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Reviews
The Last of Us: Please Hold to My Hand (2023)
Nah
Honestly I don't know what they're doing with this show. Why is everything so neutered? Why has all the brutality that was in the game been stripped for the show? Why are things added that are unnecessary like Kathleen and Perry's story when the episode is already only 45 minutes? Why is Joel and Ellie's connection so lacklustre? Why does the budget feel so restrained? Why, why, why?
This literally felt like a filler episode, even though we just had an episode previously that had nothing to do with main plot. This show is feeling like the off cuts from the game. The dregs from a once great brew that has long gone cold.
The Bear (2022)
I was wrong.
Watching this, for the first 7 episodes I was thinking well, this is very well written, well shot well acted etc. Etc. But that's kind of it, there's nothing really deeper going on here. I felt there wasn't much more than the surface level stuff, even if that surface level stuff was nicely done.
But then episode 8 kicked in and he's talking about his brother and what he actually feels and I felt like an idiot, because of course, the whole series has actually been about him trying to fix himself and his feelings about his brother, not really the restaurant itself. It made me view it in a whole new light. And then the whole episode built up to those beautiful last two shots which reinforced the message. Just perfect.
I'm not saying episode 8 was like a nice coat of a paint on a crappy car. More like the most satisfying garnish to an exquisite dish.
Really phenomenal work.
Conversations with Friends (2022)
Stop comparing it with Normal People
Because it was never trying to be. Not really sure about the low ratings. This isn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but there's a lot here that people just aren't seeing, or aren't bothered to.
First off, the entire point of the story in the book is that Frances and Nick struggle desperately to express themselves properly. It's what makes their conversational interactions awkward whereas their physical interactions are where they feel more comfortable. I'm not sure how people are claiming this is "unrealistic" or "bland". I mean sure, real people can be bland at times but if you don't dare to look beyond the surface, why are you even bothering with this? Either way, they are certainly not unrealistic. The way the show depicts Frances and Nick's frustrations in expressing themselves is how it was in the book and how it is for many people in reality. In that sense then I completely disagree with the criticism that they were miscast. Both actors did entirely what was required of them as characters. If you find that boring then okay, you're entitled to your opinion but again I'm not sure how you can call it a fault on the writer's part.
I think the performances are delicate and detailed, and just like Normal People it feels real. Although that's the only comparison I'd dare to make between the two shows, because as I said one was never trying to be the other. If you believe CWF was true to its novel then the criticism makes no sense anyway, seeing as though the book of CWF was written before NP. So wouldn't that make NP the copycat?
I agree 12 episodes can feel a bit exhausting after a while but that's the problem these days with streaming especially - everyone watching this show is probably trying to binge it in a day - when it's obviously going to be far more impactful if you take your time with it.
Relax, watch a few episodes at a time, and don't be thinking about Normal People when you watch because thematically, this is not that.
Phoebe Bridgers: Kyoto (2020)
Can't believe this was meant to be filmed in Japan
Not only is the song phenomenal, the music video has a feel to it I'm not sure I've experienced before, and I've seen a lot of them.
Not that it's a rarity to have MVs shot against green screen, many are, but the fact that this was originally slated to be shot in Kyoto proper is truly fascinating. The idea that they needed to change tact meant they could have done any number of things, but I'm so glad this is how they elected to shoot.
The look and low-budget feel really impresses the idea that the song is not aiming for a philosophical or hugely introspective POV on Bridgers' part. It feels as though she's really speaking to her dad alone, and not the audience on the whole. Really great stuff.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
It was just fine. Hear me out...
At the risk of angering what seems to be the entire movie going populous, I'm just gonna say it - this movie is fine.
Funny in places, exciting in places, pretty emotional in places. But can someone please explain why movies these days feel like they need to be so damn long? Seriously, this could have been 100 minutes, easily. It's way too indulgent. Scenes drag on and on and when they're over you're still no further to any semblance of plot clarity than you were 10 minutes earlier. It seems like they shot tonnes of footage and just wanted to include it all, without really embellishing the actual story. If the movie was more succinct and arrived more quickly at the overall point of the narrative, that being her connection with her daughter, I would have liked it a lot more.
I just really don't understand why producers and writers are electing their films to be these immense lengths these days when they really don't need to be. No Way Home, Don't Look Up, Licorice Pizza, Drive My Car, all over 2 hours for no good reason.
I really felt the length of this movie was to the detriment of the overall narrative and it disallowed me appreciating what the message was meant to be.
That being said, the direction and editing was cool, acting was strong and the scene at the end with the daughter really did hit all the right notes. You could have trimmed a lot of fat off of this though and made it far stronger in my opinion.
Lupin (2021)
What on earth is everyone complaining about?
I don't remember people taking issue with all of the circumstantial liberties in Sherlock when it was on. Lupin is wildly entertaining, excellently shot, and the dialogue is well-written when it needs to be. Every episode builds on the last like all good shows do. The characters are fun and original. What else do you want?
Someone complained that there was a big red button to kill the cameras in the Louvre. Um, okay? Do you want to watch the guy sit there for two hours typing in code to blackout the CCTV system? Everyone just needs to chill out and be willing to be entertained. All I see is at last an original show that's entertaining at every turn.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Enola Holmes - Dragava Review
A mild-mannered mystery for its wild-mannered protagonist (perhaps further explored in its source material), Enola Holmes is neither elementary nor exemplary, however is occasionally propped up by its adept score as well as an almost misplaced performance from Sam Claflin, who is now consistently providing proof of a fine actor.
Drive (2011)
Drive - Dragava Review
With a world as violent and cold as Drive depicts, there are few films that show it with such style, such subtlety. When is being good-hearted but doing bad things not only sympathetic, but beautiful? I suppose the answer is when it's directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, scored by the best synth soundtrack of the century and starring Ryan Gosling in a career-defining role.
PS the sequence in the elevator is up there with The Master's "processing" scene as one of the best in motion picture history. Yeah, really.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Godfather: Part II - Dragava Review
The only negatives produced by this film and its predecessor are that they're nigh-impossible to match in terms of cinematic strength. Perhaps we'll never see pictures like these again. Staggering filmmaking.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Faultless Filmmaking
When a director adopts lenses that NASA used to photograph the far side of the moon it's both insight into his penchant for precision and a revelation of the underbelly of filmmaking the audience might never understand, but that masters such as Kubrick don't need them to. A story perhaps not flawlessly told but in all likelihood better shot than any other motion picture in history.
Mad Men (2007)
Almost Indescribable
What makes this show great isn't the acting, the pace, the writing, the sets, the character arcs, the relationships, the music or the metaphors. It's you. It's the only show I've ever seen and I've seen many in which the viewer plays a real role. You will get as much out of it as what you put in. I've spent too long to record rewatching the series and each time I notice new things, glean something from a performance I didn't the first, second or third times, appreciate a storyline more deeply or simply see the Mad Men world in a new coat of paint. If you start watching and several episodes deep you discard it as "boring" then your ability to relate to the show is severely lacking, and you will never understand it. In a way though, I'm still not sure I fully understand it. Is it a series about advertising execs in the 60s? Possibly. But not really. All those elements I mentioned at the beginning are up there with the best on television, especially the writing which could very well be the best there has ever been. If you know what it's like to be truly lonely, out of place, to run and go nowhere, this peerless show should bring you to your knees. It's damn good drama.
Deadly Class (2018)
Class Cancelled
Another show snuffed out before its time, "Deadly Class" operates on a level mature enough to keep your attention and playful enough to retain its rock-n-roll roots for ten fun episodes.
Love, Death & Robots (2019)
Potential Masterpiece
"Love, Death & Robots" is both everything a series should strive to be, and many things it shouldn't. You get the sense that if the runtime of several episodes extended to even just 20 minutes, instead of 15 or sometimes 10, it could become one of the greatest shows of the last decade. The recent program "Over the Garden Wall" shared the same weakness. That show was a near-masterpiece, with a real sense of enchantment that is utterly lost in entertainment today. If each episode were but a few minutes longer there could have been a feeling of finality given to some of the stories. This show is the same way, with episodes like "Fish Night" and "Alternate Histories" as prime examples. The ideas themselves are inspired, beautifully captured on-screen and unique to themselves but often feel cut short. However, it's a credit to the series that the majority of episodes feel as ruminative and imaginative as they do with the little time they occupy. Close to be being a revelation, just not quite there. But an impressive and captivating work of art.
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Beyond Noteworthy
Yet another prodigious piece of writing to pin to Patrick Marber's register, performed by two of the best actresses of all-time.
The Godfather (1972)
Unrefusable
Akin to the world's finest wines, "The Godfather" deepens in vitality with each passing year in cinema.
Hostiles (2017)
Profound Work by All
What Hemingway coined as the "Iceberg Theory" doesn't really have a name when it comes to cinema; at least, not with what you directly see on the screen. But directors like Scott Cooper provide the greatest examples, opting always for rich, emotional storytelling and a no holds barred approach to violence and, well, hostility. This sublime piece is no different. Cooper manifests poetic vehemence through his characters and narrative landscape, whilst the natural landscape is lensed with the utmost grace and depth by DP Masanobu Takayanagi. Max Richter provides yet another arresting score which was predictably ignored by the Academy. As was Bale, who had the onerous task of crafting a character with a tortuous past and tumultuous inner demons protruding only by the lines of his face and the weight in his eyes - all within a 2-hour film. Time and again he shows without wavering what being an actor over a star truly means. A powerful picture.
Dirty Grandpa (2016)
Dirty.
As belying to its actors talents as it is sexist, racist, homophobic and just plain dumb, I benefited only from the prior knowledge of what I was walking into. The one slim hope that remains is that De Niro's paycheque was substantial enough to finance future projects, ones that the crew of "Dirty Grandpa" might witness and be indoctrinated by the competencies of better filmmakers.
Suicide Squad (2016)
Stock up on Advil.
The brief enjoyment I received from my viewing of "Suicide Squad" did not come from the film itself. During the skull-splitting climax a character delivers a line so awful, that my cinema actually began to collectively cackle at the tragedy of it. Yes. We were all laughing at just how bad this flick was. Banal, bloated and as boisterous as a sugar-fuelled child, you'll feel your eyes pulling from your head mere minutes in. The damnable squandering of first-class songs is a mere bullet point on the list of frustrating choices made in this production. Characters' motivations are as shallow as a paddling pool and just as we sense we may soon migrate to the deep end the jackhammer editing dunks you on your head. This script, as it is, seems to have been scraped out in only weeks, perhaps in a dim room whilst two sheets to the wind. The talented cast have near-naught to work with. It's difficult to say that David Ayer (director and writer) acted alone, and although he's produced accomplished work in the past, one hopes this franchise and these characters are warranted more time and creativity in cinema to come.
Casablanca (1942)
Masterpiece.
A world without this in it would not be quite as fine.
Stranger Things (2016)
Fresh.
And that cannot be said for a lot of programs now produced. With a cop show to your left and teen schlock to your right, "Stranger Things" keeps it real with rightly paced storylines and characters you can root for. It cannot always make good on its promises, especially in the later seasons, but this manner of nostalgic yet novel narrative must be commended.
Forrest Gump (1994)
Wood for the Trees.
His name is quite clever and the writing often is too. On occasion Eric Roth will become embroiled in the wryly cognizant nature of the story, but both Zemeckis and Hanks reveal such heart that cannot be ignored.
Sicario (2015)
Denis, Deakins, Blunt, Benicio, Brolin.
And each reigns in their own way. One of the few thrillers in recent memory that does not drag, does not quiver, and firmly pulls the trigger only when needed. Blunt turns out one of the best performances of her eclectic career, with her go-getting, no-nonsense, (and frankly, blunt) character who ends up near-buried under the enmity of the Mexican drug war. Denis Villeneuve does not shy from showing the seemingly sempiternal rough edges of this world, highlighted exquisitely by a tracking shot through the Juárez slums, and a following scene at the border crossing which rivals the tension in the opening of "Inglorious Basterds" and "No Country for Old Men"'s coin toss. Deakins produces the best shots of the year, and Del Toro's frightening Alejandro steals the scene on several occasions. Much praise has to be placed on the writer, Taylor Sheridan, as scripting something original that is both taut and question-raising is certainly little seen nowadays. An excellent film.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Solid Sequel.
Like a clean shot from an unsilenced weapon, "Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado" has less grace but more spark than its predecessor, and for the majority of its running time proves a tactful exercise.
Game of Thrones (2011)
Shame.
We almost couldn't believe our luck. Here we had the beginning of this budding notion that the small stuff could rival the movies. At least technically. But it wasn't just technically sound. The casting was seemingly perfect. The writing was dangerous. And it even had the advantage of a preconceived world by an author who breathes the fantastical air as much as the characters he devised. It's strange to think about all that. About what we had. Like sand slipping through the fingers the show-runners dropped all sense of an ending and the show felt a huge lapse in creativity and edge. We got what was easy, and easy is often plain. I always tell anyone who asks me if they should see the show (it is very few people who haven't), to simply do it. There is too much to unpack. For at least the first 4 seasons it was about the best thing on television. Fresh fantasy viewing that has not been put to screen as competently since The Lord of the Rings. Some of the best characters ever created, the best lines spoken, and the best battle sequences to have ever been brought to television. Shame about the ending though.
Quarry (2016)
The Best Program of 2016.
And certainly the most overlooked. Where did this come from? There is a continuous shot in one of the later episodes, roving through a Vietnamese war zone that is about as daunting a televisual pretension I've seen. But episode after episode, the cast and crew pull it off. Logan Marshall-Green's performance echoes across screen, whether he is on it or not. It's a show about him, his grief, his drives, his regrets. And one look at his face tells you all of this. This hits the mark as True Detective season 1 did; a valiant venture in scripting, directing, acting. Fortunately it stays with you because it isn't coming back for another season. Hey, at least Family Guy is being renewed for its 207th.