Rate the Last Film you Watched

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

4 minutes ago, djw180 said:

Definitely a 10/10.

In that case it's on my watchlist 🙂 

[Con 5,703]

17 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

In that case it's on my watchlist 🙂 

Sounds interesting and I only read three sentences in DJs review. Once upon a time I wanted to write a script surrounding the rise and fall of the wall. I’m super curious to see what this film was about now. 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

Hard Candy

dir. David Slade/2005/1h44m

Hard Candy is a thriller from David Slade (30 Days of Night and the interactive Black Mirror film, Bandersnatch) starring Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson.  Wilson plays Jeff, a photographer and s*xual predator, and Page plays Hayley, a 14 year old girl who he has convinced to meet him after talking online.  They meet at a coffee shop and he is just a stereotypical creep, his performance in this first act being one of the weakest parts of the film.  It's very two-dimensional.  Page is great here though.  After seeing her change in the second act you realise what a great performance she gives as a naive, awkward, shy girl out of her depth.  After going back to Jeff's house the tables turn, and the predator becomes the prey.

Here is where Wilson starts to give a good performance.  He is much more convincing as a victim.  There is one scene in particular, involving an ice pack and a scalpel, where he is screaming and begging for his life while sweat beads down his face and it is great.  Page is the one to turn into a cliche, with a lot of her dialogue being actually cringe-worthy.  She does present a threat with her actions, but she lets it down when she opens her mouth.  The story ends with a pretty decent rooftop confrontation which ties together another plot thread involving a missing, possibly murdered, girl.  

The is a pretty good film overall.  The main strength is actually the concept, and in the hands of a better writer I think this could be great.  I thought the ending was really strong, and leaves you with a generally positive feeling about the film.  The performances by the two leads, who are pretty much the only people we see, vary in quality at different points, but usually if one is doing bad the other is doing good.  The direction is pretty stylish, with a lot of very uncomfortably close close-ups of Page when Wilson is creeping on her at the start, and of Wilson later on when she is enacting her revenge.  The always fantastic Sandra Oh has a small role as a neighbour of Wilson's, and I always like seeing her.  I think this is a film that has potential, but maybe could've used tightening up script wise. 6.5/10

 

======================================================

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

dir. Lotte Reiniger/1926/1h5m

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a German animated fantasy film directed by Lotte Reiniger, with uncredited assistance from her husband Carl Koch, and adapted from several of the stories from One Thousand and One Nights.  Released in 1926, though production started three years earlier, this is the oldest surviving animated feature film and nearly 100 years later it still holds up in a big way.  The plot mainly revolves around Prince Achmed being whisked away on an enchanted horse by an evil sorcerer who wants to marry his sister.  After taming the horse, he lands in a far-away land where he falls in love with a princess and must defeat a demon to win her heart.  Aladdin makes an appearance with his magic lamp and the film ends with a battle between a witch and the sorcerer.

This is all rendered using shadow puppets and stop-motion animation and the results are gorgeous.  The detail in these flat, black shadows is fantastic, from the mane of the horse and the lush forests to the lacy dresses of the princess.  The actual animation is also brilliant, with each character having their own distinct way of moving.  The evil sorcerer writhes like a snake and Prince Achmed postures heroically. 

I would recommend this to anyone with a love for animation, because this is one of the greatest examples of the artform.  Thanks for the heads up about this one @Spinnaker1981, I loved it.  9/10

 

======================================================

Young Soul Rebels

dir. Isaac Julien/1991/1h45m

Young Soul Rebels, the first film from Isaac Julien, stars Valentine Nonyela as Chris and Mo Sesay as Caz.  The two are friends who DJ at clubs and on a pirate radio station against the backdrop of the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977.  At the start of the film their friend is murdered while cruising for s*x in a local park, really upsetting Caz, who is gay, as this attack seems to be both racist and homophobic.  He is also in a relationship with a white punk, which is causing a lot of conflict in itself.  Meanwhile, Chris becomes more interested in trying to get their career going, with the help of his girlfriend Tracy (Sophie Okonedo).  

This is a film with a drastically shifting tone.  The scenes involving the murder mystery feel like a thriller, while a lot of the rest of the film feels almost like a soap opera.  The thriller stuff, and the racial tension stuff had me hooked, but I honestly couldn't care less about them getting a legit radio show.  The acting isn't that good throughout, again adding to the soap opera film, but they're trying.  Like Hard Candy, this feels like if it had a bit more polish it could be better, but maybe it would lose its charm, because this is a charming film.  Even though the leads aren't great actors they do have charisma and energy, especially Nonyela as Chris.  

This is a very early 90s looking film, despite being set in the 70s, but I think that gives the film more vibrancy and makes it feel more modern, and the soundtrack is fantastic from start to end.  Rough around the edges, but entertaining 7/10

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by LimeGreenLegend

[Spinnaker1981 974]

7 hours ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

Hard Candy

dir. David Slade/2005/1h44m

Hard Candy is a thriller from David Slade (30 Days of Night and the interactive Black Mirror film, Bandersnatch) starring Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson.  Wilson plays Jeff, a photographer and s*xual predator, and Page plays Hayley, a 14 year old girl who he has convinced to meet him after talking online.  They meet at a coffee shop and he is just a stereotypical creep, his performance in this first act being one of the weakest parts of the film.  It's very two-dimensional.  Page is great here though.  After seeing her change in the second act you realise what a great performance she gives as a naive, awkward, shy girl out of her depth.  After going back to Jeff's house the tables turn, and the predator becomes the prey.

Here is where Wilson starts to give a good performance.  He is much more convincing as a victim.  There is one scene in particular, involving an ice pack and a scalpel, where he is screaming and begging for his life while sweat beads down his face and it is great.  Page is the one to turn into a cliche, with a lot of her dialogue being actually cringe-worthy.  She does present a threat with her actions, but she lets it down when she opens her mouth.  The story ends with a pretty decent rooftop confrontation which ties together another plot thread involving a missing, possibly murdered, girl.  

The is a pretty good film overall.  The main strength is actually the concept, and in the hands of a better writer I think this could be great.  I thought the ending was really strong, and leaves you with a generally positive feeling about the film.  The performances by the two leads, who are pretty much the only people we see, vary in quality at different points, but usually if one is doing bad the other is doing good.  The direction is pretty stylish, with a lot of very uncomfortably close close-ups of Page when Wilson is creeping on her at the start, and of Wilson later on when she is enacting her revenge.  The always fantastic Sandra Oh has a small role as a neighbour of Wilson's, and I always like seeing her.  I think this is a film that has potential, but maybe could've used tightening up script wise. 6.5/10

 

======================================================

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

dir. Lotte Reiniger/1926/1h5m

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a German animated fantasy film directed by Lotte Reiniger, with uncredited assistance from her husband Carl Koch, and adapted from several of the stories from One Thousand and One Nights.  Released in 1926, though production started three years earlier, this is the oldest surviving animated feature film and nearly 100 years later it still holds up in a big way.  The plot mainly revolves around Prince Achmed being whisked away on an enchanted horse by an evil sorcerer who wants to marry his sister.  After taming the horse, he lands in a far-away land where he falls in love with a princess and must defeat a demon to win her heart.  Aladdin makes an appearance with his magic lamp and the film ends with a battle between a witch and the sorcerer.

This is all rendered using shadow puppets and stop-motion animation and the results are gorgeous.  The detail in these flat, black shadows is fantastic, from the mane of the horse and the lush forests to the lacy dresses of the princess.  The actual animation is also brilliant, with each character having their own distinct way of moving.  The evil sorcerer writhes like a snake and Prince Achmed postures heroically. 

I would recommend this to anyone with a love for animation, because this is one of the greatest examples of the artform.  Thanks for the heads up about this one @Spinnaker1981, I loved it.  9/10

 

======================================================

Young Soul Rebels

dir. Isaac Julien/1991/1h45m

Young Soul Rebels, the first film from Isaac Julien, stars Valentine Nonyela as Chris and Mo Sesay as Caz.  The two are friends who DJ at clubs and on a pirate radio station against the backdrop of the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977.  At the start of the film their friend is murdered while cruising for s*x in a local park, really upsetting Caz, who is gay, as this attack seems to be both racist and homophobic.  He is also in a relationship with a white punk, which is causing a lot of conflict in itself.  Meanwhile, Chris becomes more interested in trying to get their career going, with the help of his girlfriend Tracy (Sophie Okonedo).  

This is a film with a drastically shifting tone.  The scenes involving the murder mystery feel like a thriller, while a lot of the rest of the film feels almost like a soap opera.  The thriller stuff, and the racial tension stuff had me hooked, but I honestly couldn't care less about them getting a legit radio show.  The acting isn't that good throughout, again adding to the soap opera film, but they're trying.  Like Hard Candy, this feels like if it had a bit more polish it could be better, but maybe it would lose its charm, because this is a charming film.  Even though the leads aren't great actors they do have charisma and energy, especially Nonyela as Chris.  

This is a very early 90s looking film, despite being set in the 70s, but I think that gives the film more vibrancy and makes it feel more modern, and the soundtrack is fantastic from start to end.  Rough around the edges, but entertaining 7/10

 

@LimeGreenLegendI, somehow, knew you would love that one... disregard how old it is, if it was done today, it would still be brilliant, let alone 100 years ago! Glad you liked it! 

[Sinister 2,578]

Unhinged. 

Decent movie about a woman that honks her horn at the wrong man. Road Rage and chaos ensue. Some memorable scenes and action but falls kind of flat.

Russell Crowe has changed a lot since I last saw him in a movie (Gladiator).

[djw180 6,833]

The Double (2014)

 

 

Directed by Richard Aoyade and based on a story by Fyodor Dostoevsky this stars Jesse Eisenberg as Simon and Mia Wasikowska as Hannah.

 

I know Richard Aoyade more as a comedy actor (Moss from the IT Crowd) , TV presenter (The Crystal Maze, Travel Man) and panellist on comedy quiz shows. I was aware he had also directed a couple of films but this is first time I have seen one of them. It's good, but not that good. It seems to have been inspired by a number of other films as well, which I do like. Simon works for some strange, not that well defined company / organisation run by 'The Colonel' (Richard Fox), who the employees all revere. It's very reminiscent of 'Brazil' (good timing with that being one of this month's Films club Christmas films.) It's very dark (both in terms of style and simply low lighting), their office gadgets are very low tech – definitely not like a modern day office. Simon and his fellow clerks all work in tiny cubicles sharing antique looking printers, copiers etc. The office is also reminiscent of 'The Crimson Permanent Assurance' - Monty Python's short supporting film to the 'Meaning of Life' - in that apart from Simon, Hannah and couple of other characters, everyone looks really old. Simon is in love with Hannah, but he is very quiet and lacking in self confidence so has never asked her out. They both live the same apartment complex (all tiny, very basic single rooms) and his overlooks Hannah's on the opposite side of a central courtyard. So Simon spends his evenings watching her through a small telescope as, conveniently, she never seems to fully draw the blinds on her windows. This reminded me of another film, 'Monsieur Hire' - a not that famous French film, and maybe also 'Rear Window', although no crime is ever witnessed. There doesn't appear to be anything s*xual in this, Simon just adores her and if he can't be with her he will make do with watching her.

 

Anyway the main point of the film is a new employee turns up, James, also played by Jesse Eisenberg. He is Simon's exact opposite, not actually any good at his job but very charismatic, full of self confidence and so different to Simon that no one seems to recognise they are identical in appearance. At first he appears to be Simon's friend and helps him set up a date with Hannah. But then it all turns to a nightmare as James steals not only Simon's hoped-for girlfriend but also his ideas for improving productivity at the company leading to James becoming the star employee and Simon at risk of losing his job. Long story short it seems to work out OK in the end for Simon, but the film does leave that a little ambiguous.

 

For me it's a little too bleak and none of the character are that likeable. I more feel pity than any empathy for Simon. The acting is very good though and there are appearances by a couple of other people recognisable from British TV comedy – Chris Morris and Chris O'Dowd. I'm not that sure on the score I'd give this, but comparing it to other films, the scores I've given them and thinking which would I rather re-watch one day, I'll give this 6/10.

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by djw180

[djw180 6,833]

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019).

 

A Netflix production I found in their Sci-fi section. It's only got a small sci-fi element and is mainly a detective story. OK, but personally I think it would have been better as just the detective plot line or done with more sci-fi, particularity a greater consideration of the implications of what the sci-fi element is about.

The basic plot is in 1988 Locke, a Philadelphia cop, at the scene of a traffic accident notices unusual marks on a dead bus driver's neck and when two similarly marked bodies are found he knows there is serial killer on the loose. He and his partner eventually corner the suspect but she falls under a train and is killed. So that should be case closed. We skip to 1997 and there is another murder with the same marks on the victim's neck and CCTV footage shows someone identical to the killer from 9 years ago. Cue a scientist trying to convince the police he knows what this is about, but of course they don't listen to him. Another 9 years go by and another killing in the same style. Locke has now left the force and is dedicating his life to finding this killer with some sort time-travelling ability, that only works once every 9 years when the moon and Earth are in a particular alignment. That is the sci-fi element. The killer is actually a special agent from the near future going back in time killing the people who, in her time, will be responsible for causing a devastating civil war. She is killing these people to prevent a greater evil later on. But the film never examines if that is justifiable; it's not just her targets that get killed, there are others caught up as well. To be decent sci-fi it ought to do that, or, as I wrote at the start, just stick to being a detective story.

If you really like sci I think you would be disappointed by the lack of sci-fi in it. If you really like X-Files like mystery crime dramas, I still think you'd be left wanting a bit more of the paranormal element. But still reasonably entertaining. So 5/10 from me.

[Jjss924 576]

Prospect

Sci Fi flick I saw on Netflix I think. Really basic and entertaining. Not a sh*tton of cgi and special effects. 

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

I know you've all been waiting for this, the most important film poll of the year, Lime's 10 Best Films of 2020.

This will just be a quick list of my favourite films from the last year.  I'm going to spend January catching up with the dozens of reviews I need to write so full reviews of all of these will be incoming in the next few weeks, apart from those which I've already done.  Technically some of these films released in 2019, but didn't get a theatrical release in the UK until 2020, which is what I'm going on.  

10.  Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm dir. Jason Woliner

Sacha Baron Cohen brings Borat back to tackle the age of Trump amid a global pandemic.  Not as laugh-out-loud funny as the original but it is more shocking, takes more risks and wields its politics like a hammer.  The real star of the show is Maria Bakalova as Borat's daughter Tutar who brings a fresh energy to an old idea.

9. Soul dir. Pete Docter

Pete Docter brings us his fourth Pixar film after Monster's Inc., Up, and Inside Out, and he once again knocks it out of the park.  This film stars Jamie Foxx as Joe, a school music teacher whose life seems to be finally going in the right direction before he suddenly dies.  Refusing to go to the great beyond, he finds himself in the beforelife, where souls are created before being sent to Earth.  This is just the start of a visually inventive, beautifully animated, and fantastically written story that cements Pixar as one of the best movie studios in the world, despite all the Cars sequels. 

8. Babyteeth dir. Shannon Murphy

Babyteeth is a drama about a teenage girl who has terminal cancer and falls in love with a sleazy but charming bad boy.  Her parents don't like him, but since he is the only thing making her happy they can't really tell him to leave her alone.  Eliza Scanlen and Toby Wallace are brilliant as the two leads, bringing a natural presence to characters who could have become overly dramatic.  This feels like a classic romantic tragedy shone through a modern lens and set in an Australian suburb.  

7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always dir. Eliza Hittman

 

Never Rarely Sometimes Always tells the story of a 17 year old girl, Autumn, who travels from Pennsylvania to New York so she can have an abortion without letting her parents know.  This is a devastatingly sparse film; dialogue is minimal and the performances are mostly internalised and almost stoic in the face of such an emotionally draining event, which makes the moments when the emotions come to the fore even more powerful.  Sidney Flanigan, making her debut as the lead, is incredible in this and I'll be very surprised if she doesn't at least get nominated for some major awards soon.  

6. Rocks dir. Sarah Gavron

 

Rocks is a film about a teenage girl living in a London estate who has to take responsibility for both herself and her younger brother after her mother abandons them to "get her head together".  Like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the centrepiece of this movie is a stunning debut performance by the lead.  Bukky Bakray as Rocks gives both an incredibly vulnerable and powerfully strong performance as a girl who is old beyond her years.  This is a beautiful film about friendship and family and learning that there is strength in asking for help.  

5.  Hamilton dir. Thomas Kail

Hamilton is the smash-hit musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, here filmed by Thomas Kail with the original Broadway cast.  Is a recording of a stage show a film?  To me, yes.  Kail's direction and the editing makes of this a very cinematic show, giving us a different experience to that of seeing it on the stage.  This is one of the best musicals I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot.  Every song is a banger, the choreography is entrancing, the lighting is brilliant and the entire cast are perfect.  Daveed Diggs radiates charisma and Leslie Odom Jr. will make you think you're watching the Aaron Burr show, he's just so damn good.  

4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire dir. Céline Sciamma

 

Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire is one of the most gorgeous films I've ever seen.  This is like a painting come to life.  You need to see the colours in this film for yourself.  And the lighting, my god it's so good.  You could pause this at any moment and hang it in the National Gallery.  The story is just as rich and vibrant as the visuals as we are treated to a slow burn of an incandescent romance that culminates with a powerfully moving final shot that left me breathless.  

3. Parasite dir. b*ng Joon-ho

The first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, with b*ng Joon-ho picking up a couple more for writing and directing, Parasite is the biggest and best film to ever come from South Korea.  It is a story about two families, one very rich, the other very poor.  The poor family finds a way to all get jobs working for the rich family and that's when things...well, you'll have to watch it for yourselves because the story of this film is just too good to even hint at.  Part comedy, part thriller, part horror, all social commentary, this is a gorgeously shot film with brilliant performances all round, especially Song Kang-ho as the wily Mr. Kim, and a script that will leave your head spinning.

2. The Lighthouse dir. Robert Eggers

The Lighthouse, from Robert Eggers, will f*ck you up.  Ask @Con.  That's it.  That's the review.

1. Small Axe dir. Steve McQueen

And my number one film of the year is...five films.  But it's an anthology series, so I'm counting it as one.  Small Axe, all directed by Sir Steve McQueen who won Oscars for 12 Years a sl*ve, is a series of films about the West Indian community in London between the 60s and 80s.  Mangrove tells the story of the trial of the Mangrove Nine who were charged with inciting a riot after a restaurant, The Mangrove, was targeted by police.  This is the first time in British courts that racial hatred by the police was acknowledged by a judge.  Lovers Rock is about a romance at a house party and is just an hour and ten minute ode to love and music and life and is my personal favourite out of the five.  The singalong scene! Red, White and Blue stars John Boyega as Leroy Logan, a police officer who tries to fight against the institutionalised racism in the force, and was a founder of the Black Police Association.  He is incredible in this, giving maybe the best performance out of all of the films.  It's nice seeing him in a good film for a change, haven't seen that since Attack the Block nearly a decade ago 😉 Alex Wheatle is a biopic of the titular Wheatle who was jailed for taking part in the Brixton riots, and while on the inside he found a love for literature and became an acclaimed author.  Sheyi Cole as Wheatle is probably a close second to Boyega when it comes to performances in this anthology.  Education, the final film in the series, tells the story of a 12 year old boy who is sent to a special needs school despite only needing a little bit of help.  It turns out that many London councils at the time had an unofficial policy of sending a disproportionate number of Black children to special schools just because they didn't want them in mainstream schools.  This is an incredible achievement of McQueen's to produce five films of such high quality in every sense.  His direction can go from full of movement and energy in one film to an intimate stillness in the next and he is equally good at both.  The stories are all very well written, and though because of the short run time of some of these films they could be developed more, they are never less than captivating.  There are too many cast members to name, but they are all brilliant.  There is not one person who lets it down.  Watch this series.  It's on the BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Amazon anywhere else.  All of the films in this top ten deserve your time, but give it to Small Axe first.

[Con 5,703]

Event Horizon (1997)...3/5...I enjoyed the gory moments and the concept of what I would call a travelling hell is awesome. Yes, its just another abandoned spaceship that needs to be rescued concept but it is fresh enough to keep you engaged. Real cool special effects and over the top gore make this a fun time. Why should you watch it? Some good character misdirection, real good acting, and decent sci-fi gore make it a must watch for fans of the genre.

-------

Insert Coin (2020)...4/5...Documentary about the Midway/Bally/Williams Electronics company focusing on  how a small group of video game developers created Mortal Kombat and how it changed the landscape of video games forever, only to see an industry completely collapse thanks to its own progress. Always cool to learn what was going on behind the scenes while i focused on memorizing those Fatality button combos. Just great to relive the arcade cabinet craze and how Mortal Kombat helped extend the life of those arcades. Why should you watch it? You love video games and remember getting caught up in the Mortal Kombat universe.

[Con 5,703]

Megan Is Missing (2011)...3/5...Found footage horror based on the dangers of trusting people on the internet, especially if you are a popular street-wise or impressionable teenage girl.  Now this would be getting a score of four if it weren't for the unnecessary s*xual abuse exposition by one of the main characters. The dialogue of her experience is really gratuitously cringy because she gets too descriptive and I kept fighting back the images in my mind as she spoke her lines. The fact that the actress was not 18-years old at the time meant that her parents were present during those scenes and learning that made the whole thing even more cringy for me. Had the filmmaker just altered a few things in the script, the shock value would still be there because the end is so f'n disturbing. I get that the point of that exposition was for us to associate her promiscuity with her childhood experiences but damn, its just too much, it's dialogue that would be shocking even in "A Serbian Film (2010)".  The value of this film is in the message that is not just for the teens vulnerable to internet predators but also a strong message for parents to do their jobs and protect their children. The film received a lot of negative opinions but I think those people missed the point. Yes you can get the same message across in a PG rated film but here the filmmaker wanted to make something real and no doubt what he produced isn't something people want to accept.....that there are some real sick individuals in our society and sometimes what you see in film comes from real life. There aren't too many horror moments but when they arrive you will pay attention. More quality than quantity when it comes to the horror and gore, so don't expect a standard body count. 

The found footage comes in the form of video diary and various surveillance footage so it never feels too repetitive or distracting. Some of the supporting actors suck but the director insisted on using real teens and they only shot for two weeks! I think the worst part had to be the silly news reports that are supposed to solidify the "real found footage" element , but they are so cheesy when they are supposed to lend credibility but they fail miserably and then there is a re-enactment in one of the "true crime shows" and all those moments come before or after some disturbing scenes that we should be allowed to fully process but instead we cut to those silly news reports and zap out the dread. The last act is definitely not for the faint of heart and the impatient because we literally get to watch someone dig a hole in the ground and it goes on for at least four minutes and I agree that it goes on a bit too long but at the same time I found it genius because it gives you time to consider what the victim is going through and listen to the psychological changes in her pleas for mercy and if you are like me, your imagination can really make her situation so dark and hellish because we don't get to see what she is seeing, we get to imagine it and it made my skin crawl.    Obviously the found footage works great in that last act and its heartbreaking when you think about what is being used to capture the footage. I recommend this if you want to challenge your spirit or if you like found footage films and this one is as low-budget as it gets for the genre. This is not for sensitive people, this is more for the video nasty crowd. But don't dismiss it entirely as there is a real valuable message about how the wildest or most booksmart child can fall into the same exact trap. Why should you watch it? You didn't like Brazil (1985) and are a f'n psycho for this kind of stuff.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Con

[djw180 6,833]

Under The Skin (2013)

 

A very arty low budget sci film in which Scarlett Johansen plays one of pair of aliens who have taken on human form and come to Earth to collect or study people. I'm not quite sure which as the amount of dialogue is minimal. Like so much else in the film we are simply left to just watch and then imagine what exactly is going on and why. There's similarity to films like 2001 and THX1138 in places and some great cinematography as the camera dwells on scenes of landscapes and inner city streets and people. Many of the characters were not actors but ordinary men who got picked up by Scarlett Johansen as she drove around in a van; and after they had been filmed chatting were, I assume, told and asked for their permission to be in the film. It's mainly set in and around Glasgow so while I didn't have any problem understanding these non-professional actors I'd imagine some people would struggle with the strong accents at times. Those that end up going home with the alien, I assume actual actors, clearly expecting to have s*x with her, get absorbed into a strange black abyss and what exactly happens to them and why the aliens are doing this is not explained. Eventually having picked up a man with major facial disfigurement and so, I guess, got thinking about how other humans see him in a way she doesn't, the alien seems to start to want to learn more about being human. There is a great scene where she is looking at her naked body and you can imagine her thinking ' ooh I wonder what these are for, what does this do?' She runs aways from the city and starts to try human things like eating and s*x, neither of which work out right for her. Her fellow alien goes after her but doesn't find her and she meets a rather unpleasant end just after taking off her human skin and revealing her true form underneath, hence the name of the film I guess. So this is a very strange film, quite dark at times, many people probably would not like it but one I really enjoyed.

 

8/10

[Con 5,703]

Awesome, @djw180! I was just told recently to watch ‘Under The Skin’, so I might watch it tonight and then read your review.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

@djw180 I loved Under the Skin that scene at the beach with the family and the dog was so creepy, the way she just watches them.  Definitely check it out @Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

Stop Making Sense

dir. Jonathan Demme/1984/1h28m

Stop Making Sense is a concert film shot over four nights by Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) of a show by the band Talking Heads.  I had only heard a couple of their songs before watching this film, but now I am a huge fan.  This is an incredible show with a captivating front-man performance from David Byrne.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him for the duration as he strutted around like a bird, convulsed on the floor and danced with a lamp. 

The show starts with Byrne alone on an empty stage, scaffolding and rigging in the background as if it's still under construction.  Playing an acoustic guitar and accompanied by a boombox he plays the brilliant Psycho Killer, staggering around the stage at the end like there's an earthquake going on.  Song by song he is joined by more and more members of the band until they're all there and the background becomes a black screen, the construction equipment no longer needed now that the band is complete.  

The screen remains black until near the end of the show, where it is used to project slogans and images, but I was more impressed with the lighting.  There is a great use of colour on the screens giving a simple depth to the staging, and the use of strobe lighting, and of the lamp as a light source that Byrne dances with, as well as other handheld lights, was really interesting.  You also gotta love his Big Suit.  I don't know why he puts it on for the last few songs but it's fantastic.  Musical highlights for me are the already mentioned Psycho Killer, Found a Job, Burning Down the House, This Must Be The Place, Crosseyed and Painless, and the huge hit Once in a Lifetime.  

This is considered one of the best concert films of all time and I can see why after watching it.  I was entertained for the entire show even though I didn't know most of the songs, and it was nice to experience some live music during lockdown.  The one negative for me is the one song performed without Byrne.  He is such a big presence that he is really missed when he is gone, but when he comes back on stage he's wearing the big suit, so it's not that much of a negative.  I would recommend this to anyone who wants to hear some great music and see a mesmerising performance from a singularly idiosyncratic front-man. 9.5/10

 

======================================================

You Cannot Kill David Arquette

dir. David Darg, Price James/2020/1h30m

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is a documentary about David Arquette returning to the world of professional wrestling nearly 20 years after becoming its biggest joke.  In the year 2000 Arquette starred in the film Ready to Rumble, a wrestling movie which prominently featured several wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling.  As a promotional stunt the producers of WCW decided to make him the world heavyweight champion, a move which many think was the beginning of the end for WCW, which folded and was bought out by the WWF less than a year later.  This is also claimed to have seriously hurt Arquette's career too, with him being seen as a joke for messing around in the wrestling business. 

And so we have the set up for a redemption story.  But he's not looking for success in his career, he wants respect from the wrestling world.  Watching this I got the feeling that he cares much more about wrestling than acting, and it's really endearing.  There's a moment when he gets a ridiculous tan for a wrestling show, totally forgetting that he had to go shoot something.  He can also be frustrating at times, he says he doesn't want to be seen as a joke, but he says it while dressed as a wizard, vaping and riding a horse.  

The scenes of him wrestling and training are the best because they feel the most real, ironically.  All of the stuff of him at home has the feel of reality tv and makes it feel less like a documentary than a trashy tv show.  That doesn't hurt the film too much, and throughout it all Arquette comes across as a genuine, good person who doesn't seem to have a direction in his life.  I think this would be an entertaining watch for most people, whether you're a fan of Arquette, or wrestling, or neither or both.  Some of it does feel artificial, but in a film about wrestling what more can you expect 7.5/10

======================================================

Last and First Men

dir. Jóhann Jóhannsson/2020/1h11m

Last and First Men is the first and last film by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who died during post-production, which gives its themes of finality and endings even more weight.  It is an experimental sci-fi film made up entirely of black and white footage of huge abstract structures, the camera slowly exploring them from all angles, while the always brilliant Tilda Swinton narrates a message to the past from the last of humanity, two billion years in the future, about to become extinct because the sun is about to explode. 

This is a very stark film, the landscapes desolate apart from these monolithic monuments, no signs of life.  It's almost apocalyptic.  It's like discovering the ruins of an ancient civilisation on an alien planet.  The score, also by Jóhannsson, matches this mood, very minimalistic, full of dread and interspersed with 70s sci-fi style beeps and glitches.  Swinton's narration also fits like a glove.  She's always had the air of something other-worldly about her, and that is amplified by her cold and measured delivery here.

The alien feeling also comes from the direction.  The way the camera moves, with such slow deliberation, makes it seem like it's inspecting something new, something never seen before.  It wants to take in every detail.  The few uses of colour are perfectly used.  The green dot used to represent Swinton, and the threatening red glow of a star about to kill you contrast in a simple but beautiful way, and come as almost a shock in the barren black and white of the rest of the film.

If you're a fan of sci-fi or just want something different then you need to check this out, I can't think of anything I've seen like it.  It's absolutely hypnotic 9.5/10

 

======================================================

Romper Stomper

dir. Geoffrey Wright/1992/1h34m

Romper Stomper is an Australian drama from Geoffrey Wright, starring Russel Crowe in his breakout role of Hando, a neo-n*zi skinhead gang leader.  The film starts by following the gang as they terrorise the local Asian community, leading to a very well done fight sequence where they fight back, forcing the skinheads out of their hangout, but this plotline is just left there, and the film then focuses on the personal relationships and breakdown of the gang.  This was disappointing to me because it just feels like a loose end, like they didn't know what to do with it, so they just ignored it.  But the film isn't really about this conflict, it's about Hando so I won't dock it too many points for it.

Crowe is fantastic in this.  Hando is such a menacing, mean violent c*nt that you can't help but hate him.  You also can't take your eyes off of him when he's on screen, you never know what he's gonna do.  Daniel p*llock as his best mate Davey is good too, but the rest of the cast's performances range from passable to plain crap.  It's a shame because with a better supporting cast this could have been much better.  

There are a few other films that tackle the same subject better, This is England is a personal favourite of mine, but this is still really good, carried by Crowe's performance and some good direction - the beachside finale, especially the final shot as the credits roll are fantastic.  If you're in the mood for a gritty film you could do much worse than this. 8/10

 

[Sinister 2,578]

Wonder Woman 1984.

 

1 star. 
 

Typical DC snooze fest. Very light on action and far too serious for a comic book movie. 

 

[Con 5,703]

Like A Boss (2020)...2/5...Really did not plan on watching this but came across the cast list and saw it had three female actors that always entertain me. The always amazing Rose Byrne, the occasionally funny Tiffany Haddish, the scene-stealing Jennifer Coolidge with inappropriate advice like...."Plus you know, you're only super-tight for a limited time, so you dont want to waste it." , and then throw in the always talented Salma Hayek. The other three ladies in the supporting cast also had some funny lines. I had no idea what it was about but I always enjoy these type of interracial buddy comedies because I grew up in a heavily diverse region and saw those friendships throughout all my years of school.  I loved the energy of the script in the first two acts and I could not wait to see what would happen next to these two friends as the chemistry between Rose and Tiffany was strong and the dialogue was funny and I was enjoying myself...until Salma Hayek shows up and her character is written as a cartoon version of herself and it just doesnt work. Perhaps it was Salma that refused to wear prostethics or alter her look but all we get is a bigger boob'd and wig wearing Salma and this is where the film begins to flop. The talent was there to make a sleeper-hit comedy and while the formula is well known, two close friends are split by an outside force and must find their way back to each other or forever be divided, except that the conflict situations the friends are put in are just so f'n thin and while the bond is strong, one can conclude that if they split up , they would sell the company divide the money and go their own way.  So the conflict has to be strong to keep us entertained throughout their split and it doesnt get that salacious, making the third act less impactful. Why should you watch it? You want to watch something a little funny before falling asleep.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Con

[Con 5,703]

Wonder Woman 84 (2020)....2/5.... I was going to do a formal review but I think it would just be unnecessarily long, so I will just focus on the things that really ruined the experience for me personally. I'll start with the things I liked...Gal Gadot is still perfect as WW visually, and in this one she gets to display more acting range and I thought she did decent and it was only the story telling that made her look silly like in the last act when the mystery energy has her pinned against the wall or when her super speed and leaps look like amateur wire work.  I also liked the message at the end but not the way it was done, I mean, you limit the situation to say 4-5 people, it could work, but to open it to entire planet, there are just too many individual needs for the concept to work as a whole.  One of my biggest cinematic peeves of all-time is when a magic or superpower is used or shown inconsistently. I dont mind the random macguffin but don't break your own rules and here the magic crystal grants you any wish as literal as you ask for it, except WW, she wishes for the love of her life back [the crystal reads her mind!???, wouldn't it be able to read other minds? You know what, forget I mention it, the film does too] but for WW, her loved one must inhabit the body of a stranger for her wish to come true, so if we were to remain consistent with that rule of the magic crystal, it would mean that the people we see in the film asking for a million dollars, should have gotten them in Rupees or other currencies but they don't, they get exactly what they wish for so why is it different for WW??? This film really comes across like the writer put a buncha stuff on paper and didn't ask, "Does this scene concept have any flaws?" And you wanna know what i find worse than Stormtroopers with bad aim???? Enemies with rifles PROTECTING a VIP and NOT SHOOTING their rifles at the good guys!!!!! I mean, in some scenes they don't even raise their rifles and maybe it would work in the first act when the main villain is just getting started but at this point in the film it is well-established that he can control people. But that entire middle east sequence is just hot garbage laid on a train track awaiting to be run over.  The CGI is trash. Tell me why everyone gets one wish, except the supporting villain? She gets TWO wishes! Almost every aspect of this film had an issue, take the Steve coming back thing, in WW part 1, WW herself is the fish out of water and in WW84, Steve returning 70 years into the present means he is the fish out of water, and I guess its cool but then why is it that Steve is in awe of art , sculptures, and trains? and he even mistakes a trash bin for an art piece, but somehow he also learns to fly a modern jet plane in seconds [a plane which happens to be FULLY FUELED AND READY TO FLY ROUNDTRIP TO THE MIDDLE f*cking EAST on DISPLAY AT THE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM!!! Yes, you read that right!! They steal a plane on display!!!!] I'm not even going to elaborate on what I found to be one of the weakest villains I have ever come across, when you feel more afraid for WW when she fights Cheetah than Maxwell Lord, there is a flaw in your main villain. And I wont elaborate on the useless Gold Armor that was clearly created to sell the film through the posters. 

But these two things finally put the nail in the coffin for me....one was the pimping out of the 1984 theme, this was the equivalent of CINEMATIC CLICKBAIT! I loved 1984, I was 11-years old, my brother was born that year, I was sneaking in all manner of video nasties to watch, I had just gotten the Atari a year previous so by then I had a few games, I was impressing the kids at school with my natural  american football skills...many of these memories come flooding out uncontrollably whenever I hear any of the songs from 1984, just to name a few:

When Doves Cry

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

Like A V*rgin

Born In The U.S.A.

Careless Whisper

Take On Me

I Feel For You

The Reflex

Crazy For You

You Might Think (I'm Crazy)

Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now).

There are so many songs that were absolutely PERFECT for this storyline and moments within, yet the filmmaker opted for an original score throughout and while Hans Zimmer is a bad m*fo, nothing would have injected more fun  and a little needed distraction from some of the odd story moments than some classic hits from '84. The second thing that was a huge disappointment was the handling of the invisible jet. I remember the WW cartoons and how cool it looked having WW flying in what was basically a glass slipper...the image is iconic! I had no idea the invisible plane had made it into the film. Sadly, it is trash because even the setup is bad with the aforementioned pre-fueled Smithsonian-Exhibit jet---so while we are scratching our head about that strange coincidence and  the ABSOLUTELY OUT OF NOWHERE 4th of July date and fireworks show, we finally get to invisible plane time and it is cheap and infuriating on EVERY level, from how WW gains this ability she's known about for 70-years to how the it is never used again, im not talking about just  the plane but the whole fn ability, which mind you, could have been VERY USEFUL in the last act of the film!! This is the same blasphemy that The Predator (2018) is guilty of when it comes to the invisibility cloak element ...why even show things to us when you are not going to use them in the most optimal  and intelligent way to enhance your storytelling. Why should you watch it? You enjoyed the first one and cannot believe they would miss an opportunity to make something more special than the first one or you desperately need your bad catfight CGI fix. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Con

[djw180 6,833]

The Death of Stalin (2017, dir Armando Iannucci)

Dark comedy about the various members of the Soviet Union's governing council vying for control after Joseph Stalin dies. This was a film I thought about seeing at the cinema but never got round to it. It wasn't quite as good as I expected.

It has a great cast with a lot of well known faces, even if you don't necessarily know the names to go with them. I love the way they don't attempt Russian accents and stick to their own, or at least ones they are most famous for in other Film & TV. So we have Steve Buscemi playing Nikita Krushchev as if Krushchev was himself doing a Steve Buscemi impression. Similarly for Paul Whitehouse (most famous for TV comedy rather than film) as Anastas Mikoyan and Jason Isaacs as Field Marshall Zhukov, both sounding like East-End / Northern gangsters. Simon Russell Beale and Michael Palin are great as well.

I did find the plot a bit confusing at times. Maybe it was meant to be as the characters seemed to not really know what to do; after all Stalin had been in power for about 30 years and the rest of the council were used to just doing what they were told, otherwise they'd find themselves on one of Stalin's death lists. I also have no idea how much was based on actual events and how much came from the director-writer's imagination. Although I do recall Armando Iannuci in interview saying it was true that when guards outside Stalin's bedroom heard a thud from inside they did not go in to see if he was alright because they had been ordered not to disturb him, and you did not disobey an order from Stalin under any circumstances. The funniest bit was the next morning when the maid has found Stalin collapsed but not yet dead. No one will call a doctor until enough council members have arrived for them to be quorate and make a collective decision. When they do get round to it they realise there are no competent doctors to call because Stalin has had them all killed.

 

7/10

Edited January 16, 2021 by djw180

[Con 5,703]

You Cannot Kill David Arquette (2020)...4/5... I had been meaning to watch this because the title sounded odd and i had asked, why David Arquette, he hasn't been in anything lately? So I watched other things instead and it wasn't until Lime posted his review that I actually read the plot description and I asked myself, why should I care? I do remember when he won the WCW title and I guess I wasn't a HUGE wrestling fan because I've never hated the guy for it, I just thought it was a silly wrestling promotion where film and sports entertainment combined to do something different, but obviously many wrestling fans along with amateur and  professional wrestlers were profoundly insulted by the move of awarding a Hollywood celeb a title. Both fans and athletes thought David Arquette was mocking THEIR sport. Using a cheap ploy to get people to go watch a wrestling movie he was starring in. He only held the title for two weeks but the damage had been done. The WCW would soon close its operations as it lost fans and viewers, most likely to the stunt. But wrestling survived...David Arquette's acting career did not. Just like pro-wrestling banned him from their sport, it seemed that Hollywood had also turned its back on David and he would only land the Scream (1996) films as the doofy sheriff and no other major roles, an entire decade of auditions and no parts. What I did not know was that David was against the Public relations stunt because he was a real wrestling fan since childhood and he didn't feel right about the whole thing, but studio pressure and in a small way, his own wrestling fantasies, made it easy for him to go through with it and learning of this early on adds to the impact of what we are about to see. A Hollywood celeb who could have just issued an apology and said, "f*ck you, dont hate me, i loved wrestling and didn't even want to do the promotion, i didn't want to disrespect the sport I Love too! Ask Diamond Dallas Page, he knows the truth, I told him i hated the idea." and just went back to his life, but no, not David Arquette, this man at 40+ years old decides that he has to redeem himself to the fans and sport he feels he left a stain on 19-years prior. 

Anyhow what we see next is David getting absolutely demolished in a backyard wrestling show, what makes that moment so intense is that we had just learned about David's heart health and a man with stents in his arteries should not be taking that kind of punishment (and not get paid for it) and honestly it was surreal to know that it was David Arquette in some backyard in America. We then see him attend a wrestling school in Mexico after consulting with DDP about his commitment to clearing his name, gaining wrestling fans respect back. But you can tell the Mexican stuff is kind of setup as he gets the "celeb" pass into their world. But it's still a real cool segment with a lot of heart as the Lucha Libre guys helping train him just really LOVE what they do and when they reveal their true identities to David, it's just special and I felt that dumb sh*t. And you may be the type of person that sneers at pro-wrestling and you probably call it fake and stupid, but I can assure you one thing....there is genuine passion in those wrestlers and fans and that is VERY REAL. So don't dismiss the sport too hard next time. Anyways, we finally get that near-death experience the title has been promising us and it's pretty shocking, i remembered hearing about him being hospitalized but I just didn't click to open the article. It's a fun documentary because you cannot believe David would even try all this at his age, like you can see someone's crazy uncle trying this out but not a Hollywood celeb. Why should you watch it? You are a pro-wrestling fan, David Arquette fan, or a fan of the human spirit. You love stories of redemption and love. While I went into it thinking it was one last attempt by David at being relevant quickly shifted to rooting for the guy even harder than before. If I got anything out of this doc, it was that David Arquette should have probably been a pro-wrestler all his life and skipped the whole acting in Hollywood thing. It's hard to tell when eccentric people are being serious but I think David really did this out of love and respect for himself and pro-wrestling. I'm also sure there are real wrestlers that can share a similar story but David Arquette wasn't sleeping in dumpsters or anything like that, so while the average Joe would do all that out of necessity, David doesn't and it added to the appeal for me. His entire family is set for life. He really did not need to put himself through this and that is hilarious and endearing.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

The Father

dir. Florian Zeller/2020/1h37m

The Father is a drama written and directed by Florian Zeller, adapted from his award winning play of the same name.  It stars Anthony Hopkins as Anthony, an elderly man suffering from dementia and Olivia Colman as Anne, his daughter who has recently moved him into her flat to take care of him.  I had read good things about this film before watching it, but even then I wasn't prepared for how good this is.  Everything about it is executed perfectly.  The story is written in a way that makes the viewer feel the confusion of that disease, scenes loop and repeat and locations sometimes seem to swap around or change subtly.  Zeller also does something really interesting and quite unsettling with the characters played by Mark Gatiss and Olivia Williams who are just credited in the film as The Man and The Woman.  There are several times in the film where they appear playing other characters showing how your closest relatives can appear as strangers when you're suffering from dementia.  It's really effective and heartbreaking.

The best thing about this film are the performances from Colman and Hopkins.  Colman conveys the weight of having to care for her father with a warmth that you can see getting worn down as things get worse, there's always a hint of sadness behind her beaming smile.  Hopkins is incredible in this and I'll be surprised if he doesn't win his second Oscar for his performance.  He goes through a spectrum of emotions here with perfection, the lucid moments where you can see the man he used to be, the charming gentleman, the cruel old man, a bumbling fool, an empty shell and most devastatingly a scared frightened child.  The last scene is gut-wrenching and cemented in my mind that this is his best ever performance.  

This is a brutally heartbreaking film, but it is also full of life and shining moments of happiness and I cannot think of a single thing about it that I didn't love.  10/10

 

 

[Con 5,703]

Feels Good Man (2020)...5/5...Real fascinating and comprehensive documentary that explains where the Pepe the Frog phenomenon came from and how it ended up as a symbol of hate and the attempts at rescuing it from infamy, Who is Pepe the Frog you ask?...

This is Pepe the frog and this documentary is the battle that Matt Furie the creator of Pepe had to wage to reclaim his beloved, beloved frog  from people that hijacked his drawing and transformed it into a symbol of hatred. Now you may not be familiar with Pepe but no doubt you have seen him in one version or another. I'm not a Reddit user so my only encounters with Pepe the Frog came when I used to have a Facebook account and I remember the frog meme being shared and it wasnt until I saw one of him shoving a fork into an electric outlet that it got my attention. I learned that Pepe was a frog that represented the emogeeks or people with just sh*tty luck, luck so sh*tty that death has become joy. Anyways, i like sarcasm and very dark humor so I found the memes very funny but in my last few years on FB i did notice that Pepe was now wearing n*zi helmets in memes and he was now using the "N" word and I remember saying to myself, "Oh the frog was created by white supremacists for white supremacists ?" ...but actually, the opposite was true and this is what the documentary is about, an artist's journey to reclaim a piece of art that belongs to him and distance it from the ugly thing it had morphed into. How does an innocent, kind, and loving character become a symbol of hate and what one must do to rescue it....and man, it's a lot. It's really crazy. Why should you watch it? You are an illustrator and hope to publish something someday or you already have something published and want to learn how to protect it. You like Pepe the Frog and all the memes and want to learn more about the origins and its legendary status. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Con

[Con 5,703]

The Dissident (2020)...5/5...I remember hearing the story but not looking into it. It wasn't until I came across those images of what seemed like hundreds of reporters camping outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul, holding up signs and photos of Jamal Khashsoggi demanding he be released. I was confused, what was going on? Were terrorists holding the embassy hostage and one of their fellow journalists was caught in the middle? I took my attention off the story only to came across it again when parts of the audio were released and I could not believe that they had killed a man inside an embassy. The last thing I remember about it was hearing that a fight was the reason the man had been killed. I had no idea just how complex this entire story was and how tragic it is on so, so, so many levels. On October 2nd, 2018, The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey where he was retrieving a legal marriage document. He was nervous about having to go to there that day and had his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, go with him to calm his nerves a bit. They arrived and Jamal goes inside while Hatice waits outside. Jamal never walks back out and is never seen again. 

Jamal began his career as a journalist in Saudi Arabia which led him to be very close with the King at the time but over time he had become disillusioned with the Kingdom taking advantage of religious laws to oppress the people while the same leaders enjoyed hypocritical and lavish lifestyles. He would be more emboldened in each report and became more critical of the Crown once he joined Twitter. He was growing a massive Twitter following which threatened the King and the Princes popularity. Jamal was risking arrest for his opinions and decided it was time to leave his homeland or never really experience freedom, so Jamal defected to America.  The Saudi government tried desperately to have Jamal return home over the years as they secretly felt he was a liability since he was once an insider in the Kingdom and once Jamal landed the job at The Washington Post would now lend his voice widespread exposure and credibility to his uncensored criticism of the Saudi government, a very dangerous threat to their establishment.

If you were like me and only knew the surface details regarding the murder of Jamal, do yourself a favor and watch this documentary to help celebrate Jamal's life by learning more about him and what his murder really means and how it is a violation of the human soul and spirit. I remember celebrating on Twitter with Saudi Arabia when the King lifted its ban on women drivers, dance clubs, and movie theaters. It was a day of celebration for the human spirit...if you don't take freedom for granted...It truly felt like the Saudis were finally turning the corner on religious suffocation. Then I watched this documentary and see how those sudden freedoms are but a smoke screen to keep the people distracted. While the Saudis are driving to the movies and dance clubs, their government is behind closed doors eliminating rivals and crushing social movements not approved by government or  even worse, taking credit for them. Take the example of allowing women to drive, the Prince granted the permission but then jails the women who actually started the movement in the streets. Almost as if they are afraid that these women that forced change might have more ideas that challenge the power structure. Would you want women suddenly after 500 years or whatever, telling you that you cannot have twenty-one wives at once while claiming God's approval of it? 

The story is horrible on so many levels because we know Jamal had two desires: 

1) To return home to Saudi Arabia and live in freedom [he knew this wasn't a reality since he had been invited back home but always felt it was a trap] and 2) Not to feel so lonely and find love.

    While the film focuses on what happened to Jamal, it also gives us an insight to the cyber-war in Saudi Arabia between the government and the people. The documentary and story is told to us by the popular Saudi vlogger exiled in Canada, Omar Abdulaziz.  We learn through him how the Saudi leadership hires an army of social media recruits to flush out any info that is harmful to the image of the Saudi leaders by hijacking posts and hashtags. The flies vs the bees...who will win? But you may be asking, who is this Omar and why is he in Jamal Khashsoggi's documentary and more importantly why does he feel responsible for Jamal's death? Well you see my friends, Jamal and Omar became friends and Jamal began funding "the bees" and Omar believes that is how the Saudis were able to learn how they could finally capture Jamal outside of Saudi Arabia. It really is devastating stuff but I have to believe that only one thing could have led to the downfall of an otherwise intelligent man, only one thing could have led Jamal to let down his guard after all those years of looking over his shoulder and that thing is Love. Love is what made all this possible.     Technically, we could designate religion as the root since it was Jamal's scathing columns in Saudi newspapers rebuking religious hypocrisy he had witnessed that threatened him to be jailed and is why he fled his country. But it was Love that ensured he would be in Istanbul, Turkey in October of 2018. Yes, the coordination by the Saudis to force Jamal to retrieve that very important legal marriage document from the Saudi embassy in Turkey was a stroke of genius, but I have to believe that if the wedding had not been set there (it was chosen because Hertice was born in Turkey) the Saudi's would not have been able to carry out the same crime in an embassy on American soil.

This is truly an absolutely shocking and tragic story. A crime planned and set in motion behind closed doors that just happened to get exposed to the world because of the mistrust of those involved, what I mean by that is, you won't be surprised to learn that Turkey never trusted the Saudis and had been secretly recording their meetings at the embassy and is why we have the hellish audio of the premeditated murder and disposal of Jamal Khashsoggi. How do you know you have endless wealth?? When you can plan and carry out a murder, have it fully expose those involved and consequently get clues as to who had to give the orders for all the resources to be allocated towards this murder and instead the Saudis find other scapegoats to jail for the crime.

Two years have passed, but by no means is this over as Hertice continues to seek justice for her Jamal and recently has asked the American President Joe Biden to declassify the CIA report into Jamal's murder. This could end up making the Crown Prince MBS directly responsible for the murder. But then what? I don't know, but I will keep you updated as I plan on following Hertice's effort for justice as she has said that many people are murdered and disappear at the hands of their leaders and the world never hears about them. So that is why she is going to shout about Jamal until the world forces justice. 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,173]

Sound of Metal

dir. Darius Marder/2020/2h1m

Sound of Metal is a drama written and directed by Darius Marder starring Riz Ahmed (Four Lions)  as Ruben, a metal drummer who loses his hearing.  The film opens with him on stage with his bandmate and girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) playing a gig, then travelling around in their RV listening to old records.  Music is integral to his life and their relationship.  When his hearing goes she thinks it might make him relapse, being a heroin addict, so she finds him a community for deaf addicts where he has to learn to live without sound.  The community is run by a guy named Joe (Paul Raci) who gives a fantastic supporting performance, becoming almost like a father figure to Ruben.  It's a shame that we don't see him for most of the last act.  The last act concerns Ruben having surgery to fix his hearing, but this doesn't bring the instant gratification he wants.  Instead it seems to distance himself from both the deaf community and the hearing.  

While Raci gives an amazing performance as Joe he is still second to Ahmed by a long way.  He is incredible in this.  He is full of intensity and desperation at the start, before going through a whole spectrum of emotions right up until the last shot where maybe he has found peace with his new lot in life.  He also does a great American accent.  If I didn't know he was British I never would have guessed.  It's a million miles away from Benedict Cumberbatch's awful Dr. Strange voice.  The best thing about this film though is the sound design.  It's a shock the first time the sound cuts out and dampens, random snatches managing to get through the white noise and ringing.  This intensifies throughout the film until it culminates in the final scene where he is overwhelmed by the noise of the city after living so long in silence.  I also really like the way we don't get subtitles for the sign language until Ruben can understand what they're saying.  That, along with the sound design, really put us into his head and makes us empathise with him even more.  

This is a fantastic film about how life has its own plan for us and how we have to adapt to survive.  It is handily directed, though there's nothing technically special about that aspect of the film, with a great script and some great music (when we can hear it).  The lead performance by Ahmed is mesmerising and one to look out for come awards season.  You don't need to be a fan of metal music to enjoy this, in fact there's hardly any metal in the film.  What there is is a lot of heart and a lot of b*lls.  It does slow down during the third act, intentionally, but Ahmed's performance will carry you through to the ending which is neither happy nor sad, but totally authentic.  That's a word that perfectly describes this film, nothing about it has any sense of artifice.  These feel like real people in a real situation.  Highly recommended. 9/10

======================================================

Promising Young Woman

dir. Emerald Fennell/2020/1h54m

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell in her feature film debut, Promising Young Woman is a thriller/black comedy starring Carey Mulligan (Drive, Inside Llewyn Davis) as Cassie, a woman hell-bent on revenge after an incident at medical school nearly ten years earlier, and general revenge on “nice guys” as a whole.  To that end she spends her evenings in clubs pretending to be totally off her face drunk waiting for one of these “nice guys” to try and take advantage of her.  Her revenge becomes more focused after meeting Ryan (Bo Burnham), a guy who she was at med school with, who seems to be an actual nice guy, and who can lead her to her former classmates as he is still in touch with them.  

This is a stunningly assured debut from Fennell.  The film looks fantastic, with a candy coated bubble-gum aesthetic that plays perfectly against the coal-black humour and at times quite upsetting content.  It is brilliantly shot, Fennell using the camera to simulate the male gaze and turn that against those predators.  The soundtrack is also great, full of pop tunes that again act as a contrast, with one particularly good use of Britney Spears's “Toxic”.  The performances are great all round.  Mulligan is so good in this, not playing Cassandra as a monster or the “woman scorned” stereotype, she is just a woman who has been through a traumatic event trying to make that right in the best way she can think of.  Seriously, some of the scenes of her revenge are shocking, especially against former classmate Madison (Alison Bree) and Dean of the school Elizabeth (Connie Britton).  I was almost disgusted by what Cassandra does to them, considering what she is getting revenge for, but this is all brilliantly subverted when you learn the truth.  

As well as Mulligan, Burnham gives a great performance, really coming across as a genuine guy who wants to crack Mulligan's hard exterior because he really cares about her.  The two have great chemistry in this film, and I would have liked to have seen more of them together.  There is also excellent support from Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) and, as Cassandra's parents Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde) and Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption).

The script for this is top-notch, with some big surprises in the third act that I did not see coming.  I can see why the ending is polarising, but I personally loved it.  It's not quite a happy ending, but it is satisfying in that justice will be served.  I also love the very last shot of the film, the best use of an emoji that I've seen in a long time (The Emoji Movie doesn't count as I'm not sure that that's even a movie).  If you're looking for a fresh, modern take on a revenge story then you need to check this out.    This is a film that is both entertaining and enlightening, tragically sad and absurdly funny.  Well worth watching. 9/10

======================================================

The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man

dir. Tommy Avallone/2018/1h12m

The Bill Murray Stories is a documentary film from Tommy Avallone.  It's subject is  @Con's golfing buddy, Bill Murray, more specifically the almost mythic urban legends that surround him doing things like crashing a house party to do the dishes or spending the night tending bar.  The story that seemed to have started it all is one where a guy is at a ur*nal and someone sneaks up behind them, placing their hands over their eyes and whispering in their ear “no one will ever believe you”.  Turning around, the man sees Murray stood there smiling at him before walking off.  Whether or not he does these things is no longer a matter for debate.  Thanks to technology there are photos and videos of him in unexpected places.  This film instead seeks to find out why.  Why does a hugely famous Hollywood star spend his time seemingly walking around at random and talking to strangers?  

The film shows us how Murray isn't really a part of Hollywood.  He has never had an agent or a manager or a publicist.  All he has is a 1-800 number that goes directly to an answerphone, which he checks on occasion.  It took Sophia Coppola, director of Lost in Translation over a year to get in touch with him to ask him to be in her film.  Murray seems to shun the spotlight in favour of hanging with normal people.  When he turns up to one of these random events he doesn't make it about himself, he doesn't go there to perform.  He wants to be a part of the fun, not the cause of it.  

The film interviews several people who have had one of these encounters with Murray and they all say the same thing, he was living in the moment.  He was there because it looked like fun and he wanted some of the action.  The film ties this into his improv beginnings, and how that taught him to roll with the punches, but to me it's all because he loves people.  And that love is reciprocated tenfold because of the joy he brings to these people.  What, to him, is just a fun way to spend an evening is to these people their Bill Murray Story.  One they will tell their whole lives.  

This is a fun documentary, and all of the footage of Murray at these events is fun to watch, but the director, Avallone, inserts himself needlessly into the story, which detracts from the whole.  There is too much of him getting nervous trying to leave a message for Murray, and not enough of the man himself.  If you're a fan of Murray's (who isn't?) then you will enjoy this, another testament to showing how awesome Bill f*cking Murray is, just don't let the first ten minutes sour you on this.  7/10

 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by LimeGreenLegend

[Con 5,703]

12 hours ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

 It's subject is  @Con's golfing buddy, Bill Murray

Correction: “Fantasy Golf” Golfing Buddy. Still gotta beat his *ss tho.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Con