Change Your Image
SJFlann
Reviews
Hotel Portofino (2022)
Good to Great as Cast Merges Together
Hello Viewers -- Stick with it. Yes, the first season was somewhat ""off Broadway'". But the second season the cast and production team matured G-REAT-LY and this along with our insight into Cecil and Bella's extended family merges. The cinematography, scenery and lighting are remarkably beautiful - watch on a big screen if you're able. The research of the black-shirt era in Italy in the Art-Deco era of the 1920's is absorbing and has not been done multiple times as with other historical fiction dramas, which are set between WW I and WW II.
--That said, still love you Poirot/Anthony Horowitz, you showed us how it's done. We hope Hotel Portofino get the green light for six seasons...then maybe a movie?
Death and Other Details (2024)
Eye candy nice - otherwise --Slooooowww
Okay the ship is cool...but flashbacks are filler material after a certain point. We don't need to keep seeing the car blow up. Yes there's lots of eye-candy and some of the cast members are likeable - a story must have that. But too many cast memebers are annoying. Us viewers have enough of those people in our life. ----Filler here to hit the minimum character limit --It's good that dogs and children are not harmed or involved in the making of this series as yes it's adult content.---- Still, the best angle so far was the Ukrainian refugees. Yes...when one sits in the "'room of writing"' one can get stuck. But having a mysterious "'one armed man"' ---as in the original series the Fugitive ---isn't going to fly for long in this show w/ gratuitious sex filler. Viktor Sams is your one-armed man. Better get new writing in place otherwise...you've hit an iceberg and your viewers will be gone before that happens.
Anyone But You (2023)
Wonderful Casting & Adaptation --
A terrific romantic comedy -The R rating implies one should have a grown-up brain & be able to accept light nudity and playful/sexy banter. We know not everybody is in that place, so parents of young teens could get squirmy. The witty dialogue was, yes, saucy at times, but that was the point --they could banter!! The chemistry of the cast is great and it overcomes that concern. My husband and I laughed throughout and enjoyed being hopeful for the young couple. Aaaaand the eye-candy was delightful. The beauty of the location in Sydney Australia is great. I just wish when the Ben referred to his night in the water in the Cayman Islands he would have had a throw-away line like "Never doin' that again--" Overall, Shakespeare would have approved seeing new life springing forth from one of his favorite comedies. Thank you Cast, crew and writers.
The Boys in the Boat (2023)
Elegant visual work!! Very engaging.
The audience applauded at the end of the movie -- that's rare for where we're located. Cinematography is beautiful. Felt like we were there. The director, crew and writers did a great job making this. Movies are off-spring of the books. As a novelist & more, I understand the hard work of doing the transition to visual storytelling. The visual story is different from the book. Graphic Novels are not the same as a source book or movie.
.... ..... .... Back to BOYS IN THE BOAT.
This is a film you can watch again with other family members. You'll see something you didn't see the first time. The effort to transport us back to 1930's America succeeded stupendously. Please simply add an elegantly scripted sentence at the end of the film. "If you liked the movie read or listen to the novel".
Death on the Nile (2022)
Top Entertainment, my son & husband give thumbs up
Visually stunning, well cast, beautifully shot. Enjoyed the expert craftmanship and delivery by a talented actors and crew. Please, Kenneth Branaugh if you're willing, continue w/ more of A. C.'s Poirot stories. Thank you.
Tesla (2020)
Learned more about Nikola Tesla
Beautifully shot. Appealing cast. It does work to have the film break the 4th wall when Anne Morgan speaks to the camera. The story carries us along. The director and cast win more than they lose. Where it gets rough: the movie struggles at the end. Just who is he when he's older? What would the older Nikola Tesla have said to the younger Telsa about science, business, women? That's a question often used in interviews (What would you say to your younger self?) Wanted that more than the song that was sung. Also, perhaps insight on the romance aspect could have used more of
Bombshell (2019)
So well-written, well-acted.
Every moment was interesting. Gretchen called out the system-wide abusive behavior that was getting worse. When key powerful women just couldn't look away anymore along with the support of fine men find out what happens. This well-crafted movie records it. The men and women at Fox who wanted to keep looking away were unable to see the bigger picture due to fear. High honors to ALL who worked on this story.
Sidenote to GOLDEN GLOBES Your hands tied? Bit fearful of nominating this movie in the DRAMA category? The TWO POPES ...really?
Tolkien (2019)
Excellent film
Beautifully written, designed and acted, this film is balanced and well crafted. Much more than a period piece, it is about J.R.R.Tolkien's journey, about story, about finding the words to share terrifying and victorious imagery. Is well worth your time.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018)
Give it a few days time. Loved the truth in it.
The visual images are stunning. Give time (3 days) to take it in. The mystery has to get into your bones like the summer smell and heat of a forest. It may not work for someone wanting a quick "who-dunnit". The anguish in these characters' minds clicked into place for me. Like in life, some survived, some did not. Thank you to cast and crew.
Kongens Nei (2016)
Well done is under-statement.
WWII history of Europe and Norway unfolds as this leader must make a decision no wise leader wants to face. Thank you to the excellent cast and crew for bringing this little known story to life.
Downsizing (2017)
To stay where you are or not to, that is the question.
Alexander Payne delivers !! Very thoughtful, completely of our time. (Notice any big storms lately?) The work that went into portraying the Gulliver's Travels wee-folk was great. Could not guess what was going to happen next. Definitely worth your time. If you're looking for a diversion from life, this is not it. Performances are great. Thank you Matt Damon for being a risk taker.
Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star (2016)
A delightful piece, so worth your time.
Thank you to Leslie Caron and film makers for this doc. So interesting! I will watch it again with friends. She is one hundred percent a fully realized human being. Not spared the trials of life , she's come through them to possess delightful grace. The visual images and narrative inspire and -like watching all the greats, make me happy to be a female. Go Leslie!
Their Finest (2016)
All that cinema can do well is done here
All that film can do well is done here. It's suitable for family viewing w/ only a rare cuss word. The tale rolls along with life's humor (Bill Nighy is Oscar-worthy) and with life's pain. It's well paced, with soul-mate love and other facets of life too. Kudos for the 1938-ish Britian setting, which is shown in excellent detail. Film- loving "persons-on the-street", your time will be well-spent.
How to Let Go of the World: and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change (2016)
Despite some grim reports, keep moving & creating says this doc
What can you say about a documentary of the planet, by the planet (its peoples) and for the planet? How can we prevent life perishing from the Earth? Find personal time or even better, a community organized viewing, to take in Josh Fox's wide tour of our planetary address. It also includes a tour of emotions ranging from fear to the realization that we're not giving up. Why? Because, as said in this work, we have the inventions to move beyond burning fossil fuels and it's time to get them working full scale. Two stellar sections (among many) include dialogues with Tim DeChristopher; (while you and I are recycling, he's blockin' illegal oil and gas leases – yeah,) and Ella Chou, a Chinese environmentalist who places the term Moral Imagination right in front. Thank you, Ella Chou. The doc puts it out there;'Hi people, get un-afraid. Work together to protect the ecosystems of our brilliant, one- of-a-kind home called Earth.'