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The Social Dilemma (2020)
One of the most important, and one of the worst documentaries out there right now...
I believe that the overwhelming majority of people are concerned with the issues presented in this documentary. The problem, is that the documentary itself is mostly emotional manipulative fear-mongering, and sensationalist nonsense. There is barely any actual factual content, amidst a bevy of quickly edited anecdotes and glib ideas presented as profound insight. If you already have a working knowledge and critical mind for this stuff, it's not just bad, it's embarrassingly, cring-worthy terrible.
Worse still, the documentary relies on much of the same emotionally manipulative communication mechanisms used in the very social media it criticizing. The documentary isn't just bad, it's hypocritical, and contributing to the very problem it condemns. Perhaps this documentary will do more good than harm. I t has resonated with many viewers, but I wonder how much of that is praise for covering the subject matter, rather than praise for the merits of this documentary.
I'm sure there is an audience for this film who will enjoy it, and some may even benefit from it. But I'm more concerned that this documentary is such a joke, it seems to make light of what I believe to be a very serous problem. A problem so serious, it needs something way better than this emotionally manipulative fear-mongering, looking to provoke the ignorant, while providing very substance, with even less integrity.
Shattered Glass (2003)
Good story, mediocre execution
I don't know much about the actual story of Stephen Glass, but I have researched the debunking of many falsified stories over the years. Perhaps that makes me a poor audience for this film, but regardless, it just seemed so flat-footed. So bereft of detail. So utterly mundane. And Hayden Christiansen's performance is laughable in its worst moments. Thankfully, the supporting cast ranges from competent, to redeeming, particularly with Peter Saarsgaard. If you already kind of know this story, I wouldn't recommend the movie. If you know much about journasltic integrity, or lack thereof, in the real world. I wouldn't recommend it either. But if this is a new subject to you, and not a story you know, this would probably be a great introduction to the subject matter. A story from over twenty years ago, that seems even more relevant today.
C U Soon (2020)
Avoid the partisan Malayalam reviews, here is an honest take...
Tldr; A webcam genre movie that is better than the sum of its parts, and was entertaining enough for the evening, but I would never watch it again, or recommend it.
As far as the found-footage / webcam genre goes, I have maybe seen a couple dozen of these films. This is arguably the most illogical, inconsistent, utterly incomprehensible mess I have seen in this genre. It demands the viewer accept ludicrous premise after ludicrous premise (I am trying to write this to be general enough to avoid spoilers)...
- that all it takes to hack into a person's Internet accounts is a low quality JPEG image of the front of their wireless router.
- that these same people involved with this magical cyber security & hacking, would use one-factor authentication, and leave their webcams on all the time with their social media account logged in, including while they sleep.
- that one person helping another person flee an abusive situation, would help the abuse victim change their phone number in order to hide from their abuser, and then go seek out the abuser to give them the victims updated phone number.
- that people who swipe as a match on an online dating app, would propose marriage to their families after a few days of chatting, and this wouldn't be called out as rash, reckless behaviour by the families involved.
- that people can have relationships, where they discuss, virtually nothing, ever, and seemingly purposely avoid talking about key plot points that are happening to them, for no reason whatsoever, other than to create unnecessary complications to the plot.
To say you have to shut your brain off with this movie is an understatement. You practically have to feign ignorance of the laws of physics, let alone human nature, in order to make this movie comprehensible, let alone believable. The webcam / on screen framing is illogically inconsistent, the scripting borderline incomprehensible, and the musical scoring is so utterly incompetent, that it seems whoever scored it did not understand certain scenes either. All that being said, I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it entertaining. In fact, some of its flaws, and incompetent story telling, added to the experience for me, as I tried to figure out just what the frack I was *supposed* to think while watching this mess of a movie. It was particularly fast-paced for cinema from that part of the world, and it had some compelling moments, all the while seeming to be made with effort and intent. While I would never recommend this, if one were compelled to watch a Malayalam take on this genre, I wouldn't try to stop them. It was maddeningly incomprehensible, but compelling enough that I never once wanted to stop watching.
Badla (2019)
Utterly inept, watch "The Invisible Guest" instead
We watched the original and this one back to back. No comparison. Watch "The Invisible Guest." It's great fun.
This one was terribly inept. Immediately apparent is the poor Direction. The the Poor Cinematography. Then poor Editing. Poor sound mixing. Poor visual effects. And unbelievably bad colour grading. It relies on a maddeningly shaky hand held camera to distract from the inept direction and poor framing, and its edited at an insane pace of about one cut per second to try and hide the myriad of flaws and create a sense of energy. It edits out some great parts of the original, adds nothing of value, and worse of all, repeats some scenes in such an inept manner, that it takes away all the suspense. Virtually nothing is made to play out with the dramatic tension of the original. Even it's very name is idiotic, as the film gives away all its secrets in the first few minutes. But the ending. The ending is utterly unforgivable. This film is so poorly made, it makes me seriously question if the Director even understood how and why the original worked so well.
The only reasons I can possibly think of to watch this film are...
1. You don't have access to the vastly superior original.
2. You can understand Spanish or read subtitles, but can understand Hindi.
3. You did watch the original, but thought it was too complex, dramatic, intelligent, suspenseful, and thrilling, and wanted to see it simplified and dumbed down into mediocrity.
For everyone else, watch the Invisible Guest. It holds up great on multiple viewings. This film only works if you haven't seen the original, or have very low expectations.
Whiplash (2014)
As an amateur musician...
As an amateur musician, I really couldn't enjoy this. It is not really about jazz, let alone music. It's a movie about an abusive teacher and an obsessively self-destructive student, that uses the world of jazz music as a contrivance. Because so few people are familiar with the world of music, let along jazz, the movie is able to use this contrivance to create drama by divorcing itself from any kind of reality, under the pretence of insight.
This wasn't a music movie, it's a sports movie (ht Adam Neely). It takes the tired sports formula, and substitutes football for jazz, with such a low level of realism the average person would be able to spot its absurdity from a mile away. It's terribly cringy, if not downright absurd. I doubt many people would rave about a movie about an abusive coach and a football player (who is obsessed with a very old deceased football player) on a team where no-one really loves football, no-one talks about football, and no-one care about their team-mates, and no parent cares if the coach is abusing their kids, etc. But substitute football for jazz, and apparently, this movie is critically acclaimed? Why? There are far better films about abuse, education, obsession. But I guess there are very few films about jazz, and so this imposter seems insightful to some. Trust me. Its not. This is depraved absurdist fantasy.
Why 6/10? Because it is stylish. Well enough structured. It has one good music scene. And it seems to connect with audiences. So who am I to judge? :)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Modern-day Minstrel Show
I can't recall the last time I have disagreed so vigorously with critics. This isn't a great movie, or even a good movie. It's a modern-day minstrel show.
This is a movie about small-town Missouri, made by (and for) people who clearly hold mid-western America in disdain. It doesn't look like Missouri, and it was in fact shot on the east coast. More distressingly, the characters act (and talk) nothing like small-town Americans. This is a deeply classist film, made in outright contempt of the very people it depicts. It seems to speak exclusively to those with a left-leaning political bias who who enjoy having their partisan delusions validated. To put it another way, this is a movie about Trump voters, made by a Brit who doesn't even understand Brexit voters.
If this were strictly a comedy, it would simply be offensive. But this is a drama which purports to have a higher purpose than mere laughter, and worse, this is a film that feigns realism. For that reason, I consider this a blatant display of unforgivable bigotry.
If you decide to watch this film, try imagining that the black characters are white and the white characters are black. What era would produce such a condescending piece of filth? Why would that kind of portrayal be acceptable in this day and age?
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
A fascinatingly subversive touchstone of LGBT cinema...
When I put on this movie tonight, I assumed it would be a weak sequel to a nightmare on Elm Street. Woah, it ended up being so much more! Yes, it is in fact a weak sequel to a Nightmare on Elm street, but it is also a highly subversive story about a young gay man who cannot face his budding sexuality. Oftentimes the metaphor is more interesting than what is ostensibly on-screen, and it would be a mistake to consider this film on its surface level alone. I have watched thousands of movies, and hundreds of horror films, and have never seen anything quite like this. In the end, I'd actually recommend watching this mediocre slasher sequel, as an entertaining and fascinating touchstone of LGBT cinema, brilliantly subverting the genre right in front of mainstream audience's eyes.
Triangle (2009)
This one is complicated...
I can't remember the last film that I saw that was such an inconsistent mess, for good and for bad. If I tried to break it down with numbers, I might score it like this
9/10 Story Concept
7/10 Musical Score
6/10 Editing
5/10 Sound
4/10 Dialogue
3/10 Cinematography
2/10 Acting
1/10 Visual Effects
So, the question is, what do you value? If you want to see a genre piece with a great concept, and can forgive some crucial flaws, you might really enjoy this. If a highly novel concept isn't enough to distract you from many formal flaws, you probably won't enjoy this one. Me, I'm not sure what I think, so 5/10. As a genre fan, I have to say I'm glad I watched it, but I will never watch it again.
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UPDATE. I kept thinking about this movie, and decided to re-watch it. Despite its many flaws, it's a better concept and story than I initially gave it credit for 7/10.
Don't Breathe (2016)
Cruel and unusual
In some ways it is similar to Green Room in that's its technically suspense thriller, but directed like a horror movie, until it eventually becomes one.
Suffers from the obvious problem of the premise: no likeable characters. At its best the movie very surprisingly transcends this limitation with relentless suspense and some truly unexpected and horrifying surprises. At its worst it feels like a tedious exercise in depraved masochism.
It is even more stylish than the director's previous efforts in Evil Dead. Beautifully photographed. I'll give it a 7/10 in spite of its fundamental flaws. Glad I took the time to watch it.
The Babadook (2014)
Superbly well crafted horror *film*
First off, the bad stuff. The story is fairly predictable, so much so that at the worst of it I found myself just waiting for what was going to happen next to be over with so that maybe the film could move in a new direction. Harsh words, I know, but I have watched hundreds of horror movies, and well, that was my experience with it.
Now, the good stuff. One of the best made horror *films* ever. Seriously. Dialogue, acting, cinematography, sound, visuals, everything is excellent. Visually splendid. Effects are flawless. But the sound, wow. One of the best mixed films I've ever seen. This is a low budget horror movie made at the quality of a high drama film, which is astonishing in itself.
If you are interested in watching a superbly well done horror *film*, I can't imagine you not liking the Babadook. There is no need to care about the genre, this should appeal to anyone who appreciates meticulous filmmaking. I can't wait to see what the writer/director does next. If you are in the mood for a fast paced fun horror movie while you eat snacks, skip this movie for now. Watch it when you are in the right mood. It is too fine a film too enjoy without proper attention, and it would be a shame to waste such a rare breed, an actual horror film.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
Dialogue Writing
This will be a very short review, focused on one single aspect of the movie... the dialogue writing. The dialogue writing in this movie is among the worst of the thousands of movies I've watched. Off the top of my head, I cannot recall any movie that has dialogue as bad as this. I have never read the book, so I have no idea if this is a product of staying true to the source material, I am only judging it in the context of the movie. Characters speak in terribly obvious and unnatural exposition, with long pauses after sentences, so the audience can presumably absorb the subtext. You could shut the picture off altogether, as virtually everything happening is explained in mundane detail by the characters. The dialogue is written at an English level and pacing that would likely be deemed too slow for a children's movie. The movie wasn't for me, so I'm not a good judge of it overall, but as a human being who reads and watches films, I can say the dialogue writing was insulting to my intelligence. Advice... keep your expectations even lower than they may already be.