zzzorf Reviews

Blackthorn (2011)

Satisfying fictional account of Butch Cassidy's later life

[7/10 · 30 March 2018]

Having watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid only a few months back the story was still in my mind quite well giving me a chance to better understand this movie, to be honest I didn't really need to have that knowledge going into this as it was easily self sustainable and watchable in its own bubble.

This was a good character driven/story based Western, the sort I can actually sit and watch and enjoy. It was interesting to have seen what became of Butch and what he had become (even though the whole thing was fictional and not based in fact). his character arc was well done and you could see just where he was coming from.

The storyline was simple enough to follow with the final outcome being quite satisfing to the rest of the story and the characters involved.

Aluku liba (2009)

A good history lesson with unneeded drama elements

[5/10 · 28 March 2018]

I tried to give this movie the benefit of the doubt, I really did but it just was never really sure of what it wanted to be.

The movie started off as a mans return to his homeland through the jungle, which mostly consisted of him walking through the jungle or praying to his ancestors to get him home safe and random shots of animals.

After a chunk of the movie was wasted he then has a near death experience which sees him saved by a native and then he just happens to meet up with a friend from his village and that's where the movie changes.

Well if you can even call it a movie, more like a documentary about the Aluku people with some drama links to it.

For what it was worth it was ok and that is why it gets the half way rating for me, I just wished it new what it was doing the whole way through and not change styles, there was no real reason for the boring beginning if the history lesson was the films main goal.

Amazonia (2013)

Brilliant and Beautiful

[9/10 · 27 March 2018]

Only two words are needed to describe this movie.

BRILLIANT

BEAUTIFUL

That is all there is to it.

OK well I better elaborate.

First of let me say that the first thing this movie made me think about was The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a movie i have loved since childhood. This movie was shot on the similar idea, letting the animals play out the parts naturally and shooting it in a sort of documentary style.

That is where Amazonia really outshines Milo and Otis however, the cinematography in this was absolutely superb. You can tell those behind the camera really put an effort into getting the best shots they could allowing for some amazing footage, with the variety of animals looking absolutely beautiful.

Where Amazonia misses out though, and the reason I pulled short of giving a perfect score, was the lack of a narrator ala Milo and Otis. I think the added bit of a storyteller just missed that extra little thing to get over that last hurdle and meet the entire audience. Just think of someone like Richard Attenborough or Morgan Freeman telling the monkey's story while we were watching. According to IMDb Martin Sheen does do a narration so one day I may go looking for one of those copies and it may just give it that extra edge it needs. All the same though this is a must watch for the movie is just

BRILLIANT

and

BEAUTIFUL.

Ashakara (1991)

A good movie from the African country of Togo

[8/10 · 27 March 2018]

I didn't know what to expect going into this but my expectations were really low knowing where it came from. That was the wrong opinion to go into this movie with. What I got instead was a really well thought out plot line, decent acting and thoughts to leave the movie with in how us in the "civilised world" treat these "underprivileged" countries.

The story seemed realistic, a cure is known in a local village and the great big pharmaceutical company wishes to have it all to themselves. The characters were all relateable and their agendas seemed on par with what you would expect.

In the end a really good movie that you should watch if you get a chance.

The Hills Run Red (1966)

Gave me faith for Spaghetti Westerns

[7/10 · 26 March 2018]

I don't have a very great history with Westerns, I even have a worse history with Spaghetti Westerns (granted I have only seen two prior to this one so it isn't much of a history). Compared to the other two I've seen (both from Sergio Leone), this seemed more what I would expect from a normal western thus making it an easier watch for me.

The story was simple and easy to follow but had the acting style (I believe anyway) of what you would expect of a Spaghetti Western. While I would still take an American Western over this one I would have to admit it has made me want to seek out more Italian Westerns just to prove those first couple I saw (both heralded as major ones) were not the norm and that the genre is not just inherently bad.

Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)

Don't turn this movie off

[6/10 · 24 March 2018]

This movie had a very amateurish look to it. The acting was overly poor, the camera work was shocking and the effects were bad. The thing is it all worked in this movies favour.

Once you came to grips with all of the amateurishness you realise just how much it all fits in with the story being told. The longer I watched the more I forgot all the movie making sides of things and became more engrossed in what was actually happening.

You have to feel for the old man, his return home was not what he would have expected and possibly the hardest part of his life (I have no context however to compare it to). Though if I were him I would be getting out of Columbia straight away, hell if the opportunity arose for me to go there after seeing this I would definitely pass on the opportunity.

I recommend this to watch to whoever is interested just keep an open mind. Don't turn it off because it looks poor, that is part of its charm.

Ariana's Quest (2002 TV Movie)

Better than you think it would be

[8/10 · 23 March 2018]

I went into this movie expecting very little, there didn't seem to be many redeeming qualities leading into it. I just wanted to see exactly what sort of job Sable had done as an actor when she had to rely on more than just her looks as she did in wrestling. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a reasonable movie.

I probably gave the movie more than it deserves but it is how I feel at the time of watching and this time I quite enjoyed it. While not the greatest sword and sorcery around, it was still quite a good watch, especially when you go in with little expectations.

Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (1970)

Luchadors vs. Monsters - Oh Hell Yeah!

[8/10 · 23 March 2018]

I have been meaning to give an El Santo movie a watch for a long time and now that I have finally done so I'm regretting not having done it sooner, this movie was awesome.

Any true lover of professional wrestling knows some history of Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) and the super-stardom some wrestlers had that transcended the business into the real of film. El Santo and The Blue Demon were two of it's biggest stars.

These Luchadors were superheroes in their own right and in tradition of American superhero things like the Batman TV series this movie was as cheesy as hell, but the right kind of cheesy.

Any wrestling fan, or even fans of B movies or cheesy superhero stuff, should watch this and the many other titles to these guys names. For the rest of you, you have no idea what you are missing.

The Last Border: Viimeisellä rajalla (1993)

a Cheap Mad Max rip-off?

[4/10 · 23 March 2018]

Looking at the cover of my DVD I expected this movie to be a cheap Mad Max rip-off, I was partly right. It was similar in a lot of ways, but in lot a bit different.

I did get the cheap part right though. If IMDb trivia is to be believed than this movie lost a lot of its budget and it was quite evident in the quality of the movie. The movie had potential, it just needed that backing to help it reach it.

Hyeongsa (2005)

Unique, but not in a good way

[4/10 · 22 March 2018]

This movie was unique I'll give it that much. For me however it wasn't in a good way. For the first 20 minutes I was left scratching my head about what was happening and when I finally did catch on to the plot I was already too far gone to really care.

As I said the movie was unique, mainly to do with the way things were shot however as I said, I wasn't really a big fan of it. In the end the movie was a big miss for me.

1,000 Times Good Night (2013)

A misleading first scene but still a good watch.

[7/10 · 22 March 2018]

The opening scenes of his movie had me on the edge of my seat, it was a really powerful image and I thought if the movie continues like this I'm in for a hell of a ride.

The first scene is misleading.

That however did not make a bad movie, just a different one then I thought I was watching. While labelled as a war movie (well at least on IMDb anyway) this is far from one, but more instead a look at just how the life of these type of photographers can take on the life of their families. I real thought provoking watch.

The Idol (2015)

A good heartfelt true story

[9/10 · 20 March 2018]

I do love a good heartfelt true story, and this was right up my alley. I was hooked from the start and felt really bad for the sister, who would have had to have been the best actor in the movie (the main character as a boy had to be the worst I thought). The missed a trick however when they didn't really refer back to her in the Idol run.

The movie however was not without it's flaws. The splicing in of the Arab Idol took away from the emotion at the end of the movie and put a dampener on the movies end.

This however was only a minor detail as in overall terms this was a good movie which shows how reality shows can actually be important things for certain peoples.

Ida (2013)

Simply shot leaving room for great storytelling

[7/10 · 19 March 2018]

This movie was so simply shot. The black and white made it seem more realistic for the time it was set in and the simplicity of the shots meant there was nothing distracting you from the story.

It is in the story that the simplicity moved away. I don't mean it was hard to follow, on the contrary, it was quite easy to understand what was going on. I mean more there was layers upon layers of context that will require multiple watches to get the full understanding, though the basic understanding the first watch gives you is still a satisfying amount.

I Am Dragon (2015)

Russia improves a common story

[8/10 · 18 March 2018]

I went into this movie not knowing what to expect. What I got was a relatively normal story, girl meets boy who is not what he seems (think Twilight as an example). However saying that does it little justice, yes the story was basic but what made it different however was the Russian aspect of the movie. Certain areas bleed certain stories and this one seems written perfectly for that culture. What was a basic story had culture plastered all over it making it a great watch. The actress who played Miroslava was gorgeous in her role, playing the character very well and being accompanied well by the main actor.

The only thing I will say though is watch the movie in the original Russian, there is something about the girls voice in the English dubbed version on the DVD that really grated me.

Hansie: A True Story (2008)

A must watch for cricket fans

[8/10 · 18 March 2018]

I have looking forward to watching this movie ever since I first heard about it over a year back and when I was able to find a copy of it only a few weeks back I was over the moon. I grew up a bi fan of cricket here in Australia and Cronje was one of the best. I didn't know much of the details of his disgrace so this film would be an eye opener for me. This film handles the topic well handling both the highs and lows with dignity.

Of course the movie is not without its flaws, as to be expected by it being just a local production and not a big screen epic. The most notable was using video game footage to replace actual game footage. While it was a unique idea it was a little offputting.

A must watch for any cricket fans.

Karas: The Prophecy (2005 Video)

Why did I Bother?

[3/10 · 18 March 2018]

I think this will teach me to grab one of my sons anime DVD's when I am looking to fulfil a challenge, not a good choice at all. From the start I was completely lost, with no real idea what was going on. I would pick up something and then a minute later I would be lost again.

The funny thing is my son came home near the end of me watching the movie and that is when he told me the movie was crap and that he himself had only watched 15 minutes of it and turned it off himself. Oh well, that is life.

Charulata (1964)

Good story, slow movie

[4/10 · 15 March 2018]

I wanted to like this movie. The storyline seemed interested and the non-song and dance Indian movies I had seen so far had been of quite a good standard. This however did not do it for me. The movie moved along very slowly, enough that I started to find myself drifting off to sleep at different moments in time.

Don't get me wrong though, the story was still good and I would love to see it again in a redo, but as it stands as is, I have to pass on it.

Unforgiven (1992)

I tried guys and gals, I really tried.

[3/10 · 14 March 2018]

So the time has come, I made it to my 3000th charted movie on my personal Flickchart account and therefore watched my milestone movie "Unforgiven", as chosen by the members of the Flickchart Facebook group in my poll from a few days back. Before I give up my quick review I will say that this movie would have been one of my next movies to watch anyway. Not because it was one of my most wanted to see movies, the Hitchcock choices were probably my preferred choices, but because I borrowed it from my local library for the purpose of seeing as many of the best of all time to say at least I have watched them. Anyway here is a quick review.

I tried guys and gals, I really tried.

The thing is Westerns would normally be my last choice in movie (even though it seems to be that I hate War movies even more). I can see where this movie can be seen as one of the best of its genre, especially in the last 30 years but still it wasn't for me. I have found that I do like westerns more than I thought I did as I have enjoyed a lot of them over my viewing since I have started my quest to see the best of the best I still need to have a western hook me early on for me to enjoy it and this one just didn't do it.

Now go back 32 years from when this was made, put a "The" in front of the title and swap Clint Eastwood out for a gorgeous Audrey Hepburn and you will find a western I do really enjoy.

Anyway since this was from a flickchart group I am going to end this in the Flickchart Letterboxd way by showing you all how the movie entered my chart.

Unforgiven < Kept Women Unforgiven < The Book of Eli Unforgiven < The Road Unforgiven < Rancho Notorious Unforgiven > Children of the Corn 666 Unforgiven > Patton Unforgiven > Rango Unforgiven > Paranormal Asylum Unforgiven > Twelve Monkeys Unforgiven > Turbo-Charged Prelude Unforgiven > Scarlet Street

Entered at 2816/3000

The Italian Job (1969)

Don't watch the redo first

[5/10 · 14 March 2018]

I watched this movie because only a few days back I rewatched the redo starring Mark Wahlberg. While I barely liked the redo I thought well gives me a good opportunity to compare the two. Well that was a bad idea in my part.

First off the movies are nothing really alike accept for maybe the cars. The redo seemed more like a sequel then an actual redo. Beside that however watching the redo first meant I was expecting something I just didn't get. I do enjoy older movies at times but I do have a tendency to lean towards more modern things so sometimes older things can be left out dated because of that, this is one of those cases.

The movie itself I struggled to keep myself interested in. I knew that the hook of the movie was the job itself and that was where the movie really went up a notch but I found myself no longer interested when the time come. The hijinx of the car chase were good but by then I was so disinterested they hardly registered. For my 10 year old son however it was a different story. He only started watching around the time of the job and therefore was not in my bored state. His eyes were glued to the screen, loving what he saw.

My advice, don't watch the redo just before you watch this. Watch it in its own bubble to make up your mind and then maybe watch the redo.

Wadjda (2012)

A Beautiful Film

[7/10 · 13 March 2018]

This was a beautiful little movie. While I don't know much about the religion the movie was simple enough that it filled in any gaps that I had to understand what was going on. The story was simple which allowed for more exploration of the characters, thus making you care more. All round this was a good movie that I recommend for anyone to watch if you get a chance.

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

Good story, poor humour

[6/10 · 12 March 2018]

Probably one of the most famous movies to come out of Africa, I had only heard of this movie, never seen it. What I expected from this was a silent era-esque performance from the main actor in a full on slapstick comedy with barely any story. Man was I wrong.

The story behind this movie is as relevant now as it was back then and it still packs a punch with what it set out to do, make us realise the immoral things we have done to this world. This was my favourite part of the movie.

My least favourite part was the comedy, it just didn't seem to live up to my expectations or today's standards. Maybe another watch will see me enjoy the humour a bit more but I think that the 80's was where it belonged.

Toni Erdmann (2016)

Struggled to connect

[4/10 · 9 March 2018]

While it might not be the general consensus but I didn't really enjoy this movie that much. The idea and the story were fine but the way it was all put together just didn't work for me. The beginning of the movie was so slow, not setting a good feel for the main action of the movie. My other main issue was the characters. I struggled to connect with either the father or daughter thus taking me out of the movie. While I understand the father was a practical joker I got the feeling more of that he was doing his bits without any thought of the people he was doing them too, thus I just couldn't feel sorry for him. As to his daughter I never felt like I ever could get a handle of just who she was. This of course was not the design of the director so I can see where I failed to fully understand the movie as designed to be seen.

The Wild Life (2016)

Not as bad as reviews say

[6/10 · 8 March 2018]

I went into this movie not expecting much, the reviews I had read where not very promising but I thought well it is still worth a try. It is not as bad as reports say. The story was fine, I like when movies take another point of view of a well known story, makes you look at things in different ways. The characters were entertaining and the graphics were good so I don't see much of a problem with it.

I will say the two of my kids that I watched it with (ages 10 and 3) did walk away from the movie to do other things but I don't think that was due to the movie but interest in doing other things at the time but take it as you will.

The City of Lost Children (1995)

What the?

[3/10 · 8 March 2018]

If it wasn't for having to watch this movie for completion purposes for a movie challenge I am doing I would have turned it off probably 10 minutes into it (yeah I know I could have changed to so many other choices but once my decision was made of the challenge movie then I feel like I should stick to it). I honestly have no idea what I just watched, I mean I get the basis of the story, even if it made virtually no sense to me whatsoever but honestly the whole thing seemed ridiculous. Now don't get me wrong, I can deal with ridiculousness in a movie but there is a limit. The over the topness just took away from the movie and put me way out of place, not allowing me to emphasise at all with any character or even care in the slightest what was going on. I really don't recommend this movie.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Lives up to expectations

[7/10 · 7 March 2018]

I went into this movie expecting a cinematographic masterpiece, it did not let me down. I went into this movie expecting to see great action sequences, it did not let me down. In fact it didn't let me down in anything I was expecting so why then did I not fall in love with it? I honestly don't know.

I could blame the fact I watched a dubbed version instead of the traditional Mandarin version but honestly I don't think it really took to much away from it overall. Maybe a second viewing may see me fall in love with it but for now it is just a standard like from me. I do say though if you want to see a spectacle than this is a good movie for you.