swklmpc Reviews

Bodies (2023)

Seriously flawed time travel flic

[3/10 · 4 December 2023]

Actually, I enjoyed this movie more than I should have, based on the two major problems it contains.

SPOILER ALERT: First of all, how was the time loop created. Elias had to be born in order to live into the future and become Commander Mannix so that he could return to the past. Then, as Julian Harker he puts his plan into operation and begins a family that will eventually include... HIMSELF. This time paradox just does not work. It's a closed system that has no initiating incident.

Secondly, where in hell did the nuclear bomb come from? It didn't just magically appear in the basement of that bank in 1941. It had to COME from somewhere. Anyone with a brain is going to realize that the writers never gave us one single explanation for the origin of the bomb.

The writers thought they were being clever. And I enjoyed it, up until I started thinking about it and realized it makes no sense whatsoever.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Camera Work - Outstanding. Film - Only So-So

[7/10 · 8 October 2023]

This is not my favorite Orson Welles film. Some of the dialogue is too arch to be believed. I'm reminded of what Harrison Ford said to George Lucas while filming "Star Wars" - "You can type this s--t, but you can't say it." "Lady" has some of the most absurd and insane dialogue of any picture made, let alone an Orson Welles picture.

What saves it? The camera work. Say what you like about Orson's script-writing talents (and the script for "Lady" is really not one of his best) - the man knew how to get some of the most interesting and creative visuals ever shot for a motion picture.

So, great camera work. And Rita Hayworth. Enough said.

Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery (2013 TV Movie)

Casting errors galore

[2/10 · 26 April 2020]

When I was working as an assistant editor in television, one of my bosses told me that a director only makes one casting error. For example, Tom Cruise in "Legend" - a beautiful film, but Tom Cruise is NOT Jack.

Which brings me to Still Life. Having read all of Louise Penney's Gamache novels, so far, I have to say that the people responsible for this made-for-TV film could not have picked someone less suited to play Armand Gamache. An Englishman? And someone at least ten years younger than Gamache is in the first novel on which this film is based?

And don't even get me started on the actress playing Ruth Zardo. Plus Jean Guy, and Myrna? The less said about this disastrous attempt, the better. I sincerely hope someone else tries their hands at filming these outstanding character-driven mysteries. They couldn't do worse than this flat disappointment.

Cats (2019)

Oh for god's sake

[8/10 · 1 January 2020]

To all the people who gave this film one star, might I remind you of Willy Wonka's line... "Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination!" Hard to believe that so many people have lost their ability to imagine something beyond their narrow, dull lives. Perhaps because I saw the musical live on Broadway, I came in with no expectations except to see a filmed version of the musical. And make no mistake, that's what this is... a film of a musical with people pretending to be cats. The story line is very simple... the cats gather together one night of the year to compete to see who gets to be reborn into a new life. The lucky cat is chosen by old Deuteronomy and ascends to the "Heaviside Layer." End of story.

All the people who said the trailer (and the film) were "weird" and "creepy" - you really need to get over yourselves. Sure, Tom Hooper could have just had the cast members dress in cat costumes. Instead he used CGI techniques to make them look more like cats. I never - for one second in the almost two hours of this film - thought the cats looked like anything more than people "dressed up" to look like cats. The CGI work was excellent. The set design, staging and choreography were all well done, as was most of the singing. Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn't write that many great songs, most are just passable. In this show, almost all of the songs are character driven and the set pieces were creatively imagined by Hooper and his crew.

The only reason I didn't rate this a 9 or 10 is that I found some of the editing (especially in the dance sequences) was distracting. Oh, and I didn't like all the close-ups of Jennifer Hudson singing "Memory", although she did a very good job. (I still prefer Elaine Page's version.)

So, to sum up... Imagination, people, Imagination! Or have you forgotten what that is?

Cold Pursuit (2019)

Excellent remake

[9/10 · 11 February 2019]

Having re-watched "In Order of Disappearance" because I knew I would be seeing "Cold Pursuit" today, I have to say the director knew a good thing when he filmed it. By that I mean, this is an almost scene-for-scene recreation of the original Norwegian film. The only real difference that I could see was that the American version had a bit more humor to it. Oh, and it had Liam Neeson. No offense to Stellan Skarsgard who is also an excellent actor. Recommended, especially since Liam Neeson says this will be his last action film.