Change Your Image
fhealey-10622
Reviews
Golda (2023)
Not woke but ...
Gilda Meir earned her place in the pantheon of inspired Israeli leaders. This portrayal presents a more vulnerable leader in a British production.
There are many English actresses other than Helen Mirren and Judi Dench but Mirren does a nice job.
Perhaps Meir was not the Iron Lady of Israel but her decisions in 1973 certainly indicated a tougher persona than presented here. Moshe Dayan well beyond his heyday as leader of the IDF, is presented as the weak sister during Yom Kippud and some of that is deserved but his loss of nerve seems to be an invention to reinforce the strength of Meir.
What is greatly appreciated is the objectivity of the politics clearly avoiding the now popular but false narrative that the Israeli government was and is irretrievably racist. It also does not paint an unjust or over the top anti-Arab portrayal. This neutral political stance is critical to a fair review of history and marks this film as standing the test of time.
A good film and an addition to historical films that will be respected.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Really??!
What a garbled mess of a movie! Glad to know that there are so many Spiderthings out there.
Parallel universes aside there must be an unlimited number of radioactive spiders roaming the galaxies.
Not sure when Peter Parker was fixed but it has not been an improvement.
What lessons are being taught here? Apparently we all need to turn to our 15 yr old kids to learn how the world works. And the not so subtle emphasis on racial multiversity was like being clubbed into submission by the DEI division of Sony and Marvel.
All that aside, what was the point of this mass of superhero goo? The defeat of a villain named "Spot", a clear ripoff of the old Portal video game?
If 2 plus hours of fake emotional connections, nonstop instructional lessons to adults by teens and a nonsensical plot are what you are looking for - you found it!
Nefarious (2023)
Quality Faith Based
I went into this movie as a horror fan and had not read one thing about it.
A convicted murderer is about to be executed and needs a final psych clearance to declare him sane and competent. Little background of the two main characters is given and it primarily is an interview between the young, self assured psychiatrist and an obviously psychotic convict.
The warden provides a warning before the interview that the doctor will face a very manipulative opponent. He does.
The acting here is quite good and criticism of the doctor as bland is ridiculous as his controlled, bland demeanor is exactly how psychiatrists are trained to behave - no judgment.
This film is very well done and shows that faith based movies like this and Jesus Revolution have crossed the barrier. Professional cinematography, strong script and logical plot lines are now the standard and this film meets all of it.
An ending sequence with Glenn Beck is unnecessary and superfluous but does not negate a very good piece of movie making.
This movie is entertaining will make you think. Is there a better recommendation?
The Menu (2022)
A+ Acting but B- Horror
No complaints about the acting from Fiennes to Joy to all the lesser roles. The unacceptable plot is pinioned to the horror movie schlock where every potential victim makes the worst possible decision at the worst possible time.
Perhaps we have bred out any masculine traits at all? Facing certain death the choice is to line up for the slaughter? There is no one anymore that decides that if they gotta go down they will go down fighting?
I simply could not take the blatant cowardice of the characters when faced with fatal madness.
All that aside, it was entertaining and suspenseful.
Problem is the suspense was anticipation of a dramatic if ultimately unsuccessful confrontation that never takes place.