philipmagnier Reviews

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Staggering Film

[9/10 · 22 August 2023]

Last Summer they said that Tom Cruise had saved Hollywood with Top Gun: Maverick. If that's the case then Christopher Nolan has surely saved the theatrical release of epic serious films with Oppenheimer though also with many of his earlier films.

I've just watched it for the second time, and I'll probably go again. It's an overwhelming experience that didn't lose my attention for a second. (Go to the toilet beforehand to last the 3h duration!).

I can't fault it in writing, scene setting, acting, sound, music. But at the second viewing, it was the editing (with help from the script structure) that caught my admiration the most. There are so, so many strands in this film and to make sense of them in an entertaining, riveting way is a ginormous achievement.

There will be many deserved oscar nominations but editing, sound, music, adapted screenplay, director, best picture will be among them.

Among the actors Cillian Murphy held it together brilliantly. He's in most scenes, often musing and staring into space but there is so much going on in his eyes and expression that he holds our attention so well. Florence Pugh may be the sexiest actress in film with her intense, neurotic portrayal of a simmering communist party stalwart. Emily Bloom is so great as the staunch understated firebrand with an alcohol problem playing Opp's wife.

Robert Downey Jr. May well win the oscar as best supporting actor, he deserves it.

So does Nolan, the driver of the film, but he'll probably win in several categories.

The Fabelmans (2022)

Pleasantly Surprised

[8/10 · 7 July 2023]

I don't normally go for autobiographical films at all, as they can be predictable and a bit of a yawn. But I ended up seeing this one a long time after release and was pretty much blown away.

Spielberg has employed all his expertise and vast experience to move this along nicely; it never dragged for me even though the usual tropes of growing up are present. How could they not be?

The acting is great, the humour is gently satirical, the writing and craftmanship somehow sidestep family and adolescent clichés by embedding scenes in a larger social context with other themes thrown in.

For example, the scene where the teenage aspiring film director (i.e. Spielberg) shows his recording of a beach party to his high school prom just after his girlfriend has dumped him and his bullying classmates circle around is a masterclass in combining storylines, themes, relationships, as he watches his audience respond to his small film with delight.

It must have been hugely disappointing that the film wasn't a box office success. It deserves more.

The Red Band Society (2017– )

Terrific

[9/10 · 16 October 2022]

Realistic, moving, gripping, and wise depiction of teenagers with serious illnesses in a French hospital.

I'm not sure that I could fault anything. The actors were very well chosen and directed, heroes and heroines of everyday situations (albeit in a hospital). The writing is well-paced and intertwines the individual stories really well. The producers knew what they wanted to do...and hired the people to do it!

Along with Call My Agent/Appellez Mon Agent/10 Pour Cent, it signals that French TV series' are in a golden age!

P. S. IMDB needs to shorten the length requirement a little! I've said my piece.

The Sandman (2022– )

Good but all over the place

[7/10 · 13 August 2022]

Great in places, namely much of the first five episodes, this production seemed to have too many voices at the table, too many committee decisions. What a pity, it could have been one of the better series.

It might have achieved this with Jamie Childs directing all the episodes but I suppose that's impossible with so much material to film.

This casting also is so varied, it's hard to believe that the choices were done by the same people. Tom Sturridge is excellent and really the force that holds the series together. I didn't like the Corinthian. The Lucifer actress was great in Game of Thrones but totally at sea and unbelievable here. Dream's assistant Lucienne is okay but miscast (or misdirected). Death is outstanding. And so on.

Overall a missed opportunity. I just think someone wasn't brave enough to give a single person or small team the power to drive the overarching vision.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Unbearable

[1/10 · 6 June 2022]

!

It was good for ten minutes. Then -- for the 1.5 hours I could bear it -- it was a procession of kung-fu fight scenes, scene after scene after scene after scene, merged with a really bad video game, written by a ten-year-old who stayed up for three nights by drinking several tank loads of coffee.

Truly unbearable.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Wondeful Film

[10/10 · 6 June 2022]

I just walked out on a film, one of about four times I've ever done that, and this one came up on IMDB so, years and years after actually watching it, I'm compelled to finally write the review it deserves.

It's brilliant. I actually feel more strongly about that now than I did at the time.

It's totally true to life, in all its wonderful mundanity. Life is small moments. "Something that happens while you're busy making other plans", (John Lennon). Walking to a bus stop, sitting in rooms, having conversations with acquaintances and friends, pondering your future, worrying about money, enjoying a party, suddenly meeting a lover and feeling your heart quicken and your barriers fall away. The film captures all this and more.

The performances are wondrous. The scenes where they get to know each other are the best I've seen on film. It reminds of why I have such affection for France, their love of the everyday as seen at meals, in the parks, with friends in the cafés, outside listening to music.

The actresses and the (gay, male) director deserve all the accolades they've received.

The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert (2022)

Slight Piece which...

[7/10 · 4 March 2022]

...makes you wish that they'd played more concerts together. I love the interaction with Paul and John; the two very much out in front and centre of the band.

What a fabulous voice Paul had and possibly has. And what a live wire and joker John was. And of course the music, but so few songs! Get Back is repeated three times (hard to believe they hadn't rehearsed any more), plus maybe three others.

I enjoyed the crowds peeking and gathering below in the 60s London of mini skirts and city gents, and the London bobbies who are probably embarrassed to this day.

But even at 65 minutes it's hard to get past the feeling that there is lots of filler material inserted with this film.

However I'm glad I saw it, being someone who is old enough to have listened to the Beatles at the time. Can't wait to see the Peter Jackson series.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Affection in remembering 70s LA

[7/10 · 10 January 2022]

Loved this one, a relief after watching "Incoherent" Vice just a few days ago: that is, it re-affirmed my liking of Paul Thomas Anderson's films.

Normally I wouldn't be the biggest fan of coming-of-age films but Anderson has made this unpredictable in a fresh, funny, energetic, and on occasion dramatic way.

Go and see it if you like good filmmaking.

Inherent Vice (2014)

So What?

[3/10 · 3 January 2022]

He's done some great ones, Mr Anderson, but this is a dud. It has the feeling of being thought up when a group of people were sitting around getting high. They should have, but never did, snap out of it.

It feels like it was a parody of the Robert Altman movie about private investigators starring Elliot Gould, which in turn was an updating of, and possibly a parody of those movies in the 40s. Too much parodying, too much stylization, not enough groundedness.

For me anyway. And nowhere near funny enough to justify its existence.

Magnolia (1999)

Masterful

[9/10 · 31 December 2021]

Saw this film again after about twenty years recently. It's actually better than I remember, simply a film by a master with actors, cinematographers, back room people who rise to the challenge of the material.

Mostly I was impressed by the editing, complete with the accompanying music, the dissolves, the wholeness of all the parts and stories.

But my God is it sordid, featuring depressed people, some on drugs, all on anger, with despair their commonest theme.

A true masterpiece and the worst advertisement for Los Angeles I have ever seen.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Awful

[2/10 · 26 December 2021]

My rating tracked the position of the comet as this film played out, from 6 or 7 down to the 2 I gave it. I stopped watching after an hour, otherwise it would have been 1 I'd imagine.

The concept is brilliant: a satire on social media, the US political process, and the reaction to the climate change situation by making an analogy with a comet heading for Earth. But Adam McKay got the tone seriously wrong or really I should say the tones. Because this film is many films, all pretty much unsatisfactory, some really bad.

How you can take all these actors and direct them to really unsatisfactory performances is a mystery. With one exception: Cate Blanchett. And I think that's because her role as a superficial talk show host is a self-contained movie within a movie.

Meryl Streep gets it as wrong as I've ever seen her as the President, totally unbelievable and not entertaining. DiCaprio and Lawrence are actually okay. But in fairness, the actors are irrelevant.

Adam McKay should never be allowed to make a film without strong producer input again, and he should be forced to work with another writer. His script, exposition, and direction are poor to mediocre.

This film is a waste of time and money.

Last Night in Soho (2021)

Falls Short

[5/10 · 8 November 2021]

Something of a disappointment. I went to the film because of Baby Driver, also directed by Edgar Wright.

He's a director who can deliver okay: much of the exposition is classy but the material itself is not quite there.

I enjoyed the depictions of London, today and in the past: the glamour mixed with the seediness. The scenes of the ingenue arriving in the city are well depicted and move the story along. The film however does lose groundedness and momentum in the last third.

I kept wondering what Roman Polanski would have made of the material, and particularly how he would have strengthened the script. He has made a couple of films with similar themes. (Most people here have probably not heard of him). Even while realistically showing individuals descend into madness, his films always had a foot in believable reality.

This film loses that as mentioned. I'm wondering whether Mr Wright is better at the entertainment end of the spectrum. Can't wait to see Baby Driver 2.

Gunda (2020)

The Natural Life

[8/10 · 14 October 2021]

A small film, a moving and beautiful film, a film that moves at the pace of farm animals.

It is set in another universe that is open to us but that we don't visit.

Into the Wild (2007)

wonderful filmmaking

[8/10 · 31 March 2021]

I spent time travelling like Alex -- as it happens in Europe and Africa -- and this film captures the rough, the smooth, the greatness of people, basically all of it, better than any film I've seen.

I've also lived in America and really appreciated the time given here to showing the landscape and even more the people, most of them really kind and helpful to anyone who doesn't threaten them.

The acting is superb though not at all of the Shakespearean variety (that has its place also!). I can hardly think of a scene in the film that does not have an equivalent in my travels. This no doubt is the reason commentators have called it clichéd. So is life, patterns re-occur.

Sean Penn and his team deserve a lot of credit for their bravery in persuading their backers to allow them to let the material find its own length, 2.5 hours as it happens. I wasn't bored for one second. It's a film about a naive, idealistic young man who did find some answers but no time to put them into practice.

Watchmen (2019)

Hated it

[1/10 · 3 August 2020]

Desperately disappointed in this: seemed to be serious SF, high profile so well made probably, Damon Lindelof...phew, I couldn't watch it. I didn't even give the bought DVD set to a charity shop, I wouldn't inflict it on anyone.

And its message? In order to obliterate racism, become a fascist! Take the law in your own hands, beat the crap out of anyone who disagrees with you. It's a fascist superhero film disguised as socially relevant drama. In fact, it's a mirror image of Trump. And just as boring.

Damon, I forgive you this, after all you gave us Lost (I actually liked the ending) and the third season of The Leftovers. But I'll be doing more research before considering the next of your dramas.

Good Boys (2019)

Tedious

[1/10 · 15 September 2019]

There is a charming, funny, and well-made film underneath all the garbage on display here.

Then some Hollywood executive thought he had to make it street smart so insisted they add the F word in every scene (IES), that at least one of the kids screech at the top of his voice IES, that there is a sexual reference IES, that the 11-year old boys act like they are on drugs IES, etc., etc.

I walked out after 35 minutes (how did I last that long?), 10 minutes after someone else.

Afterwards I wondered whether the writers had been high on cocaine when they wrote it, it has that hyper, tunnel-vision, totally sef-involved ambience. I'm sure they would have put the kids on drugs like old Hollywood if they could have gotten away with it.

P.S. I'm really angry with newspaper reviewers for not giving me any clue about what this film is like.

Sing Street (2016)

Quietly Brilliant

[9/10 · 10 May 2016]

I loved this film. It sets out to make a small film with heart and humour and achieves this in a quiet, wonderful way.

I suppose it will be compare to The Committments, another film set in Dublin about growing up and forming a band. Really though, their tone is quite different and my preference is for this one. It's both more realistic and more touching.

The casting and acting is top class, particularly the three leads. The older supportive brother is really well written and portrayed. Carney is a great writer and director who is unafraid to stick to what he loves.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Lots of Hype But Still Good

[6/10 · 11 April 2016]

It's easy to gloss over the awesome special effects in this film, and they're worth enjoying for themselves. But...every film needs a strong plot and human involvement and BvS suffers a little in that respect. For that reason, I'd rate it lower than the first Superman which to me was surprisingly strong in the arc and reach of its story.

I suspect it's down to having too much money available: "we've got a franchise now, throw all the CGI you can think of at 'em".

Ben Afflect would not have been my first or fifth choice as Batman but he is surprisingly good. I like Henry Clavill but his character's personality change since MoS is not really explained nor developed here. Neither is Batman's hatred of him. And what was all that early stuff about Batman being a baddie?, it led nowhere.

The new Wonder Woman is great and I was fine with Lex Luther (unlike some). I still prefer the DC films to those of Marvel but they need to get back on track with any follow-up. More story and less splashy money, Zack and Christopher.

Deadpool (2016)

Great Film

[8/10 · 28 March 2016]

It's great to see a film that sets out to do something and absolutely nails it. And...the makers (whoever they were) must have met a lot of studio opposition. (I wonder whether the studio learned from the Ant-Man experience and just let the writers/ director/ actors ride the wave).

Admittedly you have to have an inner 13-year-old boy to enjoy it but a surprising number of people do.

And underneath all the stylism, the action, the talking to the camera, the jokes, the flipping back and forth (all brilliantly done) is a great love story.

Folks, you can be loved if you're ugly, though it helps if you have humour, a motor mouth, the odd superpower or two, and genuinely love the gal.

The Big Short (2015)

Extraordinary

[9/10 · 6 February 2016]

This film blew me away, the entertainment, the audacity (of trying to explain complex finance), the exuberance, the wonderful directing/ writing/ editing/ acting.

The film simply "works".

The concepts are complex okay and the style is frenetic and modern but at its heart is old-fashioned outrage at corruption and dishonesty, in the tradition of Frank Capra. It similarly has a heart, and sympathy for its main characters, showing them warts and all: pain-in-the-ass anger in Steve Carrell's characterisation, the Asperger-like Christian Bale, the slimy, self-defending Ryan Gosling.

Director and joint writer Adam McKay has done a superb job in making the Financial Crisis both accessible and entertaining. Brad Pitt too deserves credit for producing (and playing a small part in) a film that must have initially met with scepticism in Hollywood. Thank God someone still tries to make films of substance.

The Visit (I) (2015)

Don't Bother

[4/10 · 16 September 2015]

This film did hold my attention for the entire viewing okay but really did not have a lot else going for it. It's a horror film with precious few moments of real menace: in fact, it almost seems that Shyamalan did not go for them.

Another thing that puzzled me: why are the kids so unafraid when they're spending days with two people who go totally nuts every evening after 9:30? I admire Shyamalan for trying home movie making, just about, after recent setbacks. He picked two great child actors also, and the adults do more than justice to their parts. But this film doesn't even begin to mark a return to his heights in past films and he nastiness at the end feels very contrived.

Ant-Man (2015)

Good Entertainment

[4/10 · 22 July 2015]

Best thing about this film is that it bucks the trend of recent Marvel films: it actually has real conversations and, gosh, sometimes minutes go back without any special effects.

It was pretty much what I expected: likable actors (and the villain was well drawn as well), the shrinking scenes were different from other superhero special effects, and the humour was...humorous. All in all, it's closer to the feeling of original comics than recent efforts and I liked that.

Don't expect to be surprised: Marvel don't do that anymore. Sit down and consume it like the popcorn.

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Mature Realistic Film

[8/10 · 5 July 2015]

I quickly read some of the reviews for this and was surprised at all the people who hated it. I thought it was great. It's non-judgmental and, to me, makes sense as it unfolds and it has sympathy for all the characters, all of them.

I liked that it was low key and I admired Benning and Moore for presenting themselves as middle aged without being made up like movie stars. The writing lets the plot unfold and doesn't force any of the sequences: this could have easily been a lamp-throwing melodrama.

There aren't too many adult films with heart out out there nowadays but this is one of them. A film for our times.

Tomorrowland (2015)

Entertaining, Not for Everyone Though

[5/10 · 5 June 2015]

I enjoyed this but it could have been much better is my overall conclusion here. Any film with Damon Lindhof as a writer will have interesting themes and plot lines but it seems to have been directed by several different people. And aimed at several different target audiences.

The elements are there, three good actors with presence in George and the two girls, good effects to bring wonder at what's happening, a plot that moves along nicely but...ultimately I think the director, Brad Bird, lost sight of what he was doing.

P.S. It's not a film for children: I don't think anyone under say 11 would really get it.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Gritty depiction

[8/10 · 29 March 2015]

I came to this film late in the day, 2015. It's a tremendous depiction of life on the ground in the Middle East, and what it's like to be an American soldier there.

Many of the scenes are reminiscent of the TV series Homeland and without a doubt that show was heavily influenced by this film. There is little plot as such but a storyline emerges as we follow the bomb disposal unit as they go from scene to scene. I appreciated the fact that it avoided machismo posturing.

Not light viewing but possibly the nearest thing to experiencing the military life over there without actually going there.