FILMALUATION - online magazine

Sound of Metal

25/4/2021

SOUND OF METAL ★★★★★
D: Darius Marder.
S: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric.

Suddenly a drummer rapidly loses his hearing. The expertly handled turmoil pins you to the chair. Emotionally wrenching without sentimentality. The ending really impressed. Sometimes a film is so well acted you feel like every part deserves an award.

Jiu Jitsu

25/4/2021

JIU JITSU ★★☆☆☆
D: Dimitri Logothetis.
S: Alain Moussi, Nicolas Cage, Rick Yune, Tony Jaa, Frank Grillo.

Every six years an alien arrives to fight earth’s top martial artists. C-movie plot. C-movie conversations. C-movie lead. But A-movie fight choreography. With added Nic Cage, Tony Jaa and Frank Grillo.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

25/4/2021

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER [mini-series] ★★★★☆
Beyond BLACK PANTHER, this is what I’ve been wanting Marvel to do, to engage with the current world in its storytelling. Winningly entwined with the superhero shizzle is a progressive political stance. Earns its joyous closing air punch. Plus the thrills are aided by the writer of the JOHN WICK films.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

24/4/2021

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE ★★☆☆☆
D: Zack Snyder (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, Watchmen)
S: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Ezra Miller.

A new version, but still pretty rubbish. Not the salvage anticipated. Dreadful dialogue. Lacklustre storytelling. (Mother Boxes. Anti-Life Equation. Oh dear!) Awful visual effects. The terrible choice to use 4:3 aspect ratio. A few striking moments though. I like that the runtime was four hours.

Bad Trip

24/4/2021

BAD TRIP ★★★★☆
D: Kitao Sakurai.
S: Eric André, Michaela Conlin, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish.

Part film, part prank show. BORAT levels of funny. So unbearably awkward, I had to keep pausing it. Weirdly also reaffirms faith in the kindness of individuals.

Industry [season one]

24/4/2021

INDUSTRY [season one] ★★★★☆
I’ve never seen a TV show where the entire cast of characters are unlikable. Self-destructing, humiliating, back-stabbing ambition at an investment bank, from the perspective of the graduate intake. So excruciatingly unwatchable in places, the show feels like an anti-recruitment tool. A place that exacerbates a person’s worst traits and insecurities.

Out to Own Today: Synchronic

5/4/2021

Out to own today:

Synchronic

“The victim is good, the world is still f*cked up,” Steve (Anthony Mackie)

SYNCHRONIC is a B-movie, with an A-movie lead. It’s not a disaster. It’s a bit bonkers, but not in an exciting way. The movie strives for originality, which one almost always applauds. However, here the conceit is almost laughably random. I did like that the two leads are paramedics. Ambulance teams are not the focus enough in cinema. More films, with public service personnel thrown into extraordinary circumstances, please.
[To read more, click here.]

Money Heist

1/4/2021

I made it through five episodes of MONEY HEIST before binning. It reminds of what annoyed me about season one of PRISON BREAK, season two of OZARK, and the whole of LOST. Imagine the idea in the hands of a Cary Joji Fukunaga or a Michael Mann...
Also, are those criminals meant to be the elite?

Alice in Borderland [season one]

1/4/2021

ALICE IN BORDERLAND [season one] ★★★★½
A tension-filled horror-action-thriller from Japan. A cross between SAW and BATTLE ROYALE and DEATH NOTE. Ace storytelling and juggling of characters.

WandaVision

1/4/2021

WANDAVISION [miniseries] ★★½☆☆
Ever since HULK, I’ve been waiting for more experimental comic book stuff, but this wears out its welcome almost immediately.
The standout was the theme of grief at the story’s centre.
The sitcom parodies were tedious. Being ironically rubbish is not a great look here. The climax was the usual CGI super-villain with the same powers.
Beyond that, a superhero enslaves and tortures an entire town, and there are no legal consequences for them?!
The only MCU characters more boring than Wanda and Vision are the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye, and they also have their own shows on now or on the way.

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This website is written by Hemanth Kissoon.

Filmaluation is dedicated to arts culture, with a particular focus on film.

I care about intelligence, quality and entertainment.

Going to the cinema today? See the recommendations page of what is currently out. Click here.

The vital ambitions of art and entertainment:
- Perceptiveness
- Illumination
- The unexpected
- Innovation

Brains and soul are key; but adrenaline junkies do not fret, there is also much love for an experience that delivers a sucker-punch to the guts via stunningly delivered thrills.

Noun, “filmaluation”:
The evaluation of a film
Verb, "to filmaluate”:
To evaluate a film

I am well aware how difficult it is to make a film, put on a stage play, create a television show, write a novel, let alone make something of note. (That appreciation doesn’t stop me from having high standards though.)

This online magazine is edited by Hemanth Kissoon.

Filmaluation is owned by Filmaluation Limited (Company number 8549302. Registered in England and Wales)

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