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The Diplomat (2023)
Vapid nonsense
I only watched one episode, but I think I must have watched a different first episode than all those gushingly enthusiastic fans out there. Here's what I watched.
The absurdity kicks off right from the get go. Our eponymous diplomat gets reassigned from Kabul to be the American ambassador in London and.... wait for it.... she's annoyed! I almost fell off my sofa. What a dream it would have been for a woman to work in Kabul compared with the prospect of living in the luxurious palace-style accommodation she ends up getting in London. Bummer! She was even disappointed that she wouldn't get to wear the two burkas she'd already packed!! Right.
The episode then proceeded along the following scheme. Let's tick off the boxes as we go:
1. A cast with the correct proportions of races and orientations? Check!
2. A power woman in the starring role? Check!
3. Casual, yet superfluous, references to Britain's extremely racist and colonial past? You becha!
4. Americans portrayed as holding the keys to world order and security and Brits portrayed as stereotypic, bumbling eccentric fools? That's right!
5. Not one single character that you either like or can relate to? Of course!
6. Dialogue packed with political jargon spoken rapid-fire to disguise the fact that nothing meaningful is actually being said? Roger that!
7. 50 minutes where nothing much happens apart from a woman arrives in London to be an ambassador suddenly enlivened by a cliff-hanging end to make you watch the next episode despite being almost too comatose from boredom to actually do so? Yeah!
This was truly appalling.
And since when has there been such pomp and ceremony surrounding the arrival of a new ambassador anyway? Let's play a game. Name the American ambassador to your country. I bet you can't. The reasons you can't are:
A. You're not interested
B. Ambassadors are largely irrelevant
C. Due to A and B, there was no media attention when a new ambassador arrived.
I bet you can't remember the new ambassador being paraded around London in a horse and carriage fit for royalty, can you? I can't.
I can't because it wouldn't happen.
What an enormous waste of a large budget that could have been used to create an intelligent series instead of this vapid nonsense.
So why did I give it 4/10 instead of 1/10? No idea. I should have given 1.
Boiling Point (2021)
Brave cinema
Imagine trying to sell the premise of this film. 90 minutes in the life of a restaurant shot more or less in real time. You'd say, "No way! That's not going to work! Where's the plot? Where's the characterisation? How can you possibly make a coherent film out of that in 90 minutes?" And you'd be right for doubting but so wrong in terms of outcome. This film grips. The tension grabs you right from the start; it sucks you in and won't let you go. You're there, right slap bang in the middle of all this madness. You know it's all going to go badly wrong and you're powerless to stop it. It's the classic rollercoaster ploy. You ain't getting out of this one till the train comes to a halt. Enjoy the ride!
Speak No Evil (2022)
Straight or symbolic?
The film works great if taken literally. In other words, a well-meaning family are duped and manipulated by an evil couple for no apparent meaning. The terror here lies in the randomness of it all. Anyone could fall victim. Will they manage to escape? Will this couple end up as the next victims? The tension mounts...
Or, you might want to view this film more symbolically. A well-meaning society stretches to accommodate an alien culture that behaves in shocking and unacceptable ways. Criticism is discouraged or even silenced (quite literally, in this film). The benevolent society puts up little opposition against the invaders, too afraid to stand up for themselves or speak out and too keen to show 'tolerance', a trait exploited by the invaders as weakness.
A symbolic reading of this film answers come criticisers of this film who saw the ending as implausible. Yes, it is implausible, but truth is stranger than fiction, as they say.
The Good Nurse (2022)
Superbly acted true story
There are no bells and whistles here in the cinematography department. It's subtle, but effective, focusing on the characters, letting the actors come through. The final scene between the two main characters was understated beauty. The story itself if thought-provoking, disturbing and indeed worthy of a movie. The pacing and editing are both superb. There's nothing really there that I would add or remove; everything moves the story along. I'd recently reached the conclusion that no decent films are being made anymore. While that may be generally true, The Good Nurse is definitely a most welcome exception. I highly recommend.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Finger-lickin' bad
So, on paper this film has potential, right? High calibre actors, great scenery, an exploration of the human condition... Except it's contrived in a way that you can't just ignore. I was with this film for a while; I could relate to the pain of a friendship ending. We've all been there. We didn't cut all our fingers off, though, did we? And so the contrivance began and never really let go. Sorry, I'm not just going to suspend disbelief and ignore everything I know about people just to humour a film plot. Even the severely mentally disturbed do not cut off their own fingers. And even if they did, wouldn't they get horrendously infected? Or maybe it was all supposed to be deeply symbolic. After all, the film as set against the background of the Irish Civil War. Brother against brother; finger against finger? Perhaps, but I was too dumb to get it. Colin Farrell's eyebrows were great, though. So 5 out of 10 for trying.
Glass Onion (2022)
A soulless product of its times
Yes, the location is glamorous and the set is sparkly, shiny and expensive, and who doesn't like a murder mystery? Well, I prefer mine with a splash of originality, a healthy dose of intrigue and a tad more depth.
A bunch of people lured to a mystery island where a murder will happen - reminiscent of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' (which is actually far better). Politically correct casting choices (tick that box!). The kind and brilliant genius, the mastermind of a global tech empire is a black woman (who else?) and her evil, scheming oppressor is a white guy (of course!). The rest of the cast have the character depth of a paddle-pool while poor Daniel Craig soldiers on trying to make something of this car crash of a plot.
I didn't want to write a spoiler here, but I think I'll have to... The film culminates in the destruction of the Mona Lisa (a symbol of white privilege), positively revelling in the revenge vandalism meted out by our black heroine against the evil, toxic white male. Tomato soup thrown over a painting multiplied by 100. Well done! Whoo hoo!
So, 5 out of 10 for visuals and for trying, and given the context that no one appears to be interested in making decent films any more.
Happy End (2017)
The Strange Death of Europe
If I could choose one, highly symbolic film to accompany Douglas Murray's great work entitled The Strange Death of Europe, it would be this.
Ostensibly, this film is about an old upper-class French family who run a construction company. A catastrophe strikes at the building site and a creeping sense of malaise grips the family itself as attempted suicides become more and more commonplace.
Symbolically, this work takes a swipe at the debilitating trivialisation of a Western society increasingly sucked into the world of YouTube idiocy and cyber sex, the erosion of its values, the decaying aftermath of colonialism and the ultimate suicide of Europe at the hands of mass immigration on the one hand, and a society too apathetic and politically correct to offer any resistance on the other.
Marvellous stuff.
Panodrama (2019)
A courageous work
The BBC conspire to fabricate evidence in collusion with a far-left organization (Hope not Hate) in order to 'take down' their enemy-Tommy Robinson. Unbeknown to the BBC, however, Tommy was about to turn the tables on them ...
My 10/10 rating is for the sheer guts and determination on display here from a team of, let's face it, non-professional filmmakers. The message told here of lies and deceit perpetrated by what was once a respected broadcaster is a shocking one and should serve as an eye-opener.
Lazzaro felice (2018)
Pointless
At first, it looks like a feudalistic setting from the 18th/19th century in rural Italy featuring poor serfs under the yoke of the Marquise. Then the Marquise's administrator rolls up in a motor vehicle so we must be in the 20th century, maybe 1950's/60s? Then the Marquise's son breaks out his large mobile phone and walkman so I guess it's around 1995. So, why the hell are these people living as virtual slaves to this Marquise in the 1990s??? Clearly, the film isn't supposed to be 'real' but rather a kind of magical realism analog but about what? About the fact that people are exploited? That some people like the eponymous Lazzaro exist who are good and naive? I think we all knew that already so what's the point of the film? A pointless waste of time. The camera work and acting was good, so I gave it 4/10/