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gavinphillipgordon
Reviews
Capone (2020)
Never go full neurosyphilitic
I'm just not sure what the director's point here was. As a biopic it offered no insight into Capone, as a statement of mental disease and its effects on all concerned it barely touched the surface, and as a vehicle for Tom Hardy it's a misstep, or maybe he has his own tax issues?
Queen & Slim (2019)
Well performed, but Immature and deeply flawed
Take a straightforward plot. Cast extreme talent to perform it.
Spend two hours delivering a frankly idiotic , infuriatingly illogical and contradictory narrative.
Serve half-baked.
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Monte Hellman
I first watched TLB years ago on TV some time in the seventies and it stuck as a memorable and authentic fable of American road culture, way beyond Easy Rider, American Graffiti and the like. It's sparse, vast and beautiful, punctuated by minimalist dialogue and directed by a man who knows about silence as a drummer knows about the gaps in the beat.
Years later in 2016 I accidentally discovered Monte when I stayed at his ramshackle yet lovely house in Lauren Canyon as an Airbnb guest. He's about what you'd expect from his movies.
And one of the occasions I've been entertained by a genius.
It's just a sensational film. Watch it if you can and I defy you not to yearn for a primer grey 55 Chevy set up as it is. Coppola certainly did.
6 Underground (2019)
For when you absolutely, irredeemably, have nothing better to do.
And even then I'd recommend sleeping pills if you're still conscious, over this lowest common denominator embarrassment for all concerned, and yes, that includes you Michael Bay. At least you can console yourself in the knowledge that you're now leading the race for the worst movie of 2019 with only 2 weeks to go. Mind you, there's still Cats to come.....
V-Wars (2019)
Dreadful rubbish
Beyond laughable. Take any vampire genre TV series, sack the scriptwriter, the casting director and remove any direction whatsoever and this is what you get. Perfect filler for Netflix.
Vienna Blood (2019)
The whodunnit here is the script, the victim the viewer
Dreadfully made sub-Sherlock crime series set in Vienna at some point in the past, not that anyone cares. The writing, camera work and lighting alone demand criminal investigation, although I doubt the leading characters would be able to identify the culprits.
Not even Guy Richie would put his name to this.
The First (2018)
Complex, thoughtful, engaging
Sci Fi for people who don't live in their parents basement. In years to come The First will be seen as the massive masterpiece that it is. Beautiful, emotionally engaging, and superbly constructed.