Change Your Image
Wrighthead
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Stone Cold (1991)
Well shot movie, with a terrible premis.
While this movie is enjoyable to watch, it is by no means a masterpiece in storytelling. Despite being classed by many as a "B-role" film or an "indie classic", it is clear that in 1991 this movie was well funded though possibly not well advertised.
The best attributes of the film is wardrobe and camera use. Throughout the film, unique and interesting camera angles are used in a way that is seldom seen today and what characters lack in depth is made up for in wardrobe.
While 'biker gang' is how the antagonists are labelled, the frequent use of Neo-Nazi and confederate flag imagery makes it clear that the group is more of a 'white power supremacist cult' than 'biker gang'. Despite this clearly being a 'white supremacist cult' none of the regular tropes to white supremacy are used other than violence, murder and drugs.
Over all this film is terrible to watch but great to know about if you don't go into the film expecting much you won't leave disappointed!
Atlanta: Helen (2018)
The "weak" episode in this series.
While the rest of Atlanta is an entertaining black sitcom, this episode feels slightly out of place. While the need to push the subtle racism experienced by a black community is part of what makes Atlanta great, some instances in this episode (like a white Bavarian dressed American mistaking Daniel Glover for a minstrel) seem like the show was actually reaching with unrealistic acts of subtle racism.
Other small details, like Fasnacht actually being a predominantly Swiss form of carnival (see: Basel Fasnacht) or masks and costumes used in Fasnacht having a specific aesthetic (with a cultural significance) that a "scream mask" doesn't really cover, makes the whole episode feel off somehow.
The evening feels like an amalgamation of European folk law that made me feel like I was watching "white face".
As this episode is all about how out of place the protagonist feels, I too felt out of place in this episode unsure of what story was trying to be told which might have been the intention but it didn't pay off.
The Disaster Artist (2017)
Confusing and awkward portrait of The Room.
I have to admit off the bat: I have not seen and have no intentions of seeing "The Room". Why sitting through an awful movie has a cult following only lowers the bar for engaging and entertaining movie scripts, something that seems to be affecting the movie industry as a whole. I honestly think money is the only thing driving the success of "The Room" and that the "cult following" has been completely manufactured. What I can't understand is how "The Disaster Artist" is receiving such positive reviews. The plot is bland and scenes are uninteresting. The story contains no major plot twists or anything to engage the viewers. Characters are not established well, scenes are disjointed: the movie feels bland.
How on earth James Defranco got the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy is beyond me. Nothing James Defranco's Tommy Wiseau says is particularly funny, it's literally making fun of a man that may have mental health issues. There was no difficulty or complexity in creating the Tommy Wiseau character for "The Disaster Artist", all that was needed is a funny accent, a wardrobe copy and mirroring the shots from "The Room". That's not great comedy.
Overall I am disappointed in this movie given the amount of hype it generated. It seemed like the cast and crew were piggybacking off the artificially created cult following of "The Room". If anything the nomination win and success of the movie shows how emotionally out of touch Hollywood is at the moment.
Altered Carbon (2018)
Lazy writing for a show set in a dynamic future.
I am not sure what this show is trying to achieve but it seems to fail quite drastically. Characters are shallow, plot lines are weak and the overlying immersion into the world is lacking.
Instead of watching believable characters in a futuristic setting we are left with caricatures acting out childish story lines. Everything about this series appeals to people with big egos without establishing any kind of nuance.
Small details also seem to shift with characters like the AI hotel being physical in his first appearance, wielding a shotgun while in the rest of the series he is an incorporeal hologram.
Over all a very bad show.
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
A confused tie in to the Cloverfield franchise.
I went into this movie with high hopes thinking I was going to see another great Cloverfield movie. I was, however, extremely let down. The movie itself has a good premise explaining why Cloverfield happened.
However, this is the only good thing about the movie. The first Cloverfield movie was set in what seemed to be the present day. The opening scene is of a terrace party where both electricity and food are stable. There was no mention of future tech and no suggestion that the events of Cloverfield were set in the future.
By comparison 'The Cloverfield Paradox' seems to be set in a future where there are both electricity and food shortages. This seems to clash with the original movie being set in modern day.
My issues with the movie other than this change in timeline also settle down to events seeming to happen at random. Instead of having a consistent theme or antagonist the story is consistently changing who the antagonist is with things seemingly happening at random. If the crew are not being told how to solve an issue in a seemingly impossible way they are dealing with an antagonist that was different 30 minutes prior.
Instead of adequately explaining the reasons for Cloverfield or adding to the story line, this movie seems to detract from everything that had built up in the two previous movies and has spoiled the series. It feels like childish writing with characters being flaccid stereotypes and events seeming to happen at random without explanation.
The people who made this movie had good intentions but failed to execute those intentions adequately.
The Disaster Artist (2017)
Confusing and awkward portrait of The Room.
I have to admit off the bat: I have not seen and have no intentions of seeing "The Room". Why sitting through an awful movie has a cult following only lowers the bar for engaging and entertaining movie scripts, something that seems to be affecting the movie industry as a whole. I honestly think money is the only thing driving the success of "The Room" and that the "cult following" has been completely manufactured. What I can't understand is how "The Disaster Artist" is receiving such positive reviews. The plot is bland and scenes are uninteresting. The story contains no major plot twists or anything to engage the viewers. Characters are not established well, scenes are disjointed: the movie feels bland.
How on earth James Defranco got the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy is beyond me. Nothing James Defranco's Tommy Wiseau says is particularly funny, it's literally making fun of a man that may have mental health issues. There was no difficulty or complexity in creating the Tommy Wiseau character for "The Disaster Artist", all that was needed is a funny accent, a wardrobe copy and mirroring the shots from "The Room". That's not great comedy.
Overall I am disappointed in this movie given the amount of hype it generated. It seemed like the cast and crew were piggybacking off the artificially created cult following of "The Room". If anything the nomination win and success of the movie shows how emotionally out of touch Hollywood is at the moment.
Black Mirror (2011)
Believable Storytelling: Doctor Who but without the need for continuity.
At it's heart "Black Mirror" is a scifi show using elements of reality and fiction to create believable worlds and characters. If an episode is not pushing the boundaries of ethics and morality: it is creating fictitious glimpses into near futures that are wholly entertaining.
The first 2 seasons are short and might put people off with it's Anglo centric storytelling. Seasons 1 & 2 appeal more to a British audience but if you stick it out until Season 3 the storytelling broadens to include a more predominant American presence to it's characters and storytelling.
My only criticism of the show is that conflicts within a character are often left unresolved by the end of an episode, leading people to review "Black Mirror" as a bleak or dark description of a fictitious future.
Definitively worth watching/buying on DVD.
Justice League (2017)
Live Action comic book characters on film.
Weak unappealing characters in a Universe that is poorly built. Instead of believing these characters could exist in reality the audience is left watching a movie about super human oddities go about saving the world. This might work in a comic book page but when the realism of live action is replacing the artwork, the audience should be expecting the universe these live action characters now inhabit to be believable.
Building on the Universe Christopher Nolan set up for the Batman Series could have improved the how realistic the Justice League Universe felt but instead we have comic book characters in a real world setting creating a Universe that just does not immerse the viewer.
Over all I would not recommend watching this film at all.
Paterson (2016)
A Story About Nothing.
Following a week in the life of Paterson is extremely dull: characters are shallow, story progression is slow and meaning in this movie is nowhere to be found. Events seem to come and go but ultimately nothing is achieved.
There is a tension in the air of this film that does not pay off. So much more could have been done with the building feeling of unease but ultimately there is no pay off. Watching this movie is almost draining with the audience waiting for something interesting to occur but never getting a pay off.
The most interesting character in this film is the Japanese poet Paterson meets who seems mysterious and exotic in comparison to the narrative of the film.
Did fate send this poet to Paterson in a moment of conflict?
The audience never really finds out: as soon as we meet the Japanese Poet he leaves and the film concludes.
If you like slow paced movies about nothing, this film will surely interest you.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
3 Acts that focused on entertaining children.
The Last Jedi is a decent attempt at progressing the story and characters we were introduced to in The Force Awakens. By no means does The Last Jedi attempt to deal with any complex themes or issues. This makes watching The Last Jedi a somewhat relaxing experience: at no point are you required to think too deeply about a characters decision or actions are as they seem to fit with the pace of the film.
The comedic element seen in dialog and actions is heavily geared towards lightening the mood for a younger audience and sometimes feels out of place or hammy in a scene. Even the development in characters (building on people we met in The Force Awakens) seem odd at times: it's almost like we're being introduced to brand new people for which the events of The Force Awakens had no lasting effects.
Now one of the biggest issues I had with the film were some logic fallacies in the story telling. In one scene: a door on a ship is opened to space but this does not immediately depressurize the hallway of that ship and in another scene: a ship unable to jump to light speed (having also had all of their light spacecraft destroyed) miraculously has a light spaceship that is capable of light speed that somehow wasn't destroyed with the rest. Instead of doing the logical thing with this spacecraft and evacuating people the light spaceship is used in a precarious mission (with a setup that was lazy storytelling). Small issues like these crop up in the film and detract a little from the enjoyment of the story progression.
Overall I would say this film is easy to watch and geared towards a younger audience. Wait for it to come out on DVD.
You be the widow (2014)
Jarring and oddly unnerving.
This short creates great characters but I can't help but feel like I'm watching two sociopaths interact in a room. It was unnerving at times, producing great unease at watching two people interact in such an odd manner.
The absence of technology is felt. The costume and setting are fitting.
Great short. Would love to see these characters in other settings.
Skwerl (2011)
A great look at language perception.
Skwerl is a fantastic idea executed with some hiccups. The subject matter of the short is genius with it developing a great perception bending tale that any language could appreciate. The setting however could have been more fitting for a dated encounter. The characterizations seemed to fit something from the 1950's and clashed against the modern backdrop.
The brilliant language use and acting falls flat against the pacing of the short story. An example can be seen at the beginning of the video: there is 30 seconds of food preparation shots edited together that could have been shorter. It seems like scenes of talking were stretched out to fill time with shots lacking in interesting visual content.
The ending of the short, although comical, clashed against the seriousness of the discussion prior to the unavailing of the pineapple. Again, the seriousness of the setting had more to do with the dated gender roles that clashed with a modern setting and less to do with problematic story arch.
A great idea with some good acting!
p.s. Brian Fairbairn, John Apted would like to invite you as his sole guest to his Barmitzva. He thinks the best solution to 29 years of bullshit is to apologize to a true friend face to face. He also says leave your boyfriend at home, because 'nohomobro'. Should you like to talk to John, you can call him on 07704757996. All the best.
Putting on the Dish (2015)
Interesting exposure of Polari.
Had this video not been made I don't think anybody would have know about Polari. For a short this video heavily relies on the subject of Polari, seemingly forgetting character development and setting.
Setting:
Polari apparently was used as a means of concealing homosexual discussion from the public yet the two gay characters are found alone in a park with no audience: Why would they need to talk in Polari in such an isolated location?
Character:
We learn little from the characters (partial because of the language use) and I was left feeling like I had just listened into two egos clash for dominance: I couldn't tell who's side I should be on or even if there was more to these men than lust for one another.
It did not show the best of gay culture, despite having such a strong and unique plot device such as Polari. Revisiting this concept and having a better writer might revitalize this short.
The Voices (2014)
Simplistic and unrealistic.
This movie had all the right elements on paper but failed to execute many of them well. Look out for Dr. Warren's (Jacki Weaver) monologue towards the end of the film but be prepared to be let down by hammy character acting and a childish plot before you get there.
An example of something this film did well was the contrast of perception in Jerry's (Ryan Reynolds) apartment but they could have taken that trope further. I disliked the naive view of Psychology/Medication as it gave the film unrealistic and childish plot progression (it clearly wasn't researched).
Overall I wouldn't recommend paying for this movie. Watch it at a friends house or wait for it to come to TV.
Travelers (2016)
Engaging characters but lazy storytelling.
Having watched a season of the show I find myself enjoying the characters created but struggling with the storytelling.
Events seem to happen to create plot even if there is an underlying logic flaw with those events.
Without giving examples: a plot device will occur that creates an issue and the Traveler team will solve this issue with convenient "one time use" or "restricted" future tech or solutions. Instead of the existence and restrictions of this tech or solution being made known to the audience prior to its use, tech/solution seems to be written into the episode to conquer the presented issue or move along the plot without being used again.
I think there would be better narration flow in the show if the tech/resolution was introduced before it is needed instead of being presented as a solution for an issue.
Although I have some minor gripes, the show is generally engaging and worth watching if you have some spare time. I think the storytelling can only improve with this show as season progress.
Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Mmm. My eyes watered.
Extremely good version of the story of Bethlehem. That scene with the Vietcong Psychopath: Seriously a single man tear came out of my eyes until I flexed and it was absorbed back into my body. Christopher Walken. What a legend. As a boy I idolized that man from FatboySlims "Weapon of Choice" video. He doesn't disappoint. The feel he gives to that one character and the subsequent plot that is developed around that one character is genius. Overall I highly recommend this movie. You may think it looks like a 2012 Trainspotting but I guarantee it's anything but. You'll leave the Theater having laughed, cringed and generally having had a good time.
Very good movie, good characters, clever plot. Go see it. Stay to the end, there's a mini clip.