Tag Archives: Alessandro Nivola

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – An odd finale full of charm from start to finish, but also a great deal of awkwardness.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Review Introduction –

It looks like we have reached the end of the grand experiment that was the Downton Abbey cinematic experience. After the original Downton Abbey film in 2019, and the follow-up Downton Abbey: A New Era back in 2022, I had wondered if there would be any more, especially after the passing of Maggie Smith’s character, who was such an anchor for the series. Well, today we get to see if they will land this series in a triumph or worse with an uninteresting thud.

So, to set the scene, it is now the 1930s, and grand changes are looming on the horizon of both England and the world. In Downton Abbey, this is marked by Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), hoping that Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) will be ready to take over running the entire household. This was meant to be a great handing over from one generation to the next. However, a scandal erupts throughout higher society when it is announced rather publicly in the press that Lady Mary is getting a divorce, an unmitigated scandal for those prim and proper people in polite society. Now the entire household has been shunned, and the question remains if this will be enough to shut down Downton Abbey for good.  

Continue reading →

The Brutalist – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – Elegant, stunning, and powerful, it is a film that will stay with me for a long time even though I don’t think I will ever watch it again.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

An upside-down Statue of Liberty.
An upside-down Statue of Liberty.

The Brutalist Review –

Today, we look at a film that absolutely captivated me from start to finish, and given that it is three and a half hours long, that is a lot of runtime to have to keep you engaged. However, I think you might see how each and every step captivates, even when the film can be deeply uncomfortable.  

So, to set the scene, László Tóth (Adrien Brody) is a Hungarian Jew who was separated from everyone he loves during World War Two. Escaping Europe by himself, he manages to make it to America and go live with and work for his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) in Philadelphia. Things are tense in the closed environment. However, a chance encounter with Harry Lee Van Buren (Joe Alwyn) puts him into the orbit of the powerful, industrious Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), someone who might just let László create his brutalist masterpiece.

Continue reading →

Kraven the Hunter – Movie Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – An abysmal end to the Sony Spider-Man universe filled with tepid dialogue, poor action, and confused priorities.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – Thankfully, there is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains themes that may cause distress.

Kraven looks into a broken mirror.

Kraven the Hunter Review –

Well, we have come to the end of the Sony Spider-Man universe without the Spider-Man experiment. We got Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance and now Kraven. Unfortunately, there were more misses than hits, and some of those misses were a disaster. But can the final film in the experiment stick the landing? Spoiler alert: no, no, it cannot.

So, to set the scene, after the loss of their mother, brothers Sergei (Levi Miller) and Dmitri (Billy Barratt) are whisked out of school by their assorted criminal father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). He took them to Ghana to learn how to be men by hunting. But when the lion finds them first, Sergei is attacked and dragged off. Left for dead, things looked grim until a young girl, Calypso (Diaana Babnicova), gave him a potion from her grandmother that was mixed with the lion’s blood in his system to heal him and give him powers. Escaping from the clutches of his father, Sergei, now going by Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), makes his mission to hunt down poachers and other criminals, including mob bosses hidden away in Siberian gulags.

Continue reading →

The Many Saints of Newark (The Many Saints of Newark: A Sopranos Story) – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A film punctuated by some fantastic moments, but nevertheless left me feeling more frustrated than anything else.     

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Warning – This film depicts scenes of abuse.

The Many Saints of Newark. Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Many Saints of Newark Review –

When you are trying to follow up on one of the most successful properties created, a critical darling and well-loved by the public to boot, a lot of weight gets put on every decision. We have seen in recent years all sorts of properties fall under that weight, and I wondered going in if the legacy of The Sopranos would be too great a burden. Well, the answer is yes, but also no.

So to set the scene, it is 1967, and the mafia is making a lot of money out in New Jersey, running number games across the state, especially in Newark. Our narrator Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), introduces us to the two leading players in the story. His father Dickie (Alessandro Nivola) who has taken a young Tony Soprano (William Ludwig) to pick up Dickie’s father, “Hollywood Dick” (Ray Liotta) and his new wife Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). But the good times of the 1960s are about to come crashing down around them, and not everyone is going to make it out alive.

Continue reading →