Change Your Image
GenoWashingline
Reviews
There Will Be Blood (2007)
15 Years Later... Nowhere Near As Good As I thought it was in 2008
I always had this movie in high esteem, and remember thinking it deserved the Best Movie Oscar in 2008, it felt really special...
But just watched it now for the first time in 15 years, and it just seems incredibly tedious for pretty much the first 100 minutes (the first hour is particularly glacial), only really coming to life in that last 45 minutes or so, when Dano is more involved (I thought he was in it a lot more before).
Day Lewis is Great, some interesting music and cinematography, but it's quite an empty and very drawn out story / character study of a "greedy guy" trying to make some money and doing a few bad things along the way.
It's the kind of movie I would have been recommending to people back in 2008, now I don't think that I would at all except for Day Lewis's performance.
1917 (2019)
10/10 for Technique and Cinematography... 4/10 for Story and Characterization...
It's an experience, certainly, and I do recommend seeing it in a good cinema.
Deakins was fantastic, absolutely, some stunning cinematography.
But I found the movie incredibly disappointing overall. Feels like a missed opportunity, a very interesting experiment that just does not quite work.
Most of the movie felt like a series of Call Of Duty cut scenes, a video game you had no control over, a really odd feeling, and some of the scenes were like a video game in content with reality stretched to almost breaking point.
To me it was an adventure movie rather than a 'war movie', much more like Indiana Jones than Saving Private Ryan... To relate it to another movie I felt it reminded me very much of The Revenant in story and style, but like that movie it felt rather empty to me.
The Irishman (2019)
An Outstanding Achievement, And An Unusual 'Gangster Movie' that you must try to see in a Cinema
I have seen this movie twice now, and have my 3rd viewing booked for next week before it leaves the Cinema.
If you are going to watch it at Home, treat it with respect, do it in one sitting with no distractions...maybe have an intermission around the 90 minute mark (when JFK leaves the story...)... But this movie is a true cinematic experience.
I would describe it as Goodfellas mixed with Once Upon A Time In America, but without the Cocaine, or Opium.... Both of those are all time Classics, and I feel The Irishman is going to be seen in the same class...it is fantastic.
One thing I found very unusual.was how little cursing or bad language there is in this movie... I don't know if more than a few were used, if any even...this movie is mainly about older guys doing their jobs to feed their loved ones, and Frank Sheeran is a guy caught between two masters, and is eventually made to decide one over the other, and the ripples through his life because of this life he has led.
Pesci and Pacino are a joy to behold, as the faces of his two masters...you just find yourself smiling away at how good they are to watch. De Niro has an incredibly low profile central perfomance, until near the end, but it is perfectly suited to the story. The rest of the cast are all on point and the whole.movie feels like a masterclass in acting and direction.
Awesome. Scorcese For Ever.
Yesterday (2019)
Not Quite Enough Boyle, Far Too Much Curtis (vague SPOILERS I guess)
If they cut about 30 minutes from this they would have a 8/10 movie.
Ohhh, this movie is SO frustrating, yet I would recommend folk go to see it and I think most folk with an interest in The Beatles / Pop Music / Creativity / the Music Industry and also fairly 'Light but Charming' comedies will definitely take some string positives from it.
POSITIVES...
With some nice stylistic choices by Danny Boyle, and a nice line in humour, a highly enjoyable use of a great catalogue of music and warm performances from MOST of the cast, I found myself grinning at much of it, with a few guffaws too, as though I was watching a Cute Kittens video or something.
The first half hour or so is really strong,.I thought it was heading to about a 8.5 rating...
NEGATIVES
Basically when Curtis tries far too much to make it a romantic comedy. You are there, laughing, or grinning, or.humming or singing... And then BAM one of the most confusing 'romances' I have ever seen takes over for some extremely clunky reasoning, and there's feelings and all that...and it is okay the first time... But unfortunately, there's more... About I guess, on and off, half an hour more over all... And it's horrible, (and quite a number of things are said in this 'romance that just make one of the romantics seem almost unpleasant to me anyhow... It's really weird to be honest)
There's also a bit of storyline, involving an unpleasant character that was similarly clunky, and over done, but time wise this was not so bad, and I guess was needed for the story, but was badly done.
But overall I when I did enjoy it, I really did, it had some rather cool surprises and it is actually an interesting concept, and does make you think a little when it's at its best.
But it could so easily have been better.
Deep Cover (1992)
Saw it as a 'Secret Movie for £1' in a cinema. Highly enjoyable in a daft way, but with great music, and an Amazing Goldblum performance. He was hilarious.
I saw it at one of those screenings in London where no one knows what the movie is going to be until it starts up. When the words "Deep Cover" came up on the screen the packed cinema let out a notable "wha ?"...seemed, like me, no one else had ever heard of this.
Usually at such showings you expect to see a movie that is something of a classic one way or another, so you could sense the genuine disappointment in the crowd.
As a few folk began to get their coats and make to leave, the start up credits rolled, and the words "Larry Fishburne" appeared and the audience let out another "Wha... ?", And then Jeff Goldblum... And the audience settled down again.... Here was a movie with 2 great actors, this might be good.
Well it started off ok, with Larry getting his story setup, and had some interesting scenes. The early "interview" with the question about the N word certainly caused some odd reactions in my audience, with a kind of embarrassed laugh from.some corners... What the heck were we watching. Was this a comedy ?... Well as it proceeded it seems maybe not as it just started to follow similar undercover cop stories. For a while.
And then Jeff Goldblum appeared. Wow what an incredible performance, so funny. So so funny.
I don't think I have ever seen anything like what he does in this movie which was probably meant to be a kind of 'Scarface' for the 90s, but he just saunters away doing this own thing for much of it. It's completely out of step with the rest of the movie...
But it really does work
I think my audience laughed almost as much as watching say Blazing Saddles (well, nah... Buy close).
Deffo worth a watch. If you get a chance to see it in a busy cinema screen, do it.
Glass (2019)
Loved it More on The 2nd Viewing, Maybe too Surprising and Weird on the first viewing.
In my first viewing I thought it was about a 7/10.
Had my second viewing now and I would say it's an 8.5-9 /10. The themes of the movie now.make more sense to me, and I could appreciate the little dashes of humour.anf the music much more too.
I think it's rather fan tas tic.
(I am a huge fan of Unbreakable a 9.5 movie, I thought Split was 'Good' a 6.5/10)