American Gangster 2007 by AverageMansReviews

American Gangster 2007 by AverageMansReviews

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/drugs/shooting/vehicle hit/animal cruelty/suicide/medical references to racism

Our story begins in 1968 in Harlem: where we meet Frank Lucas [Denzel Washington:] he is the right-hand man that takes over from this mob boss of Harlem, over many years this detective/studying to be an attorney; Detective  Richie Roberts [Russell Crowe:] he is very good in his professional life, not so much in his personal life, in a nutshell; gets put in charge of his own unit to stop the flow of cocaine coming in to the US at the time and from here on out.

Generally speaking: the storyline/script is based on real-life events; that is not the problem well for the vast majority anyway, the framework, the pacing and the character developments of this 154 minutes film; for most part of this movie; the film has been roughly split down into; Lucas/Washington which moves with much more of a identity, progress and direction, meanwhile Detective Roberts/Crowe definitely reminds you that this film is long, but the closer they get to working together/or working together this film is good, but then again on top of that we have about 25 minutes roughly around the final quarter or more where this structure and film lose the plot and then it has too quickly pull itself together to a good standard to get over the line; when you are in the midst of terrible portion of this movie is unfortunately it is where this dog gets shot in the head [even though this is based on real-life events; I am sure the storyline/script isn't that greatly affected if they accidentally/purposely kind of miss this scene out or the dog doesn't get shot at all; you know come up with something to achieve your objective without killing the dog would have been much better.]

Art, character development and action; on both counts they are very much the generic outlook for the kind of film they were going for here; even though Lucas tells one of his brothers not to basically look like you have/we have lots of money it kind of sticks out and then burns his gift from his wife, but clearly has money as he moves himself, his wife and his into this big house coinciding these gunfights action sequences that are likewise generic for 99%.

Character developments, performances and action; as you may have guessed that character developments are a very much a paint by numbers out lying on what they are meant to be, which for the vast majority of this cast creates good performances throughout; but then again we have Washington being the shining star in this movie as the person I watched some of this content with; referenced and I am paraphrasing here; there are a lot of stages within the opening section and slightly a bit more, where he doesn't actually speak that much; he allows his body language, mannerisms and some dialogue to speak for him; as they go from the right-hand to the mob boss and the growth between one to the other and simultaneously what kind of mob boss he wants to be; be it respect or fear which brings me onto the one and only action sequence that had value; in a nutshell he gave this character time to sort out business and now it is time to pay; which I should point out Lucas has a gun point blank range on this individual's head so either way this business is going to be resolved right here and right now; in broad daylight with many people around, but at this point he knows this is his domain and people are not going to say anything, Lucas just wants what he is owed nothing more nothing less.

This film receives: 6/10, this film is good; we have everything I have said about this film this particular mark is a fair outcome and even though I am just stated it; allow me to make it crystal clear; this film would never been the same without Washington. This film also has some awards accredited to its name such as 12 Winners which include but not limited to BET Awards 2008 BET Award Best Actor Denzel Washington Shared with: The Great Debaters and 38 Nominees which also include but not limited to Academy Awards, USA Oscar 2008 Best Achievement in Art Direction Arthur Max (art director) Beth A. Rubino (set decorator)[in total this film has 2 Oscar Nominees to its name.]

 

Darkest Hour 2017 by AverageMansReviews

Darkest Hour 2017 by AverageMansReviews

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/war sequences/medical/references to swastika and cancer

In Our Darkest Hour step forward a man to pin our hopes on: briefly; step forward the unpopular Winston Churchill [Gary Oldman:] he is a newly appointed Prime Minister after Neville Chamberlain [Ronald Pickup:] he in a nutshell was a weak Prime Minister dealing with the oncoming threat of Nazi Germany at the time, so this is the story of politics Winston, and his wife Clementine Churchill [Kristin Scott Thomas:] his wife that supported him and she was a strong lady in her own right, Winston and  King George VI [Ben Mendelsohn:] the reigning monarch at the time that didn't think highly of Winston to begin with and finally Elizabeth Layton [Lily James:] at this point in history she was the new incoming secretary to Winston.

Generally speaking: the storyline/script is excellent, we get a little bit of exposition on screen with words and throughout now and again we get date changes, so the pacing for this 125 minutes film is good.

Character developments, comedy and art; let's begin this content on a lighter note that now and again it shows that Winston accidentally had a comical side, be it getting out of bed and possibly showing too much [for those younger generations out there that are deeply offended by such things or such small things by today's standards of 2026 and beyond; this was back in 1940 where they had real things to worry about so this kind of behaviour was far from sexually intended, it was more like; we have to deal with war, we got time for small details,] or Winston getting his infamous hand gesture wrong.

The art is nothing but perfection; be it the set designs, the wardrobe and accessories, Oldman going from Oldman to Winston they did a fantastic job with that entire transformation, they really went with the authenticity of approach to bring this piece of history to life with attention to detail and respect to the subject matter.

Character developments and performances; the character developments are the rich and in-depth regardless of the size of the  role, but now including Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax: he is a part of Winston's war cabinet and in short thinks we should handle this situation differently; this film is a entire cast performance, but you see now there is a reason why I have made reference to all of these characters and their performance; they are very much linchpin roles to support Oldman/Winston in one way or another be it friction, love of a good woman/wife regardless of how they get there will always love one another; which I have to say this is a brilliant performance from Scott Thomas: as yes indeed she shows there is a loving side to him, but also she has to be quite strong to put up with Winston, obviously you have the King not being true King in on him and then you have the youth perspective of Layton/James and  Oldman/Winston is just phenomenal he absolutely embodies Winston Churchill as unfortunately he knew what needed to be done, even in this film it shows him sitting down and talking to the British public face-to-face for a little while or as long as this train journey takes to get to a stop, without using any dangerous rhetoric and safely without twisting things, but without being depressing even know the cost will be high what they want to do; Oldman puts in a once-in-a-lifetime performance as Winston Churchill.

This film receives: 10/10, this film is top-notch entertainment; simply put it needs to be seen once in a lifetime, to be brutally honest it makes you feel ashamed to be British really as these people were facing certain death in most cases, for our benefit, but when it is our turn to face our version of anything like a war [I'm not doing a comparison, I am just saying of our version of wars:] we fail not once but twice the future generations of our country which frankly made me cry a little bit and incredibly angry; if you have no idea of the two locations I am referring to Brexit has ensured that depending on your bloodline or ethnic background is going to determine what kind of life you are going to have, not forgetting we have put a chain around her neck of future inheritance that didn't have a choice in the matter and the second one is; Covid-19 where instead of standing altogether and doing our part, we decided to spread misinformation and hatred online towards those that were vulnerable including but not limited to politicians breaking their own rules and lining their own pockets, whilst families can say goodbye to their loved ones, I have always stated I never lost anyone in this time period but I had a cancer situation and other political situations happening meanwhile you had people catching some sunrays on a beach, now in present times we have this new world of; women essentially selling themselves on adult platforms having the audacity to call themselves entrepreneurs instead of what they are which is prostitutes, not forgetting underage girls going around with very little on, wanting the engagement, but once they get being ignorant they have the audacity to call you a sex offender some degree, women of any age basically selling themselves to the highest bidder for the best planned date where they don't have to pay, they may like one man but behind liking that one man they may be sleeping with another two individuals at minimum, meanwhile man are being castrated left, right and centre, because we have learnt as soon as we step out of line these women can make allegations of inappropriate behaviour of anything and it sticks, so we end up doing nothing, meanwhile we also have the pronoun war that if we forget or don't say the right pronoun at the right time we are labelled transphobic even though there are only two genders and one sub gender; man, woman and person that is it; it is highly inappropriate for someone like myself to talk to a minor about sex, yet seemingly it is perfectly fine for parents to give their undeveloped children on all counts it mentally, physically, emotionally or any level the option to be whatever gender they want to be which in essence in my opinion is just child abuse, based on the grounds they don't have the skills to deal with that decision. But meanwhile you have somebody like myself that I can person to every other section of our society is being left in the dark ages, but I don't have a choice I was born damaged and I get constantly reminded every day of where I am in the social taking order of things; so the more story of this content in this section is; thank god Nazi Germany of yesteryear didn't try and invade England today, because we would all be screwed. This film also has some awards accredited to its name such as 54 Winners include but not limited to Academy Awards, USA 2018 Oscars Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Kazu Hiro David Malinowski Lucy Sibbick and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Gary Oldman. 81 Nominees would also include but not limited to from the same award ceremony/event Best Motion Picture of the Year Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Lisa Bruce Anthony McCarten Douglas Urbanski, Best Achievement in Cinematography Bruno Delbonnel, Best Achievement in Costume Design Jacqueline Durran and Best Achievement in Production Design Sarah Greenwood Katie Spencer

 

In-depth Predictions/Other elements for WWE Sunday Night's Main Event 2026 by AverageMansReviews

In-depth Predictions/Other elements for WWE Sunday Night's Main Event 2026 by AverageMansReviews

Warning: there will be some censored adult language references in this content such as now, there are only really two fudgin' matches that the WWE hierarchy really only care about on this card and the rest is horse manure

Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss & Tatum Paxley vs. Jade Cargill, Michin & B-Fab; Six-Woman Tag Team Match: well considering one trio is full of wrestlers/characters they want to use on-screen and the other is full of jobbers I wonder how this match is going to work out?... It's good to see things work out well for Calamity Jane... Oh apologies wrong name Jade Cargill and whilst I'm here... how are things going for you Blake Munroe, I hope catering is nice in the WWE?

Lil Yachty [with Trick Williams] vs. the Men's WWE United States Champion; Singles match with a 5-minute time limit; If Yachty lasts for five minutes, Trick Williams will receive a rematch for the WWE Men's United States Championship against Corbin on the same night: I will just move on to the next match slot

Trick Williams [with Lil Yachty] vs. Champ Baron Corbin; Singles Match for the WWE Men's United States Championship: where in a nutshell Corbin has to get caught cheating somehow either with a chair or the championship consequently gets disqualified giving Williams the W, but obviously not the championship, this kind of match outlay needs to happen, just because of feud progression and/or if it doesn't it makes the previous match slot and this match slot a complete waste of fudgin' time and effort doesn't it really?

Oba Femi vs. Bron Breakker; Singles Match: on paper everyone including myself should be looking forward to this match, but because of the treatment of Breakker for some time now/long time now I can't get too invested, don't get me wrong if they did so much better job with him on the main roster at this point, I would say Breakker could still lose and look good on the night without taking too much away from him, but as things are it will still be a good match obviously, but nowhere near the level it should be or should have been, I honestly think Breakker needs to leave the WWE, that is how bad they have done with him on the main roster that he no longer fits in with the WWE product as things stand right now, he just needs to go somewhere anywhere to rebuild his career and when I say anywhere I literally mean anywhere so I am not going to sit here and go AEW, I literally mean anywhere outside of the WWE, because the WWE seems to pick and choose what blood ties to use and would once to disrespect when it suits them, but with Breakker it is slightly different because for most of his career so far they haven't brought up a heavy usage of his history, in a nutshell they have done an excellent job of making him look like a complete chump, which he is far from one he is a wrestlers wrestler and his mic work is clearly better than his father and uncle combine. But back to here and now I can see Paul Heyman be involved with apparently accidental dusty finish to cost Breakker the match

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton; Singles Match: the being brutally honest I have no interest in this feud and before I receive any form of backlash; it isn't my fault that they so royally fudged things up the first time around with the whole Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll hollocks, but I fully expect something shady to happen so this feud can continue.

 

The Return of the Pink Panther 1975 by AverageMansReviews

The Return of the Pink Panther 1975 by AverageMansReviews

Previous instalment: Inspector Clouseau 1968 Link https://averagemansreviews2017.blogspot.com/2026/08/inspector-clouseau-1968-by.html

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful/drugs/shooting/rainbow rainbow community element/animal cruelty/animal waste/medical

He is back!: Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus [Herbert Lom:] he is the individual that Clouseau reports to as he is his senior, but he despises Clouseau with such passion it gives him twitchy eyes, but not only that he has been told by his senior to basically promote Clouseau back to his original rank of Inspector, so Police Officer/Inspector/other Jacques Clouseau/other characters [Peter Sellers:] is our clumsy French person of the law, but yet again has to solve the case of a stolen The Pink Panther diamond, and yes at some point or another we have Cato Fong [Burt Kwouk:] as a martial arts training; but highly skilled martial artist anyway/training partner and servant to Clouseau.

Generally speaking: the art in the opening credits of this film are lots of fun as for an example we have The Pink Panther tap-dancing with a cane and top hat and the animated those in of Inspector Clouseau is in this opening sequence as well, the storyline/script in theory makes sense as in it is pretty much as I have already said it; but in practice I have to be completely honest in its execution; it is so ugly to the point where I was falling asleep for a little in sections and the person that I watch some of this content with; basically asked me; what is going on? The problem here is or the problems are; there are some sections of this film that I really elongated, so as it relates to the framework; you will experience just long scenes/sequences were you will feel there are things going on, but accompanied with this weird silence; I quick side note at some points we get storyteller or a Clouseau breaking-the-fourth-wall or/and for Chief Inspector Dreyfus or other a bit of comedy [in a restaurant,] but I digress; which coinciding in this is the pacing reflects that also be it separately or together; so has found that this nicely when everything is in sync it is good, but when it isn't; it makes this film really hard work to watch and it goes on for 113 minutes which on watching this film it feels slightly longer than that and I will be discussing this component again at some points, as it really impacts this title on various levels.

Comedy, action and art; I can't tell too much about this skit; Police Officer gets into this somewhat difficult conversation with his individual playing his instrument on the street for money with a monkey; basically he enquires to have you got a licence to do that on the street? The man said no, it escalates to the point where the man has no control over the monkey as they lived together and this man is actually blind [meanwhile there are things happening in this building behind this conversation in this scene which Clouseau misses until it is too late,] strangely enough this is not the only animal Clouseau has problems with in this film as much later on we have one of the flying variety, Clouseau vs. Fong is always a good source of fun as they now and again in this instalment go head-to-head and it has to be said the slow motion effects are strangely they really high-quality as they really show care and detail of when these effects are used; it really does put the late 90s, 2000 and early 2010s usage of slow motion effects to shame really as these decades just used this effect to death and of a very low quality, in this point in history as I said, they really took time and effort to use the special effect properly and consequently the outcome is much of a better quality even though it is much older and the art; such as set designs, wardrobe and accessories; such as for this one locations; we are in this disco; it is a vibrant and I pointed out that Clouseau looked like one of The Beatles; the person that I watch some of this content with; said Ringo Starr; so I will go with that assessment.

Character developments and performances; the returning characters in the plot section of this content have been nicely progressed and really beginning to find their feet in particular Inspector Clouseau as they have all returned; these performances in particular are an asset to this title in a big way; to be a little bit more specific Sellers; but in a masterclass of just trying to keep everything going; being highly highly skilled and fluent performer that he is; in a nutshell making being clumsy and clueless from time to time seem fluently natural and effortlessly, don't get me wrong the rest of the cast did a solid job; but this title really needed a driving force behind it and the returning characters, yet again predominately Sellers did that with seemingly I hasten to add very little effort.

This film receives: 5/10, is mixed; it was somewhat difficult to mark this project on its clearly long-term issues which I have already discussed, but at the same time I needed to work out that mark that would reflect Sellers or predominantly Sellers hard work [because all the names I have mentioned in the opening section contribute something positive,] but predominantly it down to Sellers hard work, grit and determination to essentially put this film on his back and carry it, because without him this film would have absolutely collapsed and any awards he got accredited he truly did earn them and there is an ongoing sequence in the closing credits; this film also has some awards accredited to its name; such as 2 Winners Evening Standard British Film Awards 1977 Evening Standard British Film Award Best Comedy Blake Edwards and Best Actor Peter Sellers and 5 Nominees which includes but not limited to Grammy Awards 1976 Grammy Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special Henry Mancini and Writers Guild of America, USA WGA Award (Screen) Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen Frank Waldman Blake Edwards

 

George and Mildred 1980 by AverageMansReviews

George and Mildred 1980 by AverageMansReviews

Background and journey of: George & Mildred Roper [Brian Murphy and Mildred Roper:] began life in the British sitcom known as Man About the House; 1973-1976; 6 Series; 39 Episodes, then spin-off George & Mildred get their own TV show entitled George & Mildred: 1976-1979; 5 Series; 38 Episodes and then we have this movie in 1980.

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/shooting/vehicle crashing

Anniversary: briefly; we meet husband-and-wife George/another character's name & Mildred Roper [Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce:] in a nutshell it turns out that George had forgotten it was their anniversary, so Mildred has decided that they are going to spend some time at a expensive hotel for some time and George is paying and this is what happened on their anniversary.

Generally speaking: the storyline/script is excellently designed to incorporate; the comedy style of; George accidentally getting trapped in his own car, consequently bringing the character developments of; mistaken identity into play and without giving too much away eventually going home blissfully unaware of the situation/situations going on around them and right at the end Mildred breaking-the-fourth-wall; to indicate; see you around and we will be fine, so based on everything I have just said; the framework and pacing of this 93 minutes film is good as there is always something happening somewhere.

Character developments, comedy and action; because of George's mistaken identity with the wrong sort of people, they rig the roulette wheel so he can't lose, but on finding out they had been talking to the wrong guy; they switch off and let the roulette wheel as normal; consequently George loses everything or much later on this hitman eventually exhausts trying to shoot at his targets.

Character developments and performances; these are either very good and reliable character types and consequently performances or really defined as it relates to George & Mildred; because as I made reference to earlier Murphy and/or Joyce have been working together for some years at this point and it shows as their chemistry and fluency comes across as very natural; as if they had been married for years themselves; but there is good cameraderie throughout this cast to get this project done in a enthusiastic manner.

This film receives: 8/10, this film is excellent; eventually I decided to award this mark, based on the fact it doesn't claim to be anything other than what it is... which is a long-term married couple leaning towards the old section of life, trying to celebrate their anniversary with either individually things happen or in some way or another consequently things happen around.

 

Chappie 2015 by AverageMansReviews

Chappie 2015 by AverageMansReviews

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/robotics/transformation/child abuse/torture/shooting/stabbing/medical, I will also be using censored adult language references in this content

Well this film shows the ethics usage of AI is wrong: briefly; basically in this futuristic world, but let's be honest with one another, if we're not careful it will be our future; where this robot creator Deon Wilson [Dev Patel:] he is a worker/programmer for Tetravaal and against the wishes of the company he gives Number22/Chappie [Voiced by: Sharlto Copley:] he is a broken down police robot that has a limited life span, that has now been given the program of essentially eventually independent thought, starting from infancy and on top of that emotions and feelings so in essence he becomes a sentence being, so this is his story.

Generally speaking: storyline/script and character developments; this entire section/entire film has aged like milk; it really has based on the concept of where we are now with AI and even back then of 2015 with this movie this entire script very crassly shows why AI by and large is a bad idea and yes I have seen better film like Bicentennial Man 1999 movie starring Robin Williams as Andrew Martin: that in a nutshell goes from being android over many years and then being human, but in this case with Chappie; as soon as he understands and becomes for all intents and purposes cognitively aware he is a being, consequently the ageing process becomes a factor meaning; if he believes he is a sentient being experiencing fear, hatred and anger, consequently child abuse, torture, dismemberment and everything else becomes a massive problem; because it opens the door to rights and privileges as well as a being and not forgetting that including being set on fire, because we as humans learn to deal with things such as emotions over many years in short called growing, but in this film we are expecting a machine to grow up in such a small amount of time around people that want to screw its head up and yes I am including his maker and the ones that want to harm him.

This is such an ugly and uncomfortable film to watch, where this mechanical being essentially shows us that AI, should never and I repeat never get to this level of understanding including but not limited to also including the great debate about abortions where for me especially people in the US need to get their head around this; abortions are to get rid of cells in the body and up to a certain point there is no life, you may be thinking what does that have to do with this film? Now if you are not brain cells to understand in theory we are talking about Chappie/potentially a unwanted baby being essentially screwed up by a vast majority of people that should be protected and nurtured from the world he finds himself in, and for those that have the simplistic mind of abortion are wrong? Are you going to specifically help with raising a child that isn't yours and do that every time a child is born... No!... Then shut the hell up! Or are you going to allow a child to be born to two drug addicts to be abused which on top of that is more than likely going to have medical issues due to their parents drug addicts?... No, then again shut the hell up! With possibly the child in question having medical issues with having quite possibly a miserable life due to probably being a vegetable.

By the way just for the record; to keep this crystal clear; I am pro-choice on this subject matter, but back to this movie as you can read already this film isn't a pleasant watch to say at the very least, the framework and pacing of this 120 minutes film is in a strange turn of events very much irrelevant, because you have all this subject matter going on or being unravelled, that consequently everything just feel really agonisingly slow and torturous

Art, character developments and action; 22/Chappie is an excellent design, but also on the other hand [this is not the only time I will make a reference like this;] as soon as you make him have traits of human, his pain and suffering regardless if he is a mechanical robot in his character developments, he is still a much child so in theory it becomes child abuse... so well done you ignorant mother fudgers, so obviously and consequently I have no interest in these generic action sequences; to be broadly honest I have someone got fired for green lighting this film, usually I would clarify myself by saying, it is never a good for someone to lose their job, but in this rare occasion I am not going to be so polite, for all I care they can join the unemployment line with this.

Character developments, performances and voice performances; minus everything I have already said about the character developments and what is left is the generic poor excuse for character developments and likewise performances, the only one that in my opinion can walk away from the project/dumpster fire with their head held high is Sharlto Copley voice of: Number 22/Chappie, he by far gives this lead character a three-dimensional being which is excellent for him, but I do realise on the other hand it also opens the door to everything else that we have been discussing in this content, which I am not criticising Copley for that, I am quite clearly just pointing out it just drills home slightly a bit more than what it already does with a very disgusting and likewise uncomfortable impact.

This film receives: 1/10, this film is poor; as I have made it abundantly clear by now, I despise this film with a passion and furthermore I am absolutely delighted that the sequel and any future project/projects were scrapped. This film also has some awards accredited to its name such as 3 Nominees World Soundtrack Awards 2015 World Soundtrack Award Film Composer of the Year Hans Zimmer Shared with: Interstellar, Visual Effects Society Awards 2016 VES Award Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature Earl Fast Chris Harvey Mark Wendell Robert Bourgeault Chappie and Behind the Voice Actors Awards 2016 BTVA Feature Film Voice Acting Award Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Feature Film Sharlto Copley As the voice of "Chappie".

In-depth Predictions/Other elements for NXT Heatwave 2026 by AverageMansReviews

In-depth Predictions/Other elements for  NXT Heatwave 2026 by AverageMansReviews

The Vanity Project's: Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes vs. Champs Myles Borne & Tavion Heights; Tag Team Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship: it should be new due to interference from Jackson Drake to make it a night narrative of is Borne going to be fit for later on tonight?

Kelani Jordan vs. Champ Kendal Grey; Singles Match for the NXT Women's Championship: I am just going to go with no new champion here

Jaida Parker vs. Nattie; Submission Match: simply put you don't bet against the Queen of The Dungeon

Kali Armstrong vs. WWE Women's North American Champ Zaria vs. WWE Women's Speed Champ Wren Sinclair; Winner Takes All Triple Threat Match to unify the NXT Women's North American Championship and the WWE Women's Speed Championship: they probably want to continue with the idea of making her an unstoppable force.

Jackson Drake [with Myka Lockwood] vs. Champ Myles Borne; Singles Match for the Men's North American Championship: now if they follow this narrative fluently, it should be a case of taking these championships Borne, with keeping him looking strong as in he had a long night, a valiant night but his body gave up on him.

Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana vs. Zilla Fatu vs. Champ Tony D'Angelo; Fatal Four-Way Match for the NXT Championship: I fully expect him to be on the main roster right around Mania season, so they are going to sling shot him from right out of the gate, this is technically the only Bloodline member I am interested in as I have only caught some of his work outside of this promotion online now and again and even though he is relatively young; 26 years old, because of his lineage he is raw but also ready to go, so you should absolutely spend some time on this brand.