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fisher-ik
Reviews
Georgetown (2019)
Subtle question - is this just angry narcissism or a genuine personality disorder
Beautiful to watch. The camera work, moving so elegantly. Cinematography and colour were generally subdued, and respecting but not reflecting the mood. Compare the Coen brothers, in The Grand Budapest Hotel, for example. The music was so perfect that you don't notice it, which is what film music should do. Direction was also wonderful. The acting, oh. The weird acceptance of Waltz, with perhaps an ulterior motive. Vanessa Redgrave, being magnificent, but was she too trusting? Annette Bening, giving us a cynical point of view. Who do we trust? Does he have a narcissistic personality disorder, or is everyone else wrong? Decide for yourselves.
Toscana (2022)
I would have liked this, but...
What is going on with the sound? Is it dubbed? The sound from voices is surely from an amateurish editor. Abysmal. They should have paid more for a sound editor. I really wanted to like this film. I love films about chefs and cooking. The acting seems fine, and the script and cinematography are more than adequate. The acting is absolutely fine.
The action in the kitchen is on par, and the frustration and reaction between characters is realistic, especially the repressed anger.
I would watch this all the way through if the sound was fixed.
The sound of dialogue lets this film down. Please release it again with a more professional sound edit.
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
It's not what it seems
This is a satyr play. Humankind is a comedy. Josh Brolin, underappreciated as a straight-man comic actor, leads a cast in which some of the best actors and actresses of our era are given bit-parts. Ralph Fiennes, who completely dominated The Grand Budapest Hotel, has to be limited in screen time, or he would have dominated here as well. Likewise with Tilda Swinton. (As a side-note, look up her early work with Derek Jarman). And, in other ways, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, and many others in this Coen brothers film which seems now typical of their output, ruled over their scenes. Michael Gambon's narration is finely judged, a lesson in comedic deus ex machina commentary. This is an ensemble of huge talent, seemingly wasted. But oh, what fun they must have had! It is a hoot. George Clooney, dressed as a Roman general, saying with a straight face 'Well, I'm not a student of history', is priceless. Please recall that the Director of Photography in this film was Roger Deakins. Blade Runner 2049 was not Denis Villeneuve's film. It was an exercise in cinematography by Deakins, perhaps the greatest current master of the art. Yes, this film seems like an on-and-off mish-mash, but it is the comedy of human collaboration, and what divine humour is here!
Together (2021)
Hoping for better
Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy acting together, with a screenplay by Dennis Kelly (who worked on the script for Utopia), and directed by Stephen Daldry. What a line-up! I am trying to watch it, but the constant acting to camera, and angrily moaning about the relationship, is wearing. Everything else is excellent - camerawork, sound, lighting, physical direction, costumes, make-up, editing, and everyone else in the team doing a superb job. I just wish the script was less about complaints, and there was no speaking to camera. It is like being harangued.