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Reviews
Station Eleven (2021)
Different and very good
I think the slow pace is fine, it's actually not boring, it gives you time to absorb the very fine-tuned storytelling.
One thing bothered me a little, even though I got used to it after a while and accepted it. Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis) and young Kirsten (Matilda Lawler) look almost nothing alike. Maybe the eyebrows but that's it. I guess the director thought that fine acting was more important than similar looks.
Gemini Man (2019)
Kind of worth watching though...
As others have mentioned, it's less good than it could have been. One question I have: Why does the face of young Will Smith look so damn CGI in some scenes? The young faces in the movie The Irishman looked way more real, so it doesn't seem to be that we haven't gotten there yet with CGI...
It's not a waste of time watching it. But still no more than a 5/10.
Awake (2021)
Wasted opportunity
My guess is the pitch that made Netflix give the greenlight was convincing. But...
Likeability of protagonists: close to zero.
Pacing of story: not working
Gory scenes: I feel nothing.
I could go on, but let's just say it doesn't work.
To the filmmakers: if you get the greenlight, don't screw it up like this.
Nomadland (2020)
NO SPOILERS! Because there's nothing to spoil XD
Nomadland would have been great...if there was a story, if it had a plot etc. Very well acted, feels totally real. But are today's filmmakers really gonna get away with telling stories without actually telling stories? And win Oscars for it? There used to be a time when Oscar's went to movies that the critics liked AND the audience actually watched. To me, the lack of story makes a 9/10 movie into a 6/10. (When you write a review here, you are asked if it contains spoilers. Well... in this case that would be impossible, because there's nothing to spoil since the movie has no plot XD. But apart from that, very well made movie.)
Doomsday (2008)
First 8 minutes seem promising, but then...
...as soon as it jumps into the future, it turns into a b-movie in the guise of a big budget blockbuster. Couldn't keep watching. Gave up after 15 minutes. Great decision. I recommend you do the same. That's all I have to say about that.
Lucy (2014)
Nah, didn't like it
Luc Besson, the man who made Leon: the professional, once made movies you could feel, taste and be absorbed in. Surely Lucy herself feels, tastes and is absorbed into everything, but I as a viewer feel nothing at all. Perhaps slightly entertained, I'll give it that.
Den blomstertid nu kommer (2018)
What a mess. But visually impressive
It becomes very clear how hard it is to make an epic scale movie that works - which this one doesn't..
Pacing is strange. Some things happen too suddenly and would have needed more build-up... No, not more (because the movie is already too long) but better and more convincing build-up. Trying to follow the different characters develop, as the movie cuts between them, it just feels very off and I don't feel for them at all. How did they cast this? I mean, where is the chemistry between the boy and the girl, lets say? As a drama it's among the worst I've seen. Maybe it would have worked better as a comedy. But as a visual spectacle it's sometimes very impressive, especially considering the budget. But not a very good sound mix to go hand in hand with the visuals, with dialogue being drowned in other sounds sometimes. This film feels amateurish and professional at the same time, and it's very frustrating to watch.
The Martian (2015)
Expected something darker
It's a good piece of alone-in-space-drama, but I didn't expect those funny sequences here and there, that I suppose were meant to entertain. Some comic relief is all fine, but it felt ridiculous sometimes. I would have preferred it to be darker and more serious. I saw Gravity the night before and it had a much deeper impact on me. It had its moments of comic relief for sure, but they worked much better. And also the claustrophobic/agoraphobic element was so much more present in Gravity. And about the science - I have to say they could have tweaked the sound design for more realism. Sound is different on Mars. Higher frequencies attenuate quickly due to Mars' atmospere. I'm no physicist, but I know how to google. So in the outdoor scenes sound would be very muffled, lacking the higher frequencies we're used to hearing on Earth. Maybe they concidered this but it didn't work...? No, IMHO they should have gone for more realism. It would have served the movie well.