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lordfrazer
Reviews
Slow Horses (2022)
Best since Tinker Tailor
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Jackson Lamb is a great original character. It is tightly scripted, superbly acted, and really well paced. It's funny, there's plenty of action, and the portrayal of the internecine warfare within the services is beautifully shown.
I haven't seen a better spy drama since Tinker Tailor - the original BBC series, which was the best adaptation made for TV in any genre, in my opinion. The cast are uniformly superb, and it deserves to be seen more widely - I hope it is recognised when award season comes around. I think it's the best performance I've seen from Gary Oldman. And that's saying something....
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
What utter rubbish
I have enjoyed some of the Marvel movies, but this one was absolute balderdash. Utter drivel, not even a coherent narrative. Pointless. I lost interest almost from the beginning, but sat through it. Incredibly bad. If you have the chance to see it, really, don't bother.
Fresh (1994)
An outstanding film
This is one of my favourite films of any genre. It still feels 'fresh' after nearly 30 years, based on a strong story and superb central performance. It rewards re-watching, and is, in my opinion, criminally underrated. Clever, engaging, and brilliantly performed - there isn't a wasted frame or word in this film.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Good, but no comparison with the series
Not one for the Dartford audience, evidently. There was only one other person there for the late showing. You would have to have read the book or seen the series to follow it immediately, I think, or at least to appreciate the tensions that drove the story. The BBC series is my favourite DVD - I have watched it many times, and this suffers in comparison - to be fair, it had hours to tell the tale, where the film had only 2. Gary Oldman turns in what could either be described as a beautifully restrained, or merely constipated, performance, depending on how charitably disposed you are to the film. There were some excellent performances throughout, some great casting, but it wears its artifice rather too consciously for my liking. Oldman plays a great Smiley. But Alec Guinness WAS Smiley. And that's the mark of a great story. This was merely very good. Worth seeing, but I won't be watching it 6 or 7 times in the future. Not like the series. If you only have £10, don't go and see this. Buy Tinker Tailor and Smiley's people on DVD.
Inception (2010)
Not great. Merely adequate at best.
I voted this 1 out of 10, (not because it deserves it, it's probably a 4 or 5 to be fair), but because I wanted to protest at this rising to number 3 in the top 250 of all time. YOU MUST BE JOKING, RIGHT? This is a better film than Pulp Fiction? The usual suspects? The good, the bad and the ugly? One flew over the cuckoo's nest? Bladerunner? Have these people even seen those films? Do they honestly place these films below this Emperor's new clothes? Character development? Virtually nil. Suspense? Not much. Plot, OK, but I really didn't care about most of these people at the end. Visually interesting in parts, at least! I won't be buying this on DVD - one viewing was more than enough for me! See it by all means, but, DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
The Spirit (2008)
Dis-spirit-ing
This was so poor we walked out after 40 minutes - that was as much as we could take of the horrendous dialogue and wooden performances from all concerned. You can't blame the actors (other than the fact that they took the job after reading the script)- there really wasn't anything to work with. I think this is the worst film I've seen Samuel L Jackson in - and he has done some questionable work, but normally he can carry a mild turkey with his performance - this one was a bridge too far, even for him. We really enjoyed Sin City - great story, some sharp dialogue and a great look. This has the same kind of look, and we had high hopes when it began, but they were dashed by the total lack of any substance. All the style in the world can't make up for a poor story and moronic dialogue. I wish I hadn't wasted my time and money on this rubbish - you should learn from my mistake, and DON'T GO!
The Dark Knight (2008)
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Do you REALLY think this was a better film than the Godfather? The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? The Seven Samurai, Pulp Fiction? OK, the Joker was a stand out performance, and the rest were good, but was this really the best film of all time? Can't see how that happened, and in 30 years this will sink to the middle of the pile where it should be.
You want an examination of good and evil and the duality of man? Watch the King of New York. It's a better film than this. I'm not saying it's not worth seeing, but please, this is NOT the best film of all time.....
This may be the best Batman film we've seen, but frankly I enjoyed Iron Man more. The action was good, the story reasonable, and there were some good supporting acts, but the whole experience doesn't move you like the Shawshank redemption, it wasn't a seismic shift in film-making like Pulp Fiction or the Godfather. The direction - better than Sergio Leone? The film hasn't been hyped that much, so where is this coming from?