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Reviews
The Romantics (2010)
I can't believe what I just saw!
Others have covered many of the issues with this problematic film. I'll add a few more: The wedding rehearsal dinner is actually a drunken and much darker version of those old TV comedy roasts. It's all just pent up anger and hatred spilling forth from this odd group of former college friends. Was that supposed to be humorous?
After all of these friends drink so much alcohol the night before that even a hard core alcoholic would be nauseated they all get up in the morning without any hangovers and simply dress for the wedding.
There is a wedding to prepare for but outside of these same 7 or so college chums worrying about getting dressed and one mom on hand there is no hustle and bustle of helpers, relatives or paid servants getting things set up. There are folded up chairs on the lawn that suddenly set themselves up with nobody in sight who might be doing the work. A flock of guests suddenly appears in those same chairs before the wedding. They don't arrive or walk in or stand around visiting beforehand - they just suddenly appear seated.
The wedding procession happens with no music of any sort. They just silently walk up to the minister/preacher guy. It's certainly unusual.
And while some here have lauded the music in this film it is used in the strangest way. A very emotional scene between Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes the night before the wedding has music with a loud, crashing snare drum shattering the mood. Later during the wedding vows African percussion or something similar bangs away while people are talking. While someone apparently thought these two examples was somehow cool or cutting edge it came off as been added on quickly without much consideration of how music works with film.
With an apparent lowish budget and with an inexperienced director in charge such things can happen but there have been plenty of other films made with the same handicaps and with far less famous casts that have turned out far better.
Funny Woman (2023)
Unfunny Woman
I'm puzzled why so many reviews here are mentioning how funny this is. Really? I tried to hang in there with this show but after several episodes I care nothing for any of the characters. I don't blame the actors and much of the look of the show seems pretty good. But there is just something off about the show. Something in the writing of it. Just because they play songs from the 60's over and over again does not mean it's authentic. It feels like it is a bit too much about attitudes as they are NOW and not how they were back then. And most of all, while her dramatic acting is okay, the main character isn't even a little bit funny. Nor are any of the other attempts at comedy.
The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)
A truly remarkable film experience.
To quote the late, great Jack Buck..........."I DON"T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!
A film so brutally awful that you will not, nay cannot look away. Where to start? A car chase gun fight where the pursued victim gets out of the car and looks around for a while and then casually walks away into the desert as bullets fly all round. Nothing to worry about here.
When several people are strangled the killer's hands simply rest gently over the area in front of their throat and shows no signs of actually squeezing the throat while the victim just closes their eyes and dies without a hint of struggle. A man is being shot at numerous time with a rifle from a pursuing airplane and in several close ups of his face you see him continuing to run but he barely expresses any alarm or concern or danger at all. The serious and spectacularly bad narration by the film's director. I could go on and on. This film has it all Folks.... Jerry Seinfeld was wrong. Plan 9 From Outer Space is not the worst movie ever made. I don't know if this one is but it sure is damned close. A remarkable achievement in cinema history. Watch it and marvel at the brilliance.
The Gilded Age (2022)
Cartoonish.
If you want to see a far, far better look at about this same period in New York watch Martin Scorcese's beautiful film "The Age Of Innocence". Granted that this is based on just the 1st episode of "The Gilded Age" and they are busy introducing many characters and situations - so it could get better - as others have stated with the exception of the costumes this is struggling from the get go. The writing is so cartoonish. You've seen these characters a zillion times before in equally awful shows/films.
This is setting up to be a woman's costumed soap opera fantasy in which women run everything while their rich husbands are busy doing super over the top robber baron behavior. The dialogue is very poor. Sadly, recent years have seen that the once great HBO has driven itself off a very high cliff. Too bad.
All Fall Down (1962)
Berry-Berry. Berry-Berry. Berry-Berry.
This film is about a younger brother who cannot stop saying the name of his older brother Berry-Berry. Then everyone else chimes in and says it too. Over and over and over again.
Did I say Berry-Berry? Such a ridiculous name. Oh, and by the way.....Berry-Berry. In case I didn't mention it.... Berry-Berry. And for those who hadn't heard it before.....Berry-Berry. And in conclusion I will sum up with......wait for it........Berry-Berry!
Laëtitia (2019)
Pathetic subtitles and some over acting.
This is written after watching 4 episodes as seen on HBO. I have nothing against foreign films with subtitles.... most of the time. But whoever did the subtitles for this needs to improve their job.... a lot. A person speaks and the subtitles end the millisecond that the person stops talking. So if they speak a very short phrase it is no problem. But here if a person speaks using multiple sentences the subtitle doesn't last long enough to read it. Even if the speaker takes a long pause before speaking again the subtitles don't remain on screen. In addition to this the subtitles are partly written over the film images no matter how bright the background and then continued below the film image in the very black letterbox area. This makes reading the subtitles and trying to keep up with this story nearly impossible. What the hell?
Next is the acting of the two father figures and also the crazy guy involved with the last known sightings of Laetitia. All three are so incredibly over the top with their performance that it is difficult to believe. Now if the real life people were actually llke this then I am out of line and apologize. But this is something I have noticed in French cinema before - over acting even by famous French movie stars. These three actors here in Laetitia act like they are in a very large theater trying to project to the last row. But this is film/video and screaming your head off and punching furniture and hyperventilating as though you've just finished running a marathon because a little girl asks for her mother just comes off badly and unreal. As for the girls portraying the sisters - all of them - from the very young to the older girls -they are all quite good in their roles. Too bad I couldn't appreciate this more because of the terrible subtitles and exaggerated acting.
Halifax: Retribution (2020)
Very poor effort.
This show is a bad music video masquerading as a cop/detective show. It is awful. I have noticed a number of Australian shows in recent years that all suffer from the same ridiculous casting disease. Everyone in the show, including random passers by in street scenes, is gorgeous and dressed like they've been shopping on Rodeo Drive or it's Australian equivalent. Certainly the leads of most shows made anywhere in the world are going to be good looking but does every flipping person in any possible scene have to be simply stunning? This is not very realistic and instantly pulls one out of buying into the story.
And as others have mentioned here the characters portraying police that ought to know better do the most idiotic behavior. This is a poorly written series.
And what is with the constant truly lousy music (with bad vocals)? The music video element of this series is horrendous and very, very lazy. Try putting in more effort into the writing of the show and you won't have to pad out episodes with such lousy filler.