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Reviews
Une femme de notre temps (2022)
I used to be a big fan of Sophie Marceau
When she made Anthony Zimmer, I was such a big fan. After that, her movies have gone downhill. It's like all the projects offered to her are mediocre or crass. This one is particularly stupid. The French title's literal translation is "A Woman of Our Time" or "A Contemporary Woman". The woman in this film is definitely not a woman of our time. She is illogical, emotional, over-wrought, out of control. You would think a female who is competent enough to ascend to the rank of Chief of Police would have some common sense and intelligence. But no, this one can't handle a little marital infidelity. Keep in.mind the long-held notion that all French men have mistresses; monogamy is not the norm in France. She goes out of her head, cannot sleep for days when she discovers her husband is cheating on her. Bizarre. You would think in this day and age, everyone assumes their spouse cheats or should assume it because sex is so casual, it means nothing nowadays. Marriage is not so much an institution as it is a frame of mind. So this female cop doesn't do anything when she's on the job. She spends her personal time writing books, jogging and practising her archery. She doesn't spend time with her husband. She tells him she loves him but she would rather spend her evenings after work searching for inspiration for her next novel. The character in this movie is schizoid. Bad slow boriing movie because it simply does not go anywhere and makes absolutely no sense. I have recently seen a lot of bad movies by Sophie Marceau and I normally stop watching after the first 10 minutes. This one I watched until the very end because the synopsis sounded promising and intriguing. I should have stopped watching the moment I realized this is not a mystery, not a crime drama, not a suspense-thriller, not a love story but a portrait (badly drawn) about a woman (any woman, not necessarily French, not necessarily a cop) going off the rails. A normal, contemporary "woman of our times" would have simply focussed on her career and asked for a divorce instead of going batshit crazy the minute she suspects her husband's adultery. At the end of this movie, she stands to lose everything -- career, her freedom, family, her standing in the community and everything she ever worked for, all because she can't handle the thought of her husband with some other woman/women. What a dumb story. Dumb enough that I may never want to see another Sophie Marceau movie again. I watched this one because of her. In future, I may avoid all movies starring her. Thumbs way down.
Gold (2022)
Zac Efron is very good in serious roles
His raunchy stuff is not my cup of tea. This movie is brilliantly executed on what Hollywood would deem a shoestring budget. Everything about this production is top of the line. Who is Anthony Hayes? I had never heard of him before I watched this movie. But having seen his work in Gold (as director, screenwriter and second male lead), I am surprised he is not as renowned as, say, Kenneth Branaugh or Orson Welles. Anthony Hayes is an auteur. This movie deserves a wider audience. Unfortunately the box office numbers indicate it didn't get much distribution. If you enjoy intelligent storytelling, this is one you will enjoy.
Heojil kyolshim (2022)
EXTREMELY overrated, exceptionally boring, comically bad
These days, Korean movies are like the emperor. They get high praise, maybe simply because they are foreign and the "it" thing. But this emperor has no clothes. The actors have no chemistry. The story is preposterous from beginning to end. This cop should have recused himself. Why did the police even suspect the first death was a murder in the first place? (They started investigating and stalking the wife even before there was any mention of DNA found under the dead man's fingernails.) What was the thing with the second husband anyway? Nothing is properly explained. This movie is not a romance nor a mystery nor a thriller nor anything that fits into any genre. It is a far cry from Oldboy and the director should stop making films if this is how much he has regressed since his heyday. I would like to give this film a zero to counterbalance all the 10-ratings.
A Star Is Born (1976)
No chemistry, hugely disappointng
After seeing the Bradley Cooper Lady Gaga version (five times because it was that good), I really wanted to see the Barbra Streisand version. Now having finally found the Streisand version after lots of searching around, and having just watched it, my reaction is "What a total waste of time!" If Bradley Cooper's masterpiece is a 10 (which it is), this one is a 1. The screenplay is chaotic; the characters have zero chemistry. Half way through, I couldn't wait for the movie to end. Yet I watched until the final 15 minutes (because I had wanted to see this film for the past two years) at which point I fast-forwarded to see how and if he dies at the end. I couldn't care less and was relieved that he does, so that I could shut it down. All the characters are unappealing and poorly fleshed out; I was so glad they would simply go away. By contrast, Bradley Cooper's remake is poignant and moving, going straight to your heart. I wanted to cry at the end; I felt for them and wanted their love story to go on. For people who ask the question "Why remake a good thing?" the answer is "Because the remake is so very much better." Bradley Cooper, you are the modern day equivalent of Orson Welles in terms of movie-making genius. As for the Streisand-Kristofferson pairing, despite the legendary Streisand vocals, this movie is a total dud.
Sweetheart (2019)
Absolutely riveting
An intelligent level-headed female protagonist, a taut and suspenseful storyline that grips you from its first minute, complete originality from the beginning to the end. A thriller in every sense of the word. If Hitchcock made creature features, this would be it. First-rate. (Don't know why I never heard of this movie before.)
The Deep House (2021)
Boring low-budget amateurish production
I wasted half an hour of my life watching this, having been tricked by the reviewers before me to give it a chance. I couldn't wait to finish my food and get this off my screen. Clearly it was made on a shoestring budget; around $10,000 is my guess. The actors were pulled off the street, seemingly, given their inability to act and extreme ordinariness. There are no scares in this movie. I don't know why it took two people to direct a non-existent script with no soundtrack and WTF dialogue. I am shocked Universal picked this up. It's a Blair Witch Project wannabe but BWP was made in the 90's. This underwater copycat is so out of time.
Old Henry (2021)
Best western I've ever watched
Kevin Costner's Open Range is second. Virtuoso performance by Tim Blake Nelson. Stephen Dorff's best work. The writer-director Potsy Ponciroli is someone I have never heard of but his writing and directing is genius. I would gladly watch this one again within 24 hours. If this doesn't get a best screenplay nomination at Oscar time, something is screwy in Hollywood. I never liked westerns as a genre. But this one is so much more. I am blown away by this masterwork. Its only shortcoming,in my opinion, is the song at the end when the credits roll.
Ida Red (2021)
Well-done all around
Intelligent scri[t, good acting, good camera work. No cliches in this movie. Melissa Leo's best work to-date. I have never liked Frank Grillo or Josh Hartnett but they do a fine job in this movie. Every member of the cast is pitch perfect. Worth watching twice for the nuances missed on first viewing.
Like Dogs (2021)
Low Quality Production
Nothing much to say in this review, other than this is a very low-budget project. Painful to watch, a waste of time. Preposterous, to say the least.
Old (2021)
Watching this movie is pure torture
Like many of M. Night's work post The Sixth Sense, he is grasping at straws once again to prove his brilliance and competence as an auteur film-maker. The only thing this movie proves is that his success with The Sixth Sense was a complete fluke. This movie makes no sense and I could not wait for it to end. I quit about 20 minutes before the finish because I could not take it any more. Utter nonsense with no satisfactory explanation. M. Night continues to live in his fantasy world of aliens and circular logic. Good-bye, please do not make another movie. Want a good movie? Watch Searching (2018 Deborah Messing,John Cho head the cast.) That is a brilliantly made suspense-thriller made on a micro-budget.
No Man of God (2021)
Boring
This is a Silence of the Lambs wannabe. ZacEfron portrayed Ted Bundy in a way more interesting movie two years ago. Ditto Mark Harmon 40 years ago. This movie is dull and lifeless. Luke Kirby is entirely miscast. Well, has Elijah Wood been good in anything? Adding this dud to his resume doesn't help him.
Chop Shop (2007)
Interesting and gritty but the characters are all wretched
This movie is about a low-life kid. It is a brilliantly made film but too real-to-life. It reminds us how unfortunate the world is and tells us we must never let our children grow up like this. The movie does not have a payoff, unless you enjoy watching people living in the underbelly of society. For many of us who had no idea what illegal immigrants do to survive, this movie can be enlightening. But ignorance is bliss in that, having watched this movie, you may well be tempted to forget it in a hurry and rush back to your own relatively blissful, wonderful life.
Waiting for the Barbarians (2019)
So excruciatingly BORING
I can't believe this incredibly boring movie has both Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson. There is no other word to describe this production. When His Majesty starts washing the blind woman's feet and hair (being her slave for no reason that I can discern), I had to turn off. Soooooo very boring.
Tenet (2020)
This movie is BAD
For one reason: it makes no sense. You will be sitting there wondering: "Huh?" "What?" "Why?" "What just happened?" And even if you spend the whole day trying to sort out the plot, it won't make any sense. The writer/director/auteur Christopher Nolan's singular style is Go Big Or Go Home. He takes a big budget, a big cast of characters (note I said 'characters' not 'stars') and then he tries, actually tries, to make the story as convoluted as possible. Just so he can justify the huge budget, special effects, fancy camera work and arguably big cast. It's good this movie played in theatres during the Great Pandemic; less people will have paid (wasted) good money to see it and now they can see it for free via streaming. There are so many movies that tell a reasonably good story and are easy to understand. Yet those movies don't get much credit. Too bad.
This movie lets you travel the globe and visit some exotic locales (Mumbai, right? where some fabulously wealthy arms dealer has his fortress apartment right across the street from a ghetto market) such as the Ukraine where the opera house is designed like a football stadium. I guess in the Ukraine, there are as many opera-lovers as America has football fans.
Nolan needs to get his head out of his video game and go see the real world. Please don't give this man another penny if he's going to film his own script. And don't waste your time trying to sort out the bits and pieces that make up this movie. Because any logic you can make of it, will still be full of holes.
The Nest (2020)
Boring as hell
I guess covid-19 has given actors no choice for better projects.Why would anyone make a movie like this? Where did they get the money for something like this? They should have donated the funds for this project to the frontliners. What a waste of money. Did anyone notice the wife was just smoking non-stop. Almost every scene including when she wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is light a cigarette. I wonder if the actress is like this in real life because how could anyone stand to be married to anyone like that even in a movie? Boringboring boring doesn't begin to describe this movie. Nothing else to say because the movie itself says absolutely nothing --except non-stop on-screen smoking. Please consider donating your movie-making or distribution money to cancer prevention and covid-19 charities if you are going to make or distribute another movie like this one. At least the money can serve a purpose.
E zhan (2014)
Very well done, romantic and thrilling
The action sequences are the best choreographed since House of Flying Daggers. The director's vision is romantically nostalgic, telling a story of brotherhood, patriotism and selfless love. This is a most enjoyable movie on all levels, and very sad in the end. I look forward to seeing it again. (If the version you get is dubbed in English, skip it. Watch the Cantonese version for best effect.)
Damages (2007)
Too convoluted to be enjoyable
Weaving back and forth in time does not help the story. With the Frobischer case, a 100 million offer to settle would have given Ellen here's a $30,000,000 immediate payday for doing no work. Any real lawyer would hsve been pleased to have her client accept. But no, she is incensed that her client want to take the offer and fires her colleague for failing to warn her. Ridiculous script . bye bye. I turned off the show after 45 minutes into the pilot episode.
Klute (1971)
over-rated over-wrought garbage on every level
There is nomystery to this whodunit. The guy watching/stalking Breeis recognizable from the back of his head when he stands across the street watching Donald Sutherland first go into Bree's building. In every subsequent scene when the creep-executive is listening to Bree on tape, you see and recognize the face -- it's the same guy you've already seen in the first and second scenes of the movie! No mystery who is the villain in this piece. The only thing you sit through this stinker trying to figure out is: Why did the killer-villain-stalker hire Donald Sutherland in the first place? Oh yeah, so he could get caught for crimes/murders he'd already been getting away with for years. Furthermore, he just had to hunt Fonda down just so he could confess everything to her, all the many murders. Why? Oh yeh, because he's rich,powerful, successful so I guess he can't stand all that and has to go beat up hookers on the side, then murder them. And when the cops never could catch up to him, he had to hire Sutherland to do it, Such an 'intelligent' movie. What a piece of crap. Don't waste your time on this so-called 'classic'. It makes no sense. I give it less than zerobut one star is the lowest rating on this board.