie I'd seen in a couple of years. Shortly put it's a real surprise. Where Arnie acts in big budget movies only, Chuck Norris has become a TV star and Stephen Seagal is heading on the emotional tour, none of them has evolved the way Jean Claude has. It's a metamorphosis! The movie is still centered around action, but "Van Damme" makes you care. His character feels real enough, he's not the 'staring off in the distance' kind of muscle actor anymore. With age, he's gained bearing as well. The lines in his face, the way he acts without forcing his role. He is more patient, takes his time and it makes the roles he chooses more realistic.
It's time to look at the now... and Van Damme is in it!
(PS: He's come a long way even since this movie; Watch "Until Death" to see where it's taken him today.)
Longinus (2004)
Evil stops hiding during war...
This short story takes place during a war going on for a reason most people have forgotten. The film kicks off with a dying doctor in a hospital that is to be shut down soon. Before he dies the doc shares his views on the power-game that goes on in the world. As usual in Kitamura films there are a myriad of interesting thoughts behind his words.
By now, you still don't know what the movie is gonna be about... (that is if the title didn't give it away for you)
The actors and actresses Kitamura uses will be familiar if you have seen "versus" or any other Kitamura movie. It might even make you cheer to see them mixed up in this one. (I actually like that he uses the same people for his movies... why replace them when they're doing well?)
The characters look convincing and the scenery is good. Nice camera-work too. And I believe there were only 7 or 8 sets used... maybe more though. I reminded me of Aragami because of this.
WARNING: SPOILER!
After the doc gets cremated and the main characters are ready to leave, a squad with a secret mission comes knocking on the door. One of their members has been wounded by 'something'. Next a mysterious guy walks through the door, who claims the wounded member of their group has been bitten by a vampire.
The movie seems to take a turn here from being about the cruelty of mankind, to what seems to be a vampire-plot. But I think the only thing that really happens is that we are shown a comparison between the evil we call 'monstrous' and the evil we call 'human'.
The guy that walks in almost literally tells them when he says: "In the ashes of war, death and violence are everywhere. They have no reason to hide themselves anymore."
Anyway, the group is carrying the "spear of longinus", which can basically harm or heal. I think in the end the choice is up to the one wielding it... just like the doctor said in his opening speech.
The end I'm not gonna spoil for you. Just watch this one, it's short but good.
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As for a rating it deserves an 8 on a scale of 1 to 11... :-) Why? because it should have been longer :-D ...and that's a compliment!