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janjeltes
Reviews
Edge of the World (2021)
Slow but Decent
I am lucky enough to have a relative in a similar situation to Mr Brooks. I did not know of their exploits until I researched our family history which didn't end so well.
Firstly, there's someone here from Sarawak who considers themselves an expert without studying history from Australia. That's an interesting perspective.
What I can relate to is that the story somewhat rings true. My great great grandfather was recorded as describing the locals as God's creatures and a beautiful people. He worked with the locals whom he loved. His great granddaughter (my mother) concurred that this affection was as she was told. For the people who loathe white culture - let me assure you that the problem is YOU.
This story isn't quite what I pictured from our family history. Our family history involves the Americans "saving the day" by seizing all assets from the colonists and the locals. The colonists were religious who had partnered with the natives. To this day, I have relatives who live with the locals.
I would consider this film to be somewhat realistic. Head hunting and cannibalism, violence, empathy, cooperation and some mistrust plus interference from English or American countries.
It's slow but a decent story. If you aren't an anti-white racist and you aren't racist in general, this is a decent story that mostly rings true based on my research.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Terrible film but a lot of effort put into it...
The good bits. I really enjoyed the first film. It made you look through the physical world in a different way. You also had thought provoking characters, eg. Dr Strange who is arrogant, reckless, sensible and likeable all at the same time. This film kept some of that magic. It certainly positions itself as the more open minded franchise of the Marvel Universe. Also, the special effects were excellent... they really got peoples' movements downpat.
However, that's the extent of the good bits. I really could not relate to these characters at all. Their behaviours were all odd, except probably Christine Palmer. I was struggling to relate to anyone. The best comparison I can give is "watching Days of Our Lives" with exaggerated dialogue, exaggerated mannerisms, shallow motives, etc. I couldn't care if anyone lived or died... I couldn't even root for the villain whose logic was so far removed from common sense that I hoped the villain died too. Doctor Strange lost his mojo. He was boring and played second fiddle to other characters. It was his worst performance I've seen from
Cumberbatch.
In all seriousness, this was probably one of the worst films I've seen. I strongly disliked the characters and the story had no soul to it. The motives were absurd.
I don't recommend this film to anyone except for those who love great effects and don't care about characters. The effects were superb. It's just not enough to carry a film across the line. The story needs to focus on personality. This film clearly had other priorities. That didn't kill the film... it was just another distraction.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Not a film for me
Each to their own. This film is filled with celebrities being decadent and arrogant. It's constantly woke and it revises history.
If that's your sort of thing, there's a lot to enjoy here.
Gal Gadot is a standout in an appalling performance. Otherwise, it's middle of the road.
Not suitable for children or teenagers as many of the themes are not for younger people.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)
Good Series
In films and TV, I'm not a fan of violence, sex, or gore. This series is filled with all three. The fighting scenes didn't interest me much and the sex scenes added little to the story.
The story writing itself was generally solid. The first half of season 2 was the most notable letdown: like watching a daytime soap opera.
The sets are decent and the acting mostly good. Most of the series portrayed characters in a way that felt historically genuine (unlike Black Sails that was comparatively frustrating for many of the episodes).
Probably the most standout performance was Lucy Lawless who could change personality rapidly and believably.
Most of the drama and conflict was excellent. If you love gratuitous sex and violence and gore, this show will give you a fair fill. Overall, it has a good balance of history, action, drama and decently played male and female characters with the exception of one female warrior in the final season.
Much of the series sticks to basic historical facts. At times, you'll be surprised at what is historically accurate.
Black Sails (2014)
Doppelgänger
Imagine meeting someone who looked just like your partner and were nothing like them. That's Black Sails. Beyond historical places, some real people's names, architecture, clothing and equipment... there is nothing factual about this series. It "looks" right but it's heavily inaccurate and I suggest the show has sinister motives.
The sets are fantastic. The story line is mostly solid. Most of the ending was excellent. On the whole, the acting was decent. However, the writers clearly struggled with identity politics: the story suffered greatly for it.
The behaviour of the characters was totally wrong for the time. It's hard to see history through a modern lens, however, this show's portrayal of historical figures was total nonsense. Further, the characters show share names of real people (eg. Jack Rackham) bore minimal resemblance to their real world counterparts. The behaviour of almost all characters can not be taken credibly as an accurate reflection of 1715: it diverged drastically.
On the good side, you can tell an interesting story whilst fabricating the whole thing: this is what happens here. When backed by excellent dialogue and strongly defined characters and their relationships, you have superb entertainment. That's mostly true.
However, the writers were heavily committed to identity politics. As with all identity politics, it's there to corrupt history and to promote prejudice and in this case, endorse violence and murder (eg. The idea that black slavers of white people was only done out of revenge: how appalling that the writers think like that when it's a total corruption of history and sends a bad message for the future). The identity politics greatly diminishes the brilliance of this show.
If you embrace identity politics, you'll love this show. It endorses all of the worst aspects of prejudice and tries to corrupt history with it. For everyone else, much of the story is still excellent, however, there's a lot of prejudice to wade through (eg. It's ok for some ethnicities to be violent: their violence is virtuous).
3 Marks lost for endorsing murder, violence and slavery for some people. That's being generous. Otherwise, it's a superb series. The underlying messages in this show (eg. It's ok to enslave some people as long as you use terms like "press gang") is extremely destructive. The hypocrisy is not lost if you keep your wits about you,
Reacher (2022)
Major letdowns in fairly decent show
If you're looking for a realistic show, this is not your show. If you can suspend reality then you'll overcome the biggest hurdle I had.
The premise of the story is decent. On the whole, the acting is solid. The performance by Willa Fitzgerald (Roscoe) as the female lead was the most refreshing female lead I've seen in a long time as she mostly behaved like a normal human being. Disappointingly, the performance of Maria Sten (Neagley) was cringeworthy. Fitzgerald played modestly, relatable, confident and strong in that she stood by her conviction without being a 2D ninja warrior.
Alan Ritchson (Reacher) played the role as charming, arrogant and highly confident. It was a fine line between likeable and not. Had Netflix made this series, Reacher would have ticked a box of some sort. In this series, you felt that box ticking was not important. Mind you, one of the black characters was poorly done. Without any spoilers, they were totally shallow. I would have preferred more nuance.
The real problem with the series is the lack of logic. People are being murdered everywhere by professionals. Crack shots and psychos. However, they never seem to be able to kill the three lead characters. This made no sense.
The series is best summarised as follows. The series avoids woke tropes. Reacher is not emasculated in any way. The acting is decent (mostly). However, the logic sometimes fails. Don't look too hard and you have a good series. It was mostly great.
World Without End (2012)
Painful to watch such anachronisms
The Pillars of the Earth was the first series converted by the same team. Thanks to a few solid performances, the Pillars series held together well.
Imagine stripping all likeable character portrayals from Pillars of the Earth and significantly upping the historical inaccuracies (especially of the female characters, making them highly obnoxious and egotistical). That's what the show creators did. If you know even a little about history, this will be painful to watch. The lack of likeable characters tops this series into being unbearable.
I'm being generous giving this a 4/10. Other than decent costumes and decent scenery, there's little to admire. Don't waste your time on this one. Pillars was far superior to this series. Hollywood is littered with poor book conversions: add this to the list.
The Pillars of the Earth (2010)
Near hit
Ken Follet's book is superb drama and history combined. It's this very reason (history) that she show doesn't quite work, despite the significant effort. The follow up series was far worse.
I don't mind when film makers deviate from books. In this case, there were many deviations that were a detriment (especially the weak ending). The ending of the book was so much better.
The arguably biggest flaw was the behaviour of (mostly female) characters who were totally out of character for the period: it was nauseating to watch, especially Maud (Allison Pill). Nobody in their right mind would believe that portrayal was close to realistic. Conversely, Lady Hamleigh (Sarah Parish) was stellar, as was Ellen (Natalia Woorner). Both women had far more strength and conviction than Pill's hollow performance.
The directors also undermined Alfred (Liam Garrigan) by making him an abuser and spineless by the end of the series for no benefit. It also undermined Aliena's (Hayley Atwell) motives with Jack but it gave her a hollow "girl power" moment which didn't pay off and won't stand the test of time. Atwell's performance deteriorated through the series. Sadly, Jack (Eddie Redmayne) never worked as Jack as he was too exaggerated and too introverted for his story to make sense - he's a Mason in the 12c, not an eccentric arts student in 2000s.
In a way, you can forgive average props and shallow staging (eg. Deus Ex Machina). However, when the characters constantly revert to 21st century, the illusion of history is broken (especially Pill and Atwell).
Prior Philip was well performed (Matthew Macfadyen) and the other most consistent performers were Walen Bigod (Ian McShane) and Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell). All three men carried the show.
The series is often violent. The scenery is mostly decent. However, I could not get past the poor performances of Pill and Atwell. Whilst Redmayne was miscast, he was somewhat historically credible.
Worth a watch. For those who love history, you will grit your teeth frequently. 7/10 for the better actors, good source material (book) and good scenery.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2022)
Weakest film of the series
When you have children, you adjust your film tastes so you can enjoy the experience with them. Sometimes the film caters to adults and children: this is not one of those occasions. One of my children walked out, the the other criticised the flat jokes and weak story line. I'd say it struggled to reach adults and children.
In a way, there is a good message in this film: if you dig deeply enough, you can see the good in something. If you really dig deeply, this one message is decent in this otherwise forgettable film.
So, I'm giving the film 5/10. There are far better films (eg. Kubo and the two strings, early Pixar films, anything Miyazaki, etc). There are also worse children's films (eg, Lego Ninjago for its divisive and woke politics). So, this film (at best) is middle of the road. Probably best suited to fans of the first three films. If it lacks anything, it's realistic characters who behave in meaningful ways. It's a lesson in "constantly lying will work out in the end". Not a good message for children. At least my children and I benefitted from bad story writing acting as the basis for a life lesson.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Irony lost on most of the cast
It's ironic that with the exception of DiCaprio, all of the leading cast are the least likely to "look up" themselves. That translates into the performance delivered too. Lawrence is totally miscast. Even Rylance misses the mark: he would have been better modelled on Zuckerberg or Dorsey and their censorship ideology. Rylance feels Silicon Valley-like, however, the absence of heavy censorship (along ideological lines) makes the performance hollow.
The film has a good premise: an impending disaster and people don't want to know. I'd say many people see that today. The bigger issue today revolves around poor fact checking and censorship of one side, whereas the film focussed on idiotic rednecks. As I am not American nor a redneck, I saw the hypocrisy of the very people doing the damage virtue signal through this film.
Adam McKay is usually a solid director. I saw this film as a misstep for him.
Great performance from Blanchett.
West Side Story (2021)
Wonderful adaptation to a theatre audience
Spielberg is a thoughtful director who has resisted the divisive path taken by many directors in recent years. This is a story modelled on Romeo and Juliet about conflict between ethnic groups. Spielberg has resisted in taking sides (which is rare today) and showing the petty mindedness of divisive politics. It's odd that we live in a time with the most divisive politics I've ever seen in my life, as if we have learned nothing.
The film doesn't preach. It doesn't vilify any group. It's not woke. It feels like a sincere interpretation of a society grappling with poverty, gentrification, and different social groups fighting to survive with and against each other. The motives of each character and group made sense.
I enjoyed the high energy dancing, the music, the acting, and the story. It's hard to fault this film. I suspect this film will be seen as a modern classic in 10 years time. It certainly bucks the modern trend.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
I tried hard to like this film...
This film is bold and for that I've given it bonus points. It's part romance, part violence and quite a bit of filler.
The film reminds me of a art house project with a big budget. It feels fragmented as it switches between a romance/drama and hardcore action flick. I found myself being bored by the characters - not caring about them or their plight. They added nothing to the story.
If I had to describe what was fun, it was revisiting the first Matrix film, it was seeing a "fan fiction" film made by a wachowsky. It was seeing Neo and Trinity engaging each other. I also enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris with some of his dialogue - he was spot on at times.
Overall, it's an OK film. It's too different from the original. It lacks thought provoking. The action scenes feel flat. The characters don't do much. The motives are not strong.
I'd give it a go. Support the gamble taken in making this film: it's genuinely different. Just think romance with martial arts and it might help.
Contains at least one graphic scene. Not recommended for squirmish teens.
The Witcher: Family (2021)
Fatiguing
The Witcher season 1 was hit and miss - far too heavy on the identity politics for my liking, despite some great elements.
Season 2 tones down the identity politics and starts off solidly. The first episode challenges our perceptions of what a monster is. However, by the end of episode 8, I was bored. Yes, Ciri is the hero and everything resolved around Ciri. She's worked hard and suffered - a great hero's journey. However, what did episodes 2-7 actually mean? On reflection, they don't contain much substance and I didn't care about the characters or their plights most of the time. At least they're more rounded than Season 1.
The big reveal at the end was another "whoopee" moment where I found myself genuinely bored. This season reminded me of part "Marvel" MCU and part Game of Thrones season 8. Probably best described as all flash and sorely lacking substance.
Netflix's The Witcher would be much better served sticking to the source material. I'd say history will consider this series to be mediocre: it will not stand the test of time because of the deviations.
5/10 for great sets, some good acting (eg. Henry Cavill as Geralt). Otherwise, it's average at best.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Imagine Ghostbusters w/out comedians!
Short and to the point.
Imagine the original ghostbusters w/out Bill Murray and w/out Dan Aykroyd. Put Harold Ramis as the lead but gender swap him and halve his age and make him less likeable and more arrogant. Now spend 3/4 of the film on character development that doesn't pay off.
It's an OK film. 3rd best in the franchise. More of alove letter to Reitman and Ramis than a Ghostbusters story. Stripped of humour. Rudd and Wolfhard almost carried this film, however, they were sidelined for too long by a humourless lead. If the lead was meant to be autistic, it did not work (I'm a parent to an autistic and have dealt with many autistic kids: this wasn't one)
Plenty of nostalgia. A few cameos. This will not last the test of time. In 12m this film will be largely forgotten.
The Guilty (2021)
Good film that started very well
It's a remake. It's basically a one actor film, similar to Phonebooth, although I preferred Phonebooth.
The film is suspenceful and leaves a lot to the imagination. The story is interesting.
The film starts solidly and deteriorates about 2/3 of the way through. The twist was predictable, the hypocrisy of the main character was odd. The last 5 minutes were forgettable.
There's a fine line between great acting and overacting. This film went dangerously close to overacting. A film such as this can also become too preachy, which it struggled with.
I'd consider this one of Jake's worst performances. It's still mostly decent.
O.J.: Made in America (2016)
Bizarre series
I'm not American. I don't judge people by their biology. Watching this series is a mind bender.
The black people in this series insist that the ONLY way to judge a person is by their skin colour, as if it's rational! OJ said he should be judged by the content of his character.
Further, LA, the pride of the film is a dump, a cesspool of crime. It's heavily praised by this documentary. Plus, the black community is 13% of the population and 55% of the crime. You would expect such statistics to cause tension between the police and the black community.
Yet, here's OJ who doesn't want to be treated as black and does not express racist attitudes. What is wrong with that?
It's sad to see that the content of a person's character has little value in the US. The video focused heavy on that skin colour comes first. It made it hard to appreciate this series.
5/10 for effort. -5/10 for promoting racism, insisting people should be judged by skin tone.
Robin Hood (2018)
Massive egos overshadow film with potential
The scenes are excellent, the film certainly has capable actors. Yet, this film fails spectacularly in spite of itself. It fails on two counts: massive egos and weak writing.
The writing first. The characters of John (Foxx) and Marion (Hewson) are beyond obnoxious. Flawless know-it-all's. In one scene, most people are starving, dressed in scraps and stooped with their morale broken. Yet, there's Marion: well fed, well dressed, immaculately presented with her head high. You would think such narcissism was the pinnacle of the film? Not so. John managed to take ego to new heights. In fact, had it not been for John, nothing (and I mean nothing) would have happened. John was the pinnacle of military technique, tactics and strategy. Robin (Edgerton) didn't even know how to use a bow and was bested by a one armed John who was without weapons at some distance from a ur alleged hero.
If you can get past weak writing and gargantuan egos in Foxx and Hewson, there are enjoyable elements in the story. The action sequences are superb, the sets look gorgeous. Edgerton went on to deliver a brilliant performance in Rocket Man. This however was not his best performance by a long shot.
I've watched this twice. I'd suggest the Kostner or Flynn versions of Robin Hood over this one. They're less polished but far more grounded in reality.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Mostly works
I strongly dislike violent movies and this movie is very graphic. Having said that, it basically works.
The good. The series is a product of Konami and focussed on Asian culture and they mostly stick to that. The Australian, the blonde and the black guy are all unnecessary and I suggest the film would hav even better without them. We will pay dearly in the next film with the blond female ninja warrior.
However, the story was adequate. Quite a few of the characters behaved like normal human beings. The wokeness was almost non-existent.
However, the film just didn't quite work. Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade) was teeming with narcissism and she had to restrain herself (which saved the film). Josh Lawson (Kano) was a bloody idiot who tried to be super obnoxious and succeeded. Mehcad Brooks (Jax) was a poor actor who felt deeply out of place.
The last film like this I enjoyed was Fight Club, although fight club is far better than this film.
If you can get past the extreme gore, there's an entertaining flick underneath. McNamee saved the film from her own ego.
Boss Level (2020)
Stellar for 2020
Films aren't what they used to be.
This is an entertaining flick. It has a bit of comedy and plenty of action. The characters are generally likeable (save Naomi Watts and a sword wielding ninja or two). Thankfully, the film avoids the usual woke in most films.
If you're looking for a background movie, this isn't too bad. There are flaws and it's far Roy predictable but it does entertain.
One of the better films for 2020.
Coming 2 America (2021)
Bad film, not tertible
Think of every woke movie for the last decade and this has it. There are moments of an old school film, however, too much time is spent on gender tropes and race tropes. The usual "I'm oppressed" and the benefit of multiple female ninja warriors that confronts an entire army stocked with munitions.
This is a movie that didn't try to take itself seriously. There are some good actors doing cameos and the occasional great song (eg. Digital Underground's Humpty Dance).
The film lacks originality. It totally failed ox the modern "diversity" and "inclusiveness" and "equity" test. To be honest, there's little to like.
Let me ask you this: has there ever been a period of history where a woman said "tell me what to think"? Only in Hollywood.
3/10 is generous.
Soul (2020)
Seriously mixed bag
There are a few superb bits in this film.
There are some very average bits in this film.
The underlying message is excellent. It's about finding yourself and your passion. What a superb message.
But, It's delivered in a package of forced diversity that 100% undermines they very message its sending. This film is literally "tick the boxes". Pixar started to lose the plot when Brave came out and it's been downhill since.
This is the odd bit. The main two characters are great. There's the occasional funny that all god-like mentors are Jerry (regardless of their voice type). I enjoyed the woman in a man's body.
Where it failed led and was very irritating was the background characters, generally speaking. The illusion was shattered constantly as I said "subverting my expectation" with each minor "minority" pushed to the foreground (eg. The doctor). You can always pick inorganic diversity, the old "quota" or "token character". This is purely pushing propaganda into kids and it's not funny, it's dangerous and it's insulting.
Tina Fey is one of my favourite female commedians and she didn't disappoint. I enjoyed her line "I use this voice because it irritates people" ... and she was spot on! Tuna at her worst (but secretly her best). Whilst a side note, you should see Tina go up against Zak Galifanakis. Raw and powerful, Tina at her best!
As for Jamie Fox, I love the guy or can't stand the guy. He's extremely arrogant but often sensible. In this film, he's on his game. He's very likeable as the lead character. He's absolutely one of the most talented actors today (and I'm not saying that because of his skin colour: he's often exceptional).
For parents, I issue a subtle "woke" warning. This film plays identity politics and its very annoying. However, if you get past the "your gender and skin matter more than anything" politics, the spoken message of the main two characters is the opposite.
Pixar are half genius, half trash. They need to dump the identity politics full stop. As a patent I'm very disappointed at how low Pixar are willing to go.
Sherlock (2010)
Doesn't stand the test of time
This is a show thst should have quit while it's ahead.
After several years, I went back and watched the series again. Without doubt, it hasn't aged well. This surprises me. Also, season 4 is just awful as is the Abominable Bride. The show went from being interesting and entertaining to a political soap opera. It went off a cliff edge in season 4 and the absurd Mary story. This failed to stay true to s1-s3.
If you're watching this for the first time or revisiting the show, stop with s3.
I truly hope they bury thus series. It ran its course and then some.
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
Surprisingly Reasonable
The first half of the film is surprisingly fresh. The film has plenty of diversity that actually works (and that is very, very rare). The story is reasonably predictable, however, what surprised me was the lack of identity politics. When you expect a "girl power" moment (like every other film has pushed for the last 5 years), this film doesn't deliver. That's so refreshing. The decisions made by characters actually make sense (again, very rare today).
However, the second half let's the film down a lot. Stupid chase scenes that reach farcical, plot holes like Swiss cheese, twists that defy credibility, action scenes that feel like a budget film.
However, it's fun to watch. If you're looking for a mindless Will Smith film, this is fun and doesn't tax the brain.
Points lost for the second half being weak and almost incoherent at times. If it matched the first half, I'd probably score it 9/10
Kidding (2018)
Disturbing TV
I mostly really enjoy this series. It's a combination of child's TV and psychological drama. The stories are well paced with relatable characters. If I had to pick a favourite, Carey is excellent, but I have a serious ft spot for Deidre as his sister. She plays a superb balance of vulnerable to her own weaknesses and a deep strength to make critical things happen. We have so many appalling female characters today, so, this is a breath of fresh air.
Not suitable for children.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Superb family film
Many of us hark for old school films. Where we can immerse ourselves in a fantasy world of heroes and villains and the good guy wins from help of friends. This is that film. It features solid humour, some emotional scenes and relatable characters who "make sense".
I don't think I've seen such a well crafted children's film in a long time, except probably Klaus (Netflix's sublime Christmas film).
If you're looking for a feel good, happy, well adjusted film for young children and teenagers alike, I highly recommend this film. You might no think Hollywood can make a decent and lovingly crafted film for young children & teenagers... this film will restore your faith that Hollywood can make worthy content.