Reviews

Anthony Hopkins has always shown how great an actor he is in this film his portrayal of a man suffering dementia is very moving and I couldn't help feeling how I imagine that's what it is like. How things appear to change one minute to the next He deserves an Oscar for getting it just right not over stated not about him it really was a good storyline doubt he will get an Oscar the Oscars will be going to whoever. But if you want to see the best portrayal of what dementia is like this is the film. Not sympathetic, not about the other.people who are suffering in coming to terms with it although there are brilliant moments where the Father can make such put downs. It's a must see film. Simple as that.

The acting by Kate Winslett is a master class and the movie is worth watching just to watch her (and as another reviewer has pointed out, she is like a brick wall but when she smiles you feel a warm glow). What is sad is, aside the developing love story with Charlotte Murchison, you don't get the same understanding for Elizabeth Philpott and the strained relationship with her mother, what was the connection . The opportunity to understand what Mary Anning had gone through the fact that she was not recognised for all her findings till after her death although there are articles by Henry De La Beche (president of the geological society) and Charles Dickens bestowing that her contributions to understanding of fossils and science are the most important findings of the 20th Century. An opportunity missed to show much more of her life and one of which Kate Winslett would have done further more justice. Had the BBC concentrated on that little bit more and why she was excluded from the geologist society then this woudl have been a 10/10.

I don't think anyone could have portrayed Hitler in his last days better than Bruno Ganz he gave a truly remarkable performance. I watched this film which at times was difficult. The scene where he truly loses it; has been immortalised by so many you tube memes. This actor deserved best actor and hopefully he can be awarded a posthumous award for what was an acting masterclass. The film itself is accurate in its portrayal of the desperation and Hitler losing control and his mind. It gets 9/10 for simply immersing me in the subject to the point I thought I was watching a documentary and it was Hitler I was watching.

This is not just a Prison film epic it is more than that - I feel its understated calling it a Masterpiece but it truly is. Rarely has a film stayed as long as it has at the top of the IMBD tree but there has been nothing since to compare. I have seen it a few times now and as I grow older it still feels as fresh watching again as it did the first time, only this time the way in which scenes are weaved together makes it even more enjoyable you watch and witness the characters grow and the story become more believable. How Prison would institutionalise and dehumanise a person and how that the main Character Andy Dufrane overcomes all this and brings hope - Its a masterpiece because you cannot watch it and feel for each character and see Red's redemption and come away feeling invigorated for the experience. The tarring of the roof, Brooks suicide the p\role hearings for Red and the most important part Hope - it truly inspires you feel that get busy living or get busy dying is such a powerful message in the end,.

There are lots of reviews about how this was a missed opportunity to make a great story or include lots of other characters omitted in the film. The film could have gone on for 3 hours + But this misses the point as the acting of Renee Zellwellger is extraordinary. It would be a travesty if she was overlooked for the Oscar she portrays Judy Garland warts and all. The film also highlights how the Movie studios treated its stars. which inevitably is a lot of the issues that Judy Garland went through and no doubt did many others. It was a sad film but captivating and you felt enormous sympathy for the star of it. Its up there with the Joker when it comes to Oscar nominations that is for certain. I hope the performance of Renee Zellweger is rewarded

I cant remember the last time I watched a series and it made me howl with laughter at some of the scenes and then made me cry - Mr Gervais has created a gem of a series to do this is genius. I just couldn't stop laughing in some scenes and the scenes with Penelope WIlton are magical I cried. Its a Must see series - I'd love to be in one of his shows I bet the cast have a real laugh making it - What makes it special is believable and though he feels life isnt worth living as his partner has passed on, he begins to go through the anger the acceptance and through it all that life may actually be worth living after all

We should never forget the sacrifice of so many in what was a futile waste of life. The acting in this film is superb and the characters are as true to the play as they can be when bringing it to the screen. the film deserved a bigger audience and should be shown November 11th to remind us how fortunate we are. I wont repeat what others have said only to say they are spot on. The sombre mood of the characters as they wait for the inevitable German Spring offensive, the Colonel and how far removed he is from the reality of it all as if you could just nip over to No mans land and grab a Jerry and by the way we are having a fish dinner at 8 I got some fresh fish brought up to the front. Where in the trenches they endured cutlets that was actually liver bully beef and tinned apricots. How each character then deals with the inevitable is also so true to the play - the great Laurence Olivier played the role and these actors did him proud in playing theirs. Not action packed but emotional and edifying till the end

I cant conclude that this was a masterpiece or an epic - it most certainly wasn't - There are a few reviews on here that match my sentiment - the editing was poor several stories come together but are done almost ad hoc with a scene being almost a flashback to a previous scene where a plane that was shot down is then shot down again as part of a different story within the same story (if that makes sense). I watched the 1958 version of Dunkirk and it had more intensity than this the fear of the daily bombing and fear of drowning, fear of not getting off the beach alive - well that intensity was lacking in this there appeared to be a few hundred men on a beach who were occasionally attacked by 3 stucka dive bombers there were moments when you wanted something to happen and when it did you wondered what the hell it was about as there would be no dialogue. I felt like screaming what did you spend £150 millions on. It could have been so much more, special effects could have had thousands on a beach not a random selection of soldiers here and there there could have been more little boats coming towards Dunkirk. However, some things were done well the ship saving men and then only to be sunk again. Showing the desperation to survive and the cost of that survival. The spitfire scenes where we learnt something of what the RAF learnt in aerial combat that prepared them for the battle to come and the crew of the little boat and how they epitomised the spirit of Dunkirk - that was done exceptionally well but I was very disappointed about the rest and don't expect to see Oscars where there was little dialogue to deserve such.

I had been eagerly anticipating this movie-there was a lot of things written to suggest it would be better than Prometheus. It took a while to get going and then when it did it slowed down again. Michael Fassbender playing both David and Walter was a revelation - the man can act. I was gripped by his performance and equally Katherine Waterstones performance as Daniels. There was a certain chemistry between Daniels and Walter that kept you rooting for them as things went pear shaped. Daniels is no Ripley but you sense she could develop into that role. The aliens were well like all the other alien films and after a while the scare factor isn't there - the tension doesn't come across as well as the original and there are some truly remarkably silly scenes in this one scene with Oram enticed by David (whose character is clearly a spiteful and vengeful one)-you are left thinking how did he fall for that really?? It just didn't do it and if another instalment does come along I do hope that its better- Sadly the Alien franchise has been done to death. Aliens 2 being the best gripping tense and full of action -for many parts of this latest instalment the action had come and gone before you had time to blink

Kiefer Sutherland gets better as he gets older. I love a good Western, this isn't in the same league as Unforgiven but watching Kiefer Sutherland play the role of John Henry Clayton is great. He gets the mood and the emotion right playing a man returning from a war he wants to forget and wants what it made him to be consigned to the past his presence on screen is always the one to watch. The movie theme has been done before, but this is better as there is a feel of anticipation throughout (as with westerns like Shane and Pale Rider), you begin to feel for the character of John Henry Clayton -The brought and paid for thugs act their part bringing their menace to every scene they are in; and eventually there is a showdown-Any fans of westerns I recommend you watch - it is worthy of just seeing how Kiefer Sutherland and his real life Dad act so well together and make the film a cut above many other Westerns

I have to say I was disappointed. I watched with greater expectations than I should have. The film failed to engage my interest (that doesn't mean it wont engage someone else's)I had seen Legend recently which was a far better production and Tom Hardy superb; so films with a Gangster theme appear to be prominent this year. This film also based on a true story was far grittier and didn't glamorise the actions of those that the film portrays - Johnny Depp is almost unrecognisable as Whitey Bulger which the film is essentially about. This could have been a brilliant film instead it is a collaboration of scenes mismatched together threaded together to make some sense which it fails to do as you don't connect to the characters in it; becoming ordinary and pedestrian instead of gripping your attention as say characters in the Departed which has been often referred to in reviews. I agree with a previous reviewer that had more emphasis been put on the development of the characters from childhood Whitey Bulger, John Connoly and Billy Bulger (brother and senator) and how this then transformed into later life this would have been a really good film as it is, it is worth watching but don't break a leg to do so. It also fails in the final 30 minutes as it doesn't show us how we get to the bringing the gang down - it simply just happens! there is no tension or how it all unravels. Watch the Departed on DVD for a real gripping film and Legend for better acting and a better presented story.

The main problem with this movie is it opens with the premise based on true events and that is where the credulity of the audience is truly tested because the only true events is the battle of Gallipoli itself from then on in events take on an unbelievable journey. – The Director and writers must have thought how do I sell this better as its just another war film? I know say its based on true events – its how the Coens got away with making Fargo claiming it was based on a true story which it was later revealed was nonsense. However, like Fargo, the Water Diviner is a well made and well acted piece and worthy of praise for at least having a story albeit contrived. First we have a Father who travels to the Dardanelles to find his three sons presumed killed in action and he his thwarted in his efforts to go officially so unofficially turns up and as the ANZACs go to send him away a Turkish Major whom he later befriends changes their minds. The story then becomes even more contrived from then on in and I feel disappointed that it isn't true because there is nothing more than I would like for it to be so, as it is beautiful shot, there is a degree of realism in the barbaric nature of war. The battle scenes are gritty and a testament to many young men who thought and died for their Country. This film should be remembered for the fact that many men died for many Countries in the First World War and many families never had peace of mind to know whether their sons or Fathers survived as they were lost presumed dead and it is a fact that one such Father did try to establish where his son was killed at Gallipoli.