Category: Movies

Another movie directed, written and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda, man this guy keeps himself busy! He just does it all!

This movie was the most successful in terms of commercial and reception success, in that in made the most money and it won the  Palme d’Or.  (To be honest these days, the Cannes is a better measure of how good an actual movie is compared to the Oscars.)

Very good movie, but somehow I felt the pacing sagged a bit in the middle. However the ending was one of the most powerful dramatic conclusions I’ve seen for a while.

Of course, once again the movie centers on family dynamics, but this time with a focus on poverty in Japan, and a twist in that the family are not actually related to each other.

Jim gives this movie an 8 out of 10.

You can either buy this from clicking above, or join Amazon Prime, (you might be a member already, it gives you free delivery when you buy stuff from Amazon, in which case you can watch the movie for FREE already! If you are not an Amazon Prime member, click on here to join for a free trial for 30 days. Just remember to can it after that time if you don’t want to carry on with the membership)

Announcement! I do make some commission from Amazon if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, what I would really appreciate, is if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie!

Another Hirokazu Kore-eda movie.

This one was another gem of a movie from this director. He makes real films!

Again, non action, no special effects, no killing or slashing. No feel the force. Instead, another incredible movie about family dynamics. I suppose the subject of the movie and where the focus is makes one thinks constantly about how your own life is lived, as the topic is so close to your own life. Family. Any mother, father will identify with his movie.

In essence, the movie is about switching of sons at birth with two families, one rich and one poor. Then eventually the parents find out, the questions is what to do?

Jim gives this movie an 7.5 out of 10.

Out of the Hirokazu Kore-eda series – Still Walking, After the Storm, Like Father Like Son, Shoplifters that I saw this April, this was my least favorite. But that’s not to say I didn’t like or rate this movie, it’s just that the other three movies were slightly better.

Announcement! I do make some commission from Amazon if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, what I would really appreciate, is if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie!

I stumbled on Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Japanese director on several movies on my flight back to Asia this April. And I was really impressed and enjoyed watching all his movies on that flight.

I’m going to start with Still Walking. Hirokazu Kore-eda wrote, edited and directed this film.

It’s not an action flick, there’s no Avengers, no Thanos. But it’s a hell of a movie.

The movie was made in 2008, but time has not aged the film. It’s thought provoking and engaging, and really stays with you when the credits are rolling.

The movie is about family, the dynamics coupled with Japanese culture and how an event can shape the people and it displays an array of emotions and also stirs up those same pot of emotions when you are watching it.

You have to be patient and spend the time and attention that this film deserves. If you are a movie lover then you should enjoy this movie. If you only like action or fantasy stuff, then give it a miss.

For anyone who use to have summer holidays away with their grandparents in Asia, this gives the feels man. You can feel the heat, and the sound of the crickets and the long days…..

Jim gives this movie an 8.5 out of 10

Announcement! I do make some commission if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, I would appreciate it if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie!

OMG…..

Whilst this isn’t an amazing piece of film making, nor ground breaking documentary. The simple fact of it’s subject made this an interesting watch. I found it fascinating. My wife who was a huge MJ fan couldn’t help but watch it also.

Michael Jackson, was he or wasn’t he?

In essence it’s about two men’s childhood accounts with MJ, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Clearly Michael isn’t here to defend himself any more. But it would explain a lot about Michael always hanging out with boys.

It’s quite horrible to think that if it is true then MJ was a monster! I for one just think it’s weird for a man to hold hands with a boy like this!

Think back when you and your mate were hanging out, you don’t hold hands with each other! 

It’s worth a one time watch! I won’t give all the sordidness away! The other compelling area of watch is the mothers, the wealth and fame seeking momanagers.

Jim gives Leaving Neverland a 7.5 out of 10. It’s good to watch one time, but not for repeat viewing in my opinion.

Wade Robson comes off a bit fake to me. Also, both men have financial troubles which would explain why they’re coming up with this now and not earlier on in their lives. Yes they do explain why now and not earlier! Watch it!

Growing up, this was my favourite oof the Dollars Triliogy, and the one I watched the most as a teenage boy, I adored the music in this film. After a 20 year hiatus, watching it now as a forty year old man, is it still my favorite out of the three?

Surprisingly, the answer is a no! It’s still a great movie, but I found the pacing a touch slow, and the storyline meanders a bit. Perhaps due to the number of times I had seen seen the movie as a boy, even with a 20 year gap between viewing, I still remembered the movie quite well, so it may have lost much of its dramatic effect. (For some one who hasn’t seen the film, there are a number of colossal scenes with dramatic imagery which may impact their viewing more favorably then myself.) I found Eli Wallach took too much screen presence away from Angel Eyes and Blondie. Funny really, as a boy I found Eli quite amusing but now I think he’s just hamming it up too much. Where as Clint and Lee are still cool as I found them all those year ago.

I would say now, the best out of three for me, is For A Few Dollars More.

However, if you haven’t seen this movie before and want to give the Wild West movie genre a go, then you can’t go wrong with this movie. And the shootout at the end was epic as always.

Jim gives this movie 7.5 out of 10.

For people that are especially interested. Although the movie release dates go:

1. A fistful of dollars.
2. For a few dollars more.
3. The Good, the bad and the ugly.

Chronologically, The Good, the bad and the ugly is the first movie as thats when Clint first finds and puts on the iconic poncho! A fistful of dollars is second where Clint first puts on the hand strap and For a few dollars more is last.

Netflix has this movie, but if you don’t have Netflix or don’t want to get it. You can watch it on Amazon.

Announcement! I do make some commission from Amazon if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, what I would really appreciate, is if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie!

 

For me, hands down the best war movie I have seen!

I have it over:

Black Hawk Down

Saving Private Ryan

Thin Red Line (it’s ok…..not as good as the two above)

Hacksaw Ridge

Empire of the Sun

(But then, I haven’t seen Platoon or Apocalypse Now……..Mental note…..I’ll put in an addendum to come back to this review, once I have seen those two.)

The thing about Dunkirk is the pace, it’s stupendous. From the moment you sit down it comes at you! Relentless is the word I use. It’s a heart pounding, gut wrenching movie.

Despite the fact that it doesn’t have a complicated plot nor intricate character development, this movie is not simple at all! The director weaves a tapestry with this movie, his characters are all fully formed and the storyline all slots together like a wonderful jigsaw puzzle, to cap it off  Nolan completes the masterpiece by…..I won’t say how, but if you’re a Nolan fan you’ll know.

I need to state that when I walked out of the cinema, the first thing I thought was that this was a director’s movie. The director shone above all, and that’s quite rare in a film. Quite often, the lead dominates the audience’s thought – for example in Die Hard, it’s Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.

The audio is tremendous, and we all know how sumptuous the visuals are! Photography and imaging in this film is off the charts good.

If you haven’t seen this movie, then this is a can’t miss movie. You have to watch it!!!

Jim gives this movie an almost full marks 9.8/10.

Why the missing .2? Harry Styles, he’s not quite good enough as an actor, but he did try hard.

Announcement! I do make some commission if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, I would appreciate it if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie!

This is an old movie now, made back in 2002, so seventeen years on in 2019, has it stood the test of time?

Yes absolutely! I have watched this movie with a ten year break and both times it delivered it’s magic. The reason why it has not dated is because of the story and the setting. There’s a mix of comedy moments as well as real drama.

I won’t give too much away on what the film is about but essentially it’s in New Zealand and displays the way of life for the Maori people in modern times, with the focus on a young girl and her family.

The lead is superbly watchable, the story is told with great care. This film was made with talent but also a lot of love and attention. The cast were all very committed as it was a film about New Zealand and it’s history, you could tell they all wanted to do it proud.

And they did!

Whale Rider is a real movie!

To me, a REAL MOVIE is one that’s told with verve and skill, and the end product is magic. Something unreal has become REAL! The characters are alive and they are the person in the film and not the actor on the red carpet. You as the audience are drawn in and can feel their emotions through the screen. For example, Transformers is not a real movie, it’s a pop corn movie and it’s dated badly. (I’ll cut the first one some slack, but all the other ones were total garbage. I haven’t seen Bumblebee yet, so can’t comment.)

Jim gives Whale Rider the Oscar winning 9.5/10 that it deserves.

Announcement! I do make some commission from Amazon if you click on it. But it’s tiny really, what I would really appreciate, is if you do watch it, to comment back on the post and let me know what you thought of the movie

Action Character Icon – Check.

Fantastic actress and stunning to look at  – Check

Big Budget – Check

Total turkey – CHECK!!

This was a disappointment, but was it ever going to be good? None of the other Lara Croft movies were. However, being a fan of Alicia Vikander from seeing her in Deux Machina and also The Man from Uncle I thought I would give Tomb Raider a whirl.

The movie was dull, it really was. The opening dialogue was from an era gone by, where the narrator sets the premise, then the two action scenes? Like why bother. They started with a very average fight scene in the ring. The only thing impressive there was Alicia’s abs!! OMG.

In the workout pic above, she looks strong but looking at her in the movie I thought she got too lean, as she looked slightly refugee campee…..emaciated….

The second action scene was cycle chase? There was zero reason for it. They might as well have filmed her going for a jog in the morning. In all honesty, they could have opened the movie with Lara in the building discussing her inheritance, cut out both action scenes out and have Lara dropped into a mystery. Wrap some dialogue in to provide context and away you go. Have the audience asking questions, instead of shoving answers down your throat continuously.

The first two action scenes were boring and unnecessary, the third was there to move the story along, but it was distinctively below average. It was a running, jumping scene around the docks of Hong Kong with three young thugs. However these three thugs looked about 14, even scrawnier then Alicia and about two inches shorter, with zero athleticism. How can there be any tension when you’re not concerned for the lead character? Of all the HK stunt people they could have got, they could only rustle up three high schoolers? And why did they pick such timid looking actors? Alicia looks she could have whooped their asses with her hands tied behind her back.

Now this next bit is a somewhat harsh but it really bothered me, I will admit I never noticed it before in the other movies that I have seen her in. But for some reason, her right eye was all over the shop, I never knew she had a lazy eye. It really distracted me.

With the physical criticism out of the way, I have to add that Alicia doesn’t have the charisma to carry this main lead. It needed someone with more pizazz. With the other movies that I had seen her in, as great as she was in them, she was not the main lead, she was a supporting actress, and I think certainly for action movies that where her strength is. Don’t get me wrong, you can tell she is a dedicated actress, starting with the body transformation, but in the end not even an eight pack could save this movie.

I am sorry to say this film failed in pretty much everywhere. The story was clumsy and obvious, I could literally write the plot line as I went along. Oh, maybe Lara will bump in her father on the island for an emotional reunion? Of course he hadn’t died….

But of course he needed to die in the end to add emotional impact, and of course it didn’t generate any…..sigh…

The acting wasn’t terrible, just bad. The main thing that let it down was the story, far too linear and straight forward, they literally lifted it out of the action movie/game template. But what could have made a difference was the action element.

Unfortunately the action was behind the times, maybe if this movie had come out 10 years ago, people might have been wowed. Take the fallen plane in the rapids scene for example, any gamer would have noticed something similar from the Uncharted series, and it was done better there!

Viewer and fans of Alicia, forget this movie and go watch something else. Like I did – Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch. Or go play the game.