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leightrifari
Executive Director, IIPG- UK & EU Divisions
Ratings
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Reviews
Pursuit (2022)
Why, John Cusack? Why?????
I wanted to give this 1 star, but it did have a script.... Albeit , a very poor one. Horrible acting, background extras who didn't flinch during a gun fight in a mostly empty shopping mall....it just kept getting worse and worse. Had a hard time figuring out whose wife was actually missing. John Cusack should be hanging his head in shame. I picked this one out of the Prime Swamp because of him. Just goes to show that "bankability" is a thing of the past. I wanted to review it on Amazon, but they said I had to finish the movie in order to do that. Well, that ain't happening....... Found something better to do for the remaining 53 minutes.
Phantom (2013)
A sinking Ship from the Beginning
I don't even know where to start with this.
I had no idea this story took place in 1968...except for the grainy, faintly lettered title card at the opening.
Had no idea these actors were playing Russians.....(Not even an ATTEMPT at an accent.... Not even the smoking general sporting an oxygen hose. I once winced at Sean Connery's attempt in "The Hunt for Red October" ---Mr. Connery, I'm so sorry--you were better. SO much better)
The film got better once the bullets started flying (I can still hear Sean Connery telling Alec Baldwin "Most things on this ship don't react well to bullets....")
Proof that even a sturdy cast of well-known character actors can't save a sinking ship.
The Impact (2022)
The Better "Meteor Movie" You Need to See This Year
I've been waiting eagerly for the release of this movie since I first learned about it in 2018. The herculean task Chris Jones has achieved by knitting together 50 different stories by 50 different storytellers into one film cannot be emphasised enough. "Impact 50" is relentless in delivering a catalogue of real HUMAN reactions and emotions..I found it hard to look and then hard to look away some times. Surprisingly, the pacing was actually pretty good, given the number of stories and how long each scene was.
A vignette with an elderly couple left to their own devices on an abandoned beach was both heartwarming and bittersweet. It felt real and authentic and reminded me that life is always too short to tell someone you love them. There were comedic moments as well as heart-wrenching scenarios with no happy ending in sight. The acting across the board, through 50 different directors, was consistently on the mark. There were no celebrities in this film and there didn't need to be. Unlike another meteor movie which came out last year, this film explores REAL human emotions and REAL human responses, and I found myself crying for every single person I saw on screen at the end.
My only criticism would be that at times the pacing was a bit slow, but given the number of stories and the range and style of each one, it was executed pretty damn near flawlessly.
Kudos to Chris Jones and kudos to the final 50 writers and directors who made the final cut. Beyond the attempted Guinness record-breaking nods ("most writers/directors" in a single film", "most names in the credits", etc ), this is a film that will touch you to your core and make you want to go hug a loved one afterwards.
Well worth the watch.
Fractured (2019)
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Netflix has really got me in their loop--they've been pushing this film relentlessly for the last 3 days and my husband and I finally caved in.
First off, I will say this film was VERY well done. Would have loved to know what the budget was, because they spared no expense on the action scenes, and the cinematography and editing were excellent. The script was decent and the acting superb. This movie had a bit of "Twin Peaks" and "Twilight Zone" going on, which I loved. The story was a tiny bit far-fetched, but not totally implausible til the very end, when Sam Worthington's character busts out of the hospital and "saves" his family. It could have been sooooo much juicier to have discovered an illegal organ harvesting operation, but then there would have been no way to end the movie. Sam Worthington's facial expression during the final seconds of the film was priceless. I was skeptical about this movie (having seen some real clunkers on Netflixin the past) but this one held my attention to the very end. I actually enjoyed it, mostly because it was extremely well made.