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groovingfungus
Reviews
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
I wish this movie had never been made
Truly awful. Bloated with exposition and an overdone love story that would have had more emotional impact from one 30 second scene. An antagonist without any motivation and a female villan straight out of Cats. A premise so clumsy it's a suprise it wasn't dropped immediately. If you intend to see this in a cinema you won't just be risking your life but also brain cells and two and a half hours that you will never get back. Just don't...
The Witcher (2019)
Terrible..
Unfortunately this is just so bad. Maybe it will get better but the acting, script and editing suggest otherwise. It's hard to know who the audience this is intended for. The violence and nudity suggest grown ups but everything else is strictly young adult. It's certainly no game of thrones. I'll give episode two a chance but at the moment this is an hour of my life that I am never getting back and there are better ways to spend my time.
2016: Obama's America (2012)
So bad....is there a minus score?
When writing a review of this film it seems one should declare their political affiliations. I'm European and have a passing interest in American politics but it's not my country, I don't live there, so in the main I don't really care. But its sometimes fun to talk about.
But I am interested in Obama as a personality. I saw this movie, knowing it was anti Obama but hoping to discover something interesting about the man. At the very least something entertaining, a right wing version of a Michael Moore maybe?
The obvious premise of the film is that Obama Will be very bad for America and Americans, well no surprise there. However most of the reviews say give it a try as its a good film and gives a fair opinion. After seeing the movie for myself I now know that every single one of these people has 1, never seen a journalistic style documentary before, 2, is three years old, 3, a close personal friend of the producers. or 4, All three of the above.
I was hoping at least for an intelligent argument and maybe some insight into Obama. Instead we get interviews with Obama's well removed half brother who just happens to be a racist. "Experts" that set up the narrator to justify his next interview with another "expert." One of which talks into the wrong end of an iPhone. Then we get media segments that are presented completely out of context and so blatantly setting up opposing arguments that you can see them coming a mile off. The argument is so confused that it often puts Obama in a good light.
As a piece of journalism it is utterly pious, un-entertaining and uninformative, what it tells me about Obama I could have got from his own autobiography. The rest is just conspiracy and opinion, most of it so far fetched that I was expecting them to say that Obama is the lizard man from V.
As a piece of political propaganda it also fails, it could have been infinitely more sophisticated. It seems takes exactly the same economic arguments the left use against the right but conveniently removes any suggestion that it is the system that is flawed. Obama has single handedly engineered all of America's problems and only voting for the "other" guy would make any difference. It worries me that there are real life humans in the world that think that things are this simple and easily dealt with. Fortunately America is less and less important on the world stage and they will all soon shoot each other with AR-15's anyway. (yes, that is a joke)
So, back to the movie.
I would hope that it is the ambition of any serious documentary maker to somehow demonstrate a view and make a difference to the world, to inform and educate as well as entertain. 2016 : Obama's America fails on all these levels, it is devoid of any educational value, a succinct or important argument is absent and it fails to entertain even an open minded viewer. It only aims to preach to the converted. I hear there is going to be a sequel, so I guess it's good that someone is at least getting rich from it!
Avoid at all costs! Unless you need another DVD to add to your existing factual movie collection, such as X-Files documentary series 1-10.
You've Been Trumped (2011)
Inspired me!
What can I say, this film blew me away and inspired me to write to Trump's secretary the Chief Constable of Grampian Police force and my first review on IMDb.
From the title we know the story and the film is efficiently executed. Shot on hand-held and using residents footage with some clips of Local Hero. As a subject it is fairly easy to portray Trump as an evil man.
However the film excels at capturing how the system designed to protect places and people can be corrupted. It explores the cult of personality and the immense power of business. The blatant corruption of state government, the developers, lawyers, educational institutions, local politicians and ultimately, providing the centerpiece of the film, the police. Like Trump, none of the antagonists make any attempt to hide that they have been completely debased by celebrity, money and power.
The film contrasts this with the almost gentle stoicism of the residents in the face of what is in reality a helpless situation. Through their eyes we see the destruction, bullying and land grabs. They stand in contrast to the aberrant forces in front of them. For me what is most shocking is that this takes place in Scotland, not China.
I would like to have seen more counter argument, the upside of development and the jobs the completed golf course will provide. Ultimately though it is the local authorities that damn themselves, in their actions instead of their words.
A very powerful piece of film-making I hope it reaches a wide audience.