Change Your Image
hrpdepsub
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
That They May Face the Rising Sun (2023)
Strangely serene
A strange movie but one worth seeing. What I expected was a kind of a modified version of the The Quiet Man because as an Irish person you expect that kind of nonsense twee movie, but this isn't it. Yes there are stereotypes in the movie and it is set in the 1980s, but overall it is a movie about a location and a movie about nothing really happening, which is what occurs in most of our lives.
The whole essence of the movie IMHO is that it's visual, visceral and about how the land and seasons shape the people and dictate their lives unless they decide to do otherwise. The main character is a little too smugly self-satisfied, but other than that it's well worth absorbing this movie.
Civil War (2024)
Did I miss something?
Just saw it and it was such a let down; no real coherent plot except an engineered pastiche of war photography mixed with an anti-Trump spin. Everything felt 'put in place' ready to be triggered and it wasn't so much of a road movie as a put together montage of a disconnected dystopian future. Plot holes, illogical turns and twists were strewn throughout the movie.
Did it have some good parts? Yes, some, but you always expected them to lead somewhere better but they didn't. Was there some good well framed cinematography? Yes, which is why I gave it four, but that couldn't carry a plotless, misshapen movie. Others appear to enjoy to go by the rating, but in the movie theatre the guy sitting a few seats down looked at me as he left and just shrugged his shoulders. I think a common response from many viewers is that it isn't what they expected.
The First Omen (2024)
Another nun movie... if you like them then it's probably for you
It's just another nun movie which appear to be in vogue, but it has nothing to do with the The Omen or if it does it I cannot fathom the connection.
It follows a usual formula of mini scares, max scares with a plot of kinds throw in to keep people thinking there is some internal cohesion, but it doesn't really have any of the intensity of the original movie which I believe had Gregory Peck in it.
This is the third or fourth nun movie I have seen doing the rounds in the last number of months, but most are little but teenage flicks you take your girl to. The movie for some reason tries to pull in the political situation in Italy in the 70s/80s with persistent political unrest and various terrorist organizations in full battle with the government, but for the life of me I don't see any relevance or connection with the plot.
The consistently high ratings make me wonder, am I missing something? Others can tell, I would love to see the box-office turnover for this.
All of Us Strangers (2023)
Mawkish sentimental mulch that takes self-pitying to a new high.
Clearly most people disagree with me as the ratings are so high, but here's my take on it. Loneliness, depressions, death of one's parents at an early age.... yes it's all terrible and difficult and lots of people struggle with these things, but that's not the basis for a movie unless it's productive in its analysis or, god forbid, instructive on how to deal with it.
This is self-pitying navel gazing mawkish mulch that misrepresents narcissism as some form of triumphant suffering worth close examination. It's doom scrolling brought to the big screen and is the equivalent of watching a car crash from different angles just to ensure you see it all. There's so much more out there to see, in fact save the tenner and go for a nice walk by the river... you never know you might see someone jump in and you can just watch it for free - instead of paying for it. Nice retro scenery though.
Gojira -1.0 (2023)
I don't know if this is a homage to bad B movies or it is just a bad B movie.
The Hollywood machine is safe if this is all the competition there is, but we know there isn't there's always Korea. But seriously, this is a pretty bad movie. Everything is wooden even the wood, the acting, the characters, the special effects the plot line etc. The acting was especially bad; it all reminds of hysterical women in costume dramas reaching for the smelling salts, swooning and clutching at their pear necklaces for dramatic effect.
Then I thought it is meant to be this way, maybe it's some form of homage to how Godzilla movies et al. Were 'back in the day'. But why would you pay homage to something that was bad? I don't know but that's my bet, they designed the movie to be two-dimensional and wooden because that's how they were.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Shockingly boring movie that doesn't reflect the actual events.
Someone has to say it so it might as well be me, this movie is boring, very boring, I would rather do my tax-returns whilst listening to a politicians' debate than endure it again. I left the movie theatre after two and half-hours and should have done it sooner. Why?
1 You don't get to identify with any of the characters or really grasp why each character is doing what they are doing. The characters just don't develop in the movie, they just interact with each other and more characters are added into the mix to distract from this.
2 I love the actors and director individually, but you get the sense they are all in the equivalent of one of those old British phone boxes trying to move around - and there isn't room. They are simply too big for the little they have to work with. It's like you have three famous chefs and you give them a can of beans, a potato and a stick of celery and say 'Right, your all good at what you do, make me a great meal'.
3 Historically this is very selective with the truth and facts and let's leave it there or this review would go on for pages. What can be said is that the Osage are in many ways their own worst enemy, but leaving that aside that they currently own, amongst many other assets, seven casinos which turnover hundreds of millions of dollars per annum. So if they were ever exploited, the shoe is on the other foot now.
4 With such a high IMDB rating most people will go and see this and ignore low ratings like myself, but when that little voice in your head says 'God, this is boring...' then get up and go and cut your losses, because it will only get worse.
The Creator (2023)
A strange hodgepodge
This movie revolves around four key issues, and neither the director or the writer appears to have a grasp on them. All that being said the movie is worth a look, but you will leave unfulfilled.
1 - AI doesn't want to kill us. Since The Terminator there appears to be an extreme anxiousness that technology when it becomes sentient will not like us, see us as the problem and want to kill us. This movie spins around this issue but more as a cover. AI is just AI, machines are sentient and they never will be.
2 Vietnam - The Director clearly liked Apocalypse Now and is using Vietnam as a backdrop for his analogy about whatever issue he is trying to explore. Needless to say Blade Runner also gets a few nods.
3 Religion - death, why are we hear etc etc ... it's all there in the plot line but I cannot make head or tail of it.
4 The main character is likeable, but again confusing, confused and drenched in sentimentality.
Reasons to go: some good one liners, beautiful cinematography and interest takes of future tech. But for a coherent drama, no.
The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Does what it says on the can...
Those going to this movie expect a certain type of movie, stylized action, some gore and a plot that won't tax you too much and that's precisely what they get.
I went because I was too late for another movie and found it enjoyable, if you want to switch off and relax for a couple of hours then this is the topic.
I have to write for another 280 characters so here's a few funny jokes I heard:
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Control freak.
Con-
-Okay, now you say, "Control freak who?"
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting cow wh-
MOO!
Knock knock.
Who's there?
To.
To who?
It's to whom.
Dumb Money (2023)
The Big Short it isn't
If you are expecting The Big Short, this isn't the movie, whilst it tries to explain what was occuring it skates over everything superficially. Although it does get across the central theme.
However, that's not the biggest issue I had with this; it just does not engage with the audience. It wanted to give you a David v Goliath story instead you got more Willie v Wonka, which just meandered around the place.
I think, and maybe I am wrong here, they wanted an audience that would cheer for the characters, but then you just didn't get any depth to the characters to identify with then. What you get is a kinda paper cut out character that they imagine the 'investors' were. You get the sense they don't know who actually invested.
Clearly others like this movie and I would not dissuade anyone from going to see it - especially as there is little out there at the moment - just don't expect too much.
Den osannolika mördaren (2021)
Great subject but needs editing.
It was always a strange assassination because in a decade full of terrorism a prime-minister walked the streets without bodyguards. It's almost incomprehensible then and now. And however peaceful Sweden is/was the reality is that you are always going to come across an Oswald type oddball who happened to have a gun. Prominent people attract these types and there is no way around that.
The movie needed some serious editing to cut it down and it needed to explore the motivation more - it was never clear and everything got put in the proverbial pot.
It's strange to see a world without CCTV cameras and smartphones. If this happened today there would be dozens of cameras on him before the event and dozens of phones on him after it. He wouldn't have stood a chance.