peter-horrey Reviews

Civil War (I) (2024)

Average and a missed opportunity

[5/10 · 3 May 2024]

Alex Garland has created some amazing films (Ex-Maxhina and 28 Days Later). But this is disappointing. The main protagonists (3 gens of journalist) on a road trip. The journey from NY to DC went through areas that looked like Zombies had laid waste to the population. Ie deserted towns. This wouldn't happen like this. When Sarajevo (1992-95) was under siege people still went about their daily business, albeit ducking sniper fire. One minute the newbie photographer is about to breakdown, then in a very short space of time, like two days, she has become the bravest war time photographer; ever! So unbelievable! Oh yes and she is use a 35mm camera!!

The final scene; Whitehouse siege again would not happen like this. The Pres waiting in the Oval office for the Rebel army to kill him. The WH will have a network of underground corridors and bunkers that would be near impregnable! And as for the small band of soldiers that storm the WH, they would not have carried out the summary execution of the president (Saddam Hussain was arrested etc) This is a war crime and as such would have never allowed it to be photographed! Flawed, flawed, flawed.

PS By the way many reviewers on here didn't understand why there was a war. The American constitution says a president can only sit for 2 terms, this pres was in his 3rd term; so he did what Trump tried to do, and ignore the election result and stay in power, dictator style, hence the uprising.

Monkey Man (2024)

John Vick meets Slumdog: Revenge reinvented

[8/10 · 15 April 2024]

Dev Patel has created what i'm sure will become a franchise like John wick. It's a revenge story. And unlike Keanau's immense kreation we are at the genesis of this avenging angel. He's an average MMA fighter, scraping in underground fights hosted by the brilliant (Sharlto Copley (see him in "Free Fire")). He wears a monkey mask and gets the crap kicked out of him for a few hundred rupees). His mission is to kill the corrupt police chief. Who murdered his mother. The films builds to the point his infiltrated the exclusive club where the police chief hangs out. He smuggles a gun in and he is set to for revenge. But all goes wrong. Not a stone cold killer and he escapes by the skin of his teeth. Near death he's rescued by people who are rung below the untouchables. Whilst his wounds heal he is shown a spiritual path and from this he builds up his strength and his fighting skills. The last 30 mins of action are breathtaking and it puts this film right up there with The Raid, Enter the Dragon, Man on Fire and of course John Wick. The perfect ending that suggests that part two will be soon to follow...

Ps: Never judge a book by its cover!! The film poster is so iconic that it will be on many walls for years to come.

Back to Black (2024)

Why? Watch Asif Kapadia's Amy.

[6/10 · 15 April 2024]

Great cast; Marisa Abela is amazing (hence the 6). Eddie Marsen and Lesley Manville as brilliant as ever, and Jack O'Connell is too likeable (he can't help himself, so much charisma). Sam Taylor-Johnson has created more of a fairy tale than a true account of Amy's tragic life. In Asif Kapadia's "Amy" you literally get to see the real Amy, and also closer to why she self-destructed and joined the infamous "27-Club".

The line in "Amy" that encapsulated her mindset was to her best friend, after she had won the Grammy for album of the year (This is the biggest accolade in the music industry) She whispered to her friend "This is so boring without drugs." Bang! There you go. Why wasn't this in B2B? Why was her life reduced down to wanting to be a Mum, why was it strongly suggested that she drank herself to death after hearing of Blake's girlfriend having a baby? No she had demons, she was a drug addict an alcoholic. She needed to be off her face to deal with life.

B2B skirts around this and misses some crucial relationships and events and puts in pointless scenes (Girl in the off-license; "wish i was your mum" WTF. The duet with Tony Bennett and the 6 months (clean) in St. Lucia, her Dads own obsession with fame and so on!

Amy's life was not a love story. So why boil it down to this? Sorry this is a massive miss! Please watch the amazing docu-film "Amy".

Ps Marisa was amazing and her singing was spine-tingling at times.

The Zone of Interest (2023)

The view of a psychopath

[10/10 · 7 April 2024]

This film relies on the viewer knowing what happened in The holocaust. If you didn't know it might have made this film just as fascinating. But we do know and as such do we need to see the horror in anymore detail. Glazer's film lets our own imagination terrorise us.. this isn't a depressing film. But it is one that will stay with you, possibly for the rest of your life. Rudolph and his wife are only interested in serving his career. There is so much i could write, literally about every scene. From the moment the lights go down in the cinema the low vibrating sound and the red screen (around 4 mins) you know you are about to experience something very different, disturbing and undoubtedly moving and shocking...and it's the sound scape created by the score that ties your stomach in knots. It's just such a shame 7th October 2023 happened! As people's sympathies and therefore appetite for a film like this are less palatable. But remember that what the Nazis did was the darkest chapter in European history. This is one of the best British films ever made.

The Long Good Friday (1980)

A true classic; Bob Hoskins truly S**ts em!

[9/10 · 7 April 2024]

Totally brilliant. Last time i watched this was over ten years ago. Firstly it's just great to see 1979 Docklands London. Bob Hoskins performance is towering with a supporting cast that would go on to many iconic films and TV shows. You just know that Guy Ritchie watched this and realised that he wanted to make a movie like this.. And being a Guy Ritchie fan i'm glad he saw this masterpiece. This is Englands version of Scarface. Helen Mirren's career was catapulted by her performance. And as for Pierce Brosnon his acting was literally summed up in a few words but maybe one of his best! And as for ending one of the the best ever. The director delivers a near perfect film.

The Killer (2023)

F & F at their near best.

[9/10 · 5 November 2023]

Fassbender and Fincher are a formidable cinematic duo. If this was a small indy movie "everyone" would be raving about it. We expect so much from our heroes! The opening scene is sheer brilliance. In a way i wanted the whole movie to be like this. But i can see why Fincher wanted to change gears. Throughout Fassbender , (brilliantly he has no name, well actually many names, all of them fake.) is addictive. There are very few actors as great as he is. His dedication to the character really makes you believe he is that Psychopathic killer.

This is a revenge movie, and one of the best made. Shane Meadows "Dead Man's Shoes" is one of the all time great movies in this genre. And this is very different, but it does what all directors want from its audience, that feeling you've seen something great. It opens up parts of your mind and makes you question the morality of your own decisions in life.

I will want to see this again and it may well become one of favourite films to revisit. Not 10/10 right now but i have a feeling over time it will get there.

The Gallows Pole (2023)

Great Period piece. Period. Classic Shane Meadows

[9/10 · 4 August 2023]

Very few people can hold a candle to Shane Meadows and his way of telling a story. Much is made of unknown actors and unscripted scenes. For once i just pressed play and let the story unfold. There is a scene towards the end of episode one between David and Grace which is so real and funny that justifies the existence of this whole story. The sound track is uber cool. The chemistry between the cast is electric and it is held together by some brilliant acting. You can feel and see the poverty, the desperation and it is underpinned by humour that can only be executed by people who know what is funny. This is Shane Meadows at nearly his best and i hope he gets to make more episodes of this wonderful snippet into 18th century life.

As for all those people giving 1 star reviews i pity your lack of intelligence and insight and good luck watching Grown Ups and the Meg!!

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)

Oh dear...It's ok Guy you are allowed to make a duffer!

[4/10 · 28 April 2023]

Guy Ritchie, Guy to his friends. Has made some of the best films i've ever seen. And every auteur does and is allowed to have off days. I enjoyed it as i think the cast had a good time, Aubrey Plaza was a lot of fun. Good to see Josh Harriett sort of playing himself. And as for his Royal Hughness, a reprise of his Fletcher character from the Gentleman. As i was watching Op For i kept thinks that i wanted to watch Lock Sttock or Snatch again. When i watched The Gentleman i wasn't sure if i liked it, so a second viewing was needed and now it's a firm favourite. The comedy in Lock and Snatch is gritty and real. Whereas here it's totally contrived and just about every "joke" falls flatter than a fat man sitting on a marshmallow. So comedy, nil. Now with any action/spy thriller you have to have a sense of peril. So take the Bond movies, you always know that Bond will triumph but you still think how is he going to get out of this, ever Roger Moore made you think he's a goner this time. Or that John Wick will be the last man standing (and yes i've just seen John Wick 4; what a great film and the perfect ending). So zero peril here. I've actually run out of things to say as i'd rather be positive than a bitter film critic. So if you really have nothing better to do on wet bank holiday Monday and you've seen all of Guy Ritchie's films at least 3 times than watch this, otherwise treat yourself to watching some cats chasing lasers.

True Detective (2014– )

Absolutely stunning

[10/10 · 27 March 2023]

As a one off series (the next two are ok) but this first serious is sheer brilliance, Matthew McC was born to play Rust Cohle; And as the Mac says his brother from another mother, Woody Harrelson (who would have thought that the bar tender from Cheers would turn out like this). Is a sensational foil.

Their chemistry is cinematic, their portrayal of two very different detectives is mesmerising. Before you die you have to watch this True depiction of a obsessed and brilliant detective at the edge of his own humanity.

The Wire is outstanding and slowly burns over 5 series; but this in one series gives you everything you'd ever want from a cop drama extraordinaire.

Alien³ (1992)

Much underrated, and almost a masterpiece

[8/10 · 27 March 2023]

Alien and Aliens are simply two of the best films ever made. So what a tough act to follow. David Fincher (Seven) took on unenviable task of this sequel. So this is more of a response review to the poor reviews this film has received. You should just see this is a one off film. It is it's own creature, not like the first two. The performances are first rate particularly Charles S Dutton his speech to his untouchables is spine tingling. The whole cast is outstanding , it actually works as a brilliant play. This is about script and pure acting. If you want great special effects this is not your film, this is all about the pure brilliance of a great director realising a superb script with stellar performances from the whole cast. Oh btw Alien Resurrection is rubbish!

Stop Making Sense (1984)

Utterly brilliant

[10/10 · 28 January 2022]

I quite liked Talking Heads, so I was at school/college at their peak. I could see why the critics loved them etc. I then found my way into the music biz where I worked for about 20 years. I had the privilege of seeing and working with some very talented bands etc. So I've seen an awful lot of shows a 1000+ all around the world. But I'd never seen this film. Everyone was saying how great it was. So during lock down and exhausted Netflix I decided to watch it. OMG, what have I been missing out on. It brought back so many memories what it's like to see a real band play. And as the band join one by one the intensity of the performance builds and builds. I could honestly write all day about this film. Absolutely loved it and I have now started to make up for lost time...-and watched it 3 times now.

Lousfalce-sorry but if you hate a band so much why did you watch the film and then write such a hateful review!?

Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

Outstanding from Shane Meadows.

[10/10 · 27 January 2022]

I was fortunate enough to discover the brilliant Shane Meadows from his early work (the incredible "TwentyFourSeven") and this is also one of his earlier films. With Paddy Considine as the avenging angel. This is everything a revenge movie should be. There are moments that will make you laugh, cry and cheer. It is without comparison and as such it is outstanding. And wait for the twist, when it comes it knocks you to the ground in the same way the axe wielding Richard dispatches the lowlifes that definitely get their just deserts.

You Don't Know Me (2021)

The end actually saves it...and don't read any reviews!

[8/10 · 14 December 2021]

Reading the reviews here actually spoiled it for me. I wrote a load of notes saying this doesn't work and this wouldn't happen. Ok what wouldn't happen is the judge allowing a defendant two days to give a closing speech. It just wouldn't happen. But if you can suspend your belief over this then it's actually a very good drama. Very well acted, scripted etc. Ok Jamill after coming out of hospital wouldn't be very mobile but again a minor detail. His motive (Hero) makes sense at the end. And the verdict, like Guy Ritchies Lock Stock ending or the Italian job. Very good indeed.

Squid Game (2021–2025)

Squirm game-just awf

[2/10 · 7 October 2021]

Just awful. How on Earth can anyone rate this as even close to Westworld. If Squid game is a 9 then. Westworld is a 90! This is the Kings suit of clothing. I loved Parasite, it was utterly brilliant. This is embarrassing and very poor. The acting, the script, the subtitles are all of a student making their first feature. Netflix launched with Game of Cards and have followed up with countless classics (Dark is a breathtaking series), Sex Education is so entertaining. And the list goes on until we hit the buffers with Squid Game. I hate to be negative as 99% of my reviews on here are extremely positive. There is plenty more fish on Netflix leave this little sea creature in the depths of dystopian bilge.