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frankvespe
Reviews
86 Melrose Avenue (2021)
Coulda been a 10...
As a camera operator for 25 years, I was blown away by the hand held camera work, truly remarkable, keeping the action while tracking in focus. The Diverse Cast covered EVERY genre, not a character trait missed, and the flashbacks were very well shot and placed perfectly.
I would've given a 10, but the strikingly similar appearance of the lead character to Tom Cruise, kept me thinking I was watching the latest MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE, wanting more from TOM's, not Dade's, performance. Sadly though, watching this film on a 50" flat screen, does it no justice, and deserves to be seen on the big screen, where it rightfully belongs. Hopefully, when Regal Theatres fully open on Long Island, they'll carry it.
The Revenant (2015)
Gladiator with snow.
Visiting the Pacific Northwest has kinda been on my bucket list, and this film just saved me using miles on my American Airlines' AAdvantange card, but that's the good news... Sadly, this film borrows too much from the equations of Saving Private Ryan, extraordinary opening battle scene, but really, Gladiator with snow, where the wife and son flashbacks were way too similar and predictable. I barely heard the dialogue, whether it was poor recording of the audio during the shoot or the theater's sound system. (I resorted to reading the characters' lips.) Inasmuch as I wanted to believe the story, a bear attack of such magnitude, open wounds, loss of blood, albeit modern day medical care, and recovering with such ability, killed its credibility. Les Stroud and Bear Grylls would cringe regarding hypothermia's effects while swimming in subzero waters, wearing soaked garments, without succumbing, nearly had me walk out of the theater. Overall, the film should win an Oscar for cinematography, as well as a camera operator who handled a Steadicam quite well. If anything, the film makes me long for The Wolf of Wall Street II.