juicedrop-92952 Reviews

Future Man (2017–2020)

Low effort high school level comedy schtick

[5/10 · 23 September 2023]

Full disclosure - I have only watched two episodes. I haven't seen any indication among the reviews that the show changes dramatically, so presume that these are a good indication of the entire series

In a plot which requires you to not take anything remotely seriously, a premise unfolds in the first episode, with armoured-up super agents travelling back in time because the protagonist has beaten a computer game designed to train soldiers of the future. They team up and go back in time to reverse an incident which supposedly resulted in an apocalyptic future

This is a fairly familiar scenario which has played out well for other franchises, but those did it with class and clever humour. In Future Man we are treated to toilet humour and a dialogue and plot you can predict line for line - perhaps that is the real time travel element?

There's definitely an audience for this kind of show. It's going to be fun if you enjoy obvious setups, frat humour gags with telegraphed jokes. I might have enjoyed this when I was 12, and I don't mean that in a facetious way.

Another Round (2020)

Bring life back into your life

[6/10 · 5 July 2023]

The premise is simple: can four teachers with varying levels of disappointment in their lives bring back some joy and excitement into their lives if they go about their school day under the influence.

The story doesn't get much more complex and proceeds as you would expect. There are some good scenes (and quite touching if you can relate) where the teachers manage to connect with their students now that the constraints of social conditioning and boredom with life are lifted

It's not a terrible movie, just solidly average, and as such I'm giving it 5.5/10. Best scene is Mads Mikkelsen celebrating at the end, I won't give anything more away.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Childhood memory of fantasy and adventure

[4/10 · 5 July 2023]

I recently rewatched this after finally identifying it as one of the first movies I had ever seen at the cinema. It largely relies on special effects to bring to life monsters to wow the viewer, and unfortunately time has not been kind to the stop motion taxidermy. It's possible a young child may still be wowed as I was back in the 70s though

Rewatching it, I can see why I didn't remember much about the story. The plot is essentially a quest to find someone with magical knowledge who can save a prince who is under a spell by a witch, with some fantastical and magical encounters along the way. Sinbad and the Witch and their respective parties both seek to find this destination first. There is a lot of subtle (but not subtle) hinting of what is going on between the major characters that would go right over the top of a child's head

Joyfully, I did recognise a couple of scenes my young mind had locked in memory for over 40 years, including a thrilling fight at the end. This is pretty much unwatchable for an adult now, but perhaps (big maybe) some fun for kids.

Babylon (I) (2022)

Chaos, love and trumpets

[7/10 · 20 February 2023]

At three hours Babylon is a daunting watch, and will be the main detraction of this epic piece of cinema. Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend the same approach, I unintentionally watched it over three consecutive evenings

Manny, who starts out as a determined young immigrant to the USA who then finds his way into showbiz seems like a supporting character, alongside the charismatic Pitt, vivacious Robbie and various other colourful parts. However it is he who is the constant dependable thread

The movie is made of multiple thematically unrelated vignettes which segue into one another to carry the story along. Some of these are chaotic, spectacular even insane, others drag on a bit. The story isn't interesting enough at the time to carry the length in my opinion, however, the end was deeply poignant, and you can see what the director was building toward

It could be a story about the excesses of early hollywood, it could be about the history of "Singing in the Rain". It could be about how some people prefer to burn out than fade away. To Manny, I believe it was about the bittersweet realization of what you once had an experienced when you were younger

Overall, a very colourful and at times fun epic, with some amazing trumpet music and memorable characters.

Vesper (2022)

Dreary

[6/10 · 7 February 2023]

Vesper is not a badly made film. The sound and cinematography are consistent, and doen with care. The budget seems low, but the minimal scifi effects are done effectively. I thought the pacing was alright, it fits the theme. The action scenes or parts where there is violence are done more as a struggle than a flurry of explosions or blows

For me, this movie was just not enjoyable to watch. Depressing, oppressive, hopeless, humourless. The only light was the inevitable, but predictable one at the end of the tunnel. The story is also fairly predictable, so overall I had little reason to watch it until the end other than tick it off a list.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The movie that leaves you begging for more

[10/10 · 24 January 2023]

I'm over 50 now, and was fortunate enough to see this on release, in 1994. Fortunate, because at that time, the world of cinema hadn't been shaken up and forced to evolve due to this very movie's existence

I often wonder whether seeing this movie today can have the same impact it did when it came out because there had been nothing remotely like it then. You didn't get chopped up storylines which you had to piece together at the end. You didn't get dialogue that was genuinely clever and interesting and had nothing to do with the plot. You didn't get this mix of cool and violence somehow being totally palatable. Most of all, you didn't get a string of completely original, brilliant, mind-blowing scenes, any one of half a dozen which would be the highlight of a normal movie. To top this off, there was a soundtrack of brilliant tracks you hadn't heard before, all perfectly fitting the scenes that dropped them

To sum up the impact of Pulp Fiction hitting the cinema in 1994, it was 2 hours of mouth open, what the ... am I experiencing here. And like holding your mouth open, or being on a roller coaster ride, when it was suddenly over you were begging for it to continue

Pulp Fiction is probably a black comedy. The subject matter usually involves violence, or at least a topic you wouldn't bring up with your parents. No one is ever trying to be funny, but some of the scenarios and lines will leave you crying with laughter. The scenes while involving fairly exotic setups compared to the average movie goer's life, have subject matter that is totally relatable: passing blame in an awkward situation, talking yourself out of a very bad decision, what you really talk about when going from A to B, how you love your partner despite how infuriating they can be, and more

One of the main devices of Pulp Fiction, is how the plot does not take place chronologically. There are three separate stories, which relate to each other and share characters, but they are spliced in a way that doesn't allow you to know exactly what has happened or still needs to happen. The genius of this approach is that you never experience that inevitability of knowing how the movie is going to end, and what's more, you don't care. You just want to experience more of these characters' lives because they are so damn cool

This is the movie that defined the rest of Samuel L Jackson's career of being a potty mouth. The movie that brought back Travolta from obscurity. That had Bruce Willis at his peak of cool, wit and tough guy. That taught is what is a Royale with Cheese, what a gimp is, what to do in the case of a drug overdose, what the coolest weapon in a close encounter is & not to say "what" when someone is asking you a question.

The Afterparty (2022–2023)

Basic comedy might appeal to some

[5/10 · 24 January 2023]

I found myself getting drawn into this comedy whodunnit because after investing an hour into it I wanted to know what happened. The scenario is fun and lively and the various stereotypes pull the required strings

However, the forced comedy is so bad I stopped watching after two episodes to save a few hours of my life for something more worthwhile. It's that classic setup where every character is trying to sound funny with every line. Utterly unrealistic and unrelatable. Vacuous nonsense with neither heart nor brain

If you're into switching your brain off and genuinely enjoy extremely cheap and basic comedy, you could totally enjoy this though.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Amazing visuals ruined by weak script and cast

[5/10 · 24 January 2023]

Two scrawny kids are presented as two of the best in the military / secret service. A General and a Sergeant, who look more like they would be good at helping you use an app on your phone. Valerian wants to marry Laureline for no apparent reason, and maintains a somewhat bored routine of presumptuous courting throughout

Unfortunately I could not get past this huge miss-casting. It removes any potential tension throughout because as the viewer you feel more capable of whatever task needs to be done by the protagonists

The script is also throwaway, full of obvious plot developments and overused dialogue

What brings the rating up to a 5 is that the visuals are both very creative and abundant. There are enough fantastical monsters, weapons, architecture, worlds, space ships etc to fill a trilogy

If only Luc Besson had got a script writer and cast as good as he did for Fifth Element, he'd have another cult classic.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Oh I see what you did there

[6/10 · 26 July 2022]

Satirical take on how humanity would handle a species ending disaster. There are obvious parallels to how some powerful entities and political powers approach threats such as Covid and Climate Change. There are many other digs such nepotism placing a character in one of the highest positions of power in the White House

Reminding us of his versatility, di Caprio plays a very non-heroic scientist, and manages to show that he is human by being just weak willed enough to lose our respect for the third quarter. As is expected in these kinds of movies, the characters tend to be over the top, but Don't Look Up does manage to not turn them into total caricatures. Mark Rylance has some sparkling moments, and might be the most watchable character as the evil - but is he a sociopath or autistic - corporate overlord

Overall, the script couldn't have taken more than an afternoon to write, but turns out watchable although a tad long at just under two and a half hours.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Tame indie sci fi romance

[5/10 · 25 July 2022]

Could have been good if the writing was stronger. As it is, a fairly tame indie romance with a dash of science fiction, but just a dash. The movie heavily relies on the waning popularity of Aubrey Plaza's stock character.

The Gray Man (2022)

Generic action movie

[5/10 · 23 July 2022]

Only writing a review for this so that when I am trying to remember what it's about I can look up this note

If you can tolerate 2 hours of action (gunshots, car chases, escapes, running) it's something to do for your evening. It's about as close as you can get to a superhero movie without giving Gosling the ability to fly or catch bullets in his mouth, and some of the cliched CIA, secret agent characters verge on annoyingly formulaic

It's not a terrible movie, but completely forgettable.

About Time (I) (2013)

RomCom with too much familiarity

[5/10 · 20 July 2022]

Allow me first to calibrate my rating of 5/10. This means it's watchable, but only once for me because there is nothing remarkable about it

About time is a fairly formulaic Romantic Comedy. Nice guy (Domhnall Gleeson as Tim) with no girl meets hot girl (Rachel McAdams as Mary). Loses hot girl's number. Does something endearing to track her down again. They have a beautiful relationship and there is a challenging situation to overcome. The spice that's added to this is that Tim can time travel

This leaves us with Butterfly Effect's Ashton Kutcher continually trying to fix the past mixed with Groundhog Day's Bill Murray winning his girl by doing things slightly differently each time. If you enjoyed those movies you may also enjoy this one, or you might roll your eyes. About Time is not as clever as Butterfly Effect, and Gleeson is no Murray

Bill Nighy's more or less rehashes his role from Love Actually, being the mild mannered and gentle, but slightly maverick father of Gleeson. The end result is a sweet and likeable, but very, very safe time travel romantic comedy, with no new ideas, no memorable characters and barring a somewhat helpful life lesson at the conclusion, nothing worth remembering.