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Librafan
Reviews
Unseen (2023)
Very average remake!
Why take a high quality, first rate production and remake it?
The Turkish version was far more honest, the writing was stronger, and the production value and cinematography certainly supported the narrative far more than this version. Not a waste of time but certainly not a reason to justify this remake. It just tries too hard, and isn't convincing when it matters most. The underworld characters felt flat (writing to blame as much as the acting) and far too many scenes were void of conflict with uneven pacing (editing to blame here too).
Like Blood & Water before it, this comes across as a night time soap opera that lacks gravitas. Would love to know how and why so many of these far below average productions are being acquired by Netflix.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
His films have consistently gotten worse.
I'm beside myself because I keep waiting for and expecting M. Night to change his stripes as a filmmaker. But his films keep recycling themes and relationships that he already explored much earlier in his career and was far better at it. I also for the life of me cannot understand how Batista keeps getting roles like this. He's incredibly bad, and not even interesting because if he at least had that, I'd be able to stomach his roles despite him never being believable in anything I've seen. M. Night is partially to blame because he seems to have dropped off in quality regarding the actors he chooses to use. I would recommend passing on this film, it was awful.
Find Her (2022)
Really solid film
This film reminded me so much of A Simple Plan, obviously without the household names in it but never-the-less a classic old school noir. Beautifully shot, very well acted and a kickass score to boot! I'll definitely be looking out for this director's next film. I didn't see the end coming, and there's no doubt this thriller is a slow burn but that's what I loved about it. I'm also curious where it was filmed because so much of the film felt rural, and then it opened up into a sort of beach-house coastal world. Final thoughts, I enjoyed it more than most of what I'm seeing on Netflix these days which all seems very similar and box checking in terms of themes. This film was refreshing because it was smarter than that. It felt more like a European style thriller, possibly French, maybe even Scandinavian.
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008)
Marauder ROCKED in the theater
After reading the long list of postings about Starship Troopers Marauder on this board, I had to write my own. The film doesn't even come out till next week August5th on DVD so I'm surprised how many people who watched streaming pirated rough cuts or incomplete versions of the film have bothered to blog with such strong opinions without even seeing the film in it's correct medium (watching it online instead of in the theater or on the small screen/DVD) or at least seeing it as a completed film (instead of rough cuts). Make sure you see something before you decide whether you want to recommend it or kill it off otherwise your blog makes no sense because you haven't seen the film's final version.
I was at the premiere a few nights ago at the Arclight in Hollywood and am pleased I got to see Marauder on the big screen because it entertained me and seemingly everyone else in the audience. It works on several different levels and doesn't need to be seen as part of the trilogy because it holds up well all by itself.
The director deserves a lot of credit for being brave enough to take this on with the odds stacked against him (A small budget and a horrible Part 2-Hero Of The Federation) and he has succeeded where Hero of the Federation failed.
Marauder is smartly written, well directed and very relevant considering today's political climate in this country. The humor is thought provoking, well crafted and well placed throughout the film and echoes a lot of what the first Starship Troopers film accomplished by making it current to today's environment. The cinematography was excellent and the scenes on the sand dunes and the beaches have me convinced that South Africa looks like New Zealand but I've only been to the latter. I thought the acting was very good, especially the supporting characters. The action sequences were great. I went to see this with two women who do not particularly like the war genre and even they were impressed with the final action sequence. The huge marauder/robocop like suits of armored steel were magnificent.
I would rate this 4 out of 5 stars with a special plea to the producers in case they ever read this. Your loyal fans would like to see a Starship Troopers series for the small screen with several characters from both the original (part one) and Marauder.