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Carlmmm
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Reviews
Glass Onion (2022)
A monumental disappointment
How could the same man be the writer and director of such a good movie - Knives Out - and also of its tin-ear sequel - Glass Onion? Since the first movie proves his talent, my guess is that he totally misread the public's taste when he created this rancid twin. Or maybe he didn't misread, since so many liked it and gave awards.
Some who gave it a low rating didn't like the finishing scenes, but I thought they fit the mood - early 6th grade playground posturing. Those I will happily forget.
But sadly what I will remember are the most cumbersome flash backs and yet more flash backs ever strewn about like final broken shards.
I think I'll forget those too.
Dark Winds (2022)
Good beginning for genre
Great to have this series about native Americans with Native American actors. Great to get a sense of their lives and culture.
But - acting is good, not great. Direction is ok. Photography and scenery are wonderful. Writing - well, I wish it were better.
Hope to see many more like this.
Worth watching.
Shetland (2013)
Initially great then declines.
I loved the first few seasons. Initially I gave it a 10 (rarely given), but after completing season 6, downgraded it to 8. Here's what happened:The actors are wonderful, the writing excellent, and the scenery magnificent. The slow pacing was perfect for the characters and the setting and the Shetland atmosphere. But over subsequent seasons (I've seen all through season six), while the actors and direction remained excellent, the pacing became faster and the multiple storylines got complexly overlapping. The initial beautiful languid pace disappeared. Even the soundtrack got a bit nuts. Perhaps they were looking for more viewers, but they abandoned their initial vision. I hope season seven will be softer than season six. The two top actors - Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez and Alison O'Donnell as Tosh - remain calm, warm, and unfailingly compassionate.
Despite the downslide, very highly recommended.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Good intentions not enough
The writers' intentions are noble and lofty, but their dramatic skill is as dismal as their goals are high.
Please take 2 years off to learn how to craft good drama.
Daughter of the Wolf (2019)
Terrible in so many ways
But I can count them.
The direction is atrocious. Send this guy back to school. Choppy, terrible set up for scenes, acting doesn't exist.
Music is way too melodramatic, like an old silent movie.
Photography not bad, but too many shots that are trying to give a sense of the beautiful scenery but too often confused without knowing whether a close or medium or distant shot is called for.
I couldn't finish it. I quit. Almost never do that.
Boyhood (2014)
Not bad, but disappointing
One of the more overrated films lately.
The good: production, shooting, editing, sound -- were all good.
The great: the idea of following the same boy and others for 11 years. Transitions from age to age were beautiful.
The tiresome: the acting. It was OK, but nothing that grabs you. Ellar Coltrane was at his acting best when he was young, but gradually got more stilted. This could have been due to the director more than to him.
The ugly: The script. Existential drivel, over and over. Every character was written in a way that remained two-dimensional, especially his sister and mother. Ethan Hawke as his father did the best job of any of them in bringing some depth of life to his role.
Les Misérables (2012)
Too close for comfort
I like theater, I like musical theater, and I love movies. I saw Les Mis on the stage, and thoroughly enjoyed it. But this is a different story (maybe pun intended).
The good: The energy of the movie, the acting and singing.
The bad: Hooper is in love with close ups. That's almost all he does. He is relentless in staying in too close, all the time. It's dark. The look and feel of the visuals is all dark, gritty, pock-marked, dirty, ugly. As another reviewer said, don't have the actor sing for the balcony when you are in a very close shot.
The ugly: Hooper never relents. It's too rushed, too pushed. Ironic, in adapting a musical wonder, there is no visual rhythm, no ebb and flow to the pacing of the scenes and of the individual shots. We never come up for air.
The secret: I couldn't take it, and left with an hour to go. Sat in the car and was more entertained on my iPhone.
The Tree of Life (2011)
Rarely do I dislike a move so much
The beginning has great nature shots, but poorly edited, confusing and disorienting. Then dinosaurs appear, and I wondered if we stepped through a portal into science-la-la land. This section was beautiful, in National Geographic style, but too jumbled. The voice-over comments in this section about faith were likewise disconnected from anything else in the film.
I hoped the story would get solid and engaging, but like the nature scenes, it too was cartoonish. We learn too early of a son's death, then slip forward and backward in time in a way that made no sense. The film suggests that pain makes one's faith stronger, but was not continued in later interactions among the characters.
The characters are two-dimensional, flat. I didn't care about any of them. I got increasingly uncomfortable with the unreality of it, gave up, and waited in the lobby. My wife later said the audience laughed from relief when it was over.
Can someone explain how so many critics rave over this? It had the life of a cartoon, not of people.
Inception (2010)
Boring. No Heart.
At first I found myself caught up in the action and enjoying it. Then I got tired of the music -- all it did was create tension -- then I realized I didn't care about *any* of the characters. Then it got boring. I no longer cared about what happened next; it had become predictable.
As a kid I read a lot of science fiction and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked The Dark Knight and Momento. But this is not like those films. It is poor science fiction, poor drama. It fails in all the important ways that good drama succeeds: characters we care about; genuine emotional connection among the characters; an ebb and flow to the rhythm of the movie, with respite from the intensity; balance; a plot that has integrity. This movie felt like an unending jackhammer. It's a wannabe Matrix.
We no longer cared, we felt assaulted. When they began the third level, we made our move. We walked out.
El laberinto del fauno (2006)
The center cannot hold
This is a strange movie. In some regards, it is very well made -- acting, direction, editing are very well done. But I hope you don't see this movie for these reasons -- because the story is sick, sick, sick.
The violence of the war portion of the movie is over-the-top. There is so much disgusting unnecessary violence that it merits its own description: sicko-bleedo. As other critical reviews here have said, the war story has no redeeming qualities, no characters that I would want to meet and talk with. Likewise the fantasy story is without value, only a pastiche of fantasy elements that never come into a living, breathing life.
What is more troubling to me is the very high rating and awards this twisted movie has gotten. I am concerned about what is happening to the taste of American moviegoers. I would not recommend this movie to anyone. It has perfected my growing concerns -- I no longer trust the IMDb rating system to guide me.
This movie is without soul; or rather, perhaps it has a soul, dark, noxious, cold. A slouching beast. What Yeats says applies here: "the ceremony of innocence is drowned"; the child is unable to live alive in either world. Better to read his poem.
The Village (2004)
We liked it
Warning: Contains SPOILER comments.
How you react to this movie depends on your expectations. I liked that Shyamalan does not make scaring the audience and his usual plot twists the primary theme of the movie. They are the structure he uses to get you to see it and to make other points, more sophisticated than in his previous movies. To me, this movie is about love and the quest for innocence. Can we achieve innocence when we have "secrets"? To Shyamalan, one must be strong to be innocent.
Bryce Dallas Howard is stunning and fully worth your risking possible disappointment in going (remember expectations?). The other actors are only fair in their parts, but they are not parts written to shine, with the exception of Joaquin Phoenix's role. He does an excellent job portraying moral strength and trusting innocence.
One concern I have: I counted 11 scenes showing a very obvious boom mike. After about the 4th one, the audience laughed, breaking the suspension of disbelief. Did Shyamalan do this on purpose? If yes, it is a gimmick that smells and fails. If no, it is incredibly sloppy.
Notwithstanding, I give it 7 out of 10.