Reviews-a-go-go!
Jul. 24th, 2016 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearVery behind on getting ahead at the moment...
Three fairly middle-of-the-road films have been part of my recent past:
The Secret Life of Pets
This had a couple of decent moments here and there, but I largely found it quite disappointing. The main characters weren't very appealing, the humour didn't fall into my general amusement range very often, and there were even a few bits that I found actively distasteful. Not-too-discerning kids might get some enjoyment out of it, but I didn't find it that much fun overall.
Hail, Caesar!
Finally got around to watching this, and it definitely falls into the middle of the range of my experience of Coen brothers movies. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think it was that great, either. It had some great moment - in fact nearly all of the sub-plot bits were really good (Channing Tatum's character, in particular, was awesome, and I would have loved to have a whole film about him) - but I didn't get on so well with the George Clooney sections.
Midnight Special
This was a lot slower and more subtle than I was expecting. It felt very 70s in both setting and tone - it took a long time to get going and didn't really go anywhere in particular, but the portrayal of the parents' struggle was well done, and the gradually revealed origins of the child's strangeness had an understated impact to them. Overall, it was less action-oriented than I thought it would be, and the story itself felt quite nebulous.
Fear the Survivors by Stephen Moss
This is the second in the Fear Saga, which I finished listening to this morning. The premise is preposterous, the science and military techno-babble gets a bit much sometimes, and the whole thing is probably longer than it needs to be - but it's extremely well read, I find the characters really interesting, and I'm fascinated to know where it's going next. It follows the global consequences and also the individual stories relating to the impending alien attack very effectively, and it all hangs together remarkably well, once you suspend disbelief long enough to get into it.
Three fairly middle-of-the-road films have been part of my recent past:
The Secret Life of Pets
This had a couple of decent moments here and there, but I largely found it quite disappointing. The main characters weren't very appealing, the humour didn't fall into my general amusement range very often, and there were even a few bits that I found actively distasteful. Not-too-discerning kids might get some enjoyment out of it, but I didn't find it that much fun overall.
Hail, Caesar!
Finally got around to watching this, and it definitely falls into the middle of the range of my experience of Coen brothers movies. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think it was that great, either. It had some great moment - in fact nearly all of the sub-plot bits were really good (Channing Tatum's character, in particular, was awesome, and I would have loved to have a whole film about him) - but I didn't get on so well with the George Clooney sections.
Midnight Special
This was a lot slower and more subtle than I was expecting. It felt very 70s in both setting and tone - it took a long time to get going and didn't really go anywhere in particular, but the portrayal of the parents' struggle was well done, and the gradually revealed origins of the child's strangeness had an understated impact to them. Overall, it was less action-oriented than I thought it would be, and the story itself felt quite nebulous.
Fear the Survivors by Stephen Moss
This is the second in the Fear Saga, which I finished listening to this morning. The premise is preposterous, the science and military techno-babble gets a bit much sometimes, and the whole thing is probably longer than it needs to be - but it's extremely well read, I find the characters really interesting, and I'm fascinated to know where it's going next. It follows the global consequences and also the individual stories relating to the impending alien attack very effectively, and it all hangs together remarkably well, once you suspend disbelief long enough to get into it.
