Movie Reviews January 2021

Death to 2020

Very well done with a superb cast balancing a satirical look at the year while not making light of the seriousness of racial injustice, a corrupt president and a deadly global pandemic.  Some classic bits, personalities and blunt WTF.  7/10

Office Party

Really really crazy comedy mashup that has a faint whiff of Christmas. Great cast in top form and some new quirks to keep an eye on (Uber driver). Crossed many lines of family fun, dealt out a surprising stab of violence, made it all awkwardly funny and kept going. 7/10

Midnight sky

Good tech and good acting talent but very slow and very disappointing. Decent action scenes but very thin and flawed plot. Hopeless in giving us any real hope. Very sad and not very good at all. 5/10 

Palm Springs

Loved it. And loved watching it with the love of my life. So much fun but but with threads of valuable reminders and lessons. Pretty raw dark comedy at times that may not sit well with some viewers but it was a great cocktail for me. 7/10

Tenet

As expected...
My head hurts.

Yes, very complex plot that I lost on a few occasions, but managed to enjoy the ride without full comprehension. Can’t imagine how some of the scenes were filmed even with fx. Thinking backwards, what feeling do you want when you exit the cinema? Then build a plot to fulfil that feeling. It had a lot for a four course meal of so many proven film components but constructed in a unique way. I’m not certain how many viewings it would take to piece every scene together - the editors must still be having flashbacks. To be completed. Or started later. Branagh was terrifying. Didn’t connect other actors to their other major roles. Superb cast. I did watch key scenes the second night after watching quite a few explanatory YouTube videos and it helped with some of the plot elements. Some people have perhaps questioned my comments and a rating of 8 - how good can it be if I don’t understand it. Well, I think I understand enough to enjoy the ride. The fx were mind boggling, acting was strong, locations exotic and the action top drawer. So there’s a lot to like. And I always enjoy the experience of leaving the cinema and having lots to talk about. 8/10

First Man

A little different to my expectations - quite slow at times with a good deal of somber reflection, tense interactions and tough emotion from a man that didn’t appear to say a lot.  Interesting to learn more about the legendary man.  Flight sequences were incredibly intense.  I think it was my brother who perhaps commented that it did a great job of showing what space flight was perhaps like and the dangers at every turn of a dial.  Well done and a dramatic ride. 7/10

Soul

The Pixar animation was superb, and the jazz, and the humour - lots to enjoy.  The stuff about souls, I’m not so sure - see post about Soul and the WHY.  6/10

The Children Act

The look was perfect. The drama on a knife edge. The acting superb. The story was important at times but it seemed to get lost in stupid stuff. What happened? The last third was horrible. Where did it all go wrong? So, so disappointed. 6/10

The Dig

There was a beautiful feeling throughout this lovely film.  There was drama and tension, but it was smoothed out by heartfelt characters and super acting.  There was a coincidental cross-over I enjoyed with a Bill Bryson book I’ve been reading with chapters explaining the challenges of the archeology of the human race.  It’s too easy to picture the fiction of TombRaider and Indiana Jones and miss how special and important it is to find and connect with our past.  A simple main plot set in unique times that had layers of rich sub plots.  7/10