cineastFGD's reviews

I'm not from the U. S., hence, I have no knowledge or emotional attachment to Mr. Roberts and his show. The movie, therefore, didn't strike me as being particularly moving or original. I found the story pretty lame to be honest, it was overdramatized and over emotional, which doesn't sit well with a European audience, neither do the multiple mentionings of God and scripture. As said in the title, this seems to primarily target a specific segment of the U. S. I also found the character of Mr. Roberts as portrayed by Tom Hanks annoying and borderline abusive. You cannot just force people you barely know and who haven't asked for it into therapy talks, forcing them to reveal deeply personal issues to you. It is extremely manipulative and also plain rude. If someone tried this with me, I would walk out of the door and break off all contact. So coupled with the lack of a true story, this made this movie a pretty tedious watch. Again, for the American target audience, the type that watches Oprah and Dr. Phil, I'm sure this is a great movie, for me - not so much.

The idea of the show is interesting, the execution of it absolutely lame. There is literally no plot at all, the story goes nowhere. By the end of season 3 I got so bored, I stopped watching as the characters became increasingly unbearable. The lead character and his woman are the most annoying and idiotic people ever put on screen, both actors totally suck too, totally unlikeable and over the top, and clearly NOT funny. I didn't realize that this was supposed to be a comedy before I read it on IMDb. I have no idea why money and resources were used on producing this mess or why anyone in their right mind would find this funny.

I've never seen a movie that has saddened me more. Despite the incredible beauty of the scenes, I was in tears nearly through the entire film. I loved all Avatar movies, but this one stands out, as Cameron has dropped all subtlety and is now holding the mirror to our faces. Pandora of course is Earth, the beauty of Pandora is the beauty of Earth in hyperbole, but still clearly recognizable. Unfortunately for Earth, most people on this planet behave like the sky people. So if you are rooting for the Na'ir, realize that in Cameron's view, you most likely are one of the bad guys. He picks up so many current issues, the dying of the coral reefs, the burning and destruction of our forests, the bestiality of whale hunting, the hunting and killing of elephants, rhinos, sharks and many other species for a single body part that is supposed to give us youth or virility. I'm sure I haven't captured all of them. The sentence 'Water has no beginning and no end.' is a very clear reference to the fact that pollution of our planet will inevitably affect us too.

Reading the comments and complaints about a 'weak plot' or 'boring movie' makes me absolutely despair. How more obvious does he need to get before shallow viewers finally get the message? Our planet is burning, we destroy the very ecosystems that keep us alive, yet all people seem to care about is their personal entertainment.

This film is not a drama nor a comedy, it is a documentary. If shows us the current state of our world. The comet IS CLIMATE CHANGE and the senseless politicians, lazy media, toothless UN, gullible retarded voters, science bashers, greedy over-hyped tech entrepreneurs, and silly celebrities are us and our politicians, media, tech entrepreneurs and celebrities.

We are ignoring the destruction of our world, the absolute certain end of our society in around 100 years, and the biggest mass extinction in most likely the history of the planet, while partying like first class passengers on the sinking Titanic. Even reading the reviews here left me flabbergasted and showed how accurate this film portrays our society: 'great cast', 'entertaining', 'I wasn't gripped by the story'. Wow, this film isn't about entertainment, it's an effing WAKE-UP CALL, are you really that blind?

EVERYTHING in our current reaction to climate change, from the disinterest of the general population, politicians who only care about the issue if it helps their political agenda, the lazy media who do not inform people properly, the bought off non-expert scientists, the fake news and misinformation on social media, to the idea that 'technology' will save us in the future and that taking action now is economically not viable is perfectly condensed in this movie.

I worked in academia with climate change related issues for a decade and watching this film was like watching a condensed version of my every day life. It is this accurate. I cannot thank the film makers enough for this masterpiece, unfortunately, judging by many comments here, many people are still too thick to see what is glaringly obvious.

This film has no point, no plot, no story. It is about the boring and mediocre life of a bony, horse faced, silly, shallow, and annoyingly dumb woman and her equally boring friends. The dialogues are as pointless as the rest of the plot.

I seldom have come across a more pointless and boring movie and it is a total mystery to me how this movie got such raving reviews. Not even the acting is good, the main character is insufferable with all her squeaky cries, annoying laughs, sighs, and obnoxious over the top 'good humour'. Too bad I can't get my time back. To you lucky ones who still can avoid it, find something else.

This film is a strong contender for the most boring flick I've ever seen. Never mind that the plot line is basically absent, never mind that the acting is mediocre at best, at least this movie contains not a single joke worth laughing about, nor a scene that would in the least contain some glimpse of humour (even my 13 year old son didn't laugh a single time - and this means something).

The plot is as flat as the nonexistent jokes - guy in Santa costume (or without) gets drunk, swears at everything and everybody, pukes and pees himself, and passes out. Sometimes - fully inexplicably - he gets laid by a beautiful woman in a public place (what woman would touch such a disgusting train wreck?). There you have it, full stop, that's it.

So unless you are a 15 year old school yard bully living in a trailer park and with one too many beers and some joints in your system (of which there seem to be quite a number, judging by the other reviews), make a detour and use your 10 bucks on something else. A tour to the nearest homeless shelter would deliver you the essence of this movie for free.

Wish I could get my money and especially my time back for this one.

It's about time such movies are made, so congratulations on a true masterpiece. The cast is superb, Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman are surpassing themselves in portraying Meghan Kelly and Gretchen Carlson. Although they are some of the most famous actresses in Hollywood, they vanished completely behind their characters, in part also because of the incredible make-up artistry and costumes.

I was skeptical at first because this movie looked just like another stupid Hollywood flick, but boy was I wrong. This movie mercilessly exposes the mechanism of white men's power, it dissects all the facets of how the patriarchy still keeps women (and minorities) literately and figuratively on their knees. It masterfully portrays the personal risk and the struggles that woman face when standing up to the oppression and exploitation they face daily by male superiors. It hammers the viewer with the fact that women still are objectified and degraded to mere eye candy. And it just shows that women still are a world away to get a fair chance in life. Sorry to say, but if you don't like this movie, you are part of the problem.

As a woman who was severely sexually harassed at several work places, this movie means the world to me. It is about time that women learn that they need to speak up, that they do not need to settle, that there is no reason to degrade yourself in order to get a chance in life that is fully deserved. Movies like these are such an important contribution to this development, they are a necessity to advance the discourse, and in the end change.

I have to admit, I absolutely hate this movie. Not only doesn't it pass the Bechdel test - hello, we live in the 21st century - but I am so sick of the idealization of so called untouchable and cool 'heroes', idealizing a sick uncommunicative macho culture which rightfully belongs on the trash pile of history. I thought this would be a great movie on the history of the first moon landing, instead it is a portrayal of some very silly, immature men. Nothing I want to feed my kids with.

Also this movie is boring, slow, and confusing. The camera work seems amateurish, even after thinking hard, I cannot think of something positive to say.

I'd never thought I would write a bad review on a Rowling project, but here it is. This film sucks, period.

Maybe Rowling should remind herself where her strength lies and start writing stories again, instead of creating opportunities for the special effects guys to run wild. The story has no plot, zilch, and Joanne it's freaking boring. just throwing in some crumbs from he Harry Potter world won't save a deadbeat horse, sorry. The plot munches through side plots and introduces new characters at a speed where I periodically was at a total loss of where we were going. None of the characters or places are properly introduced, remain mere schemes throughout the film, appear, disappear, reappear, and disappear to never appear again, the majority involved in small side gigs that add nothing to the overall story, but still seem important somehow.

The music sucks too in my opinion, whilst the Harry Potter soundtrack was an epic musical master piece, this film's music is as forgettable and bland as the rest.

And don't get me started on the cast. Whoever came up with the idea to cast Jude Law as Dumbledore should be shot. Jude Law is not an actor, he's a smug-faced shallow mannequin who's made a career from looking good and from fertlising the romantic fantasies of his female fans (Hugh Grant comes to mind as an alternative, should Law be prevented for any reason next time). And this is exactly the Dumbledore he plays, nothing of the warmth, kindness, and fine humour that a Richard Harris or a Micheal Gambon brought to the role. He really has defiled the role, completely.

Ezra Klein runs around with the same silly facial expression as in the first movie, why didn't they just take a picture of him and plastered it on a cardboard cut-out, I'm sure it would have been hard to know the difference.

Finally, Johnny Depp. I loved the guy in the Pirates movies, in Chocolat, in Sleepy Hollow, as Williy Wonka, Gilbert Grape you name it, but he literally sucks in every role he's played ever since. He seems like a washed-up lazy bum today, who mumbles his way through his roles, creating the weirdest of accents and hiding behind even weirder costumes. How is the guy still cast? Producers must believe the audience are brain dead zombies who just suck-up everything that is dished out to them. Well, here's some news, we won't. If you guys want my dosh, then make sure to produce some quality work with quality actors, otherwise bye.

Pleading guilty, I love this film. I found it by coincidence in my next-corner video store right after it got on DVD around 2001, and I have surely watched it a dozen times ever since. Each and every time it totally cracks me up, ESPECIALLY the final scene in the park. What a grumpy, stuck-up person do you have to be to not find this scene absolutely hilarious?

The film is yet another piece of evidence that English humour is simply the finest in the world, maybe with the exception of the French cinema. The ease, subtlety, and self-irony of the British humour is something film makers from Hollywood will never ever understand, let alone reach. It is so refreshing to stumble across such a wonderful quirky original among all those scripted over-the-top knee-slappers from the so called 'dream-factory' that - unfortunately - dominate the market.

All about this film is beautiful, the landscape, the story, the characters, the acting, even the soundtrack is nice. Really, one of my all time favourites.

I'm not sure what I just saw, but it surely had nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes. I've been a huge fan of the stories these 20 years, went to the museum in Backer street 221b, and know the stories and characters by heart.

This is a Hollywood action flick with zero substance, which makes a complete mockery out of the characters. One wonders whether Mr. Richie even bothered to read the stories at all.

Robert Downey as Holmes could easily be called the biggest miscast of the century, if he wasn't surpassed by Jude 'Smug Face' Law as Watson, who's probably as believable in the role of the devoted, admiring, and distinguished friend of Holmes as Trump in the role of US president.

So, if you know nothing about Holmes and Watson and have a penchant for action flicks without story and substance, then by all means watch this movie, for everybody else: STAY AWAY.

This is a fine and well-done documentary, with a broad and comprehensive scope, and very watchable.

What I didn't like was the one-sidedness of the message, I would have liked a more balanced picture and some of the interviewees were rather extreme in their positions which could have been nicely counterbalanced by some more balanced viewpoints. As this was not done by the makers, the whole study gets a slight propagandist touch, which is why this documentary only scores 5 stars in my view. Also, too much time is spent on the ethical issues of veganism. Given that the health and environmental benefits of this diet outweigh the ethical benefits by far, it is a pity the makers chose not to emphasize these aspects more. As such, veganism still is presented as this thing only those 'freaks' are doing, which is a shame given the importance of veganism to combat climate change.

Also, if I hear people talk about 'Specism' and that killing and keeping animals for food production is so deeply unethical, I cannot help to wonder why these people do not see the flaw in their logic. Eating an onion also destroys another life, isn't it equally ignorant and 'Specism' to assume that killing the onion is OK, whilst killing the cow is not, just because the latter has two dark, big eyes that simply are easier to relate to? And how can vegan people talk about animal cruelty but keep a dog that is fed dog food? Where do they think their dog's food comes from? It was during these interviews that the makers of the documentary really lost me as a viewer, and I already eat a 99% vegan diet, so how do they expect to convince non-vegans with such a message?

For us to live other lives have to perish, whether they are plants or animals, and I really fail to see the distinction between the two. A life is a life and the moment I choose to consume it or a part of it, I implicitly decide that I am more important than this life. Hence, we'd better develop a sense of gratitude for our food, irrespective of the source, and really value every bite of it, instead of using the same flawed logic again by separating life into 'consumable' species and 'non-consumable' species.

I'm afraid that by the way, the makers chose to present the subject they scared more people away than they attracted to this diet, and given the environmental and health benefits of plant-based diets, this really is a shame and a missed opportunity.

What an utterly useless and boring movie this is. It is basically 90 minutes of blatant disgust, brutality, and violence without any sense and meaning. The plot is paper thin, the characters basically non- existent. The ending is as boring and depressing as the rest of the movie. Save your time and money and spend it on something more worthy than this rubbish. Could see that the movie got state funding, yet another questionable investment of tax payers' money into a 'cultural' project. Eddy Redmayne was the only glimpse of light in this terrible assembly. His performance outshone every other. But there are surely better movies to watch him in. This film is just awful.

What a great series. Original, exciting, thrilling, funny, and entertaining, never flat, never dumb, never silly. Especially episode 29 had me laugh so hard, I ran out of oxygen. :) The actors are each and all of them a beautiful bunch of people and everyone of them does an exquisite piece of work to bring their character to life. The photography is beautiful, the special effects well done and placed, costume, make-up, decoration, scenery, top notch standard. It's a true blessing to watch such a high quality program. Well done BBC for supporting such a project, despite of all the bashing in recent years, you haven't stopped setting standards for what good and intelligent TV can be. Thanks to the entire team who put this series into life, you have given me and my family uncountable many joyful hours and family jokes. This coming from someone who doesn't actually watch TV on a regular basis.

An absolute must watch!

I really enjoyed watching this film, be it now a true doc or not. The experiment really happened and that's the only thing that matters. Being a minimalist myself, I can totally relate with the movie's core message and I find it wonderful that someone did dare to take up this subject and make it a the central theme in a film.

The film is a sweet, slow story with a good portion of self irony and many great insights. A must-watch for everybody who's attracted by minimalism but doesn't dare to live it. The soundtrack is nice and the camera work excellent. The film is itself a tribute to minimalism, because it tries to reduce the number of cuts and scenes to the bare necessary. This stands in wonderful contrast to what we are served from Hollyweird these days, where the frame frequency has increased tremendously in the last 20 years, the sound effects have become more dramatic, and constant action is the only premise. How refreshing to be able to just watch a scene or camera angle for more than a few seconds. A great piece of work!