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cuthbertjoel
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Melancholia (2011)
The Title Says It All
Straight off the bat, if you've had a hard week at work and you just want to chuck a DVD on and get lost in a movie for a couple of hours, this is not it!
I cannot for one second say that I 'enjoyed' this movie. It is difficult to watch and literally has no hope or any shred of happiness in it.
That said, the title of the film gives you a clue that this is going to a movie dealing with a depression and this is why it gets 7 stars from me. Kirsten Dunst is great in this film. You live every moment of the movie with her as she takes you through the mental torment of severe depression. Kiefer Sutherland also plays his part well.
I can certainly say that I appreciate this movie for what it is. An unglorified look at what it is to be depressed and to not feel like there is a way out.
I guess my main issue with the film is that it is too long and it borders on boring in places, but if you know what you are getting yourself in for, it's worth a look.
San Andreas (2015)
If you wanted a plot, you've come to the wrong place
I'm afraid the opening sequence of this movie sets the tone for the rest of it. Admittedly, some of the CGI within the movie is much better than the pathetic offering in the car crash scene, but there is still very little to offer unless you just want to see mindless explosions and buildings falling down.
When watching this film, it was so hard not to compare it to others of the same genre (The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 were the two that sprung to mind). And, I'm afraid San Andreas never gets close to being anywhere near their standard (and they are hardly world beaters!) My main problems are that the character development is none existent which renders you totally ambivalent to any of the characters in the film. If they live or die could not have bothered me less. And also, the cheesy dialogue and overacting is something you've seen a million times before.
For me, it is the poorest in a long line of disaster movies that tried to pin it's hopes on Dwayne Johnson, but I just didn't buy into him as this sort of character, so the film was flat from the start.
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Just watch the original
The original of this film is probably up there in my Top 10 of all time, so I knew this remake would not be as good. All I wanted was for this one to not desecrate my childhood memories of the original. By that measure, this film was a success. It isn't so bad that it ruins the original.
All actors play their role reasonably well, and for me the standout being Luke Evans as Gaston and Emma Watson did a decent job as Belle. Disney brought its usual flavour of production and most of the original songs translated adequately to the live-action format. The opening number, 'Belle' worked the best in my opinion. However, some of the songs really paled in comparison to their original counterparts. 'Be Our Guest' I thought was the weakest of the lot. Disney also shoe-horned in a few new songs which for me didn't really add anything. Also, a few plot differences and new script twists seem to have been manufactured just to make the film a little less of a carbon copy of the original.
Leaving the cinema though, I could only see this film as a pretty vanilla, paint-by-numbers rerun, which in no way exceeded the original. In that sense, I end up thinking, what was the point of this? Are Disney simply just going to go through their back catalogue re-releasing things as live action? It seems that might be the case.
There's certainly nothing new here, and nothing that makes the animation look dated or comparatively weaker. As a stand-alone film, I wish I could think of a better adjective than 'OK', but that is simply how the film makes me feel. It will no doubt make the Disney shareholders happy as it will rake money in, but for us that hold the original in such high regard, this is a second-rate copy.
The Pyramid (2014)
Never Got Close To Good
I was intrigued by this film for one thing. I wanted to see how James Buckley coped with something away from The Inbetweeners. More on him in a second...
If there's one thing a horror movie should not be, it is boring. Even if you produce a horror movie that's so bad it's funny, at least there is an entertainment value. I found this movie profoundly boring except for one or two jump moments. Otherwise it was a long string of terrible dialogue and actors seemingly unable to portray any sort of emotion. A fun drinking game might be to watch this film and drink every time one of the actors says something along the lines of "We need to find a way out now". I'd say it would be in the 20s. Far too cheesy, predictable and knowing that they all die is oddly satisfying since the character development scale is set on zero from the outset.
Now to the worst actor in the movie...Mr James Buckley. He's laughably bad and totally incapable of playing a dramatic role. Every time he opens his mouth just kills the tension or suspense that the film tries to build up. In fairness to him, he hasn't exactly walked onto the set of a Hollywood blockbuster here, so his acting pretty much fits in.
Another crap horror movie to add to the pile. If you want much better suspense, scarier monsters and an all round better film, The Descent has this covered comfortably.
Lost River (2014)
Very Weird, Very Dark, Not Very Good
First let me say, I love Ryan Gosling. I think he's one of the best actor's going around today and his name on this film is pretty much the only reason I gave it a try.
Unfortunately, for me, this hasn't worked. It seems that Ryan was so intent on stepping out of his comfort zone that he's leaped into the dream of someone on hard illicit drugs. I guess he wanted to enter the directorial world with a bang and really stamp some of his personality onto the film. He is obviously heavily influenced by directors he has worked with in the past. The problem is, in making it quirky, artsy, original, whatever you want to call it, the film has just been lost.
The film consists of three stories that tenuously connect to each other, but none of which are particularly interesting. The mom is behind on mortgage payments, so she takes a job at some weird fetish club. The son steals metal to try and get some money, meanwhile finding a road that goes into the town reservoir. And Saoirse Ronan lives nearby with a grandmother who doesn't talk. I know that synopsis sounds like it was written by an infant, but to be honest, I still don't know what the hell the film is about! Slight positives were Saoirse Ronan putting in a decent performance, and some of the cinematography did work. However, for Gosling to really get amongst the elites of the directing world, he needs to concentrate on the film being good first. It's fine to have your own style, all good directors do. But ensure the film has the subject matter on a basic level to captivate an audience before worrying about little idiosyncrasies you can include to make it your own.
Blended (2014)
The Wedding Singer (Lazy Version)
This is from the same director as The Wedding Singer, and this seems to be the film they got 'free' with the two for one offer.
The whole way through the film, you get a sense of laziness, and a sense that the actors are there for contractual obligations rather than being there to contribute anything to the film.
The 'plot' is just a meandering journey through a generic rom-com ticklist. Nothing happens here that you haven't seen in a million other Sandler films. And moreover, it is near enough a carbon copy of Just Go With It, released only a few years ago.
Plenty of the jokes are just re-runs of Sandler's normal toilet humour that was funny circa 1996, but it's just very tired and old now, and he can't expect the audience to be affected in the same way as they were in his earlier stuff like Happy Gilmore.
That said, this never felt like a film where any of the actors, and indeed the director, cared whether they were producing a good film. As long as they were making a profitable one, Sandler and Barrymore could turn up, clock on, clock off and get paid.
Like Crazy (2011)
So Close....
I have read a number of reviews on this film and I can definitely identify with the ones that mention both leads (Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin) are brilliant separately, but something goes missing when they are together.
I really enjoyed the subject matter of the film. This is a young couple in love who are trying to deal with the sorts of problems that everyday couples have. Their issues are not glamourised and that is echoed by the minimalism in the script. I enjoyed the celebration of the mundane, which really allowed me to connect with the story.
The issue I have with the film, though, is that I didn't really buy these two as a couple. The chemistry really wasn't there for me. As I said before, Jones and Yelchin put in solid performances with a nice cameo from Jennifer Lawrence, but I didn't feel the connection between the two. I didn't believe that these two were desperate to be with each other and that they were going through the torment of that not being able to happen.
The film had enough emotion to pull on the heartstrings. I just think with these two characters, I felt a certain amount of detachment which translated into not feeling as emotionally connected to the characters as the film probably intended.
Begin Again (2013)
A Great Surprise
I really didn't expect much from this film. I figured it might be a bit of a side project for Ruffalo and Knightley while they were both more concentrated on Foxcatcher and The Imitation Game. The inclusion of Adam Levine in an acting role also rang alarm bells.
However, I could not have been more wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this film. The relationship between the two main characters is brilliant but the real star relationship that I enjoyed was the re-connection of Ruffalo's character to his estranged daughter (played brilliantly by Hailee Steinfeld). The two of them capture a very accurate attritional relationship between an angsty teen and a failing father.
This is a lovely, feel-good, indie film that gives us an insight into a cross section of the music industry. The film is so well cast that these characters really gel and you can feel the differing relationships between them. The film does all this without falling into classic rom-com stereotypes and disengaging the audience.
It is so refreshing to see a film genuinely explore character relationships without feeling the need to force any romance story lines.
The Loft (2014)
Not Very Lofty Expectations
I've seen quite a few scathing reviews for this film, and I can definitely see why. However, I'm not sure it deserves the one and two star ratings that it is getting.
All in all, the film is not good. The generic title lends itself to a very generic film about five very cliché characters that really aren't explored in any depth. Because of these wafer thin character developments, it's so difficult to feel any sort of connection with their story and even more difficult to feel any suspense when the film is encouraging you to.
The film is very clumsy in it's storytelling. The jumping of time periods from past/present/future only becomes apparent right at the end of the film and the last 20 minutes seems very detached from the rest of the story. It's as if that they arrived at a natural ending but then deemed it necessary to bolt on another plot twist just to elongate the film, but it didn't work for me.
All that said, the film didn't bore me and I never considered turning it off. On a very, very basic level at least, it is fairly entertaining with a couple of half interesting plot twists. It's just a very bargain basement, generic whodunnit. You will have seen several films of the same genre that are much better, much more sophisticated and much more entertaining.
Barefoot (2014)
Not Your Average Rom-Com
I stumbled upon this film just clicking around IMDb. I'd never heard of it at all and had no idea what to expect.
The film centres around Jay (Scott Speedman) and Daisy (Evan Rachel Wood) who strike up an unlikely relationship while on a visit to Jay's family and a road trip home. Very similar story concept to We're The Millers and Identity Thief. Characters that are thrown together get to know each other and realise there's more to each of them than meets the eye.
The film has a few elements to it, some work, some don't. Speedman and Wood both play their own parts fairly well and at the start of the film, I thought the sort of childminder relationship worked quite well. Once the film started to suggest a more romantic vibe between these two, I just didn't buy it. The two never have that on screen chemistry to believe that you are genuinely watching two people falling for each other.
There are a few funny moments in the film, and it does negotiate the rom-com cliché minefield fairly well. I think there may be some negative responses to the handling of mental illness in this film. It is quite trivialised and glossed over for much of the film.
All in all, I thought it was average. My life is no worse for having watched it, but equally, I need to write this review hours after watching it as it won't be in my memory bank in a day or two's time.
Foxcatcher (2014)
A Dark And Powerful Film
I must be completely honest and admit that I didn't know the Schultz brothers story at all before watching Foxcatcher, so it was a completely clean slate for me.
The obvious things to note are the performances from Carell, Tatum and Ruffalo. All are brilliant in their own way. Carell as the eccentric billionaire who becomes more and more haunting as the film develops. Tatum as the talented wrestler who struggles to step outside of his brother's (Ruffalo) shadow. And Ruffalo as the older brother who tries to hold down a family life while coaching in Team Foxcatcher. Carell and Vanessa Redgrave also have a couple of scenes together which excellently highlight their fractious relationship and point towards why DuPont is like he is.
I found the film quite a slow burner, but far from boring. You could sense a dark undertone the whole way through the film, and tensions building. I did feel the ending was a bit abrupt and maybe the ramifications of Carell's actions weren't explored to the extent that they might have been.
The score is sensational, and almost tells a story in itself as you sense the movie taking a more macabre tone towards the end.
All in all, a very solid psychological drama, hitting all the harder knowing that it is based on a true story.
Wild (2014)
Missed The Mark For Me
When you have a film that is so heavily reliant on a single character, it's so important to make that character likable or relatable.
I'm a big Reese Witherspoon fan and have been for a while, but I think she's got it all wrong in this film. Within a few minutes, I was already sick of the bad attitude and whining of her character. She turned up for a 1000 mile trek with 12 condoms, hardly any water and the wrong fuel for her stove.
I didn't care about the character, and because of the way the films timeline is set out, you only get information in small flashbacks (which is annoying). This all means that you don't fully discover why this trek is being done until over an hour into the film. By that time I'd already mentally checked out and couldn't care less about the back story.
I'm not certain what this film is supposed to be. It fails as a self-discovery film as the character who is supposed to be a recovering sex addict sleeps with one of the first guys she sees on the trek. It also fails as a survival movie as no less than 8 days into a 'character building wilderness trek' is our character hitching a ride back to a man's house to have a hot dinner and shower??? As with most reviewers, I can admit the scenery is beautiful and the film is reasonably well shot. Although I suppose they couldn't go too wrong with the PCT as a backdrop. But even the physical aspects of the film don't add up. Reese has no sun tan/burn after weeks in the baking sun. Her hair certainly doesn't resemble the hair of someone who has been trekking for weeks.
I'm not an avid walker but I think I can bet my last dollar that the film is about as accurate to trekking as 'Vertical Limit' was to climbing.
In the film's defence, it may be closely following the book that it is based upon. If that's the case, I sure as hell don't fancy reading the book.
St. Vincent (2014)
A Saint Among Us
This is a great feel-good film that is well casted, well written and well directed. A reminder that even the most 'unsaintly' of people are saints to others.
Bill Murray is in a role that he was born to play. The disgruntled old man with no friends and a pessimistic view of the world. But, all the supporting cast need to be mentioned as well. I'm not a big Melissa McCarthy fan, but she puts in a beautifully restrained performance here as a struggling single mother. Naomi Watts as the over-the-top Russian hooker. And also, a very understated performance from Chris O'Dowd as Oliver's teacher is worth noting.
The relationship that Vince develops with Oliver is obviously the star of the show here, and they compliment each other beautifully. We see both characters go on a journey of discovery throughout the film and arrive at a heart-warming finale.
A great job from the directors and writers here to just trust the fact that the script is good and the casting is good and to let the movie flow. There is no over-acting and none of the characters seem forced.
Highly recommended.
The Ides of March (2011)
Very Solid Political Drama
I thoroughly enjoyed The Ides Of March. It is a very good look into the dirty side of politics behind all the handshakes, speeches and smiles.
The acting is extremely solid. Clooney and Gosling are fantastic and are very well supported by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. All of these four are very well developed in the movie and their interactions come off as very real and very believable. Evan Rachel Wood is also a great addition to the cast and throws a nice curve ball into the plot.
I don't really have any negatives to report. If I was being picky, the film does drag just a touch in places, but not to the extent where you lose connection to the plot.
All in all, a very good film which I would recommend as a real life look into the less crowd pleasing side of party politics.
Into the Woods (2014)
Get Out Of The Woods...Immediately!
This film is terrible, and as quickly as possible I'll try to explain why.
Firstly, regardless of what the trailers depict, this is a full on musical. I'd say 80% of dialogue is song, so if you hate musicals, steer clear. Myself, I don't mind musicals, so finding out it was a musical didn't kill it for me....yet! The spectrum of acting is vast to say the least. Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt obviously stood out as the two that shone. But, stood next to the likes of James Corden, he looked like someone who had just wandered on to set for an acting class. This made the Corden/Blunt relationship totally unbelievable and all credentials to the plot are gone three minutes into the film.
The music itself is abysmal. I can deal with songs being forgettable, but these songs are actively offensive to the ears. Literally, High School Musical had better songs than this. The singing is decidedly poor as well, with several off key notes.
Johnny Depp seems to have played his part and been stopped by the director to say.."No Johnny, can we go a bit more paedophilic please?" This scene was horribly uncomfortable. I felt like calling the police, it was just that sleazy and creepy. The obvious sexual undertones weren't something you would normally see Disney put its name to. He is quickly becoming another Nicolas Cage. Used to be a very good advert for a film but is fast becoming a deterrent (The Lone Ranger and Transcendence come to mind).
That said, I'm not sure A-list acting all round could have saved this movie. The plot is tedious, the characters are boring. The film would have maybe scraped a 4 or 5 out of 10 from me had it not had another 25 pointless minutes after what I thought was going to be the end.
Awful film and a waste of a good cast (except James Corden).
The Gambler (2014)
I Really Wanted To Love It
I was really looking forward to watching this movie and I was expecting something like a darker version of '21'.
So, my issues with the movie are...
The relationship between Wahlberg and Brie Larsson I just didn't buy into at all for one minute. The chemistry wasn't there, the dialogue wasn't there and I just didn't care about their relationship.
Wahlberg is OK in the movie, but the way that his character just goes through the film not caring about his debt and not caring if he lives or dies really does rub off on the audience. I just found myself not bothered about what happened to him. The debt collectors are really unintimidating. The film had a real chance to build some suspense and terror by choosing very imposing and overbearing characters, but chose to run with a caricature Korean man who has his nails done, and Neville, a guy who's less intimidating than a harnessed child.
The actor that goes against the grain and who I really enjoyed was John Goodman. He didn't get enough screen time in my opinion. But, what he did get, he was very good. Some of his speeches are brilliant and he is the one character that works well with Wahlberg. Jessica Lange as Wahlberg's mother is also worth an honourable mention.
All of this adds up to a film that you just don't really invest in. There are scenes that remind you of how good this film could have been. In particular the Goodman/Wahlberg exchanges. But, there is far too much generic dialogue and paper thin character development to allow these scenes to shine through and take charge of the movie.
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Started Off Amazing But Downwards From There
So this film is split into three distinct sections. All the sections relate to each other over a 15 year time period but do stand alone as their own mini-sections. Credit given for the brave move for the director to attempt this.
Section 1 has Ryan Gosling playing a carnival stunt bike rider who realises on old flame (Eva Mendes) has had his child. This for me is the best part of the film.
Section 2 has Bradley Cooper as a policeman who is given a heroes welcome back to work but soon finds himself in the corrupt world of underhand dealings within the police department Section 3 revolves around the grown up children of both Gosling's and Cooper's character.
I don't want to elaborate too much and give any of the plot away.
Doing the film this way though made it way too long. So much of the momentum built up in the first section is just lost as the movie seems to run out of steam. The third section didn't particularly add anything to the film and the two young actors were never going to match up to what Gosling and Cooper had laid down as a marker.
I was so disappointed as after 40 minutes or so, this had the makings of a blockbuster. But after the strong start, it just seems to go through the motions and meander towards a pretty generic ending.
The first 40 mins were 10/10, but the rest of the movie drags its score down.
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Another January Bomb
I think it's fair to say that you don't expect much when a film is released in January and stars Jennifer Lopez. And 'not much' is a polite way of expressing what I got.
The generic title of the film is very apt given it rolls out every cliché in the book with the whole jealous stalker genre. The acting is atrocious, and because of this, the movie doesn't pull off any of the scenes that are supposed to be scary or thrilling or even remotely interesting. The film is so poorly scripted and directed that Oscar winning actors couldn't carry it. Let alone a singer and a guy whose acting credentials come out of the 'Step Up' sequels.
Most of your time in the movie is spent laughing at how bad and unbelievable the film is or (for the guys) disappointed at how little of JLo you see in the sex scene.
Just crap. If you've seen any other obsession/stalker movie in the last 10 years, it was better than this.
Whiplash (2014)
One Of The Films Of The Year
Superb film led from the front by Miles Teller in the performance of his life, and a show stealing performance from JK Simmons who will be sweeping every award ceremony this season. The film does have some peripheral characters and story lines but in essence, its the JK and Teller show.
The tension that these two build up in the film with their heated exchanges and aggressive bullying tactics is ridiculous. I was pretty much on the edge of my seat the whole movie just waiting for this volcano to erupt.
As with many films though, a lot of crescendo throughout the film can lead to a real let-down of a finale as the tension built up just fizzles away like a firework that didn't go off. This is absolutely not the case with Whiplash. The finale is anything but a let down. I'll say no more on that subject.
All in all it's a fantastic film and is well worthy of its recognition by the Academy in this year's Oscar reckonings.
Boyhood (2014)
It Took 12 Years......Anything Else?
I do give credit to Linklater for this project and breaking cinematic ground with using the same cast and filming over such a long time period. I just wonder what reviews this film would have got if the cast wasn't the same all the way through. Because, to my mind, there isn't too much else behind this gimmicky facade besides an average movie.
The plot is literally a boy growing from the ages of 5-18. And that's it. There's a bit of marriage break-up and domestic violence in there (both of which are portrayed very well by Patricia Arquette) but otherwise you're going to see nigh on 3 hours of a kid going to school, going bowling and going to college. That said, I wasn't particularly bored by the film. I just wonder what all the fuss is about.
I just don't see how this film gives much to the run of the mill movie-goer. The raving seems to be that the film is relatable and celebrates the normality and banality of family living situations. I just don't get it though. I'm 28 years of age so have experienced the live show of family quarreling and parents break up. Mrs Doubtfire was a more poignant depiction of family break up for my money.
I actually think this film has exactly the same problem as Birdman. This film was created for Awards panels and the Academy and not for the person who works all week and pays their $15 to go and enjoy a movie on a Friday night.
If you can enjoy the film and can enjoy it for a feat of cinema, then good luck to you. I didn't hate the film and I wasn't bored to death. I just think there's a bit too much attention being paid to the thin veneer of the fact that it's done with the same cast, and not enough attention being paid to the chasm of nothingness beneath.
Inherent Vice (2014)
Long, Boring and Unfathomable
I'm not too sure how anyone could take anything away from this film.
Firstly, there are far too many characters, all of whom are completely forgettable (with maybe the exception of the lead), their stories don't seem to weave together at all and you end up not caring at all about them.
Consequently, the 'plot' is all over the place. I've now watched the film, had a couple of hours to consider it, and read the plot synopsis, and I still can't work out what actually happened. The story has more holes than a sieve.
The feeble attempts at trying to summarise the 'plot' with a crap voice-over and a completely forgettable hippie girl occasionally chiming in with an 'intellectual' 5 minute rant just don't work.
The one slight positive I can mention is Jaoquin Phoenix's performance was fairly decent and actually provided some sort of focus for the film, but this is all drowned out in a sea of needless characters, overly convoluted plot lines, loose ends that are forgotten about and just a general mess of a film.
The Imitation Game (2014)
Good Lord this is good.
I actually can't think of anything negative to say about The Imitation Game. A wonderful story that many people (including myself) won't have known in its entirety is brought to life in a fantastic picture.
Benedict Cumberbatch just kills it. His performance is fantastic and manipulates your emotions so effortlessly at different points in the film. Keira Knightley turns in the performance of her career. Both of them fully deserve their Oscar nods for these performances. As does the film itself for Best Picture. Their on screen chemistry is evident as soon as they appear in their first scene together. The storytelling power of these performances, the thought provoking subject matter and excellent direction make it one of the films of the year.
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Favourite Film Of The Year
The Theory Of Everything was an absolute masterclass. Bringing to the screen the life, work and love of one of our greatest living minds with such a degree of humility and subtlety.
All this 'Oscar-bait' chat is utter drivel. Granted its a Stephen Hawking biopic being released around Oscar time, but the film still has to be produced, directed, acted and scored to an Oscar-worthy standard to be considered. Thankfully, 'The Theory Of Everything' is.
Eddie Redmayne was mind-blowing, and I can only hope he gets the Oscar for it. For me, its the best lead acting performance for a number of years. Felicity Jones was also brilliant, and as a couple, they lit up the screen.
The Theory Of Everything showed us the microcosm of the Hawkings' life and allowed us to look at ourselves with that same hope, humour and hunger for life that is captured by Eddie on screen.
Against the Sun (2014)
Decent Small Budget Movie
I'm not going to concentrate my review on one scene involving a CGI shark. I will say it looked obscenely fake and did somewhat detach you from that scene as you were too busy preoccupied with the leftover Sharknado prop. Otherwise the film was pretty good. Felton, Delahunt and Abel were all very solid and really evoked the feelings of desperation and humanity relating to the subject of the film. Their performances were enough for me to actually care about the characters and given its also a true story, I found myself more than adequately emotionally invested in the film. There's definitely issues with the film. The score is very hit and miss. Especially the second rate Jaws music in some of the scenes. I've watched hundreds of films worse than this in the last year or so. Did more than enough to keep me watching for 1hr 40mins.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Hardest Film To Review Of The Year
I think I have to review this film in two parts. Personally, I disliked it massively. I've watched all the nominees for best picture this year and this is my least favourite. The plot just didn't seem to go anywhere, I couldn't have cared less about the characters and their predicaments. I think Michael Keaton's performance has been hugely over-rated. As a dime a dozen movie-goer, I just didn't get it. However, this film has Academy fodder written all over it. I can definitely see why this film has sweeped awards this year. Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Zak Galifinakis were very good and the direction was also very Academy pleasing with many scenes done in just one shot. So, personally, I've ticked it off my list and I'll never be watching it again, but I'm not so naïve to not recognise it as a feat of cinematography. I certainly think its a movie made to try and win awards rather than for the likes of me to go and have a good time at the cinema.