shivers Reviews

Civil War (2024)

America's three-term president leads country to civil war

[8/10 · 3 May 2024]

This is an absolutely stunning movie filled with political and moral commentary about a future in which America tears itself apart. Filming it from the perspective of neutral journalists was Garland's masterpiece stroke. Rather than pitching the film as a story between opposing political factions, which would draw too many contrast with being Democrat or Republican, Garland delivered a narrative filming from the perspective of armies militias seeking to control America.

Civil War's cinematography was outstanding - the film contrasted American everyday culture against the backdrop and horrors of war for example Winter Wonderland, Main Street, a water sprinkler, JC Penny and skipping ropes.

And I suppose the only criticism I had about the film if any was, it was just too short and needed more detail and time to really go deep on some of the subplots in this incredible narrative - perhaps conjoining all of those subplots into a big "Aha!" moment at some point, which would help the view to connect aspects of their history with in parallel with America's march towards its second civil war.

Even then, for history and political junkies this is a film to watch - watch it twice, watch it three times and encourage your friends and families to see it as well. It's the only way that will actually make sure that people realize that democracy is fragile and could easily lead to war, if the checks and balances are dismantled.

3 Body Problem (2024– )

Ruined by plot holes and Netflix producers

[4/10 · 29 April 2024]

I'm only watching 3BP for the storyline and the CGI.

The acting is absolutely dreadful and I don't blame the actors - I blame the producers who didn't allow the actors to bring their characters to life.

It's a new Netflix tactic to prop up the number of hours watched (a KPI which is reported to the markets).

The recipe: dumb down acting creativity and flare, maintain a linear, bland storyline backed by CGI and, sadly audiences will binge watch. I'm not saying that binge watching is bad nor am I suggesting audiences are dumb either - but we're more than capable of appreciating deeper storylines and connecting with characters on an emotional level.

Don't believe me? Watch Netflix's 1899. It had an awesome, mind-bending, sci-fi storyline backed by incredible CGI and most importantly, method actors who were given creative freedom to immerse themselves in their roles.

But Netflix deemed it too complicated for audiences to follow - and less likely to binge watch. The result... cancelled after one season.

Who remembers Netflix's Dark? Filmed entirely in german, it took us through three gripping, tense and deeply paradoxical seasons which stretched our imaginations and left us itching to learn more about Jonas Kahnwald and Martha Nielsen's universe-destroying love story. It was one of the best sci-fi series ever produced and complicated enough to watch it twice (I did!).

The point is the 3BP could have been legendary - but in the hands of today's Netflix producers it's going to fade into obscurity.

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

'Oppenheimer' failed to create a spark

[5/10 · 31 July 2023]

While we may all be acquainted with the storyline of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the film attempts an audacious feat by splicing and reordering multiple periods of his life, attempting to craft a fragmented mosaic that, alas, falls short of coherence. The ill-conceived endeavour leaves audiences grappling to piece together the historical segments in a meaningful way, leading to a frustrating lack of understanding of their significance to the overarching narrative.

Throughout the cinematic journey, the incessant splicing proves to be the Achilles' heel, preventing the film from delving deeper into the various storylines that shaped Oppenheimer's destiny. A lamentable example lies in the scant attention given to the conception of the H-bomb, which is relegated to a mere fleeting mention during a debate at Los Alamos. One can't help but yearn for a more profound exploration of this pivotal moment, a crucial juncture in the annals of scientific history that cries out for greater elucidation.

Perhaps most vexing is the film's reluctance to shed light on one of the most critical questions surrounding Oppenheimer - his alleged association with communism. The shadow of uncertainty looms large, leaving audiences grasping for answers that never come. The denial of a deeper understanding of Oppenheimer's political leanings robs the narrative of the nuance it so desperately requires, and by extension, diminishes the potency of the central conflict surrounding the withdrawal of his AEC security clearance.

Ironically, a troubling revelation arises for those who sought to glean insights into Oppenheimer's life from this film. It becomes painfully apparent that one might have been better served perusing his Wikipedia entry or watching the documentary 'The Day after Trinity.' In those mediums, Oppenheimer's life unfolds chronologically, granting a sense of coherence and a true appreciation of the man and his profound impact on history.

In the end, 'Oppenheimer' fails to achieve the lofty aspirations it set for itself. It meanders through its own ambitious convolution, leaving audiences perplexed and disheartened by a missed opportunity to illuminate one of history's most intriguing minds. With a more focused and chronological approach, the film might have risen to greatness, but alas, it remains a lamentable casualty of its own artistic experimentation.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Surprisingly entertaining

[7/10 · 17 July 2023]

D&D was actually quite funny, and entertaining. The comedy and intertwined storylines were really interesting. I did not expect this film to be engaging, but it was actually extremely watchable.

D&D's supporting cast were outstanding. We were all enchanted by Regé-Jean Page's almost God-like portrayal of 'Xenk'. Page has to be contender for one of the next iterations of James Bond. Sophia Lillis mastered her performance of 'Doric' given the incredible CGI that surrounded her character. And, if an award could be given to an actor who mastered a British accent better than a Brit themselves, it goes to Californian-born Justice Smith. Smith portrayal of accident-prone, insecure and bashful 'Simon' was outstanding.

Paul Bazely (from the IT Crowd) made wonderful appearances dotted across D&D, reprising his role as a magician (- viewers of The IT Crowd will know what I mean). However, it is always a pleasure to see him on screen given how great an actor he is.

All in all, a few plot holes, and perhaps a too many convenient links within a wide-arching story line to be believable, and worthy of taking this movie up to an 8. But if this is a how they did it, then I cannot wait for the sequel.

Oh, and Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant were alright.

Silo (2023– )

A brilliant, immersive storyline, expect spinoffs!

[8/10 · 4 June 2023]

I've not even made it through season 1 and I love Silo! The totally dystopian, 1984-inspired environment within the SIlo has gifted the producers a near blank canvas upon which to build several series', storylines and spin-offs.

Rebecca Ferguson's superbly delivered protagonist Nichols is proving to be just a wonderful way to see, experience and live through the harsh-realities faced when living in the Silo against all of the political forces at work.

As a film buff, I love how the producers blended just the right amount of CGI and live-set props, and stages to make the Silo's indoor setting appear near endless - a wonderful way to ensure that the scenery remains as realistic as possible without betraying it using ultra-glossy, over-the-top CGI.

I expect there to be many spinoffs from Silo - a prequel should be on the cards, leading up to the formation of the Pact.

Either way, I cannot wait to see how this season and any future seasons develop - lets just see if Apple easter egg's in a token iPhone or Mac into Silo as a way of brandishing this a true, Apple TV+ production.

Citadel (2023– )

The lowest common denominator of 'Made for TV' action series'

[4/10 · 4 June 2023]

Take an on-screen couple whose personalities are completely incompatible, put them in an impossible storyline, build every sub-plot around that impossible storyline and then add in as many action-driven, similarly 'mission: impossible' and 'face/off'' rip-off storylines around it, and only then, you have 'Citadel'.

This series could have been one of Priyanka Chopra Jonas' crowning Hollywood achievements following her spectacular breakout of Bollywood. Instead, she was horribly let down by a mediocre storyline, impossible-to-believe CGI special effects and wooden acting from her co-star Richard Madden. Broccoli Family (controllers of the Bond franchise) take note!

By all means, Citadel, but only if you want to bore yourself to sleep after a day of doing absolutely nothing.

Seinfeld: The Finale (1998) Season 9, Episode 22

A weird but totally "Seinfeld" way to end the series

[9/10 · 28 May 2023]

The finale was the perfect way to take everything memorable about the previous seasons and throw them into a vortex of absolute chaos!

Having just just finished watching all 9 seasons for the first time. I had a few difficult moments trying to figure out the humour in the first few seasons, but finally realised how Seinfeld set the bar so high for every sitcom that followed in its footsteps, including Friends.

The finale was the perfect culmination of madness, offbeat storylines and a particular moving way to conclude nine groundbreaking seasons of no-holes barred, intelligent, brilliantly ordained and industry-shattering comedy.

Sure there will be some people who felt the ending was weird, disappointing or leftfield. But that was the whole point of Seinfeld - to leave everyone scratching their heads and wondering what the heck just happened, just like in most other episodes.

However the finale was more than just that. Every subcharacter or memorable plot who received their encore was given a final bow as a tacit recognition of how they had managed to make an impact alongside the almost omnipotent presence of four immensely talented actors: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards.

Bravo Seinfeld - the finale had the perfect blend of craziness, one-liners and above all, chutzpah!

Nobody (I) (2021)

Addictive, cheesy, action garbage - loved it!

[7/10 · 27 March 2023]

Plot holes, unimaginably unreal action scenes, cheesy storylines, yet all accompanied by an absolutely brilliant, typecast-smashing performance from Bob Odenkirk!

If you want watchable, action-gore, or a movie you can kick back, relax and not think too hard about, then this is the one for you.

Not only is this film raw, gritty and filled with irony, its also, the first time viewers see Odenkirk in his own version of a man on fire, filled with retribution, and nothing like happy go lucky Saul Goodman. A future James Bond? Maybe not. But do we want to see more of his character? Yes!

My main acknowledgement goes to Pawel Pogorzelski, Nobody's cinematographer capture close-up action sequences, superb camera angles in close-quarters, fast-moving action scenes, and Odenkirk's raw emotion, mostly during night-time sequences which is really, really difficult to do.

1899 (2022)

A beautiful masterpiece which should be preserved for ever

[8/10 · 28 November 2022]

**Edit** this review was written prior to Friese's and bo Oadr's January 2, 2023 announcement that S02 of 1899 would not be produced.

S01 of Jantje Friese's 1899 was a beautiful masterpiece incorporating complex themes first seen in Dark, Westworld and Inception. Its outstanding, multilingual cast superbly navigated a very complicated screenplay intermingling French, Portuguese, Cantonese, German, Danish, Swedish, Polish alongside English. Despite this, the writers made the fast-paced multilingual script believable, engaging and real.

Friese (who also wrote and produced Dark) gifted Dark's Andreas Pietschmann (Eyk Larsen) with a lead acting role - it was a pleasure seeing him bring Eyk's character to life, and hear him speak so eloquently in German and English. Emily Beecham (Maura), Yann Gael (Jérôme), Anerin Barnard (Daniel) and Clara Rosager (Tove) delivered gripping performances that left me yearning to learn more about each character's complex, and troubled histories.

However, I think S02 will be a disaster. Dark required three seasons to evolve and to bring viewers its jaw-dropping conclusion. By the time viewers reached Dark's S03, they required visual aids to help them to navigate through its time-warped subplots and dependencies.

Its easy to foresee that 1899 will be so much more complicated than Dark. 1899's S01 intermingled deep-woven character stories and stretched the boundaries of the 1899 universe to near Tenet-standards.

S02 will need to enable viewers to master its central theme very quickly before they can embark upon themes that will feature within S03 (slated as 1899's third and final season). It will be very difficult to manage.

I fear that S02 will prove too intellectually challenging for viewers to cope with. The inevitable new storylines and spin-offs that S02 will bring will expose holes and cause 1899's central plot that was beautifully sculpted during S01 to collapse on itself. For the sake of 1899's brilliant cast, and production team, I hope that I am proved wrong.

The Mosquito Coast: Calaca (2021) Season 1, Episode 6

Patterson Joseph's guest appearance was electrifying

[9/10 · 29 May 2021]

Calaca, the episode was a triller giving viewers witness to how the awesome power of multiple storylines and threads began colliding together like atoms inside a nuclear fusion reactor.

The episode's script was littered with tough, analogous contradictions of the real world; many of them delivered by Patterson Joseph as Calaca, whose erudite performance was brilliant and commendable.

This episode was part of a series that was released linearly in weekly succession. However, I rate it as the best episode to-date.

Alien Monkeys (2015)

My 4 year old twins love it!

[9/10 · 13 May 2021]

Each episode is approximately 5 minutes long and finish with a dance inspired by percussion or classical music - my kids absolutely love it. They've started tapping their legs and clapping their hands along to the beat during each episode.

If anything I wish the bears were a little less "grizzly" bear-like. But for the sake of being able to sit with my kids to teach them how to create music, this wonderful cartoon series does the job!

Coming 2 America (2021)

Loved it! A film celebrating "Coming to America" (1988)

[8/10 · 7 March 2021]

C2A (2021) features a funny, heart-warming and plausible storyline backed by a stellar cast of legends from CTA (1988) and a fresh cohort of terrific actors who delivered stellar performances.

CTA (1998) was, and always will be a classic. I was disappointed by other reviewers who panned C2A (2021) - what did they expect? C2A (2021) was the 'encore' celebrating a generation of legendary actors such as James Earl Jones, Arsenio Hall & John Amos - not forgetting Nile Rodgers who created the soundtrack for CTA (1998)

For those of us like me who loved CTA (1988), C2A (2021) features every possible nostalgic reference to CTA (1988) enabling us to live through the same laughs, cringes and jokes from a 2021 lens.

Actors Jermaine Fowler (Lavelle Junson), Leslie Jones (Mary Junson), Kiki Layne (Meeka) and Nomzamo Mbatha (Mirembe) were stars in their own right.

It can't have been easy for them trying to carve out their own roles in a crowded pack of legends who appeared in CTA (1998). However they excelled in their roles giving C2A (2021) a fresh, yet nostalgic feel.

I think over time C2A (2021) will gain the appreciation it deserves. Its not, nor will it be, C2A (1988). However, it did its job to remind us what good filmmaking looks like in today's crowded pack of superhero movies, sub-standard CGI flicks and lacklustre, heavily promoted movies.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Adam Sandler's performance of a lifetime!

[9/10 · 6 June 2020]

You couldn't make this story up if you tried! An absolutely brilliant flick with Sandler delivering an electrifying current through every scene!

Films like this are rare - the ones that cause their audiences to grip their seats, send their pulses racing with every scene and yet manage to show human emotions in their rawest, most exposed and precarious state.

Watch it.

Angel of Mine (2019)

Superb performance from Noomi Rapace

[9/10 · 31 August 2019]

A wonderful, independent film produced in Australia that takes viewers on a powerful, emotional rollercoaster. Rapace's performance was marvellous - she delivered a moving portrayal of a grieving mother struck by anxiety and depression. I loved the fact that all of the supporting actors were equally astute and were able to deliver consistent performances to add suspense, intrigue and a welcomed sense of confusion throughout the film.

All in all, if you want to get away from the action-hero centred blockbusters currently blotting our screens and immerse yourself in a dramatic production, Angel of Mine is the film to watch.

Annihilation (I) (2018)

Captivating, mesmerising and beautiful...

[9/10 · 9 April 2018]

Annihilation is one of the most beautiful, scariest and frontier-breaking films that I have ever watched.

Normally, films about madness and dispair take place within the real world or occupy a set which observes all of the norms of the physical world that we live in (i.e. Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club). Not this one.

Annihilation turns the human condition and the rational basis for emotions, relationships, want and desire and turns all of these inside out and projects them onto a terrifying backdrop of the Shimmer, a world of manipulation, control, and ever increasing madness.

If anyone thought this film was poor, I think it was because they expected a gory, thriller with little green men that obeyed the laws of physics. However, I think they were misinformed. Thils film is one to watch in one showing (with no breaks) and will leave you wondering why more films are not made like this.

Ex Machina (2014)

The best A.I. film made to date

[9/10 · 18 August 2016]

Ex_Machina is the best A.I. film made to date.

The simplicity of how Ex_Machina's story builds up and Alex Garland's dedication to iconic minimalism creates so much valuable screen time for the viewer to listen, watch and observe the evolving thriller that will leave you wishing there was a sequel.

My favourite aspect of this film was the special effects for which the film was rightly awarded an Academy Award. At a time when filmmakers and producers are throwing CGIs at every blockbuster title released, Ex_Machina deployed a tasteful use of special effects to transport viewers into a future minimalist world that is probably not far away from the 2016 that we know today.

Watch this film and reflect afterwards on its brilliant story, incredible scenery. Open your mind to the future of artificial intelligence.

Training Day (2001)

Alonzo and Hoyt - both wolfs and sheep

[9/10 · 14 February 2007]

Something I think Actors try so hard to do is to change the state of mind of their characters. Alonzo and Hoyt both encounter situations where they have to be scared as well as suck up to people. Hoyt is an uncomfortable, twitchy man when he meets Alonzo and Alonzo is just as uncomfortable when he meets the Wise Men. Their characters change so well it makes me feel great knowing they actually bothered to earn the awards they got. I think all wannabe actors should watch the uncomfortable scenes where Hoyt tries his best to match Alonzo's style and swagger in the car. Alonzo too, plays on Hoyt's fear and nervousness so well.

Ali G Indahouse (2002)

first impressions are the best

[7/10 · 26 March 2002]

A great film, surprisingly funny all the way through and certainly didn't flop like other British comedy slapstick films like 'Bean'.

Worth a watch by anyone, for or against Ali G!

Keep an open mind though.

Hard Boiled (1992)

If you like it, also see...

[28 August 2001]

What an amazing film! Proof that to produce a stylish action film thriller doesn't need tens of millions of bucks. Just a vivid imagination about the human psyche, cop morals and a sick perverted lust for violence!

People who liked this film would be well advised to watch 'Face/Off' (IMDb no: 0119094). 'Lashou Shentan' strongly demonstrates many of the action techniques Woo used for it. Some of the most significant are: - Catch 22 situation when two oponants are holding guns to each others temples; - Music to a child during violence (when Tequila sings to the baby in the nursery; Castor Troy's kid on the glass pane floor during the raid on his house); - Slow motion shots behind people during pauses when firing guns.

As pointed out by other IMDb users, the film would mean more to someone who spoke Cantonese given the significance of many cultural details. Still, it was a memorable watch. For some reason, John Woo always seems to make better films when he isn't holding the production company's credit card! If you don't believe me, see 'Broken Arrow' or 'MI:2'.

Croupier (1998)

A short in-depth review

[7/10 · 18 June 2001]

Croupier acts to portray a seemingly dark and sometimes perverse dimension of the British casino underworld. Its' plot revolves around a humble stalwart of the Croupiers' who refuses to be corrupted and, so it seems, just wants to get on with life and his eventual aim to be a best-selling author.

The film plays a very interesting method of twisting through elements of Jack Carter (Clive Owen) life exploring his relationship between his girlfriend, the casino and more spectacularly, the aftermath when the two combine.

As a low-budget film, Mike Hodges uses very surreal atmospheric scenery and mood projections to add a very experienced touch of class. Although this might be considered overdone in places, this film does serve to give young and inspiration-seeking directors a good taste of how a simple story can be transcribed into an effective projection on the big screen.

It is a real shame this piece of work was only given a limited release but this should not dissuade the movie buff to get out and see this film at some time. Given its successful opening in the USA and it's ever increasing stature on the British screen, it deserves a full re-release however impossible this may be.

Short and snappy at just 89 minutes, it is guaranteed to give the viewer something to think about upon exit from the auditorium. Well worth the money to see and something I will definitely complement my DVD collection with on home release.