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domjrostron
Reviews
Fallout (2024)
A big vault boy thumbs up from me
A pitch perfect rendition of a much loved game series. If you're into the games, it has some brilliant references and nostalgia fuel. If you're not into the games, it still has a compelling narrative, weaving together multiple protagonists, each with their own past and present. Flashbacks provide context and some excellent "AHA!" moments. I was genuinely hooked.
The casting is brilliant. Each lead is able to capture the dual personalities and conflicts within each character. Although I recognised the likes of Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachlan, I was still able to fully believe in their characters. And the actors I had hitherto not recognised, deserve to be more well known!
The costume and sets are incredibly well crafted and faithful to the source material. There is a sort of beautiful decay to the fallout games and this series captures that. And the score! Music is such a key part of the games, and the series is practically a tutorial on how to pair scenes with pre-existing music.
The best "TV show based on a video game" ever. It's bucking a trend.
Burnt (2015)
Good
I'm a sucker for movies about food. Burnt is not one of them. Don't go into this expecting shots of delicious plates and incredible descriptions.
Burnt doesn't like to linger on the foodie aspect of the life of a chef, but the complicated social side. If it did a great job of that, then I would have no complaints. The character arc of Bradley Cooper's character is not overly satisfying or believable. His addiction seems to be an accessory to the story despite being told that it's ruined his life and others. Against all odds, everything seems to go right for this guy. He's treated like a savant despite being told that his cooking is dated. A leopard can seemingly change its spots very easily.
By far the worst part of this movie, however, is the romantic interest. For me, it took what was a passabe story and turned into a bit of a farce. Many people enjoy this kind of "enemies to lovers" trope but I found it distracted from the story and made Cooper's recovery far less convincing.
The cinematography is very palatable. Nothing extravagant but good. The sound design, however, is very good. The kitchen sounds especially so. It feels noisy and lively, and the changes in tone when it gets stressful really make you feel the heat.
The casting choices were mostly good. However, I did find myself saying "is that Uma Thurman?" which pulled me out a little. As did her Julie Andrews impersonation. Bradley Cooper is far too attractive for me to suspend my disbelief about him "ruining his angel-face".
Overall "Burnt" is good. But to quote Bradley Cooper's character: "good means nothing".
Prisoners (2013)
I felt uneasy the whole time
Admittedly, I hadn't read the synopsis before watching this film, so I thought it was a coming of age drama starring Jackman and Minette. It was a genuinely terrifying surprise. My heart dropped through my entire body and my mouth went dry. That was my state for most of the movie. Prisoners is a justifiably unsettling film. It does a great job of building tension and keeping the stakes high right until the very end. I had so many different emotions while watching, most of them resulting in tears. It was so hard to watch, but impossible for me to tear myself away.
The writing is near perfect, and the performances by each actor really has you second guessing who the bad guy really is. Every word of dialogue could be a lie, or it could be the most pertinent information of the whole case. The ending few scenes had so many "aha!" Moments that my mind was blown.
A brilliant thing about this movie, and my favourite element of a good crime drama, is that all of the clues are there for you to follow along. We see everything that Jake Gyllenhaal's detective sees, and more. Denis Villeneuve doesn't talk down to his audience. He shows you everything and let's you think for yourself.
Only one thing had me suspend my disbelief. Jake Gyllenhaal walks excruciatingly slowly throughout the movie. I am aware that it builds more anticipation, but it made me lose focus in every one of those scenes. He also does up his shirt all the way up like an American Liam Gallagher. It's definitely a choice.
Having never lived in America, I cant attest to the accuracy of the sets or costumes, but they seem perfectly humdrum and mediocre. I mean this as the biggest compliment, but I would never expect anything interesting to happen in that town or with those people. They are such real people.
Overall, this movie is a tough watch. It's extremely graphic at points and psychologically draining. Make sure you're in the right headspace before watching. This movie deserves an 8.5 out of 10, but I'll round it up to 9.
House of Gucci (2021)
Like modern Gucci, looks expensive but not very well made
It is crazy to me that this was considered one of the best pieces of cinema released last year. Granted, the performances of Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, and Al Pacino were quite good. Driver does a good job of portraying a shy and unassuming Mr Gucci, and the character's conflict as different forces try to influence him. It is difficult to figure out what Gaga's character motives are, and i believe that is to her credit. She brings the Italian passion that seems to have been lost by the other characters. Moreover, Gaga's accent was the only one convincingly Italian, most of the rest are comically bad. In one particular scene, it appears that Gaga is stifling a laugh of her own while in conversation with Jared Leto's caricature (no, thats not a spelling mistake). Having graduated from the jar jar binks school of performing arts, with an S (for Super Mario), he masterfully pulls me out of my immersion in every scene.
Equally, the script supervisor needs an espresso. In one particular scene, where Pacino's character is signing a document, his glasses teleport to and from his face, and he uncaps his pen twice.
However, these moments are always in front of a gorgeous backdrop, drenched in gold, silk and Italian leather. Janty Yates must have had a field day with costumes. I was ooing and aahing at every single outfit and I was similarly enamoured with the Italian villas, snowy Swiss chalets and vintage vehicles.
This fur coat, no knickers approach did leave me feeling quite empty. As though I had walked into a museum of Gucci. Overall this isn't a bad movie. It's even a good movie. I like it. I believe 6/10 is fair. Its better than the average movie, but not by a large margin.