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PaulJosephWatson
Reviews
The Beatles: Get Back (2021)
Near perfect music documentary!
With no pretensions, no fancy graphics or hard cuts that get in the way of what is being presented, it shows an abridged version of the bands rehearsals within the 14 working days prior to the first live performance of their new albums material.
By this point, The Beatles and their crew were seasoned veterans in the complex procedure of writing and laying out their style & content of music.
It's both an education in and historic look at the bands inner circle , based purely on fly on the wall documentary style that is intended as such: just keep the cameras out of the way as much as possible and let them do what they do best.
My only issue with the documentary is the first 11 minutes that recaps the band up to the point of when this takes place. But I appreciate that a younger audience with little or no knowledge of The Beatles might need this.
The banter and camaraderie itself is a joy to watch, but my personal favourite bit is in part one on Wednesday the 8th of January 1969 when Paul & Linda come in and Paul immediately gets on the piano and starts working on 2 songs with Mal Evans helping rewrite the lyrics to their now classic versions.
Beautiful.
Santa Inc. (2021)
Crass doesn't even begin to define it.
Conclusive proof that smoking cannabis doesn't make people funny.
And conclusive proof that certain people can have anything produced regardless of the content & intent of the production. Poisonous people with envious eyes.
It's not for kids and it's not for most adults. So who is it for?
It's message is a garbled checklist of post-modern social science points intended to placate Twitter blue check-marked people. People who's entire lives revolve around throwing stones at the already fractured stained glass windows of north-western society.
No doubt those people will come by here soon and say this is the greatest thing since sliced bread to skew the numbers.
(EDIT: Some have now tried, but only throw those aforementioned stones.)
And yes, I know the Santa tale is a fine fable for creative minds to dabble with as has been done many, many times before. But what positive & uplifting message does this particular one promote? Nothing.
It just comes across as mean spirited & hateful to Christmas specifically and north-western sensibilities in general.
And what of those "creative minds" - stewed in a purple haze of bong smoke, laughing at their own dire jokes, thinking they are amazing...
Wasted - just like your time will be if you bother watching this tripe.
So skip this and watch a truly uplifting classic like It's A Wonderful Life (1946) or A Christmas Carol (1951) this Yuletide.
Ojing-eo geim (2021)
Oh Korea, you've gone and done it now!
Just binged watched 4 episodes in a row. Amazing!
Extraordinarily original and fresh. There are some feelings of Old Boy, Parasite and Japan's Battle Royale, and of course hints of Black Mirror (the title graphics make that very clear) - but overall the production style and content is incredibly fresh.
It's best to go in without knowing much about it and just let it tell the story.
I see a few here complaining about VIP acting, I have no clue what that is, but I found the acting overall very good.
I don't speak Korean, so maybe they sensed more than me.
Since it's mainly a character study, elements of the hapless yet hopeful fool (the main character) and stereotypical thug (the main antagonist) obviously exist to narrate the story as it progresses.
Let's face it, if this was just outright brutality that would be very off-putting and just become an average SAW-type horror story, this is clearly not the intention here. Subtle messaging abounds. For your consideration.
The design of the production varies from the bleak harshness of the outside world to the colourful Escher and Minecraft inspired world of the childish game itself.
With Star Wars like drone soldiers mindlessly ensuring the players stay in line. Under a hierarchy based on shapes and a Vader-like controller that keeps you wondering what exactly the entire situation is about.
And that's where the Old Boy feeling really kicks in. Is this controller seeking revenge from some childhood slight or is it intended as a learning experience?
Overall, I would just suggest watching episode 1 and if you get hooked like me, then you've found something you will absolutely love.
Can't really say any more until I'm done watching it all.
But I'm going to take a break because binge watching is a crime.
Or it should be. Especially given the work gone into this.
Thanks for reading.
Clarkson's Farm (2021)
Yes, a full 10, not a 9!
I don't particularly like Clarkson as a man, but I can see his appeal.
He's entertaining enough in his conservative English style and the previous stuff about cars, that forged his entire TV career, was perfect entertainment for those who cared about such things.
I'm one of those awful cyclist types who never owned a car. Sorry.
However... (yes you know that is coming)
This was absolutely compelling & hugely entertaining to watch!
It seems that he can do no wrong in "telly" and has a fantastic production team around him to realise any project to perfection. He could make a TV series about flies engaging in coitus and it would still be marvellous fun to watch.
Like an uneducated David Attenborough, with an intentionally dumb & buffoonish streak, he car-crashes into the world of agriculture with typical panache.
Buying the biggest most expensive tractor he can find!
I don't want to give any spoilers but the whole thing describes at perfect length the complexity and harshness of farming - even with modern-day equipment man is still at the mercy of cruel nature.
And that is this series (please stop calling it a season) core beauty and lesson for us all.
The rapport with the other "characters" in the show is also crafted to natural perfection. It gives some comedy relief from what may have been a cumbersome and perhaps tedious experience.
Overall:
The pacing & editing is superb.
The way it's split up is ALMOST an education in the "art" of farming.
The other farm workers are an absolute joy to behold.
Clarkson's perceived "pig ignorance" is engrossing.
I hope there is a second series to this and perhaps next season he can yield far more to make his farm a financially sustainable concern.
Game of Thrones (2011)
I loved it until I didn't.
If this show ended good, and my goodness did it fail the audience, then I would give it a solid 10. Because of season 8, I can only give it an 8.
The main problem (in my frankly rather educated opinion) is that they dragged it on too long.
Far too long. Far, faaaaar too long.
The compendium that it derives from, A Song Of Ice & Fire, is rather complex.
But the show itself concerns a power struggle between two families whilst an unknown force is coming from "the north" and another unexpected from "the south". That's it, in a nutshell.
There's lots of needless side-lining, very little history & development to the characters and sadly the acting isn't great, though there are some very adaptable and well-known actors who helm the metaphorical ship to keep it afloat.
Negativity over, I must highly congratulation and commend all those involved in the production.
For the first time we had a fully fleshed-out fantasy world that people could relate to. Usually fantasy worlds are highly detached and can only be appreciated by fans and geeks.
But in this, you can truly feel the humanistic nature and struggle of all, good and bad. With the Starks being the benevolent rulers and the Lannister's being the cruel ones.
Then just to add a cherry on top the Targaryen's - who are spoken only mythically among the current ruling houses reappear in the visage of Daenerys who starts off benevolent but end up being cruel. With the ultimate weapon.
Power corrupts is the overall message.
Not deep, but it's not intended for a deep audience.
One last thing: If they remade the last season, even in animation, that might patch up the animosity and disappointment that the hardcore fans have.
For me though... yeah, I loved it - until I didn't.
The Wire (2002)
If you find it boring, why watch it?
Just throwing in my 10 stars to negate the low reviews.
IMHO; this is the apex of HBO's long run of superb TV shows.
Excellent acting, superb directing, a very complex plot all with a heavy narrative & obviously deep research into the subject that can ONLY bore very stupid people.
The fact that it works on multiple levels with a multitude of characters whilst still remaining cohesive is in itself a wonder. See Game Of Thrones for how that can end up bad.
Also, very funny on many levels.
Straight out jokes - with Bunk and McNulty being the absolute cornerstone of that, to very dark satire on the criminal world - Omar Little ALMOST being the "lovable rogue" that some might want to see win.
The machinations of the education system, high level police department & government office is in itself comedy, but in a kind of hopeless, incompetent and Dickensian way.
Overall, the show presents a holistic overview of a city in decline fuelled by mass incompetence, greed and power play at all levels - from the streets right up to mayoral office.
If that bores you then go watch Sponge Bob or something, because you are clearly as dumb as (Clay Davis's catchphrase).
Nobody (2021)
Just switch off your brain and enjoy the ride!
Having seen director Ilya Naishuller's other feature film Hardcore Henry and the superb first person music videos that spawned that film, I knew what I was getting into:
Pure, unadulterated comedy/action with lots of the old ultra violence!
And that's exactly what I got.
Yes, it's basically John Wick in style & substance. So what!?!
And Bob Odenkirk as an action hero? Why the hell not!?!
And it's nice to see the old actors getting some screen time for once.
Michael Ironside and Christopher Lloyd are always enjoyable to watch.
Aleksey Serebryakov did tend to chew the scenery a little too much, but he was fun as the psychopathic baddie and that very much detracts from his previous subdued acting work in Leviathan, that's the only other one I've seen him in.
So that's all I have to say.
Look to the advice in the bold text at the top of this review.
The Father (2020)
An unbelievably believable performance!
Having just watched this knowing as little as possible about it, other than it was based on a play about a dementia sufferer and Hopkins won an Oscar, I expected the usual drama on how difficult the patients are to manage & the pain the family go through.
What I did not expect was the brilliant playwrighting, the set pieces that fantastically illustrate the sinister tricks decaying memory plays on the afflicted, the way the film drops you almost into the mind of the man via those illustrations and of course the overall well above average acting; helmed by Hopkins himself in probably the best acting he has done in his entire career.
I'm trying to emphasise just how brilliantly crafted the whole thing is without giving any spoilers and you really should go in to it with a similar mindset outlined in the first paragraph of this review.
This goes straight to the top of my "plays turned into movies" top 3 - followed by Glengarry Glen Ross and The Sunset Limited.
Ironically, this film about dementia or Alzheimer's will stay with you forever.
One by One (2014)
Even a stopped clock can be right twice a day, but this particular clock is seemingly right on every hour at the moment.
If you disregard the passible acting, average writing and really quite terrible directing, the concept is very - shall we say - intriguing.
At first you think the main character, Dion, is being inculcated into some weird cult.
Her angry copper boyfriend doesn't like her being with them.
He's the stereotype you MUST hate in this story, got it?
(he'll be back later)
Turns out that they're not a cult, but just seemingly more informed in their beliefs.
And their belief is that the notions of climate change so pervasive around them actually masks a wider conspiracy of a New World Order plan of population reduction.
When one of their group sadly dies from a stabbing attack outside a club, they start to tell Dion what they truly think about what is going on in the world.
They talk of population reduction by means of war, surreptitious racial plans to cause internal strife, the use of man-made viruses and vaccines designed to kill even more.
They speak of ID cards, sterilization, bio-engineered pathogens to eliminate entire groups and races. Eugenics, essentially.
You'd be forgiven for thinking this was made just recently and then somehow retrofitted into 2014 to prove some kind of point.
Sadly that is not the case.
The late, great Rik Mayall died suddenly from a heart attack in 2014.
It's quite clear that Rik Mayall appears solely to add gravitas to the production as; his most popular role is Rick in The Young Ones (which ran on BBC2 on 1982 & 1984 and which I had the absolute side-splitting pleasure to watch live back then) - an Anarcho-Communist sociology student who clearly doesn't believe, or has even perused the political & philosophical writings that he pushes so childishly to his student digs mates; seems to fit the remit.
He comes across as the cult leader, who is never questioned (except by Dion) and his subjective observations on reality are always seen as "enlightening".
This is shown in an (unintentionally) laughable scene where he uses a Jenga tower falling over to refer to the 9/11 attacks. Quite insulting to the intelligence.
When he speaks on this point the music changes very abruptly to sinister tones, then back to the softer tones to prove the point.
I do not want to get into jet fuel melting steel beams.
So we move to a montage of Dion researching the NWO and 9/11 with a song by someone who was clearly slightly popular at the time. This production is clearly geared to folks far younger than I. But lets focus on content rather than style.
Seems that Dion has now been away for a few days, and the dead girls dad welcomes her back with a big cult love-bomb hug, the characters were never truly fleshed out to make any of this believable, but okay.
She's been to see a seminar or two.
"Got any questions?"
"Nah, need a shower and a sleep."
Then Mr Mayall does the sinister cult man thing by reciting some Rupert Brooke.
And no-one says anything about it. Unquestioned. Jarring. Laughable.
Okay, this is getting tedious now.
Let's move to the end point.
As their fever-dream NWO take over starts to kick in, the ex-boyfriend copper (remember?) re-appears with what appears to be a Magnum .50 calibre (buy them down the high street, £150 mate, no questions!) and the TV shows that the world is on the brink of chaos. Because that'll be how that occurs, apparently.
Then some NWO trucks roll up outside as the NWO plan is now in full effect, angry copper goes outside, thinking he's one of them, and gets shot by random NWO goons.
Dion then has a monologue that may seem sensible for Anarcho-Communists like Rick.
The actress then looks into the camera and says "Wake up! Now!"
Then the titles roll, telling us that this production is in association with THE COMEDY COMPANY, yet I have not laughed once.
In conclusion: I fully understand the fear people are undergoing at the moment and I have looked into Event201, Agenda 2030/21 and they are REAL and TANGIBLE threats to our existence...
But this ain't it, chief.