akdjreview Reviews

Euphoria: Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door (2022) Season 2, Episode 1

Euphoric comeback

[9/10 · 11 January 2022]

The first episode of season 2 had an incredible start. A twist to the previous season that started of more dark. With more violence and more issues, this season started of phenomenal. It's different from season 1 in a good way and doesn't just follow the foundation laid out in the previous season.

As always the cinematography in Euphoria is amazing. With beautiful use of lightning and colours creates a beautiful episode. It will truly be interesting to see what happens next.

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Tragedy of reviews

[7/10 · 7 January 2022]

Macbeth is a gorgeous take on the Shakespeare classic. With a phenomenal performance by Denzel Washington as Macbeth, with some incredible emotionally loaded scenes. The soundtrack and sound effect during the film was nothing short of astounding catching your attention.

With beautiful use of lighting and a lack of props, to put complete focus on the characters. While also using the lightning during the film to set different moods and feelings. With an incredibly slow start, this movie might seem boring at first but end up finishing intensely.

The negative reviews surrounding The Tragedy of Macbeth are disappointing. To be fair, without subtitles I wouldn't understand much either. But saying this cast is "woke" is downright disrespectful to the amazing performance by Washington.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a beautiful piece of film. It's definitely a film worth seeing but a lot of people will be disappointed in the slow start and use of old English.

The Departed (2006)

Overused

[7/10 · 29 December 2021]

The Departed is an overused concept we have seen in so many films before. If it weren't for great performances by Dicaprio, Nicholsen, even Wahlberg and a few twists that were shocking this film would be boring. The departed was a disappointment but it had a few moments that kept it interesting. I still recommend you watch it but it's not great.

The Shining (1980)

Not so scary incredible film

[9/10 · 28 December 2021]

Horror films are not my cup of tea. But The Shining has gotten me to reconsider this preference. With an incredible performance by Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, I might even say it is one of the best I've ever seen. Meanwhile, considering this movie is a horror film, it always keeps you on your toes. While also being a compact story and with few actors making the film more intriguing and heart wrenching.

The Shining is a disturbing film from the 80s. It's not so much scary for the audience, but there's always a creepy feeling luring over you. With Jack Nicholson in the lead role, performing one of the best roles I've seen. Playing a so convincing role It's almost frightening. With so many memorable scenes it's impressive how well the actors performed.

Meanwhile, the storyline during the entire film is disturbing and alluring, it also manages to be beautiful. Director Stanley Kubrick managed to create a masterpiece. With beautiful angels, use of lightning and scenes. I can tell you that there is no error in the creation of this masterpiece.

I highly recommend you watch The Shining. Truly one of the best horror films ever made. And if you don't like horror movies or fear them The Shining is not so frightening.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

2-hour action scene

[6/10 · 28 December 2021]

The concept of the Mad Max films is incredible. A universe that's been left in ruins from war and only a few people left with different psychological damages is a good concept. But Mad Max: Fury Road honestly fails to succeed with making an impressive film from it.

The many different cool and fantastically engineered cars, which the entire movie is based around are amazing. Alongside, a few beautifully filmed scenes Mad Max turn out to have a few beautiful scenes. But this is about all Mad Max: Fury Road has going for itself.

The film is quite boring. It's based on the plot of driving a straight line for half the movie. Then realising they cant continue to then turn around, and drive back for the rest of the film. Meanwhile basically being on constant fight scenes along the way. Even so, most fight scenes are quite poorly filmed. The director used odd angles. Where a lot of the time you couldn't even make out whats going on.

I don't really recommend you watch Mad Max: Fury Road. The Mad Max universe is a cool concept, but without it, this movie would be nothing.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Lives up to the hype

[9/10 · 25 December 2021]

After hearing so many great things about pulp fiction I was intrigued. A story consisting of a bunch of smaller stories that interweave is an interesting concept. And Quentin Tarantino absolutely doesn't fail to make it great.

The story is driven by multiple but few characters characters that all serve their own purpose. Pulp fiction is filled with incredible action scenes while also keeping a realistic feel with personal conversations, regret, and emotions.

With great performances by every single actor involved especially Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta who both do amazing jobs in keeping the movie realistic while also showing a lot of emotions.

The movie is also incredibly filmed. With amazing angles and shooting scenes that make Pulp fiction a beautiful film with beautiful scenery, it's truly one of the best films from the 90s.

I highly recommend you watch Pulp Fiction, it's a beautiful film with amazing acting and actors that all perform incredibly.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Entertaining woke movie

[7/10 · 25 December 2021]

Don't look up is an entertaining movie with a not so underlying message. The film is a metaphor for the current climate crisis we are going through. With a bunch of great actors, this movie turned out better than expected.

The main star Leonardo Dicaprio is a surprise to see in a film of this sort. But he managed to pull through and perform some incredible emotionally loaded scene per usual. Alongside other stars such as Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, etc made this movie turn out great.

With some funny scenes, Don't look up turned out to be an entertaining film I recommend. Might not be my first choice but with the message that is very much a current problem some people should watch it to get a deeper understanding.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Lives up to the hype

[9/10 · 22 December 2021]

After hearing so many great things about pulp fiction I was intrigued. A story consisting of a bunch of smaller stories that interweave is an interesting concept. And Quentin Tarantino absolutely doesn't fail to make it great.

The story is driven by multiple characters that all serve their own purpose. Pulp fiction is filled with incredible action scenes while also keeping a realistic feel with personal conversations, regret, and emotions.

With great performances by every single actor involved especially Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta who both do amazing jobs in keeping the movie realistic while also showing a lot of emotions.

The movie is also amazingly filmed. With great angles and shooting scenes that make Pulp fiction a beautiful film with beautiful scenery, it's truly one of the best films from the 90s.

I highly recommend you watch Pulp Fiction, it's a beautiful film with amazing acting and actors that all perform incredibly.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Downfall

[6/10 · 21 December 2021]

After watching Matrix Reloaded I can say I was nothing short of disappointed. The first Matrix film is a cinematic masterpiece and one of my favourite films. But Reloaded fails to live up to that significantly.

There is no story, plot or even good acting. The incredibly bad story of Reloaded fails at even having a complete story. Reloaded consists of fight scene after fight scene missing that heart of the first one. There's also basically no plot and you will most likely not even make out what's going on. And even the acting takes such a downfall it is laughable.

The movie is also poorly made from a cinematography perspective. With massive amounts of fight scenes, you would think that you could tell what's going on at least. But you really don't, a shaky camera and bodies flying everywhere it makes it incredibly hard to tell.

I was extremely disappointed with Matrix Reloaded but I still recommend you watch it if you enjoyed the first one. It follows the same dark gritty narrative that the first one created but fails at living up to it.

Venom (2018)

Enjoyable superhero film

[7/10 · 21 December 2021]

Venom is a nice enjoyable superhero film which I was quite interested in. The film has a very Marvel story, it's not the first time I've seen a story like this one but with just different characters and different settings. Though the story of not knowing whether Venom is good or evil is an interesting aspect not really seen before.

But I still found it quite enjoyable. There is no fantastic cinematography techniques or anything like that. But Venom played by Tom Hardy manages to deliver an amazing acting performance in comparison to other Marvel movies.

I recommend Venom for superhero film fans to watch it's an interesting story with a little bit of a twist.

Brother (1997)

Dark interesting crime film

[7/10 · 18 December 2021]

Brother or Brat is an interesting film played out during the post soviet era in Russia. The only knowledge about the movie I came in with was that the budget was 10k dollars. And to my surprise, it's incredible what the director managed to compile.

A story-driven movie about a lost Russian boy that manages to end up in crime ends up being great. With a quite boring beginning, it turns out better at the end.

Brat manages to create some stunning cinematography that is beautiful. With a few exceptions, there were a few poorly filmed scenes, especially on the tram.

I highly recommend you watch Brat you won't be disappointed. A true Russian cult classic that is different from the usual western movies.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Beautiful boredom

[6/10 · 18 December 2021]

To be frankly honest most people will be disappointed with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Including myself. It's boring, but that doesn't change the fact it's one of the most beautiful films ever made.

To like and enjoy the story you must be a huge interest in science, technology, philosophy, history or the art of film-making. Because it's not an enjoyable storyline. It's incredibly boring, and you don't even find out about the storyline until after it has happened. Also, the first 20 minutes were the most unnecessary I've ever seen in a movie.

But it's beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful films ever made. With incredible shots of space and amazing use of lightning that is so shocking considering it was released in 1968.

I don't recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey if you are not a big science, technology etc. But if you just want something beautiful you should watch it.

The Matrix (1999)

Groundbreaking thought-provoking film

[10/10 · 18 December 2021]

The Matrix is groundbreaking and the start of the modern-day effects we see today. From everything to the action, to the acting, to the beautiful cinematography. The Matrix flourishes and perfects everything there is. The film is the beginning of modern-day effects and action and many movies have taken inspiration from it.

The storyline manages to capture the audience interest from the get go. Containing a storyline that makes you think and question your own reality to induce questions you might not have thought about before. Every single scene serves its purpose meanwhile every single scene is incredibly thought out, with no unnecessary scenes.

With incredibly thought out scenes comes beautifully filmed scenes that are nothing less than eye-catching. There are so many scenes that are well done from a film perspective. With beautiful use of colours, to incredibly used angles that manages to capture different feelings.

The action is nothing short of incredible. The start of the action movies that will come in the 2000s, The Matrix is an inspiration. With awesome action scenes that capture intense fighting, while also keeping you on your toes it's nothing but amazing.

The Matrix is one of the best movies there is with very little to no negative things to say about it. I highly recommend everyone to watch it with the promise that you won't be disappointed.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Greatest Marvel film in potentially a decade

[9/10 · 15 December 2021]

Following constant disappointment with Marvel movies, I had come to stop caring for or even watching any. But Spider-man has had a special place in my heart since a kid so I had to watch, especially after hearing rumours. To tell the truth, this exceeded my expectations with great power.

With surprisingly good acting and great emotionally loaded scenes, No Way Home managed to capture something many Marvel movies fail. Emotions. This was not only an action-packed movie but also a story-driven movie with fantastic execution. Tom Holland and Zendaya as well as other actors managed to deliver acting never seen in the Marvel universe before.

No Way Home captured that heart of the first couple of Spider-man trilogy which I think old fans will admire. Nevertheless, I believe this movie was fantastically done and little mistakes.

No Way Home is a great movie I highly recommend. Especially to the Marvel fans like me that had gotten bored of the new stuff.

House of Gucci (2021)

Disappointing star-studded cast

[6/10 · 27 November 2021]

House of Gucci was incredibly disappointing but not worthless. With incredible actors that all almost failed to perform. Nevertheless, it was beautifully shot and capitalized on the classic Italian style.

I got the feeling that the movie mostly played on the name Gucci to rush a story to get famous and make money. You can't say much more about the story since it's mostly based on facts. But they used many stories from Maurizio Gucci's life that were unnecessary from a movie perspective and served no purpose for the story.

The choice of language in the film was also disturbingly odd. All characters spoke English which in itself is weird when most of the film is set in Italy. Even so, the characters suddenly also spoke Italian in strange situations. All the characters also used an incredibly strange Italian accent that wasn't fitting at all. Meanwhile, some were so bad you could tell they were American.

As previously stated the movie was beautifully shot, but that was pretty much all it had going. I'd also say every single actor had surprisingly bad performances which were disappointing.

Overall not that good of a movie. I don't recommend it if you're not a huge fan of Gucci or the actors.

The King of Staten Island (2020)

King of dark humour

[6/10 · 23 November 2021]

King of Staten Island was an incredibly funny movie. Pete Davidson is a fantastic comedian and achieves in making everything funny in some twisted way. The fact that much of the film is also based around his life is surprising but somehow makes it more fun and interesting. Though also making it heartbreaking and emotional at some points.

There is not much to say about the film, the main character Scott has a difficult life and you get to follow him when he tries to fix it in different twisted ways, which is fun to keep up with. The film is perfect for "lazy watching" so to speak and I recommend it to everyone.

American Psycho (2000)

Psychopath with unforgettable scenes

[8/10 · 23 November 2021]

A movie I went in with high expectations thanks to some friends and social media. But to be honest, I was not disappointed. The film was relatively short, which I like, and you could feel that they did not try to drag the storyline and the film.

The main character Patrick Bateman was incredibly well thought out. An interesting character, however, I do not understand how so many can compare themselves with him when he is utterly insane. The film was grotesque in a fitting way and Bateman had an interesting character development where you became more and more familiar with him. The end is the only thing I would say was confusing. I did not understand whether he had just imagined everything. The film is from the year 2000 so, you can understand that the scenes are not perfectly beautiful but, they still did a fantastic job but still feel that you could have worked more with colours.

At the same time, all the characters were well thought out, there were only a few amounts of characters who all played their role and character. The director did a great job getting rid of all these unnecessary characters that usually exist. Overall, this is probably one of the better movies I've seen and can recommend this to anyone.

Inception (2010)

Intellectual masterpiece

[9/10 · 23 November 2021]

Inception is a beautiful piece of film that has impacted a large part of the film industry. With everything from the actors to the cinematography to the music, this movie without any elaboration perfected almost everything there is.

Inceptions slow start is the only weak point of this movie. It begins intensely to then slows down for the next 20 - 30 minutes. While then finishing off as an impeccable film. Nevertheless, this is what brings the film down for me.

The director Christopher Nolan managed to create a masterpiece with little to no mistakes. At no point during this intensely long movie did I feel bored. Instead, I was always excited and on my toes intrigued.

The acting in this movie was phenomenal. A small number of great actors that all had their character arc while also doing incredible performances. It is truly beyond me how Dicaprio didn't win an Oscar for his performance.

Meanwhile, also employing the greatest composer in history with Hans Zimmer, the music adds significantly. The music adds an extreme amount of excitement and keeps you constantly interested. Few composers can make you notice the music, but Zimmer succeeds per usual.

To finish of the film was astonishingly shot. With beautiful eye-catching scenes. While also containing some incredible action scenes that might be some of the best action I've seen. With a thought-provoking storyline that finishes of with an unbelievable ending.

I highly recommend Inception to everyone and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Longwinded unoriginal storyline

[5/10 · 13 November 2021]

Didn't come in with many expectations but following a video I saw online, I became intrigued and thought I found a hidden gem. But turns out I did not... The unoriginal Netflix original storyline of a couple of soldiers going on a mission to collect a treasure, which I don't know how many times I've seen at this point. Even so, the storyline was a weird combination of Spike Lee the director trying to connect the Vietnam war with racism which did not turn out that well.

Even so, the movie was not a complete flop. It was beautifully shot in the remote parts of Vietnam with an incredible landscape and Lee really uses this to the fullest. Though the scenes were pretty to look at the characters were quite bland. With the exception of Paul the man with severe PTSD following his time in the Vietnam war. Paul's character development throughout the movie is impressive and differentiate from the other characters and to be honest, Paul is the only interesting character at all and he was also the only part of the movie that had a good ending.

The idea of showing backlash scenes throughout is good in theory but did not excel here. It could have been good to use the backlash scenes to maybe get to know the characters more or something like that but instead ended up with just showing 10 minutes scenes of shootouts where nothing happened.

The movie is also way too long, you could probably remove 1.5h of it and it would probably be an even better movie. And in conclusion, it's a bad movie but not a complete flop. With an incredible unoriginal story, Lee still managed to get something out of it to my surprise. But you probably shouldn't watch it if you have a lot of time on your hands and love long movies.

Dune (2021)

Disappointing but good

[8/10 · 13 November 2021]

I have long been interested in the film Dune and went in with high expectations. The book which the film is based on, I have long been interested in reading while I honestly think it would have been better. The film is a masterpiece but not perfect. The film begins with plenty of unknowns about their world and about the characters that you find out more and more over time, but after half the film you had found out almost everything that was of value. Which made the movie much more interesting in the beginning than the end.

The film built up from the beginning that there would be more films, which is something I do not prefer, and I actually think Dune would have been more suitable as a series than movies. However, all the characters were very interesting and everyone had their role (except Paul's mother who had a big role at the same time as a very small one?) However a bunch of characters which made things like names incredibly hard to keep track of, especially strange to start with so many characters who then died quickly, which is just strange because you do not have time to build up any empathy for them.

The film was also beautifully made. It was nice scenes that were really "eye-catching". However, at times, the effects looked bad. At the same time, I was impressed by the acting, which was fantastic but also included comedy scenes that were not that fitting or fun at all. At the same time, all the fight scenes were realistic, unlike many other movies where characters fight for any length of time without getting tired. Which I thought was very impressive.

While also, the music by Hans Zimmer was incredibly fantastic as usual. But the film was far too long and drawn out. You can not sit down for 2.5 hours and enjoy a movie like this, it gets boring. And at the same time, it felt like they were constantly building up to something that never happened and that some things just happened out of nowhere (like the attack on Paul's family).

But overall, the positive outweighs the negative and I give it 8/10. Still a masterpiece that everyone should see at some point. I can also imagine that the upcoming movies will be absolutely fantastic as this just felt like an introduction to the Dune series!

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Incredible piece of art

[9/10 · 13 November 2021]

Without watching the prequel Blade Runner I jumped straight into the 2049 version. And to be honest it's one of the better movies i've ever seen and I can't wait to see the first. An incredible piece of art that uses fantastic movie techniques with an incredible play on colors throughout.

Hearing about this movie, watching the trailer and seeing small clips on social media left me incredibly intrigued. Upon watching it i had no idea what the story was only that it was a movie with gorgeous colors and good actors.

What first caught my eye in this movie was how amazing the effects were. Everything looks realistic at the same time as the entire dystopian society the movie is based in looks amazing. The colors the director use for different scenes is gorgeous with an incredible use of them that not only looks good but also creates a mood and incredible play on psychology.

The acting in the movie is great at the same time the amount of characters is small making it easy to remember all of them and getting some kind of empathy for all of them. Even so you get to follow the main characters character development which makes you more and more interested in him and the story. It's one of the better characters ever written.

My only real downside to this movie is the length of it and also the intricate story line. I'd say the length is not that big of an issue, 2h 43 min is standard but it's still a long time. Even so the movie is not slow there's alway something interesting happening. And intricate story might have been solved by me actually watching the first movie...

In conclusion you need to watch this movie! It's an art piece while also containing one of the more original and interesting storys i've seen in a long time with an ending that wasn't predictable at all!