Change Your Image
lanalorenzen-665-83361
Reviews
Learning to Drive (2014)
Unfortunately average where it could have been great.
Decent performances but direction too heavy-handed. Clarkson, usually an understated actress was too emotionally over-the-top in this film. Kingsley was given some good material, but again, the direction was too on-the-nose and heavy. He didn't display the understanding or compassion at times that I would have expected--what driving teacher would throw their student into night-time traffic without experience? That, with the accident, were too jarring. It threw off the mood and tempo of the film. The film just isn't as nuanced a performance as the main actors could give. Needed more understatement.
Something in the Woods (2015)
Wooden acting, cheap visuals and cinematography
2015 is the year when really bad movies started to be made. This is one of them. The audio portion sounds as if the movie was filmed on the cheap. There's a slight echo, as if the actors (I use the words loosely) are on a stage. The colors are not even remotely realistic. There are no vibrant green trees or deep blue skies; this is what a typical landscape would have looked like in 1960 in logging country. There are only muted, muddy tones. For all the viewer knows, it might be an early effort in making a moving with AI. This looks like an effort by a film student or someone who just graduated.
The Phoenix Tapes '97 (2016)
Well, we know how they disappeared (said tongue-in-cheek)
I don't care for the "authentic video" experience. They're never interesting. I didn't care for the Blair Witch Project either. Who knows what happened to the four men. Perhaps they were witnesses to something they shouldn't have seen and agents of some black project absconded with them. The father's last appeal is sad: Frankly, people in this country don't really seem to care anymore.
I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Very good writing, editing, directing, and acting.
I caught this film on Amazon Prime recently and was impressed with the script, the editing, the directing but most especially the acting. There isn't much suspense because the viewer already knows what's going to happen to the protagonist. I do admit it could have been more suspenseful, especially when the woman returns from the "dead." The punishments were fitting to the crimes--after all, the sheriff was going to kill her:intent is nine-tenths of the law. The movie held my attention throughout which is rare (most acclaimed movies, like the Peanut Butter Falcon and Get Out bore me to tears). I was very impressed with the actor who played the Sheriff. I found online that he is a Welsh actor. That explains it. It's almost just worth the time and effort to watch his performance.