stevenaisbitt Reviews

Close My Eyes (1991)

Taboo subject handled with grace and sensitivity.

[7/10 · 26 September 2019]

Beautiful writing by Stephen Poliakoff for this film. Close My Eyes handles the taboo of sibling incest extremely well, whilst not really going far enough in the end, to be completely satisfying. Set during a hot English summer in some beautifully shot home counties locales, the film is well scripted, framed and incredibly well acted by the three principles Owen, Reeves and Rickman. Richard and Natalie are sibling, raised apart, who ultimately succumb to a deep sexual attraction and need within one another, that eventually threatens to destroy them. Rickman plays Reeves' rich somewhat eccentric but likeable husband Sinclair, who eventually comes to suspect a connection between his wife and her younger brother that is dangerous and consuming. The ending, while melodramatic, is handled well. The incest is also handled extremely tastefully and never for shock or titillation value. We never actually see Richard and Natalie make love, only the lead in and afterglow. The leads are beautiful actors all. Lovely to look at. Saskia Reeves was beautiful and alluring also, but her character was very disturbed, as became of her brother. A solid seven, for not exploring the subject as throughly as it could have, but nonetheless we'll worth your time.

Wu Assassins (2019)

Enjoyable, despite obvious flaws.

[6/10 · 15 September 2019]

I watched Wu Assassins because I'm a fan of Katheryn Winnick. I knew she was a black belt in a few martial arts and wanted to see her in action, which you do quite a bit in the show. There's something about this actress, besides her obvious beauty and glaring sex appeal that makes her compelling on screen. She brings a quite intensity to her minor role in Wu, same as she was unforgettable in Vikings. As an executive producer on this show, its admirable I think that she didn't push this is a starring vehicle, now that Vikings is nearing it's end. The cultural focus here is very much Asian. Wu is a mixed bag, production wise. It's great to see another show set in San Francisco and based in the Chinese American community, with interesting Chinese leads, much like the excellent Warrior on Cinemax. But the special effects are frankly poor (very eighties) and they still out like sore thumbs. The dialogue is also very shaky and often delivered in a wooden, stilted way by everyone involved. Without spoilers - the story centers around a family in Chinatown who become unwittingly embroiled in a mystical ancient war of ages, between the elemental forces, with the world at stake. Got to say, I liked the family dynamic of the show. It made it more human and relatable, for me. But in spite of dodgy effects and jarring musical choices on the soundtrack, that often detract from the dialogue or scene, Wu Assassins was still a mildly diverting show. If you can get past the first two episodes, you'll watch it all. I'll certainly give season two a watch if it's renewed.

Need for Speed (2014)

Better than the increasingly ridiculous Fast and Furious series.

[7/10 · 9 September 2019]

I watched this due to my like of Aaron Paul. I was very pleasantly surprised, going in with low expectations. I expected a very OTT race movie. Likeable hero and crew, sneer-worthy villain in Dominic Cooper. Sassy love interest in my fellow brit Imogen Poots. Michael Keaton was great as Monarch, Rami Malek also superb in minor support. Dakota Johnson bland and forgettable as ever. What you get with Need for speed is just over two hours of solid respectable escapism, with great automotive stunts and some insanely skillful driving. Very enjoyable film. Recommended.

Another Life (2019–2021)

Badly written, largely badly acted garbage.

[1/10 · 28 July 2019]

Katee Sackoff and Justin Chatwin are fine actors. They should fire their agents, in my opinion. This is a painfully badly written, acted and risibly executed stinker. Twenty minutes into episode one - I was bored and (as a writer) angered by the glaring stupidity. Even the cgi effects are poor. After great adaptations, well scripted and masterfully cast like The Expanse and Altered Carbon, Another Life is utterly implausible refuse. Avoid.

The Canyons (2013)

A painfully slow, boring, labored turd

[2/10 · 25 June 2019]

The dialogue heavy script is actually painful to watch. The actors are all wooden as logged timber. Lohan is especially clunky and comes over as dumb, whorish and trashy, not remotely sexy. I agree with one of the other reviewers who wrote that her noticeable beer belly isn't particularly alluring. It's supposed to be a dark, sexy, moody movie. What you get is slow, stilted boredom, and almost two hours of your life stolen. The score is horrendous and jarring also. Avoid. I wish I had.

Spread (2009)

Made my skin crawl...

[4/10 · 22 June 2019]

I knew what I was about to watch, when I sat down to this, but it was (for me) painful. This blatently vacuous love letter to greed, arrogance and shallow meaningless sex frankly offended every moral sensibility I have. There are men out there who survive in this way. No self respect. I don't know how they look themselves in the eye, at the mirror. It gets four stars for being well made and Anne Heche is very sexy.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

I preferred Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker

[3/10 · 10 June 2019]

Congratulations Sony and Columbia, you've turned Spider-Man into the over-chatty clown of the MCU. I didn't like Tom Holland's portrayal of Parker in Captain America: Civil War, finding him frankly obnoxious. I thought I'd give this a try however. It gets three stars, and that's me being generous. These are for inventiveness and Michael Keaton's 'villain' who I actually sympathized with, given his narrative. The final of the three stars comes from Jennifer Connelly's enlivening voice over turn as the AI in Parker's Stark Industries manufactured Spider-Man suit. Who wouldn't want JC's dulcet tones in their head? And since when was Tony Stark Peter Parker's mentor and master-at-arms? I still prefer Sony's previous short-lived Spider-Man series with Andrew Garfield.

Black Summer (2019–2021)

The Z Nation apocalypse dawn - peopled by idiots

[4/10 · 23 May 2019]

I gave this a four, purely based on the fact I felt some mild tension for the first three episodes. By episode four I was bored. The characters in Black Summer are just plain bloody stupid, frankly. Their actions are often idiotic to the point you feel like yelling at the screen, with common sense advice. Not one of these early days survivors seems to have any survival instinct, with the possible exception of Spears. The effect on the viewer is irritating and makes you apathetic to the bland characters' plight, basically. It's poorly shot, with too many oners, and looks like it was made on a budget of about $700 by a group of bored suburbanites with a camcorder.

BloodRayne (2005)

Risibly bad adaptation of great video game series.

[1/10 · 4 March 2019]

I played the Bloodrayne games as a kid, so I figured I'd give this a whirl on amazon. I'd heard it was bad. It was worse. This production is truly one of the worst films I've ever seen. The sets are cheap. The actors are all on autopilot. They all say their lines as if they're at a costumed table read, not on camera. The script is laughable. Hell, the video game had better dialogue and voice acting. Michael Madsen looks and sounds embarrassed to be in this, as does Ben Kingsley. Kristanna Loken is miscast and as wooden as a hobby horse. The effects aren't even special and the costumes look like something a high school drama department could've put together. Thankfully it was only 90 mins of scrappy amateur film making. Avoid.

The Hero (I) (2017)

What a beautiful movie.

[9/10 · 24 February 2019]

Sam Elliott is a Legend. Simple as. This film is a beautiful, poignant touching gem. No spoilers whatsoever here or plot details. I will simply say - do yourself a favor and see it. It is an amazing life-affirming film that makes you look long and hard at your own mortality. It makes you ask the questions : What would I do? How would I react, if I had to face that situation?

Also. We guys should all be so lucky, to look as amazing as Sam at that age. I hope I do.

See 'The Hero.' it is a touching piece of work.

The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Love Denzel, but there's something lacking from Eq2

[6/10 · 18 February 2019]

The first Equalizer was a cracking thriller. The repurposing of Robert McCall from the original 80's TV series character worked well, for me. There was strong chemistry between Denzel and Chloe Moretz in the first movie. While Washington's rapport with his former agency characters remains in Eq2, there was an emotional connection either lacking or that I missed here, which ultimately hampered my enjoyment of the sequel. For me, Denzel's finest work remains Man On Fire. Don't get me wrong, Eq2 is a fine film, well crafted with several strong character and theme beats, but not as good as the first in my humble opinion. No spoilers as usual. I recommend you judge for yourselves - cinema being as highly subjective as it is.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

MI = Tom Cruise vanity project.

[5/10 · 17 February 2019]

Don't get me wrong I like Tom, always have. Great actor, seemingly decent guy (overlooking the scientology). The first two Missions were good. But as they've gone on, they've gotten more and more preposterous, frankly. Each new mission outdoes the last in set pieces designed to do just one thing - show you Tom doing his own ludicrously dangerous stunts. Or fooling you into believing its all Tom all the time. No plot spoilers in this review.

There isn't much plot. Nuclear threat, blah blah. Rouge former agent turned anarchist with a personal grudge against Ethan Hunt, blah blah blah. Stupidly inappropriate humor injected at every junction between the members of Tom's IMF team. I mean, they're supposed to be saving the world, yet they can stop to piss about and quip the damn time? This one has Henry Cavil roided to hell and playing a dumb thug with a neck bigger than his head. Over hyped and over rated. I was playing with my phone forty minutes in, to be honest. I give it a 5, for the obvious work put in to make this. Story wise however? Very weak and absolutely nothing new or remotely innovative.

Final Space (2018–2021)

Brilliance. I laughed out loud, repeatedly.

[10/10 · 28 July 2018]

Final Space is an animated comedy show in twenty odd minute episodes, that never let up with the funny. I was in stitches repeatedly with both the irreverent snappy dialogue and often subtle sight gags. The characters are simply drawn yet the animation and effects are great. Gary, Gwen, Avocado, Littlecado and Mooncake are utterly engaging. The voice acting is excellent, creating people and cat-alien bounty hunters we grow to care about quickly. The mix all adds up to a thoroughly entertaining half hour or so, that has you begging for the next episode. Even the recap at the start of each new instalment is hilarious.