This is the greatest tank battle film I have seen to date in my life. The battle scenes are relentless and brutal, representing war film-making at its finest. The final few minutes provide a twist nobody could seriously claim to see coming and will leave thoughtful viewers with much to ponder. The soundtrack is all works by Wagner, who as WW II trivia buffs will know was Hitler's favourite composer.
Reviews
23 Reviews
The Invisible Man
(I) (2020)
Relentlessly tense and Hitchcockian in style, The Invisible Man should propel Elisabeth Moss into the A-List
3 June 2020
I confess to having felt a bit leery when deciding whether to watch this. I wondered how what has become a cinematic trope (i.e. somebody invisible wreaking havoc whether for comedic or dramatic effect) could have any legs even with the benefit of modern CGI. Then I read the reviews.
One minute into this movie, I was absolutely hooked. The directing, cinematography, pacing and the relentlessly tense musical score were the elements that helped propel this movie forward. But the absolute genius and raw power of Elisabeth Moss' acting is what left me in awe. She is at the top of her game in this one. I am going to watch The Invisible Man again with a female friend who managed to get out of a relationship with an abusive narcissist a while back with moderate damage to her psyche and sense of self. I will be watching again so that I can relish the nuances that Moss brings to her character.
Before this movie, I had regarded Moss as one of several 30-something actors who are capable of delivering their lines competently and reliably, but never regarded her as particularly compelling, not even as a repressed Handmaid. Her role in The Invisible Man tells me that she was simply an actress of iconic talent whose agent had yet to find the right script and director for her. She deserves a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying an abused woman on the apparent edge of madness who is determined not just to survive her relentless stalker but to destroy him.
This is drama at its best. Imagine what Julia Roberts' could have been in "Sleeping With The Enemy" (Moss was only 8 years old when that movie about spousal abuse and escaping from a stalker came out in 1991), coupled with the very best that Hitchcock could muster and you have some idea of what Moss has done in this movie. Film buffs will appreciate this reference after reflecting on what they have just seen.
Moss will certainly be in that $20 million + earner category after this movie, if she wasn't there before.
One minute into this movie, I was absolutely hooked. The directing, cinematography, pacing and the relentlessly tense musical score were the elements that helped propel this movie forward. But the absolute genius and raw power of Elisabeth Moss' acting is what left me in awe. She is at the top of her game in this one. I am going to watch The Invisible Man again with a female friend who managed to get out of a relationship with an abusive narcissist a while back with moderate damage to her psyche and sense of self. I will be watching again so that I can relish the nuances that Moss brings to her character.
Before this movie, I had regarded Moss as one of several 30-something actors who are capable of delivering their lines competently and reliably, but never regarded her as particularly compelling, not even as a repressed Handmaid. Her role in The Invisible Man tells me that she was simply an actress of iconic talent whose agent had yet to find the right script and director for her. She deserves a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying an abused woman on the apparent edge of madness who is determined not just to survive her relentless stalker but to destroy him.
This is drama at its best. Imagine what Julia Roberts' could have been in "Sleeping With The Enemy" (Moss was only 8 years old when that movie about spousal abuse and escaping from a stalker came out in 1991), coupled with the very best that Hitchcock could muster and you have some idea of what Moss has done in this movie. Film buffs will appreciate this reference after reflecting on what they have just seen.
Moss will certainly be in that $20 million + earner category after this movie, if she wasn't there before.
Blackway
(2015)
Not bad, for Netflix
11 November 2019
The storyline tag intrigued me. The cast attracted me. Scary-looking Ray Liotta, seasoned pro Anthony Hopkins, always reliable Julia Stiles, and the venerable Hal Holbrook (I'd thought he died a few years ago); how could this movie go wrong?
To give credit where it's due, thumb's up for the cinematography. The wide-angle shots of densely forested mountains shrouded in fog and the close-ups of hard-scrabble homes in the small town and along the highway created a mood of despair and foreboding. In the hands of a different director and screenwriter, Blackway could have been a taut thriller that allowed fine actors to rise to the occasion and deliver the performances of which they are capable.
Unfortunately, the actors seemed to be going through the motions and we are left with a listless, 2-star film in which the occasional moments of drama and violence appear contrived and occasionally, gratuitous.
Blackway is not as terrible as many of the other reviewers have stated. That said, it belongs in a category I've come to call "Not bad, for Netflix". Watch, if you can't find anything else.
To give credit where it's due, thumb's up for the cinematography. The wide-angle shots of densely forested mountains shrouded in fog and the close-ups of hard-scrabble homes in the small town and along the highway created a mood of despair and foreboding. In the hands of a different director and screenwriter, Blackway could have been a taut thriller that allowed fine actors to rise to the occasion and deliver the performances of which they are capable.
Unfortunately, the actors seemed to be going through the motions and we are left with a listless, 2-star film in which the occasional moments of drama and violence appear contrived and occasionally, gratuitous.
Blackway is not as terrible as many of the other reviewers have stated. That said, it belongs in a category I've come to call "Not bad, for Netflix". Watch, if you can't find anything else.
Dementia 13
(2017)
This would have been better as a parody
2 November 2019
I was in the mood for a horror movie last night. Having seen virtually everything in the Netflix horror category, seeing this pop up in my Netflix feed was a welcome surprise. The first 20 minutes or so provided an interesting diversion. However things went downhill after that. When the twist appeared at about the 2/3 mark, the movie lost all credibility. By that point, I thought I simply must sit through the remaining half hour to see how this train wreck ends.
The actors, all of them unknown to me, did a fine enough job with the material they had to work with. That said, in the hands of a different director whose vision was to do a parody of a supernatural drama, this movie could have worked. Unfortunately, the director would have the viewer regard this as serious drama. It is not. Trust me. You can find better ways to pass 90 minutes of your time than watch Dementia 13.
What the hell does the title have to do with anything in the movie anyway?
The actors, all of them unknown to me, did a fine enough job with the material they had to work with. That said, in the hands of a different director whose vision was to do a parody of a supernatural drama, this movie could have worked. Unfortunately, the director would have the viewer regard this as serious drama. It is not. Trust me. You can find better ways to pass 90 minutes of your time than watch Dementia 13.
What the hell does the title have to do with anything in the movie anyway?
Annabelle: Creation
(2017)
Give this a pass, unless you've watched everything decent in the Netflix horror genrre
23 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Annabelle: Creation" started out strong. Cinematographically, the first few minutes of the movie foreshadowed that a small family's otherwise simple, peaceful, rural life in Depression Era America was about to be changed irrevocably by something sudden and tragic. That event a few minutes in would come to be for me the only truly frightening part of this move. Frightening, because the event was all too plausible in the eyes of anyone who has had to care for a young child.
The acting was commendable enough. There were enough bumps in the night and eerie little hints that all was not as it seemed in that big, old house on a hill to keep me intrigued. However, things fell apart in the second half. Had the scriptwriters stayed with the story arc which the first half strongly suggested, i.e. a simple, eerie haunting made all the more disturbing because the lives of most of the dwellers in the house were already damaged in varying degrees, then this could have been a much better movie. As the credits rolled, my assessment would have been this is decent Netflix fare but I'm glad I hadn't paid $12 to see it in a theatre.
Unfortunately, the writers decided to take their story instead into familiar, dumbed-down territory with a cliched Good v. Evil religious motif involving possession. Cheap tricks involving black smoke and snarly demonic voices simply do not work any more, unless perhaps your viewer is 12 and hasn't watched a lot of horror movies. The actors had to work to script and they did a credible enough job working with what they had. But the script could really have profited from serious rewrite.
The acting was commendable enough. There were enough bumps in the night and eerie little hints that all was not as it seemed in that big, old house on a hill to keep me intrigued. However, things fell apart in the second half. Had the scriptwriters stayed with the story arc which the first half strongly suggested, i.e. a simple, eerie haunting made all the more disturbing because the lives of most of the dwellers in the house were already damaged in varying degrees, then this could have been a much better movie. As the credits rolled, my assessment would have been this is decent Netflix fare but I'm glad I hadn't paid $12 to see it in a theatre.
Unfortunately, the writers decided to take their story instead into familiar, dumbed-down territory with a cliched Good v. Evil religious motif involving possession. Cheap tricks involving black smoke and snarly demonic voices simply do not work any more, unless perhaps your viewer is 12 and hasn't watched a lot of horror movies. The actors had to work to script and they did a credible enough job working with what they had. But the script could really have profited from serious rewrite.
The Recall
(2017)
This is a great movie for insomniacs
7 February 2019
I stumbled upon this on Netflix recently. Being a fan of the science fiction and horror genres (The Recall was tagged as Science Fiction/Horror) and seeing that two otherwise fine actors (Wesley Snipes and R.J. Mitte) were the headliners, I thought I'd give it a go. I started micro-napping about 15 minutes in. I was just at that point of deciding whether to continue watching in hopes that the movie might become more compelling when I fell asleep at about the half hour mark. II regained consciousness as the credits were rolling.
f you have trouble sleeping, I'd recommend this movie. Otherwise, skip it.The film is highly derivative. Isolated cabin in the woods horror trope mashed with alien invasion/abduction sci-fi trope, resulting in a listless movie that suggests the script was hastily cobbled together without any care for character development or dramatic tension. Wesley Snipes clearly is having trouble finding work these days. As for R.J. Mitte? Perhaps he is having trouble finding work in his post-Breaking Bad career.
f you have trouble sleeping, I'd recommend this movie. Otherwise, skip it.The film is highly derivative. Isolated cabin in the woods horror trope mashed with alien invasion/abduction sci-fi trope, resulting in a listless movie that suggests the script was hastily cobbled together without any care for character development or dramatic tension. Wesley Snipes clearly is having trouble finding work these days. As for R.J. Mitte? Perhaps he is having trouble finding work in his post-Breaking Bad career.
A Ghost Story
(2017)
Avoid This Arty Pretense for a Movie
15 January 2018
As a rule, I regard reviews on the Ebert review site as fairly reliable indications of the quality of a movie I am considering watching. However that is not the case here. A reviewer for the Ebert site gave "A Ghost Story" 4 stars and praised the film-maker's inventiveness.
I can see this movie being instructive in a course for aspiring film-makers. There would be exam questions like: "Discuss how the use of music combines with camera work to create mood." Students would also I suppose be told to look for examples of the effective use of the camera pulling away or of close-ups.
However, for the John and Jane Does of the world like me who watch movies to be entertained and/or challenged to look at things differently and/or escape to a different world for 100 minutes or so, this is a movie to avoid.
The 90s comedy series Seinfeld had the tag line "The Show About Nothing". The irony is it was a show about something: finding comedy and making comedy about things that happen in the run of the day.
"A Ghost Story" could have the tagline "The Movie About Nothing", because throughout much of the movie, nothing happens. If you find it fascinating to watch stills of somebody wearing a sheet with eye-holes cut out sitting or standing for minutes at a time, then this is the movie for you.
I paused at the 45 minute mark to see how much was left. When I saw 50+ minutes of my life that I wouldn't get back, I hiit stop and decided this arty piece of dreck was done like dinner.
I can see this movie being instructive in a course for aspiring film-makers. There would be exam questions like: "Discuss how the use of music combines with camera work to create mood." Students would also I suppose be told to look for examples of the effective use of the camera pulling away or of close-ups.
However, for the John and Jane Does of the world like me who watch movies to be entertained and/or challenged to look at things differently and/or escape to a different world for 100 minutes or so, this is a movie to avoid.
The 90s comedy series Seinfeld had the tag line "The Show About Nothing". The irony is it was a show about something: finding comedy and making comedy about things that happen in the run of the day.
"A Ghost Story" could have the tagline "The Movie About Nothing", because throughout much of the movie, nothing happens. If you find it fascinating to watch stills of somebody wearing a sheet with eye-holes cut out sitting or standing for minutes at a time, then this is the movie for you.
I paused at the 45 minute mark to see how much was left. When I saw 50+ minutes of my life that I wouldn't get back, I hiit stop and decided this arty piece of dreck was done like dinner.
Aliens: Zone of Silence
(2017)
Yawn
10 January 2018
Note to all aspiring film-makers out there: the "found footage" movie is very old and should have died with "The Blair Witch Project". I remember back then thinking that I wish I had not heard all the hype about how scary "The Blair Witch Project" is because perhaps I would've found it disturbing. Film-makers, give this found footage approach a rest. Perhaps if you are low or zero budget and need to make a movie for your film studies class, then you have no other option.
I only watched this movie because I am a subscriber to Canadian Netflix.
Seriously folks, give this a pass.
I only watched this movie because I am a subscriber to Canadian Netflix.
Seriously folks, give this a pass.
Voyeur
(II) (2017)
There's 90 minutes of my life I won't get back
18 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I do not get all these reviews raving about the brilliance of this documentary. To steal a tag line from the 90s hit comedy Seinfeld, I think this documentary could be billed as " the documentary about nothing".
Gay Talese, at 80-something, is obviously not prepared to go gently into that good night. However, in searching for ways to rage against the dying of the light, he has completely erred in judgment and instead decided to write a book (and agree to participate in a documentary) about this purported voyeur who secretly watched his motel guests over 20 years, or is it 30 years? Who knows? Because the subject, Gerald Foos, is completely unreliable as a source, erring on three major points: 1) when he bought the motel - there is a discrepancy of three years from when he says he bought the motel and when it was actually purchased; 2) he neglected to tell Talese that he'd sold the motel a few years after he bought it; and 3) his story about witnessing a woman being murdered was not founded in fact.
That a journalist of Talese's stature and reputation would write a book based on only one source, a completely unreliable one at that, is bad enough. That a major publication like The New Yorker would publish an article about it and that Talese's publisher would promote this book speaks volumes, I think, about the ovine nature of people. Somebody is deemed to be a major talent, therefore we just have to let him/her write away or shoot the film and we never have to question his/her source.
My doubt about the veracity of this story was aroused several minutes in, when Foos describes the catwalk he built that allowed him to spy on motel guests through grates in the rooms' ceilings without being detected. WTF. I thought? Did he build his catwalk in concrete to completely muffle the noise of his footsteps? Why didn't the dogs of motel guests bark at the sound and/or scent of a human above them?
Mr. Talese, you really need to spend the last few days or months (if not years) of your life in quiet contemplation of a life lived. If you once were this famed journalist who spared no effort to get the story right, forget about it. Your glory days are long gone.
Gay Talese, at 80-something, is obviously not prepared to go gently into that good night. However, in searching for ways to rage against the dying of the light, he has completely erred in judgment and instead decided to write a book (and agree to participate in a documentary) about this purported voyeur who secretly watched his motel guests over 20 years, or is it 30 years? Who knows? Because the subject, Gerald Foos, is completely unreliable as a source, erring on three major points: 1) when he bought the motel - there is a discrepancy of three years from when he says he bought the motel and when it was actually purchased; 2) he neglected to tell Talese that he'd sold the motel a few years after he bought it; and 3) his story about witnessing a woman being murdered was not founded in fact.
That a journalist of Talese's stature and reputation would write a book based on only one source, a completely unreliable one at that, is bad enough. That a major publication like The New Yorker would publish an article about it and that Talese's publisher would promote this book speaks volumes, I think, about the ovine nature of people. Somebody is deemed to be a major talent, therefore we just have to let him/her write away or shoot the film and we never have to question his/her source.
My doubt about the veracity of this story was aroused several minutes in, when Foos describes the catwalk he built that allowed him to spy on motel guests through grates in the rooms' ceilings without being detected. WTF. I thought? Did he build his catwalk in concrete to completely muffle the noise of his footsteps? Why didn't the dogs of motel guests bark at the sound and/or scent of a human above them?
Mr. Talese, you really need to spend the last few days or months (if not years) of your life in quiet contemplation of a life lived. If you once were this famed journalist who spared no effort to get the story right, forget about it. Your glory days are long gone.
Bacchanalia
(I) (2017)
What a disjointed, god awful mess
2 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Bacchanalia has merit, in spite of it being easily one of the worst feature length films I have ever watched. Its merit lies in that it's a film that stands as an example for aspiring film-makers who are still learning the ABCs of their craft of what constitutes a badly made film. For an aspiring film-maker with talent and respect for their craft, watching this would be analogous for me, a writer, to read poorly written works so as to see what to avoid incorporating into my own writing.
Bacchanalia was a disjointed mess that consisted largely of seemingly random scenes featuring a bunch of unknown actors (don't quit your day jobs folks) playing characters the viewer cannot empathize with in any way careening toward an ending that didn't make any sense. The opening scene is a huge clue as to what the viewer can expect. Two teens, a boy and a girl, dressed in pagan garb taunt some guy walking through a vineyard holding a machete. Random guy gives up trying to find the teens in the woods, goes into a hut, stares at some unknown substance through a microscope, hears noise, goes outside, sees the teens and then is shot by somebody, presumably a woman as we only see white high heels. As random guy is leaving the hut, there is actually a jerky, choppy, frame by frame movement. If the director's intention was to create some sense of dissonance for the viewer (if however clumsily executed), it simply came across as bad editing.
The apparent connecting theme in this disjointed mess is that there's a substance in the wine at this country estate where all these strangers have gathered for a weekend that makes them want to line dance whenever two fiddlers start playing "Turkey in the Straw". Perhaps I should watch Bacchanalia again when I'm drunk in order to understand the symbolism.
Bacchanalia was written, directed and produced by somebody I'd never heard of. It is an example of yet another terrible movie in a vast body of works that only came about because somebody with money and the deluded belief they have talent decided to make a movie.
Bacchanalia was a disjointed mess that consisted largely of seemingly random scenes featuring a bunch of unknown actors (don't quit your day jobs folks) playing characters the viewer cannot empathize with in any way careening toward an ending that didn't make any sense. The opening scene is a huge clue as to what the viewer can expect. Two teens, a boy and a girl, dressed in pagan garb taunt some guy walking through a vineyard holding a machete. Random guy gives up trying to find the teens in the woods, goes into a hut, stares at some unknown substance through a microscope, hears noise, goes outside, sees the teens and then is shot by somebody, presumably a woman as we only see white high heels. As random guy is leaving the hut, there is actually a jerky, choppy, frame by frame movement. If the director's intention was to create some sense of dissonance for the viewer (if however clumsily executed), it simply came across as bad editing.
The apparent connecting theme in this disjointed mess is that there's a substance in the wine at this country estate where all these strangers have gathered for a weekend that makes them want to line dance whenever two fiddlers start playing "Turkey in the Straw". Perhaps I should watch Bacchanalia again when I'm drunk in order to understand the symbolism.
Bacchanalia was written, directed and produced by somebody I'd never heard of. It is an example of yet another terrible movie in a vast body of works that only came about because somebody with money and the deluded belief they have talent decided to make a movie.
A complete mind-f**k that stayed with me for days
21 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I've watched all three seasons of "Black Mirror". I can say that "White Bear" was hands' down my favourite episode, although it was the one that most troubled me and left me feeling both guilty and intrigued by the idea of alternative ways to: 1) make somebody feel accountable for something they've done and 2) make the viewer feel accountable for vicariously participating in another person's absolute debasement.
Kudos to everyone on this series who played a role in making "White Bear". The episode delivers a punch to our moral sensibilities, drives a knife into our beliefs about right and wrong and then twists that knife to leave us asking at the end of it all: do we all have a monster in the nether regions of our psyches that gets satisfaction on the basest of levels at seeing somebody else suffer? "White Bear" is what could have been the result of a collaborative effort by Rod Serling, David Conenberg and David Lynch, tasked with the objective of creating a game where people are given the opportunity to participate in the ritual torture of another person, albeit one who has done something absolutely vile and inexcusable to another.
The kicker is that the person who has committed a vile act against another is not being held accountable for her actions, as she is forced to undergo ritual torture day after day with no memory of what had transpired to that point. So in essence, the participants in her torture, as are we the viewers, all members of the baying mob drawn to the sight of somebody else's misery.
Kudos to everyone on this series who played a role in making "White Bear". The episode delivers a punch to our moral sensibilities, drives a knife into our beliefs about right and wrong and then twists that knife to leave us asking at the end of it all: do we all have a monster in the nether regions of our psyches that gets satisfaction on the basest of levels at seeing somebody else suffer? "White Bear" is what could have been the result of a collaborative effort by Rod Serling, David Conenberg and David Lynch, tasked with the objective of creating a game where people are given the opportunity to participate in the ritual torture of another person, albeit one who has done something absolutely vile and inexcusable to another.
The kicker is that the person who has committed a vile act against another is not being held accountable for her actions, as she is forced to undergo ritual torture day after day with no memory of what had transpired to that point. So in essence, the participants in her torture, as are we the viewers, all members of the baying mob drawn to the sight of somebody else's misery.
The Childhood of a Leader
(2015)
Director's film debut is a pretentious film about nothing, really
20 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This movie wasn't such a turgid, loud blast (as others have suggested, why the need for such cacophony in the sound track?) that I shut it off to view something else. The scenes with a gorgeously, icily charismatic Argentinean actress named Berenice Bego were enough to keep me watching. I also found the depiction of the stilted and repressed manners of that era to be fascinating. Finally, the film was well-shot, creating a moody and foreboding sense.
However, if you are less of a film buff and simply want a 100 minute escape from reality, let me sum the film up for you and gently encourage you to find something else on Netflix. Here's the synopsis. A girlish-looking boy of about 10 who for some never-really disclosed reason is always dressed in skirts tosses some stones at people outside of church, pees the bed, is churlish toward the hired help, locks himself in his room in a temper tantrum, and throws another tantrum by standing on a chair at dinner party and yelling that he won't say a prayer. Cue discordant, blaring music. Then we see an apparent 30-something dictator being driven through throngs of cheering people. The director asks us to make the leap that we have just seen how the dictator's upbringing as a child has made him a dictator. It's a bit of stretch.
However, if you are less of a film buff and simply want a 100 minute escape from reality, let me sum the film up for you and gently encourage you to find something else on Netflix. Here's the synopsis. A girlish-looking boy of about 10 who for some never-really disclosed reason is always dressed in skirts tosses some stones at people outside of church, pees the bed, is churlish toward the hired help, locks himself in his room in a temper tantrum, and throws another tantrum by standing on a chair at dinner party and yelling that he won't say a prayer. Cue discordant, blaring music. Then we see an apparent 30-something dictator being driven through throngs of cheering people. The director asks us to make the leap that we have just seen how the dictator's upbringing as a child has made him a dictator. It's a bit of stretch.
Coherence
(2013)
The movie should be called Incoherence
20 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I am surprised by the number of positive reviews and ratings. As I have suggested before for other independent, low-budget movies that over-populate Netflix, I think that the people who kicked in a few dollars to produce the movie must have posted glowing reviews in order to sustain a high enough rating on IMDb to lure viewers into watching.
Coherence wasn't so god-awful that I stopped watching 10 minutes in and searched for something else on Netflix. I sat through it to its incoherent end, curious to see how the movie would end and how the film-maker's evident attempt to explain quantum physics through cinema would play out. Parallel realities and universes is typically an interesting, if clichéd, concept in the science fiction genre. Properly used, the concept can make for an intriguing and thought-provoking viewing experience.
However, the ending made no sense to me. And no, in spite of what I've read a few other people say about having to go back to watch the movie again, two or three times if necessary, in order to understand the ending, I am not going to do so. I can spend three hours of my life doing something else.
Finally, I skimmed through an interview with the director, who offers an explanation as to what Coherence is all about. Frankly, I still befuddled, thus why I suggest the title should be Incoherence.
Coherence wasn't so god-awful that I stopped watching 10 minutes in and searched for something else on Netflix. I sat through it to its incoherent end, curious to see how the movie would end and how the film-maker's evident attempt to explain quantum physics through cinema would play out. Parallel realities and universes is typically an interesting, if clichéd, concept in the science fiction genre. Properly used, the concept can make for an intriguing and thought-provoking viewing experience.
However, the ending made no sense to me. And no, in spite of what I've read a few other people say about having to go back to watch the movie again, two or three times if necessary, in order to understand the ending, I am not going to do so. I can spend three hours of my life doing something else.
Finally, I skimmed through an interview with the director, who offers an explanation as to what Coherence is all about. Frankly, I still befuddled, thus why I suggest the title should be Incoherence.
Circle
(II) (2015)
Avoid Circle
20 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I stopped watching this at the eight minute mark as by then it was obvious to me this film would not get any better. Frankly, I am amazed at the number of reviews raving about this cinematic "circle jerk" and rating it 8 and even 10. I am guessing that most, if not all, of these positive reviews have been written by people who kicked in a few dollars to make the movie and need to see a decent rating on IMDb to lure viewers.
Avoid this movie if the following is important to you as a viewer: 1. the presence of characters who you can feel empathy for or alternatively, despise; 2. a back story of any kind (Christ, even some twisting and warping David Lynch dream sequence) to explain why people are suddenly placed in a situation where they are dying off one by one in some strange, apparently alien-type research facility or spacecraft; and 3. a reason to continue viewing such as you find a character or characters compelling enough to care watching.
I am glad I didn't pay money to see the first eight minutes of this but watched it on a friend's Netflix account.
Avoid this movie if the following is important to you as a viewer: 1. the presence of characters who you can feel empathy for or alternatively, despise; 2. a back story of any kind (Christ, even some twisting and warping David Lynch dream sequence) to explain why people are suddenly placed in a situation where they are dying off one by one in some strange, apparently alien-type research facility or spacecraft; and 3. a reason to continue viewing such as you find a character or characters compelling enough to care watching.
I am glad I didn't pay money to see the first eight minutes of this but watched it on a friend's Netflix account.
The Guest
(I) (2014)
Taut, well-acted thriller
19 August 2017
When I finished watching "The Guest" on Canadian Netflix last night, I thought, finally, I've seen a movie on Netflix that wasn't mediocre.
The Guest is a taut, finely acted thriller that, even if derivative, delivers tension, drama and mystery in spades. Dan Stevens as the mysterious David chews up the scenery and delivers as a muscular stranger who oozes the potential for trigger-happy violence throughout the movie. He's like a lean, younger version of Stanley Kowalski. Respect goes also to Maika Monroe for her commanding performance as a young woman in her late teens who exudes sexuality and insouciance typical of so many teenage girls. Yet her character rises to the occasion when presented with no other option. Brendan Myer as her younger,awkward, bullied brother shines in his role as well.
The dramatic pacing of the movie was quite well done too, from the eerie opening scene to the final 30 seconds, which left this viewer wondering whether we might see a sequel.
The Guest is a taut, finely acted thriller that, even if derivative, delivers tension, drama and mystery in spades. Dan Stevens as the mysterious David chews up the scenery and delivers as a muscular stranger who oozes the potential for trigger-happy violence throughout the movie. He's like a lean, younger version of Stanley Kowalski. Respect goes also to Maika Monroe for her commanding performance as a young woman in her late teens who exudes sexuality and insouciance typical of so many teenage girls. Yet her character rises to the occasion when presented with no other option. Brendan Myer as her younger,awkward, bullied brother shines in his role as well.
The dramatic pacing of the movie was quite well done too, from the eerie opening scene to the final 30 seconds, which left this viewer wondering whether we might see a sequel.
A Dark Song
(2016)
The ending should have been rewritten
22 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I really wanted to write a review that included the message that horror film fans must see this movie. Unfortunately, I cannot, because of a final 15 minutes or so that suggest to me that an otherwise deft screenwriter must have passed on the task of closing to somebody else who unfortunately, lacked imagination.
Much of the film was moody, tense and played psychological games with the viewer. I was speculating at more than one point that the occultist was a twisted, dangerous charlatan with a deviant sexual fetish that could only be sated by absolute control over, and humiliation of, his sub. Had the movie continued down that story line, ending in the death of one of the two main characters at the hands of the other (with no more than a passing nod to the possibility that something supernatural was at play), then I would have been raving at the genius of this film.
Sadly though, the plot careened off the track of psychological trickery and landed with a thud on well-worn territory of actual monsters and the tired cliché of somebody escaping only to wander around in a circle and arrive back at the scene to an ending that made no sense and seemed to be sloppily tacked on to an otherwise well done, original, first 80 minutes or so.
Much of the film was moody, tense and played psychological games with the viewer. I was speculating at more than one point that the occultist was a twisted, dangerous charlatan with a deviant sexual fetish that could only be sated by absolute control over, and humiliation of, his sub. Had the movie continued down that story line, ending in the death of one of the two main characters at the hands of the other (with no more than a passing nod to the possibility that something supernatural was at play), then I would have been raving at the genius of this film.
Sadly though, the plot careened off the track of psychological trickery and landed with a thud on well-worn territory of actual monsters and the tired cliché of somebody escaping only to wander around in a circle and arrive back at the scene to an ending that made no sense and seemed to be sloppily tacked on to an otherwise well done, original, first 80 minutes or so.
The Gallows
(2015)
If you sit through this, you must have no life
4 June 2017
I would give this a zero if the IMDb rating scale allowed me to. The plot summary on Netflix suggested this might be an intriguing, if low budget, horror flick. The fact that I had never heard of any of the ahem, "actors" (if one can use that term for a bunch of nobodies who decided they just had to make a movie)should, in retrospect, be the first clue that a viewer is about to see something best left unseen. I closed "The Gallows" at about the four minute mark, having seen enough to know that it wasn't going to get any better. Seriously, to any aspiring low budget film-maker out there, the hand-held video recording of events in faux documentary style is really old. It was novel when "The Blair Witch Project" was released back in 1999, not any more.
Bottom of the World
(2017)
Quirky, non-linear film a twist
3 June 2017
I liked this movie, though I am glad I didn't pay money to see it in a theater. Somebody who reviewed the movie alluded to it being like a David Lynch film. I can see the analogy; there is a non-linear, dreamlike plot and some truly odd characters. However unlike many Lynch movies, this one does wrap things up in the end so that the viewer isn't obligated to watch at least two more times before things start to make sense. This isn't for everyone, so if you are somebody who needs to have a linear plot, then it's best to scroll through the offerings at Netflix for something more orderly. However for viewers who are intrigued by mystery and do not need to have the answers fed to them at every scene along the way to an ending that truly does explain everything that has transpired before, then this is for you. The message to take away from "Bottom of the World" is that actions do come with consequences and guilt is a heavy, destructive psychological burden.
Dartmoor Killing
(2015)
I don't get it
31 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
All I want is somebody to explain to me why Becky apparently stabbed the sister, who was having an incestuous relationship with her brother, to death. Also, while you're at it, why did the siblings' father serve 12 years time in connection with the death? The scenery and cinematography in this film was otherwise gorgeous and suitably brooding. The acting was able enough. But as a person who enjoys stories that have some cohesive purpose, I was left dumbfounded by the plot.
Mercy
(IV) (2016)
Viewer, have mercy on yourself: Do not watch this!
13 May 2017
I am told that American Netflix has a far better selection of movies; good movies, i.e. ones with a coherent plot, good acting and a sense of dramatic timing. However I have seen enough of Canadian Netflix to assert that many movies on the service are simply filler that must have been made by wealthy "wanna-be" film producers or charming con artists who managed to cajole wealthy friends to part with their money and finance a film. All the imagination and timing went into the making of the trailer for this. Do not be fooled. You have been warned. I'll give a nod to Mercy's maker for the first 20 minutes or so: he did a capable, if pedestrian, job of setting up the dramatic contours for a conflict of some kind that does not end well. Had the remainder of the movie followed this arc (without resorting to a clumsy back-in-time approach to explain what just happened which left me confused at various points) then I would have rated this a 6 (for mildly diverting, at times intense, but I am glad I didn't drop $12 to see this at a theatre).
The Windmill
(2016)
Avoid this: you've been warned
14 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
For me, The Windmill was a movie-viewing experience analogous to escaping a miserable Canadian winter to a beach-side resort on some Caribbean Island where you land to hot, sunny weather. You take a stroll along the beach after checking in, gaze in idle lust at all the eye candy,look forward to seven more days of heat and sun, then notice dark clouds slowly scudding across the sky as the wind suddenly picks up and the temperature drops a few degrees. You join others heading to the hotel. Suddenly there's a loud thunder clap and the rain starts. The weather is spotty for the next few days, nothing really terrible, just the occasional cloudburst. Oh well, you say, at least it's not 30 below zero and snowing. Unfortunately, for the last three days of your winter escape, it pours.
I've been to Amsterdam and have traveled into the Dutch countryside; believe me, there is countryside, even in this tiny country of 20,000 square miles populated by 17 million people. (Minor spoiler alert: to think however you could be anywhere in this tiny country where you couldn't get cell service seems ludicrous.) The first few minutes of "The Windmill" started out with much promise. Several seemingly random tourists experience various intriguing, even disturbing, incidents against the beautiful, sometimes wacky, backdrop that is Amsterdam. There are some gorgeous shots of the verdant Dutch countryside, then the movie descends into tired old Grade B horror territory (this isn't one of those "it's so bad, it's good" Grade B horror flicks) and a completely unsatisfying ending, just like that rainy mid-winter vacation escape experience we've all had at one time or another.
I've been to Amsterdam and have traveled into the Dutch countryside; believe me, there is countryside, even in this tiny country of 20,000 square miles populated by 17 million people. (Minor spoiler alert: to think however you could be anywhere in this tiny country where you couldn't get cell service seems ludicrous.) The first few minutes of "The Windmill" started out with much promise. Several seemingly random tourists experience various intriguing, even disturbing, incidents against the beautiful, sometimes wacky, backdrop that is Amsterdam. There are some gorgeous shots of the verdant Dutch countryside, then the movie descends into tired old Grade B horror territory (this isn't one of those "it's so bad, it's good" Grade B horror flicks) and a completely unsatisfying ending, just like that rainy mid-winter vacation escape experience we've all had at one time or another.
The Nightmare
(II) (2015)
People Have Nightmares....big f##king deal
10 April 2017
I have scarier nightmares than this sorry lot (Spoiler Alert: There is a plug in this, ahem, so-called "documentary" for Evangelical Christianity) on a regular basis, i.e. at least once per month and I just put them down as that, scary dreams. People have bad dreams. In some of those dreams, we cannot move. Big deal.
Luciferous
(2015)
Do not watch this piece of garbage
13 November 2016
The description of this god-awful film on my cable pay-per-view
intrigued me. So I ordered it. I watched it for the first two minutes
and was sucked in to watch it more. The significance of the two minute
mark is that I could've canceled and got my $4.99 back. Perhaps that is
why this move was made; i.e. to lure the viewer into watching beyond
the two minute mark and lose their money.
There is no cohesive plot. At least 2/3 of the scenes (as there is no
coherent and anything even approaching a consistent story-line) are
just randomly thrown at us and, apparently, left up to us to figure out
what is going on, are simply, well, there. At the approximately 52
minute mark, the mom asks Mina to stop filming. (We find out at the end
that Mina is missing so presumed dead. You do not need to waste 90 minutes of your life watching this
garbage. You have been warned.) Did 7-year-old Mina edit this too? Alex
and/or Masha (his wife) are either independently rich (so they can
afford to make cinematic garbage) or they have something on those who
would part with money to fund the production of such garbage; in any
event, this is not worth viewing except to anyone who would aspire to
making good movies and who wants/needs to see an example of what not to
do.
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