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Reviews
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Lily Gladstone's performance is stunning
Any movie by Scorsese starring DiCaprio and De Nero is an instant watch for me no questions asked.
Whist Killers of the Flower Moon is very good I must say it does place behind other Scorsese classics like Goodfellas, the Wolf of Wall St, and the Departed.
In short the movie is about the Osage Indians who are being dispossessed of their oil rich land rights In 1920's Oklahoma, in many cases brutally by townspeople and spouses they trust.
DiCaprio gives one of his typical in depth character performances and De Nero is solid but its Lily Gladstone as DeCaprio's wife Mollie Burkhart who gives this movie its true heart. Mollie stuns with her looks and her quiet, gentle disposition that quite frankly I couldn't take my eyes off. But don't be fooled into thinking Mollie is a pushover, she's not, and her determination around knowing the truth provides the ying to her gentle natured yang as a wonderfully balanced character.
You probably already know the movie is over three hours long and with a sagging middle could have been shortened by about an hour and not suffered as a spectacle.
Reptile (2023)
Written by an AI chatbot
Reptile tries hard but struggles to deliver. The characters are so wooden, so devoid of charm, so un-relatable I was left wondering about half way through if there was going to be a Sixth Sense type plot twist where the lead detective ( Benito del Toro ) is in fact dead. Either that or the script was written by and AI bot such is the lack of real human connection.
Reptile fails to explore the possibility that the murder might have been committed by someone else outside of the handful of cliched suspects who seem to lack any redeeming qualities that might entice you the viewer to actually care. Most of them are just annoying. Timberlake gives another one of his textbook wooden ( get it, timber / wooden ) performances that leaves you wishing he had stuck to boring us half to death in his boy band instead of making movies.
At over 2 hours long Reptile is another Netflix dud I'm sad to say.
Mr Inbetween (2018)
Absolutely brilliant
This is easily the best Australian series i've ever seen.
Never before have I seen a more menacing lead character, and when he smiles and gives that blank stare he doesn't have to say anything, you can read his mind and its never good news for the recipient. The show is violent but rarely repulsive except for the kidnap / human trafficking plot line. There's a sense that the various crims and low life he takes care of are well deserving. In almost every instance you are left cheering him on for taking out the trash.
He's a complex, conflicted character, and the moniker Mr Inbetween is perfect. Clearly a sociopath, the contrast he displays between his violent actions and his role as a Dad is compelling. But its more than that. I found his simple justification for his violence believable and endearing. You can't help but like the bloke.
For such serious plot lines the script and characters are chock a block full of Aussie characters and humour. The portrayal of his best friends wife's Russian family is hilarious and sharp.
If you've never seen this, trust me, its a beauty. I only wish they had made more than three series.
Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Clearly aimed at Chinese audiences
What American movie goers have to understand is this movie isn't made for them, its made to cash in on the huge Chinese audience, and the rest of us are just useful idiots being ripped off along the way.
This is probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Its half spoken in Chinese with subtitles and lead characters. Poor CGI, script, and wooden acting make this over long 1 hour and 51 min festering pile of you know what insufferable.
The story line is so confused it doesn't know if its Jaws, Jurassic Park, or a Jackie Chan movie, minus the funny jokes and stunts.
The biggest highlight of the entire ordeal was when I nearly fell off my seat laughing at the shameless Chinese propaganda when the head researcher declares with a straight face that a clean ocean is best for China and all of mankind. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.
Maybe I Do (2023)
Maybe I don't
This movie is bad, not as bad as Rashtons latest disaster Your place or mine, but its bad none the less.
Can someone please put their finger on why movies are so bad these days. Is it the scripts, the producers, the director, or all three? Is it an over supply of content in the streaming age? It can't be the actors because the stars of this film are so accomplished in their own right but even messers Keaton, Sarandon, Gere, and Macy look bored and embarrassed. Not as bored as me though, but then again I wasn't getting paid millions to endure it.
Frankly the film feels like a play, set entirely in about four rooms. The premise of both sets of parents having an affair with each other was unbelievable and their children had about as much chemistry as my pet cat and dog.
Like so many movies these days after staring blankly at the screen for 90 mins you are left asking yourself why? Why did I waste 90 mims of my life on this rubbish.
Your Place or Mine (2023)
B grade fodder
Lets understand that in this day and age of streaming never has there been so much content that unfortunately entertains so little.
This is B grade fodder, nothing more and nothing less.
Character's that bear no resemblance to anyone in real life and a flimsy plotline.
The best thing I can say about the movie, at least someone involved, going by the soundtrack, is a Cars fan.
Mostly I entertained myself by trying to figure out if Ashton and Reece had their eye lifts done at the same Hollywood plastic surgery.
Instead of wasting 151 minutes of your life on this pointless twaddle, go to the dentist to have a tooth pulled, clean your fish tank, unblock a pipe, clean that oil off your garage floor... anything.