greg-1260 Reviews

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Wonderful, gripping, spellbinding, edge of seat, super!

[20 July 2012]

I don't write many reviews. I don't get over-excited about many films. I don't expect to be blown away by a celluloid creation. This movie did it. I thought Spiderman was great...this left it trailing in its wake. For those who like to see more than the comic, you have all the allegories of the overthrow of capitalism and the financial classes being given their come-uppance by a dictator who fills the gap when "normal" politics has failed. If you just want to be thrilled, entertained, gob-smacked, fascinated by a cinematic experience then forget all the intellectual layers and enjoy a feast of visual goodies with a clever and witty script for additional fun. Unless you are a hard-boiled cynic, or someone who only usually enjoys indie cinema, then you are in for the treat of a lifetime here.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

This movie will stay with me for the rest of my days.

[9/10 · 17 February 2012]

At thirty minutes in I was wondering who would be the first to leave the small audience in the cinema. By the end of this movie I, and the few others, simply sat with our metaphorical mouths agape at the impact of what we had just seen. A slow, meandering, and with hindsight, entirely necessary beginning gives way to a riveting and gripping story. A story which you would expect to bring you to tears (and it will for some) but is ultimately about triumph. It may appear to be a story about 9/11 and such was the enormity of that event that it would be easy to suggest that this is just an excellently acted and well-crafted story about that day. That would be to undersell this movie. 9/11 is just the vehicle which carries the message of how our everyday, minor irritations with other people and our general lives are simply unimportant in comparison to the reality that most people are just trying to do their best in our jobs, our marriages and in our relationships. We are imperfect and the enormity of 9/11 hammered that home. These couple of hours repeats the exercise. But this movie does more than use the day's story in such a simplistic way. Rather, it weaves the tragedy into the story of lives that are already living with sadness and it allows those participants to view their personal tragedies in the context of the much bigger one. To use the "device" of a compulsive child (what a performance!)forces us voyeurs to focus more clearly on the everyday minutiae which both he and we come to see as insignificant. A wonderful experience...this movie will stay with me for the rest of my days.

Grown Ups (I) (2010)

Much better than I expected

[7/10 · 29 August 2010]

OK, it's got no plot line, it's sometimes quite banal and had some humour suitable only for a three-year-old but you know what?..........I smiled all the way through and even chuckled in quite a few places. I'm someone who enjoys multi-layered cinema, hates screwball-comedy and would therefore be expected to hate this. However, I like gentle wittiness. This movie had enough of that to keep me satisfied and my 17 yr old son and 21 yr old daughter enjoyed it too. The situations are cleverly worked to bring the best out of the four main protagonists and although the fattist, sexist, ageist remarks sometimes grated a little, I still was able to see beyond that to a message which declared that naive fun with the family isn't to be undervalued. Don't expect too much and you will leave it feeling wryly amused and gently warmed.