All posts by Luke

Movie and TV lover with opinions about everything.
Movie Reviews

The Circle (2017) Review – Big ideas, shallow execution

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This review will contain spoilers (not that it matters that much, as most of it can be predicted by a semi-intelligent toddler).

Where to start… The Circle is an okay movie, that thinks it’s smart as fuck motherfucker. But it isn’t. This movie has some really capable actors, but only 3 are trying their best (Emma Watson, Karen Gillan and Tom Hanks) and one isn’t given enough space (John Boyega). I would like to discuss Tom’s performance in this movie for a bit, to make you understand why I was really underwhelmed with this film.

I really wish more people (especially in a movie like this) would act the same way as him – he’s probably the only “bad” character there that isn’t “cartoonishly” (yep, that’s 100% a word, believe me! I have words, many words, the best words…) bad, because he actually tries to come from a place where he plays this character like a good guy (at least for most of the movie). The others, supporting characters around him, they are paint by number weird, cult-like acting people and look, I do understand the point that “The Circle” made them that way, to the point they don’t realise how they’re behaving, but Jesus-Pole-Dancing-Christ, it doesn’t always have to be so on the nose. Because whatever message you’re trying to send, audience isn’t receiving.

I am not quite sure why was this film pitched, written, or even shot – it feels more like a rejected episode of Black Mirror (if you are looking for something that actually shows you various dangerous of technology, without being preachy or over the top, this is a brilliant show) which was around for 6 years (technically 5 years, as movies tend to take time to be filmed, edited etc., but you know, technicality) by the time this movie was made. And for the life of me I can’t figure out who actually thought they are making something “high-stake”? I mean, honestly?

When comes to movies like this, I genuinely hope all the actors got paid good money, as there was only one thing I’ve enjoyed about this movie (read, didn’t feel predictable), the SoulSearching sequence felt like something that was a pretty good idea. It’s a shame they didn’t surround the movie around this, maybe development of this, and eventually using this to track down more people. But no, instead we get this wannabe Facebook, that hammers us with the same message, that somehow thinks it’s original…? I’m honestly lost with this movie.

What I always do after I finish a movie, is go to Trivia section on IMDb to read them and see, if there is anything interesting. And this one really caught my attention:

The ending was changed significantly for the film adaptation. In the novel, Mae, fully believing in The Circle’s goals and mantras, betrays Ty in his attempt to bring down the company and he is effectively silenced.

Can I just politely ask one, quite simple question? Why the FUCK would you change it to that Hollywood ending? I am honestly curious who thought this paint by numbers movie needed a generic ending. If they’ve kept this ending, focusing more on Mae’s character getting lost in “The Circle”, so it’d make sense for her to do that, it could’ve been a pretty decent, non-generic movie, with an interesting twist at the end. Shame, as this way by the next week, I’ll probably forget everything about this movie, as nothing stands out.

And BTW, if you hire John Boyega, can you maybe give him more than 10 minutes of the movie time, especially if he’s supposed to be the founder (I know he’s in hiding and what not, but still…) People who’ve seen Attack the Block know he can carry a movie with no issues.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

This is all for this movie. What did you think? Was I too harsh? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) Review – Great finish for the original trilogy

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By now you can tell my rating when comes to this movie, that’s for sure. Even though this would probably be the “weakest” of the original Star Wars movies. I know some people hate the Ewoks, or see them for what they were – marketing ploy to sell more Star Wars merchandise. I don’t really mind them, I understand those people. You could also say most of the action on the Endor planet is ridiculous, as these teddy bears are holding their own against Stormtroopers, rendering them as not that big of a threat. And look… that’s a good point. To some extent, pretty valid one.

But I am not one of those people. Yes, the Stormtroopers should’ve never been a “real” threat to anybody, and the Ewoks just used the environment to their advantage. And re-watching this episode you can actually tell plenty of them dies during the battle, so I’d not be as harsh on Ewoks.

Let’s talk about something else than Ewoks, before my entire blog turns into Ewok admiration weekly 🙂

When I said this is probably the weakest one of the original trilogy, I wasn’t referring to the quality of the movie, not at all. I was only referring to those two movies prior being giants in the way they influenced and to some extent outgrown the medium, whereas this movie just neatly ties everything together and doesn’t break any new grounds. Which is only an issue if you make it. Sometimes, film needs to serve a function and this movie’s function was simply to finish on a high note, tie everything together and make some money on the way. Return of the Jedi definitely succeeded, hitting every one of those.

We get a second Death Star (because if something works first time, why bother?) we get an awesome confrontation between Luke, Vader and Palpatine while he watches his friends getting defeated in the space, we get the final revelation of this trilogy about Leia (I won’t spoil this just in case somebody still doesn’t know) and everything flows really well.

That’s one thing all the Star Wars movies have in common – doesn’t matter if it’s the original trilogy, prequels, or sequels – they all have given us a movie where there are 3 battles going on and we cut from one to the other almost flawlessly. This one has the battle of Endor, while Luke is having a confrontation with Darth Vader WHILE there is an attack on the new Death Star.

If anything, I’d love for other movies to get inspired and try to give us more of this, coherent action that happens simultaneously, where it doesn’t have to be edited to bits.

I really liked writing reviews for the original Star Wars movies, but I still feel like given the fact that everything has already been said about these movies in the past 40 or so years, it’s hard to try to come up with something new. Just hope you can tell from these reviews how much I adore these movies, and I hope you found them enjoyable. Onto the prequels we go (oh boy… that won’t be controversial at all :-))

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one. What did you think, did you like the way the original trilogy ended? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

TV Show Reviews

Better Call Saul Review – Seasons 1 – 5

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Need to start this review with a confession – back in 2014, when this spin-off was announced, I was one of those people that went “I mean… I liked Saul, but can we move on from that world? Can’t Vince Gilligan (the brains behind this TV show and of course Breaking Bad) just create something new?” Good thing nobody really listens to me, as I’d been proved wrong with each new season of this amazing show and honestly, this is one of few instances, where me being wrong is great and I am really glad I was.

Because this show is almost pure miracle – the way it’s shot, the way it’s planned, all those amazing details (strongly recommend visiting subreddit for this TV show to see how many details you can put into a scene/episode, where I’ve missed plenty myself) and the slow-burn, almost Vince’s staple by now.

From now on, the review might contain spoilers from seasons 1 – 5!

People tend to remember only the great action pieces from Breaking Bad, or bad-ass one-liners, and often forget that the first two seasons or so were not that action packed, but were building up, really slowly, towards something great. And this TV show isn’t any different. Vince has done it again.

The first 2 seasons of this TV show I was saying something along the lines “it’s a great TV show, with excellent camera work, but it’s still expendable, we know what’s going to happen after all!” After the final episode of season 5, I need to correct myself. This is excellent TV show with stunning camera work, I have no idea what (exactly) will happen later on in its final season (yep, season 6 will officially be the final one) and I actually care about these characters.

I feel like I’d do a huge disservice to this show if I didn’t write about 2 people that shine the most (and let me say, pick two standouts from this show is hard, as everybody is on their A+ game) but two people that aren’t talked about as much – Rhea Seehorn and “newcomer” Tony Dalton.

Let me start with Rhea – if she doesn’t get AT LEAST nominated for every major TV award next year, you know they can’t be trusted. She truly evolved throughout the TV show from a character I didn’t really care about (again, we know she wasn’t in Breaking Bad) to the character I’m most interested in. I am really curious what her fate will be. Kim started as opposite of Jimmy, where she was usually as straight as an arrow, but Jimmy and the stress of everything got to her, to the point it’s her, not “slippin’ Jimmy”, who’s scheming and who’s planning other’s people “misfortunes”. Huge, huge props to Rhea, she’s truly excellent in this role, I hope I get to see her in more movies after Better Call Saul will end.

Tony Dalton might’ve come in later on (end of season 4) but what a presence! To an extent, his villain is really similar to Gus Fring – calm, collected, but always paying attention to everything that’s happening around him. But the difference between him and Gus, he’s unpredictable. He reminds me of a snake, elegant, moving slow and when you see him, you don’t know how he’s going to react, what to expect. And this is what makes him so entertaining. The confrontation between him, Kim & Jimmy at the end of episode 9 of this season, is definitely highlight of the show, because that scene feels like it’s going on for 30 minutes in the best way possible, that’s how tense it is.

So, to answer my question from the excerpt (“Can a show that has IMDb rating 8.7 be still underrated? You’re goddamn right!”) yes. I honestly feel this should be much higher, as this is prime example of the golden age of television I was writing about the other day. Is it better than Breaking Bad? I am not quite sure, to be honest, but I feel like it doesn’t have to be, because this is its own league. We live in a world where it DOESN’T have to better than anything, because it’s excellent on its own. And not every prequel can say that.

While watching the season’s 5 finale, something occurred to me. Maybe the reason I really like this, is the main characters still fell like normal people, who are doing abnormal things, whereas Breaking Bad at this point had Walter White in full on Heisenberg mode (normal people doing almost god like things). Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, it was entertaining as hell, but it made Breaking Bad slightly less accessible, as I don’t know anything about that kind of life. But I can imagine living Jimmy’s live, living in the shadow of a brother, who’s much better at everything to the point you feel like you need to re-brand yourself with a new name. And checking into a hotel because you’re scared for your life and wonder whether it was a great idea to get into a bed with the cartel also feels like something normal person would’ve done.

I seriously can’t wait for the last season and Vince, I promise you this – whatever your next project will be, I’ll follow you. You’ve earned my undying respect and I can’t wait what else you’ll come up with.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s it for Better Call Saul? Do you like it as much as I do? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

The Player (1992) Review – Tim Robbins shines in otherwise average movie

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I have mixed feelings about The Player. On one hand I respect Robert Altman, I loved the unbroken opening shot where movie people are talking about unbroken shots in different movies (“I haven’t seen that one, I only watch American movies”) and I do love the “meta” thing Altman has going on (more on that later).

What I found hard to grasp is everything else – the story is pretty straightforward, so you won’t get lost, but I couldn’t help but feel disconnected from it. I don’t know how to put it in words – have you ever been in a situation where you knew “I should be happy right now” or “I should be sad” but couldn’t, as you were somehow disconnected from the world? That’s how I felt watching this movie, disconnected, emotionally blank. It might’ve been on purpose that we, as just a common viewer, weren’t meant to feel connected to these Hollywood types who refuse ideas on daily basis because “they only have a budget for 12 ideas/year.” If so, the movie succeeded.

The Player does have an interesting story and where I wish it could’ve been bit more “meta”, aware of itself, as it seems somehow disjointed – are we meant to sympathise with Griffin Mill (I honestly wish to see Tim Robbins in more newer movies, as he’s such an underrated actor) even though there is no morality to him? I don’t think the character has one redeeming quality, but then again, the “metaness” (that’s 100% a word!) of this movie comes in where “the bad guy doesn’t have to punished”.

I really liked the meta factor of this movie, where for the entirety of it, people are pitching different movies (Graduate Part II is my personal favourite), usually starring Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis, so we can then see both of them at the very end in the movie that “is not even American movie, this is real, black woman goes to die in a gas chamber, they found out she was innocent and her man tries to rescue her, but he’s too late!” is not so subtle wink at Hollywood and their entire thing about being “real and relatable”. And nothing has changed in almost 30 years, go reckon…

This is one of the movies I can’t wait to re-watch in a couple of years to see whether I feel the same about it as I do now, because who knows? Maybe on my second viewing I’ll find it better than now, but for now, it is, what it is.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

That’s all for this one? What’s your favourite Altman movie? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Review – The start of the franchise

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I know what you’re thinking – hey, this isn’t start of the franchise, this is the second movie, you dummy! And yes, technically you’d be right, except as I mentioned in my previous review for Episode IV, only because of the massive success the original Star Wars was, the studios established this would be a trilogy.

When I talk about “the start of the franchise”, this doesn’t touch on just these movies, by the way. As I was talking about in my previous review, where things weren’t planned, this is the total opposite to that and to some degree influenced our pop-culture even more, as in here we are seeing world building (several different planets, not just space ships), we see characters who are established here for the final movie (fan favourite Boba Fett, which I have never understood why as he doesn’t really do much in either movie) and obviously the ending that only “ends” this movie but not the plot per say, if that makes sense. There is no finality to this episode, as it ends on the (in)famous plot twist, on a darker note where our heroes are down. This doesn’t end with celebration and medals.

In my mind, this is what makes this movie the fan favourite in all the “Skywalker Saga” and that includes me. I am so fortunate to have seen this movie when I was around 11/12 years old, without it being spoiled for me (I know right!) so you can imagine how my young mind, who’s seen the original Star Wars movie a week prior, was enjoying this movie and then the twist came and I was mind blown. I remember thinking this was so mad, how could this be!

When I was re-watching this movie 2 weeks ago, nothing has changed. Yes, I wasn’t as flabbergasted as I was before, I was there for the ride and what a sweet ride it still is, even though it’s now been 40 years. I still admire that somebody had the balls. after the almost lighthearted original where good guys win and everything is great, to come up with a sequel that ends on a (especially in 1980) darker note, kudos to Irvin Kershner.

What I’ve also noticed about this while re-watching it, is how in here we establish more who these characters are – Han doesn’t look like he’s changed as he wants to leave (again), but upon hearing Luke hasn’t returned, he risks his life to find him and get him to safety. Leia embraced the leading role, where she has the wits to back it up and struggles with her feelings towards Han. And Luke struggles with fulfilling his destiny and becoming a Jedi, as he’s worried about his friends getting killed, but at the same time realising what’s at stake if he doesn’t finish.

Empire Strikes Back is my favourite Star Wars movie, but it’s not by a mile by any means, as all three films from the original trilogy in my eyes are almost equal, and choosing the “best” ones from them is like choosing between Ferrari or Porsche. Either way, you’re going to ride a pretty great car. It’s splitting hears, looking for tiny details where it’s up to you which movie you gravitate towards more. I couldn’t fault you for choosing any of the other two movies for being your favourite Star Wars film.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one? Which one is your favourite Star Wars movie? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) Review – A Long Time Ago…

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Is there anything new I can say about Star Wars? THE Star Wars? The movie that influenced everything from the way movies are made, to pop-culture, merchandising… I’m still not quite sure if I can grasp how influential this movie was, not just for its time, but for most of our culture now.

And to think this was supposed to be just a one movie, where you have a beginning, the middle and the end… to think how it was originally just named simply Star Wars, no episode number, no New Hope, nothing, as nobody expected this movie to do anything box-office wise. BTW, it’s still the 2. movie of all time box-office wise (adjusted for inflation, see it for yourself here).

I don’t think I can really add anything new here, to be perfectly honest with you. But I’ve recently re-watched all 9 “Skywalker Saga” movies (because that’s how we are calling them now, apparently) and just realized how much I love Star Wars, mainly the original trilogy, so I will write a review for all of them.

If I could just say one thing – where big studios are trying to re-create this magic, they always seem to forget about one thing – this wasn’t supposed to happen, therefore you can’t recreate this. What I mean by that is George Lucas (before all the special additions and truly unnecessary and frankly annoying touches he’s added to the film over the years) delivered something that was just a singular piece of film making, where there was just one story, with a beginning, a middle and the end. No sequel in mind, no setting up this character for later on, because that’s what we deserve, as movie going public. To see a movie, not a something that’s trying to setup another movie/trilogy. Plenty of people seem to miss this nowadays in a hope (heh, see what I did there?) that they might just come close to replicating this.

This movie (and the entire original trilogy) will always be like a warm blanket, like a cozy corner on rainy Sunday afternoon, where I just feel at home while watching it. Sure, I could probably find some flaws (pacing, mainly in the beginning) but I couldn’t for a life of me lower my rating of this movie. For the Star Wars movie reviews that will follow, with some I might have 2 rating scales, the “objective” rating, and my rating. You will understand once we stumble upon the prequels. 😉

But this one doesn’t need 2 rating scales, just one.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s it for the very first (or fourth) Star Wars movie? Do you love it as much as I do? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Movie Reviews

300 (2006) Review – THIS IS SPARTA!

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I remember like it was yesterday – one day in 2006, my (back then) best mate and I went to see this film in our local cinema. We’d never shut up, we’d always have plenty of things to talk about, but when the movie started, we wouldn’t talk to each other for the entirety of its length. Not even single “Wow” or “That’s so cool.” And that continued some time after coming out of the theater, we’d just walk towards his bus stop, silently, with occasional “fucking hell, what a movie”. We were literally out of words and mind blown by that movie as we haven’t seen anything like that before (we were both just 14/15, but still).

Ever since that experience, I’ve seen this movie 2 more times, one of them being tonight to refresh my memory and see how I feel about it, and also to introduce it to my girlfriend. She loved it, as she was mainly mesmerized by all the abs… and yeah, there’s plenty of good looking, built men. Some might say you get to question your sexuality in some scenes, you know those are really nice looking men, with oily abs and… what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, how do I feel about the movie?

I still love it. Sure, it does have its issues, some slow-mo shots were slightly over the top and other might’ve been unnecessary, some might say it’s over-stylized, it’s over the top in general, BUT… this is a movie you need to meet on ITS own terms.

What I still love about this movie is it announces itself really early on, and tells you straightaway – hey, this is how this movie’s going to look like, feel like and if you accept it and just give in, you will enjoy this Greek/Scottish (oh Gerard I know you’ve tried to tone down your Scottish accent, but it slips out in some scenes) ride to the fullest and at the end you might not be sick.

What might help in your enjoyment of this movie is this fact I’ve stumbled upon while browsing Reddit the other day, that stuck with me and I truth to be told, have never realized until I’ve read it:

This is why 300 contains so many fantastical elements.

I don’t know if this is what Zack Snyder was trying to say, maybe he just thought it’d be cool to have elephants, and giant monsters and sorcerers, but it does make it more “believable” as propaganda is a strong tool, even in our times.

Before ending this review, I do want to give a “shout-out” to Lena Headey and Dominic West where both actors are given fairly limited space, but mainly Lena does well with what she’s given and she makes a memorable Queen. And Dominic’s sleazy senator is also memorable, for entirely different reason.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s it for 300! What did you think, did you like it, or was it too much for you? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Misc

SinCast presented by CinemaSins Review – No podcast is without a sin…?

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From time to time, I will try to review something else than a movie or a TV show (a book, a game, or a podcast) to spicy things up a bit (but don’t you worry, I’m still all over movies and TV shows, that will be my main jam).

Firstly, let me just start with a brief history lesson, the “CinemaSins and me” if you’d like. They have started putting videos out mid December of 2012, I firstly became aware of them about 2 months later (the first CinemaSins video I’ve seen is Everything Wrong With Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone in 3 minutes Or Less) and I didn’t know what to think about it. Some things made me laugh (“This camera angle is not appropriate”) but I didn’t know what to make of them yet. So I’ve watched the other videos and quickly afterwards became a fan and subscribed. From then on, every Tuesday and Thursday when they’d release a new video, I’d patiently wait and if it’s a movie I’ve already seen, I’d watch it. If not, that’d only motivate me to watch that movie, so I can watch their sins video.

Back then, there were only 2 people – Jeremy Scott (the voice of CinemaSins) and Chris Atkinson and they were only making the “everything wrong with” videos. I believe around 2014 the third Musketeer joined the party – Barrett Share and if my memory serves well it was him who thought of launching the SinCast in early 2015 to give people a peak at the sin crew (going by what they said on their podcast). And boy, was that a good idea.

It’s no secret that people on the internet can be great, loving and nurturing. But also there is the other side of people who need to hate on something and unfortunately, CinemaSins’ sense of humour is often lost on many people, which is a shame, as listening to them for almost 5 years now, I feel like they definitely do not deserve the hate they get. And this podcast “humanizes” the evil, nit picky voice that “hates everything” – it’s just a joke, people! Learn to take a joke, your life will become simpler, better and more enjoyable.

The main thing I like about them is you can tell they’ve known each other for a long time as they are all friends, they are not in it for the money, but they actually care and LIKE movies. I really like the way the interact with each other, how they make each other laugh by talking about any dumb stuff that comes to their (well mostly Jeremy’s :-)) head, how they are not taking themselves seriously and just trying to have some fun.

Yes, most of their podcast episodes are slightly over 2 hours, but trust me, you won’t even realize how quickly that time passes when you are having fun. I really need to thank these guys for entertaining me during my travels (my job involves driving a car a lot, so something like this is a blessing for long drives, makes every car ride more enjoyable) well at least prior to these quarantine times we are all living in right now.

If you are a movie lover, I’d strongly recommend this podcast. Don’t expect any experts, because I don’t think any out of these three fine gentlemen would call themselves an expert, but you can expect knowledgeable people sharing their opinions on movies, TV shows, and sometimes other stuff that’s happening (plenty of traffic rants), but mainly having fun.

They also do a movie review episodes, where they talk about a movie that’s just been released in the cinemas (well, not just now, cause COVID-19) but you should have a pretty good backlog of episodes that should give you something to do during this quarantine and hopefully after that too. I know I won’t stop listening to these guys any time soon.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s all for this one, what did you think? Do you like SinCast/CinemaSins? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke