anuraagt Reviews

Foe (2023)

Underrated - atmospheric, strong performances

[10/10 · 11 January 2024]

This movie has had scathing reviews, but I suppose for some the premise worked, and for others it didn't. For me it did, I found the performances of the two lead actors powerful and moving, and for me the movie was an exploration of love and marriage, with a little science fiction thrown in. I liked its simplicity and theatre play like feel, and the performances of the two leads, and also Aaron Pierre.

I also felt the movie had an Australian outback feel, inspired perhaps by the country of origin of the director. Mad Max too employs desolate landscapes which are sparsely populated, and the human need for companionship which is a theme in this film. Again, not the most commercially appealing setting in this context, but evocative for me.

Strange Days (1995)

Aged beautifully in many ways, and super underrated!

[10/10 · 11 January 2023]

Hard to believe this is nearly thirty years old, and clearly not at all recognised for what it is - brilliant science fiction, storytelling, and filmmaking craft. Shockingly, it was a major box office bomb, perhaps because of its racism-related plot, although Hollywood has approached that topic in the past with box office success coming alongside. I just can't understand how this wouldn't have pleased audiences back in the day. Genuinely shocked at how it bombed back in the day.

The point of view camera-work is brilliant, beautifully balanced with more traditional camera placement, but still quite vivid, a feat in a movie that's so old. The costumes have aged well, in a strangely stylish way that is again well judged, and not over the top sci-fi. Music is super, again very well judged, sounds great even now.

Strong performances overall, but perhaps that's the one place where they could have cast better. Fiennes is a brilliant actor, but a bit mis-cast for this role; he's not really much of an action star, and while the sensitive bits suit him well, he just doesn't sit well in his character's skin I feel; a Jonathan Rhys Meyers would have been a better choice I think; a bit grittier, a bit tougher, less aristocratic, a bit more film noir. Fiennes and his Shakespearean stage sensitivity are just not right for this role, although he does play it well, and is genuinely moving in one scene. But that's about it, in the others, he's a bit flat I felt, just not quite right, or maybe just a bit uncomfortable with his role.

Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vince D'Onofrio are all pretty decent in Strange Days (Bassett was pretty great), but maybe there could have been a little more juice extracted from such a brilliant cast. Great cast overall though, a pleasure to watch in their younger days.

What a superb bit of writing! Taut, brilliantly simple but engaging and unpredictable, a fabulous climax, it's just super filmmaking! Brilliant and clever motifs that come together, visceral watching, certainly some of the best sci-fi I've seen of late. I miss filmmakers who have the judgement to keep their sci-fi concepts limited, so that audiences can really explore them, and this movie does that brilliantly. It's so restrained, and clever. Very James Cameron, who produced and wrote. But kudos to Kathryn Bigelow, another super movie. She's a terrific director.

Fabulous! And totally underrated. Do watch!

Navalny (2022)

Beautiful and inspiring

[10/10 · 8 January 2023]

Profoundly impressive - Navalny's courage and example. His moment of return to Russia despite the near certain probability of being imprisoned made him a heroic and titanic figure. Although in all likelihood he is suffering extreme deprivation for it now in prison, and his release looks uncertain. Tragic really - one wonders if he would have been better off working in exile, like Ayatollah Khomeini, and choosing his moment of return strategically when Putin was too weakened politically to have him arrested. Nonetheless, his behaviour was extraordinarily brave.

Super documentary - very well made, captures a lot of very real and candid moments, and paints a quiet and sympathetic picture of Navalny and his small team. Kudos to them for standing up to the might of the Russian state, extraordinary.

And the story that this tells is so interesting as well, almost feels like a thriller. So it's a great watch all in all, and should be watched by more!

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Brilliant Cameron film

[10/10 · 27 December 2022]

I'm a Cameron fan, and have always liked how muscular his filmmaking style is, in many ways perfectly logical and put together. And while I agree with some other reviewers that Avatar 2 is perhaps not as riveting a bit of storytelling as the first film, and also perhaps not as innovative, it's still a brilliant outing. If only because of the utterly beautiful world that Cameron has created, which for me inspired moments of genuine awe. Gorgeous bit of filmmaking.

It works dramatically, although perhaps not as well as the first film, but you have to admire the ambition of making film that's entirely done in CG, and while it feels very animated, it's also very much alive, and certainly the greatest exposition of computerised filmmaking I've ever seen. Every one of the 350 million dollars is on screen I feel, and the entire film is pervaded by quality work and genuine creativity. It isn't a work of art as a whole (although some of the underwater life scenes do approach art), but superb watching, and as an audience member, I'm grateful that Camerons exist, and are funded as well as he is!

Kudos to the Hollywood system as well, pulling off something of this magnitude and risk. Terrific - do go watch in the cinemas and support filmmaking guys!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

Pretty poor outing for 1.25 BILLION dollars

[1/10 · 12 September 2022]

Another example of streaming services with way too much money, and not enough filmmaking experience, and I suppose accountability - not being dependent on either box office revenue or advertisers.

As a huge Tolkien fan, the blatant politics and symbolism of this series, very much rooted in contemporary identity politics, makes for very difficult viewing. Considering how enormous the fan following of Tolkien is both among the films' fans as well as readers, they really should have stayed within the canon, and themes and emotions of the original.

The series totally and utterly lacks for literary feel, and seems to have only a visual resemblance to the LOTR trilogy, which is such a great pity. I'm sure had they had the desire to show respect and regard for the work of Tolkien, and the basic themes he explored (good and evil, individual exercise of free will and courage) they could have weaved a much darker and more emotive narrative. LOTR is dark, and heavy, and speaks very much to the WWII era in which it was written, which is why it remains so gripping. But this work totally lacks that seriousness and mood. Peter Jackson really understood that about the books, and brought it to life on screen, magnificently. A basic idea that the TV series totally doesn't understand.

The storytelling in this series is terrible, the characters are just so awfully bland, it isn't particularly well shot or made. Very difficult to see where all that money went - the most expensive TV series ever made. Pretty awful.

Watchmen (2019)

Spectacular

[10/10 · 6 September 2022]

Such a brilliant bit of writing, directing. Utter magic - Lindelof weaves together the DC comics, Greek mythology, tremendous bits of American history and American culture in an incredibly rich and beautiful way. It's literary really, and feels perfect, especially as it progresses through the nine episodes.

I just can't say enough as well for the characters - each and every one, even the children, are just alive and superb. So allows each actor to really live and breathe on screen in a way that's fabulous to watch.

The music! Wow. Loved the eclectic renderings, again across centuries. It's impossible to pinpoint it, but there's a spectacular vision and consistency to the writing and music and acting that makes the series feel very much like the creative efforts of an auteur, brought to life thanks to deep-pocketed streaming services. Thank you so much HBO!

Definitely amongst my top five series of all time, and a spectacular bit of American entertainment. Brilliant work in every way, and worth watching!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Outstanding

[10/10 · 9 May 2022]

Superb entertainment, perfectly timed and put together. Bravo Sam Raimi and the huge team that put this together!

And a special word about the CG - artistic, dynamic, exquisite! For a movie that's practically entirely greenscreen, the visual offering on display is just gorgeous.

Enemy (2013)

Bizarre and inexplicable

[1/10 · 31 March 2022]

This is probably not going to be a popular review, this movie seems fairly well regarded by critics and audiences alike.

As much as I liked the actors and actresses in the film, and another subtle performance by Gyllenhaal, the surreal tone the movie is trying to strike just doesn't work, at least not in video / home format. Perhaps in a theatre it would evoke a more powerful mood, and hence meaning.

I've read Kafka, and the comparisons to Kafka are just not right - to me, this movie starts out as a thriller, and quickly becomes just baffling and inexplicable. In a way that I don't think is very interesting or profound, or thought-provoking.

Kafka is surreal and powerful (in a written format) in a way that this movie never achieves. And to me it just felt ultimately like a huge waste of time, left me feeling super cheated! I didn't understand why it felt so plot driven, and then suddenly just escaped into surrealism. There was something totally disconsonant about how it all went together, hence the one star review.

The Hand of God (2021)

Exquisite, remarkable

[10/10 · 23 March 2022]

I've written glowing reviews of Sorrentino's work before, but somehow he manages every single time to do something special and memorable.

A story of great pathos and personal meaning, and as always told with a lyrical cinematic beauty and exquisite sensitivity to characters, which is affirming and beautiful. A glorious reminder of the evanescence of life, which Sorrentino distills in a way that is impossible to describe, like all great art.

Remarkable and just so very beautiful!

The Card Counter (2021)

Awful

[1/10 · 8 March 2022]

As much as I like Oscar Isaac, who does a solid (though uninspired) job here, this movie is completely unwatchable!

No visual style, terribly dull plot with a bizarre subplot that is unintelligible, inconsistent, discordant.

Such a strange movie! A very personal reverie into the head of a weird director, with no thought given, at all, to how audiences think and react.

As a solitary exercise, it's fine. As a piece of filmmaking, where people have to sit in theatres and watch things, this is such a colossal failure of a movie!

Boiling Point (I) (2021)

Exquisite, searing, and technical tour de force

[9/10 · 26 January 2022]

Maybe too effusive for a relatively low budget outing, but just bringing together so many incredible, strong, stirring, and poignant performances in one take. Wow. I can't think of anything more essential in filmmaking, and anything harder. Low budget or high. Brilliant, brilliant movie.

A bit dark as well, perhaps not to everyone's liking. But well-suited for the year of its release, and the chaos that perhaps many feel enveloping them, in times of great uncertainty and struggle.

On a personal note, as a small business owner, in the service industry, this movie hit home in so so many ways. It's hard to describe how real it felt. Brilliant, perhaps the best sort of drama - so real and yet so cleverly staged. And I just can't say enough about the cast. Superb performances, each and every one. How on earth did they do this! Unreal.

The Expanse (2015–2022)

Can't believe I've waited this long to review this great show

[10/10 · 14 January 2022]

Just finished watching season six. And feeling so saddened that this is it. Six superb episodes, each better than the one previous, and a thrilling, superb finale. I honestly can't think of anything they didn't do right. Great special effects, great characters and camaraderie, an enjoyable and tense conflict with a sizeable villain, great operatic sweep. I mean, just all of the best ingredients of science fiction and drama!

Loved the series and the characters. Perhaps season 1 was my favourite, with its mysticism and metaphysics, but season 6 would have to be a very very close second! What a show.

And I'm glad they brought it to an end relatively quickly, didn't drag it out. I haven't read the books, don't know if there are other story lines, or more to explore, but the fact that I have nothing negative to say must in part be because the producers were disciplined about what they wanted to do, and didn't drag things out to the point where they become stale.

Kudos also to Canada, and Toronto, for putting out such first rate entertainment! The special effects and costumes were on par with the best in the world for a TV show, and while that partly has to do with.having a big budget, it's also quite an accomplishment for any film industry to put together, with so many individual disciplines coming together, and so many skilled people collaborating on a big venture. Brilliant stuff.

Totally going to miss The Expanse! Great show. I do think they left some bits unexplored, some tantalising questions which weren't neatly wrapped up in the finale. So I think the odds of a possible renewal are there, they did seem to lay the foundations for it!

But best wishes to the cast and crew for the future, and whatever they individually do next. Gonna miss ya!

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

Brilliant return to form

[10/10 · 22 December 2021]

Like all movies, this one too works on an emotional level, and your willingness to relate to the characters in the film and their cinematic treatment. For me, this is a standout Keanu Reeves performance. He's vulnerable, unsure, uncertain, and so likeable. I found myself looking at him again and again, and really seeing an older version of Neo, and that happened instantaneously for me. It also helped that I really liked the snappy visual language of the film, superb lighting, great editing, and fabulous action choreography. Hollywood filmmaking skill in all its glory - so many many pieces coming together.

That said, this film is bathed in a sort of nostalgia about Matrix 1999, and it is an earnest paean to the first film, and keeps referring to it, and its reception and follow up in a very literal way. So unless you're interested in delving into Matrix I, and what followed it, and what audiences expected, I think a lot of Matrix Resurrections will be strange and unintelligible. So I'm not sure that it works as a standalone action movie! Hard for someone like me to know, since I'm a pretty avid Matrix I fan.

I liked all of the performances in the film. Perhaps the one that left me feeling a bit cold was Carrie-Anne Moss', which surprisingly didn't really work for me. I found her a bit remote, aloof, and disconnected. Unlike in the earlier films, where she consistently delivered emotion and poignance. So perhaps with a stronger performance from her, the film would have worked better. That is my only real critique.

Technically, I loved this rendition. I loved the costumes, the music, the lighting, the editing. Even the CG was pretty decent (although not great, still a bit heavy-handed, like Matrix II and III). For me, the transition to the machine world was always the weakest part of the earlier trilogy, it just didn't feel as real as the depiction of the matrix (with a lower case, the simulation that the machines have made for humans) itself was - as in, the first film spent the most time in the matrix itself, and I loved that, but wasn't a big fan of the real world depiction. Still holds true with Resurrections, I still don't really like the real world they've built.

I always felt that the aesthetic and dramatic differences between the matrix (with its stylish visuals, the underground rave vibe, a sort of chic 60s vibe) and the real world (earth tones, a subterranean world, huge amounts of CG and relatively little modern cultural or historical anchoring) made for an uncomfortable mix within the same movie, and that's still somewhat true here for me.

But Resurrections worked for me. I loved how they slowed things down, had a polished and intelligible script with no obvious flaws, spent time with each character and didn't descend into needless orgies of action. Even though there are plenty of those, there's still dramatic reasoning through it all, at least for me. As a Matrix fan, I really enjoyed this film.

The Last Duel (2021)

At the risk of being unpopular

[5/10 · 29 November 2021]

I'm just going to say that this has to be the single worst Ridley Scott movie I've ever seen, and I'm a fan. But he is old, and just doesn't have the deft storytelling power he once had. From the very first few scenes and minutes of the movie, you feel a weird sense of dislocation, of a story not being well told or laid out on screen. There's a vagueness, a lack of direction to the entire effort that is pretty sad. Faded directorial power indeed!

I can't recommend that anyone watch this movie, the wikipedia article on Jean de Carrouges is excellent, and frankly far more interesting than the movie overall, more nuance and balance. The movie is slow, dull and a bit sententious. The actors all did a fine job though, it's just the weird choices Scott keeps making, and what feels like a very disjointed, disconnected, uninspired piece of filmmaking.

All Light, Everywhere (2021)

Pretentious, slow, dull

[1/10 · 11 November 2021]

For such a fascinating topic, this "documentary" manages to create 110 minutes of the most uninspired, dull, and pretentious content imaginable.

Except for the fascinating excerpts of parts of the history of photography, it tries so hard to be profound, to weave broad narratives, to write an erudite documentary essay, that it just comes across as pompous and dull.

There is almost no intelligent commentary or narrative here, or insights. A total and utter waste of time!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Hamhanded, not as good as the first instalment

[5/10 · 15 October 2021]

Maybe because Tom Hardy was involved in writing and producing this iteration, the movie is a bit too gentle on his character, and doesn't demand enough of him. He was more charming and fun, likeable in the first, with this one he just looks dishevelled and unhappy, morose, throughout. I don't see the character, I see a tired and ageing actor.

There's way too much CG as well, the first movie was better balanced in this regard. The banter between Venom and Hardy's character was a highlight of the first movie, but in this second one it feels a bit forced, and the movie fails to make Venom a bit more human and likeable I felt - something about the way he appears and is represented, a bit lifeless. They should have taken a page from Pixar's book, and brought a little more humour to the visual representation of the Venom character. Something creative and bright was missing, hard to say exactly, but the movie just lacked for original ideas I felt.

So that was the overall impression - it was not very creative, there were no great little bits of character on screen, or chemistry, or just charm. Felt flat and sort of lifeless throughout, a tad fake and faked. Disappointing.

Free Guy (2021)

Heartwarming, well judged

[10/10 · 6 October 2021]

Surprisingly well made! A bit vanilla and light at first, almost feels like a teen sci-fi movie, but then shapes up very well at the end, with well judged plot developments, and a really well put together finale. Works very well as a bit of solid filmmaking entertainment!

While I wouldn't say that it's groundbreaking in any respect really (although the script is really very clever, and Reynolds plays his role almost to perfection, or rather the role suits him to perfection), the experience overall is powerful, and it does suspend your disbelief for a couple of very entertaining hours.

And best of all, the effects don't overwhelm the movie one bit, which is perhaps one of its best features - it's very focused on the main characters, and their struggles, and doesn't ever let effects get in the way of that. Again, very well judged!

Foundation (2021– )

Bafflingly bad

[1/10 · 2 October 2021]

I am an Asimov fan, a lifelong one, and the Foundation series are indubitably some of the best books I've ever read. Scintillating, intense, and grand and operatic in scope. They're very much classic old sci-fi, with big themes and ideas about human history, not at all gritty or realistic or as focused on individual experience as more modern work.

This TV series has absolutely butchered the series, and for what reason I just can't make out. The casting is poor, even lovely old Jared Harris looks out of place. The dialog is unbelievably irritating and dense, so jargony and awful. There's no continuity of storytelling, just an unending parade of sci-fi landscapes. It's just so badly made, I'm still in shock.

If the changes made any dramatic, cinematic sense, if the characters were alive and great, I'd have forgiven these guys for doing what they did. But they've messed up the original (bound to annoy fans) for no good reason! Totally bafflingly awful.

Youth (I) (2015)

Impossibly heartachingly beautiful

[10/10 · 30 September 2021]

Having seen a few of Paolo Sorrentino's movies over the years, and having loved them, the extraordinary quality of Youth still took my breath away.

Yes, his framing of shots is incredible. Yes, his visual acuity and economy, elegance of storytelling method are remarkable. Yes, he gets great work out of actors. Yes, he chooses complex and interesting topics to explore. Yes, the pace never flags. Yes, you're transported and taken to an entirely new and believable and yet remarkable world, from the very first frame. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

But there's something intangible and transcendental about Youth that is just unbelievable. I think one of the greatest works of cinematic art I've ever seen. And I watched this movie on a laptop screen! I can't even imagine sitting in a theatre and having it unfold in large. And yet, for all its exquisite and endless visual feastery, it still looked gorgeous on a little eleven inch screen in a darkened room. A rare feat.

To me, this movie is a meditative and unique experience that is absolutely indefinable, and endlessly debatable, full of delight and wonder, complexity and nuance, and endless openness. And yet, it's not wordy or pretentious. It doesn't ever pretend to not involve you, or assume that you might not understand something. It constantly, consistently, and gently, communicates, with every frame.

Bravo Mr Sorrentino. I'm also so relieved that you got such a great cast together for 14 million dollars, and recovered the money spent on the movie at the box office. For such a superb and subtle piece of work, taking such enormous risk in assuming that audiences would turn up and pay to see an uncompromising and metaphysical, philosophical work about incredibly deep reflections on life. The confidence and artistry of a truly great director. Hats off, almost certainly one of my very favourite one or two movies of the last decade. And shot on digital to boot, which I never like, but done here with exquisite talent and visual acuity. Just breathtaking, a master class in every second on screen.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

Scintillating, pure entertainment, and very much alive

[10/10 · 29 September 2021]

What a great movie! Such a careful and tasteful rendition of early Bond movies, and a sort of loving, tongue-in-cheek parody of Connery and Terence Young, but done with a lot of the same precision and economy, flair. So refreshing!

In many ways a better Bond film, certainly I'd say emotionally and at its core, than more recent special-effects laden ones. Brilliant piece of work, and hard to believe this is Michel Hazanavicius's directorial debut. Unreal - and what an enormous amount of filmmaking they did for all of 14 million dollars worth of a budget! Fabulous.

Great film, ten on ten!

Coma (I) (2019)

Scintillating, great science fiction

[10/10 · 30 August 2021]

An arresting premise, great plot twists, a believable villain and philosophy, this hits all of the high points of high sci-fi. Also beautifully made, with inventive and clever CG, and visually on point. Superb, and well worth watching!

Point Break (1991)

Held up really well

[10/10 · 23 August 2021]

Can't believe this is thirty years old. Kathryn Bigelow is a thoroughly underrated director. Great piece of entertainment, just perfectly deft and well made, and solid performances from a young and beautiful cast. And the chemistry between Swayze and Reeves is just fabulous, makes the entire movie work.

Remarkably well made, with brilliant and dynamic camera movement, still feels alive and fresh, pretty amazing for something thirty years old! Camera work alone is just superb. Plot works every twenty seconds, keeps up dollops of adrenalin, and just doesn't stop. So many elements which are inventive and work brilliantly. Just a great piece of work!

Lady Vengeance (2005)

Takes a while to warm up to!

[9/10 · 17 August 2021]

Uneven in bits, and perhaps not quite what you're expecting from this director, but a powerful bit of work nonetheless. Well worth watching the entire Vengeance trilogy!

Voyagers (2021)

Pretty decent!

[8/10 · 12 August 2021]

Weird that this movie has been so polarising, I see a lot of bad reviews dragging down its rating, when it's a perfectly good outing and entirely watchable, with good filmmaking craft and a relentless focus on storytelling.

Similarly rated movies on IMDb are usually almost unwatchable, or just pure pulp, and this certainly isn't that. It's well made, pretty well acted. Sure, yes, it is a teenager movie (but that's Neil Burger's whole area of expertise), but it's also got decent sets, decent storytelling. It's well paced, no obvious plot holes per se. All in all a professional outing, so in my book a solid 8.

You could argue that big science fiction as a whole has just disappeared, movies based on premises like Asimov's books had, or Arthur C Clarke's. The era of grand and philosophical sci-fi is almost certainly over, and most sci-fi these days is just thinly veiled action. I think this movie does that too, it's not really profound or sincere about its premise, it's an entertainment vehicle that's not trying to be profound. Most sci-fi movies these days are like that, and this is no exception. But it's watchable, it's well made, and it doesn't have any obvious mistakes to point out, so it feels like a well made movie. Hence the 8 in my book!

Birds of Prey (2020)

Awful all around, despite another strong Margot Robbie performance

[1/10 · 12 August 2021]

Robbie is always entertaining, and brings charisma and scene-stealing energy to her work, but her portrayal in this fell so far short of Suicide Squad 2016 that I'm just flabbergasted. Gone is that rich Long Island accent, the garish and vulgar persona, all of the evil charm that made the 2016 character so memorable. This one's watered down, uninteresting, dull. Such a shame, considering that they already had a rich foundation to build on.

The movie doesn't lack for Hollywood production values, great colours and sets, great costumes, but it's just so poorly made - the director fails thoroughly to extract any nuance, any essence, any truth from her scenes, it plays so flat, so uninventive, so boringly. A movie you can watch half-asleep and not miss a thing. She tries to do a sort of Guy Richie in cuts and style, and flashbacks, with layered stories, but just doesn't pull it off. It's just hackneyed, dull, very mediocre work.

And to believe that this was meant to have an overtly political message! Just unbelievable. There's zero politics in the movie, there's no structure to it to suggest anything relatable or insightful, that could possibly draw the audience in. In contrast, even the most commercial Hollywood movies are able to rise to the level of philosophical and emotional essay, where they connect with deep and resonant human ideas or themes. This movie never hits a single high point of any kind. Just awful!

Inexplicable that it has 6 stars on IMDb, deserves at best a 5, so giving it a 1 to help offset the nonsensical reviews it seems to have gotten. I just wonder if having a female director, screenwriter and protagonists is enough for some to justify its entertainment value, simply the political symbolism of that arrangement. Not for me - there are remarkable female writers and directors out there, who deserve to be recognised for their work and not because of their gender. In this case, the team disappoints thoroughly, and fails to make a statement of any kind, good or bad.