StarOpus Reviews

Break Point (2023–2024)

solid documentary so far

[7/10 · 16 January 2023]

As a tennis fan I think it's important to show the inside of the sport which I think lacks access to the fans at times. Sport of more than about hitting a ball, it's about the history, the drama, the psychology and getting to know the players. A few of the players gave good access, I wish more would have done.

I was disappointed that the Novak drama in Australia was almost completely glossed over as that was the biggest tennis story of the year. A lot of the focus is on some of the up and coming players trying to make their big breakthroughs and this series was lucky enough to have access to some players having some big moments. For example, Nick Kyrgios gave access in what turned out to be a big breakthrough year for him in both singles and doubles. The series is definitely richer for that story despite a couple of reviewers crying about it and giving the whole series a low rating because of it. I think sport is a lot more boring without its characters.

This documentary gives a good balance between the male and female side of tennis, I do wish some of the bigger names were involved with this though, such as Roger, Rafa and Novak, along with some more of the legends of the sport. The contrast between the established at the top of the sport with the up and coming players with more of the input of the legends could have made with more compelling. Still, I enjoyed this so far and am looking forward to the next instalment in the Summer.

Alex's War (2022)

Pretty good

[8/10 · 30 July 2022]

Could have been a bit more engaging, the pace dragged a little at times and it was a little disjointed, but better than I was expecting, the production values were reasonable. Also, it could have been a little bit more in depth on the man himself and the life and working of Infowars. But overall it was at least fairly balanced and quite an accurate portrayal of him from his mistakes to some of his amazing predictions which came true. Worth a watch for anyone interested in truth and reality.

The Street (2019)

Overall OK made documentary

[6/10 · 27 February 2022]

Interesting variety of characters, shame about the pro-EU propaganda in it. Overall sad to see the destruction of local communities because of corporatism and slack policies on planning permission.

Help (2021 TV Movie)

Good

[7/10 · 20 September 2021]

Great acting as you would expect from the leads. This drama shows why it is important to focus on protecting the vulnerable as opposed to locking down everyone. 40% of people that died with covid were in care homes, the average age of someone dying from it being over 80.

A good drama like this highlights what a scandal lockdowns are and that they have been used as a tool for controlling gullible people rather than protecting them.

Endgame 2050 (2020)

Vegan Propaganda

[1/10 · 6 December 2020]

I was expecting to see a documentary about sustainability and even self-sufficiency. In the end it just summed up the worlds problems in the idea that there are too many people in the world, how immoral it is to eat meat and that eating meat and fish is killing us and giving us all cancer! Other than the fact that it ignored that we have been eating meat with pleasure for millions of years, it offered no solutions such as lab grown meat and completely ignored self-sufficiency. It was nothing but a vehicle to shove vegan propaganda down the viewers throat. The writer of this documentary said she surgically sterilized herself to make the world a better place (she really is that crazy), that's the only good she will ever do! One of the worst pieces of propaganda I've seen in a while.

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

I absolutely loved this

[10/10 · 24 October 2020]

I rarely give 10 stars, it's one of the best things I've watched in a long time. It's beautifully written and acted, the lead was wonderful. The only thing I'm sad about is I know I won't watch something as brilliant as this for a while.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)

One sided opinion piece

[3/10 · 18 September 2020]

It seems all too common these days that only one point of view is portrayed, whether it be the media or this documentary (and the book it was based on). In this documentary you get opinions from both genders, multiple races and different languages but they all speak the same voice, there are no alternative view points whatsoever. That one view point is tax the rich more and essentially get rid of inheritance. Arguably offshore companies and tax avoidance is a big issue, however, taking peoples wealth and not giving people the choice what they do with it when they die, well, many disagree with some or all these sentiments. That's my point, where were those voices?

For people that aren't aspirational and are bitter that some have more than they do, they may enjoy this documentary. For any critical thinkers, they'll see this documentary as a poor effort. For a more balanced and forensic documentary on capital, give The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson a go.

Boys State (2020)

Interesting documentary

[7/10 · 27 August 2020]

There was a strange biased in this documentary unfortunately. With the portrayal of Steven Garza you assume he's going to win. Obviously this didn't capture what was actually happening so the filmmakers failed in that department, just like the media fail in that respect. There should have been a greater focus on Eddie.

I also think it's a shame that the two sexes aren't mixed. That would make for an interesting dynamic. If they make a Girls State I'll be very interested to see the differences.

The Game Changers (2018)

Unbelievably biased

[1/10 · 12 October 2019]

OK, let's look at some of the people involved in this piece of activism presented by some washed up MMA fighter who lost almost as many fights as he won. Let's start with this strongman Patrik Baboumian. He's pretty much billed as one of the strongest people in the world. Having watched Worlds Strongest Man for years I was curious why I had never heard of him. Well it's no surprise, because he's a nobody who has never even been close to one of the strongest people in the world. What do the strongest people in the world all have in common? They all eat tons of meat. If this documentary had any sense of balance at all it would of actually been more believable. Instead it does nothing more than preach to the already converted. When something isn't balanced and you know it contains some lies it makes you question everything about it and completely disregard the whole thing. Overall, a very poor effort.

The Brink (2019)

Enjoyable documentary

[8/10 · 14 July 2019]

This documentary portrayed a very likeable guy in Steve Bannon. Obviously it's biased as much as it can because the film maker is a globalist sympathiser. It's clear Bannon works really hard to try and combat the globalists but it's obviously an uphill struggle because they have their claws all over the media, academia and social policy currently. As they say, they don't have 10's of billions to play like the far left enjoy from people like George Soros. The media fights dirty, they even made the claim that the word globalist is anti-semitic, although that did come from The Guardian, which is conspiracy theory central these days. It's rather like how they have no arguments so they just call everything racist! Great people like Bannon are trying their best and thankfully there are people like him around trying to make the world a better place.

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

The ethics of the pursuit of knowledge.

[8/10 · 5 December 2018]

What starts off as a light-hearted story of seeming coincidence slowly takes an meandering twist into darkness. I'm interested in original, well told stories and this one is exception. I find it amazing the lengths people will go to in the name of science, the trouble is, those people tend to lack certain human qualities and as a result people often end up suffering greatly on the basis of their decisions.

Ultimately, I think the testament of a great, well told story is that it leaves you asking yourself big questions. The subject matter of the film leaves you wondering that, but the ethics behind it does not make it right and it just amazes me that it was ever allowed to happen and who was ultimately accountable for that.