rsr-14 Reviews

Saw X (2023)

Extremely unrealistic

[3/10 · 30 September 2023]

The movie starts off interestingly, but ends being more unrealistic that I remember most other Saw movies being.

On John's primary location in the movie, it would probably take John months setting up all his equipment and traps, but it happens in a few days. Also, everything just works with the traps and victims - kinda contrary to chaos theory where you know something unforeseen usually will happen. People were made to suffer in horrifying ways without fainting - and to do things to themselves during a few minutes that even skilled surgeons can't in such a short time.

Maybe if John had months to prepare his location and to set things up - and maybe if persons had at least 15 or 30 minutes to "play the game" instead of 3, just maybe this movie could have been slightly realistic - or possible.

Many things happening felt totally impossible within the movie's time frame - and totally unrealistic knowing how normal persons respond to severe pain and blood loss.

I did not enjoy the acting either, it all felt fake. I'm a great fan of especially the first Saw movie, Saw X was to me a waste of time and money.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

You're subconsciously taking the blue or red pill when watching this movie

[10/10 · 23 April 2022]

The only thing real in this movie was the cat. And that's why it's a 10/10.

In slightly more detail - they do give you some help in the post credit scene. They tell you that movies are dead (=the whole movie does not exist), games are dead (the 3 Matrix games mentioned in the movie do not exist), narrative is dead (the story in the movie is not true) - and you need to focus on the cat (Cat-Trix).

The movie shows two realities, but you have to look beyond those. The cat symbolizes there's a third reality - and the third reality was hidden throughout the movie.

In short, you're subconsciously taking the blue or red pill when watching this movie. And you may live a happy life never knowing that. And you may give the movie a bad rating because the story you believe you experienced was not very good.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Like watching grass grow - or close

[4/10 · 15 February 2020]

I do not really like neither Brad Pitt nor Leonardo DiCaprio a lot, but Pitt did win an Oscar for the movie and I was looking forward to see "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood". Of course mostly because I'm a great fan of several Tarantino movies. But this movie was a great disappointment at least the first 130 minutes of the 150 minutes or so - where literally nothing happened. Sure it was nice to go down memory lane and see the sunny Hollywood in the year of 1969, and yes I did enjoy Margot Robbie in pure 4K res - then again who wouldn't ;-)

This is by far not a normal Tarantino movie. There's close to no action or coherent nor interesting story. I was hoping Tarantino could force Brad Pitt into unusual roles (like Travolta in Pulp Fiction), but Brad Pitt and DiCaprio were just like you've seen them in most of their other movies. None of them expressed many emotions, neither anger or happiness - ok, DiCaprio maybe a little - but emotionally everything - apart from maybe 10 minutes - was just ... dull. I've got no clue why Pitt won an Oscar for this semi-mediocre performance. I get it why Phoenix won for the Joker - because Phoenix totally owned that Oscar - but Pitt!?!? If you miss reliving the summer of 1969 in Hollywood, see this collection of scenes - if you want an interesting story or action look elsewhere. I'd rated the movie 4/10, thank you Margot I'd rate the movie 2/10 without you :-) Music and sound were great though.

Btw - regarding any bias - I'd rate both Pulp Fiction and Hateful Eight 10/10.

Joker (I) (2019)

Finally Frank Miller should be happy - and proud!

[10/10 · 14 February 2020]

Never thought Phoenix could beat Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, but Phoenix did the impossible - and there's no doubt - this movie is a 10/10. After watching the film I was thinking that now I had just watched my very first superhero (ok, supervillain then) movie. Frank Miller would be proud - I hope, because this is the first movie from DC where I felt the atmosphere and story matched or transcended the best books. Ledger might still have delivered the best comic book Joker performance, but Phoenix just went beyond the books and made the Joker come out the books and made him into a real person. Like for the first time turning Pinocchio into a real boy ;-)

I do think there might be an age problem though, unless we're going to see Batman beating up the elderly in later movies, but maybe some clever writer can fix that, lol.

Note that Joker isn't for kids including young teenagers, not really because of violence, but this is a movie for adults. It's not funny nor is it an action movie, mostly I think - like Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns books - this is a film about society - a political film about wealth inequality and the consequences. A movie cleverly disguising and reflecting our current world. To quote the movie Seven:

"Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."

• and the Joker hits you with a sledgehammer like never before. You could say it's also a movie about the nature of being evil. - In psychology the term does not really exist, because being evil can be reduced to many different components, so is the Joker really evil - or sick - or a product of society - or everything combined (=sum of traumatic incidents and triggers)? That - together with Phoenix' godlike performance - make this movie a 10/10.

BTW, saw the 4K disc version on a 85" high-end Sony TV. The 4K version is reference when it comes to 4K image quality, maybe topped only by Mortal Engines. Blacks are really blacks due to HDR and the resolution is so high it feels like swinging a microscope over Phoenix face from time to time. I could even clearly see the dirt under his bitten fingernails - which was kinda gross. Also his dirty teeth, and every skin imperfection, all his hair etc. This movie was so disturbingly clear I was thinking that maybe the more blurry blu-ray version would be better, lol - but the clarity did add presence like (close to) never before. Felt like watching a stream of photographs. There's a small amount of film grain used, but you don't notice it in most scenes.

Sound and music were awesome too, and the 4K disc contains Dolby Atmos sound as usual - in fact the music may be another reason for buying the 4K disc version - Joker got a second Oscar for the music.

Darkland (2017)

Nothing out of the ordinary

[4/10 · 4 March 2019]

Dude looses family member and takes revenge. It's all been seen and done better before. The limited budget shows, the acting performed by the main character was great though. I do prefer TV shows like The Punisher (Season 2) much more than this movie. For persons enjoying shows and movies about a dude seeking to administer some justice - and punishment - to criminals. Dolby Atmos was a great addition to the blu-ray version.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Worst movie in a loooong time - leave this one alone

[1/10 · 9 March 2018]

I normally do not write movie reviews, but spending two hours for absolutely nothing got me slightly upset.

This movie is a horror movie, well maybe intended to be a psychological thriller - although it's not really frightening. I can't think that Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman would star in this garbage of a movie if it wasn't for the money. And only for the money.

The movie does start out well, but then completely loses coherency. The script must have been written by someone who does not have children - or who lacks any true connection to his or her own children. This isn't a modern version of Sophie's Choice. This movie isn't even interesting, it's simply a failure - and that's truly a sad statement, because I'm sure a lot of work went into creating this movie. This movie will just take your time and leave your with unwanted memories.

I hope you'll take my advice before it's too late: DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE - not even if you're the greatest fan of Farrell and/or Kidman.

The Wild Life (2016)

Awesome 3D

[7/10 · 9 April 2017]

This movie is one of the best 3D movies ever made, there're simply tons of pop out effects. Actually this is 3D done right - you're constantly experiencing both pop out and depth effects. So the story is what it is, neither bad nor fantastic - but if you're seeing this movie in 2D, then I'd probably not bother, this is a 3D movie, the movie is completely designed to the 3d format, and this movie needs 3D to come to life. After so many years with mediocre 3D movies it's great to see a movie truly using 3D - and then they cancel all 3D TVs, argh... :-)

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

Amazing 3D content, great adventure and family movie for teenagers

[8/10 · 30 October 2013]

I guess the logic of this movie is quite similar to a Carl Barks Donald Duck adventure, so expect nothing more and nothing less :-)

This is a true 3D movie and should never be seen in 2D, especially the fly at 57 minutes is the best 3D pop-out I have seen in a normal movie - generally only IMAX movies seem to be able to provide such amazing 3D content, not even Hugo was better.

Although no Oscar will probably be given to the actors in this movie, they are indeed well-chosen for this sort of funny, early teenager, family-oriented adventure movie. To some degree this movie did remind me of early Spielberg Indy/Goonies-like adventures, and I enjoyed all the references to Jules Verne books.

So do see this movie if you want to experience amazing 3D content and great entertainment for any 10-year-old. To be frank, I am not sure I found the recent Jar-Jar Binks Star Wars movies better than this movie...