Change Your Image
gtbarker
Reviews
Rebel Ridge (2024)
A familiar story very well made
Yes, this is along the lines of First Blood, but this is a step up. Aaron Pierre is very impressive as the calm hero and Don Johnson just seems to get better the older he gets. So who cares whether the story is original or not when it is one of the most realistic representations of the genre you will ever see. The fights are messy, the violence is limited, but that just makes it all the more real. When there is so little quality being produced either by streaming platforms, TV companies or the big Hollywood studios since COVID it is refreshing to see they can still produce the goods. So enjoy the ride.
Bad Sisters (2022)
Really enjoyed the show but..
.. what was going on with the insurance investigator? Surely they would have just told him to do one, but instead they let him walk all over them with highly personal questions. They'd have kicked him to the kerb and left him as roadkill instead of just meekly pandering to him as though he was the law. That said it was a great cast and the sister characters were all really brought to life and John Paul was a slimy bullying control freak character I wanted to see die a thousand deaths. If it wasn't for that ridiculous scenario with insurance investigator this would have been much more watchable.
Scrublands (2023)
The worst and most annoying shaky camera ever
It is always evident when producers have little faith in their content - they use gimmicks such as starting in the second act and then cutting back to sometime earlier after the supposedly attention grabbing beginning, but I honestly thought the days of the shaky camera gimmick had finally died out ten years ago. I was wrong. In fact this was the worst example I've ever seen. It was so bad I canned this skip fire of a movie after 6 seconds. Why cant they write scripts strong enough to stand on their own anymore? Maybe its because they dont understand their audiences and pack the cast with clueless teenies instead of adults. Be warned, this is very, very bad.
Last Christmas (2019)
Really great Christmas film
Emilia Clarke is such a charming likeable lead and the film ticks over nicely. Great to have so many of George Michael's best songs throughout and Emilia has such a great effortless voice. The story itself is pretty thin, but those who think this trying to be another Love Actually are so far from the mark. This is a Christmas redemption story more akin to A Christmas Carol, but instead of being saved from meaness the main character is saved from wasted chances. It's just sad there are so many bigots with their political agenda rating this so lowly. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol would be too preachy for them as they sent kids back up chimneys.
Outlier (2020)
Interesting but let down by a poor ending
The lead up to the finale was interesting and engaging. The shrink with her issues and the criminally incompetent head of police all made for an interesting mix. But the controlling English boyfriend was awful, his lines and awful acting were extremely stilted and in the real world she would have kicked him to the kerb for being so unsupportive, while saying he was being supportive. But the real stinker was the ending. I have rarely experienced such an anticlimax to a series which fizzled out like a damp sparkler on a wet bonfire night. So overall decent enough, but nothing to write home about.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
The Matrix meets Mr Mayor..
.. minus the humour. Squeaky millennials too fond of the sound of their own voice, spouting inane dribble in a story that would have no need to be told in a world that appreciates new ideas rather than cheap and drab money grabs.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Truly laughable
As plastic, one dimensional as it could possibly be. Utterly laughable it can't even be viewed as so bad it's good. This is just plain terrible. Do yourself a favour and don't even give it five minutes of your valuable time.
D.I. Ray (2022)
The anti-woke brigade are furious
The lead character highlights the low and not so low level racism inherent across English society in a measured and realistic way. On the downside the story is a bit thin and leads boss is very annoying (as they always seem to be in British police dramas).
Flashback (2021)
Another one for the reactionaries to hate
Because it provokes thought while educating and entertaining. No cgi, no car chases. Everything the right wing and the Trumpits hate. This one won't make the Fox movies list.
Candyman (2021)
The 'anti-woke' brigade obviously hate it
..hence the low rating. It's not the greatest film, but it's certainly a solid addition to the Candyman legend.
I can literally feel the white supremacist trumpits seething at the social-awareness message here.
The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek (2021)
Great content terrible constant and loud background noise
Whenever I ever i hear this modern fad for very loud constant background noise I immediately think the producers have a lack of confidence in their product and so do this to distract from a lack of interesting content. But that isn't the case here, the content is great but this noise forced me to turn off before the end of the first episode, which I really didn't want to do.
The Hollow Point (2016)
Why the low score?
I see this comment many times on IMDb, sometimes I agree. But in this case I honestly can't see a reason for the low score. A good script, good acting, good characterisation and great photography. It's a winner for me.
Tenet (2020)
Noise!
Can we please have a film without constant noise over the dialogue - all that gimmick does (besides annoy the back off viewers) is prove the makers don't have faith in their product to hold our attention.
Watchmen (2019)
Brilliant series ruined by endless muzak
This was a brilliant and innovative addition to the Watchmen universe, but the ridiculous constant Muzak drones over the dialogue made it almost impossible to decipher what was being said a lot of the time. I'm just waiting for the day when this nonsense (that only shows a lack of confidence in the product), goes the way of the shaky camera gimmick dinosaur.
The Marksman (2021)
If..
.. Liam Neeson had just helped them when they asked the mother would still be alive and he would have saved a lot of other lives and and problems too. I knew as soon as the flag was being raised very early in the film what kind of propaganda film this was going to be. I'm just surprised he wasn't seen singing in church in the opening seen wrapped in the flag.
Invasion (2021)
This isn't even a character piece
Because there isn't any real character development, just long dialogueless sequences, that more often than not don't move the story forward one iota. But this is what has become the norm, because writers appear to have lost the ability to form rounded characters and tv and movie companies appear to have lost the ability to recognise this failing. I'm only wacthing for Sam Neil, so when he goes so will I.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
OK but that's all
Sicario was great because it had Emily Blunt and the Brolin and DelToro characters helped things along. Sicario 2 really missed Blunt, who brought the humanity to the first story, so instead this was just the usual run of the mill see it every day machismo rising just above yawnfest.
Wild Card (2015)
So much nonsense spouted on IMDB
There was absolutely nothing wrong with this film. It had some funny lines, cartoon good guys and bad guys, payback and well choreographed fight scenes only Statham could pull off and a great soundtrack. If you didn't like it stick to same old same old no story, zero characterisation nonsense that starts in the second act, because the writers and filmmakers have no craft and no confidence in the pap they pile out.
La belva (2020)
If ever film comments perfectly reflected the deluded millennial view
All the comments here about the leads poor fighting skills - in the real world people don't fight like Jason Bourne and John Wick, fighting is thuggish and brutal, with little finesse and the character is called the Beast for Pete's sake. But when you've been raised on a diet of sterile Hollywood pap of the past few decades then it's understandable that you think fighting should be stylised, clinical and frankly boring. This film was by no means perfect, but it is a solid 6.
Red Dragon (2002)
Poor and pointless remake
With none of the subtlety or intelligence of the original every one of the lead characters was very poorly cast. In the original all the actors brought charisma to their roles from Wil Peterson's intelligent but vulnerable portrayal of Will Graham to Brian Cox's icily menacing Lector they make a mockery of the pallid remake. Even the most memorable lines are delivered with none of the meaning of the original and yet they get the same IMDb score, just shows how many easily pleased fools there are out there. There is only one word for this mess - forgettable
Geostorm (2017)
Almost as bad as San Andreas
..almost. But of course nothing could be as bad as that heap of human excrement transfered to digital stinkorama. What has happened to the US - these films were always over the top, but they're just plain terrible now, terrible storylines, terrible dialogue, plots that wouldn't keep a three year old intrigued and shockingly 2D characters. No wonder box office is down and people are turning to Netflix productions and foreign language films.
Une chance de trop (2015)
Not bad but spoiled by cops being as dumb as doorknobs
Not a bad story, great locations, well paced, but my oh my those cops are stupid. They make Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes. Every step of the way they were intent on blaming the mother, despite her being almost killed and having no contact with her child for two years. And how did they seem to think they'd get the child back? By glaring at the mother and continually screwing up.
The Foreigner (2017)
Cliched, outdated and dangerous
Every irishman is called Patrick, Sean or Mick, talking of the cause as if the IRA is active now as it was in the 70s and 80s. This is just a cheap trick one note pony raking over old ground and potentially romanticising and radicalising individuals to a region that has fought hard on all sides to keep the peace for over 20 years. The actors involved should all be ashamed and Brosnan's accent (for an Irishman) is laughable. But then again this is the age where people vote to punch themselves in the face by electing Trump and voting for brexit
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Sigh
When are we going to stop piling out this tired old tat. I'd read a few good things about this one and hoped it might be a cut above the usual nonsensical shoot em up beat em ups. But my hopes were soon dashed and my mind was wondering within ten minutes. And the music was so incongruous and I like most of the tracks - just not here. So bored, bored, bored, but it no doubt kept the easily please juveniles in age and brain capacity happy. I just wish Hollywood would wake up before its looking at it's the future in the rear view mirror on the way to the knackers yard.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Why all the hate?
I've watched two episodes and the worst thing I can about it is the Klingons remind to much of the Xindi. I think it's well made, paced and it looks like the main characters will be likable. There is a little lack of humour but that may come with time and that's made up so far by the good plot and cgi. It looks great too. A great improvement on the po faced Enterprise which started out badly with that awful theme song and just got worse from there. I've given it an 8 for now, but that could get well get higher if it keeps up with the standard so far.