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Reviews
Sympathy for the Devil (2023)
Superb and stylish mystery thriller
This is well written and directed thriller with superb acting from Nick Cage and Joel Kinnaman. The film has its own unique style, beautifully shot and with a fitting and great soundtrack.
A man (played by Kinnaman) is kidnapped by another (Nick Cage) and forced to drive away from the hospital where his wife is about to give birth and off into the night. As the helpless victim he understands neither why he's been taken or where they're going.
While there is a definitely a point to the film the main draw is that this is a well crafted and executed, taut thriller with great acting that holds the tension from start to finish. Both actors were great, although Nick Cage's portrayal of his powerful and disturbing character was particularly good.
All in all if you want to see a good thriller this is definitely a good one and has made me curious to see what else this director will do..
Devs (2020)
Superbly produced sci-fi weirdness
The things that stand out in this series are:
1. The acting, not just the lead actress but the whole cast. The characters were clearly defined and very believable. Top notch acting all round.
2. The direction. I liked Garland's Ex Machina, Annilation not as much, and this was perhaps the best of the bunch. Exquisitely directed.
3. New ideas. Most sci-fi explores familiar themes that have been done before, AI, space travel, cyborgs etc.. This explores ideas around quantum computing and mixes it with the philosophical, and now scientific exploration of free will vs determinism
4. The score - the music was fitting and fantastic I thought.
5. Politics - a lesser theme, it questions the power that tech giants have.
6. Unpredictable - I had no idea where this was going, right up to the very end.
This is not an action film and people with attention deficit may find it too slow paced. Personally I found every moment totally engrossing though. It's also not a high budget special effects film. There are some special effects but apart from the Devs lab the world is much the same as it is now.
Mostly this is a character and dialogue driven drama based upon ideas in sci-fi and philosophy. If you like proper sci-fi (eg like Moon) and have any interest the recent debates around free will vs determinism this is a must see.
I rarely give anything a 10 but I find this very hard to fault.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Great action film
Any new Terminator film will inevitably be compared to the first 3 films which is a shame because those films set a very high bar. I'd say this film isn't quite up to the standard of those but it is still nevertheless a decent action film.
I particularly liked Grace who plays the part of an enhanced human from the future and surprisingly I thought Arnie played the slightly more conscious terminator really well.
It's not a deeply philosophical film but there was an insightful bit on the nature of our need to have a purpose which I liked. Yes it's more of the same, action, giant machines but thankfully not action all the way. There's some good script writing and character development too.
I think you can safely ignore all the extreme low ratings for this film. People rating it a 1 are just being plain dishonest and have never actually seen a 1 rated film. I think if all these dishonest ratings were removed the true rating would probably be somewhere around 7 which is what I give it.
If you go with an open mind and don't mind the fact it's not quite as good as the first 3 I think it's really enjoyable film.
I saw it at the cinema and I can't wait to watch it again on video in the near future.
Apollo 11 (2019)
When 'Awesome' is not hyperbole
The description 'awesome' is a much overused term but I think it's perfectly justified for the specially adapted IMAX version of this film. There are two reasons why this is so. Firstly the Apollo programme was characterized by size and so seeing the immense machinery involved on a giant screen really is jaw dropping. Secondly there is the sound. The film has a unique bass heavy score, and the build up to the launch as well as the sound of the actual launch, again is quite incredible through the massive IMAX sound system.
There are many different perspectives one can take following the story of mankind's journey to the moon: the scientific, the personal, the technological etc.. I'd describe the approach taken by this film as experiential. There's no narrative. Instead it attempts to recreate the feelings of the actual event purely from the sounds and footage of the time. This works extremely well. From the very first opening scene, a mobile, panning, close up shot of the base of the immense, rolling caterpillar tracks of the equally immense mobile launch pad the film instils a sense of awe of scale of of the event.
The shots of the launch in particular were fantastic and the only criticism I could make is that they were over too quickly. For me this was the best part of the film, from the giant close up shots of the thrusters at take off all the way to the first stage separation followed by very powerful ground based cameras.
By contrast the footage of the lunar surface was a slight anticlimax. This was probably inevitable. The astronauts only spent 2 hours on the surface, considerably shorter than subsequent missions that spent between 5 and 20 hours there. Nevertheless this was still well done, using a combination of video, stills and voice to capture what it was like. There was also some dark, moody footage from the command module circling the moon that really gave an impression of what it must have been like.
Altogether this was a very well made film, a creative and skilful sewing together of great footage. I rate it 9 out of 10 for an IMAX viewing. I only wish it had been longer. Looking back the Apollo programme was a unique historical event, never to be repeated. Don't miss out on the chance to relive it on the big screen.
My Scientology Movie (2015)
Best insight into this paranoid organisation
I find Scientology and cults in general a fascinating subject and have watched most documentaries on the subject including the most recent one by Alex Gibney, Going Clear. Both this and Going Clear are excellent exposes but in different ways. As one reviewer said Going Clear is more factual whilst this one gives you a better feeling of Scientology is all about - a good description in my opinion.
I've often got the feeling that Scientology is somewhere between a cult and a religion but this film, more than any other, puts it squarely in the cult category.
Right from the outset you get a feel for this. Requests for interviews by Theroux are turned down by the church an almost unheard of response for an organisation that large. Most will have P.R departments ready to go to any and all media interests.
This makes it hard for Theroux of course. His usual film making style is subtle and he spends considerable time those involved, something impossible with this subject.
So he decides to use actors and actresses to re-enact some of the abuse by the organisation's head, David Miscavige. This is powerful stuff which is different to simply hearing reports of the same abuse.
But I found the real behaviour of the real Scientologists even more damning, particularly when coupled with commentary by ex-Scientologists. Near the end of the film the organisation sent a letter to Louis Theroux saying because he was making a documentary about them they intended to make a documentary about him. Such a response seemed just so totally infantile, like a young child's tit for tat: if you take mine I'll take yours kind of response. On top of the rest of the film this gave an insight into just how separated this group is from mainstream society - to even think that was an appropriate response.
All in all one comes away with the a real sense that Scientology is run by a powerful and paranoid sociopath who has somehow managed to get away with what he is doing for years. A great effort by Theroux that worked much better than his older documentary on another cult: the Westboro Baptist Church.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Epic fantasy adventure
This is an epic, family, fantasy, adventure and although that genre is not my favourite this is such a top notch example of that kind of film I really enjoyed it. It's a great story, with cool characters and well acted.
I was intrigued when I first saw the trailer and although trailers don't always represent a whole film well in this case I think they did a pretty good job. If you like the trailer I suspect you'll enjoy the movie.
I thought Asa Butterfield did a great job playing the lead role and I also particularly enjoyed Ella Purnell (Emma) and Terence Stamp (Abe) too though all the acting was good. I really like Tim Burton's unique Gothic style in films but didn't notice is so much in this only because I was so caught up in the story. Aside from the obvious adventure part of the film what made it really stand out for me was the emotional side, the love between Jake and his Grandfather and the burgeoning love between Jake and Emma.
As others have commented the film definitely felt a bit rushed towards the end and though this by no means ruined the film another 10 minutes or so may have made it even better.
Apparently the story deviates from the book so that may be a disappointment for some. But having no idea about the book that certainly wasn't a problem for me.
All in all top family entertainment, two or so stars ahead of Burton's Alice in Wonderland films.
8.5/10
The Survivalist (2015)
A Powerful Post Peak Oil drama
In the near future global oil supplies will hit a peak followed by a decline. Because the world's food supply is completely dependent on oil this decline will be mirrored shortly after by a catastrophic decline in the human population.
This Irish made post-apocalyptic drama is set around a decade after the crash. The survivalist, a man in his twenties, lives alone growing vegetables and is visited by a mother and daughter who stumble across his cabin in the woods looking for food. There is not much dialogue in this film but it's not required as the palpable tension between the desperate characters living on the edge is always there making for compelling viewing. Who can you trust in this dog eat dog world? A very different kind of film, very un-Hollywood, a subtle yet powerful reminder of what the future might look like if we continue to ignore the inevitable decline of the world's oil supplies in the near future.
Moonwalkers (2015)
Superb comedy for the right audience
I'm usually wary when it comes to comedies but this turned out to be far better than expected.
Forget the theme of the conspiracy theories of the Moon landings. This film is doesn't have much to say about whether there was a conspiracy or not so it won't offend either point of view. That's just a backdrop for a story that mixes up some diverse characters and puts a hardcore CIA killing machine with a hopeless band manager and a bunch of swinging sixties hippies.
The film reminded me of the 1987 film Withnail and I. It takes place in Britain and is set in the same year, 1969 and drugs and debauchery are major theme. The film juxtaposes a serious CIA agent against a great cast of interesting and contrasting characters, much of it set in wonderfully tripped out hippie commune. Like Withnail and I the script is great and for anyone who has experienced the British party scene first hand will probably appreciate the dialogue and general drug fuelled chaos all the more.
I really liked the characters in this film which all stood out in their own way and were superbly acted with a great script.
I suspect this will probably be enjoyed more by a British audience and particularly those who can relate to the hippie and/or party scene. For such people this is a rare gem not to be missed.