kevinosborne_99 Reviews

The Sweet Hereafter (1997)

Depth and Sorrow

[9/10 · 18 July 2022]

II was surprised to see the mid star reviews for this film. Perhaps people don't understand grief and entrapment, which are the primary themes here. The townspeople are led around by events that began with an unspeakable toss of their reason for living. The desperate nature they demonstrate is a hopeless search for something to replace that pain. The subterranean performance of Sarah Polley dealing with a father who had already stripped her of her childhood, compounded by ar horrible injury, is understated and transcendent. This film is not easy to watch, but is a faithful portrait ot humanity in all its triumph and tragedy. However small the wins and great the losses.

Constantine (2005)

A solid effort

[7/10 · 2 May 2022]

Very well acted tale of making the devil take the hindmost. This could have been a topflight film for the genre if director/scriptwriter had shown more interest in keeping the pace up. As it is the highs, scenes with Gabriel and Lucifer and a trip into hell, are outstanding, vastly better than the best of an average horror movie. Tilda Swinton is tantalizing in her Gabriel role and leaves us wanting more. Reeves' laconic acting style fits the personality of the lead but doesn't add much. Definitely worth a couple hours especially if you like modern horror.

Four Brothers (2005)

Made it through about 40 miinutes

[2/10 · 6 April 2022]

...then realized the script was not going to get any better, nor the direction. All the interactions are wrong, the dialogue trying too hard to show off characters instead of developing them. Overridden with so called hard/comic lines that fall completely flat. The music is 70's TV show genre and adds nothing. Action scenes are as bad as I've seen in a long time. Not worth a look IMO, obviously.

Dunkirk (2017)

A Poor Effort

[4/10 · 13 March 2022]

Given the material they had to work with the director et al made a pretty boring little movie. Many technical and editing problems presented, as well as failing to make human characters out of pretty much everyone. Real bravery is presented as bravado with glaringly unrealistic outcomes in many cases. Maybe they tried too hard or maybe no one understood real war so created a pretense of it. Dunkirk is one historical event that really needs at least some overview. Lacking that there is haphazard action. My opinion anyway.

RED (2010)

Close to as bad as it gets

[2/10 · 1 January 2022]

Consideriong the boatoad of acting talent wasted in Red and that it somehow garnered a 7 rating on IMDB I think it is safe to say Hollywood began its death throes long ago. Everyone is a ch\aricature. What is supposed to pass for humor is sophmoric idiocy. We are treated to action scene after scend where heroes can't be killed but kncoking off supposedly trained government agents is, to quote our friend, barely an inconvenience. It would have been better off as a straight spoof but no doubt the studio and the lead actor needed to be puffed up in another glamour role. Can't afford to be made fun of. I admit after half and hour I fast forwarded through much of Red but feel free of any doubt there was anything that couldn't be missed. I would advise missing the entirety.

The Monolith Monsters (1957)

One of the best 50's Sci Fi

[8/10 · 23 August 2021]

This is a true sci fi adventure, where people are realistic, living their lives with no expectation of anything happening to change things. When that change comes it is seen through the eyes of individuals who are allowed to connect the dots and understand for themselves what is happening. At some point we all see it and the thrill and danger is sufficient for horror suitable to the name. I think this is the best 50's movie of the genre, next to The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and War of the Worlds. If you haven't seen it, have fun!

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

Comic Book

[3/10 · 23 August 2021]

A Star Wars level shoot em up where everyone misses aim but the hero, who is tireless, painless and always knows where to go and what to do. There isn't a hint of realism and eventually the quantity of gunshots gets really old. Much less headshots. I guess Reeves found a way to continue to make money, just sorry it had to come to this pile of garbage.

A Handful of Dust (1988)

Not faithful to the novel, apparently

[9/10 · 27 April 2021]

I haven't read the Evelyn Waugh novel but the movie, however disparate from Waught's 'intention, works marvelously on the screen. It is dark, real, unreal and delves as deeply inside the human soul as any film I can recall. It is about entrapment, by our own choice and otherwise, in other words within and without. I won't say more plot wise but be prepared this is not an easy move to absorb. It is utterly frank about human weakness, where need revolves like a planet around the sun, with no likelihood of solution and little hope. Still a marvelous experience IMO.

Local Hero (1983)

Where freedom is the joy of life

[9/10 · 7 April 2021]

There are large differences between a huge metropolitan city in the US and a tiny fragment of town perched above a windy sweep of Scottish coast. How those differences can be viewed is the story of Local Hero. A man is given a job to fulfill the dreams of that Scots town's population who view money as escape from their tedium yet finds in that place a solution to his search for who he is and how he must live to be that self. Local Hero demonstrates In the end isolation is a state of mind for where we love most is always where we belong. Very highly recommended.

Under the Skin (I) (2013)

A Great Watch

[8/10 · 10 March 2021]

Like nearly all sci-fi films there is a bit of trouble with the ending. That said, this one of those rare artistic experiences where one feels it has never been seen before. The unraveling of motive, the coordination of protagonists, the innocence of the Johansson character, are all accomplished superbly. I couldn't sleep one night, began this movie at 2 am knowing nothing about it, and ended up trying to sleep after two hours of high interest. Johansson is fabulous in a role with very few words and I gained a great deal of appreciation for her acting chops. Not fast paced but well worth the time IMO.

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Easily one of the best films I've seen.

[10/10 · 28 December 2020]

Anthony Hopkins portrays, impeccably, a man who has enslaved himself to a way of fife called service.. This is to the point where that life becomes his entire existence, blotting out all other freedoms or possibility of happiness. His counterpart, played by Emma Thompson sees not only his loneliness but the dead end finality of applying servitude to one's life. She pokes and prods the Hopkins character in an effort to make him see not only her affection for him but the dimension of his lonely cause. In the end we know both that she has failed to change him but that he sees his entrapment and accepts it, to the point of knowing his father's fate will be his own. The ultimate tragedy is being the source of our own demise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Family (1990) Season 4, Episode 2

Astounding

[10/10 · 18 December 2020]

In the quality of a weekly hour long TV show, addressing that most complex of human interaction, family. I expected something good but not this good. As I push 70 all that really seems to matter is family, the one that was, and those who are ongoing and even appearing. The depth of emotional commitment is not optional which is a reason life and an accurate play of life, as in this show, is so plaintive and compelling.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

Directors Murder

[2/10 · 9 December 2020]

The Play R and G are dead is as bright and inventive and entertaining a read as you could ever wish. I expect a proper presentation on the boards would follow as there is no need for much more than than the snappy and ironic dialogue to carry the piece to great heights. Then enters the director, the original playwright, who decided that he must overdress his sweet concoction with every syrup available, dragging scene after scene into an endless overdrawn pile of gloppy mush. Whoever decided Stoppard should direct ((I expect Stoppard) had no idea that he already had the golden goose in hand and all he had to do was present it as is. God knows why he decided a goose disguised as a peacock would work better than the original. A worthless mess resulted. Read the play. You'll be vastly more edified.

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me (2014)

If you grew up watching Glen Campbell...

[9/10 · 10 November 2019]

And listening to his music and knowing something about his life's travails, mostly self inflicted as usual, I'll Be Me is an endearing and exceptionally touching film This is not so much about Alzheimer's as the general affliction of growing old and seeing the familiar pass whether from memory or life. As noted in the heart wrenching finale it is Campbell's family that bears the weight of his illness.The depth of their suffering may not be presented in wails and screeches but is always present. And there is our loss, of a family friend as only TV can make of someone who was never met and known otherwise. I really like it.

The Karate Kid (2010)

The first thirteen minutes were enough

[2/10 · 28 October 2019]

Any so called art designed to fill a desired space is likely to be awful. This one, with the parents of the child wishing to make him a star is the same. It is phony garbage. The kid can't act, the story is entirely implausible and the direction is sophomoric. A massive loser but because there is Hollywood money and nepotism behind it, voila. It gets made. Puke.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

I Tried, for Nearly Half and Hour

[1/10 · 23 July 2019]

What I saw of the script was abysmal, the character of Mary Poppins a miserable template. There was nothing approaching the bright clarity of the original but even is the 1964 version did not exist this would be a sad excuse for a movie. One unusual aspect is that the acting is terrible. People talk at each other, not communicate with each other. Disney has a long record of fine performances especially in secondary roles where fine actors like Ed Wynn and, Leo G. Carroll do yeoman's service to make small parts memorable. Not in this one.

Jack of all Trades (2018)

Phony Story Line

[3/10 · 23 July 2019]

There is some interesting information on baseball cards but the "real" story, the supposedly incomplete father son relationship ruins it. A con job that attempts to pull the heart strings but ends up disappointing and leaves a bad taste. I don't believe a word of it except the collapse of the baseball card market and shenanigans by a card company.

Frasier: Room Service (1998) Season 5, Episode 15

A flat out 10

[10/10 · 21 May 2019]

Lilith, Frasiers wife in Cheers is carried over into the best and funniest Frasier episode IMO, and one of the best half hour comedy shows I've ever seen. You have to know the characters to get full force but if you do the intricacy of relationships and comedy timing are perfection. Even the hotel service person with few lines but several reaction shots adds to the humor.. As in all the best of these shows, everyone is a real if eccentric person who one can believe really exists and therefore the farce and emotion are real. A gem one can return to again and again with equal enjoyment.

Stargate (1994)

Well it started fine...

[4/10 · 20 May 2019]

The first half hour is interesting and fast paced, with small parts for characters that are nevertheless believable. Then suddenly almost instantly the movie degenerates into the worst kind of hackneyed characterizations we've seen a thousand times, overlong and unnecessary takes and a simplistic plot that reminds one of Ron Howard at his worst. I guess someone decided they had to appeal to eleven year old boys to assure a decent box office and the beginning was a trifle too intelligent to assure that. To paraphrase Twain's description of golf, it was a good movie spoiled.

Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

Watched about 30 minutes

[4/10 · 17 October 2018]

There are so many plot holes, unrealistic character representations and physical oddities leaning toward impossibilities , such as blood still being wet after at least 12 hours exposed on a paper bag, that I gave up. I doubt my rating would climb any if I watched the whole thing, but you are welcome to try.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

A Truly Awful Movie

[2/10 · 9 October 2018]

I admit I haven't been able to watch all of "Once...) because it is so horrendously false. Not one scene has people saying what they would really say or doing what they would really do in a given situation. Clearly it was written as a child's morality play with a soporific score, and the director/editor loved it so much he stretched a 90 ,minute movie to 3 intolerable hours. It has the emotional depth one would expect of a high school sophomore. Just garbage.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004)

The Worst Movie of a Great Book I've Ever Seen

[1/10 · 23 September 2018]

Author Thornton Wilder turned down requests to make plays or operas from his work because he felt the language could not be properly adapted to other literary forms. This version of Bridge is not bad just because of that impossible transfer, however. It is much an amateur production in direction, cinematography, costume, casting, and even with the celebrated cast, the acting. Of course one can't paint on varnish so all were likely affected by troubles at the top. Robert Deniro and Harvey Keitel were both simply horrible even with the miscasting and production issues. And this is one of those rare movies where a narrator could have taken much of the load. The glorious ending of the book becomes in the movie a breathy, desperate appeal instead of beautiful transcendent surrender. A narrator would have spared that actress her embarrassment. All that said the book is wonderful and should be read, while all copies of the movie should be sent into space to, hopefully, someday fall into the sun. That would b e good review.

Scarecrow (1973)

A Very Underrated and Under seen Film

[9/10 · 3 February 2017]

The story is slight yet much happens in this apparently aimless film that seems to wander as these two men wander, with personality but without much conviction. Yet it turns out there is a reason for everything, and while that reason may seem insufficient to some I expect that is because the journey has been so satisfactory. Gene Hackman considered it one of his best films and he is fabulous as a drifter who picks up with Al Pacino's character, a young man on a mission but seemingly not in a big hurry to accomplish it. This isn't a buddy movie, in fact exactly what it is would be hard to define in a few words. If you need a lot of action, snappy dialogue, and a Holy Grail to make a movie work for you (and there's nothing wrong with that) Scarecrow isn't for you. If you like terrific acting and a life mirrors art sort of experience, and/or if you like these actors and would enjoy seeing them in something different, this is the one for you.

Ghost Town (I) (2008)

A solid 7.5 to 8

[8/10 · 6 October 2016]

I'm not sure why so many reviews place the total under 7, this is a very much better movie than the rating. This is less of a comedy than a change of life story with comic effects due to the talents of the cast. Greg and Ricky both have impeccable comic timing as well as serious dramatic abilities. Tea Leoni is perfect in her role as the pursued and confused widow, both for her obvious beauty and her ability to make any situation real, not an easy task in a movie where the dead come to life. There could have been improvements, toward the end in summing up the needs of others to allow their departure, but that is really quibbling. I'm very glad I took the time to watch this movie and expect that the over 30 set will find something to enjoy, and the older one gets the more there will be.

The Unborn (2009)

Pluses and minuses

[5/10 · 17 June 2016]

Any movie that features Odette Annaballe in every scene has an automatic plus. The woman is not only gorgeous but cinematic and the two are not always the same thing. Wowsa. That said, the film has a few dozen major breakdowns, not the least of which is attempting to imitate in one way or another far better films, The Ring, The Sixth Sense, The Exorcist, The Omen, and a host of minor films that had essentially the same jump scenes but did them much better. They did try to put together a cohesive movie and gave us the gift of Ms. Annabelle as noted and for that I think it is worth a middling value. You can do better and you can do worse.