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michaeljameshill-98919
Reviews
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
More Video Game Than Movie
There is a point in the movie that is filmed from above with John in the 3rd person, blasting enemies in a building with unlimited dragons breath shotgun shells like we are watching a photo-realistic version of Grand Theft Auto played by someone else. This is a pretty good metaphor for the movie itself. It is more video game than movie, with essentially no plot, detached from everything that made the first movie good. IMO it is just too ridiculous/over the top to draw the viewer into the experience. I'd add that there was essentially no acting in the movie to speak of and I'd be surprised if Keanu Reeves had more than a single page of dialogue in the entire film. It feels as if the writers took it as a personal challenge to make a movie with effectively no dialogue.
This movie is full of the improbable and nonsensical. For instance, one character uses a lever action rifle and six shooter. Another high level assassin is literally blind, but manages to take on multiple assailants at once with a sword and nail head shots with a pistol. In one scene high level assassins choose bows and arrows over firearms, etc., in another John is hook kicked in the head, falls 2 stories onto concrete, dusts himself off and is taking on multiple assailants seconds later.
Worst of all, the movie takes the fact that John was excommunicated (which they previously claimed couldn't be undone) and just says "Oh yeah. That's not true, you just need to fight a certain character in a duel and win.". It would have been nice if they told him that in John Wick 3.
In my opinion this movie is the worst in the series, with John Wick 3 being close to it in terms of how bad it is. If you go into the movie knowing you are basically going to see a series of over-the-top action sequences without any real plot connecting them, and essentially no dialogue (other than grunts and muffled screams), then you'll probably enjoy this movie. Personally I could never get into it like I was able to watching John Wick 1 and 2.
The Diplomat (2023)
Boring and Nonsensical
I was hoping this might be somewhat like House of Cards which was a legitimately good Netflix Series about politics (except for the final season of course...That was terrible.). Unfortunately it turns out to just be another series where little happens and the main plot line makes little to no sense.
The protagonist is inexplicably offered the position of U. S. Ambassador to the U. K. last minute (because of course that's how things like this happen...) but the true reason is so that she can be vetted for the position of Vice President (because that makes complete sense...???). Coincidentally her husband was also an ambassador, is well liked, and has many useful political connections. He comes along to support his wife and is immediately treated like complete dirt/the third wheel for sticking around to help.
This series is full of all the tropes you'd expect to see in a "modern" Netflix series. Women are brilliant and can do no wrong. Men (of the Caucasian variety only, of course) are portrayed as inept/worthless/lazy and/or villains. Much of the sub-plot revolves around the protagonist emasculating her husband at every possible opportunity. She even physically assaults him at one point. As an aside, apparently Netflix finds spousal abuse to be hilarious because it was portrayed as such in the show.
Throughout the series, multiple desperate attempts are made to coax the protagonist, who apparently has basically no qualifications for the job whatsoever, into accepting the VP position...because there is no one else with no qualifications they can offer the job to (???).
The series ends on a cliff-hanger, no doubt trying to set up Season 2, which I won't be watching.
My final thought is that I find it hard to believe that the high rating this series has received is legitimate and fully expect it to drop as actual human beings review it.
The Watcher (2022)
Starts Off Well And Blows It At The End
The premise of this movie is pretty simple. A family move into a new home and immediately start receiving threatening/harassing letters from someone calling themselves "The Watcher". The family is trying to figure out who "The Watcher" is while staying together as a family. The family has a lot of different neighbors/acquaintances who could fit the bill so it is quite difficult to try to work out who it is.
This movie started out pretty well with decent enough writing and fairly well acted scenes. Towards the mid to later episode things start to fall off the rails a bit, becoming pretty over-the-top and requiring extreme suspension of disbelief. Towards the end, the writers decided to basically reveal the the identity of "The Watcher" only to take it back and reveal that the person who admitted to being "The Watcher" was lying in the very next scene. This really stands out is being pointless filler.
Many of the actions of the characters don't make sense. For instance, the family hired a PI who never has any leads whatsoever and basically leaves the sleuthing to them...A DIY PI. No one ever mentions it as being a problem and we are meant to feel like they are doing a good job somehow. Also, the family actually never really search around their own house to try to find out how people are apparently breaking in, despite there being a security system. They also don't set up any cameras inside the house.
Worst of all, In the end, there is no definitive answer as to who "The Watcher" was/is. So unless you like endings like the one in "Lost" or "The Sopranos", I would recommend steering clear. Paradoxically, the show has scenes that seem like pointless filler while at the same time you almost get the feeling that they ran out of budget part way though the series, perhaps this explains why there is no resolution at the end. Regardless, the way the series ended made watching it a complete waste of time, in my opinion.
Im Westen nichts Neues (2022)
All Boring On The Western Front
This movie is full of paper-thin characters you don't care about and generic battle scenes. Perhaps most noticeable is the non-existent soundtrack which consists of heavy base every half an hour or so. It's extremely out of place and off-putting. I really wanted to like this movie and thought I would. I really liked 1917, which was a true masterpiece. All Quiet On The Western Front is just boring, pointless, and forgettable. Movies like this often have a central theme or something to say about war, humanity, life, etc., however it seems this movie was only made for the purpose of making a movie about WWI (and perhaps capitalizing on the popularity of 1917). It is soulless, boring, and ultimately forgettable. This movie is as deep as a puddle. It's the movie equivalent of Mr. Mackey from South Park saying, "War is bad, M'kay?".
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
Basically Unwatchable
From the start of this movie it was pretty clear that this was going to be politically correct garbage. Aside from the lack of realism that comes from a slender woman beating the crap out of men twice her size, the sci-fi elements of this movie weren't explained at all and were really just a crutch to try to make the story more interesting. Unfortunately it was clear from the start what that "plot twist" was going to be.
It's clear this movie wanted to get across some sort of message and to me it fell completely flat there as well. There were a lot of ethically dubious things that happened which were brushed over completely. It seems that the writers felt "the ends justify the means" and there was no need to even explain innocent people getting hurt.
It is unclear why a crucial piece of information was withheld until the end of the movie. The "serial killer" being chased by the protagonist could have told him something from the start (or at least 9 years later) that would have kept him from chasing her and would have kept his life from falling apart obsessing over catching her.
In the end it is a sub-par action/sci-fi movie that is poorly written and has a plot that really doesn't make much sense.
The Boys: The Instant White-Hot Wild (2022)
Waste of an entire season...perhaps an entire series...
Please tell me, how was this entire season not a complete waste and how is the entire show not a complete waste actually. Butcher had his chance to kill Homelander and he for some reason decided to fight Soldier Boy instead...All forgiven! Now what!? More increasingly woke garbage no one will want to watch?
The Boys (2019)
A Story About A Soulless Corporation Pretending to be Woke...Created By A Soulless Corporation For The Express Purpose of Pretending To Be Woke
I liked the first season and a half or so but the last season completely lost the plot and went full woketard.
I'm not interested in having politics in my entertainment but "The Boys" decided to cram in as much politics with a heavy handed slant in one direction as they possibly could. They also forgot the entire point of the series towards the end. I hope they stop making the show because it's just getting dumb/bad.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
A Highly Metaphorical Film That Sacrifices All Plot and Character Development
On the surface this is a film about members of a family who absolutely hate each other for no apparent reason. Yes, it is a deep highly metaphorical film but unfortunately, in trying to be "deep"/"smart" the film sacrifices anything resembling an interesting compelling plot. People carry out mundane everyday actions which are extremely boring to watch and which could have probably conveyed the same information in about 1/5th the time.
Yes, multi-layered/"deep" films can be very compelling but the best of them have a plot that is interesting on the surface and give the viewer a reason to come back and watch the film multiple times to test their theories and try to find things they missed with the first viewing.
No doubt some people will legitimately love this film. I think those people are the types of enjoy building model trains, collecting stamps, etc., No doubt many more will pretend to like it because they think liking something that is boring makes them "smart".
It is obvious that this film is tedious on purpose. Very little of note (at least on a surface level) happens until the very end and when that happens it isn't even shown to the viewer It is explained through dialogue with the characters.
On the plus side, the acting is great (although the actions of the characters are almost completely disconnected from anything we know about them/social norms). The cinematography is good too.
My advice is to watch just about anything else. Yes, it is artsy and deep but unless you are among the small percentage of the population who legitimately enjoys tedium, this probably isn't for you. The film honestly feels like a 20-30 minute short that was painfully stretched out into a feature length film with B-roll.
Making a Murderer (2015)
An Exceptional But Ultimately Biased Series
If you take anything away from this review, just know that the series portrays Avery's case in the best possible light by ignoring information I consider to be damning to the defense's case/Avery's character and raking Law Enforcement over the coals for comparatively minor offenses. If you go into the series knowing this, you will not be disappointed, as it is an excellent, if not riveting series. I personally found the bias to be too extreme and the fact it has real-life repercussions for the family of the victim to be impossible to ignore which is why I rated it the way I did.
The narrative crafted by this documentary was extremely compelling and leaves one wondering how any fair person could have ever thought Avery's murder accusation was anything but Police bias/corruption. It is 10 episodes long but they fly by, making you wish there was more. Being able to present legal proceedings in a way that is so compelling is a true art/gift.
Unfortunately, after watching the documentary and doing some research, I was extremely disappointed to learn that quite a lot of information that was key to the prosecution's case against Avery was left out completely.
Additionally, much of the defense's case relied on attacking the credibility/ethics/morals/character of Law Enforcement while Avery is given a pass on the skeletons in his closet, which either aren't mentioned at all or are glossed over. Yes, Law Enforcement should be held to a higher standard but if the documentary was being completely fair/objective it would have put everything out there for the viewer to judge for themselves.
I really feel that the filmmakers did themselves and the viewers a huge disservice by deciding to omit what I consider to be damning evidence. When I researched it myself, I was extremely disappointed and felt as if I had been duped/lied to. I would have given the series 10 stars if it were an accurate/balanced account of the key evidence/arguments on both sides or if they had been clear up front that this was not a balanced/fair depiction of events.
In my opinion, this series is effectively an account of events that puts Avery in the best possible light by ignoring/glossing over his troubling past offenses, skewering Law Enforcement for comparatively minor offenses, and ignoring key evidence that is damning to the defense's case/can't easily be explained away as a result of coincidence/one or two bad cops out to frame him. I wish I had known that going into this series. I personally don't feel this can be considered a documentary given the (unfortunate) glaring bias. I highly suggest watching this series without an prior knowledge of the case and then doing your own research into it afterwards. You may not reach the exact same conclusions I have but I think anyone being objective will agree that much of what was left out was almost certainly left out intentionally to paint Avery and his case in the best possible light.
The Killing Season (2016)
Woke Aimless Trash
This was a over-dramatic, aimless/meandering documentary apparently about the "Long Island Serial Killer" (though by the end of the Series the starting point/supposed focus of the series is completely forgotten). It mostly centers on two self-important documentary film-makers who for some reason believe they are much better at solving crimes than the Police, despite having never solved any crimes or identified any killers.
Mostly they just travel to different locations around the Country trying to determine if obviously unconnected crimes are connected (because for some reason you have to physically go there to figure that out...). Throughout the course of the series they make accusations against private citizens, Police officers, and entire Police departments based on no evidence whatsoever/the word of drug addicts, criminals, and prostitutes.
Drug addicts and prostitutes are portrayed as good hard working "down on their luck" moms/women "struggling with addition" or "working to support their habit and their family" rather than the drug addicted criminals they are, people who are actively killing themselves, funding the drug trade and would literally sell their own child for a quick fix. Police/Law Enforcement on the other hand are portrayed as corrupt, lazy, inept criminals, who have problems with "use of force" and something to hide...people perpetuating a system that purposely ignores the plight of the poor innocent and honest crack addicts/prostitutes. These two really go after the Police Officers and Police departments not willing to jeopardize open cases by giving them interviews.
The German "profiler" or whoever he was that was on a few of the episodes really is kind of the personification of this series. He says things that sound interesting but completely fall apart under any scrutiny. One example is his laughing and saying, "When in the last 500 years has a serial killer left bodies anywhere near his home?... Ted Bundy had the record....125 miles..." Umm...John Wayne Gacy, H. H. Holmes, Anthony Sowell, and Dennis Nilsen off the top of my head. I'm sure there are many more examples. The point is, this documentary is like this "profiler" proudly declaring things to be facts with out doing the slightest bit of research/without any evidence whatsoever.
In the end the narcissistic hosts conclude that because the law enforcement aren't/weren't magically aware that people with no family or friends to report them missing (largely a result of their own life choices and anti-social/criminal behavior...) are missing that the Police are worthless, the "system is broken", and private citizens like themselves have to be the ones to investigate crimes such as murder. What's next?... Mobs of random people deciding a person's guilt and what their punishment should be?
Anyway, it is one of the worst most meandering documentary series I have seen in quite sometime. It is about as dramatic as big foot/paranormal investigator tv programs..."What's that noise!... Oh yeah...It's nothing...Again...".
I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2020)
Extremely Drawn Out...It Felt Like It Would Never End
The series is about 4-5 episodes too long and mainly focuses on the personal life of the substance abusing wife of a B-level comedian who it turns out had basically nothing whatsoever to do with actually identifying the rapist/killer. From what I can tell, this is basically just a 6 part advertisement for the book of the same name.
Many completely cringe, pointless, self-aggrandizing narratives about the author fill the 6 hour-long episodes. We learn pointless details about her love life, etc. And are made to listen to victims recount being raped by the EAR in gory detail. Once you've heard one terrible rape story you've pretty much heard them all and I didn't see the point of having multiple victims tell you the same thing over and over again while their husband/partner sits there awkwardly...obviously wishing they were anywhere else talking about anything else.
Anyway, this documentary is about as exciting/interesting as watching paint dry in real time and I guarantee you'll find yourself wishing they would get to the point or literally saying, "How many more episodes are there!?" before it is over (assuming you can even be bothered to watch until the end). Two episodes in and I couldn't believe there were 4 left...by number 3 I almost couldn't bear to watch another second of it. I have no idea how I made it to the end of this boring Michelle McNamara circle jerk.
Like one review is entitled, "Want to hear a boring woman's life story?". That's exactly what this documentary is about. It about the boring/unfulfilling life of a vapid valley girl with substance abuse issues whose husband enabled that substance abuse until she killed herself.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Everything Wrong with Cash-Grab Sequels
This movie was essentially everything wrong with sequels...It was a completely pointless addition to the Matrix story-line and damages/undoes pretty much all the sacrifice and accomplishments of the previous films. The movie has clips of the original films spliced throughout. This was a pretty big mistake because it reminds you that the 20+ year old original movie not only had a much better more interesting plot but it actually somehow looked much better too.
This was clearly nothing but a cash-grab from WB and it's now easy to see why only one of the Wachowski siblings worked on it. High concepts are brought up in the movie only to be dropped almost immediately with no clear message or indication as to why they even brought it up by the end of the film. This film effectively undoes everything accomplished by Neo and Trinity in the previous films for a pointless "meh" sequel. It's one of the most disappointing sequels in a long time.
Tenet (2020)
Unwatchable Garbage
Nolan went out of his way here to be the "I'm smarter than the audience" director and the movie suffered greatly as a result. The rules of the movie's main gimmick don't make any sense and aren't applied consistently, the characters are forgettable, flat, and undeveloped, the score is way too loud and key dialogue can't be heard as a result. In the end there's really nothing to like about this film. The plot is next to impossible to follow by design, there is nothing to like about the characters, and the movie's main gimmick gets old fast. All I can say is that this movie was so terrible it felt like it was 4 hours long and at the end of it my wife and myself were like, "What the eff did we just watch?". Complete trash.
The Fugitive (2020)
A Ripoff of "Speed" Done Poorly
It's hard to imagine a remake of The Fugitive with Kiefer Sutherland being terrible but it is unfortunately. The "episodes" are very short (< 8 minutes) so to call it a "Series" is really stretching the truth. I think this is probably a movie that was chopped up and labeled a "Series" to entice people to buy a subscription to the hosting platform.
Both the plot and dialogue or poorly written and it's tough to actually care about what happens to the protagonist or any of the other characters. Throughout the "Series" Kiefer Sutherland's character is portrayed as an ego-maniac who goes as far as assaulting an FBI agent, ignoring evidence that the protagonist wasn't the bomber, and putting out a shoot to kill order on the protagonist because he was embarrassed that the protagonist beat him up and took his firearm, only to make a miraculous turn to a "good guy" at heart in the final episode who has supposedly just overzealous because his wife was killed in a terrorist attack.
The main character's actions make no sense. He was sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Before this he worked on Wall Street. After he gets out and is inexplicably suspected of blowing up a subway train, he goes "Rambo" to track down the person who was responsible, even going to a gang headquarters to obtain a gun.
To give you an idea of how bad the plot is, in one scene the LAPD go to raid a building the protagonist is supposedly located in, only to have an armed man we hadn't seen before pull a gun on one of the officers and hold her hostage. Kiefer Sutherland's character ends up trading places with her as the hostage and killing the mysterious armed stranger. The point of this scene was to show how much he cared about his subordinates but we never learned where the guy came from or why he would pull a gun on a member of the LAPD.
The "Series" is also confusing in that it tries to take shots at "ageism" and sexism but in the end the old White guys turned out to be right all along and the younger woman of color turned out to be a reckless a-hole who is fired for her reckless actions.
This "Series" is essentially a rip off of the plot of the movie "Speed" without the bus, good writing, good acting, or any kind of suspense/drama. Don't buy a subscription to this stream service and don't waste your time watching this. It is truly terrible.
The Ritual (2017)
A Movie with A Plot And Character Development?! - The Best Horror Movie I've Seen in Years
My wife and I watch a lot of horror films and we were both surprised by how good this movie was. Not to give too much away but it has all the good elements of a classic horror film. isolation, a powerful but unseen monster, the struggle of man against both the monster and his own internal demons, a feeling of despair, paranoia and isolation, and actually takes time to get you to care about the characters.
There is clearly multi-layered storytelling at play in this film which pits the main character against both his own demons and the monster of the film. By the end of the film it isn't clear if what we saw literally happened but the conclusion is satisfying nonetheless.
The movie is scary, has very cool/interesting art/creature design and is deeper than what we literally see on screen. This is something "Us" attempted but failed to do miserably. I also very much like the fact it doesn't go for the cheap "jump scare/gross out scare" tactics that most modern horror films do. The film does a good job of building the tension, paranoia and desperation slowly over time until things come to a head in the last quarter of the film. In the tradition of movies like "Jaws", this film knows that the monster the audience members create in their own minds is more scary than what can be shown on film and doesn't show the actual monster until the climax of the film. In my opinion it is a very unique/cool monster worth the wait. Some may argue it shouldn't have been shown at all but I agree with the choice to show it.
If you are a fan of horror/suspense movies I definitely recommend watching this movie. It is a throw back to when stories actually had an interesting/unique plot which was more than surface deep, the main characters were relatable people who made decisions which made sense/weren't comically stupid and writers took the time to flesh out characters/give them their own personalities and backstory so the audience would actually care about what happened to them. Personally, I would say this is the best horror film I've seen in years.
Us (2019)
Overrated - Easily The Worst "Horror" Movie I've Seen This Year
I heard amazing things about this movie so I watched it with my wife. We are both fans of horror films and even a 7/10 is very rare for a move in the horror genre to get.
First off, I don't think calling this a "horror" film is at all accurate. There are moments in the film which could be called "scary" but I personally think "scary" is too strong a term. I would personally categorize this move as a "mystery", not even "suspense" because the term "suspense" would imply the movie causes deep interest or anxiety, which this movie didn't for my wife or myself.
Not to give too much away but there are certain evil "entities" in this film, the evil "mother" speaks with a laughably contrived voice which I think is a great microcosm for the film as a whole. It tries to scare you but fails miserably, it tries to send some sort of message about the haves and have-nots but that is also an abysmal failure, it tries to have comedy and action elements and it fails at those as well, it tries to surprise you at the end with a "big reveal" but by the time you mercifully reach the end of this movie 1. You no longer care and 2. Stevie Wonder could have seen the "big reveal" coming from a mile away.
My wife will give up on a movie midway through if it's not going anywhere and I found myself telling her, "Maybe something interesting will happen at the end." to convince her to see it through to the end. Spoiler alert...nothing interesting or surprising happens.
I will say that perhaps there are theories out there which make the film more interesting. If the film were interesting on the surface in any way shape or form I would normally be all over going online to see what theories are out there but this was so damned boring I have no interest whatsoever in doing so.
Save yourself 90+ minutes of your life and watch just about any other horror offering. You'll be glad you did.
Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks (2019)
Bad Writing Coming to the Surface
This was a filler episode with nonsensical deaths designed to evoke an emotional reaction rather than contribute anything to the plot. It's obvious that HBO know they already have our money and didn't bother with good writing or directing in this the final season. They even left a Starbucks cup in plain view early on in the episode. This is representative of their level of effort on this episode and on the season as a whole. Unfortunately, how this series ends will likely taint the entire show and HBO's reputation as a whole. I get they need to make money but you damage your reputation by dropping the ball on one of your major properties to this degree. Everyone who said this show was a waste of time was 100% correct.
Game of Thrones: The Long Night (2019)
The Most Ironically Named Episode in the History of Time
After 7 and a half seasons of build-up, it is finally time to face death itself. A force so terrible that in the past the long night, that the Night King brought, caused winter to last for whole generations. Kings froze to death in their castles and mothers smothered they children so they wouldn't have to suffer starvation anymore. "The Long Night" lasts as long as a regular night and the Night King is killed out of the blue by a teenager teleporting through the air to save the day right when everyone was about to die.
There are many other problems with this episode: many people couldn't see what was going on due to how dark the scenes were shot, huge tactical errors, Bran randomly just wargs into some ravens and stays there all episode for no apparent reason, all the main characters survive, the beyond obvious danger in the crypts, ect., ect., but the worst part of this episode is that after nearly a decade of waiting for resolution to this plot-line the writers have Arya kill the Night King just to try to surprise the audience and they do it in an incredibly hamfisted and inexplicable way. Arya literally gets past all of the Night King's generals who have formed a sold circle around Bran, undetected with snow on the ground. Earlier in the episode the Whites could hear Arya's blood dripping on the floor but now they can't hear someone running up in the snow and screaming at the top of their lungs. The writing had gone down hill since Season 4 but this basically ruins the entire series for me and I'm guessing many other fans. In this season the writers are wrapping things up with everything JRRM has tried to change about fantasy and what I liked about GoT.
The show used to be realistic, people you cared about (because of good writing and character development) could die out of nowhere and they weren't saved at the last minute over and over again despite being mobbed by hundreds of enemies for hours. In this episode Arya literally jumped off of a trampoline to give us the moment when the series as a whole jumped the shark. This entire series reminds me of the "Red Wedding" episode where failure to achieve your goals is made much worse by having come so close to achieving it. We almost had one of the best TV series of all time only to have everything go off the rails right before the finish line. I can only assume the remaining episodes will be equally disappointing.