Film Reviews by giantrolo

I absolutely loved this film! It had this feeling of love for Egypt just oozing out of every scene, and gave me as the viewer a truly fascinating visit to the country, with scenes that were bursting with history and heritage. You really did feel like you were there! The storytelling did really make you work to understand the story - definitely no spoon feeding here - but that was a beautiful experience in itself and you felt very immersed in the backstory, the current story and the future story waiting to be told. Andrea Riseborough was so perfect for this role - I really can't imagine anyone else playing it - and the entire cast were great. It gave me a real kick watching the credits to realise the archaeology professor was played by a real life archaeology professor! Highly recommended!

This is quite an odd film - I didn't really understand what was going on in the flashback scenes until well over halfway into the film (maybe I'm just slow!) - but once the penny dropped, it was actually a decent film! I kind of liked the sedate pace of how the story unfolded, and it was so interested to get a window into the world of professional gambling in the USA. All in all, I enjoyed the film and thought the acting was pretty good and topic was pretty unique! Recommended!

We enjoyed this film, which was essentially a really interesting path through Steven Spielberg's life, and thought there were some really good performances in there. Recommended!

I can honestly say I've never seen a film quite like this one - and I loved every minute of it! It has a nice pace to it (although on occasion it did try to teeter on the edge of being a little slow), but this is more than made up for by the wonderful performances from the whole cast. I feel what they feel; I cry when they cry; I laugh when they do marvellous things - and what more could you want from a film? Brilliant from start to finish - and especially the pearl encrusted finish. The real Pat must have been quite the diamond.

If you liked the original Meg film, you're probably going to love Meg 2! Jason Statham returns for another action-packed, death-defying, science-disproving film centered around the ancient Megalodon shark - only this time, it's not really the Megs that are the problem! Cue the unscrupulous moles in the organisation who are exploiting the deep sea trench where the megs live. The story is actually pretty good, with just the right amount of cheese (except for the scene where one colleague whose diving mask breaks has her head implode with the pressure, but Jason Statham can swim without a suit at the same depth "just by making sure there is water in your nasal cavities"! Sorry, Jason, that's not how science works, lol). But overall, we enjoyed this film - especially the return of Pippin!

Tragic, heart rending film about the callous acts of family desctruction that were undertaken by the US government under Trump. Absolutely fantastic performances by the whole cast (Justin Chon both directs and stars in the film; Alicia Vikander is stellar, too; and the actress who plays their daughter was fabulous). Highly recommended!

This was a rather endearing, meandering tale that took you through one person's life - from being in service to breaking away to work in a bookshop, getting married, and turning into an award-winning author! It was a nicely shot film with some great performances from the cast, although it did drag a little in parts and leaped back and forward in time a lot. Altogether a good film, though, and would recommend!

This was a really fun film that explored a mythical world that just happened to contain lots of excellent actors! Chris Pine had a brilliant deadpan comedic role, and Hugh Grant was excellent, too. Really enjoyed it - probably more than we expected to - and would definitely recommend!

As a nominee for best animated feature film at the 2023 Oscars, we had high hopes for this film - and it did not disappoint! Absolutely loved this heartwarming gem of a film and could not recommend it highly enough.

A funny coming-of-age story about Margaret, who goes on an exciting journey to find her faith. Great performances from the entire cast, especially Kathy Bates as the Jewish grandma! Definitely recommended.

Absolutely loved this film! It was so true to the original and so well cast, I really had a blast watching it. Highly recommended for any Ghostbusters fan!

This was a VERY quirky film but totally enjoyable! The lack of English subtitles in the Japanese language sections wasn't as big an issue as it sounds as you got the general gist from the accompanying graphics. The cast of dogs were phenomenal - my favourite was voiced by Jeff Goldblum - and the story was brilliantly unique and very fun. Definitely Wes Anderson at his best! The visuals were really well done and overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

This was a good action thriller with a good story, and very well cast and paced. Definitely kept you on the edge of your seat for most of the last half of the film; would recommend!

We watched this film without knowing the historical context or anything about the Empress Sisi, and have to say it was a little bizarre in parts. It helped to read some other film reviews after we watched it to understand where it was coming from - without this, it would have been a 1-2 star film! But there were some highly redeeming features of the film beyond the odd story - it was beautifully shot and had a nice pace, and the actors were all excellent. Would recommend this film if you read a little about the history beforehand!

This was a good film featuring Tom Hanks in a particularly grumpy role as Otto. Grumpy on the outside, but kind on the inside, we follow the events that unfold when a new neighbour moves in across the street from Otto. Sweet in some parts, and salty in others, it was definitely a heartwarming film in the end. We got a particular kick out of the fact that Tom Hanks' son in real life played his younger self in the film's flashbacks! Recommended.