Monsieur_Rioux Reviews

The Valhalla Murders (2019–2020)

Based on episode one

[7/10 · 13 March 2020]

A good start. "sloppy dubbing & nonsensical close captioning" Well take the option to have English subtitles then. That's why it's there.

East of Sweden (2018)

No good deed goes unpunished

[6/10 · 23 September 2018]

Hard to write a review about this without spoilers, but it's the kind of movie that people won't see without knowing something while not having the plot ruined.

I thought it was going to be a reworking of a little known movie where one of a sleeper compartment had died and the other passengers considered concealing it.

But it moved on from there and became a tale of people in difficult circumstances but still trying to help others.

None of the characters are especially gregarious or bubbly, but we quickly get to understand why. They do the best they can in their respective circumstances and what they manage is still pretty good, considering.

Worth watching and wondering what you'd do.

Case (2015– )

No character to champion?

[9/10 · 26 February 2018]

The biological parents who realised their mistakes of the past and wanted to right them by doing good. Or Hanna who helped the other girl get away and helped her STAY away. Brynhildur who suffered in her attempt to catch the bad guy. The dogged Gabriella. Logi - willing to kill himself and then sacrificed his freedom to end the bad stuff. The second father, risking reputation and then marriage to end the crimes.

No character to champion???

Case (2015– )

Misogynistic thriller? Pull the other one

[9/10 · 25 February 2018]

Big villain - Male; Sundry villians - all male; "weakest" of the four parents - Male; Police boss - female; Main police character - female; Main lawyer - female;

The nasty characters are misogynists, yes, but that doesn't make this excellent series misogynist.

Suburbicon (2017)

Another "Blood Simple" and a bit more

[8/10 · 7 February 2018]

IMDB really must try and do something about "reviews that just attack movies for so called political bias. Same thing happened with The Post. This was a highly enjoyable movie from the entertainment value to the "makes your blood boil" counter story. It really was like watching another Blood Simple, also by the Coens. Another review asked "Is this a social commentary about racism in suburbia? Or in this a murder mystery of some sort?" and then said it tried to be all and was neither.

How about it was actually both, with the attacks on the black family while in the neighbourhood there was something evil going on under their noses perpetrated by a white family?

Les témoins (2014– )

Bothe series good

[8/10 · 23 December 2017]

I enjoyed the second series as much as the first. Very disturbing plot but no more disturbing than some real life cases over the last few years, one in Austria and another in the USA. I disagree with other comments about unprofessional or unlikely behaviour. Put yourself in the character's shoes. One mother has no memory other than of her third child and is desperate to find the only person she remembers. Desperate? You bet, for two reasons - the baby and her memory.

The other character - cop Sandra - has kids herself so will likely feel more strongly about a case involving missing children. Plus she knows there's a threat to previous men in her life including a current one and the father of her kids when there's a good relationship there. And you expect her to still be the good cop doing things by the book?

I Kissed a Girl (2015)

Far from homophobic

[27 January 2016]

Some very strange reviews here. The lead character, Jeremie, is gay and one of the main characters, Antoine, is also gay. Jeremie's parents both, not only accept him as gay but encourage it. They are totally accepting of the relationship and are extremely fond of their son's husband to be.

Apparently this is homophobic? The movie ends with a gay wedding a new male partner for the spurned Antoine. A near gay wedding, an actual gay wedding and a new gay relationship.

Homophobic? Really? Slutty Swedish girl? Yeah? She left her previous boyfriend because he had a fling with another girl. So betrayed is she that she goes back home to her parents in Sweden. That's slutty?

This was a fun movie in the normal traditions of modern French comedies. There's even a womaniser settling down for heaven's sake.

It's full of positive messages.

Next (2007)

wannabee reviewers

[7/10 · 15 February 2008]

An enjoyable movie. Who cares about the hairstyles? Nic Cage's character was living a seedy sort of life, why wouldn't he have 'bad' hair. Someone made the comment about cage and Biel being mismatched because she is 'hot' while he is not. But she wasn't playing a hot babe was she. It looks like some people were incapable of seeing that. She was totally unglamorous, dressing very plainly and even did some voluntary teaching with deprived kids. That kind of character is attracted by personality rather than looks so Cage's quirky character is more likely to appeal than the guy she'd finished with.

It seems to me that many of those dismissing the movie actually fancy themselves as movie reviewers; commenting on various aspects that don't concern your typical movie watcher.

Wanted (2005)

Real Reality TV

[25 October 2005]

There are more similarities to The Shield than the previous reviewer (A Mess - September) says. It's gritty. Mistakes happen, wrong decisions are made...just like real life. Some filming techniques are the same with the 'hand held' camera effect. Actors 'get in the way' of the camera moving around like people do instead of taking up a fixed position. The camera moves from actor to actor in dialog, just like you do when witnessing a conversation, instead of jumping from face to face. It's like the viewer is following the action rather than watching it. Language is more realistic for the kind of situations they are in. One final similarity...it's a really good show!