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robertpatrickmadden
Reviews
Dunkirk (2017)
Dreadful disappointment
Why oh why make the focus of Dunkirk a few lads huddling down in a beached boat?
Why even bother with the out-of-synch scenes?
And why make the events of Dunkirk feel like a handful of blokes and three planes non-event?
A dreadful disappointment when you go to the cinema expecting the grandeur of 'The longest day' coupled with the dystopian melodrama of that scene from Atonement' and what I get is a nerdy selfish Nolan crapfest
Ex Machina (2014)
Disappointing
Just not what I expected.
I though it would be a Black Mirror type of vibe with lots of story points to put my mind to work.
But what I got was a reclusive tech guy designs a hot robot chick to be a kind of sex toy which lo and behold ends up manipulating him.
I knew the ending from the very beginning. And the long midsection of the movie revolves around tedious 'interviews' between another reclusive tech guy and the hot robot chick. Nothing much else happens.
Disappointing.
The Guard (2011)
Hits the mark
This! This is what I want movies to be. Quirky, darkly funny, poignant/cheeky at the same time AND very watchable.
Brendan Gleeson leads from the front from the very start. Just his facial expression on the opening scene sets the perfect tone of what's to follow. We know we're in for a treat. A career best performance.
And the supporting cast all lend their hand. Cheadle was perfect as the by-the-book uptight FBI agent. Flanagan provides a much appreciated conduit to show our Guard's tender side. Her acting was exceptional.
Tight plotting, great character actors and a satisfying conclusion. Yes, yes and yes!
Tenet (2020)
Sorry but no
When a filmmaker gets to write, direct and co-produce a pet project it can either be a masterpiece (Coppola's Apocalypse Now) or a total mess driven by vanity (Nolan's Tenet)
Just what was he thinking? Surely the editor could have at least said No! you can't have a confused looking Washington nod at the word 'Paradox' then move swiftly on to the next incomprehensible plotless scene acting like he knows what's going on.
This is Nolan's disaster. His Heaven's Gate. Hopefully it's not the end of his career as Memento and Inception were good.
Gisaengchung (2019)
Dreadful
Don't believe the hype. This is a crass pretentious movie pretending to be a serious story about class struggle. It's obviously made by luvvies in the Korean film industry clique. The ending proves this theory.