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Chinatown (1974)
One of the best films ever made
If you've never seen this film before, treat yourself.
The music, the clothes, the cars, the plot, the acting, the stars, it's just perfect.
There's no other movie like it, similar to Angel Heart and The Silver Linings Playbook in that respect.
I cannot praise it highly enough.
Ray Winstone in Sicily: Palermo, Fit for a Duchess (2020)
Enjoyable, Entertaining & Relaxed
Only downside is Winston talked quite a bit about part of Homer's The Odyssey and gave the ending away, which is marginally irritating if you have never read it but are planning on doing so. (Already bought it.)
Good he was honest about how long he would spend in Palermo given the choice.
Hotel Artemis (2018)
Cool Movie
Reminiscent of Escape From New York, which, I imagine, influenced it to a degree.
Sterling K Brown's was the standout performance for me but Jodie Foster & Dave Bautista were also good, even though Bautista didn't have many lines.
Can't say any more without giving away spoilers.
Upgrade (2018)
Philip K. Dick-esque Sci-Fi Neo-Noir
Very good indeed.
Seems fairly low budget but doesn't suffer from it in the least.
Clever too.
The Windsors (2016)
Brilliant But Only If You Are Not A Fan of The Royal Family
What really stands out is the casting and performances of the actors. They are almost entirely perfectly cast and their performances are simply wonderful.
Hopefully, with Megan Markle now having signed up to join, there should be plenty of material for a 3rd series.
Brad's Status (2017)
I Would Have Given It Zero If I Could
An absolutely dreadful film, consisting of nothing more than the mid-life crisis angst of a thoroughly self obsorbed man.
I would have turned it off after 30 mins but for the fact that I was watching it with family, who wished to continue watching it.
Heed my warning and do not suffer as I was forced to.
American Assassin (2017)
Slick, Anti-Iranian Propaganda Disguised As A Film
Or agitprop, to give it its formal definition.
I'd say quite a lot of Americans have had enough of Middle Eastern wars but the intent of this film is quite obvious; to help psychologically condition the US population for yet another war in the Middle East and to do so at a profit.
Other than that, the performances of O'Brien, Keaton & Kitsch are actually very good given the material they have to work with.
The only other critcism I would make is you can be a hard-as-nails old special ops guy or you can be an old life-long smoker. You cannot be both.
HyperNormalisation (2016)
Disappointingly Poor
*SPOILER ALERT*
First off, I would start by saying I am generally a huge fan of Mr Curtis' work; The Century of the Self series was brilliant and The Mayfair Set almost as good. However, HyperNormalisation is quite different.
Mr Curtis covers a lot of different topics in this film. He starts with New York's near bankruptcy in the 1970's and the bankers effectively dictating to the politicians what cuts to make to public services, before briefly mentioning the hippies of the 1960's and their giving up on trying to change the world in the 1970's, before jumping off to talk about Syria in the 1970's. This is common throughout the film. Mr Curtis talks about one particular topic, make a few points then jumps off to talk about another, seemingly completely unrelated topic.
When you watch HyperNormalisation you find yourself asking, "Are you making an argument or a just suggestion?" and then find you do not have an answer to that question.
He covers a lot of different topics. Timothy Leary and LSD in the 1960's, the dawn of so-called "cyberspace" in the 1990's (the internet to you or I), the history of suicide bombings in the Middle East, Lebanon, the Iran-Iraq War, Libya, Colonel Gaddafi, Hamas, (the non-existent) WMD's, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi, the Arab Spring, Facebook, news-generating algorithms, BlackRock, Soviet science fiction writers, the rise of Trump, it's all there, being jumped to, back and forth.
The ending is particularly poor and the point he makes is almost so subtle that you only understand it after mulling it over. He makes his final point by reference to a scene in the film Carrie, which no one will understand unless they have seen the film, and with reference to a tearful women, who oozes condescension, complaining about Brexit. Even then, the point he is making is very vague.
In the end, it's all just a bit of a mess. What's sad is that Mr Curtis is trying to explain the world and it's future yet watching HyperNormalisation you are left with the impression that he no longer understands it himself.