Change Your Image
mtrubic
Reviews
12 Monkeys (2015)
I don't want a doctor of mine who says "what" as many times as this one
Dumb people often substitute the word "what" instead of a carefully considered or relevant continuation of the subject being discussed. I lost track of the number of times our doctor said "what" this episode. A little better dialogue would be much appreciated especially from people with advanced educations.
Or are you trying to dumb down the conversations.
Please be more stimulating both intellectually as well as creatively.
Also, shame to kill off the mad scientist in the first episode. I hope we can see some of him in flashbacks or maybe some time travel.
Thanks in advance
Mr. Turner (2014)
Some serious grunting going on here.
I wondered what the director did to get the perfect grunt. Did he have the star grunt a few different ways and the director said "thats the one". Maybe he grunts the way he wanted and the actor did his best to copy it. Or maybe he gave the star "free range".
That brought more than a few laughs at the premiere.
If his jowls weren't already well pronounced we might have seen Timothy's jaw drop at that comment/question.
Anyway, as with impressionist paintings the overall is minimalistic and imaginative. In this film so goes the dialog as well.
More memorable lines would have been nice.
The Drop (2014)
Nice script - a minimum of unnecessary words
At the Q&A at the premiere I got the writer to talk about it briefly. He said that it was a work in progress and that he custom wrote parts for each of the actors as they came on board the project. For him to listen to all these stars pulling him in different directions while keeping true to a clean crisp script is a remarkable example of his patience and communication abilities. It was nice for his efforts to be realized.
At first he didn't appear on stage and was called up by the director. I hope he gets some credit for his talents. Well done.
Fine performances from all involved. I think it's easier to get better efforts from a talented cast when there are not a lot of set and location changes. This small production in retrospect might be suitable as a play. I wonder it started out that way.
Reckless (2014)
momentum is slowing - its turning into a soap after 6 episodes
With the latest introduction of an 'uber' wicked previously unseen character I see the writers drawing from the style of the now extinct 'soap opera' structure. The stereotypical cliff hanger/90-180 degree character swings in the last minutes of the episode reinforce that point. It seems to me that the writing is all over the place and has no clear direction. It appears to be pulled in many directions. Previous plot tangents remain unsatisfactorily finished or left hanging.
The ship is floundering.
Clearer direction is needed from the series creator/s.
Less continuation and more closure is needed.
Remember, your audience are not all lawyers who like cases to drag out for ever and ever.
My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
took me in an unexpected direction - an analysis of journalism
With an adorable star and an entertaining beginning it took me in a very unexpected direction. Assuming the works were to good too be painted by a child the New York press - epitomized by Charlie Rose of 60 minutes went after the parents of Marla with the same zeal and tenacity they used when they targeted big tobacco or Enron. But in those cases they had thousands or cancerous medical reports and bankrupted investors and criminal charges. In Marla's case they had none - and decided to go after her family using 'spin'.
Spin of course is an irresistible force, it can start wars. Journalist sponsored experts were testifying about the frauds perpetuated by this young girl and her family for the purposes of self aggrandizement at the expense of a young girl. We Canadians have seen this desire to break your interviewer to pieces in front of a camera. Barbara Frum did this with Ben Johnson and his doctor over over his use of steroids. It was a feather in her cap - she broke her subject like a prosecutor in a murder trial. Even when the subject of this documentary was a 4 year old girl that same 'go for the jugular' ferocity was irresistible to the media once they smelled blood in the water like a school of sharks.
After seeing this documentary you can understand why some many people have refused to give interviews. No matter how nice the interviewers enticement might be there is an irresistible craving for blood in many of them.
Even this documentary film maker felt the need to do it himself at the end of the filming when the crying mother took off her microphone and said that "its over".
Happy Valley (2014)
incomprehensible mumbling from lead character
Read review of another user so I decided to check it out - looked interesting but soon found it very difficult to understand what she was saying. Repeated it many times at higher volumes still not clear.
She mumbles.
Then a scene came up, still in the first few minutes of the pilot where she was eating and mumbling eating and mumbling. That was enough for me.
Hopefully the producers of this venture will understand that an ability to speak from a stage and be heard in the back rows is a prerequisite for a leading roll in a new series.
If I was going to say how bad it was, I would have to say that it is "Submarine (2010)" bad. When the movie is released with an another actor reading the lines of the primary character.
It is not issue with the actor's accent because other actors have accents - its a lack of energy placed into the annunciation by the actor and perhaps the frustration of the director to get a better performance from the actor and a greater emphasis is being placed on just finishing the shot and moving on.
Sad that a show's creator's efforts and a writer's talents cannot be successful delivered to an audience - it looked promising.
Fargo (2014)
Deep, Dark and Fascinating
Great pilot.
Very true to the spirit and tone of the movie - love those accents and adorably eccentric characters up there in Fargo.
Billy Bob is one of those creepy villains whose silences and simple turn of phrases speak volumes.
Great twists and turns - very unpredictable. Knew there had to be a reason why so many accomplished actors are a part of this production.
Writing is excellent.
Character introductions are particularly well done in Fargo - masterfully so. Adam Bernstein's experience really shows in this production.
Exemplary - keep it up.
Helix (2014)
terrible idiotic dialogue
Writers first must edit out all or the unbelievable dialogue early on.
As this takes place at an isolated US army base that was conducting clandestine bio research research I was dumbstruck by one stupid line after another.
The "piece de resistance" was the following:
after being told he was might be infected and was being held in isolation by a CDC doctor in a biohazard suit he said that he had no right to be detained and that he wanted to speak to a lawyer - he wasn't a guest or a visitor to a top secret medical research base - he worked there for Pete's sake. And he said this to a doctor in a biohazard suit
Of all the stupid things to say to someone in a biohazard suit - I want my lawyer.
I could not follow any storyline that includes the above lines
Chicago P.D. (2014)
turned it off after less than one minute
It appears to glorify police officers that take the law into their own hands and abuse peoples rights
Why can't we have a show that depicts the fall of officers like this instead of praising them
I will not continue watching a show like this for the possibility that it might get better
If a show does something to alienate me in the first few minutes i wont ever let it waste my time again
If more people feel and act like me television should improve.
A community that has law enforcement people like the one depicted is a failed society. The People of Chicago and the members of that police force should have a say in this. Maybe it needs a disclaimer.
Back in the Game (2013)
very refreshing
Of all the new shows coming out this month this one stands on top. I could tell that it has strong writing after the first few episode and that it is disciplined. Not to much trivial detail that overwhelms the viewer in the first few minutes, instead, it progresses character development and a slow sustainable pace that allows other sub-plots to emerge gradually.
Currently I don't know what other projects that the writers/creators are responsible for but I intend to check them out. The cast is great. They appear to be a nice co-operative bunch. Looking forward to a good run of episodes that can get increasingly better as do most of my favourite shows - good effort from all involved.
Congrats.
I only wish some of the other shows that started this week could watch how you guys do it.
Under the Skin (2013)
seems to be an incomplete work drawn out into a full length feature
Definitely an ultra low budget flick whose financiers might have done what ever they could to recoup part of Scarlet's salary. Interesting that that an agency like William Morris was given a production credit - maybe so that it could write off or even transfer her salary as a tax loss or some other trick.
It was apparently a novel reduced to a few scenes that took you on a very short trip. No conflicts between major characters. No eureka moment of discovery after careful deduction or even a tragic accident. Largest decision of the principal character seemed to be 'food related'. Apparent to me that all involved wanted to end the production quickly and release an unsatisfied adventure as an open ended puzzler.
Don't blame Scarlet for this one - she must have had to put up with a lot of crap from people that thought they were being deep.
Oculus (2013)
The best midnight madness movie EVER!
As good as the Shining was something I said to all around me as soon as the picture ended.
Brilliantly conceived and executed. Fast paced action + beautifully shot + not too gory + a cast of characters you really cared about all combined to make this the best experience of jumping and screaming and laughing I've seen from a bunch of experienced horror show aficionados I have ever seen.
Good performances from all including the kids. Very unpredictable and wholly inventive storyline. Even the cleverest plots and safeguards will not defeat the pure evil of the Oculus.
Very good effort from some brilliant and talented people.
Under the Dome (2013)
I absolutely despise the character played by Alexander Koch
I would like you to kill him off quickly, or do something very drastic to him in the form of a physical punishment - perhaps even a mutilation as he carries a butterfly knife.
I become enraged by what he does and I get physically disturbed by his interactions with other, better characters.
You cannot and must not have a principle character so upsetting as his in an enduring role.
What would a TV series be like if there was a "Nurse Ratchet-like" character who continued to terrorize decent and developed characters with impunity episode after episode.
It would not last
Remember that the actor who played nurse Ratchet was so hated for her role that she had difficulty getting work for many years after One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Thx - I hope the writers / directors read this
Urbanized (2011)
My favourite Doc from this years Tiff
Should be an absolute must see for anyone in local politics. The first comment from anyone in the audience after the premiere was: "I hope our god-damned mayor was here to see this"
He should have been - together with his entire city council.
What really took my breath away was how you can build a transportation system to address the needs of tens of thousands of cyclists or several hundred motorists and watching the mayor of Bogota Columbia explaining his priorities while giving an interview riding a bike in the heart of his city - amazing.
Another key element involved how small, close knit communities were destroyed at the dawn of the automotive era to make way for freeways between city cores and suburban sprawls where cars were necessary to travel the great distances between destinations largely because of the huge parking lots required at every place you wanted to go.
Plan first build later.
Excellent film - I hope new cities in Asia can learn from our western mistakes
Hysteria (2011)
Absolutely delightful film.
My absolute favourite film from this year's Tiff. I was laughing like a crazy person but I was completely drowned out by the howling and squealing of all the women in the audience. Special attention was given to historical details and they all were masterfully done. The quality of the cast is something I haven't seen in quite a while, the roles were so much fun that many of the actors would have wanted to do this for nothing or at least for scale. It was true genius that such material was discussed and portrayed in such a manner as to be purely enjoyable without risking even the slightest offence. Be sure to stay for the very end and watch the antique devices as they appear on the left side and then the right side of the credits. The entire audience was still fixated on the screen as if in a champion tennis match until the lights came up and we applauded some more.
Absolutely delightful film.
Keep it up.
Caprica (2009)
Problem seemed to lie in the construction of the characters
Very little can be done by the writing staff if they have to stay within uncomfortably narrow boundaries given to them by the creator. There were many aspects of the show that allowed for dynamic and interesting episodes, however, the characters that they were obliged to include were, at the very least, unlikable.
I used to hope that some of them would to be killed off, or at the very least, be put out to pasture so that more likable ones could take centre stage. It was torture to watch some of them drag the story into some directions that were unbearable, not because of flaws in the plot lines but because it was important that the viewer identify with the character. I admit that I actually hated some of the characters that were becoming involved in longer and longer plot lines. In short the episodes became unbearable to watch.
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
I wanted to turn it off after five minutes - after an hour it has become unbearable
Now, I don't even care how it ends, I haven't laughed yet.
I suppose all those actors who had the option of bailing out have pulled the cord (as was alluded to).
All those that remain are tied to this project and can be considered prisoners, we should feel sorry for them - poor guys all of them
So much for being succinct - I need to add more lines to be considered for a reviewer.
Problems - no quick, sharp byplay between characters. The villain, as sharp and witty as ever there ever was, has no-one to interact with (after the first hour anyway)
Miami Vice (2006)
Shallow characters and unsubstantiated plot twists
Good actors with little or no dialog A formula picture right down to meaningless interracial sex scenes.
No attempt to create relationships between characters.
I can't imagine that any of the people involved in this movie will be very proud of it.
Interesting trivia point however - perhaps an attempt to be politically correct.
The racing boats that are commonly referred to as cigarette boats are renamed "go-fast" boats.
Perhaps indicative of the intellectual efforts that went into this entire production
Shortbus (2006)
i was grossed out in the first two minutes but i stayed to the end
There was only one other TIFF film that I had seen recently besides this one where I had held my hands over my eyes. It's a racy kind of film very racy. I wasn't prepared at all for the gay sex elements intermixed with the heterosexual ones. I knew going into the screening that the censor laws don't apply to film festival picks that this movie in particular was already controversial, but I was in no-way prepared for the kinds of acts these male performers were willing to perform in a quasi-mainstream film production.
How can I describe this opening scene without being vulgar I wonder?
I don't think I can.
Tideland (2005)
A master of dark fantasy makes an Alice in Wonderland that's definitely not for kids
Alice lives in a dream world most of the time while her father is on vacation. After fixing her fathers heroin injection with a stupefying level of expertise for an eight year old girl she enters her own imaginary world as deep as his. Hers however is the result of a precocious mind faced with long periods of isolation. She keeps herself amused with an assortment of some not so pretty dolls.
As must happen with the offspring of heroin addicted parents she finds herself orphaned and alone before long. Unfortunately the last thing her father did before he passed was to relocate her to a barren Canadian plain where the wind across the endless grassland looks like the waves of an ocean (hence tideland). Her periods of isolation are magnified by the empty space around her. After her fathers death this void became huge and her imagination grows to fill the void.
Her own eerie imaginary world soon merges with another's, a neighbour's, her father's sister's, who lives a reality even darker than this little girl can imagine.
Who could have thought that a movie could be made so completely gruesome and macabre that a train wreck at the end would result in a happy ending? P.S. Jeff Bridges has definitely looked better P.P.S. Does anyone know why she dreams of old men dancing with bears?
Hotel (2004)
of all films at the 2004 festival its the only one that put me to sleep
I didn't see much in terms of original thinking by the director.
Much of it seemed hap-hazzardly borrowed from the work of other horror movies directors' devices.
Parts were mind numbingly dull, especially to sophisticated audiences. Namely the hallway scenes that fade to black. More closeups on facial expressions of fear were needed rather mere darkness.
The person in the next chair who nudged me awake said not to worry about it - he wished he could fall asleep too.
I hope that the disappointment of Hotel won't be reflective in "You bet Your Life (2005)" which airs at this years film festival and has the same producer - Antonin Svoboda
Its funny how you can remember parts of a bad movie more than a year after you see so many good ones.
Code 46 (2003)
A very good flick.
As well constructed as any Philip K. Dick plot. A sci-fi movie with a twist going back to the very roots of drama. An oedipal relationship in the context of a rare cloning coincidence.
Great to see 'Agatha' from Minority Report in a larger role.
Love, Sex and Eating the Bones (2003)
Absolutely delightful
Hill Harper plays Michael - a porn addicted man who, after starting a relationship with a celibate woman, wins a contest to do a sex scene with his favourite porn star.
This small independent film (2.5 million dollars) is absolutely delightful. It's a sure sign that innovative and imaginative films need not come from Hollywood.
This is the Toronto director's first feature film after his award winning short film.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Captivating visuals and a brilliant performance
Captivating visuals and a brilliant performance
Scarlett Johansson performance was absolutely adorable. Set and production design were exacting to the period with attention placed on ambient lighting equal to that of a Dutch master.
I Love Your Work (2003)
An overly ambitious project for this inexperienced director
An overly ambitious project for this inexperienced director, difficult to follow with awkward plot changes, poorly defined dream sequences and flash forwards leaving large gaps and a very confused audience. - Even among experienced film festival viewers
Very good performance by Franka Potente however