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Reviews
Civil War (2024)
misunderstood
This movie is beautiful. I love the fact that the story must be discovered by the watcher, and saddened that the people this movie is most meant for are missing it.
The music is masterful.
The scene of the choppers gliding by the road and the them driving through the forest fire was incredible... so chill in a civil war movie but it works, because they all know there are much greater dangers out there than the fire they are driving thought, they just experienced it!
Watched it 4 times so far, and keep seeing more... that is a sign of a good movie. The bad ones, you do not even want to waste your time to watch again.
....but hey look who got elected once, so this movie will not be understood by all.
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Hard to agree with casting for Bob Marley
As someone who has watched a lot of video of Bob, it was hard to see Bob Marley in the actor who played him. Got the feeling he was wearing the dreads more like fashion statement than a lifestyle, and when Bob was up performing he looked like he was in a trance almost channeling the music out of him along with an energy that was sent to his musicians and then on to the crowd.... it was something else.... when I see the portrayal, I keep feeling that the actor is constipated like he is trying so hard to look cool while singing Bob's songs... I don't get the feeling that he is part of the music, likes the music or even understands the music.
Maybe I am being too hard on this portrayal. I was a bit shocked that during the concert they did not show how Bob brought both factions together on stage to shake hands... it seemed like the actual concert was more meaningful in his life, than the few minutes that this movie seems to give to it.
Maybe I am being too hard, but this movie did not take me into that special place that movies are supposed to take you to., That you forget you are watching a film and then when the credits role you realize you are in the theatre... I always knew I was watching a production.
Not the worst, but for someone as big as Bob, I expected this film to be epic and much more powerful.
The Chosen (2017)
Blew my expectations out of the water!
I was avoiding this at first because I thought it would be as cheesy as most of the bible recreations that I have watched in the past. I was blown away to see this production take a much more realistic and down to earth approach.
The characters are believable and well acted, it brings a humanity to them all. They laugh, they joke, they get angry when they stump their toe against a rock... very realistic and much more pleasant to watch than a dry recreation of monotone bible recital.
I hope everyone has a chance to watch this. It took me a while to get into it, because I wasn't expecting a realistic, humanistic approach from a bible film. IT ended up being very refreshing and very enjoyable.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Brilliant!
This mini series just kept getting better and better as more and more of the plot was filled in. At first I just thought that this was some sort of freaky weird horror series, but there is so much more to this production and unfortunately those who do not watch it till the very end will probably never understand it.
The big reveal ties in the present the past and both fictitious and real. The settlement in court is very telling of who this family really is, not that it was a secret, but it all hits home in the end, and you see a, like David Bowie once sang about, a man who sold the world.
Oh no not me, I never lost control...
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
An original perspective on the storyline!
This remake takes place entirely in the court room. This is a much harder challenge for an actor... you really can blow it with one line as everything that occurs and transpires on the ship is brought out under testimony only.
I actually like the fact that the remake took the more challenging route and tried to get the same point across using the court room. They did not fail, in fact, this is a great movie on its own and if no one knew about the 1954 version of this film, it still stands on its own merits as fine attempt of filmmaking that can easily hold itself up based entirely on its own volition.
As consumer of stories and entertainment, I felt I was being given a gift to watch both films and not have the same thing repeated in each movie. It felt like a package, that I got to enjoy for 4 hours, seeing the story from differing perspectives. Thank you to the creators for the original attempt, it really stands on its own and it adds to the original rather than trying to replace it. Those hungry for story get a treat to find out there is 2 more hours of the same storyline. This was great and I wish more filmmakers did this when remaking a classic as this is the best way to pay tribute to a well-made movie.
All the actors in the remake did a remarkable job, it is the good acting that holds up this picture and makes it stand on its own legs. In fact, I feel the new film was extremely ambitious and could have very easily ended in disaster. In the original, Jose Ferrer steals the show, followed by the villain, Fred MacMurray (defense lawyer, writer). It would have been very difficult to top these two.
Keifer Sutherland, and Monica Raymund both deserve the top prize for their performances, I can't tell which one I think is better... I think Sutherland's performances was more technical, the contrast really had to be shown and this could have gone disastrously wrong if not done properly, hell if done averagely, it would have subtracted from the entire experience as the entire movie only works by seeing the contrast.
Jayson Clarke did an amazing job, but how could he top Jose Ferrer from the original? Ferrer came in the last quarter of the classic with stage presence of the only adult in the room, he oozed nobility, honour and a strong sense of justice. There was no question about it. Clarke's role in this is a little different, in my opinion he can't overshadow the performance of the man playing Queeg. Quite the wire act for a defense lawyer. So, he has to be good but not too good, otherwise we do not get to feel the same impact when Queeg actually breaks down on the stand. In the classic, Ferrer can steal the show as we already saw Queeg's conduct during the telling of the story. The breakdown in the court room does not need to be as pivotal, and indeed it is not. This means you need a stage veteran to play this role.
I give this movie a 10 out of 10 just as I give all the movies I review, always a 10. The reason is that filmmaking is no joke. It is closer to the art of black magic than to some canned formula or a recipe. What worked once before may never work again. The effort and the commitment and dare I say it, luck, to pull it all together is often like throwing dice at a roulette table. Even the best of the best, when loaded with talent and money can easily make a stinker. The chemistry and connections between actors and the framing of that chemistry is quite the elusive and enduring goal; so easy to stumble before the finish line. So easy to make a mistake that erases existing progress. So, when I see any production that allows me to escape my own reality for 2 hours, I am as giddy as a schoolboy on graduation day. Thankful, and excited to see more.
God Forbid (2022)
EVERYONE MUST WATCH THIS, this explains a lot about power and how it is used .
This documentary should be on everyone's must see list, it is well done, perfectly paced and explains a lot about the state of the United States and right wing politics in the bible belt.
The kid who this story is about is the most honest, down to earth, well spoken and its very hard not to like him after you hear him explain why he did such and such. You feel for him because he really did get used and abused by people that had a very easy choice to get out of it for 1/10000th of the price. All he asked was that they kept their word, and if they did just that this film does not get made.
Yet even when the big billionairs promise and shake your hand on something, they will still weasel out of it even over a minute amount that in the end ends up costing them many multiples if they just did the right thing and kept the bargain they made.
That is where the attraction of this movie comes, you see that people that are this full of themselves, like the Trumps and Falwells, are so narcissistic that they think they can control everything and even when there is a simple straight exit out for them, they think that they are better than everyone else and they can do as they wish without it ever coming back to hurt them. They were wrong.
I command the courage of the kid for speaking out, its obvious that the egotism of this family made that choice for him... and folks like me and everyone who gets to watch this documentary are now many times wiser to the real rot that lies in the hearts and halls of power of the people that swear on the bible, but never feel that the commandments do not apply to them, AS if somehow they are above it all.
Brother (2022)
A touching film about a Caribbean single parent brothers raised by a hardworking mom chasing a dream of their future and bumping up against police racial profiling of the 90's
I was really excited about this film as I too am an immigrant that grew up in the Toronto suburbs, on the west side, in Mississauga, but the feel and reality of living in the apartment blocks reminded me of my own experiences in such neighborhoods.
The toil, taking multiple buses each and every day to make it on time to sub par underpaid minimum wage job. Working long hours and overtime to get that 1.5x bump... I could totally understand the predicament this family found themselves in and the sacrifices they made to keep their heads above water.
That said, being polish racial profiling was not an extra burden that we had to carry. Still it was easy to feel out of place around those that had big houses multiple cars and seemingly little hardship in comparison...
Luckily, with two working parents doing overtime to the max, we were able to buy a semi-detached house in the burbs. When I turned 16, I could drive the parents car and the old life felt like a bad nightmare.
I remember for 5 years after moving to our new house, in the burbs these recuring dreams of waking up in the old apartment, carpets in the hallway that needed to be changed last decade, garbage chute smelling foul as you got close to it, the stairways reeking of urine you wake up in a cold sweat being glad it was only a nightmare.
Could it have been different with only 1 parent and police profiling, you bet!
Take Care of Maya (2023)
Why is it so difficult, to re-examine this case? Who are they protecting?
Everyone needs to watch this documentary. The situation is presented plainly and the family has specialists that have the experience and qualifications to back up their treatment and diagnosis, but Jon Hopkins Hospital seems to over rule these cases, sometimes doing as little as 10 minute interview for due diligence. These folks were in hospital care going doctor to doctor to find someone that could help with their child's condition, and when they do and when they find a treatment that works. They are overruled because the mother in this case is a nurse and very push about her daughter getting the proper care. You can easily see how egos get into a tug of war and must win at all costs, however those costs are the trauma of a child, of family and the unfortunately the fight pushes one of the parties to depression and eventual suicide. Time and time again the egos portray this woman as a villain, not only to the courts, but also to her captive daughter, and you can just see how even the most sane person can eventually lose their sanity and in the end the egos do the ultimate damage. Why were the specialists who have spent months and years with the patient ignored over persons that only viewed these folks for a short duration? That is what maddens me here. I understand protection of kids, and the need for this, but why was Dr Killpatricks diagnosis ignored when he was and expert on CPRS? Why did the Hospital bill the insurance company for CPRS treatments when at the same time they called the mother unstable and crazy for insisting that her daughter has CPRS? There are so many problems in this case that the only way that Jon Hopkins will look into changing and being more diligent is by the Kowalskis getting an incredibly large settlement. Anything less will just allow them to continue to sweep the broken engagements under the rug. There seems to be more concern about ignoring and putting your hand in the sand, than actually looking at these cases with more scrutiny and less bias. Why is it easier for them to act as if they did nothing wrong, when the patient, the family and the experts all say the opposite? How is this a functional system? Who is it protecting?
EDIT:
So I have re-investigated the other side and see the others feel this is a one sided documentary that does not show the realities of this case. That ketamine treatments are usually given in small doses 20mg to 100 mg at the most, and in Maya's case Beata was insistent on getting a 1000mg dosage. This made the JH staff concerned and they questioned if the mother does this all the time and just goes to Mexico for these injections, as it was admitted that at one point Dr. Kirkpatrick's treatments were getting to be too expensive and they started to seek another doctor to get the same therapy at reduced rates. So I can see how the medical staff at JH did not understand the diagnosis, but even then, that is a problem with Dr. Kirkpatrick not Beata who is just doing what she has seen as working in the past for her daughter. In the end the grievance here is that CPS unfairly said that Maya was being abused by her mother, family and they treated Beata as if she was the problem without explaining why Kirkpatricks diagnosis was being ignored. The other aspect that I looked into was that he ketemine treatments dont always work outside of Kirkpatrick's office, and the reason he gives for that is that the other doctors do not understand that the dosage must be high INITIALLY, within the first 3 days it is important to have a high ketamine dosage and after that you can use the lower dosages. This happens a lot in chemistry, as there may be an active barrier or a buffering situation that must be breached before a medicine actually works. Seems Dr. Kirkpatrick has a lot of experience in CPRS and know the ins and outs of ketamine and one of the reasons the others are not getting the same results is because they do not understand that the high dosage is only an initial loading, not a constant daily treatment.
I still have to give the benefit of the doubt to Kirkpatrick here as there are no credible posts I have read why he is a quack, other than the high dosage of ketamine, yet he seems to have enough success with the treatment that it can't be denied that there may be something to it.
Again if the problem was with Dr, Kirkpatrick why was the law so focused on Beata and why was she vilified when all she was doing was what a mother normally does. Use the treatment that works the best for their child.
It just seems that CPS took some personal biases and some egos were wounded when Beate was being stubborn by insisting on the treatment. Seems that no one was able to explain it to her to her benefit as to why Kirkpatrick was wrong when she clearly saw his style of treatment working.
I am not going to change my ratting of 10, still feel JH is on hook here, because there obviously seems to be a problem with refocusing and re-assessing the situation, instead they only saw one villain and that was the child's mother and that drove her to suicide.
The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium (2023)
I'm Blinded by the Light
The Weekend blows me away, and I did not even think of myself as one of his fans.... and then I watch this concert in SoFi Stadium and my jaw drops to the floor. TALENT to the power of TALENT. He sure knows how to captivate an audience, but its not just that, the lyrics, the music, he is a triple threat every time out. Here I am thinking I am not one of his big fans, and after watching this I feel like I got handed sandals and I need to start a Weekend fan club in some corner of this world. Brother what are you doing to me? Damn, and the hits keep coming, so effortless... just watch it for yourself. You
won't need my review, you will have your own. (Hint: when you watch it put on the subtitles so that you see his lyrics as he sings them, you will not miss a single word and these words are powerfully poetic and add an extra dynamic to the performance. I did not know all his songs, so to me putting on the lyrics made it that much more special, and I understood why the crowd was as hyped as they were.)
PS. I never went to the live show, I just watched the video. One of the reviewers gave the video 6 stars because he was at the show and he felt the video did not capture how crazy and loud the crowd and atmosphere really was. When he re-watched it, he felt it was boring in comparison to his memory. That is just nuts, because to me the video is fantastic and I would love to go to see the LIVE thing next.
Kiborgy. Heroyi ne vmyrayut (2017)
Loved this film, very intense and looking forward to watching again.
Great movie makes you really feel for these guys, the orcs have them overpowered and are coming in every which way, using dirty trick after dirty trick, violating seize fire after seize fire. A joy to watch, you will feel like you are there on the side of the humans doing all you can to stop the orcish menace. My heart goes out to these men and their families, the film saves us from the doom of the final ending, but we as viewers know how things turn out in the end... the movie sort of foreshadows this and the orcs are as orcish as they get, full of animosity and hostility, ready to break the neck of a kitten you just want to step on their necks and choke them out, and then you catch yourself and realize you are at home watching this from the comfort of your couch. Long live Ukraine, glory to the hero's of the world, fighting for freedom, fighting for their own choice not to be enslaved by the orcish horde, showing the clear difference of what it means to be a human and what it means to have a heart, morality and honor Thank you my hero's, my deepest thank you! Thank you to the kids whose fathers died in this conflict, I am so sorry for what you had to go through and wish that eventually the Orc's get their reconning, sub human filth, lowest of the low, grandma raping, child killing war criminals, Orcs orcing it up for all to see, and these brave Ukrainians holding them in check between our freedom and their lives.