foy-rizla Reviews

Ricky Gervais: Armageddon (2023 TV Special)

Ricky being Ricky

[8/10 · 26 December 2023]

In many ways Armageddon is a classic Ricky Gervais special; huge laughs, beautiful construction, well-articulated points and all that great jazz that has become his signature ...

BUT ...

.... There is nothing new!

The subject-matter has been exhausted at this point, yet he is still trampling that same old ground and making the same old points.

There are also references to bits by other comedians, as there have been in his last three specials. This is by no means an accusation of stealing material or any such nonsense, however, it should be noted that less popular comedians have received a lot of flack for a lot less.

My last criticism would be that a lot of his material seems be aimed at twitter. Twitter and the real world are very different places, so when he talks about 'people', it comes across as almost hollow because his characters are based in that world.

This might sound like a bad review, but it isn't. Armageddon hits the same high standards we're used to seeing from Ricky Gervais. Unfortunately, 'same' might be the most important word in that sentence.

The Old Way (2023)

A Good Idea ...

[5/10 · 17 January 2023]

As a project, The Old Way must have seemed like a sure-fire hit.

The premise itself has everything; a Western with story, structure, motivation and a genuinely unique and interesting hook, so why isn't it good?

I feel there are many reasons for this.

I suspect that a big part of it has to do with finance and time. Time costs; time for preparation and script management, time for shooting, editing, sound, etc, and unfortunately it all feels entirely rushed.

Nicholas Cage, as much as I'm a fan, seems to have spent very little time with the character and his performance ends up a little vague and inconsistent. Nick Searcy, another very good actor, gives the impression he's just playing himself and saying the words. However, I blame neither for this because the simple truth is that there are far too many of them, by which I mean words.

It is no exaggeration to say that this movie takes thirty lines to achieve what two could at every opportunity.

That doesn't mean that the writing is all bad. Almost every scene has moments that should be significant or powerful, but they're always either spelled-out to the point of exhaustion or lost in an endless rambling that makes the 1h35m run-time seem like 2h35m.

I'm sure a good Script Editor would have replaced at least half the dialogue with space and we'd be discussing a very different and infinitely better movie.

As it stands, I honestly wonder if a Script Editor was even employed at all.

The Old Way does have its bright sparks and Ryan Kiera Armstrong is definitely one of them. Her character is by far the most complete and her's is the most natural presence on the screen. Noah Le Gros also does a lot to bring Jimmy McCallister to life with an underlying intensity.

Unfortunately, these efforts are negated by a movie that chokes the life out of itself.

This upsets me! Independent films used to be amazing! They used to be a labor of love. Now, very often, they seem rushed and indulgent.

The western genre is full of possibly great stories and ideas that have still yet to be told and this was one of them.

There was no reason this couldn't have been a great addition to the genre.

Instead, it's another badly made mess of a movie that will probably frustrate you to the point of pressing the stop button.

If you made it to the end, you are either a determined or a forgiving soul and I salute you.

I did, somehow, but I feel older for it, so I must conclude that this probably isn't worth your time.

Stewart Lee: Tornado (2022 TV Special)

Lee looks fat

[8/10 · 27 October 2022]

In what is surely the last taped performance before his long awaited death, Stewart Lee pleads us to listen to his middle-aged ramblings in much the same way a starving tramp begs us for change; criticizing richer, more popular comedians in one last desperate attempt to find a wider market for his bitterness, whilst simultaniously calling on the voices of legends we thought were dead to help him fill the last twenty minutes with something approaching substance.

Obviously, Lee fails at this, remaining fat and charmless and fat until he thankfully stops speaking after an hour that feels like its been spent with your Uncle.

(I don't want to put too much emphasis on his weight but he was clearly gasping for air at points and this meant he couldn't perform the stronger parts of his set with the energy required)

In conclusion, when he dies (within the year, I'm sure) people will probably elevate this to some kind of acceptable level of art, but until then Tornado will remain a Madras stain on an outstanding electric bill; irrelevant and vaguely annoying.

8/10.

The Outfit (2022)

Not Quite Great

[7/10 · 21 April 2022]

Very few ideas even have the potential for greatness. Most fall well short at their conception. The Outfit is a movie that had all the ingredients to be legendary from the start. Unfortunately, it fell a little short of that.

This review is based on those admittedly high standards.

To start with, The Outfit is incredibly engaging. It's tone is that of a quiet talking man who forces you to listen closely to his words; it draws you in and casts it's spell upon you. This can only be done with a combination of top level acting, writing and directing, and there are certain scenes in this film that display all of that.

The only real issue is character development; In the end, there are just too many outright braindead decisions made by people who have been built up to be intelligent for this movie to truly suspend disbelief.

This is especially frustrating because these moments seem lazy in the context of the story, which is mainly well told.

Obviously, I have know no idea if those particular scenes were improvised on the spot or not, but they feel like it, and not in a good way. Improvising dialogue is fine, though risky. Improvising story with such lax standards is straight out bad directing and it feels like the movie seriously pays for this (If I'm wrong and those moments were carefully scripted, then the writers should probably be subject to a firing squad)

Lastly, Mark Rylance's depiction does not quite work as a complete character ... I know, I know ... He is an amazing actor and 90% of this performance is incredible, but a lot of the narrative depends on the last scene when (SPOILER) we see who Leonard really is.

In those very final moments, we need to see the true violence within him; a danger and intensity in his character that is almost visceral, even if just for five seconds as he slips off the mask. This moment lacks all of that.

I'm not necessarily criticizing Rylance for this. It may well have been a decision by the director or editor to pick a more subtle take, but it is far too subtle and leaves the movie with a relatively flat ending.

The film this was trying to be was amazing and I can't help but mourn it, the film it ended up being was still pretty good.

Secret State (2012)

How did I miss this??

[8/10 · 7 February 2022]

Despite the fact that Secret State is exactly the kind of political thriller I love to while away the hours with, I somehow missed its release.

Now, ten years later, I find myself glad that I did, as I recently got to spend a fascinating evening with this intriguing thriller.

To anyone interested in how government and big business interact, this is certainly eye opening, and even though many of us will be too cynical to be surprised by many of the idea's expressed, the technical and tactical elements of politics that are depicted in this show should leave us all feeling a little more informed ... ... and afraid ... Very, very afraid!

The story telling is also fantastic, but be warned; you have to pay attention! (This is from the guy who had to watch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 3 times, so don't feel patronized).

The ending is definitely a little ambiguous.

The phrase "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention" seems to have relevance to me, but at the same time, it's left open to interpretation and you may well have a different read on it, because it's left open to your idea of what a happy ending is.

Lastly, the casting in this, from top to bottom, is perfect! Normally, when reviewing something, there are a couple of standout performances, but everyone in this does their job so well that it's difficult to pick out a star.

Thoroughly entertaining

8/10.

Louis C.K.: Sorry (2021 TV Special)

Louis CK

[10/10 · 21 December 2021]

Louis CK is a serious contender for the greatest comedian of all time. Like The Beatles, his quantity of quality is undeniable, as is his consistency, and Sorry is yet another fantastic addition to his outstanding catalogue.

This man is one of the great moral philosophers of our generation, and the irony of that is not lost on him. Since revelations of his private life hit the headlines, Louis has become even more willing to take risks. He says what he wants and we can make what we make of it, and that, in essence, is exactly who he is.

As a fan, this is the show I wanted to see; Louis CK being Louis CK without restraint or limitation. This is Louis as he is and it is a masterpiece.

10/10.

Puff: Wonders of the Reef (2021)

Amazing Imagery!

[8/10 · 18 December 2021]

The first thing to be said about Puff is how astonishingly beautiful it is. We are given a glimpse into a microscopic world that is endlessly fascinating and colorful, and the images themselves are a miracle of modern science. Added to this, we have good pacing; Yes, it does feel a little slow at times, almost as if it's happening under water (lol), but there are also some genuinely tense moments and the filmmakers should be commended for the way those moments are crafted.

This movie has been accused of having an agenda and and maybe it does, but it's far from preachy. It simply shows us the realities of a world we forget exists and informs us of our effect on it. The truth is that any modern nature documentary has to record the human affect or it's not doing its job; it's incomplete, and anyone bemoaning this fact probably has an agenda of their own.

Either way, Puff should be a good watch for documentary lovers, especially if they're interested in underwater life.

8/10.

Worth (2020)

Humanity vs Economics

[8/10 · 31 August 2021]

Worth is an incredibly human story that shows just how complicated the world can get when you ask one simple question; what is the value of a life?

I'm sure that everyone associated with this project felt a great pressure to do the subject matter justice and I genuinely feel they did that. Worth is a superbly constructed movie with excellent pacing which allows you the time to experience the weight of the situation and the emotions of the people involved without ever feeling too slow or getting bogged down. This is a genuine achievement, as it's essentially a film about people talking in rooms and those are notoriously difficult films to make. The editor and all those involved in the final cut certainly deserve a lot of credit for that.

The acting is as good as you would expect it to be. This is certainly Keaton's movie, as his character is the focal point that the story returns to on a regular basis, and he carries that with his usual brilliance, but it must be said that there isn't a single bad performance in this movie. Everyone is fantastic and I feel this is the kind of film where if one person had been bad, it would have taken you out of the whole thing ... I was in it from start to finish.

Whatever your political views, I think this is an interesting look into a world that will be foreign to most of us, but we all need to understand.

8/10.