Change Your Image
andreasphilip
Reviews
Hotel Artemis (2018)
Wasted opportunities
There are as many wasted opportunities here as body counts. Superb actors poorly directed. Beautiful aesthetics reduced to background. Politics reduced to cliches. And then I realised that the director had also directed Fast and Furious. That should teach me not to research before watching.
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
I was embarrassed for the actors
Such a misuse of an excellent cast. Badly written script with no sense of character consistency or ways of engaging emotionally the audience. The entertainment value is there but so low and drowned in the general vulgarity and coarseness.
I should have checked: why two guys who normally write crass male comedy would be able to pull through a film about the connection between mothers and daughters? I guess I believe in miracles but this was one too far.
Beira-Mar (2015)
Subtle, atmospheric, beautifully acted
A soft tale of rite of passage for two boys. The story unfolds in an undramatic way. Nothing more than the absolutely necessary is explained. The acting is superb, awkwardness, confusion, fragility and desire all perfectly depicted on the actors' faces.
Russian Doll (2019)
A little masterpiece
Mind blowing in its regularity and difference. Superb character development. Emotional and funny and queer.
The Romanoffs (2018)
Subtle irony, hilarious extremes, conceited and terribly relatable.
One of the funniest series I have watched, with great characters loosely connected around a bizarre understanding that they are all originating in the Romanov aristocracy. Every episode can be watched autonomously which is great if you do not have the head for a long series but want to dip in and out. The issues dealt with are all deeply serious socially and emotionally, with good relationship observations and even better societal observations, delivered with a wit and irony that can be found in almost every scene. Excellent performances throughout, and great music choices too. A treat.
Casual (2015)
Real, touching, funny, exquisitely acted.
A great series, with really funny but identifiable situations, clever dialogue and lots of sarcasm. The last season is pure delight.
Duck Butter (2018)
Real, subtle and yet brutal
A sensitive observation of a relationship, its ups and downs, its past and future, and its truths and lies, all in the space of 24 hrs. Marvellous performances and cool directing. Wonderful.
Dear White People (2017)
Finally, intelligence.
Dear White People is the single most complex, nuanced, aesthetically smooth, politically angular comedy of racial manners in a supposedly post-racial society I have ever seen. Yes, occasionally didactic and often too ivy to be representative, but it is gripping stuff. Sadly, one needs to have a degree and some willingness to understand complex notions to like it - hence, I suppose, the bad reviews here. Do not be put off: if you like your comedy dramatic, full of intellect, and uncomfortable feelings about your place in society, watch this and marvel.