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Reviews
To Leslie (2022)
Watch this film
I haven't written a review for a long time. This film has made me write one. For all the right reasons.
Andrea Risborough is phenomenal. As are all supporting cast members, especially Nancy and Sweeney.
What an achingly realistic portrayal of the devastation that alcoholism leaves in its wake. And how one woman redeems herself and turns her life around.
From her minute bodily twists and face grimacing to her faux manipulative flirting to get a drink, Andrea IS Lesley. This is the best performance of her career, in my opinion.
It leaves you feeling hopeful and optimistic about rising up from your lowest point. A must watch for all who need to have their faith in themselves, and humanity, restored.
Moonlight (2016)
Absolutely beautiful
Cinematography - beautiful
Writing - artful and real
Acting - mesmerising (EVERYONE)
Direction - expert
Score - heartbreaking
Production - clever
Every single element that you would want in a film is in this film - spellbinding, heartbreaking, sensitive. I could not take my eyes off the screen. And when the final scene rolled I finally exhaled. This is intentional. The tension that is held is real and felt by the main character/characters. We all feel it with them.
The juxtaposition of the environment of social poverty, neglect, drugs and addiction and the struggles of a young African American boy coming to terms with his sexuality is treated so sensitively - the neglect is raw yet the love that is displayed during and at the end of the film, nourishes the main characters and gives long awaited relief (it's the relief we all need by the time the end of the film comes). It is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL films I have ever seen and will EVER see - many of you will agree.
Nick Kroll: Little Big Boy (2022)
Hilarious stand up - apart from there British accent
I absolutely love Nick Krall but have not seen his stand up before - love his style and this set is brilliant. The ONLY thing I couldn't get on board with was his impression of a British actor - it was ABSOLUTELY AWFUL - I think he thought, and the audience thought, that it was brilliant. I literally didn't crack a smile when he was doing it - it was THAT bad - it started Mexican then morphed into Australian. I also think that this was not meant to be the reason why it was supposed to be funny. I think if he'd actually been aware of how bad it was (and it's a fairly sizeable skit during the routine) he could have mentioned this, which would have been really funny. He is a very slick comedian, but should steer aware from the British accent. I am British, btw.
Am I Being Unreasonable? (2022)
Real Comedy at its Best!
Anyone who doesn't get this is just not meant to get it. It is beautifully, weirdly random and is a DARK comedy. It has an ACTUAL plot and back story despite what some may say - there is an unintelligent critics' review - IGNORE THIS - Daisy May is AMAZING as is Lenny Rush, who plays her son. Even the 'cameo' characters are hilarious. The writing is BRILLIANT and is timed well for Hallowe'en. Watch this if you are INTELLIGENT and love random, well written comedy, acted naturally. The set is strangely mellow and somewhat 'League of Gentlemen', with a sinister edge. I was hooked immediately and think anyone who likes clever, unusual writing will too!
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Clare Forlani is intensely irritating in this film!
It's quite a nice idea. However, any enjoyment is undermined by the intensely irritating and contrived acting of Clare Forlani. She does this pretentious posturing with her eyes. It is very noticeable and feels like a 'technique'. Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins' performances are so beautifully subtle and multifaceted but unfortunately show her acting to be rather 2 dimensional, sickly sweet and cliched. I do quite like the idea of this film and do rewatch it every few years but I forget how intensely annoying her performance is each time I watch it! It's not a bad story and there is some wonderful acting, but it is not balanced.
Spencer (2021)
Warning - Save yourselves!
For the love of God. If you have a life, a brain, breath in your lungs, do not waste your time on this drivel. I cannot believe this film has scored 6.7.
The musical score is pretentious; some sort of dystopian jazz. Kristen Stewart is playing Bella from Twilight, but with a British accent. Timothy Spall is not bad. And Sally Hawkins - yes SALLY HAWKINS - plays a wardrobe mistress, for about two and a half minutes.
This film makes NO SENSE and is intensely irritating. It has no style, no script and NO good points.
This film should come with a public mental health warning. DO NOT WATCH.
Surge (2020)
People with brains ONLY, please watch this film
This is beautifully acted by Ben Whishaw. It is a beautiful, painful and very real portrayal of a young man trying to suppress his mental illness, without success. He tips over into self harming, mania, a 24 hour psychotic episode. Ben Whishaw captures the erratic body movements and irrational, obsessive behaviour. He seeks out risky activities for the hit of dopamine it gives him. We are given little information about his history but the relationship with his parents tells us all we need to know. There is a heart rending scene with his mother which rounds off the journey. Please ignore the low scores. This is a multifaceted, subtle, brutal portrayal of mental illness. A lot of the shots are with hand held camera and some takes are really long. Amazing film making. If you are an intelligent film lover, you will love this.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
What a load of sh**
About 15 seconds in, I knew the vibe was off and that it should be more riveting, for a Matrix franchise film. Then I started thinking about other films I did like watching, and drifted further away from the film. The first 40 mins is utter trash and does not fit at all. Then the 'true' matrix vibe returned and it got slightly better, but it didn't last.
2.5 hours of my life I'll never get back. My sweets from the pic n mix were nice, though.
Rocks (2019)
OMG. WATCH. THIS.
I've just finished watching this and I've only just breathed out. It is AMAZING. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time.
All the young actors are amazing. The realistic style is just what's needed. It feels like a fly on the wall documentary. The little boy who plays Rocks' brother is mesmerising, as is Rocks herself. Give this young lady an award. The girl who plays Rocks' friend (who is Somali) is also a star in the making. To nail this naturalistic style of acting is a gift, and they all have it.
Kudos to the director for her sensitive yet hard hitting style. This is clearly improvised in places and that takes guts. It has worked.
Watch this, if you watch no other film this year. Watch this.
Downsizing (2017)
What a beautiful little film.
This is so unusual a film. Heartfelt and introverted. Introverts will get it. If you're looking for big bangs, go elsewhere. If you love the planet then this is the film for you. It is quietly spoken but very intelligent. If you are neither of these, you won't get it.
Fosse/Verdon (2019)
Superb acting and beautifully styled non- fiction
I think some people on here are forgetting that this is a real story about real people with real life events.
Michelle Williams as Gwen is just superb - I couldn't take my eyes off here. Note and pitch perfect in her dialogue makes some of the wordier scenes just trip and pivot. Sam Rockwell makes Bob a likeable (even though he does very unlikeable things: objectifying women) character - which makes his shameful acts of sexual harassment an even trickier subject to handle - it's handled well, here. Puts us in a tricky position. What would you? Sort of scenario, as he's so charming. Very relevant to the problems facing women in Hollywood.
And I disagree with one reviewer who says that you need to know about these two people to enjoy this biopic. I strongly disagree. I didn't (to my embarrassment) know about these two; but the first episode made me want to know more and I have binge watched the 8 episodes.
It's just so beautifully put together - the musical numbers set amidst the real action to articulate what an actual 'song and dance' their lives were. How Bob piggy backed on Gwen's success and how he 'got away' with this for the longest time.
The writing is also wonderful. Very economical. No sentence too long or too short. It makes for a very cinematic experience.
My final word would be about the chemistry between Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell. It just works. This is what makes the whole backward and forward between them so watchable in this series. If you haven't got the chemistry then no matter how good the script or direction, you ain't got a show.
I loved it and will probably watch the whole thing again.
Joker (2019)
Heartbreaking and COLOSSAL
I have read a lot of reviews about this film commenting on the cinematography and the music (haunting) and the outstanding direction (Phillips) and acting (Phoenix) but none has expressed how utterly heartbreaking Phoenix's portrayal of a grown man who has suffered child abuse and neglect is - it is physically painful to watch - utterly beautiful and heartbreaking. I felt as if I'd taken him home with me after the film; his all consuming embodiment of the tortured man who is Arthur Fleck attaches itself to you like a needy animal and doesn't let go for days. And then only reluctantly. How he manages this is mesmerising. The violence in the film is gratuitous but feels inevitable and 'justified' given how he has suffered. It is of course coming from a sociopath who so clearly has been created by the neglect of a mother who suffered from mental illness, herself. The violence he inflicts is the manifestation of the utter rage and emptiness he feels. Phoenix lives this onscreen. This is what is so utterly devastating, exhausting, colossal and enveloping about his embodiment of Arthur . And it is an embodiment, not a performance. It's too real to be a performance.
I totally agree with another reviewer who says that if you're not willing to develop you're own thoughts about the subject in a film as dark and vast as this - watch something else. You'll feel it physically but you're brain will try to process what you've just been through, so be prepared.
Utterly transfixed was I for the ENTIRE film. Life changing. And utter kudos to the director and lead actor who were not afraid to show us mental illness and it's heartbreaking affects (extreme though they may be, here) and it's legacy, in all it's deep, dark relentlessness.