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Reviews
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Sorry but no
So I'm not against artsy type films but one has to draw the line somewhere.
It would have been really good as a short.
I found myself fast forwarding through alot of the player part.
There's no need to draw a scene out once the audience has got the point.
All that gushing I see in some of the reviews about the psychology of the film.
Come on.
It's not a "true story" of anything is just entertainment.
If it fails to do that then...
Passengers (2016)
it's a romance, and not that
The problem I have with this film is not the sci-fi part.
I think that is amazing: Utopian travel to a distant world etc. Great.
Effects are amazing. Portrayal of the experience of being in space etc, definitely on a par with Gravity.
The problem I have is with the premise that someone can fall in love with someone who basically shafted them for some selfish need.
So I'm OK with the first half, but then I have to stop the film.
I'm not going into more detail as that would be too much spoilers.
Watch the first half, then when you the bit where it all seems wrong just stop there.
When she starts to get over the what he did.
You'll understand what I mean when you get to it soon after the 90mins mark.
Just switch off at that point having watched a really good film.
Genius (2017)
It's not a science lesson, but about the man, the father, the husband
It seems some of the reviewers are complaining it lacks the science.
If you want a lesson in physics you can download some lectures from YouTube or summat.
These guys are exploring the personal side of the man, his relationships, beliefs and morals.
I think it's very entertaining, in some sense because it shows that despite his genius, he is just as fallible and stupid as everyone else.
Perhaps this is why people are balking at their deified Einstein.
I think its well acted and well made. Please keep it up.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Well I saw the ending coming
So I was expecting, as the hype, to see a sequel to Prometheus: some questions answered, and perhaps creating some more mysteries to keep the franchise keen.
Nope. It felt like they just took the original 1979 one and updated it.
I actually liked the mysterious direction Prometheus took. I know some people complained that it wasn't Alien-y enough, but this thing with the engineers and the first scene with them seeding some planet (presumably earth) with life -good stuff.
Yes I got the whole David/Walter thing at the end with Walter's "upgrade" which the crew seemed to miss.
But that's the theme of the whole movie: don't think too deeply, just enjoy the new CGI Xenomorph.
I'm sure they toyed with working the Jackson 5 in there.
As to the story: maybe they are heading to a time-loop thing where David somehow ends up creating the Engineers and Humans to fulfill his Machiavellian dream; the created becoming the creator.
Uncanny (2015)
So.. which is the robot again ..?
I rarely give a movie more than 8, but I think this one is actually very impressive.
You really have to watch the movie twice to appreciate the full quality of the acting which I think is amazing.
You also need to be aware there is a post-credit scene, which adds to the twists of the plot.
I also think some of the posters did not see the film all the way through and missed the point.
So, in conclusion, I would say this is a very interesting film Especially as it had a low budget.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Physicists, engineers and mechanics won't like it.
The film has some problems technical problems, as some people have commented.
Suggestions of perpetual motion machines, maintenance free systems (although that's addressed a bit at the end) will annoy people from a technical background for sure.
This film is less about science and more about statement.
One thing that I get from this film is the statement about life in a corporation.
Here we have the entrepreneur who is taking advantage of a situation to build and perpetuate his dream.
That this "captain of industry" goes too far and treats the "workers" as (literally) parts of his divine machine "the eternal engine" and becomes a self-styled god of this world he has created.
For that, I think the film is very good.
The Signal (2014)
So "Dark City" meets "Truman Show", then
Movie was good.
Quite cerebral really, as in, you need to understand this is not an Action/Adventure.
Less Sci-Fi and more psychological.
I think "Dark City" meets "Truman Show" is the best way to describe it.
But perhaps more of an influence than derivative works.
Not a comedy, a bit moody at times.
I think some people who wrote the reviews either didn't see the ending, or were thinking it was leading up to a happy ending in some way so felt robbed.
Get over yerselves it's a good watch if you follow it properly.
Some of the reviewers didn't seem to get that the plot is about alien robots studying the human survival will.
The old woman and bloke were no use because their brains were messed up so they were killed.
Now they got these new youth types they didn't need them.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Sorry, but not my cup of earl grey
I could appreciate the great acting, and it really was intense. You felt the realism of the emotion.
I couldn't help think this was more of a showcase than a film.
It like someone got a really dire script and challenged the actors to try and make it into a good film.
As so many people have voted this film on the acting I am voting on the entertainment value.
1 - awful.
When you find yourself appreciating the fact that they skillfully removed the camera from the mirror shots, I think it's time to admit the film is just not that gripping.
Sorry guys.
PS: Pioneering technique with a single fluid shot? -no
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120042/ Running Time (1997) "... and seemingly takes place in one continuous, fluid shot..."
Stone (2010)
You got to get this film really
(IMDB virgin here so please be kind :)
So the front cover really is the best indicator I think, "Some people tell lies, some live them".
Can't really fault DeNiro, or Jovovich, both very good performances, but to me the star here is Norton.
He really took me on a bit of a strange journey.
This film is not about a Hollywood heist or cops and robbers anything like that, so this maybe be where the expectation is a bit off.
This is more a psychological thing.
I agree the ending is a bit flat really, could do with a bit more of a conclusion to the journey for me.
So I thought the film was slow and the ending wasn't great but I really ended up feeling Jack's depression, Stone's epiphany and Lucetta's discomfort.
To me that's not a waste at all, after all art is about invoking emotion, so it hit the spot OK.
I gave it an 8 since all the actors really drew me into their characters