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The Gentlemen (2019)

Fans of Guy Ritchie's --especially of his earlier Brit crime comedies, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch-- will be delighted that he's returned 20 years later to the formula that really put him on the map. Others without that experience may have a less enthusiastic response to this crispy criminal conspiracy comedy.

Its big name cast includes Matthew McGonaughey, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, Charlie Hunnam, Eddie Marsan, and Jeremy Strong. The cinematography by Alan Stewart, and music by Christopher Benstead were both very competent. Ritchie wrote, directed, and was one of the 11 producers.

The story is a bit too complex to outline here, but suffice to say that it's a entangled drug territorial dispute tale, with certain parties wanting to buy the other out. Violence ensues when they can't come to terms, and instead do some double dealing.

Grant's character starts off the dealing to one of the major drug lords, an American who has developed into a major crime figure (McGonaughey) that has become well established in his success. Grant more or less serves as the narrator for the twisty and surprise laden plot-- sort of a criminal Our Town type character who at once describes, but is also involved in, the action.

The whole project seemed to me to be a little tired and shallow; not hackneyed, but familiar. Grant's character put me in mind of the Michael Caine part in Sleuth (1972), although with not nearly the heft.

The detraction from the credibility of the story was in the casting of two key players: McGonaughey as the chief crime boss, and Jeremy Strong as a fabulously wealthy drug boss who was one wanting to take over McGonaughey's business. McGonaughey's Texas drawl seemed too out of place, and therefore his character had believability problems; whereas Strong's mousey demeanor was simply too weak for the part. Also in limited supply were the type of offbeat quirky jokes and speech patterns so evident in Ritchie's earlier works.

The film certainly had some enjoyable portions, yet without the good acting of the name players, the picture would likely have expired as quickly as did some of the bad guys. My guess is that Ritchie was beseeched by his money people to revive his earlier approach, after a couple of semi-stinkers (King Arthur and Aladdin), in order to get his stock back on track. Whether this mediocre film was enough to do it, time will tell. Next up from him is Cash Truck, set in Los Angeles. Fingers crossed...

Doc's rating: 5/10



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
El Hoyo a.k.a. The Platform(2019)

I never liked films that are too blatant with its allegories. If you're trying to symbolize something, be artistic about it.
El hoyo suffers from that problem.
The message is quite clear: excessive capitalism destroys society, and with the growing population the resources aren't quite enough for everyone.
The message comes across straight forward, at least until the end... Then they blow it by the end. It's like they suddenly wanted to intellectual about it but fail at it. The final decision is forced and it doesn't have much logic.

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El Hoyo a.k.a. The Platform(2019)

The message is quite clear: excessive capitalism destroys society, and with the growing population the resources aren't quite enough for everyone.
Maybe it's just me but I don't think that's precisely the message (or at least not all of it). I saw it more about human nature; how people piss on those below them and expect those above them to do the same. The system doesn't matter and even the movie's revolution is violently forced upon those below the instigators. Capitalism, socialism, it's all the same crap because of people.
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Outbreak: 8/10. I don't know if I'd ever watch it again, but a good disease-themed film all the same.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
You've Got Mail (1998)




I love You've Got Mail. It's sad to see it rated so low.

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Spenser Confidential ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mark Wahlberg plays an ex cop, recently out of prison and goes all private detective to investigate some recent murders in his neighbourhood. This is on Netflix, I really enjoyed this. It won't go down as one of my favourite ever films, but it was a good bit of escapism and did a good job of entertaining for its near 2 hour runtime.



El Hoyo a.k.a. The Platform(2019)

I never liked films that are too blatant with its allegories. If you're trying to symbolize something, be artistic about it.
El hoyo suffers from that problem.
The message is quite clear: excessive capitalism destroys society, and with the growing population the resources aren't quite enough for everyone.
The message comes across straight forward, at least until the end... Then they blow it by the end. It's like they suddenly wanted to intellectual about it but fail at it. The final decision is forced and it doesn't have much logic.

+
Hmm I was thinking of giving this film a go today but wasn't too sure based on the trailer. I enjoyed your review though and may now give it a try




Barbet Schroeder, 1987


Found a cheap dvd online, bought the sucker, it had a defect i didn't knew about and by the middle the movie stopped. I took it as god given sign, because the movie was really awful. Buk was right, the acting sucks, but it's mickey rourke, that's what you get, he really tried to sound like buk but instead he sounded like a pretentious latino drunker, a fake impersonation of an authentic soul.



The Invisible Man (2020)


Pretty so-so thriller that's glossy and over-wrought but very predictable.




You are absolutely right to recognize that the stare is simultaneously enlightened and manic - the central concerns of The Passion. Joan's face of pain and face of ecstasy are often indistinguishable. That's why according to religious accounts, the light of angels is not just beautiful and pleasant but also equally terrifying sight to behold. I can't help but be reminded of Bataille's fascination with the image of the face of a prisoner being tortured to death. The most radical forms of art are almost transcendent in nature - they are not reasoned or described conceptually but first encountered as "limit experiences".

The film revolves around her countenance. It really is a take on the Kuleshov effect with the reference frame being implied rather than shown. I think that's where the division happens for me personally. Whereas somebody of faith might imagine Joan's actual visions of god and see her euphoria, I lean more towards the psychology of such a claim. This film is a lot more painful without the glory of a miracle at its heart. It's a broken girl enraptured by failing mental health. As much as that's a false reading given the divine confirmations late in the picture, it also reads truer to history for me as an apostate. I feel like the faithless perspective hasn't really been explored as much. So much of the discourse surrounding the film is theological for obvious reasons.
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Time Trap (2017)

Really enjoyed this low budget sci fi film,I was feeling a little bored in the middle but then it really kicks off and just keeps giving you one wtf moment after the next, if you liked the movie Coherence 2013 you'll like this too I think

Well I don't know... Having seen both, I can say that I loved Coherence but was thoroughly disappointed with Time Trap.



Four of the Apocalypse (1975)

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With being directed by Lucio Fulci, this was one of the westerns I was most looking forward to. Needless to say it was very disappointing. When there was action there was the expected violence, but there wasn't nearly enough action. Besides the first 25 minutes and the last 5 minutes, it was a whole lot of sucky nothing.




Vivarium (2019, Lorcan Finnegan)

Interestingly dark satire on family life as an endless loop, a trap of routine, where raising a child is a nightmare, the father is literally digging his own grave working a job that is ultimately meaningless, and there's no way out of it until you die. At times grotesque, at times mildly creepy, Vivarium wears its metaphorical aspects on its sleeve throughout in what seems to be an attempt to examine a young couple's subliminal fears of parenthood but I thought it needed a much stronger vision/execution to elevate it above your average indie flick. Eisenberg's bland performance doesn't help things either (Imogen Poots, on the contrary, did a much better job).




Kids Return (1996, Takeshi Kitano)

Kitano's first film after recovery from a motorcycle accident, Kids Return is a beautifully low-key, understated, episodic but ultimately very lyrical affair. It doesn't hit you over the head with overblown dramatism or mindblowing plot twists - instead, it tells a very predictable, almost boring story, set to a quintessentially '90s soundtrack, about two delinquent high school misfits hanging out together, drifting apart and going separate ways in life, ending in failure and going back to square one. While not super intricately woven or particularly compelling or profound, the film has a simple, heartfelt story at its core, and is shot and edited with an unobtrusive, mundane elegance that paints life as a series of fleeting snapshots - bittersweet, awkward, comedic, trivial, as life mostly is.
Will keep an eye out for this