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Reviews
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
Aaron Paul is great.
I really enjoyed this and thank Mr Gilligan for making it as it was clearly made for those who had 'stayed the course' as there was a minimal refresher at the beginning. Aaron Paul's acting was the highlight; he acts out a man barely containing his stress overload so well. The homage to the western climax (no spoiler!) was great and the ending just right. Robert Forster (who sadly died on the film's release date) did a great job in a scene which featured a regular theme in the original series: the wrapping of ordinariness around serious and complex situations. (You have to ignore the few pounds and grey hairs some of the actors have put on, but it's easy to suspend belief as the product is so strong.)
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
Very Enjoyable
I love Mr Washington and have set myself a task to watch everything he has ever done! This film was engrossing and had the two features of a 'revenge' film that I like: bad things are done by bad people to good people and revenge is done by good people to bad people.
I would prefer a focus on individual pain suffered by ordinary people e.g. a local teacher beng abused by her partner and less of the ' Government Department gone wrong' scenario
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Well I thought it was OK . Well done Eva Green
Eva Green was great I thought. Over the top villain meets still actor. I think more could have been made though of the fact that she was a Greek by birth who effectively was a traitor. Very little was made of the inner turmoil that may have caused as she slaughtered her countrymen. If I could have a fantasy cast it would be Russell Crowe at his best as Thermistocles. I'm afraid the chosen actor just did not have the depth and presence to represent what must have been an incredible leader. I agree that the simplicity of 300 was absent here, but it did have some of the spectacle so I don't really think, bearing in mind it is a sequel, that it deserves such a roasting. ( good of Lena Headley to join us from Game of Thrones!).
Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)
Let's think about what they COULD have done.....
They could have torn the flag into thin strips, tied the ends and twisted it into a strong rope and thrown it over the flagpole (or whipped it around the wires) to haul themselves up.
They could also have made smaller rope from the clothing and tied it round the metal hoops at the front of the boat, then put it under their armpits and took turns at not having to swim, thereby saving their energy.
They could have used the knife to undo the panel that was visible at the side of the boat, thereby giving a foothold - or dug footholds up the side (but the director saw that as too obvious, so had the host go into silly mode in his efforts to prevent damage to his boss's boat. This was unrealistic as saving your life is surely better than a rollicking from your boss!)
They could NOT have given each other much of a leg up as the principle of 'every action has a reaction' would apply i.e. if I stand on your shoulders you will go down in the water, thereby cancelling any height benefit.
Any other ideas?
The Parallax View (1974)
fresh storytelling
I enjoyed the slight surprises in the storytelling. Unlike many films, whole scenes and several minutes of screen time were saved because the director relied on the intelligence of the audience to 'join the dots'. For example, the fear of his ex that she was going to be killed became a reality, but nothing of her death was shown; the film simply cut very silently and dramatically from the living person to her body lying on the mortuary slab. Even more efficiently, the mortuary scene did not even include Beatty seeing the body for the first time, nor record any reaction from him. We simply join him as his visit ends and he leaves the mortuary room. Very fresh film making, even today.
The Eagle (2011)
Good film
I enjoyed the mood, tension and action of the early film when the fort was being defended and the build up to the final battle scene in the river. The rest of the film was good, though the impossibility of two men going into the vast area of all of Scotland to find a single object niggled.
There was one impossible scene where the evil warrior produced and killed a young boy who had not raised the alarm when the Roman and his slave left camp. However to get there the warriors had run full pelt for days across Scotland. No way could a young boy have kept up with them and I'm sure they didn't carry him.
Also the very ending spoiled it a little. The two heroes swaggered out side by side, grinning at each other. It was like the ending of one of the old 'road' films with Hope and Crosby.
All in all though an enjoyable film
We're No Angels (1955)
Quality
I saw this on Sky listings. Old, vague, but still strong memories of a 'good' film made me watch it this late evening.
What a charming film. Clearly from a stage play , but the film direction was excellent, keeping the pace and the interest in 'What happens next' high.
I would say Bogart was a scene stealer, but unfortunately everyone else was too! You have to admire the courage of Peter Ustinov then; he was a young unknown, but did his idiosyncratic twitchy thing confidently in front of the Great Bogart. But that was how great new talent came through. They wouldn't let a Ustinov near a Bogart today. Too risky. Best to stick to the bland.There lies the modern day problem.
For Bogart (at the time this film was made) to say something like " We'll bash their skulls, gouge their eyes, then slit their throats, but first we'll do the dishes" said a lot about the man. He was willing to put his lucrative tough guy reputation on the line to deliver this script. How was he to know it was going to turn out well?
'The Inbetweeners' is flavour of the moment at the cinema. Ask any of its fans to watch ' We're no Angels' and they might look strangely at you. But leave them on their own with the DVD and five minutes in I bet most of them would be hooked (they just would never admit it, not cool you see). Well, I think this is a really cool film. I will watch it again happily.
Star Trek: The Omega Glory (1968)
Oh Dear
Episode upon episode leads us to the conclusion - embodied in Kirk - that Starship Commanders are for truth , justice and the American way. Incorruptible. determined and honest.
Yet in this episode, a Starship captain - who must surely (if Kirk is anything to go by), have had many temptations placed in his way in the past - goes corrupt for what this one planet offered. It didn't wash I'm afraid.
Likewise a young, fit Jim (who beat many strong humans and aliens in earlier episodes)was beaten by a couple of punches from a guy in his mid-fifties!
Still, well done to all involved for entertainment value. I only point out mere minor discrepancies in a fond way!
This episode, on top of the few before, really hammered home the political nature of Star Trek in the 60's, but what the hell, they were for their country.
Star Trek: By Any Other Name (1968)
The Star Trek 'Why'
In many episodes baddies pointed ray guns into the stomachs of the goodies - however a lightning karate strike to the neck by Kirk or Spock usually did it. The baddies in this episode derive their power from their ability to react to any sudden movements by reaching for a pad on their belt, finding the right button then pressing it. However, for some reason Kirk etc blindly comply with every instruction, even when they are front-on to a baddie who has his arms at his side. Kirk could easily do one of his karate chops ages before the baddies could react and press their button! Why doesn't he? Even worse, Scotty and Spock apparently had the run of the ship and look down from an upper balcony in Engineering onto an alien below. Why didn't they just phaser the alien?
Star Trek: Patterns of Force (1968)
The usual Star Trek 'Why?'
I enjoyed this episode but throughout I was distracted by the usual Star Trek question 'Why?'
For instance, Kirk and Spock beam down to face the unknown (like in most episodes) yet THIS time Kirk order transponders to be injected into the skin and to be beamed up automatically if they lose their communicators and do not answer after 3 hours.
Are you ready?...... WHY don't they do that all the time? How many episodes had them losing their communicators and not being able to beam up when that would have been a very good thing to do?
Also, Kirk cut out the transponders from their arms using a bed spring and attached them to the spring in order to cut their way out of the cell. But then they throw the spring AND the transponders away, before steeling themselves to fight their way through many guards to reach the Fuhrer.
Are you ready?........WHY didn't they keep the transponders, beam up, quickly get their wounds cleaned , then beam down into the Fuhrers office,thereby bypassing all the guards?
I know, I'm picky aren't I.
Star Trek: A Private Little War (1968)
What happened next?
What happened after Kirk (unusually) seemed to 'give-up' at the end of this episode? Earlier, he had said to Bones that if they found evidence that the Klingons were involved in arming the black-haired ones, there would be inter-stellar war. Well, Kirk found evidence of a Klingon's chin when he punched it in the forge. So why no inter-stellar war, that's what I want to know! There is also definite evidence here of a recyclable blond 'nice alien inhabitant' wig. At least one of the wigs worn by the goodies in this episode was worn in an earlier episode by an unrecognisably young David Soul. The wardrobe mistress (it was always 'mistress' then) could at least have combed the things down rather than leave them perched on top of the actor's head like a bird's nest just dropped out of a tree!