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Spaceman (2024)
Could of been great but ...
I felt this could of been a great film if they just stayed with Sandler trying to reason with himself whether the creature was real. Hiding it from mission control and then maybe slowly trying to prove to them that there really was something there. Eventually setting back to Earth next to each other but with Sandler feeling was really just in his head.
The creature itself worked for me but giving it a speaking mouth made it feel cartoonish. Having the mystic purple cloud also seemed unnecessary. Choosing Sandler for the role also seemed a mistake - he played the part well but I couldn't stop thinking the film was going to suddenly become a comedy. Maybe that fault was with me? The other actors, particularly the leading lady, were perfect though.
Loudermilk (2017)
Excellent intelligent comedy in an unusual setting
Intended just to watch one episode as I loved the lead actor in the film office Space but I ended up binge watching all 3 series. I was genuinely sorry to hit the end. I loved the interplay between the leads (Loudermilk, Ben and Claire) - it has a healthy mix of intelligence, humour and sadness. I'll admit I wasn't so keen on Cutter as I found his character a little too extreme and it jumped me out of the illusion of feeling a part of it all. I also wasn't keen on the character of Loudermilk's father - some might think he was also too unreal but I found him disturbing close to my own father. Hey ho.
Taking Out the Neighbours (2023)
Loved it!
I'll admit I wasn't sure what to expect but i turned out to be excellent. It's set in the North of England where an evening goes horribly wrong. I found it a well thought out film and very funny. Obviously it's low budget but that didn't matter at all. The accents are northern so you sometimes need to concentrate a little bit but the accents were entirely necessary.
It was a shame that it was only an hour long as I could happily of watched this as a longer film and the very short "action" sequences could of been a little better. A solid 7/10 from me and well worth your time.
I do hope they make more films.
Sheroes (2023)
Cringeworthy in places but it passed the time
It's a bit like the A-Team but with a prettier cast and a less intellectual script. This film did make the A-Team exploits look fairly believable in comparison.
You can stop reading here but apparently I need to type a lot more characters to submit this review! I'm not sure whether I can keep going but, if the script writer of the film managed to keep going to the end, then I can't see why I can't.
I think they just needed someone to look at the cast and then at the script and ask themselves honestly - would I believe this if it was shown to me as a film? Maybe, after a lot of beer it might get more believable but I suspect I'd of passed out before this point.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%! (2023)
Valid pointd but ...
He spoke of how his life was turned upside down by an incident at school and how his parents broke up but didn't see any correlation with his own actions. He spoke of his best friend who lived a "dream life" that was entirely false but failed to understand the guy was just a classic psychopath and not a role model. He spoke how he used to be shallow and self centred but now here he is in a film dedicated to his world view featuring no-one but himself. I totally agree with this main point that it's foolish to compare yourself with what's found on YT etc but I found the the guy himself quite sad.
Destination Wedding (2018)
A flawed but intelligent romcom
An intelligent romcom is quite a rarity and I enjoyed the film but it certainly has its flaws:
I found the script to be far too "rich". It felt like the writer wanted to impress with every single line and unfortunately this isn't the way people speak to each other. It made the discussions seem artificial. I felt it would have been better to have more inconsequential conversation, or perhaps just have a pause to allow a simple facial expression to make the statement, rather than continue with yet more monologue.
Keanu Reeves also looked a little odd in this role. He's handsome and immaculately dressed but unable to communicate with women - it simply looked wrong to me. He was also dressed the same as in his John Wick movies which just made me think he was going to kill a waiter with a croissant at any moment. His conversations always sounded like he was speaking random words into a dictaphone rather than trying to communicate something.
I thought the sex seen didn't work at all but perhaps that's what the director intended. For me it would have been better just to imply they had sex and then have a discussion afterwards.
Overall I enjoyed the film. I thought Winona Ryder played her part well and I liked how everything stayed focused on just these 2 people even though other things were always happening in the background. I just felt it could have been a great romcom without these niggles. I'll watch it again though.
Memory (2022)
A slightly slower action film
It's not a high octane film but then what do you expect when the lead actor is nearly 70? Instead we have an assassin who's memory is going due to his age - I think this must be a first in an action film!
Sure, it's not the Bourne Identity, but it's different enough to be interesting and I came away enjoying the film. A sort of mild blend between the Bourne Identity, Memento and The Father.
Hong hai xing dong (2018)
Fictional action packed promo for the Chinese Navy
Not really a film but more an action packed promo for the Chinese Navy! Based on a true story though, in real life, I don't believe the Chinese did any actual fighting, let alone fight against impossible odds. Perhaps it's better to say this film is loosely based on Black Hawk Down. I found it a bit amusing how they kept reiterating how uncomfortable they were going into other nations territorial waters while in real life the Chinese seem quite happy to rename these waters as their own. These days they're even building their own islands in international waters and then calling the surrounding seas their own too!
As a make believe action film I think it works, it's action packed and doesn't pull any punches. As a portrayal of a true story it's almost 99% fiction. As a statement of intent for the Chinese Navy I found it a little worrying. It will be "interesting" to see how the Chinese Navy live up to the film, I suspect they're going to get some real life practise in the coming years.
Monsters (2010)
Impressive
I know it's billed as a monster movie, hell it's even called Monsters, but for me it was a movie about a single emotion. I'm not even sure if I can say what that emotion was but, for me, it was near perfect. You feel like you're lost and drifting through a strange world you can't explain. It's a world of beauty mixed with a deep undercurrent of worries you can never understand. If you're after monsters or pure science then it's probably not for you but I came away wildly impressed.
Haywire (2011)
Good, slightly arty, action film
100% original? not really.
Oscar material? nope.
A replacement for Bourne? not yet.
So why did I like it?
I like action films and I like cinematic art and this felt like an interesting mixture of the two (a bit like Drive). It also had a dream like quality pervading a lot of the scenes which I liked. I'll admit I find it difficult to picture females in aggressive roles but she played the part well. The rooftop sequence was good but very similar to a Jason Bourne film. The fight scenes looked realistic. Overall I'd prefer a little more character development but I think the film worked well. 7 stars from me.
Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009)
Appalling but kind of fun
I'm not quite sure where to begin with this - it came across like a bad dream but with worse acting. If you can imagine a kid with a rubber shark beating up his toy aeroplane then you can picture the special effects. The science was a bit weird too - the monster shark was swimming at 500kts (nearly 600mph) which is pretty fast for a fish but luckily the sub could go faster.
I was shaking my head for the first 30 mins thinking this couldn't get any worse but my kids were cheering their favourite creature on. In the end though I just sort of appreciated it for what it was and joined them. It was definitely appalling but sort of fun at the same time. The main achievement of the film was that it made me feel like I could make a monster movie myself ... 10 minutes in my kids toy box, 5 minutes with photoshop and perhaps a minute on the script ... monster worms vs giant sparrows anyone?