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The Crown: Persona Non Grata (2023)
Her face was already on the tea towels.
Love the feel of the big budget biopic. If the amazing previous seasons are to be lived up to then season 6 will have to establish a quick relationship with the new characters and the faithful TC audience.
I do think they went easy on Charles, with some gentle and benign swipes at Camilla. I envied the ultra-realism of this production but this episode does not reflect the dislike the people still had for Camilla at the time. The upper middle class bogan persona did come out well as we say in colonies. The children getting dragged along was a great sidebar for the entire episode and the attention to detail like the video game that the young prince enjoyed was superb.
There's a great philosophical backdrop about duty, marriage, love, and sacrifice hidden in this script. The Queen stays regal and resolute, the prince is impulsive and the bureaucracy continues to try and ensure that the Crown must win at all costs.
Playing George Michael in the first act kind of brought us out of the storytelling. Anglophiles know what's about to happen and like the predictability, this didn't seem like a good fit within the original score we have gotten used to.
Is it just me or is everyone remarkably better looking on the screen, especially Charles! Dom West has a particularly chiseled face and built upper body for the King's likeness. They could have done better preparing his physicality or even the casting altogether here.
The 50th birthday as a device for the Queen's slow transition was a good idea but Charles's stoic acceptance of the Queen's decision not to attend is not how things really played out, I'm sure.
Some may like the nonlinear intro but this was a little unusual, I instantly thought things were moving too fast and going to end where they started in the next 60mins and was sad.
There is a little bit of politics but not the deep PR analysis of other episodes that we expect from Buckingham Palace.
The episodes and the pending locations lend themselves to gorgeous photography and production values. I'm looking forward to better episodes as things warm up!
The Professor (2018)
Goodbye Charlie
He clearly lived life to the full, in spite of his speech to the contrary and plea for everyone to maintain their pursuit of happiness.
Yet history is replete with this as an end game.
The professor has convincing character acting but is a very mediocre storytelling.
There is no backstory as to why his marriage is already so strained, we are not taken along the journey from the beginning. Devoid of context we wander through the rest of the film with the leads best friend.
Human nature doesn't find satisfaction in fulfilling juvenile carnal desires, these come naturally as a by-product of an actual life well lived. Wind back to Plato and see what was actually meant.
To the movie though, there was some nice moments of savagery in the Chancellor's office and some other great witty one liners.
The lack of political correctness was refreshing until you had 2 out of 3 family members in gay liaisons, this is just not reflective of broader society and tries way too hard to be chic.
In a bid to live out all the pleasures on the final straight of life we don't see Charlie culminate the tender moments with Claire. Thats wasted.
In the final scene, I interpret this as a man who just doesn't face death bravely or well. He indeed loses his mind and dies alone.
A sad and tragic tale for those that want to live life on their own terms. The message here is that radical libertarianism does cause hurt to ourselves and in time, others.
Nobody remembers these characters of history. A line in the footnotes of a student diary, that soon enough ends up in the attic would be realistic.
Perhaps Hollywood will make an interesting movie out of a square professor one day, because this trope of the hard drinking hippie proffesor is just played out in life and art and is ultimately cliche.
Alexander (2004)
The Great
Greeks had academics, historians, poets & writers of every description so hollywoods types wouldn't try and re-write things.
If you want to be immensely entertained with a level of acting that transports you into the era you must watch Richard Burton in the original. It will remain difficult for anyone else to beat.
The directors uncut version at 3.5hrs long is fairly self indulgent, perhaps make a tv series if you feel like you have that much to say.
There is no explicit evidence of Alexander having a concubine boyfriend, but the film still chose to make a point of this which adds nothing to the greater part of the story, or the inner imagination of a brilliant Greek king.
With so much material already written you would think that it couldnt possibly be so stuffed up.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)
Sandler is Genius because....
He again has taken his new form of ultra-realism genre to the bigscreen but this time taken a risk and included the whole family.
I cried not because the script is groundbreaking but because he continues to bring very human tropes into his stories that we could almost slot ourselves into.
I believed Sunny Sandler all the way through. I'm not sure how dad let her wear some of those dresses but u cant have a perfect movie lol I'm out of touch.
Then you went Hitchcock on us and tortured the girl, that moment of peak drama in the movie was brutal, well done.
The supporting cast felt like my own primary school classroom! Your wife is beautiful and you're a family man, its just lovely. Thank you for keeping it PG.
The hippie rabbi was a bit weird for me but would have worked well for teens.
The small exposure to mitzvot made everything worth it.
X.
The Crown: The Balmoral Test (2020)
Trophy Wife
Such a great metaphor of the stag that was bagged, stuffed and put on display perpetually for an audience it would hardly see, feel or know. A short and glorious life on broad sunlit uplands.
As we speak journalists across the commonwealth who are political ideologues are calling Princess Di a breading mare and that season 4 of the crown is a fiction, terrified of their plans for a republic...
What they don't understand is human nature and that people need inspiration and a further quota need leadership. When that is embodied in someone with a warm and generous spirit then you can't fight it, no matter how much cause you have.
Make no mistake the events of The Balmoral Test are real. Fictionalising these milestones make them important to understand the unseen, the unsaid and the unknown years, decades and even centuries of context.
Maggie Thatcher famously called it purgatory and the stark difference between the executive of the government and their figureheads is seen. Republicans should find comfort in the balance offered in this story telling.
In Princess Di's famous last interviews she shares the emotional drag that privileged people with too much time on their hands can be, particularly at this country estate. She was the answer to breathe new life into the Monarchy. Like many of us with affections for a millennia of tradition, William is still that answer.
The director of photography must be beside himself with these images. Gorgeous landscapes and diffused light of the Scottish & English country side coupled with the beginnings of a fairytale courtship, this episode could spin into its own movie.
In the Balmoral Test I believe the very imperfect royal family did the right thing in recommending Di for Charles. The majority of other arranged marriages all around the world work and people grow and grow in love. Ask me how I know...I was one and honestly could not in my youth have selected such a beautifully matched husband. Shame on all you who think you know better.
The only thing missing from this episode was co operation from the royals to provide the actual true to life backdrops. Perhaps the producers wont be so kind and fair in season 5.
Permission (2017)
Tricked by a pretty couple, damnit
This is the reason I always get anxious during opening credits from small time productions or indie size studios.
The writer clearly couldn't decide on what creative choices to make early on, was it going to be another take on an open relationship or a gay drama.
Way too ambitious, didn't work. Cliche beats and fairly mundane dialogue.
There was no arc towards making their important relationship decision, it just happened out of nowhere.
The drama was telegraphed all the way after we're introduced to the cliche premise.
The moral tale doesn't have any redeeming qualities other than an open ended decision by the female co protagonist to free herself to continue the self discovery.
The baby scenes in the park magically appear like set pieces. Did he have to stalk the area until the Father and son showed up? This just added to the lack of believability. Are we really meant to believe a girl that has been with one man soon after is shagging strangers within 2mins of meeting them in quick succession?
If this was a college project I'd say it was a good start, but this film made it to subscription TV
The Crown: Avalanche (2020)
Avalanche of Hate
Instead of leveraging off the popular Princess, Charles becomes jealous. Just how stupid can one be? A cesspool off missed opportunities. He wasn't born like this, it was learned behaviour and the season eludes to this sorry mess.
Possibly the weakest episode of the season and blatantly less inspiring because after all, infidelity is just so common these days and we don't expect it of future Monarchs that are meant to be anointed and above it. A lifetime of preparation is still not enough to beat human nature and that's what we find out here. In the rest of the commonwealth you would wonder how anecdotes like this brought to the screen hasn't spurred new republics. Many are hearing these facts for the first time, those outside England didn't really care to know unless one was a royal watcher.
The photography is again stunning.
The set pieces have so much care and effort, this production is a pure joy. Those working on these sets are extraordinarily fortunate.
Princess Dianne has a character arc that moves far too quickly here. How much more can we hate Prince Charles? The plot has advanced nicely otherwise through at least one sides emotional betrayal.
So happy that the uptown girl sequence is true to life. I hope that the series continues with true to life writing, God knows there is enough interesting things in the royals life not to have to fabricate much.
In order to shift this story from biopic to art it would be nice to dwell on the human fall-out of marriage breakdowns with a crescendo of drama.
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Boxing for Intellects
Who would have thought that blow by blow action sequences on a chessboard could rival the great classics of sporting hero films.
Who ever took the risk of producing this script deserves a handshake. Books are not easy to turn into motion picture but what has resulted is a compelling story with complex characters that brings you straight into every next episode.
Watching someone be the best version of themselves is very satisfying, but being the best at anything is something that dreams are made of. Inspiration flows dramatically through the season with a supernatural plot device that causes us to have a strong emotional connection with the protagonist.
I was weary of the usual artistic trope of a religious orphanage being cruel and over-bearing but this is not what happened, the showrunner is to be thanked for resisting that temptation.
The attention to detail between French and Russian culture latter in the season was amazing, combined with a heavenly score it makes us all wonder why this series has not been pushed and promoted heavily.
Holidate (2020)
New take on an old genre...
Was still not enough to make it work well.
Too many deal breakers in act 1...
On the nose dialogue.
The first encounter was not believable, people don't talk like that.
Interesting premise that plotted forward too fast..
No serious backstory as to why protagonists would be completely alone on NYE
The grand romantic gesture speech was protracted and hung off 1 little payoff. The performances were decent but didnt redeem a very average script.
Cliché conflict which is ok for romcoms, we still like happy endings & the gangsta rap during the Easter egg hunt was funny.
Nice seeing TX backdrops instead of the usual NYC ones.
Richard Jewell (2019)
Bubba The Bomber
...Is what it said on FRONT PAGES above the fold when a government agency and the media class decided to bring a man's life to a screeching halt. It's bad enough that the ambitious 4th Estate who are hell bent on gaining readership forget about their training to serve the public interest. Instead a mans physical appearance was thrown into a tagline...forget about the need to defend himself from mass murder and terrorism for a second.
The performance of Kathy Bates as a distraught mother sent chills through the screen, there were otherwise not compelling characters or fancy story arcs, what we have here is the brilliance of well plotted true to life story of injustice and the people that have to face it when those dripping with ambition make fatal errors.
I didn't plan on writing a review until I discovered a litany of Hollywood types screaming feminist slogans and completely overlooking the victim: Richard Jewell.
The facts are that government and their executive bodies have checks and balances on them, where we fail as a society most often is that the gate keepers of information don't have even close to the same scrutiny on them and often make mistakes that change the course of peoples lives forever.
The essence of this story is real - the vantage point it is told from is also meritable and true in the face of a culture and industry that doesn't like being told what to do. It's no wonder that trust for journalism is at an all time low and publications are making less money than ever before. The democratisation of the news is something we can all be thankful for 20yrs after this event.
Clint Eastwood in my opinion is the most underrated story teller in the business that continues to make films that capture people's hearty. More importantly he is choosing the right stories to tell and people are paying attention.
The controversy appears to be around the use of real names and the portrayal of Scruggs as basically swapping sexual favours for story. For those that have pulled up the sordid anecdotes throughout her life and career by family and friends - there is no doubt that she was no angel and made a terrible mistake. Those trying to defend her are political activists and her media colleagues that conduct themselves like war veterans within their own fraternity. The movie does not suggest an explicit quid pro quo but an existing arrangement that looked like it was well in place before the inciting incident. All this still doesn't discount any positive contributions she may have made to journalism but that is not what this production was about and all that expect otherwise are maliciously self indulgent.
The opposite actually is written into the script, perhaps something that Scruggs didn't deserve, she is shown as somewhat repentant by the end of the movie and someone able to empathise were her part in the tragedy of a wrongful accusation.
If Richard Jewell was as meek and mild mannered as this rendition then he was taken from this life far too soon at the age of 44 even so, his dream of being a registered police officer again was fulfilled and this was most satisfying to see.
Sometimes studios don't need strange twists and dynamic plots to produce an excellent story, one that needs to be told will make room for itself.
Robin Hood (2018)
Made by Hoodlims
Mucking around with the classics is always fraught with danger.
Weak acting, like alliances with forced emotion and other places like a bosomy woman distributing bread with a smile.
The action scene when Rob went back because they should all leave together in a noble manner lol was so forced and unbelievable on the screen. They somehow were transported back into the action and away from harm.
Weird to see so many great shots from the Director of Photography that accompanied so many poor ones. It's almost like a 2nd AD was given too much to do on every other day. The lighting looked out of place and like studio lighting on actors faces in many scenes.
It's not even worth finishing this review..
The Last Kingdom (2015)
Don't PLOUGH past season 1 here's why...
Another piece of revisionist history awaits you about the noble savages from the north.
The Christians are backward neanderthals and the pagans are enlightened and open minded in a manner that our current generation is. Their plunder, theft, rape and murder for personal gain is all overlooked. Any justification of it is not explored and given a pass as the culture of the age. The English are given no such mercy in the writing of season one.
Alfred the Great is well and truly taken care of as a hypocrite. The fact that a moral code and initial seeds of parliamentary democracy were propagated through him setting up a thousand year British Empire make this Netflix series pure wanderlust.
The records of the Vikings are nowhere near as glamorous. If you choose to entertain yourself with this series read a bit of English history first. Even the Greeks and Romans a thousand years before the Norsemen and long before a time of the Church had more honour, craft and nobility than these violent war criminals.
Film producers should end their wild fascinations with Vikings. Except for the fact that film props, wardrobe and design seem to be borrowed and handed down in large quantities these days as the big studios pull out of making this ideological rubbish.
Yes some scenes are entertaining but it's impossible not to be when you have 50 hours of footage in front of you.
American Gangster (2007)
American Film Take a Bow...
One of the best anti-hero's in film history..
Frank is a drug dealer who we learn to empathise with due to the fact that there are darker corruptible sharks around him in both the criminal underbelly and law enforcement that make him look reasonable. A genius plot device that might not have been intended but creates a fantastic piece of story telling.
The casting is perfect all round and Denzel shines yet again.
Every scene drives the story forward and this is why you don't realise it goes for two hours. Studios don't let screenplays go this long so you know it's a great piece of writing.
The moral message is self contained and comes out in dribs and drabs across the entire production. We see both the long arc of justice and quick vengeance which come to a head for many characters who stir emotion in us quickly. One is a prideful stand-over man trying to fill a power vacuum after Bumpy Johnson's death and another is a wife beater. Both great tropes to illicit emotion.
A true to life cultural setting and historical war backdrop that provides some gorgeous cinematography. The only thing missing is the development of the love story subplot but there's just not enough room for it.
The slow burn of anticipation results in a crescendo of drama rather than action which is just a bonus that features in every act break.
True stories are the best stories, but sometimes you get lucky with stars that align across a production. Directors will tell you during shooting and editing, that you just never know how it's going to churn out, and nobody could have expected a master piece like this.
No political correctness, no diversity quotas, no genre mashes, no fancy log line just a legacy piece of art that we should be paying an unfair 'twenty percent' on.
Bravo.
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Hail Mary Full of Grace
I went looking for a character arc but there was little to find.
The set pieces are enjoyable, who doesn't like a well rehearsed musical.
I'll never be able to get used to breaking the 4th wall during the action but that's just me.
The religious consultation was very well written, the Coen brothers have a strong eye for detail which makes them a fairly regular success but this film was too slow overall for modern audiences.
The communist sub plot was nice but it was juxtaposed around characters we didn't really care for.
This film plays out like it was written in 6 acts instead of 3 and each one had a different lead writer. You would think with how careful studios are now that they would have sent this back before turning on the lights. There are hundreds of spec scripts that blow it out of the water.
I loved the log line as an industry insider and welcomed the story telling but I understand why so many felt this project was an utter waste of their time.
There were some big names that got very little screen time. There were pages and pages of description that didn't move the story forward and neglected the obvious capital on the set. It's a very weird outcome for experienced film makers like this. I've come to wonder if they were in a rush or doing someone a favour.
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Only Revolution here is the Hollywood one...
Fawning of the brave themes during a puritanical era!
The reality that the Hollywood sound bubble hasn't considered is that its the 50s and the war is over and everyone is upbeat and raptured with idealism and freedom.
Beyond the very strong emotional performances when broken down is an intrigued housewife that has a breakdown about not travelling to Paris. It's the epitome of a restless vagabond who's willing to culturally demote her husband just so they can have a change of location that she has yearned for and is cheating on him before she even realizes he is doing it himself.
I'm not looking to make any friends out of this review but it was a vastly harder thing for a woman to cheat on her husband in that time and there is no moral equivalence nor one that is explored thematically. A lost opportunity to tell a familiar story.
The Shep character who is the co-adulterer is given little setup or character development so we can empathize or loathe adequately.
Again the Abortion issue is used as a political device for film critics to applaud without a fleshed out defense of why she felt it necessary. This subplot fails and feels like its just there to make a point.
I could write a whole thesis as to why the Studio system has locked up story telling now, people like Mendes are activists in their field and producers are happier with low risk entertainment franchises that inspire the masses and I don't blame them.
Vice (2018)
A roll call of Vice....
A mockumentary should make us laugh and inform us in a non partisan way, none of this happened and my liberal friends are starting to tire of the lack of quality by activist film makers who miss opportunities to explore real issues and be convincing.
Sound Bubble politics is ok if you're a regular on twitter but what we have here is a very curated set of facts. This film which posed in a documentary style was way too ambitious by its own admission - 22,000 white house emails and the entire lifetime of a man boiled down to 90mins.
I would have implored the executive producers to tease it out properly and make a real documentary that could have been credible to their agenda. I have no problem with scriptwriters wanting to offer a perspective but this attempt was neither art or documentary narrative it was what we now class as infotainment which basically makes everyone slightly more ignorant.
Some points to consider...
* Awkward B roll that was simulated to be original and if you're not political may have passed to be the real thing.
* A fictional voice-over to keep the story moving and be compelling.
* Juxtaposed formats between film and doco
* Taking out Saddam was not a new idea and the dictators body count of murdering his own people was purposely overlooked and vital to know.
* Executive clearly exposed their own liberal bias that they call it out themselves in the outro didn't work.
* Prolonged montage of heart surgery as a metaphor. Gruesome and not clever.
* Having enormous personal wealth is a frailty of the system that rampantly allows it in America and anyone give the opportunity would do the same stepping in and out of the private sector.
* Politicians are not moral arbitrators like Hollywood expects them to be, they legislate in the interests of the majority that voted for them and held accountable by an opposition Party.
* The gay marriage issue was overplayed, as has become politically correct. The greater truth is every congressman and parliamentarian around the world tailors a message to win local elections in their constituency.
* You shouldn't have outed yourselves in the very opening credits by telling us 'you did your best' lol
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Illusive Love
I'm not sure how x rated lines that were not in the original screenplay enabled this film to maintain its PG-13 rating, case in point...
"You should be studying the gentle curve of his cock"
That's a cool line if you want to setup a timid inexperienced book worm but it's not cool if I'm stuck in the cinema with my 13yo niece who has never kissed a boy. It would be nice if we knew what we were getting into, even with a netflix viewing.
It's otherwise an honest film that pulls off some unlikely good moments which sounded hard to believe on paper, like the dirty dancing scene. Just when you think every romcom has been made, a pickup artist pulls a loser out of a slump which turns feel good for us all.
There was no setup to explain the infidelity properly, and some of the proposed soundtrack was pulled which would have provided another layer of feels.
So many complaints that the co protagonist appeared to be filthy rich, you can't please everyone, especially in the 50 shades age where nothing is mysterious anymore.
Surprisingly the feminists haven't attacked the film for portraying the irrational nature that causes women to feel attraction. Truth in the arts strikes again.
Sandy Wexler (2017)
What is a King & Who is Hollywood....
Adam Sandler is once again able to assemble a juvenile plot and turn it into something moving and entertaining.
He has truely marked out for himself space as a romantic comedy specialist and takes you on a long journey towards the familiar tropes about morality and love. The Wexler voice was jarring for the first 10mins but it grows on the audience as you discover the character lives for his clients.
Only a genius can get away with so many ordinary lines and cliches. This movie might not be a masterpiece but after producing 50+ movies you eventually come close to re inventing the wheel.
Using your old manager as a source of inspiration and writing a bunch of set pieces into a film about nothing much, and still making it work is something that can't be taught. He did however work his azz off as a kid writing musical skits which return just like they used to be, old fans will enjoy this. My hardest laugh was getting in beavis and butthead for the outro. A great idea getting them back off the bench before they are forgotten.
Lots of 90s nostalgia is on offer which Adam knows well, he is now at a place as a writer, producer, actor, financier who can literally do what he wants...
You should give this a higher rating than its worth just for the effort of bringing in all the celeb cameos.....this is why Sandler is the King of Hollywood.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp
If you took this final shooting script to an accomplished producer in any other decade you would have been laughed at, the success of this film due to a very young and niche audience is reflective of society in general.
Inspiring moments, great visuals, depth and meaning, characters that speak into our own lives, messages that appeal to the mainstream; None of this seems to count any more.
I just hope audiences have become more sophisticated since the shock and awe of stylised violence by Mr Tarantino. I make no personal judgement of the man I hear he is great to work with and a gentleman.
This would have to be the most overrated film in movie history because everyone wants to be the next nothing that becomes something. Everyone wants to come in outside the studio system. People appreciate when moulds are broken and non linear stories can be told in the indie style that appeals to them. So many love a crescendo of excitement for the simple sake of it, something new or another level of violence they haven't seen before....
Your appreciation of this work as a 10/10 is purely fictional, you've been convinced that unique stories without meaning are to be worshiped as something genius. I haven't missed the point. You have, when this work is compared to others on merit.
Art is subjective and I accept you love this piece, but it's a younger audience that posts ratings here.