chris-knightley Reviews

Man in Room 301 (2019)

Rediculous casting of the older Elias

[6/10 · 14 March 2021]

Elias is ginger when he's 12 and becomes brown when he's 20+. This rediculous casting makes a mockery of the storyline. In addition the plot is very sloooow.

Under the Tree (2017)

To me it's not a comedy, just a dark story.

[7/10 · 22 November 2020]

It's an interesting story about escalation of retribution and misery caused by loss and dishonesty but it is NOT comedy.

Eye in the Sky (2015)

Absorbing but not realistic

[7/10 · 13 November 2020]

The armed forces and political leaders would have established rules of engagement and operation well in advance so the agonised protracted dilemma about loss of life would not have been faced in real time.

Magnolia (1999)

My favourite film

[10/10 · 26 July 2013]

Magnolia is a captivating, incredibly moving and striking collection of interrelated stories about the pain, discomfort, hurt and fears of all its characters, men, women and children. The soundtrack includes many beautiful and fittings songs written and sung by Aimee Mann. Her 'It Won't Stop' (until you wise up) provides perfect advice to the characters in the various painful incidents that have been inflicted on them. The consequent emotional situations are very powerful and deeply moving. The textual weather forecasts provide no hint of the surprising and shocking climax. This is brilliant acting, story-telling and direction. I love it, every time that I watch it.

Avatar (2009)

Visually clever but a bit daft when you think about it

[8/10 · 16 January 2011]

It's visually very good and very cleverly made. The story's theme has been used many times before in other films but is quite cleverly adapted, in general, for a scenario in the future on a very distant moon.

Despite being set in 2154, with all the technological change that must occur to get people travelling 4.3 light years and creating living creatures with minds drawn from living humans, it seems rather daft that the humans still use guns with bullets and fly helicopters with propellor blades. Shouldn't the best science fiction be believable and not riddled with nonsense? Surely a physics trained writer like James Cameron should have got this right.

Isn't it also absurd to think that people will still be smoking cigarettes, particularly an eminent scientist like Grace? Is there really no hope that humans will abandon the evil weeds.