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Reviews
Alex Strangelove (2018)
Not too bad but problematic
Rainy day moviefest so I decided to give this a try. I honestly didn't expect much but the story and acting was better than I anticipated. People may argue over whether it was realistic, but I felt this light-hearted coming of age story was a fair representation of a teenage boy reluctantly coming to terms with his sexuality. While interactions and dialogue with friends were at times cringy or even a bit disgusting, I acknowledge that I've seen far worse. I didn't dislike any of the characters. What I did find distasteful was the writer's seeming misogyny where Claire especially was concerned. It wouldn't be the first time a male writer burdened the spurned female character with a bit too much patience to be believable. Imagine being Claire and asked years later...
"Hey do you remember your senior prom?"
"Sure! I agreed to go with a boyfriend I really liked who'd just admitted he was gay. I was crushed. But since women are expected to be forgiving nurturers who subjugate our own feelings in service to the men in our lives, I even hunted down his crush so they could be together for my big night. Alex was really happy tho! Ahh the memories!"
The King (2019)
A disappointing MTV-ish movie with flavor of the month stars.
Considering Henry V was a supposedly a rebellious party boy who became a king, this excruciatingly dour and brooding H5 just didn't work for me as he was written here. I spent most of the film laughing at Chalamet's poor attempt at a 15th century Michael Corleone impression. For an actor with top billing, his one note performance of two facial expressions was underwhelming and I couldn't see why thousands would entrust their lives to that twig in chainmail. I just couldn't take him seriously. Every time Sean Harris opened his mouth all I could hear was Droopy McPoodle with an English accent. Pattinson's performance was so campy to the point of seeming weird... even in the context of this historically inaccurate film. I can't recommend this.
Love Undercover (2024)
My FIRST reality show
I hate reality shows but only watched this because it came on Peacock right after an English Premier League match and I just decided to go ahead watch it. Still not really my cup of tea but I wanted to know how it would finish. Footballers... lol... I have all the respect in the world for anyone that has worked so very hard since childhood in their craft to make it to that top percentage of players around the world paid millions. That said, when it comes to mating... Footballers do what they do. Haha They have legions of women acting in desperation at their feet and will often choose those who they feel flatter their status, even if they don't make for the best life partners, mothers, etc. In this instance however the footballers shunt their fame and status to find "Ms Right" while we watch them follow the same old patterns feigning as "ordinary Joes". Its kind of interesting to watch.
I actually think the show did a great job with their choice of players. They chose a couple of lower tier "face" men as eye candy, and 3 players of notable acclaim if you've been an American fan of soccer for 10 yrs or more. Any more famous and they would've been much more recognizable in LA. As it is the show pushed its luck with Marco Fabian, a notable Mexican soccer player, who was recognized more than once while out and about in a city with a large Mexican-American population. I'm actually enjoying this for now. RECOMMEND.
Destination Tokyo (1943)
I realize its just a movie but good grief...
I did like the premise of a sub sneaking into Tokyo bay for a vital mission. The depth charge scenes were good. Grant's casting is fine here and I believe that he did a decent job with the nonsense that he was given.
That said, one of the attributes of a good war themed film is a sufficiently researched screenplay bringing some semblance of realism on the details of Navy shipboard life... even IF the overarching plotline and drama is a bit of a stretch. Multiple scenes took me right out of the film because so much time was expended on those scenes. A WWII sub's whole purpose is surveillance/reconnaissance and, if necessary, to attack with missiles/torpedos. ONE Torpedoman dies and they ask for volunteers to disarm a torpedo that is dropped into the hull from a plane?? They send the most inexperienced sailor in to do the job which was laughable. Even more outrageous, the captain of the ship goes down with him and to give him instructions?? A typical WWII sub had an average of 70 onboard crew. A good portion of them would be trained Torpedo personnel with junior and senior personnel, non-commissioned and officers onboard to handle the direction and execution of that job. Then there's Pills... a pharmacist and apparently the lone medical personnel. Lol Where's the ship's doctor? Where's the 1 or 2 experienced senior corpsman that work under him, likely capable of performing emergency surgeries like an appendectomy? If those mission critical jobs had no capable personnel onboard, I have to ask what were the 70 or so other sailors on that ship there to do besides wisecracking, playing cards and standing around looking stupid to service the array of corny emotional scenes.
There's so many good war films from this period but I wouldn't recommend this one.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Carell and Fogelman still stuck in the 80s
This could've been enjoyable as a light hearted comedy except there were a few too many uncomfortable moments that only highlighted others that may've otherwise been given a pass.
The story was a fairly predictable rom-com, but the performances were decent enough to also engage the viewer. The issue for me early on however was the teenage girl supposedly in love with Carell's character. I found nothing humorous in it. Hollywood has a horrible track record with this subject on and off screen. Perhaps the only thing laughable is that the older men of Hollywood are still trying to convince people that as many young girls want dusty old men. If that weren't enough apparently they also think audiences still find creepy pubescent boys stalking older teenage girls "adorable". In fact I found myself cringing every time the film focused on those scenes, worried how far it would go before being reeled back in. It made this hard to enjoy.
I did like the surprise of Hannah being Jacob's daughter, Tomei's performance and a few scenes produced some really funny moments. The ending however might be the worst part. I'm sure all of those families waited 14 years of their kids' lives to attend their 8th grade graduation and have it culminate in a dumb (and creepy) speech that had nothing whatsoever to do with their child's accomplishment. I wouldn't recommend this mess.
The High Note (2020)
Surprisingly GOOD movie!
I honestly didn't expect much but a decent plotline and a few good laughs from Ross and Ice Cube. I was pleasantly surprised. Firstly, just when you think little Ms Maggie was going to get to run over everyone with HER aspirations, she gets chin-checked properly by Ice Cube's character - Jack, on professional decorum and showing respect for him and a producer, both of whom had EARNED their way in the music business through time, experience and hard work. Then she is checked again later by both David and Grace for exploiting their trust in her. Its not what we usually see in these type of films following the female lead "trying to make it" through cunning and surreptitious means. What makes this film extraordinary is that the other characters are not seen as merely one dimensional obstacles who Maggie must navigate, but rather human beings of importance to be considered and to learn from in route to her desired goals. Jack, Grace's manager, had been with her since youth and through her entire career. Grace trusted him with her life. Thanks to Johnson's performance, despite Maggie's mistakes you most always believe that she's fundamentally a good person going through growing pains. You want to root for her and things ultimately working out.
The script is pretty good with no notable distractions. The acting is above par for this type of film. The music is not overdone. There's actually more than meets the eye here for young people coming of age with aspirations, earning the trust of others, learning humility and about the world beyond themselves.
RECOMMENDED!
School Dance (2014)
Nick Cannon needs some help with his problem
I agree with the comment about the lack of black women (except comedians) in this film. It would seem they don't really exist in Cannon's world. And what was the Prairie Puff Man (hero) thing all about? Even the cast billing gave me pause. The only really funny parts in this were the Katt Williams jailhouse scene and Luelle scenes. Epps puts in another "never as funny as he wished he was" performance. The gym teacher does a fair Chris Rock impression and the aggressive female cop made me laugh once. The rest is fairly cringe. This could've been a fun comedy based in stereotypes except it told us more disturbing things about Cannon than anything else.
Silo (2023)
Watched S1, it's OK but maybe not worth S2
This had promise due to the theme and general look and feel of the show. There's a few good performances but two of the key characters/actors are poor and took me out of the show every episode. Rebecca Ferguson is annoying and one note, and Common is just bad. Even Tim Robbins often comes off as a comic book villain. It's like he just mails it in. The lesser character actors are decent to good and kept me engaged.
I'm not sure where this is headed but the hidden plot and pacing aren't encouraging me to continue for the second season. It's a rather forgettable show at this point. If you're bored I suppose it's worth trying out but I wouldn't recommend it.
Liu lang di qiu (2019)
This was incredibly awful
I watched the English language overdub.
Maybe they gave a tax break or some other incentive to all the people in China who paid to see this. Special effects aside, this was one of the worst sci-fi films I ever remember seeing. Not good/bad... but bad/bad. The "science" was weak but even that can be overlooked if the story is good and the characters engaging. It's poorly edited, clunky and at times it simply made no sense at all. The one character that seemed halfway interesting unfortunately dies early on. And those kids... sheeesh! I'd have thrown them in a deep dark crevice within the first hour.
Designated Survivor (2016)
The lazy writing of Season 1 is insulting
The only reason I've continued to watch and try to finish S1 is for Keifer. I will also say the high level plotting and twists made this engaging to a point but once you get to the specifics and fill it's quite a mess and tests your patience. Just off the top of my head...
1. Secret service Presidential Security 101 - NO open windows in view of the President. That assassination attempt was so incredibly bogus. Secret service is supposedly camped out all day for the VP inaugural and doesn't notice but Hannah rushes in last minute and immediately sees it. Garbage.
2. Aaron reaches a career pinnacle as chief of staff and quits simply because there's rumors about his leave?? So what... we're to believe president's staff don't take any time off? And so what if his FBI questioning was discovered. Congress was obliterated. The former President and all but one of his line of succession were killed. FBI questioning of everyone should be expected.
3. Jason's false confession was to save his son. He didn't commit the crime yet he, a career FBI sr official, was fired? And after his son was sacrificed for that job?!! Then we have to watch his former subordinate treat him like a clueless rook agent until he's killed off.
4. Hannah goes in SOLO to arrest the Vice President of the United States of all people when apparently the FBI was prepared enough to surround the area with monitoring trucks and resources? Never mind the fact that Peter and the other guy were trained combat veterans. Even Mike and Forstell were chilling at the office watching the whole thing go down! Then Beth LOL somehow surmises that a released Hannah knows exactly where Peter is going, gets away from secret service and slips in to the cemetery amongst all of this on some Day of the Jackal type nonsense unnoticed, killing Peter and herself.
I'm going to try and finish these last couple of episodes and be done with it. I could go on but Netflix and Keifer can do better.
Not Easily Broken (2009)
Wonderful Film!
I expected to be underwhelmed because I was foolish enough to look at a few ratings and hadn't read anything about it. Perhaps if Chestnut's black male character was a pimp or drug dealer slapping women around and living a foul base life with witty one-liners some would've loved it.
It had a good amount of tension and frankly I wasn't sure where it was headed until it actually happened. I was pleasantly surprised with Chestnut's performance as for me in the past he's usually been just eye candy with mediocre chops, but this was tailor made for him. I believed every scene he was in. I could certainly empathize with his circumstances. Henson as usual was a wonderful scene stealer while still managing not to ham it up. Lewis and Hart did what they do best, and Quinlan, Harris and Jay rounded out a solid supporting cast. I highly recommend. The awkward and complex emotions on display felt like real life without being overly dramatic and sensational. As for those possibly in similar dark situations looking for a hopeful ray of light... well here ya go!
Eternals (2021)
They need to do better
I was excited based on what we were told the film would be about and it seemed to be critical for this MCU phase going forward. That said, it was one of the worst MCU films I've seen to date, and I've seen them all. There's been a couple of duds but perhaps none as boring, poorly conceived and executed... at least during the first half of the film. Like a soccer match this film was a tale of two half's, totally different in impact and quality. For a good stretch the main characters came off as weak for so-called "Eternal" beings and seemed to have little meaningful purpose, lacking even a modicum of the wisdom that should come from existing as long as they had on earth. The film becomes mildly interesting about halfway thru, then the action sets in and improves a great deal thru the end. I'm not quite sure if it wasn't because the bar already established was so low to make it seem so.
I knew this was in trouble early in the film. Too much emphasis on the wrong things. Not a bit of story had been told nor a single character developed before we were already watching eye-rolling styled action shots of Angelina Jolie doing hammy poster poses for the camera. I was most disappointed in her casting here. She was/is a distraction in this type of ensemble cast film. Further, like her or not she can't act unless she's portraying the character she's worked hardest at being her entire career... "Angelina Jolie". If she MUST be included in the MCU they'd have done better to cast her in a cameo or as a one-dimensional villain.
But for me Jolie was just one of many poor choices and is certainly not all to blame. There's an eery sense of speciousness to this film regarding its intent. Even the cinematography was poor as nearly the entire film was too dark and difficult to watch. As mentioned the best part of the entire film was about halfway thru with the speedster beating the bejesus out of the alpha character who had betrayed them. Finally something somewhat meaningful was happening in the scenes to follow. The plot and characters began to show purpose. If you managed to stay awake this long you were home free. There are still a ton of questions worth asking, tho one knows in the MCU they often get answered with future installments. I sincerely hope they do a better job next time out.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Blew me away!!
I'd only just seen Spider Man: No Way Home when I decided to stay in the Marvel Universe and watch this. WOW! This blows Spider-Man and the convoluted and confusing multiverse out of the water. This was fresh, fantastic and unexpected with a bit more depth than the usual Marvel flick (most all of which I love). The acting and action/fight scenes were excellent. A great mix of family drama and some fine humor to lighten certain periods of the film. I didn't want it to end. Highly recommend! I gave it a 10 because it was a stunning watch for us even at home and because IMO it's one of the top tier MCU films.
Rawhide: Rio Salado (1961)
Great start to Season 4!
Great start to Season 4! Tom Tully (Pappy Yates) and Edward Andrews really put on a show. Especially Tully! This was a surprisingly nice study of Father/Son relationships, their complications, and the love/hate that sometimes exists between them. Tully's exceptional performance only accentuates the writing and makes an otherwise fairly decent western series for the times a show of next level potential. I"m bingeing the series right now, as I hadn't watched it since the 70s. I only hope this trend of quality continues.
The Marksman (2021)
You'd think Texas was the size of a convenience store.
This film is pretty bad but the way a few guys from Mexico easily manage to track Neeson with a kid from south Texas to Oklahoma was just ridiculous. They should've stuck with the marksman angle. No one's buying Neeson in hand to hand combat with a young stud. Also, when they burned the money, this went next level stupid.
The Woman in the Window (1944)
One of the worst noir films I've ever seen
SPOILERS!
This starts off well enough with a middle-aged professor is temporarily freed from the doldrums of marriage and family as his brood goes away on vacation without him. While talking with friends he laments never having had romantic adventures until one falls right into his lap. On his first visit to a woman's apartment he ends up murdering her volatile and violent sugar-daddy in self-defense. Rather than report it, for obvious reasons he decides to dispose of the body and hide the evidence.
Then it all goes over a cliff. An implausible series of events occur where investigators immediately are able to somehow surmise the circumstances of the boyfriend's murder out of basically nothing. As well, because the main character/killer is good friends with the DA he is invited to tag along on the investigation, then thoughtlessly drops clues as to his guilt every step of the way. The film had become an intense eye-roller at this point. I'll stop with the spoilers here but it took everything just to finish the film.
I don't know if this is shamelessly over-rated because it's a b/w film noir, because Robinson is in it or because it's a Fritz Lang film but I didn't appreciate much at all about it. I'll rate it a 3 however for cinematography.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
Pleasantly surprised and entertained.
I'd never see the first install so I watched them both this weekend. Conclusion - SJ2 was really entertaining and actually better than the original. The first half of SJ2 was a bit dry but set up a good theme. The second half really stepped it up making the story complete and satisfying. The effects, animation, cultural references, cameos and humor worked for me.
James put in a good performance, as he did more just say the lines written for him. He certainly won't win "Best Actor" but he seemed very much engaged and convincing as a father who has to learn how to allow his son to be his own best self. A very human and relatable fun film and performance! Bravo King James!
Outrage (1950)
Brave but highly problematic
While I applaud what Lupino was trying to do here, the idea that she made the scene with Frank physically dominating and imposing himself on Ann despite her frantic objection ABOUT ANN'S so-called "ILLNESS" was insulting... even for 1950. I've seen many films from the 50s, 40s, 30s and even the 20s, with men being far less aggressive, and still getting "checked". That was NOT acceptable behavior even back then, yet Lupino made Ann's wrench-wielding response to Frank solely about Ann.
Moonrise (1948)
Quit a little over 15mins in
I'm in my mid 50's but watching a male lead/moron continuously manhandle the female lead and almost kill her and others in a car crash wore me thin in the first few minutes. Poor casting, poor story. I stopped watching early.
Dark (2017)
Decent mystery but overrated
What I DID like...
A mysterious and at times entertaining series. A lot of thought was put into mapping out a complex web of generational connections. Decent performances for the most part, though the lead playing Martha was overly melodramatic to the point of irritation. The ending was somewhat satisfying considering the tangled mess before it. Many questions were answered though there were too many plot holes if you bothered to pay attention.
What I DIDN'T like...
Most characters were unlikable and not relatable. Its says something when one of the 2 characters I rooted for was an insufferable bully in high school that seemed to mature into a somewhat decent adult and parent... Katherina. The other was a kid, Mikkel, that disappeared very early on.
It was a bit too "Lost-y" for me in some respects. This could've been told a lot more efficiently. A lot of time was wasted with treks back and forth through time that served to do little more than needlessly confuse and frustrate the viewer. Also when did these people bouncing across timelines eat and why not bathe occasionally? Why did Jonas look like death after time traveling but others like Noah look fresh as a daisy?
I disliked the two lead characters and I wasn't convinced of their "undying love" due to poor chemistry. Perhaps this was intended due to their complicated mutual history. I really just hoped they would be killed off sooner rather than later.
Many actions throughout the series were for the sake of plot and made little sense. I was still annoyed about Magnus and Martha running off and leaving little Mikkel behind in the woods at night well into S2. Who does that? Seriously, not one but two older siblings left him "cuz plot".
I get the impression that many have simply ignored its glaring flaws and plot holes because of fascination with a certain taboo subject that lies at the heart of this story and because they had to draw up complicated maps just to remember who was who. Pity. It's a decent watch but it's just not that good.
Queen of the South: Plata o Plomo (2021)
The last 2 episodes...
The last 2 episodes (5 and 6) just took this show from really good to GRRRREAT!!
My goodness the story, the performances, the dialogue, the action scenes, just... everything was next level. Major props to the writers, directors, actors, EVERYONE!
Broadchurch (2013)
Typical British drama... OVERRATED
SPOILERS BELOW!
People often like exploring different time periods, cultures or countries in their entertainment. An English/British accent however does not give lazy writing and inconsistent characterizations a pass. Subtlety is rarely a strength in overrated British dramas and they often cut corners unnecessarily, robbing an otherwise decent show of its integrity. I'll say that there are a few good and intriguing moments in this series once you see what the writers are up to and get used to it (late S1 thru late S2). But for the most part I found myself annoyed by characters that didn't make sense and the haughty self-absorbed attitude of the main character, a worn-out cliche of a detective.
Regarding some of these poor characterizations...
Ellie's teen son Tom (having disavowed his own mother when his father is arrested for the murder of his best friend) flips from unlikable and suspicious, to son-of-the-year! He's suddenly holding hands with mumsy, helping her and the rest of the town to run his acquitted father out of town on a rail. This supposedly is inspired after one lame rant from Ellie. The inexplicable character shift is all done after using him for the better part of 2 whole seasons as a weak plot device to make him look guilty of something.
Then there's Mark... Imagine your only son is murdered by a family friend. While this man is on trial you decide to potentially risk his conviction by secretly hanging out with his son in some weird woman's trailer, all while constantly being MIA and lying to your pregnant and still grieving wife. This is yet another weak and contrived plot device to create suspicion. But then suddenly Mark goes from lying, philandering moron to loving supportive husband and father in the blink of an eye to button up the season 2. By the end, they've spend so much time trying to create weak diversions you're not ever completely sure Joe (another inconsistent character) is actually guilty in whole or in part.
Season 3 is so depressing and sensationalist I actually stopped watching a couple of eps in. A friend I'd been watching with convinced me to finish what I'd started. It gets worse. The writing takes liberty by making the leads even more sanctimonious, arrogant and insufferable, while trying to make them also seem sympathetic and nauseatingly progressive. Arguably the most laughable moment in the series was watching Alec and Ellie take turns excessively berating a young detective that came forward late to tell them one of the suspects was her estranged father. Considering the fact that these two knuckleheads are the main reason Joe got to walk free from his murder charge in the first place, made this an even bigger joke. If this was such an issue in this little community why was Ellie (Joe's wife!!) even allowed to continue as a detective in Danny's murder case when Joe was brought in for questioning, let alone be given access to kick the crap out of him while in custody, ultimately ruining his prosecution.
Ed's arrest?? Not one single piece of physical or compelling evidence for it... all circumstantial and no connection to prior victims. There were other more compelling suspects with actual physical evidence against them. It made me wonder why the writers even contrived to include Ed and his daughter in the story other than to heap abuse on them.
Unless you're just so charmed by British accents that you'll watch anything... this is NOT recommended.
Patsy & Loretta (2019)
The actresses outshine the script
Two very talented women with marvelous voices are cast as Patsy and Loretta in this Lifetime movie. I was blown away by Hilty however. Her portrayal of the bodacious and larger than life Patsy Cline was so convincing that I found myself smiling whenever she was on screen. The script was typical Lifetime stuff and undeserving of what they could've given to the roles.
Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020)
Netflix should be ashamed
I expected a bit of cinematic and creative license but to label this a documentary is a travesty.
I'll say that I did find the format a bit different and even entertaining INITIALLY. While occasionally documentaries will include some dramatized scenes this series goes a few steps further with the drama, which I found refreshing... INITIALLY. That said, the least they could've done was tried to maintain some semblance of integrity, objectivity and factual representation. Nope. Even a decent prep school level education or interest in history exposes this as a farce on so many levels. The Western/Christian bias is embarrassing and frankly, pathetic and wholly unnecessary in these times.
Bottom line, the numerous fallacies void it's value as a genuine documentary and the low-rent production voids it's value as a drama series.
Laura (1944)
The dialogue... the performances!
I love this film! The dialogue and the performances (Particularly Clifton Webb and Vincent Price) were simply superb. First viewing I honestly didn't know who did it.