dan-bealecocks Reviews

Mr. Corman (2021)

Slow burn drama

[8/10 · 16 February 2022]

Plenty of shows give us a main character who is likeable but kind of a jerk. Mr Corman gives us a main character who is kind of a jerk, and who is also somewhat difficult to like. And that's a good thing. Over ten episodes we get to learn more about him, and his life, and why he's like this. And we learn that you don't always know what people are dealing with, what they have in their background, and that kindness is always important.

Joseph Gorden-Levitt has created a story about family, and how they can mess you up, and how you're stuck with them anyway. He's very good, because he's clearly a talented actor. He's surrounded himself with a great cast - Arturo Castro, Debra Winger, and Juno Temple are also particularly good.

I'm glad that A24 make tv and film like this, and I'm glad AppleTV put it out.

Station Eleven (2021–2022)

A beautiful, complex, story of loss and regain

[9/10 · 4 February 2022]

A bunch of the people reviewing this show have not watched it. That's fine - "I disliked this so much that I stopped watching it" is useful to some people I guess. But those people missed character development, plotting, world building, and how these things all come together in that final episode.

Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel fizz their way through this - they're just outstanding actors doing great work. Matilda Lawler is exceptional and she's got an amazing career ahead of her if this is anything to go by. The rest of the cast is fantastic - and that's partly because they've got great material to work with. We get a world with time and space for characters to breathe and grow and change and it's just fantastic to see how someone is now, and know that we'll see them again later and see how they'll have changed.

The world building is great. There's threat and menace but that's mostly hidden. There are small communities and how weird they can be when they're isolated away. This isn't a show about chopping firewood or boiling water, so if you're after survivalist narratives you probably want something else.

Dan Romer's music is almost perfect, and the soundtrack always adds, never distracts, from what's happening on screen. Yes, HBOMax do understand music and so you'd expect them to get it right, but in some other shows it's sometimes a little bit too on the nose.

There's probably some useful discussion about how close it is to the book. I haven't read the book, and I often think these discussions can miss the point a bit: we can have both things, and appreciate them as separate things. I love the tv show. I'm probably going to read the book soon.

The structure of the programme is getting a lot of comment, and so it's clearly not for everyone. But the circular, looping, narrative really worked for me, helping keep all these characters and arcs fixed with coherent motivation.

This is the best TV I've watched this year, and it's among the best I've ever watched.

The Tender Bar (2021)

We live in an age of hyper-action. It's nice to see something different.

[7/10 · 25 January 2022]

People are saying that not much happens in this film, and I feel like they're missing the point of a slow movie

We live in an age where film and tv feel the need to cram in as much non-stop action as possible. The action ratchets up with explosive consequences. The characters and plots suffer as a result, with 2 dimensional people being flung around a story that doesn't make much sense. And we, the viewer, become numb and we need more stuff - bigger explosions, faster car chases. I'm not saying these are bad. But they are exhausting.

This movie is mostly well written characters living their lives, acted by people who know what they're doing. Affleck is fantastic in this, and I love that he's getting some great roles. The rest are great. Clooney's direction is lovely.

This film isn't as bad as the reviews lead you to believe, especially if you know what you're going into.

Hitmen (2020–2021)

A fun little comedy.

[8/10 · 17 August 2020]

Mel and Sue have a great chemistry and it's used heavily in this, so if you don't like them in other things you're probably not going to like this.

It's fun and gentle. Importantly, for a comedy, it is funny. It's just the kind of thing you need if you want a short 30 minute comedy.

I genuinely don't understand all the hate for this programme.

My Pet Dinosaur (2017)

You know what it wants to be, but it doesn't manage it.

[4/10 · 10 September 2017]

I have low expectations for children's films because they're usually terrible. This film isn't very good, even by those low standards.

You can see that it wants to be a family friendly action film, with a bit of heartwarming stuff between the kid and his dinosaur.

It fails pretty hard at that. There's no humour or charm here. There's no chemistry between the actors, or between the actors and the cgi creatures. The set pieces are weak.

Both my child and I got bored very quickly.

It's a shame, because it could have been so much better. We deffo need films like this.

Buddha Mountain (2010)

trigger warning: movie contains a scene which a few viewers may find harmful

[7/10 · 13 November 2012]

This is a small warning for the few people to which this is important: The film contains a brief but graphic scene of deliberate self harm with suicidal thinking.

This enjoyable film follows three young people, and the mother of a recently deceased child. They meet when the young people need to rent a room, and the mother has rooms to rent.

I was worried that it was going to be nonsense after an early scene where Nan Feng (Fan Bingbing) confronts a gang. That scene feels weirdly out of place with the rest of the movie which has a much more natural feel.

I'm not sure what message I'm supposed to take from the movie, but I never do; I just watch them and enjoy them, and this is a film I enjoyed.