Change Your Image
TheAnimalMother
Throw out your expectations and be open to whatever heaven may come...
"The Kingdom of Heaven is in your midst, but few men see it" Jesus of Nazareth has been credited with saying. I do not promote Christianity nor any other institutionalized religion. Born free and blessed are we. If you are not free, seek truth, and trust what you are a part of. As it is written in sacred texts across the Earth, your faith(Trust)is your life. Faith is built through experience, through action! Belief is not important regarding faith. Open mindedness, experiential evidence and truthful vision alone build true faith. Of course only 'right effort' or 'love' are the keys to the doors. As it is known, menacing angels guard the fortress of Heaven.
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againSeriously tough, these are my select few elite horror favorites. One may ask why didn't I include other films that are sometimes classified as horror films; Ones that I have rated higher than other films on this list elsewhere on IMDb, such as The Fearless Vampire Killers for instance. That's because I don't really consider those films to truly be horror films. The Fearless Vampire Killers to me is a comedy if I had to classify it in a genre, as it is certainly much more so a comedy, than a horror. Does that mean I do consider Eraserhead to be a horror film? Definitely! And in fact the 2nd greatest of all time. This list is basically in my general order of preference. I feel pretty comfortable about the first 6 anyway, but other than those, it gets hard to separate one film from another in terms of how much I respect, appreciate and enjoy them.
I have expanded the list to a limit of 15 titles, for now at least.
Since Stanley is the most widely celebrated American director in history, I thought many others may appreciate a look at some of his favorites. This list itself is quite obviously in completely random order, and is not any sort of official list. However all selections do have credible voices behind them, many from Stanley himself.
In 1987 Stanley mentioned being starstruck by the films of Stroheim, D.W. Griffith and Eisenstein as a young man. "I was starstruck by these fantastic movies." Not in the sense of going to Hollywood and making a lot of money he stated, but purely because of these people's work he "Really was in love with movies." Kubrick mentioned many times over his career a love for Max Ophüls films. Ophüls, Fellini and Bergman were commonly mentioned as Kubrick's favorite directors. He also loved Chaplin films, but not for the direction, rather for the stories themselves. He also mentioned Kazan on a few occasions as one of the best American directors, as well as publicly expressing his love of both Vittorio De Sica and Luis Buñuel more than a few times over the years. David Lean was another he mentioned in public more than once. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
I'll leave you with this quote from Kubrick himself, though it does date back to fairly early in his career, “There are very few directors about whom you’d say you automatically have to see everything they do. I’d put Fellini, Bergman and David Lean at the head of my first list, and Truffaut at the head of the next level.”
Reviews
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Alien: Brainlus
This is, or at least it seemed as if it was made for children. Something aimed at the 8 to 10 year old audience or similar. If a teenage Miley Cyrus came out singing in the middle of the film, it would've actually seemed fairly normal, and at least not totally unexpected at that point. The amount of Alien gore almost seemed weird because of how paint by numbers the film otherwise was. The lack of creativity in Hollywood these days is almost as alarming as, the amount of censorship this very site and many other popular sites have in more present times. Sometimes I find myself wondering, has China secretly, (Or even not so secretly) already captured most of our governments and corporations? That's probably not such an original thought either. Just listen to the corporate news, these crazy conspiracy theorists are everywhere these days.
There's nothing new here, certainly nothing worth talking about anyway. A terrible film, perhaps the worst of the already fairly bad franchise. Just forget it after the first two films. This film was not only mostly devoid of brains, but also of any genuine feeling heart and soul.
2/10.
Am I Racist? (2024)
Good for Laughs and some Insight
As I've said on this site a few times previously, I would rather die than be closely associated with either the American Republican or Democratic parties in modern times. However I thought I'd check this film out nonetheless, as I pretty much love anything that can challenge the way I think/perceive.
Let me just say this about the film, and I won't say much about it in particular. I will let you people make up your own minds about it. However as a person who has been an avid theatre goer since the early 1980's, I have honestly not seen a theatre crowd laugh this much in the theatre since at least Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which came out about 16 and a half years ago (2008). That in a sense is quite sad, and frankly just another terrible reflection of modern Hollywood film in general.
Myself and a North American native friend of mine sat in the back of the theatre and mostly laughed our way through this film along with everyone else. My friend happend to be the only person in the entire theatre who was at least by visual appearance, not a white person. One of my favorite things about seeing this film was seeing how much he enjoyed it, and how he could not take the racial alarmists at all seriously. But then again, who really could take them seriously unless you either live in a terribly impoverished area, where racial tensions seem monumental? Or, you live in certain rural areas in the US where racism has been long engrained mostly due to segregation, or perhaps if you're one of these people who just let the corporate news tell you how to think and perceive reality. In most of our cities, racism is not a major issue today as most people seem to agree, and almost endless statistics back this up.
Anyway, the film is certainly worth seeing for most people in my view, black, white, liberal, conservative or otherwise. I wasn't huge on every aspect of it, and personally I would rather it be taken much further. However, I also get how the further you go into a topic like this, the less exposure your film will likely get these days. The somewhat more subtle approach this film often takes was probably the right choice here.
6/10.
F2: Forensic Factor: Knock, Knock, You're Dead (2009)
F2: Forensic Factor - S5.E7
I'm not generally much of a fan of this program, as in my view, it's sort of in bad taste. To me they overdo the detail on the reenactments. They're often overly gory compared to most similar true crime TV shows which in my view is somewhat disrespectful, and entirely unnecessary. It's not really an artistic program, it's a true crime show. So to me it's just overboard to show so much detail, especially when of course there are many surviving family and friends of most victims who probably deserve more respect than this show pays them.
Nonetheless, this is a very interesting and harsh episode. This killer in a sense has many similarities to Bundy. He was very impulsive, erratic, daring and unpredictable. He also seemed to be able to get women to put down their guard quite easily in most cases, much like Bundy often was able to do. This despite them actually being extremely violent and hateful serial killers. For those with interest, this episode is definitely well worth watching if you can stomach the recreations. This killer was perhaps even more sadistic than Ted, but he certainly wasn't able to be nearly as prolific.
7.5/10.
Blink Twice (2024)
I Should've Stayed Home & Watched The US Open Tennis
It certainly would've been much more enjoyable.
This is likely the worst rape/revenge themed film in the entire history of film. Basically the only writing idea that was even reasonably decent was the very end, the way things are turned in a sense. Beyond that there's really nothing all that noteworthy or interesting in the story. The filmmaking here is terrible for the most part. And I'm disappointed to say that as I'm a big fan of Poppa Kravitz. However the film is among the most unauthentic feeling, and among the most uninteresting films I've ever seen. Boring is definitely the word that sums it up best.
As for the greatest rape/revenge themed film of all. I think I'd have to go with Ms .45 (1981). That's a seriously good artistic film, and it's also even funny in a few parts. It actually has both artistic merit and some entertainment value. This film very nearly has none of either. I'm not sure I've seen a fairly large budget Hollywood rape/revenge themed film since The Accused (1988) that was much good at all. Though I'm probably wrong on that. However I can't recall another one. Anyone?
1.5/10.
AfrAId (2024)
Overall, A Worthy Effort In My View
I decided to go see this film mainly based on the fact that I noticed how polarized the IMDb viewers reviews are here so far. Quite a few people have loved it, quite a few have hated it. When I see that, I often feel there is strong potential that it's a thought provoking film that only works well for certain types of viewers. And well, I also NEVER give much of any merit to what the critics say, ESPECIALLY when it comes to intelligence. Have you seen the kind of crap they mostly claim is good or even great these days?
If you enjoy thought provoking AI films, then this is actually well worth a look in my view. Personally I can not for the life of me understand why anyone would EVER hire a security company or any company to monitor their homes. So for me, this film in a sense is right up my alley. I also feel that we are already trusting technology far too much in terms of bank accounts, etc, and the abuse we are all enduring regarding online privacy/corporate information gathering, etc, and a whole host of other similar issues. So ad in the advanced AI aspect that is becoming more and more a thing in our world. For me this film was definitely well worth the watch.
I'm sad to see that the critics have murdered it already, especially when I consider the mind-numbing junk they're often saying is passable. The viewers have mostly disliked it too it seems, but I think that is mostly coming from the youth so far, which I think is definitely understandable from them. For one thing, young people are much more familiar with the idea of AI being dangerous. So for them, I feel like this film may just be too familiar to their generation.
The film is certainly not great overall. However the scenario and ideas presented all work pretty well for a reasonably thought provoking and relevant to our times film. For me, despite some weak aspects here and there, the film mostly does work quite well. I do think that perhaps the younger people may have already seen too many similar TV shows and films by now. For most people over 30 with some interest however, I would definitely recommend a viewing of this. It may be far more important than many currently believe. In my view on the AI subject, it's not just about runaway AI, to me the more dangerous aspect is certainly not the AI itself, but definitely the humans that are behind the AI programs that are more of a concern as we head into the future...
Note: I also saw M3GAN (2022), but I just felt that film was far too regurgitated in terms of what it presented. It's all been done better previously. There was little to nothing thought provoking in it to me at all, (Mainly because I've seen the same basic plot before in other films.). However the critics mostly liked that very stale and fairly silly film. Personally, I gave it a 4/10 here. For me, this film was a good bit more interesting and thought provoking. I would agree that AfrAId is not really a scary horror film, not in a traditional sense anyway. However it is a film that presents a scary scenario that is some serious food for thought on our real present day world. In that sense, it is a good and somewhat scary film.
7/10.
Across the River and Into the Trees (2022)
See It On The Big Screen If You Can
This film is actually quite great. A beautiful Hemingway novel nicely translated here. It's a rich and beautiful film, but unlike most Hollywood films that attempt to aim for similar results. Thanks mostly to the original writer, this one is also very true to life, it's very down to earth. You can really feel the humanity and the characters in this film. The acting and direction are also mostly very strong. This is a story that has been in the works to be a film many times. Finally it's here, and it really is a rewarding result. This was entirely worth seeing on the big screen, as the Venice setting and the cinematography are stunning throughout much of the film.
8/10.
Hells Angels on Wheels (1967)
These Ain't No Pork Chops, These Are US Prime
Actually, that was from another late 60's biker film with Nicholson. "Oh, I've got a helmet, I got a beauty."
This film is like a guilty pleasure I suppose. It's just a bizarre low budget 60's biker film. There isn't much to the film, but it's oddly watchable despite its lack of being a good film, lol. I'm a huge Jack fan, and for any big Nicholson fan this is a must see. I know some people have really trashed this film with their ratings of 2's and 3's and 4's or even worse. But to me, the film is far too watchable for me to give it such a poor rating. It's a bizarre glimpse into the 1960's, and for some people, well worth a watch.
6/10.
Longlegs (2024)
Overly Predictable Bore
I went in nearly blind as I usually like to. All I knew about the film was that it was a horror about a serial killer, and that Cage was in it. Within a very short time, I saw exactly where this film was going without even trying to figure it out. Every little surprise was just spelled out for me it seemed, long before each reveal happened. That's how badly thought out this story/script is. There's nothing new at all in this film, other than the somewhat creepy and interesting performance by Cage, who has about what, 6 minutes of screen time or something like that. Everything else feels like a paint by numbers supernatural horror basically.
I see people here talking about atmosphere. What atmosphere? This was so basic feeling in nearly every scene, it was ridiculous. There were a couple slightly creepy moments, the very start also had me into it as I'm a huge T. Rex fan. However the film didn't take long to throw me right back out of it, as it just feels so much like a film. There actually is a somewhat reasonable horror story here, however it's not delivered with any kind of originality, suspenseful feel, or any good surprises. Like most Hollywood horror films in recent years, this was mostly just a yawner.
3.5/10.
The Celluloid Bordello (2019)
They Called Me A Bad Name
A bunch of offended people, mostly sex workers of some sort. Sit around and complain about how Hollywood films have almost only portrayed hookers in a certain demeaning way. Many explain how this portrayal has often painted prostitutes as disposable stereotypes. A number of those interviewed in the film seem to make a case that sex workers should in Hollywood be portrayed more as willing and happy participants in what they're doing. As if they're just everyday normal people with normal jobs. Whatever that even means in the first place. These people are highly delusional in my view. The main problem with the film is its negative approach. There are a few parts that are more celebratory, and even a few good points made here or there, but very little. Mostly this is just a lot of very unintelligent talk about prostitutes and Hollywood that takes it all far too seriously, and without due perspective. Thankfully a couple of the people interviewed seem far more level headed than the others. Nonetheless, they're not enough to save this film.
2.5/10.
Origin (2023)
To Me, It's A Somewhat Important Failure
It is one thing to think idealistically, and then most often a completely other thing to execute those ideas in a practical manner.
In a way, I really do appreciate this film. I even do think it is somewhat of an important film for sure, and I almost feel bad giving the rating that I'm going to give it. However at the same time I rate films in a certain way, and to me this film definitely fails to be as brave as I would've loved to see it be, and it fails to convey enough of a solidly grounded and cohesive message overall.
So, in the end I really don't feel bad giving it this rating at all. In a sense I'd like to rate this film a 2/10, but in another sense I'd like to rate it a 7/10. It's just one of those films, I love some things about it, but I definitely didn't buy into enough aspects of it. The film simply fails to be entirely convincing.
One of the tings that I really do love about this film, is that it will get people talking about some very important things.
The aim of this film is high, and I greatly respect it for that. Mainly because I think it's at least coming from a fairly honest place here. Though overall I feel the film is far more naive to some degree, than it is successful. In fact to me, the film only argued against itself in a very real sense. I do say "fairly honest", because I also definitely think that at least a few points on American history in this film, could certainly be argued, if not even in fact proven to be false.
Most of all, the film fails to really challenge the viewer as to the ultimate true cause of human divisions. Why? I'd say either because the writer doesn't actually fully understand the entire human issue they're trying to unravel, or they're too afraid of raising the real issue anymore boldly. Things are not as simple as this film sometimes tries to make them seem. Most of all however, because the real root of these issues is bigger than us, and bigger than any system implanted by humans. Even if we left our worlds biggest and hardest philosophical questions out of it. The film still falls short of really going after the depths of cause in regard to the divisions of hierarchy. I also understand however that if it did really go after this idea in depth, the film would be buried by the corporate world almost entirely. This film would pretty much cease to even be. So, that's another very big can of worms to even open. Subtlety can be much more productive at times. It does in fact work well in this film in at least a couple moments. However I failed to see anything about the grander scale of the reality behind this very real issue of the hierarchy of human divisions.
I mean for starters, hierarchies in nature are exactly that, they start out very natural, they are a natural thing. The film avoids all sorts of realities in its quite idealistic take on human divisions, even beyond avoiding the grander scale of the material cause, or otherwise.
I would've given this film at least a 6/10 on here. That is if it had at least conveyed the idea stronger that the American problem is far more than just some old white people who've rigged the system issue. In too many ways, the film is naive, and at other times not clear enough in its vision or ideas. Though I would not dispute that it has some strong moments, and some fairly wise views in it at times. However, to point mainly at a system is nothing short of a copout to me. I didn't feel that it entirely blamed this, but it mostly does convey this belief it seems, which is definitely flawed and greatly simplistic to the reality.
I also thought even the mention of George Floyd at the end did nothing for the film, or the conversations a film like this should or could inspire. Why one name? To me it should clearly be no name, or all names with a subject so grand as this. A life is a life, and I certainly mean no disrespect to George Floyd in saying this, but really. Why scale it down with this kind of thing? One name. To me it just doesn't compliment the film in any sense.
I would even go so far as to say that there was at least one very strong scene in this film. Where the main character is talking to what I assume is a plumber about the leak in her basement. The main character connects to this MAGA hat wearing worker using her humanity, and then the scene goes on to show that because of this, he then is able to better relate to her as a human being, and he then offers her a somewhat greater level of help. I thought that scene was quite brilliantly executed all the way around, and there were some other strong moments here. Overall however, for me it is somewhat of a failure for sure. Though in my estimation, a somewhat important failure.
4/10.
La civil (2021)
Mostly, the film is very Effective
There are many great things about this film, it captures a horrific reality with the kind of realism that we basically never see out of Hollywood. At the same time however, I do feel the film did miss in a few important areas as well. Nonetheless, this is a scary film because of its realism. Mostly the film is very effective. In all honesty, this is easily more gut wrenching than Sound of Freedom, mainly because the scenes here mostly feel even far more real. Most people don't even want to see films like this, films this authentic feeling, films this scary. Nonetheless, if you're interested, it's definitely well worth a look in my view.
7/10.
Poor Things (2023)
Why Didn't They Just Call It - Frankenhooker Part 2?
Quite funny at times, but all in all; There's really nothing of substance here that hasn't already been done better in previous films, and in similar stories. In many ways, the writing overall falls short of making this anything special. Even some of the scene executions themselves seem to be somewhat lacking, as if there's a lack of focus on detail by the director/editor. To me, the film reaches for grand things with the surreal visuals and story, but it definitely stumbles quite hard in terms of the writing. In this aspect, the film is much lesser than many other films/stories of its type. It is overall however, a good bit better than Frankenhooker in my view, which I definitely do not recommend.
6.5/10.
Civil War (2024)
Pure Nonsense, Offered For Your $
Just say no!
What can I say? I got hustled thinking that this may actually have something interesting to say, or look at, or think about. I was suckered.
Personally I thought this was among the dumbest films I've ever seen. Basically everything feels forced and unauthentic, (Which seems to be all too common these days in American films.). There really is NO STORY here at all. The vast majority of the film feels almost entirely aimless and pointless. There's certainly not anything of much value here. Not even much of any entertaining, thought provoking, or even interesting moments really. It's just silly and pointless, far more than it is anything else. I won't even tell you to watch it at home, instead of the theatre. My advice is just to skip this severely unimportant and ridiculous film altogether. Hopefully I help a few of you people save some valuable time, because there's certainly no reason to waste ANY on this nonsense.
I do agree with some that it's basically a character driven film, or at least it tries to be. However the characters are almost entirely superficial feeling, highly generic, and often silly to the point of absurdity. The whole film really is absurd. This would likely be among the bottom 250 worst films I've ever seen.
1.5/10.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
A Truly Classic Monster Film
One of the very best werewolf films ever made, maybe THE best. Not everyone seemed to like the play of the horror comedy in this one, but it certainly works well for me. I recently revisited this film and I must admit that really I even forgot how great of a film this is. I knew I liked it a lot, but I had let it sit without a rewatch for too long quite frankly. Glad I finally took it for another spin. This probably is the best werewolf film of all time, and perhaps only The Wolf Man from 1941 even comes close. As far as horror comedies go, this is also among the very best in my estimation. This is truly one of the best horror films around in my view, period.
8.5/10.
True Confessions (1981)
An Underseen Mature Crime Drama
This is a very mature crime drama. Not everyone seems to appreciate, or even fully understand the story. Others however feel it's great, subtle, and moving. Many critics have complained about the story, and/or the ending. Personally I think they just missed it, over their heads so to speak. At the same time, a few critics have given this film a top grade. This isn't your average sensationalized Hollywood crime film. It's far more human and real than that. As far as De Niro and Robert Duvall films go, for both actors, this must be among the most underappreciated and underseen of all their best work. There's still not even 9000 ratings on this film here yet.
8.5/10.
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Feeling Gnarly, Smoke A Bob Marley
It does feel like there's some missed opportunity in this film. Yet at the same time, I also really liked quite a few things about it. Overall I think the film does a pretty good job of capturing a real person, rather than just creating an idealistic vision of his legend. I was surprised to see a few critics call this film "hero worship", which I feel is entirely untrue. In fact one of the things I did love about the film, is that Bob is not shown as anywhere near a perfect person.
This, like all biographical films is really just a glimpse at a person, and far from the entire story of their life. All in all I think the film is a pretty decent entry point to discovering Bob, though of course his music itself, is really the best avenue in.
I was actually somewhat hesitant about this film ever since I first saw the preview. I worried that they would overdo the film. I was happily surprised that the story presented seems to be a fairly genuine and reasonable view of Marley. In my view they did quite a good job here with an important and highly influential figure.
7.5/10.
Dirty Pictures (2000)
What Is Wrong? What Exactly Is It? And Who Decides?
More people need to see this film. It's an important one.
This film was nominated for a number of awards and won the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.
The right to personal freedom is something that many have given their lives for over the course of history. This film really helps people understand that our freedoms are constantly under attack, continuously in jeopardy. You don't have to agree with what your neighbor may enjoy, and they you. This is the necessary understanding it takes to defend and uphold personal freedom. In allowing your fellow citizens to be free in their choices within the law, you are also defending your own freedom. This understanding, this knowledge of respecting your fellow citizens right to chose, even if you do not like their choice is the very basis of the 1st Amendment of the Untied States. Freedom of speech and beliefs, and the right to free expression itself, is essentially protected under this very idea/amendment. Nonetheless, everyday, in one way or another it's very relevance, value and existence is challenged in society.
As it is said in the film, we lose our freedom only a little at a time. If people do not fight for it continuously. The closed minded, scared and the obsessive control freak type of people, will eventually little by little take away all the freedoms that so many have given their lives for. People have fought wars to maintain the freedom we have to do what we want within our own homes, and to say and believe what we want in a public space. Not only the fearful, but also the ruthlessly greedy are constantly on the march to rob human beings of these very important aspects of life. At this point, most of us take it for granted, and if too many of us do. We will inevitably become like many other countries around the world, where your right to what you do in private is not nearly so valued, nor your right to free public expression. Instead of being looked at as a human being of unknown potential. You could be looked at as a possible threat to societal order. Many countries function not a lot differently than prisons in truth. From courageous historical figures, to modern soldiers and the children of today and tomorrow. We all owe it to them, those who value our personal right to grow as we see fit within the normal confines of the law to appreciate what we have. To stand up for your fellow neighbors right to be who they are and do what they do, as long as it's within the law of course. Law itself in the countries that value personal freedom, is truly built mostly upon an old sacred understanding. If a person is doing something that forcefully goes against another person's will, and if it effects them beyond reason, then it is illegal. Reasonable boundaries are set at what people can do to another in any circumstance. This is essentially the basis of law between human to human interactions in reasonably free countries. The importance of these things is brought to great light in this film about a true story in the American art world. If you can stand the 'dirty pictures', this is a very important film to see.
As a film, it's not perfect. It feels somewhat like a film in parts, because there are a few fairly typical clichés/scenes, and it is somewhat predictable a person could even say. Nonetheless, the story itself is so important and in my view very well told, in that it hits almost every important point about it's main topic. In this way, the film is great. I always base the vast majority of my film ratings upon the stories first and foremost. I don't need to see a perfectly lit and shot film in order for me to highly rate it. The film overall just needs to be effective in what it's setting out to say or do. Some films defy standard formulas entirely, and even reason itself, but nonetheless story for me is the main and most important ingredient in the vast majority of films. Here, we have mostly a very strong story that needs to be seen and talked about by mature adults. Chaplin is actually a great example. He was a very standard film director, almost everything was just point and shoot. But one of the things that made him special, is that he was an extremely talented and effective storyteller. The way his films look matters little, because the stories themselves are often so brilliant, relevant and/or important.
One last point, James Woods gives a great performance here.
8.5/10.
Desperation Road (2023)
Words Have Power If You Mean Them
This doesn't have too many votes yet, but it's a 5.7/10 on here so far. That's just crazy to me! Perhaps many of the people who've rated this film so far, have entirely forgotten, or perhaps never even realized, that they indeed are miracles.
This is a more thoughtful film than most, which in some regard revolves around fate and the human circumstance.
"It's like you wakeup one day, and you're just here. Like a stone, thrown into this world, but you don't know who threw it, or which direction it came from." - Maben
I would say it mostly revolves around two characters who have been through a lot of pain and struggle, and who are somewhat desperately trying to right their own paths.
"Maybe there will be a miracle, some way to begin again." - Maben
Not so sure why they're marketing this as an action genre film. Not a smart choice in my view. It's really not an action film overall. It's mostly a drama/thriller, and there are a few scenes with some action. In my view, marketing this as an action film will quite easily persuade some people to expect much more action than they should from it. And by doing this, the marketing team only sets some of these viewers up for at least some level of disappointment, because the expectation they set is not met. Some advice for the people behind this film, get a new marketing team for your next project. I'm certain there'd be less disappointed reactions if everyone just went into this film thinking that it was a drama/thriller, as it mostly is.
*** Partial Spoiler Below ***
This could be considered a film noir, however the end can't really be seen as dark in my view.
Garrett Hedlund (Russell) "I don't recall anything about no huntin' rifle in the New Testament."
Mel Gibson (Mitchell) "Well, you can only turn so many cheeks, and I only got four, so..."
7.5/10.
Inside Man (2023)
Continuity And Credibility Are Both Lost Here
The director here seems to have no idea how to tell this story. The way some scenes come across seem so obviously wrong, as if the story, the director and the actors are not entirely on the same page. They haven't thought the film through well enough. This easily could've been at least a decent film with these actors and the crime story. However the film leaves us mostly just stunned in disbelief as to how badly this story is conveyed to us at certain times. The writing is also quite weak in some areas, and much of it just seems regurgitated from other classic crime films, (Which could still be reasonably good if done well.). At the very start of the film, it actually does seem fairly good, until you start to see all the problems I've previously mentioned here. At that point, it just starts to become ridiculous.
2.5/10.
Dumb Money (2023)
The Underdog Is Often Easy To Sell, But Hard To Buy
What should we think when the most cash rich Japanese company/corporation in the world, produces a film slamming the modern American financial world/Wall Street in multiple ways? Well, it's certainly worth some thought anyways. In this film and in the real life story it somewhat loosely tells, for those with interest there's a lot of food for thought. The film certainly isn't great, but the questions it may lead you to ask, and the things it may make you think about are the most important aspects of the film. At least to me they definitely are. Overall the film is also reasonably entertaining. As far as the actual filmmaking goes, the biggest highlight is that Dano puts in a strong performance, and is highly believable in the leading role.
7/10.
The Royal Hotel (2023)
This Is NOT A Thriller
I can't believe they're marketing this as a thriller. There isn't even one thrill in it really, well aside from a snake perhaps. I know many people overly hate snakes. To me, this film was really nothing but a drama.
The trailer is highly misleading, and honestly more suspenseful than any part of the actual film. Hopefully someone sues them for false advertising.
At least there were a couple of funny moments. Other than that however, what a hallow and boring film. The characters are mostly bland and they're all very one dimensional. Some people claim that the film is a horror. What? I'm not sure how anyone could even be remotely thrilled by this film, beyond a single moment or two.
The one main character is almost constantly paranoid about basically nothing and everything. She even openly states so. The rest of the characters are all drunks basically, other than the one woman that first drives the two girls to the hotel. That's the movie, a somewhat uptight and paranoid young woman out of her element, surrounded by a bunch of drunks. Much of the film is just silly, but the end especially is beyond ridiculous.
2.5/10.
Frontline (1983)
A Letter From The Ministry Of Truth?
I use to rate this program highly. It had at least at one time, a lot of integrity, and fairly strong investigative reporting. However like a lot of modern media, it has now become little more than biased political propaganda. In their most recent episode, I noticed not only blatant and important pieces of information entirely ignored, but also the other side of the story mostly just glossed over, especially in the last hour of the program. They try to somewhat make it look legit, as if it isn't just a hit piece. However if you follow the stories closely yourself from all sides, don't be surprised to see that these days even this show is now extremely compromised. It's not a wonder that many more independently minded podcasts are now taking over a large portion of the media audience. Television journalism with integrity is essentially dead, the same could mostly be said for newspapers and radio. Science has shown us that fear slows the mind. For us as humans to be focusing on fear over facts, seems to be among the most unscientific things we could possibly be doing. Yet it's exactly this, and the beloved buzzword of the times, 'misinformation' that most media outlets continue to embrace and push.
My old rating of this program - 7.5/10
My rating of the modern program, and this rating may even be somewhat generous I feel. - 2/10.
The Creator (2023)
Hollywood May Be Trying To Dehumanize Us All
If you don't take The Creator too seriously, it's quite entertaining, and that's really all that this film is. Just another piece of entertainment. There's really almost nothing thought provoking within the entire film. It is most reminiscent of a modern Star Wars film, or even in a sense a superhero film in terms of its story. There's basically nothing new here, it's mostly very predictable, yet it's fairly fun and it's definitely a reasonably beautiful film in terms of its visuals.
To me, the best thing about it honestly was that the film portrays American imperialists at least, as having less heart in their behavior than even the robots have. Since there really was nothing challenging in the film, at least it had this to ponder and laugh about. I enjoyed the Americans being portrayed as somewhat Naziesque. The film really says something like humans in general have less heart than the robots, but then goes on to show this only through the American government/military interests. Certainly not all of the humans here are shown to be shallow and/or cold.
You know what has really had the best visuals so far this year however. It's not The Creator, and it's not Mission: Impossible or the Equalizer. It's this seasons episode 2 from the TV show Ride with Norman Reedus. Northern Italy looks absolutely spectacular.
Anyway, this film has a nod to Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?/Blade Runner, as it is somewhat about dehumanized humans and humanized androids. The film in fact outright quotes the Tyrell Corporation's slogan, 'More Human Than Human' and even the title 'The Creator' seems to be a nod of sorts I'd say. However this film really isn't in the same league intellectually as anything that well resembles the work of Philip K. Dick. Nonetheless, it's worth a look if you just want a reasonably entertaining sci-fi film, and the theatre is not a bad place to see it considering the visuals.
Fans of the great AI themed TV series, Äkta människor and its UK/American remake, Humans may notice that Gemma Chan ('Maya'), once again plays a lead android character here. As soon as I saw her, I was like, "Mia!". Those were easily two of the best TV series' in the last decade in my view. Certainly they were far more interesting and thought provoking than almost anything we're seeing these days. The word that mostly captures the entertainment world right now seems to be 'safe'. In other words, there's practically no new ideas coming out, no new ways of looking at anything, nothing new to consider. Almost nothing but safe and familiar formulas and approaches. Mostly it's just regurgitated junk as if the industry's just trying to put us mentally to sleep, or dehumanize us. Well, at least Creator is fairly fun and visually impressive junk.
6.5/10.
The Cleveland Kidnappings (2021)
A Testament To The Human Spirit
This really is a well done documentary that basically tells the complete story from many people. Especially the families and the girls themselves. It's a fairly intimate portrait. All the people interviewed were all somehow very close to at least part of the crime, and we see the story unfold from many points of view. The girls are all extremely inspiring to say the least. It really is quite amazing that such a dark and sad story, ends up being so inspirational. The pace here is good if you enjoy watching true crime. I found it well worth the watch. I also feel like I don't need to watch anymore shows on this story, because it's that comprehensive. Unless maybe these same people make another film like this years from now. That could also be interesting. Thankfully in this horrific crime story, we get an ending that's far better than most. That's worth celebrating for sure.
8.5/10.
Days of Rage: the Rolling Stones' Road to Altamont (2020)
Great, But Also Terrible Revisionist History
There are many great things about this film in terms of capturing certain parts of the history of The Rolling Stones, as well as a decent bit of British and American pop culture throughout the 1960's. At the same time however it's also quite terrible, in that much of what is said here by some of the guest speakers is that of opinion and propaganda, rather than facts. The entire narration itself also follows what could be described as a somewhat manufacturing of ideas and events, drawing conclusions and sometimes parallels that in reality make little to no sense. Personally I do not agree at all with many of the ways certain things are portrayed here in the film, all the way from the politics, the Vietnam war, to the British and American culture of the time. Some things are highly overstated, other things entirely ignored, sometimes even cause and effect ideas are drawn to ridiculous conclusions. To me, there is perhaps only one great truth in this film, and that is that around the very late 1960's. The Rolling Stones began their true peak as a band. They had some great work before that as well, but by the late 60's they had really become a very special group of musical artists.
Overall I see this film in a different way than the narrative wants me to, that's for sure. What I find perhaps the most interesting about this film is that it somewhat shows much of the beginnings of how a true rock n' roll outsider band like The Rolling Stones, became worldwide musical icons. This because most of what we see here is their rise to legendary prominence in popular culture, whether most of the people talking in the film actually see it factually or not. Don't get me wrong, there are a few voices in the film who do make some great points and tell some interesting stories and share facts. However there are far too many nonsense ideas in the film for me to recommend this to the average viewer. If you're a die hard Stones fan however. Of course you should at least watch it once.
"I'm rather pleased to hear they have banned the song. The last time they banned one of our records in America, it sold a million. Of course it's subversive! It's stupid to think you can start a revolution with a record. I wish you could." - Mick Jagger
3.5/10.