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john_hili
Reviews
No Disrespect (2023)
A realistic depiction of socio-economic hardships and anxieties among African American youth.
I was truly touched by the real-to-life portrayal of family tension, violence and hardship in this film. The characters and dialogue exposed a profound understanding of lower socio-economic African American problems, and raised issues I know many can sympathise with. The director's use of camera work, while looking superficially cheap, is doubtlessly trying to bring across the roughness of life experienced by the characters. Similarly, what appears to be bad acting and inane dialogue is actually a clever portrayal of the education crises faced by American youth. Lastly, the director's choice to not include any white characters highlights the sense of racial isolation such black communities encounter. Bravo, I applaud this tour de force!
Inconceivable (2017)
The white man's film.
I was highly disturbed by the lack of black/yellow/red presence in this white bourgeois dominated production. The insinuation that such races could not attain to the wealth and status of Nicholas Cage was disturbing. The scarcity of diversity in the cast was also a poor showing. I appeal to Nicholas Cage: please be open to being involved with the "lesser" races.
Beyond the Law (2019)
The film rates itself.
The line from Detective Munce just about sums it up: "Gremlins... it's a f$@!ing film. Watch it, it's a classic!"
So true, a classic. Unlike this film.
Trauma Center (2019)
A Bruce Willis Masterpiece!
To a casual viewer, this film might have little to recommend; however, for the thespian afficionado, "Trauma Centre" is the pinnacle of Bruce Willis's acting career. In this masterpiece if cinema, Willis takes on the gritty role of Detective Wakes. There is a pun in his name, for Wakes seems half-asleep throughout the narrative but this is merely a ploy: he is actually very much awake to the corruption surrounding him on the police force. The skillful subtlety with which Willis plays an ostensibly utterly disinterested and bored police lieutenant needs to be seen to be believed. With any lesser man, one could be mistaken in thinking the dull delivery of lines, the half-witted shouting, and the constantly squinting eyes were the result of a drunken actor just phoning it in. But this is Bruce Willis and we can be assured any apparent laziness is actually genius in dusguise. He speaks the artistically crafted dialogue with the perfect pitch of blandness to convey the ennui of modern life through the eyes of the tired vexation of a cop who has seen just too much crime in the poverty-ridden streets of Puerto Rico. Now, it takes a trained eye to notice the nuances of this performance but I can tell you, it's Oscar-winning stuff! Nicky Whelan's performance, by comparison, is flat and lacking emotional realism, evidencing how "Neighbours" just cannot prepare an actress for the big screen; unlike Willis, who has honed his chops to perfection through acting classics such as "Breakfast of Champions" and "Colour of Night".
Fanatic (2019)
The only rapping in this film was of my knuckles.
This film has a derivative plot, awfully written script, characters that make you think humanity has generally devolved beyond homo erectus levels, and the directional qualities of a blind man with a blindfold on.
Avoid unless you want a further reason to loathe rappers, certain segments of the human race or the species in general.