This was almost captivating for 15 minutes and might have presented itself as a candidate for entrance into decent short movie territory.
But it was shite. 50 mins in, it was starting to descend into being even worse than shite, which isn’t pleasant, really.
So I turned it off.
This is either going to be absolute shite or okay, i.e., tolerable for nostalgia reasons, on a level of not being shite. Either way, they really need to stop making these things and just create something approaching brave material. Leave good movies alone, stop fiddling with them, cease from converting their original intent into a contemporary, i.e., pathetic, cultural minefield of human beings identifying as staplers.
But it’s going to get way worse before the baloney ends.
Fucking cretins.
What a talented director this lad can be.
I didn’t know he was from Belfast and always assumed he was born in the Old Vic, such are the depths of his Shakespeare.
Decent movie. Nothing in it annoyed me.
It wasn’t rubbish. And that’s all that matters.
In almost everything, he quietly steals the show. No histrionics or chewing the scenery, but an impeccable talent to convince in every role – mob boss, downtrodden miner, creepy CIA handler. I suppose that’s acting. He excelled at projecting an inscrutable authority, rarely perturbed, but you can see that he’s seething.
Go-to performance, a remarkable gig in Todd Field’s quite brilliant In the Bedroom (2000):
I spent most of this intriguing movie wondering at what point the twist was going to occur or when the deus ex machina would reveal it all to be the figment of the protagonist’s imagination. It put me off fully enjoying the thrills as I was permanently searching for the clues. Maybe it would have worked better as just sheer hokum but there’s plenty of that around.
The bickering between the leads is tedious but the script needs to reach its finale, so you have to endure these non-characters argue away. But this aside, you’re not quite sure what’s going on and the momentum helps you stay involved.
Decent action with some thought-provoking ideas.
Watching this hugely entertaining binge-ripe trash, I was always aware of Scream‘s Randy Meeks’ assertion that “Everybody’s a suspect!”. And they are, with the red herrings and reverse cul-de-sacs. Who can you trust? No one. Who is likeable? A few, but they’re probably dirty.
Cluedo on steroids, it’s very well acted for what is essentially the TV equivalent of a sordid airport page-turner, even if it’s another gruelling example of the ‘Americanisation of conversation’. Example:
“Come on, Maya.”
“What, Eddie?”
“You’re not yourself, Maya.”
“I’m fine, Eddie.”
And Brendan Brady from Hollyoaks is in it.
Harvey Keitel and Peter O’Toole in the same movie piqued my interest, and it’s all innocent and charming enough, the fairies a countryside escapism from the horrors of late modernity, WWI ruining the illusion for everyone.
It should be far more engrossing but it isn’t and just ends up being awfully British – rudimentary camerawork, score from a Sunday church service, barely competent actors who’ve littered a hundred other mediocre British films.
Why I’m being so harsh on such a nothing movie aimed at kids I don’t know.
That’s enough for today.
Stupid, pointless, boring, and in moments exceptionally entertaining.
Just think, Thermopylae happened once. And this is the most arty result, its cinematic legacy. Was it worth it?
You have Jimmy McNulty in robes.
A haunting role from Christopher Walken, and just before he became a pop culture icon in addition to actor. You just feel sorry for him in this movie, with the foreboding he is totally doomed, such is the tension and supreme creepiness of the atmosphere. And for a David Cronenberg picture, it’s relatively tame, with none of the visceral gore and unsavoury preoccupation with flesh (mostly rotting) that characterises his earlier work.
The always captivating Herbert Lom shines, and Martin Sheen is a Grade A sleaze.
Decent.
Wanderings and ... wonderings. 